Obomination: The IRS War on Free Speech

The upcoming March 21 RNLA Policy Conference will examine the unprecedented efforts of the Obama Administration’s IRS to interfere with political speech.  While Republicans are talking the most about this scandal, the recent efforts of the IRS to impose further restrictions on speech are even being attacked by the far left.  

The deadline for comments on the proposed rule to restrict political activity by 501(c)(4) organizations was last week. While Harry Reid is ranting about the Koch brothers, a George-Soros funded group joined with Koch funded groups in opposing the IRS proposed regulations:

Our[Justice at Stake] concern is that these proposed rule changes could create unintended consequences for courts. In fact, we think that in some ways, they could actually inadvertently exacerbate the problem the IRS is trying to solve.” . . .

He said the rules could contribute to a “voter vacuum” that already afflicts judicial races, and that such a situation attracts special interests. And the new definition of “candidate,” he said, appears to be ”a solution in search of a problem.

Eight former Federal Election Commission (FEC) commissioners agree with this as they said in their letter commenting on the regulations:

The proposed rules would severely restrict the First Amendment-protected political activity of nonprofit advocacy organizations. It seems obvious that this is the second stage in the Obama Administration’s attempt to silence its critics – first they targeted Tea Party and other conservative organizations to delay their IRS applications for tax-exempt status, and now they are changing the rules to make it almost impossible for them to operate.”

As one of the signers of the letter, Hans Von Spakovsky points out:

As one, we condemned the agency’s attempt to “interfere with the system of campaign finance regulation established by Congress.”

Our joint comment pointed out that the IRS lacks statutory authority to restrict the political activity of 501(c)(4)s and that the proposed rules do not respect Supreme Court precedent. They would “confuse regulated entities” and “seriously undermine the First Amendment rights and protections of the Constitution.” Bizarrely, some of the language proposed by the IRS is “almost identical to a provision of federal campaign finance law that the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional” in Citizens United.

The Obama Administration's  use of the IRS as a political tool to further their agenda must be stopped, for the sake of all advocates of free speech on the left and right.  

Obomination: While Obama Vacays this Month, His Policy is Burning US-Egypt Relations for Years to Come

As President Obama goes back to his normal routine of golf and vacation, this time in Massachusetts, his policy in Egypt is causing damage to the United States for years to come.  The policy is so bad that former RNLA Ed Meese Award Winner John Bolton labels it “completely incoherent.”

"Yet the administration is sending mixed signals. While the president directly spoke out against the military-backed government on Thursday -- and canceled upcoming joint military exercises -- the U.S. has refused to label Morsi's ouster a coup. That means, under U.S. law, the administration can continue to send $1.5 billion in annual aid to the Egyptian government."

The mixed signals raise concern that the U.S. is simply breeding distrust on both sides.

"While President Obama 'condemns the violence in Egypt,' his administration continues to send billions of taxpayer dollars to help pay for it," Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said in a statement on Thursday.

John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. under the George W. Bush administration, called the current policy "completely incoherent."

"You can't have your press secretary say ... that this is up for Egyptians to answer, and then try and get in the middle of it," Bolton said.

Former RNLA policy conference speaker Andrew McCarthy makes a very good point that many in the mainstream media are ignoring: the treatment of non-Muslims, including not only Christians who are under attack but secularists.   

More on what Nina Shea and yours truly noted earlier today: The Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamic supremacist allies – portrayed in the mainstream media as “peaceful protesters” subjected to unprovoked violence by Egyptian security forces – continue their jihad against Christians. And that jihad continues to be portrayed in the mainstream media as “reprisal” attacks, as if it were the Copts rather than the armed forces who had ousted the Brotherhood from power.

. . .

The attacks on the Copts are not just a continuation of jihad as usual. They are a strategic effort to link the Copts in the public mind with the armed forces that carried out the coup (as well as the minority secularists who took to the streets to demand it). The military is a revered institution, but the most significant fact of life in Egypt is Islam. If the generals are seen as partners of the Copts, they end up on the “enemies of Islam” side of the narrative spun by Islamic supremacists. As we’ve seen again and again since 2011, that is the wrong side to be on in Egypt’s “democracy.”

And isn’t it just ducky that the Obama administration, instead of discrediting the toxic “enemies of Islam” narrative, has now adopted it in State Department pronouncements.

President Obama cannot control what is happening in Egypt, but he can help to prevent long term damage to US-Egypt relations.  Damage he is causing regardless of which side wins.