This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
IRS Conservative Witchhunt Started In 2011 With High-Level Officials Involved
The IRS conservative targeting scandal is going from bad to worse.
Following the Friday revelations that despite all prior appeals to the contrary, the IRS did in fact apply political bias and prejudice in targeting conservative groups who had applied for exempt status (and who knows what other prejudice when targeting non-liberals entities - perhaps it is time to do an analysis of what the ratio of conservatives to liberals audited each year is?), culminating with the farcical response by an IRS official during the Friday press meeting...
In her defense, the IRS official, explained: "I'm a lawyer."
— Zachary A. Goldfarb (@Goldfarb) May 10, 2013
The operative question to the IRS official is: What is one-quarter of 300?
— Zachary A. Goldfarb (@Goldfarb) May 10, 2013
... this may be just the beginning of a major political scandal which in addition to tangential fallout crushing the alleged "impartiality" of the Obama administration, additionally validates many of the heretofore right-wing "conspiracy theories." And as Zero Hedge has shown time and again, it is not a conspiracy theory if it is a conspiracy fact.
What makes things worse for the IRS, the US Treasury, its then-head Tim Geithner, and of course, Barack Obama, is that according to a draft report prepared by the Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration, expected to be released this week, and seen by AP, is that senior IRS officials knew agents were targeting tea party groups as early as the spring/summer of 2011, well before the 2012 election as we announced before. What makes matters worse, is that it was not only "low-level" employees as the IRS tried to justify its prejudice on Friday, but high level personnel, among which at least one head of division that oversees tax-exempt organizations, and likely all the way to the very top, that were well aware of the witch hunt.
The IRS apologized Friday for what it acknowledged was "inappropriate" targeting of conservative political groups during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status. The agency blamed low-level employees, saying no high-level officials were aware.
But on June 29, 2011, Lois G. Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt organizations, learned at a meeting that groups were being targeted, according to the watchdog's report. At the meeting, she was told that groups with "Tea Party," ''Patriot" or "9/12 Project" in their names were being flagged for additional and often burdensome scrutiny, the report says. The 9-12 Project is a group started by conservative TV personality Glenn Beck.
Lerner instructed agents to change the criteria for flagging groups "immediately," the report says.
Attempts by the IRS to contain the fallout to lower level employees will become very complicated once it becomes public knowledge, that "on Aug. 4, 2011, staffers in the IRS' Rulings and Agreements office "held a meeting with chief counsel so that everyone would have the latest information on the issue.""
So everyone knew about it.
But this is a very sticky problem because at a congressional hearing March 22, 2012, IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, who had previously stated on the record that no groups had been targeted, testified under oath as follows: "There's absolutely no targeting. This is the kind of back and forth that happens to people" who apply for tax-exempt status, Shulman said at the House Ways and Means subcommittee hearing."
Oops.
Of course, the IRS is scrambling to contain the fallout in the only way it (and JPMorgan, and Goldman Sachs, and every other organization caught with its pants down) knows - the news never got to the top:
"IRS senior leadership was not aware of this level of specific details at the time of the March 2012 hearing," the statement said. "The timeline does not contradict the commissioner's testimony. While exempt organizations officials knew of the situation earlier, the timeline reflects that IRS senior leadership did not have this level of detail."
Lerner's position is three levels below the commissioner.
"The timeline supports what the IRS acknowledged on Friday that mistakes were made," the statement continued. "There were not partisan reasons behind this."
What makes it even worse is that it was not just some radical conservative groups that had been targeted.
On Jan, 25, 2012, the criteria for flagging suspect groups was changed to, "political action type organizations involved in limiting/expanding Government, educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, social economic reform/movement," the report says.
So, by implication those who still believe in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are if not enemies of the US, then certainly subject to far more scrutiny by the country's tax collectors?
Needless to say, the fury among republicans in Congress is palpable:
Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee's oversight subcommittee, said the report "raises serious questions as to who at IRS, Treasury and in the administration knew about this, why this practice was allowed to continue for as long as it did, and how widespread it was."
"This timeline reveals at least two extremely unethical actions by the IRS. One, as early as 2010, they targeted groups for political purposes. Two, they willfully and knowingly lied to Congress for years despite being aware that Congress was investigating this practice," Boustany said.
