With all the tangential Eric Holder rants I've had to endure lately, I thought I'd repost this info.
The IRS is an Equal-opportunity Auditor -- and NOT just another one of those "scandals that Holder is [supposedly] running from" ...
IRS Pie Chart
larger image
Source: Inspector General's report -- [pg 14]
An internal IRS document obtained by The Associated Press said that besides ‘‘tea party,’’ lists used by screeners to pick groups for close examination also included the terms ‘‘Israel,’’ ‘‘Progressive’’ and ‘‘Occupy.’’ The document said an investigation into why specific terms were included was still underway.
AND the IRS is an Equal-opportunity Tax Cheat prosecutor too ...
Why the real IRS scandal happened in 1959 (with Video)
by Evan Puschak, msnbc.com -- 05/13/13
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell
The IRS is facing criticism after news broke that a Cincinnati branch targeted Tea Party-related groups with unequal scrutiny-- but according to msnbc’s Lawrence O’Donnell, the real scandal happened long ago.
Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code defines tax-exempt social welfare groups like this:
Civic leagues or organizations not organized for profit but operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare.
In 1959, under the administration of Dwight Eisenhower, the meaning of this section was changed dramatically when the IRS decided the word “exclusively” could, in effect, be read as “primarily.”
“For 54 years, the IRS has gotten away with the crime of changing the word ‘exclusively’ to ‘primarily,” said Lawrence O’Donnell on The Last Word Monday. “The IRS took a hard, clear word like ‘exclusively’ and changed it into a soft word ’primarily’ and then left it to the IRS agents to determine if your organization was primarily concerned with the promotion of social welfare.”
[...]
The Tea Party Patriots are a lot of things --
but "primarily" a promoter of "social welfare" -- is NOT one of them.
The IRS is NOT in the business of blindly accepting 501(c)(4) "claimed" Tax-exempt status, especially by primarily political organizations. THAT is not among their stated missions.
The glare of IRS revenue-collecting spotlight, shines on the charitable and non-charitable alike -- whether they be Progressives, Occupy Wall Streeters, supporters of Israel; it even on occasion shines on the always full-of-rage "Tea Party Patriots" as well ... fair is fair ...
That's just the way the IRS Revenue Pie gets sliced. Have another slice Holder-haters.