Obama's anti Israel goons at work

U.S. ADDS ISRAEL TO ‘PROMOTER, PRODUCER, OR PROTECTOR’ OF TERRORISTS LIST

The Obama administration has added Israel to a list of 36 ‘specially designated’ countries that have ‘shown a tendency to promote, produce, or protect terrorist organizations or their members.’

The ‘specially designated country’ list is used by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to screen detained foreigners with an extra step, called a “Third Agency Check.” Overall, the countries on the list are unsurprising, with two exceptions this year. Israel was not on the list in 2008, but now in 2011, it has been added. North Korea, on the other hand, was dropped from the list this year but was on it in 2008.

The Department of Homeland Security published the list of “specially designated countries” as an appendix to a publicly released report on May 11 report entitled “Supervision of Aliens Commensurate With Risk.”

As reported by CNS News, ICE Spokeswoman Gillian Christensen claims the creation of the list began at least seven years ago during the Bush administration, and ICE was not responsible for creating it. According to a written statement by Christensen:

“The U.S. does not and never has considered Israel to have links to terrorism, but rather they are a partner in our efforts to combat global terrorism. Countries may have been included on the list because of the backgrounds of arrestees, not because of the country’s government itself.”

There are only five countries on the list that do not have majority Muslim populations, and those countries have had serious internal problems with radical Muslim terrorist groups or insurgencies.

Some part of me is hoping this is explainable.

Yes, you can defund government programs

Channel Change: NJN Signs Off Forever

State-owned television network New Jersey Network will permanently go dark Friday, after more than a year’s fight against Gov. Chris Christie and the N.J. Senate’s decision to get out of the television business.

At midnight on Friday NJN will turn into NJTV, controlled by WNET, a New York television station. WHYY will also have control of five of NJN’s radio transmitters, reports WHYY's Newsworks.org.

Christie decided a year ago that state funds should not be used to run a television station, which has been reporting news to the area for the past 40 years. The New Jersey Assembly rejected the proposal, but the state senate let the resolution to privatize NJN go through.

"He's bombastic, articulate, refreshing," Michael Aron, NJN news director told Newsworks. "I've covered nine governors, and he's the best talker. He's a gifted politician. That doesn't mean I agree with what he's done--particularly with public broadcasting in New Jersey, but I have to give him his due."

Under the deal with New Jersey, WNET will broadcast 20 hours a week of New Jersey-centric programming.

Many fear that with the loss of NJN’s hyper-local news coverage of the state of New Jersey, New Jerseyans will now have to depend on out-of-state news organizations to cover their state.

"As Benjamin Franklin said, we're a barrel tapped at both ends: Philadelphia and New York," NJN producer Michael Curtis told Newsworks. "No one tells the New Jersey story. We cover only New Jersey and why it's important. We're the information source for 8 million people. Now that story's gone."

NJN's news reports specialized in covering the state government. In its final weeks, the network was confronted with reporting its own demise.

Most of the station's 120 employees will retire or face layoffs.

What's become of the NAACP?

The hateful Hazel Dukes

NAACP honcho Hazel Dukes wagged her sharp tongue at a leader of New York City's charter-school movement this week, declaring that the Harvard-educated reformer never would have gotten into that university had it not been for, well, Hazel Dukes.

She called African-American charter-school activist Clifford Thomas a "dumbass" and said: "You went to Harvard on my back, not because you're smart, not because you worked hard."

That's ahistorical nonsense, of course. Harvard has been educating African-Americans without help from Dukes for a very long time indeed: Not to put too fine a point on it, W.E.B. DuBois -- a chieffounderof the NAACP -- earned a PhD from the university in 1896, decades before Dukes was even born.

But itisa revealingly candid snapshot of Dukes' view of affirmative action: Smarts and hard work didn't matter for Thomas, who grew up in New York City public housing.

Only the color of his skin counted.

All of this matters because Dukes and her increasingly irrelevant organization have been giving cover to the United Federation of Teachers' effort to hamstring charter schools in New York.

