Here are 178 examples of Barack Obama’s lying, lawbreaking, corruption, cronyism, hypocrisy, government waste, and other misdeeds
In the 2008 United States election, I wrote in Ron Paul for President. In the 2012 election, I voted for Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson. Those who are of a more leftist persuasion than myself might want to consider voting for the Green Party in future elections.
Some of the things on this list are major events that should scare the daylights out of any true liberal who cares about civil liberties.
Other things on this list are medium things that some Obama supporters may dislike, but would be willing to overlook in light of the things that Obama has done which they like.
And some of the things on this list may seem trivial, but I still think they are an interesting reflection of the kinds of policies that Obama supports.
I have cited a wide variety of sources, from right wing, to left wing, to middle of the road.
I welcome any comments and criticisms that you may have.
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 for military support services in Iraq, just hours after the Justice Department had said it would pursue a lawsuit accusing the Houston-based company of taking kickbacks from two subcontractors on Iraq-related work.
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) Allowed abuse of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay to become even worse than it was under Bush
Under President Obama, abuse of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay became even worse than it had been under President Bush.
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 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 a U.S. citizen killed without judicial process
The ACLU accused Obama of violating the U.S. Constitution by having a U.S. citizen killed without judicial process. U.S. Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) said that Obama’s actions might be an impeachable offense.
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.
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 doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. 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.”
However, after the law was passed, the Congressional Budget Office said that the law would cause seven million people to lose their employer provided insurance.
After the law 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 the law 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 the law.
In addition, after the law 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 the law 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.”
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.
26) Had “off the record” meetings with lobbyists
In June 2010, the New York Times reported that Obama administration officials had held hundreds of meetings with lobbyists at coffee houses near the White House, in order to avoid the disclosure requirements for White House visitors, and that these meetings “reveal a disconnect between the Obama administration’s public rhetoric — with Mr. Obama himself frequently thrashing big industries’ ‘battalions’ of lobbyists as enemies of reform — and the administration’s continuing, private dealings with them.”
27) Falsely claimed to believe in public education
Although Obama said, “We need to uphold the ideal of public education,” he expressed his true opinion of America’s public education system by sending his own children to private schools while living in Chicago and Washington D.C.
28) Had armed SWAT agents raid a law-abiding guitar factory because it was owned by a Republican
President Obama had armed SWAT agents raid the Gibson guitar factory, ordered the employees to leave, and seized guitars and other property from the factory – and all of this happened without any charges being filed.
It was later reported that Gibson had not broken any U.S. laws.
Obama’s so-called justification for the raid was that Gibson had broken environmental laws from India regarding the imported wood that Gibson had been using.
However, Gibson claimed that it had not broken any Indian laws – and no charges were filed against it.
In addition, it was also reported that Henry E. Juszkiewicz, the CEO of Gibson, was a Republican donor.
Meanwhile, C.F. Martin & Company, Gibsons’s competitor, had used the exact same imported wood, but had not gotten raided. Chris Martin IV, the CEO of Martin, was a Democratic donor.
29) Shut down Amish farm
In February 2012, Obama shut down an Amish farm for selling unpasteurized milk across state lines, even though the customers were happy with what they were buying.
30) Rewarded his fundraisers by giving them federal jobs
Although Obama had promised to have “the most sweeping ethics reform in history,” and had often criticized the role of money in politics, the truth is that after he was elected, he gave administration jobs to more than half of his 47 biggest fundraisers.
31) Ignored constitutional requirements for appointees
In February 2009, U.S. Senator Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia) expressed concern that Obama’s dozens of czars might violate the U.S. Constitution, because they were not approved by the U.S. Senate. U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin) expressed a similar concern in September 2009.
32) Gave tax dollars to corrupt private contractors
While Obama was a state Senator in Illinois, he used tax dollars to build 504 units of slum housing, which had mice and backed up sewage. Federal inspectors graded the condition of the housing so bad that the buildings faced demolition.
33) Used tax dollars to glorify murderers
The Obama administration spent $1.6 million to restore graffiti that glorified communist murderers Che Guevara and Fidel Castro.
34) Falsely claimed that the U.S. Supreme Court had never overturned any laws that had been passed by Congress
Despite having taught constitutional law at one of the most prestigious law schools in the country, in April 2012 Obama falsely claimed that the U.S. Supreme Court had never overturned any laws that had been passed by Congress.
35) Supported new bailouts for speculators who caused housing bubble
In March 2012, Obama announced a new set of bailouts for speculators who had caused the housing bubble.
36) Spent $205,075 of taxpayer money on a shrubbery which nurseries sell for $16
As part of his economic stimulus, Obama spent $205,075 of taxpayer money to relocate and care for a single specimen of Arctostaphylos franciscana, a shrubbery which nurseries sell for $16.
37) Spent taxpayer money to see if using cocaine helped rats to enjoy the music of Miles Davis
Obama’s administration funded a study to see whether or not rats’ enjoyment of the music of Miles Davis was increased when the rats were high on cocaine.
38) Tried to outlaw family farms
In April 2012, the Obama administration proposed new regulations which would prohibit farm children under 18 from working at grain elevators, silos, feed lots, stockyards, and livestock auctions, as well as from storing, marketing and transporting farm product raw materials. Critics claimed that this would prevent children from the common practice of working on their friends’ and relatives’ farms, and that farm children did not need “help” from a community organizer in Washington.
39) Auctioned off ambassadorship to the Netherlands
In April 2012, Obama nominated Timothy Broas, who had “bundled” more than $500,000 for Obama’s 2012 campaign, to be U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands.
40) Claimed that written tests are a form of “racial discrimination”
The Obama administration accused fire and police departments in Jacksonville, Florida, New York City, and Dayton, Ohio of “racial discrimination” because they required potential firefighters and police officers to take a written test. Ten real examples of these “racist” questions from the New York test can be read here.
41) Made the TSA even more abusive and ridiculous than it had been under Bush
The Obama administration gave a very invasive patdown to a three-year-old boy in a wheelchair, which caused the boy to tremble in fear. The Obama administration gave an aggressive patdown to a seven-year-old girl with cerebral palsy. The Obama administration said that a four-year-old girl was a “high security threat.” The Obama administration placed an 18-month-old girl on its no fly list. The Obama administration gave a patdown to Henry Kissinger. The Obama administration forced a 95-year-old cancer patient to remove her adult diaper and fly without it. The Obama administration ripped open the urostomy bag of a 61-year-old bladder cancer survivor, and forced him to fly covered in his own urine.
42) Illegally demanded monetary payment for Freedom of Information Act request
The Obama administration demanded that the Goldwater Institute pay $78,935.80 before it would share public records which it had requested under the Freedom of Information Act.
43) Fined public school $15,000 for selling soda
The Obama administration fined a high school $15,000 for selling soda to students during lunch.
44) Conducted dangerous and illegal scientific experiments on people
From January 2010 through June 2011, the Obama administration conducted illegal scientific experiments which exposed 42 people to dangerous levels of toxins.
45) Gave middle finger to Vietnam veterans, their families, and their friends
On Memorial Day 2012, Obama prevented Vietnam veterans and their friends and families from visiting the Vietnam memorial for seven hours, so Obama could have his picture taken.
46) Took ownership and control of General Motors
Obama fired the CEO of General Motors, had the government take 60.8% ownership of the company, and ordered the company to close some of its dealerships.
47) Forced banks to give mortgages to people who could not afford to pay them back
While working as a “community organizer,” Obama filed lawsuits which forced banks to give mortgages to people with bad credit and low incomes. As a result, many of these people ended up defaulting on their mortgages. As their attorney, Obama collected $23,000 in legal fees for himself.
Then in April 2013, during Obama’s second term as President, the Washington Post reported that President Obama was still pressuring banks “to make home loans to people with weaker credit.”
48) Stole money from retired Delphi employees
In 2009, Obama eliminated the pensions of 20,000 retired Delphi employees.
49) Used taxpayer money to buy soda for $3.40 per can
During Obama’s presidency, the federal government repeatedly purchased soda for a cost of $3.40 per can. Obama did not express any desire to switch to a cheaper seller, such as Costco, amazon.com, or Wal-Mart – or to an even still cheaper seller such as a wholesaler. Instead, Obama repeatedly forced taxpayers to pay these outrageous prices for soda.
50) Paid $7 million per household to connect people to the internet
Obama’s stimulus paid to connect some households in Montana to the internet, at a cost of $7 million per household.
51) Had a double standard for Bain Capital
Although Obama criticized Mitt Romney for his involvement with Bain Capital, Obama hired Jeff Zients, a former consultant at Bain (and who had an estimated personal wealth of $200 million) to be his budget director.
52) Broke promise to teen campaign volunteers
Obama had promised to his teen campaign volunteers that if they each spent nine hours going door to door on Obama’s behalf, he would invite them to attend his speech of September 6, 2012. However, after the teens did the volunteer work, Obama broke his promise. One of these volunteers, Madeline Frank, age 16, of Charlotte, North Carolina, said of this “I’ve been looking forward to this for a really long time. I am just feeling really let down and like bummed. It was kind of my dream to see him speak, so definitely really sad.”
53) Falsely claimed to know more about Judaism than any other President
Obama falsely claimed to know more about Judaism than any other President.
54) Exempted wind farms from the penalties that other electric producers got for killing eagles
In May 2013, ABC News reported:
“Wind farms in this corner of Wyoming have killed more than four dozen golden eagles since 2009, one of the deadliest places in the country of its kind.”
“But so far, the companies operating industrial-sized turbines here and elsewhere that are killing eagles and other protected birds have yet to be fined or prosecuted – even though every death is a criminal violation.”
“The Obama administration has charged oil companies for drowning birds in their waste pits, and power companies for electrocuting birds on power lines.”
“But the administration has never fined or prosecuted a wind-energy company, even those that flout the law repeatedly.”
55) Falsely claimed that he had never belonged to the New Party
Obama falsely claimed that he had never belonged to the New Party, which is a third political party.
56) Supported punishing students based on their race instead of on their behavior
Obama expressed support for a proposal which would punish students based on their race instead of on their behavior.
57) Used “off the books” funding for military interventionism
In April 2009, antiwar activists who helped elect Obama accused him of using the same “off the books” funding as his predecessor George W. Bush when Obama requested an additional $83.4 billion from Congress for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – a provision which Obama had voted against when he was a Senator.
58) Tried to silence criticism of auto-bailouts
The Obama administration pressured Ford Motor Company to stop airing a TV ad that criticized Obama’s bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler.
59) Dismissed charges of voter intimidation, despite video evidence
In May 2009, the Obama administration dismissed charges that had been filed by the Bush administration against members of the New Black Panther Party who had been videotaped intimidating voters and brandishing a police-style baton at a Philadelphia polling station during the November 2008 election. In August 2009, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights demanded that the Justice Department explain why it dismissed the charges. In July 2010, J. Christian Adams, a former lawyer for the Justice Department, testified before the Commission on Civil Rights that the case was dropped because the Justice Department did not want to protect the civil rights of white people.
60) Falsely claimed to support the second amendment
Although Obama stated, “I have always believed that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to bear arms,” the National Rifle Association gave Obama a rating of ‘F’ based on his voting record.
61) Nominated a communist who said 9-11 was an inside job
In September 2009, Obama’s green czar Van Jones resigned after it was reported that he was a self described “communist” and had blamed George W. Bush for the September 11 attacks.
62) Falsely said he would not raise taxes on the poor and middle class
On September 12, 2008, Obama promised, “I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.” However, less than three months into his Presidency, he broke that promise when he raised the cigarette tax. Studies show that poor people are more likely to smoke than rich people.
63) Falsely said he wanted to simplify the tax code, when he actually wanted to make it more complex
Although Obama said that he wanted to simplify the tax code, his proposals would actually add thousands of pages to the tax code.
64) Oversaw some of the world’s worst increases in corruption
In December 2010, Transparency International reported that corruption was increasing faster in the U.S. than anywhere else except Cuba, Dominica, and Burkina Faso.
65) Falsely said “This is the most transparent administration in history.”
In February 2013, Obama said, “This is the most transparent administration in history”
However, that same month, ABC News White House reporter Ann Compton, who covered Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, both Bushes, and Obama, said “The president’s day-to-day policy development… is almost totally opaque to the reporters trying to do a responsible job of covering it. There are no readouts from big meetings he has with people from the outside, and many of them aren’t even on his schedule. This is different from every president I covered. This White House goes to extreme lengths to keep the press away.”
In July 2009, White House reporter Helen Thomas criticized the Obama administration for its lack of transparency.
66) Falsely claimed he would wait five days before signing bills
Although Obama had promised to wait five days before signing all non-emergency bills, he broke that promise at least 10 times during his first three months in office.
67) Falsely claimed stimulus spending would be transparent
Although Obama had promised that the website recovery.gov would list all stimulus spending in detail, a 400 page report issued by the Government Accountability Office stated that only 25% of the projects listed on the website provided clear and complete information regarding their cost, schedule, purpose, location and status.
68) Announced plans to send military to Australia
In November 2011, Obama announced that he would send 2,500 Marines to Australia.
69) Falsely promised to accept public campaign financing and spending limits
During the 2008 campaign, Obama broke his promise to accept public campaign financing and the spending limits that came with it.
70) Tried to silence video on YouTube
In June 2011, Obama asked a Jewish singing group to remove its video from the internet.
71) Rejected international help to clean up BP oil spill
After the BP oil spill, Obama rejected offers of cleanup help from Canada, Croatia, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United Nations.
72) Falsely said he opposed government waste, when he actually loves it
On September 22, 2008, Obama said, “I am not a Democrat who believes that we can or should defend every government program just because it’s there… We will fire government managers who aren’t getting results, we will cut funding for programs that are wasting your money and we will use technology and lessons from the private sector to improve efficiency across every level of government… The only way we can do all this without leaving our children with an even larger debt is if Washington starts taking responsibility for every dime that it spends.” However, Citizens Against Government Waste gave Obama a 2007 rating of only 10%, and a lifetime rating of only 18%.
73) Nominated past frequent user of illegal drugs to keep illegal drugs out of schools
In September 2009, it was reported that Kevin Jennings, Obama’s Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, had written about Jenning’s own past frequent illegal drug use in his 2007 autobiography.
74) Avoids firing aides who owe back taxes
In January 2012, it was reported that 36 Obama aides owed a combined total of $833,000 in back taxes.
75) Used Abbott and Costello style economics as a basis for national policy
In 2010, Obama gave $16.3 million to First Solar, a company that manufactures solar panels, so the company could sell solar panels to itself.
76) Sent U.S. troops to Africa
Obama sent U.S. troops to Uganda, Congo, South Sudan and the Central African Republic.
77) Made secret plans for his second term
In March 2012, when Obama was talking to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and did not know that the microphone was turned on, Obama stated, “On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved but it’s important for him to give me space… This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.”
