Thread: Obama moves to weaponize IRS - attempt to double down on conservative groups

PULLING NO PUNCHES

Obama moves to weaponize IRS

Exclusive: Matt Barber sounds alarm over attempt to double down on conservative groups

Published: 1 day ago

Matt Barber

In 2010 millions of American tea-party constitutionalists, to include the GOP’s Christian base, united in a remarkable grass-roots effort to rein in our unbridled federal government and return it to its expressly limited constitutional confines. As a result, an unprecedented number of counter-constitutionalist lawmakers (read: liberal Democrats) were swept from office.
The Obama administration wasn’t going to take this lying down. Whether it was by tacit approval or via direct order remains largely immaterial. The president quickly and unlawfully politicized the Internal Revenue Service, using it as a weapon against his political enemies. In an explosive scandal that continues to grow, the Obama IRS was caught – smoking gun in hand – intentionally targeting conservative and Christian organizations and individuals for harassment, intimidation and, ultimately, for political destruction.
Not only has Obama faced zero accountability for these arguably impeachable offenses, he has since doubled down. With jaw-dropping gall, his administration has now moved to officially weaponize the IRS against conservatives once and for all.
Despite the furor over the IRS assault on conservative groups leading up to the 2012 elections, this man – a despotic radical who’s turned our constitutional republic into one of the banana variety – has quietly released a proposed set of new IRS regulations that, if implemented, will immediately, unlawfully and permanently muzzle conservative 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations and their individual employees. (The 501(c)(4) designation refers to the IRS code section under which social welfare organizations are regulated).
The new regulations would unconstitutionally compel a 90-day blackout period during election years in which conservative 501(c)(4) organizations – such as tea-party, pro-life and pro-family groups – would be banned from mentioning the name of any candidate for office, or even the name of any political party.
Here’s the kicker: As you may have guessed, liberal lobbying groups like labor unions and trade associations are deliberately exempted. And based on its partisan track record, don’t expect this president’s IRS to lift a finger to scrutinize liberal 501(c)(4)s. Over at a Obama’s “Organizing for America,” the left-wing political propaganda will, no doubt, flow unabated.
These Orwellian regulations will prohibit conservative 501(c)(4) organizations from using words like “oppose,” “vote,” or “defeat.” Their timing, prior to a pivotal election, is no coincidence and provides yet another example of Obama’s using the IRS for “progressive” political gain.
Although these restrictions only apply to 501(c)(4) organizations for now, under a straightforward reading, they will also clearly apply to 501(c)(3) organizations in the near future.
Mat Staver, chairman of Liberty Counsel Action – one of the many conservative organizations to be silenced – commented on the breaking scandal: “One of the core liberties in our constitutional republic is the right to dissent,” he said. “But desperate to force his radical agenda on the American people, Barack Obama and his chosen political tool, the IRS, are now trying to selectively abridge this right, effectively silencing their political adversaries.”
Specifically, here’s what the proposed regulations would do to conservative groups and their leaders:

• Prohibit using words like “oppose,” “vote,” “support,” “defeat,” and “reject.”
• Prohibit mentioning, on its website or on any communication (email, letter, etc.) that would reach 500 people or more, the name of a candidate for office, 30 days before a primary election and 60 days before a general election.
• Prohibit mentioning the name of a political party, 30 days before a primary election and 60 days before a general election, if that party has a candidate running for office.
• Prohibit voter registration drives or conducting a non-partisan “get-out-the-vote drive.”
• Prohibit creating or distributing voter guides outlining how incumbents voted on particular bills.
• Prohibit hosting candidates for office at any event, including debates and charitable fundraisers, 30 days before a primary election or 60 days before the general election, if the candidate is part of the event’s program.
• Restrict employees of such organizations from volunteering for campaigns.
• Prohibit distributing any materials prepared on behalf a candidate for office.
• Restrict the ability of officers and leaders of such organizations to publicly speak about incumbents, legislation, and/or voting records.
• Restrict the ability of officers and leaders of such organizations to make public statements regarding the nomination of judges.
• Create a 90-day blackout period, on an election year, that restricts the speech of 501(c)(4) organizations.
• Declare political activity as contrary to the promotion of social welfare.
• Protect labor unions and trade associations by exempting them from the proposed regulations.

