Monday Madness

The IRS--Hit Squad or Diversion Squad

The Internal Revenue Service is not a separate independent agency but a department under the Department of the Treasury, thus part of the executive branch under the authority of President Obama. Some commentators have suggested that the IRS scandal is simply a smokescreen to take attention away from the more significant issue of Benghazi. I happen to agree with that analysis. Why? One, Obama is a disciple of the Saul Alinsky school of agitation, which preaches that no good crisis should go to waste but used to further one's political advantage. Two, Obama knew about the IRS problem long ago and was sitting on it for just an occasion as this one. Three, using the IRS for political gain and to attack political opposition is not new, in fact FDR perfected the tactic.

Let's begin with the last reason first. FDR got his New Deal passed through charm, wit, old fashioned politicking, and threats. The "stimulus" of programs like the CCC, WPA, PWA, and others would be withheld by FDR's administration to force compliance from opposition. Conveniently the IRS had recently been put under the authority of the Treasury Department. This pleased FDR greatly because the IRS was now firmly within the clutches of the executive branch and available for his manipulation. Don't get me wrong--yes other presidents of both political parties have used the IRS (George HW Bush against Ross Perot in 1992), but none like FDR and apparently BHO. Roosevelt ordered IRS investigations of opponents like Huey Long, Father Charles Coughlin, William Randolph Hearst, Hamilton Fish, and a host of 'political machines' that resisted FDR's authority. There are a number of important people like Henry Morgenthau and FDR's own relatives who have confirmed this. Obama has claimed he is a "student of history" and has referenced the influence of FDR on his own politics a number of times. The connection is there.

I do not believe Obama had any direct involvement in what the IRS did, but I also bet he has known about it for over a year. Not wanting any crisis (in this case future and potential crisis) to go to waist he held onto it until the moment was right. He could afford to do so because he knows he has deniability. There are others that can be blamed. While a similar case could be made (and I did so in an earlier post) that Obama could deny involvement in Benghazi, that seems to be less and less a sure thing. He either ordered a stand down of US forces preparing to rescue the people in Benghazi or can be implicated in a cover up. Remember, Nixon did not know about Watergate until after the fact but then made the poor decision to covertly make it go away.

So what will happen? Hard to say. Obama is a popular man among his constituency. It would take the defection of some key supporters and Congressmen to bring him down. In either case, he is the man in charge and ultimately responsible for his administration. It's way too late to try to use the "blame Bush" tactic. Regardless the American people deserve the truth, whether it exonerates the President or not.

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