RACISM: Obama superdonor says Allen West is in ‘Party of the Apes.’ “Maher’s indirect description of West as an ‘ape’ — a term historically used to denigrate black people as subhuman — would undoubtedly provoke cries of racism if a conservative figure, such as Rush Limbaugh, made such a remark about a Democratic member of the CBC.”
It’s just as racist when Bill Maher does it.
MICHAEL WALSH: Is Eric Holder On The Way Out?
ROLL CALL: GOP Rips IRS for Donor Request:
As evidence mounts that the IRS is more closely scrutinizing politically active nonprofit groups, Republicans on Capitol Hill have lashed out with assaults on the tax agency and fresh demands for an explanation.
The IRS may have stepped over the line this year by asking conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status to hand over the names of their donors, wrote Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah) and 10 other Republican Senators in a letter this week to IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman.
“Unfortunately, the public release of private donor information exposes citizens to possible harassment and intimidation by those who oppose the goals of the charitable organization,” wrote Hatch, ranking member of the Finance Committee. It’s the second letter from Hatch to Shulman on the topic this year.
The letter is the latest in a string of attacks by conservatives on and off Capitol Hill, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), on initiatives that would shed more light on political spending. In a strongly worded speech last week at the American Enterprise Institute, McConnell accused President Barack Obama of creating an “enemies list” and “attempting to change the First Amendment.”
Meanwhile, “money laundering” by donor-directed funds like the Tides Foundation goes on.
WAR AGAINST PHOTOGRAPHY: Reno Newspaper Photographer, 60, Assaulted by Deputies While Covering Fire.
FAST AND FURIOUS UPDATE: The Hill: Issa ‘disappointed,’ says Holder contempt vote will move forward.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: State Loan Agencies May Be Subject to Whistle-Blower Claims, Federal Appeals Court Rules.
In 2009, a former researcher with the U.S. Department of Education filed a lawsuit, charging that several student-loan agencies and companies had defrauded the federal government. But a judge dismissed the charges against four entities, all state-created student-loan authorities which had argued that they were not subject to suit under the federal False Claims Act.
Now, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has ruled that the lower court did not properly determine if the state loan authorities were subject to the federal law. . . .
In the suit, Mr. Oberg contended that many of the nation’s largest student lenders, both for-profit companies and nonprofit corporations, had improperly received $1-billion dollars in excess federal subsidies. The lawsuit has resulted in several settlements with lenders, including one in which the company Nelnet agreed to pay $55-million.
Things are looking more like the housing bubble all the time. Who knew? The full opinion is here.
BLACK EVANGELICAL SHOCKS UPPER WEST SIDE.
THAT’S CHUTZPAH FROM A GUY WHO DOESN’T EVEN DO ADDRESS VERIFICATION ON CREDIT CARD DONATIONS: Obama’s Lawyer Demands Information on Group’s Donors. “The lawyer for President Obama demanded on Tuesday that Crossroads GPS disclose its donors, saying in a complaint to the Federal Election Commission that the group is plainly a ‘political committee’ subject to federal reporting requirements.” Here’s background on those unverified credit card donations.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: There’s a Freedom From Student Loans blog.
PROF. JACOBSON: Elizabeth Warren loses it, lashes out at “right wing extremist” (me). He is unmoved: “Sorry Professor Warren, you created the problem and you own it. No one else.”
ROMNEY TO HECKLERS: “You really want four more years of this?”
THIS WOMAN IS A MENACE: Hate Crime? Angela Corey Put Ailing Vet In Prison For 20 Years.
STACY MCCAIN CONTINUES HIS SLEUTHING.
OBAMA’S REVISIONISM: He Predicted A Strong Economy But Blames His Failure On Bush.
NEWS YOU CAN USE: How To Overcome Blinding Jealousy.
SPACE: NASA and FAA team to streamline, regulate commercial space access. Let’s hope there’s more of the former than the latter.
NEW YORK SUN: Roger Clemens’ No-Hitter.
The acquittal yesterday of Roger Clemens of all charges that he had lied to Congress and tried to obstruct an investigation into whether he used steroids is a moment to savor for those who maintain a decent respect for the Constitution. It’s just not every day that an ordinary citizen throws a no-hitter in the courtroom against batters as powerful as the combined might of the Congress and the Department of Justice. The government’s five-years-long pursuit of the great hurler was ended by a jury in just a few hours. The prosecutors, according to the Associated Press, slinked away from the courthouse without comment, and the Justice Department put out a statement claiming, “we respect the judicial process.”
The claim will be met with incredulity, given the Justice Department’s behavior in this case.
Read the whole thing.
YOUR MEMORIES ARE MADE TO BE RELIABLY UNRELIABLE.
We might well curse our memories when they let us down. But we might also be shocked by the results of the decades of work by the psychologist Elizabeth Loftus showing how easy it is to implant false memories into our minds, whether of kissing giant frogs or meeting Bugs Bunny at Disney World Manchester. We might worry about what it means for justice if an eyewitness can be so easily swayed by a leading question.
But there’s a good reason for the fallibility of our memories. It allows us to time-travel mentally, at will, in the opposite direction — into the future.
After more than a century of systematic research into the way our memories work, psychologists are turning their attention to the way we imagine what’s coming. The most significant finding is the degree to which future thinking relies on our memory for the past.
So “Forward, into the past!” isn’t just a slogan, then.
DAN MITCHELL: What Does It Mean When Obama and His Former Top Economist both Reject Obamanomics? It means they know what works, they just don’t care to pursue it at home.
TEN THINGS NOT TO SAY to someone when they’re ill.
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