Obama’s fingerprints are all over the IRS’s politically-motivated audits
There are many ways to influence people or an organization, so in investigating the IRS audits of conservative groups, although it would be convincing (and legally determinative) to find a secret tape or a secret email from Obama ordering the policy, that really wasn’t necessary in order to let the IRS know what he wanted. Obama set the tone as a matter of public record, through speeches that were not the least bit subtle:
The president derided “tea baggers*.” Vice President Joe Biden compared them to “terrorists.” In more than a dozen speeches Mr. Obama raised the specter that these groups represented nefarious interests that were perverting elections. “Nobody knows who’s paying for these ads,” he warned. “We don’t know where this money is coming from,” he intoned.
In case the IRS missed his point, he raised the threat of illegality: “All around this country there are groups with harmless-sounding names like Americans for Prosperity, who are running millions of dollars of ads against Democratic candidates . . . And they don’t have to say who exactly the Americans for Prosperity are. You don’t know if it’s a foreign-controlled corporation.”
Short of directly asking federal agencies to investigate these groups, this is as close as it gets.
Please read the whole thing.
But that’s not all. Today we have an interesting story in the American Spectator describing a possible “smoking gun.” It turns out that the day before the IRS began to aggressively target Tea Party groups, the head of the union to which IRS employees belong (the NTEU, the National Treasury Employees Union), Colleen Kelly, met with Obama, according to White House logs. Of course, the content of that meeting is unknown, and I am certain that both parties will claim clean hands (where is Nixon’s taping system when we need it?). So it seems to be a deniable smoking gun, which is probably no smoking gun at all.
But the article, although long, is well worth reading for another reason. It points out something about public sector unions:
Not to be lost sight of here is the role of the NTEU in raising money for Democrats in the 2010 and 2012 election cycles ”” the exact period when the IRS was busy going after the Tea Party and the others to curb any possible influence the groups could have in the elections of 2010 and 2012.
The NTEU, through its political action committee, raised $613,633 in the 2010 cycle, giving 98% of its contributions to anti-Tea Party Democrats. In 2012 the figure was $729,708, with 94% going to anti-Tea Party candidates. One NTEU candidate after another, as discussed last week in this space, campaigned vigorously against the Tea Party.
So the IRS employee union is engaged in political action against the very groups it was targeting. Sweet.
President Obama himself may be able to successfully stonewall and deny, or even mount a “modified limited hangout” and keep the IRS scandal from touching him. But how on earth could one ever trust the even-handedness of the IRS again (assuming, of course, the dubious notion that a person ever trusted them in the first place)?
[*When I read the quote that indicated Obama had used the phrase “tea baggers,” that struck an odd note with me. I couldn’t remember him doing anything quite that egregious. It turns out he had used the term in an interview back in 2010.]
Strassel is absolutely correct. There may not be one, direct command to do this, but he’s provided a hailstorm of public statements making his will known all the same.
This is what has always disturbed me about Obama: he regularly demonizes individuals, organizations, and groups of Americans, a lot of time by name. Whether it’s Rush, the Koch brothers, or “fat cat” Wall Streeters, he’s been waging war on Americans from day one in office.
Unbelievably un-presidential. Except he’s never seen himself as president of all of the U.S., just the ones who support him. The others can go to h*ll.
The last two weeks have been eye-opening for at least Independents. For the Left, you are correct- this is just part of the battle.
Leftists respond like this:
1) This is just those mean racist sexist homophobe Republicans being partisan again, and/or,
2) The tea baggers deserved what they got.
About 40% of the electorate falls above.
The most we can hope for is to get about 5% of them interested and concerned. And that’s enough for these scandals to get legs, which is all we need going into the 2014 midterms.
Lizzy makes a good point, ergo, “he’s been waging war on Americans from day one in office.”
Jonah Goldberg’s book, “Liberal Fascism” is looking extremely descriptive at this point. The loss of individual liberty, experimentation, and militarization are certainly indicators of a fascist gov’t.
