Another day, another Dem Rep holding his political future in his hands:
After Weinergate, you would think the rest of them would know that erections have consequences.
Showing posts with label corruption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label corruption. Show all posts
Good Grief: MARVEL Comics kills off Spider Man, Replaces Him With Half-Black, Half-Hyspanic Homosexual
If this new Spider Man is as good as our community organizer-in-chief, he'll be caught in his own web in no time flat.We have an African-American president, so why not an African-American Spider-Man, too?
But that's not all, he' also gay: Marvel Comics reveals the new Spider Man is black - and he could be gay in the futureRevealed in Marvel Comics' Ultimate Fallout Issue 4, out Wednesday, the new Spider-Man in the Ultimate universe is a half-black, half-Hispanic teen named Miles Morales. He takes over the gig held by Peter Parker, who was killed in Ultimate Spider-Man Issue 160 in June.In his first appearance, he simply breaks up a fight. But readers will learn the true origin of Morales and how he became the new Spider-Man when Ultimate Spider-Man relaunches in September with a new No. 1 issue.
But another surprise could be in the pipeline after his creators said that in the future they would not rule out making him gay.Why not make him 5% Asian and call him Mr. United Nations already? So how long before Batman gets a sex change?
11-year old girl saves woodpecker, now faces jail time
This is exactly the result of the regulatry Kraken that has been unleashed on the American populace. A billion rules entrenched in the bureaucracy that nary any ordinary American is aware of. But behind every corner, and in this case walking down every store isle, is a moral busybody ready to sack you with a fine and jail time for almost nothing at all. Via memeorandum: Woodpecker-Saving Daughter Costs Mom $500, Possible Jail Time
From the accompanying article:
More from The Cato Institute, Moonbattery, Daily Pundit and The Daley Gator
UPDATE: Girl's lemonade stand shut down
UPDATE #2: Via moonbattery: Cats Are Enemies of the Planet
From the accompanying article:
Eleven-year-old aspiring veterinarian, Skylar Capo, sprang into action the second she learned that a baby woodpecker in her Dad's backyard was about to be eaten by the family cat.So they let the woodpecker go in the same place from whence it came and all was well, But...
...Skylar couldn't find the woodpecker's mother, so she brought it to her own mother, Alison Capo, who agreed to take it home.
But on the drive home, the Capo family stopped at a Lowes in Fredericksburg and they brought the bird inside because of the heat. That's when they were confronted by a fellow shopper who said she worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"She was really nervous. She was shaking. Then she pulled out a badge," said Capo.
The problem was that the woodpecker is a protected species under the Federal Migratory Bird Act. Therefore, it is illegal to take or transport a baby woodpecker. The Capo family says they had no idea.
...roughly two weeks later, that same woman from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service showed up at Capo's front door. This time, Capo says the woman was accompanied by a state trooper. Capo refused to accept a citation, but was later mailed a notice to appear in U.S. District Court for unlawfully taking a migratory bird. She's also been slapped with a $535 fine.And faces jail time. Isn't that lovely? If the little girl had only let the cat eat the endangered bird...
More from The Cato Institute, Moonbattery, Daily Pundit and The Daley Gator
UPDATE: Girl's lemonade stand shut down
Police closed down a lemonade stand in Coralville last week, telling its 4-year-old operator and her dad that she didn't have a permit.The government refuses to keep terrorists from crossing our borders, but thank goodness they are protecting us from 4-year old girls and their darned lemonade.
An officer told Abigail Krutsinger's father Friday that she couldn't run the stand as RAGBRAI bicyclers poured into Coralville.
A city ordinance says food vendors must apply for a permit and get a health inspection.
