Planned Parenthood Exploits Martin Luther King for Fundraiser

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The Wisconsin affiliate of the Planned Parenthood abortion business is exploiting the name of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for a donation event, despite the fact that his niece says he would have been pro-life on abortion.

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin has launched what it calls MLK Community Donation Drives that is claims honor King’s legacy.

“In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy and our commitment to serving the community in 2013 and beyond, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin is hosting community donation drives,” it says on its donation page.

“Please join us in our efforts to keep Wisconsin families safe, healthy and strong! Planned Parenthood locations around the state are collecting items of particular need for each local community,” it adds. “Below is the list of participating Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin locations, community/donation partners, and items being collected. Please join our efforts by dropping off your items at a participating location on or before February 1.”

The community donation drive is a fine event that assembled everything from canned goods for local shelters to personal items for women for domestic violence shelters. But Planned Parenthood slaps Martin Luther King Jr’s name on it and uses a photo of him to endorse the event, as if he would support the modern-day Planned Parenthood abortion business.

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Government Accountability Office Audit Reveals IRS Service Bad — And Getting Worse

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photo credit: 401(k)2013

Fewer taxpayers are getting through on the Internal Revenue Service hotline, their wait times for help has surged to 17 minutes, and 40 percent of those who write in questions wait over 45 days for an answer, a deterioration of taxpayer service that is just getting worse, according to a new government audit.

It’s not much better for professional tax preparers seeking help, according to a new Government Accountability Office report on IRS taxpayer operations. The GAO found that just 73 percent of tax preparers who needed assistance from a live IRS official got through on the phone and their wait was an average of 22 minutes–19 minutes more than the wait in 2007.

And unfortunately for taxpayers, help is not on the way. The GAO found that the IRS doesn’t have a plan that can fix the service breakdowns fast enough and Congress isn’t expected to help out with more money.

The “IRS does not have a strategy to reverse declines in service,” said Uncle Sam’s auditor. “The federal government’s tight budget environment makes any meaningful increase in resources for taxpayer service unlikely,” it added.

There is good news, however, in their annual report.

Read more from this story HERE.

Senior State Dept. Climate Official Heads to Department Of Energy

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photo credit: kevin m. gill

A State Department official who helped lead international climate talks is moving to the Energy Department (DOE) to head that agency’s climate operations.

Jonathan Pershing will begin his new role as DOE deputy assistant secretary for climate change policy and technology on Tuesday, David Sandalow, DOE secretary for policy and international affairs, said in a Friday email to staff.

Pershing will oversee domestic climate and clean-energy initiatives for that office, Sandalow noted. He replaces Rick Duke, who left the agency in September.

At State Department, Pershing served as deputy special envoy for climate change under special envoy Todd Stern. He helped lead the U.S. envoy in United Nations global warming talks for the past four years.

Pershing defended U.S. and Obama administration efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions during a U.N. climate conference in November.

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West Point: ‘Far Right’ Dangerous to U.S.

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A new West Point study released by the U.S. Military Academy’s Combating Terrorism Center is linking opposition to abortion and other “fundamental” positions to terrorism, and pro-life leaders say it’s just a way to paint them in a negative way.

The study, “Challenges from the Sidelines: Understanding America’s Violent Far-Right,” says the major far right threats are from, “a racist/white supremacy movement, an anti-federalist movement and a fundamentalist movement.”

Author Arie Perliger cites “anti-abortionists” as an active threat for terrorist activity.

“The anti-abortionists have been extremely productive during the last two decades, amassing 227 attacks, many of them perpetrated without the responsible perpetrators identified or caught,” Perliger wrote. “And while, in both cases, the 1990s were more violent than the last decade, in the case of anti-abortion, the trend is much more extreme, as 90 percent of attacks were perpetrated before 2001.”

American Life League President Judie Brown believes this is a smear tactic.

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Poll: 75 Percent Want Congressional Term Limits

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Three out of four Americans support term limits for members of Congress, a new poll finds.

According to a Gallup survey posted Friday, 75 percent of adults nationwide back term limits for members of the House and the Senate, while 21 percent say they would vote against term limits. Term limits received bipartisan support in the poll: Republicans would back such a measure 82 percent-15 percent; independents would do so 79 percent-17 percent and Democrats favored term limits 65 percent-29 percent, even as most incumbents won their races again in November, Gallup noted.

This survey comes at a time when many Americans have a negative opinion of the Hill.

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IRS Loses Lawsuit in Fight Against Tax Preparers

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photo credit: scott*eric

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday barred the IRS from imposing a series of new regulations, including a competency exam, on hundreds of thousands of tax preparers.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington ruled against the IRS in favor of three tax preparers who filed suit last year with the help of a libertarian legal group, the Arlington, Va.-based Institute for Justice.

