Home
Congressman Mark Meadows Weekly Update, 1/16
Click here to read about: DACA Negotiations, FBI Investigation Continues, Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, An Update on Regulatory Reform and Tax Reform Benefits Continue.
Of Crudeness and Truth
City-journal.org – Nothing scandalizes a leftist like the truth. Point out that women and men are different, that black Americans commit a disproportionate amount of violent crime, that most terrorist acts are committed by Muslims, and the Left leaps to its collective feet in openmouthed shock, like Margaret Dumont after a Groucho Marx wisecrack. This is racism! This is sexism! This is some sort of phobia! I’m shocked, shocked to find facts being spoken in polite company!
No one is really shocked, of course. This is simply a form of bullying. The Left has co-opted our good manners and our good will in order to silence our opposition to their bad policies. The idea is to make it seem impolite and immoral to mention the obvious.
The bullying is highly effective and very dangerous. In England, in the city of Rotherham, at least 1,400 non-Muslim girls, some as young as 11, were brutally raped by Muslim immigrants over a period of years in the 2000s. Police and other officials worked to keep the facts hidden because, according to multiple reports, they were afraid of being called racist. Think about that: police officers did not want to seem racist, so they stood by and let their city’s children be raped. The same thing goes on in other cities in England and throughout Europe. And in fact, some who have spoken out have had their careers curtailed by manufactured scandal. The message is clear: it’s just not nice to tell the truth. It’s just not done. Don’t do it.
Click here to read more.
Come and Meet Shad Higgins candidate to Buncombe County Sheriff on 1/13
Would you like to ask Shad about his platform for Buncombe County Sheriff? Do you have some concerns about Buncombe County Community that you would like to share with Shad? Looking for a night out with fun, interesting conversation and wonderful people? Then Mark you Calendars and join us at the Fairview Community Center 1357 Charlotte Hwy, Fairview, NC next Satruday. Jan 13th 6-8pm. See you there! Bring the family, Family and community are what we are about! Shad wants to get to know you and your neighbors and chat one on one with each of you. See you on the 13th.
Germany Becomes the New Poster Child for Climate Change Hypocrisy
The Daily Signal – Climate hypocrisy is nothing new.
Celebrities cruise around the world in their private jets, eating filet mignon while telling you to pack a salad and bike to work to reduce your carbon footprint.
So, color me not at all surprised that Germany, a vocal critic of the U.S.’ decision to exit the Paris climate accord, is preparing to abandon its 2020 climate targets.
Strong economic growth is a critical reason why Germany is very likely to miss its target.
Germany has an aggressive plan to cut its greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2020. Last November, a leaked document from the country’s Environmental Ministry projected the country would miss the mark by 8 percent without additional action.
In other words, even with generous subsidies for renewable power, the Germans would have to implement some form of economy-restricting policy to curtail emissions. So much for the “go green and grow the economy” mantra.
Click here to read more.
Extinct Burrowing Bat Discovered, and It Was Giant
National Geographic – Around 50 million years ago, modern-day New Zealand, Australia, South America, and Antarctica were part of a large, forested supercontinent called Gondwana. Temperatures exceeded the modern-day climate by more than 53 degrees Fahrenheit, supporting warm-adapted species of crocodiles, land turtles, and several types of bird. (Read: “Antarctica Was Once Covered in Forests. We Just Found One That Fossilized.”)
On a section of what would later become New Zealand’s South Island, an ecosystem of these diverse species clustered around the prehistoric Lake Manuherikia. In an area about the size of Prince Edward Island, they thrived for generations. But, as temperatures cooled and dried out the landmass, the flora and fauna began to die off. (Read more about ancient Antarctica’s warm snap.)
Flash-forward to today and, after 15 years of research, a team of international scientists have come forth with the discovery of a giant burrowing bat that frequented Gondwana’s skies as well as its land. Their paper, published in Scientific Reports January 10, was led by the University of New South Wales.
Click here to read more.
Rep. Meadows on Hannity
Last night, 1/10/18 Rep. Meadows joined Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Sara Carter of Fox News on Hannity to speak on the newest information surrounding Fusion GPS, the FBI, and the Russian dossier. The two members called on House leadership and Chairman Nunes of the House Intelligence Committee to release all relevant documents of the Russia investigation to all members of Congress for review.
N.C. House Provides Funding to Address GenX, Emerging Compounds
Raleigh, N.C. – Legislation to provide funding and policy reforms that address GenX and other emerging compounds in North Carolina’s waterways was approved by the state House of Representatives on Wednesday with unanimous bipartisan support.
The legislation is a product of hearings held by the state House Select Committee on North Carolina River Quality and extensive collaborations with the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
House Bill 189 Short-Term Response to Emerging Contaminants provides more than $2 million to fund personnel and sampling equipment – including a $537,000 mass spectrometer machine – to help DEQ detect contaminants, collect data and pursue solutions to water quality concerns in North Carolina.
“The House’s water quality legislation modifies state policy and purchases important machinery to ensure the safety of citizens and the accountability of companies in North Carolina,” said House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland).
“This proposal is a result of a thorough oversight committee process and bipartisan collaboration. It is a significant step to protect our state’s drinking water.”
The bill also provides a comprehensive review of permit disclosure requirements and seeks recommendations to ensure full transparency in the permitting process.
“We conducted a thorough process of committee deliberations and bill drafting in the House to get this right and remove politics from the conversation,” said Rep. Frank Iler (R-Brunswick), a co-chair of the river quality committee.
It also requires that North Carolina maintain communication with neighboring states in monitoring the flow of contaminants across borders.
