>

The GOP fully supports *America . . . as long as someone else pays for it.
*And by “America,” they mean a Christian, authoritarian theocracy.
It feels like Trump was a demonstration of how pretty much every institution failed America. There’s all these “checks and balances” but we got to see how nearly every single one was relying on the president to just follow norms, then when it came right down to it they chose to do next to nothing in the name of “not being divisive.” Inaction was still an action, and it was the wrong one. >

Reminds me a lot of the fall of Rome as a republic. Just a bunch of norms holding the status quo in place until someone breaks the norms and a bunch of power hungry fucks go, oh, I guess we could always have done that!
(That's a simplification of course, a lot of them plausibly thought they were doing the right thing at the time.) >

I just imagine all the Roman senate going “Huh. So Caesar just brought his army over the Rubicon? Interesting…” >

The optimates in the Senate kept violently crushing every attempt at dilution of their own wealth and power, from having the Gracchi brothers killed for daring to attempt land reform, to the dictatorship of Sulla who used his own powers decrease any political influence from the plebs. 
Caesar wasn't going to just stand idly by and let himself be crushed when he saw how history played out for those who didn't have enough loyal legions to defend themselves.
Probably sheer arrogance kept the Senate thinking that the populares were just going to let themselves be stomped on every few decades since it worked out great for them until that point. >


dictatorship of Sulla 

Wasn't he the one that owned the fire department that charged for putting out fires, and then he let them go around starting fires to put out? If you couldn't pay, they would put the fire out, but claim your property if I recall. Seems a lot of people would like that kind of system today.
(oops, looks like I mixed him up with Crassus) >

Crassus owned the fire department but the money to purchase the firemen came from Crassus being one of Sulla's top henchmen. Sulla started purging 'disloyal' citizens and Crassus job was publishing the lists that basically said 'go ahead and kill these people and take all their shit, signed- Sulla' But the one actually posting, and therefore with final say on who goes on the list was Crassus.
Plutarch, Life of Crassus, 6.6–7 (trans. Perrin, 1916). "It is said that, in Bruttium, he actually proscribed a man without Sulla's orders, merely to get his property; and that, for this reason, Sulla, who disapproved of his conduct, never employed him again on public business."
I would like to add the amount he stole was 220 tons of gold, worth 14 billion in todays money. >

And the punishment for his crime? He was never employed again... >

Funny how the 'Law and Order' Party consistently votes against fully funding the IRS.
After 9/11 Bush has the FBI reassign about 600 agents from financial crimes to anti-terrorism, then forgot to hire replacements.
Almost like they don't want rich people to have to follow the rules. >

We saw this push before midterms with the "87,000 armed IRS agents are coming to your homes!"
Without mentioning:

This is the total staff expected to be hired in the next 10 years (a small percentage of agents).  
52,000 are set to retire in that timespan.  
It would bring the number of total staff to basically the same number as the early 1990s.  
The plan commits to not raising audit rates for those making under $400,000
It is geared towards combatting the many loopholes that wealthy tax evaders use.

So of course the GOP, with their former tax-fraud-king President, is screaming about it and trying to gaslight the public. >

Yea the IRS is going to get my barely above poverty line dude to audit my ass. My taxes are Fucking simple as fuck. Yea bob, your working poor ass working at dollar general is going to get an audit from armed IRS agents. How are these people are so fucking gullible as fuck, Jesus Christ. >


How are these people are so fucking gullible as fuck

gestures broadly at the systemic dismantling and undermining of public education over the past several decades >

It doesnt help that the reasonable people have been coddling the unreasonable like "its ok you think chemtrails are real, surely your opinion on the economy is still valid"
Crackpots should be laughed out of the room, not catered to politically. >

We could also teach the fuck outa stuff like critical thinking, logic, civics, programming & influence, & how disinformation works. >

I was already a hyper critical person, but I lucked out and got an amazing history teacher my Jr. year of high school. He was adament to teach us, practically, how to use critical thinking skills. If you only paid attention to the curriculum and ignored his asides about this, you still were cleverly taught the lesson through the assignments. You'd learn a lot more if you listened and participated in the discussion it was meant to spark, but none of it was going to make you fail if you tuned him out. 
He taught me how to sort out and focus it instead of just constantly having critical considerations for basically anything that wasn't just cold hard lifeless facts. >

