Let’s talk about the IRS scandal, because there is much to this and it presents a genuine opportunity for the Republicans to do some good things. Here’s what you need to know at this point.● What Happened: Starting in 2011, several Tea Party groups began to complain that the IRS was targeting them over their attempts to get non-profit status. Specifically, they claimed their applications were being delayed and that they were being asked to provide information the IRS doesn’t normally seek from applicants, including questions about the activities of their relatives. Then-IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman specifically denied this in March 2012 before congress.
On Friday, things began to blow up when Lois Lerner, director of exempt organizations for the IRS, apologized for what she called “inappropriate” targeting of conservative groups for closer scrutiny – the exact thing the IRS had been denying. She admitted that Tea Party groups had been targeted for addition scrutiny, but she claimed it happened only in a low-level field office in Cincinnati and that none of the higher ups knew about it. Once they found out, they stopped the process. So the scandal dies, right?
Well, no.
Saturday, someone in the Treasury Inspector General’s Office leaked a copy of their report on the investigation of these claims to the AP. That report concludes that this targeting was discovered by senior level personnel, including those in the IRS General Counsel’s office, as early as June 2011, long before the period where Lerner admits they knew and long before the IRS’s Schulman told Congress this never happened, i.e. he lied. It is not currently clear when the conduct was stopped or by whom or if it extended into information leaving the agency.
Since Saturday, Reuters got the report as well and they’ve added that while the IRS first targeted groups with the name “Tea Party” or “Patriot” in their names, the IRS broadened their search to expand their list of targets in 2011 and in 2012. . . which would be after senior IRS people knew about this.
And now, the lawyer for 27 Tea Party groups says this went way beyond Cincinnati and also involved the DC office and two offices in California.
● Why This Has Legs: This scandal has legs. For one thing, there is already proof of wrongdoing. Everyone admits this conduct happened and that it would be an illegal politicization of the IRS. Secondly, nobody wants to defend the IRS. . . not left, right or center. In fact, it’s good politics to beat up the IRS. Thirdly, journalists are running with this. Both the AP and now Reuters are competing to prove that they hold the exclusive on this, i.e. this is "their" scandal, and that means heavy coverage. You can see the result of this everywhere and it means this scandal isn’t going away. Moreover, Reuters has linked this to Obama already, calling it “a full-blown scandal involving the IRS scrutiny” which was “embarrassing the agency and distracting the Obama administration,” which means they’ll look for links to Obama.
This has wrong-footed Obama’s spin doctors, who aren’t prepared for genuine media aggression and don’t know how to defend people the public hates, especially when the evidence of wrongdoing is plain.
Further, as the scandal progresses, there are now claims this conduct went even further than Tea Party groups. Jewish conservative groups are now claiming they were targeted as well. This will make it hard to dismiss this by blaming the victims.
More importantly, unlike Benghazi or Fast and Furious or a dozen other scandals, this one has meaning to the public because it can affect them personally. The public hates the IRS, not because they need to pay money to the IRS, but because they feel abused by the IRS. They feel like the IRS can arbitrarily pick people it wishes to target and make their lives hell. They see evidence of this all the time, when they see reports about people’s lives being destroyed by aggressive IRS agents, when they see articles about the IRS targeting low-middle class people for audits, and when they hear about companies like GE getting away with record profits but no tax bill.
This scandal will confirm the public’s view that the IRS is a bully, and it will confirm their fears that the IRS is not the neutral collector of revenue Washington claims, but is instead a politicized tool for harassment, either by political administrations or (even worse) by whatever jerk off gets a job at the IRS -- neither one is good. Further, this is something people left, right, center and other all complain about. Even leftists like the Progressive Policy Institute have said, “This needs to stop, instantly, and it’s legitimate to question how the practice started and how extensive it became.” That’s a disaster for Obama if even the left wants this investigated, especially with the IRS being made the point man on Obamacare.
That’s why this scandal has legs. Journalists want it to have to legs, the Democrats have no answer, and the public already believes this and wants something done about it.
● The Politics: The smartest thing Obama could do right now would be to act outraged and purge the agency of a few bad eggs. . . assuming of course that those bad eggs don’t have e-mails showing his administration encouraging this targeting. Trying to defend the IRS in these circumstances would be a huge mistake because it would create a suspicion that his administration was behind this.
