The IRS, going after rich people? During the Bush administration? Couldn’t be! But it is–and it makes sense when you take into account which rich people are being targeted: the Hollywood rich.

As the Bush administration pulls out all the stops to give wealthy people tax breaks and fired its lawyers who give audits on estate taxes, naturally they would find a way to target liberal rich people specifically. Despite not having enough manpower or funding to audit rich people, the IRS apparently has enough willpower to go after those who attend the Academy Awards ceremonies. 200 select hosts and attendees receive a “goody bag” which includes “iPods, resort vacations, coupons for laser eye surgery, jewelry and high-priced lingerie,” reportedly worth as much as $100,000. As a result of these audits, the AMPAS is dropping the whole practice.

Of course, I have no problem with the practice being stopped or with it being taxed (so long as they find a way to tax only the actual received items, and not to treat coupons as gifts until they are redeemed). I only have a problem with the incredible selectivity of the IRS in whom it targets, which appears fully and completely focused on the likely political orientation of the person in question–like when the IRS threatened to revoke the tax-exampt status of only liberal churches, and not conservative ones, which were involved in politics to some degree, even when the conservative churches were far more egregious in their politicking.