Why SHOULDN'T the IRS scrutinize the TEA party?

I see. Any criticism of the Obama administration is classified prima facie, as a "conspiracy." No wonder people compare the Obama Democrats to the USSR. People who consider themselves to be "taxed enough already" are highly likely to engage in tax AVOIDANCE (in stark contrast to tax EVASION) , about which the IRS cannot do a damned thing because it is not only licit but the licit objective of tax lawyers and accountants. Although it is probably a good thing for the IRS to be naturally suspicious, it should be generally and not selectively suspicious - especially when the IRS staff is unionized and under a cloud of suspicion itself for being pro-Democrat. This is a valid scandal alright, and one that threatens the very structure of government in the United States.

The IRS should not turn a blind eye. But the IRS did admit wrong doing and issued an official apology. So when the gave extra scrutiny to tea party organizations they obviously broke the law.

And while I do not like Obama, I also think he did not know about it.

I'm not a tax lawyer, but I'm totally confused with how not immediately approving the tax free status of a Political Action Committee (PAC) is harassment or illegal. PETA also ran into some delays getting their tax free status approved from IRS, and PETA clearly isn't a right winger organization. Eventually all of these PACs got approved for tax free status. One thing that people don't realize is that tax laws are changed annually by Congress. Today, for example, a church or a PAC can raise money for a political party or candidate, and they don't lose their tax exempt status. Ten years ago, that clearly would've been illegal, and they would've been taxed like any other business is taxed. However, during the Bush presidency all limits on tax exempt organizations politicking were removed. It's a Pandora's Box IMO.

This politicizing of the IRS is not new either. Nixon regularly used the IRS to harass antiwar activists like Paul Newman and the Black Panther Party. Kennedy used the IRS to harass racist groups like the John Birch Society and the Klan. Why do you figure that Willie Nelson and James Brown ended up in tax trouble, when Reagan was in office? Bush audited antiwar groups too, which he knew he could skate on doing, because Nixon got away with it in the '70s.

First I want someone to go into the tax code for 2013 and find, In writing, the part where it clearly states unequivocally that paying taxes is "mandatory". Then tell me the page, paragraph sentence...Just so you know. IRS tax agents can't do it either...it doesn't exist. The IRS is an illegal institution operating just like a Mafia. this happened under Soetoros....err obamas watch. Doesn't mean it wasn't happening under any other president. They just got caught this time....

That's not the issue. The issue is that the IRS was paying far, far, more attention to the TEA Parties and other related groups than it did to groups that are liberal in nature. The issue is one of equality, which, in this case, we once again find the liberals saying equality is one of their sacred cows, but when it came to actually putting it into effect, their values, as usual, just fall by the wayside.

The Tea Party is committed to the rule of law, so it would not advocate that people cheat on their taxes. Rather, it would work within the system to lower taxes across the board, which would be beneficial for the economy and for society.

Why? Because resources would be channeled less to the corrupt and inefficient parts of our economy (i.e. government) and more to the productive and adaptive parts (the private sector).

This whole "scandal" is about the fact that the IRS did focus on conservative groups, which, regardless on your views on the Tea Party (I hate their guts) is not right. On the other hand, the last time I checked social welfare groups (As the Tea Party is registered as under the IRS) are not allowed to sponsor a political party. Sounds to me their motivation isn't social welfare, but politics. TAX REFORM! TAX REFORM ON THE TEA PARTY!!!!!

For the government to target groups that oppose them ... its clearly against the first amendment. By unfairly taxing them, they are attacking their right to free speech.

While at the same time, the IRS gave tax exempt status to liberal groups that don't even qualify ... Which no one in Congress has really even brought up.

It's not that they shouldn't scrutinize them at all, it's that they scrutinized them far more than other groups. They asked questions that were illegal, such as names of their donors. They gave their confidential information to political opponents. They dragged their heels on giving them an answer for months, sometimes years. Some were even further investigated by other government agencies such as the Dept. of Labor and the BATFE.

They should.

What they should not do is the problem. Holding up paperwork because of political affliation, releasing PRIVATE names to liberalblog sites are CRIMINAL. PEOPLE WILL GO TO JAIL over this, including some that are now on PAID LEAVE!