“The state House built a solid foundation from which to proceed and protect our citizens’ drinking water now and decades into the future,” said Rep. John Szoka (R-Cumberland), who represents portions of the Cape Fear River basin.
H.B. 189 further directs the state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to collaborate with the Science Advisory Board to review and screen health goals before disseminating to the public and seeks recommendations on how to best notify the public of contamination events.
“I’m pleased the river quality committee was productive for both the state legislature and the administration to keep North Carolina on the leading edge of understanding and resolving water quality concerns,” said Rep. Holly Grange (R-New Hanover), a member of the river quality committee.
Representative Ted Davis (R-New Hanover), chairman of the House Select Committee on North Carolina River Quality, also released a statement:
“The river quality committee combined expert testimony with extensive debate on how to reform state law and allocate resources to best address the issue of emerging contaminants in North Carolina,” Davis said.
“I’m proud of today’s result and the broad bipartisan support the legislation received in the state House of Representatives.”
Secretary Michael Regan of DEQ spoke in favor of the legislation in the state House Appropriations Committee:
“This is a much-needed first step,” Regan said. “It’s an opportunity for us to continue a dialogue about what our agency needs to adequately keep pace with emerging compounds in our state.”
Representative Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford) also spoke in favor of the legislation in the House Appropriations Committee, thanking committee leadership and Speaker Tim Moore’s office for their work on the measure:
“I recognize it is an important first step, and I’ll be voting for it,” Harrison said.
Year One List: 81 major Trump achievements, 11 Obama legacy items repealed
Washington Examiner – With the passage of the GOP tax bill this week, the Trump administration has scored 81 major achievements in its first year, making good on campaign promises to provide significant tax cuts, boost U.S. energy production, and restore respect to the United States, according to the White House.
And along the way, President Trump even outdid his own expectations and slashed at least 11 major legacy items of former President Barack Obama, including cracking down on the open border, slowing recognition of communist Cuba and effectively killing Obamacare by ending the mandate that everyone have health insurance or face a tax.
According to the White House, the 81 accomplishments are in 12 major categories and include well over 100 other minor achievements.
The unofficial list helps to counter the impression in the mainstream media and among congressional Democrats that outside the approval of Supreme Court Neil Gorsuch and passage of the tax reform bill little was done.
Administrations typically tout their achievements broadly at the end of each year, but Trump plans to list jobs added, regulations killed, foreign policy victories won, and moves to help veterans and even drug addicts.
And in a sign of support for conservatives, the White House also is highlighting achievements for the pro-life community.
Below are the 12 categories and 81 wins cited by the White House.
Jobs and the economy
- Passage of the tax reform bill providing $5.5 billion in cuts and repealing the Obamacare mandate.
- Increase of the GDP above 3 percent.
- Creation of 1.7 million new jobs, cutting unemployment to 4.1 percent.
- Saw the Dow Jones reach record highs.
- A rebound in economic confidence to a 17-year high.
- A new executive order to boost apprenticeships.
- A move to boost computer sciences in Education Department programs.
- Prioritizing women-owned businesses for some $500 million in SBA loans.
Killing job-stifling regulations
- Signed an Executive Order demanding that two regulations be killed for every new one creates. He beat that big and cut 16 rules and regulations for every one created, saving $8.1 billion.
- Signed 15 congressional regulatory cuts.
- Withdrew from the Obama-era Paris Climate Agreement, ending the threat of environmental regulations.
- Signed an Executive Order cutting the time for infrastructure permit approvals.
- Eliminated an Obama rule on streams that Trump felt unfairly targeted the coal industry.
Fair trade
- Made good on his campaign promise to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
- Opened up the North American Free Trade Agreement for talks to better the deal for the U.S.
- Worked to bring companies back to the U.S., and companies like Toyota, Mazda, Broadcom Limited, and Foxconn announced plans to open U.S. plants.
- Worked to promote the sale of U.S products abroad.
- Made enforcement of U.S. trade laws, especially those that involve national security, a priority.
- Ended Obama’s deal with Cuba.
Boosting U.S. energy dominance
- The Department of Interior, which has led the way in cutting regulations, opened plans to lease 77 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas drilling.
- Trump traveled the world to promote the sale and use of U.S. energy.
- Expanded energy infrastructure projects like the Keystone XL Pipeline snubbed by Obama.
- Ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to kill Obama’s Clean Power Plan.
- EPA is reconsidering Obama rules on methane emissions.
Protecting the U.S. homeland
- Laid out new principles for reforming immigration and announced plan to end “chain migration,” which lets one legal immigrant to bring in dozens of family members.
- Made progress to build the border wall with Mexico.
- Ended the Obama-era “catch and release” of illegal immigrants.
- Boosted the arrests of illegals inside the U.S.
- Doubled the number of counties participating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement charged with deporting illegals.
- Removed 36 percent more criminal gang members than in fiscal 2016.
- Started the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program.
- Ditto for other amnesty programs like Deferred Action for Parents of Americans.
- Cracking down on some 300 sanctuary cities that defy ICE but still get federal dollars.
- Added some 100 new immigration judges.
Protecting communities
- Justice announced grants of $98 million to fund 802 new cops.
- Justice worked with Central American nations to arrest and charge 4,000 MS-13 members.
- Homeland rounded up nearly 800 MS-13 members, an 83 percent one-year increase.
- Signed three executive orders aimed at cracking down on international criminal organizations.
- Attorney General Jeff Sessions created new National Public Safety Partnership, a cooperative initiative with cities to reduce violent crimes.
Accountability
- Trump has nominated 73 federal judges and won his nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.
