New York Times opinion contributor Thomas B. Edsall has another explanation for the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups: “[W]hat if the truth is more pedestrian: that the I.R.S. is simply not adequately funded to do its job and that Republicans are the ones who have kept the agency underfunded?” Right – the political targeting led by Lois “Plead the Fifth” Lerner is clearly linked to Republican malfeasance. If money is the issue, why does she remain silent? And why was the IRS colluding with the DOJ for possible prosecution of Tea Party groups? “Republican zeal for reducing the size of government, particularly its tax collecting apparatus,” Edsall adds, “has left the I.R.S. ill-equipped to perform its functions, one of which is to review applications for tax-exempt status from groups claiming to be ‘social welfare’ organizations.” That zeal comes from an understanding that limited government helps keep rogue agencies like the IRS in check.