Is the IRS looking at you?

by Jean Gannon

In case you haven’t heard, news broke late last week that the IRS has been targeting conservative political groups that have “Tea Party” and/or “Patriot” in their names.  It was further revealed that the scope of scrutiny went beyond these key words to encompass any groups whose focus is on the Constitution, limited/big government, and government spending.  Thus far the focus is on groups and no indication of individual scrutiny has been revealed.  That could be a matter of time and additional investigation.

There has been an apology from the IRS, but many are concerned if an apology is enough.  Early reports indicated this practice was being performed by low level agents in 2012.  Now we are finding out upper level management of the IRS were not only aware of this practice but encouraged it as far back as 2011. 

During a White House Press briefing, Press Secretary Jay Carney was quoted in saying the IRS is an “independent enforcement agency with only two political appointees”.  Sorry Jay, if there are political appointees, then this is not an independent enforcement agency and the IRS is part of the executive branch.  Jay Carney also goes on to say that one of the appointees was selected by the previous administration (blame it on Bush), which means they ultimately answer to the President. 

Looks like it’s time for another oversight committee hearing.  One of many this administration has had to endure due to questionable practices.  I think Barry Goldwater said it best, “The income tax created more criminals than any other single act of government.”

And here’s another nugget to contemplate: per the Affordable Healthcare Act, aka, ObamaCare, the IRS will have the daunting task of data mining your healthcare based on information gleaned from you’re your federal income tax return.  While it is not known exactly how many IRS employees it will take to collect the data, it has been estimated that up to 16,000 new hires will be needed to maintain and track your healthcare.  Doesn’t that make you feel all warm and fuzzy.  If they go unchecked, could you be denied medical treatment due to your political affiliation?

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