Exploding IRS scandal.

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bshole

Diamond Member
Mar 12, 2013
8,315
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Schmide.

He probably meant we could use the FBI/CIA/etc... to do the money collection. I'm sure a little waterboarding would get the shirkers right in line.
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,685
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Actually Libby was Cheney's chief of staff, not Bush's, and he was never charged with leaking that least kept of secrets, Plame's name, so it's hardly analogous. Libby was charged with and convicted of perjury for claiming not to remember a conversation with a journalist who said she gave him Plame's name and he supposedly replied "That's what I've heard too." The jury decided he was lying and did remember it; being one of those crimes for which no proof is necessary, that was sufficient to convict.

If however Obama's chief of staff is implicated, I will indeed assume Obama is behind it. I highly doubt that will be the case though; the benefit-to-risk ratio just doesn't seem reasonable for a first-term President who is reasonably popular (especially in spring 2010 when this started) and wants a second term - but doesn't want to spend it defending himself in an impeachment trial.

Spin it! Only a propagandist or a fool would make that attempt at plausible obfuscation.

Libby was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying to the FBI. In doing so, he sealed off the investigation. He knew all along he'd never spend a day behind bars for taking the fall. He never was a G Gordon Liddy tough guy. W/O the commutation of sentence, he'd have rolled like a marble.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plame_affair#I._Lewis_.22Scooter.22_Libby
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,685
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Schmide.

He probably meant we could use the FBI/CIA/etc... to do the money collection. I'm sure a little waterboarding would get the shirkers right in line.

He meant his mind is just a repeater for right wing bullshit. Garbage in, same garbage goes right back out, rebroadcasted.
 
Apr 27, 2012
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Schmide.

He probably meant we could use the FBI/CIA/etc... to do the money collection. I'm sure a little waterboarding would get the shirkers right in line.

Hey moron keep spouting BS. You called for the overthrow of the rich and wanted to kick them out. You have zero credibility.

He meant his mind is just a repeater for right wing bullshit. Garbage in, same garbage goes right back out, rebroadcasted.

Look it's the master of the left wing bullshit. You and bshole and schmide can go enjoy your circle jerk somewhere else.
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,685
136
Hey moron keep spouting BS. You called for the overthrow of the rich and wanted to kick them out. You have zero credibility.



Look it's the master of the left wing bullshit. You and bshole and schmide can go enjoy your circle jerk somewhere else.

Hee-hee. You called for the abolishment of the IRS, and were called for repeating that moronic tome of the far right.

Perhaps you'd care to extoll the idiotic virtue of whatever else we should do to collect revenue?
 
Apr 27, 2012
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Hee-hee. You called for the abolishment of the IRS, and were called for repeating that moronic tome of the far right.

Perhaps you'd care to extoll the idiotic virtue of whatever else we should do to collect revenue?

It's moronic to obey the Constitution? I knew you had some mental problems but I didn't know it was this bad but then again you are a moronic leftist who is an obama worshiper.

It's people like you who are destroying the country and you should be ashamed of yourself. You are a reprehensible human being.
 

monovillage

Diamond Member
Jul 3, 2008
8,444
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"The IRS's Best Friend in Congress
Rep. Elijah Cummings says the House investigation is a 'witch hunt.' Yet revealing evidence keeps coming."

Given the media coverage that the tea party was receiving, Mr. Shafer deemed the application a "high profile" matter and alerted his managers to its existence. Shortly thereafter, according to his testimony, lawyers in the IRS's Washington, D.C., office said, "We want to look at the case." On the evidence of the Washington office's interest in that initial case, Mr. Shafer said IRS agents in Cincinnati then held the applications of tea-party groups until they were given "further direction" from D.C.

Case closed, according to Mr. Cummings, who wrote in a letter to Mr. Issa: "These statements by the screening group manager appear to directly contradict your allegations of political motivation."

If Mr. Shafer or Mr. Cummings could read the minds of IRS officials in Washington, that might be true. In reality, Mr. Shafer was unable to say why officials in Washington were so interested in the tea-party cases or whether the officials' interest was politically motivated.

"Did you have an understanding at the time about what the reason was for sending the cases [to Washington] for review?" investigators asked him. "No," he responded. They pressed further. "Do you have personal knowledge of the motivations of Washington and how they worked the tea party cases?" "I do not," Mr. Shafer said.

The testimony offered by other Cincinnati IRS employees—which I have reviewed in full, un-redacted form—contradicts Mr. Cummings's claims and those of Obama administration officials, such as White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, who has pointed the finger at "line employees" in Cincinnati. The IRS interviews suggest that the agency's officials in Washington closely controlled the review of tea-party cases.

Consider Gary Muthert, the Cincinnati IRS screener who told investigators that he began singling out tea-party applications at the request of Mr. Shafer, who told him "Washington, D.C., wanted some cases."

