jerseyhoya wrote:The IRS told Congress Friday it cannot locate many of Lois Lerner’s emails prior to 2011 because her computer crashed during the summer of that year.

no one would mistake me for Steve Wozniak but I'm not sure her computer would be critical to tracking down her archived mail. Seems like a pretty weak "the dog ate it" assertion

Bucky wrote:agreed

Yes, thank goodness.

drsmooth wrote:

jerseyhoya wrote:The IRS told Congress Friday it cannot locate many of Lois Lerner’s emails prior to 2011 because her computer crashed during the summer of that year.

no one would mistake me for Steve Wozniak but I'm not sure her computer would be critical to tracking down her archived mail. Seems like a pretty weak "the dog ate it" assertion

She also printed out the emails, but her dog ate them. That was the only backup.

Maybe Alberto Gonzales hid it with all the information Reps told us didn't matter when their guy was prez.

Ok, I jest. Their story sounds like hogwash, but it's really hard to know what is a scandal and what isn't when Reps try to make every little thing into an impeachable offense. Seriously, I can't tell the wheat from the chaff at this point. And I read more about this stuff than the average american.

Monkeyboy wrote:Maybe Alberto Gonzales hid it with all the information Reps told us didn't matter when their guy was prez.

Ok, I jest. Their story sounds like hogwash, but it's really hard to know what is a scandal and what isn't when Reps try to make every little thing into an impeachable offense. Seriously, I can't tell the wheat from the chaff at this point. And I read more about this stuff than the average american.

I too have lost track of what the IRS issue has to do with the organizations being able to actually carry out whatever activities they want to carry out.

I'm pretty sure we determined that there's not a tax consequence to contributors, regarding deductibility of their contributions (they are/were not deductible, as I recall).

Was it the ability of the filing organizations to legally USE the $ they had collected? Seems like it would have to be, because if it were merely a matter of deductibility of contributions, that's like a one-percenter problem the new, improved, re-booted Tea Baggers probably want to downplay. Sure, it's not "fair" to delay/ignore Teeper filings for official status, and administrative activity to maltreat them deserves some kind of punishment if its determined IRS drones did so, and I don't want the office of the President getting involved in such tawdry stuff, but on the policy of it, oil depletion allowances, tax-favored treatment of group health plan costs, and other kinds of tax preferences aren't "fair" depending on where you sit. They're about tearing down government, not making it work "fairly", because hey, it's all unfair, all tyranny, and doing nothing governmentally is always best.

Anyway, it's kind of confusing and involves the execrable Dave Camp and Darrly Issa, so I'm struggling to care.

My recollection is that the issue was about organizations applying for tax exempt status on grounds that their activities were primarily nonpolitical, when in fact they were Teabaggers. So they came in for audits. I also remember that as many left leaning organizations were audited on the same grounds, though maybe that was a disproven talking point.

Even the WaPo story notes that there's no evidence suggesting this came from outside the IRS. Maybe Lois Lerner is the Bridget Ann Kelly of this story, and the deleted emails all read "Time for some tax problems in right wing fuck nut land."

dajafi wrote:My recollection is that the issue was about organizations applying for tax exempt status on grounds that their activities were primarily nonpolitical, when in fact they were Teabaggers. So they came in for audits. I also remember that as many left leaning organizations were audited on the same grounds, though maybe that was a disproven talking point.

Even the WaPo story notes that there's no evidence suggesting this came from outside the IRS. Maybe Lois Lerner is the Bridget Ann Kelly of this story, and the deleted emails all read "Time for some tax problems in right wing fuck nut land."

yeah, see if it's a tax-favored treatment issue, it seems at right angles with the New Teeper (same as the old teeper) credo that washington's just full of whining special pleaders who should be shown the door - so pleading that their tax-favored treatment was a pillar of their reason for doing what they were doing seems like an ambiguous narrative that they'd like to diminish.

But what may be the larger issue - "hey, this isn't just evil IRS lackeys conspiring to squash the tax entitlements of honest conservatives - the spineless ineffectual brown President is the mastermind, pulling strings behind the scenes to keep these loyal Americans from engaging in their god-given right to thwart everyone else's (actually also their own) government-given entitlements" seems to rely on an awfully thin & devilishly elusive strand of evidence.

wow, conserva-bimbo Erin Burnett had Jerry Bremmer on her show tonite, & basically pulled out his tiny dick and publicly laughed at how small it is, and was - he lost his shit completely. Think he expected her usual catholic schoolgirl blowjob interview

Republican thought leader and overall scuz bag George Will is doubling down on his 'women accuse men of rape because it's a coveted status to be a rape victim' and blaming the internet for people being upset with him.

