The IRS "scandal" has always stuck in my craw for really
not being a scandal, or more specifically, a completely miscast one. The scandal was never
who the IRS targeted in their probe, it was that they ended up giving tax exempt status to political groups
at all. But Right Wing World was frothing at the mouth that Tea Party groups were targeted for auditing. How dare the IRS examine a political group for claiming to
not be a political group! I mean, it was ridiculous.
But it's turned out to be even less than they thought it was. What are the odds that FOX "News" and right-wing talk radio set the record straight now? I'm guessing,
never. But maybe Darrell Issa will finally shut up. At least about this subject.
[Excerpt]
New Records: IRS Targeted Progressive Groups More Extensively Than Tea Party
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| Image from source, Think Progress |
A series of IRS documents, provided to ThinkProgress under the Freedom of Information Act, appears to contradict the claims by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and his House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that only Tea Party organizations applying for tax-exempt status “received systematic scrutiny because of their political beliefs.” The 22 “Be On the Look Out” keywords lists, distributed to staff reviewing applications between August 12, 2010 and April 19, 2013, included more explicit references to progressive groups, ACORN successors, and medical marijuana organizations than to Tea Party entities. . .
Read more at: Think Progress
From the article: Last year, the IRS acknowledged that it had improperly flagged groups applying for tax-exempt status for additional scrutiny if they contained common Tea Party keywords in their applications. Rather than addressing the very real problem of political committees masquerading as 501(c)(4) groups to evade public disclosure laws, this approach instead delayed the process for several groups purely on the basis of their names. President Obama and members of both parties in Congress all agree that the IRS acted improperly in singling-out certain groups for more scrutiny than others.
ReplyDeleteNice try, Think Progress
It they're a tea party group, they ARE a political group, and are by definition not eligible for the tax exempt status. That they eventually GOT it, is the scandal.
ReplyDelete