Thursday, January 7, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Exposing Barack Obama's secret strategy for transforming America
WHISTLEBLOWER MAGAZINE
THE CRISIS CREATORS
Exposing Barack Obama's secret strategy for transforming America
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: January 01, 2010
11:55 pm Eastern
© 2010 WorldNetDaily
The American electorate has watched in amazement for a year as the Obama administration has created unprecedented havoc and outrage throughout the nation.
And yet, the actual result of 2009's non-stop crises has been not just the dramatic transfer of wealth and power away from citizens and small businesses and into the hands of government, but also the beginnings of a profound transformation of America's economic and governmental system.
Is it possible that the Obama administration is intentionally creating crises for the purpose of converting America into a full-fledged socialist state? To many, such a conclusion sounds like an absurd conspiracy theory.
But for those knowledgeable about the modern history of the radical left, creating crises is simply how things get done.
Indeed, in one of its most powerful issues ever, the January 2010 edition of Whistleblower magazine – titled "THE CRISIS CREATORS" – documents conclusively that the Obama administration's primary modus operandi of governance is the transformation of America through wreaking havoc.
Following the classic radical-left strategy of the manufactured crisis, the Obama administration and Congress are creating crises in every area of life and policy.
They're wreaking havoc throughout America's capitalist, free-enterprise system by taking over major industries like banking, auto and healthcare. And by multiplying the national debt so astronomically that the only mathematically possible way to pay it off is with the printing press, which translates directly into the "grand theft" of Americans' hard-earned wealth through major inflation.
But it's not just the economy. They're wreaking havoc also on America's national security, prosecuting U.S. soldiers for being too rough on terrorists, but rewarding confessed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed with a civilian trial in New York City and affording him all the powerful legal rights of an American citizen. And by badmouthing and apologizing for America overseas and bowing before Muslim kings, while scandalously snubbing leaders of America's few remaining allies like the U.K. and Israel.
They're creating crises in the nation's energy policy by stubbornly adhering to the controversial and now utterly discredited "global warming" theory and pursuing economically catastrophic legislation like "cap and trade." They're creating havoc in education by putting radical homosexual activist Kevin Jennings, notorious for sexually corrupting children, in charge of the safety of the nation's public schools.
In every area imaginable, as "THE CRISIS CREATORS" documents, the Obama administration is busily engaged in undermining and destroying the nation's key institutions – or as Obama himself euphemistically put it a few days before being elected president, "We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America."
"For the last year," says Whistleblower Editor David Kupelian, "we've had it relentlessly hammered into our heads that America will self-destruct economically if we don't solve our cataclysmic healthcare crisis. But in reality, there is no healthcare crisis. We have the best medical services delivery system in world history. What about the poor and uninsured? In America, you can be an escaped-convict-illegal-alien-child-rapist, but if you get hurt and go to a public hospital, you will by law be taken care of, completely and totally, whether you can pay for it or not. That's not a broken system; that's the most magnificent system in the world."
(Story continues below)
"Of course, the government could easily create a simple safety net to help the small percentage of Americans who don't have health insurance," added Kupelian. "But they've never been interested in that. They're interested only in creating the illusion of a systemic and fatal healthcare crisis as a means of forcing socialism down free Americans' throats.
"And that's just one example. Manufacturing crises to force 'change' is how the radical left has operated for decades, and now that Obama, Pelosi and Reid are in power, fake crises and their terrible 'solutions' dominate life in America."
Highlights of "THE CRISIS CREATORS" include:
"Empowerment by manufactured crisis" by Joseph Farah
"The crisis creators" by David Kupelian, on how leaders keep us dependant and off balance
"Manufactured healthcare crisis" by James Simpson, in which the former White House economist reveals the shocking truth about Obamacare
"How ACORN creates crises to bring about 'change'" by Jerome R. Corsi, who shows that, from voter fraud to subprime mortgages, the notorious group is a chaos machine
"Famous weather scientist: Climategate 'tip of iceberg'" by Bob Unruh, on expert who reveals "one of the greatest hoaxes ever perpetrated on the American people"
"U.N. climate chief cashes in on carbon" – exposing the global "climate change" leader's ties to a conglomerate that stands to make hundreds of millions in emissions scheme
"How U.N. redefined 'pandemic' to heighten alarm over H1N1" by Chelsea Schilling, on how and why the World Health Organization quietly changed the meaning of the scary term just before declaring "swine flu" a "pandemic"
"Swine-flu bribe fever!" by Chelsea Schilling, revealing links between the U.N.'s H1N1 scientists and companies making vaccines
"Obama's uncompromising inner man" by David Limbaugh, who shows how the president's "petty," "mean-spirited" personality pops out when he gets off teleprompter
"The left's religious-like dogmas" by Dennis Prager, who reveals that behind the seemingly secular political philosophy lies a fervent, irrational faith
"Are Obama, Pelosi, Reid mentally ill?" by Lyle H. Rossiter, Jr., M.D., in which the veteran forensic psychiatrist explains the ‘disturbed personalities’ of the political left
"How politicians 'solve' problems" by Thomas Sowell, on the secret to understanding elected officials and bureaucrats
"The silver lining of the left in power" by Dennis Prager, who points out that finally, America gets to see what happens when statists rule the state
"When half gives and half takes" by John Stossel, who provides a glimpse of what happens when government stops creating crises
"Many Americans already know what is going on in their country, and are understandably horrified," said Kupelian. "But now, in THE CRISIS CREATORS, they'll learn exactly why and how it's all being accomplished. With that kind of knowledge comes the wherewithal to effectively fight back – and for millions of outraged citizens, fighting back is what 2010 is all about."
