PACI Report Update:

My posting yesterday expressed my opinion to the effect that the IRS's Political Activity Compliance Initiative, purportedly to ensure that tax-exempt organizations do not engage in political activity, is itself subject to political influence.

I have just learned that even as I was posting that very blog entry, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington ("CREW") was filing an ethics complaint alleging that Rep. Sam Johnson used his political influence to sick the IRS on a particular tax-exempt group.

My own personal politics are decidedly more in line with those of Rep. Johnson than with CREW. But the fact that the IRS is in fact subject to political influence is a troubling concern that transcends partisan politics.

My worst fears about PACI have already begun to materialize.