Groups say the IRS held up applications for tax exemptions.



WASHINGTON -- Tea Party, anti-abortion and other conservative groups told Congress on Tuesday that the Internal Revenue Service held up their applications for tax exemptions, harassed them with questions and leaked their donor lists to political opponents.
The questioning included requests for copies of Facebook postings, the content of prayers, political beliefs of members, résumés of board members and dealings with the media.
That was the testimony of six conservative groups to the House Ways and Means Committee, which is investigating how the IRS came to target Tea Party and other groups for more scrutiny beginning in 2010.
STORY: IRS employee conferences cost taxpayers $49M
STORY: New IRS chief to review 'broad spectrum' of operations
The Coalition for Life of Iowa said it was asked to have all its board members swear -- under penalty of perjury -- that it wouldn't pray, picket or protest outside of Planned Parenthood.
"We never thought we would have to defend our prayer activities," said the coalition's president, Susan Martinek. "As Christians we knew we needed to pray for a better solution to unplanned pregnancy than abortion, why not at the source?"
Stories like that get sympathy even from committee Democrats. Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich, said he supports the work of Planned Parenthood, but demands that a pro-life group not picket the abortion provider were "totally worse than inappropriate. You should not have been asked that."
The San Fernando Valley Patriots of California gave up on seeking tax-exempt status last year after getting a list of 35 questions with 80 sub-questions.
"My personal favorite was question No. 33, which in relation to protests asked for a listing of our 'committed violations of local ordinances, breaches of public order or arrests' then requested details on how we 'conduct or promote' illegal activities," said Karen Kenney of the San Fernando Valley Patriots. She said the organization now survives on her personal credit cards and small cash donations in a cake tin.
Dianne Belsom, president of the Laurens County Tea Party in South Carolina, said she had to provide her group's articles of incorporation three times. She also provided Facebook postings, videos of speakers at meetings, agendas, press releases, advertisements and other materials -- a process that took "hours of time, stress, and aggravation."
The National Organization for Marriage, which opposes gay marriage, said its donor list was leaked -- apparently by the IRS -- to its political opponents, the pro-gay marriage Human Rights Campaign.
"You can imagine our shock and disgust with this. We zealously guard our donors, as almost every charity does," said John Eastman, chairman of the National Organization for Marriage. He said IRS officials have not taken the episode seriously, even though release of donor lists is a felony.
Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., said the witnesses were "but a small sample of Americans who have been treated differently and discriminated against by their government because of their individual, deeply held beliefs. There are many, many more."
But Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., said that while the targeting of Tea Party groups was "inept" and "stupid," the IRS has a legitimate interest in policing political activity by tax-exempt groups.
"We're talking about a tax break. If you didn't come in and ask for this tax break, you never would have had a question asked of you," he said. "Each of your groups was highly political."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/06/04/irs-tea-party-harassment/2388203/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo (keep reading from Yahoo! News)

Conservative groups say IRS practices hurt their ability to raise money


By | The Ticket – 1 hr 2 mins ago