Welcome to the weekend! Get some rest
because next week could be packed, starting with a White House
infrastructure bill signing on Monday, a potential nomination for
the Federal Reserve chairmanship, a possible House vote on the
Build Back Better plan and, we’re betting, plenty more haggling
over what ultimately gets in or gets cut from that bill.
Here's what you should know to end the week.
IRS Chief Makes a Plea for More Resources
IRS Commissioner Charles P. Rettig wrote an
op-ed for The Washington Post this week containing
a simple request: We need more money.
“Over the past decade, the IRS budget has been decimated,”
Rettig says. “Today’s historically low level of funding means that
the agency is not equipped to provide the American people the
service they deserve or to fully enforce the tax laws against those
who evade them.”
Despite collecting more than $4 trillion last year, or roughly
95% of the country’s total revenue, the IRS is in a state of
crisis, according to Rettig. Its workforce is the same size it was
in 1970, even though the population has grown by more than half
since then and the economy has become much more complex. The agency
has just 15,000 people to handle the 240 million calls it received
in the first six months of 2021, and the number of auditors is at a
low not seen since the 1940s.
The IRS has also been tasked with a wider range of
responsibilities, including the distribution of relief checks and
tax credit payments for millions of families. And, in a further
strain on resources, wealthy taxpayers have become both more
numerous and more sophisticated in their efforts to dodge the taxes
they owe.
As a result, audits of households earning more than $1 million
have dropped by 60% over the last 10 years, and an estimated 15% of
all taxes owed goes uncollected each year.
The solution, Rettig says, is for Congress to approve the Biden
administration’s proposal to increase IRS funding by $80 billion
over 10 years, an investment that the White House says could bring
in $400 billion in additional revenues (though independent
estimates vary, with some projecting a smaller boost).
The money would help hire more people to man the phones and
field the millions of taxpayer requests each year. It would allow
the IRS to develop a sophisticated online system with individual
accounts for each taxpayer. And it would provide the resources to
significantly reduce the rate of noncompliance while deterring
cheating, helping to shrink the “tax gap” — the difference between
what is owed and what is paid each year.
“This long-term investment would help build the modern IRS that
Americans deserve,” Rettig says. “The funding proposal offers a
historic opportunity to help the IRS help others. Congress must
act.”
Number of the Day: 4.4 Million
In another clear sign that the Covid-19 pandemic is reshaping
the labor market, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced
Friday that a record 4.4 million people quit their jobs in
September. The unprecedented number of resignations, representing
roughly 3% of the U.S. workforce, is happening for a number of
reasons, but overall it suggests that the economy is improving,
since workers usually quit their jobs to take better ones with
different employers.
Although the job market is complicated right now, one thing
seems clear: expectations have changed for millions of people. As
The Washington Post’s Eli Rosenberg
writes, “Many workers have made the calculation
that their old jobs — low paying work in industries like
restaurants, which have really struggled to fill holes — are no
longer desirable, even as companies dangle raises and bonuses to
lure employees back to the workplace.”
Quote of the Day
"The awkward fact is inflation is the job of the Fed. Biden
should be focused on other things. That's not great political
advice because people are upset about inflation, and they want the
president to solve their problems. But the truth is, it isn't his
problem to solve."
– Harvard economist Jason Furman, who chaired the
Council of Economic Advisers under President Obama, in a
CNN article looking at the somewhat limited ways
that President Biden could try to ease inflation.
Biden Taps Former FDA Chief to Lead the Agency Again
President Biden on Friday announced that he will nominate Robert
Califf, who led the Food and Drug Administration during the Obama
administration, to once again helm the agency.
“Dr. Robert Califf is one of the most experienced clinical
trialists in the country, and has the experience and expertise to
lead the Food and Drug Administration during a critical time in our
nation’s fight to put an end to the coronavirus pandemic,” Biden
said in a statement. “As the FDA considers many consequential
decisions around vaccine approvals and more, it is mission critical
that we have a steady, independent hand to guide the FDA.”
Califf will have to be confirmed by the Senate. He won
confirmation in 2016 by an 89-4 vote, but Politico reports that he
faces some resistance from Democrats: “Sens. Joe Manchin of West
Virginia and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut — both of whom voted
against Califf’s nomination in 2016 — have both signaled their
opposition once again over concerns about his ties to the drug
industry and the FDA’s track record on opioids.”
Send your tips and feedback to yrosenberg@thefiscaltimes.com.
News
Biden Says Infrastructure Bill Will Ease Inflation
Pressure – Bloomberg
Biden to Name Someone From Outside Administration to
Implement Infrastructure Bill – The Hill
White House Puts Pressure on Congress to Pass Bipartisan
Government Funding Bills – The Hill
Key Budget Office Caught in Crosshairs Over Biden Spending
Plan – The Hill
Consumer Anger About Inflation Can Make a 1970s Rerun
Real – Bloomberg
Inflation Fears Pose a Risk to Supercharged American
Consumer – Bloomberg
As Biden Agenda Hinges on Manchin, House Progressives Look to
‘Deesclate’ Tension – CNN
Republicans Divided Over Whether to Join Biden at White House
Signing Ceremony for the Infrastructure Bill They
Support – Washington Post
‘I Hope It’s a Fever That Will Break’: GOP Wrestles With
Infrastructure Vote Backlash – Politico
Dems to White House: The Only Prescription Is More
Biden – Politico
Most Millionaires Could Get Tax Cut Under House Dems' Tax
Plan – Politico
Biden Plan Funds New Bridges That Locals May Not
Want – Bloomberg
Like Basic Income, But for Transportation –
Bloomberg
Republicans’ Cannabis Bill to Propose Lower Taxes and State
Control – Bloomberg
House Committee Releases New Evidence From Investigation Into
Trump Administration Interference With CDC During Covid-19
Pandemic – CNN
Views and Analysis
Here's What Joe Biden Can -- and Can't -- Do to Fight
Inflation – Kevin Liptak and Matt Egan, CNN
Why Economists Got It Wrong on U.S. Inflation –
Vince Golle et al, Bloomberg
Democrats Ignore the Recent Inflation Numbers at Their
Peril – Catherine Rampell, Washington Post
Americans Think the Economy Is Bad Because It Actually
Is – Ramesh Ponnuru, Bloomberg
Americans Need to Learn to Live More Like
Europeans – Allison Schrager, Bloomberg
History Says Don’t Panic About Inflation – Paul
Krugman, New York Times
Consumers Are Resisting Inflation – Peter Coy, New
York Times
The Wealthy Pay More Than Their 'Fair Share'— and Liberals
Know It – David F. Eisner, The Hill
Budget Bill Would Mostly Raise Taxes on Top 1
Percent – Laura Weiss, Roll Call
Democrats’ Spending Bill Is Costly. But Not Passing It Is Far
More So. – Michael R. Bloomberg, Bloomberg
Build Back Better Investments Are Fiscally
Sustainable – Joel Friedman and Sharon Parrott, Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities
Joe Manchin, This Is What We Can’t Afford – Bryce
Covert, New York Times
No, Senator Manchin, Build Back Better Won’t Create Runaway
Inflation – Timothy Noah, New Republic
Is Summers Owed an Apology—or Does He Owe Us One?
– Robert Kuttner, American Prospect
The U.S. Needs a Better Way to Get Infrastructure
Done – Washington Post Editorial Board
Five Questions About Biden’s Infrastructure Sales
Pitch – Olivier Knox, Washington Post
Moderna to Uncle Sam: My Vaccine, Not Yours –
Timothy L. O’Brien, Bloomberg