Independents blame White House for IRS scandal
[DailyCaller.com]
June 07, 2013
Neil Munro, White House Correspondent
A clear majority of independents, and even a plurality of Democrats, believe high-ranking IRS officials were aware of the agency’s harassment of conservatives’ political organizing, according to a new Gallup poll.The poll’s results are risky for Obama, whose political approval rate has remained relatively high, despite the lousy economy, because of his relatively high personal ratings.
Sixty-two percent of adults disapprove of his handling of the IRS scandal, said the Gallup poll. Only 32 percent of adults approve of his reaction to the scandal.
If his approval ratings falls, he’ll have even more difficulty accomplishing his top political goals. Those goals include passage of an immigration bill and winning a Democratic majority in the House
.
Fifty-seven percent of independents say high IRS officials were “aware of conservative targeting,” said the Gallup poll, released Friday. Only 23 percent believe the “knowledge [was] limited to IRS employees in one office.”
House Republicans express “great concern” about possible Holder perjury
[CBS News]
This post was updated at 2:08 p.m. ET
WATCH CBSNews VIDEO Here
Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday expressing “great concern” about the possibility that Holder lied under oath during his testimony earlier this month on the Justice Department’s seizing of journalists’ records, CBS News has learned.
On May 15, Holder told the committee he wasn’t involved in “the potential prosecution” of a member of the press under the Espionage Act for disclosing classified information. “This is not something I’ve ever been involved in, heard of, or would think would be wise policy,” he said.
Obama evades question on White House knowledge of IRS targeting
[DailyCaller.com]
May 16, 2013
President Barack Obama dismissed calls for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the IRS scandal, and evaded a question asking if White House officials knew of the IRS targeting of conservative political groups.
“I can assure that I certainly did not know anything about the [inspector general] report before the IG report had been leaked through the press,” he told reporters during a Thursday lunchtime press conference held in the White House Rose Garden.
Obama’s evasion will likely spur public suspicions that White House officials knew about, or even supported, the IRS targeting.
Backfire: ABC, CNN, NBC Call for White House to Release Libya Emails
[Breitbart.com]
by John Nolte 15 May 2013, 4:34 AM PDT
***UPDATE: NBC’s senior White House correspondent joined the chorus Wednesday. On his MSNBC show, “The Daily Rundown,” Chuck Todd looked into the camera and said, “Attention White House: Release all the emails.” The headline has been updated to add NBC.
Assuming they are the ones who leaked to CNN an email written by Ben Rhoades (a Deputy National Security Advisor close to the President), the White House might have been too clever by half Tuesday. An act that was obviously meant to pour water on the Benghazi fire started by an ABC News report, has only ended up being gasoline. Now both CNN and ABC have joined conservative media in calling for the White House to release all the emails surrounding the editing of the CIA talking points.
Friday, in a bombshell report that blew the long-simmering Libya scandal wide open and right into the arms of the mainstream media, ABC’s Jonathan Karl reported that an email written by Rhoades specifically mentioned the State Department’s concerns about the CIA talking points. Here is how Karl transcribed the Rhoades’ email:
We must make sure that the talking points reflect all agency equities, including those of the State Department, and we don’t want to undermine the FBI investigation. We thus will work through the talking points tomorrow morning at the Deputies Committee meeting.
Six months later, where are Benghazi’s survivors?
[HotAir.com]
posted at 1:21 pm on March 12, 2013 by Ed Morrissey
Yesterday marked six months from the date that four Americans were killed in a terrorist attack on our consulate in Benghazi, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, the first American ambassador murdered in the line of duty in 33 years. While the Obama administration begrudgingly cooperated with Congressional panels looking into the attack and the White House response by sending officials to testify, one group still has not yet been made available. CBS’ Sharyl Attkisson wonders — where are the survivors?
Today marks six months since the September 11, 2012 terrorist attacks on the U.S. compounds in Benghazi, Libya in which four Americans were killed, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens. Some watchdog groups, members of the media and Republican members of Congress are asking: Where are the more than two dozen U.S. personnel who survived the attack but haven’t been seen nor heard from in public since? There were also an undisclosed number of witnesses at the U.S. compounds in Tripoli but they also have not spoken publicly.
