all sounds perfectly legitimate to me. That is the IRS investigation of Crossroads, not crossroads trying to get 503c-4 status, which is of course ridiculous!
she targeted crossroads and other conservative groups... we have gone over this before.. you have seen the emails from her and the statements admitting to targeting. the cover was 503c ... the facist jackboot tactic was the targeting.
http://www.theminorityreportblog.co...s-show-irs-hq-control-of-tea-party-targeting/ As the 2012 presidential election drew nearer, Levin sent a series of letters to the IRS intensifying his campaign against predominantly conservative nonprofit groups: September 27, 2012: Levin asks for copies of the answers to IRS exemption application question 15 â a question about planned political expenditures â from four specific groups: Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, Priorities USA, Americans for Prosperity, and Patriot Majority USA. October 17, 2012: Miller informs Levin, âAs discussed in our previous responses dated June 4, 2012, and August 24, 2012, the IRS cannot legally disclose whether the organizations on your list have applied for tax exemptions unless and until such application is approved.â Miller, however, then informs Levin that Americans for Prosperity and Patriot Majority have been approved, but the IRS has no records for Crossroads and Priorities USA. October 23, 2012: Levin writes to again express his dissatisfaction with the IRS handling of âsocial welfareâ (501(c)(4) organizations insisting that IRS guidance âmisinterprets the lawâ by allowing any political activity. He again demands an answer as to whether the four organizations he listed in his previous letter were primarily engaged in the promotion of social welfare. He also seeks copies of tax exempt revocation letters sent due to c4 political activities, as well as statistics on how many c4s have been notified that they may be in violation due to political activities. In perhaps the most revealing letter from the IRS to Levin, Miller on June 4, 2012, takes 16 pages to explain to the senator what IRS regulations and policies may and may not be used to evaluate political groups and assures him that the agency has considerable leeway in picking and choosing which groups would be subject to additional scrutiny.
http://jds-midknightreview.blogspot.com/2014/04/a-timeline-for-lois-learner.html January 21, 2010: Citizenâs United Ruling : Supreme Court issues ruling in Citizens United case, which would lead to an active campaign by Democrats against conservative groups â a campaign Lerner was well aware of and reacted to. January 27, 2010: President Obama Goes on the Attack : In his State of the Union address, President Obama states: âWith all due deference to separation of powers, last week the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests â including foreign corporations â to spend without limit in our elections. I don't think American elections should be bankrolled by America's most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities.â March-April 2010: IRS Targeting Begins : According to TIGTA, the IRSâs Determinations Unit âbegan searching for other requests for exemption involving the Tea Party, Patriots, 9/12 and IRC § 501(c)(4) applications involving political sounding names, e.g., 'We the People' or 'Take Back the Country.'" September 26, 2010: White House Steps Up Attacks: David Axelrod, then-senior advisor to President Obama, referred to Crossroads GPS and similar groups as âfront groups for special interests. These are front groups for foreign-controlled companies, which would have been banned under the bill that we put through Congress, and they don't want the American people to know, and the American people ought to be alert to that." October 12, 2010: Democrat Leaders Join Attack: Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin urges the IRS to investigate the tax status of Crossroads GPS and âother orgsâ â though no other organizations were named. October 19, 2010: Lerner on Alert: Speaking to students at Duke University, Lois Lerner states that 501(c)(4) organizations were spending money on campaign activity in the wake of the Citizens United decision and claimed, â[E]verybody is screaming at us, âfix it now before the electionâ¦.â February 2011: Lerner Calls Conservatives âDangerous,â Start to Take Control: Lois Lerner sends email to IRS employees âTea Party Matter very dangerous â¦.Cincy should probably NOT have these cases.â March 24, 2011: Democrats Step Up Attacks : DCCC launches website to âexpose donors of Crossroads GPS.â June 3, 2011: Congressional Inquiries Begin: Chairman Camp sends letter to Commissioner Shulman inquiring about IRS targeting of taxpayers who donated money to conservative groups, as well as information regarding audits of 501(c)(4) organizations. June 19, 2012: White House Continues to Attack: President Obamaâs lawyer demands that Crossroads GPS disclose its donors, saying in a complaint to the Federal Election Commission that the group is plainly a âpolitical committeeâ subject to federal reporting requirements. February 1, 2012: Democrats Continue to Attack : National Public Radio reports that Senate Democrats, led by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), want to investigate groups such as Crossroads GPS. July 10, 2012: Lernerâs Mindset Revealed : Lois Lerner, in response to a story sent to her regarding the complaint to the FEC against Crossroads GPS replies âPerhaps the FEC will save the day.