DEFUND THE POLICE AND USE SOCIAL WORKERS INSTEAD OF ARMED OFFICERS

 

4 Facts About IRS Gun Arsenal

With congressional Democrats voting to add 87,000 agents at the Internal Revenue Service, here are some surprising facts about the IRS gun arsenal. (Photo: Stefani Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images)

Some of the 87,000 new agents whom Democrats propose to hire at the Internal Revenue Service could come with some extra firepower. 

On Friday, House Democrats gave final passage to the tax and spending bill they dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act, which, among other things, would double the size of the IRS with 87,000 new agents to beef up enforcement. 

As of two years ago, the IRS had an arsenal of 4,600 guns, reported OpenTheBooks, a government watchdog group. 

Two federal investigations in the past decade found that IRS agents had not been sufficiently trained and were accident-prone with the weapons they have. Armed IRS raids on nonviolent taxpayers surfaced as a concern almost 25 years ago during a Senate hearing. 

Democrats’ bill, which the Senate passed Sunday, awaits the signature of President Joe Biden should it clear the House as early as Friday.

The legislation, which unwinds from 2023 through 2031, would devote $80 billion to expanding the IRS and boosting tax revenue to pay for Democrats’ green energy subsidies and other pet projects. 

Americans for Tax Reform, a conservative group that opposes the legislation, assembled information about the IRS arsenal from government and media reports. 

During the House floor debate Friday, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., raised concerns about arming IRS agents. 

“This bill has new IRS agents and they are armed, and the job description tells them that they need to be required to carry a firearm and expect to use deadly force if necessary,” Boebert said. “Excessive taxation is theft. You are using the power of the federal government for armed robbery on the taxpayers.”  

Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., suggested that no IRS agents are armed. 

“The idea that they are armed—I know that Ms. Boebert would like everybody to be armed, but that’s not what IRS agents do,” Yarmuth said. “I would implore my Republican colleagues to cut out the scare tactics. Quit making things up.”

In a posted job opening for a special agent, the IRS specified that applicants should be “willing and able to participate in arrests, execution of search warrants, and other dangerous assignments,” and able to carry “a firearm and be willing to use deadly force, if necessary.” 

After sparking some controversy amid the proposed expansion of the agency, the IRS deleted “willing to use deadly force” from the job description.

The IRS referred questions to the Treasury Department as to whether the arsenal would increase as the number of personnel multiplies. 

The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment for this report. 

Here are four key things to know about the Internal Revenue Service and weapons. 

1. IRS Guns and Ammo

The current IRS workforce includes 78,661 full-time employees, so Democrats’ legislation, if passed as written, would more than double the agency’s employees.

A 2020 report from OpenTheBooks, titled “The Militarization of the U.S. Executive Agencies,” shows that the IRS Criminal Investigation division has a stockpile of 4,600 guns.

The firearms include 3,282 pistols, 621 shotguns, 539 rifles, 15 fully automatic firearms, and four revolvers, the report says. 

The Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog agency, reported in 2018 that the IRS had 3.1 million rounds of ammunition for pistols and revolvers. 

The tax agency had 1.4 million rounds of ammunition for rifles, the GAO report said, along with 367,750 shotgun rounds and 56,000 rounds for automatic weapons. 

2. Armed Agents ‘Not Properly Trained’ 

The IRS’s National Criminal Investigation Training Academy has the responsibility to implement firearms training and a related qualification program nationwide. 

However, IRS agents assigned to the Criminal Investigation division regularly failed to stay up to date with training or to report incidents of improper firearms use, according to a 2018 report from the Treasury Department’s inspector general for tax administration. 

The inspector general’s report notes that “there is no national level review of firearms training records to ensure that all special agents meet the qualification requirements.”

“Special agents not properly trained in the use of firearms could endanger the public, as well as their fellow special agents, and expose the IRS to possible litigation over injuries or for damages,” the report says. 

For qualification, each agent must score 75% or higher on the firing range, but the IRS lacked documentation showing its agents met the standards, according to the inspector general.  

The report says that 79 of the 459 special agents in the agency’s long gun cadre failed to meet standard qualification requirements. Further, the report says the IRS could not provide information about whether 1,500 special agents were trained in tactical equipment proficiency.