I love when you get amazing teachers like that. My fic lit professor and my physci and earth sci teachers in highschool were like that. I often think about what it would be like if I had not met those teachers and the friends I made in those classes that pushed me to keep reading and writing and thinking about the world around me. >

Yeah that dude had me figured out immediately and he tolerated the fact that I was very aimless but also capable and articulate. I turned in a test one day and he said something that cut straight through my bullshit and has stuck with me ever since "you crush it on your tests, you participate with valuable input in discussions....so why aren't you actually trying?". I still haven't sorted that part out but he definitely left a permanant mark and I often recall what he said when I'm getting in my own way. >

I lucked out with an amazing history teacher. I also had a fantastic government professor that taught me so much i almost changed my major. >

Like most regulatory agencies and Gov. services that work for the public good, understaffing and budget cuts have yielded what the GOP wants; barely functional and easy to manipulate.    
That likely reached a pinnacle during the Trump administration. >

I remember a Reagan-era quote of making the “government so small you could drown it in the bathtub.” >

That’s Grover Norquist. He goes around to GOP politicians forcing them to sign a pledge that they won’t raise any taxes for any reason at all, ever. >

And a lot of them hold that pledge more sincerely than their office-holder's pledge to protect and defend the Constitution. >

Well yeah, because for a lot of them, that was the plan regardless of the Norquist pledge. After all, they're protecting their own money first and foremost anyway. >

The Deep State turned out to be real and more GOP projection? >

Incidentally, that's what the P in GOP stands for. >

I think the “O” could also be “obfuscate” in addition to “obstruct”. >

Oh no.... the "G" could stand for Gaslight! >

Gaslight, Obstruction, Projection. That does seam to be the party line. >

More like it's a Pokémon monster. GO! PROJECTION!
Trump appears and starts crying! >

Well, he did keep calling them corrupt. Now we know how he was so sure. >

Trump controlled the IRS when he was president.  He put his own people in there (Charles Rettig).  So, Trump controlled the IRS.  They did what he wanted.  And he wanted to NOT be audited.
Edit:  I hate editing.  It makes people feel like I've changed something they already agreed with.  I promise I'm not doing that here.  Just adding to the original comment:  Rettig made hundreds of thousands of dollars per year renting out Trump properties in Hawaii.  All the while denying congress access to Trump's tax returns and - perhaps more damaging to our republic - failing ?refusing? to audit Trump's yearly tax returns. >

I worked there up until a few months ago, from the early Obama years. There was a marked change when he was in office. Lots of weird policy changes that I wish I could share. >

I wish you could share them also.  Trump was a master of moving people into positions where they could protect him.  Even if it meant breaking laws.  I'll never understand his ability to get them to do this. >


I'll never understand his ability to get them to do this.

He's a con man. It's his only skill. >

I know.  But he could not convince 84 million of us common slobs to buy into his crap.  How in the hell does he get highly educated folks to lie for him when they know they could end up in jail?  And it's not just one or two.  These folks are all over the damn place. >

Appealing to greed. Apparently Rettig was getting money from Trump on the side through some real estate somewhere.  
And jail? Really? Almost no white collar criminals go to jail. And when they do it's country club jail. 
Go to anyone remotely corruptible and offer them $5,000,000 to spend a year in country club jail and they get a cushy job paying twice their current salary when they get out due to all the contacts they made in there. How many would take it? Probably most wouldn't but he doesn't need most. He needs some. 
One of the great skills of a con man is finding the right mark. Trump shopped for a group of people who were most easily controlled and corrupted (Republicans) and appealed to their worst nature. If Democrats were the easiest to corrupt he would be a Democrat. He chose his mark well and applied his skill. The only thing that really saved us is he's otherwise completely incompetent and he's incredibly lazy. Oh and he's mentally ill - his malignant narcissicism got in his way. >

Rettig made over 100,000 dollars a year renting out trump properties in Hawaii.  All while denying congress access to trump's taxes and failing to do a mandated yearly audit of trump's taxes.  The guy had to know this was going to be found out.  I guess trump finds folks who prioritize short term gains over long term pains...... >

Trump was sure he would never leave office. After just 3 years his cult wanted him to be their dictator. They tried (poorly) to overthrow the government and install him. Hell they started using the threat of armed violence two years out from the election. The long term plan was him being king. There wasnt going to be consequences. >

I make less than $26k a year but I get audited. Trump is the biggest liar in US history and people trust him. This world is backwards. >

