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News, Politics

lois lerner

Former IRS official Lois Lerner resigned after emails surfaced showing damning evidence the IRS targeting scandal was, in fact, worse than previously reported. Now, a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee reports found Lois Lerner lied to Congress.

Tuesday, the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee released a detailed report that outlines how former top Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner lied to Congress regarding her involvement in the IRS targeting of conservative groups seeking tax exempt status.

Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) said the 141-page report “offers detailed evidence about steps she took to crack down on organizations that exercised their constitutional rights to free political speech.”

The report was released just after Lerner pulled an about-face regarding cooperating with the House investigation, and as Issa weighs whether or not the committee should vote to hold Lerner in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify after her lawyer emailed claiming that she would.

Republicans also claim Lerner waived her Fifth Amendment rights when she decided to read a statement offering a defense and claiming her innocence at the first hearing last year.

The report, however, does not include any of the Lerner emails the IRS recently promised to turn over to the House Ways and Means Committee, but according to Chairman Issa, Oversight had enough material to demonstrate that Lerner “misled Congress about targeting and her own conduct.”

Last week, the House hearing was a shameful spectacle. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), the top Democrat on the committee, screamed at the hearing after he was not permitted to make a statement in defense of the IRS, Lerner and the administration. He, now, accused Issa of turning Lerner into a political target. He is expected to release a statement shortly in response to the report.

Key findings in the report:

— Lerner, in emails to other IRS officials, wrote about ways to highlight the agency’s scrutiny of Tea Party applicants, despite secrecy laws, by provoking groups to challenge IRS rulings in a court case.

— She called for a Washington, D.C.-based, “multi-tier review” for Tea Party groups applying for tax exempt status. “A D.C. IRS employee said this level of scrutiny had no precedent,” the report notes.

— Lerner references “the fabulously rich and hugely influential” Koch brothers, who are GOP donors, in asserting that the agency needed to cautiously conduct a “project” scrutinizing groups seeking 501(c)(4) tax exempt status. The code references the tax exempt category conservative and Tea Party groups were requesting from the IRS.

— Lerner broke IRS rules by using her personal email account to handle protected taxpayer information.

— Lerner expressed concern that the Supreme Court ruling leading to the increase of 501(c)(4) tax-exempt groups would hurt Democratic senators seeking re-election in 2012. The IRS was expected to fix the problem, Lerner wrote.

“The Supreme Court dealt a huge blow, overturning a 100-year old precedent that basically corporations couldn’t give directly to political campaigns,” Lerner wrote. “And everyone is up in arms because they don’t like it. The Federal Election Commission can’t do anything about it. They want the IRS to fix the problem.”

House Oversight Committee released a detailed report

News, Politics

illegal immigrants

The Obama administration is extending legal status and military benefits to thousands of illegal immigrants who are the spouses, parents and children of American military members.

Supporters say the policy — which only applies to active-duty military, reservists and veterans — is not amnesty.

“Those veterans and those men and women who serve in the National Guard certainly deserve the peace of mind that their family members will not be deported,” immigration attorney Faye Kolly said.

However, opponents say the policy is essentially backdoor amnesty, and it is simply not in the president’s power to unilaterally implement.

“A whole class of aliens with no right to be in the United States are suddenly going to be allowed to live and work here on the basis of their relationship with military and veterans,” said Dan Cadman, with the Center for Immigration Studies.

Even the liberal law professor Jonathan Turley is also severely concerned with the Obama administration’s lawless treatment of illegal immigrants. Though he agree with much of the liberal-held position, he views it as far more important to maintain the balance of power in our constitutional republic. Recently, Turley said that we were “at a constitutional tipping point” under President Obama, warning that checks and balances were more important than individual issues.

The policy, which is called parole in place, was intentionally concealed from the American people. It came down the pipe by way of a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services “policy memorandum.” However, it was not submitted to or approved by Congress, and the regulations were not published in the Federal Register, which allows for public comment prior to a rule taking effect.