UPDATE #2: Via moonbattery: Cats Are Enemies of the Planet
Bad news for pet owners — cats have been denounced by the moonbats at Mother Jones as enemies of the planet:
Varlie Jarrett: American People Want The President To Fundraise Or Something
I think most Americans just want Obama to do his job, something he's shown himself incompetent at. Instead, he spends his time not making decisions, on the golf course and raising money for his re-election so he can continue to do nothing. All with the approval of the sycophantic suck-ups like Jarrett:
Speaking of Jarrett, a flashback from 2008:
Speaking of Jarrett, a flashback from 2008:
Birds of a feather...Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has obtained documents linking Valerie Jarrett, an advisor to Barack Obama and the co-chairman of the President-Elect's transition team, to a series of real estate scandals, including several housing projects operated by convicted felon and Obama fundraiser/friend Antoin "Tony" Rezko.
Video: Rapper Lupe Fiasco Inspires Youth By Proclaiming America is Biggest Terrorist in The World
How long before Obama invites this America-hating kook to the White House?
Good grief: Charles Rangel caught up in another scandal
This kind of scandal - where a whole bunch of earmarked money supposed to go to small business loans went instead to cronies - is becoming cliche in Washington:
Via BreitbartTV. I suppose God wanted Rangel to waste that money: Corruptocrat Charles Rangel (D-NY): GOD told me not to retire. Once again, here's to you Mr. tax-cheating lying sac of crap Harlem Congressman:
Via BreitbartTV. I suppose God wanted Rangel to waste that money: Corruptocrat Charles Rangel (D-NY): GOD told me not to retire. Once again, here's to you Mr. tax-cheating lying sac of crap Harlem Congressman:
Video: Dick Durbin Blames Filibuster For Why Dems Haven't Passed Budget
Problem is, a Democratic Party budget in the Senate wasn't filibustered the last two years for one simple reason: DEMOCRATS IN POWER NEVER PROPOSED ONE! What's it been - more than 800 days now since Dems in the Senate abdicated that basic duty? Durbins response here was worse than dodging. It was pure idiocy:
How does a US Senator not know that it takes a simple majority to pass a budget, not 60 votes? Even setting that aside, the Dems did have 60 votes until the 2010 elections. They didn't propose or pass a budget during that time either.
How does a US Senator not know that it takes a simple majority to pass a budget, not 60 votes? Even setting that aside, the Dems did have 60 votes until the 2010 elections. They didn't propose or pass a budget during that time either.
Dennis Kucinich: Kill The Messenger! Downgrade The Credit Agencies! Flunk Me, FLUNK YOU!
Remember that scene in Back to School where Rodney Dangerfield is informed that he's going to be flunked, and he responds with "flunk me, flunk you!"? Credit rating agencies are supposed to give out a rating based on your revenues versus your obligations. You and I know that our credit scores will go down if we hold too much debt in comparison to our income. Apparently Kucinich came out of his UFO and insisted that that shouldn't apply to the government:
We are no longer a Republic. We have devolved into kakistocracy.
We are no longer a Republic. We have devolved into kakistocracy.
Culture of corruption: Obama's auto bailout chief Ron 'I did this all for the unions' Bloom caught lying to Congress - Part 2
An update from a post a couple of weeks ago: Culture of corruption: Obama's auto bailout chief Ron 'I did this all for the unions' Bloom caught lying to Congress. The House asked Bloom outright that very question, and Bloom denied it outright:
Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) questions Mr. Ron Bloom, former Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury, on whether Mr. Bloom had said at a farewell dinner of the Auto Task Force in late July 2009, "I did this all for the unions." Mr. Bloom denied the quote...However, several independent sources printed the exact thing he said - "I did this all for the unions." With that, the update via Instapundit:
From the article:
Ron Bloom, the top White House auto bailout official who has flatly denied accusations that he once said his work on the bailouts was "all for the unions," now admits that he might, in fact, have said those words. Just a few weeks ago, in sworn testimony before the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform, Bloom said denied four times that he said "I did this all for the unions" at a July 2009 party attended by most of the bailout team. But in a new letter to committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, Bloom writes that he does not recall making the comment, but "given the amount of time that has passed since the dinner in July 2009 and the fact that others may have a different recollection, I cannot say with absolute certainty that I did not make the alleged comment."That last part will go down as a political class classic. My response to it: WHAT???
