Whose felony is this anyway?

According to the Weekly Standard, if someone in the Obama administration were to look at a taxpayer's tax records, it would be a violation of a federal law that was enacted in 1976 in response to Watergate.

Although there have been many amendments to the law since that time, the basic statutory scheme established in 1976 remains in place today.

But the Weekly Standard reports that

In August 2010, Austan Goolsbee, serving at the time as economic adviser to President Obama, told reporters during an anonymous background briefing that Koch Industries doesn't pay corporate income taxes.

There is no adequate explanation given why a member of the Obama administration would be privy to that information!

Then we learn that Political Hacks at the IRS Leaked Confidential Information on Conservatives to the Liberal Media Group ProPublica

Keep in mind that the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) is under the US Department of the Treasury, in the Executive Branch (currently the Obama administration).

You can read for yourself and see what the IRS can and cannot do:

PUBLICATION 4639 (Rev 10-2012) Disclosure & Privacy Law Reference Guide

If you want a simple explanation of what the stakes are, read what (ironically) the IRS preaches about its own mission:

V. CONCLUSION

A distinguishing characteristic and, indeed, one of the strengths of American tax administration, is the self assessment feature of the system. Employees of the Office of Chief Counsel and the IRS must be constantly aware that in fostering this system, there must be public confidence with respect to the confidentiality of personal and financial information given to us for tax administration purposes.

Thus, we must administer the disclosure provisions of the internal revenue laws in accordance with the spirit and intent of the law, ever mindful of this public trust. The law makes the confidential relationship between the taxpayer and the IRS quite apparent. By the single act of filing a tax return, a record is created and also a trust. We are responsible for maintaining both.

There is probably no other government agency having as much contact with as many citizens as the IRS in the course of carrying out its responsibility of collecting the 1-18 revenue. As a result, a vast majority of our records are confidential in the very real sense that they represent information the American people have provided to their government in confidence. The confidential nature of these records requires that each request for information be evaluated in the light of a considerable body of law and regulations that either authorize or prohibit disclosure. The diversity of our records, the size of our organization, and the complexity of our operations, all contribute to the issues we must consider when performing our official duties.

How would YOU (Mr. & Mrs. Citizen) rate the Obama Administration's performance?

Or are you suddenly busy in the bathroom bending over your privy?