"This is an outrageous abuse of power. Going after organizations for referencing the Bill of Rights or expressing the intent to make this country a better place is repugnant," Boustany added. "There is no excuse for this behavior."
The White House, which would not want to touch this issue with a three trillion foot pole has logically distanced itself as far as possible:
On Friday, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the administration expected the inspector general to conduct a thorough investigation, but he brushed aside calls for the White House itself to investigate.
However, one can be certain that with the ascendent GOP, smarting after a year of political debacles and strategic disasters, and feeling emboldened in the aftermath of the Benghazi scandal coverup which in itself is another slap in the face of the "most transparent administration" in history, that the scandal will not be contained to some low-level, Fabrice Tourre-wannabe. Unless of course both the right and the left were in on it. After all, Shulman was appointed by President George W. Bush. His 6-year term ended in November.
Which, of course, would mean that for all the theatrics and optics, both the right and the left are, indeed, one.
»
- 35679 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
This has nothing to do with Republican bumbling stop being an apologist. The story is a lot bigger than the talking points. The cronyism of concerning CBS and it's conflict of interest causing a head of CBS to squash investigative reporting .I.E HINDERING THEM DOING THEIR FUCKING JOB AS A FREE AND UNBIASED PRESS is the issue here. None of the news agencies until now have questioned anything coming out of the White House concerning Benghazi and pretty much everything else. I wonder why...............
The MSM is compromised by cronyism and if CBS and the rest of them want to regain any credibility heads will have to roll and there should be criminal investigations into the matter. When free press isn't so free (not like us tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theory believing dickweeds didn't already know that) compromised by cronyism and there is no repercussions for it legally or otherwise we are done and so are the news organizations as far any credibility goes.
Your comment lacks logic. Obama was asking if his lies regarding Benghazi were OK with Congressional Republicans? Really? That's your "fact"? You reveal yourself to be a libtard troll. Oh, just to clarify: lack of involvement in any post-facto discussion does not negate a cover-up. Or would you like to share your scintillating syllogism with us?
Appropriate members of Congress have always been made privy to information that has either been kept from the public, or has been massaged for presentation to the public. Benghazi is no different from other situations where Congress has been presented with the "facts" and the public has been presented with the spin. The only difference here is that some people are twirling this event for political purposes.
Obama was asking if his lies regarding Benghazi were OK with Congressional Republicans?
Yes - Presidents have often shared with particular members of Congress the truth about something and the "story" that they will tell the people about that something. One of the Federal government's jobs is to maintain the peace. Doing this has often involved deceiving the general public about the truth of a matter.
National governance is often a dirty, stinking, dishonest business. But it is necessary to get the job done - particularly when competing with other national governments for scarce resources. National governance is often like eating sausage. Folks like the end result, but they would not enjoy knowing what goes into the making of it.
Being unaware of this point does not negate this point. And the point I made in the previous post was logical if you stick to the point I made - the President did not seek to keep from certain members of Congress what he was up to. He was not seeking to cover up his actions with Congress. I was not addressing whether he intentionally misled the public. I think it is obvious that he did, for reasons we probably will never be told about.. But that is the way it is with many episodes; we just never know about them.
!
TREASONOUS, but don't take the bait, Nappy DHS is awaiting with bated breath .... ;..(
WTF - TAKE IT!!!!
re: "who had applied for exempt status"
Go on bended knee you dumb fuck quislings...
There are not many conservatives left in the republican party. Congress must have 15 or 20 max.
The rest centre right democrats, but democrats in their core.
This technologie will create another generation of "hoodies" just like the UK.
The real story isn't the folks they hassled but the crooks abusing nonprofit status that they ignored. The state should be selective and skeptical of who they give tax free status to, and for what purpose.
Take the California Healthcare Foundation created with the liquidation assets of nonprofit health insurance providers from CA and now used primarily for funding Socialist political propaganda including promoting amnesty as well as Obamacare.
Since when is running commercials for amnesty and free healthcare for criminal invaders a "charity"?
In my book it's treason, and sure as he'll shouldn't be tax deductible.
Good, I'm glad congress is on the beat so that we can pass the new...
Tax Assessment Equal Standards Act
In order to liberalize the latitude with which the IRS can target organizations, thereby insuring that everybody, and not single organizations with a particular worldview are subjected to their justice (unless of course you're a connected member of the .1%)... More equality for everyone.