- Ordered ethical standards including a lobbying ban.
- Called for a comprehensive plan to reorganize the executive branch.
- Ordered an overhaul to modernize the digital government.
- Called for a full audit of the Pentagon and its spending.
Combatting opioids
- First, the president declared a Nationwide Public Health Emergency on opioids.
- His Council of Economic Advisors played a role in determining that overdoses are underreported by as much as 24 percent.
- The Department of Health and Human Services laid out a new five-point strategy to fight the crisis.
- Justice announced it was scheduling fentanyl substances as a drug class under the Controlled Substances Act.
- Justice started a fraud crackdown, arresting more than 400.
- The administration added $500 million to fight the crisis.
- On National Drug Take Back Day, the Drug Enforcement Agency collected 456 tons.
Protecting life
- In his first week, Trump reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy that blocks some $9 billion in foreign aid being used for abortions.
- Worked with Congress on a bill overturning an Obama regulation that blocked states from defunding abortion providers.
- Published guidance to block Obamacare money from supporting abortion.
Helping veterans
- Signed the Veterans Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act to allow senior officials in the Department of Veterans Affairs to fire failing employees and establish safeguards to protect whistleblowers.
- Signed the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act.
- Signed the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act, to provide support.
- Signed the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act of 2017 to authorize $2.1 billion in additional funds for the Veterans Choice Program.
- Created a VA hotline.
- Had the VA launch an online “Access and Quality Tool,” providing veterans with a way to access wait time and quality of care data.
- With VA Secretary Dr. David Shulkin, announced three initiatives to expand access to healthcare for veterans using telehealth technology.
Promoting peace through strength
- Directed the rebuilding of the military and ordered a new national strategy and nuclear posture review.
- Worked to increase defense spending.
- Empowered military leaders to “seize the initiative and win,” reducing the need for a White House sign off on every mission.
- Directed the revival of the National Space Council to develop space war strategies.
- Elevated U.S. Cyber Command into a major warfighting command.
- Withdrew from the U.N. Global Compact on Migration, which Trump saw as a threat to borders.
- Imposed a travel ban on nations that lack border and anti-terrorism security.
- Saw ISIS lose virtually all of its territory.
- Pushed for strong action against global outlaw North Korea and its development of nuclear weapons.
- Announced a new Afghanistan strategy that strengthens support for U.S. forces at war with terrorism.
- NATO increased support for the war in Afghanistan.
- Approved a new Iran strategy plan focused on neutralizing the country’s influence in the region.
- Ordered missile strikes against a Syrian airbase used in a chemical weapons attack.
- Prevented subsequent chemical attacks by announcing a plan to detect them better and warned of future strikes if they were used.
- Ordered new sanctions on the dictatorship in Venezuela.
Restoring confidence in and respect for America
- Trump won the release of Americans held abroad, often using his personal relationships with world leaders.
- Made good on a campaign promise to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
- Conducted a historic 12-day trip through Asia, winning new cooperative deals. On the trip, he attended three regional summits to promote American interests.
- He traveled to the Middle East and Europe to build new relationships with leaders.
- Traveled to Poland and on to Germany for the G-20 meeting where he pushed again for funding of women entrepreneurs.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com
Some Good News: Success: EPA set to reduce staff 50% in Trump’s first term
Now if we just could get rid of the rest of them!
Washington Examiner – The Environmental Protection Agency, seen by President Trump as a bloated bureaucratic whale, is on schedule to fulfill his promise to reduce its staff nearly in half by the end of his first term mostly through retirements, not cuts, according to officials.
The EPA Tuesday provided to Secrets its first year staff results which show that the agency is below levels not seen since former President Reagan’s administration.
And if just those slated to retire by early 2021 leave, Administrator Scott Pruitt and his team will have reduced a staff of nearly 15,000, to below 8,000, or a reduction of 47 percent.
“We’re proud to report that we’re reducing the size of government, protecting taxpayer dollars and staying true to our core mission of protecting the environment,” Pruitt said in a statement to Secrets.
Several agencies have succeeded in making some cuts, but EPA is taking a lead.
The numbers:
Click here to read more.
Supreme Court Can Not Make Law – the Courts are stealing the power to make law
Below is a copy of an email I emailed our NC Senators and House Members on 1/10/18.
I ask y’all if, you agree to send your own email to the NC Senate and House members to put the law making power back where it belongs.
For contact info see https://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/members/reports/room-phone.pl?Chamber=Senate&viewType=normal and https://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/members/reports/room-phone.pl?Chamber=House&viewType=normal
I thank you for taking the time and for your help in putting this matter right. – Fremont
Supreme Court Can Not Make Law – the Courts are stealing the power to make law
From the U.S. Constitution – Article I, Section 1.
“All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.”
The above clearly means that Congress is the only part of the government that can make new laws or change existing laws, NOT the Supreme Court. So, does it not make sense that the Supreme Court can only ISSUE opinion? Yes. And opinions are not laws. Only a statement of the Court’s thoughts on a considered subject. Not law.
From the U.S. Constitution – Article VI, clause 2
1. The supremacy clause of the federal Constitution (Art. VI, clause 2) “This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.” Supreme Court “opinions” are NOT part of that supreme law.
2. Supreme court opinions are not “law” — they are OPINIONS on the cases [rightly or wrongly] before the Court. The ONLY ONLY ONLY federal law in this land is: The Constitution, Laws made by Congress which are permitted by the Constitution, and Treaties made by the President and the Senate which are permitted by the Constitution.
Supreme Court opinions are NOT LAW.
