Wake up America

Audio- Criminal Butt-Dials 911 While Committing A Crime

2013-05-17T17:35:00.000-07:00

By Susan Duclos

An amusing tale to end the day as reports and audio of an accidental butt-dialing call to 911, which allowed the 911 operator to record the men on the other end, committing a crime.

[WATCH]

'Rogue' IRS Worker Claims 'they simply did what their bosses ordered'

2013-05-17T12:00:00.002-07:00

By Susan Duclos

Some of the IRS workers being accused of targeting conservatives are being referred to as "rogue," and "off the reservation," but according to a Fox19 report from two days ago, those workers "simply did what their bosses ordered."

Prior to his resignation, Steven Miller called the two Cincinnati employees 'rogue' and 'off the reservation,' adding that they were 'overly aggressive' in handling the requests from those conservative groups over the past two years.

Miller also added that those two employees have already been 'disciplined' by the agency.
However, despite the claim of just two employees being involved, FOX19 has exclusively learned from two separate sources that there could be at least four Cincinnati employees involved.

Those four employees, whose names we have chosen to withhold until they have been officially confirmed, have each worked in the IRS Exempt Organizations Department.

According to the report: One of FOX19's two sources went on say that these four IRS workers claim "they simply did what their bosses ordered." FOX19 reported on Tuesday that the report by the Office of Inspector General states that senior IRS officials knew agents were targeting Tea Party groups as early as 2011.

Sounds as if these workers are being tossed under the bus but were not "rogue" at all, nor "off the reservation," but instead the targeting was systematic and the orders to do so, came straight from the top.

Related

Video- IRS Commissioner Steve Miller: 'Absolutely Not Illegal' for IRS to Target Americans

Video- IRS Deliberately Hid Scandal Until After 2012 Presidential Election; UPDATE- Confirmed

Obama's Actions Against IRS Officials For Targeting Conservatives, All A Farce

IRS Official in Charge During Tea Party Targeting Now Runs Obamacare Office

Full Wake up America coverage on the IRS scandal can be found here.

Video- Rep. Mike Kelly Receives Standing Ovation at Ways & Means Hearing on IRS Scandal

2013-05-17T11:46:00.003-07:00

By Susan Duclos

The video below concludes with Rep. Mike Kelly receiving a standing ovation at the Ways & Means hearing on IRS scandal after five minutes of hard hitting questions and points made about the illegal targeting of conservatives by the IRS.

[WATCH]

Kelly deserved every second of those applause for adequately communicating the outrage.

Related

Video- IRS Commissioner Steve Miller: 'Absolutely Not Illegal' for IRS to Target Americans

Video- IRS Deliberately Hid Scandal Until After 2012 Presidential Election; UPDATE- Confirmed

Obama's Actions Against IRS Officials For Targeting Conservatives, All A Farce

IRS Official in Charge During Tea Party Targeting Now Runs Obamacare Office

Full Wake up America coverage on the IRS scandal can be found here.

Benghazi- Obama Administration Official 'It's actually closer to us being idiots.'

2013-05-17T11:27:00.001-07:00

By Susan Duclos

CBS News reports that Obama administration officials admit to "incompetence rather than malice or cover up," in regards to the Benghazi response but the quote of the day is the next tidbit from CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson:

"We're portrayed by Republicans as either being lying or idiots," said one Obama administration official who was part of the Benghazi response. "It's actually closer to us being idiots."

That about sums it up.

Read the entire two-page CBS News report.

Related

Full Wake up America coverage on the 9/11/12 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya and the subsequent cover-up by the Obama administration can be found here.

Video- IRS Commissioner Steve Miller: 'Absolutely Not Illegal' for IRS to Target Americans

2013-05-17T10:39:00.000-07:00

By Susan Duclos

At the House Committee on Ways and Means hearing today, in regards to the IRS targeting conservative groups, the IRS Commissioner Steve Miller, states that he believes it is "absolutely not illegal" for the IRS to target specific groups of Americans.

When Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), clarifies the question for Miller, specifically asking if it was "illegal for employees of the IRS to create lists to target individual citizens and groups in this country," Miller states he believes the "Treasury Inspector General indicated that it might not be."

The Treasury Inspector General was responsible for the internal investigation into the targeting of conservatives by the IRS and was the person to determine that "ineffective management" was responsible for targeting of Tea Party groups and other conservatives.

(Read- Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration Report Showing Inappropriate Targeting of Conservatives)

[WATCH]

H/T Todd Starnes

Related

Video- IRS Deliberately Hid Scandal Until After 2012 Presidential Election; UPDATE- Confirmed

Obama's Actions Against IRS Officials For Targeting Conservatives, All A Farce

Full Wake up America coverage on the IRS scandal can be found here.

Video- IRS Deliberately Hid Scandal Until After 2012 Presidential Election; UPDATE- Confirmed

2013-05-17T10:01:00.002-07:00

By Susan Duclos

[Update] Confirmed by IRS commissioner Steven Miller as he admits to Congress that the the IRS planned when it would reveal that it wrongly targeted conservative groups. (H/T TWS)

[WATCH]

Original post below

NBC's Lisa Myers reports the IRS deliberately hid the scandal rocking Washington this week, where the agency was deliberately targeting conservative groups, until after the 2012 presidential election.