"I wouldn't do this Barry, it got Nixon impeached."
Barry," As long as I am black, they can't and won't do a fucking thing......"
But Barry - you're not black. You're an oreo. Worst of both worlds.
Well, 9/11 and what followed didn't get Bush impeached...
There should be no exemptions.
Problem solved.
There should be no taxes.
There, fixed it for ya.
There should be no diredt taxes laid upon the People by the Federal government, to be technical.
Where taxes ARE constitutional, equal protectection of the law necessitates no exemptions.
The existence of the IRS is unconstitutional. I'm just waiting for our courageous men in uniform to honors their oaths. (Holding my breath.)
I should probably tell you that if you hold your breath too long, you'll die.
We know the IRS and others federal departments are unconstitutional.
The time is not yet right for rifle, pistol and bayonet.
Not yet!
Just got back from the grocery store. Whole chickens went from 4.99 each to 7.99 each.
Those damn chicken speculators.
Yeah, but I got 3 boxes (20 rounds) of 5.56 at Walmart this morning for less than 8 buck a box. If I resold that for the going rate, my state's price gouging laws would kick in.
The letter listed below cost me & my Husband an additional $250. on our personal income taxes in July of 2011 on top of what we sent them in March of 2011. The 1st Amendment is NOT free. Yes, I learned that one the hard way.
To: Internal Revenue Service
From: Honest American Tax Payer
Please find enclosed a check in the amount of $176. which was the amount owed by my 86 yr. old Father who passed away in January 2011. He was a World War II Veteran with an adjusted gross income of $12,503.. He always paid his fair share & even after his death would demand his fair share be paid.
It is a sin & a disgrace not to mention a crime that so many in Washington within our own govt. along with rich powerful people in this Country never pay their fair share, hell, most never pay a damn dime.
What saddens me & many Americans, the struggling middle class are never exempt or excused from paying our taxes but are required to pay more than our fair share. We can't blame it on tax attorneys, turbo tax, my staff handled it, I wasn't aware or the dog ate it.
My Father, A Great Man risked his life in World War II to protect us from exactly what is happening today. But we are "Americans" and we are "Awake", "Aware", "Astonished", "Angry" & we have had enough. So Please spend my Father's $176. wisely because this injustice will come to an end & we will restore Honor, Dignity, Integrity, Morals & Values back in this Country.
Remember, United We Stand, Divided We Fall, maybe its time to add: One Pay, All Pay. If an 86 yr old with an income of $12,503. can pay his fair share then I am not sure how most of you people can sleep at night. But then again My Father aways did the "Honorable" thing, it was all he knew, he was an 'AMERICAN"!
God Bless the United States of America
There is nothing 'honorable' about paying taxes to support the state system of oppression and control, or in bearing arms in the service of that system. The honorable thing to do is to avoid paying taxes whenever possible and to condemn the existence and deny the legitimacy of the state at every opportunity.
You either have been in jail & don't mind that kind of life or you don't have shit & have nothing to lose.. Not paying taxes will get you one or the other, sometimes both. Please keep your advice to yourself, I don't need it.
You might be interested in how the IRS grabbed this fellow's tax refund to recover an overpayment to his mother. The stories related in the comments indicate that this is not an oddity. I particularly like the one which questions how the IRS will be able to handle Obamacare audits and fines. Will you owe if your child or parent does not have an approved plan? How about the divorecd spouse?
IRS Grabs Man's Tax Refund to Recoup Social Security's Alleged $895 Overpayment to Mother 42 Years AgoWell I expressed my 1st Amendment rights regarding my Dad's taxes in 2011. When I signed the check, it didn't take long for them to find my tax return & go thru it with a fine tooth comb. I was immediately requested to send them an additional $250.. I chalked it up to the going rate for speaking when not allowed.
In 2011, I recall Charlie Rangal owing thousands of back taxes, laughing it off saying he "wasn't aware" & his staff handles that. Of course, the money owed by the DC population alone would pay the interest on our debt for several hours. But they are not subjected to the same rules as the little people. This game will never change, we are a rotting society as a result of the left's moral decay of anything moral or decent. God Help Us.
You can't tell me EVIL does not exist on this planet. Really "-4". Like the Klu Klux Clan you can say anything you would like. My issue is you saying what you want/beleive with a blanket over your head. Reveal yourself.
