On 8 Aug 2016 00:39:25 -0400, Bradley K. Sherman says...
In American history, we've never had a President
who fabricated facts with the regularity of Barack Obama.
I agree.
101) Falsely claimed that his "Cash for Clunkers" program would help the
environment
Although Obama claimed that his "Cash for Clunkers" program would help the
environment, it actually caused net harm to the environment. Because the
program required cars to be shredded instead of recycled, it wasted 24
million barrels of oil. Many of the cars that were destroyed were in
perfectly good condition. Because the program's minimum requirement for
so-called "fuel efficiency" was only 22 mpg, the reduction in pollution
was negligible.
102) Violated the very same campaign finance laws that he claims to
support
In January 2013, it was reported that Obama's campaign had been fined
$375,000 by the Federal Election Commission for violating campaign finance
laws.
103) Lied about how he had answered a questionnaire on gun control
In 1996, when Obama was answering a questionnaire on his political views,
one of the questions was "Do you support state legislation to: ban the
manufacture, sale and possession of handguns?"
Obama's answer to the question was "Yes."
However, in 2008, Obama said "My writing wasn't on that particular
questionnaire."
However, ABC News later reported that the questionnaire "appears to have
Obama's handwriting."
104) Falsely claimed that his 2013 inauguration was not funded by
lobbyists
Although Obama claimed that his 2013 inauguration was not funded by
lobbyists, its sponsors had actually spent $160 million on lobbying during
Obama's first presidential term.
105) Encouraged medical device manufacturers to lay off employees
In November 2012, it was reported that in response to the medical device
tax that is part of Obamacare, some medical device manufacturers had
announced plans to layoff employees, including Welch Allyn (275 planned
layoffs), Stryker (1,170 planned layoffs), and Medtronic (1,000 planned
layoffs).
In December 2012, Al Franken, Elizabeth Warren, John Kerry, and 15 other
Democrats who supported the passage of Obamacare wrote a letter to Harry
Reid, asking him to delay the tax on medical devices, claiming that the
tax would hurt job creation in their districts.
In February 2014, it was reported that Obamacare's medical device tax had
destroyed 14,000 jobs, and prevented an additional 19,000 new jobs from
being created.
106) Encouraged employers to switch their employees from full time to part
time
The New York Times reported that Obamacare
"sharply penalizes full-time employment in favor of part-time employment."
In response to the employer mandate of Obamacare, some restaurants have
announced plans to switch some of their employees from full time to part
time, including some franchises of Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Wendy's,
Taco Bell, White Castle, and Fatburger.
Community College of Allegheny County switched 200 professors and 200
other employees from full time to part time in response to Obamacare.
Clint Benjamin, an English professor at Community College of Allegheny
County, said that this would reduce his own monthly pay by $600.
Also in response to the employer mandate of Obamacare, other colleges have
announced plans to switch some of their employees from full time to part
time, including Florida's Palm Beach State College, Ohio's Youngstown
State University, and New Jersey's Kean University.
In Virginia, thousands of government employees had their hours reduced
because of Obamacare.
The Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh reduced the hours of 48 of its employees
in response to Obamacare.
Regal Entertainment Group, the largest chain of movie theaters in the
country, announced that it would be switching thousands of its employees
from full time to part time in response to the Obamacare mandate.
Utah's Granite School District reduced the hours of 1,200 of its employees
in response to Obamacare.
In response to Obamacare, many Wal-Mart stores have stopped hiring full
time workers.
In July 2013, leaders of the Teamsters, UFCW, and UNITE-HERE sent a letter
to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi which said that Obamacare will
"destroy the foundation of the 40 hour work week that is the backbone of
the American middle class... the law creates an incentive for employers
to keep employees' work hours below 30 hours a week. Numerous employers
have begun to cut workers' hours to avoid this obligation."
In response to Obamacare, Forever 21 reduced its employees' hours.
As of September 2013, more than 200 public-sector employers had reduced
their employees' hours in response to Obamacare.
Sea World reduced the weekly hours of its part time employees from 32 to
28 in response to Obamacare.
Lands' End limited its part time employees to 29 hours per week in
response to Obamacare.
As of September 2013, at least 34 universities and colleges had reduced
some of their employees' hours in response to Obamacare.
On October 23, 2013, Investor's Business Daily wrote:
IBD has a running list that now includes 351 employers that have opted to
cut work hours below 30 per week or take related steps to limit liability
under ObamaCare's employer mandate. Each entry is documented with links to
news sources and public records.
About 275 entries on IBD's list come from the public sector, including
more than 100 school districts.
107) Broke his promise to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first
term
On February 23, 2009, Obama said "Today, I'm pledging to cut the deficit
we inherited in half by the end of my first term in office." Obama broke
that promise.
108) Had Freedom of Information Act record worse than Bush's
In September 2012, it was reported that when it came to honoring requests
under the Freedom of Information Act, Obama's record was worse than that
of George W. Bush.
109) Supports installation of hidden cameras on private property without a
search warrant
In October 2012, Obama's Justice Department argued in favor of installing
hidden cameras on private property without a search warrant.
110) Used "stimulus" money to pay people to play cards, board games, and
video games
In October 2012, it was reported that LG Chem, a lithium-ion battery plant
in Holland, Michigan, was using money from Obama's "stimulus" to pay its
employees to play cards, board games, and video games.
111) Spent half a million tax dollars on "Prom Week" video game
In 2012, the Obama administration spent $516,000 on a video game called
"Prom Week."
112) Hypocritically paid his female employees less than his male employees
Although Obama claimed to support equal pay for men and women, his own
administration paid its female employees 18% less than its male employees.
113) Falsely said that Romney's pension was bigger than his own
During a debate in October 2012, Obama falsely stated that Mitt Romney's
pension was bigger than his own.
114) Has a double standard for investing in China and the Cayman Islands
Although Obama criticized Mitt Romney for having investments in China and
the Cayman Islands, Obama himself has investments in both of those
places.
115) Spent $27 million on "ineffective" pottery classes in Morocco
Obama spent $27 million on pottery classes in Morocco. The class used an
American teacher, but the translater who was hired did not actually know
how to speak English fluently, and made many mistakes. The instructor
often did not bring the right materials to class. The dyes and clays that
the instructor did use were not available in Morocco, which prevented the
students from being able to copy what they had learned. It was concluded
that the classes were "ineffective."
116) Caused large amounts of perfectly good food to be thrown into the
garbage
In one year, Obama's new school lunch program caused the schools in Lake
County, Florida, to throw away $75,000 of perfectly good fruits and
vegetables.
117) Accepted illegal campaign contributions from foreign citizens
During an experiment, a non-U.S. citizen attempted to make two $5
donations to both Obama's campaign website and Mitt Romney's campaign
website. While the Romney website rejected both donations, the Obama
website accepted them.
118) Labels opponents of TSA sexual harassment as "domestic extremists"
The Obama administration labels anyone who objects to the TSA's sexual
harassment as a "domestic extremist."
119) Lied about the Benghazi attack
In September 2012, after four U.S. citizens were killed in a terrorist
attack in Benghazi, Libya, the Obama administration falsely said that the
attack was a spontaneous protest against an anti-Muslim video at YouTube.
CBS News reported that although it was obviously a terrorist attack, it
took an entire week before the Obama administration was willing to
acknowledge it as such.
The Washington Post reported that Obama had falsely said that he had
called it a terrorist attack from the very start.
After the attack began, someone (there is a debate over who this someone
was) ordered the nearby U.S. military to "stand down,", i.e., not offer
any assistance. Obama is the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. military.
Obama later falsely claimed that the "stand down" order had not been made.
Although the Obama administration made a dozen revisions to its talking
points on this incident, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney falsely
stated that only a "single adjustment" had been made, and that it simply
involved changing the wording of "consulate" to "diplomatic facility." ABC
News published a complete list of all the changes to the talking points,
which can be read here.
