Stephen King, author of Salem's Lot, Carrie, The Shining, Pet Sematary...a man of faith? Don't be too quick to doubt. Although he mentions doubts and inconsistencies, the bestselling horror novelist did also write The Green Mile...Billy Hallowell shares links to Stephen King's comments on his religious beliefs and doubts:
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/05/31/horror-author-stephen-king-has-a-message-for-atheists-and-non-believers-plus-see-what-he-said-about-intelligent-design/
Friday, May 31, 2013
The IRS's Plot Thickens?
Patricia Evans explains why those who oppose Obamacare may have been targeted by the IRS...
"Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation Demands Appointment of Special Prosecutor to Investigate IRS Constitutional Violations. Demands That Congress Strip Away Affordable Care Act Responsibilities Originally Assigned to the IRS.
The Virginia Tea Party Patriot Federation came out swinging today. Two of the Federation’s leaders publicly called for actions further than just the Congressional Hearings now being held.
After more than a week, the IRS officials who oversaw the criminal activities of their workers have all developed a similar excuse when questioned about this growing scandal by Congressmen and Senators from both sides of the aisle: “I don’t know”, “I can’t recall”, “I was not informed” and the best one “I found out on the local news”.
Take a look at what Representative Mike Kelly, (R-PA) had to say during the hearing. His statements drew a standing ovation from observers of the hearing.
Now Lois Lerner, the IRS Official seemingly caught in the middle of this scandal, is fending off legal action by pleading the 5th. This appears to be the only amendment of the constitution this IRS official is aware of. But one must not worry about Ms. Lerner for one minute. Yesterday she was given leave with full pay as a reward for her silence.
Leaders of the VTPP Federation obviously have seen enough to know this is the worst scandal to ever hit this much-feared agency. VTPP Federation Chairman Mark Daugherty is calling for a special prosecutor to “break through the conflicts of interest inherent in Treasury Department and Department of Justice investigations” and get to the bottom of who gave the orders for this coordinated attack on Tea Party and other conservative groups.
Listen to what former Richmond Tea Party President, and former U.S. Senate candidate Jamie Radtke had to say about IRS investigations of Tea Party groups recently on WMAL.
Fauquier’s Rick Buchanan, Vice-Chairman, Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation, said, “In view of the IRS constitutional violations … we demand that Congress cancel all enforcement of the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act provisions.”
It was learned recently that Sarah Hall Ingram, who served as commissioner of the office responsible for tax-exempt organizations between 2009 and 2012, did such a great job insuring the fairness of the treatment of American citizens, except, well…. Tea Party and other conservative groups, that she has now been placed in the position of the IRS Director of Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
Here is the full news release:
May 23, 2013
Rick Buchanan, Vice-Chairman, Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation, said, “In view of the IRS constitutional violations and their failure to properly manage their existing tax-exemption department responsibilities, we further demand that Congress strip away the IRS assignment to monitor health insurance status on individual tax returns and cancel all enforcement of the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act provisions.”
*The Constitutional violations include:
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"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." - Thomas Jefferson Virginia Tea Party Patriots www.virginiateapartypatriots.com Danville Patriots http://danvillepatriots.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyqTlje8RxQ "
"Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation Demands Appointment of Special Prosecutor to Investigate IRS Constitutional Violations. Demands That Congress Strip Away Affordable Care Act Responsibilities Originally Assigned to the IRS.
Virginia State Tea Party calls for a Special Prosecutor to Audit the IRS
From Fauquier Free Citizen: http://fauquierfreecitizen.com/virginia-state-tea-party-calls-for-a-special-prosecutor-to-audit-the-irs/
The Virginia Tea Party Patriot Federation came out swinging today. Two of the Federation’s leaders publicly called for actions further than just the Congressional Hearings now being held.After more than a week, the IRS officials who oversaw the criminal activities of their workers have all developed a similar excuse when questioned about this growing scandal by Congressmen and Senators from both sides of the aisle: “I don’t know”, “I can’t recall”, “I was not informed” and the best one “I found out on the local news”.
Take a look at what Representative Mike Kelly, (R-PA) had to say during the hearing. His statements drew a standing ovation from observers of the hearing.
Now Lois Lerner, the IRS Official seemingly caught in the middle of this scandal, is fending off legal action by pleading the 5th. This appears to be the only amendment of the constitution this IRS official is aware of. But one must not worry about Ms. Lerner for one minute. Yesterday she was given leave with full pay as a reward for her silence.
Leaders of the VTPP Federation obviously have seen enough to know this is the worst scandal to ever hit this much-feared agency. VTPP Federation Chairman Mark Daugherty is calling for a special prosecutor to “break through the conflicts of interest inherent in Treasury Department and Department of Justice investigations” and get to the bottom of who gave the orders for this coordinated attack on Tea Party and other conservative groups.
Listen to what former Richmond Tea Party President, and former U.S. Senate candidate Jamie Radtke had to say about IRS investigations of Tea Party groups recently on WMAL.
Fauquier’s Rick Buchanan, Vice-Chairman, Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation, said, “In view of the IRS constitutional violations … we demand that Congress cancel all enforcement of the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act provisions.”
It was learned recently that Sarah Hall Ingram, who served as commissioner of the office responsible for tax-exempt organizations between 2009 and 2012, did such a great job insuring the fairness of the treatment of American citizens, except, well…. Tea Party and other conservative groups, that she has now been placed in the position of the IRS Director of Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
Here is the full news release:
May 23, 2013
Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation Demands Appointment of Special Prosecutor to Investigate IRS Constitutional Violations. Demands That Congress Strip Away Affordable Care Act Responsibilities Originally Assigned to the IRS.
(Richmond, VA) “The Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation calls for Congress to appoint an independent special prosecutor to investigate IRS violations of the U.S. Constitution* when the IRS tax-exempt office targeted select groups,” said, Mark Daugherty, Chairman. “A special prosecutor will have the power to break through the conflicts of interest inherent in Treasury Department and Department of Justice investigations,” Mr. Daugherty added. “In addition, suspicion of deeper government involvement in this scandal is fueled by the decision of Lois Lerner, Director of the Exempt organizations Unit, to invoke the 5th Amendment during her brief appearance before the House Oversight committee on May 22nd.”Rick Buchanan, Vice-Chairman, Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation, said, “In view of the IRS constitutional violations and their failure to properly manage their existing tax-exemption department responsibilities, we further demand that Congress strip away the IRS assignment to monitor health insurance status on individual tax returns and cancel all enforcement of the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act provisions.”
*The Constitutional violations include:
- First Amendment: The rights of free speech and of free assembly by the people.
- Fourth Amendment: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.
- Fourteenth Amendment: Equal protection of the law.
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"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." - Thomas Jefferson Virginia Tea Party Patriots www.virginiateapartypatriots.com Danville Patriots http://danvillepatriots.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyqTlje8RxQ "
Scott Lingamfelter for Delegate, Again
Delegate Scott Lingamfelter, sponsor of the wonderful "Boneta Bill," didn't plan to run for 31st District Delegate again this year. He expected to be running for lieutenant-governor. Now he's having to campaign to keep his seat in the House of Delegates.
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When I began my campaign for Lieutenant Governor, this was my vision: A Virginia focused on protecting the Constitutional rights of all of our citizens, the vitality and prosperity of our families, and the growth and success of all businesses.
While I wanted very much to lead the fight as your Lieutenant Governor nominee, our Party looked to another solid leader, E.W. Jackson, who I am proud to support. I did not expect to return to the House of Delegates in 2014, but many friends and patriots devoted to the conservative cause have asked me to run for re-election to the House.
After giving this a lot of thought and prayer since the Convention concluded, I have decided that I will seek re-election this year to the Virginia House of Delegates. The fight must continue for a Virginia that respects our Constitutional rights, understands that the family is the basis of our civilization as a state and nation, and that small business, not the government, is the engine of our economy.
Many of you already know my record as a leader in the Army for 28 years and in the House for 13 years. You know me as an authentic conservative with an A+ from the NRA, 100% ratings from the Family Foundation, and 100% ratings from the National Federation of Independent Business, (NFIB). And while I may not have been your top candidate for Lieutenant Governor, I hope that I can gain your support for re-election to the House.
If you can support me with a donation of $50, $100, $250, or even $500, this will help us launch the campaign, which I must do immediately to be successful. You can do that by going to my Lieutenant Governor's site (which is being transitioned to the new campaign shortly) and donating today. Please click here!
It is time to join the fight. The battle has begun, victory is at hand, and we are the Army summoned to the task. As the old cavalry commander summoned his troops, "Ride to the sound of the guns!"
Ride on!
John Birch Society Endorses U.S. HR 75
Gentle Readers, I have no idea...
* how many of you are familiar with the John Birch Society
* how many of you remember the J.B.S. from the 1960s with respect
* how many of you think the J.B.S. was a good organization in its day, but it went too far
* how many of you didn't like the J.B.S. and were hoping it had fallen apart by now
* how many of you don't remember the J.B.S. at all
Please enlighten me about this. If the comment space doesn't work for you, e-mail salolianigodagewi@yahoo.com.
(Fair disclosure: I learned to read after the "Communist" scare of the 1950s was fairly well over; by that time J.B.S. literature was part of my father's minority-opinions collection, so I did grow up with some of their classics like None Dare Call It Treason. It's interesting to reread those books now. As with all timely and topical literature, after a certain amount of time has passed, one can laugh at the mistaken guesses and marvel at the ones that were right on target...)
Anyway, the John Birch Society still exists...online! Apparently some of the younger "Birchers" from the 1960s are still active, and a new generation are keeping their ideals and memories alive. You can support U.S. HR 75 through their web site as well as through Popvox. From an e-mail forwarded by Karen Bracken:
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This is the United Nations Law of the Sea treaty (LOST) that the UN described in 2007, saying LOST's "scope is vast: it covers all ocean space, with all its uses, including navigation and overflight; all uses of its resources, living and non-living, on the high seas, on the ocean floor and beneath, on the continental shelf and in the territorial seas.... The Convention is widely recognized by the international community as the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and the seas must be carried out."
* how many of you are familiar with the John Birch Society
* how many of you remember the J.B.S. from the 1960s with respect
* how many of you think the J.B.S. was a good organization in its day, but it went too far
* how many of you didn't like the J.B.S. and were hoping it had fallen apart by now
* how many of you don't remember the J.B.S. at all
Please enlighten me about this. If the comment space doesn't work for you, e-mail salolianigodagewi@yahoo.com.
(Fair disclosure: I learned to read after the "Communist" scare of the 1950s was fairly well over; by that time J.B.S. literature was part of my father's minority-opinions collection, so I did grow up with some of their classics like None Dare Call It Treason. It's interesting to reread those books now. As with all timely and topical literature, after a certain amount of time has passed, one can laugh at the mistaken guesses and marvel at the ones that were right on target...)
