Former IRS Chief: Democratic Senator Made Us Target Tea Party

A Journal editorial yesterday noted the Obama argument that new IRS rules are intended to fix "confusion" in the law surrounding non-profit groups like the Tea Party organizations that have been targeted by the tax agency. But in a letter this week to new IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, Reps. Darrell Issa and Jim Jordan show that the new rule-making was politically motivated from its inception. In an interview with House investigators, former IRS Acting Commissioner Steve Miller was asked what the problem was in the law that needed to be fixed. He responded, "So I'm not sure there was a problem, right? I mean, I think we were —we had, you know, Mr. Levin complaining bitterly to us—Senator Levin complaining bitterly about our regulation..." Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat, is among the most partisan Members of the U.S. Senate. 

The letter also details evidence that IRS and Treasury officials believed that the Supreme Court had erred in its Citizens United decision and, instead of respecting the authority of the Court, wrongly took it upon themselves to offset the impact of the law with IRS.

WHY WE NEED INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES
Peggy Noonan writes today on her "obsession"—how dependent our society is on electricity and how vulnerable the grid is to attack. This week the Journal reported on a highly-professional attack carried out on a California power station last year. Ms. Noonan writes that preventing such attacks isn't a Washington priority. "You always want to think your government is on it. You want to think they see what you see. But really, they're never on it. They always have to be pushed." We would add that with so many potential targets in the U.S., the best defense is a competent intelligence effort that can identify imminent threats and does not respect the imaginary privacy rights of foreign malefactors.

WHY TODAY'S JOBS REPORT IS IMPORTANT
After a series of mixed readings on the economy, this morning's unemployment report will get especially close attention to see if GDP growth at the end of last year can be sustained.

APPLE BUYS ITSELF
Apple CEO Tim Cook reports that the company has been aggressively buying back its own shares, which is sure to please activist investor Carl Icahn. And buybacks are certainly a respectable way to return cash to shareholders. But we wonder if it means the company sees few attractive areas to invest in growth, either inside or outside the tech giant.

Via: Wall Street JournaL

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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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FBI Contacts Tea Party Groups Targeted By IRS

The FBI finally has begun to contact some of the tea party groups targeted by the Internal Revenue Service for inappropriate scrutiny in the first public signs that the administration’s criminal investigation is progressing.

A lawyer representing some of the tea party groups that battled the IRS for tax-exempt status told The Washington Times that a “small number” of his clients were recently contacted, seven months after the investigation was supposed to have begun.

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SPECIAL COVERAGE: Tea Party Voices

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The progress was revealed a day after The Times reported that the Justice Department lawyer who is leading the investigation into the IRS, Barbara Kay Bosserman, has donated more than $6,000 to President Obama’s presidential campaigns — a move that, for many Republicans, has called into question the entire investigation.

“They say the fox isn’t good to guard the henhouse; the fox is probably not good to investigate the henhouse, either,” said Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican. “I think these investigations need to be done by independent people outside of the administration.”

Mr. Holder ordered an FBI investigation in the days immediately after the internal auditor of the IRS revealed that the agency had been inappropriately targeting tea party groups for intrusive scrutiny and wrongly delayed the approval of hundreds of conservative groups’ applications for tax-exempt status.

Via: Washington Times

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Where's the Media Outrage? Virginia Democrat Compares Republicans to Violent Rapists

In an outrageous ad aired on the local Washington D.C. NBC affiliate WRC-4, Virginia Democratic state senate candidate Jennifer Wexton – running to replace newly elected Virginia attorney general Mark Herring – made a shocking comparison between violent rapists that she once tried as a prosecutor to "Tea Party Republicans" in the Virginia legislature. [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

After describing women being assaulted and "traumatized again by facing the criminal in court," Wexton made this declaration: "...as a prosecutor I put violent offenders in prison. In the Virginia Senate, I'll fight just as hard against Tea Party Republicans who would take away a woman's health care and her right to choose, even in cases of rape and incest."When will the media seize on this ad and bemoan the lack of civility in politics? Something they delight in doing when conservatives are the offenders.

