IRS SCANDALS HIT HARD EVEN IN BLUE MASSACHUSETTS: Dems Take A Hard Line.
Frantic Democrats want tough action in the ongoing IRS scandal, fearing the damage that a slow bleed could do to their own electoral futures as President Obama struggles to get out ahead of the issue.
U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Malden), running for U.S. Senate, quickly denounced the Internal Revenue Service’s actions earlier this week and upped the ante yesterday as the scandal spread, saying, “Whoever did this should be found and fired.”
U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Worcester), one of Massachusetts’ more liberal House members, told the Herald his party in Congress is afraid of the ramifications of the scandals, now collectively known as Obamagate — a threefer encompassing the IRS harassment of conservative groups, the Justice Department’s seizure of Associated Press phone records, and the handling of the Benghazi attacks.
“They do worry about what their constituents think about them and how they respond to these issues,” McGovern said yesterday, adding with regard to the IRS scandal that “anybody connected to this ought to be fired.”
Acting IRS chief Steve Miller resigned Wednesday, but a number of those who oversaw and executed allegedly politically biased policy in the tax-exemption unit remain at the IRS. Democrats demanding action include U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who called for an “audit” of the IRS, which U.S. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) supports, her spokeswoman said.
Sounds good to me.