Add 2+2, get Obozo!
...My organization was not the only conservative-linked political group
or business that appears to have faced shady actions from IRS employees.
ProPublica reported this week that the IRS handed over to them confidential documents of nine conservative organizations
whose applications for non-profit status were still pending. Among
them: Crossroads GPS, a key group backing Mitt Romney's presidential
campaign.
Our case was particularly egregious because the IRS
leak of confidential information fed directly into an ongoing political
battle. For months before March 2012, the pro-gay marriage HRC had been
demanding that my group, NOM, publicly identify its major donors, something that NOM and many other non-profits refuse
to do. The reason is simple. In the past, gay marriage advocates have
used such information to launch campaigns of intimidation against
traditional marriage supporters.
Just as gay marriage proponents
were demanding the information, the IRS appears to have illegally given
them exactly what they were looking for. The tax return released by the
HRC contained the names and addresses of dozens of major donors
to NOM. And there's little doubt where the documents came from. The tax
returns contained internal coding added by the IRS after the returns
were originally submitted.
For the IRS to leak any organization's
tax return to its political opponents is an outrageous breach of ethics
and, if proven, constitutes a felony. Every organization — liberal and
conservative — should shudder at the idea of the IRS playing politics
with its confidential tax return information. But the situation here is
even more egregious because the head of the HRC was at the time serving
as a national co-chair of President Obama's re-election campaign.
The
release of NOM's confidential tax return to the Human Rights Campaign
is the canary in the coal mine of IRS corruption. Contrary to assertions
that the targeting of Tea Party groups was an error in judgment by
low-level IRS bureaucrats, the release of NOM's confidential data to a
group headed by an Obama campaign co-chair suggests the possibility of
complicity at the highest levels of politics and government. This wasn't
a low-level error in judgment; it was a conscious act to reward a
prominent Obama supporter while punishing an opponent.
Probably Meeting Number 3, or maybe Meeting Number 127.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Obozo's Sequester Follies
I don't wonder why these reports are true. I KNOW why.
...The renowned Blue Angels of the U.S. Navy likewise must cancel shows throughout 2013 due to sequestration, the automatic budget cuts designed by President Obama.
...Surviving the budget ax, however, are U.S. penitentiary landscape-design classes, technical assistance to “increase climate resilience” in Mozambique and a planned survey of Indonesian mobile phone users, according to procurement documents WND located in routine database research.
And a bit more ominous:
The Department of Homeland Security’s seven-year, $22 billion information technology project, known as Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading Edge Solutions II, or EAGLE II, also is proceeding unimpeded.
The partnership between Homeland "Security" and the IRS is not mentioned.
Anyhow, Our Little Nero's personal airplane isn't grounded, either.
...The renowned Blue Angels of the U.S. Navy likewise must cancel shows throughout 2013 due to sequestration, the automatic budget cuts designed by President Obama.
...Surviving the budget ax, however, are U.S. penitentiary landscape-design classes, technical assistance to “increase climate resilience” in Mozambique and a planned survey of Indonesian mobile phone users, according to procurement documents WND located in routine database research.
And a bit more ominous:
The Department of Homeland Security’s seven-year, $22 billion information technology project, known as Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading Edge Solutions II, or EAGLE II, also is proceeding unimpeded.
The partnership between Homeland "Security" and the IRS is not mentioned.
Anyhow, Our Little Nero's personal airplane isn't grounded, either.
Shulman's Secret Passion: Easter Eggs?
That headline could have been far more lurid.
Strikes me (and a lot of others) as curious:
...the Daily Caller has gone through the White House visitor logs and discovered Shulman made a total of 157 visits during the Obama Administration, which is far more than the number of recorded visits from any Cabinet official...there might be even more Shulman visits to the White House yet to be revealed, because not all of the records covering his tenure as IRS commissioner have been released...
Shulman’s predecessor, Mark Everson, only visited the Bush White House once during four years.
Maybe it was the crease in Obama's pants? Moochie's pipes?
It CERTAINLY WAS NOT planning and executing the campaign of harassment against conservative, pro-life, and pro-Israel groups. It CERTAINLY WAS NOT to detail all the names, addresses, and business affiliations of those conservative, pro-life, and pro-Israel people.
Right?
Strikes me (and a lot of others) as curious:
...the Daily Caller has gone through the White House visitor logs and discovered Shulman made a total of 157 visits during the Obama Administration, which is far more than the number of recorded visits from any Cabinet official...there might be even more Shulman visits to the White House yet to be revealed, because not all of the records covering his tenure as IRS commissioner have been released...
Shulman’s predecessor, Mark Everson, only visited the Bush White House once during four years.
Maybe it was the crease in Obama's pants? Moochie's pipes?
It CERTAINLY WAS NOT planning and executing the campaign of harassment against conservative, pro-life, and pro-Israel groups. It CERTAINLY WAS NOT to detail all the names, addresses, and business affiliations of those conservative, pro-life, and pro-Israel people.
Right?
Thursday, May 30, 2013
It's About Time! Conservatives Revolt in Wisconsin
After years of Thompsonite spend-and-bond (and Doylite spend-and-to-hell-with-it), the Conservatives finally speak.
...We in good conscience cannot support this budget unless the following issues are substantially addressed:
...We in good conscience cannot support this budget unless the following issues are substantially addressed:
• Adoption of Rep. Dale Kooyenga’s tax reform package and serious reforms to the "Marriage Penalty" tax.
• Complete and total removal of the "DNA Collection Upon Arrest" proposal.
• An overall reduction of $500 million in bonding.
• Appropriations and tax reform done in a deficit neutral manner.
•
Double dipping 2/3 FTE employee provision returns to the FTE
employee definition as currently defined by the Department of Employee
Trust Funds....
(We note that the Kooyenga reform includes eradicating another Stupid Republican Idea: movie credits.)
Translation: screw the bozo anti-Catholic Ellis, the political-transvestite Luther Olsen, and Fitzgerald the Dancer.
And by the way, we don't need another Spend-and-Bond-It Governor, either.
THANK YOU!!
Walker's Spending Desire
The Governor thinks that conservatives are unhappy with "access" to State-owned land.
He's wrong.
The State of Wisconsin owns 4.5% of the land in the State--near 1.6 MILLION acres. (The Feds own another 5+%).
Taxpayers are spending about $60 million/year to buy land, pay interest on the debt, and pay down the debt. Conservatives cut that back to a mere $54 million/year.
Frankly, Governor, 1.6 MILLION acres of land is more than enough for hiking, fishing, skiing, and hunting.
And $50 million is still a lot of money. Try to live with it.
He's wrong.
The State of Wisconsin owns 4.5% of the land in the State--near 1.6 MILLION acres. (The Feds own another 5+%).
Taxpayers are spending about $60 million/year to buy land, pay interest on the debt, and pay down the debt. Conservatives cut that back to a mere $54 million/year.
Frankly, Governor, 1.6 MILLION acres of land is more than enough for hiking, fishing, skiing, and hunting.
And $50 million is still a lot of money. Try to live with it.
Dump Dollar?
Straws in the wind.
The U.S dollar is shrinking as a percentage of the world’s currency supply, raising concerns that the greenback is about to see its long run as the world’s premier denomination come to an end.
When compared to its peers, the dollar has drifted to a 15-year low, according to the International Monetary Fund, indicating that more countries are willing to use other currencies to do business. --CNBC quoted at HE.
Cloward-Piven's other tactic.
They're figuring 15 years from now the USD will be an also-ran.
The U.S dollar is shrinking as a percentage of the world’s currency supply, raising concerns that the greenback is about to see its long run as the world’s premier denomination come to an end.
When compared to its peers, the dollar has drifted to a 15-year low, according to the International Monetary Fund, indicating that more countries are willing to use other currencies to do business. --CNBC quoted at HE.
Cloward-Piven's other tactic.
They're figuring 15 years from now the USD will be an also-ran.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
"Climate" Propaganda Coming Soon
More BS from the climate vested-interests will soon stink up the neighborhood.
While President Obama's reelection campaign was almost completely silent on the issue of global warming, Organizing for Action,
the advocacy group tooled from his 2012 campaign machine, has launched a
campaign designed to build support for the president's climate-change
agenda.
The multipronged, multiyear effort aims to inject climate change into the heart of national politics—and make it an election issue as well.
... Last month, in its first foray into changing the national conversation,
Organizing for Action sent out an e-mail blast and Web video directly
attacking Republicans as climate-change deniers. "If we want to make
progress on climate change, we need everyone in Congress on board for a
solution. It's our job to show them there's a price to pay for being a
climate denier," the release said....
There's no doubt that climate "changes."
But only fools and charlatans think that human activity is the principal driver--or even 10th on a list of 20.
Emphasize "charlatans." There is VERY big money in "climate change." One example: the automotive industry's expenditures related to CO2 emissions.
The Reality of ObozoCare Prices
"Free" ObozoCare? Not by a long shot.
The subsidies will limit the cost of a benchmark health plan to 2% to 9.5% of household income. But even with the subsidies, health insurance still will be expensive.
For example, someone making roughly $12 an hour — $25,000 a year — could pay an estimated $1,703, or about $142 a month, for the benchmark plan, despite receiving $1,328 in federal subsidies, based on a calculator developed by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health policy organization.
He or she also could face out-of-pocket expenses as high as $5,200 a year.
The person could opt for a less expensive plan that costs $1,186 a year, or about $99 a month, with higher out-of-pocket expenses. And people under 30 and those who cannot find a plan that costs less than 8% of their income will have the option of buying less expensive plans designed to cover catastrophic expenses.
The subsidies are larger for people with incomes below 200% of the federal poverty threshold — about $23,000 for an individual. But the subsidies drop sharply for people with incomes above 300% to 350% of the federal poverty level — about $34,500 to $40,215 a year for one person.
There are those that think Obozo is perfectly happy with this, because the pain will "force" him to go single-payer--i.e., Gummint will be the only insurer. That's what the Totalitarian-in-Chief would like, of course.
The subsidies will limit the cost of a benchmark health plan to 2% to 9.5% of household income. But even with the subsidies, health insurance still will be expensive.
For example, someone making roughly $12 an hour — $25,000 a year — could pay an estimated $1,703, or about $142 a month, for the benchmark plan, despite receiving $1,328 in federal subsidies, based on a calculator developed by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health policy organization.
He or she also could face out-of-pocket expenses as high as $5,200 a year.
The person could opt for a less expensive plan that costs $1,186 a year, or about $99 a month, with higher out-of-pocket expenses. And people under 30 and those who cannot find a plan that costs less than 8% of their income will have the option of buying less expensive plans designed to cover catastrophic expenses.
The subsidies are larger for people with incomes below 200% of the federal poverty threshold — about $23,000 for an individual. But the subsidies drop sharply for people with incomes above 300% to 350% of the federal poverty level — about $34,500 to $40,215 a year for one person.
There are those that think Obozo is perfectly happy with this, because the pain will "force" him to go single-payer--i.e., Gummint will be the only insurer. That's what the Totalitarian-in-Chief would like, of course.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Yoo-Hoo!! Cdl. Dolan!!!
Well, well, well. It's a bit embarrassing, no?
A spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York has admitted that his archdiocese was indirectly funding abortions and birth control, despite his publicized fight against the health care law’s birth control provisions, according to the New York Times....
Seems that the Archdiocese employs union labor (SEIU 1199). The Archdiocese pays into their union health-insurance plan, which provides abortion and contraception.
Seems like the Cardinal has two choices: dump the union employees or force them to enter OTHER health-insurance plans which comport with moral laws.
A spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York has admitted that his archdiocese was indirectly funding abortions and birth control, despite his publicized fight against the health care law’s birth control provisions, according to the New York Times....
Seems that the Archdiocese employs union labor (SEIU 1199). The Archdiocese pays into their union health-insurance plan, which provides abortion and contraception.
Seems like the Cardinal has two choices: dump the union employees or force them to enter OTHER health-insurance plans which comport with moral laws.
Durbin's Asinine Dodge
Orwell would be proud of Dick Durbin.
...Durbin dodges that question and talks instead about the shield law proposed repeatedly over the last few years as the appropriate Congressional response to the scandal. However, Durbin asks what exactly “freedom of the press” means in 2013, and wonders aloud whether it would include bloggers, Twitter users, and the rest of the Internet media...
Oh.
Hot Air provides a clue for the Senator:
Here’s what the First Amendment actually says: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
The column goes on to opine that "the press" in the 1700's included pamphlets and makes the analogy between pamphlets and blogs/twitters. That's over-thinking it. "Speech" is clear enough, no matter the medium.
But making NYT/CNN/CBS/NBC/NPR into "more equal" than bloggers/tweeters? Not exactly 1A literalism.
...Durbin dodges that question and talks instead about the shield law proposed repeatedly over the last few years as the appropriate Congressional response to the scandal. However, Durbin asks what exactly “freedom of the press” means in 2013, and wonders aloud whether it would include bloggers, Twitter users, and the rest of the Internet media...
Oh.
Hot Air provides a clue for the Senator:
Here’s what the First Amendment actually says: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
The column goes on to opine that "the press" in the 1700's included pamphlets and makes the analogy between pamphlets and blogs/twitters. That's over-thinking it. "Speech" is clear enough, no matter the medium.
But making NYT/CNN/CBS/NBC/NPR into "more equal" than bloggers/tweeters? Not exactly 1A literalism.
Really, Mr. President?
PJ O'Rourke:
...on Friday morning I picked up the Wall Street Journal and learned that the president had given a speech about the war on terror saying, “This war, like all wars, must end.”
...This war, like all wars, must end when someone wins it. The president—speaking at the National Defense University, of all places—said, “the core of al Qaeda . . . is on the path to defeat.” And so it may be. But meanwhile, the core of al Qaeda, its aims and its beliefs, is also on the path to Boston and London and any number of other places....
The President has forgotten Fact Number One about wars: the enemy gets a vote.
The column also provides some food for thought about the USCC's questioning of Obama's drone policy. What O'Rourke inadvertently raises is the topic of "total war," favored by the British and US commands since WWII.
...on Friday morning I picked up the Wall Street Journal and learned that the president had given a speech about the war on terror saying, “This war, like all wars, must end.”
...This war, like all wars, must end when someone wins it. The president—speaking at the National Defense University, of all places—said, “the core of al Qaeda . . . is on the path to defeat.” And so it may be. But meanwhile, the core of al Qaeda, its aims and its beliefs, is also on the path to Boston and London and any number of other places....
The President has forgotten Fact Number One about wars: the enemy gets a vote.
The column also provides some food for thought about the USCC's questioning of Obama's drone policy. What O'Rourke inadvertently raises is the topic of "total war," favored by the British and US commands since WWII.
Drone War Questions
The USCC raises a few questions about Obama's drone war.
...Bishop Pates noted that while just-war theory would require that a lethal act of counter-terrorism must be in defense of a "just cause"--which in the case of the administration's policy is "protecting citizens"--it must also be discriminating, avert a threat that is imminent, be proportional and have a good chance of success.
"Targeted killing should, by definition, be highly discriminatory," Bishop Pates wrote the White House and the congressional chairmen. "The Administration's policy appears to extend the use of deadly force to alleged 'signature' attacks and reportedly classifies all males of a certain age as combatants. Are these policies morally defensible? They seem to violate the law of war, international human rights law, and moral norms.
"Since imminence is more attenuated in counter-terrorism than in war, should not discrimination in counter-terrorism meet a higher standard?" asked Bishop Pates. "And shouldn’t the fact that targeted drone killings take place outside any 'war' zone mean that operators should be reasonably certain that no innocents will be endangered? Would we tolerate frequent 'collateral damage' in U.S. police actions?"...
Good questions. Not included above is the question of defining "terrorists". As you recall, Ms. Napolitano includes pro-life and TEA Party people as part of that group.
...Bishop Pates noted that while just-war theory would require that a lethal act of counter-terrorism must be in defense of a "just cause"--which in the case of the administration's policy is "protecting citizens"--it must also be discriminating, avert a threat that is imminent, be proportional and have a good chance of success.
"Targeted killing should, by definition, be highly discriminatory," Bishop Pates wrote the White House and the congressional chairmen. "The Administration's policy appears to extend the use of deadly force to alleged 'signature' attacks and reportedly classifies all males of a certain age as combatants. Are these policies morally defensible? They seem to violate the law of war, international human rights law, and moral norms.
"Since imminence is more attenuated in counter-terrorism than in war, should not discrimination in counter-terrorism meet a higher standard?" asked Bishop Pates. "And shouldn’t the fact that targeted drone killings take place outside any 'war' zone mean that operators should be reasonably certain that no innocents will be endangered? Would we tolerate frequent 'collateral damage' in U.S. police actions?"...
Good questions. Not included above is the question of defining "terrorists". As you recall, Ms. Napolitano includes pro-life and TEA Party people as part of that group.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Strictly "Co-Incidence", of Course
Knock me over with a feather.
Interestingly, one of Gibson’s leading competitors is C.F. Martin & Co. According to C.F. Martin’s catalog, several of their guitars contain “East Indian Rosewood,” which is the exact same wood in at least 10 of Gibson’s guitars. So why were they not also raided and their inventory of foreign wood seized?
Grossly underreported at the time was the fact that Gibson’s chief executive, Henry Juszkiewicz, contributed to Republican politicians. Recent donations have included $2,000 to Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and $1,500 to Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.
By contrast, Chris Martin IV, the Martin & Co. CEO, is a long-time Democratic supporter, with $35,400 in contributions to Democratic candidates and the Democratic National Committee over the past couple of election cycles. --ColdFury quoting IBD
Nothing to see here. Move along.
Interestingly, one of Gibson’s leading competitors is C.F. Martin & Co. According to C.F. Martin’s catalog, several of their guitars contain “East Indian Rosewood,” which is the exact same wood in at least 10 of Gibson’s guitars. So why were they not also raided and their inventory of foreign wood seized?
Grossly underreported at the time was the fact that Gibson’s chief executive, Henry Juszkiewicz, contributed to Republican politicians. Recent donations have included $2,000 to Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and $1,500 to Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.
By contrast, Chris Martin IV, the Martin & Co. CEO, is a long-time Democratic supporter, with $35,400 in contributions to Democratic candidates and the Democratic National Committee over the past couple of election cycles. --ColdFury quoting IBD
Nothing to see here. Move along.
Another Opportunity for Wisconsin!
Well, well.
Since Wisconsin is heavy in machining and stamping skills, this should be a good ....cough....target.
...He started a manufacturing company at age 25, and in 10 years built it into an industry leader, with 200 employees, that sells 6,000 of its products every month at roughly $1,000 each. The company, Stag Arms, is currently almost a year behind in fulfilling orders....Hot Air quoting NYT
200 direct employees plus nice sales pops to steel service-centers, plastic-molding firms, and a couple of trucking companies, too.
Since Wisconsin is heavy in machining and stamping skills, this should be a good ....cough....target.
...He started a manufacturing company at age 25, and in 10 years built it into an industry leader, with 200 employees, that sells 6,000 of its products every month at roughly $1,000 each. The company, Stag Arms, is currently almost a year behind in fulfilling orders....Hot Air quoting NYT
200 direct employees plus nice sales pops to steel service-centers, plastic-molding firms, and a couple of trucking companies, too.
Decline of the West, Rise of Progressive Enlightenment
Peter Wehner:
...Since the eighteenth century, the West has been busy building neo-Babel. We’ve dispensed with the effort to connect heaven and earth, since up above it’s only galaxies. But we share the other aspirations of Babel, as well as Babel’s humanist orientation. Classes and ethnicities can be synchronized, we think, without divine assistance. No need for a Holy Spirit to baptize into one body. We can create a universal language without the gift of tongues. The family resemblance between liberal virtues and the fruits of the Spirit is not an accident. It’s a heresy worthy of Flannery O’Connor...
...The experiment has gone relatively well for some time, but the project is fraying. To many among our elites, Enlightenment universalism has been unmasked as nothing more than an effete form of tribalism. Secular defenses of liberal tolerance collapse into incoherence. And alongside these theoretical challenges is the immense practical problem of harmonizing the spirits of the myriad subcultures that occupy the West. I don’t need to repeat the litany of multicultural challenges yet again. Everyone knows that it’s an open question whether we have the intellectual and moral resources to sustain the experiment in secular Pentecostalism much longer. Like other Babels, this one will eventually crumble and its denizens will scatter....
That "incoherence" can be seen in the laws and regulations of the Secular (Babylonian) State, which attempt to re-create Christianity without bothering to acknowledge Original Sin.
It won't work.
...Since the eighteenth century, the West has been busy building neo-Babel. We’ve dispensed with the effort to connect heaven and earth, since up above it’s only galaxies. But we share the other aspirations of Babel, as well as Babel’s humanist orientation. Classes and ethnicities can be synchronized, we think, without divine assistance. No need for a Holy Spirit to baptize into one body. We can create a universal language without the gift of tongues. The family resemblance between liberal virtues and the fruits of the Spirit is not an accident. It’s a heresy worthy of Flannery O’Connor...
...The experiment has gone relatively well for some time, but the project is fraying. To many among our elites, Enlightenment universalism has been unmasked as nothing more than an effete form of tribalism. Secular defenses of liberal tolerance collapse into incoherence. And alongside these theoretical challenges is the immense practical problem of harmonizing the spirits of the myriad subcultures that occupy the West. I don’t need to repeat the litany of multicultural challenges yet again. Everyone knows that it’s an open question whether we have the intellectual and moral resources to sustain the experiment in secular Pentecostalism much longer. Like other Babels, this one will eventually crumble and its denizens will scatter....
That "incoherence" can be seen in the laws and regulations of the Secular (Babylonian) State, which attempt to re-create Christianity without bothering to acknowledge Original Sin.
It won't work.
Panetta, the Liar: Behghazi Re-Examined
The very core of Obama's screwup in Benghazi is this: whether or not US forces could have rescued the Ambassador, his defenders, and US classified documents.
It is more and more certain that Panetta lied about that question. Why? To cover Hillary's ass, or to cover Obama's? Could Panetta have been so stupid as to NOT know the capabilities of CIF teams? Not likely; Panetta's been sucking up taxpayer payroll for a long, long, time, in highly sensitive slots.
Elite U.S. troops were completely capable of saving Ambassador Chris Stevens during the Benghazi Consulate attacks on September 11, 2012. Elements of the highly specialized Combatant Commanders In-Extremis (CIF) units are always on alert, on forward deployment, ready to respond. Their job description is to hit the ground in 3 to 5 hours. CIF elements are ready to engage in active combat anywhere in their region, 3 to 5 hours after the call.
...we absolutely do "have a ready force standing by" to reach any trouble spot in a few hours. Insider reports previously revealed that CIF elements were training in Croatia and could have been in Benghazi in three and a half hours.
...Standard military doctrine is to activate all such resources immediately, even if they are ultimately not used. Military's plans require getting such teams in the air and on the way, not waiting to see if they will be needed...
