Tea Party leaders vent anger at IRS for targeting them

The Washington Examiner ^ | May 16, 2013 | Susan Ferrechio, Chief Congressional Correspondent

[2ndDivisionVet]

Tea Party leaders from around the country gathered in Washington Thursday to vent outrage at the Internal Revenue Service for targeting them and other conservative organizations seeking tax-exempt-status and threatened to sue the agency for damages.

"They lost membership and donations, they missed the election cycle, they missed key moments, they were not able to bring speakers in," Jordan Sekulow, a lawyer representing Tea Party organizations, told reporters outside the Capitol.

The IRS last week confirmed that it had targeted conservative groups and the Justice Department responded Wednesday by announcing an investigation of the tax agency's practices. The IRS has since 2010 flagged for extra scrutiny groups that had "Tea Party," "Patriot" or 9/12" in their names. Some groups were kept waiting years for approval of their tax-exempt status, and a few had to wait so long that they simply disbanded.

The groups can sue for civil damages for the time and resources they spent dealing with the IRS, Attorney General Eric Holder told a House committee Wednesday, and Tea Party members said they're considering it.

Todd Cefaratti, founder of TheTeaParty.net, said he applied to the IRS for tax-exempt status more than three years ago but has yet to get it. The group had to respond to three rounds of detailed, intrusive questions from the IRS, he said.

"They wanted things like our donor lists, our private emails for the last three years, our Facebook communications and our Twitter communications," Cefaratti said. "We have over two million people on Facebook. This is private information. It has to make a chill go down your spine. Why would the government want this personal information on American citizens?"

Back inside the Capitol, House and Senate Republicans continued to hammer the Obama administration, unappeased by President Obama's firing of the tax agency's acting head...

[Democrat_media]

The tea party gave the democrats/socialists a beating in 2010

So the democrats/socialists and Obama ordered the IRS to destroy the tea party

Obama’s IRS prevented tea party groups from getting started so the IRS rigged the 2012 election for democrats (Senate) and Obama . And the IRS made the House more liberal

[erlayman]

How many groups and applications are they talking about it total ? It is really difficult to get a handle on the possible legal ramifications without a harder context and point of comparision.

[Democrat_media]

If the IRS had allowed these tea party groups to organize then the 2012 election would have been different. We would have had more conservatives elected to Congress and Obama would have been defeated

[Norm Lenhart]

For this purpose I’d define it as anyone who runs or ‘manages’ any of the chapters/groups. Not the people that the media will toss out there. The actual people who took damage from the IRS.

[Travis McGee]

[FrdmLvr]

When are they going to investigate all of the Republican-owned car dealerships forced to close for no reason?

[humblegunner]

I got into an argument here a couple years back with some mook
who was denigrating folks who attended TEA party rallies and
lionizing the organizers, saying that the only true patriots were the organizers.

Claimed himself to be a “Tea Party leader”.

He was a prick.

How is this relevant?

Hell if I know.

[Cyber Liberty]

Somebody had to pony up a lot of cash to comply with these outrageous demands from the IRS, payments should start there.

[Norm Lenhart]

Yup. Thats exactly the type we DON’T need leading squat. Or derailing any lawsuits/class actions with their egos.

what worries me most is that If the ball starts rolling, the Roves of the Right will GOPize the thing and end up making the IRS and Dems even more powerful by ‘victimizing’ them.

[Norm Lenhart]

Yup. And that gives them the almighty ‘standing’.

I can think of a Vegas Billionaire that took it in the shorts...

[basil]

I’d go for that—and other things other Freepers have written.

(Actually if someone just passes the hat to get enough funds to have this guy impeached, I’d gladly donate to that!)

[21st Century Crusader]

I’ve known all along that 0bama would steal the election in 2012, but I didn’t think the IRS would be part of it. If all the facts ever come out, this will prove to be the most corrupt event in American history!

[donna]

Seems like that’s all conservatives do: Vent.

[SE Mom]

Thanks for ping- missed it- was on phone. What did Vandersleuth have to say? You can almost feel the closet shaking for all the shoes that will be dropping...

[bunkerhill7]

Throw 90,000 IRS people into Boston Harbor at night on April 15th.

[lapsus calami]

 

 

Those running from thread to thread saying all this is a "distraction" from Benghazi are either clueless or trolls. A curtain has been ripped away revealing an Apparatus - an Apparatus of official state oppression. Finally, there can be found actions to go along with the words Obama has been threatening us with for years in his speeches. He did not have to sign anything or press any buttons - he is on record vocally encouraging and supporting such tyranny. Whether direct or indirectly, he still owns this. Americans will tolerate and put up with a lot of stuff, but one thing they draw the line on is bullies. And that whole bunch has been doing nothing but bullying people for over five years - bullying other bureaucrats is one thing, doing it to law-abiding private citizens exercising their rights is quite another. I have not met or corresponded with a single person who would accept the resignation of some underling and consider the matter closed. That would appease NO ONE. All this is a Crossing the Rubicon moment for this regime. No turning back now.

 

 

[Cyber Liberty]

Read about a lady in Houston who had to pay several thousand, and it wiped her org out.

[JoeProBono]

[C. Edmund Wright]

But that would be well worth it......

[C. Edmund Wright]

I think Jay is Jordan’s dad....but either way....