“Careless with the Reputation of Government”

Peggy Noonan writes in The Wall Street Journal, Fortress IRS:  Agency stonewalling could permanently harm Americans’ faith in government.

Excerpts:

The scandals that have so damaged the agency took place in just the past few years, since the current administration began. And it is not Republicans on the Hill or conservatives in the press who have revealed the agency as badly managed, political in its actions, and really quite crazily run. That information, or at least the early outlines of it, came from the agency’s own inspector general.

But the point is that it was all so recent. It doesn’t take long to crater a reputation. The conferences, seminars and boondoggles in which $49 million was spent, including the famous “Star Trek” parody video—all that happened between 2010 and 2012. The targeting of conservative groups, the IRS leadership’s public lies about it, the leaking of private tax information to liberal groups or journalists, the abuse of donor information—all that took place since the administration began, in 2009. Just this week, an inspector general report revealed excessive travel spending by a handful of IRS executives in 2011 and 2012.

One irony here is that the Obama White House, always keen to increase the reach and power of government, also seems profoundly disinterested in good governing. It is strange. The long-term project of liberalism involves encouraging the idea of faith in government as a bringer or guarantor of greater justice. But who needs more government if government works so very badly, and is in its operations unjust?

This White House is careless with the reputation of government. They are a campaigning organization, not a governing one.

HKO

An excellent perspective. Please read the complete artilcle.   The arrogant always go too far. The Democrats are plagued with an “ends justify the means” mentality.  It justifies corruption and fraud-  From liberals who plant racist signs at conservative rallies to campaigns that blatantly use fraud, to elected officials who abuse the halls of power.

We can tolerate bureaucratic inefficiency and even misguided policies.  But such blatant abuse and corruption destroys what faith in government  we have that causes the vast majority to voluntarily comply with the tax laws. Kudos to Noonan for pointing out what serious damage will result from such poor governance.

A true liberal should be outraged.