What If IRS Went Rogue on its Own?

Writes Jonah Goldberg: 

For understandable reasons, the IRS scandal has largely focused on the political question of whether the White House deliberately targeted its opponents. To date there's no evidence that it did. That's good for the president, but it may not be good for the country, because if the administration didn't target opponents, that would mean the IRS has become corrupt all on its own.

Goldberg's Of the Bureaucrats, by the Bureaucrats, for the Bureaucrats reminds us why government bureaucracies at every level must be cut back.

UPDATE:  In How to Control the IRS and America's Untouchable Caste of Bureaucrats, Mark Fitzgibbons argues that citizens ought to be able to bring liability lawsuits against law-breaking bureaucrats:

In America’s first 100 years, federal officials could be sued in state courts for acting beyond their authority. In his book Creating the Administrative Constitution, Yale law professor Jerry Mashaw chronicles how this helped temper bad behavior.

Law professor Glenn Reynolds over at Instapundit is among those who believe that government officials need more civil and criminal liability for their bad acts. There are some private remedies on the books, but they are too weak to be effective.

The National Organization of Marriage sued the IRS for illegally disclosing its donors, and recently settled for $50,000. Taxpayers paid the penalty, and lawbreakers within the IRS suffered no adverse consequences.

The way to control this epidemic of government law-breaking is to allow citizen victims to sue, and legislate personally liability for bureaucrats guilty of willfully illegal conduct.

If the GOP were serious about tackling government abuse, it would initiate legislation now and even add private remedies to its platform. That would have wide support from the public.

Until government bureaucrats face the consequences of meaningful remedies, they will continue to act like America's untouchable class.