Acting Irs Chief Ousted Over Tax Scandal As Obama Vows Change

[Publicus]

Gallup: Obama Approval Rating Holds Positive

So basically you are conceding that obama was the mastermind behind the targeting BUT the American people just don't care.

For once I agree with you.

The Gallup survey and you say two opposite things. Whatever makes you think or believe the Gallup survey has found, or that I believe, there's a White House mystery here and it's the president whodunnit? There isn't any such thing. Get real.

No, you and I don't agree on the time of day, so forget that notion.

The reality is that the moderate middle of the United States, the people who twice voted to elect Barack Hussein Obama president, know that for the past four and a half years the Republicans have obstructed and have sought to nullify anything and everything Prez Obama advocates. Republicans from the loony birthers to the present gang of inquisitors have put their ideology above country, and the American people know this.

Now, no one believes the gangster Cong Darrell Issa who already has sent a number of Republicans in Washington dashing away from his outrageous and impertinent assertion that the White House spokesperson is a "paid liar." You've got the wrong guy out front in this particular Republican inquisition against the president. You people are screwing the pooch again in your obsession against Prez Obama and the American political center. And the majority of Americans who comprise the center know this.

I watched the Sunday morning news programs, to include CNN's interview of Chairman Darrell Issa - a bomb thrower with a checkered political past

I find this to be insulting & outrageous.

In fact the dear leader has a friend by the name of William Ayers who makes bombs & kills people.

This is not "some guy from the neighborhood" but a radical professor who says "I wish we had done more"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ayers

"... that conducted a campaign of bombing public buildings (including police stations, the U.S. Capitol Building, and the Pentagon) during the 1960s and 1970s in response to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. (which killed people)"

And here you are claiming to be "fighting for the center" NOT.

It is not up to me to caution you BUT your uptopian statism is showing.

You think and believe I am some sort of utopian statist, when I am instead a classic Western liberal of the Judeo-Christian tradition. You have this all wrong in your own head, which is not a responsibility of mine to treat or to rectify. You yourself have to get your head screwed on right. I can't do that for you. All I can do is to correct you and leave you to yourself.

The current topic is the political bomb thrower and literal arsonist Cong Darrell Issa. Issa is in a position in Congress that makes him a clear and present danger to the republic. It's Issa's imbalance and his unstable character we need to focus on because the wild and irresponsible Republicans in the House chose Issa to chair the committee that is the lead committee in the inquisition against Prez Obama. The Republicans in Washington are again trying to engage in nullification, this time concerning the outcome and result of last year's election of the president.

That the R's in Washington chose this guy to lead them in this political hatchet job makes me shutter. The Republicans in Washington are out on the far right extreme of the American political spectrum, while the majority of the country remains in the political center. The center must hold against the constant onslaught and barrages from the current crop of unreconstructed Republicans who reside on the extreme radical right of the spectrum.

[Publicus]

Here's something to think about that's one of the first items of the news this morning.

Are the Scandals Fading?

http://www.nationaljournal.com/the-edge-newsletter/the-edge-are-the-scandals-fading-20130603?mrefid=site_search

Gibbs: Issa charges against IRS ‘shameful,’ owes agency apology

Read more: http://thehill.com/video/in-the-news/302973-gibbs-blasts-issa-for-shameful-claims-against-irs#ixzz2VC48eKXO

Edited June 3, 2013 by Publicus

[JDGRUEN]

What Initiated the IRS Targeting of the Tea Party? Did news coverage of a Tea Party group launching a 501©(4) in February 2010--including a story at NPR-- launch the two year scrutiny of Tea Party groups? It's impossible to tell for certain but the IG report does offer some clues that suggest this could be the case.

Other news outlets have speculated about what might have prompted the scrutiny but no firm conclusion seems possible since the IG report redacts the event which initiated the scrutiny. However the report does offer clues.

A detailed timeline included in the report indicates the whole affair began with a February 25, 2010 email. The contents of the email, as well as the name of the sender and recipient, have been redacted and replaced with a string of asterisks. However the next entry, dated March 1st, does provide a clue. It reads, "The Determinations Unit Group Manager asked a specialist to search for other Tea Party or similar organizations’ applications in order to determine the scope of the issue." [Emphasis added]

So we know the IRS became aware of Tea Party groups whose election activities raised an "issue." A specialist was asked to determine how widespread that issue was. We know that the focus was eventually on Tea Party related groups who had applied for 501©(4) status, so we can assume that was also true of the group (or groups) which were noted in the initial email.

...

http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2013/06/03/What-Initiated-the-IRS-Targeting-of-the-Tea-Party

Edited June 4, 2013 by JDGRUEN

[Baloo22]

The Obama admistration is involved in three different scandals and there is bipartisan support to do something about them. Please cut out the dishonest spin in practicaly every single post.

Across partisan lines, Americans agree that a special prosecutor should investigate charges that the IRS targeted conservative groups, a new Quinnipiac poll finds.

Seventy-six percent of voters want a special prosecutor, including 63 percent of Democrats, 88 percent of Republicans and 78 percent of independent voters.

