Surprise: IRS Recycled Lois Lerner’s Hard Drive

That “phony scandal” and “wacky conspiracy theory”, an issue that happened because of some “rogue agents” and set of coincidences, sure seems to be getting more legit every day. Here’s the latest

(Politico) Ex-IRS official Lois Lerner’s crashed hard drive has been recycled, making it likely the lost emails of the lightening rod in the tea party targeting controversy will never be found, according to multiple sources.

“We’ve been informed that the hard drive has been thrown away,” Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the top Republican on the Finance Committee, said in a brief hallway interview.

Two additional sources told POLITICO the same late Wednesday, citing IRS officials. (snip)

“We believe the standard IRS protocol was followed in 2011 for disposing of the broken hard drive. A bad hard drive, like other broken Information Technology equipment, is sent to a recycler as part of our regular process,” an IRS spokesman said in response to a query from POLITICO.

Standard protocol, eh? If the IRS comes looking for your records, I wonder what their response would be if you said you kept your tax documents on your computer, it crashed, you threw it out.

(Fox News) “If the IRS truly got rid of evidence in a way that violated the Federal Records Act and ensured the FBI never got a crack at recovering files from an official claiming a Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination, this is proof their whole line about ‘losing’ e-mails in the targeting scandal was just one more attempted deception,” House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said in a statement. “Official records, like the e-mails of a prominent official, don’t just disappear without a trace unless that was the intention.”

I hope that Issa and other Republicans will still attempt to go after all the backup servers for the IRS. Furthermore, maybe it is time to reach out to the NSA for the metadata for that time period, see where those emails were going to and coming from. Even a hardcore liberal has to admit that this conduct sure seem suspect. I’ll ask them, if this happened while Bush was in office, what would you thing?

Regarding that hard drive, IRS procedure, really, government records procedure, would require that a record be kept of how that hard drive was recycled. Where did it go?

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Surprise: IRS Recycled Lois Lerner’s Hard Drive »

Good Grief, The Mt. Kilimanjaro Is Climate Change Crazies Resurface

Never let a good talking point die, via the Tanzania Daily News

The last thing the 3rd worlders living in the area need is more reduction in their living standards through “climate change” programs. Really, though, the melting has nothing to do with “climate change”, otherwise known as anthropogenic global warming. The article interestingly notes, but does not expand on, the reforestation programs that have been implemented. Much of the loss of the ice cap was due to land use. The forests were cut down which changed the wind patterns which meant less moisture for glacier creation, mostly at the lower levels, cutting trees down which reduces moisture in the winds.

At the upper levels, they have been seeing sublimation. Despite the temperatures being below freezing, the sun is turning the ice directly into vapor. There’s no melt water. There could be an anthropogenic effect, such as ozone depletion, but not from anthropogenic warming. The glaciers have been melting for over 150 years, well before the supposed effects of human caused “climate change” would have started. Much of Africa has been dryer during the Modern Warm Period, but, really, can that be scientifically proven in order to be blamed on Mankind? Particularly since it started before the increase in CO2 levels? No. Even very tiny changes in solar output can have large ramifications on the Earth’s climate. The Sun has always been the primary driver, something which Warmists want to deny.

Read: Good Grief, The Mt. Kilimanjaro Is Climate Change Crazies Resurface »

If All You See…

…is a horrible kitchen containing all sorts of products that cause climate change and are affected by climate change, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Last Refuge, with a post on the real motive for the capture of the Benghazi terrorist.

Read: If All You See… »

Join Or Die

Yesterday, I had a post discussing elected officials not getting the benefits from seniority anymore, which led to a discussion of term limits and repealing the 17th Amendment. Bob from The Camp Of The Saints had an interesting post entitled Join Or Die, playing off a comment from protein wisdom, which was about electing all these folks in 2010 and generally getting little out of it, and how we’ve been worn down. Bob writes

I think Dicentra is quite correct: for over a century the Left In America has been slowly wearing us down, making us believe that we cannot ‘fight city hall’, that attempting to do so is a grand waste of time. They’ve done this primarily through the actions of the Bureaucrats who serve them [though some of these Apparatchiks are so ignorant, they think they are merely serving their own criminal intentions, when, in fact, the Left encourages them to continue on, all in the name of ‘collapsing The System’, and, thus, reaps the better, more useful benefit].

