Democrat LEVELS Fox News By Explaining WHY KARL ROVE SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED BY IRS

[Segami]

And the Dream Lives on.......





Fox News had a gotcha moment go wrong, when Sen. Dick Durbin explained why Karl Rove deserves to be investigated by the IRS.



Transcript via Fox News Sunday:

WALLACE: Senator Durbin, I want to pick up on this culture. Starting in 2010, a number of Democratic senators — Democrat senators — sent letters to the IRS asking them to investigate various groups that they said were seeking tax-exempt status, but were improperly involved in politics. Now, in October 2010, you sent a letter to the IRS in which you talked about going after groups.
But you only mentioned one specifically by name and I want to put this up from the October 2010 letter that you wrote to the IRS, “One organization whose activities appear to be inconsistent with the tax status is Crossroads GPS.” That, of course, a group co-founded by Karl Rove.

Question, Senator — why single out Crossroads when you did not mention one single liberal group, and there were a bunch that were applying for that exempt-status exactly that point, with the name “progress” in their names?


DURBIN: I can just tell you flat out why I did it, because that Crossroads organization was boasting about the money they were raising as a 501(c)(4).

Let’s get back to the basics. Citizens United really unleashed hundreds, if not thousands, of organizations seeking tax-exempt statuses to play in political campaigns. The law we wrote as Congress said that they had to exclusively be engaged in social welfare and not politics and campaigning.

And so, here is the IRS trying to decide whether or not these organizations really comply with the law. Crossroads was exhibit A. They were boastful about how much the money they were going to raise and beat Democrats.


WALLACE: Senator Durbin, just briefly, why not, because we’re now in the mess that we are in because of political targeting, why not send a letter that says, go after any group of any political persuasion? Why not refrain from mentioning a conservative group and never mentioned any liberal groups?


DURBIN: Well, I explained that once, Chris. But, you know, Karl Rove was making — he’s boasting, saying he’s going to raise so much money, millions of dollars. And I knew that if they went into investigate this group, every other group would be put on notice.
I’ve also said from the beginning, Chris, there’s no basis for targeting within the IRS, what we basically need to say is all groups need to have the law applied to them equally. And in this situation, Karl Rove was front and center and proud of it. And that’s why I mentioned his organization.

http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-news-sunday-chris-wallace/2013/05/26/sens-graham-durbin-talk-doj-irs-scandals-rare-interview-americas-veteran-former-sen-bob

Sen. Durbin did a great job laying it out. Karl Rove deserved, and continues to deserve IRS scrutiny because his dark money Crossroads groups are violating the rules for tax exempt organizations. Rove has regularly boasted about how much money Crossroads is spending to defeat Democrats, when tax exempt nonprofits aren’t supposed to be engaging in partisan political activity. Fox News was trying to play gotcha with Dick Durbin, and he turned the tables on them by explaining why their own paid contributor is violating the rules. Once Durbin got into Citizens United, host Chris Wallace tried to redirect the questioning back to Durbin’s letter, but instead got another reminder that Karl Rove was flaunting his lawbreaking ways.


cont'



http://www.politicususa.com/democrat-levels-fox-news-explaining-karl-rove-investigated-irs.html

[tularetom]

1. LOL great comeback - plus Wallace fucked up and said "Democratic" senators

Of course he quickly corrected himself so he wouldn't get in trouble with his bosses.

[Cha]

2. Brawawawaa!

[Cha]

3. What was fox thinking having Senator Durbin on to explain

karl rove bumfuckery?!

No time to edit?

thanks Segami

[George Gently]

4. Crossroads promised the IRS "limited" effort to influence elections.

"One of the applications the IRS released to ProPublica was from Crossroads GPS, the largest social-welfare nonprofit involved in the 2012 election. The group, started in part by GOP consultant Karl Rove, promised the IRS that any effort to influence elections would be “limited.” The group spent more than $70 million from anonymous donors in 2012.

Applications were sent to ProPublica from five other social welfare groups that had told the IRS that they wouldn’t spend money to sway elections. The other groups ended up spending more than $5 million related to the election, mainly to support Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Much of that money was spent by the Arizona group Americans for Responsible Leadership. The remaining four groups that told the IRS they wouldn’t engage in political spending were Freedom Path, Rightchange.com II, America Is Not Stupid and A Better America Now."

http://www.propublica.org/article/irs-office-that-targeted-tea-party-also-disclosed-confidential-docs

[Segami]

5. Thanks for the link and welcome to DU!

[Voice for Peace]

6. welcome to DU, Inspector!

[ReRe]

7. The do-do is going to hit the fan...

K&R

...when the People hear what the rules are for non-profit orgs. Why on earth the wingers made a big thing out of this, I will never know, as all it's going to do is bring about something they most certainly don't support. Like following the rules and regs and laws of this land. Not to mention the fact that the clergy on the pulpits will now have to stop preaching winger politics all over this land or lose their non-profit status. Yeah, they have opened a can of worms. The only IRS scandal that exists is that they HAVE NOT been enforcing the laws that govern these orgs. Thanks for bringing this to us, Sagami, because God knows most of us don't watch that channel, except for maybe a SNL rendition once in a while..

