ASPCA ordered to pay $9.3 million for harassment, abuse

Feld Entertainment, Inc., the producer of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, announced today that the company has reached a legal settlement with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) in connection with two federal court cases.

Under the settlement, ASPCA has paid Feld Entertainment $9.3 million to settle all claims related to its part in more than a decade of manufactured litigation that attempted to outlaw elephants in the company's Ringling Bros.  Circus. This settlement applies only to the ASPCA. Feld Entertainment's legal proceedings, including its claims for litigation abuse and racketeering, will continue against the remaining defendants, Humane Society of the United States, the Fund for Animals, Animal Welfare Institute, Animal Protection Institute United with Born Free USA, Tom Rider and the attorneys involved.

"These defendants attempted to destroy our family-owned business with a hired plaintiff who made statements that the court did not believe. Animal activists have been attacking our family, our company, and our employees for decades because they oppose animals in circuses. This settlement is a vindication not just for the company but also for the dedicated men and women who spend their lives working and caring for all the animals with Ringling Bros. in the face of such targeted, malicious rhetoric," said Kenneth Feld, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Feld Entertainment.

The parties filed dismissal papers today in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia as a result of their settlement. The settlement covers only Feld Entertainment's claims against ASPCA for attorneys' fees and damages in the initial Endangered Species Act (ESA) case filed in 2000 by the animal rights activists and the resultant racketeering (RICO) case brought by Feld Entertainment in 2007. Discovery in the initial lawsuit uncovered over $190,000 that these animal activist groups and their lawyers paid to Tom Rider who lived off of the money while serving as the "injured plaintiff" in the lawsuit against the circus.

"Our firm has been defending Feld Entertainment against this onslaught of misguided litigation brought by animal activist groups for years. As their attorneys, it is gratifying to finally have a settlement that begins to make up for the harm inflicted on this company, the family who owns it, and its employees," said John Simpson of Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P., lead counsel for Feld Entertainment in all of the cases covered by the settlement with ASPCA.

Background of Case

The original complaint was filed in July 2000 by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the Animal Welfare Institute, the Fund for Animals and Tom Rider, who is a former Ringling Bros. employee. The case was dismissed in 2001 but was reinstated in 2003 after an appellate court ruled that if Tom Rider could prove that he was injured by Ringling Bros.' treatment of the elephants, the case could proceed. The Animal Protection Institute joined the case in 2006.

The trial began on February 4, 2009 and lasted approximately six weeks. The case is ASPCA, et al., v. Feld Entertainment, Inc., No. 03-2006 (D.D.C.)(Hon. Emmet G. Sullivan presiding).

On December 30, 2009, the U.S. District Court ruled in Feld Entertainment's favor (published as ASPCA v. Feld Entertainment, Inc., 677 F. Supp. 2d 55 (D.D.C. 2009)). In its ruling the Court stated that, "the Court finds that Mr. Rider is essentially a paid plaintiff and fact witness who is not credible, and therefore affords no weight to his testimony regarding the matters discussed herein, i.e., the allegations related to his standing to sue." ( www.ringlingbrostrialinfo.com/uploadedFiles/ASPCA%20Memorandum%20Opinion.pdf )

That decision found that the plaintiffs' litigation was based on the untruthful testimony of a paid plaintiff and witness who the Court found received at least $190,000 in payments as his sole source of income over an eight year period by animal special interest groups, including ASPCA, their lawyers and an entity founded and controlled by those lawyers, the Wildlife Advocacy Project.

The Court also ruled, "that ensuring Mr. Rider's continued participation as a plaintiff was a motivating factor behind the payments to him, and that these payments were a motivating factor for his continued involvement in the case." The Court also ruled against the other plaintiffs in the case: "because the organizational plaintiffs have not established an injury in fact, traceable to FEI's actions that can be redressed by the Court, the organizational plaintiffs have no standing to sue under Article III of the United States Constitution."

Furthermore, the Court ruled that "based upon his failure to complain, the Court finds that Mr. Rider either (1) did not witness elephant mistreatment when he was employed by FEI or (2) any mistreatment he did witness did not affect him to the extent that he suffered an aesthetic or emotional injury." The Court's December 2009 ruling was affirmed in its entirety by the Court of Appeals on October 28, 2011.

Based upon what was revealed in ASPCA, et al., v. Feld Entertainment, Feld Entertainment brought suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against ASPCA, HSUS and other animal rights activists and their lawyers alleging violations of the RICO statute and Virginia Conspiracy Act, malicious prosecution, and abuse of process. The court denied the defendants' motions to dismiss that case on July 9, 2012. ( http://www.ringlingbrostrialinfo.com/uploadedFiles/First%20Amended%20Feld%20Entertainment%20RICO%20Complaint.pdf )

Via press release

Taiwanese news animation tackles Tommy Tuberville, Texas Tech

Gallup: More support putting gun in every school than support gun ban

Voters are more likely to support putting a loaded gun in every school than support a ban on the sale of semi-automatic guns, a new Gallup poll finds.
Sixty-four percent of the country say "having at least one school official at every school carry a gun" will prevent mass shootings.  Sixty-three percent believe the same of "banning the sale of assault and semi-automatic guns."

That means Barack Obama is about to lead his party into a disastrous 2014 defeat. 

That's because that 63 percent support for a semi-automatic gun ban collapses when voters learn just what exactly a semi-auto gun ban is -- and you'd better believe they'll be told on TV, radio and in the mail during the 2014 election.

Gallup finds support for a semi-auto handgun ban falls sharply to 52 percent when people are told a semi-automatic handgun is one "which automatically re-load(s) every time the trigger is pulled."  Putting one simple fact in front of a voter suddenly removes any mandate for a semi-auto ban.

