Friday, June 14, 2013

BIG BROTHER'S WATCH...OH, WHO CARES?

Come on in from the cold.
Attacking the Second Amendment affected gun owners, but most other people didn't think it was important.

Having gotten away with that one, they decided to take on the First Amendment, by interfering with the freedom of the press. If you weren't a reporter, you probably raised an eyebrow, but didn't really think much of it.

The Fourth Amendment restricts government from conducting unreasonable searches and seizures of peoples’ houses, papers and effects.

But our government has decided that this, too, is not such an important amendment if there is something they want to do that violates it.

Why should you care? Nobody has searched or seized anything of yours. Well don't be so quick to think that.

With the exposure of the mismanagement and corruption in the IRS now showing up, aren't we better served to open our eyes and ears and pay attention?

After all, the IRS demands that we be straight with the way we report our income. And if we take deductions on our return, we’d better be ready to back up our deductions with receipts and other corroborating evidence or we face trouble, fines and/or imprisonment. I've been there. I know.

This same IRS has engaged in targeting conservatives just for being conservatives. In other words, they have tried to trap anyone who disagrees with the government’s political views. And they intended to snuff out their dissent.

Now we learn that they have provided themselves with $50,000.00 in lavish parties and get-togethers at taxpayer expense. They had first class, even upgraded plush hotels rooms and auditoriums in which to amuse themselves at IRS “conferences.”

IRS has told us that they’re sorry and that those days are over.

Yeah? Why did they happen in the first place. And if they were OK, why are they “over?”

Here’s the part that irritates the most: they’re not certain how much these conferences cost the taxpayer…they've lost the receipts! But don’t worry. They said they were sorry.

Imagine at my two audits if I had said, “Well, sure, I did those things, but I've lost the receipts.” Do you think they would have responded by saying, “Oh, no problem, my fellow citizen. We’ll just overlook it this time.”

That’s not what they told me.

And what about those jokers who took gifts and food without declaring them and were allowed to “amend” their W-2s after the fact. Sounds fair to me. Doesn't it to you? No? I can’t imagine.

Of course the rest of would be in jail for tax evasion, but don’t sweat the small stuff.

Now we find out that our government has the capability of conducting surveillance on anybody and everybody it wants to. And it has wanted to. And it has done so. All you need to have done to deserve it is to have used a phone.

And if you use the Internet, the government can monitor your every move, whether you blog, use email, use Facebook, Google, download photos, videos, or virtually anything else in the communicatosphere. Oh, but it’s all for foreign users, not us. Oh? For how long? How do you know?

Why does the government need to monitor me (or you) to catch a terrorist? Come on, now, think about the ramifications of that ideology!

And it didn't even help them catch the Boston Bomber…that was a tip from a civilian!

Let’s trust the government even more, shall we.  Why not? After all, they work for us.

9 comments:

Lone Ranger said...

If the Obama administration was telling the truth (pffft, yeah), all these bad things were done by rogue agents, including that high-school dropout who's in Hong Kong right now. So, let's assume that we're hearing the truth (pffft HAH!). We've all heard of hospital personnel peeking at celebrities' medical records and IRS agents snooping into private files before. What's to prevent them from doing so in the future? And what's to prevent weasels like Snowden and Manning from trying to become superheroes and betraying their country? This government is just too big. And wherever you have big government and big money, you have big corruption. It is just unavoidable. Solution: Trim the size of the government. As I have ALWAYS advocated, repeal the income tax and get rid of the IRS.

Joe said...

LR: "Trim the size of the government. As I have ALWAYS advocated, repeal the income tax and get rid of the IRS."

If we cannot accomplish this, if the people will not insist on it, we are a half-a-breath away from total tyranny by the federal government.

The Screaming Eagle said...

Thanks, Obama voters for the great job you did last November! .
Now this country is an open highway to disaster. we don't enforce laws when it comes to immigration, and treason is no different or Obama would of been sent out on a rail a long time ago.
You just imposed on the rest of us degraded medical care and rising costs. This is no longer hypothetical or abstract. It's real. It's the law.

Though it is hard to bear for leftist utopians, sometimes there are no ultimate solutions to social inequalities from big government. Maybe the solution was to keep the local family clinics so that when a homeless guy, reaching into a dumpster, cuts his hand on glass, he can go to the clinic and gets his stitches. Yes, we can have soup kitchens too.

However, ObamaCare doesn't fix the problem.

Utopian dreams and schemes can be worse than the problem, the cure worse than the disease.

Dr. Frankenstein cried, "It's alive! It's alive!" Then the monster was unleashed.

Thanks, Obama voters. You just unleashed the monster.

sue hanes said...


Joe - The IRS needs to stick to their job instead of violating the rules. I'd think they have enough to do instead of getting into the Republicans' business and what's this about the parties. Enough is enough. Let's keep their nose out of our business that is not part of their job.

Xavier Onassis said...

Joe - "This same IRS has engaged in targeting conservatives just for being conservatives."

That is not true. That is a lie.

The IRS targeted groups who had a history of complaining about being taxed by the federal government (Taxed Enough Already = TEA Party) who were applying for tax exempt status.

I think it is entirely appropriate that the IRS exercised due diligence in investigating such groups.

Their motives for claiming tax exempt status should absolutely come under greater scrutiny.

Joe said...

XO: "...complaining about being taxed by the federal government..."

That is not a reason to target someone.

They legally applied for a particular status, and for that they were targeted. You think that's OK?

Why am I not the least surprised?

I complain about being taxed by the federal government. Should they target me, harass me, and threaten me?

Xavier Onassis said...

Joe - "I complain about being taxed by the federal government. Should they target me, harass me, and threaten me?"

No. But if you put forth a claim that you, unlike everyone else, should be exempt from having to pay your taxes then you should absolutely come under greater scrutiny than someone who makes no such claim.

Or do you think the government should just rubber stamp all such applications assuming all applicants are pure of heart and not attempting to defraud the American people because they don't like paying taxes?

Joe said...

XO"...should just rubber stamp all such applications assuming all applicants are pure of heart."

No, they should apply everything with an even hand and should not target people because of their political views, which is exactly what happened.

It was not because they asked for something the law doesn't allow them to ask for, it was because they had a particular political viewpoint.

Bad IRS, bad!

Xavier Onassis said...

Joe - That's hilarious! So you don't think that a group whose entire reason for existence is "HEY! WE HATE THE GOVERNMENT AND WE HATE PAYING TAXES!" should receive any more scrutiny when applying for an exemption from having to pay taxes than a group who applies on a much stricter interpretation of the law?