Continued Mat Staver: “We would be restricted in promoting conservative values, such as protecting our constitutional rights against these very kind of Executive Branch infringements.
“We would even be prohibited from criticizing the federal bureaucracy. If this new set of regulations goes into effect, Liberty Counsel Action – all conservative 501(c)(4)s for that matter – will be forbidden to ‘oppose’ or ‘support’ anything in the political arena and we’ll be prohibited from conducting our ‘get-out-the vote’ campaigns or issuing our popular voter guides.
“Further,” continue Staver, “individual employees of conservative groups will be banned from speaking or messaging on incumbents, legislation, and/or voting records – or speaking on the nominations of judges or political nominees being considered by the Senate. This also includes taking on state and local politicians.”
“These are the same tactics used by the Obama administration to illegally target conservative 501(c)(4) organizations during the last two election cycles, only now the strategy has been greatly intensified and formalized.
“You may recall that former President Richard Nixon was famously forced to resign for improperly using Executive Branch assets for political purposes.
“Rather than preparing a solid defense to confront these serious allegations, a brazen Barack Obama has chosen instead to reconfigure his illegal tactics into a set of ‘regulations’ on nonprofits, opening the door for an IRS crackdown on select organizations,” Staver concluded.
Indeed, once caught abusing his executive authority to target the very U.S. citizens he’s sworn to serve, even a nominally honorable man would immediately reverse course, resign and accept the consequences of his illegal actions.
But we’re not talking about an honorable man.
We’re talking about Barack Hussein Obama.
Freedom-loving Americans are asked to file a public comment in opposition to this proposed IRS regulation at Regulations.gov. All comments are due by Feb. 27, 2014.
Also, please sign this petition to the Senate Committee on Finance, Taxation and IRS Oversight to ensure that all 501(c)(4) organizations formed to promote conservative values will be treated fairly by the IRS.
Media wishing to interview Matt Barber, please contact media@wnd.com.


Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/01/obama-mov...Yvl5CC6zdTi.99

ALERT: Obama Moves to Weaponize IRS…

Posted on 11 January, 2014 by Dylan



(by Matt Barber, WND)

Despite the furor over the IRS assault on conservative groups leading up to the 2012 elections, this man – a despotic radical who’s turned our constitutional republic into one of the banana variety – has quietly released a proposed set of new IRS regulations that, if implemented, will immediately, unlawfully and permanently muzzle conservative 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations and their individual employees. (The 501(c)(4) designation refers to the IRS code section under which social welfare organizations are regulated).
The new regulations would unconstitutionally compel a 90-day blackout period during election years in which conservative 501(c)(4) organizations – such as tea-party, pro-life and pro-family groups – would be banned from mentioning the name of any candidate for office, or even the name of any political party.
Here’s the kicker: As you may have guessed, liberal lobbying groups like labor unions and trade associations are deliberately exempted. And based on its partisan track record, don’t expect this president’s IRS to lift a finger to scrutinize liberal 501(c)(4)s. Over at a Obama’s “Organizing for America,” the left-wing political propaganda will, no doubt, flow unabated.
These Orwellian regulations will prohibit conservative 501(c)(4) organizations from using words like “oppose,” “vote,” or “defeat.” Their timing, prior to a pivotal election, is no coincidence and provides yet another example of Obama’s using the IRS for “progressive” political gain.
Although these restrictions only apply to 501(c)(4) organizations for now, under a straightforward reading, they will also clearly apply to 501(c)(3) organizations in the near future.
Mat Staver, chairman of Liberty Counsel Action – one of the many conservative organizations to be silenced – commented on the breaking scandal: “One of the core liberties in our constitutional republic is the right to dissent,” he said. “But desperate to force his radical agenda on the American people, Barack Obama and his chosen political tool, the IRS, are now trying to selectively abridge this right, effectively silencing their political adversaries.”
Specifically, here’s what the proposed regulations would do to conservative groups and their leaders:
Prohibit using words like “oppose,” “vote,” “support,” “defeat,” and “reject.”
Prohibit mentioning, on its website or on any communication (email, letter, etc.) that would reach 500 people or more, the name of a candidate for office, 30 days before a primary election and 60 days before a general election.
Prohibit mentioning the name of a political party, 30 days before a primary election and 60 days before a general election, if that party has a candidate running for office.
Prohibit voter registration drives or conducting a non-partisan “get-out-the-vote drive.”
Prohibit creating or distributing voter guides outlining how incumbents voted on particular bills.
Prohibit hosting candidates for office at any event, including debates and charitable fundraisers, 30 days before a primary election or 60 days before the general election, if the candidate is part of the event’s program.
Restrict employees of such organizations from volunteering for campaigns.
Prohibit distributing any materials prepared on behalf a candidate for office.
Restrict the ability of officers and leaders of such organizations to publicly speak about incumbents, legislation, and/or voting records.
Restrict the ability of officers and leaders of such organizations to make public statements regarding the nomination of judges.
Create a 90-day blackout period, on an election year, that restricts the speech of 501(c)(4) organizations.
Declare political activity as contrary to the promotion of social welfare.
Protect labor unions and trade associations by exempting them from the proposed regulations.
Continued Mat Staver: “We would be restricted in promoting conservative values, such as protecting our constitutional rights against these very kind of Executive Branch infringements.
“We would even be prohibited from criticizing the federal bureaucracy. If this new set of regulations goes into effect, Liberty Counsel Action – all conservative 501(c)(4)s for that matter – will be forbidden to ‘oppose’ or ‘support’ anything in the political arena and we’ll be prohibited from conducting our ‘get-out-the vote’ campaigns or issuing our popular voter guides.
“Further,” continue Staver, “individual employees of conservative groups will be banned from speaking or messaging on incumbents, legislation, and/or voting records – or speaking on the nominations of judges or political nominees being considered by the Senate. This also includes taking on state and local politicians.”
“These are the same tactics used by the Obama administration to illegally target conservative 501(c)(4) organizations during the last two election cycles, only now the strategy has been greatly intensified and formalized.

