Sarah Palin on Obama’s IRS-gate

Exclusive — PALIN: Going Rogue in the Wrong Direction

by Sarah Palin 22 May 2013 

As more information about the IRS scandal trickles out daily, the White House’s involvement is becoming clearer. Those of us who’ve been warning about the demise of freedom with Barack Obama’s efforts to “fundamentally transform” our great nation are about to witness some sad vindication. Will awakened Americans finally join us in saying “enough is enough”?

The president would like us to believe that he only learned about the IRS corruption from watching the news. But we recently learned that the White House was actively working with the IRS on how to roll out the story of this scandal. So, Mr. President, how can you have your staff work on the roll out of the biggest controversy since Watergate, and yet claim that you only heard about it by watching the news with the rest of us?

For the president to deny any knowledge of what was brewing and to claim to know nothing about the Benghazi cover-up or anything about anything White House-related lately, he’s either a liar or a hugely incompetent CEO. You decide.

Yesterday, we also learned that the top IRS official involved in the targeting scandal is planning on pleading the Fifth during her Congressional hearings. That’s keen – she’ll be able to enjoy her Fifth Amendment rights in a hearing about how her intimidating organization denied Americans the ability to fully exercise their First Amendment rights.

Keep in mind that the IRS considers you guilty until proven innocent when they audit you.  The Fifth Amendment doesn’t apply.

This scandal is not just about the IRS targeting Americans to deny them tax-exempt status or subjecting them to harassing retaliatory audits. The IRS also leaked to left-wing reporters the confidential application information submitted by conservative groups.

The IRS claims that their leaking of information was “inadvertent and unintentional disclosures by the employees involved.” They at first blamed the entire IRS scandal on a couple of employees who “went rogue,” but we soon found out that this was just more malarkey coming from the president’s spokesman. But even if these were “inadvertent and unintentional disclosures,” is that supposed to make us feel better? With the IRS running Obamacare, what are the chances that our confidential information and medical records will “inadvertently” and “unintentionally” be disclosed? Please remember that some of us warned America about the dangers of having the IRS play such a big role with the administration of Obamacare. We were laughed at and mocked relentlessly back then. It sure doesn’t seem funny now, does it?

This IRS scandal is especially terrible because Americans live in fear of the IRS like no other entity because this monstrous bureaucracy has the power to take your hard-earned money. Your wages are the sum of your labors; hence, the IRS has the power to steal the fruits of your labors. Average Americans live in fear of making an error on their tax returns that could cost them massive amounts of money, plus their reputation and good name.  If a small business makes a mistake, the IRS can shut them down and send them to jail.

The IRS has always been the face of intimidating and controlling big government. Now it’s the face of corrupt big government that actively attacks the people it is supposed to serve. This isn’t the change America was hoping for, Mr. President, but it certainly is transformative.

Average everyday Americans like my dad and his non-political buddies are outraged by this IRS scandal, perhaps more so than all the other White House fiascos that are making the radical Left’s intentions crystal clear. It’s because this IRS cluster hits close to home for everyone. It’s tangible proof of how a corrupt government can intimidate and target a person’s record, reputation, and life, and make them feel helpless.

These Obama administration scandals are a sad and stark reminder that only limited government can ensure liberty. At our core, we Americans just want to be left alone to live freely, peacefully, and productively.

Last year the Obama campaign told us that government is something we all “belong” to. I guess they’re right because when the government is powerful enough to target, intimidate, and harass us, we do “belong” to them. The real question is: Will we stand for this?

These atrocious government actions are bigger, uglier, and much more dangerous than “a few rogue employees.” It’s time for all Americans to stand together and join in the growing outraged chorus that looks at our out-of-control government and says, “Enough is enough!”

†

See also:

• “Groups & individuals targeted by Obama’s IRS witchhunt,” May 15, 2013.
• “Tax-exempt charity of Obama’s half-brother is a fraud,” May 21, 2013.

~Eowyn

Tax-exempt charity of Obama’s half-brother is a fraud

By now, unless you’re a know-nothing LIV (Low Information Voter), you’ve heard and seen plenty about the IRS singling out conservatives and Christians for special scrutiny. (See “Groups & individuals targeted by Obama’s IRS witchhunt,” May 15, 2013.)

Less known is another travesty in President Lucifer’s IRS-gate: The IRS had fast-tracked a charity run by Obama’s half-brother, Abon’go “Roy” Malik Obama, for tax-exempt approval.

Abon’go “Roy” Malik Obama holding a photo of him with a young Barack Hussein “Lucifer” Obama.

The charity is called the Barack H. Obama Foundation, named after the Obama brothers’ Kenyan dad, Barack H. Obama, Sr. Its mission statement is “to provide people everywhere with resources to uplift their welfare and living standards in memory of Barack H. Obama: in the region of his birth, Kenya, and beyond.”

First reported by The Daily Caller, the Barack H. Obama Foundation was speedily approved for IRS exemption by Lois Lerner, the IRS senior official at the center of the targeting of conservative organizations that have waited over two years to receive tax exempt status. More astonishing still is the fact that the BHO Foundation was given retroactive tax-exempt status despite never having bothered to apply for it. The IRS also overlooked the foundation’s history of soliciting donations before receiving tax-exempt status.

Now, there is another layer of stench added to Malik Obama’s tax-exempt foundation:

It’s a fraud!

Charles C. Johnson reports for The Daily Caller, May 20, 2013, that on its  website barackhobamafoundation.org, the Barack H. Obama Foundation lists its address as 107 S. West St. #401, Alexandria, Va.

Here’s a pic of 107 S. West St., #401, Alexandria, VA:

107 S. West St., #401, is a UPS store!

“They probably just rent a mailbox here or receive mail here,” said a UPS employee when asked if the store was the address for the Barack H. Obama Foundation. She did not know if Malik Obama, who his website says divides his time between Kenya and Virginia, had been in to the store.

A visit to the UPS store revealed that there is a mailbox numbered 401.

To add to the mystery and confusion fraud, the Barack H. Obama Foundation’s IRS filings list another Virginia address: 4201 Wilson Blvd. Ste 110-152, Arlington, Va. 22030.

But that address is a marketing center for a drug-alcohol rehab center called A Better Today Recovery Services. A receptionist who answered the phone at A Better Today said neither she nor anybody in the office had heard of the Barack H. Obama Foundation. She said A Better Today had been located at the Arlington address for “a couple years.” The IRS filings that list the Arlington address as the foundation’s headquarters were dated May 2011.

“I don’t know if it’s listed wrong or what’s going on, but we have never heard of that,” the receptionist said, adding that A Better Today had never received calls or correspondence related to the BHO Foundation.

Despite raising more than $250,000, the alleged charity BHO Foundation doesn’t seem to have done much. Its website claims the organization has built a madrassa and was building an imam’s house as well as some “proposed latrines,” but there is no other evidence that the nonprofit was working to “mitigate social-shortcomings in areas of education and literacy, health and well-being, poverty, and lack of community infrastructure in such basic needs such as water, electricity, shelter and sustenance,” as the site says.

Alton Ray Baysden

Alton Ray Baysden, a former Department of State employee and registered Republican who helped to start the Barack H. Obama Foundation, declined to comment. Repeated phone calls by The Daily Caller to the Barack H. Foundation went to the organization’s voicemail and were not returned.

~Eowyn

How’d you like to be taxed at 100%?

Thousands of French Households Taxed 100%

Yahoo Finance: More than 8,000 French households’ tax bills topped 100 percent of their income in 2012, according to a French newspaper report.

Citing data from France’s finance ministry, the business newspaper Les Echos reported on Friday that in addition to those taxed at over 100 percent last year, almost 12,000 households paid taxes worth more than 75 percent of their 2011 income and that a further 9,910 households were taxed at more than 85 percent of their income.

The paper said this was due to a one-off levy imposed on the 2011 incomes of households with assets of more than 1.3 million euros ($1.67 million). The surcharge was introduced by socialist President Francois Hollande in an attempt to offset the cost of a rebate scheme and taxation cap introduced by former President Nikolas Sarkozy, the paper added.

“In 2011, 5,221 households had a tax rate of more than 100 percent on their revenues, Some 6,203 households had a rate of more than 85 percent and 6,343 house holds a rate of more than 75 percent,” the newspaper said but households could take advantage of a “tax shield” introduced by Sarkozy to cap an individual’s overall taxation at 50 percent of their income.

Last year, for the first time in 25 years, Les Echos reported, that cap was removed which “substantially increased [the tax rates'] impact.”

President Francois Hollande’s government back-tracked in 2012 over a proposed 75 percent tax rate on earnings over 1 million euros that he had pledged to introduce when he came to power.

The country’s Constitutional Council said such a high income rate was unfair and could be viewed as confiscatory, suggesting that the government should deflect it onto companies instead, in turn causing uproar in the business world.

Jennifer McKeown, senior European economist at Capital Economics told CNBC that the surcharge highlighted the fact that Hollande was not ready to ease his stance towards the country’s wealthiest. “I think it emphasizes that, despite the fact that the controversial “millionaires’ tax” has been watered down, Hollande’s policies are still targeting wealthy households,” McKeown told CNBC on Monday.

“The impact on consumer spending should be reduced by the fact that these households’ propensity to spend out of their income tends to be relatively low. But with unemployment very high and rising, average income households also have little reason to spend. And there is a risk that France’s ‘tax the rich’ policies cause it to lose some high earners and even entire successful businesses to overseas, which it really needs to boost its productivity,” she added.

France last week reported an economic contraction of 0.4 percent in the first quarter, compared to the same period a year-ago.

Good grief, a tax rate of 100%? Every democrats dream!

h/t Anon

DCG

House committee investigates IRS witch-hunt: Live streaming

Russell George (l); Steve Miller (r)

This morning, the GOP-majority House Ways and Means Committee holds the first Congressional hearing on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) targeting conservatives and Christians for higher levels of scrutiny.

Outgoing Acting IRS Commissioner Steve Miller, Obama’s first scapegoat in his IRS-gate, told a House committee that “foolish mistakes” were  made by the tax agency, but that partisanship wasn’t the reason. [Hey, Miller, if "partisanship wasn't the reason," then why did you "resign" from the IRS? ~Eowyn]

Treasury Department’s Inspector General for Tax Administration Russell George testified at the same hearing and said he did not find evidence that IRS’ decisions were motivated by politics. [HaHaHaHaHa! That Russell George is a real stand-up comedian! ~Eowyn]

To watch the hearing live, click here.

Meanwhile, NBC’s Lisa Myers reported this morning that the IRS  deliberately chose not to reveal that it had wrongly targeted conservative groups until after the 2012 presidential election.

But remember we’ve been told: “partisanship wasn’t the reason” and there’s no “evidence that IRS’ decisions were motivated by politics”!

~Eowyn

Liberal Jon Stewart goes postal on Obama

I can’t do better than FOTM’s WildBillAlaska, who alerted us to this video:

When the sycophant late night comedians go this far, the steaming POS is in trouble. Oh Joy!!

H/t The Daily Sheeple

On a more serious note, see “Groups & individuals targeted by Obama’s IRS witchhunt.”

~Eowyn

Groups & individuals targeted by Obama’s IRS witchhunt

The mission of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is to collect taxes from individuals and groups, but to do so fairly by applying the the tax law with integrity and without prejudice. According to IRS Policy Statement 1-1, IRS employees accomplish this mission by being impartial and handling tax matters in a manner that will promote public confidence.

It is not the mission of the IRS to use political criteria to target certain individuals and groups for special scrutiny or audit.

On May 10, 2013, Americans learned that, instead of being apolitical, the Obama regime’s IRS had singled out for special scrutiny the tax documents of some 75 groups who, for the lack of a better term, are not fans of President Lucifer.

That day, the IRS issued an apology to conservative political groups — groups with names that had words like “tea party” and “patriot” — for having been subjected to extra scrutiny. But the IRS insisted that “Mistakes were made initially, but they were in no way due to any political or partisan rationale.”

