Just 3 more days and Election Day is here. All hands must be on deck during this last, critical weekend as we fight to put Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan in the White House. We also need to show our support for all of the conservative House candidates that Patriot Voices PAC has endorsed.
If you live in these congressional districts, I hope you'll make it to your nearby Republican Victory office to make phone calls or go door-to-door to help these candidates. Strong support up and down the ballot is key to a Republican victory in federal, state and local offices.
Here is the full list of House candidates that Patriot Voices PAC has endorsed:
There are tremendous conservatives running for Congress this cycle. I am excited about our prospects for an even stronger Republican majority in the House of Representatives, and I hope you are too.
Posted by Lloyd Marcus on November 3, 2012 at 6:32am
On Fox & Friends, Geraldo Rivera was extremely upset regarding what he considers to be irresponsible misinformation regarding Obama's culpability during the attack on our embassy in Benghazi, Libya. Geraldo said it “broke his heart” to hear Charles Woods, the father of slain former Navy Seal, Ty Woods, call the president a murderer.
I believe Geraldo is a member of the mainstream media sleaze who will do anything to protect their socialist/progressive conveniently black president.
I do not wish to argue the validity of the mournful poppa Woods' statement. However, I must say that I find Geraldo's efforts to bend over backwards to defend and be fair to Obama a bit much to stomach.
Remember the JonBenet Ramsey murder? On his TV talk show, Geraldo relentlessly lead the charge of suspicion against the parents of the murdered six year old girl. I remember thinking how arrogant and cruel it was for Geraldo to fan the flames of suspicion against the devastated parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, in the court of public opinion without any real evidence of their guilt.
Patsy Ramsey said she walked in her house one day and heard herself accused of murder by a guest on the Geraldo Rivera Show.
Geraldo hosted a mock TV trial which convicted Patsy Ramsey of murdering her daughter.
The JonBenet Ramsey murder was a worldwide news story. Had there been sufficient evidence, the Ramseys would have been indicted. They never were.
Upon milking every drop of TV ratings out of the Ramsey case, Geraldo's talk show moved on to other topics. The JonBenet Ramsey murder case remains unsolved. Patsy Ramsey died of Cancer.
Has Geraldo ever expressed regret for enhancing his career on the unfair assumption that the Ramseys played a role in their daughters murder? No, he has not. After Patsy Ramsey's death, the Ramseys were exonerated.
Geraldo's behavior towards the Ramseys was a perfect example of what Rush Limbaugh describes as the “drive by media”; similar to a drive by shooting. The mainstream media appears on the scene, wrecks havoc and many times destroys innocent lives. Without remorse or apology, they simply move on to the next breaking story.
Geraldo and his liberal mainstream media buddies lack scruples. They will say and do whatever it takes to drag Obama across the finish line, giving him four more years to implement their socialistic/progressive agenda. Obama's minions must be defeated.
Posted by Kevin Fobbs on November 2, 2012 at 9:29pm
The state of Ohio and Texas along with Florida and Wisconsin are on the United Nation’s Election Day hit list when it comes to their officials showing up at state polling locations. It seems that these United Nations officials have the mistaken belief that they have the legal right to intervene in how Ohio and other states are running their Election Day activities. Their organization the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe is showing up because the nearly impotent NAACP and the discredited ACORN organization requested that they oversee possible voter suppression.
The fact that outside countries can use the guise of the United Nations to come into sovereign states and cities like Cleveland, or Columbus, Ohio, or Houston Texas, or any other city in America is without merit. If one single United Nation’s official illegally steps within the 100 foot limit of a polling precinct they will become quite familiar with American jurisprudence.
The Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has already publically stated that if a United Nation’s official breaks Texas law by interfering with its election process within the 100 foot limit, he will have them prosecuted to the full extent of Texas law and justice. Jay Sekulow, head of the American Center for Law and Justice affirmed this and other similar developments around the nation, on Fox News, Friday, November 2nd.
First and foremost is the erroneous notion that a foreign nation has the purposeful audacity to believe it can set one soiled boot on Ohio, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin state soil. Could these so-called officials of the NAACP or ACORN be that incompetent about how state government and the U.S. Constitution actually work? The United States Constitution is still the law of the land, as is the 10th Amendment, which clearly states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” This includes election law.
News flash, nowhere in the U.S. Constitution does it say that state election officials should bow, submit, or be subject to interference by the United Nations. Foreign governments do not dictate terms to the United States of America or states about how and what it does regarding elections or any other sovereign action. In other words, United Nations officials take your pens, pads and notebooks to the nearest motel room and watch the election results like any other person.
What is disturbing about this entire misleading scenario is how the United Nations could ignore due diligence in taking a letter from organizations that offered them no legal proof of voter suppression or intimidation. Before the United Nations started snooping into America’s business, why not go over legal proof of voter suppression and intimidation legal cases from the U.S. Justice Department? What about the states they are targeting? Oops, that would be a big negatory since no proof of voter suppression or voter intimidation by Republicans exist!
Why did this so-called finder of fact committee set up by the United Nations not investigate the organizations that made the request? Take ACORN, which had officials engaging in voter fraud in Cleveland in 2008, who were illegally signing up voters multiple times. One voter even testified that ACORN voter registrars signed him up 72 times to vote. Their voter fraud activities are legendary. In Missouri in 1986, 12 ACORN members were convicted of voter fraud. Also in 1986, in St. Louis, six ACORN volunteers plead guilty to a myriad of election law violations.
The NAACP which also requested United Nations intervention into suspected Republican voter suppression has election fraud skeletons in its own closet. The organization made up fraudulent claims in 2000 against then Governor George Bush about voter intimidation and the lack of prosecution of a fatal attack on a black man. In addition, in 2011, NAACP Tunica County, Mississippi executive committee member Lessadolla Sowers was convicted on 10 counts of fraudulently casting absentee ballots in a substantial voter fraud scheme. So much for integrity!
Then of course there is the infamous voter intimidation case in 2008 against the New Black Panther Party, which openly intimidated white voters in Philadelphia. The Obama U.S. Justice Department refused to prosecute the case, despite overwhelming evidence, and an actual video which captured their thug-like tactics. ( Read More )
Posted by Jake Martinez on November 2, 2012 at 5:48pm
Dear Fellow Patriots:
After conducting my own four year non-stop intensive/extensive research, I am now of the opinion that we have been experiencing a moral and spiritual crisis in America and are currently steamrolling into Marxism/Socialism and/or coming under Sharia Law and ultimately a One-World Socialist Government (New World Order) under the umbrella of the United Nations, which I believe has been in play for some time and are currently experiencing what I consider to be the final stages of that transformation process since the inauguration of President Obama.
Note: The following videos and article and/or blog post say it all:
As a result, I believe that there is an urgent and time sensitive need for those of us that truly love this country and what it stands for to do what we must to help recover the truth about America’s Christian heritage and stop our country from becoming a Marxist/Socialist nation and/or coming under Sharia Law and ultimately a One-World Socialist Government before it’s too late for the sake of our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and, most important, for those brave and courageous Americans that have and continue to make the ultimate sacrifice to uphold and defend those freedoms that we enjoy, but sadly too many Americans take for granted.
Although I am a registered democrat, on election day I decided not to vote for President Obama because I had numerous concerns and/or unanswered questions regarding what I saw as his lack of executive experience and seemingly shady background, to include his association with radical individuals and/or organizations (Tell me who you hang around with and I’ll tell you who you are!), which were revealed during the process of conducting my own extensive research and/or investigation into each Presidential candidate’s personal, professional and political background with the intent of determining who they were, where they came from and, most important, what they stood for as a means of educating myself prior to casting my ballot. What follows is a link to my extensive research and/or investigation:
After having some time to experience and/or evaluate his governing of our country, I am now convinced that since taking office this President, his Administration and allies, to include both Democrats and Republicans in Congress and the Courts, with the help of the main stream media, have intensified their transformation of our country. I believe that this transformation includes the destruction of our American sovereignty and capitalist system and the creation of a New World Order in which the U.S. plays a subservient role. What follows is a link to an eye-opening report that meticulously lays it out for us:
I also believe that in order for them to be able to finalize their transformation of our country President Obama must be re-elected in 2012 because the next step in the transformation process includes bringing on the next collapse that will be accomplished by suffocating and smothering our economy, which is already built into all the recent legislative reforms and regulatory changes that will take effect in 2013 or shortly thereafter. What follows are links to blog posts that give you a detailed picture of this disturbing issue:
Additionally, I also believe that part of their transformation strategy includes the use of Hispanics, African Americans, unions and our youth as pawns, with the help of the main stream media, to push their unrelenting racial and/or class propaganda as a means of dividing our country to the point of causing civil unrest and an uprising because this would allow the President to declare “Marshal Law”, as a means of completely doing away with our “Constitution Of The United States Of America” and/or “Bill of Rights”, and take over as our country’s dictator, which would be the final step in the transformation process. What follows is a link to a shocking video that reveals that President Obama justifies FEMA imprisonment of civilians indefinitely and signed it into law under S. 1867 (National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)):
Finally, as an American I believe that I have a God given right and/or duty to stand up for and defend those rights given me under our “Constitution” and/or “Bill of Rights” and have chosen to do this under my “Freedom of Speech Rights” by laying out my numerous concerns, which are backed-up by what I consider to be reliable sources and posting them on my blog website as a means of getting the word out regarding those issues that I believe will ultimately destroy our Country and/or Republic. What follows is a link to a video that does a meticulous job of defining what a Republic is and/or is not:
Knowledge empowers all of us and this is the least I can do to hopefully help change our nation’s current destructive course before it’s too late because it has become quite obvious to me and many others in our country that the main stream media has deliberately and blatantly kept these pertinent issues from the American public as a means of helping this President, his Administration and allies to intensify their stealth push to transform us into a Marxist/Socialist nation and/or to come under Sharia Law and ultimately a One-World Socialist Government (New World Order) under the umbrella of the United Nations.
I pride myself with loving my God, family, friends and country. I am not a politician and thus am not known for always being politically correct because I call it as I see it.
Those individuals that I am honored to call a friend know that I would never intentionally say or do anything that would hurt or demean anyone. I have always preached to my own family and do my utmost to follow the rule of “filtering everything that comes from my brain through my heart before it comes out of my mouth.” This rule has done me well for 66 years of my life and would highly recommend it to anyone who dares to share their own views with others knowing full well that they may not agree with them, but are able and/or willing to accept that by not taking it personal. In other words we can agree to disagree and that’s what makes America great.