The smartest thing the Republicans can do would be to attack this on the issue of abuse of power and demand a reformation of the IRS. They should demand the termination of every employee involved, as far up the chain as they can get. Plus, they should seek to implement new rules and guidelines to de-politicize the IRS and to make it less arbitrary. And frankly, I would warp it into an indictment of the entire income tax system and I would push for either the replacement of the tax code or a severe trimming of all the exceptions and exemptions which inject so much leeway into the system.
What they should not do is to try to make this about Obama, except by way of casual embarrassment: “Were you abusive or an incompetent manager?” sort of thing. . . not, “we gonna impeach you!” Start with the easy target of IRS abuse of taxpayers and build moment for the types of changes you want. Find ways to deliver a thousand little cuts against Obama in the process, but avoid the desire to find the “killer blow” because that’s how you squander a scandal, by over-reaching. And keep in mind that Obama will be gone before any of this really hits, so aim for something more lasting. . . aim for the Democratic machine as a whole.
that would be a good way to play it, and it will be interesting. It will be hard for the "R"s to do this though, because, logic is that this is the most scandalous administration since Nixon. You are correct to state that F&F, Benghazi, and the White House CIA leaks don't have traction due to the lack of smoking gun, liberal media mentality, and lack of direct public impact/outrage. That pisses me off, but, as you point out, the others won't get anywhere. At the very least, though, it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post, Andrew!
ReplyDeleteActually, Obama has condoned this, at least indirectly. As I recall his administration went after individual donors to Romney's campaign (including Romney as well) irt taxes and lying about what they paid, among other things.
Regardless, I concur the GOP should not overreach on this. Besides, we can tie this into Obamascare and, as you say, use it as an opportunity to ressurect a flat tax option (or at least some other major reforms, as well as having more safeguards to prevent this from happening to anyone in the future).
No one should have this kind of power to abuse Americans and that will resonate (hopefully).
ReplyDeleteIncidently, I consider the Obama administration far more corrupt than Nixon ever was and this is yet another example. At least no one was killed in this scandal (unlike Benghazi or Fast n Furious).
At any rate, let's hope the media doesn'nt let this go. I think they might be upset after learning Obam's justice dept. has been spying on AP reporters.
Ben, Welcome back! I was getting a little worried. I wasn't even getting updates from your site anymore. Glad you're back! :)
ReplyDeleteYou are correct on Obama going after Romney donors. And even before that, the Democrats have never been shy about using the government to "get" their enemies.
Moreover, if the Tea Party guy is right and this was going on at other offices as well, then this must be a directive from on-high and that means Obama. That would be a smoking gun and would actually blow up on him.
On overreaching, I think that's right. Start small, take what you can get at each phase, keep expanding as you find more and act increasingly shocked at each step... all the while inflicting the death of a thousand cuts.
That's how you tie the guy up forever, cripple his agenda, and keep this in the news. You have to build a foundation of proof and build the suspense. If you start screaming "impeachment" at the outset, people see this as a witch-hunt and they tune out.
It's all about human psychology.
Jed, The truth is that most scandals have no legs -- not those of administrations on either side. The key is to spot the ones that do and to develop them. It's like building a legal case, you need to line up a great story for the jury and you have to tell it in the right order. That means excluding the parts that distract, not reaching for more than you can prove, and never over-promising -- keep the scandal about them, not about you.
ReplyDeleteAs for this administration being the most corrupt in history, that may be true. They certainly are one of the most corrupt and most abusive. And I do wish more people cared about the things they've done, but the truth is that the public only cares if they feel it could hurt them personally.
Fortunately, this has that kind of appeal because people already feel abused by the IRS. And if this unfolds the way it appears that it might, then Obama is in trouble. But even if it doesn't go all the way up, it can still be a great opportunity to tame an out-of-control abusive agency and make the people the master of the government again. And that will hurt the Democratic cause.
Ben, The timing on the AP scandal could not have been worse for Obama. That could very well inspire a large number of journalists to seek revenge. We'll see.
ReplyDeleteWith all the effort the left has been putting into the issue of "bullying," I would piggyback on that: "The IRS should never be allowed to bully taxpayers it doesn't like... no bullying by employees at local offices with political axes to grind... no bullying as official policy by an administration determined to abuse the power it has been given to settle scores with its enemies."
In terms of corruption, I actually never saw Nixon as corrupt. Bush W was corrupt, but not Nixon. Nixon was just paranoid and rotten. Obama is like the worst aspects of Bush W combined with the worst aspects of Nixon.
Thanks Andrew. Good to be back. Had some health issues, computer as well as my own but it takes more than that to take me out, lol.
