Email: press@oc.usda.gov
Secretary Perdue Statement on 2018 Farm Bill Passing the House of Representatives
(Washington, D.C., June 21, 2018) — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue issued the following statement after the House of Representatives passed their version of the 2018 Farm Bill:
“I applaud Chairman Conaway and the House Agriculture Committee for their diligence and hard work in passing their 2018 Farm Bill through the House of Representatives. American producers have greatly benefited from the policies of the Trump Administration, including tax reforms and reductions in regulations, however a Farm Bill is still critically important to give the agriculture community some much-needed reassurance. No doubt, there is still much work to be done on this legislation in both chambers of Congress, and USDA stands ready to assist with whatever counsel lawmakers may request or require.”
###
Judicial Watch Obtains IRS Documents Revealing McCain’s Subcommittee Staff Director Urged IRS to Engage in “Financially Ruinous” Targeting
McCain minority staff director Henry Kerner to IRS official Lois Lerner and other IRS officials: “the solution is to audit so many that it becomes financially ruinous”
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released newly obtained internal IRS documents, including material revealing that Sen. John McCain’s former staff director and chief counsel on the Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee, Henry Kerner, urged top IRS officials, including then-director of exempt organizations Lois Lerner, to “audit so many that it becomes financially ruinous.” Kerner was appointed by President Trump as Special Counsel for the United States Office of Special Counsel.
The explosive exchange was contained in notes taken by IRS employees at an April 30, 2013, meeting between Kerner, Lerner, and other high-ranking IRS officials. Just ten days following the meeting, former IRS director of exempt organizations Lois Lerner admitted that the IRS had a policy of improperly and deliberately delaying applications for tax-exempt status from conservative non-profit groups.
Lerner and other IRS officials met with select top staffers from the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee in a “marathon” meeting to discuss concerns raised by both Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) that the IRS was not reining in political advocacy groups in response to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. Senator McCain had been the chief sponsor of the McCain-Feingold Act and called the Citizens United decision, which overturned portions of the Act, one of the “worst decisions I have ever seen.”
In the full notes of an April 30 meeting, McCain’s high-ranking staffer Kerner recommends harassing non-profit groups until they are unable to continue operating. Kerner tells Lerner, Steve Miller, then chief of staff to IRS commissioner, Nikole Flax, and other IRS officials, “Maybe the solution is to audit so many that it is financially ruinous.” In response, Lerner responded that “it is her job to oversee it all:”
Henry Kerner asked how to get to the abuse of organizations claiming section 501 (c)(4) but designed to be primarily political. Lois Lerner said the system works, but not in real time. Henry Kerner noted that these organizations don’t disclose donors. Lois Lerner said that if they don’t meet the requirements, we can come in and revoke, but it doesn’t happen timely. Nan Marks said if the concern is that organizations engaging in this activity don’t disclose donors, then the system doesn’t work. Henry Kerner said that maybe the solution is to audit so many that it is financially ruinous. Nikole noted that we have budget constraints. Elise Bean suggested using the list of organizations that made independent expenditures. Lois Lerner said that it is her job to oversee it all, not just political campaign activity.
Judicial Watch previously reported on the 2013 meeting. Senator McCain then issued a statement decrying “false reports claiming that his office was somehow involved in IRS targeting of conservative groups.” The IRS previously blacked out the notes of the meeting but Judicial Watch found the notes among subsequent documents released by the agency.
Judicial Watch separately uncovered that Lerner was under significant pressure from both Democrats in Congress and the Obama DOJ and FBI to prosecute and jail the groups the IRS was already improperly targeting. In discussing pressure from Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat-Rhode Island) to prosecute these “political groups,” Lerner admitted, “it is ALL about 501(c)(4) orgs and political activity.”
The April 30, 2013 meeting came just under two weeks prior to Lerner’s admission during an ABA meeting that the IRS had “inappropriately” targeted conservative groups. In her May 2013 answer to a planted question, in which she admitted to the “absolutely incorrect, insensitive, and inappropriate” targeting of Tea Party and conservative groups, Lerner suggested the IRS targeting occurred due to an “uptick” in 501 (c)(4) applications to the IRS but in actuality, there had been a decrease in such applications in 2010.
