Congressman John Campbell's Blog - Green Eyeshade Blog

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Posted by: John Campbell at 5:30 PM

Yesterday was the day hard-working Americans sent the IRS their taxes.

It is ironic that on a day millions of responsible people send the government precious dollars, the Democrats in Congress passed legislation to repeal a provision to help enforce our nation’s tax laws. A provision of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 gave the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) the authority to use private debt collection agencies to assist in the collection of overdue individual taxes. These are taxes that IRS has admitted they don’t have the man power to go after and would otherwise go uncollected. It is estimated that allowing these private debt collectors could save the federal government between $1.5 billion and $2.2 billion in gross revenue from 2007 through 2016.

It is important to note that during debate on this legislation, Democrats also voted against making permanent the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 because they say they cost too much. It doesn’t cost too much to let deadbeat taxpayers off the hook, but it does cost too much to let hard working, responsible Americans keep more of what they earn.

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sdasdf writes:	Friday, April, 18, 2008 3:24 AM
irony.
"It is estimated that allowing these private debt collectors could save the federal government between $1.5 billion and $2.2 billion in gross revenue from 2007 through 2016." WOW! 1.5 billion?! That's almost half of a hundredth of a percent of the cost of the wasteful war that you've been supporting at every turn. Go fiscal conservatives! "It is ironic" You know what's even more ironic? Every single thing you say. Arguing about a piddling 2 billion over 10 years when you've supported the wasting of trillions of dollars is downright idiotic. What the hell are you doing trying to pass yourself off as a fiscal conservative? You're disgusting.
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sdasdf writes:	Friday, April, 18, 2008 3:24 AM
irony.
"It is estimated that allowing these private debt collectors could save the federal government between $1.5 billion and $2.2 billion in gross revenue from 2007 through 2016." WOW! 1.5 billion?! That's almost half of a hundredth of a percent of the cost of the wasteful war that you've been supporting at every turn. Go fiscal conservatives! "It is ironic" You know what's even more ironic? Every single thing you say. Arguing about a piddling 2 billion over 10 years when you've supported the wasting of trillions of dollars is downright idiotic. What the hell are you doing trying to pass yourself off as a fiscal conservative? You're disgusting.
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mr_sparky writes:	Friday, April, 18, 2008 12:54 PM
hmmmm
sdasdf, what about the trillions in unfunded liablilites on SS, Medicare and Medicaid. What to do about these programs?
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Ind Observer writes:	Friday, April, 18, 2008 4:30 PM
Agree on one, not on the other
I'm glad to see that they have repealed the law authorizing the use of private companies for collecting back taxes. I have very little faith in the ethical standards of private debt collection firms and did not like the idea of turning over confidential tax information to them. On the other hand, I am very much in favor of keeping the tax cuts passed earlier in the decade. Although democrats frequently tell us that to raise revenue, you have to raise taxes, the facts show otherwise. Anyone with a brain can go to irs.gov or other govvernment web sites and see the large tax revenue increase that took place when the tax rates were lowered. President Bush isn't the first to discover this. It has been done various times in recent history.
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About John Campbell

John Campbell is a member of the House Financial Services Committee, and has taken a leadership role in addressing the country's top economic issues. Campbell serves as a member of the Joint Economic Committee, and House Committee on the Budget. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Economics from UCLA and a Master's Degree in Taxation from USC.