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World
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The IRS wants YOU to share everything
It asked for printouts of Facebook posts.13may12triag
And it asked what books people were reading.
A POLITICO review of documents from 11 tea party and conservative
groups that the IRS scrutinized in 2012 shows the agency wanted to
know everything — in some cases, it even seemed curious what members
were thinking. The review included interviews with groups or their
representatives from Hawaii, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas and elsewhere.
Charles Rangel: Obama answers not enough
What did he know and when did he know it?'
Rep. Charlie Rangel said Wednesday that he believes President Barack
Obama owes the American public explanations for both the seizure of
Associated Press phone records by the Department of Justice and the IRS
targeting of conservative groups.
“I don’t think anyone truly believes that the president has given us a
sufficient answer for America, much less the press,” Rangel said on
MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “I think this is just the beginning and the whole
idea of comparing this with Nixon, I really think is just, it doesn’t
make much sense. But the president has to come forward and share why he
did not alert the press they were going to do this. He has to tell the
Americans, including me: What was this national security question? You
just can’t raise the flag and expect to salute it every time without any
reason and the same thing applies to the IRS.”
Eric Holder Passes the Buck
Attorney General Eric Holder went on the defensive on Tuesday explaining
why the Justice Department secretly obtained two months worth of
reporters' telephone records in an 'unprecedented' search for a
confidential source.
'This was a very serious leak and a very, very serious leak,' Holder
said at a press conference explaining the department's actions which
have been criticized for going against the constitutional right to a
free press.
Holder said that he recused himself from the making the controversial
decision to subpoena the phone records of Associated Press journalists,
saying that it was made by Deputy Attorney General James Cole.
Prominent Catholic Professor Audited for Criticism of Obama
In the midst of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) scandal, individuals
and groups, alike, are continuing to come forward with ever-startling
allegations. On Wednesday, Dr. Anne Hendershott, a devout Catholic and a
noted sociologist, professor and author, exclusively told TheBlaze that
she believes she may have been one of the IRS’s targets.
According to Hendershott, the IRS audited her in 2010 and demanded to know who was paying her and “what their politics were.”
Senate Dems Have as Much to Explain as IRS
With Washington gripped by a trio of exploding scandals this week – from
Benghazi to government spying on news outlets to thug tactics by the
Internal Revenue Service – Senate Democrats seem to be hoping that if
they just yell loud enough then voters will overlook a key role they
played in at least one of them.
They quickly sensed the political toxicity associated with Friday's
admission by the IRS that they selectively targeted conservative
organizations for special government scrutiny, and so Democrats didn't
waste any time springing into action. Senate Finance Committee Chairman
Max Baucus of Montana, for example, vowed congressional hearings and
called the IRS actions "an outrageous abuse of power and a breach of the
public's trust."
Silent to the end, Gosnell starts life term
"Is there anything you wish to say?" asked Common Pleas Court Judge
Jeffrey P. Minehart before imposing three consecutive life prison terms
plus 2-1/2 to 5 years.
"Not at this time," replied Gosnell.
Gosnell, 72, thanked the judge for his nine-week trial and turned to defense attorney Jack McMahon and said, "Good job."
Moscow spy saga tied to Boston bombing case
The U.S. diplomat expelled for allegedly spying for the CIA was trying
to recruit a senior Russian intelligence officer involved with fighting
terrorism in the North Caucasus, the region linked to the suspects in
the Boston bombing case, the Russian newspaper Kommersan reported,
quoting Russian security service sources.
The Russian Foreign Ministry declared Ryan Fogle, a third secretary in
the U.S. Embassy's political section, persona non grata on Wednesday and
ordered him to leave the country. He was detained by officers of the
Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Monday night.
Boehner Suggests Jail Time for Violations in IRS Scandal
House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner raised the possibility of
jail time on Wednesday for law violations in the growing scandal
involving the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative
groups for extra tax scrutiny.
"My question isn't about who is going to have to resign, my question is
who is going to jail over this scandal," Boehner, the top Republican in
Congress, told reporters.
The Justice Department on Tuesday began a criminal investigation, while a
number of congressional Republicans called for the resignation of the
acting IRS commissioner, Steven Miller.
Obama White House Suffers 'Epidemic of Dishonesty'
Douglas E. Schoen’s Perspective: On Monday President Obama delivered a
defense of his administration's response to the Benghazi attacks: he
said that nothing new came out in last week's hearings, that he called
the Benghazi attack what it was — a terror attack — the day after it
happened, and furthermore, that the controversy over the edited talking
points is a political sideshow, rooted in partisan motivations.
But the president can't just dismiss the questions over what exactly happened in Benghazi.
A detailed examination of the record shows that the White House has had
no consistent message — in fact, they changed their message from day to
day — and it's clear that the administration's actions in the days and
weeks after the tragedy was all political maneuvering.