As to air power:
...two unmanned drones were overhead, sending real-time video, including infrared and night-vision cameras, back to the national command authority. Everyone but Panetta seems to know how dumb Panetta's statement was.
...Sigonella air base is only 475 miles from Benghazi. Fighter jets from Sigonella could have been above Benghazi in 20 minutes from takeoff at the F-16's maximum speed of 1,500 miles per hour. Transports and gunships could have reached the Consulate in 90 minutes from take-off. ...Remember: a "spotter" from the Benghazi CIA annex was on the roof of the Consulate, "laser designating" the attackers' mortar team and reporting by radio.
F-16s can carry fuel for a flight of 2,000 nautical miles. So the 475-mile flight from Sigonella would have left enough fuel for an hour of operations over the Consulate in Benghazi
And the Navy was available, too.
...the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis and its battle group were within range to assist the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.
The Congressional investigation should prove very interesting, indeed.
It is more and more certain that Panetta lied about that question. Why? To cover Hillary's ass, or to cover Obama's? Could Panetta have been so stupid as to NOT know the capabilities of CIF teams? Not likely; Panetta's been sucking up taxpayer payroll for a long, long, time, in highly sensitive slots.
Elite U.S. troops were completely capable of saving Ambassador Chris Stevens during the Benghazi Consulate attacks on September 11, 2012. Elements of the highly specialized Combatant Commanders In-Extremis (CIF) units are always on alert, on forward deployment, ready to respond. Their job description is to hit the ground in 3 to 5 hours. CIF elements are ready to engage in active combat anywhere in their region, 3 to 5 hours after the call.
...we absolutely do "have a ready force standing by" to reach any trouble spot in a few hours. Insider reports previously revealed that CIF elements were training in Croatia and could have been in Benghazi in three and a half hours.
...Standard military doctrine is to activate all such resources immediately, even if they are ultimately not used. Military's plans require getting such teams in the air and on the way, not waiting to see if they will be needed...
As to air power:
...two unmanned drones were overhead, sending real-time video, including infrared and night-vision cameras, back to the national command authority. Everyone but Panetta seems to know how dumb Panetta's statement was.
...Sigonella air base is only 475 miles from Benghazi. Fighter jets from Sigonella could have been above Benghazi in 20 minutes from takeoff at the F-16's maximum speed of 1,500 miles per hour. Transports and gunships could have reached the Consulate in 90 minutes from take-off. ...Remember: a "spotter" from the Benghazi CIA annex was on the roof of the Consulate, "laser designating" the attackers' mortar team and reporting by radio.
F-16s can carry fuel for a flight of 2,000 nautical miles. So the 475-mile flight from Sigonella would have left enough fuel for an hour of operations over the Consulate in Benghazi
And the Navy was available, too.
...the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis and its battle group were within range to assist the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.
The Congressional investigation should prove very interesting, indeed.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Muslims v. Civilization in Sweden
Meantime, in Sweden, the Muslims have rioted for 5 nights or so, burning cars and smashing things.
How's that working out for Swedish citizens?
Since last Sunday, May 19, rioters have taken to the streets of Stockholm’s suburbs every night, torching cars, schools, stores, office buildings and residential complexes. Yesterday, a police station in Rågsved, a suburb four kilometers south of Stockholm, was attacked and set on fire.
But while the Stockholm riots keep spreading and intensifying, Swedish police have adopted a tactic of non-interference. ”Our ambition is really to do as little as possible,” Stockholm Chief of Police Mats Löfving explained to the Swedish newspaper Expressen on Tuesday.
Oh, but law-enforcement IS active!!
...Swedish parking laws, however, continue to be rigidly enforced despite the increasingly chaotic situation. Early Wednesday, while documenting the destruction after a night of rioting in the Stockholm suburb of Alby, a reporter from Fria Tider observed a parking enforcement officer writing a ticket for a burnt-out Ford.
When questioned, the officer explained that the ticket was issued because the vehicle lacked a tag showing its time of arrival....
Some crimes will not be tolerated, ya' see....
HT: Protein Wisdom
How's that working out for Swedish citizens?
Since last Sunday, May 19, rioters have taken to the streets of Stockholm’s suburbs every night, torching cars, schools, stores, office buildings and residential complexes. Yesterday, a police station in Rågsved, a suburb four kilometers south of Stockholm, was attacked and set on fire.
But while the Stockholm riots keep spreading and intensifying, Swedish police have adopted a tactic of non-interference. ”Our ambition is really to do as little as possible,” Stockholm Chief of Police Mats Löfving explained to the Swedish newspaper Expressen on Tuesday.
Oh, but law-enforcement IS active!!
...Swedish parking laws, however, continue to be rigidly enforced despite the increasingly chaotic situation. Early Wednesday, while documenting the destruction after a night of rioting in the Stockholm suburb of Alby, a reporter from Fria Tider observed a parking enforcement officer writing a ticket for a burnt-out Ford.
When questioned, the officer explained that the ticket was issued because the vehicle lacked a tag showing its time of arrival....
Some crimes will not be tolerated, ya' see....
HT: Protein Wisdom
90% of the State? Or Milwaukee?
It is clear that Eddie Flynn, lefty-hack cop, wants to be the anti-Sheriff Clarke. I wouldn't be surprised if he's running for office, too. (He doesn't have an offer from a larger P.D., so why not?)
Flynn, who has no particular use for the Second Amendment, and whose department doesn't bother to arrest felons-in-possession of weapons because THAT felony is just a "paper crime," is broadening his political attacks to include State decisions such as cutting funding for various City of Milwaukee boondoggles.
Flynn, Milk-Carton Tommy, and the rest of the Usual Suspects have made it clear that in their minds, 90% of State residents must shove money into the sewer-drain called Milwaukee.
Not any more, Eddie.
The other ninety percent are forced to subsidize the Milwaukee Public Schools, Miller Park, and your Lake Michigan-polluting sewer system. We've been forced to do that for years, and we're STILL forced to do it. You and your foot-stamping whiner pals are--right now--scheming to force non-Milwaukee citizens to pick up the tab for a new basketball facility.
The gravy train stopped, Eddie. Deal with it. The 90% would like to stop supporting you.
Flynn, who has no particular use for the Second Amendment, and whose department doesn't bother to arrest felons-in-possession of weapons because THAT felony is just a "paper crime," is broadening his political attacks to include State decisions such as cutting funding for various City of Milwaukee boondoggles.
Flynn, Milk-Carton Tommy, and the rest of the Usual Suspects have made it clear that in their minds, 90% of State residents must shove money into the sewer-drain called Milwaukee.
Not any more, Eddie.
The other ninety percent are forced to subsidize the Milwaukee Public Schools, Miller Park, and your Lake Michigan-polluting sewer system. We've been forced to do that for years, and we're STILL forced to do it. You and your foot-stamping whiner pals are--right now--scheming to force non-Milwaukee citizens to pick up the tab for a new basketball facility.
The gravy train stopped, Eddie. Deal with it. The 90% would like to stop supporting you.
Friday, May 24, 2013
Holder: Perjurer?
Guess he musta just "forgot" about things, eh?
“First of all you’ve got a long way to go to try to prosecute the press for publication of material. This has not fared well in American history… In regard to potential prosecution of the press for the disclosure of material. This is not something I’ve ever been involved in, heard of, or would think would be wise policy.“
That was last week, under oath.
Attorney General Eric Holder signed off on a controversial search warrant that identified Fox News reporter James Rosen as a “possible co-conspirator” in violations of the Espionage Act and authorized seizure of his private emails, a law enforcement official told NBC News on Thursday.
Woopsie!
HT: Gateway
“First of all you’ve got a long way to go to try to prosecute the press for publication of material. This has not fared well in American history… In regard to potential prosecution of the press for the disclosure of material. This is not something I’ve ever been involved in, heard of, or would think would be wise policy.“
That was last week, under oath.
Attorney General Eric Holder signed off on a controversial search warrant that identified Fox News reporter James Rosen as a “possible co-conspirator” in violations of the Espionage Act and authorized seizure of his private emails, a law enforcement official told NBC News on Thursday.
Woopsie!
HT: Gateway
Thursday, May 23, 2013
How the Statists Work the Plan
Protein Wisdom alliterates the tactics used by the Statists.
Delay, defer, deflect, dissemble, distract, demur, discount. And whenever possible, disguise.
Why not? It works, particularly when you have the MSM on its knees servicing your....needs.
Delay, defer, deflect, dissemble, distract, demur, discount. And whenever possible, disguise.
Why not? It works, particularly when you have the MSM on its knees servicing your....needs.
26 USC 72.14
Not a Packers offensive call.
It's the law which IRS slimeballs allegedly violated.
Should that be the case, a conviction calls for immediate termination per Federal law.
Fun video here as Rep. Gowdy disembowels Chief IRSSlime.
It's the law which IRS slimeballs allegedly violated.
Should that be the case, a conviction calls for immediate termination per Federal law.
Fun video here as Rep. Gowdy disembowels Chief IRSSlime.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Obozo to Sign UN Small-Arms Treaty
I have a sign for that.
Despite the mewling and squalling of the Left, the treaty (if ratified) would have effects here.
1. Enact tougher licensing requirements, creating additional bureaucratic red tape for legal firearms ownership.
2. Confiscate and destroy all “unauthorized” civilian firearms (exempting those owned by our government of course).
3. Ban the trade, sale and private ownership of all semi-automatic weapons (any that have magazines even though they still operate in the same one trigger pull – one single “bang” manner as revolvers, a simple fact the ant-gun media never seem to grasp).
4. Create an international gun registry, clearly setting the stage for full-scale gun confiscation.
And there is that Second Amendment thing.
HT: MoonBattery
Despite the mewling and squalling of the Left, the treaty (if ratified) would have effects here.
1. Enact tougher licensing requirements, creating additional bureaucratic red tape for legal firearms ownership.
2. Confiscate and destroy all “unauthorized” civilian firearms (exempting those owned by our government of course).
3. Ban the trade, sale and private ownership of all semi-automatic weapons (any that have magazines even though they still operate in the same one trigger pull – one single “bang” manner as revolvers, a simple fact the ant-gun media never seem to grasp).
4. Create an international gun registry, clearly setting the stage for full-scale gun confiscation.
And there is that Second Amendment thing.
HT: MoonBattery
Japan Implodes
Uh-oh.
J-bond futures trading has been halted.
The last 2 days have seen JGB prices plunge at the fastest rate since the post-Lehman debacles in Sept/Oct 2008 smashing back to 13 month highs. 5Y yields are surging even more - trading above 34bps now (up from 9.9bps on March 5th). These are simply astronomical moves in the context of JGB history and strongly suggest Abe & Kuroda are anything but in control of the quadrillion Yen domestic bond market as they jawbone inflation expectations into the psychology of the people. Of course, the Nikkei is surging (now up 9% in the last 5 days alone) amid JPY breaking above 102 (but for now it has rallied back to 101.80).
HT: Grim
J-bond futures trading has been halted.
The last 2 days have seen JGB prices plunge at the fastest rate since the post-Lehman debacles in Sept/Oct 2008 smashing back to 13 month highs. 5Y yields are surging even more - trading above 34bps now (up from 9.9bps on March 5th). These are simply astronomical moves in the context of JGB history and strongly suggest Abe & Kuroda are anything but in control of the quadrillion Yen domestic bond market as they jawbone inflation expectations into the psychology of the people. Of course, the Nikkei is surging (now up 9% in the last 5 days alone) amid JPY breaking above 102 (but for now it has rallied back to 101.80).
