IRS APOLOGIZES FOR TARGETING CONSERVATIVE GROUPS

[Wilikon]

UPDATE: (May 18 2013)

The woman whose question prompted a top Internal Revenue Service official to admit the agency was inappropriately targeting conservative groups says she was contacted prior to the event that elicited the admission and was directed to ask the question.
Celia Roady, a prominent tax lawyer in the firm of Morgan Lewis, said she was called personally by Lois Lerner, the IRS head of the tax exempt division, on May 9.

"I received a call from Lois Lerner, who told me that she wanted to address an issue after her prepared remarks at the [American Bar Association] Tax Section's Exempt Organizations Committee Meeting, and asked if I would pose a question to her after her remarks," Roady said in a statement to U.S. News and World Report. "I agreed to do so, and she then gave me the question that I asked at the meeting the next day. We had no discussion thereafter on the topic of the question, nor had we spoken about any of this before I received her call. She did not tell me, and I did not know, how she would answer the question."

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/05/17/exclusive-woman-who-asked-irss-lois-lerner-scandal-breaking-question-details-plant

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[Spendulus]

UPDATE: (May 18 2013)

The woman whose question prompted a top Internal Revenue Service official to admit the agency was inappropriately targeting conservative groups says she was contacted prior to the event that elicited the admission and was directed to ask the question.
Celia Roady, a prominent tax lawyer in the firm of Morgan Lewis, said she was called personally by Lois Lerner, the IRS head of the tax exempt division, on May 9.

"I received a call from Lois Lerner, who told me that she wanted to address an issue after her prepared remarks at the [American Bar Association] Tax Section's Exempt Organizations Committee Meeting, and asked if I would pose a question to her after her remarks," Roady said in a statement to U.S. News and World Report. "I agreed to do so, and she then gave me the question that I asked at the meeting the next day. We had no discussion thereafter on the topic of the question, nor had we spoken about any of this before I received her call. She did not tell me, and I did not know, how she would answer the question."

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/05/17/exclusive-woman-who-asked-irss-lois-lerner-scandal-breaking-question-details-plant

run, rats, run!!!

[tcp_rst]

So is this really a "conservative vs less-conservative" issue as some in the thread imply or is the larger issue about waste, fraud and abuse in government generally?  'Cause God knows conservative groups in America are gonna ride this all the way through the next election cycle as if no conservative-run government has ever done the same sorts of things.  Outrage about this specific incident should be more broadly directed otherwise it's just more of the same partisan crap.

Following the wise advice to never fight your enemy when he's engaged in shooting himself in the foot, I don't think any particular work is in order.  Maybe except fixing a big heap of popcorn.  An extra large biggie supply, dripping with real butter and high in salt.  Then it's time to watch the circus.

The problem with useful idiots is of course that they are, well,....

idiots....

I mean, we've got the IRS thing, the AP thing, the Fast and Furious thing, Bengazi.  

What the FUCK???

Business as usual.  Here are 34 Bush-era scandals to stimulate conversation.  Oh, and BTW, this was just the first 4 years.

http://www.salon.com/2005/01/18/scandal_11/

[Spendulus]

So is this really a "conservative vs less-conservative" issue as some in the thread imply or is the larger issue about waste, fraud and abuse in government generally?  'Cause God knows conservative groups in America are gonna ride this all the way through the next election cycle as if no conservative-run government has ever done the same sorts of things.  Outrage about this specific incident should be more broadly directed otherwise it's just more of the same partisan crap.

Following the wise advice to never fight your enemy when he's engaged in shooting himself in the foot, I don't think any particular work is in order.  Maybe except fixing a big heap of popcorn.  An extra large biggie supply, dripping with real butter and high in salt.  Then it's time to watch the circus.

The problem with useful idiots is of course that they are, well,....

idiots....

I mean, we've got the IRS thing, the AP thing, the Fast and Furious thing, Bengazi.  

What the FUCK???

Business as usual.  Here are 34 Bush-era scandals to stimulate conversation.  Oh, and BTW, this was just the first 4 years.

http://www.salon.com/2005/01/18/scandal_11/

You did in fact provide a link to 'business as usual scandals.'

I don't think any of my friends in Mexico consider their 300 some dead killed with Fast and Furious weapons to be 'business as usual'.

And I'm sorry, but similarly, Bengazi does not fall within any stretch of business as usual.

So rather than providing the answer - you've clarified the problem.

