Why I Take the Donald Trump Campaign Seriously, and You Should Too.

In the past few months we have begun the search for the next President of the United States of America. This year and a half process of deciding who will be given enormous amounts of power over human life in this country cannot be taken lightly. Who we decide to elect president will most likely have a wide range of impacts, from supreme court nominees, to military conflicts, to economic affairs. Each citizen has been given the right to vote, to help decide who that person should be. This right should never be taken lightly, as generations have fought so all may have and retain it.

Many have deemed the democratic nomination to be a shoo in for Hilary Clinton, most are not considering any other candidates for nomination. On the other side, 16 republicans have announced their candidacy. Of these 16 -which includes several governors with exceptional records, and several senators- Donald Trump is the current front runner for the republican nomination. Though many people have thought his whole presidential campaign is nothing more than a publicity stunt, many people are taking him seriously as a candidate. While I support his right to run, I am concerned with why people support him.

My recent experience with Trump supporters has made me question whether or not they even know where he stands on the issues, or if they are more anti-establishment, anti-Washington, and anti-political correctness. Trump is known for his brash talk with bold statements on issues such as immigration and veterans. He has attacked establishment mainstays like John McCain and Lindsay Graham in sometimes sophomoric ways leading many to call for apologies which never came.

Some people appreciate that unapologetic personality and think that kind of attitude is what we need to have in Washington leading our country. Others say the reason they support Trump because you know he'll do what he says. Many have told me it is because he has been such a successful businessman that we need someone who understands business in the white house. 

Those I have come in contact with have no idea where he sits on most issues aside from immigration. So where does Donald Trump stand on the issues?

Speaking about healthcare he said: "It is an unacceptable but accurate fact that the number of uninsured Americans has risen to 42 million. Working out detailed plans will take time. But the goal should be clear: Our people are our greatest asset. We must take care of our own. We must have universal healthcare."

On gun control: "I support the ban on assault weapons and I support a slightly longer waiting period to purchase a gun."

On tax reform: "If we want jobs in America, we need to enact my 5-part tax policy: kill the death tax; lower the tax rates on capital gains & dividends; eliminate corporate taxes in order to create more American jobs; mandate a 15% tax for outsourcing jobs and a 20% tax for importing goods, and enact the 1-5-10-15 income tax plan [four brackets with a top rate of 15%]."

Now he has many more stances on many more issues including abortion, education, etc. Sometimes he has stayed steady, sometimes he has flip flopped. If you are considering supporting him, please read up on what he has said over the years on the issues.

For those who are supporting him because they think he'll be outspoken and unapologetic in the White House, I would like to point you to our current president. No matter what has happened, he has been unapologetic: Benghazi, Fast and Furious, IRS, VA, the Middle East, etc. That is not how you heal America, that is how you divide it further. We need less divisiveness and more compromise among our nation's leaders.

For those who say that they support Trump because - as one person put it - "at least you know what you will get with him, or do you want some one like we have now who says what you wanna hear then does nothing?" My response is that no candidate will ever be perfect on doing everything he says he will do - that is the reality of the presidency.

Sometimes they realize they don't have the authority to do those things, often they realize there are reasons for that, and lastly we are electing a president with constitutionally limited powers, not a king. Even if Donald Trump is elected president, he won't, and can't do all of the things he claims he would do. Some of those things are not within the powers of the president to enact.

We can only consider what he has said in the past, because we have no true political record of how he would act to follow. I say this because, when considering his record, you have to consider: what record does Donald Trump have of accomplishing anything without having either a contractual obligation or a monetary incentive to accomplish it? As president he will have neither.

The real reason why he's getting a boost right now is more than likely a disgruntled GOP electorate. Early polls are no guarantee who will be the nominee by far. At this point four years ago Rick Santorum was leading in the polls. As the debates near, I encourage you to consider every candidate just as I will, where they stand on the issues now, and what they have accomplished in the past.

Please read what each candidate has done, what they say and think about what is best for all of America. This is not a time to rush onto a bandwagon because a candidate is bold or is popular. This is the time to contemplate the future of America and who we think will be best to lead it. 

You are still  allowed to support Donald Trump, but I ask that you consider all of the candidates as well. Read about them and where they are on the issues, what they have done with their time in the private sector and in office. Please take your duty as a citizen of this great nation seriously.

IRS Scandal Ways and Means Second Hearing Thoughts

By Tim Newton
So I've been hearing from a few critics lately about the IRS Scandal. They say  "why should we subsidize these groups that are clearly political in nature?" I have also heard the statement "shouldn't they expect to be investigated further if their group seems political in nature?"
I refer those who ask these questions to two videos, one which details this argument more fully, the second answers these questions. No representative that I have heard from has disagreed on the fact that these groups were targeted and that there was harassment that occurred, and that it was definitely inappropriate on all counts. No one is doubting that, the question remains to be answered is who directed this. From what we learned from Rep. Issa this weekend, he believes and seems to have evidence that it went deeper than just a couple of rogue agents in Cincinnati.


Rep Jim Mcdermott (D-WA)




Rep Aaron Schock (R-IL)



Rep Paul Ryan (R-WI)
(his time starts a minute and a half in)



We must consider several ideas here, the first of which is this, if political groups need additional scrutiny, was it done equally? The answer is a resounding no. Out of the 300 groups singled out in Cincinnati 75 were conservative, and 3 were liberal. From what we can tell there is no evidence of any kind that liberal groups were given the same scrutiny and harassment or asked similar questions.

Next we must consider the question: Was the type of scrutiny appropriate and even handed, and were records obtained handled fairly? Again a resounding no, as evidenced during Rep. Ryan's questioning, it is evident that much of the handling was inappropriate and at times excessive, at times even illegal actions were made by the IRS. Asking for donors lists, requesting not to have them protest, detailing every speech made by a speaker, who made it and their credentials? Not only are these things excessive, but definitely overreach and out of control is what it seems. 

Now, whenever you have a group that is receiving status for educating and promoting the well being of citizens, there will be innately an ideology involved of some sort. These groups are not big money funneling groups, but groups seeking to promote what they deem is in the public benefit of the U.S. Over the course of our history our country has had a healthy and constant discussion of the rights of the people and the role of government, which is one of the most polarizing questions of our time. 

The next question we need to consider is this: What form of subsidization is occurring here, and why do we have the designation for these groups for individuals to donate their funds to them? Now when we talk of tax exemptions here it is referring to exemptions for individuals donating to these groups. This does not mean that the individual group is receiving any money from the government. Similarly if you are asking that question are you as concerned about a liberal group as you are a conservative group? 

What is to be done about the issue? The first I would say is that the truth in it's entirety needs to come forth, and be examined. Next we need to consider the proper course of action, such as additional transparency and accountability for actions of individuals within the IRS and other possible entities outside. If it does come out that it is individuals lower down then maybe their authority needs to be limited further, and greater accountability measures need to be put into place on these matters.

Americans: Independent Investigator Needed

By Tim Newton
Most Americans believe that we have come to the point with the IRS that a special prosecutor is needed to investigate and uncover the full truth of the targeting and harassment of conservative groups by the IRS according to a new poll. the Quinnipiac University national poll stated that 76% of those who were interviewed said they believed it was necessary.


Much has been happening in the IRS scandal, and we know this for sure from hearings in the house and senate continuing the investigation beyond the report from the IRS. We know that the criteria used to sort through non profit groups for extra scrutiny did include ones with the names "Tea Party," "Patriots," and those seeking to teach about the constitution. Overall from what we have learned, nearly 500 conservative groups were targeted, including 5 pro-Israel groups, groups promoting the constitution,groups that criticized Obama administration, at least two pro-life groups a Texas voting-rights group and several conservative activists and businesses were targeted for additional scrutiny from the IRS after requesting to receive non profit status. It seems that the right to freedom of speech and the freedom of assembly can be added to the list of the Obama administration's attack on the first amendment, adding to it's previous attacks on the press and religious freedom of the people. It seems that the very cornerstones of our free society are edging away as the administration continues to make their attacks on one provision of the Bill of Rights after another.

