Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s Daughter: Jeri L. Wright Indicted for $16 Million Fraud Scheme, Along With 12 Others, 2 Of Them Have Ties to Barack Obama

Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s daughter Jeri L. Wright, has been indicted along with 12 others, in Chicago-type political heist.  2 of the people indicted have ties to, you guessed, Barack Hussein Obama.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Springfield has been busy the past few years investigating a variety of fraud schemes involving state grants. Thirteen people have been charged so far, six who have pleaded guilty.

Two of them have ties to President Barack Obama. One is the daughter of his controversial former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Another was chief of staff to Obama’s longtime friend Eric E. Whitaker when Whitaker was Illinois’ public health chief.

In all, prosecutors are alleging a total of $16 million in fraud involving state health or commerce department grants and contracts.

Here’s a brief look at each of the criminal cases that have been filed, which prosecutors built with help from the Chicago offices of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Internal Revenue Service, as well as from the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office’s inspector general:

Defendants: Margaret A. Davis and Tonja Cook, of the Chicago chapter of the National Black Nurses Association.

Read rest of story.

Judge Napolitano: Obama Will Bomb Syria ‘To Appear Tough,’ and ‘Will be a Candidate for Impeachment’

Judge Napolitano weighs in on a number of high profile items including Syria, Treason, & Impeachment with a gripping Constitutional perspective.

WND reported: President Obama will bomb Syria, with or without congressional approval or a Russian disarmament plan, and that will make him a candidate for impeachment, according to a top legal analyst,

The prediction comes from Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano, who was the youngest life-tenured Superior Court judge in New Jersey history. He dealt with hundreds of cases from the bench, served as an adjunct professor of constitutional law at Seton Hall Law School and has been with Fox News since 1998.

He’s also the author of “A Nation of Sheep,” “Constitutional Chaos,” “It is Dangerous to be Right when the Government is Wrong,” “Lies the Government Told You,” “The Constitution in Exile,” “The Freedom Answer Book” and “Theodore and Woodrow.”

Napolitano, in an appearance on Glenn Beck’s television show, said sometimes there is a moment when even people in government realize they are “undermining bases for human happiness, human prosperity and, in the case of the Soviet Union, human survival.”

He said that’s how the Soviet Union collapsed.

“That would be the preferable way for the government to change,” he told Beck.

But there is hope, he said.

“Do I think that Rand Paul could lead us to an era of happiness, prosperity and smaller government? Yes. That will presume that there is a constituency for that, that people are elected to Congress who agree with that,” he said.

“Just having a president in the White House who would shy away from power, rather than use it to his own ends, would be something the likes of which the country hasn’t seen in 175 years,” said Napolitano. “I think we can get there. I think Americans are getting to the point where they have had enough.”

Regarding establishment Washington itself, he has little hope.

“I am pessimistic with the people in Washington,” he said. “I think we’re about to endure some of the most trying times in the post-World War II era … and the electorate will react to that in 2016.”

Beck asked him whether Obama would bomb Syria.

“Yes … to appear tough,” Napolitano said. And “if he does that, he will be a candidate for impeachment.”

Read the details of Obama’s actions and how they align with the Constitution, in “Impeachable Offenses,” by Aaron Klein and Brenda J. Elliott.

Charles Krauthammer: Barack Obama’s Foreign Policy is ‘Epically Incompetent’

TheBlaze reported: Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer shredded President Barack Obama’s “epically incompetent” foreign policy on Thursday, one day after Russian President Vladimir Putin published a critical op-ed in the New York Times.

“Here is the president of the greatest democracy on Earth, being lectured — insultingly, really — in an American newspaper about human rights, about international law, about the protection of the elderly and children in wartime.” Krauthammer said.

He said it only makes it more embarrassing that the lecture came from a “KGB thug.”

“What we are seeing here is Putin so confident of himself…that he could actually engage in this,” Krauthammer added. “It’s an index of how, sort of, Obama has been played and continues to be right now in Geneva.”

