Conservative Happenings

Friday, August 17, 2012

Allen West To Obama: Show Us Your College Records And Fast And Furious Docs And We’ll Show You Our Tax Returns…

Allen West

Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) set high stakes in an offered “deal” with President Obama on Friday.

Obama’s campaign isn’t backing down on requests to see Mitt Romney’s tax returns — on Friday, campaign manager Jim Messina offered to stop asking if he releases five years' worth — but the freshman Florida congressman had a counteroffer for Obama.

“Show us your sealed college records and Operation Fast and Furious White House memos, and we will all show you our tax returns,” West wrote on his Facebook page Friday.

It’s not an original offer; businessman and Romney supporter Donald Trump has been suggesting the same thing via Twitter.

“@MittRomney shouldn't give additional tax returns until @BarackObama gives his passport records, college records & applications,” Trump tweeted earlier in the day.

While Obama’s campaign has suggested Romney’s unwillingness to release more of his personal tax returns indicates a high level of secrecy by the presumptive GOP nominee, West and Trump think the same is true of Obama. But West might not expect Obama to accept his offer, since it would likely be difficult to convince "all" people to voluntarily release their personal financial information.

Via: The Hill

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AFL-CIO Canvasser Booked On 23 Felony Counts Related To Voter Fraud…

A former Ohio University student paid to canvass for Voters First Ohio petition signatures was arrested August 14 by the Cincinnati Police Department. Timothy Noel Zureick was booked on 22 counts of signing false signatures and one count of election falsification, both fifth-degree felonies.

Timothy Zureick

As reported by the Athens News, Zureick, age 21, was arrested for crimes allegedly committed while working in Athens for Working America, a campaign arm of the AFL-CIO in Washington, DC. Zureick’s August 14 arrest is the first known prosecution to stem from the numerous allegations of fraud during the union-driven Voters First campaign.

According to authorities, on or around June 12 Zureick forged the signatures of a number of prominent Athens County Democratic Party figures. Athens County Board of Elections employees who had not signed Voters First petitions alerted the county prosecutor’s office after finding their signatures on petitions Zureick submitted.

The White Collar Crimes unit of the Athens County Prosecutor’s Office investigated the case and found that Zureick was living in Cincinnati. Zureick, who has two addresses in Cincinnati, was located by authorities at his father’s residence thanks to assistance from a neighbor.

Via: Media Trackers

CA Sales Tax Revenue Nosedives by 33.5%

We were severely criticized last week by the left and the right for publishing, “Calif. default risk turns Gov. Brown into a capitalist.“ The report highlighted that Gov. Jerry Brown is steamrolling environmentalists and regulators to generate more state tax revenue by expediting approval of pro-business infrastructure.

But our detractors were stunned to learn from State Controller John Chiang that California’s July sales tax revenue was down 33.5 percent from that anticipated by the state budget approved in late June by the Legislature. Even more ominously, the state’s $9.6 billion cash deficit that was rolled over from the June 30 fiscal year has catapulted to $18 billion last month.

The state has avoided default by temporarily borrowing from state trust funds, but those accounts will soon need their cash back to continue operating. Today California quickly began trying to sell $10 billion in municipal bonds to fund the record $28 billion they need to keep the lights on. With tax revenue plummeting and the state already having the second-lowest rated credit in the country, if the independent credit rating agencies downgrade the state to “junk bond,” California will be short up to $18 billion and default.

Brown used his line-item veto authority to strike $128.9 million in spending from the $91.3 billion California general fund before signing the state budget. Brown’s cuts surprisingly hit Democrat priorities, such as spending for child care and preschool for low-income children, and closing 30 state parks.

But Republican Senator Tom Berryhill warned Brown: “This budget is a slow-motion train wreck, and you’re driving the bus.” Berryhill criticized Democrats for failing to rein in public pensions and regulatory terrorism, and to and cap state spending. Those all are things Republicans say are needed to rescue state government.

Via: CA Political Review

Romney campaign doesn't bite on Obama tax return offer

"Thanks for the note" -- but no thanks.

