ARTICLE ONE:
"White House may take step on deportation; Under pressure to ease pace as legislation stalls" by Michael D. Shear | New York Times May 17, 2014
WASHINGTON — At a recent White House meeting with immigration activists, President Obama told the group his hands are tied. Even if he wanted to halt the deportations of millions of illegal immigrants, the president told the group, he could not do so without congressional approval.
But Obama has more latitude than he lets on, legal scholars say, and he could soon reveal how he intends to use it. Under increasing pressure to slow the pace of deportations from Hispanic supporters who helped reelect him in 2012, the president has ordered his Homeland Security secretary to make immigration enforcement more humane.
That directive has led to an intense debate about how far the president should go in protecting large groups of illegal immigrants from deportation.
In the latest setback to Obama, House Republican leaders intervened Friday to prevent a vote on immigration legislation, a blow to election-year efforts to overhaul the system.
Related: Democrats Dick Around on Immigration
The move came after Representative Jeff Denham, Republican of California, announced plans to try to force a vote next week, over strong conservative opposition, on his measure creating a path to citizenship for immigrants who live here illegally yet serve in the military. Denham wanted to offer the plan as an amendment to the annual defense bill, but House majority leader Eric Cantor said no amendment would be permitted.
As a possible alternative approach administration officials are considering options to further shift enforcement to focus on criminals and recent border crossers, away from people with clean records.
What is clean about being an ILLEGAL?
The arbitrary semantics need to stop!
Officials said the Department of Homeland Security will probably issue new guidelines for law enforcement agents to make it clear that immigrants who are part of a family settled in this country should not be priorities for deportation, especially if their family includes US citizens.
They also are considering changes that would shield some people who have returned to the country illegally after being deported. Those people are now charged with a felony and ordered out of the country.
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson offered his first public hints Thursday at the outcome of the review he is conducting at Obama’s behest. He said one of the policies under review is a program that hands over people booked for local crimes to federal authorities.
In an interview on PBS’s “News Hour,’’ Johnson said the so-called Secure Communities program might be revamped to focus on people who actually have been convicted of crimes.
As they SPY on ALL CITIZENS!
The program allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to run fingerprints of anyone booked for a local or state crime through a federal database for immigration violations. If a match, ICE can ask local police and sheriffs to detain the person.
These and other changes under consideration could affect tens of thousands of people, but they would fall far short of the demands from most immigration activists to address the concerns of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the country.
What are they going to do, vote Republican?
Legal scholars say the White House could also carry out proposals that would remove the fear of deportation and provide work permits for as many as 5 million illegal immigrants.
We have an unemployment crisis in this country and this guy wants to work visa illegal immigrants.
Hey, the elite like cheap, uncomplaining, compliant labor without all those fringe benefits.
“Presidents have pretty much complete discretion when it comes to enforcing criminal and other statutory regimes,” said Peter J. Spiro, who teaches immigration law at Temple University. “Obama can’t start handing out green cards. Short of that, from a legal perspective, there are no serious constitutional or other legal constraints that apply.”
Instead, the constraints on Obama are mainly political. Senior White House officials and Democrats on Capitol Hill fear that any move to halt deportations for millions of people would all but end hope of negotiating an immigration deal with Republicans that would be more permanent than any unilateral action. A bill that passed the Senate last year has stalled in the House.
And if the White House were to give up on an immigration overhaul, something officials said had not yet happened, unilateral action by Obama to waive deportations for large groups of people would be politically explosive. Some White House officials believe it could lead Republicans to start impeachment proceedings.
And there it is, out there.
Senator Charles E. Schumer, a New York Democrat, has warned the White House that even moderate efforts to reduce deportations could scuttle legislative negotiations without satisfying immigration activists, and has said House Republicans should be given through the summer to pass their own legislation.
But with no obvious movement on legislation, pressure is mounting for Obama to do something.
In remarks to law enforcement officials at the White House on Tuesday, the president hinted that he intended to take unilateral action to ease the threat of deportation for some illegal immigrants. He gave little indication of how broadly he wanted to change the rules.
Republicans contend that the president long ago overstepped his constitutional authority in many areas, citing the repeated changes he has made to his health care law, and his promise in his State of the Union address to use executive action to circumvent Congress.
