Tag Archive: John Boehner


The Administration made a big show of the head of the IRS resignation, but guess what ? IRS Official in Charge During Tea Party Targeting Now Runs Health Care Office

Filed under: bureaucracy, Corruption, Fraud, Government, Government Overreach, Hypocrisy, Indoctrination, Lack Of Transparency, Loot and Pillage, Politics, Politics, Legislation and Economy News, Psy - Ops, Secrecy, Special Interests, Taxation, Unethical — Leave a comment
May 16, 2013

By
@jparkABC


@stevenportnoy

May 16, 2013 6:15pm
gty internal revenue service building ll 130412 wblog IRS Official in Charge During Tea Party Targeting Now Runs Health Care Office

(Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The Internal Revenue Service official in charge of the tax-exempt organizations at the time when the unit targeted tea party groups now runs the IRS office responsible for the health care legislation.

Sarah Hall Ingram served as commissioner of the office responsible for tax-exempt organizations between 2009 and 2012. But Ingram has since left that part of the IRS and is now the director of the IRS’ Affordable Care Act office, the IRS confirmed to ABC News today.

Her successor, Joseph Grant, is taking the fall for misdeeds at the scandal-plagued unit between 2010 and 2012. During at least part of that time, Grant served as deputy commissioner of the tax-exempt unit.

Grant announced today that he would retire June 3, despite being appointed as commissioner of the tax-exempt office May 8, a week ago.

As the House voted to fully repeal the Affordable Care Act Thursday evening, House Speaker John Boehner expressed “serious concerns” that the IRS is empowered as the law’s chief enforcer.

“Fully repealing ObamaCare will help us build a stronger, healthier economy, and will clear the way for patient-centered reforms that lower health care costs and protect jobs,” Boehner, R-Ohio, said.

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Obama : ” Treasury Secretary Jack Lew had sought and accepted Miller’s resignation”.

Filed under: Conspiracy Theories, Corruption, Economic News, Extreme Political Correctness, Fraud, Fundamental Rights, Government Overreach, Harassment, Hypocrisy, Politics, Legislation and Economy News, Power Struggle, Retaliation, Rule Of Law, Special Interests, Taxation, Unethical — Leave a comment
May 15, 2013

Obama calls IRS flap ‘inexcusable,’ announces resignation of acting IRS chief

 

photo ObamacallsIRSflapinexcusableannouncesresignationofactingIRSchief_zps7151de08.jpg

NBC’s Chuck Todd examines the White House’s attempt to take control of the IRS scandal, saying if the public thinks the government has lost control on the IRS front, then the Obama administration will have more difficulty in implementing new policies.

By Michael O’Brien, NBC News

President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he was “angry” at IRS officials who inappropriately targeted conservative groups for scrutiny, announcing that his administration had sought and accepted Steven Miller’s resignation as interim commissioner of the IRS.

“I’ve reviewed the Treasury Department watchdog’s report, and the misconduct that it uncovered was inexcusable,” Obama said in a statement at the White House. “It’s inexcusable, and Americans are right to be angry about it, and I’m angry about it.”

The president said that he expected the IRS to act with even higher levels of integrity than other government agencies and that, to that end, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew had sought and accepted Miller’s resignation — something many Republicans had demanded.

A great deal of what IRS has said regarding the targeting scandal was proven to be incomplete or flat out wrong prompting genuine outrage among both Democrats and Republicans. House Speaker John Boehner is now asking who is going to go to jail over this as the IRS continues to blame targeting of conservatives on a few rogue employees. Now Attorney General Holder has promised an investigation to see if IRS employees broke the law. NBC’s Lisa Myers reports.

Obama also pledged to work with Congress in its emerging investigation into the controversy, pledging his administration would work “hand in hand with Congress” to further its oversight. But the president also cautioned lawmakers to conduct their probe “in a way that doesn’t smack of politics or partisan agendas.”

“If the President is as concerned about this issue as he claims, he’ll work openly and transparently with Congress to get to the bottom of the scandal — no stonewalling, no half-answers, no withholding of witnesses,” the top Republican senator, Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell, said in a statement.

 

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As meeting yields no breakthrough, Obama blames ‘dumb’ cuts on GOP, signs order

Filed under: Budget Cuts, bureaucracy, Economic News, Fiscal Irresponsibility, Fiscal irresponsibility, Fraud, Government, Government Overreach, Greed, Hypocrisy, Lack Of Transparency, Loot and Pillage, Politics, Legislation and Economy News, Power Struggle, Special Interests — Leave a comment
March 1, 2013

President Obama said Friday that even though the $85 billion in federal spending cuts are “going to hurt,” the country will get through it. NBC’s Chuck Todd reports.

By Carrie Dann, Political Reporter, NBC News
Obama: Sequester ‘not going to be an apocalypse’
March
1

Lamenting the idea that only a “Jedi mind meld” could prod the GOP into compromise, President Barack Obama said Friday that the “dumb” automatic across-the-board cuts taking effect Friday are the fault of Republican resistance to a reasonable deal to avert the sequestration’s budget reductions.

“I know that this has been some of the conventional wisdom that’s been floating around Washington,” Obama told reporters after meeting with congressional leaders. “Even though most people agree that I’m being reasonable, that most people agree that I am presenting a fair deal —  the fact that [Republicans] don’t take it means that I should somehow do a Jedi mind meld with these folks and convince them to do what’s right,” he said.

Obama spoke hours before signing an order officially enacting the cuts, which take effect at midnight Friday.

Asked why leaders did not negotiate more vigorously to get a deal before sequestration deadline day, Obama said that his ability to negotiate is limited by Congress’s unwillingness.

“I’m not a dictator,” he said. “I’m the president. So ultimately if Mitch McConnell or John Boehner say ‘I need to go to catch a plane,’ I can’t have Secret Service block the doorway, right?”

Obama acknowledged that the sequester’s effects will be painful but predicted that the cuts will be manageable by a resilient American people.

 

Read Full Article  and  Watch Video Here

 

As Obama signs the order, sequester is enacted

By Carrie Dann, Staff Writer, NBC News

It’s official.

Late Friday evening, President Barack Obama signed an order – as required by the “sequester” legislation – to enact broad cuts to federal spending, according to a White House release.

Those cuts will now officially go into effect at midnight Friday.

The low-key statement, unaccompanied even by a White House-authorized photo of the signing, comes after weeks of finger-pointing with little urgency from Democrats or Republicans to avert the cuts.

In the week leading up to Friday’s deadline, Obama administration had warned of the consequences of the sequester, with Cabinet officials taking to the airwaves and the president hitting the road to highlight the measure’s effect on jobs, education, and even delays for air travelers.

On Friday, Obama acknowledged that while the cuts will be “painful,” they won’t be completely catastrophic.

“We will get through this,” he said. “This is not going to be an apocalypse, I think, as some people have said. It’s just dumb. And it’s going to hurt.”

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House Republicans Unveil Debt Ceiling Deal: ‘No Budget, No Pay’

Filed under: American National Debt, Budget Cuts, bureaucracy, Corruption, Corruption, Economic News, Fiscal Irresponsibility, Fiscal irresponsibility, Government, Greed, Politics, Politics, Legislation and Economy News, Special Interests, Taxation, Unethical — Leave a comment
January 21, 2013

Fiscal Cliff BoehnerSpeaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, left, joined by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., returns to his office after speaking to reporters on the fiscal cliff negotiations, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

(CNSNews.com) – House Republicans have released their plan to avert a debt ceiling breach, demanding that Senate Democrats pass a budget in exchange for a three-month debt ceiling increase.

“Before there is any long-term debt limit increase, a budget should be passed that cuts spending. The Democratic-controlled Senate has failed to pass a budget for four years. That is a shameful run that needs to end, this year,” House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement Friday.

“We are going to pursue strategies that will obligate the Senate to finally join the House in confronting the government’s spending problem. The principle is simple: no budget, no pay.”

Boehner and House Republicans will introduce a bill next week raising the debt ceiling for approximately three months. In exchange for a long-term increase, the Senate must pass a budget. If the Senate does not pass a budget during that time period, the House will block members of both houses from receiving a salary.

“The first step to fixing this problem is to pass a budget that reduces spending. The House has done so, and will again. The Democratic Senate has not passed a budget in almost four years, which is unfair to hardworking taxpayers who expect more from their representatives. That ends this year,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said in a statement.

