American Gulag

It seems clear to me, kind reader, that the United States had, during the last four or five years, moved dangerously close to creating the old Soviet Union gulags... in that it was trying to (and did) imprison people solely for their political opinions. By that I mean prison time was obviously being handed out for no legal reason other than whether this person is a Trump supporter. George Papadopoulos, Rick Gates, Michael Flynn, and Roger Stone have been mousetrapped by dirty FBI cops and a sympathetic legal system as a way of punishing them for their support of the Orangeman.

Their actual ‘process crimes’ (primarily inconsequential lying under oath) feel very much like set-ups wherein they and their families were crushed financially by the sheer power and perfidy of a corrupt and politicized Obama FBI and Justice Department ... organizations that Attorney General Barr is doing his best to restore to dignity and fairness. (Notice I have not included in this list Trump’s old lawyer, Michael Cohen, or his former brief campaign manager, Paul Manafort ... bot of whom were convicted of serious felonies: money laundering, tax evasion and corruption ... unconnected to the Trump campaign.)

And an even more disturbing aspect of this politicalization of crimes in the Washington, DC swamp is that known perjurers such as Comey, McCabe, Clapper, Brennan, Sally Yates, Susan Rice and maybe higher-ups ... are still walking free ... and under no legal jeopardy (that we know of currently). And, if they are being investigated and found guilty, is this political persecution too?

Nah!

Perhaps, it’s a good thing that we have no Siberia equivalent?

Headlines

One vote recount win gives Democrats tie in Virginia state house

House IT aides ran car dealership with markings of a nefarious money laundering operation

Senators, White House lay groundwork for 'dreamers' deal ...

Hillary Clinton's approval rating falls to record low

Tax bill wacks liberal big cities

FBI Deputy Director [Rosenstein] ought to be replaced says top Senate Republican

Drug, alcohol deaths at workplace soar ...

Legal immigration hit 8.5 million under Obama

GOP defectors block Trump's Ex-Im Bank nominee

The New York Times biggest investor [Carlos Slim] is selling over half his shares

Netflix now big as all cable ...

[Rep.] Jordan: DOJ 'orchestrated plan' to prevent Trump from becoming president

Awan to be Alone

OK ... let's take some bank fraud, money laundering, possible blackmail of Congressmen, likely kickbacks, a suspicious bankruptcy, e-mail hacking, espionage, stealing, double billing, aiding and abetting of terrorism, etc., etc. ... mix it all together with a high-level cover up ... sounds like a pretty juicy [Democrat] scandal,for our MSM right? Nope ... not when you spend all your reportage on how the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians to defeat the incorruptible Hillary Clinton for president ... which, to date, has resulted in dozens of dead ends.

This story has been around since at least February, but its only coverage to speak of has been in a few on-line news sites, the NY Post and Fox News. It involves the Awans, three Pakistani brothers, and two wives who all worked in IT for Democrat House representatives ... each earning the maximum of $160,000 per annum for mostly no-show jobs. The other shenanigans that this quintet were involved in will curl your hair. But rather than recanting all of them here, I suggest you read it in this synopsis: The Biggest Scandal You Never Heard Of. And the oldest Awan brother was just arrested trying to flee the country after wiring hundreds of thousands of dollars back to Pakistan. Some of the others have already slipped out.

To view part of the cover-up efforts in this case go to: Powerline Blog

Will this scandal grow so large as to eclipse Russia-gate like it clearly should? Not if the MSM, the Deep State, Comey and Mueller  have anything to say about it. Priorities are priorities after all!

You now get an inkling of why Trump has changed "swamp" to "sewer" when describing Washington.

Carom Shot

To keep with its insidious methods of getting around Congress ... its oversight and funding controls ... the Obummer Justice Department under the direction of Eric Holder concocted a carom-shot way of the public funding of private lefty organizations ... in particular those ever-evasive "community organizers" (read voter fraud cabals). How was this bunco game pulled off you ask? Here's how:

1) The Justice Department fines a public company a large amount of money (often a financial institution and often in the billions of dollars) for misfeasance and malfeasance often associated with the bursting of the housing bubble.

2) Offer the fined company the option of paying just a fraction of this amount (sometimes as little as 10%) to a designated "community organizing" group who then were supposed to use this money to right the wrongs created by the fined company. This, of course, was often the option picked by the transgressors.

3) This community organizing group were then free to use these funds for often Democrat political purposes (such as voter fraud) ... away from the view and control of Congress. If you will, an Obummer administration sponsored extra-legal money laundering operation.

The degree to which the Justice Department has been politicized under this current administration is mind-boggling. To see the depressing details of this particular scam of theirs, see: GAI.

This also smacks of the Justice Department's Fast and Furious extra-legal gun running operation to Mexico ... that should have resulted in criminal indictments ... but, as we have too often seen this "Just Us" group seldom will prosecute its own or those on the left.

Money Laundering

The following article is a very thorough and interesting case study in money laundering by David Brock and his network of "non-profits" and Democrat political-action organizations including Media Matters ... see: Zero Hedge Article for some revealing reportage. Actually these barely concealed  fiscal shenanigans seem to be more a money skimming operation than a money laundering one. It would seem that Brock, who once was a liberal Democrat, then a purported Republican before changing back his allegiance in 1997 under suspicious Clintonian circumstances, was a little fast and loose in setting up this scam ... as such operations usually have many more layers of camouflage.

