IRS APOLOGIZES FOR TARGETING TEA PARTY GROUPS

[zulater]

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/irs-apologizes-targeting-conservative-groups


WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service apologized Friday for what it acknowledged was "inappropriate" targeting of conservative political groups during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status.

IRS agents singled out dozens of organizations for additional reviews because they included the words "tea party" or "patriot" in their exemption applications, said Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt groups. In some cases, groups were asked for lists of donors, which violates IRS policy in most cases, she said.

[Mach1]

Haven't you heard it's Bush's fault.

[ALLD]

That's something Nixon would do.

[st33lersguy]

This is what happens when tyrants like Obama get re-elected

[GoSlash27]

That's something Nixon would do.

Very much so.

[GBMelBlount]

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/irs-apologizes-targeting-conservative-groups


WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service apologized Friday for what it acknowledged was "inappropriate" targeting of conservative political groups during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status.

IRS agents singled out dozens of organizations for additional reviews because they included the words "tea party" or "patriot" in their exemption applications, said Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt groups. In some cases, groups were asked for lists of donors, which violates IRS policy in most cases, she said.

Heads should roll for this.

Unfortunately it has become acceptable in a country where freedom, capitalism and free markets are now the perceived enemy.

[ALLD]

Heads should roll for this.

Unfortunately it has become acceptable in a country where freedom, capitalism and free markets are now the perceived enemy.

Right. It isn't perceived as a totally wrong deed because of the target group. Now if the IRS targeted Democratic PACs we would be talking about cleaning house at the IRS and a flat tax rate.

[steeldawg]

Corruption from the IRS!! Its all too shocking!! :faint:

[fansince'76]

Haven't you heard it's Bush's fault.

But of course.


The agency — led at the time by a Bush administration appointee — blamed low-level employees, saying no high-level officials were aware.

:rolleyes:

[GoSlash27]

When your guy gets' there ( if ever) guess what happens? He becomes a corrupt scum bag!! Because 1) you can't even get close unless you're bought and sold, 2) once there you can't get anything done unless you know how to play the game.

Ideals and platitudes don't put groceries on the table or pay the mortgage.
Why did you post this thread, Zu? You've already made it abundantly clear that you don't disapprove of such behavior.

[GBMelBlount]

Boom.


AP Exclusive: IRS knew tea party targeted in 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior Internal Revenue Service officials knew agents were targeting tea party groups as early as 2011, according to a draft of an inspector general's report obtained by The Associated Press that seemingly contradicts public statements by the IRS commissioner.

The IRS apologized Friday for what it acknowledged was "inappropriate" targeting of conservative political groups during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status. The agency blamed low-level employees, saying no high-level officials were aware.

But on June 29, 2011, Lois G. Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt organizations, learned at a meeting that groups were being targeted, according to the watchdog's report. At the meeting, she was told that groups with "Tea Party," ''Patriot" or "9/12 Project" in their names were being flagged for additional and often burdensome scrutiny, the report says.

http://news.yahoo.com/ap-exclusive-irs-knew-tea-party-targeted-2011-190852283.html

[steeldawg]

Honestly I figured any group with a distain for taxes and government would be flagged for extra scrutiny by the IRS so im really not surprised by this.

[GBMelBlount]

We are pushing 20 trillion in government debt and trolly mctroll defends government corruption and paints anyone who wants to reign in excess taxes and government as anarchists.

:lol:


Lerner said 150 of the cases have been closed and no group had its tax-exempt status revoked

[steeldawg]

We are pushing 20 trillion in government debt and trolly mctroll defends government corruption and paints anyone who wants to reign in excess taxes and government as anarchists.

:lol:

Who said anything about defending them all I said was its not surprising they were flagged.

[X-Terminator]

Honestly I figured any group with a distain for taxes and government would be flagged for extra scrutiny by the IRS so im really not surprised by this.

That doesn't make it any less wrong, though. If they aren't engaged in illegal activity, there should be no reason whatsoever for them to get extra scrutiny from the IRS...unless of course it was politically motivated, which this clearly was.

[steeldawg]

That doesn't make it any less wrong, though. If they aren't engaged in illegal activity, there should be no reason whatsoever for them to get extra scrutiny from the IRS...unless of course it was politically motivated, which this clearly was.

Ya it was wrong not saying it wasn't but if the government was going to single someone out are you shocked that its tea party groups? Its no surprise to me that the IRS would take an extra look at groups who are outspoken against the fairness of taxes. If it was a story where the IRS singled out groups based on gender, race, orientation , then it might of surprised me because there isn't a correlation between that and taxes.

[smokin3000gt]

Ya it was wrong not saying it wasn't but if the government was going to single someone out are you shocked that its tea party groups? Its no surprise to me that the IRS would take an extra look at groups who are outspoken against the fairness of taxes. If it was a story where the IRS singled out groups based on gender, race, orientation , then it might of surprised me because there isn't a correlation between that and taxes.

