IRS Targets Tea Party

[Left]

More bad news for the Tea Party persecution complex:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/24/irs-chief-tea-party-occupy-tax

The Internal Revenue Service's screening of groups seeking tax-exempt status was broader and lasted longer than has been previously disclosed, the new head of the agency said on Monday.

An internal IRS document obtained by the Associated Press said that besides "tea party", lists used by screeners to pick groups for close examination also included the terms "Israel", ''progressive" and "occupy". The document said an investigation into why specific terms were included was ongoing.

I figured if they were actually doing something like that, they would be scrutinizing both right and left...
...Hmm.
...*Shrug*

[Telarus]

Hmmm, seems like it's not quite that cut and dry:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2013/07/03/irs-bolos-whats-the-problem/

George testified before Congress last month that his office was unable to determine whether any cases in the audit involved progressive groups. He said the names "in many instances were neutral, in that you couldn't necessarily attribute it to one particular affiliation or another."





Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), whose questioning prompted that response, said in a letter to George last week that his testimony was "at best incomplete, if not misleading." He also suggested that George should appear again before the House Oversight Committee to "explain himself."

Despite the recent revelations, the BOLO could still be problematic for the IRS. The list's "emerging issues" category included only conservative terms at the outset, raising questions about why the IRS prioritized conservative groups but none from the left.

The term "progressive" appeared in a separate part of the BOLO, under the "touch and go historical" criteria.

Questions remain about when and how the progressive terms were used, as well as whether BOLO categories other than "emerging issues" were even relevant to the audit. The IRS and George's office said this week that they're still looking into those matters.

George's audit focused primarily on the controversial "emerging issues" category. That section evolved over time, with the IRS using exclusively conservative terms in 2010 but switching to more generic criteria in July 2011, after an agency official, Lois Lerner — who has been placed on administrative leave — ordered changes.

George has said the IRS did not use progressive criteria to identify groups involved in campaign intervention. "We are reviewing whether these criteria led to expanded scrutiny for other reasons and why these criteria were implemented," his office said in a statement on Wednesday.

Another problem with the BOLO: Its guidelines directed agents to forward tea party cases for further review, but they allowed processors to approve other types of groups "on merit if applicable" without elevating those cases.

[Doktor Howl]

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/irs-exposed-social-security-numbers-tens-thousands-political-donors-6C10578535

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/irs-exposed-social-security-numbers-tens-thousands-political-donors-6C10578535

Oh FFS

It's incompetence all the way down. 

I mean, clearly the organizations that filed those documents are also to blame, but is the IRS even looking at the things before they put them online?