an ebb and flow

IRS deliberately targeted conservatives before 2012 election...but Miller says not partisan, not illegal!

2013-05-17T14:40:00.001-05:00

When even MSLSD can see that the IRS deliberately chose not to fess up to the targeting of conservative organizations before the 2012 Presidential Election, you know something's extremely wrong...

WeeklyStandard: NBC's Lisa Myers reported this morning that the IRS deliberately chose not to reveal that it had wrongly targeted conservative groups until after the 2012 presidential election:

The IRS commissioner "has known for at least a year that this was going on," said Myers, "and that this had happened. And did he share any of that information with the White House? But even more importantly, Congress is going to ask him, why did you mislead us for an entire year? Members of Congress were saying conservatives are being targeted. What's going on here? The IRS denied it. Then when -- after these officials are briefed by the IG that this is going on, they don't disclose it. In fact, the commissioner sent a letter to Congress in September on this subject and did not reveal this. Imagine if we -- if you can -- what would have happened if this fact came out in September 2012, in the middle of a presidential election? The terrain would have looked very different."

Likely so...

Yet, the absent-minded, outgoing IRS commissioner Steven Miller not only doesn't believe that partisanship was a motivating factor, but said before a House hearing this morning that the IRS's targeting of conservatives "is absolutely not illegal." Who the hell is he kidding? Un-freakin-believable...

With all the lies and squirming this guy did today, he should be the FIRST to go to jail! So, what about it, Speaker Boehner?

ADDENDUM: GOP Rep. Mike Kelly received a standing ovation after laying into this fool...

"I am more concerned today than I was before, and the fact that you all can do just about anything you want to anybody? You know, you can put anybody out of business that you want anytime you want. ... You talked about you're a horribly run organization? You're on the other side of the fence, you're not given that excuse. And when the IRS comes in, you're not allowed to be shoddy. You're not allowed to be run horribly. You're not allowed to make mistakes. You're not allowed to do one damn thing that doesn't come in compliance. If you do, you're held responsible right then. I just think the American people have seen what's going on right now in their government. This is absolutely an overreach, and this is an outrage for all of America."

Exposing inhumanity: late-term abortions, born alive 'terminations' and another Gosnell

2013-05-17T13:53:00.001-05:00

With the current administrative scandal of the IRS targeting of tea party and conservative groups, it appears that religious and pro-life groups were no more immune either. I'd like to address the latter for now (which happens to be a part of the former)...

We're led to believe by abortion advocates in the nation, including the mainstream media, most Democrat politicians and even the current Oval Office occupant, that Kermit Gosnell, the recently convicted Philadelphia abortionist/mass murderer/monster, was just some anomaly in the wide world of choice. The reality couldn't be further from the truth.

LiveAction.org is one organization that's vigilantly working to expose what the abortion industry in America doesn't want the public to know, particularly in regards to late-term abortion practices. Their six-month undercover investigative project called 'Inhuman' has blown the lid off illegal, inhuman and outright gruesome practices at abortion centers across our country. Here's the fourth video from this series, investigating Leroy Carhart, one of four abortionists in the U.S. who proudly practice abortions in their third trimester...

Here's the prior three investigations shown thus far: Investigation #1: Bronx, NY, Investigation #2: Washington, D.C., Investigation #3: Phoenix, AZ.

As atrocious as these cases are, it tragically gets worse. Not only has late-term abortion become more prevalent in America, but like Gosnell, more abortion practitioners who are willing to kill babies born alive are being discovered.

LifeNews: After the conviction of late-term abortionist Kermit Gosnell on murder charges, Operation Rescue has been repeatedly asked if there is any evidence that similar practices exist at abortion clinics elsewhere in the nation. That documentation has now been released.

Meet Douglas Karpen, another Gosnell facing investigation for not only aborting babies well beyond the legal limit, but also gruesomely killing babies born alive...

DailyMail: A second 'house of horrors' abortion clinic is being investigated in Texas, just days after Dr Kermit Gosnell was found guilty of murdering newborns at his Philadelphia termination center.

Houston doctor Douglas Karpen is accused by four former employees of delivering live fetuses during third-trimester abortions and killing them by either snipping their spinal cord, stabbing a surgical instrument into their heads or 'twisting their heads off their necks with his own bare hands'.

Other times the fetus was so big he would have to pull it out of the womb in pieces, Karpen's ex-assistant, Deborah Edge, said in an Operation Rescue video, which has prompted a criminal investigation into the doctor.

Related links: New Web Site Exposes Douglas Karpen, Who Kills Babies Born Alive
Abortion Clinic Employees Reveal Alleged Texas 'House of Horrors' in Douglas Karpen's Clinic

Predictably, the mainstream media are all but ignoring this one as well...

LifeNews: Thus, far, the mainstream media hasn’t touched the Karpen expose’ outside of Texas-based news outlets, according to Google and Yahoo News searches.

The New York Times put up a story today on Karpen and could barely manage two paragraphs of reporting on the extensive expose‘ LifeNews featured this week.

Today, Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) President Marjorie Dannenfelser implored the media to cover the story of abortionist Douglas Karpen and the evidence, including photographs, brought forward by three of his former employees.

“Gosnell’s ‘House of Horrors’ woke up many Americans to the inhumanity of the late-term abortion industry. Here is, arguably, more disturbing evidence,” said Dannenfelser. “With hearts broken for these suffering children, we ask the media to overcome the understandable recoil from this brutality and report the horrific facts of this case. The testimony and the photos are very, very difficult to take in, but this is a conversation that we must have as a nation. What are we as a society willing to tolerate?”

This current case, along with the undercover work of Life organizations, are absolutely factors in Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) joining Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) in calling for investigative hearings on other Gosnell-like clinics and the practice of late-term abortion in the U.S....

Whether they're 'going nowhere fast' with the current makeup of the U.S. Senate is one thing, but are there other courageous political leaders willing to join these two statesmen in investigating, and inevitably defeating, these abominable practices?

The sanctity of Life must return to America...for this inhuman barbarism against it cannot stand.

IRS official in charge during Tea Party targeting now runs ACA office!

2013-05-16T18:18:00.000-05:00

WTF?! How assuring...

ABCNews: The Internal Revenue Service official in charge of the tax-exempt organizations at the time when the unit targeted tea party groups now runs the IRS office responsible for the health care legislation.

Sarah Hall Ingram served as commissioner of the office responsible for tax-exempt organizations between 2009 and 2012. But Ingram has since left that part of the IRS and is now the director of the IRS’ Affordable Care Act office, the IRS confirmed to ABC News today.

Her successor, Joseph Grant, is taking the fall for misdeeds at the scandal-plagued unit between 2010 and 2012. During at least part of that time, Grant served as deputy commissioner of the tax-exempt unit.

Grant announced today that he would retire June 3, despite being appointed as commissioner of the tax-exempt office May 8, a week ago.

Such accountability. We're so screwed...

ADDENDUM: Levin UNLOADED concerning this tonight...

"I'm telling you, folks, it's corrupt through and through, through and through! All this changing things on the fringes and on the edges, and we're gonna hold hearings. It's all BULLCRAP! There needs to be a bill introduced right now, the discussion needs to begin right now, on whether we the people want an Internal Revenue Service, a department of our government like this, which lies, which politicizes, which imposes its will on we the people, WE THE PEOPLE!"

"The IRS must be dismantled."

EPA and SEC pulling an 'IRS'?

2013-05-16T18:10:00.000-05:00

Still pouring. In a post from a few days ago on the trifecta of Benghazi/IRS/AP scandals, I mentioned a probe into the Environmental Protection Agency pulling the same kind of crap towards conservative groups as what the IRS did. Here's the latest on that one...

TheHill: The Environmental Protection Agency’s inspector general will review claims the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) refuses to waive public records fees for conservative groups while granting the waivers for environmental organizations.

Acting Administrator Robert Perciasepe asked the agency’s inspector general to review claims after GOP lawmaker accusations of a double standard.

The charges came up Thursday during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing, where Republicans compared the EPA's actions to the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups.

Perciasepe told lawmakers he’s asking the inspector general to help conduct a “programmatic audit” of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request fee decisions.

Maybe it's just me, but I keep wondering how an Inspector General, who's a part of this Justice Department, within this current administration, would be any more reliable in getting to the truth of the matter. Oh, they're nonpartisan...I forgot. Right. Moving along...

Where the EPA seems to be a participating party in the conservative discrimination department, one Republican lawmaker cites a contentious corporate disclosure proposal that's before the Securities and Exchange Commission as a potential opportunity for a similar politicized scandal.

TheHill: Financial Services Committee chairman Jeb Hensarling said the IRS’ apparent targeting of conservative groups raises questions about how pervasive “tactics of harassment” have become within the Obama administration, saying the scandal is “right out of the Watergate playbook.”

The Texas Republican, during a budget hearing, warned new SEC chairman Mary Jo White that her agency could similarly be viewed as acting in a partisan manner if it pursues a rule requiring public firms to report their political spending to shareholders.

Hensarling said the proposal “is well known to be part of a partisan political agenda of labor union bosses.”

The SEC announced late last year that it is considering whether to propose the disclosure requirements, sought by activist investors, unions, some Democrats and a coalition of consumer advocate groups who have flooded the agency with half a million comments urging the agency to move forward.

Business groups and many congressional Republicans say the SEC has neither the authority nor the expertise to tackle campaign finance reform, which is traditionally the jurisdiction of the Federal Election Commission. Foes of the proposal say it is a clear effort to drive business groups out of the political arena.

White is seen as having the deciding vote on whether to move forward with the proposed rule.

I think I've inferred this before, but I'll put it out there again: it's likely that every single executive department within Obama's administration are involved in similar discriminatory and overreaching scandals. After all, the evidence lies in the actions of the Partisan whom these department personnel emulate...and we know he's only out for certain Americans, if that.

Senate Democrats block resolution condemning IRS for targeting conservatives

2013-05-16T17:03:00.000-05:00

Circle the wagons. This expression can't get any more accurate about what Senate Democrats have done in blocking a resolution condemning the IRS for targeting conservatives...

RedAlert: Senate Democrats have decided that holding the Internal Revenue Service accountable is not a priority right now.

On Tuesday the Democratic leadership in the chamber blocked a resolution by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to investigate the federal agency and fire all people responsible for improperly targeting conservative organizations.

“President Obama should terminate the individuals responsible for targeting and willfully discriminating against Tea Party groups and other conservative groups,” the resolution states.

