Sunday, July 28, 2013

IRS Scandal of 2013 in Perspective

Many people today don’t seem to know or realize that our nation’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been very bad.  In the past we knew they had been bad.  The IRS has always been like the school bully.  You avoided him or willingly gave up your milk money.  It’s a part of the government that has no problem turning a poor person upside down and taking all the change that falls to the ground.  If you complain, the IRS points out they let you keep your clothes.  It’s odd how people claim to hear a mandolin playing during their IRS audit.  Some say a version of the “Godfather” was also played in the background.

          This all powerful organization was given the authority to decide which organizations do or do not get tax exempt status.  Tax exempt status means the organization can’t be taxed, because they’re a 501(c) (3) organization and their earnings are to be used for charitable or educational purposes.  This makes sense on many levels as it promotes charity and education.
          The problem is the current administration doesn’t like conservatives or conservative groups.  They have been known go into convulsions at the mere mention of the word Republican.  When President Obama was running for his second term, the leadership of the IRS walked around with their knuckles dragging on the ground saying “Liberal good and conservative bad.”
         The rest of the IRS took delight in being able to deny tax exempt status to any organization that even sounded conservative, had over half of the letters from the word conservative in their name or had a name with letters that could be rearranged to say George Bush.
          They didn’t just deny applications from these organizations; they had to ask the conservative organization applicants bizarre questions.
          “What is the hair color of each of your members?”
          “Describe in detail your most embarrassing teenage moment.”
          “Have you ever seen the movie “Baby Geniuses 2” and why.”
          “How many members of your group wear boxers and how many wear briefs?”
          The list of crazy questions is long and embarrassing.  When people from the conservative organizations complained, the IRS representative just kept repeating “Liberal good, conservative bad.”

          An application for an organization that was going to hold classes on the United States Constitution had their non-profit tax status held up for almost two years.  An organization called "Mohammad’s Bomb Making Jihadists for the destruction of America" was approved in 45 minutes."  The IRS figured it wasn’t too conservative, even if it had the word “America” in it.
          Some media groups found out this was happening at the IRS.  They did some research and wrote some stories about it.  Conservative groups read this and said “They denied that group and that group and our group and someone has to do something.”
          Politicians then did what they do best.  They held hearings.  The people called to the hearings did what all top people in Washington DC do when called to testify before congress; they developed amnesia.
          “You’ve worked at the IRS for three decades.  You’ve been in charge of IRS operations during most of that time.”
          “I don’t recall.”
          “According to your job description you were responsible for managing the approval process for non-profit organizations.”
          “I don’t recall.  I’m not sure I know what a non-profit organization is or even what the letters IRS stand for at this moment.  I can’t even recall where the building is I’ve been going to work for during the past decades.  I may or may not exist at this time and in this universe.  I could, but I just can’t recall at the moment.”
          How the questions from congress were avoided was impressive.
          The IRS was actually very bad.  They gave information from the applications of non-profit organizations to liberal media groups, which is extremely naughty.  They gave personal information to any liberal group who seemed to want it.
          “Hey, look, like, we can take the information on this like, conservative non-profit application, and, like, make prank calls to them.  I bet those people at the convent won’t mind.”
          “Cool.”
          The sad part is the power of the United States taxing organization was used to crush opposition form organizing and collecting money in the last election.  This is the type of thing that happens in third world countries and is upsetting to see happen here.  To date nobody has gone to jail for this scandal and yet those involved need to be held accountable.  This scandal did more than just upset conservatives groups; it upset the idea of fair elections that at one time we believed was possible in our country. 
I can understand there is going to be frustration in dealing with a bloated government bureaucracy.  I don’t understand why honest, tax-paying citizens, who play by the rules, have been required to endure such poor treatment.  Those at the IRS who did this are nothing more than cowards and bullies who hide behind the veil of government power.



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