ReplyDeleteI concur. Besides, impeachment ain't an option with the donks holding the Senate. Best to let Obama continue to hurt himself since he isn't used to this scrutiny and really isn't very bright.
IMO he is used to getting away with Chicago poltics and he is in for a rude awakening as he becomes more impotent.
Very few folks will feel sorry for him as the evidence piles up.
At the very least this should definitely make him a lame duck and malignant narcissists like Obama hate that more than anything else (not getting their way that is).
LOL.
Glad you're ok, Ben! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree, this will be about sympathy and public opinion. Screaming about impeachment puts us at the center of the scandal and that's not what we want. We want the public to look at Obama with disgust, not roll their eyes at us. Besides, as you note, we don't have the Senate and it's never smart to overpromise.
Slow but sure. You can kill a man/idea/party with a thousand tiny cuts even more easily than you can with one big thrust. And Obama isn't the target, the Democrats are the target.
As an aside, I just saw an article about Obama talking about the scandal today and he called it an "outrage."
ReplyDeleteTo me, this is clear evidence he knows this is big and cannot be defended. All he can do is try to keep it at the local level and hope it doesn't reach into his administration.
RE: AP scandal -- Obama has been no friend of the press for his entire time in office. From time to time, you can see how miffed some of them are, but they continue to tow the line. It'll be interesting to see if that changes now.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it seems to me that the current crop of journalists have been itching for some time to recreate their own Watergate. While it goes without saying that they'd love to take down a Republican president, I wonder if they're impatient enough to take what comes along?
Precisely. And as the case builds we need to ask questions like "do we really want bullies like these IRS agents in charge of our health care? We urge President Obama and Senator Reid to put a stop to these despicable shenanigans and stand up for our individual rights and liberties!" LOL!
ReplyDeleteTryanmax, good points. I wonder if more than a few journalists are feeling betrayed. IMO most could care less about what the Irs did but they don't like being dissed after all they have done for Obama, let alone spied on.
ReplyDeletetryanmax, I think the current crop of journalists are essentially vultures. They want to take people down. The only reason they haven't attacked Obama is that he's a fellow traveler and they needed him... but they don't need him now. Now they have Hillary or Cuomo and they can dispense with Obama. And this may make them feel that he's gone too far and now the gloves come off.
ReplyDeleteWe'll see.
Personally, I think the more likely scenario is that the IRS thing becomes a feeding frenzy because everyone already agrees this is a legitimate scandal, so they are free to plow into it and to muck-rake. That will slowly lead them to dig into the connections to Obama for competitive reasons... "I found something new no one else knows!"
That's how I see this playing out, as a frenzy more than anything that will eventually blow up on Obama not by design, but by sheer force of journalists competing to make names for themselves.
Ben, Exactly! Once you paint the picture of an arbitrary and abusive agency packed with low-level employees who love to bully helpless taxpayers (who may or may not have been told to bully certain targets), then you ask, "These are the people you want controlling your healthcare??"
ReplyDeleteThat's how you build a very effective backlash. You plan out a line of attack that lays the ground work for the points you plan to make later.
Ben and tryanmax, The other thing about the press is that while they are willing to overlook certain things for the cause, being spied on may be a bridge too far. Not only have they reacted with outrage every time that's ever happened to them, but to have it done by someone they see as an ally they've covered up for over the years will really generate a sense of outrage.
ReplyDeleteAnother reason it's getting legs is because the administration's initial lies about the extent of all this were exposed pretty quickly, and now they're too confused to put together a coherent defense.
ReplyDeleteIronically, they're following Breitbart's strategy of a drip-drip-drip exposure, only completely unintentionally.
T-Rav, Agreed, they've blundered into this one. And because of it, they now have what appear to be three serious lies on the record:
ReplyDelete1. They didn't know.
2. They stopped it once they found out.
3. It was only a local issue and in one facility.
I got the sense watching them try to spin it today that they know they're in trouble, which is why Obama has jumped on the side of the attackers. He's hoping to build a firewall.
And now the AP has added another liar to the list:
ReplyDeleteActing Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Steven T. Miller repeatedly failed to tell Congress that tea party groups were being inappropriately targeted, even after he had been briefed on the matter.
The IRS said Monday that Miller was first informed on May, 3, 2012, that applications for tax-exempt status by tea party groups were inappropriately singled out for extra, sometimes burdensome scrutiny.
At least twice after the briefing, Miller wrote letters to members of Congress to explain the process of reviewing applications for tax-exempt status without revealing that tea party groups had been targeted. On July 25, 2012, Miller testified before the House Ways and Means oversight subcommittee but again was not forthcoming on the issue — despite being asked about it.
