It's Friday Afternoon -- Time for Scandal News

In another of those Friday afternoon events that the Obama administration is so prone to using, we got another scandal development today.  This time, the IRS refused to answer questions that had been sent to the agency by a bipartisan group of senators eleven days ago.  Technically, the IRS "declined" to answer the questions at this time, but that is the same as a refusal.

What this means is that the Obama IRS is still out of control.  No agency in Washington can thumb its nose at the Senate.  No matter how powerful the IRS may think it is, it is subservient to the Senate.  Hopefully, the Senate will cut funding for the IRS.  The House will surely go along.  Let president Obama veto the measure and try to protect his secret police at the agency.  My guess is that Obama will tell us all that he is shocked that the IRS refused to answer and call for an investigation.  Meanwhile, Obama would sign the bill.

This may sound extreme, but we need extreme measures right now to bring the IRS under control.

 

 

Thanks!

May of 2013 has been the best ever month for Connecticut Comments.  While the month is not yet finished, we already broke all existing records for visits to the site.  In fact, as of now, we are already 7% beyond the previous record.  Thanks to all of you for stopping by.

 

 

The IRS Scandal Keeps Getting Worse

Just when you think that all the things that the IRS did to conservative groups and individuals had come out, more of this sewage starts gushing out of the cesspool that the IRS has become.  The latest news comes in today's expose in the McClatchy newspapers.  According to the article, it was not just groups named Tea Party or Patriot that were targeted (like the IRS claimed at first).  Further, the targeting of conservatives began in 2009 at least a year prior to the period to which the IRS now admits.

Here is an example of the targeting.  The Coalition for Life of Iowa filed for tax exempt status in 2009 and was granted that status but with a condition.  The IRS required members of the group to sign a pledge promising not to picket in front of Planned Parenthood before the tax status would be granted.  Think about that.  Imagine that the IRS told members of a church that they could have tax free status but only if they agreed not to hold worship services.  Suppose the IRS told a union that it could have tax free status but only if it agreed not to ever strike.  Suppose the IRS told a veterans' organization that it could have tax free status but only if it agreed never to hold a rally in support of helping wounded vets.  All of these things have the same problem.  The IRS demanded that the group and its members give up their rights to freedom of  speech and freedom of assembly in order to get tax exempt status.  THIS IS TOTALLY ILLEGAL!!!!!  THE ALLEGED REQUEST BY THE IRS AGENT WAS A CRIME!!!!!

The McClatchy article lists a whole batch more of people who were persecuted by the IRS who had nothing to do with the Tea Party and whose persecution began even before the Tea Parties were formed.

The cancer at the IRS keeps growing larger.  There is no way that this problem was a secret to the White House.  We know that the Treasury Department was fully aware of the problem more than a year ago.  The Obama administration just let the persecution of people for their political beliefs go on and on.  Obama did nothing to stop these crimes. 

America finally has its own secret police.  It is really a sad day!

 

 

The Faulty Logic of Paul Krugman

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman should know better.  Krugman writes each week about one economic argument or another and always comes down on the side of expanding government spending.  In fact, Krugman seems always in favor of whatever Congressional Democrats want.  More spending is great!  More taxes are great!  The deficit can be addressed at some point in the future (which will never come).

Today, Krugman is out with his latest column that shows once again that this is a man who is inherently dishonest in his positions.  It is so important to Krugman to support the Obamacrats and to oppose the Republicans that he plays fast and loose with the facts.  Let me explain:

Krugman's main point today is that Republicans want to take food out of the mouths of children by scaling back the food stamp program.  Krugman accuses the GOP of trying to starve the poor children of America.  According to Krugman, the Republicans want to cut two million people off food stamps, a move that will cause mass starvation of children.

Now let's look at reality.  When president Obama took office, there were 28.2 million Americans recieving food stamps.  Today, there are 47.8 folks enrolled in the program.  That means that under Obama, an additional 19.6 million people were added to the rolls, and increase of about 70 percent in just four years.  Since we are (according to Krugman) in the midst of a recovery which has been continuing since 2009, one has to wonder why the numbers of folks on food stamps is still so high.  But never mind that problem, Krugman tells us that these 47.8 million people must continue to receive food stamps or there will be mass starvation of children.

One question that Krugman does not address is how many of the new 19.6 million people on food stamps got there through fraud.  Surely, some of the claims are fraudulent; this is, after all, a government program and fraud is ever present.  Krugman never considers how many of the people on food stamps really need government help.  Are there any who could get along fine without the subsidy from the government?  The answer is surely yes.

What all this means is that Krugman assumes that every person on food stamps is a valid legal recipient who can only survive with the government assistance.  In other words, Krugman just assumes that the very real problems that the GOP wants to address do not exist.  In Krugman's delusional world, there is no fraud, so there is no need to try to prevent fraud.  In Krugman's world, everyone on food stamps exists only because the food stamps allow him or her to do so, so there is no need to look for those who do not need the assistance.  But these are assumptions by Krugman, not actual facts. 

In simplest terms, Krugman first assumes that he is right and then, on that basis, he announces that he is right.  The man is delusional.

 

 

Another Obamacare LIE

As if we have not had enough lies told to the American people from president Obama's Washington, yet another major lie has been uncovered.  Recently, the American people were told that the new Obamacare exchange in California would reduce the cost of health insurance by up to 30 %.  Now it turns out that the claim was false and that the actual numbers show that insurance for individuals will rise by 64 to 146%.  It seems that the first set of figures compared the cost for an individual with what an employee of a small business would pay.  The group rate is currently much higher, so the comparison looks better.  When one compares the current cost for an individual with a similar policy coming from the Obamacare exchange, however, this proper comparison shows that the new policy will cost about twice what the current one costs.

The entire matter is discussed in this Forbes article.

It is amazing the lengths that the government goes to to mislead America.  Remember, the new policies will be sold starting January 1 of 2014.  People who buy those policies would have learned the truth in less than six months, so why would the government bother to mislead everyone now?  There is no good reason.  In my opinion, the practice of lying to the American people is so ingrained in the Obamacrats that they just cannot help themselves.  Telling the truth seems not to be an option.

 

Putting Lipstick on the Pig

At 8:25 this morning, I heard CBS business news tell me that there are still many people who refuse to see that the economy is doing well.  According to the CBS reporter, these people "find a cloud behind every silver lining."  Almost immediately after that, we got the report for consumer income and spending in April.  According to this government report, personal income fell in April by 0.1% and consumer spending fell by 0.2%.  This may not sound like much, but you should realize that the drop in consumer spending was over twenty billion dollars.

The point here is not that the numbers were terrible; they were not.  These figures could best be described as mediocre.  No, the point is that the economy is not doing well; it is still stuggling forward at a slow pace.  Indeed, just a day ago, the growth of the economy in the first three months of the year was adjusted to lower the rate of growth to 2.4%, hardly a "good" number.  If April's income and spending numbers are any indication of where the GDP is headed, the second quarter figure should be lower even than that for the first quarter.

Meanwhile, interest rates have risen in dramatic fashion over the last month.  Ten year treasury bonds are up by 40 basis points in the last thirty days.  Mortgage rates have risen with the treasuries.  All of this has happened because the possibility of the end of quantitative easing was raised by the Fed.  The central bank has continued to pump massive amounts of funds into the economy but just the hint that this practice may stop has caused panic in the bond markets.  Just imagine what will happen when the Fed announced that it has reduced its bond purchases.  That day is coming.

It is ridiculous for commentators and news organizations to try to make the economy look rosy when that is not the case.  The stock market has done well.  That's it; the stock market is what has done well.  That means that the Obama economic plan has benefitted the rich.  The people who have enough money to have substantial investments in the markets have gotten a big boost from the rising stock market.  The poor and middle income folks who are struggling to get by are still struggling.  The high stock market does not help them.  Even the rise in home prices has not yet helped those who were buried by the financial crisis.  Many already lost their homes to foreclosure.  Others are so far under water that even a ten percent rise in home prices leaves them in just the same jeopardy.

