The US is about to go full Louis XVI

[727Sky]

The US is about to go full Louis XVI

Monday, Aug 08, 2022 - 22:48
by Simon Black via Sovereign Man
On September 3, 1783, after nearly a year of excruciating back-and-forth negotiations, all sides had finally gathered together in Paris to sign a historic peace agreement.
It was a pretty important peace deal. Because the Treaty of Paris, as it is now known, is what formally ended the American Revolution, and when Great Britain legally recognized the United States as an independent nation.

The treaty was signed in Paris because France had been a major supporter of the US war effort. And just as soon as the ink was dry, French King Louis XVI ordered his finance minister to prepare an accounting of exactly how much money France had spent on US independence.
The result was nothing short of astonishing—more than 1 billion livres.
To put that number in context, the French Treasury’s entire annual revenue only amounted to around 200 million livres.
So they had basically sunk FIVE YEARS worth of their tax revenue fighting someone else’s war.
Granted, Britain was still one of France’s main rivals. And the French did not care for British King George III.
But the American War was simply too costly, and France had already been on very shaky financial footing well before this point.
Louis XIV had nearly bankrupted the country a century before. His successor, Louis XV, had to drastically slash expenses and could barely hang on financially.
Then, in 1774, just prior to the American Revolution, Louis XVI became king at a time that France was rapidly deteriorating.
You’d think that with so much economic turmoil at home that he would have focused on his own national interests… and, in lieu of money, weapons, and ships, he would have instead sent the royal thoughts and prayers to America.
But no. Lucky for the United States, Louis XVI courageously fought the American Revolution down to the very last French taxpayer.
Only after the war did Louis finally take stock of the situation and realize the truth: America was in a much better position. Britain was bruised but still powerful. Yet his own France was nearly bankrupt and desperately in need of cash. Not exactly a win/win.
Louis XVI was King, but his powers were limited; he was beholden to the legislature, called the Estates-General, and he couldn’t simply decree new taxes without their consent.
The King did, however, control the tax collectors. And Louis made sure they had every authority to coerce, harass, and intimidate money out of French citizens.
French tax collectors had the authority to walk right into people’s homes unannounced, conduct surprise inspections to look for hidden wealth, and walk away with whatever money or property they felt would satisfy the peasant’s tax bill.
This is actually a pretty common theme throughout history: governments that are on the ropes routinely resort to plundering the savings of their citizens.
Several ancient Roman emperors, in fact, from Diocletian to Valentinian III, famously sent ruthless tax collectors to harass their citizens and steal their wealth. Several ancient Chinese dynasties did the same thing. So did the declining Ottoman Empire.
Significantly ramping up tax collection efforts is typically a hallmark of an economy and empire in decline.
So we can’t be too surprised that, in its latest legislative bonanza, the US government is setting aside $80 billion for IRS tax collection efforts.
They’re calling the bill, of course, the Inflation Reduction Act. This is pure comedy—the legislation will do no such thing. Why would inflation, which in part was caused by excessive government spending, magically dissipate because of more government spending? It’s ludicrous.
But inflation aside, front and center in the legislation is $80 billion in funding for the IRS, primarily to step up it tax collection and enforcement efforts.
To put that number in context, the annual budget for the IRS is about $12 billion. So, even though the $80 billion will be leaked out over a period of several years, it constitutes a major increase in the IRS budget.
The entire idea is based on a bizarre notion known as the ‘tax gap’. This is the difference between the amount of tax the government collects, versus the amount the government thinks they should collect.
In other words, the tax gap represents how much they believe people are cheating. And the estimates vary wildly, from $100 billion per year to a whopping $1 trillion per year.
