Republicans Target IRS Funding in Midterm Ads

Plus, Biden surveys Florida damage ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [The Fisc](   By Michael Rainey Good Wednesday evening. Today, President Biden took a first-hand look at the devastation in Florida following Hurricane Ian and pledged to do what it takes to help the state recover. In Vienna, a group of oil-producing nations led by OPEC said they were cutting production in a bid to raise prices. And in Ukraine, Russia continued to lose ground to surging Ukrainian forces. Meanwhile, in Alaska, the Katmai National Park and Preserve opened up voting in its [Fat Bear]( competition. Pick your favorite ursine porker [here](. Here’s what you need to know: (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters) Biden Extends Florida Disaster Declaration President Joe Biden traveled to Florida Wednesday to inspect the damage done by Hurricane Ian, the Category 4 storm responsible for more than 100 deaths and billions of dollars in damage. After surveying the destruction, Biden, joined by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, promised the federal government would provide all the assistance needed. "We have one job and only one job, and that’s to make sure that people in Florida get everything they need to fully, thoroughly recover," Biden told reporters at a press conference held near Ft. Myers, which took the brunt of the storm. "We have a long road ahead of us, rebuilding entire communities from the ground up," Biden added. "I want the people of Florida to know — you have my commitment and America's commitment that we're not going to leave." The president listed some of the resources that have been made available to help Florida residents, including 4,000 federal personnel, millions of meals and bottles of water provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and a commitment to cover 100% of the cleanup costs. Earlier in the day, the White House [announced]( that it was doubling the length of time the federal government would cover cleanup costs, adding another 30 days to the major disaster declaration. Asked about the cost of the cleanup and rebuilding operation, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told reporters on Air Force One that they are still working on an estimate. "We are still very much in the lifesaving and stabilization mode," Criswell said. "They are just beginning the assessments of what the actual extent of damage is to the infrastructure. It’s going to be in the billions. How many billions? I don’t know yet. But it will certainly be in the billions and perhaps one of the more costly disasters that we’ve seen in many years." Number of the Day: 2 Million A group of 20 leading oil-producing nations announced Wednesday that they will collectively cut production by 2 million barrels per day in an effort to increase prices. The reduction is the first for the OPEC-Plus coalition, which includes Saudi Arabia and Russia, since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, and comes despite efforts by the Biden administration to persuade the group to maintain current production levels. President Joe Biden said he was "disappointed by the shortsighted decision," which will likely push gas prices higher in the U.S. while adding new inflationary pressure to the world economy. Republicans Target IRS Funding in Midterm Ads As a result of the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed through Congress this summer with no Republican support, the IRS is on track to receive an additional $80 billion in funding over the next decade – and lots of GOP candidates are hoping that reminding voters of that fact will help propel them to victory in the upcoming midterm elections. "Voters in the country’s most competitive House and Senate races face a deluge of Republican ads focusing on the dubious claim that Democrats have empowered the IRS to hire an army of 87,000 new agents to target the middle class," Punchbowl News’ Max Cohen wrote Wednesday. The claims are "dubious," Cohen says, because experts agree that the money will be spent on bringing the tax agency back up to strength following years of budget cuts. According to the IRS, which has not yet developed a detailed plan for how it will spend the funding, much of the money will be spent on improving customer service and acquiring new information technology for the hopelessly outdated agency, which still relies on computer programs written more than 50 years ago. In addition, the IRS and the Treasury Department have pledged to focus their efforts on high-income households and corporations, whose audit rates have tumbled in recent years as the tax agency’s recourses have been slashed. "I direct that any additional resources—including any new personnel or auditors that are hired—shall not be used to increase the share of small business or households below the $400,000 threshold that are audited relative to historical levels," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrote in a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig in August. Some recent GOP ad campaigns, however, are putting a decidedly more pessimistic if not wholly fantastic spin on