The Social Security Collection Agency

Paul Jacob / Townhall Columnist

 

To those nattering nabobs of negativity who don’t trust government to do the right thing, or even to stop doing the wrong thing once discovered, I just want to say: “You’re right.”

Again.

Last April, a Washington Post exposé about a bizarrely tyrannical debt collection program caused the Social Security Administration (SAA) to publicly promise it would cease and desist from said program. The Social Security bureaucracy had been snatching the income tax refund checks of grown children whose parents, many decades ago, had allegedly been sent excess money intended for the care and feeding of these then-youngsters by this same incompetent outfit.

The booty? A not insignificant $75 million. The victims? A whopping 400,000 of them.

Due process? The SSA didn’t go before a judge to prove these people owed a valid debt, nor even bother to inform folks that their tax refunds were being seized. Instead, the Social Security gang just flat-out took the money . . . surreptitiously, like any other thief in the night.

In a stark break with their name, Social Security officials decided to collect these “debts” by intercepting state and federal tax refunds before they could be sent to the adults whose parents or parent had allegedly received excess benefits some three or even four decades ago.

Of course, Congress has its bloody, rotten hands in this. A provision in the 2008 farm bill authorized SSA to beginning collecting overpayments going back beyond the 10-year limit that had been the law.

In some of these collection cases, the SSA wasn’t certain who exactly owed the money. In one case, the agency went after a child even when they could find the mother who supposedly owed the money. Why? The mother had already beaten them in federal court.

The SSA flouted more than common sense and decency. Children should not be held legally responsible for the debts of their parents.

Hasn’t this been settled law for at least the last couple of centuries?

“They are going after kids, and their briefs prove it,” explains Robert Vogel, an attorney litigating against the SSA, “They’re asking the court to be the first court in the United States to force a child to pay a debt incurred by the parents. It’s really quite disgusting.”

Amid tension, more than 20,000 attend NYPD funeral

AP News / via Townhall.com

NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of police officers, state troopers, sheriff's deputies and others from law enforcement agencies big and small across the country gathered at the New York City funeral of a slain officer killed with his partner in a brazen daytime ambush a week ago.

The sea of blue uniforms stretched for blocks outside the Christ Tabernacle Church in Queens on Saturday, as police helicopters flew above in a missing-man formation and Officer Rafael Ramos' body was carried by pallbearers in a casket draped in the New York Police Department flag. The NYPD estimates more than 20,000 officers attended.

"When an assassin's bullet targeted two officers, it targeted this city and it touched the soul of an entire nation," Vice President Joe Biden said in his eulogy.

But the somber day, reminiscent of the bond New Yorkers shared after the Sept. 11 attacks and Superstorm Sandy, was not without tension.

During the eulogy, a few hundred officers outside the church turned away from giant screens showing de Blasio, who has been harshly criticized by New York police union officials as a contributor to a climate of mistrust that preceded the killings of Ramos and his partner, Wenjian Liu.

Sgt. Myron Joseph of the New Rochelle Police Department said he and fellow officers turned their backs spontaneously to "support our brothers in the NYPD."

In a statement, de Blasio's spokesman said: "The Ramos and Liu families, our police department and our city are dealing with an unconscionable tragedy. Our sole focus is unifying this city and honoring the lives of our two police officers."

In his eulogy, the mayor said hearts citywide were broken after the Dec. 20 shootings.

Police Commissioner William Bratton, who said Ramos and Liu were targeted because they wore a uniform, was scheduled to appear on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday. On Friday he made Ramos — who was studying to become a pastor and kept Bible study books in his locker — an honorary chaplain of his Brooklyn precinct.

Picture of Western teen jihadi sparks fears of Islamic State propaganda coup

Pamela Geller / Jihad Watch

Another young convert “misunderstanding” Islam in exactly the same way as millions of other Muslims and converts. At least that’s what the media and political elites tell us – as if they understood Islam better than the devout.

“Sparks fear of ‘propaganda coup.'” It should spark fear of the Islamic texts and teachings that command holy war.