Frankly these numbers have always seemed to me like they were completely made up. No one has explained how they actually come up with such estimates. They just barf up some number and pretend that it’s true.
Obviously there are a whole lot of hardcore tax cheats out there, stealing and defrauding the system. But that’s not why the IRS is receiving an $80 billion boost.
This money will go to hire a small army of tax inspectors who will fan out across the nation on a giant fishing expedition that will ensnare countless middle class Americans and small businesses.
Certainly they’ll catch a few cheats along the way. And they may even find a few bucks to close that mythical ‘tax gap’.
But at what cost?
One of the biggest problems with the US economy right now is that it’s so much more difficult to produce goods and services.
Over the past few years, the people in charge have put up endless road blocks and obstacles for small business.
They vanquished the labor market and made it all but impossible to find workers. They destroyed the supply chain. They engineered historically high inflation. They came up with a myriad of costly new environmental and public health rules.
On top of that they constantly create new rules and regulations, many of which step far beyond the government’s authority.
(Last year, for example, the CDC Director decided in her sole discretion that she controlled the entire $10+ trillion US housing market.)
23% of full-time workers today require a government license to do what they do, according to the US Department of Labor. Even being a hairdresser is full of red tape and costly bureaucracy.
This new threat of widespread tax audits is going to be yet another obstruction to Americans’ productivity…. at a time when the economy desperately needs maximum focus.
Inflation is raging because there is a serious, global imbalance between the supply and demand of goods and services.
Specifically, demand is too strong because they doled out trillions of dollars in free money. And supply is weak because nearly every single government policy makes it harder for people to produce (which is yet another hallmark of empires in decline).
Now, on top of everything else, is a very high likelihood of being harassed by the tax authorities.
Audits are incredibly unpleasant, costly, and time-consuming. Even if all of your accounts are in order and you’ve done nothing wrong, a tax audit monopolizes a tremendous amount of time and money.
It’s debilitating. Say goodbye to actually running your business, growing sales, or spending time with your family on nights and weekends… and say hello to preparing for your tax audit.
Your time will now be spent digging up receipts, finding old contracts, and trying to recall specific details of trivial decisions you made years ago.
Plus you’ll most likely have to pay outside experts to assist with the process, like CPAs and attorneys. And naturally the government does not reimburse you for such expenses. But at least you’ll get to deduct them… from your taxes.
In the end, after endless financial scrutiny, the government may conclude that you owe them a few bucks because of some undocumented deduction from several years ago. So you write them a check for some trivial sum… after having spent countless hours and effort taken away from your productivity.
The cost/benefit just doesn’t compute. And that’s why healthy, prosperous nations don’t engage in such absurd activities. They don’t need to.
Taxes ultimately represent the government’s ‘slice’ of an economic pie. So when a country is prosperous and an economy is strong, the government’s slice continues to grow because the overall economic pie is constantly getting bigger.
But nations in decline don’t see it this way. For them, the pie is shrinking. So they think the only way to increase their slice is to go after other people’s crumbs.
History shows this is absolutely the wrong move. Raising tax rates, inventing new taxes, and recruiting armies of tax collectors only makes the pie shrink even more.
Their efforts, instead, should be focused on making the pie bigger. But they don’t think that way.
Bear in mind this is all brought to you by the same people who are shoveling your tax dollars out the door to Ukraine $50 billion at a time. It’s very ‘Louis XVI’ of them.
All of these trends—the cannibalistic surge in tax authorities, the anti-productive regulations, the economic scarcity mentality—are all hallmarks of an empire in decline.
The situation is NOT terminal. It is NOT irreversible. But it is reason enough to have a Plan B.