Thomas, a founder of Invictus Preparatory Charter School, had dared to ask for a civil debate during a public hearing -- provoking Dukes' uncivil outburst, and chants of "Abolish slavery" from her claque of supporters.

But that was just race-baiting theater.

The truly damaging anti-reform work is being done in the courts, with nitpicking UFT/NAACP lawsuits meant to block essential public-school reforms and to choke off charter-school growth.

There are two tactical objectives:

* To keep open 22 utterly failed traditional public schools.

* And to block 16 new charter schools, which generally perform so well that they embarrass traditional-school teachers and administrators. (Acourt rulingon one new charter, proposed for the Upper West Side, could come today.)

The UFT is clearly trying to protect union jobs.

The NAACP's motive is only slightly less obvious: Having already received more than $100,000 in UFT cash, it wants to keep the gravy train rolling.

But while the organization's participation may mislead outsiders, minority parents who want charter seats for their kids are having none of it. Many actually picketed UFT headquarters Monday -- the second such rally in recent weeks.

Dukes' response to that?

Round after round of race-baiting invective.

It's shameless -- but so is she.

Dukes's political activism extends also to campaigning for the Democratic party. She worked for President Lyndon Johnson's "Head Start" program in the 1960s and was the first black vice-chair of the Nassau County Democratic Committee. She served on the party's national committee from 1976 to 1982. During the years of the Reagan and Bush presidencies in the 1980s and early 1990s Dukes was an outspoken opponent of policies that she felt undermined the achievements of the civil rights movements of the 1960s. But though Dukes's political career has made her one of the most important black activists and campaigners of the last quarter of the twentieth century, her record was blighted when in 1997 she admitted to stealing $13,000 from a co-worker at the NYCTOB. Her plea bargain meant that she was not imprisoned for the offense, but it forced her resignation from office in the NAACP and damaged the careers of several other officers. The damage to the 90-year-old organization, which was already under pressure to demonstrate it had not stagnated, was significant. Dukes caused controversy again when she ran for president of the New York state NAACP in 1999 and was re-elected. Opponents claimed she had rigged the election.

Read more: Hazel Dukes Biography - York, Naacp, President, City, Rights, and Nassau http://biography.jrank.org/pages/2959/Dukes-Hazel.html#ixzz1QmXdgg8E

The UN is beyond contempt

North Korea to Head U.N. Conference on Disarmament

Anne Bayefsky

On Tuesday, the United Nations again made itself an international laughing stock – except perhaps to the American taxpayers who continue to foot 22 percent of the bill – by appointing North Korea chair of the U.N. Conference on Disarmament. That would be the same North Korea that, according to an article this week by Senator John Kerry, head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has “twice tested nuclear weapons…is developing missiles to carry them…has built facilities capable of producing highly enriched uranium for more nuclear weapons” and has defied a U.N. arms embargo by exporting weapons and sensitive technologies to rogue regimes.

Alas, Senator Kerry is also one of the lead champion of the United Nations in the Senate. According to the U.N., "The Conference is funded from the UN regular budget, reports to the General Assembly and receives guidance from it."

North Korea assumes the Conference chairmanship by being the next state in the alphabetical rotation of the 65 members, which include five nuclear weapons states and 60 other countries such as Iran and Syria. North Korea will preside over the Conference for a four working-week period.

North Korea’s representative, So Se Pyong, was enthusiastic about his new job. He announced that he was “very much committed to the Conference” and that during his presidency he “welcomes any sort of constructive proposals that strengthened the work and credibility of the Conference on Disarmament.” He also said that “he would do everything in his capacity to move the Conference on Disarmament forward.”

That might make sense, if by “forward” he means toward a nuclear winter, or by “constructive,” he means steering clear of anything that might impede North Korea. The official mandate of the Conference looks a bit different and includes “all multilateral arms control and disarmament problems” with the following “main areas of interest”: “cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament; prevention of nuclear war, including all related matters.”

North Korea’s chairmanship was heralded by other U.N. aficionados, including the Iranian delegate to the Conference. Iran’s Mohammad Hassan Daryaei told the Conference meeting: “I would like to congratulate the distinguished ambassador of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for the assumption of the presidency and assuring him of my delegation’s full support and cooperation.”