“Next week, we will authorize a three month temporary debt limit increase to give the Senate and House time to pass a budget. Furthermore, if the Senate or House fails to pass a budget in that time, Members of Congress will not be paid by the American people for failing to do their job. No budget, no pay.”

Read Full Article Here

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Ryan: House GOP discussing short-term hike to debt ceiling

Filed under: American National Debt, bureaucracy, Economic News, Fiscal Irresponsibility, Fiscal irresponsibility, Government, Greed, Politics, Politics, Legislation and Economy News, Rising Costs, Special Interests — 5 Comments
January 17, 2013

By Russell Berman

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — House Republicans are discussing a short-term debt ceiling increase to buy time for broader deficit reduction negotiations with Democrats, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) told reporters Thursday.

“We’re discussing the possible virtue of a short-term debt limit extension so that we have a better chance of getting the Senate and the White House involved in discussions in March,” Ryan told reporters gathered at the pricey Kingsmill resort in Williamsburg, where the House GOP is holding its annual retreat.

“All of those things are the kinds of things we’re discussing,” said Ryan, the party’s budget chief and 2012 vice presidential candidate.A small hike in the $16.4 trillion debt ceiling would give the government more time to make payments on its responsibilities as lawmakers and the White House haggle over federal spending. A GOP leadership aide said there was no consensus on the size of a debt limit hike, and that it would have to be coupled with entitlement reforms or spending cuts.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has told Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) that the nation hit its borrowing limit at the end of 2012 and will run out of ways to avoid a first-ever default sometime between mid-February and early March. $85 billion in across-the-board 2013 cuts to defense and domestic spending are set to begin taking effect in March, and the government will run out of funding a month later.

Republican leaders are briefing rank-and-file members on the “consequences” of the three major deadlines coming on the debt ceiling, the automatic spending cuts of sequestration and the expiration of government funding at the end of March.

Ryan said the party was looking to prepare members for the coming fiscal debates, both to achieve consensus on a path forward and to set reasonable expectations for a party clinging to a sliver of power in Washington.

“Our goal is to make sure our members understand all the deadlines that our coming, all the consequences of those deadlines that are coming, in order so that we can make a better-informed decision about how to move, how to proceed,” Ryan said. “What we’ve been doing is facilitating a conservation about the best way to achieve progress on controlling our deficits and our debt, controlling spending, with the goal of doing our job to help prevent a debt crisis, and getting this economy going to create jobs.”

“Out of that we hope to achieve consensus on a plan to proceed so that we can make progress on controlling spending and deficits and debt,” he added.

 

Read Full Article Here

 

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John Boehner Says Obama Made A ‘Miscalculation’ That Could Haunt Him In The Next Big Fight

Filed under: American National Debt, bureaucracy, Economic News, Fiscal Irresponsibility, Fiscal irresponsibility, Government, Legislation, Politics, Politics, Legislation and Economy News, Special Interests, Taxation — Leave a comment
January 7, 2013

Brett LoGiurato

Business Insider

 

john boehner

AP

The most telling part from Stephen Moore’s interview with John Boehner in The Wall Street Journal today is that the House Speaker views the coming spending cuts in the sequester — not the debt ceiling — as Republicans’ main point of leverage in coming budget talks with President Barack Obama.

The Republicans’ stronger card, Mr. Boehner believes, will be the automatic spending sequester trigger that trims all discretionary programs—defense and domestic. It now appears that the president made a severe political miscalculation when he came up with the sequester idea in 2011.

As Mr. Boehner tells the story: Mr. Obama was sure Republicans would call for ending the sequester— the other “cliff” — because it included deep defense cuts. But Republicans never raised the issue. “It wasn’t until literally last week that the White House brought up replacing the sequester,” Mr. Boehner says. “They said, ‘We can’t have the sequester.’ They were always counting on us to bring this to the table.”

The sequester — part of the Budget Control Act of 2011 — trims the non-war defense budget to $491 billion in 2013, which is down about 9 percent from 2012. Defense programs would see cuts up to 10 percent.

But where Boehner sees his leverage is in the other cuts of the sequester. In 2013 alone, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget projects that payments to Medicare providers will be reduced by 2 percent. Cuts to non-defense spending, such as some elementary and secondary education programs, will be slashed either 8.2 percent or 7.4 percent.

