Franklin Center - The war on journalists

Watchdog Wire tweet-up today with James O'Keefe

In Case You Missed it NSA scandal separates liberty lovers from poseurs All of Obamacare could hang in the balance SCOTUS says states can't require proof of citizenship to register voters Cartoon of the Week Stay Connected

Just in time for a book release and a tweet up! Join us on Twitter TODAY at NOON ET as author and activist James O'Keefe talks about his new book "Breakthrough" and answers your questions! You can follow and participate using the hashtag #WDWTU. What is a tweet up? TV report: One year later, ‘party is over’ at GreenTech The party is over for Terry McAuliffe's GreenTech it seems. A new television news investigation reported this week that the GreenTech Automotive company is stalled. Read more here. Peter King's misguided war on journalists “[We need to] recommit to the freedom of the press and encourage young journalists to be aggressive truth-seekers, instead of tolerating intimidation when reporters pursue hard-hitting investigations.” Click here to read Franklin Center President Jason Stverak's op-ed in Human Events! Join us online this Monday for the New York Meeting Hear from top lawmakers like Senator Ron Johnson, Rep. Kay Granger, and Rep. Thomas Massie, as well as Rich Lowry, Editor of National Review and John Allison of the Cato Institute, as they talk about the top issues facing our nation! Click here to watch the livestream this Monday at 6:00 PM ET!

Freekeenenews - Town of Palmer Settles With Videographer for $5,000

Town Pays For Wrongful Arrest

Charges against me for recording video in Palmer town hall are dismissed, plus I got a check for thousands.  Back in October 2012, I was arrested for recording video in the town hall of Palmer, MA. The arrest was clearly illegal, but that didn't stop Palmer Police officer Raymond Tenczar from putting handcuffs on me, then putting me in a cage. After all, the legal council for the town had told them they could and they'd even posted hastily-printed signs on the building that morning that prohibited recording. They didn't want a repeat of 2011, where CopBlock's Pete Eyre and I walked all around the building, recording and asking the bureaucrats tough questions. (We were there to view a tax sale and support our friend Jay Noone who was having his home stolen by the people calling themselves the "Town of Palmer".)

Turns out, I was right.  The town of Palmer settled for $5,000 and the case was dismissed with prejudice. Here is the press release from the ACLU, whose attorneys did a fantastic job on the case.  Here also is my opinion piece from Free Keene.

ALG - IRS targeting violated employee contract against political coercion

June 4, 2013, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today issued the following statement calling attention to a 2009 National Treasury Employees Union contract agreement that forbade political coercion at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and stated "Employees should be protected against arbitrary action, personal favoritism, or coercion for partisan political purposes; and prohibited from using their official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election or a nomination for election":

"Obama's IRS in Washington, D.C., by directing the political targeting by the agency against the tea party and other groups, may have compelled employees to violate their own contractual agreement. In part this is ironic, but it also perhaps explains why some Cincinnati employees had such strong misgivings about the targeting, as revealed recently in sworn testimony.

"This testimony and the agreement are a testament to the scrupulous standards that the American people expect from public employees, particularly from those enforcing the taxing power. Never again should such abuses be allowed to occur, and we urge more employees to come forward to ensure those who are directly responsible for the targeting are held to account.

"Moreover, since officials in the Obama Administration knew about the targeting long before it became public, a special counsel must be appointed to ensure that those who violated the public trust by engaging in political targeting are brought to justice."

To view online: http://getliberty.org/irs-targeting-violated-employee-contract-against-political-coercion/

Attachments:

2009 National Treasury Employees Union contract agreement at http://www.nteu92.org/NA2.pdf

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Americans for Limited Government is a non-partisan, nationwide network committed to advancing free market reforms, private property rights and core American liberties. For more information on ALG please call us at 703-383-0880 or visit our website at www.GetLiberty.org.

CEI Today: Congress & global warming, Cordray nomination, and the UN vs free speech

CONGRESS & CLIMATE POLICY - MARLO LEWIS

Globalwarming.org: Why Is Congress Lethargic about Energy?