But there is another factor that plays a big part in the acquiescence of Americans to Tyranny: a sizeable portion of our population are content to enjoy the Luxuries and Entertainments and Sexual License offered by a Society that has liberated itself from Morality and leave everything else to those who gain satisfaction from wielding Power And Control. And the sad thing is, the Despots did not have to contaminate our water systems with Soma — these Libertines did it to themselves voluntarily, of their own Free Will. They have decided that satisfaction of their Desires is much more important than the safeguarding of their Lives, their Liberties, and their True Happiness. They have gladly and willingly sold their Souls for the orgasmic thrills of Enjoyments without meaning.

He continues on, make sure to read the whole thing, ending with the notion of marshaling our resources to save the Republic that the Founding Fathers handed to us.

To add on to that, one of the big problems, as I alluded to yesterday, is that so many in the Republican Party are complicit in the growth of government and the tyranny of the Progressive state. Let’s not forget, Jonah Goldberg referred to Progressives as “nice fascists”. They’re doing things “for your own good”. Many Republican progressives can do good things for Conservatives, but, at the end of the day, they are also dangerous in their fascistic tendencies. Glenn Beck discusses this quite often. Think Lindsay Graham. It may not come in the form of squishy social programs all the time. Sometimes it comes in other forms. Think Peter King, who was Tough On Islamists, on national defense. But, then we learn he’s also more than willing to attack Conservatives who have significant concerns over the growth of the Surveillance State. Consider this: despite all the outcry from Conservatives over the NSA spying revelations, what has really been done? Conservatives and liberals agreed that the spying on Americans was Very Bad. Did Congress really do anything substantive to stop it? No.

How about concern over the use of drones domestically? Despite the impassioned please by folks like Rand Paul, nothing done.

Getting incumbents out of office is tremendously difficult. They have all the resources of being there, and those that play ball with the establishment are in like flynn. Challenge, and you could be in for a world of hurt. Think about Christine O’Donnell. She was the candidate picked by the Republican voters in Delaware. The GOP establishment was so livid about this that the National Republican Senatorial Committee immediately announced that they would not provide funds. That created a serious WTF! moment. When she was being attacked personally in all sorts of manners, they refused to help. Could she have won? Yes. It would have been close. But our Establicons made sure she had no chance. They did not want her. Likewise, there were several other Tea Party backed Senatorial candidates that they refused to get behind.

To wrap up, Glenn Beck has said many times that now is not the time for armed revolution, for fighting in the street. He says that right now it is time to turn to God. My question would be “when is it the right time to actually fight?” Might we wait too long to fight for our country? I mentioned on book yesterday, I’ll mention another today: Thy Kingdom Fall, by Austin Dragon. The central premise is the loss of religion, religion and the religious being attacked. Much like so much conservative talk radio, Mr. Dragon understands that the first thing he has to do is be entertaining. Otherwise, the message could be lost. This is why lefty talk radio never achieves even a fraction of the audience that conservative talk radio does. One of the things mentioned late in the book is that the religious waited too long as they and their principles were attacked, as morals were done away with, so many of the things Bob mentions occurring. When is the time to fight back? Could that time have already passed us by?

Read: Join Or Die »

Skeptic Willing To Bet On Sea Level Rise

Will any Warmists back their predictions with cold, hard cash? Doubtful. Here’s David South, emeritus professor, School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University (via Marc Morano)

(IBD) Sometimes I can’t find anyone willing to back up popular predictions with their own money, even very modest sums. For example, in 2007, I offered to bet on whether the Arctic would be “ice free” by the summer of 2013, as predicted by some Arctic experts. They declined my offer. Too bad, because I would have won that bet.

