IRS continues to flail about in Lerner case; consequences to ensue.

(H/T: Instapundit) This was… unwise of the Internal Revenue Service.

Some history: House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa as early as June 4, 2013 asked the IRS to provide “all documents and communications sent by, received by, or copied to Lois Lerner” between Jan. 1, 2009 and the present.” Note the “all.”

Mr. Issa sent an official subpoena demanding “all” the records in August 2013, and another subpoena reiterating the “all” demand in February 2014. Former Acting IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel in August of 2013 told Congress, under oath, that the IRS was “reviewing every one of Lois Lerner’s emails, and providing the response.” Current IRS Commissioner John Koskinen in February told Congress, under oath, that the IRS was sending all of Ms. Lerner’s emails.

Yet in its letter on Friday the IRS slipped in the following: “In early 2014, Chairmen Camp and Issa reiterated their requests for all of Lois Lerner’s email, regardless of subject matter . . . Fulfilling the request,” said the IRS, meant it had to compile Lerner emails that went beyond the “search terms” it had “originally loaded for review.” By mid-March, the agency admitted, it had produced for Congress only the Lerner emails that it—the IRS—considered “related” to the scandal.

Highly unwise.  It’s precisely because of behavior like this that the House has decided to spank the IRS.  Or, rather, start the spanking process:

The Internal Revenue Service is about to get slapped with a harsh payback for messing around with conservative groups, blowing wads of tax dollars on employee conferences and helping implement Obamacare.

The House Appropriations Committee is set to OK an IRS budget of $10.9 billion, $1.5 billion under President Obama’s request for fiscal year 2015, reducing the agency’s budget to 2008 levels.

What will happen here, of course, is that said bill will get passed, and then Harry Reid will stupidly kill it in the Senate (ostensibly because the bill also provides for denying funding for the IRS implementing Obamacare’s individual mandate). I say ‘stupidly’ because:

  • A), the IRS’s internal leadership needs to be reminded that it exists for the benefit of the American people, not the other way around. If Harry Reid won’t do that, the Senate Majority Leader next year will.
  • B), getting between the IRS and the reformers will go some ways in ensuring that there will be a different Senate Majority Leader next year.
  • C), much as I personally enjoy watching the Democratic party leadership dig themselves ever deeper and deeper holes over this, the truth is that it’s in the interest of both the country and the Democrats if the latter plead force majeur and just give up on this one.

And before anybody says that the GOP shouldn’t have put that defunding language in, let me remind everyone: Obamacare ain’t popular.  It ain’t never going to be popular, at this rate (and never mind the grammar).  The House GOP campaigned on a platform of fighting Obamacare tooth and nail; the House GOP won, big.  Killing the individual mandate is a meritorious act; it’s not my fault that the Democrats decided to be on the other side on this one…

Moe Lane (crosspost)

11 thoughts on “IRS continues to flail about in Lerner case; consequences to ensue.”

  1. The part that has me shaking my head is why the IRS decided to try to slow-walk this.
    .
    The only way it makes much sense is if the goal *wasn’t* to walk this out past the 2014 election .. it was clear they couldn’t string it along for (checks Moe’s dates) 18 months ..
    .
    Since we already know there are sitting congresskeisers involved, though .. if the goal *wasn’t* to walk it past the election, what was the *point* to slow-walking it at all?
    .
    Mew

    1. There’s a theory out there that the best way to distinguish between classes, is the ability to look ahead.
      All the people involved in the IRS fiasco are strictly low-class.
      .
      Slow-walking it kept the heat fairly minimal over the short term.

  2. “Highly unwise. It’s precisely because of behavior like this that the House has decided to spank the IRS. Or, rather, start the spanking process:”
    .
    And the beatings will continue until morale improves.
    .
    Whether or not this was a direct WH initiative, the IRS was all too eager to play along. They need to be thoroughly chastised; whether that is a root-and-branch urge or merely heads-on-pikes has yet to be determined.

    1. Maybe MN-SEN. Harry Reid’s been a big help so far in that regard; I wouldn’t mind if he keeps pushing the line our way some more.

    2. The beauty is this is a funding bill. No passage no money for the Gestapo. Horrible Harry can’t originate one. Only the House. Such a shame the Democrats want gridlock while we try to get thingss done. Snarc.

      1. Except that SCOTUS is unlikely to enforce this, so it’s just another dead part of the ‘living’ constitution that the Liberals want…

  3. Consequences?

    There won’t be any consequences. Get real.

    The rather small portion of the voting public that regularly reads conservative information-sites will become more and more outraged that BO is turning us into a third-world kleptocracy.

    We’ll become more and more convinced that all thinking people will reject him and his ilk, and we’ll start planning what we can do to right things once we win the next big election.

    Then, right before that next election, BO will wink and promise to run his kleptocracy for the benefit of {the poor/the disenfranchised/the downtrodden/the minorities/women/fake women/wannabe fake women/gays/greenies/reds/illegal aliens}.

    By exec order, he’ll then distribute billions to these groups through his ex-Acornites.

    We’ll lose that next big election.

    We’ll once again be outraged, confused, disbelieving, and demoralized.

    If there are truly any “consequences”, they’ll be aimed at us, for trying to mess with Dem power.

    Face it. We have reached, and passed, that point where people have learned to vote themselves largess from the Treasury.

    Tytler lives.

    1. Then just stop reading this website, because frankly Barack Obama’s already beaten you so thoroughly in your head that you’re never going to get anything useful out of it.

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