Trey Gowdy destroys IRS Commissioner Koskinen

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gowdy

This is so good it’s worth its own post:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXHfZ_qgzHA[/youtube]

It becomes painfully obvious why Koskinen was appointed commissioner of the IRS. He is a lawyer but hasn’t practiced law in 45 years. He is ignorant of the law and specifically ignorant of tax law.

He’s perfect for the job.

His claims are based on his “feelings” and have nothing to do with the law. Koskinen is sure the law hasn’t been broken but he doesn’t know the what the law is.

He’s perfect for Obama. He’s a partisan goober.

Here’s Issa grilling Koskinen:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y12atsVotnU[/youtube]

Rep. Jason Chaffetz had no better luck with Koskinen:

Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz needled Koskinen about a short-term data backup that the IRS had in place – but never used – when Lerner’s hard drive crashed in 2011.

‘It’s actually a disaster recovery system,’ the IRS commissioner testified, ‘and it backs up for six months in case the entire system goes down … That was the rule in 2011. Policy.’

Chaffetz wanted to know, ‘Why didn’t they just go to that six-month tape?’

Koskinen replied that it is ‘a disaster recovery tape that has all of the emails on it, and is a very complicated tape to actually extract emails [from], but I have not seen any emails to explain why they didn’t do it. So I – It would be difficult, but I don’t know why they didn’t do it.’

‘But you said that the IRS was going to extraordinary lengths to give it to the recovery team, correct?’ Chaffetz quizzed.

‘That’s correct,’ said Koskinen.

‘But it’s backed up – on tape?’

‘For six months, yes.’

‘So,’ Chaffetz asked, ‘why didn’t you get them off the backup?’

‘All I know about that is that the backup tapes are disaster recovery tapes that put everything in one lump,’ Koskinen replied, ‘and extracting individual emails out of that is very costly and difficult, and it was not the policy at the time.’

‘Did anybody try?’ Chaffetz asked the IRS commissioner.

‘I have no idea or indication that they did,’ came his answer.

This is wholesale criminality. The House needs to defund the IRS completely.

Funny how there wasn’t enough money for keeping emails (there was $1.8 billion last year for IRS IT support) but there was plenty for bonuses. There’s absolutely no doubt about this being a huge cover-up.

If you or I tried this with the IRS we’d be jail and in jail is where Koskinen and Lerner belong.

Trey Gowdy for President.

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@Greg:

Then PROVE IT. Otherwise it’s just another one of the far right’s numerous goofball conspiracy theories, readily embraced by angry cranks such as yourself.

I wonder what would have happened if Elliot Richardson hadn’t appointed Archibald Cox as a special prosecutor during Watergate. Or if he had done what Nixon had asked him to do and fire Cox instead of resigning.
If Eric Holder appointed a special prosecutor, Lois Lerner would start singing like a canary. Instead, she knows nothing is going to happen. Congress doesn’t really have an enforcement mechanism. They rely on the Attorney General to enforce the laws of the land and investigate criminal wrong-doing. Instead, Holder appoints an Obama donor within the DOJ to investigate.
You say there is no proof, yet the IG says differently:

The IRS used inappropriate criteria that identified for review Tea Party and organizations applying for tax-exempt status based upon their names or policy positions instead of indications of potential political campaign intervention.

http://www.treasury.gov/tigta/auditreports/2013reports/201310053fr.pdf
The Obama administration and the DOJ are setting a very dangerous precedent. The executive branch and the DOJ should protect all Americans, not just those that vote democrat.

Greggie Greggie, your call for proof is laughable. You have made outrageous accustations and when proof was requested you failed to provide it!! How are we coming on proof of Romney cheating on his taxes as Reid accused him on the floor of the Senate and you agreed with Reid?? Still waiting Greggie!!

@This one: whats a wing nut look like this one?how about a car jack,impact wrench?do you know what a phillips screw diver is ?

@drjohn, #44:

So she chose to erase only the period in question. Curious, no?

All seven did exactly the same thing.

Odd, no?

It would be very odd, had that been exactly what happened. I haven’t seen any credible evidence that this is what happened, however.

As mentioned elsewhere, the committee’s press release regarding the data loss of other employees was greatly exaggerated, if not totally false. They’re trying to create an impression of a suspicious pattern of data losses when no such pattern exists in reality. Of the supposed 6 employees they’re claiming this of in addition to Lerner, I’m aware of only one, Nicole Flax, who was actually named. She was likely named because she could be shown to have actually met with the President. The problem with the story is that it turns out there are actually NO missing emails to or from Nicole Flax. All emails the investigative committee requested in connection with Flax were fully recovered.

