The excerpt of the letter in question…

Please explain how all of your activities, including the prayer meetings held outside of Planned Parenthood, are considered educational as defined under 501(c)(3).  Organizations exempt under 501(c)(3) may present opinions with scientific or medical facts. Please explain in detail the activities at these prayer meetings. Also, please provide the percentage of time your organizations spends on prayer groups as compared with the other activities of the organization.

Wow, wow and wow…. Apparently the folks that wrote this didn’t realize that churches who are also 501(c)(3) organizations (usually) pray a lot and offer opinions all of the time.  So the idea they can only present opinions with “scientific or medical facts” is categorically false.

This on top of the news that the Treasury Department knew about this scandal back in 2012.  Surely they didn’t keep it quiet to shield President Obama did they?

The letter is below after being made public by the Thomas More Society:

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Jay Carney has become absolutely breathtaking in his willingness to spout unmitigated crap to the American people. I don’t remember anyone even in the Nixon Administration that was so willing to continue to make pronouncements that virtually everyone knew weren’t true. This guy appears to be in a class by himself. If there is a Mt. Rushmore to honor those who spread political bovine excrement, Jay Carney needs to have his face chiseled into the rock there.

Ben Stein wrote this last September: “Incredibly, Jay Carney, White House spokesman, is spinning a complete fairy tale that the Islamists really like America and Mr. Obama. The murderers are just upset about a movie trailer that came out months ago. How stupid do they think we Americans are? If Mr. Obama really believes (this), he belongs in a straitjacket. If not, his spokesman is the biggest fantasist of all time.”

I have concluded that Carney isn’t a fantasist. He’s just a guy that can maintain a whopper of a lie longer and better than anyone in recent memory. He’s the kind of a guy that, when the Emperor himself realizes that he has no new clothes and is in reality buck naked, can continue to tell the masses that the Emperor is wearing Armani. As I said, the guy appears to be in a class by himself. An artist, a master at his craft. A National Treasure.

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This amendment was an attempt to level the playing field when it comes to educational opportunities in the state. The language allowed Education Savings Grants to be deposited into student ESAs in the amount of the average per pupil state aid. The money may be put toward the costs of attending school or for home school expenses. Education is changing and we need to adapt and incorporate a multitude of opportunities such as ESAs to ensure future student success.

Iowa has world-class higher education opportunities and encouraging Iowa students to stay in the state and complete their advanced degree is a common sense option that will benefit the entire state. To that end, any unspent funds in their account could be used for Iowa-based colleges or universities.

While I will continue to work for the best interest of Iowans, the majority party refused to accept new solutions to education disparity in this state and voted against the ESAs. Offering a variety of educational opportunities for our students should be accepted and embraced if we want our students to be able to compete at a global level and achieve success. It is my belief that ESAs are a step in the right direction when it comes to education reform and we will continue to put Iowans first by offering common sense opportunities in order to maximize educational success.

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“Freedom of association and speech are among the most foundational rights of our republic, and the politically-motivated targeting of Americans by the IRS is a blatant betrayal of the public trust. Attempts by an overreaching federal government to silence voices of dissent are not only un-American, they must not be tolerated and those responsible must be held to account,” said Baltimore. “As investigators continue probing the IRS misconduct, I urge any targeted Iowan or Iowa organization to come forward and make their voice heard.”

Baltimore said that he will work with any targeted Iowan to ensure they are connected with appropriate congressional oversight investigators to ensure any facts pertaining to the IRS scandal are heard.

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Iowa Right to Life had two main goals coming into this legislative session: to end webcam abortions and support other legislation that would save as many lives as possible.  We have supported a number of pro-life bills this year, from bans of all abortions in Iowa to bills that would save thousands of children from being killed before they are born. Iowa Right to Life has been at the capitol every day this legislative session building relationships, championing pro-life legislation and working with organizations that share our passion to advance a number of bills through a very divided legislature that would work toward ending abortions in our State.

It is possible this year’s legislative session will end as early as this weekend. There is still time for legislators in both chambers to pass meaningful legislation this year that would save lives!  With abortion providers increasingly caught breaking the law, mishandling Federal and State funds, and with the Kermit Gosnell trial pointing out the horrors that come with a culture that doesn’t respect human life; the time is now to push legislators in both chambers and from both parties to act to protect the most vulnerable among us.

Our lives are filled with tough choices.  But the greatest thing policymakers could do is protect those whose voices can’t yet be heard.  Please contact your State Representative and Senator TODAY by clicking here and ask him/her to stop all funding for entities that do or refer for abortion.

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No this is much larger as approximately 500 conservative and Christian groups were targeted.  At the same time they were approving liberal groups.  The White House can not deny knowledge.  Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) in his weekly video address said that he was part of two formal requests from Congress last year asking for information about allegations that the IRS was targeting conservative groups.  Grassley said, “The IRS denied that there was targeting going on.”  Are we to believe the Obama administration knew nothing of those requests?

In fact according to the IRS Inspector General report Lois Lerner, who heads up the exemption section of the IRS,  was told on June 29, 2011 that groups with “Tea Party,” “Patriot” and “9/12 Project” were being singled out for additional scrutiny.  Also the IRS denied status to pro-life groups on behalf of Planned Parenthood.  We’re supposed to believe this started and ended with “two rogue employees.”

It’s much, much bigger.

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews lost the thrill up his leg.  He’s doesn’t seem to be letting President Obama off the hook, “He does run the IRS. He runs the Treasury Department. He runs the United States government, and he is accountable for it, and this is nonsensical.”

For once I agree with Chris Matthews.  It is nonsensical.  President Obama needs to be held accountable for the culture within his Administration that he has helped to create.  The investigations have just begun and this is just one piece of the scandals that are brewing within his administration.  Calling for and demanding the resignation of the IRS Commissioner who was isn’t even leaving until he already planned to go isn’t good enough – not even close.

Photo credit: DC Tim via Flickr (CC-By-SA 2.0)

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Yesterday the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the Romeike family’s request for asylum in the United States. The Romeikes sought political asylum in the United States due to Germany’s ban on home education. They currently face criminal prosecution in Germany. They came to the United States in 2008 and were initially granted asylum by an immigration judge due to their legal situation in Germany. In 2012 the Board of Immigration Appeals overturned that decision when the Obama Administration appealed.

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the Justice Department, in Romeike vs. Holder, that the freedom to homeschool not one of the fundamental rights protected for asylum seekers.

“Congress might have written the immigration laws to grant a safe haven to people living elsewhere in the world who face government strictures the United States Constitution prohibits,” the court said in its opinion. “But it did not.”

Michael Farris founder and Chair of the Home School Legal Defense Association explained why this ruling was wrong on Facebook.

The essence of their opinion is that we will not grant asylum to victims of a nation where the entire nation is subjected to the same rules.

This approach is wrong in two key ways. First, while compulsory attendance laws apply to all Germans, the German government openly says that the reason that they specifically target homeschoolers is because they want to repress religious and philosophical minorities.

Even though we repeatedly brought these statements to the Court’s attention, the opinion makes absolutely no mention of this dramatically important fact.

Second, the fact that the law is universal in character, is no excuse for a denial of human rights. The Court approved the government argument that even if prosecutions violate human rights standards, so long as the prosecution is equally administered to all, it is not a ground for asylum.

We believe this approach dramatically curtails the value of freedom and individual rights. If every member of a nation is denied freedom of speech, and are thrown in jail or have their children removed for speaking out, our nation should give such people asylum.

The same thing should be true for religious freedom and parental rights. Even a nation denies every family parental rights and religious freedom–the United States of America should provide a safe have for those who escape from such repression.

The one bright spot from the ruling is that the Court affirmed parents do have a right to direct the education and upbringing of their children.

Farris promised to appeal the ruling to the entire 6th Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court if necessary. He said, “We believe the Sixth Circuit is wrong, and we will appeal their decision. America has room for this family, and we will do everything we can to help them.”

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The new testimony we heard from people who were on the ground in Libya shed new light into what went on there.  In case you missed it – it made the Obama administration in general, and then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton look very, very bad.  These were not partisan politicians giving testimony, but seasoned, career foreign service officers.  Regardless of what party one is affiliated their testimony should be heard and seriously considered.

Now only does it look like we have evidence of an administration cover-up, but it also confirms that officers within the Administration and possibly the President himself was derelict in their duties.

The media pretty much said, nothing to see here.  I believe at the very least we have seen the end of Secretary Clinton’s political career, and it looks like she may have to head back to Washington, D.C. for additional scrutiny this time she doesn’t have a Presidential administration providing her cover.

Sam Clovis wrote last week that the Obama Administration is coming apart at the seems, and it looks like we don’t even know the half of it.  Because in addition to Benghazi we learn that the Internal Revenue Service has been targeting conservative groups for extra scrutiny.  It was also more widespread that was we were originally told, as reported by The Washington Post.

Internal Revenue Service officials in Washington and at least two other offices were involved with investigating conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, making clear that the effort reached well beyond the branch in Cincinnati that was initially blamed, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.

IRS officials at the agency’s Washington headquarters sent queries to conservative groups asking about their donors and other aspects of their operations, while officials in the El Monte and Laguna Niguel offices in California sent similar questionnaires to tea-party-affiliated groups, the documents show.

IRS employees in Cincinnati told conservatives seeking the status of “social welfare” groups that a task force in Washington was overseeing their applications, according to interviews with the activists.

Lois G. Lerner, who oversees tax-exempt groups for the IRS, told reporters Friday that the “absolutely inappropriate” actions were undertaken by “front-line people” working in Cincinnati to target groups with “tea party,” “patriot” or “9/12” in their names.

Be sure to read the rest.  Now we also have a veteran local news anchor in Missouri claiming that he has been “hammered” by the IRS after a 2012 interview with President Obama.  On top of this it is being reported that the IRS sent confidential information on conservatives to the liberal nonprofit ProPublica.  We see one example of IRS coercion by the IRS in the 55 questions that were asked after the Richmond Tea Party had been waiting two years for their tax-exempt status.

