It’s official: Today 25 tea party organizations filed suit against the IRS and the Obama administration for its harassment of conservatives.
Future fascists: College students gladly sign a big thank you card to the IRS for specifically targeting conservatives for harassment. With video.
I repeat: The problem here isn’t that the IRS was researching and challenging organizations that wanted tax exempt status. The problem is that the IRS chose to only challenge (and harass) conservative organizations. The partisan and political nature of the agency’s actions is unacceptable in a civilized society. This video suggests that we no longer live in one.
Doing the work of the Democratic Party: After warning repeatedly last year that the sequester would damage the economy, NBC now says “Nevermind.”
It wasn’t just NBC. I can’t count the number of news sources and politicians that screamed “We’re all gonna die!” because sequestration was going to cut the federal budget a mere few percent. I said it then and I say it now: They were lying.
That news organizations participated in this lie however was particularly shameful. It didn’t take much research or thought to realize that these were lies. For NBC and other mainstream news organizations to not do that research tells us a great deal about how unreliable they are.
And by the way, remember the long lines threatened at the airports due to sequestration? We had those for about one day, and then things returned to normal. More evidence that it was all lying crap coming from this administration, forced upon travelers to make some dishonest political points, which were further aided and abetted by a lapdog press.
Like your health insurance? You may be losing it because of Obamacare.
I like this quote best:
“You’re going to be forcibly upgraded,” said Bob Laszewski, a health care industry consultant. “It’s like showing up at the airline counter and being told, ‘You have no choice, $300 please. You’re getting a first-class ticket, why are you complaining?'”
Sadly, I don’t think it will be this good. Many will decide the first class plan is simply unaffordable, and will instead opt out, paying the IRS fine instead. The result, fewer people having health insurance.
Another example of why you should avoid New Jersey: The five year conviction of a former police officer for gun possession because he was moving with his guns from Maine to Texas thru New Jersey and was subjected to a warrantless search of his vehicle has been upheld by the court.
A jury acquitted him of the charges for possession of the “assault firearms” and handgun possession but convicted him in absentia of illegal possession of hollow-point bullets, shotguns, rifles and a high-capacity magazine. He was apprehended in Texas and extradited to New Jersey.
“What I don’t understand is I am a citizen without a criminal history who has served this country not only in the military but as a volunteer to my community and as a police officer, not even making hardly any income at all, and I would have given my life to protect another person and for this country,” Reininger said in a statement. “How can I be convicted for exercising my right? When does it become a crime for exercising one’s right?”
The three-judge appellate panel insisted New Jersey’s gun control laws do not violate the constitutional right to keep and bear arms, citing the Supreme Court’s recent Heller decision. “The Second Amendment does not create ‘a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever purpose,'” Judge Ronald B. Graves wrote for the panel. “Furthermore, the Second Amendment does not preclude the state from regulating the manner in which accessories must be transported.”
The court also upheld the warrantless search of Reininger’s vehicle.
All he was doing was peaceably traveling through New Jersey on his way home. Vile. Very vile.
IRS letters show that the decisions relating to the harassment of conservatives by the IRS came from upper management.
The IRS has been directed to lock down all its data in connection with the four ongoing investigations of its harassment of conservatives.
When government is bankrupt and freedom takes over — in Detroit.
The future? A Maine doctor has stopped accepting any insurance, posts his prices online, and is doing fine.
the decision to do away with insurance allows Ciampi to practice medicine the way he sees fit, he said. Insurance companies no longer dictate how much he charges. He can offer discounts to patients struggling with their medical bills. He can make house calls. “I’m freed up to do what I think is right for the patients,” Ciampi said. “If I’m providing them a service that they value, they can pay me, and we cut the insurance out as the middleman and cut out a lot of the expense.” Ciampi expects more doctors will follow suit. Some may choose to run “concierge practices” in which patients pay to keep a doctor on retainer, he said.
“Why are liberals so rude to the right?”
This column was published not by the right but by the very leftwing Guardian. It has been years since I’ve seen a leftwing publication willing to let these kinds of questions be asked. Could we finally be seeing a crack in the wall of silence that the left has erected since the 1990s to protect itself?
A high school teacher faces punishment because he properly reminded his students of their Constitutional rights.
The bankruptcy of modern journalism.
The story focuses on CBS’s Sharyl Attkisson, one of the few establishment reporters willing to do some hardnosed investigation of the Obama administration, and the rumors that say she might be dumped by CBS because of this. Key quote, from her:
“[The White House and Justice Department] will tell you that I’m the only reporter — as they told me — that is not reasonable,” Attkisson told Ingraham. “They say The Washington Post is reasonable, the L.A. Times is reasonable, The New York Times is reasonable, I’m the only one who thinks this is a story, and they think I’m unfair and biased by pursuing it.”
Reporters should always be unreasonable when responding to the talking points of politicians. That so many establishment news outlets today try to be “reasonable” while condemning the few reporters who are tough tells us that this industry has been co-opted and is no longer trustworthy.
A new report on state economies shows that the states governed by Republicans generally outperform states governed by Democrats.
Two attorneys representing eleven organizations claim that the IRS’s targeting of conservatives is still ongoing and plan to file suit.
A Democratic Senator analyzes the First Amendment: “Are these people [bloggers and tweeters] journalists and entitled to constitutional protection?”
Yeah, makes sense. Protect some people, but really, no one ever thought the first amendment applied to those people.
