When cornered, blame Bush

Tonight on Fox News a Democratic apologist deflected the current scandals by referring to what the FBI did during the Bush years. So I looked it up. Yes, there were 5 "inappropriate" investigations of anti-war groups in 5 years and some went on for years, and nothing was found. Hardly sounds similar to several hundred groups being profiled, targeted, audited and terrorized by this administration.

And now children can buy them over the counter with no supervision

Barbara Seaman published The Doctor’s Case Against the Pill in 1969, which exposed side effects of oral contraceptives including the risk of blood clots, heart attack, stroke, depression, weight gain and loss of libido. But it wasn’t until almost 20 years later the dosage was reduced and by 2000 the EEOC was requiring coverage in health insurance.  Still, there are studies that claim oral contraceptives are carcinogens, and fifty years [2010] after the FDA approval there were 1,100 lawsuits pending against Bayer Healthcare Corporation regarding blood clots, heart attacks and strokes allegedly caused by the popular pills Yaz, Yazmin and the generic Ocella.

Rich women help kill babies of the poor

In Kuala Lumpur this week for Women Deliver, a global conference on women’s health, a billionaire (Melinda Gates) and a princess (Mary of Denmark) graced the stage to tell nurses and clean water advocates that any effort to help poor women is secondary to giving them contraception and abortion.
Note, the advocates of killing black and brown babies are white Americans and Europeans. Why teach midwives how to save the lives of the mothers, when you can offer them abortions?

 http://c-fam.org/en/issues/global-health/2079-2077-women-deliver-conference-rich-women-vs-poor

A Women Deliver participant noted $8 billion a year goes to family planning and advocates are demanding more. Yet “they don’t want to share it” with other causes. “And they don’t want to give any other group a platform that will distract from expanding abortion.”

Head Start isn’t

The United States has spent over $1 trillion on Head Start ($8 billion per year federal preschool program) since its inception almost 50 years ago in an effort to rescue young children from the effects of poverty, poor parenting, and ill health. For people who try so hard to eliminate babies before they are born, liberals sure do work hard at failed programs to help them succeed. Head Start does provide quality day care for mothers who want to work, and it does provide many jobs, some for the parents of the children. Unfortunately, the studies all along the way, including the most recent by HHS, show most benefits dissipate by first grade.

The way to prepare a child for a better chance at a good life is married parents with good jobs--Obama has set a good example on marriage, and a very poor one on jobs for low income people. No politician will ever dismantle this boondoggle--in fact, they snuck more funding for Head Start ($100 million) into Sandy relief. http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/head_start_executive_summary.pdf

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/01/14/head-start-sad-and-costly-secret-what-washington-doesnt-want-to-know/

Pillow talk

The wife of Doug Shulman, commissioner of the IRS during these major scandals when he visited the White House 157 times, is Susan L. Anderson. She is the "senior program advisor for the Washington-based nonprofit organization Public Campaign, which claims that it “is laying the foundation for reform by working with a broad range of organizations, including local community groups, around the country that are fighting for change and national organizations whose members are not fairly represented under the current campaign finance system.” "

Even though "fighting for change" and "reform" are in the description, her group probably hasn't had their board and staff audited, threatened by OSHA or investigated by ATF. Wonder why.

Apparently, Shulman didn’t like being questioned by Congress about his politics and contributions.  Appointed by Bush, his money and ethics leans heavily Democratic.

http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/31/former-irs-commissioner-shulmans-wife-works-for-liberal-group-fighting-open-campaign-spending/

http://www.americanclarion.com/20633/2013/05/23/irs-commissioner-upset-by-political-questions/

Criminal behavior in the IRS profiling

Now we know why there were reports of the enthusiasm for the Tea Party groups was waning--the people who might have attended or contributed were being profiled for audits by the IRS, and other agencies like ATF, OSHA and EPA. That's not only bigotry, it's terrorism of the bureaucratic kind. After all, they have the power to destroy your business and reputation. Lefties are also targeting this journalist, Scottie Hughes.  She’s very pretty, very conservative, and very outspoken.  That makes her a target for the Democrats’ War on Women.

http://townhall.com/columnists/scottiehughes/2013/05/30/the-tea-partys-message-is-bigger-than-even-its-most-courageous-messengers-n1608791

As the backlash against the IRS’s lawless assault on the Tea Party shows, that which does not kill the Tea Party makes it stronger. Americans everywhere are Lerning (pun intended) that the I.R.S.’s respect for the law isn’t merely Nixonian – it’s Dillingeresque. They are seeing what the founders warned about – that power corrupts. And they’re rightly concluding that a law like Obamacare – which gives vastly more power to the already out-of-control I.R.S. – is a threat to American freedom.