Across partisan lines, Americans agree that a special prosecutor should investigate charges that the IRS targeted conservative groups, a new Quinnipiac poll finds.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/05/30/poll-americans-want-special-prosecutor-for-irs-scandal/

You seem to be the only guy in the world who thinks and believes there should be a special counsel.

What, you didn't get the memo from Breitbart News, from waaaay over there on the faaaar right, that the intransigent extremists who are the Republican party don't want to let the inquisition get out of their hands into a judicial proceeding where a special counsel and the rule of law - not the political law of the jungle - would become dominant and determinant?

A poster presented an article by Breitbart News that called a campaign financing reform group a "leftist" group. Now we've come to the point where the extreme right see any organization or effort to limit or eradicate humongous special interest bucks from U.S. elections as, what yet another posters said is a socialist, communist scheme conducted from within the United States.

Meanwhile, there are those of us who continue the fight to hold the U.S. political center intact against these extremist onslaughts.

"intransigent extremists who are the Republican party don't want to let the inquisition get out of their hands" Very funny nonsense!!!

More accurately and to the point; is that there are some members of the Congress (the people that the citizens of the U.S. elected to represent them) that realize that oversight of a federal agency like the IRS is their responsibility. It is not a football that should be kicked away because it might irritate the Prez or some of his minions.

Again; The House of Representatives is the prime representative body of the citizens of the United States. Their current oversight activities are not only well within their authority but are a duty to the citizens of the United States. Congressman Issa and the other Representatives on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform are doing the job that they are supposed to be doing. No amount of scare-mongering by the Obama administration or Obama's media changes that fact.

[JDGRUEN]

GOP threatens IRS purse strings - By Bernie Becker and Peter Schroeder - 06/03/13 05:40 PM ET

GOP appropriators on Monday said they would use the IRS’s purse strings to get answers about how and why it targeted conservative groups. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) said his panel may impose conditions on IRS funding, calling the targeting tantamount to a political enemies list that hearkens back to “a dark page in our past.”

Other Republicans on the panel wondered how the IRS, in the words of Rep. Ander Crenshaw, “should spend one more dime” on the agency without having more answers on how the IRS is currently operating.

http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/domestic-taxes/303173-gop-threatens-to-use-power-of-purse-against-irs

Edited June 4, 2013 by Scott
edited for fair use

[snarky66]

Actually the catalyst for the road blocking hamstringing illegal surveillance of conservative groups and Catholics and Jewish groups was the citizens united case which caused the radical leftists to lose the house in 2010. Thus the vote suppression and dirty tricks by the DNC began. Mr community organizer is always talking about fairness. It's his core principle. Is what happened with the IRS fair? Not in my book. cheap attempt to steal an election

Edited June 4, 2013 by snarky66

[chuckd]

Then do pardon me because I have suspicions of the Republican party and the rightwingnuts who, continuously for the past four and a half years, have tried everything to try to separate the majority of the U.S. body politic - the American centrist middle - from Prez Barack Obama.

The burden of proof presumptively is on your guys and your party, your ideology. You guys are the Energizer bunny that never quits. Now you want to take an IRS malpractice all the way up to the White House. Why? So you can hope to cripple the re-elected Prez Barack Obama by burying him in investigations for the next three and a half years.

You are not trustworthy, not believable, not credible. Not from the birthers to this strictly IRS matter are you people trustworthy or credible. You will say anything, try anything, do anything.

I prefer that a Special Counsel be appointed to pursue this matter. Having a special counsel would take the political circus and theater out of the hands of the R's in Washington by placing the investigation on a judicial basis rather than a political one.

In the meantime, here's your guy Cong Darrell Issa at work again. I suspect if Issa doesn't get his way in this matter, he may revert to his previous form to burn down the White House in the same way he burned down the manufacturing plant so he could collect the insurance, as discussed in the articles I've linked in my most recent posts. Trouble is, Issa got peanuts of the insurance money after the insurance company investigated the suspicious fire and the suspect Issa.

You're dredging the bottom of the barrel to have Darrell Issa as your main point man in this newest of your neverending efforts to try to destroy Prez Obama.

Republican lawmaker says IRS targeting likely led by Washington

http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/310026093?count=50&client_source=feedzilla_widget&order=relevance&format=json&sb=1

As the above story points out, Democrats on Issa's committee are no longer going to maintain their reserved cooperation. Without any evidence, Issa is now showing his extreme nature and nefarious purposes. The fight is only beginning.

Obama is destroying himself. He needs no help from the Republicans on that issue.

Talking about the IRS, I notice this came out today on the topic of Obamacare. Slightly off topic if the mods will permit me. I just thought somebody might be able to explain all this by in the morning.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Proposed instructions on calculating the penalty/tax due on not having private insurance.

"(i) In 2016, Taxpayers H and J are married and file a joint return. H and J have three children: K, age 21, L, age 15, and M, age 10. No member of the family has minimum essential coverage for any month in 2016. H and J’s household income is $120,000. H and J’s applicable filing threshold is $24,000. The annual national average bronze plan premium for a family of 5 (2 adults, 3 children) is $20,000.

"(ii) For each month in 2016, under paragraphs ( b(2)(ii) and ( b(2)(iii) of this section, the applicable dollar amount is $2,780 (($695 x 3 adults) + (($695/2) x 2 children)). Under paragraph ( b(2)(i) of this section, the flat dollar amount is $2,085 (the lesser of $2,780 and $2,085 ($695 x 3)). Under paragraph ( b(3) of this section, the excess income amount is $2,400 (($120,000 - $24,000) x 0.025). Therefore, under paragraph ( b(1) of this section, the monthly penalty amount is $200 (the greater of $173.75 ($2,085/12) or $200 ($2,400/12)).

"(iii) The sum of the monthly penalty amounts is $2,400 ($200 x 12). The sum of the monthly national average bronze plan premiums is $20,000 ($20,000/12 x 12). Therefore, under paragraph (a) of this section, the shared responsibility payment imposed on H and J for 2016 is $2,400 (the lesser of $2,400 or $20,000).”

Anybody???

If you are a U.S. citizen working and residing abroad, then you will have to have read IRS Publication 54, which has been in existence for decades, as amended.

IRS Publication 54 deals in migraine-inducing detail and convolutions with the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, the Foreign Earned Income Exemption, the Foreign Earned Income Deduction. It includes rules and knotty examples of instances in which each of the three may - or may not - apply. The deduction pertaining to housing is a masterpiece of entanglement inside a labyrinth of compound variables.

IRS Publication 54 presents the specifics of when one or more of the categories may apply. IRS Publication 54 presents, in excruciating detail, instances in which one but not the other two may apply to your taxpaying situation. Or two of the categories but not the other may or may not apply.

If you file the IRS Long Form 2555, Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, you will also know that you must get migraine pills and take them well in advance of sitting down to read the IRS Form and its accompanying instructions in IRS Publication 54. I believe the people who set up Camp Delta at Guantanamo used the IRS Publication 54 as their, as it were, "inspiration."

Then there the taxes on your property and various categories of income in the United States while you are residing, living and working abroad.

A further complication for we U.S. expats in Thailand is that Thailand does not have a Tax Treaty with the United States, which further involves the U.S. expat in the tax agencies of each respective government.

The joke is on you, pal. The IRS specializes in the torture of U.S. citizens whether we are abroad or comfortably at home. It's the nature of the beast.

I wonder what you actually may know about real life?

.I have filed as a bona fide resident of Iran, Saudi Arabia and Thailand during many of the past 35 years. I also filed under Physical Presence in order to obtain my 911 exclusion in earlier years.

I know lots more about real life than you do about me.

My post was made partly in humor to point out what the IRS is capable of accomplishing when they are not attacking the folks on Obama's enemies list.

Have you ever stopped to look at your posts and read them after they are in the public domain? Your zeal to defend the indefensible action of this administration is leading you to use the trite and well worn method of attacking the messenger rather than providing a viable defense of the actions taken by the administration.

As I stated in a previous post, your defense for the various scandals revolve around the theory that the rest of the US is out of step with the Obama administration and we simply aren't smart enough to understand what is going on inside all those great minds at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. In reflection perhaps you are right about not understanding all those great minds in DC. I don't know that anybody can fathom what is going on there.

Personal attacks do you no good. I have been attacked by experts and you, sir, are no expert...to paraphrase Sen. Lloyd Bentsen of the great State of Texas.

Edit in: Forgive me for this pedantic point but, windows and camera have "shutters". You have "shudders".

Edited June 4, 2013 by chuckd

[Scott]

A post with altered quotes has been deleted as well as replies.

[chuckd]

It might seem the IRS hearings are about to expand even more.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Report: IRS spent $50M holding 220 employee conferences over three years

By Alan Fram, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service, already under fire after officials disclosed that the agency targeted conservative groups, faces increased scrutiny because of an inspector general's report that it spent about $50 million to hold at least 220 conferences for employees between 2010 and 2012.

The report by the Treasury Department's inspector general about conference spending is set to be released Tuesday. The department issued a statement Sunday saying the administration "has already taken aggressive and dramatic action to reduce conference spending."

The White House and the agency were on the defensive before the report on conference spending. Agency officials and the Obama administration have said the targeting of conservative groups was inappropriate, but the political tempest is showing no signs of ebbing.

http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/03/18718103-report-irs-spent-50m-holding-220-employee-conferences-over-three-years?lite

[Publicus]

Yes, it is the traditional, customary and constitutional role of the Congress to oversee the Executive Branch and to conduct investigations. Students in 7th Grade Social Subjects class learn this.

The current Congress however is dominated by the tea party Republicans, a gang not well regarded by the majority of Americans. The majority of Americans are in the political center. Sometimes the center moves slightly right or left, but only by a couple of small clicks, not in leaps and bounds. Because of the tea party Republicans, the Congress has moved right of the U.S. political center - far to the right - and has done so suddenly and by leaps and bounds.

Driving this sharp lurch to the extreme right are the 75 House members who are members of the Republican Study Committee. The RSC are, in fact, the tea party hard core Republicans of the House. The incendiary Chairman Darrell Issa, who over the weekend called the White House spokesperson "a paid liar" is a member of the RSC. The RSC consists of the extreme far right of the already conservative Republican party.