And there is Elizabeth Hofacre, the Cincinnati IRS agent who for several months in 2010 was charged with handling all tea-party applications. She told the committee that she understood the "lookout list" used to flag the applications of tea-party groups was also intended to flag those of Republican and conservative groups. When the applications of liberal groups came in, she sent them along for general processing.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324577904578557274272099196.html
 
Apr 27, 2012
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Until you start going completely by the Constitution and not just the parts you "like" (as evidenced by your posts & threads), you have NO place to question anyone else. ;)

Yes I do. It's obama supporters like you who refuse to obey the Constitution. I support the Constitution 100%.

We had a guy that was going with the Constitution but too many idiots here had their heads shoved up obamas ass.
 

werepossum

Elite Member
Jul 10, 2006
29,873
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Spin it! Only a propagandist or a fool would make that attempt at plausible obfuscation.

Libby was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying to the FBI. In doing so, he sealed off the investigation. He knew all along he'd never spend a day behind bars for taking the fall. He never was a G Gordon Liddy tough guy. W/O the commutation of sentence, he'd have rolled like a marble.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plame_affair#I._Lewis_.22Scooter.22_Libby
What investigation could Libby possibly seal off? Fitzgerald knew within a couple of weeks that the leak came from Richard Armitage, and within a couple more weeks that Armitage's information came directly from Wilson himself. From your own link:
On February 12, 2007, Woodward testified in "Scooter" Libby's trial as a defense witness. While on the witness stand, an audiotape was played for the jury that contained the interview between Armitage and Woodward in which Plame was discussed. The following exchange is heard on the tape:
WOODWARD But it was Joe Wilson who was sent by the agency. I mean that's just —
ARMITAGE His wife works in the agency.
WOODWARD Why doesn't that come out? Why does —
ARMITAGE Everyone knows it.
WOODWARD — that have to be a big secret? Everyone knows.
ARMITAGE Yeah. And I know Joe Wilson's been calling everybody. He's pissed off because he was designated as a low-level guy, went out to look at it. So, he's all pissed off.
WOODWARD But why would they send him?
ARMITAGE Because his wife's a [expletive] analyst at the agency.
WOODWARD It's still weird.
ARMITAGE It — It's perfect. This is what she does she is a WMD analyst out there.
WOODWARD Oh she is.
ARMITAGE Yeah.
WOODWARD Oh, I see.
ARMITAGE Yeah. See?
WOODWARD Oh, she's the chief WMD?
ARMITAGE No she isn't the chief, no.
WOODWARD But high enough up that she can say, "Oh yeah, hubby will go."
ARMITAGE Yeah, he knows Africa.
WOODWARD Was she out there with him?
ARMITAGE No.
WOODWARD When he was ambassador?
ARMITAGE Not to my knowledge. I don't know. I don't know if she was out there or not. But his wife is in the agency and is a WMD analyst. How about that [expletive].

Gotta give you, Plame and Fitzgerald both credit though. Fitzgerald managed to preserve his future judicial viability by producing a conviction among the Bush administration, Plame managed to snag her fifteen minutes of fame and help John Kerry, and you've managed to distract (albeit briefly) from the present IRS scandal.
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
87,631
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What investigation could Libby possibly seal off? Fitzgerald knew within a couple of weeks that the leak came from Richard Armitage, and within a couple more weeks that Armitage's information came directly from Wilson himself. From your own link:

Gotta give you, Plame and Fitzgerald both credit though. Fitzgerald managed to preserve his future judicial viability by producing a conviction among the Bush administration, Plame managed to snag her fifteen minutes of fame and help John Kerry, and you've managed to distract (albeit briefly) from the present IRS scandal.

So wait, now Fitzgerald was just out to get the Bush administration? Now he's part of the conspiracy too?

I was reading The Paranoid Style in American Politics the other day and it made me think of you. Does this passage sound familiar?

The enemy is clearly delineated: he is a perfect model of malice, a kind of amoral superman — sinister, ubiquitous, powerful, cruel, sensual, luxury-loving. Unlike the rest of us, the enemy is not caught in the toils of the vast mechanism of history, himself a victim of his past, his desires, his limitations. He wills, indeed, he manufactures, the mechanism of history, or tries to deflect the normal course of history in an evil way. He makes crises, starts runs on banks, causes depressions, manufactures disasters, and then enjoys and profits from the misery he has produced. The paranoid’s interpretation of history is distinctly personal: decisive events are not taken as part of the stream of history, but as the consequences of someone’s will. Very often, the enemy is held to possess some especially effective source of power: he controls the press; he has unlimited funds; he has a new secret for influencing the mind; he has a special technique for seduction.

Does that sound at all familiar to you?
 

xBiffx

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2011
8,232
2
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Yeah we'll just do it on charity and good faith donations.

You're daft!

You should probably look up how things worked before the 16th amendment. No reason we couldn't go back to that.

Also, going to a flat tax without all the paperwork would pretty much eliminate the need for the IRS altogether. Enforcement of collection could be done by other law enforcement like bshole said.

