Archives for August 2016

The IRS inspector general says the tax collection agency is aware of more than one million illegal immigrants stealing Social Security numbers of citizens to file tax returns, yet has done virtually nothing to stop the practice and has not even notified the Americans victimized by identity fraud.

According to reports, the IRS has been aware of the problem for at least five years but virtually nothing has been done to combat it.  A test program to combat the fraud was scrapped and was deemed to be thoroughly insufficient anyway.

Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va, won his seat in Congress by toppling sitting House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in 2014, running on illegal immigration and fiscal discipline.  He says this is a textbook case of the government ignoring one of its fundamental responsibilities.

“I used to teach ethics for 18 years at the college level, along with economics.  You can’t make up a case study that is this crazy.  I think I would give the students a migraine if they had to piece together the logic of everything that’s wrong here,” said Brat.

Brat says there’s really only one explanation for the IRS ignoring this problem.

“The politics are inescapable.  At the top of the tickets we have Trump, who is going to be tough on illegal immigration, and Hillary Clinton, who wants a 500 percent increase in some of the categories of illegal immigration, the refugee crisis, etc.,” said Brat.

He concludes this dereliction is the result of politics based in part on his own encounter with embattled IRS Commissioner John Koskinen at a congressional hearing.

“Koskinen was in front of us and I asked him, ‘If you know that you have illegal aliens and they’re asking for tax refunds or asking for any tax status, would you do anything about it?’  He said no.  I was stunned,” said Brat, who says Koskinen made the same assertion in Senate testimony.

“When he says it’s not my job to report illegal, much less unethical behavior, we’ve got a problem,” said Brat.

Brat says that sort of brazen defiance shows an agency that does not remember who it works for.

“Your ethical duty is to the American people.  If they are now in harm’s way because their information has been stolen, my goodness, you have to let your constituents know and they failed that test as well, much less going after the illegals, which I’m sure would be at the bottom of the priority list,” said Brat.

Brat also cites Koskinen for disregarding the rule of law, but he adds that problem extends throughout the Obama administration.

“The premise in the first place has to be that you believe in the rule of law.  So illegal immigrants who offend while they’re here, violating the law.  So it’s two strikes and then this kind of a breach that effects the American people directly is strike three.  We need to take action and we know President Obama won’t.  We know Loretta Lynch won’t,” said Brat.

That leaves the job to other prominent leaders.

“It’s up to leadership on the Republican side.  Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell need to step up and represent the American people when their rights are being violated and when their own personal, private financial information is being hijacked by folks who mean to do them harm.  There’s no other conclusion,”  said Brat.

Just prior to the current summer recess, members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus introduced a “privileged resolution” demanding a House vote to impeach Koskinen.  Brat says this latest episode makes removing Koskinen a no-brainer.

“It’s a softball one foot in diameter going one mile an hour over home plate.  If you can’t hit that, you’ve got problems.  I hope leadership takes it up and runs with it because it’s the right thing to do and the American people will applaud us,” said Brat.

But he says leadership remains reluctant to pursue impeachment of Koskinen despite a laundry list of serious allegations.

“We’ve had a little pushback from our own leadership.  I do not understand why.  People across the United States are upset enough with the IRS targeting of conservatives and ethical breaches in the past.  They’ve withheld evidence.  They’ve destroyed evidence.  And now you get stories like this,” said Brat.

“For some reason, leadership doesn’t want to fight on this one.  I think they just don’t want to rock the boat before an election, but elections are about serving the American people,” said Brat.

Brat admits impeachment is not a tool to be wielded lightly, but he says it is thoroughly warranted in Koskinen’s case.

“There are high standards and you’re going to set a precedent, but this is a pretty good precedent.  I don’t think you need to be Harvard Law to understand this is a pretty good precedent when you have the head of the IRS involved in so many unethical and illegal activities at the same time,” said Brat.

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are thrilled with the electoral bludgeoning endured by Alan Grayson in the Florida Senate primary.  They also slam the IRS for not only knowing about illegal immigrants stealing the Social Security numbers of citizens and doing nothing about it but not even informing the victims their identities were stolen. And they expose the hypocrisy of ESPN, as the liberal sports network lauds Colin Kaepernick for refusing to stand for the national anthem but heaps scorn on Tim Tebow for trying to play professional baseball.

A new documentary sheds light on the horrors families in Belgium are enduring after 15 years of legalized euthanasia and those behind the film say it is meant as a warning to other nations not to follow this path and explain how euthanasia is not the ultimate act of autonomy as it’s proponents claim.

Titled “The Euthanasia Deception: We Are All Vulnerable,” the documentary looks the big picture impact on health care in Belgium and also chronicles several heartbreaking stories of people who believed the callousness of the culture with euthanasia robbed them of time with their loved ones.

“The culture has become very accepting of euthanasia,” said Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition and executive producer of “The Euthanasia Deception.”

“People are just giving up on life.  Because euthanasia is an option, they are just saying, ‘I have cancer.  I have early-stage Alzheimer’s or early-stage dementia.’  They ask for euthanasia and they qualify,” said Schadenberg.

Schadenberg says the documentary is a splash of cold water in contrast to what the mainstream media says about euthanasia.

“This video is warning the world that what you’re hearing from the general media is not true.  What happens in the culture when you allow for euthanasia or assisted suicide is, it changes the attitude in general towards dying in one way, but in the second way towards causing the death of somebody,” said Schadenberg

He says the Belgian society’s value of life is also plummeting as a result, for the elderly, the sick and the disabled.

“If you have any sort of sickness or disease that is considered somewhat serious, even if it’s in its earliest stages, you’re seen as better off dead.  The cultural shift as occurred,” said Schadenberg.

As euthanasia gains in cultural acceptance, Schadenberg says there are more and more cases every year.

“The latest data showed about 4.6 percent of all deaths, which is about 4,000 euthanasia deaths in Belgium alone, which is a very tiny country,” said Schadenberg, who says assisted suicide states in the U.S., such as Oregon and Washington also see an increase in euthanasia deaths year after year.

He says the numbers may be even higher in the U.S. since the doctor administering the lethal drugs is also responsible for reporting the death as an assisted suicide and some don’t do that in all cases.

Euthanasia is specifically giving doctors the right to terminate a life.  Assisted suicide, which is legal in a handful of U.S. states, gives doctors permission to prescribe lethal doses of drugs that the patient then administers to themselves.

The argument to the contrary, of course, is that euthanasia and assisted suicide give the patients full control over the time and means of their own death, that it is the ultimate act of autonomy and a valid option in avoiding excruciating pain.

Schadenberg says this is one of the biggest myths involved with euthanasia.  First, he says a huge chunk of euthanasia deaths in Belgium are not decided by the patients or their families.

“The studies show that in Belgium about one-third of all assisted deaths are done without requests,” said Schadenberg.

Even when the patients or loved ones are involved in the deliberations, Schadenberg says it is not really autonomy.

“It’s not exactly an autonomous act.  When we’re talking about euthanasia, we’re talking about somebody else lethally injecting you,” he said.  “Even in assisted suicide, you’re talking about the decision of the doctor to be directly involved with the provision of a lethal dose.”

“The whole autonomy thing has a lot to do with selling it to our culture.  Our culture is all about autonomy.  This act is about somebody else having the right in law to cause your death,” said Schadenberg.

And he says he wants all other societies to see the effects of euthanasia because you cannot put the genie back in the bottle.

“The problem is by the time you’re asking whether this was or wasn’t a good idea, by then it’s become so culturally ingrained that’s it’s almost impossible to convince people that what they did to their mother or what they did to their friend was not an acceptable thing to do,” said Schadenberg.

In “The Euthanasia Deception,” the filmmakers feature numerous interview with families in agony over the deaths of their loved ones to euthanasia.  One man told the story of his mother being euthanized while in fine physical health but asked and received a lethal dose because she was depressed.

