The potential for waste and abuse would have been there regardless of which agency was put in charge of administering this bloated law. I mean, Obamacare is just massive – about 20,000 pages of regulations already – so waste and abuse is basically unavoidable. But now, we’re going to have Americans worrying that they might be discriminated against too – just for having an opinion? And you know what? We’re not going to be able to tell them not to worry. Because we don’t yet know the truth ourselves.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor today regarding the need to suspend the implementation of Obamacare until a thorough investigation of the scandal-plagued IRS, which will oversee Obamacare compliance, is completed:
“I would like to talk about a real scandal, not a manufactured crisis. Nearly two weeks have now passed since we first learned about the scandal at the IRS. The more we learn, the more troubling it becomes.
“It’s now clear that this was about much more than one or two employees going ‘rogue’ at some far-flung office out in the administrative hinterlands, as we first heard.
“The facts we’ve seen so far point to something far more systemic than that. And it shouldn’t surprise anybody.
“I mean, this is the IRS we’re talking about. This is an agency that’s basically a euphemism for mind-numbing bureaucracy — the kind of place where you’d assume nobody does much of anything without signatures and counter-signatures from section chiefs, and sub-section chiefs, and deputy office heads, and secondary assistant deputy sub-associate directors. Sort of like a Kafka novel without the laughs.
“So, what we first heard always stretched credulity. I mean, employees at ground zero of the federal bureaucracy going ‘rogue’? And just think back to the testimony we heard this week – or didn’t hear.
“Why did Lois Lerner and other senior and former IRS officials refuse to address questions that they had previously misled Congress? Somehow I doubt it’s because they had nothing of interest to say.
“We’ll look forward to hearing more from them, and we’ll look forward to hearing from whoever actually made the decisions that led to these abuses, since no one we’ve heard from yet is able to take responsibility for what went on. And let’s not forget that the Administration continues to give us different timelines about who knew what when.
“So the long and short of the situation is this: the public doesn’t know the full story yet.
“A number of my constituents have shared stories with my office about the IRS auditing their organizations and businesses during the recent presidential campaign for the first time ever. These folks believe the audits were conducted for no other reason than the fact that their groups were conservative. And they believe the questions they’ve been asked have more to do with their political views than their business activities. Without a proper investigation, we’ll never know.
“So we owe that to our constituents – to have a detailed and deliberate investigation. That’s why both House and Senate committees have begun investigations into the matter.
“That’s why, last week, every Republican on the Finance Committee signed a letter to the Inspector General for Tax Administration requesting a probe into reports that the IRS leaked confidential information about conservative groups to their political opponents. And that’s why even the FBI is looking into the matter. Because, as Attorney General Holder recently testified, the IRS’ targeting of conservative groups could have violated criminal provisions.
“I’m willing to bet there’s still a lot more we’ll discover: in terms of scope, in terms of timeline, in terms of who was involved – and why. But we certainly can’t go about fixing the problem – we can’t remove all those who need to be removed, we can’t put safeguards in place if they’re deemed necessary – until we find out those details.
“And here’s another thing we shouldn’t be doing: handing over the administration of Obamacare to these folks. I mean, think about it. A deeply unpopular law being administered by an agency that’s so betrayed the public trust.
“Even the IRS’ staunchest defenders in this scandal describe their actions as a case of ‘horrible customer service.’ That’s the best they can say: ‘Horrible customer service.’ And now they’re going to be put in charge of a new trillion-dollar program? One that will give them access to all sorts of sensitive, deeply personal information?
“Well, that’s just what the Administration and congressional Democrats are about to let happen.
“The IRS is in charge of administering some of the most important elements of Obamacare. And, for many Americans, that’s going to mean submitting to probing questions about their health insurance. Questions like:
“Do you have insurance?
“What kind of insurance is it?
“Does it follow our rules?
“And if the people at the IRS don’t like your answers? You’ll be hit with new taxes.
“For small businesses, the questions are going to be far more extensive, and the consequences for non-compliance far worse – and the agency will have broad discretion to define what constitutes non-compliance, by the way. This is nuts.
“The potential for waste and abuse would have been there regardless of which agency was put in charge of administering this bloated law. I mean, Obamacare is just massive – about 20,000 pages of regulations already – so waste and abuse is basically unavoidable. But now, we’re going to have Americans worrying that they might be discriminated against too – just for having an opinion? And you know what? We’re not going to be able to tell them not to worry. Because we don’t yet know the truth ourselves.
“And guess who’s heading the IRS office charged with managing Obamacare? Get this. It’s the very same person who led the division of the IRS now embroiled in scandal – who oversaw the very office now under fire for the discriminatory and harassing behavior. I’m not making this up.
“So here’s what needs to be done today.
“Number One: The Administration needs to work honestly and transparently with us to get to the bottom of this scandal once and for all. They can do that by working cooperatively with congressional investigators.
“They can do it by testifying openly and sharing key documents with House and Senate committees. And they can help us conduct a thorough Administration-wide review to ensure no other discrimination of this kind is occurring anywhere else in the federal government.
“Number Two: The Administration needs to suspend its implementation of Obamacare until all the things I mentioned have been taken care of. The Supreme Court declared the individual mandate – the core of Obamacare – to be a tax, so IRS involvement is going to be an unavoidable part of any rollout. It needs to be halted.
“Better yet, the Administration could work with us to repeal the law and put in place health reforms that might actually work to control costs and provide better quality of care for our constituents.
“I won’t hold my breath for that, but here’s what I do know. I know that we need to get to the bottom of this IRS scandal. Because, at a minimum, Americans from the Left, Right, and Center should not have to worry that their government will harass or intimidate them for daring to have an opinion and express it.
“They shouldn’t have to worry about that when partaking in the political process, and they certainly should not have to worry about it when it comes to an issue as personal and sensitive as their health care.”