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If Obama knew....

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Josie

*probably reading smut*
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If Obama knew what the IRS was doing to conservative groups and allowed it to occur, would you support going forward with impeachment?
 
Yes, of course. But there's no evidence that he did, at this point.
 
If Obama knew what the IRS was doing to conservative groups and allowed it to occur, would you support going forward with impeachment?

I usually hate what if questions, they are purely speculation. I have also found out in my long life what one thinks he would do if a certain situation arises, that is not necessarily what they do. So my answer is I do not know. I think the Republicans made a mockery of the impeachment process with Bill Clinton and I am not too sure that impeachment/resignation was the correct call even for Nixon. I say this later because since then it has come to Light that LBJ actually did some of the things Nixon was accused of attempting like actually using the IRS to get back at his political foes, the FBI to obtain information on his foes and of course the CIA. But LBJ had a complaint congress of the same party and not one of them would ever challenge LBJ.

So I really do not know.
 
If Obama knew what the IRS was doing to conservative groups and allowed it to occur, would you support going forward with impeachment?

I would have voted for - yes, but impeachment lacks the gravity it once did after Slick Willie slipped the noose.
 
Yes, of course. But there's no evidence that he did, at this point.

He probably had nothing to do with it. I was just saying that if he did, it's definitely worthy of putting him on trial.
 
If Obama knew what the IRS was doing to conservative groups and allowed it to occur, would you support going forward with impeachment?

I voted "absolutely." But it's just not that black and white.

The reason I would vote for impeachment would be to send the message loud and clear that there will be consequences for using the IRS (or any other government agency) to harass one's political rivals...or for covering it up.
 
Yeah.

But Given that the Obama administration is actually focusing on The IRS scandal to me indicates that they believe their hands are clean.
 
Nope, impeachment is a toothless process.

I'd support incarceration.
 
He was impeached.

Yes, but your Senate failed to confirm it. There was a time in America when men and women of honor rose above party politics to hold one of their own accountable for their actions. That time is long gone. As such, impeachment is only relevant these days as it relates to Justices who abuse their positions.
 
Yes, but your Senate failed to confirm it. There was a time in America when men and women of honor rose above party politics to hold one of their own accountable for their actions. That time is long gone. As such, impeachment is only relevant these days as it relates to Justices who abuse their positions.

A shame he wasn't prosecuted by the Federal government.
 
Soon you'll want to tar and feather him. And then finish him off with Zeppelin's Hangman. Impeachment ends at the doors of the Senate.
 
Suppose these groups needed investigating. Conservatives hate paying their taxes. Why do they hate their Country?
 
Perhaps you're on to something but isn't the issue who knew about the activities of the IRS and didn't disclose them not who knew they were being investigated?

If Issa knew about the IRS thing in July of 2012, long before it became known to the general public, why did he not act on this since this is such a scandal.
 
Lemme just say that even if we were to begin the impeachment process, look at his senate. Not even worth the time fellas.
 
If Issa knew about the IRS thing in July of 2012, long before it became known to the general public, why did he not act on this since this is such a scandal.

To be fair, pretty much all of Congress knew that the IRS Inspector General was investigating concerns that Congressmen and Senators reported to him related to this issue. None of them had, in July 2012, any proof that anything systemic was actually happening, they just had anecdotal evidence from concerned constituents. It wasn't until about 10 to 12 days ago when an official of the IRS let the cat out of the bag when she realized the Inspector General was about to issue a scathing report against the IRS's actions that proof was ascertained and became public knowledge.

So, again, the real issue is not who knew in July 2012 that the IRS Inspector General was investigating. The real issue is who in the administration knew in 2010 and 2011 that this was standard practice in the IRS and who actually initiated the process.
 
The Senate belongs to the 50 states of the United States of America.
 
To be fair, pretty much all of Congress knew that the IRS Inspector General was investigating concerns that Congressmen and Senators reported to him related to this issue. None of them had, in July 2012, any proof that anything systemic was actually happening, they just had anecdotal evidence from concerned constituents. It wasn't until about 10 to 12 days ago when an official of the IRS let the cat out of the bag when she realized the Inspector General was about to issue a scathing report against the IRS's actions that proof was ascertained and became public knowledge.

So, again, the real issue is not who knew in July 2012 that the IRS Inspector General was investigating. The real issue is who in the administration knew in 2010 and 2011 that this was standard practice in the IRS and who actually initiated the process.

What if Obama learned about this at the same time as everyone else.
 
Down with the King.
 
Perhaps you're on to something but isn't the issue who knew about the activities of the IRS and didn't disclose them not who knew they were being investigated?

Heya CJ :2wave: .....I think looking into the Democrats may give some insight. Even Huff-Po knew.

IRS Scandal Puts Dems Who Called For Investigation Of Conservative Group In A Bind

During the fall months of 2010, congressional Democrats grew increasingly alarmed that conservative non-profit groups, backed by big-money donors, would tip the scales of the upcoming election.

Many of the groups were filing for 501(c)(4) status, which allowed them to keep donors secret but forced them into policy advocacy -- not political campaigning -- as their primary activity. And Democrats, facing the prospect of tens of millions of dollars being spent against them, complained that these groups were hardly the "social welfare organizations" they claimed to be.

On Sept. 29, 2010, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) sounded the alarm. The chair of the influential Senate Finance Committee, which plays an important oversight role of the tax code, said he had "serious questions about whether such organizations are operating in compliance with the Internal Revenue Code."

The IRS, it turns out, took those concerns seriously. But in the process of addressing them, the tax agency managed to make itself the scandal.

When the truth was revealed this past week, the political world pounced. And among the first to express umbrage was Baucus.

These actions by the IRS are an outrageous abuse of power and a breach of the public’s trust," said the Montana Democrat. "Targeting groups based on their political views is not only inappropriate but it is intolerable."

One and a half years after Baucus' letter, Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) sent one of his own to the IRS urging the agency to "investigate whether any groups qualifying as social welfare organizations under section 501(c)(4) of the federal tax code are improperly engaged in political campaign activity." In a press release announcing that letter, Welch specifically cited Crossroads GPS, "the Karl Rove-backed group" as a potential violator of the law.

"This is a disaster for its reputation and it is no different than the Nixon use of the IRS to go after political enemies," he said. "You just can't do that. It sets them back, but it doesn't change their obligation to the American people to enforce the Internal Revenue Service code."

Welch's 2012 letter was one of several that Democratic lawmakers sent to the IRS. Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) also asked the agency if it intended to investigate these "social welfare" organizations. In a floor speech in September 2012, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) warned that there was insufficient regulation of these groups. His select investigative committee also announced earlier this year that it would look into why the IRS had failed to properly probe such 501(c)(4) groups. It's unclear if the investigation will now shape up.

Those senators were cheered on by liberal-leaning outlets, which also urged the IRS to play an active role. A New York Times editorial on May 7, 2012 said, "taxpayers should be encouraged by complaints from Tea Party chapters" that they were being targeted by the IRS. The paper went on to say that the IRS should be applying more scrutiny, "across the board."

About one year later, after the IRS had apologized for its filtering, the Times editorial page wrote that the IRS had been "absolutely correct to look into the abuse of the tax code." The mistake, it added, was applying the criteria it did.

"Clearly Senate Democrats recognize their own political vulnerability on this story and they're working furiously to get ahead of it. But that doesn't change the fact that they publicly pressured the IRS to engage in the very tactics they're now condemning, and that's a contradiction that will haunt them politically in the weeks ahead," said Brian Walsh, a former top spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "I'm not holding my breath but it would be an appropriate act of bravery and candor if the IRS asked Max Baucus why he's not sitting at the witness table next to them during these upcoming hearings.".....snip~

IRS Scandal Puts Dems Who Called For Investigation Of Conservative Group In A Bind
 
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