Republicans pressing link between Obamacare and IRS scandal

May 20 2013

News coverage of the ongoing IRS scandal is focusing on Republican criticism of Sarah Hall Ingram, who is now in charge of helping to implement the health care law.  

The New York Times: Republicans Expand I.R.S. Inquiry, With Eye on White House
Congressional Republicans, not resting with the Internal Revenue Service scandal, are moving to broaden the matter to an array of tax malfeasances and "intimidation tactics" they hope will ensnare the White House. Republican charges range from clearly questionable actions to seemingly specious allegations, and they grow by the day. On Friday, lawmakers sought to tie the I.R.S. matter to the carrying out of President Obama's health care law, which will rely heavily on the agency (Weisman and Peters, 5/17).

The Wall Street Journal: White House Aide Chides GOP for 'Fishing Expeditions'
Several GOP lawmakers questioned the wisdom of allowing Sarah Hall Ingram, who formerly oversaw tax-exempt organizations-;the heart of the current controversy-;to run the IRS office in charge of compliance with the 2010 health-care overhaul. Ms. Ingram was in charge of tax-exempt and government entities until the end of 2010. The improper targeting of tea-party and other conservative groups appears to have started in early 2010 (McKinnon, 5/19).

Politico: Ryan: Obama's Second Term Shows 'Arrogance,' 'Cronyism'
Rep. Paul Ryan said Sunday the IRS targeting of conservative groups "is arrogance of power, abuse of power, to the nth degree" and vowed the investigation into the misconduct will continue. ... "And so to suggest that this is some bureaucratic snafu, that's been disproven, Chris," Ryan told Fox [News] host Chris Wallace. "The other point I'd say, as bad as this is, the person in charge of this bureaucratic snafu has now been put in charge of Obamacare." Putting Sarah Hall Ingram, who formerly oversaw the tax exempt division before heading to her current post helping the agency implement Obamacare, in charge of implementing the health care law is "rotten to the core," Ryan said (Weinger, 5/19).

CBS News: Republicans Use IRS Scandal To Tar Obamacare
Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., linked the ongoing targeting scandal at the IRS with Obamacare in the weekly Republican address on Saturday, warning that the troubled agency has too much control over the rules and regulations governing the implementation of the law. Standing beside the "red tape tower," a 7-foot stack of regulations associated with Affordable Care Act, Harris said, "Just think about the fact that it's the IRS that will be responsible for enforcing many of these regulations." "If we've learned anything this week, it's that the IRS needs less power, not more," he said (Miller, 5/17).

The Washington Post: McConnell Predicts Obamacare Will Be 'Biggest Issue' Of 2014 Election
"I don't know what the issues will be next year. If I were predicting what's likely to be the biggest issue in the 2014 election, I think it would be Obamacare," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on NBC News's "Meet The Press." "I think it's coming back big-time." ... "By the way, the IRS has a role to play in the implementation of Obamacare," McConnell said (Sullivan, 519).

Related Kaiser Health News story: The IRS' Role In The Health Law Comes Under Scrutiny (Carey, 5/17)