Since last Friday, each new day brings more information of the IRS’s misdeeds. They include the following:

• The IRS witch hunt began in April 2010, with the formation of a team of specialists within the IRS called the Determination Unit. (Source: ZeroHedge)

• High-level Obama regime officials were involved. (Source: ZeroHedge)

• By June 2011, the IRS expanded its criteria for extra scrutiny beyond “Tea Party,” “patriot,” and “9/12 Project” (referring to a group started by Glenn Beck) groups to include also organizations critical of government spending, government debt, taxes, and “how the country is run,” as well as groups seeking to “make America a better place to live” and to educate Americans about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. (Source: FoxNews)

• The IRS also targeted a pro-life group, Cherish Life Ministries, that provides help to a coalition of churches that supports mothers struggling with unexpected pregnancies, promotes abstinence and advocates for an end to abortion. (Source: WND) H/t FOTM’s joworth

• The IRS was targeting the Jews, too! An IRS agent told the pro-Israel Jewish organization Z Street that the applications of Israel-related organizations were assigned to “a special unit in the D.C. office to determine whether the organization’s activities contradict the Obama’s Administration’s public policies.” (Source: Atlas Shrugs)

• Former Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld reveals in his new book, Rumsfeld’s Rules, Leadership lessons in Business, Politics, War and Life, that outspoken businesses critical of the federal government are also singled out by the IRS and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). (Source: The Examiner)

• Even worse, the IRS went beyond using political criteria to single out certain groups for extra scrutiny. The IRS violated confidentiality by giving the confidential applications for tax-exempt status of nine conservative groups to a George Soros-funded journalism group, ProPublica. (Source: Breitbart)

• The IRS also leaked the 2008 confidential financial documents of the National Organization for Marriage, a pro-traditional marriage organization, to the leftwing Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Those documents were published on the Huffington Post on March 30, 2012. Joe Solmonese, HRC’s president and a co-chairman of Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, then used the leaked document to attack GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. (Source: Breitbart) H/t FOTM reader Kathleen Myers.

Joe Solmonese with Pres. Lucifer

• Wayne Allyn Root — the Libertarian Party’s 2008 VP candidate who attended Columbia University in the same years as Pres. Lucifer but has publicly stated he’d never met his supposed fellow-student nor does he know any Columbia alumnus who had — was also a target of the IRS’s unusual audits, beginning in January 2011, despite a “spotless” 30-year tax record. Root believes the order to audit him came from Obama himself: “I believe this is not rogue agents, who would be risking their pension and careers.” (Source: WND)

• Televangelist Billy Graham endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election. Now his son, Franklin Graham, has come forth with the revelation that in the midst of the heated presidential campaign in September 2012, the IRS notified the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the family’s international humanitarian organization Samaritan’s Purse, that it was conducting a “review” of their activities for tax year 2010. (Source: Politico)

• In 2010, the IRS targeted for auditing Dr. Anne Hendershott, a devout Catholic professor and author whose writings are critical of Obama and Soros-funded “liberal” Catholic groups. The IRS demanded to know who was paying her and “what their politics were.” Although Hendershott and her husband (who brings in the vast majority of the family’s income) file joint tax returns, only she was audited. The audit was so emotionally and financially expensive that she was frightened into silence. (Source: The Blaze)

• Dr. James Dobson says his Christian FamilyTalk group was also targeted. The IRS threatened the group’s non-profit status because it didn’t represent “all views.” (Source: WND)

• The Catholic League was notified, just weeks after Obama was elected president in 2008, by the IRS that it was under investigation for violating the IRS Code on political activities as it relates to 501(c)(3) organizations. It was the George Soros-funded leftwing United that contacted the IRS to launch its investigation of the Catholic League. (Source: America Conservative 2 Conservative)

• A 180-year-old Baptist newspaper, The Biblical Recorder, was targeted by the IRS for extra scrutiny. In summer 2012, the paper gained national attention after it published an interview with Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy who said he supports traditional family values. The paper also published ads from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association — which also was targeted by the IRS. (Source: Fox News)

~Eowyn

55 Questions IRS Asked of Tea Party Groups. It’s A Doozie.

all I have to say is “duct Tape” Lots and lots of duct tape. You can borrow some of mine.     ~Steve~

3 layers should do it.

Oh, one more thing. i really love to watch skippy sweat.

From the http://www.dailymail.co.uk

By DAVID MARTOSKO IN WASHINGTON

PUBLISHED: 16:18 EST, 13 May 2013 | UPDATED: 16:20 EST, 13 May 2013

The Internal Revenue Service wrote to the Richmond Tea Party last year demanding to know the names of all its financial donors and volunteers, as part of a 55-question inquisition into its application for tax-exempt status, MailOnline has learned.

The agency wanted to know ‘the names of the donors, contributors, and grantors’ for every year ‘from inception to the present.’

It also demanded ‘the amounts of each of the donations, contributions, and grants and the dates you received them.’

‘How did you use these donations, contributions, and grants?’ the IRS asked. ‘Provide the details.’

And in addition to the names of board members, officers and employees, the nation’s taxing authorities insisted on knowing the names of everyone who helped the Richmond Tea Party without compensation.

‘Please identify your volunteers,’ the January 9, 2012 letter from the IRS read.

The agency also required the Virginia conservative group to provide copies of sections of its website that only its members can access.

The IRS came under fire on Friday when its Office of Inspector General released a draft of an investigative timeline showing that the agency had played political favorites with nonprofit groups seeking tax-exempt status.

In 2010, according to that investigation, the Cincinnati-based IRS office responsible for vetting tax-exempt applications began targeting groups with ‘Tea Party or similar’ words in their names – including words like ‘patriots’ and ’9/12′ – for tighter scrutiny.

The Richmond Tea Party received this demand along with dozens of others from the IRS, asking for a list of its donors and the amounts they had contributed. The group refused, citing their donors’ right to privacy

The IRS ultimately identified approximately 300 such organizations, many of which were independently organized in 2009 and 2010 under the larger ‘tea party’ banner. Those groups had a decisive impact in the 2010 midterm congressional elections, and became a thorn in the side of the Democratic party, costing it race after race, especially in the House of Representatives, which shifted to Republican control.

In the nearly three years since the IRS began looking more closely at conservative nonprofit groups than others, 125 of the 300 target organizations have been approved for tax-exempt status. Another 25 withdrew their applications. The remainder are still waiting.

The Office of Inspector General’s timeline shows that in Washington, senior officials with the IRS were made aware of the practice by at least August 4, 2011. On that date, the chief counsel of the IRS met with the agency’s Rulings and Agreements unit ‘so that everyone would have the latest information on the issue.’

But during a press gaggle about Air Force One on Monday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney insisted the White House was unaware of the investigation or its political implications until last month.

The Rest Of The Story Here..       

Below is Link to list  . Sorry as it gets all jumbled when I try and paste it in. Trust me it’s a good read, providing you have your head protection on.

Link To LIST!!

 

 

Immigration reform bill will create a national biometric database

The so-called Gang of 8* immigration reform amnesty bill, Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, is bad enough, given that:

• Its total costs are estimated to be $6.3 trillion (!).

• Two amendments acknowledging same-sex marriage were recently added to the bill by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT).

* Gang of 8 refers to the four Republicans and four Democrats who are sponsors of the bill. They are Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.)

But there is something even worse, something downright sinister, hidden in the 844-page bill: a national biometric database of every adult in the United States.

Biometrics refers to the identification of humans by distinctive measurable characteristics, such as iris scan, DNA or fingerprint.

David Kravets reports for Wired, May 10, 2013:

The immigration reform measure the Senate began debating yesterday would create a national biometric database of virtually every adult in the U.S., in what privacy groups fear could be the first step to a ubiquitous national identification system.

Buried in the more than 800 pages of the bipartisan legislation (pdf)  is language mandating the creation of the innocuously-named “photo tool,” a massive federal database administered by the Department of Homeland Security and containing names, ages, Social Security numbers and photographs of everyone in the country with a driver’s license or other state-issued photo ID.

Employers would be obliged to look up every new hire in the database to verify that they match their photo.

This piece of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act is aimed at curbing employment of undocumented immigrants. But privacy advocates fear the inevitable mission creep, ending with the proof of self being required at polling places, to rent a house, buy a gun, open a bank account, acquire credit, board a plane or even attend a sporting event or log on the internet. Think of it as a government version of Foursquare, with Big Brother cataloging every check-in.

“It starts to change the relationship between the citizen and state, you do have to get permission to do things,” said Chris Calabrese, a congressional lobbyist with the American Civil Liberties Union. “More fundamentally, it could be the start of keeping a record of all things.”

For now, the legislation allows the database to be used solely for employment purposes. But historically such limitations don’t last. The Social Security card, for example, was created to track your government retirement benefits. Now you need it to purchase health insurance.

“The Social Security number itself, it’s pretty ubiquitous in your life,” Calabrese said.

David Bier, an analyst with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, agrees with the ACLU’s fears.

“The most worrying aspect is that this creates a principle of permission basically to do certain activities and it can be used to restrict activities,” he said. “It’s like a national ID system without the card.”

For the moment, the debate in the Senate Judiciary Committee is focused on the parameters of legalization for unauthorized immigrants, a border fence and legal immigration in the future.

The committee is scheduled to resume debate on the package next Tuesday.

~Eowyn

More Americans are on disability than the entire population of Greece

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) has become the new government welfare.

A record number of 11 million (10,962,532) Americans are now on SSDI, which is 147,335 more people than the total population of the country Greece.

Too sick to work Americans (photo by Christopher Capozziello/Getty Images )

Terence Jeffrey reports for CNSNews, May 7, 2013, that April was the 195^th straight month that the number of American workers collecting federal disability payments had increased.

Newly released data from the Social Security Administration show a record 10,962,532 total disability beneficiaries in April, including a record 8,865,586 disabled workers (up from 8,853,614 in March), 1,936,236 children of disabled workers, and 160,710 spouses of disabled workers.

According to its latest census, Greece had only 10,815,197 residents.

As the overall number of American workers collecting disability has increased, the ratio of full-time workers to disability-collecting workers has decreased.

In December 1968, 1,295,428 American workers collected disability and, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 65,630,000 worked full-time. Thus, there were about 51 full-time workers for each worker collecting disability. In April 2013, with a record 8,865,586 American workers collecting disability and 116,053,000 working full-time, there were only 13 Americans working full-time for each worker on disability.

Jim Quinn of The Burning Platform blog points out that the drastic increase in the number of Americans on SSDI has nothing to do with the aging of the population. As he puts it:

“Even the most pollyanna would agree that medical advancements since 1968 have been significant. These medical advancements would argue for less people being on disability and unable to work. Workplace safety measures have been increased exponentially since 1968, so that also argues for less disabled workers. The good old ADA law forced all workplaces to become disabled friendly. That argues for less people on disability. The country has transitioned from a manufacturing society to a service society. Workers don’t work on dangerous assembly lines anymore. Robots do the dangerous stuff. This should have dramatically reduced worker injuries and disabilities.

Everything I’ve pointed out is true. The tremendous increase in people on SSDI is nothing but a gigantic fraud, perpetuated by the Federal government and slimy lawyers. The government broadened the scope of disabilities to include stress, depression, and non-diagnosable things like aches and pains. I have stress, depression and pains too, but I get up at 5:15 every morning and go to work. The SSDI program is a joke. More than half the people on SSDI are lazy good for nothing leeches. They are sucking you and I dry while sitting around eating cheetos, watching Judge Judy on their government subsidized cable TV, and texting with other lazy fucks on their iPhones.

And don’t forget, you get the added benefit of Medicare coverage after only two years of SSDI stress [even if you're not yet Medicare age].”

My husband and I watch Judge Judy when we dine. I can’t tell you how many times a litigant in her court turns out to be living on Social Security Disability “benefits” although they appear to have NOTHING physically wrong with them. They walk down the aisle normally, without aid. And from their testimonies, they live a normal active life.

This is not to say there are no legitimate recipients of SSDI. But you and I both personally know people who are on SSDI who, in a just world, shouldn’t. My husband has a niece who had never worked at a paying job but has been on SSDI for her entire life. Her “disability” however had not prevented her from marrying, having two kids (the son is a petty criminal), and divorcing. In December 2008, The Oregonian uncovered potential SSDI fraud of $11 billion.

