I’m on record describing the slogan “Defund the Police” as one of the all-time stupidest political phrases ever. Not the actual intent of the proponents, which was more than defensible; as I understand it, it was an effort to limit police activity to a focus on actual crime by creating specialized “helpers” to respond to non-criminal episodes like mental health crises. But the slogan not only failed to convey that intent, it screamed support for lawlessness and a mindless anti-police–even “pro crime”– bias.
After all, sneered Republicans, who–other than those who want to evade the rules– would be interested in hobbling law enforcement?
An excellent question, with a not-surprising answer: the obscenely rich plutocrats who–despite MAGA illusions–are really in charge of the contemporary GOP. Following the fiasco triggered by co-President Musk when he torpedoed a bipartisan bill to keep the government open, The New Republic reported on a true “defunding” of authority that has received far too little publicity:
During last week’s negotiations to avert a government shutdown, Congress quietly slashed $20 billion from the Internal Revenue Service.
Republicans have long targeted the tax agency, and their cuts will hurt its efforts to go after rich tax evaders and improve the IRS’s functionality. It’s their second successful cut from President Biden’s $80 billion funding boost to the agency in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, as the GOP took away an earlier $20 billion in a 2023 budget deal.
The latest cuts to the IRS will come automatically thanks to the 2023 deal, as the language was repeated in last week’s bill. The Biden administration said the cuts would end up adding $140 billion to the national debt, as they hurt the tax agency’s ability to audit big corporations and the wealthy.
This bit of legislative game-playing shines a corrective light on two of the most egregious lies told by Republicans: that the GOP is a fiscally responsible political party opposed to increasing government debt; and that it is the party of “law and order.”
When Republicans pontificate about excessive government spending, what they are really opposing is anything approaching fair and adequate taxation of the very rich. Deficits, after all, occur when income is insufficient to fund all expenditures. Constant giveaways in the form of tax cuts awarded to the wealthy Americans who disproportionately belong to the GOP increase deficits; the GOP’s “solution” isn’t to raise taxes on the rich; it’s to cut “government waste”–defined as programs that help low and middle-class Americans.
Even under the current tax laws that favor the obscenely rich, however, tax “avoidance” strategies (i.e. cheating) employed by those wealthy Americans allows them to evade paying significant portions of what they owe. Their success in evading payment has been largely due to the (intentional) under-resourcing of the Internal Revenue Service.
The Biden administration addressed the obvious problem by budgeting adequate funds for the agency–which led to action by the GOP that can only be described as “defunding the police.” Depriving the agency of funds to audit tax dodgers can only be attributed to one purpose: allowing rich scofflaws to cheat successfully. There is no other conceivable reason.
The cuts mean that the IRS will conduct 400 fewer major business audits each year, and 1,200 fewer audits of rich individuals. Customer services for taxpayers will also be hurt. According to an agency spokesperson, by 2026, the IRS will only have the resources to answer two of every 10 phone calls to its helplines, and wait times will increase to an average of 28 minutes.
The Inflation Reduction Act’s boost to the tax agency helped relieve a long backlog of tax filings, and created a well-liked free tax filing pilot program. All of that is on the chopping block now, fitting in with Donald Trump and Republicans’ plans to weaken the IRS. The president-elect plans to appoint anti-tax extremist Billy Long to take over the agency next year, who repeatedly tried to abolish the IRS as a member of Congress.
These cuts combined with Long’s planned appointment mean that tax season next year will almost certainly result in headaches for the average taxpayer and windfalls for the wealthy and powerful. A ballooning national debt is also on the horizon. The question is whether Trump and the GOP will be able to get away with all of it.
The reason the “Defund the Police” slogan was so idiotic was that it sounded like a plea to protect transgressors, even though that wasn’t what was meant. Defunding the IRS not only sounds like protecting criminals, it has absolutely no other purpose.
Police should be trained to recognize and what immediate actions to take when dealing with mentally ill people. They do not have time to call for “trained helpers”; they shoot first and ask questions later…even when they have been told the person is having a mental episode.
Demilitarize the police and tax the obscenely wealthy.
The question: “The question is whether Trump and the GOP will be able to get away with all of it.”
The answer: “Of course they’ll get away with it – at least as long as Republicans in Congress are being paid by those trying to evade taxes.”
These disgusting wretches will do ANYTHING to satisfy their donors so they can stay in power. They give not a single damn about governing for the people.
Well done, voters. You poor saps who voted for Republicans so blindly will now reap the whirlwind. The question I pose to those so-called low-information voters is: Who will you blame for the financial disaster you helped create?
Happy New Year.
The path to societal dysfunction by out of control government is an old, tried and true one.
“Many experts agree that fascism is a mass political movement that emphasizes extreme nationalism, militarism, and the supremacy of the nation over the individual. This model of government stands in contrast to liberal democracies that support individual rights, competitive elections, and political dissent.”
“In many ways, fascist regimes are revolutionary in nature. They advocate for the overthrow of existing systems of government and the persecution of political enemies. However, such regimes are also highly conservative in championing traditional values.”
