IRS official Lerner: ‘I did nothing wrong’

Posted on May 22, 2013 by TexasFred

IRS official Lerner: ‘I did nothing wrong’

Lois LernerWASHINGTON (AP) – The Internal Revenue Service official at the center of the storm over the agency’s targeting of conservative groups told Congress on Wednesday that she had done nothing wrong in the episode, and then invoked her constitutional right to refuse to answer lawmakers’ questions.

In one of the most electric moments since the IRS controversy erupted nearly two weeks ago, Lois Lerner defended herself during a brief appearance before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The committee is investigating the agency’s improper targeting of tea party and other conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, and Lerner oversees the IRS office that processes applications for that status.

“I have done nothing wrong,” said a stern-looking Lerner, sitting next to three other witnesses and reading from a written statement. “I have not broken any laws. I have not violated any IRS rules or regulations and I have not provided false information to this or any other committee.”

Lerner then said she would invoke her Fifth Amendment right to avoid incriminating herself. Nine minutes after she began speaking, committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., excused her and Lerner left the hearing room through a rear door, escorted by her lawyer and several other men. SOURCE

I say this in ALL confidence; Lois Lerner is either the most incredibly STUPID individual in America or she thinks that everyone else is.

I am not a lawyer, I don’t play one on TV and I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn last night but I have been in Court a few times over the years and I know this, no one says, “I have not broken any laws. I have not violated any IRS rules or regulations and I have not provided false information to this or any other committee.” and then immediately invokes the Fifth Amendment unless they really ARE guilty of all the things they just denied and are planning on keeping their mouth shut to save themselves from what could be a jail sentence, a good, long jail sentence.

There is one other thing that Lois Lerner may have on her mind; immunity.

If that is the case, and if she were to be granted immunity from prosecution, the Fifth Amendment would go by the wayside and she could indeed sing like a guilty bird.

Maybe that’s why committee Chairman Darrell Issa excused her, perhaps there is a deal in the works, because if that’s not the case, if she can just get up there and declare her innocence, invoke the Fifth Amendment and then walk FREE, a precedent has just been set that will throw the American legal system into a state of utter chaos.

Can you imagine? The Police find a ton of meth in the back of some van that a local tweaker is driving and when said tweaker goes to Court for arraignment he stands there scratching his arms and proclaiming his innocence and then invokes the Fifth.

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Court strikes down Arizona 20-week abortion ban

Posted on May 21, 2013 by TexasFred

Court strikes down Arizona 20-week abortion ban

Judge Marsha BerzonSAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A federal court Tuesday struck down Arizona’s ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy absent a medical emergency.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the law violated a woman’s constitutionally protected right to terminate a pregnancy before a fetus is able to survive outside the womb. “Viability” of a fetus is generally considered to start at 24 weeks. Normal pregnancies run about 40 weeks.

Nine other states have enacted similar bans starting at 20 weeks or even earlier. Several of those bans had previously been placed on hold or struck down by other courts.

Judge Marsha Berzon, writing for the unanimous three-judge panel on the San Francisco-based court, said such bans before viability violate a long string of U.S. Supreme Court rulings starting with the seminal Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. SOURCE

Ladies and Gentlemen, the cretin pictured above is one of the most despicable persons it has been my displeasure to have ever seen. That is a thumbnail of Judge Marsha Berzon, and according to this SOURCE she is widely considered one of Bill Clinton’s most liberal judicial appointees.

I have a very special and personal message for Judge Marsha S. Berzon;

Abortion 5

I had made myself a promise to avoid politics today, and considering the normal avenue my political posting takes, I AM avoiding politics as usual, but when I saw this story and the headline, I knew I had no choice, I had to voice an opinion.

The judge wrote that “a woman has a constitutional right to choose to terminate her pregnancy before the fetus is viable.”

Fetus viability, there is a term that I had never used before today, and upon doing a bit of research I found out what it means in medical terms.

According to Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, viable of a fetus it means having reached such a stage of development as to be capable of living, under normal conditions, outside the uterus.
(SNIP)
At 24 weeks the chance of a normal survivor is about 50%, and after this the odds are in favor of a normal survivor. Considering this data, intensive care should be an optional choice for fetuses at 23 and 24 weeks of gestation and should be offered to every fetus at 25 weeks or more. SOURCE

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Medical examiner: 24 dead in Oklahoma twister

Posted on May 21, 2013 by TexasFred

Medical examiner: 24 dead in Oklahoma twister

MOORE, Okla. (AP) – Emergency crews searched the broken remnants of an Oklahoma City suburb Tuesday for survivors of a massive tornado that flattened homes and demolished an elementary school. At least 24 people were killed, including at least seven children, and those numbers were expected to climb.

As the sun rose over the shattered community of Moore, the state medical examiner’s office cut the estimated death toll by more than half but warned that the number was likely to climb again.

Spokeswoman Amy Elliott said she believes some victims were counted twice in the early chaos of the storm that struck Monday afternoon. Downed communication lines and problems sharing information with officers exacerbated the problem, she said.

“It was a very eventful night,” Elliott said. “I truly expect that they’ll find more today.”

Full Story Here:
Medical examiner: 24 dead in Oklahoma twister

There will be NO POLITICS from The TexasFred Blog today. Even though I live in the great state of Texas, and have for many years, Oklahoma, and the Oklahoma City area were a large part of my youth.

We lived on the Southwest side of OKC for a number of years and we had friends and business contacts in the Moore, OK area.

Pray for Oklahoma

Our hearts were breaking yesterday as we watched the devastation that hit Moore, and the initial reports of the children that were lost tore my heart out.

The news that the numbers were being revised DOWN was great news, but as the day progresses I am still afraid the numbers will climb. I pray not, but I am not optimistic.

According to the National Weather Service we are in for a bumpy ride here in the DFW area for at least another day or 2. A tornado watch is in effect as I type this.

Devastation and miracles, grief and elation, the range of emotions that the folks in Moore and those in the Granbury and Cleburne Texas are feeling, is a roller-coaster ride that plays HELL on the mind, but these Okies and Texans are a tough people.

We will survive, we will help one another and we will come back, we WILL rebuild, bigger, better, stronger and with a renewed belief in our faith and fellow man!

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Posted in America 1st | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments