Desert Pundit

I assume the IRS is not going duck hunting.  So why would the IRS need 60 new shotguns?

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) intends to purchase sixty Remington Model 870 Police RAMAC #24587 12 gauge pump-action shotguns for the Criminal Investigation Division. The Remington parkerized shotguns, with fourteen inch barrel, modified choke, Wilson Combat Ghost Ring rear sight and XS4 Contour Bead front sight, Knoxx Reduced Recoil Adjustable Stock, and Speedfeed ribbed black forend, are designated as the only shotguns authorized for IRS duty based on compatibility with IRS existing shotgun inventory, certified armorer and combat training and protocol, maintenance, and parts. [emphasis added]

The IRS investigators need combat guns?  Shouldn’t the IRS do its work by issuing letters or subpoenas to come to our office with all your paperwork, or appear in court on some day at some time.  Say that they have a court order to seize some property … shouldn’t the U.S. Marshall’s Service or FBI execute the order?

This guy makes sense, but ends with an important observation …

Nobody should get hurt because they won’t or can’t pay taxes to the government.  Where are we, in King George’s England?

PS. IRS auctions of seized property

Today, Rahm Emanuel apologized for calling liberal Democrats “retarded.” Note the closing line …

UPDATE: A Democrat points out Rahm apologized to [Special Olympics CEO Tim] Shriver, but not to the liberals he called “retarded.”

Now think back to March of 2009, when Obama compared his bowling score (129) to the Special Olympics. Again the apology …

“He expressed his disappointment and he apologized, I think, in a way that was very moving,” Tim Shriver, the chairman of the Special Olympics board, told “Good Morning America” today.

Yes, the same Tim Shriver.  Now think back even farther, to April of 2008 when Obama said …

You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And it’s not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

It takes some time to really get to know somebody. You need to watch for the little clues, confirmation of what they say is really what they believe.  For example, does your friend leave a big tip only when he knows people are watching?  When an invoice has a different price than what she thought was agreed upon, does she start screaming, or does she ask if a mistake was made? What kind of driver are they?

Obama and Rahm could have made other comparisons than what they did. But what popped into their head? And not only did they think it, but they went ahead and said it. If it was not the first thing they thought of, they thought this was better? These are not Biden style gaffes, like revealing the site of the secret nuclear bunker. These slips reveal what they really think.

Update: Remember how the Cambridge Police Department acted stupidly?

The Census has started in Noorvik, Alaska.  Fine and dandy.  But does a government official have to travel 5,000 miles to do it?  It is so far away, Google knows where is is, but cannot tell you how to get there.

Census Bureau Director Robert Groves flew to Noorvik in northwest Alaska on Monday …

Obama is talking right now about a spending freeze.  I don’t think a spending freeze means sending government employees to the Great White North.  Stop wasting my money!

Today the Supreme Court took some of the power away from the government and restored it to the people by allowing groups of people, of any political persuasion, to come together and spend their money approving or disapproving any candidate or initiative.  This was the correct decision.  Prior to today a corporation could spend its money on any advertising it wanted, except for political speech.

But I am troubled.  The government now owns a large chunk of several corporations like, oh say, GM.  Will the administration use its power to force a political position on GM or the other companies it owns?  You don’t think power would be wielded in that way?  Obama fired Rick Wagoner, chief executive of General Motors.  But this is not an argument against the SCOTUS decision.  It is an argument against the bailouts of private companies.

Sandra Day O’Connor was just on Horizon, the local PBS current events show.  She observed that Congress usually goes to their home districts for the weekend, including Friday and Monday.  As a consequence they do not have enough time to get to know each other and there is contention as a consequence.  She proposes requiring all members of Congress to stay in Washington D.C. for three full weeks, working 6 days a week, with a fourth week off.

