Last
week it was discovered that the IRS performed extra scrutiny on 25% of the
501c4 non-profit organizations if they had "tea party",
"patriot", or other conservative identifier within their name;
the double check was limited to the Cincinnati regional IRS office. This
extra scrutiny was in response to the Citizen United decision that allowed
Super PACs and the follow up of the 501c4 to hide the contributors from the
public. It doesn’t come to anyone’s surprise that a burst of newly formed tax-free
organizations created with the 
patina
of tax avoidance should come under closer examination by the agency that is
responsible for regulating such organizations. This is in comparison to pacifists
and non-violent activists coming under extra scrutiny of the FBI
from 2001 to 2006, under the premise that they were dangerous to the
security of the nation. The facetious shock that the right wing pundits responds to this story comes from the same mindset that believes if government revenues can be shrunk small enough then the government can be small enough to be drowned in a bath tub. So those organizations that are advocating against taxes altogether warrant the double check by the IRS.
"Just imagine, Donna
Brazile, if you will that the George W. Bush administration had IRS underlings
saying we are going to target organizations with the word 'progressive' in
their name, we would have all hell breaking loose."
-George Will on ABC's This Week
-George Will on ABC's This Week
The kabuki that is
being slung by conservative pundits regarding this story wholly ignores the
recent history, and the administration’s defense is devoid of assertiveness (no
surprise there).
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