In fact, when NBC political director Chuck Todd was recently confronted with Democrats' abortion fearmongering during the 2013 Virginia governor's race, he excused the party's increasingly over-the-top rhetoric: "What campaigns aren't about scaring some voters?"

It appears that Ms. Wexton took that to heart.

Here is a transcript of Wexton's campaign ad:

A woman assaulted at night by the reservoir. Another by an intruder who forced his way in through her bedroom window. And for so many, traumatized again by facing the criminal in court.

I'm Jennifer Wexton and as a prosecutor I put violent offenders in prison. In the Virginia Senate, I'll fight just as hard against Tea Party Republicans who would take away a woman's health care and her right to choose, even in cases of rape and incest. On election day, help me stand up for her.

Via: Newsbusters

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IRS using Google Maps to spy on taxpayers

Agents from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are using Google Maps as part of their tool kit to audit taxpayers and organizations, The Daily Caller has learned.

A redacted IRS letter dated Sept. 8, 2011 reveals that at least in one case the IRS’s examiners used photos of a property, obtained through Google Maps, as evidence to revoke the 501(c)(4) status of a homeowner’s association.

“The road consists of a two-mile loop around the inside of the property. It goes not have any sidewalks or bicycle lanes. The examining agent printed and copied a map from Google Maps (www.google.com) into this report,” states the letter.

501(c)4 is a tax-exempt status that includes certain “social welfare organizations,” “local associations of employees,” “homeowners associations,” “volunteer fire companies,” and certain lobbying organizations.

The IRS became mired in scandal in May 2013 after a report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found that IRS staffers had singled out tea party groups seeking 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status for extra scrutiny.

The agency did not return The Daily Caller’s request for comment for this report.

In formal guidance issued to IRS agents inspecting historical conservation sites, however, Google Maps and the online real estate database Zillow are mentioned as tools to help determine whether a property meets the regulatory requirements necessary to receive charitable contributions.

In addition to using freely available aerial and street photographs to survey property, agents are also encouraged to use search engines to research background information on suspected tax cheats.

Via: Daily Caller

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Obama dismisses IRS targeting of conservatives: ‘They’ve got a list, and suddenly everybody’s outraged’

President Obama rejected the notion that the IRS’ targeting of Tea Party groups was illegal — or even improper — during his interview with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Thursday.

Obama was at American University to sell his flailing healthcare law to the young people upon which the insurance exchanges heavily rely. As promised, Matthews allowed him to make his pitch with no tough questions or pushback.

But the interview became interesting when the Hardball host asked why Americans were growing increasingly skeptical of government. Obama noted that the media never seems interested in government success stories. “When we do things right, they don’t get a lot of attention,” he said.

OBAMA: That’s not — that’s not something that’s reported about. If, on the other hand, you’ve got an office in Cincinnati, in the IRS office that — I think, for bureaucratic reasons, is trying to streamline what is a difficult law to interpret about whether a nonprofit is actually a political organization deserves a tax exempt agency. And they’ve got a list, and suddenly everybody’s outraged.

MATTHEWS: 501(c)(4) is tricky to begin with, how to define it.

OBAMA: To begin with.

The president even appeared annoyed that liberal commentators once dared to challenge him on the point:

OBAMA: And by the way, Chris, I’ll point out that there are some so-called progressives and, you know, perceived to be liberal commentators who during that week were just as outraged at the possibility that these folks, you know, had — had been, you know, at the direction of — the Democratic Party, in some way — discriminated against these folks.

One of those so-called progressives was Obama himself, who in May called the targeting of conservative groups “outrageous” and “something that people are properly concerned about.” (Related: Obama steps up criticism of IRS targeting)

Also in May, the Obama Justice Department pledged to investigate the targeting of conservative groups by the IRS. As of last week, none of the affected groups had been contacted by any federal investigators. (Related: Federal investigators still not contacting conservative groups targeted by IRS)

President Obama later passed blame for his failures onto his cabinet agencies — claiming that “somebody somewhere at this very moment is screwing something up” — and repeated the nauseating platitude that “government’s not somebody else. Government’s us.”

Via: Daily Caller

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Obama Says His Policies Are Built On ‘Kindness’

One day after a new poll showed that only a minority of Americans trust President Barack Obama, the president told an audience that his policies are based on kindness.