I hope and pray that in time my concerns are proven to be unfounded and/or without merit, but if they are not-God Bless Us All.
Note:This was my blog that I drafted on April 26, 2009, which revealed where I believed America was shortly after President Obama‘s inauguration, to include my numerous concerns regarding what I saw then as our country’s future under this president and his administration-You Decide:
Note: What follows are just a few of my numerous blog posts, along with other articles and/or blog posts and videos, listed by subject matter, which I believe support my Introduction statement above and lay out my ongoing concerns regarding what I see today as our country’s future under this President, his administration and allies, to include both Democrats and Republicans in Congress and the Courts, with the help of the main stream media. My blogs are dynamic in that they are updated on a daily basis-You Decide:
Vicksburg. The federal government calls them FEMA Corps. But they conjure up memories of the Hitler Youth of 1930’s Germany. Regardless of their name, the Dept of Homeland Security has just graduated its first class of 231 Homeland Youth. Kids, aged 18-24 and recruited from the President’s AmeriCorp volunteers, they represent the first wave of DHS’s youth corps, designed specifically to create a full time, paid, standing army of FEMA Youth across the country.
On September 13, 2012, the Department of Homeland Security graduated its first class of FEMA Corps first-responders. While the idea of having a volunteer force of tens of thousands of volunteers scattered across the country to aid in times of natural disasters sounds great, the details and timing of this new government army is somewhat curious, if not disturbing.
DHS raising an armed army
The first problem one finds with this ‘new army’ is the fact that they are mere children. Yes, 18 is generally the legal age a person can sign a contract, join the military or be tried as an adult. But ask any parent – an 18, 20 or even a 24 year-old is still a naïve, readily-influenced kid.
The second problem with this announcement and program is its timing. Over the past two years, President Obama has signed a number of Executive Orders suspending all civil and Constitutional rights and turning over management of an America under Martial Law to FEMA. Also in that time, domestic federal agencies under DHS, including FEMA, have ordered billions of rounds of ammunition as well as the corresponding firearms. Admittedly, these new weapons and ammunition aren’t to be used in some far-off war or to fight forest fires in California, but right here on the streets of America.
Individuals around the US have begun reporting the site of strange, new, heavily-armed FEMA fighting vehicles. What would a disaster relief agency like FEMA need with 2,500 brand new GLS armored fighting vehicles? According to the agency’s own mandate, as well as President Obama’s recent Executive Order, the answer is ‘population control’ during a time of Martial Law.
One set of images made available by Rense.com shows trailer after trailer carrying these new DHS and FEMA armored fighting vehicles, complete with machine gun slots. They’re labeled with the usual backward American flag and the title, ‘Homeland Security’. Below that and the DHS logo, it also reads, ‘Immigration & Customs Enforcement’. Joining those markings, the black vehicles with white lettering also display ‘POLICE/RESCUE’ on one side and ‘Special Response Team’ on the other.
FEMA Deputy Administrator Rich Serino gave the keynote address at the ‘Induction Ceremony’ for the inaugural class of FEMA Corps members. According to the DHS website, ‘Corps members assist with disaster preparedness, response, and recovery activities, providing support in areas ranging from working directly with disaster survivors to supporting disaster recovering centers to sharing valuable disaster preparedness and mitigation information with the public.’
Serino describes what the first FEMA Corps class has accomplished so far, as well as where they’ll be going next:
‘Yesterday, we welcomed 231 energetic members into the first ever FEMA Corps class. The members just finished off their first month of training with our partners at the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) and are one step closer to working in the field on disaster response and recovery. They will now head to FEMA’s Center for Domestic Preparedness to spend the next two weeks training in their FEMA position-specific roles. Once they complete both the CNCS and FEMA training, these 231 dedicated FEMA Corps members will be qualified to work in one of a variety of disaster related roles, ranging from Community Relations to Disaster Recovery Center support.’
A standing army
Unlike most local disaster response teams who are volunteers, training periodically and only showing up when there’s a disaster, the FEMA Corps will be a paid, full time, standing army of government youth. FEMA Deputy Administrator Sarino goes on to explain, ‘The new members, who range in age from 18-24 years old, will contribute to a dedicated, trained, and reliable disaster workforce by working full-time for ten months on federal disaster response and recovery efforts.’
In closing his announcement of the first graduating class of FEMA Corps Youth, Sarino describes his and the agency’s vision of the future, one where ‘FEMA Corps sets the foundation for a new generation of emergency managers’.
As we detailed in the August 28 Whiteout Press article ‘History of DHS Ammunition Purchases’, federal emergency management agencies are looking more and more like a military army every day.
The federal government’s procurement website actually lists DHS’ requests for bids to supply it with ammunition and military weaponry. All of the orders listed in the above article, including the orders for hundreds of millions of rounds of ammunition, are publicly available at http://www.fbo.gov/.
One look at a chart of DHS ammunition purchases over the past decade reveals a drastic spike in orders of bullets recently, totaling in the billions of rounds. Other charts available online show a similar drastic spike in the purchases of accompanying weaponry by the Department of Homeland Security.
What is the US federal government preparing for? And why does it feel it needs an army of brainwashed youth, millions of guns, thousands of armored fighting vehicles and literally billions of rounds of ammunition, just to provide relief to the American people during a natural disaster? Any historian will tell you it sounds more like the arming of the Hitler Youth than an army of first responders fighting forest fires.
