◼ link - By Stephen Dinan-The Washington Times
Richard Windsor never existed at the EPA, but the agency awarded the fictional staffer’s email account certificates proving he had mastered all of the agency’s technology training — including declaring him a “scholar of ethical behavior,” according to documents disclosed late last week.
Windsor.Richard@epa.gov was the controversial email alias used by former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, who resigned earlier this year amid questions about whether her agency was complying with open-records laws.
The new records — the latest in a series that EPA critics have pried loose under open-records requests — suggests Ms. Jackson used the alias even more widely than known, including taking required agency computer training under the fake identity.
EPA officials say there’s nothing unusual in that, since Ms. Jackson used the alternate address regularly to conduct agency business.
The new records show the Windsor account was awarded certificates showing he has “satisfactorily competed the online email records management training”; took the 2010 “No FEAR Act Training Module”; and a completed a “Cybersecurity awareness training” course in 2011, where he scored 83 percent.
◼ SNEAKY OBAMA AIDES USE SECRET EMAIL - AP
The scope of using the secret accounts across government remains a mystery: Most U.S. agencies have failed to turn over lists of political appointees' email addresses, which the AP sought under the Freedom of Information Act more than three months ago. The Labor Department initially asked the AP to pay more than $1 million for its email addresses....
Ten agencies have not yet turned over lists of email addresses, including the Environmental Protection Agency; the Pentagon; and the departments of Veterans Affairs, Transportation, Treasury, Justice, Housing and Urban Development, Homeland Security, Commerce and Agriculture. All have said they are working on a response to the AP.
White House spokesman Eric Schultz declined to comment.
Monday, June 3, 2013
EVANGELICAL GROUP PUSHING IMMIGRATION REFORM DOESN'T LEGALLY EXIST
◼ Late last week, The Huffington Post reported that the Evangelical Immigration Table, a coalition of evangelicals supporting the Senate immigration bill, had announced a $250,000 ad buy in support of the legislation. - The Blaze
...On Thursday, Breitbart News contacted the Evangelical Immigration Table (EIT), asking about the organization's structure, how it is governed and where it receives funding. The organization responded Friday in an email to Breitbart News:
◼ NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM FUNDED BY SOROS AND THE LEFT - Matthew Boyle/Breitbart
The National Immigration Forum (NIF), the force behind the so-called “Evangelical Immigration Table” (EIT), is actually a front group for players on the institutional left including billionaire George Soros and the Ford Foundation, according to reporting by Breitbart News and other outlets....
Wallis originally denied being funded by Soros when he was first confronted with the accusation, and accused Olasky of lying. “It’s not hyperbole or overstatement to say that Glenn Beck lies for a living. I’m sad to see Marvin Olasky doing the same thing,” Wallis said in 2010 interview with Patheos. “No, we don’t receive money from Soros. Given the financial crisis of nonprofits, maybe Marvin should call Soros and ask him to send us money.”
“So, no, we don’t receive money from George Soros,” Wallis added. “Our books are totally open, always have been. Our money comes from Christians who support us and who read Sojourners. That’s where it comes from. In fact, we’ve had funding blocked, this year and last, by liberal foundations who didn’t like our stance on abortion. Other liberal groups were happy to point out to them that our stance wasn’t kosher on abortion, so our funding was blocked.”
After Olasky and the National Review’s Jay Richards confronted this claim by Wallis, Wallis admitted he made an incorrect statement to Patheos and that he was accepting Soros money. “I should have declined to comment until I was able to review the blog post in question and consulted with our staff on the details of our funding over the past several years,” Wallis said in a statement.
...On Thursday, Breitbart News contacted the Evangelical Immigration Table (EIT), asking about the organization's structure, how it is governed and where it receives funding. The organization responded Friday in an email to Breitbart News:
The Evangelical Immigration Table functions as a coalition of partners and does not exist as its own non-profit.That invites an obvious question: Who paid for its ad campaign? The email continued:
The principal organizations that serve as the coalition’s leadership are listed on our website and include Bread for the World, the Christian Community Development Association, CLUE Orange County, Esperanza, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the National Association of Evangelicals, the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, Sojourners, World Relief and World Vision.
The organizations that make up the leadership of the Table are predominantly 501(c)3's but some have affiliated 501(c)4's.So, the EIT is made up of a coalition of (c)3's and (c)4's but isn't itself a legal non-profit organization or corporation. How did it launch the ad campaign reported in the Huffington Post? Loose, informal coalitions cannot purchase advertising. There are also strict limitations on what activities (c)3's and (c)4's can undertake, and clear prohibitions on them coordinating on an issue campaign....
Funding for our work comes from a variety of sources including the organizations that make up the leadership of the Table as well as other individuals and institutions that believe in our message.
Early in the formation of the Table’s work, the leadership sought a neutral third-party institution, the National Immigration Forum, to help facilitate our work.
◼ NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM FUNDED BY SOROS AND THE LEFT - Matthew Boyle/Breitbart
The National Immigration Forum (NIF), the force behind the so-called “Evangelical Immigration Table” (EIT), is actually a front group for players on the institutional left including billionaire George Soros and the Ford Foundation, according to reporting by Breitbart News and other outlets....
Wallis originally denied being funded by Soros when he was first confronted with the accusation, and accused Olasky of lying. “It’s not hyperbole or overstatement to say that Glenn Beck lies for a living. I’m sad to see Marvin Olasky doing the same thing,” Wallis said in 2010 interview with Patheos. “No, we don’t receive money from Soros. Given the financial crisis of nonprofits, maybe Marvin should call Soros and ask him to send us money.”
