Congress fails to continue to grasp a simple fact:
Democratic Republics in a free market capitalism economic system CANNOT create wealth or jobs. They can only redistribute it, which is occurring now. OR Congress is smart and taking advantage (as Rahm Emmanuel so succinctly reminded us ) of a crisis to redistribute that wealth, with an underlying disdain for capitalism. Either way, the people of this country will not stand for a Congress or an Administration that does not represent the values of the majority. (NOT the minority of citizens)

So, they either change the current policies before November or get ready for a huge ruling party turnover. And, I’m sure that 2012 is very much up in the air for the Presidency, unless Obama learns (as Clinton and other have) to govern from the center, which is where the voters are…
If not, well…Hillary and Bill will be picking out new china for the White House in 2012.

Let me list the ways…

1. You live in bubbles while people across this country are losing their jobs, having their wages frozen or reduced.

2. Wages are stagnant, but food, gas, healthcare costs continue to rise.

3. Day after day, we see OUR money being used to line YOUR pockets. Corruption in US Government is so out of control that it is sickening.
This reason alone is enough to incite riots and anarchy – don’t you see that people will only take so much before they “push back at you?”
Both Democrats and Republicans have severe and real credibility issues with the people.

4. Many feel deceived by Obama – the only “change” has been the party in office, and not the way business and politics is done in DC.

5. People are scared. Fear often leads to anger, as does ignorance. Why are they scared? Because the world and the country has some severe
problems and they have NO FAITH IN THE COMPETENCY OR INTEGRITY of our elected officials in DC.

6. TWO SIMPLE ISSUES ARE ALWAYS IGNORED BY ALL POLITICIANS:

A. A constitutional amendment for 8 yr term limits in ALL offices (both houses) , not just the President.
B. A constitutional amendment for a mandated BALANCED BUDGET EVERY YEAR.

7. Many people believe (and you prove them right every day) that you could care less about “serving the people” and could not even utter the words “servant leadership”. You only are in office to grab power, money, or satisfy your ego,  probably all three…

Al Gore—former vice president, Oscar-winner, Nobel laureate, and self-proclaimed inventor of the Internet—is jumping into the auto industry. The Wall Street Journal reports that a “tiny” Gore-financed car company specializing in hybrid luxury vehicles just got a $529 million loan from the U.S. government. Produced by a pair of Californian companies, the Karma will be a four-door plug-in electric hybrid featuring a lithium-ion battery slated to achieve 100 MPG fuel efficiency. Its audience, says car designer Henrik Fisker, is people like Gore: wealthy, environmentally enlightened drivers looking to ditch the Mercedes in favor of an environmentally P.C. ride. Naturally, Karma—and its hefty federal loan—already has critics. Citizens Against Government Waste notes, “This is not for average Americans,” a claim Fisker does not deny. The goal, he says, is to imitate the flat-screen television market: Start with something expensive and breathtaking, then work the price down.

NEW YORK – Federal prosecutors have charged a wealthy fundraiser for Hillary Rodham Clinton and other top Democrats in an alleged $292 million pyramid scheme that spanned more than a decade, saying he used some of the proceeds to support election campaigns.  In an indictment returned Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Iranian-born Hassan Nemazee is charged with bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.  “For more than 10 years, Hassan Nemazee projected the illusion of wealth, stealing more than $290 million so that he could lead a lavish lifestyle and play the part of heavyweight political fundraiser,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. “Today’s indictment exposes the sheer brazenness of Nemazee’s schemes and marks the end of his decade of deception.”  He used some of the proceeds of the fraud to make donations to the election campaigns of federal, state and local candidates as well as to political action committees and charities, prosecutors said. They didn’t name the candidates or groups. Nemazee’s lawyer did not immediately return a call for comment Monday.

The indictment boosts the allegations against the 59-year-old Manhattan resident, who was arrested in August on charges that he used forged documents to obtain a $74 million loan. Prosecutors now allege that he fraudulently obtained loans worth hundreds of millions of dollars from three banks between 1998 and this year. They said he used fake documents and signatures to show the banks that he had hundreds of millions of dollars worth of collateral. Maserati sports car Prosecutors said Nemazee also used some of the money to buy property in Italy and to make monthly maintenance payments on properties in Manhattan and Katonah, New York.

