Free Republic

Our federal government sure knows how to pick ‘em.Fisker is an electric car company, founded in 2007, which holds the dubious distinction of producing the only car to ever break down during its Consumer Reports test drive. It was supposed to be an American leader in new technologies, with a revamped factory in Delaware and all the jobs that come with it. It ended up producing cars in Finland— cars that caught on fire and konked out due to the company’s use of faulty batteries from another taxpayer-funded company, A123. Facing recalls and possible bankruptcy, Fisker’s CEO Henrik Fisker stepped...

When the Congress failed to pass cap and trade legislation during his first term Barack Obama famously quipped that there was “more than one way to skin a cat,” and we all know what he meant by that; he was going to use the EPA to bypass the Congress and subvert the constitution through the regulatory process.This was a proclamation that he reaffirmed during his State of the Union address when he stated, “if Congress won’t act soon to protect future generations, I will.” Well, the EPA has already started making moves to implement cap and trade and at...

Here’s something that slipped through the cracks thanks to the fake drama that was going on during the fake fiscal crisis coming from our fake government in Washington, DC: Another fake green company boondoggle has resulted in federal dollars being spent on …nothing. According to a report issued by the Department of Energy’s own inspector general, employees at LG Chem, a Korean company that operates a battery plant in Holland, Michigan- a plant that’s supposed to support the Chevy Volt- were paid for playing video games, board games, volunteer work at Habitat for Humanity and other local charities. Another fake-work...

Governor Pat Quinn announced a $54 million capital investment to build a Fine Arts Complex that will strengthen Illinois State University’s renowned arts programs and create 775 construction jobs. “This investment means Illinois State University will be able to build on its excellent reputation in the fine arts while creating hundreds of good jobs in Normal,” the governor said on Founders Day on February 21. “Higher education is a powerful force for growth in Illinois. We all benefit when our universities have the facilities to engage and educate our young people, whether the field is art, accounting or engineering.” The...

This comes as no surprise to Hot Air readers, who learned about the value of the Obama administration’s $150 million subsidy investment of LG Chem last fall. After furloughing its workers at their Grand Rapids plant without having a single one of their batteries installed in a consumer vehicle, the local NBC affiliate produced this report on the way taxpayer money got spent:

The Keystone XL Pipeline has been viewed as a means to alleviate several problems: reducing America's dependency upon Middle East Oil, providing a source for America's refining of oil if America ever decides to face reality and challenge the environmentalist insistence against building domestic refineries, lowering the price of fuel at the pump (since increasing pump prices directly influences the price of all domestic products, everything moves by oil), providing employment for many Americans in the construction of the pipeline and at the port, and an assurance of a reliable source of crude (in case we decide to accept reality)....

On September 11, 2012 four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens were murdered in Benghazi, Libya. Five months have passed since that fateful day and we still do not have an accounting for Obama's whereabouts during the seven hour firefight in Benghazi. What we do know however, is that Obama failed in his duty to come to the aid of incredibly brave Americans in distress. We know now that not only did Obama not call an in-person emergency meeting in the Situation Room (hence no 'Situation Room photo' during Benghazi) or ANY room, his re-election was more important to him than...

Former Florida GOP chairman Jim Greer pleaded guilty Monday morning to four charges of grand theft, avoiding trial in a case that could have potentially embarrassed former Gov. Charlie Crist and much of the state’s Republican elite.After two weeks of behind-the-scenes wrangling, former GOP party chairman Jim Greer walked into court Monday morning and pleaded guilty to theft and money laundering charges that could put him behind bars for 3 and 1/2 years. Greer responded “guilty your honor’’ to charges he stole and laundered GOP campaign contributions through a company he created, Victory Strategies. He declined to talk with a...

"Paraguay: Alleged Hezbollah financier detained Wassim el Abd Fadel, a Lebanese with Paraguayan citizenship, faces human trafficking and narco-terrorism charges."  SNIPPET: "ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay – Wassim el Abd Fadel is behind bars inside Tacumbú prison in Asunción, Paraguay, as he awaits trial on human trafficking, money laundering and narco-trafficking charges. But Paraguayan authorities suspect the Lebanese with Paraguayan citizenship’s involvement in crime is much greater, which is why he’s being investigated for financing the terrorist organization Hezbollah. Fadel, 31, was arrested on Dec. 21 in Ciudad del Este, which is on the border shared by Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina, about...

SPECIAL REPORT: Slam-Dunking Animal RightsPosted On July 28, 2003It's no secret that Leslie and Nanci Alexander, co-owners of the NBA's Houston Rockets franchise, are among the global animal-rights movement's biggest financial backers. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals even acknowledged the couple in 1998 for making "one of the most generous gifts we have ever received." Nanci Alexander personally donated over $225,000 toward the passage of a constitutional amendment that gave legal protection to pigs in Florida. But recently released tax records indicate that the Alexanders have also funded the operations of "Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty" (SHAC), one of...

HSBC to Pay Record Fine in Money Laundering Case The U.S. Justice Department has filed court papers alleging felony criminal offenses against one of the world's largest banks, HSBC, in a New York federal court. HSBC announced earlier in the day that it has agreed to pay a record $1.92 billion fine to settle charges connected to a money laundering scheme in the United States. A U.S. Senate investigation published in July said HSBC had poor anti-money laundering controls in place and had shifted billions of dollars for Mexican drug lords, terrorists and governments under sanctions, including Iran and North...

Govt outlines HSBC ties to drug money laundering WASHINGTON (AP) — British bank HSBC violated the Bank Secrecy Act in connection with the laundering of money from narcotics drug traffickers in Mexico and intentionally allowed prohibited transactions with Iran and other nations that have been under sanctions, the Justice Department alleged Tuesday. In court papers filed in federal court in Brooklyn, the federal government said the case against HSBC is related to the laundering of proceeds from narcotics trafficking via the Black Market Peso Exchange — a method by which money launderers convert cash narcotics dollars into Colombian pesos by...

Documents obtained by CBS News show that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) discussed using their covert operation "Fast and Furious" to argue for controversial new rules about gun sales. PICTURES: ATF "Gunwalking" scandal timeline In Fast and Furious, ATF secretly encouraged gun dealers to sell to suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels to go after the "big fish." But ATF whistleblowers told CBS News and Congress it was a dangerous practice called "gunwalking," and it put thousands of weapons on the street. Many were used in violent crimes in Mexico. Two were found at the murder...

http://spire-law.com/in-the-news/ 43 trillion dollars lawsuit against gov officials and major banks

The U.S. Special Inspector General in Baghdad fear 41.6 billion ( U.S. tax dollars ) is now leaving (funneled out) of country per year...

This week financial news organization CNBC gave some mainstream attention to the largest money laundering and racketeering lawsuit in United States History, in which “Banksters” and their U.S. racketeering partners are being accused of laundering of 43 trillion dollars worth of ill gotten gains. The lawsuit is said to involve officials located in the highest offices of government and the financial sector. Since this information was surprisingly revealed by the mainstream news organization there has been a very suspicious and deadly fallout at the CNBC headquarters. Within hours the original page for the article was taken down, and CNBC senior...

"Training would offer energy-management courses in East Africa"The Obama administration wants U.S. taxpayers to finance the creation of energy-management doctorate and master’s degree programs at a university in the East African nation of Uganda. Obama, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, wants to help “current and future Ugandan professionals” and others to develop expertise “in sound environmental management and biodiversity conservation in relation to oil and gas development.” Before doing so, however, those same taxpayers and other interested parties have a chance to submit comments to USAID on the proposed endeavor. The USAID/Uganda Education for Environmentally Sound Oil Management...

On Friday, March 30, 2012, Hisham Y. Altalib visited the White House. According to visitor logs, Altalib was received by Joshua DuBois, the director of President Obama's Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Four days later, White House officials welcomed a foreign delegation of the radical Sharia-enforcing Muslim Brotherhood from Egypt. The White House meeting with overseas Muslim Brotherhood leaders was reported in April by a few mainstream journalists and questioned loudly by conservative media. But the White House confab in March with U.S.-based Altalib -- which appears to be a prep session with the global Muslim Brotherhood's American...

NOTE The following text is a quote: www.fbi.gov/houston/press-releases/2012/russian-agent-and-10-other-members-of-procurement-network-for-russian-military-and-intelligence-operating-in-the-u.s.-and-russia-indicted-in-new-york Russian Agent and 10 Other Members of Procurement Network for Russian Military and Intelligence Operating in the U.S. and Russia Indicted in New York Defendants Also Include Texas- and Russia-Based Corporations; 165 Persons and Companies ‘Designated’ by Commerce Department U.S. Attorney’s Office October 03, 2012 BROOKLYN, NY—An indictment was unsealed today in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York charging 11 members of a Russian military procurement network operating in the United States and Russia, as well as a Texas-based export company and a Russia-based procurement firm, with illegally...

@mrubin1971Two news stories from recent weeks, if true, should raise a red flag in the United States that Iran is preparing to use Hezbollah to strike at U.S. interests in Latin America, if not in the United States itself.First, this story from the Lebanese news portal Naharnet and sourced in part to Israeli radio. The Naharnet story was taken down shortly after it appeared: Hezbollah is using a training base established by Iran in northern Nicaragua near the border with Honduras, the Israeli radio reported on Thursday [September 6]. “The area is cordoned off and there are around 30 members...