Every so often, I come across people who claim to be "journalists" who would better be described as propagandists. These folks see everything only through the prism of politics; reality and actual facts do not impinge upon their work. Two such individuals popped up today at Politico. They are Darren Samuelsohn and Lauren French who collaborated to write a report called, "IRS-targeted groups cry foul after playing GOP politics". The entire premise of the piece is that all those conservative groups who were persecuted by the IRS after applying for tax exempt status had actually been engaged in (gasp!) political activity. The implication of the story is that this political activity prevented the groups from obtaining a tax exemption, so that the subsequent harassment by the IRS was justified.
This story is both offensive and blatantly false on a number of fronts. Let's examine a few.
First, let's start with the claim that a group that engages in political activity cannot gain tax exempt status. That is wholly false. A group can spend up to half of its funds on political activity and still be tax exempt. That is federal law and it is also the truth. What Samuelsohn and French indicate to the contrary is just wrong. Further, there is always the question of just what constitutes "political activity". The so-called reporters at Politico point to things like prayer sessions held outside an abortion clinic as political activity. That's just wrong. These are reporters who see counseling women to get abortions as "working for women's health" while counseling the same women to avoid abortions as "politics". It does not work that way. Think of the League of Women Voters, an organization that has had a tax exemption seemingly forever. The League works to increase voting. In most places a "get out the vote" effort is always a political effort. The parties have even shortened the name to GOTV because it is such a big part of what they do. Does that make the League of Women Voters suddenly open to IRS persecution because it is engaged in political activity? Certainly not. The point is that many activities which include advocating for one cause or another are not really "political". Nevertheless, the reporters class all advocacy for conservative issues as political while advocacy for liberal causes is fine. As I said before, their position is pure propaganda.
Second, let's look at the claim by the reporters that the persecuted groups just did not understand the requirements of the law regarding tax exemption. It was a cute way for the propagandists to further the smear that Tea Party groups are just stupid. You know, they aren't bright enough to know what they can and cannot do. The amazing thing here is that clearly it is the two reporters who don't know what tax exempt groups can and cannot do. They actually talk about one of these groups that "dabbled" in politics as if that mattered. They should know (and may know) that dabbling in politics is irrelevant. The reporters also point to sporadic involvement by other groups in politics. Again, sporadic involvement does not matter, something that the reporters should (and may) know.
The sad thing in all this propaganda is that the so called reporters are trying to blame the victim. They offer no explanation, for instance, about why liberal groups that were the equivalent of the Tea Party ones were left untouched by the IRS. It is a difinitive point to which there is no answer. The reality which these "reporters" choose to ignore is that the federal government under president Obama persecuted groups and individuals simply because of the beliefs of those people. It is the worst form of government tyranny. For so called journalists like these two at Politico to try to explain away what happened by using falsehoods and innuendo is just plain disgusting.
This story is both offensive and blatantly false on a number of fronts. Let's examine a few.
First, let's start with the claim that a group that engages in political activity cannot gain tax exempt status. That is wholly false. A group can spend up to half of its funds on political activity and still be tax exempt. That is federal law and it is also the truth. What Samuelsohn and French indicate to the contrary is just wrong. Further, there is always the question of just what constitutes "political activity". The so-called reporters at Politico point to things like prayer sessions held outside an abortion clinic as political activity. That's just wrong. These are reporters who see counseling women to get abortions as "working for women's health" while counseling the same women to avoid abortions as "politics". It does not work that way. Think of the League of Women Voters, an organization that has had a tax exemption seemingly forever. The League works to increase voting. In most places a "get out the vote" effort is always a political effort. The parties have even shortened the name to GOTV because it is such a big part of what they do. Does that make the League of Women Voters suddenly open to IRS persecution because it is engaged in political activity? Certainly not. The point is that many activities which include advocating for one cause or another are not really "political". Nevertheless, the reporters class all advocacy for conservative issues as political while advocacy for liberal causes is fine. As I said before, their position is pure propaganda.
Second, let's look at the claim by the reporters that the persecuted groups just did not understand the requirements of the law regarding tax exemption. It was a cute way for the propagandists to further the smear that Tea Party groups are just stupid. You know, they aren't bright enough to know what they can and cannot do. The amazing thing here is that clearly it is the two reporters who don't know what tax exempt groups can and cannot do. They actually talk about one of these groups that "dabbled" in politics as if that mattered. They should know (and may know) that dabbling in politics is irrelevant. The reporters also point to sporadic involvement by other groups in politics. Again, sporadic involvement does not matter, something that the reporters should (and may) know.
The sad thing in all this propaganda is that the so called reporters are trying to blame the victim. They offer no explanation, for instance, about why liberal groups that were the equivalent of the Tea Party ones were left untouched by the IRS. It is a difinitive point to which there is no answer. The reality which these "reporters" choose to ignore is that the federal government under president Obama persecuted groups and individuals simply because of the beliefs of those people. It is the worst form of government tyranny. For so called journalists like these two at Politico to try to explain away what happened by using falsehoods and innuendo is just plain disgusting.
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