Among the changes was the deletion of this entire paragraph:
"The Agency has produced numerous pieces on the threat of extremists
linked to al-Qa'ida in Benghazi and eastern Libya. These noted that,
since April, there have been at least five other attacks against foreign
interests in Benghazi by unidentified assailants, including the June
attack against the British Ambassador's convoy. We cannot rule out the
individuals has previously surveilled the U.S. facilities, also
contributing to the efficacy of the attacks."
Victoria Nuland, a State Department spokeswoman, played a key role in the
editing of the talking points. But instead of firing her for this, Obama
offered her a promotion.
The Obama administration asked Fox News to stop reporting on Benghazi.
120) Paid a train carrying biofuel to cross the U.S.-Canadian border 24
times without unloading
As part of Obama's "green energy" program, Obama used tax money to pay for
a train full of biofuel to cross the U.S.-Canadian border 24 times without
unloading its cargo.
121) Falsely said that "we got back every dime" of the bailout
In October 2012, Obama said that "we got back every dime" of the bailout.
However, at the same time, the Congressional Budget Office that said there
was still $24 billion that had not been paid back.
122) Spent $50,000 of taxpayer money on a George S. Patton impersonator
In the summer of 2011, the Obama administration spent $50,000 on a George
S. Patton impersonator
123) Spent $75,000 of taxpayer money on a bicycle
The Obama administration spent $75,000 of taxpayer money on a bicycle.
124) Complained to YouTube about an anti-Muslim video
In September 2012, the Obama administration phoned YouTube to complain
about an anti-Muslim video.
Ben Wizner of the ACLU said that of this, "It does make us nervous when
the government throws its weight behind any requests for censorship."
Eva Galperin of the Electronic Frontier Foundation said of this, "I am
actually kind of distressed by this... Even though there are all these
great quotes from inside the White House saying they support free
speech... .by calling YouTube from the White House, they were sending a
message no matter how much they say we don't want them to take it down,
when the White House calls and asks you to review it, it sends a message
and has a certain chilling effect."
125) Falsely said that Fast and Furious was started when Bush was
President
In September 2012, Obama said that Fast and Furious had "begun under the
previous administration." In reality, Fast and Furious began in October
2009.
126) Is a "war criminal" who is "more aggressive, more illegal
worldwide" than Bush, according to Ralph Nader
In September 2012, Ralph Nader said that Obama was a "war criminal" who
was "more aggressive, more illegal worldwide" than George W. Bush.
127) Illegally refused to fire Kathleen Sebelius after she violated
campaign finance laws
In February 2012, Kathleen Sebelius, Obama's Secretary of Health and Human
Services, violated campaign finance laws. Although federal law required
Obama to fire Sebelius for her illegal activity, he refused to do so.
128) Supports policies that hurt small businesses
In September 2012, a survery of small business owners showed that 69% of
them said that Obama's regulatory policies have hurt small businesses. 55%
said that they would not start a business under the current environment.
129) Spent $102,000 per year of taxpayer money on a "dog handler"
In September 2012, it was reported that Obama spent $102,000 of taxpayer
money each year on a "dog handler."
130) Refused to fire federal employee who sent email to 17,000 people
praising terrorist who wanted to destroy U.S.
In 2012, an employee of Obama's administration sent an email to more than
17,000 federal employees which praised Che Guevara, a terrorist who had
wanted to destroy the U.S. Obama refused to fire the employee.
131) Called Fort Hood shooting "workplace violence" instead of "Islamic
terrorism"
After Nidal Malik Hasan shouted "Allahu Akbar!" and murdered 13 people on
U.S. soil, instead of referring to it as "Islamic terrorism," Obama said
that it was "workplace violence."
132) Falsely said that switching to electronic medical records would make
health care cheaper
Although Obama claimed that switching to electronic record keeping as part
of Obamacare would make health care cheaper, it actually made it more
expensive.
133) Spent $495,000 of "stimulus" money for ads on MSNBC
Obama spent $495,000 of "stimulus" money for commercials on MSNBC.
134) Lied about the cost of federal regulations
In September 2012, it was reported that the cost of federal regulations to
citizens and business owners was more than 20 times as much as what Obama
had said it was.
135) Broke his promise to pass immigration bill, and then lied about why
he broke it
In 2008, Obama promised that he would pass an immigration bill during his
first year in office. He broke that promise. He then blamed this on
Republicans, even though both the House and Senate were controlled by
Democrats during Obama's first year.
136) Made it much harder for start ups to raise capital and create jobs
In July 2010, Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Act. The Wall St. Journal wrote
of this:
"Senator Chris Dodd's 1,400-page financial reform bill contains many
economic land mines, and here's one of the worst: Provisions that would
make it harder for business start-ups to raise seed capital."
"Currently, wealthy individuals who want to invest directly in a new
business can do so with minimum interference from regulators. The law
requires only that the investor be "accredited" by meeting thresholds for
net worth ($1 million) or income ($250,000). Entrepreneurs depend on these
"angel" investors, since many new businesses lack the collateral for bank
loans and are too small to interest venture capitalists. "
"Amazon, Yahoo, Google and Facebook all benefited from angel investors,
who typically target companies under five years old. According to a 2009
Kaufman Foundation study, such firms are less than 1% of all companies yet
generate about 10% of new jobs. Between 1980 and 2005, companies less than
five years old accounted for all net job growth in the U.S. In 2008,
angels invested some $19 billion in more than 55,000 companies. "
"Mr. Dodd's bill would change all this for the worse. Most preposterously,
it would require that start-ups seeking angel investments file with the
Securities and Exchange Commission and endure a 120-day review. Rare is
the new company that doesn't need immediate access to the capital it
raises, and a four-month delay is the kind of rule popular in banana
republics that create few new businesses. "
"The Dodd bill also raises the net worth and income thresholds to $2.3
million and $450,000, respectively. The Angel Capital Association, a trade
group, estimates that these provisions would disqualify about 77% of
current accredited investors."
137) Paid six figure salaries to federal employees so they could watch
pornography all day long
In April 2010, ABC News reported:
"On a day when President Obama argued for more government regulation over
the financial industry, a new government report reveals that some high-
level regulators have spent more time looking at porn than policing Wall
Street. "
"The Securities and Exchange Commission is supposed to be the sheriff of
the financial industry, looking for financial crimes like Bernard Madoff's
Ponzi scheme. But the new report, obtained by ABC News, says senior
employees of the SEC spent hours on the commission's computers looking at
sites like naughty.com, skankwire, youporn, and others. "
"The investigation, which was conducted by the SEC's internal watchdog at
the request of Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, found 31 serious offenders
over the past two and a half years. Seventeen of the offenders were senior
SEC officers with salaries ranging from $100,000 to $222,000 per year. "
"Eight Hours a Day Spent on Porn Sites"
"One senior attorney at SEC headquarters in Washington spent up to eight
hours a day accessing Internet porn. When he filled all the space on his
government computer with pornographic images, he downloaded more to CDs
and DVDs that accumulated in boxes in his offices. "
"An SEC accountant attempted to access porn websites 1,800 times in a two-
week period and had 600 pornographic images on her computer hard drive."
"Another SEC accountant attempted to access porn sites 16,000 times in a
single month."
In May 2014, Bloomberg News reported:
An employee at the Environmental Protection Agency downloaded more than
7,000 pornographic files onto a government computer and viewed them for
two to six hours a day, according to the agency's independent watchdog.
The employee caught viewing pornography is still on the payroll, earning
about $120,000 a year.
138) Spent tax dollars on a "mindreader"
Obama used taxpayer money to hire a "mindreader."
139) Used tax dollars to build a million dollar bus stop
Obama spent federal tax dollars to pay for part of the cost of a million
dollar bus stop which opened in Arlington, Virginia in March 2013. Despite
its huge cost, the bus stop can only accommodate 15 people, and does not
even protect them from the wind and rain.
140) Filed a lawsuit against a non-existent "monopoly" in the beer
industry
Although the number of breweries in the U.S. increased from 89 to 2,336
between 1978 and 2013, the Obama administration sued Anheuser-Busch InBev,
which already owned half of Mexico's Grupo Modelo, to prevent if from
buying the other half, despite the fact that there were no laws on the
books against such a purchase. The Obama administration's so-called
justification for this lawsuit against a law abiding company was that the
company might, possibly, maybe, break some unspecified law, at some
unspecified, distant point in the future.
