Up to 30,000 missing emails sent by former Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner have been recovered by the IRS inspector general, five months after they were deemed lost forever.
The U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) informed congressional staffers from several committees on Friday that the emails were found among hundreds of “disaster recovery tapes” that were used to back up the IRS email system.
“They just said it took them several weeks and some forensic effort to get these emails off these tapes,” a congressional aide told the Washington Examiner.
Under Obama, U.S. personal freedom ranking slips below France
BY JASON RUSSELL | NOVEMBER 18, 2014 | 12:48 PM
Americans’ assessments of their personal freedom have significantly declined under President Obama, according to a new study from the Legatum Institute in London, and the United States now ranks below 20 other countries on this measure.
The research shows that citizens of countries including France, Uruguay, and Costa Rica now feel that they enjoy more personal freedom than Americans.
As the Washington Examiner reported this morning, representatives of the Legatum Institute are in the U.S. this week to promote the sixth edition of their Prosperity Index. The index aims to measure aspects of prosperity that typical gross domestic product measurements don’t include, such as entrepreneurship and opportunity, education, and social capital.
THE OBAMACARE SHOW, STARRING JOHNNY GRUBER – H-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E’S JOHNNY!
NOVEMBER 18, 2014 LEAVE A COMMENT
By Scott St. Clair | The Save Jersey Blog
For a guy as smart as Jonathan Gruber, he sure is dumb. In the Internet age, where everything you say or do is recorded for posterity and available in three seconds via Google, did he really think he could call us names and get away with it – over and over again?
Last week, several videos were released that document Gruber’s blasé contempt for the American voter. In the first one of several discovered by a Philadelphia-area investment consultant who lost his health insurance because it didn’t meet Obamacare standards, Gruber blithely confesses that the president’s healthcare plan was conceived in secret double-shuffle trickery and dedicated to the proposition that the American people are too stupid to understand when they are being conned (the juicy part starts at the 20:25 mark and runs for one minute):
To hear that the funding scheme was deliberately made confusing to hide the fact that it’s a tax – “Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage” – and that the geniuses who cooked it up figured it would be easy to put one over on those of us in the great unwashed – “stupidity of the American voter” – by itself should be sufficient to outrage the average voter.
But there’s more. Throughout the week on a daily basis, similar videos starring Gruber at a number of venues around the country spanning a couple of years surfaced. You can see them here (31:00 minute mark “too stupid to understand the Cadillac tax”), here (29:00 minute mark again on the Cadillac tax, former Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry called “a hero” and “lack of economic understanding on the part of the American people”), here (22:00 minute mark on the Obamacare taxation con game and phony “cost control” sales pitch) and here (1:26 clip where Gruber laughs at and mocks Obamacare concerns of a Vermonter as “adolescent”).
Lest you think he is a one-hit wonder, week two of Gruber releases started out with a slide presentation he prepared wherein he said America’s senior citizens “do a terrible job” selecting health care plans. What will tomorrow bring?
More Federal Agencies Are Using Undercover Operations
By ERIC LICHTBLAU and WILLIAM M. ARKINNOV. 15, 2014
WASHINGTON — The federal government has significantly expanded undercover operations in recent years, with officers from at least 40 agencies posing as business people, welfare recipients, political protesters and even doctors or ministers to ferret out wrongdoing, records and interviews show.
At the Supreme Court, small teams of undercover officers dress as students at large demonstrations outside the courthouse and join the protests to look for suspicious activity, according to officials familiar with the practice.
At the Internal Revenue Service, dozens of undercover agents chase suspected tax evaders worldwide, by posing as tax preparers or accountants or drug dealers or yacht buyers, court records show.
At the Agriculture Department, more than 100 undercover agents pose as food stamp recipients at thousands of neighborhood stores to spot suspicious vendors and fraud, officials said.
Undercover work, inherently invasive and sometimes dangerous, was once largely the domain of the F.B.I. and a few other law enforcement agencies at the federal level. But outside public view, changes in policies and tactics over the last decade have resulted in undercover teams run by agencies in virtually every corner of the federal government, according to officials, former agents and documents.
Obamnomics ,Giving Up in America : 40% Women, 28% Men, 39% Youth Don’t Want A Job
(Washington Examiner) – Nearly four in 10 Americans, or 92 million, are not in the labor force and now there’s a reason why: They have simply given up and don’t want to work.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the largest group of people not in the labor force are those who don’t want a job, a remarkable statement on the nation’s work ethic. The federal job counter said that 85.9 million adults last month didn’t want a job, or 93 percent of all adults not in the labor force.