“I don’t want to overstate it, but it sounds very similar to imperial decree if you ask me,” Cadman said. “The public had no chance to comment on this new policy. I believe the way this was done was illegal.”

Obama administration officials say the new rules do not require congressional action because they’re based on existing statutes.

“It’s clearly within the president’s authority to enforce the law and choose which immigrants he thinks are the priority,” said Brent Wilkes of the League of United Latin American Citizens. “These folks aren’t threats. They’ve got a relative that’s serving our nation.”

The Obama administration is extending legal status

News, Politics, Polls

The first Colorado Senate poll since the entry of Rory Gardner is not good for vulnerable incumbent Democrat Senator Mark Udall, at all.

Rasmussen Reports, who is rated a 2 out of a possible 4 for past accuracy by People’s Pundit Daily, found the 2014 U.S. Senate race in Colorado is now a dead heat.

A statewide telephone survey of 500 likely Colorado voters found incumbent Democrat Mark Udall earning just 42 percent of the vote, while Republican challenger Cory Gardner earns 41 percent. Still, there is room for both candidates to improve their support, as 5 percent prefer some other candidate in the race, and 13 percent are yet undecided.

The dynamic of this race has changed dramatically since the National Journal released a May article entitled, “Colorado’s Forgotten Senate Race.” Now, with the entrance of Rep. Cory Gardner, our Colorado Senate race prediction must be changed from the original rating in our twelfth article offering expanded analysis on our 2014 Senate Map Predictions.

shortly after The Denver Post first reported Gardner was entering the race, the GOP front-runner and 2010 nominee, Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck, decided he was going to run for Gardner’s seat in the 4th Congressional District. The move by Buck, who had to contend with several second-tier candidates, has propelled Gardner to the front of the pack, paving the way for what I believe will be a relatively easy nomination process.

Former State House Leader and declared primary candidate, Amy Stephens, who spent 7 years in the state legislature, plans to drop out and endorse Cory Gardner. Stephens has ties to the influential Colorado Springs-based social conservative organization, Focus on the Family, and may very well rally whomever in the grassroots wasn’t already inclined to get behind the rising star.

I have long believed Senator Mark Udall could be defeated this cycle under the right conditions, and this is the news we at PeoplesPunditDaily.com needed to view this race as competitive. We currently have this race rated “Leans Democrat” and will keep it here for now due to Rasmussen Reports having a propensity to miss the mark. However, since the exit of Scott Rasmussen, the polling, as I have demonstrated in a recent article, has been far more favorable to Democrats, which could spell even worse news for Udall.

Poll Date Sample Udall (D) Gardner (R) Spread
Rasmussen Reports 3/5 – 3/6 500 LV 42 41 Udall +1

The first Colorado Senate poll since the

News, World

Israel intercepts Iranian weapons

March 10, 2014: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, left, examine dozens of mortar shells and rockets on display after Israel intercepts Iranian weapons from the Panama-flagged KLOS C civilian cargo ship that Israel intercepted last Wednesday off the coast of Sudan, at a military port in the Red Sea city of Eilat, southern Israel. (AP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ripped into the international community over what he called their “self-deception” on Iran. Israeli defense officials unveiled an arsenal of weapons the Islamic Republic was trying to smuggle into Gaza.

Israeli Defense Forces unloaded the cargo of the Panamanian-flagged ship that commandos intercepted last week off the coast of Sudan, displaying 40 M-302 missiles with a range in excess of 100 miles, 181 mortar shells and 400,000 AK-47 bullets. The AK-47 kills more civilians worldwide each year than any other manufactured weapon.

“The goal was to have rained down on the heads of Israel’s citizens,” Netanyahu screamed from the port of Eilat, where the Klos C was towed after being boarded in the Red Sea.

Netanyahu noted that the deadly assortment of rockets, mortars and other munitions could easily have reached Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and even Haifa. He railed against the international community for ignoring Iranian support of militant groups and being delusional regarding the recent and supposed willingness of Tehran to tame its nuclear weapons program.

