Obama supporters will go hysterical over this well sourced list of 365 examples of his lying, lawbreaking, corruption, cronyism, etc.
By Dan from Squirrel Hill
Posted on August 15, 2013. Updated on October 18, 2013.
As the author of this blog post, I place it into the public domain. Anyone may freely copy it in any part or in its entirely, without asking my permission, and without paying any money. I do ask you please cite a link to http://danfromsquirrelhill.wordpress.com/2013/08/15/obama-252/
I ask you to please show this list to as many people as possible – and especially, to please show it to as many Obama supporters as possible. Sunshine really is the best disinfectant. I can’t stop Obama from doing any of these horrible things, but I can tell people about what he is doing. So please share this list with others on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Thank you. The short link for this is http://tinyurl.com/ku9vxug
Every President, every politician, and every human being tells lies and engages in acts of hypocrisy. But Barack Obama does these things to a far greater degree than anyone else that I have ever known of. His campaign promises were so much better sounding than anyone else’s – no lobbyists in his administration, waiting five days before signing all non-emergency bills so people would have time to read them, putting health care negotiations on C-SPAN, reading every bill line by line to make sure money isn’t being wasted, prosecution of Wall St. criminals, ending raids against medical marijuana in states where it’s legal, high levels of transparency. Obama’s promises of these wonderful things sounded inspiring and sincere. They sounded so much better than the promises of any other President. So when Obama broke these promises, it felt so much worse than when other Presidents broke their promises.
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.
Every claim that I make in this list is sourced. Click on the blue text to see the sources. 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. If you say my list is wrong, please back up your claim by citing specific examples.
And now, on with the list:
1) Carried out military interventionism in Libya without Congressional approval
In June 2011, U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) said that Obama had violated the Constitution when he launched military operations in Libya without Congressional approval.
2) Gave a no-bid contract to Halliburton – just like Bush did
In May 2010, it was reported that the Obama administration had selected KBR, a former subsidiary of Halliburton, for a no-bid contract worth as much as $568 million through 2011, just hours after the Justice Department had said it would pursue a lawsuit accusing the Houston-based company of using kickbacks to get foreign contracts.
3) Has an administration full of lobbyists, after promising he wouldn’t have any
While running for President, Obama had promised that, unlike Bush, he would not have any lobbyists working in his administration. However, by February 2010, he had more than 40 lobbyists working in his administration.
4) Has close ties to Wall St., but pretends to support Occupy Wall St.
Although Obama claims to support the Occupy Wall St. movement, the truth is that he has raised more money from Wall St. than any other candidate during the last 20 years. In early 2012, Obama held a fundraiser where Wall St. investment bankers and hedge fund managers each paid $35,800 to attend. In October 2011, Obama hired Broderick Johnson, a longtime Wall Street lobbyist, to be his new senior campaign adviser. Johnson had worked as a lobbyist for JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Fannie Mae, Comcast, Microsoft, and the oil industry.
5) Broke his promise to close Guantanamo Bay
Obama broke his promise to close Guantanamo Bay.
6) Supported the $700 billion TARP corporate-welfare bailout just like Bush
While Senator, Obama voted for the $700 billion TARP bank bailout bill. The bailout rewarded irresponsible and illegal behavior. It redirected resources from more productive uses to less productive uses. It punished the hard working taxpayers who had played by the rules and obeyed the law. It created horrible incentives, and sent the wrong message. The bailout was evil because it rewarded the bad people and punished the good people. No society that does this can expect to remain free or prosperous. Instead of bailing out these corrupt corporations, we should have let them cease to exist, like we did with Enron.
7) Waged the biggest war against medical marijuana of any president, which was the opposite of what he had promised
In May 2008, Obama campaign spokesperson Ben LaBolt said that Obama would end DEA raids on medical marijuana in states where it’s legal. Also in 2008, Obama said that he supported the “basic concept of using medical marijuana for the same purposes and with the same controls as other drugs” and that he was “not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws.”
However, in February 2010, DEA agents raided a medical marijuana grower in Highlands Ranch in Colorado, a state where medical marijuana is legal. Also in February 2010, DEA agents raided a medical marijuana dispensary in Culver City in California, a state where medical marijuana is legal. In July 2010, the DEA raided at least four medical marijuana growers in San Diego, California. Also in July 2010, the DEA raided a medical marijuana facility in Covelo, California. Then in September 2010, the DEA conducted raids on at least five medical marijuana dispensaries in Las Vegas, Nevada, where medical marijuana is legal. In 2011, the DEA conducted raids on medical marijuana in Seattle, Washington, West Hollywood, California, and Helena, Montana, all places where it is legal. In April 2012, the DEA carried out several raids on medical marijuana in Oakland, California.
In February 2012, Rolling Stone magazine wrote that Obama’s war against medical marijuana went “far beyond anything undertaken by George W. Bush.” In April 2012, Mother Jones magazine wrote: “The president campaigned on the promise that he’d stop federal raids on medical marijuana operations that were in compliance with state laws, a vow that Attorney General Eric Holder repeated after the election. But then the Obama administration raided more than 100 dispensaries in its first three years and is now poised to outpace the Bush administration’s crackdown record.” In May 2012, the Washington Post wrote: “Obama has become more hostile to medical marijuana patients than any president in U.S. history.” In May 2012, U.S. Congressperson Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said she had “strong concerns” about Obama’s forced closure of five medical marijuana facilities in Pelosi’s congressional district. In April 2012, commenting on Obama’s crackdown on medical marijuana, U.S. Congressman Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) said, “I’m very disappointed… They look more like the Bush administration than the Clinton administration.”
In July 2012, federal prosecutors filed civil forfeiture actions against Harborside Health Center, a medical marijuana dispensary in Oakland, CA, which claims to be the world’s largest, and which claims to serve more than 100,000 medical marijuana patients. In April 2012, federal agents raided Oaksterdam University, an educational institution in Oakland, CA, which teaches people about medical marijuana. In April 2012, federal agents raided a medical marijuana facility which had been serving 1,500 patients near Lake Elsinore, CA. In June 2012, the Obama administration filed asset-forfeiture lawsuits against two landlords who rented their buildings to medical marijuana stores in Santa Fe Springs, CA. The Obama administration also sent warning letters which threatened similar legal action to dozens of other, nearby landlords. During the first seven months of 2012, the DEA shut down 40 medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado, all of which had been operating in compliance with state and local law.
In July 2013, the DEA conducted multiple medical marijuana raids in Washington state, including the cities of Olympia, Tacoma, and Seattle.
In May 2012, ABC News reported that during Obama’s youth, he often smoked large quantities of recreational marijuana. Obama’s marijuana smoking wasn’t even medical – it was recreational. And yet now, he is taking large scale, widespread action to prevent people with AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, and other illnesses, who have prescriptions from their doctors, from using their prescription medicine – how cold hearted can a person be?
8) Nominated a six-time tax cheater to head the government agency that enforces the tax laws
Obama nominated Timothy Geithner, a repeat tax cheater, to head the government agency that enforces the tax laws.
Prior to his nomination, Geithner had:
1) Illegally failed to pay more than $34,000 in social security and medicare taxes
2) Illegally declared the cost of his children’s summer camp as a form of day care.
3) Illegally failed to pay the early withdrawal penalty when he took money out of his retirement plan
4) Illegally declared non-eligible items as a charitable deduction
5) Illegally declared something which was ineligible as a small business deduction
6) Illegally declared utility expenses which had actually been for his personal use
9) Gave tax dollars to AIG executives, then pretended to be outraged about it
Obama signed a stimulus bill that spent money on bonuses for AIG executives. Prior to signing this bill, Obama had said, “when I’m president, I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely.” However, after reading “line by line” and signing the stimulus bill that protected the AIG bonuses, Obama pretended to be shocked and outraged at the bonuses, and said, “Under these circumstances, it’s hard to understand how derivative traders at A.I.G. warranted any bonuses at all, much less $165 million in extra pay… How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?” and also said that he would “pursue every single legal avenue to block these bonuses.”
10) Expanded Bush’s unconstitutional government faith based programs
Obama expanded the federal government’s faith based programs which had been started by President George W. Bush.
11) Supported Bush’s unconstitutional Patriot Act
In May 2011, Obama signed a renewal of the Patriot Act.
12) Increased the national debt more in one term than Bush did in two
The national debt increased more during Obama’s first three years and two months than it did during all eight years of George W. Bush’s presidency.
13) Agrees with Bush’s support of unconstitutional, indefinite detention of U.S. citizens without filing any charges
In December 2011, ACLU executive director Anthony D. Romero criticized Obama for signing a bill that gave the U.S. government the power to indefinitely detain U.S. citizens without any charges being filed or any trial taking place.
14) Agrees with Bush’s support of unconstitutional, warrantless wiretapping
President Obama has defended warrantless wiretapping.
15) Avoided prosecution of Wall. St criminals
Although Obama had promised to prosecute Wall St. criminals, during his entire first term, his administration did not file any criminal charges against any of the top financial executives.
16) Had four U.S. citizens killed without judicial process
Obama had four U.S. citizens killed without judicial process.
The ACLU accused Obama of violating the U.S. Constitution for doing this.
U.S. Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) said that Obama’s actions might be an impeachable offense.
17) Ordered private company to fire 1,000 employees
In 2011, after Boeing had hired 1,000 new employees to work at its new factory in South Carolina, the Obama administration ordered Boeing to shut down the factory, because the factory was non-union.
18) Stole money from retired teachers and police officers
During the Chrysler bankruptcy, Obama violated the Fifth Amendment and more than 150 years of bankruptcy law by illegally treating secured creditors worse than unsecured creditors. Some of these secured creditors were retired teachers and police officers from Indiana. Richard A. Epstein, a law professor at New York University School of Law, wrote, “Upsetting this fixed hierarchy among creditors is just an illegal taking of property from one group of creditors for the benefit of another, which should be struck down on both statutory and constitutional grounds.” Todd Zywicki, Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law, wrote that Obama’s treatment of secured creditors was “dangerous to the rule of law.” The Economist wrote that Obama’s actions could “establish a terrible precedent. Bankruptcy exists to sort legal claims on assets. If it becomes a tool of social policy, who will then lend to struggling firms in which the government has a political interest?” Francis Cianfrocca, the CEO of Bayshore Networks, wrote that Obama’s actions were “an astonishingly reckless abrogation of contract law that will introduce a new level of uncertainty into business transactions at all levels, and make wealth generation more difficult going forward… An extraordinary uncertainty has been created when the most powerful man in the world can rewrite contracts and choose winners and losers in private negotiations as he sees fit. Since this is an unquantifiable uncertainty, and not a quantifiable risk, its effect on business and investor confidence will be large and unpredictable. As in the 1930s, a time when government also cavalierly rewrote private contracts, the prudent approach for business will be to invest minimally and wait for another administration.”
19) Supported release of convicted mass murderer
In 2010, Obama supported releasing Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi (who had been convicted of murdering 270 people) from prison.
20) Illegally put thousands of guns into hands of criminals
In Operation Fast and Furious, the Obama administration ordered gun storeowners to illegally sell thousands of guns to criminals.
U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was murdered with one of these guns.
21) Fired Inspector General for discovering that Obama’s friend had embezzled government funds
In June 2009, Obama fired Inspector General Gerald Walpin, after Walpin accused Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson, an Obama supporter, of misuse of AmeriCorps funding to pay for school-board political activities. In a letter to Congress, the White House said that Walpin was fired because he was “confused, disoriented, unable to answer questions and exhibited other behavior that led the Board to question his capacity to serve.” A bipartisan group of 145 current and former public officials, attorneys, and legal scholars signed a letter that was sent to the White House, which defended Walpin, said the criticisms of him were not true, and said that his firing was politically motivated. The letter can be read here.
22) Lied about putting health care negotiations on C-SPAN
Although Obama had made a campaign promise to have all of the health care reform negotiations broadcast on C-SPAN, he broke that promise after he was elected.
The secrecy of these negotiations was so strong that U.S. Congresswoman and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.”
23) Lied about letting people keep their health insurance
Before Obamacare was passed, Obama said:
“No matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise to the American people… If you like your health care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what.”
Also before Obamacare was passed, Obama said:
“Here is a guarantee that I’ve made. If you have insurance that you like, then you will be able to keep that insurance.”
However, after Obamacare was passed, the Congressional Budget Office said that the law would cause seven million people to lose their employer provided insurance.
After Obamacare was passed, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East announced that it would drop health insurance for the children of more than 30,000 low-wage home attendants. Mitra Behroozi, executive director of benefit and pension funds for 1199SEIU stated
“… new federal health-care reform legislation requires plans with dependent coverage to expand that coverage up to age 26… meeting this new requirement would be financially impossible.”
Also, after Obamacare was passed, the Franciscan University of Steubenville dropped its coverage in response to the law.
Universal Orlando dropped its coverage for part time employees in response to Obamacare.
In addition, after Obamacare was passed, Forbes reported
“The House Ways and Means Committee has released a new report that sheds light onto how Obamacare incentivizes companies to dump their workers onto the new law’s subsidized exchanges.”