 

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We Do Not Have a Spending Problem : We Do Not Have A Revenue Problem….. Perils of the myopic Right/Left Paradigm

Filed under: American National Debt, Budget Cuts, bureaucracy, Corruption, Economic News, Elitist Privilege, Fiscal Irresponsibility, Fiscal irresponsibility, Government, Greed, Healthcare, History, Hypocrisy, Ineptitude, Legislation, Politics, Politics, Legislation and Economy News, Psy - Ops, Rising Costs, Special Interests, Taxation, Unethical — 1 Comment
January 7, 2013

 

 National Review

That would have been some clarifying campaign speech from the president. From Steve Moore’s interview with John Boehner:

What stunned House Speaker John Boehner more than anything else during his prolonged closed-door budget negotiations with Barack Obama was this revelation: “At one point several weeks ago,” Mr. Boehner says, “the president said to me, ‘We don’t have a spending problem.’ “

I am talking to Mr. Boehner in his office on the second floor of the Capitol, 72 hours after the historic House vote to take America off the so-called fiscal cliff by making permanent the Bush tax cuts on most Americans, but also to raise taxes on high earners. In the interim, Mr. Boehner had been elected to serve his second term as speaker of the House. Throughout our hourlong conversation, as is his custom, he takes long drags on one cigarette after another.

…

The president’s insistence that Washington doesn’t have a spending problem, Mr. Boehner says, is predicated on the belief that massive federal deficits stem from what Mr. Obama called “a health-care problem.” Mr. Boehner says that after he recovered from his astonishment—”They blame all of the fiscal woes on our health-care system”—he replied: “Clearly we have a health-care problem, which is about to get worse with ObamaCare. But, Mr. President, we have a very serious spending problem.” He repeated this message so often, he says, that toward the end of the negotiations, the president became irritated and said: “I’m getting tired of hearing you say that.”

 

Read Full Article Here

 

 

Sorry, Folks, We Don’t Just Have ‘A Spending Problem’

Federal spending and revenue as a percent of GDP

Business Insider, St. Louis Fed

Federal government spending (red) vs. tax revenue (blue)

Yesterday, I pointed out how, in a stubborn attempt to avoid raising taxes on the richest 2% of Americans, the Republicans in Congress have essentially agreed to raise taxes on everyone.The Republicans have done this by refusing to accept President Obama’s attempt at a compromise, which preserves low tax rates for 98% of the country while raising taxes modestly on the top 2%.

Well, you can’t assign blame to the formerly pragmatic and responsible Republican party without getting some flak.

Read Full Article  and  Read The Charts Here

 

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More Than 30,000 Sign WH Petition Calling for Cut in Congressional Salaries

Filed under: Activism, Activism, American National Debt, Economic News, Elitist Privilege, Fiscal Irresponsibility, Fiscal irresponsibility, Fraud, Government, Government Overreach, Hypocrisy, Politics, Legislation and Economy News — Leave a comment
January 7, 2013

New CongressHouse Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, enters the House of Representatives chamber, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013, after surviving a roll call vote in the newly convened 113th Congress. He is escorted by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Va., House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy of Calif., and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Md. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

(CNSNews.com) – The Obama administration’s “We the People” petition page on whitehouse.gov collects signatures on petitions posted, with the idea that those that have 25,000 or more signatures will get an official response.

But the future of the petition proposing to cut the pay of members of Congress to $75,000 a year for three years to cut the national deficit is uncertain, even if it has received 31,579 signatures since it was created on Christmas Day and as of the time this story was posted.

Two days after Christmas, President Barack Obama signed an executive order ending the pay freeze on federal workers, including representatives in the House and senators, effective Jan. 1, 2013 – the same day the U.S. government technically fell over the so-called fiscal cliff because Congress could not reach a legislative solution.

 

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Read and Sign Petition Here

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The Senate early on New Year’s Day voted overwhelmingly in favor of a fiscal cliff deal that extends tax rates on annual household income under $450,000 and postpones automatic spending cuts for two months.

Filed under: Budget Cuts, bureaucracy, Economic News, Elitist Privilege, Government, Politics, Legislation and Economy News, Rising Costs, Special Interests, Taxation — Leave a comment
January 1, 2013
By Alexander Bolton

 

The bill was approved in an 89-8 vote that came after only 10 minutes of formal floor debate and no official score from the Congressional Budget Office. The Joint Committe on Taxation estimated it would reduce federal revenue by $3.93T over the next decade compared to current law.

