Shut up, twit for brains. I never said that I oppose the ACLU. Do you support the Tea Party?
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.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Chavis_MuhammadIn 1994, Chavis was fired after spending $64,000 to pay a breach of contract claim. It was associated with allegations of sexual harassment.[10] Chavis reached an out-of-court settlement to pay a former female employee up to $332,400 to head off a potential sexual harassment and discrimination law suit, and did not inform the NAACP's board of directors.
I think your confusing the original tea party, with the lobby hijacked group they have become.
Tea party was anti tax, the comedy is anti tax in a actual environment where taxes were the lowest they had been in decades.
I actual did support this tea party, because I think the more expressed outrage at government the better, even if it was misguided.
Then came freedomworks and the political machine which ruined the movement.
So you're saying without tax exempt status these groups can not collect donations?
Hmmm.
The Tea Party supports the Constitution and people who oppose them are anti-Constitution.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-abrams/i-have-a-conspiracy-theor_b_3393807.htmlConspiracy theories are the special province of the right-wing, raised to new levels of sophistication and then brought to our shores from, as FDR called them, the "European dictatorships."
Take American right-wing propaganda from the '30s, substitute "Muslim" for "Jew," and you pretty much have today's rhetoric, even down to the president himself. FDR, you see, was really a Jew, his true surname was Rosenfelt. Franklin Delano Rosenfelt. Just like thousands of Jewish men everyone knows.
Their formula is to have a scintilla of truth, some so-called event that actually occurs, and then milk it for all the fear and loathing that can be ginned up. The Reichstag fire was either set by a single man with communist leanings, or perhaps just the Storm Troopers themselves, but it instantly -- and even without the internet! -- was transformed into a gigantic communist conspiracy to take over Germany, so that only emergency powers granted to the Chancellor would prevent it. And thus a party with 30 percent of the seats in Parliament (the Reichstag) seized control.
The American right-wing has nothing whatever to offer the American people to improve their lives and opportunities for their children.
So, their only path to power is to stage their own "Reichstag Fire."
Enter, the Internal Revenue Service. Enter, also, Darrell Issa (R-CA) who, it happens, is no stranger to arson himself.
It is said that no one likes the IRS. Sure, no one likes to pay taxes any more than one likes to get a shot of penicillin. A child may "hate" his pediatrician for giving him the shot, but adults realize the doctor is really helping them, and realize that taxes are the price they pay for civil society.
Moreover, I beg to differ that the IRS is a heartless bureaucracy. I was recently audited. The IRS agents could not have been more cordial or helpful in explaining what documents I needed to produce. I produced them, and received a closure letter in a timely fashion. I did not think it inappropriate for the IRS to ask me to document certain elements of my return.
But, that is beside the point. To the right-wing, the IRS is, along with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the visible symbol of government tyranny. Because no one enjoys paying taxes, the IRS is a promising target to use to trigger the "reptilian" part of our brains to drown our more rational thoughts. It gets people shouting to "get government out of my Medicare."
The right-wing pretends that 501(c)4 status is a privilege, not a god-given right. No one, no organization, has the right to the tax subsidy nor donor anonymity provided by 501(c)4 status unless they follow certain rules. An organization has to follow very careful rules to deserve this privilege, and the IRS is required by law to determine whether an organization qualifies.
Let us be clear. There is nothing that prevents any of these Tea Party organizations to advocate as much as they wish. All 501(c)4 says is that, if you want to do that with a tax-subsidy and donor anonymity, you have to play by rules that the IRS enforces.
There is, moreover, no obligation to make formal application for 501(c)4, and if an organization is clearly not engaging "primarily" in political activity, but rather social welfare, it can safely claim the privileges without fear than an IRS audit would find otherwise.
The right-wing knew very well that applying for 501(c)4 status using organizational names that, for example, had the word "Party" in it, would inevitably trigger IRS scrutiny to make sure that organization was really, primarily, a "social-welfare" group.
Indeed, former IRS division chief Marcus Owens, who reviewed the Inspector General's report, said that the questions the IRS asked were perhaps vague, but were perfectly proper and, using the example of revealing donors, upheld by the United States Tax Court. That is, he said the Inspector General got it wrong too.
