Conservative Critic's Blog

A bushel of Pinocchios for IRS’s Lying Lois Lerner…falling on her sword for Obama…

conservativecritic — Tue, 21 May 2013 23:34:08 +0000

In the days since the Internal Revenue Service first disclosed that it had targeted conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, new information has emerged from both the Treasury inspector general’s report and congressional testimony Friday that calls into question key statements made by Lois G. Lerner, the IRS’s director of the exempt organizations division

The clumsy way the IRS disclosed the issue, as well as Lerner’s press briefing by phone, were seen at the time as a public relations disaster. But even so, it is worth reviewing three key statements made by Lerner and comparing them to the facts that have since emerged.

“But between 2010 and 2012, we started seeing a very big uptick in the number of 501(c)(4) applications we were receiving, and many of these organizations applying more than doubled, about 1500 in 2010 and over 3400 in 2012.”

Lerner made this comment while issuing a seemingly impromptu apology at an American Bar Association panel. (It was later learned that this was a planted question — more on that below.) In her telling, the tax-exempt branch was simply overwhelmed by applications, and so unfortunate shortcuts were taken.

But this claim of “more than doubled” appears to be a red herring. The targeting of groups began in early 2010, after the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC was announced on Jan. 21. The ruling led to increased interest in a tax-exempt status known as 501(c)(4). Most charities apply under 501(c)(3), but under 501(c)(4), nonprofit groups that engage in “social welfare” can also perform a limited amount of election activity.

At first glance, the inspector general’s report appears to show that the number of 501(c)(4) applications actually went down that year, from 1,751 in 2009 to 1,735.

But it turns out that these are federal fiscal-year figures, meaning “2010” is actually Oct. 1, 2009 to Sept. 30, 2010, so the “2010” year includes more than three months before the Supreme Court decision was announced.

Astonishingly, despite Lerner’s public claim, an IRS spokeswoman was not able to provide the actual calendar year numbers. By allocating one-quarter of the fiscal year numbers to the prior year, we can get a very rough sense of the increase on a calendar-year basis. (Figures are rounded to avoid false precision; 2012 is not possible to calculate.)

2009: 1745

2010: 1865

2011: 2540

In other words, while there was an increase in 2010, it was relatively small. The real jump did not come until 2011, long after the targeting of conservative groups had been implemented. Also, it appears Lerner significantly understated the number of applications in 2010 (“1500”) in order to make her claim of “more than doubled.”

“I think you guys were reading the paper as much as I was. So it was pretty much we started seeing information in the press that raised questions for us, and we went back and took a look.”

Here, Lerner suggests that she found out about this issue only when news reports appeared in February and March 2012 about tea party groups complaining that they were being targeted. But the IG timelineshows this claim to be false.

According the IG, Lerner had a briefing on the issue on June 29, 2011, in which she was told about the BOLO (“Be On the Look Out”) criteria that included words such as “tea party” or “patriots.” The report says she raised concerns about the wording and “instructed that the criteria be immediately revised.” She continued to be heavily involved in the issue in the months preceding the new reports, according to the timeline.

“I don’t believe anyone ever asked me that question before.”

This was Lerner’s excuse during the media call for why she had not publicly addressed the issue before.

But in congressional testimony Friday, outgoing acting director Steven T. Miller said he had talked with Lerner about arranging to make a statement at a May 10 conference sponsored by the American Bar Association, knowing that the IG report would soon be released.

Lerner then contacted a friend, Celia Roady, a tax attorney with the Washington firm Morgan Lewis, to get her to ask a question about the targeting, according to a statement by Roady on Friday. (Roady hadpreviously denied this was a planted question when asked directly by participants at the meeting.)

So Lerner was dissembling when she suggested that a simple well-aimed question prompted the disclosure.

In fact, just two days before the ABA conference, Lerner appeared before Congress and was asked by Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) about the status of investigations into 501(c)(4) groups. She provided a bland answer about a questionnaire on the IRS Web site, failing to take the opportunity to disclose the results of the probe. (The clip is embedded below, with the question coming at 5:09.) Small wonder that Crowley is now calling for her to resign, saying that Lerner lied to him.

