MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING NOT ABOUT RACE OR FAITH (MUSLIMS & SOMALIANS)

MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING NOT ABOUT RACE OR FAITH (MUSLIMS & SOMALIANS):

MEDIA ATTEMPTS TO FOCUS ON OFFICER BEING SOMALIAN OR MUSLIM.

DID THIS WOMAN PROVOKE THE POLICE?

ARE COP BODY CAMS ONLY NECESSARY FOR WHITE CITIZEN SHOOTINGS?

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED??


Sources: CBS News, NBC News, Heavy.com, YouTube


***** Lack of Police Bodycam Video in Minneapolis Shooting Astounds Experts


After an Australian woman was shot dead by police in Minneapolis, experts are questioning why the officers' body cameras were not turned on during the encounter.

Justine Ruszczyk, who used the last name Damond, reportedly called 911 after hearing a noise near her home on Saturday, according to her stepson-to-be. She was fatally shot by one of the responding officers.

Although Minneapolis police have not named the officers involved, NBC affiliate KARE quoted sources as identifying the officer who shot Damond as Mohammed Noor. Police sources also told KARE that Noor, who was in the squad car's passenger seat, aimed across his partner and out the window to fire at Damond.

But because the body cameras were not activated, the series of events is remained murky.

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) of the state Public Safety Department said in a statement that any violation of the camera policy would be investigated by the department's internal affairs bureau.

Last August, the Minneapolis Police Department's "Body Worn Camera" policy was rolled out just a month after former St. Anthony police Officer Jeronimo Yanez fatally shot Philando Castile — the aftermath of which was broadcast on Facebook live. It was unclear whether the implementation of cameras had any correlation to Castile's death.

But according to experts, there's no reason the officers' body cameras should not have been switched on when they approached Damond's home.

"The policy requires [Minneapolis police officers] to turn the camera on prior to use of force, and it goes on to say if it's not turned on prior to force, it should be activated as soon as it is safe to do so," said Teresa Nelson, interim executive director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.

"So we have two officers who, after using deadly force — taking someone's life — didn't activate their cameras," Nelson told NBC News. "That's astounding to me."

The department's policy states that a body camera should be turned on for situations as minimal as traffic stops and for incidents as serious as use of force as long as it is safe to do so. The policy also states that if cameras are not turned on before an incident use of force, they should be turned on afterward.

"I think a point that gets lost is that these body cameras also have the benefit of protecting officers who rightly use force, because it has this ability to record a situation and visually show that force is justified," Ronald Sullivan Jr., a professor at Harvard Law School and director of the Harvard Criminal Justice Institute, told NBC News.

Minneapolis police and the state Public Safety Department did not immediately respond to inquiries as to whether the officers' cameras were turned on after Damond was shot. Noor's attorney also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Officers who fail to abide by the department's internal policy are subject to discipline, "up to and including termination," the document says. If officers fail to activate their cameras, they are supposed to report that failure and explain why the cameras were not activated.

But Sullivan and Nelson said they have concerns about the internal reprimand policy.

"For officers who are clearly in violation of department protocol for turning on the camera — from my experience — it appears they are rarely disciplined," Sullivan said.

Specific penalties are not listed, and because a violation is handled internally, the ACLU is pushing the Minnesota Legislature and Minneapolis police to detail exactly what kind of punishment would be levied.

"The whole reason for body cameras is for accountability and transparency. If you're not treating it as critical, you undermine the credibility and benefit to body cameras," Nelson said.

Nelson takes issue with how the policy details when activation is required.

"There's sort of a catch-all that says 'when it's safe to do so.' So officers have tremendous discretion," she said.

Nelson said a variety of factors should have caused the officers to turn on their cameras as they approached Damond's home.

"My sense is they were at least had some contact with an individual prior to killing her," Nelson said. "I believe there would have been a point where something in the policy triggered them turning them on."

Then there is the dash camera in the officers' squad car.

"The Minneapolis Police Department has not said there is no [dashcam] video, just that the video didn't capture the incident," she said. "My question is: Is there audio, and why haven't you released?"

(A recording that purported to be audio of the Minneapolis incident surfaced on the internet Monday evening but NBC News has been unable to verify its authenticity.)

In a statement posted to the police department's Twitter page, Chief Janeé Harteau said she "acknowledged the pain and frustration that family and community members" felt after the shooting.

As the investigation proceeds, Sullivan said the best thing people could do would be to ask that police implement strict penalties for those who do not follow the policy.

Otherwise, he said, "officers will rightly think they can turn on cameras [only] when convenient and do so with impunity."

PHILANDO CASTILE'S SENSELESS MURDER SPURRED BY JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS

PHILANDO CASTILE'S SENSELESS MURDER SPURRED BY JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS:

 PHILANDO'S MURDER SHOULD SPUR BLACK VOTERS TO THE POLLS IN NOV.

PHILANDO HAD A GUN (LEGALLY) BUT POSED NO THREAT TO THE FIVE COPS WHO SHOT HIM.

HOWEVER I STILL DON'T CONDONE KILLING COPS OUT OF VENGEANCE.

Sources:  Slate,  Boyce Watkins, NY Times, CNN, Five Thirty Eight, YouTube

The week of June 20, 2016 SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas (Black man) wrote a Concurring opinion which states that going forward, Police Officers are now legally permitted to seize evidence obtained during ILLEGAL STOPS, which includes TRAFFIC STOPS.

Good-bye FOURTH AMENDMENT!

Wednesday, July 5, 2016 Philando Castile, 33, (another Black man) was murdered by White Cops during a TRAFFIC STOP in Minnesota.

Although Philando was legally carrying a Concealed Weapon when stopped by Police Wednesday, he posed absolutely no threat to the five Police Officers who brutally murdered him in cold blood.

And yes.....

The Officers who murdered him should be prosecuted!

I don't care if Philando did have a criminal record, he did NOT deserve to DIE like an animal if he posed NO threat to a Police Officer or any other human being.

However It's not fair nor reasonable to Hate the POLICE, nor blame all Cops because not all Cops are Racist.

In fact there are many good Cops still serving in our communities.

Thus I DON'T condone Killing Cops out of Vengeance for any reason.

So what can Black citizens in America expect now?

What ACTION do we take for RESOLUTION?

Demonstrations or Riots appear to be Futile and outdated.

Instead Black voters should express their anger at the Polls this November.

POLICY Changes occur on the Federal level and nominating SCOTUS Justices who have not become NUMB to the plights of regular people are the best SOLUTIONS to curbing Police Brutality.

Voting for a new President is not the panacea for curbing Police Brutality, but if Black voters forsake the system, they indeed forsake their future.

Especially the futures of Black men in America.

It's time to hold our Elected Officials accountable!

To the family of Philando Castile I send my prayers and condolences for his senseless murder.

**** Are Black People at Risk When They Carry a Concealed Weapon?

Here’s what three Minnesota gun instructors think.

TThe story of how Philando Castile died, as told by his girlfriend Diamond Reynolds, is one of a man who did everything he could to comply with the police officer who pulled him over. 

As Reynolds recounted in a harrowing press conference Thursday, Castile told the officer he was armed with a gun after being asked for his license and registration; 

Reynolds says she then told the officer the gun was legal and that her boyfriend had a permit allowing him to carry it. Moments later, the officer shot Castile multiple times, causing injuries that soon proved fatal.

It’s important to note that we don’t know exactly why the officer decided to shoot Castile—there’s no footage of the shooting itself and the St. Anthony Police Department has yet to release its version of events. 

The actions that Reynolds describes, though, sound perfectly reasonable—it’s hard to imagine what Castile, a 32-year-old black man, could have done differently. 

It’s also reasonable to wonder, given the horrific litany of cases in which police officers have used deadly force against black men and women, whether Castile ever had a chance at surviving the encounter.

Thursday, I spoke with three men who don’t agree with that assessment: a trio of white firearms instructors in Minnesota who provide formal training to people applying for concealed-carry permits like the one Reynolds says her boyfriend had. 

In spite of what seems to have happened to Castile, all three instructors told me they firmly believe there are steps people with concealed firearms can take to ensure their safety when dealing with law enforcement. 

Underlying their conviction on this point is a deeply felt optimism about the reasonableness of police. 

Their thoughts, which have been lightly edited for clarity, are below.

~  MIKE BRIGGS,  instructor and owner at Minnesota Fire Arms Training

Advice to students: “Here’s the first thing we say: If you get pulled over and you’re friendly and you don’t lie, and when they ask for ID, if you voluntarily hand up your permit to carry, our experience is you’ve got a huge chance of getting out of your ticket. Cops in Minnesota appreciate you volunteering it up. 

A lot of police in Minnesota teach this class, and most police officers are in favor of permit to carry. And they appreciate you being forthcoming.

“By putting your permit to carry right underneath your license and just giving it to them, you’ve told them without saying a word, I’m a good guy or I wouldn’t have a license to walk around with a gun. 

