Patrick Howley:
House Ways and Means Committee chairman Dave Camp slapped down Democratic claims that progressive groups were also improperly targeted by the IRS between 2010 and 2012, stifling a growing media narrative that the IRS targeting was not partisan.
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(c)(3) charities eligible for tax-deductible contributions.
However, the targeting of conservative groups largely focused on applicants for 501(c)(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.
Nevertheless, the New York Times reported, “taken together, the documents seem to change the terms of a scandal that exploded over accusations that the I.R.S. had tried to stifle a nascent conservative political movement. Instead, the dispute now revolves around questionable sorting tactics used by I.R.S. application screeners.”
While Camp’s Ways and Means staff noted that progressive groups were also featured on an IRS’ BOLO list, alongside tea party groups, it pointed out that only tea party groups had their donors threatened, had confidential information leaked, were sent “inappropriate and intrusive” questions, and had their applications delayed for more than two years, according to currently available evidence.
Camp’s staff also noted that only tea party groups were mentioned as having been targeted in a Treasury Inspector General’s report on the IRS scandal. Nearly 100 conservative or tea party applications were given extra scrutiny, according to the IG report.
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.
“It is one thing to flag a group, it is quite another to repeatedly target and abuse conservative groups. Tea Party groups were not just on a BOLO they (1) were sent intrusive and inappropriate questions, (2) had their donors threatened with gift taxes and (3) had their confidential information leaked,” said Ways and Means Committee spokesperson Sarah Swinehart.
If those specific ”progressives,” hated and targeted OBAMA I wouldn’t be surprised that the iRS made them jump through an extra hoop or two.
But I doubt they were ordered to share the contents of their prayers, their planned speaking engagements for the next few years or the list of each and every donor.
Helping Obama with his re-election seems to be the one thing these IRS agents had in mind.
Progressives were on the BOLO list for expedited processing.
I’m guessing that a majority of the Tea Party groups that republicans are whining about probably didn’t qualify for the tax exempt status they were seeking. If they weren’t engaging in disqualifying political activities before, they probably were after the GOP decided to appropriate the Tea Party identity to further their own partisan political objectives.
The idea that an understaffed IRS enforcement division should have disregarded political-sounding names when sorting through a flood of new applications for a tax exempt status that’s contingent on the applying organization not being primarily political is totally ludicrous. If suspiciously named conservative organizations greatly outnumbered suspiciously named liberal organizations, that’s not the fault of the IRS. Anyone who observed the proliferation of Tea Party-related events should realize that such new groups were popping up like mushrooms. Nothing comparable to that was happening on the liberal end of the political spectrum. It’s not reasonable to expect matching organization counts on either side.
@Greg:
Sources with actual numbers since new liberal groups have been popping up for a long time especially during the “evil” years of G.W. Bush or this an opinion as opposed to a statement of fact?
It’s a personal observation, which would qualify it as an opinion. I haven’t sought out any supporting numbers.
I personally noted a lot more Tea Party activity and new related groups than liberal activity and new liberal groups. Bear in mind that I live in Indiana, a rather conservative state. I think the democrats have had many of their various organizations in place for a long time, however. Those on the left have always tended toward community organizing and political activism. New organizations on the left didn’t pop up like mushrooms, because the community-level organizations on the left have always been there.
@Greg:
Greg, if they don’t qualify or even if someone within the IRS doesn’t WANT them to qualify, then turn them down. Instead, we had harassment, audits and private information turned over to Obama’s political allies.
Give it up; this cannot be rationalized or justified. It’s just wrong.