Irs Explodes Into A Huge Scandal Now

[Westside Steve]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHmvkRoEowc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[heckofajobbrownie]

I know, I know. It's very disappointing. So shoot the messenger and all that. Or tell me where I have my facts wrong.

 

But don't worry. This is the modern day Republican Party. You'll just continue on believing your bullshit anyway.

[heckofajobbrownie]

Republican and Democratic committee staffers interviewed IRS official John Shafer on June 6 about the agency's decision to scrutinize a tea party group's application for tax-exempt 501©(4) status. Shafer, who identified himself as "a conservative Republican" and said he'd worked for the IRS since 1992, said that he and a fellow screener initially flagged a tea party group and continued to do so with subsequent applications in order to maintain consistency in the process.

Throughout much of the interview, Shafer describes the mundane bureaucratic challenges of dealing with incoming applications for nonprofit status. He said his team flagged the first tea party application because it appeared to be a high-profile case, and he wanted to make sure all high-profile cases received similar attention.

"What I'm talking here is that if we end up with four applications coming into the group that are pretty similar, and we assign them to four different agents, we don't want four different determinations," he said. "It's just not good business. It's not good customer service."

Asked plainly, "do you have any reason to believe that anyone in the White House was involved in the decision to screen Tea Party cases?" Shafer replied, "I have no reason to believe that."

"Do you have any reason to believe that anyone in the White House was involved in the decisions to centralize the review of Tea Party cases?" he was asked. "I have no reason to believe that," he replied.

Asked if he had "ever communicated with [then IRS] Commissioner Shulman about the screening of Tea Party cases?" he replied, "I have not."

Interviewers also asked Shafer if he told his screeners to specifically pull Tea Party cases.

"Again, I was not asking them for those kind of cases," he said. "f I would have directed them to pull our Tea Party cases, little Susie's Tea Party would have been pulled and it wasn't."

[heckofajobbrownie]

So again, ladies, tell me: what's the scandal now?

[calfoxwc]

It's in the testimony BEFORE CONGRESS that you conveniently won't admit was very, very powerful in proving political harrassment and "profiling by group" was most certainly happening.

This "conservative" doesn't know anything about the testimony before Congress, ....eh? I call BS. I don't believe he is a conservative just because he's making himself out to be.

And, he is just one character who is either lying, or completely out of the political harrassment operation.

Heck translation: "Goshdarn it, why can't I be the only one with information on issues? Things would be

so convincing with my cherry picking"

 

*****************************************************

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/18/usa-irs-teaparty-idUSL2N0EU1XM20130618?feedType=RSS&feedName=financialsSector&rpc=43

Issa's staff said Shafer played an early role in the Tea Party screening activities, so he was not aware of what happened once interaction with Washington began.

A Cincinnati official in another unit, Liz Hofacre, initially created a "Be on the Lookout" (BOLO) list containing the terms "Tea Party," "Patriot" and others. She said she was asked to do that by another Cincinnati superior, according to her transcript, also reviewed by Reuters. (Editing by Peter Cooney)

[Legacy Fan]

So again, ladies, tell me: what's the scandal now?

Ladies? Good to see you're not letting this get to you. :/

 

The Republican Party as of late has been notorious for whipping out their dicks, then tripping all over them when called into action.

 

This IRS thing is kind of silly, Benghazi otoh, represents more of an "uh oh" over trying to downplay a colossal lapse in judgement by the administration. The failure to respond to what was happening on the ground would be equivalent of the DevGru blackhawk helo's getting the call to turn around upon "landing" in the compound on their trip into Pakistan 2 years ago.

 

Both of these "scandals" are taking up valuable real estate in what should be a ragefest over those 3 letters that begin with an "N" and the other 5 that begin with a "P"

[Westside Steve]

I'm shocked to seeyou are a closet misogynist.

Anyway I think I've been clear as to my opinion of the presidents depth of understanding so I'd be surprised if he actually orchestrated any of this himself.