While the article brings up a little history and makes me wonder...Why  all the IRS agents https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2022-08-0...-louis-xvi
and then there is this https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/irs...-necessary   IRS faces online uproar over special agent job posting requiring ability to use deadly force 'if necessary'

[NightskyeB4Dawn]

Armed Off-Duty Federal Agent Shot and Killed by Deputies in Florida Keys: Sheriff

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/arme...f/2832641/

There have been several confrontations between the local police and federal agents in the news recently.

With their attitude, there are likely to be more. 

Though the story in the article speaks of a different set of circumstances, it is the headline that I fear may become more frequent.

[wtbengineer]

The US is about to go full Louis XVI

Monday, Aug 08, 2022 - 22:48
by Simon Black via Sovereign Man
On September 3, 1783, after nearly a year of excruciating back-and-forth negotiations, all sides had finally gathered together in Paris to sign a historic peace agreement.
It was a pretty important peace deal. Because the Treaty of Paris, as it is now known, is what formally ended the American Revolution, and when Great Britain legally recognized the United States as an independent nation.

The treaty was signed in Paris because France had been a major supporter of the US war effort. And just as soon as the ink was dry, French King Louis XVI ordered his finance minister to prepare an accounting of exactly how much money France had spent on US independence.
The result was nothing short of astonishing—more than 1 billion livres.
To put that number in context, the French Treasury’s entire annual revenue only amounted to around 200 million livres.
So they had basically sunk FIVE YEARS worth of their tax revenue fighting someone else’s war.
Granted, Britain was still one of France’s main rivals. And the French did not care for British King George III.
But the American War was simply too costly, and France had already been on very shaky financial footing well before this point.
Louis XIV had nearly bankrupted the country a century before. His successor, Louis XV, had to drastically slash expenses and could barely hang on financially.
Then, in 1774, just prior to the American Revolution, Louis XVI became king at a time that France was rapidly deteriorating.
You’d think that with so much economic turmoil at home that he would have focused on his own national interests… and, in lieu of money, weapons, and ships, he would have instead sent the royal thoughts and prayers to America.
But no. Lucky for the United States, Louis XVI courageously fought the American Revolution down to the very last French taxpayer.
Only after the war did Louis finally take stock of the situation and realize the truth: America was in a much better position. Britain was bruised but still powerful. Yet his own France was nearly bankrupt and desperately in need of cash. Not exactly a win/win.
Louis XVI was King, but his powers were limited; he was beholden to the legislature, called the Estates-General, and he couldn’t simply decree new taxes without their consent.
The King did, however, control the tax collectors. And Louis made sure they had every authority to coerce, harass, and intimidate money out of French citizens.
French tax collectors had the authority to walk right into people’s homes unannounced, conduct surprise inspections to look for hidden wealth, and walk away with whatever money or property they felt would satisfy the peasant’s tax bill.
This is actually a pretty common theme throughout history: governments that are on the ropes routinely resort to plundering the savings of their citizens.
Several ancient Roman emperors, in fact, from Diocletian to Valentinian III, famously sent ruthless tax collectors to harass their citizens and steal their wealth. Several ancient Chinese dynasties did the same thing. So did the declining Ottoman Empire.
Significantly ramping up tax collection efforts is typically a hallmark of an economy and empire in decline.
So we can’t be too surprised that, in its latest legislative bonanza, the US government is setting aside $80 billion for IRS tax collection efforts.
They’re calling the bill, of course, the Inflation Reduction Act. This is pure comedy—the legislation will do no such thing. Why would inflation, which in part was caused by excessive government spending, magically dissipate because of more government spending? It’s ludicrous.
But inflation aside, front and center in the legislation is $80 billion in funding for the IRS, primarily to step up it tax collection and enforcement efforts.
To put that number in context, the annual budget for the IRS is about $12 billion. So, even though the $80 billion will be leaked out over a period of several years, it constitutes a major increase in the IRS budget.
