"Mistakes Were Made"

[B-Man]

From the Associated Press:

 

 

 

IRS apologizes for targeting conservative groups

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service inappropriately flagged conservative political groups for additional reviews during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status, a top IRS official said Friday.

 

Organizations were singled out because they included the words "tea party" or "patriot" in their applications for tax-exempt status, said Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt groups.

 

In some cases, groups were asked for their list of donors, which violates IRS policy in most cases, she said.

 

"That was wrong. That was absolutely incorrect, it was insensitive and it was inappropriate. That's not how we go about selecting cases for further review," Lerner said at a conference sponsored by the American Bar Association.

 

"The IRS would like to apologize for that," she added.

 

 

 

 

'Mistakes Were Made'

 

I kid you not: The IRS just released a statement on its improper harassment of conservative groups in the run-up to the 2012 election including the words: “mistakes were made.”

Here is the full statement:

 

Between 2010 and 2012, the IRS saw the number of applications for section 501©(4) status double. As a result, local career employees in Cincinnati sought to centralize work and assign cases to designated employees in an effort to promote consistency and quality. This approach has worked in other areas. However, the IRS recognizes we should have done a better job of handling the influx of advocacy applications. While centralizing cases for consistency made sense, the way we initially centralized them did not. Mistakes were made initially, but they were in no way due to any political or partisan rationale. We fixed the situation last year and have made significant progress in moving the centralized cases through our system. To date, more than half of the cases have been approved or withdrawn. It is important to recognize that all centralized applications received the same, even-handed treatment, and the majority of cases centralized were not based on a specific name. In addition, new procedures also were implemented last year to ensure that these mistakes won’t be made in the future. The IRS also stresses that our employees – all career civil servants — will continue to be guided by tax law and not partisan issues.

 

 

 

This is inconsistent with Lori Lerner’s statement:

 

Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS unit that oversees tax-exempt groups, said organizations that included the words “tea party” or “patriot” in their applications for tax-exempt status were singled out for additional reviews.

 

 

 

If this was just a procedural goof, then what exactly is Lerner apologizing for? And if this was not “due to any political or partisan rationale,” then why were groups with the words “Tea Party” or “Patriot” in their names improperly flagged?

 

 

The IRS’s statement and Lerner’s apology do not comport. More to come.

 

Perhaps somebody could remind the House Republicans that they have a majority on the oversight subcommittee?

 

 

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Edited May 10, 2013 by B-Man

[KD in CA]

Oh well, as long as it was just a 'mistake', I guess everything is ok.

[Azalin]

why pick on the poor IRS? they're nothing but understanding compassionate whenever we make mistakes on the amount of taxes we owe.

[meazza]

Is that why I got audited by the IRS????

[IDBillzFan]

And all you Ohio State students remember the words of our president last week:

 

"Unfortunately, you've grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity that's at the root of all our problems. Some of these same voices also do their best to gum up the works. They'll warn that tyranny always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices. Because what they suggest is that our brave, and creative, and unique experiment in self-rule is somehow just a sham with which we can't be trusted."

 

Reject the voices. These are not the droids you're looking for. Please move along.

[B-Man]

It was funny back then...........................

So when he was new in office, BARACK OBAMA JOKED ABOUT TAX AUDITS for people who displeased him

 

 

My take: The employees involved should be fired and prosecuted. The affected groups should be compensated for the additional costs they incurred in responding to this illegal harassment, and Congress should take the money out of the IRS’s travel-and-entertainment budget.

 

 

More here: “Using the IRS to target political opponents is banana-republic stuff, a clear and intolerable violation of the public trust, not to mention relevant criminal statutes. This is not the sort of offense that should get these IRS workers fired from their jobs — it is the sort of offense that should get them five years in prison.”

 

 

Also: Do you think ObamaCare will be administered with any more fairness?

 

 

http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/168626/

[Azalin]

Also: Do you think ObamaCare will be administered with any more fairness?

oh, absolutely I do. after all, they hired 16,000 more IRS agents to handle taxpayer compliance, and if there's one government entity that reeks of compassion and fairness, it's the IRS.

[IDBillzFan]

Great comment I saw on Twitter from Erick Erickson from RedState:

 

Today the IRS wishes it had killed our ambassador to Libya or chopped up some kids in Philly so the media would ignore the story.

[Chef Jim]

And all you Ohio State students remember the words of our president last week:

 

"Unfortunately, you've grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity that's at the root of all our problems. Some of these same voices also do their best to gum up the works. They'll warn that tyranny always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices. Because what they suggest is that our brave, and creative, and unique experiment in self-rule is somehow just a sham with which we can't be trusted."

 

Reject the voices. These are not the droids you're looking for. Please move along.

 

I'm assuming this was a commencement speech. Isn't that supposed to be motivational not political? What a dolt.

[B-Man]

I'm assuming this was a commencement speech. Isn't that supposed to be motivational not political? What a dolt.

 

Others agree............

 

Obama's Demeaning Commencement Address

 

By Janice Shaw Crouse

http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/05/obamas_demeaning_commencement_address.html#ixzz2SunC6jBC

[Chef Jim]

Others agree............

 

Obama's Demeaning Commencement Address

 

By Janice Shaw Crouse

 

http://www.americant...l#ixzz2SunC6jBC

 

 

Interesting.

[IDBillzFan]

In his press conference today, Carney explained that the IRS " is an independent enforcement agency. The -- which I believe, as I understand it, contains only two political appointees within it. The individual who is running the I.R.S. at the time was actually an appointee from the previous administration."

