Releasing The Gun Industry From Obama’s Operation Choke Point

Releasing The Gun Industry From Obama’s Operation Choke Point

By Stacy Washington | Thursday, June 1, 2017

https://www.nraila.org/articles/20170601/releasing-the-gun-industry-from-obama-s-operation-choke-point

The Obama administration perfected the use of government agencies against political enemies with Operation Choke Point. OCP was just as insidious as the IRS Tea Party targeting scandal because innocent victims couldn’t escape the ramifications of the government’s illegal actions against them. The Department of Justice utilized the banking industry to “choke off” the ability of certain “fraudulent” businesses in “high-risk” sectors to operate by cutting off their access to financial services.

Businesses that were ill thought of or believed to operate as conduits for consumer exploitation were targeted as high risk. Think payment processors and payday lending operators, the types of firms that are often accused of stiffing their hard-working customers through unfair business practices. Sounds good, right?

Not so fast. The criteria were set by the tastes and dictates of the president and hewed to his ideology without fail.

Consequently, the gun industry found itself in the crosshairs, with many banking relationships suddenly cut off without notice or explanation. Gun control activists operating within the federal bureaucracy had the ability to drive legitimate Second Amendment-affiliated companies, such as those selling guns and ammunition, to ground. 

American Spirit Arms based in Arizona was the recipient of rough treatment through its financial institution, Bank of America. The company’s accounts and assets were frozen under suspicion that it was selling firearms online without conducting federally mandated background checks. Under closer inspection, American Spirit Arms was found to be completely within the law: Every firearm bought online through its website was shipped to a Federal Firearm License holder. Each FFL holder was then responsible for conducting the background check before completing the sale. Not only is this legal, it debunks the widely held leftist trope that any crazy nut can buy a gun online without having a background check.

Based in Arizona, American Spirit Arms was just one firearm-related company victimized; others, in Florida and Nevada, also had assets frozen and accounts terminated without explanation. Sharing their plight on Facebook prompted thousands more impacted in the same way to speak out, garnering a ton of media attention. 

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to defund OCP in February 2016, but the measure failed to clear the Senate. Consequently, the remnants of its destructive powers remain available to activists within the government who are hell-bent on going beyond its original mandate by seeking “to destroy three sectors of the private lending industry: third party payment processors (“TPPPs”), payday lenders and online lenders.”

Enter U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., with his bill to end this abuse of government power through the Financial Institution Customer Protection Act. Since 2014, Luetkemeyer has pushed to end OCP and create needed reforms to prevent this type of illegal activity from happening again. The FICPA amends the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 to ensure it can no longer be used to justify using the financial industry to destroy businesses certain government officials don’t like. Additional changes in the language would amend FIRREA to prevent further abuses.

If this legislation becomes law, in order for a bank to terminate a customer’s account, it would have to specify a quantifiable reason for the closure. The financial institution would be required to provide the reasons in writing and refer directly to the laws being broken; so called “reputational risk” would not be enough to end a relationship. Luetkemeyer’s bill is necessary to return gun industry businesses to normalcy with the banking sector, as some banks have stopped transacting with 2A firms altogether. Banks need legal assurances that there is no extra regulatory burden associated with such companies.

Luetkemeyer is strongly advocating for passage of FICPA. “Although there is a new administration and Department of Justice in place, this legislation is necessary to ensure that no future administration will have the opportunity to negatively impact individuals and legal businesses through this unprecedented initiative,” Leutkemeyer said. “We must continue to demand greater transparency and end the practice of allowing government bureaucrats to use personal and political motivations to block financial services to licensed, legally operating businesses.”

I couldn’t agree more. The bill needs co-sponsors and a full-court press in the media to give it the national attention it deserves so it can successfully roll back the misguided policies put in place by the last administration. It’s ironic when we consider that one of the things former President Obama is most known for is being the best gun salesman this country has ever known—in spite of his very best efforts to the contrary.

