Friday, May 17, 2013
Busted: Obama administration officials were aware of IRS targeting Tea Party during the presidential campaign year
WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department’s inspector general told senior Treasury officials in June 2012 he was auditing the Internal Revenue Service’s screening of politically active organizations seeking tax exemptions, disclosing for the first time on Friday that Obama administration officials were aware of the matter during the presidential campaign year.
At the first Congressional hearing into the I.R.S. scandal, J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration, told members of the House Ways and Means Committee that he informed the Treasury’s general counsel of his audit on June 4, and Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin “shortly thereafter.”It remained unclear how much the disclosure would affect the broader debate over the I.R.S.'s problems. Complaints from Tea Party groups that the I.R.S. was singling them out became public in 2012, through media accounts.
Denial: Jay Carney dismisses the idea that these are scandals
Bonus, Carney claims he is "inspiring reporters to ask hard questions..."
On CNN Thursday night, however, Carney explained to Piers Morgan that he has actually enjoyed his job this week.
“Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve kind of enjoyed it,” Carney said, as Morgan asked him how his week has been.
Carney has hosted only two press briefings this week.
Carney added that the week had been “challenging” but that he enjoyed “inspiring reporters to ask hard questions” as Obama’s press secretary.
Lies often do that...
Shameful: Trustees of $600 million underfunded Detroit school pension fund jetting to Hawaii for conference...
Four trustees of Detroit’s two public pension funds are heading to a Hawaiian beach resort this weekend with their $22,000 tab paid for by the funds, which are mired in claims of mismanagement and said to be at least $600 million underfunded.
Trustees say the conference provides the education they need to manage complex investments for the funds’ retirees and beneficiaries. But other major public pension systems, including the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions, avoided sending their officials to Hawaii because of concerns the exotic locale sends the wrong message at a time when pensions nationwide are contemplating or implementing reduced benefits to cope with rising retirement costs and shaky investment returns.
Records obtained by the Free Press under the Freedom of Information Act show the expenses cover airfare — including a first-class flight for one trustee — lodging at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort in Honolulu, registration fees, meals and a per diem for miscellaneous expenses. Keep on reading...
Woman in charge of IRS office that targeted tea Party got a promotion...
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.
Her successor, Joseph Grant, is taking the fall for misdeeds at the scandal-plagued unit between 2010 and 2012. During at least part of that time, Grant served as deputy commissioner of the tax-exempt unit.
Grant announced today that he would retire June 3, despite being appointed as commissioner of the tax-exempt office May 8, a week ago.
As the House voted to fully repeal the Affordable Care Act Thursday evening, House Speaker John Boehner expressed “serious concerns” that the IRS is empowered as the law’s chief enforcer.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Obvious: Obama's EPA treats conservatives differently too...
Via The Hill:
The Environmental Protection Agency’s inspector general will review claims the 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 EPA waives the fees for major environmental groups over 90 percent of the time, while often denying fee waivers for CEI, Judicial Watch and other groups.
Dem Congressman demands James Bond technology for guns...
Via The Hill:
A House Democrat inspired by the last James Bond movie has offered legislation to produce handguns with “personalization technology.”
The idea is to produce guns that can only be used by the gun’s owners. Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.) cited the latest James Bond movie, “Skyfall,” as inspiration for the bill.
“In the most recent James Bond film, Bond escapes death when his handgun, which is equipped with technology that recognizes him as its owner, becomes inoperable when it gets into the wrong hands,” Tierney’s office said in a statement introducing the bill. “This technology, however, isn’t just for the movies — it’s a reality.”
Under his bill, guns made in the United States would have to be built with this technology two years after the bill becomes law. Older guns being sold by a business or individual would have to be retrofitted with this technology after three years.
Second IRS official goes under the bus...
BREAKING: IRS memo: 2nd top agency official announces plans to retire amid tea party controversy. -SS
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 16, 2013
Obamanomics strike Barack and Michelle Obama...
Via The Daily Mail:
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama held assets last year that were worth between $1.8 million and $6.8 million - almost half their top estimated wealth in 2010, financial documents revealed yesterday.
They also revealed the President and First Lady have put aside a large portion of their wealth to ensure their daughters Malia, 14, and Saskia, 11, can go to college.
They have saved between $200,000 to $400,000 in tax-advantaged 529 college savings accounts, the federal financial disclosure forms revealed.
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