 

Five years in. Still blaming Bush.

[B-Man]

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited May 11, 2013 by B-Man

[GG]

To me, this is a far bigger scandal for this administration. In fact, it's the most cynical (and that's the kindest word I could find) action that any administration in my memory has taken against ordinary citizens.

 

Yes, it may be cliche, but really is this America?

[OCinBuffalo]

"But it wasn't the political appointees". So what? Sure, it probably wasn't. Doesn't that make it worse? A real political appointee, personally appointed by the WH, knows better than this. A low level clown who got moved to the top of the pile of resumes, as a reward for campaign service? They do not.

 

I am less concerned with political appointees, and infinitely more concerned by political operatives infiltrating the inner workings of our government entities. Political appointees have to leave, low level supposed "civil servant" tools do not.

 

We don't need to look for big conspiracies, the perps may have nothing to do with the campaign...it could be as simple as: naked self interest, manifesting itself in the low level D-bag who says "I am here to pass judgement on you, because your ideology is looking to take power and $ from me, and my ideology says I'm entitled to both by merely existing".

 

The bigger picture? While Obama and his direct reports probably had nothing to do with this, Obama's rhetoric and his entire ethos could easily have inspired this. I wouldn't be surprised if the perps have Fatheads of Obama on their walls at home.

 

JFK inspired a whole generation to service. Obama inspired a whole generation to....what exactly? This?

[B-Man]

 

10 crazy things the IRS asked Tea Party groups

 

The Internal Revenue Service admitted Friday to improperly targeting conservative groups for aggressive applications processes for tax exempt status in 2012, using the terms “Tea Party” and “patriot” as flags. Here are some of the things they wanted to know about those groups.

 

 

( 9 like, and lengthy examples at the link )

 

 

All of the examples above are taken from actual IRS correspondence received by ACLJ’s 27 clients.

 

There were many versions of the in-depth questionnaire sent to different organizations, suggesting there was more than one agent or one office involved. Though IRS officials blamed “low-level” employees in the Cincinnati office, which is the central IRS office in charge of tax exemptions, French said the abuse was far more widespread.

 

ACLJ’s clients dealt with inquiries from IRS offices from “coast to coast.” Of ACLJ’s 27 clients, 15 finally had their status approved after 6-7 months with legal help. There are 12 groups whose status remains in limbo.

 

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/05/10/10-crazy-things-the-irs-asked-tea-party-groups/

[IDBillzFan]

To me, this is a far bigger scandal for this administration. In fact, it's the most cynical (and that's the kindest word I could find) action that any administration in my memory has taken against ordinary citizens.

 

Yes, it may be cliche, but really is this America?

 

Agreed (for what it's worth). You simply can not direct the IRS to target you for political reasons, and when you factor in the president joking about this in 2009, it not only embarrasses everyone, but there is clearer and more concise reason to make this an issue before congress. The delay on Benghazi has been "Oh, it's a witch hunt," but this is more more obvious and deliberate and will quickly become an issue that will change the mid-terms. The arguments have already begun about "This IRS is also going to be in charge of your healthcare now."

 

As a person who managed to find more political footing with early Tea Party gatherings, it's a complete "get out of jail free card." You could barely mention Tea Party before liberals from every angle mocked and taunted you to silence. The left did an amazing job of painting the maintstream perception of tea party people into a corner. Had them on the ropes.

 

PIssed it all away today. Completely FUBAR'ed the whole upper hand.

 

Note to liberals: your boss saw to it that you'll never be able to point and mock a Tea Party anything...forever.

[B-Man]

It just gets worse................

 

 

 

AP Exclusive: IRS knew tea party targeted in 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) —

Senior Internal Revenue Service officials

knew agents were targeting tea party groups as early as 2011, according to a draft of an inspector general’s report obtained by The Associated Press that seemingly contradicts public statements by the IRS commissioner.

The IRS apologized Friday for what it acknowledged was “inappropriate” targeting of conservative political groups during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status. The agency blamed low-level employees, saying no high-level officials were aware.

But on June 29, 2011, Lois G. Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt organizations, learned at a meeting that groups were being targeted, according to the watchdog’s report. At the meeting, she was told that groups with “Tea Party,” ”Patriot” or “9/12 Project” in their names were being flagged for additional and often burdensome scrutiny, the report says.

 

{snip}

 

“A federal watchdog’s upcoming report says senior Internal Revenue Service officials knew agents were targeting tea party groups in 2011. The disclosure contradicts public statements by former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, who repeatedly assured Congress that conservative groups were not targeted. . . . The Treasury’s inspector general for tax administration is expected to release the results of a nearly yearlong investigation in the coming week. The Associated Press obtained part of the draft report.”

 

 

So that’s why they released the story early — they knew it was coming out anyway.

 

 

Lois Lerner, on a conference call with reporters yesterday, specifically said that her higher-ups in the organization had not known about this situation. Washington may be thankful that lying to reporters is not a crime;

 

lying to Congress still is.

 

.

 

 

IT WASN’T A “MISHAP,” IT WAS MISCONDUCT: National Journal: IRS Mishap Gives Republicans Ammunition in Effort to Defund the Agency.

 

 

IRS won’t say whether it will discipline employees over targeting of Tea Party groups.

Edited May 12, 2013 by B-Man

[3rdnlng]

Hey, if this news was going to come out anyway why not have it come out now in order to take some of the attention away from Benghazi?

[DC Tom]

 

 

 

http://hotair.com/ar...a-party-groups/

 

The amount of detail requested is utterly ridiculous. But otherwise. the nature of the information requested is pretty standard.