Additionally, only 52 percent support for an issue at its most emotional time is a recipe for defeat for any politician who signs on, especially given the fact the poll is of all adults and not just active voters -- who are more pro-gun than the general public.

It gets worse for gun grabbers.  Gallup finds only 27 percent of Americans support a "a nationwide ban on the sale of handguns, except to law enforcement officers," which is what a ban on the sale of semi-automatic handguns practically is.  An astonishing 71 percent of the general public opposes such a handgun ban.

Backing that up is a CBS News poll conducted in the height of emotion after the incident.  It found only 26 percent believed stricter gun laws would helped prevent the tragedy.  Further smacking down Obama, half said stricter laws would have had no effect.

Americans believe more guns stop crime, not less.  If Obama continues to callously exploit dead children to push a radical agenda he'll find more, not less, defeated Democrats.

CNN Host: I'm 'gleeful a tragedy happened'

John Nolte has the story.

Liberals compare school reformers to Newtown killer, suggest healing by uniting against school choice

In what can only be termed sociopathic behavior, two prominent liberals are gleefully using the mass killing of children in Connecticut to push an unrelated political agenda against education reform.

Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education and teachers union activist Diane Ravitch started the disgusting spree by declaring the process of emotional healing in Newtown Conn. can begin by uniting the community against school reformers.

"Newtown does not need a charter school. What it needs now is healing. Not competition, not division, but a community coming together to help one another. Together. Not competing," writes Ravitch.

The deranged Ravitch then insinuated that tying tenure and teacher pay to performance is somehow related to the massacre.

"Oh, and one other thing, all these dedicated teachers belonged to a union. The senior teachers had tenure, despite the fact that 'reformers' (led by ConnCAN, StudentsFirst, and hedge fund managers) did their best last spring to diminish their tenure and to tie their evaluations to test scores," Ravitch wrote.

Ravitch is no nameless fringe character.  She is a Research Professor of Education at New York University.  "In 2010, the National Education Association selected her as its 'Friend of Education,'" she states in her biography.

Shockingly her depraved behavior was celebrated, not criticized, by school union bosses.  Karen Lewis, head of the Chicago Teachers Union, went so far as to commend Ravitch for politicizing the tragedy and even declared advocates of school choice are child killers themselves.

"There might have been a time where 'politicizing' tragic events, especially mass shootings was thought to be in poor taste. That has changed with the 24/7 news cycle that continues to focus far too much time and energy on the perpetrator of the massacre than that of our precious victims. (Teach for America vice president David) Rosenberg’s 'false outrage' needs to be checked. That same false outrage should show itself when policies his colleagues support kill and disenfranchise children from schools across this nation," rambled Lewis*.

The head of the Chicago Teachers Union just said charter school teachers are themselves mass child killers.

Both need to apologize, and be closely watched.

* That was her statement as written in her capacity as Chicago's top education union official, including punctuation errors and improper use of phrases.

EPA boss faces federal probe into lawbreaking

"The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) internal watchdog is looking into whether the agency uses separate internal email accounts to conduct government affairs," The Hill reports.

"EPA’s inspector general said the audit follows on a congressional request. Some lawmakers have pressed EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson for answers on her alleged use of a separate internal email account under the alias 'Richard Windsor.'"

The bogus email account was uncovered by Chris Horner, American Tradition Institute's Director of Litigation.

"Its office of the inspector general wants to know whether the agency’s email practices comply with federal laws. The concern is whether correspondence through internal accounts would show up in a search for federal records."

NAACP not happy about advancement of colored person

South Carolina Congressman Tim Scott will break a color barrier when he becomes the United States Senate's only black member and first black Republican since Reconstruction and some people aren't too happy about it.

Namely the NAACP, who are hinting they will seek to cleanse the Senate of the black representative.

"(H)is voting record in the U.S. House of Representatives raises major concerns,” NAACP senior vice president for advocacy and policy Hilary Shelton tells The Daily Caller.

“It is important, we believe, that he recognize that awesome responsibility and perhaps what we’ll see is a change in how he votes and what he advocates for in a way more consistent the NAACP has as well.”

He blasted Scott for supporting education reforms that would give parents and local communities more control over schools and curriculum.  The education policies supported by the NAACP have led to lower test scores and graduation rates for black students.

Shelton indicated the NAACP will try to deliver the black lawmaker's seat to a white politician, removing all black representation in the Senate, should he seek re-election.

Texas Democrat Party official issues terrorist threats to kill gun owners

Texas Democrat Party official John Cobarruvias issued multiple terrorist threats to begin hunting and killing people who voice support for legal gun ownership

"Can we now shoot the #NRA and everyone who defends them?," he wrote on Twitter, also writing on his blog, "They need to [be] wiped off the face of the earth."

Cobarruvias is a Houston-area precinct chairman and a State Executive Committee member for the Texas Democratic Party from Houston, setting official party policies.

The use of violence or threats of violence for social or political purposes is terrorism. There can be no tolerance for violence or those who advocate it.

When guns stop crime the media attach their silencers

I wrote this article over ten years ago, on Jan. 28, 2012.  It was published Feb. 4, 2002 in The (Virginia Beach) Virginian-Pilot, the Commonwealth's largest newspaper.

Give the media credit; they know how to selectively report a story. Covering last year's EP-3 reconnaissance plane crash, Communist China's People's Daily failed to mention Chinese pilot Wong Wei frequently buzzed American aircraft and likely rammed the slower plane. Cuba's Granma conveniently neglected to report that Elian Gonzales' supposedly loving father rarely saw the child prior to Elian's escape to the United States.

