Democrats Add ‘Poison Pills’ To Amnesty Bills

From the Washington Times:

Senate panel OKs tax-welfare benefits for newly legal immigrants

By Stephen Dinan | May 20, 2013

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Monday to allow illegal immigrants who get legal status to begin collecting tax-welfare payments, as the panel spent a fourth day working through amendments to the massive immigration bill and party-line splits began to emerge…

Overall, the committee continued to maintain the delicate balance struck by the “Gang of Eight” senators who negotiated the 867-page bill..

But on Monday, the two Republicans sided with their party colleagues on key questions on giving illegal immigrants public benefits.

The 10 Democrats on the committee still outnumber the newly unified Republicans, but the votes signaled tough fights ahead on the Senate floor.

In one vote, Sen.

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IRS Union Wants Out Of Obama-Care Exchanges

From Freedom Works:

IRS Employees Union: Keep Us Out Of Exchanges

By Loren Heal | May 17, 2013

The National Treasury Employees Union, NTEU, which represents the IRS employees who harassed and delayed tea party and conservative groups, has come out against the proposal to put federal workers into exchange-based health insurance.

Fancy that: the people in charge of deciding whether you go into an exchange, and who decided it doesn’t matter whether your state doesn’t want one, don’t want to be in one themselves…

The union has a handy way for its members to contact their representatives in Congress to lobby against the legislation.

See the graphic above, which is the NTEU’s online form to lobby Congress to let them out of the exchanges.

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Worker Used IRS Credit Card For Makeup, Candy

From The Smoking Gun:

IRS Worker Used Federal Plastic For Amazon Buys

Government credit card paid for years-long shopping spree

May 21, 2013

MAY 21–Entrusted with a government credit card, an Internal Revenue Service worker allegedly used the plastic for a years-long Amazon.com shopping spree that netted her hundreds of items, including a chocolate fondue fountain; Bollywood movies; Pampers; Harlequin romance novels; Omaha Steaks; Apple Bottoms skinny jeans; mango body wash; and a Ginsu knife set.

Yetunde Oseni, 37, was named this month in a U.S. District Court felony complaint charging her with embezzling government funds. Oseni has worked since 2000 as a secretary in an IRS office in Lanham, Maryland.

According to a court filing, Oseni was given a Citibank MasterCard for the “purchase of office supplies for her business unit.”

However, a probe by the Treasury Department’s inspector general determined that Oseni has made scores of unauthorized purchases since being provided the IRS credit card in mid-2009.

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Obama Targeted 501c4s ‘Right And Left’ In 2008

From the August 2008 archives of the Politico:

Obama camp: Prosecute Simmons

August 26, 2008

Obama general counsel Bob Bauer today sent a second, sharper letter to the Justice Department, directly attacking the Dallas billionaire funding a harsh attack ad, Harold Simmons.

"We reiterate our request that the Department of Justice fulfill its commitment to take prompt action to investigate and to prosecute the American issues Project, and we further request that the Department of Justice investigate and prosecute Howard (sic) Simmons for a knowing and willful violation of the individual aggregate contribution limits," he wrote.

He called the group’s activities "patently illegal."

The American Issues Project is a political action group organized as a 501(c)(4). During the 2008 Presidential elections it ran ads that accurately linked Barack Obama to Bill Ayers.

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IRS Probed Problem Year Ago, No Written Report

From the Washington Post:

Internal IRS probe cited same problems with approach to conservative groups in May 2012, House aide says

By Juliet Eilperin | May 21, 2013

An Internal Revenue Service review of the agency’s approach of scrutinizing conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status questioned the now-controversial policy a year ago, according to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee spokesman Ali Ahmad…

In late March 2012, IRS deputy commissioner Steven Miller… directed senior technical advisor Nancy J. Marks to investigate allegations of political targeting of groups seeking tax exempt status, agency officials told congressional aides. Holly Paz, acting director of ruling and agreements, worked with Marks on the probe, and both traveled to Cincinnati to conduct interviews.

On May 3, 2012. Marks gave what IRS officials described as a “presentation” to Miller describing her findings.

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Is Cindy Thomas At Center Of The IRS Targeting?

From the Cincinnati Fox News affiliate, Fox19:

Exclusive: Cincinnati agent giving orders in IRS scandal?

By Ben Swann | May 21, 2013

CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) – The claim that the ongoing IRS scandal is limited to low level employees is falling apart.

The six Cincinnati workers we have identified, who sent scrutinizing letters to conservative groups with words including "patriot, liberty, tea party or 9-12" in their names are Mitchel Steele, Carly Young, Joseph Herr, Stephen Seok, Liz Hofacre and a woman identified only as Ms. Richards.

