Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Phony IRS Scandal
Townhall.com ^ | August 4, 2013 | Bruce Bialosky

Posted on 08/04/2013 9:10:23 AM PDT by Kaslin

The White House publicity machine has tried to turn the national conversation from the topics of the day to attempt to make our President relevant again. Obama, who has gained the new nickname Griffin (as in H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man), has all but disappeared since his failed attempt to change the national gun laws in the beginning of this year. To clear grass so high that Obama needs a weed whacker just to be seen, his team has attempted a typical Obama technique. In this case they are creating a new mantra to discredit legitimate concerns of American voters by calling the various missteps of his administration “phony scandals.” The IRS is one of those phony scandals.

One would think that any American with a brain would be concerned that the tax collecting agency of the United States was operating in an abusive manner. One would think everyone would view charges of abuse by the Internal Revenue Service as something of the highest magnitude of concern regarding governmental abuse that could happen at any time to any citizen. Almost all Americans lived in deep fear of receiving a letter from the IRS long before this scandal broke.

President Obama immediately came out to relieve the existing commissioner of the IRS from his duties (a man who had one month left at his position) and replaced him with a new guy who was given a month to do a top-to-bottom review of the IRS. This is an organization with 100,000 employees and hundreds of offices. Surely one month will be plenty of time for a comprehensive operational review. That month is now over so kids everything is fine and we can move forward assured there will be no more abuses by the most feared organization in America. By the way, nobody really did anything wrong and it is all a big misunderstanding.

Let’s focus on a couple of aspects of this. As someone who has worked with the IRS for 35 years, I have seen the transition of the organization. If there was discretion for the agents previously, that has disappeared over the years. You can tell in dealing with them that today the people at the lower rungs just execute and don’t really think very much. When you talk to agents that have been around for a while, they will tell you how the organization has changed and how they often have become nothing more than clerks. So when the world was told at the beginning of this scandal that it was a couple of rogue agents in Cincinnati who made these decisions, it was quite laughable.

One of those people from Cincinnati, who we were told was responsible for mishandling all those Tea Party non-profit applications, testified before Congress. One IRS employee was asked about the plausibility of the charge that it was centered in Cincinnati, that testimony goes as this: “It's impossible. As an agent we are controlled by many, many people. We have to submit many, many reports. So the chance of two agents being rogue and doing things like that could never happen.” When asked about the people in Washington pointing the finger at them, the Cincinnati employee stated: “I still hear people saying we were low-level employees, so we were lower than dirt, according to people in D.C. So, take it for what it is. They were basically throwing us underneath the bus.”

The second aspect of this is whether this was politically motivated. Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD), who is the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, would have you believe that this withholding of non-profit status from Tea Party or Patriots groups was mitigated by the withholding of similar status for groups with the word Progressive in their name. Acting IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel stated in testimony that 100 percent of the Tea Party groups were processed as possible political cases while only 30 percent of the Progressive groups were treated as such. What Werfel does not state is what was the relative number of applications that were made or to what extent the Progressive groups were roughed up during the application cycle and how long they were delayed. Try and find one of these groups citing their long delays and you will come up empty. Try and find the same for the Tea Party groups and you will find a massive number that have been and still are being abused by the process. To state this was not politically motivated is just a bold-faced lie.

When Treasury Secretary Jack Lew recently made the Sunday talk show rounds, he had blank answers regarding the organization he oversees. When asked who was investigating this issue, he could not state who was doing the investigation. He stated that all the supervisors involved in the matter were relieved of their responsibilities, but he did not state any of them were disciplined or fired. Despite the fact that a high level IRS official (Carter Hull) testified he was ordered to send Tea Party applications to William Wilkins, a Obama political appointee, Lew stated no one has asked any questions of Wilkins about his involvement in the matter. Lew stated there is no evidence there was any political involvement, but if you don’t ask anyone the question you will never get the evidence.

This just addresses a few aspects of this matter. This does not even acknowledge the fact no one is digging into finding out which person(s) released information about one of these applications to an outside organization. That is a felony and the quest to track that has seemed to vanish. And now Congress has discovered other incidents of information potentially being distributed to entities outside the IRS improperly.

