News of the Week for May. 27th, 2013
- Obama Scandals
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Obamacare
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Obama Scandals
The IRS’s Curious Immunity
It’s worse than the PATRIOT Act.
White House aide: ‘Nothing that suggests’ IRS official at center of scandal ‘did anything wrong’
A besieged White House dug in its heels Sunday and defended figures at the center of the unfolding Internal Revenue Service scandal while reiterating that President Obama knew nothing of the misdeeds inside the agency.
Three Fox News Staffers Targeted By Justice Department
Fox News reports that three Fox staffers, two reporters and one producer, were targeted by Barack Obama’s Justice Department. Fox doesn’t have all the details yet on reporter William La Jeunesse and producer Mike Levine, but their emails showed up in a IG report regarding Fast and Furious. Either their emails were leaked by the Justice Department officials they were sent to, or the email accounts of both were subpoenaed and invaded by government investigators.
The Most Chilling Details From The Kafkaesque Search Warrant That Went After A Fox News Reporter
Journalists are understandably alarmed by the revelation that President Barack Obama’s Justice Department targeted Fox News reporter James Rosen during a leak investigation of a State Department employee.
IRS Source: No Way Low-Level Paper Pushers Acted on Own – “There has to be a directive”
Last week, I pointed to a story by a Cincinnati Fox affiliate in which Queen City-based IRS agents said they were following orders to conduct ideologically specific scrutiny of groups applying for nonprofit tax exemptions. At least five employees from the Cincinnati office, which was apparently largely in charge of determining status requests, are going to be testifying before Congress.
Two IRS Offices Targeted Hawaii GOP Leader At Same Time
In what former Republican executive and activist Dylan Nonaka is calling a massive invasion of privacy that suggests a coordinated effort to target conservative groups, two IRS offices last year independently and simultaneously conducted costly audits and sought tea party-related training materials that they apparently believed could be tied to Nonaka.
True Scandal
A tea-party group targeted by Democrats gets attention from the IRS—and the FBI, OSHA, and the ATF.
Shut It Down–An Open Letter To Speaker Boehner
The revelations about the corruption and abuses of power within in the Obama administration has shown one thing very clearly…Obama has not taken care that the laws of the United States be faithfully executed.
Obama and the IRS: The Smoking Gun?
President met with anti-Tea Party IRS union chief the day before agency targeted Tea Party.
True the Vote Files Suit Against the IRS
True the Vote, a Houston-based nonprofit dedicated to fighting voter fraud, has filed suit in federal court against the IRS, asking the court to grant its tax-exempt status (three years after applying) and seeking damages for unlawful actions taken by the IRS against the organization.
Top IRS official will invoke 5th Amendment
A top IRS official in the division that reviews nonprofit groups will invoke the 5th Amendment and refuse to answer questions before a House committee investigating the agency’s improper screening of conservative nonprofit groups.
‘When Fascism Comes to America . . .’
Liberals used to love to quote the (apparently apocryphal) line from a Sinclair Lewis character “When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and waving a cross.”
Three Signs There’s a Cover-Up
“Mistakes were made….I don’t recall” and other surefire clues.
Why the IRS Went After the Tea Party Instead of Establishment Republicans
As the old saying goes, beware of Greeks bearing gifts; but as the new saying goes, beware even more of Republicans bearing bribes. In either case, one could get destroyed (or at least corrupted) from the inside by trusting the wrong people.
IRS Targeted Adoptive Parents
They probably would have gotten a tax credit if they just opted for a late-term abortion instead.
Conservatives became targets in 2008
The Obama campaign played a big role in a liberal onslaught that far pre-dated Citizens United
Holder personally vetted Rosen warrant, DOJ fought for prolonged secret monitoring of accounts
It’s 4 p.m. ET as I’m writing this. If you had that time plus “deeper complicity for Holder in the Rosen investigation” in the pool, congrats.
How Prosecutors Fought to Keep Rosen’s Warrant Secret
The Obama Administration fought to keep a search warrant for James Rosen’s private e-mail account secret, arguing to a federal judge that the government might need to monitor the account for a lengthy period of time.
Obama’s nominee for Commerce Sec. “inadvertently omitted” more than $80 million in income from financial disclosures
Billionaire Commerce Secretary nominee Penny Pritzker “inadvertently omitted” more than $80 million in income from the financial disclosures she filed last week, though the revelation is not expected to be a critical factor in her Thursday confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce panel.
