According to this article it looks like Obama fired the head of the IRS. But emails show the guy resigned. Either way he should be gone. There is proof that he was part of a cover up about the discrimination the IRS has done to conservative groups in America. Politicians are now calling this a "culture of discrimination" within the IRS. (I say it permeates most if not all of the federal agencies much like the unions within the states themselves)

I know in the past the IRS, with its extreme power has been found to ruin peoples lives. I believe congress passed new laws protecting the American people. This is a rouge agency gone bad. Somehow under Obama, with his Chicago style politics (gangster), they have gone wild and lost there discretion.  We must all remember that they are targeting Americans whom they work for. This I believe is an unintended consequence of the tax system. Again I believe this entire episode shows the need for a flat tax that eliminates the entire agency  Now only is it expensive to run but now it is blatantly unfair and unamerican.

The only way I can ever have faith and trust in the IRS is for a through and complete, independent investigation of the whole agency. Otherwise it'll just be a cover up of the truth and it'll continue to influence politics for its own survival.

May 16, 2013 at 1:00 am

Head of IRS ousted amid controversy

Potential civil rights violations at agency, Holder tells panel

• By Stephen Ohlemacher
• Associated Press
• 8 Comments

President Obama spoke of inexcusable “misconduct” by IRS employees and said new agency leadership was critical. (Olivier Douliery / Abaca Press)

Washington — Hurrying to check a growing controversy, President Barack Obama ousted the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service late Wednesday amid an outcry over revelations that the agency had improperly targeted tea party groups for scrutiny when they filed for tax-exempt status.

Obama said Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew had asked for and accepted Steven T. Miller's resignation. Obama made no public criticism of Miller but spoke of inexcusable "misconduct" by IRS employees and said new leadership at the agency was critical.

"Americans are right to be angry about it, and I am angry about it," Obama said in a televised statement from the White House. "I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency but especially in the IRS, given the power that it has and the reach that it has into all of our lives."

Meanwhile, the FBI is investigating potential civil rights violations at the IRS, Attorney General Eric Holder said earlier Wednesday. Other potential crimes include making false statements to authorities and violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in some partisan political activities, Holder said.

Miller, a 25-year IRS veteran, took over the agency in November, when the five-year term of Commissioner Douglas Shulman ended.

In an email to employees, Miller said, "This has been an incredibly difficult time for the IRS given the events of the past few days, and there is a strong and immediate need to restore public trust in the nation's tax agency. I believe the Service will benefit from having a new acting commissioner in place during this challenging period."

At the time when tea party groups were targeted, Miller was a deputy commissioner who oversaw the division that dealt with tax-exempt organizations.

An inspector general's report does not indicate that Miller knew conservative groups were being targeted until after the practice ended. But documents show that Miller repeatedly failed to tell Congress that tea party groups were being targeted, even after he had been briefed on the matter.

The IRS said Miller was first informed on May, 3, 2012, that applications for tax-exempt status by tea party groups were inappropriately singled out for extra, sometimes burdensome scrutiny.

At least twice after the briefing, Miller wrote letters to members of Congress to explain the process of reviewing applications for tax-exempt status without revealing that tea party groups had been targeted. On July 25, 2012, Miller testified before the House Ways and Means oversight subcommittee but again was not forthcoming on the issue — despite being asked about it.

Miller was scheduled to testify Friday at a Ways and Means hearing. It was not immediately clear whether he would still testify.

"This resignation does nothing to change the culture of discrimination at the IRS. And, it certainly does nothing to change the fact that the tax system is targeting honest, hardworking taxpayers instead of working for them," said Rep. Dave Camp, R-Midland, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, in a prepared statement.

Holder announced Tuesday that the Justice department had opened a criminal investigation, joining three committees in Congress that are looking into the matter.

"I can assure you and the American people that we will take a dispassionate view of this," Holder told the House Judiciary Committee at a hearing Wednesday.

"This will not be about parties, this will not be about ideological persuasions. Anybody who has broken the law will be held accountable."

But, Holder said, it will take time to determine whether there was criminal wrongdoing.

Wednesday's hearing was the first of several in Congress that will focus on the issue.

The House Oversight Committee announced Wednesday that it would hold a hearing May 22, featuring Lois Lerner, the head of the IRS division that oversees tax exempt organizations, and former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, whose five-year term ended in November.

The Senate Finance Committee announced a hearing for Tuesday.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130516/POLITICS03/305160364#ixzz2TS1krGeo