Iran’s support is telling. Just yesterday Iran's Revolutionary Guards tested 14 long-range missiles that could carry a nuclear weapon, with the express purpose of hitting U.S. interests and Israel, according to the head of their aerospace division.

Congratulations also poured in from such upstanding world citizens and U.N. fans as China. China’s Wang Qun “welcomed the presidency of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.”

It was left to the Canadian delegate to speak plainly. Canada’s Marius Grinius said: “[I]n the last 13 years the Conference has failed to move forward on its core disarmament responsibilities, including the negotiation of a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty…[T]he Conference on Disarmament is on life support because it no longer is the sole multilateral negotiating forum for disarmament. Indeed, it is not negotiating anything and has not been for a very long time.”

Why not just put it out of its misery and pull the plug?

Well, he wasn't six or 95 years old so that part worked.

Authorities Investigate Security Breach At JFK After Man Flies To Los Angeles Without Ticket Or ID

Could Harvard become any more loathsome?

Harvard: July 4th Parades Are Right-Wing

Another Democrat showing his knowledge of the Constitution...

Durbin: Illegal Alien Could Be Our Future President

Mr. Halperin speaks the truth in one word

Mark Halperin suspended over Obama remark on Morning Joe (video)

Egypt

Egypt's pro-democracy activists feel their grip slipping

Opposition groups seek to postpone September elections amid fears that the more unified Muslim Brotherhood and members of the former regime will gain too much influence.

Identifying Israel's enemies

Who Is Behind the Second Gaza Flotilla?

Ehud Rosen

• The second flotilla is coordinated by Muhammad Sawalha, a senior UK-based Muslim Brotherhood figure connected to Hamas. Many of the participating organizations can be directly linked with the Union of Good (UoG), a coalition of European charities affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, which in 2008 was designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. Treasury for transferring funds to Hamas. The UoG was initiated by Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood on a global scale, shortly after the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000.
• For the Brotherhood, two chief centers of organization can be clearly seen. On the European and global scene, the centrality of its UK-based activists is once again demonstrated, while in the Middle East, its Jordanian branch is noticeable.
• Other main organizers include the anti-Israel International Solidarity Movement (ISM), as well as far-left socialists from Europe and the United States. Many of the flotilla's main organizers have stated that its prime aim is to create provocations and harm Israel's image.
• Following Israel's Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, which ended in January 2009, a series of international conferences was held in Turkey to restructure the struggle against Israel. A conference in February 2009 featured 200 radical Islamist scholars who came to meet with senior Hamas officials to plot a new, "third jihadi front" (in addition to Pakistan andIraq) centered on Gaza. The conference gave birth to the infamous, pro-Hamas Istanbul Declaration, which also provided justification for attacking foreign navies which might try to prevent arms smuggling to Gaza.
• In general, the same organizers stand behind the second flotilla, with several changes. The most important may be the IHH decision not to send the Mavi Marmara, the ship which brought the first flotilla its publicity following violent clashes between IHH activists and the IDF in which nine Turks were killed. Rather than take a leading role, it appears that the IHH will settle this time for sending activists to sail on other ships.
• Thus, the flotilla is far from being a peaceful, humanitarian effort to support the Palestinians in Gaza. It should instead be seen as a major, pro-Hamas effort to delegitimize Israel by a "red-green alliance" of leftists and Islamists.

The Second "Freedom Flotilla" is a joint and coordinated effort of several groups working to delegitimize Israel on a global scale. The claim of the organizers that they are seeking to relieve the siege of Gaza and to provide urgently needed humanitarian aid rings completely hollow, given the vast economic improvements the territory has been witnessing. Indeed, the New York Times reported on June 25, 2011, that "two luxury hotels are opening in Gaza this month." The report from Gaza continues with a description of a "second shopping mall" about to open and "hundreds of homes" under construction.¹ The motivation behind the flotilla is thus clearly political. All the groups involved have separately sent ships and land convoys aimed to "break the siege" of Gaza in order to hurt Israel's image.

