New IRS Rule a Gift to Hackers and Ruthless Politicians

The Internal Revenue Service has an enormous credibility problem, especially when it comes to charitable organizations. But instead of addressing that issue to increase the public’s confidence, the agency is seeking to increase its influence and power over, you guessed it, charitable organizations – otherwise known as 501(c)3 organizations.

A recent Rasmussen poll found that just 31 percent of voters trust the scandal-ridden agency. The IRS has done nothing to change that. Indisputable evidence continues to mount about the extent of the IRS’ targeting of conservative groups under the Obama administration. If anyone needs a refresher on the extent of their shameful, unconstitutional violation of conservative groups’ rights, just watch this clip of Rep. Aaron Shock (R-Ill.) asking Steven T. Miller, the acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue from 2012 to 2013, about the agency’s questioning of Christian conservative groups about “the content of their prayers.”

That’s right, the IRS commissioner could not bring himself to say that it was inappropriate for the IRS to be asking about the content of Americans’ prayers.

The politicization of the IRS goes much further than that particular scandal. Concerned Women for America was audited for several years during the Clinton administration through an investigation that rendered no wrongdoing and that ended (I kid you not) the day after Al Gore conceded the 2000 election.

The problems continue today. This summer, the Government Accountability Office still found that “lax oversight at the IRS increases the risk that political and religious groups could be unfairly targeted for audits.”

And now the IRS wants to add insult to injury by going after more power with a new proposed rule that seeks to have nonprofit organizations collect and report the social security numbers of donors who give at least $250 to the organizations in a single year.

This is, of course, outrageous and yet another example of government overreach that we must resist. I encourage you to make comments to the proposed regulation by clicking here and hitting “submit a formal request” at the top of the page (the deadline for comment is December 16, midnight).

The IRS believes this regulation sensible because it is “voluntary.” Seriously, can’t they see that such a proposal is fraught with security problems? Are we supposed to ignore the numerous security breaches inside the IRS itself? No need to worry, though, everything will be securely stored in Hillary Clinton’s bathroom server.

And now their genius plan with this new proposed law is to multiply the access points for hackers to obtain such sensitive information. According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics, more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations are registered in the U.S.

It’s Christmas time for identity thieves.

This rule only makes sense if the aim is to discourage Americans from donating to charitable organizations. Hmmmm.