Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Obama law tab up to $1.4 mil

WND Exclusive
BORN IN THE USA?


'Grassroots army' contributions being used to crush eligibility lawsuits?


By Chelsea Schilling
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

President Obama may be using his political action committee funds to stomp out eligibility lawsuits brought by Americans, as he has paid more than $1.35 million to his top lawyer since the election.

Obama for America, Obama's 2008 political campaign, merged with the Democratic National Committee in January and is now known as Organizing for America. The grassroots army that some refer to as "Obama 2.0" is still collecting financial contributions.

Federal Election Commission records for "Obama for America" show that the lobby organization has paid international law firm Perkins Coie exactly $1,352,378.95 since the 2008 election.

FEC records show the following payments made to the law firm from Oct. 16, 2008, to June 30, 2009:


FEC record for payment to Perkins Coie, 2009 July quarterly report (covers April 1, 2009, to June 30, 2009)


FEC record for payment to Perkins Coie, 2009 July quarterly report (covers April 1, 2009, to June 30, 2009)


FEC record for payment to Perkins Coie, 2009 April quarterly report (covers Jan. 1, 2009, to March 31, 2009)


FEC record for payment to Perkins Coie, 2009 April quarterly report (covers Jan. 1, 2009, to March 31, 2009)


FEC record for payment to Perkins Coie, 2008 year-end report (covers Nov. 25, 2008, to Dec. 31, 2008)


FEC record for payment to Perkins Coie, 2008 post-general election report (covers Oct 16, 2008, to Nov. 24, 2008)

The FEC shows Obama's campaign has made regular payments to Perkins Coie since Jan. 1, 2007 – the month he formed a presidential exploratory committee and only weeks before he formally announced his candidacy for president.

In total, Obama has paid Perkins Coie, a single law firm, $2.3 million since he announced his campaign for presidency. By contrast, a cumulative total of all of Sen. John McCain's legal consulting fees from Jan. 1, 2007, to June 30, 2009, amounts to $1.46 million.

As WND reported, Robert Bauer of Perkins Coie – top lawyer for Obama, Obama's presidential campaign, the Democratic National Committee and Obama's Organizing for America – is the same Washington, D.C., lawyer defending President Obama in lawsuits challenging his eligibility to be president.

WND also reported that Bauer sent a letter to plaintiff Gregory Hollister, a retired Air Force colonel, of Hollister v. Soetoro, threatening sanctions if he doesn't withdraw his appeal of the eligibility case that earlier was tossed by a district judge because the issue already had been "twittered."

Bauer's warning was dated April 3 and delivered via letter to the plaintiff's attorney, John D. Hemenway. It is not the first such warning issued. Lawyers trying to kill a similar California lawsuit filed on behalf of Ambassador Alan Keyes also said they would seek sanctions against the plaintiff's attorneys in that case unless they left the issue of the president's eligibility alone.

"For the reasons stated in Judge Robertson's ruling, the suit is frivolous and should not be pursued," Bauer's letter warned. "Should you decline to withdraw this frivolous appeal, please be informed that we intend to pursue sanctions, including costs, expenses and attorneys' fees, pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 38 and D.C. Circuit Rule 38."

Bauer also represented Obama and the DNC in Philip Berg's eligibility lawsuit and various other legal challenges. The White House has not responded to WND's request for comment on the legal fees.

Perkins Coie serves high-profile clients such as Microsoft, Amazon and Starbucks. In 2006, the firm also represented Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's alleged bodyguard and driver.

The FEC allows elected officials to use campaign funds to pay legal fees only if the action/investigations arise as a result of their tenure in office or campaigns, according to Politico.

The FEC report also reveals Obama For America also paid $6,365 in legal fees to Olaker, Biden & Belair, a firm founded by Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden.

Obama Brings Chicago-Style Intimidation

by Phyllis Schlafly

Obama's staff and retreads from the Clinton administration are using Chicago-style intimidation to rescue his extravagant health-care bill from its decline in public opinion polls.