That was the response Friday from the Romney team after Obama's campaign manager tried once again to wrench more tax documents from the Republican president candidate, this time by offering to refrain from criticizing Mitt Romney's transparency if he agrees to release five more years of returns.

Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades wrote a brief email to Obama campaign manager Jim Messina dismissing the offer.

"Thanks for the note. It is clear that President Obama wants nothing more than to talk about Governor Romney's tax returns instead of the issues that matter to voters, like putting Americans back to work, fixing the economy and reining in spending," he wrote. "If Governor Romney's tax returns are the core message of your campaign, there will be ample time for President Obama to discuss them over the next 81 days."

The Obama campaign offer came after Romney said a day earlier that he's "never paid less than 13 percent" in taxes over the last 10 years.

Messina, pressing Romney once again for documentation, wrote that he wanted to offer "assurances" to allay Romney's concerns that releasing additional tax returns would just feed the Democrats' appetite for more.

Via: Fox News

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BIDEN BENCHED FOR THE WEEKEND

Vice President Joe Biden is going home to Delaware.

The updated White House calendar for Aug. 17 reports that “in the morning, the Vice President will meet with senior advisers. Later, the Vice President will be in Wilmington, Delaware.”

“There are no public events scheduled,” said the 5:36 p.m. White House announcement, titled “Daily Guidance for the Vice President.”

Biden’s retreat home during the increasingly frenetic 2012 race comes amid increased criticism for his campaign-trail performance.

Biden was slated to share an uncomfortable lunch with President Barack Obama on Thursday, following his disastrous week on the campaign trail, which culminated with a racially inflammatory warning to African-American supporters that Mitt Romney will “put y’all back in chains.”

The flubs revived chatter about whether the president will drop Biden, and seek a substitute vice president to win the tough 2012 race.

Obama’s spokesman Jay Carney on Thursday provided a tepid defense of Biden when he was asked if the vice president would remain on the ticket.

Via: The Daily Caller

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Bawney Fwank: “We Would Have Unemployment Below 8%” If GOP Didn’t Stop Us From Hiring More Public Workers…

Let's spend and spend and spend

U.S. Foreign Debt Hits Record $5.29 Trillion

(CNSNews.com) - The money the U.S. government owes to foreign entities rose to a record $5.2923 trillion in June, according to data released by the U.S. Treasury Wednesday afternoon.

In May, the U.S. Treasury had owed $5.2581 trillion to foreign entities. On net, in June, the U.S. government borrowed an additional $34.2 billion from foreign entities in order to fund U.S. government operations.

The U.S. government’s indebtedness to foreign interests has grown by 72.3 percent during President Barack Obama’s term in office. In January 2009, when Obama was inaugurated, the U.S. government owed $3.0717 trillion to foreign entities, according to the Treasury Department. That has increased by $2.2206 trillion—or 72.3 percent—to the record $5.2923 trillion reported for yesterday.

Entities in the People’s Republic of China remain the largest holders of U.S. government debt. Entities in Japan, however, are on track to eclipse the Chinese as the top holders of U.S. government debt.

In June, the Chinese held $1.1643 trillion in U.S. government debt, up slightly from the $1.1640 trillion in U.S. government debt the Chinese held in May. However, Chinese ownership of U.S. government debt hit an historical peaked of $1.3149 trillion in July 2011 and has been on a generally downward trend since then.

Via: CNSNews

Thursday, August 16, 2012

JUDICIAL WATCH SUES OBAMA ADMIN FOR AMNESTY DOCUMENTS

Judicial Watch today sued the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security for documents related to President Barack Obama’s “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” executive order that allows young illegal immigrants who meet certain qualifications to get a two-year work permit and temporary amnesty.

Judicial Watch says it is seeking the following records in its June 22, 2012, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request:

All records concerning…the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to exercise prosecutorial discretion with respect to individuals who came to the United States as children…Such records include, but are not limited to, opinions, memoranda, or legal advice rendered by the Office of Legal Counsel.

