Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Barker's Newsbites: Tuesday, March 24, 2014


Howdy, folks!

I'm STUFFED...

Did a radio show this morning and then out to lunch with my buddy (and the show's host) Frank.

Later on... I'll be donating blood.

7 comments:

William R. Barker said...

* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)

http://dailysignal.com/2014/06/24/irs-admits-wrongdoing-pay-50000-leaking-marriage-groups-tax-return/?utm_source=heritagefoundation&utm_medium=email&utm_content=DD140624&utm_campaign=dailydigest

Two years after activists for same-sex marriage obtained the confidential tax return and donor list of a national group opposed to redefining marriage, the Internal Revenue Service has admitted wrongdoing and agreed to settle the resulting lawsuit.

The Daily Signal has learned that, under a consent judgment today, the IRS agreed to pay $50,000 in damages to the National Organization for Marriage as a result of the unlawful release of the confidential information to a gay rights group, the Human Rights Campaign, that is NOM’s chief political rival.

* SO... THE TAXPAYERS ARE SCREWED WHILE THE CRIMINALS ESCAPE JUSTICE.

“Congress made the disclosure of confidential tax return information a serious matter for a reason,” NOM Chairman John D. Eastman told The Daily Signal. “We’re delighted that the IRS has now been held accountable for the illegal disclosure of our list of major donors from our tax return.”

* I'M NOT. I WON'T BE DELIGHTED UNTIL SOMEONE GOES TO JAIL!

In his order entered this morning, District Judge James C. Cacheris granted the settlement of NOM’s suit against the IRS, which was represented by the Department of Justice.

* OF COURSE THEY WERE...!

(*ROLLING MY EYES*)

In February 2012, the Human Rights Campaign posted on its web site NOM’s 2008 tax return and the names and contact information of the marriage group’s major donors, including soon-to-be Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. That information then was published by the Huffington Post and other liberal-leaning news sites.

HRC’s president at the time, Joe Solmonese, was tapped that same month as a national co-chairman of President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign.

Eastman said an investigation in the civil lawsuit determined that "someone" gave NOM’s tax return and list of major donors to Boston-based gay rights activist Matthew Meisel.

Email correspondence from Meisel revealed that he told a colleague of “a conduit” to obtain the marriage group’s confidential information.

* THIS "CONDUIT" IS THE CRIMINAL.

Testifying under oath in a deposition as part of the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Meisel invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself and declined to disclose the identity of his “conduit.”

To get at that fact, Eastman said, the National Organization for Marriage has asked Attorney General Eric Holder to grant immunity from prosecution to Meisel.

(*ROLLING MY EYES AGAIN*)

* FOLKS... MEISEL SHOULDN'T HAVE THE OPTION TO NOT DISCLOSE THE IDENTITY OF HIS CONDUIT! YES... I UNDERSTAND THAT IN INCRIMINATING THE "CONDUIT" MEISEL RISKS INCRIMINATING HIMSELF... BUT SIMPLY GIVING HIM LIMITED IMMUNITY AS RELATES TO SPECIFIC TESTIMONY RE: "THE CONDUIT" SHOULD DISPOSE OF ANY 5TH AMENDMENT CONCERNS.

* TO BE CONTINUED...

William R. Barker said...

* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)

The $50,000 to be paid by the IRS represents actual damages NOM incurred responding to the illegal disclosure, not punitive damages, since the marriage group was unable to prove disclosure of the confidential records was deliberate after Meisel took the Fifth.

Meisel provided the marriage group’s tax data to the Human Rights Campaign, documents found as part of the investigation show.

* AND THERE'S NO LAW AGAINST DISTRIBUTING SUCH RECORDS? THERE SHOULD BE!

In a draft press release on the settlement and admission by the IRS of wrongdoing, Eastman said:

It has been a long and arduous process to hold the IRS accountable for their illegal release of our confidential tax return and donor list, which was ultimately given to our chief political rival by the recipient.

* HAS ANYONE BEEN FIRED? IF NOT... THEN AS FAR AS I SEE ONLY THE POOR TAXPAYER HAS BEEN "HELD ACCOUNTABLE."