Five Republicans and three Democrats voted against the bill: Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Tom Carper (D-Dela.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.).

Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) missed the vote.

A ninety-minute meeting of Senate Democrats ending shortly before midnight sealed the deal negotiated between Vice President Biden and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

It would permanently extend the Bush-era income tax rates on individual income up to $400,000 and family income up to $450,000. It permanently sets the estate tax rate at 40 percent, up from 35 percent, and exempts inheritances below $5 million.

It postpones the automatic spending cuts known as the sequester for two months and offsets the $24 billion cost of the delay with a mix of spending cuts and new revenues. It extends unemployment benefits for one year without offsetting their impact on the deficit, preventing 2 million people from losing government assistance.

It also would prevent a hike in congressional pay that authorized by an executive order from President Obama raising federal worker pay.

Biden made a late-night visit to Capitol Hill to convince Democrats to back the agreement but did not need to do much arm-twisting.

“I am feeling very, very good. I think we’ll get a very good vote tonight,’ Biden said, leaving the meeting with Democrats.

Senate approval sends the bill to the House, where Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said the House will review the Senate bill.

The House Rules Committee has already waived the requirement of a three-day review period, setting the stage for a New Year’s Day vote.

“The House will honor its commitment to consider the Senate agreement if it is passed,” Boehner said. “Decisions about whether the House will seek to accept or promptly amend the measure will not be made until House members —and the American people — have been able to review the legislation.”

Yet the bill would appear to be a hard sell with House Republicans, many of whom objected to an earlier bill sought by Boehner that extended tax rates on annual income under $1 million as a tax hike.

The Senate bill also includes few spending cuts, which House Republicans have repeatedly demanded.

“I don’t see any balance yet, that’s the fundamental problem,” Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) told The Hill. “If you don’t cut spending, there’s no way you’re going to pick up Republican votes.”

Heritage Action for American, a conservative advocacy group, urged lawmakers to oppose the deal.

“To be clear, this is a tax increase.  In 2013, the top marginal rate, death tax, and taxes on long-term capital gains and dividends will all be higher than in 2012.  Comparing tax rates to hypothetical rates that have hardly any support is nothing more than misleading Washington spin,” the group declared in a statement.

Liberal groups and labor unions have begun to line up against the deal, as well. They complained the White House and Democrats were giving up too much, particularly after Obama campaigned on a pledge to raise tax rates on households with annual income above $250,000.

 

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Adding Insult To Injury On An Already Financially Hurting Nation. Congress And Federal Workers To Receive Raises.

Filed under: Budget Cuts, Economic News, Elitist Privilege, Financial, Fiscal Irresponsibility, Government, Hypocrisy, Ineptitude, Jobs, Politics, Legislation and Economy News, Rising Costs, Special Interests, Unethical — Leave a comment
December 30, 2012

Congress, federal workers to get raise

By Erik Wasson

Members of Congress will be getting a small pay increase next year.

Under an executive order issued by President Obama on Thursday, members of Congress will join federal workers in seeing their pay rise by 0.5 percent after March 27.

Congressmen and senators make $174,000 a year and will see an extra $900 in their annual pay packages before taxes next year.

 

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will get $224,600 next year, up from $223,500, while Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) will take in $194,400, up from $193,400.

Vice President Biden will also get a raise, and take home $231,900 before taxes next year.

The order is issued as Obama and Congress work to reach a deal on the “fiscal cliff” of tax hikes and spending cuts set to begin in January.

Unless Congress acts within the next few days, more than $500 billion in tax increases and spending cuts will take effect in January, and the fiscal shock would likely cause a new recession.

By law, Congress cannot get a larger increase in salary than the adjustment given to federal workers.

Obama proposed that workers get a 0.5 percent pay increase last year and wanted it to take effect on Jan. 1. In September, the president agreed with Congress to delay the pay increase at least until the expiration of a continuing resolution funding the government at the end of March.

Federal workers have been laboring under a two-year pay freeze ordered by Obama in Dec. 2010 to try to reduce spending. Congress has not seen a pay increase since 2009.

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