Drudge just picked this up, which if true guarantees a shitstorm is coming:
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/irs-punished-conservative-non-profits-pe...
(and for those who don't follow my comments, this has nothing to do with the discrimination debate, just the latest news.)
+ 1 seek
But, my guess is this does jack squat to further a shitstorm. Pity.
I'd like to see fucking AIPAC being audited!
And all the fucks who take money from them.
Monkees - Daydream Believer - Music Video From TV - Clear HD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU615FaODCg (2:50)
There is no honor among thieves, apparently there are plenty of thieves wearing the "honorable" title... See the Honorable Jon Corzine.
Be nice if we lived in a world where free speach, no matter how stupid, was respected. However, we don't live in that world. So ya gotta pick yer fights. At least TPTB haven't started filing slander/libel suits in the banksters interest.
That's the line that needs to be defended.
cynicalskeptic
Your example, Koch Brothers, is corporatist 1%.
I do not have any racist comments at this time.
Thank you for checking. Y'all come back, hear?
"Watergate started out as a routine burglary by low-level 'plumbers.'Then it turned out to be directed straight from the Oval Office.'
Some say John Dean, not Nixon.
B.S. This targeting of conservatives via IRS audits and harassement started several decades ago.
If anyone has doubts about whether the targeted groups were harassed. take a look at the information requirements the IRS asked them to provide.
10 crazy things the IRS asked Tea Party groupsObama = Nixon
Obama is worse than Nixon. Not even close.
+1
No one died because of Watergate.
We're old enough to have remembered!
Nixon did not order the Watergate breakin. He knew nothing about it until it was all beginning to fall apart. Certainly he became involved in the coverup. It sure does seem to have been a John Dean initiated operation. That crafty bastard seemed to escape with public sympathy.
The relevant tie-in to Watergate is that Hillary Rodham Clinton was an attorney on the staff of the committee investigating it. If you look at her involvement in political activeties and coverups, you can see that she learned a lot from the Nixon investigation. She learned how to lie with a straight face, that is for sure. The interview in the pink jacket, blaming a "vast right wing conspiracy" for her husband's troubles, while certainly knowing that he was called Slick Willie because of where his willie had been, must rank high on any list of convincing lies to study. It was perfect in that it blamed no one in particular but gave the media a different subject line to investigate and write about. Then there were the troubles with the Rose Law billing records that went missing. First she never knew they existed. Then they went missing and could not be located. Finally, after three years the records were found by the cleaning lady on the dining room table in the Whitehouse. Who would have ever thought to look there.
Man, Nixon was an Eagle Scout compared to this guy. The current guy is like the creepy pedophile child molestor hiding in the scout ranks.
"CBS anchor Scott Pelley "Our house is on fire. These have been a bad few months for journalism, We're getting the big stories wrong, over and over again."
Being consistently wrong over fifty years, is just taking the paymasters check. Admitting it over the span of just one year, is priceless ;-)
Pelley is an honest reporter. You should watch his show. In spite of his compromised boss, he tries to report hard news objectively and fairly. Sometimes the cub reporters let their liberal biases show, but far less often than on the other networks.
We should thank him for coming out with this statement. He sites a Newtown misfire as an example, but clearly he was talking about much more than that "safe" example.
NBC, on the other hand, has been invaded by some alien species that one normally is told about on the History Channel 2. They are not just OTT progressive, they are downright weird.
It was more a critique of MSM's so-called brand of journalism than of any one individual.
Of one individual, as a journalist, I'd have to say Sharyl Attkisson has done a stellar job on many stories...TARP, Fast & Furious & Benghazi the most recognizable, running them all to ground when the rest of the media herd was quitely grazing on whatever TPTB throw over the fence.
That my friend, is a true journalist, uncompromising to truth.
Completely agree on NBC. A fetid nest of freaks with no morals or scruples and no concept of truth...going all the way back to 1992 (and further) Dateline rigging GM truck gas tanks to explode on impact to the present, editing the Zimmerman 911 tape to make it appear he was raaazzzist, to fit the "official narrative".
They might as well call themselves the Nationalist Broadcasting Company...lol.
"political action type organizations involved in limiting/expanding Government, educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, social economic reform/movement,"
We can't stand to have that now can we?
One of my favorite Tylers here. Well done Sir.