The Republican Study Committee is a group of House Republicans organized for the purpose of advancing a conservative social and economic agenda in the House of Representatives.

http://rsc.scalise.house.gov/aboutrsc/members/

With or without the RSC however the House lacks the mandate of the American body politic, i.e., the political center-middle of the U.S. political spectrum. That is, specifically, the Congress has the support of only 15% of the U.S. body politic. That's an historically terrible approval level among the body politic.

The 15% figure is the average of five polls taken between April 28 to May 27 of this year. The polling organizations who during this period have asked the question of whether we approve or disapprove of the Congress are: Economist/You Gov, Fox News, Reason-Rupe/PSRAI, Gallup; CBS/NYT.

The current Republican party incumbents of the Congress, the House especially, fail to have the customary institutional trust and confidence of the U.S. body politic, the American political center-middle. We do not trust or have confidence in the current membership of the Congress - the House especially - to dutifully perform the customary institutional role of the Congress to which you glibly and faciley refer. This is true in general, but it is especially true in this IRS matter.

There's more to Congressional government than one reads in a 7th Grade civics textbook. There is the real world of party politics and of who best represents the majority of Americans, i.e., the political center-middle. The person who best represents us is Prez Obama.

The Congress, the House especially and in particular, is a tea party political circus, a political theater. The American body politic knows this and knows it well. We reject the whole of it.

[chuckd]

Yes, it is the traditional, customary and constitutional role of the Congress to oversee the Executive Branch and to conduct investigations. Students in 7th Grade Social Subjects class learn this.

The current Congress however is dominated by the tea party Republicans, a gang not well regarded by the majority of Americans. The majority of Americans are in the political center. Sometimes the center moves slightly right or left, but only by a couple of small clicks, not in leaps and bounds. Because of the tea party Republicans, the Congress has moved right of the U.S. political center - far to the right - and has done so suddenly and by leaps and bounds.

Driving this sharp lurch to the extreme right are the 75 House members who are members of the Republican Study Committee. The RSC are, in fact, the tea party hard core Republicans of the House. The incendiary Chairman Darrell Issa, who over the weekend called the White House spokesperson "a paid liar" is a member of the RSC. The RSC consists of the extreme far right of the already conservative Republican party.

The Republican Study Committee is a group of House Republicans organized for the purpose of advancing a conservative social and economic agenda in the House of Representatives.

http://rsc.scalise.house.gov/aboutrsc/members/

With or without the RSC however the House lacks the mandate of the American body politic, i.e., the political center-middle of the U.S. political spectrum. That is, specifically, the Congress has the support of only 15% of the U.S. body politic. That's an historically terrible approval level among the body politic.

The 15% figure is the average of five polls taken between April 28 to May 27 of this year. The polling organizations who during this period have asked the question of whether we approve or disapprove of the Congress are: Economist/You Gov, Fox News, Reason-Rupe/PSRAI, Gallup; CBS/NYT.

The current Republican party incumbents of the Congress, the House especially, fail to have the customary institutional trust and confidence of the U.S. body politic, the American political center-middle. We do not trust or have confidence in the current membership of the Congress - the House especially - to dutifully perform the customary institutional role of the Congress to which you glibly and faciley refer. This is true in general, but it is especially true in this IRS matter.

There's more to Congressional government than one reads in a 7th Grade civics textbook. There is the real world of party politics and of who best represents the majority of Americans, i.e., the political center-middle. The person who best represents us is Prez Obama.

The Congress, the House especially and in particular, is a tea party political circus, a political theater. The American body politic knows this and knows it well. We reject the whole of it.

What you may be forgetting is each Representative is responsible only for the constituents he has in his own district. He is there to do their bidding and certainly not the bidding of those outside his district. As you have pointed out on this thread, Rep, Issa comes from a small San Diego district of some 500,000 people. That is his constituency and that is who he has to report to every two years at election time.

For him to be concerned about what some district in Rhode Island thinks about him would be foolish on his part and certainly non-productive for his future. Keeping Obama happy isn't part of his charge from his electorate. They want him to keep them happy and support those causes they support. In return they vote him back into office, regardless of whether the Congressional approval rating according to Gallup is 15% or 90%. In other words if his constituents don't care, why should he.

Now as to your other claim about the "gang" of 75 Republican reps that are allegedly supported by the Tea Party, which really doesn't exist as a political party, but let's not let facts get in the way of a good argument. What you seem to be claiming is these 75 Republicans have control of both the legislative and Executive branches of the federal government and are veering the government hard right despite everything Obama and the remaining 460 combined Representatives and Senators can do to veer everything hard left. You seem to believe that the Republicans in the House who control only one quarter of the legislative process are completely at fault for everything, presumably including the failure of the Postal Service to deliver mail efficiently.

This "gang" of 75 would be swamped if the other 460 members of the House and Senate so decided. They could be delegated to very minor roles if the majority so wished. Simple as that.

One other item is on my mind. Would you call the Congressional Black Caucus a "gang" as you have used in referencing the Republican Study committee?

PS: Carney is a "paid liar" just as Robert Gibbs was before him and probably every Press Secretary before both of them. It's in the job description.