Add health care to the list of articles.
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ARTICLE TWO:
"House Republicans push through new Benghazi inquiry" by Bradley Klapper and Donna Cassata | Associated Press May 09, 2014
WASHINGTON — House Republicans rammed through a measure on Thursday opening a new investigation of the deadly assault in Benghazi, Libya, vowing to dig deeper in a search for truth. Democrats declared it merely a political ploy to raise campaign cash and motivate voters.
That is not what we are going to get out of any government investigation.
A bitterly divided House voted 232-186 to establish the panel that Speaker John A. Boehner insisted would answer questions that linger almost 20 months after the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the US diplomatic mission. Seven Democrats, many facing tough re-election campaigns, broke ranks and joined Republicans in supporting the probe.
The panel’s investigation will be the eighth on Benghazi and will examine the entirety of the attack that killed US Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. Independent, bipartisan, and GOP-led probes have faulted the State Department for inadequate security at the outpost, leading to four demotions. No attacker has yet been brought to justice.
Republicans say they are unsatisfied with explanations so far, and they have leveled a range of accusations against President Obama, former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton, and other administration officials. Chief among them: that the administration misled the American people about the nature of the attack during a presidential election campaign and stonewalled congressional investigators.
They did.
‘‘We will not take any shortcuts to the truth, accountability, or justice,’’ Boehner said during House debate.
Democrats remain divided over whether to boycott the select committee. They are concerned that their participation would grant legitimacy to what they believe will be a partisan forum. But they also worry that if they avoid it they will not have the chance to counter GOP assertions and defend potential witnesses — including Clinton, a possible 2016 presidential candidate.
Party leaders will meet with their rank-and-file members Friday morning to decide on the next step.
Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Republican of Florida, criticized the ‘‘song and dance’’ she said came from Clinton when House members wanted to question her about Benghazi a few months after the attack. Clinton’s testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee was delayed when she missed a month of work toward the end of her tenure after suffering a virus, then a fall and a concussion, and then brief hospitalization for a blood clot near her brain.
I remember, and doesn't that cause concern for her suitability for office?
Representative Louise Slaughter, Democrat of New York, said no evidence uncovered in any of the investigations thus far suggests wrongdoing by the administration. Republican assertions have descended into ‘‘the crass and unbelievable,” she said.
Benghazi has produced 13 public hearings, the release of 25,000 pages of documents, and 50 separate briefings.
The select committee won’t be the only inquiry, as other GOP-led congressional panels continue their probes, including a House Oversight investigation which just last week took the extraordinary step of subpoenaing a Cabinet member. Secretary of State John Kerry has not said when he might testify.
Democrats deride the effort as a conservative campaign designed to energize Republican voters in typically low-turnout midterm elections.
So what? I'm for investigations when administrations lie or obfuscate.
Boehner’s legislation creates a select House committee through the end of the year. It will have to be reapproved when a new Congress begins in January or go out of existence. The select committee has no explicit financial constraints.
Earlier this week, the National Republican Congressional Committee sent an e-mail vowing that ‘‘no one will get away’’ from the committee’s investigation and asking people for donations.
Representative Steve Israel of New York, the Democratic campaign committee chairman, called fund-raising off Benghazi ‘‘despicable and insulting.’’ Boehner on Thursday refused to criticize the fund-raising drive.
Appropriate name for him.
In an opinion piece Thursday in USA Today, the congressman whom Boehner has chosen to head the probe signaled he’d reexamine the entirety of the Benghazi attack, including questions Democrats and some senior Republicans consider settled.
The GOP-led House Armed Services Committee concluded months ago the US military could not have responded in time to save Stevens and the others. Still, Representative Trey Gowdy of South Carolina asked: ‘‘Was our military response during the pendency of the siege sufficient?’’
They were told to stand down.
The Obama administration says officials tried to provide the public with the best information available after the attack at a time when US embassies, consulates, and other facilities were facing angry demonstrations across the Muslim world over a YouTube video mocking Islam’s Prophet Mohammed. The administration originally attributed Benghazi to a similar protest that extremists hijacked, but retracted that account.
They really have no respect for us if they are trotting out that regurgitated and discredited version.
