One of the hallmarks of the American identity is the belief that the American people can trust our government to be fair and honest. To undermine this legitimacy would be the death knell of this republic. The weaponization of any portion of our government for an ideology and the use of taxpayer money of meet an agenda is unacceptable to the people of this country.
Under Obama the weight of the various agencies were brought to bear on an unsuspecting populous through the progressive socialists within the government and with the full imprimatur of the Obama administration. From Fast and Furious to the IRS and even up to today we are still cleaning up after the damage the Obama left behind.
My intent today is to focus on the IRS and what the Obama administration did with that agency to do lasting damage to this country by suppressing the conservative Tea Party movement. As a political movement the Tea Party was harassed for many years, and even to this day there are many Tea Party organizations that still have not received the non-profit status that they were requesting.
The major player in the IRS fiasco was and remains Lois Lerner. It has been proven that there were contacts with Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings and Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse about the True the Vote organization.
Cummings staffers first contacted the IRS about True the Vote was in August 2012, asking for information on the Organization and Ms. Engelbrecht. In January 2013 Cummings staff requested further information about the organization from the IRS. Lerner and Deputy Holly Paz went out of their way to obtain as much information as they could which was then sent to Rep. Cummings and was then hidden from the Majority of members of the Oversight Committee. At the end of January Deputy Director of the tax exempt division Holly Paz sent True the Vote’s 990 forms to Cummings staff, a clear violation of federal law. During this entire time Rep. Cummings denied any contact with the IRS . In fact during the time that Ms. Engelbrecht testified before a Subcommittee hearing on this matter which occurred on February sixth 2014, Rep. Cummings used all the black victim rage he could muster to vehemently denounce this woman and deny and contact or coordination with the IRS against True the Vote.
The purposes of these discussions were to discuss the criminal prosecution of conservative c4s who report they are not involved in any political activity and how to go about proving that they were. It was discussed how just one IRS prosecution would impact these groups of conservative Tea Party members and stifle the work they were doing
This line of reasoning moved further up the chain to the Department of Justice led by Eric Holder,( the only Attorney General ever found in Contempt of Congress), before being shut down. Including the DOJ in going after these targeted groups would assure great difficulty in obtaining the documents needed to set the timeline for the illegal activities including the coordination and improper sharing of the taxpayer information connected to the Tea Party groups involved.
Lerner was more than happy to discuss hiding all facets of this illegal activity and even went as far as giving an interview to Politico to tell her lies to the American public and attempt to place herself as the victim. The only group she refused to explain these actions to was the Oversight Committee, the only group whose only purpose is the root out the illegal activities and prosecute those who break the law. Asking for members’ lists, what books they read, the text of prayers and where they and their members go to church are outside the purview of investigation for c4 applications. Lerner and her equally culpable replacement John Koskinen actually told the House ways and Means committee that
“Whenever we can, we follow the law”.
Under Obama, anything was possible and breaking the law was just something to ignore. It was our President who prejudged the investigation that took place over four years and declared there was not a “smidgen of corruption” when he fully knew the facts were pointing to jail time for IRS officials.
Those who worked in the IRS, including Lois Lerner, Holly Paz and later. John Koskinen were knee deep in a criminal enterprise whose only purpose was to harass intimidate, attempt tp criminalize and bankrupt those who political ideology was different from the progressive socialist line. The basic premise was that they could use their public positions in the government to shut down those with opposing views. The bureaucrats in Washington were allowed to use the budget and power of the federal government to target free speech an abuse of power that went far beyond anything that Richard Nixon ever contemplated and these thugs should be held accountable.
A recent settlement of $3.5 million in a class action lawsuit does not go far enough. Lerner and the rest if the swamp at the IRS need to be held accountable. While the taxpayers are paying for the misdeeds of the Lerner IRS, she is now retired with a full government pension provided by the taxpayers.
