ABOVE, OBAMA CONGRATULATING ABBAS ON GETTING PAID FOR MURDERING AMERICANS AND JEWS? "Making sure, in one of his last acts, to finance calls for the
destruction of Israel, as well as for genocide and murder of Israelis and Americans."..
IF AN AMERICAN PRESIDENT CAN SEND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF AMERICAN TAX-PAYERS' MONEY, OR EVEN A $10 BILL, TO WHOMEVER HE PLEASES, TO TERRORISTS, WITH THE STROKE OF A PEN, THEN AMERICA IS FAR MORE SCREWED THAN EVEN I IMAGINED.
REMEMBER WHEN THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY (P.A.) WAS INVOLVED IN THE MURDER OF AMERICANS...EACH AND EVERY YEAR SINCE THE P.A. WAS FORMED?
A federal jury in Manhattan ruledon Monday that the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization must pay $655.5 million for supporting six attacks in Israel that killed and injured Americans.
THEY MURDER AMERICANS AND ISRAELIS AND YET WE PAY THEM LIKE CLOCKWORK EVERY YEAR TO KEEP DOING THAT!
By MATTHEW LEE and RICHARD LARDNER Associated Press JAN.23, 2017
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Officials say the Obama administration in its waning hours defied Republican opposition and quietly released $221 million to the Palestinian Authority that GOP members of Congress had been blocking. A State Department official and several congressional aides said the outgoing administration formally notified Congress it would spend the money Friday morning (JAN.20, 2017, INAUGURATION DAY).
"The official said former Secretary of State John Kerry had informed some lawmakers of the move shortly before he left the State Department for the last time Thursday. The aides said written notification dated Jan. 20 was sent to Congress just hours before Donald Trump took the oath of office.
Congress had initially approved the Palestinian funding in budget years 2015 and 2016, but at least two GOP lawmakers - Ed Royce of California, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Kay Granger of Texas, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee - had placed holds on it over moves the Palestinian Authority had taken to seek membership in international organizations.
Congressional holds are generally respected by the executive branch but are not legally binding after funds have been allocated.
The Palestinian funding is likely to draw anger from some in Congress as well as the Trump White House. Trump has vowed to be a strong supporter of Israel and has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit Washington next month.
He has also pledged to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem."
CONGRESS APPROVED FUNDING OF A QUARTER BILLION TAX-PAYER DOLLARS FOR A TERRORIST GROUP AND OBAMA MADE DAMNED SURE THEY GOT IT.
For example, Arafat approved funding for Palestinian terrorists, including a June 2002 payment of $20,000 to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades just as the group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Jerusalem. As early as October 2000, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar announced that Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders were meeting with Fatah and P.A. officials “at least once daily.”
The Palestinian Authority openly ran a “Fund for Families of Martyrs and the Injured," which provided cash to families of martyrs and those injured during the conflict with Israel.
According to the World Bank, “the program is clearly not targeted to the poorest households. While some assistance should be directed to this population, the level of resources devoted to the Fund for Martyrs and the Injured does not seem justified from a welfare or fiscal perspective.”
In other cases, the P.A. was tied to terrorist activities through lower level officials. For example, in January 2004, P.A. policeman Ali Yusuf Jaara carried out a suicide bombing on a bus in Jerusalem.
Both Fatah’s al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed 11 people and injured over 50.
The Palestinian Authority's complicity with Palestinian terrorist groups is well-documented within the P.A.’s own files as well.
One seized P.A. report documents how P.A. General Intelligence passed to its Ramallah office a list of 232 terrorists wanted by Israel, asking the office not to arrest them but to warn them off.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee heard expert testimony detailing the Palestinian Authority's payment of funds from its budget in assistance to imprisoned and dead terrorists and their families.
"The Palestinian Authority has also furnished terrorists and their families with financial support weighted by the severity of the attack, a matter over which congressional lawmakers expressed outrage on Wednesday. “These terrorists are not, in fact, lone rangers. They are not lone wolves,” said Rep. Ed Royce (R., Calif.), who chairs the committee, in opening remarks during the hearing. “Instead, these terrorists are the product of the programming done by the PA’s perverted culture that glorifies the willingness to die or to spend time in prison in pursuit of killing or maiming Israelis.” According to Carmon’s testimony, which was informed by an analysis of the Palestinian Authority’s budget and years of research, the Palestinian Authority transfers funds to terrorist prisoners in Israeli or their families using two Palestinian Liberation Organization funds. The financial support of these individuals is mandated by law.
Prisoners must be provided a monthly salary ranging from $364 to over $3,000 during their detention, and salaries or jobs upon their release. Those who commit the most grievous attacks receive the most substantial monthly payments and are also entitled to jobs in the Palestinian Authority institution upon their release.
Carmon said that it is difficult to determine exactly what percentage of the Palestinian Authority’s annual budget is put toward this cause because of a lack of transparency, but estimated that it amounts to about 10 percent.
“It is just outrageous that they pay cold-blooded killers who murder innocent people and call them martyrs,” Rep. Eliot Engel (D., N.Y.), the committee’s ranking member, said during the hearing. “I cannot think of anything more disgusting.”
While Abbas two years ago ordered that these salaries not be paid by the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Prisoners’ Affairs but instead by the Palestinian Liberation Organization, Carmon described this as a “deliberately misleading move” to assuage concerns from donor countries worried about their money being funneled to terrorists."
OBAMA HAD PREVIOUSLY MADE SURE THAT THE P.A. GOT ABOUT $600 MILLION A YEAR IN AID.
ASK ANYONE LIVING UNDER THE P.A. OR HAMAS WHERE THE AID MONEY GOES! IT GOES INTO THE POCKETS OF THE ALREADY RICH "LEADERSHIP" AND OBAMA KNEW THAT AS WELL AS CONGRESS DID.
"Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has allegedly deposited nearly $13 million in U.S. taxpayer aid into a secret bank account, and routinely uses his political connections to profit from the stagnant peace process, according to testimony presented to Congress Tuesday by several Middle East experts.
Abbas has enriched himself during his seven years in office through secret land deals, and helped his two sons earn millions of dollars through their stakes in companies that profit from U.S. assistance, the experts said during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing entitled “Corruption within the Palestinian Political Establishment".
Abbas’ sons—Yasser and Tareq—have used their government ties to secure plum contracts and special treatment for business partners, according to Jonathan Schanzer, vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
The Obama administration is not providing proper oversight for the $600 million in U.S. foreign aid to the P.A., Schanzer noted. “The staff at the U.S. Consulate General in East Jerusalem reportedly knows that Palestinians believe their ruling elites are corrupt. But for reasons that are not entirely clear, the State Department has yet to issue a clear statement to address the issue, or what it intends to do about it.” "The corruption just scratches the surface of the Palestinian first family’s shady dealings."
Abbas has “used his position of power to line his pockets,” declared Rep. Steve Chabot (R., Ohio), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia. “Our policy must aim to empower those who seek to serve the Palestinian people instead of themselves.”
Though Abbas and the PA are considered to be a safer, more moderate alternative to the terror group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, the corrupt Abbas regime has poisoned peace talks as it seeks to secure power, experts and lawmakers said.
“The consistent choice of Palestinian President Abbas is a path that has kept him in office,” said Rep. Gary Ackerman (D., N.Y.), the subcommittee’s ranking member. “As a major political donor to the Palestinians, we need to be extremely concerned that our aid will be construed as support for a corrupt regime.”
Elliott Abrams, a former national security adviser for George W. Bush, recounted the behind-the-scenes talks he had with Arab leaders who refused to support the P.A.’s corrupt institutions.
“I can tell you from my own experience, as an American official seeking financial assistance for the P.A. from Gulf Arab governments, that I was often told, ‘Why should we give them money when their officials will just steal it?” said Abrams, who noted that 82 percent of Palestinians believe their government is unethical. “
The extent of Abbas’ shady dealings has come to light in recent months, Schanzer revealed in his testimony. The Palestinian president is alleged by a former official to have stashed away $39 million in a secret bank account in Jordan, according to reports in the Arab press and elsewhere. Only Abbas and two of his closest confidants have access to the account, which is said to contain $13 million in U.S. funds.
Opposition websites in the West Bank have further alleged that Abbas earned $160 million from the sale of Palestine Liberation Organization-owned property in Lebanon, and that he owns “lavish properties worth more than $20 million in Gaza, Jordan, Qatar, Ramallah, Tunisia and the [United Arab Emirates],” according to Schanzer’s research.
Both Abrams and Schanzer also outlined their concerns with the Palestine Investment Fund, an independent investment company established to bolster Palestinian institutions. The organization has faced scrutiny for being a tool of Abbas and his cronies.
“My most serious lingering concerns stem from indications that the fund is not as transparent or independent as it was first intended to be,” Schanzer said. “Abbas has reportedly installed his own allies as board members.”
Abrams urged the government and U.S. aid organizations such as the Middle East Partnership Initiative and USAID to pay closer attention to issues of corruption in the P.A.
“We have not one program dedicated to fighting corruption and to assisting those Palestinians who are doing so,” Abrams said. “Why do we not make it a stated and central goal of our aid?”"EVERYBODY'S DOING IT"
The U.S. government alone provided the Palestinians with an amount of $408,751,396 in 2014.
The European Union contribution in 2014 was $139,402,221; the United Kingdom’s $95,328,127; Sweden’s $79,975,260; Germany’s $54,838,742 and Norway’s $35,911,782.
Together, with other western governments including Japan, Switzerland, Australia, Netherlands, Denmark, France, Italy, Belgium, Finland, and Ireland, the total came to over $1 billion.
That amount reflects only government contributions and not non-governmental agencies (NGO’s).
Global Humanitarian Assistance reported that the international humanitarian response from 2002 to 2011 provided the West Bank and Gaza Palestinians with $6.7 billion.
This amounted to the highest per capita in the world.
BEEN GOING ON FOR DECADES...
The New York Times reported on December 18, 2007 that, “Eighty-seven countries and international organizations pledged $7.4 billion in aid to the Palestinians on Monday.
AND ALL THEY HAD TO DO TO GET THAT MUCH $$$$$ IS KILL A FEW HUNDRED ISRAELIS AND AMERICANS AND...
Western aid to the Palestinians was premised on bringing about peaceful coexistence between Palestinians and Israel. Billions in Western aid money to the Palestinians has gone unmonitored and without strict guidelines. As a result, instead of fulfilling the aim of peaceful coexistence, a large portion of the humanitarian assistance has gone to do the opposite - to vilify Israel, Jews, Christians, America, and the West. Moreover, millions of western dollars have funded the Palestinian media, mosques, and school system that incites Palestinians to violence and terror against Israeli Jews.
YEAH...THOSE POOR, POOR RICH PALESTINIAN "LEADERS"...BUT JUST THE ONES AT THE TOP. ASK A PALESTINIAN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HEAP.
Pieczenik says Hillary Clinton and associates has effected a civilian coup. Pieczenik said over fifteen other intelligence organizations have staged a silent “counter-coup” over the internet. Steve says Assange was formidable in providing the emails he gave to him in order to undermine Hillary and Bill Clinton.
Pieczenik said both the coup and counter-coup has unfolded on the internet. “This is probably the first time in any country where a coup was initiated through the internet. And a counter-coup was initiated through the internet… I am just a small part of something bigger than myself. It was the brave men and women who are in the FBI, the CIA, the Director of Intelligence, the military intelligence, and men and women in fifteen other intelligence organizations who are sick and tired of seeing this corruption in the White House and in the Justice Department and the intelligence system. And we decided that there was something we had to do in order to save the Republic.”
SCROLLING THROUGH "OTHER NEWS", THE ABOVE JUMPED OFF THE PAGE AND I COULD BUT HURRIEDLY BEGIN TO "DIG" FOR FACTS AS I RECALLED ALL I HAD READ FROM "INSIDE SOURCES" THAT ALSO STATED THE RUSSIANS NEVER WERE THE SOURCE OF THE "LEAKS".
I HAD JUST FINISHED READING THE VERY RECENT RELEASE, UNPRECEDENTED RELEASE, BY THE FBI OF NEW DOCUMENTS ABOUT THE CLINTON EMAILS.
BUT WHO IS STEVE PIECZENIK? I EXPECTED TO FIND SOME 'KOOK', SOME MYTH-MAKING NUT-JOB, BUT INSTEAD I WAS, ADMITTEDLY, SHOCKED TO DISCOVER WHO HE IS.
HE WAS OUR DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE UNDER HENRY KISSINGER (FORD ADMINISTRATION), CYRUS VANCE (CARTER ADMINISTRATION) AND JAMES BAKER (REAGAN/BUSH I ADMINISTRATIONS). BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE:
At the Department of State, he served as a "specialist on hostage taking", was credited with devising successful negotiating strategies and tactics used in several high-profile hostage situations, including the 1976 TWA Flight 355 hostage situation and the 1977 kidnapping of the son of Cyprus' president.
Pieczenik holds a PhD. in international relations that he obtained from MIT while studying at Harvard Medical School and is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist, an M.D..
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mary McGrory described Pieczenik as "one of the most 'brilliantly competent' men in the field of terrorism".
PLEASE UNDERSTAND, THIS IS A LONG AND WINDING TRAIL, BUT, IN THE END, PERHAPS YOU WILL SEE THAT "IT ALL ADDS UP". THE PUZZLE PIECES ALL FALL INTO PLACE, THINGS BEGIN TO MAKE SENSE, AND WE FIND DEATH IN THE MIDDLE OF IT ALL.
BELOW ARE JUST SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF ALL THIS, AS I CANNOT PRESENTLY SIT AND TYPE FOR AS LONG AS IT WOULD TAKE TO SHOW YOU EVERY LINK, EVERY DETAIL OF THIS...MAYBE LATER I CAN, BUT TODAY THE BODY SAYS "NO!".
REMEMBER THAT WHEN CLINTON WAS FIRST ACCUSED OF USING A PRIVATE SERVER AND HAVING CLASSIFIED EMAILS ON THAT SERVER, WE WERE TOLD THAT WAS "CONSPIRACY THEORY", JUST AS THOSE WHO STATED OVER AND OVER AGAIN THAT IRAQ DID NOT HAVE WMDs AS BUSH SAID WERE CALLED "CONSPIRACY THEORISTS".
JUST AS WE LEARNED THE FACTS, TOO LATE, ABOUT THE GULF OF TONKIN LIES FROM THE LBJ ADMINISTRATION DAYS, THE IRAN CONTRA FACTS THAT CAME TO LIGHT WHEN REAGAN WAS IN OFFICE, THE GUN-RUNNING OF THE CIA, THE DRUG-RUNNING BY THE CIA, ALL TURNED OUT TO BE TRUTHS, REALITY.
DROPPED BY THE CFR Pieczenik was a former member of the notorious Council for Foreign Relations (CFR), but was dropped from that ignoble list in 2012. One can only surmise why.
In short, he is not controllable nor intimidated by political powers... a man after my own heart.
He is also a concert pianist and has been since age 8 and speaks five languages, including Russian. And he writes books that have sold millions of copies. Not your average guy. After being lauded as an expert, a credible source, "brilliantly competent" for decades, why would he suddenly be doubted and disparaged as a "nutcase"? Because now he's saying Hilary Clinton has attempted to steal an election and was engaged in what can only be called a "silent coup attempt" against the American government?
He became so convinced of this that he joined with others in the intelligence community to expose her, and that is how we got to read the Democratic National Committee's internal emails.
Pieczenik, even with his background in government and with his credentials, his past reputation as a trustworthy, noble servant of the federal government, admits he, with a little help from his friends, put those emails into Julian Assange's capable hands.
At almost the same time, another once very respected former diplomat has come forward with the admission that he flew to America to receive the emails and hand-delivered the downloaded emails on thumb-drive to a (presumed) Wikileaks staff member. This man is a former British ambassador to Uzbekistan and a close associate of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. 'Washington Times' is one of the few American media where you can read this.
CRAIG MURRAY said that he flew to Washington for a clandestine handoff with one of the email sources in September.
He said he received a package in a wooded area near American University. “Neither of [the leaks] came from the Russians,” Mr. Murray told the British newspaper. “The source had legal access to the information. The documents came from inside leaks, not hacks.”
Mr. Murray said the leakers were motivated by “disgust at the corruption of the Clinton Foundation and the tilting of the primary election playing field against Bernie Sanders.”
QUESTIONS STILL REMAIN...SOME ARE STILL NOT BUYING "THE RUSSIANS DID IT".
WASHINGTON (Sinclair Broadcast Group) Thursday, December 15th 2016
Craig Murray, a former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan and self-described "close associate" of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, says it was a disgruntled insider who leaked the emails.
According to Murray, the personal emails of Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, John Podesta and the cache of emails from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), were obtained by an insider who then passed the information on to Wikileaks through a series of intermediaries, including Murray himself.
According to Nicholas Weaver, a network security expert at U.C. Berkeley's computer science institute. The only information that could confirm that chain of custody would come from the NSA or CIA, and it is highly unlikely they could make that information public without compromising sources and methods. The Washington Post ran a story leaking a secret CIA assessment that Russia had intentionally interfered in the 2016 election... BUT, according to the same leaked report, the FBI official attending the classified briefing disagreed with the CIA and would not corroborate their assessment."
Meanwhile that Wednesday, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence had to cancel a closed-door classified briefing on the issue of suspected Russian interference after U.S. intelligence agencies refused to cooperate.
Rep. Devin Nunes, California Republican and committee chairman, requested that the FBI, CIA, Office of the Director of National Intelligence and National Security Agency provide witnesses, in part in response to reports last week in The Washington Post and The New York Times that intelligence agencies think the Kremlin deliberately tried to push the election to Mr. Trump, something not supported by post-election testimony to the panel.
But according to Fox News, “agencies refused to provide representatives for the session.”
WHAT IF THEY REFUSED TO TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T WANT TO BE CAUGHT IN LIES, DIDN'T WANT TO PERJURE THEMSELVES? WHAT IF THEY WERE WAITING TO SEE WHOM OF THEIR COLLEAGUES WERE IN ON THE "COUNTER-COUPS"?
REMEMBER HOW VEHEMENT THE FBI WAS THAT CLINTON HAD COMMITTED, IN ESSENCE, TREASON AND WAS PROSECUTABLE, AND THEIR MANY STATEMENTS THAT THERE WAS NO PROOF THE EMAILS CAME FROM A RUSSIAN HACK?
THEN, SO SUDDENLY THAT MOST AMERICANS FOLLOWING THE UNWINDING SAGA WERE SHOCKED, THEY REVERSED THAT AND AGREED WITH THE CIA, AS DID THE NSA WHO ALSO HAD PREVIOUSLY STATED IT LOOKED LIKE AN INSIDE JOB.
COMEY'S HEAD WAS DEMANDED, THERE WAS TALK OF PURGING THE NSA...BUT WHY?
ADD THIS PIECE OF THE PUZZLE... PIECZENIK, MURRAY, ASSANGE AND A FEW OTHERS HAVE HINTED AT, HAVE ALL BUT STATED THAT YOUNG SETH RICH, A DNC EMPLOYEE, WAS THE SOURCE OF THE EMAILS.
MURRAY SAID, “The SOURCE had LEGAL access to the information. The documents came from inside leaks, not hacks.”
LEGAL ACCESS AS AN EMPLOYEE OF THE DNC TASKED WITH COMPUTER OPERATIONS.
IN AN INTERVIEW AUGUST 8, 2016, WITH A DUTCH TV STATION, "NOS", A VERY CREDIBLE PUBLIC BROADCAST STATION, ASSANGE ALLUDED TO SOURCES SOMETIMES GIVING THEIR LIVES TO EXPOSE SCANDALS. HE ALSO OFFERED A $20,000 REWARD FOR THE CAPTURE OF SETH'S KILLER(S).
Here is what they said in the videotaped interview conducted in English:
Assange: “Whistleblowers go to significant efforts to get us material, often very significant risks. There’s a 27-year-old that works for the DNC who was shot in the back, murdered, just two weeks ago, for unknown reasons as he was walking down the street in Washington. So…”
Anchor: “That was just a robbery, I believe, wasn’t it?”
Assange: “No, there’s no finding. So, ah – “
Anchor: “What are you suggesting? What are you suggesting?”
Assange: “I am suggesting that our sources, ah, take risks and they, they become concerned to see things occurring like that.”
Anchor: “But was he one of your sources then, I mean?”
Assange: “We don’t comment on who our sources are.”
Anchor: “But why make the suggestion about a young guy being shot in the streets of Washington?”
Assange: “Because we have to understand how high the stakes are in the United States. Our sources, ah, our sources face serious risks, that’s why they come to us so we can protect, ah, their anonymity.”
Anchor: “But it’s quite something to suggest a murder. That’s basically what you are doing.”
Assange: “Well, others have suggested that. We investigated to understand what happened in that situation, with Seth Rich. I think it is a concerning situation. There is not a conclusion yet. We wouldn’t be willing to say a conclusion yet, but we are concerned about it. More importantly, a variety of WikiLeaks sources are concerned when that kind of thing happens.”
THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF SETH RICH...
Rich, a data anaylist, had worked as the DNC’s Voter Expansion Data Director since 2014. He was the DNC's Director of Communications.
Rich, only 27, was shot on July 10, 2016 at 4:15 in the morning near a Washington D.C. neighborhood where he lived, said CBS News. Some are also raising questions about the August death of Shawn Lucas, who served the DNC with a lawsuit alleging fraud in the presidential race.
The New York Daily News quoted police as saying, “There is no immediate indication that robbery was a motive in the attack…but it has not been ruled out as a possibility.”
Rich’s mother told NBC Channel 4 in Washington D.C. that her son’s “hands were bruised, his knees are bruised, his face is bruised, and yet he had two shots to his back, and yet they never took anything.”
Rich was discovered by police who were patrolling the area and was conscious and breathing at first, said CNN. He was talking on the phone with his girlfriend when the shooting occurred and told her not to worry about it when she heard a noise, said NBC 4. There is a $25,000 reward being offered in the Rich murder case."
This was before Wikileaks released documents proving the DNC was working against the Sanders campaign during the 2016 primary.
Lucas was found dead on his bathroom floor by his girlfriend when she returned home on the evening of 2 August 2016. Paramedics responding to her 911 call found no signs of life."
It was not until November that the coroner ruled the death an "accident"...from an overdose or combination of three prescription drugs.
The lawsuit that took Shawn to the DNC that day was filed by “a group made up predominantly of Bernie Sanders supporters” and alleges Wasserman Schultz “rigged the primary for Hillary Clinton,” says UPI.
[MY NOTE: I USE THE LINK TO THE PARTICULAR STORY ABOVE BECAUSE IT HAS A VIDEO OF SHAWN SERVING THE PAPERS. THE ACCOUNT OF HIS DEATH CAN BE FOUND ON WHAT MOST CONSIDER "VALID NEWS SITES", aka, MAINSTREAM MEDIA...THE REAL "FAKE NEWS" MEDIA.]
RIGHT AFTER THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE MADE TRUMP PRESIDENT, GOING AGAINST ALL CALLS TO GIVE IT TO HILLARY, A FEDERAL JUDGE SAID THE EMAIL CASE WOULD BE REOPENED, AS THE TEA ROOM REPORTED PREVIOUSLY.
AND, IN ONE LAST PUSH, THE FBI, JUST LAST WEEK, OPENED THE FBI VAULT TO DOCUMENTS THAT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN MADE PUBLIC UNTIL 2041. ANOTHER FIRESTORM HAS ENSUED.
PERHAPS THEY DID SO BECAUSE, AGAIN, AS I PREVIOUSLY SHOWED, THE NYPD CHIEF WHO FIRST CONFISCATED THE HUMA ABEDIN/ANTHONY WEINER LAPTOP THREATENED TO RELEASE WEINER'S EMAILS AND OTHER EMAILS FOUND ON THAT LAPTOP IF SOMEONE ELSE DIDN'T BECAUSE HE WAS SO "DISGUSTED" BY WHAT HE SAW.
CNN reported The Federal Bureau of Investigation obtained a warrant to search emails in connection to Hillary Clinton’s private server. Clinton aide Huma Abedin’s emails were on former congressman, Anthony Weiner’s laptop — with data showing those emails went through Clinton’s server, according to law enforcement officials.
The warrant was issued two days after FBI Director James Comey disclosed the discovery of more emails, according to CNBC. Law enforcement sources informed that the emails were linked to Weiner’s estranged wife, Huma Abedin.
WE WERE TOLD THAT THE WHITE HOUSE HAD WARNED THE RUSSIANS IN JUNE, 2016 NOT TO INTERFERE WITH OUR ELECTIONS.
REALLY? THERE WAS NOTHING IN RUSSIAN MEDIA AT THAT TIME TO SUPPORT THIS. SURELY THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN "RETURN FIRE" HAD OBAMA CALLED PUTIN UP LAST SUMMER , AS HE SAID, AND TOLD HIM TO "CUT IT OUT". NO, OBAMA STARTED WAILING IT WAS RUSSIANS IN OCTOBER.
The administration eventually did issue warnings to state election officials and said there was no evidence of Russian interference via the internet on Election Day.
“Given the interconnected nature of our society and our economy, the United States is in a unique position, vis-a-vis the rest of the world, because we rely on 21st-century communications technology for just about everything, in a way that lots of other societies and economies and countries don’t,” he said.
WHICH MEANS, AS WE HAVE SEEN HAPPEN, TEENAGERS CAN HACK THE USA'S AGENCIES.
JOHN McCAIN, IN THE MEANWHILE COMMITTED TREASON AGAINST THE UNITED STATES AND ACCEPTED DOCUMENTS FROM A FOREIGN AGENT AND HANDED THOSE DOCUMENTS TO OTHERS, UNSUPPORTED ALL OF THEM, MERELY BECAUSE, AS HE HAS SAID MANY TIMES, HE HATES TRUMP. HE WANTED TO RUIN HIM, WANTED ONE LAST CHANCE TO KEEP TRUMP OUT OF OFFICE.IN AN INTERVIEW WITH CNN, McCAIN HUNG HIMSELF WITH HIS STATEMENTS:
‘I did what any citizen should do. I received sensitive information and handed it to the FBI,’ he told CNN – the network which broke the story that the document existed. I don’t know if it is credible or not but the information I thought deserved to be delivered to the FBI, the appropriate agency of government.’
He added: ‘It doesn’t trouble me because I don’t know if it is accurate or not. I have no way of corroborating that.
‘The individual gave me the information. I looked at it. After receiving that information I took it to the FBI.’
He added that he was now aware from media reports that the FBI was apparently already in possession of the information. ‘ OR DID MCCAIN DO IT BECAUSE HE'S AFRAID WHAT MIGHT BE MADE KNOWN IF THOSE ANTHONY WEINER EMAILS ARE RELEASED, AFRAID LIKE SO MANY IN WASHINGTON?WHAT'S IN THOSE EMAILS THAT SO DISGUSTED THE NYPD THAT THEY DEMANDED THEY BE MADE PUBLIC?
IT ALL POINTS BACK TO THE DECADES OLD "CHILD SEX SCANDAL" THAT ALMOST ROCKED THE GEORGE BUSH #1 ADMINISTRATION, THE FORGOTTEN FRANKLIN CASE? MAYBE "PIZZA-GATE" IS REAL?
HOW MANY CONGRESSMEN HAVE BEEN BUSTED, AFTER ALL, FOR ILLICIT AFFAIRS WITH AND SOLICITATIONS OF YOUNG INTERNS, ETC? HOW MANY HAVE BEEN ACCUSED OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT BY THE PRESS IN THE PAST? HOW MANY HAVE LEFT OFFICE BECAUSE OF THAT? AS PIECZENIK PUT IT: “We’re going through a major, major transition and quite frankly, a second American Revolution. We do not have guns, we do not have weapons, we do not have intent to kill anybody, we do not intend to harm anybody. But we, the American public, and those of us who have served as veterans and in the intelligence service like myself, will stop the Clintons from assuming power that they don’t deserve.”
REMEMBER WHEN A MILITARY COUP ATTEMPT AGAINST OBAMA WAS REVEALED? HEADS IN HIGH PLACES ROLLED AFTER THAT.
I HAVE TO ASK, IN LIGHT OF THIS NEW DEVELOPMENT, WAS THAT "ATTEMPTED MILITARY COUP" JUST THE ANGRY CLINTONS AND THEIR SUPPORTERS TRYING TO GET RID OF OBAMA? WERE HILLARY'S SCREAMS OF RAGE THAT OBAMA HAD COST HER THE ELECTION BASED ON HER LOSS TO HIM PREVIOUSLY?
WE MAY NEVER KNOW THE COMPLETE TRUTH, BUT WE CAN CONTINUE TO LOOK FOR IT AND HOPE TO FIND IT.
AS MY MANY OF MY FREQUENT READERS HAVE NOTICED, THE TEA ROOM HAS NOT PUBLISHED ARTICLES AS PROLIFICALLY AS IN THE PAST.
MANY OF YOU ARE ALSO AWARE OF AND KINDLY CONCERNED ABOUT MY HEALTH ISSUES.
WE HAVE YET ANOTHER DATE FOR SURGERY, IN FEBRUARY, IF I CAN PASS THE REQUIRED CARDIAC AND PULMONARY CLEARANCES. WITH THIS ALLEGED 'LYMPHOMA' REMOVED AND WITH IT THIS ANCIENT SPLEEN, I SHOULD BE BACK UP AND RUNNING BY MARCH.
I INSIST ON QUALITY, AS MUCH AS I CAN MUSTER IT, AND RECENT ARTICLES HERE DID NOT MEET THAT STANDARD, WITH MY SINCERE APOLOGIES.
I AM DISTRACTED BY THIS CURSED AFFLICTION AND IT SHOWS.
JUST NOW, I WAS EDITING A PIECE TO PUBLISH ABOUT TROOP DEPLOYMENT TO THE NATO NATIONS IN EUROPE BY THE U.S., YET AGAIN, AND TO AFGHANISTAN, YET AGAIN, AND MY MIND WOULD JUST NOT CLEAR ENOUGH TO FINISH IT. SITTING IS QUITE UNCOMFORTABLE AT THIS POINT, ALAS.
SINCE THIS IS THE UNFORTUNATE CASE, I CAN BUT TAKE A BREAK FROM THIS EFFORT, WHICH MAY SEEM ENTIRELY FUTILE TO MOST, AND NOT SHORTCHANGE MY READERSHIP WITH POOR QUALITY WORK.
PERHAPS, THERE WILL BE "GOOD DAYS" BETWEEN NOW AND MARCH, SHOULD I BE GIVEN MARCH, AND I MAY BE DRIVEN TO WRITE ABOUT THE THINGS I AM IMPASSIONED ABOUT ON THOSE DAYS.... BUT MAYBE NOT.
BUT BECAUSE I DEEPLY APPRECIATE EACH ONE WHO READS HERE, WHETHER YOU AGREE WITH WHAT I WRITE OR NOT, NO MATTER YOUR NATION OF BIRTH, RELIGION, BELIEF SYSTEM, ANY OF THAT, I FELT I OWED YOU ALL AN EXPLANATION AND THIS IS IT.
LET US CALL IT A 'HIATUS', NEVER A DEFEAT, NEVER A GIVING-UP, JUST A BIT OF TIME-OUT.
I WRITE THIS BLOG BECAUSE I CARE, BECAUSE I KNOW THIS TERRIBLE 'MAJICK' WE CALL THE INTERNET REALLY IS MAGICAL IN THAT, IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE, WE CAN REACH ACROSS AND SPEAK TO AND WITH ONE ANOTHER, SANS GOVERNMENTS TELLING US WHAT TO DO OR HOW TO DO IT, SANS EVERYTHING BUT OUR DESIRE TO COMMUNICATE WITH ONE ANOTHER AND LEARN TRUTHS TOGETHER.
THOSE OF YOU WHO PRIVATELY COMMUNICATE WITH ME REGULARLY, I WILL DO MY BEST TO ATTEND TO THOSE EMAILS, BUT FORGIVE ME IF I FAIL ONCE IN AWHILE?
MAY WE ALL FIND TRUTH, INSIST ON IT, DEMAND IT, BYALLTHEGODS, FROM THOSE WHO DARE BELIEVE WE NEED THEM TO RULE OUR WORLD. WE DON'T NEED EVEN ONE OF THEM TO RULE ANYTHING..
AND, WE OUTNUMBER THEM! WE ALSO KNOW THAT THE VAST MAJORITY OF US JUST DON'T OPERATE WITH THE SAME DESTRUCTIVE, DOMINEERING AGENDA THAT THEY WANT US TO BLINDLY ACCEPT.
LOOK AT US! WE DON'T LAUNCH MISSILES AT ONE ANOTHER OR TRY TO TAKE EACH OTHER'S RESOURCES, OR TRY TO GRIND ONE ANOTHER BENEATH A BOOT WHEN WE COME TO THE OLD TEA ROOM. NONE OF US HAVE INVADED OTHERS WHO READ HERE, COMMENT HERE, BUT ALL COME AND GO FREELY, AS IT SHOULD BE. WE JUST READ, WRITE AND GO ON, QUITE BRAVELY, I WOULD SAY.
IT WAS JUST MY "CRAZY DREAM" TO HAVE ONE WEE SPOT ON THE VAST 'WORLDWIDE WEB' WHERE ALL COULD COME AND SHARE ANYTHING, ANYTHING AT ALL, AS EQUALS, AS TRUE PEERS OF THIS PLANET EARTH...WHERE "COMMON MAN" COULD REALIZE THERE IS NOTHING "COMMON" ABOUT ANY OF US, THAT WE ARE EACH FAR MORE UNIQUE, FAR GREATER RARE TREASURES THAN ANY OF US HAVE PERHAPS IMAGINED.
AND THEN, WE COULD JUST "CHAT"... DISCUSS WHAT'S GOING ON ALL AROUND US THAT MAKES IT SO HARD TO BE ALIVE TODAY, BUT WHAT WE MUST CONTEND WITH IN ORDER TO SEE WAYS TO CHANGE IT ALL FOR THE BETTER.
ABOVE ALL ELSE, I HAVE HOPED FOR ALL MY 70 YEARS THAT PEOPLE WOULD FIND A WAY TO LEAVE AN INCREDIBLE WORLD TO OUR CHILDREN. I HOPED THAT NO CHILDREN WOULD KNOW WAR AGAIN...SOME DAY...SOON.
I HOPED WE'D SEE WAYS TO JUST "COME CLEAN" AND TELL ONE ANOTHER WHAT WE SAW AS PROBLEMS THAT NEED ADDRESSING BY ALL, WHETHER IN THE WEST, EAST OR ANYWHERE IN BETWEEN.
ONLY UNBRIDLED AND PURE TRUTH, NO MATTER WHO IT HURTS OR HOW DEEPLY THE WOUND OF IT IS, CAN CREATE SUCH A LIFE AS WE'D LIKE TO OFFER OUR BELOVED CHILDREN.
MUCH LIKE THIS THING THEY CALL "CANCER", IF WE CAN CUT OUT LIES AND HALF-TRUTHS, THEY WON'T SPREAD AND KILL US.
WE ALL HAVE THESE EXQUISITE MINDS THAT NO COMPUTER WILL EVER MATCH, AND WE OWN THE CONTROL KNOBS TO THESE AWESOME "MACHINES", JUST US, NO ONE ELSE. NO ONE HAS FOUND A WAY, THOUGH THEY HAVE DILIGENTLY TRIED, TO CLIMB INSIDE OUR MINDS AND "REARRANGE THE FURNITURE" TO SUIT THEM.
MAY THAT EMBOLDEN US AS NEVER BEFORE!
AS FOR EXCISION OF LIES AND CORRUPTION, THAT NECESSARY "SURGERY" OUR NATIONS NEED TO BECOME NATIONS "OF, BY AND FOR THE PEOPLE", FOR US "COMMON FOLK" ...TRUST ME... THE PAIN OF SURGERY AND THE SCARS LEFT FROM THAT ARE NOTHING WHEN COMPARED TO UNENDING PAIN UNTO DEATH.
THANK YOU FOR EVER ONCE READING HERE. THANK YOU FOR THINKING INDEPENDENTLY, BRAVELY, HOPEFULLY.
I HOPE MY "ALL CAPS" WILL RETURN SOON TO MAKE YOU ALL WINCE WHEN YOU TRY TO READ HERE.
SAID WITH A SMILE, A WAVE, AND A "BE WELL. BEST REGARDS."
FREE SPEECH...IS THAT A THING OF THE PAST IN THIS NEW AMERICA? IS THERE A DOUBLE STANDARD THAT ALLOWS ONLY SOME TO VOICE THEIR OPINIONS WHILE OTHERS ARE DENIED THAT RIGHT? OBVIOUSLY, FREE SPEECH IS ONLY OKAY FOR SOME, DENIED TO OTHERS.
THE BLATANT HYPOCRISY AND HYSTERIA WERE INCREDIBLY APPARENT OVER THE WEEKEND.
WHEN A LICENSED MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL WITH YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, WHO IS THE MEDICAL DIRECTOR AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER OF A CLEVELAND CLINIC WELLNESS INSTITUTE, CAN'T EXPRESS HIS VIEWS ON THE TOPIC OF THE SAFETY OF VACCINES, WE MAY AS WELL TURN OUT THE LIGHTS... FREE SPEECH IS DEAD.
THE TOTAL "FREAK-OUT" BY SO MANY, SO QUICKLY WAS INCREDIBLE, ALL FROM ONE SHORT ARTICLE WRITTEN BY THE DOCTOR THAT APPEARED, WAS "DISAPPEARED" AND THEN, AFTER SO MANY NOTICED THE "DISAPPEARANCE" AND CRIED "FOUL!" WAS "REAPPEARED".
IN MY ENTIRE LIFE, I HAVE NEVER WITNESSED SO MUCH HYSTERIA ON THE PART OF THE PRO-VACCINE GROUP FROM ONE MAN'S COMMENTS.
Neides wrote on a blog on the news site cleveland.com that preservatives and other ingredients in vaccines are dangerous and are likely behind the increase in diagnosed cases of neurological diseases such as autism [ I will post the blog in its entirety at the end of this entry.***]
Just a couple of his observations on that blog:
“Does the vaccine burden — as has been debated for years — cause autism? I don’t know and will not debate that here. What I will stand up and scream is that newborns without intact immune systems and detoxification systems are being over-burdened with preservatives and adjuvants in the vaccines", he wrote.
“Some of the vaccines have helped reduce the incidence of childhood communicable diseases, like meningitis and pneumonia,” he continued. “That is great news. But not at the expense of neurologic diseases like autism and ADHD increasing at alarming rates.”
Then Neides suggested spreading out and delaying the shots in children to reduce kids’ exposure to the chemicals he considers toxic.
HE NEVER SAID "DON'T VACCINATE." IN FACT, HE HIMSELF HAD JUST GOTTEN A FLU VACCINE!
The immediate reactions to this one short article almost blew up the internet.
Several physicians took to Twitter to call the article “vile” and demand that Cleveland Clinic state its stance on vaccines. Other M.D.s demanded that Neides be fired. Some screamed for Cleveland Clinic to delete the post and discipline the doc.
Dr. Jeffrey Matthews, chair of the University of Chicago’s Department of Surgery, tweeted:
Dr. Benjamin Mazer, a resident physician in pathology at Yale New Haven Hospital who tweeted that the article was “one of the most vile, false things I have ever read by a doctor.”
IF THAT ISN'T A VILE ATTACK ON A FELLOW DOCTOR, WHAT IS?
Still other crazies all over social websites demanded Neides' head on a platter.
It was insanity, chaos, pandemonium immediately set in.
People were outraged, "frightened" by his words, "riddled with guilt if it's true", said others.
WHY? Because he expressed his own personal views regarding the safety of vaccines. Because he exercised his RIGHT to FREE SPEECH, but, shame on him, said many, for stating his beliefs on the sacred Cleveland Clinic's own website!
BURN HIM AT THE STAKE! FORCE HIM TO HAVE EVERY VACCINE KNOWN TO MAN! HOW DARE HE!
I surfed the web for about an hour and became honestly and sincerely afraid for the man's safety. So many of the reactions were just ABSURD!
“He wrote this opinion piece on his own and it does not reflect the position of the Cleveland Clinic whatsoever, and we strongly support vaccinations and the protection of patients and employees,” said Eileen Sheil, executive director of corporate communications for the medical center.
IN A FULL-FLEDGED KISS-ASS TWEET, CLEVELAND CLINIC CAVED IN.
"We fully support vaccines to protect patients & employees. Statements made by our physician do not reflect the position of Cleveland Clinic." — Cleveland Clinic (@ClevelandClinic) January 8, 2017
I'M ABOUT 100% CERTAIN THE DOC WILL BE CANNED. THE PUSH AGAINST HIM MAY BE STRONG ENOUGH TO START THE BALL ROLLING TO REVOKE HIS LICENSE TO PRACTICE MEDICINE.
"When I was reporting on "vaccine delayers" — or parents who, as Neides suggested, choose to spread out or selectively vaccinate their kids — I learned that their guidebook (at Cleveland Clinic) is the innocuously titled Vaccine Book, written by Bob Sears, a pediatrician from Southern California.
"Vaccination isn't an all-or-nothing decision," Sears writes, in the number-one bestselling children's health book. Some vaccine-preventable diseases aren't all that bad, he argues, and it's not clear why people still inoculate their kids for scourges like polio, a crippling disease that's no longer common in the US. So Sears — also known as "Dr. Bob" — suggests spreading out the shots, and even skipping those parents find unpalatable.
The Cleveland Clinic also employs Dr. Mark Hyman, another peddler of the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism, among other pseudoscience malarkey.
Let’s not forget Dr. Mehmet Oz, a board-certified surgeon and faculty member at Columbia University, who is now almost as famous for his magical thinking about medicine as he is for his Emmy Award-winning TV show. (He’s given a platform to other doctors with anti-vaccine sentiments, such as Joe Mercola.)"
WELL, VOX MISSED A FEW...HUNDRED...HUNDREDS WHO HAVE CONDUCTED AND PUBLISHED PEER-REVIEWED STUDIES THAT HAVE INDEED SHOWN A LINK BETWEEN AUTISM, ADHD, AND OTHER CHILDHOOD HEALTH PROBLEMS FOLLOWING VACCINES.
AND, BTW, THAT'S DOCTOR, AS IN DR., JOSEPH MERCOLA.
Dr. Mercola is a 1976 graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago and a 1982 graduate of the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine (now Midwestern University). He is also board-certified in family medicine and served as the chairman of the family medicine department at St. Alexius Medical Center for five years..
HUFFINGTON POST: "Dr. Mercola finished his family practice residency in 1985. Because he was trained under the conventional medical model, he treated patients using prescription drugs during his first years of private practice and was actually a paid speaker for drug companies.
Dr. Mercola authored two New York Times Bestsellers, The Great Bird Flu Hoax and The No-Grain Diet. He was also voted the 2009 Ultimate Wellness Game Changer by the Huffington Post, and has been featured in TIME magazine, LA Times, CNN, Fox News, ABC News with Peter Jennings, Today Show, CBS’s Washington Unplugged with Sharyl Attkisson, and other major media resources."
AS I SAID, MANY LICENSED, VERY QUALIFIED PHYSICIANS HAVE SAID (AND PROVEN) THE SAME THINGS THE RECENTLY BESIEGED NEIDES STATED.
HE IS BY NO MEANS THE ONLY PHYSICIAN WHO SIMPLY WANTS PEOPLE TO EXERCISE CAUTION WHEN CONSIDERING OR ACCEPTING VACCINES.
BEFORE I LIST THOSE "PEER-REVIEWED STUDIES" EVERYONE SCREAMS FOR, ALLOW ME TO ASK JUST THREE PERTINENT QUESTIONS OF THOSE WHO SEEM TO LITERALLY HATE THOSE OF US IN THE MEDICAL PROFESSION WHO DO NOT ADVOCATE INDISCRIMINATELY VACCINATING EVERY HUMAN ON EARTH:
#1~ WHY WOULD YOU FORCE VACCINES ON INNOCENT CHILDREN OR ANYONE ELSE WHEN YOU WOULDN'T ACCEPT BEING FORCED TO NOT VACCINATE? EACH OF US HAVE THE SAME RIGHTS, OR SO SAYS THE BILL OF RIGHTS THAT HANGS ON MY WALL. I HAVE AS MUCH RIGHT TO CONTROL WHAT GOES INTO MY BODY AS YOU DO.
#2~ IF YOU ARE VACCINATED AGAINST A DISEASE AND I AM NOT, WHO IS IN DANGER OF CONTRACTING THAT DISEASE YOU WERE VACCINATED FOR...ME OR YOU? IF VACCINATIONS ARE INDEED ALL THAT THEY'RE CRACKED UP TO BE, THERE'S NO WAY ON EARTH YOU WOULD CONTRACT THAT DISEASE IF I WERE A CARRIER.
#3~ IN THE RECENT OUTBREAK OF "POLIO-LIKE" ILLNESS IN CHILDREN THE U.S., IT WAS FOUND THAT THE MAJORITY OF THOSE INFECTED HAD RECENTLY BEEN VACCINATED AGAINST...POLIO. HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THAT, OR THE FACT THAT IN PERU, THE MOST RECENT KNOWN CASES OF POLIO THERE WERE ALL DISCOVERED IN THOSE WHO HAD BEEN VACCINATED AGAINST POLIO...AS REPORTED BY THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION?
" Since 1980, an average of eight to nine cases of paralytic poliomyelitis associated with OPV has been reported annually in the United States. From 1980 through 1994, 133 cases of paralytic poliomyelitis were reported, including 125 cases of VAPP.
Additional (unreported) cases of VAPP probably occur. The severity of these cases is similar to that of cases caused by wild virus.
Among persons who are not immunodeficient, the risk for VAPP associated with the first dose of OPV is seven-fold to 21-fold higher than the risk for subsequent doses."
PLEASE, UNDERSTAND THAT I DON'T MIND IF ANY ADULT WANTS TO ROLL THE VACCINE DICE AND RISK THEIR HEALTH OR LIFE BY BEING ONE OF THOSE STATISTICS WHERE SOMETHING TERRIBLE HAPPENS POST-VACCINE.
BUT I AM VERY AVERSE TO FORCING VACCINES ON ANYONE AND ALSO VERY AVERSE TO GIVING VACCINES TO CHILDREN SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO SAY-SO ABOUT WHAT GOES INTO THEIR SMALL BODIES.
THAT SAID, LET'S START WITH JUST 22 SUCH STUDIES ABOUT THE KNOWN HAZARDSAND NEGATIVE RESULTS OF VACCINES, REMEMBERING THAT EUROPE AND MUCH OF ASIA HAVE LONG BEEN MORE THAN A BIT "CAUTIOUS" ABOUT VACCINES, EVEN REFUSING TO ALLOW "AMERICAN VACCINES" TO BE GIVEN IN SOME NATIONS.
<Here, in PDF form>, is an example of a paper that describes how vaccine manufactures and medical ‘experts’ with drug industry connections have been aware of the multiple dangers associated with vaccinations for over 30 years.
Another example, also in PDF,which presents "strong evidence supporting a link between autism and the aluminum in vaccines." can be found <HERE>.
I mention the above two studies because they agree with what one British physician uncovered with his studies, but he lost his medical license for that, and the authors of the two studies above did not.
And, lest we forget...
A CDC whistleblower recently admitted that he was forced to withhold vital information from the CDC’s findings on autism.
1. A study published in the journal Annals of Epidemiology has shown that giving the Hepatitis B vaccine to newborn baby boys could triple the risk of developing an autism spectrum disorder compared to boys who were not vaccinated as neonates. The research was conducted at Stony Brook University Medical Center, NY.
2. A study published in the Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry by researchers at the Neural Dynamics Group, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of British Columbia determined that Aluminum, a highly neurotoxic metal and the most commonly used vaccine adjuvant may be a significant contributing factor to the rising prevalence of ASD in the Western World. They showed that the correlation between ASD prevalence and the Aluminum adjuvant exposure appears to be the highest at 3-4 months of age. The studies also show that children from countries with the highest ASD appear to have a much higher exposure to Aluminum from vaccines. The study points out that several prominent milestones of brain development coincide with major vaccination periods for infants. These include the onset of synaptogenesis (birth), maximal growth velocity of the hippocampus and the onset of amygdala maturation. Furthermore, major developmental transition in many bio-behavioural symptoms such as sleep, temperature regulation, respiration and brain wave patterns, all of which are regulated by the neuroendocrine network. Many of these aspects of brain function are known to be impaired in autism, such as sleeping and brain wave patterns.
According to the FDA, vaccines represent a special category of drugs as they are generally given to healthy individuals. Further according to the FDA, “this places significant emphasis on their vaccine safety”. While the FDA does set an upper limit for Aluminum in vaccines at no more that 850/mg/dose, it is important to note that this amount was selected empirically from data showing that Aluminum in such amounts enhanced the antigenicity of the vaccine, rather than from existing safety. Given that the scientific evidence appears to indicate that vaccine safety is not as firmly established as often believed, it would seem ill advised to exclude paediatric vaccinations as a possible cause of adverse long-term neuro-development outcomes, including those associated with autism.
3. A study published in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A: Current Issues by the Department of Economics and Finance at the University of New York shows how researchers suspect one or more environmental triggers are needed to develop autism, regardless of whether individuals have a genetic predisposition or not. They determined that one of those triggers might be the “battery of vaccinations that young children receive.” Researchers found a positive and statistically significant relationship between autism and vaccinations. They determined that the higher the proportion of children receiving recommended vaccinations, the higher the prevalence of autism. A 1 % increase in vaccination was associated with an additional 680 children having autism. The results suggest that vaccines may be linked to autism and encourages more in depth study before continually administering these vaccines.
4. A study published in the Journal of Toxicology by the Department of Neurosurgery at The Methodist Neurological Institute in Houston has shown that ASD is a disorder caused by a problem in brain development. They looked at B-cells and their sensitivity levels to thimerosal, a commonly used additive in many vaccines. They determined that ASD patients have a heightened sensitivity to thimerosal which would restrict cell proliferation that is typically found after vaccination. The research shows that individuals who have this hypersensitivity to thimerosal could make them highly susceptible to toxins like thimerosal, and that individuals with a mild mitochondrial defect may be affected by thimerosal. The fact that ASD patients’ B cells exhibit hypersensitivity to thimerosal tells us something.
5. A study published in the Journal of Biomedical Sciencesdetermined that the autoimmunity to the central nervous system may play a causal role in autism. Researchers discovered that because many autistic children harbour elevated levels of measles antibodies, they should conduct a serological study of measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) and myelin basic protein (MBP) autoantibodies. They used serum samples of 125 autistic children and 92 control children. Their analysis showed a significant increase in the level of MMR antibodies in autistic children. The study concludes that the autistic children had an inappropriate or abnormal antibody response to MMR. The study determined that autism could be a result from an atypical measles infection that produces neurological symptoms in some children. The source of this virus could be a variant of MV, or it could be the MMR vaccine.
6. Study published in the Annals of Clinical Psychiatry suggests that Autism is likely triggered by a virus, and that measles virus (MV and/or MMR vaccine) might be a very good candidate. It supports the hypothesis that a virus-induced autoimmune response may play a causal role in autism.
7. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutritiondetermined that an increased vulnerability to oxidative stress and decreased capacity for methylation may contribute to the development and clinical manifestation of autism. It’s well known that viral infections cause increased oxidative stress. Research suggests that metals, including those found in many vaccines are directly involved in increasing oxidative stress.
8. A study published by the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Northeastern University, Boston determined that a novel growth factor signalling pathway that regulates methionine synthase(MS) activity and thereby modulates methylation reactions. The potent inhibition of this pathway by ethanol, lead, mercury, aluminum and thimerosal suggests that it may be an important target of neuro-developmental toxins. You can read more about this here, and here. You can read more about the MS/autism link here
9. A study published in the Journal of Child Neurology examined the question of what is leading to the apparent increase in autism. They expressed that if there is any link between autism and mercury, it is crucial that the first reports of the question are not falsely stating that no link occurs. Researchers determined that a significant relation does exist between the blood levels of mercury and the diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder.
10. A study published in the Journal of Child Neurologynoted that autistic spectrum disorders can be associated with mitochondrial dysfunction. Researchers determined that children who have mitochondrial-related dysfunctional cellular energy metabolism might be more prone to undergo autistic regression between 18 and 30 months of age if they also have infections or immunizations at the same time.
11. A study conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital at the Centre for Morphometric Analysis by the department of Paediatric Neurology illustrates how autistic brains have a growth spurt shortly after birth and then slow in growth a few short years later. Researchers have determined that neuro-inflammation appears to be present in autistic brain tissue from childhood through adulthood. The study excerpt reads:
Oxidative stress, brain inflammation and microgliosis have been much documented in association with toxic exposures including various heavy metals. The awareness that the brain as well as medical conditions of children with autism may be conditioned by chronic biomedical abnormalities such as inflammation opens the possibility that meaningful biomedical interventions may be possible well past the window of maximal neuroplasticity in early childhood because the basis for assuming that all deficits can be attributed to fixed early developmental alterations in net.
12, A study conducted by the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Arkansas determined that thimerosal-induced cytotoxicity was associated with the depletion of intracellular glutathione (GSH) in both cell lines. The study outlines how many vaccines have been neurotoxic, especially to the developing brain. Depletion of GSH is commonly associated with autism. Although thimerosal has been removed from most children’s vaccines, it is still present in flu vaccines given to pregnant women, the elderly and to children in developing countries.
13. A study published in the Public Library of Science (PLOS)determined that elevation in peripheral oxidative stress is consistent with, and may contribute to more severe functional impairments in the ASD group. We know that oxidative stress is triggered by heavy metals, like the ones contained in multiple vaccines.
14. A study conducted by the University of Texas Health Science Center by the Department of Family and Community Medicine determined that for each 1,000 Ib of environmentally released mercury, there was a 43% increase in the rate of special education services and a 61% increase in the rate of autism. Researchers emphasized that further research was needed regarding the association between environmentally released mercury and developmental disorders such as autism.
15. A study published in the International Journal of Toxicology determined that in light of the biological plausibility of mercury’s role in neurodevelopment disorders, the present study provides further insight into one possible mechanism by which early mercury exposures could increase the risk of autism.
16. A study published in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health determined that mercury exposure can induce immune, sensory, neurological, motor and behavioural dysfunctions similar to traits defining or associated with ASDs. Based upon differential diagnoses, 8 of 9 patients examined were exposed to significant mercury from Thimerosal-containing vaccine preparations during their fetal/infant developmental periods. These previously normal developing children suffered mercury encephalopathies that manifested with clinical symptoms consistent with regressive ASDs. Evidence for mercury intoxication should be considered in the differential diagnosis as contributing to some regressive ASDs.
17. A study published by the US National Library of Medicine conducted by the University of Texas Health Science Centre suspected that persistent low-dose exposures to various environmental toxicants including mercury, that occur during critical windows of neural development among genetically susceptible children, may increase the risk for developmental disorders such as autism.
18. A study conducted by the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecologyat University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine showed that Macaques are commonly used in pre-clinical vaccine safety testing. Collective Evolution does not support animals testing, we feel there is a large amount of evidence and research that already indicated the links to vaccines in which some animals have been used to illustrate. The objective of this study was to compare early infant cognition and behaviour with amygdala size and opioid binding in rhesus macaques receiving the recommended childhood vaccines. The animal model, which examines for the first time, behavioural, functional and neuromorphometric consequences of the childhood vaccine regimen, mimics certain neurological abnormalities of autism. These findings raise important safety issues while providing a potential model for examining aspects of causation and disease pathogenesis in acquired disorders of behaviour and development.
19. A study conducted by The George Washington University School of Public Healthfrom the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics determined that significantly increased rate ratios were observed for autism and autism spectrum disorders as a result of exposure to mercury from Thimerosal-containing vaccines.
20. A study published in the journal Cell Biology and Toxicologyby Kinki University in Osaka, Japan determined that in combination with the brain pathology observed in patients diagnosed with autism, the present study helps to support the possible biological plausibility for how low-dose exposure to mercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines may be associated with autism.
21. A study published by the journal Lab Medicine determined that vaccinations may be one of the triggers for autism. Researchers discovered that substantial data demonstrates immune abnormality in many autistic children consistent with impaired resistance to infection, activation of inflammatory responses and autoimmunity. Impaired resistance may predispose to vaccine injury in autism.
22. A study published in the journal Neurochemical Research determined that since excessive accumulation of extracellular glutamate is linked with excitotoxicity, data implies that neonatal exposure to thimerosal-containing vaccines might induce excito-toxic brain injuries, leading to neuro-developmental disorders.
THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES, AIDED BY THE CDC AND CONGRESS, HATE IT WHEN AMERICANS HAVE ACCESS TO SCIENTIFIC, PEER-REVIEWED STUDIES THAT DON'T AGREE WITH THEIR PROPAGANDA.
IT IS UNFORTUNATE THAT THIS CARING, HONEST PHYSICIAN WILL NOW BE CRUCIFIED IN THE MEDIA AND BY SOME OF HIS PEERS AND COLLEAGUES MERELY FOR REPEATING WHAT HAS BEEN SHOWN IN SUCH STUDIES AS THE ONES ABOVE AND HUNDREDS OF OTHERS.
ARE HIS "CREDENTIALS" OR THOSE OF THE PROFESSIONALS WHO CONDUCTED INDEPENDENT STUDIES ANY LESS VALID THAN THOSE WHO AGREE WITH BIG PHARMA?
NO. SOME WANT YOU TO THINK THAT ONLY QUACKS AND TIN-FOIL HAT WEARERS THINK VACCINES ARE DANGEROUS FOR SOME. [Look at the 'credentials' of all who have conducted the above studies. Absolutely spotless!] AS I SAID, THE BILL OF RIGHTS GUARANTEES US ALL THAT WE HAVE EQUAL RIGHT TO OUR PERSONAL OPINION AND ALSO A RIGHT TO VOICE OUR BELIEFS, WHATEVER THEY ARE.
IF DR. NEIDES HAS HIS CAREER RUINED OVER THIS, OR IS FIRED, I DO HOPE HE SUES THOSE WHO HAVE ANY PART IN IT, AND MAY HE WIN BIG TIME!
THE "FAKE NEWS" HERE IS THAT A DEDICATED MEDICAL PRACTITIONER IS GUILTY OF "FEAR-MONGERING". THE "FAKE NEWS" IS ALSO THAT ANY PHYSICIAN WHO HAS ATTACKED HIM IS A BETTER PHYSICIAN THAN DR. NEIDES IS OR THAT VACCINE ADVOCATES ARE SOMEHOW MORE CREDIBLE THAN THOSE HUNDREDS WHO HAVE DEMONSTRATED OVER DECADES THAT VACCINES ARE JUST NOT WHAT WE'RE TOLD THEY ARE AND ARE DEFINITELY NOT SAFE FOR SOME.
WE EACH TAKE A STAND FOR OR AGAINST MANY THINGS. LAST TIME I LOOKED, WE STILL HAVE THAT RIGHT IN AMERICA.
I STAND WITH DR. NEIDES AND OTHERS LIKE HIM WHOSE MAJOR CONCERN IS FOR THE HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF ALL...ESPECIALLY CHILDREN.
____________________
*** THE INNOCENT BLOG THAT STARTED THE HYPOCRITICAL, SENSELESS, WITCH-HUNTING UPROAR:*** [Bold type is mine. //WW]
Please note: This column was removed from cleveland.com for a few hours, but has now been restored in its entirety.
Dr Neides wrote the column that appeared on Cleveland.com, the Cleveland Plain Dealer's website, on January 6.
"Make 2017 the year to avoid toxins (good luck) and master your domain:Words on Wellness" By Dr. Daniel Neides, Cleveland Clinic
on January 06, 2017 at 3:14 PM, updated January 09, 2017 at 1:16 PM
LYNDHURST, Ohio--I am tired of all the nonsense we as American citizens are being fed while big business - and the government - continue to ignore the health and well-being of the fine people in this country. Why am I all fired up, you ask?
I, like everyone else, took the advice of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) - the government - and received a flu shot. I chose to receive the preservative free vaccine, thinking I did not want any thimerasol (i.e. mercury) that the "regular" flu vaccine contains.
Makes sense, right? Why would any of us want to be injected with mercury if it can potentially cause harm? However, what I did not realize is that the preservative-free vaccine contains formaldehyde.
WHAT? How can you call it preservative-free, yet still put a preservative in it? And worse yet, formaldehyde is a known carcinogen. Yet, here we are, being lined up like cattle and injected with an unsafe product. Within 12 hours of receiving the vaccine, I was in bed feeling miserable and missed two days of work with a terrible cough and body aches.
My anger actually stems from a constant toxic burden that is contributing to the chronic disease epidemic. And yet the government continues to talk out of both sides of its mouth. We want our citizens to be healthy and take full advantage of the best healthcare system in the world (so we think), yet we don't treat our bodies with the love and attention they deserve.
New year, new resolve If we don't look out...we can expect to hear about more cancers, more autism, more auto-immune diseases."
Our air, water, and food supplies are completely compromised and so it is time for us to take matters into our own hands. This year, I am committing to providing you with the educational resources to make you the best YOU. It may get confusing and frustrating at times, but stressing out over this won't help. Take three deep belly breaths and let's get started.
We live in a toxic soup. There are over 80,000 chemicals used in various industries country-wide. There are over 2,000 new chemicals being introduced annually. We breathe in these chemicals through exhaust, eat them in our processed foods ( just look at the labels that have 20 or 30 ingredients and good luck pronouncing their names), textiles (clothing, bedding, furniture), and personal care products, including make-up, deodorant, shampoos, and soaps.
Toxins accumulate in our fat cells if they are not eliminated and interrupt normal bodily functions. Your body should be a finely tuned machine with all of the organ systems working in concert together. But when toxins disrupt normal function, problems can occur. Those problems include cancers, auto-immune diseases, neurologic problems like autism, ADHD, and Parkinson's disease, and the most prevalent chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
Why are we so sick in 2017 despite the best access to healthcare? The body has wonderful built-in systems to help us detoxify. The liver and kidneys try to do an exceptional job keeping up with filtering out the "stuff" (toxins included) we don't need. Our skin - the largest organ in the body - will release toxins in the form of perspiration. Our breath will release toxins with each exhalation. When our gut is healthy and our microbiome (100 trillion organisms that live in our intestinal tract, within our airway, and on our skin) intact, our bowel movements help rid unwanted toxins.
I like to think of our detoxification system as a big bucket. As long as the toxic soup stays within the bucket, our body can naturally eliminate what we don't need and help us live at the highest quality of life. But what happens when the bucket starts to overflow - which is exactly what many of us have been facing our entire lives? The body may not have the capacity to eliminate our current exposures and THAT IS WHEN BAD THINGS START TO OCCUR.
Link to autism?
We must wake up and really, truly realize that we are the masters of our domain. If we don't look out for ourselves and each other, we can expect to hear about more cancers, more autism, and more auto-immune diseases. As a doctor, I should be thinking - great, this is perfect for business. I am a primary care doctor with a three month wait to get in. That is unacceptable. So YOU have to help yourself if you want me to help you.
Slight detour. Why do I mention autism now twice in this article. Because we have to wake up out of our trance and stop following bad advice. Does the vaccine burden - as has been debated for years - cause autism? I don't know and will not debate that here. What I will stand up and scream is that newborns without intact immune systems and detoxification systems are being over-burdened with PRESERVATIVES AND ADJUVANTS IN THE VACCINES.
The adjuvants, like aluminum - used to stimulate the immune system to create antibodies - can be incredibly harmful to the developing nervous system. Some of the vaccines have helped reduce the incidence of childhood communicable diseases, like meningitis and pneumonia. That is great news. But not at the expense of neurologic diseases like autism and ADHD increasing at alarming rates.
When I was in medical school in the late 1980s, the rate of autism was 1 in 1,000 children. For those born in the 1950's and 60's, do you recall a single student in your grade with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for ADHD or someone with a diagnosis of autism? I do not.
As of 2010, the rate of autism in the U.S. escalated to 1 in 68 children. The deniers will simply state that we do a better job of diagnosing this "disorder". Really? Something (s) are over-burdening our ability to detoxify, and that is when the problems begin.
So let me be clear - vaccines can be helpful when used properly. But the vaccination timing and understanding one's epigenetics (how your genes interact with the environment) are all critical to our risk of developing chronic disease. Please talk to your doctor about the optimal timing of vaccinations for your children, and therefore reduce your risk of raising a child with a neurologic complication.
For those who want to dive in further, help me understand why we vaccinate newborns for hepatitis B - a sexually transmitted disease. Any exposure to this virus is unlikely to happen before our second decade of life, but we expose our precious newborns to toxic aluminum (an adjuvant in the vaccine) at one day of life.
And when they actually need the protection, many who have received this three-shot series in the first year of life will lack antibody protection--as immunity may not last. Perhaps delaying the series until the immune system is more mature would reduce the risk of neurologic complications.
To help your family, start with yourself
My goal is to help you think about your total body burden related to toxic exposures. The more mindful you are at reading labels, thinking about what you are ingesting, and how you manage your stress will go a long way toward living a life free from chronic disease. Never assume that products are safe just because they are on a store shelf.
Together we will learn what to stay away from and what to consume. Become a voice for yourself and your family. Blind faith must become a thing of the past. And by educating your loved ones, you will actually help society reduce the chronic disease burden.
In a 2015 article in U.S. News and World Report, Jessica Hutchins, M.D., IFM certified practitioner, states, "Information on eating toxin-free food and pushing food manufacturers to stop using harmful ingredients can be found at foodbabe.com. When we vote with our dollars by choosing to buy products that are sustainably produced and chemical-free, we actively shape the market place. Help change the way [loved ones] nourish their precious bodies, starting with yourself as an example."
I cannot think of a better way to start off the New Year (Wishing you and yours a happy and healthy 2017!). Together we will uncover the exposures that can make us sick and discover ways to assist our bodies to optimally detoxify. This is how we will truly achieve the highest quality of life. Until next time, really open your eyes, and be well.
Dr. Daniel Neides is the Medical Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute.
DID YOUR PEDIATRICIAN OR GENERAL PRACTITIONER OFFER TO ALLOW YOU TO READ THE PACKAGE INSERTS THAT COME WITH ALL VACCINES? NO? DO YOU NOT WONDER WHY NOT?
I HAVE LONG AWAITED A BOOK TITLED "HOW TO BRIBE ANY CONGRESSMAN"...WHICH COULD BE WRITTEN TODAY BY OVER 10,000 "REGISTERED" CONGRESSIONAL LOBBYISTS...
OVER 10,000.
THERE ARE MORE LOBBYISTS SWARMING CAPITOL HILL THAN THERE ARE PEOPLE IN MANY SMALL TOWNS IN AMERICA! LET THAT SINK IN...
WHILE JACK ABRAMOFF MIGHT BE WELL ABLE TO SINGLE-HANDEDLY PEN SUCH A BOOK (HE TOLD CBS THAT HE HAD THOUGHT ABOUT IT) AND MAY BE THE MOST NOTORIOUS BRIBER IN RECENT HISTORY, HE IS BY NO MEANS THE ONLY ONE...OR THE WORST.
GETTING A "FIX" IN TO A CONGRESSMAN IS BOTH EASY AND VERY LUCRATIVE.
By plying Congressmen and their staffers with gifts, from meals to use of private jets, Abramoff was able to have significant influence over about 100 congressional offices—a failure, according to his own standards, as there were still 355 offices that he did not control.
[ACTUALLY, AS WE WILL SEE, ABRAMOFF SPREAD THE WEALTH TO OVER 250 IN CONGRESS.]
Then, in 2005, it all fell apart...for Abramoff, but not for those who sold-out to Abramoff in Congress.
After a very public scandal, he pled guilty to "corrupting public officials", tax evasion and fraud.
He served three-and-a-half years in a medium security prison in Maryland.
The Congressmen he bought? The 250 or so who took Abramoff's "gifts" don't seem to feel guilty at all about the fact that what they did undermined the very fabric of the United States.
Of the approximately $85 million in American Indian tribal money entrusted to Abramoff, his employers, or his related organizations, over $4.4 million since 1999 were directed to at least 250 members of Congress, primarily Republicans in leadership positions or on relevant committees, and Democrats with standing connections to Native American interests, such as Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). These contributions have since become tainted by their association with Abramoff's criminal behavior.
BUT ALMOST ALL OF THOSE WHO TOOK THE MONEY AND GIFTS GOT RE-ELECTED AND GOT NO PRISON TIME. ONLY A COUPLE OF THE "TAKERS" WERE ACTUALLY "TAINTED" BY THE WHOLE THING. SOME WHO WERE CAUGHT IN THIS SIMPLY RETURNED THE MONEY OR GIFTS WHILE SOME MADE A BIG SHOW OF DONATING THE AMOUNTS TO CHARITIES. TRA-LA-LA-LA, LIFE GOES ON.
WHO WERE SOME OF THE BIGGEST 'WINNERS' WHO NEVER SAW A COURTROOM LIKE THEIR BENEFACTOR DID? Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) $67,000, Representative John Doolittle (R-CA) raked in over $50,000 in known "donations", Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) got the presumed biggest bang, $150,000.
AND SINCE THE ABRAMOFF SCANDAL, HAS ANYTHING CHANGED, HAS THE POWER OF LOBBYISTS BEEN CURTAILED? NO. NO, ACCORDING TO LOBBYISTS THEMSELVES, AND ACCORDING TO OLD JACK ABRAMOFF WHO IS STILL PISSED-OFF THAT HE DID TIME AND THOSE HE HANDED THE BRIBES TO DID NONE.
The vast amounts of money spent on lobbying, however, is not the most effective lobbying strategy. The ultimate "weapon" doesn't involve gifts or money exchanging hands at the time.
No, according to Abramoff, the BEST way to get a Congressman or Senator to do his bidding was to extend a lucrative job offer. For example, promising a staffer a job once they were done serving the Hill—which could triple their salary—would always seal the deal. As Abramoff says, from that point on, he "owned" them, and whatever he wanted done for his clients was done… and then some.
Lobbyists often craft purposefully nebulous language to change the US code to specific ends of industry, and these amendments are then sneaked into various bills, which no one reads before passing.
The same shenanigans occur between other federal agencies and drug companies.
For example, the revolving door between the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and various drug companies and other industries, such as the biotech industry, has done untold damage to public health and health freedom. It is very common for high-ranking FDA officials to get lucrative consulting positions with the drug companies after they quit.
An estimated two-thirds of Ambramoff's direct contributions went to Republican congressmen, and one-third to Democratic congressional leaders.
"As surely as water flows downhill, money in politics flows to where the power is."
DOES MONEY FOLLOW POWER OR IS POWER GAINED BY TAKING MONEY FOR CONGRESSIONAL FAVORS?
INDIAN GAMING IS A DROP IN THE BUCKET COMPARED TO WHAT BIG PHARMA SHELLS OUT TO LOBBYISTS TO BUY CONGRESSIONAL VOTES. HOW BIG IS THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY, WHICH, BY THE WAY, SPENDS MORE ON CONGRESSIONAL LOBBYING THAN ANY OTHER INDUSTRY?
IT'S A $1.1 TRILLION GIANT.
To put these mind-boggling numbers into a more comprehensive perspective,
the pharmaceutical industry is worth more than the gross domestic
product (GDP) of 168 different nations on this planet (individually, not
collectively). That's right—if Big Pharma's global market was compared
to the GDP—the market value of all the output produced in a nation in
one year—then Big Pharma would rank # 15 on a list of 183 nations. LET'S BE HONEST...WE'VE SEEN OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS ON 'THE HILL' VOTE FOR SOMETHING WE KNOW THE MAJORITY OF HIS/HER CONSTITUENTS (WE, THE PEOPLE) HAVE BEEN AGAINST, AFTER BEING "WOOED" BY BIG BUSINESS' HIRED HENCHMEN, THE PROFESSIONAL LOBBYISTS. Ex-lobbyist: Most in Congress accept bribes - USA Today
"FOLLOW THE MONEY"... IF YOU CAN...AND WATCH ...WHO IS BUYING WHOM.
"Individuals and interest groups will give campaign contributions to ( AND LOBBY) politicians in the best position to deliver what they're looking for.
That means incumbents get vastly more than challengers, committee chairmen and legislative leaders get more than rank-and-file members, and parties in power get more than parties in the minority.
No important bill is considered without first winning approval from at least one committee, and often several. Those panels are thus enormously important to the industries they oversee.
Because of that, expect members of the Agriculture Committee to get the most in contributions from agribusiness interests; Banking Committee members from financial firms, etc.
And expect the chairmen of the committees -- and ranking minority members -- to top the list of recipients. When a member of Congress changes committees, the main source of his or her financial support typically changes as well."
A Gallup Poll released in 2013 showed that only six percent of Americans believe lobbyists are honest or have high ethical standards.
Further confirming America’s view of lobbyists, seven in ten Americans believe that lobbyists have too much influence in Washington.
Those who disagree with our current lobbying system point to the Citizen’s United Supreme Court case, which allowed unlimited donations to political campaigns. They worry that such a broad decision may give lobbyists more power in negotiating a legislator’s vote. In addition, the pressure of interest groups influences politicians to vote in favor of the interest group, which may not line up with their constituents’ viewpoints.
Finally, there’s a consistent fear that lobbyists use bribery and monetary threats to guide government actions."
IT MAY BE THE "DIRTIEST SECRET" OF CAPITOL HILL, BUT I DOUBT IT. CONGRESSIONAL LOBBYISTS MAKE AN AVERAGE OF MILLIONS PER YEAR TO SIMPLY BADGER, BRIBE AND BEND CONGRESSMEN TO THE WILL OF THOSE THEY "LOBBY" FOR.
BECAUSE MOST AMERICANS WON'T READ AND RESEARCH ON THEIR OWN AND THOSE IN POLITICS KNOW THIS AND USE IT TO THEIR BENEFIT, THE "SECRET WORLD" OF CONGRESSIONAL LOBBYISTS IS VIRTUALLY UNKNOWN TO THE VOTING, TAX-PAYING PUBLIC.
BLISSFULLY UNAWARE THAT SOME OF THEIR HARD-EARNED TAX DOLLARS ARE BEING SPENT BY EVERYONE FROM GROUPS OF HOMETOWN BUSINESSES AND INSTITUTIONS TO LOCAL, STATE AND FEDERAL OFFICIALS TO SWAY THE VOTES AND GARNER FAVORS FROM MEMBERS OF THE CAPITOL HILL GANG OF MISCREANTS, AVERAGE CITIZEN SEEMS ALWAYS SHOCKED WHEN ONE OF THE 'BIG NAME' LOBBYISTS GETS BUSTED DIRTY-DEALING...ESPECIALLY IF THAT LOBBYIST IS AN EX-SENATOR/REPRESENTATIVE OR EX-GOVERNOR OR EX-ELECTED ONE OF ANY ILK.
IT'S A MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR RACKET AND EVERYONE WANTS A PIECE OF THE ACTION...EXCEPT FOR THOSE PAYING THROUGH THE NOSE FOR WHAT IT COSTS TO GET SOME ACTION.
WE'LL HAVE A LOOK AT THE BIGGEST SCANDALS TO HIT THE DARK WORLD OF WASHINGTON LOBBYISTS IN A FEW PARAGRAPHS, BUT FOR NOW, LET'S SEE WHAT THE REGISTERED GOLD-DIGGERS HAVE BEEN UP TO (BESIDES UP TO THEIR NECKS IN THE SEWER WITH OTHER RATS).
UNDER THE BANNER OF "LOBBYING DATABASE", ONE WATCHDOG ORGANIZATION ('CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS') STATES, REGARDING WASHINGTON D.C. LOBBYISTS:
"In addition to campaign contributions to elected officials and candidates, companies, labor unions, and other organizations spend billions of dollars each year to lobby Congress and federal agencies. Some special interests retain lobbying firms, many of them located along Washington's legendary K Street; others have lobbyists working in-house. We've got totals spent on lobbying, beginning in 1998, for everyone from AAI Corp. to Zurich Financial."
DO AMERICANS CARE? SINCE I FIND THAT MOST TO WHOM I MENTION LOBBYISTS DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE OR WHAT THEY DO, OBVIOUSLY NOT.
"Lobbying is a right protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and ultimately allows citizens to shape legislators’ decisions. U.S. citizens have the right to petition, free speech, and freedom of the press, so when citizens want to influence government policy, they are constitutionally protected.
Those who hire lobbyists are usually called special interest groups–groups of people who use advocacy to influence policy and public opinion.
Lobbying is not only popular on the federal level, but also at the state level.
A 2006 survey by the Center for Public Integrity reported that there were40,000 paid lobbyists working with state legislatures, with that number expected to rise. Other lobbying efforts are even more local. Trying to persuade a city council to halt (OR ALLOW) something like a construction project is another common example of lobbying."
HERE'S A QUICK SUMMARY OF LOBBYING/LOBBYISTS, OBVIOUSLY BY SOMEONE WHO SEES THE "PROFESSIONALS" AND EX-ELECTED ONES ACTING AS HIGH-PAID LOBBYISTS AS HUMAN BEINGS:
"Anyone who petitions the government or contacts their member of Congress to voice an opinion is functioning as a lobbyist. Lobbying is a regulated industry and a protected activity under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that guarantees rights to free speech, assembly, and petition.
Lobbying involves more than persuading legislators. Professional lobbyists research and analyze legislation or regulatory proposals, attend congressional hearings, and educate government officials and corporate officers on important issues.
Lobbyists also work to change public opinion through advertising campaigns or by influencing 'opinion leaders'.
Who do lobbyists work for?
Lobbyists represent just about every American institution and interest group - labor unions, corporations, colleges and universities, churches, charities, environmental groups, senior citizens organizations, and even state, local or foreign governments.
How does someone become a lobbyist? (BESIDES BEING EXPERT AT LYING AND BUTT-KISSING?)
What background or training is needed? (EVER WORK IN A BROTHEL BEFORE?)
Lobbyists come from all walks of life. Most are college graduates, and many have advanced degrees. Many lobbyists begin their careers working on Capitol Hill in a congressional office. Lobbyists must have strong communication skills and knowledge of the legislative process as well as the industry that they are representing.
While there is no formal training to become a lobbyist, the State Government Affairs Council offers the Lobbying Certificate Program, a continuing education program which helps those of all skill levels improve their knowledge of the legislative process and lobbying profession.
Does a lobbyist have to be registered? (AS WHAT? VERMIN?)
Since 1995, the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) has required individuals who are paid for lobbying at the federal level to register with the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House.
Lobbying firms, self-employed lobbyists and organizations employing lobbyists must file regular reports of lobbying activity."
THEY DON'T. THERE ARE LOOPHOLES.
OVERALL SPENDING TOTALS FOR LOBBYING THE CROOKS ON THE HILL LOOKS TO BE DOWN FROM A HIGH (REPORTED NUMBERS ONLY) OF OVER $3 1/2 BILLION IN 2010 TO UNDER $2 1/2 BILLION IN 2016. MAYBE THEY JUST LEARNED HOW TO HIDE THE FIGURES BETTER, OR, AS ALWAYS, NOBODY IS ENFORCING THAT "ACT" TO KEEP TABS ON THINGS?
IT IS BEST FOR CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES IF THE VOTERS DON'T SEE WHO WENT KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCKING ON EVERY CONGRESSMAN'S DOOR WITH A LITTLE "INCENTIVE" TO PLAY NICE WITH WHOMEVER THEY REPRESENT, AND TO HIDE WHICH LOBBYISTS' BOSSES CONTRIBUTE MOST TO THOSE CAMPAIGN 'WAR CHESTS'.
THE RECORD NUMBER OF "REGISTERED" LOBBYISTS WAS SET IN 2007 WHEN 14,822 ADMITTED THEY WERE LOBBYISTS, BUT THE NUMBER WAS DOWN TO A REGISTERED 10,882 IN 2016., LOWEST SINCE 1998.
WHO ARE THE TOP 20 BIG SPENDERS ON LOBBYING? YOU MAY BE SURPRISED...
But look at the next five! Why would realtors, hospitals, a medical insurance company and Big Pharma spend SO MANY MILLIONS to lobby the U.S. Congress? F-A-V-O-R-S.
Who is 'Alphabet, Inc.'? Alphabet Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate founded on October 2, 2015, by the two founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. GOOGLE! WHY?
'Southern Co," is a utilities conglomerate, oil, gas, electric.
What about FedEx? Why would THEY need to lobby anyone?
” By working as policy advisors and in other “non-lobbyist” positions, former lobbyists can keep their current jobs but escape the consequences of being a registered lobbyist, leading people in and out of lobbying to suggest that those consequences act as a deterrent to transparency.
Rx-Congressmen and their high-level staff members (SUPPOSEDLY) must refrain from lobbying for up to two years in some cases. These cooling-off periods, while meaningful, are not blanket restrictions on influence peddling.
Members of Congress are restricted, temporarily, from lobbying the body in which they used to serve, but they can still lobby federal agencies immediately after leaving office. More significantly, unless they spend more than 20 percent of their time lobbying, they do not need to register as lobbyists at all and are therefore not subject to any restrictions
One former Democratic Senator, Tom Daschle, has even prompted some political influence denizens to call this the “Daschle exemption.” After nearly twenty years serving in the House and Senate, including stints as Minority and Majority Leader of the Senate, Daschle went on to serve as a “special policy advisor” for law firm Alston & Bird, which, perhaps coincidentally, doubled its lobbying income during his first year at the firm.
Newt Gingrich, a former Republican Speaker of the House and presidential candidate, never registered as a lobbyist, despite making hundreds of thousands of dollars advising Freddie Mac, among other clients, on public policy issues through his company, The Gingrich Group, during the height of the housing bubble.
News reports say Gingrich met with members of Congress regarding issues salient to his clients and yet he never had to register as an official lobbyist.
LOOPHOLES. LOOPHOLES ABOUND.
Many observers theorize that a lot of lobbying has simply gone underground and is being done by individuals who are able to avoid the federal threshold for disclosure.
In short, the public is now being provided less information about which organizations are hiring which people to influence federal policy and how much they are truly spending (or earning) to do so."
HOW LONG HAVE LOBBYISTS BEEN BUYING CONGRESS? SINCE AT LEAST THE 1800s!
LET'S LOOK AT THE REALLY DARK SIDE OF LOBBYING THROUGH THE LONG YEARS.
1. 1857, the New York Times published an expose of lobbying for the Pacific Railroad bill, charging that lobbyists had shaped a bill in order to pillage federal lands. The House opened an investigation that led four representatives to resign (the House also expelled from its galleries the Times reporter who broke the story).
2. 1872, the New York Sun exposed the Credit Mobilier scandal, where a railroad lobbyist provided stock to members of Congress to make them more likely to increase appropriations for transcontinental railroad construction. Both the Senate and House investigated the charges, which ruined the careers of two vice presidents, a Speaker, and other members of both bodies.
3. 1906, Cosmopolitan magazine publishes David Graham Phillips’ series of muckraking exposes on the “Treason of the Senate,” in which he accused prominent senators of representing special interests rather than the public interest. The series contributes to political pressure that results in the Seventeenth Amendment requiring senators to be elected by the public rather than by state legislatures.
4. 1913, the New York World ran an expose of questionable tactics by a lobbyist for the National Association of Manufacturers seeking to influence tariff rates. One member of the House resigned and the House passed a bill requiring lobbyists to register with Congress. The Senate declined to go along with the reform.
5. 1929, the New York World accused Connecticut Senator Hiram Bingham of bringing a paid agent for the Connecticut Manufacturers’ Association into closed committee meetings on a pending tariff bill. The Senate investigated and censured Bingham (previously prominent as the discoverer of Machu Picchu), who was then defeated for reelection.
6. 1962, a Des Moines Register correspondent reported that Senate Majority Secretary Bobby Baker accepted favors from lobbyists in exchange for providing access to powerful senators. A Senate committee investigated and Baker was later convicted of income tax evasion.
7. 1976, the Washington Post broke the story that the Justice Department was investigating South Korean agent Tongsun Park, who had distributed illegal gifts to members of Congress. Congressional investigation of “Koreagate” ended with the reprimand of three members of the House and the indictment of two others.
8. 1990, accounts in the Orange County Register, the Mesa [Arizona] Tribune, the Detroit News, the Los Angeles Times, the Arizona Republic, and the Wall Street Journal revealed that five senators met with the head of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board about the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, whose head, Charles H. Keating, Jr. had made substantial contributions to their political campaigns. The Senate Ethics Committee investigated the Keating Five, and reprimanded one of them, California Senator Alan Cranston.
9. 2005, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported a bribery scandal involving lobbyists’ gifts and payments to Representative Randy “Duke” Cunningham that led to his resignation from Congress and criminal conviction.
10. 2005, Washington Post reporters revealed that Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff was the central figure in a congressional corruption scandal, as Justice Department prosecutors investigated him for fraud and bribery allegations.
SINCE THAT 'TOP 10 LIST' LEFT OUT SOME OF THE MOST DESPICABLE LOBBYISTS (IN MY OPINION) AND ONLY WENT TO 2006, LET'S ADD A FEW, MAYBE A COUPLE THAT HAVE COME TO LIGHT SINCE THEN.
"Ex-McCain Aide Says He Tried To Intervene: More details from the Washington Post:"
~~LET US NOT OVERLOOK TONY PODESTA, BROTHER OF JOHN PODESTA, HILARY CLINTON'S "MAIN MAN".
While John kept the revolving door spinning, Tony held the fort at the Podesta Group, the lobbying firm they founded in the late ’80s. (Can we begin to imagine the "insider information" Tony has been privy to?)
The Podesta Group’s client list reads like a who’s who of awfulness—Bank of America, Mubarak’s Egypt, British Petroleum, and nearly every other military and for-profit health care conglomerate known to man (and let’s not forget the bailed-out likes of General Motors). The firm’s yearly income jumped from a relatively meager $10 million in ’07 to nearly $30 million [since] Obama.
~~Jack N. Gerard
As president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, Gerard spews nearly as much pollution as the 400 fossil fuel-extracting companies he represents.
The group spent almost $8 million of its $200 million budget in 2010 (Gerard banked $6.5 million in the same year) actively lobbying against any and all environmental regulations.
The rest goes to slick front groups, disinformation campaigns, contributing to future lobbyists and groups like Americans for Prosperity and ALEC, and funding bunk science to undercut public understanding of climate change.
Taking their cues from an earlier generation of tobacco industry doubt merchants, a still-relevant 1998 Petroleum Institute internal memo reads: “Victory will be achieved when . . . citizens ‘understand’ uncertainties in climate science . . . [and] recognition of uncertainties becomes part of the ‘conventional wisdom.’
THE FOLLOWING IS QUITE LENGTHY, BUT OF ALL I CAN THINK OF, IT SHOWS MOST CLEARLY THE SHAMELESSNESS OF OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS AS THEY PULL THE WOOL OVER ALL OUR EYES AND SELL THEIR COLLECTIVE SOUL TO BIG BUSINESS, USING LOBBYISTS TO SWAY ONE ANOTHER AND HARD-SELL THE AMERICAN PUBLIC ON BILLS THAT WILL COST US AND OUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN TRILLIONS OF HARD-EARNED DOLLARS ACROSS TIME.
THIS THAT FOLLOWS SURELY DESCRIBES ONE OF, IF NOT THE WORST AND DARKEST NIGHTS ON CAPITOL HILL, A NIGHT OF RAMPANT MISUSE OF THE POWER THEY HAVE AND HOW SHAMELESSLY THEY SELL OUT THOSE OF US WHO VOTE FOR THEM OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
BUT REMEMBER, BIG PHARMA'S REACH EXTENDS BEYOND JUST CONGRESS, INTO FEDERAL AGENCIES LIKE THE FDA AND THE WHITE HOUSE STAFF AS WELL.
"You may have never heard of Billy Tauzin (He was a Democrat when the voters in Louisiana’s Third Congressional District elected him to Congress in 1980, but "turned Republican" in 1994.), but we’re paying dearly for Tauzin’s tireless work for the pharmaceuticbal industry.
So are our employers and co-workers. We all are. And in the future, so will our children and grandchildren. Everyone who buys health insurance will have to fork over more money to health insurance companies every payday because of the deals Tauzin cut for Big Pharma.
We can also thank Wilbert Joseph Tauzin II and many of his friends in Washington for increases in both our taxes and the national debt.
For many years, Tauzin was one of the pharmaceutical industry’s most important allies in Congress, especially from 2001 to 2004, when he chaired the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees the Food and Drug Administration. While he held that chairmanship, drug companies and insurance and health professionals contributed nearly $1 million to Tauzin’s congressional campaigns.
That’s chump change, though, compared to what the pharmaceutical industry paid him as its top lobbyist when he left Congress in 2005. His salary increased more than twelve-fold — from $162,100 to $2 million — the minute he signed on as president and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the industry’s powerful trade group.
To get what they wanted written into the ObamaCare Bill, Big Pharma spent $275 million in JUST 2009, a figure that stands as the greatest amount ever spent on lobbying by one industry in a single year.
The industry also doled out millions of dollars in campaign contributions in 2008 and 2009, much of it to Democrats who ostensibly were in charge of writing the reform legislation.
PhRMA's ability to influence elections and public policy has made it the envy of most other corporate advocacy groups in Washington. In fact, by 2023, the US government’s debt will likely be more than a trillion dollars higher than it otherwise would be BECAUSE OF the way Tauzin, on behalf of the pharmaceutical companies, and other lobbyists — with the blessing of President George W. Bush and Republican leaders in Congress — wrote the Medicare drug bill in 2003.
That "BILL" was written in a way that boosts drug company profits while doing little to make prescription medications more affordable for the vast majority of Americans. In fact, drug prices are going up at a faster clip than ever before.
CONGRESS, AS ALWAYS, WITH THE "HELP" OF LOBBYISTS, WRITES THE "BILLS" AND WE PAY FOR THEM.
Our elected officials continue to accept as gospel Big Pharma’s talking points that (1) any constraint on pharmaceutical companies’ ability to gouge us would “stifle” or “have a chilling effect” on innovation and (2) they have to charge Americans more because other countries won’t let them gouge their citizens.
[I BEG TO DIFFER. THEY DO NOT ACCEPT ANY SUCH THING. THEY KNOW BETTER, BUT USE THIS AS AN EXCUSE TO SELL THE WHOLE THING IN THE PRESS TO A GULLIBLE, BLINDLY TRUSTING PUBLIC. CONGRESS AND THE CORPORATE LOBBYISTS KNOW HOW TO MAKE AMERICANS BOW TO THE DEMIGODS OF INDUSTRY AS THE JOB-GIVING, WAGE-PAYING "MASTERS AND SAVIORS". THE DEMIGODS MUST NOT BE ANGERED OR JOBS AND WAGES MIGHT CEASE. ]
For the success of this propaganda we can thank the millions of dollars in dark money the industry spends every year on deceptive PR campaigns.
In 2013 we spent exactly 100 percent more per capita on pharmaceuticals than the average of the 34 countries that comprise the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), of which the United States is a member.
According to Express Scripts’ prescription price index, a branded drug that cost $100 in 2008 had almost doubled in price six years later. This rapid increase in drug prices is one of the reasons why health insurers and employers that offer coverage to their workers are constantly raising not only the premiums we have to pay but also our out-of-pocket costs through higher deductibles and coinsurance rates.
1994, Bill Clinton wanted to give Medicare the ability to negotiate with drug companies and to make it legal for medications made in the United States and exported to Canada and other countries to be imported back into the States and sold at lower prices. Both of those policy changes undoubtedly would have cut into drug company profit margins. But the Clinton reform legislation never made it to the floor of either the House or Senate for a vote. Industry lobbyists were able to kill it in committee.
As Bruce Bartlett, who served as domestic policy adviser to President Ronald Reagan, wrote in The New York Times ten years later, enacting a new drug benefit — written by lobbyists without cost containment provisions — had Bush’s full support. “Looking ahead to a close reelection in 2004, he thought a new government giveaway to the elderly would increase his vote share among this group,” Bartlett wrote.
Not wanting to risk losing generous campaign contributions from the pharmaceutical industry, however, Bush and congressional leaders, including Tauzin, who by then chaired the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas, invited drug company lobbyists to help shape what would become the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003.
Also invited to the table were lobbyists for health insurers. They made certain that Medicare beneficiaries who wanted drug coverage would have to buy it from private insurers.
THAT IS TOO MUCH POWER AND, AS WE CAN NOW SEE, IT'S BIG MONEY THAT CREATES BIG POWER.
“The pharmaceutical lobbyists wrote the bill,” a disgusted Republican Representative Walter Jones of North Carolina’s Third Congressional District later told 60 Minutes after voting against the measure.
The timing of the vote was in itself unusual. What came next, however, was something that had never happened before in the history of the country. Jones said it was the “ugliest night” he had ever witnessed in more than two decades as a member of Congress.
Tauzin, Hastert and DeLay, who had received hundreds of thousands of dollars from drug companies during their political careers, believed they had the support they needed when they called for a vote at 3:00 a.m. on Saturday. When asked why he thought House leaders had scheduled the vote long after most Americans had gone to bed, Representative Dan Burton (R-IN), who also voted against the bill, said “a lot of shenanigans were going on that night (that) they didn’t want on national television.”
Among the shenanigans, reportedly sanctioned by House leaders: freezing C-SPAN cameras and allowing lobbyists on the House floor as the vote was being taken. (Lobbyists who previously served in Congress had floor privileges until the enactment of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, which was passed in the aftermath of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.)
Despite the arm twisting, the bill was still short of the 218 votes needed for passage after the standard 15-minute voting period. Rather than accept defeat, however, Hastert added two minutes to the voting clock. When that wasn’t enough, Hastert decided to keep the vote open indefinitely to give the pharmaceutical lobbyists more time to change minds.
As 4:00 a.m. approached, the industry was still three votes short, but House leaders and the industry’s platoon of lobbyists were not yet ready to concede. Their persistence finally paid off when Republican representative Ernest Istook of Oklahoma switched his vote. Seven other Republicans eventually followed Istook’s lead. When the “yeas” reached 220 at 5:53 a.m., almost three hours after the vote began, Hastert declared the bill passed. It was the longest electronic vote in congressional history.
Writing in the conservative 'National Review' ten years later, Noah Glyn described the law as “perhaps the most prominent example of big government Republicanism during the Bush years.”
Norman Ornstein of the conservative American Enterprise Institute called it a “huge trophy” for the Bush reelection team.
Indeed. Although his margin of victory over Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts in the 2004 general election was the slimmest in American history for an incumbent president, Bush received just enough additional votes from Medicare beneficiaries, especially in Florida with its 27 electoral votes, to make the difference.
Within three years after Bush signed the bill into law, according to 60 Minutes, at least 15 members of Congress, congressional staffers and administration officials who had played a role in the bill’s passage had left office and joined the pharmaceutical industry."
IF YOU WANT A BIGGER, BETTER PICTURE OF WHY AMERICANS TODAY MUST OFTEN CHOOSE WHETHER TO HAVE FOOD ON THE TABLE OR MEDICINE TO SUSTAIN LIFE, GO HAVE THE LONGER READ ON THIS IN EXCRUCIATING DETAIL AT (BILL) MOYERS & COMPANY. YOU CAN SEE HOW LITTLE IT TAKES TO BUY A POLITICIAN.
WRITING LAWS, PASSING BILLS BECOMES A MATTER OF MONEY, LOTS AND LOTS OF CAMPAIGN MONEY AND THEN MORE MONEY AS CONGRESSMEN TRANSITION FROM LOW-PAYING TO MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR JOBS AS LOBBYISTS AND "ADVISERS" TO BIG BUSINESS AFTER THEY EITHER GET VOTED OUT OR DECIDE TO LEAVE ON THEIR OWN FOR THOSE HIGHER-PAYING CORPORATE SLOTS THEY FIT SO NICELY INTO.
NOTHING IS DONE BY THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE ANYMORE, BUT BY POWERFUL LOBBYISTS WHO SWAY THOSE WE ELECT TO VOTE AGAINST US. NO MATTER WHAT WE ASK OUR ELECTEDS TO VOTE FOR OR AGAINST, IF THEY CAN BE PAID TO VOTE OTHERWISE AND CHOOSE TO DO SO, WE HAVE TRAITORS IN GOVERNMENT.
WHEN AN ELECTED OFFICIAL IS MORE CONCERNED WITH SUCKING UP TO POWERFUL CORPORATIONS AND PADDING THEIR OWN WALLETS THAN THEY ARE WITH DOING THE RIGHT THING FOR THE POPULACE AND THE NATION, THEN WE HAVE LOST AMERICA.
AND SO WE HAVE...LOST AMERICA.
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