
Stockman bill allows taxpayers to use same lame excuses as IRS - dmitrygr
http://stockman.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/stockman-bill-allows-taxpayers-to-use-same-lame-excuses-as-irs
======
everettForth
Rep. Thomas Massie (
[https://twitter.com/RepThomasMassie](https://twitter.com/RepThomasMassie) ) ,
who is partially responsible for this:
[https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/06/eff-statement-
massie-l...](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/06/eff-statement-massie-
lofgren-amendment-passing-house)

is going to serve on a hearing about lost IRS emails soon.

Supposedly, a "crashed computer" caused 2-years worth of Lois Lerner's emails
to be lost, though many emails were recovered through "other sources."

He wants to know, does anyone have any questions he should ask the IRS? He
says on Facebook that he will personally review all questions sent to him.

~~~
dmckeon
Here's a set of questions that anyone in IT who thinks they might ever be the
focus of a similar frenzy might want to consider:

[http://sharylattkisson.com/lois-lerners-lost-emails-
question...](http://sharylattkisson.com/lois-lerners-lost-emails-questions-
for-the-irs/)

(basically, it is a long list mostly of: what did you know, when did you know
it, and how did you document that?)

Personally, re the e-mails, I'm less inclined to blame malice, and would look
to incompetence, aided by years of patchwork backup and support processes.

------
x0x0
So, for people who aren't tea-party morons, here's what actually happened:

The irs keeps 6 months of emails on tape; when investigators asked for emails
in mid-2013, tape was available through late 2012.

Lerner's computer crashed in mid-2011, and there is contemporaneous
documentation of this crash.

2011 < 2013, it's not as if she could know that her emails would be requested
_in the future_.

Some emails have been recovered the obvious way -- by querying the other
parties.

one of many (nonmoronic) sources: [http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-
drum/2014/06/yet-another-ir...](http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-
drum/2014/06/yet-another-irs-scandal-isnt)

~~~
CWilliams1013
> The irs keeps 6 months of emails on tape; when investigators asked for
> emails in mid-2013, tape was available through late 2012.

IRS guidelines state that official records, in accordance with the Federal
Records Act, must be retained (at the very least archived as a hardcopy). So
the IRS is institutionally violating their own guidelines, as well as federal
law?

> 2011 < 2013, it's not as if she could know that her emails would be
> requested in the future.

Except for the letter sent by Chairman Camp to then-Commissioner Schulman
riiiiight before the crash:
[http://waysandmeans.house.gov/uploadedfiles/non_6103_ltr_fin...](http://waysandmeans.house.gov/uploadedfiles/non_6103_ltr_final.pdf)

------
jobu
Computer failure, and they recycled the hard drives?! For legal reasons, most
companies I've worked for remove and store the hard-drive from people's
computers for several years. It's hard to believe a government agency wouldn't
have similar data-retention rules.

Also: _" In any case, IRS can see the NSA for a good, high quality copy."_

I was thinking this as I read the post.

~~~
teapartyBS
They store broken hard drives for years? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Who
knows when someone will need to try and end you career as a civil servant to
advance their chances with hillbilly racists in a midterm... so keep those
broken drives for ever!

Of course, the drives could have info about the liberal nonprofits that they
targeted, too... but that wouldn't help any of these bat shit crazy house reps
would it?

~~~
Dystopian
There's a wide-range of workstation support managers out there.

I've worked in a small investment office that saved the drives for a couple
years after the pull. I've been on a team in a government office that was
literally "re-image everything, screw data" crazy. It really depends at who's
at the helm and the policies that are in place.

------
notblahbl4hblah
You assholes can downvote all you tucking want. Its still republican bullshit.

------
notblahbl4hblah
Are you shitting me? Stockman is a grade a douchebag. Let me guess you still
think that the IRS scandal is real? Also, I love how not paying your fair
share is patriotic somehow.

This site has become a fucking joke.

~~~
nmrm
Your tone is less than constructive and I agree with the down-votes.

But I also have to agree with your assessment given the contents of the
article. The bill typifies the sort of "you're so stupid/corrupt/ridiculous we
can't even talk with each other" attitude that is causing so many problems of
late. "Made me chuckle at those other people" does not constitute good
leadership.

edit: the title of the bill is "The Dog Ate My Tax Receipts Act". Tell me
that's not some juvenile and unbecoming of a representative of the government
of the united states.

~~~
ars
He doesn't expect it to actually pass, it's a way of shaming the IRS.

How else should he do it? A strongly worded letter?

