The IRS Scandal, Day 563

New York Post editorial:  Silence of the Schumer:

It wasn’t so long ago Chuck Schumer was obsessing over the idea that the tax code was being abused for partisan purposes.

Back in March 2012, he and six fellow Democratic senators wrote the IRS demanding more scrutiny for 501(c)4 groups who claimed they were involved in “social welfare” but were “devoted chiefly to political election activities who operate behind a facade of charity work.”

Later, the IRS started singling out conservative organizations for special treatment and delay.

But times have changed. Now we have a story in The New York Times about an individual deeply involved in politics who has a 501(c)4 that, as the Times puts it, appears to rank “among the most delinquent nonprofit organizations in the nation.”

The individual: the Rev. Al Sharpton. His organization: the National Action Network, which has failed to pay payroll taxes over the years. Sharpton says this wasn’t intentional but stemmed from a dispute on how to classify some independent contractors.

Nonetheless, Sharpton still flies first class and collects a nice salary from NAN as he zips between New York, Ferguson, Mo., and Washington, DC.

As the Times also reports, it’s the “kind of practice by nonprofit groups that the United States Treasury’s inspector general recently characterized as ‘abusive’ or ‘potentially criminal’ if the failure to turn over or collect taxes is willful.”

Considering how eager Sen. Schumer was to ensure 501(c)4’s weren’t gaming the tax system, we felt sure we would hear the senator thumping loudly for the IRS to take a hard look at the National Action Network.

• The IRS Scandal, Day 562 (Nov. 22, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 561 (Nov. 21, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 560 (Nov. 20, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 559 (Nov. 19, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 558 (Nov. 18, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 557 (Nov. 17, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 556 (Nov. 16, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 555 (Nov. 15, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 554 (Nov. 14, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 553 (Nov. 13, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 552 (Nov. 12, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 551 (Nov. 11, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 550 (Nov. 10, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 549 (Nov. 9, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 548 (Nov. 8, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 547 (Nov. 7, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 546 (Nov. 6, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 545 (Nov. 5, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 544 (Nov. 4, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 543 (Nov. 3, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 542 (Nov. 2, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 541 (Nov. 1, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 540 (Oct. 31, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 539 (Oct. 30, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 538 (Oct. 29, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 537 (Oct. 28, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 536 (Oct. 27, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 535 (Oct. 26, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 534 (Oct. 25, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 533 (Oct. 24, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 532 (Oct. 23, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 531 (Oct. 22, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 530 (Oct. 21, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 529 (Oct. 20, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 528 (Oct. 19, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 527 (Oct. 18, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 526 (Oct. 17, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 525 (Oct. 16, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 524 (Oct. 15, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 523 (Oct. 14, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 522 (Oct. 13, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 521 (Oct. 12, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 520 (Oct. 11, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 519 (Oct. 10, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 518 (Oct. 9, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 517 (Oct. 8, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 516 (Oct. 7, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 515 (Oct. 6, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 514 (Oct. 5, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 513 (Oct. 4, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 512 (Oct. 3, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 511 (Oct. 2, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 510 (Oct. 1, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 509 (Sept. 30, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 508 (Sept. 29, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 507 (Sept. 28, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 506 (Sept. 27, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 505 (Sept. 26, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 504 (Sept. 25, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 503 (Sept. 24, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 502 (Sept. 23, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 501 (Sept. 22, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 401-500 (June 14, 2014 - Sept. 21,2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 301-400 (Mar. 6, 2014 - June 13, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 201-300 (Nov. 26, 2013 - Mar. 5, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 101-200 (Aug. 18, 2013 - Nov. 25, 2013)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 1-100 (May 10, 2013 - Aug. 17, 2013)