The latest campaign is coordinated by Muhammad Sawalha, a senior UK-based Muslim Brotherhood figure who, according to Israeli sources, helped establish Hamas’ operational infrastructure in the West Bank in the late 1980s. He found asylum in Britain in 1990 and is one of the central leaders of Islamist, anti-Israel, and pro-Hamas activities in Britain. Many of the participating organizations can be directly linked with the Union of Good (UoG), a coalition of European charities affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, which in 2008 was designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. Treasury for transferring funds to Hamas. Other main organizers include the anti-Israel International Solidarity Movement (ISM), as well as far-left socialists from Europe and the United States. Many of the flotilla's main organizers have stated that its prime aim is to create provocations and harm Israel's image.

Origins of the Flotilla Campaign

The first group to send ships to Gaza may have been the ISM, which in August 2008 sent two small Greek-registered fishing boats from Cyprus to Gaza with 44 people on board, calling itself the Free Gaza Movement (FGM).² The ISM was founded in 2001 by a Jewish American, Adam Shapiro, and his American wife of Palestinian origin, Huwaida Arraf,³ after the outbreak of the Second Intifada. Together with its Palestinian partners, ISM sponsored protests in the West Bank and Gaza, where it was known for welcoming any violence that occurred during its protests and for encouraging its volunteers to compare Israel with the Nazis. In March 2003, a senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) was found hiding in an ISM compound. By 2004, ISM's own publicity material had shown its willingness to work with the National and Islamic Forces, a coalition of Palestinian factions that included Hamas and the PIJ. In more recent times, Huwaida Arraf went on to serve on the advisory board of Kinder USA, a charity that an FBI analyst believed was involved with raising funds for Hamas.⁴

FGM members would later join the first flotilla in May 2010 on the Rachel Corrie, sponsored by the Perdana for Global Peace Foundation (previously the Perdana for Global Peace Movement),⁵ an organization established by the anti-Semitic/anti-American former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.⁶ The ISM/FGM had received a large donation of 300,000 euros for the voyage.⁷ The Rachel Corrie, however, fell behind the original fleet due to mechanical problems.

Other groups and activists usually come from the European and American far-left, such as Dr. Paul Larudee, another ISM and FGM co-founder who now heads an American network called the Free Palestine Movement (FPM);⁸ anarchist ex-Israeli Dror Feiler; or Greek socialist Prof. Vangelis Pissias.⁹

However, the more important group in organizing the flotilla is the one affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe, and its Palestinian branch, Hamas. Following Israel's Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, which ended in January 2009, a series of international conferences was held in Turkey to restructure the struggle against Israel. The relationships between Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the Muslim Brotherhood, and Hamas have been widely documented in the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs monographTurkey, the Global Muslim Brotherhood, and the Gaza Flotilla.¹⁰ Since 2006, Turkey has become a new center for the Global Muslim Brotherhood, while the Hamas regime in Gaza acted as the main axis for this activity.¹¹

A conference held in February 2009 featured 200 radical Islamist scholars who came to meet with senior Hamas officials to plot a new, "third jihadi front" (in addition to Pakistan and Iraq) centered on Gaza.¹² One of the participants in the conference, the Saudi scholar Mohsen al-Awajy, told a BBC reporter: "Gaza is a gift....Gaza gives us power, it solves our differences. We are all now in a unified front against Zionism." Thus, Gaza's status is raised as an Islamist symbol for jihad against Israel. The conference gave birth to the infamous, pro-Hamas Istanbul Declaration, which also provided justification for attacking foreign navies which might try to prevent arms smuggling to Gaza.¹³