The entire idea is based on a bizarre notion known as the ‘tax gap’. This is the difference between the amount of tax the government collects, versus the amount the government thinks they should collect.
In other words, the tax gap represents how much they believe people are cheating. And the estimates vary wildly, from $100 billion per year to a whopping $1 trillion per year.
Frankly these numbers have always seemed to me like they were completely made up. No one has explained how they actually come up with such estimates. They just barf up some number and pretend that it’s true.
Obviously there are a whole lot of hardcore tax cheats out there, stealing and defrauding the system. But that’s not why the IRS is receiving an $80 billion boost.
This money will go to hire a small army of tax inspectors who will fan out across the nation on a giant fishing expedition that will ensnare countless middle class Americans and small businesses.
Certainly they’ll catch a few cheats along the way. And they may even find a few bucks to close that mythical ‘tax gap’.
But at what cost?
One of the biggest problems with the US economy right now is that it’s so much more difficult to produce goods and services.
Over the past few years, the people in charge have put up endless road blocks and obstacles for small business.
They vanquished the labor market and made it all but impossible to find workers. They destroyed the supply chain. They engineered historically high inflation. They came up with a myriad of costly new environmental and public health rules.
On top of that they constantly create new rules and regulations, many of which step far beyond the government’s authority.
(Last year, for example, the CDC Director decided in her sole discretion that she controlled the entire $10+ trillion US housing market.)
23% of full-time workers today require a government license to do what they do, according to the US Department of Labor. Even being a hairdresser is full of red tape and costly bureaucracy.
This new threat of widespread tax audits is going to be yet another obstruction to Americans’ productivity…. at a time when the economy desperately needs maximum focus.
Inflation is raging because there is a serious, global imbalance between the supply and demand of goods and services.
Specifically, demand is too strong because they doled out trillions of dollars in free money. And supply is weak because nearly every single government policy makes it harder for people to produce (which is yet another hallmark of empires in decline).
Now, on top of everything else, is a very high likelihood of being harassed by the tax authorities.
Audits are incredibly unpleasant, costly, and time-consuming. Even if all of your accounts are in order and you’ve done nothing wrong, a tax audit monopolizes a tremendous amount of time and money.
It’s debilitating. Say goodbye to actually running your business, growing sales, or spending time with your family on nights and weekends… and say hello to preparing for your tax audit.
Your time will now be spent digging up receipts, finding old contracts, and trying to recall specific details of trivial decisions you made years ago.
Plus you’ll most likely have to pay outside experts to assist with the process, like CPAs and attorneys. And naturally the government does not reimburse you for such expenses. But at least you’ll get to deduct them… from your taxes.
In the end, after endless financial scrutiny, the government may conclude that you owe them a few bucks because of some undocumented deduction from several years ago. So you write them a check for some trivial sum… after having spent countless hours and effort taken away from your productivity.
The cost/benefit just doesn’t compute. And that’s why healthy, prosperous nations don’t engage in such absurd activities. They don’t need to.
Taxes ultimately represent the government’s ‘slice’ of an economic pie. So when a country is prosperous and an economy is strong, the government’s slice continues to grow because the overall economic pie is constantly getting bigger.
But nations in decline don’t see it this way. For them, the pie is shrinking. So they think the only way to increase their slice is to go after other people’s crumbs.
History shows this is absolutely the wrong move. Raising tax rates, inventing new taxes, and recruiting armies of tax collectors only makes the pie shrink even more.
Their efforts, instead, should be focused on making the pie bigger. But they don’t think that way.
Bear in mind this is all brought to you by the same people who are shoveling your tax dollars out the door to Ukraine $50 billion at a time. It’s very ‘Louis XVI’ of them.
All of these trends—the cannibalistic surge in tax authorities, the anti-productive regulations, the economic scarcity mentality—are all hallmarks of an empire in decline.
The situation is NOT terminal. It is NOT irreversible. But it is reason enough to have a Plan B.

