We’ve seen a lot of ignorance about history and the nature of our government from those on the left, but we may have an ignorant hot take of all time from former Obama official Brandon Friedman.
Friedman was a deputy assistant secretary for public affairs at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. He also co-founded a tea company. But he doesn’t know much about the government, the IRS, the Civil War, or Republicans.
“Republicans don’t just hate the IRS because it pays for things like highways and social security,” Friedman declared. “There’s history here. They hate what it represents. The IRS was created in 1862 specifically to fund the Civil War, to end slavery and to burn white supremacy to the ground.”
IRS doesn’t pay for things like highways and social security, taxpayers do. Social security is our own money and many highways are paid for by state and local monies. Not to mention that everyone on all sides of the aisle dislikes the IRS for very valid reasons — because Americans don’t like the government sticking their hands in your wallets and taking so much of what you make. It’s one of those few things that unites us all. Plus, let’s also talk about why conservatives have a particular reason to dislike the IRS — namely the targeting scandal under Barack Obama, the same guy Friedman worked for.
But on top of all that, there’s the ignorance of history here. Republicans were the anti-slavery party. Lincoln — a Republican — created the IRS to help pay the expenses of the Civil War. And then it expired after ten years. It was 1913 and the 16th Amendment provided for taxing incomes. So attacking Republicans over the IRS is idiotic. It’s because of Republicans that slavery was defeated. Democrats were the ones on the wrong side here. And no, no one on the planet thinks that the mission of the IRS is about “burning white supremacy to the ground.” That is some kind of twisted take.
Friedman finished off trying to argue that “Abolish the IRS” was a call for insurrection.
Oh, my, the looniness there makes my head hurt. Not to mention the military existed before the IRS and it’s been the left that has been attacking the military and calling to defund it for decades. Is he saying not supporting the IRS is racist and insurrectionist? Why, yes, he is.
But what’s concerning is that the Biden White House is littered with former Obama people like this. This is one of the reasons we have such a mess there now — the ignorance/gaslighting about even such basic concepts as inflation and recession is shocking. But unfortunately, he’s a perfect example of the Democrats in control now who will say anything, no matter how wrong or stupid, in order to justify their narratives and grab for control.