And just this month The Washington Post and other news outlets purposefully did not report that two armed students stopped the tragic shooting at Virginia's Appalachian School of Law.

The story itself is newsworthy. When Peter Odighizuwa began his deadly rampage, most students fled the premises in fear of their lives. Two students, however, bravely faced the armed maniac determined to end the killing. Tracy Bridges, 25, and Mikael Gross, 34 retrieved guns from their cars and with the help of police officer Ted Besen surrounded Odighizuwa. Bridges aimed his weapon at Odighizuwa, who dropped his and was tackled. Had Bridges and Gross obeyed the federal "gun free schools" law, Odighizuwa would have continued his deadly rampage, killing with impunity while unarmed citizens waited for the government's monopoly on force, the local police, to arrive and resolve the situation.

Given the fact that their actions saved countless lives, the omission of that critical fact is stunning. Had the men attempted to subdue Odighizuwa, at least one almost certainly would have been shot at point-blank range. A more likely scenario is a crazed Odighizuwa moving through the campus' buildings killing all those he came across as hundreds fled, powerless to stop him.

The fact that two men put their lives at risk and were able to heroically save numerous other students only because they had firearms is central to the story. But somehow it fell through the mainstream media's gaping editorial cracks.

The silence is deafening. In last Friday's New York Post, the American Enterprise Institute's Dr. John Lott reports that of the 280 news reports identified by Lexis-Nexis search engines, only four reported that two of the students who stopped the mass killing were armed. When only 1.4 percent of news stories mention the fact that those who stopped a potential massacre did so with firearms, that can't be chalked up to the constraints of a word count.

"In this age of 'gun free schools,' the vast majority of the news reports ignored the fact that the attack was stopped by two students who had guns in their cars," wrote Lott. Considering the sensationalized coverage afforded shootings by hostile armed students, it is disturbing to hear the silence surrounding peaceful armed students who heroically stop mass killings. While the minute handful who discharge weapons in schools are afforded days of network news coverage, stories on the two million defensive uses of firearms are found only in the newsletter of Gun Owners Of America and the local police blotter.

Lott's research shows Bridges' and Gross' actions aren't unusual. In his best seller More Guns, Less Crime, Lott finds that peaceable citizens use firearms to stop crimes more than two million times a year. In over 90 percent of those cases the gun is not even fired. Just the remote threat of a citizen using deadly force to defend his life and property is enough to quell a criminal's desires. Odighizuwa may have been deranged, but he was certainly rational enough to realize he was no match for an armed citizen.

For their efforts, the media still have a hard time restraining evidence that gun control causes crime and that an armed society is a polite society. The normally far-left BBC begrudgingly reported this month that handgun crime in Great Britain has increased 40 percent, despite a 1997 ban on handguns.

Despite that momentary lapse of anti-gun editorial judgment, the truth about gun ownership -- a firearm in the hands of peaceful citizen stops crime and saves lives -- goes largely unnoted.

Luckily, the proliferation of cable news channels and Internet-based information sources is breaking the media's anti-Second Amendment news monopoly. Pro-gun organizations such as Gun Owners of America and Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership dutifully note, record and report statistics, evidence and first-hand accounts of lives saved by unabridged firearms ownership.

Declining crime rates in concealed-carry states embarrassingly refute years of anti-gun propaganda. And stories like that of Bridges and Gross, however underreported, trickle into the mainstream, proving that guns save lives and gun control breeds crime.

Bridges and Gross should be commended for their bravery and selflessness. Those reporters and editors who intentionally failed to note they could only do so because they chose to exercise a constitutional right should be ashamed.

Johnny Manziel's Letterman Top 10 Perks of Winning the Heisman Trophy

Johnny Manziel's Top Ten Perks of Winning the Heisman Trophy

Newtown and Lanza: Obama throwing lives away for electoral gains

President Obama is right. We should not accept acts of mass violence as routine or a byproduct of freedom.  

Thankfully the incidences of acts of mass violence have rapidly declined even as we have repealed gun laws and our nation becomes safer, and a wholesale reform of the nation's policies on mental health would not only prevent the loss of innocent victims but save the lives and restore the well-being of those who lose themselves to committing these acts.

If you want to stop tragedies like this we need to address the root of the problem - our inability to properly help people with health issues that make themselves a danger to others.

 We have an unaddressed social problem with people who have health issues that make themselves a danger to others. They are not being effectively treated or dealt with.

But rather than propose mental health policy reforms that would go a long way to solving the greater problem of acts of mass violence by dangerous persons Obama has instead announced he will seek cosmetic changes that don't address the issue of violent sociopathy itself, but instead allow him to attack his political opponents ahead of a 2014 election in which seeks to keep control of Senate and win control of the House while leaving the root of the problem completely ignored.

We are not solving the problem. We are just throwing lives away for electoral gains.

Opposition to Big Wind tax giveaway grows

More grassroots groups are joining American Tradition Partnership in opposing the “Wind Production Tax Credit” to bail out failing green corporations.

“They told 158 lawmakers in a letter that keeping the credit “essentially transfers taxpayer dollars from your constituents and subsidizes the states with such mandates’” The Hill reports.

Obama stopped arrest of sex offender working for Dem Senator

Earlier this year federal agents discovered Luis Abrahan Sanchez Zavaleta, an intern for U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ,) is not just a convicted sex offender, but also in this country illegally.

A convicted sex offender working in an office with young women is a dangerous situation.

Naturally, federal agents moved quickly to arrest and deport the criminal.

One problem.