“So, no, we don’t receive money from George Soros,” Wallis added. “Our books are totally open, always have been. Our money comes from Christians who support us and who read Sojourners. That’s where it comes from. In fact, we’ve had funding blocked, this year and last, by liberal foundations who didn’t like our stance on abortion. Other liberal groups were happy to point out to them that our stance wasn’t kosher on abortion, so our funding was blocked.”
After Olasky and the National Review’s Jay Richards confronted this claim by Wallis, Wallis admitted he made an incorrect statement to Patheos and that he was accepting Soros money. “I should have declined to comment until I was able to review the blog post in question and consulted with our staff on the details of our funding over the past several years,” Wallis said in a statement.
Cincinnati IRS employee: My supervisor told me in March 2010 that “Washington, D.C. wanted some cases”
◼ Now this is interesting. Issa has released partial transcripts that show Cincinnati employes stating that they were instructed to search for Tea Party and conservative cases because Washington DC wanted them. Yep, this investigation looks like it is headed in the right direction. - The Right Scoop
Continue reading the partial transcripts where the Cincinnati employees say that Washington DC is throwing them under the bus.
◼ Issa Talks IRS Targeting Investigation, Previews Thursday’s IRS Conference Spending Hearing on CNN SOTU - oversight.house.gov
Continue reading the partial transcripts where the Cincinnati employees say that Washington DC is throwing them under the bus.
◼ Issa Talks IRS Targeting Investigation, Previews Thursday’s IRS Conference Spending Hearing on CNN SOTU - oversight.house.gov
Labels:
Darrell Issa,
Investigations,
IRS,
Scandals
Sunday, June 2, 2013
No, CA not thriving: Double-whammy from U-T San Diego
◼ The newly in-vogue theory in the national media and in the particularly stupid wings of the California media is that the Golden State’s recent revenue surge suggests Sacramento has gotten on the right track and surmounted all its vast dysfunction, incoherence and incompetence. - Chris Reed/Cal Watchdog
“• Shockingly, California now has the highest rate of poverty in the nation, measured at 23.5 percent, significantly higher than any of the states of the Deep South. …
“• The state that historically was among the last to fall into recession and among the first to pull out it, has flipped. In the last three national economic recessions, the California job market has fallen farther and taken longer to recover than the U.S. market. Unemployment in California today, though thankfully falling, remains among the highest in the nation. Of California’s 58 counties, 27 are burdened by unemployment at or above 10 percent; four of them have a jobless rate higher than 15 percent. In Imperial County, the jobless rate in April was 24 percent. It was 19.9 percent in the Central Valley’s Colusa County.
“• The educational performance of California students now ranks near the very bottom as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as ‘the nation’s report card.’ On the state test for 2011-2012, only 56 percent of students scored at the proficient level or above in English. Even fewer, 51 percent, were proficient in math.
“• The state lost 33 percent of its industrial base from 2001-2012, declining 11 percent more than in the United States as a whole. The state is now increasing manufacturing jobs at an anemic rate that lags far behind that of the nation.
“• Once the national leader in export growth, California has been losing ground for more than a decade and is now a distant second to Texas in total exports.”
“• Shockingly, California now has the highest rate of poverty in the nation, measured at 23.5 percent, significantly higher than any of the states of the Deep South. …
“• The state that historically was among the last to fall into recession and among the first to pull out it, has flipped. In the last three national economic recessions, the California job market has fallen farther and taken longer to recover than the U.S. market. Unemployment in California today, though thankfully falling, remains among the highest in the nation. Of California’s 58 counties, 27 are burdened by unemployment at or above 10 percent; four of them have a jobless rate higher than 15 percent. In Imperial County, the jobless rate in April was 24 percent. It was 19.9 percent in the Central Valley’s Colusa County.
“• The educational performance of California students now ranks near the very bottom as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as ‘the nation’s report card.’ On the state test for 2011-2012, only 56 percent of students scored at the proficient level or above in English. Even fewer, 51 percent, were proficient in math.
“• The state lost 33 percent of its industrial base from 2001-2012, declining 11 percent more than in the United States as a whole. The state is now increasing manufacturing jobs at an anemic rate that lags far behind that of the nation.
“• Once the national leader in export growth, California has been losing ground for more than a decade and is now a distant second to Texas in total exports.”
Labels:
California,
Economy,
Taxes
Hillary's approval plummets as Americans learn more about the disgrace of #Benghazi. This is the difference it makes.
◼ Hillary's approval ratings plummet, Benghazi scandal blamed - Paul Bedard/Washington Examiner
"Her score is down substantially from her all-time high score in February. The drop in her favorability is substantial among men, Republicans and independent voters. One reason for her drop may be that 48 percent of voters blame her either a little or a lot for the death of the American ambassador in Benghazi," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University polling Institute.
"Her score is down substantially from her all-time high score in February. The drop in her favorability is substantial among men, Republicans and independent voters. One reason for her drop may be that 48 percent of voters blame her either a little or a lot for the death of the American ambassador in Benghazi," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University polling Institute.
Hillary's approval plummets as Americans learn more about the disgrace of #Benghazi. This is the difference it makes. washingtonexaminer.com/hillarys-appro…
— Razor (@hale_razor) May 31, 2013
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