Mr. Clean

The IRS scandal and Obamacare

“A year ago, the IRS finalized a regulatory ruling to the effect that it will issue tax credits through Obamacare’s federal insurance exchanges. . . [for which] it has been granted no legal authority, by the Affordable Care Act (PPACA) or any other act of Congress, to issue such credits. In fact, the ruling flouts the explicit language of Obamacare.”http://spectator.org/archives/2013/05/28/an-irs-scandal-inseparable-fro

Huge loss for conservatives—Bachmann will not run

                

One of the reasons the lefties like to hate on Palin and Bachmann is because they are attractive and have sex appeal as well as being very smart.  Also they are mothers several times over. Bachmann was even a foster mother to other women's children. Palin chose not to abort her disabled child--driving the ugly left who think allowing a disabled child to live is irresponsible over the cliff .  The left is all about blurring lines and making men and women not only equal, but equally unattractive sexually.  The leftist women who know how to dress are the transsexuals.  If you want to know what brains and beauty looks like compare the Fox women to MSNBC.  I'm linking to Daily Kos and its unflattering, negative story on Bachmann.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/29/1212326/-Michele-Bachmann-will-not-run-in-2014-but-insists-my-future-is-full-it-is-limitless#

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pedro dressed for the dance.

Catholic writer bullied and silenced by IRS

It wasn't just Tea Party or Patriot groups. Catholic writer and professor Anne Hendershott wanted the public to know that Obamacare funds abortions and the IRS audited her. She was bullied by IRS agent Michael Iannotti about her Obamacare views. Usually she writes for free, and doesn't make much more than $5,000 a year for her articles. She wasn't allowed to bring her CPA to the "interview." She was intimidated into writing less on the topic--the whole point of targeting Obama’s critics. So if you heard that the Tea Party was losing its influence or critics were softening on Obamacare, now you know why—the Chicago way had wiped them from the stories you should have been reading.

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/picture-emerges-that-irs-targeted-obamas-political-opponents-and-critics/

Good-byes just don’t get any easier

Today my husband and son are enjoying the Memorial tournament, so I made an appearance at the farewell luncheon for Pastor David Drumel and wife to give him a painting from my husband. They are moving back to the Nashville area after 6 years in Columbus ministering to our seniors at Upper Arlington Lutheran Church.

There is only one little difference between these two crooks

Nixon accepted the responsibility and did the honorable thing.  Obama knows nothing of honor, patriotism, honesty, hard work, or history.

Stop government bullying now

The IRS is bullying conservatives, Christians, wealthy Republican donors and small government patriots, and using audits, electronic snooping, OSHA and ATF to terrify the president's enemies--maybe they could make a new poster?

Waste, fraud and excessive costs—that won’t change

"About 30 percent of health spending in 2009--roughly $750 billion--was wasted on unnecessary services, excessive administrative costs, fraud, and other problems. Moreover, inefficiencies cause needless suffering. By one estimate, roughly 75,000 deaths might have been averted in 2005 if every state had delivered care at the quality level of the best performing state." Summary, Best Care at lower cost report, 2012, National Academies Press. So why didn't Obama start there instead of grabbing our health insurance? The illusion that someone else pays is what causes the unnecessary and excessive costs. When has creating a bloated government agency reduced costs? http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13444

Telephone surveys on health care

I know why Americans sound so stupid on these surveys. I got one last night, and because of the complexity of the questions finally had to interrupt the woman and tell her to call the next person on her list. She wasn't a very good reader, had difficulty pronouncing the words and I doubt she understood the questions either. It was about Comparative Effectiveness Research which preceded Obamacare (never used this word in the survey), but is now incorporated in it. http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/04/comparative-effectiveness-research-under-obamacare-a-slippery-slope-to-health-care-rationing

Are the wealthy getting all the breaks?