Senator Menendez is up for election this year.  Democrats stood to lose control of the U.S. Senate if a Democrat got bad press.

So the Obama White House blocked federal agents from arresting a sex offender working next to young women because it might hurt Democrats' chances of controlling the Senate.

Those federal agents contacted the AP to blow the whistle on Democrats harboring criminals and delaying arrests.

Fun fact about the union bosses' "free rider" argument

You know who is the about only group opposed to exempting non-union workers from union-negotiated benefits?  Union bosses. 

You see, being "forced" to share benefits with non-union workers, even if they fought to keep it that way, gives them a talking point to whip up opposition to it.

If you're a union member who opposes non-union members getting union-negotiated benefits, your union leaders are your enemy.

VIDEO: Democrats stomp on tent full of people, attack police officers

Democrats, including Obama, refuse to criticize the violent behavior of these feral animals.

Democrats threaten to kill children of Mich. governor, 'pray your wife gets cancer'

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has signed a Right to Work bill supported by 58 percent of the state's voters.

So typically, Democrats have reacted by threatening to murder, and even rape, him.

But Democrats are also targeting his wife with death wishes and even threatened to hunt down and kill his children, including his 14-year-old daughter.

Courtesy of Twitchy, here are just a few floats in the liberal parade of psychotic violence.

RT @erikFUCKINGhall @onetoughnerd believe us, you, sue, Jeff, mellisa, and Kelsey will burn for this. You fuck with our families, we kill yours!!!

RT @armycrystal55 @onetoughnerd @briancalley I pray your wife gets cancer

RT @Loladadollface Everyone in michigan wanns kill,Snyder that bitch nigga lied and,shit tryna,break up the unions,of,the working,class

RT @TinaMarieBaby Fuck Snyder ill kill him

RT @Offlogic @onetoughnerd you are soooo going to die painfully for this bullshit, it isn't even funny

Democrats promise bloody violence in response to Right to Work

Michigan House Democrats posted this to their Twitter account Tuesday then quickly deleted it, probably when someone informed them advocating literal violence is a crime.

Psychotic political violence isn't an isolated matter confined to fringe members.  It is officially endorsed and proposed by Democrat Party leaders.

We've had "town hall violence," bloody attacks on Tea Party events, multiple rapes and murders at Occupy events and now rampages of mob violence at state capitols in Wisconsin and Michigan.

We need to have a serious national discussion of the Democrat Party's increasing use of bloody mob violence as a tool of political discourse.

Photo of violent liberal attacker released. Reward for his arrest.

Here is a screen capture of video of the violent liberal who attacked conservative commentator Steven Crowder.

According to Luke Llondo, he appears to be with an IBEW local with three digits. Locals 665, 948, 557, 275, 445, 252 are the nearest to Lansing.

His first name appears to be Terry and his last name appears begins with an S.

Here is the reward fund for his arrest.

Go find him.

Union mob pounces on women, children at Michigan event

Watch as a mob of liberals act like feral animals, hooting and screaming as they rip down a tent with women and children inside.

These union attacks will grow only more violent, as 76% of Michigan supports Right to Work.  Liberalism has become synonymous with psychotic violence.

China profits as Obama loses another $130 million on 'green' energy

A123 Systems, the 'green' car battery maker bailed out by Barack Obama with $249 million in taxpayer funds only to declare bankruptcy anyway, has been bought by a Chinese car maker.

Wanxiang America Corporation bought the company in a Delaware bankruptcy court, The Washington Post reports.

A123 pocketed about $130 million of the taxpayer-backed loan handed to them by Obama before admitting they were bankrupt. 

Once again, Obama bet millions of taxpayer dollars on yet another green loser.  Those holding shares in A123 will lose their investment.  "If the deals are approved by the court, the shares," the Post reports. "That’s because proceeds from the sale of the two parts of A123 would be less than the company owes its creditors."

Ecoterrorism looms as environmentalists now committing crimes in Keystone attacks

Environmentalists aren't just a threat to the economy, they are also a threat to property and human life.

Unhappy that most Americans support the clean, safe Keystone XL jobs project, raging environmentalists are now engaging in a campaign of vandalism and trespassing.  Environmentalists see crime as a civil right.

Environmentalists "have taken to chaining themselves to machinery and trucks in an attempt to stall construction," POLITICO reports.

Those criminals are the nice ones.  There have also been attempts to plant bombs on natural gas pipelines.

Ecoterrorism is a serious problem in the United States.  Because leftists see authority over others as their right they too often resort to violence in order to grasp control.

Environmentalists in the United States have also recently set fire to the homes of medical researchers and destroyed crops and slaughtered animals intended to help develop affordable foods to combat world hunger.

As environmentalism grows increasingly synonymous with violence and terrorism it is important Congress take action to confront the growing threat of environmentalist terrorism.

House GOP seeks new corporate bailout?

The "fiscal cliff" coming in just days could mean massive tax hikes that kill honest energy businesses.

But Big Wind lobbyists are using the crisis to bail out Gang Green environmentalists.

They want Congress to continue the so-called "Wind Production Tax Credit," a handout created 20 years ago to help the wind energy industry "get off the ground."

Two decades later the wind energy industry hasn't gone anywhere.  Wind energy is a proven expensive failure, but politicians are continuing to hand them political favors while punishing honest energy employers.

Even worse, it appears Republicans will be the ones to bail out failing wind corporations while letting productive energy employers die at the hands of tax hikes and overregulation.

"(M)any House Republicans want to see the credit extended. With 81 percent of wind installations in GOP districts, there are a number of members who are under pressure to ensure the tax break survives," The Hill reports this morning.

