The IRS Scandal, Day 937

Town Hall, A Small But Real IRS Reform That Must Pass:

President Obama's Department of Justice has made it official: Lois Lerner, the IRS executive who invoked the Fifth Amendment to avoid incriminating herself when questioned about her role in targeting conservative groups, will face no criminal charges. Worse, even the one IRS reform that enjoys broad bipartisan support in Congress - a ban on the IRS trying to assess gift tax on contributions to non-profit organizations, which they infamously attempted against conservative donors - has stalled in the Senate after passing the House unanimously early in the year. It should be included in one of the must-pass bills expected to pass in the next few weeks. ...

Rep. Peter Roskam's H.R. 1104, the Fair Treatment for All Donations Act, should be a priority in Congress. It passed the House without opposition back on April 15 after stirring words of support from Democrat John Lewis, who said: "This bill brings clarity to what has historically been uncertain tax treatment for contributions to social welfare organizations, agricultural associations, labor unions, and trade associations. With this bill, Mr. Speaker, amounts contributed to such organizations will not be subject to the gift tax. I urge all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote 'yes' for H.R. 1104."

Yet there has been no Senate action for six months, and opposition has actually surfaced from people who like fear of a politicized IRS deterring contributions to non-profit groups. Meredith McGehee, policy director for the Campaign Legal Center, a speech-restricting advocacy group, said: "It strikes me as a wrong-headed move at the wrong moment," and Congressional Quarterly described her as "worried the measure would remove a potential deterrent - the fear of potential gift-tax liability - for mega-donors."

The House need not acquiesce to Senate inaction on the issue. There will be a series of must-pass bills coming to the floor shortly and including H.R. 1104 on one of them should be a no-brainer to force Senate action and finally provide some small measure of control over an abusive IRS that so far has managed to avoid all accountability.

• The IRS Scandal, Day 936 (Dec. 1, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 935 (Nov. 30, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 934 (Nov. 29, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 933 (Nov. 28, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 932 (Nov. 27, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 931 (Nov. 26, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 930 (Nov. 25, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 929 (Nov. 24, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 928 (Nov. 23, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 927 (Nov. 22, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 926 (Nov. 21, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 925 (Nov. 20, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 924 (Nov. 19, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 923 (Nov. 18, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 922 (Nov. 17, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 921 (Nov. 16, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 920 (Nov. 15, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 919 (Nov. 14, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 918 (Nov. 13, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 917 (Nov. 12, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 916 (Nov. 11, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 915 (Nov. 10, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 914 (Nov. 9, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 913 (Nov. 8, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 912 (Nov. 7, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 911 (Nov. 6, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 910 (Nov. 5, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 909 (Nov. 4, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 908 (Nov. 3, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 907 (Nov. 2, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 906 (Nov. 1, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 905 (Oct. 31, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 904 (Oct. 30, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 903 (Oct. 29, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 902 (Oct. 28, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 901 (Oct. 27, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 801-900 (July 19, 2015 - Oct. 26, 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)