Rubio to Fight for Tracking System in Immigration Law
Republican U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, who is considered crucial to the
passage of an immigration law overhaul, on Tuesday vowed to fight for a
biometric system that would track foreigners entering and exiting the
country after a Senate panel rejected the idea.
Rubio and seven other Republican and Democratic senators, known as the
"gang of eight," have crafted a sweeping bill that would revamp the
immigration system, increase work visas and put millions of illegal
immigrants on a path to citizenship.
Your Next IRS Political Audit
The tax agency is getting vast new power in health care.
Even as the politicized tax enforcement scandal expands, the Internal
Revenue Service continues to expand its political powers thanks to the
Affordable Care Act. A larger government always creates more openings
for abuse, as Americans will learn when the IRS starts auditing their
health care in addition to their 1040 next year.
Over the last decade or so the tax agency has stretched its portfolio
and become an enforcer and decision-maker for government benefits and
programs. Three years ago, National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson, who
operates within the IRS, presciently noted that ObamaCare is "the most
extensive social benefit program the IRS has been asked to implement in
recent history."
A Brief History of IRS Political Targeting
One survey found that 75% of IRS respondents felt entitled to deceive or lie to Congress.
Many Republicans are enraged over revelations in recent days that the
Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative nonprofit groups with a
campaign of audits and harassment. But of all the troubles now dogging
the Obama administration—including the Benghazi fiasco and the Justice
Department's snooping on the Associated Press—the IRS episode, however
alarming, is also the least surprising. As David Burnham noted in "A Law
Unto Itself: The IRS and the Abuse of Power" (1990), "In almost every
administration since the IRS's inception the information and power of
the tax agency have been mobilized for explicitly political purposes."
President Franklin Roosevelt used the IRS to harass newspaper publishers
who were opposed to the New Deal, including William Randolph Hearst and
Moses Annenberg, publisher of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Roosevelt also
dropped the IRS hammer on political rivals such as the populist
firebrand Huey Long and radio agitator Father Coughlin, and prominent
Republicans such as former Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon. Perhaps
Roosevelt's most pernicious tax skulduggery occurred in 1944. He spiked
an IRS audit of illegal campaign contributions made by a government
contractor to Congressman Lyndon Johnson, whose career might have been
derailed if Texans had learned of the scandal.
-
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- Medal of
Honor
- The
Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action against an
enemy force which can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the
Armed Services of the United States.
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GeneTrerally presented to its recipient by the President of the
United States of America in the name of Congress.
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- The
first award of the Medal of Honor was made March 25, 1863 to Private
JACOB PARROTT.
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The last award of the Medal of Honor was made September 15, 2011
to Sergeant DAKOTA MEYER.
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- Since
then there have been:
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• 3458 recipients of the Medal of Honor.
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• Today there are 85 Living Recipients of the
Medal of Honor.
CAPTAIN HUMBERT R ('Rocky'). VERSACE
UNITED STATES ARMY
for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:
Captain Humbert R. Versace distinguished himself by extraordinary
heroism during the period of 29 October 1963 to 26 September 1965,
while serving as S-2 Advisor, Military Assistance Advisory Group,
Detachment 52, Ca Mau, Republic of Vietnam. While accompanying a
Civilian Irregular Defense Group patrol engaged in combat operations in
Thoi Binh District, An Xuyen Province, Captain Versace and the patrol
came under sudden and intense mortar, automatic weapons, and small arms
fire from elements of a heavily armed enemy battalion. As the battle
raged, Captain Versace, although severely wounded in the knee and back
by hostile fire, fought valiantly and continued to engage enemy
targets. Weakened by his wounds and fatigued by the fierce firefight,
Captain Versace stubbornly resisted capture by the over-powering Viet
Cong force with the last full measure of his strength and ammunition.
Taken prisoner by the Viet Cong, he exemplified the tenets of the Code
of Conduct from the time he entered into Prisoner of War status.
Captain Versace assumed command of his fellow American soldiers,
scorned the enemy's exhaustive interrogation and indoctrination
efforts, and made three unsuccessful attempts to escape, despite his
weakened condition which was brought about by his wounds and the
extreme privation and hardships he was forced to endure. During his
captivity, Captain Versace was segregated in an isolated prisoner of
war cage, manacled in irons for prolonged periods of time, and placed
on extremely reduced ration. The enemy was unable to break his
indomitable will, his faith in God, and his trust in the United States
of America. Captain Versace, an American fighting man who epitomized
the principles of his country and the Code of Conduct, was executed by
the Viet Cong on 26 September 1965. Captain Versace's gallant actions
in close contact with an enemy force and unyielding courage and bravery
while a prisoner of war are in the highest traditions of the military
service and reflect the utmost credit upon himself and the United
States Army.
