A new GAO report has found that TSA misconduct has risen by 26% in the past three years.
Does this make you feel safer? A new GAO report has found that TSA misconduct has risen by 26% in the past three years.
Tag: oppression
More evidence that Obamacare is turning the U.S. workforce into a part-time workforce.
More evidence that Obamacare is turning the U.S. workforce into a part-time workforce.
The graphs are damning. The consequence of this shift is that the U.S. will increasingly be unable to compete in the global market. In addition, incomes and prosperity will shrink.
Emails between IRS official Lois Lerner and an attorney in the Federal Election Commission’s general counsel’s office show them twice colluding to illegally influence the FEC to prosecute conservative groups.
Working for the Democratic Party: Emails between IRS official Lois Lerner and an attorney in the Federal Election Commission’s general counsel’s office show them twice colluding to illegally influence the FEC to prosecute conservative groups.
The timing of the correspondence between Lerner and the FEC suggests the FEC attorney sought information from the IRS in order to influence an upcoming vote by the six FEC commissioners. The FEC received a complaint in March 2008 from the Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor Party alleging that the American Future Fund had violated campaign-finance law by engaging in political advocacy without registering as a political-action committee. The American Future Fund responded to that complaint in June 2008, telling the commission that it had applied for tax exemption in March of that year and was a “501(c)(4) social-welfare organization that was organized to provide Americans with a conservative and free-market viewpoint and mechanism to communicate and advocate on the issues that most interest and concern them.” According to the e-mail correspondence, a month after receiving the American Future Fund’s response, the FEC general counsel’s office — which is prohibited under law from conducting an investigation into an organization before the FEC’s six commissioners have voted to do so — contacted Lerner to investigate the agency’s tax-exempt status. [emphasis mine]
Simply put, the law states that when the FEC receives a complaint, the commission must then decide whether to initiate an investigation. Until it does so, however, it is a crime for the FEC’s general counsel to do any investigation. It is also a crime for the IRS to provide them any confidential tax information. Yet, the FEC’s general counsel did do an investigation on at least two conservative groups prior to a vote and Lois Lerner at the IRS provided them what they wanted, all illegally.
It appears that for justice to be served and for trust to be restored to these bureaucracies a lot of people need to be fired. Unfortunately, I do not expect that to happen. The Democrats clearly want to take advantage of this corrupt bureaucracy to wield power and destroy their enemies, and the Republicans are too wimpy to fight back. The result: The corruption and abuse of power will continue to happen, and it will happen with increasing aggressiveness against conservatives.
New evidence now suggests that the IRS harassed conservative organizations routinely, whether or not they already had tax exempt status.
Working for the Democratic Party: New evidence now suggests that the IRS harassed conservative organizations routinely, whether or not they already had tax exempt status.
The sad fate of Democrat women.
The war on women: The sad fate of Democrat women.
It’s always a little galling (not to mention hilarious) for those of us on the right to reflect that the Democratic Party — the party of slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, and family-destroying social programs — the party of Detroit, New Orleans, Newark, and Baltimore — the party that facilitates a black abortion rate that would bring a smile to the face of Planned Parenthood’s genocidally racist founder — has somehow managed to sell itself to African Americans as the friend of black people!
But it’s beginning to be equally galling (and equally comic) to reflect that the Democrats have also contrived to present themselves as the party of women.
This is the party whose most powerful senator left his probable mistress to drown after a car accident; the party whose most popular living president is a serial philanderer and accused rapist; the party whose most prominent woman rose to that prominence by virtue of her stand-by-your-man loyalty to a louse; and now the party of Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer, two men who have humiliated their wives with truly creepy behavior and yet seek to continue their political careers regardless.
We all make mistakes and it’s not that the GOP hasn’t got its share of sexual shenanigans, but the Republican establishment doesn’t routinely make excuses for its recidivist miscreants or make icons of their victimized spouses. The Dems…? They seem to think their political agenda somehow excuses their personal behavior. I joked on the Ricochet podcast last week that the party’s new slogan should be, ”Women — We Treat You Like Dirt, But At Least You Can Kill Your Unborn Children!”
But don’t worry. The Democrats are there to protect women from Romney’s “binders full of women.”
