ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The White House has quietly launched an effort to confront the political backlash along the Gulf Coast over its handling of the BP oil spill — giving special attention to Florida, the only state in the region President Barack Obama won in 2008 and one he will need again when he runs for reelection in 2012.
The White House dispatched political and communications aides to the Gulf Coast states on July 12, with Alabama and Mississippi receiving one each, sources familiar with the effort said. Some aides went to Louisiana, while Florida received four.
That battleground state will be a heavy lift. In interviews conducted along the coast, Florida Democrats accused the administration of largely ignoring their calls and letters and complained of a White House that’s out of touch.
Alex Sink, Florida’s chief financial officer and the state’s presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee, even characterized Vice President Joe Biden’s recent visit to the state as “a screw-up,” saying she was “embarrassed” by his speech.
“It was just so off target and out of touch with the reality of what’s going on over there,” Sink said in an interview at the Florida Democratic Party headquarters in Tallahassee.
It’s the type of criticism the White House wants to avoid. The administration aides in Florida function similarly to a campaign. They do rapid response and media coordination, and they report back to senior aides in the West Wing in nearly real time about what they’re hearing on the ground.
The effort came about after the White House grew concerned over political damage from not having a permanent presence in the Gulf Coast states. Obama’s top advisers summoned a small group of young former campaign staffers working in the administration to the White House for a meeting, said a source with knowledge of the meeting. No one mentioned 2012 specifically, but it was clear the administration’s approach to the oil spill had the potential to hurt the president’s reelection campaign and that the issue required more hands-on attention.
“Someone recognized that all we were doing was playing defense,” said an administration official. The aides were sent to the Gulf Coast five days after the meeting.
Showing posts with label White House. Show all posts
Showing posts with label White House. Show all posts
Monday, July 26, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
White House can deny instructions to NASA to reach out to muslim nations, but it can't erase NASA's resulting slide show
Hat tip: Sweetness & Light
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Monday that NASA administrator Charles Bolden was wrong to say that reaching out to the Muslim world was a top priority of the U.S. space agency…
The White House last week sought to clarify Bolden’s comment, saying Obama wanted NASA to engage with the world’s best scientists and engineers from countries like Russia and Japan, Israel and many Muslim-majority countries.
That failed to end the controversy.
Gibbs, at his daily news briefing, was asked why Bolden had made the comment.
"It’s an excellent question, and I don’t think — that was not his task, and that’s not the task of NASA," Gibbs said…
Meanwhile, we have this February 18, 2010 slide show, ‘NASA’s Cooperation With Non-Traditional Partners’ (a pdf file):
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Monday that NASA administrator Charles Bolden was wrong to say that reaching out to the Muslim world was a top priority of the U.S. space agency…
The White House last week sought to clarify Bolden’s comment, saying Obama wanted NASA to engage with the world’s best scientists and engineers from countries like Russia and Japan, Israel and many Muslim-majority countries.
That failed to end the controversy.
Gibbs, at his daily news briefing, was asked why Bolden had made the comment.
"It’s an excellent question, and I don’t think — that was not his task, and that’s not the task of NASA," Gibbs said…
Meanwhile, we have this February 18, 2010 slide show, ‘NASA’s Cooperation With Non-Traditional Partners’ (a pdf file):
Friday, July 2, 2010
Immelt's soft shot at White House earns a smackdown
After General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt told a private dinner of Italian business executives that he didn't believe China was willing to be a fair business partner, and that the Obama Administration's heavy regulatory approach was not conducive to helping the U.S. economy, senior White House officials, upon hearing about the comments, went into bully mode.
Immelt made his comments at dinner in Rome earlier this week and they were later reported by the Financial Times. The remarks about the Obama Administration did not include any disparagement of the president himself.
Yet, according to a contracting lobbyist for GE in Washington, senior White House officials and senior members of the Commerce and Energy Departments called Washington GE officials and corporate officers in New York.
"They [the Obama Administration] weren't happy, and wanted to know why a GE official would be making those comments," said the lobbyist. "The underlying message was that GE has dealings with the federal government. It wasn't a threat, but these folks are from Chicago."
Within hours GE released an official statement saying Immelt's comments didn't reflect the company's views. The lobbyist says he does not know if the White House demanded the statement.
The lobbyist would not identify who in the administration made the calls, but in the past senior officials like Valerie Jarrett, Rahm Emanuel and deputy Jim Messina have been known to make such calls to business executives.
"It's fairly common with this crowd," says another lobbyist, who is employed by a Fortune 50 company in Washington. "The second my boss says something that could be interpreted as anti-Obama administration, we get phone calls. They are very thin skinned. Add to that the fact that they just hate the business community, and you have a tense relationship."
Immelt made his comments at dinner in Rome earlier this week and they were later reported by the Financial Times. The remarks about the Obama Administration did not include any disparagement of the president himself.
Yet, according to a contracting lobbyist for GE in Washington, senior White House officials and senior members of the Commerce and Energy Departments called Washington GE officials and corporate officers in New York.
"They [the Obama Administration] weren't happy, and wanted to know why a GE official would be making those comments," said the lobbyist. "The underlying message was that GE has dealings with the federal government. It wasn't a threat, but these folks are from Chicago."
