patrick.net

Read or watch ""The Other IRS Scandal": David Cay Johnston on Dark Money Political Groups Seeking Tax Exemption". The (ab)use of "social welfare" groups occurs disproportionately on the Republican side, although even MoveOn.org is mostly a political group and not really about feeding the hungry or planting trees in parks.

The IRS resignation(s) remind me of Shirley Sherrod, i.e. this administration seems to respond to incoming fire by removing named targets ASAP. The whole thing is a tempest in a teapot because these groups aren't required to get a certification letter anyway, they were not prevented from political activity or fundraising, and in the explosion of scams claiming to be related to the "tea party" they may have warranted some scrutiny. The actual, original tea party was mainly about reducing government and balancing the budget, then it became a huge money maker with a very different agenda.

I am sure that the GOP is absolutely loving every second of this along with the myriads of fake grass roots conservative groups whom now have a new thing to bitch about and naturally since they don't have much going for them these days they'll run this thing into the ground and try and keep it in the light as long as possible and wring every drop of whatever possible political use it has for them and their corporate sponsors.

And Lois Lerner? Looks like she was appointed in 2005.

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Lois-G.-Lerner-Selected-as-Director-of-IRS-Exempt-Organizations-Division

Must've been Obama and Timmy G running Treasury under Bush!

This all seems a lot like the fake scandals under Clinton. Is it naive to think that there is no "there" there, anywhere?

These "scandals" are all fake?