NBC's Chuck Todd defends Inflation Reduction Act: 'If you’re upset about extra IRS agents, stop cheating on your taxes'
'Meet the Press' anchor Chuck Todd slammed Republicans for their outrage over IRS funding in the Inflation Reduction Act.
NBC anchor Chuck Todd is under fire after defending Democrats' considerable IRS expansion and condemning Republicans for their disdain for the consolidated agency by urging them to pay their taxes.
"I just don't get it," Todd said to Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., on Monday's "Meet the Press."
"A lot of Republicans have been talking about waste fraud and abuse. The current head of the IRS, who was a Trump appointee, said he didn't have enough people. He said essentially the biggest problem that we have is that people don't pay the taxes that they're supposed to pay.
"If you’re upset about extra IRS agents, stop cheating on your taxes, congressman," he added.
MEET THE PRESS -- Pictured: (l-r) Moderator Chuck Todd appears on Meet the Press" in Washington, D.C., Sunday, November 17, 2019. (Photo by: William B. Plowman/NBC/NBC NewsWire via Getty Images) (William B. Plowman/NBC/NBC NewsWire via Getty Images)
Todd went on to clarify that he was not calling out Barr personally and was calling out the bill's naysayers in general.
Barr fired back, however, citing the alleged damage the Inflation Reduction Act will bring to low and middle income Americans as approximately 87,000 new agents take on roles within the IRS.
"Everybody believes that people should pay their taxes, but the non-partisan congressional budget office looking at this legislation… this inflation expansion act, says that $20 billion of these audits are going to come at the expense of low and middle income Americans," he said.
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FILE - In this photo March 22, 2013, file photo, the exterior of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Barr then slammed the Biden administration for broken promises on tax policy in which he formerly claimed no one making under $400,000 would see a tax hike under his leadership.
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"Joe Biden and his campaign promised the American people that taxes were not going to go up for people earning under $400,000 dollars. That was a lie," Barr said.
"This bill is going to come at the expense of the American people," he added.
Barr also said the U.S. needs more border patrol agents instead of IRS agents.
Despite frequent uproar and concerns about the generous funding for climate provisions and for the IRS, a majority of which is dedicated to enforcement, Democrats' controversial $750 billion Inflation Reduction Act passed the Senate on Aug. 7 with support from moderate Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., before a Democrat-controlled House passed the bill five days later.
President Biden signed the bill into law last Tuesday, heralding the law's passage as a significant victory for his administration and its agenda.
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