659 Instances of Lying, Lawbreaking, Corruption, Cronyism Within the Obama Admin
659 Instances of Lying, Lawbreaking, Corruption, Cronyism Within the Obama Admin
This is well-sourced documentation of the hundreds of instances
of malfeasance within the Obama administration, 659 to be exact, with
links to source material in each.
The Obama administration is without a doubt the most corrupt and
blantantly criminal we have ever witnessed in the history of this
country.
We will just list the top 25 below, you can refer to the link at the
bottom for the full list. We figure that most of you would rather keep
your last meal down.
And now, on with the list:
1)
Carried out military interventionism in Libya without Congressional approval
In June 2011, U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) said that
Obama had violated the Constitution when he launched military operations
in
Libya without Congressional approval.
2)
Gave a no-bid contract to Halliburton – just like Bush did
In May 2010, it was
reported
that the Obama administration had selected KBR, a former subsidiary of
Halliburton, for a no-bid contract worth as much as $568 million through
2011, just hours after the Justice Department had said it would pursue a
lawsuit accusing the Houston-based company of using kickbacks to get
foreign contracts.
3)
Has an administration full of lobbyists, after promising he wouldn’t have any
While running for President, Obama had promised that, unlike Bush, he
would not have any lobbyists working in his administration. However, by
February 2010, he had more than 40
lobbyists working in his administration.
4)
Has close ties to Wall St., but pretends to support Occupy Wall St.
Although Obama claims to support the Occupy Wall St. movement, the truth is that he has raised
more
money from Wall St. than any other candidate during the last 20 years.
In early 2012, Obama held a fundraiser where Wall St. investment bankers
and hedge fund managers each paid
$35,800 to attend. In October 2011, Obama
hired
Broderick Johnson, a longtime Wall Street lobbyist, to be his new
senior campaign adviser. Johnson had worked as a lobbyist for JP Morgan
Chase, Bank of America, Fannie Mae, Comcast, Microsoft, and the oil
industry.
5)
Broke his promise to close Guantanamo Bay
Obama
broke his promise to close Guantanamo Bay.
6)
Supported the $700 billion TARP corporate-welfare bailout just like Bush
While Senator, Obama
voted
for the $700 billion TARP bank bailout bill. The bailout rewarded
irresponsible and illegal behavior. It redirected resources from more
productive uses to less productive uses. It punished the hard working
taxpayers who had played by the rules and obeyed the law. It created
horrible incentives, and sent the wrong message. The bailout was evil
because it rewarded the bad people and punished the good people. No
society that does this can expect to remain free or prosperous. Instead
of bailing out these corrupt corporations, we should have let them cease
to exist, like we did with Enron.
7)
Waged the biggest war against medical marijuana of any president, which was the opposite of what he had promised
In May 2008, Obama campaign spokesperson Ben LaBolt
said that Obama would end DEA raids on medical marijuana in states where it’s legal. Also in 2008, Obama
said
that he supported the “basic concept of using medical marijuana for the
same purposes and with the same controls as other drugs” and that he
was “not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to
circumvent state laws.”
However, in February 2010, DEA agents
raided
a medical marijuana grower in Highlands Ranch in Colorado, a state
where medical marijuana is legal. Also in February 2010, DEA agents
raided a medical marijuana dispensary in Culver City in California, a state where medical marijuana is legal. In July 2010, the DEA
raided at least four medical marijuana growers in San Diego, California. Also in July 2010, the DEA
raided a medical marijuana facility in Covelo, California. Then in September 2010, the DEA conducted
raids
on at least five medical marijuana dispensaries in Las Vegas, Nevada,
where medical marijuana is legal. In 2011, the DEA conducted
raids
on medical marijuana in Seattle, Washington, West Hollywood,
California, and Helena, Montana, all places where it is legal. In April
2012, the DEA carried out several
raids on medical marijuana in Oakland, California.