:doh2:

[Godfather]

:doh2:

I get what he's saying. You would expect the DEA is to unfairly target pro-legalization groups, or the EPA to engage in harassment of groups that want to dial back environmental regulations. It's fundamentally wrong, but federal bureaucracies have an incentive to abuse citizens who are advocating against their agencies.

[GoSlash27]

I get what he's saying. You would expect the DEA is to unfairly target pro-legalization groups, or the EPA to engage in harassment of groups that want to dial back environmental regulations. It's fundamentally wrong, but federal bureaucracies have an incentive to abuse citizens who are advocating against their agencies.

Yup. This is the sort of thing I mean when I fuss about bureaucrats. They make regulations that cannot be repealed or even challenged, they're not elected, and they're never held accountable for anything they do, no matter how outrageous.

[steeldawg]

I get what he's saying. You would expect the DEA is to unfairly target pro-legalization groups, or the EPA to engage in harassment of groups that want to dial back environmental regulations. It's fundamentally wrong, but federal bureaucracies have an incentive to abuse citizens who are advocating against their agencies.

Thank you for actually reading my post.

[zulater]

IRS targeted groups that criticized the government, IG report says

At various points over the past two years, Internal Revenue Service officials targeted nonprofit groups that criticized the government and sought to educate Americans about the U.S. Constitution, according to documents in an audit conducted by the agency’s inspector general.
The documents, obtained by The Washington Post from a congressional aide with knowledge of the findings, show that on June 29, 2011, IRS staffers held a briefing with senior agency official Lois G. Lerner in which they described giving special attention to instances where “statements in the case file criticize how the country is being run.” Lerner, who oversees tax-exempt groups for the agency, raised objections and the agency revised its criteria a week later.
But six months later, the IRS applied a new political test to groups that applied for tax-exempt status as “social welfare” groups, the document says. On Jan. 15, 2012 the agency decided to target “political action type organizations involved in limiting/expanding Government, educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, social economic reform movement.,” according to the appendix in the IG report, which was requested by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and has yet to be released.
The new revelations are likely to intensify criticism of the IRS, which has been under fire since agency officials acknowledged they had deliberately targeted groups with “tea party” or “patriot” in their name for heightened scrutiny.
During an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) described the practice as “absolutely chilling” and called on President Obama to condemn the effort.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa told NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday he’s not satisfied with the Obama administration’s handling of the controversy. The IG report was “leaked by the IRS. to try to spin the output,” Issa said, and lawmakers now need to go through the full report so they can “see what the instituted changes need to be to make this not happen again.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/05/12/irs-targeted-groups-that-criticized-the-government-ig-report-says/

[Count Steeler]

Tip of the iceberg, I am afraid.

Wouldn't be surprised to hear that this practice started with the Clinton administration.

[GBMelBlount]

Tip of the iceberg, I am afraid.

Wouldn't be surprised to hear that this practice started with the Clinton administration.

This is like watching the titanic heading straight towards the iceberg.

[Count Steeler]

This is like watching the titanic heading straight towards the iceberg.

Don't listen to the warnings. "We are unsinkable." Full speed ahead!

[Seven]

Label me unsurprised.

[zulater]

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/348013/irs-inquisition-update

Along with targeting tea-party groups, the IRS may also have given extra-special attention to the tax-exempt status of some Jewish groups for political reasons.

From the Jewish Press:

The passionately pro-Israel organization Z STREET filed a lawsuit against the IRS, claiming it had been told by an IRS agent that because the organization was “connected to Israel,” its application for tax-exempt status would receive additional scrutiny. This admission was made in response to a query about the lengthy reveiw of Z STREET’s tax exempt status application.

In addition, the IRS agent told a Z STREET representative that the applications of some of those Israel-related organizations have been assigned to “a special unit in the D.C. office to determine whether the organization’s activities contradict the Administration’s public policies.” . . .

And at least one purely religious Jewish organization, one not focused on Israel, was the recipient of bizarre and highly inappropriate questions about Israel. Those questions also came from the same non-profit division of the IRS at issue for inappropriately targeting politically conservative groups. The IRS required that Jewish organization to state “whether [it] supports the existence of the land of Israel,” and also demanded the organization “[d]escribe [its] religious belief system toward the land of Israel.”

[Mach1]

This is like watching the titanic heading straight towards the iceberg.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/181439_10151509179517740_1266245336_n.jpg

[GoSlash27]

2 ironic thoughts:
#1) Just last week Obama was telling us we should reject voices warning us of government tyranny.
#2) These are the same people who will be in charge of your health care next year.

[zulater]

http://www.ijreview.com/2013/05/52244-jon-stewart-absolutely-skewers-incompetent-obama-administration-sides-with-conservatives/


Hilarious! :chuckle:

[steeldawg]

http://www.ijreview.com/2013/05/52244-jon-stewart-absolutely-skewers-incompetent-obama-administration-sides-with-conservatives/


Hilarious! :chuckle:

John stewart is very funny, I like the colbert report better though.

