Stuff You Should Read
Gowdy Takes on IRS
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) hit IRS Commissioner John Koskinen with a question the bureaucrat couldn't answer Monday: "You have already said multiple times today that there was no evidence that you found of any criminal wrongdoing," Gowdy said. "I want you to tell me what criminal statutes you have evaluated." Befuddled, Koskinen replied, "I have not looked at any." Gowdy fired back, "Well then how can you possibly tell our fellow citizens that there's not criminal wrongdoing if you don't even know what statutes to look at?" Gowdy repeated the question, and Koskinen again admitted, "I reviewed no criminal statutes." The only hope for the IRS is smoke and mirrors. We're glad at least Gowdy isn't going to take it.
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Lame Excuses to the IRS
Admit it: After the IRS's excuse that it "lost" Lois Lerner's emails, you wanted to, come tax time, tell the IRS that your hard drive crashed too, so it shouldn't expect your check. A bill in the U.S. House would allow just that. Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) introduced "The Dog Ate My Tax Receipts Act" (TDAMTRA), a bill that allows taxpayers to use the same lame excuses as the IRS. In a statement, Stockman said, "The United States was founded on the belief government is subservient and accountable to the people. Taxpayers shouldn't be expected to follow laws the Obama administration refuses to follow themselves. Taxpayers should be allowed to offer the same flimsy, obviously made-up excuses the Obama administration uses." Among the excuses, taxpayers could say they "Traded documents for five terrorists" or that documents were left "in [a] gun case sold to Mexican drug lords." Say, that sounds like the list we made two days before Stockman introduced his bill. More...
VA Study Shows Disarray
Sen. Tom Coburn, M.D, (R-OK) released a study on the state of the Veterans Affairs hospitals. It shows a culture where VA employees behave as if they are above the law and mismanage billions of dollars, while Congress is absent from overseeing the bureaucracy. Since 2001, the hospital system has paid out nearly $1 billion in malpractice claims, according to the study titled "Friendly Fire: Death, Delay and Dismay at The VA." More than 1,000 veterans have allegedly died due to VA negligence. "This reports shows the problems at the VA are worse than anyone imagined," Coburn said. "The scope of the VA's incompetence -- and Congress' indifferent oversight -- is breathtaking and disturbing. This investigation found the problems at the VA are far deeper than just scheduling. ... As is typical with any bureaucracy, the excuse for not being able to meet goals is a lack of resources. But this is not the case at the VA where spending has increased rapidly in recent years." More...
Who Pays ObamaCare's Tab?
On Monday, Gallup said citizens using the ObamaCare exchanges to get health insurance are less healthy than the national average. Fifty percent of the population is healthy -- the definition of average -- while only 38% of the new ObamaCare enrollees are of average health or better. The numbers last week show the vast majority of these plans, about 90%, are subsidized by the great Nanny, who picks up 76% of the health care bill for these new enrollees. But this is just the beginning. The Daily Signal reports that only 3.4 million of the eight million people to sign up for ObamaCare did not have health insurance in the past -- the government hoped for 26 million. Currently, the Obama administration is picking up the tab while the healthy are keeping their distance. In the coming months, we can expect to see premiums rise with the added burden. More...
9.4 Jobs
Perhaps Barack Obama slipped, or perhaps he merely stated what reality feels like when it comes to the economy and employment. Trying to boast of his economic record, he said, "[O]ur businesses have created jobs for 51 consecutive months, 9.4 new jobs in all. But we all know somebody out there still looking for work." We all know Obamanomics have utterly failed to restart our economy. Last quarter's GDP growth was negative, while unemployment remains persistently high. So while 9.4 jobs isn't literally accurate, it sure belies the feeling.
