Feb 16
The following is a chatty, light but very educational exposure of the real “labor” statistics, the causations and what we as Americans can do about this situation. This comparison of both the employment level and the labor force over time lucidly explains what is going on right now (or not going on!) and is something that you won’t read or hear through most forms of news media, that is, those leaning Left.
We do have recourses, however. A further supporting of the Tea Parties and conservative values and the vote in November 2012.
Jobs and Revolution
Christopher Chantrill February 12, 2011
Since I know nothing about Egypt beyond what I read in the papers, I won't comment on the Egyptian revolution. All I can say is that I agree with the pundits. When you have an autocratic regime then you get rigidities in the economy and society that strain and stress it until something breaks. The only thing these thug dictators understand is spoils for their supporters and thuggery for the rest. Freedom? Schmeedom.
So instead of solving Egypt's problems let's talk about America's jobs problem. No doubt you've heard the mainstream media anguish about the mixed job numbers released on Friday. Here they are in chart form, direct from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Household Survey website. First of all, let's look at the employment situation.
Not good. If there ever was a jobless recovery, of the kind that Nancy Pelosi used to rage about back in 2003, this is it. Eight million jobs lost since the peak in 2006, and no net jobs for the last year, in spite of a trillion or so in "stimulus." But the really shocking numbers are in the labor force, the total of people actually working or actively looking for work.
The labor force has been flat for three years. Notice that even in Nancy Pelosi's nightmare years, the Bush jobless recovery in 2002-2003, the labor force was increasing smartly as people entered the labor force looking for work. Not now, not with the mixed economic news of the Obama jobless recovery.
Of course, the sluggishness in the labor market is hardly surprising. The Obama administration and its willing accomplices in the Congress just spent two years rewarding their supporters with new economic rigidities like ObamaCare, stimulus spending for government workers, new environmental penalties like the EPA effort to regulate carbon dioxide, slowdowns and outright bans on energy production, meddling in the housing market, and billions in subsidies to its supporters in the crony capitalist green energy business. It seems that the only thing our politicians know is to reward their supporters and send their thugs out to beat the economy into submission.
Pretty soon the voters will be ready to throw the bums out and vote for hope and change. After all, there are millions of jobless out there, and sooner or later they are going to get desperate. But let me make it clear. The situation in the US is nothing like the situation in Egypt. For instance, we don't have millions of people in the streets.
We do? You are saying that the American people the Tea Party movement have been in the streets peacefully protesting ever since the winter of 2009? Well, I suppose you have a point. And based on his State of the Union speech, the President still thinks that the answer to our problems is more government, a program described by the divine Sarah as "a bullet train to bankruptcy."
Anyway, violence never solved anything. War is not the answer. That is what those nice silver-haired liberal ladies tell us from the bumpers of their Toyota Priuses.
Excuse me, lady. What do you think that the individual mandate is all about? It says: go get health insurance or else. What do you think that universal compulsory education is all about? It says: send your kid to school or government may take her away. What do you think that taxation is all about? Pay your taxes or go to jail. So you see that it's not just thug dictators that believe in force and violence; nice educated liberal ladies of a certain age believe in force too.
We conservatives are different. We believe in dialing down the level of force in society, starting with government force. We believe that the way to get America back to work is not with crony capitalist green energy and bullet trains to bankruptcy. We believe it starts with lower tax rates and lower government spending. We believe, with Deirdre McCloskey, in the great middle class, a bourgeoisie dignified and free: free to innovate and free to experiment.
In that city on a hill, where you and I have a rendezvous with destiny, there is a slow, steady evolution every day as new ideas in the economy drive out old ideas, as a few people every day lose their jobs and a few people find new jobs, so there is never a need to take to the streets. In the culmination of this incandescent vision, the last best hope of mankind on earth, government is limited and greedy bankers don't take home the big bucks.
It's not asking much. Limited government, a middle class that's innovative and free, jobs, jobs, jobs, and everyone trying to make the world immediately around them a better place for them and their children. Call it American exceptionalism, the middle class alternative to bloody revolution in the streets of Cairo.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/02/jobs_and_revolution.html
Posted in Corruption Obama Regulations Tea Parties Unemployment with No Comments
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Feb 14
Obama is acting more like a corrupt dictator than the President of what was once a great and free nation. His wanton and arrogant disregard for the will of the people as well as his naked power grab and narcissism place him in a category never before entered by any previous President. This is the crowning jewel (in a negative context) of his sorrowful repertoire which even exceeds his abject incompetence, naiveté and absence of leadership.
The only winner in this besides those Americans who live off the forced largesse and labor of the taxpayer is Jimmy Carter. As pathetic and traitorous as he has become, in comparison to Obama, Carter is an improvement.
As for the rest of us we have a few choices but they aren’t great. This situation will end “badly” if Obama continues to disregard legal judgments from the judiciary and flout the law, creating a Constitutional crisis, in addition to disregarding the will of the good people of this country.
President Stealth Strikes Again
Ed Lasky February 08, 2011
How Obama and his merry band are trying to evade the will of the people
The people spoke in November when they delivered a shellacking to Democrats and Barack Obama. They had grabbed too much power in ways that ran afoul of tradition, the law, and the will of the people. In electing so many Republicans to office, Americans wanted a course change from the radicalism of the past two years: the regulatory avalanche, the policy missteps, the ObamaCare overreach.
Have President Obama and his merry band of followers read the memo yet? The people have had it with the tricks and sly maneuvers used by Democrats to push their agenda on America. Apparently they have not yet heard our voices or care to listen to us -- they still have some tricks up their sleeves.
They know the game book of the Republicans -- what their plans are to circumscribe Obama's power-grab, to minimize the damage from ObamaCare and massive and wasteful deficits. I suggested what that very game plan would be in Stopping Obama: A Republican Game Plan. Merely observing and piecing together various news items was sufficient to give one an idea of the contours of the Republican effort; Obama and the Democrats know how the game is played and have deployed their own tactics to counter and foil the Republicans and those darned and dunderheaded Americans who voted for them (the bitter ones who cling to God, guns, and the ballot box).
Republicans in the House now have oversight authority to finally investigate all that has happened the last two years -- and authority chairmen such as Darrell Issa (House Oversight and Government Reform Committee) and Fred Upton (Energy and Commerce) intend to use to root out waste, cronyism, favoritism, and corruption. Issa has already asked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to release a number of documents relating to its policies and earlier testimony before Congress.
The response from the Department? A trick question. For there has been no response. It's called stonewalling (or we can call it the "Just Say No" reply), and it is meant to frustrate and derail any sort of oversight by Republicans.
From Ed Morrissey at Hot Air:
... The Daily Caller reported that the Obama administration had snubbed top GOP oversight official Rep. Darrell Issa on his first major document deadline as new chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sending a short letter promising to comply in response to a major information request that was due Saturday at noon.
A Jan. 28 letter from the Department of Homeland Security said the agency is "in the process of retrieving" documents requested by Issa "and will make them available for your review expeditiously."
But the next day, Issa's two-week deadline expired.
Now Issa is hitting back with a forceful response that demands key documents by Thursday.
What happens if the DHS fails to comply by tomorrow? Issa may issue subpoenas for top officials to explain to his panel why they have failed to cooperate with Congressional oversight. The Democrats on the committee may try to block the subpoenas.
Democrats are going to be in an uproar, charging Republicans are on a McCarthy-like with hunt. Congressman Henry Waxman has already been accusing Fred Upton of being too disruptive because he dare asked the Department of Health and Human Services to give to the committee copies of communications about an office set up under ObamaCare to write and enforce regulations on private insurance companies. The hypocrisy is blatant for, as the Wall Street Journal editorializes, Waxman was very zealous in requesting documents when he was chairman of a committee:
The 19-term Beverly Hills Democrat made his name as a hell-for-leather investigator of business and, at least during GOP Presidencies, the executive branch, so there's more than a little humor in his sternly worded letter to Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton. Mr. Waxman believes Republicans have gone too far by requesting documents from Health and Human Services as they probe ObamaCare's implementation.
Days after the 2006 election, Mr. Waxman mused to reporters that the Oversight Committee he would chair had "jurisdiction over everything" and said that "the most difficult thing will be to pick and choose." He didn't. Which Waxman investigation was most frivolous is still an open question. Was it his dogged pursuit of the Karl Rove conspiracy to "out" Valerie Plame, or Dick Cheney's phantom plan to enrich Halliburton, or the White House noninterference in climate science?
By the summer of 2008, the Bush Administration had produced more than 1.8 million pages of documents and more than 1,100 different officials had testified before Congress to comply with some 650 investigations.
The Journal notes that one other way the Democrats are going to try to evade the GOP's efforts to restore accountability to Washington. One major strategy the GOP had was to use its House majority to defund various elements of Obamacare. Furthermore, bills would be narrowly drafted to make it easier to cut funding for various agencies.
How did the Obama team respond? By some fancy footwork behind the scenes. The office Upton was investigating had directly reported to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius but, once the GOP took control, was suddenly relocated to the Medicare center. The Journal opines:
The bureaucratic reshuffling was likely meant to counter GOP attempts to defund the office, which has nothing to do with Medicare. Mr. Upton is also asking for information about the process by which HHS has granted more than 700 waivers to its union allies and others exempting them from certain ObamaCare mandates.
Some shuffling of the deck to avoid defunding by suddenly relocating an office from vulnerable area to a more protected one (who wants to be charged with placing Medicare funding at risk?). How clever these Democrats can be when it comes to ignoring the will of the people. Moving offices around on the organizational chart, reassigning government workers who might be called to testify so as to make them less readily available to give testimony to Congress (as has been done by the Department of Justice in the New Black Panther controversy), shifting titles, funds, and job responsibilities become par for the course for the Obama administration. Will their bureaucratic stunts to avoid Republican oversight become a high-stakes game of "Whack- a- Mole"?
So much for those promises Barack Obama made to have the most transparent administration in history. They were, as Barack Obama would say, "just words"?
But wait -- there is more. They also are ignoring federal courts.
From the Washington Examiner:
A federal court in Louisiana has found the Interior Department in contempt for violating an injunction barring enforcement of the first drilling moratorium issued by the agency following the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf Of Mexico.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar issued the first moratorium June 22, 2010, but shortly thereafter federal District Judge Martin Feldman issued a temporary restraining order, which the government appealed. That appeal was denied and a few days later Salazar issued a second moratorium that was virtually identical to the first.
Judge Feldman was not impressed by Interior's claims that the second moratorium was different, and ruled that "the government did not simply reimpose a blanket moratorium; rather, each step the government took following the Court's imposition of a preliminary injunction showcases its defiance:
"The government failed to seek a remand; it continually reaffirmed its intention and resolve to restore the moratorium; it even notified operators that though a preliminary injunction had issued, they could quickly expect a new moratorium.
"Such dismissive conduct, viewed in tandem with the reimposition of a second blanket and substantively identical moratorium and in light of the national importance of this case, provide this Court with clear and convincing evidence of the government's contempt of this Court's preliminary injunction Order."
A federal judge issued an injunction that barred enforcement of a drilling moratorium issued by the agency (it was actually an executive order issued by Barack Obama). So the Interior Department basically sought an end-run around the court's injunction be developing a new moratorium essentially the same as the first one. Plus, the Interior Department has been afflicted with a sudden case of sclerosis since drilling permitting has been shifted into low gear. The executive branch is ignoring a federal court order, and now the judge has the good sense to treat the administration as it should be treated when it ignores the law: with contempt.
