To: combjelly who wrote (359242 ) 11/18/2007 3:48:37 PM From: longnshort Respond to Investors' Business Daily 4/29/99 Mark Levin "...The IRS is infamous for its efforts to root out taxpayer fraud and wrongdoing - even when, no such crimes have been committed. But don't try to uncover any sins by the IRS. It'll just stonewall and, in some cases, retaliate. The Landmark Legal Foundation is giving the IRS a dose of its own medicine. And the IRS doesn't like it. We first reported Landmark's efforts to inquire into the political actions of the IRS in May 1997. At issue: The IRS has audited some 20 right-wing groups and at least a half-dozen of Clinton's critics. Why'? And who pulled the trigger? The Landmark Legal Foundation filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the IRS to see if the agency had a political vendetta against conservative groups. Since then, the IRS has thrown up every conceivable roadblock. In fact, at nearly every turn, the IRS has broken the law, failing to provide requested material to Landmark within statutory deadlines. That is, until Landmark filed suit. The group is still locked in the legal battle. The IRS has turned over some of the documents but has so censored the material and all the relevant names, the documents are nearly useless. In addition, the agency has failed to turn over e-mail and telephone records that could show that it was doing the bidding of political hit men. In short, the agency continues to balk. Land-mark has asked the court to force the issue. ....It's critical to understand that Landmark isn't asking the IRS for private tax information. It wants public documents showing correspondence between groups or individuals seeking the audits. After all, the IRS ostensibly serves the people and should yield to public scrutiny. To be sure, most agencies try to dodge the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act. After all, no agency likes to disclose embarrassing information. But if the suspicions about these audits are true, the IRS needs to be challenged. If it has moved itself from a tax-law enforcement agency, where every citizen and group is equal under the law, into a minion of those in power. the threat to liberty is clear. Landmark's effort could be the most important lawsuit during the entire Clinton administration. We already know that other agencies, such as the Commerce and Energy Departments, have been used to facilitate fund raising for the Clinton-Gore campaign But Landmark's effort could show something far worse-- a White House that is willing to use the power of the state to crush political opponents and strangle public debate. IRS' power alone is such a sufficient threat to liberty that it's the duty and right of every citizen to monitor it. As the IRS hearings from 1997 revealed, the agency has twisted itself into an engine of great destructive power. And at least one of those IRS employees who testified about the agency's abuses is feeling the agency's wrath. Jennifer Long, a 16-year IRS employee with a record of strong performance ratings, has been targeted for firing. When news of the possible firing reached Congress, it was hastily suspended until the agency's top officials reviewed the matter. It's still under review. Punishing truth-tellers. Targeting political groups. These are not the actions of a government founded on the ideals of liberty and the rule of law...."
