by Winchester » Sun May 12, 2013 8:54 am
They were looking at 501(c)(4) applications not going after individuals and trying to wreck their lives, not that biasing one's sample of applications to examine for exempt status is okay either.
The more important issue here is the IRS is significantly understaffed (by design). This means they can not look at every tax exempt application in detail, not even close, which means a lot of organizations fall through the cracks and get granted tax exemption that wouldn't otherwise. This means sampling which individuals in charge can obviously bias.
I have no doubt both parties have "sweat shops" full of accountants, lawyers and political operatives pumping out piles of applications with the sole purpose to inundate the IRS during election years and end up getting organizations approved that would have not been otherwise.