Another tells the story of his grandmother unwittingly consenting to the termination of her husband’s life.

“The doctor said to his grandmother, ‘Do you want to keep your husband comfortable?’  She said, ‘Of course, I want to keep my husband comfortable.’  In no way did she realize what he was actually meaning by that was euthanasia,” said Schadenberg.

The corrosive culture even hurts families who haven’t lost a loved one.  One man interviewed is the father of an adult special needs daughter.

“He remembers being asked on several occasions just going for a walk with the family and he’s got his daughter in the wheelchair.  People come up and say, ‘Why didn’t you have your daughter euthanized?’  That’s a shocking cultural thing to happen to you,” said Schadenberg.

He says the documentary has a powerful takeaway for all viewers.

“Is it ever right for someone else to be directly involved with causing your death?  And the answer is no,” he said.

More information on “The Euthanasia Deception” can be found at www.caringnotkilling.com.

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America welcome new polls in Pennsylvania and Ohio showing the GOP looking better in both Senate races.  They also slam Sec. of State John Kerry for saying he wishes the media wouldn’t cover terrorist attacks so much because then people might not know about them.  And they react to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry signing on to do “Dancing with the Stars.”

One of the nation’s leading cultural conservatives says Republican Party leaders are looking for an excuse to avoid fights over religious liberty and freedom of conscience out of fear of being labeled anti-gay, and she says a win by Democrats in the North Carolina governor’s race could be just what they’ve been looking for.

Why North Carolina?

The Tar Heel State has witnessed an intense debate over the past several months on transgender accommodation.  The Charlotte City Council passed an ordinance requiring every government building, school and business to allow people to use the restrooms, showers and other public facilities according to their own gender identity.

North Carolina lawmakers responded with legislation allowing business owners to set their own policies while maintaining that all government buildings and public schools and universities require people to use the facilities corresponding with the sex listed on their birth certificates.

The law is now clogged up in the courts, as is an Obama administration order for every public school in the nation to allow students and adults to act according to their gender identity.

Former National Organization for Marriage President Maggie Gallagher says national Republicans are closely watching this race because they would love to move these issues off their plates.

“They’re going to look at this McCrory race and they’re going to decide whether or not they’re going to shut down on these issues, whether these are just not politically viable issues in America,” said Gallagher, who is now a senior fellow at the American Principles Project Foundation.

“I can tell you that the national Republican Party would like to shut down.  This is going to include not only the national Republican Party, but you’re going to see the wave of state efforts to provide conscience protections to gay marriage dissenters grind to a halt,” said Gallagher.

With McCrory trailing Democrat Roy Cooper and so much attention being paid to social issues, Gallagher says a McCrory loss will lead national GOP figures to the wrong conclusion.

“If it turns out this is a losing issue for McCrory in North Carolina, which is not Vermont or Massachusetts, this is going to be read by the political class as, ‘Stay away from any issue the left says is anti-gay,'” said Gallagher.

She says the party is squeamish about standing up for conscience right and religious liberties for two major reasons.  First, the Chamber of Commerce wants nothing to do with it/

“The Chamber of Commerce has emerged as one of the leading voices against conscience protections for gay marriage dissenters or pushing back against this radical idea that biological males get to shower with your daughter,” said Gallagher.  “The business wing of the party has already folded and caved on this.”

Gallagher says the GOP is mainly focused on fiscal issues and is only interested in embracing a socially conservative position when the public has taken an overwhelming stand in that direction.

“In order for a social issue to break into the agenda under the political strategies that Christian conservatives have been using, it has to be an incredible, overwhelming political winner.  If you can show us that 65 percent of the country is on your side, then maybe the Republican Party will be on your side too,” said Gallagher.

Absent those lopsided numbers, Gallagher says GOP elites have as much use for social conservatives as Democrats do.