In fiscal year 2016, the inspector general’s report determined, the IRS Criminal Investigation division “did not maintain documented evidence that 145 out of 2,126 special agents met the firearm standards established by CI [Criminal Investigation] and therefore were not qualified law enforcement officers.”

3. More Unintended Discharges Than Intended Ones

The poor firearms training for IRS agents has led to more accidental firings than intentional firings, according to a separate inspector general’s report from 2012. 

“Having the availability of deadly force puts hiring so many new agents into perspective,” Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, told The Daily Signal.

The inspector general for tax administration “found they fired their guns more times by accident than on purpose,” Norquist said. “I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.”

The poor training was not a new problem, since the 2012 report from the inspector general found similar issues with firearms training. 

“If there is insufficient oversight, special agents in possession of firearms who are not properly trained and qualified could endanger other special agents and the public,” the report says. 

The 2012 report not only found that IRS agents fired their weapons by accident more times than intentionally, but that the agency concealed details about the accidental discharges. 

“There were a total of eight firearm discharges classified as intentional use of force incidents and 11 discharges classified as accidental during FYs 2009 through 2011,” the report says.

And, the inspector general’s report continues, “we found that four accidental discharges were not properly reported.”  

It says that “the accidental discharges may have resulted in property damage or personal injury.” 

The public report, however, redacts four references to unreported accidental discharges of firearms. 

4. IRS History of Armed Raids

In 1998, the Senate Finance Committee held investigative hearings into IRS abuses that featured testimony from a Virginia restaurant owner.

The restaurant owner said that armed IRS agents with drug-sniffing dogs burst into his restaurant during breakfast hours and ordered customers to get out. 

Agents took his cash register and records, the restaurant owner told the Senate committee. When he returned home, he found that his door had been kicked open and his residence had been raided. 

A tax preparer from Oklahoma gave similar testimony, saying that about 15 armed IRS agents came to his business and harassed his clients. 

The owner of a Texas oil company recounted that agents came to his office and told employees: “Remove your hands from the keyboards and back away from the computers. And remember, we’re armed!”

In each case, the agents came up empty-handed. 

The Washington Post reported at the time that Democrat and Republican lawmakers alike expressed dismay, and that the Clinton administration’s IRS commissioner, Charles O. Rossotti, promised an investigation of such actions.

At a separate hearing that year before the same Senate committee, Treasury Department’s inspector general, Harry G. Patsalides, told senators that the IRS had tolerated car thefts and anonymous bullying by promoting an agent accused of sexual harassment and allowing agents to conduct armed raids on nonviolent taxpayers.

Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please email letters@DailySignal.com and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the url or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.

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THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH … WELL YOU GET THE POINT!

 

Electric Car Tax Credits: State by State or Perhaps the title should read, We giveth with one hand and taketh away with the other!

The federal government isn't the only source of tax credits for buyers of electric cars. Many of America's 50 states also offer EV tax credits and other incentives.

The Federal Electric Car Tax Credit may be the most well-known EV buying incentive. Still, it is far from the only electric vehicle tax purchase incentive you may receive when you buy an electric vehicle or a home charging station. CONSUMER REPORTS REPORTS CLICK HERE!

Many states, local governments and utilities also offer incentives for residents and customers who buy EVs. That's good, because changes to the federal tax credit under the Inflation Reduction Act make it much harder for many buyers to qualify. The incentives vary widely from state to state, even within some states. Some states offer no incentives at all, while others, such as Oregon, offer as much as a $7,500 rebate.

Read on to learn what offers you might find from states, local governments and utilities.

Tax Credits and Rebates on New EV Purchases

Many, though not all, states offer tax credits or rebates on the purchase of a new electric vehicle. A tax credit reduces the amount you have to pay in state taxes, while a point-of-purchase rebate effectively reduces the price of the car.

Depending on your state, the EV tax credit program may have limits on your income, the base price of the new electric vehicle you're buying or the sticker price of the EV. In some states, the purchase or lease of an electric vehicle is exempt from state sales taxes or is subject to a reduced rate.

In most cases, lease customers don't qualify for EV credits or rebates, as the leasing company takes them. Sometimes the leasing company uses the incentives to reduce the price of the lease.

