The IRS ‘Scandal’ Disintegrates into Wild and Unproven Republican Accusations

[Tx4obama]

The IRS ‘Scandal’ Disintegrates into Wild and Unproven Republican Accusations

The press is reporting both that IRS chief (the Bush appointee) who was running the IRS in May of 2012 knew about what the IRS was doing in their Ohio office and that the now acting commissioner also knew in May.

This narrative presumes that the IRS was guilty of targeting conservatives, which has actually not been proven yet. What is established is that the IRS was investigating some conservative groups. But since Citizens United, the vast majority of groups founded requesting tax exempt status are conservative groups. Thus, mathematically, conservative groups are more likely to be investigated.

Who told the press that the Bush appointee knew in May? It turns out that is the interpretation of Republican congressional aides, who were not named in the Washington Post (my bold):

Moreover, details of the IRS’s efforts to target conservative groups reached the highest levels of the agency in May 2012, far earlier than has been disclosed, according to Republican congressional aides briefed by the IRS and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration ­(TIGTA) on the details of their reviews.

Then-Commissioner Douglas Shulman, a George W. Bush appointee who stepped down in November, received a briefing from the TIGTA about what was happening in the Cincinnati office in May 2012, the aides said. His deputy and the agency’s current acting commissioner, Steven T. Miller, also learned about the matter that month, the aides said.

-snip-

Full article here: http://www.politicususa.com/republican-congressional-aides-source-allegation-irs-knew.html

A Good Read

[RussBLib]

1. I was sick of Republicans before all this....

...but if some Democrats don't stand up and start defending and/or fighting back a bit, WTF should I care?

Prior to the IRS crap and the AP "spying" (which are legitimate beefs, mostly), they simply made shit up. Now that they actually have something of substance, that is all we are going to hear about.

As insane and evil as they are, I feel quite certain they are going to start talking Obama impeachment soon.

Not enough Dems defended Clinton over Whitewater and his fake scandals, and I don't see any coherent defense this time either.

It is really frustrating. Why should I defend these dumbshits if they won't defend themselves?

[Ford_Prefect]

2. One more deceptive action to make Democrats and the President look bad ahead of 2014 elections.

They did the same thing to Carter and to Clinton in the off year elections.

Its like the accusations in the Star or Daily Mail, big headlines fabricated from slightly or highly false narratives become the terms people remember. The accusation of scandal repeats in the echo-chamber of headline driven press and becomes conflated into an appearance of multiple scandals.

SOP for Rove and the Tea Party Nazis.

[Cal33]

3. This is how Right-Wingers keep their adoring believers continue believing their lies -- through

frequent repetition, loud and long. This tactic has proven its worth. So
the GOP never stops using it.

Aiding and abetting them are the lackadaisical Democrats, who, if they do
so at all, give only an occasional and very weak reply. If Democrats don't
fight back harder and lose, they deserve to lose and suffer the consequences.

Look at the GOP's dirty election and voter frauds. They're getting away
with murder, and many of the perpetrators actually belong in jail. But too
many Democrats don't seem to mind it very much, and they don't do enough
if do anything at all, to counteract them. So the GOP keeps on "winning" in
places where we know they couldn't have won

It takes two to tango. Keep it up, Dems.!