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Republicans’ Assault on IRS Resources Gives Away Their Fake Populist Game
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The Bulwark is home to Sarah Longwell, Tim Miller, Bill Kristol, JVL, Sam Stein, and more. We are the largest pro-democracy bundle on Substack for news and analysis on politics and culture—supported by a community built on good-faith.
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Overtime

Republicans’ Assault on IRS Resources Gives Away Their Fake Populist Game

Plus: Highlights from the end of 2024.

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Jim Swift
Jan 03, 2025
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Republicans’ Assault on IRS Resources Gives Away Their Fake Populist Game
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Recently in The Bulwark:

  • BILL KRISTOL & ANDREW EGGER: The Warning Signs Were All There

  • JVL: Why Don’t the Tech Bros Just Hire from MAGA? 🔐

  • JOE PERTICONE: Mike Johnson, Welcome to the Thunderdome.

Overtime is for everyone. If you’re a subscriber: thank you. If you’re not, there’s no better time to subscribe to Bulwark+ than today. If you like today’s issue, you can share this newsletter with someone you think would value it.


JILL D. LAWRENCE: Republicans’ Assault on IRS Resources Gives Away Their Fake Populist Game

THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE is an easy agency to hate. And Republicans, with an accidental assist from Democrats, just made it easier than ever.

It’s sad—or SAD, as Donald Trump might say—because the unlovable tax-collection bureaucracy is just beginning to get its act together after decades of cutbacks and restrictions, sometimes in reaction to scandals that proved false or overblown. The upshot has been a depleted IRS with ancient technology, severe personnel shortages, and record gaps between taxes owed and taxes paid on time ($688 billion in 2021 and $696 billion in 2022).

READ THE REST.

'The Hottest Circle of Hell Is for Those Who Stay Neutral'

Catch Sarah and Tim at the Reason Magazine-hosted debate from late December.


🎥 PODCASTS AND VIDEOS 🎧

  • Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller:

    • Sarah Longwell and Jonathan V. Last: We Are Sticking With the Mission [YouTube]

    • David Frum: Sociopaths and Political Tribalism [YouTube]

  • Bulwark+ Live:

    • Our Dark Horse Predictions for 2025

    • Jimmy Carter was a Misunderstood President. Here’s Why.

    • Trump Doubles Down on False Claim Open Borders Led to Horrific New Orleans Attack

  • Across the Movie Aisle: The Rise of Bob Dylan

  • Just Between Us: Kleptocracy and Kakistocracy 🔐

Did you know? Bulwark+ members can listen to an ad-free version of these podcasts on the player of their choice.
Learn more at Bulwark+ Podcast FAQ.
📣Bulwark+ members can now listen to ad-free podcasts on Spotify! Learn more here.
Our 🎥YouTube offerings are the free-versions of shows, and they do have ads.
✍️Also: Did you know that every podcast has a transcript for B+ members? Yes! If you’re more a reader than a listener/viewer, open any podcast and the transcript button is beneath the player.

☃️Items from our Winter Break you may have missed

TIM MILLER: Tim’s 2024 Music Year in Review (The bops. The beefs. And the solace in sound.)

WILL SALETAN: Biden World Thinks He Should Have Stayed in the Race. (The question is not whether he should have dropped out. It’s why he didn’t do so earlier.)

AMY HENDERSON: The Photographer in the Thick of Things (A new exhibition of Harry Benson’s images of presidents, celebrities, and indelible moments.)

JILL D. LAWRENCE: Trump’s Billionaires and Hardliners Don’t Know or Care How Washington Works (And we’re all going to suffer the consequences.)

SONNY BUNCH: ‘Nosferatu’ and ‘The Brutalist’ Reviews (And a happy ‘Nosferatulist’ to you, too.)

ANDREW EGGER: For MAGA: A Sordid Ethics Report > Funding the Government (A tale of two Trump allies in Congress.)

ADDISON DEL MASTRO: Is Christmas Gift Inflation Real? (A century of Christmas commercialism, as observed in old magazine ads.)


🚨OVERTIME🚨

RIP to Melt, the Cleveland-based grilled cheese sandwich shop, which closed at the end of 2024.

Happy 2025! Welcome back to Overtime. I hope you and yours had a wonderful holiday (if you observe one) and a great New Year’s. We spent part of the winter break in Florida with family, and a windy NYE here in Cincinnati. While it’s still winter break for my kids, it is good to be back. And snow (read: ice) is in the forecast. How very fun.

A Worthwhile New Year's Resolution: Take Time To Pause and Think (Connors)

A rare hundo… One of my favorite Hill reporters, Matt Laslo, asked all 100 senators about marijuana and banking. This year, he plans to ask them about crypto.

2024, in six minutes… Just the weird stuff, via Phil Edwards.

Tech that died… In 2024.

The Best Sentences of ‘24… Includes one from our own Andrew Egger (NYT)

Exploring the Carew Tower… A look at Cincinnati’s historic skyscraper, before it becomes apartments.

Tech support questions? Email members@thebulwark.com. Questions for me? Respond to this message.

—30—

Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.

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Republicans’ Assault on IRS Resources Gives Away Their Fake Populist Game
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