141) Falsely said the sequester would cause janitors to take a pay cut
In February 2013, while talking about the sequester, Obama said
"The folks who are cleaning the floors at the Capitol - now that Congress
has left, somebody is going to be vacuuming and cleaning those floors and
throwing out the garbage - they're going to have less pay... The
janitors, the security guards, they just got a pay cut, and they've got to
figure out how to manage that. That's real."
CBS News reported that Obama's statement was false.
142) Falsely said that he goes skeet shooting "all the time"
At the beginning of Obama's second term, he said that he goes skeet
shooting "all the time." However, a witness said that when he saw Obama go
skeet shooting, Obama acted as if he had never fired a gun before, that he
appeared to be uncomfortable with a gun, and that he only stayed for five
minutes. In addition, during his first term, the media had never reported
on his alleged skeet shooting, although it never failed to cover the more
than 100 rounds of golf that he played during his first term.
143) Gave special access to people who raised or donated $500,000
In February 2013, the New York Times reported that people who raised or
donated at least $500,000 to Organizing for Action, a political group that
supported Obama, would be given "the privilege of attending quarterly
meetings with the president, along with other meetings at the White
House."
144) Said the deficit had gone down when it had actually gone up
In February 2013, Obama said that the federal deficit had gone down by
$2.5 trillion since he had taken office. In reality, it had actually
increased by $5.9 trillion during that time.
145) Refused to make available necessary tax forms to taxpayers
On February 21, 2013, CBS News reported that the Obama administration had
not yet made available dozens of different tax forms that taxpayers would
need in order to meet the legal deadline of April 15 for filing their
taxes.
146) Nominated someone to be Secretary of the Treasury who had
participated in "the biggest tax scam on record"
Obama nominated Jack Lew to be Secretary of the Treasury. Lew had
previously invested in the Cayman Islands, which Obama had referred to as
"the biggest tax scam on record."
147) Adopted harmful new restrictions on prescription painkillers - even
though the House had already voted against them
After the U.S. House voted against new restrictions on prescription
painkillers, the Obama administration ignored the House's vote, and
adopted the new restrictions anyway. Dr. Lynn Webster, president-elect of
the American Academy of Pain Medicine said of these new restrictions, "It
will have an impact on a lot of patients who have been receiving them for
some time for legitimate purposes."
148) Rolled back union transparency rules
The Obama administration rolled back union transparency rules, which had
been created so that union members could find out how their union was
spending their union dues.
149) Tried to eliminate workers' right to a secret ballot when voting on
whether or not to unionize
Obama supported the elimination of workers' right to a secret ballot when
voting on whether or not to form a union
150) Gave "supervised release" to a convicted criminal who later went on
to murder a nun
Obama gave "supervised release" to a convicted criminal, who then went on
to murder a nun.
151) Falsely said that he did not propose the sequester
On October 22, 2012, Obama said, "The sequester is not something that I've
proposed." However, on February 22, 2013, the Washington Post reported
that "the automatic spending cuts were initiated by the White House" and
that "Obama personally approved of the plan."
152) Illegally refused to submit a budget on time during four of his first
five years
The President is legally required to submit a budget by the first Monday
in February. Obama broke this law during four of his first five years in
office. Since 1921, no President had missed this deadline more than once.
153) Canceled White House tours for thousands of people so he could use
the money to play golf with Tiger Woods
During the sequester in early 2013, the Obama administration said it would
save $18,000 per week by cancelling all White house tours, despite the
fact that thousands of people had planned their vacations far in advance.
However, Obama had no problem with spending more than $1 million in tax
money so he could go golfing with Tiger Woods for one weekend.
154) Falsely said the Newton shooter used a "fully automatic weapon"
In April 2013, four months after Adam Lanza murdered 26 people at Sandy
Hook Elementary School, Obama falsely stated that the shooter had used a
"fully automatic weapon."
155) Broke his own deadline for creating healthcare exchanges
Three years after Obama signed Obamacare, the New York Times reported that
Obama would miss his own deadline for creating some of the insurance
exchanges for small businesses.
156) Falsely said that surgeons get paid between $30,000 and $50,000 for
amputating a leg
In August 2009, while trying to justify the passage of Obamacare, Obama
stated
"Let's take the example of something like diabetes, one of - a disease
that's skyrocketing, partly because of obesity, partly because it's not
treated as effectively as it could be. Right now if we paid a family - if
a family care physician works with his or her patient to help them lose
weight, modify diet, monitors whether they're taking their medications in
a timely fashion, they might get reimbursed a pittance. But if that same
diabetic ends up getting their foot amputated, that's $30,000, $40,000,
$50,000 - immediately the surgeon is reimbursed. Well, why not make sure
that we're also reimbursing the care that prevents the amputation, right?
That will save us money."
The American College of Surgeons responded to this by saying
"President Obama got his facts completely wrong. He stated that a surgeon
gets paid $50,000 for a leg amputation when, in fact, Medicare pays a
surgeon between $740 and $1,140 for a leg amputation. This payment also
includes the evaluation of the patient on the day of the operation plus
patient follow-up care that is provided for 90 days after the operation.
Private insurers pay some variation of the Medicare reimbursement for this
service."
157) Falsely said that doctors perform unnecessary tonsillectomies to make
more money
In July 2009, Obama said
"Right now, doctors, a lot of times, are forced to make decisions based on
the fee payment schedule that's out there. So if ... your child has a bad
sore throat, or has repeated sore throats, the doctor may look at the
reimbursement system and say to himself, 'You know what? I make a lot more
money if I take this kid's tonsils out.'"
"Now, that may be the right thing to do. But I'd rather have that doctor
making those decisions just based on whether you really need your kid's
tonsils out or whether it might make more sense just to change - maybe
they have allergies. Maybe they have something else that would make a
difference."
The American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery responded
by saying
"The AAO-HNS is disappointed by the President's portrayal of the decision
making processes by the physicians who perform these surgeries. In many
cases, tonsillectomy may be a more effective treatment, and less costly,
than prolonged or repeated treatments for an infected throat."
158) Purchased 2,717 mine resistant armor protected vehicles for use on
civilian streets in the U.S.
In March 2013 it was reported that the Obama administration had purchased
2,717 mine resistant armor protected vehicles for use on civilian streets
in the U.S.
159) Spends $277,050 per year for three professional calligraphists
In March 2013, it was reported that Obama was spending $277,050 of tax
money per year for three professional calligraphists. It was also reported
that cheap computer software could produce the exact same calligraphy for
a tiny fraction of that cost.
160) Allowed 311,566 federal employees and retirees to get away with $3.5
billion in unpaid federal taxes
In 2011, Obama allowed 311,566 federal employees and retirees to get away
with $3.5 billion in unpaid federal taxes.
161) Spent $2.6 million to teach Chinese prostitutes how to drink
responsibly on the job
Obama spent $2.6 million to teach Chinese prostitutes how to drink
responsibly on the job.
162) Fined UPS $40 million because some of its customers had used UPS to
ship illegal drugs
In March 2013, Obama forced UPS to pay $40 million because some of its
customers had used UPS to ship illegal drugs.
163) Added 20,000 extra pages to Obamacare without Congressional approval
After Obamacare was passed, Obama added 20,000 extra pages to it, even
though those extra 20,000 pages had not been voted on by Congress.
164 ) Signed health care reform law whose own authors called it a "huge
train wreck" that was "beyond comprehension"
U.S. Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana), one of the authors of Obamacare, said
of it, "I just see a huge train wreck coming down."
U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-West Virginia), another author of the law,
said it was "beyond comprehension."
165) Eliminated disclosure requirements for most federal employees in the
executive and legislative branches
In April 2013, Obama eliminated the disclosure requirements for most
federal employees in the executive and legislative branches.
166) Waited until after the 2012 election to release unpopular Obamacare
rules
In April 2013, the New York Times reported:
... even fervent supporters of the law admit that things are going worse
than expected.
