ContributorNetwork – COMMENTARY | According to the recent employment report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) 120,000 new jobs were added in November. However, according Reuters, there were also 402,000 new claims for unemployment benefits. So how do you create a drop in the unemployment rate when more people are losing jobs than finding jobs? It’s easy. You simply stop counting the 315,000 people who stopped looking.
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BLS Uses Obama Fuzzy Math to Fake New 8.6% Unemployment Number
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Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard Law professor and key architect of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will announce on Wednesday that she is running for the U.S. Senate.
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Warren to Announce Bid for Senate Seat
We’ve heard from day one of this scandal that it went straight to the top. We’ve heard nothing but denials. Now, that there’s e-mail proof that it did, the White House insists they knew nuttin’, absolutely nuttin’, about how bad Fast and Furious was. The Los Angeles Times reports today (h/t William Amos): Newly obtained emails show that the White House was better informed about a failed gun-tracking operation on the border with Mexico than was previously known. Three White House national security officials were given some details about the operation, dubbed Fast and Furious. The operation allowed firearms to be illegally purchased, with the goal of tracking them to Mexican drug cartels. But the effort went out of control after agents lost track of many of the weapons. The supervisor of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives operation in Phoenix specifically mentioned Fast and Furious in at least one email to a White House national security official, and two other White House colleagues were briefed on reports from the supervisor, according to White House emails and a senior administration official. But the senior administration official said the emails, obtained Thursday by The Times, did not prove that anyone in the White House was aware of the covert “investigative tactics” of the operation. The three officials who were briefed: Kevin M. O’Reilly, director of North American Affairs for the White House national security staff; Dan Restrepo, the president’s senior Latin American advisor; and Greg Gatjanis, a White House national security official. The Team Obama talking point: Turn around and blame Congress… “The emails validate what has been said previously, which is no one at the White House knew about the investigative tactics being used in the operation, let alone any decision to let guns walk,” said the official, who was not authorized to speak about it publicly. “To the extent that some [national security staff members] were briefed on the top lines of ongoing federal efforts, so were members of Congress.” Like I said earlier this week: Screw up, move up, cover up. It’s the Holder way, the Obama way, the Washington way. And innocent Americans pay.
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Fast and Furious update: Yes, the White House got e-mails
Doin’ the Melson shuffle… Both Fox News and the WSJ are out with breaking news about the corruptocracy’s latest dance of the lemons. In the wake of the ongoing Fast and Furious scandal, ATF acting head Kenneth Melson will be shuffled around until the heat dies down… The acting director of the Justice Department division caught up in a firearms trafficking scandal is being removed from his post, sources told Fox News on Tuesday. Kenneth Melson, who heads the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, will be reassigned elsewhere in the Justice Department. An announcement is expected late Tuesday morning. The decision comes in the wake of the embarrassing scandal connected with Operation Fast and Furious. The program tracked illegal gun sales, but has come under federal and congressional investigation after weapons linked to Fast and Furious were found at the scene of a U.S. Border Patrol agent’s murder last year. Other supervisors connected with the program have been reassigned, though one senator complained earlier this month that the moves amounted to a promotion. In another change, the assistant U.S. attorney responsible for the day-to-day operations of Fast and Furious — Emory Hurley — has been removed from his post and reassigned to the department’s Civil Division. Looks like another case of screw up, move up. It’s the Eric Holder way. *** In case you missed the recent Hannity special on Fast and Furious, here was the opening segment: *** You know the DOJ’s favorite color: whitewash . *** Update : Statement from Darrell Issa just in… “While the reckless disregard for safety that took place in Operation Fast and Furious certainly merits changes within the Department of Justice, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee will continue its investigation to ensure that blame isn’t offloaded on just a few individuals for a matter that involved much higher levels of the Justice Department. There are still many questions to be answered about what happened in Operation Fast and Furious and who else bears responsibility, but these changes are warranted and offer an opportunity for the Justice Department to explain the role other officials and offices played in the infamous efforts to allow weapons to flow to Mexican drug cartels. I also remain very concerned by Acting Director Melson’s statement that the Department of Justice is managing its response in a manner intended to protect its political appointees. Senator Grassley and I will continue to press the Department of Justice for answers in order to ensure that a reckless effort like Fast and Furious does not take place again.” *** More on the shuffling from Sharyl Attkisson at CBS News , who has been one of the few mainstream reporters on the story from day one: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Acting Director Kenneth Melson is being moved out of the top job at the bureau, ATF special agents in charge announced during a conference call with reporters today. He will transfer to the Justice Department and assume the position of senior advisor on forensic science, Office of Legal Programs. The DOJ announced Melson will be replaced by the U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, Todd Jones. “As a seasoned prosecutor and former military judge advocate, U.S. Attorney Jones is a demonstrated leader who brings a wealth of experience to this position,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. Also, U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke has submitted his resignation to President Obama, effective immediately. In an email sent to his staff Tuesday, Burke says his long tenure in public office has been intensely gratifying and intensely demanding. Burke was interviewed by Congressional investigators behind closed doors on Aug. 18. Sources tell CBS News that the Assistant U.S. Attorney in Phoenix, Emory Hurley, who worked under Burke and helped oversee the controversial case is also expected to be transferred out of the Criminal Division into the Civil Division. Justice Department officials provided no immediate comment or confirmation of that move. The flurry of personnel shifts come as the Inspector General continues investigating the so-called gunwalker scandal at the Justice Department and the ATF.