â July 17, 2012: Lerner Starts to Prepare Cover Story : Lerner sent an email to Holly Paz and Nikole Flax offering comments on a talking point that referred to an âuptick in political advocacy cases,â drafted for then-Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement Steve Miller. However, Lerner admits that, âI know we don't have published SOI statsâ to support such a claim." [See letter to DOJ] July 27, 2012: Democrats Attack, Again : Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) sends another letter to the IRS regarding Crossroads GPS and others, seeking a probe and status. December 14, 2012: IRS Leaks : Crossroads GPSâs application is leaked to ProPublica, though the tax-exempt status of the group had not been determined, a violation of federal law. November 2, 2012: Lerner Misleads TIGTA : Lerner sends misleading response to TIGTA investigatory audit questionnaire. [See letter to DOJ] January 4, 2013: Lerner Leaps Into Action : Lerner organizes a meeting with Democracy 21 and also with the Office of Chief Counsel and the Office of Tax Policy at the Department of the Treasury for January 4. This begins a series of specific actions by Lerner that targets only conservative groups. [See letter to DOJ] January 4, 2013: Lerner Pressures Review Committee : Lerner inquires to the status of Crossroads, and finds that the group had not been selected for audit. She subsequently sent an email to the Director of Examinations in Dallas, TX, Nanette Downing, demanding to know why the group had not yet been audited. In her email to Downing, she notes that she wants all moves regarding Crossroads to be coordinated in DC. [See letter to DOJ] January 24, 2013: Lerner Ponders Job for Obama Organization : In response to a news story about the formation of the Presidentâs Organizing For Action, a 501(c)(4), Lerner remarked to EO Senior Technical Advisor Sharon Light, âOhâmaybe I can get the DC office job!â [See letter to DOJ] January 31, 2013: Lerner Attempts to Influence Independent Appeals Process : In an email to the Chief of IRS Appeals, Chris Wagner, Lerner offers unsolicited advice on the independent appeals process notwithstanding a prohibition against such contact. [See letter to DOJ] May 10, 2013: Lerner Misleads Public : At an American Bar Association function, Lois Lerner, director of the IRSâs Exempt Organizations Division, publicly apologizes for what she claimed were inappropriate actions by the Cincinnati office of the IRS to subject conservative groups to extra scrutiny. See the full Ways and Means report, here.
I just knew, after your nuanced response yesterday, that a wall of words was coming. And... there it is.
what misdirection... pizoe's "nuanced" "they did not specifically target conservatives" denial... vs quotes from Learner specifically targeting conservatives and a factual timeline (wall of words).
Frankly, I can't think of anyone that is more deserving of the A Congressional Medal of Honor than Lois Lerner. Thank God for honest hard working public servants such as she. Any suggestion that Mr. Rove's political organization known as "Crossroads" is primarily a social welfare agency is ludicrous. I'm still chuckling at the balls this guy has to assert such. Standard IRA practice is to select for audit those returns offering the best odds of significant recoveries exceeding the cost of audit, or returns that have a high probability of being fraudulent. Naturally, a clearly political organization attempting to file as a "social welfare organization" deserves to be high up on the to-be-audited-list! Everyone knows this -- Congress is certainly aware of this, since the IRA is, after all, a demon of Congress's own creation. You go girl!
Why does it matter? The Bible is tripe in any case. This is like debating whether Snow White sounded like Prince Charles, as though her mouth were full of mashed potatoes, or a Cockney street urchin. Obviously if Jesus was born in a stable among cattle ("lowing" cattle at that!) then wouldn't he have been rather "low class". [I'm hard pressed to think of any Rockefellers bedded down with Cattle in recent years.] No doubt then Mr. Jesus' native tongue was gutter Hebrew. Oh, I forgot, he was God, so he could speak any language he felt like speaking!
Just a small but important correction Jem. You wrote : "...501(c) (4) statusâwhich is reserved for social welfare groups that engage in political activity." 503c-4 isn't "reserved" for such groups at all. Social welfare groups that don't engage in political activities can qualify for 503c-4!!! 503c-4 is for social welfare groups. Under 503c-4, these groups are permitted to engage in certain limited types of political activity so long as it is a minor part of their activities. Under the current IRS Rules, groups whose activities are primarily political in nature, e.g., political fund raising, are not qualified as 503c-4. The IRS has used the 50% mark for determining whether a groups activities are primarily political or social welfare in nature. The IRS is working on new rules that they hope will be more objective and leave less room for interpretation.
Once again... the issue is targeting. You have been trying to argue how to interpret the law. Arguendo, as long as your attempts at enforcement do not target your political opponents but are applied evenly... you are not targeting. here... the IRS admitted they were targeting conservatives... and you have been Sorosing this jackbooted application of the law ever since. You realize you are pre-fascist and arguing in support of fascism ?