...Seeking clarification, on July 6 Issa wrote a letter to Bloom, giving him "an opportunity to clarify" his testimony to the committee. "Despite your five denials, two independent sources documented you saying these words," Issa wrote. "It appears that either a respected reporter and your former boss in the Obama administration have both given inaccurate accounts of your comments to the public, or your testimony was not completely truthful. Therefore, if you would like to amend or clarify your testimony for the record, we encourage you to do so as soon as possible."
And now, in response, Bloom has sent a letter to Issa:You asked if I would like to clarify my testimony about whether I made a certain statement at a dinner two years earlier in July 2009. After reviewing your letter and with the benefit of the transcript passage that you quote, I have reviewed carefully the questions asked and my responses, as well as my best recollection of the event in question. I do not recall making the alleged comment that was the subject of Congressman Burton's inquiry. Nonetheless, given the amount of time that has passed since the dinner in July 2009 and the fact that others may have a different recollection, I cannot say with absolute certainty that I did not make the alleged comment. In light of that uncertainty and in order to make sure the hearing record is as precise as possible, I would ask that this letter be made part of the official record so that my testimony will reflect that I do not recall making the alleged comment.Bloom concluded by praising the work of the bailout team and telling Issa, "I can assure you that the comment attributed to me is not reflective of my view."
Shocker: ObamaCare to leave families with HIGHER insurance costs
On the heals of this prior post: ObamaCare: Healthcare costs still skyrocketing despite Obama's empty promises. Which was a follow-up to a post from March: Predictable: Democrat Evan Bayh that voted for ObamaCare admits it doesn't reduce health costs. Well... DUH! Of course it doesn't! Was never intended to. It was an unconstitutional power grab and nothing more. You cannot add some 30 million to the pool and claim to reduce cost. You cannot define children as being up to 26 years old, keep them on mom and dads insurance policy, and reduce cost. You cannot force insurance companies to cover people with preexisting conditions and reduce cost. And the list goes on and on. Obama, Pelosi, Reid and the minions told us it would indeed save cost. It was a fantasy at the outset at best. A bald-faced lie at worst. A video report:
Current news from Healthwatch via memeorandum: Healthcare law could leave families with high insurance costs
I should also point this out once again: Medicare Official: Yeah - those claims that ObamaCare will save money are pure fantasy. The fact that Democrats gamed the CBO to get a score on ObamaCare that they wanted via gimmick - double counting of savings, 6 years of bennies for 10 years of taxes, the 'doctor fix,' etc - has been well known. After ObamaCare was shoved down our throats, the Medicare actuary testified that the law will increase healthcare costs even faster than if nothing at all had been done. Last year I had this: Government Admits Medical Costs Will Rise Under ObamaCare, Sebelius Threatens Insurers Who Criticize It, And Not Even Jon Stewart Is Buying The BS. The relevant quote:
Current news from Healthwatch via memeorandum: Healthcare law could leave families with high insurance costs
A major provision of the healthcare reform law designed to prevent businesses from dropping coverage for their workers could inadvertently leave families without access to subsidized health insurance.Setting aside the fact that the SCOTUS must find this unconstitutional because if it does not we no longer have a Republic, the GOP shouldn't touch this thing at all. When the walls come falling down in 2014, they would be wise to point out that Democrats by themselves voted this absurdity in. More from Michelle Malkin and The Powers That Be
The problem is a huge headache for the Obama administration and congressional Democrats, because it could leave families unable to buy affordable health insurance when the healthcare law requires that everyone be insured starting in 2014.
Some of the administration’s closest allies on healthcare reform warn this situation could dramatically undercut support for the law, which already is unpopular with many voters and contributed to Democrats losing the House in the 2010 midterm elections.
...At issue is a so-called “firewall” in the law that denies subsidies to workers whose employers offer quality, affordable coverage.
