Highlights: House Republicans are proposing funding $14 billion in aid to Israel by cutting additional money for divisions of the IRS tasked with making sure wealthy people and tax cheats pay their fair share, according to a new bill filed Monday.

The bill would also eliminate a task force intended to design a free direct e-file tax return system that could wind up competing with TurboTax—a change that the company, and politicians, particularly Republicans, have fought. Advocates have said such a system could save taxpayers billions of dollars, and millions of hours of prep time, per year.

The GOP’s latest bill matches $14 billion Biden’s funding request for Israel in number—but not in its proposed approach.

The thought of—as my colleague David Corn put it in Mother Jones‘ internal Slack channel—”letting billionaires cheat to pay for bombs to drop on civilians” is jarring, particularly given the more than 3,500 children that Gaza health authorities say have been killed by the Israeli airstrikes; heartbreaking photos and videos have shown kids covered in blood and dust and collapsing while coping with living through the trauma of war and losing loved ones.

  • DoomBot5@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I have a better idea. Fund the aid to Israel by funding the IRS more, so they can investigate all these Republicans. Should be enough money there to give Ukraine a nice additional package as well.

    • jeffw@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      What’s crazy is the IRS funding increase that Dems put through is basically supposed to pay for itself (unlike the fake promise that comes with tax cuts paying for themselves, which fails every time)

      • Ranvier@sopuli.xyz
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        1 year ago

        Much more than pay for itself! It will help decrease the budget defecit.

        So just like many things Republicans do that they falsely claim will reduce the defecit, this “cost cutting measure” will actually increase the budget defecit.

    • gregorum@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      No kidding. The IRS actually generates revenue. These jerks want it shut down because they hate paying their fair share.

    • Amaltheamannen@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      How many more billions does Israel need? If I was American I would be ashamed to fund a colonial ethnostate.

      • DoomBot5@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Idk, you’re fine with mass casualties of civilians if they’re Israeli? Hamas has fired thousands of rockets at civilian population centers in Israel. Thanks to the Iron Dome, most of those rockets were intercepted.

        Imagine Israel’s response in Gaza if that wasn’t the case.

        • SmoothIsFast@citizensgaming.com
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          1 year ago

          Imagine Israel’s response in Gaza if that wasn’t the case.

          Still enacting a genocide? You want peace go in aid the Palestinians, incorporate them into your economy, allow them jobs, education, and a better life then under hammas direction, the Palestinians population is mainly young and stuck in an authoritarian regime help them help you ffs, you don’t bomb them to create more hammas fighters and complain. Nor do I give justification for genocide in any bearing, especially not because this one is less worse than what they would do unabated ffs…

        • Reptorian@lemmy.zip
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          1 year ago

          Yes, Hamas is bad. Ok, I accept that. We all accept it in fact.

          Israel is not free from criticism, and by allying with democratic nations, they signed a contract to be judged by their behaviors and to have their history judged.

          Arguably, the most moral position is to leave Middle East to fend for itself until they get their religious extremism problem fixed.

        • CaptFeather@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          You’re pretty ignorant to be spouting this shit at this point. Israel has been trying to fuck over Palestine for almost a goddamn century now. Hamas is a response to decades of oppression from the Israeli govt. Does that excuse Hamas? Fuck no it doesn’t, but Israel is still much more in the wrong than Palestine ever was or could be at this point.