Catherine Engelbrecht’s tale has all the markings of a classic conspiracy theory: She says she thinks that because of her peaceful political activity, she and her family was targeted for scrutiny by hostile federal agencies.
Yet as news emerges that the Internal Revenue Service wielded its power to obstruct conservative groups, Catherine’s story becomes credible — and chilling. It also raises questions about whether other federal agencies have used their executive powers to target those deemed political enemies.
Before the Engelbrecht family’s three-year ordeal began, Catherine says, “I had no real expectation or preparation for the blood sport that American politics is.” Sounding weary on the phone, she continues: “It’s all been a through-the-looking-glass experience.”
Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who specializes in representing conservative organizations, says that the Engelbrecht family’s experience is “just the tip of the iceberg. . . . I think there’s definitely a Chicago-politics-style enemies list in this administration, and I think it permeates this branch of the federal government.”
The Engelbrechts were not, until recently, particularly political. They had been busy running a tiny manufacturing plant in Rosenberg, Texas. After years of working for others, Bryan, a trained machinist, wanted to open his own shop, so he saved his earnings, bought a computerized numerical-control machine, which does precision metal-cutting, and began operating out of his garage. “That was about 20 years ago,” he says. “Now, we’re up to about 30 employees.”
Read More at National Review . By Jillian Kay Melchior.
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The First Big Step Toward Obama’s Impeachment
Over the last few days, I’ve heard the word “impeachment” from more of my sources on Capitol Hill than in the last six years combined.
One member of Congress told me to look at the Richard M. Nixon articles of impeachment and just change the name to Barack Obama.
That member believes that many of the arguments about the Watergate cover-up apply to the current Benghazi cover-up scandal, the IRS Tea Party scandal, and the AP telephone records scandal.
Here’s how article one against Nixon laid out the charges:
Or how about this one:
Seems to me all of these charges would apply to Obama’s situation, yet they are direct quotes from the articles condemning Tricky Dick.
It’s too early to say if Barack Obama will be impeached. But mark my words… before the first day of summer, at least one member of Congress will introduce articles of impeachment accusing Barack Obama of “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Just in the last week, the public statements about potential impeachment have been astounding. Former Governor Mike Huckabee said, “I believe that before it’s all over, this president will not fill out his full term… I remind you, as bad as Watergate was, because it broke the trust between the president and the people, no one died. This is more serious because four Americans did in fact die.”
I know Mike personally, and he‘s not prone to hyperbole and over-the-top statements.
Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma said Benghazi is the “most egregious cover-up in American history… People may be starting to use the I-word before too long.”
Chairman of the Government Reform and Oversight Committee, Congressman Darrell Issa, said of Benghazi: “This is a failure. We need to be investigating.”
When the Salt Lake Tribune asked Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah about impeachment, he said, “It’s certainly a possibility.”
Rep. Steve Stockman of Texas started the year talking about impeachment. As the White House prepared gun control proposals, Obama announced he would carry out a lot of his ideas through executive orders. Stockman, a strong defender of the Constitution, responded to Obama’s comments by saying:
Stockman continued, “The president cannot issue executive orders depriving the people of full access to an enumerated constitutional right. I do not think it will come to that. The president is not an absolute ruler, and his actions and orders can be checked and balanced by the Congress and the courts – if the Congress is willing.”
Rep. Louie Gohmert, also of Texas, told NewsMax at the same time that Obama has “already abused the law enough times that it’s just been staggering… It’s not a president who steps up and says: ‘You know what? Previous Congresses have passed the law — and it’s been signed into law, and I disagree with it, so I’m just going to create new law — and as I speak, so shall it be,’” Gohmert concluded.
While these are just a few voices, I believe the chorus for impeachment will grow in the weeks ahead. Obama has made a series of highly questionable mistakes, and he refuses to take responsibility for the problems. Expect to hear much more about these scandals before the long, hot summer is over.
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