In the beginning, the government claimed that the IRS had done nothing wrong and that NOM itself must have released our confidential information. Thanks to a lot of hard work, we’ve forced the IRS to admit that they in fact were the ones to break the law and wrongfully released this confidential information.

* THE IRS IS NOT A PERSON... NO IRS OFFICIALS HAVE BEEN DISCIPLINED - LET ALONE FIRED... LET ALONE JAILED - AS FAR AS I CAN TELL FROM READING THIS ARTICLE.

Eastman, a lawyer and law professor, also is a member of the Act Right Legal Foundation team that brought the lawsuit against the federal government and the IRS on NOM’s behalf in October 2013. He said at the time that the Human Rights Campaign removed “redaction layers” from the electronic documents showing they originated at the IRS.

* AND YET... NO ONE GOES TO JAIL...

In May 2012, Eastman and NOM President Brian Brown asked the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute the case. Eastman appeared last June before the House Committee on Ways and Means to testify about the illegal disclosure o the marriage group’s donors.

Unauthorized disclosure of confidential tax information is a felony offense that can result in five years in prison, but the Department of Justice did not bring criminal charges.

* FOLKS... THE FOX IS "GUARDING" THE HEN HOUSE.

“We urge the Congress to explore this issue with the appropriate government officials,” Eastman said. “It’s imperative that all those who have engaged in corrupt practices and illegal acts in the IRS be identified and held accountable.”

* FAT CHANCE...

William R. Barker said...

http://news.yahoo.com/us-releases-immigrant-families-wont-many-203735169--politics.html

The Obama administration has released into the U.S. an untold number of immigrant families caught traveling illegally from Central America in recent months — and although the government knows how many it's released, it won't say publicly.

* IT WON'T SAY PUBLICLY...

The figure is widely believed to exceed 40,000 since October.

* GEEZUS...

The mystery figure is significant because the number of families caught crossing from Central America represents a large share of new immigration cases that will further strain the overwhelmed U.S. immigration courts system.

Most of the immigrant families are from Honduras, El Salvador or Guatemala and cannot be immediately repatriated...

* SURE THEY CAN BE! HELL... AT THE VERY LEAST WE JUST STOP ALLOWING THEM TO CROSS OUR BORDER! LET THEM BE MEXICO'S PROBLEM!

...so the government...

* OBAMA...

...has been releasing them into the U.S. interior and telling them to report within 15 days to the nearest U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement offices.

(*SNORT*)

Despite promises for better transparency on immigration issues, the administration has been unwilling to say how many immigrant families it's released — hundreds or thousands — or how many of those subsequently reported back to the government after 15 days as directed.

* FOLKS... AGAIN... ALL THIS IS DELIBERATE... ALL THIS IS ABOUT "FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGING" AMERICA.

The administration did not immediately respond Monday to renewed questions about why it won't reveal the figure.

* THIS IS NOT AN "ADMINISTRATION." THIS IS A DICTATORSHIP. THREE IS NO "RULE OF LAW." THERE ARE ONLY OBAMA DECREES.

William R. Barker said...

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/06/24/Border-Patrol-Union-President-No-one-is-afraid-of-breaking-the-law

The presidents of the unions representing Border Patrol agents and Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents will argue that current government policies have led to the massive influx of unaccompanied illegal immigrant minors and family units at a House Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday.

According to written testimony for the committee hearing, obtained exclusively by Breitbart News, Brandon Judd, President of the National Border Patrol Council, and Chris Crane, President of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council, will lay out what they see are the factors contributing to the unprecedented surge in illegal migration by unaccompanied children.

Judd, in his written testimony, points to “catch and release,” the decrease in Border Patrol manpower due to sequestration, and cartels as the three primary culprits leading to the surge in illegal immigration.

“The result is no one is afraid of breaking the law,” Judd writes in his testimony of catch and release.

“Currently, my understanding is about 90% of the unaccompanied minors are being placed with either a family member or a close family friend, many of whom are in this country illegally themselves. Although unaccompanied minors are still subject to deportation through the removal process, we have to be honest with ourselves. Most will never honor the Notice to Appear in court and face deportation. They simply fail to appear and blend into the community.”

Crane points to conversations about amnesty as a draw factor, luring unaccompanied minors to the United States.

The ICE union president notes that he and law enforcement organizations around the country warned about such a potential crisis 13 months ago when the Senate was debating its immigration legislation.

