IRS and the Tea Party

Let's take your time and look at this IRS scandal once again. Basically, the IRS singled out groups that had "tea party" or "patriot" for extra scrutiny. Does this make sense? If we can avoid hyperbole and exaggeration for just one second, why should a political organization apply for tax-exempt status from the IRS? Oh, and as we're examining this, let's remember that the TEA in tea party stands for Taxed Enough Already.

When we (I) think about organizations that apply for tax-exempt status, what comes to mind? The Red Cross. United Way. Boys and Girls Club of America.

From the IRS:

If your organization is not organized for profit and will be operated only to promote social welfare to benefit the community, you should file Form 1024 to apply for recognition of exemption from federal income tax under section 501(c)(4). The discussion that follows describes the information you must provide when applying. For application procedures, see chapter 1.

To qualify for exemption under section 501(c)(4), the organization's net earnings must be devoted only to charitable, educational, or recreational purposes. In addition, no part of the organization's net earnings can inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual. If the organization provides an excess benefit to certain persons, an excise tax may be imposed. See Excise tax on excess benefit transactions , under Excess Benefit Transactions in chapter 5 for more information about this tax.
Examples.   Types of organizations that are considered to be social welfare organizations are civic associations and volunteer fire companies.

So, you are working in the Cincinnati office of the IRS. You specifically work on nonprofit organizations that are organized to promote social welfare in order to benefit the community. You get an application from a group that is affiliated with the tea party. Are you going to think that this group is a political organization or a social organization like a volunteer fire department?

More from McClatchy News:

The IRS late Wednesday released the names of 176 applications it had approved through May 9 in its controversial specialized review process. That process is at the heart of the controversy since specialists were flagging applications that had tea party, patriot and other politically charged conservative names.

The 176 approved applications include dozens of tea party groups, as well as others with innocuous names such as Charlotte Matters, Kentucky 912 Project and Miami-Dade Taxpayers Alliance. Some appear overtly political, such as the Coalition for a Conservative Majority, both the Denver and Colorado Springs chapters, and Progressives United Inc.

All were applying for a tax-exempt designation under section 501 (c) of the tax code. This section has at least 25 tax-exempt designations, and the tea party groups were applying under a provision – 501 (c) 4 – that would treat them as social welfare organizations. This allows the groups to raise money from donors and get involved in politics, as long as that’s not their primary activity. Importantly, the donors are not disclosed publicly.

Among the existing 501 (c) 4 organizations are giant election-influencing political entities such as Crossroads GPS and Americans for Prosperity on the right, and the pro-Obama Organizing for America and Priorities USA on the left.

So now, armed with facts and data about this IRS scandal, does this increased scrutiny seem to be right or wrong? These are political organizations. Whether these organizations represent the tea party, progressive movement or whatever, their political organizations. Let's not pretend that they aren't. As such, all of these political organizations should not be allowed to apply for "charity" or tax-exempt status. It is simply wrong. It is simply robbing the United States of tax revenue. Revenue that we could easily used to, I don't know, balance the budget, pay for head start, build more schools, pay policemen and firefighters what they really deserve, repair bridges and build more roads. These are just a few of the things that I can think of off the top my head. So, where's the real scandal?

Confused

Benghazi. This is the gift that keeps on giving. At long last it appears the conservatives actually have traction on this issue. Yet, there's really nothing here. The administration initially stated that there were demonstrations before the Benghazi attack. This was wrong. The administration admitted their mistake. They came clean to the American people before the November election. Basically, an ambassador was in an extremely dangerous situation. He had an adequate security. We have a detailed report which clearly points the finger at the State Department. On top of that, we know that Secretary Clinton warned of budget cuts which could have serious ramifications. Today, the latest is that ABC News, which claimed that they had the original email trail of the talking points, really didn't have the real trail. Jake Tapper blew the lid off of this false reporting by ABC News. (The White House has released more e-mails. We have seen these before, just in a different format.)

IRS scandal. Last night, President Obama accepted the resignation of acting IRS Commissioner Stephen Miller. I agree with the president. The IRS must be a nonpartisan organization. Those who are responsible for this craziness need to be singled out and punished.

AP news scandal. Probably, the most misunderstood scandal has to do with the Justice Department's probe into some reporters at the Associated Press. Some people are under the impression that the government wiretapped reporters. Wrong. the Justice Department obtained phone records of reporters and editors at the Associated Press. The Justice Department did obtain a subpoena for the records and went through legal channels. The whole purpose of this was to chase down a leak. The Obama administration has been relentlessly trying to close government leaks. As CNN reported, "The story the AP says is at the center of the probe broke the news that the CIA had thwarted an al Qaeda plot to blow up a U.S.-bound jetliner around the anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden by American commandos. Sources later told CNN that the operative who was supposed to have carried the bomb had been inserted into al Qaeda's Yemeni affiliate by Saudi intelligence, and that the device had been handed over to U.S. analysts." So, as I understand it, because of this leak, it is possible that an operative in the field could have been compromised. Maybe I'm wrong. On one hand, I do believe in freedom of the press. As a matter fact, our members of our press have been lapdogs, not just to the Obama administration, but to our government in general. We haven't seen the type of investigative reporting that we need in this country. The fourth branch of government doesn't work. Yet, this seems to me to be a government attempt to intimidate the press. We cannot have that. The press must be free of intimidation.