[WATCH]

Via TWS:

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."

Related

Obama's Actions Against IRS Officials For Targeting Conservatives, All A Farce

Full Wake up America coverage on the IRS scandal can be found here.

More headlines on the Congressional hearing into the IRS targeting

House panel opens hearing on IRS targeting of conservative groups

IRS: 'We Provided Horrible Customer Service'

Republicans blast IRS for keeping scandal quiet, seek names of those responsible

Obama's Actions Against IRS Officials For Targeting Conservatives, All A Farce

2013-05-17T08:38:00.002-07:00

By Susan Duclos

In an attempt to stem the continuing growth of the IRS scandal, where reports showed they agency was targeting conservatives, including but not limited to, groups connected with "Tea Party, Patriots and 9/12," as well as "political action type organizations involved in limiting/expanding Government, educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, social economic reform movement," Barack Obama "angrily" announced that steps were being taken and heads were rolling.

Obama said the "responsible parties" will be held accountable. Lew "took the first step by requesting—and accepting—the resignation of the acting commissioner of the IRS because given the controversy surrounding this audit, it's important to institute new leadership that can help restore confidence going forward," Obama added.

Political theater, ACT 1

The acting IRS commissioner was Steve Miller and he did offer his resignation, wrote a nice letter, shown here, but what Obama did not mention in his splashy announcement from the White House, is that Mr. Miller's last day was already set for June 8, 2013, by statute.

ABC News:

Miller, a 25-year career IRS employee, was appointed acting commissioner on November 9, 2012. According to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, his 210-day term would have set his last day in that post as June 8.

Political theater, ACT 2

Next blaring headline "2nd IRS official to leave amid tea party scandal."

An internal IRS memo says Joseph Grant, commissioner of the agency's tax exempt and government entities division, will retire June 3. Grant joins Steven Miller, who was forced to resign as acting IRS commissioner on Wednesday.

That is more like it, right? I mean Grant was commissioner of the agency's tax exempt and government entities division, the exact agency that targeted conservatives.

Wrong.

Seem Grant was only "appointed as commissioner of the tax-exempt office May 8," just nine days ago.

He was promoted to the position after the investigation by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report which confirmed inappropriate targeting of conservatives and blaming "ineffective management" for the targeting of Tea Party groups and other conservatives.

So, who was the commissioner of the office responsible for tax-exempt organizations between 2009 and 2012?

Sarah Hall Ingram.

As was reported on Thursday, Sarah Hall Ingram is no longer with the office responsible for tax-exempt organizations, but is now the director of the IRS’ Affordable Care Act office.

What was her punishment for abusing the power of the IRS office to target Obama's political enemies?

$103,390 in bonuses from 2009-2012 and a cozy new position that puts her in charge of the vast expansion of the IRS' regulatory power and staffing in connection with federal health care.

The misconduct that it uncovered is inexcusable. It's inexcusable, and Americans are right to be angry about it and I am angry about it," the president said in a brief prepared statement. "I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency—but especially in the IRS, given the power that it has and the reach that it has into all of our lives."

Obama's outrage, his "anger" his decisive actions..... all one big farce.

Related

Full Wake up America coverage on the IRS scandal can be found here.

IRS Official in Charge During Tea Party Targeting Now Runs Obamacare Office

2013-05-16T18:42:00.002-07:00

By Susan Duclos

Short and sweet.

Via ABC News:

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.

Anyone feeling warm and fuzzy over this news?

Related:

Conservative Hispanic Groups Targeted In IRS Scandal

House votes to repeal ObamaCare

Full Wake up America coverage on the IRS scandal can be found here.

Another Appeals Court Invalidates Obama's Illegal 'Recess' NLRB Appointment

2013-05-16T14:30:00.000-07:00

By Susan Duclos

A second appeals court has now ruled that Barack Obama's appointment of Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), done while Congress was not officially in recess, because it was holding pro-forma sessions, was unconstitutional and the appointment is not valid.

The issue has far-reaching implications for both the NLRB and other boards, including Obama’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has been a frequent target of conservatives and whose director was a recess appointment.

The 2-1 decision Thursday from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (posted here) found that the presidential recess appointment power is limited to breaks between sessions of Congress, not breaks within sessions or other adjournments during which the Senate might meet in pro forma sessions. The reasoning mirrors that in a ruling of the D.C. Circuit Court in January.

The 3rd Circuit case centered on decisions the NLRB made on the authority of three members including Craig Becker, who was appointed by the president on March 27, 2010, while the Senate was adjourned for two weeks.

The case was brought by a New Jersey nursing and rehabilitation center whose nurses were allowed to form a union by one such NLRB decision. The facility, New Vista, contended that the board’s decision was invalid because it did not have enough members active when the decision was issued because the naming of Becker to the board was not a valid recess appointment.

The NLRB must have three members participate in a decision for it to be valid, and the court found that because Becker was not appointed during a break between sessions of Congress, he was not a valid member of the board and thus invalidated the NLRB’s orders.

The opinion, written by Judge D. Brooks Smith, said the recess clause of the Constitution should be read not just to give the president executive power, but also to preserve the “advice and consent” role of the Senate.

