IRS APOLOGIZES FOR TARGETING TEA PARTY GROUPS

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Comments

  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    Godfather. wrote:
    is tax evasion a crime?

    has the tea party made a huge issue about hating paying taxes? have they not repeatedly voiced their disdain for taxes? have they not complained that taxes are unfair? does tea party not stand for "taxed enough already"?

    seems to me that a group whose entire existance is to rail against taxes is inviting scrutiny from the irs.

    what is wrong with making sure that this political entity and the individuals in that group are paying their taxes?

    if the shoe were on the other foot, as in a liberal group campaigning against taxes, the republicans would complain if the irs DID NOT go after them.

    griping for the sake of griping is all this is. as usual.

    but the shoe is not on the other foot and as is so popular on the AMT...freedom of speach comes to mind,with all your hate for Bush and other Republican politions I would think you would understand that voicing your opinion about government,taxes or anything else you disaprove of should not make you a target by the IRS or any government groups..this is still America..as much as obama wants to "change" it.

    Godfather.

    I don't get the Obama want's to change AMERICA argument , like how has America changed from your point of view ....

    obama said he would end a war when elected but took us right into another one,obamacare,hightest debt ceeling in our history,binghazi,this tax targeting on the tea party and other groups and more, wanting to make millions of illegal aliens US citizens and allow them to take even more advantage of our system..in my opinion obama has been a disaster sense he took office(the first thing he did was give out billions in "obamabucks" and raise the debt ceeling practicly over night and wants to raise it more ?

    Godfather.
  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    The White House was in damage control mode Tuesday morning as an escalating series of potential scandals raised questions about whether officials abused their authority -- all while threatening to undermine President Obama's second-term ambitions.

    The latest controversy to hit the headlines was the allegation that the Justice Department secretly obtained two months of phone records from Associated Press journalists. The AP went public with the charge Monday, and quickly earned sympathy from lawmakers on both sides who widely agreed that the record grab appeared to be unnecessarily intrusive.

    House Speaker John Boehner's office said "they better have a damned good explanation."



    Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05 ... z2THgCgdC4


    Godfather.
  • unsungunsung Posts: 9,487
    Kat wrote:

    Added: And the people who did this need to be fired. If the IRS is crooked, I don't need to pay taxes, right?


    Did you enter into a mutual agreement voluntarily? No? Me neither. But don't pay and they will show up guns a-blazing.

    Taxation is theft.
  • rollingsrollings Posts: 7,124
    unsung wrote:
    Kat wrote:

    Added: And the people who did this need to be fired. If the IRS is crooked, I don't need to pay taxes, right?


    Did you enter into a mutual agreement voluntarily? No? Me neither. But don't pay and they will show up guns a-blazing.

    Taxation is theft.

    no. theft if theft. taxation is taxation.

    289542-jschoen57135FCC-03A7-E4B3-F988-FC39DB2B8CE9.blocks_desktop_medium.jpg
  • aerialaerial Posts: 2,319
    ProPublica, a left-leaning nonprofit organization that does investigative journalism, often sharing it with outlets like the Washington Post, offers its own revelation on the news that the Internal Revenue Service was targeting Tea Party groups. It was the recipient of some of the IRS documents. These were documents that even ProPublica admits the IRS should not have been giving out according to the agency’s own rules:

    The same IRS office that deliberately targeted conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status in the run-up to the 2012 election released nine pending confidential applications of conservative groups to ProPublica late last year.

    The IRS did not respond to requests Monday following up about that release, and whether it had determined how the applications were sent to ProPublica.

    In response to a request for the applications for 67 different nonprofits last November, the Cincinnati office of the IRS sent ProPublica applications or documentation for 31 groups. Nine of those applications had not yet been approved—meaning they were not supposed to be made public. (We made six of those public, after redacting their financial information, deeming that they were newsworthy.)



    [url]Read more: [/url]http://nation.foxnews.com/irs-scandal/2 ... z2TIXF3KIl
    “We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” Abraham Lincoln
  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    I have a friend who was in the Iron Butterfly who did not believe he had to pay taxes and right after the band released their last album he was going to retire in colorado so he bought and paid for a new large home and had a few million in the bank to retire on...but IRS took his home,cars,motorcycles,bank account and even siezed his royaltys leaving he and his wife and very young kids homeless,he agrees that he should have just paid his taxes but when he told me the story I was thinking that a non government angensy that has the legal power to take everything you own is friggin scary so if think the IRS gives whoot about you or your family...think again.

