Via Rawstory: http://www.rawstory.com/...
The words “occupy,” “progressive,” and “Israel” appeared on a “Be On the Look Out” (BOLO) list used by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, according to media reports.
Ok, so if they didn't just look out for groups trying to get tax exempt status who had "tea party" and "9-12 Project" in their description, but also "Progressive" and "Occupy" what does that mean for the theory that the President was using the IRS to "target his political enemies" in the same manner that Nixon did?
From Young Turks.
More from Raw Story.
The BOLO lists were at the heart of a scandal involving the treatment of tea party groups who applied for tax exempt status. An inspector general audit (PDF) released in May found the IRS had inappropriately targeted tea party groups for additional review based solely on their name.
Following the report, Republicans have claimed the IRS was intentionally targeting the enemies of President Barack Obama. Conservatives held an “Audit the IRS” rally in Washington, D.C. last week to speak out against the allegedly corrupt practices of the federal tax agency.
But a November 2010 BOLO (PDF) released by Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI) on Tuesday mentioned both progressive and tea party groups.
...
IRS manager John Shafer, a self-identified “conservative Republican,” told congressional investigators the BOLO list was merely used to centralize particular applications. Screeners who flagged applications related to “tea party” groups sent the case to particular IRS agents to ensure the review of such groups was consistent. Far from “targeting” the groups, he said they were centralized to improve customer service. Just because a group was on the BOLO list didn’t mean they were automatically flagged for review, he claimed.
We already know that most of the groups "flagged" were not Tea Party or Conservative Groups, that every Tea Party/Conservative Group was ultimately approved for 501(c)(4) status and that only one group - a progressive one - was denied that status.
The silence coming from Conservatives in the wake of this news has literally been deafening. Somehow, that's not much of a surprise.
Vyan