A former legal counsel for the IRS says it’s a 9.5 on a scale of one to ten. And the fear that we’ll never find out what happened is a legitimate one, since what is actually phony is not the scandal, but the investigation:
When the IRS inspector general found improper targeting of conservative groups in the Cincinnati office, Obama called the conduct “inexcusable.” Last month, though, he told Bill O’Reilly there was not a “smidgen of corruption” in the IRS.
The problem is the same one that gave birth to the post-Watergate law. If Justice finds no higher-ups were involved in the IRS misconduct, would that finding have credibility with the public? Would an outside probe have more credibility, or spiral out of control?
With the independent counsel law dead and buried, we’re not likely to find out.
This administration is getting away with things that Nixon could only dream of.
More of the IRS counsel’s quote:
So it’s incredibly damaging, even though we don’t really know whether it’s even a scandal. The other experts asked replied similarly:
In other words, the controversy over the IRS has done huge damage, whether or not the IRS’s actions were politically motivated.
“In other words, the controversy over the IRS has done huge damage, whether or not the IRS’s actions were politically motivated.”
It isn’t the controversy that is causing the damage but rather the actions of the IRS under the Obama administration that is causing the damage. You really get off on blaming the victim. Why did the Tea Party have to wear such short skirts?
It isn’t the controversy that is causing the damage but rather the actions of the IRS
Tell that to the people Rand is quoting. They’re saying that they don’t know what the actions of the IRS were, or even whether those actions were scandalous. The only thing they’re sure about is that the damage is great.
It doesn’t require an actual scandal to damage an institution.
I work for a the federal government in a regulatory agency. I do know people at the IRS, and will make sure Wodun is found and never asks embarrassing questions of you again, Jim. Those of us in power have the backs of our supporters, believe you me.
Tell that to the people Rand is quoting. They’re saying that they don’t know what the actions of the IRS were, or even whether those actions were scandalous. The only thing they’re sure about is that the damage is great.
While I don’t find it at all admirable, it is impressive how you stick to your delusions. Any one bit of information or evidence doesn’t definitively show that a scandal occurred, especially when key participants refuse to testify and nobody with power turns over any dirt. But as a whole, the scandal is there especially when coupled with the lack of transparency of the Obama administration.
This reminds me of the Fast and Furious thing – two hundred or so counts of accessory to murder, but no one will be held accountable for it. Or the NSA programs that only bothered to attempt to rationalize themselves constitutionally when they were revealed by whistle blowing.
For me, the key problem is the growing opaqueness and lack of accountability in the federal government. It’s always been a problem, but it got substantially worse during the Cold War. Without push back, like whistle blowers in the ATF and NSA cases or FOIA requests in this IRS case, bigger and bigger sins will be hidden. Obama is getting a free pass here for things that really should be contested.
I see that you’re incapable of reason at the present, but hopefully you’ll be wise enough to support democratic policies once your pet president is out of office.
I doubt the IRS actions were politically motivated. I’m sure they were keeping Tea Party and other conservative groups in a Kafkaesque hell because the groups’ members were still using basic cable instead of Dish TV, and we all know what happens when you do that.
But Jim, as Jim Wright once noted, the seriousness of the charges warrants a full investigation. This goes well beyond the standard of the seriousness of the charges.
Yes, and there are multiple investigations underway. But the more time that goes by without those investigations turning up anything damning, the less reason there is to believe that there’s an actual scandal.
You’re either extremely gullible or extremely evil. It has been almost a year since the news that the IRS was acting in an uneven political manner was released (by the IRS itself). In that time, most of the people and organizations impacted by the IRS’s actions have not even been contacted by the FBI or any other investigative agency. They’re not finding anything because they’re not looking, which makes the FBI and DoJ complicit. Figuratively, heads should’ve rolled over this but instead, no one is even getting their fingers slapped.
No, the longer they go, the more reason to think that those investigations are desperately avoiding finding anything, while the Congressional investigations are continually stonewalled and stymied, with top officials pleading the 5th Amendment and taking full time off with pay for indefinite periods.
Baghdad Jim: “In other words, the controversy over the IRS has done huge damage, whether or not the IRS’s actions were politically motivated.”
Huge damage to your gang’s favorite goon squad of “enforcers”? Glad to hear it!