But was all of this done at the hands of a small group of Cincinnati employees working together? …

Thanks to two FOX19 sources connected to the IRS, we now understand the chain of command for these workers.

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Lerner To Take The Fifth, Has A History Of Bias

From the Associated Press:

Star witness to stay mum for House hearing on IRS

By ALAN FRAM and STEPHEN OHLEMACHER | May 22, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) — A House committee taking Congress’ latest look at the Internal Revenue Service’s mistreatment of tea party groups will apparently have to do so without input from the star witness.

IRS official Lois Lerner will invoke her constitutional right to not answer questions on Wednesday at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing, her lawyer told the panel in a letter…

Notice the contortions the AP goes through to avoid saying that Lerner is invoking the Fifth amendment. Instead, she is staying ‘mum.’

But can we plead the Fifth Amendment when we are dealing with the IRS? We don’t think so. 

One does have to wonder how testifying truthfully would tend to incriminate Ms.

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First Tea Party Group Sues IRS For Targeting

From Reuters:

Tea Party group sues IRS over inappropriate targeting

By Nate Raymond | Mon May 20, 2013

(Reuters) – A California-based Tea Party group sued the U.S. Internal Revenue Service on Monday in what marked the first lawsuit to stem from an investigation finding the agency singled-out conservative organizations.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati, the NorCal Tea Party Patriots accused the IRS of violating its constitutional rights due to the "intensive and intrusive scrutiny" it received while seeking tax-exempt status.

The lawsuit sought class action status on behalf of all conservative and libertarian groups – such as those associated with the Tea Party movement – that were targeted by the IRS for extra scrutiny from March 2010 through the middle of this month.

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More Unions Demand Waivers From Obama-Care

From The Hill:

Labor unions break ranks with White House on ObamaCare

By Kevin Bogardus | May 21, 2013

Labor unions are breaking with President Obama on ObamaCare.

Months after the president’s reelection, a variety of unions are publicly balking at how the administration plans to implement the landmark law. They warn that unless there are changes, the results could be catastrophic.

Translation: ‘Unless they are given carve outs and waivers, they are not going to help the Democrats steal the midterm elections.’

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) — a 1.3 million-member labor group that twice endorsed Obama for president — is very worried about how the reform law will affect its members’ healthcare plans.

Last month, the president of the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers released a statement calling “for repeal or complete reform of the Affordable Care Act.”

UNITE HERE, a prominent hotel workers’ union, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters are also pushing for changes.

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501c4 Applications Low When IRS Scrutiny Began

From the Daily Caller:

501(c)(4) applications lower when IRS began targeting conservatives

By Patrick Howley | May 20, 2013

Despite claims that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was under seige [sic] by a flood of new tax-exempt applications from nonprofit political groups in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, the number of 501(c)(4) applications to the IRS actually dropped around the time the IRS began targeting conservative groups for extra scrutiny.

As we have previously noted, this claim has been trumpeted by both the Washington Post and the New York Times as an excuse for the IRS’s activities. And the news media have also used it to justify the need for more hirings at the IRS and for it to be given even more funding.

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WH Counsel: Obama Shouldn’t Be Told About IRS

From the Washington Examiner:

White House: Obama is glad he wasn’t told about IRS scandal

By Joel Gehrke | May 20, 2013

President Obama did not hear of the IRS scandal until the agency apologized for targeting conservatives because his White House counsel and other senior staff agreed he should not be informed, his spokesman said today, adding that Obama thought they made the right decision in not telling him.

“Kathy Ruemmler, the White House counsel, was made aware the week of April 22nd,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said today.

“She informed some other senior staff,” including White House chief of staff Denis McDonough. Carney said that “it was her view and others shared the view” that Obama should not be told.

“This is not the kind of thing, when you have an ongoing investigation or an ongoing audit, that requires notification of the president,” Carney said to summarize Ruemmler’s advice.

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Sole Benghazi ‘Scapegoat’ Blames Hillary’s Team

From the Daily Beast:

Exclusive: Hillary’s Benghazi ‘Scapegoat’ Speaks Out

By Josh Rogin | May 20, 2013

Raymond Maxwell, the only official at the State Department’s bureau of Near Eastern Affairs to lose his job after the attacks, tells Josh Rogin that he’s been scapegoated by Hillary Clinton’s team.

Following the attack in Benghazi, senior State Department officials close to Hillary Clinton ordered the removal of a mid-level official who had no role in security decisions and has never been told the charges against him. He is now accusing Clinton’s team of scapegoating him for the failures that led to the death of four Americans last year.

For the record, according to the FEC’s records, Mr. Maxwell contributed to the Obama campaign three times in 2008.

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