Update: And then there’s this.
The cost of complying with Obamacare is forcing insurance companies to abandon many state markets.
Finding out what’s in it: The cost of complying with Obamacare is forcing insurance companies to abandon many state markets.
In February 2010, a month before passage of the law, Obama explained at a bipartisan health care summit at the Blair House, “What we’ve said is that if you join one of these exchanges, you will have choice and you will have competition. You will have a menu of private insurance options that you’ll be able to purchase.”
Increasing the number of insurance options for individuals was one of the key ways in which Obama claimed the law would be able to drive down insurance costs. But with less than 70 days before the exchanges are set to open, large insurers are pulling out of states as a result of the health care law, resulting in less choice for consumers, not more.
This is exactly what happened in New York in 1992 when the state legislature passed a law with many of the same components as Obamacare. Insurance companies fled the state, and premiums went up.
According to two industry sources, the U.S. government has demanded that major internet companies provide it the stored passwords of their customers.
According to two industry sources, the federal government has demanded that major internet companies provide it the stored passwords of their customers.
“I’ve certainly seen them ask for passwords,” said one Internet industry source who spoke on condition of anonymity. “We push back.” A second person who has worked at a large Silicon Valley company confirmed that it received legal requests from the federal government for stored passwords. Companies “really heavily scrutinize” these requests, the person said. “There’s a lot of ‘over my dead body.'”
So far at least, it appears that the companies are doing the right thing and telling the government to go to hell.
A GAO report has found that heath insurance premiums will skyrocket next year when Obamacare takes effect.
Finding out what’s in it: A GAO report has found that heath insurance premiums will skyrocket next year when Obamacare takes effect.
Starting next year, a 30 year-old earning $35,000 per year would have to pay $2,739 annually for a cheap “bronze plan” on the new health insurance exchanges, even after receiving subsidies, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s subsidy calculator. That’s more expensive than any state in the current system, and seven times more expensive than in the cheapest state, Nebraska, where premiums are currently as low as $349 annually.
Even an otherwise comparable 30 year-old earning $25,000 next year, who would qualify for more generous Obamacare subsidies, would have to pay $1,142 annually for a “bronze plan.” That’s still more expensive than current cheap rates in 45 states, and double the current cost in 19 states.
The article has a fascinating table outlining the minimum cost for healthcare in all fifty states. Not surprisingly, in the states that have Obamacare-type regulations, such as Massachusetts and New York, the cost for heathcare is far higher.
A government program only wastes $4.4 billion out of a projected waste of $19.1 billion.
Success! A government program only wastes $4.4 billion out of a projected waste of $19.1 billion.
The Detroit City Council unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday calling for the further prosecution of George Zimmerman.
The witch hunt continues: The Detroit City Council unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday calling for the further prosecution of George Zimmerman.
It not like these leaders in Detroit don’t have their own problems that they should be dealing with, eh?
As I said yesterday, they are thugs, jack-booted thugs. If they could arrange a kangaroo court to guarantee the conviction of those they dislike or disagree with, they would. And in fact, that is what they are trying to do right now.
The records of the snooping into Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell’s confidential tax records have mysteriously been destroyed.
Working for the Democratic Party: The records of the snooping into Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell’s confidential tax records have mysteriously been destroyed.
Ten things you could do in 1975 that you can’t do now.
The death of freedom: Ten things you could do in 1975 that you can’t do now.
Read the comments as well. I especially liked this: “It used to be that laws and regulations were put in place to prevent people from doing bad things to other people. Now laws and regulations are put in place to prevent good people from enjoying the fruits of their labor!”
The defense industry has found that the cuts from sequestration have been far less painful than their lobbying had claimed.
Surprise, surprise! The defense industry has found that the cuts from sequestration have been far less painful than their lobbying had claimed.
Contractors seem pleasantly surprised that the automatic spending cuts are not hurting nearly as much as the industry’s lobbying arm warned they would in the months leading up to the sequester that took effect in March. [For example,] Lockheed Martin had predicted that sequestration would wipe out $825 million in revenue this year, but it no longer expects such a big hit. In fact, the company said, profit will be higher than initially projected. [emphasis mine]
The article specifically mentions the doomsday lobbying effort of the Aerospace Industries Association, As I noted back in December 2012, that lobbying was a lie. There is so much fat in the government that sequestration could have been three times bigger and it wouldn’t have done these contractors any serious harm. The inconsequential nature of those cuts now is illustrating the reality of this truth.
