The House Oversight Committee voted yesterday to hold former IRS employee Lois Lerner in contempt for failing to cooperate with lawmakers investigating that agency's scrutiny of the president's political opponents.
The decision came after Ms. Lerner offered only a statement to the committee but repeatedly refused to answer any questions about the scandal involving IRS officials giving — let's call it "special attention" to applications for tax exempt status from groups daring to have a viewpoint different from that of President Transparency.
Ms. Lerner has invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Commenting on the vote, and Ms. Lerner's position, Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) made a very relevant observation. "American taxpayers certainly don't get to plead the Fifth and escape all accountability when the IRS audits them," he said.
Hear, hear.
Quite to the contrary, Americans sign away their Fifth Amendment right when they file their tax return every year — which they're compelled to do under threat of fine and/or imprisonment. (Watch this. It's fun.)
Some folks are more equal than others, I guess.
The vote goes to the full House now, but Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) is confident that too will not go well for this former "public servant" — someone who insists that she did nothing wrong, lied to no one, and broke no laws, and who is comfortably retired — at the taxpayers' expense, no less — from the agency under investigation, but who nonetheless refuses to cooperate with the House of Representatives in an attempt to find out exactly what motivated certain policies that affected taxpayers. "If Lois Lerner continues to refuse to testify, then the House will hold her in contempt," he predicted.
On the Democrat side, the teeth-gnashing has already begun. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Socialist Republic of Maryland) said, "I do not want to go back to the shameful era when Congress tried to strip away the constitutional rights of American citizens under the bright lights of hearings that had nothing to do with responsible oversight and everything to do with the worst kind of partisan politics."
By alluding to Congress's witch hunt against communists half a century ago we're supposed to ignore the IRS's present treatment of non-communists.
Because the problem, you see, isn't that a government agency with awesome — and terrifying power — was singling out certain groups for extra scrutiny. Groups who happened to support issues and candidates at odds with the regime.
No, the problem is those ignorant hicks noticed, and they were uncouth enough to make a fuss about it.
And now this poor woman — she's a hero, really, when you think about it — has to answer all these uncomfortable questions?
Tsk, tsk.
Not a peep from Rep. Cummings about the "worst kind of partisan politics" motivating the IRS's actions. That's just a matter of looking after your own.
In an alphabet soup of federal agencies, the IRS is probably the worst bunch of jack-booted bullies around — and that's up against some pretty tough competition. Of all the agencies that need to be abolished, we should really consider starting with that one. My position on that remains unchanged, regardless of the party in power.
On the Sean Hannity Show Wednesday night, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) suggested changing the law, so that retired government employees like Lois Lerner who refuse to cooperate with a government investigation can have their pensions revoked.
I do like that idea, but must say that if we subjected Ms. Lerner instead to the same treatment meted out to tax officials in the years leading up to the American Revolution it would definitely encourage better behavior in the future.
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