THE CRISIS CREATORS
Exposing Barack Obama's secret strategy for transforming America
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: January 01, 2010
11:55 pm Eastern
© 2010 WorldNetDaily
The American electorate has watched in amazement for a year as the Obama administration has created unprecedented havoc and outrage throughout the nation.
And yet, the actual result of 2009's non-stop crises has been not just the dramatic transfer of wealth and power away from citizens and small businesses and into the hands of government, but also the beginnings of a profound transformation of America's economic and governmental system.
Is it possible that the Obama administration is intentionally creating crises for the purpose of converting America into a full-fledged socialist state? To many, such a conclusion sounds like an absurd conspiracy theory.
But for those knowledgeable about the modern history of the radical left, creating crises is simply how things get done.
Indeed, in one of its most powerful issues ever, the January 2010 edition of Whistleblower magazine – titled "THE CRISIS CREATORS" – documents conclusively that the Obama administration's primary modus operandi of governance is the transformation of America through wreaking havoc.
Following the classic radical-left strategy of the manufactured crisis, the Obama administration and Congress are creating crises in every area of life and policy.
They're wreaking havoc throughout America's capitalist, free-enterprise system by taking over major industries like banking, auto and healthcare. And by multiplying the national debt so astronomically that the only mathematically possible way to pay it off is with the printing press, which translates directly into the "grand theft" of Americans' hard-earned wealth through major inflation.
But it's not just the economy. They're wreaking havoc also on America's national security, prosecuting U.S. soldiers for being too rough on terrorists, but rewarding confessed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed with a civilian trial in New York City and affording him all the powerful legal rights of an American citizen. And by badmouthing and apologizing for America overseas and bowing before Muslim kings, while scandalously snubbing leaders of America's few remaining allies like the U.K. and Israel.
They're creating crises in the nation's energy policy by stubbornly adhering to the controversial and now utterly discredited "global warming" theory and pursuing economically catastrophic legislation like "cap and trade." They're creating havoc in education by putting radical homosexual activist Kevin Jennings, notorious for sexually corrupting children, in charge of the safety of the nation's public schools.
In every area imaginable, as "THE CRISIS CREATORS" documents, the Obama administration is busily engaged in undermining and destroying the nation's key institutions – or as Obama himself euphemistically put it a few days before being elected president, "We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America."
"For the last year," says Whistleblower Editor David Kupelian, "we've had it relentlessly hammered into our heads that America will self-destruct economically if we don't solve our cataclysmic healthcare crisis. But in reality, there is no healthcare crisis. We have the best medical services delivery system in world history. What about the poor and uninsured? In America, you can be an escaped-convict-illegal-alien-child-rapist, but if you get hurt and go to a public hospital, you will by law be taken care of, completely and totally, whether you can pay for it or not. That's not a broken system; that's the most magnificent system in the world."
(Story continues below)
"Of course, the government could easily create a simple safety net to help the small percentage of Americans who don't have health insurance," added Kupelian. "But they've never been interested in that. They're interested only in creating the illusion of a systemic and fatal healthcare crisis as a means of forcing socialism down free Americans' throats.
"And that's just one example. Manufacturing crises to force 'change' is how the radical left has operated for decades, and now that Obama, Pelosi and Reid are in power, fake crises and their terrible 'solutions' dominate life in America."
Highlights of "THE CRISIS CREATORS" include:
"Empowerment by manufactured crisis" by Joseph Farah
"The crisis creators" by David Kupelian, on how leaders keep us dependant and off balance
"Manufactured healthcare crisis" by James Simpson, in which the former White House economist reveals the shocking truth about Obamacare
"How ACORN creates crises to bring about 'change'" by Jerome R. Corsi, who shows that, from voter fraud to subprime mortgages, the notorious group is a chaos machine
"Famous weather scientist: Climategate 'tip of iceberg'" by Bob Unruh, on expert who reveals "one of the greatest hoaxes ever perpetrated on the American people"
"U.N. climate chief cashes in on carbon" – exposing the global "climate change" leader's ties to a conglomerate that stands to make hundreds of millions in emissions scheme
"How U.N. redefined 'pandemic' to heighten alarm over H1N1" by Chelsea Schilling, on how and why the World Health Organization quietly changed the meaning of the scary term just before declaring "swine flu" a "pandemic"
"Swine-flu bribe fever!" by Chelsea Schilling, revealing links between the U.N.'s H1N1 scientists and companies making vaccines
"Obama's uncompromising inner man" by David Limbaugh, who shows how the president's "petty," "mean-spirited" personality pops out when he gets off teleprompter
"The left's religious-like dogmas" by Dennis Prager, who reveals that behind the seemingly secular political philosophy lies a fervent, irrational faith
"Are Obama, Pelosi, Reid mentally ill?" by Lyle H. Rossiter, Jr., M.D., in which the veteran forensic psychiatrist explains the ‘disturbed personalities’ of the political left
"How politicians 'solve' problems" by Thomas Sowell, on the secret to understanding elected officials and bureaucrats
"The silver lining of the left in power" by Dennis Prager, who points out that finally, America gets to see what happens when statists rule the state
"When half gives and half takes" by John Stossel, who provides a glimpse of what happens when government stops creating crises
"Many Americans already know what is going on in their country, and are understandably horrified," said Kupelian. "But now, in THE CRISIS CREATORS, they'll learn exactly why and how it's all being accomplished. With that kind of knowledge comes the wherewithal to effectively fight back – and for millions of outraged citizens, fighting back is what 2010 is all about."
