Focus

Just when everyone in Washington, D.C., was trying to get along and pass budget resolutions and immigration reform, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) revealed it was unfairly targeting conservative groups. The revelation brought the uneasy alliances to a screeching halt and further embarrassed the Obama administration, which already was trying to pivot away from renewed attention to the deaths in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012.

The IRS admitted to targeting about 75 conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status. The agency's Cincinnati office (so far, the only office implicated in the scandal) searched applications for words such as "patriot" and "tea party" and then proceeded to scrutinize the organizations in question—in some cases asking for donor records, which typically is beyond the IRS' purview.

As can be expected, high-level IRS employees are claiming ignorance, and Republican lawmakers are looking for answers. At press time, the House Ways and Means and Oversight and Government Reform committees have called hearings in the hopes of uncovering the facts.

President Obama has forced the resignation of the head of the IRS and condemned the IRS' practices, saying: "I have no patience with it; I will not tolerate it; and we will make sure we find out exactly what happened on this."

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) has suggested the agency's problem dates to at least the George W. Bush administration. During that administration, a liberal church in Schiff's district was under IRS investigation but successfully fought the agency through high-powered attorneys.

"[A broader investigation] would point to a systemic problem within the IRS that transcends administrations, and it's very possible that's exactly the case," Schiff says.

Regardless of when the problem began, it is clear the U.S. government continues to stray from issues of importance—many of which are key to your roofing business' success—in favor of politics. It is unfortunate even a seemingly mundane agency cannot escape the partisan trap.

Ambika Puniani Bailey is editor of Profes­sional Roofing and NRCA's associate executive director of communications and production.