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Strassel: The IRS Scandal Started at the Top
Wall St. Journal ^ | 5/17/2013 | Kimberly Strassel

Posted on 05/17/2013 3:46:18 AM PDT by SueRae

Was the White House involved in the IRS's targeting of conservatives? No investigation needed to answer that one. Of course it was.

President Obama and Co. are in full deniability mode, noting that the IRS is an "independent" agency and that they knew nothing about its abuse. The media and Congress are sleuthing for some hint that Mr. Obama picked up the phone and sicced the tax dogs on his enemies.

But that's not how things work in post-Watergate Washington. Mr. Obama didn't need to pick up the phone. All he needed to do was exactly what he did do, in full view, for three years: Publicly suggest that conservative political groups were engaged in nefarious deeds; publicly call out by name political opponents whom he'd like to see harassed; and publicly have his party pressure the IRS to take action.

Mr. Obama now professes shock and outrage that bureaucrats at the IRS did exactly what the president of the United States said was the right and honorable thing to do. "He put a target on our backs, and he's now going to blame the people who are shooting at us?" asks Idaho businessman and longtime Republican donor Frank VanderSloot.

At the White House, President Obama addresses the IRS scandal, May 15. . Mr. VanderSloot is the Obama target who in 2011 made a sizable donation to a group supporting Mitt Romney. In April 2012, an Obama campaign website named and slurred eight Romney donors. It tarred Mr. VanderSloot as a "wealthy individual" with a "less-than-reputable record." Other donors were described as having been "on the wrong side of the law."

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: impeachnow; irs; partisanmediashill; partisanmediashills
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To: Democrat_media

I don’t know if Obama ordered it, or if Schumer was only being “helpful,” but it’s on Obama’s watch and he is ultimately responsible.

The government is just too big for Obama to know everything that’s going on. Maybe these clowns should get a clue about that.

His head must be exploding now. It’s time for another vacation or maybe a visit to St. Elizabeths Hospital in DC for a little rest.

It’s just going to get worse for him — hopefully.


41 posted on 05/17/2013 5:00:28 AM PDT by goldi
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To: depressed in 06

Hey, he’s not playing the come out card unless things get really desperate.


42 posted on 05/17/2013 5:00:36 AM PDT by John W (Viva Cristo Rey!)
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To: McGruff

It’s the crime and the cover up

OBAMA using the IRS to rig the election ,to shut down the tea party so he’d win, to audit Republican donors etc. those are huge crimes


43 posted on 05/17/2013 5:01:53 AM PDT by Democrat_media (IRS rigged election for Obama and democrats by shutting down tea party)
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To: goldi

Yeah sure Obama and the media would have me believe that IRS workers risked their careers and going to prison for Obama and Obama didn’t order this right? IRS prevented tea party groups from getting started and audited Obama’s political enemies .Obama ordered it.and Obama didn’t answer the question when asked if they knew .IRS rigged the election for Obama.


44 posted on 05/17/2013 5:05:35 AM PDT by Democrat_media (IRS rigged election for Obama and democrats by shutting down tea party)
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To: SueRae

Outstanding article. Thanks for posting.


45 posted on 05/17/2013 5:09:31 AM PDT by kabar
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To: goldi

this went on for 3 years( the oppressing of tea party groups,the audits of Republican donors etc). you want to believe this Obama didn’t know ?

Obama knew about it

Obama ordered


46 posted on 05/17/2013 5:10:38 AM PDT by Democrat_media (IRS rigged election for Obama and democrats by shutting down tea party)
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To: SueRae

Fascism full Monty. Yep. Last straw. Problem is, we’re in tyranny. That means, only if our reps stand up and back up what Rush, Hannity, etc. are saying, we are left with the same crap.

Remember, these are the folks who allowed 0bamacare to pass. Anyone at their local radio listen to their rep being interviewed by the local conservative host? I have in Cincy, and, I must say, I am not hearing anything organized behind the scenes to stop any of this and get impeachment rolling. This is Nixonx100...anyone saying that? Nope.

The IRS wench should give us a picture of the brazenness with which 0bama and the Jarrett/Ayers machine feels they can operate.

A tree fell in the woods...


47 posted on 05/17/2013 5:11:39 AM PDT by CincyRichieRich (Keep your head up and keep moving forward!)
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To: SueRae

The Tea Party movement shook Democrats to the core. It got to the point that Congressmen and Senators wouldn’t even hold town hall meetings with their constituents because they didn’t want to face the Tea Party crowd challenging them on Obamacare and porkulus.

Finally, there was a conservative movement with the energy and resources to counter balance the union influence.

Couple with rise of the Tea Party with the rise of conservative media and Democrats were very concerned.

The Citizen’s United decision, which struck down major tenets of McCain-Feingold) was the nail in the coffin. 2010 was a bloodbath for Democrats. They had to do something big and something quickly.

