Gordon Forgey

Some Americans have become paranoid about the motives and actions of government.

Now, these very people are saying, “I told you so.”

It turns out that the Internal Revenue Service is accused of selectively targeting politically conservative organizations seeking non-profit status.

The charge, which surfaced in 2010, was repeatedly denied by the IRS, but, according to recent revelations, the IRS did, in fact, target these groups.

Government is supposed to be objective and impartial. It is supposed to serve all the people equally. Nothing could be more dangerous than a federal agency with sweeping powers making its decisions based on partisan politics. The machinery of government must operate in an apolitical and nonpartisan manner.

Such an overreach of power breeds cynicism and destroys faith and trust in government. This is a serious breach of ethics. It is a serious misuse of government power.

It is time to target the IRS. In response, a criminal investigation by the Justice Department has just been launched. A number of Congressional hearings are scheduled.

The scandal may turn out to be the result of low-level bureaucratic stupidity. It may be the result of high-level malice and partisanship. Also, some of the organizations may have been targeted because they seek the non-profit “social good” status and only qualify for non-profit political organization status.

Still, the alleged actions by the IRS threaten the very fabric of the democracy and cannot be dealt with lightly.

As such, this is a test. We will soon see how our government really works. If this investigation becomes more politics than fact finding, more than just the IRS will need cleaning out.

Gordon Forgey

Publisher