Two courts have now determined the recess appointments made by Barack Obama when the U.S. Senate was not official on recess, were unconstitutional, meaning all decisions that have been made by the NLRB in the time since the illegal appointments, should be invalidated.

The Obama administration has petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the first DC Circuit ruling, but it is highly doubtful they will.

WITSEC Loses 'Known Or Suspected Terrorists' And DOJ Didn't Authorize Disclosure For No-Fly List

2013-05-16T12:49:00.000-07:00

By Susan Duclos

There are at least three major concerns stemming from the Interim Report on Department of Justice's Handling of Known or Suspected Terrorists Admitted Into the Federal Witness Security Program" also known as WITSEC.

(Report will be embedded below)

1.) The Witness Protection Program has known or suspected terrorists in it.

After its audit, the IG’s office reported “the Department did not definitively know how many known or suspected terrorists were admitted into the WITSEC program,” among other “significant issues concerning national security.”

2.) They lost at least two of them but the investigation may not be complete so that number may "evolve."

As of March 2013, the Justice Department was reviewing more than 18,000 Witness Protection Program case files to determine whether more known or suspected terrorists have been admitted to the program, the summary notes. As such, the number of terrorists lost or unaccounted for “may not be complete and may continue to evolve.”

3.) Justice Department did not authorize the information on these "known or suspected" terrorists to the appropriate agencies so they could be put on the No-Fly list.

The IG summary said that although the Marshals Service was giving known or suspected terrorists who participated in the WITSEC program and their dependents new names and identity documentation, the Justice Department “was not authorizing the disclosure to the Terrorist Screening Center,” which operates the terrorist watch list that helps provide information to the Transportation Security Administration’s No-Fly and Selectee lists. “Therefore it was possible for known or suspected terrorists to fly on commercial airplanes in or over the United States and evade one of the government’s primary means of identifying and tracking terrorists’ movements and actions.”

This has got to be an unwelcome revelation for the Obama administration which has had multiple major scandals hit at once with the Benghazi hearings and subsequent release of a chain of emails on the Benghazi talking points which contradict assertions made by the Obama administration, the AP Phone record scandal where the DOJ seized the phone records of reporters and the IRS scandal where it has been confirmed the IRS deliberately targeted conservatives groups and others.

Liberals and conservatives are already demanding the dismissal of Attorney General Eric Holder over the AP phone record scandal, so this level of incompetence won't go by unmentioned.

Full Wake up America coverage on Obama administration scandals can be found here.

Interim report embedded below:

Summary Interim WITSEC Report uploaded by Susan Duclos

IRS faces class action lawsuit over theft of 60 million medical records

2013-05-16T11:36:00.001-07:00

By Susan Duclos

When it rains, it pours.

Oon top of the IRS targeting conservatives, new reports of the EPA also using their agency with bias against conservatives, the AP phone record scandal and the recent release of the chain of Benghanzi talking point emails contradicting Wgite House claims, now comes the news that there is a class action lawsuit being filed against the IRS over allegations that it improperly accessed and stole the health records of some 10 million Americans, including medical records of all California state judges. 10 million Americans totaling 60 million medical records.

According to a report by Courthousenews.com, an unnamed HIPAA-covered entity in California is suing the IRS, alleging that some 60 million medical records from 10 million patients were stolen by 15 IRS agents. The personal health information seized on March 11, 2011, included psychological counseling, gynecological counseling, sexual/drug treatment and other medical treatment data.

"This is an action involving the corruption and abuse of power by several Internal Revenue Service agents," the complaint reads. "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. IT personnel at the scene, a HIPPA facility warning on the building and the IT portion of the searched premises, and the company executives each warned the IRS agents of these privileged records," it continued.

According to the case, the IRS agents had a search warrant for financial data pertaining to a former employee of the John Doe company, however, "it did not authorize any seizure of any healthcare or medical record of any persons, least of all third parties completely unrelated to the matter," the complaint read.

The class action lawsuit against the IRS seeks $25,000 in compensatory damages "per violation per individual" in addition to punitive damages for constitutional violations. Thus, compensatory damages could start at a minimum of $250 billion.

Video- Rep. Michele Bachmann responds to IRS targeting scandal

2013-05-16T11:18:00.001-07:00

By Susan Duclos

Rep. Michele Bachmann responds to the IRS targeting scandal on Capitol Hill on May 16, 2013.

[WATCH]

Full Wake up America coverage on the IRS scandal can be found here.

Related:

Another Obama Admin Scandal Brewing? EPA Investigation Into Bias Against Conservatives

Another Obama Admin Scandal Brewing? EPA Investigation Into Bias Against Conservatives

2013-05-16T10:28:00.003-07:00

By Susan Duclos

IRS deliberately targeting conservatives, AP phone record seizure, Benghazi, all recent scandals rocking the Obama administration and now reports show that yet another agency within the Obama administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, will' be reviewing claims of.... drum roll please..... bias against conservatives.

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.

The action follows a May 14 report by the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) that claims the EPA waives the fees for major environmental groups more than 90 percent of the time, while often denying fee waivers for CEI, Judicial Watch and other groups.