78) Holds double standard for people who use crude and vulgar language toward women
Concerned Women for America accused Obama of hypocrisy after Obama criticized Rush Limbaugh for using crude and vulgar language to describe Sandra Fluke, but Obama did not criticize Bill Maher (who had donated one million dollars to an Obama PAC) for using the same kind of crude and vulgar language to describe Sarah Palin.
79) Gave some employers special exemptions from health care reform
Although the Constitution requires the law to treat all citizens the same way, in October 2010, Obama gave McDonald’s and 29 other organizations an exemption from some of the requirements of his health care plan. Over time, more than 1,300 organizations were granted waivers. Many of these recipients were unions that had supported passage of the health care reform, but now wanted exemptions from the very same law that they want everyone else to follow.
80) Defended Bush administration’s unconstitutional, unwarranted use of GPS device
In January 2012, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Bush administration for having put a GPS tracking device on someone’s car without having a warrant, the Obama administration opposed the court ruling
81) Opposes newspapers reporting the news
Obama spokesman Jay Carney criticized the Los Angeles Times for publishing photographs of U.S. soldiers posing with corpses in Afghanistan.
82) Supported Bush administration for fining CBS for showing Janet Jackson’s breast
Obama came out in favor of the FCC’s fining of the CBS TV network $550,000 for showing Janet Jackson’s breast during the 2004 Super Bowl.
83) Allowed campaign contributors to bring lobbyists into White House
In April 2012, the New York Times reported, “Although Mr. Obama has made a point of not accepting contributions from registered lobbyists, a review of campaign donations and White House visitor logs shows that special interests have had little trouble making themselves heard. Many of the president’s biggest donors, while not lobbyists, took lobbyists with them to the White House…”
84) Falsely said that criminal background checks constituted “racial discrimination”
In 2012, the Obama administration accused Pepsico of “race discrimination” because it used criminal background checks to screen out job applicants.
85) Was cited by nine states for committing 21 illegal acts
Attorneys General from nine states issued a report, titled “A Report on Obama Administration Violations of Law,” which cited 21 illegal acts which had been committed by the Obama administration.
86) Tried to seize hotel because some of its customers had used illegal drugs
The Obama administration tried to seize a mom-and-pop bed-and-breakfast because some if its guests had used illegal drugs.
87) Falsely said his campaign was not funded by large donors
Although Obama has received many large campaign donations from corporate executives and Hollywood celebrities, his spokesperson said that his campaign was funded “not from huge donors at all.”
88) Holds double standard for subsidizing solar power companies
Although Obama gave taxpayer money to numerous American solar power companies, he placed a 30% tariff on solar panels imported from China, because he was against the Chinese government giving subsidies to its own companies.
89) Tried to create an administration full of tax cheaters
Obama nominated tax cheater Tom Daschle to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. After Daschle said he didn’t want the job, Obama then nominated tax cheater Kathleen Sebelius for the same position. Obama nominated tax cheater Nancy Killefer to be his administration’s Chief Performance Officer. Obama nominated tax cheater Hilda Solis to be the Secretary of Labor. Obama nominated tax cheater Ron Kirk be the White House Chief Trade Representative.
90) Hired a Communications Director who admires a mass murderer
Anita Dunn, Obama’s White House Communications Director, said that one of her favorite political philosophers was Mao Tse-tung, the Chinese dictator who murdered tens of millions of innocent civilians.
91) Tried to replace science with political correctness
In July 2010, Charles Bolden, the administrator of NASA, said that Obama had told him that the primary purpose of NASA was “to reach out to the Muslim world.”
92) Made recess appointments when Congress was not in recess
In January 2012, Obama violated the Constitution by making four recess appointments when Congress was not in recess. Recess appointments themselves are constitutional, but only if they are made when Congress is actually in recess.
In January 2013, a federal appeals court ruled that Obama’s appointments had violated the Constitution.
93) Said the health insurance mandate was not a tax, but later told the Supreme Court that it was
Before Obama’s health care reform was passed, he said that the mandate was not a tax. However, after it was passed, the Obama administration argued in front of the Supreme Court that the mandate really was a tax.
94 ) Lied about being his “brother’s keeper”
Although Barack Obama likes to cite the Bible phrase “We are our brother’s keeper,” when his real life poverty stricken brother George Obama needed $1,000 for health care bills, Barack Obama refused to pay it, so conservative author Dinesh D’Souza paid it.
95) Punishes hospitals for saving the lives of patients with heart disease
Obama’s health care reform contains a provision that reduces Medicare payments to hospitals with high 30-day readmission rates. Sunil Kripalani, MD, a professor with Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said of this, “Among patients with heart failure, hospitals that have higher readmission rates actually have lower mortality rates. So, which would we rather have — a hospital readmission or a death?”
96) Supports guns for himself and his wife, but opposes them for everyone else
On January 10, 2013, President Obama signed a bill that provides armed guards to himself and his wife for the rest of the lives.
However, in 2004, when Obama was an Illinois state Senator, he voted against allowing people in their own homes to use guns to protect themselves and their families from rapists and murderers.
97) Falsely claimed that he “cut spending by over a trillion dollars in 2011″
On “Meet the Press” on December 30, 2012, Obama said:
“I cut spending by over a trillion dollars in 2011″
In reality, spending during that time period was not cut at all, and was actually increased by $147 billion.
98) Practices environmental hypocrisy
In May 2008, Obama said, “We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK.”
However, just one week later, Obama was photographed exiting an SUV.
In addition, Obama keeps the White House thermostat turned up so high that David Axelrod, Obama’s senior adviser, said, “He likes it warm. You could grow orchids in there.”
Environmentalists criticized Obama for eating Wagyu beef, which was called “the Hummer of beef.”
Obama had a chef fly round trip from St. Louis to Washington D.C. so he could make Obama’s favorite pizza.
99) Pressured public schools to replace Catcher in the Rye with a book on window insulation
The Huffington Post reported that Obama’s education policies
“are increasingly worrying English-lovers and English teachers, who feel they must replace literary greats like The Great Gatsby and Catcher in the Rye with Common Core-suggested ‘exemplars,’ like the Environmental Protection Agency’s Recommended Levels of Insulation.”
100) Approved giving 20 F-16 fighter jets to a Sharia dictatorship
Obama approved giving 20 F-16 fighter jets to Egypt, which is a Sharia dictatorship.
101) Falsely claimed that his “Cash for Clunkers” program would help the environment
Although Obama claimed that his “Cash for Clunkers” program would help the environment, it actually caused net harm to the environment. Because the program required cars to be shredded instead of recycled, it wasted 24 million barrels of oil. Many of the cars that were destroyed were in perfectly good condition. Because the program’s minimum requirement for so-called “fuel efficiency” was only 22 mpg, the reduction in pollution was negligible.
102) Violated the very same campaign finance laws that he claims to support
In January 2013, it was reported that Obama’s campaign had been fined $375,000 by the Federal Election Commission for violating campaign finance laws.
103) Lied about how he had answered a questionnaire on gun control
In 1996, when Obama was answering a questionnaire on his political views, one of the questions was “Do you support state legislation to: ban the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns?”
Obama’s answer to the question was “Yes.”
However, in 2008, Obama said “My writing wasn’t on that particular questionnaire.”
However, ABC News later reported that the questionnaire “appears to have Obama’s handwriting.”
104) Falsely claimed that his 2013 inauguration was not funded by lobbyists
Although Obama claimed that his 2013 inauguration was not funded by lobbyists, its sponsors had actually spent $160 million on lobbying during Obama’s first presidential term.
105) Encouraged medical device manufacturers to lay off employees
In response to the medical device tax that is part of Obamacare, some medical device manufacturers have announced plans to layoff employees, including Welch Allyn (275 planned layoffs), Stryker (1,170 planned layoffs), and Medtronic (1,000 planned layoffs).
106) Encouraged employers to switch their workers from full time to part time
In response to the employer mandate of Obamacare, some restaurants have announced plans to switch some of their employees from full time to part time, including some franchises of Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Wendy’s, and Taco Bell.
Also in response to the employer mandate of Obamacare, some colleges have announced plans to switch some of their employees from full time to part time. Clint Benjamin, an English professor at Community College of Allegheny County, said that this would reduce his own monthly pay by $600.
Regal Entertainment Group, the largest chain of movie theaters in the country, announced that it would be switching thousands of its employees from full time to part time in response to the Obamacare mandate.
107) Broke his promise to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term
On February 23, 2009, Obama said “Today, I’m pledging to cut the deficit we inherited in half by the end of my first term in office.” Obama broke that promise.
108) Had Freedom of Information Act record worse than Bush’s
In September 2012, it was reported that when it came to honoring requests under the Freedom of Information Act, Obama’s record was worse than that of George W. Bush.
109) Supports installation of hidden cameras on private property without a search warrant
In October 2012, Obama’s Justice Department argued in favor of installing hidden cameras on private property without a search warrant.
110) Used “stimulus” money to pay people to play cards, board games, and video games
In October 2012, it was reported that LG Chem, a lithium-ion battery plant in Holland, Michigan, was using money from Obama’s “stimulus” to pay its employees to play cards, board games, and video games.
111) Spent half a million tax dollars on “Prom Week” video game
In 2012, the Obama administration spent $516,000 on a video game called “Prom Week.”
112) Hypocritically pays his female employees less than his male employees
Although Obama claims to support equal pay for men and women, his own adminstration pays its female employees 18% less than its male employees.
113) Falsely said that Romney’s pension was bigger than his own
During a debate in October 2012, Obama falsely stated that Mitt Romney’s pension was bigger than his own.
114) Has a double standard for investing in China and the Cayman Islands
Although Obama criticized Mitt Romney for having investments in China and the Cayman Islands, Obama himself has investments in both of those places.
115) Spent $27 million on “ineffective” pottery classes in Morocco
Obama spent $27 million on pottery classes in Morocco. The class used an American teacher, but the translater who was hired did not actually know how to speak English fluently, and made many mistakes. The instructor often did not bring the right materials to class. The dyes and clays that the instructor did use were not available in Morocco, which prevented the students from being able to copy what they had learned. It was concluded that the classes were “ineffective.”
116) Caused large amounts of perfectly good food to be thrown into the garbage
In one year, Obama’s new school lunch program caused the schools in Lake County, Florida, to throw away $75,000 of perfectly good fruits and vegetables.
117) Accepted illegal campaign contributions from foreign citizens
During an experiment, a non-U.S. citizen attempted to make two $5 donations to both Obama’s campaign website and Mitt Romney’s campaign website. While the Romney website rejected both donations, the Obama website accepted them.
118) Labels opponents of TSA sexual harassment as “domestic extremists”
The Obama administration labels anyone who objects to the TSA’s sexual harassment as a “domestic extremist.”
119) Lied about the Benghazi attack
In September 2012, after four U.S. citizens were killed in a terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, the Obama administration falsely said that the attack was a spontaneous protest against an anti-Muslim video at YouTube.
CBS News reported that although it was obviously a terrorist attack, it took an entire week before the Obama administration was willing to acknowledge it as such.
The Washington Post reported that Obama had falsely said that he had called it a terrorist attack from the very start.
After the attack began, someone (there is a debate over who this someone was) ordered the nearby U.S. military to “stand down,”, i.e., not offer any assistance. Obama is the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. military. Obama later falsely claimed that the “stand down” order had not been made.
After Obama found out about the attack, he went back to bed, and after he got up in the morning, he went off to Las Vegas for a fundraiser.
Although the Obama administration made a dozen revisions to its talking points on this incident, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney falsely stated that only a “single adjustment” had been made, and that it simply involved changing the wording of “consulate” to “diplomatic facility.” ABC News published a complete list of all the changes to the talking points, which can be read here.
Among the changes was the deletion of this entire paragraph:
“The Agency has produced numerous pieces on the threat of extremists linked to al-Qa’ida in Benghazi and eastern Libya. These noted that, since April, there have been at least five other attacks against foreign interests in Benghazi by unidentified assailants, including the June attack against the British Ambassador’s convoy. We cannot rule out the individuals has previously surveilled the U.S. facilities, also contributing to the efficacy of the attacks.”
Victoria Nuland, a State Department spokeswoman, played a key role in the editing of the talking points. But instead of firing her for this, Obama offered her a promotion.
120) Paid a train carrying biofuel to cross the U.S.-Canadian border 24 times without unloading
As part of Obama’s “green energy” program, Obama used tax money to pay for a train full of biofuel to cross the U.S.-Canadian border 24 times without unloading its cargo.
121) Falsely said that “we got back every dime” of the bailout
In October 2012, Obama said that “we got back every dime” of the bailout. However, at the same time, the Congressional Budget Office that said there was still $24 billion that had not been paid back.
122) Spent $50,000 of taxpayer money on a George S. Patton impersonator
In the summer of 2011, the Obama administration spent $50,000 on a George S. Patton impersonator
123) Spent $75,000 of taxpayer money on a bicycle
The Obama administration spent $75,000 of taxpayer money on a bicycle.
124) Complained to YouTube about an anti-Muslim video
In September 2012, the Obama administration phoned YouTube to complain about an anti-Muslim video.
Ben Wizner of the ACLU said that of this, “It does make us nervous when the government throws its weight behind any requests for censorship.”
Eva Galperin of the Electronic Frontier Foundation said of this, “I am actually kind of distressed by this… Even though there are all these great quotes from inside the White House saying they support free speech….by calling YouTube from the White House, they were sending a message no matter how much they say we don’t want them to take it down, when the White House calls and asks you to review it, it sends a message and has a certain chilling effect.”
125) Falsely said that Fast and Furious was started when Bush was President
In September 2012, Obama said that Fast and Furious had “begun under the previous administration.” In reality, Fast and Furious began in October 2009.
126) Is a “war criminal” who is “more aggressive, more illegal worldwide” than Bush, according to Ralph Nader
In September 2012, Ralph Nader said that Obama was a “war criminal” who was “more aggressive, more illegal worldwide” than George W. Bush.
127) Illegally refused to fire Kathleen Sebelius after she violated campaign finance laws
In February 2012, Kathleen Sebelius, Obama’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, violated campaign finance laws. Although federal law required Obama to fire Sebelius for her illegal activity, he refused to do so.
128) Supports policies that hurt small businesses
In September 2012, a survery of small business owners showed that 69% of them said that Obama’s regulatory policies have hurt small businesses. 55% said that they would not start a business under the current environment.
129) Spent $102,000 per year of taxpayer money on a “dog handler”
In September 2012, it was reported that Obama spent $102,000 of taxpayer money each year on a “dog handler.”
130) Refused to fire federal employee who sent email to 17,000 people praising terrorist who wanted to destroy U.S.
In 2012, an employee of Obama’s administration sent an email to more than 17,000 federal employees which praised Che Guevara, a terrorist who had wanted to destroy the U.S. Obama refused to fire the employee.
