Politico reports:

The incoming acting IRS Commissioner, Daniel Werfel, could try to clean house — but he’d have to be prepared for a lengthy appeals process.

Under federal rules, a fired government worker has the right to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board. He or she can challenge the decision, argue that their actions don’t meet the threshold for termination and ask to be reinstated — especially if there was no warning of trouble in past performance reviews.

The board is set up so fired employees appealing their termination get two chances to prove they should stay. Their first stop is at the merit board’s regional level, which — for the Cincinnati-based IRS employees in question — would be in Chicago.

The initial appeals take an average of 93 days to process, said William Spencer, a spokesman for the board.

If the regional board rules against the IRS employees, they could appeal to the national Washington, D.C.-based board, which takes on average another 245 days.

The IRS employees wouldn’t collect a paycheck during the appeals process. They would get back pay only if they are ultimately reinstated.

Lois Lerner who plead the 5th today during her appearance before Congress needs to go.  If this isn’t a good example of why we shouldn’t have public-employee unions who are funded by taxpayer money I don’t know what is.  This just confirms my believe that public-sector unions are anathema.  Especially in light of the IRS Union chief stonewalling on her conservations with President Obama and the evidence that shows that while the IRS may be an independent agency – the union most certainly is not.

This isn’t limited to low-level employees however, and those involved may not just have to worry about their jobs.  It looks like a special prosecutor being assigned is inevitable.  When you consider the Administration has had collective amnesia, and the IRS still has not complied with Congress’ demand for all communications with the White House concerning the targeting of conservatives.

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He then criticized the Republican National Committee for their resolution citing opposition to the Common Core State Standards.  “It’s disturbing to me that there have been criticisms directed by the RNC. I think that’s very short-sighted,” Huckabee said.

I’ve received numerous emails from conservatives, in particular social conservatives, who are perplexed and dismayed by the Governor’s position on this.

It didn’t come as a shock to me.  I wrote back in 2011 that Governor Huckabee had a complex position on education.  I wrote how he supported the Race to the Top program in his book, A Simple Government:

I am extremely disappointed by his support of Race to the Top.  He writes, “although I believe education should be left to the states, I fully endorse the new federal program Race to the Top, which has states compete for additional education funds, allowing them to decide what reforms to enact rather than having specific reforms imposed on them from above,” (pg. 100).

He goes on to say, “it’s a very clever way to prod states to embrace much needed reform just out of the hope of getting federal money, without actually promising any particular state anything.”

So this program is good because, it is a good idea.  Governor Huckabee would be all right if there were a Good Idea Clause in our Constitution, but there is not.  I’m going to assume that Governor Huckabee isn’t really aware of the details of this program.  If he were I would like to think he wouldn’t support it.

First this program is a scheme by the Obama administration to further entrench the Federal government in education.  There was little, if any, public feedback given for this program.  No opportunity to debate it.  It was made possible by a $4.35 billion increase in discretionary money, an “executive earmark” so to speak, in the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  You know the “stimulus” bill to create jobs.

So Race to the Top was designed as carrot and stick program, which Governor Huckabee thinks is a good thing, “a clever way to prod states to embrace much needed reform,” to use his words.  So this program gave directives to states who were strapped for cash to adopt the Common Core Standards (I thought he was against federal standards?) and make other education policy changes just so they can be competitive for these grants.

To be clear here, under this grant scheme, even if a state’s application was perfect, it would be uncompetitive to receive funds without the adoption of the standards.

So he was already leaning that direction even though he did not express support for the Common Core back then.  I also believe he is being disingenuous with his remarks.  The problem isn’t with the concept of “core standards” in a state.  The problem is with how these standards were implemented.  Who wrote the standards?  Was their ample opportunity for public feedback at the state level?  Was the state legislature involved?  There are issues with the content of the Common Core State Standards and we have issues with the potential cost.

So the Republican National Committee is spot on in their opposition to the Common Core and Governor Huckabee, while I agree with him on many issues, he is dead wrong on this.  By advocating the Common Core State Standards he then also gives tacit approval of the bypass of our elected representatives, sub par standards and increase in state spending on a reform that has no data that indicates it will increase student achievement.

Photo by Dave Davidson (Used with permission)

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Not all Planned Parenthoods offer the same abortions.  The Iowa City  Planned Parenthood clinic advertises abortions up to 21 weeks, 6 days (1 day short of calling it “22″).  That’s further along than Planned Parenthood in Des Moines, which advertises abortions up to 19 weeks, 6 days.

Iowa City is one of Planned Parenthood’s four surgical abortion centers in Iowa (they call them “in-clinic” abortions.)  Planned Parenthood also has 14 locations doing abortions by webcam, where the doctor is not even in the building to examine the woman, before she is given the RU-486 abortion pill cocktail, and then sent home to abort her child. There are also five Planned Parenthoods in Iowa that are “Abortion Referral” sites.