Now The Gibson Guitar Raids Make Sense
IRS Scandal – The inexplicable raid nearly two years ago on a guitar maker for using allegedly illegal wood that its competitors also used was another targeting by this administration of its political enemies.
Gun Rights
Time Warner Criticized for Public’s Misperception of Gun Crime in America
At today’s annual meeting of Time Warner shareholders held at the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, National Center for Public Policy Research Free Enterprise Director Justin Danhof, Esq. confronted Time Warner CEO Jeffery Bewkes over his company’s bias and partisan positions regarding the Second Amendment.
Hide the Decline
Environment &
“Green Energy”
Surprise! Another California Green Policy Flop
California’s “Hydrogen Highway” is a road to nowhere. About a decade ago, then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called for the state to invest more than $50 million in the program, which was to lead to the creation of 100 hydrogen fuel stations capable of serving 2,000 fuel-cell vehicles. Today, the state has a whopping total of nine hydrogen stations serving about 200 fuel cell cars.
The Apotheosis of Climate McCarthyism
It is well worth the ten minutes or so it takes to read this American Thinker post by Norman Rogers from a couple of weeks ago that reviews the work of Roy Spencer, John Christy, and others on the question of climate sensitivity, which we have covered here several times in the past. And while this review of the devastating findings of Spencer and company, and how the climate establishment reacted to try to suppress dissenting views, makes this piece worth a read by itself, the most significant part of Rogers’s post is the news item buried toward the end that Texas A & M University imposes a climate orthodoxy loyalty oath on faculty in its climate science department
Obamacare
Government in Healthcare
An Early Sign of Obamacare’s Impending Collapse?
In March, we reported that the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP), a program created to provide coverage to sick Americans who have been uninsured for at least six months, was in serious trouble. Only a fraction of the expected 400,000 people had signed up, but the program was burning through the cash allotted to the program too quickly. The administration capped further enrollments, but even that wasn’t enough to save the program.
Some unions now angry about health care overhaul
Some labor unions that enthusiastically backed President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul are now frustrated and angry, fearful that it will jeopardize benefits for millions of their members.
War & Terror
Woman Who Left Americans to Die in Benghazi Accepts Humanitarian Award
Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton touted the efforts of a group combatting malnutrition and blindness during an awards speech in New York City.
The UK Pays Anjem Choudary More Than It Pays British Soldiers
Terrorist supporter Anjem Choudary rakes in more tax-payer money than those fighting the terrorists. I would be outraged on behalf of British citizens, but the U.S. isn’t much better.
National
Monstrous Tornado Kills 2 Dozen Children At Elementary School
An Oklahoma City television station is reporting that it is believed that at least two dozen children were killed at an elementary school after a monstrous tornado as much as a mile wide with winds up to 200 mph roared through, flattening entire neighborhoods, and setting buildings on fire.
Chances Rise for Extension of Federal Helium Reserve
After an auction, remaining reserves will be solely for use of the government while corporations hunt for what they need on the private market.
Douglas Karpen: Another Kermit Gosnell
One reason the “mainstream” media was willing to sacrifice what precious little remains of its credibility to sweep the lurid and extremely newsworthy Kermit Gosnell trial under the rug is that it was not an isolated incident. Just under the surface of “reproductive rights” await ever more horrors to be uncovered
Obama admits he’s a socialist
What his ‘Bulworth’ fantasy reveals
These united, divided States of America
We all know this country is incredibly united, politically, within demographic groups, but incredibly divided between demographic groups — almost to the point that making that observation approaches the tautological.
If it’s Tuesday, Daily Kos must be publishing openly misogynist hate speech against a conservative woman
But it’s acceptable, because it’s not like she’s a human being. If she didn’t want to be treated like this, she shouldn’t have disagreed with leftists.
Texas curriculum dropped after complaints from lawmakers
The state’s regional Education Service Centers no will longer issue lesson plans – and will forbid their use after Aug. 31 – for a popular online curriculum system that became a lightning rod for conservatives who criticized it as anti-American, legislators announced Monday.
Conservatives Concerned About Immigration
More than 60 leaders sign letter pushing Republicans in Senate to kill bill
How JFK secretly ADMIRED Hitler: Explosive book reveals former President’s praise for the Nazis as he travelled through Germany before Second World War
A new book reveals President Kennedy was a secret admirer of the Nazis
Embarrassingly close to visit being paid to Berlin next month by Obama
Comes one week before 50th anniversary commemorations of JFK’s memorable ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ speech pledging US solidarity with Europe
Overdue Student Loans Reach Record as U.S. Graduates Seek Jobs
Overdue student loans reached an all-time high as students struggle to find work after college, according to a government report renewing alarms about the rising burden of higher-education debt.