Monday, January 4, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
"Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians"
From the Desk of Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton:
Judicial Watch Announces List of Washington's "Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians" for 2009
Please accept my wishes for a Happy New Year. As many of you know, it has become something of a New Year's tradition for Judicial Watch to comb through its files for the year to determine which politicians earn the dubious distinction of being the most corrupt in Washington. The following is Judicial Watch's 2009 "top ten" list in alphabetical order:
1.Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT): This marks two years in a row for Senator Dodd, who made the 2008 "Ten Most Corrupt" list for his corrupt relationship with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and for accepting preferential treatment and loan terms from Countrywide Financial, a scandal which still dogs him. In 2009, the scandals kept coming for the Connecticut Democrat. In 2009, Judicial Watch filed a Senate ethics complaint against Dodd for undervaluing on his Senate Finan cial Disclosure forms a property he owns in Ireland. Judicial Watch's complaint forced Dodd to amend the forms. However, press reports suggest the property to this day remains undervalued. Judicial Watch also alleges in the complaint that Dodd obtained a sweetheart deal for the property in exchange for his assistance in obtaining a presidential pardon (during the Clinton administration) and other favors for a long-time friend and business associate. The false financial disclosure forms were part of the cover-up. Dodd remains the head the Senate Banking Committee.
2.Senator John Ensign (R-NV): A number of scandals popped up in 2009 involving public officials who conducted illicit affairs, and then attempted to cover them up with hush payments and favors, an obvious abuse of power. The year's worst offender might just be Nevada Republican Senator John Ensign. Ensign admitted in June to an extramarital affair with the wife of one of his staff members, who then allegedly obtained special favors from the Nevada Republican in exchange for his silence. According to The New York Times: "The Justice Department and the Senate Ethics Committee are expected to conduct preliminary inquiries into whether Senator John Ensign violated federal law or ethics rules as part of an effort to conceal an affair with the wi fe of an aide…" The former staffer, Douglas Hampton, began to lobby Mr. Ensign's office immediately upon leaving his congressional job, despite the fact that he was subject to a one-year lobbying ban. Ensign seems to have ignored the law and allowed Hampton lobbying access to his office as a payment for his silence about the affair. (These are potentially criminal offenses.) It looks as if Ensign misused his public office (and taxpayer resources) to cover up his sexual shenanigans.
CORRUPTION CHRONICLES
•Napolitano Touts Air Safety After Bomb Attempt
•Illegal Alien Says Drug Sentence Too Cruel
•Politician Pays Girlfriend $340k
•Coal Towns Mired In Public Corruption
•U.S. Intel Failures Helped Terrorist
•Court Lets Gov. Hide Public Biz
3.Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA): Judicial Watch is investigating a $12 million TARP cash injection provided to the Boston-based OneUnited Bank at the urging of Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank. As reported in the January 22, 2009, edition of the Wall Street Journal, the Treasury Department indicated it would only provide funds to healthy banks to jump-start lending. Not only was OneUnited Bank in massive financial turmoil, but it was also "under attack from its regulators for allegations of poor lending practices and executive-pay abuses, including owning a Porsche for its executives' use." Rep. Frank admitted he spoke to a "federal regulator," and Treasury granted the funds. (The bank continues to flounder despite Frank's intervention for federal dollars.) Moreover, Judicial Watch uncovered documents in 2009 that showed that members of Congress for years were aware that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were playing fast and loose with accounting issues, risk assessment issues and executive compensation issues, even as liberals led by Rep. Frank continued to block attempts to rein in the two Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs). For example, during a hearing on September 10, 2003 , before the House Committee on Financial Services considering a Bush administration proposal to further regulate Fannie and Freddie, Rep. Frank stated: "I want to begin by saying that I am glad to consider the legislation, but I do not think we are facing any kind of a crisis. That is, in my view, the two Government Sponsored Enterprises we are talking about here, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not in a crisis. We have recently had an accounting problem with Freddie Mac that has led to people being dismissed, as appears to be appropriate. I do not think at this point there is a problem with a threat to the Treasury." Frank received $42,350 in campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac between 1989 and 2008. Frank also engaged in a relationship with a Fannie Mae Executive while servi ng on the House Banking Committee, which has jurisdiction over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
4.Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner: In 2009, Obama Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner admitted that he failed to pay $34,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes from 2001-2004 on his lucrative salary at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an organization with 185 member countries that oversees the global financial system. (Did we mention Geithner now runs the IRS?) It wasn't until President Obama tapped Geithner to head the Treasury Department that he paid back most of the money, although the IRS kindly waived the hefty penalties. In March 2009, Geithner also came under fire for his handling of the AIG bonus scandal, where the company used $165 million of its bailout funds to pay out executive bonuses, resulting in a massive public backlash. Of course as h ead of the New York Federal Reserve, Geithner helped craft the AIG deal in September 2008. However, when the AIG scandal broke, Geithner claimed he knew nothing of the bonuses until March 10, 2009. The timing is important. According to CNN: "Although Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told congressional leaders on Tuesday that he learned of AIG's impending $160 million bonus payments to members of its troubled financial-products unit on March 10, sources tell TIME that the New York Federal Reserve informed Treasury staff that the payments were imminent on Feb. 28. That is ten days before Treasury staffers say they first learned 'full details' of the bonus plan, and three days before the [Obama] Administration launched a new $30 billion infusion of cash for AIG." Thro w in another embarrassing disclosure in 2009 that Geithner employed "household help" ineligible to work in the United States, and it becomes clear why the Treasury Secretary has earned a spot on the "Ten Most Corrupt Politicians in Washington" list.