3. But the statists have managed to convince most Americans that the Supreme Court is THE highest law making body in the entire Country. If people would only read our federal Constitution and use their heads, they would have seen through this absurd claim 100 years ago. – Publius Huldah
Click here to read: “Supreme Court Offers Opinion, Doesn’t Make Law” by the Tenth Amendment Center.
Click here to read: “Who Let the Supreme Court make Law?”
I, Fremont V Brown III, have found that when discussing the subject that the Supreme Court can not make Law with Legislators I get the reply “JURISPRUDENCE” in their argument against my statement.
But, what is “JURISPRUDENCE”? Well, according to: https://thelawdictionary.org/jurisprudence/ it is: “The philosophy of law, or the science which treats of the principles of positive law and legal relations. “The term is wrongly applied to actual systems of law, or to current views of law, or to suggestions for its amendment, but is the name of a science. This science is a formal, or analytical, rather than a material, one. It is the science of actual or positive law. It is wrongly divided into ‘general’ and ‘particular,’ or into ‘philosophical’ and ‘historical.’ It may therefore be deigned as the formal science of positive law.” Ho 11. Jur. 12. In the proper sense of the word, “jurisprudence” is the science of law, namely, that science which has for its function to ascertain the principles on which legal rules are based, so as not only to classify those rules in their proper order, and show the relation in which they stand to one another, but also to settle the manner in which new or doubtful cases should be brought under the appropriate rules. Jurisprudence is more a formal than a material science. It has no direct concern with questions of moral or political policy, for they fall under the province of ethics and legislation; but, when a new or doubtful case arises to which two different rules seem, when taken literally, to be equally applicable, it may be, and often is, the function of jurisprudence to consider the ultimate effect which would be produced if each rule were applied to an indefinite number of similar cases, and to choose that rule which, when so applied, will produce the greatest advantage to the community. Sweet.”
Well folks, as far as I can see it is NOT part of the Constitution, “The Supreme Law” and does NOT VOID nor does it have any BEARING on the fact that only Congress has the power to make law.
Supreme Court Can’t Make Laws https://youtu.be/tkHbpzUGD6M
Why We’re Losing Liberty https://youtu.be/OIfgD6_hofI
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I submit that the Courts are stealing the power to make law from the legislative branch of government, the only branch of government under the U.S. and North Carolina Constitutions that are ALLOW to make law and it needs to STOP. It’s time you took the power to make law back.
Please, consider the above and act accordingly.
I thank you for your time in this very important matter to the people and you.
—
Mark Meadows Draws Line in Sand: No DACA Amnesty in Spending Bill
by MATTHEW BOYLE2 Jan 2018Washington, DC
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/01/02/mark-meadows-draws-line-in-sand-no-daca-amnesty-in-spending-bill/
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, on Tuesday said there should be no Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) amnesty deal contained within the government funding bill coming up in January.
The important move by Meadows aims to take government shutdown leverage away from Democrats in the upcoming DACA battles — something that President Donald Trump alluded to on Tuesday morning on Twitter when he bashed Democrats for not being serious about DACA solutions.
Donald J. Trump
✔@realDonaldTrump
Democrats are doing nothing for DACA – just interested in politics. DACA activists and Hispanics will go hard against Dems, will start “falling in love” with Republicans and their President! We are about RESULTS.
10:16 AM – Jan 2, 2018
Meadows, in an interview with MSNBC host Chuck Todd, said that a DACA deal is in the works and being discussed.
“We have been working closely with the administration and some of my Democrat colleagues, even some Republicans that perhaps are more moderate than I would be, because the president set a deadline in March to deal with the 674,000 people that had deferred action,” Meadows said. “So, we’re going to get a deal. We have been working behind the scenes not only with members but with the White House as well to try to do that. But the president has been very specific on what he wants to see.”
Meadows noted that three “critically important” parts to any deal include the president’s planned wall along the U.S. border with Mexico, an end to chain migration, and a stop to the visa lottery — along with more general border and interior enforcement measures. Trump laid this out on Twitter last week.
Donald J. Trump
✔@realDonaldTrump
The Democrats have been told, and fully understand, that there can be no DACA without the desperately needed WALL at the Southern Border and an END to the horrible Chain Migration & ridiculous Lottery System of Immigration etc. We must protect our Country at all cost!
8:16 AM – Dec 29, 2017
Meadows added that there is no way there can be any kind of “last minute scenario” whereby only amnesty for the DACA recipients happens without an end to chain migration, a stop to the visa lottery, and funding for the president’s planned border wall. The reason for that, he said, is that doing just an amnesty without stopping the flow of future illegal immigration will not solve the problem.
“If you deal with those 600,000 individuals without changing the fundamental reason why they are here and the fact that — we’ll just be dealing with it again,” Meadows said. “You have seen previous administrations, both Democrat and Republican, try to deal with it. And they have never been able to deal with it. Let’s go ahead, once and for all. Let’s do something historic and make sure we address it.”
But the most important thing Meadows said in the interview was that DACA should not be connected to the government funding bill. “How connected to the government funding bill is DACA now? This Jan. 19 expiration date, does DACA have to be agreed on before that? Is that your deadline?” Todd asked Meadows.
“Well, no, I think if you talk to Democrats, they are going to want to attach to it that funding,” Meadows replied. “Conservatives have said let’s keep as a separate issue. I’m hopeful that—“
“So you think March is the real deadline?” Todd pressed Meadows.
“March is the real deadline,” Meadows responded. “You are not even talking about any deportation until months after that even if we hit that deadline. But we are really looking at March. But the other part is I’m encouraging our leadership to go ahead and do something bold in the next two weeks. So let’s go ahead and have the debates and let’s discuss and it see if we can get a bipartisan agreement.”
