{"id":105595,"date":"2013-05-24T10:10:27","date_gmt":"2013-05-24T14:10:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/?p=105595"},"modified":"2013-05-24T10:13:12","modified_gmt":"2013-05-24T14:13:12","slug":"yo-politico-irs-commits-not-violates-sins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/05\/yo-politico-irs-commits-not-violates-sins\/","title":{"rendered":"Yo, Politico: IRS commits — not violates — sins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Isn\u2019t it interesting how unfamiliar some folks are with religious language?<\/p>\n

A reporter passed on this example and it\u2019s telling. It comes from a Politico<\/em> story about why no one at IRS will ever be held accountable<\/a> for targeting people for their political beliefs (turns out such targeting is a no-no in our country \u2014 who knew?). \u201cHeads won\u2019t roll at the IRS<\/a>\u201d begins:<\/p>\n

Lawmakers pressing for more heads to roll at the Internal Revenue Service are going to be disappointed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy weren\u2019t more people fired?\u201d Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) demanded at a hearing Tuesday on the IRS\u2019s targeting of conservative groups, channeling the frustration of his colleagues.<\/p>\n

Turns out it\u2019s not so easy.<\/p>\n

In fact, it appears that no one has been formally reprimanded and a spokesperson for the union representing IRS workers said it hasn\u2019t been called to help any employees yet. Most employees involved in the targeting program are covered by protections for federal workers that could drag out the termination process.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I wrote a story in 2003 about how federal data indicated that not a single employee at Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, Education, Veterans Affairs and State had been fired in the previous five years, despite all of the reports of poor performance at each agency. I doubt things have changed much since then. Perhaps they have gotten worse.<\/p>\n

In any case, this IRS story does turn out to have quite a few interesting religion angles (on that note, maybe you\u2019ll want to see Sarah Posner defend the IRS for its actions against various Americans<\/a> over at The Guardian<\/em>\u2018s \u201cComment is Free\u201d section).<\/p>\n

But this is the section that shows the importance of getting religious lingo right:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

There are other cases in which fired employees wouldn\u2019t even get to appeal. By law, the IRS commissioner can \u2014 but doesn\u2019t have to \u2014 fire any employee who engages in the so-called 10 deadly sins<\/strong> as defined by a law enacted in 1998 to overhaul the agency.<\/p>\n

The \u201csins\u201d include falsifying information or destroying documents to cover up mistakes, violating a taxpayer\u2019s constitutional rights, abusing privacy clauses to conceal information from a congressional inquiry and threatening to audit taxpayers for personal gain or benefit.<\/p>\n

But would any of the activities related to the IRS scandal qualify? J. Russell George, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, suggested at Tuesday\u2019s hearing that it\u2019s possible \u2014 noting that one of the sins is revealing taxpayer information to harm a taxpayer.<\/p>\n

When Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) asked if the Cincinnati employees violated the sins<\/strong>, he responded: \u201cIn theory, it could be interpreted that way,\u201d if they shared confidential information with outside groups. George is looking into the question.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Emphasis mine. Memo to the folks at Politico<\/em>: You commit<\/em><\/strong> a sin, not violate it.<\/p>\n

And, for those curious, it looks like this error was not introduced by Sen. Cantwell<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sin image<\/a> via Shutterstock.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Isn\u2019t it interesting how unfamiliar some folks are with religious language? A reporter passed on this example and it\u2019s telling. It comes from a Politico story about why no one at IRS will ever be held accountable for targeting people for their political beliefs (turns out such targeting is a no-no in our country \u2014 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":605,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,12,1],"tags":[1615,1654,1653,1652,1616,857],"class_list":["post-105595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-religion","category-uncategorized","tag-irs","tag-irs-10-deadly-sins","tag-maria-cantwell","tag-max-baucus","tag-scandal","tag-sin"],"yoast_head":"\nYo, Politico: IRS commits -- not violates -- sins<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Isn't it interesting how unfamiliar some folks are with religious language? A reporter passed on this example and it's telling. It comes from a Politico\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/05\/yo-politico-irs-commits-not-violates-sins\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yo, Politico: IRS commits -- not violates -- sins\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Isn't it interesting how unfamiliar some folks are with religious language? A reporter passed on this example and it's telling. It comes from a Politico\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/05\/yo-politico-irs-commits-not-violates-sins\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GetReligion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-05-24T14:10:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-05-24T14:13:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/files\/2013\/05\/shutterstock_58228174-300x194.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mollie\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mollie\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/05\/yo-politico-irs-commits-not-violates-sins\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/05\/yo-politico-irs-commits-not-violates-sins\/\",\"name\":\"Yo, Politico: IRS commits -- not violates -- sins\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-05-24T14:10:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-05-24T14:13:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/74ed2f03f6e3aa3c3c4c3ce885b10255\"},\"description\":\"Isn't it interesting how unfamiliar some folks are with religious language? A reporter passed on this example and it's telling. It comes from a Politico\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/05\/yo-politico-irs-commits-not-violates-sins\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/05\/yo-politico-irs-commits-not-violates-sins\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/05\/yo-politico-irs-commits-not-violates-sins\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Yo, Politico: IRS commits — not violates — sins\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/\",\"name\":\"GetReligion\",\"description\":\""The press . . . just doesn't get religion." - William Schneider\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/74ed2f03f6e3aa3c3c4c3ce885b10255\",\"name\":\"mollie\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fdd9488c7657bf391bdf276b5c392eb9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fdd9488c7657bf391bdf276b5c392eb9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mollie\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/author\/mollie\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Yo, Politico: IRS commits -- not violates -- sins","description":"Isn't it interesting how unfamiliar some folks are with religious language? A reporter passed on this example and it's telling. It comes from a Politico","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/05\/yo-politico-irs-commits-not-violates-sins\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Yo, Politico: IRS commits -- not violates -- sins","og_description":"Isn't it interesting how unfamiliar some folks are with religious language? A reporter passed on this example and it's telling. It comes from a Politico","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/05\/yo-politico-irs-commits-not-violates-sins\/","og_site_name":"GetReligion","article_published_time":"2013-05-24T14:10:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-05-24T14:13:12+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/files\/2013\/05\/shutterstock_58228174-300x194.jpg"}],"author":"mollie","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"mollie","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/05\/yo-politico-irs-commits-not-violates-sins\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/05\/yo-politico-irs-commits-not-violates-sins\/","name":"Yo, Politico: IRS commits -- not violates -- sins","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-05-24T14:10:27+00:00","dateModified":"2013-05-24T14:13:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/74ed2f03f6e3aa3c3c4c3ce885b10255"},"description":"Isn't it interesting how unfamiliar some folks are with religious language? A reporter passed on this example and it's telling. It comes from a Politico","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/05\/yo-politico-irs-commits-not-violates-sins\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/05\/yo-politico-irs-commits-not-violates-sins\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/05\/yo-politico-irs-commits-not-violates-sins\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Yo, Politico: IRS commits — not violates — sins"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/","name":"GetReligion","description":""The press . . . just doesn't get religion." - William Schneider","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/74ed2f03f6e3aa3c3c4c3ce885b10255","name":"mollie","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fdd9488c7657bf391bdf276b5c392eb9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fdd9488c7657bf391bdf276b5c392eb9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mollie"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/author\/mollie\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/605"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105595\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}