131) Called Fort Hood shooting “workplace violence” instead of “Islamic terrorism”
After Nidal Malik Hasan shouted “Allahu Akbar!” and murdered 13 people on U.S. soil, instead of referring to it as “Islamic terrorism,” Obama said that it was “workplace violence.”
132) Falsely said that switching to electronic medical records would make health care cheaper
Although Obama claimed that switching to electronic record keeping as part of Obamacare would make health care cheaper, it actually made it more expensive.
133) Spent $495,000 of “stimulus” money for ads on MSNBC
Obama spent $495,000 of “stimulus” money for commercials on MSNBC.
134) Lied about the cost of federal regulations
In September 2012, it was reported that the cost of federal regulations to citizens and business owners was more than 20 times as much as what Obama had said it was.
135) Broke his promise to pass immigration bill, and then lied about why he broke it
In 2008, Obama promised that he would pass an immigration bill during his first year in office. He broke that promise. He then blamed this on Republicans, even though both the House and Senate were controlled by Democrats during Obama’s first year.
136) Made it much harder for start ups to raise capital and create jobs
In July 2010, Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Act. The Wall St. Journal wrote of this:
“Senator Chris Dodd’s 1,400-page financial reform bill contains many economic land mines, and here’s one of the worst: Provisions that would make it harder for business start-ups to raise seed capital.”
“Currently, wealthy individuals who want to invest directly in a new business can do so with minimum interference from regulators. The law requires only that the investor be “accredited” by meeting thresholds for net worth ($1 million) or income ($250,000). Entrepreneurs depend on these “angel” investors, since many new businesses lack the collateral for bank loans and are too small to interest venture capitalists. “
“Amazon, Yahoo, Google and Facebook all benefited from angel investors, who typically target companies under five years old. According to a 2009 Kaufman Foundation study, such firms are less than 1% of all companies yet generate about 10% of new jobs. Between 1980 and 2005, companies less than five years old accounted for all net job growth in the U.S. In 2008, angels invested some $19 billion in more than 55,000 companies. “
“Mr. Dodd’s bill would change all this for the worse. Most preposterously, it would require that start-ups seeking angel investments file with the Securities and Exchange Commission and endure a 120-day review. Rare is the new company that doesn’t need immediate access to the capital it raises, and a four-month delay is the kind of rule popular in banana republics that create few new businesses. “
“The Dodd bill also raises the net worth and income thresholds to $2.3 million and $450,000, respectively. The Angel Capital Association, a trade group, estimates that these provisions would disqualify about 77% of current accredited investors.”
137) Paid six figure salaries to federal employees so they could watch pornography all day long
In April 2010, ABC News reported:
“On a day when President Obama argued for more government regulation over the financial industry, a new government report reveals that some high-level regulators have spent more time looking at porn than policing Wall Street. “
“The Securities and Exchange Commission is supposed to be the sheriff of the financial industry, looking for financial crimes like Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. But the new report, obtained by ABC News, says senior employees of the SEC spent hours on the commission’s computers looking at sites like naughty.com, skankwire, youporn, and others. “
“The investigation, which was conducted by the SEC’s internal watchdog at the request of Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, found 31 serious offenders over the past two and a half years. Seventeen of the offenders were senior SEC officers with salaries ranging from $100,000 to $222,000 per year. “
“Eight Hours a Day Spent on Porn Sites”
“One senior attorney at SEC headquarters in Washington spent up to eight hours a day accessing Internet porn. When he filled all the space on his government computer with pornographic images, he downloaded more to CDs and DVDs that accumulated in boxes in his offices. “
“An SEC accountant attempted to access porn websites 1,800 times in a two-week period and had 600 pornographic images on her computer hard drive.”
“Another SEC accountant attempted to access porn sites 16,000 times in a single month.”
138) Spent tax dollars on a “mindreader”
Obama used taxpayer money to hire a “mindreader.”
139) Used tax dollars to build a million dollar bus stop
Obama spent federal tax dollars to pay for part of the cost of a million dollar bus stop which opened in Arlington, Virginia in March 2013. Despite its huge cost, the bus stop can only accommodate 15 people, and does not even protect them from the wind and rain.
140) Filed a lawsuit against a non-existent “monopoly” in the beer industry
Although the number of breweries in the U.S. increased from 89 to 2,336 between 1978 and 2013, the Obama administration sued Anheuser-Busch InBev, which already owned half of Mexico’s Grupo Modelo, to prevent if from buying the other half, despite the fact that there were no laws on the books against such a purchase. The Obama administration’s so-called justification for this lawsuit against a law abiding company was that the company might, possibly, maybe, break some unspecified law, at some unspecified, distant point in the future.
141) Falsely said the sequester would cause janitors to take a pay cut
In February 2013, while talking about the sequester, Obama said
“The folks who are cleaning the floors at the Capitol — now that Congress has left, somebody is going to be vacuuming and cleaning those floors and throwing out the garbage — they’re going to have less pay… The janitors, the security guards, they just got a pay cut, and they’ve got to figure out how to manage that. That’s real.”
CBS News reported that Obama’s statement was false.
142) Falsely said that he goes skeet shooting “all the time”
At the beginning of Obama’s second term, he said that he goes skeet shooting “all the time.” However, a witness said that when he saw Obama go skeet shooting, Obama acted as if he had never fired a gun before, that he appeared to be uncomfortable with a gun, and that he only stayed for five minutes. In addition, during his first term, the media had never reported on his alleged skeet shooting, although it never failed to cover the more than 100 rounds of golf that he played during his first term.
143) Gave special access to people who raised or donated $500,000
In February 2013, the New York Times reported that people who raised or donated at least $500,000 to Organizing for Action, a political group that supported Obama, would be given “the privilege of attending quarterly meetings with the president, along with other meetings at the White House.”
144) Said the deficit had gone down when it had actually gone up
In February 2013, Obama said that the federal deficit had gone down by $2.5 trillion since he had taken office. In reality, it had actually increased by $5.9 trillion during that time.
145) Refused to make available necessary tax forms to taxpayers
On February 21, 2013, CBS News reported that the Obama administration had not yet made available dozens of different tax forms that taxpayers would need in order to meet the legal deadline of April 15 for filing their taxes.
146) Nominated someone to be Secretary of the Treasury who had participated in “the biggest tax scam on record”
Obama nominated Jack Lew to be Secretary of the Treasury. Lew had previously invested in the Cayman Islands, which Obama had referred to as “the biggest tax scam on record.”
147) Adopted harmful new restrictions on prescription painkillers – even though the House had already voted against them
After the U.S. House voted against new restrictions on prescription painkillers, the Obama administration ignored the House’s vote, and adopted the new restrictions anyway. Dr. Lynn Webster, president-elect of the American Academy of Pain Medicine said of these new restrictions, “It will have an impact on a lot of patients who have been receiving them for some time for legitimate purposes.”
148) Rolled back union transparency rules
The Obama administration rolled back union transparency rules, which had been created so that union members could find out how their union was spending their union dues.
149) Tried to eliminate workers’ right to a secret ballot when voting on whether or not to unionize
Obama supported the elimination of workers’ right to a secret ballot when voting on whether or not to form a union
150) Gave “supervised release” to a convicted criminal who later went on to murder a nun
Obama gave “supervised release” to a convicted criminal, who then went on to murder a nun.
151) Falsely said that he did not propose the sequester
On October 22, 2012, Obama said, “The sequester is not something that I’ve proposed.” However, on February 22, 2013, the Washington Post reported that “the automatic spending cuts were initiated by the White House” and that “Obama personally approved of the plan.”
