Politics of the IRS

[ZenGum]

Umm, foreigner here, not following this too closely, but ...

... seems to me that when overtly political groups start complaining that the IRS screws them around when they try to register themselves as non-political charities, that just means the IRS are doing their jobs, doesn't it? The fact that the complaints are coming from the TEA party and Republicans itself proves the complaints unfounded.

It might be an issue if this is being used against one side of politics and not the other, but for that we'd need to see evidence of left-wing political groups putting in dodgy charity registrations and getting approvals. Has this been seen?

[Lamplighter]

by Classic:

...Since she is invoking her 5th, we may never know.

Not necessarily true.
Written records will show what final decisions were made. For example...
Were there actual denials of legitimate "service" organizations made
by the IRS, because their name sounded like a "tea party" group ?
If so, then the legal case can be made.

by Z:

It might be an issue if this is being used against one side of politics and not the other,
but for that we'd need to see evidence of left-wing political groups putting
in dodgy charity registrations and getting approvals.
Has this been seen?

Exactly.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

... seems to me that when overtly political groups start complaining that the IRS screws them around when they try to register themselves as non-political charities, that just means the IRS are doing their jobs, doesn't it? The fact that the complaints are coming from the TEA party and Republicans itself proves the complaints unfounded.

It might be an issue if this is being used against one side of politics and not the other, but for that we'd need to see evidence of left-wing political groups putting in dodgy charity registrations and getting approvals. Has this been seen?

Exactly. The IRS was doing its job scrutinizing organizations that were trying to get out of paying taxes. And while I've heard claims that liberal organizations were not being scrutinized, I haven't seen a shed of evidence to support it.

The IRS chief invoking the 5th has the appearance of looking bad, but in a clearly hostile environment, it's a smart move. They are trying to nail her for political reasons. The records can be subpoenaed. There's always a paper trail. If she broke the law, it will be easy to prove.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

The fact that the complaints are coming from the TEA party and Republicans itself proves the complaints unfounded.

No, not true.
This whole thing came about because of an explosion of right wing political groups popping up claiming 501(C)4 status. But under our system, even the most scurrilous deserve equal treatment under the law. Either let them pretend they are doing “social welfare”, or bitch-slap them and send them away.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

Umm, foreigner here, not following this too closely, but ...
Has this been seen?

Yes, yes it has.

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

No, not true.
This whole thing came about because of an explosion of right wing political groups popping up claiming 501(C)4 status. But under our system, even the most scurrilous deserve equal treatment under the law. Either let them ALL pretend they are doing “social welfare”, or bitch-slap them ALL and send them away.

ALL by me.

[xoxoxoBruce]

No, you can't just blanket distribute exemptions. You're making the assumption that ALL of them are honest, god-fearing, tea party, patriots. Even if ALL the applications appear to be created equally, that's bullshit.

Whenever there's a tax loophole, there's sharks circling, just waiting for a surge in activity they can slide in with. Applications for tax avoidance, and opportunities for money laundering, will always have to scrutinized.