The Pinocchio Test

In some ways, this is just scratching the surface of Lerner’s misstatements and weasely wording when the revelations about the IRS’s activities first came to light on May 10. But, taken together, it’s certainly enough to earn her four Pinocchios.

Four Pinocchios

OBAMA DELAYS TRIP TO OKLAHOMA CITY…FINALLY LEARNS FROM HIS PAST SCREWUPS…

conservativecritic — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:15:20 +0000

When Colorado Springs had devastating fires a couple of years ago, Obama jumped on his plane and was out there in a heartbeat, interrupting fire fighting efforts with tours and blockage of critical air and ground crews…all to make the 6 o-clock Denver news with his “on the job” trip right into the heart of the firefight…dozens of homes burned down because of his press conference with fire fighters and diversion of critical equipment to simply give him some face time on the evening news…

Obama interrupting Colorado Springs fire fighting to make a campaign stop….

This time, he delays his trip to the devastated southern side of Oklahoma City…so we have to give him some credit for that.

Obama lies to graduating Morehouse College students – and receives an honorary doctorate degree in return…

conservativecritic — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:38:57 +0000

Well, what did you expect…confetti and balloons? Obama chose an all black, male college to give a commencement address because if he were to go to a Big Ten or other mixed race college about this time…he would have been boo’ed and heckled….and we all know how much our President hates to be heckled..

He tells the gaduates(lying of course) that “…they won’t get anything they haven’t worked for?

What planet has Obama been living on? Unemployment payments, welfare, food stamps…well, we could list others to the end of this page…

If he simply does what he says….then perhaps we would see some “change” in the country’s direction, its economy, its energy program and jobs…very few of those male, black graduates will find a job…and the highlight of their 4 years of study at Moorhouse clearly was being able to hear Obama telling them to “man up”…something Obama should do himself when it comes to leveling with the American public about the IRS, Bengazi and other scandals quickly overrunning his administration.

Is the honorary degree for simply showing up at the college to speak, or was it for something he accomplished(like the Nobel Prize committee seemed to think he did…advance world peace? )

Actually, it is simply good form to hand out an honorary degree to a commencement speaker…but it Obama’s case, he should have been given a rotten potato to take back to the White House instead of a diploma…

IRS Targets

conservativecritic — Mon, 20 May 2013 06:56:39 +0000

Here is the current list of major targets that the IRS has focussed on prior to Barack Obama’s last election…it is possible he was using an arm of the US government to enhance his electoral situation….or are these some random, independent “hits” dreamed up by a couple of “low level workers in Cincinnati” as the White House insists.

IRS TARGETS

Anti-abortion organizations

Christian organizations opposed to same sex marriage

Tea Party activist organizations concerned about taxes, big government and government intrusion into individual’s private lives

Christian organizations who provide international food and health assistance(for example, Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse)

You can add to the list here by responding to this blog…

Death of the Bees. Genetically Modified Crops and the Decline of Bee Colonies in North America

conservativecritic — Sat, 18 May 2013 04:18:00 +0000

INTRODUCTION: I have written about GMO and human health as well as the danger of GMO to our national and international agriculture industry. I was preparing to write another technical article for MP3 Internet distribution but happened upon the following article which says the same thing….but better than I could have.

I suggest the reader put this blog entry into the context where virtually every known pestilence known to man is blamed on the decline of bee colonies…except the impact of GMO…this article explains that issue, one which all of the “experts” seem to dance around but are too afraid to confront…before it is to late.

Death of the Bees. Genetically Modified Crops and the Decline of Bee Colonies in North America

By Brit Amos

Global Research, August 09, 2011

9 August 2011

This article was originally published by Global Research in March 2008

Commercial beehives pollinate over a third of [North}America’s crops and that web of nourishment encompasses everything from fruits like peaches, apples, cherries, strawberries and more, to nuts like California almonds, 90 percent of which are helped along by the honeybees. Without this pollination, you could kiss those crops goodbye, to say nothing of the honey bees produce or the flowers they also fertilize’.1

This essay will discuss the arguments and seriousness pertaining to the massive deaths and the decline of Bee colonies in North America. As well, it will shed light on a worldwide hunger issue that will have an economical and ecological impact in the very near future.

