WaPo: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 2012 election

[yank]

Most middle schoolers can actually carry themselves better than Fox and the rest of the echo chamber does.

Most of them have grown out of screaming lies like a spoiled brat when they don't get their way. 

Can't say that for Fox.

I don't care if they're called Fox or Faux or false or whatever.. the fact is their model is to use half truths, manipulations and out and out lies for the purpose of generating anger, mistrust and fear. They cater to the stupid, and stampede the herd as often as they can and divide this country to the point where we are two armed camps, never listening to anyone but their own bugler.

 

if that hurts anyone's feelings, perhaps rather than getting irritated that someone thinks you're stupid, maybe try to figure out why so many people immediately turn you off when you mention you watch fox news, or listen to Rush, or quote Beck.

As much as everyone is loathe to admit, sometimes the problem IS them.

And people who continue to allow Fox and Rush and Hannity and Beck and all of their liars in arms to continue to spin them  into a tizzy to push their own agenda are most certainly a problem.

 

It's high time to get this poison out of us before it manages to tear this country apart.

That IS the goal, you know. Division & anger, blood sells.  If you think they give two ****s about the country in general, that is either purposeful naivete or a denseness that is very hard to comprehend among people who can read.

 

It's very difficult these days to get news without a slant. And to get it, you have to be willing to listen to sources you may not agree with, and to be willing to read multiple sources to sift out the common facts.

But the effort has to be made, because so long as their ratings stay up, and people repeat their same dumb-ass lies like parrots, then they have no reason to change. they're only encouraged to be worse. 

A propagandist likes nothing better than a stupid audience. People who ask questions for the purpose of seeking TRUTH and not agenda.. these are who upset their apple cart.

Truth has no side.

 

~Bang

 

Thanks Comrade Bang, Uncle Joe could not have stated it any

better.  For Fox News to deny that Pravda

(outlets in solidarity aka NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, NY Times, Daily Kos) contains

the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth is to defile the literal

definition of truth/correctness that the Progressive collective has worked so

hard to narrowly shape and define for decades. 

Workers who do not agree and do not toe the party line are to be sentenced

to the gulag of shame, forever to be personally ridiculed as ignorant – no strike

that, as you say - stupid. 

That over half the country – traitors such as Solzhenitsyn and O’Reilly – rejects Pravda as the one and only source of truth means that they must be crushed like peasants for their temerity to even question their betters.  Their foolish desire for Glasnost in their

government will easily be repressed by Comrade Barak who so rightly said of the KGB investigation on spying of the entire collective “there is nothing to see here.” 

 

The IRS, FBI Domestic Terrorism Unit, OSHA, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives apparatchiks

who followed up on the “punish your enemies” portion of the 5-year Plan pronounced by Comrade Barry are heroes of the motherland (or is that fatherland I always get that confused). 

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile back to the regularly scheduled program …

 

The intellectual curiosity or lack thereof of the leftist posters who with sheep-like precision marched in lock-step to confuse the occurrence of leftist terms on the BOLO list for the free-speech chilling of IRS processing of conservative groups is unremarkable and to be expected.  The real question is: were the two groups treated equally once the applicant met the simple screening test of being on

the BOLO list?  The answer is that the processing of the applications took two vastly different routes – the normal 90-day

one for leftist groups and the crushing two-year route orchestrated by the IRS in DC for the conservative groups. 

 

The leftist posters didn’t even get to this key question because they had an opportunity (in their worldview-contaminated thought process)

to bash Fox News for making up the whole fake conspiracy.  BTW when the perpetrators of the IRS targeting scheme apologize for their grossly criminal actions doesn’t that by definition mean they did it and that it isn’t a fake conspiracy by Fox not even

a little bit? 

 

Maybe they’ll stumble on the correct answer here:

 

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2013/06/25/report-irs-screened-but-didnt-target-progressive-groups-n1627588

 

No, 'Progressive' Groups Weren't Targeted by the IRS Like Conservative Organizations Were

 

Yesterday's IRS news bulletin was a bit perplexing.  It was no real surprise that the agency had used

inappropriate 'BOLO' lists more widely and for longer than we'd previously known.  Sweeping malfeasance and subsequent dishonesty is par for the course with them at this point.  What was intriguing, though, was the apparent revelation that the IRS had also used key words like "progressive" and "occupy" during their screening process.  This begged the question, why didn't these facts come to light much earlier?  

 

Liberals and the IRS have been eager to tamp down the festering controversy for weeks, all while insisting that the abuse wasn't politically motivated -- a tale few Americans believe.  If the wrongful targeting affected both sides of

the spectrum, that would have represented solid evidence for the 'innocent incompetence' defense.  As I've written previously, pleading ineptitude boosts conservatives' case that the federal government has become too sprawling

and unaccountable, but it's still less damaging than leaving a general impression of deliberate partisan malice.  Are we to believe that as the latter assumption calcified in the public's imagination, the IRS and its defenders chose not to disclose the other side of the story?  

 

Remember, lefty groups had already stated that they weren't targeted, evidence abounds that left-leaning

applications sailed through while righty applications languished, the Inspector General's

report clearly showed a distinct ideological imbalance, and Stephen Miller conceded

under oath that right-leaning groups were exclusively victimized by the practice.  The IRS admitted and apologized

for their disparate treatment of conservatives, for crying out loud.  So why, after all of that, are we finally being informed that liberal

groups were ensnared in the scandal, too?  National Review's Eliana Johnson cuts

through the fog and makes some important distinctions that help illuminate the truth:

 

A November 2010 version of the list obtained by National Review Online, however, suggests

that while the list did contain the word “progressive,” screeners were in fact instructed to treat “progressive” groups differently from “tea party” groups. Whereas screeners were merely alerted that a designation of 501©(3) status “may not be appropriate” for applications containing the word ”progressive” – 501©(3) organizations are prohibited from conducting any political activities – they were told to send those of tea-party groups off IRS higher-ups for further scrutiny.  That means the applications of progressive groups could be approved on the spot by line agents, while those of tea-party groups could not. Furthermore,

the November 2010 list noted that tea-party cases were “currently being coordinated with EOT,” which stands for Exempt Organizations Technical, a group of tax lawyers in Washington, D.C. Those of progressive groups were not. 

 

So the terms employed during initial screening processes did include words like "progressive" (although

from what we know about the original 'BOLO' lists, they were overwhelmingly skewed toward conservative

descriptors), but only conservative applications were marked for additional scrutiny -- including micromanagement from Washington.  This abuse led to plainly uneven outcomes along ideological lines, as reported by USA Today:

 

In February 2010, the Champaign Tea Party in Illinois received approval of its tax-exempt status from the IRS in 90

days, no questions asked. That was the month before the Internal Revenue Service started singling out Tea Party groups for special treatment. There wouldn't be another Tea Party application approved for 27 months. In that time, the IRS approved perhaps dozens of applications from similar liberal and progressive groups, a USA TODAY review of IRS data shows. As applications

from conservative groups sat in limbo, groups with liberal-sounding names had their applications approved in as little as nine months. With names including words like "Progress" or "Progressive," the liberal groups applied for the same tax status and were engaged in the same kinds of activities as the conservative groups. 

 

Zero Tea Party conservative groups' applications were approved for more than two years, as dozens of lefty

groups were rubber-stamped.  Yes, it seems as though the word "progressive" appeared on some of those 'BOLO' lists (see update

below), but the screening and approval process went on as usual for those groups.  Not so for the other side, against whom Beltway managers directed added scrutiny, onerous follow-up questionnaires, and interminable delays.  

 

Also bear in mind two other elements of the IRS scandal: The targeting of conservative donors, and the wildly improper (and illegal) leaking of conservative groups' confidential donor lists to their political adversaries.  When liberals can provide

evidence that the IRS shipped, say, a private roster of Planned Parenthood's donors to the Susan B. Anthony List, then we'll talk.  That's a hypothetical.  In reality, the IRS was actually instructing pro-life groups not to picket Planned Parenthood clinics under penalty of

law, and inquiring as to the contents of their prayers.  

Some on the Left are seizing on yesterday's developments as "proof" that conservative "conspiracy theories" have at last been debunked, or whatever.  Nice try.  Johnson's piece, plus reams of additional evidence, belie that spin.

