When the IRS Targeted Liberals

[crossfire]

While few are defending the Internal Revenue Service for targeting some 300 conservative groups, there are two critical pieces of context missing from the conventional wisdom on the “scandal.” First, at least from what we know so far, the groups were not targeted in a political vendetta - but rather were executing a makeshift enforcement test (an

Comments

[alexvdl]

So... people making ethics complaints, and the IRS then investigating them, is the same as the IRS targeting conservative groups? I'm not saying that the IRS targeted those groups maliciously. But these two things are NOT the same.

[crossfire]

Correct.

What do you think about the IRS targeting All Saint's and the NAACP? Is that the same as the IRS targeting tea party groups?

[alexvdl]

I think that if there is an ethics complaint, that the IRS is obligated to look into it. The articles linked even mentioned it. "The tax code bars nonprofits, including churches, from endorsing or campaigning against candidates in an election." So two years after the election, when the allegations of campaigning against Bush came to light through a complaint to the IRS, the IRS investigated it. Same charges were leveled against the NAACP, the IRS investigated that as well. THAT article mentions that both liberal and conservative groups leveled numerous complaints against one another (in that election year), and the IRS looked into them as well.

In the cases mentioned in this article, outside groups are using the IRS as a tool to bring discredit upon their opponents. In the current scandal, it's all endemic to the IRS.

[crossfire]

Do you think the IRS should continue to investigate non-profits to make sure they are not endorsing or campaigning against candidates in an election?

ETA: Ah! I understand what you're saying now. And I agree. The false equivalency I was talking about stems from conservatives pretending like the current scandal is a Librul Conspiracy, rather than a problem endemic to the IRS.

(Sorry for multiple edits. It's late. :-/)

[alexvdl]

That's a pretty tricky question. I think it is necessary to make sure that groups given tax-exempt status are following the rules that govern that status, but it seems the way it's being handled leads towards "punitive investigation". I don't know that there is a way to overhaul the complaint system to get around that

[redstar826]

I think the tricky thing is that for smaller groups, an IRS investigation can break the group up entirely. These investigations can be time consuming and expensive for organizations to deal with. For a larger group, it might not be a big deal, but for little organizations with few or no staff people, it can be a huge problem because these investigations can be pretty involved and often require the help of lawyers for organizations to get through them

[alexvdl]

Exactly!

Thank you for sharing that personal account of how these investigations affect people. I'm sorry that your group had to go through that, and I'm glad you guys got helped through it and exonerated.