The family that George Zimmerman rescued from a car crash this week is terrified they will become targets of hate mobs if they say anything positive about him.
Leftwing civility works its magic: The family that George Zimmerman rescued from a car crash this week is terrified they will become targets of hate mobs if they say anything positive about him.
Thugs. The left and its minions are no different than jack-booted thugs, and the aftermath of the George Zimmerman trial has proven this quite clearly. Say or do something they don’t like, no matter whether it is legal, and they will come after you with threats of violence. And their leaders in the political world, led by President Obama, will just look the other way.
According to a new poll, only 11% of doctors believe that the Obamacare health exchanges will be open for business on October 1, as mandated by the law.
Finding out what’s in it: According to a new poll, only 11% of doctors believe that the Obamacare health exchanges will be open for business on October 1, as mandated by the law.
I found this tidbit from the article, however, far more disturbing, as it describes a detail of the Obamacare exchanges that will surely cause doctors incredible financial pain, and will likely cause them to demand all payments up front:
Jackson said that doctors who don’t have an understanding of those coverage terms could be in for a nasty surprise once the new plans go into effect. That’s because under the rules of the exchange, a patient can go up to three months without paying premiums and still not get their coverage formally dropped by an insurers—but the insurer isn’t obligated to pay claims incurred during the second and third month if that person isn’t paying their premiums for that time, Jackson said. Those rules could mean that doctors end up eating the cost of the care they have already provided, or have their receivables stay unpaid for longer stretches of time. [emphasis mine]
In other words, the law is tilted to allow patients to stiff both their doctors and their insurance companies. How precious.
An Arizona nursing student was suspended from school and called a bigot because she requested one of her classes be taught in English.
An Arizona nursing student was suspended from school and called a bigot because she requested one of her classes be taught in English.
The student, Terri Bennett, 50, initially complained in April to school officials because she said the Spanish-dominated discussions in her class room were preventing her from learning, Townhall reported. The college nursing program director, David Kutzler, then allegedly called her “a bigot” and an expletive, and suspended her.
She has sued. The article also notes that the Arizona constitution requires schools to use English.
A close look at the Florida prosecutor who brought charges against George Zimmerman.
A close look at Angela Corey, the Florida prosecutor who brought charges against George Zimmerman.
And it doesn’t look good. She appears to be corrupt, vindictive, and power-hungry, all the things you do not want in a prosecutor.
“Our goal is not a speedy settlement or a quiet Washington deal. We will sue, depose and expose every person who came near this illegal scheme to suppress voters’ First Amendment rights.”
The routine lowering of past climate data to make today’s temperatures seem hotter.
More climate fraud: The routine lowering of past climate data to make today’s temperatures seem hotter.
Almost all past temperatures have been adjusted downward, compared with the temperatures that were actually recorded at the time. During the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s, when many record high temperatures were recorded, the readings have been adjusted downward by, generally speaking, one to one and a half degrees. These adjustments stop abruptly in the late 1990s. The effect of the adjustments is to make the past look cooler in relation to the present.
This kind of manipulation of data, changing the historical record after the fact, is done ALL THE TIME by the climate alarmists who crank out all of the data that are reported on in the newspapers. And the adjustments are always the same: they make the past cooler, so that the present will look warmer, in order to support their power-grabbing climate hysteria agenda. Whenever you hear on the radio that a temperature reading is the “warmest ever” in a particular place, you can reasonably assume that the “warmest ever” title was conferred by falsely reporting temperature readings from past decades.
And as Hinderaker properly concludes, “This is, in my view, the biggest scandal in the history of science. I can’t think of any competitor that could even come close.”
George Zimmerman, still in hiding because of death threats, went public long enough on Thursday to help rescue a family trapped in an overturned car.
George Zimmerman, still in hiding because of death threats, went public long enough on Thursday to help rescue a family trapped in an overturned car.
The article also notes the continuing death threats to his family.