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Government |
The IRS Intimidation Game Cont'd - Nobody messes with the enforcers |
2017-09-17 |
[Poweline] Paul Mirengoff covered the Department of Justice’s September 8 reiteration of its decision not to prosecute Lois Lerner. Paul noted the absence of a rejoinder to the stated conclusion that the department lacked sufficient evidence to bring a case against Lerner. I hate cliches, but the more things change... John Koskinen remains Commissioner of the IRS. Only last month Kim Strassel noted that the IRS is still toying with conservative nonprofits. Kim wrote that "Trump’s Justice Department has inexplicably continued to defend the IRS’s misdeeds under President Obama," of which Kim herself covered many. At the heart of Kim’s book The Intimidation Game lies a narrative account of the voluminous IRS wrongdoing during the Obama administration (chapters 7-11 and 21). It is chilling. An unsigned editorial in the current issue of the Weekly Standard laments "The unaccountable IRS." It does not cite evidence supporting the proposition that Lerner is guilty of criminal wrongdoing. However, it does restate the issues raised by the status quo while and take up themes that have occupied us over the years: To understand the pragmatic realities of federal governance in the 21st century, one must recognize the existence of a fourth branch of government: the administrative state. We have some two million federal bureaucrats with extraconstitutional legislative powers. Not only do they write the reams of regulations that order our lives, they have the authority to enforce them capriciously. And thanks to absurd civil service protections, it is exceedingly difficult to hold them accountable for abuses of power, even when Congress demands it. The intimidation game will be resumed unless something is done. The Standard editorial raises the question what is to be done. Concerned readers will want to check out the whole thing here. |
Posted by:Besoeker |
#2 and cut their budget. They'll squeal and cut customer service, pissing off more Tax-Paying Citizens |
Posted by: Frank G 2017-09-17 16:21 |
#1 One of the first things Obama did, besides issue hollow point ammunition to many federal employees, was to increase the number of IRS employees. After that, anyone who criticized Obama was put through an IRS audit. Trump needs a hiring freeze. If he can't fire them, increase their work load and demand work related results under the increased load. There are ways to skin a cat. |
Posted by: Hupeting Sforza8196 2017-09-17 16:08 |