PrintMay 24, 2013
Only President Obama can stop the IRS 'drip, drip, drip....'
It's time for President Obama to make a "Bay of Pigs" type statement and accept full responsibility for the IRS scandal. He should say that "the buck stops with him" and that it happened on his watch.
I believe that the statement should also include the dismissal of key IRS people and the White House Chief Counsel who kept the president in the dark.
President Obama should deliver a prime time speech and assure the public that he is committed to a resolution of the IRS crisis.
After that, President Obama should commit to an independent prosecutor who will issue a report that people will believe. No one is going to buy a DOJ investigation.
By the way, thousands of good people who work at the IRS deserve nothing less. Morale must be very low at the IRS after this scandal. Wonder what customer service calls must be like these days between taxpayers and telephone representatives?
It was good to see Bill Keller of The NY Times call for an independent prosecutor:
"Republicans are howling for President Obama to name a special prosecutor to investigate the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of Tea Party groups. The president should call their bluff."
Yes, Mr Keller is right about this.
Appoint Patrick Fitzgerald and let him get to the bottom of the scandal. I think Fitzpatrick is well regarded by both sides.
At the end of the day, the IRS scandal is the biggest threat to the Obama presidency. There is no easy way to get out of this mess.
My message to President Obama is simple: Take responsibility, hold key personnel accountable and let an independent prosecutor settle this mess.
Otherwise, it will be "drip, drip and drip" until the cup overflows.
And overflow it will!