His resolution also demanded an investigation “to determine if other entities in the administration of President Obama were involved in or were aware of the discrimination and did not take action to stop the actions of the Internal Revenue Service.”

“This resolution is not about Republican vs. Democrat or conservative vs. liberal,” Paul said in a statement. “It is about arrogant and unrestrained government vs. the rule of law. The First Amendment cannot and should not be renegotiated depending on which party holds power.”

“Each senator took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, yet Senate Democrats chose to block my resolution and thus refused to condemn the IRS for trampling on our First Amendment rights,” he continued. “I am incredibly disappointed in Washington’s party politics and I am determined to hold the IRS accountable for these unjust acts.”

Obama says no special counsel needed in IRS scandal

2013-05-16T13:23:00.002-05:00

With the criminality of the IRS suppression of tea party and conservative organizing and/or fundraising, which undoubtedly had an effect on votes in the end, surprise, surprise, Obama doesn't see the need for a special counsel...

NRO: A special counsel is not necessary to investigate the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups, President Obama said this afternoon. His announcement comes despite calls from a number of conservative lawmkers urging the Justice Department to assign a special counsel to lead an investigation into the matter.

“I think that it’s gonna be sufficient for us to be working with Congress, they’ve got a whole bunch of committees, we’ve got IGs already there, the IG has done an audit, it’s now my understanding they’re going to be recommending an investigation,” the president explained. “Between those investigations I think we’re going to be able to figure out exactly what happened, who was involved, what went wrong, and we’re going to be able to implement steps to fix it.”

Looks like Holder's not the only one who knows the word, "no," if nothing else.

Also, notice he's cut off the call for a better tax system quickly by the mention of "working with Congress" and "we've got a whole bunch of committees." The Statist wouldn't want a better system.

Related link: RUSH: Obama Virtually Admits White House Knew What The IRS Was Doing
Megyn Kelly On Obama’s “Non-Denial” Denial: Obama Didn’t Deny Knowing About IRS Targeting, He Denied Knowing About The IG Report

ADDENDUM: Sarah Palin slammed Obama for the 'scandalous hat trick' perpetrated on his watch through multiple violations of the Hatch Act...very clever and well worth the read!

Beck ties Benghazi, IRS, AP scandals to Obama's 'fundamental transformation'

2013-05-16T12:08:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, Glenn Beck expanded on what most of us already suspect about Obama's knowledge of his own administration's multi-tiered scandals...

TheBlaze: Beck contends that more than just indicating the administration’s corruption, the three scandals are all part of a bigger goal to “fundamentally transform the United States of America,” in the words of President Obama.

And though the president has claimed there is no scandal surrounding Benghazi and that he was ignorant of the acts taken by the IRS and the DOJ, Beck didn’t buy it.

“It’s absolutely incomprehensible. There’s no way. There’s no way he didn’t know,” Beck said. “But I want to go back to the name of the scandals. We have Benghazi, IRS, and the AP. I tried to figure out what these things were really all about –in the end what do these three scandals have in common?”

“What they have in common is the arrogance of transforming the world,” Beck contended.

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Don't ask Eric Holder...he doesn't know

2013-05-16T11:46:00.001-05:00

After AG Holder recused himself from the AP wiretap investigation yesterday, he appeared before congressional members to discuss what he claimed not to know about the other administrative scandals in Washington...

FreeBeacon: Attorney General Eric Holder often did not know, could not recall or just was not sure during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday as House Republicans grilled him over controversies including the IRS’ targeting of Tea Partiers, the Justice Department’s seizure of journalist phone records, and the security lapses surrounding the Boston Marathon bombing.

Sounds like President Obama, doesn't he? What the hell use are these people? I DO KNOW that answer: NONE!

Related link: Mark Levin: Eric Holder is lying, his so-called ‘recusal’ is CRAP!

ADDENDUM: Wait, wait...he does know one thing...

REPORTER: "Mr Holder, will you appoint a special council to investigate Benghazi?"

HOLDER: "No."

Levin: 'It's time to KILL the IRS' (UPDATE)

2013-05-16T11:19:00.003-05:00

EXCELLENT segment from Levin last evening, making the case for a better tax system...

"Folks, it's time to kill the IRS. That's the bottom line. This agency has been corrupt since its founding. And the bigger the government gets, the more corrupt it gets, the more ubiquitous it gets. And I don't just mean flat out political partisanship and cronyism. I mean its abuses."

Either a flat tax or a Fair Tax! NOW is the time.

UPDATE: For the second night in a row, Levin pushed the need to dismantle this corrupt department...

"I'm telling you, folks, it's corrupt through and through, through and through! All this changing things on the fringes and on the edges, and we're gonna hold hearings. It's all BULLCRAP! There needs to be a bill introduced right now, the discussion needs to begin right now, on whether we the people want an Internal Revenue Service, a department of our government like this, which lies, which politicizes, which imposes its will on we the people, WE THE PEOPLE!"

"The IRS must be dismantled."

Rush puts IRS, Benghazi scandals in perspective

2013-05-15T16:44:00.000-05:00

Rush puts a couple of the concurring scandals in crystal clear perspective...

"At the very at least — at the very least — the IRS suppressed the Tea Party movement for 27 months, from March of 2010 to June of 2012, across two election cycles. That’s at the very least. The IRS suppressed the Tea Party movement. The IRS. In this case, a branch of the Obama administration...

