Cap-n-Trade: Now 10% Fraud-Free!

Here’s something to consider for those who wondered why the usual suspects flew up in arms earlier this week over reports that ‘Circle of Commitment’, countries including the U.S., were seeking to wrest control of the Kyoto revenue mechanism to the World Bank (there’s no such move afoot, incidentally; that was merely an overwrought reaction to said suspects finding something that they hadn’t been allowed to write).

That of course would have implications for the “global carbon offset market” if Kyoto II ropes us in and finally begins chugging down the tracks, next stop “Oil for Food on Steroids”.

Today’s Open Europe press briefing includes the following item (in bold in original):

(more…)

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Tags: cap-and-trade, climate change, Emissions Trading, Enron, European Union
Posted Dec 10th 2009 at 11:19 am in Economics, Environment, Politics | 4416631 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/chorner/2009/12/10/cap-n-trade-now-10-fraud-free/Cap-n-Trade%3A+Now+10%25+Fraud-Free%212009-12-10+18%3A19%3A50Christopher+C.+Horner

What Do You Mean the Federal First-Time Home-Buyer Tax Credit Attracts Fraud?

As mentioned earlier (here ), the financial crisis was fueled by the government’s obsession with home ownership. Yet, last year the Bush administration decided that it was wise to continue to encourage people to buy houses that they couldn’t afford. That’s why it came up with a refundable tax credit, worth up to $8,000 for the purchase of a first home.  Refundable tax credit means that the claimants will get cash back even if they paid no taxes.  The low level of documentation required to get your credit makes it also a low hanging fruit for potential scammers. Is anyone surprised?

“The Treasury’s inspector general for tax administration, J. Russell George, recently told Congress that at least 19,000 filers hadn’t purchased a home when they claimed the credit. For another 74,000 filers, claiming a total of $500 million in credits, evidence suggests that they weren’t first-time buyers.

(more…)

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Tags: Financial Crisis, first-time home buy credit, home ownership, tax credit, tax fraud
Posted Oct 30th 2009 at 9:01 am in Congress, Economics | 2253812 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/vderugy/2009/10/30/what-do-you-mean-the-federal-first-time-home-buyer-tax-credit-attracts-fraud/What+Do+You+Mean+the+Federal+First-Time+Home-Buyer+Tax+Credit+Attracts+Fraud%3F2009-10-30+16%3A01%3A33Veronique++de+Rugy

Free-For-All Friday

We thought politicians had retired this pose:

Open thread. Play nice. Tip your waitress…

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Tags: Rep. Charlie Rangel, tax fraud, Ways and Means Committee
Posted Oct 9th 2009 at 5:00 am in Congress, Politics | 1462666 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/publius/2009/10/09/free-for-all-friday/Free-For-All+Friday2009-10-09+12%3A00%3A30Publius

ACORN Fires More Officials

From FoxNews.com:

ACORN Fires More Officials for Helping ‘Pimp,’ ‘Prostitute’ in Washington Office

Two more ACORN officials were fired Friday after a second video surfaced showing staffers in the community organizers’ Washington office offering to help a man and woman posing as a pimp and prostitute acquire illegal home loans that would help them set up a brothel.

The firings came less than 24 hours after another pair of ACORN officials from the group’s Baltimore office were canned for instructing the “pimp” and “prostitute” how to falsify tax forms and seek illegal benefits for 13 “very young” girls from El Salvador that pair said they wanted to import to work as child prostitutes.

Both of the encounters were videotaped on a hidden camera wielded by 25-year-old independent filmmaker James O’Keefe, posing as the pimp — tapes that have ignited calls for investigations of ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

The group’s leaders said Friday they were “appalled and angry” at what their staffers had done, but insisted the videos were part of a political “smear” campaign and not representative of the institution as a whole.

“But that does not excuse the behavior of the employees,” wrote ACORN’s president Alton Bennet and executive director Mike Shea. “We have fired them and are initiating an internal review of practices and reminding all staff of their obligation to uphold the highest legal and ethical standards.” (more…)

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Tags: ACORN, Alton Bennet, child prostit, child prostitution, DC ACORN
Posted Sep 11th 2009 at 2:16 pm in ACORN, News | 111883 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/publius/2009/09/11/foxnews-com-acorn-fires-more-officials/ACORN+Fires+More+Officials2009-09-11+21%3A16%3A25Publius

Mark Steyn on ACORN: Community Organizing in Action

Last night, Mark Steyn discussed Obama’s connection to ACORN and ACORN’s role in the 2010 Census on the “The Hugh Hewitt Show”:

Hugh Hewitt: I think you’re right. It will come down to whether or not there are enough Democrats who will lemming-like go over the cliff for the benefit of President Obama’s vision for America. And that remains to be seen. Let me ask you about the ACORN story. Have you been following the story at www.biggovernment.com that Andrew Breitbart has loosed about…

Mark Steyn: Yeah.

HH: What do you make of this?

MS: Well, this is a story in which he’s got some amazing footage of ACORN officials telling a pimp and a prostitute how to lie to the IRS, and how to claim mythical, underage dependents in exotic lands as dependents for taxation purposes and various other things. It’s fascinating stuff, because it’s a glimpse of what community organization is in action. Community organization means bigging up your base. And if necessary, that means conscripting all kinds of peculiar figures, including pimps, prostitutes and their various fictional or real dependents in foreign lands, and claiming benefits for them. And it’s absolutely outrageous that actually more of this wasn’t exposed in the campaign, because Obama’s connection to ACORN, and his willingness to give ACORN a role in the United States Census, puts a huge question mark over the reliability of government data, and over U.S. elections, not so much in blue and red states, but in purple states, it puts a big question mark over the integrity of those elections.

(more…)

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Tags: 2010 Census, ACORN, Andrew Breitbart, BigGovernment, child prostitution
Posted Sep 11th 2009 at 1:24 pm in ACORN, News, Obama, Politics | 1082103 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/publius/2009/09/11/mark-steyn-on-acorn-community-organizing-in-action/Mark+Steyn+on+ACORN%3A+Community+Organizing+in+Action2009-09-11+20%3A24%3A25Publius

Rep. Boustany (R-LA) Calls for ACORN Investigation

Boustany Calls for Hearing to Investigate ACORN Tax Filing Assistance following Disturbing Undercover Video

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Charles W. Boustany, Jr., (R-Southwest Louisiana), today called for a hearing to investigate the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and their tax filing assistance programs following evidence of suggested tax fraud.

“In light of the apparent flagrant and willful attempts to suborn tax fraud, I ask you to schedule a hearing of the Oversight Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee as soon as practicable to investigate ACORN’s activities in providing tax advice and tax preparation services, as well as whether ACORN has conducted activities inconsistent with the requirements for retaining tax-exempt status under Code section 501(c)(3),” Boustany said. “These serious allegations involve the administration and enforcement of our Federal tax laws, which fall directly under the jurisdiction of the Subcommittee on Oversight.”

Boustany, Ranking Member of the Oversight Subcommittee for the House Ways and Means Committee, has jurisdiction over tax policy and the Internal Revenue Service.

The full letter follows: (more…)

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Tags: ACORN, BigGovernment, BigGovernment.com, Charles W. Boustany, child
Posted Sep 11th 2009 at 11:59 am in ACORN | 105888 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/publius/2009/09/11/rep-boustany-r-la-calls-for-acorn-investigation/Rep.+Boustany+%28R-LA%29+Calls+for+ACORN+Investigation2009-09-11+18%3A59%3A54Publius