Whatever happened to the U.S. Attorney investigations into the Deep State and the Clinton Foundation?

by: Americans for Limited Government

Fairfax, VA - March 21, 2019 - (The Ponder News) -- Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging Attorney General William Barr to follow through on the investigation of FBI misconduct during the 2016 presidential campaign, during the transition and during the Trump administration:

“Then Attorney General Jeff Sessions directed the U.S. Attorney of Little Rock, Arkansas to investigate various corruption charges against the Clinton Foundation and the U.S. Attorney of Salt Lake City to investigate the malfeasance within the Justice Department related to the attempt to undo the results of the 2016 presidential election.

“It has been almost a full year since it was learned that the investigation into potential Justice Department misdeeds was being conducted by U.S. Attorney John Huber, and it is time that new Attorney General William Barr follow through on the investigation and prosecute any wrongdoers to the fullest extent of the law. One of the reasons that the investigation was housed in Salt Lake City was to take it out of the glare of the D.C. media and allow a thorough job to be done. However, it would be a disservice to the nation if the current AG did not aggressively push this investigation with those responsible for abusing their authority brought to justice.

“One simple example is the abuse of the Christopher Steele dossier paid for by the DNC and the Clinton campaign as the basis for obtaining FISA court warrants against Trump campaign, transition and political appointees, when Steele himself testified under oath that he used unverified Internet rumors in the report. At the same time former FBI Director James Comey was testifying to Congress that the Steele dossier was ‘salacious and unverified,’ Comey was signing documents using that same report to obtain warrants. Either he was lying to the FISA Court or he was lying to Congress, either way perjury was committed, and the former FBI Director should be subjected to the full weight of the law as a result.

“The United States is a nation of laws, and the revelation that the Obama Administration’s Justice Department sought to tip the scales toward their own partisan ends should chill every American regardless of partisan affiliation. If those responsible are not prosecuted, then it will be clear to future Administrations that there is no personal downside to election tampering and abuse of power and this current dark moment of abuse by our intelligence agencies will be viewed as an acceptable risk in the quest for power. This can never be allowed again, and it is time for the new Attorney General to begin bringing light onto the initial finding of the investigations in Little Rock and Salt Lake City.”

Funding the wall is a national security priority, ALG launches BuildWallNow.org

Washington, D.C. - December 12, 2018 - (The Ponder News) -- Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging Congress to work on funding the southern border wall in the December spending bill:

“Funding the wall is a national security priority that can no longer be ignored. It is quite frankly absurd that Republicans in Congress have punted this issue for almost two years always claiming that they would get to ‘tomorrow’. Now there is no tomorrow. Congress should appropriate the funds necessary to build the wall and secure the border using a lockbox to ensure that future Congresses cannot rescind that decision. The truth is that if Republicans in Congress had fought for and won wall funding during the past two years, the nation would not find itself with Nancy Pelosi ready to become House Speaker in 2019. Failed leadership on the nation’s priorities caused a failed campaign in November by Republicans. Now the GOP has one last chance to get it right and if the Democrats choose to shut down the government in protest, that decision is on their heads.

“To support building the wall, Americans for Limited Government has launched http://buildwallnow.org to urge activists to contact Congress now.”

Attachments:

“Don’t back down on the gov’t shutdown and the wall, Mr. President,” By Robert Romano, Dec. 12, 2018

Congress needs to end Obama housing rule through defund process

By Americans for Limited Government



Fairfax, VA - January 8, 2017 - (The Ponder News) -- Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning has issued the following statement urging Congress to defund the 2015 Obama HUD housing rule that rezones recipients of community development block grants along income and racial criteria:

“The Department of Housing and Urban Development is on the right track by delaying implementation of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing assessment tool until 2020, an unworkable bi-product of the 2015 Obama housing rule that effectively puts the federal government in charge of local zoning issues. The rule cites zoning no less than six times as a basis for compliance with the regulation. The House-passed omnibus bill defunds that aspect of the regulation, and we strongly support that rider’s inclusion or expansion in the final 2018 funding bill. This is a perfect way for Congress to begin to reassert its rightful Article I constitutional prerogatives, by defunding those regulations that go far beyond the scope of federal law.”


See more headlines at The Ponder News Web Site

Poll: 63 percent say Trump-Russia collusion investigation by Justice Dept. harming the country

By Americans for Limited Government



Fairfax, VA - December 17, 2017 - (The Ponder News) -- Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning has issued the following statement noting a Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll finding that 63 percent of the American people believe the Justice Department investigation into suppose Trump-Russia collusion on the 2016 election is harming the country, including 78 percent of Republicans, 60 percent of Independents and 52 percent of Democrats:

“A Harvard University study finds that 63 percent of the American people believe that the Trump-Russia collusion investigation by the Justice Department is hurting the country. Our nation has spent almost a year and a half on a political witch hunt designed to take out President Donald Trump, and the Harvard poll shows that almost two-thirds of the public have had enough, believing that it is harming the nation. They are right. Significantly, this poll was taken prior to mass dissemination of news that a high-ranking Obama Justice Department official was married to a Fusion GPS contractor, the company was paid by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the DNC to produce the Christopher Steele dossier that the FBI relied on to pursue the investigation. The poll was also taken prior to revelations that the lead FBI investigator and his mistress who also worked for the FBI were describing the investigation as an ‘insurance policy’ against Trump winning the election from a meeting with Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe.

“Given this corruption and the revelation that the entire investigation may have been based on a lie, a plot hatched by Clinton partisans and intelligence officials in the Obama administration, the entire basis for this harmful investigation has collapsed. The abject failure of the partisan Mueller team to find, after over one year of investigation, evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia to hack the DNC or influence the election discredits the entire probe. It is time for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to end the Mueller investigation as it has evolved into nothing more than a partisan attempt to overturn the outcome of the 2016 election.”


See more headlines at The Ponder News Web Site

Don Todd: The Dossier Is Not Opposition Research

Source: Americans for Limited Government



Americans for Limited Government Foundation President Don Todd today issued the following statement blasting the Hillary Clinton campaign and DNC-funded Fusion GPS-Christopher Steele dossier:

“I have been doing opposition research since 1978. My resume includes four Presidential campaigns, nearly one hundred Senate campaigns and a few Governor races. I was the oppo team leader in all of them. I can say with absolute certainty the so-called dossier is not opposition research it is raw political sewage for which the idiot Democrats may have paid over one hundred sixty thousand dollars a page. To call it oppo research is an insult to me and the many I have worked with over the years.

“Real political research is about issues that people care about not made up stories about bed peeing. Had I ever come up with such a document I am sure I would have summarily and rightfully fired.”

Read more:

“Hillary Clinton and the DNC funded the fake Trump-Russia collusion dossier, turned it into an FBI inquisition, surveillance and then attempted coup,” By Robert Romano, Oct. 26, 2017

Time to enforce antidumping rules against trade violators LG and Samsung

Source: Americans for Limited Government

Fairfax, VA - October 7, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising the International Trade Commission for finding LG and Samsung in violation of the U.S. antidumping rules:

“Every free trade agreement is dependent on enforcement, otherwise there is no reciprocity. Yesterday, the ITC unanimously found that Whirlpool was damaged by dumping by LG and Samsung in violation of U.S. law and South Korean Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) rules. These agreements must be enforced by the U.S. Department of Commerce in a meaningful way. If trade agreements are going to have any value and be sustainable, all parties must comply with their terms. In order to preserve the legitimacy of the overall KORUS trade deal, LG and Samsung’s repeated failure to follow the trade rules must be subjected to swift and significant sanctions.”

Cassidy-Graham is the beginning of the end for Obamacare, failure could lead to single payer

Source: Americans for Limited Government

Fairfax, VA - September 22, 2017  (The Ponder News) -- Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in support of the Cassidy-Graham legislation:

“For anyone arguing that the Cassidy-Graham bill is not good enough and needs to be better, we agree, it’s not perfect. It’s not close to perfect. But it is the only bill that repeals individual and employer mandates, block grants funding to states and offers waivers for Obamacare regulations that has any chance of passing this year.

“Failure to pass legislation that repeals Obamacare mandates and taxes to reduce health care costs will be a catastrophe politically, as the recent McLaughlin & Associates poll shows, with 66 percent of Republicans and 51 percent of Independents saying they are less likely to reelect their Congressman who opposes such legislation.

“Politics aside, the 6.5 million Americans who had to pay the individual mandate, under this bill will no longer be subjected to a tax, and their costs will go down, saving $3 billion based upon 2016 IRS figures. Those who live in states that apply for waivers from Obamacare regulations stand a chance of having their costs go down. And job seekers will no longer be discriminated against for seeking full-time employment because of the employer mandate, will see their incomes rise.

“So, anyone who would sacrifice the granting of regulatory relief for the states, and the destruction of two of the main pillars of Obamacare on the altar of perfection is making a huge mistake. Passage of the Cassidy-Graham bill is the beginning of the end for Obamacare. Failure would legitimize the push for single payer as the only alternative to Obamacare for the vast majority of Americans who do not pay attention to policy nuances. The only thing most people will know is that Republicans failed to keep their promise to replace Obamacare and they can’t be trusted on health care moving forward. That would be a recipe for disaster.”