    Godfather.
  • aerialaerial Posts: 2,319
    The IRS stole $400 from me....said I had a forgiven debt from some collection agency and that is considered income...I never owed this money ......went round and round with them for months then I just gave up...they acted as like they had never heard of this company....I posted the story a couple of years ago......come to find out the collection agency works for the IRS.....they get a tax write off and I got screwed.....I was not the only person they did this to...it was all over the internet....

    How can they implement Obama care ....they can't even handle there department as it is....it will be a cluster fuck....no one answers for 30 - 40min. then they act as if you are a criminal...then they don't know answers...then they hang up on you....no one is accountable there
    “We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” Abraham Lincoln
  • aerial wrote:
    brianlux wrote:
    aerial wrote:
    http://bigstory.ap.org/article/irs-apologizes-targeting-conservative-groups

    Wow! and the way they try to cover this one is more lies....

    More lies? I'm not sure what you mean. Reading this article, it seems like the IRS is being rather forthcoming in seeking to correct any wrong doing.


    Lerner said the practice was initiated by low-level workers in Cincinnati and was not motivated by political bias.

    LIE



    There is so much corruption surrounding this Administration it's hard to get up with it all.

    I love how you think this administration is soo bad. Compared to the last President this is sadly just another day...

    I'm not disagreeing with you, I think you are right, but this administration is just the same as others.
    ~Carter~

    You can spend your time alone, redigesting past regrets, oh
    or you can come to terms and realize
    you're the only one who can't forgive yourself, oh
    makes much more sense to live in the present tense
    - Present Tense
  • aerialaerial Posts: 2,319
    Now that I think about it I did go to the Tea Party march in Washington.... :(

    HOW MANY times do I have to say They are ALL CROOKS!!! I have never compared Administrations except to say I feel Bush did love this country....but even having doubts about that now
    “We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” Abraham Lincoln
  • unsungunsung Posts: 9,487
    rollings wrote:
    unsung wrote:
    Kat wrote:

    Added: And the people who did this need to be fired. If the IRS is crooked, I don't need to pay taxes, right?


    Did you enter into a mutual agreement voluntarily? No? Me neither. But don't pay and they will show up guns a-blazing.

    Taxation is theft.

    no. theft if theft. taxation is taxation.

    289542-jschoen57135FCC-03A7-E4B3-F988-FC39DB2B8CE9.blocks_desktop_medium.jpg


    When something is taken by force it is theft.
  • pandorapandora Posts: 21,855
    I just hope the IRS does not target me... selfish I know but they have been very very good to me
    and I hope to keep our rapport going :lol:
  • BentleyspopBentleyspop Posts: 10,770
    unsung wrote:
    unsung wrote:
    Kat wrote:

    Added: And the people who did this need to be fired. If the IRS is crooked, I don't need to pay taxes, right?


    Did you enter into a mutual agreement voluntarily? No? Me neither. But don't pay and they will show up guns a-blazing.

    Taxation is theft.

    no. theft if theft. taxation is taxation.

    289542-jschoen57135FCC-03A7-E4B3-F988-FC39DB2B8CE9.blocks_desktop_medium.jpg


    When something is taken by force it is theft.

    Then stop paying your taxes
  • inmytreeinmytree Posts: 4,741
    unsung wrote:

    Did you enter into a mutual agreement voluntarily? No? Me neither. But don't pay and they will show up guns a-blazing.

    Taxation is theft.

    perhaps you should move to a better neighborhood...you know cuz you're a victim of theft...

    good luck with the move... :arrow:
  • pjl44pjl44 Posts: 9,475
    Jon Stewart weighs in. Not surprisingly, it's brilliant:

    http://clashdaily.com/2013/05/stewart-d ... theorists/
  • puremagicpuremagic Posts: 1,907
    IRS has been used Congress and the Executive Branch to target people, companies, hell even countries. So why should Tea Party groups applying for tax exemption under 501(c) (3) as charitable organization not get extra attention, especially, since many of them were advocating anti-government activities calling for the overthrow of the current administration by any means necessary.

