[March 07, 2014] There is a common claim today that the IRS audits people based on their political party affiliation – those claiming to be “conservative” being most likely to receive an audit. Furthermore, the IRS is being accused of unlawful targeting of conservative groups.
If this is not true, the IRS senior leadership should be actively countering this argument with facts to show that the IRS maintains proper accountability and trustworthiness.
Failure to do so will be devastating on the employees and to the reputation of such a large organization. Their morale and esprit de corps will collapse and the organization can be expected to attract fewer quality people.
If the accusations are true, then the leadership should be out front of the press in cleaning up the organization and advertising their progress. This would mean to admit that a culture of political corruption and cronyism exists and that something legitimate is being done.
Neither of these is being accomplished. A breakdown in leadership is to be expected in some organizations but not the IRS that has a legacy of honesty and truthfulness. This legacy has been honed closely over the past several decades and recently lost.
More needs to be done at the senior leader level.
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