While the article brings up a little history and makes me wonder...Why  all the IRS agents https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2022-08-0...-louis-xvi
and then there is this https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/irs...-necessary   IRS faces online uproar over special agent job posting requiring ability to use deadly force 'if necessary'

This just makes me sad.  Empire in decline is right.  I'm mostly worried for the people who are struggling to get by and will be hounded by the IRS.  That's something that could just end somebody that's barely hanging on anyway.

[NightskyeB4Dawn]

Looks like another incident can be added to the events I have noticed.

[EndtheMadnessNow]

The US is about to go full Louis XVI

While the article brings up a little history and makes me wonder...Why  all the IRS agents https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2022-08-0...-louis-xvi
and then there is this https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/irs...-necessary   IRS faces online uproar over special agent job posting requiring ability to use deadly force 'if necessary'

Aside from all those agents going after the working middle-class & small business owners, I think it's more about going after the Bitcoin crypto geeks, especially those that are not backed/not using the cartel banking crypto infrastructure. Back in 2020 the gov outsourced to techno contractors to train IRS agents on how to track & trace crypto currency. And since we're moving toward digital currency enslavement this may be the reason. They need to close all the freedom holes before unleashing digital currency on the world.

[Ninurta]

Looks like another incident can be added to the events I have noticed.

Sounds like someone has had about enough of their shit.

either that, or it's just more made-up, controlled FBI bullshit designed to support their propaganda war...

.

[NightskyeB4Dawn]

Sounds like someone has had about enough of their shit.

either that, or it's just more made-up, controlled FBI bullshit designed to support their propaganda war...

.

Or an excuse for being more aggressive towards the American citizens.

We are all potential terrorist now, you know.

[NightskyeB4Dawn]

Sounds like someone has had about enough of their shit.

either that, or it's just more made-up, controlled FBI bullshit designed to support their propaganda war...

.

And who did not see this spin coming?

The problem here is that you have too many pawns willing to play the game. That puts the majority of the sane people as innocent fodder to be expended.





So it looks like this one got pulled. Let's try this one again.



Was not surprised that they are connecting this guys and January 6th.

[727Sky]

[EndtheMadnessNow]

We Are In Grave Danger...

[DuckforcoveR]

A small population of deranged right wing folks are attempting to fan the flames of revolution...only to be shot dead because they are f'n morons. 

The American people don't want Civil War, they want change. And that change largely starts with the demilitaization of every fucking cry baby conversation intended to stoke nothing more than debate. 

But no, "my side lost" turned into "let's WAR!" Like these tubby fuckers with bud lights know what it's like to see their friends and family blown to fucking bits. Armchair warriors at best in this country. Bunch of Call of Duty Patriots.

[727Sky]

https://valiantnews.com/2022/08/irs-repo...rban-home/

In the Internal Revenue Service 2021 annual report, IRS Criminal Investigation special agents can be observed simulating an armed assault on a suburban home at the agency’s National Criminal Investigation Training Academy (NCITA), located within the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Brunswick, Georgia.
According to the IRS, these IRS-CI agents are “are among the most highly trained financial investigators in the world” and train for 6 months.
While training at the NCITA, new IRS-CI special agents begin an 11-week Criminal Investigator Training Program (CITP) run by FLETC, where they learn firearms training and other traditional law enforcement tactics.

“CITP covers topics common to all federal law enforcement agents, including basic criminal investigation skills, federal criminal law, courtroom procedures, enforcement operations, interviewing skills, and firearms training,” the IRS report states.
While conducting firearms training, IRS-CI special agents wear tactical clothing that reads “POLICE” and “IRS-CI.”

IRS-CI Special Agents Firearms Training – IRS 2021 Annual Report
IRS-CI Special Agents Firearms Training – IRS 2021 Annual Report
“Following CITP, new special agent trainees take a 14-week NCITA Special Agent Investigative Techniques (SAIT) course. The SAIT program trains new agents in tax law, evidence gathering, interviewing, report writing, methods of proving unreported income, and money laundering violations,” the report continues.

IRS-CI Special Agents Firearms Training at Denver Field Office – IRS 2021 Annual Report
Among various photographs of armed IRS-CI special agents include one that depicts them raiding a suburban home, with guns drawn.
“It also provides physical fitness conditioning and use of force training, which includes firearms, weaponless tactics, and building entry,” the annual report reads.