As for Lerner’s email, there’s no certainty that the emails lost from her computer were even relevant to the investigation. Republicans are able to claim that they were simply because they’re lost, and without them no one can prove otherwise. This is like insisting that there’s an eye witness to a crime who could prove with certainty that an accused person is guilty, but the jury will have to take the prosecutor’s word for it because nobody can find him.

@Greg: Greggie, why is it that over 70% of Americans polled don’t believe it??

Don’t believe what? And what are the investigations supposed to be about, anyway? Discovering the truth, or manipulating public opinion? Whatever they’re claimed to be about, the truth is that they’re being used to provide republicans with a spot-lighted soapbox from which to manipulate public opinion.

Congress presently has an average job approval rating of only 13 percent. Last month a Washington Post poll found that 67 percent of registered voters believe most republicans currently serving in Congress don’t deserve to be reelected. Democrats in Congress fared better, but not by much.

It seems what’s being damaged the most is the public’s opinion of government in general. Anyone who believes that is good for the country hasn’t thought things through. That’s what you get before things really fall apart. Only a fool believes that anything good would come of that.

Greggie, they don’t believe Lerner’s Emails are lost idiot!! Do you read or just mouth off?? As far as public opinion, your black Messiah 0-blama’s ratings are at historic lows for him!! Why is that Greggie, he owns the MSM!!

The IRS scandal is as phony as every other scandal the GOP has tried to cook up. It that weren’t so, they would have been able to prove something. 750,000 pages of documents, and they haven’t found a single bit of evidence that will stand up to close inspection. None whatsoever.

What they have discovered is that computers sometimes crash, and data sometimes gets lost as a result. Although they’re they’re either too stupid or too dishonest to acknowledge what should already be common knowledge. They’re presently pushing the myth that this doesn’t happen, can’t happen, and never happens.

That’s not what they were claiming in connection with the Bush administration’s controversial midterm dismissal of 8 U.S. Attorneys. The mass loss of potentially incriminating email seems to be entirely possible when acknowledging the possibility is politically convenient. Republicans had no problem when Karl Rove bugged out without responding to a subpoena.

@Greg: GREGORY THE 5TH you are getting very redundant.wake up this one maybe he can throw some wing nut terms round

@Greg:

The IRS scandal is as phony as every other scandal the GOP has tried to cook up. It that weren’t so, they would have been able to prove something. 750,000 pages of documents, and they haven’t found a single bit of evidence that will stand up to close inspection. None whatsoever.

I think you act like you don’t know how this works when, actually, you do. The administration has handed over 750,000 pages of documents which must be sifted through. However, as we have learned (we, apparently, not being “you”) Lerner and her merry band have “lost” the emails that are most desirable through “hard drive crashes” (quotes indicate “abject bullshit”).

No evidence? How about the extensive list of examples I provided you? Conservatives were definitely targeted and harassed while liberals were not (I’m not talking about routine background checks; I am talking about harassment, unnecessary audits, coordinated investigations by other agencies and illegally sharing personal information with the Obama campaign which, by the way, the IRS has admitted to) and what all indications show to be coordination of this effort with the White House.

If the White House truly condemns the weaponization of the IRS, particularly in its name, and is innocent of all suspicion, they should be demanding full disclosure, not going on a publicity campaign, on the taxpayer nickel, to call it all “phony”. While a solid link has not yet been found (ref the “lost” emails), the White House looks stinking guilty in this.

@Greg: Greggie, Bush again?? You are as lame as it gets!! You whine about Republicans rightfully challenging the 0-blama administration for lies and corruption when we know he said if you like your doctor and or insurance you can them “period”!! It’s proof and even 0-blama has admitted it!! We have 4 left on the battlefield due to a terrorist attack and your boy and shillary blamed a video!! Now the House had requested Emails from Lerner over a YEAR ago and the IRS just now informs the House that they where mysteriously lost? Even you can’t be that stupid, oooops you can!! Republicans and some Democrats in the House are not. You accused Romney of cheating on his tax returns prior to the last election and have NEVER proven you claim!! Still waiting for that of course. Still waiting for you to prove that Bush intentionally deceived to start the war in Iraq. NO proof of that either. I remind you again that over 70 Democrats supported the call to action when Bush presented the data he had. Maybe the Democrats failed to read the legislation like 0-blamacare!! Difference is though that 0-blamacare was only voted in favor by Democrats where as the call to action in Iraq was bipartisan!!  Greggie I urge you to get the psychological help you so desparately are in need off!!