HT: Grim
Cruz to McPain: "Shut Up, You Old Fool"
Well, that's not exactly what he said.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Wednesday that he doesn’t trust members of his own party to negotiate a budget conference report.
It's what he meant.
THANK YOU TED CRUZ!!!
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Wednesday that he doesn’t trust members of his own party to negotiate a budget conference report.
It's what he meant.
THANK YOU TED CRUZ!!!
The Triumphant Return of Cold Fusion
Huh. (Owen-ism, yup.)
… if we consider the whole volume of the reactor core and the most conservative figures on energy production, we still get a value of (7.93 ± 0.8) 102 MJ/Liter that is one order of magnitude higher than any conventional source.
That from a bunch of heavy-duty science types who examined the "cold fusion" machine which was the hot topic about 15-20 years ago.
Hmmmmm!
HT: CMR
… if we consider the whole volume of the reactor core and the most conservative figures on energy production, we still get a value of (7.93 ± 0.8) 102 MJ/Liter that is one order of magnitude higher than any conventional source.
That from a bunch of heavy-duty science types who examined the "cold fusion" machine which was the hot topic about 15-20 years ago.
Hmmmmm!
HT: CMR
Cdl. O'Malley v. Cdl. Dolan
The contrast should be strikingly obvious.
Think Al Smith.
"Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, the
archbishop of the Boston Archdiocese, said today he would not attend
Boston College’s commencement because the scheduled speaker, Irish Prime
Minister Enda Kenny, supports controversial abortion-rights legislation in his country.
In a statement released this afternoon,
O’Malley said the Catholic Bishops of the United States have urged
Catholic institutions not to honor government officials whose views on
the issue are inconsistent with the teachings of the Catholic church....
Still don't get it?
Think Al Smith.
HT: Shepherd
Nicely Turned, on Lerner
Paco sums up the Fifth Amendment Tactic nicely.
Hey, this is shaping up to be almost as interesting as the Kefauver hearings - although the subject matter is different: one of these committees pertains to the investigation of a massive criminal enterprise and its corrupting influence on government and society, and the other pertains to the Mafia.
He's right, ya' know.
Hey, this is shaping up to be almost as interesting as the Kefauver hearings - although the subject matter is different: one of these committees pertains to the investigation of a massive criminal enterprise and its corrupting influence on government and society, and the other pertains to the Mafia.
He's right, ya' know.
AppleTax: It's Congress, Not Apple
Big cloud of FooFooDust arising from Congressional Slime over whether Apple pays taxes.
Of COURSE they don't.
But it was Congress that wrote the tax code, not Apple, right?
Ticker reminds us of how things actually work:
The problem with what Apple (and Google, and Cisco, and pharma, and many other firms including GE) is doing is not that they're moving things around "on paper" to legally avoid taxation.
It's that they have effectively bribed Congress and the governments in other nations to make this possible while you and I cannot do anything similar.
Never mind that corporations pay taxes not on income but on net profits; that is, economic surplus. You, on the other hand, pay taxes on income, and in the case of Social Security and Medicare you do so from the first dollar.
You do not pay on economic surplus, you pay on gross.
(This also happens to distinguish the Fair Tax from the Flat Tax. The Flat Tax ALSO taxes on 'the gross.' Fair Tax taxes consumption only. That's why Conspicuous Consumers love the Flat Tax.)
Of COURSE they don't.
But it was Congress that wrote the tax code, not Apple, right?
Ticker reminds us of how things actually work:
The problem with what Apple (and Google, and Cisco, and pharma, and many other firms including GE) is doing is not that they're moving things around "on paper" to legally avoid taxation.
It's that they have effectively bribed Congress and the governments in other nations to make this possible while you and I cannot do anything similar.
Never mind that corporations pay taxes not on income but on net profits; that is, economic surplus. You, on the other hand, pay taxes on income, and in the case of Social Security and Medicare you do so from the first dollar.
You do not pay on economic surplus, you pay on gross.
(This also happens to distinguish the Fair Tax from the Flat Tax. The Flat Tax ALSO taxes on 'the gross.' Fair Tax taxes consumption only. That's why Conspicuous Consumers love the Flat Tax.)
"Yikes" Retires
Wiggy, too, noticed that Owen has quit the blog biz.
Too bad; he was pretty good at smacking Lefty (and RINO) targets in Wisconsin and West Bend.
And he also drew a lot of the unhinged Lefty commenters, thus a lot of G-2.
Farewell, Owen!
Too bad; he was pretty good at smacking Lefty (and RINO) targets in Wisconsin and West Bend.
And he also drew a lot of the unhinged Lefty commenters, thus a lot of G-2.
Farewell, Owen!
Battle Tactics
A bit of a 'think piece' on battle tactics here. In brief, your bolt-action hunting rifle is very useful, indeed, when up against "tactigoons" who spray-and-pray with full- or semi-auto weapons.
Second: Egress, Evasion, Escape are words to remember when the SHTF.
Second: Egress, Evasion, Escape are words to remember when the SHTF.
Think ObozoCare Mandates Good "Insurance"? Think Again!!
Most of us (including moi) have understood that ObozoCare demands ultra-rich medical coverage, therefore increasing the cost of "insurance".
Well, not exactly. As written, ObozoCare will merely drive up the cost of your taxes.
“But a close reading of the rules makes it clear that those mandates affect only plans sponsored by insurers that are sold to small businesses and individuals, federal officials confirm….Larger employers, generally with more than 50 workers, need cover only preventive services, without a lifetime or annual dollar-value limit.” --Weekly Standard quoting WSJ
So "large" employers have the option of providing NO 'health' coverage--just preventive services such as annual checkups.
That's a relief, eh?
Aside from the obvious conclusion--that "large" employer lobbyists wrote the pertinent language--there's another "DC Mind" (I use the term "mind" very loosely here) conceit in operation:
...Highlighting the Obama administration’s striking naïveté about government-imposed incentives, the Journal adds, “Several expressed surprise that employers would consider the approach.”
A while ago, I had a brief discussion of ObozoCare with a management figure employed by a large national health-insurance carrier. He, too, opined that employers 'will step up and buy' the far more expensive "mandate" programs. After all, 'they want to protect their employees.'
Uh-huh. Now, even the "minds" in DC are fretting. Regulators have figured out that:
...Among employees offered low-benefit plans, sicker workers who need more coverage may be most likely to opt out of employer coverage and join the [Obamacare] exchanges. That could drive up costs in the [government] marketplaces.”
Well, not exactly. As written, ObozoCare will merely drive up the cost of your taxes.
“But a close reading of the rules makes it clear that those mandates affect only plans sponsored by insurers that are sold to small businesses and individuals, federal officials confirm….Larger employers, generally with more than 50 workers, need cover only preventive services, without a lifetime or annual dollar-value limit.” --Weekly Standard quoting WSJ
So "large" employers have the option of providing NO 'health' coverage--just preventive services such as annual checkups.
That's a relief, eh?
Aside from the obvious conclusion--that "large" employer lobbyists wrote the pertinent language--there's another "DC Mind" (I use the term "mind" very loosely here) conceit in operation:
...Highlighting the Obama administration’s striking naïveté about government-imposed incentives, the Journal adds, “Several expressed surprise that employers would consider the approach.”
A while ago, I had a brief discussion of ObozoCare with a management figure employed by a large national health-insurance carrier. He, too, opined that employers 'will step up and buy' the far more expensive "mandate" programs. After all, 'they want to protect their employees.'
Uh-huh. Now, even the "minds" in DC are fretting. Regulators have figured out that:
...Among employees offered low-benefit plans, sicker workers who need more coverage may be most likely to opt out of employer coverage and join the [Obamacare] exchanges. That could drive up costs in the [government] marketplaces.”
Thus, as with essentially all of Obamacare’s
drafting errors or ill-conceived efforts at coercion, the “unexpectedly”
high costs would be covered by John Q. Public in the form of higher
taxes, which a beefed-up IRS would enthusiastically collect.
The IRS which is so laden with honesty and ethics. Yup. THAT one.
The Epic Flaw
Ms. Faulkner is getting the attention she so richly deserves.
Aside from the Crony "Capitalism" aspect of how Epic gets its business, there is a very serious long-term problem with the Spaghetti-Code Queen's product.
...You see, Epic Systems — the dominant EMR giant in America — is notorious for its lack of interoperability. Faulkner’s closed-end system represents antiquated, hard drive-dependent software firms that refuse to share data with doctors and hospitals using alternative platforms. Health IT analyst John Moore of Chilmark Research, echoing many industry observers, wrote in April that Epic “will ultimately hinder health care organizations’ ability to rapidly innovate.”
Question: If these subsidized data-sharing systems aren’t built to share data to improve health outcomes, why exactly are we subsidizing them? And what exactly are companies like Faulkner’s doing with this enhanced power to consolidate and control Americans’ private health information?
We already know how Ms Faulkner treats folks with honest political differences.
And we already know how the IRS treats folks who oppose The Regime.
Can you add 2+2?
Aside from the Crony "Capitalism" aspect of how Epic gets its business, there is a very serious long-term problem with the Spaghetti-Code Queen's product.
...You see, Epic Systems — the dominant EMR giant in America — is notorious for its lack of interoperability. Faulkner’s closed-end system represents antiquated, hard drive-dependent software firms that refuse to share data with doctors and hospitals using alternative platforms. Health IT analyst John Moore of Chilmark Research, echoing many industry observers, wrote in April that Epic “will ultimately hinder health care organizations’ ability to rapidly innovate.”
Question: If these subsidized data-sharing systems aren’t built to share data to improve health outcomes, why exactly are we subsidizing them? And what exactly are companies like Faulkner’s doing with this enhanced power to consolidate and control Americans’ private health information?
We already know how Ms Faulkner treats folks with honest political differences.
And we already know how the IRS treats folks who oppose The Regime.
Can you add 2+2?
IRS to Congress: "Screw Your Deadlines"
Ever notice how touchy the IRS is about deadlines?
"File by X date." "Pay by Y date." "Respond by Z date." Or pay excessive penalties, interest, and risk prison.
It's a different picture when the IRS is facing a deadline, however.
What did the White House know about the IRS targeting conservative groups and when did it know it?
... In a May 14 letter signed by Chairman Dave Camp and Ranking Member Sander Levin, the House Ways and Means Committee demanded precisely those records from the IRS. In the same letter, the committee also demanded the records of any communications between IRS and the Treasury on the matter, plus other information and records that would help the committee understand the facts about IRS actions that subjected to heightened scrutiny conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
Chairman Camp and Ranking Member Levin gave the IRS a deadline of Tuesday, May 21 to comply with their committee’s demand for the information and records.
The IRS--which requires working Americans to file their tax returns by an April 15 deadline each year or else face penalties--did not comply with this deadline
The lying and criminal vermin in IRS retreat to their dark hole.
"File by X date." "Pay by Y date." "Respond by Z date." Or pay excessive penalties, interest, and risk prison.
It's a different picture when the IRS is facing a deadline, however.
What did the White House know about the IRS targeting conservative groups and when did it know it?
... In a May 14 letter signed by Chairman Dave Camp and Ranking Member Sander Levin, the House Ways and Means Committee demanded precisely those records from the IRS. In the same letter, the committee also demanded the records of any communications between IRS and the Treasury on the matter, plus other information and records that would help the committee understand the facts about IRS actions that subjected to heightened scrutiny conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
Chairman Camp and Ranking Member Levin gave the IRS a deadline of Tuesday, May 21 to comply with their committee’s demand for the information and records.
The IRS--which requires working Americans to file their tax returns by an April 15 deadline each year or else face penalties--did not comply with this deadline
The lying and criminal vermin in IRS retreat to their dark hole.