“[The McCrory-Cooper race] is really a national election.  It is going to decide whether both parties agree with the Obama administration transgender initiative and both parties agree you’re like a bigot or a hater if you dissent from gay marriage and should be treated the same way,” said Gallagher.

Gallagher says Republicans could make great strides by pointing out that this fight is entirely because Obama and the Democrats are forcing an agenda on the American people.  She says North Carolina is really the only entity to fight back, although some states have also taken the administration to court.  She says the Obama forces would not even allow parents to know their children are identifying as another gender.

“In Charlotte, the training notes for teachers, for children even in grade school, they are told they should be very careful about letting parents know if children are transitioning to the other gender,” said Gallagher.

She says social conservatives have to get directly involved in the political process and not just fume on the sidelines.

“We don’t devote political institutions with the resources that can actually go in contested elections and help our guys out, un-elect our opponents and make sure that our friends who stick their neck out are protected,” said Gallagher, who adds she sees none of that support going towards McCrory right now.

According to Gallagher, a concerted, organized campaign is needed against the well-oiled political machine of the left.

“What we’re watching unfold is the kind of ’80s and ’90s idea that if the left just takes extreme positions, the American people will spontaneously rebel,” said Gallagher.  “The left has gotten much better at controlling the message, controlling the framework.”

Gallagher asserts this is not really even a stand against the LGBT agenda, since the entire Democratic movement is now “all-in on using the power of the federal government to fundamentally take away the privacy rights of girls and the rights of every public school across America.”

She says the time for social conservatives to take a stand is right now because losing now means a very bleak future.

“We’re just going to continue to see our rights rapidly overturned and our place in society redefined as the equivalent of racists, haters and bigots,” said Gallagher.

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America enjoy watching DNC Chairwoman Donna Brazile wonder what the problem is with Hillary Clinton packing her private meeting schedule with Clinton Foundation donors  and they squirm as Anthony Weiner includes a picture of his small child in his latest sexting scandal.  They also shudder as foreign hackers have hacked the voting systems in two U.S. states.  And they offer their blunt assessment of San Francisco 49’ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick refusing to stand for the national anthem and his reasons for doing so.

Fresh off a win in Kansas earlier this month, Republicans and special interests looking to oust rebellious conservative members have their sites set on Arizona.

Just four weeks after House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kansas, lost his seat in a Republican primary, fellow caucus member Rep. Paul Gosar is fighting back against an onslaught of outside Super PAC money aimed at defeating hi.

Gosar was elected in the tea party wave election of 2010 and is seeking a fourth term in the state’s large, rural fourth district on August 30.  But Gosar is busy fending off a spirited challenge from pastor and city council member Ray Strauss.

Gosar says his case for re-election is simple and strong.

“We gave them a promise that we would deliver and we’ve actually done that.  We’re one of the most accomplished members of Congress because we actually get things done.  We listen to the people.  We inventory what they need to get done.  We try to limit governments and empower freedoms,” said Gosar.

Over nearly six years in Congress, Gosar has compiled ratings of 92 from both the American Conservative Union and Heritage Action.  Conservative Review scores him at 83.  Still this conservative district is playing host to a competitive primary thanks to more than $280,000 in outside money attacking Gosar and boosting Strauss.

Gosar says it takes a lot of time and effort to counter an ad campaign that intense.

“They’re throwing the kitchen sink.  They have been lying about my record, like I voted for Obamacare when everybody that knows me knows that’s quite the opposite,” said Gosar.

In reality, Gosar wasn’t even in Congress when Obamacare passed without a single Republican vote in 2010.  He has voted for numerous proposed repeals of the law.

He says the truth doesn’t matter as establishment Republicans look to push him.

“They’re trying to do the same thing they did to Tim Huelskamp in Kansas, throw out all these negative ads and build up a fever frenzy in people that haven’t voted once in the last four elections.  What they’re trying to do is get the angry mob to label someone like myself, who is definitely not an insider and would have to be one of the true outsiders, being labeled as that and then try to oust them,” said Gosar.