The scandal has continued and the cover-up is being unraveled. Consequences are coming and coming fast. We recently learned that Lois Lerner has been placed on administrative leave, and is receiving increased heat from republicans for pleading the fifth after reading a written statement and making a claim that she was innocent. It is not a surprise she is pleading the fifth, since last year she was asked to testify about whether the standards had changed for determining which groups would receive extra scrutiny and she said the standards had not changed. We do know now that the standards had changed before, and once the investigation began they changed again. There are also some barely legal things that were done like attempting to impose a gift tax on individuals who made donations to conservative groups.

Also we have learned that the wife of  previous IRS head Douglas Shulman is  an executive for a liberal group whose primary aim is to remove private interest groups from having political influence in government, while also being heavily funded by labor groups.

With an independent investigator more ability to be free of the administration's control would give an opportunity to not only investigate the targeting of individuals but the continued harassment of these groups that applied for tax exempt status.Hopefully with such an investigation this targeting and harassment will stop.

Some have asked well shouldn't we give political groups more scrutiny anyways? My answer is this, the point of tax exempt status is not to have the government or the people pay for a groups existence by not taxing them, but to recognize that they are not out to make a profit, and therefore the moneys they bring in are not in the same category as a business. If you are going to however say we need more scrutiny for political groups, then apply it equally, and don't single out conservative groups alone, many liberal groups were asking for the same status and very very few were given the same scrutiny.

 On the other hand, the bigger issue to me is the continued harassment, some groups being told they couldn't picket planned parenthood, some groups being told they needed to detail the content of prayers that might be prayed at group meetings, some of the questions singled out specific individuals without explanation for why, even when that individual was not a politician, and had no reason why they were involved in the questioning. They were also asked to detail all of their donors and the amount of donation, which is illegal. When that wasn't enough, some of these groups members were also audited, as were their businesses and families, and they had had not previous contact or issues with the IRS before starting these groups.
 Check out our previous posts on this issue:
IRS Scandal: Why does it matter? Read more here

IRS Scandal goes deeper: Read more here

Watch several videos from the Ways and Means Committee Meeting on the IRS Scandal here

A week of scandals, overview of IRS, AP and more. Read more here

IRS Scandal Why Does it Matter?

We first discussed what was going on in this scandal here and here. I think it is important now  to discuss why this scandal matters to the American people. First is that our government and it's leaders have been entrusted to execute the law with fairness and equality. We even created the 14th amendment to ensure equal protection under the law. Second the power that our government has can be abused, and when it is there should be consequences for those who abuse that power.

I want to share a personal experience with you that I had with the IRS. A few years ago I  was a student working for a little cafe on campus making a mere $7 an hour, 15 hours a week. One year I forgot to submit my taxes until July. When I became aware of this I paid up on my taxes and even paid the late fees on my taxes. I owed $25 because the school didn't withold any taxes, and my penalty was around $100. I paid the penalty, but not in time before the next penalty was assessed. Between moving and several stops that penalty again was eventually paid, but cost me another $50. 

Why did I share this story? Because with the IRS you pay and you pay on time, you do it right, and you do it their way. Things do not become ok with them by just saying that you are sorry, you can't plead the fifth and have the IRS tell you it is ok and that they won't investigate further. They demand a response, and if that isn't enough they will take the money directly from your bank account. They can audit your personal finances, your business, and your family members at any time, even with no just cause for such intrusions. To most of America, we fear the IRS and what power it holds in our lives. 

Now when investigating these matters of intrusion by the IRS by illegally targeting conservative groups, it is now makes things ok for saying I'm sorry. According to former IRS Chief Douglas H. Shulmann he is sorry for the IRS actions in these matters, and Lois Lerner started her remarks by apologizing originally which brought this story to light. Today she went before the House she pleaded the fifth. It will become more clear later this week whether or not she will be forced to testify due to her making a statements. This is being debated because of an interpretation issue. 

So why does it matter so much that the IRS is targeting conservative groups? Why does it matter? Because it a gross overreach of power among groups that should be even handed in their approach. As we saw last week in the house ways and means hearing, this was not just a simple overreach of power, and begs a few questions to be asked. First who made this decision? Why did they make the decision to target specific groups? Why were these follow up questions asked? Why didn't they have more supervision over these questions when they were asked?

