Dem fails to stop 24 percent IRS budget cut

{mosads}“This bill intentionally underfunds collection of taxes and that is unacceptable,” Serrano said. He argued that the cut will lead to $12 billion in foregone revenue and that only 20 percent of taxpayer phone calls will be answered next year.

Subcommittee Chairman Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.) argued that the IRS budget can be cut without revenue loss. 

“The best example is we are under this sequester and we are collecting more money,” he said. “Why don’t we give them $10 trillion dollars and then we’ll get $40 trillion back? Giving them a lot more money isn’t going to make a whole lot of difference.”

Serrano said the appropriations bill, if passed, would put the blame for a future financial crisis on the heads of House Republicans. 

“If there is another financial crisis, the other side will want to blame the president, but his response will be what we do in this bill, that he was not given the resources,” Serrano said. 

The Serrano amendment failed on a voice vote.