The IRS Scandal, Day 869

The Hill:  The IRS's Abuse of Power, by Tom Schatz (President, Citizens Against Government Waste):

During the reign of King George III, Britain's American colonists felt the heavy burden of a monarch imposing his will to levy heavy taxes without representation, overregulate businesses and trample upon basic freedoms. In order to overcome these oppressive bonds, the 13 Colonies banded together to declare their independence from tyranny.

President Obama does not have the same level of power as King George, but he is using every tool at his disposal to emulate the king and restrict the freedom of Americans as they pursue their daily lives and conduct their business. In other words, when Obama famously said in January 2014 that he had a pen and a phone to get things done with or without Congress, he was not joking. His administration has taken unprecedented steps to issue regulations and rulings without going through normal administrative procedures, such as issuing "sub-regulatory guidance" and circumventing Congress whenever possible.

A prime example of this kind of abuse of power was the hiring of outside counsel by the Internal Revenue Service to conduct interviews and assist in an audit of Microsoft on May 19, 2014. In a May 13, 2015 press release regarding his letter to the IRS about this matter, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), questioned the legality of such an action because it "1) appears to violate federal law and the express will of the Congress; 2) removes taxpayer protections by allowing the performance of inherently governmental functions by private contractors; and 3) calls into question the IRS's use of its limited resources."

This extraordinary episode should be troubling for all taxpayers. On top of the waste of tax dollars, the hiring of outside litigators at Obama's IRS is the latest overreach by the administration and the same agency that spawned Lois Lerner, the former director of the Exempt Organizations unit.

While there is no excuse or justification for this action by the IRS and no one should be subject to such an misuse of the taxpayers' money, a large company can battle to maintain its rights under the law (albeit at the expense of conducting its ordinary business). It is bad enough when IRS auditors and bean counters come knocking at someone's door, but there is no way that a small business or individual taxpayer could withstand a grilling by high-powered and highly paid litigators. Congress was not around to stop King George, but it can and should stop the Obama administration's ongoing abuses of power.

• The IRS Scandal, Day 868 (Sept. 24, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 867 (Sept. 23, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 866 (Sept. 22, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 865 (Sept. 21, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 864 (Sept. 20, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 863 (Sept. 19, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 862 (Sept. 18, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 861 (Sept. 17, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 860 (Sept. 16, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 859 (Sept. 15, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 858 (Sept. 14, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 857 (Sept. 13, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 856 (Sept. 12, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 855 (Sept. 11, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 854 (Sept. 10, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 853 (Sept. 9, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 852 (Sept. 8, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 851 (Sept. 7, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 850 (Sept. 6, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 849 (Sept. 5, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 848 (Sept. 4, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 847 (Sept. 3, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 846 (Sept. 2, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 845 (Sept. 1, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 844 (Aug. 31, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 843 (Aug. 30, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 842 (Aug. 29, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 841 (Aug. 28, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 840 (Aug. 27, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 839 (Aug. 26, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 838 (Aug. 25, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 837 (Aug. 24, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 836 (Aug. 23, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 835 (Aug. 22, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 834 (Aug. 21, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 833 (Aug. 20, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 832 (Aug. 19, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 831 (Aug. 18, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 830 (Aug. 17, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 829 (Aug. 16, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 828 (Aug. 15, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 827 (Aug. 14, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 826 (Aug. 13, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 825 (Aug. 12, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 824 (Aug. 11, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 823 (Aug. 10, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 822 (Aug. 9, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 821 (Aug. 8, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 820 (Aug. 7, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 819 (Aug. 6, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 818 (Aug. 5, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 817 (Aug. 4, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 816 (Aug. 3, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 815 (Aug. 2, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 814 (Aug. 1, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 813 (July 31, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 812 (July 30, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 811 (July 29, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 810 (July 28, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 809 (July 27, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 808 (July 26, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 807 (July 25, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 806 (July 24, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 805 (July 23, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 804 (July 22, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 803 (July 21, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 802 (July 20, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 801 (July 19, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 701-800 (April 10, 2015 - July 18, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 601-700 (Dec. 31, 2014 - April 9, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 501-600 (Sept. 22, 2014-Dec. 30, 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)