“Iran, a brutal regime, has not abandoned its deep involvement in terrorism, its systematic efforts to undermine peace and security throughout the Middle East and its ambition to destroy the state of Israel,” Netanyahu said. “What is new is not Iran’s deeds or its lies, but the desire of many in the international community to bury their heads in the sand.”

“Just as Iran hid its deadly missiles in the belly of this ship, Iran is hiding its actions and its intentions in many of its key installations for developing nuclear weapons,” he added.

“My message today is simple: those engaged in self-deception must waken from their slumber, we cannot allow Iran to continue building nuclear weapons.”

The harsh yet realistic criticisms will no doubt further strain Benjamin Netanyahu’s already uneasy relationship with the weak European Union and, sadly, President Obama and his White House advisors.

Israel takes the position that Iran is still trying to build a nuclear weapon, and a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a grave threat to the existence of the Jewish state. For evidence, Israeli officials point to the incessant calls by Iranian leaders to irradiate Israel and facilitate its destruction. The development of long-range missiles and its support for hostile militant groups on Israel’s borders is evidence enough for those who do not have the luxury to make a very grave mistake.

Iran, of course, says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Netanyahu, since its announcement, has been an outspoken critic of the efforts by six world powers to negotiate a deal with Iran they claim will scale back its nuclear program. In exchange for Iran’s cooperation, the U.S. and the West have pledged ending international sanctions, which had just begun to take effect.

Netanyahu says this interim deal gives Iran too much relief while getting little in return, and fears a final agreement would leave Iran with the capability to make a bomb.

As last Wednesday’s naval raid was announced, the IDF released video presentations illustrating the circuitous 5,000-mile route that it says the weapons had been meant to take, which began in Syria, then moved through to Iran and Iraq before heading toward Sudan and overland to Gaza. The video presentations were released with clips showing naval commandos discovering the rockets far out at sea.

After Israel intercepts Iranian weapons hiding in

News, Politics, Video

Answering hawks who call his foreign policy one of a “isolationist,” Senator Rand Paul pushed back on “Fox New Sunday,” including using a quote from the Republican standard-bearer and president wildly viewed to have been one of the strongest in the 20th century, Ronald Reagan. The libertarian-leaning Republican senator from Kentucky said he was in the mainstream of the Republican Party, not the hawks.

“There’s not one Republican who is saying we should put military troops into Crimea or into Ukraine,” Paul said. “So I think I’m right in the middle of that position, and I think those who would try to argue that somehow I’m different than the mainstream Republican opinion are people who want to take advantage for their own person political gain.”

In fact, a new CNN/Opinion Research Poll found just 1 in 10 Americans support sending U.S. ground troops to Ukraine.

“I’m a great believer in a strong national defense,” Paul added. “In fact, what Ronald Reagan said in about one sentence sums up real a lot of what I believe. He said to our potential adversary, he said, ‘Don’t mistake our reluctance for war for a lack of resolve.’ People knew that with Ronald Reagan. They still need to know that with the United States,” said Paul.

The senator articulated an analysis of the Crimea crisis that has been gaining traction, after a knee-jerk reaction made its way through the 24 — 48 hour news cycles immediately after the developments last week. It’s not a question of what the U.S. and the West can do now, but a question of what Obama should have done in the past five years with regard to Russia.

“And part of the problem is I think this president hasn’t projected enough strength and hasn’t shown a priority to the national defense,” the senator said. “That is something that were I in charge I would.”

The statement was a clear indicator of the Kentucky senator’s intentions for 2016, riding high off of his recent and dominant CPAC Straw Poll win.

Meanwhile, if you watched Washington Republicans and military experts on Sunday, you heard them ramp up criticism of Obama’s failure stop Russia’s effort to annex Ukraine’s Crimea region, even as former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Crimea was a lost cause.

“You think Crimea’s gone?” “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace asked.

“I do,” Gates replied. “I do not believe that Crimea will slip out of Russia’s hand.”

But some Republicans are still ready to punish Putin until he withdraws Russian troops from the Crimea region, and ramped up their criticisms of President Obama, who seems empty on ideas to stop Putin’s plans to annex the region this week. Perhaps, some of the ideas may seem reasonable to the American people, as the CNN/Opinion Research Poll also found nearly 6 in 10 of those questioned say they support economic sanctions against Moscow.