The sheriff has checked me out. I don’t have to volunteer this up but here you go. You don’t have to worry about me.

 And then if they start asking questions, you answer them truthfully. And that’s what we tell all of our students.”

~ JON KAUTZ,  director of operations and instructor at Gun Permit Center

Personal experience: “I myself have gotten out of several tickets by law enforcement officers by being friendly and completely honest when I got pulled over. When they ask for ID, I don’t say a word—I just put my permit right with my ID and give it to them. And then most of them will say, ‘Are you carrying a firearm?’ And then I’ll say, ‘Yeah, it’s in my center console, or it’s in my backpack, or under my seat, or whatever. What would you like me to do next?’ A lot of them have even been sort of funny with it. I had one state trooper say, ‘You keep your gun in your holster, I’ll keep mine in mine.’ ”

On whether black people can safely follow the same protocol as whites: Absolutely. For sure. It doesn’t matter if you’re black or white. The instructions and the advice are the same.

On Philando Castile: To be honest with you, it sounds to me like he did everything you’re supposed to do. That’s what I’m assuming so far. It sounds like he handled it the way you should. And it sounds like the officer had a short-circuit. That’s what it’s sounding like, but I don’t know what happened before the video.

Advice to students: “In Minnesota there’s no standard protocol for a traffic stop like this, where you have someone who’s carrying. Each police department sets their own policy for how to handle it. Minneapolis might do one thing; in Falcon Heights they might do another. So we always instruct our customers in our training to do whatever the officer says, to always keep their hands visible at all times, and to always ask, ‘How would you like me to proceed?’ and leave it up to the police officer to offer directions on how they want to handle it.”

Personal experience: “If I’m pulled over and an officer asks for my credentials, the next thing I would say is, ‘Officer, I am a permit-to-carry holder. I am carrying at this time. The pistol, or whatever, is located in X spot.’ I’d keep my hands visible on the steering heel or on the dashboard, and I’d say, ‘How would you like me to proceed?’ ”

Thoughts on concealed carry: “If you’re a concealed-carry permit holder and you’re carrying, you assume some risk, you know? Things happen. Whether it’s on accident or intentional—you’re carrying a firearm. You’re assuming some risk in carrying a firearm. You have to assume some risk—it’s just like when you drive a car.”

How the Philando Castile situation will affect his work: “Will we change the way we do the training? No, because we believe we’re teaching it correctly. Will we emphasize this part of the training more? Yes. Will it come up for discussion? Guaranteed.”

~ JOE PENAZ, instructor at Plane Cents Self Defense

Advice to students: “Be totally compliant. If they ask if you have a gun, tell them you have a gun, and make sure you ask them what to do next.

“I also say that if you have a gun on you and it’s on the same side as your wallet, and going for your wallet is going to expose the weapon, it would behoove you to tell the officer at that time, even though you don’t necessarily have to, ‘I have a weapon on me and it’s on the same side as my wallet.’ ”

Personal experience: “I usually start out by asking, ‘Are you having a good night, sir?’ I do. So few people ever say anything like that to a police officer. I’ve ridden with police many, many, many times. And all they ever do is get yelled at, spit on, cussed out. ‘Why aren’t you out arresting real criminals?’ and stuff like that. What does it hurt to ask, ‘Are you having a nice day?’ Wouldn’t you say that to someone at a Home Depot or a Dairy Queen? The only reason you’re not saying that is you’re getting pulled over and generally you don’t get pulled over unless you’ve done something wrong.”

On whether it’s dangerous for black people to take his advice: “Absolutely not. I have quite a few black people in my classes. I just don’t see that as a problem.”

PRINCE IS DEAD AT 57; THE DOVES ARE CRYING (ICONS)

PRINCE IS DEAD AT 57; THE DOVES ARE CRYING.

HE DIED MUCH TOO YOUNG.

Sources:  Daily Mail, TMZ, Billboard, NFL, YouTube

***** Singer, 57, dies at Minnesota estate just days after he was rushed to hospital from private plane with 'severe flu'

• Police confirmed a fatality at Prince's estate in Minnesota this morning 
• A forensics team and a medical examiner are at the scene 
• Prince, 57, was rushed to hospital six days ago with symptoms of flu

Prince has died aged 57 at his estate in Minnesota. 

Sources told TMZ that his body was found this morning at his Paisley Park studio.

Paramedics were called out at 9.43 this morning and Carver County Sheriff's Department confirmed that there had been a fatality.