Bowling Shoe Law Being Debated in New York Legislature
With all the corruption in Albany, one of your representatives is instead focusing efforts on something many of you like to do, bowl.
Michelle Obama to Code Pink: “Keep up the Great Work. We Really Need You”
We wonder if Mooch is saying the same thing today after her husband was heckled by the founder of CodePink, who somehow managed to get a press pass for an Obama speech Thursday.
A Glimmer of Hope for the Illinois GOP
Erika Harold contemplates her next move.
Universities Invested More in Amenities than in Education
A Potemkin Village is an impressive facade designed to hide an adverse condition.
A Farmers’ Rebellion Lifts the California GOP
An election upset could send a pro-business Republican to Sacramento and give hope to the moribund state party
Rand Paul’s Hipster Outreach Mofo Party Plan
Via Dan Foster of NRO and James Poulos of Forbes comes word of Sen. Rand Paul’s recent trip to New Hampshire to spread a much-needed message of inclusion to Republicans. As this appearance and recent showings in Iowa and elsewhere attest, Paul is openly testing the waters for a presidential run in 2016.
Durbin wonders: Does First Amendment apply to bloggers, Twitter?
Thanks to the Obama administration’s attacks on the Associated Press and its representation in federal court that Fox News’ James Rosen is a spy for asking questions, one has to wonder whether the First Amendment applies to anyone in the Age of Hope and Change.
We Are Now One Year Away From Global Riots, Complex Systems Theorists Say
What’s the number one reason we riot? The plausible, justifiable motivations of trampled-upon humanfolk to fight back are many—poverty, oppression, disenfranchisement, etc—but the big one is more primal than any of the above. It’s hunger, plain and simple. If there’s a single factor that reliably sparks social unrest, it’s food becoming too scarce or too expensive. So argues a group of complex systems theorists in Cambridge, and it makes sense.
Economy
& Taxes
The Other Tax Hearing to Watch This Week
I’ve expressed my puzzlement and disappointment here before about how Apple, like so much of Silicon Valley, is reflexively liberal in its politics. So it is with some curiosity that I note the story out last week about how Apple CEO Tim Cook was trying to “get out ahead” on the story of his appearance before a Senate committee tomorrow in Washington where he will essentially be called unpatriotic—by both parties unfortunately—because Apple doesn’t engage in the sadomasochism of bringing home to America the roughly $100 billion in profits it has earned overseas—and is keeping there to avoid America’s punitively high corporate income tax rates.
Ellison: ‘Really Disappointing’ That Apple Doesn’t Want to Pay More Taxes
Representative Keith Ellison (D., Minn.) just can’t wrap his head around why Apple wouldn’t “step up” to pay more in taxes.
International
Arabs Fly Nazi Flag near Hevron
Residents of Gush Etzion astounded to see Nazi flag flying near the mosque of Beit Omar.
EU to Ban Olive Oil Jugs from Restaurant Tables
Because they don’t have anything else to worry about in Brussels.
Thousands of child sex abuse victims, says minister
More than 2,400 children and young people were confirmed to have been victims of sex abuse gangs in just 14 months, a Home Office minister has revealed.
Poland Set for Biggest-Ever Increase in Military Spending
From Jan Cienski, Financial Times – Poland is gearing up for its biggest-ever increase in military equipment spending, splashing out $43bn over the next decade in a procurement programme that promises to be a severe test of the EU’s push to reduce national favouritism in military contracts.