In February 2012, Rolling Stone magazine
wrote
that Obama’s war against medical marijuana went “far beyond anything
undertaken by George W. Bush.” In April 2012, Mother Jones magazine
wrote:
“The president campaigned on the promise that he’d stop federal raids
on medical marijuana operations that were in compliance with state laws,
a vow that Attorney General Eric Holder repeated after the election.
But then the Obama administration raided more than 100 dispensaries in
its first three years and is now poised to outpace the Bush
administration’s crackdown record.” In May 2012, the Washington Post
wrote:
“Obama has become more hostile to medical marijuana patients than any
president in U.S. history.” In May 2012, U.S. Congressperson Nancy
Pelosi (D-California)
said
she had “strong concerns” about Obama’s forced closure of five medical
marijuana facilities in Pelosi’s congressional district. In April 2012,
commenting on Obama’s crackdown on medical marijuana, U.S. Congressman
Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts)
said, “I’m very disappointed… They look more like the Bush administration than the Clinton administration.”
In July 2012, federal prosecutors
filed
civil forfeiture actions against Harborside Health Center, a medical
marijuana dispensary in Oakland, CA, which claims to be the world’s
largest, and which claims to serve more than 100,000 medical marijuana
patients. In April 2012, federal agents
raided
Oaksterdam University, an educational institution in Oakland, CA, which
teaches people about medical marijuana. In April 2012, federal agents
raided
a medical marijuana facility which had been serving 1,500 patients near
Lake Elsinore, CA. In June 2012, the Obama administration
filed
asset-forfeiture lawsuits against two landlords who rented their
buildings to medical marijuana stores in Santa Fe Springs, CA. The Obama
administration also sent warning letters which threatened similar legal
action to dozens of other, nearby landlords. During the first seven
months of 2012, the DEA
shut down 40 medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado, all of which had been operating in compliance with state and local law.
In April 2013, the DEA
raided four medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles, California. Also in April 2013, the DEA
raided a medical marijuana dispensary in San Diego, California. In July 2013, the DEA conducted multiple medical marijuana
raids in Washington state, including the cities of Olympia, Tacoma, and Seattle. In August 2013, the DEA
raided People’s Choice Alternative Medicine, a medical marijuana facility in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In October 2013, the DEA
raided 28 medical marijuana facilities in Michigan. In November 2013, the DEA
raided 12 medical marijuana facilities in Denver, Colorado.
In May 2012, ABC News
reported
that during Obama’s youth, he often smoked large quantities of
recreational marijuana. Obama’s marijuana smoking wasn’t even medical –
it was recreational. And yet now, he is taking large scale, widespread
action to prevent people with AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis,
glaucoma, and other illnesses, who have prescriptions from their
doctors, from using their prescription medicine – how cold hearted can a
person be?
8)
Nominated a six-time tax cheater to head the government agency that enforces the tax laws
Obama nominated Timothy Geithner, a repeat
tax cheater, to head the government agency that enforces the tax laws.
Prior to his nomination, Geithner had:
1) Illegally failed to pay more than
$34,000 in social security and medicare taxes
2) Illegally declared the cost of his children’s
summer camp as a form of day care.
3) Illegally failed to pay the early withdrawal
penalty when he took money out of his retirement plan
4) Illegally declared non-eligible items as a
charitable deduction
5) Illegally declared something which was ineligible as a
small business deduction
6) Illegally declared
utility expenses which had actually been for his personal use
9)
Gave tax dollars to AIG executives, then pretended to be outraged about it
Obama
signed a stimulus bill that spent money on bonuses for AIG executives. Prior to signing this bill, Obama had
said,
“when I’m president, I will go line by line to make sure that we are
not spending money unwisely.” However, after reading “line by line” and
signing the stimulus bill that protected the AIG bonuses, Obama
pretended
to be shocked and outraged at the bonuses, and said, “Under these
circumstances, it’s hard to understand how derivative traders at A.I.G.
warranted any bonuses at all, much less $165 million in extra pay… How
do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the
company afloat?” and also said that he would “pursue every single legal
avenue to block these bonuses.”