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Fast and Furious update: DOJ to shuffle ATF director Kenneth Melson ; Issa statement added
ContributorNetwork – COMMENTARY | The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has long been a controversial federal entity but now in the wake of their latest scandal its intentions are under the microscope. The ATF’s latest controversy may lead to top members of the Obama administration and the ATF to lose their jobs and face criminal charges when the dust settles.
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Will Operation Fast and Furious be the Downfall of Obama Presidency?
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Following up on The Blaze’s past coverage of the ” Operation Fast and Furious ” scandal , new emails have come to light that show Washington officials with the Justice Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms sought to evade lawmaker probing into the failed program.
Slain U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)
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‘Fast and Furious’: Internal Emails Show ATF, Justice Dept. Evasive, Nervous Over Lawmaker Inquiry
If you have to tell someone you just told a joke after they failed to laugh, usually that tells you something. So it’s worth wondering what went wrong when the president tried to crack a funny while introducing his choice to head the new consumer protection bureau Monday afternoon. During his introduction of former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, the president mentioned that Cordray is a former five-time Jeopardy champion. Consequently, he said, “all [Cordray's] answers at his confirmation hearings will be in the form of a question.” The audience was silent. “That’s a joke,” Obama said smiling, allowing the crowd to break out in a chorus of chuckles: Presidential jokes are welcomed, and the president tells them often. But this one, it seems, fell flat, either because it wasn’t funny, it had poor delivery, or no one wanted to be the first to break out in laughter during a serious moment. Whatever the reason, it was awkward. As for the actual nomination of Cordray, that isn’t a joke, and in fact, many Republicans have deep concerns about him. Obama and Cordray were joined in the Rose Garden by Elizabeth Warren, a special assistant to the president who had been charged with getting the agency running. Warren is widely considered the architect of the bureau, and consumer groups wanted her to be named its leader. But she was strongly opposed by Republicans and would have faced a difficult path to confirmation. Republicans have already threatened to block Cordray’s Senate confirmation as well. Cordray, 52, is considered a Warren ally and has been working with her as director of enforcement for the agency. Republicans fought fiercely against the creation of the bureau last year and have been trying to place restrictions on its work. In May, all Senate Republicans joined in a letter to Obama threatening to withhold their support for any nominee to the position if the White House didn’t seek significant changes to the agency. The financial industry has also expressed concerns about the agency, worrying that it would restrict new products just when companies are seeking to replace profits squeezed by the new financial rules. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it had deep concerns over how Cordray would use the agency’s “broad powers.” The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was a central feature of a law Congress passed last year that overhauled the rules that govern the financial sector. The agency will serve as a government watchdog over mortgages, credit cards and other forms of lending when it officially begins its work on July 21. You can read our initial report on Cordray here . The Associated Press contributed to this report. (via Greg Hengler )
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Obama‘s ’Jeopardy’ Joke Falls Flat During Press Conference
What might America’s Founders think if they saw Washington D.C.’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing today?
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Founding Fathers Were No Fans of Paper Money