Mr. President, this is a real scandal and it scares any thinking American that they may be the next chosen for political or other reasons to be witch hunted by the IRS. The more you plead about how nothing is there, the more it becomes quite apparent you are involved in a cover up. So the best path is to come clean -- the American people deserve it.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; Government; US: District of Columbia; US: Maryland; US: Ohio
KEYWORDS: benghazi; carterhull; cincinnati; conservativegroups; districtofcolumbia; elijahcummings; fastandfurious; gettherope; impeachnow; irs; jacklew; loislerner; maryland; obama; obamaadmin; ohio; scandal; teaparty; williamwilkins

1 posted on 08/04/2013 9:10:23 AM PDT by Kaslin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Obama gave his henchmen in the media some good red meat here, didn’t he? By proclaiming that his opponents are pushing phony scandals, the president has given the media opportunity to denounce anyone who wants to talk about Benghazi, the IRS, the NSA, Fast and Furious, etc.

Poor Obama. All these phony scandals are making it more difficult for him to push his liberal agenda. (sarcasm)


2 posted on 08/04/2013 9:16:44 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

The Democrat party exists to loot the public treasury. They will do anything to maintain their access to the public treasury, and that includes destroying their opponents.


3 posted on 08/04/2013 9:16:47 AM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Welcome to Obummers aMeriKa. Go get your part time burger flipping job.


4 posted on 08/04/2013 9:17:09 AM PDT by ncfool (Obama's aMeriKa 2012 The land of entitlement for the 51% crowd.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
(from the article) :" Try and find the same (unreasonable delay ) for the Tea Party groups and
you will find a massive number that have been and still are being abused by the process.

So ,.. the same repression still exists, and yet it is still ignored by the media .
The fix is still in place for 2014 !!
ENOUGH SAID !!

5 posted on 08/04/2013 9:20:53 AM PDT by Tilted Irish Kilt (“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” - Ronald Reagan)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

All I know is that some woman from the IRS revealed that they had been targeting Conservative and Tea Party groups and she further said that this was wrong.

I give the IRS the benefit of the doubt on this. The IRS revealed what had been going on, and I take them at their word.

The mean Republicans didn’t open this can-of-worms.

The IRS did...


6 posted on 08/04/2013 9:25:36 AM PDT by Paisan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ncfool

I noticed something on Huckabee last night when he was talking to a “striking” McDonald’s worker. I noticed that she wants 15 dollars per hour but didn’t seem interested in asking for a 40 hour workweek to make up the money that way.

I’m not paying anyone $15 an hour unless they’re interested in working a full week.


7 posted on 08/04/2013 9:27:21 AM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: cripplecreek

The thing that’s PHONY is THE FOREIGNERS Birth Certificate, SS Card and Draft Card. All as phony as a three dollar bill. Any wonder why NYT lost 1 billion plus selling the Globe. It’s payback for covering THE FOREIGNERS rear end in all his scandals.


8 posted on 08/04/2013 9:47:56 AM PDT by spawn44 (MOO)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Paisan

Who wha ?


9 posted on 08/04/2013 9:50:56 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks ("Say Not the Struggle Naught Availeth.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Another Agency Goes IRS (FEC also targeted conservative groups)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3050845/posts

“The FEC staff was investigating these groups without the approval of its commissioners in clear violation of FEC rules. And the IRS is legally barred from releasing confidential tax information - including to the FEC. The emails show that Ms. Lerner asked her staff to provide information to the FEC, and Ways and Means is seeking more documents. “


10 posted on 08/04/2013 9:52:51 AM PDT by Innovative ("Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." -- Vince Lombardi)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: spawn44
You got that right.....all phony.

HERE'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN CHUCKIE AND THE GANG BRING 'EM "OUT OF THE SHADOWS" (cackle) The illegals already have multiple faked/forged ID's, and drivers' licenses under different names....which also allows them to vote under different names....and collect a raft of US freebies under different names.

1. legalization forces them to get drivers' licenses under their real names. 2. state computers run a photo-match check to see if the same person has applied under different names. 3. they get investigated for ID theft and have to answer to a judge. 4. they get prosecuted under US law.

==================================================

The practice of latinos "just here for a better life" using multiple identities allows ample opportunity to undermine US ntl security. These "impoverished" latinos buy faked/forged papers for thousands of dollars-----the Washinton state rapist had some 30 identities. Another latino bilked UI of $3.4 million using multiple identities.