 

So if we set the bar of actually calling it a scandal with him directing the program I guess, well you know.

But it would be great fun to see an overzealous special prosecutor badger and harass everybody until he can scrape out an obstruction or a lying to Congress charge.

WSS

[heckofajobbrownie]

You could set it at anyone in the White House directing it. You could set it at anyone in the Democratic Party directing it. Set it wherever you like. The problem is they don't have the proof that any of that happened, and so what they're left with is ...nothing. The entire "scandal" narrative has collapsed.

 

They've got a guy at the IRS, a self-professed "conservative Republican", saying he did it, and for reasons completely related to his job, and completely unrelated to politics.

 

So again, what's the scandal?

[calfoxwc]

That's bs, Heck. They have far more than that. Paz admitted it, it was TESTIFIED before Congress that Lerner

 

told a pro life group to promise to not be politically active and their request would go forward.

 

You can't be serious, so what ARE you being?

 

From Hannity.com

*****************************************************************

Polls on IRS Targeting June 18, 2013

 

Yesterday I told you about the latest poll numbers related to Obama's approval rating and trustworthiness. Today we have new insight from the CNN/ORC survey related to the IRS scandal. The latest findings show us two important things.

1. The number of Americans who believe that the IRS targeting of conservative groups was a direct order from the White House has increased by 10 points in the last month to 47%. For independents, the number who believe the White House ordered the targeting of conservatives has crossed the 50% threshold.

2. The other thing to note is that this IRS targeting scandal is still important to the majority of the American people, but that number is starting to slip. In May, 55% felt it was a “very important” issue to the nation, and now that number is at 51%.

If we put these numbers in the context of the numbers I told you about yesterday, it is clear that people are losing faith in this president. The benefit of the doubt is beginning to erode as scandals hammer his credibility, and the possibility of wrong-doing no longer seems all that far-fetched. I'm not saying that the American people are correct in that the White House directly ordered the targeting of conservatives, but the perception that this is possible is important. It will hurt Obama's ability to govern effectively, if you can consider what we've seen over the last few years to be “effective.”

The fact that this is slipping as an “important issue” is, in my mind, a failure of the media. Or more accurately, it is by design that the lapdog media has backed off this story and in some cases still fails to make the connections and updates we've come to learn. For example, a top IRS official in Washington by the name of Holly Paz has admitted that she was involved in scrutinizing 20 to 30 cases related to conservative groups. This is on top of information we've since learned, which completely puts to rest this lie we were initially told – and some still maintain – that the targeting was isolated to the employees in Cincinnati. This is a lie. But as Jay Sekulow points out in a column today, there is an urgency by the left to “move on” from this scandal, and I have no doubt that the lapdog media will comply. However, Jay Sekulow's lawsuit continues to grow; He is now up to 41 plaintiffs in this lawsuit against the IRS.

There are a few other updates to the IRS scandal.

I just told you about Holly Paz, the IRS’ director of rulings and agreements. She says that the term “tea party” was used as a blanket term to describe any group engaging in political activity. She described it like people using “Coke” to describe any “soda.” I'm not buying it and you shouldn't either. The fact is that you can call it “Coke” and say it applies to all sodas, but if you are only targeting “Coke” products, then it's pretty much a moot point. The fact is that no liberal groups were targeted. No matter what you called it, the nature of the targeting was based on the content of the politics at hand.

According to testimony from an IRS agent based in Cincinnati, pro-Israeli groups applying for tax-exempt status had their applications routed to the antiterrorism unit of the IRS and underwent additional screening.

Meanwhile, during the height of the campaign season in 2012, while the IRS was targeting conservative groups, the Religion News Service reports that CAIR – the Council on American-Islamic Relations – miraculously had its tax-exempt status reinstated just in time for Ramadan, a highly charitable time for Muslims.