10)
Expanded Bush’s unconstitutional government faith based programs
Obama
expanded the federal government’s faith based programs which had been started by President George W. Bush.
11)
Supported Bush’s unconstitutional Patriot Act
In May 2011, Obama
signed a renewal of the Patriot Act.
12)
Increased the national debt more in one term than Bush did in two
The national debt
increased more during Obama’s first three years and two months than it did during all eight years of George W. Bush’s presidency.
13)
Agrees with Bush’s support of unconstitutional, indefinite detention of U.S. citizens without filing any charges
In December 2011, ACLU executive director Anthony D. Romero
criticized Obama for signing a bill that gave the U.S. government the
power to
indefinitely detain U.S. citizens without any charges being filed or any trial taking place.
14)
Agrees with Bush’s support of unconstitutional, warrantless wiretapping
President Obama has
defended warrantless wiretapping.
15)
Avoided prosecution of Wall. St criminals
Although Obama had
promised to prosecute Wall St. criminals, during
his entire first term, his administration did not file any criminal charges against any of the top financial executives.
16)
Had four U.S. citizens killed without judicial process
Obama had
four U.S. citizens killed without judicial process.
The ACLU
accused Obama of violating the U.S. Constitution for doing this.
U.S. Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX)
said that Obama’s actions might be an impeachable offense.
Ralph Nader
wrote that Obama
“has extended the Bush doctrine by
declaring his unilateral right, as secret prosecutor, judge, jury, and
executioner, to destroy anybody, anywhere in the world, including
American citizens, suspected to be engaged in alleged terrorist
activities, all this vaguely and loosely defined as anti-U.S. security.”
17)
Ordered private company to fire 1,000 employees
In 2011, after Boeing had hired 1,000 new employees to work at its
new factory in South Carolina, the Obama administration ordered Boeing
to
shut down the factory, because the factory was non-union.
18)
Stole money from retired teachers and police officers
During the Chrysler bankruptcy, Obama violated the Fifth Amendment
and more than 150 years of bankruptcy law by illegally treating secured
creditors
worse
than unsecured creditors. Some of these secured creditors were retired
teachers and police officers from Indiana. Richard A. Epstein, a law
professor at New York University School of Law,
wrote,
“Upsetting this fixed hierarchy among creditors is just an illegal
taking of property from one group of creditors for the benefit of
another, which should be struck down on both statutory and
constitutional grounds.” Todd Zywicki, Professor of Law at George Mason
University School of Law,
wrote that Obama’s treatment of secured creditors was “dangerous to the rule of law.” The Economist
wrote
that Obama’s actions could “establish a terrible precedent. Bankruptcy
exists to sort legal claims on assets. If it becomes a tool of social
policy, who will then lend to struggling firms in which the government
has a political interest?” Francis Cianfrocca, the CEO of Bayshore
Networks,
wrote
that Obama’s actions were “an astonishingly reckless abrogation of
contract law that will introduce a new level of uncertainty into
business transactions at all levels, and make wealth generation more
difficult going forward… An extraordinary uncertainty has been created
when the most powerful man in the world can rewrite contracts and choose
winners and losers in private negotiations as he sees fit. Since this
is an unquantifiable uncertainty, and not a quantifiable risk, its
effect on business and investor confidence will be large and
unpredictable. As in the 1930s, a time when government also cavalierly
rewrote private contracts, the prudent approach for business will be to
invest minimally and wait for another administration.”
19)
Supported release of convicted mass murderer
In 2010, Obama supported
releasing Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi (who had been
convicted of murdering 270 people) from prison.
20)
Illegally put thousands of guns into hands of criminals
In Operation Fast and Furious, the Obama administration
ordered gun storeowners to illegally sell thousands of guns to criminals.
U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was
murdered with one of these guns.
