Lynn Jenkins (R-KS): Time to Make Case for Abolishing IRS

Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, tells PJ Media that the ongoing IRS scandal must be a wake-up call for reform to the tax system:

The whole IRS scandal, it screams for comprehensive tax reform … so the IRS never has this power again to reach into the lives of the American people. At the heart of all these scandals is a government that has gotten too big, too unruly. It’s run amok. We have to get to the bottom of this, we have to hold people responsible, and we have to make sure this never happens again.

If ever there was a time to make the case for a fair tax or a flat tax and abolishing the IRS, this would be it.

Jenkins is against the appointment of a special prosecutor for investigating the IRS, as Congress has oversight power and the power to subpoena witnesses:

When we had the first hearing at Ways and Means, we ended up with more questions than answers. Our committees are going to get to the bottom of this.

Kansas Senator Jerry Moran (R) says he is just as concerned about the IRS targeting:

I serve on the Appropriations Committee, and even before the so-called apology from the IRS I was questioning the secretary of the Treasury and the acting director of the IRS about complaints.

Moran says the IRS officials he was questioning told him they would get back to him with answers. Instead, two days later the “apology” was issued:

What that says to me is there is great credibility in the complaints. It has a lot to do with an apparent political operation in the Obama administration.

Jenkins says that despite the growing calls for a special prosecutor — a recent poll said 76 percent of Americans would favor the appointment of one — she and her colleagues are not sanguine about going that route for one reason: Attorney General Eric Holder. A special prosecutor would need to be appointed by Holder, who finds himself embattled over the seizure of phone records from the Associated Press and other news organizations, including Fox News. Jenkins says she and most of her colleagues have no confidence in Holder’s veracity, and that letting Holder appoint a special prosecutor would be throwing good money after bad. The investigation could cost in the neighborhood of $10 million or more and possibly take years to complete, with no guarantee the facts would actually come out. Jenkins:

We don’t have to be at the mercy of Eric Holder.

Further, she feels the outrage over the politically motivated targeting is generally uniform throughout the House:

I think there’s enormous bipartisan outrage. This transcends party lines. We would be just as outraged if they were targeting liberal organizations.

She believes the recent scandals are not isolated, but symptomatic:

I think it’s indicative of a big government that’s high on power. All of these things make the case for a smaller, less intrusive government.

Jenkins has wanted Eric Holder gone for years, and absolutely wants him gone over these scandals:

I asked for his resignation two years ago. I think it’s high time to let someone else lead Justice. That’s what the American people want — accountability.

Senator Moran did not ask for Holder’s resignation, but says he certainly has not done his job. Moran mentions that Holder has consistently shifted blame for scandals and failure to subordinates, and has claimed he was unaware of patently illegal actions by his subordinates, such as Operation Fast and Furious:

Holder has consistently performed his duties poorly. If Holder was up for confirmation, I certainly would never vote to confirm him — let’s put it that way.