Orrin Hatch v. US Citizens
The Immigration Bill has a lot more components than just 'the illegals.'
The committee has done nothing at all to soften the provision that gives automatic green cards to essentially ALL foreign graduate students in STEM, no limit, no labor certification, just waving everyone on through. --Matloff e-letter
We've quoted Matloff several times here.
It's pure B.S. that 'there's a shortage of STEM smarts' in the US. The line about attracting "the best and brightest" is also mostly B.S.
What IS missing in the US? Salaries that actually reward STEM grads enough to pay their college loans.
So when Orrin Hatch proposes to flood the market with cheap labor (STEM or otherwise), and those college loans don't get repaid, be sure to collect the money from Hatch.
He has it in his campaign funds, rest assured.
The committee has done nothing at all to soften the provision that gives automatic green cards to essentially ALL foreign graduate students in STEM, no limit, no labor certification, just waving everyone on through. --Matloff e-letter
We've quoted Matloff several times here.
It's pure B.S. that 'there's a shortage of STEM smarts' in the US. The line about attracting "the best and brightest" is also mostly B.S.
What IS missing in the US? Salaries that actually reward STEM grads enough to pay their college loans.
So when Orrin Hatch proposes to flood the market with cheap labor (STEM or otherwise), and those college loans don't get repaid, be sure to collect the money from Hatch.
He has it in his campaign funds, rest assured.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
The Clam-Ups Begin
Now it's getting warm.
Lois Lerner, the head of the exempt organizations division of the IRS, won’t answer questions about what she knew about the improper screening – or why she didn’t reveal it to Congress, according to a letter from her defense lawyer, William W. Taylor 3rd. --AOSHQ quoting LATimes
Why, just the other day a Fed flatly stated that 'there were no crimes committed.'
Actually, Ms. Lerner will take the 5th for every question asked of her. And yes, she will appear--under subpoena.
Makes FABULOUS television, so it's great for Fox.
Meantime, the NYTimes will be covering a dog show, or something.
Lois Lerner, the head of the exempt organizations division of the IRS, won’t answer questions about what she knew about the improper screening – or why she didn’t reveal it to Congress, according to a letter from her defense lawyer, William W. Taylor 3rd. --AOSHQ quoting LATimes
Why, just the other day a Fed flatly stated that 'there were no crimes committed.'
Actually, Ms. Lerner will take the 5th for every question asked of her. And yes, she will appear--under subpoena.
Makes FABULOUS television, so it's great for Fox.
Meantime, the NYTimes will be covering a dog show, or something.
Taranto: Which Poison Do You Prefer?
Taranto poses an interesting question.
...As we wrote Friday, this will be a scandal like Watergate if it turns out that the IRS was acting under orders from Barack Obama or Valerie Jarrett. If the White House's conduct turns out to be unimpeachable, then it is something far worse: a sign that the government itself has become a threat to the Constitution...
The answer is "Both/And", of course. The interest of Massive Government is Massive Government.
If it were not so, then alleged "Conservatives" would act to reduce Massive Government.
They don't. Have you seen one "Conservative" call for cutting the IRS budget? Have you seen any numerically-significant group of House or Senate members calling for the Fair Tax? Flat Tax? The dismantling of the Department of Education? Bringing EPA to heel?
It so happens that Obama is an out-and-out proponent of Massive Government, so his interests are congruent with the Federal Goliath.
QED
...As we wrote Friday, this will be a scandal like Watergate if it turns out that the IRS was acting under orders from Barack Obama or Valerie Jarrett. If the White House's conduct turns out to be unimpeachable, then it is something far worse: a sign that the government itself has become a threat to the Constitution...
The answer is "Both/And", of course. The interest of Massive Government is Massive Government.
If it were not so, then alleged "Conservatives" would act to reduce Massive Government.
They don't. Have you seen one "Conservative" call for cutting the IRS budget? Have you seen any numerically-significant group of House or Senate members calling for the Fair Tax? Flat Tax? The dismantling of the Department of Education? Bringing EPA to heel?
It so happens that Obama is an out-and-out proponent of Massive Government, so his interests are congruent with the Federal Goliath.
QED
IRS Scandal V.5.0
This is the fifth (or so) iteration of the IRS scandal.
It's getting closer to the whole truth.
The White House on Monday once again added to the list of people who knew about the IRS investigation into its targeting of conservative groups — saying White House chief of staff Denis McDonough had been informed about a month ago.
Press secretary Jay Carney said again that no one had told President Barack Obama ahead of the first news reports: not his top aide McDonough, nor his chief counsel Kathy Ruemmler, nor anyone from the Treasury Department. --Vox quoting Politico
Meantime, POTUS was golfing, or campaigning, or something.
Right.
It's getting closer to the whole truth.
The White House on Monday once again added to the list of people who knew about the IRS investigation into its targeting of conservative groups — saying White House chief of staff Denis McDonough had been informed about a month ago.
Press secretary Jay Carney said again that no one had told President Barack Obama ahead of the first news reports: not his top aide McDonough, nor his chief counsel Kathy Ruemmler, nor anyone from the Treasury Department. --Vox quoting Politico
Meantime, POTUS was golfing, or campaigning, or something.
Right.
Zero to Sixty
Think the Camaro ZL1 is quick? The McLaren? The Veyron?
Think again.
Zero to sixty in 3.0 seconds--faster than any automobile made.
HT: Barry
Think again.
Zero to sixty in 3.0 seconds--faster than any automobile made.
HT: Barry
Monday, May 20, 2013
The Slime Was a Slimer
Well, well, well.
[John Burke is] the one-time confidante and staffer to Janet Napolitano, key contributor to drafting the first federal “assault weapon” ban legislation, and White House Senior Policy Analyst in the Clinton administration...
The Inspector General of the DOJ issued a report.
The report, focusing on improper actions conducted by Burke to leak information with the intent of undermining the credibility of Fast and Furious whistleblower John Dodson, is unequivocal in its assessment of his professional actions under color of authority.
“We found Burke’s conduct in disclosing the Dodson memorandum to be inappropriate for a Department employee and wholly unbefitting a U.S. Attorney,” it concludes.
But that's not all.
“We are referring to [the Office of Professional Responsibility] our finding that Burke violated Department policy in disclosing the Dodson memorandum to a member of the media for a determination of whether Burke’s conduct violated the Rules of Professional Conduct for the state bars in which Burke is a member,” it states.
Think that was the first and only time Burke pulled this crap?
Think again.
HT: Dutchman
[John Burke is] the one-time confidante and staffer to Janet Napolitano, key contributor to drafting the first federal “assault weapon” ban legislation, and White House Senior Policy Analyst in the Clinton administration...
The Inspector General of the DOJ issued a report.
The report, focusing on improper actions conducted by Burke to leak information with the intent of undermining the credibility of Fast and Furious whistleblower John Dodson, is unequivocal in its assessment of his professional actions under color of authority.
“We found Burke’s conduct in disclosing the Dodson memorandum to be inappropriate for a Department employee and wholly unbefitting a U.S. Attorney,” it concludes.
But that's not all.
“We are referring to [the Office of Professional Responsibility] our finding that Burke violated Department policy in disclosing the Dodson memorandum to a member of the media for a determination of whether Burke’s conduct violated the Rules of Professional Conduct for the state bars in which Burke is a member,” it states.
Think that was the first and only time Burke pulled this crap?
Think again.
HT: Dutchman
Domestic Military Cops?
This broke over the weekend.
And it does seem like a direct contradiction of Posse Comitatus.
So--what's up that justifies it?
And it does seem like a direct contradiction of Posse Comitatus.
So--what's up that justifies it?
Wisconsin Right to Life v. IRS
Every Lefty proclaims (wrongly) that the 501c4 'confusion' is a result of Citizens United.
And they are all wrong.
(Surprise!!)
It was Wisconsin Right to Life's SCOTUS victory.
And they are all wrong.
(Surprise!!)
It was Wisconsin Right to Life's SCOTUS victory.
Honest? Ethical? You'll Be Sorry
The IRS/AP/Benghazi scandals reminded Quin Hillyer of something.
...this is hardly the first time that this administration has tried to bully whistleblowers. They did it to Justice Department whistleblowers J. Christian Adams and Christopher Coates; they did it to five (!) different Inspectors General; and they at the very least undermined a whistleblower in the St. Paul, Minnesota case that has so badly (and rightly) harmed the confirmation prospects for Labor Secretary nominee Thomas Perez.
The term "national interest" is not an entry in the Obozo/Socialist/Chicago dictionary.
...this is hardly the first time that this administration has tried to bully whistleblowers. They did it to Justice Department whistleblowers J. Christian Adams and Christopher Coates; they did it to five (!) different Inspectors General; and they at the very least undermined a whistleblower in the St. Paul, Minnesota case that has so badly (and rightly) harmed the confirmation prospects for Labor Secretary nominee Thomas Perez.
The term "national interest" is not an entry in the Obozo/Socialist/Chicago dictionary.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
"Show Trial" for Zimmerman?
Dershowitz is apoplectic over this.
...Dershowitz also mentions a suspicion I’ve harbored since the weird, circus-like press conference at which Corey announced the charges: they’re a political instrument designed to buy time for everyone to cool down, leading to a long trial that dismantles some of the hysteria built up around the Trayvon Martin case. If true, the strategy is understandable… but utterly outrageous. --RenMan quoting HE
IOW, it's a "Show Trial." In this particular case, the prosecutor will lose--badly--but the "Trial" will have been held.
That's the reverse of theObozo Stalin method.
...Dershowitz also mentions a suspicion I’ve harbored since the weird, circus-like press conference at which Corey announced the charges: they’re a political instrument designed to buy time for everyone to cool down, leading to a long trial that dismantles some of the hysteria built up around the Trayvon Martin case. If true, the strategy is understandable… but utterly outrageous. --RenMan quoting HE
IOW, it's a "Show Trial." In this particular case, the prosecutor will lose--badly--but the "Trial" will have been held.
That's the reverse of the
"Irrelevant"
That's the word, folks.
Word.
"Irrelevant."
Law is 'irrelevant.' Ethics are 'irrelevant.' US citizens/victims of AlQuaeda are 'irrelevant.' Who actually sent arms to the Sinaloa Cartel? "Irrelevant."
If only Obozo were "irrelevant" like he was in the Illinois legislature and the US Senate.
Word.
"Irrelevant."
Law is 'irrelevant.' Ethics are 'irrelevant.' US citizens/victims of AlQuaeda are 'irrelevant.' Who actually sent arms to the Sinaloa Cartel? "Irrelevant."
If only Obozo were "irrelevant" like he was in the Illinois legislature and the US Senate.
The Not-Distant Future
Of course, this can't happen....
....because the IRS is staffed with ethical and law-abiding people from top to bottom.
Right?
HT: AOSHQ
....because the IRS is staffed with ethical and law-abiding people from top to bottom.
Right?
HT: AOSHQ
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Rubio's Waterloo?
Of course, Sen. Rubio doesn't have to admit the facts shown here:
But it doesn't look as though all those illegals/pathway types are going to be Conservative voters, does it?
HT: AOSHQ
But it doesn't look as though all those illegals/pathway types are going to be Conservative voters, does it?
HT: AOSHQ
Domenech Is Right. Drat It!
While Domenech is correct, he's sort of a wet blanket.