What are the chances that a president, Barack Obama, who has shown nothing but public disdain for conservatives throughout his presidency, would preside over agencies that are systematically targeting conservatives by abusing the power of their agencies, and it not be related to Obama's politics?

Prominent Liberal Radio Host Calls For Attorney General Eric Holder's Dismissal

2013-05-16T10:06:00.000-07:00

By Susan Duclos

Liberal talk radio host, Bill Press, described by The Hill as a "prominent" liberal voice, is calling for the ouster of Attorney General Eric Holder, over the AP phone record scandal, just one of the scandals that seems to be rocking Washington DC this month.

What "breach of national security" are we talking about re the AP story? It's BS and Holder should be fired.
— Bill Press (@bpshow) May 16, 2013

With his tweets, Press becomes one of the first prominent liberal voices to call for the dismissal of Holder over the records seizure.

The Justice Department said in a letter to The Associated Press on Friday that it had gathered records on at least 20 office, cell phone, and home phone numbers — including the AP's desk in the House of Representatives press gallery

This puts Mr. Press in the same boat as Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, who also called for Holder's dismissal.

“Attorney General Eric Holder, in permitting the Justice Department to issue secret subpoenas to spy on Associated Press reporters, has trampled on the First Amendment and failed in his sworn duty to uphold the Constitution," said Priebus in a statement.

"Because Attorney General Holder has so egregiously violated the public trust, the president should ask for his immediate resignation. If President Obama does not, the message will be unmistakable: The President of the United States believes his administration is above the Constitution and does not respect the role of a free press,” he added.

According to Michael Sneed, at Chicago Sun-Times, plans to oust Holder in a way that leaves his "reputation intact," is already being discussed at the White House and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick's name is being bandied about as a possible replacement for Holder.

As evidenced by the recent headlines and the shredding of White House spokesman Jay Carney at Tuesday's White House press briefing, the media has abandoned their "circle the Obama wagon" mentality, for now, and another article from The Hill reports that Barack Obama is attempting to "win back" the press by "wooing" them.

To bolster President Obama’s free-press credentials, the White House announced Wednesday it had asked Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to reintroduce a press shield law that would allow media organizations to challenge subpoenas of phone records and offer legal protections for protecting confidential sources.

Will it work or is it too little, too late?

More importantly, why did it take going after one of their own, the AP, for the mainstream media to start doing their job?

Study Shows Democratic Men Are Wimps, More Likely To Support Welfare And Wealth Redistribution

2013-05-16T08:49:00.000-07:00

By Susan Duclos

Once again, despite the seriousness of the scandals rocking Washington DC, IRS, AP Phone scandal and the release of the Benghazi talking point timelines emails, we find a politically humorous bit of news.

The best part of this newly reported study is we finally have an explanation for........ Harry Reid!

A study conducted by psychological scientists Michael Bang Petersen, of Aarhus University in Denmark, and Daniel Sznycer, of the University of California in the U.S, finds that men who are physically strong tend to gravitate towards right-wing political views.

Wimps, or as they so delicately describe them, "weaker men," tend to be more likely to support a welfare state and wealth redistribution.

Men who are physically strong are more likely to take a right wing political stance, while weaker men are inclined to support the welfare state, according to a new study.

Researchers discovered political motivations may have evolutionary links to physical strength.

Men's upper-body strength predicts their political opinions on economic redistribution, according to the research.

“Many previous studies have shown that people’s political views cannot be predicted by standard economic models,” Professor Petersen explains. “This is among the first studies to show that political views may be rational in another sense, in that they’re designed by natural selection to function in the conditions recurrent over human evolutionary history.”

This explains so much.

The findings were published in the journal Psychological Science.

Thomas More Society: IRS Targeted Pro-Life Organizations Also

2013-05-16T07:57:00.003-07:00

By Susan Duclos

The Thomas More Society claims that the IRS scandal reports of IRS officials targeting conservative groups based on keywords such as "Tea Party, Patriots and 9/12," is just the tip of the iceberg and that pro-life organizations were targeted as well by the IRS.

In one case, the IRS withheld approval of an application for tax exempt status for Coalition for Life of Iowa. In a phone call to Coalition for Life of Iowa leaders on June 6, 2009, the IRS agent “Ms. Richards” told the group to send a letter to the IRS with the entire board’s signatures stating that, under perjury of the law, they do not picket/protest or organize groups to picket or protest outside of Planned Parenthood. Once the IRS received this letter, their application would be approved. After a series of letters following a request for more invasive information, Thomas More Society special counsel Sally Wagenmaker sent a letter to the IRS demanding the tax exempt status be issued immediately.

Wagenmaker summarized her concerns about what she called “the IRS’s disturbing ability” to stall and suppress legitimate applicants. She explained how through lengthy questionnaires and wrong citations of applicable law (as in the case of Coalition for Life of Iowa), applicants with less fortitude or without access to legal advocates like the Thomas More Society will be effectively silenced from exercising their constitutional freedoms. Wagenmaker added, “The IRS’s role should only be to determine whether organizations fit the section 501(c)(3) test for ‘charitable, religious, or educational’ qualification, not to inquire about the content of prayers, protests, and petitions. It’s high time that the IRS be called to account for its workers’ potential to trample on our constitutional rights, through such ostensibly innocuous means…what the Ways and Means committee will discuss may only be the tip of the iceberg of IRS abuses.”

