Evidence has emerged that in the run-up to the 2012 elections IRS operatives were targeting selected conservative organizations apparently as a means of influencing voting outcomes, a violation of the laws of the United States.  The following items provide a glimpse of link contents.   

1. These two quotes provide an overview of both the first link and follow-on content.  "At various points over the past two years, Internal Revenue Service officials targeted nonprofit groups that criticized the government and sought to educate Americans about the U.S. Constitution, according to documents in an audit conducted by the agency's inspector general."  Additionally, the article notes that "On Jan. 15, 2012 the agency decided to target 'political action type organizations involved in limiting/expanding Government, educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, social economic reform movement.,' according to the appendix in the IG report, which was requested by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee..."  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/05/12/irs-targeted-groups-that-criticized-the-government-ig-report-says/

2.  This item focuses on IRS unethical and possibly illegal inquiries of groups having the words "patriot" or "tea party" somewhere in their name or oganizational description.  Here is a lift from the link:  “'Obviously, you don’t get dozens of inquiries asking unconstitutional questions, with zero corresponding inquiries into liberal groups, unless there is something going on,' says David French, senior counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, which is representing 27 groups from 18 states in the IRS matter. 'It’s not just the numbers, it’s the questions themselves. They were designed to dissect the operations of the organizations.' Mr. French believes that the IRS’s actions were intended as political intimidation."

3.  "The Internal Revenue Service's scrutiny of conservative groups went beyond those with 'tea party' or 'patriot' in their names—as the agency admitted Friday—to also include ones worried about government spending, debt or taxes, and even ones that lobbied to 'make America a better place to live,' according to new details of a government probe." The article continues:  "The investigation also revealed that a high-ranking IRS official knew as early as mid-2011 that conservative groups were being inappropriately targeted—nearly a year before then-IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman told a congressional committee the agency wasn't targeting conservative groups."  And:  "According to the report, by June 2011 some IRS specialists were probing applications using the following criteria: 'issues include government spending, government debt or taxes; education of the public by advocacy/lobbying to 'make America a better place to live'; statements in the case file criticize how the country is being run." http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324715704578478851998004528.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories

4.  Jewish groups supporting Israel were also targeted.  http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/morganbrittany/2013/05/13/the-irs-targeting-jews-and-conservatives--why-so-surprised-n1593495/page/full/

5.  "And now Americans have been reminded that not only is big and intrusive government inefficient, it is also often corrupt. The Obama administration and its all-star cast were supposed to be progressives’s 21st-century proof of concept [of an ethical and efficient big government]. Instead, they may have set progressives back for another generation."  http://www.nationalreview.com/article/348094/obamanomics-has-spurred-increasing-distrust-government-%E2%80%94-and-was-tax-scandal

6.  Lastly,  "Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) told Fox News Sunday, “The conclusion that the IRS came to is that they did have agents who were engaged in intimidation of political groups. I don’t care if you’re a conservative, a liberal, a Democrat or a Republican, this should send a chill up your spine. It needs to have a full investigation.”  http://www.humanevents.com/2013/05/13/the-irs-scandal-grows-broader-and-deeper/

It is early in the investigative process so how high the scandal reaches up the chain of command and the full scope of involvement is not yest established.  But it is instructive to remember a past White House scandal that involved the IRS. Watergate.  The language of the Articles of Impeachment for then President Nixon reads:  "He has, acting personally and through his subordinates and agents, endeavored to obtain from the Internal Revenue Service, in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens, confidential information contained in income tax returns for purposed not authorized by law, and to cause, in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens, income tax audits or other income tax investigations to be initiated or conducted in a discriminatory manner."  We know what happened in that case. We will have to wait and see in this case.  If congressional hearings and investigations do not become politicized then and only then will the truth emerge. 

George Burns