Also after Obamacare was passed, MSN reported
“The Affordable Care Act mandate most commonly known as Obamacare has some tight stipulations that, CNN says, are forcing health care companies to rip up most of their current plans and draft new ones that comply. According to a University of Chicago study, just about half of the individual health care plans currently on the market won’t cut it once key provisions of the Affordable Care Act kick in next year.”
Furthermore, it was reported that Obamacare would cause 58,000 Aetna and UnitedHealth Group customers in California to lose their insurance.
In response to Obamacare, some employers have dropped coverage for their employees’ spouses. In August 2013, it was reported that UPS had announced that it would be dropping 15,000 spouses of its employees from its health insurance, and that it had cited Obamacare as the reason it was doing this.
The chain of Wegmans supermarkets cancelled the policies of its part time employees in response to Obamacare.
In July 2013, leaders of the Teamsters, UFCW, and UNITE-HERE sent a letter to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi which said that Obamacare
“will shatter not only our hard-earned health benefits… these restrictions will make non-profit plans like ours unsustainable… we can no longer stand silent in the face of elements of the Affordable Care Act that will destroy the very health and wellbeing of our members along with millions of other hardworking Americans”
In August 2013, it was reported that 106,000 New Jersey citizens would lose their health insurance because of Obamacare.
In September 2013, IBM announced that it would be switching 110,000 of its retirees from their current IBM-provided health insurance to the Obamacare exchanges.
In September 2013, Trader Joe’s announced that, in response to Obamacare, it would stop providing insurance to its part time employees.
In October 2013, it was reported that at least 146,000 people in Michigan would be losing their insurance because of Obamacare.
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 to build 504 units of mice infested, slum housing, with backed up sewage
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. The Obama administration harassed a sick 3-year-old boy, and caused him to miss his flight.
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) Closed the Vietnam Memorial for seven hours on Memorial Day so he could have his picture taken
On Memorial Day 2012, Obama prevented Vietnam veterans and their friends and families from visiting the Vietnam Memorial for seven hours so he could have his picture taken.
46) Had the government take 60.8% ownership of General Motors
In July 2009, Obama had the government take 60.8% ownership of General Motors, and fired the CEO.
47) Forced banks to give mortgages to people who could not afford to pay them back, and collected $23,000 in legal fees for himself for doing so
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 get for killing birds
In May 2013, NPR reported:
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.
“What it boils down to is this: If you electrocute an eagle, that is bad, but if you chop it to pieces, that is OK,” said Tim Eicher, a former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service enforcement agent based in Cody.
More than 573,000 birds are killed by the country’s wind farms each year, including 83,000 hunting birds such as hawks, falcons and eagles, according to an estimate published in March in the peer-reviewed Wildlife Society Bulletin.
Nearly all the birds being killed are protected under federal environmental laws, which prosecutors have used to generate tens of millions of dollars in fines and settlements from businesses, including oil and gas companies, over the past five years.
Wind farms are clusters of turbines as tall as 30-story buildings, with spinning rotors as wide as a passenger jet’s wingspan. Though the blades appear to move slowly, they can reach speeds up to 170 mph at the tips, creating tornado-like vortexes.
Flying eagles behave like drivers texting on their cellphones; they don’t look up. As they scan for food, they don’t notice the industrial turbine blades until it’s too late.
The rehabilitation coordinator for the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program, Michael Tincher, said he euthanized two golden eagles found starving and near death near wind farms. Both had injuries he’d never seen before: One of their wings appeared to be twisted off.
“There is nothing in the evolution of eagles that would come near to describing a wind turbine. There has never been an opportunity to adapt to that sort of threat,” said Grainger Hunt, an eagle expert who researches the U.S. wind-power industry’s deadliest location, a northern California area known as Altamont Pass. Wind farms built there decades ago kill more than 60 per year.
Under both the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, the death of a single bird without a permit is illegal.
But under the Obama administration’s new guidelines, wind-energy companies — and only wind-energy companies — are held to a different standard.
Eagles take five years to reach the age when they can reproduce, and often they only produce one chick a year.
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.
Also, this list contains a huge number of things that Obama has done which contradict his statement.
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) Illegally gave Obamacare exemptions to unions that supported the passage of Obamacare
Obama gave some organizations an exemption from some of the requirements of Obamacare. Many of these organizations were unions that had supported the passage of Obamacare, but now wanted exemptions from the very same law that they wanted to force everyone else to obey. This reveals an extreme level of hypocrisy among many of the supporters of Obamacare.
In addition, these exemptions are illegal, because the Constitution requires the law to treat everyone the same.
The Washington Times wrote of this:
“Selective enforcement of the law is the first sign of tyranny. A government empowered to determine arbitrarily who may operate outside the rule of law invariably embraces favoritism as friends, allies and those with the best-funded lobbyists are rewarded. Favoritism inevitably leads to corruption, and corruption invites extortion. Ultimately, the rule of law ceases to exist in any recognizable form, and what is left is tyranny.”
“The now-familiar monthly trickling down of new waivers is, at best, a tacit admission that Obamacare is a failure. So far, seven entire states and 1,372 businesses, unions and other institutions have received waivers from the law. The list includes the administration’s friends and allies and, of course, those who have the best lobbyists.”
“More than 50 percent of the Obamacare waiver beneficiaries are union members, which is striking because union members account for less than 12 percent of the American work force. The same unions that provided more than $120 million to Democrats in the last two elections and, in many cases, openly campaigned in favor of the government takeover of your health care, now celebrate that Obamacare is not their problem.”
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.
In May 2013, a second federal appeals court also ruled that Obama’s appointments had violated the Constitution.
In July 2013, a third federal appeals court also 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).
In December 2012, Al Franken, Elizabeth Warren, John Kerry, and 15 other Democrats who supported the passage of Obamacare wrote a letter to Harry Reid, asking him to delay the tax on medical devices, claiming that the tax would hurt job creation in their districts.
106) Encouraged employers to switch their employees from full time to part time
The New York Times reported that Obamacare
“sharply penalizes full-time employment in favor of part-time employment.”
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, Taco Bell, White Castle, and Fatburger.
Community College of Allegheny County switched 200 professors and 200 other employees from full time to part time in response to Obamacare. Clint Benjamin, an English professor at Community College of Allegheny County, said that this would reduce his own monthly pay by $600.
Also in response to the employer mandate of Obamacare, other colleges have announced plans to switch some of their employees from full time to part time, including Florida’s Palm Beach State College, Ohio’s Youngstown State University, and New Jersey’s Kean University.
In Virginia, thousands of government employees had their hours reduced because of Obamacare.
The Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh reduced the hours of 48 of its employees in response to Obamacare.
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.
Utah’s Granite School District reduced the hours of 1,200 of its employees in response to Obamacare.
In response to Obamacare, many Wal-Mart stores have stopped hiring full time workers.
In July 2013, leaders of the Teamsters, UFCW, and UNITE-HERE sent a letter to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi which said that Obamacare will
“destroy the foundation of the 40 hour work week that is the backbone of the American middle class… the law creates an incentive for employers to keep employees’ work hours below 30 hours a week. Numerous employers have begun to cut workers’ hours to avoid this obligation.”
In response to Obamacare, Forever 21 reduced its employees’ hours.
As of September 2013, more than 200 public-sector employers had reduced their employees’ hours in response to Obamacare.
Sea World reduced the weekly hours of its part time employees from 32 to 28 in response to Obamacare.
Lands’ End limited its part time employees to 29 hours per week in response to Obamacare.
As of September 2013, at least 34 universities and colleges had reduced some of their employees’ hours in response to Obamacare.
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.
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, during March and April of 2012, Lerner herself had actually written such letters to fifteen different conservative groups. One of these letters can be read here.
While testifying in May 2013, Lerner said, “I have not done anything wrong. I have not broken any laws. I have not violated any IRS rules or regulations. And I have not provided false information to this or any other congressional committee.” However, afterward, she invoked her fifth amendment right to remain silent. The Washington Post reported that there was disagreement as to whether or not Lerner’s statement constituted a waiving of her fifth amendment right to remain silent. Soon afterward, she was placed on paid administrative leave.
In September 2013, a House committee released several of Lerner’s emails, which showed that she had targeted tea party groups, and that she had asked that their applications be delayed. In one of the emails from 2011, she had written “Tea Party Matter very dangerous.”
In September 2013, after having been on paid leave for four months, Lerner had still not been fired by Obama.
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.”
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.
Democratic U.S. Senators pressured the IRS to target conservative groups. 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.”
In order to get approval, the IRS required members of Coalition for Life of Iowa, a pro-life organization, to sign a promise to avoid protesting in front of Planned Parenthood.
The IRS asked Christian Voices for Life, a pro-life organization, questions about its prayer vigils.
According to the official White House visitor’s log, during Obama’s first four years as President, IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman made 157 visits to the White House. This is more visits to the White House – by a very large margin – than any other cabinet member during Obama’s first term. By comparison, during the four years that Mark Everson was IRS commissioner when Bush was president, Everson made only one visit to the White House.
Shulman donated $500 to the Democratic National Committee in October 2004.
During Congressional testimony that had taken place in March 2012, Shulman falsely said that the IRS had not targeted conservative groups.
Shulman’s wife, Susan L. Anderson, is the senior program advisor for Public Campaign, a liberal organization. The Dailer Caller wrote of this group:
Public Campaign receives “major funding” from the pro-Obamacare alliance Health Care for America NOW!, which is comprised of the labor unions AFL-CIO, AFSCME, SEIU, and the progressive activist organization Move On, among others.
Public Campaign also receives funding from the liberal Ford Foundation, the Common Cause Education Fund, and Barbra Streisand’s The Streisand Foundation, among other foundations and private donors.
Stephen Seok was one of the IRS agents who wrote threatening letters to conservative groups. After doing so, he was given a promotion.
In June 2013, it was reported that two IRS employees had violated government ethics rules at a 2010 conference when they received $1,100 in free food and other items. One of them was Fred Schindler, the director of implementation oversight at the IRS Affordable Care Act office. The other was Donald Toda, a California-based employee. Obama did not fire them. Instead, he gave both of them paid leave. By comparison, in 1981, President Reagan fired 11,359 air-traffic controllers who had been illegally striking.
In June 2013, it was reported that The National Organization for Marriage, a conservative organization, had forensic evidence which proved that its donors’ private information had been illegally leaked by the IRS. The IRS employee(s) who illegally leaked this private information could get five years in prison.
The IRS illegally leaked the private information of Christine O’Donnell the same day that she announced that she would run for U.S. Senate as a tea party candidate.
According to White House visitor logs, Obama met with Colleen Kelley, the president of the National Treasury Employees Union, on March 31, 2010. The very next day, IRS employees who belonged to that union union started to target tea party organizations.
In July 2013, it was reported that Obama had met with a key IRS official who was involved in the targeting just two days before the key official had told his colleagues how to target tea party groups. The Daily Caller reported:
The Obama appointee implicated in congressional testimony in the IRS targeting scandal met with President Obama in the White House two days before offering his colleagues a new set of advice on how to scrutinize tea party and conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
IRS chief counsel William Wilkins, who was named in House Oversight testimony by retiring IRS agent Carter Hull as one of his supervisors in the improper targeting of conservative groups, met with Obama in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on April 23, 2012. Wilkins’ boss, then-IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman, visited the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on April 24, 2012, according to White House visitor logs.
On April 25, 2012, Wilkins’ office sent the exempt organizations determinations unit “additional comments on the draft guidance” for approving or denying tea party tax-exempt applications, according to the IRS inspector general’s report.
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.”
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 had required approval from Eric Holder, Obama’s Attorney General.
This has had a very dangerous and harmful effect on the media’s ability to report the news. In June 2013, Gary Pruitt, the president and chief executive of Associated Press said:
“Some longtime trusted sources have become nervous and anxious about talking with us… In some cases, government employees we once checked in with regularly will no longer speak to us by phone. Others are reluctant to meet in person … This chilling effect on newsgathering is not just limited to AP… Journalists from other news organizations have personally told me that it has intimidated both official and nonofficial sources from speaking to them as well.”
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 list can be explained by that one simple sentence that Obama said.
178) Falsely accused a law abiding news reporter of being “an aider and abettor and/or co-conspirator” in a criminal investigation
James Rosen is a law abiding reporter for Fox News. However, the Obama administration falsely labeled him as “an aider and abettor and/or co-conspirator” in a criminal investigation when it applied for a warrant to read his emails.
The New York Times wrote of this:
With the decision to label a Fox News television reporter a possible “co-conspirator” in a criminal investigation of a news leak, the Obama administration has moved beyond protecting government secrets to threatening fundamental freedoms of the press to gather news.
Leak investigations usually focus on the source, not the reporter. But, in this case, federal prosecutors also asked a federal judge for permission to examine Mr. Rosen’s personal e-mails, arguing that “there is probable cause to believe” Mr. Rosen is “an aider and abettor and/or co-conspirator” in the leak.
Though Mr. Rosen was not charged, the F.B.I. request for his e-mail account was granted secretly in late May 2010. The government was allowed to rummage through Mr. Rosen’s e-mails for at least 30 days.