Meadows added that he would like to see congressional leadership move forward on a plan that addresses President Trump’s concerns this month, in January.
“Yeah, in the House,” Meadows said when Todd asked about whether he wants to get moving in January. “Because the Senate is slower to act. So, yes, I see it being dealt with long before infrastructure.”
Reps. Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan: It’s time for Jeff Sessions to go, as shown by the latest FBI leak
by Reps. Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan | Jan 4, 2018, 9:00 AM
As the first year of the Trump administration comes to a close, one can’t help but look back on how allegations of “Russian collusion” dominated the headlines of almost every news agency. Hearings, leaks, and so-called “bombshells” saturated the mainstream media coverage almost immediately after the 2016 presidential campaign concluded.
Sadly, manufactured hysteria on this issue throughout 2017 has frequently masked the substantial accomplishments of President Trump’s administration — some that qualify as historic. The stock market has surged at levels not seen in nearly a decade. The Islamic State has been decimated in the Middle East. Our embassy in Israel is moving to Jerusalem, Israel’s undivided capital. Trump delivered on the largest tax cuts and overhaul to the tax code since the Reagan administration. These are just a few examples.
Yet, in spite of the constant headlines, rampant speculation, and overshadowing of accomplishments, a simple truth remains: There is no evidence of any collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians.
And let’s be clear: The absence of evidence is not due to a lack of examination. There have been some six different investigations spent on the collusion narrative — more than the investigative efforts on former President Barack Obama’s IRS targeting of conservatives, the 30,000 missing Hillary Clinton emails, and Benghazi. And through all of that, there is zero (yes, zero) evidence of collusion.
Even with the complete dearth of evidence Congressional hearings have produced, the narrative machine continues to mobilize. Last week, the New York Times published an article using four current and former anonymous intelligence officials to suggest that George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign volunteer, was a “driving factor” who triggered the FBI’s spying on the Trump campaign. These anonymous sources claim that Papadopoulos, during a night of drinking at a bar in Europe, tipped off Australian diplomats about Russian collusion efforts, which ultimately led to the FBI opening an investigation.
Now, even if we put aside what should be an automatic mistrust of the motives behind anonymous intelligence officials sharing details about an ongoing investigation, there are two critical problems with the story. First, belief in this narrative at face value requires one to blatantly disregard a series of fundamental questions:
Question 1: If George Papadopoulos was central to the FBI’s investigation of the Trump campaign, why did the FBI wait more than 6 months to interview him in late January and again in February? And even if they were trying to keep the probe quiet during the 2016 election, why wait more than 2 months after Election Day?
Question 2: If Papadopoulos was so critical to the investigation, why did the FBI get a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, warrant on Carter Page in the summer of 2016 but not on Papadopoulos, the alleged central player?
Question 3: If Papadopoulos was key to a collusion investigation and evidence existed supporting that claim, why would Bruce Ohr, the former DOJ official married to Fusion GPS’ investigator, meet with Christopher Steele, author of the so-called “Trump dossier” hired by the Clinton campaign, before and after the election?
Question 4: Why would former FBI Director James Comey brief President Obama and President-Elect Trump on the contents of the Russian dossier, but not do the same thing on this campaign staffer’s alleged collusion?
Question 5: Why won’t the FBI answer questions from Congress on this very topic? Why do they continue to refuse transparency on whether they paid Christopher Steele for the Russian Dossier? We in Congress have asked them repeatedly to tell us what was in the application they took to the FISA Court to get a warrant for spying on the Trump campaign. Did they use the dossier in their application? This demands an answer.
Perhaps all of these questions have answers that could help bring this Russian collusion drama to a close. But it seems remarkably odd that instead of the FBI answering the critical questions that Congress has repeatedly asked, they instead leak a far-fetched and ill-supported story to the New York Times. If this is the truth, then give us the documentation we’ve asked for to prove it.
The second problem deals with a recurring issue that must be addressed immediately. The alarming number of FBI agents and DOJ officials sharing information with reporters is in clear violation of the investigative standards that Americans expect and should demand. How would New York Times reporters know any of this information when the FBI and DOJ are prohibited from talking about ongoing investigations? How many FBI agents and DOJ officials have illegally discussed aspects of an ongoing investigation with reporters? When will it stop?
It’s apparent that Comey has never had a problem sharing information with reporters, and he allowed his team to “follow the leader” in that regard—but it is time for this practice to come to an immediate end.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from the Russia investigation, but it would appear he has no control at all of the premier law enforcement agency in the world. It is time for Sessions to start managing in a spirit of transparency to bring all of this improper behavior to light and stop further violations. If Sessions can’t address this issue immediately, then we have one final question needing an answer: When is it time for a new attorney general?
Sadly, it seems the answer is now.
Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., represents North Carolina’s 11th District in Congress. He is chair of the House Freedom Caucus. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, represents Ohio’s 4th District in Congress. He is a member of the House Freedom Caucus and served as its first chairman.
Socialism’s Hollywood Cheerleaders
Think about what these two faced idiots are doing – on one hand they love the money that Hollywood pays them and the capitalism that allows Hollywood to produce the movies they act in. Movies that are stuffed with socialist propaganda promoting the destruction of the Capitalist system that gives them their livelihood. Talk about biting the hand of that feeds you. Understand socialism is the transitional social state between the overthrow of capitalism and the realization of communism. Of, course they plan to be among the favored few of the Communist Overseers. To learn more about Collectivism/Communism/Fascism/Socialism/Statism visit: http://tarheelteaparty.org/?page_id=843 and http://victimsofcommunism.org/.
