IRS apologizes for targeting conservative groups

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

The Internal Revenue Service is apologizing for inappropriately flagging conservative political groups for additional reviews during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status.

Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS unit that oversees tax-exempt groups, said organizations that included the words "tea party" or "patriot" in their applications for tax-exempt status were singled out for additional reviews.

Lerner said the practice, initiated by low-level workers in Cincinnati, was wrong and she apologized while speaking at a conference in Washington.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/irs-apologizes-targeting-conservative-groups

[TheDebbieDee]

1. What prompted this woman to apologize for the IRS taking a closer

look at suspected tax cheats? That's what they're supposed to do!

[hughee99]

7. If they're targeting their attention to a certain type of group, is that acceptable? n/t

[premium]

9. What if they'd been targeting the NAACP, or the ACLU,

or Planned Parenthood, would you still be saying the same thing?
Targeting a certain political belief, whether liberal or conservative, is plain wrong and shouldn't be tolerated.

BTW, no where in the story did they say that the investigations had anything to do with tax cheats.
Did you even bother to read the story?

[JDPriestly]

17. They probably have targeted those groups in the past. They probably found nothing.

But they should not be targeting any groups or individuals based on ideas.

[premium]

20. I'm quite sure that the IRS, under Nixon, Raygun, Bush,

did target liberal org., but I agree with you, targeting a group or org. because of their political beliefs is just plain wrong and stinks to high heaven of McCarthyism.

[russspeakeasy]

32. dear lois, shove your fuckin apology.

[Yo_Mama]

39. Targeting requests associated with a particular political stance is unacceptable

If some IRS office routinely did this to NAACP chapters, or local Democratic-associated groups, or all Jewish charitable/religious groups, I would hope you would perceive that it was a wrongful exercise of governmental authority.

It is not as if the IRS hasn't been used politically before, and it is something that we should always protest against.

[OnyxCollie]

2. Koch-sponsored propaganda outfits

must not be deprived of their "right" to substitute taxable issue advertising for tax-exempt image advertising at no cost.

Please accept our apologies!

[hobbit709]

3. The opposite of what should be done.

Oh no, we can't be offending the opposition, they might not like it.

[former9thward]

14. You think the IRS should be used to target the opposition?

That was one of the impeachment counts brought against Nixon.

[hobbit709]

24. Apologizing for everything is the problem.

If they looked at all groups equally

[niyad]

4. are they ever going to apologize for targeting progressives, pro-peace groups, etc?

[blackspade]

5. Oh Please.

So where is the apology for targeting 'left' leaning groups?

Chirp, Chirp.....

[former9thward]

15. Who on the left is being targeted?

I have never seen a group say that it was being targeted.

[blackspade]

21. Here is one....

Feel free to google for more:

http://www.randomlengthsnews.com/archive/godnov23.html

There are more but I think you are capable of finding them if you are interested.

[former9thward]

27. You had to go to some obscure church in 2004 ....

To make your claim that the left is being targeted by the IRS? Yeah that really proves it....

[blackspade]

29. Buddy, I just posted the first of several links from a simple google search.

If you can't be bothered to look into it yourself, then that is your problem.

[Sunlei]

6. someone should take a look at the thousands of tax-free political "charities"

I bet most are fronts for the RW wealthy so they can "donate" to their personal Gov. hate-fest- and get a huge tax deducation for donating to a "charity". And get their buddies and the little minions huge paychecks with great benefits.

[Dollface]

11. That is who they were looking at. So-called social welfare organizations under IRC section 501(c)(4)

They say they're providing information to the public but it is blatant propaganda. The groups being investigated are more like lobbying groups and donations to them should not be tax deductible.

[russspeakeasy]

8. Take a look at the church's

[Psephos]

34. dead on n/t

[JEB]

10. Well, a very large portion of the so called CONservative movement

is a money grubbing enterprise. The remaining portion is bowel movement.

[Dollface]

12. There is nothing to apologize for. Its their job.

Also, they didn't look only at reich-wing organizations. It just seemed that way because there are so many more of them than normal-wing organizations.

[sofa king]

13. Let's look at what that article DOES NOT say.

The article does not say whether charges were levied or subsequently dropped. The article does not say that the inquiries yielded no evidence of wrongdoing. The article does not mention Karl Rove's Virginia-based groups which are currently defending themselves from FEC ethics complaints.

I wonder why an article like this would fail to answer such important and obvious questions?

[Kolesar]

19. ^thanks for explaining that..eom

[Dr. Strange]

35. ?

About 75 groups were inappropriately targeted. None had their tax-exempt status revoked, Lerner said.

[forestpath]

16. Unbefuckinglievable.

[Blue_Tires]

18. I guess the IRS was getting a little too close to deciphering

the right wing's byzantine system of collecting/funneling/washing/dispersing perfectly "legal" campaign and PAC funds; so the RW shadow groups make a call to their minions in congress to tell the IRS to drop it and apologize or else...

[kestrel91316]

22. I see nothing wrong with targeting groups that are totally opposed to the very concept of taxation.

That would be the teabaggers, libertarians, and probably most republicans these days.

They are, after all, more likely to cheat - because they feel taxes are evil.

[Seeking Serenity]

23. The fail is strong in this post

[kestrel91316]

25. Nope. They're been targeting the poor for years, hounding many to bankruptcy and suicide.

Time for the shoe to be on the other foot.

[NutmegYankee]

37. For the thread win!

[kona808]

26. The I.R.S. Does Its Job

The NYTimes endorsed this practice last year so there should be no need for the IRS to apologize!

Taxpayers should be encouraged by complaints from Tea Party chapters applying for nonprofit tax status at being asked by the Internal Revenue Service to prove they are “social welfare” organizations and not the political activists they so obviously are.
Such I.R.S. inquiries are long overdue and should be applied across the board to the growing number of organizations, allied with the major political parties, that are also ludicrously posing as “social welfare” groups. Legitimate social welfare organizations are allowed limited political activity. But these political offshoots are using that tax status in a transparent ploy to keep big donors secret while funneling the money to campaigns. Chief among these groups are American Crossroads, the campaign machine created by Republican guru Karl Rove, and Priorities USA, the Democratic counterpart founded by former White House aides, now openly encouraged by President Obama as he runs for re-election.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/08/opinion/the-irs-does-its-job.html?_r=1&

If you have nothing to hide you have no reason to complain.

[KamaAina]

30. Aloha!

E komo mai (welcome, for mainlanders) to DU!

[kona808]

31. Mahalo nui loa

[KamaAina]

33. (that's "thank you very much")

[davidn3600]

36. I dont have a problem as long as they keep an eye on left-wing groups too

If they are targeting ONLY one side, that looks like political intimidation...something you usually find pretty common in dictatorships and corrupt regimes.

We accuse and bash Putin in Russia of such practices. If we are doing the same thing here, we look like hypocrites.

[Jake Izzy]

28. I have a question

From the link provided in OP: "In some cases, groups were asked for their list of donors, which violates IRS policy in most cases, she said."

Is the request for a list of donors a violation of IRS policy in this case? It's worthless to know that this is a violation in "most cases" if we are not told whether there is a violation in the case being discussed. What a poorly written news article.

[moondust]

38. NBC Nightly News covers story, cuts to Limbaugh bloviating.

Dear NBC: Cutting away to Rush Limbaugh making his usual wild, conspiratorial accusations does not help your credibility as a news organization.