It's very similar to how I feel about C-level executives getting a ton of their lunches catered while people making significantly less than them have to bring in their own or buy their own. >

So there really is a deep state? The right wing talking heads were just wrong about what side they supported. >

Always projection. Imagine the ones that are always frothing at the mouth about grooming children. Someone needs to look into that. >

This is what really concerns me the most tbh. >

From 2018, the head of the IRS was Trump appointee, Charles Rettig. I can see the shock on all of your faces. >

What did the IRS do between the election and October 2018 then? Wasn't that enough time to audit Trump? >

According to Trump, they were auditing him. Remember? >

How is this comment helpful? Honestly. It's a legitimate question. If the IRS stooge who blocked audits of Trump wasn't in office, why wasn't Trump already being audited? The reason for the lack of audits from 2018 onwards is clear. Before that year, though, what reason is there? >

Thanks! These are good details that help explain it. I appreciate you. >

The IRS is a necessary evil, but one that needs a teardown and rebuild. For the average American with a W2, it should be automated and computerized.  The focus should go to scrutiny of the highest earners, not ruining lives over amounts that cost more to pursue than they would recover. >

That's the tricky bit.
The highest earners are the ones that have the power to tie their problems up in the legal system making it very expensive to pursue.
Currently, it makes the most sense to go after a lot of poor people rather than one rich person.
That needs to change, but I'm not sure how you would do it. >

They generally target those who make less than $25k per year. Let's say they find 100,000 people who owed an average of $1,000 more (I am going purposefully high). They net $100m.
They go after a billionaire, they likely get far more back. As I said earlier, this is only practical if we also hold them tax cheat accountable for litigation costs upon any finding of unreported income. >

This makes that Comey audit all the more interesting...
IRS inspector general says intensive audits of former FBI Director Comey and deputy were random

"Maybe it's a coincidence or maybe somebody misused the IRS to get at a political enemy," Comey said in a statement in July. >

America has all the info now to never vote for the insurrectionist party again. >

America had enough info in 2015, yet here we are. >

Only the moderately educated had all the info, and therein lies the problem. >

The uneducated will believe whatever Trump says regardless of the facts or reality. Full stop >

Exactly, and thats the majority of the nation. >

Remember when Trump yelled about how he was under a constant audit? And how he blamed the IRS for losing millions of dollars?
And how he threatened to fire the IRS Commissioner?
And how he then went on to appoint the former head of the IRS? 
And how he then went on to promote the former investigator who was assigned to his case? >

Not required to. Advised to. That's why it needs to become a law. >

It’s IRS policy. Like not indicting a sitting president is DOJ policy. >

Internal policies only matter if the people running the organization agree to follow them. >

If policy does not have an efforcement clause it's just a guideline and we all know the pirate quote about guidelines. >

We failed the IRS.  We don't' fund them enough to go after tricky cases.    Every dollar spent on funding the IRS returns $6, yet Republicans keep cutting the budget for or voting against increasing the budget for it  for some reason.  It's almost like they are trying to hide something. >

"DRAIN THE SWAMP!" ^*
* Actually means to get rid of oversight. >

Drain the swamp and build a casino. >

IRS dogged us for 4 year about a $400 child tax credit they claimed we didn’t quality for.  Like up our ass letter after letter demanding we repay it…. 4 years. >

Well, did you qualify for it? >

We did!!!! >

Take a wild guess who was the head of the IRS under trump… >

The same guy Biden failed to fire, Charles Rettig. >

Postmaster dejoy is still around as well 😂 >

President cannot fire the postmaster. >

I'm sorry to say it, as he's so deserving of punishment, but we live in an oligarchy. Trump will never face meaningful consequences for his actions. Better to just focus your energies on promoting progressive legislation and politicians at this point. >

This seems nefarious but I’m serious guys the IRS is having a really hard time finding high end tax auditors.   And both the OPM and the NTEU are also adding complicating factors (squabbling over technical job description language when it wouldn’t matter because all candidates for the sort of role are probably CPAs anyway).
An auditor with the capabilities to effectively review Trumps taxes would make 115k at the IRS vs 200-250k in the private sector.  People who want the 40 hours a week go to the IRS but chances are if you’re in tax you’re probably not that type.  There have also been a LOT of retirements from LB&I in the past several years as well.  We’ve never had a president as wealthy as trump and the LB&I team probably already had such a backlog it just didn’t happen.
Source: trying to get hired at the IRS in LB&I
EDIT: I’ve read into this and they assigned the audit of all 400 trump entities to one auditor it seems my theory about understaffing at LB&I is correct. >


