ONLY THREE? Three False Narratives Being Used in the IRS Funding Push. “The more government promises increased benefits to a broader segment of the population, the more desperate it becomes to collect money. And as the demand for revenue grows, it becomes increasingly necessary to break thumbs to get it. This attitude is abundantly clear in the messages sent to the public regarding the president’s proposed appropriation. What is not abundantly clear, however, is that the push to provide the IRS with more enforcement resources is driven by at least three false narratives. Let’s evaluate each in turn. . . . The single most important thing Congress can do to have a positive effect on compliance is to radically simplify the tax code.”

Once you realize that this is about power, not revenue, the contradictions vanish.