What’s interesting in the news today?
1. The more we know, the worse it gets….
From CNN “Former Army Sgt. Evan Buetow was the team leader with Bowe Bergdahl the night Bergdahl disappeared.
“Bergdahl is a deserter, and he’s not a hero,” says Buetow. “He needs to answer for what he did.”
Within days of his disappearance, says Buetow, teams monitoring radio chatter and cell phone communications intercepted an alarming message: The American is in Yahya Khel (a village two miles away). He’s looking for someone who speaks English so he can talk to the Taliban.
“I heard it straight from the interpreter’s lips as he heard it over the radio,” said Buetow. “There’s a lot more to this story than a soldier walking away.”
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2. The President says Congress was briefed. The facts say otherwise.
From Politico “House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers on Tuesday said that Congress hadn’t heard from the Obama administration since 2011 on the possibility of a prisoner swap with the Taliban.
The Michigan Republican also cast doubt on the administration’s claims that it had to act due to Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s health, saying, “Their public rhetoric does not match the facts on the ground.”
President Barack Obama, speaking in Poland earlier Tuesday morning, said administration officials “have consulted with Congress for quite some time” about the possibility of a prisoner exchange.
But Rogers, appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” said Congress hadn’t heard anything from the White House in years and that the administration only informed them of the deal after it had already taken place.”
Harry Reid says he was told, but he can’t remember when exactly. Sure Harry. 🙄
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3. And since I mentioned Reid….
From TheWashingtonTimes “A leader of the Tea Party Patriots filed an ethics complaint Monday against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for “abuse of political power” in his crusade against Republican mega-donors Charles and David Koch.
“It’s been generations since a member of the Senate has abused the power of his office to attack private citizens the way Harry Reid has sought to vilify Charles and David Koch,” said Tea Party Patriots co-founder Jenny Beth Martin.
Mr. Reid, Nevada Democrat, has regularly spoke on the Senate floor about the need to rein in spending by the Koch brothers, which he says has undermined the democratic process in America. Ms. Martin accused Mr. Reid of “abusing his office in pursuit of naked political purposes.”
“Reid’s repeated and mean-spirited attacks violate federal laws and Senate rules against using taxpayer-funded resources for partisan politics and he knows it, yet he repeatedly takes to the floor of the Senate and the media to attack those with whom he disagrees — and then turns around and devotes the Senate floor to a ‘talk-a-thon’ on a major donor’s key issue of climate change,” she said.”
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4. This is fighting terrorism Obama style. First you release 5 of the worst international terrorists out there, then you pursue made up terrorists at home.
From Yahoo “The United States is reviving a law enforcement group to investigate those it designates as domestic terrorists, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
Following hate-motivated shootings such as the one at a Jewish Community Center in Kansas City, Missouri in April, federal prosecutors have pressed the need to coordinate intelligence about such criminals on a national level, Justice Department officials said.
The Department of Justice will reconstitute a task force that was originally formed after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing but dissolved after the Sept. 11, 2001 hijacked plane attacks as law enforcement agencies focused on threats from militants abroad.
On Tuesday, Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement that the United States remains concerned about threats from Islamic extremists, but the group will focus on other motives for attacks within U.S. borders.”
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5. This one will be interesting to watch for anyone who works in a state they don’t live in.
From HotAir “A rather wonky interstate commerce case has been granted a writ of certiorari and will be heard by the Supreme Court during the fall session. The reason this particular petition should interest you is that it has the potential to affect so many people, specifically those who derive income from any sources outside the state where they live. As explained in this Forbes article, the fundamental question being put to the court is as follows:
Does the United States Constitution prohibit a state from taxing all the income of its residents — wherever earned — by mandating a credit for taxes paid on income earned in other states?
In this case, a married couple, the Wynnes, reported taxable net income of approximately $2.7 million. More than half of that amount represented a share of earnings in an S corporation with operations in several states. The Wynnes claimed a credit on their Maryland tax returns for taxes paid to 39 other states but not for any county or local government taxes. The State of Maryland denied the credits and issued a notice of deficiency and the Wynnes appealed. At a hearing, the assessment was affirmed.”
“So the Wynnes lost the first two rounds in court, even though they were apparently taxed by the states where the income was generated and then taxed again in Maryland But they then amended their original request, asking the courts to answer the question, “whether a state had the unconditional right to tax all income based on residency.”
After the question was changed, the courts have now sided with the Wynnes’.
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Wandering Views 
I lived in Virginia and worked in Maryland for over 25 years. I paid all my taxes to Virginia.
I don’t know how the Wynnes paid their money to other states. I thought taxes were always to the state of residency.
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I didn’t notice this event, and afterward never got to hear it again. But I heard that Bergdahl’s dad said the Bismillah (In the Name of Allah) before his talk in the Rose Garden. At the Y this morning, I talked with a woman, a Christian, who had lived in Qatar. She said that this was indeed so.
I’m not sure what yet, but I think this tells us something.
The lady was very stressed by the exchange. She said, “They don’t know these people. They have a victory, and those five guys will be back.”
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I wonder if #5 would apply to me? I live and work in Pa. but for a company that is in Maryland. Interestingly, starting about a year ago, we are required to include the state we worked in for each of the hours we worked for each project (some of us, like me, work on many accounts in one pay period and have to log the hours per account). They said that it wouldn’t be used for anything yet, but would be “for tax purposes” in the future. I wonder if this is what triggered it? We don’t call Maryland the taxingest state for nothing. O’Malley lies in bed at night dreaming up new things to tax.
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Donna posted some interesting links yesterday about the Bergdahl case, which in combination with the UCSB murderer case, has me thinking about what lengths I would go to for my child.
If my child had been captured and held a POW for five years, I probably would be studying his captors, learning their language and trying to understand the how and why. Dad may have been speaking in a way to pacify the captors, to make things easier for his child.
That was my guess. Once the son is home, the guard can be let down.
Though, I believe he should be investigated as a deserter, and to ensure he’s not a sleeper agent.
Taxes are very odd. We had a trucker friend who had to pay attention to ever county he drove through and pay taxes in each one for each load he hauled. Talk about a logistical nightmare!
And professional athletes have to pay taxes in each state in which they played. I don’t know what the percentage is, but it’s no wonder they hire accountants.
Military retirement pay taxes are based in part on what state you claimed as your home of residence during your service. I can’t remember the details clearly enough to state them, but since we live in California and claimed it all those years (aiming at in state tuition for the kids), it hasn’t been a factor for us. Oh, so complicated.
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As odd as the elder Bergdahl appears, I think it is important to wait until we hear more from the family & withhold final judgement before assuming anything specific about their actions just yet.
They may wind up pariahs in their own country, depending on how the story unfolds. But I’m also curious to hear from the son (though he won’t be speaking publicly anytime soon, I’m sure) — hard to say what was going on and how much duress he was under, what caused him to walk away (stupid and dangerous, but there may have been some mental break — it’s just too bad his superiors couldn’t have done something — taken him out of action first, even if it meant sending him off to the brig somewhere until the war ended; this way he put so many other people at unnecessary risk).
Still, on the merits of the ‘deal’ that the administration struck, this seems to have been a pretty bad swap considering the 5 terrorists who were released. 😦
Sheesh. What are they thinking in this White House?
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So many things just don’t make sense — a kid who spends time in a Buddhist monastery volunteers to go into the Army (where he melts down and deserts)? Heaven help him if he did willingly — and in his right mind — cooperate or collaborate with the enemy. 😦
This entire episode leaves a lot of questions.
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The information (which I don’t think has been confirmed by official sources yet, however) that he intended to renounce his U.S. citizenship & seek out the Taliban when he left his post is very disturbing. But some of his fellow soldiers indicated he’d made rumblings about his dissatisfaction and thoughts of leaving before — why wasn’t he pulled out of active service? Those would be pretty big red flags I would think.
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World’s article: http://www.worldmag.com/2014/06/the_curious_case_of_bowe_bergdahl
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I’d concur with donna to withhold judgment — its a bizarre case. From a leftist site, its been reported he asked his sergeant what would cause harm if he just walked away, he was told to leave behind his rifle and night goggles. And he did. Whats really weird is why not stop him?
Wouldn’t corporate and investment income be taxes where its created and personal income be taxes at place of residency.
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The tax issue.
My wife works in communist New Jersey. They add like 3 taxes to her check. One yearly, 2 local/state privilege taxes. That is on top of the state/local income taxes withheld for where we live across the border. My wife’s company takes care of it this way so we don’t have to file a Jersey form too. Some employers don’t, so you are supposed to file and pay it if they don’t. And then there’s county/local real estate, as well as the largest bill, school taxes, sales tax, gas tax….
They get ya’ comin’, goin’, and for commutin’.
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