Monterey, CA IRS Employees Target Tea Party Non-Profits : Part II
by Richard Kuehn on 05/14/13
Monterey, CA IRS Employees Target Tea Party Non-Profits For Investigation : Part II : View From A Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California I wrote recently on my blog that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) admitted last Friday that they improperly targeted conservative political groups during the 2012 presidential election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status. The investigation continues and it's now been revealed that this was done by a rogue group of employees in the Cincinnati, Ohio office which also targeted non-profits which sought to education Americans about the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights as well as groups that criticized the government. The Washington Post did an investigation with the help of a congressional aide which found that the Cincinnati field office was making high-level decisions about non-profits because about a decade ago the IRS delegated decision making on new non-profits to this unit. At the same time, the IRS eliminated a review that used to happen in the Washington D.C. office after a non-profit status was approved or rejected. Clearly, there is something wrong with this process. I agree with Senator Susan Collins (Republican, Maine) who told a reporter that the practice was "absolutely chilling." White House spokesman Jay Carney said the matter needs to be investigated. "The President needs to make crystal clear that this is totally unacceptable in America." I hope that there's not only an investigation of the rogue field office but also a house cleaning. It's so difficult to get a non-profit status and it is really unbelievable that a handful of people could be making decisions on their own which are not in synch with the policies of the IRS.
Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands to Help Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors.