[zulater]

PROGRESSIVE GROUP: IRS GAVE US CONSERVATIVE GROUPS' CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/05/14/Progressive-Group-Says-IRS-Gave-Them-Confidential-Docs-On-Conservative-Groups


The progressive-leaning investigative journalism group ProPublica says the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) office that targeted and harassed conservative tax-exempt groups during the 2012 election cycle gave the progressive group nine confidential applications of conservative groups whose tax-exempt status was pending.
The commendable admission lends further evidence to the lengths the IRS went during an election cycle to silence tea party and limited government voices.
ProPublica says the documents the IRS gave them were “not supposed to be made public”:
The same IRS office that deliberately targeted conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status in the run-up to the 2012 election released nine pending confidential applications of conservative groups to ProPublica late last year... In response to a request for the applications for 67 different nonprofits last November, the Cincinnati office of the IRS sent ProPublica applications or documentation for 31 groups. Nine of those applications had not yet been approved—meaning they were not supposed to be made public. (We made six of those public, after redacting their financial information, deeming that they were newsworthy.)
The group says that "no unapproved applications from liberal groups were sent to ProPublica.”
According to Media Research Center Vice President for Business and Culture Dan Gainor, ProPublica’s financial backers include top progressive donors:
ProPublica, which recently won its second Pulitzer Prize, initially was given millions of dollars from the Sandler Foundation to “strengthen the progressive infrastructure”–“progressive” being the code word for very liberal. In 2010, it also received a two-year contribution of $125,000 each year from the Open Society Foundations. In case you wonder where that money comes from, the OSF website is www.soros.org. It is a network of more than 30 international foundations, mostly funded by Soros, who has contributed more than $8 billion to those efforts.

- - - Updated - - -

Carney: W.H. 'People Were Aware' of IRS Targeting Conservatives, But Didn't Do Anything About It
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/carney-wh-people-were-aware-irs-targeting-conservatives-didnt-do-anything-about-it_724455.html

[zulater]

The IRS came after Billy Graham, too, his son charged Tuesday in a letter to President Barack Obama.
Franklin Graham, the president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the family’s international humanitarian organization Samaritan’s Purse, said that the IRS notified the organizations in September that it was conducting a “review” of their activities for tax year 2010.

With the IRS admitting it gave extra scrutiny to conservative political organizations, Graham says he now believes that the review was part of an Obama administration effort of “targeting and attempting to intimidate us.”
(PHOTOS: 10 slams on the IRS)
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association urging of voters to back “candidates who base their decisions on biblical principles and support the nation of Israel” during last year’s presidential race was the reason why IRS agents visited the North Carolina offices of both Graham groups, the letter accuses.
“While these audits not only wasted taxpayer money, they wasted money contributed by donors for ministry purposes as we had to spend precious resources servicing the IRS agents in our offices,” Graham wrote in the letter, which was shared with POLITICO. “I believe that someone in the administration was targeting and attempting to intimidate us. This is morally wrong and unethical – indeed some would call it ‘un-American.”
Graham said that “in light” of the IRS admission that it targeted tea party groups for added scrutiny, “I do not believe that the IRS audit of our two organizations last year is a coincidence – or justifiable.”


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/franklin-graham-irs-targeting-91362.html#ixzz2TJGMEzGe

[ALLD]

Hilarious, but nothing will come of it because TPTB would rather have a corrupt liar than Biden, the clown as President. However, he could appoint Hilary as VP and continue the cycle.

[zulater]

When the IRS targeted an Ohio woman's Tea Party organization and asked her to send the agency the books the group read in 2010, she sent the IRS a copy of the Constitution.
Marion Bower said that the IRS targeted her organization in 2010, and it took "nearly two years for the Internal Revenue Service to approve her request for tax-exempt status."
“I was trying to be very cordial, but they wanted copies of unbelievable things,” she told ABC News. “They wanted to know what materials we had discussed at any of our book studies.”
She said she sent the IRS a paperback copy of the Constitution when asked the agency asked for books and other reading materials.
The 68-year-old Ohio woman founded American Patriots against Government Excess (PAGE) in 2010, and her group "consisted of volunteers who routinely passed out copies of the constitution at parades, and had informational meetings on anything from the health care law to disaster preparedness."
“They wanted copies of our blog. They said they had already taken copies of our website. They wanted a list of all of our officers, what we do at our meeting, how our board is made up,” Bower said.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/05/14/Tea-Party-Group-Sent-IRS-Copy-of-Constitution-After-Agency-Asked-for-Reading-Materials?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[Mach1]

BREAKING: ABC SAYS WHITE HOUSE AUTHORIZED IRS-GATE POLITICAL ENEMY SCANDAL


The Benghazi lies/scandal should alone be enough to initiate significant pressure on Congress to deal with Obama via their constitutional process of impeachment. The IRS scandal, however, should seal the deal. Especially if the following is true.

Trey Hardin: “I will tell you this on the IRS front. I’ve worked in this town for over 20 years in the White House and on Capitol Hill and I can say with a very strong sense of certainty that there are people very close to this president that not only knew what the IRS were doing but authorized it. It simply just does not happen at an agency level like that without political advisers likely in the West Wing certainly connected to the president’s ongoing campaign organization.”