This is really bad for Obama that the AP is going so hard after this.
Ha! Children of the Scorn. A reality horror flick...for Obama and his minions.
ReplyDeleteIronically, the AP were his willful minions but even minions need to have their ego's stroked occasionally. Obama has only given them his scorn after he uses them.
Okay, technically they were his ho's but they really thought Obama loved them and "hell has no fury, etc., etc.."
To quote Santa from Christmas Story: "Ho, ho ho." :)
Andrew, you've missed the real meaning of these events. Obviously, the report was leaked by Clinton operatives to change the subject from Bengazigate. :)
ReplyDeleteObama is toast. Republicans had no real reason to work with him before and they have less now.
ReplyDeleteObama might leave in disgrace or he might manage to paint himself as a victim of partisanship, but he will get nothing more done before he leaves.
Andrew.....I think repubs need to start painting the picture of Obama as an out of touch know-nothing radical who uses government power for his payback to those groups that he HATES (yes, use the word hate). He hates gun owners, thus F&F. He hates conservatives ("enemies", small minded hiding behind guns and religion, etc).
ReplyDeleteIf our side can portray him as incompetent and hateful, the whole leftist movement will be damaged, as he is "The One We've Been Waiting For."
F&F...."Never heard of it...Bush operation."
Beghazi.....Video riot, that's all. Doesn't care about the 4 dead in Libya as proven by his actions the night of the attacks. Why, he cared so much about dead Americans he went to Vegas to try and take his mind off the tragedy!
IRS....I can't believe that's happening. I will investigate and get to the bottom. Had NO IDEA that was happening.
Look, we've known for years this guy is an empty suit. We've seen his kind throughout our lives....pretty boy, smooth talker, partier, nothing sticks, not too bright. Whenever he is held accountable he lashes out. Lucky for him he's had cover from the media and the left (yeah, yeah, I know) but now it looks like he may have been caught trying to be too cute by half with the AP, and the cornered rats might be turning on him now and finally hold him accountable for all the b.s. HIS administration...not Holder, not Clinton, not Bush, not the TP'ers...HIM.
A clueless, out of touch partier who has abused the power the American people have granted him. Well, time to throw another party and bring in the stars.....that will shut the press up.
I really would like to see Obama found out for the petty, abusive, narcissistic party boy that he really is, but I'm still not convinced 1) The repubs have it in them to follow-through, and 2) the media/left have too much invested in him to follow-through, as they know that exposing him could knock the movement back decades and the eeeevil conservatives would be ascendant. Can't have that!
Great topic Andrew and well-timed. Let's sit back and enjoy the fireworks.
you've missed the real meaning of these events. Obviously, the report was leaked by Clinton operatives to change the subject from Bengazigate.
ReplyDeleteK, is someone in pundit-land pushing that? B/c my dad said the same thing, but I'm not sold.
I think we wasted FAST AND FURIOUS by not using it to get at least some Hispanic votes. 300 Mexicans were killed and the only person we focused on was Brian Terry?
ReplyDeleteTryanmax - Do not discount the Clintons and what they can do to Obama. They just haven't yet. Though I am not sure how deflecting on Benghazi and harming Obama can help Clinton. But then, 2016 is a long way away.
ReplyDeleteI think adding the AP phone tap of not only their work lines, but also the reporters' private telephones as well (as it was reported this morning) to the mix may finally wake up the MSM.
I actually feel for Jay Carney. His go-to statements have been "We knew nothing, we saw nothing" even before any questions are asked. Someone said that it seems like a real carnival of idiots at the WH, so now we know why they hired a "Carney". It may have been IowaHawk on his twitter feed (which if you follow anyone on Twitter, follow him!)
Here's what I want to know: if Obama was tapping the AP phone lines, how is it that he never seems to find out anything until after it's been printed in the papers?
ReplyDeleteSo who's up for scandal number six? LINK
ReplyDeletetryanmax, I'm with you. Usually you're stupid or you're corrupt, not both.
ReplyDeleteWow, too bad We the People didn't know about all this prior to the election, huh?
ReplyDeleteAlso, this is what happens when you screw with the Press...expect more.
Now Breitbart is reporting that the IRS handed information over to liberal groups....http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/05/14/Progressive-Group-Says-IRS-Gave-Them-Confidential-Docs-On-Conservative-Groups
ReplyDeleteK, LOL! Bravo! Though sadly... I have heard someone suggest that for real.