Stockholm rioting continues for fifth night
Swedish police seek reinforcements after youths set ablaze cars and attack property and schools in poorer suburbs of capital
U.K. arrests man for besmirching the good name & religious motivation of the cleaver-wielding Woolwich terrorists
Benjamin Flatters, 22, charged for making ‘malicious comments’ on the social networking site
Another man warned about his conduct on social media
Two men released on bail after comments made on Twitter
Police say people should be careful about what they write on twitter as the ‘consequences could be serious’
The Inevitable Decline of Great Britain
The brutal murder of an off-duty soldier by two Muslim activists continues to dominate the news in Great Britain. The scene was utterly bizarre: in broad daylight, in a busy section of London, the two Muslims apparently ran the soldier down with a car, within a block or two of his barracks, and then attacked him with knives and a meat cleaver. They attempted to behead him, apparently not quite successfully, as hundreds of passers-by looked on. No one stopped them–private ownership of firearms being illegal in the U.K.–but three random women, who have been extravagantly praised for their bravery, tended to the soldier’s body and engaged the murderers in conversation, in hopes of diverting them from killing anyone else
Swedish police openly allowing “youths” to riot & burn cars; Swedish police then take action by ticketing burnt cars
For the last week, Stockholm has been lit up by what the great Australian wag Tim Blair calls the nightly car-b-q, started by “youths” after the police shooting of (you’ll never guess!) a Muslim man waving a machete. John Hinderaker notes that the authorities are taking a somewhat insouciant attitude to their blazing metropolis
Swedish Citizens Take to Streets to Defend Property From Rioting Immigrants
The decision to round up vigilantes while, according to Stockholm Chief of Police Mats Löfving, ”doing as little as possible” to stop rioters, met with a wave of protests in various social media and on the Internet. Representatives of some vigilante groups contacted Fria Tider to give their view of last night’s events.
Génération identitaire Occupies Roof of Socialist-Party Headquarters
In France a mass demonstration (or series of demonstrations) is being held today called “Manif Pour Tous” [Demonstration for Everyone]. In essence, it’s a protest against the recently-approved gay marriage bill, but its significance transcends that. This single, seemingly trivial issue has led to a crystallisation of conservative forces in the country, in a way not seen in decades. It has been compared in significance (even by a horrified Le Monde) to the left-wing ’68 movement, but in reverse; a kind of counter-revolution. It remains to be seen whether it will have long-term effects on the politics of the country, and on issues that are more important.
Black Block anarchists hijack party and turn it into a riot in Switzerland
They did the same in Toronto with a G8 protest not so long ago.
Woman in Great Britain arrested for waving the Union Jack
The Cannes film festival: Where positive depictions of adults seducing children are applauded
“Blue Is The Warmest Colour” by Abdellatif Kechiche topped critics polls in trade magazines Screen International and Film Francais among the 20 contenders for the Palme d’Or.
The three-hour-long drama about a 15-year-old girl who falls for a French woman tracks their passionate affair and devastating separation.
Opinion
5 Signs That We Haven’t Lost America Yet
After a week of depressing headlines, signs of life on the American horizon
10 Tools Every Kid Should Learn to Use
Start ’em young. If you want to raise a self-reliant kid, get these tools into their hands.
How Media Progressives Like Those At The New York Times Go About Shaping The ‘Correct’ Perception People Should Have Of News Stories
Some real news came out of the release of the Inspector General’s report on the IRS abuse, and from the Congressional hearings this week. The Obama administration lied when it claimed it had no idea the IRS was targeting Conservative groups for delays & denials of their applications for tax-exempt status.
The social triangle
Three great forces shape a society – culture, politics, and economics. Each of them influences the other.
When “Diversity” = Hate
If memory serves, Irving Kristol once remarked that the term “peace,” as it was used by the left, “is a Stalinist concept,” since the intent of the so-called “peace movement” was the unilateral disarmament of the West and the triumph of Communism. Today the term “diversity” works the same way: it has become a term meaning the opposite of its dictionary meaning, and is a vehicle for racial division and resentment.
Stockholm riots leave Sweden’s dreams of perfect society up in smoke
A week of disturbances in Sweden’s capital has tested the Scandinavian nation’s reputation for tolerance
Undoing The Brainwashing That Students Get In College
This time of year, as college students return home for the summer, many parents may notice how many politically correct ideas they have acquired on campus. Some of those parents may wonder how they can undo some of the brainwashing that has become so common in what are supposed to be institutions of higher learning.
85% Of College Students Are Wasting Their Time And Money
We talked to the one of the most vocal college skeptics in a growing national debate about the value of a degree.
In Today’s America, the ‘Evolved’ Man Is the Metrosexual
Is Samsung’s new TV commercial an example of misandry?
Democracy, Multiculturalism, Open Immigration: Pick Any TWO
We must defend Western values
At least five people have been arrested in Britain since last week’s gruesome street butchering of a British soldier, allegedly by a pair of Muslim fanatics. The five are not suspected co-conspirators with Michael Adebowale and Michael Adebolajo, the alleged murderers of Drummer Lee Rigby. Rather, the five are all ordinary Britons taken into custody for shouting unpleasant remarks about Muslims or, in two cases, vandalizing a mosque and Muslim-owned shops.
