Vulnerable Senate Dems Ask IRS To Save Them From Tea Party

 Posted 02/13/2014 06:41 PM ET

Politics: In the wake of the IRS targeting scandal, which included groups that already had tax exemptions, vulnerable Democrats ask the agency with the power to tax to use that power to destroy their opposition in 2014.
The fundamental transformation of the United States into a banana republic, where government power is used to suppress political opposition, has evolved from a hidden campaign targeting the Tea Party and other conservative groups to an open attempt to suppress free speech by changing the definition of what constitutes political activity. It's an attempt to define conservative political speech out of existence.
The administration cover story — that prior to the 2012 election the sudden increase in the number of such groups applying for tax-exempt status was the reason applications were delayed — has been blown apart by Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich. His Ways and Means Committee found that the groups targeted already had tax exemptions and that 100% of the groups that were targeted with an audit were on the right.
Now, Senate Democrats who voted for ObamaCare and parroted President Obama's lie of the year are asking the IRS to ensure that if they like their Senate seats they can keep their Senate seats. They want the IRS to be a campaign wing of the Democratic Party.
Leading the IRS call is Sen. Charles Schumer, N.Y., the Senate Democrats' chief political strategist.
"The Tea Party elites gained extraordinary influence by being able to funnel millions of dollars into campaigns with ads that distort the truth and attack government," Schumer said in remarks at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
Sharing that belief are vulnerable Democrats such as Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas. He argues the IRS has power over such groups that engage in what he calls quasi-political activity. In reality, such groups are merely people organizing to petition for the redress of grievances, which include reckless spending, oppressive taxation and regulation, and, yes, ObamaCare.
"It is inherently an internal revenue matter," Pryor is quoted in the Hill. "There are two things you don't want in political money, in the fundraising world and expenditure world. You don't want secret money, and you don't want unlimited money, and that's what we have now."
Yes, we do, particularly from unions, Hollywood and environmental groups. There is no call for the IRS to target them.
"If they're claiming the tax relief, the tax benefit to be a nonprofit for social relief or social justice, then that's what they should be doing," the Hill quotes Democratic Sen. Mark Begich, who faces a competitive race in Alaska. "If it's to give them cover so they can do political activity, that's abusing the tax code."