[Publicus]

@chuckd

If you have worked as professional staff in the Congress in Washington, you wouldn't need (or accept) lectures by others about the precepts of our Constitutional system or of the role of the Congress and how it functions. That is, the reality of it as well as the textbook version. Viewing the operations and nature of the Congress from afar doesn't provide the same knowledge or insights either.

Congress lost is fundamental legitimacy during the mid-1970s when it enabled the creating of Political Action Committees (PAC) by special interests. This action by the Congress legalized an immoral money for votes scheme between the special interests lobbies and the Members of Congress. We've heard a lot about it since but Congress won't change its system of legalized vote buying.

In 2010 the Supreme Court, in the Citizens United case, further legalized surreptitious vote buying during elections campaigns. The Court's decision allowed huge monied interests to cloak their large donations in tax-exempt groups and organizations. It also enabled non-profits to do the same. We well know that Congress made that law too, the infamous Section 501© and (d) holes in the laws governing donations (influence peddling) concerning campaign laws.

Which brings us to the current circumstance. The tea party extreme right in the Congress didn't get elected to Washington to legislate. They went to Washington to tear down the whole of the system. And we see how destructive the extreme right is in the Congress. They're tearing down compromise and reasonable relations among the Members of Congress. They have an agenda of mayhem and destruction that excludes improvements to the system.

If these tea party and right wing members of Congress were serious about changing Washington, they would have stricken the onerous 501 provisions from the tax code (Title 26 USC) and would have abolished the PAC system of campaign contributions. But they haven't. That is not on their nefarious agenda.

Despite the consistency over many years of the public opinion surveys, which put the disapproval of the Congress in the 70th or 80th percentile, the extreme right instead thinks Prez Obama is the problem, not the Congress. The fact is Prez Obama represents the political center-middle of the U.S. body politic.

So long as the tea party R's in Washington and other conservative R's in Washington continue to ignore and disrespect the U.S. body politic and its center-middle, Congress will continue to get disapproval ratings in the 70th or 80th percentile. This includes in the present matter of the IRS.

Edited June 4, 2013 by Publicus

[Ulysses G.]

The tea party extreme right in the Congress didn't get elected to Washington to legislate. They went to Washington to tear down the whole of the system. And we see how destructive the extreme right is in the Congress. They're tearing down compromise and reasonable relations among the Members of Congress. They have an agenda of mayhem and destruction that excludes improvements to the system.

The silly, partisan rhetoric just never stops.

[chuckd]

@chuckd

If you have worked as professional staff in the Congress in Washington, you wouldn't need (or accept) lectures by others about the precepts of our Constitutional system or of the role of the Congress and how it functions. That is, the reality of it as well as the textbook version. Viewing the operations and nature of the Congress from afar doesn't provide the same knowledge or insights either.

Congress lost is fundamental legitimacy during the mid-1970s when it enabled the creating of Political Action Committees (PAC) by special interests. This action by the Congress legalized an immoral money for votes scheme between the special interests lobbies and the Members of Congress. We've heard a lot about it since but Congress won't change its system of legalized vote buying.

In 2010 the Supreme Court, in the Citizens United case, further legalized surreptitious vote buying during elections campaigns. The Court's decision allowed huge monied interests to cloak their large donations in tax-exempt groups and organizations. It also enabled non-profits to do the same. We well know that Congress made that law too, the infamous Section 501© and (d) holes in the laws governing donations (influence peddling) concerning campaign laws.

Which brings us to the current circumstance. The tea party extreme right in the Congress didn't get elected to Washington to legislate. They went to Washington to tear down the whole of the system. And we see how destructive the extreme right is in the Congress. They're tearing down compromise and reasonable relations among the Members of Congress. They have an agenda of mayhem and destruction that excludes improvements to the system.

If these tea party and right wing members of Congress were serious about changing Washington, they would have stricken the onerous 501 provisions from the tax code (Title 26 USC) and would have abolished the PAC system of campaign contributions. But they haven't. That is not on their nefarious agenda.

Despite the consistency over many years of the public opinion surveys, which put the disapproval of the Congress in the 70th or 80th percentile, the extreme right instead thinks Prez Obama is the problem, not the Congress. The fact is Prez Obama represents the political center-middle of the U.S. body politic.

So long as the tea party R's in Washington and other conservative R's in Washington continue to ignore and disrespect the U.S. body politic and its center-middle, Congress will continue to get disapproval ratings in the 70th or 80th percentile. This includes in the present matter of the IRS.

I spent my time in Washington DC as well, just not in the hallowed halls of Congress as you allege you did.

Talking down to me or anybody else that might have the temerity to disagree with you is not the best way to convince others your argument is better. You tried that approach with Publication 54 and how did that work out for you?

You claim the Citizen's United decision has been a disaster for the political system since Corporations can now use their money to possibly influence an election, when in reality all that Citizen's United did was put Corporations on an equal footing with the many Labor Unions that had been using their money and influence to sway elections for years. Apparently you saw nothing wrong with Labor Unions doing for years what you are complaining about Corporations doing now. Goose and gander sound familiar to you?