... the Obama administration didn't want to release unpopular rules
before the election.
Everything is turning out to be more complicated than originally
envisioned.
A law that was very confusing has become mind-boggling... Americans are
just going to be overwhelmed and befuddled. Many are just going to stay
away, even if they are eligible for benefits.
167) Made it easy for people to fraudulently collect $50,000 by falsely
claiming to be "farmers"
In April 2013, the New York Times reported
the Obama administration's political appointees at the Justice and
Agriculture Departments engineered a stunning turnabout: they committed
$1.33 billion to compensate...
The deal... was fashioned in White House meetings... the $50,000 payouts
to black farmers had proved a magnet for fraud.
the claims process prompted allegations of widespread fraud and criticism
that its very design encouraged people to lie... Agriculture Department
reviewers found reams of suspicious claims, from nursery-school-age
children and pockets of urban dwellers, sometimes in the same handwriting
with nearly identical accounts of discrimination.
As a senator, Barack Obama supported expanding compensation for black
farmers, and then as president he pressed for $1.15 billion to pay those
new claims.
In 16 ZIP codes in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and North Carolina, the
number of successful claimants exceeded the total number of farms operated
by people of any race in 1997, the year the lawsuit was filed. Those
applicants received nearly $100 million.
In Maple Hill, a struggling town in southeastern North Carolina, the
number of people paid was nearly four times the total number of farms.
More than one in nine African-American adults there received checks. In
Little Rock, Ark., a confidential list of payments shows, 10 members of
one extended family collected a total of $500,000, and dozens of other
successful claimants shared addresses, phone numbers or close family
connections.
In Arkansas, prosecutors rejected a test case against a Pine Bluff police
officer who had admitted lying on his claim form.
in one ZIP code in Columbus, Ohio, nearly everyone in two adjoining
apartment buildings had filed, according to the former high-ranking agency
official.
She cinched the claim, he said to a ripple of laughter, by asserting that
her father had whispered on his deathbed, "I was discriminated against by
U.S.D.A."
168) Tried to rig federal auctions of radio spectrum space
In April 2013, it was reported that the Obama administration was trying to
rig federal auctions of radio spectrum space in a manner that would favor
Sprint and T-Mobile, and make it harder for AT&T and Verizon.
169) Put someone in jail for making an anti-Muslim video
In May 2013, Politico reported:
"Nakoula Basseley Nakoula deserves a place in American history. He is the
first person in this country jailed for violating Islamic anti-blasphemy
laws."
"You won't find that anywhere in the charges against him, of course. As a
practical matter, though, everyone knows that Nakoula wouldn't be in jail
today if he hadn't produced a video crudely lampooning the prophet
Muhammad."
"In the weeks after the attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi that killed
Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others, the Obama administration
claimed the terrorist assault had been the outgrowth of a demonstration
against the Nakoula video. The administration ran public service
announcements in Pakistan featuring President Barack Obama saying the U.S.
had nothing to do with it. In a speech at the United Nations around this
time, the president declared - no doubt with Nakoula in mind - 'The future
must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam.'"
"After Benghazi, the administration was evidently filled with a fierce
resolve - to bring Nakoula Basseley Nakoula to justice. Charles Woods, the
father of a Navy SEAL killed in Benghazi, said Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton told him when his son's body returned to Andrews Air Force Base:
'We will make sure that the person who made that film is arrested and
prosecuted.'"
"Lo and behold, Nakoula was brought in for questioning by five Los Angeles
County sheriff's deputies at midnight, eventually arrested and held
without bond, and finally thrown into jail for a year. He sits in La Tuna
Federal Correctional Institution in Texas right now, even as the deceptive
spin that blamed his video for the Benghazi attack looks more egregious by
the day."
170) Oversaw IRS whose employees illegally targeted conservative groups
In May 2013, the Washington Post reported that the IRS had illegally
targeted conservative groups for additional reviews. Organizations with
the words "tea party" or "patriot" were singled out for harassment, such
as requiring them to provide a list of donors, details about their
internet postings on social networking websites, and information about
their family members.
When this was first reported by the media in May 2013, Lois Lerner, who
heads the IRS division that had conducted these illegal activities,
claimed that only low level employees had known about it, and that no high
level IRS officials had known about it. However, soon afterward, NPR
reported that an Inspector General report showed that Lerner had been
lying, and that she herself had actually been aware of it since June 29,
2011. Even worse, during March and April of 2012, Lerner herself had
actually written such letters to fifteen different conservative groups.
One of these letters can be read here.
While testifying in May 2013, Lerner said, "I have not done anything
wrong. I have not broken any laws. I have not violated any IRS rules or
regulations. And I have not provided false information to this or any
other congressional committee." However, afterward, she invoked her fifth
amendment right to remain silent. The Washington Post reported that there
was disagreement as to whether or not Lerner's statement constituted a
waiving of her fifth amendment right to remain silent. Soon afterward, she
was placed on paid administrative leave. At a later hearing in March 2014,
Lerner again invoked her fifth amendment right to remain silent.
In September 2013, a House committee released several of Lerner's emails,
which showed that she had targeted tea party groups, and that she had
asked that their applications be delayed. In one of the emails from 2011,
she had written "Tea Party Matter very dangerous."
In September 2013, after having been on paid leave for four months, Lerner
had still not been fired by Obama.
In October 2013, it was reported that newly discovered emails proved that
Lerner had violated federal law by giving the Federal Election Commission
confidential tax information of several Tea party groups.
The Washington Post reported that IRS officials at the IRS headquarters in
Washington D.C. had sent such letters to conservatives groups. Reuters
reported that higher level IRS officials had taken part in discussions
about it as early as August 2011. However, 21 months later, on May 10,
2013, the Washington Post reported that President Obama had not done
anything to investigate or fire the IRS employees who had engaged in this
illegal harassment. As of May 14, 2013, none of the IRS employees who
engaged in any of this illegal behavior had been disciplined, despite the
fact that higher level IRS officials had known about their illegal
behavior at least since August 2011. Despite all of these media reports
about the involvement of high level IRS officials, in February 2014, Obama
said that these things had come from "a local office."
On May 15, 2013, it was reported that Steven Miller, the acting IRS
commissioner, had resigned. However, it was also reported that his
assignment would have ended in early June anyway. He resigned - Obama did
not fire him.
The IRS gave out confidential information about conservative groups.
ProPublica wrote:
"The same IRS office that deliberately targeted conservative groups
applying for tax-exempt status in the run-up to the 2012 election released
nine pending confidential applications of conservative groups to
ProPublica late last year."
"In response to a request for the applications for 67 different nonprofits
last November, the Cincinnati office of the IRS sent ProPublica
applications or documentation for 31 groups. Nine of those applications
had not yet been approved-meaning they were not supposed to be made
public."
"No unapproved applications from liberal groups were sent to ProPublica."
President Obama either lied about when he first knew about this - or was
too busy playing golf and attending fundraisers to read the memos that
were sent to him. The Daily Caller wrote:
"White House press secretary Jay Carney said in a press conference Tuesday
that the White House was notified about the IRS targeting tea party groups
'several weeks ago.' This comes a day after President Obama said he found
out about it from news reports on Friday of last week."
"During a press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron on
Monday, President Obama was asked about the IRS scandal. He responded, 'I
first learned about it from the same news reports that I think most people
learned about this. I think it was on Friday.' "
"However, Carney said Tuesday that first a report had to be compiled by
the IRS's inspector general and then when it was completed, it was passed
on to the administration."
"'A notification is appropriate and routine and that is what happened and
that happened several weeks ago,' Carney said."
When Media Trackers, a conservative organization, applied to the IRS for
non-profit status, after waiting 16 months, it got no response. But when
it reapplied with a liberal sounding name, it got approval in just three
weeks. Yahoo wrote:
"In May 2011, Drew Ryun, a conservative activist and former Republican
National Committee staffer, began filling out the Internal Revenue Service
application to achieve nonprofit status for a new conservative watchdog
group."