It seems likely the this amateurish attempt to copy the Clinton crime family's Foundation complex was meant primarily to reward Mary Pat Bonner, President of the Bonner Group, the documented  money skimmer. Ms. Bonner jointly rented a summer house in the Hamptons with Mr. Brock and is assumed to be either his girlfriend or, more likely, his beard. Why the IRS has not investigated this obvious money skimming (or laundering) is beyond me? It is blatantly obvious in the included imaged documents. Perhaps the IRS was too busy thwarting all those Tea Party groups from getting a tax exempt status?

It is not clear if and how Ms. Bonner rewarded Mr. Brock for all this easy money (which would make it money laundering.) That would be "the rest of the story."

"Legal Tender ...

For all debts, public and private." Not so fast! Now, increasingly, businesses are not accepting cash payments for goods or services rendered ... they only accept cell-phone-wallet or credit-card payments. Can they do this? What if one doesn't have plastic or a smart phone? Isn't this the same as "voter suppression" ... shopper suppression? I guess it depends on whose Gore is being oxed? Besides our underclasses don't shop the way that we, the privileged class, does ...

I guess I am naive, but I thought that the term "legal tender" printed on the top of our paper currency meant something ... and refusing fiat money would bring the wrath of our Treasury Department down on one. Apparently not ... we live in the cowardly new world of techno-elitists whose disdain for Luddites, like myself, is brutal and unforgiving. One has to wonder if this lax enforcement of our monetary laws has something to do with the huge political donations coming out of Wall Street and Silicone Valley?

To read all about this strange new merchant meme, please visit ... CBS News Story.

Upon reflection, there actually might be one side benefit to this unnerving new commercial custom ... and that is monetary transactions will be everywhere electronically captured. This would mean that more of the shadow economy would be forced into the sunlight ... and, because of sophisticated data mining algorithms, money laundering might get a little more difficult.

Money Laundering

The U.S. federal deficit in 2008 (G.W. Bush’s last year in office) was $407 billion (see Bush's Last Deficit). This includes substantial spending ($246 billion) to stop our slide into recession. This year, 2011, the federal deficit is projected at $1.65 trillion … over four times as large! And this year’s deficit does not include the 2009's Stimulus Bill spending, is after the 2008/2009 TARP spending, and includes the spending wind-down on the IRAQ war. The question is why?

I think the unfortunate answer is that the Obama administration has done lots of squirrely things … often extra-legal things that throw government (read “taxpayer”) money at favored groups who, most often turn around and help fill the DNC’s coffers (a sophisticated form of money laundering.) Shall we use here that favored liberal pejorative, "corporate welfare"? (See: Obama's Corporate Welfare) The Democrats have, for decades, decried this supposed corporate favoritism by Republicans. Yet, when they control things, it’s as though the elephant has suddenly morphed into a donkey … only this time it’s not just corporations but now most unions are added to the line of those with their hands out.

Why is it that so little of this payola makes it into most newspaper's front page … or the broadcast network's evening news? Because of this sickening yet predictable media oversight, I will attempt to here list a few of these payoffs that have recently bloated or will bloat our federal spending, devalue the U.S. dollar, and threaten this country with eventual bankruptcy.

$4 billion in current General Motors’ tax breaks: See, GM Tax Breaks

$27+ billion in UAW pension fund bail out: See, UAW Pension Bailout.

Zilch in 2010 federal taxes paid by GE: See, General Electric Largess

$500 million Obama gift to "community organizers": See Get Out The Vote Money

Multi-multi-billion dollars of foreign bank bailouts: See, Bernanke's Secret

$363 billion in the Fannie/Freddie honey pot: See, Fannie/Freddie Bailouts

Over 1000 Obamacare waivers to companies and unions: See, Obamacare Wavers

$3.27 trillion = the true cost of the “job stimulus” program: See,  Job Stimulus Spending

At least $5.5 billion in “green” subsidies: See,  Better Building Initiative

$180 billion of new corporate tax breaks: See, Corporate Tax Breaks

$5 billion of early-retirement health care subsidies under Obamacare: See, Obamacare Subsidies
  
$53 billion of high-speed rail subsidies:  See, High-Speed Rail Subsidies

etc., etc.

If you are not now sick to your stomach, you have not clicked on enough of the above links.  Is it any wonder that Obama expects to raise one billion dollars for his re-election campaign in 2012?  Certainly not ... in fact, I believe he will easily surpass that number ... and buy himself another 4 years of White House festivities, family vacations ... and money laundering.

Dirtbag Award

This blog site has just instituted the "Dirtbag Award."  This will be a periodic prize given to that person or persons in the national news who have distinguished themselves by craven behavior far beyond the call of civilized behavior.  There is no voting for this award beyond the gag reflexes of the keeper of this blog.

Now for the first bestowing of this prize (see picture above) ... trumpets please.  Our initial recipient is John Tierney, Congressman from the 6th District of Massachusetts, whose wife, Patricia, just pled guilty in federal court to money laundering and tax evasion.  These charges stem from Patricia Tierney's management of a bank account that illegally funneled $7 million of proceeds from the off-shore (Antigua) on-line gambling operations of her brothers, Robert and Daniel Eremian, indicted in August of this year on charges of racketeering, money laundering and operating an illegal gambling business.  Although congressman Tierney denies any hint or knowledge of his wife's illicit activities, he did vote in 2006 (along with Barney Frank and six other Massachusetts congressmen) against the bill that made the laundering of such gambling proceeds illegal (the bill passed in the House 317-93 and became law).  Read the whole story here.