I'm not gonna defend that guy but you are looking rather daft yourself.
 
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Schmide

Diamond Member
Mar 7, 2002
5,712
978
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xBiffx you guys seem to think that this golden time before now was so functional.

It's a dream. It was horrid and on such a smaller scale than current times. There was barely law, an underclass, and slavery.
 

xBiffx

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2011
8,232
2
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xBiffx you guys seem to think that this golden time before now was so functional.

It's a dream. It was horrid and on such a smaller scale than current times. There was barely law, an underclass, and slavery.

Well someone drank all the kool-aid their history teacher gave them, didn't they.

It wasn't the dark ages. It wasn't anarchy.

Oh, the 16th Amendment and the IRS were 20th century creations btw.
 

Schmide

Diamond Member
Mar 7, 2002
5,712
978
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Dude, despite some veiled insults assuming I know nothing of the 16th amendment.

Please make more of a case for going back to the 19th century politics. I thought the republicans were bad enough with their 1950s glory days. Go all in for 1800s please.
 

xBiffx

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2011
8,232
2
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Dude, despite some veiled insults assuming I know nothing of the 16th amendment.

I haven't thrown any insults other than responding in kind when you called someone else daft.

Nice straw man. I never said anything about going all in and changing everything back. I am merely talking about one amendment and one agency. You are the one who is acting like I'm asking to change the world here.
 

Schmide

Diamond Member
Mar 7, 2002
5,712
978
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I stand by my Daft statement. Getting rid of the IRS is DAFT. Going back to Duty taxes is DAFT. Defending Incorruptible is DAFT.
 

werepossum

Elite Member
Jul 10, 2006
29,873
463
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So wait, now Fitzgerald was just out to get the Bush administration? Now he's part of the conspiracy too?

I was reading The Paranoid Style in American Politics the other day and it made me think of you. Does this passage sound familiar?

Does that sound at all familiar to you?
I think Fitzgerald was out to get someone. If one is appointed special prosecutor and makes no prosecutions, one is damaged goods to at least one party. Fitzgerald determined early on that Plame did not qualify for covert operative protection and that no laws were broken in revealing her name. He had every link in the chain, from Wilson to several reporters to Armitage to several other reporters. Yet he continued to investigate until he could bring charges against somebody, anybody. Ken Starr did the exact same thing - if you can't find anyone to charge, you'd damned well better keep looking. You do the math.

As far as the quoted paragraph, it sounds very familiar; I see much the same thing from you proggies virtually every day. You and Charles specifically said that Republicans are evil. Then you went way the hell beyond that, saying that anyone who disagrees that Republicans are evil is partisan (partisan now meaning a refusal to adhere to the leftist party line in all things) or dishonest, while recognizing that Republicans are evil is simply rational, nonpartisan behavior. Then the two of you agreed that the purpose of Dictation Club was to eliminate posts that do not agree that Republicans are evil while Democrats are simply too nice and too naive.

Let's break this paragraph down:
"The enemy is clearly delineated: he is a perfect model of malice, a kind of amoral superman — sinister, ubiquitous, powerful, cruel, sensual, luxury-loving."
Me: The left is morally correct on some issue and wrong on others.
Left: Republicans are evil; they are simply too good at getting their message across. Democrats are simply too nice and too naive.

"Unlike the rest of us, the enemy is not caught in the toils of the vast mechanism of history, himself a victim of his past, his desires, his limitations. He wills, indeed, he manufactures, the mechanism of history, or tries to deflect the normal course of history in an evil way. He makes crises, starts runs on banks, causes depressions, manufactures disasters, and then enjoys and profits from the misery he has produced."
Me: Our economic collapse was caused by many factors, some existing primarily because of the left and some existing primarily because of the right. It was a bipartisan problem.
Left: Our economic collapse was caused by George W Bush and his ultra-rich cronies to steal from the poor. They wanted the collapse. And Iraq was invaded so that Halliburton could profiteer.

"The paranoid’s interpretation of history is distinctly personal: decisive events are not taken as part of the stream of history, but as the consequences of someone’s will."
Hard to address this one as the 'stream of history' is caused by everyone’s will, no? History isn't just a bunch of stuff that happened, it's the sum total of all our past decisions.

"Very often, the enemy is held to possess some especially effective source of power: he controls the press; he has unlimited funds; he has a new secret for influencing the mind; he has a special technique for seduction."
Me: The mainstream news media is overwhelmingly liberal, Fox News being the single most prominent counter example.
Left: The mainstream news media is overwhelmingly corporatist, except for Fox News which is evil and must be eliminated so that all news media sings the same sweet tone. And anyway, even though the rest of them self-identify as liberal, they can be unbiased 'cause they're professionals. And anyway, when they are caught colluding or being overtly biased, they are wearing their commentator hats.

And the Republicans are just too good at getting their lying message out and having it believed.

And these evil conservative billionaires are buying our elections and influencing our government for their own benefit, deliberately destroying our nation and enslaving its people.