There are many reasons given to the decline in Bees, but one argument that matters most is the use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) and "Terminator Seeds" that are presently being endorsed by governments and forcefully utilized as our primary agricultural needs of survival. I will argue what is publicized and covered by the media is in actuality masking the real forces at work, namely the impact of genetically modified seeds on the reproduction of bee colonies across North America

Genetically modified seeds are produced and distributed by powerful biotech conglomerates. The latter manipulate government agricultural policy with a view to supporting their agenda of dominance in the agricultural industry. American conglomerates such as Monsanto, Pioneer Hybrid and others, have created seeds that reproduce only under certain conditions, often linked to the use of their own brands of fertilizer and/or insecticide.

The genetic modification of the plant leads to the concurrent genetic modification of the flower pollen. When the flower pollen becomes genetically modified or sterile, the bees will potentially go malnourished and die of illness due to the lack of nutrients and the interruption of the digestive capacity of what they feed on through the summer and over the winter hibernation process.

I will argue that the media reports tend to distract public opinion from the true cause which underlies the destruction of bee colonies. As such, outlined are four major arguments which the biotech conglomerates (which produce and market GMO seeds) have used to mislead the public regarding the demise of the bees. These arguments include Varroa mites, parasites, cell phones, and terminator seeds

Argument 1: Varroa mites2

Firstly, “while there are some [people who] want to pin the blame on these mites”3, such views are unconvincing in that the argument does not make any sense because the main source of disease for these bees is intestinal disease. In fact, “many bee experts assumed Varroa mites were a major cause of the severe die-off in the winter of 2005. Yet when researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, traveled to Oakdale, California, where Anderson and a number of his fellow beekeepers spend winter and spring, they could find no correlation between the level of Varroa mite infestation and the health of bee colonies. ‘We couldn’t pin the blame for the die-off on any single cause,’ says Jeff Pettis, a research entomologist from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland,4 However, treatments against mites may be leaving hives open to the onslaught of powerful pathogens, much in the same way the overuse of antibiotics lead to super bugs”5 in society today. What does that say about our future? We have learned that in the 1960’s and 1970’s, among other human ailments, DDT was a major cause of cancer in humans and animals; however, the substitution of such pesticides was a closely guarded secret. Unfortunately, the long term effects on the human population has yet to be understood as the compromise of the immune system may be happening quicker than we are ready to accept, even regarding the advent of super bugs. One can see that even this medical implication has severe economical implications.

Argument 2: Parasites

Secondly; “Crops and even hedges, verges, and woodlands, and even where bees remain are sprayed with pesticides or herbicides. These chemicals are the practical extension of an exasperating belief that nature is our enemy. Pouring poison on our food is a very simplistic way of dealing with our problems however it ignores the root causes. New genetically modified crops, designed to be immune to certain pesticides and herbicides, have resulted in the increased usage of these chemicals. Pesticides, particularly Bayer’s imidacloprid, a nicotine-based product marketed under the names Admire, Provado, Merit, Marathon, and Gaucho have been concretely implicated6in the destruction of bee populations before. (See also)7. The fact that other bees and insects are not raiding deserted hives to feed on the honey as they normally would lends some credence to the theory of a toxic overload”8. The toxic overload is certainly a concern, but wouldn’t it also need to be considered that this is systematic in the degeneration of the digestive process, such as in humans’ inability to digest preservatives and not absorb the enzymes to break down the foods eaten for survival?

Argument 3: cell phones

Thirdly, “there was also a misconstrued study on cell phone radiation 9 and its effects on the bee’s ability to navigate which turned out to be an over-zealous unthinking reaction by an article in the Independent [news]. Some have also mentioned other navigational hindrances such as UV radiation, shifting magnetic fields and even quantum physics10 as a reason to the destruction of the bees”11.

There is certain implications to this theory, and it has been proven that electromagnetic radio wave lengths to affect the navigation of the bees. However the sun emits radiation spurts all the time, yet this has not offered a hindrance to the bees.