    If anything, We the People should be asking the IRS to let us see how these members of Congress, have become millionaires while still serving as so-called government ‘public servants’.
    SIN EATERS--We take the moral excrement we find in this equation and we bury it down deep inside of us so that the rest of our case can stay pure. That is the job. We are morally indefensible and absolutely necessary.
  • pjl44pjl44 Posts: 9,475
    puremagic wrote:
    IRS has been used Congress and the Executive Branch to target people, companies, hell even countries. So why should Tea Party groups applying for tax exemption under 501(c) (3) as charitable organization not get extra attention, especially, since many of them were advocating anti-government activities calling for the overthrow of the current administration by any means necessary.

    Um...unless you'd like to provide some sources on that statement, I will consider it a figment of your imagination.
  • JimmyVJimmyV Posts: 19,173
    pjl44 wrote:
    puremagic wrote:
    IRS has been used Congress and the Executive Branch to target people, companies, hell even countries. So why should Tea Party groups applying for tax exemption under 501(c) (3) as charitable organization not get extra attention, especially, since many of them were advocating anti-government activities calling for the overthrow of the current administration by any means necessary.

    Um...unless you'd like to provide some sources on that statement, I will consider it a figment of your imagination.

    Perhaps an exaggeration but definitely not a figment of the imagination. Did Tea Party rhetoric not involve calls (whether they be veiled or not) for revolution? Who were they arguing should be revolted against? The Obama administration.
    ___________________________________________

    "...I changed by not changing at all..."
  • pjl44pjl44 Posts: 9,475
    JimmyV wrote:
    pjl44 wrote:
    puremagic wrote:
    IRS has been used Congress and the Executive Branch to target people, companies, hell even countries. So why should Tea Party groups applying for tax exemption under 501(c) (3) as charitable organization not get extra attention, especially, since many of them were advocating anti-government activities calling for the overthrow of the current administration by any means necessary.

    Um...unless you'd like to provide some sources on that statement, I will consider it a figment of your imagination.

    Perhaps an exaggeration but definitely not a figment of the imagination. Did Tea Party rhetoric not involve calls (whether they be veiled or not) for revolution? Who were they arguing should be revolted against? The Obama administration.

    No, they didn't. Sources please.

    Edit: I'm not a Tea Party supporter either and generally put them in the same bucket as Occupy Wall Street. I like seeing protest, but don't feel either group had much in the way of focus. The way people project views onto them, though, annoys me.
  • pjl44pjl44 Posts: 9,475
    Further, it's really this simple:

    If a group is advocating for something illegal, they should be investigated by the police.

    If a group is merely advocating a position you don't agree with, it's called a free exchange of ideas.

    Nowhere in this equation should a government agency engage in discriminatory practices by words that appear in a group's name. The IRS themselves have admitted this was inappropriate. Congressmen on both sides of the aisle have deemed this inappropriate. Dennis Kucinich believes this is inappropriate. Jon Stewart had a six minute segment about how this is a problem.

    Anyone attempting to excuse this because they have a bug up their ass about "The Tea Party" is in a small minority who can't see past their own bigotry.
  • JimmyVJimmyV Posts: 19,173
    pjl44 wrote:
    JimmyV wrote:
    pjl44 wrote:

    Um...unless you'd like to provide some sources on that statement, I will consider it a figment of your imagination.

    Perhaps an exaggeration but definitely not a figment of the imagination. Did Tea Party rhetoric not involve calls (whether they be veiled or not) for revolution? Who were they arguing should be revolted against? The Obama administration.

    No, they didn't. Sources please.

    Edit: I'm not a Tea Party supporter either and generally put them in the same bucket as Occupy Wall Street. I like seeing protest, but don't feel either group had much in the way of focus. The way people project views onto them, though, annoys me.

    It is fiction to say revolution was not a theme of Tea Party protests. Not saying they deserved to be targeted by the IRS, just that claiming revolution was a part of their rhetoric is not a figment of anyone's imagination.

    http://michellemalkin.com/2009/03/12/te ... s-brewing/

    http://spectator.org/archives/2009/04/1 ... revolution

    http://www.wnd.com/2009/02/89788/
    ___________________________________________

    "...I changed by not changing at all..."
  • puremagicpuremagic Posts: 1,907
    pjl44 wrote:
    puremagic wrote:
    IRS has been used Congress and the Executive Branch to target people, companies, hell even countries. So why should Tea Party groups applying for tax exemption under 501(c) (3) as charitable organization not get extra attention, especially, since many of them were advocating anti-government activities calling for the overthrow of the current administration by any means necessary.