Tomorrow, Wednesday June 19th, there will be an "Audit the IRS" rally from noon until 2 p.m. on the West Lawn in Washington DC. The Tea Party Patriots website reads: “It’s time that Washington sees first-hand just how outraged the American people are by these discriminatory acts.”

[MLD Woody]

Was that a news article or an opinion piece?

[heckofajobbrownie]

You have to prove that the IRS targeting was political in nature, for reasons other than their core mission. Asking 501c4 groups to explain why they're educational and not political is not evidence of a scandal. That's what the IRS is supposed to do. So saying Tea Party groups were asked to prove they weren't overtly political is also not evidence of scandal. It's evidence of the IRS doing their job.

 

They simply don't have the link they want, or the proof of that link. But again, it's okay. They don't care.

 

Look, when this started I thought there was something improper going on. I thought people should be headed to jail. But the more we learned, the more we discovered that it wasn't partisan targeting at all, and it wasn't designed by anyone for political reasons. The only problem they seemed to have stumbled on is that it takes the IRS a really long time to approve these applications.

 

So, you have to adjust according to the facts. Or in Steve or Cal or just about every other Republican's case, you stick with what you want to be true.

 

If more facts become known, we'll have to adjust to those too. But right now, there's no scandal here.

[calfoxwc]

Then you didn't listen to the testimony before Congress. No other lib group was asked an inane, endless bunch

 

of stupidass questions and their app delayed for months, even years. And CAIR? Not a politically active group?

 

Got THEIR app approved expeditiously?

 

Why not just believe that Obamao is the Tooth Fairy?

 

Name one lib group that was given a bunch of "the business", and endless delays.

 

Name one Anti-Israeli group who was.targeted. You want to buy the left bs, go ahead. But the testimony

 

about Ms. Lerner stands. And there were plenty of other groups who have been given the run around, and all of them

 

were conservative. Every one of them.

 

No coincidence. Not even you can get anyone to change their mind about it, Heck. It is what it is. If there were nothing there,

 

Lerner wouldn't have claimed the Fifth too late, and run and hid. And Paz is way, way past what you tried to paint a picture of,

 

with that one "conservative" goof saying he didn't do it for political reasons. Look at the timing. It was election time. Look at the groups,

 

dozens and dozens were every one - conservative.

 

Nah, that's all coincidence, you think?

[calfoxwc]

and, btw, they asked conservative groups names of donors. Then those names of donors were

 

GIVEN to the leftwing groups on the opposite side of the conservative group's issue.

 

yahoo.com:

 

********************

"...The committee's top Democrat, Rep. Sander Levin, said it was time to correct the IRS's problems.

"You are owed an apology," Levin, from Michigan, told the witnesses. "We say to you that each of us is committed to doing our part to ensure this does not happen again."

The leader of a small South Carolina tea party group said her organization first applied for tax-exempt status in 2010 — and is still waiting for the application to be processed.

"Nearly three years in waiting for an answer is totally unacceptable," said Dianne Belsom, president of the Laurens County Tea Party. "The IRS needs to be fully investigated and held accountable for its incompetence harassment and targeting of conservative groups."

Belsom said her group in rural South Carolina has about 60 members and "seeks to educate ourselves and fellow citizens on various issues pertinent to living in a free country." The group also holds candidate forums in election years, she said.

"I'd like to note that our group is a small-time operation with very little money and this represents a complete waste of time by the IRS in terms of any money they would collect if we were not tax-exempt," Belsom said.

For more than 18 months during the 2010 and 2012 election campaigns, IRS agents in a Cincinnati office singled out tea party and other conservative groups for additional scrutiny when they sought tax-exempt status, according to a report by J. Russell George, the Treasury Department inspector general for tax administration.

The report said tea party groups were asked inappropriate questions about their donors, their political affiliations and their positions on political issues. The additional scrutiny delayed applications for an average of nearly two years, making it difficult for many of the groups to raise money."

