Lawyers Demand IRS Approve 10 Targeted Tea Party Groups

[DonCoquixote]

1. Thom Hartmann explains the real point

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/16311-on-the-news-with-thom-hartmann-the-irs-has-apologized-to-conservative-political-groups-for-singling-them-out-for-additional-review-and-more

"Why is the IRS apologizing for doing their job? The Associated Press reports that the Internal Revenue Service has issued a formal apology to conservative political groups for "singling them out for additional review." According to the report, groups with the words "tea party" or "patriot" in their names were subject to extra scrutiny during their attempts to gain non-profit status. The additional reviews were conducted during the 2012 election, to verify that the groups were not violating non-profit status. Under IRS rules, so-called charitable organizations can conduct political activities, but it can not be their primary focus. Lois Lerner, who oversees the tax-exempt IRS division, said that the additional scrutiny was conducted by low-level employees only, and that it was not motivated by political bias. The fact is, any non-profit group, regardless of political affiliation, should be following the same rules on political activities. Tax payers should not be subsidizing political think tanks. The only issue here is whether only conservative groups were targeted. If politicians want taxpayers to pick up the tab for campaigning, they should give up the corporate money and move to publicly financed elections."