IRS admits targeting Tea Party groups - Politics and Economics

Two Plus Two Forums Other Topics Politics

IRS admits targeting Tea Party groups

...

Page 1 of 48

1 2 3 4 5 6 11 21

Page 1 of 48

1 2 3 4 5 6 11 21

05-10-2013 , 06:27 PM

Calamities

enthusiast

Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 66

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013...est=latestnews

From reading the article the most likely story looks like some lower level IRS employees didn't like the tea party and decided that they wanted to give them a hard time.

This raises an interesting question: If tea party groups are more likely than others to attempt evading taxes should they be profiled by the IRS?

05-10-2013 , 06:35 PM

Low Key

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 33,327

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calamities

If tea party groups are more likely than others to attempt evading taxes

How's that now?

05-10-2013 , 06:41 PM

zikzak

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 22,198

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calamities

This raises an interesting question: If tea party groups are more likely than others to attempt evading taxes should they be profiled by the IRS?

Yes, but that doesn't justify

Quote:

From reading the article the most likely story looks like some lower level IRS employees didn't like the tea party and decided that they wanted to give them a hard time.

05-10-2013 , 06:43 PM

Calamities

enthusiast

Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 66

Quote:

Originally Posted by Low Key

How's that now?

I'm not certain and don't have any statistics to back up the claim that tea party groups are more likely to evade taxes, however, their unifying message is largely on taxes being burdensome and bad.
Maybe compare it to how the FBI is always infiltrating anti-war or environmental groups under the logic that there might be radicalized individuals in these groups who end up attempting violent actions.

05-10-2013 , 06:52 PM

zikzak

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 22,198

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calamities

The problem the IRS is trying to deal with is 501(c)(3) organizations abusing the classification in order to not pay taxes. The guilt there appears to be spread pretty equally among all political ideologies, but IRS was specifically targeting one in particular.

05-10-2013 , 07:50 PM

Dids

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 60,871

FWIW discussion about this topic is has been going on in the LC thread.

05-10-2013 , 07:50 PM

neg3sd

banned

Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 3,335

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calamities

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013...est=latestnews

This raises an interesting question: If tea party groups are more likely than others to attempt evading taxes should they be profiled by the IRS?

Wrong term. They are attempting to avoid taxes, not evade them. Tax evaders don't petition the IRS.

05-10-2013 , 09:32 PM

Low Key

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 33,327

"I say tax avoision"

Kent_Brockman.jpg

05-10-2013 , 11:27 PM

pvn

Guest

Posts: n/a

Taxes are fun
For everyone
Except tax opponents
They shudda practiced avoidance

05-11-2013 , 12:31 AM

#10

2/325Falcon

Conehead

Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 21,907

Show me the long form ACORN audit tia.

05-11-2013 , 12:44 AM

#11

Turn Prophet

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 11,558

Republicans finally have a real scandal on their hands, but my bet is they'll stick with BENGHAZIIIIIIIIIII.

But seriously, someone should go to jail over something like this. That level of abuse of power is criminal, even if no one was denied status over it. It's more than a firing offense IMO. That's what I'd say if it was the IRS going after MoveOn during the Bush years, so I'm not going to be a hypocrite just because the targets were super scummy here.

05-11-2013 , 01:43 AM

#12

TalkingDonkey

RIZZAHHHHHH

Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 17,137

sorry if missed this in the LC thread, but why the **** would the IRS admit this?

05-11-2013 , 01:49 AM

#13

Low Key

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 33,327

Why would they admit that a low level employee was harassing a group of people?

A group of people already paranoid about government cover ups?

No damn clue.

05-11-2013 , 01:53 AM

#14

seattlelou

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 31,584

Quote:

Originally Posted by TalkingDonkey

sorry if missed this in the LC thread, but why the **** would the IRS admit this?

Sounds like they are fairly clueless over at the IRS.

Quote:

It was not clear whether the IRS had anticipated the firestorm that it would ignite with its disclosure. Indeed, it appeared to have happened by chance when Lerner, appearing Friday at a conference held by the American Bar Association, responded to a question about the allegations by conservative groups.

The IRS’s subsequent conference call with reporters was clumsily handled. At one point, Lerner attempted to do arithmetic on the phone and blurted out: “I’m not good at math.” That admission was understandable, given that her training is as a lawyer, but it produced a quote that is likely to haunt the agency that handles the nation’s tax returns.

Nor did IRS officials appear to have prepared much for the questions they would get.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...6b8_story.html

05-11-2013 , 08:21 AM

#15

Mrage

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 4,921

Quote:

Originally Posted by TalkingDonkey

sorry if missed this in the LC thread, but why the **** would the IRS admit this?

Talking out of my ass here, but if they try to cover it up, the higher ups immediately become complicit, as it's probably going to come out anyway, may as well rip off the band-aid now instead of kick the can a few months down the road and have a far worse scandal.

They dropped the story on a Friday, so at least their PR people got that part right. At least we maybe won't have to hear as much about the non-story that is Benghazi now that FNC has a legitimate story on their hands to gnash their teeth about.

Edit: appears the well-timed release was a fortuitous blunder, I apparently glossed over that part.

05-11-2013 , 08:25 AM

#16

TomCollins

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 43,058

Quote:

Originally Posted by pvn

Taxes are fun
For everyone
Except tax opponents
They shudda practiced avoidance

05-11-2013 , 09:17 AM

#17

vaya

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 15,156

I'm not sure what the problem is here other than the fact that some of these groups probably should have been denied 501(c)(4) status

05-11-2013 , 10:28 AM

#18

vaya

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 15,156

Although I am a bit concerned that the people who are supposed to be our last line of defense against a tyrannical government capitulated to said government when presented one extra form to fill out

05-11-2013 , 11:34 AM

#19

Low Key

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 33,327

Quote:

Originally Posted by vaya

I'm not sure what the problem is here other than the fact that some of these groups probably should have been denied 501(c)(4) status

I'm not sure I like the IRS granting tax exempt status to political groups just so they can harass those groups later via targeted audit.

And perhaps they shouldn't have been granted that status, but it's not really up to the guy harassing them to "fix" a decision he disagrees with. His job was to be impartial, he couldn't do that, gtfo.