We’ve never had a president as wealthy as trump

Given the reported losses he suffered, I'd say every president that owned a house or car was more wealthy than Trump with his debts. >

But if I make 1100 on ebay they come after me. Seems fair >

I made $32,000 last year and because my employer didn’t take out taxes I owe over $3000. It will take me so long to pay it off. This makes me unbelievably angry. People living on poverty wages are paying exorbitant amounts in taxes while rich assholes like him don’t even receive a bill. Trust I got my bill as soon as I filed. This country is so twisted. >

I think they were intimidated by him. So, they didn’t initiate the audit. This is exactly what trump wanted. 
The IRS isn’t funded to fight stuff like this. 
Remember when Biden wanted to fund his multi trillion dollar bill by enforcing existing tax code and Machin and others balked at that. The rich senators won’t approve funding the IRS to enforce tax code on their rich buddies. That leaves middle income people responsible for funding the entire US government. >

i wonder if any american who isn't functionally braindead is at all surprised by these 'reveleations'. >

Zero faith in American politics - boarding the revolution train has never been easier. >

I keep thinking about what these institutions would have to do to regain public trust and it just seems impossible amid everything else going on.
Like we'd need to see at least a full unobstructed decade of bad actors getting hard jail time along with structural overhauls and an unprecedented investment in social safety nets. 
I can't see anything close to that happening in this lifetime. >

That’s his whole thing, he’s been getting a pass at everything for his whole life.
His kids and their partners are the same.
These people aren’t good business people, they’re not admirable, they’re crooks.
They steal right from under your nose and people think they’re amazing but in truth they’re just scum that has risen to the top. >

You know what they say: Shit floats. >

"the president regularly asked for audits of those he considered his political enemies.."
That's... concerning. Anyone going to look into this? Or are we just hoping the DOJ makes its move, shortly? >

If the rich and powerful are not kept in check and only the middle class and poor are the ones carrying the load. We are being taken advantage of. Why do I even bother paying just to be clowned on by the rich. >

Funny how this conversation happened ever week for four years and now the media is pretending this never happened. >

Every part of the government has failed America ALL SEDITIONISTS THAT PLANNED J6 ARE FREE ALMOST 2 YEARS LATER!!!
This goes way beyond one man even if he's the former seditionist in chief >

Wasn't there a story a while of someone on the IRS admitting they rather go after the poor since it's easier? >

Yeah, people who make 50-80k a year have way simpler taxes and they will absolutely send you a letter about arithmetic errors etc >

The issue is that he made about $25m and paid about $1m in taxes.  His tax rate was around 4%.  I am a nurse and my tax rate that same year was just under 20%.  This is corporate media deflection. Everyone who paid more than 4% should be livid.  
THAT IS THE REAL OUTRAGE! >

You know, I’m automatically attracted to rubes — I just start conning them. It’s like a magnet. Just grift. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a President, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything. >

They all get passes! It's all a big club and you and I are not in it. 
Pentagon loses 2 trillion: crickets
FTX backed by members of Congress 11 billion: crickets
Your $601 cash app transaction: this is it boys time to roll! -IRS >

Nothing will ever happen to this asshole. >

He’s gotten a pass his whole life. Traitor. >

We need a Presidential Administration Accountability Act with unchangeable/permanent rules on taxes, conflict of interests and if violated: charges, jail time, demotion, and loss of benefits and federal prison if need be. >

Who made the decision to not do the required audit? Are they still employed by the IRS? >

Everyone should protest by not paying the IRS! >

It's called corruption. >

No, the rank and file IRS didn’t fail. It is more likely that the Commissioners of Internal Revenue failed to order the audit: 
David Kautter (Acting)
November 13, 2017   to October 1, 2018
&
Charles P. Rettig
October 1, 2018 to November 12, 2022
Under the authority and/or direction of the Secretary of Treasury, Steve Mnuchin. >

Haven't the GOP spent decades gutting the IRS budget? just so they can get away with these tax loopholes and evasion? save their buddy companies a few billion in taxes? >