@Bill, #61:

However, as we have learned (we, apparently, not being “you”) Lerner and her merry band have “lost” the emails that are most desirable through “hard drive crashes” (quotes indicate “abject bullshit”).

In what specific sense are they “most desirable?” Exactly why is there reason to believe that the missing material is any more likely to have been significant to the questions at hand than any of the other 750,000 pages of documents that have been provided?

I’m guessing that Issa is delighted that something couldn’t be provided. It has given him something to make allegations about. It creates “an inability to disprove,” which he’s making maximum use of as Kangaroo Court Leader. In the world of kangaroo courts, people are deemed guilty unless proven innocent.

Which brings us back around to a central point: After years of endless investigations, wasting enormous amounts of time and million of dollars of taxpayer money, republicans have thus far proved squat. They have yet to prove criminal intention or criminal action on the part of anyone, in connection with anything.

It’s fortunate for elected republicans that they don’t have to do anything useful to keep on drawing their rather excessive paychecks. They apparently don’t even have to do anything useful to get reelected.

@ Greg
>sigh< We have Lerner taking the 5th, then her emails disappearing. Now, that's not iron-clad, but it is damn sure cause for suspicion. Not that that comprises the bulk of the reason for suspicion… it's not even the MOST suspicious. But, it is undeniably suspicious.

Greggie, for over 10 years you and the left liberal wachos have claimed Bush lied and NEVER proved that!! Now 0-blama says you can keep you insurance and/or doctor and you won’t admit he said it!! Next Slimy Harry accused Romney of cheating on his tax return and you agreed!! I have asked you to PROVE it and you won’t or can’t!! Lerner’s emails where requested over a year ago and we find out NOW they have been lost and you don’t seen anything suspicious with the fact that the House finds out now!! When you PROVE that Bush lied, when you PROVE that Romney cheated on his tax returns, and when you PROVE that 0-blama didn’t tell America that if you like your doctor and/or health insurance you can keep them “period”, then credibility will be examined against your proof. Until then your just another liar just like 0-blama, slimmy harry, and lerner!!  Otherwise your words are as hollow as your skull!!

@Common Sense, #65:

Maybe the meaning of this short paragraph will eventually sink in:

After years of endless investigations, wasting enormous amounts of time and million of dollars of taxpayer money, republicans have thus far proved squat. They have yet to prove criminal intention or criminal action on the part of anyone, in connection with anything.

They have yet to prove criminal intention or criminal action on the part of anyone, in connection with anything.

Well, except for that little incident about giving out National Organization of Marriage’s donor information to a adversary of NOMs. Seems the IRS was found guilty of that, so that’s hardly no criminal action on the part of anyone.

@Greg: Greggie, as I suspected you can’t read!! Still waiting!!

Do you suppose the general public considers a $50,000 settlement paid to an organization for the preservation of homophobia worth the $14 million that Issa’s flea circus has so far cost the taxpayers? Ironically, the taxpayers also have to pick up the $50,000 fine.

“”It becomes painfully obvious why Koskinen was appointed commissioner of the IRS.
He is a lawyer but hasn’t practiced law in 45 years.
He is ignorant of the law and specifically ignorant of tax law.
He’s perfect for the job. (SARC) “”

This is TYPICAL of OBAMA. appointing STOOGES instead of highly qualified knowledgeable people…. When Sebelius quit and flew off on her broomstick…. he appointed someone from the BUDGET DEPT.. a BOOKKEEPER/ACCOUNTANT if you will.. to run HEALTH, and HUMAN SERVICES????

WHAT the heck would her skill and know how in THIS AREA BE??
NOTHING that anyone I have seen can show….. again an unqualified inexperienced nobody..
TYPICAL of Obama…..

Greg… REMOVE ALL LIBERAL ROADBLOCKS.. and we’ll get to the Bottom of things…
DESTROYING HARD DRIVES.. ERASING BACK UP DATA…. REFUSING to turn over documents… TAKING THE 5TH AMENDMENT…. OH, almost forgot.. when it looked like they might get investigated.. the IRS CANCELLED the already 5 yr long deal they had for OFF SITE (cloud) DATA BACK UP STORAGE…. thus WIPING OUT the remaining possible copies…. sure, the move of the REALLY INNOCENT…

Sure Greg.. YOUR guys have been REAL CO-OPERATIVE. I’ve been gone a long while, yet I see you still have both lips stuck to Obama’s Hiney! LMAO!! Same as before …

Some things NEVER CHANGE!

