Tea Party targeting accelerates; mainstream media silent

Tea Party targeting accelerates; mainstream media silent

TeaPartyByFreedomFanIn May, head of the exempt organizations division of the IRS Lois Lerner apologized for illegally targeting the Tea Party and other conservative groups, such as “True the Vote,” a Houston-based nonprofit organization headed by Catherine Engelbrecht.

Incidentally, earlier this month, the Washington Times reported that “Six months after it began, the FBI’s investigation [into IRS targeting] has resulted in no release of information,” prompting  House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa and Rep. Jim Jordan to cry foul.

In a letter to FBI Director James B. Comey Jr., Issa and Jordan said in part,

“The department’s tactics have impeded a congressional investigation and interfered with the committee’s access to documents and information. Obstructing a congressional investigation is a crime.”

The only thing shocking about Lerner’s admission, whose “spontaneous apology” turned out to be not so spontaneous after all, was that it occurred in the first place, as many Democrats openly called for IRS investigations into the Tea Party and like-minded organizations well before the stated targeting took place.

Just one example was Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) who declared, “The American people have questions for the IRS and I intend to get answers.” But his faux outrage was not convincing, as in 2010 Baucus wrote to the Internal Revenue Service, asking them to “investigate political activity by non-profit groups,” as reported at the time by Politico, which also noted that Baucus “…cited only GOP-leaning groups as his causes of concern…” 

Back in May, Lerner said that targeting conservatives was “initiated by low-level workers in Cincinnati,” and pleaded the Fifth regarding her role in the targeting during a House Oversight committee hearing.

But the targeting of conservative groups has not stopped. In fact, it has accelerated.

Only this time, the mainstream media is silent and nobody is apologizing.

In late November, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Treasury Department “dumped a new proposal to govern the political activity of 501(c)(4) groups.”

The article continues to report,

“That this rule was meant to crack down on the White House’s political opponents was never in doubt. What is new is the growing concern by House Ways and Means Committee investigators that the regulation was reverse-engineered—designed to isolate and shut down the same tea party groups victimized in the first targeting round.” [emphasis added]

As reported today at the Examiner, Sen. Tom Coburn released his annual “Wastebook,” highlighting a sampling of the most egregious wasteful federal government spending citing “…100 examples of wasteful and low-priority spending totaling nearly $30 billion.” His investigation revealed that taxpayers funded a to scrutinize in part, the “cognitive-style correlates of political conservativism” illustrating the ongoing targeting of constitutional conservatives by the Obama Administration.

Where was the taxpayer-funded academic study of cognitive abilities of the Occupy Wall Street Movement?

Note: The Tea Party is the tip of the iceberg. Pro-Israel, Christian groups, large corporations, as well as wealthy citizens or Obama critics have also been disproportionately targeted, as reported at Tavern Keepers.

Follow Renee Nal on Twitter @ReneeNal and Facebook

Check out her news and political commentary on Tavern Keepers, Gather and the Examiner for news you won’t find in the mainstream media. Renee is also a guest blogger for the Shire Blog.

Renee Nal

Renee Nal

Renee Nal is a co-founder of TavernKeepers.com, a news and political commentary site founded by former Glenn Beck interns. She is also the National Conservative Examiner. Renee is an associate producer for Trevor Loudon's political documentary, 'The Enemies Within.'

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