Towards the end of an IRS Budget meeting by the House Ways and Means subcommittee, after most of the audience and reporters had left the session, it was uncovered that a request for funds (a 50% increase equiv. to $12m) to hire additional criminal financial investigators was denied by the White House!

The item was left out of the President's budget. When asked why this item was not budgeted for especially during this time of vigilant anti-terrorism, the initial response was that the approved/budgeted 16% increase was deemed a "robust commitment" towards fighting terrorist funding.

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