@Greg:

Do you suppose the general public considers a $50,000 settlement paid to an organization for the preservation of homophobia worth the $14 million that Issa’s flea circus has so far cost the taxpayers? Ironically, the taxpayers also have to pick up the $50,000 fine.

But wait, Greggie, you said

“They have yet to prove criminal intention or criminal action on the part of anyone, in connection with anything.”

Now you want to excuse the law breaking by the IRS, not to mention the dirty tactics of the HRC who released the NOM donor names to the scum that is the Huffington Post? You seem to think that such tactics are fair game because obviously, you don’t agree with NOM. I wonder how loud you would be screaming if the tables were turned and someone released the names of the donors of Planned Parenthood or some gay organization so everyone who disagreed with those groups could boycott, intimidate and harass their donors.

And how ironic that you, a progressive far left liberal Obama apologist, is now worried about money spend by Congress investigating wrong doing on the part of the IRS when Obama has blown millions on his green energy boondoggle like Solyndra.

Hypocrite doesn’t begin to describe what a useful idiot you are.

Oh GREG….. explain the statistical probability of THIS at the SAME TIME????

http://www.ijreview.com/2014/06/148332-know-whats-unbelievable-losing-lois-lerners-emails-losing-emails-six-irs-employees/

From National Review:

The Internal Revenue Service says it can’t produce e-mails from six more employees involved in the targeting of conservative groups, according to two Republicans investigating the scandal.

*

The IRS recently informed Ways and Means chairman Dave Camp and subcommittee chairman Charles Boustany that computer crashes resulted in additional lost e-mails, including from Nikole Flax, the chief of staff to former IRS commissioner Steven Miller, who was fired in the wake of the targeting scandal.

At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if tomorrow they announced that they had lost the whole building where they keep all their emails, and the evidence pointing to Obama’s collusion with the IRS to target the Tea Party. Of which there is none, of course.

Oh, and then there’s this!

View image on Twitter
John Ekdahl @JohnEkdahl
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“Nikole Flax, whose emails the IRS “lost”, sure visited the White House a lot. ”

In case you can’t see the image, it’s a list of all the times that Nikole Flax visited the White House – maybe she was looking for her emails there? We all know from the HealthCare.Gov website that Obama is a much more competent web master than he is a leader of the free world.

Finally, if you think that any of this is strong evidence that the IRS is purposely and illegally destroying evidence that might prove Obama was complicit in the Tea Party targeting scandal, well, you’re… probably a racist.

And if you want the truth about why the IRS was engaging in political suppression to the benefit of the Democratic Party then that makes you a… global warming denier. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

Greg,,, kids in KINDERGARTEN can “connect the dots”:….

too bad they seem to be smarter than you.

@retire05: Greg.. the ARDENT DEFENDER of all who are CRIMINAL, or ANTI-CONSTITUTIONAL!! What a guy!! LOL!!

@Hankster58, #74:

The probability is low. This would matter, if the story about 6 other IRS employees central to the investigation all losing relevant email wasn’t a load of 100 percent horse manure.

Here’s a quick reality test: Name those 6 employees.

Nicole Flax is the only other name I’ve ever heard. But as it turns out, Nicole Flax has no missing email. Everything that the investigative committee requested in connection with her email was recovered and provided. NOTHING is missing from her.

I haven’t even heard a good argument from Issa as to why the email missing from Lerner is more likely to be relevant than what isn’t missing from her. That’s only what he claims. It may have been nothing more than a purely random assortment of routine correspondence. There’s absolutely no reason why anyone should believe anything Darrell Issa is saying, without evidence to back it up.

Is Greg still trying that BUSH LIED BS??? Hey GREG….. READ and LEARN oh UNEDUCATED ONE…..
This from CNN.. in 2004… so the TRUTH has been out that long…. so you REALLY SHOULD STOP LYING NOW!!

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/18/woodward.book/

As the war planning progressed, on December 21, 2002, CIA INTEL HEAD George Tenet ( A DEMOCRAT) and his top deputy, John McLaughlin, went to the White House to brief Bush and Cheney on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, Woodward reports.

The president, unimpressed by the presentation of satellite photographs and intercepts, pressed George Tenet (A DEMOCRAT) and McLaughlin, saying their information would not “convince Joe Public” and asking Tenet, “This is the best we’ve got?” Woodward reports.

