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« on: June 02, 2016, 03:39:35 PM » |
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The Patriot Post Digest 5-31-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
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Mid-Day Digest
May 31, 2016
THE FOUNDATION
“The best and only safe road to honor, glory, and true dignity is justice.” —George Washington (1779)
TOP RIGHT HOOKS
Syrian Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing1
Syrians, Palestinians and other Middle Easterners are trying to reach the United States by committing fraud through getting on the registry of Honduran citizens and then applying for U.S. visas, a Honduran newspaper reported2. Hundreds of individuals allegedly have committed the act, and they didn’t do it on their own. It required organized crime in the Honduran government to find Honduran citizens who either died or did not apply for an identification card, and then to give those identities to Syrians, et al., seeking entry. Who wants to bet that terrorist cells exploited this con and “Honduran” jihadists are now in the U.S.?
This news comes at a time when the number of illegal immigrants crossing the border is beginning to increase. Border Patrol agent and union representative Chris Cabrera told The Washington Post3 that Border Patrol is beginning to see an increase of fence hoppers that might match the illegal immigration surge of 2014. Indeed, Mexico has detained more illegal immigrants from Central America traveling through the country this year than it did two years ago.
Meanwhile, leaders in American cities seem oblivious to the security threat. Philadelphia, a city that already forbids its law enforcement from working with ICE, set up a hotline that essentially tips off illegal immigrants whenever ICE shows up in a neighborhood. So not only has Philly refused to work with ICE, it’s actively undermining the federal government’s efforts to protect our borders.
Speaking of sanctuary cities, the family of Kate Steinle4 is suing over her death at the hands of a repeatedly deported illegal immigrant. The suit alleges a series of mistakes on the part of government workers that put an illegal immigrant and a gun at a San Francisco pier last year. “Most of the actors involved were following federal government policy which flows straight from the White House, combined with official positions taken by the City of San Francisco,” points out5 Hot Air’s Jazz Shaw. “This wasn’t an error or an oversight… the system was functioning as implemented by those in charge at the federal, state and municipal levels.” It’s a policy that continues to leave Americans exposed to crime6, and if left unresolved, terrorism.
The VA’s ‘Amusement’ Ride7
Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald has riled the nation by callously comparing8 ailing veterans on waiting lists to park goers at Disney. “When you go to Disney, do they measure the number of hours you wait in line?” McDonald wondered. “Or what’s important? What’s important is, what’s your satisfaction with the experience? And what I would like to move to, eventually, is that kind of measure.”
As House Speaker Paul Ryan responded, “This is not make-believe, Mr. Secretary. Veterans have died waiting in those lines.” And for reasons like the following: According to Fox News9, “A newly released study hammered the Department of Veterans Affairs for spending a fraction of its budget on new doctors while devoting millions to lawyers and public affairs officials — as thousands of veterans were waiting for care. The study from OpentheBooks.com shows that between 2012 and 2015, just one in 11 new hires were ‘medical officers.’ The findings are fueling criticism that the VA’s problems amount to more than just resources.”
Of the 39,000 job positions added since 2012, only a fraction of them — 3,591 — were filled by medical officers. But the agency also added another 175 lawyers, raising its legal team to 1,060 members who collect $454 million in compensation annually. As nefarious and corrupt as this department is, it’s no wonder it needs so many lawyers.
In related news, a new Senate report could help explain why the situation isn’t getting any better. According to USA Today10, a “probe by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee” into the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Tomah, Wisconsin, “found the inspector general’s office, which is charged with independently investigating VA complaints, discounted key evidence and witness testimony, needlessly narrowed its inquiry and has no standard for determining wrongdoing.” Moreover, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), chairman of the investigating committee, calls the VA’s failures “systemic.” The VA is corrupt, but so is the inspector general. Who’s going to watch the watcher?
Editor’s Note: Don’t miss Obama’s latest attempt at social engineering in the military with ridiculous “LGBT Pride Month” posters11.
The Mass Killings Leftists Won’t Talk About12
Every time an armed sociopath goes on a murderous rampage, leftists — before any facts are even known — quickly and collectively demand additional gun control measures. But in cities like Chicago, hundreds of lives are taken every year, mostly by gang members, though the majority of Americans generally won’t find news of their deaths floating across their television screens. The reason has to do with the circumstances. The same deafening response to issues like urban violence will be repeated regarding the scores of people we now know have been murdered through Barack Obama’s Fast and Furious gun control scheme13.
According to Judicial Watch14, “Justice Department documents [reveal] that weapons sent from the U.S. into Mexico as part of the Obama administration’s Operation Fast and Furious gunrunning program have been widely used by major Mexican drug cartels. According to the new records, over the past three years, a total of 94 Fast and Furious firearms have been recovered in Mexico City and 12 Mexican states, with the majority being seized in Sonora, Chihuahua and Sinaloa. Of the weapons recovered, 82 were rifles and 12 were pistols identified as having been part of the Fast and Furious program. Reports suggest the Fast and Furious guns are tied to at least 69 killings.”
All lives matter. Sadly, the media believes mass killings are worth covering only when the circumstances surrounding their deaths fit the narrative. That narrative doesn’t include a government-sanctioned program that resulted in dozens of murders.
BEST OF RIGHT OPINION
Burt Prelutsky: The Morphing of America15
Hans von Spakovsky: Senators to AG: Stop Targeting Opponents of Obama’s Energy Policies16
Peggy Noonan: Hillary Embodies Washington’s Decadence17
For more, visit Right Opinion18.
FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Government-Orchestrated Theft19
By Arnold Ahlert
Two fundamental principles America used to honor were one’s right to be left alone, and the idea that one is innocent until proven guilty. According to the Institute for Justice, from 2005 to 2012, the IRS turned both principles upside down. In more than 2,500 cases, the tax-collecting agency seized20 an astounding $242.6 million from individuals they accused of money “structuring” violations. In 618 cases from 2007 to 2013, the agency seized $43 million — even when there was no other evidence of criminal activity. “Every American knows that for the IRS to take somebody’s money and to threaten to put them in jail because of how they deposit money in the bank is wrong,” testified21 Institute for Justice attorney Robert Johnson, during a meeting of the House Ways and Means Committee last week. “It’s not how our country should work.”
That’s putting it mildly.
Most structuring cases are tied to a 1970 law called the Bank Secrecy Act22, that created structuring and civil forfeiture laws ostensibly enacted to combat large-scale drug dealing and money laundering. Yet there is a damned if one does, damned if one doesn’t aspect to them that is quite disturbing. The law requires23 banks to report to the government any deposits, withdrawals or transfers of more than $10,000, essentially an invasion of privacy in search of malfeasance. Yet if one decides to make deposits below that threshold, and the financial institution suspects one of doing so to avoid such scrutiny, they are also required to report it. And absent any other indication of criminal activity, if the government decides one is guilty of structuring, one can be charged with a felony punishable by a fine and/or up to five years in prison.
It gets worse. Even as banks are required to report suspicious activity to the feds, they are prohibited from letting the customer know they are doing so. Moreover, banks deemed to have insufficiently scrutinized those customers can be financially sanctioned, and bank employees determined to have neglected their duty in that regard can also be criminally charged and sent to jail.
The inevitable result? “There’s lots of risk in under-policing for structuring, and virtually no risk of losing customers due to a policy of over-reporting them to the government,” writes columnist Radley Balko. “Most customers will never know. The problem of course is that when you force banks to cast such a wide net, they’re going to report a lot of people who have done nothing wrong.” |