The special interest money is coming through the Right Way SuperPAC.  The largest donor to the group is the Western Grower’s Association, which Gosar says doesn’t like his strong stance on border security.

“It’s no different than leadership wanting people to go along with their strategy that’s got us into $19-plus trillion in debt and the same old crap we see over and over again,” said Gosar.

While Right Way is spending more than $23,000 in support of Strauss, the vast majority of the SuperPAC money is aimed at defeating Gosar.  The congressman says that proves that Strauss may talk tough about border security but is really in alliance with the national GOP leaders and their deep-pocketed donors.

“He’s backed by open borders illegal amnesty folks that want cheap labor.  He’s backed by western growers, who have procured and tried to promote Gang of Eight and cheap labor.  He’s also got ties to this group that has ties to past leaders like John Boehner and current leadership,” said Gosar.

He says the misrepresentations about his record on immigration and other key issues in Arizona leave him very disappointed in an opponent who is a member of the clergy.

“They want a go-along, get-along type person instead of holding accountability, living through the constitutional framework and the rule of law.  It’s quite contradictory when you see a guy who claims to be a pastor that continues to lie over and over and over again about the things we have accomplished,” said Gosar.

Gosar says his record of accomplishment is clear, starting with border security.

“I’ve been a workhorse, putting amendments forth to defund sanctuary cities to making sure our border patrol has adequate funding, to making sure of reimbursement to local communities when Uncle Sam isn’t doing their job,” said Gosar, while also mentioning his efforts to defund President Obama’s executive actions on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA).

Gosar also touts an A+ grade from the immigration group Numbers USA

He says he says also led House fights to stop the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule and other environmental overreach, while fighting to give patients more power in their health care choices and pushing back against the Obama housing initiative that seeks a racial and religious balance in all neighborhoods.

Gosar is also proud to run on the same ticket as Donald Trump, who Gosar says is very popular in the fourth district.  He says residents are craving the return of the rule of law and that includes a sizable percentage of Hispanic voters in the district.

He says the choice between Trump and Hillary Clinton is a no-brainer.

“When anybody gives me any guff in regards to that, I’m like, ‘ Can you really vote for a criminal?  Come on now.  Have we stooped that low?’  Donald Trump is talking the right language.  he may not always use the right words, but boy he’s articulate because he knows there’s a problem and a pulse that needs to be taken care of,” said Gosar.

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America get dizzy as Donald Trump articulates his third immigration position in less than a week.  They slam Hillary Clinton for her race hypocrisy and liberals for watering down “racist” by accusing every Republican of being one.  And they shudder at the growing fringe trend of women marrying themselves.

A leading amnesty foe is blasting Donald Trump for moving far away from his earlier proposal on how to handle the millions of people in the country illegally and says the Republican presidential nominee now holds a position largely identical to those offered by Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and the Senate’s Gang of Eight.

On Tuesday, Trump told the Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity that many people have approached him about softening his plan to create a national deportation force to expel everyone in the U.S. illegally.

“I’ve had very strong people come up to me, really great, great people come up to me.  They’ve said, ‘Mr. Trump, I love you, but to take a person who’s been here for 15 or 20 years and throw them and the family out.  It’s so tough, Mr. Trump.’  I have it all the time,” said Trump on “Hannity” Tuesday night.

He then explained why allowing those who followed the law since entering the country illegally would not amount to amnesty.

“They’ll pay back taxes.  They have to pay taxes.  There’s no amnesty as such.  There’s no amnesty,” said Trump.

Center for Immigration Studies Executive Director Mark Krikorian says this is a stunning reversal for the candidate who won the GOP nomination based largely upon his commitment to secure the border and remove those living here illegally.  He says this new Trump approach doesn’t seem to differ much at all from the 2013 Gang of Eight bill that passed the U.S. Senate but died in the House of Representatives.

“Not that much honestly.  The Gang of Eight was obviously a lot more detailed with a lot more explicit, whereas Trump is talking off the top of his head.  But really, he is now the unofficial ninth member of the Gang of Eight,” said Krikorian.