STILL WONDERING ABOUT THE TONS OF AMMUNITION RECENTLY PURCHASED BY THE FEDS?
"The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty." Proverbs 27:12
American Blacks are taught by liberals to wield our past like a weapon against fellow Americans. Opposing real racism isn't the issue.
The heroism and constitutional valor of old school liberals like Charles Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marshall sets the tone of my response to real racism as a de facto conservative.
We use the law and moral suasion to beat this serpent back into the civic hole it crawled out of.
They didn't spend their careers attacking every White person for the sins of a few.
Why should we, who never suffered Jim Crow, be so blindly embittered toward the good America offers, White folks included.
Race relations hinges precariously upon president Obama's re-election chances. I've heard rumors Left and Right about potential ghetto riots and military coups.
We should resolve to be better Americans in the face of such historic uncertainty.
Inner city Obama loyalists should carry Dr. King's non-violent standard to urban hot spots and remind them that whatever progress American Blacks have came through principled reform like his- not mob rule.
Patriots in the armed services should carry the constitution to their peers and remind them of their sacred duty to obey the orders of civilian authority- even if they don't like the current commander-in-chief.
We are not some banana republic where overthrowing government lurks whenever ranking military officers have too much time on their hands.
We don't need the Hood nor service personnel waging war against America. Doing so means disloyalty to our country in her greatest hour of need.
I'm not saying be yes men. I am asking all of us, regardless of party, philosophy or pigment, to say, " Yes! " to the peaceful transfer of power which has made us the envy of the world.
Since race is the volatile variable in Election 2012 it's fair to ask:
A teachable moment Mr. President! Photo of my father, Lee Phillips. He could hardly stand for this photo because of wounds not as visible as his hands, WWII, Solomon Islands, Eighth Engineers. He was in the critical care unit when he volunteered to raise funds for the war effort. Obama, just posted this so maybe someone would show you what "real" Americans paid for this country. You might also learn what a real man is. I hope this makes clear why I disrespect a little punk who still sucks on a pacifier. This is "service to one's country" know now why I get sick every time I hear you or some congressman say "I served". Art Phillips (Elevengun)
When government has to bribe parents to get their children's report cards it shows just how low some have sunk.
This is happening in the president's hometown of Chicago, where $25 Walgreens gift cards are dangled to entice parents into getting their kids report cards and attending parent-teacher conferences.
When parents are that disinterested in their children it's unfair to blame school systems or society.
The old school Black diagnosis of this behavior is called, "trifling."
Trifling behavior was the ultimate condemnation in the Hood BC ( Before Crack ). It meant a total failure of self-respect and embarrassment to the community.
Parents should be ashamed to have to be bribed to act like parents. But, liberals have produced this inert class who only respond to government incentives.
Such neglect gives rise to parental responsibility ordinances where fines and possible arrest are imposed upon trifling parents.
It goes without saying Chicago's public school system is majority Black. Once again, inner city dysfunction is again the culprit.
In the 1990s, Newt Gingrich once floated a residential group home idea where urban youth would be raised apart from the waste lands they inhabit.
Liberal out cry was loud and immediate but the fact remains, when parents refuse to parent and inflict illiterate, violent off spring upon society, what are we to do?
Somewhere between penalties and group homes may lie the answer.
The fact that parents even participate in such an embarrassing program tells you how trifling many are in zip codes
where trifling behavior amounts to a death sentence!
Posted by Clint Counts on November 2, 2012 at 5:16am
'NO RED TAPE'? NEW JERSEY TURNS AWAY NON-UNION RELIEF CREWS
How desperate is hurricane-ravaged New Jersey? Not desperate enough to suspend a union monopoly that keeps the state in thebottom ten states for economic competitiveness (and #48 forbusiness friendliness). Relief crews from Alabama who were specifically called to New Jersey found themselves diverted to Long Island, NY after they arrived because they use non-union labor. Alabama is a right-to-work state.
WAFF-TV of Hunstville, AL reports:
Crews from Huntsville, as well as Decatur Utilities and Joe Wheeler out of Trinity headed up there this week, but Derrick Moore, one of the Decatur workers, said they were told by crews in New Jersey that they can't do any work there since they're not union employees....
Understandably, Moore said they're frustrated being told "thanks, but no thanks."
With so much at stake--and lives still in danger--it would seem logical to tell special interests to step aside.
On Wednesday, while visiting cleanup efforts in New Jersey in the company of Gov. Chris Christie, President Barack Obama vowed: "We are not going to tolerate red tape, we are not going to tolerate bureaucracy."
Unless, of course, that red tape is enforced by Obama's union cronies. Then stranded residents have to wait
Posted by Thomas Kiley on November 1, 2012 at 11:31pm
11/02/12
Howdy all! Well, we are at the final weekend of ads, bickering, and name calling. Who would have thought that We the People would be inundated with such childish behavior from grown men. And the women as well! I know this election is more important than any other we have experienced in our life time. But, reeeeealllly!!
So, let’s see what we can see,..
