Remember when Andrew Joseph Stack flew an airplane into the IRS office?

[liberal N proud]

That was February 18, 2010. A week later, the agency's scrutiny of the Tea Party began. Here's what happened leading up to the two events.



Sean Higgins of the Washington Examiner raises an interesting question.

"What kicked off the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of Tea Party groups?" he asks. "The Treasury Department's Inspector General apparently knows but the rest of us cannot. His report on the scandal includes three timelines of events, but in each case, the first item in the timeline has been redacted."

"The mystery date was apparently February 25, 2010," he concludes from reading the reports. "...The reference to February in both appendixes indicates something particularly noteworthy happened then in the evolution of the IRS's policy. What was it?"

On the theory that media reports might have been involved (since the agency says media reports led to the end of the special scrutiny of Tea Party and other conservative groups in February 2012), I went back and read through some of the national newspaper coverage on the Tea Party groups in mid-to-late February of 2010.

There was a big David Barstow piece in the New York Times on Feb. 12, 2010, examining the political aspirations of Tea Party and other groups: "Tea Party Lights Fuse for Rebellion on Right." Within the first five paragraphs, it mentions the Tea Party, the Sandpoint Tea Party Patriots, Friends for Liberty, Glenn Beck's 9/12 Project, the John Birch Society, and Oath Keepers, described as "a new player in a resurgent militia movement."

And Sarah Palin is mentioned as well, hmmm?

The rest of the article:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/05/remember-when-andrew-joseph-stack-flew-a-plane-into-a-texas-irs-building/275887/



So yes there was a reason the Teabaggers were under extra scrutiny!!!!

[Turbineguy]

1. So if Al Qaeda

opened up a "social welfare" cell in the US they'd get the same treatment?

[aristocles]

2. Good question nt

[Scootaloo]

3. Only if the cell were made of overweight middle-aged white men in camouflage sweatpants

[Buzz Clik]

9. They have.

[Half-Century Man]

4. Kinda Stretching it

I would think the DOJ would do the groundwork instead of the IRS. Unless it wasn't official, just precautionary by the ones who were targeted.......Maybe.....

[Kolesar]

5. It is like the IRS was defending itself from attacks

"Attacks" in a literal sense

[Sherman A1]

6. Seems logical at least on the surface

that the IRS might be interested in self preservation. A rather human trait.

[amerciti001]

7. Teabaggers knew this was coming...

at some time in the future, so they had already devised a plan to cover-up their true intentions for all these fake 501(c)4 tax-exempt filings by screaming of being targeted and overly scrutinized by the IRS in the application processes.

We all know that these groups, as stated herein, are out to either diminish the Federal Government or, if necessary, through armed rebellion, over throw the Federal Government by any means necessary. Don't tell me that all of these people just one day woke up to the fact the Big Brother Government was the problem (in their lives), and they had to do something about it.

No, this is all a well thought out and well executed "plan" from a source of higher-mind individuals, (or a cabal), that is using these seemingly "dumb" people, that'll believe any crap that's said in the form a "Patriotic Duty" to save -their Country- from a perceived threat to their individual liberties. Works every time with these sort of low thinking minded people, just ask Rush or Glen, better yet ask Sarah.

Really, it's a good thing that whomever it was in the IRS that took it upon themselves to take a hardline look into all of these sudden influx of 501(c)4 filings with such key words as tea party, friends of liberty, oath keepers or some form of patriots in the titles or names, we would have never became aware that these groups were applying for tax-exempt status as a "social welfare" organization for the "common good" and the "general welfare of the community" as whole, that'll have limited political lobbying, to raise campaign funds and hold rallies for their candidate of choice in local, state and federal elections, while also being a tax-exempt organization, having it both ways.

Oh yeah, don't overlook the fact that these very same 501(c)4 organizations can also apply for "government grants".

[KoKo]

8. Interesting connection. Sounds like this was enough of a concern for IRS to check out

the groups. Maybe the FBI was also involved and requested the IRS check them out?

[Nye Bevan]

10. Andrew Joseph Stack was not in the Tea Party

and even if he had been, I'm not sure that we should be advocating IRS profiling of organizations based upon the actions of one of their members.

[liberal N proud]

11. Not advocating, just sharing a connection.

[amerciti001]

13. The IRS is tasked with the duty to vet 501(c)4 anyway...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/05/14/lets-back-up-how-is-the-irs-supposed-to-scrutinize-501c4s-anyway/?print=1

To those who think or feel the IRS over-reached, just keep in mind what their job is anyway.

If anyone is interested, here's a link to additional info request to teaparty.net
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/files/2013/05/theteapartynet-questions.pdf