What’s interesting in the news today?
Open Thread
Here’s a couple to start things off.
1. And now we know why Democrats/liberals are always trying to get conservative groups to disclose their donor lists. So they can turn them over to the IRS for targeting them for audits. It’s been a concerted effort between the White House, Dems in the House and Senate, as well as the IRS.
From JudicialWatch “Judicial Watch announced today that it has obtained documents from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that confirm that the IRS used donor lists to tax-exempt organizations to target those donors for audits. The documents also show IRS officials specifically highlighted how the U.S. Chamber of Commerce may come under “high scrutiny” from the IRS. The IRS produced the records in a Freedom of Information lawsuit seeking documents about selection of individuals for audit-based application information on donor lists submitted by Tea Party and other 501(c)(4) tax-exempt organizations (Judicial Watch v. Internal Revenue Service (No. 1:15-cv-00220)).
A letter dated September 28, 2010, then-Democrat Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) informs then-IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman: “ I request that you and your agency survey major 501(c)(4), (c)(5) and (c)(6) organizations …” In reply, in a letter dated February 17, 2011, Shulman writes: “In the work plan of the Exempt Organizations Division, we announced that beginning in FY2011, we are increasing our focus on section 501(c)(4), (5) and (6) organizations.”
In 2010, after receiving Baucus’s letter, the IRS considered the issue of auditing donors to 501(c)(4) organizations, alleging that a 35 percent gift tax would be due on donations in excess of $13,000. The documents show that the IRS wanted to cross-check donor lists from 501(c)(4) organizations against gift tax filings and commence audits against taxpayers based on this information.
A gift tax on contributions to 501(c)(4)’s was considered by most to be a dead letter since the IRS had never enforced the rule after the Supreme Court ruled that such taxes violated the First Amendment. The documents show that the IRS had not enforced the gift tax since 1982.
But then, in February 2011, at least five donors of an unnamed organization were audited.
The documents show that Crossroads GPS, associated with Republican Karl Rove, was specifically referenced by IRS officials in the context of applying the gift tax. Seemingly in response to the Crossroads focus, on April 20, IRS attorney Lorraine Gardner emails a 501(c)(4) donor list to former Branch Chief in the IRS’ Office of the Chief Counsel James Hogan. Later, this information is apparently shared with IRS Estate Gift and Policy Manager Lisa Piehl while Gardner seeks “information about any of the donors.”
And we also know from previous stories that Durbin, Cummings, and Pelosi were pushing for these lists as well.
_____________________________________
2. It looks like the entire national security system may have been compromised by that hack by the Chinese that went undetected for over a year.
From FoxNews “The prolonged hacking into the White House Office of Personnel Management, which put the personal information of at least some 21.5 million past and current federal employees in jeopardy, is only the beginning of the security threat to the Obama Administration and its successors, a number of top-level experts in cybersecurity have told Fox News. The attack has been frequently sourced as coming from China.
The experts warned that the entire U.S. national security clearance system could be compromised, that future senior government leaders and advisors could be targeted even before taking office, and hundreds, perhaps thousands, of government officials might successfully be blackmailed, bribed or otherwise manipulated in the future into handing over still more sensitive information.
The identity disaster could also weaken the U.S. in any time of military confrontation: “If we choose to engage in conflict, we are in a much weaker position,” one expert concluded.
The threat could include intruders already in the government whose security credentials were stealthily enhanced during the OPM intrusion, which may have lasted a year before it was detected last April.
“There may be people walking around with higher levels of clearance than they should have,” said one of the experts. “I believe the entire national security apparatus is now at risk. It’s mind-boggling.”
“It’s the digital equivalent of Pearl Harbor,” another expert told Fox News. “Because people don’t see the carnage, they don’t recognize that this is the equivalent of an act of war. This is about espionage—Cold War tactics in the modern digital age.””
_____________________________________
Wandering Views 
I don’t know what type of news organization this is and don’t have time to fully investigate so if I post some unreliable source forgive me, but I saw this on my FB news feed
http://dailysignal.com/2015/07/23/planned-parenthood-pulls-names-of-corporate-donors-after-coca-cola-ford-and-xerox-object/
LikeLike
Kim,
They’re legit.