The firewall applies to plans with premiums that cost less than 9.5 percent of a worker’s income. If a worker has to dole out more than that amount to buy coverage, the employer coverage is considered unaffordable and the worker is eligible for subsidies to buy coverage on the new exchanges.
Initially, advocates thought the threshold also applied to family coverage. If premium costs paid to cover a worker’s family cost 20 percent of a worker’s income, for example, the worker and his or her family should be eligible for subsidies.
But in calculating the bill’s cost last year, Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) took the law to mean that employers and their families aren’t eligible for subsidies as long as the individual plan is affordable — regardless of the price of the family plan.
This means the costs to an employee for covering his or her family could be too high to afford for many working families.
I should also point this out once again: Medicare Official: Yeah - those claims that ObamaCare will save money are pure fantasy. The fact that Democrats gamed the CBO to get a score on ObamaCare that they wanted via gimmick - double counting of savings, 6 years of bennies for 10 years of taxes, the 'doctor fix,' etc - has been well known. After ObamaCare was shoved down our throats, the Medicare actuary testified that the law will increase healthcare costs even faster than if nothing at all had been done. Last year I had this: Government Admits Medical Costs Will Rise Under ObamaCare, Sebelius Threatens Insurers Who Criticize It, And Not Even Jon Stewart Is Buying The BS. The relevant quote:
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that insurance companies have proposed rate increases ranging from 1% to 9% nationwide that they attribute specifically to new health-law coverage mandates.The relevant graphic:
Good Grief: DHS Video Characterizes White Americans as Most Likely Terrorists
Well, doesn't this just figure: DHS Video Characterizes White Americans as Most Likely Terrorists
More from Fox Nation, The Jawa Report, Pajamas Media, Gateway Pundit and Weasel Zippers
UPDATE: Via moonbattery:
A new promotional video released by the Department of Homeland Security characterizes white middle class Americans as the most likely terrorists, as Big Sis continues its relentless drive to cement the myth that mad bombers are hiding around every corner, when in reality Americans are just as likely to be killed by lightning strikes or peanut allergies.The video:
The video is part of Homeland Security’s $10 million dollar “See Something, Say Something” program that encourages Americans to report “suspicious activity,” which in every case throughout history has been a trait of oppressive, dictatorial regimes.
In the course of the 10 minute clip, a myriad of different behaviors are characterized as terrorism, including opposing surveillance, using a video camera, talking to police officers, wearing hoodies, driving vans, writing on a piece of paper, and using a cell phone recording application.
More from Fox Nation, The Jawa Report, Pajamas Media, Gateway Pundit and Weasel Zippers
UPDATE: Via moonbattery:
Meanwhile, as Gateway Pundit notes:In the last 24 months (2009 and 2010) 126 people were indicted on terrorist-related charges in the United States. All of them were Muslim.No doubt liberals will take this as evidence of discrimination against Muslims.
Video: Undercover investigation uncovers Medicaid fraud
But don't worry folks, ObamaCare will be much better! Via memeorandum: New O'Keefe investigation uncovers Medicaid fraud
More here: O’Keefe Team Investigates Carolina Medicaid; Gov’t Health Care for 25 IRA Terrorists?
More from Gateway Pundit, Hot Air and Confederate Yankee
UPDATE: O’Keefe Medicaid Investigation Triggers Official Ohio Inquiry
Conservative filmmaker James O’Keefe released the first installment in a new video investigation Monday morning, this one focused on Medicaid fraud. The first video in the series shows government employees in Ohio assisting two men who have described themselves as Russian drug smugglers with applications for Medicaid.The undercover video:
In the video, the men explain to Ohio Medicaid workers that they are Russian immigrants who sell illegal drugs, drive a modified McLaren F1 sports car with a gold-coated engine, and use their underage sisters to perform sexual favors in exchange for drugs.
