The American Pundit

Senior officials at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) knew as early as 2011 that conservative organizations were being targeted based on nothing more than political leanings, the Associated Press reports.

Only yesterday the IRS admitted that groups opposing the president were targeted for persecution by the agency during the 2012 presidential campaign. The White House refuses to say when it first learned of the activity.

Update: And now we know why the IRS suddenly owned-up to what it had done. The AP says the Inspector General had learned of the activity and was preparing to release a report exposing it. They were trying to head it off.

Also, the AP reports “the head of the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt group” learned of the targeting in June 2011. Yet it continued through 2012. And it contradicts what former IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman repeatedly told Congress.

The Internal Revenue Service, part of the executive branch and subsequently the Obama Administration, admitted today that it “inappropriately” targeted conservative groups during the 2012 election cycle.

About an hour ago the Associated Press sent out an alert:

BREAKING: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 2012 election.

Which was then followed up by this wire story:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service is apologizing for inappropriately flagging conservative political groups for additional reviews during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status.

Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS unit that oversees tax-exempt groups, said organizations that included the words “tea party” or “patriot” in their applications for tax-exempt status were singled out for additional reviews.

Lerner said the practice, initiated by low-level workers in Cincinnati, was wrong and she apologized while speaking at a conference in Washington.

Uh huh. “Low-level workers”. Low-level workers in one city have the power to go after national political opposition organizations during an election year, and we only only learn about this now? And only get an apology, what, six months later?

Not the first case of the Obama Administration using federal resources to target and punish political opponents, and it almost certainly won’t be the last. How Nixonian of him.

Despite all of the anti-gun alarmism, statistics show the national gun crime rate has actually fallen dramatically over the past two decades.

Firearm-related homicides declined 39 percent and nonfatal firearm crimes declined 69 percent from 1993 to 2011, the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. Firearm-related homicides dropped from 18,253 homicides in 1993 to 11,101 in 2011, and nonfatal firearm crimes dropped from 1.5 million victimizations in 1993 to 467,300 in 2011.

For both fatal and nonfatal firearm victimizations, the majority of the decline occurred during the 10-year period from 1993 to 2002. The number of firearm homicides declined from 1993 to 1999, rose through 2006 and then declined through 2011. Nonfatal firearm violence declined from 1993 through 2004 before fluctuating in the mid- to late 2000s.

Even as gun ownership and the nation’s population expand, gun homicides are dropping:

Compared with 1993, the peak of U.S. gun homicides, the firearm homicide rate was 49% lower in 2010, and there were fewer deaths, even though the nation’s population grew. The victimization rate for other violent crimes with a firearm—assaults, robberies and sex crimes—was 75% lower in 2011 than in 1993. Violent non-fatal crime victimization overall (with or without a firearm) also is down markedly (72%) over two decades.

But wait; there’s more!

Those “military-style” weapons liberals keep trying to ban? Statistics show those account for just 3.2% of weapons owned by federal inmates and just 2% owned by state inmates at the time they committed their offense.

It’s over in South Carolina’s 1st congressional district, where former Governor Mark Sanford (R) faced Elizabeth Colbert-Bush (D), sister of liberal comedian Stephen Colbert. The Associated Press and CNN have called the race for Sanford, who resigned the office of governor after it came to light he had an affair with an Argentinian woman.

The victory is a hold for Republicans. The seat became vacant after Tim Scott (R) was appointed to the United States Senate to replace retiring senator Jim DeMint. Democrats spent upwards of $1 million trying to win the seat, while the Republican Party’s NRCC didn’t spend a dime. A costly loss for Democrats.

Update: Looks like Sanford is winning the seat by 9%, 54-45.

Via Andrew Kaczynski at BuzzFeed.

Lots of gold in Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe’s book What a Party!.

When Arafat arrived at the restaurant, Hani had him sit right next to me. We talked about what was happening in the Middle East and Arafat had all kinds of questions about U.S. politics and of course Bill Clinton. The dinner soon became somehow comical for me. Arafat would get very animated when he spoke and every time he was making a point, he would lean over and rub my leg under the table. He’d be saying something to the whole table full of people and then he would look right at me, emphasizing a point, and rub up and down my leg…

Finally it was time to go and we stood up to shake hands, I thought, but Arafat laid a big ole wet kiss right on my lips. I wasn’t ready for that one.