Michael Clemente, the executive vice president of Fox News, said on Monday that it was “downright chilling” that Mr. Rosen “was named a criminal co-conspirator for simply doing his job as a reporter.” Bruce Brown, the executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, added on Tuesday that treating “routine news-gathering efforts as evidence of criminality is extremely troubling and corrodes time-honored understandings between the public and the government about the role of the free press.”
Obama administration officials often talk about the balance between protecting secrets and protecting the constitutional rights of a free press. Accusing a reporter of being a “co-conspirator”… shows a heavy tilt toward secrecy and insufficient concern about a free press.
The Washington Post wrote of this:
The Rosen affair is as flagrant an assault on civil liberties as anything done by George W. Bush’s administration, and it uses technology to silence critics in a way Richard Nixon could only have dreamed of.
To treat a reporter as a criminal for doing his job — seeking out information the government doesn’t want made public — deprives Americans of the First Amendment freedom on which all other constitutional rights are based. Guns? Privacy? Due process? Equal protection? If you can’t speak out, you can’t defend those rights, either.
Beyond that, the administration’s actions shatter the president’s credibility and discourage allies who would otherwise defend the administration against bogus accusations such as those involving the Benghazi “talking points.” If the administration is spying on reporters and accusing them of criminality just for asking questions — well, who knows what else this crowd is capable of doing?
My Post colleague Ann E. Marimow, who broke the Rosen story, obtained the affidavit by FBI agent Reginald Reyes seeking access to Rosen’s private e-mails. In the affidavit, Reyes stated that “there is probable cause to believe that the reporter has committed or is committing a violation” of the law against national security leaks. The affidavit detailed how the FBI had monitored Rosen’s comings and goings from the State Department and tracked his various phone calls with the suspected leaker, analyst Stephen Jin-Woo Kim.
Rosen’s supposed crime? Reyes got his evidence from an e-mail from the reporter: “I want to report authoritatively, and ahead of my competitors, on new initiatives or shifts in U.S. policy, events on the ground in [North Korea], what intelligence is picking up, etc. . . . I’d love to see some internal State Department analyses. . . . In short: Let’s break some news, and expose muddle-headed policy when we see it, or force the administration’s hand to go in the right direction, if possible.”
That is indeed compelling evidence — of good journalism.
Obama is establishing an ominous precedent.
179) 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 said that Holder should be fired over this.
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.”
180) Used Obamacare to illegally give the IRS additional powers without approval from Congress
In May 2013 the Washington Post wrote:
The law allows the Department of Health and Human Services to set up federal health exchanges in the holdout states. But the statute makes no mention of the IRS providing credits and subsidies through federal exchanges.
The IRS resolved this conundrum by denying its existence. In a May 2012 regulatory ruling, it asserted its own right to provide credits outside the state exchanges as the reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous law. But the language of the law is not ambiguous. And health scholars Jonathan Adler and Michael Cannon, in an exhaustive recent analysis, find no justification for the IRS’s ruling in the legislative history of Obamacare. “The statute,” they argue, “and the lack of any support for the IRS rule in the legislative record put defenders of the IRS rule in the awkward position of arguing that it was so obviously Congress’ intent to offer tax credits in federal exchanges that despite a year of debate over the PPACA, it never occurred to anyone to express that intent out loud. A better explanation is that the PPACA’s authors miscalculated when they assumed states would establish exchanges.”
So: The IRS seized the authority to spend about $800 billion over 10 years on benefits that were not authorized by Congress. And the current IRS scandal puts this decision in a new light. What was the role of politics in shaping this regulatory decision? What pressure was applied?
181) Used environmental regulations to shut down an ambulance while it was taking a patient to the hospital
In May 2013 the Washington Post reported:
A Wednesday shootout on the streets of Washington Highlands left a cop injured and a carjacking suspect dead. But before the suspect expired, he went on an unusual ambulance ride that involved moving him from one vehicle to another on the shoulder of Interstate 295. While this might appear to be another story of Fire and Emergency Medical Services dysfunction, the story is rather more complicated. As WUSA-TV explains, newer-model diesel engines are required by federal regulations to have emission-control features that, in some circumstances, require the motor to shut down for “regeneration” — a process in which the exhaust system burns off trapped soot. The need for regeneration can be unpredictable. The transfer to a second ambulance delayed 34-year-old Nathaniel McRae’s arrival at a hospital by seven minutes. FEMS insists the wait did not play a role in his death.
182) Had “a serious management problem” with his refusal to fire bad workers
A 2011 USA Today article on federal employees states:
“The federal government fired 0.55% of its workers in the budget year that ended Sept. 30 — 11,668 employees in its 2.1 million workforce.”
“White-collar federal workers have almost total job security after a few years on the job. Last year, the government fired none of its 3,000 meteorologists, 2,500 health insurance administrators, 1,000 optometrists, 800 historians or 500 industrial property managers.”
Wow! Those must be excellent workers, right?
Actually, no. The article also says:
“San Francisco State University management professor John Sullivan, an expert on employee turnover, says the low departure rates show a failure to release poor performers and those with obsolete skills. ‘Rather than indicating something positive, rates below 1% in the firing and layoff components would indicate a serious management problem,’ he says.”
A serious management problem?
So who exactly is the highest ranking manager of the federal government?
It’s President Obama.
183) Illegally solicited donations from health insurers
In May 2013, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius solicited donations from health insurers to help pay for Obamacare. Such soliciting is illegal.
184) Chose an economic advisor who wanted roads and bridges to be built by unqualified workers
Obama chose to have Robert Reich be his economic advisor. Regarding Obama’s stimulus, Reich said:
“I am concerned, as I’m sure many of you are, that these jobs not simply go to high skilled people… And therefore, in my remarks I have suggested to you, and I’m certainly happy to talk about it more, ways in which the money can be — criteria can be set so that they money does go to others… people who are not necessarily construction workers or high-skilled professionals.”
185) Pressured unions to reduce the amount of health insurance coverage for their employees
In May 2013, the New York Times reported:
Say goodbye to that $500 deductible insurance plan and the $20 co-payment for a doctor’s office visit. They are likely to become luxuries of the past.
Expect to have your blood pressure checked or a prescription filled at a clinic at your office, rather than by your private doctor.
Then blame the so-called Cadillac tax, which penalizes companies that offer high-end health care plans to their employees.
Although the tax does not start until 2018, employers say they have to start now to meet the deadline and they are doing whatever they can to bring down the cost of their plans. Under the law, an employer or health insurer offering a plan that costs more than $10,200 for an individual and $27,500 for a family would typically pay a 40 percent excise tax on the amount exceeding the threshold.
Tom Leibfried, a legislative director for the A.F.L.-C.I.O., one of the unions whose plans are vulnerable to the tax, says the demands that workers pay more for their care is a perennial aspect of labor negotiations. “We’re very concerned about the hollowing out of benefits in general,” he said. “What the excise tax will do is just fuel that.”
186) Falsely said “We believe in the free market”
In June 2013, Obama said,
“We believe in the free market.”
Obama was lying. The free market means that in the business world, it is the customers, not the government, who pick winners and losers. But this list contains a huge number of instances where Obama tried to use the government to pick winners and losers in the business world.
187) Falsely said “We believe in a light touch when it comes to regulations”
In June 2013, Obama said, “We believe in a light touch when it comes to regulations.”
He lied. For example, after Obamacare was passed, Obama added 20,000 extra pages of regulations to to it.
188) Said Catholic schools are “divisive” but did not say the same thing about other religious schools
In June 2013, Obama said:
“If towns remain divided – if Catholics have their schools and buildings and Protestants have theirs, if we can’t see ourselves in one another and fear or resentment are allowed to harden – that too encourages division and discourages cooperation.”
I can understand why a person might criticize religious schools in general – although I myself happen to think that religious schools are a superior alternative to public schools. But for Obama to single out one religion in particular as being divisive, while not saying the same thing about all religious schools in general, is a double standard.
189) Favored a new tax on Christmas trees so the money could be used to subsidize Christmas trees
In November 2011, Obama proposed a new tax on Christmas trees, so that the money could be used to subsidize Christmas trees. If this had been a Rube Goldberg cartoon it would have been funny. But to suggest it as an actual government policy is absurd.
190) Betrayed the people of the city that helped him launch his political career
As part of his effort to get Obamacare passed, Obama repeatedly promised that people could keep their current health insurance if they liked it.
More than any other city, the people of Chicago helped to get Obamacare passed. Chicago is where Obama chose to live when he first got into politics. The people there launched his political career and voted him into office.
And this is how Obama repays them. In May 2013, the Chicago Tribune reported:
Mayor Rahm Emanuel plans to start reducing health insurance coverage next year for more than 30,000 retired city workers and begin shifting them to President Barack Obama’s new federal system.
The move is aimed at saving the city money
Once the phaseout is complete, those retired workers would have to pay for their own health insurance or get subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. The city-subsidized coverage is particularly important to retired workers who aren’t yet eligible for Medicare
Henry Bayer, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, said the uncertainties of the Affordable Care Act and the state insurance exchanges they would create make the city’s plan hard to assess.
“This uncertainty will cause anxiety and fear for tens of thousands of seniors who gave their working lives to public service — men and women whose retirement savings are already under attack in the name of ‘pension reform.’” Bayer said.
191) Proposed military interventionism in Syria
In June 2013, Obama proposed that the U.S. get involved in Syria’s military conflicts.
192) Planned to use military snipers to shoot innocent lions and cheetahs in the wild
In June 2013, Obama was planning to use military snipers to shoot innocent lions and cheetahs in the wild.
However, after the media reported on his plans, Obama got embarrassed, and cancelled his plans.
193) Refused to fire or prosecute more than 1,000 IRS employees who illegally used their IRS credit cards for their own personal use
During Obama’s first term, more than 1,000 IRS employees illegally used their IRS credit cards for personal purchases, but Obama refused to fire or prosecute them.
194) Defended intelligence chief who lied under oath
In March 2013, James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, falsely stated under oath that the NSA was not gathering data on millions of U.S. citizens. In June 2013, after it was reported that Clapper had lied under oath, Obama defended him, instead of firing him.
195) Had the Secret Service visit a law abiding citizen who had criticized his policies on Twitter
In April 2013, Obama sent the Secret Service to visit the home of Tom Francois, a law abiding citizen who had criticized Obama’s policies on Twitter.
The Secret Service admitted that Francois had not made any threats against Obama.
196) Had the IRS grant special, illegal favors for his brother’s so-called “charity”
In May 2013, the Dailer Caller reported that the IRS had taken the “unprecedented” step of approving a non-profit application within just one month. In this particular case, the application was from the Barack H. Obama Foundation, a so-called “charity” which was headed by Malik Obama, Barack Obama’s brother.
In addition, the IRS illegally gave retroactive approval for the organization’s tax exempt status. Prior to getting this approval, the organization had illegally solicited tax deductible donations even though it did not have legal approval to do so.
197) Raised the interest rate on student loans to pay for Obamacare
Obamacare raised the interest rate on students loans from 5.3% to 6.8%. The money is used to fund Obamacare.
198) Refused to fire or prosecute 15 IRS agents who illegally seized the medical records of 10 million people
In March 2011, 15 IRS agents illegally seized the medical records of 10 million people without a warrant. Obama refused to fire or prosecute them.
199) Hired 16,500 new IRS agents to run Obamacare
In June 2013, it was reported that Obama had hired 16,500 new IRS agents to run Obamacare.
200) Tried to reward wasteful IRS spending with an increase in funding
In June 2013, Danny Werfel, Obama’s new nominee to head the IRS, asked Congress for an increase in funding. At the same time, NPR reported on this waste of taxpayer money at an IRS conference:
Some of the 2,600 attendees received benefits, including baseball tickets and stays in presidential suites that normally cost $1,500 to $3,500 per night. In addition, 15 outside speakers were paid a total of $135,000 in fees, with one paid $17,000 to talk about “leadership through art,” the committee said.
Considering how the IRS wasted all that money on luxury hotel rooms and worthless speeches, Werfel really had some nerve asking Congress for more money. By proposing to reward wasteful spending with a budget increase, Werfel proved that he is incompetent to head the IRS. The fact that Obama nominated such an incompetent person does not surprise me one bit.
201) Illegally bypassed Congress to delay Obamacare’s employer mandate
As the Obamacare law was written, the employer mandate was to begin in January 2014. This is what the law said when it was passed by the House and Senate, and signed by President Obama.
However, in July 2013, Obama delayed the employer mandate part of Obamacare until January 2015. Obama did this without approval from Congress.
For Obama to change a law that was passed by Congress, without first getting approval from Congress, is a violation of the Presidential oath that Obama took to uphold and defend the Constitution.
What Obama did here is an action of a dictator, not an action of a President whose power is limited by a written constitution.
If Obama can get away with this, then it sets a horribly dangerous precedent, and means that the President can arbitrarily make any change to any law that has been passed by Congress, without first getting approval from Congress.
202) Made it too hard for some doctors to continue their practices
In July 2013, ABC News reported that some doctors were shutting down their practices in response to Obamacare.
Dr. Robert WcWilliams, an obstetrician/gynecologist with more than 5,000 patients, said:
“It’s going to be run by bureaucrats – and it’s going to be run by politicians – who have no idea what is in your best interests, then I’m getting out.”
