The IRS did Nothing to Deserve Criticism From Republicans

[Tx4obama]

The IRS did Nothing to Deserve Criticism From Republicans

I’ve just got to take one more spin around the contrived IRS “scandal” track.

The Tea Party and its radical “Patriot” offspring are political organizations. They’re gaming the system by avoiding taxes by claiming alleged no-profit status. If I had any reservations about the IRS, it would be the question of how dense do you have to be as an investigative agency not to pick up on that irrefutable fact?

I will help out the easy-to-fool bureaucrats with some real life facts and figures, but first an observation. Maybe, just maybe, the IRS is heavy with Tea Party sympathizers. The IRS’ newly-resigned Interim Commissioner, Steven T. Miller, was once Deputy Commissioner for Services and enforcement under G.W. Bush. One of the entities he oversaw was the IRS Tax Exempt and Government Agencies Division tasked with looking into non-profit organizations. Maybe this is all a scam to make it look like the Tea Party and Patriot organizations were being intentionally targeted and gee, golly whiz, they’re just as honest as they can be. Why, we didn’t find anything suspicious. Maybe this phony patina of “the letter of the IRS law” behavior will spare any future snooping into the radical right’s non-profit business. There’s my paranoia. By the way, Daniel Werfel, the new acting IRS head, comes from the White House Budget office and has also worked for Republicans. Let us continue.

A lot has been made of the IRS wanting to know who Tea Party donors and money supporters were while processing applications. This is apparently outside the bounds of the IRS right to know. It’s not outside my bounds and it’s no secret. The Koch brothers fund the political Pied-a-Terre for the Tea Party with substantial fiscal input from FreedomWorks. Jane Mayer let that cat out of the back way back in the August 30, 2010 issue of The New Yorker Magazine.

Mayer credits David and Charles Koch and other conservative foundations with greasing the tea party propaganda skids with multiple-millions of dollars. Organization and implementation money mostly came from FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity (AFP). David Koch and Koch Industries board member, David Fink, founded the latter.

-snip-

Full article here: http://www.politicususa.com/irs-deserve-criticism-republicans.html

[msongs]

1. so to appease the republicans yet again, people had to be dumped. nt

[BlueStreak]

2. I heard a report on the news this evening (Bloomberg I think)

the the Cincinnati worker who originally started this "scandal" by answering a question in a public forum (the question was basically "Does the IRS target conservative groups?&quot actually arranged to have that exact question planted. In other words the whole damn thing was a set-up.

"Does the IRS target conservative groups?"

"Have you stopped beating your dog?"

How do you answer those questions. Yes, of course the IRS targets ANY group that is looking for special tax status, and that includes conservative groups, liberal groups, the local food pantry, and my charity that gives free music lessons to inner-city kids.

And if the question is "Is the IRS a big bureaucracy that seems to move way too slow?". Again, guilty as charged. But if an organization believes they qualify for the status, they are allowed to begin operating as if approved until their get their formal determination. If they were to be rejected (none were, by the way), then they might have to go back and amend tax returns. So even though the process is slow, nobody was materially injured.

But if the question was "Does the IRS treat conservative organizations badly while giving great service to liberal groups?" there is simply no evidence of that. Yet, one hears nothing of that in these 'scandal" reports.

[Tx4obama]

4. Lois Lerner

Outgoing IRS Chief: Question That Sparked Scandal Was A Plant
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/05/steven_miller_scandal_question_plant.php

IRS Official’s Admission Baffled Audience At Tax Panel
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/05/lois_lerner_irs_scandal.php?ref=fpb

[BlueStreak]

5. So is she the one Obama fired? That would start to make a little sense.

[Tx4obama]

6. IRS Official Lois Lerner Called Lawyer To Plant Targeting Question

IRS Official Lois Lerner Called Lawyer To Plant Targeting Question
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/irs-official-lois-lerner-called-lawyer-to-plant

p.s. She was fired? Huh?
I heard she is over in the Obamacare department now.
I haven't heard anything about Obama firing her. Got a link?

Douglas Shulman was the head of the IRS when the targeting was going on, he left the IRS in November 2012.

Lew called for the acting Commissioner, Miller, to resign. He has resigned.

[BlueStreak]

7. No, I was asking. Evidently she wasn't fired, but should be ASAP

Obama is a fool. He had no business making any apologies before looking into the facts. This whole thing was another O'Keefe job -- a complete set-up by the right wing.

I am really getting sick of his instant capitulation on everything.

He needs to come out first thing Monday morning and fire this woman, and not mince any words about why he is doing it.

How many times will Obama get rolled before he learns his lessons? For a man who is so smart about certain things, he seems completely inept at these DC games.

[Tx4obama]

9. Rep Sander Levin has called for Lerner's resignation

On the morning of 15 May 2013 the most senior Democrat in the House of Representatives tax committee, Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.), called for acting commissioner of the IRS, Acting Commissioner Stephen T. Miller, and Lois Lerner, who runs the IRS's section on tax-exempt organizations to resign.
-snip-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRS_Tea_Party_investigation

p.s. I think I erred earlier, it must be a different woman that was in the tax-exempt department that was moved over to the Obamacare department - but I do not know what her name is.

[BlueStreak]

10. I'm sure everbody "in the loop" knew exactly what was going on with this woman

Which makes it all the more bewildering why Obama fired everybody BUT her.

If he wanted to fake a tough stand on the IRS, he could have done that by firing Lerner right off the bat.

"This week we leaned that the Cincinnati office has been targeting conservatives. This is unacceptable, so I am immediately firing the person in charge of this operation, Ms. Lois Lerner."

Perhaps she is civil service and can't be terminated like that. But still that does not excuse throwing others under the bus, unless Obama knew they were in on this set-up with her.

[brett_jv]

11. Couldn't have said it better ...

I am totally disheartened at how quickly Obama capitulated and charged that what happened was 'wrong-doing' without bothering to get the facts first ... let alone his firing of someone who wasn't even in charge at the time this stuff went down, just to save face. Pathetic if you ask me.

Obama should've played this whole thing strong, just like he's playing the questions about the AP. Should've turned around and went on the offensive, quite frankly.

If I was him, within the first 24 hours I'd have been saying things like "I'm guessing that the IRS, when they saw applications for tax-exempt status from groups with names like "Patriots Against Paying Taxes", well ... it probably threw up red flags. And it's their job to due their due diligence in cases like this".

If this had happened on Bush's watch he'd have brushed the questions off with a wave of the hand and said 'well, if that's true, it's bad, and we'll get to the bottom of it ... next question ... uh ... Mr. Gannon is it?"

Obama has obviously gotten played, O'Keefe style, on this one. By now you'd think he'd be more savvy about how the other side operates ... sheesh.

[DJ13]

3. "Daniel Werfel, the new acting IRS head... has also worked for Republicans."

......... because there are no Democrats available in the Obama admin?

[underpants]

12. I thought he won the Heisman at Florida

[Thinkingabout]

8. When in the hell is republicans gong to get mad at a do nothing congress, mostly held up

By members who ran on GOP ticket. When is Boehner going to get a backbone and stand that bunch of crap down and govern like the House is designed to do. It is time to at least work their ratings up a few points.