Category: Politics


IRS Tax Exemption/Obamacare Exec Got $103,390 In Bonuses

 

 

 

 

” Sarah Hall Ingram, the IRS executive in charge of the tax exempt division in 2010 when it began targeting conservative Tea Party, evangelical and pro-Israel groups for harrassment, got more than $100,000 in bonuses between 2009 and 2012.

More recently, Ingram was promoted to serve as director of the tax agency’s Obamacare program office, a position that put her in charge of the vast expansion of the IRS’ regulatory power and staffing in connection with federal health care, ABC reported earlier today.

Ingram received a $7,000 bonus in 2009, according to data obtained by The Washington Examiner from the IRS, then a $34,440 bonus in 2010, $35,400 in 2011 and $26,550 last year, for a total of $103,390. Her annual salary went from $172,500 to $177,000 during the same period.

Go here for a spreadsheet of the salary and bonus data for IRS employees getting bonuses between 2009 and 2012.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Police Chief Asks Citizens For Ammo, Gets 1,500 Round Loan Amid Strong Response

 

Proctor_Ammo_Shortage

 

 

 

” As the “Great Ammunition Shortage” continues, police departments across the country are struggling to supply their arsenals. One police chief turned to the community for help, and citizens stepped up.

When Wobig turned to the residents of Proctor by putting out a call for help meeting his department’s ammo needs, citizens contacted his office, eager to help.

“The citizens were like, ‘If you need something, we got plenty here,’” said Wobig.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Obamite Thuggery Has Long History

 

 

 

” It was Michael Barone who first wrote that Barack Obama was a practitioner of “gangster government.” Barone was right. The plethora of scandals now engulfing the administration, combined with all sort of prior scandals that a lapdog media largely ignored, show that this regime is thuggish beyond repair.

As they say in the game of bridge, “let’s review the bidding.”

* One of the most outrageous early examples of the vilest sort of hardball came in the case that we at The Washington Times(when I was there) called “Walpin-Gate.” When Gerald Walpin, the well-respected Inspector General for the Corporation for National and Community Service, dared to point an unwanted focus on a close personal ally of the Obamas, not only did the White House fire himwithout the necessary notice to Congress but also smeared Mr. Walpin with the clear insinuation that he was becoming senile.

The message was clear: “Mess with us and we’ll mess with you in a way you ain’t never been messed before – and it’s gonna hurt.”

* Obama himself had two well-publicized, airport-tarmac run-ins with Republicans governors. “Careful,” he warned Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal when visiting the Bayou State after the oil spill. “This is going to get bad for everyone.” He also publicly berated Supreme Court justices during his State of the Union speech.

* Again and again, top Obama officials in federal agencies issue threats – sometimes veiled, sometimes explicit – to private citizens and businesses to not even say anything displeasing to Obamites. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius does it. The EPA has tried it repeatedly. The Obamites do it to the oil companies and to so many others that columnist David Freddoso has written a whole book about it.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lax State Rules Provide Cover For Sponsors Of Attack Ads

 

State_Money_Politics

 

 

” While much criticism has been lobbed at the federal system for failing to adequately identify who is spending money to influence campaigns, 35 states have independent spending disclosure laws that are less stringent than federal election law.

In fact, in 30 states it’s impossible to total how much money outside groups are spending on campaigns, information that is mostly available when it comes to federal contests.

That’s according to a new 50-state analysis by the National Institute on Money in State Politics, which graded the states on disclosure requirements for super PACs, nonprofits and other outside spending groups.”

 

 

    To see in detail how your state ranks in the battle against soft money click Report Card .

 

 

Report Card

” The National Institute on Money In State Politics graded each state by the strength of their independent spending disclosure laws through April 2013. It looked at:

  • Does the state require reporting of independent expenditures, political spending that urges voters to support or oppose a candidate but is not coordinated with the campaign?
  • Does the state require reporting of the target, the identity of the candidate who is the subject of the independent spending?
  • Does the state require reporting of position, whether the spending supports or opposes the target
  • How does the state monitor “electioneering communications” — advertising that airs close to an election that names a candidate but does not urge viewers to vote for or against the candidate?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The IRS Wants To Know If You’re A “Patriot”

 

 

” Across this great land, patriotic Americans are behaving subversively.

