The IRS Scandal, Day 524

Forbes:  President Obama, Audit Threats, And Rogue IRS Employees, by Robert W. Wood:

The fallout from the IRS targeting flap isn’t over. The key lost emails could be the result of bona fide, unanticipated, and irreversible computer crashes. Yet some still see finger-prints of a cover-up. It provides fodder for the online equivalent of jawing around the water-cooler. Either way, conservative groups are outraged.

More broadly, there is a general malaise about the IRS and our tax system. It is not enough for the IRS to do a good job of enforcing the tax laws in a fair and non-discriminatory way. As important, the IRS needs to be perceived as fair. If profiling is a dirty word, it should be equally dirty when the IRS does it. Truly, audit targeting is scary. ...

Don’t forget President Obama’s audit quip in 2009 in a commencement speech. The President joked about Arizona State University’s decision not to award him an honorary degree:

“I really thought this was much ado about nothing, but I do think we all learned an important lesson. I learned never again to pick another team over the Sun Devils in my NCAA brackets. . . . President [Michael] Crowe and the Board of Regents will soon learn all about being audited by the IRS.”

It was an innocent remark, but some pundits didn’t see any humor. Comedians joke about such things, not Presidents, especially not with the history this charged issue has had. It would only be a few years before the ‘rogue employees’ excuse could be used about IRS targeting. In the meantime, a clever remark can go a long way.

‘Gee, I thought you wanted me to ice that guy,’ a mafia button man might say. With plausible deniability, the don might get off scot free. Presumably, though, we can’t see what Ms. Lerner told her exempt organization subordinates in Cincinnati. If there were truly rogue employees, might they have misunderstood their mission and gotten overzealous?

• Forbes:  UnFair -- One Night Stand Tonight -- Exposing IRS Or Fair Tax Infomercial?
• Town Hall:  Corruption in the IRS Sparks New Documentary
• Western Journalism:  Documentary Exposes Lois Lerner And The IRS

• The IRS Scandal, Day 523 (Oct. 14, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 522 (Oct. 13, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 521 (Oct. 12, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 520 (Oct. 11, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 519 (Oct. 10, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 518 (Oct. 9, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 517 (Oct. 8, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 516 (Oct. 7, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 515 (Oct. 6, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 514 (Oct. 5, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 513 (Oct. 4, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 512 (Oct. 3, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 511 (Oct. 2, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 510 (Oct. 1, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 509 (Sept. 30, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 508 (Sept. 29, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 507 (Sept. 28, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 506 (Sept. 27, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 505 (Sept. 26, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 504 (Sept. 25, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 503 (Sept. 24, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 502 (Sept. 23, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 501 (Sept. 22, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 401-500 (June 14, 2014 - Sept. 21,2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 301-400 (Mar. 6, 2014 - June 13, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 201-300 (Nov. 26, 2013 - Mar. 5, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 101-200 (Aug. 18, 2013 - Nov. 25, 2013)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 1-100 (May 10, 2013 - Aug. 17, 2013)