...The point is that these scandals cut at the core conceit of Obama’s ideology: the healthy and enduring confidence of big government to be good government. As technological capabilities advance and the scope of government expands, the types of domestic scandals we’re seeing here are only going to increase in frequency and invasiveness, with personal information shared more frequently, easier for even low level bureaucrats to acquire and manipulate. At the same time, Americans are becoming increasingly skeptical and cynical about their public institutions, with their trust in the federal government at historic lows. They distrust the agencies and bureaucrats even as the politicians of our age are investing more and more power in them.
Today, the media, the Obama administration, and David Axelrod are undertaking the task that conservatives could not: illustrating with each passing day that the progressive approach to modern governance and policy is inherently flawed and that vast governments are ripe for abuse. What we are seeing from the IRS and the DOJ is not something new, nor does it represent a perverse approach to benign bureaucracy: it is the inevitable consequence of an approach which puts mechanisms in place and then assumes they will not be used for ill. You should expect government to go as far as it can, whenever it can, in any ways that it can, toward the full exploitation of the power made available to it. Expecting government to behave otherwise is to expect the scorpion not to sting the frog....
One doesn't have to mention Nixon (who, after all, established the EPA) to bolster Domenech's point, although it is certainly consistent to mention him. It IS fair to mention that no one laid a glove on him on this count; his desires were unrequited.
For that matter, look at the "reforming" Gov. Scott Walker's failure to reduce State government's scope and budget.
The problem is not Obozo per se. The problem is Big Gummint, period.
Or, if you prefer, it's a "class" thing:
...The truth is, Obama and Holder and Hillary Clinton likely won’t fall because they will find protection in the arms of the ruling class, while lower-level functionaries will act as fall guys and scapegoats. And that’s because it is, as I’ve been saying, not a real two-party system any longer, but rather the ruling class vs. the rest of us....
HT: AOSHQ
...The point is that these scandals cut at the core conceit of Obama’s ideology: the healthy and enduring confidence of big government to be good government. As technological capabilities advance and the scope of government expands, the types of domestic scandals we’re seeing here are only going to increase in frequency and invasiveness, with personal information shared more frequently, easier for even low level bureaucrats to acquire and manipulate. At the same time, Americans are becoming increasingly skeptical and cynical about their public institutions, with their trust in the federal government at historic lows. They distrust the agencies and bureaucrats even as the politicians of our age are investing more and more power in them.
Today, the media, the Obama administration, and David Axelrod are undertaking the task that conservatives could not: illustrating with each passing day that the progressive approach to modern governance and policy is inherently flawed and that vast governments are ripe for abuse. What we are seeing from the IRS and the DOJ is not something new, nor does it represent a perverse approach to benign bureaucracy: it is the inevitable consequence of an approach which puts mechanisms in place and then assumes they will not be used for ill. You should expect government to go as far as it can, whenever it can, in any ways that it can, toward the full exploitation of the power made available to it. Expecting government to behave otherwise is to expect the scorpion not to sting the frog....
One doesn't have to mention Nixon (who, after all, established the EPA) to bolster Domenech's point, although it is certainly consistent to mention him. It IS fair to mention that no one laid a glove on him on this count; his desires were unrequited.
For that matter, look at the "reforming" Gov. Scott Walker's failure to reduce State government's scope and budget.
The problem is not Obozo per se. The problem is Big Gummint, period.
Or, if you prefer, it's a "class" thing:
...The truth is, Obama and Holder and Hillary Clinton likely won’t fall because they will find protection in the arms of the ruling class, while lower-level functionaries will act as fall guys and scapegoats. And that’s because it is, as I’ve been saying, not a real two-party system any longer, but rather the ruling class vs. the rest of us....
HT: AOSHQ
Silliness from Walker's Office
Really, Governor?
Gov. Scott Walker is not saying whether he favors or opposes the so-called Marketplace Fairness Act that passed the U.S. Senate earlier this month. The bill calls for internet retailers to collect sales tax just like their brick-and-mortar brethren do.
But [...] he does know what he would do with the estimated $95 million a year in extra tax revenue.
"I want to make clear, should federal marketplace legislation become law, my intention would be for any resulting additional revenue be used to provide individual income tax relief for Wisconsin's taxpayers," Walker said
You could do that by reducing the size of the overbloated UW System, or its fat sister, the State government.
Any progress on those, Governor??
Gov. Scott Walker is not saying whether he favors or opposes the so-called Marketplace Fairness Act that passed the U.S. Senate earlier this month. The bill calls for internet retailers to collect sales tax just like their brick-and-mortar brethren do.
But [...] he does know what he would do with the estimated $95 million a year in extra tax revenue.
"I want to make clear, should federal marketplace legislation become law, my intention would be for any resulting additional revenue be used to provide individual income tax relief for Wisconsin's taxpayers," Walker said
You could do that by reducing the size of the overbloated UW System, or its fat sister, the State government.
Any progress on those, Governor??
Friday, May 17, 2013
The Obozo Motto
Again, from Ace:
"It was incorrect but not untruthful."
Looks like Mr. Miller, the happy retiree, has formulated the Obozo Motto.
Of course there's a distinction here. One can give an incorrect response without malice--malice would make it "untruthful", in a sense.
But Miller has issued a form of the Obozo Line ("Huh? Who? When? Was it on TV??")
However, the Obozo formulation is both INcorrect AND UNtruthful.
"It was incorrect but not untruthful."
Looks like Mr. Miller, the happy retiree, has formulated the Obozo Motto.
Of course there's a distinction here. One can give an incorrect response without malice--malice would make it "untruthful", in a sense.
But Miller has issued a form of the Obozo Line ("Huh? Who? When? Was it on TV??")
However, the Obozo formulation is both INcorrect AND UNtruthful.
IRS Lies to Us. Try Lying to Them Sometime!
We know that the IRS is a union shop, (D) to its rotten little core.
See, lying is part of the union-shop (D) protocols.
The Internal Revenue Service denied the existence of any documents related to its policy of targeting Tea Party organizations in response to a 2010 Freedom of Information Act request, even though such documents were later discovered by the IRS inspector general.
The 1851 Center for Constitutional Law, a conservative nonprofit group, filed a FOIA request in 2010 through investigative journalist Lynn K. Walsh seeking all IRS documents related to the agencies tax-exempt division specifically mentioning the Tea Party.
IRS headquarters responded in 2011 that it “found no documents specifically responsive to your request.”
...However, the May 14 inspector general report found that the “first Sensitive Case Report [identifying Tea Party groups] was prepared by the Technical Unit” in April of 2010.
Lying to the IRS is an offense which may well earn prison time.
Them lying to us?
Nothing to see here, move along.
HT: AOSHQ
See, lying is part of the union-shop (D) protocols.
The Internal Revenue Service denied the existence of any documents related to its policy of targeting Tea Party organizations in response to a 2010 Freedom of Information Act request, even though such documents were later discovered by the IRS inspector general.
The 1851 Center for Constitutional Law, a conservative nonprofit group, filed a FOIA request in 2010 through investigative journalist Lynn K. Walsh seeking all IRS documents related to the agencies tax-exempt division specifically mentioning the Tea Party.
IRS headquarters responded in 2011 that it “found no documents specifically responsive to your request.”
...However, the May 14 inspector general report found that the “first Sensitive Case Report [identifying Tea Party groups] was prepared by the Technical Unit” in April of 2010.
Lying to the IRS is an offense which may well earn prison time.
Them lying to us?
Nothing to see here, move along.
HT: AOSHQ
Bonus Pay for Harassing Conservatives? Mere Coincidence
It's likely that Obozo hadn't known this until he heard it on MSNBC.
Sarah Hall Ingram, the IRS executive in charge of the tax exempt division in 2010 when it began targeting conservative Tea Party, evangelical and pro-Israel groups for harassment, got more than $100,000 in bonuses between 2009 and 2012.
...Ingram received a $7,000 bonus in 2009, according to data obtained by The Washington Examiner from the IRS, then a $34,440 bonus in 2010, $35,400 in 2011 and $26,550 last year, for a total of $103,390. Her annual salary went from $172,500 to $177,000 during the same period.
...The 2010, 2011 and 2012 bonuses were awarded during the period when IRS harassment of the conservative groups was most intense. The newspaper obtained the data via a Freedom of Information Act request.
Oh, wait. My first sentence was......inoperative.
...Bonuses as large as those awarded to Ingram typically require presidential approval, according to federal personnel regulations
So now we wonder: exactly WHAT "performance" earned the bonuses??
HT: Grim
Sarah Hall Ingram, the IRS executive in charge of the tax exempt division in 2010 when it began targeting conservative Tea Party, evangelical and pro-Israel groups for harassment, got more than $100,000 in bonuses between 2009 and 2012.
...Ingram received a $7,000 bonus in 2009, according to data obtained by The Washington Examiner from the IRS, then a $34,440 bonus in 2010, $35,400 in 2011 and $26,550 last year, for a total of $103,390. Her annual salary went from $172,500 to $177,000 during the same period.
...The 2010, 2011 and 2012 bonuses were awarded during the period when IRS harassment of the conservative groups was most intense. The newspaper obtained the data via a Freedom of Information Act request.
Oh, wait. My first sentence was......inoperative.
...Bonuses as large as those awarded to Ingram typically require presidential approval, according to federal personnel regulations
So now we wonder: exactly WHAT "performance" earned the bonuses??
HT: Grim
Thursday, May 16, 2013
The D.C. Farce-Wagon Rolls On
This is really reassuring.
...the Senate has vowed to look into the matter, which we’re being told now was a mere non-political management snafu base on a desire to better streamline the process of exempt status approval. To save the taxpayers money!
And the man leading that investigation? Montana Democrat Senator Max Baucus. Who doesn’t see any conflict of interest, because he doubts “very much” that his letter directing the IRS to look more closely at conservative groups had any influence on the IRS looking more closely into conservative groups, which agency, let me remind you, decided independently and with no outside instigation, to develop a spreadsheet that, as it so happens — passively and by sheer non-political coincidence (damn the luck!)– to have targeted nothing but conservative groups. Because of insufficient managerial oversight....
Will this trainload of crap convince D.C. lawmakers to adopt Fair Tax or Flat Tax, thereby virtually eliminating the IRS?
Will the cow jump over the moon? Will Unicorn Farts power the US electrical grid? Will Joe Biden shut up? Will John Boehner grow a set of stones?
...the Senate has vowed to look into the matter, which we’re being told now was a mere non-political management snafu base on a desire to better streamline the process of exempt status approval. To save the taxpayers money!
And the man leading that investigation? Montana Democrat Senator Max Baucus. Who doesn’t see any conflict of interest, because he doubts “very much” that his letter directing the IRS to look more closely at conservative groups had any influence on the IRS looking more closely into conservative groups, which agency, let me remind you, decided independently and with no outside instigation, to develop a spreadsheet that, as it so happens — passively and by sheer non-political coincidence (damn the luck!)– to have targeted nothing but conservative groups. Because of insufficient managerial oversight....
Will this trainload of crap convince D.C. lawmakers to adopt Fair Tax or Flat Tax, thereby virtually eliminating the IRS?
Will the cow jump over the moon? Will Unicorn Farts power the US electrical grid? Will Joe Biden shut up? Will John Boehner grow a set of stones?
Buy. More. Ammo.
IRS Abuse No Big Deal in (D) "Minds"
Telling line from a Rasmussen poll:
As for punishment, 82% of Republicans and 62% of unaffiliateds think the IRS employees involved should be jailed or fired. Only 34% of voters in the president’s party agree. The plurality (44%) of Democrats believes those involved should be formally reprimanded instead.
Why, sure. Little things like crimes against the Constitution deserve "reprimand."
I'll go along with firing 'em. Just as important: pull their pensions, too.