Within hours GE released an official statement saying Immelt's comments didn't reflect the company's views. The lobbyist says he does not know if the White House demanded the statement.
The lobbyist would not identify who in the administration made the calls, but in the past senior officials like Valerie Jarrett, Rahm Emanuel and deputy Jim Messina have been known to make such calls to business executives.
"It's fairly common with this crowd," says another lobbyist, who is employed by a Fortune 50 company in Washington. "The second my boss says something that could be interpreted as anti-Obama administration, we get phone calls. They are very thin skinned. Add to that the fact that they just hate the business community, and you have a tense relationship."
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
WH transforms Gulf oil spill and BP's money into jobs program
In the Obama White House's ongoing quest to create the appearance that it is fixing the economy, the administration has asked the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS), Interior, Defense, Energy, and the Small Business Administration, to look for hiring opportunities related to the BP Gulf oil spill cleanup.
Each agency has some role in the oil spill response and cleanup process, though others, like the U.S. Coast Guard and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, have not been asked to consider new permanent or temporary hiring. The Obama Administration is also said to be considering whether its volunteer programs can somehow be used to place recent college graduates in government-funded jobs in the Gulf region.
"We're not talking about taxpayer dollars creating these jobs," says a White House aide. "This is BP paying for the jobs; we're just sending them the bill. If DHS or Interior has to hire someone down there, it's BP that is going to pay. What happens down the road after the cleanup is complete is anyone's guess."
Homeland Security and Interior have identified potential work opportunities in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas, as well as work in Washington, D.C. and several other regional offices, where claims review and other management duties might be filled. Already, both agencies have been given lists of current U.S. Census temporary workers in those states, who will be given first crack at any cleanup jobs that become available.
Each agency has some role in the oil spill response and cleanup process, though others, like the U.S. Coast Guard and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, have not been asked to consider new permanent or temporary hiring. The Obama Administration is also said to be considering whether its volunteer programs can somehow be used to place recent college graduates in government-funded jobs in the Gulf region.
"We're not talking about taxpayer dollars creating these jobs," says a White House aide. "This is BP paying for the jobs; we're just sending them the bill. If DHS or Interior has to hire someone down there, it's BP that is going to pay. What happens down the road after the cleanup is complete is anyone's guess."
Homeland Security and Interior have identified potential work opportunities in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas, as well as work in Washington, D.C. and several other regional offices, where claims review and other management duties might be filled. Already, both agencies have been given lists of current U.S. Census temporary workers in those states, who will be given first crack at any cleanup jobs that become available.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Thomas Sowell: "American democracy is being dismantled..."
In our times, American democracy is being dismantled, piece by piece, before our very eyes by the current administration in Washington, and few people seem to be concerned about it.
The president's poll numbers are going down because increasing numbers of people disagree with particular policies of his, but the damage being done to the fundamental structure of this nation goes far beyond particular counterproductive policies.
Just where in the Constitution of the United States does it say that a president has the authority to extract vast sums of money from a private enterprise and distribute it as he sees fit to whomever he deems worthy of compensation? Nowhere.
And yet that is precisely what is happening with a $20 billion fund to be provided by BP to compensate people harmed by their oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Many among the public and in the media may think that the issue is simply whether BP's oil spill has damaged many people, who ought to be compensated.
But our government is supposed to be "a government of laws and not of men."
If our laws and our institutions determine that BP ought to pay $20 billion — or $50 billion or $100 billion — then so be it.
But the Constitution says that private property is not to be confiscated by the government without "due process of law."
Technically, it has not been confiscated by Barack Obama, but that is a distinction without a difference.
With vastly expanded powers of government available at the discretion of politicians and bureaucrats, private individuals and organizations can be forced into accepting the imposition of powers that were never granted to the government by the Constitution.
If you believe that the end justifies the means, then you don't believe in constitutional government.
And, without constitutional government, freedom cannot endure. There will always be a "crisis" — which, as the president's chief of staff has said, cannot be allowed to "go to waste" as an opportunity to expand the government's power.
The president's poll numbers are going down because increasing numbers of people disagree with particular policies of his, but the damage being done to the fundamental structure of this nation goes far beyond particular counterproductive policies.
Just where in the Constitution of the United States does it say that a president has the authority to extract vast sums of money from a private enterprise and distribute it as he sees fit to whomever he deems worthy of compensation? Nowhere.
And yet that is precisely what is happening with a $20 billion fund to be provided by BP to compensate people harmed by their oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Many among the public and in the media may think that the issue is simply whether BP's oil spill has damaged many people, who ought to be compensated.
But our government is supposed to be "a government of laws and not of men."
If our laws and our institutions determine that BP ought to pay $20 billion — or $50 billion or $100 billion — then so be it.
But the Constitution says that private property is not to be confiscated by the government without "due process of law."
Technically, it has not been confiscated by Barack Obama, but that is a distinction without a difference.
With vastly expanded powers of government available at the discretion of politicians and bureaucrats, private individuals and organizations can be forced into accepting the imposition of powers that were never granted to the government by the Constitution.
If you believe that the end justifies the means, then you don't believe in constitutional government.