So you think the wealthy are getting the tax breaks? You're absolutely right. But they are the ones paying the taxes. It's hard to cut what you don't pay in.

http://taxfoundation.org/blog/cbo-tax-expenditures-eye-beholder

This non-profit had no problem with approval of status

Malik Obama's foundation (he used to go by a different name), which had no problem getting 501c3 status from the IRS while conservative groups waited years, seems to be funding his wives--he's a Muslim polygamist like his father. He has two foundations named after his father, Barack, and grandmother Sarah. These "non-profits" are supported by Americans and funds are used to send young men to radical Islam training. http://www.wnd.com/2013/05/obama-half-brother-uses-irs-status-to-fund-polygamy/

http://shoebat.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/New_IRS_Scandal_052113.pdf

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2287565/Obamas-brother-accused-attacking-2-TWELVE-wives-seducing-schoolgirl.html

Roy Abong’o Malik Obama is the first son of Barack Obama senior
and was best man at the president’s wedding.

The investigation of Eric Holder

Government health care with fringe benefits

The plumber’s friend

With fancy bathrooms and low flow toilets, I decided to buy some new plungers--just in case. The $3  old fashioned kind at Wal-Mart are sort of ugly, but for $15 I can get one in a cute little brushed nickel canister or bronze, and if want to scare the guests to death, there is one with a handle like a sea monster, so when it's in the toilet it looks like some something is attacking. Garden pots work too for storing the ugly ones. This is $30 at Bed Bath & Beyond, but only $15 at TJ Maxx.

Young, healthy males will be subsidizing the older, less healthy and females under Obamacare

"ObamaCare institutes several types of price controls on insurance premiums. The elimination of gender-based ratings forces young men to subsidize the substantially higher claims of young women, ending claims-based differentials of up to 70 percent under age 40. The 3:1 age rating limit requires younger people to subsidize older people, ending the roughly 6:1 rating that was based on actual costs. The elimination of health status as a rating factor forces those in good health to subsidize those in poor health, whether or not good health is due to self-control or lucky genetics." John Goodman, National Center for Policy Analysis.

http://healthblog.ncpa.org/obamacares-war-on-men/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=HA

Lumpy has passed away

I didn’t see Leave it to Beaver until I was an adult and caught the popular early TV sit com on reruns.  My parents didn’t have a TV until after I went away to college. Interesting observation in this story about the death of one of the Beaver characters, Lumpy who went on to a successful career in business.

Beaver and Wally, and their pals Eddie Haskell and Lumpy Rutherford, were a complete breed apart from today's horrific sitcom children. They didn't mouth off. They were actual kids playing average kids - not secret rock stars or internet moguls. They were always respectful — even if it was fake, as in Eddie's case. Their parents knew more than they did. Their actions had consequences. Failure - in school or on the playing field - wasn't whitewashed with an undeserved "awesome!" and a "participation trophy." There was more reality in an episode of Leave It To Beaver than in an entire season of any given show today.

http://family.lifegoesstrong.com/article/another-leave-it-beaver-death?cmp=&utm_source=OB_LGS

In 2007 The New York Times was more skeptical about Obama

The NYT in 2007 accurately raised the alarm about Obama’s voting record in Illinois as a Senator—when he would vote “present” on difficult issues, like gun control.  If he knew he’d get in trouble with Chicago gangs and Blacks, he just didn’t say yes or no.

Sometimes the “present’ votes were in line with instructions from Democratic leaders or because he objected to provisions in bills that he might otherwise support. At other times, Mr. Obama voted present on questions that had overwhelming bipartisan support. In at least a few cases, the issue was politically sensitive. . .

The vote on the juvenile-justice bill [ to let children as young as 15 be prosecuted as adults if charged with committing a crime with a firearm on or near school grounds] appears to be a case when Mr. Obama, who represented a racially mixed district on the South Side of Chicago, faced pressure. It also occurred about six months before he announced an ultimately unsuccessful campaign against a popular black congressman, Bobby L. Rush. . .

The measure passed both houses overwhelmingly. In explaining his present vote on the floor of the Senate, Mr. Obama said there was no proof that increasing penalties for young offenders reduced crime, though he acknowledged that the bill had fairly unanimous support.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/us/politics/20obama.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

The clutter of magazines

I used to collect first issues of magazines, in fact, I have a blog about them called In the Beginning.  But I’m trying to resist scanning magazine sections of bookstores and supermarkets.  It takes up a lot of space.  I love reading the occasional article on-line, but nothing replaces the feel and look of a fresh magazine.

