IRS in the Bag for Dems

[woodchip]

Well, well...seems not only are the newsies in bed with the IRS but so is the IRS:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service inappropriately flagged conservative political groups for additional reviews during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status, a top IRS official said Friday.

Organizations were singled out because they included the words "tea party" or "patriot" in their applications for tax-exempt status, said Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt groups.

So there you have it folks, not only do we have the major news networks covering for the Dems, but now we have the IRS intimidating conservative groups. Sad really when a federal agency like the IRS chooses to side with one political party. Whats next? The CIA or DHS going to start knocking on conservatives door to harass them? EPA will concentrate on looking at only conservative owned businesses? Only positive thing here is the IRS is now apologizing for their actions but then that is the standard fall back when someone is discovered doing something wrong.

[Tunnelcat]

Well, those conservative groups have an anti-tax plank don't they? I don't condone or approve of what the IRS does, but if a specific, large, political group indicates that they want to get rid of all taxes, and are crazy sounding enough about it to be believable, then I can understand their paranoia. That by itself doesn't justify the IRS's behavior however. By the way, I think that the extreme lefty anarchists groups are also on the IRS's radar too. They just can't gripe about it because no one likes anarchists, except anarchists.

[Tunnelcat]

Hmmmmmmmmm. It seems the IRS has been used as an "enforcer" by many presidents woody. So quit saying the IRS is solely in the Dems pockets. It's in EVERY POLITICIAN'S pockets, no matter what party they belong too.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/ ... s?page=650

http://articles.latimes.com/2006/sep/16 ... llsaints16

[woodchip]

Well, those conservative groups have an anti-tax plank don't they?

No, they have a reduced tax plank to stimulate businesses to grow and thus create more tax revenue.

[Tunnelcat]

No, they have a reduced tax plank to stimulate businesses to grow and thus create more tax revenue.

When has that ever worked? Never had any effect that I saw when it was instituted during Bush's term all rightie. And we got that nasty recession to boot as a big BOHICA from those freewheeling rich bankers and Hedge Fund gamblers. Maybe it just takes longer to work.......................

[CUDA]

Is history repeating itself?

Congress of the United States, Articles of Impeachment against Richard M Nixon,

Article 2"

1. He has, acting personally and through his subordinates and agents, endeavored to obtain from the Internal Revenue Service, in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens, confidential information contained in income tax returns for purposes 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 initiated or conducted in a discriminatory manner."

The latest IRS scandal is getting worse — and the official watchdog’s report hasn’t even been released yet. Today we learned that the same IRS office that admitted to targeting Tea Party groups for extra scrutiny also released confidential documents from several conservative groups to “independent” (that is, liberal) news organization ProPublica.


So how many crimes were committed by the IRS?

[Will Robinson]

I believe a majority of the supporters of Obama subscribe to the rationalization of 'the ends justify the means'. It is evident in the way they defend his use of many of the same tactics he ran against when he was the candidate. It is evident in the way the media often ignores his administrations role in tactics that they would otherwise be shouting about daily.

So with that in mind it isn't hard to believe that some low level workers would take it upon themselves to use the IRS to 'get those conservatives' any way they could.

What needs to happen is single out every one of them that did this and threaten them with the maximum penalty under the law for their part and see just how far up the chain of command they go. Since it seems to have been going on for years and covered a variety of conservative entities it is unlikely this was just a few office mates who decided to do this under the radar. It is more likely that it started further up the chain, like a manager, and filtered out to a whole group or started at the lowest level and then was tacitly approved instead of ended by the manager when it was discovered.

I'd like to see just how loyal these low level zealots are when they start looking at relocating to federal prison for a number of years....

[woodchip]

Will it would appear that more than just a few low level employee's knew about it:

"WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress was not told tea party groups were being inappropriately targeted by the Internal Revenue Service, even after acting agency Chief Steven Miller had been briefed on the matter.

