These days, conspiracy theories are as Republican as tax cuts and elephants. When the new leader of the Republican Party is peddling old conspiracy theories about Vince Foster, 9/11, and even JFK, that is just a slight exaggeration of what the Republican Party has done towards Barack Obama for the past seven years.
The Republican Party can’t just say Obama is bad at his job, or that this or that policy may not be correct. But instead, he has to be this monstrous creature, looking to destroy America with all of these “scandals.”
Well, the next stage on the never-ending IRS scandal has arrived. For three years now, Republicans have been running around in the IRS, just looking for that smoking gun they know exists. They know Obama nefariously ordered the IRS to maliciously target conservative groups, and they will find that proof. Just like George Bush knew that Saddam Hussein had WMDs.
But since House Republicans have been unable to find said smoking gun, their new goal is to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. Koskinen took charge of the IRS in 2013, after news reports about the IRS scandal were printed. Even the most hardcore House Republicans can admit that he had nothing to do with this supposed targeting of conservative groups.
So instead, they argue that he is somehow obstructing the investigation. Koskinen allegedly lied under oath, failed to follow subpoenas, and destroyed e-mails which would have revealed the scandalous truth.
But why don’t the House Republicans then listen to Russell George, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) and a Bush appointee? Despite his Republican background, George declared after two years and millions of dollars of investigating that there was “no evidence that IRS employees were politically motivated in their creation or use of the inappropriate screening criteria.” George also observed that “No evidence was uncovered that any IRS employees had been directed to destroy or hide information from Congress, the DOJ, or TIGTA.”
Those statements should make it clear that there are no grounds for these accusations of Koskinen hiding evidence. And it is amusing how Republicans are now reluctant to let a fellow Republican speak, especially after they allowed his investigation believing that George would uncover the truth.
So with it clear that Koskinen and the IRS are free of malicious charges, the Republican Party is showing the real reason for trumpeting the IRS scandal. Since 2010, the Republican Party has slashed the IRS’s funding by 17 percent, justifying their actions because of the IRS scandal.
Perhaps House Republicans could take a Civics 101 class and understand that a strong and effective tax service is necessary for good government. Since they know that the American people will not accept further tax cuts to the rich, the Republican Party is just enacting tax cuts in their own way by slashing the IRS’s budget and making it easier to get away with not paying their fair share.
And that is what it comes down to, as the IRS scandal is an excuse to destroy the IRS and Obama by extension. Nothing more.