Why did Lois Lerner plead the fifth? Several members of congress believe she made at best incomplete statements regarding the targeting of conservative groups which applied for tax exempt status while she was chief of the tax exempt division of the IRS. We of course know due to and inspector general report that she new of the targeting as early as June 2011 and that she has testified before congress since then that there was no targeting.

This is transparency at it's worst, when an administration and branches of government hide behind executive privilege(fast and furious) and claiming to have no knowledge of these incidents until they come to public, we must ask the question, does the administration and President really think that the american people are incompetent enough not to make the connections, and realize that his administration is corrupt? We have had four major scandals with no firings, a couple of resignations, but no real consequences for anyone that has taken part. Lois Lerner has even been rewarded by being put in charge of the Obamacare implementation! 

This frankly speaking was a coverup, and continues to be a scandal of import, as it seems that the most overbearing government agency was used for political means to punish those opposing the party in power's authority. It makes perfect sense that of course the same individual in charge of that division of the IRS was then appointed to head up the implementation of Obamacare, because they knew she would do what they wanted her to do, punish the groups that they want punished. Whenever there is power to be had those in power will always seek to keep, increase and often abuse that power.

Something needs to be done, I am encouraged by Senator Heller's (R-NV) actions. Senator Heller (R-NV) has introduced a bill to cut funding to increase IRS agents as requested by Obamacare. 

IRS Scandal Goes Deeper

By Tim Newton
It seemed fairly light, but still overreach at first, with a simple apology by the Chief IRS Director over non-profit organizations admitting that conservative groups had been targeted for extra scrutiny. As it has grown, we now know that this overreach was extremely overbearing and details show a great deal of harassment. It was not however just the overreach of targeting groups that has so many individuals upset, the scandal continues to grow in force and shines more light on the lack of transparency and accountability both in the IRS and in the Obama administration.

We now know that Lois Lerner had a planted questioner ask her about questions that had been asked in the media about the IRS and Tea Party Groups   and she issued an apology, This came just days after her hearing before the Ways and Means Committee herself and right before the Inspector General's report on the IRS's mishandling on Tea Party and conservative groups requests for tax exemption. She has now stated that when she appears before the house she will plead the fifth. This of course comes from the most transparent administration in history. Her current position after being head of this besieged department? She is now the head of the division which has been charged with helping to implement Obamacare.

Some senators see the overreach of the IRS as too much, and that they must be held accountable. Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) has introduced a bill to cut funding to increase IRS agents as requested by Obamacare.
He stated:
 "News that the IRS has been targeting conservative groups violated the trust that the American people place in their government. Nevadans are already concerned about ObamaCare, so the fact that Congress could hand over even more power to an agency under intense scrutiny to enforce the health care law is deeply concerning. The ‘IRS Accountability Act’ suspends funding for new ObamaCare IRS agents because right now we can’t trust the IRS to do its job"

Then we were told by the Obama administration that they had no knowledge of it . We now know that administration officials knew at least three weeks beforehand. Apparently his aids did not inform him of the scandal so he did not "interfere" with the ongoing investigation. Why does our president seem to not know about everything that is going on in his administration? But as we also learned last weekend Obama has had no hand in running government in the last four years to begin with ;).

Now it wouldn't be as bad if this was just a targeting issue, as we learned from the hearings last week before the House Committee on Ways and Means that it wasn't just targeting, but a great deal of harassment including asking for the content of possible prayers that members of the group may pray, voluminous amounts of records, financial details of members, along with audits of businesses and individuals involved with these organizations.

Details keep emerging in this case but the further it goes, the deeper it gets for the Obama administration, as scandals within the departments of  Treasury, Justice, and State continue to be investigated. The Senate's Finance committee sent a bipartisan letter requesting large amounts of documents to be released to the public after hearing from large numbers of non profit groups.It has even extended to a further scandal of investigating and threatening prosecution against a Fox News reporter for an investigation he was conducting. The Justice Department hole keeps being dug deeper, and the time for restraint of the government by the people is need now more than ever.

