Letter of the Day: Enforcing tax law

Enforcing tax law

EDITOR: I am not convinced that what we currently know about Internal Revenue Service activity is prima facie evidence of "political thuggery or obliviousness," as David Brooks put in his Sunday column ("When government loses restraint"). Tax-exempt 501(c) organizations are expressly forbidden to engage in political activity, and the IRS must determine whether an applicant organization meets requirements.

If the IRS is unable to give to every application the same degree of scrutiny ("Problems plagued Ohio IRS office," Sunday), it follows that some degree of selection is needed. Certain organizational names should trigger additional investigation. "Socialist" and "revolutionary" come to mind, as well as "flat tax" and "tea party."

George F. Will ("Obama asks for trust as scandal list grows," Sunday) wonders if some Democrats were elected due to the "IRS' suppression of conservative political activity." Suppressing political activity is not the same as denying tax-exempt status to an organization that, by law, does not merit it.

The IRS, as well as the president, is being pilloried for doing its job.

PAUL JOHNSON

Santa Rosa