[calfoxwc]

http://news.yahoo.com/irs-victims-testify-agency-scandal-emerges-072059748.html

The president of another group, the National Organization for Marriage, said the IRS publicly disclosed confidential information about donors. George Eastman said he thought the IRS's release of that information was designed to intimidate contributors to the group — which opposes same-sex marriage — "to chill them from donating again."

[calfoxwc]

Now, name one lib group that had it's donor names and info made public in the election process....

 

you can't.

 

So, there you go. More info to decide you are wrong, Heck. It seems so much like a dishonest game with you and political issues.

[The Cysko Kid]

You should be more worried about the middle east quickly descending into anarchy but by all means worry about the tax status of tea party organizations.

[Erie Dawg]

You should be more worried about the middle east quickly descending into anarchy but by all means worry about the tax status of tea party organizations.

agree about the middle east but to quote your boy woodie " cant we handle more than one thing at a time?"

[calfoxwc]

There's so much "nothing there", that there are now

 

a dozen FBI investigators on the case. I hope Ms. Lerner goes to the pokey.

 

And anyone else who would use gov power to intimidate political views they don't like.

 

And I don't care what side goes after what side. The PRINCIPLE is, everybody is equal

 

in the eyes of the law. NOT according to the left....or the right, in case that ever happens.

[heckofajobbrownie]

Last night, Mitch McConnell told a crowd at the American Enterprise Institute that they shouldn't the IRS controversy to turn into an real scandal:

 

"Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell addressed the conservative American Enterprise Institute on Friday to update a warning he issued at the same venue one year ago about President Obama’s supposedly anti-free speech administration.

 

But the subtext was actually quite different: McConnell effectively acknowledged to disappointed conservatives that recently revealed IRS malfeasance probably wasn’t the consequence of any direct action taken by the White House.

“There might be some folks out there waiting for a hand signed memo from President Obama to Lois Learner to turn up,” he said, referring to conservatives and Republicans who have charged that the IRS was following White House instructions when it targeted conservative non-profits. “Do not hold your breath.”

[The Cysko Kid]

Aww! But but but...obamao!

[calfoxwc]

Never said anything about Obamao ordering it up. Nobody did -

 

but the anti Tea Party rants was certainly influential.

 

That it ever happened in an Obamao regime, is a scandal in itself.

 

That it ever happened, ever, is a scandal. That is was political, is now

 

a legit conclusion. The proof is there.

[heckofajobbrownie]

And even more evidence that this isn't a political scandal.

 

 

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service's screening of groups seeking tax-exempt status was broader and lasted longer than has been previously disclosed, the new head of the agency said Monday.

An internal IRS document obtained by The Associated Press said that besides "tea party," lists used by screeners to pick groups for close examination also included the terms "Israel," ''Progressive" and "Occupy." The document said an investigation into why specific terms were included was still underway.

In a conference call with reporters, Danny Werfel said that after becoming acting IRS chief last month, he discovered wide-ranging and improper terms on the lists and said screeners were still using them. He did not specify what terms were on the lists, but said he suspended the use of all such lists immediately.

"There was a wide-ranging set of categories and cases that spanned a broad spectrum" on the lists, Werfel said. He added that his aides found those lists contained "inappropriate criteria that was in use."

Werfel's comments suggest the IRS may have been targeting groups other than tea party and other conservative organizations for tough examinations to see if they qualify.

 

 

 

...Now, will this call off the dogs? A report that finds that this wasn't directed solely at conservative organizations? To go with the one that said this was the brainchild of a "conservative Republican" at the IRS and not directed by anyone in the White House, and had no political motivation at all?

 

I'm kidding, of course.

[calfoxwc]

Still haven't watched the Congressional hearings? LOL

 

Not one group was a lib group. Fancy that.

 

 

Watch the Congressional testimony, democrat cherry picky boy.

[calfoxwc]

Heckbunker, heckbunker, heckbunker.

 

tsk, tsk, tsk.

