Shaheen and the IRS
by Alexander Bolton / The Hill, 2/13/14
Senate Democrats facing tough elections this year want the IRS to play a more aggressive role in regulating outside groups expected to spend millions of dollars on their races. In the wake of the IRS targeting scandal, the Democrats are publicly prodding the agency instead of lobbying them directly.
Dems are also careful to say the IRS should treat conservative and liberal groups equally, but they’re concerned about an impending tidal wave of attack ads funded by GOP-allied organizations. Much of the funding for those groups is secret, in contrast to the donations lawmakers collect, which must be reported publicly.
One of the most powerful groups is Americans for Prosperity, funded by the billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch. It has already spent close to $30 million on ads attacking Democrats this election cycle.
<><> “If they’re claiming the tax relief, the tax benefit to be a nonprofit for social relief or social justice, then that’s what they should be doing,” said Sen. Mark Begich (D), who faces a competitive race in Alaska. “If it’s to give them cover so they can do political activity, that’s abusing the tax code. And either side."
<><><><>Asked if the IRS should play a more active role policing political advocacy by groups that claim to be focused on social welfare, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) responded, “Absolutely. Both on the left and the right,” she said. “As taxpayers, we should not be providing a write-off to groups to do political activity, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
Shaheen called the glut of political spending by self-described social welfare groups that qualify under section 501(c) (4) of the tax code “outrageous.”
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FACTS ON FILE:
<><> Dems voted to subsidize O/Care by decimating Medicare Advantage for senior constituents.
<><> Dems calculatedly kept the gruesome details to themselves while egging on loyal lock-stepping Democrats to vote for O/Care.
<><> Dems lied to Americans in a way so specific, it showed they knew exactly what to spin and how......via the infamous "If you like your health-care plan, you can keep your health-care plan."
DEMOCRAT TRICKSTERS CONTINUED:
<><> Making believe they'd actually read the ACA bill, duping voters into thinking they understood its implications.
<><> Feigning "surprise" at townhalls---when grassroots voters complained about O/Care.
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Now most Americans are very forgiving----they will forgive pols most anything---EXCEPT when a pol does not understand the impact of a campaign statement.
Dems' deplorable tactics to get ACA passed---included vilifying and slandering voters.
High and mighty lock-stepping Dems blindly voting Obamacare proved to be their undoing in 2014 midterms--10 were ousted. Shaheen managed to hang on.
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SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-N.H.): ‘if you have health coverage that you like, you get to keep it’ “My understanding … is that … if you have health coverage that you like you can keep it. As I said, you may have missed my remarks at the beginning of the call, but one of the things I that I said as a requirement that I have for supporting a Democrat bill is that if you have health coverage that you like you should be able to keep that. …under every scenario that I’ve seen, if you have health coverage that you like, you get to keep it.” (Sen. Shaheen, “Health Care Questions From Across New Hampshire,” Accessed