Why does everyone hate the IRS? On HBO’s “Last Week Tonight,” host John Oliver said it’s because the agency combines two of the things we hate most: “someone taking our money and math.”
However, Oliver argued that our anger is misdirected because the IRS “does a difficult, thankless, almost dangerously boring job,” and GOP cuts to the agency’s budget is making their task even more difficult.
So if you’ve got a problem with how much you pay in taxes, don’t blame the IRS. Blame Congress.
“The fact is, blaming the IRS because you hate paying your taxes is a bit like slapping your checkout clerk because the price of eggs has gone up,” Oliver said. “It’s not her fault — she’s just trying to help you get out of the store.”
Oliver said it’s time to change the way we think about the IRS, even if no one likes the agency.
“Not everything that’s important is likable,” Oliver said. “Think of our government as a body. The IRS is the anus: It’s nobody’s favorite part, but you need that thing working properly or everything goes to shit real quick.”
To help win a little sympathy for the beleaguered agency, Oliver brought in Michael Bolton to sing “if not a love song, a song of reluctant support for their appropriate funding.”
Check out the clip above to see what is perhaps the only time you’ll ever hear Bolton croon an ode that includes the word “anus.”