As for punishment, 82% of Republicans and 62% of unaffiliateds think the IRS employees involved should be jailed or fired. Only 34% of voters in the president’s party agree. The plurality (44%) of Democrats believes those involved should be formally reprimanded instead.
Why, sure. Little things like crimes against the Constitution deserve "reprimand."
I'll go along with firing 'em. Just as important: pull their pensions, too.
Gosnell II, Texas Edition
No reason to think that Gosnell was the only serial baby-murderer in the US.
In fact, there's another one.
There are more. We haven't found them. Yet.
In fact, there's another one.
There are more. We haven't found them. Yet.
Yoo-Hoo!! Cdl. Dolan!!
A few years ago, we ran a series of posts which carried "Yoo Hoo" call-outs to (then) Abp. Dolan. (Here's a short example)
It seems that the Archbishop talked a lot, but studiously ignored DOING things about Diamond Jim Doyle's abortion-lust legislative agenda.
Well, the national blogosphere has caught up to (now-Cdl.) Dolan.
I must admit that my frustration and disappointment with Cardinal Dolan is mounting.
The tough talk followed by the wink, nod, and chuckle is wearing thin.
Yup.
It seems that the Archbishop talked a lot, but studiously ignored DOING things about Diamond Jim Doyle's abortion-lust legislative agenda.
Well, the national blogosphere has caught up to (now-Cdl.) Dolan.
I must admit that my frustration and disappointment with Cardinal Dolan is mounting.
The tough talk followed by the wink, nod, and chuckle is wearing thin.
Yup.
"IRS". Does the "R" Stand for "Rabid"?
While the Passerby President was golfing fundraising planning a vacation watching the news ....whatever...the IRS went into frenzy.
The Internal Revenue Service is facing a class action lawsuit alleging that more than 60 million personal medical records were improperly seized by agents from the embattled agency.
According to a story by Courthousenews.com, an unnamed healthcare provider in California is suing the IRS and 15 unnamed agents, alleging that they improperly seized some 60 million medical records of 10 million Americans, including medical records of all California state judges on March 11, 2011.
...No search warrant authorized the seizure of these records; no subpoena authorized the seizure of these records; none of the 10,000,000 Americans were under any kind of known criminal or civil investigation and their medical records had no relevance whatsoever to the IRS search....
This doesn't seem to be blatantly left-wing political action, as was much of the recent IRS news.
But it elevates the issue by orders of magnitude. Who do these people think they ARE, anyway?
The Internal Revenue Service is facing a class action lawsuit alleging that more than 60 million personal medical records were improperly seized by agents from the embattled agency.
According to a story by Courthousenews.com, an unnamed healthcare provider in California is suing the IRS and 15 unnamed agents, alleging that they improperly seized some 60 million medical records of 10 million Americans, including medical records of all California state judges on March 11, 2011.
...No search warrant authorized the seizure of these records; no subpoena authorized the seizure of these records; none of the 10,000,000 Americans were under any kind of known criminal or civil investigation and their medical records had no relevance whatsoever to the IRS search....
This doesn't seem to be blatantly left-wing political action, as was much of the recent IRS news.
But it elevates the issue by orders of magnitude. Who do these people think they ARE, anyway?
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
AT&T, Your Friendly Local Snitch
Oh, really!!
...Mark Klein, a retired AT&T technician revealed the collaboration between AT&T and the NSA in acquiring both domestic and foreign electronic transmissions for later analysis. Having hands-on responsibility for part of AT&T network, Klein was in a unique position to address the level of AT&T’s collaboration with the NSA.
Klein revealed that he had documents that showed the NSA had access to e-mail and metadata (the “data about data”) from more than a dozen telecommunications providers.
According to an article in the Washington Post, Klein said that the NSA built a special room to intercept data traveling through AT&T transmission lines. Some of the largest data links were being captured at a rate of 2.5 gigabits of data per second, the equivalent of 50,000 web pages per second.
Klein said that “the NSA set up a system that vacuumed up Internet and phone-call data from ordinary Americans with the cooperation of AT&T” and that “contrary to the government’s depiction of its surveillance program as aimed at overseas terrorists . . . much of the data sent through AT&T to the NSA was purely domestic.”
Who needs the IRS when Obozo has AT&T?
...Mark Klein, a retired AT&T technician revealed the collaboration between AT&T and the NSA in acquiring both domestic and foreign electronic transmissions for later analysis. Having hands-on responsibility for part of AT&T network, Klein was in a unique position to address the level of AT&T’s collaboration with the NSA.
Klein revealed that he had documents that showed the NSA had access to e-mail and metadata (the “data about data”) from more than a dozen telecommunications providers.
According to an article in the Washington Post, Klein said that the NSA built a special room to intercept data traveling through AT&T transmission lines. Some of the largest data links were being captured at a rate of 2.5 gigabits of data per second, the equivalent of 50,000 web pages per second.
Klein said that “the NSA set up a system that vacuumed up Internet and phone-call data from ordinary Americans with the cooperation of AT&T” and that “contrary to the government’s depiction of its surveillance program as aimed at overseas terrorists . . . much of the data sent through AT&T to the NSA was purely domestic.”
Who needs the IRS when Obozo has AT&T?
'Net Sales Tax Bribery
Our Governor forgot one word here:
If Congress enacts an Internet sales tax-collection law, Gov. Scott Walker would use the extra money to reduce individual income taxes.
The word? "Un-constitutional", which should be inserted just before "internet sales tax-collection." Taxation without representation ain't 'just tyranny', folks.
The State's figuring on a $95 million windfall from that tax levy.
If Congress enacts an Internet sales tax-collection law, Gov. Scott Walker would use the extra money to reduce individual income taxes.
The word? "Un-constitutional", which should be inserted just before "internet sales tax-collection." Taxation without representation ain't 'just tyranny', folks.
The State's figuring on a $95 million windfall from that tax levy.
"Low-Level Rogue Employees". Sure. Unicorns, Too!
It's hard to keep up with the Obozo IRS story, mostly because Obozo's IRS is near-unto a criminal enterprise.
Tea Parties, Joooos, 'Patriots.'
Then IRS started handing out CONFIDENTIAL tax information to ProPublica--a black-letter violation of the law. The Koch brothers, Rove's 501c4 (and others like it.)
Not satisfied with that, IRS also started harassment campaigns directed at Obozo opponents, including the True the Vote people and opponents to homosexual "marriage".
Oh, yah, we all still believe 100% in "the Rule of Law." And now we know that it is really "the Ruler's Law." It's right there in the Constitution, ya'know.
Tea Parties, Joooos, 'Patriots.'
Then IRS started handing out CONFIDENTIAL tax information to ProPublica--a black-letter violation of the law. The Koch brothers, Rove's 501c4 (and others like it.)
Not satisfied with that, IRS also started harassment campaigns directed at Obozo opponents, including the True the Vote people and opponents to homosexual "marriage".
Oh, yah, we all still believe 100% in "the Rule of Law." And now we know that it is really "the Ruler's Law." It's right there in the Constitution, ya'know.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Skyping for Microsoft
Interesting:
Anyone who uses Skype has consented to the company reading everything they write. The H's associates in Germany at heise Security have now discovered that the Microsoft subsidiary does in fact make use of this privilege in practice. Shortly after sending HTTPS URLs over the instant messaging service, those URLs receive an unannounced visit from Microsoft HQ in Redmond.
A reader informed heise Security that he had observed some unusual network traffic following a Skype instant messaging conversation. The server indicated a potential replay attack. It turned out that an IP address which traced back to Microsoft had accessed the HTTPS URLs previously transmitted over Skype. --Ticker quoting The H's Security
MS' goon squad will utilize whatever you text to access whatever it can.
Nice, eh?
Anyone who uses Skype has consented to the company reading everything they write. The H's associates in Germany at heise Security have now discovered that the Microsoft subsidiary does in fact make use of this privilege in practice. Shortly after sending HTTPS URLs over the instant messaging service, those URLs receive an unannounced visit from Microsoft HQ in Redmond.
A reader informed heise Security that he had observed some unusual network traffic following a Skype instant messaging conversation. The server indicated a potential replay attack. It turned out that an IP address which traced back to Microsoft had accessed the HTTPS URLs previously transmitted over Skype. --Ticker quoting The H's Security
MS' goon squad will utilize whatever you text to access whatever it can.
Nice, eh?
After the Tea Party and the Jews, Franklin Graham! and Pro-Lifers!!
The list is getting longer and longer. And the Boy Totalitarian is sinking fast in the eyes of the WaPo and John Stewart.
Get the popcorn (and more ammo.)
Franklin Graham. A St. Louis journalist. A church-serving pro-life group. Some outfit was questioned about the appearance of Newt Gingrich (I agree, but then, I'm not the IRS).
Get a load of the Q&A they gave a Tea Party group.
HT (multiple): Gateway
Get the popcorn (and more ammo.)
Franklin Graham. A St. Louis journalist. A church-serving pro-life group. Some outfit was questioned about the appearance of Newt Gingrich (I agree, but then, I'm not the IRS).
Get a load of the Q&A they gave a Tea Party group.
HT (multiple): Gateway
Good Idea, Reince!
Wiggy brings us the Quote of the Day:
Can someone tell the Obama Administration the First Amendment isn’t a suggestion?
— Reince Priebus
Umnnhhhh.....
Nor is the Second, Reince. Would you let McPain know about that?
For that matter, Reince, has the Other Establishment Party beaten the war-drums over ObozoCare lately? Or gone after a Select Committee on Benghazi? How about the border fence, Reince?
Cute quip. About time you saddled up and rode to the sound of the guns, Reince.
Another "aye" from Ticker!
Can someone tell the Obama Administration the First Amendment isn’t a suggestion?
— Reince Priebus
Umnnhhhh.....
Nor is the Second, Reince. Would you let McPain know about that?
For that matter, Reince, has the Other Establishment Party beaten the war-drums over ObozoCare lately? Or gone after a Select Committee on Benghazi? How about the border fence, Reince?
Cute quip. About time you saddled up and rode to the sound of the guns, Reince.
Another "aye" from Ticker!
"Old Folks Retiring"? Nope.
There are a number of observers who maintain that the labor force participation rate has declined due to "old folks retiring."
Not according to this graph:
The LFP rate of oldsters has risen remarkably since 2000. While the figures are not updated through '12, it appears as though those who hold that LFP of older workers has grown due to the Great Recession has more substance than the other school.
HT: Barry
Not according to this graph:
The LFP rate of oldsters has risen remarkably since 2000. While the figures are not updated through '12, it appears as though those who hold that LFP of older workers has grown due to the Great Recession has more substance than the other school.
HT: Barry
Monday, May 13, 2013
Madistan Trip? Worthwhile!
Spent a little time in Madistan.
Gasoline there is $3.65/ga.
Gasoline here: $3.95/ga.
And you wonder why our Leggies like increasing the gas tax?
Gasoline there is $3.65/ga.
Gasoline here: $3.95/ga.
And you wonder why our Leggies like increasing the gas tax?
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Hey, Obozo: Pay Attention to France!
Our Progressive Totalitatian golfer is probably aware of this. You should be, too.
Revolutions are often sparked by an unexpected shock to an already weakened regime. As commentators in France remark not only on the crisis engulfing François Hollande’s government but also on the apparent death-rattle of the country’s entire political system, it could be that his flagship policy of legalising gay marriage — or rather, the gigantic public reaction against it, unique in Europe — will be the last straw that breaks the Fifth -Republic’s back.