Hardin didn’t say it was the President specifically, but if this is the office of the President directly involved in the IRS political enemy scandal then we have serious problems that need serious punishment.
http://www.libertynews.com/2013/05/breaking-abc-says-white-house-authorized-irs-gate-political-enemy-scandal/

[NJarhead]

http://www.libertynews.com/2013/05/breaking-abc-says-white-house-authorized-irs-gate-political-enemy-scandal/

:mad:

[fansince'76]

While appearing as a guest on KABC's "McIntyre in the Morning," ABC political analyst Trey Hardin said Tuesday that he believes the IRS scandal emanates from the west wing of the White House.

“I will tell you this on the IRS front. I’ve worked in this town for over 20 years in the White House and on Capitol Hill and I can say with a very strong sense of certainty that there are people very close to this president that not only knew what the IRS were doing but authorized it," he said, being careful not to blame Obama directly for the scandal.

ABC political analyst: IRS scandal emanates from the White House (http://www.examiner.com/article/abc-political-analyst-irs-scandal-emanates-from-the-white-house)

Guesses as to how long it takes before Mr. Hardin gets unceremoniously canned by ABC? I say this coming Friday (17 May), at the latest.

Let the lovefest commence!

http://media.patriotpost.us/img/ref/media_in_love_2.jpg

[GoSlash27]

ABC political analyst: IRS scandal emanates from the White House (http://www.examiner.com/article/abc-political-analyst-irs-scandal-emanates-from-the-white-house)

Guesses as to how long it takes before Mr. Hardin gets unceremoniously canned by ABC? I say this coming Friday (17 May), at the latest.

Let the lovefest commence!

http://media.patriotpost.us/img/ref/media_in_love_2.jpg

I don't think it's going down that way this time. The media is seriously pissed. Even MSNBC is blasting him.

[GBMelBlount]

You never know if the mainstream media is collectively feigning outrage so that they can seem "objective" as they help shape and manage the perception of the meted out justice being adequate even if it falls far short of the true culprits.

...or maybe they are pissed due to the warrantless seizing of two months’ worth of AP reporters’ telephone records by the DOJ.

[ALLD]

I think the media turned on him when the administration pulled the AP stunt. The admin was trying to make a point and pull rank, but they should have investigated the Pentagon and left the media alone.

He is running out of places to hide.

[venom]

Now I know why I didn't get my refund yet

[stillers4me]

Irony.

When the press gives the government a pass for trampling the peoples constitutions rights regarding the right to bear arms and Obamacare but is outraged when their own 1st amendment rights are violated.

Irony.

[GoSlash27]

I think the media turned on him when the administration pulled the AP stunt. The admin was trying to make a point and pull rank, but they should have investigated the Pentagon and left the media alone.

He is running out of places to hide.

Exactly. This isn't some elaborate ruse to project an image of objectivity. They are seriously furious about the AP thing.

- - - Updated - - -


Irony.

When the press gives the government a pass for trampling the peoples constitutions rights regarding the right to bear arms and Obamacare but is outraged when their own 1st amendment rights are violated.

Irony.

And make no mistake; they're still just as liberal as they've always been. They still want gun control and socialized medicine. But they cannot and will not tolerate the feds reading their mail, even if it *is* Obama. They've gone full-on feeding frenzy, and I have to admit I'm enjoying it.

[Mach1]

Now I know why I didn't get my refund yet

They spread it around to other people for food stamps?

[Mach1]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/s480x480/164935_10151512764837740_1550161773_n.jpg

[GBMelBlount]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/s480x480/164935_10151512764837740_1550161773_n.jpg

Nothing United about these states anymore.

our Government is sharply dividing this country.

[Mach1]

NBC's Deutsch: We're Only Concerned About Obama's Scandals Because We're Bored


NBC Today panelist Donny Deutsch, who said earlier this month that Republican senators who voted against Obama’s gun-control bill “literally have blood on their hands,” is back with another gem:

The only reason the American people are concerned with the scandals rocking the Obama Administration is because they’re bored. Seriously.

On Today this morning, Donny Deutsch not only tried to downplay the scandals, but attempted to explain why the rest of us (simpletons) are concerned with them:

“I think in this media age we spend so many year – four years, night and day staring at these candidates, that after a while we get a little bored and turned off. And really the only story to report going forward is what I’ll call that kind of slippery slope.” [Huh?]

Funny, I don’t recall being bored the last time I heard about the violent murder of four innocent Americans or the IRS singling out people based solely on their political views. Anyway, Deutsch’s observation was so ridiculous that even über-liberal Matt Lauer called him out:

“I think you’re making a little light of some of these stories. Some of these are pretty important – big stories.”

As to be expected, Deutsch doubled down:

“I think this is a function of, as I said again, of we are gonna over-magnify versus diminish anything that happens for any second-term president.”