Watch the segment via Fox News:

Lois Lerner: Emails Show IRS Specifically Targeted Tea Parties

IRS have been targeting Tea Parties since 2011 if not sooner, there shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone here.  But this latest bombshell strongly suggests Bolshevik Red Lois Lerner and her army of agency employees knew full well they went overboard in their scrutiny toward conservative groups.

Washington Times reported: Newly released emails show that Lois G. Lerner, the woman at the center of the IRS scandal over special scrutiny of conservative groups’ applications for tax-exempt status, specifically targeted tea party applications and directed they be held up in 2011 in order to come up with an agency policy.

The email, released by a House committee investigating the IRS, seems to counter Democrats’ arguments that tea party groups weren’t specifically targeted.

“Tea Party Matter very dangerous,” Ms. Lerner said in the 2011 email, saying that those applications could end up being the “vehicle to go to court” to get more clarity on a 2010 Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance rules.

In another email, from 2012, Ms. Lerner acknowledges that the agency’s handling of the tax-exempt applications had been bungled at the beginning, though she said they had taken steps to correct it.

“It is what it is,” she said in the email, released Thursday by the Ways and Means Committee. “Although the original story isn’t as pretty as we’d like, once we learned this [sic.] were off track, we have done what we can to change the process, better educate our staff and move the cases. So, we will get dinged, but we took steps before the ‘dinging’ to make things better and we have written procedures.”

That email suggests agency employees knew they had gone overboard in their scrutiny — despite top IRS officials telling Congress that there wasn’t any special scrutiny of conservative groups.

In another 2012 email, Ms. Lerner seemed to take sides in a battle between the Federal Election Commission and conservative group tax-exempt groups that were engaging in politics, saying that “perhaps the FEC will save the day.”

Ms. Lerner has been removed from her post at the helm of the tax-exempt organizations division, but has not been fired from the IRS.She asserted her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in refusing to testify to the House oversight committee earlier this year, though committee members argue that she may actually have waived that right and should be recalled and forced to answer questions.

In releasing the latest emails, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp said they show a dangerous patter.

“There is increasing and overwhelming evidence that Lois Lerner and high-level IRS employees in Washington were abusing their power to prevent conservative groups from organizing and carrying out their missions,” he said. “There are still mountains of documents to go through, but it is clear the IRS is out of control and there will be consequences.”

But Sander Levin, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said there is still no evidence that the IRS was driven by a political motive to stifle conservative views.

“Lois Lerner was incompetent in her management of the IRS tax-exempt division and unprofessional in her conduct — reasons why I immediately called for her to be relieved of her duties,” Mr. Levin said.

He said, though, that the GOP is overselling what it’s found during its investigation.

“Selective leaking by Republicans does not change the fact that tens of thousands of documents and dozens of interviews with IRS employees have revealed absolutely no evidence of political motivation, no evidence of outside influence and no evidence of White House involvement,” Mr. Levin said.

Report: Trader Joe’s Part-Time Workers to Lose Heath Coverage Because of Obamacare

TheBlaze reported: Traders Joe’s announced in a confidential memo last month that employees working less than 30 hours per week will have to get their health insurance via the Affordable Care Act exchanges in 2014.

Trader Joe’s CEO Dan Bane said in the memo that the company will issue part-time employees a $500 check in January to hold them over until they can enroll in President Barack Obama’s new health care law.

The announcement is notable considering the grocery chain has long provided health care coverage to its part-time employees. True, many larger retailers do the same, but Trader Joe’s is famous for having some of the lowest rates available for part-time workers.

However, the company has apparently decided it’d be cheaper to dump its part-time staff into the Obamacare exchanges next year where they will be eligible for tax subsidies to buy health insurance.

“Depending on income you may earn outside of Trader Joe’s … we believe that with the $500 from Trader Joe’s and the tax credits available under the ACA, many of you should be able to obtain health care coverage at very little if any net cost to you,” the Bane memo reads.

When questioned by the Huffington Post, a spokeswoman for Trader Joe’s would neither confirm nor deny the existence of the Bane memo.

