Lawmakers Are Beginning to Get It

 Politics
May 232013
 

When the IRS scandal broke, the first thing I did was to read the statute.  I was most surprised to discover that the regulation people at the IRS violated and the language of the statute itself are completely unrelated.  O’Donnell has continued his campaign to educate Americans, but to date, he seems the only broadcast journalist of note to do so.

23Hearings…After the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling freed corporations — including nonprofits organized under sections 501(c)(4), (c)(5) and (c)(6) — to spend money directly on political campaigns, 501(c)(4) spending on politics soared from an infinitesimal amount in 2006 to $294 million in the 2012 election. Nonprofits, unlike political committees and campaigns, are not required to disclose their donors, and the surge in their spending has raised concerns among lawmakers and campaign-finance watchdogs that groups are improperly claiming tax-exempt status when their primary purpose is electioneering.

This spending is allowed thanks to a difference between the tax law and IRS regulations for these nonprofit groups. The law says that 501(c)(4) organizations must be operated "exclusively" for the purpose of social welfare, while the IRS regulation defines "exclusively" as "primarily." This difference has created a substantial amount of confusion within and outside the agency around what constitutes political activity, and officials say it played a part in the abuses uncovered in the inspector general’s report.

Nearly every Democrat on the panel called for clearer rules governing how the IRS determines political activity and for a better definition of how much political campaign activity is allowable for 501(c)(4) groups.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said Citizens United had created a situation where "groups that ought to be [political organizations] are applying for 501(c)(4) status to hide their donors."

"The lines blurred between [political organizations] and 501(c)(4), and you all don’t seem to have done anything about it," Wyden said, addressing the panel of former and current IRS and Treasury officials who appeared before the committee…

Inserted from <Huffington Post>

By law, none of the political 501(c)(4) groups should have that status.  Republicans made the regulation illegal in 1959.

Lawrence O’Donnell discussed this with Joy Reid and Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC).

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The statute is crystal clear, and finally, a few Democrats are beginning to get it that the real scandal is that any political activity exists under 501(c)(4). Now, it’s time for the rest of the news media to do their job instead of infotaining sheeple.

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Open Thread–5/22/2013

 Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 222013
 

This will be today’s only article, because I had a rough day yesterday.  I wracked up my leg again by stumbling and catching myself on it the wrong way, and the pain interfered with my rest.  So I think I’d better not push myself at this point.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:12 ( average 4:45).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday approved a broad overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws on a bipartisan vote, sending the most significant immigration policy changes in decades to the full Senate, where the debate is expected to begin next month.

The 13-to-5 vote came as the committee reached a deal on one of the final snags threatening the legislation — and agreed to hold off on a particularly politically charged amendment, which would have added protections for same-sex couples.

After intense behind-the-scenes negotiations, Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, struck an agreement with the group of eight senators who drafted the original bill to address his concerns about visas for skilled foreign workers who could fill jobs in the high-tech industry…

It is truly sad that the only way to get this bill past Committee Republicans had to include a hate offering and a greed offering. Gay couples should have the right to apply fore green cards for their spouses. American workers will take big pay cuts or lose their jobs to foreign skilled workers, but there will be no savings for US consumers, just more profit for the 1%. Nevertheless, in spite of all its flaws, it is the most significant step toward immigration reform in a generation.

From The New Yorker: President Obama’s handling of controversies about the I.R.S., the Justice Department, and Benghazi has raised “grave doubts” about his ability to cope if he ever became involved in an actual scandal, prominent Republicans said today.

“If this is how he handles this stuff, Lord have mercy on him if he ever has to deal with a real scandal,” said newly elected Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S. Carolina). “Quite frankly, I don’t think he has what it takes.”

“The true test of a leader is this,” Rep. Sanford added. “When he gets in a fix, does he have the presence of mind to lie about his whereabouts? Sadly, I don’t think President Obama passes that test.”

Mr. Sanford’s concerns mirror those of another leading Republican lawmaker, Sen. David Vitter (R-Louisiana).