    Um...unless you'd like to provide some sources on that statement, I will consider it a figment of your imagination.


    Really!!! Seeing that this topic falls under current events, do your own damn research, it shouldn’t be that difficult. Psst!!! , you would had to have been living in a media blackout from 2004 til present and ongoing not to see the sponsorship of these so-called tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charitable organizations behind all those anti-government demonstration targeting the current administration. Several sponsored events publically referenced violence upon the President and his family; harassed members of Congress. These sponsoring organizations make no secret of their anti-government activity, while still enjoying and seeking a tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. This is why they generate the attention of the IRS, the Secret Service, and the FBI.

    Congress needs to stop acting like their shocked virgins when the scent being emitted smells like a street gutter.
    SIN EATERS--We take the moral excrement we find in this equation and we bury it down deep inside of us so that the rest of our case can stay pure. That is the job. We are morally indefensible and absolutely necessary.
  • aerialaerial Posts: 2,319
    Jimmy those links are opinion pieces from 2009....I haven't seen a revolution yet.
    I was at the March on Washington in 2009....remember there was not one arrest? not a piece of trash on the ground when it was over....very peaceful....now I have seen videos of union thugs beating people up at some of the rallies.
    “We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” Abraham Lincoln
  • JimmyVJimmyV Posts: 19,173
    aerial wrote:
    Jimmy those links are opinion pieces from 2009....I haven't seen a revolution yet.
    I was at the March on Washington in 2009....remember there was not one arrest? not a piece of trash on the ground when it was over....very peaceful....now I have seen videos of union thugs beating people up at some of the rallies.

    My only point was that revolution was part of Tea Party rhetoric. I linked to three pieces where the term was used. It seems clear that revolution was a clear theme of the rhetoric and that it was not a figment of anyone's imagination.
    ___________________________________________

    "...I changed by not changing at all..."
  • pjl44pjl44 Posts: 9,475
    JimmyV wrote:

    It is fiction to say revolution was not a theme of Tea Party protests. Not saying they deserved to be targeted by the IRS, just that claiming revolution was a part of their rhetoric is not a figment of anyone's imagination.

    http://michellemalkin.com/2009/03/12/te ... s-brewing/

    http://spectator.org/archives/2009/04/1 ... revolution

    http://www.wnd.com/2009/02/89788/

    Every one of those links uses the word "revolution." Is that unique to Tea Party movements? Hmmmmmmm...

    http://robertreich.org/post/42193095873

    http://www.mikelux.com/?page_id=50

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/2 ... on-Part-II

    Now, Jimmy, are those authors also calling for "anti-government activities" or "overthrowing an administration by any means necessary?" Or are they (like in the links you provided) just using a term to speak to a constituency. Did you see anything in your links that advocated for anything beyond a rally, protest, or donation? Anything advocating something illegal?

    People have every right to speak out against the government and it should be without fear of reprisal. Again, the fact that the IRS specifically stated that these actions were inappropriate should tell you all you need to know.
  • Jason PJason P Posts: 19,138
    JimmyV wrote:
    My only point was that revolution was part of Tea Party rhetoric. I linked to three pieces where the term was used. It seems clear that revolution was a clear theme of the rhetoric and that it was not a figment of anyone's imagination.
    The tenants were Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government and Free Markets.

    I don't recall revolution, as in overthrowing the government, being on the agenda at any time. Laws and rules were respected, even so if begrudgingly.

    Unfortunately, in the last couple of years it was hi-jacked into a social right-wing cause by Palin and Bachman.
  • pjl44pjl44 Posts: 9,475
    puremagic wrote:
    pjl44 wrote:
    puremagic wrote:
    IRS has been used Congress and the Executive Branch to target people, companies, hell even countries. So why should Tea Party groups applying for tax exemption under 501(c) (3) as charitable organization not get extra attention, especially, since many of them were advocating anti-government activities calling for the overthrow of the current administration by any means necessary.

    Um...unless you'd like to provide some sources on that statement, I will consider it a figment of your imagination.


