KRAMER NOTE: On March 23, 2014 I posted the last of a four-part series on the IRS scandal. While the Obama administration wants this issue to fade away, I intend to continue to keep it alive as we near the mid-term elections.
An April Fox News Poll reveals that voters, by a 49-41 percent margin, believe the Obama administration “intentionally had the IRS target conservative political groups.”
More importantly, 67 percent of voters want Congress to keep investigating the IRS until someone is found accountable. Agreement appears to cross party lines as the breakdown shows Republicans (77 percent), Independents (67 percent) and Democrats (57 percent).
Sixty-nine percent feel the president hasn’t followed through on his vow to “find out exactly what happened on this.” And 72 percent disagree with the president when he says there is not even a “smidgen” of corruption regarding the IRS targeting. Remember, President Obama has called this a “phony scandal.”
A number of e-mails reveal that Lois Lerner was intimately involved in the targeting scheme, as were other members of the IRS, the FEC and Justice. It’s obvious that Lerner felt emboldened by the president’s State of the Union speech and the backing of Senate Democrats Schumer, Durbin, and Levin, who demanded continued IRS scrutiny of conservative groups.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted 21-12 to hold Lerner in contempt of congress and the House Ways and Means Committee voted to refer her case to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution. Meanwhile, House Speaker John Boehner says the House “will continue to shine the light on the administration’s abusive actions and use every tool at our disposal to expose the truth and ensure the American people get the answers they deserve.”
I believe that one day we will learn that the Obama administration’s use of the IRS for political purposes over the past few years is a scandal with far greater abuse than that uncovered in Watergate. With the president and attorney general stonewalling efforts to uncover details of criminal activity, we cannot expect answers soon, but we cannot allow it to die a bureaucratic death.