Anyway, the John Birch Society still exists...online! Apparently some of the younger "Birchers" from the 1960s are still active, and a new generation are keeping their ideals and memories alive. You can support U.S. HR 75 through their web site as well as through Popvox. From an e-mail forwarded by Karen Bracken:
"
It's High Time to 'Get US out!' of the UN
Fifty years of JBS warnings about the UN are coming true.
At the founding meeting of The John Birch Society in 1958, Robert Welch warned of a plan by our political elites to surrender American sovereignty to international organizations, such as the United Nations:
A part of that plan, of course, is to induce the gradual surrender of American sovereignty, piece by piece and step by step, to various international organizations -- of which the United Nations is the outstanding but far from the only example....
Just a few years later the JBS established its signature action project, "Get US out! of the United Nations," with the longrange goal of creating sufficient understanding about the UN to enable congressional action to end our membership in the UN.
Now fast-forward to the present. On May 28, CQ News reported that "Former Sen. John Kerry’s appointment as secretary of State has given supporters of the Law of the Sea treaty hope that he will revive a longstanding campaign for ratification...."
This is the United Nations Law of the Sea treaty (LOST) that the UN described in 2007, saying LOST's "scope is vast: it covers all ocean space, with all its uses, including navigation and overflight; all uses of its resources, living and non-living, on the high seas, on the ocean floor and beneath, on the continental shelf and in the territorial seas.... The Convention is widely recognized by the international community as the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and the seas must be carried out."
In other words the UN is saying that the UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea which administers LOST would have authority over everything, everything, over, on, and under the oceans and seas of the world. If you don't agree with restricting the independence of the United States to this degree, then you're a good candidate for joining in the Get US out! project.
The JBS has recently produced an excellent new tool for convincing others that it's time to end our membership in the UN, a booklet entitled America and the United Nations.
Of course, there are many other good reasons to Get US out! There's the new Obama-backed UN Arms Trade Treaty that was designed to disarm American citizens, and that will likely be presented for ratification by the Senate sometime soon.
There's also the UN's Agenda 21, which large numbers of Americans have become alarmed about during the past couple years. Agenda 21 provides a platform for the eventual total government control over our entire material existence, all in the pursuit of the UN's definition of "sustainable development."
If you agree that it's high time that the United States should withdraw its membership in the United Nations, please contact your senators and representative and let them know you support the American Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2013, H.R. 75.
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President Obama on the Oklahoma Tornado
Right, so last week I said this web site had posted our links to online charitable appeals on behalf of Moore, Oklahoma...but this one is too historic to pass up. It came with an on-screen image of the White House seal and identified its sender as President Barack Obama. (The seal image resisted copying-and-pasting, which seems appropriate.) This web site does have a policy of publishing material contributed by elected officials, because their published comments on events have historical value. Also, although they may have received this e-mail before I did, I suspect some readers may be interested in a link to organizations endorsed by Democrats...
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Good morning --
On Sunday, I was in Moore, Oklahoma. Today, I'm headed to the Jersey Shore. Those two communities are separated by half a continent but united by a common sense of purpose. Like Joplin, Tuscaloosa, and New Orleans, they are home to people who've seen nature at its worst and humanity at its best. And they're filled with those who have made the choice to rebuild after disaster, to come back stronger than ever.
The scene on the ground this weekend was one we all know too well: homes wrecked and neighborhoods devastated. But the memories I'll take away from Moore will be of people standing tall, of neighbor helping neighbor, of survivors working to ensure that no one suffers through tragedy alone. And that too, was strikingly familiar. I could have been back in Brigantine Beach after Hurricane Sandy. I could have been in Joplin in 2011.
It's because of those past experiences in places like New Jersey and Missouri that I have faith that Moore will emerge from the wreckage of this tornado stronger than ever. And that's in part because I know that they won't undertake the road to recovery alone. This was a national tragedy, and that demands a national response.
If you want to help, the best way to support those affected by this storm is to make a financial contribution to the voluntary organization of your choice. The best way to volunteer is to affiliate with an organization that is already providing support to survivors.
We've set up a page to help steer you in the right direction. Check it out to get started:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/oklahoma
Thank you,
President Barack Obama"
"
Good morning --
On Sunday, I was in Moore, Oklahoma. Today, I'm headed to the Jersey Shore. Those two communities are separated by half a continent but united by a common sense of purpose. Like Joplin, Tuscaloosa, and New Orleans, they are home to people who've seen nature at its worst and humanity at its best. And they're filled with those who have made the choice to rebuild after disaster, to come back stronger than ever.
The scene on the ground this weekend was one we all know too well: homes wrecked and neighborhoods devastated. But the memories I'll take away from Moore will be of people standing tall, of neighbor helping neighbor, of survivors working to ensure that no one suffers through tragedy alone. And that too, was strikingly familiar. I could have been back in Brigantine Beach after Hurricane Sandy. I could have been in Joplin in 2011.
It's because of those past experiences in places like New Jersey and Missouri that I have faith that Moore will emerge from the wreckage of this tornado stronger than ever. And that's in part because I know that they won't undertake the road to recovery alone. This was a national tragedy, and that demands a national response.
If you want to help, the best way to support those affected by this storm is to make a financial contribution to the voluntary organization of your choice. The best way to volunteer is to affiliate with an organization that is already providing support to survivors.
We've set up a page to help steer you in the right direction. Check it out to get started:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/oklahoma
Thank you,
President Barack Obama"
Obamacare: The Alternative
Philip Hodges shares an up-close look at a doctor who knows what would really work for our medical care system (Obamacare won't):
http://politicaloutcast.com/2013/05/doctor-stops-taking-insurance-cuts-prices-in-half/
http://politicaloutcast.com/2013/05/doctor-stops-taking-insurance-cuts-prices-in-half/
Jamie Gass on Common Core
Karen Bracken shared this link to yet another defense of traditional educational standards against a high-priced, high-tech, politically suspect boondoggle...
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/beginning-common-cores-trouble_731923.html
Authors are Jamie Gass and Jim Stergios...I'm still in day two of five days of e-mails. I thought of a comment to post on Google+. It goes at the end of the article: "and (Common Core) ignores what's worked for Virginia, too."
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/beginning-common-cores-trouble_731923.html
Authors are Jamie Gass and Jim Stergios...I'm still in day two of five days of e-mails. I thought of a comment to post on Google+. It goes at the end of the article: "and (Common Core) ignores what's worked for Virginia, too."
Jane Hogan on Common Core
More from Patricia Evans, edited for format by Priscilla King:
"From Betsy Ross Newsletter, Southside Virginia Chapter ACT! for America:
Eagle Forum - Right Side News
Push Against Common Core Gains Momentum
http://www.rightsidenews.com/2013052632596/life-and-science/health-and-education/push-against-common-core-gains-momentum.html Read below for my comments:
This is an excellent review of the development and drivers of Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Following the money gives that awful "sinking feeling" when you realize you're fighting Barack Obama's thought control plus pluralism from corporate America, foundations of all political persuasions, academia, media and the PC left.
Omitted is the USDOE funding of
It's far better in that Virginia has not adopted CCSS because the standards of learning are much more rigorous.
Best Rebuttal Yet
"From Betsy Ross Newsletter, Southside Virginia Chapter ACT! for America:
Eagle Forum - Right Side News
Push Against Common Core Gains Momentum
http://www.rightsidenews.com/2013052632596/life-and-science/health-and-education/push-against-common-core-gains-momentum.html Read below for my comments:
This is an excellent review of the development and drivers of Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Following the money gives that awful "sinking feeling" when you realize you're fighting Barack Obama's thought control plus pluralism from corporate America, foundations of all political persuasions, academia, media and the PC left.
Unfortunately the article omits information about the Longitudinal Data Systems (LDS) because it describes only the new Gates run-around of using private funding to develop the architecture of a national database that the US Department of Education (USDOE) says it doesn't own, hah, because it was built with private funds.
Happily only 9 states to date have contracted with inBloom, not Virginia, not Maine, yes Georgia. Technically it is a non-profit, but its "providers" include major corporations profiting from the education market. Here is the list: https://www.inbloom.org/providers
Omitted is the USDOE funding of
Longitudinal Data Systems (LDS) in all states with stimulus grants.
For now Virginia reports only aggregated data, but uses individual data to help teachers fit instruction to the pupil. There is now top-notch privacy. With USDOE running around FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, is a federal law that pertains to the release of and access to educational records) as the article says, how long can it be maintained?
Bad as CCSS are in most states, the situation in Virginia is both better or worse, depending on how you look at it.
It's far better in that Virginia has not adopted CCSS because the standards of learning are much more rigorous.
It's worse in that far too many local Superintendents and School Boards say they don't use CCSS, when in fact they really do! And because the system is decentralized parents must oppose their excessive use in 135 different districts!
Virginia includes samples of CCSS lessons on the state website with emphasis on group work rather than individual effort and with emphasis on job skills, instructional reading and computerized learning. Localities are doing likewise.
Virginia includes samples of CCSS lessons on the state website with emphasis on group work rather than individual effort and with emphasis on job skills, instructional reading and computerized learning. Localities are doing likewise.
Although jobs, computers and teamwork are desirable these days, the danger is in their excessive use to the exclusion of traditional knowledge and individual effort. Parents need to fight locally and start in their own children's schools.
Jane Hogan
Stop Common Core Progress Update
Click below for delightful article!
http://truthinamericaneducation.com/common-core-state-standards/stop-common-core-progress-update/
Take heart in the success of parents' grassroots pushback in state 2013 legislative sessions, stalling out CCSS in nearly a dozen states. Plus bills in both US Senate and House.
Hurray for Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, May 27Best Rebuttal Yet
Common Core Education Is Uncommonly Inadequate
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324659404578503561386927962.html
Massachusetts student test scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress and SATs were unremarkable in the early 1990s. Then, after a landmark educational reform in 1993, state SAT scores rose for 13 consecutive years. In 2005, Bay State students became the first to score best in the nation in all grades and categories on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The students have repeated the feat each time the tests have been administered.
Join Betsy Ross Mailing List for Newsletter Updates
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"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." - Thomas Jefferson Virginia Tea Party Patriots www.virginiateapartypatriots.com Danville Patriots http://danvillepatriots.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyqTlje8RxQ "
Massachusetts student test scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress and SATs were unremarkable in the early 1990s. Then, after a landmark educational reform in 1993, state SAT scores rose for 13 consecutive years. In 2005, Bay State students became the first to score best in the nation in all grades and categories on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The students have repeated the feat each time the tests have been administered.
How to explain this turnaround? The state's educational success hinged on rigorous academic standards, teacher testing and high-quality tests that students must pass to graduate from high school. All locally developed, these three factors aligned to produce amazing results.