A congressional Town Hall meeting on Aug. 6 reminds us of a memorable political moment when Bill Clinton and his chief aides were in Little Rock celebrating his 1992 election. Heady with victory, Chicago staffer Rahm Emanuel demonstrated how he planned to punish political enemies by plunging his steak knife into the table and screaming, "Dead!" as he named each target.

At Rep. Russ Carnahan's, D-Mo., town hall meeting on Aug. 6, SEIU (Service Employees International Union) thugs, clad in purple shirts, punched in the face, brutally beat and kicked in the head when he was down an African American named Kenneth Gladney, while hurling a torrent of racial slurs. The SEIU goons were following White House advice: "Don't do a lot of talking," and if they encounter resistance, "punch back twice as hard."

The Purple Shirt Brigade picked on Gladney because he was passing out historical American flags with the inscription "Don't Tread on Me," and the Left won't tolerate African-Americans as conservatives. Gladney was taken to the hospital, and six people were arrested.

We are seeing a coordinated smear on those who oppose socialized medicine. Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse mislabeled them as "angry mobs of rabid right-wing extremists."

The Obama supporters are trying to make it appear that those opposing socialism in health care are "manufactured" protesters, as falsely alleged by White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, and in MSNBC's Chris Matthews' words, a "Brooks Brothers Brigade." Majority Leader Harry Reid calls them "Astroturf" to pretend that those opposing Obama's health-care bill are artificial grass-roots.

The opponents of socialized medicine are just ordinary citizens, many of whom (like Gladney) had never before attended a political meeting, and many who are alumni of the spontaneous Tea Parties. There is no evidence that they are organized and financed by the insurance companies, or even by the Republican Party.

On the other hand, there is evidence that Obama's "punch back" tactics are organized. MoveOn.org sent out a "Dear MoveOn member" email stating: "We've got a plan to fight back against these radical right-wingers. We've hired skilled grass-roots organizers who are working with thousands of local volunteers to show Congress that ordinary Americans continue to support President Obama's agenda for change. And we're building new online tools to track events across the country and make sure MoveOn members turn out at each one."

Emanuel is also using intimidation to make the public believe that the stimulus spending is solving the unemployment problem. He orchestrated four letters to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer from four Cabinet secretaries threatening to cut off Arizona's federal funding because of Sen. Jon Kyl's, R-Ariz., criticism of the stimulus.

A letter to Emanuel from Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, described the threat, which Issa called "Chicago-style tactics." Issa wrote, "While this type of scare tactic may work in Chicago, it will not work to intimidate me or other members of the United States Congress."

Since Emanuel's "punch back" tactics are now becoming nationally known, it's no wonder that Americans are apprehensive about the White House plan to build a database of citizens who oppose Obama's health-care legislation. The database will be secret, but the fact that the White House is building it has leaked out.

On Aug. 3, Obama's media people posted on the White House Website a notice complaining that "disinformation about health insurance reform" may be spread "via chain emails or through casual conversation." The word goes out to Obamaites: "Since we can't keep track of all of them here at the White House, we're asking for your help."

What kind of help is the White House requesting? The instruction to Obama devotees states: "If you get an email or see something on the Web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov."

As Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said, "It is inevitable that the names, email address, IP addresses and private speech of U.S. citizens will be reported to the White House" (where Emanuel is director-in-chief of Chicago-style retaliation and intimidation).

No doubt Emanuel knows that the White House is not covered by the Freedom of Information Act, which means he can keep the names on the database secret for political purposes, and that the Presidential Records Act requires the White House to preserve its records without having to release them to the public for more than 10 years.

Late breaking news: Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., just announced that at her next town hall meeting, she will answer only selected written questions and not allow anyone to speak.

Dig this: Media actually probed other candidates

WND Exclusive BORN IN THE USA?

Divulged personal documents on arrests, surgeries, colleges

By Chelsea Schilling
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

In the last 18 years, highly personal information has been published about presidential candidates, including divorce and alimony details, drunk driving arrest records, college grades, urinalysis results, prostate cancer surgery – even details about George W. Bush's hemorrhoid troubles.