How can you possibly make such a ridiculous statement that the "Tea Party extreme right in the Congress didn't get elected to Washington to legislate"? You further go on to claim they are there to create mayhem and destruction by tearing down compromise and reasonable relations among Congressional members. Perhaps you can explain to all of us how you arrived at this startling conclusion that elected legislators were sent to Washington in order to not be elected legislators.

Compromise and reasonable relations among Congressional members was torn apart by the Democratic onslaught of closed door deals, behind the back trades and midnight votes by the Democratic Party in both Houses of Congress to get Dodd-Frank and, more urgently, Obamacare passed on Christmas Eve in 2010 under the auspices of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. That single action alone caused more animosity and recalcitrance on the part of Republicans than the election in 2010 of a few new Congressmen who were supported by Tea Party believers. I would think your vast experience as a paid professional staff in Congress would have given you the insight to see how this little charade in legislative shenanigans finally turned out.

Obama, Reid and Pelosi caused the mayhem and destruction, not the few freshmen House members you claim.

You still don't get it about the polls. House members don't report to the "body politic" of the US. They report to small constituencies located in their own districts around the nation. That's where their poll numbers count. Nowhere else.

[Scott]

Continued off-topic posting is going to result in suspensions.

Edited June 4, 2013 by Scott

[Scott]

Posts and reply not following fair use policy have been deleted.

[JDGRUEN]

Leftist Groups Enjoy IRS Tax-Exempt Status While Tea Party Suffers

Excerpt:

"Campaign finance zealots and free speech regulators have sought to stifle the freedom of conservative organizations, such as the Tea Party, by falsely claiming they are “political” while giving a pass to leftist groups that still enjoy unimpaired 501© IRS tax-exempt status..."

Full Article:

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/06/04/Leftist-Groups-Enjoy-IRS-Tax-Exempt-Status-While-Tea-Party-Suffers

[Loptr]

Can you name any Republican in the House or Senate who has spoken to advocate having a Special Counsel?

Please stop the constant, inaccurate partisan spin.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday called for a special counsel to probe two scandals involving the IRS and the Justice Department, questioning the Obama administration’s ability to police itself. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/05/26/lindsey-graham-calls-for-special-counsel-probe-of-irs-and-justice-dept-scandals/

Sen Graham knows where a special counsel would come from, i.e., AG Holder exclusively and absolutely. I'd asked that anyone name a Republican party Senator or Congress person who wants a special counsel, and you have given the name of one. Sen Graham is the exception I'd said you'd find - there may be a couple of lonely others in the R party. It's the R party's position not to have a special counsel, for the reasons I'd pointed out, whether you recognize the political reasons or fail to recognize them.

Republican columnists at newspapers or magazines online - in print or on television - are silent of the matter of a special counsel. They know the R party's political position against having a special counsel because having one would take the raw political power of inquisition out of the hands of the R's in the Congress, or would diminish it substantially and significantly.

Sen Graham is working feverishly to avoid or to defeat a tea party primary opponent in his state, South Carolina, which is one of the most politically and culturally conservative states of the Union. He is the exception I said exists among the R's in Washington, and he has his own electoral reasons for sounding objective, fair, impartial etc. It's for sure the voters of SC want a special counsel too - they just don't yet know the specifics of how a special counsel would be appointed, named, or who it is that gives a special counsel his/her remit, consistent with the special counsel law. Sen Graham wants this hot political issue out of his backyard. There are lots of tea party voters in SC.

(To Thaivisa: Why do you inform us AFTER we have replied to more than one post in our one post that too many blocks of text exist, thus disallowing our ALREADY written replies? Frankly speaking, it's a stupid way to do things. It wastes our time, effort and purposes. So why do you confound us in this fold, spin and mutilate way?! )

Matters little what Mr Holder wants as he has implicated himself in a perjury suit.

What does matter is what the American people want. How can you argue with these numbers?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-30/special-irs-prosecutor-favored-as-obama-support-drops.html

Three-quarters of U.S. voters want a special prosecutor to investigate the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of Tea Party groups, according to a poll that showed a drop in PresidentBarack Obama’s approval and trust ratings.

In the survey released today by Hamden, Connecticut-based Quinnipiac University, registered voters favored a special prosecutor by 76 percent to 17 percent. Those backing such a move included 63 percent of Democrats.

[JDGRUEN]

Tea Party Activist Becky Gerritson Weeps During Testimony at Hearing on IRS Abuse (Video)
Posted by Jim Hoft on Tuesday, June 4, 2013, 10:44 AM

Becky Gerritson from the Wetumpka Tea Party delivered an emotional testimony at the House Ways and Means committee hearing on IRS abuse. Gerritson began crying at one point while telling her story on how her group was abused. Gerritson also said her IRS letter was signed by Lois Lerner.

Video of Congressional Testimony at:

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/06/tea-party-activist-becky-gerritson-weeps-during-testimony-of-irs-abuse-and-harassment-video/

Edited June 4, 2013 by JDGRUEN

[Baloo22]

The Gallup survey and you say two opposite things. Whatever makes you think or believe the Gallup survey has found, or that I believe, there's a White House mystery here and it's the president whodunnit? There isn't any such thing. Get real.

