Domestic Policy
The black cloud of the Obama 3
Big time Democratic donor Philip Falcone of Harbinger Hedge Fund
Obama’s troubles are beginning to pile up…and the timing couldn’t be more perfect for Republicans coming into the 2012 elections(and I’m not even talking about this miserable economy). 3 very shady newsworthy scandals involving the Obama White House are slowly creeping into the news. Of course, they aren’t in the news as much as they should be but people are beginning to know some of the criminal activity that makes up the day to day schedule of this White House. I thought I would do a brief summary of the 3 “biggies” and do follow up posts when new details are learned.
So…here goes
1. Fast and Furious: Most everyone is familiar with this one. It’s the ATF “sting” operation in which assault weapons were knowingly sold to violent Mexican drug cartel members with the intent of tracking these guns into Mexico to catch higher ups in the cartel world. The problem is that most of these assault weapons have disappeared into the underworld of Mexican crime and are showing up at violent crime scenes…including the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. This little scandal involves the ATF, FBI, DEA, Border Patrol and the Department of Homeland Security…..all under the watchful eye of the Department of Justice. I do not believe that Obama will be implicated in this one because Eric Holder is the front-man and Obama will be protected at all cost. Just my opinion.
2. Solyndra: This one has been getting a lot of press lately. Solyndra is a California based company that makes solar panels. Obama made it the poster-child for his green jobs initiative and publicly touted it’s huge potential to not only advance the movement towards solar power but also the benefit of creating more jobs. So..what’s the problem you ask? Solyndra was doomed from the beginning and was in serious financial trouble before the White House granted it a $535 million loan guarantee (through the Stimulus legislation). The problem with Solyndra is that it’s new solar panels (which are cylindrical and supposedly lighter and easier to install) are very expensive to make and thus are more expensive to buy so consumers are continuing to buy the cheaper flat panels….which work just as well. Solyndra was never ever ever going to be profitable and the White House was warned about this but still continued to push for stimulus money. Solyndra filed for bankruptcy on September 6th…leaving the American taxpayer with a $535 million dollar tab. Oh….and one more thing….the primary shareholder in Solyndra is The George Kaiser Family Foundation. George Kaiser is a rather large campaign fundraiser for Obama and has visited the White House 16 times since 2009. What a coincidence.
3. Lightsquared: So far…there has been very little press about this one and details are still emerging. Lightsquared is a company that is involved in the broadband connectivity network. Their product would make it easier and faster for people to connect to wireless networks. The company is owned by the hedge fund Harbinger Capital. This hedge fund is headed by billionaire Philip Falcone who happens to be a huge donor to Democratic senatorial campaigns as well as to Obama’s campaign. Shortly after he made large donations to Democratic senatorial campaigns, the FCC granted the company a waiver to build their national 4g wireless network cheaply….which is a highly unusual move for the FCC. What a coincidence. Numerous people are crying foul but the bigger scandal here is something a little more criminal than big donor favoritism. The Pentagon is very concerned about Lightsquared’s new broadband network because the GPS system that it uses would interfere with the same system that the military uses to help it with missile tracking (among other things). The Pentagon sent Air Force General William Shelton to testify at a closed door meeting about their concerns. Just a few days ago, General Shelton revealed to House strategic forces subcommittee staffers that the White House tried to “encourage” him to say things in his testimony that would be beneficial to the Lightsquared project. The General was not too happy about being asked to change his testimony on the request of the White House. This one is much more than a “pay to play” scandal. This one is flat-out criminal and involves witness tampering. This has been getting some media coverage but not very much. It is my opinion that this one is the worst of the 3 scandals for Obama but time will tell whether he will suffer politically. I’m betting that there are many more “Solyndra’s” and “Lightsquared’s” out there but we’ll never know with our politically biased media.
There’s one thing that’s for sure with this crooked administration….
You can take Obama out of Chicago, but you can’t take Chicago out of Obama.
Fast and Furious and our Department of Obstructing Justice.
Mr. Honesty himself
Fast and Furious weapons were found at yet another violent crime scene…this time in the US.
