Greater Boston Tea Party Statement on Revelation of Intimidation and Harassment of Tea Party Organizations by IRS

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The Greater Boston Tea Party is greatly distressed to learn that a department of the federal government, in its oversight of our tax system, has routinely targeted for intimidation and harassment citizen activist organizations, based on their conservative political ideology. As citizens and newcomers to the arena of policy advocacy, we feel this betrayal of the public’s trust is worthy of immediate investigation followed by swift disciplinary action. Any and all employees of the IRS suspected to have participated in, condoned or failed to report such activity should be suspended from performing their duties.

That President Obama has labeled these practices “outrageous” is encouraging. He well understands how swiftly political winds can shift. The trust we have instilled in our government is only preserved if the power of that government is leveled evenly and equally. We are disappointed and feel betrayed by the government we expect to act neutrally and transparently in its bureaucratic functions.

The Greater Boston Tea Party, while operating as a 501c3 organization, has delayed filing our application to be recognized as such by the federal government. The process is complicated, expensive and arduous. That it has been made more so by the agency reviewing the applications is, frankly, ironic, considering many of the targeted applicants advocate for less government oversight of our daily activities both private and public.

Again, we are encouraged by President Obama’s strong condemnation and his call for accountability in the scandal. We can only hope that part of the effort at combating this culture of oppression will include instruction of government employees in the constitutional rights of the citizenry.

This behavior matters to every American. No department of government at any level has the power or authority to target individuals or organizations based on ideology. We will be contacting Massachusetts’ federal representatives and asking for leadership on investigating and eliminating practices of political prejudice and oppression at all levels of government.

Immediate Action: Call these Key Senators Today!

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Our immigration system is broken and in need of serious reform. However, the U.S. Senate is attempting to rush through a comprehensive immigration reform bill, S.744 that mirrors Obamacare in its size and scope. Many of the provisions will be completely unenforceable and the opportunities for wavers and exemptions from this law are endless. There is no assurance that the passing of this bill would make our borders more secure (only that there is a “plan” to secure the borders).

Instead, we should encourage our representatives to slow things down and work on incremental, common-sense reforms that will actually fix the problems, not make them worse. All the amendments in the world won’t fix this bill.

The Center for Immigration Studies has completed a thorough analysis of S.744. Director of Policy Studies, Jessica Vaughan offers this review: Senate Bill Rewards & Protects Lawbreakers, Undermines Law Enforcement

Also worth a read is 10 Immigration Amendments to Watch.

Tell these senators that here in Massachusetts, in light of the recent attack on our city, we feel the Gang of Eight immigration bill goes too far and presents an enormous public safety and national security risk for all Americans. Ask them to start from scratch and deal with the issues one at a time rather than passing this horribly flawed comprehensive bill.

Here are their phone numbers:

Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), (202) 224-2823
Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), (202) 224-2841
John Cornyn (R-TX), (202) 224-2934
Ted Cruz (R-TX), (202) 224-5922
Mike Lee (R-UT), (202) 224-5444
Mitch McConnell (R-KY), (202) 224-2541
Rand Paul (R-KY), (202) 224-4343
Joe Manchin (D-WV), (202) 224-3954

 

Statement on the U.S. Senate Special Election

The Greater Boston Tea Party does not endorse candidates of either party. That said, we do have significant issues with Democrat Ed Markey’s 36 year history of ever expanding government, ever shrinking personal freedoms and the unfair burden this places on future generations in terms of taxation and deficits.

We question Gabriel Gomez on a couple of key issues, as illustrated in the letter he wrote to Governor Deval Patrick regarding his support for President Obama’s position on gun control and immigration, but find our core beliefs on economic and fiscal issues much closer to his.

Our membership consists of Republicans, Independents and Libertarians who are united in the belief that government is too big and spends too much money. In listening to our members, there is little doubt that while some may offer little more than support at the ballot box, many more are indicating enthusiastic support for the political newcomer.