“We have made some changes to our healthcare coverage that we believe will be a benefit to all Crew Members working in our stores. We are committed to providing all our Crew Members with benefits that are among the best in our industry,” she said.

A part-time employee who spoke to the HuffPo on condition of anonymity said she was unhappy with the move, citing the company’s health perks as “one of the best parts about the job.”

“There are several folks I work with who are there for the insurance as much as anything, mostly folks with young families,” she said. “I can say that when I opened and read the letter yesterday my reaction was pure panic, followed quickly by anger.”

Now whether company employees fall into the full-time or part-time category depends on their schedules, the Bane memo notes.

“It is important to note … we do not create our weekly schedules with healthcare eligibility in mind,” the memo reads. “Rather, we will continue to create weekly schedules that are solely focused on supporting the customer experience.”

The company will continue to provide employees who work 30 hours or more per week with health care coverage (Obamacare mandates that any company with 50 or more employees must provide health care coverage to its full-time staff).

But, again, being a full-time employee all depends on scheduling.

Russian President Vladimir Putin Speaks ‘Directly to the American People’ on Syria, Jabs Obama

TheBlaze reported: Recent developments in Syria prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin to “speak directly to the American people and their political leaders.” In order to do that, he reached out to the New York Times to publish an op-ed about the implications of “war and peace” and the consequences of taking military action against Syria.

“Relations between us have passed through different stages,” Putin writes. “We stood against each other during the cold war. But we were also allies once, and defeated the Nazis together. The universal international organization — the United Nations — was then established to prevent such devastation from ever happening again.”

The Russian leader stressed that Syria is “not witnessing a battle for democracy, but an armed conflict between government and opposition in a multireligious country.”

“There are few champions of democracy in Syria. But there are more than enough [Al] Qaeda fighters and extremists of all stripes battling the government,” he continued. “The United States State Department has designated Al Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, fighting with the opposition, as terrorist organizations. This internal conflict, fueled by foreign weapons supplied to the opposition, is one of the bloodiest in the world.”

In the op-ed, titled “A Plea for Caution From Russia,” Putin expressed concern that mercenaries from Arab countries and other nations are fighting in Syria and “are an issue of our deep concern.” He speculated that extremists could return to their countries with “experience acquired in Syria,” which “threatens us all.”

Putin also addressed the chemical attack in Damascus and mentioned reports of a possible attack being planned by “militants” against Israel [emphasis added]:

No one doubts that poison gas was used in Syria. But there is every reason to believe it was used not by the Syrian Army, but by opposition forces, to provoke intervention by their powerful foreign patrons, who would be siding with the fundamentalists. Reports that militants are preparing another attack — this time against Israel — cannot be ignored.

It is alarming that military intervention in internal conflicts in foreign countries has become commonplace for the United States. Is it in America’s long-term interest? I doubt it. Millions around the world increasingly see America not as a model of democracy but as relying solely on brute force, cobbling coalitions together under the slogan “you’re either with us or against us.”

But force has proved ineffective and pointless. Afghanistan is reeling, and no one can say what will happen after international forces withdraw. Libya is divided into tribes and clans. In Iraq the civil war continues, with dozens killed each day. In the United States, many draw an analogy between Iraq and Syria, and ask why their government would want to repeat recent mistakes.

He wrote that he welcomes a “continuing dialogue” with President Barack Obama on Syria, but urged the U.S. to avoid using force and focus on “negotiations.”

In the very last paragraph of the op-ed, Putin took a jab at President Obama for referencing American exceptionalism.

“I would rather disagree with a case he made on American exceptionalism, stating that the United States’ policy is ‘what makes America different. It’s what makes us exceptional.’ It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation,” he writes.

“There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy. Their policies differ, too. We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal.”

Read Putin’s entire op-ed here.

