Ace:
Just a few rogue operatives in Cincinnati.
The Internal Revenue Service managed a wide-ranging program that singled out tea party groups for special scrutiny from its headquarters in Washington, D.C., according to bombshell documents released Wednesday by a watchdog organization.
Judicial Watch, a center-right group that specializes in Freedom Of Information Act document requests and lawsuits, said it received a cache of papers from the IRS showing the depth of the Obama administration’s involvement in what officials have previously called the work of a few ‘rogue agents’ in Cincinnati, Ohio.And letters from U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, show his involvement in pressing the IRS to target mostly conservative organizations with cumbersome questionnaires seemingly calculated to slow down their applications for tax-exempt status in the middle of an election year.
In one July 2010 email among IRS managers, a lawyer with the Exempt Organizations Technical unit in Washington wrote that his office was ‘working the Tea party applications in coordination with Cincy.’
More on Carl Levin’s role in all of this.
Levin, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs’ permanent subcommittee on investigations, wrote a March 30, 2012 letter to then-IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman discussing the “urgency” of the issue of possible political activity by nonprofit applicants. Levin asked if the IRS was sending out additional information requests to applicant groups and citing an IRS rejection letter to a conservative group as an example of how the IRS should be conducting its business.
A top IRS official replied that the agency could send out “individualized questions and requests.”
“Some entities claiming tax-exempt status as social welfare organizations under 26 U.S.C.&501(c)(4) appear to be engaged in political activities more appropriate for political organizations claiming tax-exempt status under 26 U.S.C.&527,” Sen. Levin wrote. “Because of the urgency of the issues involved in this matter, please provide the following information by April 20, 2012.”
Not a smidgen of corruption.
This email proves that the targeting was coming out of Washington, DC.
Each and every official talking point Obama and his peeps have made has proved false.
Funny (ironic) how this is off the front pages.
Surely it would lead the network news if a Republican had been president and Lefty orgs had been the targets.
But…..I thought all the leftists said this was a phony scandal……
I am wondering just ‘when’ is Obama himself going to get thrown under the proverbial bus and be brought down…hard…my only hope is someone in this mix is seething, angry and feeling betrayed enough to have the courage to do just that.
Just like the ‘Teflon” Don from NY…you can’t get away with your grandiose behaviorism’s and lies forever…Karma…will catch up to you sooner or later…I just hope it is sooner so we can still save America….
Excuse me, but why shouldn’t a Senator inquire of the federal agency charged with enforcing the tax code whether or not they’re taking a close look at applications for tax exempt status submitted by organizations that he suspects may not legally qualify for them? That’s what they’re supposed to be doing.
What has been established is that both conservative and liberal applicants were subjected to such scrutiny. It doesn’t matter in the least that a particular Senator was primarily interested in one or the other. There’s nothing illegal or improper about his inquiry, nor would there be anything improper or illegal about a republican making a similar inquiry. For all I know, they may have done so.
Greg will deny death as they lower him into the grave. How sad such ignorance exists with all of the potential for enlightenment today!
@Greg:
It is one thing for a congress critter to ask if the IRS is properly examining the applications of 501(c)(4) organizations. Where it goes over the line, is when special attention above and beyond the ordinary is organized between a congress critter and agency staff for a political witch hunt in order to illegally disadvantage political opposition by using a Federal agency as a weapon.
There is a huge difference between proper equitable standards of examination of 501 (c)(4) organizations in general, and the more extreme practice of targeting of groups using specific lists of key words for special, unusual and unprecedented aggressiveness against Conservative/TEA Party groups. It is even most egregious when the examinations go beyond the investigative standard to demand of the organizations data that the IRS was prohibited to ask for.
Had a Republican done the same, the Democratic party and the MSM would have screamed bloody murder. Oh, wait! Nixon did threaten to use the IRS like this, and the Democrats and MSM did scream bloody murder. What’s more, the Republican leadership at the time agreed that to use an agency as such was improper and illegal and called Nixon to task for it. When will you and your party show the proper umbrage for those on your side’s use of the IRS as a weapon even further than Nixon dared?