(CBS) Arizona state police revealed yesterday that two guns from Fast and Furious were found in an arrest involving two Mexican men who assaulted detectives outside Phoenix in 2010. Nobody was seriously hurt.
Fast and furious is the operation in which ATF allowed thousands of weapons to “walk” into the hands of suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels.
It’s unclear why the year-old case and its link to Fast and Furious were revealed now, with the apparent blessing of ATF headquarters.
News of this case set off a wave of confusion among Congressional investigators who have tried unsuccessfully to identify additional violent crimes in the U.S. linked to which Fast and Furious. They say the Justice Department still hasn’t told them about the 2010 Phoenix case, despite their ongoing written requests for such information
These guns are going to continue to pop up all over Mexico and the Southwest US because there are still at least a thousand or so assault weapons unaccounted for and NO ONE in the DOJ is talking. Suddenly the ATF is admitting that this last episode in Arizona did involve F&F weapons. Why would they suddenly be open about that piece of information? Perhaps Rep. Issa and Sen. Grassley are getting perilously close to opening Pandora’s box and the ATF wants to be on the right side of the fence when the whole story breaks? Maybe an official in the ATF will be offered immunity if they fork over info implicating high ranking officials within the Justice Department? Would the ATF do that if they are a branch of the DOJ?
Can someone answer these questions for me……
Isn’t it obstruction of justice to withhold information about a crime?
Wouldn’t you or I go to jail if we withheld information from investigators?
Why isn’t Eric Holder in jail?
In the words of Sir Walter Scott….
Oh what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practise to deceive!
Fast and Furious Update:The Cover-Up Continues
They should have blended Obama and Holder's face instead of using Nixon's face. Fast and Furious is far worse than Watergate.
The Fast and Furious saga continues. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Grassley, R-Iowa, are plugging along with their tedious investigation of the very corrupt goings-on at the DOJ involving walking assault weapons into Mexico (aka. Fast and Furious). It’s been discovered that federal officials tried to cover-up evidence that Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed with a weapon that was part of the Fast and Furious operation. Issa and Grassley are not letting up and the DOJ is really starting to sweat. I can practically hear Eric Holder tossing and turning at night over his role (and most likely Obama’s role) in the scandal. Meanwhile, the number of Fast and Furious guns that have been involved in murders in Mexico continues to rise. Just yesterday it was revealed that 21 more F&F weapons were found at violent crime scenes ( ATF has falsely claimed only 11). Lots of lies are being told to the investigators but eventually….the truth will be told.
(FOX)“The Justice Department has been less than forthcoming since day one, so the revisions here are hardly surprising, and the numbers will likely rise until the more than 1,000 guns that were allowed to fall into the hands of bad guys are recovered — most likely years down the road,” Grassley said in a statement released Thursday.
“What we’re still waiting for are the answers to the other questions the Attorney General failed to answer per our agreement. The cooperation of the Attorney General and his staff is needed if we’re ever going to get to the bottom of this disastrous policy and help the ATF and the department move forward.”
Eric Holder may be able to hide behind his subordinates for a little while but eventually someone is going to get mad about being thrown under the bus and they’re going to talk. I’ve been trying to figure out if the episode with the Gibson Guitar factory could somehow be related to Fast and Furious. Did Holder order the outrageously bogus raid on Gibson Guitar to divert attention away from Fast and Furious? Create more and more chaos at the DOJ so that all eyes wouldn’t be on the real scandal? That may be a far stretch but anything is possible with this administration. If Holder (and Obama) had knowledge of Fast and Furious then sooner or later, someone will talk. I don’t think Issa and Grassley are going to let up anytime soon and I’m sure that Holder is just holding his breath that in 2012, the Democrats will be in control of Congress again so the investigation will be mysteriously dropped. His worst nightmare would be for the Republicans to take control of everything and then…
In the words of the infamous Reverend Jeremiah Wright….Eric Holder’s “chickens would come home to roost”.
Obama launches another boondoggle government initiative.
The staff of the new Office of Diversity and Inclusion
(isn’t the big guy in the middle of the back row the same guy who was Gabby Gifford’s staffer? The one who helped save her just after she was shot? If not, he sure looks like him.)