Linda Lignon, the former owner of Interweave, one of the nation's largest art and craft media entities, and now its Creative Director after selling it to F+W Media, Inc. F+W Media, Inc.  last July, writes at her blog:

“Like many women my age (and younger), I wax eloquent about my love of paper, pages to turn, magazines as objects. And I hope they never go away. But at the same time, if I had to choose between a set of pages to fondle and all the rich content those pages hold, I'll take the content any day. That's the beauty of magazines in electronic form, on CDs, on the Internet. You can have the content without the clutter. On the other hand, I'm pretty comfortable with clutter. It's a conundrum.”

Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my mother's birthday--she would have been 101. Sweetest woman in the world. I’ve been cleaning out some things I rarely use—like cake pans. One last trip through the dishwasher then off to the resale shop.  I'll keep the coffee pot from the 70s I never use since it was a gift from Mom, but I make terrible coffee.  I think that was the reason for the gift—she was sure it must be the tool, and not me.

Fall 1983 when Mom and Dad visited us in Columbus.

Monday Memories—October 1947

On Memorial Day we remember the war dead of all the wars. In October 1947, I was a little girl at the funeral in Illinois for my mother's brother killed in October 1944 in China. It took that long to get him home. He was part of the largest "repatriation" effort in our history--over 200,000 dead returned on the Honda Knot to San Francisco.

"Congress had passed legislation authorizing repatriation of the bodies, and the majority of the families wanted their boys returned to private burial plots or to a national cemetery nearby. Not all the dead were returned to U.S. soil. An additional 93,242 men were buried in overseas American cemeteries because the families believed it more appropriate for them to rest with comrades near the battlefields where they had died. The families of 78,976 dead soldiers had no choice; their sons were listed as missing in action, and their remains were never recovered. Today the number of missing has been reduced by only a trifle; about seventy-eight thousand Americans who went off to World War II are still listed as lost. Among those still missing are about eight thousand men whose bodies had been recovered but whose identities are unknown. Their remains are buried in American cemeteries overseas.

The entire repatriation and overseas reburial program took six years to complete, from 1945 to 1951, at a cost of $200,000,000 in 1945 dollars—several billion today [2005]. It wasn’t the first American repatriation program following a foreign war, but it was the most extensive. More than twelve hundred U.S. dead were returned for burial after the Spanish-American War, and about 46,292 were repatriated from France after World War I. Another 30,921 U.S. soldiers who died in World War I were buried in eight American military cemeteries in France following that conflict. The vast reburial program after World War II is all but forgotten today." Safely Rest, David P. Colley.

                             

Disinfecting the bathrooms

Make an all-purpose bathroom cleaner by mixing two  tablespoons of dish liquid, two tablespoons ammonia, and one quart of warm water. Use this for the tub, sink, floors, and shower. Rinse with clean water. A baking soda paste can help get rid of marks in the sink or tub. Using a squeegee on shower walls after each shower helps stop mold and mildew from growing.

Leaving the lid up when you flush can spread fecal matter and germs all over your bathroom, even to your toothbrush. To limit nasty germs, clean your toilet bowl weekly -- and keep the lid down. Use a wet cloth and an all-purpose cleaner to wash the lid, seat, and outside of the bowl. Then use a toilet brush and the cleaner to scrub inside the bowl.

From: Web MD, Beat germs all over your house.

The infrastructure cry

If collapsing bridges weren’t so scary, I’d almost smile at the way the media are hyping the story about a bridge in Washington and the train accidents recently. Mix in a little global warning hype because of the Moore, OK tornado, and it’s perfect for pols.

Obama lured Americans with promises of money (mainly for union labor) for the “infrastructure” with the ARRA money.  Didn’t happen.  He hyped it again in a recent SOTU speech.  It’s only good for politicians who are trying to cover for something else. . . like an IRS scandal or snooping on journalists.

Over 100 years ago private companies built the subway system in New York.  The city took it over. It hasn’t been as efficient or as good since.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/13/politics/state-of-union-what-obama-said

http://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/Subway_FAQ:_A_Brief_History_of_the_Subway

Senate Chaplain gives Sunday sermon at Lakeside

Usually the early church service at Lakeside is held on the east deck of the pavilion, but it was rather windy today, although the sun was brilliant.  So it was moved into Orchestra Hall (a movie theater with a stage).  Rev. Barry Black, chaplain of the Senate, who gave the sermon this morning at Lakeside Hoover service at 10:30,  joined us briefly at the relocated dockside service (8:30). He's had the position since 2003 and is a 7th Day Adventist. He told us there are weekly prayer breakfasts for the senators, and they hold hands when they pray. Democrats and Republicans holding hands and praying. It's a nice thought.