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UPDATE: The White House responded to Putin’s op-ed, telling CNN’s Jake Tapper:

“That’s all irrelevant,” the White House official said in response. “He put this proposal forward and he’s now invested in it. That’s good. That’s the best possible reaction. He’s fully invested in Syria’s CW disarmament and that’s potentially better than a military strike – which would deter and degrade but wouldn’t get rid of all the chemical weapons. He now owns this. He has fully asserted ownership of it and he needs to deliver.”

Father Beats Up Peeping Tom and Gets Charged With Aggravated Battery

We are finding it hard to believe that a father who beat up a naked peeping Tom outside his daughters’ window is now facing charges.

TheBlaze reported: Emilio Chavez has been charged for beating an alleged peeping Tom, but neighbors don’t agree with the legal action that could be taken against the father. (Image via KRQE video screenshot)

According to KRQE-TV, Emilio Chavez III of Albuquerque allegedly beat Dylan Maho so badly after he found the man naked outside his home that he has been charged with aggravated battery. Maho had to be taken to the hospital in critical condition but is now stable.

The incident occurred Thursday around 2:30 a.m. when family members heard something outside of the 13 and 15-year-old girls’ window.

“The bushes were shaking. Then she heard groaning and moaning,” the teenagers’ mother Katrina Chavez told KRQE. “My oldest son went out, said ‘What are you doing?’ and then discovered he was naked.”

A 911 call was made, but when police arrived they found that the girls’ father, brother and a friend had apparently chased Maho down the street. When police found Maho, he had been beaten.

“We have a lot of concerns when victims provoke any kinds of attacks or pursue their attackers even if it’s with good reason, for instance in this situation where you have your children being victimized,” Albuquerque Police Department  Officer Tasia Martinez told KRQE.

But neighbors have come to Chavez’s defense:

“I think it’s a shame,” said Bill Morang, a nearby neighbor. “How do you think rationally when something like that happens? You defend your family, its basic instinct.”

“I’d probably done the same thing,” added Michael Felter, another neighbor.

[…]

“I would do absolutely the same thing to protect my family, and I think any, like I said yesterday, I think any man or father or would the same thing to protect them,” said Morang.

“Anything that’s going to destroy a family and a neighborhood because of a Peeping Tom looking naked inside of a child’s house, it’s absolutely wrong,” said Felter.

Christian Mom: Angry After A Teacher Banned Her Daughter From Writing About God

TheBlaze reported: A mother in Memphis, Tenn., is outraged after she claims her daughter was told that she couldn’t write about God for a school assignment.

Erica Shead said her 10-year-old daughter, Erin, was recently asked to choose an idol she looks up to. After considering her options, the young girl chose God and proceeded to complete her assignment.

“It was so cute and innocent. She talked about how God created the earth and how she’s doing the best she can,” Shead told WREG-TV.

A photo of Erin’s assignment about admiring God (Photo Credit: WREG-TV)

But Erin claims that her teacher at Lucy Elementary School said that choosing the Lord was an unacceptable act and that her assignment needed to be taken home, as it could not remain at the school.

The young girl, looking for a different idol to write about, then selected Michael Jackson instead and reportedly encountered no push-back on the secondary assignment. Her mother obviously isn’t happy about her daughter’s claims.

“How can you tell this baby, that’s a Christian, what she can say and what she can’t say?,” asked Shead.

It’s unclear if the child’s account is accurate, but the Shelby County School District said that children are not forbidden from writing about their faith. While spokesperson Christian Ross told WREG-TV that it’s unacceptable for teachers to promote religion, students are fully free to express their theological views.

The mother has taken her concerns to the principal, but has not yet heard back. The district declined to comment about potential ramifications for the teacher’s purported actions, should the young girl’s story check out.