5.Attorney General Eric Holder: Tim Geithner can be sure he won't be hounded about his tax-dodging by his colleague Eric Holder, US Attorney General. Judicial Watch strongly opposed Holder because of his terrible ethics record, which includes: obstructing an FBI investigation into the theft of nuclear secrets from Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory; rejecting multiple requests for an independent counsel to investigate alleged fundraising abuses by then-Vice President Al Gore in the Clinton White House; undermining the criminal investigation of President Clinton by Kenneth Starr in the midst of the Lewinsky investigation; and planning the violent raid to seize then-six-year-old Elian Gonzalez at gunpoint in order to return him t o Castro's Cuba. Moreover, there is his soft record on terrorism. Holder bypassed Justice Department procedures to push through Bill Clinton's scandalous presidential pardons and commutations, including those for 16 members of FALN, a violent Puerto Rican terrorist group that orchestrated approximately 120 bombings in the United States, killing at least six people and permanently maiming dozens of others, including law enforcement officers. His record in the current administration is no better. As he did during the Clinton administration, Holder continues to ignore serious incidents of corruption that could impact his political bosses at the White House. For example, Holder has refused to investigate charges that the Obama political machine traded VIP access to the White House in exchange for campaign contributions—a scheme eerily similar to one hatched by Holder's former boss, Bill Clinton in the 1990s. The Holder Justice Department also came under fire for dropping a voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party. On Election Day 2008, Black Panthers dressed in paramilitary garb threatened voters as they approached polling stations. Holder has also failed to initiate a comprehensive Justice investigation of the notorious organization the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), which is closely tied to President Obama. There were allegedly more than 400,000 fraudulent ACORN voter registrations in the 2008 campaign. And then there were the journalist videos catching ACORN Housing workers advising undercover reporters on how to evade tax, immigration, and child prostitution laws. Holder's controversial decisions on new rights for terrorists and his attacks on previous efforts to combat terrorism remind many of the fact that his former law firm has provided and continues to provide pro bono representation to terrorists at Guantanamo Bay. Holder's politicization of the Justice Department makes one long for the days of Alberto Gonzales.
6.Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)/ Senator Roland Burris (D-IL): One of the most serious scandals of 2009 involved a scheme by former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to sell President Obama's then-vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder. Two men caught smack dab in the middle of the scandal: Senator Roland Burris, who ultimately got the job, and Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, emissaries for Jesse Jackson Jr., named "Senate Candidate A" in the Blagojevich indictment, reportedly offered $1.5 million to Blagojevich during a fundraiser if he named Jackson Jr. to Obama's seat. Three days later federal authorities arrested Blagojevich. Burris, for his part, apparently lied ab out his contacts with Blagojevich, who was arrested in December 2008 for trying to sell Obama's Senate seat. According to Reuters: "Roland Burris came under fresh scrutiny…after disclosing he tried to raise money for the disgraced former Illinois governor who named him to the U.S. Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama...In the latest of those admissions, Burris said he looked into mounting a fundraiser for Rod Blagojevich—later charged with trying to sell Obama's Senate seat—at the same time he was expressing interest to the then-governor's aides about his desire to be appointed." Burris changed his story five times regarding his contacts with Blagojevich prior to the Illinois governor appointing him to the U.S. Senate. Three of those changing explana tions came under oath.
7.President Barack Obama: During his presidential campaign, President Obama promised to run an ethical and transparent administration. However, in his first year in office, the President has delivered corruption and secrecy, bringing Chicago-style political corruption to the White House. Consider just a few Obama administration "lowlights" from year one: Even before President Obama was sworn into office, he was interviewed by the FBI for a criminal investigation of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's scheme to sell the President's former Senate seat to the highest bidder. (Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and slumlord Valerie Jarrett, both from Chicago, are also tangled up in the Blagojevich scandal.) Moreover, the Obama administration made the startling claim that the Privacy Act does not apply to the White House. The Obama White House believes it can violate the privacy rights of American citizens without any legal consequences or accountability. President Obama boldly proclaimed that "transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency," but his administration is addicted to secrecy, stonewalling far too many of Judicial Watch's Freedom of Information Act requests and is refusing to make public White House visitor logs as federal law requires. The Obama administration turned the National E ndowment of the Arts (as well as the agency that runs the AmeriCorps program) into propaganda machines, using tax dollars to persuade "artists" to promote the Obama agenda. According to documents uncovered by Judicial Watch, the idea emerged as a direct result of the Obama campaign and enjoyed White House approval and participation. President Obama has installed a record number of "czars" in positions of power. Too many of these individuals are leftist radicals who answer to no one but the president. And too many of the czars are not subject to Senate confirmation (which raises serious constitutional questions). Under the President's bailout schemes, the federal government continues to appropriate or control—through fiat and threats—large sectors of the private economy, prompting conservative columnist George Will to write: "The administration's central activity—the political allocation of wealth and opportunity—is not merely susceptible to corruption, it is corruption." Government-run healthcare and car companies, White House coercion, uninvestigated ACORN corruption, debasing his office to help Chicago cronies, attacks on conservative media and the private sector, unprecedented and dangerous new rights for terrorists, perks for campaign donors—this is Obama's "ethics" record—and we haven't even gotten through the first year of his presidency.