But from there you will search again for the Lord your God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him. ~ Deuteronomy 4:29
All see, and most admire, the glare which hovers round the external trappings of elevated office. To me there is nothing in it, beyond the lustre which may be reflected from its connection with a power of promoting human felicity." --George Washington, letter to Catherine Macaulay Graham, 1790
We may never find the person that George describes. Lord only knows we want that kind of person. Can anyone running for President meet these criteria? ABSOLUTELY! They only have to follow George’s lead. So, why can’t we find them? Well, we only look at those who try to run. 300 million plus, and the stage is full with 9 people. That’s 0.000003 percent of our population. We only look at the small percentage of Americans who say they are willing to meet the expectations of We the People. That means the best choice for us is not necessarily on the ballot. So, we need to choose who ON the ballot is best. Today’s verse from Deuteronomy may help here. If you search for him with all your heart, you will find him. The best for us all may not be on the ballot. But those on the ballot have their own unique abilities which may be a great fit for the job. And they could learn! Wouldn’t that be a twist!
What to do; pray. Pray in the manner of your beliefs. Use Deuteronomy 4:29 as a guide. You will be glad you did, and your choice will be the wisest you have ever made. This goes equally for all of the choices you have to make.
Take care, God bless and especially at this time in history,
In Ohio, voting machines are changing a vote cast for Mitt Romney to Barack Obama.
Maybe that is what the “progressive” Democratic Party needs to combat lower voter turnout for the Democratic ticket.
For “progressive” Democrats and their much heralded ground game, which in early voting has not been as effective as advertised, perhaps their real problem is that more voters trust Mitt Romney to break gridlock in Washington DC.
Polls have consistently shown that the enthusiasm, which was so strong for “progressive” Democrats in 2008, has switched sides. The Tea Party generated momentum and enthusiasm that appeared in 2010 has carried over into 2012 and is working in favor of Romney/Ryan and the Republicans.
Perhaps that two thirds of the meager number of jobs created during Obama’s four years in office having gone to both legal and illegal immigrants is the problem.
Said Steven A. Camarota, research director at The Center for Immigration Studies:
“It’s extraordinary that most of the employment growth in the last four years has gone to the foreign-born, but what’s even more extraordinary is the issue has not even come up during a presidential election that is so focused on jobs.”
Obama’s record on the economy is dismal, which is why he and his campaign team have focused so much energy and invested so much money in attempts to distract voters away from the economy and the tens of millions of Americans who cannot find a decent job to much more important matters like big bird, binders and bayonets.
According to Obama, David Axelrod and other “progressive” Democrats, women far less concerned with a lack of jobs, the price of groceries, escalating energy prices and economic uncertainty than they are with receiving $120 a year worth of birth control pills from the government.
There is more news for “progressive” Democrats.
The latest surge in financial support and months of spending restraint means the Republican National Committee is flush with cash- $68 million as of Oct. 17th.
That is nearly seven times what the Democratic National Committee has left.
The cash on hand difference allows Romney to ramp up the scale of his campaign in the final days, spending far more heavily on ads, mailers and telemarketers. This reinforces the momentum Romney has enjoyed since the first presidential debate on October 3rd.
Republicans started making a play for Pennsylvania this week, forcing “progressive” Democrats to spend their dwindling resources in response.
The new Pennsylvania push is a sign that Obama’s candidacy is waning and Romney is on the rise.
NOT VERY MUCH FOOD OR WATER IN THE STORES AND OBAMA IS BACK IN LAS VEGAS A STATE THAT HE IS GOING TO WIN ANY WAY,NO FOOD IN THE GROCERY STORES NO LIGHTS OR POWER. NO SUBWAY OR BUSES. OBAMA DOES NOT HAVE PLR THE NEXT 3 OR 4 DAYS TO VISIT THE OTHER STORM RIDDEN STATES. OBAMA IS GOING TO SEE IF HE CAN WIN SOME MONEY TO SAVE US ALL. GOD HELP AMERICA.
When he is confronted about the failed green-energy loan program, President Obama deflects blame—pointing to “career bureaucrats” in the Department of Energy (DOE) who supposedly approved the loans that have become an embarrassment to the White House.
For months, along with researcher Christine Lakatos, I’ve been reporting on, first, the junk-bond rated projects (such as Solyndra) that received fast-tracked approval from the DOE and, then the failed and troubled stimulus funded companies. Solyndra was just the tip of the iceberg.
Embarrassment after embarrassment has come to light as the projects touted as the hope for America’s future have filed for bankruptcy, sent money and jobs overseas, and faced technical difficulties.
According to GAO March 2012 statistics (and emphasized in the June 19th Congressional hearing), "For the 460 applications to the Loan Guarantee Program (LGP), DOE has made loan guarantees for 7 percent and committed to an additional 2 percent."
And of the 26 projects that got the loans, 22 were junk-bond rated—meaning private investors wouldn’t fund them. So why did we, the taxpayers?
Of the 26 loans issued through just the 1705 LGP to 21 firms, virtually all of them have meaningful political ties (bundlers, donors, supporters, etc). Our research showed that at least 90% of the projects had close ties to the White House and other high ranking Democrats. Despite the obvious connection, President Obama has repeatedly denied any involvement—preferring to blame “career bureaucrats” who could take the fall with no political consequence.
In March, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, testified that, “We looked at the loans on their own merits.” Also, back in November 2011, he said: “I am aware of no communication from White House to Department of Energy saying to make the loan or to restructure.”
Just last week, on October 26, President Obama affirmed Chu’s position when he said: “Decisions made in the loan program office are decisions, by the way, that are made by the Department of Energy, they have nothing to do with politics.”