                

Lenoisms

I guess we know why his contract isn’t being renewed.  He stopped drinking the Kool-Aid.

Looks worthy of Hollywood

Ethics of Chicago mobsters

Friday Family Photo

Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day and honored the war dead of the Civil War with flowers on their graves. After WWI it became Memorial Day and honored all war dead, or even all deceased friends and family depending on your customs.

When I was very young, I sold paper red poppies with my siblings to raise money for the American Legion, of which my dad was a district commander in Illinois. When I was older I remember attending services at the band shell in Mt. Morris, where a senior student was chosen to recite the poem, "In Flanders' Field." First my grandparents would decorate my uncle's grave (died in China in 1944) at the Ashton, IL cemetery; then later my mom and aunt; and after they died, my father went to the cemetery with the flowers. Now they are all gone, but I hope there will be a few family members to go to the cemetery in Ashton and Mt. Morris to decorate and memorialize.

            

On how you deal with “Chicago”

Richard, a blogging friend writes: “ I can't get away from it. When I was barely legal, I drove a long haul truck for a little while. I never drove near Chicago but the company did, and it had a "regulation" that if you got pulled over by the police in the Chicago area, when you handed over your license and log book you wrapped the license in a twenty dollar bill. The police expected it, and didn't give the driver a ticket.

The news for the last few weeks has absolutely convinced me that I was correct in the previous election in the feeling that we had handed over our federal government to the heirs of the guys who set up the crookedness of the "then” Chicago police. We are being governed by a bunch of Chicago (not necessarily geographical) ward politicians. I hope we get past it without permanent damage to the nature of our country.”

Please do your own research.  Go online and look at the 28 categories for 501c organizations and read how vague the wording is.  It’s a law that is ripe for misuse regardless of who is in power.  But to connect this power to the health care law (woman who was in charge of exempt groups at IRS is now in charge of the IRS section of Obamacare) is Stalinesque. Truly, “Chicago” knew exactly what it was doing in creating this section of the new ACA.

The scandal timeline

Interesting program on Glenn Beck tonight. He developed a time line and let all the people involved in the scandals like Fast and Furious, Benghazi, IRS, AP, Dept. of Justice and Dept. of State speak for themselves. Mainly they said, and I paraphrase, "I don't know, it wasn't me."

Getting out front a few years later

More revelations about our imperial presidency. See what happens when you elect a man for non-essential reasons—like slogans, skin color, and flowing rhetoric—things we used to say didn’t matter?

The Obama administration acknowledged Wednesday that it has killed four Americans in overseas counterterrorism operations since 2009, the first time it has publicly taken responsibility for the deaths, 3 in Yemen and 1 in Pakistan; one was only 16 years old. And why exactly should we believe it was 4 and not 40 or 400? Are they telling us now so we'll feel better about their overseas counterterrorism and less outraged by the terror Americans now feel about Obamacare with the IRS in charge? Washington Post, May 23

A review of recent history: "The Internal Revenue Service official in charge of the tax-exempt organizations at the time when the unit targeted tea party groups now runs the IRS office responsible for the health care legislation.

Sarah Hall Ingram served as commissioner of the office responsible for tax-exempt organizations between 2009 and 2012. But Ingram has since left that part of the IRS and is now the director of the IRS’ Affordable Care Act office, the IRS confirmed to ABC News today." ABC News, May 16 .

And then yesterday

“Former IRS chief Doug Shulman told a congressional hearing this morning that he “absolutely” did not inform the White House of the IRS’s targeting operation and investigation.

Citing evidence that Shulman visited the White House 118 times between 2010 and 2011 and received information about IRS political targeting from 132 members of Congress, Representative Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) asked whether Shulman had ever mentioned this information to White House officials.

“Absolutely not,” replied Shulman. “It would not have been appropriate.””

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/349056/former-irs-chief-%E2%80%98absolutely%E2%80%99-never-mentioned-political-targeting-wh-ian-tuttle

I would have fired an employee (hard to do with Civil Service) if mischief, mayhem and malfeasance had been kept from me, because I knew I had to answer to my boss.  Obama doesn’t think he has a boss; certainly not us, not God.

