IRS│SRI
By Robert T. Smith
web posted June 3, 2013
The IRS has it backwards. This is evident in the testimony of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officials in the most recent scandal wherein the IRS targeted conservative groups. It was stunning to discover that those employed at the IRS are not answerable to We the People, and that We the People are actually the IRS's customers.
The low regard for tax collectors has been historical and biblical. Publicans, as they were known at the time of the Holy Bible in the Roman empire, were despised, not just for the fact that they would assess an individual's possessions and subjectively determine how much would be taken for Rome, but because an "excess" would also typically be assessed to enrich them. The publicans were admonished in the Holy Bible to collect no more than was due Rome, a taxman version of go and sin no more. Jesus was excoriated by the Pharisees for befriending publicans and sinners (refer to Luke's story of Zacchaeus). The low regard to which tax collectors were held is detailed throughout the Holy Bible, this linkage of publicans and sinners is present throughout, when one is mentioned typically so is the other.
As the phrase is coined, what would Jesus do with our modern-day tax collectors at the IRS, in light of the Obama scandal du jour. Would it be possible for even Jesus to forgive the unrepentant "publican" Ms. Lois Lerner. Here is the woman who appears at the center of this scandal, for now, the apparent henchwoman of the Obama administration's misdeeds, profiling conservative groups and denying them their First Amendment Rights, their free speech tax-free status.
Hired and paid by We the People to administer this concern in the IRS, when called before The People's representatives to explain the who, what, when, where, why and how's of what went wrong, Ms. Lerner declined, she took the 5th. To be clear, We the People are her boss and she has declined to tell us what went wrong. What would your boss do in such a situation? Is Ms. Lerner fired...no, she is now on paid leave, a virtual paid vacation...the IRS has this backwards.
A bureaucracy is an administrative organizational approach to accomplish a large amount of work in a routine manner (World English Dictionary). Typically, there is also an option for a more negative definition of a bureaucracy, for example, excessive multiplication of, and concentration of power in administrative bureaus or administrations (Dictionary.com). It seems today's IRS has focused its attention on becoming the negative version of itself. What pejorative best describes the hubris, arrogance, disinterest, elitism of the testimony in the various congressional hearings by the various actors in this perversity that is the current IRS bureaucracy.
During his testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee, acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller admitted that they, the IRS, "provided horrible customer service" to conservative groups seeking non-profit status. In the backwards world of the IRS, We the People apparently voluntarily purchase a service from the IRS. As Mr. Miller opined, "I can't speak to individual cases. I can say generally we provided horrible customer service here. I will admit that. We did horrible." In the fantasy world of Mr. Miller's IRS, as customers, perhaps We the People are due a refund and certainly we will not frequent the IRS store again...the IRS has this backwards.
The First Amendment Right to free speech was not a right granted by government to the people. In the scheme of our Constitution, the free speech right is a natural, God-given right. A wise-man once said that we are to render unto Caesar that which is Caesars and render unto God that which is God's. In the backwards world of the IRS, certain of us are apparently required to render our god-given free speech right unto Caesar. 
Robert T. Smith is an environmental scientist who spends his days enjoying life and the pursuit of happiness with his family. He confesses to cling to his liberty, guns and religion, with antipathy toward the arrogant ruling elites throughout the country.