And now Lois Lerner and Holly Paz have requested that the sworn depositions that they were forced to give be sealed because they are afraid that harm may come to them from the American Public if it were to be made public. But if they did nothing wrong why should the public not be able have those depositions made available. Is it because the actions they took to humiliate and damage others with whom that have a political disagreement were illegal?
The largest miscarriage of justice in this whole debacle was the DOJ, who worked in collusion with the IRS in this whole matter, decided not to prosecute. And although Lois Lerner intentionally misled both federal investigators and the American public about what transpired, the DOJ claimed that they couldn’t prosecute because here was no Intent. Sound familiar?
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By Juan Reynoso –texusa2016@gmail.com
Open letter to all Christians.
https://www.freetranslation.com/en/translate-english-spanish
The purpose of this letter it’s not to criticize, judge or expose any one, but to think and to reflect about our own stand on this issue of being a true Christian or just a religious person.
Today in our country there are many organizations that call themselves “Christians”: we have Catholic, Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Mormon, and Independent. There are Churches of Christ, Churches of God, Episcopalians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Unitarians. There are Amish, Mennonites, and Quakers. There are Pentecostals, Presbyterians, and Spiritualists; that all claiming to be “Christian. Many people think that if we are religious, then we must be a “real Christian.” At the same time many feel a deep pain inside, a hollow, empty, unsatisfied craving for love. Many sense something is missing, because they are seeing hypocrisy in the churches and the confusion of contradictory doctrinal teaching, the Prosperity theology and the secular expression of Christianity. Today in America many Christians are confuse and throw their hands up in despair; they recognize there is a fundamental difference between just “being religious” and being a “real Christian”
I believe that God has placed in our hands a very precious gift, the gift of self-love. To love ourselves is not just a self-esteem boosting piece of advice. It is the prerequisite to truly loving others. The Golden Rule tells us to "love your neighbor as you love yourself", because we can only give that which we have; this is obvious because we cannot give something that we do not possess. To give love, you must first have love. To have love, love yourself. Only then will you be able to truly love others for the pure joy of loving them. Give the love you wish to experience to yourself and you will find all your relationships transforming in miraculous ways. Most of us spend our lives looking for love, peace and joy only to realize that, we have this treasure, this gift from God to show humanity that all this surpassing power is from God and not from us.
Loving Yourself.
A very interesting column.. COMPLETELY NEUTRAL
Be sure to Read the Poem at the end.
Charley Reese's final column for the Orlando Sentinel...
He has been a journalist for 49 years.
He is retiring and this is HIS LAST COLUMN.
Be sure to read the Tax List at the end.
This is about as clear and easy to understand as it can be. The article below is completely neutral, neither anti-republican or democrat. Charlie Reese, a retired reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, has hit the nail directly on the head, defining clearly who it is that in the final analysis must assume responsibility for the judgments made that impact each one of us every day. It's a short but good read. Worth the time. Worth remembering!
545 vs. 300,000,000 People
-By Charlie Reese
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?
You and I don't propose a federal budget. The President does.
You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.
You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.
You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.
You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a President to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The President can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? John Boehner. He is the leader of the majority party. He and fellow House members, not the President, can approve any budget they want. If the President vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.
If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.
If the Army & Marines are in Iraq and Afghanistan it's because they want them in Iraq and Afghanistan ...
If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.
There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.
They, and they alone, have the power.
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.
Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees...
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!
Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.
What you do with this article now that you have read it... is up to you.
This might be funny if it weren't so true.
Be sure to read all the way to the end:
Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table,
At which he's fed.
Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.
Tax his work,
Tax his pay,
He works for
peanuts anyway!
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.
Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.
Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think.
Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries
Tax his tears.
Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his ass.
Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won't be done
Till he has no dough.
When he screams and hollers;
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He's good and sore.
Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he's laid...
Put these words
Upon his tomb,
'Taxes drove me
to my doom...'
When he's gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax.
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Sales Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, & our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.
What in the heck happened? Can you spell 'politicians?'
I hope this goes around THE USA at least 545 times!!! YOU can help it get there!!!
GO AHEAD. . . BE AN AMERICAN