Quintessential left-wing “logic” lesson #4,867: Blame those who see the problem vs. those who are responsible for it. Good job, Donny.
http://www.ijreview.com/2013/05/52623-nbcs-deutsch-were-only-concerned-about-obamas-scandals-because-were-bored/

[Seven]

http://www.ijreview.com/2013/05/52623-nbcs-deutsch-were-only-concerned-about-obamas-scandals-because-were-bored/

Who the fuck is Donny Deutsch? Seriously.

[Mach1]

Who the fuck is Donny Deutsch? Seriously.


Another libtard.

[zulater]

IRS stalled conservative groups, but gave speedy approval to Obama foundation

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/irs-stalled-conservative-groups-but-gave-speedy-approval-to-obama-foundation/2013/05/16/90c53e8a-be57-11e2-89c9-3be8095fe767_story.html

When the Barack H. Obama Foundation sought tax-exempt status to raise money for good works in Kenya, the Internal Revenue Service provided quick help.

The IRS approved charitable status for the foundation, which was run by President Obama’s brother and named after his father, in about a month’s time. The IRS also agreed to give the group this important financial status retroactively, back to 2009, when it had begun its fundraising.

The 34 days the IRS’s Cincinnati office took to process the foundation’s application stands in contrast to the waits of several months — and sometimes longer than a year — that several conservative groups say they experienced with the same office. Obama has apologized, saying Americans have a right to be angry that the office improperly targeted conservative groups for extra scrutiny.

The IRS handling of the Obama-named group was revealed this week by a conservative watchdog group, the National Legal and Policy Center, and reported by the Daily Caller on Thursday. The Washington Post confirmed reports through public records of the group’s application and the IRS approval letter, signed by the unit director Lois Lerner.

Abon’go Malik Obama, the foundation’s executive director and the president’s brother, was not immediately available for comment. IRS and White House officials did not return calls and e-mails.


- - - Updated - - -

Report: IRS Deliberately Chose Not to Fess Up to Scandal Before Election
"If this fact came out in September 2012, in the middle of a presidential election? The terrain would have looked very different."

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/report-irs-deliberately-chose-not-fess-scandal-election_724711.html

[I]The IRS commissioner "has known for at least a year that this was going on," said Myers, "and that this had happened. And did he share any of that information with the White House? But even more importantly, Congress is going to ask him, why did you mislead us for an entire year? Members of Congress were saying conservatives are being targeted. What's going on here? The IRS denied it. Then when -- after these officials are briefed by the IG that this is going on, they don't disclose it. In fact, the commissioner sent a letter to Congress in September on this subject and did not reveal this. Imagine if we -- if you can -- what would have happened if this fact came out in September 2012, in the middle of a presidential election? The terrain would have looked very different."

[GoSlash27]

Back on topic...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324767004578488833834357540.html


The Internal Revenue Service's watchdog told top Treasury officials around June 2012 he was investigating allegations the tax agency had targeted conservative groups, for the first time indicating that Obama administration officials were aware of the explosive matter in the midst of the president's re-election campaign.

[43Hitman]

Back on topic...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324767004578488833834357540.html

That's some damming information right there. Its going to be really tough for the main stream media to cover for him now.

[43Hitman]

Elections have consequences.
"The danger to America is not Barack Obama, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools, such as those who made him their president."

-- Ben Stein

[silver & black]

Elections have consequences.
"The danger to America is not Barack Obama, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools, such as those who made him their president."

-- Ben Stein

Uh huh. :nod:

[fansince'76]

Please keep the discourse civil and to the topic, folks. Thanks.

[zulater]

Please keep the discourse civil and to the topic, folks. Thanks.

I miss something? I don't see any recent posts that have gone off the rail or seem contentious?

[GBMelBlount]

And make no mistake; they're still just as liberal as they've always been. They still want gun control and socialized medicine. But they cannot and will not tolerate the feds reading their mail, even if it *is* Obama. They've gone full-on feeding frenzy, and I have to admit I'm enjoying it.

...and thank god we have 4 more years of this asshat because of *you*.

I guess on the bright side even though this country is going off a cliff under Obama it is no worse than it would have been with a gridlock libertarian.

The next 4 years is on you.

[43Hitman]

Well, for the record, a gridlocked Congress isn't such a bad thing in my opinion.

Sent from my ADR6325 using Tapatalk 2

[GBMelBlount]

Well, for the record, a gridlocked Congress isn't such a bad thing in my opinion.

Sent from my ADR6325 using Tapatalk 2

Do you feel our country is currently moving in the right direction Hitman?

[steeldawg]

...and thank god we have 4 more years of this asshat because of *you*.

I guess on the bright side even though this country is going off a cliff under Obama it is no worse than it would have been with a gridlock libertarian.

The next 4 years is on you.

The country is going off a cliff under Obama? If you think the country is now going off a cliff, how did you classify the state of the country after the bush era?

[zulater]

Do you feel our country is currently moving in the right direction Hitman?