And, without constitutional government, freedom cannot endure. There will always be a "crisis" — which, as the president's chief of staff has said, cannot be allowed to "go to waste" as an opportunity to expand the government's power.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Coffee house marxists used to talk gibberish in campus neighborhood coffee houses; now they're in the White House
When I was a political science graduate student in the 1980s, the Cold War was still raging, and my university was filled with leftists who were pulling for the Sandinistas, the Nicaraguan Marxists, and other various and sundry Communists around the globe to defeat Ronald Reagan and the United States. These folk used to meet in the local coffee house and practice talking Marxist gibberish to one another.
After the Cold War ended, I often wondered what happened to my “Coffee House Marxists.” Where did they go? What are they doing now?
It turns out that a substantial chunk of them have gone to work for the Obama Administration. Were it not for the tremendous damage being done to this nation and to the lives of untold millions of freedom-loving people around the world, one could be amused by the daily parade of ineptitude, incompetence and disrespect for America displayed by Mr. Obama’s cadre of Coffee House Marxists.
No thug or tyrant is too mean to bow down before. China and Saudi Arabia are only two recipients of our President’s fawning. And, “jihadism” is the terror that dare not speak its name.
No leader of a great Western nation is too exalted not to insult. Ship the bust of Churchill back to Old Blighty. MP3s of Obama oratory for the Queen—she’ll love it. The President literally walks out on the prime minister of a sovereign nation and essential ally (Benjamin Netanyahu) to eat dinner. And on and on it goes.
In my day, the coffee house marxists cheered for Fidel Castro. They also differed from the 1980s coffee house marxists in another significant respect: they weren't going to go to work for anybody, even the White House.
While generations of college students came and went, they stayed. I didn't know where they got their money; still don't.
It still amuses me that naiive voters sometimes install these people in public office, and even expect something good to happen as a result. It never does.
After the Cold War ended, I often wondered what happened to my “Coffee House Marxists.” Where did they go? What are they doing now?
It turns out that a substantial chunk of them have gone to work for the Obama Administration. Were it not for the tremendous damage being done to this nation and to the lives of untold millions of freedom-loving people around the world, one could be amused by the daily parade of ineptitude, incompetence and disrespect for America displayed by Mr. Obama’s cadre of Coffee House Marxists.
No thug or tyrant is too mean to bow down before. China and Saudi Arabia are only two recipients of our President’s fawning. And, “jihadism” is the terror that dare not speak its name.
No leader of a great Western nation is too exalted not to insult. Ship the bust of Churchill back to Old Blighty. MP3s of Obama oratory for the Queen—she’ll love it. The President literally walks out on the prime minister of a sovereign nation and essential ally (Benjamin Netanyahu) to eat dinner. And on and on it goes.
In my day, the coffee house marxists cheered for Fidel Castro. They also differed from the 1980s coffee house marxists in another significant respect: they weren't going to go to work for anybody, even the White House.
While generations of college students came and went, they stayed. I didn't know where they got their money; still don't.
It still amuses me that naiive voters sometimes install these people in public office, and even expect something good to happen as a result. It never does.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Judicial Watch: Either Sestak lied or official committed a felony
Rep. Sestak’s allegations are extremely serious and yet we’ve heard nothing from the Obama White House so far but vague denials of wrongdoing and outright stonewalling.
It’s time for everyone involved in this scandal to come clean. There is simply no wiggle room. Either Sestak lied about the federal job offer or someone at the White House likely committed a felony. It’s that simple.
Attorney General Eric Holder’s refusal to appoint a special counsel in the matter is a disgrace and will not stand.
This latest bribery allegation reflects a disturbing pattern by the Obama White House. We still don’t have all the details about involvement of Obama administration officials in the sale of Obama’s former Illinois U.S. Senate seat by Rod Blagojevich. And we still don’t have answers about the charge that Obama Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina offered a federal job to Colorado Democratic Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff to keep him out of the Senate race. There is also the report that President Obama tried to push disgruntled White House Counsel Greg Craig out of the White House by offering a federal judgeship on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. And now we have Joe Sestak.
The Chicago Machine has truly come to Washington.
It’s time for everyone involved in this scandal to come clean. There is simply no wiggle room. Either Sestak lied about the federal job offer or someone at the White House likely committed a felony. It’s that simple.
Attorney General Eric Holder’s refusal to appoint a special counsel in the matter is a disgrace and will not stand.
This latest bribery allegation reflects a disturbing pattern by the Obama White House. We still don’t have all the details about involvement of Obama administration officials in the sale of Obama’s former Illinois U.S. Senate seat by Rod Blagojevich. And we still don’t have answers about the charge that Obama Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina offered a federal job to Colorado Democratic Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff to keep him out of the Senate race. There is also the report that President Obama tried to push disgruntled White House Counsel Greg Craig out of the White House by offering a federal judgeship on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. And now we have Joe Sestak.
The Chicago Machine has truly come to Washington.
Monday, May 17, 2010
No 11th hour White House rescue missions for Arlen Specter
CBS News Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer is, according to the Washington Post's Greg Sargent, preparing for an Arlen Specter loss tomorrow and accordingly cutting him loose. "I have been told on background that the White House is preparing for a Specter loss here, and that the president doesn't want to be associated with that," Schieffer told a local CBS affiliate. Sargent has confirmed that Vice President Joe Biden has no appearances with Specter scheduled even though he is in Pennsylvania speak at his daughter's graduation.