In response, Ohio employees tasked with disbursing federal Medicaid dollars are shown coaching the men through the process of applying for benefits. “If it’s not something registered here, maybe I just wouldn’t mention it,” a Franklin County Medicaid officer named Traci Daniels tells the men, when asked whether they should mention owning a vehicle that retails for nearly $1 million, as they apply for government aid designed to help poor people. “Not that I can say that. You didn’t hear that from me. But, that would right there, that would throw him off. He would be immediately not qualified.”
More here: O’Keefe Team Investigates Carolina Medicaid; Gov’t Health Care for 25 IRA Terrorists?
From Project Veritas: James O’Keefe, founder of Project Veritas today released the second in a series of undercover investigations into Medicaid fraud. Citizen journalists have uncovered widespread Medicaid fraud in state offices across the country.
In the latest video, filmed in several Medicaid offices in South Carolina, an undercover reporter, dressed in a kilt and driving an expensive sports car, poses as an IRA terrorist. He explains that his comrades have gunshot wounds and is in need of twenty-five Medicaid applications.
UPDATE: O’Keefe Medicaid Investigation Triggers Official Ohio Inquiry
Ohio officials are investigating allegations that some county Medicaid workers inappropriately advised men posing as Russian drug dealers on how to get government health care benefits.UPDATE #2: NYC Super Mario Medicaid Investigation
Mario walks into Medicaid office and says he is an unemployed plumber. The Medicaid official encourages him not to talk about his illegal mushrooms, and how to account for his illegitimate income with a legitimate source.
Audio: Larry Sinclair Interview On Obama, Cocaine and Lies
Yes this is hearsay, but if any of this is true... oh who am I kidding? The establishment MSM will ignore it in its entirety no matter what:
Related: Joseph Farah's Radio Interview With Obama SSN Investigator! Leaders HIDING Info!
More here: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=322517
Related: Joseph Farah's Radio Interview With Obama SSN Investigator! Leaders HIDING Info!
More here: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=322517
About time:Detroit Suburb Drops Charges Against Woman For Growing Vegetable Garden
An update on government over-regulation gone awry: Good grief: MI Woman Faces Jail Time for Veggie Garden. Oak Park resident Julie Bass made the mistake of daring to grow a vegetable garden in her front yard, that landed her under the foot of the ruling class wielding vague regulations as to what she could and could not do with her own property:
She was to face a jury trial and ultimately jail time. But like cockroaches scattering when the lights go on, the bureauweenies scattered when the news went national: Oak Park Drops Charges Against Julie Bass and Her Vegetable Garden
She was to face a jury trial and ultimately jail time. But like cockroaches scattering when the lights go on, the bureauweenies scattered when the news went national: Oak Park Drops Charges Against Julie Bass and Her Vegetable Garden
No possible jail time for Julie Bass after planting a front yard vegetable garden. The City of Oak Park has dropped the misdemeanor charges against her.Bass called the City's bluff. They blinked. This time. But they sent her another ticket for having unregistered dogs. When you get on the ruling classes bad side, they will come after you for anything they can no matter how petty. When is a bureauweenie with a measuring stick going to come around and measure the height of her grass? Property rights are all but dead. Regulations are written up and are so numerous and so vague that anyone can torture you to death with selective enforcement of any number of them. A video that went with the story:
Bass was facing a possible 93-days in jail for planting and not removing her front yard vegetable garden after she received a ticket for a misdemeanor violation. (see Alexis Wiley original video report)
Bass's story has become an internet sensation with thousands of people across the country chiming in support for what many perceive as a violation of personal freedom.
A petition drive, Facebook page and blog worked in tandem to gain notoriety and perhaps force the city to change its mind about the ticket.
Bass's case was headed to court before today's announcement that the charges were dropped.
