President Obama has submitted his fiscal budget proposal to Congress. Interestingly, it calls for a 9.4 percent increase in the IRS budget for the purpose of increasing tax collections.

The IRS is a huge government agency. It is so huge that most people don’t really fathom just what is involved. Consider the budget proposal for the coming fiscal year. President Obama is offering up a nearly 10 percent increase in the agencies’ budget. That would put it at $13.3 billion. Yes, the IRS spends tens of billions of dollars collecting taxes. 

Why increase the budget of the Internal Revenue Service? Simple – collections. The budget increase is focused on hiring fully 5,000 new agents. The agents are set to pursue the collection of unpaid taxes. It is forecast that the new agents will bring in an additional $1.3 billion dollars over the next two years. 

Let’s contemplate that for a second. The $1.3 billion figure breaks down to $650 million a year. Yes, we are adding $1.1 billion to the IRS budget this year so we can collect an extra $650 million. Doing so puts us in the red this year to the tune of $650 million. Of course, we will more than make up for it in future years, but it is a rather humorous example of the buffoonery of political thinking and the way a government works. 

Should you be appalled at this increase in tax collection efforts? Sure, but nobody can claim they didn’t see it coming. The lack of political will and leadership by both parties in this country is pathetic. The continuation of the Bush tax cuts creates a huge financial burden. The lack of will power to come up with any meaningful spending cuts and tax increases results in sneaky little efforts like this one. 

Shame on the Democrats. Shame on the Republicans. Shame on them all. 

Get ready for a big bump in audit rates. You’ve been warned!