However, late Wednesday, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released a new report of “over 150 emails that contradict statements by the President, Secretary Chu, and White House and DOE officials.” The emails reveal a series of questionable practices, including coercion, cronyism and, cover ups.
The Committee has been asking for the emails and additional testimony since the Solyndra story broke in September of 2011, but the DOE has been refusing to cooperate. Emails were finally leaked from former DOE employees. Some of the incriminating evidence includes the following:
From an email dated March 1, 2010 from David Schmitzer, DOE LPO Director of Loan Origination to LPO Credit Advisor McCrea and others: “Jonathan just said at our staff meeting that, opposite the message received on Thursday, AREVA is now a “go” (seems on Friday POTUS himself approved moving it ahead).”
From an email dated June 25, 2010, LPO Executive Director Jonathan Silver encourages LPO Credit Advisor Jim McCrea to remind a Treasury official of White House Interest in now bankrupt Abound Solar: "You better let him know that WH wants to move Abound forward. Policy will have to wait unless they have a specific policy problem with abound.”
From an email dated September 9, 2010 from LPO Credit Advisor McCrea to DOE contractor Brian Oakley: "Pressure is on real heavy on SF [Shepherds Flat] due to interest from VP.”
These emails are just a snippet of the 150 emails we are reviewing as a part of the just-released report. We have reported on each of the projects listed above and will report further.
We know that the Obama Administration operates from a “culture of corruption,” now we see that there is also a culture of deception within the White House walls. The White House green lies are bigger than innocent, little white lies; they are expensive green lies that have produced $34.7 billion in red ink for the taxpayers.
The Obama green energy program is the largest, most expensive, and deceptive case of crony capitalism in American history.
Back Story
As I was busy being "proud of myself" for making it on The Daily Caller (October 30th) with a "hit" piece featuring my "Obama Green-Energy Failures," I heard Newt Gingrich "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren” (Fox News Channel). Lo and behold, Gingrich had this to say, after noting that the rumor [more incriminating Benghazi emails were forthcoming], if true, would have a substantial impact on the presidential election, Gingrich pointed to another possible “October surprise” in the coming days.
“The other big story, I think, that is going to break is on corruption and extraordinary waste in the solar power grants and direct involvement by the Obama White House, including the president, in the solar panel grants involving billions of dollars, and I suspect that’s going to break Wednesday and Thursday of this week,” Gingrich added.
Besides the obvious contradictions, coercion, and cover up, since April this year, we had already chronicled many of the green-energy, crony-corruption stories –– the driving forces behind the majority of the loans that flew out of the DOE. In fact the three firms/projects found in the "smoking gun" emails released by the House Oversight Committee –– that we decided to highlight in our breaking story –– we had already reported on since April 2012.
In March 2010, this Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) investment that “develops and deploys utility-scale solar technologies,” was acquired by AREVA Inc, the French state-owned nuclear giant. Two months later, in May of 2010, the DOE offered AREVA Enrichment Services, LLC a conditional commitment for a $2 billion loan guarantee (from the 1703 LGP) to support the Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility in Idaho Falls, Idaho. As rumors of AREVA “suspending its Idaho uranium enrichment plant” circulated in late 2011, AREVA CEO Luc Oursel did confirm: “the company has been hit by financial problems that will affect the Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility and others worldwide.” Further, according to John Stossel's Green Energy Myth July 2012 tally, “Shareholders of AREVA lost over 60% of their money last year [2011]. Why did we enrich the French? Who knows, but it's awfully fishy when we find our usual green cronyism suspects hovering around "government green" like vultures—Kleiner Perkins, where John Doerr and Al Gore are both partners and 2008 Obama supporters. Meanwhile billionaire John Doerr –– considered "a very big-ticket Obama donor" by New York Magazine –– influenced the 2009-stimulus, sits on the president's job council, and in February 2011 hosted a star-studded billionaire Silicon Valley dinner for the president. He just so happened to rake in billions of stimulus money for his KPCB clean-energy portfolio, including Fisker Automotive listed above. Other investors in Ausra close to Obama are Khosla Ventures and Gore's Generation Investment Management firm, but let's leave those cans of worms closed for now.
Ausra Connections:
As mentioned Kleiner Perkins as well as Al Gore's Generation Investment Management firm (GIM) also tied to the Spanish company Abengoa that received more than $2.8 billion in loans and grants—making them the second largest recipient of the $16 billion doled out through the DOE 1705 loan guarantee program.
Khosla Ventures, where billionaire Vinod Kholsa, another big VC winner in the green taxpayer funded giveaway, that includes Ausra (listed here), Coskata that snagged a $250 million DOE loan as well as Nordic WindPower (also a Goldman Sachs investment) for $16 million, plus more. Vinod Khosla, an affiliated partner of Kleiner Perkins, whose firm Khosla Ventures has also invested in some of the same companies as Kleiner Perkins, which include; AltaRock Energy Inc., $25 million grant from the stimulus; Amyris Biotechnologies, $25 million grant from the stimulus; and Mascoma Corporation has received state and federal grants from the DOE since 2006, totaling over $170 million and as recent as 2008, received another $49.5 million in funding from the DOE and the state of Michigan. According to Scwheizer's Throw Them All Out, "Kholsa had been the head of Obama's India Policy Team during the 2008 election and contributed to Democratic candidates.