A Pew Research Center analysis out Friday dug a bit deeper to find out who those people are. Many are younger Americans who seem far less interested it landing a job than previous generations, possibly discouraged by the lack of good-paying jobs.
SPECIAL: Join the Tea Party REVOLUTION! The Obama Regime must be dismantled!
Pew said that 39 percent of 16- to 24-year-olds don’t want to work, up from 29 percent in 2000.
Women especially don’t want a job, but men have similar feelings.
“Women are more likely than men to say they don’t want a job, although the gap has been narrowing — especially since the Great Recession. Last month, 28.5 percent of men said they didn’t want a job, up from 23.9 percent in October 2000 and 25.2 percent in October 2008. For women, the share saying they didn’t want a job hovered around 38 percent throughout the 2000s but began creeping up in 2010, reaching 40.2 percent last month,” said the Pew analysis.
President Obama has taken significant steps to the left since his party’s devastating losses in the midterm elections.
In a surprise, he announced a major deal on climate change with China during a trip to Beijing Tuesday. That followed another unanticipated move — a Monday statement pressuring the Federal Communications Commission to adopt new net neutrality rules for the Internet.
The moves are helping to rally a dispirited Democratic base while re-establishing Obama’s political leadership after he was sidelined during the midterms.
“He’s at his best when his back is against the wall,” said Democratic strategist Bob Shrum. “Jeremiah Wright in 2008, Scott Brown’s election in 2009, after the first debate in 2012 — he comes back and tends to fight pretty hard.”
“He’s a fourth-quarter player, and he’s in the fourth quarter of his presidency,” Shrum added.
The moves are also prompting questions about whether Obama is shifting to the left in his final two years in office, or if the moves are meant to cushion the blow when he moves to the center to negotiate with a Republican-controlled Congress.
The question is weighing heavily on members of both parties, particularly ahead of Obama’s decision on whether to take expansive executive actions on immigration.
Business groups are bracing for an onslaught of regulations, with the Obama administration bent on completing a host of the president’s unfinished policy goals and the midterm elections now in the rearview mirror.
Agencies across federal government are expected to drop a host of major rules over the next few months, with regulations running the gamut from calorie label requirements on restaurant menus to new rules for hydraulic fracturing and air pollution.
There are at roughly two dozen major rules that are scheduled to drop between now and late January, according to a review of the administration’s official regulatory agenda and rules now awaiting approval at the White House.
Groups including the Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and the American Petroleum Institute said they are most concerned by expected costs associated with a slate of rules now in the pipeline at the Environmental Protection Agency.
“The EPA’s regulatory march is very concerning to the business community,” said Matt Letourneau, spokesman for the Chamber’s energy institute. “We’re fighting these regulations,” he added. “We’re trying to encourage EPA to listen to our concerns. We’re hoping EPA backs off or changes course.”
Obama calls on FCC to keep Internet ‘free and open’
The president says that all Internet service providers should “protect Net neutrality” and agree to not block or throttle Internet traffic.
by Don Reisinger
@donreisinger
November 10, 2014 6:56 AM PST
President Barack Obama has issued his strongest message yet that the Internet should be kept “free and open.”
In a statement released Monday, Obama called on the Federal Communications Commission to maintain Net neutrality and ensure that Internet service providers (ISPs) are not allowed “to restrict the best access or to pick winners and losers in the online marketplace for services and ideas.”
“That is why today, I am asking the Federal Communications Commission to answer the call of almost 4 million public comments, and implement the strongest possible rules to protect net neutrality,” President Obama said in the statement.
The FCC is working on a new set of rules for Internet oversight in the US. Those rules were expected to be made available later this year, though reports now claim they may be delayed until early 2015.
The agency earlier this year saw a vigorous response from the public to its call for comments on its Open Internet proposals, with the FCC’s servers sometimes stumbling and crashing under the overwhelming input. The comment window closed in September.
Net neutrality, which is the principle that ISPs and governments treat all Web traffic the same, has long been a debate around the US with no clear victory for either side. Consumers and many Internet companies argue that the Internet should remain open and that all traffic should be treated equally. Opponents have argued for a toll road of sorts that would provide better service to companies that pay to support their high traffic volumes. That has created widespread concern that ISPs could throttle service in some instance, intentionally slowing down some content streams and speeding up others.
No Warrant, No Problem: Students’ Lockers Searched at Random By Drug Dogs
Robby Soave|Nov. 3, 2014 9:10 am
Students at various public schools in West Michigan are subjected to random searches performed by a specialty canine unit that uncovers dangerous contraband in kids’ lockers. Really scary stuff, like hunting gear, pocketknives, fire crackers, prescription medication. Maybe a gun-shaped Pop-Tart or two.