We’re quoting from our pocket Constitutions, starting reading groups to discuss our founding documents, even gathering together to “petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

Uncle Sam is not amused.

As leaders of tea party groups have been painfully aware for years, the Internal Revenue Service has given “special” attention to conservative groups.

Heritage sounded the alarm on the Obama Administration’s hit list nearly a year ago. Idaho businessman Frank VanderSloot was singled out by the IRS and the Labor Department after making a sizable donation to Mitt Romney. Who ordered his investigation? 

The goal was clearly to reduce the amount of anti-government speech by making it more difficult for these groups to achieve tax-exempt status. And it worked. Just look at these examples from four different states:

  • ABC News reports that Jennifer Stefano of Pennsylvania wanted to start a tea party group, but dealing with the IRS “was frightening and that’s why I shut it down. I shut my group down.”
  • The IRS ordered an Ohio group to answer 35 detailed questions, including to “provide a listing of all your past activities. Indicate the percentage of your time spent conducting the activity (total of all activities should equal 100%) and the percentage of your funds spent conducting the activity (total of all activities should equal 100%).”
  • In Tennessee, Kevin Kookogey was trying to start an educational group called Linchpins of Liberty to teach the economic principles of Milton Friedman and Adam Smith. When he inquired with the IRS in 2011 about the delay in his tax-exempt status, he was told: “We have been waiting on guidance from our superiors as to your and similar organizations.” He is still waiting.
  • In Virginia, it took Richmond Tea Party President Larry Nordvig two and a half years to get tax-exempt status. He tells The Washington Post the wait had “a very chilling effect” on how much money his group could raise, and thus on how much speech it could generate. “

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Obamacare Is About Power

 

 

 

” Members of the House of Representatives are scheduled to vote Thursday to repeal all of Obamacare. Given that the House voted to repeal the law last year, some commentators and observers have questioned the need for another repeal vote.

However, the scandals coming to light over the last week perfectly make the case for why Congress must eradicate the law from the statute books.

On Friday, the Internal Revenue Service finally disclosed that it had spent years targeting tea party and other conservative groups, delaying their applications for non-profit status and giving those applications additional scrutiny — solely because of those groups’ political beliefs.

Also on Friday, The Washington Post revealed that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius personally asked health industry groups to contribute to Enroll America, a pro-Obamacare front group working to “educate” the public about the law’s supposed benefits.

While we don’t yet know all the details about these scandals, we do know that the IRS grossly abused its power at a time when Obamacare grants it massive new authority. The Treasury Department’s Inspector General has said Obamacare represents “the largest set of tax law changes in 20 years,” with at least 42 provisions adding to or amending the tax code.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did The IRS Give Mitt Romney’s Tax Returns To Harry Reid?

 

 

 

 

” During the 2012 presidential campaign, Harry Reid claimed to have intimate knowledge of what was secretly inside Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s tax returns.

As President Obama’s campaign slammed Romney nearly every day for not releasing more tax returns, the Senate majority leader repeatedly made the unsubstantiated claim that, at one point in his life, Romney hadn’t paid taxes for almost a decade.

He even did so from the floor of the U.S. Senate.

Since the new IRS scandal broke, Republicans have found the question of who Reid got his information from — and from where — intriguing.

“We all wondered how Harry Reid had Mitt Romney’s taxes,” Republican National Committee spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski told The Daily Caller. “The question is, will he call for a full investigation into the IRS?” “

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jon Stewart Blasts President: Obama Learns About Scandals by Watching the News?

HT/ IJR

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The I.R.S. Abusing Americans Is Nothing New

Published on May 15, 2013

” The I.R.S. targeting of tea party groups in the United States is par for the course. It’s not the first time the agency has been used for partisan political ends. Whether or not the targeting was undertaken as a directive from the White House, the agency’s broad latitude in determining what constitutes partisan political activity is very problematic. The solutions offered by campaign finance reformers would unfortunately only give the agency more power.

Featuring: David Keating, President of the Center for Competitive Politics / Michael W. MacLeod-Ball, Chief Legislative and Policy Counsel, ACLU / John Samples, Director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Representative Government / Gene Healy, Vice-President, Cato Institute

Related podcast/video with David Keating:http://www.cato.org/multimedia/daily-… /http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8V_9c…
Related podcast with Michael MacLeod-Ball:http://www.cato.org/multimedia/daily-…

Video produced by Caleb O. Brown and Austin Bragg. Additional footage gathered by Lester Romero.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Men Who Are Physically Strong Are More Likely To Have Right Wing Political Views

 

 

Right Wing

 

” Men who are physically strong are more likely to take a right wing political stance, while weaker men are inclined to support the welfare state, according to a new study.

Researchers discovered political motivations may have evolutionary links to physical strength.

Men’s upper-body strength predicts their political opinions on economic redistribution, according to the research.

The principal investigators – psychological scientists Michael Bang Petersen, of Aarhus University in Denmark, and Daniel Sznycer, of the University of California in the U.S., believe that the link may reflect psychological traits that evolved in response to our early ancestral environments and continue to influence behaviour today.

Professor Petersen said: ‘While many think of politics as a modern phenomenon, it has – in a sense – always been with our species.’

In the days of our early ancestors, decisions about the distribution of resources were not made in courthouses or legislative offices, but through shows of strength.

  • Weaker men more likely to support welfare state and wealth redistribution
  • Link may reflect psychological traits that evolved in our ancestors
  • Strength was a proxy for ability to defend or acquire resources
  • There is no link between women’s physical strength and political views”

Left Wing

 
 
 

‘Nuff Said

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Alabama Supreme Court Reviews Shocking Evidence Obama’s Birth Certificate Likely A Forgery

 

False bend showing margin of book

 

” We’ve written here before that the cascade of lies coming out of Obama and his administration raises reasonable doubt about everything Obama and his supporters have told the American people since he first appeared on the national political scene. This makes the unanswered questions about Obama’s birth certificate fair game for renewed inquiry.  Kenyans like to boast that he’s a native son(although that could easily be wishful thinking), while the Attorney General has threatened politicians who have looked into the matter.

Despite Obama’s efforts to squash the topic, though, it just keeps popping right back up. The Supreme Court of Alabama currently has pending before it yet another case challenging Barack Obama’s birth certificate and Selective Service (“draft”) card.

So far, courts have dismissed all of cases questioning Obama’s birth certificate. This one, however, might be different. First, the expert witnesses not only have top-tier law-enforcement credentials, they also have the power of Arizona’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio behind them. That is, they’re not fringe people; they are credible law enforcement officers. Second, the chief justice at the Alabama Supreme Court is Roy Moore, is a strict constructionist who believes that the Constitution means what it says. The Constitution’s statement that the president must be a “natural born” citizen is a requirement, not a suggestion.”

 

 

Read More

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feds Push Insane New Speech Codes!

Published on May 15, 2013

” “It is so broad that it turns every single student and every single faculty member on campus, at least arguably, into harassers,” warns Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE).

He’s talking about sweeping speech codes just imposed by the Departments of Justice and Education on virtually every college campus in the United States.

The new mandate was revealed in a letter from the DOJ and DOE to the University of Montana that states “sexual harassment should be more broadly defined as ‘any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature,” including “verbal conduct.” The new rules apply to all colleges and universities receiving any sort of federal money, including Pell grants, federally backed student loans, and more. The letter contends the conduct in question need not be offensive to an “objectively reasonable person of the same gender in the same situation.” That means that there is effectively no check on what might count as harassment. Course materials, overheard comments, stupid jokes – it’s all potentially actionable.

Lukianoff, the author of Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate, hopes that “this is the last straw that causes the universities themselves to start pushing back against this ridiculous overregulation.”

About 3 minutes.

Produced by Anthony L. Fisher. Interview by Matt Welch. Camera by Jim Epstein and Fisher.

Special thanks to the Museum of Sex, New York City.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason TV’s YouTube Channel to receive authomatic updates when new material goes live.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris Matthews Sours On Obama

 

CM_obama

 

 

” President Obama “obviously likes giving speeches more than he does running the executive branch,” Chris Matthews said tonight.