House Democrats have issued several demands if they are to participate in the select committee. Boehner already has rejected their call for equal representation on the panel, deciding instead to fill it with seven Republicans and five Democrats. The Democrats also seek equal access to documents, a say on subpoenas, and right to question witnesses. Negotiations continue.
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Related: Boehner to Appoint Benghazi Panel
Who did he put on it?
"John Boehner names 7 to Benghazi panel" New York Times May 10, 2014
WASHINGTON — Speaker John A. Boehner on Friday appointed seven Republicans to the select committee tasked with continuing investigations into the 2012 attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, as Democrats struggled to overcome internal disagreements about how to handle the latest inquiry....
Boehner’s announcement, on the House floor before the chamber departed for a weeklong break, came as Democratic lawmakers continued to deliberate over their role on the committee, which was created Thursday on a largely party-line vote.
Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the minority leader, told reporters Friday that the Republican-controlled committee was a “kangaroo court” and a “political stunt.” But the Democratic leadership remains divided over whether to boycott, participate fully, or find some middle ground.
Representative Rosa DeLauro, Democrat of Connecticut, suggested a third option: appointing one Democratic lawmaker to the committee, so that Democrats would at least know what subpoenas and evidence are coming.
When the hearings start let me know.
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Also see: Democrats open door to taking part in Benghazi inquiry
Boston Globe - 4 days ago
For some reason(?) that keeps coming up error!
"Democrats open door to Benghazi probe" by Bradley Klapper and Donna Cassata Associated Press
WASHINGTON — House Democrats opened the door Tuesday to participating in a special panel’s investigation of Benghazi.
Laying out her party’s conditions, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Republicans must conduct interviews and share information as part of their new inquest into the Obama administration’s response to the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Libya. She called for the same number of Democrats as Republicans on the panel, a demand the GOP majority immediately rejected.
“If this review is to be fair, it must be truly bipartisan,” said Pelosi, D-Calif.
Republicans are sharpening their focus on the Benghazi attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. A vote to authorize the probe is expected this week. A senior GOP congressman has issued a subpoena to Secretary of State John Kerry to testify before a separate committee. And the subject could surface in multiple other congressional hearings this week.
House Speaker John Boehner has yet to outline his full plan for the select panel, whose establishment is all but a formality in the GOP-controlled House. But the Republican chosen by Boehner to head the investigation said Democrats wouldn’t get the same number of seats — and votes — on the committee.
“Look, we’re in the majority for a reason. We have more seats in the House,” said Rep. Trey Gowdy, a second-term congressman from South Carolina and former prosecutor. He called Pelosi’s comments a “good sign” that she is considering Democratic participation.
Twenty months since the attack, Republicans have made Benghazi a central plank of their strategy to win control of the Senate in November’s elections. Democrats are in a bind. They don’t want their presence to provide credibility to what they believe will be a partisan forum for attacks on the president and his top aides. But boycotting the committee would mean losing the ability to counter Republican claims.
In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Gowdy said his record in Congress shows he is fair and respectful of toward Democratic committee members. He said he frequently discusses witnesses before scheduling hearings and tries to “have a good working relationship with everyone.” He said he was interested in the truth, not politics. “Facts really don’t come with a color,” he said. “They’re not swing state facts.”
I wish I could believe that.
Republicans say the White House, concerned primarily with protecting President Barack Obama in the final weeks of his re-election campaign, misled the nation by playing down intelligence suggesting Benghazi was a major, al-Qaida-linked terrorist attack. They accuse the administration of stonewalling congressional investigators ever since, pointing specifically to emails written by U.S. officials in the days after the attack but only released last week.
Related: It’s Not the Crime, It’s the Cover-up
Oh how they fail to learn from history.
The administration denies any wrongdoing and says officials tried to provide the public with the best information available.
That would be a first for any AmeriKan government.
Democrats accuse the Republicans of trying to generate a scandal to drum up political support ahead of the midterm elections, and to target former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the presumed front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016.
That is probably the extent of the truth-finding, precluding the possibility of explosive testimony from a whistleblower.
