Since it is Friday it is time once again for yet another edition of the AWMD Friday Free For All. This is the only time of the week when our arguewithmydad.com readers can control the topic(s) for discussion. All you have to do is get someone else to respond to your suggested topic and then the floor is yours. Don’t be shy and don’t hesitate. Get busy and be sure to let us know your views and arguments so everyone can read and react to them. Right here on arguewithmydad.com. I will make a couple of suggestions for possible topics, but they are only suggestions. Today is Friday so only you can be the decider. But you need to tell us what you want to discuss. So, what is on your mind today? With all that is going on, how can you not speak your mind? Let’s hear from you!

The first suggested topic for discussion pertains to one of our old “friends”, the NRA.  It seems that the National Rifle Association may have been caught fudging their grant numbers.  “The NRA told the IRS it gave $20,347 to Morganton, North Carolina, city officials to support youth programs. The city says it received $8,412, a difference of $11,935.  Oklahoma State University, which supports a number of youth shooting programs across the state, received $107,758 from the NRA Foundation during 2010, according to documents the university provided to Bloomberg News under its state open records law. The NRA Foundation told the IRS it gave OSU $125,778, a difference of $18,020. OSU officials said they had no explanation for the discrepancy.  Tom Slaughter, president of Arizona Outdoor Sports Inc. in Mesa, Arizona, said his group got $5,000 worth of ammunition for clay-target shooting last year from the NRA Foundation. The foundation reported giving Slaughter’s group a $1,135 cash grant and $10,105 in non-cash assistance for “program materials.” ‘  SFGate

It looks like the NRA has consistently lied to the IRS.  I can understand one error, but they have been caught red-handed several times. Maybe it is time for the IRS to pull the tax-free status from the NRA.  Providing false returns to the IRS is illegal and can subject the filer to penalties and the loss of its non-profit status.  “Representatives of four recipients told Bloomberg News they received less than the foundation reported giving them on its 2010 tax return. Failing to provide correct information to the Internal Revenue Service could subject a tax-exempt organization to fines of $100 a day, said David S. Miller, a tax attorney with Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP in New York. If there’s a reasonable explanation for inaccuracies, the law doesn’t impose a penalty, he said.”  SFGate  I will be interested in the NRA’s response to the IRS and its grant partners, if one is forthcoming.  What do you think the IRS should do to the NRA?

My second suggested topic for discussion relates to one of the Teapublican’s favorite Presidential contenders, Rep. Ron Paul.  Lately, Dr. Paul has been surging in the polls while at the same time getting increased media scrutiny about his voting record and past publications.  He has been criticized for his newsletter that made several racist comments during the 1980′s and 1990′s and now he is getting heat for statements in his 1987 book.  “But despite his denials, CNN’s Peter Hamby reports that Paul included many of the controversial ideas in his 1987 book, “Freedom Under Siege: The U.S. Constitution after 200-Plus Years.” That work — published under Paul’s name — attributed AIDS to the gay “lifestyle” and suggested that victims of sexual harassment should simply quit their jobs:  In one section of the book, Paul criticized people suffering from AIDS or other contagious diseases for demanding health insurance coverage. “The individual suffering from AIDS certainly is a victim – frequently a victim of his own lifestyle – but this same individual victimizes innocent citizens by forcing them to pay for his care,” Paul wrote. [...]  “Employee rights are said to be valid when employers pressure employees into sexual activity,” Paul wrote. “Why don’t they quit once the so-called harassment starts? Obviously the morals of the harasser cannot be defended, but how can the harassee escape some responsibility for the problem? Seeking protection under civil rights legislation is hardly acceptable.” ‘  Think Progress  Let me get this straight.  Ron Paul claims that he didn’t write the racist and homophobic statements in his newsletters, but he put some of the same slurs in his book.  I am not a math major, but that just doesn’t add up.  Is there something Dr. Paul is hiding or not telling us?  Could Ron Paul be lying to the American public when he claims that he isn’t a homophobe and isn’t a racist?

How many times does it take for one person to put slurs in writing before people start believing what he wrote?  I think Dr. Paul’s true colors are showing.  He actually supported the newsletters and claimed that he wrote them, until he started to run for President during the last two election cycles.  He claims now that he was more of a publisher of those newsletters and they do not reflect his views, but he hasn’t denounced his own words in his own book…yet!  What do you think?

Let’s hear what You think about my posting. The sky is the limit and I will be anxiously waiting to see what issue You want to talk about. It is time to get busy and let everyone know what you are thinking about. Let’s hear from all of You! Don’t be shy and do not delay in telling us what you think. These are important issues that all of our readers should have an opinion on. It won’t hurt to let us know what You think. As a reminder, you check out my Guest Blog articles on the weekend at Prof. Jonathan Turley’s blog site.  By the way, I want to wish everyone a Happy and Peaceful New Year!