According to Woodward, Tenet ( A DEMOCRAT) reassured the president that “it’s a slam dunk case” that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction.

In his CBS interview, Woodward said he “asked the president about this, and he said it was very important to have the CIA director, ‘slam-dunk’ is as I interpreted it, a sure thing, guaranteed.”

About two weeks later, shortly after New Year’s Day 2003, Bush — frustrated with unfruitful U.N. weapons inspections — made up his mind to go to war after consulting with Rice, according to Woodward.

SO GREG….. BUSH believed in the WMD report.. based upon ASSURANCES from…. A DEMOCRAT….

So Greg…. WHO LIED????? GOT IT NOW????

No charge for the FACT BASED EDUCATION…. boy.

The GOP won’t even let the guy show up at their national political conventions. Apparently their confidence level that most people are swallowing their Iraq War revisionist history is still rather low. But they keep trying.

@Greg: Here’s a quick reality test: Name those 6 employees.
Nicole Flax is the only other name I’ve ever heard.

Maybe you might search for these names:
http://dailycaller.com/2014/06/26/meet-the-seven-irs-employees-whose-computers-crashed/

Plaintiff’s [ Judicial Watch ] FOIA requests and the Committee’s request indisputably seek the same emails of Lois Lerner and the other IRS officials, including Nikole Flax, from January 1, 2010 to the present. Despite the obvious relevance, IRS has still not notified the Court or Plaintiff of the destruction of emails and whether the same issues relating to production of emails of Lois Lerner or the other six IRS officials exist in this lawsuit. Plaintiff [Judicial Watch] only learned of the destroyed records on June 13, 2014, when the news media reported on the existence of IRS’s letter to Congress about the status of the emails.

Judicial Watch: IRS Made False and Misleading Statements – “They Are in Real Trouble” (Video)

Stonewalling.
The cover-up is always worse for the wrong-doer than the crime itself.

@Nanny G, #79:

Contrary to the claim made by the investigative committee, none of Nicole Flax’s emails are actually missing. Everything was recovered. Koskinen pointed this out in his testimony on June 20 in no uncertain terms:

“There’s been a question as to why I didn’t advise Congress earlier and my experience has been than we do better to have a rational discussion when you know all the facts. It’s shown by the fact that on Monday we were advised Monday morning that there were preliminary indications that there were difficulties with a handful of custodians. That information was passed onto the staff of this committee on Monday afternoon. Immediately thereafter rather than asking us for additional information a press release went out from this committee identifying Nicole Flax as a particularly interesting person to this committee and stating that Nicole Flax’s e-mails have been lost. Had the committee waited to issue that release until we knew further information which were continuing to provide, they would have discovered that Nicole Flax had two computers. Her office computer which she used during the day and she had a travel computer, a portable. It was the portable computer that crashed. It ran on the same e-mail system as her office system.

“So it turns out there is no indication that a single Nicole Flax e-mail has been lost, notwithstanding the press release and statements out of this committee. Those press releases with regard to Nicole Flax were inaccurate and misleading and it demonstrates why we’ll provide this committee a full report about the custodian review when it is completed. And we are not going to dribble out the information and have it played out in the press.”

Basically, in continuing to promote the investigative committee’s incorrect report about the Flax emails, the conservative media is LYING. Committee Chairman David Camp’s irresponsible statement on that point made June 17 was totally incorrect. I see no reason to believe that similar comments made about the missing email of other five IRS employees are any more reliable.

Basically, without evidence, I’ll believe nothing that these people are saying. They’ll mislead the public about what they actually know just to score political points. I know this because it’s been documented that they’re doing it. For that behavior, there is evidence.

@Greg:

Do you suppose the general public considers a $50,000 settlement paid to an organization for the preservation of homophobia worth the $14 million that Issa’s flea circus has so far cost the taxpayers? Ironically, the taxpayers also have to pick up the $50,000 fine.

Isn’t it sadly ironic that the very people attacked by the Obama-politicizing of the IRS are those that have to foot the bill? I kind of like the current bill up for consideration where all the costs comes out of the IRS budget and reduction in wages of IRS employees. Let them see what the real world is like.

Again, the submission to the $50,000 penalty is admission and confirmation of what has been accused. Live with it Greg; you are defending a corrupt regime.

@Hankster58:

This is TYPICAL of OBAMA. appointing STOOGES instead of highly qualified knowledgeable people…. When Sebelius quit and flew off on her broomstick…. he appointed someone from the BUDGET DEPT.. a BOOKKEEPER/ACCOUNTANT if you will.. to run HEALTH, and HUMAN SERVICES????