If the Islamic State is not Islamic, what is it? How did this misunderstanding of Islam become so widespread? Why are so many more Western Muslims and Muslim converts  than ever joined al Qaeda joining the Islamic State?

And while Muslims in the West condemn the Islamic State, where are they teaching against the ideology that gave rise to it?

 Right now,...

Read the whole entry »

     

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Obama: Afghanistan “not going to be a source of terrorist attacks again”

By Robert Spencer / Jihad Watch

 

How can he say this after sending Guantanamo detainees back to Afghanistan, and while the Taliban continue to operate with relative impunity? He can say it because he is Obama: he knows that no matter what he says, the mainstream media will cover for him.

“Obama: Afghanistan ‘Not Going to Be a Source of Terrorist Attacks Again,’” by Joel Gehrke, National Review, December 26, 2014:

President Obama promised that Afghanistan is “not going to be a source of terrorist attacks again” during a Christmas meeting with service members, an echo of the pledge he made regarding Iraq before U.S. troops withdrew and the Islamic State took over major cities in the country….

Here are Obama’s remarks, as transcribed in the pool report:

Because of the extraordinary service of the men and women in the Armed Forces, Afghanistan has a chance to rebuild its own country. We are safer. It’s not going to be a source of terrorist attacks again. And we still have some very difficult missions around the world, including in Iraq. We still have folks in Afghanistan helping the Afghan security forces. We have people helping to deal with Ebola in Africa and obviously we have folks stationed all around the world. But the world is better, it’s safer, it’s more peaceful, It’s more prosperous and our homeland is protected because of you and the sacrifices each and every day. So on a day when we celebrate the Prince of Peace and many of us count or blessings one of the greatest blessings we have is the extraordinary dedication and sacrifices you all make. We could not be more thankful. I know I speak for everyone in the entire country when I say, we salute you.

Egyptian writer charged for tweet "defaming" Islam

New issue of al-Qaeda magazine devoted to "jihad in America"

 

9 Fights You'll See In Washington Next Year

Conn Carroll / Townhall Tipsheet

 

Now that Republicans control the Senate, President Obama can no longer hide behind Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). He is going to have to start vetoing some bills in order to protect his existing government expansions. But he can't veto everything.

There are at least six must pass items that Obama and Republicans must come to an agreement on in 2015. And there are at least three other fights the will be simmering through out year but are unlikely to reach any resolution. So, in chronological order, here are the nine biggest fights you can expect to see between Obama and Republicans in 2015:

1. Tax Extenders: On December 19th, Obama signed the Tax Increase Prevention Act, which retroactively extended more than 50 tax credit programs worth almost $42 billion from January 1, 2014 through December 2014. The credits will again expire on New Year's Day 2015, so there will be some pressure on Congress to renew them again right away.

However, Congress has routinely retroactively extended these tax breaks before, and the Internal Revenue Service continues to operate as though they will do so again for 2015, so there will not be a lot of pressure to get this done right away.

2. Department of Homeland Security: The CRomnibus, signed by Obama, on December 16th, funds every agency of the federal government, except the DHS, through September 30th, 2015. But the bill only funds the DHS through February 28th.

House Republican leaders have promised conservatives that they will attach a rider to the DHS funding bill, that will prevent the agency responsible for carrying out Obama's amnesty, the office of United States Citizenship and Immigrations Services, from issuing the work permits Obama promised illegal immigrants. Obama has promised to veto any DHS spending bill that has such a provision. Someone will have to cave.

3. Debt Limit: On February 15th, 2014, Obama signed the Temporary Debt Limit Extension Act, which raised the Treasury Department's borrowing limit through March 15, 2015. The Treasury Department is usually able to fudge some accounts and extend debt limit deadlines, and experts say they should be able to extend this deadline too, possibly all the way through August.

However, considering that Republicans got virtually nothing from Democrats when the debt limit was raised in February, it is highly unlikely Republicans will get anything from Obama in 2015.

4. Doc Fix: The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 created a cost saving mechanism for Medicare called the Sustainable Growth Rate. The law was designed to slow Medicare spending growth by cutting the payments doctor's receive from Medicare. But Congress has routinely undone these cuts and the latest Doc Fix prevented a 25 percent cut in doctor Medicare payments for 2014 at a cost of $21 billion. These cuts are scheduled to, again, take place starting March 31, 2015.

