Tea Partiers harassed by IRS?

[derspiess]

Tell us about them.  Give us some realistic scenarios where you wouldn't find Obama at fault involving the IRS thing and Benghazi.

My starting point for both is that he is not directly at fault.  At this point, I don't think he has anything directly to do with the IRS thing and I would just like to know why he apparently disengaged himself from the Benghazi thing while it was still going on.

I never said he was a monster.

[Razgovory]

So if you were to find out Obama wasn't as disengaged as you thought, or couldn't be engaged due to some factor, or something along those lines you would have a much higher opinion of him?

[garbon]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/irs-official-lois-lerner-not-done-anything-wrong-153037583.html

"I have not done anything wrong," Lerner told the House Oversight Committee during a hearing about the IRS' practices Wednesday. "I have not broken any laws. I have not violated any IRS rules or regulations, and I have not provided false information to this or any other congressional committee."

Lerner's opening statement before the committee was the only information she would provide at the hearing. As advised by her attorney, Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself by testifying and declined to respond to questions from lawmakers. She added that by refusing to subject herself to questions "some people will assume I have done something wrong. I have not."

I don't get this. She says she did nothing illegal and then invoked her 5th amendment not to incriminate herself?  I guess I see how one could do that but doesn't that seem..like you're sending two different signals?

[CountDeMoney]

As no applications have been rejected to this point, that's a hypothetical question.

I've not been following this "scandal" (or any of the others) that closely; are you saying that no group has ever been rejected for this kind of tax exempt status since 2010? If so, that seems like a scandal in itself.

In any case, the "hypothetical" question could be pretty important for groups waiting for their applications to be processed, and could have a chilling effect even if their application is not eventually rejected.

None of the targeted groups that faced due diligence that are now complaining had any applications rejected.

[derspiess]

So if you were to find out Obama wasn't as disengaged as you thought, or couldn't be engaged due to some factor, or something along those lines you would have a much higher opinion of him?

Not sure what you're thinking could come out of this to elevate Obama in my mind.  You seem to be playing it as if it were a binary thing where either he comes out as a superhero or the devil.

[derspiess]

due diligence

[derspiess]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/irs-official-lois-lerner-not-done-anything-wrong-153037583.html

"I have not done anything wrong," Lerner told the House Oversight Committee during a hearing about the IRS' practices Wednesday. "I have not broken any laws. I have not violated any IRS rules or regulations, and I have not provided false information to this or any other congressional committee."

Lerner's opening statement before the committee was the only information she would provide at the hearing. As advised by her attorney, Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself by testifying and declined to respond to questions from lawmakers. She added that by refusing to subject herself to questions "some people will assume I have done something wrong. I have not."

I don't get this. She says she did nothing illegal and then invoked her 5th amendment not to incriminate herself?  I guess I see how one could do that but doesn't that seem..like you're sending two different signals?

Yeah.  This things go' git messy.

[The Minsky Moment]

FWIW, Drudge is flashing (without a link for now) that Issa is going to recall Lois Lerner to testify, on the basis that she waived her 5th Amendment rights by making an opening statement.

Issa's confidence in the strength of his legal position can be gauged by the fact that after asserting his waiver position, he dismissed Lerner.

[The Minsky Moment]

due diligence

Ask yourself why these groups are in such a panic about not getting a final response from the IRS when the law permits them to claim the deduction in the interim.

[derspiess]

due diligence

Ask yourself why these groups are in such a panic about not getting a final response from the IRS when the law permits them to claim the deduction in the interim.

So, no other inconvenience for them, then?  All they have to deal with is the uncertainty of getting approved?

[derspiess]

FWIW, Drudge is flashing (without a link for now) that Issa is going to recall Lois Lerner to testify, on the basis that she waived her 5th Amendment rights by making an opening statement.

Issa's confidence in the strength of his legal position can be gauged by the fact that after asserting his waiver position, he dismissed Lerner.

That was earlier.  Apparently he feels more strongly now.

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/darrell-issa-irs-lois-lerner-91755.html?hp=t3_3

During the incident, Issa did not flat-out say whether or not Lerner had indeed waived her rights but instead tried to coax her into staying by offering to narrow the scope of questions.

By the afternoon, Issa was taking a harder stand.

"The precedents are clear that this is not something you can turn on and turn off," he told POLITICO. "She made testimony after she was sworn in, asserted her innocence in a number of areas, even answered questions asserting that a document was true ... So she gave partial testimony and then tried to revoke that."
He said he was not expecting that.

"I understand from her counsel that there was a plan to assert her Fifth Amendment rights," he continued. "She went ahead and made a statement, so counsel let her effectively under the precedent, waive — so we now have someone who no longer has that ability."

[The Minsky Moment]

That was earlier.  Apparently he feels more strongly now.

No doubt he feels more strongly now that he is not in the same room with Lerner's lawyer.

[The Minsky Moment]

So, no other inconvenience for them, then?  All they have to deal with is the uncertainty of getting approved?

Correct.
And the discomfort of that uncertainty is precisely proportional to the weakness of their claim to tax exempt status.

If you hear the sheep barking loudly enough, chances are what you've actually got are wolves in disguise.

[derspiess]

That was earlier.  Apparently he feels more strongly now.

No doubt he feels more strongly now that he is not in the same room with Lerner's lawyer.

Well, he's calling her back.  We'll see how it unfolds.

[derspiess]

So, no other inconvenience for them, then?  All they have to deal with is the uncertainty of getting approved?

Correct.
And the discomfort of that uncertainty is precisely proportional to the weakness of their claim to tax exempt status.

If you hear the sheep barking loudly enough, chances are what you've actually got are wolves in disguise.

Or maybe they're being given the ol' IRS full cavity search in the process.