The media have dredged up medical, military, college and detailed records for Republican and Democratic Party candidates in at least the last five elections. Candidates were subject to intense scrutiny of their health conditions, academic performance and military careers.

However, while such private information about other candidates was divulged, more than 440,000 concerned citizens still have yet to see President Obama present his elusive "long-form" birth certificate and several other documents that remain unreleased or otherwise blocked from the public eye.

As WND has reported, Obama has not released his long-form birth certificate, college transcripts, Harvard Law Review articles, scholarly articles from the University of Chicago, files from his years as an Illinois state senator, Illinois State Bar Association records or his adoption records.

Want to turn up the pressure to learn the facts? Get your signs and postcards asking for the president's birth certificate documentation here.

Nearly every candidate since the 1992 election has released detailed medical records. However, Barack Obama, a relatively young candidate who was said to have been in "excellent health," refused to release his own. Instead, he simply provided a six-paragraph note from his physician briefly summarizing 21 years of doctor visits and health information.

While not comprehensive, the following is a list of publicly available documents and personal information the media published on Republican and Democrat candidates Sen. John McCain, George W. Bush, Sen. John Kerry, Al Gore, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush:

Sen. John McCain

Medical records: During his first presidential campaign in 1999, Sen. John McCain released 1,500 pages of medical and psychiatric records collected by the Navy. In 2008, McCain allowed reporters to spend three hours sifting through 1,200 pages of health records.

Birth certificate: A purported copy of Sen. McCain's long-form birth certificate was released as a result of Hollander v. McCain, a lawsuit challenging the natural born citizenship status of the then-presidential candidate. The Dallas Morning News also posted a short-form certificate.

Purported long-form birth certificate for John McCain posted by Ohio State University

Military records: The Navy released John McCain's military record after a Freedom of Information Act request from the Associated Press. The record lists McCain's medals and commendations, including a Silver Star Medal for resisting "extreme mental and physical cruelties" inflicted upon him after he was taken prisoner in October 1967 by the North Vietnamese.

Naval Academy: The records released to the Associated Press included details about McCain's years at the U.S. Naval Academy from 1954 to 1958. According to his own 1999 memoir, "Faith of My Fathers," he graduated 894th out of 899 in June 1958.

"My GPA earned me fifth-from-the-bottom-of-my-class status, but since that was in the Coolidge administration, it was a different measurement," McCain joked during a college appearance. "But I can assure you that by today's standards it would be barely passing."

Thesis: The New York Times released a copy of John McCain's 1974 thesis at the National War College. Titled "The Code of Conduct and the Vietnam Prisoners of War," it was written about a year after his release from a North Vietnamese prison camp.

John McCain's National War College thesis

McCain's 1958 U.S. Navy yearbook photo

Divorce: The Associated Press thoroughly examined records from Sen. John McCain's divorce from his first wife, Carol Shepp, a model from Philadelphia. The news agency listed a detailed summary of the settlement, revealing that McCain gave up two homes and agreed to pay $1,625 a month in alimony and child support. According to the report, he maintained insurance policies worth $64,000 with their children as beneficiaries, agreed to pay for their daughter's college education and paid $3,005 in joint debts. Carol McCain got the family's Audi, while McCain kept a Datsun 810 and personal belongings. McCain also agreed to provide insurance or pay for medical treatment for his ex-wife.

Passport: John McCain has not released his passport files, documents that contain sensitive personal information including place and date of birth, Social Security number, parent citizenship information, marital status and travel records. However, his files were improperly accessed along with then-Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in early 2008.

McCain's office released a statement saying: "The U.S. government has a responsibility to respect the privacy of all Americans. It appears that privacy was breached and I expect a thorough review and a change in procedures as necessary to ensure the privacy of all passport files."