What was really happening was they were having war waged against them and they didn't know it. Might have suspected it. They were being denied the right to participate in the American political process, because this administration sought to use its power to oppose these people simply because they disagree and don't like and are threatened by their ideas."

BUT...

"But, folks, let me tell you something. All of this, this IRS stuff, yes, it’s bad, and it’s easily explained, and it’s easily understood. It wasn’t fair. It’s mean. But at least so far we don’t know that anybody was killed. In Benghazi, four Americans are dead, and there still is not a legitimate explanation for why. Benghazi remains huge. Benghazi is perhaps bigger than the IRS scandal. I don’t want to put the Tea Party people on a lower rung of the ladder. That’s not what I’m doing here. But in terms of this IRS scandal, this is typical, this is Democrat Party power, unfair, cheating politics using an agency of the government to wage war on domestic enemies. But Benghazi, that is sheer, utter incompetence resulting in the four dead Americans."

Mr. Disengaged, President Passerby, mustn't be excused from this. Not one iota.

They're all Obama.

CBO: Obamacare doubles to $1.8 trillion in first decade

2013-05-15T16:05:00.001-05:00

Guess they weren't listening when we were screaming about the fuzzy math...

TheExaminer: When President Obama was selling his health care legislation to Congress, he declared that “the plan I’m proposing will cost around $900 billion over 10 years.” But with the law’s major provisions set to kick in next year, a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office projects that the law will cost double that, or $1.8 trillion.

What accounts for the dramatic difference? It’s true that at the time of passage, the CBO said the gross cost of the law’s provisions to expand insurance coverage would be $940 billion over a decade. But as many critics of the health care law pointed out at the time, this number was deceptive because it estimated spending from 2010 through 2019 even though the program's major spending provisions weren’t scheduled to go into effect until 2014. Effectively, the original estimate measured the cost of six years of Obamacare instead of 10.

Now, as implementation approaches, CBO has released projections for the 2014 to 2023 budget window — the first actual decade of Obamacare — and the gross cost projection is $1.8 trillion.

Ohh, and here's a reminder of the icing on the cake...

"Americans should remember that this same corrupt IRS will be in charge of enforcing Obamacare." ~ Sarah Palin

Time to rescind the funding, Republicans. Pay attention, Speaker.

Boehner's timidity shines through in light of scandals

2013-05-15T13:48:00.000-05:00

So...Boehner held a press conference this morning to talk about...jobs? Umm, what month or year is this guy stuck in? Not that they're not important, they are...but this administration is currently embroiled in numerous scandals, RIGHT NOW! It's time to take action! Yet, Boehner can only muster up a single response to the IRS scandal...

“The IRS admitted to targeting conservatives, even if the White House continues to be stuck on the word ‘if.’ My question isn't about who is going to resign. My question is who's going to jail over this scandal?”

Oh yeah, that'll show'em, Mr. Speaker. Then after jobs talk and a phony vote to repeal Obamacare (defund it, fool!), Boehner gives props to Issa on the Benghazi hearings...and still no mention of a select investigative committee...

“I want to applaud Chairman Issa and the Government Reform Committee for all of their work last week on Benghazi – trying to get to the bottom of what happened. The administration could make this a lot easier for all Americans by coming forward with e-mails that they’ve shown us, in some cases, but have not turned over to us. And I don’t want to prolong this anymore than anyone else, what I want is the truth.”

We all want the truth....but you're the only one holding things up!

Pathetic, folks. It's disgraceful that Pelosi was so much more effective for all the wrong reasons. The time for timidity is over, especially in light of scandals that would typically bury a president in sane times. I know...

For the umpteenth time, we need a new Speaker!

Scandals: the media departure vs. the Democratic double-down

2013-05-15T12:39:00.001-05:00

Wow. Who knows how long it'll last (or if), but this is some departure for the mainstream liberal media from all the fawning we've seen since Obama's been in office. We've watched Obama's White House, as well as he himself (sorry, I pulled a 'there, there'), throw individuals under the proverbial bus...now it seems he's moving on to entire departments of his own branch!

And after the Carney-barker warned the media not to compare Obama to Nixon, well, that just provided an open invitation to draw the parallels...

Is D.C. turning on Obama? Even the non-lo-info-news outlets can't help but pile on...

So what do top Democrats Pelosi and Reid think about all of these scandals? Shockingly (not), we find a complete contrast. Not only the typical excuses of plausible deniability, but the standard blame the GOP or conservatives...or somebody besides our guy(s).

When it comes to Benghazi, Pelosi is dismissive and immediately points to a GOP 'obsession' with finding out the truth...

...because it had nothing to do with the 'magnificent job' of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.

As for the IRS targeting of conservative groups, Pelosi says this is 'an opportunity.'

“As we look at this and we should — and I think it’s very wrong that they would have targeted them. We should be saying what are these groups — let’s have transparency, disclosure. Who are these contributors, A? B, let’s have accountability for what this is. This is a very vague law. We need a clear definition of what a 501-C4 is, that someone could give them money and they don’t have to pay taxes on it.”

Then there's dingy Harry, who says the GOP is 'hyperventilating' about the Benghazi cover-up 'to rile up the tea party base.'

