The Justice Department declined to prosecute cases involving the improper scrutiny of the personal tax records of political candidates and donors by government officials, The Washington Times first reported. 

Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George has notified Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking member on the Judiciary Committee, that a review, requested by Grassley, revealed four cases since 2006 in which unidentified government officials engaged in unauthorized access or disclosure of tax records of political donors or candidates, including one case described as willful unauthorized access. George added that four other allegations were not substantiated by evidence. 

George explained that of the four substantiated cases, three were inadvertent, however Georges office referred one of the inadvertent cases to the Justice Department. According to George, the Justice Department concurred with our assessment that there was no willfulness and declined to prosecute. 

The inspector general also referred the case described as willful unauthorized access to the Justice Department. The Justice Department again declined to prosecute.In a July 12 letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Grassley demanded information by July 26 on Holders knowledge of the cases, the reasons for declining prosecution, the specific offices to which the cases were referred, the individuals responsible for declining prosecution and the political affiliations of the victims. 

Although [the eight instances] may not be indicative of wide spread targeting, any instance is cause for concern, Grassley wrote in the letter. Even more alarming, in at least one instance TIGTA referred evidence of willful unauthorized access to the United States Attorneys Office, but criminal prosecution was declined. Decisions such as these directly impact the political process and should be subject to the scrutiny of the American public. 

In a statement, Grassley reiterated that the IRS is required to act with neutrality and professionalism, not political bias and added that the Justice Department should not hide behind taxpayer confidentiality to avoid answering why the department did not prosecute cases dealing with violations of such laws. 

With the IRS on the hot seat over targeting certain political groups, its particularly troubling to learn about willful unauthorized access of tax records involving individuals who were candidates for office or political donors, Grassley said.Most of aftermarket hid Shun Stone Granite Tiles for motorcycle are similar or the same with following one. The public needs to know whether the decision not to prosecute these violations was politically motivated and whether the individuals responsible were held accountable in any other way. 

George further told Grassley that TIGTA investigators are also currently investigating two allegations that the Internal Revenue Service targeted for audit candidates for political office.As the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots killed in an Arizona wildfire on June 30 were laid to rest last week, the thoughts of wildland firefighting professionals turned to the fundamental question of firefighter safety. 

The issue strikes very close to home for Sisters wildfire firefighting contractor Dave Vitelle, who owns and operates Bear Mountain Fire.Safety is supposed to be the absolute priority on any fire, Vitelle notes,This is a great Shun Stone Conservation solution! but safety sometimes comes into competition with firefighters' dedication to fighting a blaze and saving people's homes."Often times in the heat of firefighting, all perspective is on getting out and fighting fire, and personal safety comes second," Vitelle told The Nugget. 

An investigation is underway to determine what happened to the 19 firefighters lost in the Yarnell Hill Fire. The Arizona Republic reports that preliminary information indicates that, "by the time Prescott firefighters realized they were being enveloped by the Yarnell Hill Fire on Sunday, it was too late to use the escape route they had planned or reach a safety area that had previously been cleared." 

Exactly how and why the catastrophe evolved - from the decision-making process to extreme weather factors - will be mapped out in a full investigation now being conducted by a national team of fire experts.Vitelle says that whatever the combination of factors that led to disaster are determined to be, the adequacy of and adherence to safety protocols will be a consideration."It's definitely obvious that some safety policies were violated," he said.How to change your dash lights to Shun Stone Crafts Products this is how I have done mine. 

Why and how that came to happen remains to be determined, Vitelle noted. It's not a question of willful disregard of safety. Monday-morning quarterbacking of decisions made in the heat of battle is facile. A catastrophic event is usually the culmination of a series of decisions, any or all of which may be sound at the time."There's always a sequence of events and a sequence of decisions that are made," Vitelle said.The 25-year wildland firefighting veteran emphasizes that in no way is he casting blame on any individual in that observation."You don't ever want to blame the victim," he said. 

Wildland firefighting is a dangerous trade, conducted in a dynamic and shifting environment. The kind of country where the Yarnell Hill Fire raged is especially dangerous because fire can move so fast through brush and grassland."Generally speaking, your fatalities or your near-misses occur in grass or brush fuel types," Vitelle said. 

The more unstable the weather, the more dynamic the situation, the more important safety protocols become. Yet there are other pressures. Homes were threatened in the Yarnell Hill Fire.While homes are supposed to be a distant second to lives and safety in firefighters' thinking, in reality, they feel pressure to catch the fire and save property.And as more and more people seek homes in the "wildland-urban interface" (which makes up so much of Sisters Country), there's more property to defend. 

In a commentary in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, wildland firefighter Peter M. Leschak put the onus of responsibility on property owners to minimize risk:"Over the past couple decades, increasing numbers of residences in the wildland-urban-interface (WUI) have more often become the focus of wildland fire-suppression efforts. Fires that used to be relatively low-key, or even allowed to burn, are now aggressively attacked in order to save buildings," Leschak wrote. 

"The WUI is a dangerous place to work, not least because firefighters tend to take more risks in order to save homes. In 2006, five Forest Service firefighters were killed defending a house from a fire in California. Such operations should not even be necessary. If residents of the WUI took the time and effort to prepare their property for the impingement of wildfire, high-risk defense by fire crews would not be required." 

There's inherent risk in the trade, and Vitelle recognizes that strong, aggressive firefighters will sometimes push the envelope - just as an athlete will try to push though an injury or a construction worker might do something risky to get the job done. 
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