As usual Greg, you show yourself to be a ‘tool‘ and a complete hypocrite. You do your side more damage than you realize.
@Greg: #4
While different Tea Party organization’s applications were being held up, obama’s organization, run by his half-brother, got an expedited approval, and was even approved RETROACTIVELY, which isVERY illegal. Why haven’t you complained about this?
http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/14/irs-official-lerner-approved-exemption-for-obama-brothers-charity/
There are too many smoking guns in this situation.
Sen Levin is not alone in his use of the IRS to quell dissent.
Free speech is only for those who agree with the dominant paradigm. In this case the paradigm is that big government is good, and objection to big government is bad (anti-American).
@Greg would be wise to look over the FOIA documents more carefully and provide his evidence of anti-American activities by conservative associations.
It sounds like HUAC all over again. Back in the 1950s it was those who had ever been members of Communist cells. Now it is those who have ever objected to a government program. What’s next? Blacklisting them from having internet sites?
The proponents of the IRS cockroach stomp apparently believe that they have no good arguments in their favor, so any who disagree with them have to be punished without trial. Sic semper tyrannis was once the rallying cry.
Bring it on!
NEBRASKA YOU ROCK, THERE IS THE PULSE OF THIS NATION,
FROM NOW ON,
GO TEA-PARTY, GET THEM IN THERE, ALL,
AMERICA WANT YOU,
SARAH THE GREAT SARAH, THANK YOU,
YOU DIGGED AND FOUND GOLD,
@Greg:
This of course is the thoroughly discredited lie that the Collective has directed its drones to parrot, to cover for the earlier lie that targeting didn’t take place at all which has since fallen apart.
Yep, direction came from D.C. and yep, it was political
100 percent of “targeted” liberal groups were approved, conservatives languished
IRS inspector general: No, liberal groups weren’t “targeted” the way tea-party groups were
Treasury: IRS targeted 292 Tea Party groups, just 6 progressive groups
applications of progressive groups could be approved on the spot by line agents, while those of tea-party groups could not.
The Liberty Township Tea Party was asked to provide copies of all its activity on Facebook and Twitter, while the Progress Texas was not. The Liberty Township Tea Party was asked for more specific information about the employment background of its officials, including copies of resumes, while Progress Texas was asked for more general information. The tea party group was also asked whether any of its officials had served on the board of another organization or planned to run for office.
IRS agents’ testimony: NO progressive groups were targeted by IRS
@Smorgasbord:
Because hypocrisy is the foundation of all leftist thought.
their legacy will tell of all of that DEMOCRATS party, knew,
but didn’t have the gutts to exposed SUCH A WRONG DONE TO GOOD AMERICANS,
THEY WHERE TARGETTED BECAUSE THEY CARED FOR THEIR COUNTRY,
AND THE COMMUNIST MARXIST SOCIALIST WHERE SCARED OF THEM, THEY WHERE SCARED TO LOOSE THEIR FIXED ELECTION,
SUPPORTED BY
INTERNATIONAL LOYALS, TO THAT COMMUNIST PARTY, AND FROM THE UNIONS WHO BELONG TO THEM, AND FROM THOSE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THEIR INDOCTRINATION. AND FROM THE MUSLIMS PROTECTING THEIR INTEREST THEN AND FUTURE AGENDA,
@Kraken: #11
As with many questions I and others have asked liberals, I don’t expect an answer on this one.
That this is not major news, covered 24/7 with hourly updates in the MSM is in itself a scandal.