Where is the militarization, his supporters ask. Obama is reducing the military. He’s using our courts instead of war tribunals. He got us out of Iraq. He stopped the war on terror. He received the Noble peace prize. He’s about peace and disarmament and tolerance, right?
Obama isn’t leading a war on anyone, is he?
There is so many things like “teabaggers” to remember Neo.
He’s been so divisive for so long it’s just frustrating that others don’t see it or don’t even watch him with enough interest to see it.
They watch him half-assedly enough with his voice to kind of hear good intent (though there isn’t) and that is good enough to them.
He’s also bought lots of hardware for DHS. Why do they need so many landmine resistant armoured trucks?
Apparently, Mr. Biden, the tools of domestic terrorism aren’t confined to sniper rifles and improvised explosives. The most malignant form of terrorism in our country is that of those who were elected or hired to be public/civil “servants.” Leftism is at the heart of the monster, and unions are its most effective bludgeon.
Victor Davis Hanson put together a list of Obama’s scapegoats back in February, 2012. How many has he added to the list since then? certainly anyone associated with Mitt Romney and gun rights.
Here’s VDH’s list:
“Until the appearance of Barack Obama on the national scene, I knew of “them” only from an old sci-fi movie in which huge ants (“Them!”) ate people.
But there are new monsters in America, and I am starting to wonder whether I am to be considered among them: those of the uninvolved and uninformed lives, the bar-raisers, the downright mean ones, the never deserving of respect ones, the Vegas junketeers, the Super Bowl jet setters, the tuition stealers, the faux-Christians who do not pay higher taxes, the too much income makers, the tormenters of autistic children, the polluters, the enemies deserving of punishment, the targets to bring a gun against, the faces to get in front of, the limb-loppers, the tonsil pullers, the fat cats, the corporate jet owners, the one-percenters, the stupidly acting, the not paying their fair sharers, the discriminators on the “way you look”, the alligator raisers and moat builders, the vote deniers, the clingers, the typical something persons, the hunters of kids at ice cream parlors, the stereotypers and profilers, the cowards, the lazy and soft, the non-spreaders of money, the not my people people, the Tea party racists, the not been perfect and mistake makers, the disengaged and the dictating, the not the time to profiteers, the ones who did not know when to quit making money, and on and on.
My God, man, how did Barack Obama & Co. conjure up so many demons?”
http://pjmedia.com/victordavishanson/are-you-them/
Lizzy, thanks for reminding me of the VDH essay. It’s quite a list for a uniter, isn’t it? I’m on that list and so are all of the commentors here at neo’s. Is it any wonder that we are all so concerned? WE are the targets. The IRS, HHS, BATF, OSHA, DOJ and other government entities are all interested in us. Can you imagine your tax return being on a “go over this with a fine- toothed comb” list? Shudder! How about a friendly visit from the the FBI asking about your relationship with the TEA Party? Shudder! How about a visit from BATF inquiring into your firearms ownership? Shudder!
So far they are only concentrating on the leaders. The revelations of people/organizations being targeted should invoke rage. It does in me. Let’s hope enough LIVs get the message.
“How about a friendly visit from the the FBI…”
I’ve had 2 visits from the federal bureau of intimidation over the last 30+ years. Why? Because I regularly let my congress critters know exactly how I feel. Since the first visit in 1979 I annually send the FBI my address, phone number, and a diagram of my neighborhood in case they wish to arrest me. I do it with a smile. The last visit was 1994. The feds fear humor and audacity like vampires fear sunlight.
DC & the MSM are the enemy of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. _____ them and the horse they rode in on. Personally, I would not walk 2 feet to piss on a flaming agent of DC to put the fire out. Show them contempt. That is all they deserve.
What is everyone afraid of? They can only kill you once and you only die once. ____ them and the horse they rode in on.