203) Falsely told Africans that contaminated water is a smaller problem than global warming
In July 2013, while speaking in Johannesburg, South Africa, President Obama said that global warming was “the biggest challenge we have environmentally” and that it was worse than “dirty water, dirty air.”
However, according to the World Health Organization, while global warming kills 140,000 people each year, air pollution kills 3 million people per year.
According to UNESCO, each year, contaminated water causes 4 billion cases of diarrhea, 120,000 cases of cholera, 300 million cases of malaria, 12 million cases of typhoid, 6 million cases of trachoma, 200 million cases of schistosomiesis, and more than 1 billion incidents of intestinal parasites.
You know what’s worse than global warming? How about living your entire life without ever having access to a toilet?
The World Health Organization says that dirty water is “the leading cause of disease and death around the world.”
That Obama would downplay these problems shows how scientifically illiterate he is.
That he would do so while giving a speech in Africa, which has the highest rate of water borne illness of any continent, shows how thoughtless and insensitive he is.
204) Spent $630,000 of taxpayers’ money to get more Facebook “likes”
In July 2013, it was reported that Obama had spent $630,000 of taxpayers’ money in order to get more Facebook “likes.”
205) Declared that hacking was an act of war, then hacked the EU
In 2011, the Obama administration issued a statement which said that when one country hacked another country’s computers, the hacking constituted an “act of war.”
In July 2013, it was reported that the Obama administration had hacked computers which were owned by the European Union.
206) Said “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon”
In Florida, after a school security camera showed Trayvon Martin marking graffiti, a search of his backpack showed that it contained 12 pieces of women’s jewelry, including silver wedding rings, and earrings with diamonds. The backpack also had a screwdriver, which is often used as a tool by burglars. Martin said that the jewelry belonged to a friend, but refused to say who that friend was.
Why would a teenage boy bring a backpack full of silver wedding rings and diamond earrings to school? Do Martin’s millions of defenders really think that he was not a burglar?
The fact that Martin was in possession of stolen jewelry at school is perfectly in line with George Zimmerman’s claim on the 911 call that Martin was acting suspiciously. And there had been quite a few burglaries in the area recently.
Also on the 911 call, Zimmerman had said that Martin was acting as if he was on drugs. Martin’s autopsy showed that there was THC in his system. And while other parts of marijuana can stay in the system for weeks after it’s smoked, the THC only stays in the person’s system for a few hours. Therefore, Martin was indeed high when Zimmerman saw him.
So Trayvon Martin was a burglar, used illegal drugs, broke Zimmerman’s nose, and smashed Zimmerman’s head against the concrete.
And how does Obama respond to all of this?
Obama said:
“If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”
207) Falsely said that Secretary of State John Kerry had not been on his yacht during the regime change in Egypt
In July 2013, the Obama administration falsely said that Secretary of State John Kerry had not been on his yacht during the regime change in Egypt.
Evan after CBS news presented the Obama administration with photographic evidence that Kerry had been on his yacht during that time, the Obama administration still continued to falsely claim that Kerry had not been on his yacht.
CBS News reported:
On Thursday night, CBS News obtained a photo of Kerry on his boat and sent it to the State Department, asking whether they still stand by their denial that Kerry was on a boat.
The response: “Yes.”
208) Said “the planet will boil over” if African citizens adopt a first world standard of living
In July 2013, Obama said “the planet will boil over” if African citizens adopt a first world standard of living.
“the planet will boil over
209) “Among those who Strongly Approve of the president, more fear the Tea Party than radical Muslims.”
In June 2013, Rasmussen conducted a poll to find out what people considered to be the “nation’s top terror threat.”
Reporting on the results of the poll, Rasmussen wrote:
“Among those who Strongly Approve of the president, more fear the Tea Party than radical Muslims.”
210) Illegally forced 2,200 privately owned auto dealerships to close, which destroyed 120,000 jobs
In 2009, Obama illegally forced 2,200 privately owned auto dealerships to close. These dealerships had employed 120,000 people.
211) Subsidized the production of alcoholic beverages
In June 2013, Breitbart reported:
The USDA Rural Development agency also touted a program to subsidize the Wine Barn LLC in “marketing and increasing production of its Kansas produced wine.” That cost $25,000. The USDA Rural Development also said it would hand $300,000 to the Mackinaw Trail Winery in Michigan, $100,000 for the Appleton Creek Winery in New York, $162,500 for the Old Westminster Winery in Maryland, and tens of thousands of dollars to wineries in Nebraska and Iowa.
Liquor is the name of the game for the USDA, apparently – they’re also subsidizing the production of vodka in North Carolina, Bloody Mary mix in West Virginia, and hard cider in Virginia.
212) Gave 23,994 tax refunds worth a total of $46,378,040 to illegal aliens who all used the same address
In 2011, the IRS gave 23,994 tax refunds worth a total of $46,378,040 to illegal aliens who all used the same address in Atlanta, Ga.
213) Sued private businesses for using “racist” criminal background checks to screen employees
In June 2013, the Obama administration filed lawsuits against Dollar General and BMW for using criminal background checks to screen employees. The Obama administration claimed that such background checks were “racist.”
214) Used tax money to pay federal employees to organize protests against George Zimmerman
In March and April of 2012, Obama used tax money to pay federal employees to organize protests against George Zimmerman.
215) Illegally continued giving foreign aid to Egypt after it had a coup
Federal law requires that U.S. foreign aid to Egypt be ended if and when Egypt has a coup. However, after Egypt had a coup in July 2013, the Obama administration said that it would continue giving foreign aid to Egypt.
216) Broke promise to end Bush’s surveillance of U.S. citizens who were not suspected of committing a crime
In August 2007, Obama promised that he would end Bush’s surveillance of U.S. citizens who were not suspected of committing a crime. However, in June 2013, such surveillance was still being conducted.
217) Spent $3 million to study the health risks of dating Mexican prostitutes
In July 2013, it was reported that the Obama administration had spent $3 million to study the health risks of dating Mexican prostitutes.
218) Lied about the cost of IRS conferences
In June 2013 it was reported that the Obama administration had lied about the cost of IRS conferences. While the actual cost was $50 million, the Obama administration had claimed that the cost was only 1% of that mount.
219) Spent $890,000 per year on service fees for bank accounts that had no money
In April 2013, it was reported that the Obama administration was spending $890,000 each year on service fees for bank accounts that did not have any money in them. At the time, the government had 13,712 empty accounts which it was supposed to have closed, but which it had kept open anyway.
220) Spent $34 million to construct a new military headquarters in Afghanistan after U.S. military commanders said they did not want it
After U.S. military commanders said in 2010 that they did not want a new headquarters in Afghanistan, the Obama administration spent $34 million to build it anyway.
221) Falsely said that his scandals were “phony”
In July 2013, Obama said
“With an endless parade of distractions, political posturing and phony scandals, Washington has taken its eye off the ball.”
These scandals are not “phony.” I have cited a huge number of sources in this list to show that these scandals are real.
222) Falsely guaranteed that people could keep their doctor
Before Obamacare was passed, Obama said:
“Here is a guarantee that I’ve made… If you’ve got a doctor that you like, you will be able to keep your doctor.”
However, in July 2013, the Obama administration said that people “may” be able to keep their doctor.
223) Falsely said the auto bailouts prevented Detroit from going bankrupt
Obama falsely stated that the auto bailouts prevented Detroit from going bankrupt.
224) Illegally seized a privately owned gun from a law abiding citizen
After a jury found George Zimmerman not guilty, the Obama administration announced that it would seize his gun. This violated the double jeopardy clause of the U.S. Constitution, as well as the takings clause of the fifth amendment.
225) Broke his promise to have real time verifiability of Obamacare subsidies
In July 2013, Investor’s Business Daily wrote:
Meanwhile, the administration tacitly admitted last week that its promise of real-time verification of a consumer’s eligibility to buy subsidized coverage at an ObamaCare exchange wasn’t exactly panning out.
Under ObamaCare, only those who don’t have access to “affordable” insurance at work can buy coverage in an exchange, and only those below certain income levels are eligible for tax subsidies.
Rather than a high-tech instant check, the administration told states they could simply take the applicants’ word for it when it comes to their employer-provided coverage, as well as their “projected annual household income,” without the need for “further verification.”
226) Signed health care reform whose rules contradicted each other
Obamacare allows insurance companies to charge higher premiums for smokers. At the same time, it prohibits insurance companies from charging more than three times as much for older people as it does for younger people. In June 2013, Obama’s computer programmers said that they had been unable to write a computer program that simultaneously agreed with both of these rules.
227) Signed a health care reform plan that is so horrible that even the IRS agents who run it don’t want to participate in it
Obama hired 16,500 new IRS agents to run Obamacare.
But Obamacare is so awful that even the IRS agents who run it don’t want to participate in it.
In July 2013, the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents the IRS employees who will be running Obamacare, provided a form letter to its members to send to their Congressmen. The letter stated:
“I am very concerned about legislation that has been introduced by Congressman Dave Camp to push federal employees out of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and into the insurance exchanges established under the Affordable Care Act.”
When asked about this, IRS chief Daniel Werfel responded by saying:
“I don’t want to speak for the NTEU, but I’ll offer a perspective as a federal employee myself and a federal employee at the IRS. And that is, we have right now as employees of the government, of the IRS, affordable health care coverage. I think the ACA was designed to provide an option or an alternative for individuals that do not. And all else being equal, I think if you’re an individual who is satisfied with your health care coverage, you’re probably in a better position to stick with that coverage than go through the change of moving into a different environment and going through that process. So I think for a federal employee, I think more likely, and I would — can speak for myself, I would prefer to stay with the current policy that I’m pleased with rather than go through a change if I don’t need to go through that change.”
228) Tried to tax small businesses at a higher rate than corporations
Obama raised the top tax rate on small businesses to 39.6%, and tried to lower the top tax rate on corporations to 28%.
229) Illegally prevented individual employees of small businesses from choosing their own plan during the first year of Obamacare
Obamacare requires that individual employees of small businesses be allowed to choose their own insurance plan during the first year of Obamacare. However, in March 2013, the Obama administration announced that it would not be allowing them to make this choice during the first year.
230) Falsely said that Obamacare had not hurt jobs
In July 2013, the Obama administration said that Obamacare had not hurt jobs.
However, in the real world, 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). In December 2012, Al Franken, Elizabeth Warren, John Kerry, and 15 other Democrats who supported the passage of Obamacare wrote a letter to Harry Reid, asking him to delay the tax on medical devices, claiming that the tax would hurt job creation in their districts. The New York Times reported that Obamacare “sharply penalizes full-time employment in favor of part-time employment.” 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, Taco Bell, White Castle, and Fatburger. Community College of Allegheny County switched 200 professors and 200 other employees from full time to part time in response to Obamacare. Clint Benjamin, an English professor at Community College of Allegheny County, said that this would reduce his own monthly pay by $600. Also in response to the employer mandate of Obamacare, other colleges have announced plans to switch some of their employees from full time to part time, including Florida’s Palm Beach State College, Ohio’s Youngstown State University, and New Jersey’s Kean University. In Virginia, thousands of government employees had their hours reduced because of Obamacare. The Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh reduced the hours of 48 of its employees in response to Obamacare. 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. Utah’s Granite School District reduced the hours of 1,200 of its employees in response to Obamacare. In response to Obamacare, many Wal-Mart stores have stopped hiring full time workers. In response to Obamacare, Forever 21 reduced its employees’ hours. As of September 2013, more than 200 public-sector employers had reduced their employees’ hours in response to Obamacare. Sea World reduced the weekly hours of its part time employees from 32 to 28 in response to Obamacare. Lands’ End limited its part time employees to 29 hours per week in response to Obamacare. As of September 2013, at least 34 universities and colleges had reduced some of their employees’ hours in response to Obamacare. In September 2013, it was reported that in response to Obamacare, Indiana University would be laying off 50 of its employees and switching them to a temp agency. In July 2013, leaders of the Teamsters, UFCW, and UNITE-HERE sent a letter to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi which said that Obamacare will “destroy the foundation of the 40 hour work week that is the backbone of the American middle class… the law creates an incentive for employers to keep employees’ work hours below 30 hours a week. Numerous employers have begun to cut workers’ hours to avoid this obligation.”
231) Falsely said that health insurance premiums would be reduced by $2,500 per family by the end of his first term
In February 2008, Obama said:
“We are going to work with you to lower your premiums by $2,500. We will not wait 20 years from now to do it, or 10 years from now to do it. We will do it by the end of my first term as president.”
However, by the time his first term was over, family premiums had gotten bigger, not smaller. The increase was $3,065 per family.
232) Illegally gave Obamacare waiver to Massachusetts
In August 2013, Obama gave an Obamacare waiver to Massachusetts.
This waiver was illegal for two reasons. First, the waiver was not approved by the U.S. Congress. Second, the U.S. Constitution requires that the federal government treat all states the same.
233) Betrayed the unions that helped him to get elected
In January 2013, the Wall Street Journal reported:
Some Unions Grow Wary of Health Law They Backed
Labor unions enthusiastically backed the Obama administration’s health-care overhaul when it was up for debate. Now that the law is rolling out, some are turning sour.
