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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMSNBC Contributor Claims He Was Audited 5 Years In A Row By IRS For Criticizing Bush
MSNBC Contributor Claims He Was Audited 5 Years In A Row By IRS For Criticizing Bush
by Noah Rothman | 1:05 pm, May 15th, 2013
Video @ link~
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/msnbc-contributor-claims-he-was-audited-5-years-in-a-row-by-irs-for-criticizing-bush/
Georgetown University professor and MSNBC contributor Michael Eric Dyson revealed on MSNBCs Now on Wednesday that he has been the target of political intimidation by the Internal Revenue Service during the administration of President George W. Bush. Dyson claimed that, after criticizing Bush on television for his governments response to Hurricane Katrina, he was audited for five consecutive years by the IRS.
In a discussion about the unfolding scandal in which IRS agents are implicated in forcing conservative groups to undergo more scrutiny in requests for tax-exempt status than liberal groups, the MSNBC panel agreed that added scrutiny across the board would be welcome.
The conversation shifted to the scandal surrounding the Justice Departments unilateral seizure of telephone records from the Associated Press.
We just had a fierce debate before the election about who could vote and could not vote, Dyson declared. He said that Attorney General Eric Holder defended the voting rights of minorities who were threatened by voter identification laws. Im here to hold on for Holder, Dyson added. Its hard at the top for two brothers.
Its also worth noting that the IRS has been used as a political tool throughout history, asserted MSNBC host Alex Wagner. She noted that the IRS has targeted NAACP, Green Peace, and Planned Parenthood.
Brian Williams interviewed me on television after Hurricane Katrina, Dyson said. He noted that he was critical of Bush and Williams played that clip for the president the following day. For the next five years I was audited by the IRS.
Im sure its coincidence, Dyson concluded sarcastically.
Enrique
(27,461 posts)it makes it look like this is what is happening now, under Obama. And it sounds like Dyson is saying, Bush did it so Obama can do it.
The IRS is not being accused of auditing critics of Obama, or of intimidating these groups. This is about enforcing campaign finance rules, a totally different thing.
babylonsister
(171,090 posts)It happened frequently under idiot son, but no one made a peep.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)saying things in magazines about the Bush family.
Frankly, the IRS is the picture of corruption and it is why the people distrust the government so entirely in this country.
Purplehazed
(179 posts)Other than that, it's just talk.
babylonsister
(171,090 posts)Purplehazed
(179 posts)If I make a claim that, since I have never been audited, the system works as it should. It's merely my opinion and doesn't prove anything. Dyson, with a national audience, has the opportunity to expose more IRS abuses.
myshadow1
(9 posts)dyson is one of the more obsequious pundits msnbc uses. He often delivers rancid word salads, that are at times, beyond comprehension. He isn't as dumb as palin, but he likes to hear his voice babble polysyllabic responses to yes or no questions.
SunSeeker
(51,694 posts)Being audited 5 years in a row sure would set off alarm bells in any person.
Nice comedy!
malaise
(269,157 posts)Julian Bond said the same thing on Rev Al - he was President of the NAACP at that time.
KurtNYC
(14,549 posts)during the Carter administration. The Reagan administration sent the IRS after Willie after he told the story on Johnny Carson in 1984 -- "great view up there"
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20114568,00.html
SCVDem
(5,103 posts)We know the Bush manipulation of our entire government by their illegal actions accross the board!
It was a Bush appointee who ran the IRS through last year.
Could be they were more worried about the Tea Party than the Dems? After all, they were convinced by Rove that they couldn't lose.
Inside info?
dickthegrouch
(3,184 posts)It's inconceivable that the TEA party would be involved in Social Welfare. The IRS had a duty to investigate.
rl6214
(8,142 posts)sigmasix
(794 posts)It looks like the public might be getting some unauthorized truth with the mix of corporate Obama scandal fever news.
Right wing message control is adament that all partisan agents and agencies get behind the push to distort the truth, in an effort to accomodate right wing conspiracy theories and attacks upon the character and patriotism of the president of the united states.
DU has always attracted right wing sock puppetd, but they seem extra active lately- at least since the scandal fever broke out.