“As we have stated previously, desperate people in impoverished countries don’t read our laws or our policies, and pay no heed to arbitrary cut-off dates that may require entry by a specific date for inclusion,” Cranes testimony reads. "Continued talk in the United States of amnesty and legalization without appropriate law enforcement safeguards first put in place, will continue to draw millions like a magnet to our southern border.”

“The most humane thing that we can do as Americans is to deter crises like this one through consistent enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws,” he adds.

Since October, more than 52,000 unaccompanied minors have been detained crossing into the United States through the southwest border, the vast majority of which have been from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. The influx represents a 99 percent increase over last year.

Wednesday the House Judiciary Committee will be holding a hearing on the crisis, featuring Crane, Judd, Tom Homan ICE’s Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations, Ronald Vitiello Deputy Chief of Border Patrol, and Most Reverand Mark J. Seitz, the Bishop of the Diocese of El Paso, Texas.

Read Judd’s complete written testimony:

* FOLLOW THE LINK...

Read Crane’s complete written testimony:

* AGAIN... FOLLOW THE LINK...

William R. Barker said...

* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/381024/texas-ranchers-under-attack-ryan-lovelace

Ronnie Osburn was preparing to talk to National Review Online Thursday about lawlessness in his border community...

(*PAUSE*)

...when his home was broken into.

(*SILENCE*)

Osburn, a rancher who lives just south of a Border Patrol checkpoint in Brooks County, Texas, says he stepped away for about 45 minutes, and when he returned somebody had trashed his house. The trespassers shattered his gun case, leaving a trail of blood throughout the house, but dropped the guns near the kitchen before scattering out the back door. They had searched through the house, opened drawers, and even left a heap of uncooked bacon in a frying pan on the stove.

Although no arrests have been made, a Brooks County sheriff’s deputy tells National Review Online the break-in involved “undocumented crossers.”

Border Patrol agents carrying AR-15s and 12-gauge pumps searched the property with Osburn, who also had an AR-15, looking for any sign of the trespassers. After scanning his backyard, Osburn discovered three shoes left behind, and Border Patrol agents said they expected the burglars were less than a mile away.

“Welcome to South Texas,” Osburn tells me while extending his hand. “This is not the first time this has happened,” he says. “I have Border Patrol in here every day chasing groups, just about.”

Osburn says he has had to take extra precautions in case of just such an attack. “When I go to sleep at night, I lay down and I put my pistol there, I measure it where if somebody comes in the house I can pick it up and go,” Osburn says. When mowing the lawn, Osburn says, ranchers in South Texas always need a pistol ready.

“Down here there’s no question, ‘Oh, was it loaded?’” Osburn says. “Well, hell yeah, it’s loaded. Why have a gun if it’s not loaded? And it’s off safety too. That’s the way we live.”

Other ranchers tell me that the amount of OTM — other than Mexican — traffic is increasing in South Texas, and that the disposition of the travelers has grown more hostile. Ranchers say the immigrants who reach Brooks County are ready to fight.

* THESE RANCHERS SHOULD NOT SIMPLY BE "ALLOWED," BUT THEY SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED TO MAKE CITIZENS ARRESTS OF TRESPASSERS AND THE FEDS (AND EVEN STATE, COUNTRY, AND LOCAL OFFICIALS) SHOULD MARCH THOSE UNABLE TO PROVE AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP RIGHT BACK ACROSS THE BORDER INTO MEXICO!

* TO BE CONTINUED...

William R. Barker said...

* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)

Mike Vickers, a doctor who lives on a ranch a few miles north on the opposite side of the Border Patrol checkpoint, says he has had his home broken into too. He says that one week, he had to pull his gun three times. Two of those times, he says, he wasn’t sure whether or not he’d have to pull the trigger.

“We’re fighting a war here and we’ve been fighting it a long time,” Mike Vickers says. “These people we’re encountering here are combative.”

Linda Vickers (Mike's wife) says she has seen a higher criminal element trespassing through her property and says the OTM traffic coming through her ranch knows how to hug trees and hide in the salt grass. For this reason she has a team of dogs that travel along her property with her, and she can decipher when trespassers set foot on her property by the way her dogs bark.