According to the State Department, passport files are protected by the Privacy Act of 1974, (5 USC 552(a)). Third-party requests for passport files must be accompanied with a notarized consent from the owner of the passport records, proof of guardianship, a death certificate or a court order signed by a judge of "competent jurisdiction requesting the Department of State to release passport records."

George W. Bush

Medical records: President George W. Bush allowed the media to view about 400 pages of personal medical information in 2000 and again in 2004.

Birth certificate: While the Texas State Library and Archives Commission lists a birth certificate for George W. Bush among its records, the document has not been posted online.

Bush basic traiing photo, 1968 (photo: Department of Defense)

Military and personal records: The White House released Bush's complete military records in 2004. News reporters lined up at the White House press office as workers distributed copies of his files, the New York Times reported. Those documents included the following personal information:

* Bush had his tonsils removed when he was a young boy and suffered from appendicitis at the age of 10

* At 14, he had surgery to remove a cyst from his chest.

* When he applied for the National Guard, he had a hemorrhoid

* Bush had two ''negligent collisions'' in the month after he turned 16 in July 1962

* He was issued two speeding tickets in the summer of 1964 and was fined $10 each

* He was charged with a misdemeanor for a Yale prank in 1966, but it was later dropped

* Bush received a score of 25 on his January 1968 pilot aptitude test. A score of 95 percent is considered "officer quality."

* He obtained a secret security clearance during his service

George W. Bush's record of service in the National Guard, including payroll and personnel reports, flight records and photos, is available through the Department of Defense.

George W. Bush arrest record

Arrest record: The media also released copies of Bush's arrest record, including one 1976 incident in which he was charged for driving under the influence of alcohol when he was 30 years old. Reports included a summary of his DUI conviction from the Maine Department of Motor Vehicles.

College records: Bush's campaign posted a copy of his Yale transcript online. The Washington Post obtained his SAT scores and revealed that he earned a 1206 on the college admissions test. Bush's lowest grades were a 70 (of 100) in Sociology and a 71 in Economics, while his highest scores were in history and Japanese.

Bush campaign released George W. Bush's Yale transcript

Sen. John Kerry

John Kerry as a student at Yale University

Medical records: After initial reluctance, Sen. John Kerry allowed the Navy to release his full medical records in 2004.

College records: In June 2005, the Boston Globe divulged Kerry's transcript information from his undergraduate record at Yale. It revealed that Kerry had a cumulative grade average of 76 over four years in school. His freshman year average was 71 and his senior year average was 81.

Military records: During the 2004 election, Kerry posted his military records at his website. On May 20, 2005, he waived privacy restrictions and authorized release of his full military records.

Divorce records: John Kerry and Julia Stimson Thorne, Kerry's first wife, were separated in 1982 and divorced in July 25, 1988. The Associated Press revealed details from records of John and Julia's "no fault" divorce, citing generic grounds of ''irretrievable breakdown of the marriage."

Al Gore

Al Gore during brief enlistment in Army

Medical records: In 1999, Al Gore released medical records revealing "mildly elevated" cholesterol levels and removal of skin cancer from his forehead in 1997. The records were compiled after a complete physical examination by several military physicians.

Military records: Gore enlisted in the Army in Newark, N.J., in August 1969. He was stationed in Fort Rucker as a public affairs officer. At the end of 1970, Gore went to Vietnam as a military journalist assigned to the 20th Engineer Brigade at Bien Hoa, 20 miles northeast of Saigon. He applied for discharge and exited the Army in May 1971. His discharge paperwork is not available online.

College records: The Washington Post obtained Al Gore's college transcripts and test scores from St. Albans high school, Vanderbilt University's divinity and law schools and Harvard University. It outlined his scores in a March 19, 2000, article titled, "Gore's grades belie image of studiousness." The newspaper revealed Gore earned a total of 1355 points of 1600 on the SAT college admissions test. Gore's lowest grade was a D in natural sciences. His high grades were an A in French and English, an A in visual and environmental studies and an A- in social relations.

