At today's Congressional hearing at which the acting head of the IRS Steven Miller testified, one truly outrageous statement tops the rest. Miller, of course, was asked to resign the other day by president Obama (as if his going would end the scandal). Miller was asked if he thought that the intentional targeting of a group for harrassment by the IRS based upon its political beliefs was legal. Miller said that the conduct of the IRS was "absolutely not illegal."
The man who Obama put at the top of the IRS actually says that the IRS targeting of Tea Party and conservative groups was legal. Think about that. The Constitution requires that all citizens get "equal protection" under the law. Without a doubt, it is well established that this means that the government must treat all citizens equally. Clearly, the IRS did not comply with this requirement since it only permitted liberal groups to get tax exemptions and simultaneously harrassed the conservative groups. Federal law also requires the IRS to act in a non-partisan fashion. There are specific safe guards that were enacted decades ago to prevent the IRS from using its various powers to promote one political group or another. The IRS clearly violated all of these requirements as well. There are also guarantees of confidentiality for most folks who contribute to charitable organizations; the law specifically says that the identity of these people need not be disclosed. The IRS clearly violated this law as well. But the man that Obama put at the top of the IRS says that what his agency did is "absolutely not illegal." It boggles the mind!
Now I know that we ought not expect all that much from Mr. Miller. After all, he lied directly to Congress last September when he said under oath that no targeting of conservative groups was going on even though he knew that this was false. Today, he admitted that such testimony was "in error" and would not answer whether or not it was a lie. There was no need for Miller to admit to the lie; the evidence indicates that it was perjury. In case anyone misses the point, Miller's conduct was "absolutely illegal". Were he now to admit that the IRS targeting of conservatives was illegal, Miller would also be confessing to obstruction of justice. After all, it would mean that he knowingly lied under oath when questioned about illegal activities. But what this really tells you is that Obama's man at the IRS has been covering up this illegal activity since well before the election.
The import of this cover up should not be lost in the shuffle. Even MSNBC pointed out this morning that had news of the IRS conduct come out last September when Miller covered it up when Congress asked about it, that it could have affected the presidential election in a major way. And remember that one of the co-chairs of the Obama re-election campaign actually used confidential information wrongfully supplied by the IRS to attack Mitt Romney. The truth is that but for the cover up, I doubt that Obama would be president right now.
The man who Obama put at the top of the IRS actually says that the IRS targeting of Tea Party and conservative groups was legal. Think about that. The Constitution requires that all citizens get "equal protection" under the law. Without a doubt, it is well established that this means that the government must treat all citizens equally. Clearly, the IRS did not comply with this requirement since it only permitted liberal groups to get tax exemptions and simultaneously harrassed the conservative groups. Federal law also requires the IRS to act in a non-partisan fashion. There are specific safe guards that were enacted decades ago to prevent the IRS from using its various powers to promote one political group or another. The IRS clearly violated all of these requirements as well. There are also guarantees of confidentiality for most folks who contribute to charitable organizations; the law specifically says that the identity of these people need not be disclosed. The IRS clearly violated this law as well. But the man that Obama put at the top of the IRS says that what his agency did is "absolutely not illegal." It boggles the mind!
Now I know that we ought not expect all that much from Mr. Miller. After all, he lied directly to Congress last September when he said under oath that no targeting of conservative groups was going on even though he knew that this was false. Today, he admitted that such testimony was "in error" and would not answer whether or not it was a lie. There was no need for Miller to admit to the lie; the evidence indicates that it was perjury. In case anyone misses the point, Miller's conduct was "absolutely illegal". Were he now to admit that the IRS targeting of conservatives was illegal, Miller would also be confessing to obstruction of justice. After all, it would mean that he knowingly lied under oath when questioned about illegal activities. But what this really tells you is that Obama's man at the IRS has been covering up this illegal activity since well before the election.
The import of this cover up should not be lost in the shuffle. Even MSNBC pointed out this morning that had news of the IRS conduct come out last September when Miller covered it up when Congress asked about it, that it could have affected the presidential election in a major way. And remember that one of the co-chairs of the Obama re-election campaign actually used confidential information wrongfully supplied by the IRS to attack Mitt Romney. The truth is that but for the cover up, I doubt that Obama would be president right now.
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