Just why was the irs tracking taxpayer’s political affiliation:

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., a member of an appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over the IRS, said the practice was an “outrageous violation of the public trust” that could undermine the agency’s credibility.

I’m just a bit puzzled as to why murray thinks that this bunch of goons had any credibility.

…Deputy IRS Commissioner John Dalrymple said the party identification information was automatically collected through a “database platform” supplied by an outside contractor that targeted voter registration rolls among other things as it searched for people who aren’t paying their taxes.

And, why is it that someone outside the irs is being provided information about citizen’s tax payment status? Shouldn’t this information be confidential…at least until the irs initiates collection actions?
Via Talkleft.