Heineken toasts 'borderless world' in new ad campaign

Heineken toasts 'borderless world' in new ad campaign

Not the 1st company to use beer to promote globalist agenda

Published: 17 hours ago. Updated: 05/30/2017 at 9:06 PM

http://www.wnd.com/2017/05/heineken-toasts-borderless-world-in-new-ad-campaign/

Can national governments and national sovereignty be eliminated with the cooperation of Joe Six Pack?

The brewers of Heineken beer think so, and they’re laying it all on the line in their new ad campaign.

The Amsterdam, Netherlands-based Heineken Brewery is not only selling beer but a borderless world in the campaign, which provides the following meme right on the beer’s label.

“Here’s to an Open World: To a world without borders or barriers. To the belief that there’s more that unites us than divides us. To finding common ground. So raise a bottle with the person next to you. Because a stranger is just a friend you haven’t had a cold Heineken with yet. Open your world.”

Memorial Day is a big weekend for beer sales, but the “open borders” theme probably wasn’t the most effective way to lure new customers just a week after Europe’s open borders policy led to the slaughter of 22 women and girls by a Libyan terrorist in Manchester, England.

Blogger Sierra Marlee at Right Wing News noted that advocating for open borders “right on the bottle of their sub-par beer,” could not have been more ill-timed following the Manchester bombing at an Ariana Grande concert.

“If you have the misfortune of visiting a friend or family member with questionable taste in adult beverages, you might be forced to choke down some progressive politics with your Heineken,” she writes. “As you wonder if the drink in your hand was made with real horse urine or artificial flavoring, you might catch a glimpse of the ridiculously idealistic message on the side of the bottle.”

The message on the bottle is also backed up with a TV commercial from Heineken.

“It shows their ignorance of Islam,” said Ann Corcoran, author of the Refugee Resettlement Watch blog. “We’re  not going to be sitting down and knocking down a pint with our Muslim neighbors. As a matter of fact, there will be no beer companies when the Netherlands becomes a Muslim-majority nation.”

William Gheen, president and founder of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, pointed out that Heineken is not the only corporation pushing the globalist agenda of open borders. In fact, there are several other beer companies on the bandwagon.

“Why is it that Americans can’t enjoy a TV show, a beer, use a social-media website or buy something online without being lectured by or contributing to some global socialist cause?” Gheen asked.

“There is a massive political campaign coming at Americans through all channels pushing the same globalist agenda where they want to destroy the nation states and replace our way of life and form of governance with their elitist globalist control,” Gheen said.

He noted that similar open-borders propaganda has flowed from the company that makes Negro Modelo beer, preaching about the wonders of immigration into the U.S. through Texas.

Tecate, another Mexican beer maker, made a commercial last year against building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

“This reminds me of the scandal back in 2008 when Absolut Vodka got in a lot of hot water with Americans over their ‘In an Absolut World’ ad that used maps showing about one-third of the USA returned to Mexico,” Gheen said.

In October 2015, Germany’s leaders openly feared that beer and Muslim migrants might make a bad mix during the country’s Oktoberfest celebrations.

It is against Shariah, or Islamic law, to consume alcohol. And since more than 90 percent of the migrants flowing into Europe have been Muslim, offering them a beer would be more of an insult than a welcoming gesture of good will.

Noting this fact, Clare Lopez, vice president of research and analysis for the Washington-based think tank Center for Security Policy, mocked the stupidity of the Heineken ad in an emailed response to WND.

“Dear Heineken, drinking alcohol is punished by 80 lashes under Islamic Law. Please, let’s do open the borders and welcome to the Caliphate! Sincerely, the Islamic State.”

But despite the fact that its product doesn’t mix well with the Islamic invasion of Europe, Canada and the United States, Heineken feels compelled to push the narrative.

