PrintGood news: IRS official in charge when conservatives were being targeted now running Obamacare shop
Because it's important that we establish trust and competency when it comes to the IRS managing Obamacare enforcement. Oh, wait...
The ObamaCare official in question, Sarah Hall Ingram, had been serving as commissioner of the office responsible for tax-exempt organizations from 2009 to 2012 -- the division included the group that targeted Tea Partiers -- and has since left to serve as director of the IRS' Affordable Care Act division. That unit is responsible for enforcing parts of the health care law, including the fines associated with the so-called individual mandate -- the requirement to buy health insurance.
Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn, citing her current position and history with the scandal-marred unit, reinforced his call Thursday for the IRS to be blocked from implementing the health care law. "Now more than ever, we need to prevent the IRS from having any role in Americans' health care," he said.
While still the commissioner of the Tax-Exempt and Government Entities Division, Ingram was assigned to head the implementation of ObamaCare at the IRS in 2010 after the law was enacted. It is not clear when she stopped being the head of the tax-exempt office or how active her role was there while she was implementing ObamaCare.
But the official who succeeded her, Joseph Grant, is now leaving the agency in the wake of the scandal. His retirement was announced Thursday, even though he only took the job May 8.
Meanwhile, President Obama appointed a new acting commissioner after the prior IRS chief announced his resignation.
So the person charged with making sure IRS enforcement of tax exempt rules was even handed and non-partisan will now oversee a branch of the agency with the potential to crack down even harder on the administration's enemies.
The IRS will determine if your insurance plan meets all the coverage requirements in the law. Oh, really? It only meets the criteria if the IRS says it does. And if your politics aren't quite in line with the Democrats, who's to say what the IRS will do?
At this point, such paranoia is justified. We should take the position that the IRS has to prove it is not a partisan agency rather than taking that for granted. Until they can prove it, they will be suspect in the eyes of anyone who disagrees with the president.