One more point.
Judges normally expect the executive branch to follow the laws (how silly in the Age of Obama). This noble but naïve belief was highlighted in Judge Roger Vinson's decision that declared Obamacare to be unconstitutional because it stretched the Commerce Clause to the breaking point. He also said the lack of a severability clause would make the rest of ObamaCare unworkable. One need not dig into the legalistic details of the decision. But what is most interesting is the judge's reasoning in denying the plaintiffs' an injunction that would have prevented the roll-out of Obamacare. Why deny an injunction if Obamacare is unconstitutional?
Because the judge still has faith that a president would abide by the oath taken when he is sworn into the highest office of the land to the best of his ability to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Judge Vinson did not think that an injunction was needed. He cited a previous ruling and wrote that he expected the "executive branch" to "adhere to the law as declared by the court. As a result the declaratory judgment is the functional equivalent of an injunction." Well, the judge who issued the contempt citation over the evasion of his own injunction against enforcing the drilling moratorium might want to inform his colleague that the executive branch has no problem ignoring the judicial branch.
Memo to Judge Vinson: don't expect the executive branch to adhere to any laws as declared by any court unless it comports with President Obama's agenda. And so it has already done so. As the Wall Street Journal notes the White House reaction after the Vinson decision:
Yet the White House and Health and Human Services have already said they'll continue running ObamaCare as if nothing has changed. Imagine the rule-of-law furor if the Bush Administration had said a wiretapping or other civil liberties ruling didn't matter.
Where are the media when it has become increasingly clear to all but the most besotted and blind that Barack Obama regularly flouts not just the will of the people, but the laws of the land in order to pursue his agenda?
We should reciprocate his disrespect -- if not contempt -- on November 6th, 2012.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/02/president_stealth_strikes_agai.html
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Jan 15
Introducing Obama's new Press Secretary, William Daley.
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Jan 11
The corrupt and coercive actions of the Obama Administration know no limits. Exacerbating this egregious situation is the negligence and patent complicity of the news media in its lack of reportage on any of these issues. By not getting called out and criticized publically, Obama and his elitist, racist and radical cronies have no disincentive to cease these activities.
The story below, written by an attorney who had worked in the Justice Dept. under Holder and was intimately acquainted with policies and culture, details Attorney General Eric Holder’s brazen arrogance and tampering with the New Black Panther Investigation as well his threats to those in the Dept. who refuse to toe his “policies”.
Holder Uses New York Times to Tamper with New Black Panther Investigation
J. Christian Adams
Attorney General Eric Holder recently made statements to the New York Times so detached from reality that they could have been written by scheming Republican operatives for fun. In particular, Holder tells the Times that the lawless dismissal of voter intimidation charges against the New Black Panthers is “a made up controversy.” I have written about Holder’s accelerating detachment from reality in the interview, along with Jen Rubin.
Putting aside the fact video exists of the armed uniformed thugs in Philadelphia, Holder did something even worse than flirt with kooky conspiratorial characterizations of the fallout from the Black Panther dismissal.
When Holder announced to the New York Times that there “is no there there,” he let the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) know what he believes the outcome of their ongoing investigation into the dismissal should be. In other words, he tampered with their investigation.
Holder’s close friend Deputy Attorney General James Cole will have the power to veto any critical conclusions by OPR.
Multiple attorneys, including me, have testified under oath that the Obama Civil Rights Division will not enforce civil rights laws in a race-neutral fashion. Numerous attorneys still at the Justice Department have confirmed the substance of our testimony to the Washington Post. Numerous other attorneys no longer at the Justice Department have also confirmed our testimony.
Holder’s response to the New York Times? It’s a “made up controversy.”
Holder’s performance to the New York Times is more than simply ludicrous, it is meddlesome. When Holder made these partisan campaign-style attacks, he meddled with two ongoing investigations in a way that previous Attorney Generals would never do.
The DOJ OPR is currently investigating whether or not Steve Rosenbaum, Loretta King, and other DOJ political appointees used improper considerations when they ordered the dismissal of the New Black Panther case.
The problem is that Eric Holder sits atop the chain of command for every OPR attorney working on the investigation. Eric Holder, and his newly recess-appointed Deputy Attorney General James Cole, oversee OPR.
They have the power to fire, and as was recently exercised, hire the head of OPR. The incoming head of OPR, Robin Ashton, was just named by Holder. Ashton will have the power to tamper with any findings in the New Black Panther investigation, and bring them more in line with Eric Holder’s pronouncements to the New York Times.
When Holder made wild assertions about the dismissal of the New Black Panther case to the New York Times, you can be sure every single person working down the chain of command on the investigation took note. For them to reach a finding contrary to Holder’s statements guarantees a bureaucratic headwind from the highest levels of the DOJ. That’s a career killer inside Justice. Few can be expected to have the courage to confront the falsehoods of an Attorney General from within the bureaucracy. There aren’t many with the courage of DOJ lawyer Christopher Coates.
The DOJ Inspector General is also investigating the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of the New Black Panther case and hostility toward racially equal enforcement of civil rights laws under Eric Holder. I have already given lengthy interviews with the IG about this hostility, as have many others.
Yet Eric Holder has announced his opinion of the investigation in the interview. The IG is just looking into “a made up controversy,” he says.
America might soon long for the good old days of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. When the DOJ OPR and IG were investigating conduct during his tenure, he had the sense and integrity to withhold comment.
Instead of telegraphing his views to the investigative authorities as Holder did, Gonzales made it clear it wouldn’t be appropriate to comment while an investigation was ongoing.
Holder doesn’t care even about the appearance of impropriety. He plainly let the investigators inside OPR and the IG know what he thinks they should conclude.