I don't know man. Will is tone deaf as hell but trigger warnings are pathetic, the concept of micro-aggressions is pretty weak, the 'survivor' thing is egregious if you believe in due process at all, and it was insane that Phillymag started their big article on rape with that non-rape case (when there are thousands of other examples they could have used)

you've got a guy like Coates begging for a conversation about race and history but who is going to have a conversation in this mock-and-condemn atmosphere? my twitter feed was filled with tweets hoping Will gets raped or murdered after that. progress!

I'm all for mock and condemn culture when it comes to outdated, horrible lines of thinking by people who dominate public narratives. Fuck em.

Houshphandzadeh wrote:I don't know man. Will is tone deaf as hell but trigger warnings are pathetic, the concept of micro-aggressions is pretty weak, the 'survivor' thing is egregious if you believe in due process at all, and it was insane that Phillymag started their big article on rape with that non-rape case (when there are thousands of other examples they could have used)

you've got a guy like Coates begging for a conversation about race and history but who is going to have a conversation in this mock-and-condemn atmosphere? my twitter feed was filled with tweets hoping Will gets raped or murdered after that. progress!

I need feminism because housh says rape doesn't exist.

drsmooth wrote:

dajafi wrote:My recollection is that the issue was about organizations applying for tax exempt status on grounds that their activities were primarily nonpolitical, when in fact they were Teabaggers. So they came in for audits. I also remember that as many left leaning organizations were audited on the same grounds, though maybe that was a disproven talking point.

Even the WaPo story notes that there's no evidence suggesting this came from outside the IRS. Maybe Lois Lerner is the Bridget Ann Kelly of this story, and the deleted emails all read "Time for some tax problems in right wing fuck nut land."

yeah, see if it's a tax-favored treatment issue, it seems at right angles with the New Teeper (same as the old teeper) credo that washington's just full of whining special pleaders who should be shown the door - so pleading that their tax-favored treatment was a pillar of their reason for doing what they were doing seems like an ambiguous narrative that they'd like to diminish.

But what may be the larger issue - "hey, this isn't just evil IRS lackeys conspiring to squash the tax entitlements of honest conservatives - the spineless ineffectual brown President is the mastermind, pulling strings behind the scenes to keep these loyal Americans from engaging in their god-given right to thwart everyone else's (actually also their own) government-given entitlements" seems to rely on an awfully thin & devilishly elusive strand of evidence.

I haven't really followed it since it broke, but my understanding is similar to dajafi's,except that the search criteria did tend to identify tea party type organizations more so than others.Not that it was such a bad idea to try sift these out by searching for certain terms, but it's one that would have worked equally well in the 40-50 years ago by giving extra scrutiny to orgs with peace or black in their names, so the net effect could be chilling. But I don't remember any solid evidence that either legit orgs were denied tax exempt status or that their was some direction to target these from outside the agency. So I'm happy to go on blissfully ignoring this, unless there's really something I missed.

Not that I'm not willing to accept that the IRS has a bunch of assholes working for it who aren't forthcoming with information, but that's a different story. And even there I'm willing to accept that they get exposed pt the worst of human nature.

Houshphandzadeh wrote:I don't know man. Will is tone deaf as hell but trigger warnings are pathetic, the concept of micro-aggressions is pretty weak, the 'survivor' thing is egregious if you believe in due process at all, and it was insane that Phillymag started their big article on rape with that non-rape case (when there are thousands of other examples they could have used)

you've got a guy like Coates begging for a conversation about race and history but who is going to have a conversation in this mock-and-condemn atmosphere? my twitter feed was filled with tweets hoping Will gets raped or murdered after that. progress!

What kind of conversation is Will hoping to have by writing that column? He was practically foaming at the mouth over the idea of women choosing to be victims and the liberal nanny-state universities seeking to coddle them. That's not a dialogue starter.

Wake me when George Will takes a measured, non-inflammatory approach to discussing rape culture and then I'll support your criticism of social media.

I bet Christie's never even been to Pulaski, so imagine him getting fucked there

NYTimes wrote:...In bond documents describing the Skyway reconstruction and other repairs, the Port Authority has called the projects “Lincoln Tunnel Access Infrastructure Improvements.”

The accuracy of this characterization is now a major focus of the investigations, according to several people briefed on the matter. Under a New York State law known as the Martin Act, prosecutors can bring felony charges for intentionally deceiving bond holders, without having to prove any intent to defraud or even establish that any fraud occurred.

of course then the PA's use of that description would have to be tied to the big guy - but apparently the trail to him may as well be marked with bright orange cones

Cliffs notes on the Mississippi election please. TIA

Some really smart folks on Twitter think Cochran has won, but I don't see it being over. If Cochran wins, he has black Dem voters turning out to thank. Hopefully he can hold on.

Also worth keeping an eye on - Rangel down 10% in early returns - http://project.wnyc.org/election2014-ny-primary/

The other one is the tp guy?