Where does that leave us? To me, it seems like we are, where? In Never Never Land? Margaritaville? We are in some sort of alternative reality where some low-level government knucklehead does something and suddenly there's a call for the resignation of the Secretary of State? The resignation of the Attorney General, Eric Holder? This is all done with the backdrop of conservatives continually stating that we need to impeach President Obama. I'm sorry this isn't taking us to war under false pretenses. This is not the outing of a CIA officer. This is not firing a bunch of US attorneys for simply doing their jobs. Those were scandals. These are the opposite of scandals, whatever that is.

Well, there's been plenty of news lately.

Benghazi continues to dominate the news. Here's what we know. A group of terrorists attacked a poorly defended United States Embassy in Benghazi. Four Americans were killed, including Ambassador Stevens. The Sunday following the Benghazi attack, Ambassador Susan Rice went on the Sunday talk shows and recited talking points that were given to her by the intelligence community. The talking points included some erroneous information which suggested that there was a protest or demonstration prior to the attack and that this protest was fueled by an anti-Muslim video. There was no protest. This has been clearly stated. Several eyewitnesses who were interviewed stated that there was no protest prior to the attack on the Benghazi compound. The multiple emails that crafted the talking points have been revealed to the public. Neither President Obama nor Secretary Clinton had anything to do with crafting the talking points. Secondly, and most importantly, was the security at the Benghazi compound. Why was security so bad? That question has been answered. What is clear is that the official report clearly points to the State Department for dropping the ball.

The IRS story which broke on Monday has really gained even more traction today. It's an outrage! Yet, when you look at the story, I'm not sure what the outrage is all about. Yes, the IRS did target conservative groups but those groups still got their tax-exempt status. Maybe the process was onerous and overly burdensome but they were not denied that status. Should the IRS single out conservative or liberal groups? Of course not. The bottom line, as far as I can tell, is although those groups were singled out, they still got fair treatment. (An inspector general's report has already been compiled.)

I would like to spend a little bit of time talking about an op-ed that Angelina Jolie wrote in the New York Times. The Academy award-winning actress talked about a bilateral mastectomy that she had because she had a defective gene which makes her more prone to breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Her mother died of cancer. Ms. Jolie does not state what kind of cancer her mother had. She goes into great detail about BRCA1. She is incredibly knowledgeable. All the facts that she presented, as far as I know, are correct. She was at incredibly high risk for developing breast cancer and also at high risk for developing ovarian cancer. What she didn't reveal, but which is clear from the article, is that she had knowledgeable physicians and surgeons. She was able to discuss her gene mutation and get thoughtful answers from her physicians. She then made a thoughtful, informed decision. I applaud Angelina Jolie for standing up and discussing her healthcare and her healthcare problems. The one thing that is clear is that she was able to afford whatever procedures she wanted to undertake. That's a luxury than many women cannot afford. In my opinion, her op-ed points to two things that all women need: accurate, reliable information and affordable healthcare. Then all women can make informed decisions.

The national deficit is going to be $200 billion less than previously projected.

Mark Sanford will be sworn in as Congressman to the great state of South Carolina on Wednesday.

Seriously, did Dick Cheney, former vice president, actually have the nerve to say that the Obama administration missed repeated warnings about Benghazi? Really? Should I ask? Did he and President Bush miss repeated warnings about…

Minnesota passes same-sex marriage.

Here's a nice nugget on Benghazi – For fiscal 2013, the GOP-controlled House proposed spending $1.934 billion for the State Department's Worldwide Security Protection program -- well below the $2.15 billion requested by the Obama administration. House Republicans cut the administration's request for embassy security funding by $128 million in fiscal 2011 and $331 million in fiscal 2012. (Negotiations with the Democrat-controlled Senate restored about $88 million of the administration's request.) Last year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that Republicans' proposed cuts to her department would be "detrimental to America's national security" -- a charge Republicans rejected.

Somewhere in Europe

A good friend of mine has decided to ride motorcycles through Europe. I have no idea where in Europe he is. All I can tell you is that he is having a good time and that he sending back amazing pictures. All I can say is – Have fun. Be safe.

Benghazi will not go away. This morning, the president pushed back.

President Obama has called the IRS scandal, outrageous. I really don't understand how a low-level IRS official has the authority to carry out his/her own agenda.

Continued friction between a federal judge and the FDA over the morning-after pill.

Let me point out that there is an difference between an abortion and what Dr. Gosnell carried out. His practices were unsafe. They were clearly outside of the bounds of what any ethical physician would have considered. He seemed to do a terrible job at taking care of patients. What he did was criminal. It had nothing to do with medicine.

So what happened and why?

From CNN:

Abdul Aziz believes he was standing right next to a shooter Sunday when gunmen opened fire at a Mother's Day parade in New Orleans, injuring 19 people.

"Everyone around me, except me, was shot," he said. "I was pretty fortunate to get away."

Aziz, 33, a photojournalist, was at the second-line parade when gunfire broke out at the corner of Frenchman Street and North Villere Street.

Second-line parades, which involve dancing and brass bands, are a New Orleans tradition. They happen most every Sunday, except during the hottest months in summer, according to Aziz. (more...)