[B Calm]

8. K&R

[Atman]

9. DU should be tax exempt

No reason it can't be, if Crossroads is.

[former9thward]

13. It could be if the Administrators had choosen that vehicle.

But they didn't. If they had made that choice there is increased paperwork and scrutiny by the IRS. As someone who runs a 501c3 let me tell you it is not fun.

[kratos00]

10. This was a nice exchange but since right wingers

Have no sense of shame or of their own hypocrisy it will have little effect. Sigh.

[kentuck]

11. Jaws dropped!

I had no idea Karl Rove's group was a 501(c)4 !!

[SunSeeker]

12. K & R

[Blue Owl]

14. Toss that ham in the klink

n/t

[alp227]

15. And the Mark Levin/Freeper wing of the GOP doesn't even like Rove. nt

[Pragdem]

16. It takes Durbin to put them in their place, while their cohort Kucinich just smiles and grins...

For the camera, looking goofy as ever.

[BlueCaliDem]

21. I had never any doubt Kucinich has not only sold out to Fox "News" Channel, but that he

is exactly where he belongs and wants to be. And this just solidifies it for me.

It took a real Democrat, Lawrence O'Donnell, to help avert a ginned up scandal to be tagged to President Obama {something corporate media was working very hard to do instead of investigating - like O'Donnell} and to put corporate America and Citizen United on notice.

Welcome to DU, PragDem!

[Tarheel_Dem]

26. +1

[MoreGOPoop]

17. I'm smellin' bacon. : )

[madinmaryland]

18. I've been waiting eight years for KKKarl Rove to frogmarched...

and from eight years ago...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4071165&mesg_id=4071460

[otohara]

19. They Never Learn

Democrats are smarter than any one of these propagandists on FOX and they will kick conservative bullshit lies every time.... if given the time.

[BlueCaliDem]

20. Thanks so much for bringing this to our attention, Segami! Lawrence O'Donnell, who too many

dismiss around here as a credible source even though he has the experience in writing tax law, was the one who broke this little nugget about the IRS law that had been playing fast and loose with Congress' written law on this non-profit social welfare law since 1959. And he knows his stuff!

Lawrence F. O'Donnell in the U.S. Congress [edit]
From 1989 to 1995, he was a key legislative aide to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.[4] From 1989 to 1991, he served as senior advisor to Moynihan. From 1992 to 1993, he was staff director of the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, then chaired by Senator Moynihan. And then from 1993 to 1995, he was staff director of the United States Senate Committee on Finance, once again under Senator Moynihan’s chairmanship. He thus led the staff of the Senate's tax-writing committee during the consideration of President Bill Clinton's first budget, which Congress enacted in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_O'Donnell

He was the lone voice in our media - and everywhere else - who was pointing out that the IRS "scandal" is not an Obama scandal - as our corporate-loyal media were trying to make it - but a true IRS only scandal. Since 1959, Eisenhower's IRS commissioner {a Republican} changed the wording in the law and made it so that the 501(c)4 law as it was written was circumvented to allow political groups and political activist churches to remain tax exempt while receiving anonymous donations to further the plutocracy's political agenda.

I guess that's not going to be the case anymore. At least, with 501(c)4's.

That said, it still took a full five days before corporate media picked up on it, but already, Senator Levin pointed it out and his big brother in the House, Congressman Levin, put it to the IRS acting head of the IRS within the first few days. Senator Levin had actually spoken about this over a year ago in a hearing. That said, it's finally gone mainstream and now more and more media are picking up on it and reporting on it, maybe not knowing that the result will be that the influence of Citizens United streams of money will be weakened by it.

This is one of the many reasons why I love watching Lawrence O'Donnell. He's amazingly accurate and brings things into perspective, and that's why he'll become the target of many corporate-backed right-wingers in the coming months.

[PatrynXX]

22. Love how he says Exclusively. like yes thats the law

the IRS has failed to follow the law since 1959. Bout time they followed the law. ie wtf did these tea party idiots bring this up... They and hoards of others are gonna lose their tax free status. Have no idea why they love shooting themselves in the foot.

[hrmjustin]

23. K&R.

[underpants]

24. The IRS did nothing wrong - yeah it looks bad (initial headlines) but they did nothing wrong

they selected a very small segment (298) from a massive expansion (20K + 2K) and found that 2/3 of the group selected were not in compliance.

[Chaco Dundee]

25. the pig?

He should be treated as the pig he is,including I.r.s. And prosecution in baghdad by iraqui law.

[leftyohiolib]

27. to them the ends justify the means - remember they gave david vitter a standing o

when he returned to congress - they elected Sanford he was awol from his job- they dont and wont care about this. they are beyond talking to.