(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) In a fiery exchange on NBC’s Meet the Press, Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., and host Chuck Todd engaged in a heated debate concerning the nation’s debt ceiling and the Biden weaponization of the IRS. The two clashed over fiscal responsibility and how the IRS could target small businesses and everyday Americans, not the wealthy.
Referring to negotiations during the Trump administration, Donalds began by stating, “When they were doing that, our economy was thriving, our debt levels were not where they are right now. We were about $24 trillion, not $32 trillion.” He argued that House Republicans are advocating for a return to pre-pandemic spending, adding, “Let’s go back to pre-pandemic spending. That’s common-sense stuff.”
The discussion took a contentious turn when Todd brought up House Republicans’ demands to reduce IRS agents. Todd expressed his confusion over the resistance towards increasing IRS personnel, stating, “I have never understood the resistance of extra IRS agents, unless you knowingly cheat on your taxes.”
The Florida lawmaker quickly dismissed Todd’s assertion, saying, “First of all, that’s salacious and you know that. Most Americans, by far, pay their taxes and they do it honorably.”
He emphasized that the concern was not about honest taxpayers but rather the potential targeting of middle-class families and small business owners, stating, “When you have that many more agents, it’s not to go after the rich. It’s to go after the middle class.”
In 2022, Democrats passed a whopping $80 billion in IRS funding as part of the infamous Inflation Reduction Act. The funding, Democrats admitted, was intended to assist the IRS in auditing tax violations over the span of ten years by hiring 87,000 new agents
Several GOP lawmakers, including Donalds, ran on the promise to defund the IRS, Democrats, on the other hand, claim everyday Americans should not be worried about the incoming agents, a point echoed by Todd.
“Again, if you’re paying what you’re supposed to pay, then you should have nothing to fear,” Todd claimed. Donalds countered by questioning the accuracy of Todd’s comment, asserting, “You would make the assumption that IRS audits are up, that they’re putting out more liens on the American people. That’s not true.”
Donalds accused President Joe Biden of plotting to “find every possible nickel out of every couch from every American to pay for his radical spending.”
Biden is expected to continue negotiations with House Republicans over the debt ceiling amid his Sunday return from the G-7 Summit in Japan.