ReplyDeleteBen, Children of the Scorn! That is an excellent title for a political book!
ReplyDeleteAnthony, This reminds me a lot of Iran-Contra in that sense. Even though I don't think the public cared about Iran-Contra (as evidenced by their falling in love with Oliver North), it tied up Reagan's administration until the end and they got nothing done.
ReplyDeleteObama is probably facing the same thing. My guess is that he will get nothing else done unless it's something the Republicans want independently.
Patriot, Thanks! I concur, but I think it needs to be done carefully. The Republicans have a real opportunity here to change the culture at the IRS and the government as a whole, and they need to be careful to keep the focus on that.
ReplyDeleteKeep letting stuff out as you find it, but shape the narrative slow. Act shocked at what you find, not "See!! We told you!!" And always offer reforms that re-adjust the playing field in our direction... depoliticize, remove political appointees, allow greater discipline of employees by managers, add fines/jail time to violations of privacy. And seek resignations in the process.
As for things like F&F and the other scandals... bring those up casually at first as you build the narrative of an abuse of power, and slowly build to the idea sometime in 2015 that this guy is "the most abusive, most corrupt administration in history." Don't try to impeach him, just use him as a punching bag at that point. And take your time getting there and putting the building blocks in place.
tryanmax, The IRS scandal is 100 times stronger and 100 times more real than Benghazi. Benghazi only matters to people who already hate Obama. The IRS thing will matter to the public at large.
ReplyDeleteAnd the AP scandal is the most dangerous for his reputation... though all we can do there is mock the AP and hope to spark them into getting even.
Kit, I agree to a degree. Fast and Furious likely had legs with Mexicans and gun owners. Unfortunately, there was no way we were going to win Mexicans pre-Rubio.
ReplyDeleteBev, Now it's private lines too? WOW! There is no way these reporters aren't going to go apesh*t and seek revenge on this on.
ReplyDeleteAs for Hillary, keep in mind, the MSM loves the Clintons... not the Obamas.
As for the IRS covering up for Benghazi, that just doesn't work. Benghazi is in the news because the Republicans scheduled hearings on it and the IRS thing is in the news because the IG report is about to be released and was leaked to the AP. Obama had no control over either event.
In fact, he seems to have been caught totally off guard by the IG report.
tryanmax, LOL! This administration is so lazy that it wouldn't surprise me if they ordered wire taps and then never bothered to read the transcripts. ;)
ReplyDeleteT-Rav, LOL! Oh my.
ReplyDeleteThat's a scandal that normally I doubt would have mattered, but on the back of this IRS thing, that could well be another solid block in the foundation of abuse.
I didn't recall claiming this is the most scandalous administration in history, only that it pisses me off if they get away with it. As you point out, they probably will
ReplyDeleteChicago politics and Washington politics just don't mix. LOL
ReplyDeleteThey are still going to tell us Watergate was worse. IRS singling out specific groups, passing along sensitive info to left leaning groups. Passing along personal info of political enemies.
EPA playing favorites by waving fees for left leaning groups, but charging fees for right leaning groups.
That's just a few things, I'm sure there is more a lot more. It shows a pattern of emboldened behavior by the left. Which is normally a top down situation, by direction or nobody saying, "don't do that or...".
But keeping in mind how Obama took out political opponents in the past. It all fits.
I don't think Reps should do a thing, just push and pull a little here and there. And watch Obama make fool of himself. Just like Clinton did with Monica.
And it is also been reported that the DOJ did not bother to issue subpoenaes to the AP to obtain the phone records either. THis is probably worse for them than IRS issue. THe MSM CAN'T ignore this or play it down in anyway.
ReplyDeleteT-Rav, Despite the bizarre spin from right and left about Obama being either a genius or an evil genius, I've found his administration to be rather incompetent. They have no agenda. They don't understand the legislative process. They have no leadership. They are lazy and prefer to just dump things on Harry Reid with a "do something" command. They've been really bad at handling virtually every problem that's come up. And they've been horrible at weathering criticism.
ReplyDeleteAdd to that, that Obama personally strikes me as not very bright, not interested in his job, and beset with an anger/arrogance problem.
Add to that, that this administration is playing Chicago style, which is all about helping friends and punishing enemies.
That creates a perfect storm of incompetence, arrogance and corruption.
Bev, The press can be a dangerous animal when there's blood in the water and you've upset them. If Obama loses even part of his immunity, he's in serious trouble because once the press starts to turn on you... they all turn on you.