“What part of the presidency does Obama like? He doesn’t like dealing with other politicians — that means his own cabinet, that means members of the congress, either party. He doesn’t particularly like the press…. He likes to write the speeches, likes to rewrite what Favreau and the others wrote for the first draft,” Matthews said.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Krauthammer Slams Obama After Weak IRS Scandal Press Conference

 

Soros Gave $6.1 Million To Groups Linked To Pressure On IRS To Target Conservative Nonprofits

 

 

 

 

” Several Soros-funded groups including the Campaign Legal Center, Democracy 21, the Center for Public Integrity, Mother Jones and Alternet have worked to pressure the IRS to target conservative nonprofit groups. The subsequent IRS investigation flagged more than 100 tea party-related applications for higher scrutiny, including applications that included the words “Tea Party” and “patriot.”

The IRS scandal can be traced back to a series of letters that the liberal groups Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and Democracy 21 sent to the IRS back in 2010 and 2011. Both groups were funded by George’s Soros’s Open Society Foundations. The CLC received $677,000 and Democracy 21 got $365,000 from the Soros-backed foundation, according to the Foundation’s 990 tax forms.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

White House Releases 100 Pages Of Benghazi E-mails

” The White House released more than 100 pages of e-mails on Wednesday in a bid to quell critics who say President Barack Obama and his aides played politics with national security following the deadly terror attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.

The e-mails detail the complex back and forth between the CIA, State Department, and the White House in developing unclassified talking points that were used to underpin a controversial and slow-to-evolve explanation of events last September 11.”

You can read all the e-mails here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Will Benghazi Furor Keep Susan Rice Out Of The White House?

 

 

 

” Insiders with ties to the Obama administration tell The Cable that U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice has become the heir apparent to National Security Advisor Tom Donilon – a post at the epicenter of foreign-policy decision making and arguably more influential than secretary of state, a job for which she withdrew her candidacy last fall amid severe political pressure.

“It’s definitely happening,” a source who recently spoke with Rice told The Cable. “She is sure she is coming and so too her husband and closest friends.”

“Susan is a very likely candidate to replace him whenever he would choose to leave,” agreed Dennis Ross, a former special assistant to President Obama and counselor at the Washington Institute. “She is close to the president, has the credentials, and has a breadth of experience.” “

 

 

Read More

 

 

 

      Now would seem to be a good time to bump our previous post , Susan Rice , Career Stooge … Or , Are You A Racist ?  from December when Rice was up for consideration to replace Hillary as Secretary of State . About the only public figure on the American stage at present with less  national security qualifications would be her boss BHO .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Egypt Militants Planned To Hit US, French Embassies

 

 

” An al-Qaida-linked militant cell detained in Egypt was planning suicide attacks on the French and US embassies, the state news agency MENA reported on Wednesday, quoting investigators.

Authorities on Saturday announced the capture of three Egyptians with links to al-Qaida, saying they had been found in possession of 10 kg (22 pounds) of explosive materials.

“The investigations revealed that the suspects were intending to carry out terrorist bomb operations inside Egypt via suicide operations, penetrating the security cordon in front of the American and French embassies with a car bomb,” MENA said, citing a source in the state security prosecutor’s office.

MENA said the suspects had escaped from prison during the uprising that swept Hosni Mubarak from power in 2011.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two ‘Rogue’ Workers Principally Behind IRS Targeting Of Conservatives

 

 

 

 

 

” The Internal Revenue Service has identified two “rogue” employees in the agency’s Cincinnati office as being principally responsible for “overly aggressive” handling of requests by conservative groups for tax-exempt status, a congressional source told CNN.

In a meeting on Capitol Hill, acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller described the employees as being “off the reservation,” according to the source. It was not clear precisely what the alleged behavior involved.

Miller said the staffers have already been disciplined, according to another source familiar with Miller’s discussions with congressional investigators. The second source said Miller emphasized that the problem with IRS handling of tax-exempt status for tea party groups was not limited to these two employees.

The comments came as all 45 Senate Republicans sent the White House a letter that called for the administration to “comply with all requests related to congressional inquiries without any delay” involving the controversy.