Unfortunately, Massachusetts dropped its own standards in 2010 to join 44 other states (and the District of Columbia) in adopting the flawed standards of the Common Core. This is an educational program sponsored by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers that has been championed by the Obama administration.
Common Core recycles a decades-old, top-down approach to education. Its roots are in a letter sent to Hilary Clinton by Marc Tucker, president of the National Center on Education and the Economy, after Bill Clinton's presidential victory in 1992. The letter laid out a plan "to remold the entire American system" into a centralized one run by "a system of labor-market boards at the local, state and federal levels" where curriculum and "job matching" will be handled by government functionaries.
Today, many advocates of national education standards embrace these same anti-academic impulses. In a 2011 speech before the National Governors Association, Bill Gates, whose foundation has been Common Core's major funder, called on states to essentially brush aside liberal arts departments and fund public college and university disciplines based on their job-creation potential.
Compared with Massachusetts' former standards, Common Core's English standards reduce by 60% the amount of classic literature, poetry and drama that students will read. For example, the Common Core ignores the novels of Charles Dickens, Edith Wharton and Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn." It also delays the point at which Bay State students reach Algebra I-the gateway to higher math study-from eighth to ninth grade or later.
Stanford University Emeritus Mathematics Professor R. James Milgram-the only academic mathematician on Common Core's validation committee-refused to sign off on the final draft, describing the standards as having "extremely serious failings" and reflecting "very low expectations."
This academic-lite approach has been tried before-and it failed. In 1998, Connecticut had higher reading scores than Massachusetts. But just as the Bay State was pursuing clearly articulated academic goals, Connecticut chose a curriculum that put soft skills (such as cultural competence and global awareness) on a par with academic content. By 2005, Connecticut was one of seven states that had outsized drops in reading scores, falling by nearly 10 points in seven years.
Common Core's problems aren't just academic. Three federal laws explicitly prohibit the U.S. government from directing, supervising or controlling any nationalized standards, testing or curriculum. Yet Race to the Top, a federal education grant competition that dangled $4.35 billion in front of states, favored applications that adopted Common Core.
The Education Department subsequently awarded $362 million to fund two national testing consortia to develop national assessments and a "model curriculum" that is "aligned with" Common Core.
The standards were generally adopted by governors' offices and state boards of education eager for Race to the Top money. The state legislatures that fund American K-12 education were largely bypassed.
Several states, including Texas, Virginia and Nebraska, declined to adopt the Common Core standards. Meanwhile, grass-roots movements in at least 15 other states are fighting them. Common Core has been put on hold in Indiana and Pennsylvania. Michigan's House of Representatives has voted not to fund implementation.
The federal government and the D.C. groups behind Common Core don't have records that inspire confidence. None of them can point to a program of theirs that has clearly improved student achievement in the past two decades. And in Massachusetts, the likely result of the Common Core is that the gains of the past 20 years will slowly but surely recede.
Join Betsy Ross Mailing List for Newsletter Updates
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"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." - Thomas Jefferson Virginia Tea Party Patriots www.virginiateapartypatriots.com Danville Patriots http://danvillepatriots.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyqTlje8RxQ "
Seal Team 6: The Press Conference
Karen Bracken shares video of a press conference on the murders of U.S. Navy SEAL Team 6:
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This Press Conference is very long but well worth the time to watch. After you watch it I surely hope you will see it in your heart to call your US Rep and Senators and demand they investigate the murders of Seal Team 6 along with the murders at Benghazi. You might want to call Issa too. This is a disgrace!!
Karen Bracken - I WILL NOT COMPLY - WILL YOU?
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Karen Schoen on Common Core
From Patricia Evans:
"The real danger: Content and method of learning
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"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." - Thomas Jefferson Virginia Tea Party Patriots www.virginiateapartypatriots.com Danville Patriots http://danvillepatriots.com/ "
"The real danger: Content and method of learning
"Today we have a chance to stop this wreck before it is fully implemented. But we must be careful when describing what we want. Just eliminating Common Core will not solve anything. Remember CCS is just an operating system. If you change the operating system for something else and keep the same programs in place you will have the same problems. Communism is communism and it doesn't matter whether you indoctrinate communism in Common Core or in NCLB, IB, AICE, in a Charter, Private, Home school or in a closet. The content of the material and the method used are the issue. If that is not changed, America, Freedom and Liberty will be gone forever." - Karen Schoen ( Read more below )
It Begins… Communist Indoctrination Included in Common Core Literature for First Graders (Video)
Click here: http://youtu.be/rGph7QHzmo8
Read more From Karen Schoen, AgEnder Newsletter:
Although these items are dangerous, they are merely diversions to the real danger: Content and method of learning. As a former educator, I was trained in Dewey's, "modern education" whose sole purpose was to train students while dumbing them down. I watched while American history changed before my eyes. I know these have been overlooked for decades.
Today we have a chance to stop this wreck before it is fully implemented. But we must be careful when describing what we want. Just eliminating Common Core will not solve anything. Remember I said CCS is just an operating system. If you change the operating system for something else and keep the same programs in place you will have the same problems. Communism is communism and it doesn't matter whether you indoctrinate communism in Common Core or in NCLB, IB, AICE, in a Charter, Private, Home school or in a closet. The content of the material and the method used are the issue. If that is not changed, America, Freedom and Liberty will be gone forever.
Listen to the TN BD of ED indoctrinate parents. More students confusion. Students can come up with the right answer but without using the explanations provided by the teacher, they may be marked incorrect.
Students will read instructional texts for? Why? Replacing exciting literature with instructional manuals will squash any desire to read. In addition, the feeling of accomplishment you get when you finish that chapter or book is also missed.
Share this information with your legislator and school boards. Once CCS is implemented the jobs of teachers, school boards and superintendents will begin to disappear. There is no room for these positions in CCS. Monitors will be provided by the government.
All parents, grandparents, teachers and those who value freedom need to watch this eye opening 8 min. video. Under the cover of a Literature lesson book for First Graders is found the blatant indoctrination and mind twisting of our children. Reading, writing and arithmetic are out – Communist indoctrination is in! The radical left is indoctrinating FIRST GRADERS in communist doctrine disguised as educational tools for first graders. The indoctrination is part of the Common Core curriculum for elementary students.
Creating young radicals – one child at a time. Why wait until they’re in high school? They’re after the babies now.
Read more From Karen Schoen, AgEnder Newsletter:
Common Core IS NOT NEW. The only thing new is the name and the fact that no parent or community or school board of legislator had any participation in this new unproven educational fad.
What is Common Core? Think of Common Core as an operating system provided by the Federal Govt. This Federal voluntary mandate provided in stealth as part of Race to the Top contains ...
1. No community or parental participation
2. One size shoe fits all training
3. No proven test model
4. Intrusive Data mining with unknown costs
5. Replaces literature texts with technology manuals
6. At what cost to the district?1. No community or parental participation
2. One size shoe fits all training
3. No proven test model
4. Intrusive Data mining with unknown costs
5. Replaces literature texts with technology manuals
Although these items are dangerous, they are merely diversions to the real danger: Content and method of learning. As a former educator, I was trained in Dewey's, "modern education" whose sole purpose was to train students while dumbing them down. I watched while American history changed before my eyes. I know these have been overlooked for decades.
1. The content of the material - Unfortunately relatively few look at the content. If people researched they would realize these anti-American lessons have been around for years.
The content of the material - communism/socialism has been in our school for decades. The Progressives running the schools are not interested in a well rounded child with an understanding of American morality and government. They are only interested in creating "human capital" able to work for the government sanctioned corporations now running the government and education.
The content of the material - communism/socialism has been in our school for decades. The Progressives running the schools are not interested in a well rounded child with an understanding of American morality and government. They are only interested in creating "human capital" able to work for the government sanctioned corporations now running the government and education.
Charter schools will become industry specific training grounds using algorithms imbedded in technology to allow the government and industry to track your child into a career path in elementary school. Once your child gets into that track, making career changes will not be an option without government approval.
2. The Skinner/Pavlov method of training which eliminates thinking by creating predetermined responses.
Example: When you want your pet to "learn" something, you repeat the command and give a reward. Eventually your pet will respond to your command without the reward. No thought necessary, just a reaction to your command. This technique is mind control and treats your child as though they are pets. They will not think, just respond. The child's response becomes the predetermined outcome - outcome based education, one of the goals of CCS.
Whenever I give a seminar on Education, Common Core, Agenda 21, I am always asked why more parents are not involved.
The answer is because today's parents are products of the same school curriculum which have been indoctrinating students into the "collective" (mediocre) mindset for years. The true purpose of education from our founding fathers was the study of politics and religion (morality) so Americans could monitor their Representatives effectively and participate in Government insuring freedom, liberty and morality would NEVER be lost. If civics was taught in school, the legislators would follow the Constitution and America would be a free society. Instead for years, political and religion have been systematically removed from school while parents and students were told not to discuss politics and religion. So today we have a society that has no idea of the purpose of government, or the legislative process so it can easily be abused. Fact and truth are no longer important so We the People accept whatever the politicians say and are silent when they lie. Then we are surprised that legislators become communist (big government people) and have a limited ability to comprehend the Constitution or the Free Market.
Parents were trained to believe that their child should be dropped off at school, never question what the school is doing because after all the school knows what is best and the teachers have been trained. Over the years parents were trained to be less and less involved in education, politics and religion. Instead they are told the government knows best. Today 87% of the students graduating think the government will take care of them.
As a result, students are emotional power kegs, insecure, incapable of human interaction and understanding of anything out of their realm of career study. Common sense, confidence, responsibility, priority, reasoning are replaced with feeling good about their subject. Human interaction is at an all time low as electronic devices replace simple conversation and interaction. People lack social skills and simple conversations often become shouting matches. Lack of ability to process multiple subjects creates insecurity and fear of the unknown. Humans - your children - lack the skill set to choose and their destiny is selected by a government official. Human capital will be forced to rely on the permission of the government for their future. "I have to ask the government monitor if it is OK." will become the model instead of - "I want to do it myself."
2. The Skinner/Pavlov method of training which eliminates thinking by creating predetermined responses.
Example: When you want your pet to "learn" something, you repeat the command and give a reward. Eventually your pet will respond to your command without the reward. No thought necessary, just a reaction to your command. This technique is mind control and treats your child as though they are pets. They will not think, just respond. The child's response becomes the predetermined outcome - outcome based education, one of the goals of CCS.
Whenever I give a seminar on Education, Common Core, Agenda 21, I am always asked why more parents are not involved.
