‘They Will Come After You’: GOP Attack Ads Warn Of Weaponized IRS

Midterm election ads from two conservative groups are attacking Democrats over their $80 million investment in supercharging the IRS, with congressional Republicans amplifying claims that the tax-collection agency will target the middle class, Fox News reports.

“I think it’s insane that Joe Biden and Patty Murray are sending a stadium full of new IRS agents to force families making less than $75,000 to pay for someone else’s law degree,” says one ad from WA Senate candidate Tiffany Smiley, who was filmed standing in front of a football stadium.

Ads published by the Senate Leadership Fund and Our American Century PACs, as well as ads from candidates themselves, say the IRS’ 80,000 new hires will dig into the pockets of everyday Americans. The ads have popped up in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Nevada Ohio and elsewhere in recent weeks. -Fox News

In a Georgia ad against Sen. Raphael Warnock (D), it’s argued that the Democrats gave the IRS “$46 billion to hire IRS agents to extract $20 billion from people who make less than $400,000” – citing a preliminary estimate from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) regarding how much the IRS funding boost – part of the Inflation Reduction Act – is expected to impact those making less than $400K per year.

“Much of that money will come from cracking down on people who get paid with cash, tips or phone apps. If you do real work — waiting tables, serving drinks, driving Ubers or other jobs, Biden and Warnock’s new IRS agents may knock on your door soon.”

🚨NEW TV AD🚨

Mark Kelly and the Democrats want federal agents combing through your wallet instead of stopping illegal aliens pic.twitter.com/A50MksCh3v

— Blake Masters (@bgmasters) October 3, 2022

The Biden Treasury Department insists that the majority of new agents will be tasked with looking into the finances of those making over $400,000 per year, and that many of the new hires will replace an expected wave of retirements and departures.

As Fox News points out, however, “An amendment from Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, would have prohibited the IRS from using any of its new funding to target Americans below the $400,000 threshold, but it failed in Congress.”