A forensics team and a medical examiner are at the scene, Fox 9 reported. 

He was aboard his private flight when he fell ill, forcing it to make an unscheduled landing in Illinois on Friday morning.

TMZ reported that the seven-time Grammy award winning singer's plane diverted to Quad City International Airport in Moline, Illinois, to make the emergency landing. 

He had had been suffering from flu for a number of weeks and was believed to be recovering, but took a turn for the worse in the early hours of Friday.

He was treated for three hours before being released.

Initial reports on his condition painted a much graver pictures, with one source claiming at the time he was 'not doing well'.

The Purple Rain hitmaker had performed at The Fox Theatre in Atlanta on last Thursday night - the second of two back to back sold out shows - and had seemed fine during the concert. 

The superstar musician combined rock, R&B, soul and hip-hop to create a unique sound that led to him selling more than 100million records during his 40-year career.

Prince was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1958 and started making music at the age of seven. 

Prince - full name Prince Rogers Nelson - was hospitalized six days ago with flu symptom

RUBIO SHOULD CONCEDE AFTER THE FLORIDA PRIMARY (MR NICE GUY)

Delegates won

1,237 needed for nomination · 1,585 available

RUBIO SHOULD CONCEDE AFTER THE FLORIDA PRIMARY (MR NICE GUY)

IS RUBIO BEING DELUSIONAL BY REMAINING IN THE 2016 RACE?

HAS HE RUINED HIS NICE GUY IMAGE?

Sources: AP, Fox News, NY Mag,  USA Today, YouTube

After months of being on the 2016 presidential campaign trail and millions of dollars donated to his coffers, U.S. Senator MARCO RUBIO (Fl) has only won one state (MINNESOTA) and one U.S. Territory (PUERTO RICO).

Marco is a really nice, articulate, handsome guy. So why isn't he winning?

At one point Marco appeared to be on the comeback until he listened to some GOP Establishment strategists who advised him to go Postal on DONALD TRUMP.

Big Mistake!

Everyone knows Trump is a Marketing Genius who eats insults for breakfast.

Marco's attacks on Trump have since backfired and now his rivals Trump & Ted Cruz are calling for him to concede from the race.

In fact as the FLORIDA Primary approaches on March 15,  it's questionable as to whether or Rubio can still carry his home state.

Should Rubio remain in the 2016 race on a wing and a prayer?

Or should Rubio stop being delusional and concede immediately following the Florida primary even if he does win the primary?

Stay tuned.

**** Marco Rubio Wins the Puerto Rico Primary, But He and the GOP Establishment Are Still Doomed

While residents of Puerto Rico aren’t allowed to vote in presidential elections, they are allowed to help select the nominees, and with most of Sunday's primary results in, Republicans on the island have overwhelming chosen Marco Rubio as their candidate, according to Decision Desk HQ and ABC News. 

He has even, so far, won more than 70 percent of the vote, meaning he's met the 50 percent threshold to keep all of Puerto Rico’s 23 delegates for himself. 

Thus, Rubio gets to give his second victory speech that corresponds to an actual victory, though the win is unlikely to make much of a difference, especially after his dismal performance in Saturday’s contests. 

Just how badly did those go? 

The New Yorker's John Cassidy has the tally:

In Kansas, Rubio had received endorsements from Republican Governor Sam Brownback and Bob Dole, the state’s longtime senator and the Republican Presidential candidate in 1996. The support didn’t do Rubio any good. The result in Maine, which is known as one of the few remaining holdouts of moderate Republicanism, was equally disappointing for him. 

After Jeb Bush dropped out of the race, Rubio must have expected to pick up some of his votes. But to the extent that anybody benefited from Bush’s departure, it appears to have been John Kasich, who came third. 

In addition, the results in Kentucky and Louisiana, where Rubio got sixteen per cent and eleven per cent of the vote respectively, confirmed his failure to make inroads in the South.

But one supposedly good sign from Rubio’s landslide win in Puerto Rico is that Florida, whose winner-take-all GOP primary is on March 15, has the largest population of Puerto Ricans in the country. 

So, theoretically, the demographics mean good future news for Rubio — not that he needs any convincing. Offering yet another optimistic spin on losing on Saturday, Rubio insisted that, “This map only gets better for us as we move forward in some of the other states.” Unless it doesn’t. 

The American Conservative’s Noah Millman offers a helpful reminder:

Florida has been polled six times this year. 

Rubio has never led. 