Since 2011, in response to what it says has been a growing problem of poorly done returns, the IRS has sought to impose a series of new regulations on tax preparers. That included a requirement to pass a qualifying exam, paying an annual application fee, and taking 15 hours annually of continuing-education courses.

Attorneys and certified public accountants would have been exempt from the regulations.

The Institute for Justice argued that the IRS lacked the statutory authority to impose the regulations and said they would put tens of thousands of mom-and-pop tax preparers out of business, because the regulations were onerous and create a competitive disadvantage to the attorneys and CPAs who were exempt.

Read more from this story HERE.

Environmentalists Versus Workers: Keystone Pipeline Decision Will Shape Obama’s Legacy

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Whether President Obama approves the Keystone XL pipeline or not hinges on one key question: Which is more important to him, creating jobs and promoting energy independence or fighting climate change?

Two reports released Thursday highlight both issues, making even clearer the choice the White House faces. Mr. Obama has delayed for more than a year a final decision on the massive pipeline, which would transport Canadian oil sands through the U.S. to Gulf Coast refineries.

The project’s latest route also must be approved by Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman, a Republican whose state stands to benefit if the pipeline is built.

A study commissioned by the Consumer Energy Alliance details those benefits: more than 5,500 Nebraska jobs created during the 2013-14 construction period, with nearly 1,000 permanent jobs continuing through 2030; more than $950 million in labor income generated for the life of the project; more than $130 million in property, sales and other taxes for Nebraska coffers; and an estimated $679 million boost to Nebraska’s gross domestic product.

The study, conducted by the Goss Institute for Economic Research, also predicts that the pipeline will increase overall economic activity in Nebraska by about $1.8 billion through 2029.

Read more from this story HERE.

Rand Paul to Chris Christie: Cool it With the Temper Tantrums & Grandstanding, Alright? (+audio)

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If it seems like Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) have been in the news an awful lot recently, it’s because they have been — the New Jersey governor for his harsh criticism of House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and the National Rifle Association and the Kentucky senator for his vow to “nullify” the president’s new gun-control measures.

And if you’ve been waiting on a news story that involves both GOP heavyweights, well, you’re in luck: Sen. Paul on Friday publicly reprimanded Gov. Christie for “not standing up for Second Amendment rights in the ongoing gun control debate,” as CNN puts it.

“You have some Republicans backing down like Christie backing down and criticizing the NRA, and I think that doesn’t do us any good,” Sen. Paul told conservative talk radio host Laura Ingraham. “So I think Republicans do need to stand more firmly on this issue.”

Asked why he thinks Gov. Christie chose to take such a hard stance against the NRA and its “reprehensible” anti-Obama ad, Sen. Paul said he thinks the governor is merely posturing.

“I think he may be solidifying his support with Democrats in New Jersey and maybe liberal Republicans,” the Kentucky senator said.

Listen to audio:

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Texas Runs Ads Telling New York Gun Owners to Move to the Lone Star

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“Texas is better than New York, and New York just gave us another excuse to say that,” [Attorney General] Abbott, a Republican, said on Thursday, after ads extolling Texas appeared on several media websites.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, signed sweeping gun-control legislation earlier this week expanding the state’s ban on assault weapons and putting limits on ammunition capacity in the wake of last month’s school shootings in Connecticut.

Abbott, a possible candidate for governor of Texas in next year’s election, used campaign money to buy ads on websites of news organizations in New York City and Albany.

One ad says in classic Western script: “WANTED: Law abiding New York gun owners seeking lower taxes and greater opportunities.”

Clicking on the ad leads to a Facebook page touting the virtues of Texas, including the fact that the state has no income tax so “you’ll be able to keep more of what you earn and use that extra money to buy more ammo.”

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NRA: This is About Banning Guns

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Late Tuesday evening, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre sent an email to supporters as President Obama prepares to sign as many as 19 executive orders on new gun control measures. LaPierre said this isn’t about protecting children, it’s about “banning your guns” . . .

It’s not about protecting children. It’s not about stopping crime. It’s about banning your guns…PERIOD!

Last week, NRA sat in on a White House meeting that was sold to the public as an “open discussion” about how to improve school safety. But that was a dirty lie.

They didn’ listen to gun owners’ concerns…they didn’ consider any real solutions on how we can keep our kids safe…instead Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and their gun ban allies in Congress only want to BLAME you, VILIFY you, BULLY you, and STRIP you of your Second Amendment freedoms.

Right now, they’re steamrolling ahead with legislation that would ban your guns, register your ammunition purchases, and even force you to register the firearms you already own with Obama’s anti-gun bureaucrats.

Read full story HERE.