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Message
"Lerner Breaks Her Silence" -- Politico
Posted on 9/22/14 at 6:02 am
Posted on 9/22/14 at 6:02 am
About as favorable interview as I could see her getting, btw.
quote:
She also seemed well aware that these groups had been waiting for years to get an answer from the IRS. As early as mid-2011, she asked IRS lawyers how to get the applications wrapped up.
Yet it’s also clear that she wasn’t the only one who made missteps — she’s just the only name leading headlines.
For example, it was advisers in the IRS chief counsel’s office who requested that agents seek more information on conservative groups’ 2010 campaign activity, even after the organizations were waiting for exempt status for more than a year, according to Democratic congressional reports.
There were also multiple managers on these cases, and former IRS staffers told POLITICO that the IRS commissioners probably knew what was going on because they were always appraised of “hot-button issues.”
Still, none of her former IRS colleagues thought Lerner was working for the White House or biased.
Rather, in general, they say she lost control of her division — and that the GOP is taking advantage of it.
“You could take her out of there and just stand in a different person, and no matter who it is, we would have the same result,” said Karen Gries, a tax lawyer who worked with Lerner. “I don’t believe this is reflective of Lois the individual or Lois the professional.”
Her sympathizers note that she was in a tough spot because many sunlight groups and lawmakers were alleging that big-name nonprofits, like Crossroads, were making hundreds of millions in secret campaign contributions, exceeding IRS limits for campaign activity for tax-exempt groups. Lerner’s division had to enforce the law, they say.
But was the law applied equally to all political persuasions?
Emails show Lerner was looking at political activities of affiliates of liberal group Emerge, which won tax exemptions that were later revoked by her division after Lerner asked “how in the world” they got approved. But the number of conservative groups that were put on hold for years and asked inappropriate questions still far outnumber liberal ones.
Democrats, meanwhile, are still furious that Lerner didn’t tell Congress about the situation sooner.
Eventually, the IRS, Lerner’s employer for more than a decade, would turn 180 degrees against her. After she went on leave, acting IRS chief Danny Werfel tasked his investigators to build the case to fire Lerner, according to a former IRS official who was working on that probe.
But Lerner retired in September before the IRS could fire her.
LINK
Posted on 9/22/14 at 6:10 am to NC_Tigah
quote:
“You could take her out of there and just stand in a different person, and no matter who it is, we would have the same result,” said Karen Gries, a tax lawyer who worked with Lerner. “I don’t believe this is reflective of Lois the individual or Lois the professional.”
This may be somewhat of a defense of Lois (it's not a good one). And I believe that it's true. And it demonstrates exactly how bad this situation really is.
Posted on 9/22/14 at 6:13 am to the808bass
I must have missed where she was put under oath.
Posted on 9/22/14 at 7:00 am to NC_Tigah
I didn't see anything of substance in the article.
I did find this interesting.
Is this affirmative action at work?
Are we going to hide behind the "I didn't know any better" alibi? Who does she think she is, the President?
Poor thing was just misunderstood.
I did find this interesting.
quote:So, a senior official in the Federal tax bureaucracy wasn't competent to run her department and therefore fricked up.
Marc Owens, who had Lerner’s position at the IRS during the 1990s, thinks her limited tax knowledge may have contributed to the tea party incident: “When managers are not familiar with the laws they are enforcing, they make bad decisions
Is this affirmative action at work?
Are we going to hide behind the "I didn't know any better" alibi? Who does she think she is, the President?
Poor thing was just misunderstood.
Posted on 9/22/14 at 7:06 am to mauser
quote:
I didn't see anything of substance in the article.
Maybe this was out there previously
quote:but I hadn't heard it.
. . . acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller asked her to get ahead of a damning inspector general report due the following week. It detailed IRS agents giving heightened scrutiny to nonprofits using words like “tea party,” “patriot” and “limited government spending,” and asking the groups inappropriate questions about their donors and political affiliations.
Posted on 9/22/14 at 7:22 am to NC_Tigah
I call BS. If it was all so innocent as is alleged in the article, then why not testify to that in front of Congress?