It's up to you and I to stop them.  Again.

Please call your Congressman right now at 202-224-3121.

Tell them to REJECT any effort to extend the "Wind Production Tax Credit."

We shouldn't bail out expensive failures while letting affordable energy and good jobs die.  We need to save good jobs and affordable energy.

Call right now.

Sincerely,

Donald Ferguson
Executive Director
American Tradition Partnership

P.S.  Unlike anti-jobs groups like Greenpeace and The Sierra Club, pro-jobs advocate American Tradition Partnership does not seek or accept government funds.  We operate solely on the gifts of good friends like you.  We are are people-powered American grassroots organization, not a cabal of international leftist job-killers.

Help us keep fighting.  Go here to chip in $10 or more today.

Manziel speaks to the media for the first time

“My name is Johnny, and I’ve been playing football since I was six years old.”

UN meeting in Qatar to discuss new global limit on economic activity

United Nations bureaucrats are meeting in Doha, Qatar this week for a new global summit seeking to impose global taxes and caps on carbon dioxide emitted through economic activity.

The Obama administration has kicked off the event by promising aggressive new actions to limit economic activity in the United States.

The Guardian reports Obama representative to the conference Jonathan Pershing tells delegates "the Obama administration has taken a series of steps, including sharply increasing fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks, and made good on promises of climate financing for poor countries."

The UN has taken past actions to limit carbon dioxide and curb economic activity, but none of these have affected global climate.

Rather than accept the scientific proof human activity is not altering the global climate, UN bureaucrats are using their failure to instead suggest they don't have enough power and are now pushing even more draconian restrictions on economic activity.

Supreme Court orders Fourth Circuit to hear challenge to ObamaCare

A key, and controversial, component of ObamaCare could soon be ruled upon by the Supreme Court.
The United States Supreme Court this morning ordered the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to hear a lawsuit brought by Liberty University challenging the constitutionality of ObamaCare's mandate forcing employers to finance their employees' birth control.

Liberty claims that mandate violates their constitutionally-guaranteeed right of free exercise of religion by forcing them to finance activities that conflict with their faith.  I agree.

When the Supreme Court last year ruled (incorrectly I believe) that ObamaCare's requirement all Americans buy health insurance or face a fine was constitutional under Congress' power to levy taxes, the court did not rule on whether the "contraception mandate" violated First Amendment protections of religious exercise.

Liberty's original case was dismissed by the Supreme Court when the Court ruled ObamaCare's insurance mandate was constitutional.  Liberty appealed to the Court to hear the case, citing the fact the employer and contraception mandates had not been ruled upon.  The Court agreed and this morning order the Fourth Circuit, based in Richmond, to hear the case.

The Fourth Circuit could hear the case next spring.  It has a reputation for ruling quickly, issuing a ruling in appeals cases in an average of just seven months.

Obama admin suggests stamping out alcohol consumption through 'calorie taxes'

The Taliban deemed alcohol a threat to public health.

As more cities and states seek to expand their control over what citizens eat and drink through 'soda taxes,' the federal government issued a study last week suggesting people who drink alcohol be subjected to the same controls.

The government study, conducted over four years through interviews with more than 11,000 American adults, claims that while soda and other sugary drinks are responsible for six percent of the average adult's calorie consumption, alcoholic beverages account for a nearly identical five percent.

"We've been focusing on sugar-sweetened beverages. This is something new,’" said Cynthia Ogden, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a study author, tells the Associated Press.

The "Center for Science in the Public Interest," a special interest group dedicated to expanding governemnt controls on food consumption and other private behavior, is already using the findings to agitate for new government controls on alcohol labeling.

Anti-calorie activists like the CSPI are already using the study to push for federal regulations mandating calorie labeling on alcohol, along with punitive taxes on those who drink an alcoholic beverage.

"Health officials should think about enacting policies to limit alcoholic intake...said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy for the Center for Science in the Public Interest," the AP reports.

‘‘In New York City, it was smart to start with sugary drinks. Let’s see how it goes and then think about next steps,’’ Wooten crowed.

The federal government outlawed alcohol entirely in 1919 through a constitutional amendment, but repealed it in 1933 after prohibition led to a violent and bloody black market. 

But as with most government prohibition efforts, bureaucrats are finding it easier to control behavior through punitive taxation than criminalization.

In 2009 the Obama administration proposed a federal tax on calorie-loaded beverages as part of an effort to socially engineer the nation's health.  It was dropped after heated citizen opposition.

See Gang Green get 'Axed'

You can help expose the radical agenda of Gang Green with just one click.

Filmmaker J.D. King is currently working on "Axed,"  a documentary detailing how, in the name of "being green," our liberties, our private property rights, and our standards of living are constantly being chopped at and splintered away.

This could be a very powerful weapon as we turn the tide of public opinion against Gang Green's central planners.

King will document stories of individual Americans and natural resource based companies who are being sacrificed on a green altar. We also plan to meet with historians and experts on the subject.

As you can imagine Hollywood isn't too happy about "Axed," so no studio will fund it.

But we are.

I need you to go here and chip in as little as $5 to help King get "Axed" produced.

You may give more if you like, and I strongly recommend it.

ATP has no association or relationship with J.D. King or "Axed."  I just want to see Gang Green exposed for millions to see.

Do it now.  King only has three more days to get the film funded.

So go here to chip in $5 or more.

Sincerely,

Donald Ferguson
Executive Director
American Tradition Partnership

Obama spent $29 million digging 'just a big hole in the ground'

In a mad rush to churn out "shovel ready" projects for his "stimulus" bill before voters decided on his re-election, President Barack Obama spent $29 million building an Alaskan port that was missing something simple.