Depending on the state, the credits available to battery-electric vehicle purchases also apply to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), such as the Toyota Prius Prime and the Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe.

Tax Credits and Rebates on Used EV Purchases

A small (but growing) number of states are offering tax credits or rebates on the purchase of pre-owned electric vehicles. Some allow credits or rebates with person-to-person sales, while others only provide incentives on vehicles purchased at dealerships.

Like new car incentives, some states have income restrictions or limits on the price of the vehicle you're buying.

Credits for Buying and Installing EV Charging Equipment

Depending on the complexity of the installation and the price of the charging station you buy, installing a home electric vehicle charging station can run anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars. In select states, you can offset some of those costs with tax credits or rebates from the state or your local utility.

Incentives for Installing Solar Panels

An excellent way to charge an electric vehicle with a tiny carbon footprint is by getting the electricity from solar panels and home energy storage systems, such as a Tesla Powerwall. In many states and municipalities, you can receive tax credits or rebates on the installation of those systems. Many electric utility companies also have programs to support their installation and to purchase excess power your solar array produces.

Other Incentives

EV tax credits and rebates aren't the only electric car driving incentives you'll find. In some states, EV drivers receive carpool lane access, reduced toll rates or preferred parking.

State EV Buying Penalties

Because electric vehicles will never pay a dime in gas taxes, many states seek to make up some of the lost revenue through higher registration or title fees. In some cases, the difference can be punitively high.

Oregon, for example, has one of the best EV rebate programs in the U.S. but charges buyers of electric cars more than double the rate for registration than non-EV buyers and nearly double the title price. In neighboring Idaho, there is no tax credit or rebate program, and the state charges EV drivers an annual fee of $140. PHEV drivers in Idaho have to pay $75 per year.

More Electric Vehicle Buying Resources From U.S. News & World Report

At U.S. News Best Cars, we strive to demystify the world of electric cars. You can learn more about the best EVs available with our electric car ranking, luxury electric car ranking, electric SUV ranking and luxury electric SUV ranking.

Additional EV buying resources:

• How to Choose and Buy an Electric Vehicle
• Electric Vehicles With the Longest Range in 2023
• The Cheapest Electric Cars in 2023
• Future Electric Cars: 2024-2030 EVs
• How Much Do Electric Cars Cost?
• Here's Why People Don't Buy Electric Cars (and Why They're Wrong)

State bill that would stick some EV drivers with yearly $200 fee sparks debate

After years of Democrats sticking it to gas-powered automobile drivers, Republicans are now sticking it to electric vehicle drivers, albeit for what appears to be a good reason.

Late last month, the Texas Senate passed a bill that would impose a yearly fee on electric vehicle drivers. This past week, the Texas House reportedly passed a revised version of the bill, thus sending it to the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican.

“The latest version of the bill lays out a $200 yearly registration fee for electric vehicles, with exceptions carved out for slow ‘Neighborhood Electric Vehicles,’ as well as autocycles, mopeds and motorcycles. The bill states that the resulting fees ‘must be deposited to the credit of the state highway fund,'” as reported by Tech Crunch.

And so only big electric vehicles like Teslas would be fined.

According to the bill’s author, Republican state Sen. Robert Nichols, the goal of the bill is to make things fair. As it stands, right now electric vehicle drivers drive for free, in that they don’t have to pay for gas. And that, according to Nichols, is unfair. NOTE: Who's going to pay to fix the potholes and highway improvement, show plowing on State highways?

“As more of these vehicles drive on Texas roads, there are concerns about how they contribute to the funding of the roads which they use,” he wrote in comments about the legislation, according to local station KXAN.

“Currently, Texas uses the gasoline/diesel fuel tax to fund transportation projects; however, with the growing use of EVs, the revenue from the fuel tax is decreasing, which diminishes our ability to fund road improvements for all drivers,” he added.

The bill has predictably stirred up some pushback from EV owners who use Twitter:

Notice how one critic threatened to move to another state. Keep in mind Texas isn’t the only state with an EV tax. Mind you, its particular tax is “on the high end, matching only Georgia,” according to Tech Crunch.

Environmental and consumer protection groups have also been crying foul over Nichols’ attempt to even things out and make them fairer.