Perhaps Trail Walker and Diaper Dave should head up a new federal agency: the Department of Adultery.

From The Nation: Here are just five examples of bogus 501(c)(4) groups that deserve more scrutiny under the law:

The American Action Network is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit run by corporate lobbyists like Vin Weber (of Sallie Mae) and Tom Reynolds (of Goldman Sachs)…

…The Commission on Hope, Growth and Opportunity is a 501(c)(4) organization reportedly set up by lobbyist Scott Reed…

…The American Justice Partnership is a 501(c)(4) group run in part by Republican consultants Dan Pero and Cleta Mitchell…

…The American Future Fund is a 501(c)(4) group set up by a number of Republican operatives, and has aired millions of dollars in attack ads against President Obama and Democratic candidates for Congress…

…The 60 Plus Association is a front group designed by Republican operatives to appeal to senior citizens…

…It’s clear why these Republican operatives used 501(c)(4) organizations as tools to move millions in political money. Big publicly traded corporations have been eager to exploit the Citizens United decision but have avoided Super PACs because Super PACs face regular disclosure requirements. 501(c)(4) never have to disclose donors. For instance, health insurer Aetna accidentally revealed that it had provided $3 million to the American Action Network, a fact the company apparently wanted to keep secret…

Click through for much more, including the details of how these Republican groups are using anonymous donations to fund political activity illegally. Where there are Democratic organizations that do so as well, the extent of Democratic crime does not begin to compare with Republican.

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Open Thread–5/20/2013

 Open Thread, Personal, Plus, Politics
May 202013
 

Yesterday, I intended to nap during the day, but I could not.  They were doing maintenance on the building all afternoon and evening, causing the power to go out over and over again.  Each time it does, it sets off an alarm on my O2 system that wakes me up, so I could not sleep until late last night.  I’m feeling fatigued, so I have only this message.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:49 (average 5:20).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: The board of Yahoo, the faded Web pioneer, agreed on Sunday to buy the popular blogging service Tumblr for about $1.1 billion in cash, the companies announced Monday, a signal of how the company plans to reposition itself as the technology industry makes a headlong rush into social media.

When StumbleUpon changed format and drove away most of their members, many of them fled to Tumblr. As with other network acquisitions, I trust that this shall be a bad development for Tumblr members.  Thank God for Care2.

From Think Progress and Think Progress: If a woman in Virginia has a miscarriage without a doctor present, they must report it within 24 hours to the police or risk going to jail for a full year. At least, that’s what would have happened if a bill introduced by Virginia state Sen. Mark Obenshain (R) had become law.

And yet, the Virginia Republican Party wants to make Obenshain into the state’s top prosecutor. This weekend, Virginia Republicans selected Obenshain as their nominee to replace tea party stalwart Ken Cuccinelli (R) as the state’s attorney general.

But if voters don’t like him, the Republican party offers another choice.

Here are some of the most alarming facts you need to know about E.W. Jackson:

  • He has said gays and lesbians are “very sick people, psychologically and emotionally” whose minds are perverted. He has also said homosexuality “poisons culture, it destroys families, it destroys societies”
  • He led an “Exodus Now!” movement encouraging African Americans to leave the Democratic party because opposition to same-sex marriage and government endorsement of religion means “Democrats are engaged in a concerted effort [bigots delinked] to do away with all symbols of our Judeo-Christian culture.”
  • He rallied against hate crimes legislation as a “virulent strain of Anti-Christian bigotry and hatred.”

Residents of Virginia had better elect Democrats for their own protection.

From Huffington Post: Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) confirmed on Sunday that he is proposing an amendment to the upcoming farm bill that would eliminate the "Monsanto Protection Act."

Officially known as the Farmer Assurance Provision, the controversial agricultural provision was surreptitiously tucked into budget legislation — passed by Congress in March and signed into law by President Barack Obama — that was intended to avoid a government shutdown. The provision, which the public at large caught wind of only after the bill’s passage, allows agricultural companies such as Monsanto to ignore court orders against selling genetically-engineered seeds.

