Operation Choke Point

      Operation Choke Point is the type of thing that we want to believe can never happen in this great republic, but it is happening.  It is just one more example of our out-of-control federal government operating illegally and taking away our rights. 

In 2013 the US Department of Justice initiated a program called Operation Choke Point.  The stated objective is to investigate banks doing business with companies like payment processors and payday loan companies for money laundering.  This sounds innocent enough as the Department of Justice should always be on the alert for any criminal money laundering operations.

        Operation Choke Point does not have the authority of law passed by Congress.  It is once again the brainchild of the administrative branch of our government and implemented by appointed government bureaucrats.

        Operation Choke Point gives government bureaucrats the authority to threaten banks with audits based on the bureaucrats opinionated perception of specific industries.  This power has been expanded beyond payment processors.  It has also been applied to manufacturers and sellers of guns and ammunition.  The liberal left cannot get Congress to take away our Second Amendment rights, so maybe they can take them away in an indirect way. 

Any industry that the current administration does not like can be targeted through banks.  The coal industry is an excellent example.  They are targeted because the Obama administration does not like the potential for carbon emissions from the industry.  He can’t sell Congress the idea of man-made emissions causing global warming so he uses a back door. Regardless of how someone feels about coal as a fuel, I don’t see how anyone can condone this abuse of power.

        The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has designated the following industries as high-risk: Ammunition Sales, Cable Box De-scramblers, Coin Dealers, Credit Card Schemes, Credit Repair Services, Dating Services, Debt Consolidation Scams, Drug Paraphernalia, Escort Services, Firearm Sales, Fireworks Sales, Get Rich Products, Government Grants, Home-Based Charities, Life-time Guarantees, Life-time memberships, Lottery Sales, Mailing Lists/Personal Info, Money Transfer Networks, On-line Gambling, Payday Loans, Pharmaceutical Sales, Ponzi Schemes, Pornography, Pyramid-type Sales, Racist Materials, Surveillance Equipment, Telemarketing, Travel Clubs, and Travel Clubs. 

        I may not do business with or even like all of these industries, but they have a right to exist if they are not breaking the law.  Cutting off banking rights for these industries will force them to be a cash only business.  This presents the opportunity to avoid taxes and makes the business much more attractive to the criminal element.  I don’t think we should create any new opportunities for the criminal community.  How did prohibition work out?

In my book Business Fits, I warn people about getting involved with some of these industries, but federal bureaucrat don’t have the right to deny them banking privileges.  At least we can be confident this abuse of power won’t be used for political purposes, or will it?  What was the deal with the IRS and conservative groups?

People Hear What They Lisen For

        Barron Spotlighters Community Theater recently gave a performance of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird.  The setting is Maycomb, Alabama in 1935.  The play dramatizes the racial inequalities of the time.  A black man is tried and convicted for the rape of a white woman. The black man is not only innocent, but there has been no sexual involvement with his accuser. 

        The black minister states that he has never seen a jury rule for a black man.  Deep South at that time was referred to as the Bible belt.  It also was the heart of the Democratic Party.  

        I played the role of Judge Taylor.  I had one line that seems to be as true today as it was when Harper Lee wrote it.  “People generally see what they look for and hear what they listen for.”  This is how the jury could convict an innocent black man.  It is also true of politics today. 

Republicans hear what supports their agenda.  Democrats hear what supports their agenda.  Conservatives hear what supports their views, and liberals hear what supports their views.  The media reports the events that support their agenda. 

If something fits a specific agenda, few people seem to care if it is true.  They don’t like to let facts get in the way.  Senator Harry Reid twice stood on the floor of the Senate and stated that presidential candidate Mitt Romney had not paid his taxes.  Reid knew it was a lie at the time, but because he made the statement on the Senate floor, he is protected from any criminal or civil suits.  This is not right.  I think he should be subject to perjury charges at the very least.  When Reid was recently asked if he regretted the lie, he responded, “He lost didn’t he?”  The lie supported Reid’s agenda.

Sarah Palin has often been quoted as saying; “I can see Russia from my porch.”  This was actually a Tina Fey line from a Saturday Night Live skit.  People that did not support Palin as a politician loved to use the line.  They did not like to let the truth get in the way. 