On May 14, 2013, a report by Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration revealed: “Early in Calendar Year 2010, the IRS began using inappropriate criteria to identify organizations applying for tax-exempt status” (e.g., lists of past and future donors). The illegal IRS reviews continued “for more than 18 months” and “delayed processing of targeted groups’ applications” in advance of the 2012 presidential election.
All these documents were forced out of the IRS as a result of an October 2013 Judicial Watch Freedom of Information (FOIA) lawsuit filed against the IRS after it failed to respond adequately to four FOIA requests sent in May 2013 (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Internal Revenue Service (No. 1:13-cv-01559)). Judicial Watch is seeking:
“The Obama IRS scandal is bipartisan – McCain and Democrats who wanted to regulate political speech lost at the Supreme Court, so they sought to use the IRS to harass innocent Americans,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The Obama IRS scandal is not over – as Judicial Watch continues to uncover smoking gun documents that raise questions about how the Obama administration weaponized the IRS, the FEC, FBI, and DOJ to target the First Amendment rights of Americans.”
========================
Bishop Vote for Farm Bill is Good for Utah
WASHINGTON The U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass H.R. 2, the Agriculture and Nutrition Act (commonly known as the Farm Bill). After voting FOR the Farm Bill, Rep. Rob Bishop (UT-01) offered the following statement:
“This legislation strengthens America’s crucial agriculture industry. Utah farmers and ranchers are particularly empowered by provisions in this bill. From trade promotion to bolstered livestock programs, Utah will find many deserved benefits in the House version of the Farm Bill. I hope the Senate will honor Utah farmers in the same way.”
Provisions in the Farm Bill include:
· Reauthorization of the Livestock Forage Program, which provides compensation to eligible livestock producers who have suffered grazing losses due to environmental factors.
· Repeal of WOTUS, which returns power to states.
· Support for Utah’s dairy farmers by adjusting coverage and premium levels, improving the accuracy of the feed cost formula, and by expanding the availability of the Livestock Gross Margin for dairy cattle insurance policies.
· Continuation of funding for voluntary, incentive-based conservation programs like EQIP, which helps Utah farmers improve irrigation systems to minimize the effects of drought.
· Strengthening of the trade promotion of U.S. agricultural exports, which will help Utah farmers who export over $400 million per year.
· Enhancement of SNAP work and training requirements for work-capable adults between the ages of 18-59.
###
3 Lessons The Right Internship
Can Teach College Students
Sometimes what you learn outside the classroom in college can be more important than what you learn inside the classroom.
In the summer of 2004, Ryan Coon decided to intern at College Works Painting (www.collegeworks.com), a company that hires high-achieving university students and trains them on the basics of managing a business from start to finish. Each selected intern oversees the marketing, sales, production management and customer relations of a house-painting business. Coon took on the internship as a freshman at University of Illinois.
The experience changed his life.
“I managed a territory in the suburbs of Chicago for College Works Painting,” Coon says. “I learned a lot that summer and it helped me in some ways I didn’t even realize until years later.”
Coon says he learned three important lessons.
Today, Coon is co-founder and CEO of a company called Avail, an online property management platform for small, independent landlords. In February 2011, he left a career in investment banking to pursue his entrepreneural dream. Coon says his experience at College Works helped prepare him to take that leap of faith.
More than 50,000 students apply to intern at College Works Painting annually just like Coon did, yet only 2,000 interns are hired.
Matt Stewart, entrepreneur and co-CEO of College Works, says over 90 percent of their alumni find college-graduate-level jobs within three months of obtaining their degree.
“It’s an incredibly difficult challenge, managing your own business – and that’s what our interns are doing,” Stewart says. “Participating students emerge from the experience with a robust skills set and a competitive edge that sets them apart in a widening field of job applicants after graduation. We’re building a stronger workforce, better prepared to create a stronger economy.’’
Young people won’t gain these necessary skills from an easy internship, he says. These days, the company name on your resume holds little to no weight. It’s not who you interned for, but what you did during your internship that matters, Stewart says.
Coon says the skills learned in the right internship are critical to success later in life.
“It gave me a good foundation in business principles that I am still using today.”
About College Works Painting
Matt Stewart is co-founder of College Works Painting (www.collegeworks.com), which provides real-world business experience for thousands of college students each year. The award-winning program offers high-quality house-painting services for homeowners and is in their 25th year of business.