There's a lot of people that seem to have the mindset that the patient is too far gone to effect a cure, so let him die on the table. What good comes after? You'd have to ask them? I just don't see how a further erosion of the country is a good thing. How a complete failure and collapse of our government will eventually turn in our favor?

Maybe after 20 years of extreme hardship I could see something good emerge? But that's a huge gamble, and tens if not hundred's of millions of good people will suffer enormously.

One good thing I guess is most of the illegal's will likely go scrambling back to their border. Probably only to find them closed to them, because it will be much better there than here all of a sudden. Irony at it's finest! :chuckle:

Me? I still think we can fix this thing. Before the housing market collapsed this country wasn't doing that bad. Remove the drain of Afghanistan and Iraq and tell me why we can't get back to where we were at the turn of this millenium? Far from perfect of course. But when you govern a nation of 350 million people of different wants and needs you will not find a perfect system! Period! There's always going to be someone who slips through the cracks, someone dissatisfied that more is asked of them than they feel is fair of them to give, etc...You can't make everyone happy!

Bottom line, make the American dream attainable to those that are willing to work and as a government don't stand in their way with overally restrictive and punitive measures and the middle class will thrive and bring most of the lower class up to a better place with them. .

[GBMelBlount]

There's a lot of people that seem to have the mindset that the patient is too far gone to effect a cure, so let him die on the table.

What good comes after? You'd have to ask them?

I just don't see how a further erosion of the country is a good thing. How a complete failure and collapse of our government will eventually turn in our favor?

Maybe after 20 years of extreme hardship I could see something good emerge?

Exactly.

I don't think the socialist / communist candidates are very popular in the soviet union any longer...but at what cost?...

So in come the angry utopian bots woodying for the complete collapse of America as we know it so that their party (who received less than 1% of the popular vote) can right everything through........GRIDLOCK? :crazy:

Good luck with that...lol.

[zulater]

Exactly.

I don't think the socialist / communist candidates are very popular in the soviet union any longer...but at what cost?...

So in come the angry utopian bots woodying for the complete collapse of America as we know it so that their party (who received less than 1% of the popular vote) can right everything through gridlock? :crazy:

Good luck with that...

In my opinion their party is incapable of governing to a consensus of a diverse population. How in the world do they believe they could govern a population that distrusts and despises them as much if not moreso than they despise the current government? The difference being the extemists that want our governemnt to fail are less than 10% of the population ( being quite generous with that assessment) yet somehow they think they can govern a population that 90 percent of want nothing to do with them.

That would be an interesting concept? :doh:

[GoSlash27]

Me? I still think we can fix this thing. Before the housing market collapsed this country wasn't doing that bad. Remove the drain of Afghanistan and Iraq and tell me why we can't get back to where we were at the turn of this millenium?
That's where your argument falls apart. Our Federal spending is increasing at an exponential rate, our debt is completely out of control, the FED is flooding the economy with cash, and the only consensus between the 2 parties is that they're not willing to fix it. *That's* why we can't get back to where we were.
It would be nice if the politicians in DC could fix it, but honestly... when was the last time they "fixed" anything? Anything at all??
They always attempt to fix problems (I'm being charitable here) and end up making them worse. You *seriously* think the politicians in DC could possibly fix something as complex as the largest economy in history??

The only thing Washington can do to improve the economy is to stop making things worse. That's where gridlock comes in. I'm with 43 on this one.

[43Hitman]

Give me 5 pieces of legislation that has been passed in the last 10 years that has made our country better and I might change my opinion. Doubt y'all can find that many though. Because all congress has been doing for the last 20 years or so is erode our civil liberties.

Sent from my ADR6325 using Tapatalk 2

[GBMelBlount]

Give me 5 pieces of legislation that has been passed in the last 10 years that has made our country better and I might change my opinion.

Doubt y'all can find that many though.

Because all congress has been doing for the last 20 years or so is erode our civil liberties.

Sent from my ADR6325 using Tapatalk 2

So this counrry is going down the shitter fast as can be and you would rather have gridlock and status quo as we go off a cliff rather than at least give a successful business man who has successfully turned multiple failing businesses around, saved the olympics and balanced the budget in a largely democratic Massuchussetts through consesus and compromise for the greater good a chance at making things better?

Seems a bit defeatist to me Hitman.

[43Hitman]

So this counrry is going down the shitter fast as can be and you would rather have gridlock and status quo as we go off a cliff rather than at least give a successful business man who has successfully turned multiple failing businesses around, saved the olympics and balanced the budget in a largely democratic Massuchussetts through consesus and compromise for the greater good a chance at making things better?

Seems a bit defeatist to me Hitman.

This country is going down the shitter because of the satus quo and Congress. I'm not so sure how me wanting to slow that down a bit is defeatist though, but you're certainly entitled to your opinion of me.

Sent from my ADR6325 using Tapatalk 2

[zulater]

Give me 5 pieces of legislation that has been passed in the last 10 years that has made our country better and I might change my opinion. Doubt y'all can find that many though. Because all congress has been doing for the last 20 years or so is erode our civil liberties.

