Why the IRS scandal shouldn't be considered just "the other guy's issue...

[Ted Oplinger]

From the Investing Channel site...

The IRS started targeting Tea Party members, "Patriots" and similar conservatives starting in 2010.

But the IRS' harassment of conservatives expanded way beyond those groups.

As United Press International reports:

U.S. Internal Revenue Service inquiry of conservative groups included those lobbying to "make America a better place to live," new details emerging about the IRS investigation indicated. That lever goes beyond what the IRS admitted Friday, which was that it targeted groups with "Tea Party" or "patriot" in their names, several media outlets reported Monday, based on draft findings from disclosures to congressional investigators by the Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration.

At various points over the past two years, the Cincinnati IRS office, which is in charge of evaluating applications for tax-exempt status, focused on groups making statements that "criticize how the country is being run" and those involved in educating Americans "on the Constitution and Bill of Rights," the draft report cited by The Washington Post indicated.

By June 2011 some IRS specialists were probing applications of groups focusing on "government spending, government debt or taxes [and] education of the public by advocacy/lobbying to 'make America a better place to live,'" the report cited by the Journal indicated.

The inspector general's investigation also found the head of the IRS tax-exempt-organizations division knew as early as June 2011 conservative groups were being inappropriately targeted -- several months before Douglas Shulman, IRS commissioner at the time, denied to a congressional committee the agency was targeting conservative groups, the newspapers said

Liberals should not assume that this is the "other guy's" fight.

The targeting of conservatives under a Democratic administration could switch to a targeting of liberals under a subsequent Republican administration.

Congressman Mike Rogers is correct when he says:

I don't care if you're a conservative, a liberal, a Democrat or a Republican, this should send a chill up your spine.

Remember, governments always target the "out" group first, and - if we don't protest - spread the abuse to include everyone.

It is ironic - and downright Orwellian - that the IRS targeted people trying to educate Americans on the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Unfortunately, this is not entirely surprising, given that the Bill of Rights have been fatally wounded by the Bush and Obama administrations, and that liking the Founding Fathers or being “reverent of individual liberty” could get one branded as a potential terrorist.

And the IRS is acting like Big Brother ... spying on our shopping records, travel, social interactions, health records and files from other government investigators. The IRS targeting those who try to educate people about taxes is analogous to the Federal Reserve using web-based counter-espionage to attack critics of Fed policies.

Welcome to modern America ...

The bolded words are my own emphasis from the article...the original article is here

Blessings,

[joeb]

Quote:

The IRS targeting those who try to educate people about taxes is analogous to the Federal Reserve using web-based counter-espionage to attack critics of Fed policies.

Not only education about Fed policies, but any group that was dedicated to educating people about their 5th amendment rights and/or the Constitution. This is a blatant attack upon our system of government and the rights of US citizens.

[Guest]

Amazing..

[Tom Wetmore]

Now that a bright light is being shown on this issue, it only highlights the dysfunctional reality of the IRS, especially in the exempt organization area, that those of us tax practitioners have complained of for many years. For a good article that covers the real scope and depth of this scandal, see the headline article on it from today's New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/us/pol...e-rules.html?hp

But do brace yourself. What also comes as no surprise to those of us specializing in this corner of tax law, it really hasn't been just conservative groups that have fallen victim to this overwhelmed and incompetent section of the IRS. One could hope that cooler heads will eventually prevail, set aside political bickering and stone throwing and do something to fix the real problems at the root of it all.

[phkrause]

[Ted Oplinger]

You're absolutely right about that, Tom. No matter who gets to be "in charge", the IRS functions more or less as somebody's attack dog to cause issues with someone else. Perhaps if Congress will do something very thoughtful and defang the beast by say, converting to a consumption tax rather than a progressive income tax?

Nah...can't happen, as too many oxen get gored by that...

Blessings,