The problem is that finding the truth and exposing lies takes a lot of work and time.  Most people don’t have the time or interest.  This should be the job of the media, but they clearly are not doing the job.  I spent over two years trying to find one piece of documented evidence that had not been refuted showing man-made carbon emissions were causing global warming.  I was unsuccessful, but people still use the B.S. claim that 97% of all scientists agree that man-made carbon emissions are causing global warming.   

Some of these flagrant lies, promoted for political reasons, would be funny except for a large uninformed, gullible, and apathetic public that believe them.  Sometimes when I watch political ads for Progresives, they sound so conservative that I would vote for them if I didn’t know better.  If their liberal ideas are so good, why do they try to sound like conservatives?  I know the answer.  They know their faithful followers will vote for them regardless.  They now try to deceive enough uninformed independents in order to get elected. 

How do we get politicians to be truthful and how do we get the media to actually report the facts?  I wish I had some easy answers.  All we can do is keep spreading the word to get better elected representatives, and support news sources that report the facts accurately.  We must somehow remove the political elite from power. 

Give Me $20

      I want you to give me $20.  I may give you back $10, but I don’t promise to give you anything.  I may have a better use for it, or I may feel someone else may need it worse than you do.  I will never give back more than $10 of each $20 I receive.  I have to keep $10, because I have expenses, administrative costs, graft, and waste.  That is only fair and reasonable. 

If I do give you $10, I will tell you how you must spend it.  I will also demand you keep extensive records and report back to me to prove you spent it as I want.  This is only right as I am a lot smarter than you and I know much better than you how you should spend your money.

Sometimes I might give you an extra $10 as a loan.  It will still have all the restrictions of how you spend it.  You will have to pay the loan back with interest.  You may also have to pay back a loan for someone else that I decide needs $10.

If you want to slip an extra $10 in my back pocket, I may see if I can return the $10 from some other people to you, but no promises.  I may also give you an extra $10 if you help me stay in power and help me collect $20 from other people. 

Some of you say you want to give $20 to charity.  This is totally unacceptable.  You are not smart enough to know what charity should receive your charity.  Give the $20 to me and I will give $10 to the charity I consider the most deserving. 

I am also much more qualified to make your health care decisions.  Just give your $20 to me and I will decide what you need for health care and who should provide it.  You are just not smart enough or responsible enough to make those decisions.  But, don’t think I am going to pay for, or provide all your health care.  I may pay for some of it, but you will pay for most of it.  Remember the deductible and co-pay.  Your total health care cost should be no more than 500% of what it would be if I were not involved.

I better give you my address now as I am sure most of you have your checkbooks out and are ready to send me your $20.  After all I am a lot smarter than you are and I know better how to spend your money. 

If you didn’t think this was a good idea, why are you blindly accepting it now with the federal government?  Unfortunately, we are talking about billions of dollars and not $20.

I hope you are not one of those people that don’t care about everyone else as long as you get yours.  Are you happy if I gave you $30 for your $20 and to h--- with everyone else?  I forgot those on the welfare teat, but politicians need them for their votes. 

The only people that really benefit are the politicians, bureaucrats, super rich, and politically connected.  These people are whom I call the political elite.  In spite of what politicians say, don’t make the mistake of thinking they care about the working people of this country.  Actions are all that count.

We need a federal government limited to only those responsibilities spelled out in the Constitution.  Our federal government has become bloated beyond reason. State governments, local governments, and the individual can do a much better job with greater efficiency and less waste.

This is not a red or blue issue.  This is a critical issue for the entire country. It is time for real change for this great country.

Federal Government Waste

        Last week I mentioned that according to the Inspector General illegal immigrants collected $4.2 billion in fraudulent claims from the I.R.S. in 2010.   That number will be higher today.  This number doesn’t include fraudulent claims by legal citizens or claims from illegal immigrants that Obama is giving legal status. 

        The Government Accountability Office estimates that “improper entitlement payments” for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security amount to $100 billion.  This is crazy.  I have seen estimates that our federal government pays out $125 billion in fraudulent claims every year. 

        That’s just fraud.  Now lets look at other federal government waste.  Administration and web sites for Obama Care has now cost us $5.7 billion.  A new disaster management system for FEMA that does not work, cost $240 million.  The FBI has a new faulty IT system at a cost of $550 million. 