See more at: http://www.redflagnews.com/headlines....mUzETbPw.dpuf


http://gopthedailydose.com/2014/01/1...weaponize-irs/

Cops Supporting Gun Rights

They don't make them like this any longer.

Uh-oh. Obama now weaponizing the IRS
If you think Barack Obama was done with his tyrannical use of the IRS against Americans, think again.

Just look at the vicious beast that's now ready to pounce ...

WND EXCLUSIVE

Look out! Obama weaponizing IRS

Attorney warns taxman opening '2nd front' in war on conservatives

Jerome R. Corsi

Published: 3 hours ago



WASHINGTON, D.C. – “Non-profit groups must prepare to fight back [against] the IRS on yet a second front,” warns Cleta Mitchell, a partner in the Washington-based law firm Foley & Lardner LLP, well-known for providing expert legal advise to conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status.

In discussions throughout the Capitol, Mitchell has expressed her concern new rules proposed by the IRS demonstrate once again the Obama administration is determined to keep tea-party groups from having the type of impact on the mid-term elections this November that they had in 2010, when Republicans grabbed majority control of the House of Representatives.

“This is a real assault on the First Amendment rights of American citizens, and we need to do everything we can to stop the IRS from implementing these new rules,” Mitchell says.

Mitchell has produced in a YouTube video a briefing in which she explains the goal of the IRS is to limit the free speech of conservative groups:

She is urging conservatives groups and individuals to file comments with the IRS right away, arguing it is “impractical, burdensome and unacceptable for the IRS to interject itself into the workings of every citizens group in the country.”

The legally constituted function of the IRS, Mitchell argues, is to collect tax revenues, “not to snoop and trample on First Amendment rights of the citizens.”

At stake this November is the possibility conservative tax-exempt groups campaigning for conservative Republican candidates for Congress might increase the Republican majority in the House and grab enough seats in the Senate to topple the current Democratic Party majority, she explains.

The Democrats in Congress appear this year to be particularly vulnerable given the debacle witnessed by the nation in the Obamacare implementation plus increasing economic data that shows job growth slowing, with historic numbers of Americans dropping out of the labor force.

How to file comments opposing IRS proposed rule

Conservative groups or individuals may submit comments electronically opposing the proposed rule changes at Regulations.gov, searching for the citation IRS REG-134417-13, an Internet search that yields a page entitled “Guidance for Tax-Exempt Social Welfare Organization on Candidate-Related Political Activities.”

The proposed rules can be found published in the Federal Register here, again under the title “Guidance for Tax-Exempt Social Welfare Organization on Candidate-Related Political Activities,” dated Nov. 29, 2013.

In a fact sheet Mitchell is distributing to conservatives, Mitchell is advising clients to file comments before the deadline on Feb. 27, 2014, to a series of new regulations the IRS proposes to implement with the goal of making sure conservative organizations with 501(c)4 status are prohibited before the upcoming mid-term elections in November 2014 from any activity associated with supporting a political candidate or influencing the outcome of an election.

“Conservative groups that do not submit comments to the IRS opposing these rule changes before the Feb. 27 deadline will not have standing to participate in the final rule-determination process required by law before the rules are implemented,” Mitchell explained.

Mitchell is encouraging conservative groups and individuals to insist in their filed comments that the IRS must hold public hearings in open forums around the nation before these proposed new regulations are implemented.

IRS war against conservatives

“With these new regulations,” Mitchell argued, “the goal is to restrict the free speech of conservatives in the United States.