Democrats controlling the Senate have shown no interest in launching a similar probe. And up to now, House Democrats have criticized the effort as partisan and unnecessary given several ongoing investigations in Congress, without clearly stating if they’d participate in or boycott the select committee. White House spokesman Jay Carney has been similarly vague, saying Monday the administration cooperates with “legitimate” congressional oversight.
Meanwhile, the House and Senate foreign relations committees will each get a chance this week to question the senior U.S. diplomat for Europe, Victoria Nuland, who played a role in the talking points created by the administration after the violence, even if those hearings are supposed to be about the crisis in Ukraine. On Wednesday, the House Armed Services Committee will examine Republican-backed legislation authorizing U.S. military force against Benghazi perpetrators.
Oh, she was involved in that, too!
And WTF? Republicans want to use this as an excuse to reinvade Libya?
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May need to be reinvaded:
"Flights banned over Benghazi
TRIPOLI— Libya’s military on Saturday banned flights over Benghazi, a day after troops loyal to a rogue general attacked Islamist militias in violence that killed 36 people in the eastern city. The government has described the offensive by General Khalifa Hifter, as tantamount to a ‘‘coup.”
See: Third Antichrist to Come From Libya
Heil Hifter!
ARTICLE THREE:
"House votes to hold ex-IRS official in contempt" by Stephen Ohlemacher | Associated Press May 08, 2014
WASHINGTON — House Republicans voted Wednesday to hold a former Internal Revenue Service official in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify at a pair of committee hearings about her role in the agency’s Tea Party controversy.
This is actually the most serious charge: using the IRS against political enemies.
The House also passed a nonbinding resolution calling on the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to investigate the IRS.
They won't be getting one out of Holder.
Lois Lerner directed the IRS division that processes applications for tax-exempt status. A year ago this week, Lerner publicly disclosed that agents had improperly singled out Tea Party applications for extra, sometimes burdensome scrutiny.
An inspector general’s report blamed poor management but found no evidence of a political conspiracy. Many Republicans in Congress believe otherwise.
‘‘Who’s been fired over the targeting of conservative groups by the IRS? No one that I’m aware of,’’ said House Speaker John Boehner, Republican of Ohio. ‘‘Who’s gone to jail for violating the law? When is the administration going to tell the American people the truth?’’
Never!
House Democrats said Wednesday’s voting was little more than an election-year ploy to fire up the GOP base.
YUP! And it works.
‘‘Instead of passing bipartisan legislation to create more jobs, reform immigration, raise the minimum wage, or address any number of issues that affect our constituents every single day, House Republicans are spending this entire week trying to manufacture scandals for political purposes,’’ said Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.
‘‘Welcome to witch hunt week,’’ said Representative Jim McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts.
The vote to hold Lerner in contempt of Congress was 231 to 187, with all Republicans voting in favor and all but a few Democrats voting against.
Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to answer questions at a pair of hearings by the Oversight Committee. House Republicans say she waived her constitutional right by making an opening statement in which she proclaimed her innocence.
The matter now goes to Ronald Machen, the US attorney for the District of Columbia. Federal law says Machen has a ‘‘duty’’ to bring the matter before a grand jury. But a report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service said it was unclear whether the duty is mandatory or discretionary. Machen was appointed to his job by President Obama.
‘‘We will carefully review the report from the speaker of the House and take whatever action is appropriate,’’ Machen’s office said in a statement.
The vote calling on the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel was 250 to 168, with all Republicans voting in favor and most Democrats voting against.
Attorney General Eric Holder has denied previous requests to appoint a special counsel, saying it was unwarranted.
His whole tenure has been a failure, from Fast and Furious to too large to jail.
Three congressional committees and the Justice Department have spent much of the past year investigating the IRS over its handling of applications for tax-exempt status.
So far, the congressional investigations have revealed that IRS officials in Washington were more involved in handling the applications than the agency initially acknowledged.
Meaning they LIED TO YOU, dear readers!
However, the investigations have not publicly established that anyone outside the IRS knew about the targeting or directed it.
That's the cover up because there is evidence that it came from and went to the White House.
The problem is the legitimacy and credibility of this government is hanging by a shred of a thread right now, and any impeachment proceedings would kill it.
Cummings released a report this week saying House Oversight Committee investigators have interviewed 39 witnesses, and found no involvement by the White House and no political conspiracy by IRS officials.