“In addition to SAIT, NCITA assists in providing advanced training to special agents in use of force, firearms instruction, defensive tactics, and building entry.”
IRS-CI special agents simulate armed assault on suburban home – IRS 2021 Annual Report
IRS-CI Special Agents Firearms Training – IRS 2021 Annual Report

IRS-CI Special Agents Building Entry Training at Phoenix Field Office – IRS 2021 Annual Report
“IRS:CI special agents receive regular refresher training. They attend quarterly training in firearms, defensive tactics, and building entry,” the report reads.
“Through frequent use of force training, they maintain their skills and abilities to ensure good judgement and to apply the appropriate degree of force necessary to safely carry out enforcement activities, including issuing search warrants, arrests, surveillance, dignitary protection, undercover activities, and seizures.”
Read the full 49-page long IRS 2021 annual report here.
The Biden administration and Democrats have recently come under scrutiny over their “Inflation Reduction Act,” which allocates nearly $80 billion to the IRS, with $45.6 billion going to “enforcement.” Among other provisions in the controversial spending bill include an additional hiring of 87,000 more IRS agents.
The administration, along with Democrats who support the bill, insist that the newly expanded force of IRS agents will not target lower and middle class Americans with audits, but instead the rich, who are vastly outnumbered by everyone else.
However, some have noted that over 75% of IRS audits targeted Americans making under $200,000 per year.

[NightskyeB4Dawn]

While the article brings up a little history and makes me wonder...Why  all the IRS agents https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2022-08-0...-louis-xvi
and then there is this https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/irs...-necessary   IRS faces online uproar over special agent job posting requiring ability to use deadly force 'if necessary'

I had a strange dream last night. It was odd in that it was a dream mostly about feelings. There was a very vague background to the dream, the details were very few, and it was short. Your post brought it all back, and made me realize, that the IRS raiding people's homes, has to be the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard.

I dreamt one of my siblings died. In my dream, they lived in a building in New York that used to be a store, but they had made a home of it.

It was in a seedy, run down part of the town, that was at the beginning of rebirth. All the people that owned property there, was hard working people, trying to make something out of nothing. Just for the record, I have 5 brothers and four sisters, none of them have ever lived in New York.

In the dream I was traveling back and forth from Florida to New York several times a week, trying to fix up the place and to get their affairs in order, but it was getting old quick. So one day one while riding the bus to back to the store/home, I made up my mind that I was going to just move to New York and be done with all the back and forth. I decided, to have the bus drop me just two streets away, if I walked through the alleys.

The bus driver did not want to let me off. He said that is was a really bad part of town, and it was not safe to walk the streets alone. It was 11am. I remember laughing and telling the bus driver, that I walked those streets at one and two o'clock in the morning, without issue, so I didn't think walking them mid day would be a problem.

Everyone on the bus looked at me like I was crazy. They said, "But it is so dark". "It is not safe." I told them that I would be fine, because this was my home. I felt a sense of pride so strong, and I couldn't stop laughing, because, I knew I had nothing. But it was my nothing.

So really, if we think about it. The IRS is trying to get blood from a turnip. What purpose does raiding a struggling person's home serve? The little money I have in the bank, they could take with just tap and a click. There is absolutely nothing in my home that would be of value to the IRS. So why would IRS raid anyone's home? With or without a gun, I can think of not one reason the IRS would need to come to your house.

Even if they tried to take possession of your home, that would have to go through the legal process. I just don't see it.

I am at the point in my life that I am downsizing. The few heirlooms I have, are valuable to no one except family and friends, simply because they are nothing more than family memorabilia, a piece that may assist in the recollection of a family member, or an event in time. I am trying to give it all away, so they can have them while I am still living, and because the more tchotchkes you have about, the harder it is to keep things tidy.

I don't think the IRS would want any of them. No firearms. So the only thing I think I have that is of any possible value to anyone, would be my four Siberian Huskies, and my two Huskicats. And I guarantee if anyone takes them, they will be paying me to take them back in less than 24 hours.

[727Sky]

All American's can do is hope and prey that the Democrat's machine does not steal another election and who ever is voted into office come Nov and the White House come 2024 does one big house cleaning of the bureaucratic agencies that are a festering cesspool of corruption directed by those who want to destroy America from within. ...

[727Sky]