Argument 4: Terminator Seeds

Lastly, “leaked documents seen by the Guardian show that Canada wants all governments to accept the testing and commercialization of “Terminator” crop varieties. These seeds are genetically engineered to produce only infertile seeds, which farmers cannot replant, also to mention that the bees that are trying to collect pollen, found to have their digestive tract diseases, such as amoeba and nosema disease”12. These diseases are mainly located in the digestive tract system. After studies of the autopsy, the most alarming trait is that the lower intestine and stinger have discolored to black vs. the normal opaque color, Synominus with colon cancer in humans.

Figure 1: Extreme discoloration of intestinal tracts of bees.

‘When thoracic discs were cut from sample Georgia A-2 the musculature of bees was notably soft and discolored (A) when compared to healthy thoracic cuts (B).

This discoloration suggests that the bees were dead upon collection. When questioned the beekeeper confirmed that the bees were alive at the time of collection. Further, the tracheal system of these bees did not show signs of desiccation usually associated

with the collection of dead bees. Thoracic discs from this sample, after being placed in KOH for 24 hours, revealed peculiar white nodules”13

As seen above, it is certain that the digestive shutdown is due to hard material in the digestive tract that compromises the immune system. Circulatory problems would without doubt. Could it be that humans are going through the same process with the rise of Colon Cancer? As seen below in the comparison of the healthy Bee and the unhealthy bee, it is obvious that the bees that are ingesting GMO pollen are having severe digestive problems, so severe that the disease is terminal.

Figure 2: Digestive shutdown of the Honey Bee

The rectal contents of Georgia bees (A) were distinctly different then the contents of Pasadena bees(B). The rectal walls of GA bees were notably transparent revealing contents that looked like small stone packets (C). While Fyg (1964) describes similar stone like contents in poorly laying queens, the stones observed in the GA bees were not attached to the epithelium layer as Fyg (1964) describes. When these packets were ground and mounted, some unidentified floating objects (UFO’s) were observed. A cubic particle that resembles the cubic bodies of polyhedrios viruses (this viruses attacks wax moths) excepting that the cube observed was ~10x too big for a virus particle. There were fragments of pollen grains husks in all samples examined. All PA samples were found to have nosema spores in their rectal contents while none of the GA samples did. In two samples, epithelial cells were packed with spores.14

The North American reliance on bees for pollination is at minimum from 30 to 40%. Does it not seem obvious that the digestion of genetic material directly affects the digestive process of the bees? Could it also be that there are similarities in the human population’s digestive process? It must also be noted that this increased epidemic of the bee colony collapse has risen significantly since the use of GMO in our foods. It is also suspect in the rise of new cases of medical ailments in humans such as colon cancer, obesity, heart disease, etc… In the writers’ opinion, the inability of the bees to pass matter digestively is quite similar to the present-day problems in the human digestive system

Conclusion:

The proof is obvious that one of the major reasons of the bees’ decline is by the ingestion of GMO proteins. This is problematic, as there is such an increase of indigestible foods in humans and bees. The situation of colon cancer in humans is somewhat similar in occurrence. This is only a theory but leaves one to wonder what are we eating en mass. The external or complementary good of the bee is obviously a rise for a global concern. The long-term economical and environmental impact has yet to be completely understood.

The Ecological Impact of horizontal gene transfer and increase of rampant disease is not fully examined and if so, is kept silent by these Conglomerates. The Economic impact of the bee colony collapse would mean inflation, scarcity of agricultural commodities, and ultimately the collapse of North American agriculture.

The Environmental Impact of scarcity and increased demand for resources, will beyond doubt have severe repercussions for our long-term food security. The bio-diversity of the bees causes positive economic and ecological externalities. The negative externalities have yet to be fully grasped or understood.

Organic crops: still relatively untouched

The truth is that organic farming is relatively untouched as the bee crisis is concerned. Organic farming maintains the diversity of the eco-system and preserves the quality of the foods produced. The economic impact that the scarcity of bees will potentially have on our society as a whole is very worrisome. In the end, only our children will fully realize; that it was greed that destroyed our beautiful blue planet.