We need to address the actual causes of our economic problems with some new ideas.  Obama's Keynesian economics with a European Socialist twist do not work.  Look at Europe if you doubt this. 

 

 

The Democrat Farm System Comes Through

For decades, major league baseball teams have run farm systems, i.e., minor league teams where new players could hone their skills and learn how to function in the big leagues.  Well now it appears that the Democrat party is trying to emulate that system.  Yesterday, the chair of the Louisiana state Democrat party, state senator Karen Carter Peterson, announced on the floor of the state senate that the only reason that legislators and others oppose Obamacare is because president Obama is black.  That's right, the chair of the Louisiana Democrat party says that opposition to Obamacare is all racism and nothing more.  It seems that this Louisiana state senator has gotten down the moves needed to take the place of national party chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz.  Remember last year when Debbie told America that Republicans were trying to destroy the economy because they wanted to hurt president Obama?  This Louisiana lie is right up there with the one Wasserman Schultz told.

On the other hand, the minor leaguer in Baton Rouge still has to learn the full technique.  Today, after yesterday's slanderous outburst on the floor of the state senate, Karen Carter Peterson just does not have it in her to face the press.  New Orleans TV is filled with video of the senator running from the cameras, running into the rest room, running into the Capitol, and just running away so that she does not have to respond to questions about her statement.  In other words, she has managed to make herself into a laughingstock. 

Phony charges of racism have no place in America.  We had enough problems dealing with real racism that we do not need race baiters like the Democrat chairman of Louisiana adding to the issue with knowingly false charges.  Since the statement was made on the floor of the legislature, the senator is immune from lawsuits for slander, but she ought to be shunned for her conduct nevertheless.

Too Much TV

Ready for this one?  In the last week, the FBI shot a man in Florida who allegedly lunged at an agent with a knife.  The man in question was an old friend of Tamarlan Tsarnaev and was being questioned in connection with the murders of three men in Massachusetts last year, not the Boston marathon bombing.  Current thinking is that Tsarnaev murdered the three in order to finance his trip to Russia for terrorist training. 

So here's the nub of this story:  the father of the man who was slain now says that the FBI "executed" his son with a shot to the back of the head.  The father also says that Tsarnaev was set up to take the blame for the bombings in order to cover up what really happened.

I understand the grief of the father, but this guy watches too much TV.  I mean we have video that does not come from the FBI showing Tsarnaev placing the bomb at the Marathon.  We have Tsarnaev and his brother telling the man whose car they hijacked that they were the bombers from the marathon.  There is more, but that is enough.  It is appalling that the media feels it appropriate to publish the nonsense that this guy is spewing.

 

 

 

Obama, the Palestinian Authority and the IRS

It has been reported previously that the IRS also targeted and persecuted tax exempt groups that supported Israel.  It was not just conservative groups and individuals who were in the cross hairs of the IRS attack.  Indeed, religious organizations like the Billy Graham Crusade and pro-life groups were also targeted.  Today, however, more news came out that provides a truly chilling addition to the IRS story.

In October of 2009, the Palestinian negotiator Ahmad Quraya met with the American counsul general in Israel, Daniel Rubenstein, to demand that the United States government investigate various tax exempt groups and to end their tax exempt status if the groups were funding charitable work in Israeli locations that included "settlements" on the West Bank.  Rubenstein confirmed all this in a diplomatic cable back to Washington that was made public by Wikileaks.  Not long after that, at least five different Jewish charities that funded work at locations that included the settlements were suddenly audited by the IRS. 