Meaning there was.
Instead, many IRS witnesses said they lacked clear guidance from management on how to handle tea party applications, the report said.
That is the lame-ass excuse they expect us to buy?
Lerner sat for a lengthy interview with Justice Department investigators, said her lawyer, William W. Taylor III. The interview was done ‘‘without conditions,’’ he said.
Was it UNDER OATH?
Lerner wouldn’t answer questions before the Oversight Committee because, Taylor said, committee Republicans were only looking to vilify her in front of TV cameras.
‘‘It was clear that the majority would conduct the hearing without any sense of decorum or fairness,’’ Taylor told reporters in March.
On Wednesday, Taylor said in a statement: ‘‘Today’s vote has nothing to do with the facts or the law. Its only purpose is to keep the baseless IRS ‘conspiracy’ alive through the midterm elections.’’
Must be something to it because the protestations are so loud.
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At least there is some good news:
"IRS cuts mean fewer audits" by Stephen Ohlemacher | Associated Press April 14, 2014
WASHINGTON — As millions of Americans race to meet Tuesday’s tax deadline, their chances of getting audited are lower than they have been in years.
Budget cuts and new responsibilities are straining the Internal Revenue Service’s ability to police tax returns. This year, the IRS will have fewer agents auditing returns than at any other time since at least the 1980s.
Taxpayer services are suffering, too, with millions of phone calls to the IRS going unanswered.
Related: Melancholy Monday
The phone just kept wringing.
*******************
Better technology is helping to offset some budget cuts.
:-(
If, for example, you report making $40,000 in wages and your employer tells the IRS you made $50,000, the agency’s computers probably will catch that. The same is true for investment income and many common deductions that are reported to the IRS by financial institutions.
But they can't catch the fraudulent returns being filed by criminals!
But if you operate a business that deals in cash, with income or expenses that are not independently reported to the IRS, your chances of getting caught are lower than they have been in years.
In other words, the 1% and the elite are going to be allowed to avoid taxes even more.
Last year, the IRS audited fewer than 1 percent of all returns from individuals, the lowest rate since 2005. This year, Koskinen said, ‘‘The numbers will go down.’’
Koskinen was confirmed as IRS commissioner in December. He took over an agency under siege on several fronts.
Aww, poor tyrannical taxman!
Last year, the IRS acknowledged agents improperly singled out conservative groups for extra scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status from 2010 to 2012.
That is an IMPEACHABLE OFFENSE!
The revelation has led to five ongoing investigations, including three by congressional committees, and outraged lawmakers who control the agency’s budget.
The IRS also is implementing large parts of President Obama’s health law, including enforcing the mandate that most people get health insurance. Republicans in Congress abhor the law, putting another bull’s-eye on the agency’s back.
Yeah, put a pile of more work on an already overburdened and incompetent agency.
The animosity is reflected in the IRS budget, which has declined from $12.1 billion in 2010 to $11.3 billion in the current budget year.
The illegal agency should be eliminated; it his nothing but a confiscator of wealth from the American people so they can give it to the already wealthy.
Obama has proposed a 10 percent increase for next year; Republicans are balking.
Koskinen said he suspects some people think that if they cut funds to the IRS, the agency won’t be able to implement the health law. They’re wrong, he said.
The IRS is legally obligated to enforce the health law, Koskinen said. That means budget savings will have to be found elsewhere.
Like food stamp cutbacks and no unemployment extensions.
And since when has the U.S government given a damn about legal obligations?
Koskinen said he can cut spending in three areas: enforcement, taxpayer services, and technology. Technology upgrades can be put off only for so long, he said, so enforcement and taxpayer services are suffering.
From this government that is SUPPOSED TO BE SERVING YOU!
Of course, we KNOW WHOM they $ERVE!
Last year, only 61 percent of taxpayers calling the IRS for help got it.
Your chances of getting audited vary greatly, based on your income. The more you make, the more likely you are to get a letter from the IRS.
I don't believe that.
Only 0.9 percent of people making less than $200,000 were audited last year. That’s the lowest rate since the IRS began publishing the statistic in 2006.
By contrast, 10.9 percent of people making $1 million or more were audited. That’s the lowest rate since 2010.
