From the office of U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski:
U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) today issued the following statement on allegations made against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS):
“If IRS employees used taxpayer funds to target other taxpayers based on philosophy or political agenda, then that’s an outrageous breach of trust that must not be tolerated. The IRS must apply the law in a nonpartisan way. If IRS personnel engaged in these kinds of practices, they must be held accountable.
“As Chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, I am doubly outraged because this issue was not disclosed by the acting IRS Commissioner or the Inspector General for Tax Administration during the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee hearing I chaired just two days before news outlets began reporting on this issue.
“We need to get the facts. The Inspector General’s report is expected to be issued later this week. I look forward to seeing his report so we know what happened and what needs to be done to stop any impermissible activities and fix any wrongdoing.”
Looks like Babs caught the same affliction as Obama, Jay Carney, and Holder – they can’t stop saying the word IF IF IF IF IF IF…… regarding the IRS tyrants. Earth to all of them:
The IRS already admitted wrong-doing you NUMBSKULLS !!! Why can’t any of you handle or admit that pesky little thing called TRUTH !!
The IRS already issued an apology for doing it. Sorry you silly little progressive, there is no Ifs. They did it.
Big dogs are setting up for the scapegoats to take the fall. Obviously the Big Dogs ordered it.
I originally thought this was just deplorable but the more I read from multiple news sources on both sides of the spectrum I fell that the only issue they didn’t go far enough. It seems they had a list of words for progressive or liberal groups too and the fact is many of these groups are abusing their status as tax exempt. Should a group who spent 70 million on the election and none on social welfare projects be tax exempt? My only issue is that some of the questions they asked clearly crossed the line of what they could ask or needed to ask to figure out that many of them where in fact not social welfare groups and then still approved their tax exempt status, in some cases retroactively.
Latest reports this morning are that the EPA also engaged in inequal and deliberate targeting of conservatives. Businesses owned by conservatives were charged maximum allowable fees and what’s described as “green” groups got waivers. Cdev fact is regardless of the eventual outcome the delay and harrassment costs time and money and it was intended to be that way in order to render these groups ineffective.
These groups seemed to be abusing the tax code. The code calls for groups to be social welfare groups. THey can advocate a political position but it should not be what they are mostly doing. Moveon.org is one of the groups which was singled out. Do you think they qaulify as a social welfare group. Is Crossroads a socialwelfare group? When your application says you will spend no money on political issues and then later on say you will buy advertising stating that Americans should impeach the president!
Cdev you aren’t understanding the law. These groups are free to espouse any political position they like they just can’t actively campaign for a single candidate. You can criticize the law itself of course, but the targeting and inequal government intrusion into a legal activity smacks of yes I’ll say it – facism.
The law says they can espouse a political view but that they mostly must be involved in social welfare. Not politics. If you are spending most of your budget on campaign ads you are not following the law. It is especially egregious if you said in your application you are not doing any political work. Further more these groups don’t pay taxes!!!!!
Naem one social welfare activity Moveon.org or Crossroads financed in last year!!!!!
I always thought Moveon was strictly political. This is straight from their site:
“The MoveOn family of organizations is not-for-profit and funded entirely by small dollar donations from our 7 million members — no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way.
Our MoveOn family is made up of a couple of different pieces. MoveOn.org Civic Action, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, focuses on education and advocacy, as well as on building the progressive movement by encouraging and supporting the development of more grassroots leaders. MoveOn.org Political Action, a federal PAC, is focused on demonstrating MoveOn members’ power at the ballot box and electing candidates who reflect our members’ values.”
So my question should they be paying taxes or not. Additionally because of their status as a 501c4 they do not have to discolose their donors so we have no way of telling if they have all small donors or one big one!!!!
Congress could end the silliness by changing the rules on 50’s to require disclosure of donations! Of course I suspect neither party establishment wants to end it and the TEA party folks all are happy with the not paying taxes part and the large donations they recieve from some people who love to be anonomous!
Trust me if that letter from Schumer hit Bab’s desk – her signature would have been on it as well.
You want real outrage – read how Obama’s 1/2 brother got a 501(c)3 approval from the head of the IRS in just 30 days when he was running an illegal non-profit for years.
http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/14/irs-official-lerner-approved-exemption-for-obama-brothers-charity/
If these groups were singled out for political reasons, then someone should resign.
If these groups were singled out then someone should go to jail and if anyone in Obama’s cabinet or even Obama himself directed or was aware of this behavior from the IRS he or they should be removed from office. This is a very, very serious charge and flies in the face of what the constitution is supposed to guard us against. It’s nothing short of tyranny by the government against what it perceives as political enemies.
Oh, my, Money Tree, strong words. And I agree with every one of them. Democrat or Republican.
I disagree – they should go to jail. They have broken Federal law!
Feel free to identify the law in question. I’m sure we would all appreciate your articulate understand and explanation of federal code.
There are multiple laws several of which come under the umbrella of “equal protection” from the constitution. If your suggestion is that there’s no legal protection from the IRS singling people out based upon political persuasion, color, gender, sexual preference or any other legal and practical descriptive group then I’ll tell you your wrong and not only are you wrong you don’t deserve a free and fair society and belong in Cuba, or Venezuela or any other place where other morons such as you think freedom means so little. If you make it a habit of voting what a shame that someone like you cancels out the vote of a sane person.