THIS RECENT IRS disclosure of abuse is absolutely NOTHING comparied to what they have been doing for DECADES. Believe me, I PERSONALLY KNOW OF WHAT I SPEAK!!! The pure TYRANNY is truly unbelieveable!!! ABOLISH THE IRS and replace it with the FAIRTAX, it's our only hope!!!
Abolish the IRS and replace it with nothing. Abolish the state and allow the market its rightful place. Only a system of voluntary co-operation can fulfill human needs and create positive returns. Coercive systems consume resources and create losses; voluntary systems produce goods and create profits.
But but....Mr. President just told me that tyranny is soooo overrated.
I simplty cannot believe that a Party in power and seeking re-election would dare to use a powerful apparatus of government to dig up dirt or otherwise harm their enemies on the other side.
I just cannot believe such a thing could occur...
That's Hate Speech, ban him!
Does he float?
Bury him up to his head so we can throw rocks at him.
If you step back, Nixon was ousted for about 1/100th of the evil the current puppet has committed.
That's why this country is toast.
Burnt toast.
Yes, that's right.
Circle the wagons, bitchez.
Buy gold & ammo. And/or look at other options outside the USA. This is not the country in which I grew up.
And if you're a liberal, circle your Priuses.
Same thing with Bush. Or Clinton. Since JFK assassination, the US is the new Mordor.
Somwhere in backwoods Alabama there is a ring lying in a stream.
Glad to see the light shining on the IRS, now let's shut er down.
Wait until they are in charge of OUR healthcare.. Good times!
So you are saying that when they shift from being a force for deterrence to an active governmental enforcer, we might have problems?
Oh yeah, your medical treatment will depend on your political affiliation. Oh and if you think you are going to speak up, think again. It's their game, their rules & the rules are subject to change to fit Obama's mood. Remember, he is only following orders from the top.
Since there aren't any dead children to stand upon, 0bama will not expend political effort here.
Well at least we know who really runs thing in the world when we can´t say Jew but can say nigger (ignorant, subsidized and coddled black person). hujel
"ONE". There is no "aisle" and they are "not the same" and they "hurt each other" and they'll "do it again"...because..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE9hubGnqQM
the 3d reich is alive and well....the indonesian citizen doesn'g give a flying fuck about the rule of law...he works for nazis of which the bush crime syndicate is a major part.
The enemy is within & We The People are on our own..
It's all George Bush's fault and you're a racist.
Nothing to see here.
Move along. Move along.
Its Bush's fault Bitchezzzzzs
Let us not forget that when the auto bailouts were in progress, and some HFs objected to Car Tsar Rattner's unilateral change of centuries of business law that set rules on seniority of creditors (because a fund he owned had positions in junior subordinated debt of some of the carmakers), Rattner threatened to "sick the IRS after not only you, but every investor in any of your funds".
Rattner left shortly thereafter, having already "earned" the tax exemption that comes from doing a little public service. At least Hank Paulson, who benefitted from the same tax exemption, stuck around long enough to make it look good.
Rattner may just have been bluffing, but it does suggest precedent, or a belief that the IRS can be an offensive political weapon. When Rattner's bullying came to light, he was not admonished by the Administration.
Paulson made much more. Had to stay longer...
The most powerful and dangerous weapon of mass destruction ever created is government.
What the IRS has been used as a weapon to attack political opponents? Clearly we need more regulation, rules, laws and bigger government to fix that problem.
And this same corrupt IRS will be forced by this MAJOR corrupt administration to make decisions on your Healthcare services, Life, etc. So if you're a registered R or I, and you need a life threatening surgery.......forget about it!!!!
Everybody complains about em...
But everybody pays em.
Everybody?
So taking a look a tax-free status is "targeting"? How is this worse than bugging offices or blowing up whitleblowers planes?
MSM won't cover this.
Fox News usually does cover "you're making the government look bad" stuff, but it will fizzle out and alas, this story will disappear.
But there's hope - when the markets collapse - no one will be able to ignore it - as jobs and pensions disappear. "No more QE process" was announced on Friday - market tanking process should start tomorrow.
Since Switzerland is now amongst the printing-most of countries, why expect them to do anything Swiss?
Churches are next on the progressive hit list.
History may not necessarily repeat itself, but it does often rhyme, paraphrasing Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain.
Nixon was forced from office for a cover-up.
Nixon used the IRS to beat down his "enemies."