152) Illegally refused to submit a budget on time during four of his first five years
The President is legally required to submit a budget by the first Monday in February. Obama broke this law during four of his first five years in office. Since 1921, no President had missed this deadline more than once.
153) Canceled White House tours for thousands of people so he could use the money to play golf with Tiger Woods
During the sequester in early 2013, the Obama administration said it would save $18,000 per week by cancelling all White house tours, despite the fact that thousands of people had planned their vacations far in advance. However, Obama had no problem with spending more than $1 million in tax money so he could go golfing with Tiger Woods for one weekend.
154) Falsely said the Newton shooter used a “fully automatic weapon”
In April 2013, four months after Adam Lanza murdered 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Obama falsely stated that the shooter had used a “fully automatic weapon.”
155) Broke his own deadline for creating healthcare exchanges
Three years after Obama signed Obamacare, the New York Times reported that Obama would miss his own deadline for creating some of the insurance exchanges for small businesses.
156) Falsely said that surgeons get paid between $30,000 and $50,000 for amputating a leg
In August 2009, while trying to justify the passage of Obamacare, Obama stated
“Let’s take the example of something like diabetes, one of — a disease that’s skyrocketing, partly because of obesity, partly because it’s not treated as effectively as it could be. Right now if we paid a family — if a family care physician works with his or her patient to help them lose weight, modify diet, monitors whether they’re taking their medications in a timely fashion, they might get reimbursed a pittance. But if that same diabetic ends up getting their foot amputated, that’s $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 — immediately the surgeon is reimbursed. Well, why not make sure that we’re also reimbursing the care that prevents the amputation, right? That will save us money.”
The American College of Surgeons responded to this by saying
“President Obama got his facts completely wrong. He stated that a surgeon gets paid $50,000 for a leg amputation when, in fact, Medicare pays a surgeon between $740 and $1,140 for a leg amputation. This payment also includes the evaluation of the patient on the day of the operation plus patient follow-up care that is provided for 90 days after the operation. Private insurers pay some variation of the Medicare reimbursement for this service.”
157) Falsely said that doctors perform unnecessary tonsillectomies to make more money
In July 2009, Obama said
“Right now, doctors, a lot of times, are forced to make decisions based on the fee payment schedule that’s out there. So if … your child has a bad sore throat, or has repeated sore throats, the doctor may look at the reimbursement system and say to himself, ‘You know what? I make a lot more money if I take this kid’s tonsils out.’”
“Now, that may be the right thing to do. But I’d rather have that doctor making those decisions just based on whether you really need your kid’s tonsils out or whether it might make more sense just to change — maybe they have allergies. Maybe they have something else that would make a difference.”
The American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery responded by saying
“The AAO-HNS is disappointed by the President’s portrayal of the decision making processes by the physicians who perform these surgeries. In many cases, tonsillectomy may be a more effective treatment, and less costly, than prolonged or repeated treatments for an infected throat.”
158) Purchased 2,717 mine resistant armor protected vehicles for use on civilian streets in the U.S.
In March 2013 it was reported that the Obama administration had purchased 2,717 mine resistant armor protected vehicles for use on civilian streets in the U.S.
159) Spends $277,050 per year for three professional calligraphists
In March 2013, it was reported that Obama was spending $277,050 of tax money per year for three professional calligraphists. It was also reported that cheap computer software could produce the exact same calligraphy for a tiny fraction of that cost.
160) Allowed 311,566 federal employees and retirees to get away with $3.5 billion in unpaid federal taxes
In 2011, Obama allowed 311,566 federal employees and retirees to get away with $3.5 billion in unpaid federal taxes.
161) Spent $2.6 million to teach Chinese prostitutes how to drink responsibly on the job
Obama spent $2.6 million to teach Chinese prostitutes how to drink responsibly on the job.
162) Fined UPS $40 million because some of its customers had used UPS to ship illegal drugs
In March 2013, Obama forced UPS to pay $40 million because some of its customers had used UPS to ship illegal drugs.
163) Added 20,000 extra pages to Obamacare without Congressional approval
After Obamacare was passed, Obama added 20,000 extra pages to it, even though those extra 20,000 pages had not been voted on by Congress.
164 ) Signed health care reform law whose own authors called it a “huge train wreck” that was “beyond comprehension”
U.S. Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana), one of the authors of Obamacare, said of it, “I just see a huge train wreck coming down.”
U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-West Virginia), another author of the law, said it was “beyond comprehension.”
165) Eliminated disclosure requirements for most federal employees in the executive and legislative branches
In April 2013, Obama eliminated the disclosure requirements for most federal employees in the executive and legislative branches.
166) Waited until after the 2012 election to release unpopular Obamacare rules
In April 2013, the New York Times reported:
… even fervent supporters of the law admit that things are going worse than expected.
… the Obama administration didn’t want to release unpopular rules before the election.
Everything is turning out to be more complicated than originally envisioned.
A law that was very confusing has become mind-boggling… Americans are just going to be overwhelmed and befuddled. Many are just going to stay away, even if they are eligible for benefits.
167) Made it easy for people to fraudulently collect $50,000 by falsely claiming to be “farmers”
In April 2013, the New York Times reported
the Obama administration’s political appointees at the Justice and Agriculture Departments engineered a stunning turnabout: they committed $1.33 billion to compensate…
The deal… was fashioned in White House meetings… the $50,000 payouts to black farmers had proved a magnet for fraud.
the claims process prompted allegations of widespread fraud and criticism that its very design encouraged people to lie… Agriculture Department reviewers found reams of suspicious claims, from nursery-school-age children and pockets of urban dwellers, sometimes in the same handwriting with nearly identical accounts of discrimination.
As a senator, Barack Obama supported expanding compensation for black farmers, and then as president he pressed for $1.15 billion to pay those new claims.
In 16 ZIP codes in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and North Carolina, the number of successful claimants exceeded the total number of farms operated by people of any race in 1997, the year the lawsuit was filed. Those applicants received nearly $100 million.
In Maple Hill, a struggling town in southeastern North Carolina, the number of people paid was nearly four times the total number of farms. More than one in nine African-American adults there received checks. In Little Rock, Ark., a confidential list of payments shows, 10 members of one extended family collected a total of $500,000, and dozens of other successful claimants shared addresses, phone numbers or close family connections.
In Arkansas, prosecutors rejected a test case against a Pine Bluff police officer who had admitted lying on his claim form.
in one ZIP code in Columbus, Ohio, nearly everyone in two adjoining apartment buildings had filed, according to the former high-ranking agency official.
She cinched the claim, he said to a ripple of laughter, by asserting that her father had whispered on his deathbed, “I was discriminated against by U.S.D.A.”
168) Tried to rig federal auctions of radio spectrum space
In April 2013, it was reported that the Obama administration was trying to rig federal auctions of radio spectrum space in a manner that would favor Sprint and T-Mobile, and make it harder for AT&T and Verizon.
169) Put someone in jail for making an anti-Muslim video
In May 2013, Politico reported:
“Nakoula Basseley Nakoula deserves a place in American history. He is the first person in this country jailed for violating Islamic anti-blasphemy laws.”
“You won’t find that anywhere in the charges against him, of course. As a practical matter, though, everyone knows that Nakoula wouldn’t be in jail today if he hadn’t produced a video crudely lampooning the prophet Muhammad.”