Opposition to the bill has electrified the middle classes, the young and much of provincial France. On Sunday 24 March, in the freezing cold, the 4km stretch from the Arche de la Défense to the Arc de Triomphe was full of people protesting against the bill. On 13 January, also chilly, the Champ de Mars was similarly crammed. When Johnny Hallyday or the World Cup got crowds like that, people talked of two million. But the police, evidently acting under political orders, have claimed that both demonstrations — which are without doubt the largest public movements in French history — garnered a few hundred thousand at most. Credible accusations surfaced in Le Figaro on Monday night that the film taken from police helicopters on 24 March and released by the Prefecture has been manipulated to reduce the apparent numbers of demonstrators....
According to the article, the usual police-state tactics were used to 'clean up' the crowds. That didn't help his ratings:
...Hollande’s catastrophic poll rating has broken all records. When in March he became the most unpopular president after ten months in office, his rating stood at 31 per cent. Now it is 26 per cent.
Where's Obozo now? In the mid-40's?
Revolutions are often sparked by an unexpected shock to an already weakened regime. As commentators in France remark not only on the crisis engulfing François Hollande’s government but also on the apparent death-rattle of the country’s entire political system, it could be that his flagship policy of legalising gay marriage — or rather, the gigantic public reaction against it, unique in Europe — will be the last straw that breaks the Fifth -Republic’s back.
Opposition to the bill has electrified the middle classes, the young and much of provincial France. On Sunday 24 March, in the freezing cold, the 4km stretch from the Arche de la Défense to the Arc de Triomphe was full of people protesting against the bill. On 13 January, also chilly, the Champ de Mars was similarly crammed. When Johnny Hallyday or the World Cup got crowds like that, people talked of two million. But the police, evidently acting under political orders, have claimed that both demonstrations — which are without doubt the largest public movements in French history — garnered a few hundred thousand at most. Credible accusations surfaced in Le Figaro on Monday night that the film taken from police helicopters on 24 March and released by the Prefecture has been manipulated to reduce the apparent numbers of demonstrators....
According to the article, the usual police-state tactics were used to 'clean up' the crowds. That didn't help his ratings:
...Hollande’s catastrophic poll rating has broken all records. When in March he became the most unpopular president after ten months in office, his rating stood at 31 per cent. Now it is 26 per cent.
Where's Obozo now? In the mid-40's?
The Face of Totalitarianism
Nice summary (to date) of the Totalitarian hermaphrodite:
...We know his executive branch is actively targeting political foes in a way that not even Nixon or Clinton ever dared. We know that his administration regularly lies to the press and the public, about Benghazi and about the IRS investigations. We know he is openly claiming the legal right to assassinate any American, inside or outside U.S. borders, without due process. And we know he is seeking to disarm the American people....
Nothing to see here. Move along.
...We know his executive branch is actively targeting political foes in a way that not even Nixon or Clinton ever dared. We know that his administration regularly lies to the press and the public, about Benghazi and about the IRS investigations. We know he is openly claiming the legal right to assassinate any American, inside or outside U.S. borders, without due process. And we know he is seeking to disarm the American people....
Nothing to see here. Move along.
First the Tea Party. Next, the Jews.
The Catholics will be lined up at the edge of the ditch next.
...the IRS agent told a Z STREET representative that the applications of some of those Israel-related organizations have been assigned to “a special unit in the D.C. office to determine whether the organization’s activities contradict the Administration’s public policies.” . . .
And at least one purely religious Jewish organization, one not focused on Israel, was the recipient of bizarre and highly inappropriate questions about Israel. Those questions also came from the same non-profit division of the IRS at issue for inappropriately targeting politically conservative groups. The IRS required that Jewish organization to state “whether [it] supports the existence of the land of Israel,” and also demanded the organization “[d]escribe [its] religious belief system toward the land of Israel.”
But this is not totalitarianism or anything. It was low-level part-time seasonal hires who designed and implemented the policies targeting conservatives and Jews.
Obama was busy campaigning so HE didn't know about it. And TurboTaxTimmy--well, we already know that HE doesn't know anything about taxes.
Nothing to see here. Move along.
...the IRS agent told a Z STREET representative that the applications of some of those Israel-related organizations have been assigned to “a special unit in the D.C. office to determine whether the organization’s activities contradict the Administration’s public policies.” . . .
And at least one purely religious Jewish organization, one not focused on Israel, was the recipient of bizarre and highly inappropriate questions about Israel. Those questions also came from the same non-profit division of the IRS at issue for inappropriately targeting politically conservative groups. The IRS required that Jewish organization to state “whether [it] supports the existence of the land of Israel,” and also demanded the organization “[d]escribe [its] religious belief system toward the land of Israel.”
But this is not totalitarianism or anything. It was low-level part-time seasonal hires who designed and implemented the policies targeting conservatives and Jews.
Obama was busy campaigning so HE didn't know about it. And TurboTaxTimmy--well, we already know that HE doesn't know anything about taxes.
Nothing to see here. Move along.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Feds to Students: "You ARE the Ham Sandwich!"
It's my understanding that some babe wrote at least parts of this letter. Prolly a very frustrated b**%&, too.
...the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education have joined together to mandate that virtually every college and university in the United States establish unconstitutional speech codes that violate the First Amendment and decades of legal precedent.
U of Montana received a letter from the Frustrated B&^% and some other turkey.
The letter states that “sexual harassment should be more broadly defined as ‘any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature’” including “verbal conduct” (that is, speech). It then explicitly states that allegedly harassing expression need not even be offensive to an “objectively reasonable person of the same gender in the same situation”—if the listener takes offense to sexually related speech for any reason, no matter how irrationally or unreasonably, the speaker may be punished....
Just so you college kids know: this is a test. If you fail, the IRS will be next in line--because you'll have joined a Tea Party.
Or worse, The Wolverines!!
HT: LegalInsurrection
...the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education have joined together to mandate that virtually every college and university in the United States establish unconstitutional speech codes that violate the First Amendment and decades of legal precedent.
U of Montana received a letter from the Frustrated B&^% and some other turkey.
The letter states that “sexual harassment should be more broadly defined as ‘any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature’” including “verbal conduct” (that is, speech). It then explicitly states that allegedly harassing expression need not even be offensive to an “objectively reasonable person of the same gender in the same situation”—if the listener takes offense to sexually related speech for any reason, no matter how irrationally or unreasonably, the speaker may be punished....
Just so you college kids know: this is a test. If you fail, the IRS will be next in line--because you'll have joined a Tea Party.
Or worse, The Wolverines!!
HT: LegalInsurrection
IRS Lied. Nobody Died. Yet.
Well, whaddya know.
Senior Internal Revenue Service officials knew agents were targeting tea party groups as early as 2011, according to a draft of an inspector general’s report obtained by The Associated Press that seemingly contradicts public statements by the IRS commissioner.
[...]
The agency blamed low-level employees, saying no high-level officials were aware.
But on June 29, 2011, Lois G. Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt organizations, learned at a meeting that groups were being targeted, according to the watchdog’s report. At the meeting, she was told that groups with “Tea Party,” `’Patriot” or “9/12 Project” in their names were being flagged for additional and often burdensome scrutiny, the report says.
...On Jan, 25, 2012, the criteria for flagging suspect groups was changed to, “political action type organizations involved in limiting/expanding Government, educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, social economic reform/movement,” the report says --Protein Wisdom quoting AP
As PW observes, Karl Rove could have ordered this operation just as easily as Obozo's SecTreas.
It's a Ruling Class thing. You wouldn't understand.
Senior Internal Revenue Service officials knew agents were targeting tea party groups as early as 2011, according to a draft of an inspector general’s report obtained by The Associated Press that seemingly contradicts public statements by the IRS commissioner.
[...]
The agency blamed low-level employees, saying no high-level officials were aware.
But on June 29, 2011, Lois G. Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt organizations, learned at a meeting that groups were being targeted, according to the watchdog’s report. At the meeting, she was told that groups with “Tea Party,” `’Patriot” or “9/12 Project” in their names were being flagged for additional and often burdensome scrutiny, the report says.
...On Jan, 25, 2012, the criteria for flagging suspect groups was changed to, “political action type organizations involved in limiting/expanding Government, educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, social economic reform/movement,” the report says --Protein Wisdom quoting AP
As PW observes, Karl Rove could have ordered this operation just as easily as Obozo's SecTreas.
It's a Ruling Class thing. You wouldn't understand.
Benghazi: The (D) Politics of Blood
As Steyn makes clear, Democrat politics dominate the story of Benghazi. And those politics--like the Democrat politics of abortion--are bloody.
...The government of the United States took the extremely strange decision to lose in straight sets. Not only did they not deploy out-of-area assets, they ordered even those in Libya to stand down. Lieutenant Colonel Gibson had a small team in Tripoli that twice readied to go to Benghazi to assist and twice was denied authority to do so, the latter when they were already at the airport. There weren’t many of them, not compared to the estimated 150 men assailing the compound. But they were special forces, not bozo jihadists. Back in Benghazi, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty held off numerically superior forces for hours before dying on a rooftop waiting for back-up from a government that had switched the answering machine on and gone to Vegas.
...In fact, everyone in this story is a Democrat or a career civil servant. Chris Stevens was the poster boy for Obama’s view of the Arab Spring; he agreed with the president on everything that mattered. The only difference is that he wasn’t in Vegas but out there on the front line, where Obama’s delusions meet reality. Stevens believed in those illusions enough to die for them. One cannot say the same about the hollow men and women in Washington who sent him out there unprotected, declined to lift a finger when he came under attack, and in the final indignity subordinated his sacrifice to their political needs by lying over his corpse. Where’s the “partisan politics”? Obama, Clinton, Panetta, Clapper, Rice, and the rest did this to one of their own. And fawning court eunuchs, like the ranking Democrat at the hearings, Elijah Cummings, must surely know that, if they needed, they’d do it to them, too. If you believe in politics über alles, it’s impressive, in the same way that Hillary’s cocksure dismissal — “What difference, at this point, does it make?” — is impressive.
This will not stand, assuming (it's a big assumption) that the opposition party has any gonads.
HT: Cold Fury
...The government of the United States took the extremely strange decision to lose in straight sets. Not only did they not deploy out-of-area assets, they ordered even those in Libya to stand down. Lieutenant Colonel Gibson had a small team in Tripoli that twice readied to go to Benghazi to assist and twice was denied authority to do so, the latter when they were already at the airport. There weren’t many of them, not compared to the estimated 150 men assailing the compound. But they were special forces, not bozo jihadists. Back in Benghazi, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty held off numerically superior forces for hours before dying on a rooftop waiting for back-up from a government that had switched the answering machine on and gone to Vegas.
...In fact, everyone in this story is a Democrat or a career civil servant. Chris Stevens was the poster boy for Obama’s view of the Arab Spring; he agreed with the president on everything that mattered. The only difference is that he wasn’t in Vegas but out there on the front line, where Obama’s delusions meet reality. Stevens believed in those illusions enough to die for them. One cannot say the same about the hollow men and women in Washington who sent him out there unprotected, declined to lift a finger when he came under attack, and in the final indignity subordinated his sacrifice to their political needs by lying over his corpse. Where’s the “partisan politics”? Obama, Clinton, Panetta, Clapper, Rice, and the rest did this to one of their own. And fawning court eunuchs, like the ranking Democrat at the hearings, Elijah Cummings, must surely know that, if they needed, they’d do it to them, too. If you believe in politics über alles, it’s impressive, in the same way that Hillary’s cocksure dismissal — “What difference, at this point, does it make?” — is impressive.
This will not stand, assuming (it's a big assumption) that the opposition party has any gonads.
HT: Cold Fury
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