Posted on 02/19/2021 5:23:59 AM PST by Red Badger
By abusing the powers of federal regulators, Operation Choke Point 2.0 would stifle the bipartisanship, unity, and healing President Biden claims to desire.
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Amongst the record-breaking number of executive actions taken by President Joe Biden was one related to a little-known, frightening Obama-era program called Operation Choke Point. The program, dubbed so under former Attorney General Eric Holder, uses the power of the federal government to target legal yet leftist-disfavored businesses. These include gun sellers, pawnshops, and short-term money lenders.
The Trump administration did its best to end this blatantly unconstitutional program that sought to discriminate against legal industries. In 2017, the Justice Department declared the program “formally over.” At the end of Trump’s term, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency established the Fair Access rule to solidify its culmination.
But on Jan. 28, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency under President Biden announced it would pause the Trump-era rule intended to prevent another Operation Choke Point from happening again.
The Backstory of Operation Choke Point The Trump administration rule appeared innocuous enough, instructing banks to “conduct risk assessments of individual customers, rather than make broad-based decisions affecting whole categories or classes of customers when providing access to services, capital, and credit.”
Under Operation Choke Point, federal regulators instructed banks to do the opposite — to openly discriminate against entire industries the Obama administration found objectionable. Weaponizing the power of banking regulators at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of Comptroller of the Currency, the Obama administration realized it could block entire industries from the banking system that it didn’t like. This made it difficult — if not impossible — for politically unfavored businesses such as gun sellers and short-term lenders to operate.
Essentially, by using the power of federal banking regulators to intimidate banks from providing their services to these industries, the administration choked off their access to the financial system, leaving them paying more for essential banking services, or unable to use a bank at all.
The Obama administration claimed the program was intended to root out fraud by cutting off “high risk” industries from the banking system. But the administration didn’t make any differentiation between legal and illegal “high risk” industries, intentionally grouping lawful industries such as firearms sellers with patently illegal activities like Ponzi and credit-card schemes.
Different agencies within the Obama administration denied wrongdoing in various ways. At least one bank, however, admitted to choking off three legal enterprises at the government’s behest. Dozens of business owners — many of them gun sellers and short-term lenders — said their bank accounts and access to credit card processing platforms were suddenly stymied or shut down with no explanation and no opportunity for recourse.
Given its stained reputation, we shouldn’t expect the Biden administration to bring back Operation Choke Point under the same shameless name. But the return of the larger strategy behind Operation Choke Point appears here to stay.
Whereas seven years ago the idea of using the powers of the federal government to choke certain Americans from public life was controversial enough for the Obama administration to deny wrongdoing, in today’s era of social justice and cancel culture, it’s applauded.
Build Your Own Banks Within corporate America, an employee was run out of Boeing over an article he published 33 years beforehand arguing women shouldn’t serve in combat (a position many Americans hold today). In the media, a Jewish, pro-Israel, pro-choice, bisexual writer was choked from The New York Times for not being leftist enough.
In Hollywood, a conservative actress was choked from Disney for expressing politically incorrect views on her private social media account. In the beauty blogging world, a conservative blogger was ousted from her role as a Sephora representative.
For all intents and purposes, Operation Choke Point is happening every day on a massive scale. Yet instead of “just” choking off access to capital and banking services, we’re witnessing a stranglehold on information, speech, and the broader marketplace of ideas. Concerningly, the government is now playing an active role.
As exemplified by Parler and the recent Twitter purge, Big Tech is choking conservatives off their social media platforms while Democrats cheer it on. In an attempt to choke conservatives out of entire industries of employment, critical race theory training and pledges are being forced on schools, government workplaces, and the armed forces.
This Dynamic Is Now Worse Signs of Operation Choke Point’s formal resurrection are symbolic of the larger attempt by government actors to choke politically disfavored industries and individuals from the mainstream. While cancel culture has led to a politicized economy, the federal government’s arbitrarily targeting of individuals, groups, and entire companies will increase the politicization of the country, where the only acceptable views are from those in power.
Operating in the dark corners of the federal bureaucracy, Operation Choke Point bypasses public input and the legislative process, leaving politically unpopular individuals and businesses to fend for themselves. If the Biden administration’s rule reversal is any sign, the next four years won’t be about unifying the country to “Build Back Better.”
After being choked from essential services in the economy, conservatives and right-of-center businesses will have no choice but to Build Your Own — if that’s even still tolerated or allowed. Build your own banks, build your own credit card processing companies, build your own web hosting platforms, build your own social media platforms, build your own companies, build your own media, build your own schools, and build your own country — because you’re choked from “ours.”
Of course, all this will do nothing to further the causes of bipartisanship, unity, and healing President Biden claims to desire. Capitalizing on the trend of cancel culture, a return of Operation Choke Point would devastate an already damaged country. By abusing the powers of federal regulators, Operation Choke Point 2.0 would solidify what most right-of-center Americans already know: Instead of unity, Democrats want you choked from everyday life.