In the most recent February polls, he has trailed Trump by between 15 and 20 points. Florida was also polled 21 times in 2015. Rubio never led in any of those polls either. 

Rubio is significantly less-popular in his home state that Cruz is in his, or Kasich is in his — or, I’d venture, than Trump is in his. 

Rubio's best chance of winning his home state is that Cruz’s efforts to out-hustle him boost the Texan’s standing at the expense of Trump rather than Rubio, and enable the Florida Senator to win a close three-way race. Otherwise, he’s probably toast.

Millman goes on to point out that Rubio's new role in the race is to play the unwitting spoiler to any effort to beat Trump, since the best way he could now help that crusade is by dropping out and allowing his voters to shift to other non-Trump candidates and maybe turn the delegate tide. 

Fat chance of that happening, argues The Week’s James Poulos:

For all his talent and good intentions, Rubio proved that there's something much worse in this populist season than being born on third and thinking you just hit a triple. 

However subliminal, his sense of upwardly mobile entitlement was weirdly off-putting and perversely reminiscent of the entitled yes-kid who thinks he should get what he wants because he knows exactly how to give his teachers and school administrators exactly what they want. 

Rather than embodying the 20th-century Republican story of increase earned through luck and pluck, he became an avatar of the 21st-century striver whose stock in trade is his special snowflakehood. 

Nevertheless, a hard core of party bigs still seem convinced he's essential to the GOP's future. 

And left to his devices, Rubio will not drop out, before or after Florida. 

He will become a pawn in a grand yet tawdry game of thrones at the convention — and in so doing, it's safe to say, put the GOP at far greater peril of being split to pieces than anything Trump and Cruz can manage together. 

Rubio is the face of a wing of the party that acts like the future but is really yesterday's news. 

And thinks it's full of winners but, so many times already, has decisively lost.

But the Republican Establishment could still push Rubio out, right? 

Not if it requires them to acknowledge some fundamental realities they have shown zero interest in accepting thus far. 

Here's Millman again:  [T]he GOP establishment doesn’t really want to stop Trump. What they want is to back the candidate of their choosing, someone they know will be reliable on the issues that matter most to them, and who they also believe they can sell. 

They have made excuses at every twist and turn of this campaign in terms of how different things would have been if just one little thing had gone differently — and bewailed the good electoral fortune showered on candidates whom they cannot abide. 

But they cannot reconcile themselves to the fact that it’s not bad luck. 

The primary electorate really, really doesn’t want to vote for someone the party leadership has blessed. 

Frankly, they’d prefer someone completely unacceptable to that leadership.

After all, those unacceptable, uncontrollable, unaccountable candidates — Trump and Cruz — have between them won an outright majority of the vote, and sometimes an overwhelming majority, in every single primary and caucus so far, save two: New Hampshire and Vermont. 

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: there is no anti-Trump majority to consolidate. 

There is an anti-establishment majority. 

And the only question has been which candidate, if any, will consolidate it.

So as the race currently stands, Rubio may think of himself as the anti-Trumpiest candidate in the GOP field, and may still believe he represents the party's best hope to defeat both Donald and Hillary Clinton, but by electing to stay in the race, even just through Florida, Rubio may be casting his and all his supporters' votes for Trump.

TaxMasters Files For Bankruptcy! Company's Advertising Success Proves U.S. Tax Code Reform Badly Needed

TaxMasters Files for Bankruptcy


The well-known and controversial tax advisory firm, TaxMasters Inc., filed for bankruptcy this morning, just as it was preparing to head to court to defend itself from charges of deceptive practices leveled by the Texas attorney general.

The Houston-based company, best known for a national advertising campaign that made company's bearded, red-haired founder Patrick Cox a recognizable figure, was the subject of an ABC News investigation in April, in which customers had alleged that the company persuaded them to pay large upfront fees, but never delivered on promises of helping them resolve their tax problems.

The commercials boast that the company's staff of former IRS agents and tax professionals "have helped many good people just like you."

But Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said the ads have been misleading. He filed a multi-count civil case against TaxMasters, accusing it of deceiving its customers and violating the state's debt collection laws.

"In the midst of a national economic downturn, TaxMasters used a nationwide marketing campaign to offer services for distressed taxpayers who needed help dealing with the IRS," Abbott said. "A state investigation and nearly 1,000 customer complaints indicate that the defendants routinely misled customers about the nature of their tax resolution service agreements – and worse, attempted to enforce those improper agreements through unlawful debt collection tactics."