“Kindness covers all of my political beliefs,” Obama told his audience of wealthy investors, high-tech donors, journalists and fellow Democrats Tuesday, only two months after he slashed at GOP legislators, calling them arsonists, nuclear blackmailers, economic wreckers, hostage-takers, obsessives and irresponsible extremists.

“When I think about what I’m fighting for, what gets me up every single day, [kindness] captures it just about as much as anything,” he told his audience at the DreamWorks studio in Glendale, Calif., which he visited as part of a seven-stop fundraising trip.

“Kindness; empathy — that sense that I have a stake in your success,” said Obama, who told supporters during the November election “Don’t boo. Vote. Voting is the best revenge.”

Since Obama’s inauguration, the government’s debt owed by taxpayers has climbed by $7 trillion, the workforce participation rate has fallen from 65.7 in January 2009 to 62.8 percent in October, 2013, leaving roughly 9 million people on the sidelines, and Obama has pushed the Senate to pass a bill that would ensure the distribution of 30 million work permits and green-cards to foreigners during the next decade.

Also, during his first term, four U.S. civil servants were killed in Benghazi without any presidential intervention, inspectors at the Internal Revenue Service throttled regulatory approval for Tea Party activities, and justice department officials allowed hundreds of automatic guns to be sent to Mexican drug gangs.

The new poll by CNN and ORC, showed that “53% of Americans now believe that Obama is not honest and trustworthy.”

Only 46 percent of Americans think Obama is honest and trustworthy, down from 60 percent in January 2011, and 58 percent in May 2013, the poll showed.

Via: Daily Caller

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CONSERVATIVE LEADERS URGE GOV. SCOTT WALKER TO REJECT COMMON CORE

Tea party and conservative leaders from across Wisconsin have sent Gov. Scott Walker (R) an open letter urging him to reject the Common Core State Standards.

In the letter, dated November 26th, the 61 leaders ask Walker to lead a repeal of the Common Core standards in Wisconsin and abide by the same words he himself wrote in a recent Wall Street Journal editorial:

Too many people in politics today spend their time trying not to lose instead of trying to do the right thing. They would better serve the country by worrying more about the next generation than the next election. The irony is that politicians who spend more time worrying about the next generation than about the next election often tend to win the next election – because voters are starved for leadership.

In September, Walker joined other Republican governors who were beginning to reconsider their states’ participation in the Common Core testing consortia. Wisconsin, in fact, was one of the first states to adopt Common Core in 2010 under State Superintendent Tony Evers.

However, when critics began to articulate concerns about the merits of the standards, the vast amount of student data collection involved in their implementation, and the realization that the federal government was more invested in Common Core than was originally believed, Walker decided that Wisconsin could do better.

“I’d like to have Wisconsin have its own unique standards that I think can be higher than what’s been established and what’s been talked about at the national level,” the governorsaid.

According to Fox News, though, Walker has not yet committed to specific improvements in his state’s education standards, nor has he announced his intention to rescind Common Core in Wisconsin.

Via: Breitbart

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RONALD REAGAN’S 1985 THANKSGIVING ADDRESS

Below is the text, followed by the video, of President Ronald Reagan’s Thanksgiving Address from 1985:

Good morning, everyone. You know, the Statue of Liberty and this wonderful holiday called Thanksgiving go together naturally because although as Americans we have many things for which to be thankful, none is more important than our liberty. Liberty: that quality of government, that brightness of mind and spirit for which the Pilgrim Fathers braved the seas and Americans for two centuries have laid down their lives.

Today, while religion is suppressed in perhaps one third of the world, we Americans are free to worship the Almighty as we choose. While entire nations must endure the yoke of tyranny, we are free to speak our minds, to enjoy an unfettered and vigorous press, and to make government abide by the limits we deem just. While millions live behind walls, we remain free to travel throughout the land to share this precious day with those we love most deeply – the members of our families. 

My fellow Americans, let us keep this Thanksgiving Day sacred. Let us thank God for the bounty and goodness of our nation. And as a measure of our gratitude, let us rededicate ourselves to the preservation of this: the land of the free and the home of the brave.

From the Reagan family to your family: happy Thanksgiving and God bless you all.