So I'm told by the agenda-pu$hing, $tatu$ quo, propaganda pre$$.
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Now, about those returns they are scrutinizing:
"IRS paid $13b in bogus credits, inspector says" Associated Press May 14, 2014
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service paid more than $13 billion in tax credits last year to people who may not have qualified, a government investigator said Tuesday.
The agency’s inspector general issued a report Tuesday saying the improper payments for the Earned Income Tax Credits program were between $13.3 billion and $15.6 billion. That’s about a quarter of all EITC payments, which are supposed to go to low-income working families.
OMG!
Are they investigating the elite and all their money games, Ponzi schemes, and hidden bank accounts?
NOPE!
Concentrating on the CHUMP CHANGE you POOR PEOPLE GOT!
I re$t my frikkin' ca$e, readers!
‘‘The IRS can and must do more to protect taxpayer dollars from waste, fraud, and abuse,’’ said J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration.
Incredible! I'm not for taxpayers getting ripped off, as anyone who follows this blog knows, but once again we have CORPORATE GOVERNANCE going after the WRONG THING!
Now go PAY those CORPORATE and COST OVERRUNS for DEFEN$E FIRMS!
The IRS said it is aggressively fighting tax fraud and is improving its efforts to police EITC payments. The agency said it has stopped nearly 15 million suspicious returns since 2011, blocking more than $50 billion in fraudulent refunds.
Related: Melancholy Monday
What is with the MIXED ME$$AGES, eh?
We call them LIES 'roun' h're!!!!!!
‘‘The IRS remains deeply concerned about the level of improper payments, and a major review currently underway is exploring a wide range of options to distinguish valid claims from excessive ones,’’ the IRS statement said.
I want you to KEEP THIS IN MIND for what you $EE BELOW.
The Earned Income Tax Credit is one of the nation’s largest antipoverty programs. In 2011, more than 27 million families received nearly $62 billion in credits.
And it is obviously not working because more and more Americans are falling into it as wealth is concentrated at the top!
Related:
Fast food workers to strike again
Boston fast food workers join in global protest
Who gives a f*** what torch the $elf-$erving paper of corporate liberalism picked up?!
Fire them all! Think of it as job creation.
Then kill 'em and cook 'em. We are all hungry.
Related: Fast Food Workers Co$ting Taxpayers
Are you flipping' kidding?
The credit is attractive because, if it is larger than your total income tax bill, the IRS will pay you the difference. This is especially helpful to low-income families who pay little or no federal income tax. But it also makes the credit more susceptible to fraud.
Related:
GE didn't pay any taxes on $14 billion dollars in profits -- and received a $3.2 billion gift from taxpayers via Uncle Sam.
Also see: State Street Stealers
But NO BIG DEAL! No REPORT on that AUDIT!!
Using IRS statistics, the inspector general’s report provided an estimated range of improper EITC payments from 2003 through 2013. The report says the IRS paid out at least $124.1 billion in improper payments during the period, and perhaps as much as $148.2 billion.
A drop in the bucket considering the trillions in debt they have roiled up since.
Families earn the credits by working and earning money, though there are limits. The size of the credit depends on your income and the number of children you have.
This year, a married couple with three or more children can earn up to $52,427 and still qualify for the credit. A married couple with two children can earn up to $49,186 and still qualify, according to the IRS.
The maximum credit this year is $6,143 for families with three or more children. The maximum credit for families with two children is $5,460.
That is WHO and WHAT the IRS are after!
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And for all that work they get....?
"IRS workers in arrears got bonuses" Associated Press April 23, 2014
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service has paid more than $2.8 million in bonuses to employees with recent disciplinary problems, including $1 million to workers who owed back taxes, a government investigator said Tuesday.
Un-frikkin'-real!
"The story of the IRS today is one of a powerful entity at a tipping point — under attack, distrusted, and underfunded, yet crucial to the nation’s survival and prosperity."
Well, to SOMEONE'S $ELF-$ERVING PROSPERITY ANYWAY!
All while, YOU, American citizens, are under the LASH of GOVERNMENT-IMPOSED AUSTERITY!
Yup, U.S. GOVERNMENT WORK is now ONE BIG CA$H GRAB so GRAB ALL YOU CAN!
