Gyroscopic Investing

TennPaGa wrote:

Benko wrote: Noonan is far from infallible, but this is worth reading:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 31506.html

Jon Stewart on Noonan's lack of infallibility:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-m ... oney-tunes

Peggy Noonan is probably the classiest political hack I have ever seen.

I think that the Obama administration is rightly facing a lot of trouble over the IRS scrutiny thing, and it should.

The thing I am struggling with is why such smart political people would do something so staggeringly stupid (and which did so very little to actually hamper the operations of people they disagreed with).

It would be like if a skilled and experienced bank robber entered a bank, pulled his gun, announced his intentions and then only took a few rolls of nickels.

Welcome to Chicago....

TennPaGa wrote: Jon Stewart on Noonan's lack of infallibility:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-m ... oney-tunes

The gov't blocks my access (at work) to that site, but while Stewart is very funny he ain't exactly neutral.  I will give him credit, unlike many on the left (e.g. see CNBC) he actually calls Obama and company at least sometimes when they cross the line. 

MediumTex wrote: The thing I am struggling with is why such smart political people would do something so staggeringly stupid

because it is the way they do things.  They could not help themselves--read the fable the scorpion and the Frog.  Or as Annie said it:

annieB wrote: Welcome to Chicago....

If only the Tea Party were classified a religion, it could pay no taxes and be as political as it wants.

edsanville wrote: If only the Tea Party were classified a religion, it could pay no taxes and be as political as it wants.

If L. Ron Hubbard was still around they could hire him as a consultant.

Hubbard and his organization were (and are) probably the most skilled gamers of the U.S. tax exempt entity system.

"The plot lines of Three's Company  were generally pretty silly, but that didn't keep it from being a highly rated show."

Let's face it. Lois Lerner is NOT Suzanne Somers!

TennPaGa wrote:

Reub wrote: "The plot lines of Three's Company  were generally pretty silly, but that didn't keep it from being a highly rated show."

Let's face it. Lois Lerner is NOT Suzanne Somers!

In my analogy, Obama is.

Biden is Jack, right?

TennPaGa wrote:

MediumTex wrote:

TennPaGa wrote: In my analogy, Obama is.

Biden is Jack, right?

The clumsy, bumbling, yet likable roommate?

Perfect!

Eric Holder could be Mr. Roper and Janet Napolitano could be Mrs. Roper.

For the sake of legitimacy, however, we might have to change their names to Mr. and Mrs. Pooponyourrights.  We wouldn't want the show to be TOO silly.

TennPaGa wrote:

MediumTex wrote:

TennPaGa wrote: The clumsy, bumbling, yet likable roommate?

Perfect!

Eric Holder could be Mr. Roper and Janet Napolitano could be Mrs. Roper.

For the sake of legitimacy, however, we might have to change their names to Mr. and Mrs. Pooponyourrights.  We wouldn't want the show to be TOO silly.

Outstanding.

I'm going to have to start paying more attention to Holder's public appearances to see if he ever breaks the fourth wall.  From the standpoint of pure spectacle, wouldn't that be awesome!

I just like the idea of Napolitano constantly hounding Holder for sex.

Too much fun...

IRS also targeted liberal groups using buzzwords ‘occupy,’ ‘progressive’ and ‘Israel’

Read more: http://pix11.com/2013/06/24/irs-also-ta ... z2XFvVC9RG

It's an Outrage I say! An Outrage!

jan van mourik wrote: Too much fun...

IRS also targeted liberal groups using buzzwords ‘occupy,’ ‘progressive’ and ‘Israel’

Read more: http://pix11.com/2013/06/24/irs-also-ta ... z2XFvVC9RG

It's an Outrage I say! An Outrage!

How did this only just come out now?  With conservatives losing their collective shit over the last few weeks, one would think this would have come out a long time ago.

Simonjester wrote: i have heard it being questioned already.
liberal groups using ‘occupy,’ ‘progressive’ and ‘Israel’ were flagged just like conservative groups, little or no evidence so far that their claims were slowed down, subjected to additional information requests etc, like the tea party and patriot groups were...

it will be interesting to see if proof that they were subjected to the same scrutiny ever shows up..

This whole story is hilarious. Nobody can admit that the IRS is just a bunch of bullies; no, it has to be that their group has been specifically targeted for special discrimination! Isn't it obvious that the IRS is a politically-directed weapon that's turned on the current domestic enemy du jour? And that this applies to the FBI, NSA, DOJ, ATF, EPA, INS, and so on and so forth?

moda0306 wrote:

jan van mourik wrote: Too much fun...

IRS also targeted liberal groups using buzzwords ‘occupy,’ ‘progressive’ and ‘Israel’

Read more: http://pix11.com/2013/06/24/irs-also-ta ... z2XFvVC9RG

It's an Outrage I say! An Outrage!

How did this only just come out now?  With conservatives losing their collective shit over the last few weeks, one would think this would have come out a long time ago.

Because it's not true.

The Treasury Dept has said that the IRS targeted 292 tea party groups and 6 progressive groups.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/treasury- ... nc.twitter

From the linked article....

Refuting Democratic suggestions that progressive groups were also swept up in the IRS probe of the tax status of Tea Party organizations, the Treasury Department's inspector general has revealed that just six progressive groups were targeted compared to 292 conservative groups.

In a letter to congressional Democrats, the inspector general also said that 100 percent of Tea Party groups seeking special tax status were put under IRS review, while only 30 percent of the progressive groups felt the same pressure.

The Wednesday letter to the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee punched a huge hole in Democratic claims that progressive groups were targeted as much as the Tea Party groups from May 2010-May 2012, the height of the Tea Party movement.

The letter from the Treasury Department Inspector General for Tax Administration revealed that there just weren't many progressive groups who even sought special tax exempt status. A total of 20 sought it, and six were probed. All 292 Tea Party groups, meanwhile, were part of the IRS witchhunt.
Sign Up for the Paul Bedard newsletter!

"At this point, the evidence shows us that conservative groups were not only flagged, but targeted and abused by the IRS," said Sarah Swinehart spokeswoman for the Ways and Means Committee.

"As we gather the facts, we will follow them wherever they lead us. Chairman [Rep. David] Camp encourages all groups, regardless of political affiliation, that feel they may have been targeted to come forward and share their story."

Democrats had noticed that the word "progressives" was on the so-called Be On The Lookout, or BOLO, list. But the Treasury IG suggested that the list wasn't used.

The operative paragraph from the IG letter:

"Based on the information you flagged regarding the existence of a 'Progressives' entry on BOLO lists, TIGTA performed additional research which determined that six tax-exempt applications filed between May 2010 and May 2012 having the words 'progress' or 'progressive' in their names were included in the 298 cases the IRS identified as potential political cases. We also determined that 14 tax-exempt applications filed between May 2010 and May 2012 using the words 'progress' or 'progressive' in their names were not referred for added scrutiny as potential political cases. In total, 30 percent of the organizations we identified with the words 'progress' or "progressive" in their names were processed as potential political cases. In comparison, our audit found that 100 percent of the tax-exempt applications with Tea Party, Patriots, or 9/12 in their names were processed as potential political cases during the timeframe of our audit."