We Knew That: FOIA Documents Show Obama WH Declared Jihad On Fox News, Trashed 1st Amendment Right To Free Press
That 1st amendment to the US Constitution that enshrines freedom of the press in law? It means as much to our community organizer-in-chief as the rest of the US Constitution - not worth the paper it's printed on. Via memeorandum: Documents Show Obama White House Attacked, Excluded Fox News Channel. I'll cut to the money quote at the end of the piece:
Just one example of Obama's jihad against the news org: Emails reveal White House calling Fox News host Baier ‘a lunatic’
“The Obama administration seems to have lied about its attempt to exclude Fox News Channel from access to an interview with the ‘pay czar.’ These documents show there is a pervasive anti-Fox bias in the Obama White House,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The juvenile Mafioso-talk in these emails has no place in any White House. For the Obama administration to purposely exclude a major news organization from access to information has troubling First Amendment implications.”A picture is worth 1,000 words:
Back in 2009, the feud between the Fox News Channel and President Barack Obama’s administration reached its height. Then-White House Communications Director Anita Dunn publicly attacked the network on CNN, and former Fox News host Glenn Beck spearheaded an effort that resulted in the resignation of White House “green jobs czar” Van Jones.This is how a regime operates, not an administration. More from Sister Toldjah, Hot Air, Mediaite, Doug Ross, YID With LID, Weasel Zippers, Verum Serum, Big Journalism, Gateway Pundit, Pajamas Media and The Lonely Conservative
That dust-up led to White House rumblings about excluding Fox News from the official press pool, a notion from which the Obama administration promptly backed away.
But in the lead-up, White House officials had some choice words for “Special Report” host Bret Baier. According to a press release, emails obtained by the the watchdog group Judicial Watch reveal that then-Deputy White House Communications Director Jennifer Psaki threatened to put dead fish in “the fox cubby,” and also called Baier a “lunatic”: ...
Audio: Allen West (R-FL) Calls for Eric Holder's Removal Over 'Fast and Furious'
Removal? How about thrown in jail for subverting the US Constitution?
This an update from a couple months ago: Incompetent: Obama claims ignorance in ATF's "Project Gunrunner". Plus this one: Video Report: 43 Weapons in Phoenix Traffic Stop Linked to ATF's 'Fast and Furious'. Well, his is ignorant, and unqualified to hold the office of the President. But he's in their and claiming ignorance is not acceptable. At issue is "project gunrunner" where the US sold arms to Mexican thugs that turned around and shot our own border patrol agents who were themselves armed with... beanbags. Yes - beanbags: Video Report: Murdered US Border Patrol Agent from MI armed only with a bean bag, shot with guns Obama allowed drug cartel to purchase. A month ago I also posted this: Video of ATF Agent: "We Were Mandated, 'Let These Guns Go'
More now from Standing with Arizona on YouTube:
More here: ATF Director: Holder Obstructing ‘Fast and Furious’ Probe
"This is just another sad chapter in the Eric Holder book of ineptness and incompetence," West said. "Eric Holder needs to be brought before an investigative committee and if those charges are warranted he needs to be held accountable.The audio:
"At least the president needs to realize that Eric Holder needs to be removed from the Department of Justice ... or else it appears President Obama is complicit and in approval of the actions of his attorney general," he said.