    Really!!! Seeing that this topic falls under current events, do your own damn research, it shouldn’t be that difficult. Psst!!! , you would had to have been living in a media blackout from 2004 til present and ongoing not to see the sponsorship of these so-called tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charitable organizations behind all those anti-government demonstration targeting the current administration. Several sponsored events publically referenced violence upon the President and his family; harassed members of Congress. These sponsoring organizations make no secret of their anti-government activity, while still enjoying and seeking a tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. This is why they generate the attention of the IRS, the Secret Service, and the FBI.

    Congress needs to stop acting like their shocked virgins when the scent being emitted smells like a street gutter.

    https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/burden-of-proof
  • JimmyVJimmyV Posts: 19,173
    pjl44 wrote:
    JimmyV wrote:

    It is fiction to say revolution was not a theme of Tea Party protests. Not saying they deserved to be targeted by the IRS, just that claiming revolution was a part of their rhetoric is not a figment of anyone's imagination.

    http://michellemalkin.com/2009/03/12/te ... s-brewing/

    http://spectator.org/archives/2009/04/1 ... revolution

    http://www.wnd.com/2009/02/89788/

    Every one of those links uses the word "revolution." Is that unique to Tea Party movements? Hmmmmmmm...

    http://robertreich.org/post/42193095873

    http://www.mikelux.com/?page_id=50

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/2 ... on-Part-II

    Now, Jimmy, are those authors also calling for "anti-government activities" or "overthrowing an administration by any means necessary?" Or are they (like in the links you provided) just using a term to speak to a constituency. Did you see anything in your links that advocated for anything beyond a rally, protest, or donation? Anything advocating something illegal?

    People have every right to speak out against the government and it should be without fear of reprisal. Again, the fact that the IRS specifically stated that these actions were inappropriate should tell you all you need to know.

    As I said originally, "anti-government activities" and "overthrowing an administration by any means necessary" could both be considered exaggerations. That revolution was a central theme in Tea Party rhetoric cannot be considered a figment of anyone's imagination. That the idea is kicked around by others in no way changes the fact that it was central to the rhetoric of the Tea Party. That is what I disagreed with you on.

    Your last paragraph sounds like you think I am defending the IRS. I have never done that so you may want to take that point up with someone else.
    ___________________________________________

    "...I changed by not changing at all..."
  • JimmyVJimmyV Posts: 19,173
    Jason P wrote:
    JimmyV wrote:
    My only point was that revolution was part of Tea Party rhetoric. I linked to three pieces where the term was used. It seems clear that revolution was a clear theme of the rhetoric and that it was not a figment of anyone's imagination.
    The tenants were Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government and Free Markets.

    I don't recall revolution, as in overthrowing the government, being on the agenda at any time. Laws and rules were respected, even so if begrudgingly.

    Unfortunately, in the last couple of years it was hi-jacked into a social right-wing cause by Palin and Bachman.

    I think the movement gained its greatest notoriety and largest following under Palin and Bachmann. The original Tea Party is a different animal compared to what it became.
    ___________________________________________

    "...I changed by not changing at all..."
  • aerialaerial Posts: 2,319
    Lois Lerner, the senior executive in charge of the IRS tax exemption department and the federal employee at the center of the exploding scandal over the IRS was given $42,531 in bonuses between 2009 and 2011.

    They could have used that money to train some of the idiots that answer the phone at the IRS....
    “We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” Abraham Lincoln
  • aerialaerial Posts: 2,319
    IRS official Lerner speedily approved exemption for Obama brother’s ‘charity’


    Lois Lerner, the senior IRS official at the center of the decision to target tea party groups for burdensome tax scrutiny, signed paperwork granting tax-exempt status to the Barack H. Obama Foundation, a shady charity headed by the president’s half-brother that operated illegally for years.

    According to the organization’s filings, Lerner approved the foundation’s tax status within a month of filing, an unprecedented timeline that stands in stark contrast to conservative organizations that have been waiting for more than three years, in some cases, for approval.

    Lerner also appears to have broken with the norms of tax-exemption approval by granting retroactive tax-exempt status to Malik Obama’s organization.



    Read more:

    http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/14/irs-official-lerner-approved-exemption-for-obama-brothers-charity/#ixzz2TOrnMO8m





    IRS sued for improperly seizing the medical records of 10 million Americans

    Read more:


    http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/15/irs-sued-for-improperly-seizing-the-medical-records-of-10-million-americans/#ixzz2TOsmO1Nb
    “We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” Abraham Lincoln
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