"When September 2012 arrived with still no word from the IRS, Ryun
determined that Media Trackers would likely never obtain standalone
nonprofit status, and he tried a new approach: He applied for permanent
nonprofit status for a separate group called Greenhouse Solutions, a pre-
existing organization that was reaching the end of its determination
period."
"The IRS approved Greenhouse Solutions' request for permanent nonprofit
status in three weeks."
Politico reported:
"The same Internal Revenue Service office that singled out Tea Party
groups for extra scrutiny also challenged Israel-related organizations, at
least one of which filed suit over the agency's handling of its
application for tax-exempt status."
"The trouble for the Israel-focused groups seems to have had different
origins than that experienced by conservative groups, but at times the
effort seems to have been equally ham-handed."
The IRS asked conservative groups what books they were reading.
Although the IRS went 18 months or longer without responding to
conservative organizations' applications, the IRS demanded that these same
organizations answer the IRS's intrusive questions within a few weeks.
After the Waco Tea Party sent an application to the IRS, the IRS waited 19
months to respond. In its response, the IRS asked for printouts of its web
page and social networking sites, copies of all of its newsletters,
bulletins and fliers, and copies of all stories written about it. The IRS
also asked for transcripts of its radio interviews.
As one example of how the IRS treated conservative organizations
differently from liberal ones, Politico reported:
"Chris Littleton, one of the co-founders of the Ohio Liberty Coalition,
said the group got a grilling from the IRS when it submitted its
application, in letters the group has posted on its website. The IRS also
gave him so much grief when he tried to apply for tax-exempt status for
another group, American Junto, that 'we just gave up on it,' he said."
"But when he submitted an application for a third group - Ohioans for
Health Care Freedom, now renamed Ohio Rising - 'it went through just
fine,' Littleton said. 'They never asked a single set of questions.'"
After the Greater Phoenix Tea Party Patriots sent in their application,
it took two years for the IRS to respond. The IRS response included 35
questions. When the group's cofounder called the IRS, the IRS agent
claimed that he had their group's file right in front of him. But when the
group's confounder asked the IRS agent a question, the IRS agent asked,
"What's your group's name again?"
Tea Party groups who spoke with each other said they were all getting the
same questions from the IRS.
The Washington Post reported that some IRS employees were "ignorant about
tax laws, defiant of their supervisors, and blind to the appearance of
impropriety."
In 2012, the IRS leaked confidential information about Mitt Romney to the
co-chairman of President Obama's re-election committee.
For a 27 month period that began in February 2010, the IRS gave exactly
zero approvals to Tea Party organizations that had sent in applications.
During that same time period, numerous liberal organizations with names
including words such as "progress" or "progressive" did get approval.
After True the Vote, a conservative organization which was founded by
Catherine Engelbrecht, sent its application to the IRS, the IRS went three
years without responding. During that three year period, Engelbrecht and
her family's small manufacturing business were audited by the IRS, and
were investigated by OSHA, the ATF, and the FBI.
Democratic U.S. Senators pressured the IRS to target conservative groups.
In May 2013, U.S. News & World Report wrote:
"Over the last three years, Democratic senators repeatedly and publicly
pressured the IRS to engage in the very activities that they are only now
condemning today. At the same time, Republicans repeatedly and publicly
warned against this abuse of government power and pointed to a series of
red flags that strongly suggested conservative political organizations
were being targeted by the IRS. Those warnings were deliberately ignored
by the Obama administration and Democratic leaders in Congress."
"From Max Baucus to Chuck Schumer to Jeanne Shaheen, key Senate Democrats
publicly pressured the IRS to target groups that held differing political
views and who, in their view, had the temerity to engage in the political
process. The IRS listened to them and acted."
In order to get approval, the IRS required members of Coalition for Life
of Iowa, a pro-life organization, to sign a promise to avoid protesting in
front of Planned Parenthood.
The IRS asked Christian Voices for Life, a pro-life organization,
questions about its prayer vigils.
According to the official White House visitor's log, during Obama's first
four years as President, IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman made 157 visits
to the White House. This is more visits to the White House - by a very
large margin - than any other cabinet member during Obama's first term. By
comparison, during the four years that Mark Everson was IRS commissioner
when Bush was president, Everson made only one visit to the White House.
Shulman donated $500 to the Democratic National Committee in October 2004.
During Congressional testimony that had taken place in March 2012, Shulman
falsely said that the IRS had not targeted conservative groups.
Shulman's wife, Susan L. Anderson, is the senior program advisor for
Public Campaign, a liberal organization. The Dailer Caller wrote of this
group:
Public Campaign receives "major funding" from the pro-Obamacare alliance
Health Care for America NOW!, which is comprised of the labor unions AFL-
CIO, AFSCME, SEIU, and the progressive activist organization Move On,
among others.
Public Campaign also receives funding from the liberal Ford Foundation,
the Common Cause Education Fund, and Barbra Streisand's The Streisand
Foundation, among other foundations and private donors.
Stephen Seok was one of the IRS agents who wrote threatening letters to
conservative groups. After doing so, he was given a promotion.
In June 2013, it was reported that two IRS employees had violated
government ethics rules at a 2010 conference when they received $1,100 in
free food and other items. One of them was Fred Schindler, the director of
implementation oversight at the IRS Affordable Care Act office. The other
was Donald Toda, a California-based employee. Obama did not fire them.
Instead, he gave both of them paid leave. By comparison, in 1981,
President Reagan fired 11,359 air-traffic controllers who had been
illegally striking.
In June 2013, it was reported that The National Organization for Marriage,
a conservative organization, had forensic evidence which proved that its
donors' private information had been illegally leaked by the IRS. The IRS
employees who illegally leaked this private information could get five
years in prison. However, Obama refused to file any charges against these
IRS criminals.
The IRS illegally leaked the private information of Christine O'Donnell
the same day that she announced that she would run for U.S. Senate as a
tea party candidate.
According to White House visitor logs, Obama met with Colleen Kelley, the
president of the National Treasury Employees Union, on March 31, 2010. The
very next day, IRS employees who belonged to that union union started to
target tea party organizations.
In June 2013, Associated Press claimed that the IRS had targeted liberal
groups, but refused to actually name any of those liberal groups.
In July 2013, it was reported that Obama had met with a key IRS official
who was involved in the targeting just two days before the key official
had told his colleagues how to target tea party groups. The Daily Caller
reported:
The Obama appointee implicated in congressional testimony in the IRS
targeting scandal met with President Obama in the White House two days
before offering his colleagues a new set of advice on how to scrutinize
tea party and conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
IRS chief counsel William Wilkins, who was named in House Oversight
testimony by retiring IRS agent Carter Hull as one of his supervisors in
the improper targeting of conservative groups, met with Obama in the
Roosevelt Room of the White House on April 23, 2012. Wilkins' boss, then-
IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman, visited the Eisenhower Executive Office
Building on April 24, 2012, according to White House visitor logs.
On April 25, 2012, Wilkins' office sent the exempt organizations
determinations unit "additional comments on the draft guidance" for
approving or denying tea party tax-exempt applications, according to the
IRS inspector general's report.
Jon Stewart said of this:
"Well, congratulations, President Barack Obama. Conspiracy theorists who
generally can survive in anaerobic environments have just had an algae
bloom dropped on their f***ing heads, thus removing the last arrow in your
pro-governance quiver: skepticism about your opponents."
Michael Macleod-Ball, chief of staff at the ACLU's Washington Legislative
Office, said of this:
"Even the appearance of playing partisan politics with the tax code is
about as constitutionally troubling as it gets. With the recent push to
grant federal agencies broad new powers to mandate donor disclosure for
advocacy groups on both the left and the right, there must be clear checks
in place to prevent this from ever happening again."
In January 2014, it was reported that the Obama administration had chosen
Barbara Kay Bosserman to head the investigation of the IRS's targeting of
tea party groups. Bosserman had donated more than $6,000 to Obama's two
presidential campaigns.
In January 2014, it was reported that since Sarah Palin had announced her
candidacy for vice-President in 2008, the IRS had harassed her father six
different times. Prior to that, the IRS had never contacted him during the
50 years that he had worked. The report did not specify how many of these
six incidents happened under President Bush, or how many happened under
President Obama.
In January 2014, it was reported that during the FBI's so-called
"investigation" of the IRS's harassment of tea party groups, the FBI had
not actually interviewed any tea party groups.
In January 2014, it was reported that the IRS had demanded that Friends of
Abe (a conservative organization whose members work in the entertainment
industry) give the IRS enhanced access to its security protected website
(which included its secret membership list), even though such a demand was
not standard IRS procedure. In addition, even though the organization had
applied to the IRS for tax free status two years earlier, the IRS had
still not made a decision regarding the application.
In February 2014, Obama said that there was "not even a smidgeon of
corruption" in the IRS's actions.
In February 2014, it was reported that during Obama's presidency, 100% of
the established 501(c)(4) groups that had been audited by the IRS were
conservative.
In February 2014, when Fox News's Bill O'Reilly asked Obama about the IRS
harassment of tea party groups, Obama said "These kinds of things keep on
surfacing, in part because you and your TV station will promote them."
In May 2014, it was reported that tea party donors had been audited by the
IRS at ten times the rate of the general population.
In May 2014, it was reported that the IRS had illegally ignored four
Freedom of Information requests from Judicial Watch between May 2013 and
October 2013. Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit in October 2013, and was
finally able to get the information in May 2014. It showed that the orders
for the IRS to harass tea party members had come from IRS headquarters in
Washington D.C. It also showed that U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-Michigan)
had pressured the IRS to shut down tea party organizations.
In June 2014, the IRS claimed that Lerner's emails to outside agencies
from January 2009 through April 2011 had been "lost" when her hard drive
"crashed." Also in June 2014, the IRS claimed to have "lost" the emails
from six additional IRS employees who were relevant to this scandal when
their hard drives "crashed." One of these IRS employees was Nikole Flax,
who had been chief of staff to former IRS commissioner Steven Miller. Flax
had made 31 visits to the White House during the time that the IRS had
been targeting tea party groups. However, a private company called
Sonasoft had a contract with the IRS since 2005 to back up all of the
IRS's emails. The company keeps multiple and redundant backup copies of
all the IRS's emails. The company advertised itself by saying "If the IRS
uses Sonasoft products to back up their servers why wouldn't you choose
them to protect your servers?" In addition, Norman Cillo, an Army veteran
who had worked in intelligence, and who had also worked as a program
manager at Microsoft, listed six reasons why the IRS's claim about
"losing" the emails must be false. Also, federal law requires the IRS to
keep permanent, backup copies of all of its emails at an external
location. And finally, the NSA has copies of all of the emails.
Although federal law requires the IRS to keep permanent, backup copies of
all of its emails at an external location, in June 2014, it was reported
that the IRS has canceled its email archiving contract with Sonasoft weeks
after Lerner's computer "crashed."
In June 2014, it was reported that emails showed that Lerner had suggested
that the IRS audit U.S. Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa).
In June 2014, the IRS admitted that it had illegally given out information
about the conservative group National Organization for Marriage.
In July 2014, it was reported that Lerner had called Republicans
"crazies" and "assholes" in her emails.
In July 2014, it was reported that after Lerner's hard drive "crashed,"
the IRS deliberately destroyed it, without making any attempt to recover
her emails. Top IRS officials told Congressional investigators that the
hard drive was irreparably damaged before they destroyed it. However, IRS
technical experts who had examined the hard drive before the IRS destroyed
it said that this was not true, and that the data could have been
recovered. Bruce Webster, partner at Provo, Utah-based IT consulting and
expert witness firm Ironwood Experts, who has served as a consulting and
IT expert in more than 80 civil lawsuits, said of this:
"... the IRS has no excuses for having handled this so poorly... This
happens all the time... There are little storefront companies in just
about every major city that can do this and there are forensic companies
that can restore files and even do higher end recovery of data."
In August 2014, the IRS admitted in a court filing that it had
deliberately destroyed Lerner's Blackberry after her computer "crashed."
In addition, an IRS official admitted, under penalty of perjury, that
Lerner's Blackberry had contained the same emails that had been on her
computer.
In August 2014, the IRS finally admitted, under penalty of perjury, that
Lerner's emails had never really been "lost." The IRS said the "missing"
emails had been on its backup system all along.
On November 5, 2014, it was reported that the IRS had admitted to the
court that it had not even tried to find Lerner's "missing" emails in its
backup system.
On November 21, 2014, it was reported that the Treasury Inspector General
for Tax Administration had obtained as many as 30,000 of Lerner's
"missing" emails from IRS disaster recovery tapes.
171) Spent $402,721 on underwear that detects the presence of cigarette
smoke
In May 2013, it was reported that the Obama administration had spent
$402,721 on underwear that detects the presence of cigarette smoke.
172) Rewarded one of his biggest campaign fundraisers by nominating him
for the ambassadorship to Canada
In April 2013, it was reported that Obama had nominated Bruce Heyman to be
the ambassador to Canada. During Obama's election campaign, Heyman had
raised more than $1 million for Obama.
173) Hired a retarded man to sell illegal drugs and guns, and then
arrested him for doing so
In April 2013, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported:
"ATF agents running an undercover storefront in Milwaukee used a brain-
damaged man with a low IQ to set up gun and drug deals, paying him in
cigarettes, merchandise and money, according to federal documents obtained
by the Journal Sentinel."
"For more than six months, federal agents relied on Chauncey Wright to
promote 'Fearless Distributing' by handing out fliers as he rode his bike
around town recommending the store to friends, family and strangers,
according to federal prosecutors and family members."
"Wright, unaware that the store was an undercover operation being run by
agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives,
also stocked shelves with shoes, clothing, drug paraphernalia and auto
parts, according to his family."
"Once authorities shut down the operation, they charged the 28-year-old
man with federal gun and drug counts."
"Wright's IQ measures in the 50s, about half of a normal IQ, according to
those familiar with him. Wright's score is classified as mildly or
moderately disabled, depending on the IQ scale used."
174) Secretly obtained phone records from Associated Press reporters and
editors
In May 2013, Associated Press reported:
The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records
of reporters and editors for The Associated Press in what the news
cooperative's top executive called a "massive and unprecedented
intrusion" into how news organizations gather the news.
The records obtained by the Justice Department listed outgoing calls for
the work and personal phone numbers of individual reporters, general AP
office numbers in New York, Washington and Hartford, Conn., and the main
number for AP reporters in the House of Representatives press gallery,
according to attorneys for the AP. It was not clear if the records also
included incoming calls or the duration of calls.
In all, the government seized the records for more than 20 separate
telephone lines assigned to AP and its journalists in April and May of
2012. The exact number of journalists who used the phone lines during that
period is unknown but more than 100 journalists work in the offices where
phone records were targeted, on a wide array of stories about government
and other matters.
In a letter of protest sent to Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday, AP
President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Pruitt said the government
sought and obtained information far beyond anything that could be
justified by any specific investigation. He demanded the return of the
phone records and destruction of all copies.
"There can be no possible justification for such an overbroad collection
of the telephone communications of The Associated Press and its reporters.
These records potentially reveal communications with confidential sources
across all of the newsgathering activities undertaken by the AP during a
two-month period, provide a road map to AP's newsgathering operations, and
disclose information about AP's activities and operations that the
government has no conceivable right to know," Pruitt said.
Soon afterward, it was reported that obtaining these phone records had
required approval from Eric Holder, Obama's Attorney General.
This has had a very dangerous and harmful effect on the media's ability to
report the news. In June 2013, Gary Pruitt, the president and chief
executive of Associated Presssaid:
"Some longtime trusted sources have become nervous and anxious about
talking with us... In some cases, government employees we once checked in
with regularly will no longer speak to us by phone. Others are reluctant
to meet in person ... This chilling effect on newsgathering is not just
limited to AP... Journalists from other news organizations have
personally told me that it has intimidated both official and nonofficial
sources from speaking to them as well."
175) Asked contractors to disclose their political donations before
bidding on government contracts
In April 2011, Obama asked contractors to disclose their political
donations before bidding on government contracts.
