A Tale of Two Charitable Foundations by the Clowntown Observer

The Charlotte Observer’s editorial board disgusts me.  These people are shameless partisans to the point of being clownish.   If you hear another mysterious evil clown report, just write it off as the circus at the Charlotte Observer.

Here we have a tale of two op-eds from the Clowntown Observer.  One is about Pam Bondi and Donald Trump’s pay to play and the other is Hillary Clinton’s no pay to play.  First the Trump editorial it begins:

If Donald Trump were treated like an ordinary presidential candidate, the speculations swirling around an illegal donation his charitable foundation gave to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R) might dog his campaign from now until Election Day. The situation smells of influence-buying. Even if one takes Bondi’s explanations seriously, the facts already on the record are damning.

It ends:

The news should, however, remind voters of two of the many disqualifying elements of Trump’s record. First is the scandal of Trump University and the Trump Institute, but voters should also see how Trump once again attempted to use his charitable foundation, which other people have funded over the past several years, for his own personal ends. The $25,000 he transferred from the foundation to Bondi was an illegal donation; charitable groups cannot give to campaigns.

These points, among others, suggest that Trump’s penchant for lying and deception does not end with relatively harmless campaign-season overstatement. It is a business strategy, and it has real-world consequences.

Isn’t that precious?  Now get a load of the Hillary Clinton scandal, it begins with this:

If you believe public officials’ doors should be equally open to all, you can’t be happy with the news that Clinton Foundation donors comprised more than half of the private citizens Hillary Clinton met with while secretary of state.

There’s no evidence of pay-for-play, as Donald Trump keeps insisting. It appears no laws were broken or ethics rules compromised. And yet, giving 85 of 154 private audiences to donors to your family’s charity sure smells like pay-for-access, if not pay-for-play.

As bad as that looks, though, it’s legally OK. If it weren’t, ethical shadows might dog the entire Congress. Our leaders won’t admit it, but pay-for-access goes on in Washington, D.C., all day every day. And yet, Congress just can’t seem to pass effective campaign finance reform to squelch the impact of big money on our politics

It gets even better.

The foundation does critically important work around the globe. Clinton foes who are reducing it to a political foil might not literally be bound for hell, as ex-Clinton aide James Carville suggests, but surely new leadership can step in to continue its good deeds.

In the meantime, D.C. partisans who are shocked – shocked! – to find possible pay-for-access in their midst should pass legislation strengthening safeguards against it.

The Clinton Foundation spent 10% on charitable grants while pocketing nearly 67%.  The only good work that’s being done is lining the pockets of the Clintons.  It’s time for the Charlotte Observers editorial board to pile back into their clown car.

Source:

http://thefederalist.com/2015/04/27/in-2013-the-clinton-foundation-only-spent-10-percent-of-its-budget-on-charitable-grants/

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/editorials/article97661692.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article100927612.html#storylink=cpy

VA Scandal Exposed Apathetic Democrats and Politicization of Bureaucracies

How many times have we been told the Democratic Party is for the common man?  These phonies will trumpet their mantra every chance they get, but when it gets down to doing the work for the “little people” it’s nothing but hot air.  That’s exactly what a former federal employee union leader found out when she tried to get Democratic politicians to address the gross misconduct at VA hospitals.

Germaine Clarno admitted during a radio interview with host John Howell that Democrats ignored, dismissed or were at times outright hostile at her efforts to get members to do something about the negligence and abuses at the VA.  It wasn’t until she went to Republicans, as a last resort, when she began to get results.

HOWELL: Both [Sen. Dick] Durbin and [Rep. Tammy] Duckworth put out a statement last week, as did our junior senator Mark Kirk, who I know has been helpful to you, right doctor?

NEE: Yes. And I didn’t think he would be. He was the last resort.

HOWELL: And usually when a union has to go to Republicans it’s a frosty reception, I suppose.

CLARNO: Exactly. And if I would’ve gone to him two years ago, who knows what kind of lives could’ve been saved.

HOWELL: That’s a really sad aspect of this.

CLARNO: It is.

This VA scandal not only exposed the feckless nature of Democrats, it also demonstrated how politicized these federal bureaucracies have become.

Source: 

http://dailycaller.com/2016/03/10/union-officials-admit-they-let-veterans-die-rather-than-talk-to-republicans/#ixzz42WbdLWgD

Flint's Keynesian Wizard of Water

I knew it would be just a matter of time when someone would pull back the curtain on this Flint water contamination scandal and expose the flimflam many of us suspected.  And of course, the wizard behind this government scandal is Keynesian economics.

Informed people in the state of Michigan knew Flint is in a financial crisis and that a state appointed manager had to take over the reins.  The media would have us believe this water contamination mess is due to penny pinching measures implemented by stingy republicans who care more about saving a dollar than the health and wellbeing of citizens.  Not in this case.  The reason Flint didn’t renew their contract with the Detroit Water and Sewage Department was because practically everyone involved wanted a huge infrastructure project.  Here is an excerpt from Reason Magazine:

Snyder's office did not return my call, but sources close to the situation at the time tell me that it was essentially because Genesee County and Flint authorities saw the new water treatment as a public infrastructure project to create jobs in an area that has never recovered after Michigan's auto industry fled to sunnier business climes elsewhere. And neither Snyder nor his Emergency Manager Ed Kurtz nor the state treasurer Andy Dillon had the heart to say "no," especially since to hand Flint to DWSD would have made the whole project less viable.  What's more, they felt that just as Detroit was receiving an infrastructure boost post-bankruptcy (with the state-backed $650 million ice-hockey-arena-cum-entertainment center that I wrote about here) it was only fair that Flint get one too.