The Department of Justice had until July 24, 2012 to comply with the FOIA request, but has failed to do so to date. On June 22, 2012, Judicial Watch submitted a similar FOIA request to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS was required to by law to respond to Judicial Watch by August 10, 2010. DHS, to date, has not responded.

“This new Obama amnesty program is an attack on the constitutional role of Congress and runs rough shod over existing immigration law. It is no surprise that the Obama administration doesn’t want to share the legal basis for this unilateral executive action and is violating Freedom of Information Act law to keep the American people in the dark,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton in a statement. “President Obama and his political appointees are abusing their offices with this new amnesty program. If the administration were confident about the legality of its actions, it wouldn’t be keeping secret the legal basis for President Obama’s extraordinary decision to unilaterally change the law.”

Via: Breitbart

Obama Transforms State Department “Background Notes” Into Campaign Material

Production by U.S. embassies of the State Department’s long-running series of annual “Background Notes”covering every country in the world had long been considered a useful service for the American public. Now, however, they appear to have morphed into yet another taxpayer-subsidized campaign commercial for the Obama Administration.

The old Background Notes were sui generis—useful reference materials that were more comprehensive than the practical but choppy CIA “Factbook” and other U.S. government publications. Now, though, State has dropped everything from the Background Notes but the section on relations with the U.S. No more historical context, no recounting of complex and long-standing issues in the country. Just cut to the chase—that is, the time when the current Administration came to power.

Compare the nearly 1,200-word “Fact Sheet” published this week by the U.S. embassy in Brazil with the lastBackground Note on Brazil written during the George W. Bush Administration.

The 4,100-word Bush document, chock full of facts and figures helpful in analyzing the country and its importance to the U.S., never once mentions the name of any U.S. President. The 300-word section on U.S.–Brazil relations takes up about 7 percent of the document.

Conversely, fully 70 percent (830 words) of the Brazil Fact Sheet, which is focused exclusively on U.S. relations with Brazil, discusses President Obama either directly by name (twice!) or in the context of the plethora of programs his Administration has launched with Brazil, including a shared “commitment to combat discrimination based on race, gender, ethnicity, or lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) status; to advance gender equality; a bilateral instrument that targets racism; support for HIV/AIDS prevention, promotion of clean energy technologies in Brazil, and mitigation of climate change.”

Via: The Foundry

Romney’s Bain saved site of Obamas’ first kiss

Bain Capital, the investment firm that Mitt Romney made famous, made a leveraged buyout that saved the site of Barack and Michelle Obamas’ first kiss.

In 2005, Bain and two other private equity firms purchased Dunkin’ Brands Incorporated for $2.425 billion, according to a 2006 company press release.

Dunkin’ Brands is the parent company of Baskin-Robbins, at whose Hyde Park, Chicago location the president and his future wife Michelle went on their first date — and shared their first lip lock.

President Obama took the first lady out on a date in 1989 when the two worked at the same Chicago law firm, according to a Chicago Tribune article.

A 3,000-pound granite boulder now occupies the corner of Dorchester and 53rd Street, outside the ice cream parlor, bearing a quote about the couple’s first date.

“On our first date, I treated her to the finest ice cream Baskin-Robbins had to offer, our dinner table doubling as the curb. I kissed her, and it tasted like chocolate,” the inscription states.

In 2011, Dunkin’ Brands raised $400 million for its IPO, according to The Associated Press. The IPO allowed it to pay off most of its $475 million in high-interest debt.

Via: The Daily Caller

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This Poll Could Spell the End of Obama ...

Non-voters prefer Obama, poll finds

WASHINGTON - In a race that is expected to come down to a tiny margin of votes in a handful of swing states, more than 80 million eligible Americans will sit out this year’s presidential election.

These potential voters could make all the difference for President Barack Obama - a new survey shows they overwhelmingly support the president over Republican rival Mitt Romney - but they won’t vote for him, even though a majority acknowledge that politics makes a difference in their lives.

A Suffolk University-USA Today survey found that 43 percent of unregistered Americans and 43 percent of registered voters who are unlikely to make it to the polls in November would choose Obama if they were to cast a ballot. Just 14 percent of unregistered Americans and 20 percent of registered but unlikely voters said the same of Romney.

These Americans are not likely to make their voices heard on Election Day because they are paying attention to other things and don’t have faith in the process. Sixty-one percent could not correctly name the current vice president.

Seventy-nine percent think the federal government plays an important role in their lives, but 59 percent say they don’t pay much attention to politics because “nothing ever gets done - it’s a bunch of empty promises,” and 54 percent say they don’t pay much attention because politics “is so corrupt.”

Via: Naples News

The Case Against Obamacare: A Health Care Policy Series for the 112th Congress

Building on decades of Heritage research, The Case Against Obamacare: A Health Care Policy Series for the 112^th Congress examines 15 key provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Each report:

Cites specific sections of the 2,700-page health care law

Provides detailed analysis of specific Obamacare provisions
Identifies key principles for a better way to reform health care

The unmistakable conclusion of this series is that Obamacare must be fully repealed. Congress cannot build sound market-based health care reform on the flawed foundation of this health care law. Until it can be repealed, Congress must employ its full powers authorized by the Constitution to:

De-fund the new law’s critical aspects
Block any further provisions from going into effect
Engage in aggressive oversight of Obamacare – its regulations and implementation.

Upon repeal, Congress should pursue a careful and thoughtful process to develop targeted solutions that address practical problems in the health care system based on the principles of personal ownership, consumer choice, and free markets.

Via: The Foundry

Poll: Romney Up In Swing States

Swing State Statistics

Mitt Romney has posted gains in the 12 swing states that will be critical in determining the outcome of the 2012 election, according to a Purple Insights poll released Wednesday.

The new poll shows Romney with small leads in three of the biggest swing states on the map — Florida, Ohio and Virginia. Those three states have a total of 60 electoral votes.

The poll was taken after Romney picked Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) as his running mate.

“Taken as a whole, these data indicate a small bump in the immediate aftermath of the [Paul] Ryan [vice presidential] announcement,” the report from Purple Insights said. “Nonetheless it is also the first sign of positive momentum for the Romney campaign that we’ve seen in the Purple Poll in the last few months.”

Obama won Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin in his 2008 bid for the White House, and will need to win about half of these in 2012 to secure reelection.  

Via: The Hill

LAWS -

1. Law of Mechanical Repair - After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch and you'll have to go to the bathroom.
2. Law of Gravity - Any tool, nut, bolt or screw when dropped, will roll to the least accessible place in the universe.
3. Law of Probability - The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.
4. Law of Random Numbers - If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal ... and someone always answers.
6. Variation Law - If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were in will always move faster than the one you are in now.
7. Law of the Bath - When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings.
8. Law of Close Encounters - The probability of meeting someone you know INCREASES dramatically when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.
9. Law of the Result - When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, IT WILL!!!
10. Law of Bio-Mechanics - The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.
11. Law of the Theater & Hockey Arena - At any event, the people whose seats are farthest from the aisle always arrive last. They are the ones who will leave their seats several times to go for food, beer or to the toilet, and who leave early before the end of the performance or the game is over. The folks in the aisle seats come early, never move once, have long gangly legs or big bellies, and stay to the bitter end of the performance. The aisle people also are very surly folk.
12. The Coffee Law - As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.
13. Murphy's Law of Lockers - If there are only 2 people in a locker room, they will have adjacent lockers.
14. Law of Physical Surfaces - The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich landing face down on a floor are directly correlated to the newness and cost of the carpet or rug.
15. Law of Logical Argument - Anything is possible IF you don't know what you are talking about.
16. Brown's Law of Physical Appearance - If the clothes fit, they're ugly.
17. Olivers Law of Public Speaking-- A CLOSED MOUTH GATHERS NO FEET!!!
18. Wilson's Law of Commercial Marketing Strategy - As soon as you find a product that you really like, they will stop making it.
19. Doctors' Law - If you don't feel well, make an appointment to go to the doctor, by the time you get there you'll feel better.. But don't make an appointment, and you'll stay sick.