Change—it’s time for a

Gutfeld has a way with words

Little guard dog

On May 20, 2013, the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s office posted this picture of a dog on their Twitter account "scared, but this little pup survived".  Then they found out the story behind the picture. The dog was standing guard over a deceased individual, possibly its owner, in Moore, OK,  following the tornado there. The dog was taken to a shelter and the deputy who found the pup, if possible, plans on adopting the dog. Man's best friend to the end.

Even liberals catch on. . .

Musing on the scandals—some of which I’m forgetting

Just a guess, of course, but I think Sharyl Attkisson, the Emmy-award winning CBS News investigative reporter who has covered Benghazi and now thinks her computer may have been compromised, will probably not get the backing from CBS she is hoping for. After all, what's in it for CBS except the wrath of Obama?

http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/05/sharyl-attkissons-computers-compromised-164456.html

What a surprise. Lois the the Leaker, the director of the Internal Revenue Service’s Exempt Organizations division, Lois Lerner, is invoking the Fifth Amendment and will not appear before Congress to answer questions about the agency’s targeting of Tea Party and other conservative groups. She'll be subpoenaed. She knew a year ago (at least) what was going on.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/348973/lerner-take-5th

What is so dangerous about a group of women who find people registered to vote who list empty parking lots as a residence? For starters, it's scary for Democrats to be held accountable. It's so scary, the founders need to be audited.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/20/group-fighting-voter-fraud-among-those-waiting-on-/

Steve Miller, the departing IRS acting head, has admitted his really bad idea to “leak” the story and bury it on a Friday afternoon. Last week he denied it—or maybe walked around it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/22/us/politics/senate-testimony-irs-scandal.html

Justice Department names a reporter (James Rosen) a criminal, read his private e-mails and tracked his whereabouts, right on the heels of the expose of the AP phones.  MSM reporters seem to be waking up to what he crook Obama is. But not Jay Carney.

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/justice-departments-scrutiny-of-fox-news-reporter-james-rosen-in-leak-case-draws-fire/2013/05/20/c6289eba-c162-11e2-8bd8-2788030e6b44_story.html

Since when was being stupid better than being sneaky?

Obviously, I'm not a politician, but I can't understand why the Obama administration would use the excuse of being incompetent, stupid boobs whose top officials lied to the president about everything he should know and provided bad "customer service" rather than they were targeting political enemies. The IRS story and who knew what when, now has almost as many versions as the Benghazi story.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday that Chief of Staff Dennis McDonough and other senior officials knew of the general nature of the report but decided to keep the president in the dark about the report’s finding that the IRS had targeted conservative groups for extra tax scrutiny.  http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/domestic-taxes/300753-carney-white-house-officials-knew-of-irs-targeting-but-didnt-tell-obama#ixzz2TxLFp7OH

Exasperated senators questioned the truthfulness of former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, who led the agency from 2008 to 2012, and outgoing acting IRS chief Steven Miller. Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah accused Miller of a "lie by omission." http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/21/us-usa-irs-idUSBRE94F10Y20130521

Steven T. Miller, the departing Internal Revenue Service chief, took responsibility on Tuesday for planting a question May 10 at a closed-door meeting with tax lawyers that prompted a top I.R.S. official to disclose that the agency had targeted conservative groups, an awkward move that prompted the inquiries now moving ahead on Capitol Hill.  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/22/us/politics/senate-testimony-irs-scandal.html?_r=0

America has been at war with its doctors for a decade

“The fundamental paradox of the regulatory state in medicine is that physicians face constant impediments to the actual care of patients.”

“a cultural assault on [doctors’] their fundamental spirits of risk-taking, innovation, and professional autonomy.”

“a gross devaluation of the economic value of their work. Minimal pay from insurers – particularly Medicare and Medicaid – for life-or-death work is the new norm.”

“there is an army of non-physicians, now known as providers, waiting at the ashes of the battleground of America and its physicians.”

