There is no IRS scandal. Republicans pursue it anyway. Obama reaps the rewards.
Tea Party and right-wing groups are in the minority of those targeted.
Of the 298 groups subjected to additional review, 72 were “tea party” groups, 11 were “9/12″ groups and 13 were “patriots” groups, according to the inspector general’s report.
Controversial IRS practices are reported and investigated in a timely manner.
The Treasury Department Inspector General for Tax Administration sent a letter to Congressman Darrell Issa and Congressman Jim Jordan on July 12, 2012 informing them they would be auditing the IRS in response to their concerns that certain groups might be receiving extra scrutiny. The letter came in response to a June 28th letter of that year from Congressman Issa and requests for an investigation.
The letter states that after meeting with the staff of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which Issa chairs, the IG Office of Audit began work on the issue. The IG offered in the letter to provide a status update to the staff of the committee throughout the investigation as well as provide copies of interim and final reports..
Conservatives outside of Congress admit there’s no “there” there.
”While there’s still more information to be gathered and more investigations to be done, all indications are that these decisions – on the AP, on the IRS, on Benghazi – don’t proceed from [Obama],” wrote Ben Domenech in The Transom, his influential conservative morning newsletter. “The talk of impeachment is absurd. The queries of ‘what did the president know and when did he know it’ will probably end up finding out “’just about nothing, and right around the time everyone else found out.’”
Heritage Foundation tells elected Republicans to stop legislating in order to focus on scandal.
Michael A. Needham: “We urge you to avoid bringing any legislation to the House Floor that could expose or highlight major schisms within the conference. Legislation such as the Internet sales tax or the FARRM Act which contains nearly $800 billion in food stamp spending, would give the press a reason to shift their attention away from the failures of the Obama administration to write another ‘circular firing squad’ article.”
Onslaught of false attacks backfires, leads to three point increase in Obama’s approval rating.
We urge you to avoid bringing any legislation to the House Floor that could expose or highlight major schisms within the conference. Legislation such as the Internet sales tax or the FARRM Act which contains nearly $800 billion in food stamp spending, would give the press a reason to shift their attention away from the failures of the Obama administration to write another ‘circular firing squad’ article.
Heritage Action’s Chief Executive Officer, Michael A. Needham, in a letter telling Republicans not to legislate in order to focus on taking down Obama.
Heritage Action is the lobbying arm of the Heritage Foundation.
We need to let those who will come in the future to represent us [know] that we are serious. The 2nd amendment means nothing unless those in power believe you would have no problem simply walking up and shooting them if they got too far out of line and stopped responding as representatives. It seems that we are unable to muster that belief in any of our representatives on a state or federal level, but we have to have something, something costly, something that they will fear that we will use if they step out of line.
Some have suggested that the apprehended suspect should be held as an enemy combatant under the law of war. I am not aware of any legal basis at this point for such a designation in this case. Under the law of war, we have the authority to detain individuals who join a hostile foreign force engaged in attacking the United States. The 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force authorizes such detention in the case of an individual who is a part of al Qaeda, the Taliban, or an associated force.
I am not aware of any evidence so far that the Boston suspect is part of any organized group, let alone al Qaeda, the Taliban, or one of their affiliates — the only organizations whose members are subject to detention under the Authorization for Use of Military Force, as it has been consistently interpreted by all three branches of our government. In the absence of such evidence I know of no legal basis for his detention as an enemy combatant. To hold the suspect as an enemy combatant under these circumstances would be contrary to our laws and may even jeopardize our efforts to prosecute him for his crimes.
We hear so many stories about what's wrong with health care in America. This is a story about what's profoundly right.
The marathon medical tent was staffed with talented professionals who were organized and calm.
“All in all, it was a pretty controlled environment,” said Dr. Panter, who has been an emergency-room physician for 30 years. “I’ve seen a lot worse. They were without question ready — not ready for those type of injuries, but they were prepared.”
The medical tent bought time for both victims and hospitals and sent patients to the right place.
“The distribution worked wonderfully,” said Dr. Stephen K. Epstein, attending emergency physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. “It was very easy to match the number of patients to the resources available at each of the hospitals.”
Hospitals quickly readied themselves for incoming casualties.
They cleared the emergency room, sending home those who could leave and sending others to beds elsewhere in the building. They cleared intensive care, sending patients to other areas of the hospital. Dr. Gupta directed a central command.
About 10 minutes later, patients began to arrive. Each was put in a room and assessed. Doctors described the situation as calm and efficient.
The scene at the finish line wasn’t the only thing that looked like war. In war, you improvise.
Borrowing a tactic used by the military in Iraq, doctors at Beth Israel used felt markers to write patients’ vital signs and injuries on their chests — safely away from the leg wounds — so that if a patient’s chart was misplaced during a transfer to surgery or intensive care, for example, there would be no question about what was found in the emergency room.