8.Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): At the heart of the corruption problem in Washington is a sense of entitlement. Politicians believe laws and rules (even the U.S. Constitution) apply to the rest of us but not to them. Case in point: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her excessive and boorish demands for military travel. Judicial Watch obtained documents from the Pentagon in 2008 that suggest Pelosi has been treating the Air Force like her own personal airline. These documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, include internal Pentagon email correspondence detailing attempts by Pentagon staff to accommodate Pelosi's numerous requests for military escorts and military aircraft, as well as the speak er's 11th hour cancellations and changes. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also came under fire in April 2009, when she claimed she was never briefed about the CIA's use of the waterboarding technique during terrorism investigations. The CIA produced a report documenting a briefing with Pelosi on September 4, 2002, that suggests otherwise. Judicial Watch also obtained documents, including a CIA Inspector General report, which further confirmed that Congress was fully briefed on the enhanced interrogation techniques. Aside from her own personal transgressions, Nancy Pelosi has ignored serious incidents of corruption within her own party, including many of the individuals on this list. (See Rangel, Murtha, Jesse Jackson, Jr., etc.)
9.Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) and the rest of the PMA Seven: Rep. John Murtha made headlines in 2009 for all the wrong reasons. The Pennsylvania congressman is under federal investigation for his corrupt relationship with the now-defunct defense lobbyist PMA Group. PMA, founded by a former Murtha associate, has been the congressman's largest campaign contributor. Since 2002, Murtha has raised $1.7 million from PMA and its clients. And what did PMA and its clients receive from Murtha in return for their generosity? Earmarks—over ten million dollars in earmarks. In fact, even with all of the attention surrounding his alleged influence peddling, Murtha kept at it. Following an FBI raid of PMA's offices earlier in 2009, Murtha continued to seek congressional earmarks for PMA clients, while also hitting them up for campaign contributions. According to The Hill, in April, "Murtha reported receiving contributions from three former PMA clients for whom he requested earmarks in the pending appropriations bills." When it comes to the PMA scandal, Murtha is not alone. As many as six other Members of Congress are currently under scrutiny according to The Washington Post. They include: Peter J. Visclosky (D-IN.), James P. Moran Jr. (D-VA), Norm Dicks (D-WA.), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), C.W. Bill Young (R-FL.) and Todd Tiahrt (R-KS.). Of course rather than investiga te this serious scandal, according to Roll Call, House Democrats circled the wagons, "cobbling together a defense to offer political cover to their rank and file." The Washington Post also reported in 2009 that Murtha's nephew received $4 million in Defense Department no-bid contracts: "Newly obtained documents...show Robert Murtha mentioning his influential family connection as leverage in his business dealings and holding unusual power with the military."
10.Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY): Rangel, the man in charge of writing tax policy for the entire country, has yet to adequately explain how he could possibly "forget" to pay taxes on $75,000 in rental income he earned from his off-shore rental property. He also faces allegations that he improperly used his influence to maintain ownership of highly coveted rent-controlled apartments in Harlem, and misused his congressional office to fundraise for his private Rangel Center by preserving a tax loophole for an oil drilling company in exchange for funding. On top of all that, Rangel recently amended his financial disclosure reports, which doubled his reported wealth. (He somehow "forgot" about $1 million in assets.) And what did h e do when the House Ethics Committee started looking into all of this? He apparently resorted to making "campaign contributions" to dig his way out of trouble. According to WCBS TV, a New York CBS affiliate: "The reigning member of Congress' top tax committee is apparently 'wrangling' other politicos to get him out of his own financial and tax troubles...Since ethics probes began last year the 79-year-old congressman has given campaign donations to 119 members of Congress, including three of the five Democrats on the House Ethics Committee who are charged with investigating him." Charlie Rangel should not be allowed to remain in Congress, let alone serve as Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, and he knows it. That's why he felt the need to disburse campaign contributions to Ethics Committee members and other congressional colleagues.
Judicial Watch Announces List of Washington's "Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians" for 2009
Please accept my wishes for a Happy New Year. As many of you know, it has become something of a New Year's tradition for Judicial Watch to comb through its files for the year to determine which politicians earn the dubious distinction of being the most corrupt in Washington. The following is Judicial Watch's 2009 "top ten" list in alphabetical order:
1.Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT): This marks two years in a row for Senator Dodd, who made the 2008 "Ten Most Corrupt" list for his corrupt relationship with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and for accepting preferential treatment and loan terms from Countrywide Financial, a scandal which still dogs him. In 2009, the scandals kept coming for the Connecticut Democrat. In 2009, Judicial Watch filed a Senate ethics complaint against Dodd for undervaluing on his Senate Finan cial Disclosure forms a property he owns in Ireland. Judicial Watch's complaint forced Dodd to amend the forms. However, press reports suggest the property to this day remains undervalued. Judicial Watch also alleges in the complaint that Dodd obtained a sweetheart deal for the property in exchange for his assistance in obtaining a presidential pardon (during the Clinton administration) and other favors for a long-time friend and business associate. The false financial disclosure forms were part of the cover-up. Dodd remains the head the Senate Banking Committee.
2.Senator John Ensign (R-NV): A number of scandals popped up in 2009 involving public officials who conducted illicit affairs, and then attempted to cover them up with hush payments and favors, an obvious abuse of power. The year's worst offender might just be Nevada Republican Senator John Ensign. Ensign admitted in June to an extramarital affair with the wife of one of his staff members, who then allegedly obtained special favors from the Nevada Republican in exchange for his silence. According to The New York Times: "The Justice Department and the Senate Ethics Committee are expected to conduct preliminary inquiries into whether Senator John Ensign violated federal law or ethics rules as part of an effort to conceal an affair with the wi fe of an aide…" The former staffer, Douglas Hampton, began to lobby Mr. Ensign's office immediately upon leaving his congressional job, despite the fact that he was subject to a one-year lobbying ban. Ensign seems to have ignored the law and allowed Hampton lobbying access to his office as a payment for his silence about the affair. (These are potentially criminal offenses.) It looks as if Ensign misused his public office (and taxpayer resources) to cover up his sexual shenanigans.