I am now seeking someone willing to bet on another prediction made by those who believe man-made global warming will be a major problem.

Recently, Sen. Dianne Feinstein was quoted as saying, “If we do nothing to stop climate change, scientific models project that there is a real possibility of sea level increasing by as much as four feet by the end of this century.” A 4-foot increase (over the next 86 years) could be reached with a linear rate of about 14 millimeters per year.

At Charleston, S.C., the rate of increase in sea level has been about 3.15 mm per year. One 2012 report says the sea level there could increase by 127 mm (about 5 inches) by 2030, or about 7 mm per year. Still, this is only half the rate predicted by the advocates of the global warming theory quoted above.

I think both these predictions are too high. I am willing to bet the senator, or anyone else, $1,000 that the increase in sea level at Charleston from January 2006 to January 2024 (18 years) will be less than 5 inches.

I wonder, is anyone really convinced the sea level at Charleston will rise faster than 7 mm a year during the coming decade? This is just half the 14 mm-a-year rate often cited in the national debate. If so, are they confident enough to take me up on my bet?

Frankly, I expect nobody is confident enough in the science behind sea-level rise predictions to bet their own money against me. And the more time that passes, the less likely it will become that someone will accept the bet.

According to NOAA data, the average see rise in Charleston is 3.15mm a year, which means a rise of 1.03 feet over 100 years. That data set ran from 1921-2006. The data set from 2007-2013 actually shows a slight decrease in rise, from 3.15 in 2007 to 3.11 in 2013. If we go with the 3.15mm number over 18 years we get….drum roll…..2.23 inches.

Make sure to tween Senator Feinstein about the challenge. Or any other Warmist. Jeff? John? You willing?

Read: Skeptic Willing To Bet On Sea Level Rise »

Issa Subpoenas Lois Lerner’s “Crashed” Hard Drive

This whole thing with the “lost” emails is looking less like expected government incompetence and more like a conspiracy to cover up malfeasance. The IRS “lost” the email records of 6 other employees involved in the IRS scandal. Imagine what would happen if the IRS came calling for your tax records and you said you “lost” them. They even have a handy dandy list as to the time small businesses and the self employed should keep records, and lists for other filers. Sarbanes-Oxley requires businesses to keep records, which includes emails, for 5 years, and companies can be fined and/or jailed for up to 20 years for intentionally deleting and/or fraud handling those emails. Over to Darrell Issa

(Roll Call) The House is consumed this week with the upcoming GOP leadership elections in the wake of Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s primary defeat, but Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa doesn’t want that reality to take the pressure off the IRS.

The California Republican is plowing ahead with his panel’s year-long investigation into alleged misconduct at the IRS in its targeting of certain conservative outside groups applying for tax-exempt status.

In the midst of push-back from Democrats who say the investigation has become a partisan witch hunt, Issa has been emboldened by new revelations that key emails of ex-IRS official Lois Lerner have gone missing. While the agency says the IRS emails were lost in a computer crash, Issa and other Republicans say that excuse sounds too convenient, given that Lerner has been a main target in the House GOP’s probe. Congress went so far as to recently hold her in contempt for refusing to testify on her role in the controversy.

So on Tuesday afternoon, Issa announced that his committee had handed IRS Commissioner John Koskinen a subpoena for documents “related to the recent revelation that the IRS supposedly ‘lost’ former IRS official Lois Lerner’s emails for a two year period, January 2009 to April 2011.”

The subpoena also covers Lerner’s hard drive, electronic devices and documents “connected to the IRS’s response to Congress.”

Anyone who expects the IRS to stonewall on delivering the hard drive, raise your hand. So, basically the result of the hand raising is the same as if I asked “who wants ice cream?” Issa should also consider subpoenaing for access to the servers/hard drives that the emails are stored on. Interestingly, Republicans are saying that the IRS knew back in February that there was a problem in providing the documents.

