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Now The Associated Press has confirmed what conservative groups and this page have been talking about for years: Several tax-exempt organizations have been set upon by Internal Revenue Service auditors for what look to be blatant partisan purposes.
The story comes to light after the agency was forced to reveal the targets of its audits following a suit initiated by the Landmark Legal Foundation, which fights against judicial activism in the courts.
One Democratic congressman referred the Heritage Foundation (a Washington think tank) and Citizens Against Government Waste (an anti-tax group) to the IRS based on a desire for "evenhandedness." The IRS responded within two months and both groups are still defending themselves from the costly audits.
The American Spectator, the conservative monthly that has been crusading against the Clintons since 1992, also found itself under the IRS telescope.
IRS politicization was one of the most glaring abuses of the Nixon White House. And, as the last six years have shown, the Clinton presidency is a veritable moral (or immoral) clone of Tricky Dick's.
But, of course, Nixon used the IRS against Democrats and liberals, so the story was front-page news for a year. The Clintons go after conservatives, and the media are mostly silent. (Lazamataz sayz: Gosh, REALLY?!?! The Media BIASED towards LIBERALS!?!?! I'm SHOCKED, SHOCKED.)
Like the Nixonites, the White House and Democrats will surely again downplay this outrage because "everybody does it": They will point out that the documents also show Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer requesting an IRS probe of the Buddhist temple where Al Gore had a fund-raiser.
But there's a crucial difference. Religious groups are explicitly banned from carrying on political activities 末 whether in a church, a synagogue or a mosque. A partisan fund-raiser is by definition political. The illegality was so blatant that the temple was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the case against Democratic fund-raiser Maria Hsia.
The Democrat-instigated IRS moves against conservative organizations, on the other hand, seem clearly designed to harass and intimidate institutions that are disseminating information to the public 末 within the guidelines of their charters.
A Buddhist temple is supposed to be distributing the words of a Higher Power. A think tank's mission is to distribute information on slightly more worldly matters. This information is often ideological, and thus will tend in a partisan direction. But that doesn't make it partisan in character. The ideas are what matter, not the fiscal health of a given political party.
There are two things we can learn here. First, there should probably be greater checks and balances to deter legislators 末 of either party 末 from making illegitimate audit demands of the IRS.
But the larger point is, again, about Bill Clinton, his administration and the depths to which they will sink. The president makes a habit of whining about his enemies, and he has many. Have organizations like the Heritage Foundation and Citizens Against Government Waste been rough on him? Absolutely. But what they have at their disposal is a means of disseminating an argument. What he has at his disposal is the might of the U.S. government.
Recall that no sooner had this White House come into office then it got its hands on sensitive FBI files of former government officials 末 and used ex-bouncer Craig Livingstone to scour them for sordid details.
Recall the hijinks of Sidney "Sid Vicious" Blumenthal, who coordinated a White House "sleaze the Right" effort to deflect attention from the president's perjuries in the Lewinsky scandal 末 and was given a dressing-down by a grand jury for going on TV and misrepresenting his testimony to them.
Clinton unmoored his party from the leftist ideology that made it nationally unelectable. He was able to do that because he himself is unmoored from even the most basic standards of political and personal decency. Here's hoping that his final departure from office brings an end to the re-Nixonizing of the White House.
Bumpo
Huh. Nobody likes this article.
Reread yesterday's Toledo editorial. Even from a liberal, "...Nixon had the dignity to resign..."
Liberals will be trashing BJ for decades. He will be remembered as the reason they suffered so mightily at the dawn of the millenium (you can see it coming, even these clumsy Republicrats will seem far preferrable to "Reagan Democrats").
Reread yesterday's Toledo editorial. Even from a liberal, "...Nixon had the dignity to resign..."
Do you live in Toronto? If so, skip over the lake this summer and I will treat you to a fine day of shooting wonderous ordinance. Stuff no Kanuk gets to play with.
Liberals will be trashing BJ for decades. He will be remembered as the reason they suffered so mightily at the dawn of the millenium (you can see it coming, even these clumsy Republicrats will seem far preferrable to "Reagan Democrats").