CORRUPTION CHRONICLES
•Napolitano Touts Air Safety After Bomb Attempt
•Illegal Alien Says Drug Sentence Too Cruel
•Politician Pays Girlfriend $340k
•Coal Towns Mired In Public Corruption
•U.S. Intel Failures Helped Terrorist
•Court Lets Gov. Hide Public Biz
3.Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA): Judicial Watch is investigating a $12 million TARP cash injection provided to the Boston-based OneUnited Bank at the urging of Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank. As reported in the January 22, 2009, edition of the Wall Street Journal, the Treasury Department indicated it would only provide funds to healthy banks to jump-start lending. Not only was OneUnited Bank in massive financial turmoil, but it was also "under attack from its regulators for allegations of poor lending practices and executive-pay abuses, including owning a Porsche for its executives' use." Rep. Frank admitted he spoke to a "federal regulator," and Treasury granted the funds. (The bank continues to flounder despite Frank's intervention for federal dollars.) Moreover, Judicial Watch uncovered documents in 2009 that showed that members of Congress for years were aware that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were playing fast and loose with accounting issues, risk assessment issues and executive compensation issues, even as liberals led by Rep. Frank continued to block attempts to rein in the two Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs). For example, during a hearing on September 10, 2003 , before the House Committee on Financial Services considering a Bush administration proposal to further regulate Fannie and Freddie, Rep. Frank stated: "I want to begin by saying that I am glad to consider the legislation, but I do not think we are facing any kind of a crisis. That is, in my view, the two Government Sponsored Enterprises we are talking about here, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not in a crisis. We have recently had an accounting problem with Freddie Mac that has led to people being dismissed, as appears to be appropriate. I do not think at this point there is a problem with a threat to the Treasury." Frank received $42,350 in campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac between 1989 and 2008. Frank also engaged in a relationship with a Fannie Mae Executive while servi ng on the House Banking Committee, which has jurisdiction over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
4.Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner: In 2009, Obama Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner admitted that he failed to pay $34,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes from 2001-2004 on his lucrative salary at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an organization with 185 member countries that oversees the global financial system. (Did we mention Geithner now runs the IRS?) It wasn't until President Obama tapped Geithner to head the Treasury Department that he paid back most of the money, although the IRS kindly waived the hefty penalties. In March 2009, Geithner also came under fire for his handling of the AIG bonus scandal, where the company used $165 million of its bailout funds to pay out executive bonuses, resulting in a massive public backlash. Of course as h ead of the New York Federal Reserve, Geithner helped craft the AIG deal in September 2008. However, when the AIG scandal broke, Geithner claimed he knew nothing of the bonuses until March 10, 2009. The timing is important. According to CNN: "Although Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told congressional leaders on Tuesday that he learned of AIG's impending $160 million bonus payments to members of its troubled financial-products unit on March 10, sources tell TIME that the New York Federal Reserve informed Treasury staff that the payments were imminent on Feb. 28. That is ten days before Treasury staffers say they first learned 'full details' of the bonus plan, and three days before the [Obama] Administration launched a new $30 billion infusion of cash for AIG." Thro w in another embarrassing disclosure in 2009 that Geithner employed "household help" ineligible to work in the United States, and it becomes clear why the Treasury Secretary has earned a spot on the "Ten Most Corrupt Politicians in Washington" list.
5.Attorney General Eric Holder: Tim Geithner can be sure he won't be hounded about his tax-dodging by his colleague Eric Holder, US Attorney General. Judicial Watch strongly opposed Holder because of his terrible ethics record, which includes: obstructing an FBI investigation into the theft of nuclear secrets from Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory; rejecting multiple requests for an independent counsel to investigate alleged fundraising abuses by then-Vice President Al Gore in the Clinton White House; undermining the criminal investigation of President Clinton by Kenneth Starr in the midst of the Lewinsky investigation; and planning the violent raid to seize then-six-year-old Elian Gonzalez at gunpoint in order to return him t o Castro's Cuba. Moreover, there is his soft record on terrorism. Holder bypassed Justice Department procedures to push through Bill Clinton's scandalous presidential pardons and commutations, including those for 16 members of FALN, a violent Puerto Rican terrorist group that orchestrated approximately 120 bombings in the United States, killing at least six people and permanently maiming dozens of others, including law enforcement officers. His record in the current administration is no better. As he did during the Clinton administration, Holder continues to ignore serious incidents of corruption that could impact his political bosses at the White House. For example, Holder has refused to investigate charges that the Obama political machine traded VIP access to the White House in exchange for campaign contributions—a scheme eerily similar to one hatched by Holder's former boss, Bill Clinton in the 1990s. The Holder Justice Department also came under fire for dropping a voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party. On Election Day 2008, Black Panthers dressed in paramilitary garb threatened voters as they approached polling stations. Holder has also failed to initiate a comprehensive Justice investigation of the notorious organization the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), which is closely tied to President Obama. There were allegedly more than 400,000 fraudulent ACORN voter registrations in the 2008 campaign. And then there were the journalist videos catching ACORN Housing workers advising undercover reporters on how to evade tax, immigration, and child prostitution laws. Holder's controversial decisions on new rights for terrorists and his attacks on previous efforts to combat terrorism remind many of the fact that his former law firm has provided and continues to provide pro bono representation to terrorists at Guantanamo Bay. Holder's politicization of the Justice Department makes one long for the days of Alberto Gonzales.