This an update from a couple months ago: Incompetent: Obama claims ignorance in ATF's "Project Gunrunner". Plus this one: Video Report: 43 Weapons in Phoenix Traffic Stop Linked to ATF's 'Fast and Furious'. Well, his is ignorant, and unqualified to hold the office of the President. But he's in their and claiming ignorance is not acceptable. At issue is "project gunrunner" where the US sold arms to Mexican thugs that turned around and shot our own border patrol agents who were themselves armed with... beanbags. Yes - beanbags: Video Report: Murdered US Border Patrol Agent from MI armed only with a bean bag, shot with guns Obama allowed drug cartel to purchase. A month ago I also posted this: Video of ATF Agent: "We Were Mandated, 'Let These Guns Go'
More now from Standing with Arizona on YouTube:
The scope of Eric Holder's disastrous 'Fast and Furious" ATF operation just keeps expanding. Now a single traffic stop in Phoenix has revealed 43 automatic weapons with serial numbers traceable to the the ATF scandal - taken from 4 illegal aliens arrested in the stop. How many AK-47s has this Administration put in the hands of gangs throughout the U.S. How many children will die in drive-bys using weapons Holder GAVE to criminals? And with the ATF Director now saying the DoJ obstructing the investigation, the House GOP must not stop until all responsible are rotting in jail. And what did Obama know and when did he know it?The video report:
More here: ATF Director: Holder Obstructing ‘Fast and Furious’ Probe
"If his account is accurate, then ATF leadership appears to have been effectively muzzled while the DOJ sent over false denials and buried its head in the sand," Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said in a letter Tuesday to Attorney General Eric Holder. "That approach distorted the truth and obstructed our investigation."UPDATE: More at memeorandum, Patterico's Pontifications, The Other McCain and Doug Ross
Culture of corruption: 90% of Obama Travel at Least Partly Politics
It is illegal for politicians to use taxpayer money for political purposes. As with all other laws, tis one doesn't apply to the political ruling class. From White House Dossier: Ninety Percent of Obama Travel at Least Partly Politics
Nearly 90 percent of President Obama’s domestic travel in the first six months of this year has been either partially or entirely political, and almost all the costs are borne by taxpayers, according to a White House Dossier Analysis.It's the Chicago way...
Since returning from vacation in Hawaii Jan. 4, Obama has embarked on 25 domestic trips involving use of Air Force One. Of the total, 22 have involved either a fundraiser, travel to a presidential battleground state, or both.
Only three times has the president traveled for purely non-political purposes: a trip to visit flooding victims in Tennessee; a visit to New York City to meet with 9/11 families and lay a wreath; and a trip to Albany, New York to speak about the economy.
...Of the 11 excursions Obama has made that included a fundraiser, nine have also featured an “official” event, which helps the Obama campaign stick more of the bill to taxpayers. While it is impossible to prove that the official events were solely created to defray campaign travel costs, it is widely assumed that this White House and those that preceded it map official travel at least in part to mitigate the cost of jetting around the country to raise money and campaign.
Culture of corruption: Queens Democratic Party boss lives in northern Virginia
Article 1, Section 2 of the US Constitution:
The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.As with the ruling class, the US Constitution doesn't apply. From the New York Post:
He may be the king of Queens, but the borough's Democratic Party boss has his castle in Virginia.
Rep. Joe Crowley, who has the power to remake the political landscape in the borough -- as when he handpicked a candidate yesterday to replace Anthony Weiner -- actually lives 250 miles away with his family in Virginia, The Post has learned.
The Crowleys live in an expansive home in the leafy Washington suburb of Arlington, Va., where his three kids attend the community's nationally renowned public schools -- shunning New York City's educational system, property records show.
Crowley was spied yesterday in his driveway, keying into his Ford Fiesta, which bears a Virginia license plate and a bumper sticker that proclaims one of his kids is an honor student at a nearby middle school. ...
Culture of corruption: Obama's auto bailout chief Ron 'I did this all for the unions' Bloom caught lying to Congress
From The Washington Examiner: House asks: Did Obama's auto bailout chief say, 'I did this all for the unions'. The House asked Bloom outright that very question, and Bloom denied it outright:
Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) questions Mr. Ron Bloom, former Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury, on whether Mr. Bloom had said at a farewell dinner of the Auto Task Force in late July 2009, "I did this all for the unions." Mr. Bloom denied the quote...However, two independent sources have documented Bloom saying those exact words. Back to the Examiner piece, a local connection:
On November 24, 2009, Detroit News reporter David Shepardson wrote about a dinner held at Washington's Rosa Mexicano restaurant in July of that year, after GM had come out of bankruptcy. Both Bloom and Steven Rattner, the Wall Street figure who played a key role in the bailouts, spoke to the group. "Rattner praised the team's intensity and focus and said the group was among the best he had ever worked with," Shepardson reported. "Bloom, the former adviser to the United Steelworkers, joked that he 'did this all for the unions.'" (The article is not available on the paper's website, but here is a copy of it on a United Auto Workers site.)So the exact same quote by two independent sources, one claiming it was in a joking manner and one not, but the exact same words nonetheless. So back to Blooms appearance on the Hill June 22:
In September 2010, Rattner published a book entitled Overhaul: An Insider's Account of the Obama Administration's Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry. He also described the dinner at Rosa Mexicano:...Fortunately, after I spoke, Ron Bloom was there to lighten the mood. "I did this all for the unions," he jokingly declared. Everyone laughed and the war stories began to fly…
So did he or didn't he? The above is a flat-out denial rather than Clintonian obfuscation. Two sources confirm it, but there's also this:Rep. Burton: Well, did you say this at a dinner? There was a dinner and it was reported by David Shepardson, Washington correspondent for the Detroit News. At a farewell dinner of the Auto Task Force held in the restaurant Rosa Mexicano in late July 2009 that you allegedly said "I did this all for the unions."