 I repeat: The IRS apologized for its wrongful actions against conservative groups.  It's not a conspiracy theory if the harmed party

elicits an apology from the culprit, based on the culprit's own internal review.

 

The term “progressive” appeared on a heavily redacted November 2010 ”Be On the Lookout” (BOLO) list released this week by Ways and Means Democrats. The term was used to help the IRS identify political activity that “may not be appropriate” among 501©(3) charities eligible for tax-deductible contributions. However, the targeting of conservative

groups largely focused on applicants for 501©(4) “social welfare organization” status, which shields groups from having to disclose their donors. The scrutinized “progressive” applications were not required to be sent to a special IRS unit for additional review — but tea party and conservative applications were subjected to extra scrutiny by 12 different working

groups within the IRS. Tea Party groups were also marked for extra scrutiny in the same document...Ways

and Means Democrats did not call any progressive victims of IRS targeting at the committee’s hearing on IRS victims.  “I do want to note that the minority was given the opportunity to call a witness, but did not present a witness that had been affected by taxpayer activity — by IRS activity. So, that’s why there is no minority witness at the table today,” Camp said at the

June 4 Ways and Means hearing, in response to Democratic Rep. Ron Kind’s complaint that no progressive victims were present at the hearing.

 

Camp later said at the hearing that he welcomed potential progressive victims to

come forward, but that no progressive groups had done so by June 4.

Committee Democrats now claim the targeting was bipartisan, so there's no "scandal" to see here.  If liberal organizations were equally --

or somewhat equally -- swamped with inappropriate questions, hyper scrutiny from IRS headquarters, and massive delays, why couldn't Cummings' brigade produce a single witness to testify to those facts?  And were any IRS working groups formed to review liberal organizations' applications?  The agency mobilized twelve such units for scrutinizing conservatives.

 

[TheGoodBits]

Irony: lumping NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, NY Times, Daily Kos together and completely rejecting their credibility while “forming” an opinion based on the copy/paste of thousands of words from a sketchy looking website that displayed a pop-up add saying “SUE THE IRS” when I foolishly clicked on it.

 

[yank]

Irony: lumping NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, NY Times, Daily Kos together and completely rejecting their credibility while “forming” an opinion based on the copy/paste of thousands of words from a sketchy looking website that displayed a pop-up add saying “SUE THE IRS” when I foolishly clicked on it.

 

Lesson - be concerned about the message not the messenger.

[TheGoodBits]

Irony: lumping NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, NY Times, Daily Kos together and completely rejecting their credibility while “forming” an opinion based on the copy/paste of thousands of words from a sketchy looking website that displayed a pop-up add saying “SUE THE IRS” when I foolishly clicked on it.

 

Lesson - be concerned about the message not the messenger.

 

Noted, with half a grain of salt in this case.

[CurseReversed]

Ranting about the bias and agenda of the press without mentioning left and right leaning MSM as both being equally guilty, is basically an admission that you have been victimized by that same propoganda. 

 

People should not be putting their trust in any of them on their own.   

 

Like Bang said it is way better to sift through a variety of sources and stich together your own truth, even admist prevalent lies, then it is to buy completely into one stream or like streams of information.  

 

The MSM act as opinion makers not as unbiased informers. 

Its is easier to see the longer you can separate yourself from them as primary sources.  And easier to see  for both right and left sources, when you can separate yourself from the partisan mindset that colors most of the news you watch.    Most people have no idea that their opinions are being given to them because they watch one news source habitually and assume they would notice if there was bias.  Meanwhile things like omissions are undetectable and when used strategically, enough to change the whole nature of the news one watches.

[WakkaWakka]

I think it's a clear indication that we should absolutely STOP just hopping on whatever notions the corrupt and compromised media tries to place in our heads.

Turn these people OFF.

They manipulate, they lie, and they omit facts (or fail to look for facts) that will change the entire way the scandal is viewed.

It's not shoddy journalism, it's a concerted effort to spread a narrative over facts. Facts obviously don't serve the agenda, and it's high time that is recognized. If it happened every once in a while, it could be blamed on bad reporting. But it happens so often that anyone should be able to tell the difference by now between reporting and commenting on the news, and creating the desired news on which to comment and push the agenda.

