Tea Partiers harassed by IRS?

[11B4V]

I would like to applaud 11B4V's heroic attempt to keep this thread on topic.

I do try. As I said before, a good bipartisan anal probe of the IRS will be good. Also, the Black Savior is not done loping off heads. Wanna take bets on the current head of the Obamacare IRS department's shelf life?

To me, the Benghazi thing boils down to either

You think it's not a big deal, which in that case your a blind Left Wing Nut Job.

or

You think it's a big deal, which your a vindictive Right Wing Nut Job

Does it matter in the scheme of things to the Obama admin...no. He's on his down slope. The Dems are more worried about anything he does that might have an impact in 2016.

[derspiess]

Also, the Black Savior is not done loping off heads.

Well, to be fair, the acting IRS director was already planning to step down.  He just left a few weeks earlier than he otherwise would've.  No heads have really rolled yet.

[11B4V]

Also, the Black Savior is not done loping off heads.

Well, to be fair, the acting IRS director was already planning to step down.  He just left a few weeks earlier than he otherwise would've.  No heads have really rolled yet.

Oh, true that. He was being a slicky boy with that one.

[Valmy]

I do try. As I said before, a good bipartisan anal probe of the IRS will be good.

We'll see.  I am hopeful but it is not like the Republicans do not use the IRS when they are in power.  Stats have consistently shown audits in blue states go up when they are in power and in red states when the Dems are in power.  This particular scandal I hope will shed some light on it but I have a feeling the Republicans will only push this so far.  Same with the AP writer thing.

The reason the Benghazi thing is being kicked around still I suspect because ultimately this threatens nobody except Obama's reputation.  It is about as safe and politically clean scandal you are going to get...and also why I have little use for it.

[Razgovory]

Yi had the right idea.  I'm done with you for the day, Raz.  Cards game is starting, anyway.

Eh, Yi's got Minksy on his ass right now.  He'll do fine.  Of course I'm ignoring 11b4dishonesty at the moment, for you know, dishonesty.

When ever I start watching the Cards they take the opportunity to blow a lead. 

See what I mean?

[Razgovory]

I do try. As I said before, a good bipartisan anal probe of the IRS will be good.

We'll see.  I am hopeful but it is not like the Republicans do not use the IRS when they are in power.  Stats have consistently shown audits in blue states go up when they are in power and in red states when the Dems are in power.  This particular scandal I hope will shed some light on it but I have a feeling the Republicans will only push this so far.  Same with the AP writer thing.

The reason the Benghazi thing is being kicked around still I suspect because ultimately this threatens nobody except Obama's reputation.  It is about as safe and politically clean scandal you are going to get...and also why I have little use for it.

It's a political scandal in the same sense the Vince Foster dying was a scandal.

[11B4V]

First lawsuit filed against IRS

4 hours ago
First lawsuit filed against IRS
Posted by
CNN Senior Producer Kevin Bohn   

Washington (CNN) – A Northern California tea party group filed the first lawsuit against the U.S. government stemming from the Internal Revenue Service targeting of conservative groups for more scrutiny as they applied for tax-exempt status.

"The IRS and its agents singled out groups like NorCal Tea Party Patriots for intensive and intrusive scrutiny, probing their members' associates, speech, activities and beliefs," the suit claimed on Monday.

"NorCal and its members suffered years of delay and expense while awaiting the exemption and spending valuable time and money answering the IRS' questions. The result was a muffling and muzzling of free expression" the lawsuit claimed.

The group alleged violations under the Privacy Act as well as violations of its constitutional rights guaranteeing free expression and equal protection under the law.

It is asking for unspecified damages and named the IRS, Treasury Department and unnamed current and former IRS employees.

NorCal Tea Party Patriots first applied for the tax-exempt status in March of 2010 but it took more than two years to receive it.

The inspector general for the IRS found this month the agency developed and followed a faulty policy to determine whether applicants for tax-exempt status were engaged in political activities, which would disqualify them from receiving tax-exempt status.

The inspector general confirmed that agents from 2010 through early 2012 used inappropriate words, such as "tea party" and "patriots," and other criteria off and on to single out applications for more examination.

The watchdog who conducted the audit, J. Russell George, found the criteria resulted in substantial delays and the request of unnecessary information from the groups.

The lawsuit alleged that the "IRS engaged in a tactic of suffocating NorCal Tea Party Patriots and other similarly situated groups with requests that were so searching and extensive that they would have presented a serious challenge even for sophisticated businesses."

Group officials said the IRS asked for a wide variety of information. This included a list of all events and activities conducted since July 2010 and information about their website; Internet related activities; materials they distributed; information about their board of directors and the names of donors, contributors and grantors.

They were also asked if they conducted or would conduct rallies or exhibitions for or against public policies, legislation, public officers, political candidates, the officials said.

Mark Meckler, president of a Tea Party-aligned group Citizens for Self-Governance, helped bring the lawsuit and told CNN that he expects other groups to join.

Meckler and the president of the NorCal group will hold a news conference on Tuesday in Washington to talk about the case.

"When the federal government runs amok, it is up to us to reign it in. Neither party in Congress can be relied upon to satisfactorily resolve this issue. They created the IRS, fund the IRS, and oversee the IRS. All of this abuse happened on their watch," Meckler said in a press release.

The IRS did not respond to a request for comment regarding the lawsuit, which was filed in Cincinnati where the IRS office responsible for the tax-exempt determinations is located.

Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller answered questions before a House committee on Friday.

"I want to apologize on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service for the mistakes that we made and for the poor service we provided. The affected organizations and the American public deserve better," Miller told the Ways and Means Committee.

"I do not believe that partisanship motivated the people who engaged in the practices" described in the inspector general's report. "I think that what happened here was that foolish mistakes were made by people who were trying to be more efficient in their workload selection," he said.

IRS officials are expected to testify at congressional hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Several other groups have said they plan to sue the IRS.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/05/20/first-lawsuit-filed-against-irs/?hpt=po_c2

[merithyn]

First lawsuit filed against IRS

Good. I'd love to see this get vetted through the courts.

[derspiess]

It's a political scandal in the same sense the Vince Foster dying was a scandal.

You seem to have a Vince Foster fixation. 

[11B4V]

First lawsuit filed against IRS

Good. I'd love to see this get vetted through the courts.

I hope so too. It could get ugly.

[DontSayBanana]

Good. I'd love to see this get vetted through the courts.

Ladies and gentlemen, the power of precedent.  It'd be awesome to have this go through the legal system; it might be a scandal for the current administration, but a good court chokehold on this nonsense would be a great deterrent to both sides.

[Valmy]

Good. I'd love to see this get vetted through the courts.

Ladies and gentlemen, the power of precedent.  It'd be awesome to have this go through the legal system; it might be a scandal for the current administration, but a good court chokehold on this nonsense would be a great deterrent to both sides.

[Razgovory]

It's a political scandal in the same sense the Vince Foster dying was a scandal.

You seem to have a Vince Foster fixation.

It's an excellent example of a fake scandal cooked up by the right.  You still have your copy of the Clinton Chronicles?

[Razgovory]

Derspeiss, how you would you have avoided this obvious incompetence?

[derspiess]

Derspeiss, how you would you have avoided this obvious incompetence?

You mean if I were Vince Foster?  Why are you asking me?