“And although fascist leaders typically claim to support the everyman, in reality, their regimes often align with powerful business interests.”
According to the reference above, the five stages of implementing fascism are:
Emerging out of disillusionment.
Establishing disillusionment (MAGA) as a political party.
Gaining power out of right-wing relationships.
Using power to dominate institutions.
Implementing radical reforms.
The MTV (Musk/Trump/Vance) playbook. We are on the track to replacing liberal democracy with fascism.
If that doesn’t anger and scare you, check your pulse.
President Biden touched on all the pillars of open democratic republic in awarding several freedom medals to honor American citizens who rise above the fray and lead by example.
As i recently said, we are in for a shit-show of a year, and more.
Sorry, Norris, but that was just a speech. Biden and nearly all Washington politicians snubbed their noses at the International Criminal Court for the umpteenth time and threatened individual magistrates and their families with sanctions, including travel sanctions. All for holding the criminal Israeli Zionist cabal accountable for committing genocide against the Palestinian people – mainly women and children. The reason more people aren’t outraged is the lame entertainment media is doing an excellent job of propagandizing the people.
There is NO law and order in Washington or statehouses nationwide. I’d say convincingly that most local governments are also corrupt. The most corrupt department is probably the metropolitan police. The county sheriffs are tied with MPDs, and so is the FBI.
As for the boost and then cuts to the IRS, they are ALL performative gestures. I’ve heard some people accuse the incoming administration of being a banana republic. Seriously?
The frauds in both parties have been embedded in Washington for a very long time to run the oligarchy. The Democrats’ job is to add money to specific left-wing causes while the right-wing takes it away. It’s all gamesmanship. The oligarchs win and have been winning since our inception, except for a brief moment under FDR when he saved capitalism for the oligarchy instead of turning it over to the socialists. What did the oligarchs immediately do?
We aren’t becoming fascist because we’ve been fascist, but the performative actions by the puppets and our media make it seem competitive. LOL
Remember when everyone thought we had made significant progress against racism in this country until the Tea Party rose to fame? The Kochs just rebranded to MAGA to conceal all the racism. How could MAGA be racist when it’s about all Americans being great again? LOL. The Kochs bought the GOP before Trump’s ascendancy. It’s all puppets and puppeteers! The entertainment media covers the show. 😉
Republicans only care about the deficit and the debt when a Democrat is President. If they truly backed the police, shouldn’t they have the backs of the Capitol Police, who put their lives on the line for them four years and three days ago? It makes me wonder if they only pretended to take the oath that I and every other person working in government took.
Note to JoAnn. You asked how I know about Elon’s status. In an interview he and his brother gave, his brother said that they were illegal aliens when they took their post graduation trip to California. Elon said it wasn’t so simple. He said that he knew that if he graduated, he would be “eligible” for an H1B visa. He didn’t call his brother a liar. It might not be so simple, but it is true. Being eligible for and having it aren’t the same. He didn’t have a visa at that time. That is over staying your visa. As for as his current status his naturalization is public record.
Weeping in the anthems of solos from the choir loft … meanwhile, back in the secured parlor at Mar-a-Logo, Mump is redecorating The Oral Office. Elon is bringing over his toys to share. 😇
Republicans have effectively defunded the police with their unnecessary tax cuts for the rich, stripping needed funds from local and state governments. The police shortage has led to near zero enforcement of our traffic laws. Red lights are now just a challenge to see how many people can run them and there is no speed limit on I-465. The police arrive after the fact to write up the necessary crash paperwork. The police we have left are overworked, exhausted, and trigger happy because the NRAGOP has made sure every idiot has a gun.
I’ll post this once again so folks interested to know the agenda behind the public agenda can be informed:
https://unlimitedhangout.com/2024/07/investigative-reports/the-man-behind-trumps-vp-pick-its-worse-than-you-think/
Whitney is an expert researcher into the surveillance state, dating back to Reagan’s Iran-Contra event and John Poindexter. Elon gets all the publicity, but Peter Thiel is the billionaire we should worry about. His data information companies were created by the CIA and are funded by the CIA basically to take the data collection role (warrantless surveillance and profiling) away from the government, where it’s “unconstitutional” to be done by private companies. Thiel’s company, Palantir, is the security agency responsible for that role. It goes much deeper than I can even get my head around, but it looks like Trump will be responsible for unleashing a new 911 protocol system that will replace the county-by-county existing 911 system. It is nothing more than a data mining company.
What’s funny is that all the MAGA militia members (libertarians) think Trump will be breaking up the deep state from spying on them when the truth is precisely the opposite. In fact, one of Thiel’s companies used Facebook facial recognition software to identify the January 6th insurrectionists. LOL
Don’t listen to the news…watch their actions directly.
Coolio said it well “We keep spendin’ most our lives livin’ in a gangsta’s paradise”
Gotta face the facts… it ain’t gonna stop if the people with the most power at the top are just flat out corrupt and playin’ games.