Planned Parenthood Surgical Abortion Centers in Iowa

Location Abortions up to…

• Iowa City         21 weeks, 6 days
• Des Moines     19 weeks, 6 days
• Bettendorf      17 weeks, 6 days
• Sioux City        16 weeks, 6 days

Why have abortions up to 22 weeks in Iowa City?  It could be because they have emergency back-up at the University of Iowa Hospitals. The further along an abortion is, the more likely the complications.  It might be that they have abortionists in Iowa City willing to abort that far along—although that doesn’t make sense that nearby Bettendorf, probably served by the same abortionist, would be limited to 18 weeks.

It could be for competitive advantage—Emma Goldman in Iowa City advertises abortions up to “19 weeks and 6 days” and Planned Parenthood might be trying to out-abort them for the profits.

In the Midwest, only St. Louis and Kansas City Planned Parenthoods have thresholds comparable to Iowa City:

Planned Parenthood Surgical Abortions in Midwest

Location Abortions up to…

Kansas

• Kansas City—Overland Park – 21 weeks, 6 days

Missouri

• St. Louis – 21 weeks, 6 days
• Columbia – 13 weeks

Wisconsin

• Madison—East -19 weeks
• Milwaukee – 16 weeks
• Appleton – 13 weeks

Illinois

• Aurora Mega Clinic – 17 weeks, 6 days
• Downtown Chicago—LaSalle Street  17 weeks, 6 days

Nebraska (like Iowa, run by Planned Parenthood of the Heartland)

• Lincoln and Omaha – 16 weeks, 6 days

Minnesota

• St. Paul-Vandalia – 13 weeks, 6 days

South Dakota

• Sioux Falls – 13 weeks, 6 days

The only other Planned Parenthood we found so far that does abortions further along than 22 weeks is in New York City, which advertises them at 24 weeks.  This clinic is ironically called the “Margaret Sanger Clinic” for Planned Parenthood’s founder.

What this demonstrates again is that Planned Parenthood sees women in Iowa as either cash cows or guinea pigs.  Maybe both.

The post Iowa City Planned Parenthood and Late-Term Abortions appeared first on Caffeinated Thoughts.

The Washington Post

When the Justice Department began investigating possible leaks of classified information about North Korea in 2009, investigators did more than obtain telephone records of a working journalist suspected of receiving the secret material.

They used security badge access records to track the reporter’s comings and goings from the State Department, according to a newly obtained court affidavit. They traced the timing of his calls with a State Department security adviser suspected of sharing the classified report. They obtained a search warrant for the reporter’s personal e-mails.

The case of Stephen Jin-Woo Kim, the government adviser, and James Rosen, the chief Washington correspondent for Fox News, bears striking similarities to a sweeping leaks investigation disclosed last week in which federal investigators obtained records over two months of more than 20 telephone lines assigned to the Associated Press.

The Justice Department has named James Rosen a possible co-conspirator which has outraged Fox News who responded to the news with a written statement:

Michael Clemente, Fox News’ executive vice president of news, defended Rosen in a statement issued Monday afternoon.

“We are outraged to learn today that James Rosen was named a criminal co-conspirator for simply doing his job as a reporter,” Clemente said. “In fact, it is downright chilling. We will unequivocally defend his right to operate as a member of what up until now has always been a free press.”

Breitbart News has learned that Rosen hasn’t been the only Fox News journalist targeted by the Justice Department, but a producer Mike Levine and reporter William La Jeunesse as their emails regarding Fast & Furious showed up in a Inspector General’s report.  This same report showed that the Department of Justice had leaked documents in order to smear a Fast & Furious whistleblower.

Jennifer Rubin calls this action akin to shredding the Constitution.  I agree.this coupled with the action taken against the Associated Press is an absolutely unprecedented move by any Administration.  President Obama is sticking with Attorney General Eric Holder however saying he has “complete confidence” in him.

Well we don’t.

Photo credit: Cliff1066 via Flickr (CC By 2.0)

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“If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear them from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and heal their land.” ~

When many people read the phrase, “turn from their wicked ways” I would imagine they don’t think it applies to them. How many of us really think that what we do is wicked? Wicked is reserved for witches right? Or really bad, evil people?

No.

Think about it in the context that we have been discussing: A nation who turns their back on God. A nation who has come to believe in and rely on themselves and their own power. A nation who has forgotten who created it. A people who have lost sight of of the face of God.

We live in a country where millions of babies have been aborted – killed – never given a chance to experience life, liberty or to pursue happiness. We live in a country where the main topic of conversation today is gay marriage, and how if you don’t support it you are somehow a hate-filled bigot. We live in a country that spends more money than it has, and as individuals many live in the same way. We live in a nation where care of the poor and needy is passed on to the government.

Still think we are not practicing wicked ways?

I direct most of this to Christians because I believe the burden falls on our shoulders. Why? Because for too long we have allowed the world to overrun us. We have not stood strong on the firm foundation of biblical principle because we didn’t want to be ridiculed or offend anyone. So by not drawing a line in the sand and saying “this far and no more” we are accomplices to what is happening.

We must speak out against the wrongs that are being committed in this nation. Not loudly and obnoxiously – but with gentle, assertive, and confident persistence. I hear of people who confess to be followers of Christ yet believe that gay marriage is fine; or they believe that abortion is the choice of a woman at least in certain cases. How does that work? How do you follow Christ yet make exceptions for things that clearly are contradictory to His word and His very nature?

