- Associated Press - Monday, October 15, 2018

Minneapolis Star Tribune, Oct. 12

Don’t starve the IRS

A decade of cuts has led to critical deficits in the agency’s core functions and may be jeopardizing Americans’ data privacy.

There is a silent crisis brewing at the Internal Revenue Service, with Republicans looking at another round of cuts for the embattled agency even as it prepares to implement a massively complex tax overhaul.

An early warning sign of the agency’s weakened state came on Tax Day this year, when it suffered a massive systems failure as taxpayers across the nation attempted to file their taxes. The IRS was forced to extend the deadline by one day, an event Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called “completely unacceptable.”

And yet, funding continues to inch downward: $11.5 billion in 2017 to $11.4 billion in this year to $11.2 billion in the 2019 budget passed by the Senate and now being negotiated with the House.

The strain from years of budget cuts is showing up in core functions. Acting IRS Commissioner David Kautter recently told Congress that the next round of planned service cuts could mean 40 percent of calls from taxpayers seeking assistance by phone this year may go unanswered. Audits are down 37 percent. Who’s skating? Just who you would think - millionaires and large corporations.

The chances of someone with more than $1 million in income being audited has dropped by more than half in recent years, from nearly 13 percent in 2011 to 5.8 percent. For large corporations, the rate has dropped from 17.8 percent to 7.9 percent. The Government Accountability Office estimates that three-fourths of IRS staff cuts in recent years have come out of tax enforcement. That has led to fewer fines and asset seizures. New investigations into delinquent taxpayers have plummeted 85 percent in five years. The tax gap - the total amount of taxes owed vs. what’s paid - is well more than $450 billion. That’s equal to the entire amount Senate Republicans threatened to cut from Medicare in 2017. In its diminished state, IRS enforcement recaptures about 10 percent of that.

Some may be tempted to offer up a silent cheer that the dreaded “tax man” lacks the resources to come after that last dollar owed the government. But everything the federal government does, from health care to national security, depends on that revenue. The U.S. has a voluntary system of tax filing, but human nature being what it is, compliance is aided greatly by both enforcement for would-be tax cheats and assistance for those who need help figuring it all out.

Perhaps just as important, the IRS is entrusted with Americans’ most sensitive financial data. Yet it now fends off an estimated 2.3 million cyberattacks a day, armed with creaky, outdated technology that has at its center a mainframe dating back to the 1960s.

The role of the modern-day IRS is more expansive than in years past. A majority of Americans now expect to be able to file taxes online and have any refunds deposited electronically in their own bank accounts. Parents and college students depend on the IRS website to seamlessly transfer tax data to FAFSA, the agency in charge of federal college assistance. The IRS also administers the Earned Income Tax Credit, which has grown over the decades into one of the nation’s largest anti-poverty programs.

All this comes on top of its mission to enforce tax laws, investigate potential scofflaws, assist taxpayers and impose fines, levies and seizures when necessary. Every time Congress passes a credit or exemption, or tinkers with the tax code in any way, a small army at IRS must interpret the law, develop guidelines for it and prepare to educate and implement.

That makes the 23 percent, inflation-adjusted drop in its budget over the last eight years downright irresponsible. In her last year-end report to Congress, Nina Olson, the national taxpayer advocate, said funding cuts had rendered the IRS unable to service taxpayers, upgrade its technology or maintain compliance programs. “Shortcuts have become the norm,” she said.

Shortcuts like that will only shortchange Americans whenever they have to interact with this vital agency.

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St. Cloud Times, Oct. 12

Gagliardi’s legend rests in values he instilled in thousands of student athletes

When even casual football fans envision a player lying on the field, the first reason that comes to mind is the player got steamrolled by an opponent - a hulking linebacker flattening a running back or a defensive back sending a leaping wide receiver cartwheeling.

What even hard-core fans don’t envision, though, is an entire team (yes, team) lying on the field, looking skyward and repeating “it’s a nice day.”

Welcome to the Nice Day Drill - one of many reasons John Gagliardi became a legend in coaching St. John’s University for 60 seasons and retired in 2012 as college football’s all-time wins leader.

As Times sports writer Tom Elliott wrote in an entertaining column Monday, the unconventional Gagliardi would run the Nice Day Drill as a way to poke a little fun at other teams’ more tenacious approach to the game.

Have no doubt. His passing marks an official end to a legendary era the likes of which will not be repeated in our lifetimes, perhaps ever.

Amassing 489 victories, 30 conference championships and four national championships leaves no doubt Gagliardi was a football genius. As many former players have pointed out, perhaps the biggest key to his on-field success was simplicity: Focus on what’s most important and ignore what’s not.

Really, though, what made him a legend was not just finding ways to win on fall Saturdays. Rather, it was the values and lessons he instilled in thousands of student athletes as they made their way through his program - and more importantly through a college education.

Tributes after his retirement and since his death from former players as well as St. John’s leaders speak of a person who used football to educate his players about integrity, loyalty, accountability, priorities and leadership.

Of course, he also endured as a coach (and a public speaker) because he knew how to use his sharp wit and often-wry sense of humor to engage people, whether speaking to one person or a national audience - something that became all too common as he set the all-time wins record.

Indeed, Monday will be a hard, sad day for his family, St. John’s and all of college football. Perhaps it will be a little easier if, as Central Minnesotans look skyward, we remember a coach, educator and person who could put things in perspective with four simple words: “It’s a nice day.”

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The Free Press of Mankato, Oct. 14

Girls should have choice in Scouting

Why it matters: Allowing girls into the Boys Scouts organization gives them more choices to be involved in different activities.

Some girls have been tagging along with their brothers to participate in Boy Scouts activities for a while, so girls attending the gatherings isn’t exactly a new development. But now girls can officially be members of the organization, and that’s worth celebrating.

Boy Scouts of America decided about a year ago to accept girls as members. Locally about a dozen younger girls attended Mankato Pack 91’s first mixed-gender pack meeting Thursday at Washington Elementary. …

Some supporters of the Girl Scouts organization argue that the Boy Scouts’ move to accept girls isn’t about being inclusive but rather is a ploy to boost membership. That indeed may happen, but opening up the Boy Scouts organization to both genders expands opportunities to all kids - and that’s a benefit for them. Widening membership also allows families with multiple children of different genders to all be involved. That makes logistical sense when family’s schedules are packed full.

Now girls accompanying their brothers to the meetings are no longer just observers or participants without benefits of being members.

Removing barriers that make it possible for all youth to participate in activities or organizations they want to be involved in is progress. Even as girls join Cub Scouts and share many of the same lessons and activities, they will largely work separately from the boys when the number of girls makes that practical. This is in part because girls can develop earlier and exercise greater influence on a mixed-gender group, a local leader said. Different packs will adjust the makeup of smaller groups depending on gender numbers. That local control is important.

Girls today have lots of choices when it comes to after-school activities, including Girls on the Run, athletics and Scouting. Having the choice to be in Boy Scouts gives girls more options to get involved.

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