“The dogs seem to keep them from running, for some reason,” she says with a chuckle. “The dogs like it when they run.”

* I... LIKE... LINDA...!

The dogs have also been known to recover the remains of illegal immigrants who don’t survive the elements while traveling across the ranch. Several years ago, the dogs brought Linda Vickers the decomposing head of an unidentified woman. Mike Vickers says he almost ran over the body of a dead Salvadoran while driving along his fence line, and he says people who succumb to the heat may have horrifying experiences. “Birds have a tendency, the caracaras, to get after their eyes sometimes even when they’re comatose and not dead yet,” he says about a man who bled out through his eyes over his chest. “We see a lot of that.”

* THIS IS WHAT WEAK IMMIGRATION POLICY ENFORCEMENT LEADS TO!

Ranchers say better enforcement from more agents at the border would help, but Osburn says the situation is beyond repair. He says he blames former Department of Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano and President Obama for causing the problem, and says General David Petraeus would be a good fit to fix the situation.

* GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS IS A PIECE OF SHIT...

Osburn says he has never wanted to live under the constant threat of an attack from people trespassing on his property. “Back in the good old days everybody would do their ranch work, [and in the] afternoon get together, drink beer, have a good time,” Osburn says. “It’s not like that anymore. Everybody just watches their ass, you know?”

William R. Barker said...

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/12/03/Illegal-Alien-Rapist-Caught-Re-entering-After-Multiple-Deportations-To-Be-Sent-Home-Again

An illegal alien from Mexico who previously served an eight-year prison sentence in the U.S. for aggravated criminal sexual assault in Houston, Texas was caught illegally re-entering the United States. Court documents reveal he has previously illegally re-entered the U.S. on multiple occasions, but U.S. authorities are set to simply deport him again without any consequences.

* I'D EXECUTE HIM.

(*SHRUG*)

* HANG 'EM. (DON'T EVEN WASTE A BULLET.)

Rolando Esparza-Reyes was referred to in a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) press release by the politically-correct term “undocumented immigrant,” rather than the legal term “illegal alien.”

The press release only mentions that Esparza-Reyes had been previously deported and had served an 8-year U.S. prison sentence for aggravated criminal sexual assault he committed in Houston, Texas.

The CBP press release indicated that Esparza-Reyes may simply be deported again: “Esparza-Reyes faces a charge of illegal entry - 8 USC 1326 - and his prior order of removal will be reinstated.”

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

* YA DON'T WANNA HANG 'EM? OK... FORCED LABOR... DIGGING DITCHES AND PUTTING IN FENCES ALONG THE BORDER.

In a telephone interview with Breitbart News, a spokesman for the CPB stated: “He has served his time for his crimes in the U.S., so all we can do is deport him.”

* IF THAT'S THE CASE THEN CLEARLY THE LAW NEEDS TO BE REWRITTEN.

The terminology in the CBP press release was clarified further in a telephone interview I conducted with Shawn Moran, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council, the union for U.S. Border Patrol agents who work under the CBP. He stated: “When an order of deportation is reinstated, it’s little more than a glorified voluntary return, resulting in the illegal alien simply being returned back to Mexico without having to see a judge.”

* THOUGH HE BROKE THE LAW AGAIN...

In-depth research on Esparza-Reyes puts his deportation in perhaps a more concerning light. Esparza-Reyes was caught entering the U.S. and was deported prior to 2003. He then re-entered again in 2003 and was sentenced to 18 months in a U.S. facility for re-entering the country illegally, according to court documents. He was then deported again. He almost immediately illegally re-entered the U.S. and committed the aggravated criminal sexual assault in Houston, Texas for which he was sentenced to prison. After serving an eight-year sentence in the U.S., he almost immediately illegally re-entered the country again and was caught.

* THIS BASTARD IS GONNA END UP KILLING SOMEONE...

An email was sent to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) concerning the new information discovered about Esparza-Reyes. The questions submitted pertained to whether the agency had considered the risk to U.S. citizens that this convicted sexual predator poses — especially considering his clear intention to continue illegally re-entering the U.S.

I also inquired as to why illegally re-entering deserved an 18-month sentence in 2003 but now only results in a deportation.

No response has been received from the CBP at the time of this article’s publication.