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan urged the Obama administration and Congress to target Russian companies or “oligarchs” connected to Putin, seizing or freezing their offshore assets and limiting their international travel.

“We should consider targeting some of the oligarchs around him that are his enablers and he is their enablers,” the Wisconsin congressman said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

He also joined Speaker John Boehner in the Republican-led call for the administration to speed up the process for U.S. companies to export liquefied natural gas to western and central Europe, an effort to ease pressure on European allies who depend on Russia for their supply.

Former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney suggested a hawkish, yet also an arguably viable approach, including a range of military moves such as Obama reinstating the United States’ missile-defense programs in Poland and the Czech Republic. He also suggested joint training exercises in Poland and offering military assistance to the Ukraine government.

Ryan agreed that Obama should reconsider missile defense in Europe.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), told ABC’s “This Week” that Obama should not underestimate Putin’s ego.

“He wants to be a world influence, and if he has to do it through brute force, he’s going to do it,” he said. “We shouldn’t underestimate the kinds of things that he will do that he thinks is in Russia’s best interest.”

He also said the crisis will lead to international economic instability.

“So we do need to be worried,” Rogers said.

Answering hawks who call his foreign policy

Elections

Iowa governor race

Incumbent Republican Gov. Terry Branstad (left) is attempting to make history in the Iowa Governor race, while Democrat state Sen. Jack Hatch (right) is struggling to stop him.

The Iowa Governor race is the eighth article in what is a succession of articles offering expanded analysis on our 2014 Governor Map Predictions. Incumbent Republican Iowa Governor Terry Branstad is the longest-serving governor since the signing of the Constitution, and Des Moines Democrat state Senator Jack Hatch is attempting to stop him from winning re-election to a historic sixth term.

An early Des Moines Register survey back in June of 2013, found Branstad with an approval rating sitting pretty at 58 percent, which likely chased the more viable ex-governor and Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack. Former Gov. Chet Culver, an unpopular incumbent who was easily defeated by Branstad in 2010, said last year that he was considering a rematch, but the Des Moines Register poll found Culver’s favorability in the negatives, a data point that no doubt contributed to him taking a pass.

Which leaves us with the current Iowa Governor race: Branstad versus Hatch.

Sen. Jack Hatch cannot seem to gain any momentum among Iowa voters, which is frustrating the Iowa Democratic Party because, although the job approval rating for Gov. Terry Branstad is actually rising, his actual voter support margin slipped a bit. I, however, do not agree with Democrats’ assumptions regarding this anomaly, but we will get into that shortly.

The latest Des Moines Register survey of the Iowa Governor race found a whopping 63 percent of Iowans approve of Terry Branstad as governor, which is his highest rating since the end of his fourth term back in 1999, and a steep hill for Hatch and Democrats to climb.

When asked, just 29 percent of likely voters say they’d vote for Hatch, while 44 percent said they’d vote for Gov. Terry Branstad. Although there are nine who months before the election — nine months being an eternity in politics — Hatch has never been able to break 30 percent in the Des Moines Register Poll since polling began in June of 2013.

Name recognition can account for some of this, but Hatch is turning out to be a poor statewide candidate, an ever-important variable in our model used at PeoplesPunditDaily.com. In gubernatorial contests, in particular, candidate recruitment truly underscores why Tipp O’Neill, the former Democratic Speaker of the House, was correct when he said “all politics is local.”

Branstad’s 63 percent job approval rating represents a 5-point increase from the Register’s last Iowa Poll conducted in December and just 30 percent disapprove of his job, a near mirror of the 29 percent who support Hatch. Hatch only ticked up 2 percent in the latest poll from the last survey, but Quinnipiac University, who is rated a 3 out of possible 4 in our model for past accuracy in Iowa, found Hatch with 33 percent support back in December.