Sent from my ADR6325 using Tapatalk 2

That's a fair question. And I really don't have a good answer for you. But that doesn't mean there isn't one, it just means I don't know it?

But at the same token name me some sort of legislation that you think you can get passed through both houses that could stem the tide of our current miseries?

[zulater]

The nation's tax agency has admitted to inappropriately scrutinizing smaller tea party organizations that applied for tax-exempt status, and senior Treasury Department officials were notified in the midst of the 2012 presidential election season that an internal investigation was underway. But the IRS largely maintained a hands-off policy with the much larger, big-budget organizations on the left and right that were most influential in the elections and are organized under a section of the tax code that allows them to hide their donors.
"The IRS goes AWOL when wealthy and powerful forces want to break the law in order to hide their wrongful efforts and secret political influence," said Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat who is among a small Senate group pushing campaign finance reform measures that would force these big outside groups to disclose their donors. "Picking on the little guy is a pretty lousy thing to do."
Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS and the Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity were among those that spent tens of millions of dollars on TV ads and get-out-the-vote efforts to help Republicans. Democrats were aided in similar fashion by Priorities USA, made up of former Barack Obama campaign aides, and American Bridge 21st Century Foundation, an opposition research group led by a former adviser to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
And yet those groups so far have escaped investigations into whether they have crossed the blurry line under the law between what constitutes a tax-exempt "social welfare" organization that is free from donor reporting requirements and a political committee subject to taxes and disclosures.
Watchdog groups and lawmakers who have sought more disclosure and restrictions on such groups claim an injustice. They say the IRS saga over the targeting of smaller groups shines a bright light onto the agency's failure to guard against the flood of secret money into the political system through the creation of the deep-pocketed groups.
Yet other advocates of reform worry that, in light of the IRS disclosure of targeting small groups, government regulators will be less likely to scrutinize the tax-exempt status of the bigger, more powerful groups out of fear that they will appear to be targeting groups for political reasons.
"We expect that opponents of disclosure will try to use the recent developments to allow the groups that are misusing the tax laws to hide donors to continue misusing them. But that's a battle that we will engage in," said Fred Wertheimer, founder and president of watchdog group Democracy 21.
Since a series of court decisions including the Supreme Court's ruling in the 2010 Citizens United case, the IRS has seen an influx of applications -- from 1,735 in 2010 to 3,357 in 2012 -- by so-called social welfare groups wanting to form under section 501(c)(4) of the federal tax code. That section grants tax-exempt status as long as the primary mission of these organizations is not politics and influencing elections. The IRS makes that determination. Such nonprofits can keep secret the names of their donors, which are not subject to traditional campaign finance limits.
The rules are fuzzy. The law says that these groups can only be involved in social welfare activity and not politics. But IRS regulations give the groups leeway to conduct political activities -- as long as that is not its "primary activity."


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/19/irs-flagged-small-tea-party-groups-ignored-big-budget-organizations/#ixzz2Tm94GiSN

[GoSlash27]

That's a fair question. And I really don't have a good answer for you. But that doesn't mean there isn't one, it just means I don't know it?

But at the same token name me some sort of legislation that you think you can get passed through both houses that could stem the tide of our current miseries?

Shouldn't *you* be the one to answer that question? Seems to me that the sort of legislation that can get through both houses is the *source* of the problem.

[steeldawg]

Shouldn't *you* be the one to answer that question? Seems to me that the sort of legislation that can get through both houses is the *source* of the problem.

You just cant get a good piece of legislation through both houses, especially when it comes too the economy, there is just to much money and too many lobbyists to really get a bill through that will benefit the people.

[zulater]

IRS’s Shulman had more public White House visits than any cabinet member


Publicly released records show that embattled former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman visited the White House at least 157 times during the Obama administration, more recorded visits than even the most trusted members of the president’s Cabinet.


http://dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Obama-admin-visitors.jpg


Shulman’s extensive access to the White House first came to light during his testimony last week before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Shulman gave assorted answers when asked why he had visited the White House 118 times during the period that the IRS was targeting tea party and conservative nonprofits for extra scrutiny and delays on their tax-exempt applications.

By contrast, Shulman’s predecessor Mark Everson only visited the White House once during four years of service in the George W. Bush administration and compared the IRS’s remoteness from the president to “Siberia.” But the scope of Shulman’s White House visits — which strongly suggests coordination by White House officials in the campaign against the president’s political opponents — is even more striking in comparison to the publicly recorded access of cabinet members.



Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/29/irss-shulman-had-more-public-white-house-visits-than-any-cabinet-member/#ixzz2UmHQ8DIS

- - - Updated - - -

So is anyone really buying that this wasn't orchestrated from the top?

[GBMelBlount]

So is anyone really buying that this wasn't orchestrated from the top?

Unless they can explain it away somehow it is ostensibly damning.

However (consistent with my question to Preacher in the other thread) I wonder if they can get to him.

I would imagine Obama will go to whatever lengths are necessary to protect himself....