The letter called the scandal “yet another completely inexcusable attempt to chill the speech of political opponents and those who would question their government, consistent with a broader pattern of intimidation by arms of your administration to silence political dissent.” “

 

 

 

NY Gun Owners Must File Form To Keep Permit Info Private

 

NYS_FOIL_Exemption_Instructions

The Instructions/FAQ From NYS Troopers Web Page

 

” Gun owners in New York who don’t want their license information available to the public are facing a deadline to file an exemption form with local licensing authorities.

Starting Wednesday, the records of anyone who has asked to be exempt from the state Freedom of Information Law will be kept secret. But the information will be available for gun owners who haven’t acted.

The secrecy provision was included in January legislation that toughened New York gun laws to require registration of military-style weapons as well as pistols and limit the number of bullets allowed to be loaded into a clip or magazine.

* The form to request the exemption is available online and must be given to the local authority in charge of licensing. Anyone who doesn’t file by the initial deadline, including those getting new licenses, may still file in the future. Their records will be subject to FOIL requests in the meantime.”

 

 

NYS_Foil_Exemption

The Form Itself Which You Can Download At The Link Below

 

 

For more information or to download a copy of the FOIL exemption form, click here.”

 

 

 

      Note that the entire procedure is arbitrary and capricious and subject to the whim of your local licensing agent . You must list a reason why you feel that you should be granted your privacy rights . As usual the the whole business is stacked in favor of law enforcement and your application is subject to approval .

     If you are not under an order of protection , sitting on a jury or a current or retired law enforcement officer you may not be able to maintain the privacy of your records . Read the app and give it a try . It will probably depend on the attitude of your local pistol licensing agent .

 

 

 

 

 

IRS Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Theft Of 60 Million Medical Records

 

 

” The Internal Revenue Service is now facing a class action lawsuit over allegations that it improperly accessed and stole the health records of some 10 million Americans, including medical records of all California state judges.

According to a report by Courthousenews.com, an unnamed HIPAA-covered entity in California is suing the IRS, alleging that some 60 million medical records from 10 million patients were stolen by 15 IRS agents. The personal health information seized on March 11, 2011, included psychological counseling, gynecological counseling, sexual/drug treatment and other medical treatment data.  

 

“This is an action involving the corruption and abuse of power by several Internal Revenue Service agents,” the complaint reads. “No search warrant authorized the seizure of these records; no subpoena authorized the seizure of these records; none of the 10,000,000 Americans were under any kind of known criminal or civil investigation and their medical records had no relevance whatsoever to the IRS search. IT personnel at the scene, a HIPPA facility warning on the building and the IT portion of the searched premises, and the company executives each warned the IRS agents of these privileged records,” it continued.”

 

 

 

 

     By all means let us trust these arrogant bureaucrats with our personal medical files . What could possibly go wrong ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘VERY FRIGHTENING’: PROMINENT CATHOLIC PROF. CLAIMS IRS AUDITED HER AFTER SPEAKING OUT AGAINST OBAMA AND DEMANDED TO KNOW WHO WAS PAYING HER

” In the midst of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) scandal, individuals and groups, alike, are continuing to come forward with ever-startling allegations. On Wednesday, Dr. Anne Hendershott, a devout Catholic and a noted sociologist, professor and author, exclusively told TheBlaze that she believes she may have been one of the IRS’s targets.

According to Hendershott, the IRS audited her in 2010 and demanded to know who was paying her and “what their politics were.”

It all started with a phone call she received at her home in May of that year — a call during which Hendershott was told she would be audited. A letter that followed on May 19, 2010 solidified the IRS’s request to meet her in person two months later in July. While IRS investigations are certainly not uncommon occurrences, the professor believes that the situation surrounding hers was more-than-curious.

“The IRS calls my house and says … ‘I just wanted to let you know that we’re going to be auditing your business’ and I said ‘My businesses?’ and he said, ‘You know the expenses you take off for writing,” the academic recalls.” 

 

 

     It’s getting so we are going to need a scorecard to keep track of all the scandals emanating from this ” most open, honest and transparent ” administration.

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