Who’s The Boss: $4 Million Conferences? Targeting Conservative Groups? Time For Real Leadership

• Americans are clamoring for leaders who will take responsibility. Yet new reports continue to prove that the IRS and the Obama White House is devoid of any leadership.

• IRS officials improperly targeting conservative groups and now spending $50 million on conferences in 2 years show a culture that recklessly disregards the trust taxpayers put in them.

• All the while, President Obama appears to have been asleep at the wheel as these scandals unfolded. Then, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney kept changing his tune when asked about it.

• Time and again, President Obama and his government bureaucrats have breached the public’s trust. It’s time they’re held accountable.

It Was Reported Yesterday That The IRS Spent $50 Million On Conferences Over Two Years. “A government watchdog has found that the Internal Revenue Service spent about $50 million to hold at least 220 conferences for employees between 2010 and 2012, a House committee said Sunday.” (“House Report: IRS Spent $50M On Conferences,” Associated Press, 6/2/13)

White House Senior Advisers Knew In Late April That The IRS Was Targeting Political Groups. “White House chief of staff Denis McDonough and other senior advisers knew in late April that an impending report was likely to say the IRS had inappropriately targeted conservative groups, President Barack Obama’s spokesman disclosed Monday, expanding the circle of top officials who knew of the audit beyond those named earlier.” (Charles Babington and Julie Pace, “More Obama Aides Knew Of IRS Audit; Obama Not Told,” Associated Press, 5/20/13)

• First, Jay Carney Said Only White House Counsel Kathleen Ruemmler Knew Of The Scandal. “When Carney first addressed the matter last week, he said only that Ruemmler had been told around April 22 that an inspector general audit was being concluded at a Cincinnati IRS office that screens applications for organizations’ tax-exempt status.” (Charles Babington and Julie Pace, “More Obama Aides Knew Of IRS Audit; Obama Not Told,” Associated Press, 5/20/13)

• Later, Carney Said Lower-Level Staffers Knew Of The IRS’s Actions. “But on Monday, Carney said lower-ranking staffers in the White House counsel’s office first learned of the report one week earlier, on April 16.” (Charles Babington and Julie Pace, “More Obama Aides Knew Of IRS Audit; Obama Not Told,” Associated Press, 5/20/13)