IRS Targeting Right Wing Groups

[One Brow]

One Brow and Stoked, I do not know how you can fail to understand what I have told you. Some Tea Party Groups are submitting applications to the IRS stating that they are not political groups. If they are political groups, as you believe, than they are submitting misleading papers with the IRS. Therefore these papers should be looked in to, since they appear to be false. You do not think that this is important to the discussion?

Actually, I said that my current belief is that they are what they say they, social welfare groups who spend only the allowed amount on politics, which spending receives a disproportionate amount of attention, until I hear otherwise.

Of course, "social welfare" itself can seem political if you disagree with what society needs.

 

[One Brow]

So if I have a white cube van that says "Free candy and molestation" on the side, the police should not make any presumptions if they're looking for a missing child?

I don't think anyone in this forum disagrees with the goals of the Tea Parties more strongly than I do. That doesn't mean they're criminals.

 

[MoreFeasts]

you are being obtuse just to piss me off.
They are a political group, not a social welfare group.
Even stoked can see this.
I didn't say they should be charged with a crime.
I said that their application for nonprofit status deserves to be looked at with skepticism, because they do appear to be a political group.
I also say that this grey area of the law should be cleaned up, because it appears that it is being abused, but that the people with the megaphones and the power are the ones benefiting from this stupid system.
The IRS are the only good guys here.

 

[Stoked]

you are being obtuse just to piss me off.
They are a political group, not a social welfare group.
Even stoked can see this.
I didn't say they should be charged with a crime.
I said that their application for nonprofit status deserves to be looked at with skepticism, because they do appear to be a political group.
I also say that this grey area of the law should be cleaned up, because it appears that it is being abused, but that the people with the megaphones and the power are the ones benefiting from this stupid system.
The IRS are the only good guys here.

Welcome to One Brow.

Also if the group meets all the requirements to be tax free then what you consider them is irrelevant.

What I would want to see is the number of groups that filed for tax exempt status in 2011 and 2012, the number of cases reviewed by the IRS and what percentage the targeted groups were of each.

 

[MoreFeasts]

The IRS target people for political reasons. It is a small step from that to targeting people for relgious, geographical or ethnic reasons. If you cannot see the problem here than you are a fool.

If they are a political group, then their applications to be social welfare non-profits should be denied. Why do you want them to be able to file fraudulent papers with the IRS?
Why should political groups be treated the same as nonpolitical groups when filing papers claiming that they are not political groups?

 

[Stoked]

If they are a political group, then their applications to be social welfare non-profits should be denied. Why do you want them to be able to file fraudulent papers with the IRS?

I admire your insistance on intentionally missing the point.

 

[MoreFeasts]

I admire your insistance on intentionally missing the point.

So you believe that the Tea Party is a political group.
You believe that political groups should not be approved for nonprofit status.
However, you think that it is unjust if the government wants to classify a political group as a political group, because this discriminates against political groups for being political groups?
This is what your point looks like to me.

 

[MoreFeasts]

Also if the group meets all the requirements to be tax free then what you consider them is irrelevant.

It is probably a grey area. My guess is that the IRS officer who reviewed their application believed that there were serious doubts about whether the Tea Party meets the requirements to have their application approved, because on the face of it, it appears that the primary purpose of the Tea Party does not fit the requirements for the tax status which they seek. I would tend to think that the doubts are more than justified, but groups are making a big stink about it, when they are actually in the wrong, and intend to abuse the system,.

 

[MoreFeasts]

But they are only targeting specific groups whose names indicate they are probably right-wing, and that is the problem.

No scintilla of evidence has ever been given for this. Maybe the IRS just looked at an application and flagged it for being a political group, without prejudice regarding whether it was Democratic or Republican.
I don't know of any Democratic Party group that is really a mirror image of the Tea Party.

 

[Stoked]

No scintilla of evidence has ever been given for this. Maybe the IRS just looked at an application and flagged it for being a political group, without prejudice regarding whether it was Democratic or Republican.
I don't know of any Democratic Party group that is really a mirror image of the Tea Party.

According to news reports it has. It says that they targeted based on the name of the group using filters like tea party, constitution, 9-12 and other conservative buzzwords.

 

[MoreFeasts]

Also if the group meets all the requirements to be tax free then what you consider them is irrelevant.
.

How do we know if they meet all the requirements to be tax free if the IRS is not allowed to examine their application?

 

[MoreFeasts]

According to news reports it has. It says that they targeted based on the name of the group using filters like tea party, constitution, 9-12 and other conservative buzzwords.

Those names all indicate that the groups are political in nature and therefore do not qualify for tax free status.
Show me all the Democratic Groups with political sounding names that are given tax free status without examination.