Progressives tend to focus on process issues, and these new IRS regulations are a direct attempt by the political left to rewrite the rules of political engagement unfairly in their favor.”

Last week, the IRS scandal deepened when the Washington Times reported the Justice Department selected Barbara Kay Bosserman, a DOJ trial lawyer, who had contributed to Obama’s presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012 as well as to the Democratic Party, to lead the criminal probe into the IRS targeting conservative groups to deny their applications for tax-exempt status.

Mitchell in her discussions with conservative groups has explained the activities the IRS seeks to define as “candidate-related political activities,” subject to taxation and reporting to the IRS, are basic 501(c)4 activities such as grassroots lobbying, candidate forums, candidate debates, voter registration drives, voter guides and issue advocacy.

“The IRS is fully aware this is a war in which conservative groups are being targeted,” Mitchell explains, noting the proposed IRS new rules do not apply to labor unions or trade associations.

“The Obama administration is not looking for ways to restrain labor unions from using member dues to conduct similar activities.”

Historically, labor union political support has gone to Democratic Party political candidates since the end of World War II, while the upsurge in tax-exempt filings have come from conservatives and especially from the many tea-party groups formed since the economic downturn dating back to 2008.

http://www.wnd.com/2014/01/look-out-...aponizing-irs/

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http://www.wnd.com/2014/01/look-out-...aponizing-irs/

Warning: IRS about to quietly adopt new rules that will legally muzzle tea party groups

January 12, 2014 by Michael Dorstewitz 24 Comments



Photo credit www.foxbusiness.com

Now that we’re into an all-important midterm election year, the Obama administration is turning up the heat on tea party groups and other conservative organizations, the very people who many say caused the Democrats’ “shellacking” in the 2010 midterms.

The Obama administration is using the ultimate agency of intimidation — the Internal Revenue Service — to give Democrats a leg up in what is predicted to be a difficult year for the party.

The IRS has proposed new rules for 501(c)(4) organizations that strike at the the heart of the tea party’s very existence — political activism.

The rules propose “regulations that provide guidance to tax-exempt social welfare organizations on political activities related to candidates that will not be considered to promote social welfare,” according to a document detailing the suggested changes.

The agency also is inviting public comments by Feb. 27.

The laundry list of provisions the IRS proposes that 501(c)(4) organizations must comply with includes, according to WND:

• Prohibit using words like “oppose,” “vote,” “support,” “defeat,” and “reject.”
• Prohibit mentioning, on its website or on any communication (email, letter, etc.) that would reach 500 people or more, the name of a candidate for office, 30 days before a primary election and 60 days before a general election.
• Prohibit mentioning the name of a political party, 30 days before a primary election and 60 days before a general election, if that party has a candidate running for office.
• Prohibit voter registration drives or conducting a non-partisan “get-out-the-vote drive.”
• Prohibit creating or distributing voter guides outlining how incumbents voted on particular bills.
• Prohibit hosting candidates for office at any event, including debates and charitable fundraisers, 30 days before a primary election or 60 days before the general election, if the candidate is part of the event’s program.
• Restrict employees of such organizations from volunteering for campaigns.
• Prohibit distributing any materials prepared on behalf a candidate for office.
• Restrict the ability of officers and leaders of such organizations to publicly speak about incumbents, legislation, and/or voting records.
• Restrict the ability of officers and leaders of such organizations to make public statements regarding the nomination of judges.
• Create a 90-day blackout period, on an election year, that restricts the speech of 501(c)(4) organizations.

Just as telling is that the proposed rule changes don’t affect the tax-exempt status of 501(c)(5) organizations – including labor unions and trade organizations, the lifeblood of the Democratic Party.

To be fair, the IRS’s proposed rulings don’t specifically target conservative organizations. However, when coming on the heels of the IRS’s targeting of tea party and similar groups that made the news eight months ago, this appears to be something of a “double whammy” for the right.

Video: Megyn Kelly laughs at herself over ‘Jeopardy!’ bomb

When the media reported in May that the IRS was targeting conservative groups seeking 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status, the president seemed incensed and promised to get to the bottom of it.

“It’s inexcusable, and Americans are right to be angry about it, and I am angry about it,” he said, according to Yahoo News. “I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency — but especially in the IRS, given the power that it has and the reach that it has into all of our lives.”

Eight months have passed, and not only has the president relegated the IRS’s conduct to his list of “phony scandals,” but his administration is turning up the heat on groups that have proved most effective in opposing him and his policies.

Read the full text of the IRS’s proposed rule changes here.

H/T WND.com.

http://www.bizpacreview.com/2014/01/...y-groups-93755