Free Republic

Busted The media tried to tell us two years ago that the notion of the IRS targeting conservative groups had been “debunked” and that the scandal had “fizzled.” Neither of these notions was true. If anything, they were self-fulfulling prophecies. The media didn’t want to discover the truth, so they didn’t bother to dig for it, thus making it plausible (at least in their warped minds) to claim there was no story. But there was, and what journalistic malpractice tried hard to cover up, a lawsuit by the pro-Israel advocacy group Z Street has uncovered. In the discovery phase of...

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...

This IRS politicization is not an isolated problem. It is an inevitable result of the broader efforts to regulate and, in fact, suppress political speech. The IRS crackdown on tax-exemption approvals for conservative groups was directed at nonprofit social-welfare groups, often called 501(c)(4)s after the Internal Revenue Code section granting them tax-exempt status. Such groups do not have to disclose their donors and are exempt from most taxation, although donations to them generally aren't tax deductible. Social-welfare organizations are permitted to engage in a range of political activities promoting their causes or beliefs, so long as these activities aren't their...

Top White House aides first learned of a draft report detailing IRS abuses in targeting conservative groups in late April, but they chose to insulate President Obama by not informing him until it exploded in the press, the president’s spokesman said Monday. White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters Monday that White House counsel Kathy Ruemmler learned about an IRS inspector general’s draft report looking into the singling out of conservative groups on April 24. She advised senior White House staff including chief of staff Denis McDonough — about the then-draft report, but Mr. Carney said she believed that...

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) official who apologized for targeting conservative nonprofit groups for extra scrutiny is married to an attorney whose firm hosted a voter registration organizing event for the Obama presidential campaign, praised President Obama’s policy work, and had one of its partners appointed by Obama to a key ambassadorship.

Don't get me wrong, what the IRS did is/is doing not cool...but...let's be honest here...

The Internal Revenue Service's scrutiny of conservative groups went beyond those with "tea party" or "patriot" in their names—as the agency admitted Friday—to also include ones worried about government spending, debt or taxes, and even ones that lobbied to "make America a better place to live," according to new details of a government probe. The investigation also revealed that a high-ranking IRS official knew as early as mid-2011 that conservative groups were being inappropriately targeted—nearly a year before then-IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman told a congressional committee the agency wasn't targeting conservative groups.

BOISE, Idaho – A growing number of conservative groups are bankrolling startup news organizations around the country, aggressively covering government and politics at a time when newspapers are cutting back their statehouse bureaus. The phenomenon troubles some longtime journalists and media watchdogs, who worry about political biases and hidden agendas. The news outlets have sprouted in larger numbers in recent months to fill a void created by the downsizing of traditional statehouse coverage and to win over readers, including those from the tea party movement who don't trust the local paper or the TV news.

Hello Freepers! I onceheard someone mention of a New York, City of White Plains Conservatice Group named something like, " Ever Vigilant " or such. Anyone else ver heard of it? I tried a few search engines- and we all ALREADY know how these strong holds of LIBERALISM treat Conservative issues. Any help out there folks? Darth AirBorne

Last night, I received a phone call from "Citizens United" and they played a message from their founder (I forget his name.) They specifically want to stop certain persons from voicing negativity about our troops: Sen. Clinton and John Kerry, by name. I want to know if any of you FReepers out there can tell me about this group. I asked them to send info via mail and e-mail but I did make a pledge. OOPS! My FReeper check is in the mail...