Joe Biden is still a massive failure in many respects (re: the child abuse of the concentration camps).  And I don’t share others’ positive response to his dictum that shelters must provide access to Transgender people.  Where was that change in January when Trans people were left homeless on the street in a viciously cold winter?

What did impress me this week was his aim to fund the IRS with $80 billion dollars.  When the IRS budget was cut, it couldn’t afford to chase the big fish, the billionaire tax cheats, so it focused on average people because it cost a lot less to investigate.  With money to spend and cheats to catch, it’s estimated that as much as US$700 million to US$1 trillion could be recouped in unpaid taxes – on top of the tax increases on the ultra-rich.  That is something which will make a difference.

Biden seeks $80 billion to boost IRS enforcement

President Joe Biden will seek $80 billion to fund enhanced Internal Revenue Service enforcement of high-earners to help pay for his American Families Plan, which he is set to unveil later this week, two sources briefed on the proposal told CNN.

The administration believes the enhanced measures to crack down on tax evasion will increase revenue for the government by $700 billion, although some outside experts are skeptical and the Congressional Budget Office — the accepted scorekeeper — is unlikely to project that much revenue.

As CNN has reported, this is a component of how Biden plans to finance his proposal, with the tax increases on the individual side for the wealthy making up a more significant and tangible chunk.
Previous administrations have touted beefing up IRS enforcement to raise money, and while there are definitely large sums that can be pulled in, it remains to be seen whether it will be as much as Biden’s team thinks.

The naysayers sound like propagandists for the rich.  Even if the IRS recouped only US$100 billion in unpaid taxes, it’s still worth the investment and the effort.

It was the Reagan mis-administration which invented the racist term and farcically false notion of “voodoo economics”, the lie that lowering taxes on the wealthy would increase tax revenues because “people would be more honest and pay their taxes”.  Reagan and his financial fraudster Dick Darman didn’t actually say “on the wealthy”, but that’s who benefitted from it, not the average citizen.  It was a lie because cheats would cheat anyway, even if they were taxed less.

Instead of “voodoo economics”, Biden’s attempted policy of “spend taxes to collect taxes” could be called Overdue Economics.  This level of taxation has been overdue for decades, and the billionairs who are overdue should pay hefty fines.

If Biden really wants to impress people and increase revenues, subject ALL income over $50 million to that increased tax rate, including low-tax and no-tax stuff like share dividends.  Trust me, the rich won’t miss it.

Now how about rescinding all those tax cuts Bush approved and Obama and Trump kept alive.  There’s another US$3-5 trillion in tax revenue that was lost.