FROM YOUR MOUTH TO GODS' EAR!
Remind the democraps that it works for both parties, we will laugh at your screams when it happens to you.
No. I live in Hapton Roads, VA. Doubt I will get to Central US soon. Sure would be fun to do some shooting with a fellow freeper, though. I shoot IDPA and Hi Power rifle here at Lafayette Gun Club.
This is huge...big.... news.
Where is the press on this one? Where is the coverage and editorializing?
Makes ya wanna throw up!
"Where is the press on this one? Where is the coverage and editorializing?"
This did come from the New York Post, right.
Maybe if a few (cough cough) journalists find themselves being audited it might happen...
In Nixon's day this would have been in all newspapers.... 24/7 ...unavoidable ...
Now you have to hunt it down in the NY Post, FreeRepublic
and other internet sites.
Tired of Penalties, Interest, Liens, Seizures, Garnishment of Wages, Audits and IRS Abuse?
SCRAP-THE-DAM-CODE!!!
:-? Peace(pipe)
Unfortunately it wouldn't solve this type of problem. Why well the magazine would collect sales tax on subscriptions, and advertising fees these would be taxable under the NRST correct? The writers would pay sales tax on the fees they collect for selling their services to the magazines. So the IRS would just do it's job as always.
After Clintonistas, it is a grey house. The IRS is a bureaucratic blob that terrorizes who they please.
" SCRAP-THE-DAM-CODE!!!"
Cogent analysis and worded well too!.
It was my understanding that Nixon just TALKED about siccing the IRS on his enemies while ranting. No one ever took him seriously and it never really happened.
The Clinton Administration actually goes through with it. No comparison, IMHO.
In Nixon's day this would have been in all newspapers.... 24/7 ...unavoidable ...Now you have to hunt it down in the NY Post, FreeRepublic and other internet sites.
Cheer up! The press will return to its Watchdog Role, its Corruption-Digging ways....
.... as soon as there's a Republican in the White House....
The Clinton Administration actually goes through with it. No comparison, IMHO.
Right, you are getting it! There is no comparison. The Clinton administration is far-left enough for the press, so they won't report any of this. Nixon wasn't, so they did.
"Unfortunately it wouldn't solve this type of problem. Why well the magazine would collect sales tax on subscriptions, and advertising fees these would be taxable under the NRST correct? The writers would pay sales tax on the fees they collect for selling their services to the magazines. So the IRS would just do it's job as always."
For one there would be no IRS, for two there will be no need for "tax exempt" organizations under the NRST.
Only final use retail sales (of new items)...and service businesses will collect a sales tax and send it in. These businesses will keep a portion for their efforts. Businesses that sell used (previously taxed) items will not collect a sales tax. Business to business purchases for the production of goods and services will not be taxed.
The Fair Tax will abolish corporate income taxes and high compliance costs. Businesses do not pay taxes, they collect taxes in the form of higher prices, lower wages or less return on investments of the stockholders. All goods and services already contain the embedded costs of the current tax system in their prices. When these embedded taxes are removed, prices will come down. Dr. Dale Jorgenson, Chairman of the Economics Department at Harvard University, has projected a producer price reduction of 20 to 30 percent in just the first year after the adoption of the FairTax. In addition, the FairTax will lower compliance costs by more than 90% and the removal of these costs will force prices down even lower.
Market forces - not government, should dictate retail prices!
"Cogent analysis and worded well too!"
Eye souport gummit ruint publick edukashun, donchu? BWT, wats vow shures?
:-? Peace(pipe) hose(pipe)
" vow shures?"
Hmmm. Guess you'll have to lern me some more stuff. Studied
you're response but I'm still dumb as a one ouce sinker.
(Worse, I'm proud of it.)
Again many of the people being persecuted by the govt/IRS are commercial interest, American Spectator ect. They will have to report their sales. Someone in the Federal govt will be making sure the collect the correct amt of sales tax. The group will be able to harrass those org who collelt money from the sales of goods and services. I am inferring that if I buy a subscription to the American Spectator (as opposed to buying it at the newsstand) they will be charging sales Tax on the cost of the subscription.
BTW how will sales tax be collected for goods and services bought from foreign countries over the Internet? Who will collect, who is responsible if the gov. dosn't collect. An example: I buy a computer from a mail order pc outfit in Canada. They ship the computer to me. Who collects? What happens to me if the company in Canada dosn't pay the tax? How does the goverment regulate this activity? Or when Dell sell to a Canadian cuatomer?
I see a lot of goverment involvement no matter how you cut it. I wish that wern't the case but it is.
The FairTax means "Fair Trade" and will greatly benefits export companies. Exports will leave at cost minus 20 to 30%. Imports will come in at cost plus 23%. That is a 43 to 53% advantage for American businesses!
The FairTax will create better compliance. Compliance is a concern with any tax system, but local control means better compliance. In order to evade the FairTax, collusion would be necessary on the part of the buyer and seller. There will be a much smaller universe to track because 20% of all retail businesses collect 80% of all retail sales, and there will be approximately a 90% reduction in filers. 45 states already collect a sales tax and it has worked very well for 60 years.
The Fair Tax will be an easy transition. Everyone will have to think about taxes in a different way. Income - what we earn - will no longer have to be documented, measured and kept-track-of for tax purposes. The only relevant measure of our tax liability will be the amount spent on final, discretionary consumption. Tax-related issues will suddenly be a lot simpler and more straight-forward than they used to be. The aggravation and anxiety associated with "April 15th" will disappear forever, after passage of the AFT Bill. In fact, it should be easier to switch from an income tax to the FairTax system than it is to switch from gallons to liters, or from feet to meters!
The FairTax will collect more revenue from the underground economy. Previously unreported income never taxed by the income tax system will now be taxed when drug dealers, prostitutes, loan sharks and various crooks purchase new goods and services....bread, bananas, bicycles, Buicks, BMWs and BIG BOATS!
All the stuff in post #22 is cute and may be entirely correct, but you didn't answer my specific questions.
I would appreciate an answer.
Cute?
Put on your tinfoil thinkin cap now...If you bring it back from Taiwan in your luggage, you pay at U.S. Customs.
If it is imported for resale in a retail store by a legitimate importer, the customer will pay at the checkout counter.
BTW, we all pay internet tax now...it's just hidden from view. The NRST taxes all mail order and internet sales at a 23% rate as all other goods and services.
Prices for all goods and services are 20-40% higher than what they should be because of all these cascading taxes and compliance costs built into the price of the product.
When Clinton talks of a $1.50 tax increase in the price of cigarettes, (to punish the manufacturers and stop youth from smoking) who do you think pays that tax - the manufacturer - or the consumer?
Let's see what this does to the poor and middle class, shall we?
The car mechanic and his waitress wife smokes two packs a day each, which will amount to an additional $6.00 per day in additional tax X 365 days per year equals an additional $2,190 tax increase for that family on just one item that they consume!
Their 16 year old minimum wage son has no problem with the additional tax, because he lives at home and has no bills.
Who is hurt with this scam?
Bryan Riley of the National Taxpayers Union Foundation wrote a Policy Paper entitled:
"The Less You See, The More You Pay: The Burden of Hidden Taxes".
The paper shows that on average, an American taxpayer pays $2,413 per year in hidden taxes. These hidden taxes, amounting to $639 BILLION annually are federal, state and local levies buried in with the prices of goods and services. These are a few examples: 35 cents for a $1.14 loaf of bread, 18 cents on a 50 cent can of soda, 72% on a 750-ml bottle of liquor, 43% on a six-pack of beer and $63.60 on a $159 plane ticket.
Bryan Riley is quoted as having said: "Americans have no idea how high their tax burden is. If they did, there might well be a second American Revolution."
What if I order it over the internet and UPS delivers it?
Yes been there done that getting threats from IRS weekly
they know accouting and math but work as political tool mostly
print the IRS and treasury jackbooted thugs bios wherever you can.
It'll just about have to be a requirement to have the shipping co. take it through Customs with paperwork on sales price so correct tax will be collected.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
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