Editorial

THE IRS `CUTS'

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Taxpayers who are preparing returns as the April 15 deadline approaches have less assistance available this year from the Internal Revenue Service office in Cape Girardeau. For the past 15 years the IRS has had a taxpayer services representative to help puzzled taxpayers Monday through Friday. This year, the representative is only available on Mondays and Tuesdays. The rest of the time the IRS office at the federal building in downtown Cape Girardeau is locked.

The IRS's simple explanation is that budget cuts have resulted in staffing reductions. But Rep. Bill Emerson of Cape Girardeau says that's bunk. The only IRS funding cuts were aimed at management and audits. Moreover, according to the IRS's own records, the agency is spending 11 percent more this year on taxpayer services, and the number of employees in the taxpayer services division is up 3 percent.

But IRS offices across the nation are turning taxpayers away during the busy tax season, citing the same reason: budget cuts.

What's going on here?

Politics is the likely answer, although IRS officials can offer plenty of governmentspeak to the contrary.

This is an election year in which the aims of a Republican-controlled, fiscally responsible Congress is pitted against a spending-can-cure-everything Democratic president seeking re-election. Between now and November, voters will be bombarded with claims from the White House -- and any government agencies under the influence of the executive branch -- that the GOP Congress is crippling government with its parsimony. Look at the ridiculous claims made by Democrats that the GOP budget-balancing plan "cuts" Medicare spending. In fact, the Republican plan increases Medicare spending -- but less than the fiscally irresponsible Democratic plan.

The IRS is a target this election year, because flat-tax plans and other cries for tax reform could all but eliminate the agency. There is no question that the IRS should be cut back or cut out entirely, but not until drastic changes are made in the nation's tax policy. In the meantime, confused taxpayers are entitled to all the help the IRS can muster. That should include the dozen IRS staff members working behind locked doors at the federal building in Cape Girardeau. The IRS employees have other job duties, but at the height of tax season they should be devoting their time to taxpayers who need help.

Instead of drawing attention to its so-called plight resulting from spending cuts, the IRS is only drawing the ire of voting taxpayers who are very likely to remember their experiences in November.