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IRS Woes Grow....


Kowalski

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IRS woes grow with report of conference spending

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service, already under fire after officials disclosed that the agency targeted conservative groups, faces increased scrutiny because of an inspector general's report that it spent about $50 million to hold at least 220 conferences for employees between 2010 and 2012.

The report by the Treasury Department's inspector general about conference spending is set to be released Tuesday. The department issued a statement Sunday saying the administration "has already taken aggressive and dramatic action to reduce conference spending."

The White House and the agency were on the defensive before the report on conference spending. Agency officials and the Obama administration have said the targeting of conservative groups was inappropriate, but the political tempest is showing no signs of ebbing.

Three congressional committees are investigating, a Justice Department criminal investigation is under way, President Barack Obama has replaced the IRS' acting commissioner and two other top officials have stepped aside.

The chairman of one of those committees, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., also released excerpts of congressional investigators' interviews with employees of the IRS office in Cincinnati. Issa said the interviews indicated the employees were directed by Washington to subject tea party and other conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status to tough scrutiny.

The closest the excerpts came to direct evidence that Washington had ordered the screening was one employee saying that "all my direction" came from an official who the excerpt said was in Washington. The top Democrat on that panel, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, said none of the employees interviewed have so far identified any IRS officials in Washington as ordering that targeting.

The conference spending included $4 million for an August 2010 gathering in Anaheim, Calif., for which the agency did not negotiate lower room rates, even though that is standard government practice, according to a statement by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Instead, some of the 2,600 attendees received benefits, including baseball tickets and stays in presidential suites that normally cost $1,500 to $3,500 per night. In addition, 15 outside speakers were paid a total of $135,000 in fees, with one paid $17,000 to talk about "leadership through art," the House committee said.

Taken from http://news.yahoo.com/irs-woes-grow-report-conference-spending-072518222.html

$50 MILLION DOLLARS on 220 conferences?? What the heck? :no:

Couldn't they have stayed at a Motel 6.....

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I heard on the radio this morning that the IRS hired someone to teach them to square dance and film it at one of their conferences. Spent about $1600 on that. Apparently the video can be found on YouTube, but I haven't looked for it.

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The IRS has become nothing but a money laundering firm IMO. Yes they give me the money I've worked hard for at the begining of the year, but it's also with no interest :(. In order for this to come full circle I believe a retstart button is in order on this branch of government. Fight club is in order here :clap: :clap: :clap:

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I was reading an article today that had some very damning quotes from IRS employees being questioned about the tax exemption scandal. Here's some of what was said:

'Did [your supervisor] give you any indication of the need for the search [for tea party groups], any more context?' one IRS witness was asked in a closed-door interview.

'He told me that Washington, D.C., wanted some cases,' came the reply.

The employee, who said he or she was evaluating 40 such applications for tax-exempt status from conservative organizations at the time, said 'some went to Washington. D.C. ... I sent seven.'

...

'[The] allegation has been made, I think as you have seen in lots of press reports, that there were two rogue agents in Cincinnati that are sort of responsible for all of the issues that we have been talking about today.,' the investigator noted. 'What do you think about those allegations?'

'It's impossible.,' the employee replied. 'As an agent we are controlled by many, many people. We have to submit many, many reports. So the chance of two agents being rogue and doing things like that could never happen.'

Asked whether the problem 'was originated in and contained in the Cincinnati office,' as some Obama administration officials in Washington have claimed, the agent replied that 'I still hear people saying we were low level employees, so we were lower than dirt, according to people in D.C. So, take it for what it is.'

'They were basically throwing us underneath the bus.'

...

Another Cincinnati IRS employee, whom the oversight committee described Sunday as 'more senior,' told the investigators that he or she applied for another job in July 2010 out of a desire to avoid connections with a program that targeted certain Americans because of their political beliefs.

Edited by Wickian
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Remember the GSA scandal that took place?

A similar story, where a gov agency was spending insane amounts on conferences, hotel rooms, etc...??

Well the total spent by the GSA was merely $823,000.

We are talking about fifty million dollars this time.

Remember that cool thing you couldn't afford to buy your kids last Christmas?

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There needs to be a mass firing of most top officials. This is horrible beyond thought.

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