ReplyDeleteCritch, Wow! If that's true, then this thing can be driven into the Democratic Party and not just the White House. LINK.
ReplyDeleteTo add to this, does anyone remember how Team Obama briefed the media about the Koch Brother's taxes prior to the election? Anyone smell a connection?
Jed, Sorry, I didn't mean to mischaracterize your statement -- "most scandalous since Nixon." True. :)
ReplyDeleteAs for getting away with it, it all depends. I think there's a zero percent chance Obama resigns or gets impeached. But this could cause a lot more damage to the left if it gets played right.
Oh,Carl Bernstein smells the blood in the water. There's nothing like an old reporter who already brought down one President...
ReplyDeleteThis was reported on HuffPo:
"...The DOJ tracked the incoming and outgoing calls on more than 20 AP phone lines, as well as the home, office and cell phone lines [emphasis added] for six individual journalists involved in writing a national security-related story about Yemen that the Obama administration did not want them to write."
Max, That's the smart way to play it. Don't overreact... let Obama blow himself up. If the Republicans jump in too hard or too fast, then it gives Obama a lifeline by deflecting the issue to them "politicizing" it.
ReplyDeleteBenghazi, for example, would have been a lot stronger if Romney hadn't attacked the issue as it was happening. By doing so, he let Obama change the debate from "what the heck happened" to "was Romney right to criticize," and that was what people focused on.
You have to let scandals play themselves out first and only nudge them until the guy has hung himself.
Bev, I don't follow you. No subpoenas? You mean they didn't seek warrants?
ReplyDeleteBev, Yes, yes he does. LOL!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting, because what he says sounds like it could have been spun to them just looking for someone who was leaking classified information... but then he adds:
"...that the Obama administration did not want them to write."
Whoops. He's got his spin. It's definite. And it's the nasty interpretation. That's a declaration of war by Bernstein.
If anyone is on Twitter, you really need to check out #scandaldraft. It's like a football draft, only with Obama WH excuses and attempts to change the subject. It's HILARIOUS. :-)
ReplyDeleteT-Rav, funny stuff! (How can I find you on twitter?)
ReplyDeleteOn the Sunday shows, they were shrugging it off as "second terms always get hit by scandals." Well, Florida always gets hit by hurricanes, but this thing is hitting land as a Cat. 5!
tryanmax, I'm not actually on Twitter, but I sometimes find the feeds through links. (I spend way too much time on FB as it is.)
ReplyDelete"Bev, I don't follow you. No subpoenas? You mean they didn't seek warrants?"
ReplyDeleteYes, I believe that is what the article meant. If anything, they did not subpeona the AP directly (and openly) to request the phone records or to even object which of course they would have done.
Bev, I've been thinking about this. I don't see how they could have gotten subpoenas without a lawsuit. So it has to mean warrants. And if they didn't get a warrant, then that means they designated the AP and the reporters as "terrorists" under the Patriot Act. This could get really interesting.
ReplyDeleteThere is one thing that Obama has said that is true. There certainly is no "there, THERE...because they're all over there and there and there and there too! The "theres" are popping up like tulips in April...
ReplyDeleteBev, Well, I guess it's a good thing it's spring then! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat is the official flower of scandal? Perhaps a brown rose?
A Black-Eyed Susan!
ReplyDeletePoison Ivy...
ReplyDeleteA slime mold!
ReplyDeleteAndrew,
ReplyDeletere Obama's incompetence. I've noticed that w/ Obamacare. All these conservatives (especially Mark Steyn) were saying it was the end of America because socialized medicine completely changes the relationship between the government and the individual. What they didn't realize is that this was not socialized medicine, or at least the kind you see in Europe (i.e., Universal Healthcare).
Not even close.
In reality it basically requires everyone to buy health insurance while at the same time causing the cost of the newly mandated healthcare to go up.
Nightshade.
ReplyDeleteRed algae...though slime mold is very good!
ReplyDeleteKit - Oh, we realized it right away that it was just a huge give-away to insurance companies and the like. But, the point of that is to make health insurance SO expensive and the cost of care SO much worse that we will all be begging for "Single-Payer" European-style heathcare.
ReplyDeleteVenus Fly-Trap or the Corpse flower that only blooms every 4-8 years and smells like a decomposing body...LINK
ReplyDeleteokay it blooms every 14 years, not 4 or 8...;-)
Romney could have said nothing and still got the same crap. Obama's people were going to cream whoever was in that roll. The Reps could have put up a rock, it would broken every window in America.