And of the IRS scandal, Reid excuses the IRS by arguing that the government should review 'shadowy political groups' from 'masquerading as social welfare organizations.' Harry Reid basically justifies that the IRS needs to be given more power...

RUSH: "He is excusing the IRS from leaking illegal information to advance his political point of view."

And Obama? 'I know nothing'...'not my fault'...'go back to bed, America, your government is in charge.' Umm...apparently not...

NHUL: President Obama is right about one thing. The Benghazi affair is about politics. It was about the politics of ignoring and muddying the facts of the attack to protect his reelection chances last year; and now it is about the politics of deflecting responsibility for the lives lost and the lies told.

Ignoring or deflecting responsibility is the hallmark of this administration. The President now says he only learns of these blunders when he reads of them in the news. The IRS' Gestapo-like tactics in going after conservative groups? Obama is shocked.

The unprecedented scale of spying on The Associated Press? "The White House," a spokesman says, knows nothing about what the "Justice Department" may be doing.

Really? Will we next be told that President Obama knows nothing about what "The White House" may be doing?

Obama's administration is surely incompetent. It may also be incredibly calculating in its disregard for ethical governing. The two are not mutually exclusive.

If the American people sit still for anything short of full congressional investigations on these issues, they will have answered Hillary Clinton's haughty and dismissive question: What difference does it make?

The real amnesty bill: no English, no fines, no back taxes...no problem?

2013-05-14T18:27:00.000-05:00

As illegal immigration continues to rise, despite the administration's claims, and we're incessantly bombarded by that Ryan/Rubio amnesty radio ad in at least half a dozen states (mine, being one of them!), no thanks to Mark Zuckerberg's Americans for a Conservative Direction front group (FYI, he's no conservative and neither is that crappy looking facade), a new report exposes the sham that Ryan, Rubio and too many other Republican dopes are falling for (or pushing, rather) concerning the specifics of the outright amnesty being foisted on Americans...

Breitbart: Amnesty proponents claim the Senate's "comprehensive immigration reform" bill does not grant illegal immigrants "amnesty" because illegal immigrants will have to learn English, pay fines, pass background checks, pay back taxes, and go to the back of the line.

Jon Feere, a legal analyst at the Center for Immigration studies, though, contends that illegal immigrants may be able to avoid all of these requirements given how the bill is written.

Feere's original article is found here; but essentially, he lists how illegals may be able to avoid every one of these so-called requirements. Here's the highlights:

Illegal immigrants may not have to pay back taxes
Illegal immigrants may not even have to learn English
The Department of Homeland Security cannot administer accurate background checks
Most illegal immigrants will not have to pay fines
Illegal immigrants will not even have to go to the "back of the line"

When reading the details of Feere's findings, you'll better understand that there are no direct requirements at all that mandate learning English, paying fines, paying back taxes, etc. As Obama would say, "There's no 'there' there!"

So, how can these so-called conservatives support this? Why the deception? What's to gain? Nothing...but less competition with more low-information, liberal Democratic voters. And after this backfires, what's next? A pathway to ownership? The guys over at CNSNews give us a glimpse at the absurdity of amnesty...

Wake the hell up, Republicans. Wake the hell up, America. Your sovereignty is being eroded.

Who knew? It's all Rush's fault...

2013-05-14T12:29:00.000-05:00

Amidst the avalanche of White House scandals, EIB microphones caught this impromptu White House presser...

"That was Rush Limbaugh's fault."

Yes, this was HILARIOUS parody, but it's rooted in the sad truth of the matter...

theAtlanticWire: President Obama told donors like Jessica Biel, Justin Timberlake (who was wearing hipster glasses), and Tommy Hilfiger that Washington gridlock is pretty much Rush Limbaugh's fault on Monday evening at a fundraiser at Harvey Weinstein's house in New York's Greenwich Village. Obama admitted that his theory — that after the 2012 election, the Republican "fever" would break, and they'd decide to co-sign some of his agenda — was wrong. "My thinking was when we beat them in 2012 that might break the fever, and it’s not quite broken yet," Obama said, according to the White House pool report. This is because of a certain corpulent radio host. "I genuinely believe there are Republicans out there who would like to work with us but they’re fearful of their base and they’re concerned about what Rush Limbaugh might say about them. And as a consequence we get the kind of gridlock that makes people cynical about government."

What does it say about a president who can't take responsibility for his own administration and his own policies, but instead, blames everything on a singular private citizen with a voice?

And once again, Rush extends an olive branch to the President to "hash this out"...

...all the while, Obama's begging any, just one, Republican to denounce Rush...

...because if it weren't for El Rushbo, well, hell, the GOP would just roll the dice and go along with Obama!

H/t: Moonbattery

When it rains, it pours: Benghazi, the IRS and now the AP (UPDATES: HHS/EPA added!)

2013-05-14T11:28:00.001-05:00

Boy, oh boy...

Politico: Scandal politics are sweeping Capitol Hill.

Just days after news broke that the IRS targeted conservative nonprofits, Speaker John Boehner’s House committees will morph into mock courtrooms where the White House will be the defendant in what amounts to a number of high-stakes political trials.

The most recent scandal to grip the Obama administration came Monday evening, when The Associated Press disclosed that the Justice Department sought its reporters’ phone records — including those of correspondents who sit in the Capitol. Within hours, House Republicans vowed to investigate. To make things worse for President Barack Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder is scheduled to be on Capitol Hill Wednesday for a House Judiciary Committee hearing.