Bear in mind that Specter's party switch was heavily based on assurances from President Obama and Vice President Biden that they would clear the primary field for him and go all out to support him. If these reports are accurate, then they have either gone back on their word or heard from leading Pennsylvania Democrats that Specter is a lost cause. We'll soon find out.
Bear in mind that Specter's party switch was heavily based on assurances from President Obama and Vice President Biden that they would clear the primary field for him and go all out to support him. If these reports are accurate, then they have either gone back on their word or heard from leading Pennsylvania Democrats that Specter is a lost cause. We'll soon find out.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Bailing out a basket case: Even with austerity, Greek debt will grow to 150% of GDP in four years
The Obama Administration on Sunday approved U.S. participation in an international bailout of Greece that will cost American taxpayers billions of dollars. Despite the objection of many members of Congress, the President went ahead with the bailout, thinking that $145 billion would be enough to bring Greece out of its economic malaise and restore stability to the global economy.
On the contrary, the President’s willingness to pump billions into a small European country such as Greece makes it more likely that other European countries with similar problems – namely, Spain, Portugal, and Italy – will be coming to the United States soon looking for even bigger bailouts.
First, some background: Greece’s economic crisis was caused by too much government spending and borrowing which weakened its already over-taxed, over-regulated economy. Although Greece’s population is just 11 million, it has more than one million public-sector employees. Greek civil servants enjoy 14 months of pay for 12 months worked, and their average retirement age is 53. Once retired, they enjoy generous pension benefits worth 80% of their salary. Greece will run a budget deficit this year worth 14% of its GDP, and its entire national debt will equal 113% of GDP. These policies proved unsustainable, and so the European Union and the IMF were called in to rescue Greece before international investors stopped lending them any more money.
The $145 billion bailout comes to $13,000 per person in Greece. An equivalent bailout of America — which has a population of over 300 million — would cost over $4 trillion. With such a large amount of cash being thrown at Greece, the bailout has to work, right? Well, according to the IMF’s own optimistic forecasts, even if Greece implements the austerity measures required by the deal, it will still run huge budget deficits indefinitely. So huge, in fact, that Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio will soar to 150% in just four years.
On the contrary, the President’s willingness to pump billions into a small European country such as Greece makes it more likely that other European countries with similar problems – namely, Spain, Portugal, and Italy – will be coming to the United States soon looking for even bigger bailouts.
First, some background: Greece’s economic crisis was caused by too much government spending and borrowing which weakened its already over-taxed, over-regulated economy. Although Greece’s population is just 11 million, it has more than one million public-sector employees. Greek civil servants enjoy 14 months of pay for 12 months worked, and their average retirement age is 53. Once retired, they enjoy generous pension benefits worth 80% of their salary. Greece will run a budget deficit this year worth 14% of its GDP, and its entire national debt will equal 113% of GDP. These policies proved unsustainable, and so the European Union and the IMF were called in to rescue Greece before international investors stopped lending them any more money.
The $145 billion bailout comes to $13,000 per person in Greece. An equivalent bailout of America — which has a population of over 300 million — would cost over $4 trillion. With such a large amount of cash being thrown at Greece, the bailout has to work, right? Well, according to the IMF’s own optimistic forecasts, even if Greece implements the austerity measures required by the deal, it will still run huge budget deficits indefinitely. So huge, in fact, that Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio will soar to 150% in just four years.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
George Will: Arizona sees illegals as lawbreakers; White House sees them as new Democrat voters
"Misguided and irresponsible" is how Arizona's new law pertaining to illegal immigration is characterized by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She represents San Francisco, which calls itself a "sanctuary city," an exercise in exhibitionism that means it will be essentially uncooperative regarding enforcement of immigration laws. Yet as many states go to court to challenge the constitutionality of the federal mandate to buy health insurance, scandalized liberals invoke 19th-century specters of "nullification" and "interposition," anarchy and disunion. Strange.
It is passing strange for federal officials, including the president, to accuse Arizona of irresponsibility while the federal government is refusing to fulfill its responsibility to control the nation's borders. Such control is an essential attribute of national sovereignty. America is the only developed nation that has a 2,000-mile border with a developing nation, and the government's refusal to control that border is why there are an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants in Arizona and why the nation, sensibly insisting on first things first, resists "comprehensive" immigration reform.
Arizona's law makes what is already a federal offense -- being in the country illegally -- a state offense. Some critics seem not to understand Arizona's right to assert concurrent jurisdiction. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund attacks Gov. Jan Brewer's character and motives, saying she "caved to the radical fringe." This poses a semantic puzzle: Can the large majority of Arizonans who support the law be a "fringe" of their state?
It is passing strange for federal officials, including the president, to accuse Arizona of irresponsibility while the federal government is refusing to fulfill its responsibility to control the nation's borders. Such control is an essential attribute of national sovereignty. America is the only developed nation that has a 2,000-mile border with a developing nation, and the government's refusal to control that border is why there are an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants in Arizona and why the nation, sensibly insisting on first things first, resists "comprehensive" immigration reform.
