Newly released IRS emails show that Obama adm targeted people who donated to conservative groups

Well, now we can see why the Obama administration has fought so hard against releasing the IRS emails.  The Daily Caller correctly describes this as a "bombshell" admission.

. . . The emails, obtained by Judicial Watch, show that Obama’s IRS conspired to revive the “gift tax” — a tax on 501(c)(4) donors that had not been enforced since 1982 following a Supreme Court ruling that effectively invalidated it. Emails between IRS officials show that the agency referred to Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS while discussing how to enforce their new gift tax on donors.  

On April 20, 2011, IRS lawyer Lorraine Garder emailed a donor list for a nonprofit group to James Hogan, a manager in the IRS’ Chief Counsel’s office. Judicial Watch noted that the disclosure of the redacted group’s donor list occurred during the period in which officials were discussing Crossroads GPS. 

“Does Bob have information about any of the donors [to the group in question]?” Gardner wrote in an email to IRS Estate Gift and Policy Manager Lisa Piehl. 

Weeks later, on May 13, 2011 an IRS official whose name was redacted in the documents released to Judicial Watch emailed Gardner and made one of the most stunning admissions of the existence of the IRS conservative targeting program.
“The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is a 501(c)(6) organization and may find itself under high scrutiny,” the official wrote. “One can only hope.” . . .

Newest in the Philadelphia Inquirer: "For more Americans, owning a gun = safety"

My newest piece in today's Philadelphia Inquirer starts this way:

Americans are increasingly convinced that owning a gun makes them safer.
A new Rasmussen poll found that an overwhelming margin of Americans (68 to 22 percent) “feel safer in a neighborhood where guns are allowed.” And a series of polls by Gallup, Pew Research Center, and ABC News/Washington Post show similar results. 

But it isn’t just what people say. They are clearly putting increased stock in self-defense. Since 2007, the number of concealed handgun permits has soared from 4.6 million to 12.8 million. A new study by the Crime Prevention Research Center finds that a record 1.7 million permits have been issued in just the past year. This is a 15.4 percent increase. 

While 5.2 percent of adults nationwide have a permit, in Pennsylvania it is almost 11 percent, ranking it fourth in the country. More than 1 million Pennsylvanians have permits.

In five states, more than 10 percent of adults now have concealed-carry permits. In some counties around the United States, including some in Pennsylvania, more than one in five adults is licensed to carry. In much of the country, someone among theatergoers or restaurant customers is likely to be legally carrying a permitted concealed handgun. 

But even these numbers don’t do full justice to the change that has taken place. . . .

The rest of the piece is available here.

Evidence that Trump isn't a "straight shooter," that he tailors his outspokenness to fit his audience

Donald Trump claims to be the true conservative in the Republican primary.

Trump in 2000: "The Republicans, especially those in Congress, are captives of their right wing."

-- Since 1990, for federal offices Trump has given $541,650 to Democrats and  $429,450 to Republicans.  it looks to be at least as lopsided for state offices.

-- A 2011 article in the Washington Post has this headline: "Trump’s donation history shows Democratic favoritism"

The Democratic recipients of Trump’s donations make up what looks like a Republican enemies list, including former senator Hillary Rodham Clinton(N.Y.), Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), Rep. Charles B. Rangel (N.Y.), Sen. Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.) and the late liberal lion Edward M. Kennedy(Mass.).  

The biggest recipient of all has been the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee of New York, which has taken in more than $125,000 from Trump and his companies. Overall, Trump has given nearly $600,000 to New York state campaigns, with more than two-thirds going to Democrats. . . .

Donations to Ted Kennedy?  John Kerry?  All those donations would seem hard for a true "conservative" to explain.

-- Trump has given between $100,000 and $250,000 to the Clinton Foundation.

-- Referring to his views on Obama in 2008, Trump said "I was his biggest cheerleader."  In 2009, Trump said that he would "hire" Obama.  That "he’s handled the tremendous mess he walked into very well.”

When Trump was toying with running as an independent in 2000, he attacked conservatives and liberals.  He supports Democrats when it is in his interest and Republicans at other times.

He lauds Obama early during his presidency, but then when Trump was toying with running as a Republican in 2011 he goes after the nutty birther claims. 

Other notes on Trump are available here.

Crime Prevention Research Center has two of the top 5 research papers on "Security and Safety" at the Social Science Research Network

Click on screen shot to enlarge

I hope that people find these two papers of interest and download them to take a look (available here).  The more our research papers move up in rank, the more that it gets other academics to read them and interested in those research topics.  

Newest piece at Fox News: "Older people need guns, too"

John Lott's newest piece at Fox News starts this way:

Have you ever thought of letting someone else manage your finances?  If President Obama has his way, Social Security recipients who have trouble managing their finances will be banned from buying a gun. 

If Social Security were to start classifying these people as “mentally defective,” some 4.2 million Social Security recipients could be affected – about 10 percent of all people 65 and older. 

But it is a real reach to say those who can’t manage their finances are a physical danger to themselves or others.  What is next?  Saying that people who can’t drive well or fail a math test should lose their right to self-defense? 

What about other rights?  If Obama finds people “mentally defective,” should they lose their right to vote?  Will they lose the right to make other decisions?
Having a gun is by far the safest way for people to protect themselves from criminals.  What is ignored is that older people, as well as women, who both tend to be weaker physically, benefit the most from owning a gun.   When a young man attacks an elderly person, the strength difference is enormous.  A gun is the only means an elderly person can realistically put up a defense. 

Everyday one can find news stories of elderly people defending themselves with guns.  On Sunday afternoon, a 70-year-old homeowner in Washington state rescued his roommate who was being attacked by an intruder.  Two days before that a retired veteran used his permitted concealed handgun to stop an armed robbery and protect others at a gas station in Georgia. 

Americans 65 and over make up over 14 percent of the US population, yet they seldom go out and kill people, accounting for only 3 percent of murders where the age of the murder is known and it is probably far less than that as unsolved murders disproportionately tend to involve young gangs. . . .

The rest of the piece is available here.