They were even asked to provide the names of their volunteers.

Is this not chilling?  But hey we’re told by Jay Carney that just because the IRS apologized doesn’t mean they didn’t do anything wrong.  Isn’t that the point of an apology?  They also said they were aware of the reports, but apparently didn’t do anything about it.

The third strike was the U.S. Department of Justice secretly obtaining two months worth of phone records from the Associated Press.  AP reports:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press in what the news cooperative’s top executive called a “massive and unprecedented intrusion” into how news organizations gather the news.

The records obtained by the Justice Department listed outgoing calls for the work and personal phone numbers of individual reporters, for general AP office numbers in New York, Washington and Hartford, Conn., and for the main number for the AP in the House of Representatives press gallery, according to attorneys for the AP. It was not clear if the records also included incoming calls or the duration of the calls.

In all, the government seized the records for more than 20 separate telephone lines assigned to AP and its journalists in April and May of 2012. The exact number of journalists who used the phone lines during that period is unknown, but more than 100 journalists work in the offices where phone records were targeted, on a wide array of stories about government and other matters.

If the IRS story isn’t chilling then this should be.  Both stories together weaves a narrative that even has Democrats concerned.  Veteran investigative reporter Carl Bernstein said that this action by the Administration is totally inexcusable.

“It is outrageous, totally inexcusable,” Bernstein told MSNBC. “This administration has been terrible on this subject from the beginning. The object of it is to intimidate people who talk to reporters. This was an accident waiting to become a nuclear event, and now it’s happened. There’s no excuse for it whatsoever. There’s no reason for this investigation, especially on this scale.”

Bernstein went on to blast a White House statement denying knowledge of the subpoena as “nonsense.”

It is known to the president of the United States that this is the policy,” Bernstein said. “To say there was no knowledge in, quote, specifically about this in the White House is nonsense. This is a policy matter and this does go to the president.”

Attorney General Eric Holder said that he has recused himself from the investigation.  President Obama claims that he is a free believer in freedom of the press, but that isn’t reflected in his administration’s conduct.

These three events dovetailing together does not bode well for President Obama (this doesn’t even include Fast & Furious, Pigford, etc.).  Each issue by itself brings about serious questions, but together paints a narrative of an Administration that is off the charts in terms of abusing power.  Impeachment shouldn’t be taken off the table, and I don’t say that lightly.  It was something I was unwilling to entertain in the past even though I disagree with the President on, well, pretty much everything.  Looking back at Watergate I don’t see how Congress doesn’t move forward on impeachment articles if the evidence warrants it.  The potential instances  abuse are not any less serious than what President Richard Nixon was accused of.

The post President Obama’s Rough Week (and It’s Only Tuesday) appeared first on Caffeinated Thoughts.

As someone who was  active in pro-life legislative action in the 1990s, I can say how vigorously the pro-abortion movement opposed any sort of regulation on abortion. In 1995, my family and I lobbied in Montana for parental notification law, only doctors being allowed to perform abortions, and informed consent. All of these were vigorously opposed by the pro-abortion movement.

In Pennsylvania, pro-abortion Governor Tom Ridge’s administration decided to ignore the basic health and safety of women by failing to inspect these facilities (aside; Makes voting for a pro-choice Republican seem like the bad choice it is) and that was followed by Democrat Ed Rendell, and it allowed Gosnell for many years to get away with murder.

The opposition to even the most reasonable legislation flies in the face of the most famous and accepted pro-choice statement of our time by former President Bill Clinton who declared that abortion should be, “safe, legal, and rare.”

However, the actions of the pro-abortion rights movement was to oppose any regulation that might reduce abortions because of the need for abortion clinics to do a high volume of business.  While they don’t seem to understand this is true  in other businesses, the left did understand this was true in abortion. Many clinics have had to close due to declines in business and many others could not withstand healthy scrutiny. That’s why Kermit Gosnell literally got away with murder.

In the aftermath of the Gosnell trial,  the abortion industry may reap the fruits of its stubbornness. Pro-life lawmakers should be emboldened to pursue regulations that protect women and hold abortion clinics accountable for basic health and safety practices. After this case, abortion supporting lawmakers really would be wise to think twice before following radical pro-abortion activists in knee jerk opposition to any regulation.

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Pro-lifers have long been saying that abortion is not safe, that it traumatizes the women who have had one, physically and emotionally.  Not to mention it kills their babies. Certainly as a society we need to rethink abortion and the trauma it causes. The reports that have come out about Dr. Gosnell’s clinic certainly shows that there is a need to better monitor abortion clinics around the country to make sure that they are not performing late term abortions, are in compliance with FDA regulations for sanitation, and are not committing the atrocities like those committed. The states also need to make the effort to prosecute abortion doctors and clinics that violate FDA regulations and who murder babies that survive abortion attempts. Abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell was rightly convicted of first-degree murder (even though it should have been on more than three counts).

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