I’m starting to think I should stop watching the national news. Recent news reports about mistreatment of our veterans at Veterans Administration hospitals, unscrupulous snooping by the National Security Agency and obstructionist tactics at the Internal Revenue Service really make me angry.
The latest news story to get my blood boiling was the congressional appearance of IRS Commissioner John Koskinen of the IRS. The congressional hearings are being held to try to determine whether or not those in charge of the IRS knew that some groups were being stonewalled in their attempts to obtain nonprofit status.
There are allegations that the IRS reviewed applications and those that seemed to have a conservative bent were deliberately set aside, delayed, and met with complicated questionnaires and requirements.
If these allegations are found to be true, that should be a cause of alarm for all of us.
It’s disturbing that the government—which is supposed to work for the people—is working against people.
This IRS situation should be troubling to conservatives and liberals alike. Because whether or not we agree with an organization or its mission, we should not be party to squelching anyone’s constitutional right to free speech. And what comes around, goes around. A shift in power could mean another segment of the population is targeted.
However, it seems that it may never be known for sure whether or not the IRS intentionally waylaid applications from conservative groups. In recent congressional hearings it was discovered that the IRS has “lost” more than two years of emails between supervisory IRS officials because of a computer crash.
It could happen. I accidentally deleted a year’s worth of files from my News- Herald computer. Every once in awhile I can’t find an article in my archive and I remember— it’s in the “missing year.” Fortunately, the missing files are on CDs and although it is inconvenient, I can still find the data.
So, it can happen. I expect better from our federal government though. Investing in redundant backup systems would be a good use of our tax dollars. It could prevent what is happening now with the IRS.
I hope there is a way to retrieve the missing information. I would really like to know if American citizens were targeted for bureaucratic bullying. I would especially like to know if the missing information was intentionally erased, like the infamous Watergate tape.
Koskinen’s response at the congressional hearings makes me suspicious. I watched in shock as U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Dave Camp asked whether he feels he owes the committee an apology for misplacing the information needed for the investigation, Koskinen replied, “I don’t think an apology is owed.”
I can just imagine President Harry Truman— the man who had “The Buck Stops Here” on his desk in the Oval Office—rolling over in his grave.
What has happened to President Truman’s attitude? What would he think of the federal government spying on its citizens and burying people in red tape? Would Truman agree that Washington bureaucrats should not have to be accountable to the people it serves?
Why does the federal government now feel it does not have to treat the public with common courtesy?
In light of Koskinen’s pompous refusal to apologize, I find it hard to believe that the IRS accidentally lost those years of emails. I’m reminded of those missing minutes on the Watergate tapes of President Richard Nixon’s era. After a long, ugly, investigation, President Nixon resigned—with an apology to the American people.
It would have been nice if Koskinen of the IRS had learned from our former leaders. From Truman—be accountable. From Nixon— apologize and step down.
Instead, Koskinen and many other high-ranking government officials seem to be emulating the miscreant ruler Marie Antoinette with her alleged comment to the peasants of France, “Let them eat cake.”
Maybe it’s time to turn off the TV. Or perhaps it’s time to place some new people in power.
The government is merely a servant—merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn’t. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them.
Mark Twain
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