Miller was first informed on May, 3, 2012, that applications for tax-exempt status by tea party groups were inappropriately singled out for extra scrutiny, the IRS said Monday.

At least twice after the briefing, Miller wrote letters to members of Congress to explain the process of reviewing applications for tax-exempt status without disclosing that tea party groups had been targeted. On July 25, 2012, Miller testified before the House Ways and Means oversight subcommittee, but again did not mention the additional scrutiny — despite being asked about it."

So a year ago a higher up was asked about it and pulled a Sgt Schultz.

[Spidey]

Nothing will come of this…just like nothing became of the FBI files with Clinton. And if the press did latch onto this (not likely, because Obama is popular) then I suspect another distraction scandal would be coming soon.

And yea, I do believe that the press reacts more to a president’s popularity, than political ideals, because they sure had no problem throwing Carter under the bus…not that ideals don’t have some affect.

[Will Robinson]

Yea it is worse than we were told by the administration for sure, just now I read that the abuse was happening in more than just the Cincinnati offices which means the low level worker excuse is BS. I don't know what kind of prison time you can get for this but if it is significant and prosecutors push for it we will see some rats jump ship and start exposing their leaders.

[CUDA]

its appears that they knew about it in DC. we'll see how far up this goes.

[woodchip]

Is the head of the IRS a political appointee?

[Tunnelcat]

Yes, Douglas Shulman was a Bush appointee that Obama waited too long to get rid off. He served from 2008 until he resigned in 2012, after the reported targeting took place. How convenient. Bush stink still left over purifying things.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/flashback-fo ... ty-groups/

[woodchip]

And it gets worse:

"The progressive-leaning investigative journalism group ProPublica says the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) office that targeted and harassed conservative tax-exempt groups during the 2012 election cycle gave the progressive group nine confidential applications of conservative groups whose tax-exempt status was pending."

"The group says that "no unapproved applications from liberal groups were sent to ProPublica.”"

So is this equal in scope TC to the IRS giving liberal groups confidential info when a conservative was president?

[Will Robinson]

Yes, Douglas Shulman was a Bush appointee that Obama waited too long to get rid off. He served from 2008 until he resigned in 2012, after the reported targeting took place. How convenient. Bush stink still left over purifying things.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/flashback-fo ... ty-groups/

Lol. Yea thats the ticket! Bush did it! Lol!
You are pathetically predictable.

[Tunnelcat]

So is this equal in scope TC to the IRS giving liberal groups confidential info when a conservative was president?

Yes. Quit being partisan. Both parties have done it. Bush did it. Clinton did it. It's not a new game being played. Just ask the NAACP, or that liberal Pasadena Church after they preached their anti-war rhetoric against Bush. What's worse, Bush used the Secret Service as well to go after all anti-war groups.

http://www.alternet.org/bush-used-irs-f ... op-outrage

Lol. Yea thats the ticket! Bush did it! Lol!
You are pathetically predictable.

Why not some disgruntled Bush appointee? Obama never got around to getting rid of him. Time enough for a little political shenanigans to burn Obama in the future. The Republicans have done nothing but undermine this president, so what's new? What's another feather in their obstreperous cap?

[Will Robinson]

Lol. Yea thats the ticket! Bush did it! Lol!
You are pathetically predictable.

Why not some disgruntled Bush appointee? Obama never got around to getting rid of him. Time enough for a little political shenanigans to burn Obama in the future. The Republicans have done nothing but undermine this president, so what's new? What's another feather in their obstreperous cap?

It is a 'her' that is in charge of the department overseeing non profit exemptions, she came from the Federal Elections Commision. A perfect place to develop a government has-priority-over-civilian-attitude.

But let's assume this women has been laying in wait with the desire to burn Obama. She has concocted a plan that will make James Bond villians envious beyond all imagination!
She managed to get her underlings in numerous IRS offices to harrass conservative groups and demand they surrender all their data on their members and donors.
Then she gives that info to left wing activist group so they can target them strategically during the election....not to worry...the harm she is doing to Romney will soon be forgotten when the real target of her double deciet is finally brought to bear!