In a statement to local station KRLD, Environment Texas director Luke Metzger said the $200 fee is punitive and “will make it harder for Texans to afford these clean vehicles which are so critical to reducing air pollution in Texas.”

Now, keep in mind that EVs are already exorbitant and thus only really available to the wealthy, to begin with. That’s why President Joe Biden has faced so much backlash for promising Americans they can lower costs by buying an EV — because most Americans can’t afford the EV itself to begin with.

Meanwhile, Consumer Reports also called the fee “punitive” and argued in a statement that the fee should be more around $71, not $200.

“As EVs continue to grow in popularity and consumers gain interest in accessing cost-effective technology, states need to consider alternative strategies to address the issue of decreasing gas-tax revenues to fund roads and highways,” CR policy analyst Dylan Jaff said, according to Fox Business Network.

“Consumers should not be punished for choosing a cleaner, greener car that saves them money on fuel and maintenance. The fees proposed in this bill will establish an inequitable fee scale for EV owners, and will not provide a viable solution to the long-standing issue of road funding revenue,” he added.

Yet despite all the criticism, there are admittedly still plenty of Twitter users, some of them EV drivers themselves, who’ve have voiced support for the Texas bill on the grounds that it’s ultimately fair:

“ICE” in this context is short for an internal-combustion engine. "EV" in this context is short for Coal Burning Combustion ... not to mention the various environmental impacts!

ROBOTIC ORGASM, ABORTION, AND HARVESTING

 

First babies made with ‘sperm robot’ are born, potentially lowering IVF costs ... HUMANITY ENTERS THE HARVESTING ERA!

The first babies ever made with a sperm-injecting robot reportedly were born thanks to a cutting-edge procedure that experts say could lower the cost of IVF by thousands of dollars.

Engineers used a robotic needle to insert sperm cells into eggs at the New Hope Fertility Center in New York City — resulting in two healthy embryos and ultimately two baby girls, according to MIT’s Technology Review.

“It’s wild, isn’t it?” said one of the infants’ fathers, who asked to be anonymous. “Until now it had always been done manually.”

The fertility breakthrough involved using a remote-controlled needle and a camera to penetrate the eggs in a petri dish, potentially eliminating the need for highly-paid embryologists, according to the report.

The technology could one day eliminate the need for patients to visit a fertility clinic, where a single attempt at getting pregnant can cost $20,000 in the US, said Santiago Munné, chief geneticist of the Spanish company Overture Life, which developed the sperm robot.

“[IVF] has to be cheaper. And if any doctor could do it, it would be,”said Munné.

Engineers used a remote-controlled needle to insert sperm cells into eggs.

Overture Life

Munne believes the fertilization process could one day be automated and carried out by a gynecologist, but he didn’t elaborate on how multiple eggs would be grown and retrieved in that setting.

Overture Life has filed a patent application describing a “biochip” for an IVF lab featuring  hidden reservoirs containing growth fluids, and tiny channels for sperm to swim  through — and other companies are getting in the game, too.

At least half a dozen other start-ups have similar goals including AutoIVF, IVF 2.0, Conceivable Life Sciences, which aim to tap into the $25 billion IVF industry.

The technology could one day eliminate the need for patients to visit a fertility clinic for IVF.

Overture Life

Alan Murray, co-founder of Conceivable Life, estimates the average IVF baby costs $83,000 in the US, when factoring in failed attempts, expensive fertility drugs and medical procedures that are largely not covered by health care.

His firm’s goal is to lower the cost 70% by increasing success rates and reducing the price of procedures with the help of robotics.

ROBOTIC HAND-JOB

Each year, roughly 500,000 babies are born through IVF worldwide, but most people who need help having kids can’t pay for it or don’t have access to fertility medicine.

A a single IVF attempt can cost $20,000 in the US.

Overture Life

“That is the true demand,” Murray said. “The challenge is that these wonderful rich and eccentric countries can do it, but the rest of the world cannot. But they have demonstrated the true human need.”

But some fertility experts are skeptical that robotics will lower costs considering they don’t solve the problem of aging eggs — a major reason fertility treatments fail.

Rita Vassena, an adviser to Conceivable, said the field has a history of introducing innovations without significantly increasing pregnancy rates.

