The more I watch this the more I become convinced that I am watching a shakedown in progress. That in the end all that will happen is that these corporations will spend a lot of legal defense money, lobbying money and campaign contributions to be left alone. The politicians see these piles of money sitting offshore and want their taste of it.

So why is Apple or any of these companies in front of congress at all? Right up front everybody says that the companies are not doing anything illegal or wrong so what is there to discuss?

I think the altar boy one will be coming soon.

@TheLogo#12:

Your user management skills need some help, Logo.  You have got to let the users know what is happening in advance and if you run outside your stated maintenance window keep the users informed in real time.  Maybe announce system status and updates via twitter or Facebook to keep the communication channel on a different platform.

If users run across issues during announced events they will understand and cut you some slack but when things start messing up outside those times they want to know that somebody is working on it, otherwise they think you don’t know about the problem or care about them (the users).  

You folks are running and interactive communication company.  Take that to heart, interact and communicate with us, we will love you the more for it.

Show me some reasonable statistical proof that the criteria they were using was applicable to the situation and I will be more than glad to give the IRS a pass. I have not heard the IRS use this as their reason for doing what they were doing. We all get profiled all the time, that is nothing new. But when the profile being used is incorrect then there is a problem.

@gatomal#38: I suspect they already have a list of who belongs to Ricochet, it would not be that hard to get.

See I am a little more cynical than most. I can't help but think that somewhere in all those questions and answers there was some data that somebody really wanted.

What makes you think that the Republicans did not know about this and kept quiet because they did not have a problem with it then?  The Tea Party is no friend of establishment politicians be they Republican or Democrat.  A case could be made that they have offed more establishment Republicans then they have Democrats.  Just ask Dick Lugar how much of a friend the Tea Party is to the old guard Republicans. 

 The Tea Party has been yelling about the way the IRS has been treating them since 2010.  I do not believe I saw any Republicans putting together Congressional Fact Finding Commissions to explore this issue then.  They only seem to show up now late in the game when the damage is done and they can score some political points. 

I am talking about people using government power for their own purposes and agendas, either to enrich themselves and their friends or punish their opponents.  If you do not understand how much of this type of thing exists in our system you need to pull your head out of the sand and look around.  Yes, Chicago has a rep for this type of stuff and maybe they are the worse at it but they are far from the only ones doing it.  America is striving to become a Banana Republic and it is succeeding. 

I can’t speak to how the Federal government works.  But in local, state and corporate politics stuff like this gets initiated and organized on golf courses, at the gym, on the 19^th hole, etc.  There will be no records and anything said that somebody could testify to; will be said in such a way that it could be taken many different ways.  I believe this stuff was ordered and organized from the top and the guys on down the chain went with it because that is what you do.  You do your job so you can continue to support your family.  If what you are asked to do does not smell right then you do exactly what you are told and cover your bases the best you can, so if the wheels come off the wagon you are covered.  What you do not do is question or surmise since those things can be dangerous to your health in one way or another.   

In the civilian world we call that CYA, especially if you think what is happening is a RPE.

 CYA = cover your a**

RPE = Resume Producing Event

Business as usual in America. Over the years as a small business person I have seen so much of this type stuff. And there will be no record to connect it, it is all done over lunch or the golf course, etc. My only surprise is that people are surprised.

@rushbabe49: if you send this letter with your name to a place that it could be properly recorded and ignored I doubt that you would get more than minimal scrutiny. But if you also sent this to the media and it got air play then I suspect you would have more agencies checking into you then you will ever be aware of.
Back in 2008 I had an older friend that was getting a little wacky (age gets us all). He was in the habit of writing politicians about those things that upset him. The day before BHO came to town a few black SUVs swoop in and disappeared him. It took the family several days to find him in a mental hospital. They kept him there 15 days with no explanation on who picked him up or why they did so or if they considered him needing care. In our state you are not allowed to keep a person against their will over 3 days, it did not matter. They made their point. He wrote no more letters.

Timid is the wrong word, i think you were looking for complicit.

Well what did you expect? He is a liberal Democrat after all. Obviously he is of the Kennedy school of politics.

Oh! If we were voting for something as smart and good as weevils the choice would be simple.