In March 2009, the first of three Gaza Lifeline/Viva Palestina land convoys arrived in Gaza. It was led by former British MP George Galloway, under the auspices of a charity he established named Viva Palestina. He was joined with others who, according to Israeli sources, are affiliated with Hamas, particularly Zaher Birawi.¹⁴ Another two land convoys made their way to Gaza in July 2009 and January 2010. While the Hamas government was the recipient of all vehicles, goods, and cash in the first convoy,¹⁵ the second exposed a deeper connection to the Union of Good (UoG), a coalition of European Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated charities initiated by Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood on a global scale, shortly after the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000. The UoG serves de facto as an important financial arm of Qaradawi's Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated groups around the world, and was designated as a terrorist organization in 2008 by the U.S. Treasury for transferring funds to Hamas.¹⁶ The official recipient of the second convoy's aid was a Gaza-based NGO named Expertise for Consulting and Development, or CODE. On its website, CODE noted that it had previously received funding from the UoG for several projects.¹⁷

A much more obvious connection to the Union of Good can be easily made with the largest coalition involved in organizing the Freedom Flotilla - The European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza (ECESG). The campaign was formulated in late 2007 or the beginning of 2008 during one of the Palestinians in Europe Conferences, an annual gathering which has been taking place since 2003, initiated by the London-based Palestinian Return Centre (PRC), which in December 2010 was deemed "illegal" by the Israeli defense minister as a "European Hamas affiliate."¹⁸ The campaign currently lists an address in Brussels. However, its president, Dr. Arafat Shukri (aka Arafat Madi), is also PRC's executive director, and until recently, both PRC and the ECESG also shared the same address and contact details.¹⁹ Furthermore, the campaign's website (www.savegaza.eu/) is registered under Shukri's name and PRC e-mail address. Another founding member of the campaign is Dutch-based activist Amin Abu Rashed, who took part in the first flotilla. Abu Rashed was described in the Dutch media, quoting an intelligence source, as "leader of Hamas in the Netherlands."²⁰

Out of 33 NGOs participating in the campaign, almost half are known to have strong connections with the UoG and the Federation of Islamic Organisations in Europe (FIOE), an umbrella of the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. The campaign has also acquired the support of far left European politicians, groups, and individuals.²¹

The Turkish charity IHH was a very important organizer of the third land convoy, which took place in January 2010. IHH is also a member of the Union of Good. The third convoy, it must be noted, ended with a violent conflict with Egypt, which insisted that the cargo enter Gaza through the Egyptian port of El-Arish in Sinai. The convoy held several demonstrations in Aqaba, Jordan, some held under the flag of the Islamic Action Front, the political wing of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood, another key organizer. At one of them, Turkish IHH leader Yildrim spoke, saying: "Up until now the world thought only Israel was a war criminal. But Egypt has proved it is also complicit in this crime. By preventing us, Egypt has proved it is an Israeli-guided state. We will not remain silent against Egypt and will besiege Egyptian embassies and consulates for days if needed....They are proposing the aid convoy to enter Gaza through Israel. In other words, they have sold Gaza to Israel."²² Five days later, the convoy returned to Syria by land in order to sail to El-Arish.

When the convoy finally arrived in El Arish, the Egyptian authorities said that 59 of its vehicles must enter Gaza via an Israeli crossing rather than through Rafah. Some convoy participants responded to the Egyptian decision by rioting. They broke down the gates of the port and attempted to drive their vehicles out, but were contained by the police. Then they blockaded the port, waving Hamas banners; fought the police with sticks and projectiles; vandalized port property; and took security officers hostage.²³ For its part, Hamas called a demonstration in Rafah in support of the convoy and against Egypt. This cost a 21-year-old Egyptian border guard his life.²⁴ Several of the convoy's participants were arrested, but were released following the intervention of Turkish MPs. Part of the convoy was also allowed into Gaza. However, when Galloway got back to Rafah he was deported and declaredpersona non grata in Egypt.²⁵

This incident harmed the Gaza Lifeline/Viva Palestina convoys, but also brought a change in strategy for its partners. Soon after, Muhammad Sawalha, one of the main organizers of the convoys, revealed in an interview to Hizbullah's Al-Intiqad magazine their plan to send a sea convoy (the May 2010 flotilla), adding, "this time we want to confront the Zionist enemy directly."²⁶ And indeed, in many Islamist websites, the flotilla was referred to as Gaza Lifeline No. 4.