ABC News made repeated attempts to contact the company and its founder last week, as word began circulating that it was in financial distress.

TaxMasters' customers had reported to KTRK, the owned-and-operated ABC News station in Houston, that they were not able to get responses when calling about their tax filings, and one described visiting the company's office, only to find the doors locked. A telephone sales agent told an ABC News reporter that the company "was not taking any new sales," but would not discuss the company's dire finances any further.

Within the past month, the landlord that owns the building where the company is headquartered sued alleging that Taxmasters failed to pay its January rent. A contracting firm handling construction work at the office also sued the company alleging it had not been paying its bills. Videos on the company's website displaying the well known TaxMasters advertisements featuring Cox were no longer working. Recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission carry a warning that the company's earlier financial statements are being amended and should no longer be relied upon.

A spokesman for the Texas Attorney General told ABC News the state was preparing to head to court this morning in its civil case, but had not heard anything specific about TaxMasters' financial status. Court papers filed Monday morning indicate that TaxMasters has filed for bankruptcy with between $1 million and $10 million in liabilities.

TaxMasters Ad Blitz Increased Sales Volume, Says Company

The TaxMasters ad blitz has been a driving force in the company's soaring corporate revenues. The company, which went public in 2010, brought in $45.7 million, a three-fold increase in two years, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company linked "an increase in advertising expense" to "increased sales volume" in its year-end filing.

The Minnesota attorney general's office, which has also been investigating the firm, told ABC News that many of the company's employees are skilled tele-marketers who have little knowledge of the complicated tax issues faced by people who have fallen behind in filing their returns or making tax payments.

"This is a company which is taking advantage of people, and unfortunately when people see it on TV, they do believe in it," Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson told ABC News. "When you call, you think you're talking to a tax professional. You're really talking to just a salesperson who's trying to get you to sign up."

Cox declined to be interviewed by ABC News, and in a written statement he did not address the specific allegations in the two states' lawsuits. TaxMasters has denied the allegations in the lawsuits and Cox said the company "prides itself on honest customer service, a transparent process with our customer, and seeking fair treatment from the IRS."

At the heart of the problem, says Attorney General Swanson, is a requirement that customers pay an upfront fee ranging between $2000 and $8000.

"When you pay these upfront, advanced fees, now you're signed up, you're stuck, and the promised help doesn't materialize," she told ABC News.

Audio tapes of some sales calls, turned over to the attorney general by TaxMasters, prove the point, she says.

Salespeople tell potential customers TaxMasters is 97 or 98 percent successful in reducing the amount of taxes owed.

"You're owing $19,000," the TaxMasters salesman tells a customer on a recording provided to ABC News by the attorney general.

"I mean we can get you down to basically next to nothing," he continues. "I think we are the most successful tax resolution company. We're 97 percent successful," the salesman says.

"Not true," said Attorney General Swanson. "It's another falsehood of this company. These salesmen tell people that to sign them up, but they don't deliver on those promises."

The IRS says only a small number of taxpayers ever qualify for such a substantial reduction in taxes owed.


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Sources: ABC News, CNN, Google Maps

Tim Pawlenty Quits 2012 Race After Being Eclipsed By Bachmann

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Pawlenty Drops Out of Presidential Race After Disappointing Straw Poll Finish


Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is dropping out of the Republican presidential contest, after a disappointing third place finish in the Iowa Straw Poll yesterday.

“We needed to get some lift to continue on and have a pathway forward,” Pawlenty said this morning in an exclusive interview on “This Week.” "That didn’t happen, so I’m announcing this morning on your show that I’m going to be ending my campaign for president.”

Pawlenty finished with 2,293 votes, giving him 14 percent of the total ballots cast – more than 2,500 votes behind winner Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) who finished with 28 percent of the vote, and runner-up Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), who was close behind with 27 percent.

The former Minnesota governor was reportedly planning to spend a total of around $1.5 million on his Iowa campaign from his launch in late May through mid-August.

Despite better resources and organization in Iowa, Pawlenty was only able to beat fourth-place finisher Rick Santorum by just over 600 votes.



Pawlenty sent out an email to supporters last night titled, “Just the Beginning” congratulating Bachmann on the straw poll win, but vowing to continue his campaign.

“As I've said all along, we needed to show progress to do well, and we did just that. This is a long process to restore America -- we are just beginning, and I'm eager for the campaign,” the email to supporters read.

But the weak showing at the Iowa Straw Poll proved to be too large a blow for the campaign to continue.


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Sources: ABC News, AP, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Youtube, Google Maps