May 24, 2013 11:57AM 

# Gerson: ‘The Other IRS Scandal’ 

By [Michael F. Cannon](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-f-cannon) 

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The *Washington Post*’s Michael Gerson [writes](http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/michael-gerson-the-irs-has-an-unwelcome-role-in-obamacare/2013/05/23/b4e10550-c3df-11e2-8c3b-0b5e9247e8ca_story.html#) that the IRS’s [suppression of tea-party groups](https://www.cato.org/blog/irs-still-treating-groups-educating-public-constitution-bill-rights-suspect) and the [subsequent cover-up](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2013/05/19/the-treasury-connection-not-merely-an-irs-scandal/) are the second-largest scandal haunting the agency.

Drawing from my [article](http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2106789) (with Jonathan Adler) on the illegal IRS rule meant to save Obamacare, Gerson concludes:

> The IRS seized the authority to spend about $800 billion over 10 years on benefits that were not authorized by Congress. And the current IRS scandal puts this decision in a new light…
> 
> 
> The whole enterprise \[of Obamacare\] is precariously perched atop a flimsy bureaucratic excuse. And the agency providing that excuse is a discredited mess.

When the IRS suppresses speech by the president’s political opponents, that’s nothing to sneeze at. Neither is it anything to sneeze at when the IRS tries to spend almost a trillion dollars against the express wishes of Congress.

##### Related Tags 

[Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Regulation](https://www.cato.org/regulatory-studies), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

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