References:

Thill, John. Colony Collapse: Do Massive Bee Die-Off Mean an End to Our Food System as We Know it? AlterNet

http://www.alternet.org/module (Accessed 7/9/2007 10:06 PM)

Colony Collapse Disorder: Wikkapedia Encyclopedia Online

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/’Colony Collapse Disorder’

(Accessed July 12, 2007)

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)

www.ento.psu.edu/MAAREC/pressReleases/FallDwindleUpdate0107.pdf

(Accessed June 30, 2007)

CROP PROTECTION. Monthly 28 February 2001 – Issue No 135

Market Scope Europe Ltd.

http://www.crop-protection-monthly.co.uk (Accessed July 10, 2007)

HONEY BEE Research Program. RIRDIC Honeybee Research Program Home Page. http://rirdic. gov.au/program/hb.html#top, (Accessed July 7, 2007)

Ho, Dr. Mae-Wan. ‘Recent Evidence Confirms Risks of Horizontal Gene Transfer’. ISIS Contribution to ACNFP/Food Standards Agency Open Meeting 13 November 2002, Institute of Science in Society, PO Box 32097, London NW1 0XR (Accessed July 16, 2007)

ISIS Contribution. ‘Recent Evidence Confirms Risks of Horizontal Gene Transfer”. ISIS Contribution to ACNFP/Food Standards Agency Open Meeting 13 November 2002 (Accessed July 17, 2007)

Mackintosh, Craig. (April 13, 2007): ‘Colony Collapse Disorder– a moment of reflection’;

http://www.celsias.com/2007/04/13/colony-collapse-disorder-a-moment-for-reflection/ (Accessed July, 2007)

Vidal, John. ‘Canada backs terminator seeds’, The Guardian. Wednesday, February 9, 2005.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/gmdebate/Story/ (Accessed July 17, 2007)

Wilson, Dan. Lost colonies: ‘Where have the bees gone’? Appelton Post-Crescent, 5/18/2007 (Accessed July 19, 2007)

What’s Causing the Mass Disappearance of Honeybees? ‘What is causing the Dramatic decline in Honeybee Populations in the U.S and Elsewhere in Recent years’? HealthNewsDigest.com – New York, NY, June 2, 2007

http:/www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php (Accessed July 10, 2007)

Notes

1 Hill, Scott. AlterNet, Posted on June 11, 2007, Printed on July 9, 2007

http://www.alternet.org/story/53491/

2 http://www.nrdc.org/onearth/06sum/bees2.asp

3 Mackintosh, Craig. (April 13, 2007): ‘Colony Collapse Disorder– a moment of reflection’; Celsias;

http://www.celsias.com/2007/04/13/colony-collapse-disorder-a-moment-for-reflection/ ‘

4 ‘The Vanishing’

http://www.nrdc.org/OnEarth/06sum/bees1.asp

5 Mackintosh, Craig. (April 13, 2007): ‘Colony Collapse Disorder– a moment of reflection’; Celsias;

http://www.celsias.com/2007/04/13/colony-collapse-disorder-a-moment-for-reflection/ ‘

6 http://www.valleyvoicenewspaper.com/vv/stories/beedeaths.htm

7 http://independent.co.uk/environment/news/article2449968

8 Mackintosh, Craig. (April 13, 2007): ‘Colony Collapse Disorder– a moment of reflection’; Celsias;

http://www.celsias.com/2007/04/13/colony-collapse-disorder-a-moment-for-reflection/

9http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2003/11/26/millions_of_bees_dead_bayers_gaucho_blamed.htm

10 http://www.synchronizm.com/blog/index.php/2007/03/29/the-bees-who-flew-too-high/

11 Mackintosh, Craig. (April 13, 2007): ‘Colony Collapse Disorder– a moment of reflection’; Celsias;

http://www.celsias.com/2007/04/13/colony-collapse-disorder-a-moment-for-reflection/

12 Vidal, John. ‘Canada backs terminator seeds’ Wednesday February 9, 2005. The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/gmdebate/Story/

13 Fall Dwindle Disease: A preliminary report

http://www.ento.psu.edu/MAAREC/pressReleases/FallDwindleUpdate0107.pdf

December 15, 2006

14 Fall Dwindle Disease: A preliminary report

http://www.ento.psu.edu/MAAREC/pressReleases/FallDwindleUpdate0107.pdf

December 15, 2006

Congress presented with 150 pages of evidence IRS targeted pro-life groups

conservativecritic — Sat, 18 May 2013 03:54:34 +0000

May 17, 2013

Today, the Thomas More Society offered over 150 pages of analysis and evidence to the House Ways and Means Committee about repeated IRS harassment of pro-life organizations.

At the request of Congressman Aaron Schock, R-IL, Thomas More Society President Thomas Brejcha, Executive Director Peter Breen, and Special Counsel Sally Wagenmaker, prepared the legal memorandum with what they say is solid evidence of IRS harassment of pro-life organizations dating back to 2009.

The memo details the history of alleged IRS misconduct in the cases of three organizations represented by the Thomas More Society. The abuse dates back further than the now-publicized 2010 complaints and extends beyond the IRS’s recently exposed Cincinnati office to also include the tax agency’s California operations in the charges of blatant bias.

The IRS office in El Monte, California, began harassing Christian Voices for Life of Fort Bend County, Texas, in 2011, according to the society.

“In a series of questions penned by Exempt Organization Specialist Tyrone Thomas from the California office,” the IRS ordered Christian Voices for Life “to explain its content, message, and prayers as if they were engaging in highly offensive or criminal behavior,” the society stated in a press release.

Coalition for Life of Iowa faced nearly 10 months of interrogation after applying for tax exempt status in October 2008. The society states that the 150-page document delivered to Congress on Friday shows the group was asked about its opposition to Planned Parenthood and that a female representative from the Cincinnati office of the IRS “unlawfully insisted that all board members sign a sworn declaration promising not to picket/protest Planned Parenthood” in the future.

Further questioning by the IRS requested detailed information about the content of the group’s prayer meetings, educational seminars, and signs their members hold outside Planned Parenthood.

The society states the IRS office in Chicago called Daniel and Angela Michael of Small Victories, a pro-life organization, every two-to-three weeks for a year beginning in January 2011. The year-long probe found no illegal activities.

IRS Targeted Well-Known Christian Ministries – Groups Opposed Gay Marriage

conservativecritic — Fri, 17 May 2013 02:23:36 +0000

Several well-known religious organizations say they were targeted by the Internal Revenue Service, including the ministry founded by famed evangelist Billy Graham and a 180-year-old Baptist newspaper, Fox News has learned.

Among the ministries targeted are the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Samaritan’s Purse and the Biblical Recorder – the newspaper of the North Carolina Baptist State Convention. The revelations seem to indicate the IRS was targeting more than just Tea Party groups and conservative political organizations.

“I am bringing this to your attention because I believe that someone in the Administration was targeting and attempting to intimidate us,” wrote Franklin Graham in a letter Tuesday to President Obama. “This is morally wrong and unethical – indeed some would call it ‘un-American.’”

Graham is president of the ministry his father founded – as well as the international charity known as Samaritan’s Purse. Both organizations were notified of the IRS audits on the same day – not long after running advertisements supporting North Carolina’s Marriage amendment.

The ads encouraged voters to “cast our ballots for candidates who base their decisions on biblical principles and support the nation of Israel.” The ads concluded with these words: “Vote for biblical values this November 6, and pray with me (Billy Graham) that American will remain one nation under God.”

“I do not believe that the IRS audit of our two organizations last year is a coincidence – or justifiable,” Graham wrote in his letter.

The Internal Revenue Service did not return calls seeking comment.

Mark DeMoss, a spokesman for Graham, told Fox News it was the first time the ministry had been audited in its history.

“These certainly appear to be politically motivated since the ministry had run some newspaper ads – not mentioning any candidates – simply urging people to vote for candidates with biblical values,” DeMoss said.

The Biblical Recorder, the official news journal for North Carolina Southern Baptists, found itself in the same situation in March – audited for the first time since the Baptist newspaper was founded in 1833.