The Second Flotilla - What Has Changed?

In general, the same organizers stand behind the second flotilla, with several changes. The most important may be the IHH decision not to send the Mavi Marmara, the ship which brought the first flotilla its publicity following violent clashes between IHH activists and the IDF in which nine Turks were killed. Rather than take a leading role, it appears that the IHH will settle this time for sending activists to sail on other ships.²⁷

This decision apparently brought about a reshuffle in the organization of the flotilla structure, bringing the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood even closer into the picture. Its Gaza Lifeline Committee, which operates under Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood-controlled professional associations, recently purchased a ship for 560,000 euros. Wael al-Saqa, head of the committee, said the ship is able to carry up to 200 people, and is planned to carry Arab participants in the flotilla.²⁸

As for the overall organization, Muhammad Sawalha now appears as the flotilla's coordinator under his title as Vice-Chairman of the International Campaign to Break the Siege on Gaza (ICBSG).²⁹ The ICBCG is a UK-registered group, listing Sawalha as its sole director. The campaign is now also the official coordinator of the Miles of Smiles land convoys, the third of which recently arrived in Gaza.³⁰ Miles of Smiles is another UoG-affiliated operation, mostly identified with Interpal, a major UK-based charity and member of the UoG, which was designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. Treasury in 2003 as well.³¹ Yet a further connection may be seen in the British coalition involved in the flotilla, Britain2Gaza, which is another UK-registered group which has both Sawalha and Hamas-affiliated Zaher Birawi, a convoy and flotilla spokesman, as its directors.

Sawalha signed the Istanbul Declaration of February 13, 2009, which provides important insights into his motivation to take a leading role in the flotillas. Among other points, the declaration states:

The obligation of the Islamic Nation to open the crossings - all crossings - in and out of Palestine permanently, in order to allow access to all the needs of the Palestinians - money, clothing, food, medicine, weapons and other essentials, so that they are able to live and perform the jihad in the way of Allah Almighty(emphasis added).³²

Another prominent figure is German-based Walid Abu al-Shewarib, who was previously hailed for the role he played in helping to organize the first flotilla.³³ An official Europol document, said to be based on German information, describes him as "a Hamas member who is a leading member of the association Islamische Gemeinschaft Deutschland (IGD, Islamic Community in Germany), considered to be the headquarters for the Muslim Brotherhood in Germany." He is also managing director of the Islamisches Kultur und Erziehungszentrum Berlin (Center for Islamic Culture and Education), regarded as the point of contact for Hamas in Berlin.³⁴

In the last few weeks, the ex-Israeli activist Dror Feiler has been constantly speaking with the Israeli media. When it first seemed that the IHH would not take any part in the second flotilla, he told Ynet News: "We must remember that the Turks aren't participating so Israel won't be able to claim that this is an Islamist flotilla, so there are benefits."³⁵ Feiler may be one of the flotilla's organizers, but he seems to misread the background of his own colleagues. The Islamist, pro-Hamas character of this flotilla is much deeper than the IHH alone.

Interesting development

Report: Jordan to oppose PA statehood bid

Senior official tells UAE-based al-Bayan newspaper that Amman's national interests 'could be in danger' if Palestinians' General Assembly bid succeeds

The label tells you a lot.

EPA approves E15 fuel label despite engine risk

Democrat culture of corruption

Democratic Rep. Laura Richardson could face jail time for ethics violations

New documents disclosed in a complaint from the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) appear to show California Democrat Rep. Laura Richardson and her staff clearly violating congressional ethics rules and potentially federal law.

The documents show Richardson using official taxpayer resources for political events, including fundraisers. “Rep. Richardson didn’t just violate House rules, she likely committed crimes,” said Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director.

In one instance, Richardson’s chief of staff, Shirley Cooks, told all of Richardson’s aides in an email from her official House account, “All staff are required to attend” a fundraiser held Sept. 29, 2010, adding, “Bring spouses and tell interns they have to be there as well. Thanks.”

Another staffer, Daysha Austin, then a district scheduler, told staffers, “The Congresswoman is asking all staff that has one to wear their staff shirt to tomorrow’s event so we can be visible and easily identified.”

The “staff shirt,” pictured in CREW’s complaint, features a logo that says “California’s 37th Congressional District,” the district that Richardson represents.

The demands on staff to attend a fundraiser and use of official email accounts and resources to coordinate political activities clearly violate congressional ethics rules that taxpayer dollars “may not pay for campaign expenses.”

(Obama admin political appointee takes heat for trips home on taxpayers’ dime)

A strict wall separates official congressional office work from political campaigning; lawmakers and their staff may not even make one phone call for campaign purposes from a congressional office phone, for instance.

While it’s not uncommon for lawmakers to stretch these rules to a degree, flagrant rule breaking in written documents is highly unusual.

CREW included the documents in a complaint to the FBI asking for an investigation. The watchdog group says Richardson’s conduct likely violated federal law. One lawyer told The Daily Caller if Richardson was found guilty of these allegations the maximum jail sentence would be around 13 years, but given Richardson’s lack of criminal history, she would probably be sentenced to less than five years in jail.

Another email included in the complaint shows Richardson asking staff to prepare her for political events.

Richardson “has an event this Saturday (something along the lines of ‘California Dem Party Endorsement’) and she asked staff prepare a binder for her. She needs a lot of the same information that she needed for her last endorsement event (was it Sunday?). I was hoping you could compile a binder again using the same materials from last weekend,” wrote Lucinda Richard, a legislative assistant to Richardson in a March 17, 2010 email.

Another email shows active involvement by Richardson herself regarding one of her official staffer’s political activities.

When staffer Thorne Maginnis requested vacation time to volunteer in a Tennessee congressional campaign, Richardson expressed umbrage she hadn’t been consulted on where Maginnis would campaign.

(California Democrat Maxine Waters charged with House ethics violations)

“I am disturbed by this. I have never authorized any staff to communicate to the [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committeee (DCCC)]. I certainly never authorized staff to consider a specific seat. Those are my decisions. The direction was if someone was interested to see me and NOT to go and do what he has done,” Richardson wrote from a personal email account.

CREW’s complaint and the newly disclosed documents come on the heels of allegations in March by an outgoing staffer that Richardson required official staffers to work on her reelection campaign.

In a March 3, 2011 resignation letter, Maria Angel Macias also claimed Richardson subjected her to “constant verbal and emotional abuse.”

“My doctor recommended I take time off,” Macias wrote, apparently due to stress. Attached was a note from Macias’ doctor.

Macias told the Contra Costa Times in a March 14 interview Richardson required staffers to work on her campaign, a major violation of congressional ethics rules and potentially federal law.

“She would just ask me to call them and tell them to come to the campaign office,” Marcias told the Times, “She would ask me to schedule people (staff members and drivers to accompany Richardson) for campaign fundraisers for other elected officials.”

A spokeswoman for Richardson denied Marcias’ allegations at the time.

Republicans quickly pounced on the revelations Tuesday. One GOP House aide said, “This isn’t surprising. This is the same member that doesn’t feel the need to pay her mortgages on time, why would she respect the rule of law?”

In the CREW complaint, the most explosive email is from Cooks demanding all staff attend a fundraiser.

The subject of the Sept. 27, 2010 email, sent to every staff member at Richardson’s Washington, D.C. Office, was “Wednesday at 5:00pm.”

The full email said, “All staff are required to attend Ms. Richardson’s event. Bring spouses and tell interns they have to be there as well. Thanks.”

The week the email was sent, Richardson was holding a fundraiser on Wednesday at 6:00pm with an “American Idol” theme.

“Please Join Speaker Nancy Pelosi for Congresswoman Laura Richardson’s 1st Ever Democratic Idol Fundraiser,” a flyer for the event says.

Other emails from staffers confirm Cooks’ demand for staffers to attend “Ms. Richardson’s event” at “Wednesday at 5:00pm” was a demand they attend the fundraiser.

For instance, the email from Austin, demanding staff wear their special office shirts to “tomorrow’s event,” has the subject “Rep. Richardson’s Democratic Idol,” the name of the fundraiser.

