Letter: Do a little research

To the Editor:

87,000 IRS agents. The truth is, it’s 87,000 IRS employees, not just agents.

Here are more examples of people who like to distort the truth. [Newt] Gingrich: “87,000 IRS Agents would more than double the government’s anti-citizen police force.” [Marco] Rubio: “After today’s raid on Mar-a-Lago, what do you think the left plans to use those 87,000 new IRS agents for?“ [Kevin] McCarthy: “Democrats new army of 87,000 IRS agents will be coming for you with 710,000 new audits for Americans who earn less than $75.000.”

They like to project attention elsewhere to take attention away from them, Trump, Cruz, Flynn and others. A 2021 Treasury Department report estimate stated that about $80 billion funding would allow IRS to incrementally hire nearly 87K employees by 2031. Most replacements are for retirees, including not only IRS enforcement agents, but also customer service and technical specialists. The audit rate for those earning less than $400,000 will not rise.

So there you have it. You can believe them, or you can do a little research and know the truth. We have become a degraded democracy because of Trump and his other political allies who have shown their true colors, admiring and sometimes mimicking Trump’s antics, all in order to stay in his good graces and stay in office at the expense of doing right.

If people continue to choose our representatives who dictate propaganda to twist the truth, sow uncertainty and incite violence, and you don’t learn from history, you will get the dictator you deserve.

Allen Close

Oswego