Today\’s paragraph(s) come to us from Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT). They are a part of his speech regarding the Senate Finance Committee\’s report on the about the IRS\’s selective treatment of groups applying for 501(c)4 tax exemptions which had names suggesting they might oppose President Barack Obama\’s policies:
Regardless of whether an explicit directive was given, the President gave the order to target conservative groups at every opportunity – the State of the Union, in press conferences, and in TV interviews. He didn\’t send a “smoking gun” email because he did not need to – he gave the order for all to hear. And his political allies at the IRS followed those orders.
The report clearly shows that conservative groups were singled out because of their political beliefs, and gross mismanagement at the IRS allowed this practice to continue for years.
We know that the IRS systemically selected Tea Party and other conservative organizations for heightened scrutiny, in a manner wholly different from how the IRS processed applications submitted by left-leaning and nonpartisan organizations.
Although the IRS knew that the Tea Party applications were too dissimilar to be grouped under a common template, it continued to segregate them for screening and processing based on the presence of certain key words or phrases in the applicants\’ names or applications like “Tea Party,” “9/12” and “Patriots,” as well as indicators of political views that included being concerned with government debt, government spending or taxes, educating the public via advocacy, lobbying “to make America a better place to live,” or being critical of how the country was being run.
Some have tried to mitigate these facts, claiming that the IRS similarly targeted left-leaning groups. Indeed, this argument is posited in the additional Democratic Views. However, as our investigation made clear, the IRS\’s treatment of conservative organizations was without question different from that given to left-leaning and nonpartisan organizations.
Would you call that newsworthy?
If so, then ask yourself why – I am betting I\’m right here – this is the first you\’ve heard of this report, given that the speech was made on August 5th – almost a week ago.
Orrin Hatch wins Parargaph(s) of the day honors for talking so eloquently….to no one, since our wonderful “neutral” media were far too busy mourning Cecil The Lion to report it to the general public.
Keep \’em ignorant and you own \’em.