The answer is because today's parents are products of the same school curriculum which have been indoctrinating students into the "collective" (mediocre) mindset for years. The true purpose of education from our founding fathers was the study of politics and religion (morality) so Americans could monitor their Representatives effectively and participate in Government insuring freedom, liberty and morality would NEVER be lost. If civics was taught in school, the legislators would follow the Constitution and America would be a free society. Instead for years, political and religion have been systematically removed from school while parents and students were told not to discuss politics and religion. So today we have a society that has no idea of the purpose of government, or the legislative process so it can easily be abused. Fact and truth are no longer important so We the People accept whatever the politicians say and are silent when they lie. Then we are surprised that legislators become communist (big government people) and have a limited ability to comprehend the Constitution or the Free Market.
Parents were trained to believe that their child should be dropped off at school, never question what the school is doing because after all the school knows what is best and the teachers have been trained. Over the years parents were trained to be less and less involved in education, politics and religion. Instead they are told the government knows best. Today 87% of the students graduating think the government will take care of them.
As a result, students are emotional power kegs, insecure, incapable of human interaction and understanding of anything out of their realm of career study. Common sense, confidence, responsibility, priority, reasoning are replaced with feeling good about their subject. Human interaction is at an all time low as electronic devices replace simple conversation and interaction. People lack social skills and simple conversations often become shouting matches. Lack of ability to process multiple subjects creates insecurity and fear of the unknown. Humans - your children - lack the skill set to choose and their destiny is selected by a government official. Human capital will be forced to rely on the permission of the government for their future. "I have to ask the government monitor if it is OK." will become the model instead of - "I want to do it myself."
Once curiosity, creativity leading to invention is squashed, these desires do not go away they just manifest into something else. The desire to be different, be heard, be known, will be released like a pressure cooker in emotional displays of fear, anger, envy, hostility. Trigger words will be subliminally implanted in texts , Hollywood and the media. Actions of these emotionally charged people will be displayed in the form of flash mobs, gang rapes and mass murder.
The results of these actions will be used for good or bad depending on the needs of the government. Bad reactions will get the child tagged with an emotional syndrome resulting in trips to counselors, principals and the psychologist who often issue drugs giving your child an psychological profile following them forever. All information will be in the psychological profile in the newly created data base for all to see. Imagine 20 years from now based on that report your child will be denied access to something: gun, loan, trip, career and etc. or you could be reported as unfit.
Today we have a chance to stop this wreck before it is fully implemented. But we must be careful when describing what we want. Just eliminating Common Core will not solve anything. Remember I said CCS is just an operating system. If you change the operating system for something else and keep the same programs in place you will have the same problems. Communism is communism and it doesn't matter whether you indoctrinate communism in Common Core or in NCLB, IB, AICE, in a Charter, Private, Home school or in a closet. The content of the material and the method used are the issue. If that is not changed, America, Freedom and Liberty will be gone forever.
Listen to the TN BD of ED indoctrinate parents. More students confusion. Students can come up with the right answer but without using the explanations provided by the teacher, they may be marked incorrect.
What does the child read is still the main question. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEz54E6hUro
See actual lessons:
Modern Mathematics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKld7lQHKRg
Math Education: An Inconvenient Truth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr1qee-bTZI
Listen to a parent describe her CCS experience.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfhEiNONBPI
See actual lessons:
Modern Mathematics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKld7lQHKRg
Math Education: An Inconvenient Truth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr1qee-bTZI
Listen to a parent describe her CCS experience.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfhEiNONBPI
and a Mental Health Therapist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_652428&feature=iv&src_vid=rGph7QHzmo8&v=DdPz7Eg18jU
Great chronology of Communist Core Education in America. http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/0013/common-core/CC-chronology-1.htmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_652428&feature=iv&src_vid=rGph7QHzmo8&v=DdPz7Eg18jU
Share this information with your legislator and school boards. Once CCS is implemented the jobs of teachers, school boards and superintendents will begin to disappear. There is no room for these positions in CCS. Monitors will be provided by the government.
I will not comply. Will you?
Karen Schoen, AgEnder
--
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." - Thomas Jefferson Virginia Tea Party Patriots www.virginiateapartypatriots.com Danville Patriots http://danvillepatriots.com/ "
Friday, May 24, 2013
Labor Unions Oppose Obamacare Too
Billy Hallowell reports on labor unions that are joining us Tea Partiers in opposition to Obamacare:
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/05/24/repeal-or-complete-reform-why-are-some-labor-unions-getting-angry-and-turning-against-obamacare/
All help toward the goal of stopping the "train wreck" is welcome.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/05/24/repeal-or-complete-reform-why-are-some-labor-unions-getting-angry-and-turning-against-obamacare/
All help toward the goal of stopping the "train wreck" is welcome.
Where Is Jim Babka?
Jim Babka explains where he is, on radio and on the Internet:
"
"
WHERE’S JIM BABKA
LIVE on TALK RADIO! Jim Babka is guest-hosting Gary Nolan’s top-rated, syndicated radio show on Friday and Tuesday, from 9 AM to Noon central time.
You can listen live, each day, at http://theeagle939.com/ - click on Listen Live, top right side of the page.
Guests as of now include Trevor Aaronson, author of The Terror Factory, and Robert Naiman, from Just Foreign Policy, to discuss Iran and Syria.
TAKE ACTION!
I AM NOT AFRAID
Do you want Congress to exploit the Boston Marathon bombings to once again increase federal power? The facts say you don’t have to be afraid of foreign terrorists. Check out our brief blog post to see how you can, easily, tell Congress, “I am NOT afraid.”
STRATEGIC THINKING
EXPECTATIONS MATTER: If you didn’t read this article yet, then please do so now. We can win. Here’s how...
by Jim Babka
Will Congress introduce and pass the Downsize DC Lever bills?
- The Read the Bills Act
- The Write the Laws Act
- The One Subject at a Time Act
- The Free Competition in Currency Act
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
DownsizeDC.org thinks it can change the world for $1 a month. Isn't that a bet worth taking? Start or increase a monthly pledge for that amount or more."
Ride for Jamie Lawson: CCL Action Alert
Calling all Constitutional Civil Libertarians (my e-friends from Freedom Connector). You never have to do anything as a group, and I don't invite you to do anything as a group every year, but this is the sort of thing Constitutional Civil Libertarians will probably want to do.
Recap: Back in April, the sleepy Mayberry-like streets of Gate City, Virginia, were the scene of a real high-speed car chase as a drug dealer from Tennessee idiotically tried to evade local law enforcement. Having no idea where he was going, he almost trapped himself on a dead-end road, then went into rat-in-trap mode and tried to ram his way through the converging police cars as he headed back to Tennessee. He knocked a state police cruiser into a parked truck. Jamie Lawson was the State Trooper inside this cruiser. At last report Trooper Lawson was making good progress, but was still in pain, in an expensive hospital in Atlanta.
A local bank has been collecting donations to help the Lawson family, but some people wanted a livelier way to express their feelings about local police officers and out-of-state drug dealers. These people have scheduled a Benefit Ride for Jamie Lawson, to begin in the parking lot of Gate City High School at 2 p.m. on the second day of June. Police cars and motorcycles will be escorting a procession of private vehicles through Scott County. Riders will pay for tickets to win door prizes donated by local businesses. Drawings will be conducted, and door prizes distributed, along the way.
Specific information about routes and prizes remains undisclosed...partly because the list is growing. It should be quite a parade.
Since this web site does not generally recommend unnecessary use of motor vehicles, I want to affirm here that this web site thinks a Benefit Ride is a valid reason to drive. Of course, there's no reason to overdo things. I think we should get a van, or vans, or even a bus, and pack it. The more people in the fewer vehicles, the better.
The idea of hanging a sign identifying Constitutional Civil Libertarians on the back of a van has crossed my mind. That's as far as the idea can go, with me, since I don't own a van. As a statement this might call attention to the disparity between libertarians (who may think some laws should be revised, but think existing laws should be obeyed) and barbarians. If someone out there has a suitable van and would like to make this statement, let me know; I'll publicize the statement and, if you have room, ride in the van.
Recap: Back in April, the sleepy Mayberry-like streets of Gate City, Virginia, were the scene of a real high-speed car chase as a drug dealer from Tennessee idiotically tried to evade local law enforcement. Having no idea where he was going, he almost trapped himself on a dead-end road, then went into rat-in-trap mode and tried to ram his way through the converging police cars as he headed back to Tennessee. He knocked a state police cruiser into a parked truck. Jamie Lawson was the State Trooper inside this cruiser. At last report Trooper Lawson was making good progress, but was still in pain, in an expensive hospital in Atlanta.
A local bank has been collecting donations to help the Lawson family, but some people wanted a livelier way to express their feelings about local police officers and out-of-state drug dealers. These people have scheduled a Benefit Ride for Jamie Lawson, to begin in the parking lot of Gate City High School at 2 p.m. on the second day of June. Police cars and motorcycles will be escorting a procession of private vehicles through Scott County. Riders will pay for tickets to win door prizes donated by local businesses. Drawings will be conducted, and door prizes distributed, along the way.
Specific information about routes and prizes remains undisclosed...partly because the list is growing. It should be quite a parade.
Since this web site does not generally recommend unnecessary use of motor vehicles, I want to affirm here that this web site thinks a Benefit Ride is a valid reason to drive. Of course, there's no reason to overdo things. I think we should get a van, or vans, or even a bus, and pack it. The more people in the fewer vehicles, the better.
The idea of hanging a sign identifying Constitutional Civil Libertarians on the back of a van has crossed my mind. That's as far as the idea can go, with me, since I don't own a van. As a statement this might call attention to the disparity between libertarians (who may think some laws should be revised, but think existing laws should be obeyed) and barbarians. If someone out there has a suitable van and would like to make this statement, let me know; I'll publicize the statement and, if you have room, ride in the van.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Chris Field on the History of Homeschooling
Amazing but true...many of today's parents (and homeschoolers) don't remember when homeschooling was illegal.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/05/23/power-to-the-parents-the-fight-for-home-school-rights/
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/05/23/power-to-the-parents-the-fight-for-home-school-rights/
Our Presidents in High School
Becket Adams has assembled a delightful photo montage of U.S. Presidents in high school...
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/05/23/want-to-see-president-obamas-high-school-prom-photos/
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/05/23/want-to-see-president-obamas-high-school-prom-photos/
How to Watch an Anti-Obama Ad
Aaaack. Priscilla King recommends watching a TV ad? Say whaaat? I can hear the cognitive dissonance screech...so here's what happened:
(1) I saw an e-message from e-friend Terresa Monroe Hamilton about her having reposted an article by Lloyd Marcus at http://noisyroom.net. (The computer seems to want to display it in a funny way, but that's a live link to a legitimate blog. Warning: a lot of the posts are audio/video, so if you want the full effect of TMH's site you do need a noisy room.)
(2) So I clicked and read it. Well, it's a political blogger's article about making a political ad. I hit the Google+ button, for best in category.