The murderer was sentenced to
30 years in prison, but his accomplices, Eric Holder and Barack Obama, haven’t even been arrested or charged.
21)
Fired Inspector General for discovering that Obama’s friend had embezzled government funds
In June 2009, Obama
fired
Inspector General Gerald Walpin, after Walpin accused Sacramento mayor
Kevin Johnson, an Obama supporter, of misuse of AmeriCorps funding to
pay for school-board political activities. In a letter to Congress, the
White House said that Walpin was fired because he was “confused,
disoriented, unable to answer questions and exhibited other behavior
that led the Board to question his capacity to serve.” A bipartisan
group of 145 current and former public officials, attorneys, and legal
scholars
signed
a letter that was sent to the White House, which defended Walpin, said
the criticisms of him were not true, and said that his firing was
politically motivated. The letter can be read
here.
22)
Lied about putting health care negotiations on C-SPAN
Although Obama had made a campaign
promise to have all of the health care reform negotiations broadcast on C-SPAN, he broke that promise after he was elected.
The secrecy of these negotiations was so strong that U.S. Congresswoman and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California)
said, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.”
23)
Lied about letting people keep their health insurance
Before Obamacare was passed, Obama
said:
“No matter how we reform health care,
we will keep this promise to the American people… If you like your
health care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health care plan, period.
No one will take it away, no matter what.”
Also before Obamacare was passed, Obama
said:
“Here is a guarantee that I’ve made. If you have insurance that you like, then you will be able to keep that insurance.”
However, after Obamacare was passed, the Congressional Budget Office said that the law would cause
seven million people to lose their employer provided insurance.
After Obamacare was passed, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East announced that it would
drop
health insurance for the children of more than 30,000 low-wage home
attendants. Mitra Behroozi, executive director of benefit and pension
funds for 1199SEIU stated
“… new federal health-care reform
legislation requires plans with dependent coverage to expand that
coverage up to age 26… meeting this new requirement would be financially
impossible.”
Also, after Obamacare was passed, the Franciscan University of Steubenville
dropped its coverage in response to the law.
Universal Orlando
dropped its coverage for part time employees in response to Obamacare.
In addition, after Obamacare was passed, Forbes
reported
“The House Ways and Means Committee
has released a new report that sheds light onto how Obamacare
incentivizes companies to dump their workers onto the new law’s
subsidized exchanges.”
Also after Obamacare was passed, MSN
reported
“The Affordable Care Act mandate
most commonly known as Obamacare has some tight stipulations that, CNN
says, are forcing health care companies to rip up most of their current
plans and draft new ones that comply. According to a University of
Chicago study, just about half of the individual health care plans
currently on the market won’t cut it once key provisions of the
Affordable Care Act kick in next year.”
Furthermore, it was
reported that Obamacare would cause 58,000 Aetna and UnitedHealth Group customers in California to lose their insurance.
In response to Obamacare, some employers have
dropped coverage for their employees’ spouses. In August 2013, it was
reported
that UPS had announced that it would be dropping 15,000 spouses of its
employees from its health insurance, and that it had cited Obamacare as
the reason it was doing this.
The chain of Wegmans supermarkets
cancelled the policies of its part time employees in response to Obamacare.
In July 2013, leaders of the Teamsters, UFCW, and UNITE-HERE sent a
letter to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi which said that Obamacare
“will shatter not only our
hard-earned health benefits… these restrictions will make non-profit
plans like ours unsustainable… we can no longer stand silent in the face
of elements of the Affordable Care Act that will destroy the very
health and wellbeing of our members along with millions of other
hardworking Americans”
In August 2013, it was
reported that 106,000 New Jersey citizens would lose their health insurance because of Obamacare.
In September 2013, IBM
announced that it would be switching 110,000 of its retirees from their current IBM-provided health insurance to the Obamacare exchanges.
In September 2013, Trader Joe’s
announced that, in response to Obamacare, it would stop providing insurance to its part time employees.