So what’s right about American’s health care system? Perhaps there’s nothing particularly systemic or American about it. Maybe the individuals who directly provide health care, in American and around the world, are just awesome.
U.S. Practiced Torture After 9/11. Doctors Helped. Red Cross Kept Quiet.
[The nonpartisan report] describes in detail the ethical compromise of government lawyers who offered “acrobatic” advice to justify brutal interrogations and medical professionals who helped direct and monitor them. And it reveals an internal debate at the International Committee of the Red Cross over whether the organization should speak publicly about American abuses; advocates of going public lost the fight, delaying public exposure for months, the report finds.
Organic Eden Foods’ quiet right-wing anti-woman agenda
Eden Foods — an organic food company with no shortage of liberal customers — has quietly pursued a decidedly right-wing agenda, suing the Obama administration for exemption from the mandate to cover contraception for its employees under the Affordable Care Act. In court filings, Eden Foods, represented by the conservative Thomas More Law Center, alleges that its rights have been violated under the First Amendment, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.
Eden Foods, which did not respond to a request for comment, says in its filing that the company believes of birth control that “these procedures almost always involve immoral and unnatural practices.” The complaint also says that “Plaintiffs believe that Plan B and ‘ella’ can cause the death of the embryo, which is a person.” (Studies show that neither Plan B nor Ella interfere with fertilization, which is the Catholic definition of the beginning of life, if not the medical one. In other words, not the death of an embryo. Also, at that stage, it’s a zygote, not an embryo — let alone a “person.”)
The Tennessee State Capital Complex recently underwent renovations. One of the additions is pictured here.
Senators Bill Ketron (R-Mufreesboro) and Judd Matheny (R-Tullahoma) contacted senate clerks and building adminstrators, alarmed that it was…wait for it…a special facility for Muslims to wash their feet before praying.
As one might expect, these two are as unfamiliar with manual labor as they are with the muslim faith a because….it’s a mop sink.
But this is what you might expect from Ketron and Matheny, who recently wasted the state’s time and money seeking to make it a felony to adhere to Sharia law.
“Some people could make the argument that a lot of people like being in abusive relationships. It’s a love-hate relationship. It’s very, very common for people to stick around with somebody they love who also abuses him or her.”
Mr. Warden was speaking in favor of a law that would reduce assault from a misdemeanor to a simple violation. A quick glance suggests his voting record isn’t particularly objectionable and this law has no chance of passing. But still…WTF?
General Mills Torpedoed Industry Attempt To Address Health Concerns
Under [Stephen Sanger’s] leadership, General Mills had overtaken not just the cereal aisle but other sections of the grocery store. The company’s Yoplait brand had transformed traditional unsweetened breakfast yogurt into a veritable dessert. It now had twice as much sugar per serving as General Mills’ marshmallow cereal Lucky Charms. And yet, because of yogurt’s well-tended image as a wholesome snack, sales of Yoplait were soaring, with annual revenue topping $500 million. Emboldened by the success, the company’s development wing pushed even harder, inventing a Yoplait variation that came in a squeezable tube — perfect for kids. They called it Go-Gurt and rolled it out nationally in the weeks before the C.E.O. meeting. (By year’s end, it would hit $100 million in sales.)
According to the sources I spoke with, Sanger began by reminding the group that consumers were “fickle.” (Sanger declined to be interviewed.) Sometimes they worried about sugar, other times fat. General Mills, he said, acted responsibly to both the public and shareholders by offering products to satisfy dieters and other concerned shoppers, from low sugar to added whole grains. But most often, he said, people bought what they liked, and they liked what tasted good. “Don’t talk to me about nutrition,” he reportedly said, taking on the voice of the typical consumer. “Talk to me about taste, and if this stuff tastes better, don’t run around trying to sell stuff that doesn’t taste good.”
Foreign Relations Committee unanimously approves John Kerry nomination.
There was never much doubt that Kerry would be recommended by the committee that he has led as chairman since 2009. He cruised through his confirmation hearing last week with little difficulty. Republican John McCain was among those who formally introduced him to the panel and recommended speedy confirmation.
I like John Kerry but I’ve always been concerned by the fact that a hawk like McCain also likes John Kerry.
“The cruelty of the ballet world has become surprisingly pathological."
A masked man threw acid in the face of Sergei Filin, the artistic director of the legendary Bolshoi Ballet, on Thursday night, leaving him with third-degree burns and possibly threatening his eyesight, Bolshoi officials said on Friday morning.
“Many of the illnesses of the Bolshoi are one snowball – that disgusting claque which is friendly with artists, ticket speculators and scalpers, half-crazy fans who are ready to slit the throats of their idol’s competitors, cynical hackers, lies in the press and scandalous interviews of people working there,” [a former artistic director] wrote. “The cause of it is the lack of theatrical ethics, which were gradually destroyed in the Bolshoi by specific people. This is the real trouble of this great theater.”
