4 ms·

It seems possible until you realize that the IRS publicly apologized for targeting them and paid a settlement to 427 of the organizations. Four hundred twenty-s

It seems possible until you realize that the IRS publicly apologized for targeting them and paid a settlement to 427 of the organizations. Four hundred twenty-seven is far beyond any random accident or mistake.

seanmcdirmid 7y ago
No, I mean sure, if you think a conservative administration settling with conservative groups is a valid admission of guilt, go for it! But for many of us, it just seems like Trump trying to define truth unilaterally to pander to his base. See: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRS_targeting_controversy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRS_targeting_controversy Spoiler: both liberal and conservative groups were subject to extra scrutiny via keyword triggers, but only conservative groups got a settlement for whatever reason only Trump knows. Trump was smart enough not to let it go to court (lest any facts get argued for real).
- Fjolsvith 7y ago
  > No, I mean sure, if you think a conservative administration settling with conservative groups is a valid admission of guilt, For the actions committed under the previous liberal administration.
  - seanmcdirmid 7y ago
    Trump campaign: the IRS under Obama is corrupt! Trump becomes president: see, I told you, the IRS under Obama was corrupt! Let’s settle everything and withdraw all criminal charges (because you can’t just say people are guilty) so a judge/jury doesn’t actually determine anything. But maybe this is valid under Trump supporter logic, I guess.
- WillPostForFood 7y ago
  So totally non-political?
  - seanmcdirmid 7y ago
    Maybe or maybe not. But a political decision to admit guilt does not really decide anything.
tzs 7y ago
Without knowing how many groups applied, there is no way that you can tell if 427 is an unreasonable number. There are about 1.5 million non-profits in the US. If we assume an average lifetime of a non-profit is 25 years, then we expect about 60000 new non-profits per year. How many of those were conservative groups that did not get targeted?

seanmcdirmid 7y ago

No, I mean sure, if you think a conservative administration settling with conservative groups is a valid admission of guilt, go for it! But for many of us, it just seems like Trump trying to define truth unilaterally to pander to his base. See: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRS_targeting_controversy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRS_targeting_controversy Spoiler: both liberal and conservative groups were subject to extra scrutiny via keyword triggers, but only conservative groups got a settlement for whatever reason only Trump knows. Trump was smart enough not to let it go to court (lest any facts get argued for real).

Fjolsvith 7y ago
> No, I mean sure, if you think a conservative administration settling with conservative groups is a valid admission of guilt, For the actions committed under the previous liberal administration.
- seanmcdirmid 7y ago
  Trump campaign: the IRS under Obama is corrupt! Trump becomes president: see, I told you, the IRS under Obama was corrupt! Let’s settle everything and withdraw all criminal charges (because you can’t just say people are guilty) so a judge/jury doesn’t actually determine anything. But maybe this is valid under Trump supporter logic, I guess.
WillPostForFood 7y ago
So totally non-political?
- seanmcdirmid 7y ago
  Maybe or maybe not. But a political decision to admit guilt does not really decide anything.

tzs 7y ago

Without knowing how many groups applied, there is no way that you can tell if 427 is an unreasonable number. There are about 1.5 million non-profits in the US. If we assume an average lifetime of a non-profit is 25 years, then we expect about 60000 new non-profits per year. How many of those were conservative groups that did not get targeted?