I'm having a great time watching the Democrats/Obama supporters trying to find the silver lining in the IRS storm clouds, spinning like tornadoes in support of the most corrupt administration in my lifetime.
I'm having a great time watching the Democrats/Obama supporters trying to find the silver lining in the IRS storm clouds, spinning like tornadoes in support of the most corrupt administration in my lifetime.
I'm having a great time watching the Democrats/Obama supporters trying to find the silver lining in the IRS storm clouds, spinning like tornadoes in support of the most corrupt administration in my lifetime.
Mono is 4 years old.
Agreed on all counts. Interestingly the IRS' targeting of liberal groups during the Bush administration drew nowhere near this level of hue and cry. http://www.salon.com/2013/05/14/when_the_irs_targeted_liberals/ Obviously that does not excuse the IRS' targeting of Tea Party groups, which should and will be fully investigated.
I'm having fun watching you guys trying to justify using the Internal Revenue Service as a political weapon and pretending that it isn't enormously damaging to the country.
That's an excellent statement, and right on the money. I'm surprised Issa didn't have him removed. So very many inconvenient facts.I liked what McDermott had to say: http://thebigslice.org/mcdermott-statement-at-hearing-with-organizations-singled-out-by-the-irs/
Quote: Freedom of speech is, no doubt, one of most important fundamental rights. It is unacceptable in every way for a government agency to unfairly scrutinize any organization because of their political affiliations. The IRS has unequivocally made a mistake here. I am sorry your organizations were singled out like this, and while I think this was a case of foolish account management and dangerously careless shortcuts, I will not hesitate to say that the IRS was wrong.
But as I listen to this discussion, Id like to remind everyone what we are talking about here. None of your organizations were kept from organizing or silenced. We are talking about whether or not the American taxpayers would subsidize your work. We are talking about a tax break.
I get the feeling that many of you and my Republican colleagues dont just believe you should be free from political targeting, but that you should be free from scrutiny of any kind.
The purpose of C3 and C4 tax exemptions is to enable easier promotion of public good, not political work. It is the responsibility of the IRS to determine which groups are choosing the correct exempt status and which are trying to manipulate the system to avoid taxes and hide political organizations and their campaign donors. Without oversight, a status meant for charities becomes a machine for political money laundering. And if you think thats farfetched, you can talk to Speaker Gingrich. He was fined $300,000 by the Ethics Committee for funneling money from a C3 to his Political Action Committee.
Each of your groups is highly political. From opposing the Presidents healthcare reform, to abortion restrictions, to gay marriage, youre all entrenched in some of the most controversial political issues in this country and with your applications you are asking the American public to pay for that work. Many of you host and endorse candidates. The line between permitted political activity and non-permitted political activity can be very fine, and its important that tax payers know which side you fall on.
If there was an organization promoting taxpayer funding for abortions, wouldnt you want to be sure they werent using their tax-free money to campaign for a candidate? What about a group that wanted to promote voting without I.D.s? What if, in the midst of an increase of Communist candidates, new Communist clubs wanted tax-free status? Wouldnt you want to be sure that the self-declared tax-free classifications of those groups were correct?
The mistake here was that the staff organizing the applications used the names of the groups rather than the work they do and asked improper questions to figure that out. It was wrong.
But lets not get lost. During the Bush administration liberal groups were targeted without any concern by Mr. Issa or anyone else in this committee. The Republicans are looking for a conspiracy where there isnt one. Mr. Issa said he can feel in his gut that someones broken the law. Which is more likely: that midlevel employees took stupid, irresponsible shortcuts or that theres an administration-wide plot to take down community organizers? Lets not forget that this all happened under Republican IRS Commissioners and was investigated by a Republican Inspector General.
What happened to you was unfair and incredibly inconvenient, but it was a mistake. Our job is to make sure this never happens again. Anything else, like the circus happening at the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is political theatre.
Further, who is trying to justify using the IRS as a political weapon? Pretty much everyone agrees that's not acceptable, yet the usual partisan prevaricators continue to flog that straw man as if it was gospel. It's just noise, a distraction from the facts that threaten to turn this latest "huge scandal" into just another huge fizzle.Is that what you think happened? Who used the IRS as a political weapon?
I've thought that too, but it seems to me they're shooting their wad too early. While they're making life inconvenient for Obama today, they're also making sure voters (with their short attention spans) will have long ago lost interest by November, 2014. Sure, the nutter fringe will remained outraged until then, but they will no matter what. Most voters, however, will by then remember this as much ado about nothing much.Just more paint fumes for the republican party faithful to huff come the midterm election, which might help net them some more seats in Congress. That is assuming the candidates can resist their moth to a flame like attraction to the "R" word.
Though i suspect if the GOP is emboldened by any success at all in 2014 without major policy shifts the drubbing for 2016 will make the 2012 election feel like a dead heat.
Is that what you think happened? Who used the IRS as a political weapon?
In short: the very day after the president of the quite publicly anti-Tea Party labor union the union for IRS employees met with President Obama, the manager of the IRS Determinations Unit Program agreed to open a Sensitive Case report on the Tea party cases. As stated by the IG report.
Its unbelievable how some people can still defend the IRS going after American patriots.
Yeah it is! Who is doing that by the way?
And I'm sure that you think this is just a coincidence:
http://spectator.org/archives/2013/05/20/obama-and-the-irs-the-smoking
There are leftists on this forum that are doing it.
There is also lawrence odonnel and his ilk. That moron julian bond as well.
I already addressed this in the other big thread. The Spectator is being willfully deceptive. According to the IG report, the Tea Party inquiries actually began before this meeting. The Spectator cherry-picked one entry out of the middle of a list because the dates happened to match. In short, they fabricated a connection.And I'm sure that you think this is just a coincidence:
http://spectator.org/archives/2013/05/20/obama-and-the-irs-the-smoking
I read that as who is going after American patriots. Because if you're calling Tea Party groups American patriots then you're even dumber than I thought. And I've always thought you to be spectacularly dumb.
Typical leftist scum who has to resort to insults.
Typical leftist scum who has to resort to insults. I am not the one who admitted to being a leftist.
Hypocrite much?
If you're going to play the persecution card, it's best not to include an inverse insult in it.
I already addressed this in the other big thread. The Spectator is being willfully deceptive. According to the IG report, the Tea Party inquiries actually began before this meeting.
-snip-
you guys are dumber than a box of hammers.