And for the rest of the names on the removed list, see this.
http://dailysignal.com/2015/07/21/meet-the-41-companies-that-donate-directly-to-planned-parenthood/
LikeLike
Thank you AJ. I quit supporting March of Dimes almost 20 years ago when I discovered the REAL way they prevent birth defects. I haven’t supported Komen in 4 or 5 years. I don’t know why more isn’t made about the link between breast cancer and abortions
LikeLike
It’s been suppressed on purpose. Tragic.
LikeLike
Thanks for the list Aj.
LikeLike
From The Washington Examiner
Members of Congress who attended classified briefings Wednesday with Secretary of State John Kerry on secret side deals on Iran’s nuclear program came away unimpressed. “Rep. Mike Pompeo said Kerry told lawmakers that he has not read the side deals, never possessed a copy of them, and approved the nuclear agreement without knowing their details,” reports the Washington Examiner’s Charles Hoskinson. “These side deals were essential to getting a deal signed in the first place,” Pompeo said. “It is essential for Secretary Kerry to know what’s in the deal, and it is essential for the U.S. Congress to know what’s in this deal.”
We need to ratify the treaty so we’ll know what’s in it.
LikeLike
I used to think that drug-testing applicants for state aid was a good idea, but have since learned that the results don’t support that view. Here’s one article that takes a look at the statistics. (Disregard the anti-Scott Walker comment in the beginning.)…
“Low rates of drug use have been shown in multiple states besides Florida, including only 1/800 welfare recipients in Tennessee, vs. 8% in the general population. Similarly, Utah found 0.2 percent of the total welfare recipient population positive, vs. 6% of the population who admitted to using drugs. These 12 cases cost the state $30,000.
“Despite the evidence of low drug use in welfare recipients and that costs of administering such tests greatly exceed any benefits savings, Republican states continue to propose such laws…even though they have previously been struck down as unconstitutional.
“Drug testing increasingly is becoming part of our surveillance society, spuriously sold to the public as making us safer. Where’s the data?”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/judystone/2015/02/17/the-sham-of-drug-testing-walker-scott-and-political-pandering/
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was in high school during the 1968 presidential campaign and remember these appearances of Buckley and Vidal. Could be an interesting film — unless it’s tilted to the left, which I’m thinking it probably will be. 🙄 Oh well.
LikeLike
The RINO establishment ain’t gonna like this. 🙂
Because it’s true, and demonstrates why they can’t be trusted.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/07/24/senate-floor-ted-cruz-explodes-on-mitch-mcconnell-says-he-lied-to-entire-republican-conference/
“In the speech, Cruz says—calling him out personally—McConnell lied to the entire Republican conference. Cruz’s speech stemmed from how McConnell—despite telling the entire GOP conference there was no such secret deal with the Democrats during the Obamatrade process to later bring up Ex-Im reauthorization—actually did cut a deal with Democrats, specifically Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)”
“The Senate operates based on trust. Whether we are Democrats or Republicans, these 100 Senators have to be able to trust that when a Senator sys something, he or she will do it. Even if we disagree on substance, that we don’t lie to each other. What we just witnessed this morning is profoundly disappointing.
Cruz then proceeded to expose comments McConnell made to Republican senators in a private lunch, showing that McConnell lied to his entire conference. The comments Cruz talks about were around the time of the first Obamatrade votes in the Senate, when McConnell told Republicans—something that has since been proven to be untrue—that there was no deal with Democrats to vote on Ex-Im later in exchange for the necessary votes to pass Obamatrade.
Cruz voted for Obamatrade’s Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) the first go-around in the Senate based on McConnell’s word—and he famously turned against the fast-track trade authority later.”
“Cruz noted that McConnell made the promise that “there is no deal” three times in public and then again in a private discussion with him and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT)100%
.
“There is no deal. Like St. Peter, he repeated it three times,” Cruz said.”
LikeLike
Here’s the video….