 

PLEASE be tired of it by now. PLEASE .. rather than defend that ****, recognize it for what it is, and what they've done to you.

At the very least,, at least recognize how often this manipulation happens... stop being used.

 

As I've said since my first forays into the Tailgate..   our biggest enemy that is dividing this country IS this corrupt and compromised media. They play us for fools, and use the foolishness they create to try and manipulate our process and subvert our country.

 

~Bang.

Is corporate sponsored misinformation shoveled out at the rate the MSM shovels it a bonafide conspiracy?

When I look at the 24 hour news cycle it is saddening. 99% is sensationalism/fluff/controversy. Rarely is it informative in an empowering way.

[Bang]

I think it's a clear indication that we should absolutely STOP just hopping on whatever notions the corrupt and compromised media tries to place in our heads.

Turn these people OFF.

They manipulate, they lie, and they omit facts (or fail to look for facts) that will change the entire way the scandal is viewed.

It's not shoddy journalism, it's a concerted effort to spread a narrative over facts. Facts obviously don't serve the agenda, and it's high time that is recognized. If it happened every once in a while, it could be blamed on bad reporting. But it happens so often that anyone should be able to tell the difference by now between reporting and commenting on the news, and creating the desired news on which to comment and push the agenda.

 

PLEASE be tired of it by now. PLEASE .. rather than defend that ****, recognize it for what it is, and what they've done to you.

At the very least,, at least recognize how often this manipulation happens... stop being used.

 

As I've said since my first forays into the Tailgate..   our biggest enemy that is dividing this country IS this corrupt and compromised media. They play us for fools, and use the foolishness they create to try and manipulate our process and subvert our country.

 

~Bang.

Is corporate sponsored misinformation shoveled out at the rate the MSM shovels it a bonafide conspiracy?

When I look at the 24 hour news cycle it is saddening. 99% is sensationalism/fluff/controversy. Rarely is it informative in an empowering way.

The Media is corrupted.

Almost none of it can be found to have no slant. 

However, the definition of slant is often a sliding scale, which can range from out and out propaganda to allowing a personal opinion of a reporter to color a story.

 

I think in most cases it is pretty obvious, 

I also think that if a person is to have the opinion of themselves as an intelligent informed person, when sources are continually engaging in lies distortions and manipulations, then this person MUST distance themselves from it.

 

.

The 24 hour news cycle is horrendous more because it doesn't wait to discover anything about a story.. they just run off on whichever tangent they want.

I'm not just talking about Fox, Fox is an egregious example of the worst of it, so I speak on them. But if someone ran over that pumpkin headed idiot Nancy grace with a dump truck, I'd consider them a national hero. 

CNN as a "news" organization is a JOKE.. they literally FIRED their entire investigative department, saying there was no story on earth that could not be discovered, vetted and developed on the internet".

They're a friggin' 24 hour TWITTER monitor. 

the thing is people who swear only by MSNBC are relatively few as compared to the rabid crowd that laps at the Murdoch-Limbaugh-Beck trough. (I mean, really who doesn't KNOW by NOW that RUPERT MURDOCH is a scumbag who is absolutely NOT interested in ANYTHING but himself? He's not even a 'murican!)

 

the term you use "corporate sponsored" is key. 

Used to be the FCC said that each network had to set aside an hour a day for news, and no commercial advertisements were allowed to be sold, for precisely the reason we see now.

(Fox: "the country is going to hell! Now here's a message on how to invest in gold to prepare for the coming economic catastrophe)

it's a ****ing SCAM.

the majority of the media is a scam, and people need to wake up to it.

 

~Bang

[Bang]

Hi Bang, I just wanted to stop in and show you that I am indeed one of those people you're complaining about. 

Hi!

nice to meet you.

perhaps you haven't noticed by the words I used up above., but I don't give a ****.

I'm tired of the propaganda. tired of the rhetoric, tired of this country continually having eat the bull**** from all of the cattle stampeding this way and that.