You have to read the whole article in order to get the full monty.

Source:

http://reason.com/blog/2016/01/25/the-flint-water-crisis-is-the-result-of

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/stimulus-package.asp

Political Speech is Social Welfare

Progressives have been on a crusade to curb political speech for over a hundred years.  They’ve muzzled churches through the tax code.  They tried to shut up unapproved groups by passing legislation that violated our constitutional rights of free speech and association.  The Supreme Court overturned this law.  After Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, Democrats demanded the IRS punish Tea Party activist for daring to participate in the political process.  And the fascist within this agency happily complied.

Democrats are trying to defend the IRS.  We are beginning to see a narrative form.  The totalitarians are trying to distinguish political speech from social welfare.  As far as I’m concerned, there is no difference between the two.  When you have a cadre of politicians conspiring to undermine our unalienable rights, the citizens of this country have an obligation to speak out.

Political speech is social welfare.  If we don’t protect our heritage and the blessings of liberty from the likes of Barack Obama, Dick Durbin, Chuck Schumer, and the rest of these Hugo Chavez wannabes, we will have failed to protect the birth right of future generations of Americans.

Democrats Dismiss IRS Scandal as a Conspiracy Theory

If you want to know what Democrats think of the American people, all you have to do is watch the above video.  Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) personifies your typical low-life political hack.

This so-called representative demeaned a congressional inquiry on IRS abuses that have proven to be true.  Now, operatives at this agency are involved in a cover up.  But according to Rep. Doggett these scandals are manufactured.  They’re just conspiracy theories for right-wingers.

It’s no wonder Democrats are dismissive of this scandal.  The IRS has been doing their dirty work.  Harassing and intimidating conservatives is more effective than running ads or campaigning.  It’s easier to shut your opponents up when the IRS is your enforcer.

Source:  http://dailycaller.com/2014/06/20/democratic-congressman-to-irs-commissioner-you-deserve-better-video/

Libtards Don't Believe IRS E-Mails are Lost

You know it's bad when libtards at MSNBC don't believe the lies the IRS is peddling on this Lois Lerner/White House scandal.

Erskine Bowles Knee Deep in NC Pension Scandal

North Carolina state employee pensioners are taking a hit from another bad investment. And one of the Democratic Party’s top Tar Heel stars is in the middle of a scandal:

The state’s retirement system last week joined a class-action lawsuit against the social networking site and its underwriters, including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, that alleges the companies misrepresented Facebook’s initial public stock offer earlier this year. The original lawsuit was filed in May.

But the full extent of North Carolina’s exposure to the company’s dwindling stock value only became clear in court documents filed Aug. 9 in a New York federal court. The state disclosed the loss as it fights to be named among the lead plaintiffs in the case.

“Facebook and its underwriters told one thing to the public, but shared the real facts with only a few select investors on Wall Street,” State Treasurer Janet Cowell said in a statement. “Our goal is to recover our pension fund’s financial damages.”

The state pension fund – valued at $75.9 billion March 31 – provides retirement benefits for 850,000 current and former state workers.

The fund bought 685,737 shares of Facebook stock May 17 at the initial price of $38 a share, according to documents from the state treasurer’s office. The state’s stock portfolio managers then sold a small portion of the $26 million investment the next day, making about $215,000. But the stock dropped nearly 20 percent in the first two days and now sits at nearly half its original value. The state’s reported $4.1 million unrealized loss is a legal calculation and the total amount could be much larger. At the time of the filing last week, the state still held about 618,000 shares of Facebook stock, records show. Facebook’s stock closed Friday at $19.05, down eight-tenths of 1 percent for the day.

North Carolina is arguing that they should be the lead plaintiffs in this lawsuit. But, there is a problem. Erskine Bowles, the Charlotte Observer’s messiah, is knee deep in this mess.

But a competing law firm is raising questions about whether North Carolina can serve as lead plaintiff given the state treasurer’s ties to Facebook and Morgan Stanley board member Erskine Bowles, a defendant in the suit.

Attorney David Rosenfeld with law firm Robbins Geller Rudman and Dowd wrote in court documents that Cowell and the state pension fund “maintain significant personal and financial ties” with Bowles, a prominent Democrat who is the former head of the UNC system and two-time U.S. Senate candidate.

The filings assert that Bowles’ firm Carousel Capital manages millions of dollars in the state pension fund and Bowles wife, Crandall, was a fundraiser for Cowell’s campaign. Cowell’s office did not respond Friday to questions about Bowles. The state’s attorney expects to file a response early next week.

It looks like the Chicago-way has come to the Tar Heel state.

Source: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/08/17/3461857/north-carolina-retirees-lost-at.html#storylink=cpy