Once a person gets on SSDI, he/she rarely ever returns to the work force.

A recent Bloomberg article cites a federal government report: “Workers on SSDI rarely return to the labor force, resulting in a loss to society of the economic contribution those workers could have made.” Government data show that more than 99% of all SSDI beneficiaries remain in the program until retirement age! 

You and I both know that this is unsustainable and cannot continue.

Congressional estimates say the trust fund that supports SSDI will run out of money in 4 years, by 2017, leaving the program unable to pay full benefits, unless Congress acts. By 2036, about two decades later, Social Security’s much larger retirement fund is projected to run dry, too, leaving it unable to pay full benefits as well.

See also my post of Aug. 22, 2011, “Social Security Disability Running on Empty.”

~Eowyn

IRS Apologizes For Targeting Conservative Groups. Well Hell must have just froze Over

POLITICO Breaking News!!

Well Golly and Gee Wizz Gomer. Targeting Conservatives, who would have thunk it. Duh.  

—————————————————————————————————

 AP Photo

By BYRON TAU, LAUREN FRENCH and TARINI PARTI | 5/10/13 10:45 AM EDT Updated: 5/10/13 2:19 PM EDT

The Internal Revenue Service apologized Friday to conservative political groups for giving their tax documents extra scrutiny — validating the worst fears of Republican activists who have long accused the Obama administration of politicizing the process.

Roughly 75 groups were singled out using words like “tea party” or “patriot” in tax documents, Lois Lerner, who is responsible for overseeing tax-exempt groups, said on a hastily arranged conference call Friday afternoon.

“Mistakes were made initially, but they were in no way due to any political or partisan rationale,” the IRS said in a separate statement.

The announcement is the latest black eye for an agency that has been criticized by members of Congress from both parties, reform groups and conservative activists for its handling of politically active tax-exempt nonprofits.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called for President Barack Obama to order a “transparent, government-wide review” to see if similar practices are happening elsewhere in the administration.

House Ways and Means oversight subcommittee Chairman Charles Boustany told POLITICO he will launch an “aggressive” investigation. “We’re not going to let this rest,” the Louisiana Republican said. “We’re going to pursue this vigorously.”

Outside groups on both sides have increasingly chosen to organize as nonprofits — regulated and reviewed by the IRS instead of the Federal Election Commission. Their nonprofit status exempts those groups from paying federal taxes — and unlike super PACs, allows them to hide their donors.

Major outside groups like the Karl Rove-affiliated Crossroads GPS, Koch brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity and the pro-Barack Obama group Priorities USA are organized as 501(c)(4) nonprofits.

The IRS statement said the agency “should have done a better job” dealing with the dramatic influx in applications for 501(c)(4) status. It also said that the decisions on how to handle the applications were made by “local, career employees in Cincinnati.”

“When we see an uptick in applications from a particular type of group…that we don’t ordinarily see, what we do is we centralize those applications into one group to work on them. We do this all the time,” Lerner told reporters. “The problem here was that in some cases they added actual case names to the list. They added ‘tea party’ and ‘patriot’ to the list of cases that should be centralized in this group.”

Lerner said that she only began looking into the issue when the press started writing about it last year before the election. but she declined to say why it took six months for the agency to publicly admit the practice or if any employees involved had been punished.

Lerner added that she was not aware if White House or Treasury Department employees knew about the review before Friday’s apology, and said she did not remember when she notified higher-ups at the IRS.

The White House has not responded to a request for comment.

McConnell said the IRS’s apology wasn’t nearly enough. “Make no mistake, an apology won’t put this issue to rest,” he said. “Now more than ever we need to send a clear message to the Obama administration that the First Amendment is non-negotiable, and that apologies after an election year are not an sufficient response to what we now know took place at the IRS.

“This kind of political thuggery has absolutely no place in our politics,”

And now for the rest of the story.

Read more on Story HERE!!!!

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/irs-targeting-conservative-groups-91183.html#ixzz2Sv0IlEUm