It was meant to be funny, but Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s humorous opening line at a meeting of conservatives Wednesday night packed a punch in highlighting the reality that in the escalating IRS scandal, no Obama pet project or supporting group was audited by the tax agency–only critics.

In comments to the “Prosperity Caucus,” a group of economists and policy analysts who push a pro-growth agenda, Cruz said: “I regret to pass off some information that as a result of each of you being here, tomorrow morning you will be audited by the IRS.”