The IRS Blues

Good Morning, Breakfastpoppers. Today is Wednesday, June 25, 2014. The IRS is on the carpet these days for behavior more representative of the secret police in a totalitarian state than a department of the government charged with collecting taxes. Our complex friend, Spider Harlotte, is here with me this morning at the breakfast table. She has just returned from a fact-findng mission in our nation's capitol. She has asked for the pleasure of our company this morning so that she can discuss her findings. Won't you join us?

Now you see it, now you don't. The IRS has conveniently lost all those pesky emails of Lois Lerner. Apparently, all the hard drives failed! IRS employees tried to retrieve the lost emails, but alas they were foiled at every turn. People who know about these things don't really believe that the emails are in email heaven, out of the reach of ordinary mortals. The emails are out there somewhere and hopefully, in time, we will have them back. That will be a bad day for the IRS, I would imagine. It will be a particularly bad day for IRS Commissioner John Koskinen who was accused of giving false testimony by promising to provide all the emails of former IRS tax-exempt division chief Lois Lerner. You see, Commissioner John Koskinen already knew that the emails in question were missing. Oops! He knew about the loss of two year's worth of communications last February. The IRS did not tell Congress about the problem until ten days ago. Oops again!

The visual of IRS employees attacking the hard drives containing the all important emails would be comical, if it weren't so tragic. At what point does this become obstruction of justice? I think we have already reached that point.

There were many fingers in this ugly pot . Emails were discovered that revealed that Lois Lerner was in touch with the Department of Justice to see if they could prosecute those conservative organizations that the IRS was targeting. Ah, the plot thickens and the web of lies grows larger.

Judicial Watch has obtained documents that indicate that when the administration was telling the IRS to go after tea party and conservative groups, Democratic Senator Carl Levin from Michigan was pressuring the IRS to shut down all political opposition to President Obama. It has been alleged that prior to the 2012 election, the IRS deliberately dragged their feet when it came to reviewing the applications of hundreds of groups that opposed President Obama's policies. Welcome to America, the home of not so free.

What would a scandal be like without the input of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi? It has been reported that Ms. Pelosi directed Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-MD to stir up trouble by describing the House Committee's vote to hold Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress as "McCarthyism." Cummings added to the mess by accusing one of the groups, True the Vote, of being racist. Boss Pelosi must be so proud of Cummings. A good size number of the American people don't share her viewpoint.

The White House has continued to characterize the IRS scandal as a blip on the horizon, much ado about nothing and a phony conspiracy theory cooked up and promoted by Republicans. The fact is that no matter how hard the White House and the Democrats try to spin a fairy tale, the American people are disgusted by the actions of the IRS.

Every American regardless of party affiliation should be outraged by this scandal. If the IRS can target individuals and groups who disagree with the administration, than we are no longer a free society. If Nancy Pelosi and others like her are not outraged by this scandal, they don't deserve to be in Congress. The IRS broke the law and used their powers to intimidate and silence anyone with views other than those approved by the Obama administration. This is America, not Iran. Perhaps those who enjoy seeing innocent people threatened by government agencies would be more comfortable living in a country that offers their citizens very few freedoms. The United States of America is not that place, at least not yet.

Harlotte's Song

Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive...

Sir Walter Scott