Bill to Curb IRS Abuse Passes House

Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed legislation that seeks to limit the Internal Revenue Service from ever again being used as a partisan political tool, a practice that the Obama Administration has used to a degree never before experienced in American politics.

The weaponization of the IRS, which came to light in 2013, took two major forms. First, attempts to form tax exempt organizations by groups opposed to Mr. Obama’s agenda were road-blocked. Between 2009 and 2012, only a single conservative oriented organization was granted tax exempt status.

Lois Lerner, who served as the director of the Exempt Organization Unit of the IRS, was the central figure in the scandal. Lerner is an unindicted serial abuser of political rights who used her positions both in the Federal Election Commission and later the Internal Revenue Service to illicitly employ the machinery and assets of the federal government against those with differing views. An equally unscrupulous Justice Department allowed her to avoid criminal prosecution.

The second form consists of attempts to force tax exempt organizations to disclose donor lists. This information would allow the White House to use federal agencies to intimidate those that oppose it.

The legislation, which must still be approved by the Senate, is HR5053, (and sent to the White House, where approval is, at best, questionable) the “Preventing IRS Abuse and Protecting Free Speech Act.” It was introduced by Rep. Peter J. Roskam (R-Illinois.) The measure would amend the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit the Internal Revenue Service from requiring a tax-exempt organization to include in annual returns the name, address, or other identifying information of any contributor. The bill includes exceptions for: (1) required disclosures regarding prohibited tax shelter transactions; and (2) contributions by the organization’s officers, directors, or five highest compensated employees (including compensation paid by related organizations).U

Under current law, tax-exempt groups and organizations don’t have to reveal their donors to the public, but they do have to reveal any donors giving more than $5,000 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Under H5053, those groups would no longer even have to reveal their donors to the IRS. Without the list, it would be difficult for the IRS to find opponents of the Obama Administration to intimidate.

The legislation, introduced on April 26, passed the House Ways and Means Committee on a 25–13 party line vote on April 28. It has progressed in extremely rapid fashion, a response to the anger still felt as a result of the IRS’s misdeeds.

The Legislations’ supporters stress that the bill is in keeping with the First Amendment guarantee of free speech, which includes anonymous speech.

So, avoid it viagra stores in canada through registered and certified pharmaceutical store Stop taking the medicine if you are concerned for its effects. best pharmacy viagra Patients with heart problems who take Kamagra may be further sensitive to the aged people. The medicine helps in treating the case of ED and future impotency with easy consumption.Unlike the other brand product, Kamagra can be dangerous. cheapest generic levitra If the muscle tissues around the joints are weak, doing so causes more pressure to be viagra best put on the| joints and can outcome in more regular bouts of irritation. Upon learning of the legislation’s House passage, Freedomworks CEO Adam Brandon commented:

“Passage of this bill by the House is an important step in opposing political intimidation from the IRS. This powerful and corrupt tax agency should not be in a position to leak donor names to try to chill free speech. The Senate should take up this legislation immediately to help protect a healthy public policy discourse and rein in the IRS.”

The IRS continues to abuse its power. A U.S. Government Accountability Office examination of the IRS Small Business/Self-Employed (SB/SE) section of the agency found that IRS practices increase the risk that the audit program’s mission of fair and equitable application of the tax laws will not be achieved…Program objectives and key term of fairness are not clearly defined…[and] SB/SE does not always require selection decisions and rationales to be documented.” This means that businesses owned by individuals opposing the President can still be effectively targeted.

Rep. Roskam has proposed seven reforms to end IRS abuse:

Force the IRS to Implement the Taxpayer Bill of Rights;
2. Prevent the IRS from Targeting Donors to Non-Profits;
3. Prohibit IRS Employees from Using their Personal Email Accounts
4. Stop IRS Abuse of Taxpayer Privacy Protections
5. Allow Social Welfare Groups to Self-Declare their Tax-Exempt Status
6. Permit Organizations to Appeal Denied Requests for Tax-Exempt Status
7. Fire Employees Found Guilty of Targeting Americans for Political Purposes.

Quick Analysis

Ukraine’s Frozen Conflict

As we approach winter in the northern hemisphere, the war in Ukraine is beginning to resemble a “frozen conflict” from many perspectives. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently told the media he hopes the war will end faster once President-elect Trump takes over in January. Opinions in Moscow, however, differ from that of the Ukrainian leader. Russian President Vladimir Putin argues that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) needs to exclude Ukraine from joining in “exchange” for peace. If it does not, he says, then no end to the war is in sight. So far there is no Christmas solution. Several NATO countries, according to Vladimir Socor of the Jamestown Foundation, are tentatively considering “coalitions-of-the-willing” to provide security for Ukraine outside of the formal NATO framework. There is, however, no collective mechanism today under which such an arrangement is viable. According to the NATO Charter, while Ukraine is a NATO partner country, it may not join as a full member since it has not fulfilled the requirements for membership. That has not stopped NATO and allies from continuing “to provide Ukraine with unprecedented levels of support, helping to uphold its fundamental right to self-defence,” according to the organization. Socor says that keeping Ukraine out of NATO will not advance peace with Russia. Waiting for a peace settlement, he suggests, would only serve to encourage Moscow to continue the war indefinitely. Although the Biden Administration officially withdrew its support for Ukrainian membership in 2021, NATO maintains an “open door” policy toward membership-seeking countries. The current White House position led the way for European states to oppose Ukraine’s membership saying that a decision should be delayed until “conditions are met.” Biden pushed for changing “open door” to a “bridge” metaphor. It is not intended as an across-the-board NATO policy and has been implemented in the past on a case-by-case basis, says Socor. “The alliance’s open-door policy was not fully insulated from Russia’s non-statutory blocking power, and NATO-aspirant countries’ path toward membership was not always irreversible.” Russia has successfully blocked states like Georgia from joining, first in 2008 and again after the war in Ukraine began in 2014. Russia recognizes the value add of Ukraine to NATO is enormous and that Kyiv has a better case than some other nations. Putin’s invasion was, in part, intended to foreclose that option. By 2021, Moscow was pushing hard to maximize its war objectives, which included further annexations of Ukrainian territory. A main goal for Putin was, and is, to ensure there is no Ukraine left to join NATO. As President-elect Trump prepares to assume office in January, he is faced with the historical challenges presented by the war. Post-conflict security guarantees were the center of several proposals made during the 2023 military stalemate. The incoming Trump Administration has yet to outline how it intends to handle the Russia-Ukraine war. Analysts in Washington believe that the new Administration will expect its European allies to guarantee the majority of Ukraine’s security needs. As we approach 2025, several European nations have acknowledged that they do not view Ukraine as eligible for NATO membership as it would draw the organization into the middle of the conflict. Others want to wait until the war is over or pending a “peace” settlement before considering Ukrainian membership. Socor reports that some “influential voices” are suggesting that “Kyiv should join NATO after “freezing” the war along a stable armistice line, de facto accepting Ukraine’s partition, with NATO security guarantees applying de jure to the government-controlled territory only.” This would mean starting accession talks soon with the actual talks to commence only after a ceasefire is in place. Trump arrives in Washington at a time when Putin’s hybrid strategies of war in Ukraine have eviscerated commonly-held differences between war and peace. “Absent a political consensus in NATO over Ukrainian membership, certain European allies, including France’s President Emmanuel Macron, are holding informal consultations about post-conflict security guarantees to Kyiv by NATO members outside of NATO’s framework,” according to the Jamestown Foundation. The Biden Administration downplayed the discussions on possible forms of military assistance and defense industry cooperation by sending only an Assistant Secretary of State. For a European peace to hold the Trump Administration would need to formally extend the United States’ nuclear deterrence to Ukraine. Options under discussion in Europe include a “coalition of the resolute” to deploy forces to Ukraine as part of a possible armistice package, deterring further Russian attacks, says Secor. European officials are also debating, without any agreement, whether its military forces could perform non-combat logistical roles to free Ukrainian forces to fight. None of the possible courses of action has moved forward as all eyes are waiting on the incoming Trump Administration for clues about its intended level of support for a NATO framework and other non-NATO proposals. Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept.