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Saturday, February 2, 2013

‘Transparent’ Obama gun committee keeps secrets

‘Transparent’ Obama gun committee keeps secrets

WND EXCLUSIVE

'TRANSPARENT' OBAMA GUN COMMITTEE KEEPS SECRETS

Lawsuit expanded to demand information about meetings, activities

author-image by BOB UNRUH Email | Archive
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Bob Unruh joined WND in 2006 after nearly three decades with the Associated Press, as well as several Upper Midwest newspapers, where he covered everything from legislative battles and sports to tornadoes and homicidal survivalists. He is also a photographer whose scenic work has been used commercially.More ↓
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A legal action against Barack Obama by Freedom Watch director Larry Klayman over the president’s formation of the Obama Gun Control Task Force has been expanded to demand information about the results of its work.
Klayman noted Obama and Vice President Joe Biden “promised the most open government in American history.”
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“Instead, we have seen a ‘star chamber’ mentality and approach,” he said. “It’s time that they both sobered up and respected the rule of law, as they are seeking to impose unwarranted and illegal executive actions on ‘We the People’ which infringe our Second Amendment rights.”
Klayman said that in light of the recent D.C. Circuit Court ruling that Obama had exceeded his executive authority with regard to the National Labor Relations Board recess appointment, has case under the Federal Advisory Committee Act has greater credibility.
“Obama’s and Biden’s executive actions as a result of these secret meetings are equally null and void as are the rulings of the NLRB,” he contended.
The recent court ruling rejected Obama’s claim that the Senate was in recess. The court, therefore, ruled the appointments unconstitutional, a stunning defeat for a sitting president.
The case raises questions about the status of the appointees, who still are on the government payroll, as well their decisions before the court ruling.
Klayman’s original case sought an order that Obama’s executive actions on gun control not be implemented, charging the advisory committee is illegal.
The updated filing added a count for Obama’s failure to release minutes of the meetings – which the advisory committee continues to refuse to produce – so the American people can see for themselves the lobbying influences on Obama and Biden with regard to gun control.
The Federal Advisory Committee Act was the same law Klayman used to take the Cheney Energy Task Force all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court for having kept its meetings with energy lobbyists secret.
He also invoked the law in a case pending against Obama for his “equally secretive Obmacare task force.”
The original case states the American people “will continue to suffer permanent and irreparable injury” unless the task force is brought into compliance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
Klayman, a longtime monitor of government activity who earlier founded Judicial Watch and made a name for himself suing Bill and Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and a slew of foreign dictators,  wrote Obama a letter asking him to abide by the federal law in his establishment of a team to advise him on gun control.
Klayman, whose cases against Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have made headlines, became so well-known that a character in the TV series “West Wing,” Harry Klaypool, was based on him.
He told WND the case was brought in the Middle District of Florida alleging the Obama White House “had a duty to the American people to provide at least 15 days notice to the public of the meetings which [Joe] Biden has been chairing to recommend so-called gun control measures following the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School.”
“In their zeal to use this tragedy for political purposes and to try to ram quickly increased legislative gun control measures, if not gun confiscation and/or significant infringement through executive order, down the throats of the American people – in violation of Second Amendment rights – President Obama and Vice President Biden have thumbed their nose at the law and instead been holding closed door meetings with special interest lobbyists on both sides of the issue,” Klayman charged.
“The American people, whose rights to gun ownership stem from colonial times and are enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, are being illegally shut out of the process. In this regard, on January 7, 2013, Freedom Watch demanded in writing that the 15 days notice be provided and that Larry Klayman and it be permitted to be present and participate on behalf of the American people.”
But Klayman noted that his legal demand didn’t generate a response.
“As a result our complaint demands that the meetings be opened up fully to members of the public who request, upon proper and timely notice by the Gun Control Task Force, the right to participate, and that if the administration fails to comply immediately that the court order that the Gun Control Task Force be shut down … be declared illegal and enjoined from implementation,” Klayman said.
“There simply is no excuse for the president and vice president, as occurred with its Obamacare federal advisory committee, to make gun policy exclusively with lobbyists. Open government is more honest government.”
The complaint names Obama, Biden, the task force and “John and Jane Does.”
Klayman’s complaint explains that “by designating this newly formed task force, which is a presidential advisory committee, de jure and/or de facto, defendant Obama has made the meetings subject to the provisions of FACA.”
Under those requirements, an advisory committee must “publish within the Federal Registry notice of an meeting 15 days prior to that meeting, and the meetings must be made open to members of the public who seek access pursuant to FACA, as plaintiff did herein.”
But the complaint notes that while Obama designated the advisory team on Dec. 19, its first meeting was Dec. 20.
“It has been widely reported and disclosed by the national media that non-federal employees, including lobbyists from the video game industry, Walmart, and other private lobbyists … fully participated in non-public meetings of the OGCTF as if they were members,” the complaint said.
Obama’s failure to meet the federal requirements means that the White House has “deprived plaintiff of its right, granted by the FACA, to participate in meetings held by the OGCTF, to have advance notice of those meetings, and to have a voice in the affairs of the OGCTF on behalf of the American people.”
Obama had said a comprehensive approach is needed to reduce the nation’s gun violence – much more than just resurrecting an expired ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips.
So he appointed Biden to a working group to look at proposals such as universal background checks for gun buyers, government tracking of the movement of weapons and stiffer penalties.
The reaction follows the massacre in Newtown, Conn., in which 20-year-old Adam Lanza is accused of killing his mother, then going to a nearby school and killing 20 children and another five adults.
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Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/02/transparent-obama-gun-committee-keeps-secrets/#ZFhI6ItK96YrD7Zq.99 
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Dare to question Islamism in U.S., lose your job?

Dare to question Islamism in U.S., lose your job?

WND EXCLUSIVE

DARE TO QUESTION ISLAMISM IN U.S., LOSE YOUR JOB?

Counter-petition battles to keep Bachmann on Intelligence Committee

author-image by DREW ZAHN Email | Archive
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Drew Zahn is a former pastor who cut his editing teeth as a member of the award-winning staff of Leadership, Christianity Today's professional journal for church leaders. He is the editor of seven books, including Movie-Based Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching, which sparked his ongoing love affair with film and his weekly WND column, "Popcorn and a (world)view."More ↓
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From her position on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., dared to question the Muslim Brotherhood’s infiltration of our government – and because of it, her job may be in danger.
But Dr. Jamie Glazov, managing editor of Frontpagemag.com, and author of “United in Hate: The Left’s Romance with Tyranny and Terror” and “High Noon for America: The Coming Showdown,” is coming to her defense, not only claiming that her concerns have been “vindicated” by recent events, but also leading the charge to keep her fearless questions before Congress.
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As WND reported, Bachmann was among five outspoken Republicans who last year became a lightning rod for controversy after she pressed for an investigation of the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence on the federal government and pointed to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s top aide, Huma Abedin, as a possible Brotherhood influence on U.S. policy.
At the time, Democrats and Republicans alike rushed to Abedin’s defense, and since then a petition boasting 178,000 signatures was created by the left-leaning People for the American Way, demanding House John Speaker Boehner boot Bachmann from her post on the Intelligence Committee.
“In service to ugly Islamophobic fear mongering,” the petition states, “Bachmann continues unabated in her unfounded and irresponsible attacks on dedicated public servants – a witch hunt that has targeted Huma Abedin, a key aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and now includes allegations that President Obama may be aiding the rise of global Shariah law.”
Glazov says the real witch hunt, however, has been the targeting of Bachmann for asking questions that might be hitting too close to the truth.
“Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is under attack for voicing concern over critical national security issues that no other elected leader wants to acknowledge, and now her position on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence may be at stake,” the petition states. “We must fight back. America needs Michele Bachmann and her fearless leadership keeping watch over our interests at home and abroad, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is the best place for her to fulfill this task.”
“In the long run,” conservative author David Horowitz added, “the battle that Michele Bachmann is waging on the House Intelligence Committee may be more important to the well-being and security of Americans than all the battles over budgets and debt ceilings combined.”
Glazov was further interviewed by terrorism analyst for CBN News Erick Stakelbeck about the need for the counter-petition.
Glazov told Stakelbeck an Egyptian magazine has since named six Muslim Brotherhood infiltrators in the Obama administration, calling the article a “complete vindication” for Bachmann.
“One of the names she mentioned that she is concerned about is Mohammed Elibiary,” Glazov said. “This guy, Islamic cleric, is on the Homeland Security Advisory Council – what is he doing there?
“In 2004 he goes to give a speech at a night that is giving tribute to the Ayatollah Khomeini,” Glazov continued. “What is he doing there? [Khomeini] is an Islamist mass murderer. Imagine if one of us had been at a conference giving tribute to Adolf Hitler. Should we be in the government?”
As WND reported, the report Glazov mentioned comes from Egypt’s Rose El-Youssef magazine, which on Dec. 22 said the six infiltrators turned the White House “from a position hostile to Islamic groups and organizations in the world to the largest and most important supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood.”
The article named Arif Alikhan, assistant secretary of Homeland Security for policy development; Mohammed Elibiary, a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council; Rashad Hussain, the U.S. special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference; Salam al-Marayati, co-founder of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, or MPAC; Imam Mohamed Magid, president of the Islamic Society of North America, or ISNA; and Eboo Patel, a member of President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships.
Stakelbeck’s interview with Glazov can be seen below:
As WND reported, Abedin worked for an organization founded by her family that is effectively at the forefront of a grand Saudi plan to mobilize U.S. Muslim minorities to transform America into a strict Wahhabi-style Islamic state, according to an Arabic-language manifesto issued by the Saudi monarchy. Abedin also was a member of the executive board of the Brotherhood’s Muslim Student Association.
Advocates for an investigation of the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence on the U.S. government argued a simple reading of security clearance guidelines in reference to Huma Abedin’s family would warrant investigation.
The Muslim Brotherhood was established in the 1920s following the collapse of the Ottoman Turkish empire, with the intent of helping establish Islamic rule worldwide. Its stated goal for the U.S. is “a kind of grand jihad” aimed at “eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within” so that “Allah’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.”

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/02/dare-to-question-islamism-in-u-s-lose-your-job/#JAvw9WsLDdfzLwjf.99 
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Religious Conservatives Blast New Obamacare Contraception Rules

Religious Conservatives Blast New Obamacare Contraception Rules

Religious Conservatives Blast New Obamacare Contraception Rules

Friday, 01 Feb 2013 05:38 PM
By Todd Beamon
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Conservative and religious organizations on Friday slammed proposed changes in Obamacare that would let only faith-based groups — but not companies or nonprofit groups that operate on religious principles — opt out of providing contraceptives.

“This latest version of the contraceptives and sterilization mandate remains unacceptable,” Dr. David Stevens, CEO of the Christian Medical Association, told LifeNews.com. “Since when does the government get to pick and choose which groups will get to enjoy First Amendment protections?

“Our founders intended the First Amendment to protect every American’s freedom to act according to one’s conscience,” Stevens said. “They didn’t specify that only groups deemed religious will be afforded this protection; freedom of conscience applies equally to all Americans.

“It would appear that the administration is trying to diffuse the pressure from federal courts around the country by throwing a sop to religious groups,” Stevens added. “If administration officials think that this action will somehow cause us to back down and accept the terms of surrender, well, that’s just not going to happen.

“We all plan to stand united in the fight to ensure that everyone’s First Amendment freedoms of religion and conscience are protected,” he said.

Kyle Duncan, general counsel for The Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty, told LifeSiteNews.com, “Today’s proposed rule does nothing to protect the religious liberty of millions of Americans.”

The Beckett Fund is representing several groups in lawsuits against the mandate, including Hobby Lobby, a Christian company that filed suit last September. More than 40 lawsuits have been filed over the contraception mandate.

“The rights of family businesses like Hobby Lobby are still being violated,” Duncan said.

On Friday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that large faith-based organizations, including hospitals and universities, could now provide healthcare plans under Obamacare that do not directly provide contraceptives.

But their health insurers would automatically enroll employees in a third-party individual policy, which only provides contraceptives, free of charge.

Obamacare, known formally as the Affordable Care Act, requires most employers to provide health insurance that includes contraception, including sterilization, as a free preventive service.

The original rule exempted only those religious groups — churches, for instance — that primarily employ and serve people of their own faith.

But other religiously affiliated groups, including universities and Catholic Charities, had to comply with the rule.

And Roman Catholic bishops, evangelicals and some religious leaders lobbied strongly for a broader exemption, the Associated Press reports.

The Catholic Church prohibits the use of artificial contraception. Some evangelical denominations permit the use of birth control, but others object to specific methods such as the morning-after contraceptive pill.

President Barack Obama had promised to change the birth control requirement so insurance companies — and not faith-affiliated employers — would pay for the coverage, but religious leaders said more changes were needed to make the plan work.

The proposed change announced on Friday does not accommodate individual business owners or other nonprofit organizations that object to the rule on religious grounds.

It is tantamount to the Obama White House deciding which organizations are faith-based and which ones are not, critics contend.

“We’re extremely disappointed that the Obama Administration does not respect the religious beliefs of all Americans,” Francis Manion, senior counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, told LifeNews.com. “This country’s laws and Constitution protect the religious freedom of all Americans, whether organized into religious bodies or not.”

ACLJ, a pro-life legal organization that focuses on constitutional law, is representing four companies that have sued over the mandate.

“Religious believers who simply want to conduct their businesses in a manner consistent with their religious beliefs have the same right to religious liberty as everybody else,” Manion said.

“Regardless of whether insurance companies or third-party administrators use their dollars for an employee's free … contraceptives, the provision of these drugs and devices still necessarily depends on the religious employer's health insurance plan,” the Family Research Council said in a statement. “They remain the gateway for drugs and services to which they object.”

The council said the proposed changes still violated the Religious Freedom Act and the Weldon conscience amendment, which bans HHS from engaging such discrimination.

And the Heritage Foundation called the proposed regulations “another sorry episode in a line of bureaucratic tweaking and unfulfilled promises that again fails to address the serious religious liberty problems caused by the coercive HHS mandate.

“In short, only the precious few employers who are deemed religious enough by the Obama Administration would be afforded true protection of their religious freedom and the ability to live and act according to their beliefs.”

Meanwhile, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, told LifeSiteNews: “Once again, President Obama’s so-called ‘compromise’ is unacceptable. Religious and moral freedom is not up for negotiation.

“There must be no religious ‘test’ by the government as to who, and what type of entities, are entitled to a conscience,” she added. “We demand respect for non-religious entities such as the Susan B. Anthony List that recognize the taking of human life is the antithesis of health care.

“The only acceptable outcome is the complete repeal of the HHS mandate and the restoration of a thriving marketplace where Americans can choose healthcare coverage consistent with their beliefs,” Dannenfelser said.

“The Obama Administration's blatant attempt to mislead Americans by announcing a so-called 'update' that fails to protect faith-based institutions clearly shows his intent to trample the religious liberties of Americans,” Penny Nance, CEO of the Concerned Women for America, told Newsmax in a statement. “Requiring employers affiliated with the Christian faith, like Concerned Women for America, to include free contraception and abortion-inducing drugs in their health insurance plans is contrary to both Judeo-Christian doctrine and constitutional guarantees of religious freedom.

“When religious groups and individual Americans are forced to deny their deeply held religious convictions, it is not called ‘balance,’ it's called ‘tyranny.’ Faith-based institutions continue to pay for their Judeo-Christian convictions. As much as President Obama would like us to believe this is a ‘women's rights issue,' this is really a religious freedom issue.

“The simple fact remains, nothing has changed,” Nance said.

Several Catholic organizations, however, were somewhat measured in their response.

“Today, the Administration issued proposed regulations regarding the HHS mandate,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement to Catholic Online.com. 

“We welcome the opportunity to study the proposed regulations closely. We look forward to issuing a more detailed statement later.”

But Bill Donohue of the Catholic League told Catholic Online.com: “The rules proposed today by HHS appear to go a long way toward rectifying the most problematic provisions of the mandate. Essentially, the rules provide insularity for Catholic institutions: They will not be directly involved in providing health insurance coverage for contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs.”

“Perhaps the most welcome aspect of the new strictures is the elimination of the criteria that define what constitutes a religious institution. Gone altogether is the highly objectionable definition that excludes an exemption for those religious entities that hire and serve mostly people of other religions.

“The new rules now simply revert to the established understanding of a religious employer as defined by the IRS,” Donohue said. “This makes eminently good sense.”


Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/contraception-mandate-conservatives-republicans/2013/02/01/id/488538#ixzz2JlgivytM
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