NOTE Just before the reform procedural vote, Judiciary Committee member Sen Grassley offered a simple amendment to the Judiciary Committee considering voting the immigration bill out of commmittee.

"The secretary (of homeland security) may not grant registered provisional immigrant status to an alien under this section unless the alien fully discloses to the secretary all the names and Social Security account numbers that the alien has ever used to obtain employment in the United States," said Grassley's amendment.

Grassley's amendment would not have prohibited illegal aliens from being converted into legal aliens just because they had used names and Social Security numbers that did not belong to them. It would only have required that the illegal aliens make the names and numbers they used known to DHS before they could be granted the right to legally live in the United States.

Grassley said, "Congress should not thumb its nose at the millions of Americans who are victims of identity theft, often perpetrated by an undocumented person who steals Social Security numbers to get jobs, govt benefits, driver's licenses and more. This amendment will simply require the person applying for RPI status to disclose any previously used Social Security numbers," said Grassley. "It's the first step to helping clean up the mess that's been created for the victim of identity theft. The amendment also authorizes certain federal agencies, upon receipt of this information, to notify individuals who were the victims."

===============================================

ON RECORD AS AIDING AND AETTING FELONIES Ranking member Sen Schumer dismissed Grassley's proposal. "When people are living in undocumented status, there are times, I suppose, when they've made up identities, made up Social Security numbers," Schumer told his Judiciary Committee colleagues. "How are they going to remember all that, and are we going to delay RPI status? "(The) purpose of this bill is to bring people out of the shadows. We all know when they lived in the shadows, they had to forge documents, forge Social Security numbers, et cetera. I just don't see how, when you've lived here 10 years, and you've had many different identities, many different numbers, you're going to remember them all," said Schumer.

==========================================

The Senate Judiciary committee defeated Grassley's amendment 8 to 10 on a party-line vote.

=======================================

ACTION ALERT Freepers should mobolize locally--get grand juries to begin indicting these Senators for FAILING TO UPHOLD THE LAW AGAINST FELONIES. A few convictions and imprisonment oughta wake up the treasonous Congress. KEEP IN MIND---those elected to office are held to a higher standard of law than we peons....but have never been held to account.

=============================================

Majority members----Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing Room
226 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC:

Patrick Leahy, Dem-Vermont, Chairman
Dianne Feinstein, Dem-California
Chuck Schumer, Dem-New York, ranking member
Dick Durbin, Dem-Illinois
Sheldon Whitehouse, Dem-Rhode Island
Amy Klobuchar, Dem-Minnesota
Al Franken, Dem- Minnesota
Chris Coons,Dem- Delaware
Richard Blumenthal, Dem- Connecticut
Mazie Hirono, Dem-Hawaii

Source: 2013 Congressional Record, Vol. 159, Page S296 to 297

11 posted on 08/04/2013 9:59:43 AM PDT by Liz
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Obama and his arrogantly corrupt regime are becoming an economic and social fifth column who are using the American media as its press agents.


12 posted on 08/04/2013 10:00:50 AM PDT by Larry381 ("Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cripplecreek

they really don’t want to work. They just want to be on the dole.


13 posted on 08/04/2013 10:26:43 AM PDT by ncfool (Obama's aMeriKa 2012 The land of entitlement for the 51% crowd.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Larry381

I believe Billary also used the IRS against his enemies as well.

He was awfully mistake prone too, having all those FBI files on Republicans, by mistake offcourse.


14 posted on 08/04/2013 10:31:19 AM PDT by bkaycee (John 3:16)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: bkaycee

The irony was the Chicago political mob blackmailed the Clintons over Arkancides and they couldn’t use the info they had on Obama.

Mutually assured destruction.


15 posted on 08/04/2013 10:33:12 AM PDT by nascarnation (Baraq's economic policy: trickle up poverty)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

16 posted on 08/04/2013 11:28:55 AM PDT by Bon mots
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cripplecreek
I’m not paying anyone $15 an hour unless they’re interested in working a full week.

The irony is that for many employers, thanks to the Affordable Care Prevention Act, hiring one for a full $40 week would cost a lot more than hiring two part-time workers a total of 40 hours.

17 posted on 08/04/2013 1:38:18 PM PDT by supercat (Renounce Covetousness.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson