IRS threat of prison for slightest mistake stopped many Tea Party groups, one had visits from ATF and FBI over 2 yr. period. Journalists used to uncover these scandals, today they cheer Soviet style government

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5/23/13, "Government and journalism are letting down citizens," Tom Gaitens, Tampa Tribune, Commentary

"The IRS systemic effort to stop nearly 500 opposition groups in their tracks, to intimidate them with fear of prison by not answering every question is just one example. Perjury is just one tool of intimidation used by the IRS in this targeted process. It is not the forms — it is the fear of IRS retribution, the personal audits as were done to countless opponents of President Obama and, ultimately, the fear of prison.

Many of the questions were outside the legal requirements for 501(c)(4) groups to have to answer — questions about donors, contacts, emails, beliefs, prayers, etc. It was all an effort to trap respondents or discourage completion of status applications. The IRS employed a policy to target opposition groups in an effort to create a culture of intimidation.

A friend of mine from Texas not only faced potential perjury if she and her group did not answer all the questions with 100 percent accuracy, she was also visited by the ATF and FBI multiple times and faced a personal audit by the IRS, yet still did not get the tax status her group sought two-plus years later. All the while progressive groups swam through easily, as did the president’s half brother. This culture of intimidation resulted in countless groups giving up seeking the status....

What stands in stark contrast is that the last IRS scandal under President Nixon was disclosed and uncovered by journalists. Today’s scandal was forced into the open because of legal challenges by private legal foundations taking up the fight for the little guy, a role that used to be occupied by the journalistic community."...

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