According to mlive.com:
The dogs, which are trained to find drugs, alcohol, gun powder-based products, tobacco and medications, also are used locally in Grandville, Forest Hills, East Kentwood and Byron Center schools among 46 districts across the state. East Grand Rapids uses the city’s public safety department to conduct regular searches on its high school campus.
Records obtained by MLive and the Grand Rapids Press under the Freedom of Information Act show the findings by dogs at area schools are relatively low compared to overall student population, but educators believe the more vigilant they are, the better for students.
The public records request showed the discovery of more than 86 prohibited substances or items at the area schools that have used Interquest since 2011. Alcohol, tobacco and marijuana or drug paraphernalia were the most common finds, but dogs also alerted to fireworks and a toy cap gun among other items banned from school property.
The searches are performed at random, meaning that no single student is ever the target. Administrators hold this up as good and fair—we are trampling your rights, but it’s not personal!—but the ACLU is skeptical.
Bergen County Police Will Conduct K-9 Drill and Locker Search at Ridgewood High School
October 31,2014
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the Bergen County Police Department plan to conduct a K-9 drill at Ridgewood High School sometime during the fall, according to school officials.The drill will be conducted on a random day and lockers will be arbitrary searched .
“The K-9 exercise will occur this fall on a school day randomly selected by the Ridgewood Police Department as one of the required monthly lockdown drill scenarios. Students will be secure in their classrooms at the time of the drill and class interruption will be minimal. Instruction will not be negatively impacted, nor will students come in contact with the canines or police.
The intent of the K-9 search drill is to enhance security protocols, but the exercise will also address concerns regarding possible disruptions to the educational process that may be occurring clandestinely. While it is a drill, any positive findings will be handled directly and appropriately by the Ridgewood High School administration, in accordance with New Jersey statute, Board of Education policy and police regulations. ”
According to the Bergen County Police website ,the Bergen County Police Department Canine Unit was established in 1975 with two Police Officers and two German Shepherd Dogs. The initial K9 teams were trained by the Philadelphia Police Department to aid investigations using their keen sense of smell for tracking and building searches. In the 30 plus years that the unit has been in existence it has evolved into a full time, full service K9 unit serving the law enforcement agencies of the region and the residents of Bergen County with comprehensive K9 functions. These functions include:
The Unit is currently comprised of dual purpose K-9 teams cross-trained in Narcotics detection, Explosive detection and Accelerant detection for arson investigation. Since its inception, the K9 Unit has responded to over 25,000 calls for service from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. Since the K-9 Unit was established, it has been responsible for the seizure large quantities of controlled substances, the apprehension of numerous criminal actors, locating missing persons, locating evidence and proceeds from crimes scenes, and the seizure of large amounts of currency used in criminal activity.
In an email to parents, school officials said all schools are now required to conduct one fire drill and one school security drill per month.
Law Lets I.R.S. Seize Accounts on Suspicion, No Crime Required
By SHAILA DEWANOCT. 25, 2014
ARNOLDS PARK, Iowa — For almost 40 years, Carole Hinders has dished out Mexican specialties at her modest cash-only restaurant. For just as long, she deposited the earnings at a small bank branch a block away — until last year, when two tax agents knocked on her door and informed her that they had seized her checking account, almost $33,000.
The Internal Revenue Service agents did not accuse Ms. Hinders of money laundering or cheating on her taxes — in fact, she has not been charged with any crime. Instead, the money was seized solely because she had deposited less than $10,000 at a time, which they viewed as an attempt to avoid triggering a required government report.
“How can this happen?” Ms. Hinders said in a recent interview. “Who takes your money before they prove that you’ve done anything wrong with it?”
The federal government does.
Using a law designed to catch drug traffickers, racketeers and terrorists by tracking their cash, the government has gone after run-of-the-mill business owners and wage earners without so much as an allegation that they have committed serious crimes. The government can take the money without ever filing a criminal complaint, and the owners are left to prove they are innocent. Many give up.
WOODWARD: LOTS OF UNANSWERED QUESTIONS ON OBAMA’S INVOLVEMENT IN IRS SCANDAL
Sunday on Fox News Channel’s “MediaBuzz,” Bob Woodward said there are, “lots of unanswered questions,” about the Obama administrations involvement in the IRS scandal surrounding the targeting conservative groups for extra scrutiny.
Woodward said, “The reality now in my view that in the Obama administration, there are lots of unanswered questions about the IRS, particularly. If I were young, I would take Carl Bernstein and move to Cincinnati where that IRS office is and set up headquarters and go talk to everyone.”