Just a few days ago, Obama signed an Executive Order titled ”Establishing a Coordinated Government-Wide Initiative to Promote Diversity and Inclusion in the Federal Workforce.” How wonderful! Another government program…because we really don’t have enough. This Executive Order will ”direct federal agencies to draw upon the talents of all parts of society and allow the federal government to tap diverse perspectives to overcome the nation’s greatest challenges.”
Here is an excerpt from this order….
Section 1. Policy. Our Nation derives strength from the diversity of its population and from its commitment to equal opportunity for all. We are at our best when we draw on the talents of all parts of our society, and our greatest accomplishments are achieved when diverse perspectives are brought to bear to overcome our greatest challenges.
A commitment to equal opportunity, diversity, and inclusion is critical for the Federal Government as an employer. By law, the Federal Government’s recruitment policies should “endeavor to achieve a work force from all segments of society.” (5 U.S.C. 2301(b)(1)). As the Nation’s largest employer, the Federal Government has a special obligation to lead by example. Attaining a diverse, qualified workforce is one of the cornerstones of the merit-based civil service.
To realize more fully the goal of using the talents of all segments of society, the Federal Government must continue to challenge itself to enhance its ability to recruit, hire, promote, and retain a more diverse workforce. Further, the Federal Government must create a culture that encourages collaboration, flexibility, and fairness to enable individuals to participate to their full potential.
Instead of spending his time trying to figure out how to get millions of Americans back to work, Obama is just creating new government agencies to further extend government regulations.
Don’t we already have policies that require “inclusion” and “diversity”? We already have another government agency to ensure this….it’s call the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
While our Government still has jobs to offer….private sector jobs are very few and far between.
I know how Obama can stimulate the economy and create thousands of new private sector jobs.
Leave office.
The US Government App Store
Did you know that the US Government has an apps store? You can download government apps directly to your iPhone or iPad. These apps were created to make your life easier…so you can better access information such as where to apply for food-stamps…or where you can get your welfare check…or where the nearest public health clinic is located.
They have some very interesting apps that don’t seem to have any relavance to the US government. For example….
the Embryo App
Here’s the description of this app…”The Embryo App uses mobile telecommunication and multimedia technologies to add interactive capabilities to the digital information, enhancing our understanding of embryo development.” So in case you are bored at your next board meeting you can watch an embryo develop.
Here’s one of my favorites…
this is the "Neanderthal Me" app
I’m not kidding about this one. Our government has an app that will allow you to find out what you would look like as a neanderthal. I’m fairly certain that this one is Vice President Biden’s favorite app.
Of course, they have the obligatory spanish-only app…
this is the "Gobierno" app
This app makes it easy for all those American “citizens” who don’t speak one lick of English to find out how to access public health clinics, register their kids in the public school systems, get food stamps etc. Very useful.
And last (but certainly not least)….
this is the Release Mako app
For all you shark fishermen out there, you can now report (to the government of course) exactly where you have released a Mako shark. This app uses the GPS device on your phone so you can make your report while still on the water. How handy!
The store does have some fairly useful apps. The “Travel Smart” app will give you information on travel alerts and warnings and US Embassy locations. This would be a good one if you travelled overseas a lot. There’s also an “American Red Cross Shelter View” app that will give you information about the Red Cross shelter in your area….especially good info for those in the path of Hurricane Irene.
I can not imagine going to the government for my iPhone apps but I suppose there are those who go to the government for everything.
This explains why this country is in the mess that it’s in.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan is a BIG fat liar.
Arne "Dunce Cap" Duncan
There’s no other way to say it. Arne Duncan is a flat out liar. You can’t say that he “misspoke” or used “misleading” statements. He lied. He lied when he talked about the state of the public school systems in Texas while under the leadership of Governor Rick Perry. He spouted out all kinds of deceitful statistics all for political gain because….the White House is scared of Rick Perry. For example, Arne claims that schools in Texas have suffered “massive increases in class size” while Governor Perry has been in office. That’s a statistic that’s very easily verified….all you have to do is look on the Internet but Arne didn’t bother to check the facts. As it turns out, the class sizes in the Primary grades have remained the same while the class sizes in the secondary grades have actually gone down. Arne didn’t do his homework very well.