In a recent press report, Secretary of State John Kerry said he visited one survivor at “Bethesda hospital,” and referred to him a “remarkably courageous person who is doing very, very well.” Kerry added, “I’ve called his wife and talked to her.” But the identities, condition and testimony of the survivors and witnesses have been closely held from the public.
Woodward: White House ‘Code: You Better Watch Out’
[Newsmax.com]
Friday, 01 Mar 2013 07:53 AM
By Todd Beamon
Newspaper editor and book author Bob Woodward continued his battle with President Barack Obama’s administration on Thursday, saying the White House is playing the “old trick” of attacking the messenger because he accurately reported the president’s reversal on the upcoming sequester.“They got caught and — this is an old trick — make the conduct of the press the issue rather than their conduct,” Woodward told Fox News’ Sean Hannity Thursday night. “The biggest story in Washington is the town itself. What a craze it has become.”
Woodward, an associate editor for The Washington Post, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday that he received an email he interpreted as threatening from a top White House official — since identified as Gene Sperling, economic adviser to the president — regarding Obama’s actions on the sequester.
White House [Obama aids] walks back leaked immigration plan amid GOP outrage
[FoxNews.com]
Published February 18, 2013
President Obama’s advisers tried to put the genie back in the bottle after a leaked White House immigration plan drew outrage from Republicans who accused the president of endangering the reform push.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a key figure in immigration reform talks, was among those who slammed the president for the plan. After what was described as a draft White House proposal was first leaked in USA Today, Rubio said over the weekend it would be “dead on arrival in Congress.”
By Monday, Obama insiders were walking the plan back and suggesting the leak was not intentional.
One White House official told Fox News they were “surprised” that the “draft” language was given to the press and thought the publication was “unfortunate.”
“This was not the administration floating anything,” the official said, adding that the White House reached out to Senate offices Saturday evening to stress their support for ongoing congressional talks.
White House: Obama ‘Will Not Sign’ a Deal Unless It Increases Taxes
[CNSNews.com]
President Barack Obama (AP Photo)(CNSNews.com) – White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said today that no matter what else happens President Barack Obama–who is the only modern president other than Franklin Roosevelt to serve in four years when federal spending topped 24 percent of GDP–will not sign a deal to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff that will arrive at the end of this year unless that deal increases taxes.
“So the President made clear that he is not wedded to every detail of his plan,” said Carney. “The President has also made categorically and abundantly clear that he will not sign an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for top earners. It’s bad economic policy and we cannot afford it. He will not sign that.”
According to official calculations made by the White House Office of Management and Budget that go back to 1930, Barack Obama and Franklin Roosevelt are the only two presidents who have served in four fiscal years when federal spending exceeded 24 percent of GDP. Roosevelt did so in 1942, 1943, 1944, and 1945 (when he died in office). Obama did so in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
White House reportedly preps strike team to take out terrorists tied to Libya attack
[FoxNews.com]
Associated Press
Published October 15, 2012
WASHINGTON – The White House has put special operations strike forces on standby and moved drones into the skies above Africa, ready to strike militant targets from Libya to Mali — if investigators can find the Al Qaeda-linked group responsible for the death of the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans in Libya.
But officials say the administration, with weeks until the presidential election, is weighing whether the short-term payoff of exacting retribution on Al Qaeda is worth the risk that such strikes could elevate the group’s profile in the region, alienate governments the U.S. needs to fight it in the future and do little to slow the growing terror threat in North Africa.
Details on the administration’s position and on its search for a possible target were provided by three current and one former administration official, as well as an analyst who was approached by the White House for help. All four spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the high-level debates publicly.
The dilemma shows the tension of the White House’s need to demonstrate it is responding forcefully to Al Qaeda, balanced against its long-term plans to develop relationships and trust with local governments and build a permanent U.S. counterterrorist network in the region.
Vice President Joe Biden pledged in his debate last week with Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan to find those responsible for the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others.
Networks That Hyped Romney’s ‘Bombshell’ Tax Tape Now Skip ObamaCare ‘Penalties’
[MRC.org]
Subscribe to Scott Whitlock
The same networks that have been hyping secret video of Mitt Romney talking about who pays taxes, hyperventilating about the Republican’s “seismic” bombshell,” have, thus far, completely ignored the revelation from the Congressional Budget Office that “significantly” more Americans will have to pay a “tax penalty” for being uninsured, many in the middle class.
