Taxes

The White House Lied About Its IRS Funding Only Targeting the Rich

Plus: A listener asks the editors for examples of left-leaning thinkers who also hold libertarian ideas.

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In this week's The Reason Roundtable, editors Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Peter Suderman consider President Joe Biden's updated response to the war in Gaza following a strike by Israeli military forces that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers. And with tax day on the horizon, the editors reflect on how Biden's plan to hire new IRS agents is resulting in more audits of the middle class.

03:02—Biden's response to Israeli military forces killing seven aid workers in Gaza

27:04—The IRS hires more workers, and more middle-class audits result.

36:16—Weekly Listener Question

47:56—Eclipse day!

53:25—This week's cultural recommendations

Mentioned in this podcast:

"Biden Says Arab States Ready To Recognize Israel in Future Deal," by Jordan Fabian

"Should pro-Hamas students be blacklisted?" by Nick Gillespie

"The West Bank Comes to New Jersey," by Matthew Petti

Nancy Rommelman's dispatches from Israel

"Russ Roberts on October 7 and the Future of U.S.-Israel Relations," by Zach Weissmueller and Liz Wolfe

"Throwing Money at the IRS Won't Fix Its Problems," by Katherine Mangu-Ward

"Promise-Breaking IRS," by Liz Wolfe

"In 2022, the IRS Went After the Very Poorest Taxpayers," by Liz Wolfe

"Massive Scale of Improper Payments Show Govt is Too Big NOT to Fail," by Veronique de Rugy

"3 More Reasons To Fear the IRS," by Nick Gillespie and Meredith Bragg

"Remy: What Are the Chances? (An IRS Love Song)," by Remy, Austin Bragg, and Meredith Bragg

"Remy: Best Song Ever! (One Direction Parody—Tax Code Edition)," by Remy, Austin Bragg, and Meredith Bragg

"W-2 WTF?!?!: Tax Facts to Make Your Head Explode!" by Meredith Bragg and Nick Gillespie

"The New Philosophers Rock France," by William Bonner

"Velvet President," by Matt Welch

"Was Foucault a Libertarian? Nick Gillespie Explains Why Philosopher's Greatest Protégé Was the Free Market," by Davis Richardson

"Libertarian Postmodernism: A Reply to Jordan Peterson and the Intellectual Dark Web," by Zach Weissmueller and Nick Gillespie

"Goodbye True World," by Nick Gillespie

"'We Are as Gods and Might as Well Get Good at It,'" by Nick Gillespie

"Václav Havel's Funeral: Why Truth Needs Love," by Matt Welch

"Curb This, Mofo," by Nick Gillespie

"Enthusiasm, Curbed," by Nick Gillespie

Send your questions to roundtable@reason.com. Be sure to include your social media handle and the correct pronunciation of your name.

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Audio production by Ian Keyser; assistant production by Hunt Beaty.

Music: "Angeline," by The Brothers Steve