She has done all this because she is really planning to leak the scandal at the right time to hurt Obama...to make it look like he was responsible for using the IRS to damage republican groups. Cool! Awesome dirty trick!

Ok....then the election comes....and goes.....and then she waits a few more months just to be sure....Yay! Now is the perfect moment!

[Tunnelcat]

The buck stops at the top, and Doug Shulman was the head of the IRS at the time. You can't blame Obama if you can't blame Shulman.

[Will Robinson]

The buck stops at the top, and Doug Shulman was the head of the IRS at the time. You can't blame Obama if you can't blame Shulman.

You have some strange logic. If the blame stops at the top why bother with Shulan?

Maybe you should consider the more likely possibility that Obama nor Shulman had any role in it.
The department in charge of the non profit applications and review would hold the most likely suspects...that is where the violations came from. Someone in that department was working to feed the left wing activists the application data..
Lois Lerner is the head of that department and she was appointed during Bush's second term I believe so you can still cling to your silly theory if you like.

[callmeslick]

whoever was responsible is going to get fired. That simple, and that should end all nonsense like impeachment talk as CUDA flagrantly threw out.

[Tunnelcat]

You have some strange logic. If the blame stops at the top why bother with Shulan?

Maybe you should consider the more likely possibility that Obama nor Shulman had any role in it.
The department in charge of the non profit applications and review would hold the most likely suspects...that is where the violations came from. Someone in that department was working to feed the left wing activists the application data..
Lois Lerner is the head of that department and she was appointed during Bush's second term I believe so you can still cling to your silly theory if you like.

From listening to the right wing press, it's all Obama's fault and he needs impeachment. That's strange logic, and a little over the top. My "assumption" is that it was an lower level employee with an agenda that was behind it, Lois Lerner perhaps. But my tin hat is having more fun saying that a Republican operative was behind it giving orders, who also happened to be the top dog in charge of the IRS at the time. The tin hat isn't always right, but it's entertaining.

[CUDA]

whoever was responsible is going to get fired. That simple, and that should end all nonsense like impeachment talk as CUDA flagrantly threw out.

I see your understanding of the English language hasn't improved any from your last post when you called me a liar. I never called for anyone's impeachment. too bad your not smart enough to see that.

Just because it's becoming more difficult to defend your position is no skin off my nose. and if you feel you need to try and continually discredit me personally to justify your position then have at it. because with every continued attack It just verifies what I already know. that your a weak individual, trying to defend a weak position. ya see if you were a better individual then me it might matter. but your not so it doesn't

I asked if History was repeating itself. I asked if this administration was doing the same thing that Got Nixon in trouble. nothing more. you ASSuming that I was implying impeachment is your fault. NOT MINE.

But Go right ahead Keep attacking me, because that's all you've got to stand on in your argument style.

Of course you could always do what you did at CWOS and leave so you don't have to talk about it anymore. just sayin

whoever was responsible is going to get fired.

and IF that reached to the Whitehouse would you still feel the same way?? somehow I think you'd find someway to justify their actions. just sayin

[woodchip]

Just when you think it couldn't get more interesting, now it is coming out how Dem. senators pressured the IRS to look at the conservative organizations.

[CUDA]

Just when you think it couldn't get more interesting, now it is coming out how Dem. senators pressured the IRS to look at the conservative organizations.

whoever was responsible is going to get fired.

we'll see

[Tunnelcat]

Just when you think it couldn't get more interesting, now it is coming out how Dem. senators pressured the IRS to look at the conservative organizations.