If we get this many laws out of 3 days a week when they do not know each other, just imagine all the laws they could pass if they worked twice as much!  The problem is not that they spend too little time in Washington, but that they spend too much time there.  And if they are in their home districts so much, how come we never see them.  Required town halls by precinct would be a good start.

Mrs. O’Connor also advocated for a Lieutenant Governor when the Governor leaves office before the end of the term.  Other states have them and we have had so many leave office early, she said.  Also, people are not thinking that the Secretary of State may succeed when voting.  I submit that they are thinking of succession as much here as in a state with a Lieutenant Governor system.  If it is not broken, why fix it?  And we certainly do not need to pay for another elected official.

She also questioned the need for some elected officials such as the Superintendent of Education and the State Mine Inspector.  While I can see her point on this, what would be the alternative?  Political appointees?  Does not sound like an improvement to me.

Janet Napolitano. Our former Governor. Our former Attorney General. Our former U.S. Attorney. An attorney for Anita Hill during the Clarence Thomas nomination.

Nothing in particular that qualifies her for the job as the head of DHS. She did send the National Guard to our southern border to help with the immigration problem. No significant experience in terrorism or emergency management. What she does have is experience as an attorney, prosecutor and administrator. Obama needed to reward her early endorsement in the primary, usually Department of the Interior goes to a western governor like it did for Bruce Babbitt. But it seems that Obama thinks the Department of Homeland Security only needs an administrator and prosecutor.  And that is what he got.

“I think the important thing to recognize here is that once this incident occurred, everything happened that should have,” she said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “We trained for this. We planned for this.”

On CNN’s “State of the Union,” she said: “One thing I’d like to point out is that the system worked.” (link)

Her first reaction is to think like a administrator, a prosecutor.  The suspect was detained. The suspect was provided an attorney.  The suspect will be prosecuted.  Janet, the job is to PREVENT this kind of thing. You have the wrong mindset for this job.  Thinking about “man-caused disasters” will not cut it.  Think about where are the weaknesses, how could a terrorist exploit those weaknesses and how can I prevent it. Stop patting yourself on the back because “The passengers reacted correctly, the crew reacted correctly, ….” Are you paying them to do your job?  They pay you to do the job and you failed. You failed. If this terrorist had succeeded we might not know it was terrorism for months, that is until al Qaeda claims responsibility.

I have known people, of various political leanings, that have worked with and for her in different positions. They all agree she is very, very intelligent. She probably would have done well other cabinet positions such as Interior, HUD and HHS. But she has the wrong mindset to run the Department of Homeland Security, and we do not have the time for her to get the right mindset. President Obama, you need to replace her now. People’s lives depend on it.

During a homecoming event there was a recycling effort:

At the Family Weekend Tailgate on Oct. 17 and 18, recycling and compost stations were also available. More than 2,000 people attended the events and members of Green Team said they recycled 284 pounds, composted 437 pounds and had only 36 pounds of trash.

Sustainability and industrial engineering sophomore Alex Davis, a member of Green Team, said the family weekend events were among the first zero-waste events to happen at ASU. “Zero waste” means that 90 percent or more of the event’s waste is diverted from landfills.

Redefining 10% as zero is ludicrous. Why not 40%?  Why not 80%?  Remember: War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery and Ignorance is Power

Nine banks failed this week, all subsidiaries of FBOP Corporation, including Bank USA with branches at 22 Street and Camelback and on Scottsdale Road.  The assets of all nine banks were acquired by U.S. Bancorp of Minnesota.

Surprise lost $2,000,000 it invested with Wells Fargo.  ”Professional negligence, breach of contract and statutory consumer fraud are among the city’s accusations …”  Wells Fargo of course denies the claims.

If Wells Fargo had made money for Surprise most of the lawsuit claims would still be true.  So, I have one question.  Would they still be suing?

BBC:

Hundreds of Kabul University students led the latest protest, burning an effigy of US President Barack Obama.

Shhh.  No one tell Janeane “This is racism straight up.” Garofalo