85 percent of Americans support free speech for all, even the unpopular, 63 percent oppose political violence by Antifa

Source: Americans for Limited Government
Source: Center for Security Policy


Washington, D.C. - September 6, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- A new public opinion survey conducted by McLaughlin and Associates found the vast preponderance of those polled favors the constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of expression—and rejects the notion that some should be denied that right. This finding confirms that of a recent Rasmussen poll. Together, these distinguished pollsters’ data represent a powerful warning for government officials, lawmakers and activists intent on restricting free speech if, in their view or others, it gives “offense.”

Key results of the McLaughlin survey conducted last week included the following:

By a margin of 85 percent to 8 percent, respondents said that, in the aftermath of the riots in Charlottesville, Virginia, last month, “all Americans are entitled to free speech,” not “just some of us.”

84.9 percent of respondents regarded “freedom of speech as a fundamental right.” Only 9.3 percent thought “it should be restricted if it offends some people.”

63 percent opposed the violent leftist group Antifa’s attempts to silence those whose speech it disagrees with, while only 21 percent supported Antifa.

A plurality of 42.8 percent opposed the use by internet companies of a list compiled by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) that accuses “many mainstream conservative groups” of engaging in “hate speech.” Only 31.8 percent supported such use.

Frank J. Gaffney, the president of one of those conservative groups, the Center for Security Policy, responded to the latest poll by observing:

“Americans clearly understand the dangers associated with attempts to censor speech and other forms of expression. Today, it might be someone else who is being silenced. Tomorrow, it may well be you. And, to the extent that organizations funded by the likes of radical leftists like George Soros—including the Southern Poverty Law Center and Antifa—are allowed to act as the arbiters of who is allowed to communicate, about what and how, it’s just a matter of time before many millions of us are gagged.

“The Left and the Islamist allies it enables have clearly crossed a line,” Gaffney continued. “Organizations like the SPLC, the Anti-Defamation League and the Council on American-Islamic Relations are engaged in political warfare pure and simple, aimed at denying their opponents’ free speech rights in academia, in the media, on the internet and in the public square. Politicians—and most especially Republican ones—acquiesce to such anti-constitutional conduct at their own electoral peril.”

Indeed, the wake-up call to public office-holders offered by the McLaughlin and Rasmussen polls on free speech could hardly be more timely. After all, in April 2017—even before the bloodletting in Charlottesville spawned relentless, bipartisan demands for limiting “offensive” expression—the U.S. Senate unanimously approved S.Res. 118, co-sponsored by Sens. Marco Rubio, Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris. It was described as “a resolution condemning hate crime and any other form of racism, religious or ethnic bias, discrimination, incitement to violence, or animus targeting a minority in the United States.”

Animus is a sweeping term that can include such highly subjective sentiments as hostility, ill-feeling and strong dislike. The resolution also called for federal investigation of not just hate crimes but “hate incidents” and “hate threats,” both undefined. A counterpart resolution is awaiting action in the House of Representatives, as are actual bills with names like the “NO HATE Act” in both the Senate and the House.

Speaking of Soros and his ilk, the McLaughlin poll also found that by a nearly two-to-one margin, 48.5 to 26.3, respondents agreed that President Donald Trump should not employ “subordinates who can be shown to be colluding with George Soros, Barack Obama or others associated with them to undermine President Trump’s administration.” Among Trump voters, the spread was even wider, 67.6 percent to 18.4 percent.

The Center for Security Policy strongly agrees with the prevailing sentiments documented in the McLaughlin and Associates poll. It calls on every American who loves freedom to exercise their First Amendment rights. That should, among other things, entail insisting that their lawmakers uphold freely sworn oaths to “defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to a poll by Center for Security Policy/Eagle Forum/McLaughlin & Associates showing overwhelming support for the First Amendment and free speech rights:

“At a time when the First Amendment is under unprecedented assault by the institutional left, the American people have proven once again that they are not willing to trade their essential liberty to avoid being potentially offended, with 85 percent unequivocally supporting free speech rights for everyone, including those they disagree with. Particularly telling is the result that nearly two-thirds of Americans are opposed to the radical Antifa movement, which supports and engages in violence against those they disagree with.

“The fact that the First Amendment maintains broad suppport across America clearly shows that freedom runs through the very DNA of the American people, and those who seek to undermine basic freedoms or provide aid and comfort in that effort, do so at their own political peril.

“Private companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter and Paypal need to proceed cautiously as they consider becoming arbiters of appropriate speech on the Internet, because if Americans believe that they have relinquished their neutrality, they will lose their dominance to market alternatives.”