Monday, CNN released a poll showing that more than 50 percent of Americans have lost trust in President Obama; one day later CNN released a second poll that seems to explain why. Just a month ago a mere 37 percent of Americans believed the White House was directly involved in the IRS scandal while today that number has ballooned to 47 percent. When nearly half the nation believes the president is involved in abusing the power of his office very ominous clouds are gathering.
Independents have fled from Obama. In May 36 percent of Independents believed the White House was behind the IRS targeting of Obama’s political adversaries; today, that number has jumped to 50 percent.
The far left on the political and media side have argued that there is no proof the White House was directly involved in the IRS’s actions. While this may be true, it is quite early in the investigations. And while the lack of “proof” may work for those with their heads in the sand, most Americans are smarter than the Obama administration gives them credit. The polls speak volumes; the public isn’t buying the concept of a few rogue IRS employees in Cincinnati.
Even some in the media that have been staunch Obama supporters are starting to look at the IRS scandal from a more skeptical perspective. The administration’s constantly evolving stories on the IRS about who knew what and when, plus an absolute refusal to assign a special prosecutor is only bringing more cynicism their way.
We now know that the Inspector General’s report was little more than a wallpapering over of the issues at the IRS. The report pointed to political harassment occurring independently in Cincinnati where we now know that the IRS office in Washington DC was directly involved.
Still the majority of the media is reluctant to report on the IRS scandal, even though polling shows that 55 percent of the America people believe it is a “very important issue.” If the media dedicated one one-thousandth the amount of time on the IRS scandal as they did the most minor issue during the Bush administration or Republican candidate screw-ups it would be much more difficult for the Obama administration to keep sweeping the crisis under the rug.
If Obama’s media wants to put this scandal to bed, they’ll need to step up to the plate and push to have a thorough investigation. Only once we’ve gotten to the bottom of the story will the American people believe the issue has been fully investigated and resolved. Until then suspicions will linger and likely grow.
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