The IRS is underfunded as fuck and has been for some time >

It's the same way we enforce all laws.
The big, the powerful, the rich, they can fight it. They can hide it, the can make prosecution difficult.
But a peon? They don't have the resources so they roll over because it's the best move for them to make. 
That's why we arrest street level dealers and no kingpins, hookers and not pimps, traffic violations over violent crime. >

80,000,000 Republicans will say they simply don’t care that the IRS failed, that Trump lied and America got defrauded. They are more concerned with Hunter Biden’s laptop & AOC’s resume. >

Man that title really is victim blaming.
Keep gutting the IRS so they can't operate, then blame them when they don't operate properly. >

Someone leaned on them. >

Mnuchin failed the people, but succeeded for trump. The IRS just followed orders >

But they are absolutely SHITTING about whether I file for my 26k income. >

Yet another ruling that relied on good faith instead of penalty of law. Can't assume the president will be a good guy. >

This is really corrupt. >

The Republican party and, by extension, their donors are responsible for what you call the IRS failing America. These powerful people wish to tax the poor and middle class to pay for only the services that they want. Failing to achieve this, the GQP has defunded and unjustly criticized the IRS and myriad social and regulatory programs for decades. If the rich and powerful would stop working for the failure of government programs that they don't agree with, congress could modify programs to improve government and make it FAR MORE EFFECTIVE. Don't hold your breath, though - it's not in the foreseeable future. >

The IRS would very much rather harass family making less than 50G a year and nickle and dime them that to chase after the real criminals.
​
This goes to show you, if you have more money than the poor, you can get away with it.
Middle class doesn't exist in the US. You are either poor or a millionaire. >

Yet, as an 18 year old I had to pay $2600 for just $600 I forgot to claim. They have the gall to tell me about my mistake 3 years later and oh here’s all the interest on that too. >

Fix the loopholes everyone legally uses >

He got a pass just like every other billionaire (if he even is one).  
You know who won’t get a pass from the IRS?  
Us.  
That’s the real scandal. >

This is by Republican design! We know this. Republicans don't want to contribute to the greater good/society. So, they always vote to defund the IRS.
Look at Texas...they can't even get their power grid correct in an oil state. Why? Republicans are greedy and do NOT want to help thy neighbor. This is how societies seize to exist. Wake-up, America!
Oh, and check out mortality rates these days for pregnant women. Republicans are monsters. >

Didn’t trump basically fire everyone and hire his cronies into those higher level positions? How can we be surprised? >

Why did he get a pass?  Did he abuse his authority to make that happen? >

Why do you think that Trump defunded the IRS? >

It seems pretty straightforward to me: audit Obama or Biden, you know you're not going to find anything funny. Bush probably had handlers smart enough to not do anything too stupid, they were a political dynasty decades in the making. Trump, though? They knew the moment they popped the seal on that audit they'd be up to their necks on illegal shit and shit involving other countries and that they would then have to deal with referring all of these findings to someone.
If you are a career bureaucrat that regularly audits tax returns, sitting down to do one on a figure that will absolutely have a laundry list of crimes, omissions, irregularities, and questionable filings who is also the president sounds like a great way to lose your job, your federal pension, hell, end up on the wrong end of a polonium teacup. 
I'd wager the team that gets to audit the president, a typical president, probably have some of the easiest jobs in the entire IRS. They know they'll be on point, that they've been checked and triple checked by a thousand people interested in making sure not a single thing is out of place and everything is above board, both for the sake of the audit and the knowledge that everything will be made public. But most people with career aspirations as high as the presidency also start that foundation long before they run. Trump just used a corrupt Treasury Sec and the idea that he would flout convention instead. 
To be fair, though, the excuse that they didn't do it because it was complicated pretty much checks out with what we know about the IRS - that rich people get away with their tax crimes by creating a tangled nightmare of nonsense, and that strategy is very effective. >

The IRS does exactly what it is supposed to do.  They are supposed to go after people that cheat on their taxes yet cannot afford a team of lawyers to stall the case.
They do exactly that.  They chase the working class and give the ruling class a pass. >

Trump "got a pass" because Trump corrupted the IRS by putting his own puppets in charge.    Trump corrupts everything he touches. >

They say Washington is a swamp, but what it really is, is a place where those with Power can avoid responsibility if they choose to be corrupt.  Trump mastered this quickly. >

As did the entire senate and house. >

The legislature failed to implement checks to overreach of power, and disarmed the attempts that were made after his most egregious actions.
Only the courts stood against illegal actions by the Executive, sometimes. >