Electricity, running water and a road allowing people to reach it.

For $29 million dollars the American people got "mostly just a big hole in the ground, local radio station KUCB reports.

Usually the federal government will not fund port construction if there is no infrastructure to support the port, the Army Corps of Engineers tells KUCB.

“Yes. It’s not normal. And it has prevented the construction of harbors in the past, when that supporting infrastructure is not there," says Steve Boardman, head of the Corps’ civil projects division.

Building a road to reach the port won't happen for at least another two years, and that will come at a cost of $11 million per mile.  So far no one is willing to offer any money to build a road to reach "Port Obama."

Even if "Port Obama" is ever connected to a road, or to electricity, or to running water, there's no guarantee anyone will even want to use it.  The harbor will have 58 slips.  But locals only own five boats.

Originally posted at the Libertarian National Campaign Committee.

Postal Service posts $15.9 billion loss, and growing

The U.S. Postal Service will post a $15.9 billion net loss for the 2012 fiscal year, more than the $15 billion they had predicted.

“If Congress fails to act, there could be postal slowdowns or shutdowns that would have catastrophic consequences for the 8 million private sector workers whose jobs depend on the mail,” Art Sackler, co-coordinator of the Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service, told Bloomberg News.

The Postal Service’s financial losses stand to grow even worse.  Revenue is shrinking as mail volume continues to drop, but employee costs are growing.  The USPS retirement account, previously estimated to hold a surplus that could cover losses, has come up $17.8 billion short.  The USPS has been defaulting on annual payments into the fund of around $5 billion.

USPS proposals to grow revenue and cut losses consist mainly of ending Saturday delivery and eliminating offices and branches, which will not stop the bleeding and could have a detrimental effect on the economy.

But not everyone in the USPS is seeing a loss. “(A)ll but one of the top five executives for the nation’s mail service had an overall compensation increase this year,” The Washington Times reports.
Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe saw his overall compensation grow from $384,229 in 2011 to $512,093 in 2012.  Chief Information Office Ellis Burgoyne’s total compensation exploded more than $270,000 last year to $510,505 in 2012.

Making matters worse is the fact you stop the wasteful spending by getting rid of mail delivery.  The economy depends on it.

Here's a better idea: Repeal federal laws granting the Postal Service a monopoly on first class, or “non-urgent” mail delivery.

Force the USPS to compete with FedEx, UPS and other parcel delivery companies.  Not only will it make the USPS undergo needed employee compensation reforms, it gives Americans an “escape hatch” should the Postal Service harshly cut back on service and/or increase rates.

Originally posted at the LNCC.

Pew study finds media practially campaigned for Obama

A study by the highly-respected Pew Research Center finds in the final days of the presidential election the mainstream media gave glowing coverage to Democrat nominee Barack Obama, and harshly negative coverage to Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

“During this final week, from October 29 to November 5, positive stories about Obama (29%) outnumbered negative ones (19%) by 10 points,” Pew reports. “Only during the week of his nominating convention was the treatment in the press more favorable.”

The mainstream media did not extend that courtesy to Romney.  “For Mitt Romney in the final week, the tone of coverage remained largely unchanged from the previous two weeks. Negative stories in the press outnumbered positive ones 33% to 16%,” Pew reports.

Not only did the mainstream media focus its Romney stories on the negative, they focused their attention on burying voters in positive stories on Obama at a level nearly unseen in previous elections.

“After receiving roughly identical levels of coverage for most of October, in the last week of campaigning Obama was a significant presence in eight out of 10 campaign stories compared with six in 10 for Romney – one of the biggest disparities in any week after Labor Day,” Pew finds.

Originally blogged at Congressman Steve Stockman.

Obama administration proposes scrapping limits on national debt

The Obama administration Friday proposed eliminating the "debt ceiling," allowing the federal government to increase spending and borrowing without limit.

CNS News reports journalist Al Hunt, host of Bloomberg TV's “Political Capital,” asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner if he believes “we ought to just eliminate the debt ceiling.”

“Oh, absolutely,” Geithner chimed.

It would be up to Congress to eliminate the debt ceiling.  Republicans and Democrats agreed last year to raise the debt limit by $2.4 trillion to a record $16.394 trillion.  "As of the close of business on Thursday, the Treasury had only $154.3 billion of that $2.4 trillion in new borrowing authority left," CNS reports.

Spending cuts the cure for budget, economic woes

The only way to avoid a “fiscal cliff” and relieve budget pressures in a way that grows the economy is to make serious spending cuts, says Washington Examiner writer Veronique DeRugy.

“(S)uccessful debt reduction measures are mostly made of spending cuts rather than a mix of spending cuts and tax increases,” writes DeRugy.

DeRugy points to two budget sectors that are driving deficits and in need of deep reform, entitlements and government workforce costs.

DeRugy also argues for spending cuts over tax hikes, citing research by Obama advisers showing a tax hike equaling one percent of GDP reduces GDP by three percent and the fact private investment have more confidence in spending curbs over tax hikes — giving the economy a shot of badly-needed confidence.

You may read DeRugy’s full column at http://washingtonexaminer.com/give-spending-cuts-a-chance/article/2513583#.UKf-GYWXKGg.

Originally posted at the Libertarian National Campaign Committee.

The United States are 'center-libertarian'

The conventional wisdom has long held the United States are a “center-right” nation.
But the results of last weeks elections are challenging that notion.

“After 32 straight losses for same-sex wedding laws, four states approved marriage-equality proposals last week. Two other states legalized marijuana for recreational purposes. Wisconsin elected the first openly homosexual U.S. senator in history, Tammy Baldwin,” The Los Angeles Times reports.