This is the same thing Hitler did, appointed ideologues he could politically trust rather than the best person for the job… with comparable results.

@Greg: Still waiting on your proof or admittance that you where lying!! ZERO credibility until then!!

@Greg:

IRS technicians told the congressional panel’s staff that the hard drives of six other workers involved in the inquiry had also crashed. Among them was Nikole Flax, who was chief of staff to Lerner’s boss, then-deputy commissioner Steven Miller.

On Friday, Koskinen increased the total to eight

– including Lerner’s – saying the agency had discovered another crashed hard drive.

However, Koskinen said Flax’s emails were retrieved from a second computer. He said it is still not known whether emails have been lost because of the other crashes.http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140621/NEWS03/306219965/-1/NE

So, you are only partly correct.
And even partly is a good thing for this country.
It is IRS technicians who are finding the crashed hard drives, Greg, not the media!
If you watched the entire hearings you’d know that.
Now, how many other computers did these other 7 folks (including Lerner) commit their IRS emails to?
That we do not know.

@Nanny G, #83:

IRS technicians told the congressional panel’s staff that the hard drives of six other workers involved in the inquiry had also crashed. Among them was Nikole Flax, who was chief of staff to Lerner’s boss, then-deputy commissioner Steven Miller.

It doesn’t mean a thing that Nicole Flax’s hard drive crashed. As was pointed out elsewhere, hard drive failures are far from uncommon. With one popular hard drive, the Seagate Barracuda, the average failure rate runs as high as 14 percent over an average service life of less than 1 year. The IRS employs tens of thousands of desktop PCs—often old machines, owing to budgetary constraints—so offices will predictably be experiencing hard drive failures on a routine basis.

What is significant about Flax’s hard drive failure, and what the investigative committee fails to acknowledge, is that ALL of the email on Flax’s hard drive was recoverable, and ALL was provided to the committee.

The spin about Flax is just another case of the committee making something out of nothing, it order to make their fantasies about what might have been in Lerner’s missing data seem more credible. Until they prove their allegations, they remain nothing more than allegations.

@Bill, #81:

Again, the submission to the $50,000 penalty is admission and confirmation of what has been accused.

No it isn’t. It is simply what the IRS paid in the way of a settlement, possibly to avoid incurring further costs to the taxpayers. It was, in fact, the American taxpayers who would foot the bill for any further legal defenses.

The IRS isn’t out to get the American people. The IRS works for the American people. It administers tax laws that have been enacted by Congress. If you’ve got problems with those laws, take the matter up with the people you’ve elected.

This is the same thing Hitler did, appointed ideologues he could politically trust rather than the best person for the job… with comparable results.

Comments such as that are leading me closer to the conclusion that many on the right are, in fact, out of touch with reality. I used to think such nonsense was just hyperbole. Now I’m beginning to understand that a significant number of people actually believe what they’re saying. This is apparently why a lot of people aren’t amenable to reason. Their beliefs simply aren’t reasonable.

The IRS isn’t out to get the American people. The IRS works for the American people.

That is the most mind-numbingly stupid thing you have ever said, Greggie. The IRS doesn’t work for the American people, it works as nothing more than an agency to generate revenue for the Federal Government to continue with its redistributive policies.

Now, since you seem to think that computer crashes are no big thing at the IRS, and are basically commonplace, why don’t you example some stories of times the IRS has told taxpayers being audited “Whoops, our computer crashed, and we lost all your data, so we are going to cancel the audit”?

@retire05, #86:

That is the most mind-numbingly stupid thing you have ever said, Greggie. The IRS doesn’t work for the American people, it works as nothing more than an agency to generate revenue for the Federal Government to continue with its redistributive policies.

That’s one of the bullshit tenets of your bullshit, anti-American, anti-government political cults. Without a revenue-collecting agency, the federal government would be unable to operate. Without an operational federal government, there would be no nation.

Nobody likes paying taxes. That doesn’t mean that there’s no necessity to collect them. It’s annoying how some of the people who have the most to be thankful for in terms of their opportunities, success, and material wealth whine the loudest when they’re required to pay tax rates that are some of the lowest for wealthy people in generations.

Actually, Greg, the US voters took one look at ObamaCare putting the IRS in charge of enforcement and DID vote out plenty of those Dems.
Through the IRS your doctor may now access all your purchases from clothing size to fast food and dessert choices.
Lovely little crossover that was never there before because of ”doctor-patient confidentiality.”