Roughly 500,000 babies are born through IVF worldwide each year.

Overture Life

“The trend [is] toward piling up tests and technologies … rather than a true effort to lower access barriers,” she said.

In the case of the first babies made with the sperm robot, donor eggs were given to the patients for free and they were implanted into the mother’s uterus after the high-tech fertilization. 

Overall, many fertility specialists agreed IVF robots are inevitable in the future.

“We’re going to see an evolution of what an embryologist is,” said Kathleen Miller, chief scientist of Innovation Fertility, a chain of clinics in the south.

GOV. INSLEE A SIMPLE QUESTION, WHY NOT BAN ALL ENTERTAINMENT WHEREIN A GUN IS USED?

 

Washington State Bans AR-15s, Semiautomatic Rifles

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed multiple gun control bills into law, including prohibiting the sale of semiautomatic rifles on Tuesday. But Gov. Inslee what about the use of weapons in the entertainment industry that is splashed across the silver screen and TV's in Washington State.  Do these encourage the use of weapons in the KILLING OF PEOPLE?

“Today, Washington state is putting the gun industry in its place and improving the health, safety, and lives of our residents. I want to thank the many legislators and advocates who have worked for years to deliver some of these policies to the governor’s desk,” Inslee said in a statement.

“These are three victories, not one, and it is clear why we need to take this action,” Inslee added before signing the bills into law. “These weapons of war of assault weapons have no reason other than mass murder. Their only purpose is to kill humans as rapidly as possible in large numbers.”

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee in Seattle, Wash., on March 11, 2020. (John Moore/Getty Images)

The bill (pdf) bans the popular AR-15 rifle, among other semiautomatic rifles, and prohibits the manufacture, importation, distribution, and sale of assault-style weapons in Washington, with an exception for sales made to armed forces and law enforcement.

Gun shop owners will have 90 days to sell their inventory from today’s date.

“The legislature finds and declares that gun violence is a threat to the public health and safety of Washingtonians,” the bill states. “Assault weapons are civilian versions of weapons created for the military and are designed to kill humans quickly and efficiently.”

The White House praised Inslee for his semiautomatic rifle ban in a statement after the bills were signed.

“President Biden commends the leadership of Washington Governor Jay Inslee, and legislative leaders, as well as the advocates, survivors, and elected officials who fought for years to make today a reality,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. “In so doing, they have made every community in the state—from Seattle to Spokane and everywhere in between—safer and more secure.”

Inslee also signed two other gun-related bills into law Tuesday.

SB 5078 (pdf) will allow people whose family members are killed to sue if a manufacturer or seller “is irresponsible in how they handle, store or sell those weapons.”

While HB 1143 (pdf) will require gun buyers to show they’ve taken firearm safety training before purchasing a firearm, along with a 10-day waiting period for all gun purchases.

Washington’s newest gun control laws come as Americans are split on how to stop the rising mass shootings across the nation, with a reported 173 mass shootings so far this year, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive.

Washington becomes the tenth state to enforce strict restrictions on semiautomatic rifles, joining California and New York, among others, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom implemented additional gun control safety measures after multiple mass shootings in the Golden State earlier this year.

“Only in America do we see the kind of carnage and chaos of gun violence that destroys our communities and our sense of safety and belonging,” Newsom said in a statement. “America is number 1 in gun ownership and we far surpass every developed nation on Earth in gun deaths—it’s not complicated. In California, we’ve passed common sense gun safety laws, and they work: We have a 37% lower gun death rate than the national average. We’re doubling down on gun safety and strengthening our public carry law to protect it from radical Republican attacks.”

The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) filed a complaint (pdf) in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, accusing lawmakers of violating the Second Amendment with an outright ban on semiautomatic rifles not long after Inslee signed his bills into law.

“The state has put politics ahead of constitutional rights, and is penalizing law-abiding citizens while this legislation does nothing to arrest and prosecute criminals who misuse firearms in defiance of all existing gun control laws,” SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb said in a press release. “It is absurd.”

Washington’s Senate Republicans said in a Twitter post last week that “banning certain weapons is not the solution to gun violence. We must deal with those who are using guns and other weapons to commit violent acts.”