Among the many scandals that the main-stream media leave essentially ignored or remarked upon (Benghazi, Fast & Furious, handing GM over to the unions, the wide net of the NSA, whatever ukazes that Obama may decree from day to day, &c,…), the IRS scandal bubbles along like the cauldron of the three sisters in Macbeth.
The targeting of conservative groups by the IRS came about after the outrage by the Left erupted with the Supreme Court finding in Citizens United vs. Federal Elections Commission (2010) that corporations and associations have rights of freedom of speech through contributions to political causes, though the Left somehow cannot hoist enough dudgeon to feel the same about labor unions and the corporations that run newspaper and television media.
The starting bell was rung when Obama publically excoriated the Supreme Court who was sitting assembled before him days later at the State of the Union speech, an unprecedented breach of civility that went unnoticed other than the press' collective gasp when Justice Samuel Alito was seen to mouth "Not true."
To answer the critics who justly point out not just the inequity (over 200 conservative groups were targeted and harassed, as opposed to some six left-wing or 'progressive' groups who received inquiries), the solution is to codify the practice rather than correct it.
President Obama and Democrats have been at great pains to insist they knew nothing about IRS targeting of conservative 501(c)(4) nonprofits before the 2012 election. They've been at even greater pains this week to ensure that the same conservative groups are silenced in the 1024 midterms….
The [omnibus negotiations] fight was sparked by a new rule that the Treasury Department and the IRS introduce during the hush of Thanksgiving recess, ostensibly to "improve" the law governing nonprofits. What the rule in fact does is recategorize as "political" all manner of educational activities that 501(c)(4) social-welfare organizations currently engage in.
It's IRS targeting all over again, only this time by administration design with the raw political goal – as House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Michigan) notes – of putting "tea party groups out of business."
Further, the Democrats are willing to give on key areas of their wish list in order to preserve this one. Strassel goes into great detail to highlight the lengths that the Democrats will go in order to finagle the passage of this cover-up. You would do well to read the whole thing™, for you aren't likely to see it elsewhere in the press: they are too busy with Chris Christie and "traffic cones on the George Washington Bridge." After all, the traditional TV news corporations – ABC, CBS, NBC – have dedicated 44 times more coverage to the bridge 'scandal' in 48 hours than they did to the IRS story for the last six months.
Most of the news media is corrupt and so Wormtongue and his party are as well. They know they can get away with it. Especially because the Republicans are too cowardardly (and corrupt in their own way) to do anything about it.
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