The government is seeking $292 million in forfeitures against Nemazee, including his interest in five properties, 16 corporate entities and a hedge fund, 14 securities accounts, 32 bank accounts, a 2008 Maserati Quattroporte automobile and a 2007 Cessna aircraft.  Nemazee served as national finance chairman for Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign and later raised money for President Barack Obama after her primary defeat. He also was Sen. John Kerry’s finance chairman in New York for his 2004 bid for president.

Nemazee is under house arrest as part of a $25 million bail agreement. If convicted, he could face 30 years in prison on each of three counts of bank fraud and a mandatory two-year prison term on the aggravated identity theft charge.

Lawmaker trips sponsored by outside groups have decreased by 56 percent since the ethics and lobbying overhaul law was enacted two years ago, according to a CQ MoneyLine study of congressional travel.

Since then, more than 2,300 former sponsors of lawmaker trips, including many corporations, government contractors and other groups that lobby, have stopped paying for such travel. Meanwhile, the average amount of money still spent on lawmaker-related travel by outside groups has dropped from $250,000 a month to $110,000 a month.

“This is a sign that the law is working as intended … It takes most of the influence peddling out of these trips,” said Craig Holman of Public Citizen, one of the watchdog groups that pushed for tougher ethics restrictions on lawmakers and lobbyists.

The law (PL 110-81), which was enacted in 2007 in response to of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, was designed to prevent lobbyists and their clients from using trips to help push an agenda or influence specific legislation. But it did not eliminate all outside-sponsored trips, and many groups and institutions — like universities and other educational organizations — are still allowed to sponsor “fact-finding” trips for members of Congress and their staffs.

In all, former sponsors that no longer pay for trips spent nearly $15 million on lawmaker-related travel between 2000 and 2007.

Among the groups still funding a large number of member trips is the Aspen Institute, which leads every other organization with nearly $1.1 million in travel expenditures since the lobbying and ethics changes were enacted two years ago. Also at the top of the list — the American Israel Education Foundation with $488,000 spent and the International Management & Development Institute with $100,000.

Until last Thursday, many Americans assumed ACORN’s massive tax windfall was just a way to funnel taxpayer money to a radical organization. That was before the shocking video revelation that ACORN Housing staff — funded by millions of dollars of the public’s money — is willing to offer their “counseling services” to would-be operators of child prostitute rings. Clearly, it’s time to take a closer look at how taxpayer money drives the ACORN empire.

The Public Trough

Until recently, few knew much about ACORN or the reach of its 300-plus organizations with a hundred-million-dollar budget. The main financial sustenance for the behemoth comes from unions (which outsource dirty work, strategy, and anti-corporate attacks to the group), powerful and politically minded non-profit foundations, political campaigns (including $800,000 from then-Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008 and taxpayer money.

That public trough has been open to those who seem to feel they are more equal than others. The Washington Examiner investigated and found out that “at least $53 million in federal funds have gone to ACORN activists since 1994.”

A large chunk of that money flows from the federal government to the ACORN Housing Corporation (AHC). On the group’s IRS filings for the fiscal year ending in June 2007, AHC reported taking in more than $2.8 million in that year alone — accounting for approximately 30 percent of that year’s budget. A 2008 report from the Consumers Rights League found that from 2004 through 2006, government funds accounted for 40 percent of the group’s $18.3 million in revenue.

Funding ACORN’s Political Movement

In 2007, more than $1.5 million went out the door from AHC to ACORN. Over the 2004 through 2006 period, the housing group sent more than $4.6 million in “grants” and “fees” to other ACORN-run organizations — and it may well have violated the law in doing so. AHC is legally allowed to accept taxpayer funds because it is technically a charity, whereas ACORN is not allowed to accept such money because it is engaged in overtly political activity. But ACORN officials run both organizations and seem to use the housing operations as a publicly funded piggy bank.

All this money going from taxpayers to AHC to other, more political ACORN entities is troubling. The trail goes cold, though, and it becomes difficult to track how the group’s officials ultimately use that money. That’s why recent revelations of $1 million embezzlement by the brother of ACORN’s founder surprised almost no one. At least twice, Democratic administrations have caught ACORN misusing taxpayer money allocated for community work. Instead, the group used funds to build its own “community organizing” efforts. The most recent example involved AHC using government money to support its efforts while trying to sign up people trying to learn how to buy a house.