Mr. Bloom: No I did not say that.
Rep. Burton: You didn't say that?
Mr. Bloom: No sir.
Rep. Burton: So, you were misquoted?
Mr. Bloom: That's correct.
Rep. Burton: Well, I'm going to call that guy up and ask him if you said that. You know that you are under oath here?
Mr. Bloom: I'm fully aware.
Rep. Burton: You made no comment like that at all?
Mr. Bloom: No sir.
... ABC News reports that a White House source is referring reporters to Rattner's book, adding that Rattner "clearly writes that Bloom made the comment as a joke."
That has Republicans on Capitol Hill confused. "Bloom is denying having said it in the first place, but the White House is saying it's just a joke," says a Hill source. "Well, you can't have it both ways."
Now Issa has written a letter to Bloom, giving him "an opportunity to clarify" his testimony to the committee. "Despite your five denials, two independent sources documented you saying these words," Issa wrote. "It appears that either a respected reporter and your former boss in the Obama administration have both given inaccurate accounts of your comments to the public, or your testimony was not completely truthful. ..."
Irony: Guy Goes To Jail for Cashing Chase Check at Chase Bank
Yet another story of the bizarre variety for today via memeorandum: Jailed for cashing Chase check at Chase bank
Buying his own home was a big accomplishment for construction worker, Ikenna Njoku, of Auburn. He’s only 28 years old.Fast forward a bit and you can guess how that ended:
“I was really excited. For the first time, I actually got to buy a lawn mower, mow my lawn and everything,” said Njoku.
Njoku qualified for the first time home buyer rebate on his tax return.
"It was really important, I had a vehicle I was looking on paying off," said. Njoku. And it wasn’t just any vehicle. “It was a 2001 Infinity I-30, silver…just like my favorite car, “he said.
Njoku signed up to have the rebate deposited directly into his Chase Bank account. But when the IRS rebate arrived, there was a problem. Chase had closed Njoku’s account because of overdrawn checks in the past. The bank deducted $600 to cover what he owed them and mailed him a cashier’s check for the difference--$8,463.21.
But when Njoku showed up at the Chase branch near his house intending to cash the check, he was in for a nasty surprise.
The check had Njoku’s name and address on it and was issued by JP Morgan Chase. But the Chase Customer Banker who handles large checks at the Auburn branch was immediately suspicious.
“I was embarrassed,” Njoku said. “She asked me what I did for a living. Asked me where I got the check from, looked me up and down—like ‘you just bought a house in Auburn, really?’ She didn’t believe that,” he said.
The Customer Banker said the check looked fake, so she took it, along with Njoku’s driver license and credit card, and called Bank Support.
“They just threw me in jail; they called the police and said this guy has a fraudulent check,” Njoku said.And it gets worse. He ended up in jail for 5 days, Chase had his car towed, it got auctioned off, he got fired from his job after not showing up for work, and all that happened after Chase knew they'd made a mistake. Oops:
Auburn police arrested him for forgery - a felony crime.