The IRS acknowledging that it targeted conservative political groups during the 2012 election season has sparked bipartisan calls for investigation -- with House Republicans already saying they will hold a hearing on the issue.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Friday the Republican-led chamber would investigate the tax-collecting agency for flagging the groups for additional review to see whether they were violating their tax-exempt status.
“The IRS cannot target or intimidate any individual or organization based on their political beliefs,” the Virginia Republican said.
Washington Republicans on Sunday (May 12, 2013) characterized the IRS targeting Tea Party groups and other conservative political organizations as “chilling” and intimidating acts that heighten Americans' mistrust in government.
Their comments follow the IRS acknowledgment Friday that the agency targeted such groups during the 2012 election cycle to see whether they were violating their tax-exempt status -- a revelation followed by a report that such activity dated back to the previous year.
“The conclusion that the IRS came to is that they did have agents who were engaged in intimidation of political groups,” Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers told “Fox News Sunday.” “I don't care if you're a conservative, a liberal, a Democrat or a Republican, this should send a chill up your spine. It needs to have a full investigation.”
Evidence that the IRS was flagging such groups in 2011 was included in a draft inspector general's report obtained Saturday by Fox News and other news organizations and is expected to be released in full later this week.
That information seemingly contradicts public statements by IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, who told congressional investigators in March 2011 that specific groups were not being targeted.
On Sunday, Fox News obtained a timeline from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration that shows the practice started in 2010 and that IRS agents also were looking for groups associated with such phrases as "We the People," and "Take Back the Country.
When Coca-Cola changed its recipe and rebranded itself as New Coke, the world recoiled in horror. What does New Coke have to do with conservative politics? Who is the classic conservative and who is the new conservative? Does the marketing plan of Pepsi resemble progressivism? Find out what Bill Whittle thinks.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Zo has strong words for neo-confederate libertarians, especially those who infiltrated the CPAC conference. He reminds viewers why some libertarians have no place in the conservative movement, and why Republicans should embrace the vision of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.
NOTE from RG (WJF): This speech was one of my favorites. "After three long days the moment has finally arrived. They’ve saved the best for last. Me.
Now, since those disastrous elections in November there’s been a whole lot of gnashing of teeth, beating of breasts, whipping of backs and all sorts of other rather silly machinations as one so-called expert after another tells us how we need to re-think our movement.
No we don’t. We need to stop listening to the advice coming from the professional politicians and consultants most responsible for those political train wrecks.
If you need someone to pilot your ship, you don’t hire the captain of the Titanic.
So what do we do? The answer is so simple, really.
If the Republican Party wants to arrest its slow, steady slide into the abyss of political oblivion, it can do so by once more embracing its conservative foundations.
A couple of months ago I was on NPR discussing this topic with NPR’s token conservative, David Brooks. Inevitably the name Ronald Reagan arose, to which he said with exasperation, “WHEN are you people going to get over Ronald Reagan? He was THIRTY YEARS ago!”
To which I replied that 30 years ago was about the last time we had a conservative in the White House. Get over Ronald Reagan? Let me suggest that we need to get over faux conservatives like NPR’s David Brooks."
Brent Bozell
"I think the message is to stay on message. I think it's very exciting and refreshing that conservatives really are taking over the Republican party, because the problem has been for many, many years is that we've had a moderate establishment republican politicians - the squishy politicians, they're not sticking to their core values, their core principles of smaller government, less spending, lower debt, lower taxes this is what we need really to propel our economy and also to get jobs growing in our country."
Deneen Borelli
"Folks, I'm speaking from experience when I tell you that there's nothing on this green earth that a liberal/progressive fears more than a black American who wants a better life and a smaller government.
I'm tired of liberals dividing this country up into little groups, setting them upon each other, breeding spite and envy -- and then having the nerve to accuse conservatives of hatred. In the real world, I see conservatives giving to more charity than liberals, even though their paychecks may be smaller. In the real world, I see conservatives volunteering at adoption agencies, at churches, at bake sales, and the local American Legion post -- while the only charity a progressive sends is a smug sermon on fair share and what fairness is."
Allen West
Dr. Benjamin Carson sits down with FBN's Lou Dobbs, to discuss the heated issue behind possible drone attacks on US Citizens, as well as the near future and long term effects of Obamacare.
In this video, Bill Whittle speaks at the David Horowitz Benefit Dinner and explains why Romney lost and how he could have better responded to the attacks against his character and wealth. This video is a must see for both conservative and democrats.
At one point in the video, Whittle remarks that people ask him why he doesn’t run for president and his response was: “There is no way I could be president of the United States, I have no military experience, I’ve never run a business for God’s sake, who could possible clear that bar…”
Oscar winner Jon Voight has had a long and illustrious acting career spanning more than five decades. Some of his best-known films include "Midnight Cowboy" (1969), "Deliverence" (1972) and "Coming Home" (1978). The latter role earned him the Academy Award for best actor. Aside from his Oscar victory, Voight also earned Oscar nominations for his roles in "Cowboy," "Runaway Train" (1985) and "Ali" (2001).
Over the last few months, though, Voight has spent much of his time talking politics and supporting former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney bid to become the next president of the United States.
Artur Davis is a four-term member of the House of Representatives from Alabama, where he represented the 7th District as a Democrat from 2003-2010. He was viewed as a rising star in the House, and named in 2008 by Esquire magazine as one of the "Ten Best Congressmen in America."
He was the first congressman to endorse Barack Obama for president, and even seconded his nomination in 2008. But he has since switched to the Republican Party, and even spoke at their convention in August. Davis is now a columnist and commentator across a wide media spectrum: He contributes to Politico and National Review, among others. He is a Current Fellow at Harvard's prestigious Institute of Politics, and is an attorney in Washington, D.C.
“With all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow citizens—a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.”
Thomas Jefferson
It’s been a pitiful sight – a sad week for progressives and “Big Union” Democrat-shilling thugs. In the wake of Tuesday night’s (June 5, 2012) devastating recall smackdown in Wisconsin, tens of thousands of “Occupy” hippies across the nation have simply been too depressed to get stoned and not look for work.
On Wednesday (June 6, 2012) the White House released President Obama’s detailed itinerary through October:
1. Worry
2. Lie
3. Obfuscate
4. Golf
5. Fundraise
6. Worry
Indeed, the president has much to worry about. No honest politico can deny that liberals’ Wisconsin debacle likely represents a shadow of things to come – a precursor to November.
Recall DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Shultz’s admission on CNN. In a rare moment of candor, she said Wisconsin was a “dry run” – a “test run” for the 2012 election. (A bit like the Titanic’s test run, as it turns out.)
Tuesday night Sarah Palin took to Fox News where she said that Scott Walker’s humiliating defeat of Tom Barrett, the DNC and heretofore-excessively-coddled-labor-union-leaders spells big trouble for little Barry. “Obama’s goose is cooked,” she said. “It’s the union leaders who need to be recalled.”
Does this mean the Democratic Party is not long for the world? That our two-party system is on its way out?
Of course not.
As long as there are voters who really, really want lots of free stuff from other people, there will be Democrats and Democratic politicians.
Still, what it does mean is that beyond the short-term political reality that Wisconsin presents a bleak forecast for Democrats in 2012 – liberalism itself (or “progressivism,” as the left euphemistically prefers) is terminally ill.
On Tuesday night, blogger David Burge of the Iowa Hawk blogtweeted: “The principal delusion of liberals is that liberalism is popular. The principal delusion of conservatives is that liberalism is popular.”
Simple, yet profound.
Liberals should be afraid. They should be very afraid. The jig is up. Polls consistently show that Americans identify as conservative over liberal by a two-to-one margin. Wisconsin was an earthshaking manifestation of this reality.
But it was only a tremor.
There’s a distinct probability a massive quake awaits liberals when, later this month, the U.S. Supreme Court releases its decision on Obamacare. If this, both Obama’s and Democrats’ signature accomplishment, goes down, so too do the obtusely utopian, neo-Marxist dreams of the Democratic Party’s progressive base.
And in November? The tsunami.