Mona Kotecha, MD

And from Bev, who is caring for her 90 something parents:

I have several stories to tell... Even if you have always been able to afford health insurance, the rules of the game have drastically changed in the last three years. If a specialist you have seen for 20 years does not take the new insurance the government forced you to buy you cannot pay out of pocket to stay with that provider. You must get a referral from your GP (if you have one that takes your insurance) and start all over with a new specialist.The GP must send a new referral every year to the specialist. I was told recently by a doctor that with all the insurance possibilities out there I was foolish for picking an HMO for my parents.  Apparently an HMO causes paperwork nightmares for that doctor's staff. When both parents are ninety and have ongoing health concerns you cannot shop around. Because of the government and insurance the doctor loses and the patient loses. It is a lose-lose situation.

Those of us who are considered seniors are a drain on the health system anyway according to the new health laws. I think I studied something about what ultimately happened to those who were found unfit and a drain to society in high school and college history classes. It has been a bad two weeks for me navigating our new improved insurance and medical system.

Another scandal

I’m losing track. They are like the Clinton era bimbo eruptions. Dennis Burke, former aide to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and former U.S. Attorney for Arizona, retaliated against  the whistleblower in the gunwalking fiasco called Fast and Furious. He leaked information, misleading his bosses and violating legal ethics during the “Fast and Furious” firearms-smuggling scandal according to a Justice Department IG report.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2013/05/report-faults-former-us-attorney-dennis-burke-for-164374.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/21/us/politics/dennis-k-burke-criticized-for-fast-and-furious-leak.html?_r=0

Is this still America?

True the Vote

“True the Vote” mission statement:  “True the Vote is an initiative developed by citizens for citizens, meant to inspire and equip volunteers for involvement at every stage of our electoral process. We promote ideas that actively protect the rights of legitimate voters, regardless of their political party affiliation.”

“Legitimate voters.” “Regardless of political party affiliation.” Sounds reasonable enough. Founder Catherine Engelbrecht applied for nonprofit status for “True the Vote” and “King Street Patriots” in 2010.

To date, this is what Engelbrecht has endured says Paula Priesse: 1) An FBI visit & phone calls 2) A 3 day on-site IRS audit of both the family machine shop & personal returns 3) 5 IRS info requests over 2 years, including every Facebook post and tweet 4) 2 unscheduled ATF audits of the shop & 5) A visit from OSHA who levied 25K in fines Wow! The FBI, IRS, ATF & OSHA all at one time. What are the odds? And 3 years later, Engelbrecht still hasn’t received IRS approval.

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2013/05/20/dojs-witch-hunt-against-true-the-vote-n1601527

Such terrible news coming from Oklahoma

Many children killed in Oklahoma tornado

Two elementary schools hit in Moore, Oklahoma.

Time for ghoulish political humor. “Daily Show” co-creator Lizz Winstead says it was aimed at conservatives in a tweet. Sicko.

Shocked and awful

"The president, as usual, acts as if all of this is totally unconnected to him. He's shocked, it's unacceptable, he'll get to the bottom of it. He read about it in the papers, just like you. But he is not unconnected, he is not a bystander. ... It is not even remotely possible that all this was an accident, a mistake. Again, only conservative groups were targeted, not liberal. It is not even remotely possible that only one IRS office was involved. ... What happened at the IRS is the government's essential business. ... Everyone involved in this abuse of power should pay a price, because if they don't, the politicization of the IRS will continue -- forever. If it is not stopped now, it will never stop. And if it isn't stopped, no one will ever respect or have even minimal faith in the revenue-gathering arm of the U.S. government again. ... This is not about the usual partisan slugfest. This is about the integrity of our system of government and our ability to trust, which is to say our ability to function." --columnist Peggy Noonan

Monday memories—no college debt

An article in today’s WSJ reports the average student graduates with $30,000 indebtedness.  I'm surprised the  debt is "only" $30,000. I got married before I finished college, so I had to "borrow" my senior year's tuition from my dad and pay it back, which I did. He was sort of old fashioned and figured once married I was a responsible adult, possibly my husband’s responsibility. Costs at a state university were about $1000/year, so let's say it was $4000 for 4 years in 1961. That's $31,250 in 2013 for inflation.

So why were so many people graduating then without debt? No student loans or grants, and very few scholarships would be my guess. The more money available, the higher the tuition and fees charged by academe.

 http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2013/05/18/number-of-the-week-class-of-2013-most-indebted-ever/?mod=e2tw

             

1958 Father’s Day, University of Illinois at McKinley Hall (I still have that dress in my “archives.”)

Now we know why Obama wanted electronic medical records, unproven to save money or lives