The more we learn about the IRS vetting of conservative groups, the less it looks like an abuse of power than something much more mundane—a beleaguered agency with too few resources to handle its work-load.

As The New York Times reported this past weekend, the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt groups was chronically understaffed and overwhelmed even before a surge in applications from political groups in 2010. Once the dodgy applications started piling up (dodgy because political groups that don’t reveal their donors aren’t supposed to get tax exemptions), it’s not surprising that the IRS cut corners, adopting search terms like “patriot” to help flag the conservative groups who were largely behind the increase. This was insensitive and inexcusable—a real crime against political correctness. But it was the kind of mistake people make when they’re overworked, not on a witch hunt.

And yet, when you take a step back from the IRS scandal, there does appear to be something slightly sinister going on. Except that the scheming is on the right and not the left. Since the Republican House takeover in 2010, conservatives have laid the groundwork for a cynical two-step: First, squeeze funding for government programs, making it harder for civil servants to do their jobs. Then, when the inevitable screw-up comes, use it as further justification for cuts. Against this backdrop, the IRS scandal looks like only the latest step in the conservative long-game.

The most obvious example of this maneuver is, of course, health care, where Obama has repeatedly asked Congress for some of the $5-10 billion the government will need to implement the Affordable Care Act over the next decade. Naturally, Republicans have balked at this, leaving the Department of Health and Human Services to beg private insurers for whatever loose change they can spare. If the implementation ends up being a fiasco, you can bet Republicans will use it as evidence that health care reform was horribly misconceived. In fact, they’re not even waiting that long. “[I]mplementation is going to get messy,” wrote the conservative pundit Ben Domenech in March. “Republicans are likely to seize on every sad story as justification for dramatic changes—and in 2016, mount campaigns designed to replace the system in whole or in part.”

And it’s not just health care. Dodd-Frank, the major financial reform bill the president signed three years ago, substantially increased the power of agencies like the SEC and the CFTC to regulate financial markets. The only way to tap these powers was to substantially increase these agencies’ budgets, as the administration proposed. Instead, the GOP Congress held their funding far below what the Dodd-Frank bill called for. CFTC officials found themselves boarding Mega Buses at 5:30AM so they could save money on trips to New York.