-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a prelude to war! HOW THE DEMOCRATS ARE USING THE IRS AS A POLITICAL WEAPON ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Now The Associated Press has confirmed what conservative groups and this page have been talking about for years: Several tax-exempt organizations have been set upon by Internal Revenue Service auditors for what look to be blatant partisan purposes. The story comes to light after the agency was forced to reveal the targets of its audits following a suit initiated by the Landmark Legal Foundation, which fights against judicial activism in the courts. One Democratic congressman referred the Heritage Foundation (a Washington think tank) and Citizens Against Government Waste (an anti-tax group) to the IRS based on a desire for "evenhandedness." The IRS responded within two months and both groups are still defending themselves from the costly audits. The American Spectator, the conservative monthly that has been crusading against the Clintons since 1992, also found itself under the IRS telescope. IRS politicization was one of the most glaring abuses of the Nixon White House. And, as the last six years have shown, the Clinton presidency is a veritable moral (or immoral) clone of Tricky Dick's. But, of course, Nixon used the IRS against Democrats and liberals, so the story was front-page news for a year. The Clintons go after conservatives, and the media are mostly silent. Like the Nixonites, the White House and Democrats will surely again downplay this outrage because "everybody does it": They will point out that the documents also show Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer requesting an IRS probe of the Buddhist temple where Al Gore had a fund-raiser. But there's a crucial difference. Religious groups are explicitly banned from carrying on political activities –– whether in a church, a synagogue or a mosque. A partisan fund-raiser is by definition political. The illegality was so blatant that the temple was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the case against Democratic fund-raiser Maria Hsia. The Democrat-instigated IRS moves against conservative organizations, on the other hand, seem clearly designed to harass and intimidate institutions that are disseminating information to the public –– within the guidelines of their charters. A Buddhist temple is supposed to be distributing the words of a Higher Power. A think tank's mission is to distribute information on slightly more worldly matters. This information is often ideological, and thus will tend in a partisan direction. But that doesn't make it partisan in character. The ideas are what matter, not the fiscal health of a given political party. There are two things we can learn here. First, there should probably be greater checks and balances to deter legislators –– of either party –– from making illegitimate audit demands of the IRS. But the larger point is, again, about Bill Clinton, his administration and the depths to which they will sink. The president makes a habit of whining about his enemies, and he has many. Have organizations like the Heritage Foundation and Citizens Against Government Waste been rough on him? Absolutely. But what they have at their disposal is a means of disseminating an argument. What he has at his disposal is the might of the U.S. government. Recall that no sooner had this White House come into office then it got its hands on sensitive FBI files of former government officials –– and used ex-bouncer Craig Livingstone to scour them for sordid details. Recall the hijinks of Sidney "Sid Vicious" Blumenthal, who coordinated a White House "sleaze the Right" effort to deflect attention from the president's perjuries in the Lewinsky scandal –– and was given a dressing-down by a grand jury for going on TV and misrepresenting his testimony to them. Clinton unmoored his party from the leftist ideology that made it nationally unelectable. He was able to do that because he himself is unmoored from even the most basic standards of political and personal decency. Here's hoping that his final departure from office brings an end to the re-Nixonizing of the White House. **COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