One such charity is Ha Yovel, a group that promotes assistance to small farmers in Israel, particularly those who have vineyards.  The group sends volunteers to help these farmers compete with larger agricultural entities.  It is hardly an active political group.  Nevertheless, since some of the farmers who were given assistance were located in disputed areas, the IRS targeted the group for an audit.  In fact, the audit was such a rush job that the IRS notified Ha Yovel of the review by phone rather than by letter.  Anyone who knows the IRS understands that the IRS never acts over the phone; everything is documented in a letter.  This time, however, it was a phone call according to Shari Waller, the co-founder of the group.  The audit was also rushed to take place almost immediately, again something that the IRS essentially never does.  It is extremely rare for the IRS to audit a tax exempt organization during the first five years of its existence (which this was).  It is essentially unheard of for the IRS to carry out that audit in a rushed manner after only notice by telephone.  Nevertheless, to hear that the audit came after a complaint from the Palestinian Authority, things start to make sense.

It is bad enough that the IRS targeted Jewish groups that supported Israel.  That, however, is not the big news here.  What is most important is that the complaint from the Palestinians came to the State Department, not to the IRS.  That means that someone at State had to have told the IRS to act.  That means that the claims that only the IRS was involved in starting all this mess is not true.  That means that the cause for the IRS's illegal persecution of various Americans because of their political or religious beliefs did not arise spontaneously at the IRS.  This is another link that shows for certain that it was the Obama Administration that ordered this "special treatment" by the IRS of Obama's opponents.

This is big news.

 

 

More Missiles in Syria?

The Syrian dictator Bashir al Assad announced yesterday that a shipment of Russian anti aircraft missiles had arrived in Syria.  These are supposedly advanced missiles that would change the balance of power in the air.  If this is true, it is big news.  I doubt that Assad is telling the truth, however.

The Syrian rebels are hardly affected at all by the news.  They have no aircraft, and no other power is offering them air cover of any kind.

The Israelis are perhaps the most affected by the news, but even for them it is not that big a deal.  The Israeli air raids on Syrian targets have been launched from planes that stayed in Israeli or Lebanese airspace.  The anti aircraft missiles that the Syrians claim to have are unlikely to be launched against targets in Israeli airspace.  Assad knows that if he were to fire missiles in that way, there would be serious Israeli retaliation which just might bring down his regime.  He would not chance it.

Most likely, the Assad announcement is designed to raise the stakes for any country like Turkey or Saudi Arabia or even a European power that is considering providing air support to the rebels.  It is one thing to send planes if you think that they cannot be touched.  It is something else to send war planes that might be shot down. 

The news, if true, is also a major slap in the face for the Obama administration by the Russians.  So what else is new?

 

 

The Spin Actually Stops!

Eric Holder must know by now that his days are numbered.  It is not because the Republicans in the House are deciding if Holder committed perjury.  That is old hat.  Holder was already held in contempt of Congress when he misled the House in connection with the Fast and Furious investigation (remember that?).  No, the reason for this new realization is that the mainstream media (which has been part of the Obama political operation) is no longer going to accept Holder's spinning the facts.  If Holder wants to take a position or "explain" what happened, he is going to have to do that on the record in front of the American people.

Just yesterday, the Department of Justice announced that as part of the "investigation" of the subpoenas issued that allowed DOJ to go through thousands of phone records for the AP and to secretly search through the email, phone records and other confidential data of James Rosen and Fox News, Holder was going to have an off the record meeting with key members of the media.  This was to be another of those sessions, famous in Washington, where a "high government official" give the Obama story but without attribution.  In other words, the Obama administration tells the media what to print and they do so without ever having an identifiable source.  These meetings are a great way to spin a story without ever having to justify the spin.

The response to the DOJ announcement, however, has been overwhelming.  So far, the New York Times, CNN, the AP, and others have refused to attend the meeting.  Only Politico and possibly the Washington head of al Jazeera have accepted.  This conduct was so confusing to the Obamacrats that their official spokesman actually tweeted that the reporters had given up any right to complain about what had happened since they would not come to the meeting.  Putting that in proper context, it is the same as telling a rape victim that she could not press charges because she refused to go to a private meeting with the guy who raped her.

Certainly, these events are not the end of the love affair between the mainstream media and Obama.  They are, however, a clear signal that when the Obama administration takes on the media and the First Amendment, it will not get support even from its allies in the mainstream media.  Those allies realize that they are the targets of this action and they are not going to cooperate in that attack.  It is also a clear signal to the president's political advisors that the dam is starting to break.  If they do not act fast, that dam could actually collapse and the full weight of the mainstream media could come down on Obama because of the IRS and Benghazi scandals as well as what the DOJ did.  Such a turn of events would be the end of the administration.  No, Obama would not be out of office, but he would lose any chance to accomplish any goal moving forward.  He would be a defeated and discarded president.  He could still play golf, but he would go down in history as just another Warren Harding brought low by scandals.

Holder will be gone soon.

 

 

Where Are the New Ideas?

For most of his presidency, Barack Obama has come up with few new ideas.  Even the few things that Obama actually did like the stimulus and Obamacare are retreads of earlier ideas.  We find ourselves five years into the Age of Obama with nothing changed.  All that has happened has been the continued deterioration of  America.

Where are Obama's ideas on how to fix the economy?

Where are Obama's ideas on how to fix our immigration system?  We know that there is the so called gang of eight proposal, but what is Obama's plan?

Where are Obama's ideas on how to stop the IRS from persecuting individuals and groups on the basis of their politics?

Where are Obama's ideas on how to increase employment, promote economic growth, close the deficit and all the rest of the economic issues?  Sure, Obama wants to raise taxes, but even he admits that this will not increase employment or growth.

Aren't we entitled as Americans to a leader who at least tries to put forth a plan to help improve things?  Isn't there more to being president than making speeches and campaigning non stop?

Obama needs to stop posing and start working.  We need a real president.

 

Reid Him His Rights

Harvey Whittemore, a Nevada real estate developer, was convicted today of making illegal contributions to Senator Harry Reid, the leader of the Democrats in that chamber.  Whittemore gave over $150,000 to Reid's campaign, a figure well in excess of the legal maximum allowed.  Whittemore also used phony names to try to hide his contributions.  He faces jail time of up to 15 years.

So here is the question:  are we supposed to believe that Reid had no knowledge of this?  Remember, if Reid cooperated in receiving these illegal contributions, then the senator committed a criminal violation of the campaign finance laws.  For some reason, however, the Obama Justice Department did not bring any charges against Reid or anyone in his campaign.  I guess the Justice Department was too busy listening on the AP or checking the email of James Rosen's parents.

It is inconceivable that Whittemore gave all this money without trying to claim credit for it.  No one gives $150,000 to a political campaign without wanting to be acknowledged for what he or she has done.  That is particularly true of real estate developers.  Is there really any doubt that the point of the illegal contributions was to win the love and devotion of Reid?  Are we to assume that there was nothing given to Whittemore in return for his "contributions"?

Hopefully, Whittemore will now flip on Reid or the person at the campaign with whom he dealt and tell the truth in an effort to avoid or at least reduce jail time. 

 

 

Winning in Syria

Elliott Abrams has an article at the Weekly Standard about whether or not Iran can be allowed to win in Syria.  It is something that is necessary reading for anyone who hopes to understand what is going on now in the Middle East. 

Abrams correctly points out that Syria is an essential asset to Iran's dreams of being the hegemon of the area.  If Assad falls, then Hezbollah will be cut off from its supply lines, the Iraqi Shia may decide that Iran is really not all that powerful, and the Turks and Jordanians will ally with the new Syria to confront Iranian power in the area.  In other words, it would be a lose, lose, lose situation for Iran.  But it is also true that if Assad falls, it will be a win, win, win for America.  We have to consider the weakening of terrorist Hezbollah a good thing.  Similarly, a lessening of sectarian violence in Iraq was a major goal of ours for years during the Iraq War.  A stronger Turkey and Jordan (not to mention Saudi Arabia) would put American allies in a better position in the region.  And, best of all, the weakening of Iran is a marvelous goal towards which to strive. 

So why is it that our government seems incapable of grasping the actual reality in the region?  Let's start with the personnel involved.  John Kerry is a dolt.  Remember, he ran to visit Syria as a senator to extol the reformist nature of Assad.  For Kerry now to change his view would mean that he would have to admit that four years ago he was wrong.  Kerry is not that sort of person.  Then there is Chuck Hagel, Secretary of Defense.  Hagel has never met a situation that carried the possibility of conflict which he could accept.  His default (and sadly only) position is anti-war.  Even though no one advocates America's going to war in Syria, Hagel sees every move towards helping the rebels in that light, so he opposes them.  We also have the CIA.  That agency has no good intelligence in Syria, so it consistently wants to stay away from the area.  Finally, and most important is president Obama.  Here is a man who focuses almost exclusively on domestic politics and the standard liberal agenda.  The protection of America's position in the world does not even cross his consciousness.  Now, he has all the ongoing scandals to deal with as well.  Simply put, Obama cannot be bothered to think about Syria.  Since no one else in the administration is likely to do so, things will just continue to drift.

For two years, America has had the opportunity to win a great victory with the fall of Assad.  Obama blew that chance.  Now, even though we have drifted through another two years, the opportunity is again there.  Indeed, the opportunity is even greater.  If Assad falls, it will be a crushing defeat for Hezbollah which has committed its forces to the fight.  If Assad falls, it will also be a crushing defeat for Iran which has put both its forces and its prestige on the line to keep Assad in power.  The USA could bring these forces down without ever putting one American into Syria. 

Obama and his people are a total disaster.

 

Another illegal IRS - White House Connection?

The Weekly Standard is reporting today on Austan Goolsbee, formerly of the White House staff and his possible illegal access to IRS records of opponents of president Obama.  Here is the key paragraph:

In August 2010, Austan Goolsbee, serving at the time as economic adviser to President Obama, told reporters during an anonymous background briefing that Koch Industries doesn't pay corporate income taxes. That statement was made at the same time that top Democrats, including President Obama himself, were demonizing Charles and David Koch, the owners of Koch Industries, for giving money to Tea Party groups. Goolsbee's remark led to a federal investigation, the results of which have never been released.

The law has been quite clear since Watergate:  the White House staff is not allowed access to or information from specific tax returns filed by individuals or corporations.  Since there is no place where the tax filing status of Koch Industries has been made public, there is no way that Goolsbee could know whether or not Koch Industries paid federal taxes other than illegally gaining access from the IRS itself.

It is strange that probably the best defense available to Goosbee is that what he told the reporters was wrong.  Koch Industries does pay taxes, at least according to the General Counsel of that company.  It may just be that Goolsbee's attack on Koch was another lie told by the White House in an effort to discredit an opponent.  On the other hand, this may be another bit of proof that the White House ignored the law that protects American citizens from snooping through their tax returns.  If so, a crime may have been committed.

The more we learn about Obama and the IRS, the more Obama looks like Nixon.

 

Michele Bachmann and the Media

I was not going to write about the decision by Michele Bachmann not to seek re-election to the House next year.  It is not a big deal in my opinion.  Her seat is likely to stay Republican, and I doubt she will disappear from the political scene.  Then, I read some of the stories in the mainstream media about the Bachmann departure, and I feel complelled to comment.  Did you know that Bachmann is insane?  That seems to be the consensus view among the mainstream media outlets.  I first got that message from Yahoo News.  They did not bother to mention why they think Bachmann is crazy, but that did not stop the name calling.  I noticed that when Jay Rockefeller retired, Yahoo did not call him and his millions elitist.  I also noticed that when senator Levin of Michigan announced his retirement, Yahoo did not call him senile (although a better case could be made for that than for Bachmann being insane.)  No the name calling was reserved for an intelligent woman who was not afraid to take on the media and to stand for what she believed in.  That is why they call her crazy.

I never much liked Bachmann.  Certainly, when she was running for president, I thought she was not even in the first tier of candidates.  Nevertheless, Bachmann clearly knows her own mind and is not afraid to set forth the basic principles on which she relies.  Her knowledge of foreign affairs is much broader and deeper than most in Washington.  She deserves respect for her service and admiration for her abilities.  Instead, she gets mud slinging from the media.

It's just wrong.