6.Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)/ Senator Roland Burris (D-IL): One of the most serious scandals of 2009 involved a scheme by former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to sell President Obama's then-vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder. Two men caught smack dab in the middle of the scandal: Senator Roland Burris, who ultimately got the job, and Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, emissaries for Jesse Jackson Jr., named "Senate Candidate A" in the Blagojevich indictment, reportedly offered $1.5 million to Blagojevich during a fundraiser if he named Jackson Jr. to Obama's seat. Three days later federal authorities arrested Blagojevich. Burris, for his part, apparently lied ab out his contacts with Blagojevich, who was arrested in December 2008 for trying to sell Obama's Senate seat. According to Reuters: "Roland Burris came under fresh scrutiny…after disclosing he tried to raise money for the disgraced former Illinois governor who named him to the U.S. Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama...In the latest of those admissions, Burris said he looked into mounting a fundraiser for Rod Blagojevich—later charged with trying to sell Obama's Senate seat—at the same time he was expressing interest to the then-governor's aides about his desire to be appointed." Burris changed his story five times regarding his contacts with Blagojevich prior to the Illinois governor appointing him to the U.S. Senate. Three of those changing explana tions came under oath.
7.President Barack Obama: During his presidential campaign, President Obama promised to run an ethical and transparent administration. However, in his first year in office, the President has delivered corruption and secrecy, bringing Chicago-style political corruption to the White House. Consider just a few Obama administration "lowlights" from year one: Even before President Obama was sworn into office, he was interviewed by the FBI for a criminal investigation of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's scheme to sell the President's former Senate seat to the highest bidder. (Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and slumlord Valerie Jarrett, both from Chicago, are also tangled up in the Blagojevich scandal.) Moreover, the Obama administration made the startling claim that the Privacy Act does not apply to the White House. The Obama White House believes it can violate the privacy rights of American citizens without any legal consequences or accountability. President Obama boldly proclaimed that "transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency," but his administration is addicted to secrecy, stonewalling far too many of Judicial Watch's Freedom of Information Act requests and is refusing to make public White House visitor logs as federal law requires. The Obama administration turned the National E ndowment of the Arts (as well as the agency that runs the AmeriCorps program) into propaganda machines, using tax dollars to persuade "artists" to promote the Obama agenda. According to documents uncovered by Judicial Watch, the idea emerged as a direct result of the Obama campaign and enjoyed White House approval and participation. President Obama has installed a record number of "czars" in positions of power. Too many of these individuals are leftist radicals who answer to no one but the president. And too many of the czars are not subject to Senate confirmation (which raises serious constitutional questions). Under the President's bailout schemes, the federal government continues to appropriate or control—through fiat and threats—large sectors of the private economy, prompting conservative columnist George Will to write: "The administration's central activity—the political allocation of wealth and opportunity—is not merely susceptible to corruption, it is corruption." Government-run healthcare and car companies, White House coercion, uninvestigated ACORN corruption, debasing his office to help Chicago cronies, attacks on conservative media and the private sector, unprecedented and dangerous new rights for terrorists, perks for campaign donors—this is Obama's "ethics" record—and we haven't even gotten through the first year of his presidency.
8.Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): At the heart of the corruption problem in Washington is a sense of entitlement. Politicians believe laws and rules (even the U.S. Constitution) apply to the rest of us but not to them. Case in point: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her excessive and boorish demands for military travel. Judicial Watch obtained documents from the Pentagon in 2008 that suggest Pelosi has been treating the Air Force like her own personal airline. These documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, include internal Pentagon email correspondence detailing attempts by Pentagon staff to accommodate Pelosi's numerous requests for military escorts and military aircraft, as well as the speak er's 11th hour cancellations and changes. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also came under fire in April 2009, when she claimed she was never briefed about the CIA's use of the waterboarding technique during terrorism investigations. The CIA produced a report documenting a briefing with Pelosi on September 4, 2002, that suggests otherwise. Judicial Watch also obtained documents, including a CIA Inspector General report, which further confirmed that Congress was fully briefed on the enhanced interrogation techniques. Aside from her own personal transgressions, Nancy Pelosi has ignored serious incidents of corruption within her own party, including many of the individuals on this list. (See Rangel, Murtha, Jesse Jackson, Jr., etc.)
9.Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) and the rest of the PMA Seven: Rep. John Murtha made headlines in 2009 for all the wrong reasons. The Pennsylvania congressman is under federal investigation for his corrupt relationship with the now-defunct defense lobbyist PMA Group. PMA, founded by a former Murtha associate, has been the congressman's largest campaign contributor. Since 2002, Murtha has raised $1.7 million from PMA and its clients. And what did PMA and its clients receive from Murtha in return for their generosity? Earmarks—over ten million dollars in earmarks. In fact, even with all of the attention surrounding his alleged influence peddling, Murtha kept at it. Following an FBI raid of PMA's offices earlier in 2009, Murtha continued to seek congressional earmarks for PMA clients, while also hitting them up for campaign contributions. According to The Hill, in April, "Murtha reported receiving contributions from three former PMA clients for whom he requested earmarks in the pending appropriations bills." When it comes to the PMA scandal, Murtha is not alone. As many as six other Members of Congress are currently under scrutiny according to The Washington Post. They include: Peter J. Visclosky (D-IN.), James P. Moran Jr. (D-VA), Norm Dicks (D-WA.), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), C.W. Bill Young (R-FL.) and Todd Tiahrt (R-KS.). Of course rather than investiga te this serious scandal, according to Roll Call, House Democrats circled the wagons, "cobbling together a defense to offer political cover to their rank and file." The Washington Post also reported in 2009 that Murtha's nephew received $4 million in Defense Department no-bid contracts: "Newly obtained documents...show Robert Murtha mentioning his influential family connection as leverage in his business dealings and holding unusual power with the military."