Photo Credit: ShutterStock.com

GOP Doc: Vote to Defund Obamacare, Let Senate Erase It

Breitbart reported: A document House Majority Leader Eric Cantor distributed to all House Republicans on Tuesday, obtained by Breitbart News, confirms that he is planning to make it appear as though the House is voting to defund Obamacare while using a legislative procedural trick which would allow the Democrat-controlled Senate to strip defunding language from the Continuing Resolution.

http://content.bitsontherun.com/players/mSdOIBVE-dh3Zgtip.html

“Many House Republicans have stated that they want to pass a CR that affirmatively defunds the implementation and enforcement of Obamacare,” Cantor wrote to House Republican members. “In addition to firmly putting the House on record, such an effort would force the Democrat Senate to confront the issue of defunding, providing Senate Republicans the opportunity to challenge Senate Democrats to join Republicans in blocking the further implementation of this awful and unpopular law.”

“Tactically, we want to engage this battle in a manner that unites House Republicans, provides as few opportunities as possible for Senate Democrats to duck the issue, and ensures that if defunding does not occur that Democrats are held to account,” Cantor added.

Cantor then laid out “The Plan” he and other members of the House GOP leadership will use allowing them to claim they support defunding Obamacare while leaving the fate of the defunding effort in the hands of the Democrat-controlled Senate.

First, he said the House will “simultaneously” consider a Continuing Resolution (CR) that funds the government “at sequester levels” along with a rule, or a “H.Cong.Res. that would amend the CR to include full defunding language.”

The House would vote on the CR, a vote that would include the rule and then send it to the Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can then remove the rule’s language after considering it. “The rule for the CR/Defund package provides that the CR cannot be transmitted to the Senate until the Senate has considered the defunding language,” Cantor writes in step number 4 of “The Plan” section of the document.

In step number 5 of “The Plan,” Cantor admits that the Senate can remove the rule language. “If the Senate passes defunding then it gets added to the CR as it goes to the president,” Cantor writes in step 5. “If they defeat it, then the Senate can consider whether they want to pass the CR. If they do, without amendment it goes to the president.”

Breitbart News reported on this plan from Cantor and others in House GOP leadership on Monday evening. After that story, a prominent House conservative source told Breitbart News that members who support defunding Obamacare are organizing and plan to whip against Cantor’s ploy.

“Expect a significant whip effort against the rule among the rank and file if they try to pull the trick on defunding,” the conservative source said.

In a statement provided to Breitbart News, ForAmerica chairman Brent Bozell denounced Cantor’s and Boehner’s ploy. “The latest move announced today by Speaker Boehner and House Republican leadership is nothing more than a cheap parliamentary trick. Once again these Republican ‘leaders’ have failed to commit to defund ObamaCare by any means necessary,” Bozell said.

“Instead they are hiding behind smoke and mirrors by ‘putting the responsibility on the Senate’ to defund ObamaCare. Conservatives and the tea party are fed up with these stupid government tricks,” he continued. “Now it’s the GOP leadership playing them.”

“What they didn’t say was that the vote they will push to the Senate to defund ObamaCare is meaningless and won’t get the job done — and they know it. It is a slap — a cynical, dishonest slap — across the face of everyone who voted for them. This will cost them,” Bozell warned.

“If they do not defund ObamaCare by any means necessary the GOP will own it and they will pay a hefty political price for breaking their promise,” he declared. “To those rank and file members playing this three card monte game, I can say only one thing: Get ready for some primaries.”

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Judicial Watch Releases New Report on Benghazi

Breitbart reported: Judicial Watch, which has put pressure on the Obama Administration before, during, and after the Benghazi massacre of 9/11/2012, has released a new report titled: “On the Anniversary of the Benghazi Attack of September 11, 2012: Unanswered Questions and the Quest for Accountability from the Obama Administration.”

The new report is a follow-up to Judicial Watch’s January 22, 2013 Benghazi report, and details the new information revealed as a result of Judicial Watch’s 23 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, Mandatory Declassification Review, and four lawsuits against the Obama Department of State and Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The new report asserts that the story of Benghazi is a “story of political treachery in high places.” Part One is devoted to in-depth analysis, supervised by former State Department Security Special Agent Raymond Fournier. It details the critical time period before the Benghazi attack, when the numerous requests for added security by U.S. personnel were ignored by top State Department officials. In addition, the Obama’s ludicrous and misleading claim that “an obscure Internet video” triggered the attacks is reviewed.