WND was unable to find an online copy of Gore's 84-page senior thesis titled, "The Impact of Television on the Conduct of the Presidency, 1947-1969." However, the New York Times outlined his argument in a July 16 article.

Bill Clinton

Medical records: Former President Bill Clinton released only summaries of his annual physical examinations, including his cholesterol count, his pulse rate, his blood pressure and his hemoglobin and white blood cell and platelet count. According to the New York Times, then-White House spokesman Michael D. McCurry said he saw ''no reason'' not to disclose more information, ''given the President's overall health.''

College records: Clinton majored in international affairs at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford in England. He received a law degree from Yale University in 1973, and entered politics in Arkansas. While his scores were presumably high, copies of his transcripts are not available online.

Bill Clinton runs for president of the student council at Georgetown University in 1967
Passport: Bill Clinton did not release his passport files, documents that contain sensitive personal information including place and date of birth, Social Security number, parent citizenship information, marital status and travel records. However, his files were breached during an improper search by State Department officials in 1992.

Bob Dole

Bob Dole is sent home in body cast after being wounded in Italy in 1945 (photo: NPR)

Medical records: In July 1995, presidential candidate Robert Dole released a detailed summary of his medical records. His doctor told the media that he had received serious wounds in World War II that paralyzed his right arm and led to the removal of one kidney. He also underwent surgery in 1991 for prostate cancer. He made all of his medical records public in 1996 and demanded that Bill Clinton do the same.

Military records: Dole's campaign released details about his military service in an entry titled, "World War II: Heroism and Tragedy" on its website. A retired Central Intelligence Agency officer scrutinized his war record in a profile published by The Nation in August 1996.

College records: The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics houses Dole's official records, personal letters and other items relating to Dole's college years, his military service, and his legal career as Russell County, Kan., attorney and lawyer in private practice, memos, reports, newsletters, speeches, casework, statements, testimony, campaign and Republican Party records. Copies of Dole's official transcripts are not available online.

George H.W. Bush

Medical records: George H.W. Bush released medical records during his campaign and yearly during his presidency, revealing he had mild degenerative osteoarthritis in his hips, normal X-rays, EKG, urinalysis and blood work.

George H.W. Bush's college transcripts and military records are not available online.

There has been a great deal of debate about whether candidates should be required to release personal records, including medical documents, when they run for president. During the most recent election, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., made the following statement about transparency:

"When you're running for president, everything should be public – including your full medical records. I believe in a right to privacy. But when you're running for president, which is such an important job, the need of the public to know supercedes it."

A video of Schumer's comment can be seen below:

'Transparency' in the Obama administration

While most candidates have not been asked to publicly display their long-form birth certificates before elections, the document received widespread publicity during the 2008 election when questions about natural born citizenship status of both major party candidates was called into question.

The Constitution, Article 2, Section 1, states, "No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President."

In May 2008, the Senate unanimously declared McCain a natural born citizen, eligible to run for president. However, President Obama has still not provided simple, incontrovertible proof of his exact birthplace. That information would be included on his long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate which Obama has steadfastly refused to release amid a flurry of conflicting reports.

Some of the lawsuits question whether he was actually born in Hawaii, as he insists. If he was born out of the country, Obama's American mother, the suits contend, was too young at the time of his birth to confer American citizenship to her son under the law at the time.

Other challenges have focused on Obama's citizenship through his father, a Kenyan subject to the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom at the time of his birth, thus making him a dual citizen. The cases contend the framers of the Constitution excluded dual citizens from qualifying as natural born.

Complicating the situation is Obama's decision to spend sums estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars to avoid releasing a state birth certificate that would put to rest all of the questions.

The key question in the dispute also is being raised on billboards nationwide.

"Where's The Birth Certificate?" billboard in Pennsylvania

The billboard campaign follows an ongoing petition campaign launched several months ago by WND Editor and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Farah.

They are intended to raise public awareness of the fact that Obama has never released the standard "long-form" birth certificate that would show which hospital he was born in, the attending physician and establish that he truly was born in Hawaii, as his autobiography maintains.