Family Business Sticks to Principles, Challenges Obamacare Mandate

The Obama administration’s anti-conscience mandate went into effect at the beginning of this month, and private business owners are now required to cover contraceptive care in employee health plans thanks to Obamacare.

Weingartz, a family owned lawn supply store in Michigan, is one of several businesses challenging that mandate in court, saying it requires business owners to violate their religious beliefs.

“As people of faith … we’ve looked at our business as an extension of that faith and we’ve always tried to run it in a way that’s compatible with our faith,” Daniel Weingartz, the company president, said. “We’ve never had to go against something that was against our religious principles in order to run our business. In 67 years, we’ve held true to that.”

Weingartz is not complying with the anti-conscience mandate, but will not face penalties until its health insurance plan renews in January. At that time, the company could be fined up to $100 per employee per day for not including the mandated services in its plan. Ironically, the fine for offering a plan that doesn’t comply with the mandate could exceed the fine for not offering health insurance at all. Under Obamacare, the fine for not offering employees health insurance is $2,000 a year per employee.

Via: The Foundry

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

ARIZ. GOV. JAN BREWER SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER PROHIBITING PUBLIC BENEFITS TO YOUNG ILLEGAL ALIENS

(TheBlaze/AP) — Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Wednesday ordered state agencies to deny driver’s licenses and other public benefits to young illegal immigrants who obtain work authorizations under a new Obama administration policy.

In an executive order, Brewer said she was reaffirming the intent of current Arizona law denying taxpayer-funded public benefits and state identification to illegal immigrants.

Young illegal immigrants around the nation on Wednesday began the process of applying for federal work permits under the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

The federal policy defers deportations for that group if they meet certain criteria, including arrival in the United States before they turned 16 and no convictions for certain crimes.

After President Barack Obama announced the policy change in June, Brewer labeled it “backdoor amnesty” and political pandering by the Democratic president.

Arizona has been in the vanguard of states enacting laws against illegal immigration.

The U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned parts of the Arizona enforcement law known as SB1070 but ruled that a key provision on requiring police to ask people about their immigration status under certain circumstances can be implemented.

The Obama administration challenged that law in 2010 after Brewer signed it into law.

Via: The Blaze

Fast and Furious Question: Can/Will Romney-Ryan DOJ Pursue Chicago-Bound Eric Holder?

Congressman Darrell Issa and the House Oversight Committee filed the civil lawsuit yesterday against Attorney General Eric Holder in the Fast and Furious case. To be clear, there are no charges that Holder had anything to do with Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry's death, or the walking of guns across the U.S. border into Mexico. The charges are simply that Holder has ignored subpoenas and withheld Fast and Furious documents from Congress, and thus, is in Contempt of Congress. The documents are the starting point to actual prosecutions of criminal and civil liability in one of the worst acts of Government against The People's Second Amendment rights in our Nation's history. It is reasonable to assume the civil litigation will not be resolved before the election, and perhaps not by the time Obama and Company exit Washington, D.C. It begs the question, what can a Romney-Ryan White House do about it?

The House voted for both criminal and civil Contempt of Congress. Obama's spokeskid, Jay Carney, announced in June that the White House will NOT act to direct the DOJ to prosecute Holder criminally on the Contempt of Congress charges - with Obama claiming Executive Privilege. So the only avenue is civil "justice" for The People to force the administration to produce documents that many of us believe will show Fast and Furious was devised to weaken Second Amendment rights, and along the way managed to kill a Border Patrol agent.

The question: when we have an Romney-Ryan DOJ, which will undoubtedly be a strong Second Amendment protector, can and/or will the new DOJ be directed to take up the criminal charges against Holder for ignoring subpoenaed documents, which will be the only way to eventually receive justice for Agent Brian Terry, and hold Eric Holder accountable?

Via: Free Republic

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Poll: 40% Say US Turning Into a Socialist State

The perception that America is turning more socialist is not just a fringe view, according to a Monitor/TIPP poll. Debate over the size of government could influence November elections.