It's amazing this guy is still in office.

[zulater]

http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4642615809541600&pid=15.1&H=116&W=160




Unless they can explain it away somehow it is ostensibly damning.

However (consistent with my question to Preacher in the other thread) I wonder if they can get to him.

I would imagine Obama will go to whatever lengths are necessary to protect himself....

It's amazing this guy is still in office.

I think this latest news is the proverbial smoking gun. Obama wont lose his fanatic base, who depend on his hand out's, but he's rapidly losing support among the media and even among thoughtful liberals.

[GBMelBlount]

http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4642615809541600&pid=15.1&H=116&W=160

I think this latest news is the proverbial smoking gun. Obama wont lose his fanatic base, who depend on his hand out's, but he's rapidly losing support among the media and even among thoughtful liberals.

What are the odds this could get legs to the point of impeachment? Slim to none?

[GoSlash27]

What are the odds this could get legs to the point of impeachment? Slim to none?

Approximately 1 snowball's chance: Hell

[Seven]

What are the odds this could get legs to the point of impeachment? Slim to none?

Yeah. Slim to none. Probably none.

[Mach1]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/q71/s480x480/983701_10151537236432740_771872060_n.jpg

[GoSlash27]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/q71/s480x480/983701_10151537236432740_771872060_n.jpg
If only. Holder is a slimeball, but he knows exactly what he's doing. He's hoping that most Americans have *their* heads up *their* asses, and he's almost certainly right.
/sad but true

[zulater]

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/05/31/former-IRS-chief-Public-Campiagn


FORMER IRS CHIEF'S WIFE WORKS FOR LEFTIST CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM GROUP

On Friday, reports broke that Former IRS chief Doug Shulman’s wife works with a liberal lobbying group, Public Campaign, where she is the senior program advisor. Public Campaign is an “organization dedicated to sweeping campaign reform that aims to dramatically reduce the role of big special interest money in American politics.”
The goal of Public Campaign is to target political groups like the conservative non-profits at issue in the IRS scandal. The Campaign says it “is laying the foundation for reform by working with a broad range of organizations, including local community groups, around the country that are fighting for change and national organizations whose members are not fairly represented under the current campaign finance system.”

[GBMelBlount]

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/05/31/former-IRS-chief-Public-Campiagn


FORMER IRS CHIEF'S WIFE WORKS FOR LEFTIST CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM GROUP

On Friday, reports broke that Former IRS chief Doug Shulman’s wife works with a liberal lobbying group, Public Campaign, where she is the senior program advisor. Public Campaign is an “organization dedicated to sweeping campaign reform that aims to dramatically reduce the role of big special interest money in American politics.”
The goal of Public Campaign is to target political groups like the conservative non-profits at issue in the IRS scandal. The Campaign says it “is laying the foundation for reform by working with a broad range of organizations, including local community groups, around the country that are fighting for change and national organizations whose members are not fairly represented under the current campaign finance system.”


Not surprising.

[zulater]

Interviews with an IRS field agent involved in the agency targeting Tea Party groups for additional vetting appear to contradict the White House assertion that rogue agents, not the administration, were behind the effort, according to partial transcripts released Sunday by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
The agent in the Cincinnati office, in which the targeting took place, told congressional investigators that he or she was told in March 2010 by a supervisor to search for Tea Party groups applying for tax-exempt status and that “Washington, D.C., wanted some cases.”
The agent said that by April the office had held up roughly 40 cases and at least seven were sent to Washington. In addition, the agent said, a second IRS employee asked for information on two other specific applicants in which Washington was interested.
When asked by congressional investigators about allegations and press reports about two agents in Cincinnati essentially being responsible for the targeting, the agent responded:
“It's impossible. As an agent we are controlled by many, many people. We have to submit many, many reports. So the chance of two agents being rogue and doing things like that could never happen. … They were basically throwing us underneath the bus.”
The administration has denied involvement in the scandal, repeatedly saying it was limited to the Cincinnati office.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney has appeared to give conflicting statements on the scandal including whether top White House officials knew only of the inspector general’s probe into the targeting of politically conservative groups or if they were told about the bombshell findings when briefed in late April.
Carney also said the top officials decided not to tell President Obama to avoid any possibility of the White House interfering in the investigation.
On Sunday, California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Affair Committee, accused Carney of being untruthful about the scandal.
“Their paid liar, their spokesperson … he’s still making up things about what happened and calling this a local rogue,” Issa said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
The congressman also provided the network with a copy of the transcript in which the agent said he or she followed directions from Washington. However, when asked if the Tea Party scrutiny came directly from Washington the agency said “I believe so.”


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/02/interviews-with-irs-agent-suggest-tea-party-targeting-came-from-washington/#ixzz2V7gsdUsS

[GoSlash27]

The media is carrying the administration's water with this "local rogue" meme. Cincy isn't some regional backwater office for the IRS, it's the office where every tax exempt organization review is conducted. Saying this is "the local cincinnati" office is like calling the Pentagon the "local Arlington office".