Arizona's law makes what is already a federal offense -- being in the country illegally -- a state offense. Some critics seem not to understand Arizona's right to assert concurrent jurisdiction. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund attacks Gov. Jan Brewer's character and motives, saying she "caved to the radical fringe." This poses a semantic puzzle: Can the large majority of Arizonans who support the law be a "fringe" of their state?
Saturday, March 27, 2010
White House says it's "Irresponsible" for AT&T to criticize White House for costing it $1 billion
It's been a banner week for Democrats: ObamaCare passed Congress in its final form on Thursday night, and the returns are already rolling in. Yesterday AT&T announced that it will be forced to make a $1 billion writedown due solely to the health bill, in what has become a wave of such corporate losses.
This wholesale destruction of wealth and capital came with more than ample warning. Turning over every couch cushion to make their new entitlement look affordable under Beltway accounting rules, Democrats decided to raise taxes on companies that do the public service of offering prescription drug benefits to their retirees instead of dumping them into Medicare. We and others warned this would lead to AT&T-like results, but like so many other ObamaCare objections Democrats waved them off as self-serving or "political."
Perhaps that explains why the Administration is now so touchy. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke took to the White House blog to write that while ObamaCare is great for business, "In the last few days, though, we have seen a couple of companies imply that reform will raise costs for them." In a Thursday interview on CNBC, Mr. Locke said "for them to come out, I think is premature and irresponsible."
Meanwhile, Henry Waxman and House Democrats announced yesterday that they will haul these companies in for an April 21 hearing because their judgment "appears to conflict with independent analyses, which show that the new law will expand coverage and bring down costs."
This wholesale destruction of wealth and capital came with more than ample warning. Turning over every couch cushion to make their new entitlement look affordable under Beltway accounting rules, Democrats decided to raise taxes on companies that do the public service of offering prescription drug benefits to their retirees instead of dumping them into Medicare. We and others warned this would lead to AT&T-like results, but like so many other ObamaCare objections Democrats waved them off as self-serving or "political."
Perhaps that explains why the Administration is now so touchy. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke took to the White House blog to write that while ObamaCare is great for business, "In the last few days, though, we have seen a couple of companies imply that reform will raise costs for them." In a Thursday interview on CNBC, Mr. Locke said "for them to come out, I think is premature and irresponsible."
Meanwhile, Henry Waxman and House Democrats announced yesterday that they will haul these companies in for an April 21 hearing because their judgment "appears to conflict with independent analyses, which show that the new law will expand coverage and bring down costs."
Friday, March 12, 2010
Judicial Watch: Obama administration shut down criminal investigation of ACORN in 2009
Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has obtained documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) detailing federal investigations into the alleged corrupt activities of Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). The documents reference serious allegations of corruption and voter registration fraud by ACORN as well as the Obama administration’s decision to shut down a criminal investigation without filing criminal charges.
The documents include background information on two specific complaints filed in October 2008 by Lucy Corelli and Joseph Borges, Republican Registrars of Voters in Stamford and Bridgeport, Connecticut, respectively, during the 2008 election season.
According to Corelli, on August 1, 2008, her office received 1,200 ACORN voter registration cards from the Secretary of State’s office. Over 300 of these cards were rejected because of “duplicates, underage, illegible and invalid addresses,” which “put a tremendous strain on our office staff and caused endless work hours at taxpayers’ expense.” Corelli claimed the total cost of the extra work caused by ACORN corruption was $20,000. Likewise, Borges contended that: “The organization ACORN during the summer of 2008 conducted a registration drive which has produced over 100 rejections due to incomplete forms and individuals who are not citizens…” Among the examples cited by Borges was a seven-year old child who was registered to vote by ACORN through the use of a forged signature and a fake birth certificate claiming she was 27-years old.
The FBI and Department of Justice opened an investigation. However, the Obama Justice Department, while noting that ACORN had engaged in “questionable hiring and training practices,” closed down the investigation in March 2009, claiming ACORN broke no laws.
By contrast, the documents also include records related to a federal investigation of ACORN corruption in St. Louis, Missouri, involving 1,492 allegedly fraudulent voter registration cards submitted by Project Vote, a liberal non-profit organization affiliated with ACORN on voter registration drives, during the 2006 election season. Assistant United States Attorney Hal Goldsmith initiated the investigation with “concurrence” from the Department of Justice and the participation of the FBI. According to a Justice Department memo, Goldsmith “advised he would prosecute any individual responsible for submitting fraudulent voter registration cards.” Goldsmith identified the statute for prosecution: Title 42, USC 1973 (gg), which provides for criminal penalties for fraudulent voter registrations. In April 2008, eight former ACORN employees from the St. Louis office pled guilty to voter registration fraud.
Other documents show that the Bush Justice Department failed to prosecute ACORN voter registration fraud of non-citizens in Phoenix, Arizona in 2007 because the allegations that led to the opening of the investigation were “unverifiable.” Notably, the FBI document detailing this questionable decision reveals that a “draft Intelligence Bulletin…concludes that ACORN’s employment practices perpetuate fraudulent voter registration.”
The ACORN documents uncovered by Judicial Watch include internal FBI memoranda, signed affidavits, subpoenas, fraudulent voter registration cards, and publications describing ACORN’s policies and practices. The documents also include details regarding numerous allegations of corruption extending beyond voter registration fraud, to include attempts by ACORN employees to coerce workers to participate in campaign activities on behalf of Democratic candidates.
