House bill: Fire US workers who are tax deadbeats

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

House bill: Fire US workers who are tax deadbeats
LARRY MARGASAK, House bill: Fire US workers who are tax deadbeats
LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press
Updated 05:18 p.m., Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Updated 05:18 p.m., Tuesday, July 31, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bill to fire federal workers who are tax deadbeats has passed the House.

The bill's sponsor, Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, said the legislation is aimed at federal workers who are seriously delinquent in their taxes, not those who are trying to work out their problems with the IRS.

The bill was sent to the Senate Tuesday on a 263-114 vote.

Chaffetz said the bill was needed because there has been little improvement in the past decade.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/House-bill-Fire-US-workers-who-are-tax-deadbeats-3751626.php

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[center]

Rep. Jason Chaffetz[/center]

[TexasProgresive]

1. So if this bill passes

and rMoney is president can we fire him?

[awoke_in_2003]

13. Kill one person, and you are a murderer...

kill hundreds of thousands and you're an emperor. The big money guys are never affected by legislation like this.

[newthinking]

32. This bill is pure political theater and even some here have been caught by it

Think about it. Why fire them when as their employer you can just garnish their wages?

So we already have a system in place they cannot hide from as the Feds themselves write the checks. So if there really is a problem there how about fixing the loopholes instead of shortcutting a system that should already be taking care of this?

Why? Because they are able instead to spread the rumor that Federal employees are a bunch of good for nothing tax cheats. And folks fall for it!

[Scuba]

35. Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner.

[virginia mountainman]

2. What an idiot..

Yea, fire people that are having money problems....That will fix it...Yea sure..

[ProgressiveProfessor]

6. I think that is an overly broad assumption on your part

There are some of the anti tax zealots who are on the Federal payroll, as odd as it may seem.

It would seem to me to be fairly easy to determine if someone has money issues or is trying to cheat the system.

[zbdent]

8. I know a few major corporations who got refunds from taxes they never paid ...

would that qualify as "deadbeats"?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

9. Are they Federal employees

Which is what this bill is about.

I have no problem terminating the Federal employment of major tax cheats. Do you?

[atreides1]

15. Do you know of any?

Just wondering how many Federal employees can be classified as "major tax cheats"?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

17. I knew a couple back in the day and there have been others

It is kind of rare. Tend to be out west.

Feds with money troubles are much more common. Most of it came before they entered service.

[Comrade Grumpy]

33. This bill is right-twing pseudo-populist crap...

...to thrill the base with a jab at those oh-so-evil federal employees while making a false appeal to tax fairness. More political masturbation by the Republican House by solving a non-problem (or very minor issue) while spending the rest of its time trying to put the economy in the gutter. Chafetz is among the worst of them.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

38. I agree it is crap

It is right up there with photo ID. They may be a very few to whom it applies, but it can easily be handled through existing means

[abelenkpe]

12. If they are fired

they won't be servicing their debts anytime soon.

[emilyg]

24. I'm having money

problems but I pay my taxes.

[progressivebydesign]

27. Wrong. If you owe taxes, you can make payments.

they accept low payments to get things paid off. The bill clearly exempts people who are working with the IRS to resolve things, or to create a repayment schedule.

If you have money problems and owe taxes and are working to resolve it, it does not apply.

[RC]

3. Just another way to destroy the government from with-in.

Sure, fire'em. That will help them pay their taxes. Isn't Republican logic wonderful? Bet'en there's an exemption for Congress critters and their staff, friends, etc.

[progressivebydesign]

28. the people described by the bill are NOT trying to pay them back.

If they were, they'd be on a payment program or working to resolve things, and would be exempt. This is for people that refuse to pay or even try to resolve it. Can't understand why people would feel comfortable with a Gov worker, with benefits and a good salary, drawing a Federal paycheck, without paying in.

[newthinking]

30. I call bullshit on the assumption being proposed (not you)

If they truly are "tax deadbeats" and they work for the federal government, they would already be having their Wages garnished.
This law is pure theater. Think about it...

[Igel]

40. If you know about it.

Then again, you'd have to know about it to fire them.

Good to up the ante. It's bad to steal from your employer. Every place I worked they'd fire you.

[Sirveri]

45. So then go to court and garnish their wages.

A better mechanism already exists to deal with this problem. If they're actually incompetent at their job, then fire them with cause, otherwise their personal life (and taxes are part of that) is just that.

[MindMover]

4. Americans got poorer as Congress' wealth doubled

Last edited Tue Jul 31, 2012, 11:11 PM - Edit history (1)

SALT LAKE CITY -- The financial divide between Americans and their lawmakers in Congress, which was wide a generation ago, is even wider now.

The Washington Post examined the net worth of members of the U.S. House of Representatives using financial disclosures. The newspaper found that while the wealth of an American family went down a bit since the mid-80s, precisely the opposite has been happening for the nation's lawmakers.

Over the last twenty five years, the median net worth of a member of the House more than doubled, to nearly three quarters of a million dollars.

In the wake of the financial crisis the U.S. saw political protests: First, the Tea Party, later, the Occupy Wall Street movement. A theme common to both was a disconnect between the nation's leaders and the average person.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=18660792

===================================================

[Andy823]

5. OK

First start with congress and investigate every republican. Shouldn't be a problems since they claim to be the "MORAL" party and would "NEVER" not pay their taxes! Then go after the excs of every major company in the U.S. Investigate every single one of them.