Becky Gerritson, from the Wetumpka Tea Party, just testified before the House Ways & Means Committee. She tearfully recounted the scrutiny to which her organization was subjected. One can only assume that she felt so aggrieved because she believed it was her god given right to do any advocacy she wants -- tax-free and anonymously. The law says she does not.
Regrettably, no one bothered to ask Ms. Gerritson what she believes she is free to do with the taxpayer subsidy that 501(c)4 provides. Imagine her horror to discover that her Tea Party was applying for a subsidy!
What better way to create a "Reichstag fire" than to put "Party" in your name deliberately, guaranteeing proper IRS scrutiny?
It is quite possible the SP might pursue both the issue of partisan delays and the issue of fraudulent applications.
So you're saying without tax exempt status these groups can not collect donations?
Hmmm.
I think this is a conspiracy from the right wing. If it turns out to be so, they should be prosecuted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-abrams/i-have-a-conspiracy-theor_b_3393807.html
Another right wing conspiracy...I knew it all along. Wow. I'm not sure who's more intellectually challenged...the person who wrote that piece of crap...or the person who quoted it and highlighted the "salient" points. Tough call.I think this is a conspiracy from the right wing. If it turns out to be so, they should be prosecuted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-abrams/i-have-a-conspiracy-theor_b_3393807.html
This article seems rather relevant to the IRS scandal: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/27/u...s-tested-political-limits.html?pagewanted=all
Some of these groups complaining of targeting seem to have been doing was political in nature, disqualifying them from tax-exempt status anyway.
That doesn't excuse the methods the IRS was using and we should have a non-partisan investigation (read: not a witch hunt) to determine what went wrong, who was responsible, whether there was malicious intent, and how to such targeting in the future.
I think this is a conspiracy from the right wing. If it turns out to be so, they should be prosecuted.
Conspiracy theories are the special province of the right-wing, raised to new levels of sophistication and then brought to our shores from, as FDR called them, the "European dictatorships."
Take American right-wing propaganda from the '30s, substitute "Muslim" for "Jew," and you pretty much have today's rhetoric, even down to the president himself. FDR, you see, was really a Jew, his true surname was Rosenfelt. Franklin Delano Rosenfelt. Just like thousands of Jewish men everyone knows.
Their formula is to have a scintilla of truth, some so-called event that actually occurs, and then milk it for all the fear and loathing that can be ginned up. The Reichstag fire was either set by a single man with communist leanings, or perhaps just the Storm Troopers themselves, but it instantly -- and even without the internet! -- was transformed into a gigantic communist conspiracy to take over Germany, so that only emergency powers granted to the Chancellor would prevent it. And thus a party with 30 percent of the seats in Parliament (the Reichstag) seized control.
The American right-wing has nothing whatever to offer the American people to improve their lives and opportunities for their children.
So, their only path to power is to stage their own "Reichstag Fire."
Enter, the Internal Revenue Service. Enter, also, Darrell Issa (R-CA) who, it happens, is no stranger to arson himself.
It is said that no one likes the IRS. Sure, no one likes to pay taxes any more than one likes to get a shot of penicillin. A child may "hate" his pediatrician for giving him the shot, but adults realize the doctor is really helping them, and realize that taxes are the price they pay for civil society.
Moreover, I beg to differ that the IRS is a heartless bureaucracy. I was recently audited. The IRS agents could not have been more cordial or helpful in explaining what documents I needed to produce. I produced them, and received a closure letter in a timely fashion. I did not think it inappropriate for the IRS to ask me to document certain elements of my return.
But, that is beside the point. To the right-wing, the IRS is, along with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the visible symbol of government tyranny. Because no one enjoys paying taxes, the IRS is a promising target to use to trigger the "reptilian" part of our brains to drown our more rational thoughts. It gets people shouting to "get government out of my Medicare."
The right-wing pretends that 501(c)4 status is a privilege, not a god-given right. No one, no organization, has the right to the tax subsidy nor donor anonymity provided by 501(c)4 status unless they follow certain rules. An organization has to follow very careful rules to deserve this privilege, and the IRS is required by law to determine whether an organization qualifies.
