Big Government: The IRS admitted to Congress what many suspect: That its abysmal customer service and failure to protect taxpayer data are because it’s diverted its resources to ObamaCare. Now it wants another billion.
House Republicans were flabbergasted when Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen asked the House Appropriations Committee for another $1 billion for the IRS budget for fiscal 2017, following the $290 million increase he got in fiscal 2016. An extra billion is a 12% beef-up for the agency’s budget.
Seems the customer service is a shambles, with 8 million, or half, of calls from taxpayers seeking to comply with the law going unanswered. And for those who do get through, it takes an average of 23 minutes on hold.
Cybersecurity has fallen apart, too, with hackers scooping up data in at least two major security breaches affecting 431,000 people based on the agency’s failure to spend for vital upgrades. Koskinen said $900 million had been cut from that part of the budget — and used for ObamaCare enforcement.
“Congress, as I noted in my testimony, has underfunded … the Affordable Care Act,” Koskinen said, as quoted by the Washington Examiner. “That does not remove the statutory mandate we have that we have to implement the Act.”
To his credit, the House Appropriations Committee chairman wasn’t buying it. “The mandate we want you to have is to serve the public and you’re not doing that,” said Hal Rogers, a Kentucky Republican. He pointed out that Congress forked out the extra cash last year to ensure that the IRS improves customer service and cleans up its act after a string of scandals involving excessive bonuses, lavish conferences and the targeting of political dissidents.
“Each year we learn that customer service diminishes,” Rogers told Koskinen, who admitted the situation has been bad for “three or four years.”
“You may argue it’s because the IRS budget has been cut, but I’m going to argue it’s because the IRS chooses to spend its funds in other areas like the Affordable Care Act, bonuses and conferences,” Rogers said.
Koskinen faults Congress for not funding ObamaCare enforcement. So he let vital services to fall apart to make ObamaCare a priority.
And now he wants a billion more.
It’s as if ObamaCare is black hole consuming the IRS, and not because of the law — but because of the president’s priorities and the decisions of his officials. It’s its own reason to scrap ObamaCare and for the IRS to just say no.