The newspaper garnered national attention last summer after Editor Allan Blume published an interview with Chick-Fil-A president Dan Cathy. In reference to his support of the traditional family, Cathy said he was “guilty as charged.”

The Biblical Recorder also published the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s ads affirming traditional marriage.

And then – came the telephone call from the Internal Revenue Service.

“It raised some red flags and made me wonder why we were being targeted for an audit when we have been around since 1833 and have never been audited before,” Blume told Fox News. “Putting it all together made me wonder.”

Blume said the timing may have been coincidental – but “it didn’t seem that way.”

“There seems to be a very anti-Christian bias that has flowed into a lot of government agencies – oppression literally against Christian organizations and groups,” he said. “It makes you wonder what’s going on.

Blume said the newspaper was eventually cleared, but the audit consumed time and money.

“It was a lot of time and energy that we didn’t have,” he said. “It took some of our staff literally several weeks of doing nothing but that (the audit),” he said.

The IRS eventually cleared both the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, but Graham noted that the audit cost the ministries money.

“Unfortunately, while these audits not only wasted taxpayer money, they wasted money contributed by donors for ministry purposes, as we had to spend precious resources servicing the IRS agents in our offices,” Graham wrote.

Obama’s feeble attempt to regain control of the Presidency…

conservativecritic — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:41:41 +0000

Well – it’s all unravelling in front of the American public, Congress and the world at large…there is a lot of dirt under the rugs at the White House, and Obama is attempting to get the cleaning lady to whisk it away.

In other words, the 100 pages of e-mails on Bengazi represents only a drop in the bucket of tens of thousands of e-mails that concern that incident that have not been released; we would call that a pretty feeble attempt by Obama to sweep that dirt under the carpet.

And then we have Attorney General Holder, once again showing he would be willing to fall on his sword for Obama by interfering with potential Special Prosecutor investigations into the IRS’s illegal(and probably felonious) activities regarding the Tea Party and other conservative organizations which were attempting to apply for special tax waivers as non-profit activities.

Worse, the IRS has now been caught feeding confidential, tax returns(with lists of donors) from conservative organizations opposed to same-sex marriage…to homosexual groups!

To say that Obama and Holder and others in the White House had no part in or knowledge of this is the height of ignorance…why would some “underlings” in the IRS conduct such activities on their own?

Obama fires the head of the IRS – so what? It was not on his watch that all these felonious activities took place – this is just another Obama “showpiece” to illustrate that he is in charge and “on top of” these issues….what a fraud we have in the White House!

Pro-life group says IRS refused to grant tax-exempt status unless they promoted abortion

conservativecritic — Thu, 16 May 2013 02:22:32 +0000

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 15, 2013

In the wake of admissions that the IRS targeted the Tea Party and other conservative applicants for aggressive, time-consuming investigations, the head of a recently-formed pro-life group is claiming that his charity was unfairly denied tax-exempt status because of its position on abortion.

Cherish Life Ministries is a charitable organization dedicated to bringing pro-life churches together to provide aid to mothers and babies in need, and educate communities about abortion and life issues.

The group was founded by Peter Shinn, head of Pro Life Unity, an activist pro-life group that has never sought tax-exempt status.

Shinn told LifeSiteNews.com that he applied for 501(c)3 status in order to attract donors and fund the group’s educational and outreach efforts. After reading the IRS guidelines on 501(c)3 organizations, he carefully tailored his application to fit the requirements and sent it in.

Like many conservatives who have complained about unfair targeting, Shinn said his application languished for more than a year without word from the IRS. Then, he received a letter saying that Cherish Life Ministries had been determined to be a “political organization” because of its position on abortion. It was denied 501(c)3 status.

Shinn told LifeSiteNews that when he called the caseworker in charge of his application to complain, she told him that to be considered an “educational” organization, his group would have to present both sides of the abortion argument.

“What, are you kidding?” Shinn recalled asking the caseworker. “You want me to educate people on how good abortion is?”

Shinn said when he directly asked the caseworker if she was telling him he had to promote abortion in order to receive a tax-exemption, she denied that was what she meant. But she seemed to contradict herself moments later, telling Shinn, “When you’re educating, you have to educate on all aspects.”

