Folks, it just won't do to say "the IRS did nothing wrong" when it has already admitted that it DID [View all]

[markpkessinger]

The IRS has admitted that groups whose name contained the words 'patriot' or 'tea party' were improperly targeted for special scrutiny, beyond what some other applicants for tax exempt status received. And the President has condemned that targeting in very strong terms. So it simply doesn't fly for Democrats, here or anywhere else, to insist they didn't. That train has already left that station, and when we Democrats refuse to acknowledge what the IRS has already admitted to, it makes out party look like a bunch of idiots.

From The Washington Post:

[font size=4]IRS admits targeting conservatives for tax scrutiny in 2012 election[/font]
By Zachary A. Goldfarb and Karen Tumulty,May 10, 2013

The Internal Revenue Service on Friday apologized for targeting groups with “tea party” or “patriot” in their names, confirming long-standing accusations by some conservatives that their applications for tax-exempt status were being improperly delayed and scrutinized.

Lois G. Lerner, the IRS official who oversees tax-exempt groups, said the “absolutely inappropriate” actions by “front-line people” were not driven by partisan motives.

Rather, Lerner said, they were a misguided effort to come up with an efficient means of dealing with a flood of applications from organizations seeking ­tax-exempt status between 2010 and 2012.

During that period, about 75 groups were selected for extra inquiry — including burdensome questionnaires and, in some cases, improper requests for the names of their donors — simply because of the words in their names, she said in a conference call with reporters.

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