Posted on 06/25/2013 2:53:33 AM PDT by grundle
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrats are unhappy that newly revealed Internal Revenue Service documents show the agency screened for progressive groups seeking tax-exempt status, not just the tea party organizations for which the IRS was already under fire.
Democrats also want to know why the Treasury Department inspector general who investigated IRS targeting of conservative groups didn't mention that terms like "Progressives" and "Healthcare legislation" were on the same lists agency workers used to find applications to review closely.
"The Inspector General seriously erred in not making clear in both the audit report and his testimony on this matter that 'Tea Party' and 'Progressives' were included" in the lists IRS workers used to screen applications, Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., wrote Monday in a memo his aides distributed. Levin is the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee.
That Treasury investigator, J. Russell George, released a report in May detailing "inappropriate criteria" the IRS used to single out conservative groups for intensified treatment, and has testified to congressional committees several times. He never affirmed that progressive groups were sought out as well, although he cautioned lawmakers that he recently had found lists that raised concerns about other "political factors" he did not specify.
Levin's complaint came hours after Danny Werfel, the new IRS chief, told reporters that his agency's screening of groups seeking tax-exempt status was broader and lasted longer than has been previously disclosed.
In a conference call with reporters, Werfel said that after becoming acting IRS chief last month, he discovered "inappropriate criteria that was in use" and ordered the practice halted immediately. Previously, investigators have said agency officials ended the targeting of conservative groups in May 2012 — not revealing that screening for other political viewpoints had continued.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
There, fixed that sh!t
Trying to level the playing field, nice try
Werfel was sent over by Valerie Jarrett to put out the fire in the IRS. By making the fictitious claim that “progressive” organizations were targeted too, that is how he is trying to do it, through equivalency, without showing one shred of evidence or producing one witness to verify it actually happened. (Because it didn’t!)
Screening for certain words is one thing. What you do with the results is quite different. Conservative, tea-party and 9/12 references were shipped off to Washington. Progressing, activist,”occupy” references went through with normal approval processes.
consider the source, yahoo news is the pmsnbc of the internet.
As Eric Harley and Gary McNamara noted on their radio show last night, the fact that other groups were reviewed does not indicate that anything was amiss in those examinations as was there was with the Tea Party applications; as evidenced by the IRSs own admission and apologies.
I have no doubt that both identifiable liberal and conservative groups were singled out for “special treatment”. They just got treated very differently.
Bet they screened them to ADVANCE their requests for tax free status.
It never happened and not one slip of paper or files exists proving these lies... because they NEVER existed. FU enemedia!
I have not read about any specific liberal or progressive group having their tax exempt application delayed or deferred. Nor of any of these groups suing the IRS.
In contrast, HUNDREDS of specific conservative groups have identified themselves and dozens are suing.
Being targeted is one thing. What happened after the targeting is another.
Until I hear firsthand reports of liberal/progressive groups being required to jump through the hoops many conservative ones did, I’m not impressed.
I’ve consistently stated since the onset that if the AP-thing hadn’t broken due to Machen’s letter, this would be a case of 100% targeting Conservative groups ONLY.
Now there are claims of ‘liberal groups’ being targeted and, like the AP thing, no proof (that I’ve seen).
Convenient (for the low-information bama-bots).
Applications as 501(c)4 organizations by conservative groups were obstructed.
The attention to liberal groups was to assist them.
The attention to conservative groups was to harm them.
‘Lookout List’ Not Much Broader Than Originally Thought, Contrary to Reports
But if it isn't then it seems that the abuse is even more pernicious, and that whoever ordered it was seeking to quell all political dissent, from either side against the current administration. I'd like to see the current administration explain to their fellow leftists why they were using the IRS against them too. Of course that's the fundamental nature of leftists - they attack everyone who stands in the way as they grasp for power, even their own supporters.
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