“Do you think that Planned Parenthood” – which is also a 501(c)3 organization – “teaches pro-life? I don’t think so.”

He said he pointed out various single-issue foundations that carry 501(c)3 non-profit status, but the caseworker offered to process the application as a 501(c)4 advocacy group instead.

Shinn told LifeSiteNews that in rejecting Cherish Life Ministries’ application, the IRS provided a rewritten summary of the group’s bylaws that directly contradicted the information he provided on his application.

“It was multiple paragraphs describing who we are and what we do,” Shinn said, “which was effectively rewriting our bylaws.” Said Shinn, “I thought that was absurd. Why would the IRS tell us who we are?”

Shinn now has 90 days to prove to the IRS that his group is non-political in nature.

The IRS has come under fire in recent days since Lois Lerner, Director of the IRS’s Exempt Organizations, admitted IRS agents “selected cases [for inappropriate review] simply because the applications had [conservative] names in the title.”

Initial reports indicated at least 100 groups were targeted, including those addressing issues like “government spending,” “government debt,” “taxes,” “how the country is being run,” and making “America a better place to live.”

Lerner also revealed agents asked questions of conservative applicants that went beyond the scope of the normal application process, demanding the names of donors and volunteers, copies of all minutes from the moment of inception, and copies of literature disseminated by the groups.

On Wednesday, the Thomas More Society released evidence that the IRS targeted pro-life groups for intrusive and time-consuming questioning.

The Senate Finance Committee, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and the House Ways and Means Committee have all promised to launch investigations into the IRS’s wrongdoing.

Rabid AntiChristian Bigot Mikey Weinstein Called in by Pentagon to Repress Christianity

conservativecritic — Wed, 15 May 2013 20:48:38 +0000

Under Commander in Chief Barack Hussein Obama, the US military has waged only one war that top brass has any intention of winning: the war to eradicate Christianity from its ranks. To advance this goal, it has acquired a new consultant to help it develop policies on “religious tolerance” — Mikey Weinstein.

Readers may remember Weinstein as the exceedingly militant anti-Christian Grinch who killed an Air Force Christmas toy drive for needy children because he didn’t like its evangelical roots, and who pushed for the court martial of Major General Douglas Carver, the Army chief of chaplains, for allegedly endorsing an effort to make Bibles available in Arabic.

Huffington Post provides a sample of Weinstein’s anti-Christian bile:

Today, we face incredibly well-funded gangs of fundamentalist Christian monsters who terrorize their fellow Americans by forcing their weaponized and twisted version of Christianity upon their helpless subordinates in our nation’s armed forces.

Breitbart has more on the Pentagon’s “religious tolerance” consultant:

Weinstein decries what he calls the “virulent religious oppression” perpetrated by conservative Christians, whom he refers to as “monstrosities” and “pitiable unconstitutional carpetbaggers,” comparing them to “bigots” in the Deep South during the civil rights era.

He cites Dr. James Dobson — the famous Christian founder of Focus on the Family — as “illustrating the extremist, militant nature of these virulently homophobic organizations’ rhetorically-charged propaganda.” Regarding those who teach orthodox Christian beliefs from the Bible, Weinstein concludes, “Let’s call these ignoble actions what they are: the senseless and cowardly squallings of human monsters.”

Weinstein then endorses the ultra-left Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), who publishes a list of “hate groups.” Alongside truly deplorable organizations like the KKK, the SPLC’s list includes a host of traditional Christian organizations (for their support of traditional marriage) and Tea Party organizations (for supporting limited government). Weinstein says SPLC correctly labels them all as “hate groups.” …

Weinstein also supports Lt. Col. Jack Rich, the Army officer who wrote to subordinate officers that soldiers who hold traditional Christian beliefs agreeing with organizations on SPLC’s “hate group” list are incompatible with “Army values”and should be carefully watched and excluded from military service.

Weinstein has screeched that sharing the gospel “is sedition and treason. It should be punished.” Mullah Omar himself could not more effectively impose Obama’s conception of “religious tolerance.”

Anti-Christian thug Mikey Weinstein.