“But Americans appear to remain more receptive to conservative viewpoints on spending, debt and the size of government. A bare majority, 51%, of voters last Tuesday told exit pollsters that government should do less, with 43% saying it should do more.”

The Times comes to a promising conclusion:

“A more precise verdict would be that the majority of the country remains slightly right of center when it comes to supporting lower spending, decreased debt and smaller government.  But America appears to have shifted left of center in allowing more liberal policies on drugs and the institution of marriage. So, left on social issues and right on economics. If you eliminated the desire to tax the rich, it would sound like we had a center-libertarian nation.”

Obama announces new environmentalist attacks on the economy

President Barack Obama is so committed to the Gang Green agenda he held his first press conference in eight months to announce he would seek new job-killing limits on the amount of harmless carbon dioxide power plants produce.

"(E)nvironmentalists are hopeful that Obama will fashion a muscular agenda through existing administrative powers, such as expanding on rules that the Environmental Protection Agency has begun rolling out," The Hill reports.

"EPA has already floated draft carbon standards for new power plants, and a second-term agenda could include standards for existing plants, and regulations that address other large emitters."

Obama's dangerous anti-prosperity agenda is why American Tradition Partnership is seeking a roll call vote on the REINS Act, a common sense reform requiring any proposed federal regulation costing more than $100 million to be approved by Congress and signed by the President before it may be enacted.

Attack your opponent early - and often

This spring the Obama campaign was at a crossroads.

They had expected to be flush with cash pumped in by the online fundraising machine that helped Obama shatter fundraising records in 2008.

They had expected Mitt Romney to emerge from the Republican primaries irreparably damaged — defined in the minds of voters as an out-of-touch “vulture capitalist” who couldn’t relate to average voters.

Instead the Obama campaign was nearly broke, and most voters still hadn’t made up their mind just who Mitt Romney was.

Rather than wait, Obama and adviser David Axelrod went all in, gambling the campaign’s money on an early onslaught of attack ads that caught the Romney campaign by surprise.

Romney failed to react, eventually costing him the election as he was unable to shake the caricature the Obama campaign had painted of him.

You should do the same.

Don’t hesitate to attack your opponent.

In fact, relish it.

Voters may say they hate “negative advertising” but consultants keep doing it for one reason — it works.

And if your opponent has voted to raise taxes, explode spending, waste public funds, engage in unethical official behavior or other things that disqualify him in your mind, voters have a right it know that.

The earlier you bring it up, the better your odds will be of knocking him back on his heels.

That’s not to say you should call your opponent names, mock his or her physical appearance or bring up issues about his or her marriage or family.

Those are personal attacks.  And they often end up damaging you and helping your opponent.

Voters have a right to know why you are the best candidate, as well as why your opponent does not deserve to be in public office.

Attack your opponent early.

Attack your opponent often.

Attack your opponent with enthusiasm.

Most importantly, stick to the issues and make your attacks credible, believable and fully researched and documented.

My rule is “if Grandma would hate what I said more than what he did, don’t do it.”

Our freedom wasn’t won by people playing nice and sitting around a table “debating” each other.

Freedom must be fought for, and that’s how we will win it back.

How Obama did it

No President had ever won re-election with unemployment over eight percent.

But Obama coasted to a re-election victory last week.

How did he do it?

Simple.  As a former community organizer the Obama White House understands voter identification and mobilization like no other.

They understand you don’t need a majority of the people behind you to win — all you need is to get more people to the polls than the other guy.

That starts with identifying everyone who supports you.  The Obama campaign made that priority number one.

“Obama’s campaign probably spent $200 million to $250 million — a quarter of every dollar collected — to create a state-of-the-art voting profiling operation that allowed it to more accurately assess the electorate than standard polling,” POLITICO reports.

“Like generals with good intelligence, Obama campaign officials could move resources quickly around the battlefield — like the late deployment of volunteers to critical Cuyahoga County in Ohio.”

As he laid out in his 2005 book, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe took simple neighborhood-level political organizing and replicated it by an exponent of thousands to carry Obama to two historic election wins.

According to Obama adviser Jim Messina one Columbus, Ohio woman told him: “I know everybody in my neighborhood — the ones that will always vote, the ones who don’t — and what it takes to get them to vote,” the woman, a committed Obama volunteer since 2007, told him. She added, with a chuckle: “They just shipped in a Romney staffer a couple of weeks ago. … Who do you think is going to win around here?”

Do you know your neighborhood?

House will vote on overturning environmentalist ban on inhalers for sick kids

“Republicans are expected to call up H.R. 6190, the Asthma Inhalers Relief Act, on Tuesday. The bill would allow the sale of about 1 million remaining Primatene Mist inhalers, despite a ban on the sale of this product since the end of 2011,” The Hill reports.

“Primatene Mist had been used by asthma sufferers for decades, but it was banned under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, and also the Clean Air Act…The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the bill by voice vote in August and said passage would allow the remaining 1 million inhalers to be sold.”

Since House rules must be suspended to bring up the bill, a two-thirds majority is needed to pass.

According to the Asthma and Allergy foundation asthma accounts for one-quarter of all emergency room visits in the U.S. each year, with 1.75 million emergency room visits.

There are more than 3,300 deaths due to asthma each year and asthma is indicated as “contributing factor” for nearly 7,000 other deaths each year.  Environmentalists still banned inhalers to treat attacks.

Democrat congressman whacks reporter in face during lecture on civility

Be sure to "like" this video on YouTube.  Democrats are trying to get YouTube to censor it.