In October 2013, it was
reported that at least 146,000 people in Michigan would be losing their insurance because of Obamacare.
In October 2013, it was
reported that Florida Blue would be dropping 300,000 customers because of Obamacare.
In October 2013, it was
reported that 491,977 individual insurance plans in California would be canceled because of Obamacare.
In October 2013, it was
reported that, in response to Obamacare, Home Depot would stop providing insurance to its part time employees.
In October 2013, it was
reported
that Obamacare was forcing CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield to cancel the
insurance of 76,000 people in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.,
because their policies did not meet the minimum requirements of
Obamacare.
In October 2013, it was
reported that hundreds of thousands of people in Washington state would be losing their insurance because of Obamacare.
In November 2013, it was
reported that nearly nearly 250,000 people in Colorado would lose their insurance because of Obamacare.
In January 2014, it was
reported that, in response to Obamacare, Target was planning to stop offering insurance to its part time employees.
24)
Lied about the cost of Obamacare
Before Obamacare was passed, Obama
promised
“I will not sign a plan that adds one
dime to our deficits – either now or in the future. I will not sign it
if it adds one dime to the deficit, now or in the future, period. And to
prove that I’m serious, there will be a provision in this plan that
requires us to come forward with more spending cuts if the savings we
promised don’t materialize.”
However, after Obama signed it, the Washington Post
reported that it would add more than $340 billion to the budget deficit over the next decade.
In March 2012, the Congressional Budget Office said that over the next decade, Obamacare would cost
twice as much as what Obama had promised.
In May 2013, it was
reported that Obamacare’s program for high risk patients was more expensive than what Obama had promised.
25)
Gave tax dollars to campaign contributors and lobbyists, and falsely claimed the money was for “green energy”
In 2009 the Obama administration
gave $535 million to Solyndra, claiming that it would
create
4,000 new jobs. However, instead of creating those 4,000 new jobs, the
company went bankrupt. It was later revealed that the company’s
shareholders and executives had
made substantial
donations to Obama’s campaign, that the company had spent a large sum of money on
lobbying, and that Solyndra executives had had many
meetings with White House officials.
It was also revealed that the Obama administration had already been
aware of Solyndra’s financial troubles. For example, according to the
company’s security filings in 2009, the company had been selling its
product for
less than the cost of production. In 2010, Obama visited the Solyndra factory and cited it as a role model for his stimulus program,
saying “It’s here that companies like Solyndra are leading the way toward a brighter and more prosperous future.” The Washington Post
wrote
of this, “Administration officials and outside advisers warned that
President Obama should consider dropping plans to visit a solar startup
company in 2010 because its mounting financial problems might ultimately
embarrass the White House.” Solyndra was a private company, but had
been planning to use its government loans as a means of going public –
so when Obama knowingly overstated the company’s condition in order to
help his friends at Solyndra, he
broke the same law that Martha Stewart had been sent to prison for breaking.
In September 2011, federal agents
visited
the homes of Brian Harrison, the company’s CEO, and Chris Gronet, the
company’s founder, to examine computer files and documents. Also in
September 2011, the U.S. Treasury Department
launched an investigation.
On September 13, 2011, the Washington Post
reported
on emails which showed that the Obama administration had tried to rush
federal reviewers to approve the loan so Vice President Joe Biden could
announce it at a September 2009 groundbreaking for the company’s
factory. The company was a hallmark of President Obama’s plan to support
clean energy technologies.
The New York Times
reported
that government auditors and industry analysts had faulted the Obama
administration for failing to properly evaluate the company’s business
proposals, as well as for failing to take note of troubling signs which
were already evident. In addition, Frank Rusco, a program director at
the Government Accountability Office, had found that the preliminary
loan approval had been granted before officials had completed the
legally mandated evaluations of the company.
