Obama: 'Not Even a Smidgen of Corruption' in IRS Targeting of Conservatives

In a pregame Super Bowl interview, President Barack Obama told Fox News's Bill O'Reilly that there was "not even a smidgen of corruption" involved in the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) targeting of conservative and Tea Party groups.

Obama's bold statement stands in contrast to established facts. Even the left-leaning journalism group ProPublica has admitted that the IRS office that harassed conservative tax-exempt groups during the 2012 election cycle gave ProPublica nine confidential applications of conservative groups whose tax-exempt statuses were pending. Moreover, ProPublica noted that the documents it received were "not supposed to be made public" but that "no unapproved applications from liberal groups were sent to ProPublica."

Still, Obama chalked up the IRS scandal to mere mistakes.

"There were some bone-headed decisions," said Obama.

The president then blamed O'Reilly and Fox News for the IRS scandal.

"These kinds of things keep on surfacing in part because you and your TV station will promote them," said Obama.

Via: Breitbart

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House Speaker John Boehner and his tea party friends shut down the U.S. government because of people like me. I am the mother of an insurance hog, someone who could have blown through his lifetime limit of health coverage by the time he was 14. My son has managed to survive despite seemingly insurmountable challenges, and he wears his preexisting condition like a Super Bowl ring.

Mason, now 16, was probably born with his brain tumor. We discovered it six years ago. Biopsies showed a slow-growing mass, which was the good news. The bad news was that the tumor could not be removed because it had grown around essential structures in his brain. Under the care of some of the country’s finest specialists, Mason had frequent scans. There was little we could do between tests but hope for the best. Like other children his age, Mason played basketball, argued with his siblings and avoided cleaning his bedroom. He managed to undergo chemotherapy for eight months without getting too sick. He insisted on finding ways to laugh, saying things like: “I have brain cancer. What’s your problem?” It was an uneasy peace — until the tumor ruptured in December 2010, three years after his initial diagnosis, and Mason suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage.

Mason spent most of eighth grade in the hospital. In the six months he was hospitalized, he spent 65 days in the pediatric intensive care unit. He underwent four brain surgeries. Halfway through his hospitalization, the Affordable Care Act was passed, alleviating lifetime limits on coverage and saving us from the financial abyss. Mason moved to a rehabilitation hospital where he was retaught the most basic skills — sitting up, eating and standing. We faithfully paid the premiums on the employer-sponsored plan through which our family is covered, along with the rest of our bills, thanking God and whoever else would listen for our good fortune to have coverage.

Via: Washington Post

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Clint Eastwood endorses Mitt Romney (Updated)

"Dirty Harry" star Clint Eastwood, who made waves when he appeared in the "it's halftime in America" Super Bowl ad, was at a Mitt Romney fundraiser tonight, per a pool report flagged by POLITICO's Ginger Gibson.

Per Gibson's pool report, Eastwood deadpanned, "I haven't endorsed Gov. Romney," and then laughed.  He later added he was kidding. "I think the country needs a boost somewhere," he added.

UPDATE: Romney appeared pleased by the endorsement from Eastwood, whose Chrysler ad during the Super Bowl earlier this year was widely seen as a tacit nod to President Obama, even though he never said anything specifically about the campaign.

From Gibson's report, a transcription of Eastwood's ode to his film Mystic River and how it brought him to Romney:

Romney: "There is a guy here from the world of acting, who has pursed his dreams in a very unsuual way, he stood up to the industry and did things his own way."

Via: Politico

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