It is time for us to get real and make sure our actions and words align with biblical truth. Remember, God’s truth is not relative and is not conformed to the world we live in. It doesn’t change with the times and isn’t modified to fit with what the world tells us is acceptable.

Other posts in the “If My People” series:

• Part 1: Breaking Heart
• Part 2: Humble Ourselves
• Part 3: Pray
• Part 4: Seek His Face

Photo credit: Adam Fagen via Flickr (CC-By-SA 2.0)

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The excerpt of the letter in question…

Please explain how all of your activities, including the prayer meetings held outside of Planned Parenthood, are considered educational as defined under 501(c)(3).  Organizations exempt under 501(c)(3) may present opinions with scientific or medical facts. Please explain in detail the activities at these prayer meetings. Also, please provide the percentage of time your organizations spends on prayer groups as compared with the other activities of the organization.

Wow, wow and wow…. Apparently the folks that wrote this didn’t realize that churches who are also 501(c)(3) organizations (usually) pray a lot and offer opinions all of the time.  So the idea they can only present opinions with “scientific or medical facts” is categorically false.

This on top of the news that the Treasury Department knew about this scandal back in 2012.  Surely they didn’t keep it quiet to shield President Obama did they?

The letter is below after being made public by the Thomas More Society:

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Jay Carney has become absolutely breathtaking in his willingness to spout unmitigated crap to the American people. I don’t remember anyone even in the Nixon Administration that was so willing to continue to make pronouncements that virtually everyone knew weren’t true. This guy appears to be in a class by himself. If there is a Mt. Rushmore to honor those who spread political bovine excrement, Jay Carney needs to have his face chiseled into the rock there.

Ben Stein wrote this last September: “Incredibly, Jay Carney, White House spokesman, is spinning a complete fairy tale that the Islamists really like America and Mr. Obama. The murderers are just upset about a movie trailer that came out months ago. How stupid do they think we Americans are? If Mr. Obama really believes (this), he belongs in a straitjacket. If not, his spokesman is the biggest fantasist of all time.”

I have concluded that Carney isn’t a fantasist. He’s just a guy that can maintain a whopper of a lie longer and better than anyone in recent memory. He’s the kind of a guy that, when the Emperor himself realizes that he has no new clothes and is in reality buck naked, can continue to tell the masses that the Emperor is wearing Armani. As I said, the guy appears to be in a class by himself. An artist, a master at his craft. A National Treasure.

The post Jay Carney: A National Treasure appeared first on Caffeinated Thoughts.

This amendment was an attempt to level the playing field when it comes to educational opportunities in the state. The language allowed Education Savings Grants to be deposited into student ESAs in the amount of the average per pupil state aid. The money may be put toward the costs of attending school or for home school expenses. Education is changing and we need to adapt and incorporate a multitude of opportunities such as ESAs to ensure future student success.

Iowa has world-class higher education opportunities and encouraging Iowa students to stay in the state and complete their advanced degree is a common sense option that will benefit the entire state. To that end, any unspent funds in their account could be used for Iowa-based colleges or universities.

While I will continue to work for the best interest of Iowans, the majority party refused to accept new solutions to education disparity in this state and voted against the ESAs. Offering a variety of educational opportunities for our students should be accepted and embraced if we want our students to be able to compete at a global level and achieve success. It is my belief that ESAs are a step in the right direction when it comes to education reform and we will continue to put Iowans first by offering common sense opportunities in order to maximize educational success.

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“Freedom of association and speech are among the most foundational rights of our republic, and the politically-motivated targeting of Americans by the IRS is a blatant betrayal of the public trust. Attempts by an overreaching federal government to silence voices of dissent are not only un-American, they must not be tolerated and those responsible must be held to account,” said Baltimore. “As investigators continue probing the IRS misconduct, I urge any targeted Iowan or Iowa organization to come forward and make their voice heard.”

Baltimore said that he will work with any targeted Iowan to ensure they are connected with appropriate congressional oversight investigators to ensure any facts pertaining to the IRS scandal are heard.

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Iowa Right to Life had two main goals coming into this legislative session: to end webcam abortions and support other legislation that would save as many lives as possible.  We have supported a number of pro-life bills this year, from bans of all abortions in Iowa to bills that would save thousands of children from being killed before they are born. Iowa Right to Life has been at the capitol every day this legislative session building relationships, championing pro-life legislation and working with organizations that share our passion to advance a number of bills through a very divided legislature that would work toward ending abortions in our State.

It is possible this year’s legislative session will end as early as this weekend. There is still time for legislators in both chambers to pass meaningful legislation this year that would save lives!  With abortion providers increasingly caught breaking the law, mishandling Federal and State funds, and with the Kermit Gosnell trial pointing out the horrors that come with a culture that doesn’t respect human life; the time is now to push legislators in both chambers and from both parties to act to protect the most vulnerable among us.

Our lives are filled with tough choices.  But the greatest thing policymakers could do is protect those whose voices can’t yet be heard.  Please contact your State Representative and Senator TODAY by clicking here and ask him/her to stop all funding for entities that do or refer for abortion.

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