Received part of a $60 million grant under the Bush administration, and was awarded a $400 million loan under Obama in December of 2010. Abound was awarded a $9.2-million loan from the Export-Import Bank in July 2011. Bankrupt: June 2012
President Obama, in July 2010, praised Abound Solar, which was to make advanced solar panels in two locations: Colorado and Indiana. He believed these plants would be huge job creators: “2000 construction jobs and 1500 permanent jobs.” In December 2011, CEO Craig Witsoe called Abound Solar the “anti-Solyndra” saying that his company “doing well and growing.” However, just months after that optimistic report, Abound Solar filed bankruptcy—blaming cheap imports from China. Todd Shepherd, an investigative reporter for Colorado Watchdog found that “Abound’s problems appear to have been rooted in the quality of its own products, the competitiveness of the business model, and its inability to retain top talent.”
Abound Connections: Those that gained financially and politically:
2008 billionaire heiress Pat Stryker, early investor in Abound (then AVA); 2008 Obama bundler and Democrat donor (and Obama donor for 2012)
Democratic Congressman Paul Kanjorski’s nephew Russell
Then-Colorado Democratic Congresswoman Betsy Markey (tied to cap-and-trade)
At the state level, then Democratic Colorado Governor Bill Ritter strongly supported Abound Solar and its application for a DOE loan guarantee, gave letter to Secretary Chu.
Republican ties: Abound Solar is also backed by Invus Public Equities Advisors LLC, which was co-founded by Raymond Debbane, who has donated to Republican candidates including Representative Darrell Issa. Also, Abound, formerly known as AVA Solar won part of a $60 million grant under the Bush administration.
General Electric, CEO Jeffrey Immelt, Chair of Obama’s Job Council and the Billions They Raked in Through the 2009 Obama Stimulus Package Whereas General Electric (GE) is a heavy donor to both Republicans and Democrats, and Immelt himself "plays the role of typical corporate donor who hedges his bets on both sides of the fence," in 2008, GE gave the Obama campaign $529,855, marking them a top Obama donor. Nevertheless, GE is a major player on the clean-energy scene as well as in this green energy scheme. Even The New York Times recognized GE’s “green power,” noting that in 2009, GE lobbied Congress to help expand the “clean-energy subsidy programs, and it now profits from every aspect of the boom in renewable-power plant construction,” including “hundreds of millions in contracts to sell its turbines to wind plants built with public subsidies.” In fact, you'll be "blown away" by the billions of "wind energy grants" that blew out of the stimulus package back in February 2010, of which GE is contracted to at least 26% of them as the "Turbine Manufacturer."
Yet, this is just the beginning of the GE "green bucks"...
While a recent "news flash" was published by the Republican National Committee, confirming via Recovery.gov that "General Electric received over $1.2 billion worth of stimulus loan guarantees, awards, contracts and grants" (the majority of which were for renewable energy projects), they missed billions more. Two large 1705 loan guarantees that I had outlined in April of this year, as well as a forthcoming $490 million cash grant and a $54.6 million loan from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). Add in some smaller government subsidies and awards for a multitude of green projects, programs, and through some of their "green alliances," that I found during my 2011 research, and GE's "green tab" exceeds $3 billion in direct (some indirectly) taxpayer cash, and counting. ;
Let's take a look at GE's two projects from the 1705 Loan Guarantee Program, both of which are included the DOE's risky investment portfolio.
1366 Technologies Inc, Rating B by Fitch, Sept 2011 –– $150 million
Caithness Shepherds Flat, LLC –– Rating BBB- by Fitch; Oct 2010 for $1.04 billion (or $1.3 billion)
GE sponsored the Caithness Shepherds Flat, and also supplied the project with 338 wind-turbines. On top of the $1.3 billion loan, the Caithness project is set to receive a cash grant of $490 million from the Treasury Department once those turbines start turning.
Later, another close associate of, and big donor to the president invested in Caithness. As uncovered by Peter Schweizer in his book, Throw Them All Out, "Google's CEO at the time, Eric Schmidt, served as an informal advisor to President Obama.” Still, Schmidt, Google Executive Chairman, was an Obama donor in 2008, and since April 2009, is a member of the president's Science and Technology Advisory Council (PCAST). Interestingly, Google’s $814,540 contribution to Obama’s campaign made it the fifth largest donor in 2008. As of late, Google has aimed its "search engines" at green technology, many of which have received government "help" –– BrightSource, Solar City, Telsa Motors, and others, but we’ll stay focused on GE.
The House Oversight, March 2012 investigation reveals internal memos of concern over the fact that the Caithness Shepherds Flat project was receiving “an excessive amount of public subsidy (where grants, tax credits and loan guarantees provided 65% of the funding for the project), and that private parties did not have sufficient ‘skin in the game.’”
Further, it goes on to state, “Four months after the DOE approved the Caithness loan, President Obama named Jeff Immelt, the CEO of GE, as the Chairman of Obama’s Job Council” –– a council stacked with Democratic donors, and several Obama bundlers, both for the 2008 and 2012 campaigns.
It also discloses “General Electric’s broad access to loan guarantees,” and it gives a very illuminating account. “Since Immelt’s appointment as Chair of the Job Council, two additional government-backed transactions have occurred." "First the poorly rated 1366 Technologies, sponsored in part by GE, received a direct $150 million loan commitment from the DOE for its solar manufacturing plant." Second was the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) that loaned $54.6 million to Kansas City Southern Railway Company (KCSR) "to purchase thirty new General Electric ES44AC diesel-electric locomotives" –– a loan that raised red flags in the House investigation.