A woman holds an anti-Obama sign at America's Tea Party

held at Southfork Ranch in Parker, Texas, in this file photo.

Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters/File

Two of every five Americans today say their country is evolving into a socialist state.

That finding, contained in a new nationwide poll, highlights a central debate in the 2012 election campaign and a major challenge for President Obama.

The "socialist state" survey is just one many indicators that Americans are worried that the federal government is growing too large – a feeling that works against Mr. Obama's reelection hopes.

Are you more liberal than President Obama? Take our quiz!

In a Christian Science Monitor/Investor's Business Daily/TIPP poll completed last week, 40 percent of respondents generally agreed with the statement: "The US is evolving into a socialist state." That outnumbered the 36 percent who disagreed. About one-quarter of respondents expressed a neutral view or said they were unsure.

The same poll asked other questions that took America's temperature on the size of government. A majority said it should not be the government's role to redistribute wealth, and a majority said they prefer "a smaller government providing less services."

Those results, taken together, indicate an opening for Obama's Republican challenger, Mitt Romney. He's trying to seize it.

Via: Christian Science Monitor

DOE loan chief warned staff that personal e-mail could be subpoenaed

Tuesday, the Washington Post reported on documents showing that Jonathan Silver, the former head of the Department of Energy’s $38 billion clean-energy loan guarantee program, directed a staff member not to use personal e-mail addresses in official DOE correspondence in order to prevent personal accounts from becoming eligible for government subpoena — and did so a matter of days before the now-failed, $500-million-loan-recipient solar company Solyndra went bankrupt.

“Don’t ever send an email on doe email with a personal email addresses,” Silver wrote Aug. 21, 2011, from his personal account to a program official’s private Gmail account. “That makes them subpoenable.” …

Silver repeatedly communicated about internal and sensitive loan decisions via his personal e-mail, the newly released records show, and more than a dozen other Energy Department staff members used their personal e-mail to discuss decisions involving taxpayer-funded loans as well. The Washington Post received the e-mails from Republican investigators on the committee. …

Silver said Tuesday that he did not mean to avoid congressional scrutiny. “I intended to advise my DOE colleagues to use their official email for official purposes and personal email for personal purposes,” he said in a statement. “It was never my intention to avoid the requirements of the Federal Records Act.”

…The White House and Chu have repeatedly asserted that the Energy Department staff made all loan decisions based on merit, without regard to politics or donors. …

Silver wrote on June 12, 2011, to David Lane, counsel to White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley, arguing that approving a loan to a solar-generation facility called Project Amp would help Obama politically.

Despite Silver’s protestations, this all looks more than a little bit sketchy. Perhaps instead of worrying over how to avoid making loan-related correspondence subject to Congressional subpoena, maybe they should have been worrying about — oh, I don’t know — not doing things that would make a Congressional subpoena cause for alarm?

Via: Hot Air

House Ways and Means chairman demands Delphi pension termination documents from Obama administration

Republican House Ways and Means Committee chairman Dave Camp demanded Wednesday that the U.S. Treasury Department and the Obama administration release records connected to an emerging scandal surrounding autoworker pensions terminated during the auto bailout. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) and the Treasury Department axed pensions in 2009 for 20,000 non-union salaried retirees who worked for Delphi.

Those workers’ pension plans lost between 30 and 70 percent of their value, while similar plans covering members of the United Auto Workers and other labor unions were preserved and made whole.

Camp fired off letters to PBGC director Josh Gotbaum, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler, asking for dosuments by September 7. His committee seeks internal documents and communications relating to the decision-making process that resulted in those pension losses for non-union Delphi retirees.

From the PBGC, Camp demanded Gotbaum provide “all records, including but not limited to electronic mail to or from PBGC, the Departments of Treasury, Labor and Commerce and the Executive Office of the President of the United States” that relate to Delphi and General Motors’ interest in Delphi “for the period of January 1 through December 31, 2009.”

He demanded similar documents from Geithner and Ruemmler.

Via: The Daily Caller

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Friday, August 17, 2012

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Wednesday, August 15, 2012

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