This week National Journal’s Energy Experts Blog poses the question: “What’s holding back energy & climate policy.” There is no momentum building for the kind of comprehensive energy legislation Congress enacted in 2005 and 2007.  > Read the analysis

> Interview Marlo Lewis

DODD-FRANK, CFPB - AMMON SIMON National Review: Jeb Hensarling on Richard Cordray President Obama’s attempt to circumvent the Senate by unilaterally appointing Ohio politician Richard Cordray to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may have been premised on his expectation that he would get away with it. If so, he seems to have miscalculated, because the other two branches of government are providing him with a Sesame Street demonstration of the concept of “checks and balances.” >Read more > Interview an expert

FREE SPEECH - HANS BADER Openmarket.org: Lawsuits Over “Customary International Law”: A Menace To Free Speech, Our Liberties, Our Companies, And Our Economy The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has ruled that Germany violated international law by not prosecuting a former German legislator for an interview with a cultural journal in which he said negative things about immigration and the alleged dependence on welfare of Turkish immigrants to his country. That ruling illustrates that international-law norms can be inimical to American civil-liberties such as freedom of speech, making it inappropriate for U.S. courts to enforce such foreign norms.  > Read more > Interview Hans Bader

More in the news... Capitalism’s Survival Depends on Politics CEI Study: Cost Of Keeping One Unauthorized Immigrant From Getting A Job — $13,000 Why FAA’s Child Seat Campaign Is Deadly The spreading of ‘right to work’ ... where will it show up next?

CEI ANNUAL DINNER & GALA FEATURING THE HONORABLE RAND PAUL JUNE 20, 2013 cei.org/ceidinner

CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government.  For more information about CEI, please visit our website, cei.org, and blogs, Globalwarming.org and OpenMarket.org.  Follow CEI on Twitter! Twitter.com/ceidotorg.

Franklin Center - They're suing us

Dear Supporter,

In a baseless attempt to chill free speech, a “Solyndra on wheels” electric car company founded by Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe has sued Watchdog.org following an investigation highlighting the automaker’s use of a controversial government “cash-for-visas” immigration program and lack of many real jobs (or cars) created.

Following a series of in-depth investigations, prompting the Associated Press, Washington Post, and more to also cover this important story, Watchdog.org exposed multiple falsehoods in McAuliffe’s statements surrounding GreenTech.

Even PolitFact rated confirmed the falsity of Terry McAuliffe’s claims about GreenTech and the State of Virginia said they had “grave doubts” about the viability of the company.

Supporter, will you help us stand up against this baseless lawsuit attempting to muzzle the press? $25, $50 or whatever you can chip in will make a big difference in continuing to expose GreenTech & McAuliffe!

The funny this is, if our stories weren’t accurate, you would think GreenTech and Terry McAuliffee would want to set the record straight. Especially when you’re running an entire campaign off of your business experience.

Yet despite multiple attempts, they refuse to comment. They want to bury the facts and silence us.  Using intimidation and an $85 million lawsuit is so much easier than explaining yourself I guess.

But we’re not backing down. If we don’t fight against this lawsuit, the First Amendment, your rights, my rights, will not simply be attacked –they’ll be one step closer to being lost.

That’s why I went on Fox News – to tell the truth and defend a free press. American citizens such as you Supporter, own their government … what will happen if organizations such as Watchdog.org don’t stand up for citizens and keep them informed?

GreenTech Automotive will continue to learn that Franklin Center doesn’t back down, especially when the First Amendment and serving the public trust are being attacked.

Will you stand with us Supporter? Your $25, $50 or anything you can spare will help us fight GreenTech and McAuliffe’s desperate attempts to chill free speech.

Thank you for your continued support,


Jason Stverak
President
The Franklin Center

P.S. Stand with Franklin Center by donating $25, $50 or whatever you can here. Your donation will help us continued our investigation and expose truth!