IRS Ways and Means Hearing overview

By Tim Newton
A quick overview of some videos for the ways and means hearing. This hearing was conducted this morning(5/17/2013). Below are a few videos of questions and responses given to Steve Miller the outgoing acting chief of the IRS. He resigned this week amid this ongoing scandal.

All of this came to light after Lois Lerner had a planted questioner ask her about questions that had been asked in the media about the IRS and Tea Party Groups   and she issued an apology, This came just days after her hearing before the Ways and Means Committee herself and right before the Inspector General's report on the IRS's mishandling on Tea Party and conservative groups requests for tax exemption.

Mike Kelly (R-PA)
Asks about how it came about and who was responsible for these acts. Also talks about the fear of the IRS and government overreach in America.






Rep Pat Tiberi (R-OH) Discusses individuals in Ohio and their experiences trying to receive tax exempt status including voluminous material required by the IRS.





Rep. Aaron Schock R-IL discussed tea party groups and questions asked, including whether the content of a persons prayers was an appropriate question to be included in follow up questions.



Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) asks is this still America? Discusses whether there has been extreme government overreach and targeting of individuals. Also asks about sharing of this information to other government agencies.





And last but not least, Rep Paul Ryan (R-WI)

A week of scandals IRS, AP, and more

By Tim Newton

Four years ago our Nation heralded in a man who said he would put aside the partisan politics of the past, that a new age of bipartisanship had begun, and that his administration would be the most transparent administration of all time. The media went crazy; people cried at his inaugural address thinking that the world would never be the same.

Fast forward to this last week, which some might call the president's worst week in Washington. Not only has he been dealing with the overhang of the Benghazi whistleblowers appearing before congress, but now he is dealing with two additional scandals: the first being the IRS targeting conservative groups and the second is the AP phone records requests from the Justice Department.

So we have an overreach of power so much that even Jon Stewart couldn't control himself.



Even he said it: "A good government has the power to improve peoples lives and the people have the power to restrain it's excesses."

For the last few years I have not remained silent in my contempt for the current administration. An inexperienced man in power giving too much rope to his subordinates with too little accountability leads heavily down the lane of abuse of power by said subordinates in order to maintain their power and control. If Fast and Furious and Benghazi wasn't enough,  we have now added in two additional scandals to the mix to show that in all reality the president is one of two things: a dirty Chicago politician or an ignorant inexperienced leader with no actual control over his administration. I hope for his sake it's the latter, because at least that would mean he wasn't lying as he continues to have his press secretary say that he had no knowledge of these different scandals.

The fairytale is over, the shine has faded off of his presidency, and we are left to understand the basic deception of it: that a people wanting a celebrity president got one, who then in turn was really just a politician playing them like any other previous politician. Watch this from the Chicago Tribune:



The deception is over, the curtain has been pulled, and now we see the man who uses power to get what he wants exposed for who he is.  He is not a god. He is a man, and a man with power cannot be trusted to any degree.

At his commencement address at The Ohio State University, he stated  “You’ve grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity that’s at the root of all our problems. You should reject these voices. Because what these suggest is that somehow our brave, creative, unique experiment in self-rule is just a sham with which we can’t be trusted.”

I beg to differ with his opinion on this matter. The cynics are not as concerned with the form of government that has been established - a restricted republic with checks and balances - as they are with the abuses of power that seem to be inherent when one group or individual gains too much power. It seems to be human nature that too much power brings out the worst in men, sometimes the best, but more often than not the worst. As someone once said, "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." It is therefore necessary that we limit this power with checks, including legislative, judicial, and regulatory. When compared with the other two branches of government, the Executive Branch has seen a much broader expansion of powers. This expansion throughout our history has exceeded by far its mandated responsibilities granted by the Constitution.

Our founders when conceiving our constitution were afraid of factions taking over portions or all of our government and oppressing individuals. They gave the government checks and balances, to ensure that even though the government might not be the most efficient, it would have the best shot at restraining tyranny. We must restrain the excessive power of our government, and I believe we need to begin with the executive branch.