In another similar case, the IRS withheld approval of an application for charitable tax-exempt recognition of Christian Voices for Life, questioning the group’s involvement with “40 Days for Life” and “Life Chain” events. The Fort Bend County, Texas, organization was subjected to repeated and lengthy unconstitutional requests for information about the viewpoint and content of its educational communications, volunteer prayer vigils, and other protected activities.

“The application of Christian Voices for Life clearly indicated that the organization qualified as a charitable organization under section 501(c)(3),” stated Sally Wagenmaker. She added, “The IRS seemed to be intent on denying or delaying tax-exempt status based upon the organization’s pro-life message, rather than any legitimate exemption concern, through its exhaustive, cumbersome questioning. The implication that Christian Voices for Life somehow intended to engage in illegal activity was insulting.”

This and other headlines today show the illegal IRS activities go beyond what was originally reported and possibly more widespread than detailed in the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report showing inappropriate targeting of conservatives blaming "ineffective management" for the targeting of Tea Party groups and other conservatives.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew requested - and has accepted - the resignation of the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, Steven T. Miller. (Letter of resignation shown here)

Initially it ad been reported that the IRS has identified two "rogue" employees in the agency's Cincinnati office as being principally responsible for the "overly aggressive" handling of requests by conservative groups for tax-exempt status, a congressional source told CNN, but subsequent reports now show that at least four IRS employees have been linked to the scandal.

FOX19 has exclusively learned that as many as four people may be the first Cincinnati Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees to face disciplinary action, and possibly even criminal charges, for allegedly targeting Tea Party and Liberty groups applying for non-profit status.

As to the excuses given for the massive targeting, where IRS claimed new criteria was developed in response to a "spike" in applications, the data provided in the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report debunks that claim since 501(c)(4) applications for all of 2010 was actually less than in 2009.

According to the audit, 1,735 groups applied for 501(c)(4) exemption for the federal fiscal year that ended September 30, 2010—six months after the IRS began its scrutiny. That was down slightly from 1,751 the prior year.

The number grew to 2,265 during the fiscal year that ended September 30, 2011, and to 3,357 in 2012. By then the criteria the IRS was using to flag groups had changed three times to include searches for groups with names that contained “Bill of Rights,” “educating on the constitution,” and “limiting/expanding government.”

Mr. Miller wrote in USA Today on Monday that the IRS began to centralize those applications in 2010 because the division that supervises tax-exempt organizations observed a sharp increase in the number of applications from groups “potentially engaged in political campaign intervention” that were seeking either 501(c)(4) status or designation as a 501(c)(3) charity. He then cites the increase between 2010 and 2012.

The audit shows that 501(c)(3) applications also declined in both 2010 and 2011 from the previous years.

Public Opinion

57 percent of US. likely voters believe the illegal and "inappropriate" IRS targeting was politically motivated, according to the latest Rasmussen poll and 55 percent believe it is at least somewhat likely that Obama or his top advisers were aware of the IRS probes into Tea Party and other conservative groups.

Related:

George Soros Gave $6.1 Million To Groups That Pressured IRS To Target Conservatives

Full Wake up America coverage on the IRS scandal can be found here.

Embedded Emails- White House Succumbs To Media Demands And Releases Benghazi Emails

2013-05-15T18:52:00.001-07:00

By Susan Duclos

The White House finally releases 100 Benghazi emails after massive pressure from not only conservatives politians but as the mainstream media starts demanding their release.

Via WSJ:

More than 100 pages of emails released by the White House on Wednesday depict a protracted, frustrating and often tense debate about what should be contained in public "talking points" about last year's deadly assault in Benghazi, Libya.

The emails reveal a tussle within the administration about what it could confidently say about the attacks while an investigation into the assault was ongoing.

Senior administration officials said the emails—which the White House released to try to quell a partisan controversy—encompassed a two-day discussion among several agencies as officials wrote and rewrote the talking points on the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks.

Republicans have charged that the White House had political motives—less than two months before the presidential election—for changing the talking points to remove references to terrorist involvement in the assault.

Administration officials on Wednesday described the emails, written by officials ranging from unnamed career employees to then-Central Intelligence Agency director David Petraeus, as a mundane set of documents.

Officials from across the national-security establishment made suggestions aimed at protecting their own interests and turf, as the talking points were edited to remove a mention of al Qaeda and to delete sentences referring to previous warnings about extremist threats in Benghazi.

As the discussion proceeded, frustrations appeared to emerge.

Those emails are embedded below:

Benghazi Emails 1-64 by Susan Duclos

Benghazi Emails 65-100 by Susan Duclos

Full Wake up America coverage on the 9/11/12 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya and the subsequent cover-up by the Obama administration can be found here.

Letter- Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Steven T. Miller Resigns Over Targeting Conservatives

2013-05-15T17:11:00.001-07:00

By Susan Duclos

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew requested - and has accepted - the resignation of the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service in the wake of its handling of requests by conservative groups for tax-exempt status, President Barack Obama said Wednesday.

CNN obtained the memo of Commissioner Steve Miller:

May 15, 2013

The internal message to IRS Employees from Acting IRS Commissioner Steven T. Miller

Dear Colleagues,

It is with regret that I will be departing from the IRS as my acting assignment ends in early June. This has been an incredibly difficult time for the IRS given the events of the past few days, and there is a strong and immediate need to restore public trust in the nation's tax agency. I believe the Service will benefit from having a new Acting Commissioner in place during this challenging period. As I wrap up my time at the IRS, I will be focused on an orderly transition.

While I recognize that much work needs to be done to restore faith in the IRS, I don't want anyone to lose sight of the fact that the IRS is comprised of incredibly dedicated and hard-working public servants. During my 25-year IRS career, I am profoundly proud to have worked alongside you and to be part of an institution that has worked hard to support the nation. I have strong confidence in the IRS leadership team to continue the important work of our agency.

I want to thank everyone for all of their support and friendship during my career in government service. And I especially want to thank each and every one of you for your continued commitment to the nation's taxpayers.

Steve

Related:

Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report showing inappropriate targeting of conservatives blaming "ineffective management" for the targeting of Tea Party groups and other conservatives.

Full Wake up America coverage on the IRS scandal can be found here.

George Soros Gave $6.1 Million To Groups That Pressured IRS To Target Conservatives

2013-05-15T12:02:00.001-07:00

By Susan Duclos

Another tidbit of information since the release of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report, confirming that the IRS targeted conservative groups such as "Tea Party, Patriot and 9/12" groups, among others, delaying their applications in some cases for over two years, asking highly "inappropriate" questions and delaying their approval process, leaving them in limbo as they fast tracked liberal applications..

Liberal billionaire George Soros has reported given $6.1 million to groups and organizations that pressured IRS to target conservatives non-profits.

Via CNS News:

While the first reported instances of extra IRS scrutiny for conservative groups began in Cincinnati in March of 2010, the attacks began to gain momentum on a national level soon after Soros-funded groups began firing off letters to the IRS in October of that year - following the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling.

The talking points of these groups then bounced around a carefully created progressive "echo chamber," until they eventually made their way into established media outlets. Key IRS policy changes about how it investigated conservative groups took place soon after it received three separate letters sent by Soros-funded liberal organizations.

Several Soros-funded groups including the Campaign Legal Center, Democracy 21, the Center for Public Integrity, Mother Jones and Alternet have worked to pressure the IRS to target conservative nonprofit groups. The subsequent IRS investigation flagged more than 100 tea party-related applications for higher scrutiny, including applications that included the words "Tea Party" and "patriot."

The IRS scandal can be traced back to a series of letters that the liberal groups Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and Democracy 21 sent to the IRS back in 2010 and 2011. Both groups were funded by George's Soros's Open Society Foundations. The CLC received $677,000 and Democracy 21 got $365,000 from the Soros-backed foundation, according to the Foundation's 990 tax forms.

Timeline Shows Influence of Soros-Funded Groups

Sept. 16, 2010: TIME article "The New GOP Money Stampede" quotes Wertheimer;
Sept. 23, 2010: DISCLOSE act, a campaign finance disclosure act specifically targeting a Tea Party group, in the writing of which the CLC participated, fails in the Senate;
Sept. 28, 2010: Democrat Senator Max Baucus writes a letter to the IRS, citing the TIME article;
Oct. 5, 2010: Democracy 21 and Campaign Legal Center petition IRS, Wertheimer writes HuffPo article;
Oct. 7, 2010: Legal brief from HoltzmanVogel PLLC against the Democracy 21 petition;
Oct. 14, 2010: Dick Durbin asks IRS to investigate American Crossroads, HuffPo coverage;
June 27, 2011: Second petition to the IRS by CLC and Democracy 21;
June 29, 2011: IRS senior agency official Lois Lerner briefed on efforts to target groups which "criticize how the country is being run";
Sept. 28, 2011: CLC and Democracy 21 petition IRS again, this time about four conservative groups;
Oct. 31, 2011: CPI "investigation";
Nov. 18, 2011: Mother Jones article;
Nov. 21, 2011: Alternet repost of Mother Jones Article;
Dec. 29, 2011: New York Times oped;
Jan. 15, 2012: IRS targeted groups focusing on limiting government or educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights;
February 2012: First articles promoting this issue appear in New York Times, Washington Post and LA Times

$6.1 Million in Soros Funding Since 2000
Center for Public Integrity: $2,716,328
Campaign Legal Center: $677,000
Media Consortium: $675,000
Mother Jones: $485,000
Democracy 21: $365,000
ProPublica: $300,000
Alternet: $285,000
Human Rights Campaign: $600,000

There was a concentrated effort on the part of liberals to deliberately target conservative groups, Romney donors, pro-Israel groups and others and with each new revelation, the scandal becomes much bigger and far worse.

Full Wake up America coverage on the IRS scandal can be found here.

Growing Chorus Of Media Demanding White House Release ALL Benghazi Talking Point Emails

2013-05-15T10:57:00.000-07:00

By Susan Duclos

[UPDATE] Benghazi talking point emails finally released by the White House and embedded in a followup piece.