Indeed, the political tectonic plates are shifting. Unsurprisingly, so-called “progressives” pretend it ain’t so.
Problem is, so do conservatives.
Stop it, both of you!
This is about worldview. This is about an epic clash between two irreconcilable, diametrically opposed socio-political philosophies. It’s a zero-sum game. Somebody wins and somebody loses.
On the one hand, we have secular-socialism, a cultural and political philosophy embraced by labor unions, Barack Obama, the base of the Democratic Party, the mainstream media and many of those controlling the reins of our elitist institutions. It is “progressivism.”
This is a philosophy that, throughout history, has proven to be a serial failure. One need only look to Europe for the latest example. This secularist worldview is based loosely on the unattainable, redistributionist ramblings of Karl Marx, the father of communism.
It hates Christianity. It hates constitutionalism. It hates the precepts of individual liberty and responsibility codified throughout our nation’s founding documents. It embraces moral relativism and says there are no clear lines of demarcation between right and wrong.
It says that government is God and that as government giveth, government taketh away.
In sum: It’s garbage.
On the other hand we have the Judeo-Christian worldview. This is the socio-political philosophy embraced by our Founding Fathers. The historical record is unequivocal. It was within this framework that our U.S. Constitution was created. It is conservatism.
It says that we are endowed by our “Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
It embraces the virtues of fiscal responsibility, individual liberty and personal charity. It says there is black and white – right and wrong. It strives for less government and more freedom.
It acknowledges that there is a sovereign God – to whom we are all accountable – including both government and those whom “we the people” place in government.
It holds that as God giveth, God taketh away, and that you lying, cheating, ungodly snakes in Washington, D.C., better just take a step back and quick.
In sum: It is truth.
On Tuesday night, as the election returns came in and it became clear that Scott Walker was landsliding liberals and their union thugocracy, some progressive nut broke down, sobbing on camera and cried: “Democracy died tonight!”
Progressives, get this straight: On Tuesday night democracy didn’t die. Democracy was fulfilled in a powerful and transformative way.
And it’s only the beginning.
Liberals went to Wisconsin for a recall vote and a revolution broke out. We the people have spoken. Tea party? Yes. “Occupy”? Not so much.
Christian apologist C.S. Lewis wrote, “We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.”
On Tuesday America hit Wisconsin and did an about-turn.
Mark Levin is one of America's preeminent conservative commentators and constitutional lawyers. He's in great demand as a political and legal commentator, and has appeared on hundreds of television and radio programs. Levin is also a contributing editor for National Review Online, and writes frequently for other publications. Levin has served as a top advisor to several members of President Ronald Reagan's Cabinet - including as Chief of Staff to the Attorney General of the United States. In 2001, the American Conservative Union named Levin the recipient of the prestigious Ronald Reagan Award. He currently practices law in the private sector, heading up the prestigious Landmark Legal Foundation in Washington DC.
Will the astronauts of tomorrow be John Wayne types or Alan Alda types? And how did America learn to become a Beta Nation? And why is is that Alpha characters -- even when written as foils and villains -- always steal the show? And why is Conservatism so Alpha and Liberalism so Beta?
"From the day our administration took office, our top priority has been to rescue this economy from years of government mismanagement. We inherited the highest rates since the Civil War, the first back-to-back years of double-digit inflation since World War I, rising budget deficits, and a national debt ready to break through the trillion dollar barrier.
For years, government spending and taxation have grown faster than the underlying economy. The American people elected us to reverse that trend, and that's what we've begun to do. Our program has only been in effect for some 40 days, and you can't cure 40 years of problems in that short time. But we've laid a firm foundation for economic recovery in 1982.
...We have no plans for putting Americans in combat any place in the world. And our goal is peace; it has always been. And at the end of this month, we will go into negotiations with the Soviet Union on what I hope will be reduction of the theatre nuclear weapons in Europe to the lowest point possible."
Ronald Reagan
The IRS acknowledging that it targeted conservative political groups during the 2012 election season has sparked bipartisan calls for investigation -- with House Republicans already saying they will hold a hearing on the issue.