 

 

White House Blunders Big Time

By now, most of America is aware that Attorney General Holder gave a false statement to Congress.  Holder testified about the "potential prosecution" of journalists for espionage in connection with leaks as follows:  "This is not something I've ever been involved in, heard of, or would think would be wise policy."

Of course, just a few days later, we learned that Holder reviewed, discussed and approved a request for a subpoena submitted to various federal judges in which the Department of Justice  claims that reporter James Rosen was an accomplice or co-conspirator in espionage for gaining certain information through leaks.  This is directly contrary to what Holder told Congress under oath.

This testimony constitutes perjury if Holder was aware that it was false when he made the statement to Congress.  The alternative is that Holder came to testify on the subject unprepared for the appearance and with a memory so poor that he could not remember his intensive involvement of a few years earlier.

Now we get to the White House and its reaction.  Today, Jay Carney actually said that it was "self-evident" that Holder testified truthfully.  According to Carney, Holder was speaking about prosecution and Rosen was never actually prosecuted.  The problem, of course, is that Holder was speaking about "potential prosecution" not "prosecution", and there is no doubt that an affidavit submitted to a federal judge that says that Rosen may be prosecuted for violation of the Espionage Act is "potention prosecution."

What all this means is that the White House if following its usual game plan.  It is trying to defend some action by the administration by lying about what happened.  Carney is telling lies to cover up perjury.  It is incredible.  I use the word incredible because the lie is so clear.  The White House press understand full well that Carney is telling lies.  No less liberal a media outlet than CBS is reporting on Carney's lies.  It is true that CBS is not leading with the lie, but they got it right out there in the story nevertheless.  A few more whoppers coming from Carney, and he will have to join Holder when he leaves the Administration.

It is strange that the Obama White House cannot bring itself to just accept the truth here.  Holder is going to be leaving, one way or the other.  Obama ought to fire him now and try to look proactive.  Nevertheless, it seems that it is not going to happen that way.  Keeping Holder in office keeps the scandal alive longer.  Nice move White House.

 

 

More Proof that the White House Knew

This morning, I happened to see a video put out by senator McConnell's people which makes clear that the folks in the White House knew at least a year ago that the IRS was targeting conservative groups.  I suggest that you watch it.  It contains, among other things, excerpts from multiple speeches that McConnell gave about a year and a half ago stating details of the harassment and persecution by the IRS of the conservative groups.  Given the way Washington works, there is no chance at all that the political arm of the White House missed these speeches.  There is also no chance that the White House staff failed to investigate the claims.  After all, if they could show that McConnell was wrong in what he was saying, it would make McConnell look like an ignoramus.  Also, if what McConnell was saying was true, then it was a potential disaster for the Obama re-election campaign and they had to head it off.  Remember, this is not some city councilman in Tulsa making a wild claim; it is multiple speeches by the highest ranking Republican in the United States Senate.

Think about that when you watch this video:

 

 

Wow, How Bad are Thay?

We heard today that Anthony Weiner has moved in the latest poll into a strong second place in the mayoral primary in New York City.  What this tells me is that the other Democrats running for mayor are complete losers.  After all, even forgetting Weiner's prior misconduct that led him to resign from Congress in disgrace, he is an obnoxious fellow with all the charms of a mosquito.  When you also add in the sexcapades, Weiner is someone who ought never serve again in any high public office.   I mean, it is really sick that someone like Weiner can use the campaign slogan "Speak loudly and carry a big stick (want to see it?)" and still get enough votes for second place.

 

 

Buyer's Remorse, Maybe -- But Holder's Remorse, Never

In a truly bizarre story making the rounds today, we learn that Attorney General Holder felt creeping remorse about his authorization of the secret surveillance of Fox News reporter James Rosen.  What a joke!

Holder told Congress just a few weeks ago that he never had been involved with the surveillance of a news reporter.  Does Holder now feel remorse about misleading Congress?  That may be possible.  But Holder also reviewed the entire Rosen matter and discussed it in detail with his staff before he authorized DOJ to seek the subpoena that led to Rosen being under surveillance.  Holder knew exactly what he was doing.  Are we really to believe that Holder now feels remorse?  I don't think so!