As HuffPost’s Ryan Grim explained last week:

Federal courts have recently ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture had failed to consider the potential harm some genetically engineered crops may have, and acted too hastily in approving their sale. The industry fought back with the [Monsanto Protection Act], preventing the enforcement of court rulings.

I don’t want to hear Obama blamed for not vetoing the bill. This was, after all, a minor provision in the bill to end the Republicans’ seditious attempt to shut down the entire government. Sign Jeff’s petition, please. Once again, Oregon leads the way!

Cartoon:

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Those two images were so boring that I chose a more recent graphic.

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When Maher Gets Serious…

 Politics
May 192013
 

Bill Maher has a unique way of telling the truth, using side-splitting humor to distract folks from the noticing the discomfort of actually learning something.  When my sides stop shaking, I find I know more than I did before.  However, when this funny man gets serious, it’s worth being particularly attentive to what he has to say.

bill-maher

On Friday night’s edition of “Real Time with Bill Maher,” host Bill Maher and guests filmmaker Michael Moore, commentator S. E. Cupp and New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin discussed the obstructionist Republican Congress and its mission to take down the president by taking down the country. Moore opined that the Republican Party is a “squealing dinosaur” whose time has come.

Maher began the segment by talking about how prices among top health insurers are falling since the implementation of Obamacare.

“They did a test and they put, you know, what insurance would cost if you were a 40-year-old, non-smoker and instantly, the two highest priced insurers went down,” Maher said.

“This is the heart of Obama,” he said. “This is the heart of capitalism. I’m wondering why the people who love the free market so much are not for this.”

“And what about trying to repeal it for the 37th time?” he went on. “Is that a wise use of our time and resources? At some point, obstruction becomes, um, I dunno, treason.”

He went on to list how Republicans are blocking the nominations of a new head for the EPA, a chief circuit court judge for the city of Washington, D.C. and dozens of other government posts that are going unfilled because Republicans won’t let any of Obama’s nominees get voted on in Congress.

“At some point,” Maher said, “it becomes more about hating him than loving our country.”… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Raw Story>

I was also able to find video of this exchange.

I disagree with one thing only.  Instead of treason, it is sedition.  For all intents and purposes, the difference between the two is that the Constitution requires a formally declared state of war to indict for treason, while sedition carries no such restriction.  To punish these seditionists,  it would be most appropriate to impose a sentence of unemployment for them, and extinction for their party.

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Open Thread–5/17/2013

 Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 172013
 

I’m in quite a bit of pain from my bad leg, but at least I have an Open Thread today.  I’d like to share a quote from the writing of one of my guys in prison: “We cannot find peace or freedom while sowing the seeds of discord with dishonesty, intolerance, irresponsibility or disrespect.”  If only someone would teach this to the Republican leadership.  My activity here should increase gradually.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:01 (average 4:44).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: With the House set on Friday to convene the first of its hearings into the targeting of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service, the lessons learned from the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, which cost Republicans in elections in 1998, have been on display in recent days.

Listening to the hearings, I learned that the abuse, which Republicans are blaming on Obama, occurred during the Bush Regime under his appointees.  Under Obama, the same people continued the same policies.  In any event, this is clearly not a Democratic attack on Teabaggers.  If anything, it’s an attack by the 1% wings of the Republican Party to limit the power of their Tea Party storm troopers, the monster they created, and now, cannot control.

From The New Yorker: Today Speaker of the House John Boehner issued the following letter to the American people:

Dear American People,

Yesterday, your hardworking House Republicans tried, once again, and failed, once again, to repeal Obamacare. And I really thought we had a good chance this time.

That’s because we were all united in our hatred for this infernal and takes-too-long-to-read law. Every last one of us cast his vote to strike it down, from crazy little Paul Ryan to that arrogant bastard Eric Cantor.

