Too Close to Home: More Details Regarding the Rogue IRS Agent(s) in Laguna Niguel

I just saw a new article by Eliana Johnson in National Review On-Line (NRO) which helps explain a little more about why it is so outrageous that the Obama administration is blaming rogue agents in Cincinatti when - in truth - this scandal is much wider than that and spreads all across the country.

You can see Johnson's article by clicking here.

The bottom line is that the new details leaking out of the IRS now show that only one IRS agent here in Laguna Niguel is targetted for further investigation. I assume Elizabeth Marquez is the one under investigation for discriminating against Tea Party groups. She was the person giving the business to the Patriots Educating Concerned Americans Now (PECAN), a Redding, California conservative group.

Apparently, Marquez's letter, dated January 31, 2012, asked 55 questions, including a demand for 'complete copies of the organization's website that is accessible to members only.' This is just an outrage.

As Johnson writes: "The broad sweep of the current investigation indicates that IRS agents nationwide were targeting conservative groups, which belies the explanation initially offered by the inspector general, the IRS, and the Obama administration that the targeting originated with a handful of “rogue” employees in the agency’s Cincinnati office. It also suggests that the orders for that targeting, or the approval for it, may have come from the top lawyer at the agency — an individual appointed by President Obama himself — or from one of his deputies."

For a look at the letter that Elizabeth Marquez sent to the folks at PECAN, click on this link.

As Karl Rove pointed out this weekend: "People sitting in Cincinnati, Laguna Niguel, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., listen to people like Sen. Max Baucus, Sen. Chuck Schumer, President Obama. When President Obama goes out in 2010 and calls these groups ‘a threat to democracy,’ he’s blowing a dog whistle.”


John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist.

It's a Mighty Long Way from Cincinnati: Rogue IRS Agents Active in Laguna Niguel, CA Too

In all the mad rush of the last few weeks, I was not aware that IRS employees right here in Laguna Niguel - where I live and work -  were involved in efforts to harm Tea Party or conservative groups. I thought all of these rogue agents were gathered together far away in Cincinnati, OH. Now, I am expecting some of my neighbors out here to be doing the perp walk.

According to CNN, IRS staff in Laguna Niguel, CA
 participated in the effort to discriminate against
Tea Party and conservative groups.

They were doing so by making it harder for these groups to secure their status as 501 ( c ) ( 4 ) organizations.

According to CNN, Lois Lerner, who was the director of tax-exempt organizations for the IRS, indicated last month that the IRS had targeted these groups because they had those words in their names. She said the activity took place at the IRS office in Cincinnati, which handles applications for 501(c)(4) status.

CNN, however, opened up documents that suggest at least three other IRS offices did the same dirty deed including the one within walking distance from my home in Laguna Niguel. CNN reports that IRS officials in Washington and California contacted conservative groups to demand more information before approving the groups' requests for tax-exempt status.

The American Center for Law and Justice, a legal group representing numerous conservative organizations, provided CNN with four such letters: one each from IRS offices in Washington; Cincinnati; El Monte, California, and Laguna Niguel, California.

The Chet Holifield Federal Building
is something of an eyesore
in Laguna Niguel, CA.

I drive past that building in Laguna Niguel nearly every other day and view it from a distance when I take a walk in the park. It is chilling to know that Obama's re-election in 2012 benefitted, in part, from the intolerable and discriminatory things taking place in this odd looking building.

As you might know, Chet Holifield Federal Building was constructed in Laguna Niguel, California, between 1968 and 1971. William L. Pereira & Associates designed it with an unusual stepped pyramid silhouette. The unusual form references ziggurats, ancient Mesopotamian temples. Here in Laguna Niguel, we usually call in the ziggurat building for short. The parking lot of this building is a total mess. It really is an eyesore in terms of its exterior appearance.

I guess Obama and his crew were never afraid that one of the people working at this IRS office might contact me and share what was actually taking place in terms of harming Tea Party and conservative applicants. Given what I know about young Obama and his ideology - and what I know about his time in Chicago - it is not difficult for me to believe that Obama authorized discrimination against Tea Party and conservative groups. I do not think most people appreciate how much young Obama sincerely hated our American capitalist system.

I do not think most people trully appreciate what it means to be a friend of Bill Ayers, Rev. Wright or Alice Palmer. If they did they would terrified of the Obama administration and demanding that someone go to jail for this abuse of power.

John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist.