April, 2014 Political Class Insanity, Part 2: A Plastic Camel for Pakistan, A Pile of Rocks for London, and Politicians Who Are Decepetive or Delusional

This is our second post this month in our regular monthly series of reviewing and analyzing the latest insanity, idiocy, ineptness, and wasteful spending from the American political class. Every month we have had to do this review as the politicians in office today have increased the speed and stupidity of the actions, legislation, and projects they implement, almost always for their own careers and self enrichment, and rarely for the good of the country and its citizens.

Yesterday’s post focused on the wasteful spending of the political class from its wasting of taxpayer wealth on silly science projects in foreign countries to the billions and billions of dollars our politicians give to large and wealthy businesses. Today we will visit a number of different areas of insanity and not stay just with wasteful spending.

1) Harry Reid is the Senate Majority Leader. He has been in politics for a very long time. He should know all of the rules and laws regarding campaign finance laws and conflict of interest rules and laws. Thus, the following situation shows that he has learned nothing about these topics during his long political tenure or he just does not care, holding his position and the American public in contempt.

According to the New York Post and other news sources, Reid is facing a major scandal of possible illegal use of campaign funds. It has been widely reported that Reid gave campaign money to his granddaughter, but didn’t provide her full name on Congressional disclosure forms:

• Reid has actually revealed that his Senatorial campaign had purchased $31,000 worth of jewelry from his granddaughter using campaign finance funds.
• Not only would this be illegal and unethical, it apparently is double the amount that he previously acknowledged spending.
• The money went to Ryan Elisabeth Reid, the daughter of Reid’s son Rory, while on campaign disclosure forms, her name was listed as “Ryan Elisabeth.”
• Reporters apparently went through Reid’s 2012 campaign filings after discovering payments of nearly $17,000 to his 23-year-old granddaughter in 2013 for jewelry that was to be handed out as “holiday gifts.”
• This review into his granddaughter s payments also uncovered some questionable contributions to the small theater that she runs, called the Sprat Theater Company.
• Harry Reid has denied any wrongdoing but he contradicts that assertion by claiming he that he would reimburse all of the money in question to the campaign. 
• While campaign finance laws allow for small “nominal gifts”, such gifts are not allowed for family members, and it is unclear if $31K would be classified as “nominal”.
• The Federal Elections Commission has also asked Reid for documentation relating to the money given to his granddaughter, or else they may conduct an audit on his campaign finances.

Yes, he is innocent until proven guilty. But he should know better or he does not care and thought he could get away with a slush fund for a family member. Conflict of interest and the appearance of a conflict of interest are just as bad as the other. 

And in this case, it appears that the press, the Federal Elections Commission and the fact that he is going to reimburse all of the money all imply that there was some level of corruption behind the scenes. Just another case of a politician, a very powerful politician, ignoring the rules and focusing on the self enrichment of himself and his family despite what the rules and laws are.

2) The average Pakistani citizen earns about $1,250 per year. I tell you that to put into perspective of what an insane U.S. State Department project is costing the U.S. taxpayer. 

According to new reports, the U.S. Federal government is about to spend $400,000 on a plastic statue of a camel. A life size replica of a camel. To be placed in Pakistan. Staring at a huge sewing needle. For its new embassy in Pakistan. A camel worth more than the annual earnings of 320 Pakistani citizens. You cannot make up this garbage up.

According to a recent news compilation by Buzzfeed:

• The work, by noted American artist John Baldessari, depicts a life-size white camel made of fiberglass staring in puzzlement at the eye of an oversize shiny needle — a not-so-subtle play on the New Testament phrase about the difficulty the wealthy have in entering the kingdom of heaven.
• Officials explained the decision to purchase the piece of art, titled “Camel Contemplating Needle,” in a four-page document justifying a “sole source” procurement.
• “This artist’s product is uniquely qualified. Public art which will be presented in the new embassy should reflect the values of a predominantly Islamist country." (Like the Bible, the Qur’an uses the metaphor of a camel passing through the eye of a needle.)
• This latest State Department embassy purchase follows the deployment of a similar purchase in December when the Department shelled out over $1 million for what amounts to a pile of rocks for its new embassy in London.

$1.4 million for a plastic camel and a pile of rocks. This taxpayer wealth was spent despite the recent reduction of retirement benefits for our veterans. Such idiocy and insanity should not be allowed.

3) Consider some recent U.S. Senator ignorance or idiocy, courtesy of the writing in Amy Ridenour’s national Center blog. In a late March, 2014 interview on MSNBC, Senator Patty Murray was trying hard to understand why citizens in this country cherish their freedom of religion so much. 

Specifically, she was aghast that the retail chain Hobby Lobby had the gall and nerve to challenge the Obama Care mandate that their company provide certain types of abortion insurance coverage. This mandate would shred their freedom of religion rights and could force Hobby Lobby owners to compromise their religious and moral beliefs. The bigger argument of Obama Care and the political class trampling Constitutional rights is a topic for another blog.

Today we will focus on the good Senator’s argument that:

"Should a private CEO of a corporation or their shareholders' religious rights trump the right of employees?"

If the court rules that private companies have the religious right to deny contraception, could that be extended to immunizations? It really opens up a wide, wide range of issues that shareholders could decide about what they provide." 

Well, no Senator, it could not open up a wide range of issues. Under the Federal 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), the Federal government can restrict religious rights in any situation in which the Federal government can demonstrate a compelling interest, likely to include immunizations, as long as it does so in the least restrictive way possible to meet its goals. 

Where’s the insanity? The good Senator actually voted to enact that legislation according to Rideneor’s blog. If true, the Senator either has a short and defective memory or is intentionally misleading the argument to besmirch Hobby Lobby on a speculative issue that does not exist and probably would never exist, given the act she voted for. Lying or incompetent? You decide.

4) Sometimes it is not only politicians that are insane, inept, or hypocritical. Occasionally their spouses get involved also. Last week we discussed the moral and integrity corruption of Michelle Obama taking her kids and mother on a long vacation grip to China using taxpayer wealth. That was a big enough insult in itself.

However, she took it a step further when she was speaking in China and praising the concept of free speech. Really, an Obama preaching about free speech? Consider two of her comments that were somehow leaked to the press:

“And that’s why it’s so important for information and ideas to flow freely over the internet and through the media; because that’s how we discover the truth.”

“My husband and I are on the receiving end of plenty of questioning and criticism from our media and our fellow citizens. And it’s not always easy, but we wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.”

If this is truly the case, that the Obamas treasure free speech, than:

• Why is this Presidential administration shaping up as the least transparent in the history of our country?
• Why has this administration sought to prosecute more government whistle blowers than all of the previous Presidents combined?
• Why were no members of the American press allowed to follow and report on the First Lady’s China vacation?
• Why does this administration spy and collect electronic information in all of its forms on just about every American citizen?
• Why does this administration spy on journalists and allow the CIA to spy on Congress?
• Why has this President held fewer open ended press conferences than any other previous President?
• Why has the administration sent the IRS after those citizens that dare to exercise their right to free speech when they criticize the administration?
• Why has this administration led a coordinated attack against citizen groups that have a contrary view on the issues of our time, sending the IRS, EPA, and other government agencies out to subvert, delay, and destroy the freedom of speech rights of these citizens groups?
• Why has this President sat silently as his political allies have savagely attacked the opinions and free speech rights of private citizens who dare to speak out against one of his policies?
• Why does the biggest (literally) piece of legislation passed by this administration, Obama Care, seek to suppress the freedom of religion and freedom of speech of millions of Americans that disagree with many of its tenets?

As with Senator Murray, is the First Lady that of touch with reality or just plan deceptive in her views? Because as we see in just the handful of examples above, her husband and his administration have done more than any other President in the history of this country to stifle the press, stifle the citizenry, and hide facts and realities about the Federal government from the public, contrary to any semblance of freedom of speech.

So we have a Senate Majority leader who may illegally be diverting campaign funds to a family member, we have a Federal government buying a life size plastic camel and a pile of rocks, we have a U.S. Senator that does not know the law or recall the a law she actually voted for, and we have a First Lady who is either delusional or deceptive when it comes to her family’s view of freedom of speech. Two days into the insanity and we are just getting warmed up, more to follow tomorrow.

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Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w