The latest Republican position on sending aid to Israel is that the $14.3 billion the White House is requesting must be offset by cuts somewhere else in the budget.
That's not true, but that's the false choice House Republicans have constructed.
"We have to make difficult choices," Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania told Fox News, explaining that the U.S. could either aid Israel or fund IRS agents, but it couldn't do both.
Wait, what? Yes, that's right, Republicans are now suggesting the only way to fund aid to Israel is by clawing back funding that was allocated to the IRS in the Inflation Reduction Act, a signature achievement for President Joe Biden passed in 2022. Democrats included funding for more IRS agents at the strained agency specifically with an eye toward targeting wealthy tax cheats. CNN writes:
It will expand its focus on taxpayers earning more than $1 million who have more than $250,000 in recognized tax debt. The agency, which recently collected $38 million from more than 175 high-income earners, is contacting about 1,600 taxpayers who fall into this category and owe hundreds of millions of dollars.
But the agency's renewed focus on millionaires and billionaires who don't pay their fair share really has Republicans riled up.
"I don't know that having more IRS agents really solves our spending problem," Perry explained. "Since some of my friends on the left think it's important, let them make the choice."
None of that makes a lick of sense until you step back and understand that Republicans will use literally any issue in order to help megarich Americans cheat on their taxes.
So here we are, according to Republicans: Either billionaires get to cheat on their taxes and we can aid Israel ... or not.
The bigger problem here is the House GOP's attempt to separate aid to Israel from aid to Ukraine—a proposal that's dead on arrival in the Senate, and House Republicans know it.
But the lunacy of House Republicans tying Israel aid to cuts at the IRS so America's top 1% can get out of paying their fair share is so on brand. Sure, they support Israel, but only if their ultrarich friends and donors don’t have to pay their taxes.
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