Lastly, the report examines the possibility that the internal problems within the State Department could endanger U.S. diplomatic personnel in the future.

Part Two of the Special Report deals with new information accrued revolving around the aftermath of the Benghazi attacks. This section shows how the Obama administration withheld information about the attacks and how the Administration responded. It also includes a “Benghazi Chronology,” listing more than 30 violent incidents revolving around Benghazi all the way back to December 2011, and also details the cable Ambassador Christopher Stevens sent to Washington D.C. the morning of September 11, 2012, which stated Libyans’ “growing frustration with police and security forces who were too weak to keep the country secure.”

A section devoted to “Loose Ends and Unanswered Questions,” follows, which includes these quotes from the Report:

Almost immediately after the September 11 terrorist attack in Benghazi, the President pledged, “We will not waver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible act. And make no mistake, justice will be done” … Despite these vows of swift justice, no one has yet been arrested or killed for participation in the attack. 

Of particular concern to lawmakers is the fact that CNN was able to conduct an interview with Ahmed Abu Khattala in July [2012]. Libyan officials identified Khattala as the ‘mastermind’ of the attack as early as October [2011]. 

The administration has also reportedly undertaken a concerted effort to keep government personnel who were on the ground in Benghazi on the night of the attack from testifying to Congress or providing information to the media. In July, Rep. Frank Wolf reported on the House floor that, ‘According to trusted sources that have contacted my office, many if not all of the survivors of the Benghazi attacks along with others at the Department of Defense, the CIA have been asked or directed to sign non-disclosure agreements about their involvement in the Benghazi attacks. 

The activities of Ambassador Stevens on the day of the attack also raise questions regarding a possible weapons transfer being conducted out of the SMC at Benghazi [to Syrian rebels via Turkey. Stevens met with Mahmoud El-Mufti, the owner of a Libya-based shipping company Al-Marfa … Stevens’ final meeting of the day was with Ali Akin, the Turkish Consul General in Benghazi … So, while the official version of events holds that the Ambassador was in Benghazi for routine meetings and opening of a cultural center, it seems clear that he was working on something undisclosed that involved both Turkey and cargo shipments.) 

Some evidence of the power of the FOIA law, and Judicial Watch’s persistence, came about with the release of the first US Government images of the aftermath of the attack on the Benghazi SMC. Judicial Watch’s lawsuit against the State Department compelled production of the images on June 21, 2013 – four months after going to federal court to get the Obama administration to obey the law. A total of seven (7) photographs were produced to Judicial Watch by the State Department.” Two of the images obtained by Judicial Watch are in the Special Report.

DOS hired a British firm, Blue Mountain, to manage its security in Benghazi, and Blue Mountain subcontracted the job to a local jihadist militia called the February 17 Martyrs Brigade who have known Muslim Brotherhood ties.”

The Report adds that [Regional Security Officer in Libya, Eric] “Nordstrom testified at the October 11, 2012 Congressional hearings that ‘in deference to sensitivity to Libyan practice, the guards at Benghazi were unarmed’– an inexplicable practice for a place as dangerous as Benghazi.”  Nordstrom also “told Congressional investigators that DOS Deputy Assistant Director for International Programs Charlene] Lamb “wanted to keep the number of U.S. security personnel in Benghazi ‘artificially low.”

The Judicial Watch Special Report calls for the creation of a bipartisan House Select Committee to fully investigate everything related to Benghazi, saying,

Five different House committees have, each in their own way, conducted disjointed, uncoordinated inquiries. A single Select Committee appears to be the best forum for the American people to ever learn the truth.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton concluded: “Here we are, one year after the Benghazi attack, and there has been zero accountability.  No military action, no drones, no arrests.  No one has been fired for the Obama administration lies and malfeasance. Without a select committee, Congress will continue to drift on Benghazi accountability.  Grassroots Americans want justice for the Benghazi Four but I fear, but for our independent investigations and lawsuits, the Washington Establishment would be happy to sweep Benghazi under the rug.”