10.Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY): Rangel, the man in charge of writing tax policy for the entire country, has yet to adequately explain how he could possibly "forget" to pay taxes on $75,000 in rental income he earned from his off-shore rental property. He also faces allegations that he improperly used his influence to maintain ownership of highly coveted rent-controlled apartments in Harlem, and misused his congressional office to fundraise for his private Rangel Center by preserving a tax loophole for an oil drilling company in exchange for funding. On top of all that, Rangel recently amended his financial disclosure reports, which doubled his reported wealth. (He somehow "forgot" about $1 million in assets.) And what did h e do when the House Ethics Committee started looking into all of this? He apparently resorted to making "campaign contributions" to dig his way out of trouble. According to WCBS TV, a New York CBS affiliate: "The reigning member of Congress' top tax committee is apparently 'wrangling' other politicos to get him out of his own financial and tax troubles...Since ethics probes began last year the 79-year-old congressman has given campaign donations to 119 members of Congress, including three of the five Democrats on the House Ethics Committee who are charged with investigating him." Charlie Rangel should not be allowed to remain in Congress, let alone serve as Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, and he knows it. That's why he felt the need to disburse campaign contributions to Ethics Committee members and other congressional colleagues.
13,000 jihad attacks worldwide
Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind of 9/11, and those who have perpetrated the over 13,000 jihad attacks worldwide since then repeatedly point to the Koran as their inspiration and authority.
Yet Barack Obama, Tony Blair, and other Western leaders have praised the Koran as a "book of peace" -- without providing any evidence of actually having read it.
It's time they did -- and it's time that all Westerners got to know the book that inspires our enemies to commit their hideous acts of hate and terrorism.
Trouble is, the Koran is not an easy read. It's been called the "wrist-slittingly boring," as well as confusing, contradictory, and muddled.
Now, in The Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koran, Robert Spencer -- the bestselling author and Islam expert -- shows exactly what's in the Koran, and why every American should be concerned about Islam's holy book.
For a limited time, HUMAN EVENTS is making Robert Spencer's The Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koran available to you absolutely FREE.
In your FREE copy of The Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koran, you'll learn:
What the Koran says about who Infidels are -- and what must be done about them
The Koran's appallingly harsh teachings on women
What it really says about warfare against Infidels
Its strange teachings on Christians and Christianity
Its relentless demonization of the people whom the Koran identifies as the chief enemies of the Muslims: the Jews
Why claims that the Koran teaches peace and tolerance are false
Spencer also shows how the Koran developed, and even provides a revealing, disquieting glimpse into the Hadith, the traditions of Muhammad that for Muslims worldwide are second in authority only to the Koran itself.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
Your cost for the Senate bill - lots of Christmas gifts under their tree!
The Senate and House bills have to be reconciled and then go back for a vote in the Senate and House. Right now, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are talking with each other about how to reconcile the differences between the two bills. We are hearing that there may not be a formal conference committee, because of all the procedural hurdles to appoint conferees, including likely Republican opposition and various time-consuming matters pertaining to congressional rules and procedures.
There could be some sort of "informal" conference committee, bypassing congressional rules, where a few Senate and House Democrats literally write a new bill (taking pieces from each of the House and Senate passed bills). Both chambers of Congress would have to approve the new bill. By and far the quickest way to the President's desk is for the House of Representatives to simply pass the Senate-passed bill. That would avoid a conference committee altogether. But there is a lot of push - back from House liberals (including Reps. Rangel, Waxman, Miller, and so forth).
Your cost for the Senate bill - lots of Christmas gifts under their tree!
Here is what the Obama Administration gave away to get the bill passed - this is your money and it was not listed as part of the cost of the Senate bill! And, we thought those Senators were standing up for what they believed in. Here is what they got!
This is adapted from a Dana Milbank column in The Washington Post:
The Louisiana Purchase: $100 million in extra Medicaid money for the Bayou State, requested by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.).
The Cornhusker Kickback: $100 million in extra Medicaid money, this time for Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.).
Omaha Prime Cuts: Nebraska's Nelson won a "carve out" provision that would reduce fees for Mutual of Omaha and other Nebraska insurers.
Con: $100 million meant for a medical center in Connecticut for Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.)
Gator Aid: Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Flo.) secured a grandfather clause will allow Floridians to preserve their pricey Medicare Advantage program from cuts imposed in the other states.
Handout Montana: Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) secured Medicare coverage for anybody exposed to asbestos - as long as they worked in a mine in Libby, Montana.
Iowa Pork: Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) won more Medicare money for low-volume hospitals of the sort commonly found in Iowa.
Dakota Payoff: Sens. Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad, both North Dakota Democrats, will enjoy a provision bringing higher Medicare payments to hospitals and doctors in "frontier counties" of states such as - let's see here - North Dakota!
Hawaii Aloha: Hawaii, with two Democratic Senators, will get richer payments to hospitals that treat many uninsured people.
Wolverine Bonanza: Michigan, home of two other Democrats, will earn higher Medicare payments and some reduced fees for Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
What socialism means in Vermont: Sen. Bernie Sanders is getting larger Medicaid payments for his state (neighboring Massachusetts will get some, too).
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