(3) But the Google+ button at noisyroom.net didn't seem to be working, so apparently in order to + the article about making a political ad I have to post a link here and + that. Dang. Computers.
http://noisyroom.net/blog/2013/05/23/benghazi-scandal-dont-let-melanin-trump-national-security/
The link is to the article; if you read the article, you'll find a link that should open a Youtube video where you can watch the ad, just in case it's not blared out of your TV yet, or just in case you have a local cable show on which you want it to blare.
(1) I saw an e-message from e-friend Terresa Monroe Hamilton about her having reposted an article by Lloyd Marcus at http://noisyroom.net. (The computer seems to want to display it in a funny way, but that's a live link to a legitimate blog. Warning: a lot of the posts are audio/video, so if you want the full effect of TMH's site you do need a noisy room.)
(2) So I clicked and read it. Well, it's a political blogger's article about making a political ad. I hit the Google+ button, for best in category.
(3) But the Google+ button at noisyroom.net didn't seem to be working, so apparently in order to + the article about making a political ad I have to post a link here and + that. Dang. Computers.
http://noisyroom.net/blog/2013/05/23/benghazi-scandal-dont-let-melanin-trump-national-security/
The link is to the article; if you read the article, you'll find a link that should open a Youtube video where you can watch the ad, just in case it's not blared out of your TV yet, or just in case you have a local cable show on which you want it to blare.
Food for a Sick Dog
Juniper Russo shares a vet-recommended recipe for food for dogs with sensitive stomachs:
http://voices.yahoo.com/how-homemade-dog-food-sensitive-stomachs-12148470.html?cat=53
http://voices.yahoo.com/how-homemade-dog-food-sensitive-stomachs-12148470.html?cat=53
Book Cover for Trevor Loudon
Trevor Loudon (courtesy of Terresa Monroe-Hamilton) invites readers to pick a cover design for his forthcoming book, The Enemies Within:
http://noisyroom.net/blog/2013/05/23/help-to-choose-trevor-loudons-new-book-cover/
This is not a rerun, but a sort of follow-up to Barack Obama and the Enemies Within.
http://noisyroom.net/blog/2013/05/23/help-to-choose-trevor-loudons-new-book-cover/
This is not a rerun, but a sort of follow-up to Barack Obama and the Enemies Within.
Scaly Cannibal Llamas
Scaly cannibal llamas? Right...it's a metaphor for stereotypes and how they spread.
http://aidanmoher.com/blog/featured-article/2013/05/we-have-always-fought-challenging-the-women-cattle-and-slaves-narrative-by-kameron-hurley/
http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/2841073.html
The comments are worth reading...especially the one about oil and water.
http://aidanmoher.com/blog/featured-article/2013/05/we-have-always-fought-challenging-the-women-cattle-and-slaves-narrative-by-kameron-hurley/
http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/2841073.html
The comments are worth reading...especially the one about oil and water.
Christian Prayers on Trial in Supreme Court
From Patricia Evans, edited for format:
"On Monday the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case during its next term ( Town of Greece, NY v. Galloway ) about whether a town that opened its public meetings with Christian prayer violated the Constitution. ( Read more below )
Minister Matt Speck hopes to raise funds to continue Pittsylvania prayer battle
http://www.newsadvance.com/go_dan_river/news/pittsylvania_county/article_de8eb4c8-a87e-11e2-b417-001a4bcf6878.html
Religious Liberty: Supreme Court to hear public prayer case
May 20, 2013
On Monday the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case during its next term about whether a town that opened its public meetings with prayer violated the Constitution.
For over a decade, the town of Greece, N.Y., has opened its public meetings with prayer, almost always from Christian clergy. The town has said leaders from any faith may offer prayer at the meetings, but until recently leaders from other faiths had not participated. Most houses of faith within the town borders are Christian churches. Two non-Christian women sued, saying the prayers violated the Constitution's Establishment Clause.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the women, ruling the prayers unconstitutional and saying that the town should have sought more religious diversity in those who offered the opening prayers. ( Read the ruling.) That decision potentially conflicts with a previous Supreme Court ruling, which may be why the court decided to hear the case.
In 1983, the Supreme Court said that prayer at public meetings was constitutional, in general.
Since then, courts in different parts of the country have ruled on specific guidelines for what prayers are constitutional—some states are allowed to use the word “God” in prayers before public meetings, but not the word “Jesus.” The high court may try to resolve some of the conflicting guidelines across the country.
The case is Town of Greece v. Galloway.
--
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." - Thomas Jefferson Virginia Tea Party Patriots www.virginiateapartypatriots.com Danville Patriots http://danvillepatriots.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyqTlje8RxQ"
"On Monday the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case during its next term ( Town of Greece, NY v. Galloway ) about whether a town that opened its public meetings with Christian prayer violated the Constitution. ( Read more below )
Minister Matt Speck hopes to raise funds to continue Pittsylvania prayer battle
http://www.newsadvance.com/go_dan_river/news/pittsylvania_county/article_de8eb4c8-a87e-11e2-b417-001a4bcf6878.html
“It’s to encourage the board to continue this fight, to give them every opportunity to fight this as far as they need to go. That would include the Supreme Court, if necessary.” - Matt Speck
Update from Matt Speck:
Update from Matt Speck:
First, let me thank the Pittsylvania Board of Supervisors for their stand against the opposition of praying in Jesus name at their regularly scheduled meeting. I wanted to let you know that a group of concerned citizens are still working on establishing a 501 c 3, non-profit organization to raise money as a defense fund for use in this situation. I do wish this was a faster process than what it has been. Currently we are waiting for the IRS to grant us an ‘Employers Identification Number’ to be able to proceed in the process. A website is currently under construction to be able to update other concern citizens and to receive donations for this fund.
I have received many calls, letters and e-mails concerning this issue. I have an article below that was sent to me by one of my personal “Prayer Warriors”. We must be praying for these situations also. My prayer is that the Supreme Court will rule in a way that will overturn the Federal Courts decision against us.
Please do not hesitate to call me with any questions.
Still praying in Jesus Name,
Matt Speck
Pastor Matt
Piney Grove Baptist Church
2261 Piney Grove Rd.
Gretna, VA. 24557
Religious Liberty: Supreme Court to hear public prayer case
May 20, 2013
For over a decade, the town of Greece, N.Y., has opened its public meetings with prayer, almost always from Christian clergy. The town has said leaders from any faith may offer prayer at the meetings, but until recently leaders from other faiths had not participated. Most houses of faith within the town borders are Christian churches. Two non-Christian women sued, saying the prayers violated the Constitution's Establishment Clause.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the women, ruling the prayers unconstitutional and saying that the town should have sought more religious diversity in those who offered the opening prayers. ( Read the ruling.) That decision potentially conflicts with a previous Supreme Court ruling, which may be why the court decided to hear the case.
In 1983, the Supreme Court said that prayer at public meetings was constitutional, in general.
Since then, courts in different parts of the country have ruled on specific guidelines for what prayers are constitutional—some states are allowed to use the word “God” in prayers before public meetings, but not the word “Jesus.” The high court may try to resolve some of the conflicting guidelines across the country.
The case is Town of Greece v. Galloway.
--
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." - Thomas Jefferson Virginia Tea Party Patriots www.virginiateapartypatriots.com Danville Patriots http://danvillepatriots.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyqTlje8RxQ"
Veterans Expo in Cedar Bluff
From the office of Virginia State Senator Bill Carrico:
"
Veterans will be honored with an opening ceremony beginning at 10AM. Lt. Mark L. Donald, retired US Navy SEAL, Physician Assistant and Published Author of Battle Ready, will be speaking during the Veterans Expo. Mark retired from the Navy as one of the highest decorated Veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars and conveys an inspirational message that everyone can identify with and from which they can all learn.
Veterans and their family members are encouraged to register at http://veterans-expo.eventbrite.com or by calling 1-888-744-4693. Some veteran’s services may require a DD-214 document and/or veteran’s identification.
CONTACT:
Senator Phillip Puckett
"
SENATORS PHILLIP PUCKETT AND BILL CARRICO ANNOUNCE DETAILS OF VETERANS EXPO
Cedar Bluff, VA----Senator Phillip Puckett and Senator Bill Carrico will co-host the 1st Annual Veterans Expo at SWCC at the Charles R. King Community Center of Southwest Virginia Community College in Cedar Bluff, VA from 10AM to 3PM on June 1st.
The free event, designed to provide Veterans, family members and surviving spouses a day of networking and valuable information about veteran-related resources region, will include elements of inspiration, entertainment, excitement and fun.
Veterans will be honored with an opening ceremony beginning at 10AM. Lt. Mark L. Donald, retired US Navy SEAL, Physician Assistant and Published Author of Battle Ready, will be speaking during the Veterans Expo. Mark retired from the Navy as one of the highest decorated Veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars and conveys an inspirational message that everyone can identify with and from which they can all learn.
Rebecca Pepin, co-anchor of WCYB and WEMT, is the editorial director for Faces of Freedom, a book that profiles fallen military men and women who have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11. Attendees will get a chance to visit with Rebecca and have her autograph copies of the book. All proceeds of the book go to Fisher House and Wounded Warrior Project.
The Vet Center Mobile Counseling Unit and the DMV 2 Go Mobile Unit will be onsite. The DMV 2 Go Mobile enables attendees to apply for or renew Veteran ID cards as well as other services.
Attendees will be able to enjoy the free food and entertainment which include musical acts throughout the event, the Eric McClure Race Car exhibit, the Virginia Wounded Warrior Drag Car, the giant Food City Shopping Cart, and more.
Veterans and their family members are encouraged to register at http://veterans-expo.eventbrite.com or by calling 1-888-744-4693. Some veteran’s services may require a DD-214 document and/or veteran’s identification.
CONTACT:
Senator Phillip Puckett
Office: 276.979.8181
Senator Bill Carrico
Senator Bill Carrico
Office: 276.236.0098"
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Virginia Republican Primary Results
Patricia Evans forwarded (looks like someone else originally typed) this introduction to the Republican candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general in Virginia:
"
This web site congratulates all three candidates. As noted in the e-mail, we'll be seeing more of candidates Bell, Davis, Lingamfelter, and others who have and have not been publicized at this web site, in future elections.
"
Ken Cuccinelli, Governor:
· He single handedly defeated the EPA at Accotink Creek in Fairfax County, where the EPA tried to define storm runoff as a pollutant thus giving the EPA control over the entire watershed
· He was the first Attorney General to sue ObamaCare
· He led the passage of Va’s Eminent Domain amendment which curtails eminent domain abuses. It passed 75-25, even though the Democratic Sample Ballot had it checked as “No”!