“These documents reflect systematic voter registration fraud by ACORN,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “It is a scandal that there has been no comprehensive criminal investigation and prosecution by the Justice Department into this evident criminal conduct. Given President Obama’s close connections to ACORN, including his campaign’s hiring of the ACORN’s Project Vote organization, it seems rather obvious why Attorney General Holder has failed to seriously investigate these and other alleged ACORN criminal activities.”
The documents include background information on two specific complaints filed in October 2008 by Lucy Corelli and Joseph Borges, Republican Registrars of Voters in Stamford and Bridgeport, Connecticut, respectively, during the 2008 election season.
According to Corelli, on August 1, 2008, her office received 1,200 ACORN voter registration cards from the Secretary of State’s office. Over 300 of these cards were rejected because of “duplicates, underage, illegible and invalid addresses,” which “put a tremendous strain on our office staff and caused endless work hours at taxpayers’ expense.” Corelli claimed the total cost of the extra work caused by ACORN corruption was $20,000. Likewise, Borges contended that: “The organization ACORN during the summer of 2008 conducted a registration drive which has produced over 100 rejections due to incomplete forms and individuals who are not citizens…” Among the examples cited by Borges was a seven-year old child who was registered to vote by ACORN through the use of a forged signature and a fake birth certificate claiming she was 27-years old.
The FBI and Department of Justice opened an investigation. However, the Obama Justice Department, while noting that ACORN had engaged in “questionable hiring and training practices,” closed down the investigation in March 2009, claiming ACORN broke no laws.
By contrast, the documents also include records related to a federal investigation of ACORN corruption in St. Louis, Missouri, involving 1,492 allegedly fraudulent voter registration cards submitted by Project Vote, a liberal non-profit organization affiliated with ACORN on voter registration drives, during the 2006 election season. Assistant United States Attorney Hal Goldsmith initiated the investigation with “concurrence” from the Department of Justice and the participation of the FBI. According to a Justice Department memo, Goldsmith “advised he would prosecute any individual responsible for submitting fraudulent voter registration cards.” Goldsmith identified the statute for prosecution: Title 42, USC 1973 (gg), which provides for criminal penalties for fraudulent voter registrations. In April 2008, eight former ACORN employees from the St. Louis office pled guilty to voter registration fraud.
Other documents show that the Bush Justice Department failed to prosecute ACORN voter registration fraud of non-citizens in Phoenix, Arizona in 2007 because the allegations that led to the opening of the investigation were “unverifiable.” Notably, the FBI document detailing this questionable decision reveals that a “draft Intelligence Bulletin…concludes that ACORN’s employment practices perpetuate fraudulent voter registration.”
The ACORN documents uncovered by Judicial Watch include internal FBI memoranda, signed affidavits, subpoenas, fraudulent voter registration cards, and publications describing ACORN’s policies and practices. The documents also include details regarding numerous allegations of corruption extending beyond voter registration fraud, to include attempts by ACORN employees to coerce workers to participate in campaign activities on behalf of Democratic candidates.
“These documents reflect systematic voter registration fraud by ACORN,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “It is a scandal that there has been no comprehensive criminal investigation and prosecution by the Justice Department into this evident criminal conduct. Given President Obama’s close connections to ACORN, including his campaign’s hiring of the ACORN’s Project Vote organization, it seems rather obvious why Attorney General Holder has failed to seriously investigate these and other alleged ACORN criminal activities.”
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Two White House lawyers represented terror suspects
Senator Charles Grassley, Republican of Iowa, has been relentless in trying to determine which lawyers at the Department of Justice previously defended, advocated for or worked on issues pertaining to Guantanamo Bay detainees and other alleged terrorists. While he’s at it, he may want to expand his inquiry — to the halls of the White House itself.
At least two attorneys hired to serve in the White House counsel’s office — part of President Obama’s in-house team of legal advisers — represented Guantanamo detainees in their previous legal careers.
While an associate at the Washington office of the prestigious law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr, Michael Gottlieb — tapped for a White House associate counsel position — was part of the team that successfully argued on behalf of alleged terrorist Lakhdar Boumediene (of Boumediene v. Bush fame).
And while a student at Yale Law School, one of Gottlieb’s fellow associate counsels, Jonathan Kravis, volunteered his time as part of the team that ultimately secured legal victory for alleged Yemeni terrorist Salim Hamdan in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld.
Both Hamdan and Boumediene were landmark Supreme Court cases involving the legal rights of enemy combatants and the constitutionality of the procedures used to detain and try them.
At least two attorneys hired to serve in the White House counsel’s office — part of President Obama’s in-house team of legal advisers — represented Guantanamo detainees in their previous legal careers.
While an associate at the Washington office of the prestigious law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr, Michael Gottlieb — tapped for a White House associate counsel position — was part of the team that successfully argued on behalf of alleged terrorist Lakhdar Boumediene (of Boumediene v. Bush fame).
And while a student at Yale Law School, one of Gottlieb’s fellow associate counsels, Jonathan Kravis, volunteered his time as part of the team that ultimately secured legal victory for alleged Yemeni terrorist Salim Hamdan in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld.