Democrats on FEC move to regulate Internet campaigns, blogs, Drudge
BY PAUL BEDARD | OCTOBER 24, 2014 | 8:26 PM
In a surprise move late Friday, a key Democrat on the Federal Election Commission called for burdensome new rules on Internet-based campaigning, prompting the Republican chairman to warn that Democrats want to regulate online political sites and even news medialike the Drudge Report.
Democratic FEC Vice Chair Ann M. Ravel announced plans to begin the process to win regulations on Internet-based campaigns and videos, currently free from most of the FEC’s rules. “A reexamination of the commission’s approach to the internet and other emerging technologies is long over due,” she said.
The power play followed a deadlocked 3-3 vote on whether an Ohio anti-President Obama Internet campaign featuring two videos violated FEC rules when it did not report its finances or offer a disclosure on the ads. The ads were placed for free on YouTube and were not paid advertising.
How Asset Forfeiture Allows Cops to Steal from Citizens A Virginia lawmaker takes on policing for profit. A. Barton Hinkle | October 22, 2014
In September Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Chairman of the Congressional Constitution Caucus, and Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-CA), Co-Chairman of the bipartisan Crime Prevention and Youth Development Caucus, today introduced H.R. 5502, the Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration (FAIR) Act, to protect Americans from having their property seized without the due process of law. The FAIR Act makes a number of changes to civil asset forfeiture laws to restore the constitutional protections guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment.
The FAIR Act would ensure that Americans are innocent until proven guilty by requiring the government to meet a higher legal standard before seizing an individual’s property. This legislation would raise the standard to seize assets from a preponderance of evidence to a higher standard of clear and convincing evidence. In addition, the FAIR Act would eliminate the practice of equitable sharing and eliminate all profit incentives by requiring that all funds seized by the federal government go into the general treasury fund.
It probably seemed like a bright idea at the time: Let the police seize the ill-gotten gains of alleged drug dealers and other suspected criminals and sell it, using the proceeds to buy much-needed crime-fighting gear.
Unfortunately, the process—civil asset forfeiture—did not require convicting anybody of a crime. In fact, it didn’t even require charging anybody with a crime. Not surprisingly, this led to rampant abuse, which has been abundantly documented for many years. Various reform efforts, including a 2000 federal law, have been unable to stop what’s become known as policing for profit.
But Virginia lawmaker Mark Cole is going to give it another shot. That’s as good a sign as any that civil asset forfeiture has jumped the shark.
You can’t get much more conservative than Cole, a Republican who represents Spotsylvania in the General Assembly, without falling off the edge of the political spectrum. Cole supports “traditional family values” — so much so that he voted against appointing a Richmond prosecutor and former Navy pilot to a judgeship because he was gay. Cole has sponsored legislation to deny government benefits to illegal immigrants. And to strip state funding for abortions even in cases where the fetus has “gross and totally incapacitating physical deformity or mental deficiency.” And to rewrite a state prohibition against guns in schools so private schools could set their own rules. Four years ago, he sponsored a bill to protect people from having microchips implanted in their bodies, in part because such microchips might be used as the “mark of the beast” described in Revelations.
On his website, Cole boasts of supporting law enforcement. “Public safety and emergency services are Mark Cole’s top priorities,” reads a quote from Stafford County Sheriff Charlie Jett. “He helped ensure that funding was available for pay raises for deputies and state troopers. He has been a strong voice for us in Richmond.”
But policing for profit has gone too far, even for Cole. In anticipation of the 2015 legislative session, he already has filed a bill (HB 1287) that would forbid asset forfeiture without a conviction—and even then only after all appeals have been exhausted.
How Federal Agents Illegally Force Twitter, Google, and Banks to Turn Over Private Customer Data Without a Proper Warrant
Private companies are fighting the federal government in court over the Patriot Act’s “National Security Letters,” which violate the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.
Earlier this week, FBI Director James Comey gave an interview to 60 Minutes during which he revealed a flawed understanding of personal freedom. He rightly distinguished what FBI agents do in their investigations of federal crimes from what the NSA does in its intelligence gathering, when the two federal agencies are looking for non-public data.
The FBI requires, Comey correctly asserted, articulable suspicion to commence an investigation and probable cause to obtain a search warrant. It does this because its agents have sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution, and their failure to comply with that oath may very well render the evidence obtained by unconstitutional means useless in court.
The NSA, as we know, makes no pretense about presenting probable cause to a judge. Rather, it asks a judge on a secret court (so secret that the judges themselves are kept from the court’s files) for general warrants. A warrant based on probable cause must specifically describe the place to be searched and the person or thing to be seized. General warrants, which the Constitution prohibits, permit the bearer to search wherever he wishes and seize whatever he finds.
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