IRS Slowed

For John, BLUF:  Ultimately, Congress is the hand that feeds  A slip of the pen and your office is wiped out.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The IRS Scandal, Day 1684: Fallout From Allegations Of Tea Party Targeting Hampers IRS Oversight Of Nonprofits

The TaxProf, Professor Paul Caron, 18 December 2017.

The TaxProf links to The Washington Post article, "Fallout From Allegations of Tea Party Targeting Hamper IRS Oversight of Nonprofits": Here is the lede plus one:

Years of conservative attacks on the Internal Revenue Service have greatly diminished the ability of agency regulators to oversee political activity by charities and other nonprofits, documents and interviews show.

Well, it is The Wash Post, so it is the fault of conservatives.  Where is the mention of the attacks on the tea Parties by Ms Lois Lerner?  Oh, never mind that little detail.

Here is an interesting part:

The main part of government tasked with policing those lines, the IRS’s Exempt Organizations division, has seen its budget decline from a peak of $102 million in 2011 to $82 million last year.  At the same time, division employees have fallen from 889 to 642.

The Power of the Purse.  Yes, even when the bureaucracy stonewalls or quibbles or evades, the Congress can still cut the budget as a sign of unhappiness and rebuke.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff