Base Connect Blog

Anonymous Cincinnati IRS official: “Everything comes from the top.”

Sun, 19 May 2013 17:17:41 -0400

Anonymous Cincinnati IRS official: “Everything comes from the top.”:

A story in the Washington Post yesterday about the Internal Revenue Service’s Cincinnati office, which does most of the agency’s nonprofit auditing, clearly contradicted earlier reports that the agency’s targeting of Tea Party groups was the result of rogue agents. (link)

Paul Ryan Grills Steven Miller

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:19:03 -0400

Paul Ryan Grills Steven Miller

Amid scandals, White House announces star-studded concert in East Room

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:44:43 -0400

Amid scandals, White House announces star-studded concert in East Room:

Amid sequester and scandal in Washington, the White House announced Friday that the president and first lady will be hosting another concert as part of their “In Performance at the White House” series later this month. (link)

"Obama recently warned some college graduates against being all worried about government tyranny, and..."

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:28:12 -0400

““Obama recently warned some college graduates against being all worried about government tyranny, and Obama has good reason to warn you against that because worrying about government tyranny is the exact sort of thing that will get you audited. Or, when Obamacare is in full force, it will be the attitude that gets you denied life saving health care. So have faith in government. Or it will get you.””

- humorist Frank J. Fleming

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Fri, 17 May 2013 14:24:00 -0400

House Votes to Repeal Obamacare as Democrats Stand by Corrupt IRS

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:20:41 -0400

All but two House Democrats voted against full repeal of Obamacare this evening despite the law’s continued failure and the recent exposure of the IRS’s widespread corruption and violation of Americans’ civil liberties. The bill, H.R.45, would have repealed the so-called Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and all other provisions passed in support of its implementation. By a vote of 229-195, the House passed the repeal bill with full GOP support but with only two Democrats voting in favor.

“Members of Congress were given one more chance to get it right, and we salute those who voted to repeal this disastrous and un-American legislation. More concerning is the Democrat party’s near lock-step devotion to Obamacare despite the mountain of evidence demonstrating it is making healthcare worse and more expensive, and will be overseen by a corrupt and lawless bureaucracy who uses the tactics of fear and intimidation to silence their political opponents.

“Just this evening we learn that the IRS bureaucrat who singled out Tea Party organizations for political payback, Sarah Hall Ingram, has been promoted to serve as the top Obamacare official with the IRS, which has the power to review every American’s healthcare choices. What more evidence is needed to demonstrate that Obamacare has nothing to do with healthcare at all, but is just a mammoth bureaucracy designed to exert political power and control over Americans who don’t toe the line of the Obama Administration.

“The stench of this scandal has stained not only the IRS, but the entire tax scheme at the heart of Obamacare. Seniors have opposed Obamacare from the get-go, in large part because we KNEW that concentrating power over the entire nation’s healthcare would lead to inefficiency, waste and abuse. We did not even need to see the law fully implemented to realize just how right we were.

“Democrats have made their choice in siding with corruption, lawlessness and wholesale shredding of the Bill of Rights in their continued embrace of Obamacare and its extensive web of government censorship, control and intimidation.”

Benghazi? Nah! Protect me from the sprinkles?...

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:20:35 -0400

Benghazi? Nah! Protect me from the sprinkles? Definitely…send in the Marines…every picture tells a story, don’t it?

Embattled IRS official Lois Lerner’s husband’s law firm has strong Obama connections

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:55:00 -0400

Embattled IRS official Lois Lerner’s husband’s law firm has strong Obama connections :

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) official who apologized for targeting conservative nonprofit groups for extra scrutiny is married to an attorney whose firm hosted a voter registration organizing event for the 2012 Obama re-election campaign, praised President Obama’s policy work, and had one of its partners appointed by Obama to a key ambassadorship.

IRS Exempt Organizations Division director Lois G. Lerner, who has been described as “apolitical” in mainstream press coverage of the IRS scandal, is married to tax attorney Michael R. Miles, a partner at the law firm Sutherland Asbill & Brennan. The firm is based in Atlanta but has a number of offices including in Washington, D.C., where Miles works.

The 400-attorney firm hosted an organizing meeting at its Atlanta office for people interested in helping with voter registration for the Obama re-election campaign. (link)

HHS Doles Out 2nd Round of Billion Dollar Innovation Awards, But Can’t Say What Savings Seen Yet From 1st Round

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:52:18 -0400

HHS Doles Out 2nd Round of Billion Dollar Innovation Awards, But Can’t Say What Savings Seen Yet From 1st Round :

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Wednesday the second round of about $1 billion in “Health Care Innovation Awards,” as part of the ongoing implementation of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.

“We’re going to announce the latest steps we’re taking to spur innovation in our health care system by supporting some of the most promising ideas from around the country from lowering cost by improving the quality of care,” Sebelius said.

“Bringing down health care cost is our top priority,” Sebelius said.

But Richard Gilfillan, director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, who took questions from reporters on the conference call, could not tell reporters how much the $900 million awards given out last year has saved taxpayers in health care costs. (link)

IRS Rationale for Tea Party Scandal Is Debunked by Data

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:47:32 -0400

IRS Rationale for Tea Party Scandal Is Debunked by Data:

Applications for tax exemption from advocacy nonprofits had not yet spiked when the Internal Revenue Service began using what it admits was inappropriate scrutiny of conservative groups in 2010.

In fact, applications were declining, data show. (link)

The Burden Is on Us

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:37:01 -0400

The Burden Is on Us:

The Obama administration is drowning in the tsunami of its lawlessness. As Barack Obama and his ridiculous crew of spokespersons and sycophants continue to lie and misdirect about the growing scandals of the Benghazi massacre; the Internal Revenue Service targeting organizations that venerate the Constitution or contain the words “Tea Party,” “Patriot,” or some combination thereof; and Obama’s inaptly named Justice Department’s snooping on the Associated Press, it is best to recall the words of the brilliant author Mark Helprin. He deftly demolished Obama and his ilk when he said two years ago, “You cannot draw upon the glory of the English language if nearly every utterance is a lie.”

This administration will cling to its lies as bitterly as we dangerous purveyors of liberty, limited government, and the Constitution cling to our weapons and Bibles. It would perhaps be a sign of the apocalypse if Obama were to, as John F. Kennedy did following the disaster of the Bay of Pigs, stand up and say that, as the “officer of government,” he is ultimately at fault for the circumstances that led to the death of U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens and the others, the harassment of perceived political enemies by the thuggish IRS, and the intrusion into the communications of the Associated Press. The responsibility to act against these scandals will, therefore, not be put upon Obama. It is upon us to prevent the death of public liberty. (link)

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Thu, 16 May 2013 12:04:11 -0400

IRS denied tax-exempt status to pro-lifers on behalf of Planned Parenthood

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:02:32 -0400

IRS denied tax-exempt status to pro-lifers on behalf of Planned Parenthood:

IRS officials refused to grant tax exempt status to two pro-life organizations because of their position on the abortion issue, according to a non-profit law firm, which said that one group was pressured not to protest a pro-choice organization that endorsed President Obama during the last election. (link)

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Wed, 15 May 2013 16:51:30 -0400

"But when you tap an AP reporter’s phone line and find out how much they’re not getting laid, that’ll..."

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:33:06 -0400

““But when you tap an AP reporter’s phone line and find out how much they’re not getting laid, that’ll get the press P.O.’d. The rest of this is all smoke and mirrors. They don’t care about Benghazi. They don’t care about the IRS. They’ll feign a little indignation, but nobody’s going to go after this guy on that. To think he was tapping reporter’s phones — what a perfect symbiosis that they’re such ass-kissers and he’s someone who really just looks them in the eye and says ‘kiss my ass.’ It is beautiful, it is beautiful that they met each other on this planet.””

- Dennis Miller

Poor Richard's News: Another scandal brewing? EPA waives fees for liberal groups, not for conservative ones

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:14:20 -0400

Poor Richard's News: Another scandal brewing? EPA waives fees for liberal groups, not for conservative ones:

poorrichardsnews:

As if the Obama administration needed another scandal, a new report suggests that the EPA has been mighty friendly to those with whom it agrees politically and not so much to those with whom it disagrees.

From the Washington Examiner:

Conservative groups seeking information from the Environmental Protection Agency have been routinely hindered by fees normally waived for media and watchdog groups, while fees for more than 90 percent of requests from green groups were waived, according to requests reviewed by the Conservative Enterprise Institute.

CEI reviewed Freedom of Information Act requests sent between January 2012 and this spring from several environmental groups friendly to the EPA’s mission, and several conservative groups, to see how equally the agency applies its fee waiver policy for media and watchdog groups. Government agencies are supposed to waive fees for groups disseminating information for public benefit.

“This is as clear an example of disparate treatment as the IRS’ hurdles selectively imposed upon groups with names ominously reflecting an interest in, say, a less intrusive or biased federal government,” said CEI fellow Chris Horner.

Of the requests that were denied, the EPA said the group either didn’t respond to requests for justification of a waiver, or didn’t express intent to disseminate the information to the general public, according to documents obtained by The Washington Examiner. CEI, on the other hand, had its requests denied 93 percent of the time. One request was denied because CEI failed to express its intent to disseminate the information to the general public. The rest were denied because the agency said CEI “failed to demonstrate that the release of the information requested significantly increases the public understanding of government operations or activities.” Similarly, requests from conservative groups Judicial Watch and National Center for Public Policy Research were approved half the time, and all requests from Franklin Center and the Institute for Energy Research were denied. “Their practice is to take care of their friends and impose ridiculous obstacles to deny problematic parties’ requests for information,” said Horner.

Read the Rest

I’m no longer surprised by the actions of my government. In fact, I have come to expect things like this. And, honestly, that’s a shame. Actions by our federal government which would have once been unthinkable and outrageous, or even impossible due to the lack of power and resources to perform them, are now common place. It’s barely even newsworthy.

IRS SUED FOR STEALING THE MEDICAL RECORDS OF 10 MILLION AMERICANS

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:51:24 -0400

IRS SUED FOR STEALING THE MEDICAL RECORDS OF 10 MILLION AMERICANS:

The Internal Revenue Service is now facing a class action lawsuit over allegations that itimproperly accessed and stole the health records of some 10 million Americans, including medical records of all California state judges. (link)

Document: IRS ordered conservative educational group to turn over a list of high school and college students it trained

Wed, 15 May 2013 10:03:39 -0400

Document: IRS ordered conservative educational group to turn over a list of high school and college students it trained:

When a Tennessee lawyer asked the IRS for tax-exempt status for a mentoring group that trained high school and college students about conservative political philosophy, the agency responded with a list of 95 questions in 31 parts, including an ultimatum for a list of everyone the group had trained, or planned to train.

‘Provide details regarding all training you have provided or will provide,’ the IRS demanded. ‘Indicate who has received or will receive the training and submit copies of the training material.’ (link)

On the AP-Justice Department Story

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:53:36 -0400

On the AP-Justice Department Story:

The Justice Department’s seizure of the AP’s phone records shows that this administration cares far more about power than political and civil liberty. It has intruded on the freedom of the press in ways that the allegedly power-hungry Bush Administration would never have dreamed. (link)

$406.7B: Monthly Federal Tax Revenues Hit All-Time Record in April; Individual Income Taxes Up 36%

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:46:00 -0400

$406.7B: Monthly Federal Tax Revenues Hit All-Time Record in April; Individual Income Taxes Up 36%:

Federal tax revenues hit an all-time non-inflation-adjusted monthly high of approximately $406.7 billion in April, according to newly released data from the U.S. Treasury.

Overall federal tax revenues in April 2013 were up 28 percent from April 2012, and individual-income-tax revenues specifically were up 36 percent. (link)