Wednesday 21 August 2013

The Warning - Mach 2


(via email) 

Aug. 21

Dear Rep. Lowenthal,

It has just come to my attention that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has spent millions of dollars for the warrantless collection and analysis of American citizens' financial transactions, specifically credit card transactions!

This is incredible.

They will SAY something benign about it.  But on top of the NSA total-surveillance program that has been revealed, and so much else that is going down these days, this is too much.

Question: Why isn't this grounds for Obama's expulsion from the office that he occupies like a potentate, and his arrest?  

He is committing crimes, against the Constitution and the American people.  DO something about it, Congress; dammit. 


Very sincerely,

'Stan' Stanfield


---

…but at least, and at last, some 'good' news:

from CFIF (Center For Individual Freedom)

'Two Humiliating New Judicial Defeats for Obama Administration, in Remarkably Harsh Language'

by Timothy H. Lee
Thursday, August 15, 2013

two-humiliating-new-judicial-defeats-for-obama-administration-in-remarkably-harsh-language-edit.jpg
"Of course, common sense and faithful execution of the nation’s laws have never been the Obama Administration’s North Star."



“The President and federal agencies may not ignore statutory mandates or prohibitions merely because of policy disagreements with Congress.” 
That rudimentary truth, familiar to any freshman political science major, should not be necessary instruction for a former professor of constitutional law like Barack Obama.  The fact that it is necessary underscores the depth of lawlessness to which his administration has descended. 
On a more optimistic note, however, two new judicial rebukes this week, notable for their harsh terms, show that he remains subject to some degree of adult supervision. 
In the first decision, quoted in part above, the nation’s second-highest court commanded Obama’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission to cease “simply flouting the law” by refusing to rule on the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste depository in Nevada.  The governing 1983 statute mandates that the Commission “shall consider” applications and “issue a final decision approving or disapproving” within three years.  Here, however, the application in question was filed in 2008, making it more than two years overdue. 
That is no accident or innocent oversight, but rather deliberate delay in violation of federal law.  Obama had promised during his campaign to stifle the project, so his appointees to the Commission just refused to take up the application. 
Exacerbating matters, in 2011 the same D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals had directed the Commission to complete the procedure post haste.  “By its own admission,” however, “the Commission has no current intention of complying with the law.” 
Accordingly, the Court issued a rare writ of mandamus, which amounts to an extraordinary order compelling performance of a ministerial act when all other judicial remedies have failed.  In so doing, it felt compelled to address the broader issue of the Obama Administration’s habitual lawlessness: 
“This case has serious implications for our constitutional structure.  It is no overstatement to say that our constitutional system of separation of powers would be significantly altered if we were to allow executive and independent agencies to disregard federal law in the manner asserted in this case by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  Our decision today rests on the constitutional authority of Congress, and the respect that the Executive and the Judiciary properly owe to Congress in the circumstances here.” 
In a second case this week, a federal court rejected a lawsuit by Obama’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against a Dallas, Texas, employer that used criminal background checks in its hiring process. 
Back in February, CFIF detailed a new EEOC memorandum informing employers that they may be sued for screening job applicants for criminal convictions.  At that time, we detailed how over 90% of surveyed employers use criminal background checks, often at the specific instruction of their attorneys.  After all, employers may be held liable for the violent or illegal acts of their employees against third parties or fellow employees.  Moreover, background checks help prevent such things as theft, fraud or other misconduct against the employer itself. 
Additionally, courts across the country have specifically ruled that employers are within their rights to refuse employment on the basis of criminal conviction.  In fact, the EEOC itself uses criminal background checks. 
Nevertheless, the EEOC announced to employers that, “criminal record exclusions have a disparate impact on race and national origin.” 
Dismissing an EEOC lawsuit against Freeman Company, which employs approximately 30,000 people, U.S. District Court Judge Roger Titus was having none of it: 
“The story of the present action has been that of a theory in search of facts to support it.  But there are simply no facts here to support a theory of disparate impact resulting from any identified, specific practice of the Defendant. 
"Indeed, any rational employer in the United States should pause to consider the implications of actions of this nature, brought based upon such inadequate data.  By bringing actions of this nature, the EEOC has placed many employers in the ‘Hobson’s choice’ of ignoring criminal history and credit background, thus exposing themselves to potential liability for criminal and fraudulent acts committed by employees, on the one hand, or incurring the wrath of the EEOC for having utilized information deemed fundamental by most employers.  Something more, far more, than what is relied upon by the EEOC in this case must be utilized to justify a disparate impact claim based upon criminal history and credit checks.  To require less would be to condemn the use of common sense, and this is simply not what the discrimination laws of this country require.” 
Of course, common sense and faithful execution of the nation’s laws have never been the Obama Administration’s North Star.  From illegal “recess” appointments to Environmental Protection Agency overreach to ObamaCare revisions contrary to the law itself, this is an administration that considers itself above the law. 
Alongside Obama’s plummeting approval ratings, this week’s judicial branch rebukes offer a rude rebuttal to that belief. 
--



"…criminal record exclusions have a disparate impact on race and national origin."
We have entered Wonderland. 
---

P.S.  Incidentally, there is already something of a censorship nature going on, with the likes of

* Wikepedia choosing to slant their listings a certain way, according to the desires of those behind it (e.g., the 'accepted,' mainstream position in health issues rather than an alternate, presumably too 'controversial' view);

* Google possibly burying sites that they don't want to gain traction with the public; and a big one, that I can attest to personally:

* Google making it difficult, if not impossible, for the public to access a site or sites.  Case in point: the website of terribletruth.marthatrowbridgeradio,org.  Martha is an investigative researcher who has uncovered some evidence that Stanley Ann Dunham was not the real mother of BHO, but that he was the product of a liaison between Malcolm X and a young Jewish NewYork City woman named (Jo) Ann Newman, of a very leftist family, who has been seen recently as a mysterious woman in Obama's company.  When I tried to access this site a couple of days ago, to check on some recent detail, my cursor froze on the site, and I couldn't access it; even after repeated attempts.  
     How come, Google???

--

P.P.S.  from opednews.com:  'Gangster State US/UK' - Paul Craig Roberts - Aug. 21
(commentary on the UK's retention of the Guardian's reporter Glenn Greenwald's partner and the trashing of his communications materials)


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1 fan, 12 comments 

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The Total Surveillance Society Is Here

Thanks, Dr. Roberts, for 'keeping on their case'.  

'They': those who would presume to be a law unto themselves.

Being above the law means to them, e.g. - in this country - the Obama administration's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) spending millions of the taxpayers' dollars for the warrantless collection and analysis of American citizens' financial transactions, specifically credit card transactions.  

Didn't know the rot had gotten that far??...And some citizens thought the NSA's outrageous outreach into  all - ALL - of our phone and Internet connections was bad enough...

Indeed, Paul Craig: Welcome to the police state.   

Or will the late lamented United States please stand up???      
Submitted on Wednesday, Aug 21, 2013 at 7:49:49 PM


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