Many federal departments and agencies overlap and duplicate services, another waste.  Due to civil service employee protections, it is almost impossible to fire incompetent federal employees.  We have spent $3.1 billion in administrative leave pay for federal workers suspected of wrongdoing.  They are usually allowed to retire with benefits and sometimes even a bonus. 

        The federal Government Accountability Office estimates that 10% of all federal government spending is fraud or waste.  In a five-year study, government auditors found federal programs costing $123 billion that failed to show any positive results.

        We should be appalled at this wasteful government spending, but how do we stop it?  It is naive to think we can expect government to fix the problem.  As President Ronald Reagan said, “Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.”

        It is clear that the public sector, at least at the federal level, is not and will never be as efficient as the private sector.  There is no profit motive with the federal government and no incentive to eliminate fraud and waste.  What private enterprise could stay in business if 10% of all spending was fraud and waste? 

        We can’t privatize the federal government, but we can reduce the size of the federal government.  We can give the states back their rights.  We can restrict the executive branch of government to those powers bestowed in the Constitution and eliminate the misuse of executive orders.  We can restrict the federal government to those functions and responsibilities spelled out in the Constitution and eliminate those involvements specifically prohibited in the 10^th Amendment. 

        I think it’s time for real change before we lose all our rights and this great country goes bankrupt. 

I.R.S. Paying Illegal Immigrants

Should the Internal Revenue Service be using your tax dollars to make payments to illegal immigrants? Is this how you want the taxes you pay used?

April 15 is approaching quickly.  That is the deadline for paying our taxes.  Most of us do not like to pay taxes, but realize it is necessary to operate our government.  We hope our money is used wisely. 

Our tax code is now 73,954 pages.  Who understands a document that long?  Nobody, but tax experts use the loopholes in this document for the benefit of their clients. There is nothing illegal about this, but it is not fair to the working middle class.  The present tax code favors the very wealthy and the political elite, and is the only reason we have not trashed the entire tax code and replaced it with the Fair Tax.

One portion of the present tax code is the Earned Income Tax Credit.  The objective of this portion of the tax code is to benefit low to moderate income people supporting children.   The maximum credit for one child in a household is $3,305 in 2014.  For a household with three or more children the credit is $6,143 for 2014.  If these tax credits are not needed for taxes due, the I.R.S. sends a check just like any other refund. 

Now the problem comes with the five million illegal immigrants President Obama has given amnesty with his executive action.  This amnesty not only protects them from deportation, but also makes them eligible for a Social Security number.  They now can legally file taxes and are eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit.  The I.R.S now could be sending them a check for over $6,000 of your tax money. 

The problem gets worse.  According the present I.R.S. tax code the illegal immigrants can also now file for the previous three years.  The tax code only requires a Social Security number at the time of filing and does not require that the filer held a social security during the previous years.  The I.R.S. is could now be sending illegal immigrants a check for $24,000 of your tax money.  This would be totally legal under the present tax code and President Obama’s amnesty program. 

I will now address the problem of people claiming dependants that do not meet the requirements of a legal dependant in order to get the Earned Income Tax Credit.  These are seldom checked or caught by the I.R.S.  Sometimes dependants are claimed that do not meet the requirements and sometimes don’t even live in this country. 

This problem existed prior to President Obama’s amnesty program.  Illegal immigrants previously would obtain valid Social Security numbers by illegal means and file taxes in order to claim the Earned Income Tax credit and receive the payment.  Some unscrupulous tax preparers encouraged this action for a fee.

The Inspector General estimated 2.3 million people that did not have a valid Social Security number collected $4.2 billion from the I.R.S. in 2010.  I’m sure the number of illegal immigrants filing and the amounts collected are higher now.  This problem is costing us billions now, and will explode with President Obama’s amnesty.  In recent years, I have seen some stupid stimulus programs, but this is ridiculous. 

Is this how you want your tax dollars spent?  We must address President Obama’s executive orders and change the tax code. Illegal immigrants that break the law by filing fraudulent taxes or any other law should be sent to jail or deported.

