Peggy Noonan On the IRS Scandals

Peggy Noonan, an Obama supporter from the beginning, wanted Hope and Change. She got it in spades. Now she recounts a story of one of the victims:

In December 2010 the FBI came to ask about a person who'd attended a King Street Patriots function. In January 2011 the FBI had more questions. The same month the IRS audited her business tax returns. In May 2011 the FBI called again for a general inquiry about King Street Patriots. In June 2011 Engelbrecht's personal tax returns were audited and the FBI called again. In October 2011 a round of questions on True the Vote. In November 2011 another call from the FBI. The next month, more questions from the FBI. In February 2012 a third round of IRS questions on True the Vote. In February 2012 a first round of questions on King Street Patriots. The same month the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms did an unscheduled audit of her business. (It had a license to make firearms but didn't make them.) In July 2012 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration did an unscheduled audit. In November 2012 more IRS questions on True the Vote. In March 2013, more questions. In April 2013 a second ATF audit.

All this because she requested tax-exempt status for a local conservative group and for one that registers voters and tries to get dead people off the rolls.

Just to be clear:

...it is important to keep the essentials of this story in mind.

First, only conservative groups were targeted in this scandal by the IRS. Liberal or progressive groups were not targeted. The IRS leaked conservative groups' confidential applications and donor lists to liberal groups, never the other way around.

This was a political operation. If it had not been, then the statistics tell us left-wing groups would have been harassed and abused, and seen their applications leaked to the press....

And all of this apparently took place in the years leading up to the 2012 election. Meaning that before that election, groups that were anti-Obamacare, or pro-life, or pro-Second Amendment or constitutionalist, or had words like "tea party" or "patriot" in their name—groups that is that would support Republicans, not Democrats—were suppressed, thwarted, kept from raising money and therefore kept from fully operating.

What did anyone expect would come from making a senior member of the Chicago political machine the President of the United States?

The whole thing is here.

The IRS Scandal and Section 1203

If this is accurate, there is no question that IRS targeting Tea Party groups went right up the chain of command, because it is impossible for the managers not to have known about the delays: the computer system is designed to tell them about delays, and then tell the people above them and so on. Performance reviews and bonuses depend on timely closing of cases.

And taking the 5th seems to be cause for mandatory firing.

Works for me.

Mayors Against Illegal Taxis

Michael Bloomberg is nothing but a thug. In the old days we called his kind fascists, but nowadays calling a fascist a fascist is a worse offense than being one.

Michael Bloomberg is a fascist.

Michael Bloomberg doesn't deserve to be in Gracie Mansion. He deserves to be on Rikers Island.

Gibson Guitar: Just Exactly Who Are the Real Criminals?

Gibson is barred from telling its side of the story. It had nothing to do with illegally harvested wood though, as the wood apparently was not illegally harvested.

As the story mentions, the man running Gibson is a conservative.

No story here. Move along.

Or else.

More here, and here.

IRS: "The Next Shoe"?

Did Lois Lerner, Director of Exempt Organizations in the Tax Exempt and Government Entities (TEGE) division of the IRS use her position to protect HSUS? Maybe, maybe not.

I hope there will be some responsible follow up on this tho.

Thanks to CLK for the lead.

Obama & the IRS: Smoking Gun?

I have no opinion about the reliability of this story, and it certainly isn't conclusive, but it is an interesting datum.

I do find it a little hard to believe that the IRS employees' union could move so swiftly though.

Washington Post: Lois Lerner Gets Four Pinocchios

I can't be bothered to quote. Read it here.

"I Don't Remember Who Is Responsible"

That's funny: That line never worked for me when I was six years old.



Stonewall Miller

When The One loses NBC...

...there may be a glimmer of a shadow of a possibility of a hope that someone meaningful will be held responsible.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAAAA!!!!!

Right.

Earth and Sky Photo Contest 2013

Earth and Sky Photo Contest 2013 from Babak Tafreshi on Vimeo.

Cows With Guns

A paean to the armed Bovine-American:



Not to mention the revolutionary solidarity between Bovine-Americans and Poultry-Americans.

As one of the Founders said: Gentleman, we must all hang together, or all hang separately.

Katrina Gun Confiscation

Pew Research: "Gun Homicide Rate Down 49% Since 1993 Peak; Public Unaware"

Pew Research has this to say about the explosion in gun related crime in the US:

Compared with 1993, the peak of U.S. gun homicides, the firearm homicide rate was 49% lower in 2010, and there were fewer deaths, even though the nation’s population grew. The victimization rate for other violent crimes with a firearm— assaults, robberies and sex crimes— was 75% lower in 2011 than in 1993. Violent non-fatal crime victimization overall (with or without a firearm) also is down markedly (72%) over two decades...

Despite national attention to the issue of firearm violence, most Americans are unaware that gun crime is lower today than it was two decades ago. According to a new Pew Research Center survey, today 56% of Americans believe gun crime is higher than 20 years ago and only 12% think it is lower.

In other words, gun-related violence has collapsed while most people think it is going up.

So, what is the reason for the wild mis-perception? One might wonder if it has something to do with how the daily news is presented, although crime accounts for a smaller share of reporting than it did years ago.

For the Pew report, clik here.