· He is a homeschooler and father of 7
EW Jackson, Lt. Gov. Jackson, a pastor, attorney, Marine veteran and descendant of Orange County (VA) slaves, has ignited the flames of liberty creating a wildfire across the Commonwealth AND the nation. Jackson was selected by a substantial margin from among 7 well-qualified candidates including 5 men, 2 women and 5 “politicians”. It’s interesting that at the end of the day, after 3 elimination votes, the only two left standing were those that had never held elected office; Jackson and businessman Pete Snyder.
Mark Obenshain, Attorney General Mark, as a State Senator from Harrisonburg to our General Assembly, has been an unsung, behind-the-scenes facilitator of MUCH conservative legislation. He’s obviously popular at home winning his last election by a 70-29 margin over his Democrat challenger.
"
This web site congratulates all three candidates. As noted in the e-mail, we'll be seeing more of candidates Bell, Davis, Lingamfelter, and others who have and have not been publicized at this web site, in future elections.
Jeff Merkley Targets Monsanto Protection Act
Something else to share with your U.S. Representative...
"
This week, an amendment to repeal the Monsanto Protection Act could be introduced in Congress by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) during the farm bill debate and we need your help to make sure this blatant corporate handout is no longer law.
The passage of the Monsanto Protection Act was the last straw for millions of Americans and citizens worldwide that are outraged over the continued corruption of our democratic institutions, the contamination of our environment and Monsanto’s relentless march to take over of our food supply.
The Monsanto Protection Act has been called the most outrageous corporate handout in recent history. The effort to stop the secret provision has now become the rallying cry of a growing movement of everyday citizens around the world who are committed to stopping the corporate takeover of our food supply.
Click here to tell Congress to repeal the Monsanto Protection Act! It’s time to put people before corporate profits. Help end Monsanto’s takeover of our government and protect farmers, your food and the environment. Every voice counts!
http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/864?t=7&akid=866.359821.wvptiQ
While Section 735 of H.R. 933 is scheduled to sunset at the end of September, the provision has already spawned similar effort to protect the planting of Monsanto’s GMO crops in several states, including Oregon, Missouri and North Carolina. If a provision similar to the Monsanto Protection Act is slipped into the current Farm Bill it could be law for a minimum of 5 years while seriously undermining family farmers' ability to protect their crops from unwanted genetic contamination.
As Food Democracy Now! widely reported this spring, if the Monsanto Protection Act remains law it will strip federal courts of the authority to halt the sale and planting of potentially illegal and hazardous GMO crops while the U.S. Department of Agriculture reviews their potential risks to farmers and the environment. This represents not only a real risk to our food crops, but also to our democratic process, including judicial review."
"
This week, an amendment to repeal the Monsanto Protection Act could be introduced in Congress by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) during the farm bill debate and we need your help to make sure this blatant corporate handout is no longer law.
The passage of the Monsanto Protection Act was the last straw for millions of Americans and citizens worldwide that are outraged over the continued corruption of our democratic institutions, the contamination of our environment and Monsanto’s relentless march to take over of our food supply.
The Monsanto Protection Act has been called the most outrageous corporate handout in recent history. The effort to stop the secret provision has now become the rallying cry of a growing movement of everyday citizens around the world who are committed to stopping the corporate takeover of our food supply.
Click here to tell Congress to repeal the Monsanto Protection Act! It’s time to put people before corporate profits. Help end Monsanto’s takeover of our government and protect farmers, your food and the environment. Every voice counts!
http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/864?t=7&akid=866.359821.wvptiQ
While Section 735 of H.R. 933 is scheduled to sunset at the end of September, the provision has already spawned similar effort to protect the planting of Monsanto’s GMO crops in several states, including Oregon, Missouri and North Carolina. If a provision similar to the Monsanto Protection Act is slipped into the current Farm Bill it could be law for a minimum of 5 years while seriously undermining family farmers' ability to protect their crops from unwanted genetic contamination.
As Food Democracy Now! widely reported this spring, if the Monsanto Protection Act remains law it will strip federal courts of the authority to halt the sale and planting of potentially illegal and hazardous GMO crops while the U.S. Department of Agriculture reviews their potential risks to farmers and the environment. This represents not only a real risk to our food crops, but also to our democratic process, including judicial review."
Federal Bias? Morgan Griffith, Patricia Evans, et Al.
This web site has taken a skeptical view of the claims that the IRS has specifically harassed Tea Parties that filed for 501(c)(3) status, because one of the first things you learn when applying for 501(c)(3) status is that it's for charities not political groups. If you do both, and you can't handle the paperwork of separating the two things, you need to be very very clear and specific about what you do as a charity.
This web site recognizes that when people take our religion seriously, it permeates everything we do, not only praying or teaching but also doing our jobs, voting, and shopping. In the Christian tradition, we're told to consider our flawed mortal selves "dead" and live as if Jesus were living in our bodies--as if we were channelling Jesus constantly, if you like that phrase. Nobody actually succeeds at this all the time, but we have to try. We have no idea how or whether Jesus would have voted, since Jesus was not a U.S. citizen, and cases can be made that He might have voted in different ways for different reasons, but when Christians vote we are in fact supposed to vote the way we believe Jesus would have been most likely to vote.
This web site also recognizes that, even if we are radical Christians who think we know how Jesus would have voted, we are told that Jesus recognized some difference between the things that were Caesar's and the things that were God's. Political action is not charitable work. Even though the case could also be made that if you try to make charity a full-time job by trapping people in a welfare lifestyle, where any attempt to do anything others find useful gets smothered by "They'll only cut that off our food stamps," you are turning young people who grow up seeing that against the Welfare State for life, and so on...
Anyway, our Tea Party does not suffer from the delusion that we are a charity, and does not want to encourage that delusion in other people. However, as investigations continue, evidence is emerging that prejudice has been going beyond the basic hassle the IRS is supposed to provide to so-called charities that don't know what a charity is...
From U.S. Congressman Morgan Griffith:
"The Tone is Set at the Top
Some scandals currently engulfing Washington – such as the Administration’s actions surrounding the terrorist attacks in Benghazi, the Department of Justice (DOJ) having subpoenaed two months of the Associated Press’ phone records, and investigations into the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) improperly handling applications submitted by “Tea Party” or “Patriot” groups – have received quite a bit of media attention.
Another brewing scandal hasn’t yet received similar attention. Not only has the IRS admitted to improperly handling applications from conservative groups, but the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) recently released a report claiming that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) waives the access fees through the Freedom of Information Act for public records for left-leaning environmental groups more than 90 percent of the time, but refuses more than 90 percent of the time to waive those fees for conservative groups. That means CEI’s data indicates that nine times out of ten, the EPA is giving records to the first group for free, and that nine times out of ten they are charging groups that disagree with their policies.
Testifying recently before the Energy and Commerce Committee, EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe was asked about CEI’s claims. Mr. Perciasepe indicated that he has asked the independent office of the Inspector General to conduct a “programmatic audit” of these fee decisions.
Attorney General Eric Holder is the head of the DOJ, the agency that secretly obtained two months of logs for phone lines used by more than 100 Associated Press reporters without a court order. While legal, subpoenas of this nature are supposed to be authorized by the Attorney General, but this action was authorized by his deputy. On Wednesday, May 15, the Attorney General testified before the House Judiciary Committee, where he was asked about this. I watched large portions of the hearing, and was shocked as the Attorney General repeatedly replied to questions with statements along the lines of “I don’t know” or “I don’t have a factual basis to answer the questions you have asked because I recused myself.”
On Friday, May 17, ousted Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee. Mr. Miller stated “I don’t think targeting is wrong.”* Furthermore, the publication Politico reported that Mr. Miller “spent most of the hearing saying he didn’t remember things – like the details of how he first learned of the targeting – and insisting he didn’t mislead Congress by not telling lawmakers” when asked at a hearing in July 2012 if Tea Party and other conservative groups were being targeted by the IRS. Mr. Miller seemed to believe that asking the conservative groups questions not asked of other ideological groups did not qualify as harassment. Really?
I ask again – really? The attorney in me thinks that maybe Mr. Miller should have asked about the Fifth Amendment, and the right to remain silent. At least he should have respected the old Abraham Lincoln adage, “better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”
These scandals have a similar tone – one having to do with abuses of power. Investigations must continue, because there are lots of unanswered questions.
Who is responsible?
John F. Savarese and Jonathan M. Moses write in the Bank and Corporate Governance Law Reporter, “the voice that carries farthest within any company comes from the top – so consider having your CEO speak periodically about the importance of maintaining an effective compliance culture. …”
American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) executive director Anthony Romero sums up that principle perfectly when he says “The tone is set at the top.” He also says “the [P]resident bears responsibility for what his government officials can and should do.”
I don’t often quote the ACLU in agreement, but if the shoe fits…
An ineffective compliance culture in federal offices is a product of leadership, of those in management roles. Ultimately, that is the President. If the tone at the top is divisive and “it’s us versus them,” it serves as a signal through rhetoric and actions that the sort of behavior that led to these scandals – that led to the IRS asking the Coalition for Life of Iowa to “detail the content of the members of your organization’s prayers”** – is acceptable.
Whether you call it the tone at the top or where the buck stops, it is like the motto of Democratic President Harry Truman, who had a placard on his desk that said “the buck stops here.”
Mr. President, you have set the tone. The buck stops at your desk in the Oval Office.
"
And from Patricia Evans:
"
See the list of lies below: "What we have, then, is this: Under a Democratic administration, the IRS was under pressure from Democratic elected officials to investigate political enemies of the Democratic party. The agency did so. Its commissioner lied to Congress about its doing so. When the inspector general’s report was about to make these abuses public, the agency staged a classic Washington Friday news rollout at a sleepy American Bar Association tax-law conference, hoping to minimize the bad publicity. Lerner lied to the public about the nature, scope, and extent of the IRS intimidation campaign."
The Nine Lies of Lois Lerner / Notes toward a catalogue
Several Soros-funded groups including the Campaign Legal Center, Democracy 21, the Center for Public Integrity, Mother Jones and Alternet have worked to pressure the IRS to target conservative nonprofit groups. The subsequent IRS investigation flagged more than 100 tea party-related applications for higher scrutiny, including applications that included the words "Tea Party" and "patriot."
The IRS scandal can be traced back to a series of letters that the liberal groups Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and Democracy 21 sent to the IRS back in 2010 and 2011. Both groups were funded by George's Soros's Open Society Foundations. The CLC received $677,000 and Democracy 21 got $365,000 from the Soros-backed foundation, according to the Foundation's 990 tax forms.