Neranyahu Addresses Congress

Last week Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the U.S. Congress.  There was a lot of political bickering by the President and the Democrats.  Some called it political theater.  Some called it fear mongering.  Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi said she thought Netanyahu’s speech was insulting to Americans’ intelligence.  I think this is pretty funny coming from the “We have to pass it to find out what is in it” woman.  I am not sure she even knows what intelligence is.

President Obama thought Congress shouldn’t have invited Netanyahu without first consulting with him.  He also said this action hurt his ongoing negotiations with Iran.  This is a joke, as Obama is determined to get an agreement of some sort and is not concerned if it is a good agreement. 

Sanctions imposed on Iran were working and we lifted them.  What is President Obama doing now?  We cannot allow Iran to have nuclear bombs.  Iran is a major military power and threat in the area.  Iran is a threat to most countries in the area.

I could never understand why Iraq’s Saddam Hussein went to war with the United States.  One of the reasons may have been that he was more afraid of Iran and didn’t want to give up any of his weapons.  Iran is trying to dominate Iraq now.

Iran does not hide their desire to eliminate Israel and the Jewish people.  Israel takes this threat seriously.  As Netanyahu stated, they cannot allow Iran to have nuclear weapons.  This is not about politics.  It is about survival. 

If Israel feels Iran is close to having a nuclear bomb, they have no choice but to take action, and diplomacy will not be an option at that point.  Israel must bomb Iran before Iran gets a nuclear weapon, and Israel does have nuclear weapons.  Will they use them?  How will the rest of the Middle East react?  Most are not friends of Israel. 

We feel safe and sheltered in this country.  As a result, we tend to ignore the pending danger.  This was true before both world wars.  Maybe we need to learn from history and take this danger seriously.  Iran cannot be allowed nuclear weapons under any circumstances. 

Keystone Pipeline

A bill approving the Keystone Pipeline passed both the House and the Senate with bi-partisan support last week.  How often does this happen?  The Keystone Pipeline can economically transport crude oil from Canada to refineries in this country.  It would be a really good thing for the country. 

President Obama vetoed the bill.  Why would he do this?  He claims he did it for environmental reasons.  I don’t believe that is the reason.  The Keystone project has been proposed since 2010 and environmental studies date back to 2008.  How long can this study take?  Not one study to date has ever rejected the pipeline for environmental reasons.  It sounds like some environmental scientists are milking a good thing.  At least they are not intentionally “correcting” the data to support desired results like climate change scientists have done.

We presently have over 190,000 miles of liquid petroleum pipelines in this country.  President Obama has approved other pipelines in the past, so what is his problem with the Keystone Pipeline?  Even partisan politics doesn’t explain the veto.  Maybe we need to follow the money.

Oil is still going to come in from Canada by rail, and the environmental danger of a rail spill is much higher than a pipeline spill.  The cost of shipping by rail is much higher than a pipeline.  Is someone making a lot of money shipping oil by rail?

The Keystone Pipeline would create jobs and reduce the price of gasoline.  It would help to make the North American continent totally energy independent.  That doesn’t sound like a bad deal to me. 

The U.S. would no longer need to import any oil.  U.S. energy independence would lower the price of oil in the world market.  This would increase our political influence in Russia and Asia.  It would affect the economies of every country presently exporting oil to the US.   It would have a major effect on the Middle East, which might even stop funding for radical Islamic terrorists.  Is calling our enemies by their correct name politically incorrect?  Tough!

Energy independence for the North American continent would also affect some of our South American neighbors.  We presently import a lot of oil from Venezuela.  This is a major portion of their economy

Don’t forget Brazil.  We don’t import a lot of oil from Brazil, but the Export-Import Bank of America did approve loans of $2 billion to the Brazilian oil company Petroleo Brazileiro S.A. also known as Petrobras, to finance oil equipment exports from America.  A drop in oil prices could be a problem for Petrobras and the Export-Import Bank of America.  One of Petrobras’s major stockholders, George Soros, would not be happy with dropping oil prices.

I don’t think any rational person can agree with a Presidential veto of the Keystone Pipeline for economic, environmental, or political reasons.  If this is the case, we must follow the money.  This could be a Pulitzer Prize for a good investigative reporter.  I wish we had a media interested in discovering and disclosing the truth.