More than 2,800 workers got bonuses despite facing a disciplinary action in the previous year, including 1,150 who owed back taxes, said a report by J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration. The bonuses were awarded from October 2010 through December 2012.
George’s report said the bonus program doesn’t violate federal regulations, but it’s inconsistent with the IRS mission to enforce tax laws.
‘‘These awards are designed to recognize and reward IRS employees for a job well done, and that is appropriate, because the IRS should encourage good performance,’’ George said. ‘‘However, while not prohibited, providing awards to employees who have been disciplined for failing to pay federal taxes appears to create a conflict with the IRS’s charge of ensuring the integrity of the system of tax administration.’’
Can you imagine what a bad worker is like?
Other examples of misconduct by workers getting bonuses included misusing government credit cards for travel, drug use, violent threats, and fraudulently claiming unemployment benefits.
Excuse me? Why were they not FIRED?!!!!!
And now they are GETTING BONUSES?!! IN the PRIVATE SECTOR we have to deal with, they would be OUT on the STREET!
The IRS said it has developed a new policy linking conduct and performance bonuses for executives and senior level employees.
Oh, well that makes me feel a lot better after having been looted!!!!!!
The IRS had about 100,000 workers during the period under review.
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Related: Globe Scandal Coverage Sucks
Seems to be a PATTERN with the IR$!
Will impeachment be his legacy?
Btw, shuffling deck chairs ain't gonna forestall it:
"Obama considering new housing, budget leaders" by Julie Pace | Associated Press May 18, 2014
WASHINGTON — Shuffling his second-term Cabinet, President Obama plans to nominate Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan to be budget director and is expected to pick Mayor Julian Castro of San Antonio to succeed Donovan, according to people familiar with the selection process.
The moves would raise the profile of two men with close ties to the president.
Donovan is an original member of Obama’s Cabinet and is well-liked within the White House, where officials have lauded his work overseeing the government’s response to Hurricane Sandy.
As budget director, he would have significant influence over the administration’s policy and spending priorities.
Castro’s star has been on the rise since Obama picked him to deliver the keynote address at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. The 39-year-old Castro is considered a possible vice presidential pick in 2016.
If Castro is nominated to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and is confirmed by the Senate, he would become one of the highest-ranking Hispanic officials in the Obama administration.
A person familiar with the selection process said Donovan has been offered the budget director job and has accepted. An aide to Castro’s brother, Representative Joaquin Castro, Democrat of Texas, said the mayor has expressed interest in the housing job and plans to accept if it is offered following a formal screening process.
Both people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the situation ahead of an official announcement from the White House. The White House said Saturday that it had no personnel announcements to make.
Obama has previously tried to offer Castro a Cabinet post, but the mayor decided to stay in San Antonio and handily won a third term last year.
‘‘This was a job I really did look forward to growing up, when I thought about politics,’’ Castro said in 2011. ‘‘So I’m not in a hurry to leave.’’
Still, Castro and his brother have become popular figures on the Democratic fund-raising circuit. Julian Castro in particular is seen as a possible running mate in 2016 for a party that has staked its success in presidential elections in part on winning broad support from Hispanics.
Serving in Obama’s Cabinet would help broaden Castro’s experience beyond local politics.
In discussing Castro’s qualification for HUD secretary, the aide to his brother cited the mayor’s work on San Antonio’s ‘‘Promise Zone.’’
That federal government initiative aims to revitalize high-poverty communities by increasing economic activity, improving educational opportunities, and leveraging private capital.
Donovan has overseen the department throughout Obama’s presidency. The 48-year-old is seen by Obama advisers as a strong manager and was tapped in 2012 to oversee the administration’s response efforts after Sandy battered the East Coast.
‘‘In the aftermath of Sandy, when we thought about who was somebody who we had confidence could drive a process to make sure that the federal, state, and local coordination delivered for the people who had been affected, and that we could rebuild both on the New York side and the Jersey side as effectively as possible and as quickly as possible, Shaun came to mind,’’ Obama said Thursday during a fund-raiser in New York that Donovan also attended.
IRS going to audit them?
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NEXT DAY UPDATE: Cabinet may be boost for rising Texas mayor Castro