On Jan. 15, 2012, the IRS targeted groups focused on limiting government or educating people about the Constitution and Bill of Rights
Alternet and Mother Jones are both members of The Media Consortium, which is designed to do exactly what happened here. The Media Consortium was created to be a progressive "echo chamber," where 63 separate left-wing media outlets can network and share ideas, as well as cross-promote stories. Other members of the Consortium include such liberal outlets as The Nation, Democracy Now! and The American Prospect. The consortium has also received $675,000 in Soros funds since 2000. Alternet ($285,000) and Mother Jones ($485,000) have both also received individual funding from Soros's Open Society Foundations.
This isn't the only time the IRS has targeted conservative groups recently, nor is it the only connection between the IRS and Soros-funded groups.
Timeline Shows Influence of Soros-Funded Groups
Center for Public Integrity: $2,716,328
Campaign Legal Center: $677,000
Media Consortium: $675,000
Mother Jones: $485,000
Democracy 21: $365,000
ProPublica: $300,000
Alternet: $285,000
Human Rights Campaign: $600,000
--
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." - Thomas Jefferson Virginia Tea Party Patriots www.virginiateapartypatriots.com Danville Patriots http://danvillepatriots.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyqTlje8RxQ "
This web site recognizes that when people take our religion seriously, it permeates everything we do, not only praying or teaching but also doing our jobs, voting, and shopping. In the Christian tradition, we're told to consider our flawed mortal selves "dead" and live as if Jesus were living in our bodies--as if we were channelling Jesus constantly, if you like that phrase. Nobody actually succeeds at this all the time, but we have to try. We have no idea how or whether Jesus would have voted, since Jesus was not a U.S. citizen, and cases can be made that He might have voted in different ways for different reasons, but when Christians vote we are in fact supposed to vote the way we believe Jesus would have been most likely to vote.
This web site also recognizes that, even if we are radical Christians who think we know how Jesus would have voted, we are told that Jesus recognized some difference between the things that were Caesar's and the things that were God's. Political action is not charitable work. Even though the case could also be made that if you try to make charity a full-time job by trapping people in a welfare lifestyle, where any attempt to do anything others find useful gets smothered by "They'll only cut that off our food stamps," you are turning young people who grow up seeing that against the Welfare State for life, and so on...
Anyway, our Tea Party does not suffer from the delusion that we are a charity, and does not want to encourage that delusion in other people. However, as investigations continue, evidence is emerging that prejudice has been going beyond the basic hassle the IRS is supposed to provide to so-called charities that don't know what a charity is...
From U.S. Congressman Morgan Griffith:
"The Tone is Set at the Top
Some scandals currently engulfing Washington – such as the Administration’s actions surrounding the terrorist attacks in Benghazi, the Department of Justice (DOJ) having subpoenaed two months of the Associated Press’ phone records, and investigations into the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) improperly handling applications submitted by “Tea Party” or “Patriot” groups – have received quite a bit of media attention.
Another brewing scandal hasn’t yet received similar attention. Not only has the IRS admitted to improperly handling applications from conservative groups, but the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) recently released a report claiming that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) waives the access fees through the Freedom of Information Act for public records for left-leaning environmental groups more than 90 percent of the time, but refuses more than 90 percent of the time to waive those fees for conservative groups. That means CEI’s data indicates that nine times out of ten, the EPA is giving records to the first group for free, and that nine times out of ten they are charging groups that disagree with their policies.
Testifying recently before the Energy and Commerce Committee, EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe was asked about CEI’s claims. Mr. Perciasepe indicated that he has asked the independent office of the Inspector General to conduct a “programmatic audit” of these fee decisions.
Attorney General Eric Holder is the head of the DOJ, the agency that secretly obtained two months of logs for phone lines used by more than 100 Associated Press reporters without a court order. While legal, subpoenas of this nature are supposed to be authorized by the Attorney General, but this action was authorized by his deputy. On Wednesday, May 15, the Attorney General testified before the House Judiciary Committee, where he was asked about this. I watched large portions of the hearing, and was shocked as the Attorney General repeatedly replied to questions with statements along the lines of “I don’t know” or “I don’t have a factual basis to answer the questions you have asked because I recused myself.”
On Friday, May 17, ousted Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee. Mr. Miller stated “I don’t think targeting is wrong.”* Furthermore, the publication Politico reported that Mr. Miller “spent most of the hearing saying he didn’t remember things – like the details of how he first learned of the targeting – and insisting he didn’t mislead Congress by not telling lawmakers” when asked at a hearing in July 2012 if Tea Party and other conservative groups were being targeted by the IRS. Mr. Miller seemed to believe that asking the conservative groups questions not asked of other ideological groups did not qualify as harassment. Really?
I ask again – really? The attorney in me thinks that maybe Mr. Miller should have asked about the Fifth Amendment, and the right to remain silent. At least he should have respected the old Abraham Lincoln adage, “better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”
These scandals have a similar tone – one having to do with abuses of power. Investigations must continue, because there are lots of unanswered questions.
Who is responsible?
John F. Savarese and Jonathan M. Moses write in the Bank and Corporate Governance Law Reporter, “the voice that carries farthest within any company comes from the top – so consider having your CEO speak periodically about the importance of maintaining an effective compliance culture. …”
American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) executive director Anthony Romero sums up that principle perfectly when he says “The tone is set at the top.” He also says “the [P]resident bears responsibility for what his government officials can and should do.”
I don’t often quote the ACLU in agreement, but if the shoe fits…
An ineffective compliance culture in federal offices is a product of leadership, of those in management roles. Ultimately, that is the President. If the tone at the top is divisive and “it’s us versus them,” it serves as a signal through rhetoric and actions that the sort of behavior that led to these scandals – that led to the IRS asking the Coalition for Life of Iowa to “detail the content of the members of your organization’s prayers”** – is acceptable.
Whether you call it the tone at the top or where the buck stops, it is like the motto of Democratic President Harry Truman, who had a placard on his desk that said “the buck stops here.”
Mr. President, you have set the tone. The buck stops at your desk in the Oval Office.
"
And from Patricia Evans:
"
This Is What Tyranny Looks Like
From American Thinker By Bryce Buchanan http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/05/this_is_what_tyranny_looks_like.html#ixzz2TfcsDA1A
Here is a woman we will need to learn much more about in the coming weeks. ( Sarah Hall Ingram was in charge of targeting the Tea Party and other conservatives during the height of the IRS scandal and now she's been promoted to the head of the IRS' Affordable Care Act office and will be in control of our access to healthcare! ) Sarah Hall Ingram is a highly valued employee at the IRS. In the last three years she has received $103,390 in bonuses for her excellent work. She was the Commissioner of the Tax-Exempt and Government Entitles Division. Under her leadership, groups that expressed a fear of large, out-of-control government were systematically crushed by her branch of our large, out-of-control government. They were specifically singled out for harassment for political reasons. Secret information about the conservative applicants was leaked to leftist opposition groups to facilitate further harassment.
This was an organized political operation using State power to silence opposition voices. It is part of every tyrant's playbook. It tells you everything you need to know about the current state of our country to see that those who favor a limited government, the explicit goal of our founding documents, are now considered enemies of the State.
In a 2009 speech, Ms. Ingram explained her approach:
The good news is that this woman is no longer in charge of that department. The bad news is that she has been promoted and is now the head of the IRS' Affordable Care Act office. She and her comrades could have access to all your medical records. They will "choose appropriately" who has trouble with the state-controlled medical system and who sails right through. They will decide if it is appropriate to share your medical history with others.
But don't worry. I heard the outgoing IRS Commissioner say in Friday's congressional hearings that he has reviewed the situation and found that there was "no partisanship" in the years-long practice of singling out conservative groups for IRS harassment. None at all. There is just no reason to think that specifically targeting one side of the political spectrum had anything to do with politics.
And when Commissioner Steven Miller was asked why conservative groups were targeted for prolonged scrutiny, he said that it just happened because people were trying to be efficient. Sure. Months and months of delays with endless demands for more paperwork is the efficient way to go.
Miller was forced to admit that secret information gathered from certain conservative groups was passed along by the IRS to their leftwing political opposition. So the IRS illegally gathered information and illegally passed it along for political reasons. Mr. Miller said that these actions were "inadvertent".
There is more evidence of direct lies from IRS officials in Kevin Williamson's column, "The Nine Lies of Lois Lerner". One thing we learn from Williamson's article is that the current campaign by some officials to act surprised and disappointed by the news of IRS criminality is just a scam to deflect their own culpability. Everyone knew the Inspector General's report on the IRS was about to be released. The IRS needed to jump ahead of the report and act concerned. They were not concerned for years prior to being caught.
Bryce Buchanan lives in Oregon and blogs at www.realitybatslast.com
This was an organized political operation using State power to silence opposition voices. It is part of every tyrant's playbook. It tells you everything you need to know about the current state of our country to see that those who favor a limited government, the explicit goal of our founding documents, are now considered enemies of the State.
In a 2009 speech, Ms. Ingram explained her approach:
As a practical matter, we cannot subject every application for tax-exempt status to a painstaking, leave-no-rock-unturned review. Nor can we audit every organization's 990 every year. Nor would you want us to do so, right? To govern is to choose, and we must choose appropriately which applications or 990s to focus most attention on.It is clear now that by "choose appropriately", she meant to harass the limited-government groups endlessly and let liberal and Islamic groups sail right through the approval process.
The good news is that this woman is no longer in charge of that department. The bad news is that she has been promoted and is now the head of the IRS' Affordable Care Act office. She and her comrades could have access to all your medical records. They will "choose appropriately" who has trouble with the state-controlled medical system and who sails right through. They will decide if it is appropriate to share your medical history with others.But don't worry. I heard the outgoing IRS Commissioner say in Friday's congressional hearings that he has reviewed the situation and found that there was "no partisanship" in the years-long practice of singling out conservative groups for IRS harassment. None at all. There is just no reason to think that specifically targeting one side of the political spectrum had anything to do with politics.
And when Commissioner Steven Miller was asked why conservative groups were targeted for prolonged scrutiny, he said that it just happened because people were trying to be efficient. Sure. Months and months of delays with endless demands for more paperwork is the efficient way to go.
Miller was forced to admit that secret information gathered from certain conservative groups was passed along by the IRS to their leftwing political opposition. So the IRS illegally gathered information and illegally passed it along for political reasons. Mr. Miller said that these actions were "inadvertent".
There is more evidence of direct lies from IRS officials in Kevin Williamson's column, "The Nine Lies of Lois Lerner". One thing we learn from Williamson's article is that the current campaign by some officials to act surprised and disappointed by the news of IRS criminality is just a scam to deflect their own culpability. Everyone knew the Inspector General's report on the IRS was about to be released. The IRS needed to jump ahead of the report and act concerned. They were not concerned for years prior to being caught.
