The IRS is NOT Hiring 16,500 ARMED Agents to Enforce Health Law

It's amazing to me how gullible people are. Don't they see they're being used as political tools to serve the agendas of various strains of republicans? Why would anyone want to be someone's tool?

Ron Paul, who exacerbated this rumor of armed agents enforcing health insurance laws, makes some good points occasionally, but too often he lets his extremism off the leash. Armed agents coming after you because you don't have health insurance--Really? See the fact check below.

Isn't that just fear mongering to get your way? What irks me is that some people know the truth and yet they manipulate it for their own benefit.

The problem is fear mongering works, especially on older people.

This rumor is just like other rumors we've heard, Obama was born in Kenya, Obama chowed down on lobsters in Montana, and the latest says Obama isn't allowing Catholic or private school kids into the Easter Egg Roll on April 5. Yet, people believe it without questioning. The facts are that 3,000 free tickets were given to DC school districts. Children from other schools could've gotten free tickets--27,000 were given away-- through the lottery system, which has always been in place, though starting last year, the White House put the system online instead of making people wait in line outside.

The argument could be made that those 3,000 tickets should've been available to all kids, but that's not what the rightwing is saying. They're saying Obama is banning them outright.

And now for the silly little rumor that IRS agents are going to be armed and dangerous:

Q: Will the IRS hire 16,500 new agents to enforce the health care law?
A: No. The law requires the IRS mostly to hand out tax credits, not collect penalties. The claim of 16,500 new agents stems from a partisan analysis based on guesswork and false assumptions, and compounded by outright misrepresentation.
FULL QUESTION
Can you explain if … the IRS will hire 16,500 new agents and spend $10 billion/year to audit who has [health care] coverage. I can not find any coverage that is not from the right on this … and I have been searching for a while. Thank you.
Hello,
I’d like to request a fact check on Ron Paul’s claim regarding the enforcement of the health insurance mandate, "16,500 ARMED bureaucrats coming to make this program work." at 3:53 of this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0lA6XCt3gM
I did a google search for "16,500" and there were a lot of hits on conservative websites stating something along the lines that the health care bill sets aside $10 billion for the IRS to hire up to 16,500 agents to enforce the mandate, but ARMED agents are another matter. Anyway, I couldn’t find anything about this from the national news outlets, so I’m just curious if this is just a scare tactic.
FULL ANSWER
This wildly inaccurate claim started as an inflated, partisan assertion that 16,500 new IRS employees might be required to administer the new law. That devolved quickly into a claim, made by some Republican lawmakers, that 16,500 IRS "agents" would be required. Republican Rep. Ron Paul of Texas even claimed in a televised interview that all 16,500 would be carrying guns. None of those claims is true. Read the rest at FactCheck

But a good fact will never stand in the way of irrationality.

Most at CPAC Want Ron Paul in 2012

This makes me feel a little bit better. At the CPAC convention, Ron Paul beat out Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty and others.
Ron Paul doesn't engage in all the hate speech. He opposes war. He's a no nonsense guy who, relative to the other republican possibilities, I like. He's a little extreme regarding the dollar and the Federal Reserve. He's a little extreme overall. But he could be right. I wouldn't vote for him against Obama. But it's good to know that others aren't falling for the likes of Sarah Palin or used car salesman, Mitt. But then again, I don't know how telling these straw polls are. I'd like to see what Ron Paul would do once he had to govern. These guys talk a good talk but once they take the reins of the government, it's a whole new story.
See Ron Paul's speech at CPAC here.
From WaPo

2010 CPAC Straw Poll Results
Ron Paul 31%
Mitt Romney 22%
Sarah Palin 7%
Tim Pawlenty 6%
Mike Pence 5%
Newt Gingrich 4%
Mike Huckabee 4%
Mitch Daniels 2%
John Thune 2%
Rick Santorum 2%
Haley Barbour 1%

Here is part of his speech:

Democrats Turning Into Ron Paul

David Brooks says democrats have turned into Ron Paul. They're railing against Ben Bernanke because they're all afraid of losing their jobs. What a bunch of losers. The republicans, they say, are gloating. What a bunch of losers.
Brooks hails healthcare legislation as dead. All these pundits sitting around criticizing. What a bunch of losers. These are good times. Obama certainly has brought change, just not the kind that everyone expected. I think it's all good. Brooks and Shields also get into a discussion on populism and the Supreme Court decision on campaign financing. Brooks and Shields both agree the decision is a bad one.

