The commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service swears his people didn't discriminate against right-wing groups seeking to obtain or retain their tax-exempt status. Or rather Commissioner John Koskinen says no evidence that his agency did so has turned up.
Really? Back in 2013, the IRS itself found that its agents had improperly singled out the Tea Party and pro-Israel groups for special (and adverse) treatment. Result: Lois Lerner, head of the IRS division in charge of granting tax-exempt status to various groups, had to resign. And was placed on administrative leave. Last time we checked, she was still collecting her impressive salary ($177,000 a year). On condition that she stay out of the office. In this administration it pays to be at the center of a scandal.
But never mind all that. Coincidences will happen. Especially to groups an administration doesn't much like. And especially if the party in power has an enemies list it's compiling. See the sad history of Richard M. Nixon, president and paranoid. But surely someone as distinguished as Hillary Clinton is much too well-balanced to do anything like that. After all, she's a former everything from First Lady to U. S. senator to secretary of state. And she's now an announced candidate for president of the United States.
Then again, somewhere in the dim recesses of memory, didn't Our Lady of Benghazi once complain about a "vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband . . . ." But that was (a) long ago, (b) even paranoids can have real enemies, and (c) those now in charge of the IRS can offer a whole range of excuses (take your pick) for their dubious decisions. As with the Veterans Administration, the more things change at the IRS, the more they seem to remain the same.
Editorial on 07/30/2015