WSJ editorial, 5,100 More IRS Agents: The White House Plan to Close the Mythical “Tax Gap”:

The White House is requesting that the most beloved of all government agencies get an additional 5,100 agents next year, no doubt to wring further tax revenue from Americans. The White House wants to give the IRS a 9.4% raise in fiscal 2012, to $13.28 billion. …

We doubt this is the kind of fiscal discipline that voters had in mind in November, but it does reflect the mentality of an Administration that assumes it could go a long way to balancing the budget if only fewer Americans shirked their tax bills. The 5,100 extra IRS gumshoes are supposed to chase the $300 billion “tax gap,” the Beltway’s version of the Loch Ness monster that is the difference between what the IRS collects and what Congress thinks Americans owe. It’s about as real as Nessie, though at least with the monster some Scots claim photographic evidence.