Ernst addresses CRT, IRS enforcement in town hall

Aug. 18—BLOOMFIELD — David Barnes wondered how quickly parts of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed Tuesday by President Biden, could be rescinded.

"We know what the Internal Revenue Service is going to do," he said, speaking about the hire of 87,000 IRS agents the law provides. "They're gonna come after the little guy."

Barnes' topic was one of a handful that Sen. Joni Ernst tackled during a town hall stop at the Mutchler Community Center Thursday. The stop in Davis County was part of her 99-county tour of the state. Ernst is not up for re-election until 2026, but fellow Republican Chuck Grassley is in three months.

"So if Republicans go back into the majority in the House and Senate, you still have the White House," Ernst said in response. "The president would try to veto anything we tried to undo.

"What can happen is that negotiations will go on because Congress holds the purse strings. So if they want to hire 87,000 new IRS agents, hmm, maybe we won't fund that. We need to be prepared to make our proposal on what was done in the IRA, which doesn't actually reduce inflation."

The Department of Treasury last year stated 87,000 IRS employees would be hired over 10 years to replace a mostly aging department, and that audits affecting those making under $400,000 would not increase, but would increase on those making over that income level. It is also unclear how many would be hired strictly for auditing.

Two other attendees were concerned about critical race theory and other "divisive concepts" being taught in schools, as well as kids being subjected to gender-identity concepts in schools. Even though the state passed laws banning CRT in schools, it is not in K-12 curriculum. It's an idea taught in higher education that racism is systemic in the nation's institutions, and those maintain the dominance of white people.

"I mean, I have a kindergartner and a third-grader. They can't even make up their mind about what food they like," one man said.

Ernst said educational curriculum is typically handled at the state level, but agreed with the concern about what is taught.

"Children are growing and their brains are developing until they're 25 or 27," she said. "So to enable that level of a decision in a child, it's inappropriate for educators to do that ..."

"We've decided they can't drink or smoke, but they can change their identity," one woman interjected.

Cherielynn Westrich, a Republican running for state senate in District 13, said "we passed a bill this past session that made it impossible to teach divisive concepts including CRT."

"What we didn't do was put teeth into the bill. We don't want to punish teachers because we have great teachers," she said.

Davis County Community School District superintendent Dan Maeder did not specifically weigh in on the teaching in the classroom, but encouraged community members to "come to board meetings and bring your concerns."

However, he did bring up a topic that resonated with many in the crowd: the decline in military enrollment. Maeder actively serves in the Iowa National Guard, in addition to his role with the school.

"I'm concerned about indoctrination in the military, and we've had some of these issues for years," he said. "We don't care where folks come from, we don't care about their background. We don't care what their race, religion, color, or creed is. We don't care what their sex is; we care can about if they can defend, if they can fight.

"I'm concerned about the strength of our force."

Dave Eastburn, a banker and retired Marine, was even more blunt.

"For the first time in my life, we are not telling people to join the United States Marines," he said. "Watching Afghanistan deteriorate, I would not recommend a young person go into that environment."

"As an ex-Marine, I'll say that you have to be proud of your country," he said. "We don't have that sense of pride."

Ernst said the rest of the world looks to the U.S. to lead, but was disappointed about where she believes the current administration's priorities are.

"We're down about 40,000 short of our recruiting goals this year. You can't sustain a military that way," she said. "And this administration wants to transition all our non-tactical vehicles to electric vehicles in the upcoming decade. That's what we're focused on? Are you kidding me?"

Bloomfield mayor Christopher Miller asked Ernst if Republicans had any intention of simplifying the tax code nationally, citing Gov. Kim Reynolds' flat tax rate.

"Right now, it's probably not possible, but in 10-15 years, it could be," she said.

"If we simplify the tax code, what would we do with these 87,000 IRS agents," Ernst said to laughs in the room. "I don't know."

— Chad Drury can be reached at cdrury@ottumwacourier.com, and on Twitter @ChadDrury