Nevertheless, Republicans have a clear advantage historically in midterm electorates, and Iowa is a pronounced example of this. In 2010, the Partisan Voting Index was D+1 when Republicans made huge gains in the state legislature, and is estimated to again be D+1 in 2014. Worth noting, PVI is not an actual poll to determine margins of support, but merely is utilized to determine the statistical and historical chance of one party’s candidate winning. For instance, in 2010, in states where the PVI was D+2 or more Republican, Republican candidates had a success rate of 83 percent.

Similarly, in their annual measurement of party ID by state, Gallup found Iowa to be competitive, with a slight shift toward the Republican Party.

Still, it may be fair to say the most significant factor weighing on our rating is candidate recruitment. We have to look no further than the Iowa Senate race to see just how much the individual candidate can influence the electorate’s choice. Despite the electorate agreeing more with the Republican Party platform, Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley still maintains a lead over each candidate in a very crowded GOP field (Because of a number of factors, for now, we still rate the Senate contest a “Toss-Up” on our 2014 Senate Map Predictions).

Regardless, incumbent Governor Terry Branstad is the clear favorite in his bid to continue a historical streak, and with Obama’s abysmal approval rating in the state adding to the Democrats’ troubles, it doesn’t look like the record number of terms will end in 2014. Unless something significant develops in this race, the Iowa Governor race is rated “Safe Republican” on our 2014 Governor Map Predictions.

View Polling Below Or Return To PPD’s 2014 Governor Map Predictions

Poll Date Sample Branstad (R) Hatch (D) Spread
PPD Average 12/10 – 2/26 — 47.0 32.7 Branstad +14.3
Des Moines Register 2/23 – 2/26 461 LV 44 29 Branstad +15
PPP (D) 2/20 – 2/23 869 RV 48 36 Branstad +12
Quinnipiac 12/10 – 12/15 1617 RV 49 33 Branstad +16
Des Moines Register 12/8 – 12/11 325 LV 52 29 Branstad +23
PPP (D) 7/5 – 7/7 668 RV 47 35 Branstad +12
Des Moines Register 6/2 – 6/5 591 LV 55 27 Branstad +28
PPP (D) 2/1 – 2/3 846 RV 48 33 Branstad +15

Incumbent Republican Gov. Terry Branstad is running

Opinion, Politics, Video

On Saturday, Judge Jeanine explored whether or not Barack Obama did lie his way into the White House and, if so, was a fraud committed against the American people.

During her opening monologue for “Justice” with Judge Jeanine Pirro on Fox News, Pirro recapped the various claims made by President Obama during the 2012 presidential election, claims we now know to have been completely false.

We know now that Mitt Romney was correct about Russia, which Obama mocked during the third and final presidential debate. But what about al Qaeda, a terror group Obama claimed was dismantled and “on the run” during the presidential election? Is that why he lied about Benghazi?

The answers to some of these questions are obvious. However, what else has Obama lied about? And will he ever be held account?

Judge Jeanine explored whether or not Barack

Opinion, Politics, Video

Former Governor Mike Huckabee and host of “The Huckabee Show” on Fox News, continued his criticism of President Obama in his latest monologue Saturday night.

Reacting to decisions by President Obama before and after the crisis in Crimea, Huckabee suggested the U.S. was the shakiest gun in the West under President Obama, a far cry from its past strength. He said that pundits and pols are focusing too much on the question of what President Obama could do now, but instead “should be focusing on what should have been done during the past five years” running up to the crisis.”

“Vladimir Putin didn’t just wake up one morning and impulsively order thousands of his elite airborne soldiers to drop in on Crimea to have a look-see at the port,” Huckabee said. “He made a calculated gamble that the Barack Obama — who fumbled the ball in Syria worse than Peyton Manning’s opening snap at the Superbowl — and turned his ‘red line’ into a red face.”

Huckabee went on to list the many foreign policy blunders attributed to the Obama administration, including Syria, Egypt, Iran and his comments about “flexibility” to Medvedev. “His only flexibility seems to be with the truth,” Huckabee railed.