Both Hamdan and Boumediene were landmark Supreme Court cases involving the legal rights of enemy combatants and the constitutionality of the procedures used to detain and try them.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Lone GOP supporter of Obamacare gets his reward
Rep. Joseph Cao (La.), the only House Republican who voted for healthcare reform, is also the only GOPer going to the Super Bowl party at the White House.
The White House released a list of lawmakers expected to attend that included seven Democrats and Cao, the Republican who won the New Orleans seat held by Rep. Willliam [sic] Jefferson (D-La.)…
Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) attended last year’s Super Bowl party at Obama’s new house. He rooted for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who won their sixth Super Bowl that year. A few months later, the Republican switched parties and became a Democrat…
Cao is the only Louisiana lawmaker attending the White House party…
The White House released a list of lawmakers expected to attend that included seven Democrats and Cao, the Republican who won the New Orleans seat held by Rep. Willliam [sic] Jefferson (D-La.)…
Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) attended last year’s Super Bowl party at Obama’s new house. He rooted for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who won their sixth Super Bowl that year. A few months later, the Republican switched parties and became a Democrat…
Cao is the only Louisiana lawmaker attending the White House party…
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Dems find someone to blame for Obama's failures
In 1998, when the Clinton White House found itself in the middle of the Lewinsky scandal, one of its key defense strategies was to attack the conservative philanthropist Richard Mellon Scaife as the dark power behind the allegations against the president. The Clinton camp believed Scaife to be "the Goldfinger of the right-wing conspiracy," as Newsweek put it in a February 1998 report.
Now it's the Obama White House that is in trouble. The president isn't engulfed in scandal, but his political fortunes are waning, with historically low job approval ratings for this point in his term and an administration struggling to pass its initiatives, even with big Democratic majorities in Congress. And now, as in the Clinton years, White House surrogates are looking for a billionaire to blame. This time, they've found two.
"The Billionaires Behind the Hate" is the title of a new report published by the Center for American Progress, which is the liberal think tank run by John Podesta, the former Clinton chief of staff who also ran the Obama transition and serves as an outside adviser to the Obama White House. The supposedly hateful billionaires in the article's title are brothers Charles and David Koch of Koch Industries, one of the nation's largest conglomerates.
Now it's the Obama White House that is in trouble. The president isn't engulfed in scandal, but his political fortunes are waning, with historically low job approval ratings for this point in his term and an administration struggling to pass its initiatives, even with big Democratic majorities in Congress. And now, as in the Clinton years, White House surrogates are looking for a billionaire to blame. This time, they've found two.
"The Billionaires Behind the Hate" is the title of a new report published by the Center for American Progress, which is the liberal think tank run by John Podesta, the former Clinton chief of staff who also ran the Obama transition and serves as an outside adviser to the Obama White House. The supposedly hateful billionaires in the article's title are brothers Charles and David Koch of Koch Industries, one of the nation's largest conglomerates.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Government union chief a regular at White House
Who are the most frequent guests at the White House? It's impossible to tell from tonight's massive dump of White House visitors logs. The lists are based on media requests, meaning names that weren't specifically asked for by reporters don't appear.
Still, there are some interesting findings in the partial list.
SEIU president Andy Stern appears most often on the list. He visited the White House around 20 times in the past nine months, according to the logs. Former Obama transition director John Podesta appeared about 17 times. NOW president Kim Gandy was the third most popular with about 15 visits.
Still, there are some interesting findings in the partial list.
SEIU president Andy Stern appears most often on the list. He visited the White House around 20 times in the past nine months, according to the logs. Former Obama transition director John Podesta appeared about 17 times. NOW president Kim Gandy was the third most popular with about 15 visits.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
White House picks another fight with media
It is an odd, and we'd say regrettable, pattern of this White House that it lets itself get dragged down into fights with specific media outlets.
(snip)
But in addition to Fox News, now The White House is going after highly-respected and influential car site Edmunds.com.
They're actually using The White House blog to dispute the site's analysis of Cash-For-Clunkers (via Detroit News).
The post is snarkily titled: "Busy Covering Car Sales on Mars, Edmunds.com Gets It Wrong (Again) on Cash for Clunkers"
Harsh!
(snip)
But in addition to Fox News, now The White House is going after highly-respected and influential car site Edmunds.com.
They're actually using The White House blog to dispute the site's analysis of Cash-For-Clunkers (via Detroit News).
The post is snarkily titled: "Busy Covering Car Sales on Mars, Edmunds.com Gets It Wrong (Again) on Cash for Clunkers"
Harsh!
AP: White House exaggertes stimulus jobs
An early progress report on President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan overstates by thousands the number of jobs created or saved through the stimulus program, a mistake that White House officials promise will be corrected in future reports.
The government's first accounting of jobs tied to the $787 billion stimulus program claimed more than 30,000 positions paid for with recovery money. But that figure is overstated by least 5,000 jobs, or one in six, according to an Associated Press review of a sample of stimulus contracts.
The AP review found some counts were more than 10 times as high as the actual number of jobs; some jobs credited to the stimulus program were counted two and sometimes more than four times; and other jobs were credited to stimulus spending when none was produced.