Union leaders say many of the law’s requirements will drive up the costs for their health-care plans and make unionized workers less competitive. Among other things, the law eliminates the caps on medical benefits and prescription drugs used as cost-containment measures in many health-care plans. It also allows children to stay on their parents’ plans until they turn 26.
Some 20 million Americans are covered by the health-care plans at issue
Top officers at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the AFL-CIO and other large labor groups plan to keep pressing the Obama administration to expand the federal subsidies to these jointly run plans, warning that unionized employers may otherwise drop coverage. A handful of unions say they already have examined whether it makes sense to shift workers off their current plans
“We are going back to the administration to say that this is not acceptable,” said Ken Hall, general secretary-treasurer for the Teamsters, which has 1.6 million members and dependents in health-care plans. Other unions involved in the push include the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and Unite Here
Sheet Metal Workers Local 85 in Atlanta, which has about 1,900 members. Next year it must lift the $250,000 annual cap on the amount it will pay for medical claims. The law’s requirements will add between 50 cents to $1 an hour to the cost of members’ compensation package
234) Illegally changed Obamacare to benefit members of Congress and their staff
Obamacare was passed by the House and Senate, and signed by President Obama.
Three years later, members of Congress and their staff complained that Obamacare was going to cost them a lot of money, and said that this would likely cause a brain drain among their staff. In response to this, Obama made changes to Obamacare so that these things would not happen. However, Obama’s actions were illegal, because he made these changes without Congress voting on them first.
235) Told General Mills to stop making true claims about Cheerios
For quite some time, advertisements for the breakfast cereal Cheerios made the true and accurate claim that eating Cheerios lowers a person’s cholesterol.
However, even though this claim is true and accurate, in May 2009, the Obama administration ordered General Mills, the maker of Cheerios, to stop making this claim in its commercials.
236) Illegally avoided enforcing the required income verification of people who receive subsidies for Obamacare exchanges
Even though Obamacare requires the government to verify the income of people who receive subsidies for Obamacare exchanges, in August 2013 it was reported that Obama would not be verifying their incomes.
237) Placed a 40% tax on so-called “Cadillac” insurance plans
Obamacare includes a 40% tax on so-called “Cadillac” insurance plans. In August 2013, unions that supported the passage of Obamacare complained about this tax.
238) Made medical care for special needs children more expensive
In August 2013, it was reported that Obamacare would make it more expensive for the parents of special needs children to pay for their children’s medical equipment and specialized private schools that cater to their medical needs.
239) Responded to the Benghazi attack by going back to bed, and then later got up and headed off to Las Vegas for a fundraiser
In September 2012, after Obama found out that U.S. citizens were being killed in Benghazi, Libya, he went back to bed. After he got up in the morning, he went off to Las Vegas for a fundraiser.
240) Illegally delayed the caps on out of pocket health care payments without Congressional approval
As it was passed by the House and Senate and signed by Obama, Obamacare sets caps on the out of pocket payments that people pay for health care, and these caps were legally required to take effect in January 2014.
However, in August 2013, Obama delayed these caps until January 2015.
Because Obama imposed this delay without it first being approved by Congress, Obama’s action was illegal. The President does not have the legal authority to change an Act that was passed by Congress, without that change first being approved by Congress. What Obama did here is not the act of a President whose power is limited by a written constitution, but is, instead, the action of a dictator.
241) Holds a double standard when it comes to supporting “gun free” zones
In December 2012, a petition at whitehouse.gov stated:
“Eliminate armed guards for the President, Vice-President, and their families, and establish Gun Free Zones around them”
“Gun Free Zones are supposed to protect our children, and some politicians wish to strip us of our right to keep and bear arms. Those same politicians and their families are currently under the protection of armed Secret Service agents. If Gun Free Zones are sufficient protection for our children, then Gun Free Zones should be good enough for politicians.”
The Obama administration rejected the proposal.
242) Outlawed the low-premium, high-deductible health insurance that some people prefer
Obamacare bans to the low-premium, high-deductible health insurance that some people prefer.
243) Lied about how many people he had helped to protect from mortgage fraud
In August 2013, it was reported that less than one month before the 2012 election, the Obama administration had lied about the number of people that it had helped to protect from mortgage fraud, as well as the total amount of money involved. In August 2013, when the truth was revealed, Newsbusters reported:
“Thus, the number of defendants fell by 80% from what DOJ claimed less than a month before the presidential election. The number of victims fell by 76%. The amount of losses involved dropped by over 90%.”
244) Falsely said the NSA review was being conducted by an “independent” body
In August 2013, Obama said that he would establish an “independent” investigation of NSA surveillance.
However, three days later, it was reported that this so-called “independent” investigation would be run by James Clapper, who had falsely testified to Congress that the NSA was not collecting information on U.S. citizens.
245) Used tax money to pay for a separate flight just for his dog
In August 2013, Obama forced taxpayers to pay for a separate airplane flight just for his dog Bo.
246) Closed off public roads so he could buy books
In August 2013, Obama had public roads closed to the public so he could go to a bookstore. Why didn’t he just order the books online?
247) Gave illegal EPA exemption to one oil refinery, and would not say which refinery it was
The EPA has a very expensive ethanol mandate that applies to all oil refineries. However, in August 2013, it was reported that Obama had given one oil refinery an exemption from this mandate.
This exemption is illegal for two reasons. First, the exemption was not approved by Congress. And secondly, the Constitution requires that federal laws apply equally to everyone.
In addition, Obama refused to say which refinery it was that received this exemption, which is completely contrary to his repeated promises of “transparency.”
248) Created new fines for charitable hospitals that give treatment to uninsured people
In August 2013, it was reported that Obamacare creates new fines for charitable hospitals that give treatment to uninsured people.
249) Blamed poverty on zip codes instead of on behavior
In July 2013, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said:
“Unfortunately, in too many of our hardest-hit communities, no matter how hard a child or her parents work, the life chances of that child, even her lifespan, is determined by the ZIP Code she grows up in. This is simply wrong.”
However, let’s consider two groups of people in the U.S. The first group has a poverty rate of 2%. The second group has a poverty rate of 76%.
The first group consists of people who followed all three of these steps:
1) Finish high school.
2) Get a full-time job.
3) Wait until age 21 and get married before having children.
The second group consists of people who followed zero of those three steps.
Among people who follow all three of these steps, the poverty rate is 2%.
Among people who follow zero of these steps, the poverty rate is 76%.
(My source for that information is this article, which refers to this PDF, and the relevant data is on page 15 of the PDF. The study uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau.)
250) Nominated a telecommunications lobbyist and Obama fundraiser to head the FCC
In May 2013, Obama nominated Tom Wheeler to head the FCC. Wheeler had previously been the head of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, which is a lobbying organization for the cable TV industry. He had also been the head of CTIA, a lobbying organization for cellphone carriers. In addition, he had also been a fundraiser for Obama.
251) Tried to violate defendants’ right to a fair trial
In August 2013, Reuters reported:
A secretive U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration unit is funneling information from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a massive database of telephone records to authorities across the nation to help them launch criminal investigations of Americans.
Although these cases rarely involve national security issues, documents reviewed by Reuters show that law enforcement agents have been directed to conceal how such investigations truly begin – not only from defense lawyers but also sometimes from prosecutors and judges.
The undated documents show that federal agents are trained to “recreate” the investigative trail to effectively cover up where the information originated, a practice that some experts say violates a defendant’s Constitutional right to a fair trial. If defendants don’t know how an investigation began, they cannot know to ask to review potential sources of exculpatory evidence – information that could reveal entrapment, mistakes or biased witnesses.
“I have never heard of anything like this at all,” said Nancy Gertner, a Harvard Law School professor who served as a federal judge from 1994 to 2011. Gertner and other legal experts said the program sounds more troubling than recent disclosures that the National Security Agency has been collecting domestic phone records. The NSA effort is geared toward stopping terrorists; the DEA program targets common criminals, primarily drug dealers.
“It is one thing to create special rules for national security,” Gertner said. “Ordinary crime is entirely different. It sounds like they are phonying up investigations.”
252) Threatened internet service providers with contempt of court if they did not install surveillance software
In August 2013, it was reported that the Obama administration had pressured internet service providers to install surveillance software, so that it could monitor internet traffic without a warrant. Internet service providers who did not cave in to this pressure were threatened by the Obama administration with contempt of court. This violated the Constitution’s ban on warrantless searches. In addition, the executive branch does not have the legal authority to declare contempt of court, as this power is reserved exclusively for the judicial branch.
253) Sued Louisiana to keep low income blacks trapped in bad schools, and lied about why he did it
In August 2013, the Obama administration sued Louisiana to try to bring an end to its school voucher program – a program which had just been passed in 2012.
Under the Louisiana program, both of the following criteria had to be met in order for a student to get a school voucher. First, the student must come from a family whose income is below 250% of the poverty level. And second, the current public school that the student is attending must be rated as “C” or below.
86% of students who received vouchers had used those vouchers to flee from public schools which had been rated as “D” or “F.”
Only the most vulnerable children were eligible for the vouchers – the poorest students attending the worst schools.
Obama’s reason for filing the lawsuit was that “many of those vouchers impeded the desegregation process.”
However, in response to Obama’s claim that the vouchers discriminated against blacks, Louisiana Education Superintendent John White pointed out that almost all of the students using the vouchers were black, and said that “it’s a little ridiculous” for Obama to claim that these vouchers caused discrimination against blacks. The Washington Post reported that 90% of the students who receive the vouchers are black.
It’s also worth noting that only students whose parents request such vouchers are eligible to participate in the voucher program. Obama is therefore claiming that parents want their own children to be discriminated against. Obama is extremely wrong on this. These parents do not want their children to be discriminated against. In reality, what these parents want is for their children to have a chance at a better education.
This also makes Obama a hypocrite, because while he was living in both Chicago and Washington D.C., he always sent his own children to private schools. Does Obama really want us to believe that he subjected his own children to racial discrimination by sending them to private schools?
254) Encouraged 40,000 longshoremen to quit the AFL-CIO
In September 2013, it was reported that 40,000 longshoremen had quit the AFL-CIO, and that they had cited Obamacare as one of their reasons for doing so.
255) Paid $67 million to so-called “volunteers”
In August 2013, it was reported that Obama has paid $67 million to so-called “volunteers” to teach people about Obamacare.
256) Illegally used Obamacare to fund pre-K education without approval from Congress
In August 2013, it was reported that Obama had illegally used Obamacare to fund pre-K education without approval from Congress.
257) Signed so-called “hunger-free” act that left students feeling hungry
In December 2010, Obama signed the “Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act,” which limited school lunches to a maximum of 850 calories. Students complained that this so-called “hunger-free” program left them feeling hungry.
Meanwhile, the lunch that Obama served to his guests at his 2013 inauguration contained more than 3,000 calories.
258) Signed health care reform that is so terrible that less than 3% of federal employees want to join it
In August 2013, it was reported that less than 3% of federal employees wanted to participate in Obamacare.
259) Avoided doing background checks on Obamacare “navigators”
In August 2013, it was reported that the Obama administration would not be doing background check on Obamacare “navigators,” despite the fact that these “navigators” would have access to people’s personal, private, and financial information.
260) Illegally paid White House interns less than minimum wage
In June 2013, a federal court ruled that Fox Searchlight Pictures had violated the minimum wage law by using unpaid interns. Two months later, it was reported that the Obama administration was using unpaid interns. In addition to this being illegal, it also makes Obama a hypocrite, because he had previously spoken out in favor of a raising the minimum wage.
261) Said broccoli was his favorite food
In July 2013, Obama said that broccoli was his favorite food. However, before he made this claim, even though the media showed many pictures of him eating, and even though there were many articles published about the foods that he ate, as far as I know, none of those pictures or articles ever showed or mentioned him eating broccoli. While this may seem trivial, it shows that there is nothing – absolutely nothing at all – that Obama is not willing to lie about.
262) Illegally missed half of Obamacare’s deadlines
In August 2013, it was reported that Obama had illegally missed 41 of Obamacare’s 82 deadlines.
263) Tried to give illegal Obamacare subsidies to unions without Congressional approval
In August 2013 it was reported that Obama was trying to give illegal Obamacare subsidies to unions, without approval from Congress.
264) Made it harder for writers, actors, artists, and musicians to obtain health insurance
In September 2013, the Weekly Standard reported:
Nancy Pelosi waxed rhapsodic in 2010 as she imagined the benefits of Obamacare: “Think of an economy where people could be an artist or a photographer or a writer without worrying about keeping their day job in order to have health insurance.”
But as Obamacare begins to kick in, artists, photographers, writers, and other members of the “creative class” who have access to health insurance programs through numerous professional organizations will lose that coverage.
Up until now professional organizations have worked with insurance providers to craft reduced-rate plans for their members. But thanks to the fine print in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), on January 1, 2014, many of these plans will fail to pass legal muster.
The College Art Association website posted a notice this month: “The New York Life Insurance Company recently informed CAA that it will no longer offer catastrophic healthcare coverage previously available to CAA members.”
