[WASHINGTONTIMES] Newly released emails show that Lois G. Lerner, the woman at the center of the IRS scandal over special scrutiny of conservative groups' applications for tax-exempt status, specifically targeted tea party applications and directed they be held up in 2011 in order to come up with an agency policy.
The email, released by a House committee investigating the IRS, seems to counter Democrats' arguments that tea party groups weren't specifically targeted.
"Tea Party Matter very dangerous," Ms. Lerner said in the 2011 email, saying that those applications could end up being the "vehicle to go to court" to get more clarity on a 2010 Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance rules.
In another email, from 2012, Ms. Lerner acknowledges that the agency's handling of the tax-exempt applications had been bungled at the beginning, though she said they had taken steps to correct it.
"It is what it is," she said in the email, released Thursday by the Boodle Central. "Although the original story isn't as pretty as we'd like, once we learned this [sic.] were off track, we have done what we can to change the process, better educate our staff and move the cases. So, we will get dinged, but we took steps before the 'dinging' to make things better and we have written procedures."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] German Chancellor Angela Merkel ...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as Mom... 's chief election rival sparked a storm of derision and online ridicule Thursday by allowing himself to be photographed making the vulgar middle-finger gesture.
The unflattering black-and-white portrait of Peer Steinbrueck in suit and tie graces the cover of the weekly magazine supplement of the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily's Friday edition.
Long before the magazine was to hit news stands, the image of the 66-year-old flipping the bird while sneering into the lens caused a storm ahead of the September 22 vote, with attacks raining down from politicians and in the Twittersphere.
"This gesture is unacceptable for a chancellor candidate," said Economy Minister Philipp Roesler of the Free Democrats, Merkel's junior coalition allies. "Something like that is just not on."
On Twitter under the tag #stinkefinger (middle-finger) one writer said: "Steinbrueck's middle-finger seemed to say: 'Goodbye then, you election wankers.' At least he's getting a totally awesome exit."
Another judged the gesture as "diggin' for street credibility" while a third wrote: "Unbelievable! It's not a fake! I can't imagine a chancellor like that."
The image of the gaffe-prone Social Democrat candidate was taken for a photo-essay format called "Don't Say Anything Now" in which subjects are asked to respond non-verbally to questions.
The gesture by the self-styled "straight-talk" politician came in response to a question over his campaign missteps, including causing offence in Italia by calling former premier Silvio Berlusconi ...former Italian prime minister, known for his plain (for a European politician) speaking and his liking for hookers a third his age or less... a "clown".
The journalists' question was: "Pannen (mishap) Peer, Problem Peer , Peerlusconi -- you don't have to worry about a shortage of nicknames, do you?"
If Steinbrueck had recently revived his misstep-prone early campaign with a strong TV debate performance against popular Merkel, the middle-finger picture was likely to spell a setback.
The picture stands in stark contrast to Merkel, who is portrayed on the cover of Friday's Economist magazine on a pedestal overlooking European landmarks with the headline "One woman to rule them all".
Sueddeutsche itself commented that Steinbrueck, had he made the offensive gesture in a public place, would have faced a fine of 600 to 4,000 euros ($800 to $5,300).
It said that, given his negative image during the campaign, Steinbrueck's "frustration is understandable".
But the newspaper was in no doubt about the impact of the photo, saying "the middle-finger photo, days before the election, is unlikely to help dispel the notion".
The paper also said online that the center-left candidate's front man had suggested the photo not be published, but that Steinbrueck had consented, saying "no, it's OK."
The conservative Welt daily said Steinbrueck's ironic gesture showed he was now at ease on the campaign trail but would likely be remembered as part of the "series of many blunders and scandals."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2013 00:00 ||
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[WEEKLYSTANDARD] Vice President Joe Biden said Repulican opposition to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in the House of Representatives came from the "Neanderthal crowd." And he gave himself credit for coming up with the law almost 20 years ago.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2013 09:57 ||
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#1
Biden was probably trying to complement Conservatives - after all for him a Neanderthal is a big step up!
Joe needs to be sat down and forced to watch two weeks of Springer to know what a lie the whole act is predicated upon. You'll see women assaulting men and other women, but you'll hardly see any men strike a women. The other half of the species has become just as coarse and vicious as the men they stereotype to justify this grasp of power.
[WEEKLYSTANDARD] "Je suis un Cajun noir," Elbert Lee Guillory, the 69-year-old state senator from Opelousas, Louisiana, tells me proudly. "I am a black Cajun." To which he might these days add, "Je suis un Républicain noir--I am a black Republican."
On May 31, Guillory became the first black Louisianan to serve at the state or federal level as a Republican since Reconstruction. In truth, he was a Republican before running for the statehouse in 2007, serving on the party's St. Landry Gay Pareeh committee and the state committee. But when he decided to run for office in his majority black, majority Democratic district, having an "R" by his name would have done him no favors. Besides, he says, his goal was to take down what he considered the corrupt regime of the local Democratic family in power, headed by Don Cravins Sr.
"He left Opelousas driving a Chevrolet," Guillory says of his arch-rival. "Went to Baton Rouge and came back with his pockets stuffed with cash, driving a Cadillac." Guillory registered as a Democrat and won his first race for the statehouse in a special election. He went on to win reelection and two subsequent elections to the Louisiana senate.
But by his 2011 campaign, Guillory was the only sitting Democratic senator not to receive the standard financial contribution from the state party. Always among the most conservative members of the Democratic caucus, Guillory had been voting with the Republicans more often than with the Democrats, who had been following the national party's liberal lead on social issues like life, school choice, and gun ownership.