Worse, Holder almost taunts the majority of Americans who believe men wielding weapons at the entrance to a poll and hurling racial slurs is a serious matter, no matter the race of the perpetrators. All “made up,” he shockingly concludes, providing sanctuary to armed thugs from the highest levels of our government.
http://biggovernment.com/jcadams/2011/01/04/holder-uses-new-york-times-to-tamper-with-new-black-panther-investigation/#more-211860
Posted in Arrogance Attorney General Eric Holder Corruption Dept. of Justice Media - Far Left New Black Panther Party Racism Reverse Racism with No Comments
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Jan 1
The following creative factitious letter to “president” Obama from Mephistopheles (the devil or other evil person’s name associated with this letter) sardonically lauds him for his brilliance in implementing his policies in whatever illegal, shady or unconstitutional way possible and doing so by circumventing the electorate and Congress.
For us to successfully reclaim our country we must neutralize, exorcise and remove the “devil” (Obama) from power ... as well as his cronies.
New Year's Advice From Your Sponsor
From the desk of D. Mephistopheles, Attorney-at-Law:
Dear President Obama,
I must say, I am quite impressed. Following the unfortunate turn of events in your country's mid-term elections, many of the lower downs to whom I answer in this Great Firm were fully convinced that we had "bet on the weak horse", so to speak. There was a growing sense that you were out of time and out of ideas. But lo and behold, you had aces up both sleeves! Your mastery at mustering your forces through the "lame duck" session of Congress was simply brilliant to behold. Truly, our side was amazed, having not seen such tactical brilliance since our man from Austria launched his lightning campaign seven decades ago. In just a few short weeks you gained enormous swaths of territory from our common enemy, simultaneously weakening the resolve of your country's fighting forces and legitimizing the previously stigmatized wretches who dare not speak their love's name. Likewise, your ability to convince your own domestic opposition to lie down before the threat of a renewed menace from Comrade Putin was simply brilliant.
What has struck me as even more brilliant, however, is your determination to accomplish our mutual goals without regard to the outcomes of these ever-so-annoying elections. We saw the Republicans manage to block net neutrality, cap and trade, and death panels being enacted into law. Yet you brilliantly retorted "so what" and simply instituted all of these policies through executive direct action, proving once again that you are just the man we've been looking for. Even Bill Clinton didn't have the chutzpah to pull that kind of thing off! Truly, to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat as quickly and deftly as you have these last few weeks is breathtaking.
That being said, I think there are some lessons to be learned here. First of all, don't put too much stock in the outcomes of elections. Let's face it, our people lost the vote big time in November. Yet you simply stood your ground and took it to the enemy! And what did you learn? That you don't need to pay any attention to election outcomes or Congressional votes. You don't have to worry about the petty legalists who want to see policies enacted into law before you put them in place. All you need to do is take direct regulatory action and leave Congress out of it altogether. You did it, and what price have you paid? None at all, that's what. So why not keep it up?
Just think of it. You know the old saying "the devil is in the details"? Well I can tell you for a fact that is absolutely true. And who knows more about details than your vast army of Washington bureaucrats? What you need to do is simply enact every piece of our agenda that you can think of immediately through executive directives and agency regulation. After all, even if the Republicans try to block you, how many hearings can they hold at one time? You have thousands upon thousands of bureaucrats at your command for every Republican Congressman. They may try to take out a few of our initiatives, but there is no way they can even begin to address all of them. Truly our name is Legion!
Now about this "election" business. Here's a thought: You lost the election, but you still enacted your agenda. So why bother with this ridiculous election business to begin with? You know Chavez, Castro, the Royal House of Saud and so many other heroes of yours don't worry about this sort of thing. Are you less of a man than any of them? Certainly not! So why worry about the outcome in 2012? Just take command and cancel the whole thing. I know our mutual friend Bill Ayers has already spoken with you about this. The New York Times is ready to support you on this, along with the rest of your traditional media giants. The people need a Leader, someone who isn't afraid to do what has to be done, regardless of who stands in his way! You can be this Leader! All you have to do is take the full reigns of power. They are yours for the taking, just do it!
Okay, that's enough for now. Tell Michelle I said hi, and give my best to the kids. By the way, I'd really like to talk to you later about a book deal. Something about your goals and how you'll get there, maybe "My Struggle" or something like that. I'll have my people get with your people.
Your friend and admirer,
D. Mephistopheles, Attorney-at-Law
http://beautifulletters-bls.blogspot.com/2010/12/new-years-advice-from-your-sponsor.html
Posted in Anti-American Congress Constitution Corruption Far Left Freedom Ideology Legal rights Obama with No Comments
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Dec 21
Attorney General Eric Holder has brought the regard, presitge and position that he holds to a new, immeasurably low level. This is an amazing feat given that the honor had been previously held by the abysmally incompetent Janet Reno. In fact, his job performance, or lack thereof, makes her accomplishments and management appear respectable.
Holder shows a total lack of understanding and appreciation of his position, responsibilities and the U.S. Constitution which he is charged with adhering to. In fact, he openly and egregiously flouts the basic principles of this document which he clearly despises and finds it to be an obstacle to his Progressive and racist agenda.
On innumerably occasions, he has displayed a lack of regard for equal rights and treatments. Some, minorities and especially blacks in particular, he feels should be accorded greater rights, privileges and entitlements especially at the expense of others, notably whites. The racist bias that has suffused the Dept. of Justice under his watch and which has been countenanced by him, are well known (see The New Black Panther Party issue as but one example).
He also panders to special interest groups and those that are openly hostile to our country and intolerant of our culture. His actions seem to be intentionally aimed at undermining and weakening America – an agenda that is consistent with a far left Progressive. In his view, rights are not truly equal – the Constitution be damned.