“In the weeks after the attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others, the Obama administration claimed the terrorist assault had been the outgrowth of a demonstration against the Nakoula video. The administration ran public service announcements in Pakistan featuring President Barack Obama saying the U.S. had nothing to do with it. In a speech at the United Nations around this time, the president declared — no doubt with Nakoula in mind — ‘The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam.’”
“After Benghazi, the administration was evidently filled with a fierce resolve — to bring Nakoula Basseley Nakoula to justice. Charles Woods, the father of a Navy SEAL killed in Benghazi, said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told him when his son’s body returned to Andrews Air Force Base: ‘We will make sure that the person who made that film is arrested and prosecuted.’”
“Lo and behold, Nakoula was brought in for questioning by five Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies at midnight, eventually arrested and held without bond, and finally thrown into jail for a year. He sits in La Tuna Federal Correctional Institution in Texas right now, even as the deceptive spin that blamed his video for the Benghazi attack looks more egregious by the day.”
170) Oversaw IRS whose employees illegally targeted conservative groups
In May 2013, the Washington Post reported that the IRS had illegally targeted conservative groups for additional reviews. Organizations with the words “tea party” or “patriot” were singled out for harassment, such as requiring them to provide a list of donors, details about their internet postings on social networking websites, and information about their family members.
When this was first reported by the media in May 2013, Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS division that had conducted these illegal activities, claimed that only low level employees had known about it, and that no high level IRS officials had known about it. However, soon afterward, NPR reported that an Inspector General report showed that Lerner had been lying, and that she herself had actually been aware of it since June 29, 2011. Even worse, in March of 2012, Lerner herself had written such a letter to American Patriots Against Government Excess, a conservative group. Lerner’s letter can be read here.
The Washington Post reported that IRS officials at the IRS headquarters in Washington D.C. had sent such letters to conservatives groups. Reuters reported that higher level IRS officials had taken part in discussions about it as early as August 2011. However, 21 months later, on May 10, 2013, the Washington Post reported that President Obama had not done anything to investigate or fire the IRS employees who had engaged in this illegal harassment. As of May 14, 2013, none of the IRS employees who engaged in any of this illegal behavior had been disciplined, despite the fact that higher level IRS officials had known about their illegal behavior at least since August 2011.
On May 15, 2013, it was reported that Steven Miller, the acting IRS commissioner, had resigned. However, it was also reported that his assignment would have ended in early June anyway. He resigned – Obama did not fire him.
The IRS gave out confidential information about conservative groups. ProPublica wrote:
“The same IRS office that deliberately targeted conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status in the run-up to the 2012 election released nine pending confidential applications of conservative groups to ProPublica late last year.”
“In response to a request for the applications for 67 different nonprofits last November, the Cincinnati office of the IRS sent ProPublica applications or documentation for 31 groups. Nine of those applications had not yet been approved—meaning they were not supposed to be made public.”
“No unapproved applications from liberal groups were sent to ProPublica.”
President Obama either lied about when he first knew about this – or was too busy playing golf and attending fundraisers to read the memos that were sent to him. The Daily Caller wrote:
“White House press secretary Jay Carney said in a press conference Tuesday that the White House was notified about the IRS targeting tea party groups ‘several weeks ago.’ This comes a day after President Obama said he found out about it from news reports on Friday of last week.”
“During a press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday, President Obama was asked about the IRS scandal. He responded, ‘I first learned about it from the same news reports that I think most people learned about this. I think it was on Friday.’ “
“However, Carney said Tuesday that first a report had to be compiled by the IRS’s inspector general and then when it was completed, it was passed on to the administration.”
“‘A notification is appropriate and routine and that is what happened and that happened several weeks ago,’ Carney said.”
When Media Trackers, a conservative organization, applied to the IRS for non-profit status, after waiting 16 months, it got no response. But when it reapplied with a liberal sounding name, it got approval in just three weeks. Yahoo wrote:
“In May 2011, Drew Ryun, a conservative activist and former Republican National Committee staffer, began filling out the Internal Revenue Service application to achieve nonprofit status for a new conservative watchdog group.”
“When September 2012 arrived with still no word from the IRS, Ryun determined that Media Trackers would likely never obtain standalone nonprofit status, and he tried a new approach: He applied for permanent nonprofit status for a separate group called Greenhouse Solutions, a pre-existing organization that was reaching the end of its determination period.”
“The IRS approved Greenhouse Solutions’ request for permanent nonprofit status in three weeks.”
Regarding how the IRS treated one of President Obama’s relatives, the Dailer Caller wrote:
“Lois Lerner, the senior IRS official at the center of the decision to target tea party groups for burdensome tax scrutiny, signed paperwork granting tax-exempt status to the Barack H. Obama Foundation, a shady charity headed by the president’s half-brother that operated illegally for years.”
“According to the organization’s filings, Lerner approved the foundation’s tax status within a month of filing, an unprecedented timeline that stands in stark contrast to conservative organizations that have been waiting for more than three years, in some cases, for approval.”
“Lerner also appears to have broken with the norms of tax-exemption approval by granting retroactive tax-exempt status to Malik Obama’s organization.”
Politico reported:
“The same Internal Revenue Service office that singled out Tea Party groups for extra scrutiny also challenged Israel-related organizations, at least one of which filed suit over the agency’s handling of its application for tax-exempt status.”
“The trouble for the Israel-focused groups seems to have had different origins than that experienced by conservative groups, but at times the effort seems to have been equally ham-handed.”
The IRS asked conservative groups what books they were reading.
Although the IRS went 18 months or longer without responding to conservative organizations’ applications, the IRS demanded that these same organizations answer the IRS’s intrusive questions within a few weeks.
After the Waco Tea Party sent an application to the IRS, the IRS waited 19 months to respond. In its response, the IRS asked for printouts of its web page and social networking sites, copies of all of its newsletters, bulletins and fliers, and copies of all stories written about it. The IRS also asked for transcripts of its radio interviews.
As one example of how the IRS treated conservative organizations differently from liberal ones, Politico reported:
“Chris Littleton, one of the co-founders of the Ohio Liberty Coalition, said the group got a grilling from the IRS when it submitted its application, in letters the group has posted on its website. The IRS also gave him so much grief when he tried to apply for tax-exempt status for another group, American Junto, that ‘we just gave up on it,’ he said.”
“But when he submitted an application for a third group — Ohioans for Health Care Freedom, now renamed Ohio Rising — ‘it went through just fine,’ Littleton said. ‘They never asked a single set of questions.’”
After the Greater Phoenix Tea Party Patriots sent in their application, it took two years for the IRS to respond. The IRS response included 35 questions. When the group’s cofounder called the IRS, the IRS agent claimed that he had their group’s file right in front of him. But when the group’s confounder asked the IRS agent a question, the IRS agent asked, “What’s your group’s name again?”
Tea Party groups who spoke with each other said they were all getting the same questions from the IRS.
The Washington Post reported that some IRS employees were “ignorant about tax laws, defiant of their supervisors, and blind to the appearance of impropriety.”
In 2012, the IRS leaked confidential information about Mitt Romney to the co-chairman of President Obama’s re-election committee.
For a 27 month period that began in February 2010, the IRS gave exactly zero approvals to Tea Party organizations that had sent in applications. During that same time period, numerous liberal organizations with names including words such as “progress” or “progressive” did get approval.
After True the Vote, a conservative organization which was founded by Catherine Engelbrecht, sent its application to the IRS, the IRS went three years without responding. During that three year period, Engelbrecht and her family’s small manufacturing business were audited by the IRS, and were investigated by OSHA, the ATF, and the FBI.