@Greg:

That’s one of the bullshit tenets of your bullshit, anti-American, anti-government political cults. Without a revenue-collecting agency, the federal government would be unable to operate. Without an operational federal government, there would be no nation.

Since you spend so much time memorizing the Obama talking points, it is no surprise that you don’t know jack crap about American history. So, in order to educate you, let’s look at the history of income tax, shall we?

In 1862, Congress passed, and Lincoln signed, a bill allowing for the federal taxing of income. It was limited to no more than 5%, and was meant to be temporary being used to fund his war. By 1872, the income tax was no longer, and in 1894, the SCOTUS ruled federal income taxes unconstitutional. But then along came Woodrow Wilson, the most evil man to ever occupy the Oval Office (until now) and he and Congress created the Internal Revenue Service with the 16th Amendment.

So tell me, Greggie, how did the federal government fund itself before 1913? How did it manage to build the
White House, the Congressional buildings, the U.S. Supreme Court? Where did it get the money to do all those things? How did the federal government generate revenue for almost 130 years?

But then, it really is funny that you, a Socialist, calls someone anti-American and anti-government. You, who would be more than happy to see Obama create a true Socialist utopia (because yes, I think you think that is really possible under Obama) out of America. Yet, you know little about the founding, and the purpose, of this thing the Founders called These United States of America.

I am more than happy to fund those things required by our Constitution, you know, like the military that you Socialists want to destroy? But I am not happy to pay income taxes to fund the laziness of others, or Congress’ pet projects or Obama’s wet dreams like Solyndra. I am not happy to fund Obama’s wife’s wasteful trips where she drags along her whole famn damily. I am not happy to pay for the many parties thrown by the Obamas just so they can get some left wing creep like Elton John to perform for them. They can cancel the White House Easter Egg Hunt as far as I am concerned. I don’t think that I should be required to pony up just so Obama can use AF1 to travel to Martha’s Vineyard. If he doesn’t want to be president, and do his damn job, he should resign.

Anti-government, Greggie? No, LIMITED GOVERNMENT, as outlined in our Constitution, you pathetic little creep.

@retire05, #89:

So tell me, Greggie, how did the federal government fund itself before 1913?

The nation and the world have changed enormously over the course 101 years. How the government was funded before 1913 wouldn’t work in the complex world of 2014. The social structure and institutions of the agricultural society of 2.5 million people in 1776 would simply not work for the 317 million that live in America today. This is so obvious no one should need to point it out.

Maybe you should consider becoming Amish. You could avoid various federal taxes, and party like it’s 1913. Of course, you would first have to work on your manners a bit.

@Greg:

If the IRS is such a necessary pillar of the US government, then how did our country possibly survive before the IRS came into existence in the early 1900s?

The left weaponized the IRS and is now playing the corrupt ” you can’t prove we did anything criminal” while making lame excuses about hard drive crashes and exercising the 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination….then smirking because they believe we are too stupid to see the obvious cover-up.

And it is completely laughable to claim the IRS serves people. Try arguing with the IRS about how much tax you believe you owe versus what they claim….and after you pay thousands in bogus penalty and interest fees, plus accounting fees in fighting the IRS error for over a year. Then when you finally get the three different IRS offices that have been harassing you for a year to admit they were wrong and the IRS overcharged you by over $3500, see how much interest and penalty the IRS pays while you wait 7 months (and counting) for the IRS to actually refund the money they owe you.

Obama has clearly demonstrated the urgent need to scrap the marxist based progressive income tax and convert to either a flat tax of 15% for everyone, or convert from income to a straight national sales tax. Then there would be no need to file annually and no way for a leviathan collectivist government to harass political opponents through taxation. The US did just fine without politicians robbing us all blind through the current income tax system for over 130 years before that bastard Wilson forced a marxist based tax scam on us.

@Pete: don’t worry gregory the 6th loves the irs ,i’ll bet he sent a little extra every year ,you know for the cause,fair share and all, right greggie,i mean gregory th the 17 th

@Greg:

Baloney. Basic economics have not changed. If you spend more than you make, you go bankrupt. If you overtax the population, particularly the portion which drives a nation’s economic engine, you slow and eventually stall the system. Shifting over 67% of the tax burden onto smaller and smaller segments of the financially successful to buy the votes of the lower class mob only hastens the time of economic collapse, just as Marx wrote in his manifesto.