Three years ago, former President Obama infamously claimed his administration “didn’t have a scandal that embarrassed us.” While it’s tempting to point to Operation Choke Point to refute this, perhaps Obama was right. With Biden sitting by Obama’s side, the Obama administration wasn’t the least bit embarrassed about using its powers to choke legal businesses from existence. Indeed, it was the entire goal and they appear poised to do it again.
Kelsey Bolar is a contributor to The Federalist and a senior policy analyst at Independent Women's Forum. She is also the Thursday editor of BRIGHT, a weekly newsletter for women, and the 2017 Tony Blankley Chair at The Steamboat Institute. She lives in Washington, DC, with her husband, daughter, and Australian Shepherd, Utah.
Laws and protocol, the Constitution are just inconvenient bumps for Liberals. When they encounter obstacles like this, they just devise a work-around (right in our faces) to achieve their objectives
So many of the Liberals’ criminal and irregular activities have been allowed and overlooked at this point that, calling them out on the most current or blatant infraction is very naive and frankly laughable! The dangerous and insidious precedents are in place by now and so long standing that they're accepted as established and accepted
You’d think that people would be initiating many lawsuits against this sort of thing, especially the discrimination by banks and credit card companies. But there don’t seem to be any prominent news stories about such lawsuits.
Wonder how our new “conservative” SCOTUS would rule?
“It’s simple how it can happen. They just need enough politicians and judges that ignore “support and defend the Constitution” part of their oaths.”
That seems to be the simplest part of it all.
I wouldn’t worry about it too much. The quantum financial system will take care of that problem.
I don’t know how longstanding this discrimination based on political disagreements by banks and credit card companies is. Surely, somewhere, people are challenging this in court.
Banks will do business where and with whom they can make $$.
If this happens the House Financial Services Chair Maxine Waters must go to JAIL
No checks, visa or money orders accepted.
Cash only, please, until aunt Iris realizes the weakness.
Yes. This is why Kamala/Joe want to take over the credit bureaus, so they can put the government in charge of it and implement a social credit system like China's.
One would suppose that Gates has it all set up and ready to go, on actually a smaller scale than the one that's already in place in China, as your asian friends would know.
“After being choked from essential services in the economy, conservatives and right-of-center businesses will have no choice but to Build Your Own — if that’s even still tolerated or allowed. Build your own banks, build your own credit card processing companies, build your own web hosting platforms, build your own social media platforms, build your own companies, build your own media, build your own schools, and build your own country — because you’re choked from ‘ours.’”
As I’ve said before, it will take more than a few platforms to right this. Conservatives need their own ecosystem. Perhaps leftists should be barred from it and let them enjoy the fruits of their political war. They can stay outside of it in the Venezuela of their own making.
Who is John Galt?..........................
The Banks will have to get approval from the Democrats before they can do business ?
Of course a horrible, totally un-American, policy.
But might also accelerate the development of a real post-banking system.
Did he put Barney Frank in charge? Probably the best and fastest way to crash the banking industry.
Brilliant! That means that Biden’s Banana Republic will only allow 50% of the population to make a living in the long run.
WELCOME TO BIDEN’S BANANA REPUBLIC!
Everyone gets rich or dies.
The current government of the United States is
illegitimate. Not only is the outcome of the last
presidential election questionable, but the current
regime does not work on behalf of the American people.
The fundamental purpose of legitimate government is to
provide for the safety, security, and general well being
of the people it governs. Every action that Biden has
taken since entering office will bring direct harm to a
majority of Americans. The current regime, therefore, by
not fulfilling the true purpose of government, is
illegitimate. By the current governments actions it has
declared itself an enemy of the American people. Thus,
the people subject to that government
are no longer obligated to recognize its authority.
We now have a national government that operates through
heavy handed coercion, fear, and intimidation to keep
people in line. In other words, we have tyrannous
government that no free people can allow to stand.
We know what we are facing: the question is what can be
done about it and will we do it? Does there remain a
peaceful means to regain those freedoms we have lost and
those that we are in the process of losing? We must
decide.
If the current regime is truly tyrannous, then there is
now way in which it can allow an alternative economy to
exist. Authoritarians,by their very nature, must control
everything within their reach. A co-existing free people
will simply not be allowed. Maybe I am wrong and the
current government will right itself and retreat from its
authoritarian tendencies. But, I don’ really see that
happening.
Scum.
D.C. the play ground that never closes now that Trump isn’t around.
... how the US constitution and US laws could allow discrimination on the basis of political beliefs.
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The very same way that election fraud was unable to be heard in the courts.
No standing.
Grounds:
national security
Please note that recently, leftists just ignore court orders.
They refuse service of subpoenas.
They appeal everything.
They institute cancellation operations against anyone/any institution they disagree with.
Constitution? It says what they declare it to say.
Laws? For their opponents, not for them.
That’s how.
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