Laurens County Tea Party: We Were Targeted By IRS

The IRS scandal that has rocked Washington, DC and the Obama Administration has also affected groups in South Carolina.

Reports last week revealed that the IRS had specifically targeted conservative groups for more rigorous vetting of non-profit status than usual. Subsequently, the IRS confirmed that right-leaning groups seeking 501(c)4 status were in fact put under greater scrutiny. The temporary director of the IRS resigned yesterday in the wake of the revelations.

At least two conservative groups in South Carolina were among those targeted, one in Myrtle Beach and one in Laurens County. Joe Dugan of the Myrtle Beach Tea Party spoke about his experience at a press conference this morning in Washington, DC.

Yesterday, Dianne Belsom, the founder and President of Laurens County Tea Party, appeared in a video that describes her experience with the IRS (see above).

She describes the barriers her group faced and how costly and time-consuming it was to achieve the appropriate legal status.

"I thought we lived in a free country. This feels likes something that would be happen in Soviet Russia," Belsom said at one point. "It is indicative of tyranny creeping into our country."

The video appears on Rep. Jeff Duncan's (R-3) YouTube page. Duncan represents Laurens County.

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