Human nature has not changed. Early collectivist experiments in colonial America almost led to the death of the colony as people shrugged off productive labor without being able to keep a reasonable portion of the fruits of their hard work. When one sees people around them who loaf and do not work getting the same financial payment as those who work, it doesn’t take long for the industrious to decrease their work output. Why expend productive effort to get ahead in life if some puffed up bureaucrat is going to take more and more of what you produce/earn to buy off those who choose more leisurely lifestyles? Why go through the grind of medical school, or starting a business, or any other demanding technical position if you will receive the same compensation as someone who chooses to exert no more effort than flipping burgers or mopping floors, all because of a criminally punishing income tax system that rewards laziness while punishing industriousness – deceitfully portraying such a system as “fair”.

Leftist economic policy is based, ultimately, in envy and self-aggrandizement. If all the rich leftists really believed their self-righteous arglebargle about “caring for the poor” they would give all their money away to the poor, rather than legitimizing theft via coercive government taxation. Listening to Hillary complain about being broke when she left the White House, and now charging $245,000 to give a talk for less than 2 hours at a public university is a hallmark of leftist hypocrisy.

@Greg greggie ,loved you on the brady bunch,well not really,but your politics really do suck,not in a this one kind of way,so tell him to calm down,please don ‘t whisper wingnut in his ear his hind leg gets all crazy

@Pete, #93:

If you overtax the population, particularly the portion which drives a nation’s economic engine, you slow and eventually stall the system. Shifting over 67% of the tax burden onto smaller and smaller segments of the financially successful to buy the votes of the lower class mob only hastens the time of economic collapse, just as Marx wrote in his manifesto.

The problem with that assertion is that federal tax rates are actually at historical lows, as can be readily seen on a number of tables compiled by the Tax Policy Center.

The table at the top of this page shows federal Household tax rates for every year from 1979 through 2010 for each income segment of the tax-paying population, from the lowest to the highest. NONE in 2010 were subject to rates as high as were required in 1979. This is also true for the top 1 percent, as the table shows.

Drop down to the next table, which shows Average Individual Income Tax Rates. Again, individuals at ALL income levels were subject to significantly lower rates in 2010 than in 1979.

Drop down the page to Corporate Rates. The same thing, again. Corporations at every income level were subject to significantly lower rates in 2010 than in 1979.

That persons and corporations are suddenly subject to the crushing burden of escalating taxes is simply not true. It’s a myth, repeated so often that people have come to believe it. The figures show that the federal tax burden has significantly lessened.

It is true that the higher income segment of society is paying a higher percentage of total taxes collected. Why? Because there are far more of them than there were in the past, and because they’re often far wealthier than they were in the past. A higher percentage of the nation’s total income and resources have shifted to the upper percentiles. Consequently they’re liable for a larger share of total taxes than before.

@Greg: Your credibility is still ZERO Greg, first prove you accusations regarding Bush, Romney, and 0-blama saying you can keep you health insurance and/or Doctor “period”. Otherwise you’re a fraud and a liar!! Still waiting Greg, should be easy you since you where so sure of these comments.

@Pete: My son started an llc and a business. He did well for his first year. last year, someone else used his LLC in NY and my son was charged by the IRS as a tax evader. Luckily, he had H &R Block do his taxes. They provided the IRS with the documents within their time line and the documents were accepted and the issue closed. Then 2 weeks ago, an IRS officer arrived at my son’s door to arrest him for evading taxes. He was arrogant and threatened my son. My son showed him the letter from the IRS approving my son’s documents. The IRS agent finally looked in the file he had and said, “Oh, here it is!” and left with out an apology or any thing! These people are necessary public servants?

Re: #95 Nice try.
Using 1979 for tax rate comparisons is what an Obama flying monkey would do.
You must think your audience were all born before 1970, or all zero information voters.
For all others, no explanation is necessary.
For progressive/socialists/communist, no explanation is possible.
How’s the White House basement these days?

@Common Sense, #96:

Your credibility is still ZERO Greg

My credibility has absolutely nothing to do with the plain, simple FACT that federal tax rates are now significantly lower than they were in 1979 for households, for individuals, and for corporations of every income level.

It follows from that plain and simple FACT that the constantly repeated republican line that our economy is being destroyed by escalating federal taxes is total bullshit.

You might want to give some thought to who benefits from the promotion of such a lie. It certainly isn’t either one of us.

@Greg: Nice try to Bull Shit me Greg but I’m still waiting for your proof!!