IRS

JB Pritzker, ICE, and the Art of Selective Outrage

David E. Smith — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 19:00:17 +0000

Written by Thomas Hampson

Governor JB Pritzker delivered his eighth consecutive budget address on February 18th. If you closed your eyes and listened, you might have thought you were hearing a man of the people, a defender of the powerless standing up to a tyrannical federal government. He invoked Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Reverend Jesse Jackson. He quoted the great reform governor, John Peter Altgeld.

He spoke of empathy, love, and the courage to resist authoritarianism.… Continue Reading

The Importance of Retaking Institutions

David E. Smith — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:22 +0000

Written by Victor Joecks

Lasting political change doesn’t come from winning elections but reshaping institutions.

On Feb. 26, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post, issued a stunning announcement.

“I’m writing to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages,” he wrote on X. “We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets.”

Yes, that’s the same Washington Post editorial board that attacked Donald Trump last year for promising tax cuts and reduced regulations.… Continue Reading

Biden’s Idea of ‘Freedom’ Should Frighten Every Liberty-Loving American

David E. Smith — Mon, 01 May 2023 11:30:00 +0000

Written by Robert Knight

In this week’s column, I was going to summarize President Biden’s reelection video from last Tuesday. But George Orwell did it 74 years ago.

Big Brother’s slogan in the 1949 novel “1984” mirrors our sunglass-sporting “unity” president. Everything he says is the polar opposite of the truth.

As violent imagery flashes by, he says: “The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom.… Continue Reading

The FBI and Liberal Media Collusion Grinds On

David E. Smith — Mon, 12 Sep 2022 12:00:26 +0000

Written by Robert Knight

Someone in the FBI keeps leaking materials that agents seized during the shocking, unprecedented nine-hour raid of former President Donald Trump’s Florida home on August 8.

We know this because supposedly sensitive documents keep turning up in the Washington Post. Of course, they do. The paper justifies its eager role in the FBI-fueled witch hunt against Mr. Trump by claiming concern for “national security.”

If that’s their motive, the Post should report on President Joe Biden’s dangerous foreign policies and his perversion of our armed forces into a “safe space” for Corporal Klinger.… Continue Reading

The Lies That Blind American Citizens

David E. Smith — Mon, 22 Aug 2022 12:58:03 +0000

Written by Robert Knight

It’s not healthy when citizens automatically discount whatever the government or media tell them.

That’s what happens in totalitarian countries like North Korea, China or Venezuela.

We have this now in America, thanks to a ruling elite who lie ever more boldly. Girls can be boys. Men can be women. The border is secure. Inflation is all in your head. COVID-19 will kill you unless you do exactly what we tell you to do.… Continue Reading

An IRS That’s Armed and Dangerous

David E. Smith — Tue, 16 Aug 2022 11:47:54 +0000

Written by Stephen Moore

The Biden administration has a lot of nerve proposing to double the budget of the Internal Revenue Service and add 87,000 employees.

This plan is set to become law as part of the soon-to-be-enacted Inflation Reduction Act. And it comes around the same time as the outrageous FBI raid of former President Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago compound in Palm Beach, Florida. The Biden administration has converted the FBI and the Justice Department into functionaries of the Democratic Party’s character assassination campaign.… Continue Reading

Why Are no Democrats Prosecuted by Garland’s DOJ?

David E. Smith — Mon, 15 Aug 2022 10:00:11 +0000

Written by Dr. Everett Piper

On Wednesday, Aug. 10, Merrick Garland, the United States Attorney General, confidently strutted to the national podium and asserted, “No person is above the law in this country. I can’t say it any more clearly than that.” He then went further: “There is nothing … which prevents us from investigating anyone — anyone — who’s criminally responsible …”

As principled as that all sounds, one can’t help but ask Mr. … Continue Reading

Biden Puts IRS Funding Ahead of Military and Border Security

David E. Smith — Tue, 09 Aug 2022 12:00:33 +0000

Written by Stephen Moore

Everyone should be deeply troubled by the recent report that the Army is on pace to miss its recruiting goal by dozens of thousands of troops and by the report that followed a few days later, alleging that the Border Patrol is running short of agents in Arizona and Texas. The border is so porous these days that even mayors of sanctuary cities are starting to complain about illegal immigration.

So, what is Congress doing about these crises?… Continue Reading

Mark Carroll Financial Disclosure Report Reveals IRS Installment Plan to Pay Back Business Income Taxes Debt

Admin — Fri, 03 Jun 2022 12:00:02 +0000

Written by John Lopez On Monday, May 23, after receiving a brief extension from the U.S. House clerk’s office, IL-11 congressional candidate Mark Carroll (R-North Aurora), who’s endorsed by Illinois Family Action, filed his Financial Disclosure report (FD) electronically with the U.S. House clerk. The report was visible to the public on Tuesday, May 24. Upon reviewing Carroll’s report, a joint liability was found where Carroll and his wife had an approved IRS Install Plan for between $50K-$100K of unpaid business income taxes: Given the significance of this kind of a debt to the Internal Revenue Service for a candidate pursuing a seat in the United States Congress for the 11th Congressional District, due diligence was applied by Illinois Family Action to ensure Republican primary voters receive the whole truth in the remaining 3 1/2 weeks of the primary campaign ending on June 28 in order to cast an informed vote.… Continue Reading

Corrupt Democrats And Their Fake ‘Justice’

David E. Smith — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 14:00:54 +0000

Written by Robert Knight

The wheels of justice sometimes grind very slowly.