The IRS was too busy doing extreme audits of Trump's enemies to audit him. >

Don’t you know the IRS only audits poor people and dissidents? >

All checks are being proven to fail for the rich. They just let 2 people walk through security without passing checks into a room with the president. People in positions to check this stuff need to take it serious before this winds up as another paragraph in my sons history books. >

The IRS didn’t fail America. The IRS did this on purpose. They knew what they were doing, and they decided to protect Trump, via Trump or via bribes. >

They knew this was coming and thats why those maga fucks started shitting all over the IRS this year in an effort to make them look worse than he does. >

Didn't Trump appoint the head of the IRS ? That would explain it. >

He put people in place that were as corrupt as him. >

Mnuchin literally said he wasn't touching Trump's taxes. Where is this surprise coming from? >

Of course he did.  Guy's been getting a pass all his life, its why he's the way he is and can't accept defeat.
Its funny all the republicans I know think Dems are soft, ruining America, raising their kids wrong etc...but Trump is a shining example of what happens when you raise and treat someone with 0 consequences in life. >

But the person making $35k/yr needs an annual audit because of the Venmo transactions on their side gig. >

This sets a terrible precedent. You’ll see Americans having a mindset of the rich don’t pay taxes and get away with it why should I? 
I think you’ll see a ton of average Americans trying to avoid paying taxes and other things if the IRS doesn’t crack down on the rich and the loopholes they have. >

Weird how he was in the red and once he got into office he started making money. >

How much do you want to bet he “persuaded” the person in charge to not audit him? >

You didn't need the IRS to tell you that he paid nothing in taxes.  It's well known that the rich pay nothing in taxes.  The IRS didn't fail, your representatives who specifically make tax loopholes for the wealthy failed you. >

We should all just stop filling out our taxes. Until they sort out trump, that fat dorky fuck from ftx, bezos, and musk. >

Who is the person at IRS responsible for making Trump's audit happen? That person must be held to account, fired, disciplined. There must be consequences or it will happen again. >

Honestly, this seems to be by design. Give a pass to the wealthy (who can afford a team of lawyers to fight it) and focus on harassing middle class families.
Our tax system is in desperate need of a full overhaul. >

IRS was corrupted right along with the secret service. 
Imagine betraying your country for this con man. 
What a bunch of weak willed suckers. >

The IRS is also a massively underfunded entity thanks to republicans… >

The problem was and is his appointment of a cronie to head the IRS . who never did audits on the president like the government has said should be done every year. This is how crooks work and Trump is a crook and had been for years even before becoming president. >

Oh great, now we get years of the GOP going 
"This why we hate the IRS, and it should be abolished!  They are failing to do their jobs!  Waste of tax dollars!" Etc. >

But they will crack down on the little guy >

But tell me again about how he’s such a victim, treated so poorly, had it worse than any other president in history. >

In 2016, the same year Trump paid $750 in income tax, the IRS required that I pay back $2500 in education tax credit that I was not eligible for that year. Earning $30k a year and I paid more income tax than an alleged billionaire who would become the president. WTF?! >

Mother fuckers can audit me twice and never send me my 2020 tax return, but this asshat gets special treatment? I can't even get a person on the fucking phone over there. >

Every single member of r/conservative can eat my asshole for voting for this guy >

Shocking no one whatsoever >

What about we audit all elected officials! >

Every year those a-holes audit me bc I made one mistake in 2009. Every. Year. >

How on earth can anyone think that a populace that doesn't engage in democracy beyond voting against the other guy, would have a just and equal society? >

The GOP,  with its tentacles everywhere, is effectively conspiring against the USA and the American people. Period. >

It would be interesting to know if IRS head received directive from Mnuchin to cease/not proceed w audit. >

Y’all talking bout the “IRS” as if an entire agency “failed us” means you don’t understand how governments, at any level, actually work.   There’s a difference between federal/state/local agency employees, and appointed positions. If the appointed official decides (or is coerced) to not do audits, they don’t do audits. This is why the recommendation that came from the IRS said, “Congress” should update the laws so that appointed officials don’t get to have a choice. >

Rules for thee not for me >

Let’s not change the story here and start saying the IRS failed. Trump is the bad guy. >

Checks and balances unless you are corrupt >

The irony is the Right bashing the Left for being "soft on crime" as the Right has successfully dismantled much of the IRS ability to find and prosecute white collar crime. >

They’re too busy, auditing Americans, who use the child tax credit?? Yes this is a fact. >

Rich people always get a pass.  They are above the law. >

Faith in our institutions being systemically eroded. If we don't reel this in, it's going to get ugly. >

So this must be why the irs is hiring so many agents? 
To deal with the massive pieces of shit that evade taxes every year >

But I was told that conservatives were the unfair victims of the IRS's scheming ways /s >

Does Mnuchin have liability here or does he just get a free pass >

Eh. They were too busy not answering my calls with questions about a letter I received from them to have time to audit trumps taxes. >

“I was the most transparent—and am— transparent president in history,” —President Trump 
May 24, 2019 >

I think that every single person trump appointed to any position was required to do one or two "little favors" for him. Whether the favors were legal or not. >

the IRS came after me hard for unreported a 1099. I made less than 30k that year. >

The IRS did not fail America.
America failed the IRS by castrating it.
Give them money to fight the big guys and you won't see this stuff. >

Hillary told us in the 90s there was a “vast right wing conspiracy” and no one believed her just like they didn’t believe her that Trump was Putin’s puppet. Hopefully people realize she’s not the devil they say she and wake up to this shit >

A lot of agencies failed the US during trump’s rule, post office for example, or even the EPA for removal of climate change information, thanks to the control and pressures of the trump administration. Why do we say the IRS failed? 
I’d blame the IRS for failures in monitoring and prosecution of tax dodges and frauds committed by trump, other wealthy people and corporations well before trump’s rise. Letting them skate for years just due to not wanting to deal with the cries of “persecution”and “witch hunt” by the defense team trying the case in public.  They kept getting away with it, still are, but trump is just one in a long line of failures. >

OMG I do not want everyone to know that I fund trumps tax breaks. We should all rally around all the billionaires and maybe do a go fund me page  to help them pay taxes. >

Congress has gutted the IRS! For a very corrupt reason! Can’t tax the rich without audits. Can’t audit without auditors. >

Which other elected officials weren't audited when they otherwise normally would have been? Who got away with enriching themselves during this time besides Trump? >

Well it's a good thing that he didn't have his own business interests, or relationships with foreign investors, that we might have to worry about, and which his taxes would provide visibility into. >

Notice the framing - the IRS failed - not bad actors who broke the law
There will never be accountability for individuals >

Didn't the IRS blatantly admit a while back that they prioritize auditing and pursuing damages from poor people because it's easier to get money out of people who can't afford a lawyer? Why are we expecting any level of fairness or proper policy from them? >

“Sorry we were too busy destroying the lives of a working immigrant family who made one trivial mistake on their deductions.” -IRS >

Only the working class pay taxes in America. >

I have been audited twice in 2 years and they didn't audit Trump once? >

This is a failure of the tax code. Congress needs to fix this. Reporting a loss on your taxes is not uncommon for business owners. >

Americans: -constant shock that Trump isn't indicted yet for countless crimes because of constant toying the legal system by the countless cycled lawyers Trump employs-
Also Americans: "WTF IRS, why aren't you going after Trump?!"
OP realizes that there are two justice systems, right? One for the ultra-wealthy and another for the rest of us. >

You realize cause he appointed a stooge to help him dodge it right? >

Yet the IRS is making me pay them $50/month (which is extremely difficult for me) cause I owe them like 1k. If I fully try to understand what’s going on, my head will explode >

Just like every rich person in capitalism. They have different rules than the working class >

This is the what.  I am now only interested in the why and how.  Accountability is paramount.  Those who were in leadership roles and the people whose job it was to conduct presidential audits must go down.  Anyone who enabled this must go down.  Doesn’t matter if it was complacency, ineptitude, or purely a mistake.  They should be held accountable and not allowed to work in the government ever again.  Period. >

Great job America! Keep not holding the rich to account and things should go swell. >

Trump got a pass the same way a lot of rich individuals get a pass. They bully the underfunded department with lawsuits. >

If the IRS had done their job decades ago with Trump he wouldn’t have been able to be President. Who has he been paying off?! >

IRS failed for sure, but the DoJ has also failed to indict trump for any of the countless crimes he has been committing his entire adult life. >

IRS is too focused on fucking up smaller people over technicalities than it is going after actual people evading taxes >

People should be fired