The Entertainment Industry Group Insurance Trust (TEIGIT) website posts the following notice: “All individual and/or Sole Proprietor Health Insurance will terminate January 1, 2014. This includes plans acquired as Members of our Affiliated Associations & their groups.” Those affiliated associations include the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the Dramatists Guild, the Graphic Arts Guild, NY Women in Film and Television, and many others.
This will affect huge numbers of freelance artists, musicians, disc jockeys, and so forth.
freelance artists, designers, and musicians forced to enter the state-run exchanges are far more likely to see their rates go up
Pelosi’s vision of a world full of carefree artists, musicians, and writers is a mirage and becoming fainter the closer we get to January 1.
265) Banned the sale of flavored cigarettes, but gave an exemption to the most dangerous flavor
In September 2009, the Obama administration banned the sale of flavored cigarettes, but exempted menthol from the ban. Although I am opposed to this ban, it’s this exemption that I find to be the most troubling. If Obama thinks that flavored cigarettes are so dangerous that they deserve to be banned, then why did he exempt one particular flavor?
The Obama administration later announced that menthol cigarettes were more dangerous than other flavors such as cherry, cloves, chocolate, coconut, and cinnamon, but still continued to exempt menthol from the ban. If Obama thinks that flavored cigarettes are so dangerous that they should be banned, then why did he knowingly continue to give an exemption to the most dangerous flavor?
266) Tried to censor the Washington Post
In August 2013, the Washington Post reported:
The Obama administration referred all questions for this article to John DeLong, the NSA’s director of compliance, who answered questions freely in a 90-minute interview. DeLong and members of the NSA communications staff said he could be quoted “by name and title” on some of his answers after an unspecified internal review. The Post said it would not permit the editing of quotes. Two days later, White House and NSA spokesmen said that none of DeLong’s comments could be quoted on the record and sent instead a prepared statement in his name. The Post declines to accept the substitute language as quotations from DeLong.
267) Dumbed down math education to make wrong answers acceptable
In August 2013, the Daily Caller reported:
Quick: what’s 3 x 4?
If you said 11 — or, hell, if you said 7, pi, or infinity squared — that’s just fine under the Common Core, the new national curriculum that the Obama administration will impose on American public school students this fall.
In a pretty amazing YouTube video, Amanda August, a curriculum coordinator in a suburb of Chicago called Grayslake, explains that getting the right answer in math just doesn’t matter as long as kids can explain the necessarily faulty reasoning they used to get to that wrong answer.
“Even if they said, ’3 x 4 was 11,’ if they were able to explain their reasoning and explain how they came up with their answer really in, umm, words and oral explanation, and they showed it in the picture but they just got the final number wrong, we’re really more focused on the how,” August says in the video.
268) Broke his promise to label genetically modified food
Before the 2008 election, Obama promised to require labeling of genetically modified food. He broke that promise.
269) Asked the Supreme Court to allow warrantless cell phone searches
In August 2013, the Obama administration asked the U.S Supreme Court to allow warrantless cell phone searches.
270) Used an armed SWAT team to check for water pollution
In September 2013, the Alaska Dispatch reported:
When agents with the Alaska Environmental Crimes Task Force surged out of the wilderness around the remote community of Chicken wearing body armor and jackets emblazoned with POLICE in big, bold letters, local placer miners didn’t quite know what to think.
Did it really take eight armed men and a squad-size display of paramilitary force to check for dirty water? Some of the miners, who run small businesses, say they felt intimidated.
Miners suggest it might have been better all around if officials had just shown up at the door — as they used to do — and said they wanted to check the water.
The EPA has refused to publicly explain why it used armed officers as part of what it called a “multi-jurisdictional” investigation of possible Clean Water Act violations in the area.
271) Purchased 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition for the Department of Homeland Security to use in the U.S.
In March 2013, it was reported that the Obama administration had purchased 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition for the Department of Homeland Security to use in the U.S.
272) Released 2,837 convicted sex offenders from prison
In September 2013, the Obama administration released 2,837 convicted sex offenders from prison.
Although the Obama administration had released these sex offenders in response to a court order to alleviate prison overcrowding, it could have released non-violent drug offenders instead. See #7 on this list for how Obama has carried out the biggest war against medical marijuana of any President in history.
Apparently, Obama thinks that people with doctors’ prescriptions for medical marijuana are a bigger threat than rapists and child molesters.
273) Refused to fire or prosecute Obamacare employee who released private info of 2,400 people
In September 2013, it was reported that an Obamacare employee had released the private information of 2,400 people. Obama refused to fire or prosecute this Obamacare employee.
274) Tried to monitor 80% of all credit card transactions
In September 2013, it was reported that the Obama administration was trying to monitor 80% of all credit card transactions.
275) Tried to censor the AFL-CIO
In September 2013, Associated Press reported:
The AFL-CIO on Wednesday approved a resolution critical of parts of President Barack Obama’s health care law in spite of efforts by White House officials to discourage the labor federation from making its concerns so prominent.
The strongly worded resolution says the Affordable Care Act will drive up the costs of union-sponsored health plans to the point that workers and employers are forced to abandon them. Labor unions still support the law’s overall goals of reducing health costs and bringing coverage to all Americans, the resolution says, but adds that the law is being implemented in a way that is “highly disruptive” to union health care plans.
Some individual unions have complained about the law’s impact for months. The resolution marks the first time the nation’s largest labor federation has gone on record embracing that view. Unions were among the most enthusiastic backers of the law when it passed in 2010.
A labor official told The Associated Press that White House officials had been calling labor leaders for days to urge them not to voice their concerns in the form of a resolution.
276) Falsely said that he had not declared a “red line” on Syria
In August 2012, while talking about Syria, Obama said:
“A red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized.”
However, in September 2013, while talking about Syria, Obama said:
“I didn’t set a red line.”
277) Falsely gave himself credit for John Kerry’s idea about Syria
In September 2013, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry suggested that Syria turn over all of its chemical weapons to an international body.
The Obama’s administration initially responded to Kerry’s statement by saying that Kerry had not been serious, and that his statement had just been a “rhetorical” answer to a hypothetical question.
However, after former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Kerry’s idea made sense, Obama falsely stated that he had talked about the idea a week earlier.
278) Made it more difficult and bureaucratic for restaurant employees to collect automatic tips from parties of eight or more
In September 2013, the Obama administration announced new paperwork requirements for restaurants that collect automatic tips from parties of eight or more. These new regulations create additional paperwork for restaurants each and every time a party of eight or more leaves an automatic tip. It also means that restaurant employees would have to wait extra time to receive these automatic tips from parties of eight or more. In addition, in some cases, restaurant employees might not get any tip at all from some parties of eight or more, because their employer might decide that the paperwork is too burdensome, and stop collecting automatic tips altogether.
There’s also the fact that Obama imposed these new regualations without approval from Congress, which means that Obama’s actions were illegal.
279) Secretly and illegally reversed NSA restrictions without approval from Congress
In September 2013, the Washington Post reported:
The Obama administration secretly won permission from a surveillance court in 2011 to reverse restrictions on the National Security Agency’s use of intercepted phone calls and e-mails, permitting the agency to search deliberately for Americans’ communications in its massive databases, according to interviews with government officials and recently declassified material.
In addition, the court extended the length of time that the NSA is allowed to retain intercepted U.S. communications from five years to six years — and more under special circumstances, according to the documents, which include a recently released 2011 opinion by U.S. District Judge John D. Bates, then chief judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
Together the permission to search and to keep data longer expanded the NSA’s authority in significant ways without public debate or any specific authority from Congress. The enlarged authority is part of a fundamental shift in the government’s approach to surveillance: collecting first, and protecting Americans’ privacy later.
The court decision allowed the NSA “to query the vast majority” of its e-mail and phone call databases using the e-mail addresses and phone numbers of Americans and legal residents without a warrant, according to Bates’s opinion.
The court in 2008 imposed a wholesale ban on such searches at the government’s request, said Alex Joel, civil liberties protection officer at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). The government included this restriction “to remain consistent with NSA policies and procedures that NSA applied to other authorized collection activities,” he said.
280) Encouraged employers to use temp agencies
In September 2013, it was reported that in response to Obamacare, Indiana University would be laying off 50 of its employees and switching them to a temp agency.
In June 2013, Time magazine wrote:
Why Temp Agencies Are Learning to Love the Affordable Care Act
Staffing companies like Robert Half International and On Assignment have seen their stock prices soar since President Obama’s reelection in November, as the election made it nearly certain that the implementation of the law would continue as planned. “In general [Obamacare] is viewed as something that will lead to increases in the penetration rate of temporary workers,” says Tobey Sommer, an analyst with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. Firms like Robert Half International are especially well positioned to benefit from the law, Sommer says, because they specialize in small and medium-sized companies, the very sort that may be using temporary workers to help them stay below that all-important 50-worker mark.
There’s also an opening for staffing companies to present themselves as experts in the labor rules of the Obamacare law, and as a resource that other businesses can turn to for help with its many rules and regulations. “The increasing burden of these regulations will cause some clients to throw up their hands and say, ‘I can’t deal with all of this,” says Sommer. And when that happens, a full-service staffing company could be the perfect place to seek help navigating the unknown waters of Obamacare.
281) Encouraged layoffs of health care workers
In September 2013, it was reported that in response to Obamacare, Emory Healthcare, which is in Georgia, would be laying off more than 100 of its employees.
In September 2013, it was reported that in response to Obamacare, the Cleveland Clinic would be laying off some of its employees.
282) Encouraged insurance companies to reduce their customers’ choices of doctors and hospitals
In September 2013, the Los Angeles Times reported:
The doctor can’t see you now.
Consumers may hear that a lot more often after getting health insurance under President Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
To hold down premiums, major insurers in California have sharply limited the number of doctors and hospitals available to patients in the state’s new health insurance market opening Oct. 1.
New data reveal the extent of those cuts in California, a crucial test bed for the federal healthcare law.
These diminished medical networks are fueling growing concerns that many patients will still struggle to get care despite the nation’s biggest healthcare expansion in half a century.
Consumers could see long wait times, a scarcity of specialists and loss of a longtime doctor.
In September 2013, the New York Times reported:
… under President Obama’s health care law… many insurers are significantly limiting the choices of doctors and hospitals available to consumers.
From California to Illinois to New Hampshire, and in many states in between, insurers are… restricting the number of providers who will treat patients in their new health plans.
… insurers… have created smaller networks of doctors and hospitals than are typically found in commercial insurance.
Consumers should be prepared for “much tighter, narrower networks” of doctors and hospitals, said Adam M. Linker, a health policy analyst at the North Carolina Justice Center, a statewide advocacy group.
In a new study, the Health Research Institute of PricewaterhouseCoopers, the consulting company, says that “insurers passed over major medical centers” when selecting providers in California, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee, among other states.
Juan Carlos Davila, an executive vice president of Blue Shield of California, said the network for its exchange plans… did not include the five medical centers of the University of California.
Daniel R. Hawkins Jr., a senior vice president of the National Association of Community Health Centers, which represents 9,000 clinics around the country, said: “… insurers have shown little interest in including us in their provider networks.”
Dr. Bruce Siegel, the president of America’s Essential Hospitals, formerly known as the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, said insurers were telling his members: “We don’t want you in our network. We are worried about having your patients, who are sick and have complicated conditions.”
In New Hampshire, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, a unit of WellPoint, one of the nation’s largest insurers, has touched off a furor by excluding 10 of the state’s 26 hospitals from the health plans that it will sell through the insurance exchange.
283) Encouraged a hospital to close
In September 2013, WCYB reported:
Jonesville, Va. – A local hospital is closing its doors.
Wellmont Health System is citing unprecedented changes in health care as the reason for closing Lee Regional Medical Center.
Company officials say three reasons led to the decision reimbursement cuts associated with the Affordable Care Act, extremely low community use of the hospital and a lack of consistent physician coverage.
Lee Regional will cease all operations on October 1.
284) Required doctors to ask patients sexual questions and put their answers in an electronic database
In September 2013, it was reported that Obamacare requires doctors to ask patients personal questions about their sex lives, and to put their answers into an electronic database. Doctors who avoid doing this will be penalized.
Dr. Adam Budzikowski, a New York cardiologist, said these sex question were “insensitive, stupid and very intrusive,” and that he could not think of any reason why a cardiologist would need such information.
Dr. Richard Amerling, an associate professor of medicine at Albert Einstein Medical College, said that a patient’s medical record should be “a story created by you and your doctor solely for your treatment and benefit,” and that Obamacare turns doctor appointments “into an interrogation, and the data will not be confidential.”
The New York Civil Liberties Union said that these requirements were a violation of patients’ privacy.
The Obama administration said that patients who wished to keep their information out of the electronic database should pay in cash.
285) Listed wrong prices for Obamacare
On September 20, 2013, just 10 days before the Obamacare exchanges were legally required to be ready, it was reported that they had the wrong prices.
286) Made it easier for people to commit health care fraud
In September 2013, CNBC reported:
Deep staff cuts are hitting a federal agency responsible for investigating health care fraud just as Obamacare is due to kick in, leaving less people to investigate an ever-growing crime that costs taxpayers billions of dollars.