Posted on 9/22/14 at 7:24 am to NC_Tigah
quote:
Rather, in general, they say she lost control of her division — and that the GOP is taking advantage of it.
I stopped right there.
There's no fricking way that this woman is a victim in any of this.
Posted on 9/22/14 at 7:25 am to Godfather1
So let me get this straight; she's using the Cam Newton defense?
"I didn't know."
Am I understanding this correctly?
"I didn't know."
Am I understanding this correctly?
Posted on 9/22/14 at 7:35 am to NC_Tigah
(no message)
This post was edited on 9/22/14 at 9:16 am
Posted on 9/22/14 at 7:49 am to bamarep
Testifying in front of congress does her no good.
Congressment are not looking to actually fact find, they are looking to grandstand.
That is why people avoid testifying in front of congress whenever they can.
Congressment are not looking to actually fact find, they are looking to grandstand.
That is why people avoid testifying in front of congress whenever they can.
Posted on 9/22/14 at 7:49 am to NC_Tigah
I don't care what this woman has to say unless it's from a witness stand.
Posted on 9/22/14 at 7:51 am to mtntiger
quote:
I call BS. If it was all so innocent as is alleged in the article, then why not testify to that in front of Congress?
I would think it was to keep her retirement benefits. I she doesn't take the 5th, they go back and fire her and her life's work is gone, money wise.
Posted on 9/22/14 at 8:10 am to NC_Tigah
What I gather from all that is that an arm of Govt is too big for the person in charge to maintain control. Maybe we should shrink the size of the IRS until they are capable of only performing their basic duties. Maybe then it'll be more competent
Posted on 9/22/14 at 9:06 am to Vegas Bengal
quote:You have mail.
Vegas Bengal
Posted on 9/22/14 at 9:19 am to NC_Tigah
So, she's hired a PR Firm who flacked her story to Politico.
Notice, all of her defenders are people who have worked, or are working for the Feds.
Yep. Poor little Lois. She's just a victim.
This is to get everybody ready for the Pardon she's going to receive when the President leaves office.
Notice, all of her defenders are people who have worked, or are working for the Feds.
Yep. Poor little Lois. She's just a victim.
This is to get everybody ready for the Pardon she's going to receive when the President leaves office.
Posted on 9/22/14 at 9:22 am to redandright
quote:Holder will have one whopper of a list of assholes for Odrama to pardon.
This is to get everybody ready for the Pardon she's going to receive when the President leaves office.
Posted on 9/22/14 at 10:07 am to NC_Tigah
quote:Hmmm. Her defense is incompetence. Awesome.
Rather, in general, they say she lost control of her division — and that the GOP is taking advantage of it.
“You could take her out of there and just stand in a different person, and no matter who it is, we would have the same result,” said Karen Gries, a tax lawyer who worked with Lerner. “I don’t believe this is reflective of Lois the individual or Lois the professional.”
I have lots of confidence in these same clowns running healthcare. In sure it will be different next time if we only give them more power and more money...
This post was edited on 9/22/14 at 10:08 am
Posted on 9/22/14 at 10:15 am to NC_Tigah
Everyone is a victim it seems. No one is accountable.
Posted on 9/22/14 at 10:52 am to Taxing Authority
Lois Lerner kept getting positions of increased responsibility throughout a career with the federal government. That means she had to have been getting at least satisfactory evaluations from her supervisors. So any defense of incompetence doesn't ring true.
Her bosses at the IRS had confidence in her job performance, and that of her subordinates, up to the time she took leave of absence. Thus, any incompetence would have had to start at the top of the IRS and extend to the lowest levels of people supervised by Lerner. That is much harder to accept than to believe the entire targeting was accidental or coincidental. The only conclusion that is left is that the targeting was intentional. And if intentional the questions that need answering are who was responsible, and who was participating in the targeting?
Her bosses at the IRS had confidence in her job performance, and that of her subordinates, up to the time she took leave of absence. Thus, any incompetence would have had to start at the top of the IRS and extend to the lowest levels of people supervised by Lerner. That is much harder to accept than to believe the entire targeting was accidental or coincidental. The only conclusion that is left is that the targeting was intentional. And if intentional the questions that need answering are who was responsible, and who was participating in the targeting?
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