IRS Admits They Targeted Conservatives

[Pointedstick]

I'm pretty sure everyone wants to make America a better place. We all just have different approaches and end goals.

[Reub]

I'm pretty sure everyone wants to make America a better place. We all just have different approaches and end goals.

Evidently the IRS would disagree with you.

[MediumTex]

I wonder whose idea it was to target these groups for additional scrutiny.

I mean who was the specific person or persons who came up with the strategy.

We will probably never know for sure.

[clacy]

I wonder whose idea it was to target these groups for additional scrutiny.

I mean who was the specific person or persons who came up with the strategy.

We will probably never know for sure.

I think you are correct that we'll never know for sure.

My guess is that it was done by some middle management type with the intent of making the IRS look good, and saving them money in the process:

"I've come up with an algorithm to help us screen 501c applications! Think of all the man-hours saved! I can smell a bonus."

Ha, this will be the Admin's line but if you look at the questions these groups were asked it's clear there was a political motivation. 

[Reub]

"Using the powers of the office of President of the United States, Richard M. Nixon, in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in disregard of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has repeatedly engaged in conduct violating the constitutional rights of citizens, impairing the due and proper administration of justice and the conduct of lawful inquiries, or contravening the laws governing agencies of the executive branch and the purposed of these agencies.

This conduct has included one or more of the following:
He has, acting personally and through his subordinates and agents, endeavoured to obtain from the Internal Revenue Service, in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens, confidential information contained in income tax returns for purposed not authorized by law, and to cause, in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens, income tax audits or other income tax investigations to be intitiated or conducted in a discriminatory manner."

From the 2nd Article of Impeachment v. Richard Nixon

[Tyler]

- Benghazi whistle-blowers being threatened to keep quiet.

- Admissions that the IRS has been used as a weapon against political opposition.

- And today, the AP is pushing back at the justice department for snooping on its phone records.

Quite the interesting week for the revelations of abuse of political power.  Regardless of what party you support politically, I personally hope we can agree these particular tactics should get slapped down hard.  "Business as usual" -- true or not -- is not an acceptable excuse for me.

[cnh]

I wonder whose idea it was to target these groups for additional scrutiny.

I mean who was the specific person or persons who came up with the strategy.

We will probably never know for sure.

Often the path to the truth begins by answering the question "Who stood to gain the most?"--that is, who stood to gain the most by silencing small-government libertarians and/or administration critics in the midst of an election year?

[Coffee]

I find it curious that the lame-stream media has completely ignored this aspect of the story:

Along with targeting tea-party groups, the IRS may also have given extra-special attention to the tax-exempt status of some Jewish groups for political reasons.

From the Jewish Press:

The passionately pro-Israel organization Z STREET filed a lawsuit against the IRS, claiming it had been told by an IRS agent that because the organization was “connected to Israel,”? its application for tax-exempt status would receive additional scrutiny.  This admission was made in response to a query about the lengthy reveiw of Z STREET’s tax exempt status application.

In addition, the IRS agent told a Z STREET representative that the applications of some of those Israel-related organizations have been assigned to “a special unit in the D.C. office to determine whether the organization’s activities contradict the Administration’s public policies.”? . . .

And at least one purely religious Jewish organization, one not focused on Israel, was the recipient of bizarre and highly inappropriate questions about Israel.  Those questions also came from the same non-profit division of the IRS at issue for inappropriately targeting politically conservative groups. The IRS required that Jewish organization to state “whether [it] supports the existence of the land of Israel,”? and also demanded the organization “[d]escribe [its] religious belief system toward the land of Israel.”?

[clacy]

The questions asked of the groups (Jewish included) were very bizarre and highly political in nature.

They were way outside the lines of tax and finance related questions.

[Reub]

Remember that the head of the IRS denied that any of this reprehensible behavior was taking place more than a year ago. This reeks of a major whitewashing of the truth. Again!

[clacy]

Remember that the head of the IRS denied that any of this reprehensible behavior was taking place more than a year ago. This reeks of a major whitewashing of the truth. Again!

All you have to do is look at the questionnaires that were given to these groups to fill out.  It was clearly designed to intimidate, slow down the process and compile information of was affiliated with said groups. 

It was not low level employees.  Questionnaires and reviews were coming from offices in California and DC.  Clearly liberal groups would have been scrutinized in a similar manner if there was a little balance applied here. 