As a sidebar, the House is attempting to obtain enough cosponsors to bring the Email Privacy Act to the floor for a vote, which would require law enforcement to have a warrant to look at our personal email that has been stored for over 180 days. GOP leadership has been reluctant, otherwise. Yet, this is not just a Republican leadership issue: a similar bill has been stuck in the Senate, run by Democrat Harry Reid, since last year. The House bill has 218 cosponsors, 136 Republicans and 82 Democrats. Govtrack only gives it a 28% chance of passing. That’s sad. This is your Congress at work.

Read: Issa Subpoenas Lois Lerner’s “Crashed” Hard Drive »

Guess Who Kathleen Sebelius Blames For Obamacare Issues

If you’re thinking “anyone but Obama, Democrats, and herself,” you’d be correct

(Daily Caller) Former Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius took aim at her “hostile” right-wing opponents Tuesday, in her first speech after resigning her top post.

At the State of Enrollment conference run by Enroll America, an Obamacare-promoting nonprofit run by former Obama White House staffer Anne Filipic, Sebelius addressed a friendly audience with a host of typical pro-Obamacare speakers, from insurance executive Dan Hilferty, Independence Blue Cross CEO, to Democratic Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear.

“We had right-wing media, leadership in Congress who was determined on the House side to stop this law at any cost, shadow political organizations, hostile governors, hostile legislators, all working to make sure you couldn’t do the job that was so important,” Sebelius gushed, only once mentioning “our well-known issues with the website” putting a damper on customers getting coverage.

She also took a run at states who limited the number of navigators, and even brought forth the notion that a working website would have decreased signups. Obama mailed in a video, and whined about “shadowy” billionaires. In the Obama/Sebelius world, people are not allowed to have any opinions that diverge from their own. People must follow the Approved Government Doctrine. Except when Republicans are in the White House, then dissent is patriotic.

Meanwhile, 6 million lost their insurance and 8 million sign up via the Exchanges, which created a net increase of 2 million. No data has been released to show whether the 80-90% which finally paid their first months premium have continued to pay. It’s expected that premiums and deductibles will rise yet again. This will affect non-Exchange plans, thanks to Obamacare, as well. Some, like the Lonely Conservative, have already received notification of rate hikes.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Guess Who Kathleen Sebelius Blames For Obamacare Issues »

Obama Proposes Expansion Of Pacific Marine Sanctuary

I’m really not seeing this as a bad thing, from an environmental standpoint. I do have a concern as to the expansion which is 7 fold

(Washington Post) President Obama on Tuesday will announce his intent to make a broad swath of the central Pacific Ocean off-limits to fishing, energy exploration and other activities, according to senior White House officials.

The proposal, slated to go into effect later this year after a comment period, could create the world’s largest marine sanctuary and double the area of ocean globally that is fully protected.

Obama has used his executive authority 11 times to safeguard areas on land, but scientists and activists have been pressing him to do the same for untouched underwater regions. President George W. Bush holds the record for creating U.S. marine monuments, declaring four during his second term, including the one that Obama plans to expand.

Under the proposal, according to two independent analyses, the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument would be expanded from almost 87,000 square miles to nearly 782,000 square miles — all of it adjacent to seven islands and atolls controlled by the United States. The designation would include waters up to 200 nautical miles offshore from the territories.

President Bush did a good thing with his designation, and Obama should likewise be applauded, though, again, there is a concern in the size. Republicans should be wary of going to far in condemnation

“It’s another example of this imperial presidency,” House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) said in an interview, noting that Obama established a National Ocean Policy during his first term to coordinate competing interests at sea. “If there are marine sanctuaries that should be put in place, that should go through Congress.”

He’s exactly right, but, pick the battles over his imperialist tendencies. Here’s where Team Obama runs off the rails

(Fox News) The White House’s Council on Environmental Quality said the waters in the south-central Pacific Ocean contain “some of the most pristine tropical marine environments in the world.”

