A statement released from the office of Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas, says what’s good for the government should be good for taxpayers. So there might come a time in the future when a letter starting out, “Dear IRS, The dog ate my tax receipts,” would be a perfectly acceptable response to a government inquiry about those “health cost” deductions for a hot tub and the trips to the Bahamas.
The word came from Stockman’s office on Friday after a contentious hearing in Congress where the chief of the IRS said there was no apology due for the agency’s loss of months worth of emails involving IRS agents and managers suspected of creating and managing a program for the persecution of conservative groups.
“Taxpayers who do not produce documents for the Internal Revenue Service will be able to offer a variety of dubious excuses under legislation introduced by Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) a week after the IRS offered an incredibly dubious excuse for its failure to turn documents over to House investigators,” the announcement said.
“The United States was founded on the belief government is subservient and accountable to the people. Taxpayers shouldn’t be expected to follow laws the Obama administration refuses to follow themselves,” said Stockman. “Taxpayers should be allowed to offer the same flimsy, obviously made-up excuses the Obama administration uses.”