But just like the IRS ignores the expiration of certain tax extenders, the Health and Human Services Department has continued paying doctor's their expected rate despite inaction from Congress. But HHS can only do this for so long. Sometime around the end of March Republicans will have to find a way to pay for another Doc Fix. Since Congress and Obama would need to agree on a pay-for, either through a spending cut or a tax hike, a long-term fix to the problem is highly unlikely.

Pamela Geller, Breitbart: Terror President

Pamela Geller / Atlas Shrugs

If you missed my column at Bretbart, read it here:

Obama Won’t Stand Firm Against the Taliban Even in Wake of Pakistan School Massacre

Pamela Geller, Breitbart, December 24, 2014

When Barack Obama condemned the Taliban’s horrific mass murder of children in a school in Peshawar last week, he referred to “terrorists” who, he said, “have once again shown their depravity.” But he did not name the terrorists. He never mentioned the Taliban. 

Read the whole thing here.

     

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US gives Pakistan free pass and $1 billion, ignores its ties to jihad terror groups

By Robert Spencer / Jihad Watch

 

“A defence authorization bill signed by President Barack Obama last week that provides for $1 billion in aid to Pakistan in 2015 conditions it on Islamabad taking steps to disrupt the Haqqani Network and eliminating safe havens of al-Qaida and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. However, it makes no mention of the Punjab-centric terror groups such as the Laskar-e-Taiba (LeT) aka Jamaat-ul-Dawa (JuD), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and others that are considered proxies of the Pakistani state.”

“US gives Pakistan a free pass — and $1 billion — by ignoring LeT, LeJ,” by Chidanand Rajghatta, TNN, December 26, 2014 (thanks to Lookmann):

WASHINGTON: The United States may well have subscribed to Pakistan’s policy of “bad terrorists” (from its Afghan front, who mostly attack Pakistan and US) versus “good terrorists” (from West Punjab, who mostly attack India).

A defence authorization bill signed by President Barack Obama last week that provides for $1 billion in aid to Pakistan in 2015 conditions it on Islamabad taking steps to disrupt the Haqqani Network and eliminating safe havens of al-Qaida and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.

However, it makes no mention of the Punjab-centric terror groups such as the Laskar-e-Taiba (LeT) aka Jamaat-ul-Dawa (JuD), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and others that are considered proxies of the Pakistani state.

A review of the 1640-page text of S.1847, formally known as the Carl Levin and Howard P ‘Buck’ McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015, shows US emphasis on calling Pakistan to account for terrorist activity on its western flank, mainly through the Taliban, which impacts the US drawdown in Afghanistan.

It makes the $1 billion US aid contingent on Pakistan taking steps that have “demonstrated a commitment to ensuring that North Waziristan does not return to being a safe haven for the Haqqani network.” It also seeks a description of any strategic security objectives that the US and Pakistan have agreed to pursue and an assessment of the effectiveness of any US security assistance to Pakistan to achieve such strategic objectives.

Lashkar-e-Taiba chief and 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed continues to roam freely in Pakistan and is also allowed to hold anti-India rallies in cities across the country.

But missing from the legislation is any concern, let alone any conditions, about Pakistan’s fostering of the Punjabi terror groups such as LeT that not only attacked Mumbai on 26/11 (an incident in which six Americans were also killed), but also the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a sectarian outfit that has killed hundreds of Pakistani Shias.

Both groups are patronized by Pakistan’s military and political establishments, which derive their power from the country’s heartland of west Punjab, much like the terror groups themselves.

A charitable explanation for the legislative oversight (or lack of it) maybe to take into account the broad and fleeting reference to “other militant extremist groups” in the text of the legislation. But in a remarkable coincidence, the Pakistan establishment began freeing its so-called “good terrorists” from Punjab even as President Obama signed the defense authorization bill on December 19. The easing up also followed the Pakistani army chief Gen Raheel Sharif’s visit to Washington DC last month….