Here is a little food for thought from the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation:
Once one of the wealthiest countries in South America, Venezuela has crumbled under socialism leading to:
- Catastrophic food supply and medicine shortages
- The Maduro Regime killing protestors in the street
- Criminalizing political opposition
Every step of the way, the regime’s socialist policies have had a cheerleader in Hollywood’s elite.
Well known Hollywood Director, Oliver Stone made a film called “My Friend Hugo,” as a tribute to the late Hugo Chavez.
When Chavez passed away, actor Sean Penn said, “poor people around the world lost a champion.”
Penn also made a prediction: “Venezuela…will endure under the proven leadership of vice president Nicholás Maduro.”
Maduro has presided over a 20 year slide to dictatorship that Chavez started. Maduro has conducted illegal elections, punished dissent, and silenced free speech.
Despite a long record of human rights abuses, Hollywood continues to sing socialism’s praises.
Check out the “Witness Project” video series now and learn the truth watching dissidents describe their first-hand accounts of living under communism.
While Hollywood presents utopian fantasies, the Witness Project presents the truth.
Western NC Friends of NRA Dinner
Western NC Friends of NRA last year passed out grants totaling $387,000 to further the
Future of the Shooting Sports in WNC. In order to continue this support we need your help.
The NRA Foundation, Inc. was established in 1990 and is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that raises tax-deductive contributions in support of firearm related public interest activities.
The Friends of NRA fundraising program was established in 1992 to raise funds to support this mission.
Once a year the Western NC Friends of NRA holds a dinner and fundraising event. The next dinner and fundraising event is on February 2, 2018 a Friday at 6pm at the Crowne Plaza Resort. One Resort Drive, Asheville, NC.
Tickets are $45.00 per person. To order tickets please, call Fremont V Brown III at 828-777-5326. Or you may mail a check to: Western NC Friends of NRA, C/O Fremont V Brown III, 1434 Brevard Road, Asheville, NC 28806.
We have Tables for Eight for Sponsorship. There are two types of tables available for sponsorship.
The Legacy Table: is $1500 and includes: Eight Banquet Tickets, Eight Kershaw “Injection” Knives, and choice of ONE Firearm from the following choices: Glock Model 36, Henry big Boy Steel 45-70, Kel-Tec CMR-30 .22 Mag, Kimber Micro 9 Two-Tone 9mm, Ruger Vaquero SS .45 Colt, Sig Sauer P-238 .380, Sig P-320 .40 S&W, Smith & Wesson Field Carry Kit .40 S&W or a Stag AR-15 5.56 with 2nd Amendment Engraving. Rev. 12/28/17
The Table of the Year: is $2018 and includes: Eight Banquet Tickets, Eight Kershaw “Injection” Knives, and choice of ONE Firearm from the following choices: Colt Government 1911 .45 ACP, Colt Defender Stainless .45 ACP, Henry Second Amendment Tribute .22 LR, Henry Big Boy Silver .44 Mag with Engraving, Kimber Stainless Ultra Carry II .45 ACP, Kimber Custom II Two Tone .45 ACP, Kimber Ultra CDP II .45 ACP, Kimber Ultra Bel Air II 9mm, Ruger SR-1911 Two tone .45 ACP, or a 2017 Smith & Wesson 586 High Caliber Pistrol.
Ask to see our Underwriting or Sponsorship list for other ways to help with our fundraising.
To learn more about Friends of NRA visit: http://friendsofnra.org. Thanks for your consideration.
Jail Time for Too Much Meat on a Sandwich?
FreedomWorks – Or just way too many rules from a government that has way too many non-emulated agencies? Time and time again, the federal government has encroached into a sector of the economy and imposed a one-size-fits-all regulation that stifles competition, hurts small businesses, and creates troubling criminal penalties for lack of compliance. This is epitomized in federal involvement in menu labeling — regulations and requirements for private businesses to disclose caloric information on physical menus.
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) is leading the charge on rolling back this overreach through the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act, H.R.772, to provide relief for convenience stores, restaurants, coffee shops, and pizza chains alike.
The factors at play here are multifaceted, but their effects are glaring. Beginning with the enactment of ObamaCare, retail food establishments with more than twenty locations of substantially similar menus were required to provide nutritional information, including caloric content, to its customers on their standard menu items.
Implementation of this measure fell to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has since struggled with rule-making to enact the law as intended. As a result, small businesses and large businesses alike have been detrimentally affected, as the attempt at an overarching federal regulation spreads its reach into every sector of the food preparation and sales industry.
Click here to read more.
Food for thought: Just think of all of the BILLIONS of dollars that our government could save us by cutting agencies and jobs, etc. of this kind of non-emulated or unconstitutional regulations, rules and laws?
N.C. governments seek to go 100 percent renewable; is it realistic? NO!
Carolina Journal – Hitting benchmark would depend on hoped-for gains in battery storage technology and tax subsidies, for starter. The town of Hillsborough and Orange County have turned the holy grail of environmentalism into official public policy. They want to transform into 100 percent renewable energy-powered communities.
But beyond the attention-grabbing headlines, and a 2050 deadline, details matter.
Would sprawling, utility-scale solar power plants be built, and where would they go? Would homeowners be forced to install rooftop solar panels? Will municipal vehicle fleets be powered by renewable fuel, and would drivers have to buy renewable-powered vehicles? Is it possible to store enough electricity to power street lights and traffic signals, hospitals and factories, at night and on cloudy days, when there’s no sun to fueling those solar panels?