And I wish you could have seen the faces of those freshman Republicans as they voted to repeal Obamacare—so innocent, so full of hope and wonder. As I told them yesterday, “You’ll never forget your first time.” …

Since retaking the House in 2010, Republicans have averaged 5.4 minutes out of every hour to repealing Obamacare.

From MSNBC: Deficits are shrinking at a historic pace.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

In spite of everything Republicans have done to sabotage our economy for political gain, the policies taken by Obama and the Democrats are working. The reason Republicans don’t cake is this. Everything their party does is a smokescreen for one of two Republican goals: either transfer of worth from the 99% to the 1%, or establishing a permanent regime of totalitarian Republican rule.

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Open Thread–4/15/2013

 Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 152013
 

I’m still down, because overdoing it on Saturday set off my COPD yesterday, and I could not sleep.  I’ll catch up on replies ASAP.  Tomorrow.  Happy Infernal Revenue Day. Crying face

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:13 (average 4:24).  To do it click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Why It’s Harder To Be A Liberal In 11 Words

15Liberal

Also, it’s easy to invent sophistic lies that sound easy and simple, but the truth is often difficult and complex.

From NY Times: It is an open scandal in Washington that the Federal Election Commission is completely ossified as the referee and penalizer of abuses in national politics.

Karl Rove’s powerful Crossroads GPS money machine cruelly underlined the agency’s impotence last week with a snippy rebuff of a legitimate inquiry from the commission staff about the shadowy sources of the group’s war chest. Crossroads GPS archly replied that continued inquiries on the matter “are unnecessary,” but that if they keep coming, it will offer the same unrevealing response.

This was no niggling issue. The election commission was asking for more details about the operation’s 2012 fourth-quarter report showing more than $50 million in independent expenditures but not a sign of who donated the money. The insulting rebuke to the agency should be thrown back with a unanimous demand that election law be obeyed. But this is the F.E.C., one of the sorrier federal agencies, where standoffs engineered by the three Republican commissioners on the six-seat panel have stymied efforts to write regulations and enforce them.

No matter which way we turn, we see Republicans polishing their expertise in election theft.

From MSNBC: How the wealthy view social programs:

 

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Why do the wealthy want to cut our earned entitlements, for which we have paid all our working lives? It’s clear that the elite donor class, aka the 1%, has declared class warfare on the rest of us. While there are members of the 1% that do support us, they are, sadly, few and far between.

Cartoon:

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Open Thread–4/12/2013

 Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 122013
 

It’s TGIF day, although it doesn’t really make a difference for me, except that, barring a Friday dump, it’s often harder to find good material on the weekend.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow appears routine.

Jug Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:28 (average 5:23).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From CBC: Dozens of employees at Canada’s largest bank are losing their jobs to temporary foreign workers, who are in Canada to take over the work of their department.

“They are being brought in from India, and I am wondering how they got work visas,” said Dave Moreau, one of the employees affected by the move. “The new people are in our offices and we are training them to do our jobs. That adds insult to injury.”

Poor Canada! Looks like Harper gave you a case of Republicitis!  Guest workers should be brought in to do the jobs that citizens don’t want, not to undercut citizens for the ones they do want!

From Washington Post: Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell has said his daughter and her husband paid for their own wedding. So a $15,000 check from a major campaign donor to pay for the food at the affair was a gift to the bride and groom and not to him and therefore did not have to be publicly disclosed under the law, the governor says.

But documents obtained by The Washington Post show that McDonnell signed the catering contract, making him financially responsible for the 2011 event. The governor made handwritten notes to the caterer in the margins. In addition, the governor paid nearly $8,000 in deposits for the catering.

Why is it that Republicans, like Governor Ultrasound, are so forceful in trying to make others obey their pseudo-Christian morality, when they ignore it themselves?

From Tamara: The K Street 5K

If I were not 3,000 miles away and both physically and financially unable to attend, I’d go, but I’d want to wear at least a $20. ;-) Can you be in DC tomorrow?

Cartoon:

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God, may we have him back, please?

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