Blame Citizens United for the IRS scandal
The real outrage is why these political groups have tax-exempt status in the first place
BY JARED BERNSTEIN
Nope, Im not going to defend the IRS, which appears to have acted in ways wholly inconsistent with their mandate for unbiased investigations into, in this case, whether certain political groups should receive tax-exempt status. It is unclear how high up the chain of command these untoward actions went, but this mornings news suggests it wasnt just a few rogue auditors in Cincinnati.
The problem wasnt that the agency scrutinized these so-called social welfare organizationsas Ill emphasize in a moment, tax law in this area is an accident going out to happen. Its that they violated neutrality, investigating conservative groups by searching on tea party and patriot.
Republicans will of course try to pin this on the President, despite the fact that since Nixon used the IRS to target his enemies, the presidents been barred from even discussing this kind of thing with the agency.
No, the problem here isnt the president. Its the Supreme Courts Citizen United decision and subsequent tax law written by Congress that gives these groups tax exempt status (under rule 501(c)(4)) as long as most of their activities are primarily on educating the public about policy issues, not direct campaigning.
full article
http://www.salon.com/2013/05/15/blame_citizens_united_for_the_irs_scandal_partner/