Additionally, one unidentified staffer threatens to resign from the office because the person felt they were being pressured to attend a political event held the night of Wednesday, Sept. 29.

“Daysha just told me I’ll be taking photos at the event tonight. I explained to her I would be leaving early and she ignored. If this is not somehow rectified I am prepared to tender my resignation effective immediately. I am completely serious about this. In addition, for your information, I will be taking action against this office through House leadership if I am forced to go this route,” the unidentified staffer said.

Cooks told this person to “calm down” and help find a replacement to substitute for him or her.

Richardson spokesman Ray Zaccaro said he would be releasing a statement on the allegations shortly.

Update: Zaccaro responded to the allegations but did not actually deny them.

The Worst Boss in Congress?

Wasting tax dollars. Planned Parenthood is a business and should stand on its own

INVESTIGATIVE REPORT: Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid Misinformation In Indiana

Planned Parenthood’s legal team has been extremely busy these days trying to stop various states from defunding their group. Texas, Wisconsin and New Hampshire joined Indiana, Kansas and North Carolina this week as they decided that taxpayer dollars should not fund the mega abortion chain.

But Indiana is Ground Zero in the fight to strip Planned Parenthood of its taxpayer dollars. After Indiana defunded the abortion group in May, President Obama has threatened to withhold billions of dollars in Medicaid funds from the state of Indiana if the state does not continue to funding Planned Parenthood. To make matters worse, an Obama-appointed judge ruled late last week that Indiana had to reinstate funding to Planned Parenthood because it would not be in the public interest if President Obama withheld billions of dollars from the state of Indiana and consequently hurt over a million patients on Medicaid. Forget the merits of that case!

Planned Parenthood emphatically defends its public funding by arguing that women have no other place to go for their healthcare needs. According to an official Planned Parenthood press release, the legislation would “take away health care from thousands of women in Indiana, leaving them at greater risk for undetected cancers, untreated infections and unintended pregnancies.”

Oh really? Planned Parenthood in Indiana serves 9,300 Medicaid patients, which only accounts for less than 1% of the total Medicaid patients in the state. And in the counties with Planned Parenthood clinics alone, women can choose from over 800 other qualified Medicaid providers.

Live Action is releasing an undercover video today showing that Planned Parenthood’s claims of Medicaid women losing their healthcare if they are defunded are bogus and unfounded. View here:

(use link in headline to see video)

Our undercover investigators called 16 of the 28 Indiana Planned Parenthood clinics posing as women on Medicaid concerned about where they could receive services if Planned Parenthood’s funding was not restored.

In direct contrast to what Planned Parenthood has claimed, every single one of its own employees were quick to refer women to an abundance of other providers, admitting they could easily access Medicaid benefits elsewhere.

Dr. Geoffry Cly, a practicing OB/GYN in Ft. Wayne, Indiana told Live Action that his clinic and many others can handle the influx of the small amount of Medicaid patients that went to Planned Parenthood and that the abortion group “exists only to perform abortions and the rest of the healthcare that they provide is healthcare that’s already available in town.”

The outcome of this case in Indiana could very well dictate what happens to other states that attempt to defund Planned Parenthood. President Obama is holding low-income patients’ health hostage, threatening to block all Medicaid funds for vulnerable patients, all in an effort to force Indiana into funding the largest abortion provider in the country.

Do you support Indiana’s decision to defund Planned Parenthood? Then stand with Indiana and sign Live Action’s petition, which demands that President Obama and his administration:

1) Withdraw its brief filed in the District Court of Southern Indiana in support of Planned Parenthood’s private civil suit against the State of Indiana;

2) Direct CMS to approve Indiana’s new Medicaid provider standards;

3) Issue a public clarification that Medicaid is a state-run program under which states may determine provider eligibility standards and your administration will not interfere with this state authority.

Go to www.IStandWithIndiana.com and sign the petition. Post the video to your Facebook and Twitter pages and email it to your friends. Help spread the word that taxpayer dollars should never go to fund abortions.