That’s hardly the president’s only problem.

Two separate committees — Oversight and Government Reform, and Ways and Means — will probe whether the IRS was treating right-leaning groups unfairly.

The IRS probes might be new to the public, but they’re not to House Republicans, who have long worried about politicization at the agency. The hot-button topic has come up in several committee hearings since the GOP took the majority.

There are currently five separate committee investigations into the attack on a U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, and a probe into Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius raising millions of dollars to promote Obamacare. Ways and Means is demanding answers to seven questions on this matter, as well.

All together, roughly one-third of House committees are engaged in investigating some aspect of the Obama administration.

So, let's get this straight...

Benghazi cover-up:
Benghazi, IRS: Son of Watergate?
Top Dem calls for public testimony on Benghazi
Obama’s claim he called Benghazi an ‘act of terrorism’ -- Four Pinocchios
Cheney: President Obama Involved In Ongoing Benghazi Cover-Up

IRS scandal:
In IRS scandal, echoes of Watergate
IRS head Steven Miller: 'Mistakes were made'
Top IRS official didn't reveal tea party targeting
Senior tax officials knew of extra Tea Party scrutiny
Revealed: The 55 questions the IRS asked one tea party group after more than two years of waiting – including demands for names of all its donors and volunteers
IRS employees donated over twice as much to Obama in 2012
Exclusive McConnell: IRS revelations 'just the beginning'
Obama’s IRS: Six times the IRS has been accused of punishing President Obama's political opponents

AP wiretaps:
Gov't probe obtains wide swath of AP phone records
Under sweeping subpoenas, Justice Department obtained AP phone records in leak investigation
White House responds to Justice Dept. secretly obtaining AP phone records: "We are not involved"

...and there you have it: a corrupt administration that just over a majority of voters, just a few short months ago, reinstalled in our nation's Capitol. Way to go...

Related links: Corruption in the sacred temple of socialism
Justifiable Cause: The Obama administration is making the case for conservatism better than Mitt Romney ever did

UPDATES: HHS and the EPA have joined the fray...

Sebelius joins Holder, Hillary and Obama down the rabbit hole...

FoxNews: House Republicans are starting a probe into Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius soliciting donations from companies her agency might regulate, to help sign up uninsured Americans for ObamaCare.

Sebelius in recent weeks has asked various charitable foundations, businesses executives, churches and doctors to donate money to nonprofit organizations, such as Enroll America, that are helping to implement President Obama's health care overhaul.

Whatever it takes to kickstart that POS legislation, they'll do it.

And looks like the EPA has pulled an 'IRS'!

TheDC: The IRS may not be the only federal agency singling out conservative groups. Records suggest that the Environmental Protection Agency has made it easier for environmental groups to file Freedom of Information Act requests than conservative organizations.

According to EPA records obtained by the free market Competitive Enterprise Institute, since January 2012 the agency has granted fee waivers for 75 out of 82 Freedom of Information Act requests sent by major environmental groups, denying only seven of them — meaning green groups saw their fees waived 92 percent of the time.

At the same time, the EPA frequently denied fee waivers to conservative groups. EPA records show that the agency rejected or ignored 21 out of 26 fee waiver requests from such conservative groups as the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Institute for Energy Research, and Judicial Watch — an 81 percent rejection rate.

Who'd like to wager that this stuff has gone on throughout most, if not all, of the executive agencies under Mr. Transparency's administration?

Levin discusses IRS scandal with Cavuto and Hannity

2013-05-14T10:25:00.001-05:00

As tea party groups and other conservative organizations reject the IRS apology, while lawmakers feign outrage and demand answers, Mark Levin made the rounds yesterday to discuss just how severe this IRS scandal is. First on Cavuto...

And yes, it does go beyond Cincinnati, as we discover that the IRS in both D.C. and California offices were targeting conservative groups too!

On his own program, Mark vented his frustrations with Congress...

theRightScoop: Mark Levin wants to know where was Congress last year when these Tea Party groups were getting targeted by the IRS and complaining about it publicly. He said the same people who are outraged now weren’t taking these groups seriously and that if it were up to Congress there would have been NO IG investigation into the IRS and this stuff would still be going on.

It’s time for Congress to take off the mittens and get serious, he says, and it’s long past time for them to understand they have power under Article One of the Constitution.

Once again, on Hannity, Levin comes down on all of Congress, particularly timid congressional Republicans, who neglected this scandal when they knew about it before the 2012 elections. Mark also weighs in on a new scandal with the AP, as well as Benghazi...

And it just keeps going, as it was revealed yesterday evening that the same IRS that targeted conservative groups also disclosed confidential documents from those groups to ProPublica last year!

I think Cavuto's quote is quite right and all-encompassing: "If Richard Nixon once famously said he gave his enemies a sword, this president might have just given them a chainsaw."

Gosnell GUILTY! of first-degree murder (UPDATE)

2013-05-13T14:27:00.001-05:00

Columnist JD Mullane reports that Dr. Kermit Gosnell was found guilty in three of four first degree murder charges for babies born alive. He faces the death penalty in each. Gosnell was also found guilty of infanticide in the death of Baby A, and conspiracy in deaths of babies C and D.