More to come...
However, another incriminating factor that struck me in the new report (memo) released by House Oversight is that "DOE officials were aware of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s tough reelection in 2010 and moved projects that were important to Senator Reid forward."
In a December 5 2009 email, Loan Program Office Senior Credit Advisor Jim McCrea forwarded an article about Senator Reid’s reelection campaign to LPO contractor Paul Barbian and stated: “Since this is not going to go into the DOE, and just to be clear, the translation is: Reid may be desperate. WH may want to help. Short term considerations may be more important than longer term considerations and what’s a billion anyhow?”
In a May 4 2010 email, LPO Executive Director Jonathan Silver wrote in an email “I need some stats on how many projects we have funded or have in DD [due diligence] as a percentage of totals. Reid is constantly hit at home for not bringing in the federal dollars.”
Throughout 2010 LPO emails indicate that projects in Nevada were prioritized because they were “high profile,” “tied to larger events,” or because they had Senator Reid’s support. These projects included the $343 million SWIP project (Email #10, attached), the $98.5 million Nevada Geothermal project (Email #11, attached), and the $737 million SolarReserve Tonopah project.
This is another part of the Green Corruption scandal brought to you by Marita and I in July 2012, Senator Harry Reid’s Part in Green-Energy Crony-Corruption. However, speaking of Jonathon Silver and Secretary Chu, they are both implicated in these newly released and damning email dumps –– both on my Green Corruption radar since 2010, along with at least a "Dozen DOE Insiders."
And in April 2012, Chu in my Green Corruption: Department of Energy “Junk Loans” and Cronyism, noting that in a gripping line of questioning, Ohio Representative Jim Jordan confronted this issue head on during that same hearing where he pressed Secretary Chu on nine of the firms that received loans, revealing their political connections. Chu countered that the loans were based on merit. Yet Jordan was perplexed, “so if you weren’t helping your buddies, and you were basing your decisions on the merits of the loan, how do you explain the fact that 23 of 27 recipients of the loan guarantees were rated as junk status investments?” Jordan concluded, “If it wasn’t your political buddies, it had to be incompetence.”
At first glance, we have plenty more cronyism and corruption to piece together with these "smoking gun" emails (and we will), and 100's of more emails to read. Still, it would be a worthy endeavor to investigate if Silver or Chu perjured themselves (or any other CEO as well as any former or current DOE Official for that matter), during any of the (five) House Oversight Committee hearings that have been conducted since 2011 –– my hunch, yes!
Thank you for taking the time to email me a quote from Ben Stein. I appreciate hearing from you and I apologize for my delayed response.
You shared with me the following: “Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured…but not everyone must prove they are a citizen…Many of those who refuse, or are unable, to prove they are citizens will receive free insurance paid for by those who are forced to buy insurance because they are citizens.”
I certainly understand your frustration regarding mandates on individuals to purchase health insurance and I share your opposition, as insurance mandates drive up the cost of health care for everyone, making it harder for most Americans to access health insurance. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated for every 1 percent rise in the cost of health insurance, 200,000 to 300,000 more Americans go uninsured.
Some of the inequities in the federal health care law mean that Americans face more burdensome requirements under the law than do legal or illegal immigrants, according to a recent analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS). Starting in 2014, Americans will be subject to an individual mandate penalty of $695 annually if they do not purchase federally-dictated health insurance. However, under the new federal law, illegal immigrants will not be forced to purchase health insurance, though, as the quote you shared with me noted, they will still be able to receive health care—regardless of their ability to pay—in a hospital’s emergency department.
According to CRS, “Unauthorized (illegal) immigrants are expressly exempted from the mandate to have health insurance and, as a result, cannot be penalized for noncompliance.” So illegal immigrants get health care without paying for it, but citizens face the choice of either buying expensive health insurance or paying a new tax. As a result, the cost of illegal immigrants’ health care in the emergency department of hospitals will be shifted to Americans with insurance and taxpayers.
This is unjust, and is a perfect example of how backwards our government can be. The health care debate ultimately comes down to one thing: freedom. This includes patients’ freedom to make their own health care choices in consultation with their doctors. At the center of the health care debate lies the question of what role Americans want the government to play in our lives. I believe, as our founders did, that limiting the federal government will protect individual liberties. This belief is the core of our Constitution, and throughout history, we have enjoyed our greatest economic success and personal freedom, when the role of government is limited. I am convinced positive change can be accomplished only when the federal government gets out of the way and allows individual Americans the freedom to make those changes.
I discuss this issue and other issues in three oversight reports that I have authored, along with my colleague and fellow physician in the Senate, Dr. Barrasso from Wyoming. The newest report, Warning: Side Effects, A Check-Up on the Federal Health Law, presents the American people with a two-year update on the economic and financial impacts of the law. The report also includes information about several critically harmful provisions of the law, including new Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) insurance rules which increase costs and destabilize insurance markets, research that could be used to deny payment for patients’ care, and hundreds of billions of dollars in tax hikes.
While I do believe we should continue to strive to ensure that everyone in America has access to medically necessary care, I agree it is unfair to shift the costs of illegal immigrants’ care to the American taxpayers.
Thank you again for writing to me. I wish you the best.
