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MSNBC host Krystal Ball excused the actions of IRS agents who targeted conservative organizations seeking tax-exempt status on The Last Word Monday night, saying budget cuts left them without the resources to do their jobs and they had to “enforce the law as they understood it.” “The other big story here I think that has been missed in the press is the fact that the IRS budget has been cut to the point that these agents can’t do their jobs,” she said. “They do not have the resources to do their jobs, so they were trying with the limited resources...

The watchdog who exposed the IRS' targeting of conservative groups testified Monday that nobody in the Ohio office being blamed for the scandal would tell his investigators who directed the program, as the new IRS chief vowed to "get to the bottom" of that growing question. Nearly a month after the scandal broke, the issue of who directed agents in Cincinnati to single out Tea Party and other groups is perhaps the most glaring unanswered question. Inspector General J. Russell George, at a House appropriations subcommittee hearing, revealed Monday that his audit of the agency tried -- unsuccessfully -- to...

As this post from yesterday pointed out, it's hardly news to those who read the IRS IG report that Americans were targeted by the IRS -- not just based on membership in the "Tea Party" or "9/12" -- but based on their political sympathies generally. Last night, the Wall Street Journal reported on another example of this phenomenon.  Apparently, an IRS probe of Freedom Watch began in (surprise!) the unit headed by Lois Lerner (still enjoying a full-pay and full-benefits vacation, courtesy of the taxpayers she harassed).  According to the WSJ: In February 2010, the same month the tea-party targeting...

Yesterday, Stephanie Cutter, Deputy campaign manager for President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, appeared on Jake Tapper’s show The Lead on CNN. During the segment Stephanie Cutter admitted she had attended meetings with then IRS Chief Douglas Shulman at the White House: “A couple of facts here that I think are important for us to stick by, number one, the only reason we know about these visits is because the president makes everything public. Number two, what we’re really looking at some of these visits… What we are looking at the number of times that Mr. Shulman was cleared into...

WASHINGTON A group of anti-abortion activists in Iowa had to promise the Internal Revenue Service it wouldn’t picket in front of Planned Parenthood. Catherine Engelbrecht’s family and business in Texas were audited by the government after her voting-rights group sought tax-exempt status from the IRS. Retired military veteran Mark Drabik of Nebraska became active in and donated to conservative causes, then found the IRS challenging his church donations. While the developing scandal over the targeting of conservatives by the tax agency has largely focused to date on its scrutiny of groups with words such as “tea party” or “patriot” in...

The White House insists President Obama is "outraged" by the "inappropriate" targeting and harassment of conservative groups. If true, it's a remarkable turnaround for a man who helped pioneer those tactics. On Aug. 21, 2008, the conservative American Issues Project ran an ad highlighting ties between candidate Obama and Bill Ayers, formerly of the Weather Underground. The Obama campaign and supporters were furious, and they pressured TV stations to pull the ad—a common-enough tactic in such ad spats. What came next was not common. Bob Bauer, general counsel for the campaign (and later general counsel for the White House), on...

A series of letters suggests that senior IRS official Lois Lerner was directly involved in the agency’s targeting of conservative groups as recently as April 2012, more than nine months after she first learned of the activity. Lerner, the director of the IRS exempt organizations office in Washington, D.C., signed cover letters to 15 conservative organizations currently represented by the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) between in March and April of 2012. The letters, such as this one sent to the Ohio Liberty Council on March 16, 2012, informed the groups applying for tax-exempt status that the IRS...

What did the White House know about the IRS targeting conservative groups and when did it know it? Crucial evidence needed to develop an accurate answer to that question would include the records of any communications that went back and forth between the IRS and the White House on the topic. ... The IRS--which requires working Americans to file their tax returns by an April 15 deadline each year or else face penalties--did not comply with this deadline imposed by the congressional committee that has oversight over its activities.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The man who led the Internal Revenue Service when it was giving extra scrutiny to tea party and other conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status told Congress on Tuesday that he knew little about what was happening while he was still commissioner. Douglas Shulman, who vacated his position last November when his five-year term expired, told the Senate Finance Committee he didn't learn all the facts until he read last week's report by a Treasury inspector general confirming the targeting strategy. In his first public remarks since the story broke, Shulman said: "I agree this is an issue...

WASHINGTON, May 14 (Xinhua) -- Multiple scandals have coalesced and hit the White House like a tsunami, putting Obama on the defensive amid a rash of serious charges including prior gun running, terror spin, spying on journalists and targeting conservative political groups. The White House (Carney) said it is not involved. Jay Carney during his regular briefing, "I am certainly not aware... We haven't seen it, we don't have access... Obama will decide." Steven Miller, acting IRS commissioner, "the agency was simply trying to manage applications for tax-exempt status... in no way due to any political or partisan motivation."

