Here Is a Short List of People Less Deserving of Bonuses Than IRS Employees
Not sure if you heard the news but the IRS has made friendly with its employee union and will distribute $43 million in bonuses, $32 million short of what the union says employees were owed. Well, Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah heard, and he felt this way about it: "It’s hard to think of a […]
GOP Senator: Lois Lerner’s Retirement Is Only the Beginning of Us Dragging This Thing Out
Last week, Lois Lerner was "technically still employed," but Bloomberg's Richard Rubin reports that the former director of exempt organizations is out of there effective today. HOWEVAH! If you thought this was the end of political gamesmanship, then you would be sorely mistaken: “Just because Lois Lerner is retiring from the IRS does not mean […]
U.S. Senators with Harebrained Tax Reform Ideas Offered an Opportunity
The Senate's top tax writers have promised their colleagues 50 years worth of secrecy in exchange for suggestions on what deductions and credits to protect in tax reform. Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and the panel’s top Republican, Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah), are telling skeptical lawmakers that any submission they receive will not be released by […]
Never Fear, The U.S. Senate Is Here! (To the Rescue Tax Preparer Regulations)
Earlier this year, a DC judge threw out the IRS' ability to regulate unlicensed preparers and then, in a bit of added insult, when another judge denied the agency's request to suspend the injunction. Anti-regulation types were happy; the IRS was sad. Despite the setback, you kind of knew that the Service wasn't going to […]
Don’t Try Using Your Fancy Tax Code Words on Orrin Hatch
President Obama and his liberal allies are calling for a ‘balanced approach’ and a revenue piece to deficit reduction. We hear this from the press all the time: ‘New revenues need to be a part of any deal to reduce the deficit.’ These are simply code words for a tax hike.
It is clear that the professional left is insisting that President Obama include tax increases in any negotiated agreement to raise the debt ceiling. [ATR]
In Politics, Spite Will Forever Trump Progress
“It’s amazing to me how difficult it is to work together around here, even when we want to.”
~ Orrin Hatch (R-UT), referring to how the U.S. Senate managed to drag out the passing of the small-business bill.