Document text
3 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Morning Jolt: Economy continues gains Today in the News: Plane slips off snowy NY runway Morning Jolt: ‘Seinfeld’s’ Mr. Kruger actor dies Morning Jolt: 513 Pakistani parents arrested for not getting kids vaccinated Today in the News: DOJ report reveals biased policing in Ferguson Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Politics and Elections Education Environment State News Nation - World 'Eurabia' fears rise after terror strikes: Myth or reality? Silicon Valley gender bias suit puts spotlight on industry Kremlin critic Navalny released after 15 days in custody Illinois oil train derailment involved safer tank cars Lakeside communities in Chad live in fear of Boko Haram Obituaries Weather Photo Galleries Since You Asked Videos Web Cams Mail Tribune 100 Shareable Salvation Army recycled #TheDress for a good cause: fight domestic abuse March Madness bracket obsession actually moves stock prices Watch: NASA craft circling Ceres in first visit to dwarf planet Five myths about daylight saving time Harrison Ford channels his Han Solo/Indiana Jones roles in plane crash Sports Latest Stories Major league baseball's 1st black Latino star Minoso dies Knicks say former player Anthony Mason has died Chicago Bulls' Derrick Rose suffers another knee injury Joey Logano gives Roger Penske another Daytona 500 win Kyle Busch injured in Xfinity Series race at Daytona Varsity 541 College Sports Pro Sports Community Sports Business Latest Stories Real Estate News People In Business Transportation Agriculture Opinion Latest Editorials Letters to the Editor Columns Guest Opinions Lifestyle Latest stories Latest Hunger Games movie is on Blu-ray, DVD FCC says the Internet is a utility, and this is why it matters College is not for everyone Worldwide ticket sales shake up Hollywood box office figures Food Home and Garden Health Hiking Biking Faith Latest Hunger Games movie is on Blu-ray, DVD FCC says the Internet is a utility, and this is why it matters College is not for everyone Worldwide ticket sales shake up Hollywood box office figures Milestones and Achievements Columnist for a Day Rogue Healthy Aging Tempo Latest stories Theater Music Community Events Dining Tempo Videos Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obits Blogs TV Listings Movie Listings Oregon Outdoors Oregon Healthy Living Magazines/Special Sections Business Services NEWS NOW Ex-Merkley aide chosen as Oregon secretary of state ... Famed 'Star Trek' producer Harve Bennett dies in Medford ... Jacksonville plans to buy more Lost Creek Lake water ... Ex-Merkley aide chosen as Oregon secretary of state ... Famed 'Star Trek' producer Harve Bennett dies in Medford ... Jacksonville plans to buy more Lost Creek Lake water ... ANOTHER VIEW George Will: Stopping the IRS MailTribune.com Writer Posted Mar. 5, 2015 @ 12:01 am Posted Mar. 5, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> Rep. Peter Roskam is now chairman of the Ways and Means subcommittee whose jurisdiction includes oversight of the Internal Revenue Service, and hence of Lois Lerner's legacy. He knows how interesting her career was before she, as head of the IRS exempt-organizations division, directed the suppression of conservative advocacy groups by delaying and denying them the tax exempt status that was swiftly given to comparable liberal groups. In 2013, Roskam, in a televised committee hearing, told the story of Al Salvi, who in 1996 was the Republican's Senate candidate against then congressman, now senator, Dick Durbin. Democrats filed charges with the Federal Election Commission against Salvi's campaign, charges that threatened to dominate the campaign's final weeks. Salvi telephoned the head of the FEC's Enforcement Division, who he says told him: "Promise me you will never run for office again, and we'll drop this case." So said Lois Lerner. After Salvi lost, FBI agents visited his elderly mother, demanding to know, concerning her $2,000 contribution to her son's campaign, where she got "that kind of money." When a federal court held that the charges against Salvi were spurious, the FEC's losing lawyer was Lois Lerner. Roskam's telling of Salvi's story elicited no denial from Lerner. Neither did the retelling of it in this column (June 13, 2013). No wonder: The story had not been deemed newsworthy by the three broadcast networks' evening news programs, by The New York Times or The Washington Post. With most of the media uninterested in the use of government institutions to handicap conservatives, stonewalling would work. It still is working through dilatory and incomplete responses to subpoenas, and unresponsive answers to congressional questions. Lerner's name now has an indelible Nixonian stain, but there probably will be no prosecution. If the administration's stonewalling continues as the statute of limitations' clock ticks, Roskam says, "She will get away with it." Now in his fifth House term, Roskam, 53, says, "The advantage in this town is always with the entity that doesn't want to do anything." Many thousands of Lerner's emails that supposedly were irretrievably lost have been found, but not released. The Justice Department's investigation, which was entrusted to a political appointee who was a generous contributor to Barack Obama's campaign, is a stone in the stone wall. Roskam says the task now is "to see that Lois Lerner 2.0 is impossible." One place to begin is with the evidence — anecdotal but, in the context of proven IRS corruption, convincing — of other possibly punitive IRS behavior toward Republican contributors and other conservative activists. This justifies examining the IRS' audit selection process. This would produce interesting hearings for most of the media to ignore. Next, there should be hearings into the illegal disclosure of taxpayer information about conservative individuals and groups to the media and to liberal officials and groups. Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer for some groups abused by the IRS (and for this columnist on different matters), also suggests prohibiting IRS employees from joining a union. "The National Treasury Employees Union," she says, "provides no protection to IRS employees that federal statutes and the civil service system do not already provide. It already takes an act of God to hold an IRS employee accountable for his or her actions. But it is worse than merely redundant for IRS employees to belong to the NTEU. Because it adds nothing to its members' protections, it is a purely political organization. In 2014, fully 95 percent of its contributions went to Democrats, including 11 Democratic members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. So, the IRS employees' union dues finance the election of people who are supposed to scrutinize IRS' behavior." On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments about whether the IRS' lawlessness has extended to its role in implementing the Affordable Care Act. The act says that federal subsidies shall be distributed by the IRS to persons who buy insurance through exchanges "established by the state." The act's logic and legislative history, as well as a forceful statement by one of its architects, professor Jonathan Gruber of MIT, demonstrate that this clear language was written to "squeeze" — Gruber's word — the states into establishing exchanges. But when 34 states did not establish them, the IRS began disbursing billions of dollars through federal exchanges. The court probably will rule that the IRS acted contrary to law. If so, the IRS certainly will not have acted contrary to its pattern of corruption in the service of the current administration. George Will's email address is [email protected]. MailTribune.com Writer Posted Mar. 5, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Comment or view comments /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. MailTribune.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501