Ron Paul Says Cheney Had His Turn

Obama and John Brennan, assistant to the president on counterterrorism and Homeland Security

Nice. Ron Paul is the only republican that I've heard so far speak out against Cheney.

Ron Paul, the Texas congressman and upstart 2008 presidential candidate, told CNN's Larry King Monday night Cheney is in no place to criticize Obama's handling of the war on terrorism.

"I think he had his eight years, and he's caused a lot of trouble for our country and perpetuated a war in Iraq unnecessary and wrong-headed," said Paul. "I would say it would be best he not be so critical right now." CNN

Ben Bernanke Time Magazine's Person of the Year

I sure am glad it wasn't Obama. Republicans/wingnuts don't need any more fodder. A tribute to Ron Paul:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Paul and Grayson Team On Federal Reserve Audit

At first glance, it seems like a good idea. Sunshine never hurts. But then again, all Congress does is make a political mockery of everything. Perhaps without the politics, the Federal Reserve is able to do important work. Here's its working definition of the FRB:

The Federal Reserve is considered an independent central bank. It is independent since its decisions do not have to be ratified by the President or Congress. The Federal Reserve System was created by Congress in 1913 "to provide for the establishment of Federal reserve banks, to furnish an elastic currency, to afford means of rediscounting commercial paper, to establish a more effective supervision of banking in the United States, and for other purposes." This Nation

Ron Paul has long believed that the Federal Reserve should be abolished. See who supported the measure here. About a dozen House democrats voted yes and all of the republicans voted yes.

The House Financial Services Committee has approved Rep. Ron Paul’s measure to drastically expand the government’s power to audit the Federal Reserve.

The measure, based on a Paul proposal that has attracted more than 300 co-sponsors, passed, 43-26, as an amendment to a financial reform bill. Florida Democrat and fellow Fed critic Alan Grayson co-sponsored the amendment with Paul and played a leading role drumming up support for it among committee members. The adoption of this amendment is an extraordinary victory for Paul, whose libertarian, anti-Fed leanings have often been dismissed by the political establishment.

The amendment would give the Government Accountability Office much greater to audit the Federal Reserve, which has a long history of independence from congressional audits. Paul and Grayson beat out a competing measure offered by Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.), who after weeks of negotiations with the pair felt their measure would threaten the Fed’s monetary policy. Politico

Pro and Con on Auto Bailout

I'd say give them the money, fire the leaders. I'm getting the feeling this isn't going to pass.

The Center for American Progress says the talks have been hijacked by conservatives. But of course.
Pro, Dennis Kucinich

Con, Ron Paul

A Former Ron Paul Supporter On Palin

No matter how much McCain sidles up to Palin, this is McCain. It's also Palin, who's ideologically to the right of McCain. Don't be fooled by the Pit Bull in Lipstick.  

When I hear this talk about republicans saying democrats believe in big government, I have to shake my head.

Under Bush there is a record federal budget deficit.
Their favorite pet project seems to be spending money warring around in other countries and making sure they're the party of oil. It costs $341 million a day to be in Iraq. Who doesn't think McCain is going to instigate tensions with Russia? You heard Ms. Mooseburger, there is an oil pipeline at stake.  