the issue. All official statements to the contrary, Republicans insist that the IRS plans to hire an army of aggressive news agents – the 87,000 figure comes from an estimate made by the Treasury Department last year of how many employees in all areas the agency would need to hire in the coming years, in large part to make up for an expected wave of retirements – who will target middle-class taxpayers. The Senate Leadership Fund, for example, has been running ads in Georgia targeting Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock for his vote in support of the Inflation Reduction Act, which the ad claims will enable the federal government "to hire 87,000 new IRS employees to dig even deeper in middle-class pockets." Another GOP ad targeting Democrat Cheri Beasley in the North Carolina senate race warns voters that the "liberal politician … is gonna knock on your door with an army of new IRS agents" as she sends "the IRS beast to collect her taxes on working families." On the screen, viewers see images of empty wallets, harried families, nighttime police raids and IRS agents taking target practice at a shooting range. Meanwhile, the National Republican Senatorial Committee is targeting Sen. Mark Kelly, saying the Arizona Democrat voted to hire "87,000 IRS workers," helpfully adding that that’s "enough to fill Sun Devil Stadium." Quote of the Day "I’ll wax philosophical here: The world is changing incredibly rapidly, and the pace of change is going to increase, it’s not going to slow down. The world’s moving at 100 miles an hour, and at our optimum efficiency [in Congress], we move at 10 miles an hour. We’ve got to figure out how to respond more quickly, but we’re not structured to do that." — Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY), chair of the House Budget Committee, [speaking to Roll Call]( as he prepares to retire from Congress after 16 years in office. Boosters Could Save 90,000 Lives, More Than $50 Billion in Medical Costs If 80% of Americans who are eligible to receive the new Covid-19 booster shots were to receive them by the end of the year, the country could avoid 90,000 deaths and save about $56 billion in direct medical costs, according to a [new study]( from The Commonwealth Fund and Yale School of Public Health. Unfortunately, the U.S. is unlikely to hit those numbers. While 68% of the population has received an initial vaccine treatment, less than half of those vaccinated have gotten a booster. "Booster uptake in the United States has steadily declined since the initial wave of the Omicron variant, and federal financial support for vaccination campaigns has not been replenished, partly because of the perception that the pandemic is over," the paper’s authors write. The researchers warn that without a change in approach, the expected winter surge in the virus could be deadly: "If vaccination continued at its current pace through the end of March 2023, a potential winter surge in COVID-19 infections could result in a peak of around 16,000 hospitalizations and 1,200 deaths per day by March 2023." --------------------------------------------------------------- Send your feedback to yrosenberg@thefiscaltimes.com. And please encourage your friends to [sign up here]( for their own copy of this newsletter. --------------------------------------------------------------- News - [Biden to Storm-Ravaged Florida: ‘We’re Not Going to Leave’]( – Associated Press - [OPEC, Allies Move to Slash Oil Production, Eliciting Blistering White House Response]( – Washington Post - [In Rebuke to West, OPEC and Russia Aim to Raise Oil Prices With Big Supply Cut]( – New York Times - [Inside the White House’s Failed Effort to Dissuade OPEC From Cutting Oil Production to Avoid a ‘Total Disaster’]( – CNN - [Biden Administration Steps Up Protection Against Student Loan Forgiveness Scams]( – NPR - [Fed Official Says Inflation Fight Will Take Time, Despite Signs of Progress]( – Wall Street Journal [Weeks Before Midterm Elections, Republicans Warn of an Army of 87,000 IRS Agents That Will Harass Americans]( – CBS News - [Biden’s Climate-Bill Win Offers Fresh Chance to Woo Midterm Voters]( – Wall Street Journal - [Okla. GOP Ties Hospital’s COVID Funds to End of Gender-Affirming Care]( – Washington Post Views and Analysis - [The Fed Has to Stay the Course Against Inflation]( – Jason Furman, Wall Street Journal - [Fed’s Rate Increases Defy All the Rules]( – Greg Ip, Wall Street Journal - [The Saudi-Russian Oil Axis Snubs Biden With Production Cuts]( – Javier Blas, Bloomberg - [Republicans Have Found the 2022 Version of ‘Death Panels’]( – Paul Waldman, Washington Post - [Republican Ideas on Economics Are as Bad as Their Ideas on Abortion]( – David Dayen, American Prospect - [The Postal Service Strikes Back in Package Delivery]( – Thomas Black, Bloomberg - [Hunger and Obesity Are the Same Problem in the US]( – Faye Flam, Bloomberg - [‘There Are Two Americas Now: One With a B.A. and One Without’]( – Thomas B. Edsall, New York Times Copyright © 2022 The Fiscal Times, All rights reserved. You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed at our website or through Facebook. 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