There was a select committee formed to investigate Nixon's Watergate.
Obama is currently embroiled in a cover-up of what happened at Benghazi.
It's been reported that the IRS targeted conservative groups.
Some senators (John McCain, et.al.) are calling for a select committee.
It's been nearly 40 years since the Watergate hearings convened (May 17, 1973). Nixon announced his resignation on August 9, 1974 and left the White House the following day.
Stars seem to be aligning properly. All hail president Biden! [/sarc]
We know everbody in the IRS is a professional bloodsucker. Now we see that Jewish and lawyer can be added to the noble distinction. Such a happy place, like the SS must have been.
Alright, I am taking my smartass hat off for this post. I am not exactly sure what happened here last night because I posted a brief "good job Tyler" post and went to bed without reading any of the other comments. This morning, I was taken aback by Tyler's comment on what is either page 3 or 4 by now. The debate seems to be about the new racial slurs policy that ZH has implemented. Censorship on ZeroHedge??? Talk about a hot button!
Obviously something is going on that I do not have full disclosure of and I do not think we have the full story yet. Lawsuits in Switzerland? I do however have to support the Tylers at this point. The Tylers OWN the domain name and the servers of ZeroHedge. ZeroHedge is not a democracy. I would not want anyone to ruin my little website either.
I do not think the Tylers really want to go on an account deletion spree. What the Tylers are asking for is for commenters to not delegitimatize their posts by posting racial slurs. I do not think anyone should be deleted per se, but how about cleaning it up a bit on the race stuff? It's not funny anymore anyway.
To this Tyler, who, as I stated last night is one of my favorites, I posted this on my own insignificant little blog. I will take it down if you want me to but I would also like to know if you want to add to anything to it.
Both parties are hostile to those groups and philosophic leanings targeted by the IRS. This is simply the latest example in a long line of almost daily revelations that clearly indicate we are living, now, in a tyrannical de facto police state, doing nothing of consequence besides being titillated by the entertainment value of the latest daily soap opera installment, akin to laughing and high fiving someone who is in the act of slitting our collective throat.
I can only assume that the others, like myself, who post here, stopped participating in THAT ponzi scheme, created by and for the ruling elite, long ago.
You wrote, "What makes it even worse is that it was not just some radical conservative groups that had been targeted."
Yet, the groups that you mentioned prior to that sentence were groups that included those labeled, "Tea Party," "Patriot," or "9-12 project." You also mentioned Glenn Beck's name.
The implication of your writing, whether you intended it to appear this way or not, is that those groups are radically conservative. Yet, every one, including virtually all of those who consider themselves to be patriots, are moderate conservatives.
In fact, the major theme that runs through each of these groups is that they are pushing for adherence to the constitution and the bill of rights. They oppose out-of-control government spending. This is in no way radical, and in fact, has been the conservative position for many decades.
These are not the characteristics of radicals. In fact, you would have to look very hard to find any radical or extremist conservatives in American society. Those that exist are few and far between. Moreover, they have little public voice.
However, our government is presently run by radical liberals. They are extremists, and include communists, marxists, socialists and others who would vastly increase the power of government and reduce our rights.
The notion that the conservative groups that you mentioned are radical come straight from the propaganda of the mainstream media. In fact, the propagandists had an easy time with this one.
The reason is simple. The government and media have been driven to the far left. Those who believe in adherence to the constitution are now beginning to appear to be diametrically opposed to these extremist liberals. Moderate constitutional conservatives can therefore be asserted to be "extremist" or "radical" because the gap has widened so far.
Have you fallen for this nonsense? Has the illicit propaganda of the mainstream media even caused you to lose your grounding and sense of political orientation?
I hope not.
Old fart Simon Bolivar wrote "to foment revolution here is to plough the ocean, the only thing to do is to emigrate." Of course he thought he was referring to hispanic, macho South America where anybody who stuck his head up was murdered or imprisoned by the generalissimo of the day. Well that's the class struggle for you. If you only get investigated by the IRS it might not quite be time to leave. But seriously when it comes to tax evasion, mouthy and aspirational right wing idealogues are a very good bet. My wife was a tax officer and she knows.
More proof that the election was rigged and that The Dictator truly acted as one. The Kommies are for sure wrecking the country, but the average voter could care less as long as he can collect his welfare and free government goodies.