Submitted by libbyliberal on Fri, 05/17/2013 - 8:22am
One of Obama’s damage control frontiers this week is the “cover up” after the tragic and deadly attack on the Benghazi consulate last September.
It is being roundly pooh-poohed as not scandal-label-worthy by Obama Team Dems. The one MSNBC anchor I am willing to watch, Chris Hayes, tonight led the pooh-poohers much to my frustration. He called it a “nothingburger”! Read below the fold...
Submitted by transcriber on Fri, 05/17/2013 - 4:54am
I love Marcy Wheeler interviews because she's so quick I can't keep up with her posts on emptywheel and in interviews you get an overview narrative – also a chance to hear somebody else say, "So – I don’t really get it." Here she is on Tuesday on the Scott Horton Show going over her several DOJ-AP posts (see present list at bottom). Topic later switches to her May 10th post, Real ID Biometrics in Immigration Bill, which effectively would create de facto national ID card and database, "an invitation for witch hunts." Read below the fold...
Submitted by Rainbow Girl on Thu, 05/16/2013 - 11:16pm
Just a friend helping a friend. With the October deadline looming it's important that ObamaCare be perceived has having a large consumer base.
More evidence that ObamaCare is the ultimate Trojan Horse to privatize every last shred of public health care systems into the Insurance Companies' machinery of poverty, sickness and death. Read below the fold...
Submitted by lambert on Thu, 05/16/2013 - 3:29pm
Even before we get to the glitzy stuff, like using social media to crosscheck income eligibility. Atlantic Wire:
In its 5-4 ruling last year, the Supreme Court upheld the law's mandate that Americans have health insurance, saying that Congress can enforce the mandate under its taxing authority and through the IRS.
As a result, the agency has to administer 47 tax provisions under Obamacare. They include the right to levy a penalty against businesses and individuals who don't provide or acquire insurance. Noting that the IRS will collect the penalties, the decision labeled them a tax.
The IRS also has to determine how to distribute annual subsidies to 18 million people who make less than $45,000 a year and thus qualify for subsidies in buying health coverage, as well as how to deliver tax credits to small businesses that buy coverage for workers.
In addition, the agency will collect taxes on medical devices and a Medicare surtax on people making more than $200,000 a year, as well as conducting compliance audits of tax-exempt hospitals.
The financial burden for all this IRS enforcement is expected to total $881 million for fiscal years 2010 through 2013, according to the Treasury Department.
But former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman told Congress last year that he would need another $13.1 billion for the job in 2014. It's uncertain as to whether the funds will be forthcoming from Congress, which has cut the IRS's budget in each of the past two years.
$13.1 billion doesn't seem like a lot of money these days. But I imagine to the IRS it's a pretty big deal (and what Federal agency ever turned down more money?) Read below the fold...
Submitted by lambert on Thu, 05/16/2013 - 3:19pm
Submitted by libbyliberal on Thu, 05/16/2013 - 2:43am
The f-word is fascism.
The first amendment matters. Should matter. Apparently not so much to the Justice Department and Democratic President Barack Obama.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Read below the fold...
Submitted by lambert on Wed, 05/15/2013 - 7:57pm
Submitted by lambert on Wed, 05/15/2013 - 3:35pm
Submitted by lambert on Wed, 05/15/2013 - 2:34pm
Submitted by beowulf on Tue, 05/14/2013 - 10:21pm
Joe Firestone wrote a piece earlier here at Correntewire to report that strange doings are afoot at the Circle K House of Representatives.
On May 9, 2013, The Republican House passed H.R. 807 the Full Faith and Credit Act. The Bill says in part:
(a) In General- In the event that the debt of the United States Government, as defined in section 3101 of title 31, United States Code, reaches the statutory limit, the Secretary of the Treasury shall, in addition to any other authority provided by law, issue obligations under chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, to pay with legal tender, and solely for the purpose of paying, the principal and interest on obligations of the United States described in subsection (b) after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b) Obligations Described- For purposes of this subsection, obligations described in this subsection are obligations which are--
(1) held by the public, or
(2) held by the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and Disability Insurance Trust Fund.
Read below the fold...
Submitted by Rainbow Girl on Tue, 05/14/2013 - 10:13pm
Rackspace Hosting Inc. (publicly traded on the NYSE as "RAX") is the web hosting and cloud hosting company that took down FiredogLake for the past 24 hours and, according to JH's tweets, performed execrably in its "customer service" function, despite its trademarked "Fanatical Support" marketing shtick. It now appears (again according to JH's tweets) that Rackspace's "Fanatical Support TM" lied to Firedoglake for 24 hours ("it's a maintenance issue") before admitting that a (cloud?) server had blown up (and destroyed Firedoglake's cloud data!). Read below the fold...
Submitted by lambert on Tue, 05/14/2013 - 9:54pm
Submitted by libbyliberal on Tue, 05/14/2013 - 9:41pm
Of course Washington decries the corruption in Afghanistan and calls it out as a major obstacle to its mission there. That is certainly rich points out Dilip Hiro in “The Great Afghan Corruption Scam: How Operation Enduring Freedom Mutated into Operation Enduring Corruption” since the United States, due to grotesque incompetence, amorality and graft itself, has been an enabler and participant in the colossal corruption in Afghanistan. Read below the fold...
Submitted by lambert on Tue, 05/14/2013 - 9:11pm
Submitted by lambert on Tue, 05/14/2013 - 9:04pm
PDF here. Note that the new dataflow to "consumer reporting agencies" is not on the chart. NOTE: This is definitely not a left wing site, but I'm not seeing signs of the fever swamp, either. Read below the fold...
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