Gosnell was also found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death Karnamaya Mongar, a patient who died of an overdose of sedatives following an abortion procedure.

The jury has reached a verdict in all 260+ counts against the abortionist. They found Gosnell guilty of "corrupt organizations" and conspiracy to perform abortions past Pennsylvania's 24 week limit. Gosnell was found guilty on most of the more than 200 counts of the state's "informed consent" law requiring a 24-hour wait.

May this case provide precedence for the sanctity of the most innocent and vulnerable Life, in which we might begin to turn the tide against the out-of-control abortion practices in this nation.

UPDATE: This monster received more leniency than he ever afforded those innocent souls aborted...

LifeNews reports that Gosnell has given up his right to appeal the guilty verdict. In return, prosecutors have agreed to two life sentences without parole. He faces sentencing on Wednesday.

Obama calls Benghazi a "sideshow", says "there's no 'there' there"...?

2013-05-13T13:07:00.003-05:00

The only thing defying logic is this president's denial.

Mr. President, I don't think the families of those murdered in Benghazi think this cover-up is a "sideshow." And enough about the video that this entire administration knew had NOTHING to do with this attack from the beginning!

"There's no 'there', there?" Sounds a lot like "It depends on what the meaning of the words 'is' is." And we know how that went. In this case as well, something clearly is there! What a deceitful, despicable excuse for a president.

ADDENDUM: And 'did they make him cry' is all the press can come up with?

Reuters: A tear runs down the face of U.S. President Barack Obama as he answers questions about the attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya...

Are you F'ING KIDDING ME?! There is no free press...

Rush comments further on Obama's dribble...

IRS scrutiny went beyond 'Tea Party' 'patriots'

2013-05-13T12:43:00.000-05:00

Looks like the list of those bullied has grown and wasn't only confined to 'Tea Party' 'patriots'...

FoxNews: An IRS campaign to apply additional scrutiny to conservative groups went beyond targeting “Tea Party” and “patriot” groups to include those focused on government spending, the Constitution and several other broad areas.

The additional guidelines created by the agency were part of a timeline, obtained by Fox News, from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, which is looking into the controversial IRS practice. IRS officials apologized Friday for the scrutiny, but new information suggests senior leaders were apprised of the effort as early as 2011 despite public denials from the top.

Republican lawmakers have vowed to investigate and hold hearings, calling the revelations deeply troubling.

The internal IG timeline shows a unit in the agency was looking at Tea Party and “patriot” groups dating back to early 2010. But it shows that list of criteria drastically expanding by the time a June 2011 briefing was held. It then included groups focused on government spending, government debt, taxes, and education on ways to “make America a better place to live.” It even flagged groups whose file included criticism of “how the country is being run.”

By early 2012, the criteria were updated to include organizations involved in “limiting/expanding government,” education on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and social economic reform.

Taken together, the findings of the IG and the initial admissions by the IRS Friday are fueling complaints from Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Evidence that the IRS was flagging such groups in 2011 was included in a draft inspector general’s report obtained Saturday by Fox News and other news organizations and expected to be released in full later this week.

Actually, it's not that surprising that as soon as these grassroot tea party and conservative groups enter the scene with their pro-constitutional agenda, helping to sweep the 2010 midterms, the Obama administration goes beyond a Nixonian reaction to use federal resources to investigate the people. I mean, he already complained about how much the Constitution constrains him.

CBS, along with others, are actually reporting on this one (rather than Benghazi)...

Related link: White House Dismisses IRS Targeting Conservatives As Only “A Small Number Of IRS Employees,” Says Obama “Concerned”…
Obama’s Faux Outrage Over IRS Scandal, Calls It “Outrageous”…

Family Matters: ABC/CBS/CNN relatives working for WH have ties to Benghazi

2013-05-13T11:01:00.000-05:00

As if Friday's news of the talking points revision and purposeful cover-up wasn't enough, over the weekend we began to get a better understanding of why mainstream media didn't want to cover this (besides their obvious liberal leanings)...

NewsBusters: "CBS News President David Rhodes and ABC News President Ben Sherwood, both of them have siblings that not only work at the White House, that not only work for President Obama, but they work at the NSC on foreign policy issues directly related to Benghazi." So stated political consultant and media commentator Richard Grenell on Saturday's Fox News Watch...

So, ABC, CBS and CNN are all in the incestuous mix. No NBC kin in on this one? Of course, those sycophants don't have to be directly related to aide this administration in covering up anything...

For the record:

CNN Deputy Bureau Chief Virginia Moseley is married to Tom Nides, Hillary Clinton's Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources.
ABC President Ben Sherwood's sister is Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, Barack Obama's Special Assistant.
CBS President David Rhodes' brother is Ben Rhodes, Obama's Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communication. (Ben Rhodes was a key player in revising the White House talking points on Benghazi last September)

...but remember, there's no media bias. HA!

Related links: Bozell, Hannity Review Media's Lack of Interest in, Spin Regarding Benghazi Hearings
Befuddled by Benghazi, Top Political Reporters Admit Irrelevancy to Uncovering Obama Admin Dishonesty

One World Trade Center tops out at 1776

2013-05-10T16:53:00.001-05:00

One World Trade Center reached new heights today as the final portion of the spire was put into place, making the building 1,776 feet tall...a reference to the birth of the our nation.