Let us be clear. There is nothing that prevents any of these Tea Party organizations to advocate as much as they wish. All 501(c)4 says is that, if you want to do that with a tax-subsidy and donor anonymity, you have to play by rules that the IRS enforces.
There is, moreover, no obligation to make formal application for 501(c)4, and if an organization is clearly not engaging "primarily" in political activity, but rather social welfare, it can safely claim the privileges without fear than an IRS audit would find otherwise.
The right-wing knew very well that applying for 501(c)4 status using organizational names that, for example, had the word "Party" in it, would inevitably trigger IRS scrutiny to make sure that organization was really, primarily, a "social-welfare" group.
Indeed, former IRS division chief Marcus Owens, who reviewed the Inspector General's report, said that the questions the IRS asked were perhaps vague, but were perfectly proper and, using the example of revealing donors, upheld by the United States Tax Court. That is, he said the Inspector General got it wrong too.
Becky Gerritson, from the Wetumpka Tea Party, just testified before the House Ways & Means Committee. She tearfully recounted the scrutiny to which her organization was subjected. One can only assume that she felt so aggrieved because she believed it was her god given right to do any advocacy she wants -- tax-free and anonymously. The law says she does not.
Regrettably, no one bothered to ask Ms. Gerritson what she believes she is free to do with the taxpayer subsidy that 501(c)4 provides. Imagine her horror to discover that her Tea Party was applying for a subsidy!
What better way to create a "Reichstag fire" than to put "Party" in your name deliberately, guaranteeing proper IRS scrutiny?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-abrams/i-have-a-conspiracy-theor_b_3393807.html
I think this is a conspiracy from the right wing. If it turns out to be so, they should be prosecuted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-abrams/i-have-a-conspiracy-theor_b_3393807.html
As a matter of fact Jhhnn asked "put up or shut up" and Fern put up the facts and bitch slapped Jhnnn over them in the IG's report.
Try reading the thread next time.
As a matter of fact Jhhnn asked "put up or shut up" and Fern put up the facts and bitch slapped Jhnnn over them in the IG's report.
Try reading the thread next time.
I am just the typical rightist. I will ignore facts that can prove how wrong I am. I and my ilk are part of what is wrong with the country.
ftfy for equal truth
I don't actually believe there was a right wing conspiracy. I was just trying to rattle some cages. I apologize for the misrepresentation. I went too far.
Would you start one and take in millions of donations under the assumption they will give you your exempt status?
"Tea Party Generation Yen: Ma'm we have taken in 535 million in donations"
"IRS: Ok so we checked your records, and you're not exempt"
"Tea Party Generation Yen: Say what how are we supposed to pay we have already....."
[cuts them off]
"IRS: Don't care, you have 90 days"
I'm not an expert but that is how I would imagine it would go down. I certainly wouldn't start anything until I had paperwork in hand.
ftfy for equal truth
The NOM did a computer forensic investigation and determined that its leaked IRS information had come from within the IRS itself. If it was leaked by a worker or workers within the IRS it would be a federal crime, with penalties including up to five years in prison. In April 2012, the NOM asked the IRS for an investigation. The inspector general's office gave them a complaint number. Soon they were in touch. Even though the leaked document bore internal IRS markings, the inspector general decided that maybe the document came from within the NOM. The NOM demonstrated that was not true. For the next 14 months they heard nothing about an investigation. By August, 2012, NOM was filing Freedom of Information Act requests trying to find out if there was one. The IRS stonewalled. Their "latest nonresponse response," said Mr. Eastman, claimed that the law prohibiting the disclosure of confidential tax returns also prevents disclosure of information about who disclosed them. Eastman called this "Orwellian." He said that what NOM experienced "suggests that problems at the IRS are potentially far more serious" than the targeting of conservative organizations for scrutiny.
if it weren't for billionaire donors who desperately want to remain anonymous, and who want to make astroturf look like real grassroots.
Yeah, those evil right wingers like Soros and Buffet, and all the zillionaire celebrities and Bloomberg. I knew it was an evil right wing conspiracy
Anonymity is critical to freedom, especially in an age when whichever party in power at the moment will use government agencies (IRS, DOJ, SEC etc) to harass and punish anyone who disagrees with them.