Free Republic

Corruption: The inspector general's report on the IRS targeting of conservatives makes it seem like a case of bureaucratic bumbling. But the more we learn, the more it looks like a concerted effort to hobble Obama's political foes. 'Inappropriate criteria," "insufficient oversight" and "lack of managerial review." That's what led the IRS to target hundreds of conservative groups for intrusive, costly and lengthy scrutiny during their application for tax-exempt status, according to the IG report released on Tuesday. In other words, it wasn't a politically motivated attack on conservative groups during a presidential campaign. It was just a case of...

Senate Democrats blocked a resolution condemning the targeting of tea party groups by the Internal Revenue Service Wednesday, according to Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul. The resolution Paul introduced Tuesday condemns the targeting of tea party and other affected groups. The resolution further calls for investigations and criminal charges against those who authorized or were involved in targeting people on the basis of their political beliefs. “This resolution is not about Republican vs. Democrat or conservative vs. liberal. It is about arrogant and unrestrained government vs. the rule of law. The First Amendment cannot and should not be renegotiated depending...

Scandal: Senate Democrats, including supporters of the Disclose Act, provided the names of groups they wanted targeted in a taxpayer-funded witch hunt overseen by an IRS employee and Obama campaign donor. Using the Citizens United case as a pretext, retiring Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., on July 27, 2012, wrote IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman to investigate 12 conservative groups he accused of violating their tax-exempt status and engaging in coordinated political activity. The groups Levin asked to be targeted for special scrutiny were Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, Priorities U.S.A., Americans Elect, American Action Network, Americans for Prosperity, American Future Fund, Americans...

Your government, as currently administered by President Obama, doesn’t like the word “patriot.” If you associate yourself with an organization using that word, you may be investigated and prosecuted. Under Obama, government employees think they are doing what their superiors want them to do when they harass and menace political organizations that might oppose the president. Vladimir Putin is probably jealous of Obama. He and others like him will hardly be able to hide their smiles when they hear the United States preach about the need to let political organizations function freely. What lessons should the Muslim Brotherhood learn from...

USBC News Wire- Yet a another major scandal is rocking the already extraordinarily unpopular Obama administration, this time the controversy involves abuses by the IRS in targeting US citizens based on their political views. It appears that agents used keywords to target groups in opposition to the governing Democratic administration. Remarkably, the agents found it acceptable to single out patriots for unprecedented behavior. The agents singled out their fellow citizens by using keywords such as “patriot” or “tea party” (itself a reference to the earliest American patriots) to identify groups that object to the policies of the current administration. Lois...

The U.S. government had the ability to “react and respond” to the Benghazi terrorist attack and could have had forces on the ground before the second wave of the assault began, a special operator with knowledge of the response told Fox News in an exclusive interview. Due to the explosive nature of his allegations, the special ops member asked to remain anonymous. “I know for a fact that C 110 the UComm CIF was doing a training exercise, not in the region of northern Africa, but in Europe. And they had the ability to react and respond,” he told Fox...

Back in March 2008, the State Department launched an investigation of improper computer access to the passport records of Barack Hussein Obama, and days later those of Hillary Clinton and John McCain. The investigation centered on one employee: a contract worker for a company that was headed by John O. Brennan, a key Obama campaign adviser who later became assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism. Then, a month later, the key witness in this case was murdered. Leiutenant (sic) Quarles Harris, Jr., 24, was shot in the head in his car, in...

ATLANTA — The former superintendent of the Newark, N.J., public school district and nearly three dozen administrators, teachers, principals and other educators from Atlanta were indicted today in one of the nation’s largest cheating scandals.

Confiscating the customer deposits in Cyprus banks, it seems, was not a one-off, desperate idea of a few Eurozone “troika” officials scrambling to salvage their balance sheets. A joint paper by the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Bank of England dated December 10, 2012, shows that these plans have been long in the making; that they originated with the G20 Financial Stability Board in Basel, Switzerland (discussed earlier here); and that the result will be to deliver clear title to the banks of depositor funds. New Zealand has a similar directive, discussed in my last article here, indicating...

Posters comment....There is no more law if this isn't correctedMore than three months after the Justice Department administered a virtual slap on the wrist to global banking giant HSBC after a whistleblower’s report to WND of massive fraud was confirmed, Attorney General Eric Holder admitted to a Senate panel he believes some banks are too big to prosecute. Under questioning before the Senate Judiciary Committee last Wednesday, Holder said he was not referring specifically to HSBC, because it would not be “appropriate,” but the message was clear. Banks the size of HSBC are “too big to jail,” as a member...