Note: Members of the news media wishing to interview Joe Kovacs, Joseph Farah, Jerome Corsi, Les Kinsolving, Chelsea Schilling or Bob Unruh on this issue, please contact WND.

Dirty Secret No. 1 in Obamacare

by Chuck Norris


Health care reforms are turning into health care revolts. Americans are turning up the heat on congressmen in town hall meetings across the U.S.

While watching these political hot August nights, I decided to research the reasons so many are opposed to Obamacare to separate the facts from the fantasy. What I discovered is that there are indeed dirty little secrets buried deep within the 1,000-plus page health care bill.

Dirty secret No. 1 in Obamacare is about the government's coming into homes and usurping parental rights over child care and development.

It's outlined in sections 440 and 1904 of the House bill (Page 838), under the heading "home visitation programs for families with young children and families expecting children." The programs (provided via grants to states) would educate parents on child behavior and parenting skills.

The bill says that the government agents, "well-trained and competent staff," would "provide parents with knowledge of age-appropriate child development in cognitive, language, social, emotional, and motor domains ... modeling, consulting, and coaching on parenting practices," and "skills to interact with their child to enhance age-appropriate development."

Are you kidding me?! With whose parental principles and values? Their own? Certain experts'? From what field and theory of childhood development? As if there are one-size-fits-all parenting techniques! Do we really believe they would contextualize and personalize every form of parenting in their education, or would they merely universally indoctrinate with their own?

Are we to assume the state's mediators would understand every parent's social or religious core values on parenting? Or would they teach some secular-progressive and religiously neutered version of parental values and wisdom? And if they were to consult and coach those who expect babies, would they ever decide circumstances to be not beneficial for the children and encourage abortions?

One government rebuttal is that this program would be "voluntary." Is that right? Does that imply that this agency would just sit back passively until some parent needing parenting skills said, "I don't think I'll call my parents, priest or friends or read a plethora of books, but I'll go down to the local government offices"? To the contrary, the bill points to specific targeted groups and problems, on Page 840: The state "shall identify and prioritize serving communities that are in high need of such services, especially communities with a high proportion of low-income families."

Are we further to conclude by those words that low-income families know less about parenting? Are middle- and upper-class parents really better parents? Less neglectful of their children? Less needful of parental help and training? Is this "prioritized" training not a biased, discriminatory and even prejudicial stereotype and generalization that has no place in federal government, law or practice?

Bottom line: Is all this what you want or expect in a universal health care bill being rushed through Congress? Do you want government agents coming into your home and telling you how to parent your children? When did government health care turn into government child care?

Government needs less of a role in running our children's lives and more of a role in supporting parents' decisions for their children. Children belong to their parents, not the government. And the parents ought to have the right -- and government support -- to parent them without the fed's mandates, education or intervention in our homes.

Kids are very important to my wife, Gena, and me. That's why we've spent the past 17 years developing our nonprofit KICKSTART program in public schools in Texas. It builds up their self-esteem and teaches them respect and discipline. Of course, whether or not they participate in the program is their and their parents' choice.

How contrary is Obamacare's home intrusion and indoctrination family services, in which state agents prioritize houses to enter and enforce their universal values and principles upon the hearts and minds of families across America?

Government's real motives and rationale are quite simple, though rarely, if ever, stated. If one wants to control the future ebbs and flows of a country, one must have command over future generations. That is done by seizing parental and educational power, legislating preferred educational methods and materials, and limiting private educational options. It is so simple that any socialist can understand it. As Josef Stalin once stated, "Education is a weapon whose effects depend on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed."

Before so-called universal health care turns into universal hell care, write or call your representative today and protest his voting Obamacare into law. Remind him that what is needed in Washington is a truly bipartisan group that is allowed an ample amount of time to work on a compromise health care law that wouldn't raise taxes (for anyone), regulate personal medical choices, ration health care or restrict American citizens.