Or not at all.

In our current system, it appears that the only thing that matters is which party you belong to.

Corrupt Democrats almost never face punishment for their crimes. It doesn’t matter how glaring the evidence.

IRS official Lois Lerner retired with full benefits after getting caught using the IRS to target conservative groups such as tea parties during the Obama years.… Continue Reading

As Progressives Move Left, They Must Replace the American Electorate

David E. Smith — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 10:00:38 +0000

Written by Robert Knight

The progressive game plan to re-acquire power in Washington and make it permanent has been shockingly obvious for some time:

Import millions of illegal immigrants, hook them on government aid, and turn them into voters – legally or illegally.

Two Democrats running for Congress in Texas have come out for decriminalizing illegal immigration, along with Beta O’Rourke, who is running for Ted Cruz’s U.S. Senate seat. Virtually all Democrat office holders oppose voter ID laws.… Continue Reading

Congress Fails to Repeal Johnson Amendment in Tax Bill

David E. Smith — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 12:30:41 +0000

Written by Michael Gryboski

A measure within the federal tax overhaul bill that would end the IRS regulation barring churches from endorsing political candidates has been removed from the proposed legislation.

The U.S. Senate’s parliamentarian struck out the language overturning the Johnson Amendment, with the Hill reporting last week that the reason was because it “did not meet Senate rules that require elements of the tax bill to have something to do with the budget.”

“The Senate is seeking to move a House-Senate conference report under special budgetary rules that prevent Democrats from using a filibuster,” explained The Hill.… Continue Reading

SPOTLIGHT: Rev. C.L. Byrant on Tax Reform

David E. Smith — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 09:00:02 +0000

Written by John Biver

In this week’s Spotlight podcast, Monte Larrick interviews the Reverend C.L. Bryant, a Senior Fellow at Freedom Works. Rev. Bryant also is the host of the syndicated radio show, the C.L. Bryant show on Red State Talk Radio. He is also the force behind the film Runaway Slave.

In their wide-ranging discussion, Rev. Bryant and Monte Larrick address national tax reform, the “non-existent” black conservative, the many problems in Illinois, and the current racial situation in America.… Continue Reading

Pastors to Protest IRS Restrictions on Speaking About Politics

David E. Smith — Tue, 04 Oct 2016 09:00:15 +0000

Written by Anugrah Kumar

Pastors across the country will protest Internal Revenue Service restrictions on them not to talk politics in the church as they observe the annual Pulpit Freedom Sunday, days after the introduction of the Free Speech Fairness Act in the U.S. House to reinstate pastors’ and churches’ rights to speak freely.

“The IRS has no business acting as the speech police of any non-profit organization, as its many scandals over recent years have made clear,” said Erik Stanley, senior counsel of the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom, which started Pulpit Freedom Sunday in 2008.

Can Cruz Win the General? Yes, He Can!

David E. Smith — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 14:39:28 +0000

Written by Lloyd Marcus

Some say, “I like Cruz, but I’m voting for Trump because I don’t believe Cruz can win the general.” These voters are really saying they believe we have lost the country to the Left. Therefore, a true conservative touting traditional values cannot win the presidency in today’s America. This mindset reminds me of what many conservatives did to Sarah Palin.

Palin epitomized the character, principles, and values we in the tea party longed to see in our politicians.… Continue Reading

A Moral Primer: Obama’s Legacy is Government-Induced Chaos at Home, Moral Equivalence Abroad

David E. Smith — Sat, 06 Dec 2014 17:45:40 +0000

Written by Victor Davis Hanson

The last but long gasp of the Obama administration is characterized not so much by deceit and incompetence as by growing chaos. Everything appears to be coming apart. The chariot of state now veers up and down with a terrified Phaethon clueless at the reins. Whether it is ISIS, Ebola, Putin, or Obamacare, the common strain is not simple incompetence, but a maladroitness born of intolerant ideological fundamentalism.

Have our government agencies ever seemed more corrupt or useless or both, staffed by political cronies and leftist zealots?… Continue Reading

For the President and His IRS: A Parson’s Prayer

David E. Smith — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 11:00:39 +0000

Written by Pastor John Kirkwood

“Please explain in detail the activities at these prayer meetings. Also, please provide the percentage of time your organization spends on prayer groups as compared with the other activities of the organization.” – Internal Revenue Service

How often do your members pray? What is the nature of your prayers? The IRS posed these and other questions to certain tea party and religious groups who were seeking tax-exempt status. After the delays, the intimidation and the Stasi-like interrogation; many of the organizations just gave up.… Continue Reading