This is Shaheen....one of the group of senators that asked the IRS to “investigate” tea party groups.
The senators who approached the IRS to change the rules – they did not go through congress to change the rules – instead they gave congressional power to regulators.
They did not take it upon themselves to initiate legislation to clarify the rules (this issue came up in one of the first hearings in May)
why?
They didn’t want the rules applied equally to the left. And if there was new legislation (assuming it could pass) there was a bigger chance it could be applied equally than if they were regulations.
Shaheen faces scrutiny over IRS letters
http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130516/GJNEWS_01/130519429
Speaking on Fox News Tuesday, conservative powerbroker Karl Rove highlighted a letter sent by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana, to the director of the IRS in 2010 calling for further investigation of tax-exempt groups. Rove also discussed a letter sent to the IRS in 2012 by Shaheen and six other Democrats.
“(The IRS was) doing what people on Capitol Hill wanted them to do,” Rove said.
In the Feb. 16, 2012 letter, Shaheen and other lawmakers urged the IRS to develop new standards to evaluate the activities of so-called “social welfare” organizations.
This is Shaheen....one of the group of senators that asked the IRS to “investigate” tea party groups.