Neither government can say how it plans to accomplish what even green energy proponents say would be an extraordinarily expensive mutation of energy policy. Nor have they defined phases or outlined fine points of the changeover.
Click here to read more.
Congressman Mark Meadows Weekly Update: Tax Cuts for Christmas. 12/22
Click here to read: The United States Stands with Israel, Once Again Good to be Home, Team Meadows Serves Hendersonville Rescue Mission, Regulatory Reform Continues, and Merry Christmas from the Meadows Family.
12/21 -Author Jill Tahmooressi, mother of United States Marine Corps veteran Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi who was jailed in Mexico for 214 days.
Blue Ridge Honor Flight Hosts Book Signing
(Hendersonville, NC- December 15, 2017) – Blue Ridge Honor Flight will host a book signing with author Jill Tahmooressi, mother of United States Marine Corps veteran Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi who was jailed in Mexico for 214 days.
In her book, When Light Prevails, Jill shares the actions and emotions she went through to secure her son’s release. For Jill, the book serves to recognize and extend gratitude towards the many, big and small alike who reached out to support and help during the tremendously scary and painful ordeal.
For those who followed Andrew’s fight for freedom back in 2014 on television, radio &/ media outlets or for those just hearing about it for the first time, the book is intensely riveting and revealing.
“I am sincerely grateful to the Western Carolina folks who stepped up mightily to help secure Andrew’s freedom with HonorAir championing the way. The letters the community sent Andrew, as well as the enormous financial support garnered of $20,000 to help with the legal bills will forever be remembered and cherished,” stated Tahmooressi.
The book signing will take place at the Henderson County Historic Courthouse on Main Street from 4-7pm on Thursday, December 21, 2017.
Blue Ridge Honor Flight is honored to now be flying WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam War veterans to their memorials in Washington, DC. The organization is now accepting applications for their April 28, 2018 flight from the Greenville Spartanburg Airport in conjunction with Honor Flight Upstate. Applications are available at blueridgehonorflight.com.
For more information about how to get involved in Blue Ridge Honor Flight, make a donation, or to get a veteran signed up for a flight, please visit the Blue Ridge Honor Flight website at blueridgehonorflight.com.
Time for the Media to get it right!
African American means people born in Africa and are now American citizens.. Americans of African descent are people born in United States as Citizens who’s ancestry is mostly African. There are WHITE African Americans and white Americans of African descent. If, you wish to talk about Blacks then called them Black. Black Americans for blacks born in the United States and are citizens. If, anyone is born in the United States and are citizens then they are AMERICAN no matter their color.
Meadows’ Statement on Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Vote
Washington, D.C. – Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) released the following statement on the House’s passage of the Conference Report accompanying H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:
“Today is a momentous day for America. The forgotten men and women of our country voted to elect President Trump and a Republican Congress to fix our broken tax code that taxes Americans too highly, ships their jobs overseas, and directly undermines the fundamental principles that make America great. Passage of this bill is a monumental step toward doing just that. We’re giving the American people their money back. We’re making the country more competitive for job creation and wage growth. And we’re igniting the kind of economic growth that every American deserves.
Tonight, as the Senate passes tax reform and sends the bill to President Trump’s desk, the American people will finally begin to see the results from the Congress they voted for on November 8, 2016. Hopefully, we’re just getting started.”
Buncombe’s Republican Commissioners stay real…
Buncombegop.com – From the chair Carl Mumpower – Somewhere between cynicism and narcissism is a place Republicans call realism. That’s where our three Buncombe Republican County Commissioners worked hard to land last night. They merit our support and encouragement.
The issue – whether to support a fantasy timeline on renewable energy for Buncombe County. May we suggest that narcissism is just a hop, skip and a jump from psychosis?
Here’s what our local daily had to say about the resolution – “After shooting it down at past meetings, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners voted 4-3 in favor of the resolution at its Dec. 5 meeting, putting the county on the fast track to moving away from the burning of fossil fuels for its electricity and its vehicle fleet, and committing to only using clean and renewable energy for all county operations by 2030 and to all county homes and businesses by 2042. That is, in 25 years.”
Our Republican Commissioners were not resisting setting realistic benchmarks for energy efficiency. There were resisting ‘feel good’ timelines grounded in pretense.
Why does that matter? Because in a hard world good things do not come easily. Self-congratulations, proclamations and resolutions are more about motion than action. If we have a real problem, then we need real action.
Click here to read more.
The following video was added by the Tarheel Tea Party webmaster.
Congressman Mark Meadows Weekly Update. 12/18
Click here to read about: Supporting Israel, Investigate the Investigators?, Jim Jordan (R-OH) questions FBI director Wray in the Judiciary Committee, Obamacare Bill with Senator Ron Johnson, Speech – Conservative Women’s Network, Team Meadows – Operation Christmas Child, Fighting the Opioid Epidemic, and more.
Reliance by U.S. officials on muslims to tell them about the threat of “terrorism” has led to America’s utter failure in this war.
|
The Islamic Movement’s Influence Operation at FBI/NYPD Began Years Ago
|
|
by John Guandolo, President, UTT
As UTT detailed last week in our article here, New York Deputy Commissioner John Miller made comments related to recent jihadi attacks in New York inconsistent with a factual understanding of Islam and sharia.
Mr. Miller did not randomly arrive at the conclusion that muslim men with sharia-adherent beards described as “religious” by their friends and family who then kill Americans while screaming “Allah u akbar” have “nothing to do with Islam.”
This incoherence is the intentional outcome of the Islamic Movement’s decades-long influence operation in the United States.