Both party's are guilty. BOTH! Nearly every President from either party in recent history is guilty. Nixon actually gave marching orders to the IRS himself to do his crooked bidding, so live with it! In fact, one little word was changed in Section 501(c)(4) of the IRS code in 1959 during the Eisenhower Administration, which has allowed all these shenanigans to go on in the first place, for decades!

http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/2013/05 ... etter-too/

And by the way, several liberal groups got the same letter as the tea party groups. One was Emerge America, who actually had to reveal donors and pay taxes.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-1 ... y-row.html

[Will Robinson]

...

Both party's are guilty. BOTH! Nearly every President from either party in recent history is guilty. Nixon actually gave marching orders to the IRS himself to do his crooked bidding, so live with it! ..

That's your take on it? "Live with it" because it has happened before?!? But wasnt Obama going to be the transparent president with integrity?!? The guy who wasn't like the other guy?!? Etc. Etc Et frikken lie-after-lie- cetera that you rallied behind when he was telling those whoppers and you told us we were just racists for opposing him because there was no substance to our calling him a liar?1?!

Just "live with it!"? Really? You have no trouble bending over to set the bar awfully low when necessary to protect your 'leaders' do you!

A lot like the feminists who threw away 40 years of women's rights struggle when it served Bill Clintons interests to not hold him to the standard they had worked so hard to set for the civilized world up to that point.
Shameless, gutless, hypocritical party slaves.

You have no credibility to complain about anything if your best is to say 'live with it'....next time you want to complain about anything any of them do, don't, instead just live with it.

[CUDA]

Another lie

President Obama announced Wednesday that acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller has resigned in the wake of the agency scandal in which conservative groups were targeted.The president made the announcement in a brief statement at the White House, following a meeting with Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew  and other top department officials in which they reviewed a highly critical inspector general's report on the practice. The report concluded poor management allowed agents to improperly target Tea Party and other groups for more than 18 months, starting in 2010.

Well it appears that as" temporary" IRS commisioner that by law he was only allowed to serve 6 months, and his term was over June anyways. Can this administration say the truth about anything?

Miller will leave the IRS in June, not immediately, as per the terms of his assignment.

“It is with regret that I will be departing from the IRS as my acting assignment ends in early June,”

Can we say scapegoat? He was out in 2 weeks anyways

[Will Robinson]

It is a felony to disclose confidential tax return data. That was done in at least one case where the confidential portion of a tax return (a donor list) of some non-profit conservative defense of marriage group was given to a liberal activist group by some one in the IRS.

So will there be an investigation that identifies and prosecutes who took that data and illegally gave it to a pro democrat political group?

The answer is: Not as long as the media decides to turn a blind eye to crimes committed by members of their favorite party

[Tunnelcat]

So will there be an investigation that identifies and prosecutes who took that data and illegally gave it to a pro democrat political group?

The answer is: Not as long as the media decides to turn a blind eye to crimes committed by members of their favorite party

Conservatives. They ★■◆● and moan when the other side does something nasty, but then they keep their traps shut when their side does the exact same thing, with impunity, AND same said media says little about it. No, that doesn't fix the problem either. BOTH parties need to quit sniping at each other and get the problem fixed instead of finger pointing and witch hunting. Boehner needs to cut the partisan crap and help fix things, not sit there and place blame like a petty bully, or be obstreperous at every turn. Frankly, I'm not going to vote for people from either of these 2 main parties any more. They do nothing but act like 2-year olds throwing tantrums.

[CUDA]

Pot / Kettle

[Tunnelcat]

I didn't start this thread and gripe about the bad things that the IRS did to those poor little innocent conservative groups and that it's all the Dems fault that it happened in the first place. Woody did. He needs to look at his kettle color a little because the IRS has been used as both party's enforcers.

[woodchip]

I didn't start this thread and gripe about the bad things that the IRS did to those poor little innocent conservative groups and that it's all the Dems fault that it happened in the first place. Woody did. He needs to look at his kettle color a little because the IRS has been used as both party's enforcers.