We staunchly and relentlessly continue to call for either his resignation or firing which would be in the best interests of this country and its citizens.
Holder's Dept. Of (Social) Justice
Investor’s Business Daily 12/15/2010
Politics: This Justice Department's social activism knows no bounds. First it meddled in a border state's right to protect itself.
Now it's trying to rewrite school policy to pander to Muslim law.
On Monday, Justice sued an Illinois school district for rejecting a Muslim teacher's request to take a three-week leave of absence to travel to Mecca. The suit claims that the Berkeley School District discriminated against middle-school instructor Safoorah Khan, whose religion "required" her to perform the hajj, and is seeking damages for this so-called victim.
But it's not stopping there. It seeks an order mandating school officials adopt policies accommodating all Muslim customs, no matter how unreasonable.
Attorney General Eric Holder is fulfilling a promise to pander to the special interests of Muslims. In June 2009, he pledged "a new beginning between the United States and the Muslim community" that includes "robust enforcement" of "religious freedoms."
"We are committed to using criminal and civil rights laws to protect Muslim Americans" in the workplace, housing market and schools, he said, adding that he was making it "a top priority."
Earlier this month, Holder spoke in San Francisco at the annual dinner of an anti-FBI group called the Muslim Advocates, whom he described as "partners in our work to promote tolerance."
He told Muslims gathered there that all 94 U.S. attorney's offices were partnering with the department's Civil Rights Division to act as "force multipliers" in helping to protect the Muslim community. He informed them that he'd brought a third of the nation's U.S. attorneys to Washington for an unprecedented meeting to work on being more "sensitive" toward Muslims.
"Last year," moreover, "I established an Arab-American and Muslim Engagement Advisory Group to help identify more effective ways for the Justice Department to foster greater communication and collaboration — as well as a new level of respect and understanding — between law enforcement and Muslim and Arab-American communities," Holder said.
This attorney general's many speeches reveal an agenda more radical than even his mentor Janet Reno's. It's plain that he's an activist, not an impartial enforcer of the nation's laws.
His audiences are a who's who of progressive causes — all sharing a common goal of obtaining "social justice" and "economic justice," as opposed to just plain equal justice under the law. They include activists not just for Muslim and Arab rights, but also black civil rights, gay rights, transgender rights, Indian tribal rights, housing rights, and on and on. It's a multicultural panderfest.
Here's just a sampling of his speaking engagements over the past two years:
• National Indian Nations Conference.
• African Union Summit.
• Metropolitan Black Bar Association Annual Dinner.
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month Program.
• American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee 30th Annual National Convention.
• Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) 50th Annual Conference.
• Legal Services Corp.
• Federal Bar Association's Advancement of Social Justice.
• National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.
• Hispanic National Bar Association Annual Conference.
• National Black Prosecutors Association.
• NAACP.
• Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice & Congressional Black Caucus Symposium on Rethinking Federal Sentencing Policy.
Divide-and-pander groupism is the new normal at Justice. At Justice's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month Program last June, Holder announced — in addition to enforcement of special new rights for gays — a new "Diversity Management Plan" that includes the creation of a new department position: Deputy Associate Attorney General for Diversity.
Holder's obsession with race was laid bare in his 2009 Black History Month speech in which he called Americans "cowards" for not doing more to speak out against racism. The disconnect of bad-mouthing America as racist in the wake of its electing a black president (and his own appointment as the first black attorney general) was lost on him.
Still, he slammed "socially segregated" whites who live in "electronically padlocked suburbs" and schools that are "too willing to segregate the study of black history."
"We must endeavor to integrate black history into our culture and into our curriculums in ways in which it has never occurred before," he lectured, giving it equal weight with "so-called 'real' American history."
Such demagoguery explains why, over the past 22 months, Justice has "reinvigorated" its civil rights enforcement activities. When it comes to combating hate crimes, however, it's still a one-way street.
"Our message is simple: If you engage in violence fueled by bigotry — no matter the object or nature of your hate — we will bring you to justice," Holder claims. Unless, of course you're club-wielding New Black Panthers and the object of your hate is white voters.
Then you get a pass.
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/556935/201012151857/Holders-Dept-Of-Social-Justice.aspx
Posted in Arrogance Attorney General Eric Holder Constitution Corruption Far Left Ideology Incompetence Legal rights New Black Panther Party Progressives Racism with No Comments
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Dec 17
Unbeknownst to most average honest citizens, voter fraud in America has become quite substantial, threatening our rights and liberties. This is not just individuals voting more than once in an election. It is also a sophisticated and coordinated strategy monopolized by Democrats and Progressives that devalues the individual citizen’s vote and which can affect elections. Much of the funding to the groups that perpetrate voting fraud can be traced back to the multibillionaire Progressive George Soros.
This is a largely stealth process which is difficult to detect and is engendered by laws that make it quite simple to commit such fraud. Furthermore, Democratic politicians have no incentive to investigate or follow up on these cases as they are the ones who have the most to lose. The story below illustrates just how protective of their fraudulent votes Democrats are.
Vote Fraud as a Democrat Strategy
Peter Raymond
The Democratic Party's message to politically involved citizens is unmistakably dire. For those who attempt to expose voter fraud, expect to be harassed and even sued. This is what happened to a group called the King Street Patriots (KSP) in Harris County (Houston), Texas.
So far, intimidation has failed to deter these proud and steadfast citizens. "These lawsuits are exactly the kind of abusive disrespect for citizens that got our political leaders into trouble. We will not be intimidated by partisan attacks, by the Democratic Party, or by anyone," is the defiant retort from volunteer leader of King Street Patriots, Catherine Engelbrecht.