Original post below

A chain of emails are leaked, then one email is leaked that deliberately makes it appear as if the others were misleading, making the White House very happy indeed, as they hope the Benghazi scandal would become one less to roil the White House on top of the IRS and AP phone record seizure scandals, but instead of minimizing the scrutiny of those Benghazi talking point revisions, now a growing chorus of media personalities are demanding the full, complete chain of emails be released by the White House.

Via Breitbart:

On his MSNBC show, "The Daily Rundown," Chuck Todd looked into the camera and said, "Attention White House: Release all the emails."

The second limited, one-email leak, that appears to be have been released as a way to avoid demands for the entire chain of emails to be released, seems tohave backfired since now CNN, ABC, NBC, MSNBC, all have joined with conservatives, in demanding just that.

Stephen Hayes of The Weekly Standard, who first reported on the Rhoades' email, has been calling for the White House to make these emails available to the media for some time, and added an important point about context Tuesday night:

We don’t know who provided the Ben Rhodes email to CNN, but the leak did not include the earlier emails in the chain among top administration officials. If it had, we would know more about a curious reference on page 20 of the House GOP report. The report describes an email we now know was written by State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, who wrote to the group that earlier edits to the Benghazi talking points did not “resolve all my issues or those of my building leadership.” And then, according to the House report, Nuland’s email reported “that the Department’s leadership was consulting with [national security staff].’”

Is this characterization from the House report accurate? Did the consultation happen? If so, who in the State Department leadership spoke with the White House’s national security staff? Why weren’t they satisfied with the earlier edits? What were the remaining “issues” with the talking points?

If the goal was to bail Obama out of the brewing Benghazi mess, tactically, whoever released the Rhoades' email to Tapper, just made a huge error.

In an attempt to insulate Obama for the 2012 presidential election, from the fallout of the administration's whole handling of the Benghazi attack, before, during and especially the talking points coming from the administration afterwards, they made it appear as a coverup.

Now that the election is over, by still refusing to be transparent about those talking point emails, it is becoming far more long-lived than if the Obama administration just released the full chain of emails and dealt with the fallout.

Full Wake up America coverage on the 9/11/12 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya and the subsequent cover-up by the Obama administration can be found here.

Jon Stewart Slams Obama For Claims Of Finding Out About Administration Scandals From The Media

2013-05-15T09:32:00.001-07:00

By Susan Duclos

I am not a personal fan of Jon Stewart, then again I don't watch any talk shows, but once in a while a late night comedian will so accurately nail false claims, in such an amusing manner, that I do show the clip.

John Stewart did that with Obama and his administration's constant claims that they found out about their own scandals at the same time everyone else did, from the media. (He also provides video clips of those assertions)

That is something I pointed out myself on Tuesday, with a post titled "Is Obama The Least Informed, A Liar, Or Just A Figurehead President?"

[WATCH]

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Daily Show on Facebook

Best line from Stewart comes at the end of the clip:

"I wouldn’t be surprised if President Obama learned Osama bin Laden had been killed when he saw himself announce it on television."

H/T ClashDaily

Video- Laugh of the Day- White House Spokesman Jay Carney 'Appreciates' 131 Questions

2013-05-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

By Susan Duclos

With all the hard-hitting, cringe-worthy news about IRS targeting, the AP Phone scandal, Obamacare, Benghazi, etc...... it is rarer than usual to find a quick political laugh today, so Politico has compiled a nice array of "appreciation" from Jay Carney to the media for raking him over the coals.

[WATCH] This might be your only political laugh of the day.

The IRS, AP Phone Scandals Show The Bigger Government Gets, The More Tyrannical it Becomes

2013-05-15T08:28:00.000-07:00

By Susan Duclos

Tyranny- Oppressive power exerted by government--- Merriam Webster dictionary.

It has been a very, very bad month for Barack Obama and his big government ideology as scandal upon scandal pile upon each other in fast succession, two of which clearly provide ample evidence of what conservatives have been attempting to communicate to voters for decades.

The bigger government gets, the more tyrannical it gets.

Even before the release of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report, segments of the report were being doled out, and with each new revelation, the scope of the IRS targeting of conservatives grew bigger and bigger.

It isn't paranoia if they really are after you.........and liberals can no longer claim that the specific targeting of conservative groups by the IRS, while fast tracking approval for liberal groups, is all in the minds of those paranoid conservatives.

Right smack dab in the middle of the leaked information about the IRS targeting, before the actual investigative report was released, came another shocking revelation.

Obama's Department of Justice had seized a broad swath of Associated Press phone records, which many consider a massive violation of the First Amendment right to free press.

Before both these events blew up into the scandals they are becoming with each new revelation, the Benghazi hearings provided live coverage of whistle-blowers, and their testimony about failures on the part of the Obama administration before and during the 911/12 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, which resulted in death of four Americans.

Making it worse, their testimony and leaked talking points emails, shows that Obama and his officials lied to the American public about the attack, to which Obama, according to Washington Post's The Fact Checker, is still lying to the American people about.

All this is happening at the same time that Barack Obama and liberals are trying to convince the American public that government should also be in control of their healthcare, as the roll out of Obamacare marches along.

Oh and let's not forget how entwined Obamacare is with the IRS, as the irony of the next headline shows "Obamacare: Taxpayers Must Report Personal Health ID Info to IRS."

