why i see this as a minor issue is a major fact:
NO illegal activity occurred
watch the congressional hearings. the question was put to the IG, 'where there any indications of illegal behavior'; 'was there any inkling that this was directed in a partisan way or influenced by the white house or treasury', and all answers to those questions by the IG were "NO"
but prove me wrong about this
show us anything which was done which was found by the IG to have been illegal. post your cite. make me eat crow. until then it is on your plate
You are the person who provided the link to the report that is damning to the notion that the IRS was operating impartially. For the purposes of understanding what is being said here, any time you see the word or form of the word "inappropriate", you can be sure that a crime has been committed against the American people by the Ruling Party.
The effect of this whole endeavor is to eliminate the idea that all people are equal before the law. This what the culture of corruption has brought us to.
From the IG report of the Audit which you posted:
<snip>
IMPACT ON TAXPAYERS
Early in Calendar Year 2010, the IRS began using inappropriate criteria to identify organizations applying for tax-exempt status to review for indications of significant political campaign intervention. Although the IRS has taken some action, it will need to do more so that the public has reasonable assurance that applications are processed without unreasonable delay in a fair and impartial manner in the future.
<snip>
Our objection was to the criteria used to identify these applications for review. We believe all applications should be reviewed prior to approval to determine whether tax-exempt status should be granted. The IRS’s response also states that issues discussed in the report have been resolved.
We disagree with this statement as well.
<snip>
The Determinations Unit Used Inappropriate Criteria to Identify Potential Political Cases
The Determinations Unit developed and used inappropriate criteria to identify applications from organizations with the words Tea Party in their names. These applications (hereafter
referred to as potential political cases)13 were forwarded to a team of specialists14 for review.
Subsequently,
the Determinations Unit expanded the criteria to inappropriately include organizations with other specific names (Patriots and 9/12) or policy positions. While the criteria used by the Determinations Unit specified particular organization names, the team of specialists was also processing applications from groups with names other than those identified in the criteria. The
inappropriate and changing criteria may have led to inconsistent treatment of organizations applying for tax-exempt status.
For example, we identified some organizations’ applications with evidence of significant political campaign intervention that
were not forwarded to the team of specialists for processing but should have been. We also identified applications that were forwarded to the team of specialists but did not have indications of significant political campaign intervention.
All applications that were forwarded to the team of specialists experienced substantial delays in processing.
Although the IRS has taken some action, it will need to do more so that the public has reasonable assurance that applications are processed without unreasonable delay in a fair and impartial manner in the future.
<snip>
Potential Political Cases Experienced Significant Processing Delays
Organizations that applied for tax-exempt status and had their applications forwarded to the team of specialists experienced substantial delays. As of December 17, 2012, many organizations had not received an approval or denial letter for more than two years after they submitted their applications.
Some cases have been open during two election cycles (2010 and 2012). The
IRS Strategic Plan 2009–2013 has several goals and objectives that involve timely interacting with taxpayers, including enforcement of the tax law in a timely manner while minimizing taxpayer burden. The EO function does not have specific timeliness goals for processing applications, such as potential political cases, that require significant follow-up with the
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Inappropriate Criteria Were Used to Identify Tax-Exempt Applications for Review
organizations.30 The time it takes to process an application depends upon the facts and circumstances of the case.
Potential political cases took significantly longer than average to process due to ineffective management oversight.
<snip>