Thank you Money Tree – but you also left out one important element here – the 1st Amendment right to speak their mind freely. That’s why it is particularly disturbing that only groups that oppose this regime seem to have been the target of the all-powerful IRS. So – as long as they complied with the 501(3) rules, and there doesn’t seem to be any FBI case against them, why were they targeted? And if you’re thinking of a reply about some low level IRS employee pulling this stunt, you don’t know how bureaucracies function. This sounds exactly like a targeting of a group of people as stated above and that is against Federal law.
501(c)4 of the tax code if they spent more money on politics than social welfare programs in the last year. If they knowingly submitted an application with intentionally false or misrepresented their goals to the IRS they broke a law as well. I do not agree that all the groups did this and I think a great deal of this falls on congresses fault since they do not want to issue guidance in the form of additional laws to fix the gaps created in the section of the tax code by Citizens United.
It can however be said that the groups who are mascarading as social welfare groups for a tax exemption or to be able to conceal donors and money for political campaigns are breaking the law and should be punished. I hope the NEW IRS commisioner vigorously goes after all groups on both ends of the spectrum and does it publiclly.
Thanks Babs. As usual you are a dollar short and a day late. Didn’t Obama make the IRS his enforcement arm for obamacare? That should work out well. Will Holder do a better job investigating the IRS then he did with “fast and furious”? All he did w/ F&F was to lie, obstruct and conceal with the full approval of the Obama admin. The whole administration as well as most of congress are corrupt but lets give them another chance and vote ’em all back in again.
All that may be true but you do get that free phone…it’s so hard to choose when they’re offering phones.
Yes the free Reagan-Bush phone!
What law did the IRS break? Just wunderin cause they audited me a few years back and I think they targeted me.
Notice how she plays down the headlines, and more than likely the facts, and says “employees.” This came from the top. Employees in the IRS act on directives from above. From how far above? I think the IRS director had signed one of the threatening letters sent to one of the groups who alleged being targeted. And she would not act without orders – that is for sure.
The language kills me – “employees.” Laughable. Look for this conscious use of prose from anyone who might be involved. Nobody will know nothing, and will point fingers. This will amount to nothing. Scary times my friends.
You really do seem to be surprised by the vindictiveness of mid level managers who act on their own initiative. Have you been living or working here long?
“mid level managers” ? It goes higher than that. To think anything else either indicates one is stupid or in denial. This was an orchestrated, calculated endeavor meant to cripple political opposition.
When was the IRS director last a she? March…..of 2008!
Well, yes and no. The Director of IRS, Exempt Organizations is Holly O. Paz. I just was shown a letter dated in 2013 and signed by her and postmarked Cincinnati, Ohio.
As I said in January, way too early for a lame duck president.
There’s nothing more disturbing in any workplace than a few petty vindictive people intent on preventing work from being accomplished. Regrettably it has become human nature. Forty, fifty, and sixty year old men behaving like elementary school children – eager to hog the ball for themselves to prevent others from doing anything productive, and then lobbing criticism about the other person’s inability to do anything.
You’re right, the people who were sent to Washington to oppose Obamas ultra liberal policies actually doing what they were sent there to do, should be held accountable. Not the corrupt, borderline tyrant.
You realize the head of the IRS at the time was a woman? She personally signed some of the letters sent to these organizations? And you think this is a effort headed by a “few petty vindictive people?”
I can’t quite gather your tone from your terse reply (the Internet does limit one in this way) so I will respond based on the content of your reply, not the intended tone or timbre of your comment. If I am off base I apologize, so . . .
Either you are ignorant or a plant. This was a calculated, widespread effort by individuals from the top down. If you think Obama, Holder, and the honchos at the IRS were not aware of this then you would be better served to forfeit your voting rights. This whole fiasco is slap in the face to the rights of American citizens and the Constitution. Those responsible need to be punished. Severely.
Sadly, this is the defacto standard for this administration. Some underlings will be fired (with benefits and pay I bet) and that will be the end of it. Obama, or holder, has basically said nothing regarding this. Embarrassing.
The Director of that Division was and is a woman but not the head of the entire IRS. Her name is Holly O. Paz. Google her name and see the connections to Obama and his political organization and campaign fundraising.
BARBARA, you suck u piece of s..t..but then you know that…find that tube to suck up….we know the truth…so sad you don’t know, and the outlandish way you treat the voter of md….and the rest of the good people of this country..but your not smart enough, to know the different s just keep getting the dumb ass voter from the 3 county in md to vote for you and the rest of us suffer!!!
so sad…you’ll be gone soon!!…time on our side!!
When some IRS employees are indicted then the truth will begin to emerge. Then they will begin to tell who directed them to do it and when. And the thread will go very far up the chain of command and beyond the IRS. Will it go to the White House? My guess is yes. And that’s why everyone is scrambling to find a defensible position that no law was broken therefore no indictments necessary therefore everyone gets a free pass.