— During the decade from 2004 to 2013, the IRS identified nearly 130,000 potential cases of tax violations by its own employees. 1,580 were deemed to be intentional cheaters, and sent to managers for discipline. In 60 % of those cases, the managers refused to fire the employees.
Among the abuses were employees who repeatedly failed to file their returns on time, those who intentionally inflated their expenses and those who claimed the stimulus homebuyer’s tax credit without actually buying a home.
—In December 2009, Pennsylvania-based Z Street applied for 501(c)(3) status to pursue its pro-Israel educational mission. In July 2010, when the group called to check on what was taking so long, an IRS agent said that auditors had been instructed to give special attention to groups connected with Israel, and that they had sent some of those applications to a special IRS unit for additional review….
“If I were you, I would go back and ask your superiors whether they want us to represent that the government’s position in this case is that the government is free to unconstitutionally discriminate against its citizens for 270 days,” said Judge Garland.
—A former Veterans Affairs employee who managed one of the department’s retail stores admitted that he stole $150,000 from the store and spent it on strippers, prostitutes, and gambling, according to the Justice Department.
—The federal government says Times Square’s Iconic Billboards must be removed, or else. The edict comes from a 2012 law that makes Ties Square an arterial route to the National Highway Beautification Act which limits signs to 1,200 square feet. A demonstration of the inavility of organizational liberalism to apply common sense exceptions t its rigid and conformist bureraucratic mentality.
—Business franchises are facing a huge assault from federal labor regulators and unions.
The franchise model, in which small business owners pay corporations such as McDonald’s to operate under the brand, face pressure from labor giants like the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and scrutiny from the Department of Labor (DOL) and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
The franchise model, in which small business owners pay corporations such as McDonald’s to operate under the brand, face pressure from labor giants like the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and scrutiny from the Department of Labor (DOL) and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). …The NLRB’s action represents a handout to organized labor, which wants to use joint employer standards to unionize fast food companies from the top down, rather than store by store.
Just a meager gleaning from today’s news. Nothing particularly notable, just a general sad feeling that nothing is working, and whatever is being done will hurt Americans rather than help. We’re all doomed.
American Elephants 