For example:
—A company working with the Federal Communications Commission reported that stimulus money paid for 4,231 jobs, when about 1,000 were produced.
—A Georgia community college reported creating 280 jobs with recovery money, but none was created from stimulus spending.
—A Florida child care center said its stimulus money saved 129 jobs but used the money on raises for existing employees.
My take: The news here is not that the White House exaggerated the results of a laregly failed and wasteful government project. The news is that the AP is actually checking and reporting on a largely failed government project.
The government's first accounting of jobs tied to the $787 billion stimulus program claimed more than 30,000 positions paid for with recovery money. But that figure is overstated by least 5,000 jobs, or one in six, according to an Associated Press review of a sample of stimulus contracts.
The AP review found some counts were more than 10 times as high as the actual number of jobs; some jobs credited to the stimulus program were counted two and sometimes more than four times; and other jobs were credited to stimulus spending when none was produced.
For example:
—A company working with the Federal Communications Commission reported that stimulus money paid for 4,231 jobs, when about 1,000 were produced.
—A Georgia community college reported creating 280 jobs with recovery money, but none was created from stimulus spending.
—A Florida child care center said its stimulus money saved 129 jobs but used the money on raises for existing employees.
My take: The news here is not that the White House exaggerated the results of a laregly failed and wasteful government project. The news is that the AP is actually checking and reporting on a largely failed government project.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
White House curbs Sheriff Joe Arpaio's power to arrest illegal aliens in Arizona
"The Obama administration is curbing the powers of an Arizona sheriff who has led one of the most contentious fights against illegal immigrants.
Under an agreement involving local enforcement of federal immigration law, Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s deputies will no longer have the authority to arrest suspected illegal immigrants in the streets in the course of their duty.
A senior official with Immigration & Customs Enforcement flew to Phoenix late last month with the revised agreement, which the sheriff signed late last week.
Homeland Security announced in July that all localities participating in the enforcement program — more than 60 from Alabama to California — would have to sign revised enforcement deals by Oct. 15. Unlike others participating in the program, Mr. Arpaio will be restricted to determining the immigration status of inmates booked into Maricopa County jails. Vincent Picard, an ICE spokesman in Phoenix, declined to comment. ICE is a unit of the Department of Homeland Security.
Mr. Arpaio was an early participant in a federal immigration program that enlists and trains local police to identify suspected criminal aliens in jails and on the streets. The program, known as 287g, is designed to target drug dealers, gang members and human smugglers.
Since February 2007, Mr. Arpaio has arrested about 30,000 illegal immigrants who were booked into jails in his county. The street-enforcement component, the most contentious portion of the program, resulted in the apprehension of far fewer people suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.
Human-rights activists have said Mr. Arpaio’s officers engaged in racial profiling and found pretexts, such as broken tail lights, to arrest undocumented residents of the Phoenix area. The Department of Justice is investigating whether officers used skin color as a pretense to stop Hispanics. Mr. Arpaio has said that his actions were in line with the law.
"They took away my authority on the streets. That doesn’t matter because I will still pursue illegals on the streets of Maricopa utilizing the authority I have as the elected official," Mr. Arpaio said Tuesday in an interview."
Under an agreement involving local enforcement of federal immigration law, Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s deputies will no longer have the authority to arrest suspected illegal immigrants in the streets in the course of their duty.
A senior official with Immigration & Customs Enforcement flew to Phoenix late last month with the revised agreement, which the sheriff signed late last week.
Homeland Security announced in July that all localities participating in the enforcement program — more than 60 from Alabama to California — would have to sign revised enforcement deals by Oct. 15. Unlike others participating in the program, Mr. Arpaio will be restricted to determining the immigration status of inmates booked into Maricopa County jails. Vincent Picard, an ICE spokesman in Phoenix, declined to comment. ICE is a unit of the Department of Homeland Security.
Mr. Arpaio was an early participant in a federal immigration program that enlists and trains local police to identify suspected criminal aliens in jails and on the streets. The program, known as 287g, is designed to target drug dealers, gang members and human smugglers.
Since February 2007, Mr. Arpaio has arrested about 30,000 illegal immigrants who were booked into jails in his county. The street-enforcement component, the most contentious portion of the program, resulted in the apprehension of far fewer people suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.
Human-rights activists have said Mr. Arpaio’s officers engaged in racial profiling and found pretexts, such as broken tail lights, to arrest undocumented residents of the Phoenix area. The Department of Justice is investigating whether officers used skin color as a pretense to stop Hispanics. Mr. Arpaio has said that his actions were in line with the law.
"They took away my authority on the streets. That doesn’t matter because I will still pursue illegals on the streets of Maricopa utilizing the authority I have as the elected official," Mr. Arpaio said Tuesday in an interview."
Monday, May 4, 2009
How the White House stomped on contracts to secure Chrysler overhaul deal
Here is the explosive interview in which Thomas Lauria, attorney for a hedge fund being steamrolled by the Obama administration, details how the White House scrapped private contracts to force compliance with the overhaul of Chrysler Corp. If the White House will go this far, Lauria asks, "what right will it not attack." Good question.
http://www.wjr.net/Article.asp?id=1301727&spid=6525
http://www.wjr.net/Article.asp?id=1301727&spid=6525
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