Drudge Retort: Jeffj's blog

There Was No Surge in IRS Tax-Exempt Applications in 2010

jeffj — Sat, 18 May 2013 15:43:39 -0400

Fewer groups sought recognition as 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations that year than in 2009, according to the Treasury Department. A number of people have sought to explain the IRS targeting of Tea Party, patriot, and 9/12 group applications -- as well as those from other conservative groups -- for "specialist team" treatment (mainly delays and excessive and inappropriate questions) in 2010 by pointing to the Citizens United decision that year allowing for unlimited, undisclosed fundraising by such groups. That's the explanation IRS official Lois Lerner gave a week ago when she first revealed that the agency had improperly handled a slew of applications -- the political shorthand was a mistaken attempt to deal with a surge in applications.

Was Obama behind the IRS scandal? HELL yes!

jeffj — Fri, 17 May 2013 09:30:14 -0400

Was the White House involved in the IRS's targeting of conservatives? No investigation needed to answer that one. Of course it was.

President Obama and Co. are in full deniability mode, noting that the IRS is an "independent" agency and that they knew nothing about its abuse. The media and Congress are sleuthing for some hint that Mr. Obama picked up the phone and sicced the tax dogs on his enemies.

But that's not how things work in post-Watergate Washington. Mr. Obama didn't need to pick up the phone. All he needed to do was exactly what he did do, in full view, for three years: Publicly suggest that conservative political groups were engaged in nefarious deeds; publicly call out by name political opponents whom he'd like to see harassed; and publicly have his party pressure the IRS to take action.

Watching ObamaCare Unravel

JeffJ — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:28:26 -0400

On Friday, May 10, President Obama ventured into Ohio to give a Mother's Day defense of the sagging fortunes of his signal achievement, the misnamed Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The law, the President assures us, "is here to stay" -- a comment that is best regarded as a threat and not a promise. His conclusion was not coincidental; support for the ACA has dropped from 42 percent to 35 percent between November 2012 and April 2013.

This recent drop in popularity is not a function of some detailed analysis of the ACA's key provisions. Rather, the public seems to feel that the sheer complexity of the program makes it highly unlikely that it will be able to take effect in any form by its ostensible January 1, 2014 start date. The most obvious difficulty in implementation stems from the unwillingness of many states to participate in its two gargantuan initiatives, even with heavy federal support...

U.S. Opens Spigot to Farm Bias Claims

jeffj — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 21:33:05 -0400

New York Times: In the winter of 2010, after a decade of defending the government against bias claims by Hispanic and female farmers, Justice Department lawyers seemed to have victory within their grasp. Ever since the Clinton administration agreed in 1999 to make $50,000 payments to thousands of black farmers, the Hispanics and women had been clamoring in courtrooms and in Congress for the same deal. They argued, as the African-Americans had, that biased federal loan officers had systematically thwarted their attempts to borrow money to farm. But a succession of courts -- and finally the Supreme Court -- had rebuffed their pleas. Instead of an army of potential claimants, the government faced just 91 plaintiffs. Those cases, the government lawyers figured, could be dispatched at limited cost. They were wrong.

Historian: Don't Rush to Judge Bush

jeffj — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 08:32:57 -0400

Stephen P. Knott: The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum will be dedicated Thursday at Southern Methodist University, an event that will draw all of the nation's living presidents to Dallas. Despite the coming fanfare, many Americans consider Bush's presidency a failure. There is little evidence that scholars, including the influential historians who pronounce the success or failure of an administration, are having second thoughts about their assessment of Bush as a failed chief executive. ... Bush may not have been a great president; he may even be considered an average or below-average president, but he and -- more important -- the nation deserve better than this partisan rush to judgment.

Yes, There Is a Gosnell Trial Cover-up by Major News Outlets

jeffj — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:31:38 -0400

The local press has extensively covered the shocking testimony about the Philadelphia "House of Horrors" where Gosnell allegedly killed seven babies and one woman since the trial began on March 18, nearly a month ago. But while it seems obvious that the national media has mostly ignored the story, a bevy of left-wing journalists and activists have loudly disagreed in recent days -- asserting that the big three networks and the major newspapers have appropriately covered a trial that none sent a reporter to cover.

IBD: Media Ignore Abortion Doctor's Trial

JeffJ — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 08:30:51 -0400

Investor's Business Daily: A basketball coach who shoves and curses at his players merits constant coverage by a media also transfixed by Newtown. But a Philadelphia doctor on trial for murdering a woman and seven babies? It's ignored. Those who get their news from the three major networks have probably not heard of Dr. Kermit Gosnell, now on trial in Philadelphia, charged with seven counts of first-degree murder and one count of third-degree murder for killing seven babies who survived abortions and a woman who died after a botched pain-killer injection.

Greenberg: Howard Zinn's One-Sided History

jeffj — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 17:32:25 -0400

David Greenberg: In the 1980s, in the faculty-filled suburbs west of Boston, the historian Howard Zinn was something of a folk hero. The Boston Globe, where Zinn published a column, ran stories of his battles with the dictatorial John Silber, the president of Boston University, who cracked down on unions, censored student protests, and denied pay raises to enemies such as Zinn. When it was learned that the National Labor Relations Board had reinstated service workers who had been fired for striking, or that the courts upheld a student's right to hang a "divest" banner from his window, a wave of satisfaction would surge from Cambridge to Brookline to Newton to Wellesley. As Silber's chief nemesis, Zinn -- handsome in profile, gentle in manner -- made for a winning poster boy for anyone who reviled Silber's high-handed rule.

Biggest Deterrent to Business Hiring: Obamacare

jeffj — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 15:17:09 -0400

Wondering why the unemployment rate has been near or above 8 percent for nearly four years? The Federal Reserve has an answer for you: Obamacare

Earlier this month, the Fed released its latest "beige book" – a monthly report on economic conditions across the country. The book noted that employers across the country have "cited the unknown effects of the Affordable Care Act as reasons for planned layoffs and reluctance to hire more staff."