E-Newsletter

IRS “Loses” Emails

On Friday, June 13 – more than a year into Congressional investigations regarding the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) having improperly handled applications submitted by “Tea Party” or “Patriot” groups – the IRS announced they have lost Lois Lerner’s emails to or from outside agencies or groups from a period of January 2009 – April 2011 as a result of a supposed computer crash. 

Really??  We are just learning about this alleged crash more than a year into Congress’ investigation?

Congressional committees are investigating Lerner’s involvement, and whether outside agencies, people, and/or groups were involved.  Lerner, the former Director of the IRS Exempt Organizations Division, appears to have been at the center of this scandal, so documents regarding guidance she may have been giving or orders she might have been following would be vital to the ongoing investigation.  This is important because of suspicions that Congressmen and White House staffers may have been involved.  It is also particularly important as Lerner has refused to testify and answer questions about her actions, and has been held in contempt by the House of Representatives for doing so.

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen as recently as March promised in testifying before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that the IRS would produce all Lerner documents.  The “supposed” computer crash didn’t arise in his testimony.  Commissioner Koskinen made it sound as if Lerner’s emails were stored or archived.

As Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) said in response to IRS claims that they have lost more than two years of Lerner’s emails, “…because of this loss of documents, we are conveniently left to believe that Lois Lerner acted alone.”

“Convenient,” or is the IRS’ claim similar to the claims of Nixon White House secretary Rose Mary Woods, who said that through some “terrible mistake” she may have deleted at least some of the 18 ½ minute gap in the Watergate tapes?  This explanation was viewed as implausible by many, Democrats and Republicans alike. 

But what about the IRS’ “Computer Lost Her Emails” claim?  I’m incredulous.  Where is the bipartisan outrage in this instance, in which the IRS has lost not just 18 ½ minutes, but two years of material??

Where also is the team of reporters working to seek the truth?  The work of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, now legends of journalism who aggressively worked the Watergate story for the Washington Post, has been called “…the most devastating political detective story of the century.”

Woodward called that time in the 1970s the ‘Golden Age’ of journalism.  When asked on CBS Sunday Morning on June 15, “Are we still in the Golden Age?,” both Woodward and Bernstein answered, “No.”

Investigations into this IRS scandal – by Congress and the media alike – must continue. 

An amusing thought… perhaps they should check the Obamacare website to see if one of its many glitches somehow ate the Lerner IRS emails.

Speaking of Obamacare…

Another Broken Obamacare Promise

“To the pile of broken Obamacare promises, we now add another,” wrote Larry Elder in Real Clear Politics.  “It is not true if you like you[r] doctor you can keep your doctor. It is not true that if you like your plan you can keep your plan.  It will not save the average household $2,500.  It will not bend the cost curve down.  And now we know that Obamacare cannot promise, as advertised, to shrink the deficit.”

A recent story in the Roll Call publication that covers Capitol Hill reminds us, “For Democratic lawmakers who were hesitant to sign onto the sweeping 2010 healthcare law, one of the most powerful selling points was that the Affordable Care Act would actually reduce the federal budget deficit, despite the additional costs of extending health insurance coverage to the uninsured.”

However, Roll Call also notes, “In its latest report on the law, the Congressional Budget Office said it is no longer possible to assess the overall fiscal impact of the law,” and that now, “…after a chaotic start and a series of delays or adjustments in various provisions of the act…” “…it’s unclear whether the health care law is still on track to reduce the deficit or whether it may actually end up adding to the federal debt.”

Another Obamacare promise made by the President and his allies that they have failed to keep.

As always, if you have concerns or comments or wish to inquire about legislative issues, feel free to contact my offices.  You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671.  To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov.

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