Looking at the list of bailout recipients, and don't understand a few things, why was Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley given $10,000,000,000 each? I click on George Soros bank (http://www.wnd.com/2010/02/126555/) and it says he is in the category that doesn't need to return the money? What does that mean? OneWest Bank PASADENA, CALIF. | SEE ALL RECIPIENTS IN CALIFORNIA Entities in this category received subsidies through one of TARP’s housing programs and aren’t expected to return the money $221M Disbursed $1.84B Committed -------- CIT was given over $2 billion but they filed for bankruptcy in 2009, how does that work?...

by John HillStand With ArizonaWebsite | Facebook | TwitterA spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, an arm of the Department of Homeland Security, said the thousands of detainees selected for release over the past week - among an estimated 8,000 - 10,000 scheduled for release - were “noncriminals and other low-risk offenders who do not have serious criminal histories.” This is a blatant lie. The aliens released by DHS are criminals, who will put families and communities at greater risk from coast-to-coast. According to Jessica Vaughan of CIS, here are some categories of detainees who were released from ICE...

The roster of state workers raking in six-figure pay skyrocketed last year by an astonishing 12 percent to nearly 7,700 employees, according to a Herald review — a budget-busting bombshell that has fiscal watchdogs howling “enough.” The review comes as Gov. Deval Patrick is pushing for massive $1.9 billion in tax and fee hikes amid a sputtering state economy and a climbing jobless rate. The highest pay — more than $700,000 — went to those in the University of Massachusetts system. Yet, nurses, state troopers, office workers, prison guards and managers also swelled the ranks of the six-figure club, including:...

WASHINGTON — Senator Robert Menendez sought to discourage any plan by the United States government to donate port security equipment to the Dominican Republic, citing concern that the advanced screening gear might undermine efforts by a private company — run by a major campaign contributor and friend of his — to do the work. **SNIP** But the questions about the port security contract are potentially more troubling for Mr. Menendez, who is already facing questions over his fitness for the Foreign Relations Committee chairmanship, because the contract involved a foreign policy concern: curbing the flow of cocaine to the United...

After a year that can only be described as “stupid,” the Chevy Volt is gearing up to make 2013 even stupider still. I know, I know. You find it hard to believe that a mostly-owned subsidiary of the United States government and the Obama administration- like GM is- could get any stupider than say Fannie Mae, or Federal Reserve Bank. Yes, that’s tough competition, but in the “idiocy” category GM seems to be the ruling champion.   Not only have they lost substantial amounts of taxpayer dollars, they have managed to do it while generating record profits even though they still...

In 2009, Deputy Attorney General David Ogden, presumably speaking on behalf of the newly inaugurated Barack Obama, issued the so-called Ogden memo, instructing federal prosecutors to not target medical-marijuana patients..... "Do you intend to carry this all the way through forfeiture?" Guilford asked U.S. Attorney Greg Parham. "Yes, absolutely, your honor," Parham responded. "The only evidence in this case is a $37 purchase of medical marijuana and an anonymous comment on a website that anybody could have written," Pappas says. "For this, they want to take a $1.5 million building."

In his recent inaugural address, President Obama promised that “we will respond to the threat of climate change, ..... But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries – we must claim its promise. That is how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure – our forests and waterways; our croplands and snowcapped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet…” When pressed on the specifics of what the president means to do on climate, his spokesperson replied: “We...

AMNESTY (the movie) with an untalented cast of millions of non-English speaking hamburger flippers, lawn trimmers, and window washershouse. STORY OUTLINE Sen Bob (The Diddler) Menendez (D-NJ) was tapped by Obama to be the Voice of Amnesty....a prelude to establishing a permanent Dem Majortyy govt in control of both houses of Congress and the WH. Then Sen Menendez's private parts got itchy----so he hops a private plane to a posh resort in the Dominican Republic. While there, Menedez crafts a business deal w/ partners in the Dominican govt---who have cunnningly figured out the financial benefits to be derived from amnesty:...

Contrary to his website and resume, big-name institutions including Harvard, Yale and the University of Missouri have claimed they have no record of professional or educational history with Florida ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen, MD, who is under two separate federal investigations for Medicare fraud and a political scandal involving a Democratic senator, according to a report by the Washington Free Beacon. Dr. Melgen's biography (pdf LINK) on his website claims he graduated from Harvard, was the chief resident of ophthalmology at the University of Missouri, and held a Yale internship, but all three denied any record to support his credentials, according...

The office of U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., issued a statement Wednesday denying allegations a Florida doctor who is a friend lined up prostitutes for him. The FBI Tuesday raided the office Dr. Salomon Melgen, an eye doctor practicing in West Palm Beach, Fla., who is the target of an Internal Revenue Service lien for more than $11 million, The Miami Herald reported. The newspaper said federal investigators were believed to be looking into Melgen's finances as well as the allegations about prostitutes. "Dr. Melgen has been a friend and political supporter of Senator Menendez for many years," the statement...