Posted on 10/23/2025 11:55:23 AM PDT by Angelino97
“What do you expect when you sue the president?” Hearing that comment, some people may guess the comment was made by someone addressing one of President Trump’s political opponents who has been targeted for federal prosecution. That quote, though, is much older. It is from an IRS agent addressing officials of a conservative organization that was being audited during Bill Clinton’s presidency. This illustrates that the use of federal agencies to punish presidents’ enemies did not start with President Trump.
The administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt used tax investigations against political opponents. Targeted individuals included publishers of newspapers that were highly critical of Roosevelt’s domestic and foreign policies.
President John F. Kennedy used the IRS and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to drive his conservative critics off the radio. President Lyndon Johnson also used the IRS and the FCC to silence conservative critics. One tool that was used to silence conservatives was to accuse broadcasters of violating the “fairness doctrine” by favoring conservative commentators.
President Richard Nixon used the IRS to target political enemies. The Nixon administration also threatened television and radio companies with revocation of their broadcast licenses unless they provided favorable coverage of the administration.
During the Clinton administration, the IRS not only targeted conservative and libertarian organizations it audited Paula Jones after she sued President Clinton for sexual harassment.
During the George W. Bush years, the IRS targeted organizations critical of the Iraq War. When Barack Obama assumed the presidency, the tax agency turned its attention back to conservative and libertarian groups, with a focus on organizations associated with the Tea Party. The Department of Homeland Security also issued a warning that those with pro-liberty bumper stickers — including supporting the Libertarian Party or my presidential campaign — might be violent extremists.
During the Biden administration, many Americans received harsh sentences for being present at the Capitol on January 6 even if they did not commit any violent acts.
Federal agencies can also target presidents’ political enemies without a presidential order to do so being issued. Some ambitious and unscrupulous individuals will target a president’s enemies believing that this is an effective way to curry favor with the president or high-level administration officials. Others will use the power of the government against the president’s political enemies or those involved with political movements seeking to change the direction of the government out of a belief that these people or groups constitute a threat to the federal government that justifies violating constitutional rights.
This history suggests that abuse of power is an inevitable feature of the modern welfare-warfare-regulatory state. Therefore, instead of focusing just on electing the “right” president, we should focus on shrinking the size and scope of the federal government to its constitutional limitations. This will ensure that Americans can exercise their right to criticize the government without fear of reprisal. As Thomas Jefferson said, “in questions of power then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the constitution.”
Doesn’t sway me from wishing all Covid, homeless, DEI funded orgs etc. get audited.
All this crap used to be Bush’s fault. Tells you sumpthing.
Bkmk
It isn’t just presidents. When Cong Dan Rostenkowski, Chicago, was my congressman and chair of the House Committee that controlled the IRS he used it heavily nationwide to implement his agenda.
For example, at Rosty’s direct request, ATF agents tried to get me to set up a guy pumping gas at his brother’s local gas station.
Ron Paul Institute is clearly a mental facility.
I wonder if Lois Lerner is sleeping comfortably at night.
Trump is not retaliating. The communists (D) committed a series of crimes that deeply hurt our nation, our economy, and resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths. That includes US deaths from the orgy of tens of millions of migrants, the Covid 19 orgy of euthanasia, the destruction of of the US/Russia relationship and the resulting wars, and the middle eastern wars such as Syria.
Now they are being prosecuted.
It is not “retaliation” or “revenge”, any more than prosecuting a bank robber is retaliation or revenge.
Suspect son Rand is spittin’ nails because daddy Ron didn’t vilify President Trump enough.
Best we quit taxing all individuals and only tax companies.
Not surprisingly, RP omitted the fact that both Obama and Biden used federal agencies to punish their party’s main political adversary (Trump) any way they could, which invariably involved making shit up out of whole cloth. RP is beneath contempt.
This history suggests that abuse of power is an inevitable feature of the modern welfare-warfare-regulatory state. Therefore, instead of focusing just on electing the “right” president, we should focus on shrinking the size and scope of the federal government to its constitutional limitations. This will ensure that Americans can exercise their right to criticize the government without fear of reprisal. As Thomas Jefferson said, “in questions of power then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the constitution.”
......
Oh Ron.
The right President was elected.
He’s the one that was so much of a threat they started ‘spying on his campaign ‘ and didn’t even stop going after him, even while out of office.
He’s the only President to get the mandate from millions to obliterate and drain the system that should be ended under the man who was a victim of it just because he came down an escalator.
That was his real crime.
Volunteering...
And he has the Declaration of Independence on the Oval Office wall as a sign for you, Ron.
The long train of abuses and usurpations has to end. And Trump has the mandate to do it.
You and your son never did.
Suspect son Rand is spittin’ nails because daddy Ron didn’t vilify President Trump enough.
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And I suspect you’re full of crap.
Maybe I’ve been around too long. When I hear liberals accuse our President of retaliation they are simply echoing what they are doing or have done.
RP is beneath contempt.
+++++++++
As you correctly point out, this arschloch draws a direct line from Clinton to Trump. Completely bypassing the magic Negro and the child sniffer.
His obvious omission of Obama and Biden was intentional Swamp speak
Yep. Massie and the Pauls are in fact swampsters dressed in libertarian garb tasked to fool the dim-witted and divide the GOP.
This may be apocryphal, but I’ve heard that the very first use of the income tax code to prosecute someone who was wanted for something else, but the government couldn’t build a case for it, was the prosecution of Al Capone.
“It is from an IRS agent addressing officials of a conservative organization that was being audited during Bill Clinton’s presidency. This illustrates that the use of federal agencies to punish presidents’ enemies did not start with President Trump.”
Which is EXACTLY WHY Bush Jr. really should be the one going to jail, for simply writing off all the crap that Clinton’s people were doing in favor of a “new tone”. Once street criminals, whether the wrapper selling drugs or the FBI Director sees that it’s possible to get away with crimes, the crimes will only get worse.
And it didn’t end with Ron Paul.
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