Who are these folks trying to kid? This is why they're running on Ms. Mooseburger. She moves eyes toward her, averting focus on what they lack. The republicans don't have a plan for things like education, healthcare or the economy because they think there is only one answer: tax breaks to the rich, so they can create jobs. In theory that's well and good. But it seems as though the country is being divided into the very rich and the very poor, with the middle sucked out. 

They don't have any regard for diplomacy and bettering world affairs. You heard Rudy. They hate Europeans. They're quick to point out that all of our enemies can't wait to launch a nuke. I think the world can't wait for Obama to become president. 

They're always averting eyes, drawing attention elsewhere in hopes that Americans are stupid enough.

Obama has said he'd go through the budget line by line and cut waste. I believe he'd be fiscally prudent. He believes in responsible and transparent government that actually serves a purpose.

As far as I can tell, republicans, with little respect for government, have been busy trashing government.
From a believer in small government:

Very rarely did I hear a word about policy, and when I did, it was usually just deriding a specific plank of Obama's plan.

After a month of listening to a large daily dose of talk radio, I learned virtually nothing about what John McCain actually planned to do for this country.

What I did hear, though, is a lot of supposedly negative things about Barack Obama, most of which seemed nonsensical and completely frivolous compared to the problems of this nation. The worst, for me, was repeated harpings on the idea that Barack Obama was somehow "bad" because he was a community organizer.

I know what community organizers do. I have friends and family who are involved with social work and community organization. They register people to vote. They get people involved with the political process. They know the real, day-to-day problems of the people in their community like the back of their hand. They help people with their life problems, helping elderly folks keep the lights on and helping groups with a significant problem get organized enough to get the attention of an alderman or city hall. The people on the ground, the "community organizers" and very local politicians, do a ton of good work for the people of this country. And through that process, they gain a deep understanding of the real problems and thoughts of everyday people.

That brings us to last night. Until last night, I was slightly leaning towards Obama, but I hadn't firmly decided who I was voting for. I held out hope that during the Convention, I could get a real grasp on where the Republican Party was.

Last night, Sarah Palin gave a speech that was in theory meant to get people like me excited about the Republican ticket. This was one that should have gotten me back on board and excited about the McCain/Palin platform. Read the rest! 

Obama Calls on Hecklers to Lead the Pledge

Update: He worked for Bloomberg

Update: Turns out the heckler was a lone photographer, who was filming the event with a media pass but refused to give his name or outlet. See video below 
Obama in Berea, Ohio, gets interrupted as soon as he gets to the podium. Apparently, someone in the audience claims that the Pledge of Allegiance was not said. Obama asks them to lead the Pledge. Priceless. 

Here's what I don't get: why would Obama be spending every single day, every second, campaigning to be the President of the U.S. if he wasn't patriotic. That person sure is going to be bored throughout the town hall. 

I'll add more from the town hall Q&A session later. 

An Ohioan asks about eliminating the Federal Reserve. 

Obama tells her that we don't need a "gold standard" to have a strong dollar. (This is a Ron Paul belief) The dollar's strength depends on the overall economy, he said. The way to strengthen the dollar is to strengthen the economy. 

Why didn't you support Senate Bill 32? 

Obama asks what it is -- She says it would create a national database to track people have ALS. 

Obama said I don't know what the bill looks like, I don't know what my staff said, but we'll find out what is going on.

Then he went on to talk about R&D and the anti-science Bush administration.

Another question: What about the single dads, asks a young guy who had a baby at 16 and is now getting married. He says that young black guys get a bad rap for fathering children and leaving them behind. Obama said 16 is too young to have a child.

He advocates cracking down on child support. If you father a child, you have to pay child support. 

Government can't do everything, Obama said. He talked about teen pregnancy prevention through education and parenting.  

Q: How will you make the White House more green? 

I want the federal fleet to be converted to energy efficient cars. Every federal building will be retrofitted for insulation and lighting. 

 

To head off McCain and the press, Obama said right now the Secret Service hasn't figured out how to make Obama's SUV bullet proof and efficient.