 

 

~Bang

[mistertim]

<Meandering Rant>

 

I honesty don't think I've ever before seen someone type so much yet say so little.

[NoCalMike]

Both sides of the MSM/Corporate have their biases, I don't think anyone will deny that regardless of their political leanings however Fox News falls into their own category of mouth-breathing nothingness. 

[yank]

Hi Bang, I just wanted to stop in and show you that I am indeed one of those people you're complaining about. 

Hi!

nice to meet you.

perhaps you haven't noticed by the words I used up above., but I don't give a ****.

I'm tired of the propaganda. tired of the rhetoric, tired of this country continually having eat the bull**** from all of the cattle stampeding this way and that.

 

 

~Bang

 

Wow first time I've seen someone actually make up a quote so they have a straw man to attack me with.

 

I didn't post that and I would say that is grounds for some suspension or something.  Creepy is what it is actually.

[Jumbo]

 

Hi Bang, I just wanted to stop in and show you that I am indeed one of those people you're complaining about. 

Hi!

nice to meet you.

perhaps you haven't noticed by the words I used up above., but I don't give a ****.

I'm tired of the propaganda. tired of the rhetoric, tired of this country continually having eat the bull**** from all of the cattle stampeding this way and that.

 

 

~Bang

 

Wow first time I've seen someone actually make up a quote so they have a straw man to attack me with.

 

I didn't post that and I would say that is grounds for some suspension or something.  Creepy is what it is actually.

It's not a device I like, but it's old hat in internet forums (including this one) and done often enough, especially in these threads. As long as there's no rule violation in the actual content or context, the act in and of itself has never been a violation. I'm surprised as long as you've been around and being so active on the net, this is news to you.

[SnyderShrugged]

http://washingtonexaminer.com/treasury-irs-targeted-292-tea-party-groups-just-6-progressive-groups/article/2532456

 

Treasury: IRS targeted 292 Tea Party groups, just 6 progressive groups

 

more at link

[Larry]

Now that's something that's actually relevent to the discussion.  Thanks for the actual information. 

[Bang]

Roll the heads that need rolling.

 

~Bang

[TheGoodBits]

http://washingtonexaminer.com/treasury-irs-targeted-292-tea-party-groups-just-6-progressive-groups/article/2532456

 

Treasury: IRS targeted 292 Tea Party groups, just 6 progressive groups

 

more at link

 

How many new applications did they receive from each? The numbers mean nothing, percentages more relevant. The time period in question, May 2010 to May 2012, was when the "Tea Party" was in full force and going crazy with new groups. Don't recall anything that would indicate a huge influx of new progressive orgs, who at the time were still basking in their 2008 victory.

 

Also, I haven't seen this confirmed anywhere, but it would seem that the massive influx of Tea Party orgs applying (incorrectly) for 501c4 was the reason for the IRS issuing the BOLO advisories. Helping their employees do their jobs accurately. I still have no issue with the policy. Flag as many phrases as you want. Progressive, blue state, etc etc, all in play along with Tea Party, I <3 Guns, Obamacare sux, or whatever.

 

This story has mostly blown over at this point, and people have already formed their opinion of it, but I'm not convinced it should have really been a scandal in the first place. Feel free to point out anything that would contradict that.

[SnyderShrugged]

In a letter to congressional Democrats, the inspector general also said that 100 percent of Tea Party groups seeking special tax status were put under IRS review, while only 30 percent of the progressive groups felt the same pressure.

[Larry]

Also, I haven't seen this confirmed anywhere, but it would seem that the massive influx of Tea Party orgs applying (incorrectly) for 501c4 was the reason for the IRS issuing the BOLO advisories.

 

Uh, I'll mention again, here, that as near as I can tell, the C4 classification was created and intended for people like the Tea Party. (I mentally think of the NRA and the ACLU as what I think are perfect examples of C4 organizations.)

Yeah, I do think that the Tea Party is more of what I think of as "front organization for the Republican Party" rather than "legitimate issue advocacy group which happens to support the party that's closer to them on that one issue".

But, I also admit that that's a really subjective "judgement call". One which I suspect is really tough to enact in the form of legislation or regulations.

 

----------

 

Now, whether the Tea Party (and similar groups) should be tax exempt, I think is a legitimate debate.  But it sure looks to me like, the way things stand right now, they sure fit the criteria. 

[TheGoodBits]

Also, I haven't seen this confirmed anywhere, but it would seem that the massive influx of Tea Party orgs applying (incorrectly) for 501c4 was the reason for the IRS issuing the BOLO advisories.

 

Uh, I'll mention again, here, that as near as I can tell, the C4 classification was created and intended for people like the Tea Party. (I mentally think of the NRA and the ACLU as what I think are perfect examples of C4 organizations.)

Yeah, I do think that the Tea Party is more of what I think of as "front organization for the Republican Party" rather than "legitimate issue advocacy group which happens to support the party that's closer to them on that one issue".

But, I also admit that that's a really subjective "judgement call". One which I suspect is really tough to enact in the form of legislation or regulations.

 

----------

 

Now, whether the Tea Party (and similar groups) should be tax exempt, I think is a legitimate debate.  But it sure looks to me like, the way things stand right now, they sure fit the criteria. 

 

They’re allowed to participate in politics as long as it isn’t

their main focus. That’s the definition I keep reading. How many Tea Party

groups weren’t primarily focused on politics?

 

[Larry]

They’re allowed to participate in politics as long as it isn’t their main focus. That’s the definition I keep reading. How many Tea Party groups weren’t primarily focused on politics?

But, the definition of "political activity" is "actively campaigning for or against individual candidates or parties".

An organization like the NRA can lobby, proselytize, "educate", or whatever, for all of the "a gun in every pickup" causes they want, and that's not over the line. As long as they don't say "Vote for Senator Lardbutt". (And even the latter is allowed, as long as they only do it occasionally.)

Yeah, the rule says they can't be political. But the definition of political is a lot narrower than the English definition.

[TheGoodBits]

In a letter to congressional Democrats, the inspector general also said that 100 percent of Tea Party groups seeking special tax status were put under IRS review, while only 30 percent of the progressive groups felt the same pressure.

 

Thanks- that's an issue.

[twa]

Roll the heads that need rolling.

 

~Bang

I'd suggest lopping off the ones taking the 5th

[mistertim]

Roll the heads that need rolling.

 

~Bang

I'd suggest lopping off the ones taking the 5th

Why do you hate the constitution?   

[twa]

Roll the heads that need rolling.

 

~Bang

I'd suggest lopping off the ones taking the 5th

Why do you hate the constitution?   

I don't, just those that attempt to use it in a manner befitting toilet paper.

if you can't testify to a oversight panel you need to be removed.....you can then use it all you want

[@DCGoldPants]

Darrell Issa and the overblown scandals

This is how a scandal implodes:

First, the head of the investigation overpromises. “This was a targeting of

the president’s political enemies, effectively, and lies about it during the

election year so that it wasn’t discovered until afterwards,” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House oversight

committee, said in May of the IRS targeting scandal. He later declared

President Obama’s press secretary a “paid liar” for stating otherwise.

Next, facts emerge to undermine the investigator’s presuppositions.

Documents released by Ways and Means committee Democrats this week show that

the IRS, in addition to targeting tea party groups, also had “Be on the Lookout” (BOLO) lists for groups using

descriptors such as “progressive,” “health care legislation,” “medical

marijuana,” “paying national debt” and “green energy.”

Finally, evidence surfaces that the investigator stacked the deck. Tuesday

night, the Hill newspaper quoted a spokesman for Treasury’s inspector general,

Russell George, saying the group was asked by Issa “to narrowly focus on tea party organizations.” The

inspectors knew there were other terms, but “that was outside the scope of our

audit.”

Certainly, something went badly wrong at the IRS that caused groups to be

targeted because of ideology. But it’s nothing like the conspiracy Issa cooked

up in which the president and his men supposedly used the tax authority to

attack their political foes.

The White House deserves some of the blame for letting things get this far;

a full release of information by the administration at the outset would have

put the controversy to rest quickly. But the collapse of the Issa-driven

scandal has reinforced a growing impression in the capital that ultimately will

help Obama: The chairman is full of it.

 

 More form the link.