176) Tried to deport German family that had fled Germany over Hitler's ban
on homeschooling
In Germany in 1938, Adolf Hitler outlawed homeschooling. He said "Give me
a child when he's seven and he's mine forever."
Hitler's ban on homeschooling is still in effect today. In 2006, Katharina
Plett was arrested for homeschooling her own children. Her husband and
their children fled the country. In 2008, Juergen and Rosemary Dudek were
sentenced to 90 days in jail for homeschooling their own children.
Uwe and Hannelore Romeike and their homeschooled children fled Germany
after the police showed up at their house to enforce Germany's ban on
homeschooling. They came to the United States in 2010 and were granted
political asylum, which gave them legal permission to live in the U.S. as
political refugees However, in March 2013, the Obama administration
argued in federal court in favor of deporting them and sending them back
to Germany. This means that Obama does not consider them to be political
refugees, and that he does not consider Germany's policy of jailing
homeschooling parents to be a form of persecution.
177) Said, "We're gonna punish our enemies, and we're gonna reward our
friends"
Obama said (the bolding is mine)
"If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, 'We're gonna punish
our enemies, and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on
issues that are important to us' - if they don't see that kind of upsurge
in voting in this election - then I think it's going to be harder. And
that's why I think it's so important that people focus on voting on
November 2nd."
This is a rare instance of a promise that Obama has actually kept instead
of broken. A huge number of the things on this list can be explained by
that one simple sentence that Obama said.
178) Falsely accused a law abiding news reporter of being "an aider and
abettor and/or co-conspirator" in a criminal investigation
James Rosen is a law abiding reporter for Fox News. However, the Obama
administration falsely labeled him as "an aider and abettor and/or co-
conspirator" in a criminal investigation when it applied for a warrant to
read his emails.
The New York Times wrote of this:
With the decision to label a Fox News television reporter a possible "co-
conspirator" in a criminal investigation of a news leak, the Obama
administration has moved beyond protecting government secrets to
threatening fundamental freedoms of the press to gather news.
Leak investigations usually focus on the source, not the reporter. But, in
this case, federal prosecutors also asked a federal judge for permission
to examine Mr. Rosen's personal e-mails, arguing that "there is probable
cause to believe" Mr. Rosen is "an aider and abettor and/or co-
conspirator" in the leak.
Though Mr. Rosen was not charged, the F.B.I. request for his e-mail
account was granted secretly in late May 2010. The government was allowed
to rummage through Mr. Rosen's e-mails for at least 30 days.
Michael Clemente, the executive vice president of Fox News, said on Monday
that it was "downright chilling" that Mr. Rosen "was named a criminal co-
conspirator for simply doing his job as a reporter." Bruce Brown, the
executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press,
added on Tuesday that treating "routine news-gathering efforts as evidence
of criminality is extremely troubling and corrodes time-honored
understandings between the public and the government about the role of the
free press."
Obama administration officials often talk about the balance between
protecting secrets and protecting the constitutional rights of a free
press. Accusing a reporter of being a "co-conspirator"... shows a heavy
tilt toward secrecy and insufficient concern about a free press.
The Washington Post wrote of this:
The Rosen affair is as flagrant an assault on civil liberties as anything
done by George W. Bush's administration, and it uses technology to silence
critics in a way Richard Nixon could only have dreamed of.
To treat a reporter as a criminal for doing his job - seeking out
information the government doesn't want made public - deprives Americans
of the First Amendment freedom on which all other constitutional rights
are based. Guns? Privacy? Due process? Equal protection? If you can't
speak out, you can't defend those rights, either.
Beyond that, the administration's actions shatter the president's
credibility and discourage allies who would otherwise defend the
administration against bogus accusations such as those involving the
Benghazi "talking points." If the administration is spying on reporters
and accusing them of criminality just for asking questions - well, who
knows what else this crowd is capable of doing?
My Post colleague Ann E. Marimow, who broke the Rosen story, obtained the
affidavit by FBI agent Reginald Reyes seeking access to Rosen's private e-
mails. In the affidavit, Reyes stated that "there is probable cause to
believe that the reporter has committed or is committing a violation" of
the law against national security leaks. The affidavit detailed how the
FBI had monitored Rosen's comings and goings from the State Department and
tracked his various phone calls with the suspected leaker, analyst Stephen
Jin-Woo Kim.
Rosen's supposed crime? Reyes got his evidence from an e-mail from the
reporter: "I want to report authoritatively, and ahead of my competitors,
on new initiatives or shifts in U.S. policy, events on the ground in
[North Korea], what intelligence is picking up, etc. .?.?. I'd love to see
some internal State Department analyses. .?.?. In short: Let's break some
news, and expose muddle-headed policy when we see it, or force the
administration's hand to go in the right direction, if possible."
That is indeed compelling evidence - of good journalism.
Obama is establishing an ominous precedent.
179) Asked Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate himself for lying
under oath
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder lied under oath. He said that he had
nothing to do with monitoring the emails of Fox News reporter James Rosen.
But it turns out that it was Holder's own signature on the search warrant.
Even the liberal Huffington Post said that Holder should be fired over
this.
Holder could get five years in prison.
So, did President Obama fire Holder?
Of course not!
Instead, Obama asked that Holder be investigated - not by an independent
investigating committee - but by Holder himself!
I can see it now...
Obama: "Did you lie?"
Holder: "No."
Obama: "OK. That's good enough for me. You're cleared of any wrongdoing."
180) Used Obamacare to illegally give the IRS additional powers without
approval from Congress
In May 2013 the Washington Post wrote:
The law allows the Department of Health and Human Services to set up
federal health exchanges in the holdout states. But the statute makes no
mention of the IRS providing credits and subsidies through federal
exchanges.
The IRS resolved this conundrum by denying its existence. In a May 2012
regulatory ruling, it asserted its own right to provide credits outside
the state exchanges as the reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous law.
But the language of the law is not ambiguous. And health scholars Jonathan
Adler and Michael Cannon, in an exhaustive recent analysis, find no
justification for the IRS's ruling in the legislative history of
Obamacare. "The statute," they argue, "and the lack of any support for the
IRS rule in the legislative record put defenders of the IRS rule in the
awkward position of arguing that it was so obviously Congress' intent to
offer tax credits in federal exchanges that despite a year of debate over
the PPACA, it never occurred to anyone to express that intent out loud. A
better explanation is that the PPACA's authors miscalculated when they
assumed states would establish exchanges."
So: The IRS seized the authority to spend about $800 billion over 10 years
on benefits that were not authorized by Congress. And the current IRS
scandal puts this decision in a new light. What was the role of politics
in shaping this regulatory decision? What pressure was applied?
181) Used environmental regulations to shut down an ambulance while it was
taking a patient to the hospital
In May 2013 the Washington Post reported:
A Wednesday shootout on the streets of Washington Highlands left a cop
injured and a carjacking suspect dead. But before the suspect expired, he
went on an unusual ambulance ride that involved moving him from one
vehicle to another on the shoulder of Interstate 295. While this might
appear to be another story of Fire and Emergency Medical Services
dysfunction, the story is rather more complicated. As WUSA-TV explains,
newer-model diesel engines are required by federal regulations to have
emission-control features that, in some circumstances, require the motor
to shut down for "regeneration" - a process in which the exhaust system
burns off trapped soot. The need for regeneration can be unpredictable.
The transfer to a second ambulance delayed 34-year-old Nathaniel McRae's
arrival at a hospital by seven minutes. FEMS insists the wait did not play
a role in his death.
182) Had "a serious management problem" with his refusal to fire bad
workers
A 2011 USA Today article on federal employees states:
"The federal government fired 0.55% of its workers in the budget year that
ended Sept. 30 - 11,668 employees in its 2.1 million workforce."
"White-collar federal workers have almost total job security after a few
years on the job. Last year, the government fired none of its 3,000
meteorologists, 2,500 health insurance administrators, 1,000 optometrists,
800 historians or 500 industrial property managers."
Wow! Those must be excellent workers, right?