Okay then.

The proper channel for this debate: The legislature and ballot box.

(Reuters) – Rhode Island lawmakers gave final approval to a bill to legalize gay marriage on Thursday, making it the 10th U.S. state to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples and the last of the six New England states to do so.

Governor Lincoln Chafee, an independent, signed the bill into law almost immediately after the vote on Thursday. The new law will take effect on August 1.

You’ll remember Chafee as the liberal who called himself a Republican in the United States for years. He supported Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy, and has somehow gotten weirder since leaving the Senate (that’s separate from the gay marriage thing).

Belated honesty from Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

Insurance companies in the Rochester area haven’t announced their premium increases yet for next year. One local expert says the public is very much in the dark about healthcare and 2014 is fast approaching. He says substantial health insurance pricing increases in 2014 and beyond seems to be more of a reality with each passing day. News10NBC put that to Senator Schumer and Mrs. Slaughter.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, (D) New York, said, “Our insurance department is empowered to protect families and we’re going to watch them like a hawk to make sure they do. Because if they don’t, these rates could go through the roof. It’s in part because of Obamacare but health care costs have been going up by double digits for years and years and years. The good news is in this bill there’s a way to stop it.”

The bill contains a way to stop health insurance premium increases that exist in large part because of the bill? That seems…suspect.

No wonder Congressional Democrats and Barack Obama want to exempt themselves from ObamaCare. They want ObamaCare to hit you in the wallet, not them.

Kevin Clash, the puppeteer who long voiced Sesame Street‘s Elmo until he resigned in the wake of accusations of underage sex with boys, could pick up another Daytime Emmy this June.

In the Daytime Emmy nominations announced Wednesday, Clash was one of four contenders in the “performer in a children’s series” category.

Over the nearly three decades he has been the voice of the furry red Elmo, Clash has won 23 Daytime Emmys.

Maybe hold off on further accolades until we investigate accusations the guy we’re honoring had sex with boys.

Nah, it’s Hollywood. Never let morality and legality get in the way of ass-kissing accolades.

Hey, about the White House’s claim that public opinion is behind the president on “big issues like guns, immigration and the budget”…

not so much.

CNN’s latest poll has the president underwater on all three:

• Guns: 45% approve, 52% disapprove
• Immigration: 44% approve, 50% disapprove
• Budget: 38% approve, 58% disapprove

And a new Quinnipiac poll shows just 41% approving and a majority 52% disapproving of Barack Obama’s handling of gun policy.

Sources tell CNN that “three or four” Al Qaeda operatives took part in the September 11th attack on the US consulate in Benghazi that left Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans dead.

We have to get our information on the attack from anonymous sources to CNN because the Obama Administration, which was in reelection mode at the time, has stonewalled the investigation since day one.

Another source briefed on the Benghazi investigation said Western intelligence services suspect the men may have been sent by the group specifically to carry out the attack. But it’s not been ruled out that they were already in the city and participated as the opportunity arose.

The attack on the compound and subsequently on a “safe-house” to which Americans had been evacuated left four U.S. citizens dead, including the ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens.

If the AQAP members were dispatched to Benghazi, it would be further evidence of a new level of co-operation among jihadist groups throughout the Middle East and North Africa, counterterrorism analysts say.

Two domestic political factors at play:

1) A new alliance with jihadist groups and Al Qaeda operatives successfully carrying out attacks on American targets would undermine the Obama Administration’s claims that we have AQ on the brink of defeat.

2) There have been, from day one, reports that military assets were in the region and could have been deployed, as requested by those on the ground, to defend the Americans during the 7-hour attack. But due to incompetence the assets were never deployed.

Either or both would reflect poorly on the Obama Administration, so the administration has stonewalled the investigation at every corner. Whistleblowers have reportedly even been threatened by the administration, which is trying to block Congress’ ongoing investigation.