The stupidity of gun free zones.
On Monday, May 20, Dan was teaching gym and carrying his handgun in an inside-the-waistband hip holster. So, there was zero chance that his gun would fall out of his holster or hurt his students and a 100 percent chance that Daniel could defend his students if a gunman breached the school. Daniel is highly competent with firearms; he practices at the range monthly and also takes yearly classes to advance his firearm skills.
Another teacher observed what must have been the silhouette of Daniel’s handgun beneath his clothes while he was actively teaching his students. This teacher-observer panicked and told the principal that Daniel had a gun. Without investigating, the principal immediately called the police. Despite the fact that Daniel is a concealed-carry permit holder with a spotless record, the police arrested him for carrying in a “gun free zone.”
A few police officers tried to remove Daniel’s gun from his holster and were unable so Daniel had to tell them how. Which, again, speaks to how secure Daniel’s gun was at his side. To reiterate, there was no chance that his gun would endanger children; there was a very large chance that Daniel could use his gun to save their lives. The Wichita Police Department is a 12-minute drive and seven miles away from White Elementary. In the event of a mass attack, hundreds of defenseless children and teachers could be killed before the cops would arrive.
The man stands to go to jail, for doing nothing more than being prepared to defend the lives of the children he teaches.
The state of Illinois illegally enters a beekeepers’ property, confiscates his bees, and destroys them.
The story is very complicated, as the state believed the bees were infected with a disease that could spread to other bees. Nonetheless, they entered private property without permission or warrant, and took private property without permission.
Read the whole thing. It illustrates the complexity of freedom and law, while also showing the risks inherent with giving up our rights, even when it appears to be a good idea.
Who are the real climate deniers?
I very much dislike the use of the term “deniers”, no matter who it is applied to, since it lowers the civility of the discussion. Nonetheless, the article is a nice thumbnail summary of the climate field, both in terms of the players as well as the areas of uncertainty and confusion. It also provides a clear illustration of the contrast between the two sides and how they tend to discuss these issues, best summarized by this quote:
It is also telling that in a radio debate between Harris [the skeptic] and Rhynas [the global warming advocate] that took place following Rhynas’s initial presentation, the former agreed to take questions from the public but the latter refused.
Pushback: The Virginia veteran who was arrested simply because of his political posts on Facebook has sued the police and other government workers over his arrest.
Coming: A two-tiered health care system.
As the article notes, this process is only being accelerated by the implementation of Obamacare, and is the result of third-parties interfering in the relationship of doctors and patients. Obamacare, however, will finish the process, condemning most Americans to bureaucratic medicine. slow, inefficient, and badly done.
The House Ways and Means committee request for information from anyone targeted by the IRS because of their political beliefs is apparently bearing fruit.
Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio, a member of Ways and Means, confirmed to The Washington Examiner on Thursday that the evidence being sent to the committee includes secret recordings with IRS officials. This information comports with legal sources who have clients who believe they were targeted by the IRS because they are politically active conservatives who opposed President Obama’s re-election.
O goody: The IRS has created eight different offices, as well as an undetermined number of enforcement teams, to enforce the Obamacare regulations.
Pushback: Despite a demand by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to shut up, the sheriffs of New York have joined a lawsuit against the state’s new gun control law.
Did the IRS also target the Conservative Hispanic Society for harassment?
NOAA today was forced to activate a back-up weather satellite when its GOES-13 weather satellite suddenly shut down.
Want a clear idea of the chain of command for the IRS scandal? Check out this official IRS organizational chart of the Tax Exempt Government Entities division.
A series of letters signed by IRS official Lois Lerner show that she was directly involved in the agency’s targeting of conservative groups.
I want to make one point that I haven’t read anywhere about this scandal. The problem here really isn’t that the IRS was investigating the legitimacy of giving these conservative organizations tax exempt status. The problem is that they specifically chose to only investigate conservative organizations. Leftwing organizations got a pass.
Either investigate all, or none. I prefer none. But either way, playing favorites for the sake of politics is a partisan corruption of the tax code, and a misuse of the power of government.
Lois Lerner has been put on administrative leave by the IRS, according to one report today.
Don’t criminalize the investigations. immunize the witnesses!
If we criminalize the investigations, if witnesses are afraid they will be indicted, prosecuted, and punished if they tell the truth about what they’ve been up to, our chances of getting the full picture will be enormously, maybe even fatally, diminished.
We want the truth, the whole truth. The best way to get it is to immunize congressional witnesses who tell the story. That way, they will be part of a common effort to understand what went wrong, rather than targets of a criminal investigation. It may surprise you to learn that there are many civil servants who have quietly asked to be subpoenaed so their superiors will not accuse them of ratting out their bureaucratic cohorts. Fair enough. Subpoena them, and give them the protection of immunity, provided they tell the truth.
The cudgel of criminal action should be reserved for those who insist on clamming up, for they are obstructing investigations desperately needed to protect and advance our freedoms.
And I say, right on! For example, I am not enthused about the claim that Lois Lerner waived her Fifth Amendment rights by her testimony yesterday, thus allowing Congress to force her to speak or charge her with contempt. I fear this will only make her a convenient martyr to be used by the tools of the Obama administration to distract us.
It would be far better to give immunity to as many low level employees as possible. That way, we get the truth out, and the handful who lie to protect Obama and the Democratic Party will be exposed.