@Pete: That goes back to what you said on a previous thread about mental illness. They see what isn’t there and can’t see what is there.
we learned a few years ago under OBAMA regime,
that he made a book of all who vote for him, the blue book,
i bet now he has another of all who dIdn’t vote for him,
so it make it eazy for the IRS TO LOOK AT IT AND PICK THEIR TARGET,
remember that was in election time,
SO THE IRS BY ACCEPTING THAT TASK, SHOULD ALL BE FIRED ON THE SPOT,
NOTHING HAPPEN SO FAR, THE UNIONS ARE PREVENTING THEIR PUNISHMENTS,
THEY ARE IN THE COUP, SO IN ORDER TO FIX IT ,
YOU HAVE TO BURN THE WHOLE LADDER FROM UP TO DOWN,,
IF YOU JUST PLAYING ON ONE PERSON, SHE WILL BE RELEASE LIKE THAT CORRUPT WOMAN,
SENT TO PRISON FOR ELECTION CORRUPTION, , BUT THE SHARPTON SUCCEEDED TO GET HER OUT,
and all the BLACKS elected
gave her an OVATION, in the CAPITOL, SHE IS BLACK ALSO,
JUST A FEW DAYS AFTER, HOW CAN THEY LOOK AT THEMSELVES IN THE MIRROR,
AFTER HAVING SCREW THE CITIZENS, IN IRS AND THE OTHER ON ELECTION,
WHAT A BUNCH OF LOW LEVEL ELECTED BY THEIR PEERS WHO COLLECT MONEY FROM THEM,
THE SAME WILL HAPPEN WITH LOIS LERNER BY THE UNIONS,
BUT ONE THING WE KNOW WILL PUNISH HER FOR LIFE IS THE FELON LABEL SHE NOW CARRY,
LIKE A BOULDER FOR LIFE, AND SO ON FOR THE OFICER OF ELECTION WHO VOTE 6 TIMES,
BUT DID NOT STAY IN PRISON, SHE HAS A LIFE TO CARRY THE BOULDER, AND NOBODY , WILL TRUST HER EVER,
TO GIVE HER A JOB, EVEN HER SHARPTON FRIEND,
THERE MUST BE A LOT MORE ,WHO BECAME FELONS IN THE GOVERNMENT, BECAUSE THERE IS SO MUCH INFRINGMENT IN THE PEOPL’S AFFAIRS, ON THIS GOVERNMENT, THE WAY THEY HURT THE RANCHERS WHO LOST THEIR FARM FROM HAVING BEEN SO HARSHLY PRESSURED, THIS IS MENTAL CRUELTY,
A GAME OF THE MOB, TO GET THE POSESSIONS OR MONEY FROM OTHER,
@another vet:
Oh I think they CAN see it. I believe they don’t WANT to see it, because to do so means they have to admit that their entire worldview is based on corruption, lies, and a naked thirst for political power that is tbe essence of the democrat party….and such an admission means the leftist has to admit they were so easily fooled into believing these lies which their fragile egos cannot tolerate. After all, it is only we neanderthal, knuckledragging right wingers who are supposed to be drooling morons led around by hooks in our noses because we are too stupid to have original thoughts based on reality.
@Greg: “Excuse me, but why shouldn’t a Senator inquire of the federal agency charged with enforcing the tax code whether or not they’re taking a close look at applications for tax exempt status submitted by organizations that he suspects may not legally qualify for them? That’s what they’re supposed to be doing.” Well, Greg, OK. Then, why did Levin or no one else inquire about the status of any LIBERAL group? Media Matters ring a bell?
100% of the groups audited were conservative groups. The VAST majority of those scrutinized were conservative groups. Greg.
It is targeting of conservatives, Greg. It is using the power of the government against political opposition. It is dictatorship, Greg. ACCEPT IT.
@Kraken, #10:
I stopped going down your list when I realized they all link to articles being cranked out by Hot Air. Do you read anything that wouldn’t be immediately recognized by an alert 10th grader as a right-wing propaganda outlet? This stuff is going to rot your brain.
@Bill Burris, #18:
The numbers arouse my suspicions, but what I’m suspicious about is apparently different. It occurs to me that anti-government, anti-tax organizations might be somewhat more inclined to disregard the particulars of federal tax code and regulations than groups that advocate collecting enough revenue to pay for what the government does. Such organizations were also popping up like toadstools after a summer rain. The new ones on the right were far more numerous than the new ones on the left.