In May 2013, U.S. News & World Report wrote:
“Over the last three years, Democratic senators repeatedly and publicly pressured the IRS to engage in the very activities that they are only now condemning today. At the same time, Republicans repeatedly and publicly warned against this abuse of government power and pointed to a series of red flags that strongly suggested conservative political organizations were being targeted by the IRS. Those warnings were deliberately ignored by the Obama administration and Democratic leaders in Congress.”
“From Max Baucus to Chuck Schumer to Jeanne Shaheen, key Senate Democrats publicly pressured the IRS to target groups that held differing political views and who, in their view, had the temerity to engage in the political process. The IRS listened to them and acted.”
The IRS also treated conservative and liberal groups differently on the issue of abortion. The Washington Examiner reported:
IRS officials refused to grant tax exempt status two pro-life organizations because of their position on the abortion issue, according to a non-profit law firm, which said that one group was pressured not to protest a pro-choice organization that endorsed President Obama during the last election.
“In one case, the IRS withheld approval of an application for tax exempt status for Coalition for Life of Iowa. In a phone call to Coalition for Life of Iowa leaders on June 6, 2009, the IRS agent ‘Ms. Richards’ told the group to send a letter to the IRS with the entire board’s signatures stating that, under perjury of the law, they do not picket/protest or organize groups to picket or protest outside of Planned Parenthood,” the Thomas More Society announced today. “Once the IRS received this letter, their application would be approved.”
The IRS also pressured another pro-life group about its religious activities. “The IRS withheld approval of an application for charitable tax-exempt recognition of Christian Voices for Life, questioning the group’s involvement with ’40 Days for Life’ and ‘Life Chain’ events,” according to the law firm. “The Fort Bend County, Texas, organization was subjected to repeated and lengthy unconstitutional requests for information about the viewpoint and content of its educational communications, volunteer prayer vigils, and other protected activities.”
Jon Stewart said of this:
“Well, congratulations, President Barack Obama. Conspiracy theorists who generally can survive in anaerobic environments have just had an algae bloom dropped on their f***ing heads, thus removing the last arrow in your pro-governance quiver: skepticism about your opponents.”
During Congressional testimony that had taken place in March 2012, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman falsely said that the IRS had not targeted conservative groups.
Michael Macleod-Ball, chief of staff at the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office, said of this:
“Even the appearance of playing partisan politics with the tax code is about as constitutionally troubling as it gets. With the recent push to grant federal agencies broad new powers to mandate donor disclosure for advocacy groups on both the left and the right, there must be clear checks in place to prevent this from ever happening again.”
171) Spent $402,721 on underwear that detects the presence of cigarette smoke
In May 2013, it was reported that the Obama administration had spent $402,721 on underwear that detects the presence of cigarette smoke.
172) Rewarded one of his biggest campaign fundraisers by nominating him for the ambassadorship to Canada
In April 2013, it was reported that Obama had nominated Bruce Heyman to be the ambassador to Canada. During Obama’s election campaign, Heyman had raised more than $1 million for Obama.
173) Hired a retarded man to sell illegal drugs and guns, and then arrested him for doing so
In April 2013, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported:
“ATF agents running an undercover storefront in Milwaukee used a brain-damaged man with a low IQ to set up gun and drug deals, paying him in cigarettes, merchandise and money, according to federal documents obtained by the Journal Sentinel.”
“For more than six months, federal agents relied on Chauncey Wright to promote ‘Fearless Distributing’ by handing out fliers as he rode his bike around town recommending the store to friends, family and strangers, according to federal prosecutors and family members.”
“Wright, unaware that the store was an undercover operation being run by agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, also stocked shelves with shoes, clothing, drug paraphernalia and auto parts, according to his family.”
“Once authorities shut down the operation, they charged the 28-year-old man with federal gun and drug counts.”
“Wright’s IQ measures in the 50s, about half of a normal IQ, according to those familiar with him. Wright’s score is classified as mildly or moderately disabled, depending on the IQ scale used.”
174) Secretly obtained phone records from Associated Press reporters and editors
In May 2013, Associated Press reported:
The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press in what the news cooperative’s top executive called a “massive and unprecedented intrusion” into how news organizations gather the news.
The records obtained by the Justice Department listed outgoing calls for the work and personal phone numbers of individual reporters, general AP office numbers in New York, Washington and Hartford, Conn., and the main number for AP reporters in the House of Representatives press gallery, according to attorneys for the AP. It was not clear if the records also included incoming calls or the duration of calls.
In all, the government seized the records for more than 20 separate telephone lines assigned to AP and its journalists in April and May of 2012. The exact number of journalists who used the phone lines during that period is unknown but more than 100 journalists work in the offices where phone records were targeted, on a wide array of stories about government and other matters.
In a letter of protest sent to Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday, AP President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Pruitt said the government sought and obtained information far beyond anything that could be justified by any specific investigation. He demanded the return of the phone records and destruction of all copies.
“There can be no possible justification for such an overbroad collection of the telephone communications of The Associated Press and its reporters. These records potentially reveal communications with confidential sources across all of the newsgathering activities undertaken by the AP during a two-month period, provide a road map to AP’s newsgathering operations, and disclose information about AP’s activities and operations that the government has no conceivable right to know,” Pruitt said.
Soon afterward, it was reported that obtaining these phone records required approval from Eric Holder, Obama’s Attorney General.
175) Asked contractors to disclose their political donations before bidding on government contracts
In April 2011, Obama asked contractors to disclose their political donations before bidding on government contracts.
176) Tried to deport German family that had fled Germany over Hitler’s ban on homeschooling
In Germany in 1938, Adolf Hitler outlawed homeschooling. He said “Give me a child when he’s seven and he’s mine forever.”
Hitler’s ban on homeschooling is still in effect today. In 2006, Katharina Plett was arrested for homeschooling her own children. Her husband and their children fled the country. In 2008, Juergen and Rosemary Dudek were sentenced to 90 days in jail for homeschooling their own children.
Uwe and Hannelore Romeike and their homeschooled children fled Germany after the police showed up at their house to enforce Germany’s ban on homeschooling. They came to the United States in 2010 and were granted political asylum, which gave them legal permission to live in the U.S. as political refugees However, in March 2013, the Obama administration argued in federal court in favor of deporting them and sending them back to Germany. This means that Obama does not consider them to be political refugees, and that he does not consider Germany’s policy of jailing homeschooling parents to be a form of persecution.
177) Said, “We’re gonna punish our enemies, and we’re gonna reward our friends”
Obama said (the bolding is mine)
“If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, ‘We’re gonna punish our enemies, and we’re gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us’ — if they don’t see that kind of upsurge in voting in this election — then I think it’s going to be harder. And that’s why I think it’s so important that people focus on voting on November 2nd.”
This is a rare instance of a promise that Obama has actually kept instead of broken. A huge number of the things on this last can be explained by that one simple sentence that Obama said.
178) Asked Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate himself for lying under oath
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder lied under oath. He said that he had nothing to do with monitoring the emails of Fox News reporter James Rosen. But it turns out that it was Holder’s own signature on the search warrant.
Even the liberal Huffington Post is saying that Holder should resign or be fired.
Holder could get five years in prison.
So, did President Obama fire Holder?
Of course not!
Instead, Obama asked that Holder be investigated – not by an independent investigating committee – but by Holder himself!
I can see it now…
Obama: “Did you lie?”
Holder: “No.”
Obama: “OK. That’s good enough for me. You’re cleared of any wrongdoing.”
