Boring but important

The Internal Revenue Service has subjected liberal-leaning groups seeking tax-exempt status to extra scrutiny alongside conservative ones, according to a federal watchdog’s report this week. An audit by theTreasury Inspector General forTax Administration found that between 2004 and 2013, the IRS flagged as many as 146 groups whose names and policy positions suggested a left-wing bent, targeting organizations with names that included “Progressive,” “Green Energy,” and “Occupy.” An audit released in 2013 set off a firestorm among conservatives when the watchdog found that the IRS had subjected scores of Tea Party and conservative groups to additional review. That report did not include the criteria the IRS used to examine other groups.