Actually, no. The article also says:
"San Francisco State University management professor John Sullivan, an
expert on employee turnover, says the low departure rates show a failure
to release poor performers and those with obsolete skills. 'Rather than
indicating something positive, rates below 1% in the firing and layoff
components would indicate a serious management problem,' he says."
A serious management problem?
So who exactly is the highest ranking manager of the federal government?
It's President Obama.
183) Illegally solicited donations from health insurers
In May 2013, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
solicited donations from health insurers to help pay for Obamacare. Such
soliciting is illegal.
184) Chose an economic advisor who wanted roads and bridges to be built by
unqualified workers
Obama chose to have Robert Reich be his economic advisor. Regarding
Obama's "stimulus," Reich said:
"I am concerned, as I'm sure many of you are, that these jobs not simply
go to high skilled people... And therefore, in my remarks I have
suggested to you, and I'm certainly happy to talk about it more, ways in
which the money can be - criteria can be set so that they money does go to
others... people who are not necessarily construction workers or high-
skilled professionals."
185) Pressured unions to reduce the amount of health insurance coverage
for their employees
In May 2013, the New York Times reported:
Say goodbye to that $500 deductible insurance plan and the $20 co-payment
for a doctor's office visit. They are likely to become luxuries of the
past.
Expect to have your blood pressure checked or a prescription filled at a
clinic at your office, rather than by your private doctor.
Then blame the so-called Cadillac tax, which penalizes companies that
offer high-end health care plans to their employees.
Although the tax does not start until 2018, employers say they have to
start now to meet the deadline and they are doing whatever they can to
bring down the cost of their plans. Under the law, an employer or health
insurer offering a plan that costs more than $10,200 for an individual and
$27,500 for a family would typically pay a 40 percent excise tax on the
amount exceeding the threshold.
Tom Leibfried, a legislative director for the A.F.L.-C.I.O., one of the
unions whose plans are vulnerable to the tax, says the demands that
workers pay more for their care is a perennial aspect of labor
negotiations. "We're very concerned about the hollowing out of benefits in
general," he said. "What the excise tax will do is just fuel that."
186) Falsely said "We believe in the free market"
In June 2013, Obama said,
We don't think that top-down solutions are the right way to go. We
believe in the free market. We believe in a light touch when it comes to
regulations. - See more at: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-we-
dont-want-tax-all-businesses-out-business#sthash.NDb17lc6.dpufWe believe
in the free market. We believe in a light touch when it comes to
regulations.
"We believe in the free market."
Obama was lying. The free market means that in the business world, it is
the customers, not the government, who pick winners and losers. But this
list contains a huge number of instances where Obama tried to use the
government to pick winners and losers in the business world.
187) Falsely said "We believe in a light touch when it comes to
regulations"
In June 2013, Obama said, "We believe in a light touch when it comes to
regulations."
He lied. For example, after Obamacare was passed, Obama added 20,000 extra
pages of regulations to to it.
188) Said Catholic schools are "divisive" but did not say the same thing
about other religious schools
In June 2013, Obama said:
"If towns remain divided - if Catholics have their schools and buildings
and Protestants have theirs, if we can't see ourselves in one another and
fear or resentment are allowed to harden - that too encourages division
and discourages cooperation."
I can understand why a person might criticize religious schools in general
- although I myself happen to think that religious schools are a superior
alternative to public schools. But for Obama to single out one religion in
particular as being divisive, while not saying the same thing about all
religious schools in general, is a double standard.
189) Favored a new tax on Christmas trees so the money could be used to
subsidize Christmas trees
In November 2011, Obama proposed a new tax on Christmas trees, so that the
money could be used to subsidize Christmas trees. If this had been a Rube
Goldberg cartoon it would have been funny. But to suggest it as an actual
government policy is absurd.
190) Betrayed the people of the city that helped him launch his political
career
As part of his effort to get Obamacare passed, Obama repeatedly promised
that people could keep their current health insurance if they liked it.
More than any other city, the people of Chicago helped to get Obamacare
passed. Chicago is where Obama chose to live when he first got into
politics. The people there launched his political career and voted him
into office.
And this is how Obama repays them. In May 2013, the Chicago Tribune
reported:
Mayor Rahm Emanuel plans to start reducing health insurance coverage next
year for more than 30,000 retired city workers and begin shifting them to
President Barack Obama's new federal system.
The move is aimed at saving the city money
Once the phaseout is complete, those retired workers would have to pay for
their own health insurance or get subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.
The city-subsidized coverage is particularly important to retired workers
who aren't yet eligible for Medicare
Henry Bayer, executive director of the American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees Council 31, said the uncertainties of the
Affordable Care Act and the state insurance exchanges they would create
make the city's plan hard to assess.
"This uncertainty will cause anxiety and fear for tens of thousands of
seniors who gave their working lives to public service - men and women
whose retirement savings are already under attack in the name of 'pension
reform.'" Bayer said.
191) Proposed military interventionism in Syria
In June 2013, Obama proposed that the U.S. get involved in Syria's
military conflicts.
192) Planned to use military snipers to shoot innocent lions and cheetahs
in the wild
In June 2013, Obama was planning to use military snipers to shoot innocent
lions and cheetahs in the wild.
However, after the media reported on his plans, Obama got embarrassed, and
cancelled his plans.
193) Refused to fire or prosecute more than 1,000 IRS employees who
illegally used their IRS credit cards for their own personal use
During Obama's first term, more than 1,000 IRS employees illegally used
their IRS credit cards for personal purchases, but Obama refused to fire
or prosecute them.
194) Defended intelligence chief who lied under oath
In March 2013, James Clapper, the director of national intelligence,
falsely stated under oath that the NSA was not gathering data on millions
of U.S. citizens. In June 2013, after it was reported that Clapper had
lied under oath, Obama defended him, instead of firing him.
195) Had the Secret Service visit a law abiding citizen who had criticized
his policies on Twitter
In April 2013, Obama sent the Secret Service to visit the home of Tom
Francois, a law abiding citizen who had criticized Obama's policies on
Twitter.
The Secret Service admitted that Francois had not made any threats against
Obama.
196) Had the IRS grant special, illegal favors for his brother's so-called
"charity"
In May 2013, the Dailer Caller reported that the IRS had taken the
"unprecedented" step of approving a non-profit application within just one
month. In this particular case, the application was from the Barack H.
Obama Foundation, a so-called "charity" which was headed by Malik Obama,
Barack Obama's brother.
In addition, the IRS illegally gave retroactive approval for the
organization's tax exempt status. Prior to getting this approval, the
organization had illegally solicited tax deductible donations even though
it did not have legal approval to do so.
197) Raised the interest rate on student loans to pay for Obamacare
Obamacare raised the interest rate on students loans from 5.3% to 6.8%.
The money is used to fund Obamacare.
198) Refused to fire or prosecute 15 IRS agents who illegally seized the
medical records of 10 million people
In March 2011, 15 IRS agents illegally seized the medical records of 10
million people without a warrant. Obama refused to fire or prosecute them.
199) Hired 16,500 new IRS agents to run Obamacare
In June 2013, it was reported that Obama had hired 16,500 new IRS agents
to run Obamacare.
200) Tried to reward wasteful IRS spending with an increase in funding
In June 2013, Danny Werfel, Obama's new nominee to head the IRS, asked
Congress for an increase in funding. At the same time, NPR reported on
this waste of taxpayer money at an IRS conference:
Some of the 2,600 attendees received benefits, including baseball tickets
and stays in presidential suites that normally cost $1,500 to $3,500 per
night. In addition, 15 outside speakers were paid a total of $135,000 in
fees, with one paid $17,000 to talk about "leadership through art," the
committee said.
Considering how the IRS wasted all that money on luxury hotel rooms and
worthless speeches, Werfel really had some nerve asking Congress for more
money. By proposing to reward wasteful spending with a budget increase,
Werfel proved that he is incompetent to head the IRS. The fact that Obama
nominated such an incompetent person does not surprise me one bit.
--
A "teabagger" is a male Liberal Democrat who performs fellatio on another
male Liberal Democrat... either sucking his balls or laying his genitals
on his partner's face. <snicker>