ReplyDeleteFor people that act like this, all you have to do is sit back and watch the show. He will do everything, as a very old and long gone friend once said about these situations, "he already has one foot in the grave, you just to place a banana peal under the other foot".
As Londo Mollari said in the opening of B5, In the Beginning- "Pried goth before a fall".
I gotta get a sci-fi reference in.
Kit, Obamacare is incompetence personified. Seriously, if you wanted to reform the system, this is the last thing you would ever try no matter what your ideology.
ReplyDeleteIf Obama hadn't been a fool, he would have actually offered a plan instead of letting this monster take shape. But he didn't. Frankly, I think this thing took shape when the insurance lobby whispered dollar bills in the ears of Max Baucus. He bought their line hook, line and sinker, and adopted their Treasury-raping plan and then added some other crony stuff his other donors wanted, expanded Medicaid to shut up the left, and away we went. And you're right, there's nothing "socialize medicine" about. To the contrary, it's basically forced commerce-ism plus some cronyism plus some tax hikes.
Moreover, Obama's inability to lead was highlighted throughout the process. The Democrats wanted guidance and he said, "I'm too busy golfing... you figure it out." He had no ability to get Republican votes because his approach was to tell people in safe districts, "Hey, I won, support me or... well, something." He squandered all the good will he had with the electorate. And he let that one bill eat his entire agenda and his entire mandate.
Now he's struggling with a bill that is as popular as herpes and will keep doing damage year after year until it finally fails and gets repealed... and his painful "legacy" can finally be expunged from the history books.
Bev, I've honestly never heard of a corpse flower... but 4/8 sounds just about right. ;)
ReplyDeleteOn Obamacare being a Trojan horse for single-payer, I really don't think that's true. For one thing, I don't think Team Obama has that kind of foresight. For another, that's not how government works. Step 2 will not be single payer, it will be price controls. Step 3 will be rationing plus more price controls. Step 4 will be generations of angry promises to fix the problem coupled with accounting tricks. Step 5... we don't know, we've never reached Step 5 before.
Not to mention, this thing has been pushed by insurers all along and they won't push their own extinction. They want to use the government to squeeze out the competition and then get utility-like regulation, which includes monopoly profits.
Max, I think the problem with Romney (on that incident) was that he grabbed the camera and got involved. He broke the cardinal rule that when your opponent is trying to slit his own throat... let him.
ReplyDeleteWhen he got up and attacked, he handed Obama a life-line that let Obama refocus the scandal away from "dead people on Obama's watch" to "should we politicize foreign policy events." That was a get-out-of-jail-free ticket for Obama and he and the MSM exploited it fully.
Andrew and Bev, I did a brief check of the stories on the AP seizures, and from the phrasing, they definitely got either subpoenas or warrants. No Patriot Act invocation (so far).
ReplyDeletePatriot, It will be interesting to see how this turns out. It has to be warrants otherwise, the reporters would have known if it had been subpoenas. I wonder what basis they used? They must have alleged an on-going crime of some sort.
ReplyDeleteHolder recused himself from the investigation because he didn't know nothing about it no how. This seems to be the fallback position of just about everyone in the government this week.
ReplyDeleteOn a lighter note, there are some emails that CNN has that seem to indicate that the WH was more involved in the "talking points" memo than just changing a few words. Carney must be sweatin' bullets right now.
Bev, Talking points? What talking points?! I've never heard of any such thing! This is an outrage! An outrage I tell ya! ;)
ReplyDeleteOne thing on Carney I thought was a real mistake is that he can't turn off the snark. Hatch (a mild mannered fellow) said he hadn't seen anything like this since Nixon and Carney responded that anyone who mentioned Nixon "needs to check their history." Yeah... smart move Carney... piss off the one guy who will be fair to you.
I think Romney messed up bad on Benghazi and I said so at the time. The freaking day of a terror attack you don't hold a press conference to denounce the President, no matter how justified.
ReplyDeleteGranted, it seems that nowadays blood often doesn't get time to dry before people start reading their scripts, but I've seen no evidence that those who wait a decent interval (a day or two) are at a disadvantage vi a vi those who start holding press conferences and tweeting as soon as they get the news.
Anthony, I recall and you were right.
ReplyDeleteAt the time, I thought it was in bad taste and wasn't smart. I didn't think it would hurt him that much, though I thought it would hurt a little. I didn't think much about the long term, but the long term effect seems to have been to defuse the thing from the get-go.
Andrew, I know that they're generally on the same side and everything, but I have to think that even most members of the WH press corps have wanted from time to time to go up to the podium and slap that smug look off Carney's face. Personally, I can't imagine ever not wanting to do it, but that's me.