[Wilikon]

UPDATE: (May 21, 2013)

Top IRS official will invoke the Fifth Amendment in congressional hearing about tea party targeting program

The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday afternoon that Lois Lerner, who heads up the Internal Revenue Service's tax-exempt division, plans to invoke the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in a hearing Wednesday before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Affairs.
The Fifth Amendment provides that U.S. citizens may not be compelled to offer testimony if telling the truth would incriminate them.
Lerner's defense lawyer, William W. Taylor III, wrote to the committee on Tuesday that his client would refuse to answer questions related to what she knew about the extra levels of scrutiny appled to conservative nonprofit organizations that applied for tax-exempt status beginning in 2010.
She also will decline to say why she didn’t disclose what she knew to Congress, according to the LA Times.
Lerner 'has not committed any crime or made any misrepresentation,' Taylor's letter read, 'but under the circumstances she has no choice but to take this course.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2328696/Top-IRS-official-invoke-Fifth-Amendment-congressional-hearing-tea-party-targeting-program.html

[Spendulus]

UPDATE: (May 21, 2013)

Top IRS official will invoke the Fifth Amendment in congressional hearing about tea party targeting program

The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday afternoon that Lois Lerner, who heads up the Internal Revenue Service's tax-exempt division, plans to invoke the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in a hearing Wednesday before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Affairs.
The Fifth Amendment provides that U.S. citizens may not be compelled to offer testimony if telling the truth would incriminate them.
Lerner's defense lawyer, William W. Taylor III, wrote to the committee on Tuesday that his client would refuse to answer questions related to what she knew about the extra levels of scrutiny appled to conservative nonprofit organizations that applied for tax-exempt status beginning in 2010.
She also will decline to say why she didn’t disclose what she knew to Congress, according to the LA Times.
Lerner 'has not committed any crime or made any misrepresentation,' Taylor's letter read, 'but under the circumstances she has no choice but to take this course.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2328696/Top-IRS-official-invoke-Fifth-Amendment-congressional-hearing-tea-party-targeting-program.html

I actually like this, it's straightforward and honest.  Cuts through all the sleazy, lying, insulting "I don't remember" crap.

Also means she's likely going down - her attorney has seen what the prosecutor has, and it is damaging.

[tcp_rst]

So is this really a "conservative vs less-conservative" issue as some in the thread imply or is the larger issue about waste, fraud and abuse in government generally?  'Cause God knows conservative groups in America are gonna ride this all the way through the next election cycle as if no conservative-run government has ever done the same sorts of things.  Outrage about this specific incident should be more broadly directed otherwise it's just more of the same partisan crap.

Following the wise advice to never fight your enemy when he's engaged in shooting himself in the foot, I don't think any particular work is in order.  Maybe except fixing a big heap of popcorn.  An extra large biggie supply, dripping with real butter and high in salt.  Then it's time to watch the circus.

The problem with useful idiots is of course that they are, well,....

idiots....

I mean, we've got the IRS thing, the AP thing, the Fast and Furious thing, Bengazi.  

What the FUCK???

Business as usual.  Here are 34 Bush-era scandals to stimulate conversation.  Oh, and BTW, this was just the first 4 years.

http://www.salon.com/2005/01/18/scandal_11/

You did in fact provide a link to 'business as usual scandals.'

I don't think any of my friends in Mexico consider their 300 some dead killed with Fast and Furious weapons to be 'business as usual'.

And I'm sorry, but similarly, Bengazi does not fall within any stretch of business as usual.

So rather than providing the answer - you've clarified the problem.

I'm sorry for your friends in Mexico. But it pales in comparison to the nearly 5,000 troops and 120,000 civilians killed in Iraq, including both my little brother and my best friend.  A war started based on fabricated evidence of weapons of mass destruction.  Not defending either F&F or Benghazi--just saying obviously partisan outrage adds to the problem.  So what's your solution?  I'm saying that if Obama resigned tomorrow absolutely nothing would change so fight the real problem.

[Spendulus]

So is this really a "conservative vs less-conservative" issue as some in the thread imply or is the larger issue about waste, fraud and abuse in government generally?  'Cause God knows conservative groups in America are gonna ride this all the way through the next election cycle as if no conservative-run government has ever done the same sorts of things.  Outrage about this specific incident should be more broadly directed otherwise it's just more of the same partisan crap.

Following the wise advice to never fight your enemy when he's engaged in shooting himself in the foot, I don't think any particular work is in order.  Maybe except fixing a big heap of popcorn.  An extra large biggie supply, dripping with real butter and high in salt.  Then it's time to watch the circus.