LikeLike
Here’s another element to the Sweet Cakes by Melissa story…
” ‘I thought I was leaving a comment for the Better Business Bureau, and I didn’t think much of it,’ Bowman-Cryer told the newspaper in her first interview about the case.
“She soon found out that her complaint had been lodged with the Oregon Department of Justice when a conservative talk radio host called her for comment after an appearance by Aaron Klein, who owned the bakery with his wife, Melissa. …
“Klein had posted a copy of Bowman-Cryer’s complaint — including the couple’s home address and phone number — on his Facebook page, and the couple received hundreds of angry and threatening messages, including some from their own neighbors.”
It goes on to say that the lesbian couple was not suing for damages, but damages were awarded anyway. Sounds like the damages are more about having their home info posted – & the hateful messages that followed – than for the denial of the cake.
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/07/lesbian-couple-breaks-silence-we-filed-complaint-against-oregon-bakery-to-stop-being-bullied/
LikeLike
Karen, couldn’t those statistics be due to people who KNOW they’ll test positive not showing up or waiting until the drugs are out of their system to be tested?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Regarding the Iran deal, I was surprised to hear that Sen. Ben Cardin (a total tow-the-line Dem and O supporter) say that he wasn’t yet sure if he’d support it. Of course he will, but for now isn’t committing yet.
LikeLike
I have had jobs where I handled secure inforamtion and money where I had to take drug tests. I taught school at a college prep school. As a condition of employment I along with the students had to submit to random drug tests. (There had been a situation years before evolving cocaine—because rich kids have the best drugs).
My ex husband has to randomly have his drivers tested. Besides him the only other employees are too old to be much suspected.
I don’t know for sure about the military, but I did hear Mr. P warn his Marine once.
I am kinda of the opinion that if I have to take a drug test to work there ought to be random checks to receive welfare.
Oh and I do know of someone who was smart enough to buy long term disability insurance when he owned his own medical sales company back in the ’90’s. His disability is that he is a drug addict, but that check rolls around every month.
LikeLike
Karen, Sadly, we have to read things with a critical mind. The Oregon lesbians are saying that they filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau which magically morphed into a complaint with the Oregon Department of Justice. This of course is a lie. Below is the official transcript of the case which reports that one of the lesbians filed the complaint with the State.
LikeLike
Here is the report:http://www.oregon.gov/boli/SiteAssets/pages/press/Sweet%20Cakes%20FO.pdf
LikeLike
Karen/linda — the left has been saying this for decades. Drug use is no different among welfare receipts than anong the general populace if not lower. Yet right wing populists continue to try but no matter the testing regime the results are the same.
Ricky (from yestetday) Mexicans do the work americans dont want to do at the wages offered. Without the downward pressure exerted by migrant labor americans would do those jobs just at a higher wage. In fact the american working class will work harder for less money than most other western nations.
Cruz knew all about the inner dealings. The weakness of US party discipline means this quite common. But by staging a brawl with McConnell he increases his profile which has been overshadowed by trump walker etc.
LikeLike
Military is subject to random drug tests. We have a friend who would never touch a poppy seed muffin until he retired for fear of eating one, having a random drug test and testing (false) positive for marijuana.
I don’t recall my husband, however, ever having one.
LikeLike
Linda – I’m sure there are cases like that. To me the point of the article (or at least, my point in sharing it) was that we think testing for drugs, & then not giving aid to people who test positive, will save the state money. But it has turned out that doing the testing is costing much more than it may have saved.
We will always hear the anecdotal stories of drug addicts here or there on welfare, but they are not nearly as prevalent as some think.
LikeLike
Ricky – Even if she did intentionally file a complaint with the state, to me, the fact (if it is indeed true) that the Klein’s posted the lesbian couple’s info online, which led to bullying of the couple. It also doesn’t seem right that the Klein’s are still accepting money to pay a fine which they have said they will not pay (again, if that it accurate).
LikeLike
Oops. I didn’t finish the first sentence in that comment. I meant to say that I find the posting of the info online, which led to bullying, to be a problem. If they did indeed do that, it wasn’t right.
LikeLike
Karen, There is no “even if”. The public record confirmed what logical thinking would have already deduced: Calls to the Better Business Bureau do not magically morph into formal complaints to the Department of Justice.
Now let’s use some more logic. If the lesbian would lie about actually filing the complaint (an allegation which can be refuted with a 45 second Internet search), why would we believe anything else she said about “bullying”, etc. This happened in Oregon in the Age of Obama. Does anyone think the lesbians were “bullied” more by Oregonians than were the Christian bakers? Not to mention the $140,000 of “bullying” that came from the state from that complaint that the lesbian claims she never filed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Karen, Here are the facts (in order, to demonstrate the importance of the lesbian’s lie):
1. The lesbian filed the complaint with the Oregon Dept. of Justice.
2. The DoJ contacted the bakers about the complaint, which was the start of a lengthy proceeding resulting in a $140,000 fine.
3. The bakers, like many of my Christian friends, posted their sad tale on Facebook.
4. Then the thing went viral. I would bet a Texas steak that the Oregon Branch of Organized Perversion dished out more “bullying” than the few conservative Christians left in that state.
LikeLike
Posting their own tale on Facebook is one thing; posting the address & phone number of the lesbian couple is quite another.
I am not against the Kleins. I wish them well. My main point is that not everything is as black & white as we’d like it to be. Christians don’t always react in the most Christ-like ways possible.
And yes, there are still enough people out there who are hateful toward gays. Being that this was posted on Facebook, the bullying (& death threats, too, supposedly) could have come from places other than Oregon.
LikeLike
I am Anonymous, for some reason. RBWeaver.
On another front, this should make you happy, HRW.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/184346/sanders-surges-clinton-sags-favorability.aspx
I am with you on this one. I would rather the Dems nominate a true socialist, than a combination socialist/prostitute to Wall Street and foreign nations/ accessory to a serial sexual predator.
Some Republicans would prefer Sanders, because they think he would be easier to beat. I am not so sure about that. We are becoming a liberal nation in many respects.
LikeLike
Enjoyed the discussion, Karen.
The biggest mistake the Kleins made was to stay in Oregon. That is no place to raise kids. They are welcome in Texas. If we become what Oregon is now, we can make a mass exodus to Chile or Russia, though I know quite a few Texans who will stand and fight.
LikeLike
Well, Ricky, let’s pray God brings a spirit of repentance & another Great Awakening across this land.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The ruling in the Oregon bakery case specifically said the posting of the address–which was quickly removed and, to my perception, not malicious but accidental–was not reason for the monetary fine/penalty.
Also, there’s more to the drug testing/welfare applications than is stated in the Forbes piece and by most on the left. It’s late already, I have to run, so maybe I’ll try to add more tomorrow.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Here’s Volokh on the bakery settlement IRT publishing complainant’s address:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/07/10/no-the-oregon-bakers-werent-fined-for-publishing-the-complainants-home-address-or-for-otherwise-publicizing-the-complaint-against-them/?postshare=8501436648126090
LikeLike
So what should be the Christian response to perversion and particularly, to Organized Perversion?
I know I am in the minority and I may be wrong, but has anyone considered that Putin’s approach may be more Christian than that of American Christian leaders. Putin is trying to protect Russian children. Conservative Christians are generally not taking action to protect American children from the propaganda of Organized Perversion.
I have heard conservative American church leaders say they wouldn’t go to a homosexual marriage, but they would go to the reception.
In a few years when the U.S. allows polygamy should we go to a person’s 3rd, 4th and 5th wedding reception?
When prostitution is legalized, should we stay away from the Grand Opening of the whorehouse, but feel free to attend the reception later?
When incestual marriage is legalized, should we attend the reception of a father and his daughter/bride?
We have been “taught” to think that Christians are too hard on perversion, perverts and even Organized Perversion. I question whether that is true. I know if I had a five year old, I would rather him start school in St Petersburg, Russia than in any US city.
