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IRS Continues Illegal Action

In a decision largely ignored by many major media sources, A federal agency violated the Constitution, was unlawfully used for partisan purposes, and refused to comply with a court order to cease and desist in its illegal actions. That’s the essence of a verdict by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Friday, in a case involving the targeting of groups that merely disagreed with the Obama Administration’s political perspectives.

Thirty-eight non-profit organizations from twenty-two states were subjected to violations of their First Amendment rights.

According to the American Center for Law and Justice  (ACLJ), which represented the aggrieved organizations, a lower court’s dismissal of their claims was made in error, on the unfounded position that the IRS had since ceased all allegedly illegal activity. The Court of Appeals criticized the IRS’s untruthful arguments that it had voluntarily ceased all illegal activity, stating unequivocally in the opinion that “voluntary cessation [by the IRS of the alleged illegal activity] has never occurred.”

In the decision, The Court of Appeals clearly voiced its disdain for the IRS’s cynical and dishonest position, according to ACLJ:

“The IRS proudly boasts that ‘no more than ‘two’ applications for exemption remain pending with the IRS.’  Further, they claim, ‘the vast majority of the plaintiffs lack a personal stake in the outcome of the lawsuit . . . .’    We would advise the IRS that a heavy burden of establishing mootness is not carried by proving that the case is nearly moot, or is moot as to a ‘vast majority’ of the parties.  Their heavy burden requires that they establish cessation, not near cessation.

“Specifically addressing the two organizations who still await a determination from the IRS after more than five years after submitting their applications, the court stated:

“The IRS offers a rather puzzling explanation for why the continued failure to afford proper processing to at least some of the victim applicants should not prevent a finding of cessation. That explanation is that the organizations whose applications were still pending ‘were involved in ‘litigation’ with the Justice Department . . . .’  . . . It is not at all clear why the IRS proposes that not ceasing becomes cessation if the victim of the conduct is litigating against it.  The IRS position is reminiscent of Catch-22 from the novel of the same name. Under that ‘catch,’ World War II airmen were not required to fly if they were mentally ill.  However, anyone who applied to stop flying was evidencing rationality and therefore was not mentally ill.  See Joseph Heller, Catch-22 (1971).  ‘You are entitled to an exemption from flying,’ the government said, ‘but you can’t get it as long as you are asking for it.’
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“The court also noted that the IRS failed miserably to meet its burden to demonstrate that it had voluntarily ceased the allegedly discriminatory conduct and to demonstrate that ‘(1) there is no reasonable expectation that the conduct will recur [or] (2) interim relief or events have completely and irrevocably eradicated the effects of the alleged violation.’  The court further noted:

“ [I]t is absurd to suggest that the effect of the IRS’s unlawful conduct…has been eradicated…”

The Court noted: “Instead of processing [applications for nonprofit status for the affected organizations] in the normal course of IRS business, as would have been the case with other taxpayers, the IRS selected out these applicants for more rigorous review on the basis of their names, which were in each 4 instance indicative of a conservative or anti-Administration orientation.admitted by the Department of Treasury in the 2013 report of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA)…To place in context our discussion of TIGTA’s findings, we recall that under the First Amendment, the government “has no power to restrict expression because of its message, its ideas, its subject matter, or its content.”

Information obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request reveals that officials “orchestrated a complex scheme to dump conservative and Tea Party non-profit applicants into a bureaucratic ‘black hole.’ Another 294 pages of documents … also recently released by Judicial Watch further establish that ‘top IRS officials in Washington, including Lois Lerner and Holly Paz, knew that the agency was specifically targeting ‘Tea Party’ and other conservative organizations two full years before disclosing it to Congress and the public…

“This upcoming December will mark the 7th year anniversary since [the orgnaizations involved] mailed in their application requesting tax-exempt status and the IRS cashed their check…The IRS constructed a special group to send all ‘applications associated with the Tea Party’ to …’Group 7822’; designed as a ‘special team apparently developed specifically to snare targeted organizations’ tax exemption requests to ensure that they would ‘not be approved before the November 2012 presidential election.’ The IRS was able to protect the administration of this group by hiding its operations and activity behind the hundreds of layers of the bureaucracy alive and well within the IRS and the cooperation of other government agencies.”

The use of the IRS to influence the 2012 presidential campaign is not just history.  The abuse of federal agencies continues, as can be seen in the failure of the Department of Justice to review recent voting irregularities.

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The Silence of the Left

The defining moments of a nation come not just from when something is done. They also come from when something is not done.

Think of how Germany’s history would have been different if more had opposed the horrific plans of Adolph Hitler. Imagine how much better America would be if the rise of segregation and discrimination after the Civil War had been prevented. Today, the failure by those who should know better, to condemn the attacks on free speech should be viewed with equal disdain.