And in a perverse twist, the funding cuts at the Health and Human Services Department’s Inspector General’s Office might save money in the short term for the U.S. taxpayer. But over the long run, more money that could have been recouped from the fraud cases now going unpursued, is being left on the table, the agency said.
For every $1 spent on health-care fraud probes, nearly $8 is recouped in fines, restitution or settlements, according to HHS.
287) Included a so-called “family glitch” in his health care reform
In September 2013, USA Today reported:
A so-called “family glitch” in the 2010 health care law threatens to cost some families thousands of dollars in health insurance costs and leave up to 500,000 children without coverage, insurance and health care analysts say.
That’s unless Congress fixes the problem, which seems unlikely given the House’s latest move Friday to strip funding from the law, which is also called the Affordable Care Act.
Congress defined “affordable” as 9.5% or less of an employee’s household income, mostly to make sure people did not leave their workplace plans for subsidized coverage through the exchanges. But the “error” was that it only applies to the employee — and not his or her family. So, if an employer offers a woman affordable insurance, but doesn’t provide it for her family, they cannot get subsidized help through the state health exchanges.
That can make a huge difference; the Kaiser Family Foundation said an average plan for an individual is about $5,600, but it goes up to $15,700 for families.
288) Made it harder for Canadian politicians to get health care
Canada has had so-called “universal health care” for a long time.
However, when Robert Bourassa, the premier of Quebec, Canada, needed cancer treatment, he came to the United States and paid for his health care with his own money.
And when Canadian Liberal MP Belinda Stronach needed cancer treatment, she also came to the United States and paid for her health care with her own money.
And when Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams needed heart surgery, he, too, came to the United States and paid for his health care with his own money.
Now that Obama has given the U.S. so-called “universal health care,” where will Canadian politicians go when they get sick?
289) Gave married couples an annual tax of up to $11,028 for being married instead of single
In front of the U.S. Supreme Court, the Obama administration argued that Obamacare is a tax.
According to the Obamacare calulator, Obamacare places an annual tax on married couples for being married instead of single. The amount of this tax depends upon the ages, incomes, and parental status of the married couple.
According to the Obamacare calculator, the extreme case of this tax occurs with a 60-year-old married couple with no children, where the two spouses have identical incomes totaling $62,041 per year. Under this scenario, according to the Obamacare calculator, Obamacare gives them an annual tax of $11, 028 for being married instead of single.
290) Gave people an annual tax increase of up to $12,214 for earning one more dollar of income
In front of the U.S. Supreme Court, the Obama administration argued that Obamacare is a tax.
Obamacare gives some people a tax increase if they increase their income by one dollar. The amount of this tax increase depends upon the person’s age, income, and marital status.
According to the Obamacare calculator, the extreme case of this occurs with a 64-year-old married couple with a combined income of $62,041. Under this scenario, according to the Obamacare calulator, Obamacare gives them an annual tax increase of $12,214 when their income increases by one dollar, in the case of their income going from $62,040 to $62,041.
This amounts to a marginal tax rate of 1,221,400%. That’s not a typo – the marginal tax rate on that one dollar of additional income is more than one million per cent.
291) Refused to fire IRS employees who “lost” $67 million from Obamacare “slush fund”
In September 2013, it was reported that IRS employees had “lost” $67 million from a “slush fund.” Obama refused to fire those employees. Obama had created the “slush fund” as part of Obamacare.
292) Refused to fire ATF employees who “lost” 420 million cigarettes
In September 2013, it was reported that ATF employees had “lost” 420 million cigarettes. Obama refused to fire them.
293) Falsely said his mother’s insurance company had refused to pay for her cancer treatment
During the 2008 election campaign, Obama falsely said that his mother’s health insurance company had refused to pay for her cancer treatment.
294) Had 19.5 million fake Twitter followers
As of September 2013, Obama had 19.5 million fake Twitter followers.
295) Illegally delayed online registration of Obamacare for small businesses
Obamacare requires that the online registration for small businesses be ready by October 1, 2013. However, five days before that date, Associated Press reported that this deadline would not be met.
296) Encouraged 30,000 Puget Sound grocery workers to vote in favor of authorizing a strike
In September 2013, a union representing 30,000 employees at Safeway, Fred Meyer, QFC, and Albertson’s in the Puget Sound area of Washington state voted in favor of authorizing a strike. Union members said that one of their reasons for voting in favor of the strike was that their employers were trying to switch their part time employees form employer provided insurance to the Obamacare exchanges.
297) Waived the U.S. ban on arming terrorists
In September 2013, the Washington Examiner reported:
Obama waives ban on arming terrorists to allow aid to Syrian opposition
President Obama waived a provision of federal law designed to prevent the supply of arms to terrorist groups to clear the way for the U.S. to provide military assistance to “vetted” opposition groups fighting Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.
Some elements of the Syrian opposition are associated with radical Islamic terrorist groups, including al Qaeda
The law allows the president to waive those prohibitions if he “determines that the transaction is essential to the national security interests of the United States.”
298) Caused a family’s monthly insurance premium to increase from $333 to $965
Andy and Amy Mangione and their two sons live in Louisville, Kentucky. In September 2013, they received a letter from Humana, their insurance company, which said that Obamacare would be causing their monthly premium to increase from $333 to $965.
299) Caused Michelle Malkin’s family to lose their health insurance policy
In September 2013, conservative writer Michelle Malkin, who has always opposed Obamacare, wrote:
Like an estimated 22 million other Americans, I am a self-employed small-business owner who buys health insurance for my family directly on the individual market. We have a high-deductible PPO plan that allows us to choose from a wide range of doctors.
Or rather, we had such a plan.
Last week, our family received notice from Anthem BlueCross BlueShield of Colorado that we can no longer keep the plan we like because of “changes from health care reform (also called the Affordable Care Act or ACA).” The letter informed us that “(t)o meet the requirements of the new laws, your current plan can no longer be continued beyond your 2014 renewal date.”
This isn’t just partisan business. It’s personal. Our cancellation letter states that Anthem is “not going to be selling new individual PPO plans.” When we asked whether we could keep our children’s doctors, an agent for Anthem told my husband and me she didn’t know.
300) Tried to force Little Sisters of the Poor and other Catholic organizations to violate their religious principles
In September 2013, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty sued the Obama administration on behalf of Little Sisters of the Poor, a Catholic charity. Other Catholic organizations were also represented in the lawsuit.
Sister Loraine Marie said of this lawsuit:
“We cannot violate our vows by participating in the government’s program to provide access to abortion-inducing drugs.”
Mark Rienzi, one of the lawyers representing these Catholic organizations, said:
“These women just want to take care of the elderly poor without being forced to violate the faith that animates their work. The money they collect should be used to care for the poor like it always has — and not to pay the IRS.”
301) Signed health care reform that broke his promise not to increase taxes on families making less than $250,000 a year
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.”
In 2010, Obama signed Obamacare.
In 2012, in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, the Obama administration argued that Obamacare is a tax.
302) Pushed millions of working people “into a regulatory health coverage no man’s land”
In February 2013, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (Democrat-Oregon) said:
“We’ve got millions of people — working-class, middle-class people — who are going to be pushed into a regulatory health coverage no man’s land. They are unable to afford the family coverage through their employer and ineligible for the subsidy that could be used by dependents on the exchange.”
303) “Unfairly” forced federal lawmakers and their aides to participate in the same health care reform as everyone else
In June 2013, U.S. Congressman John Larson (Democrat-Connecticut) said that it is “not fair” to force federal lawmakers and their aides to participate in the same health care reform as everyone else.
304) Encouraged SEIU union to go on strike
The Service Employees International Union supported Obama in both elections, and also supported the passage of Obamacare.
However, in September 2013, member of the Chicago chapter of the SEIU went on strike over jobs cuts that were caused by Obamacare.
305) Removed promise of “free” health care from Obamacare website
In September 2013, the Obamacare website removed its promise of “free” health care.
306) Exposed the hypocrisy of MSNBC host Ed Schultz
After Obamacare was passed, MSNBC host Ed Schultz praised it almost every day for three years. However, on Sepotember 26, 2013, just five days before the Obamacare exchanges were to begin, Schultz said that unions should be exempt from it.
307) Punished people who were unable to accurately predict their income a year in advance
Obamacare requires people to predict their income a year in advance. If their prediction is wrong, they can be punished by the IRS.
308) Created Obamacare website where less than 1% of the people who visited on its first day actually registered for Obamacare
U.S. Congressman Congressman Jim Himes (Democrat-Connecticut) said that out of the 28,000 people from Connecticut who had visited the Obamacare website on its first day, only 167 had actually signed up for Obamacare.
309) Falsely said the government did not know how many people had enrolled in Obamacare
On October 3, 2013, the third day that the Obamacare website was in operation, White House spokesman Jay Carney said that “7 million” people had visited the Obamacare website so far. However, when asked how many of those people had actually enrolled in Obamacare, he said, “We don’t have that data.”
Carney was lying. Of course they have that data. The real reason he didn’t answer the question is because the number of people who had actually registered for Obamacare was very low. For example, KUSI reported that of the first 645,000 people from California who visited the Obamacare website, zero of them had actually enrolled in Obamacare. As another example. U.S. Congressman Congressman Jim Himes (Democrat-Connecticut) said that out of the 28,000 people from Connecticut who had visited the Obamacare website on its first day, only 167 had actually signed up for Obamacare.
The federal government knows exactly how many of those first 7 million visitors to the Obamcare website actually registered for Obamacare. But that number is so low, that the government is afraid to reveal it.
310) Broke promise that Obamacare “navigators” would not go door to door
On October 1, 2013, the very first day that Obamacare registration was taking place, the Obama administration broke its promise that Obamacare “navigators” would not go door to door.
311) Created Obamacare website where reporters from various news agencies were unable to register on its first day
On October 1, 2013, a CNN reporter was unable to register at the Obamacare website.
On October 1, 2013, an MSNBC reporter was unable to register at the Obamacare website.
On October 1, 2013, a reporter from the Tennessean was unable to register at the Obamacare website.
312) Created Obamacare phone line that was answered by “navigators” who had no training
President Obama signed Obamacare in March 2010. The Obama administration had three and a half years to hire and train the “navigators” who answer the Obamacare phone line.
However, on October 1, 2013, one of the “navigators” who answered the Obamacare phone line said “We have not been trained yet.”
313) Created Obamacare website that can’t handle as much traffic as a website which is run by one guy in his pajamas from his apartment
drudgereport.com is run by Matt Drudge, who runs the website in his pajamas from his apartment. I’ve visited his website just about every day since the late 20th century. It runs very well. His website has gotten as many as 45 million hits per day.
On the first day of the Obamacare website, it had 5 million visitors. It could not handle that amount of traffic.
314) Created Obamacare phone line where “navigators” told people to go to a building that turned out to be empty
Obamacare “navigators” who answered the Obamacare phone line told people to go to a building that turned out to be empty.
315) Created Obamacare phone line with a number that when spelled out is “F*** YO”
When spelled out, the Obamacare phone number is “F*** YO.”
This is not a complaint on my part. On the contrary, I consider this to be truth in advertising. For once, the Obama administration is telling us the truth about Obamacare.
316) Tried to censor a book about the “Fast and Furious” scandal
In October 2013, the ACLU announced that it would be defending John Dodson’s first amendment right to free speech, against the Obama administration, which was trying to prevent Dodson from publishing a book about Obama’s “Fast and Furious” scandal.
317) Michelle Obama said she could not tweet as often after the federal shutdown caused layoffs of her 16 “assistants,” who have salaries as high as $172,200
Michelle Obama has 16 taxpayer funded “assistants,” whose salaries are as high as $172,200.
During the government shutdown in October 2013, her 16 “assistants” were laid off, and her twitter account said:
“Due to Congress’s failure to pass legislation to fund the government, updates to this account will be limited.”
318) Hypocritically blocked Texas’s voter ID law for being “racist”
In March 2012, Obama’s Justice Department blocked Texas’s voter ID law, claiming that it was “racist.”
However, the very same Obama Justice Department that did this, also requires photo ID for everyone who enters it. In this video, beginning at 2:39, we see that a security guard at Obama’s Justice Department requires photo ID for everyone who enters.
319) Falsely said that his negotiating over the debt ceiling would be unprecedented
In October 2013, Obama falsely said that his negotiating over the debt ceiling would be unprecedented.
320) Blocked access to outdoor memorials and monuments during the government shutdown, even though it would have been cheaper to leave them open
During the government shutdown in October 2013, Obama shut down the Vietnam Memorial, despite the fact that it would have been cheaper to leave it open.
Obama also shut down the World War II Memorial. Obama used metal fences and yellow police tape to block the entrances.
Obama put up orange cones to prevent drivers from stopping and taking pictures of Mount Rushmore.
Obama put up yellow police tape in front of the Lincoln Memorial to prevent people from entering.
During previous government shutdowns, these memorials and monuments had remained open.
Since it’s more expensive to close these outdoor memorials and monuments than it is to leave them open, I have to wonder what Obama’s reason was for shutting them down.
321) Kicked people out of their privately owned vacation homes on federal land during government shutdown
During the government shutdown in October 2013, Obama forced people to leave their privately owned vacation homes along Lake Mead. The privately owned homes were situated on land owned by the federal government. All of the homes in question were vacation homes, not primary residences, so no one was forced into homelessness. Nevertheless, there was no legitimate justification for Obama to do this.