There were two courses of action for Democrats to take to thwart conservative special interests. 1) Demonize the Tea Party movement (inc. Tea Party supported candidates) and 2) sic the IRS on it.

Both of those actions were successful and the reason why 2012 was so successful for Democrats.


48 posted on 05/17/2013 5:12:39 AM PDT by randita
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To: CincyRichieRich

———we’re in tyranny-—

I would sharpen that a tad To:

treacherous tyranny


49 posted on 05/17/2013 5:15:22 AM PDT by bert ((K.E. N.P. N.C. +12 .....History is a process, not an event)
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To: SueRae
Remember, one of the Articles of Impeachment against President Nixon in 1974 was the abusing the power of the IRS to use against political enemies. It appears that with President Obama's acquiescence, the IRS engaged on a system-wide harassment of any 501(c)(4) Conservative-leaning political action committee (PAC) and may have stolen tax returns of Republican political candidates to give to Democratic political operatives such as the Democratic National Committee.

In short, not only do we have charges of illegal disclosure and illegal acquisition of tax filing information, but also racketeering under RICO statutes and possible election fraud--all on a MASSIVE scale. This is the type of thing that could land whoever is convicted at least 15-20 years in Leavenworth.

50 posted on 05/17/2013 5:21:15 AM PDT by RayChuang88 (FairTax: America's economic cure)
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To: SueRae

She’s absolutely right. All FR’s should subscribe to the Wall Street Journal. It doesn’t have local news, but its coverage of national and foreign news is unsurpassed. Plus dems hate it.


51 posted on 05/17/2013 5:24:34 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Pi$$ed off yet?)
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To: abclily; mickie; flaglady47
Is Valerie Jarrett the Rasputin within the Obama palace?

Leni

52 posted on 05/17/2013 5:28:48 AM PDT by MinuteGal
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To: I want the USA back

I haven’t read WSJ regularly for a couple years, but I recall that I stopped because their reporting was about as leftie as most papers. Only their op-eds are more conservative in a Romney-McCain kind of way.


53 posted on 05/17/2013 5:29:02 AM PDT by jjotto ("Ya could look it up!")
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To: SueRae

This IRS scandal is no different than Obama’s very first foray in politics. He accessed divorce files on his opponent and used them against him. He’s a Chicago thug using those thug tactics on a National level. IMHO, those first election tactics should be continuously brought up to establish his MO.


54 posted on 05/17/2013 5:34:16 AM PDT by liberalh8ter (The only difference between flash mob 'urban yutes' and U.S. politicians is the hoodies.)
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To: Zakeet

Rarely does Obama give a speech that doesn’t contain wining about some group or situation that he thinks is getting in the way of his agenda. I think he uses these attacks to communicate to all the people he has specifically put into positions of power because they share the same world view of his, and probably told them ahead of time that he would communicate that way to them. He doesn’t have to say a word to them directly. They get the message and proceed to crack heads on his behalf. From now on I’m going to listen very closely to what he says.


55 posted on 05/17/2013 5:38:49 AM PDT by jazzpatriot
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To: SueRae

If it was just Obama corrupting the IRS we could solve that in the next election.

The problem is much much worse. The BIGGEST scandal in the US is the US Tax code. It needs to be scrapped and replaceed completely.

If your response to that is It’ll never happen than you should start scoping out alternative countries to live in right now.


56 posted on 05/17/2013 5:52:31 AM PDT by DManA
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To: GeronL

Yea, but I think Boehner did what he did for a reason. Put the idea out there in the IRS world and get inside their head with the thought about “Who’s going to jail”...I think they did that for a reason, so the cowards about jail would decide to save their own skin. I bet right now, there’s emails and copies being made so people have leverage for when the eye is brought upon them.


57 posted on 05/17/2013 6:04:12 AM PDT by sandboxshooter (Iraq, Afghanistan, War)
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To: SueRae

58 posted on 05/17/2013 6:08:35 AM PDT by jazzpatriot
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To: SueRae

“”He put a target on our backs, and he’s now going to blame the people who are shooting at us?”

Using free speech to say you hate conservatives is not the same thing as shooting them or auditing them. So that’s a ridiculous analogy. I don’t recall obama focusing on tax-exempt status. He just trashed conservative groups as we trash liberal groups. Politics.

We still may have an article of impeachment against him since he oversaw the IRS and is ultimately responsible and there may be evidence linking him to these crimes. But it won’t be because of his routine political speech against conservative groups and rich people.


59 posted on 05/17/2013 6:19:16 AM PDT by plain talk
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To: abclily

She gave go ahead for the imaginary killing of Bin Laden to distract from his problems at home?


60 posted on 05/17/2013 6:30:12 AM PDT by Bulwyf
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