GOP Knew of IRS Scrutiny But Stayed Quiet for a Year

By: Rmuse:  May. 30th, 2013

There is little doubt Republicans do very little in an honest and forthright manner, and whether it is claiming tax cuts for their rich supporters create jobs and a vibrant middle class, or that denying women contraception coverage protects their constitutionally guaranteed religious freedom, there is always an ulterior motive unrelated to their stated agenda. There has always been something out of sorts with the phony I.R.S. scandal conservative political activists and Republican organizations screamed about over the past few weeks claiming they were harassed with unsuitable questionnaires and persecuted for months as the I.R.S. delayed making a decision on their applications for social welfare organizations. The question of whether or not various conservative campaign activists were unfairly targeted because of their political affiliation may be a valid issue in some quarters, but whether the I.R.S. was out of line in closely examining the groups’ applications for tax exemption cannot possibly be questioned as extreme or illegal by any semi-intelligent human being outside conservative circles.  As it turns out, there is much more to the so-called scandal than a few ambitious I.R.S. employees picking on besieged teabaggers, and it is not primarily that the groups filed for 501(c)(4) statuses as social welfare organizations that is the issue although it is closely related.

It has been reasonably postulated that the overriding reason conservative groups applied for tax exemption with the I.R.S. was because under the 501(c)(4) designation they do not have to reveal their donors allowing them to spend hundreds-of-millions of dollars on elections using undisclosed dark money. What has been a nagging question is why Republicans and their “social welfare” donors knew of the increased scrutiny for well over a year and were silent until a month ago when the I.R.S. revealed they targeted conservative groups seeking the special tax exempt status. It is prescient that during a hotly contested presidential election, Republicans kept their faux outrage in check until a month ago, and it is apparent that something besides the I.R.S. apology lit up the right and drove their phony scandal outrage. …