As far as why Europe isn’t responding to Obama’s proposed sanctions, its the administration’s energy policies that have contributed to our weak hand. “Putin has his boots on their necks by way of having his hands on their thermostats,” referring to the significant amount of oil Europe relies upon from Russia.

Last week, Huckabee told “A Tale Of Two Superpowers” during which he compared and contrasted the resolve of the U.S. under President Obama, with its enemies. While proposing to slash our defense budget, or implement cuts that disproportionately fall on the backs of our hardest working military personnel, the president preserves spending for politicians’ friends who profit from defense contracts and on entitlement programs for the least-productive of our society.

Whether or not it is moral to provide for the security of those who cannot or simply will not, doesn’t have any baring on the fact it isn’t wise to do when we cannot even provide for the basic safety of our nation. Unlike social welfare, it is an actual proper role of government to provide for the defense of its citizens.

Former Governor Mike Huckabee and host of

News, Politics, Video

Former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, closed out CPAC 2014 for the second consecutive year. On March 8, 2014, Palin gave a fiery, well-received speech promising conservatives that the “best is yet to come.”

Palin focused on the young conservative activists, who according to recent estimates, made up over 51 percent of the CPAC 2014 conference. She said that people across the way in Washington D.C. refer to young Americans as “ObamaCare suckers.”

The former vice president nominee said that she was optimistic about the future because of the young people who aren’t sitting back and taking the ever-growing encroachment by big government.

As many other speakers at the conservative conference, Palin railed against the GOP establishment who are constantly criticizing conservatives for “standing for conservative principles” rather than allowing Democrats to destroy themselves politically. They say conservatives would be better off not to interrupt the process.

“That may be true, but you do interrupt when they are in the process of destroying your country,” Palin said as the crowd responded with a thunderous applause.

Palin, as well as other conservative activists, believe that way of political thinking is both flawed and foolish, as evident by the recent electoral failures by moderates John McCain and Mitt Romney.

Following her appearance at the conservative conference, Sarah Palin appeared with Greta Van Susteren on her show “On The Record.” When asked by Susteren about her favorites for 2016, Palin said, “not yet.” Whomever receives the endorsement of Palin would not suffer for it in the 2016 presidential nomination.

However, the former Alaska governor didn’t rule out a presidential bid, herself.

“Okay now I get to ask that question,” Greta said. “Are you considering — is it still within a possibility that you’ll run in 2016?”

Palin responded, “It sounds cliche, but you never say never. Now, I — at this point in time, I don’t have a team of people, you know, getting out there doing these poll-tested whatever they do to let you know if you should run or not. I don’t have any of that kind of organization going. I’ll never say never.”

She said it would depend on the American people, and what kind of a candidate they will be looking for come 2016.

Sarah Palin gave a fiery, well-received speech

News, Politics, Video

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates shocked host Chris Wallace Sunday saying Russia will take control of the Crimea region, and it will stay under Russian control.

Bob Gates insinuated that — at this point — the U.S. and the West are limited in options, and that section of the country is lost to Kiev and the West.

“You think Crimea’s gone?” Chris Wallace, host of “Fox News Sunday” asked former Sec. Bob Gates.

“I do,” Gates replied. “I do not believe that Crimea will slip out of Russia’s hand.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has in recent days taken control of Crimea and is attempting to annex the region. In fact, the Crimea parliament, representing a majority Russian-ethnic population, is preparing for a vote on whether to join Russia.

Putin has been criticized by Western leaders, including President Obama, who himself has been criticized at home for weakness. Obama’s first wrong decision was to naively believe removing missile defense from Poland would spark compromise between the two nations. President Obama, who talked to him twice by phone, has argued the move violates Ukraine’s sovereignty.

Bob Gates did, however, say the president’s critics should tone down the rhetoric while he is trying to deal with the crisis in Crimea.

Gates also said the taking of Crimea appears to be part of Putin’s long-term strategy of creating a “Russian bloc” that includes taking full control of Ukraine, which last month ousted its pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych.

Gates said he supported Washington efforts to put more sanctions on Russia.

Bob Gates suggested that -- at this

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