The New York Times
quoted
Shyam Mehta, a senior analyst at GTM Research, as saying “There was
just too much misplaced zeal at the Department of Energy for this
company.” Among 143 companies that had expressed an interest in getting a
loan guarantee, Solyndra was the first one to get approval. During the
period when Solyndra’s loan guarantee was under review, the company had
spent nearly $1.8 million on lobbying. Tim Harris, the CEO of Solopower,
a different solar panel company which had obtained a $197 million loan
guarantee, told the New York Times that his company had never considered
spending any money on lobbying, and that “It was made clear to us early
in the process that that was clearly verboten… We were told that it was
not only not helpful but it was not acceptable.”
The Washington Post
reported
that Solyndra had used some of the loan money to purchase new equipment
which it never used, and then sold that new equipment, still in its
plastic wrap, for pennies on the dollar. Former Solyndra engineer
Lindsey Eastburn told the Washington Post, “After we got the loan
guarantee, they were just spending money left and right… Because we were
doing well, nobody cared. Because of that infusion of money, it made
people sloppy.”
On September 29, 2011, the Washington Post
reported
that the Obama administration had continued to allow Solyndra to
receive taxpayer money even after it had defaulted on its $535 million
loan.
On October 7, 2011, The Washington Post
reported
that newly revealed emails showed that Energy Department officials had
been warned that their plan to help Solyndra by restructuring the loan
might be illegal, and should be cleared with the Justice Department
first. However, Energy Department officials moved ahead with the
restructuring anyway, with a new deal that would repay company investors
before taxpayers if the company were to default. The emails showed
concerns within the Obama administration about the legality of the
Energy Department’s actions. In addition, an Energy Department stimulus
adviser, Steve Spinner, had pushed for the loan, despite having recused
himself because his wife’s law firm had done work for the company.
In January 2012, CBS News
reported
that Solyndra had thrown millions of dollars worth of brand new glass
tubes into garbage dumpsters, where they ended up being shattered.
Solyndra told CBS that it had conducted an exhaustive search for buyers
of the glass tubes, and that no one had wanted them. However, CBS
discovered that Solyndra had not offered the glass tubes for sale at
either one of its two asset auctions that took place in 2011. In
addition, David Lucky, a buyer and seller of such equipment, told CBS
that he would have bought the tubes if he had had a chance to do so.
Greg Smestad, a solar scientist who had consulted for the Department of
Energy, also agreed that the tubes had value, and had asked Solyndra to
donate any unwanted tubes to Santa Clara University. Smestad stated,
“That really makes me sad… Those tubes represent intellectual
investment. These could have had a better value to do public good. I
think they owed the U.S. taxpayer that.”
In April 2012, CBS News reported that Solyndra had left a substantial amount of
toxic waste at its abandoned facility in Milpitas, California.
Solyndra was not the only “green energy” company involved in this
type of fraud. After Obama gave Raser Technologies $33 million to build a
power plant, the company declared
bankruptcy,
and owed $1.5 million in back taxes. After Obama gave Abound Solar,
Inc. a $400 million loan guarantee to build photovoltaic panel
factories, the company
halted
production and laid off 180 employees. After Obama gave Beacon Power a
$43 million loan guarantee to build green energy storage, the company
filed for
bankruptcy.
After Obama approved $2.1 billion in loan guarantees for Solar Trust of
America so it could build solar power plants, the company filed for
bankruptcy.
Although Obama stated that all of the “green energy” companies that
received taxpayer money were chosen “based solely on their merits,” the
truth is that 71% of these grants and loans went to
Obama donors and fundraisers,
who raised $457,834 for his campaign, and were later approved for
grants and loans totaling more than $11 billion. By November 2011, the
Energy Department’s inspector general had begun more than 100 criminal
investigations related to Obama’s
stimulus.
Although an “independent” review said that Obama had not done anything
wrong, it was later reported that Herbert M. Allison Jr., the person who
had conducted this “independent” review,
donated $52,500 to Obama’s campaign.