In his Nov. 10 column, Jim de Bree said, “What (Rep. Mike) Garcia fails to consider is that reducing the IRS funding by $14.3 billion will result in fewer tax collections. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the resulting tax revenue loss to be $26.8 billion.”
He is implying, if not stating, that the reduction passed by the House to the 2024/2025 budget will result in a reduction of $26.8 billion in tax collections.
What Mr. de Bree fails to mention is that the CBO $26.8B figure is over 10 years, not one year, and assumes that the $14.3 billion reduction continues in each of the 10 years, which the CBO was required to assume. The reduction in IRS funding passed by the House is for one year, not 10. If you compare apples to apples, the 10-year budget reduction of $143 billion would be compared to a decrease in tax collections of $26.8 billion, a $116 billion savings. Comparing what the House has passed, a one-year reduction, to the CBO estimate for one year, the difference is $11.6 billion in savings. So we are effectively spending $14.3 billion to collect $2.68 billion. Is it any wonder why we have a deficit?
As for his other comment, what is a “win,” in the current war between Israel and Hamas? That part is easy. The Israelis will determine when they have won. They are the ones who face the danger of having terrorist organizations on their borders, who are actively working to destroy them. It could not hurt for the Biden Administration to stop passing out billions of dollars to their sponsor, Iran.
Stephen Maseda
Santa Clarita
