GARY BAUER

To: Friends & Supporters

From: Gary L. Bauer


Obama's Unfair IRS

The IRS scandal is gaining traction. Many pundits, including liberals, are arguing that it could be more politically damaging to the Obama White House and to Democrats than Benghazi.

At first glance that might seem odd given that lives were lost in Benghazi. But on complex matters of foreign policy and security, Americans tend to give a lot of deference to the presidency.

On the other hand, as Sen. McConnell put it, "Everybody understands the IRS and how powerful they are." Anyone who lived through the Nixon years is especially sensitive to IRS abuses.

Barack Obama likes to talk about "fairness" a lot. One thing Americans demand from their government is fairness -- that the same rules apply to everyone. But when it comes to Obama's IRS, there were very different rules for those favored by the administration and those it opposed.

For example, USA Today reports that while conservative organizations were tied in knots and had their non-profit status applications delayed for years, liberal and progressive groups were essentially rubber-stamped for approval. And a group run by Obama's half-brother got approved in what could be record time.

The scope of what the IRS inquisitors demanded from conservative groups is absolutely breathtaking. Consider this excerpt from Politico:

"The Internal Revenue Service asked tea party groups to see donor rolls. It asked for printouts of Facebook posts. And it asked what books people were reading. …the agency wanted to know everything -- in some cases, it even seemed curious what members were thinking."
Here's another example: An organization in Tennessee called Linchpins of Liberty (I am not familiar with the group) formed to help to educate students about various issues such as free-markets and limited government. IRS operatives sent the organization a list of 95 intrusive questions and, among other things, demanded the names of every student it had trained. The organization's founder asked rhetorically, "Can you imagine my responsibility to parents if I disclosed the names of their children to the IRS?"


IRS Targeted Billy Graham Too!

Perhaps the most startling revelation so far is news of the IRS jihad against the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse. According to a letter released yesterday by Reverend Franklin Graham to President Obama and Vice President Biden, IRS agents were dispatched to the offices of both organizations last October.

While they were ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing, Graham writes that "precious resources" were wasted "servicing the IRS agents in our offices." Why did IRS agents descend on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse?

As Rev. Graham recounts in his letter, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association ran ads supporting North Carolina's marriage amendment and later ran ads encouraging Americans to "vote for Biblical values" in last year's presidential election. Simply exercising their First Amendment rights led to IRS agents occupying their offices.

This is truly frightening, my friends. Every pastor in America should be outraged by this shocking example of Big Government being used to intimidate men and women of faith. And something like this does not happen by accident.

The Nixon Administration was well-known for its "enemies list." Clearly the Obama IRS had its own "enemies list" too. Unbelievably, it evidently included Billy and Franklin Graham.


"Who's Going To Jail?"

President Obama was asked about the IRS scandal at his Monday press conference. He claimed to be outraged, but qualified his anger several times by saying, "If, in fact, IRS personnel engaged in the kind of practices that had been reported on…" and "if you've got the IRS operating in anything less than a neutral and non-partisan way…" IF?

Does Barack Obama have any idea what is going on in his own administration? He is the president after all. The buck does stop with him. But as Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank noted, "[Obama] responded as though he were just some bloke on a bar stool, getting his information from the evening news."

Addressing the growing IRS scandal today, Speaker John Boehner didn't mince words. Boehner said: "The IRS admitted to targeting conservatives, even if the White House continues to be stuck on the word 'if.' My question isn't about who is going to resign. My question is who's going to jail over this scandal?"


The Problem With Big Government

David Axelrod took to the airwaves today to defend Obama and his alleged lack of knowledge about the various scandals now threatening to engulf the administration. Here's the best excuse he could come up with: "Part of being president is there's so much beneath you that you can't know because the government is so vast."

That is precisely why conservatives want smaller, limited government -- so it can be managed efficiently and so abuses like this are far less likely to happen.

But government has grown massively under this president, including the IRS. The IRS said it would need more than 1,000 new agents and employees to enforce Obamacare's 47 different tax provisions.

By the way, the IRS is currently facing a class action lawsuit in California for seizing the medical records of 10 million patients.

The House of Representatives will vote tomorrow on legislation to repeal Obamacare. But as long as Barack Obama has veto power it won't happen.

Nevertheless, this is a good opportunity for conservatives in Congress to keep the focus on the IRS. Introduce legislation that removes the IRS from having any role at all when it comes to our healthcare. Target the IRS provisions in Obamacare and make liberals in the House and Senate vote in favor of giving the IRS more power in the middle of this scandal!


Suspicious Seven Busted Near Boston

Seven foreign individuals, five men and two women from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Singapore, were arrested yesterday by Massachusetts authorities. They were caught trespassing at the Quabbin Reservoir. The reservoir provides water to much of the state, including the city of Boston.

When asked by the police why they were on property marked "No Trespassing," some of the men said they were chemical engineers who recently graduated college and were curious about the reservoir. That is a very curious explanation given that they were arrested after midnight! What exactly were they looking for in the dark?

* * * * *