Was it used to the degree it is now? Oh and this is interesting:

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

so I guess we get to look forward to our med records being given out to liberal smear groups. Terrific.

[Will Robinson]

I didn't start this thread and gripe about the bad things that the IRS did to those poor little innocent conservative groups and that it's all the Dems fault that it happened in the first place. Woody did. He needs to look at his kettle color a little because the IRS has been used as both party's enforcers.

Was it used to the degree it is now? Oh and this is interesting:

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

so I guess we get to look forward to our med records being given out to liberal smear groups. Terrific.

Yea apparently she was the commissioner in charge of auditing political enemies and then she was promoted to Obama Care/IRS division and her assistant took over until he retires next week but Obama told him he is fired and she keeps her promotion....wow!
No wonder he dodged the question about when the White House first knew about the political targeting going on in the IRS.

[Will Robinson]

Charlie Rangel, censured in Congress for being a congressman who failed to pay his taxes for 17 years on rental income is scolding the IRS, saying: “This is wrong to abuse the tax system.”

Wow, so good to have a voice of authority coming down on them! They will certainly want to make some changes to the way they do things after he took them to task. I'm sure we are all fixed now!!

I think I have entered Bizzaro World

[Tunnelcat]

I didn't start this thread and gripe about the bad things that the IRS did to those poor little innocent conservative groups and that it's all the Dems fault that it happened in the first place. Woody did. He needs to look at his kettle color a little because the IRS has been used as both party's enforcers.

Was it used to the degree it is now? Oh and this is interesting:

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

so I guess we get to look forward to our med records being given out to liberal smear groups. Terrific.

First of all, this scandal is no worse than what other presidents from both parties have done in the past. It's nothing but a load of BS that THIS IRS targeting is any worse.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/irs-irs- ... d=19177178

Secondly, I don't approve of Obamacare anyway, so why not have someone inside who'll just muck up things further and piss off enough people to cause it's eventual downfall? It's a win, win for every Obamacare hater out there.

[Tunnelcat]

Charlie Rangel, censured in Congress for being a congressman who failed to pay his taxes for 17 years on rental income is scolding the IRS, saying: “This is wrong to abuse the tax system.”

Wow, so good to have a voice of authority coming down on them! They will certainly want to make some changes to the way they do things after he took them to task. I'm sure we are all fixed now!!

I think I have entered Bizzaro World

Yessireee, same ol', same ol'.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/0 ... ?mobile=nc

[CUDA]

The Internal Revenue Service allegedly told two pro-life to reveal the content of their prayers and prayer meetings, according to the Thomas More Society.

An IRS office in California ordered Christian Voices for Life of Fort Bend County, Texas to explain the content of prayers “as if they were engaging in highly offensive or criminal behavior,” the Thomas More Society charged.

HRM seems like that would be a violation of the 1st amendment and maybe the 5th. since you are in effect testifying against yourself IF they ever took it to a court it could be used against you.

[Tunnelcat]

As nasty as all this over reach has gone, it's still going to burn Republicans more than Democrats because Americans are tired of hearing it. All the Republicans have done since Obama has gotten into office is act like attack dogs, instead of doing their job of governance. Kind of like they did when they went after Clinton. We need them to do their jobs, not sit there and slaver like rabid dogs at every seeming scandal.

http://news.yahoo.com/d-c-obsessed-scan ... 00715.html

http://news.yahoo.com/gop-listen-newt-g ... 00571.html

[callmeslick]

yup, TC, and Obama just keeps getting more popular. What this whole nonsense will likely do is energize the loony fringe in the 2014 primaries, and leave the GOP with radical candidates, thereby preventing them from gaining Senate control(which would seem likely with moderate candidates given the openings and retirements for the Dems).

[flip]

I'm not sure you can say Obama is getting more popular. People are going to start becoming more and more impatient as this idea of "change and transparency" slowly dissipates into thin air . People will be glad to see him gone when his term is over, but look out for the next guy!