322) Forced private businesses on federal land to close during government shutdown
During the October 2013 government shutdown, Obama forced privately owned marinas, restaurants, inns, and concessions stands which were situated on federal land to close. Although the Obama administration claimed that this was done because the government did not have enough money to allow them to stay open, the government actually spent extra money to have federal guards prevent people from entering these private businesses.
323) Kept one of his favorite golf courses open during government shutdown
During the October 2013 government shutdown, while Obama was busying closing federal parks, monuments, and memorials, he made one exception – he allowed one of his favorite golf courses to stay open.
324) Spent $98,670 to build an outhouse
In September 2013, the Obama administration spent $98,670 to build an outhouse at the Swede Park Trail Head in Alaska.
325) Engages in “a sign of leadership failure”
In March 2006, Senator Obama said:
“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure.”
However, in September 2013, President Obama argued in favor of raising the debt ceiling.
326) Used armed guards to imprison law abiding tourists inside a locked building at Yellowstone National Park
During the October 2013 government shutdown, Obama used armed guards to imprison law abiding tourists inside a locked building at Yellowstone National Park.
327) Illegally denied death benefits to the families of dead U.S. soldiers
During the October 2013 government shutdown, Obama illegally denied death benefits to the families of dead U.S. soldiers. Prior to the government shutdown, the funding for these death benefits had already been authorized by law.
328) Spent $47,174 on a mechanical bull during government shutdown
During the October 2013 government shutdown, while Obama was busy closing parks, memorials, and monuments, and denying death benefits to the families of dead U.S. military personnel, he did manage to spend $47,174 on a mechanical bull.
329) Seized $35,000 from a law abiding owner of a grocery store without any warning , explanation, or charges
For 30 years, Terry Dehko has been legally operating a grocery store near Detroit, Michigan. In January 2013, the Obama administration seized $35,000 from Dehko’s bank account, without giving any warning or explanation, and without charging Dehko with any crime.
330) Ran “the most closed, control-freak administration I’ve ever covered”
For the past 20 years, David Sanger has been a New York Times reporter stationed in Washington, D.C. In October 2013, he said:
“This is the most closed, control-freak administration I’ve ever covered.”
331) Fined a runner $100 for running in Valley Forge
During the October 2013 government shutdown, the Obama administration fined a runner $100 for running in Valley Forge.
332) Ordered Claude Moore Colonial Farm to shut down, even though it was privately funded
During the October 2013 government shutdown, the Obama administration ordered Claude Moore Colonial Farm to shut down, even though it was privately funded.
333) Ordered a volunteer to stop cleaning up the National Mall
During the October 2013 government shutdown, the Obama administration ordered Chris Cox, a volunteer, to stop cleaning up the National Mall.
334) Told students to remove two amendments from the “outdated” Bill of Rights
As part of Obama’s “Common Core” education program, students in a sixth-grade history class in Bryant, Arkansas, were told to removed two amendments from the “outdated” Bill of Rights.
335) Ordered people to appear in federal court because they had entered the Grand Canyon
During the October 2013 government shutdown, the Obama administration ordered people to appear in federal court because they had entered the Grand Canyon.
336) Ordered volunteers to stop bringing therapy dogs to visit sick children in the hospital
During the October 2013 government shutdown, the Obama administration ordered volunteers to stop bringing therapy dogs to visit sick children in the hospital.
337) Had veterans arrested for visiting the Vietnam Memorial
During the October 2013 government shutdown, Obama had veterans arrested for visiting the Vietnam Memorial
338) A “lead navigator” for Obamacare falsely told applicants that they must provide their credit score
In October 2013, Anne Packham, a “lead navigator” for Obamacare, falsely told applicants that they had to provide their credit score.
339) Created Obamacare website which “looks like nobody tested it”
President Obama signed Obamacare in March 2010. He had three and a half years to create and test the Obamacare website.
However, in October 2013, CBS News quoted Luke Chung, an online database programmer who supports Obamacare, as saying the following about the Obamacare website:
“It wasn’t designed well, it wasn’t implemented well, and it looks like nobody tested it… It’s not even close. It’s not even ready for beta testing for my book. I would be ashamed and embarrassed if my organization delivered something like that.”
340) Obamacare’s first publicized “enrollee” turned out to be a Democratic activist who had not actually enrolled in Obamacare
After the Obamacare website went online, the media tried and tried to find someone who had actually enrolled, but could not find anyone, because the website was so badly designed.
After much searching, they finally reported that they had found someone – a 21-year-old guy from Georgia named Chad Henderson.
On October 3, 2013, the Washington Post reported:
Meet Chad Henderson, the Obamacare enrollee tons of reporters are calling
Ask and, apparently, you shall receive.
Just moments after writing a blog post Thursday morning, about the lack of information on Obamacare enrollees, Enroll America reached out with contact information for Chad Henderson, a 21-year-old in Georgia who had successfully enrolled in coverage on the federal marketplace.
It was a little difficult to reach Henderson, mostly because so many other reporters wanted to talk to him. “I’m supposed to talk to the Chattanooga Times Free Press in a half hour,” Henderson said. “And The Wall Street Journal is supposed to call.”
Luckily, Henderson managed to squeeze me in for a few minutes. He’s a student at Chattanooga State University who lives across the state border in Flintstone, Ga.
Politico reported:
Rare health exchange enrollee gets 15 minutes of Obamacare fame
Chad Henderson, a college student who is one of the few people to have signed up for health insurance on a federal exchange, is having his 15 minutes of Obamacare fame.
But wait.
It turns out that Henderson had not actually enrolled in Obamcare.
In addition, Henderson is actually a member of Organizing for Action, the organization that ran Obama’s election campaign.
341) Said it’s “unfair” to ask for Obamacare enrollment numbers just one week after Obamacare website went online
U.S. Congressional reperestentative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Democrat-Florida) is the chairperson for the Democratic National Committee. When a reporter asked her how many people had enrolled in Obamacare during its first week, she said it was “unfair” to ask that question so early.
When a new movie comes out, we know how many people bought tickets in the first week. When a new video game, or a new CD, or a new book comes out, we know how many people bought it in the first week.
But when a news reporter asks “the most transparent administration in history” how many people signed up for its new health care program during its first week, we are told that such a question is “unfair.”
342) Declined to idenifty the private contractors who screwed up the Obamacare website
When the New York Times asked the Obama administration to identify the private contractors who had screwed up the Obamacare website, the Obama administration refused to answer.
343) Refused to answer why businesses, but not individuals, were able to delay the Obamacare mandate for a year
When Jon Stewart asked Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius why businesses, but not individuals, were able to delay the Obamacare mandate for a year, Sebelius refused to answer.
344) Gave people Obamacare “rate shock”
Many news sources, including the Washington Post, the Christian Science Monitor, Investor’s Business Daily, the Daily Caller, CBS News, Forbes, the San Jose Mercury News, and the San Francisco Chronicle, have been reporting on something called Obamacare “rate shock.”
For example, Tom Waschura, a self employed engineer who lives in Portola Valley, California, said that he supports Obamacare, and that he voted for Obama in both elections.
However, on October 5, 2013, Waschura said:
“I was laughing at Boehner — until the mail came today.”
“I really don’t like the Republican tactics, but at least now I can understand why they are so pissed about this. When you take $10,000 out of my family’s pocket each year, that’s otherwise disposable income or retirement savings that will not be going into our local economy.”
This next quote is one of the funniest things that I’ve heard anyone say about Obamacare so far. It comes from Cindy Vinson, a retired teacher from San Jose, California, who said that she supports Obamacare, and that she voted for Obama in both elections. This is what she said in October 2013, after she found out that Obamacare would be causing her insurance premium to increase:
“Of course, I want people to have health care. I just didn’t realize I would be the one who was going to pay for it personally.”
345) Made sure that Obamacare “rate shock” did not happen until after the 2012 election
Obamacare was deliberately written so that Obamacare “rate shock” would not occur until after the 2012 election.
On October 9, 2013, Obama’s approval rating was only 37%. Obamacare “rate shock” was a significant factor in this low approval rating. If Obamacare “rate shock” had happened in October 2012 instead of in October 2013, it’s highly unlikley that Obama would have won the 2012 election.
346) Had the Obamacare website built by cronies instead of by qualified programmers
Obama had the Obamacare website built by cronies instead of by qualified programmers.
347) Used 47 different contractors to build the Obamacare website
Instead of choosing just one contractor or a few contractors who could properly build the Obamacare website, Obama decided to spread the work out over 47 different contractors, which made it much harder to get all the parts to run together properly.
348) Waited until after the 2012 election to issue major rules for the Obamacare website
Obama signed the Obamacare law in March 2010. The law requires the online exchanges to be up and running by October 2013. So Obama had three and a half years to get the website ready.
However, Obama waited until after the 2012 election to release some of the major rules for how the website was supposed to be designed. So instead of having three and a half years to get the website ready, Obama made sure the programmers had less than one year.
349) New York Times reporter was never able to log in to Obamamacare website during more than 40 attempts over 11 days
During more than 40 attempts to log in to the Obamacare website over a period of 11 days beginning on October 1, 2013, a New York Times reported was never able to log in.
350) Hired illegal immigrant as Obamacare “navigator”
Obama hired an illegal immigrant to work as an Obamacare “navigator.”
351) Hired someone with an outstanding arrest warrant as Obamacare “navigator”
Obama hired someone with an outstanding arrest warrant to work as an Obamacare “navigator.”
352) IRS collected taxes but did not send out refunds during government shutdown
During the October 2013 government shutdown, the IRS collected taxes but did not send out tax refunds.
353) Prevented Catholic volunteers from practicing their religion at military bases during government shutdown
During the October 2013 government shutdown, the Obama administration prevented Catholic volunteers from practicing their religion on military bases.
354) Spent more than $500 million to build unusable Obamacare website
Obama spent more than $500 million of taxpayers’ money to build the unusable Obamacare website.
355) Refused to fire Kathleen Sebelius, even after the failure of the Obamacare website
Even after the Obamacare website failed, Obama still refused to fire Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.
356) There is “no reasonable expectation of privacy” at Obamacare website
The source code for the Obamacare website states:
“You have no reasonable expectation of privacy regarding any communication or data transiting or stored on this information system. At any time, and for any lawful Government purpose, the government may monitor, intercept, and search and seize any communication or data transiting or stored on this information system. Any communication or data transiting or stored on this information system may be disclosed or used for any lawful Government purpose.”
357) Requires users to reveal private info before shopping at Obamacare website
Legitimate shopping websites such as amazon.com allow users to browse merchandise without having to enter their personal information. However, the Obamacare website requires users to enter their name, social security number, and other personal information before they are allowed to look at the insurance plans.
358) Michelle Obama refused to pick vegetables from her own garden without federal help
During the October 2013 government shutdown, Michelle Obama decided to avoid picking her own vegetables from her own garden, and instead, allowed them to rot.
Reuters reported:
In the famous White House kitchen garden, tomatoes are rotting on the vine. Herbs have gone to seed. And the sweet potatoes – a favorite of President Barack Obama – have become worm food.
It’s another impact of the government shutdown, one that only the fox and the many squirrels that live on the White House grounds could love.
359) The Obamacare website is “a hacker’s wet dream”
John McAfee, the computer programmer who founded McAfee, Inc., said the Obamacare website is “a hacker’s wet dream.”
360) Caused a leukemia patient to lose his insurance
Michael Cerpok lives in Fountain Hills, Arizona. He has leukemia.
In 2012, his health care cost more than $350,000. But because he had insurance, he only had to pay $4,500 of that amount.
However, in October 2013, his insurance company sent him a letter which said that because of Obamacare, his insurance policy would be canceled on January 1, 2014.
361) Added 11 million words of regulations to Obamacare, which is 30 times as many words as the law itself
The regulations that Obama addded to Obamacare after he signed it are 11 million words long. That’s 30 times as many words as the actual Obamacare law that Obama signed in March 2010. Because Obama added these 11 million words without approval from Congress, his actions are illegal.
362) Threatened to arrest people for telling jokes
In October 2013, the Obama administration announced the following on loudspeakers at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas:
“Inappropriate remarks or jokes concerning security may result in your arrest.”
363) Changed Obamacare registration deadline at the last minute
For three and a half years, the Obama administration repeatedly said that people had to register for Obamacare by March 31, 2014.
However, in October 2013, the Obama administration changed that deadline to February 14, 2014.
364) Ignored the successful methods of eHealthInsurance.com
The website eHealthInsurance.com has been successfully selling health insurance since 1998. The website is simple and easy to use.
However, when Obama created the Obamacare website, he chose to ignore the successful methods that are used by eHealthInsurance.com.
365) For two weeks, CNN reporter was never able to log in to Obamacare website
During the first two weeks of October 2013, a reporter from CNN repeatedly tried to log in to the Obamacare website, and was never able to log in.
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President Barack Obama meets in the Situation Room with his national security advisors to discuss strategy in Syria. Several top advisors will make the case for intervention to Congress Tuesday afternoon.
American Patriot Reality Check 