The problem with useful idiots is of course that they are, well,....

idiots....

I mean, we've got the IRS thing, the AP thing, the Fast and Furious thing, Bengazi.  

What the FUCK???

Business as usual.  Here are 34 Bush-era scandals to stimulate conversation.  Oh, and BTW, this was just the first 4 years.

http://www.salon.com/2005/01/18/scandal_11/

You did in fact provide a link to 'business as usual scandals.'

I don't think any of my friends in Mexico consider their 300 some dead killed with Fast and Furious weapons to be 'business as usual'.

And I'm sorry, but similarly, Bengazi does not fall within any stretch of business as usual.

So rather than providing the answer - you've clarified the problem.

I'm sorry for your friends in Mexico. But it pales in comparison to the nearly 5,000 troops and 120,000 civilians killed in Iraq, including both my little brother and my best friend.  A war started based on fabricated evidence of weapons of mass destruction.  Not defending either F&F or Benghazi--just saying obviously partisan outrage adds to the problem.  So what's your solution?  I'm saying that if Obama resigned tomorrow absolutely nothing would change so fight the real problem.

My sympathies for you in the loss of your brother and friend.

The death count for the border drug war last time I checked was approaching 10,000, so yes, it's an ignored problem of significant magnitude.

You claimed "business as usual", I refuted that with respect to F&F and Benghazi.  Now we're going to talk about Iraq and WMD?   This is called "shifting the goalposts".

I don't really have a problem with that, given that you admit that this is erroneous ....  Nothing about F&F or Bengazi constitutes "business as usual."  Different things can be read into that....WH fascist inclinations, total incompetence, etc....but it sure as fuck isn't business as usual...

[rikur]

Just listen to this fucker:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8WNgbRGcRQ

Hope he gets jailed and can no longer choose even yes/no when the prisoners take turns on him.

[Spendulus]

Just listen to this fucker:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8WNgbRGcRQ

Hope he gets jailed and can no longer choose even yes/no when the prisoners take turns on him.

Well, some of us out in the real world were warning about letting gangsters from Chicago into the White House. 

Quite a while back.  Back around 2008.

So who wants to laugh about the Tea Party, all those stupid tea baggers, knuckle dragging morons from the deep south, religious nutcase whackos,  now? 

(TEA = Taxed enough already)

[rikur]

Well, some of us out in the real world were warning about letting gangsters from Chicago into the White House.  

Quite a while back.  Back around 2008.

So who wants to laugh about the Tea Party, all those stupid tea baggers, knuckle dragging morons from the deep south, religious nutcase whackos,  now?  

(TEA = Taxed enough already)

Good job, much appreciated. I reside outside of US, but otherwise I would have joined the action I'm sure.

The middle-class has been squashed and lost it's voice. Lower-class relies on the foodstamps and will vote for more, no matter the cost. Higher-class has the wealth to lobby and exercise dubious tax planning. It's sad that middle class, who's carrying the biggest burden of taxes, has no say in taxation nor has the power to avoid them.

But then again, the disappearance of the middle class has often been followed by the total collapse of the empire. Hope we are getting very close to this; the world would be much better off without the US and the IMF.

[Spendulus]

Well, some of us out in the real world were warning about letting gangsters from Chicago into the White House.  

Quite a while back.  Back around 2008.

So who wants to laugh about the Tea Party, all those stupid tea baggers, knuckle dragging morons from the deep south, religious nutcase whackos,  now?  

(TEA = Taxed enough already)

Good job, much appreciated. I reside outside of US, but otherwise I would have joined the action I'm sure.

The middle-class has been squashed and lost it's voice. Lower-class relies on the foodstamps and will vote for more, no matter the cost. Higher-class has the wealth to lobby and exercise dubious tax planning. It's sad that middle class, who's carrying the biggest burden of taxes, has no say in taxation nor has the power to avoid them.

But then again, the disappearance of the middle class has often been followed by the total collapse of the empire. Hope we are getting very close to this; the world would be much better off without the US and the IMF.

Not necessarily  better, generally, argument of the sort "anything is better than XYZ" tends to be false.  Tell you what, how about skip the argument, just get those morons chanting "hope and change" without even telling them what the change is. 

Wait, which morons are those......

It's hard to say this but I am okay with their part of the middle class being hollowed out and impoverished.  Unfortunately, there is massive collateral damage in such cases such as all those on pensions. 

Economically, though, you are correct.  Once the middle class is impoverished, that government's taxing ability is so reduced that necessary contractions occur.

Forced government contraction:  Russia, 1992....