KSP received national attention earlier this year when their initiative, True the Vote, discovered "numerous incomplete, inaccurate or false voter registrations." KSP volunteers pored over voter rolls "double-checking all registrations" and even photographed vacant lots and non-existent addresses given on voter registration forms to validate their findings.
The reaction from the leftist goons has predictably followed the Saul Alinsky playbook for radicals. Texans Together Education Fund and the Texas Democrat Party sued KSP while Texans for Public Justice filed an ethics complaint in an attempt to "bind and gag" KSP volunteers. At the same time, progressive bloggers and websites launched a malicious smear campaign to discredit KSP efforts.
Voter fraud has become a pivotal strategy for the progressives. This is why they are coordinating such vicious attacks against honest citizens working to combat electoral corruption. Only with chicanery can collectivists successfully implement their social justice agenda rejected by most Americans. The uprooting of voter fraud jeopardizes the left's delusional aspirations, so they feel justified in using every despicable trick to thwart the efforts of groups like KSP.
It should come as no surprise George Soros, through his Open Society Foundation, funds Texans for Public Justice and Texans Together Education Fund. The benefits of controlling election outcomes are just too much of an enticement for an egomaniac who dreams of global tyranny.
By now, astute citizens understand that without direct participation by an engaged citizenry to purge voter rolls, corruption will fester and inevitably destroy a free society. Because of their abysmal performance, wholly trusting elected officials to accomplish this vital function seems unrealistic. According to a 2009 study, there are nearly 16 million dead or ineligible voters on registration rolls in the United States. This is the result of unethical activist groups, bungling and possibly complicit election officials, and the persistent dismantling of commonsense safeguards.
The "Yankee Pankey" events in Connecticut are a reminder free and fair elections are under growing risk from mismanagement and fraud. Voting rights laws and court rulings have only compounded the problem by encouraging misconduct that undermines the democratic process. Engelbrecht was correct when she said, "If our elections are not fair, we are not truly free."
To make matters worse, the now infamous Secretary of State Project (SOS) was specifically designed to manipulate elections. Soros openly boasts that financing the campaigns of far left ideologues was one of his better "political investments." Gloating over his brainchild is not unfounded since it has proven to be highly effective in winning key secretary of state seats and advancing the progressive agenda.
SOS cofounder Becky Bond of San Francisco revealed the SOS's objective in 2006 when she said, "Any serious commitment to wrestling control of the country from the Republican Party must include removing their political operatives from deciding who can vote and whose votes will count." It certainly does not sound like free and fair elections were part of her calculus.
The Soros/Bond scheme worked flawlessly in 2008 when SOS alumnus and ACORN endorsed Secretary of State Mark Ritchie dismissed a request to conduct an investigation of the 261,000 duplicate registrations and 63,000 voters who had listed non-existent addresses just prior the Franken fiasco in Minnesota. At the conclusion of the highly controversial election, Ritchie falsely claimed his office "received no reports whatsoever of fraudulent voting occurring."
After months of stonewalling by the Secretary of State's office, Republican lawmakers joined a citizen's action group called the Minnesota Majority and sued Ritchie in 2009 claiming the state's voter registration system had "not been adequately updated." The claimants also alleged, "Vote totals from canvassing boards exceed the stated number of registered voters by 406,398."
On their website, the Minnesota Majority list discrepancies they found with the registration records. These revelations alone should have triggered a thorough review and overhaul of the voter records, but Ritchie supposedly "ignored or dismissed" repeated calls for action.
Not surprisingly, issues resurfaced in the recent mid-term election when the GOP sued the State of Minnesota on November 17 over ballot tallies in a close gubernatorial race. Yet again, there were unanswered questions about precincts reporting "more votes than voters."
Much of today's registration fraud can be attributed to the National Voter Rights Act (NVRA). This seemingly innocuous legislation signed into law in 1993 by Bill Clinton was designed to make it "easier for all Americans to register to vote and to maintain their registration." Instead, it has turned into another civil rights inspired boondoggle.
To encourage voter enrollment, NVRA requires states to provide individuals with the opportunity to register to vote at the same time they apply for or renew a driver's license. Also, state run public assistance offices must offer and may assist in completing and returning voter registration forms. Both appear to be acceptable policies, but the Act also requires states allow citizens to register to vote by mail using mail-in-forms with no identification needed. This opens the door wide open to fraud and abuse.
In 2004, John Fund describes in a National Review article how NVRA establishes "fraud-friendly rules" which makes "fraud and foul-ups in election counts possible." Fund cautioned that continuation of this policy "accelerates our drift toward banana-republic elections."
Regrettably, Fund's prediction appears to be accurate.
To illustrate the documented abuse that has already occurred as a result of the "Motor Voter Act" Fund wrote, "CBS's 60 Minutes created a stir in 1999 when it found people in California using mail-in forms to register fictitious people, or pets, and then obtaining absentee ballots in their names."
In an odd twist of irony, Mexico has much tighter controls in place than the US. Every voter must present a tamperproof picture voter card, submit to thumbprint verification, and give their signature before they can cast a vote. These are all policies that advocates for illegal immigrants and progressives vehemently denounce as discriminatory, amount to voter suppression, and are a "threat to the Progressive Agenda."
On November 15, KSP filed a counter lawsuit against the Texas Democratic Party.
"It is outrageous that a group of American citizens who simply volunteered to get involved in the political process are forced into court by the Texas Democratic Party," said Kelly Shackelford, president and chief counsel of Liberty Institute, who is helping to defend KSP. "Using a political party to sue and attack citizens, and to try to reduce the Constitutional rights of all Americans, is a disgrace."
The Democratic Party may regret picking a fight with these Americans.
Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/12/vote_fraud_as_a_democrat_start.html at December 12, 2010 - 11:42:07 PM CST
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/12/vote_fraud_as_a_democrat_start.html
Posted in Corruption Democrat Liberal Progressives Soros with No Comments
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Nov 25
The audacious corruption and concomitant arrogance of some of our politicians which recently has been dominated by Democrats, further illustrates the need for a smaller, weaker, less invasive and complex and more transparent government. Democrats desire the opposite, wanting less scrutiny and accountability. (See Jay Rockefeller’s outrageous statement regarding Fox News.) This opaqueness facilitates malfeasance particularly by those who are already ethically challenged.
The Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters long history of abuses are just the latest in an interminable line of entrenched elitist politicians who have a perverted sense of entitlement and a disdainful attitude that they are much better than the average citizen. It also appears that a disproportionate number of these perpetrators may have been further fueled by the enactment of liberal ideology in the form of affirmative action programs with minority preferences which engenders a greater sense of entitlement without consequences. Furthermore, they feel that they are untouchable and if caught, will claim the RACE card as will their race similar constitutency.
Bombshell evidence may make Waters an ethics nightmare for Dems
Ed Morrissey November 22, 2010
Apparently, the Charlie Rangel ethics trial was just the warm-up act. The New York Times reported over the weekend that the House Ethics Committee suddenly postponed the trial of Maxine Waters on ethics violation because it found more evidence of direct intervention by her office to benefit the bank in which her husband owned a substantial interest. According to new e-mails uncovered by the committee, her chief of staff directly coordinated with other members of the House Financial Services Committee on behalf of OneUnited:
A newly discovered exchange of e-mails led the House ethics committee on Friday to delay its trial of Representative Maxine Waters, a California Democrat accused of helping steer bailout money to a bank in which her husband owned shares.
The e-mails are between Mikael Moore, Ms. Waters’s chief of staff, and members of the House Financial Services Committee, on which Ms. Waters serves. The e-mails show that Mr. Moore was actively engaged in discussing with committee members details of a bank bailout bill apparently after Ms. Waters agreed to refrain from advocating on the bank’s behalf. The bailout bill had provisions that ultimately benefited OneUnited, a minority-owned bank in which her husband, Sidney Williams, owned about $350,000 in shares. ..
The subcommittee’s original report found that in early September 2008, Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts and the committee’s chairman, told Ms. Waters not to get involved with any issues involving OneUnited and that Ms. Waters agreed to refrain from advocating on the bank’s behalf. The case against Ms. Waters hinged largely on a series of e-mails between Mr. Moore and OneUnited, which may suggest that Ms. Waters’s office continued to lobby on behalf of the bank, although Mr. Moore has argued that he was primarily on the receiving end of the messages.
A person directly involved in the investigation said the new e-mails could show that members of her staff continued to work on the bank’s behalf.
“It may directly contradict a bit of Maxine’s story, if not the actual facts, the way she has told it,” said the person, who did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the trial.
Waters may not be the only Democrat in trouble if this is true. The e-mails used loaded but generic terms like “small bank language,” a code for the known interest Waters had in OneUnited. After all, Waters had already discussed her interest in the bank with Frank, and the nudge would be unmistakable. Everyone on that committee knew that the “small bank” that held the most interest for Waters was the small bank in which her family held so much interest.
That opens up questions about the ethics not just of Waters but of those committee members who cooperated with Moore and his pleas for “small bank” assistance. OneUnited ended up with millions in TARP money, and unlike other applicants, got to count that cash among its assets before actually receiving the money. The preferential treatment the bank received — unique among over 700 applicants for TARP money — seems oddly coincidental to Waters’ status and the newly exposed machinations of Moore on her behalf.
How long will it be before the House takes up this case? One would presume that the Democrats would want to conclude the ethics trial before the end of the lame-duck session in order to have a majority on the House floor for Waters’ eventual punishment, but the news of the e-mails may have them hoping they can get everyone to forget about it forever. That’s not likely to happen, but it may be a little more likely that a future Ethics committee may be looking into the actions of other Financial Services Committee members.
http://hotair.com/archives/2010/11/22/bombshell-evidence-may-make-waters-an-ethics-nightmare-for-dems/
Posted in Corruption Democrat Maxine Waters with No Comments
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Nov 11
With the Democrat’s’ complete domination of this country and the legislative process by virtue of their control of the House, Senate and White House, it has been impossible to launch investigations regarding political improprieties – and that has been dangerous at best. This unopposed power has led to their contemptuousness of the average American and ostensibly corrupt, illegal and actions which includes the foisting wildly unpopular legislation on the public by whatever means possible.
Despite their promises of transparency and integrity, their reign has been anything but and they flouted it to their constituents. Now, hopefully, they may very well pay for their despicable transgressions.
They will have to answer to Congressman Darrell Issa, the chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee – and he is very serious about this responsibility.
We hope those who have violated public trust and committed corrupt or illegal acts will be punished to the maximal extent possible.
Are you listening Charlie Rangel? Maxine Waters? Eric Holder? Bill Clinton? Etc.
The Question Everyone is Asking: Who gets the first subpoena?
Ed Lasky November 03, 2010
There are many reasons to celebrate the Republican takeover of the People's House this morning. One of them will be the ability of Republicans to pull away the curtain and see what the Obama team has really been up to as it bullied Americans over the last two years.
Congressman Darrell Issa will be very busy as head of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, holding hearings and calling in federal officials to testify about a wide variety of actions: the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case being among them. The BP Spill, as the Daily Beast points out, may also be target for Issa:
Issa, for his part, has put out a detailed list of the top priorities he believes Democrats have stifled. At the top is the federal response to the Deepwater Horizon drilling disaster and the subsequent oil spill. At the time, Issa accused the White House of putting image over policy in its response, hammering the administration for dispatching a political aide to the scene. A larger investigation would reopen a wound for the White House, which fought off constant criticism during the episode.
