May 10, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Today’s big news story was the IRS’s admission that it had targeted conservative organizations–specifically, Tea Party groups–for audits. Not to be overlooked is the further admission that the IRS improperly demanded donor lists from some of these organizations, presumably so that conservative donors, too, could be harassed. This is a shocking news story–one that would be a major scandal in a Republican administration–but it is not the first time the
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May 10, 2013 — John Hinderaker
The IRS has admitted, and apologized for, targeting conservative political groups for audits: The Internal Revenue Service inappropriately flagged conservative political groups for additional reviews during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status, a top IRS official said Friday. Organizations were singled out because they included the words “tea party” or “patriot” in their applications for tax-exempt status, said Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS
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May 10, 2013 — John Hinderaker
This American Crossroads video does a good job of laying out, in a simple and understated way, the basic facts of the Benghazi cover-up, in light of Wednesday’s hearing. If you have friends who haven’t been following Benghazi and don’t know what the fuss is about, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to email it to them: Whether the Benghazi lies make a difference depends in part on whether you
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May 9, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Being a reserved sort of guy, I tend to disapprove of social pressures to do things like kiss your girlfriend or wife. Or whoever that woman to your left might be. Still, I’ve gotten used to the Kiss Cam, which is a fixture at Target Field and most sports venues. At this point, if I saw myself on the screen along with my wife, or someone else who looks reasonably
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May 9, 2013 — John Hinderaker
As I wrote here, I am not a fan of trying to “fix” the Senate Gang of Eight’s immigration bill through amendments. I think it is fundamentally flawed in multiple ways and cannot be fixed, least of all by adding more provisions relating to border enforcement. But the Senate Judiciary Committee is marking up the immigration bill, and Republicans have offered a wide variety of amendments. To the extent this
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May 8, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Today’s Benghazi hearing had many dramatic moments and added significantly to our knowledge of that disaster. For example, we now know that there were multiple instances when special ops would-be rescuers were told to stand down, leading Lt. Col. Gibson to tell Greg Hicks, “This is the first time in my career that a diplomat has more balls than somebody in the military.” Obvious questions remain to be answered: Barack
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May 7, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Despite a hysterical nationwide campaign by the Democratic Party on behalf of its candidate, former governor Mark Sanford has easily defeated Elizabeth Colbert Busch, who is best known for being the sister of a comedian. CNN reports that with 70% of the vote counted, Sanford holds a commanding 54%-45% lead. So the race wasn’t close after all. The polls showed this special election as a very tight contest. Public Policy
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May 7, 2013 — John Hinderaker
With a hearing on Benghazi scheduled for tomorrow in Darrell Issa’s Oversight and Government Reform Committee, this is an opportune moment to begin assessing the potential importance of the Benghazi scandal. As with any major scandal in the modern era, comparisons with Watergate are probably inevitable. Michael Ramirez makes the analogy explicit: So, which was worse? Watergate or Benghazi? This is a topic to which I intend to return in
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May 6, 2013 — John Hinderaker
It is not easy to select the dumbest article to appear in the New York Times in any given week. Even if we exclude columns by Paul Krugman and Tom Friedman on the ground of lifetime achievement, there is plenty of idiocy to choose from. My nominee for this week is this piece by Nancy DiTomaso, titled “How Social Networks Drive Black Unemployment.” Ms. DiTomaso, a professor at Rutgers business
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May 6, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Saturday was the anniversary of the Kent State shootings in 1970. The keynote speaker at the annual commemoration service on the Kent State campus was Bill Ayers, Barack Obama’s political mentor. At the time of the Kent State confrontation, Ayers was underground, a terrorist on the run. Terrorists are perhaps less popular today then they were forty years ago, and after Ayers’ speech, a reporter had the temerity to ask
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May 6, 2013 — John Hinderaker
I have gone back and forth with Senator Rubio’s office as to whether the Gang of Eight’s bill is fatally flawed because of the vast discretion it gives federal bureaucrats, including the Department of Homeland Security, in implementing the act. On the subject of DHS discretion, Rubio’s office said to us: I’d disagree with your description of the discretion given to the Administration as “vast discretion”, but the waivers &
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May 5, 2013 — John Hinderaker
When Jim DeMint resigned from the Senate to lead the Heritage Foundation, Governor Nikki Haley appointed Tim Scott to fill the remainder of DeMint’s term. That opened up Scott’s House seat, and a special election to fill it is in progress. We and many others were disappointed when former governor Mark Sanford won the Republican primary. He is now running against Elizabeth Colbert Busch, whose principal claim to fame is
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May 4, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Alarmists have been quick to blame weather extremes of all kinds on global warming. The claim that “climate change” is responsible for extreme weather events has been repeated countless times. But what can the alarmists make of the fact that weather, here in the U.S., at least, is the least extreme in history? Currently, there are fewer tornadoes in the U.S. than ever. This chart, created by Harold Brooks of
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May 3, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Barack Obama’s comments about guns in Mexico today demonstrated a curious lack of self-awareness. “[M]ost of the guns used to commit violence here in Mexico come from the United States.” So the violence perpetrated by Mexican drug cartels is our fault? That seemed to be the implication. But obviously, if there were not a single firearm in the U.S., the drug cartels would be just as well armed as they
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May 3, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Last night, I posted Why the Immigration Bill Can’t Be Fixed, offering five reasons in support of that conclusion. Today Senator Rubio’s office requested an opportunity to respond to my five points; we were happy to oblige. If you haven’t already read my post, you should probably start there. Here are the rejoinders from Senator Rubio’s office: 1. The word “comprehensive” isn’t in the title… I assume you didn’t mean
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May 3, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Senator Jeff Sessions held a press conference this morning to introduce a new analysis that concludes the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill will actually result in at least 57 million new immigrants over the next ten years, significantly more than previous estimates. The issue is critically important, so Sessions’ statement is worth reading carefully and in its entirety: The Gang of Eight has stated, “this legislation does not significantly increase
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May 2, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Paul has written about efforts to “fix” the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill by both the left and the right. In my view, the bill is flawed at its core, in multiple ways, and efforts to improve it are misguided. It cannot serve as a template for workable legislation. Here is why: 1. No bill that contains the word “comprehensive” in its title should be enacted. Sound legislation can be
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