No, you and I don't agree on the time of day, so forget that notion.

The reality is that the moderate middle of the United States, the people who twice voted to elect Barack Hussein Obama president, know that for the past four and a half years the Republicans have obstructed and have sought to nullify anything and everything Prez Obama advocates. Republicans from the loony birthers to the present gang of inquisitors have put their ideology above country, and the American people know this.

Now, no one believes the gangster Cong Darrell Issa who already has sent a number of Republicans in Washington dashing away from his outrageous and impertinent assertion that the White House spokesperson is a "paid liar." You've got the wrong guy out front in this particular Republican inquisition against the president. You people are screwing the pooch again in your obsession against Prez Obama and the American political center. And the majority of Americans who comprise the center know this.

I watched the Sunday morning news programs, to include CNN's interview of Chairman Darrell Issa - a bomb thrower with a checkered political past

I find this to be insulting & outrageous.

In fact the dear leader has a friend by the name of William Ayers who makes bombs & kills people.

This is not "some guy from the neighborhood" but a radical professor who says "I wish we had done more"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ayers

"... that conducted a campaign of bombing public buildings (including police stations, the U.S. Capitol Building, and the Pentagon) during the 1960s and 1970s in response to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. (which killed people)"

And here you are claiming to be "fighting for the center" NOT.

It is not up to me to caution you BUT your uptopian statism is showing.

You think and believe I am some sort of utopian statist, when I am instead a classic Western liberal of the Judeo-Christian tradition. You have this all wrong in your own head, which is not a responsibility of mine to treat or to rectify. You yourself have to get your head screwed on right. I can't do that for you. All I can do is to correct you and leave you to yourself.

The current topic is the political bomb thrower and literal arsonist Cong Darrell Issa. Issa is in a position in Congress that makes him a clear and present danger to the republic. It's Issa's imbalance and his unstable character we need to focus on because the wild and irresponsible Republicans in the House chose Issa to chair the committee that is the lead committee in the inquisition against Prez Obama. The Republicans in Washington are again trying to engage in nullification, this time concerning the outcome and result of last year's election of the president.

That the R's in Washington chose this guy to lead them in this political hatchet job makes me shutter. The Republicans in Washington are out on the far right extreme of the American political spectrum, while the majority of the country remains in the political center. The center must hold against the constant onslaught and barrages from the current crop of unreconstructed Republicans who reside on the extreme radical right of the spectrum.

You say "The Republicans in Washington are again trying to engage in nullification, this time concerning the outcome and result of last year's election of the president."

Not true at all. The House of Representatives is performing it's duty of oversight of the Executive Branch and a federal agency. That is one of the jobs the U.S. citizens hired them to do in last years November election.

You say "The Republicans in Washington are out on the far right extreme of the American political spectrum, while the majority of the country remains in the political center. The center must hold against the constant onslaught and barrages from the current crop of unreconstructed Republicans who reside on the extreme radical right of the spectrum."

That cannot possibly be true. The citizens of the United States chose those Representatives in the elections just last year and they do so every two years. So this far out idea that they are the "extreme radical right of the spectrum" has been shown to be nonsense. They are the people's representatives!!

[JDGRUEN]

Victims to blame ... not IRS says Congressman... Really Now ?!?!

***********************************************************

Dem. Rep. Lashes Out at Targeted Witnesses: You Asked For It

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) not only blamed the victims of the IRS's targeting on Tuesday--he also implied the IRS would have been justified targeting conservative and Tea Party groups if the agency did so based on what the groups stood for instead of on the words in their names.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/06/04/Dem-Rep-Lashes-Out-at-Targeted-Witnesses-You-Asked-For-It

[Publicus]

Victims to blame ... not IRS says Congressman... Really Now ?!?!
***********************************************************Dem. Rep. Lashes Out at Targeted Witnesses: You Asked For It
Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) not only blamed the victims of the IRS's targeting on Tuesday--he also implied the IRS would have been justified targeting conservative and Tea Party groups if the agency did so based on what the groups stood for instead of on the words in their names.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/06/04/Dem-Rep-Lashes-Out-at-Targeted-Witnesses-You-Asked-For-It

Rather than get Rep Jim McDermott's words via the strong bias of a far right wing news organization, why don't we ourselves hear directly what the man said in this excerpt of his statement during the hearing today, which I put in Italics for clarity:

“But as I listen to this discussion, I’d like to remind everyone what we are talking about here. None of your organizations were kept from organizing or silenced. We are talking about whether or not the American taxpayers would subsidize your work. We are talking about a tax break.

“I get the feeling that many of you and my Republican colleagues don’t just believe you should be free from political targeting, but that you should be free from scrutiny of any kind.

“The purpose of C3 and C4 tax exemptions is to enable easier promotion of public good, not political work. It is the responsibility of the IRS to determine which groups are choosing the correct exempt status and which are trying to manipulate the system to avoid taxes and hide political organizations and their campaign donors. Without oversight, a status meant for charities becomes a machine for political money laundering. And if you think that’s farfetched, you can talk to Speaker Gingrich. He was fined $300,000 by the Ethics Committee for funneling money from a C3 to his Political Action Committee.