@Greg:
I understand that socialists want everyone else around them to do their work for them, but do I really need to post the source articles that Hot Air is commenting on? Aren’t you capable of doing that yourself? Well, probably not.
While I have no doubt that you prefer the alert 10th grade essayists of WikiPedia, remember Greg, as a door opener who communes directly with spirit, you possess neither the cognitive skills nor the sobriety necessary to determine what will or will not rot someone’s brain, having rotted your own. In essence, your assessments are meaningless. You’re a liar, a hypocrite, a burnout, and a dullard as you and I together have repeatedly revealed here.
Besides, the list isn’t really for you. You’re part of the Collective and therefore ineducable. I’m illustrating a larger point about drones such as yourself. To be blunt, I’m not engaging with you Greg. I’m using you as an exhibit.
Soros Gave $6.1 Million to Groups Linked to Pressure on IRS to Target Conservative Nonprofits
@Pete: They kind of remind you of the Germans who denied the Jews and Nazi naysayers were being persecuted prior to the Holocaust even though it was being reported in the German press as early as the early ’30’s. However, just like our MSM is to the dems, their press was to the Nazis. Therefore when they reported it, they made the people put in the “re-education camps” out to be criminals and threats to society. Not to be outdone were the Russian drones under Communism. Orlando Figes in, The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin’s Russia, documented how some Russian citizens who were sent to the Gulags under false charges, actually believed it was for the betterment of Soviet society either because they were guilty of something that they didn’t recognize or that even though they were innocent, if them going to the Gulags meant the regime would catch the “real bad guys”, it was worth the “sacrifice”.
The same collective mentality exists with the left. You can’t reason with them. It makes you wonder how this disconnect is going to be resolved since reason is obviously off the table.
@another vet:
If our current leftward tilt is not righted, our country will cease to exist in 20 years. We cannot sustain the economic and cultural insanity any longer than that. I am convinced the leaders of the left are counting on societal collapse so they can impose their socialist dystopia upon us. The number of holes they keep punching in our constitutional ship already threaten to sink us, and the number of people who recognize the impending disaster, let alone those actively trying to patch the holes, dwindles daily as more and more simply give up trying to work for a living. De Toqueville’s prediction comes closer every day.
@Pete:
They call it the Cloward-Piven Strategy.
@Pete: My Dad used to tell me that the next war this country has won’t be us against the Russians, Chinese, or any other country or ethnic/religious group. Nor will it be between North and South or East and West. It will simply be Americans killing each other because we will have reached the boiling point with one another. Europe is a powder keg waiting to blow and I don’t think we’ll be too far behind them. All it’ll take is a major trigger like another depression or a gross power play. Walter Williams offered his opinion awhile back on how these major differences may need to be resolved. Mata had a thread on it.
http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2010/04/07/parting_company
@Kraken: Some of that looks awfully familiar. Do you think there is a copy at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington D.C.?
Kraken – yup. But of course in spite of all the evidence, believing in The Gramscian-based Cloward-Piven strategy immediately gets one branded – in Alinski fashion – as an object of ridicule.
Vet – I imagine that the producers will continue to be burdened to the breaking point, then scapegoated when the collapse occurs, much like the bourgeoisie were targeted by the Bolsheviks as being the reason communism wasn’t working economically…..very much like the leftist are blaming those of us opposed to obamacare as the cause of it not working. Then once the producers are imprisoned or dead, the parasitical mobs will turn on each other. And the leftists will continue to blame conservatives for being greedy.
@Pete: As the old saying goes, “Keep the powder dry.”
@Greg:
That is a complete lie that you simply can not back up. Where is your evidence that they are anti-government? You don’t have any, nor will you be able to find any such evidence because it doesn’t exist.
