Facts: A Good Thing

Ever since the IRS "scandal"was reported  I've had doubts.  Wondered how much of the hype was Fox and right-wing radio talkers jumping to wish-fulfilling conclusions.  God knows they've been looking for an Obama administration scandal—ever since our President put his hand on the Bible to take the oath of office for his first term.

 

The newly-decided Citizens United case changed eligibility criteria for some organizations seeking 501 (c)(4) tax exempt status; sometimes a few words (or even one word) in a law or regulations can make a big difference.  One change had to do with how much an organization is involved  in political activities.   

 

IRS employees in the Cincinnati office were responsible for evaluating the influx of post-Citizens United applications.  I imagine someone in that office came up with what he thought would be an efficient way to begin processing the requests for exemption.  They would determine, first, whether the organizations met the newly-mandated criteria insofar as political involvement goes.  The "scandal" was based on the complaint that IRS bureaucrats applied greater scrutiny to the Tea Party and other conservatives' applications.  

 

Had I worked in that Cincinnati office,  I might have come up with a similar preliminary sorting method myself.  That is,  if I had seen the abundant, hard-to-miss news coverage of Tea Party rallies.  Remember all those signs?  Mean-spirited, hate-filled ones in many cases.  Blatantly political.  I don't remember any rallies that didn't look, to me, totally political!  So, it stands to reason that anything that carried the "Tea Party" name, would be carefully scrutinized.   Of course a person would put those questionable applications in one pile to be investigated further.   A no-brainer.

Apparently 176 organizations seeking this category of tax exemption have been approved  since the year 2010. This  IRS data is likely  "to confuse conservatives and validate liberal criticisms of Fox news and the Tea Party’s cynical persecution complex," says Omar Rivero in his piece at Occupy Democrats, http://occupydemocrats.com/scandal-falls-flat-irs-approved-twice-as-many-conservative-groups-as-liberal-groups/ .  

- 122 conservative groups
- 48 Liberal/non-conservative groups
- 6 unknown


After writing this, I watched a related video— posted under the linked piece.  Do watch it for some solid information and insights.    


We'll stay tuned.