I thought it only fitting to find a few silent videos of the installation, without all the media commentary, to solemnly honor all of those Americans who lost their lives on 9/11/01. We will never forget. This is for you...

Time-lapse:

IRS apologizes for targeting conservative groups during the 2012 Election

2013-05-10T15:25:00.002-05:00

Though it may not be surprising to find out that Obama bureaucrats hassled conservative groups, it nonetheless speaks volumes toward the subversion of the republic...

AP: The Internal Revenue Service inappropriately flagged conservative political groups for additional reviews during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status, a top IRS official said Friday.

Organizations were singled out because they included the words "tea party" or "patriot" in their applications for tax-exempt status, said Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt groups.

In some cases, groups were asked for their list of donors, which violates IRS policy in most cases, she said.

"That was wrong. That was absolutely incorrect, it was insensitive and it was inappropriate. That's not how we go about selecting cases for further review," Lerner said at a conference sponsored by the American Bar Association.

"The IRS would like to apologize for that," she added.

Lerner said the practice was initiated by low-level workers in Cincinnati and was not motivated by political bias. After her talk, she told The AP that no high level IRS officials knew about the practice.

Riiight...who the hell does she think she's kidding at this point?

Tea Party groups weren't buying the idea that the decision to target them was solely the responsibility of low-level IRS workers.

"It is suspicious that the activity of these 'low-level workers' was unknown to IRS leadership at the time it occurred," said Jenny Beth Martin, national coordinator for Tea Party Patriots, which describes itself as the nation's largest tea party organization. "President Obama must also apologize for his administration ignoring repeated complaints by these broad grassroots organizations of harassment by the IRS in 2012, and make concrete and transparent steps today to ensure this never happens again."

Yeah...not gonna happen. Dear Leader doesn't seem to know jack these days...yet he's still the most brilliant president ever. Go figure.

Defending Jason Richwine

2013-05-10T13:26:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, Michelle Malkin wrote a blistering criticism of more RINO participation with the 'p.c. lynch mob' in smearing one of the Heritage Foundation authors over that amnesty cost analysis published earlier this week. Rush also mentioned how the long knives are out to discredit the Heritage Foundation's immigration study. Today, Rush joined Malkin in defending Jason Richwine against these rabid pro-amnesty forces, as well...

Related link: Cabal of Leftists and RINOs Attempt to Destroy Heritage Scholar Jason Richwine

Benghazi talking points revised 12 times...Obama and Hillary knew 'terrorism' and covered up (UPDATE)

2013-05-10T11:42:00.000-05:00

Well, looks like the media have finally rousted this morning on the Benghazi cover-up...and it's all blowing up on the Administration. From Fox to ABC, reports reveal that the administration's talking points had been revised up to 12 times, scrubbing any 'terrorist' references to protect Hillary and Obama...

FoxNews: New details about the Obama administration's initial story-line on the Benghazi attack are raising additional questions about top-level efforts to downplay terrorism, with one report showing a State Department official pushed to delete a section that could have been used to "beat up" her department.

The fresh reports have surfaced two days after three whistle-blowers testified on Capitol Hill about the Benghazi attack. One of them sharply challenged the administration's decision to describe the attack out of the gate as a protest gone wrong.

ABC News reported Friday that, despite administration claims that the flawed description reflected the best intelligence at the time, the talking points that led to the statement were revised 12 times.

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ABCNews: When it became clear last fall that the CIA’s now discredited Benghazi talking points were flawed, the White House said repeatedly the documents were put together almost entirely by the intelligence community, but White House documents reviewed by Congress suggest a different story.

ABC News has obtained 12 different versions of the talking points that show they were extensively edited as they evolved from the drafts first written entirely by the CIA to the final version distributed to Congress and to U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice before she appeared on five talk shows the Sunday after that attack.

White House emails reviewed by ABC News suggest the edits were made with extensive input from the State Department. The edits included requests from the State Department that references to the Al Qaeda-affiliated group Ansar al-Sharia be deleted as well references to CIA warnings about terrorist threats in Benghazi in the months preceding the attack.

That would appear to directly contradict what White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said about the talking points in November.

BOOM! Obama and Hillary knew all along and they covered it up.

Speaker Boehner, it's time to ACT and form a special investigative Select Committee. Testimony all the way up to Hillary and Obama himself should be heard, under oath! Perjury, dereliction, nor impeachment should be taken off the table. No more excuses.

It's time to hold these leaders accountable.

Related links: Benghazi Story Escapes Conservative Media
BuzzFeed's Ben Smith explains motives behind White House Libya coverup
WOAH: CNN now saying talking points were edited down to something ‘totally untrue’

UPDATE: So...is the White House now getting their media in lockstep with the cover-up too? Unreal...

Politico: The White House held an off-the-record briefing with reporters on Friday afternoon to discuss recent revelations about the Benghazi investigation, sources familiar with the meeting tell POLITICO.

The meeting began around 12:45 p.m. and postponed the daily, on-the-record White House press briefing to 1:45 p.m. White House press secretary Jay Carney did not respond to a request for confirmation of the meeting.

The off-the-record session was announced to reporters in the wake of an ABC News report showing that White House and State Dept. officials were involved in revising the now-discredited CIA talking points about the attack on Benghazi.

Boy, that doesn't seem like the actions of a guilty party, does it?

H/t: Marcy L.