All these lies didn’t sit well with the Texas Commissioner of Education, Robert Scott. Mr Scott wrote a letter to Arne expressing his disappointment in him.
Mr. Secretary, I have read your recent comments criticizing Texas public education, and I am disappointed that you have never raised your concerns during any of our personal conversations. If you had, I may have been able to correct any misunderstanding you have about Texas public schools and the efforts of the 333,000 teachers and the 4.8 million students who have been striving to meet increasing standards and graduation requirements.
Your pity is misplaced and demeans the hard work that is taking place in schools across Texas. Texas students are doing very well and in many cases outperforming their national peers. Since you appear to be misinformed about the achievements of Texas educators and students I would ask that you consider the following information:
– In 2009, Texas ranked 7th in a 26 state comparison of the only states reporting four-year on-time graduation rates. That year Texas’ on-time graduation rate was 80.6%. The Texas on-time graduation rate for 2010 is now 84.3%, an amazing 3.7 percentage point increase in a single year on the dropout indicator that you are now requiring all states to report to the Department. – Texas is ranked 13th in Ed Week’s Quality Counts report. Quality Counts gave Texas an “A” in “Standards, Assessment and Accountability,” and an “A” in “Transitions and Alignment” of the Texas system with college and career readiness. This year’s graduating class is the first to graduate under Texas’ required 4×4 graduation requirements (four years of math, science, English language arts and social studies) and we are already seeing great things from the class of 2011.
– The Texas class of 2011 posted a record-high math score on the ACT college entrance exam. The Texas average math score was 21.5 and was higher than the national average of 21.1. ACT scores from 2007 to 2011 showed increases in all four subjects.
– The 2009 NAEP Science results were impressive, as well. Texas’ African American eighth-grade students earned the highest score in the nation and our Hispanic eighth-grade students were eighth. Only eighth-grade students attending the Department of Defense schools scored higher than Texas’ white students who were tied with white students in Massachusetts. On the fourth-grade test, Texas’ African American students out-performed their peers in every state accept Virginia and those students attending Department of Defense Schools. Texas’ fourth-grade white students were ranked third behind only Virginia and Massachusetts.
– We are also a leader in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education. Texas has established 59 STEM schools, 7 STEM professional development centers and is a leading state in creating a national STEM network of states that want to pursue STEM education reform. Texas’ STEM reform began in 2005, long before your administration decided to model this and other aspects of your reform agenda on the efforts that have been taking place in Texas for nearly a decade.
Finally, I’m not sure where you are getting your information regarding class sizes in Texas public schools. Texas is experiencing a four-year trend of class sizes getting smaller across the board in both elementary grades and in core subjects in high school. If you would like to see the actual data, I would be more than happy to provide it for you.
As you can see, Texas has a strong record, and I am proud of the accomplishments of Texas educators and students. It is clear that they have risen to the challenge of higher standards and expectations placed before them.
Rather than simply talking about education reform, Texas policy makers, educators and students have delivered. I look forward to seeing the student performance results of your efforts to centralize more control of public education in Washington, D.C.
Robert Scott
Commissioner of Education
It’s outrageous that someone with as much power as Arne Duncan uses his position to try to smear one of Obama’s rivals. I guess that no one should be surprised by this and I’m sure this won’t be the last time an Obama goon lies in order save their boss.
I believe Arne owes Governor Perry and Texas an apology.
Fat chance that will happen.
Great Merciful Zeus! Al Gore’s Anthropogenic Global Warming Cult so desperate it now claims we must destroy our economy to avoid AN ALIEN INVASION
Great Merciful Zeus! There’s a colorful new harbinger for when the Left is so desperate to keep pushing one of its failed economy-killing schemes that it’s almost completely exhausted all passibly legitimate claims: when they start saying “if we don’t do this, space aliens will invade Earth to make us!”.
The Left, by way of the Obama Administration, has done enormous damage to this country with the bizarre changes made at NASA since Obama’s “historic and unprecedented!” inauguration in 2009.