LikeLike
In terms of economic effiency, welfare is far more effecient than corporate tax cuts. And since drug tests cost more then they save you might as well just give the poor the money.
Since the civil rights era urs been generally agreed service business must serve everyone. In an era of google and yelp reviews i suspect lunch counter protests will be replaced by bad reviews leading to boycotts. In the long term this should suffice.
Sanders should do better but people think he cant win the general election so they will stick to the safe canidate ie Clinton. The republicans will do the same and america will have two corporate approved canidates to choose from.
LikeLiked by 1 person
SolarPancake – Thanks for clearing that up. I didn’t think the posting of the address & such was necessarily intentional, but they should have been more careful. Good to hear that they took it down quickly. But, unfortunately, in these days of “screen shots” & things going viral in the blink of an eye, a mistake like that is hard (impossible?) to purge.
LikeLike
As for the drug testing for welfare recipients, my main purpose in sharing the article was to show that it does not seem to be cost efficient.
LikeLike
SolarPancake – I look forward to reading what you have to say about the drug testing issue.
LikeLike
My occasional posting of these articles that land more on the liberal side of issues is not to necessarily take the liberal side of things, but to take a look at other aspects of these issues that we conservatives (which I mostly am) may ignore or not be aware of. I see a couple liberal friends on Facebook who not only automatically disagree with conservative or libertarian views, but they also put the worst slant on those views & those who hold them. I don’t want to do that to liberal views.
But I’ll admit, sometimes it’s hard. There are certain issues – like abortion – where right is right, & wrong is wrong. But even there, it is good to acknowledge that some people are in favor of abortion rights out of a misguided sense of compassion, not because they are hard-hearted & selfish. (Although, it seems lately that the latter are taking over.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
HRW, You are probably right. That has been the pattern for years. Reagan was an exception. Big Business favored Ford and Big Bush over Reagan and gave heavily to Congressional Democrats. Big Business fought his Tax Reform Act of 1986, but Reagan passed it with the help of true conservatives of both parties plus others like Bill Bradley and Labor’s friend Dick Gephardt who sponsored the bill. That one law, more than anything else, contributed to our boom, by creating a level playing field and ending tens of billions of dollars of targeted tax breaks.
As soon as Reagan left office a combination of Democrats and Big business started favoring certain groups with tax cuts. The Bushes, Clinton and Obama signed the bills and cashed their campaign checks. Our current tax law is approaching the inefficiency of Jimmy Carter’s system. I prepared tax returns under that old system and it was an abomination.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ricky you have a blind spot for reagan. He was a corporate stooge and the main reason for the decline of the middle class.
LikeLike
Those are fighting words, HRW. You might as well have attacked Robert E. Lee or Jesus himself. However, I must rise early to play golf in the morning, so I only have time for a brief defense.
LikeLike
The strongest argument for Reagan is how much liberals still hate him. The same can be said for Lee. Jesus needs no defense, but there are a lot of leftists who don’t like Him either.
LikeLike
Mona Charen on tone:
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/421540/trumps-disturbing-rise-shows-political-intemperance-isnt-limited-left-mona-charen
__________________________________________________
” … Barack Obama rose on a promise of harmony but has used power to rend the nation along all of its weakest seams. This brand of leadership has not left his followers happier, but more bitter. As for his opponents, they are by turns grieving and disbelieving at the damage he’s been able to inflict.
“The only answer to division and hatred on the left is inclusion and unity on the right. A number of Republican candidates for president have been seeking to recast the Republican party as the party of reform and outreach. They recognize that a party that lost not just the Hispanic vote, the black vote, the women’s vote, and the youth vote, but also the Asian vote has an image problem.
“As any number of successful Republican senators and governors have shown, it isn’t necessary to adopt any particular policy (e.g. amnesty) to attract the votes of more Hispanics or Asians. It is necessary for the party to convey a welcoming spirit. Such a tone may even attract fence-sitting white voters, who are left cold by a party that appears uninterested in the plight of the poor.
“That is the Republican challenge and opportunity. Success beckons — but only post-Trump.”
________________________________________________________
LikeLiked by 1 person