“You’ve got to wonder when Jeb (Bush) was watching this on TV, he probably spit out his drink and started yelling, ‘That’s my immigration plan,'” said Krikorian.

He says Trump used the same verbal tactics that amnesty supporters also employ.

“He was using phrases like’ it’s not really an amnesty’ or ‘it’s not an amnesty as such’ and ‘they’ll pay back taxes.’  Those are buzzwords of the pro-amnesty people.  Every politician pushing an amnesty says it’s not really an amnesty,” said Krikorian.

Krikorian asserts that, just like 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney, Trump doesn’t speak the language of conservatives and really has no idea what they believe.

“The guy has been running on immigration for a year.  And he still doesn’t have the three bullet point summary that you need to be able to articulate if you’re running for office on your signature issue.  You need to know something about your signature issue.  He doesn’t.  Nothing,” said Krikorian.

Krikorian believes it’s that disconnect with conservatives that led Trump to mistakenly conclude that the party base favored mass deportation through deportation squads.   He says Trump may well have offered that idea out of genuine concern over our poor border security, but he was going to have to ease his position eventually,

“He was going to have to walk back his ridiculous comments about deporting all the illegals.  There was no question.  No immigration restrictionist has ever called for that.  That’s just something that was sort of gut reaction of his .  That was Archie Bunker yelling at the television,” said Krikorian.

In the wake of Trump’s major policy shift, there is some speculation that internal polling convinced Trump to change course.  Krikorian says if that’s the case, it should not be taken as a sign that American oppose blocking citizenship or legalization for those in the U.S. illegally.

“What the polling would likely show is that saying you’re going to deport all 12 million illegal aliens in two years with deportation squads, or whatever term he used, that doesn’t poll well.  You bet it doesn’t.  That’s why no one in the restrictionist movement has ever suggested anything like that,” said Krikorian.

But Krikorian says Trump walked it back in entirely the wrong way, by listening to his Latino advisers, who all backed the Gang of Eight and the immigration proposals of President George W. Bush.

“They’re all Bush people.  They were all for the amnesty in the Gang of Eight and they were all for the earlier Bush amnesty.  Presumably, with this meeting, people were saying, ‘Well Donald, it’s not really an amnesty if you don’t give them citizenship and make them pay back taxes,'” said Krikorian.

“They made the same assumption that Republican and even Democratic politicians always make – that there’s only two options.  Either deport them all with deportation squads or amnesty.  It is not a binary choice,” he said.

Krikorian says the right way to back away from mass deportation was obvious.  In fact, it’s been on Trump’s website for months.  The strategy includes consistent enforcement of the law, monitoring businesses as they hire and keeping track of visa holders in order to reduce the number of people in the U.S. illegally.

“Then when you re-establish control, you can have a discussion about what we do about the people who are left here,” said Krikorian.

While Krikorian slams Trump for flip-flopping on his signature issue, he is far more critical of Hillary Clinton.  Krikorian says Clinton has the most radical immigration plan ever put forward by a major party nominee in the U.S., to the point of refusing to deport anyone here illegally unless they are convicted of a violent felony.  She would also grant amnesty to all current illegal immigrants.

“That is radical.  Trump does look pretty good compared to that.  My point is not that they’re the same or that Trump is worse.  Hillary is unbelievably worse on immigration, to the level of irresponsibility and dereliction of duty,” said Krikorian.

 

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America dissect Donald Trump’s massive shift on immigration policy towards allowing the “terrific” illegal immigrants to stay if they go through a process – the very policy he blasted during the primaries – and they marvel that many of his strongest supporters are perfectly fine with it.  They also hammer Hillary Clinton for saying there is a lot of smoke but no fire behind evidence a majority of her private meetings while at the State Department were with big Clinton Foundation donors.  And we unload on the Republican Louisiana lawmaker who wants to force people to be certified and pay a permit fee to rescue their neighbors during natural disasters.