"The Power to Tax is the Power to Destroy"

[Tecumsehsbones]

IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 2012 election


WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is apologizing for inappropriately flagging conservative political groups for additional reviews during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status.

Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS unit that oversees tax-exempt groups, said organizations that included the words “tea party” or “patriot” in their applications for tax-exempt status were singled out for additional reviews.

Lerner said the practice, initiated by low-level workers in Cincinnati, was wrong and she apologized while speaking at a conference in Washington.

Many conservative groups complained during the election that they were being harassed by the IRS. They said the agency asked them an inordinate number of questions to justify their tax-exempt status.

Certain tax-exempt charitable groups can conduct political activities but it cannot be their primary activity.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...980-11e2-b568-6917f6ac6d9d_story.html?hpid=z1

Interesting. It's always "low-level workers" who have been "appropriately disciplined," what we used to call "fall guys."

However, I wonder how the dittoheads will respond, given their stated belief that the AP is the house organ of the Kenyan Muslim Socialist Conspiracy to Destroy Murka.

 

[Zipperfish]

It was the opposite in Canada. The Conservative government went after the tax-exempt status of the environmental groups. You have to non-partisan to claim tax exempt status. Of course, all these organizations and think tanks are only non-partisan in the Monty Pyhton "nudge-nudge-wink-wink" sense of the word. I think all "non-partisan" really means is that you can't overtly support a specific candidate or party in an election. Pretty much anything else goes though.

 

[damngrumpy]

Taxation in itself is not a problem in the main stream. Yes there are cases of
when things go wrong. The problem here is the polarization of politics and the
aggressive nature of fundamentalists on the right or on the left who ever is in
power. The tax people are not after them for their views the problem develops
when said groups spend monies allegedly outside their mandated right to do so.
When that happens the taxing authorities begin to track the expenditures and
the trouble begins

 

[Walter]

Bush did it.

Carney: I.R.S. Run By Bush Political Appointee | The Weekly Standard

 

[captain morgan]

It was the opposite in Canada. The Conservative government went after the tax-exempt status of the environmental groups. You have to non-partisan to claim tax exempt status. Of course, all these organizations and think tanks are only non-partisan in the Monty Pyhton "nudge-nudge-wink-wink" sense of the word. I think all "non-partisan" really means is that you can't overtly support a specific candidate or party in an election. Pretty much anything else goes though.

Some of these groups were working to sway public opinions in the last election. They are certainly entitled to do and say whatever they like, but in this case, it violated their tax exempt status.

Quite frankly, all the environmental (charitable) organizations that are feeling the heat over this have only David Suzuki to thank for his egomaniacal rantings against Harper while claiming to speak for Suzuki Foundation