There’s evidence the exact same problem continues to play out. An internal email from 2004 showed that a federal grant “will provide the opportunity for ACORN and AHC to work together…” Moreover, affidavits show that AHC employees believe there’s cause to investigate further crimes and violations. This led the Consumers Rights League to call for a Congressional investigation and conclude, “Congressional leaders should be wary of donating hard-earned tax dollars to a group with this sordid record.”

Where The Money Goes, Nobody (Really) Knows

What is clear is where the money does not go: The Examiner has reported that while the group is happy to take in millions and millions of taxpayer dollars, ACORN faces more than a million dollars in liens for unpaid taxes.

Will New Jersey Assembly really be able to police itself? All previous cases point to “no”. Independent investigations are needed at the Federal level, with a prosecutor who wants to clean up government.

TRENTON: The Assembly Republican Policy Committee will hold its second public hearing Wednesday to examine public corruption and how to combat it. Assembly Republican Whip Jon Bramnick, committee chairman, will facilitate the hearing which will explore the economic impact of public corruption on New Jersey and its residents.

Joe Epstein/THE STAR-LEDGERAssemblyman Jon Bramnick speaks to the assembly about the bill on holding dual offices in the Assembly chambers in Trenton, June 2007

The committee plans to use its findings to draft legislation to prevent further corruption. Guest speakers scheduled to testify include Donald Conway, a certified public accountant who specializes in securities fraud, forensic accounting, insolvency and reorganization, and litigation support, and Richard Rivera, a former West New York police officer who was a whistleblower in a corruption case that resulted in the conviction and imprisonment of the town’s former police chief. Rivera is currently a private investigator who specializes in white collar crime. Members of the public are invited to testify.

Law Firm Co-Founder Melvyn Weiss Must Pay $10M, Could Face 33 Months In Prison

Melvyn Weiss, the co-founder of a prominent New York law firm, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a racketeering conspiracy charge in a kickback scheme involving some of the largest corporations in the nation.  The 72-year-old Weiss entered his plea under a previously announced agreement with prosecutors. He has been ordered to pay nearly $10 million in fines and forfeiture penalties, and could be sentenced to up to 33 months in prison at a later hearing.  Asked by U.S. District Judge John F. Walter if he was pleading guilty, Weiss said, “Yes I am.”
“I take responsibility for everything,” said Weiss, who wore a navy pinstriped suit. “My direct participation differed as to each” incident.
Federal prosecutors have said they will ask Walter to impose the full 33-month term.

Attorney Benjamin Brafman, who represents Weiss, said he was hopeful the court would consider during sentencing that Weiss had acknowledged the criminal conduct and remained “one of the true legal giants of his generation.” Prosecutors have said the Milberg Weiss firm made an estimated $250 million over two decades by filing legal actions on behalf of professional plaintiffs who received $11.3 million in kickbacks.  The firm dominated the industry in securities class-action lawsuits, which involve shareholders who claim they suffered losses because executives misled them about a company’s financial condition. The kickback scheme allowed the firm’s attorneys to be among the first to file litigation and secure the lucrative position as lead plaintiffs’ counsel, according to court documents. The firm’s lawsuits targeted companies such as AT&T Inc., Lucent, WorldCom, Microsoft Corp. and Prudential Insurance. Prosecutors said Seymour Lazar, 80, was paid about $2.6 million to be a professional plaintiff and help the law firm, previously known as Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman, in its pursuit of the lawsuits.
The retired attorney was ordered to spend six months in home detention and two years probation. He also was fined $600,000 after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice, subscribing to a false tax return and making a false declaration to the court.
The seven-year investigation also resulted in guilty pleas by three of Weiss’ former partners.
William Lerach, whose high-profile legal victories included a $7 billion judgment against now-defunct energy company Enron Corp., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice and make false statements. He was sentenced to two years in federal prison.
Steven Schulman pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge. He agreed to forfeit $1.85 million to the government and to pay a $250,000 fine. Former partner David Bershad pleaded guilty to conspiracy and agreed to cooperate with the government. Schulman and Bershad are scheduled to be sentenced later this year. With Weiss’ guilty plea, there are two defendants remaining in the case — the firm itself and attorney Paul T. Selzer. Trials for those defendants are scheduled in August.