The work of Inspectors General -- and how Barack Obama and his team-axed Gerald Walpin for what appears to be partisan reasons to protect an ally of the President -- may also be in Issa's scope.
These investigations can be serially rolled out right up to the campaign season of 2012.
The Republicans won't stop there: Americans want answers to questions about waste and fraud in the stimulus program, recidivism rates among released Gitmo terror suspects, political favors and taxpayers dollars flowing to friends and family of Democratic leaders. The list goes on and on. While Issa denies plans to hold Issa Inquisitions, we can take that with a grain of salt.
From Al Kamen's column in the Washington Post:
The possibilities are numerous. First, of course, might be Attorney General Eric Holder, for wanting to try alleged Sept. 11 terrorists in Manhattan, or for dropping charges against the New Black Panther Party of intimidating white poll-watchers and hypothetical white voters in an all-black Philadelphia precinct.
That could play to the tea party base, but maybe better to go deep on Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, for being mean to polluters and enacting cap-and-trade regulations before Congress actually passes a bill. That would please mining, oil and other heavy polluters.
Then there's former president Bill Clinton -- no executive privilege anymore -- and the White House, for a job offer to Rep. Joe Sestak (D) to get him out of the Pennsylvania primary. That might be immensely satisfying to Issa personally, since he's really steamed about it. (On the other hand, Clinton's polls are up these days, and pursuing this could seem too political and unstatesmanlike.)
Treasury Secretary Tim "Bailout" Geithner is another fine target, if you're looking to rev up anger over the management -- not the actual Bush-signed legislation -- of the TARP billions. Or the Energy or Transportation Departments, for their management of the stimulus money. Good ties to jobs and deficit-cutting in those areas.
For excellent waste, fraud and abuse, Issa might want to subpoena Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and CIA chief Leon Panetta about those pallets of cash shipped to Afghanistan to show Washington's deep respect for certain warlords -- and the presidential palace, where about half the money went.
Then there are issues concerning czars -- given power in a way that circumvented the Senate rules regarding appointments. Subpoenas can also tie up the Consumer Czarina Elizabeth Warren who makes Ralph Nader look like a Robber Baron of old. Subpoenas can also play a role in examining the nuts and bolts of ObamaCare and the process by which rules and regulations will be formulated and waivers granted. Issa's chief of staff has been called the Democrats Worst Nightmare.
Sounds like the Taxpayers' Best Dream to me. Let the subpoenas fly.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/11/the_question_everyone_is_askin.html
Posted in Arrogance Attorney General Eric Holder Corruption Democrat Government Control New Black Panther Party Obama Rep. Darrell Issa with No Comments
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Nov 8
Given the arrogance, corruption and contempt that have been egregiously displayed by Harry Reid, Obama, Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats of their ilk, it does not come as a shock that Reid’s “re-election” may have been a result of such actions. Furthermore, with stories coming out of ballots pre-selected for him and union involvement in the election, we would not be surprised if this election was illegally manipulated to guarantee him a victory.
Adding further suspicion to this was the 9 point swing in support where he was down at least 3 points immediately prior to the election yet won by a margin of 6 points over Sharron Angle.
This must be investigated in light of the already known innumerable coordinated attempts across the country by the left of massive voter fraud – many involving groups associated with ACORN and George Soros.
Harry Reid should not be above the law
Washington Examiner Editorial November 5, 2010
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid looked like toast a few days before the Nov. 2 election, trailing his Republican challenger Sharron Angle by three or more points in the campaign's concluding polls, according to RealClearPolitics. But when ballots were counted, Reid had somehow converted that deficit to a nearly six-point margin of victory. Most observers attributed the phenomenal success of Reid's last-ditch comeback to the Nevada Democratic Party's highly polished get-out-the-vote "ground game." But an internal e-mail from a Reid campaign operative to a Harrah's executive strongly suggests the Reid ground game depended at least in part on breaking the law.
As former Federal Election Commissioner Hans A. von Spakovsky explained Friday in The Examiner, federal law makes it illegal for officials with a Senate campaign to coordinate with corporate or union officials: "Both the Reid campaign and Harrah's may have violated federal campaign finance law that prohibits in-kind corporate and union contributions to, and coordination with, political campaigns. Corporations and unions may spend money to run ads in support of or opposing a candidate, but they are not allowed to make direct or in-kind contributions to federal candidates. Federal criminal law also prohibits intimidation and coercion of a person exercising his or her right to vote (or not to vote)."
According to the e-mail, which was first made public by National Review Online's Elizabeth Crum, the Reid staffer pleaded with Marybel Batjer, Harrah's vice president for government relations, to do everything possible to get the firm's thousands of employees and their families in Nevada's largest county to the polls to vote for the Senate majority leader, including putting a "headlock" on recalcitrant supervisors "to get them to follow through." In response, Batjer instructed her fellow Harrah's executives that they were to "do whatever we need to do to get the supervisors to know that there is NOTHING more important than to get employees out to vote. Waking up to a defeat of Harry Reid Nov 3rd will be devastating for our industry's future."
It is clear that the pro-Reid effort by Harrah's executive met with some level of resistance within the company, as one of the e-mails obtained by Crum referred to problems encountered by the Reid backers with midlevel supervisors in the company's culinary department. "They simply are not cooperating and listening with upper management" in the companywide get-out-the-Reid vote campaign, a Harrah's executive complained in one of the e-mails. Because intimidation and coercion were apparently involved, this matter requires the attention of the Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section. Attorney General Eric Holder can be sure that the House Judiciary Committee will be closely watching his actions on this matter.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/Harry-Reid-should-not-be-above-the-law-1471102-106799933.html#ixzz14duLWtfX
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Posted in ACORN Corruption George Soros Harry Reid with No Comments
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