Bryce Buchanan lives in Oregon and blogs at www.realitybatslast.com
The Nine Lies of Lois Lerner / Notes toward a catalogue
From National Review Online By Kevin D. Williamson
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/348428/nine-lies-lois-lerner-kevin-williamson
Lois Lerner (Vimeo)
Lie No. 1: Lois Lerner’s apology last Friday was a spontaneous reaction to an unexpected question from an unknown audience member. In fact, the question came from tax lawyer and lobbyist Celia Roady. Ms. Roady has some interesting career highlights: She was part of the 1997 ethics investigation of Newt Gingrich, but, more to the point, she was appointed to the IRS’s Advisory Council on Tax-Exempt and Government Entities by IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman. She is a longtime colleague of Lerner, who is director of tax-exempt organizations. Ms. Roady has declined to comment on whether her question was planted, but it obviously was. The IRS had contacted reporters and encouraged them beforehand to attend the otherwise un-newsworthy event, and it had an entire team of press handlers on hand. So what we have is the staged rollout of what turns out to be — given the rest of this list — a disinformation campaign.
Lie No. 2: Lerner said about 280 organizations were given extra scrutiny, about 75 of them tea-party groups or similar organizations. The actual number of organizations that were targeted is closer to 500.
Lie No. 3: This was the work of low-level grunts in Cincinnati. In truth, very senior people within the IRS, including its top lawyer, were aware of the situation, and had been since at least 2011. The home office in Washington was very much involved in the process.
Lie No. 4: Lerner says that the situation came to her attention through allegations from tea-party groups carried in media reports. In fact, the matter has been under both internal and external investigation for some time.
Lie No. 5: Lerner says she put an end to the practice as soon as she found out about it. In fact, the IRS continued to do precisely the same thing, only monkeying a little bit with the language: Instead of targeting “tea party” groups explicitly, it targeted those groups with an interest in such esoterica as limited government, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, etc.
Lie No. 6: She says that the commissioner of the IRS didn’t know about the targeting project. While the targeting was going on, Ms. Lerner’s boss was being asked some very pointed questions by Congress on the subject of targeting tea-party groups. He enthusiastically denied that any such thing was going on, in direct contravention of the facts. Ms. Lerner says he didn’t know about the situation, because it was confined to those aforementioned plebs in Cincinnati. But given that this was not the case, her explaining away the commissioner’s untrue statements to Congress is a lie based on another lie — a compound lie, if you will. And acting commissioner Steven Miller was briefed on the situation in May of 2012 — and then declined to share his knowledge of it with Congress when asked about it during a hearing in July.
Lie No. 7: Lerner says she came forward with her apology unprompted by any special consideration. In fact, an inspector general’s report was about to be released, making the matter public.
Lie No. 8: When Congress was investigating complaints from conservative groups, Lerner told them that she could not release information about organizations with pending applications. But her group was in fact releasing such information — to the left-leaning news organization ProPublica, rather than to congressional investigators.
Lie No. 9: Lerner says that there was no political pressure to investigate tea-party groups. In fact, Senator Carl Levin (D., Mich.) ( among others ) repeatedly pressed the agency to investigate conservative groups falling under Lerner’s jurisdiction. What we have, then, is this: Under a Democratic administration, the IRS was under pressure from Democratic elected officials to investigate political enemies of the Democratic party. The agency did so. Its commissioner lied to Congress about its doing so. When the inspector general’s report was about to make these abuses public, the agency staged a classic Washington Friday news rollout at a sleepy American Bar Association tax-law conference, hoping to minimize the bad publicity. Lerner lied to the public about the nature, scope, and extent of the IRS intimidation campaign.
That she has a job today is a scandal in itself. She’ll be receiving an award — for public service! — from the Western New England University School of Law on May 18. An orange jumpsuit would suit her better than academic robes.
— Kevin D. Williamson is a roving correspondent for National Review. His new book, The End Is Near and It’s Going To Be Awesome, was recently published
Lie No. 2: Lerner said about 280 organizations were given extra scrutiny, about 75 of them tea-party groups or similar organizations. The actual number of organizations that were targeted is closer to 500.
Lie No. 3: This was the work of low-level grunts in Cincinnati. In truth, very senior people within the IRS, including its top lawyer, were aware of the situation, and had been since at least 2011. The home office in Washington was very much involved in the process.
Lie No. 4: Lerner says that the situation came to her attention through allegations from tea-party groups carried in media reports. In fact, the matter has been under both internal and external investigation for some time.
Lie No. 5: Lerner says she put an end to the practice as soon as she found out about it. In fact, the IRS continued to do precisely the same thing, only monkeying a little bit with the language: Instead of targeting “tea party” groups explicitly, it targeted those groups with an interest in such esoterica as limited government, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, etc.
Lie No. 6: She says that the commissioner of the IRS didn’t know about the targeting project. While the targeting was going on, Ms. Lerner’s boss was being asked some very pointed questions by Congress on the subject of targeting tea-party groups. He enthusiastically denied that any such thing was going on, in direct contravention of the facts. Ms. Lerner says he didn’t know about the situation, because it was confined to those aforementioned plebs in Cincinnati. But given that this was not the case, her explaining away the commissioner’s untrue statements to Congress is a lie based on another lie — a compound lie, if you will. And acting commissioner Steven Miller was briefed on the situation in May of 2012 — and then declined to share his knowledge of it with Congress when asked about it during a hearing in July.
Lie No. 7: Lerner says she came forward with her apology unprompted by any special consideration. In fact, an inspector general’s report was about to be released, making the matter public.
Lie No. 8: When Congress was investigating complaints from conservative groups, Lerner told them that she could not release information about organizations with pending applications. But her group was in fact releasing such information — to the left-leaning news organization ProPublica, rather than to congressional investigators.
Lie No. 9: Lerner says that there was no political pressure to investigate tea-party groups. In fact, Senator Carl Levin (D., Mich.) ( among others ) repeatedly pressed the agency to investigate conservative groups falling under Lerner’s jurisdiction. What we have, then, is this: Under a Democratic administration, the IRS was under pressure from Democratic elected officials to investigate political enemies of the Democratic party. The agency did so. Its commissioner lied to Congress about its doing so. When the inspector general’s report was about to make these abuses public, the agency staged a classic Washington Friday news rollout at a sleepy American Bar Association tax-law conference, hoping to minimize the bad publicity. Lerner lied to the public about the nature, scope, and extent of the IRS intimidation campaign.
That she has a job today is a scandal in itself. She’ll be receiving an award — for public service! — from the Western New England University School of Law on May 18. An orange jumpsuit would suit her better than academic robes.
— Kevin D. Williamson is a roving correspondent for National Review. His new book, The End Is Near and It’s Going To Be Awesome, was recently published
Obama Administration Knew of IRS Probe During 2012 Campaign
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/irs-scandal-political-groups/2013/05/18/id/505159?s=al&promo_code=138B1-1#ixzz2TgDzk9A3Obama and the IRS: The Smoking Gun?
By Jeffrey Lord American Spectator http://spectator.org/archives/2013/05/20/obama-and-the-irs-the-smoking/
President met with anti-Tea Party IRS union chief the day before agency targeted Tea Party.
In short: the very day after the president of the quite publicly anti-Tea Party labor union — the union for IRS employees — met with President Obama, the manager of the IRS “Determinations Unit Program agreed” to open a “Sensitive Case report on the Tea party cases.” As stated by the IG report. Soros Gave $6.1 Million to Groups Linked to Pressure on IRS to Target Conservative Nonprofits
http://cnsnews.com/blog/mike-ciandella/soros-gave-61-million-groups-linked-pressure-irs-target-conservative-nonprofitsSeveral Soros-funded groups including the Campaign Legal Center, Democracy 21, the Center for Public Integrity, Mother Jones and Alternet have worked to pressure the IRS to target conservative nonprofit groups. The subsequent IRS investigation flagged more than 100 tea party-related applications for higher scrutiny, including applications that included the words "Tea Party" and "patriot."
The IRS scandal can be traced back to a series of letters that the liberal groups Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and Democracy 21 sent to the IRS back in 2010 and 2011. Both groups were funded by George's Soros's Open Society Foundations. The CLC received $677,000 and Democracy 21 got $365,000 from the Soros-backed foundation, according to the Foundation's 990 tax forms.
On Jan. 15, 2012, the IRS targeted groups focused on limiting government or educating people about the Constitution and Bill of Rights
Alternet and Mother Jones are both members of The Media Consortium, which is designed to do exactly what happened here. The Media Consortium was created to be a progressive "echo chamber," where 63 separate left-wing media outlets can network and share ideas, as well as cross-promote stories. Other members of the Consortium include such liberal outlets as The Nation, Democracy Now! and The American Prospect. The consortium has also received $675,000 in Soros funds since 2000. Alternet ($285,000) and Mother Jones ($485,000) have both also received individual funding from Soros's Open Society Foundations.
This isn't the only time the IRS has targeted conservative groups recently, nor is it the only connection between the IRS and Soros-funded groups.
Timeline Shows Influence of Soros-Funded Groups
- March 1-17, 2010: First ten reported cases of targeting by the IRS against groups that had ties to the "tea party or similar organizations."
- Sept. 16, 2010: TIME article "The New GOP Money Stampede" quotes Wertheimer;
- Sept. 23, 2010: DISCLOSE act, a campaign finance disclosure act specifically targeting a Tea Party group, in the writing of which the CLC participated, fails in the Senate;
- Sept. 28, 2010: Democrat Senator Max Baucus writes a letter to the IRS, citing the TIME article;
- Oct. 5, 2010: Democracy 21 and Campaign Legal Center petition IRS, Wertheimer writes HuffPo article;
- Oct. 7, 2010: Legal brief from HoltzmanVogel PLLC against the Democracy 21 petition;
- Oct. 14, 2010: Dick Durbin asks IRS to investigate American Crossroads, HuffPo coverage;
- June 27, 2011: Second petition to the IRS by CLC and Democracy 21;
- June 29, 2011: IRS senior agency official Lois Lerner briefed on efforts to target groups which "criticize how the country is being run";
- Sept. 28, 2011: CLC and Democracy 21 petition IRS again, this time about four conservative groups;
- Oct. 31, 2011: CPI "investigation";
- Nov. 18, 2011: Mother Jones article;
- Nov. 21, 2011: Alternet repost of Mother Jones Article;
- Dec. 29, 2011: New York Times oped;
- Jan. 15, 2012: IRS targeted groups focusing on limiting government or educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights;
- February 2012: First articles promoting this issue appear in New York Times, Washington Post and LA Times
Center for Public Integrity: $2,716,328
Campaign Legal Center: $677,000
Media Consortium: $675,000
Mother Jones: $485,000
Democracy 21: $365,000
ProPublica: $300,000
Alternet: $285,000
Human Rights Campaign: $600,000
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"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." - Thomas Jefferson Virginia Tea Party Patriots www.virginiateapartypatriots.com Danville Patriots http://danvillepatriots.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyqTlje8RxQ "
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