Via: Tea Party News Network

EXCLUSIVE--TEA PARTY PATRIOTS: KARL ROVE CANNOT 'BUY HIS WAY INTO THE CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT'

In response to the news that Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS is funding Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) to the tune of $26 million in 2012, Tea Party Patriots National Coordinator Jenny Beth Martin told Breitbart News that Rove cannot buy his way into the conservative movement.

“The old adage 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer' is more relevant in today’s political arena than ever before,” Martin said. “It is not surprising that there are groups we thought were in this fight with us have been shown to have ulterior motives." 

"The GOP establishment is uncomfortable with the Tea Party and the fact that Karl Rove is funding other establishment entities that have undermined or dismissed the Tea Party shows that we need to work harder than ever on behalf of the American people," she explained. "The bottom line is that Rove is not a conservative and will never be able to buy his way into the conservative movement.”

On Monday, news broke that Rove was funding Norquist’s organization, according to Crossroads GPS's tax return documents the organization made public. In addition to the revelation that Norquist’s ATR is funded by Rove, ProPublica questioned the legality of the arrangement between the two GOP establishment entities.

Via: Breitbart

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IRS Approval for Many Conservative Groups Still Stalled

It's business as usual at the Internal Revenue Service, where officials tell USA Today 
that little has changed since Congress investigated the agency for targeting tea party groups for unnecessary delays.

Forty percent of the conservative groups caught up in the backlog remain in limbo, and new applications pending since May 2012 have not been considered.

Editor’s Note: New 'Obamacare Survival Guide' Reveals Dangers Ahead for Your Healthcare

The Cincinnati office that handles tax-exempt status groups still faces a backlog, however some officials believe there has been a change in culture and the process improved since division director Lois Lerner and IRS Commissioner Steven Miller resigned. 
"I'm quite sure they're not going to go after tea party groups again," said Paul Streckfus, editor of a trade journal focused on tax-exempt issues.
"The larger question is, is the system working better than it did? And the answer, as far as I can tell, is it's not," Streckfus said.

Congress began investigating the agency six months ago after it was revealed that 500 conservative and tea party groups waited years for approval, while some presented evidence that federal authorities demanded private and intrusive information about the groups.

Danny Werfel, the new IRS chief, has since banned the "Be on the Look Out," or BOLO lists of certain words like "patriot" or "tea party" that were used to target right-leaning groups.

Marcus Owens, a Washington-based tax attorney and former director of the IRS' exempt organizations division, said applications "don't seem to be moving at all."

Via: Newsmax

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GOP ESTABLISHMENT DONORS TARGET TEA PARTY'S JUSTIN AMASH IN MICHIGAN

Congressman Justin Amash (R-MI) was endorsed by the conservative Club for Growth, which gives him a 100% lifetime voting scorecard rating, on October 8. However, seven Republican establishment donors who live in his western Michigan district recently endorsed his primary opponent, Brian Ellis, who claims Amash is not a"traditional conservative."

First elected in 2010, Amash has ranked #1 on the fiscally conservative, pro-economic growth Club for Growth scorecards out of 435 members of the House of Representatives in both the 112th and current 113th Congress.

The seven donors (J.C. Huizenga, Mark Bissel, Mike Jandernoa, Mark Murray, John Canepa, Marge Potter, and David Frey) are so angry with Amash's voting record and his support for Ted Cruz's efforts to defund Obamacare they recently sent out a public letterof support for Ellis.

The undated letter, distributed in early November to Republican donors on "Brian Ellis for Congress" stationery, was signed by all seven big donors and criticized Amash on several fronts:

Our current Congressman voted against the final version of the Paul Ryan Budget that would cut $5 trillion in spending - and he was the only Republican from Michigan to do so. He refused to vote in favor of the Keystone Pipeline. He votedagainst a 20% tax cut that would allow small businesses to create and retain jobs here in Michigan. Just this month, he and a small group of like-minded legislators rejected Speaker Boehner's plea to pass legislation requiring Congress and the President to be subject to Obamacare, and put on hold the special new tax on medical equipment. This irresponsible action hurt over 50 great West Michigan businesses and was part of the chaos that led the nation to the edge of default.

Via: Breitbart

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