[Pointedstick]

Picked up by The Daily Show:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/1 ... 71737.html

[Reub]

I find it curious that the lame-stream media has completely ignored this aspect of the story:

Along with targeting tea-party groups, the IRS may also have given extra-special attention to the tax-exempt status of some Jewish groups for political reasons.

From the Jewish Press:

The passionately pro-Israel organization Z STREET filed a lawsuit against the IRS, claiming it had been told by an IRS agent that because the organization was “connected to Israel,”? its application for tax-exempt status would receive additional scrutiny.  This admission was made in response to a query about the lengthy reveiw of Z STREET’s tax exempt status application.

In addition, the IRS agent told a Z STREET representative that the applications of some of those Israel-related organizations have been assigned to “a special unit in the D.C. office to determine whether the organization’s activities contradict the Administration’s public policies.”? . . .

And at least one purely religious Jewish organization, one not focused on Israel, was the recipient of bizarre and highly inappropriate questions about Israel.  Those questions also came from the same non-profit division of the IRS at issue for inappropriately targeting politically conservative groups. The IRS required that Jewish organization to state “whether [it] supports the existence of the land of Israel,”? and also demanded the organization “[d]escribe [its] religious belief system toward the land of Israel.”?

Coffee, get this. The IRS says that they targeted Jewish groups because of their increased risk of terrorism.
Now that's chutzpah!

[Reub]

I wonder whose idea it was to target these groups for additional scrutiny.

I mean who was the specific person or persons who came up with the strategy.

We will probably never know for sure.

Often the path to the truth begins by answering the question "Who stood to gain the most?"--that is, who stood to gain the most by silencing small-government libertarians and/or administration critics in the midst of an election year?

Now it comes out that the IRS gave the confidential documents from their conservative witchhunt to a liberal group funded by Soros and others. So I think the answer as to who profited is quite clear.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government ... ive-Groups

[RuralEngineer]

Picked up by The Daily Show:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/1 ... 71737.html

Outstanding.

Jon Stewart is my favorite Progressive Liberal (as I understand his ideology).  Hilarious.

[Libertarian666]

Picked up by The Daily Show:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/1 ... 71737.html

Outstanding.

Jon Stewart is my favorite Progressive Liberal (as I understand his ideology).  Hilarious.

I wondered if there were any lengths the Administration could go to that would get Stewart riled up. Obviously they have succeeded in that!

[Reub]

"IRS Official in Charge During Tea Party Targeting Now Runs Health Care Office"

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/20 ... re-office/

[RuralEngineer]

So...they fired the guy who'd been there a week and kept the woman actually responsible?  Sounds about right.

[moda0306]

This is starting to reek of utter bullish!t.  I've always thought it was convenient how much leeway the IRS has to our information in relation to most other functions of government.

[clacy]

This is starting to reek of utter bullish!t.  I've always thought it was convenient how much leeway the IRS has to our information in relation to most other functions of government.

This could end up being a good thing if the public outrage can somehow enable tax reform and a curbing of IRS power. 

[Reub]

When Obama was asked today whether anyone around the White House knew what was going on at the IRS he answered that he personally knew nothing about the IG report until last Friday.

In other words, he did not answer the question that he knew he would be asked in anything resembling a responsive manner. Guilty!

[Pointedstick]

When Obama was asked today whether anyone around the White House knew what was going on at the IRS he answered that he personally knew nothing about the IG report until last Friday.

Jon Stewart did a great segment about that yesterday, in fact: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/1 ... 78306.html

[rocketdog]

Of course, the fact that the IRS is secretly spying on us all doesn't exactly help to bolster their public image, nor our confidence in those we elected to serve us:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/tell-irs- ... 50713.html

[edsanville]

This story reminds me of one of Harry Browne's over-arching themes in "How I Found Freedom:"

Don’t be awed by the government.
Don’t confront it directly.
Don’t organize.

If the Tea Partiers had read Harry Browne, they wouldn't be under scrutiny to begin with.

[clacy]

This story reminds me of one of Harry Browne's over-arching themes in "How I Found Freedom:"

Don’t be awed by the government.
Don’t confront it directly.
Don’t organize.

If the Tea Partiers had read Harry Browne, they wouldn't be under scrutiny to begin with.

Organizing on that scale is mostly about raising money, which is extremely important in politics.