Heineken is pushing the same globalist vision of former President Obama, who scolded the Trump administration over the weekend saying “we cannot hide behind walls,” and of Hillary Clinton, who claimed “diversity is our strength” and “terrorism has nothing to do with Islam.”

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said global terrorism is “fueled by Islamophobia,” and former Secretary of State John Kerry lectured graduates of Northeastern University one year ago, saying “prepare for a borderless world.”

The State Department leaked to the New York Times that it will ramp up refugee resettlement from about 830 refugees a week in the first three weeks of this month to more than 1,500 per week by next month. Tens of thousands of refugees are waiting to come to the United States from dozens of countries throughout the Third World.

In an email, Jennifer L. Smith, a department official, wrote that the refugee groups could begin bringing people to the United States “unconstrained by the weekly quotas that were in place.”

Refugee groups now predict that entries into the United States could increase so rapidly that the total number of refugees admitted by Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, could exceed 70,000. That is the same level at which Obama brought in refugees for most of his term in office.

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Rodham Clinton was a director at the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

Note: Netherlands was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

Heineken N.V. was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, and the Human Rights Watch.

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, a director emeritus at Refugees International, was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and a benefactor for the Human Rights Watch.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for Refugees International, the Brookings Institution (think tank), and the Human Rights Watch.

Carlos Pascual was a VP for the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a U.S. ambassador for Mexico.

James R. Jones was a U.S. ambassador for Mexico, and a director at the Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc.

Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP is the lobby firm for the Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc.

Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is a senior counsel for Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Valerie B. Jarrett is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s great niece, the senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory A-Z (Past Research)

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

http://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2013/12/commercial-club-of-chicago-members.html

Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Klaus Kleinfeld is a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg, was a trustee at the Conference Board, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

G.J. Wijers was a trustee at the Conference Board, and is a supervisory board member for Heineken N.V.

Teresa Heinz Kerry is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and married to John F. Kerry.

John F. Kerry is married to Teresa Heinz Kerry, and Cameron F. Kerry’s brother.

Cameron F. Kerry is John F. Kerry’s brother, a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.  

R. Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.

Newton N. Minow is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.

Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.   

Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP, and the attorney in ACORN vs. Illinois State Board of Elections.

Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) was the plaintiff in ACORN vs. Illinois State Board of Elections.

Sidley Austin LLP was the legal adviser for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).

David F. Hamilton was a canvasser for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), and is Lee H. Hamilton’s nephew.

Lee H. Hamilton is David F. Hamilton’s uncle, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a co-chair for the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future, and a director at BAE Systems Inc.

Michael Chertoff is the chairman for BAE Systems Inc, a senior of counsel at Covington & Burling LLP, and the co-founder & chairman for the Chertoff Group.

Covington & Burling LLP is the lobby firm for the Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc.

Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP is the lobby firm for the Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc.

James R. Jones was a director at the Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc., and a U.S. ambassador for Mexico.

Jayson P. Ahern is a principal at the Chertoff Group, and was an acting commissioner for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Joanne Leedom-Ackerman is a director at Refugees International, and was a director at the Human Rights Watch.

Syrian Electronic Army reportedly hacked the Human Rights Watch.

Bashar al-Assad is supporting the Syrian Electronic Army, the president of Syria, and permitted the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) in Syria.

Gara LaMarche was an associate director at the Human Rights Watch, and a director at the White House Project.

Daisy Khan was a director at the White House Project, is an executive director at the American Society for Muslim Advancement, and a developer for Park51.

Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow is the sponsor for the American Society for Muslim Advancement.

Park51

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park51

Park51 (originally named Cordoba House^[6]) was to be a 13-story Islamic community center in Lower Manhattan including a "Muslim community center and a mosque."^[7] The developers hoped to promote an interfaith dialogue within the greater community.^[7] Due to its proposed location two blocks from the World Trade Center site,^[8][9] it was widely and controversially referred to as the "Ground Zero mosque".^[10] Numerous commentators disputed that characterization.