UTT frequently identifies significant penetrations of our system at the highest levels. It is our intent today to give one specific example of how the reliance by U.S. officials on muslims to tell them about the threat of “terrorism” has led to America’s utter failure in this war and an inability to coherently deal with this threat.
In 1998, John Miller interviewed Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan for ABC News. A brief clip of that ABC report can be found here. John Miller was then vaulted to serving as the FBI’s Assistant Director for Public Affairs.
Let us go back to October 5, 2006 inside FBI Headquarters Bonaparte Auditorium. The FBI’s Assistant Director for Counterterrorism Joe Billy and the Assistant Director for Public Affairs John Miller hosted a presentation by Dr. Irfan Shahid from the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University.
 FBI Assistant Director for Counterterrorism Joe Billy (2006) lauds Dr. Irfan Shahid
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, besides being one of the richest men on the planet and previously having a seat on the boards of Time-Warner-AOL and News Corp through which he has significant impact in the enemy’s influence operation, is also a huge funder of the global jihad.
However, Dr. Shahid’s words speak for themselves.
The presentation began with John Miller glowingly introducing Dr. Shahid followed by Shahid providing a brief history of Islam. He quickly discussed Islam’s growth from Mecca to Medina and then jumped to World War I, at which point he blamed the current jihad Against the entire world on Western imperialism/colonialism. He made it clear that if non-muslims stop interfering in muslim affairs, the jihad would end.
Technically he is correct. If we all submit to Islam and live under sharia, the jihad will end.
Responding to a question from a Special Agent serving on FBI Headquarters Executive Staff asking why the muslim community is not rejecting Al Qaeda like right-thinking Americans have rejected groups like the Ku Klux Klan, Shahid said:
“When you draw a comparison between the Ku Klux Klan and Al Qaeda this I think is not a fair comparison. Because the Ku Klux Klan you refer to is racist, and I think that the Al Qaeda is not racist. The Al Qaeda is a religious organization which believes that the faith and the people to which they belong have belong…You have to go to the causes and withdraw the causes (for Al Qaeda’s violence).”
Al Qaeda is a religious organization. So, just submit to sharia and the Islamic Movement, and everything will then be fine.
 FBI Assistant Director for Public Affairs John Miller (2006) with Dr. Irfan Shahid
Shahid continued: “From the point of view of Islam, the “suicide bomber” is a martyr. I mean from his point of view he is a pious man who reads his Koran and who feels so much injustice has been done to his people, and his duty is to express his discontent. He is not a soldier in a well-organized army where he can go to the battlefield and fight. He can do it individually. So this is what he does.”
At the end of the Q & A, I asked the last question.
I summarized everything I heard during the presentation…
Al Qaeda is a religious organization. “Suicide bombers” are Islamic martyrs and are justified in their conduct. America is to blame for Al Qaeda’s actions and the muslims who blow themselves up killing innocent men, women and children.
I asked if maybe the problem might be that muslims are teaching what Al Qaeda says are requirements in Islam to children in Islamic schools and organizations across the globe. Shahid again reiterated Al Qaeda is a “religious organization” and they do what they do because they feel “helpless” and have no other recourse.
Before it was all over, two FBI Assistant Directors presented the suit-wearing jihadi Shahid with the Jefferson Cup, in honor of Thomas Jefferson.
 FBI’s Assistant Director for Counterterrorism awards Dr. Irfan Shahid the Jefferson Cup
You can’t make this stuff up.
The audio for these exchanges can be found on UTT’s weekly radio show here. UTT encourages you to take the time to listen.
In the end, John Miller is simply one example of how not reading sharia for yourself and delegating the responsibility to “know all enemies” to a third party – who happens to subscribed to our enemy’s ideology – always results in catastrophic failure.
Abdurahman Alamoudi (in prison) was the senior Islamic advisor to President Clinton and was an Al Qaeda financier.
Anwar al Awlaki was called the “new face of moderate Islam” by the media, and was killed in 2011 by a U.S. government drone because he was the Al Qaeda leader in Yemen.
Senator John McCain traveled to Syria and met with people he called friends and allies who were actually jihadis.
In open testimony on Capitol Hill, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper described the Muslim Brotherhood as a “secular” organization which “eschewed” violence.
The facts indicate U.S. leaders are incapable of discerning friend from foe. The most dangerous foes are the suit-wearing jihadis who sit inside our intelligence and national security organizations giving direct input into U.S. national security decisions.
This is why we lost the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq despite the fact the U.S. military crushed the enemy on the battlefield.
And it is why the NYPD’s John Miller says all of the attacks we are witnessing have “nothing to do with Islam.”
|
The secret backstory of how Obama let Hezbollah off the hook
Politico – An ambitious U.S. task force targeting Hezbollah’s billion-dollar criminal enterprise ran headlong into the White House’s desire for a nuclear deal with Iran.
Part I
A global threat emerges
How Hezbollah turned to trafficking cocaine and laundering money through used cars to finance its expansion.
In its determination to secure a nuclear deal with Iran, the Obama administration derailed an ambitious law enforcement campaign targeting drug trafficking by the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah, even as it was funneling cocaine into the United States, according to a POLITICO investigation.
The campaign, dubbed Project Cassandra, was launched in 2008 after the Drug Enforcement Administration amassed evidence that Hezbollah had transformed itself from a Middle East-focused military and political organization into an international crime syndicate that some investigators believed was collecting $1 billion a year from drug and weapons trafficking, money laundering and other criminal activities.
Over the next eight years, agents working out of a top-secret DEA facility in Chantilly, Virginia, used wiretaps, undercover operations and informants to map Hezbollah’s illicit networks, with the help of 30 U.S. and foreign security agencies.
Click here to read more.