 

We don't have to kick your ass on issues....

 

the truth does that for us:

********************************

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/06/04/IRS-Hears-Victims-Stories

The IRS scandal took a new turn Tuesday morning, as members of the House Ways and Means Committee heard testimony from leaders of Tea Party and conservative organizations who were targeted by the agency.

The testimony was opened by Kevin Kookogey, Founder and President of Linchpins of Liberty, who spoke about how the IRS's unfair treatment of his application for non-profit status had suppressed his group's activity. He urged Congress to "act with the moral resolve to check the power of the executive branch."

Diane Belsom of the Laurens County Tea Party in South Carolina detailed the process through which her organization had attempted to comply with the IRS's comically exhaustive questions, including inquiries about social media sites and any potential remarks by guest speakers at events about upcoming elections.

John Eastman, Chairman of the National Organization for Marriage, told the story of how the IRS had leaked that group's confidential list of donors to liberal groups that opposed its positions, in apparent violation of the law. Eastman noted his organization's unhappiness and disgust at "unacceptable conduct in our democracy." Ironically, he said, when his group first complained, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration investigated them instead of investigating the IRS.

Karen Kenny of the San Fernando Valley Patriots spoke about the patriotism of her group and objected to being singled out while liberal groups--often those devoted to destroying the constitutional foundation of the republic--were given a free pass. "We're the San Fernando Valley Patriots, not Occupy Oakland," she said.

In an emotional but forceful opening statement, Becky Gerritson of the Wetumpka, AL Tea Party told Congress that the federal government's behavior towards her group and others had violated the country's founding principles. "I want to preserve and protect the America I grew up in....I'm terrified that it's slipping away."

The hearing was the fifth congressional hearing on the IRS scandal. The agency has failed to identify the particular individuals responsible for initiating the targeting of Tea Party and conservative groups. The White House has denied any involvement, though it knew more about the scandal than it first claimed.

[heckofajobbrownie]

Haha. Classic. The Republican groups that were called by the Republican-led committee chair were all Republican! Therefore, this was political targeting.

 

One day you'll learn what does and what does not make up an appropriate sample of the population.

 

I'm kidding. No you won't.

[heckofajobbrownie]

Any other evidence that this was a real scandal? Anyone even have a theory of how it might have been?

 

Anyone want to try?

[heckofajobbrownie]

The Atlantic:

 

 

The IRS did not just target Tea Party groups in 2010 — newly obtained documents show it targeted groups with the words "Occupy" and "Progressive," too. That means that while the IRS's scrutiny of groups seeking non-profit status was inappropriate, it was not political. It was not a case ofPresident Obama directing — explicitly or implicitly — the IRS to silence conservative critics. It was a case of the IRS targeting SEO keywords — the stuff people were talking about on political blogs.

Here's how an IRS BOLO spreadsheet justifies why one liberal group was targeted: "Common thread is the word 'progressive'. Activities appear to lean toward a new political party. Activities are partisan and appear as anti-Republican. You see references to 'blue' as being 'progressive.'" Targeted for being "anti-Republican"?

[heckofajobbrownie]

It's over, folks.

[calfoxwc]

haha. Not one of those occupy or progressive groups were screwed around with for months and/or years, with no answer.

 

Not one testified before Congress. HAHA. You STILL won't watch the testimony before Congress, eh? That's pretty telling,

 

cherry picky dishonest guy.

 

Personally, Lerner was screwing around with conservative groups DURING THE ELECTION.........

 

and this gal from Cincy was irate that they were being held up with no answer.

 

Read it and weep, Heckbunker who just got his butt kicked by reality:

 

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/07/irs-worker-blasts-lerner-for-blaming-ohio-office-on-targeting-likens-effort-to/

[calfoxwc]

So, the truth shall set you free, Heckbunker. Too bad you are all dependent on the Dems. Kinda like being

 

hooked on a cult, maybe?