All three evening newscasts on Wednesday and the morning shows on Thursday totally skipped this report. The Associated Press explained, “The new estimate amounts to an inconvenient fact for the administration, a reminder of what critics see as broken promises.” Writer Ricardo Alonzo-Zaldivar added, “Nonetheless, in his first campaign for the White House, Obama pledged not to raise taxes on individuals making less than $200,000 a year and couples making less than $250,000.”
Yet, World News, the NBC Nightly News, the CBS Evening News, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning and Today all avoided the topic.
GMA opted for more important topics, such as an amusement park mishap that caused several people to be stranded on a roller coaster for hours.
Rush: Obama created crimes with gunrunning
[WND.com EXCLUSIVE]
June 20, 2012
‘It was liberalism on parade. It’s who these people are’
Radio giant Rush Limbaugh is coming down hard on the Obama administration’s “Fast and Furious” operation today, calling it “liberalism on parade” in a misguided attempt to promote stricter gun control in America.
“The whole point of Fast and Furious was to create mayhem in Mexico among drug cartels with American-made weapons easily procured so that you and I would stand up in outrage and demand tighter gun laws,” Limbaugh said.
“It was deceitful. It was sneaky. It was going against the will of the American people. It was liberalism on parade. It’s who these people are. They want tighter gun laws.”
The White House today tried to undercut a congressional investigation of the scandal in which the Department of Justice allowed guns to be sold and delivered to Mexican drug cartels by announcing tens of thousands of documents were covered by executive privilege.
This afternoon, a House panel voted to place Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for his failure to comply with a subpoena for the documents, defying Obama’s assertion of executive privilege.
Fawning NBC Hypes Obama’s Immigration Pander: ‘Young People’ ‘Cheered’
[Newsbusters.org]
By Scott Whitlock | June 18, 2012 | 13:15
NBC’s Nightly News on Friday offered a one-sided segment touting Barack Obama’s decision to lift the threat of deportation to young people who came to America illegally. The Pete Williams report featured six clips of individuals or groups thrilled by the reaction, only two against and one nuanced response by Mitt Romney. The other networks followed a similar pattern.
Williams began by touting, “Young people covered by the new policy cheered the announcement outside the White House.” An unidentified woman enthused, “I can’t describe it. It’s so amazing. I’m so happy.” A crowd in front of the White House chanted, “Yes, we did! Yes, we did! Yes, we did! Yes, we did!”
The NBC correspondent’s segment was heavily weighted with people who applauded the decision:
JANET NAPOLITANO (Homeland Security Secretary): They’ve grown up here, they speak the language here, they’ve stayed out of trouble here. They’re getting their education here. They have wonderful talents to contribute to our country.
CBO warns of US falling off ‘fiscal cliff’
[Townhall.com]
APNews, Tuesday, May 22, 2012
A new government study released Tuesday says that allowing Bush-era tax cuts to expire and a scheduled round of automatic spending cuts to take effect would probably throw the economy into a recession.
The Congressional Budget Office report says that the economy would shrink by 1.3 percent in the first half of next year if the government is allowed to fall off this so-called “fiscal cliff” on Jan. 1 _ and that the higher tax rates and more than $100 billion in automatic cuts to the Pentagon and domestic agencies are kept in place.
There’s common agreement that lawmakers will act either late this year or early next year to head off the dramatic shift in the government’s financial situation. But if they were left in place, CBO says it would wring hundreds of billions of dollars from the budget deficit that would “represent an additional drag on the weak economic expansion.”
CBO projected that the economy would contract by 1.3 percent in the first half of 2013, which would meet the traditional definition of a recession, which is when the economy shrinks for two consecutive quarters. “Such a contraction in output in the first half of 2013 would probably be judged to be a recession,” CBO said.
Obama Pursues Higher Tax Rates, Growth Be Damned
[Townhall.com]
May 21, 2012
In the run-up to this weekend’s G-8 summit at Camp David, journalists have unfavorably compared European “austerity” with Barack Obama’s economic policies.
European spending cuts, the argument goes, have hurt people and are arousing political opposition, while Obama’s proposals to keep federal spending at 24 percent of gross domestic product indefinitely are likely to succeed.
Evil Republican spending cuts, in contrast, would deny the economy needed stimulus and wreak havoc on ordinary people. But the facts undermine the storyline. Veronique de Rugy of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University took a look at what “austerity” in Europe actually means.
Robert Maginnis White House huddles with Muslim Brotherhood
[HumanEvents.com]
The White House spokesman said “we have broadened our engagement” by hosting the Islamist group that seeded al Qaeda and Hamas, praises Iran’s Hezbollah, and will transform Egypt into a Shari’a compliant state that seeks Israel’s destruction and creates a new terrorist sanctuary.
Jay Carney, the White House spokesman, said representatives from the world’s largest Islamic supremist movement, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, met with National Security Council staff last week because the group plays a “prominent role” in Cairo. Further, NSC spokesman Tommy Vietor explained “It is in the interest of the United States to engage with parties that are committed to democratic principles, especially nonviolence.”
MSM Looks For Any Reason To Declare Tea Party Dead [Not gonna happen!]
[BigJournalism.com]
Huh? what does that mean?
She concludes, as many in the Activist Old Media have, that a Romney victory in Nevada is a defeat for the tea party.
My conclusion; the media is looking for any reason, any reason, to declare the tea party dead. Plus, a few recent polls show that Romney actually is getting tea party support.
The Super Bowl is a big game so that means the tea party is dead. There is snow in Denver, so the tea party is dead. As long as you say the tea party is dead, you have a spot on a panel with the Activist Old Media.
It just amazes the media that Mitt Romney can run away with a state like Nevada, with a prominent tea party contingent (albeit for the first time in the primaries; it’s too early to say it’s a trend), so they conclude the tea party must be dead.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Palin: It’s Now the GOP Establishment vs. the Tea Party
[FrontPorchPolitics.com]
We have witnessed something very disturbing this week. The Republican establishment which fought Ronald Reagan in the 1970s and which continues to fight the grassroots Tea Party movement today has adopted the tactics of the left in using the media and the politics of personal destruction to attack an opponent.
We will look back on this week and realize that something changed. I have given numerous interviews wherein I espoused the benefits of thorough vetting during aggressive contested primary elections, but this week’s tactics aren’t what I meant. Those who claim allegiance to Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment should stop and think about where we are today. Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater, the fathers of the modern conservative movement, would be ashamed of us in this primary. Let me make clear that I have no problem with the routine rough and tumble of a heated campaign. As I said at the first Tea Party convention two years ago, I am in favor of contested primaries and healthy, pointed debate. They help focus candidates and the electorate. I have fought in tough and heated contested primaries myself. But what we have seen in Florida this week is beyond the pale. It was unprecedented in GOP primaries. I’ve seen it before – heck, I lived it before – but not in a GOP primary race.
Former Holder Chief of Staff Nomination to Court Imperiled Over ‘Fast and Furious’
[FoxNews.com]
Published November 15, 2011
The confirmation of a former aide to Attorney General Eric Holder to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces may be in peril over his response to questions posed by Arizona Sen. John McCain about his knowledge of Operation Fast and Furious.Kevin Ohlson, who worked as Holder’s chief of staff from January 2009 to January 2011, faces a confirmation hearing on Thursday for the post. The panel with jurisdiction is the Senate Armed Services Committee, of which McCain is the ranking Republican and Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., is chairman.
In his response Monday to a questionnaire sent from McCain last week, both obtained by Fox News, Ohlson said he knew nothing about the operation while he was at the Justice Department.
(more…)
Obama Launches Another Snitch Police Squad
[MichelleMalkin.com]
Before you read this, think “FIRST AMENDMENT–Freedom of Speech/Press”
They’re baaaaack. It’s another legion of Obama snitch police. The Obama 2012 campaign has rolled out “Attack Watch”. “Get the facts. Fight the smears.” And report all dissidents and enemies here. The announcement was made earlier today on the official BarackObama Twitter account.
[Editor: He can attack us, be he wants to know who attacks him? MARXIST! DICTATOR!]
Twitter’s already having a ball with it: Just check out the #attackwatch hashtag.
If this all sounds familiar, it should.
Recall that during the Obamacare campaign in August 2009, the White House summoned Obama-bots to monitor blog postings and “casual conversations” of health care takeover opponents — and then report them to the president. The effort was led by health czar Nancy deParle and former ABC News correspondent Linda Douglass.