ReplyDeleteT-Rav, I would not be surprised in the least if that was something many of them wanted to do. Of all the press secretaries I can think of, he's really been the most obnoxious.
ReplyDeleteAlso, re Obamacare, I'm wondering if its provisions will make healthcare so toxic of an issue that no one will discuss a federal overhaul of healthcare for at least a decade after its repealed.
ReplyDeleteKit, It's really hard to tell. First, we need to see how the system fails, how they try to rescue it, who goes bankrupt in the process, who loses their seats, etc.
ReplyDeletenobody wants to defend the IRS.
ReplyDeleteYou can add Bloomberg to the list that includes "nobody." They are reporting that the IRS sent the same letter that they sent to Tea Party groups to...wait for it...THREE...Democrat-leaning organizations seeking non-profit status. One was even denied! Scandal over. Everybody go home.
You can add the NYTimes, as well. They have a very deceptive article out that seems to indicate the IRS was justified in putting extra scrutiny on Tea Party groups. They play with chronology, making it seem that groups founded in the late 1990s were formed in response to groups founded in the late 2000s.
Boogeymen Rove and the Koch Bros. also feature prominently to set a tone that the following anecdotes are somehow tied to them. One would have to have read the Bloomberg piece to realize that the groups which "might have applied for tax exemption with an eventual court challenge in mind" and the "advocacy group working to train women affiliated with a particular party for political leadership" referenced near the end were all affiliated with the Democrat Party.
So, I've been on suicide watch since November. People who love me held interventions, cut down my internet usage and got me more involved in meaningful activities away from news and politics, but Scandalpalooza has brought me right back in...please Dear Lord above, let some heads roll this time! This administration can't possible escape unscathed after this week!
ReplyDeleteTam, Don't feel so down! The world goes on no matter what happens. Your friends and family are what matter... not this stuff. Seriously, it will be ok.
ReplyDeleteAnd honestly, one of the things I've been trying to get across to people is that things are nowhere near as bad as they seem. Conservatives are just telling each other that the end has come and its freaking everybody out. But it hasn't. The public hasn't bought into Obama or the Democrats. Obama hasn't gotten anything on his agenda done except a little cronyism, and the public is rejecting that. All of this can be sorted out.
Have faith. The world is a beautiful place and things will get better. :D
tryanmax, Bloomberg is like Scarborough to me -- he's a leftist plant trying to undermine the right. That is the pattern of his behavior.
ReplyDeleteIn any event, this won't slow the scandal at all because (1) everybody except Bloomberg and the NYT hates the IRS, (2) Obama has elevated this scandal with his rhetoric and that is now inescapable, and (3) the Republicans have a solid idea of how to exploit this.
I don't think it will derail anything either. More than anything, I find it fascinating to pick apart the deception concocted in the NY Times article. It's really shady and it makes one wonder just how often they do this.
ReplyDeleteOpposition Research
ReplyDeleteAndrew what is your take on this article. I understand that some inforamtion you file in a 501(c) (3) application is evidently available to the puyblic but if they IRS gave them the retunrs before they reviewed it then that suggests they got the whole return including confidential inforamtion such as SSN. This is the most disturbing thing to me as this PROPUBLICA is evidently a Soros funded front group.
tryanmax, In my experience, the NYT lives on this stuff. They are an opinion-oriented "news" provider, i.e. they advocate and only use "facts" as needed to help them make the case.
ReplyDeleteIndi, First, what I find interesting is that they admitted they got this. I suspect their lawyer told them they better act like a whistleblower now that the scandal is out there or they will face criminal charges.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the information, this is all very troubling. It's troubling because knowledge is power and if I know where you get your income, what businesses you own, how much you make, etc. that gives me a lot of power to target you in many ways. And if it does include socials, which it does, that gives me power to find all of your assets, to track where you've lived, to identify your neighbors, look up your credit and your criminal record... and steal your identity.
UPDATE: As an aside, the acting director of the IRS has resigned. Odds are Obama thinks this will calm the waters, but it's really just like throwing chum.
ReplyDeleteMark LEvin said today that the woman who was in charge of Not For Profits in 2009 to 2011 is now head of the Obamacare taskforce
ReplyDeleteIndi, I haven't seen anything about that, but last I knew she was in the same job still. And honestly, the best policy where Levin is concerned is to disbelieve anything he says.
ReplyDeleteIndi, It looks like Levin might be right this time.
ReplyDelete