"All of the core values that I held and my community held, my family held," Guillory says. "As they moved farther and farther away, what was kind of a tenuous relationship anyway became tense and rancorous."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
This is the fellow who was not invited to the recent MLK festivities on the Washington Mall. Yes, that was the same event where National Park Service officers held umbrellas for derisive separatists and hate speakers.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
The pictures of John Kerry give me the creeps! Night of the living dead.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/13/2013 0:16 Comments ||
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#2
Samantha Power (Shanty Irish) looks like she was on a 5 year bender. Maybe feeling undeservedly morally superior, intellectually low, and married to Cass Sunstein takes a toll
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/13/2013 9:28 Comments ||
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The Legislative District 26 Republican Party in Arizona has passed a formal rebuke of Sen. John Maverick McCain ... the Senator-for-Life from Arizona, former presidential candidate and even more former foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution... (R-AZ) for abdicating GOP principles in helping Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) secure votes to approve several of President Barack Obama's controversial nominees.
"Senator John McCain unilaterally negotiated with the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to secure Republican votes necessary to pass a number of controversial Presidential nominees," the resolution, which passed the official GOP body in the state by a 24-13 vote with four abstentions on Tuesday evening, reads.
The resolution notes that President Obama nominated "Gina McCarthy for head of the Environmental Protection Agency, an environmental bureaucrat who supports anti-job/consumer policies," "Richard Corday to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFRB), an unaccountable, unconstitutional agency created by the Dodd-Frank legislation," and "Thomas Perez as Labor Secretary who has a known record for abusing power as Maryland's Labor Secretary, handing political appointments to Big-Labor bedfellows."
It argues that McCain "provided the votes necessary for the confirmation of the above nominees," and his "'deal' was nothing more than capitulation to the Senate Majority Leader, giving him everything he asked for."
"Senator McCain claims in defense of his actions, that they were taken to prevent the Senate Majority Leader from 'going nuclear' and illegally breaking the Senate rules to pass these nominees," the GOP resolution states, adding that McCain's activity contradicted GOP principles and "the position of Legislative District 26 Republicans is that senators should call the Senate Majority Leader's bluff and force him to get the votes necessary from members of his own party."
The resolution says that given those facts, McCain must "cease deal-making and negotiations for Republican votes that undermine the Senate Republican Leader."
The resolution also argues that because of McCain's work to help Reid and Obama secure confirmation of those liberal nominees, "the conduct of Senator McCain, is unbecoming a Member of the United States Senate, weakened the Senate Republican Leader, and is hereby strongly rebuked and condemned."
Matt Papke, the third vice chair of the body, told Breitbart News that "McCain is the poster child for term limits."
"His back room dealings, insatiable war drum, and eroding base call to question why this man is our Senator," Papke, who is also a candidate for Tempe, AZ, City Council, said in an email. "It is my hope that Senators McCain and Flake work to reestablish their relationships with the boots on the ground members of Legislative District 26 Republicans."
This latest rebuke comes on the heels of the Maricopa County GOP blistering McCain in recent web literature, and his increased distance from Republicans in the state, including the House GOP delegation, as Breitbart News has reported. Contentious town hall video at link.
#1
Seems kind of mean to rebuke a senile old man. Of course, if he was off tending his rose bushes or something, he wouldn't be getting into these messes.
#2
The resolution says that given those facts, McCain must "cease deal-making and negotiations for Republican votes that undermine the Senate Republican Leader."
Might I suggest he also "cease deal-making" with Syrian rebels as well.
[BREITBART] A Senate panel on Thursday approved a measure defining a journalist, which had been an obstacle to broader media shield legislation designed to protect news hounds and the news media from having to reveal their sources.
The Judiciary Committee's action cleared the way for approval of legislation prompted by the disclosure earlier this year that the Justice Department had secretly subpoenaed almost two months of telephone records for 21 phone lines used by news hounds and editors for The News Agency that Dare Not be Named and secretly used a warrant to obtain some emails of a Fox News journalist. The subpoenas grew out of investigations into leaks of classified information to the news organizations.
The AP received no advance warning of the subpoena. Jeez, that's gratitude for ya...
The vote was 13-5 for a compromise defining a "covered journalist" as an employee, independent contractor or agent of an entity that disseminates news or information. The individual would have been employed for one year within the last 20 or three months within the last five years.
It would apply to student journalists or someone with a considerable amount of freelance work in the last five years. A federal judge also would have the discretion to declare an individual a "covered journalist," who would be granted the privileges of the law. What about bloggers? Especially conservative bloggers?
The committee later approved the overall bill on a 13-5 vote.
Sen. Chuck Schumer Senator-for-life from New York, renowned for his love of standing in front of cameras. Schumer has been a professional politician since 1975, when disco was in flower. , D-N.Y., a chief proponent of the medial shield legislation, worked with Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Dick Durbin ...Senator-for-Life from Illinois and Democratic Party Whip. In April 2006, Time magazine identified Durbin as one of America's 10 Best Senators, so what's that tell you? He was the first United States Senator to support the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody... , then the junior senator from Illinois.... , D-Ill., as well as representatives from news organizations, on the compromise.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2013 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[WASHINGTONTIMES] Newly released emails show that Lois G. Lerner, the woman at the center of the IRS scandal over special scrutiny of conservative groups' applications for tax-exempt status, specifically targeted tea party applications and directed they be held up in 2011 in order to come up with an agency policy.
[WEEKLYSTANDARD] Vice President Joe Biden said Repulican opposition to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in the House of Representatives came from the "Neanderthal crowd." And he gave himself credit for coming up with the law almost 20 years ago.
John 