We also learned today that the Department of Justice lawyers went to two federal judges who refused to sigh the subpoena on Rosen before they found one who agreed to sign the document.  This is extremely significant.  Frequently, requests for federal courts to sign a document without notifying the other side (here Rosen) include the statement that "no prior request for this authorization has been presented to the Court."  This statement is required specifically so that litigants who are denied ex parte relief by one judge cannot then bring the same matter before another.  I wonder if this line was in the affidavit presented to the court who actually signed the document.  I also do not know if this statement is required in the DC Circuit for applications of this sort by the government.

Nevertheless, if anyone is still buying the lie that the Rosen matter was just another ordinary investigation by the government, that falsehood has now been put to rest.  It is a rare subpoena indeed that requires review by three courts before the government can find one that will actually sign it.

 

The New Defense: They are Just Incompetent!

We have reached a new low in the efforts by Democrat insiders and the media to protect president Obama and the Obamacrats from the effects of the ongoing scandals in Washington.  Here is the latest:  Obama and his people did not commit any crimes; they are just totally incompetent.  Everything that happened was just bumbling by the Obamacrats; there was no criminal activity.  Oh, and add in the old chestnut, Republicans are overreacting to all of these stories.

Bob Shrum, a Democrat politico who has an unblemished record of losing national races, wrote a column just out that puts forth this new thesis for the defense of Obama.  Shrum says that the conduct of the White House was stupid, bumbling, and grossly incompetent. THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE DEFENDING OBAMA. 

Let's just stop here for a moment.  It is a rather telling indicator of just how bad things in Washington have gotten for Obama that the new defense is that Obama and his people are incompetent boobs.  Do the folks like Shrum really think that telling America that the president is a fool who cannot manage anything is likely to improve his popularity.  I can hear the argument:  Iran may get a nuclear weapon, but we better not do anything to stop that because Obama will undoubtedly mess it up.  Or how about this one:  the economy is still limping along, but Obama has no program to help it because he knows that if he does anything, he is most likely just to make things worse.  Those are hardly rallying cries to excite anyone.

The truth, however, is even worse than incompetence.  We know that Attorney General Eric Holder did not tell congress the truth when he testified under oath about secret surveillance of reporters.  We know that someone in Washington ordered that no action be taken to try to send forces to protect the embassy in Benghazi.  We know that someone in the White House or the State Department dreamed up the youtube video story as a cover designed to trick the American people into ignoring what actually happened in Libya.  We know that the IRS targeted groups and individuals on the basis of their politcal or religious beliefs and then persecuted those targets.  We also know that the White House staff and the leadership of the Treasury Department knew about this illegal misconduct long before the story broke.  It seems likely that they told Obama as well, but we are not supposed to believe that.  This is a scandal, not just incompetence.  Shrum is correct that there is incompetence as part of the package, but there is a whole lot more.

 

The Smoking Gun

In the world of Global Warming, there are certain conclucions that have been presented as facts for many years.  Perhaps the most important of all of these conclusions is that the rise in temperatures around the world cannot be explained as the result of just natural fluctuations.  Well now, that conslusions has come under attack and the truth is coming out.  It seems that using the data announced by the British government itself and normal statistical analysis, the rise in temperature over the last century is indistinguishable from natural variance without any effect of so calledman made global warming.  Here is the article explaining all of this, although unless you have studied statistics, you may find it difficult to follow.  The point, however, is an easy one.  Even if one accepts the temperature records that were used to form the basis for the existence of Global Warming (which temperature records themselves are subject to question),  there is no scientifically valid evidence to support the conclusion that the Earth has been warming.

THIS IS VERY BIG NEWS.  What it means is that the whole Global Warming edifice is collapsing.  These temperature records are the foundation of all that has been announced as gospel by Al Gore and the other "green" scaremongers. Without them providing support, the rest is just a delusion.

The next time that someone tells you about one action or another that is needed to fight climate change, ask that person about these temperature records.  Don't expect a coherent answer.  There is none.