Multi-Faceted IRS Scandal, etc.
The Multiple Facets of the IRS Scandal
The article linked above summarizes three different aspects of the IRS scandal:
(1) Stonewalling of applications for non-profit tax status from Tea Party and other conservative groups;
(2) Use of the audit process to target, harass, and intimidate individuals;
(3) Illegal or improper leaking of confidential tax data during an election year by for partisan political purposes.
The article is well worth reading, because this is quickly becoming a Genuinely Big Deal.
What could possibly be more corrosive of trust in government than use of the IRS as a partisan political weapon?
Nothing I can think of. Bill Clinton got impeached for fibs about dicking around with Monica Lewinsky. Viewed against the standard being set by Obama's administration, that was less than trivial.
The wave of naive hope and idealism that Obama rode to the presidency is collapsing in disillusionment.
One near-certain accomplishment Obama can point to will be the creation of a new generation of political cynics. (Realists, actually.)
That's mostly not a bad thing, and it could be his signal accomplishment.
Kumbaya,
Byron
The article linked above summarizes three different aspects of the IRS scandal:
(1) Stonewalling of applications for non-profit tax status from Tea Party and other conservative groups;
(2) Use of the audit process to target, harass, and intimidate individuals;
(3) Illegal or improper leaking of confidential tax data during an election year by for partisan political purposes.
The article is well worth reading, because this is quickly becoming a Genuinely Big Deal.
What could possibly be more corrosive of trust in government than use of the IRS as a partisan political weapon?
Nothing I can think of. Bill Clinton got impeached for fibs about dicking around with Monica Lewinsky. Viewed against the standard being set by Obama's administration, that was less than trivial.
The wave of naive hope and idealism that Obama rode to the presidency is collapsing in disillusionment.
One near-certain accomplishment Obama can point to will be the creation of a new generation of political cynics. (Realists, actually.)
That's mostly not a bad thing, and it could be his signal accomplishment.
Kumbaya,
Byron
posted by Byron | Thursday, May 16, 2013
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