This nation was founded by tax protesters. There is nothing illegal nor immoral about protesting over regulation or over taxation. In fact it is the Constitutional right of any group to assemble and to exercise their right to free speech. It is also Constitutionally illegal for our government to target such free assemblies of citizens for harassment, intimidation and punishment by said government for their “dissident” actions. I challenge you to how us where this unconstitutional power you think our government has comes from. You wont be able to because it doesn’t exist.
Name these groups that advocate ever expanding taxation and government. Give us the link to their webpages.
So what? Such assemblies of people for common causes are perfectly legal. What was illegal was for Democrats to demand that these organizations “on the Right” be singled out for special scrutiny from a government agency that is supposed to be politically neutral, and what is also illegal is that operatives of the IRS followed through with partisan Congress Critters and in doing so, ignored the laws of the land that denied the agency’s use as a grand inquisitor against assemblies of free people, and regulations that restrained them from illegally asking these agencies for their donor lists, and that prohibit the use of the IRS to intimidate and silence public opposition.
Your arguments supporting these illegal actions by politicians and politically compromised agencies, seem be those of a Socialist-Fascist; that will broke no opposition to the party authority or limitations to the great State’s ruling power. Are you a Socialist-Fascist Greg?
Ditto
that”s show, how stupid they are to try to mess with the JEWEL THAT IS THE CONSTITUTION,
THAT IS THE BEST OF THE WORLD, but needing the best leadership in the WORLD AS WELL,
if only the people elect the leader to match with it,
and fit in it,
ALL THE TROUBLES IN AMERICA are, BECAUSE OF THE LEADER WANT TO CHANGE THE CONSTITUTION,
THAT’S AS SIMPLE AS IT IS, don”t look for more,
ANY OTHER MINDSET REGIMES CANNOT SURVIVE IN AMERICA,
HE END UP PUTTING HIS FOOT IN HIS MOUTH, AND THE OTHER FOOT IN HIS ASS, and end up screwing the lives of
all the CITIZENS,
$1 Million Bounty to Be Offered for ‘Smoking Gun’ in IRS Targeting Scandal
Let’s hope this produces something.
@another vet: #15
The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are the blueprints for a free America. Too many people, even in the republican party, have had other blueprints drawn up, and are trying to build the USA by THEIR blueprints. I want to keep the original.
@Greg: #19
Does it bother you that obama’s organization was granted tax exempt status shortly after they applied for it, and that the date for it’s authorization was actually prorated to an earlier date, which is ILLEGAL? I have not heard ONE liberal say this was wrong. When you won’t condemn anyone in YOUR party when they do something anyone knows is wrong, all trust in you wanting the USA to do the right thing is flushed down the toilet.
The citizens are not REQUIRED to pay for, “…what the government does.” The government is obligated to only do what is in the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. When King George III put a tax on tea because he wanted more money brought back to England, the colonists said that they had been taxed enough, and threw the tea in Boston Harbor. That was the original TEA PARTY, and those of us who are saying we are being taxed too much again, are throwing the tea in Boston Harbor again, and demanding the government quit spending like King George III did. obama isn’t a king yet.
The Tea Parties are not anti-tax as you insist. We know that the government needs revenue to pay the bills, but we only want them to tax us enough to pay for what the Constitution and Bill of Rights say is there responsibility, and to let the states take care of the rest.
@another vet: #22
What was that story that started out with a person saying that a certain group was being targeted by their government, but they didn’t care, because they weren’t targeted. When another group was targeted, they didn’t care, because they weren’t target. When another group was targeted, they didn’t care, because they weren’t targeted. When THEY were targeted, nobody cared.
@another vet: #25
How many other countries let their enemies set up training camps IN THEIR COUNTRY? There are many Muslim training camps in the USA that are training their people in combat, and terrorist activities with the sole purpose of destroying the USA. Can anyone convince me that they are like our militias, and are training to protect the USA from tyranny (our government taking all of our freedoms away from us)?
@another vet: #26
It wouldn’t surprise me if obama has stuff like that in his urinal, if there is one there, just like someone came up with the Osama ben Laden target for urinals.