[EL] IRS Sent Same Letter to Democrats That Fed Tea Party Row: Taxes

[JBoppjr at aol.com]

Mike, regarding:
 
I maintain that we still do not know if bias was exercised against  
conservative organizations
 
They said they did and they used criteria that would achieve that  result.  
Why won't you take the IRS's word for it?  Jim
 
 
In a message dated 5/15/2013 4:09:03 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
mmcdon at gmu.edu writes:

When the  IRS scandal first erupted, I cautioned that we do not have all 
the facts yet.  I predicted conservative groups would not be the only ones 
flagged by the IRS.  This story from Bloomberg confirms that liberal 
organizations seeking  501(c)(4) status were also flagged by the IRS and were asked 
the same length  set of questions as the conservative organizations. Unlike 
the Tea Party  organizations, at least one liberal organization had their 
application  rejected.

I maintain that we still do not know if bias was exercised  against 
conservative organizations. To answer the question, we have to look at  all 
501(c)(4) applications to determine rates that liberal and conservative  groups 
were flagged for attention and how their cases were handled. We have  some 
suggestion in a previous thread that perhaps Tea Party organizations were  
poorly counseled to seek 501(c)(4) status. If 90% of the applications were  
coming from conservative organizations, then we might expect 90% of  conservative 
organizations to be reviewed. Furthermore, we do not know how  these 
liberal groups came to the attention of the IRS. Were they flagged for  similar 
reasons as conservative groups by searching for keywords in their name  or 
purpose?

I don't know what the facts will ultimately tell us -- or  if we will ever 
get those facts given the way this story has taken a life of  its own. If 
there was malfeasance, I'll reiterate that there should be  consequences. But 
there is now evidence via Bloomberg that the IRS was not  corrupt but merely 
inept in devising search criteria.

"IRS Sent Same  Letter to Democrats That Fed Tea Party Row: Taxes" 
Posted on May 14, 2013  9:03 pm by Rick Hasen  
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-05-14/irs-sent-same-letter-to-democrat
s-that-fed-tea-party-row-taxes

============
Dr.  Michael P. McDonald
Associate Professor
George Mason University
4400  University Drive - 3F4
Fairfax, VA 22030-4444

phone:    703-993-4191 (office)
e-mail:  mmcdon at gmu.edu       
web:      http://elections.gmu.edu
twitter:  @ElectProject



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