Who was behind the Obamacare Internet Snitch Brigade? Obama campaign operatives and former Soros-tied Center for American Progress progs then on the federal payroll. Reminder:
Czardom has its privileges. This week, President Obama’s health care overlord launched a taxpayer-funded initiative to recruit an Internet Snitch Brigade that will combat “disinformation about health insurance reform.” As the White House explained in a special online bulletin:
“These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.”
Obama and Boehner Square Off on Government Regulation
FoxNews.com
by Sarah Courtney | August 30, 2011
Responding to a request from House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, for the Obama administration to “provide a list of all pending and planned rulemakings with a projected impact on our economy in excess of $1 billion,” President Barack Obama tells the speaker that his administration has taken steps to minimize regulatory burdens and costs government wide.
In a letter to Boehner, Mr. Obama writes that his executive order earlier this year “called for an ambitious Government-wide review of rules now on the books” which the president says is now complete. He adds that the review led to cuts from 26 agencies, generating more than $10 billion in savings over 5 years.
President Obama replied Tuesday with a list of seven proposed rules with an estimated economic impact of over $1 billion. The various proposed regulations apply to the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation, ranging in rough costs from $1 billion for DOT hours of service regulations, to as much as $90 billion for ozone air standards.
White House Faces Political Dilemma on Health Law Challenge
FoxNews.com
By Jim Angle
Published August 19, 2011
AP2011 – President Obama wipes his brow as he speaks during a town hall meeting at Lower Hannah’s Bend Park in Cannon Falls, Minn., Monday, Aug. 15, 2011.
The Obama administration now faces a key legal and political dilemma — what to do about the recent decision from a federal appeals court that said the new law’s mandate that every uninsured American must buy health insurance is unconstitutional.
Many political analysts think the White House will try to delay Supreme Court consideration as long as possible.
“They definitely don’t want to see it go to the Supreme Court until after the elections,” said Kirsten Powers, a former Democratic operative and a Fox News analyst. “So my expectation is they would do whatever they can to slow walk this so that this does not get to the Supreme Court where possibly the individual mandate could be struck down which would be very damaging for the administration.”
Brett Healy Gov. Walker Reacts to Big Labor’s Massive Defeat in Wisconsin
BigGovernment.com
Posted Aug 10th 2011 at 1:16 pm
by Brett Healy
On the morning after Republicans won 4 of 6 recall races and maintained control of the state senate, Governor Walker sat down with the MacIver News Service and shared his thoughts on the Democrats’ failed efforts to win a majority in the State Senate, and what the future holds for his legislative agenda.
Increase the Debt Ceiling? [Reader Post]
FloppingAces.net
August 1, 2011
By: Warren Beatty
Today we hear quite a lot about the U.S. debt ceiling or debt limit. So in this article I try to draw upon Internet news, political news, and economic news for sources to examine this situation. Before deciding about the politics of the debt limit, one must understand it – what it is, from where it came, and how Congress uses it.
Debt Ceiling ORIGIN, Composition, and Purpose
A statutory ceiling on federal debt was established in 1917 under the ‘Second Liberty Bond Act.’
The debt is the total outstanding liability owed by the US Federal Government to:
- U.S. Citizens
- Corporations
- Foreign Governments
All the Presidents’ Secrets: For the First Time, Secret Service Agents Tell What They Really Know
Newsmax.com
June 13, 2011
LBJ frolicked with pretty secretaries on Air Force One — while his wife was onboard . . . Secret Service agents sneaked President Obama to a meeting with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright . . . Jackie Kennedy nearly caught JFK with women in the White House pool.
Those are just a few of the disclosures in Newsmax magazine’s blockbuster report, “All the Presidents’ Secrets.”
New York Times best-selling author and Newsmax Chief Washington Correspondent Ronald Kessler is the first journalist to penetrate the wall of secrecy that surrounds the U.S. Secret Service.
Kessler interviewed more than 100 current and former agents and reveals startling stories about presidents from Kennedy to Obama in his 18th book, In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect.
As one former Secret Service agent told Kessler, if Americans knew the truth about their leaders, “they would scream.”
Newsmax magazine’s exclusive excerpt from the book offers a never-before-seen look at the men and women who are pledged to protect the president at all costs — and the difficult challenges they face.
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