The latest revelations about the widespread nature of the Internal Revenue Service’s intimidation against political opponents of the White House are cause for the deepest concern. Despite those revelations and the growing obviousness that major political appointees and perhaps top elected officials were involved in this unlawful program, there is no adequate legal action underway by a politically compromised and openly biased Justice Department. Nor are the vast majority of media outlets performing the functions they should be doing, by emphasizing the extraordinary nature of these unprecedented assaults on honest elections and free speech.

Indeed, there are attempts by the bureaucracy to continue this affront by simply changing tactics.

The original story is, by now, well known, although too late to actually serve the interests of justice. In anticipation of the 2012 presidential bid, the IRS intimidated and harassed groups considered not supportive of President Obama’s re-election bid.

However, this is not just a problem—dire as it is—about a past election.  Unblushingly, the same tactic is being tried again, under a different guise, to insure that the 2016 presidential election also goes the way the hard left desires.

As noted by Spectator magazine In November of 2013, the IRS proposed regulations that would essentially “institutionalize” its politically biased attacks. It is part of the hard Left’s fury at the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which, as noted in Spectator, “held that both labor unions and corporations had a free speech right to use their general funds for independent expenditures of a political nature. It said, among other things, that the First Amendment ‘has its fullest and most urgent applications to speech uttered during a campaign for political office.’ And that, in liberal thinking, opened a floodgate of corporate action where only union action had been permitted before. …[The politically-motivated IRS determined that] The best way to block spending by such nonprofits is to block them from becoming nonprofits, which has the effect of blocking most contributions to them. If you block their funding, they can’t spend anything on independent campaign ads for conservative candidates or against liberal ones. That’s what the IRS did in 2012, is doing today, and will continue to do when the new rules take effect.”

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Having been exposed for its 2012 offenses and voted down in the U.S. Senate hasn’t stopped the hard left from continuing their attack. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), there is a “behind the scenes effort to lobby the Federal Election Commission and Justice Department to stifle free speech…don’t be surprised if the subpoenas hit Republican candidates at crucial political moments.”

According to WSJ, the new theory to slap down non-leftist candidates and ignore both the First Amendment and the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling is called “coordination,” which alleges that activities by independent SuperPACs  should be treated as campaign expenditures—although so far, the only target has been a Republican candidate, with nothing being said about a similar situation in Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Direct attacks on media independence haven’t been overlooked in the drive to silence free speech. Efforts to place Federal monitors in newsrooms, and ending the independence of the Internet also have been used.

Historically, Americans have seen freedom as an end unto itself. But in the 21st century, many hard-left Progressives view a strict interpretation of Constitutional freedom guarantees and procedures as an obstacle to achieving their goals.

Most Americans remain unaware of the increasingly serious implications of this disdain for the Bill of Rights, largely because of the more subtle tactics of its assailants and the silence of a mass media that shares the political beliefs of the current executive branch. There are no mass burnings of books, no acts of physical intimidation on political opponents. Instead, there are IRS investigations of those opposing the White House. There are threats of sanctions against students who disagree with their hard-left professors. There are no mass outcries from many in the media when the new marketplace of ideas, the internet, is allowed to fall out of the hands of those who cherish freedom of speech.

How this is addressed may be the defining moment of the 21st Century American experience.

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Will the Income Tax be replaced?

America may be moving closer to a dramatic overhaul of its tax system.

One of the most potentially far-reaching legislative items is currently before the House of Representatives’ Ways and Means Committee. It would affect every taxpayer throughout the U.S. Introduced earlier this year, the continuing budgetary crisis is giving the bill an additional boost.

The Pew Research Center  notes that “The public sees the nation’s tax system as deeply flawed: 59% say “there is so much wrong with the federal tax system that Congress should completely change it.” Just 38% think the system “works pretty well” and requires “only minor changes.” These opinions have changed little since 2011.”

There are numerous views of why the system is flawed, ranging across the political spectrum, but there is widespread dissatisfaction with the current process.

One important concept has been introduced by Rep. Rob Woodal (R-Ga.) H.R. 25, , “the Fair Tax Act of 2015”  would replace the income tax with a national sales tax. ,

According to the Congressional Research Service, H.R. 25 would replace the current tax system with a national sales tax on the use or consumption in the United States of taxable property or services. This would be in lieu of the current income and corporate income tax, employment and self-employment taxes, and estate and gift taxes. The rate of the sales tax under the proposal would be 23% in 2017, with adjustments to the rate in subsequent years. There are exemptions from the tax for used and intangible property, for property or services purchased for business, export, or investment purposes, and for state government functions.

Under the bill, family members who are lawful U.S. residents receive a monthly sales tax rebate (Family Consumption Allowance) based upon criteria related to family size and poverty guidelines.

The states would have the responsibility for administering, collecting, and remitting the sales tax to the Treasury. The measure abolishes  the IRS by 2019. To insure that it doesn’t become an additional tax instead of a total substitute for the income tax, the legislation would self-terminate if the income tax authorization amendment to the U.S. Constitution (the 16th amendment) is not repealed within seven years of passage.
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According to fairtax.org,  which advocates for the concept,

“Under the FairTax, all Americans consume what they see as their necessities of life free of tax. While permitting no exemptions, the FairTax (HR25 / S155) provides a monthly, universal prebate to ensure that each family unit can consume tax-free up to the poverty level, with the overall effect of making the FairTax progressive in application. This is not an entitlement, but a rebate (in advance) of taxes paid – thus the term prebate. Everyone pays taxes at the cash register.”

Some have questioned whether the idea could work. Forbes Magazine the challenge:

“The rate is too high for it to work as a simple sales tax: there will just be too much dodging of it. It would certainly be possible to make a consumption tax work. It’s certainly possible to have a value added tax, or VAT, at that 25% or so rate. There are other ways of constructing consumption taxes as well: although they would require the filing of tax returns and that’s one of the things the Fair Tax is trying to do away with.

“The basic and simple problem is that trying to charge 25% or so in one single step at that point of final retail sale is too high a tax rate for it to be regularly achievable. You would almost immediately have a spate of long firm frauds. Plus a general move towards a grey, cash based, economy which simply ignored the existence of the tax. This is precisely why those countries which do have a high consumption tax rate do it as a VAT, not as a sales tax.”

(Investopedia defines a VAT as “A type of consumption tax that is placed on a product whenever value is added at a stage of production and at final sale… The amount of value-added tax that the user pays is the cost of the product, less any of the costs of materials used in in the product that have already been taxed.)

Both the Fair Tax and the VAT concepts are closer to the Constitutional model of the relationship between the federal government and private citizens than the current income tax system.

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IRS Scandal Contiues

The far-reaching scandal involving the use of the IRS to harass those who oppose the current White House’s policies continues. According to Americans for Tax Reform, (ATR) The IRS is failing to perform basic due diligence in its rehiring of employees who have been involved in this and other episodes of misdeeds.

Adding to the suspicion is the fact that descriptions of the specific violations committed by rehired employees have been redacted from the official report   released by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).

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“The IRS stated that it completely revamped its process in 2012 and appropriately considers prior conduct and performance in hiring decisions. However, we remain concerned because IRS records indicate that in 2012 and 2013 it hired individuals with prior significant IRS-substantiated conduct and performance issues.”​

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Divided Government

The United States has a divided government, split not only along party lines but across ideological ones as well. With so many crucial challenges facing the nation, is there any basis for the two sides to reasonably discuss means of reaching solutions?

Perhaps—but it will take a substantial level of will power, and a willingness to put honest representation and  the basic principles upon which America was founded above the petty politics and pandering all too prevalent currently. Here’s what must be done:

Elected officials should remember to put America first.  Yes, so much of the world’s economy, climate, and security are interconnected. But far too often, U.S. office holders act as though whatever is bad for the U.S. is good for the rest of the globe. Nonsense. The health of the planetary economy is largely dependent on the financial success and stability of the United States. That means that tax rates and regulations that hurt American businesses have negative international repercussions. Allowing Washington to act as though it was the welfare agency for the entire Earth will bankrupt the nation and detrimentally affect the entire world. Permitting unchecked, unlimited immigration will sink federal, state and local government budgets and limit job prospects for American workers.

It’s time to deal with reality. It may be comforting to pretend that threats don’t exist, but they do.  Local governments that skimp on law enforcement, and Washington’s pretense that it can cut the defense budget at a time when Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and Islamic extremists have become increasingly aggressive and well-armed is suicidal.  Using funds culled from defense and law enforcement to increase entitlements as a thinly disguised bribe to win votes at the expense of local safety and national security is a growing but disgraceful practice throughout the nation.

Facts and reality, not emotion, should be used to make important decisions. In areas such as the environment, emotions and propaganda take the place of real scientific discourse. Far too often, elected officials and candidates seem incapable of looking past these clichés, catch phrases, and emotional appeals.
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Our elected officials—and the voters—must put country before party or race.  Far too often, inadequate candidates win elections based on their party or ethnic identification, not their abilities.  This is particularly true in areas where one party dominates substantially.  Far too often, candidates lacking the intelligence, character, or ability to adequately fulfill the duties of their office win campaigns simply because they belong to the party or race in the majority in a particular area.

America’s basic governing document—the Constitution— must be given the respect and authority it previously had.  Serious attempts to abridge or ignore key provisions, especially the First, Second, Fourth, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments, as well as the separation of powers have taken center stage over the past several years.  That’s a dangerous precedent, threatening the very foundation of the nation.

It is time it was remembered that sovereignty rests with the American people, not the government, and especially not the bureaucracy. There has been a rapid increase in power provided to agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, and The Federal Election Commission. There have also been attempts to increase the power of others such as the Federal Communications Commission. These moves are antithetical to the principals America was founded on. They are unlawful and should be rapidly reversed.

Washington’s dramatic increase in power, based largely upon deficit spending, has not produced increased prosperity, safety, or freedom. Dealing with that reality should be a bipartisan effort.

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A Pattern of Lawlessness in Washington

The latest details of the IRS scandal establish beyond a reasonable doubt an ongoing and significant pattern of lawlessness and abuse of power on the part of federal agencies under the current White House.

Assume you are the head of a private corporation, under questioning by the Internal Revenue Service or any other government agency for alleged wrongdoing. You respond that the computer evidence of the incident has been erased and the computer itself has been discarded.  That response would probably result in a great deal of legal problems for you, perhaps even imprisonment for obstructing justice and the destruction of evidence.

This is precisely the situation that the IRS finds itself in currently.  Under Congressional investigation for the overt and widespread abuse of its power by targeting those who disagree with the White House, the agency claims that all the relevant emails of section head Lois Lerner, seven other involved employees, and all 82 other individuals in the email chain—have been lost.  IRS chief John Kosekinen has been blatantly unapologetic about the whole matter.

Rep. Darrel Issa believes that that Ms. Lerner and the IRS hierarchy acted uner the direction of the White House.  He notes

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This is not an isolated incident for the current Administration.  Since gaining office in 2009, the Obama presidency has been marred by repeated significant scandals which the Justice Department under Eric Holder has refused to take action on.

Clearly frustrated, Congress is pursuing this latest offense.  Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA)  notes that “The American people are tired of scandals and they are tired of excuses.  I am immediately calling for the appointment of an independent special counsel…”

The problem is larger than any individual scandal.  The question that must be resolved is central to the whole concept of representational government:  Are our elected and appointed leaders subject to the law? The current crop clearly believes otherwise.

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Press aids Presidential Cover-ups

A key military intelligence figure’s testimony before the Congressional Oversight Committee opens up an extraordinarily sensitive and vitally important question: why hasn’t the White House paid the price for a very major scandal that would have ended any other presidency?

Retired USAF Brigadier General Robert Lovell made two overarching points in his appearance before Congress:

First, he noted it was clearly evident while the attack was progressing  that the assault on the U.S. facility in Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador  J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans  was not a reaction to a video. This fact was already known by the White House when the President intentionally misled the nation the morning after the incident in his statement from the White House grounds.  It was also known some time later when both he and Secretary Clinton spoke later at the ceremony when the bodies of the fallen were returned to American soil and the video was again blamed by the Administration for the attack.  And it was known much later when the President addressed the world at the United Nations and again blamed the video.

Independent international sources also disputed the White House claim.  Both the Arab news source al Jazeera and the president of Libya, Mohammed Magarief  said the video was not responsible and was virtually unknown. Magarief described the attack as a “preplanned act of terrorism.”

Second, General Lovell disputed the White House contention that there was no possibility of military action rescuing the Ambassador and others. “We should have tried,” he testified.  Indeed, a glance at a map outlining the presence of American forces in the region indicates that there were several options that could have been deployed in such an attempt.
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The fact that this White House cover-up occurred during, and likely changed the course of, the 2012 presidential elections renders it even more significant.

Several other incidents during the Obama presidency also would have been sufficient to rock prior administrations to their core.  The use of the IRS to attack political opponents, the tapping of reporters phones, the failure to investigate clear-cut cases of voter intimidation, the transfer of weapons to Mexican drug cartels, the misuse of $700 billion in “stimulus” funds, the awarding of a no-bid contract for the Health Care website to a politically-connected contractor who then botched the job, all are misdeeds that are far more serious than the Watergate scandal  that ended the presidency of Richard Nixon.

These are not ideological issues, about which one can say they were done to achieve a particular goal for the good of the nation, if one shares the president’s beliefs. They are, for the most part, venal acts performed for the sole purpose of either enhancing or retaining the power of the incumbent, or preventing embarrassment that could detrimentally affect the re-election chance of his political party.

The overwhelming support of much of the main stream media for Mr. Obama in both of his campaigns has neutered far too great a percentage of the nation’s journalists to allow them to perform their key roles in informing the American electorate.  It is a fundamental breakdown of a key element of our nations’ democracy.