Politico, in a four-page article, manages to capture this perfect storm and how Barack Oama is standng right in the middle of it:

The narrative is personal. The uproars over alleged politicization of the IRS and far-reaching attempts to monitor journalists and their sources have not been linked directly to Obama. But it does not strain credulity to suggest that Obama’s well-known intolerance for leaks, and his regular condemnations of conservative dark-money groups, could have filtered down to subordinates.

The narrative is ideological. For five years, this president has been making the case that a growing and activist government has good intentions and can carry these intentions out with competence. Conservatives have warned that government is dangerous, and even good intentions get bungled in the execution. In different ways, the IRS uproar, the Justice Department leak investigations, the Benghazi tragedy and the misleading attempts to explain it, and the growing problems with implementation of health care reform all bolster the conservative worldview.

Not only is scandal roiling through the Obama administration, but the mainstream media who insulated him and protected him when Solyndra and Fast and Furious became front page news, do not seem so inclined to protect him now that Obama's DOJ has attacked one of their own.

Take a look at some of the headlines coming from the media now.

New York Times- "Spying on The Associated Press"

Politico- "Obama's dangerous new narrative"

The Hill- "Rangel: Obama hasn't fully explained DOJ phone records seizure"

Washington Post- "Obama, the uninterested president"

USA Today- "IRS approved liberal groups while Tea Party in limbo "

ABC News- "IRS Asks for Reading List, Tea Party Group Sends Constitution"

That is just a small sample from Memeorandum.

The media isn't the only entity distancing themselves, for the moment, from Barack Obama.

Seems establishment Democrats, not to be mistaken with progressive liberal Democrats, are also turning against him as Politico points out with the headline "D.C. Turns On Obama"

The town is turning on President Obama — and this is very bad news for this White House.

Republicans have waited five years for the moment to put the screws to Obama — and they have one-third of all congressional committees on the case now. Establishment Democrats, never big fans of this president to begin with, are starting to speak out. And reporters are tripping over themselves to condemn lies, bullying and shadiness in the Obama administration.

Flashback- "Oh I think that, you know, as president I bear responsibility for everything--to some degree. "--- Barack Obama, 60 Minutes

[Update] Townhall has the video of Obama, last week, telling The Ohio State University graduating students:

"Unfortunately you've grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity that's at the root of all of our problems. Some of these same voices do their best to gum up the works. They'll warn that tyranny is always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices. Because what they suggest is that our brave and creative and unique experiment in self rule is somehow just a sham with which we can't be trusted."

You think he might have had an inkling of the firestorm that was about to hit his administration?

Read- Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration Report Showing Inappropriate Targeting of Conservatives

2013-05-14T16:38:00.000-07:00

By Susan Duclos

The much anticipated Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report showing inappropriate targeting of conservatives blaming "ineffective management" for the targeting of Tea Party groups and other conservatives.

54-page report embedded below:

Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration Report 2013 uploaded by Susan Duclos

KMOV Anchor, Larry Conners: The IRS is targeting me

2013-05-14T13:37:00.000-07:00

By Susan Duclos

H/T Politico, It seems Larry Conners, anchor for KMOV, believes the IRS has targeted him after he conducted an interview with Barack Obama.

Via his Facebook page:

Shortly after I did my April 2012 interview with President Obama, my wife, friends and some viewers suggested that I might need to watch out for the IRS.

I don't accept "conspiracy theories", but I do know that almost immediately after the interview, the IRS started hammering me.

At the time, I dismissed the "co-incidence", but now, I have concerns ... after revelations about the IRS targeting various groups and their members.

Originally, the IRS apologized for red-flagging conservative groups and their members if they had "Tea Party" or "patriot" in their name.

Today, there are allegations that the IRS focused on various groups and/or individuals questioning or criticizing government spending, taxes, debt or how the government is run ... any involved in limiting/expanding government, educating on the constitution and bill of rights, or social economic reform/movement.

In that April 2012 interview, I questioned President Obama on several topics: the Buffet Rule, his public remarks about the Supreme Court before the ruling on the Affordable Care Act. I also asked why he wasn't doing more to help Sen. Claire McCaskill who at that time was expected to lose. The Obama interview caught fire and got wide-spread attention because I questioned his spending.

I said some viewers expressed concern, saying they think he's "out of touch" because of his personal and family trips in the midst of our economic crisis.

The President's face clearly showed his anger; afterwards, his staff which had been so polite ... suddenly went cold.

That's to be expected, and I can deal with that just as I did with President George H. Bush's staff when he didn't like my questions.

Journalistic integrity is of the utmost importance to me. My job is to ask the hard questions, because I believe viewers have a right to be well-informed. I cannot and will not promote anyone's agenda - political or otherwise - at the expense of the reporting the truth.

What I don't like to even consider ... is that because of the Obama interview … the IRS put a target on me.

Can I prove it? At this time, no.

But it is a fact that since that April 2012 interview ... the IRS has been pressuring me.

Via Politico:

UPDATE (1:36 p.m.): Conners emails POLITICO:

I’m sorry, but I just was told … Corporate does not want me to do any interviews. Sorry.