US President Barack Obama has said the federal tax agency's targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny was "intolerable and inexcusable". He said those responsible for the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) actions would be held responsible. Mr Obama spoke after a treasury department report placed the blame on "ineffective management" at the agency. The US attorney general earlier ordered an FBI inquiry into the IRS conduct before the 2012 presidential election. Eric Holder told a news conference that agents would determine if any laws had been broken. The actions of tax officers, if not criminal, were "certainly outrageous and unacceptable",...

Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday that he's ordered a Justice Department probe into an IRS program that singled out Tea Party and other conservative groups for additional scrutiny in their applications for tax-exempt status. Holder announced the investigation during a press conference in Washington. He said the FBI was coordinating with the Department of Justice to see if any laws were broken. He called the practice "outrageous and unacceptable," echoing remarks from President Obama a day earlier. The probe comes as newly obtained documents show the current IRS chief knew about the agency's targeting of Tea Party groups as...

By now you’ve heard that the Internal Revenue Service has been engaged in Nixonian-style investigations of conservative groups. Words like “Tea Party” or “patriots” trigged special scrutiny by government revenuers. That was back in 2011 — about the same time I started hosting this daily commentary. And based on my subject matter, it’s safe to say that President Obama and I are not exactly b.f.f.’s. Not too long after we launched the commentaries, I got word that I was being audited — all the way back to 2004. I hired an attorney and CPA and began the arduous task of...

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) said the House will investigate the IRS after the agency admitted to and apologized on Friday for targeting Tea Party and conservative groups during the 2012 election. "The IRS cannot target or intimidate any individual or organization based on their political beliefs," Cantor said on Friday. "The House will investigate this matter." Lois Lerner, the chief IRS official responsible for tax-exempt organizations, said the the IRS targeted groups that had the words "Tea Party" or "Patriots" in their names and that doing so was "wrong."

The Obama campaign has put out an official video targeting young adults that compares voting to having sex for the first time. There really are not words to describe the ad, but it gels with the Obama campaign theme that this year’s election is all about sex, birth control and abortion. In a creepy manner, Jim Messina, Campaign Manager for Obama for America, tweeted the video — making it public for the first time. “Your first time voting is important. Trust @lenadunham—you are ready,” he said. Dunham, something of a vulgar performance artist, tweets out gems like this one: “My...

Obama’s #Occupy army threatened to disrupt and physically assault conservative speakers at the CPAC convention this week in Washington DC. Andrew Breitbart and Newt Gingrich are two conservatives who they will be targeting at the event.Lachlan Markay at The Foundry reported: The “Occupy DC” protest group is planning to disrupt the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference using a range of potentially illegal tactics that could even include violence against participants, Scribe has learned. (Snip) “Speakers will be physically assaulted, not just verbally confronted,” the source told Scribe in an email.

The Occupy movement came to Los Angeles aiming for Wall Street titans, but farmers market vendors are the first to take a real hit. Two weeks ago, about 40 vendors who sell on the City Hall lawn every Thursday were forced off the property after protesters refused to remove their city of tents. .. Since that relocation, profits have plummeted, vendors have pulled out and shoppers have become scarce. "The cause is good," said Genaro Lopez, a vendor who initially helped protesters with free sodas and burritos. "But this is our bread and butter, and we've taken a huge hit."...

Video shows Tamuz missile striking window of a building during Second Lebanon War. Another UFO Hoax bits the dust! By Anshel Pfeffer The Tamuz missile has a range of up to 25 kilometers and is equipped with an electro-optic sensor that allows its operators to guide it to its target by watching it on a screen while it hovers to its target.

Profiles, status updates and messages all include a mother lode of voluntarily provided information. The social media site is using it to help advertisers find exactly who they want to reach. Privacy watchdogs are aghast. ### Julee Morrison has been obsessed with Bon Jovi since she was a teenager. So when paid ads for fan sites started popping up on the 41-year-old Salt Lake City blogger's Facebook page, she was thrilled. She described herself as a "clicking fool," perusing videos and photos of the New Jersey rockers. Then it dawned on Morrison why all those Bon Jovi ads appeared every...

Swedish reporters are held by Egyptian Army, accused of being Mossad spies; 4 Israelis arrested; Anderson Cooper is beaten up. Pro-government protesters and Egyptian military have attacked reporters from numerous media sources around the world during Wednesday's riots in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Two Swedish reporters were held for hours on Wednesday by Egyptian soldiers accusing them of being Mossad spies, the reporters' employer, daily newspaper Aftonbladet, reported. The soldiers reportedly attacked the reporters, spitting in their faces and threatening to kill them. Four Israeli journalists were arrested by Egyptian military police in Cairo on Wednesday. Three of those arrested work...