“These tropical coral reefs and associated marine ecosystems are also among the most vulnerable areas to the impacts of climate change and ocean acidification,” the White House said in a statement.

Sigh. Can’t we just protect the environment for environmental sakes, instead of this dumbass climate change mular

Read: Obama Proposes Expansion Of Pacific Marine Sanctuary »

If All You See…

…is desertification encroaching on wonderful jungle, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Fire Andrea Mitchell, with a post on ISIS declaring all guns in Iraq illegal, except their own.

Read: If All You See… »

Berkley Looking To Save Us From Climate Change Using Stickers!

They really hate fossil fuels, just not enough to stop using them and messing up their own modern lives

(Daily Californian)Berkeley commissioners are working to bring climate change awareness right to the gas pump in a proposal that would place warning labels on fuel nozzles.

The city’s Community Environmental Advisory Commission voted Thursday to move forward with a plan that would mandate such labels to be placed in Berkeley gas stations. The signs would state that gasoline consumption releases carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.

Max Gomberg, chair of the commission, said the label would be a reminder to customers that the gas in their cars has a direct effect on the environment.

This is yet another stupid “spreading awareness” campaign that doesn’t require Warmists to actually Do Anything within their own lives. This is being pushed by the unhinged 350.org

On Wednesday, Catherine Reheis-Boyd, president of the petroleum association, sent a letter to the commission stating that the plan would violate gas station owners’ First Amendment rights. Citing various court cases, she wrote that a governing body cannot compel a business to state information unless doing so would “prevent consumer deception.” Reheis-Boyd also questioned if climate change was a serious threat to California’s resources.

The letter states

The Western States Petroleum Association (“WSPA”) appreciates this opportunity to provide comments on the City of Berkeley’s (City) proposed ordinance (Proposed Berkeley Municipal Code Section 11.64) to require gasoline pump “warning” labels disclosing the State’s of California’s position on the impacts of climate change. We have reviewed the draft legislation proposed to the City Council on March 11, 2014, and believe the City’s proposal compels speech in violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. The City has not shown a compelling interest in forcing gasoline service stations to make statements advancing the political opinions of the City and State regarding the alleged impacts of greenhouse gases. Even if the City had a compelling interest in the wide spread disclosure of the State’s opinions about greenhouse gas effects (which it does not), the City has not narrowly tailored its proposal to fulfilling that interest. Far less restrictive means exist to disseminate this information to the general public without imposing onerous restrictions on businesses and forcing unwanted speech in violation of the First Amendment.

Perhaps no city in our nation has as rich a tradition in the exercise of the First Amendment right to freedom of speech as the City of Berkeley. Throughout times of tremendous civil upheaval in this country, citizens of this City have exercise d great courage in resisting efforts by those at all levels of state and federal government to force them to agree with or advance government opinions. Citizens of Berkeley well know that, in America, “freedom of speech prohibits the government from telling people what they must say.” Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic & Institutional Rights, Inc ., 547 U.S. 47, 61 (2006); see also United States v. United Foods, Inc ., 533 U.S. 405, 410 (2001); Riley v. Nat’l Fed’n of the Blind , 487 U.S. 781, 795 (1988). Accordingly, the United States Supreme Court ha s found that the First Amendment prohibits the state from “requir[ing] an individual to participate in the dissemination of an ideological message by displaying it on his private property in a manner and for the express purpose that it be observed and read by the public. . . The First Amendment protects the right of individuals to hold a point of view different from the majority and to refuse to foster, in the way [the state] commands, an idea they find morally objectionable.” Wooley v. Maynard , 430 U.S. 705, 714-15 (1977).

The letter goes on to note that the City has numerous ways to inform the masses, such as their own government website. Obviously, Warmists/Progressivess do not care, particularly about the First Amendment, unless it is their own speech being monitored. They have a cult to push.

Read: Berkley Looking To Save Us From Climate Change Using Stickers! »

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