Let's see how far that bill would get if we did this!

[benld74]

7. I get confused sometimes between bills the GOP write and those

ALEC write FOR the GOP.

But this one, has GOP all over it since its s-t-o-o-p-i-d!

[Javaman]

10. Does that include CEO's? nt

[Chorophyll]

11. Hey, if they're not smart enough to hide their income in the Cayman Islands...

...I can't even finish this thought.

[caseymoz]

14. Why not garnish their wages?

Why fire? They owe money to the government, they work for the government. Whereas if they're fired, you cripple collections, along with a few other drawbacks I can think of.

[CreekDog]

18. they already do that

might end up just firing people who are on payment plans.

[SoapBox]

23. Super ditto

[newthinking]

31. I am sure they already are. This bill is pure theater. And look at folks getting suckered ;)

[bucolic_frolic]

16. Any exemption for single mothers?

or is this aimed at them?

Without Free Choice there could be more single mothers

who fall behind on their taxes

then they can be fired

Compassionate Conservatism at work again!

[gkhouston]

19. Supreme Court Justices?

[bluedigger]

20. It is consistent with their student loan policy.

If you are delinquent on your student loans you are also ineligible to work for the government.

[Purveyor]

21. Government contractors too??? eom

[SoapBox]

22. Uh...HUH?

...so they are saying that there are about 100,000 that are behind? REALLY? I would like to see some official papers on that!

How's about Dead Beat DADS? Like WALSH? I'll bet his ex-wife and kid, are hurting more than the Federal government.

...anything like this put forth by a RushThug is suspect.

[Turbineguy]

25. Finally a Jobs Bill from Republicans!

One that will make people lose theirs.

[progressivebydesign]

26. I agree with him, oddly enough. If they aren't in a program with the IRS, then they're stealing.

Think about it. If you worked at Sears, it would be the equivalent of stealing clothes (which costs the company money) and then drawing a paycheck.

If you work for the Govt, TAXES pay your salary. If someone is not on a program to resolve it with the IRS, then they should not work for the Govt. We are subsidizing their salary otherwise. I have no problem with this bill as it's described. Why should my taxes pay THEIR salary?

But are there that many tax "deadbeats" out there working for the Govt? Would't you be in jail?

I'd rather see a JOBS bill passed, but I can't argue with the premise of this if it excludes people who are trying to resolve things, or on a payment program.

[MindMover]

34. Nobody in the USA gets rich on $75,000 a year ...

http://www.aei-ideas.org/2012/01/average-federal-pay-matches-microsoft/

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_your_current_tax_bracket_for_75000

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_US_citizens_cheat_on_their_taxes

and with a tax rate of 25% up to $66,000 with no deductions = $16,500

Realistically speaking most everyone has deductions to get this number down to somewhere close to the 15% rate but let us say that every loafing federal government cheater owes $4,000 and given that 30-40% (which I do not believe) cheat on their taxes, let's use a 35% of all federal employees = 994,000 X $4,000 = 3.97 billion ... rounding it to 4 billion ...

Now what is 4 billion to our 2011 federal budget of 3,598.00 billion = .0011117%


TOTAL NONMILITARY EMPLOYEES IN 2010 — 2,840,000

http://www.politicususa.com/big-government-obama-reagan.html

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[Sunny on my mind]

43. Does this include the military?

How about retired military, they are some of the worst deadbeats. Work for the IRS and you can be fired for not filing let alone paying. The Post Office has their own department just for dealing with the garnishments, most likely, so do other Federal departments.

[magic59]

29. Let Mitt be the first one they fire

He went a decade without paying taxes/

[DCKit]

36. That'll clean out Congress in a heartbeat. nt

[lunatica]

37. Well it's good to know I'm not considered a deadbeat

I'll probably be paying the IRS in monthly increments for the rest of my life. It's just one of those monthly bills like the mortgage or the electric bill.

[Maineman]

39. I bet this is comes close to being a non-issue. So the solution and its sponsor are frauds.

[Igel]

41. Sure.

As long as there's no exemption for Congress.

Mistakes happen. But if you don't pay, or if the mistakes form a pattern that's not accidental, then it's theft. I don't care if it's a low-level muchkin at the Soc. Security counter or a House or Senate committee chair, this should be construed as a letter of resignation.

Garnish their wages at 50% of after-tax income and then it's up to their supervisor to accept that letter of resignation or not.

[GoCubsGo]

42. Yet another GOP solution in search of a problem.

Like the vast majority of employers, the Federal Government withholds all sorts of taxes from their employees' paychecks. They take out contributions to FICA, Medicare, federal taxes and state taxes. I find it extremely difficult to believe this clown's assertions that there are that many employees owing a billion dollars. They must have jacked up their exemptions to extremely high levels and for many decades to ring up that kind of loss.

Of course, if it gets rid of some of these repugs in Congress who may be dodging taxes, then go for it.

[Octafish]

44. Corporations are people. Deadbeats, too.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/03/28/biggest-corporate-tax-cheats-from-general-electric-to-google-to-news-corp.html