IRS Scandal Why Does it Matter?

We first discussed what was going on in this scandal here and here. I think it is important now  to discuss why this scandal matters to the American people. First is that our government and it's leaders have been entrusted to execute the law with fairness and equality. We even created the 14th amendment to ensure equal protection under the law. Second the power that our government has can be abused, and when it is there should be consequences for those who abuse that power.

I want to share a personal experience with you that I had with the IRS. A few years ago I  was a student working for a little cafe on campus making a mere $7 an hour, 15 hours a week. One year I forgot to submit my taxes until July. When I became aware of this I paid up on my taxes and even paid the late fees on my taxes. I owed $25 because the school didn't withold any taxes, and my penalty was around $100. I paid the penalty, but not in time before the next penalty was assessed. Between moving and several stops that penalty again was eventually paid, but cost me another $50. 

Why did I share this story? Because with the IRS you pay and you pay on time, you do it right, and you do it their way. Things do not become ok with them by just saying that you are sorry, you can't plead the fifth and have the IRS tell you it is ok and that they won't investigate further. They demand a response, and if that isn't enough they will take the money directly from your bank account. They can audit your personal finances, your business, and your family members at any time, even with no just cause for such intrusions. To most of America, we fear the IRS and what power it holds in our lives. 

Now when investigating these matters of intrusion by the IRS by illegally targeting conservative groups, it is now makes things ok for saying I'm sorry. According to former IRS Chief Douglas H. Shulmann he is sorry for the IRS actions in these matters, and Lois Lerner started her remarks by apologizing originally which brought this story to light. Today she went before the House she pleaded the fifth. It will become more clear later this week whether or not she will be forced to testify due to her making a statements. This is being debated because of an interpretation issue. 

So why does it matter so much that the IRS is targeting conservative groups? Why does it matter? Because it a gross overreach of power among groups that should be even handed in their approach. As we saw last week in the house ways and means hearing, this was not just a simple overreach of power, and begs a few questions to be asked. First who made this decision? Why did they make the decision to target specific groups? Why were these follow up questions asked? Why didn't they have more supervision over these questions when they were asked?

Why did Lois Lerner plead the fifth? Several members of congress believe she made at best incomplete statements regarding the targeting of conservative groups which applied for tax exempt status while she was chief of the tax exempt division of the IRS. We of course know due to and inspector general report that she new of the targeting as early as June 2011 and that she has testified before congress since then that there was no targeting.

This is transparency at it's worst, when an administration and branches of government hide behind executive privilege(fast and furious) and claiming to have no knowledge of these incidents until they come to public, we must ask the question, does the administration and President really think that the american people are incompetent enough not to make the connections, and realize that his administration is corrupt? We have had four major scandals with no firings, a couple of resignations, but no real consequences for anyone that has taken part. Lois Lerner has even been rewarded by being put in charge of the Obamacare implementation! 

This frankly speaking was a coverup, and continues to be a scandal of import, as it seems that the most overbearing government agency was used for political means to punish those opposing the party in power's authority. It makes perfect sense that of course the same individual in charge of that division of the IRS was then appointed to head up the implementation of Obamacare, because they knew she would do what they wanted her to do, punish the groups that they want punished. Whenever there is power to be had those in power will always seek to keep, increase and often abuse that power.

Something needs to be done, I am encouraged by Senator Heller's (R-NV) actions. Senator Heller (R-NV) has introduced a bill to cut funding to increase IRS agents as requested by Obamacare. 

IRS Scandal Goes Deeper

By Tim Newton
It seemed fairly light, but still overreach at first, with a simple apology by the Chief IRS Director over non-profit organizations admitting that conservative groups had been targeted for extra scrutiny. As it has grown, we now know that this overreach was extremely overbearing and details show a great deal of harassment. It was not however just the overreach of targeting groups that has so many individuals upset, the scandal continues to grow in force and shines more light on the lack of transparency and accountability both in the IRS and in the Obama administration.

We now know that Lois Lerner had a planted questioner ask her about questions that had been asked in the media about the IRS and Tea Party Groups   and she issued an apology, This came just days after her hearing before the Ways and Means Committee herself and right before the Inspector General's report on the IRS's mishandling on Tea Party and conservative groups requests for tax exemption. She has now stated that when she appears before the house she will plead the fifth. This of course comes from the most transparent administration in history. Her current position after being head of this besieged department? She is now the head of the division which has been charged with helping to implement Obamacare.

Some senators see the overreach of the IRS as too much, and that they must be held accountable. Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) has introduced a bill to cut funding to increase IRS agents as requested by Obamacare.
He stated:
 "News that the IRS has been targeting conservative groups violated the trust that the American people place in their government. Nevadans are already concerned about ObamaCare, so the fact that Congress could hand over even more power to an agency under intense scrutiny to enforce the health care law is deeply concerning. The ‘IRS Accountability Act’ suspends funding for new ObamaCare IRS agents because right now we can’t trust the IRS to do its job"

Then we were told by the Obama administration that they had no knowledge of it . We now know that administration officials knew at least three weeks beforehand. Apparently his aids did not inform him of the scandal so he did not "interfere" with the ongoing investigation. Why does our president seem to not know about everything that is going on in his administration? But as we also learned last weekend Obama has had no hand in running government in the last four years to begin with ;).

Now it wouldn't be as bad if this was just a targeting issue, as we learned from the hearings last week before the House Committee on Ways and Means that it wasn't just targeting, but a great deal of harassment including asking for the content of possible prayers that members of the group may pray, voluminous amounts of records, financial details of members, along with audits of businesses and individuals involved with these organizations.

Details keep emerging in this case but the further it goes, the deeper it gets for the Obama administration, as scandals within the departments of  Treasury, Justice, and State continue to be investigated. The Senate's Finance committee sent a bipartisan letter requesting large amounts of documents to be released to the public after hearing from large numbers of non profit groups.It has even extended to a further scandal of investigating and threatening prosecution against a Fox News reporter for an investigation he was conducting. The Justice Department hole keeps being dug deeper, and the time for restraint of the government by the people is need now more than ever.