“Each of your groups is highly political. From opposing the President’s healthcare reform, to abortion restrictions, to gay marriage, you’re all entrenched in some of the most controversial political issues in this country – and with your applications you are asking the American public to pay for that work. Many of you host and endorse candidates. The line between permitted political activity and non-permitted political activity can be very fine, and it’s important that tax payers know which side you fall on."

Watch the video at this link:

http://mcdermott.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=679:mcdermott-statement-at-for-hearing-with-organizations-singled-out-by-the-irs&catid=25:press-releases&Itemid=20 Edited June 4, 2013 by Publicus

[NeverSure]

IRS Spent $4.1M on One Conference, Audit Finds

By Kathryn Buschman Vasel

Published June 04, 2013

"The audit tables have turned on the Internal Revenue Service with a new report showing the agency spent nearly $50 million on training conferences over a three-year period. The report is another black eye for the embattled agency, which is already facing scrutiny for unfairly targeting conservative groups during recent election cycles.

The report, released by the Treasury inspector general for tax administration, shows the IRS hosted 225 employee conferences from 2010 through 2012 at a total cost of $49 million.

The watchdog report detailed a 2010 IRS conference in Anaheim for close to 2,600 employees that cost $4 million and used funds from the Tax Collectors Enforcement budget to cover part of the tab. At that conference -- which included luxury rooms and free drinks --132 IRS officials received room upgrades.

“Effective cost management is especially important given the current economic environment and focus on government efficiency,” Inspector General J. Russell George said in a statement. “Certain of the IRS’s expenses associated with the Anaheim conference do not appear to be a good use of taxpayer funds.”

The report also highlighted “questionable expenses" for speakers, employee gifts and video production at that conference, specifically $44,500 for two keynote speakers and $64,000 for "gifts/trinkets" for IRS workers.

What’s more, video evidence of the needless spending shows IRS employees dancing to the “Cupid Shuffle” and a training video featuring a “Star Trek” parody for the Anaheim conference that included a mock spaceship set that cost $2,400 to build." (emphasis mine.)

More...

Link

[JDGRUEN]

Neil Cavuto interviews U.S. Congressman on the subject of the IRS Scandals /

[JDGRUEN]

Crowd Erupts in Thunderous Applause When Leno Says Obama Should Close IRS Instead of Gitmo Media members thinking the Republicans are overplaying their hand with the Internal Revenue Service scandal should pay attention to what happened on NBC’s Tonight Show Monday.

When host Jay Leno joked that President Obama should close the IRS rather than the terrorist detention center in Guantanamo Bay, the audience erupted in thunderous applause (video follows with transcript and absolutely no need for additional commentary):

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2013/06/04/crowd-erupts-thunderous-applause-when-leno-says-obama-should-close-ir#ixzz2VIMUC0N6

[Scott]

Inflammatory posts and replies have been deleted.

THIS WILL BE THE LAST PUBLIC WARNING. Continued off-topic, personal attacks and you will be given a suspension.

[Ulysses G.]

Victims to blame ... not IRS says Congressman... Really Now ?!?!

***********************************************************

Dem. Rep. Lashes Out at Targeted Witnesses: You Asked For It

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) not only blamed the victims of the IRS's targeting on Tuesday--he also implied the IRS would have been justified targeting conservative and Tea Party groups if the agency did so based on what the groups stood for instead of on the words in their names.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/06/04/Dem-Rep-Lashes-Out-at-Targeted-Witnesses-You-Asked-For-It

Names affiliated with progresive groups were not targeted, but conservative groups were. The IRS political agenda could not be more obvious.

An exasperated Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), who was the next to question, told the witnesses, "so you're to blame ...I guess that's the message." Ryan noted that he asked ousted acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller whether the agency targeted groups that had names affiliated with progressive groups in their application, and Miller replied those groups were not targeted.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/06/04/Dem-Rep-Lashes-Out-at-Targeted-Witnesses-You-Asked-For-It

[snarky66]

I would agree with baloo. If mister Obama has committed high crimes & misdimeanors, as I suspect then we need to find out about that.

[Publicus]

If there is an impeachable offense, impeach him and be done with it.

Otherwise, please don't waste the world's time on this crapola for the next three years.

But we must eat up all of obama's time in office... keep him dodging and running - out of focus... keep him so busy dodging political bullets that he has no time to do more dastardly things to my country.

It's gratifying to see Congressman Jim McDermott go after the tax evaders and the tax cheats who cloak themselves behind the legitimate raising and donating of money to needly charities to instead surreptitiously raise huge amounts of cash from the wealthiest Americans to be spent clandestinely for partisan political purposes, all at the expense of we the U.S. taxpayers.

Cong McDermott said what needed to be said. I'm not surprised it brought some tears from a culprit or two who were in the room making their devious and evasive presentations.

Edited June 5, 2013 by Publicus

[Ulysses G.]

Oddly, Congressman Jim McDermott finds he only has an appetite for attacking tea party, conservative, Christian, pro-Israel, and pro-Constitution groups that are making use of C3 and C4 tax exemptions - another partisan hypocrite.

Edited June 5, 2013 by Ulysses G.