In this video former Congressman Nick Lampson, the Democrat nominee for Congress in Texas' Fourteenth District, fields a question from a reporter on civility and tolerance. 

When the reporter asks Lampson if Democrats hold any responsibility for uncivil behavior Lampson says no, then slaps the camera back into the reporter's face.

Environmentalists illegally electioneering in Montana

Three "Gang Green" organizations, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), Montana Conservation Voters and the political action committee "Montana Hunters and Anglers Leadership Fund" are illegally electioneering for the Libertarian candidate in the state's U.S. Senate race, hoping to throw the election in favor of unpopular Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.)

“Jon Tester and his liberal allies realize that Tester cannot win this election on his own, so they have engaged in illegal, deceptive practices in a desperate attempt to trick conservative voters,” Montana Republican Party spokesman Chris Shipp said Wednesday as the group filed suit in federal court alleging the groups failed to disclose their activities.

As pretty much the only group in Montana that obeys the law, ATP offers cash rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Montana officials.

"The Montana GOP cited the PAC’s recent $146,358 mailing expense and a previous $410,000 contribution from LCV to the PAC as the basis for its complaint. It also noted the Hunters and Anglers PAC has ties to Tester and Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.)," The Hill reports.

ATP Responds to Frontline’s False Claims

American Tradition Partnership Responds to Frontline Story’s False Claims of Campaign Finance Violations
Coordinated smear campaign by political opponents revealed

October 30, 2012 –American Tradition Partnership (ATP) responded late Tuesday evening to the false claims of improper political activity alleged in this evening’s broadcast of “Big Sky, Big Money” on PBS’s Frontline.

“This is simply the latest unsubstantiated, well-coordinated attack on American Tradition Partnership, brought on by opponents of the work we do to educate grassroots citizens about important issues related to the environment, energy, and economic growth,” said Donald Ferguson, Executive Director of ATP. “Aside from wild conspiracy theories and willful misreadings of applicable campaign finance and nonprofit laws, tonight’s Frontline story simply revealed what most Montanans and Americans already knew: that radical anti-growth environmentalists aren’t the only ones who are free to organize, raise money, and communicate with the public on important policy topics.”

The Frontline story, as well as coordinated articles appearing online at the web sites of leftist groups ProPublica and the Center for Public Integrity, relies heavily on stolen documents . The documents apparently made their way from a car thief to a ‘meth house’ in Colorado, into the hands of Democratic Party operatives, and from there to the Montana Commission on Political Practices (COPP). ATP has not been allowed to see the documents to verify their authenticity, but has been able to confirm that many of the documents are not ATP-related but instead are connected with other clients of the consultant as well as an independent campaign consulting business owned by the consultant’s wife.

“It would be very interesting to know just how several media outlets were able to view stolen documents in the custody of the Montana Commission on Political Practices but no attempt was made to return them to their owners”, said Ferguson. “This looks to be just another example of corruption at the Commission and by the political establishment, who are enraged that the public are being told the truth.”

The head of Montana’s COPP is a direct appointee of the governor, unique among all states. The past three Commissioners have all been political allies of the current governor, including his campaign attorney and treasurer. One of the three was forced to resign this summer after engaging in illegal activities as Commissioner. Current Attorney General and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Steve Bullock has been repeatedly embarrassed in recent months by numerous losses to ATP and other citizens and groups as Montana’s unconstitutional campaign finance laws have been successfully challenged.

“Our success in challenging radical environmentalists and the grossly unconstitutional campaign finance system they and their allies rely on to stifle debate has won us some very powerful enemies,” Ferguson said. “While we’d prefer to see recognition for our hard work come in some form other than baseless smears and hysterical innuendo on national television, we’re proud of our efforts to educate grassroots citizens.”

Earlier today a judge blocked further release of the stolen documents. ATP has also notified state and federal law enforcement authorities about the illegal transfer and possession of stolen goods that was apparently undertaken by Democratic Party officials as well as the staff of Frontline, ProPublica, and the Center for Public Integrity.

"The COPP has held these documents for over a year and a half.  If there was any evidence of wrongdoing, why have they not acted on anything or made any accusations? The fact they reviewed the documents and refused to do or say anything proves, once again, ATP always obeys the law," said Ferguson.

"Additionally, if they've held these for over a year and a half the only reason to release them now is too coordinate with Attorney General Bullock's campaign for governor.  That is a crime," said Ferguson.

READ ABOUT CPI'S HISTORY OF UNETHICAL AND ILLEGAL SMEARS

* ABC News: Politico: CPI's Reporting Involved Possible Misdemeanor,
Paid Source http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/politico-cpis-reporting-involved-misdemeanor-paid-source/story?id=15087648#.UJB2SIWXKGg
(Source of false ATP attacks committed crime, violated journalistic
ethics)

* Washington Post: Center for Public Integrity changes its story
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/center-for-public-integrity-changes-its-story/2011/03/29/gIQAX1ur6J_blog.html
(Source of false ATP attacks takes payoffs in exchange for reporting)

* POLITICO: Tuna and turmoil at CPI
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/69763.html (Source of false
ATP attacks committed crime)

* PBS Defends Use of Convicted Felon as Expert on Documentary
http://www.mrc.org/node/40532 (Source of false ATP attacks has history
of relying on convicted felons for reporting)

UPDATE: Bullock failed to track child predators, little progress seen after audit

After a government audit reveals one in four convicted sex offenders in Montana is not properly listed in the state Sexual or Violent Offender Registry run by Attorney General Steve Bullock [previously reported in the MT Statesman], little progress has been seen in correcting the problem. 

Under Bullock, more than one in four convicted sex offenders have eluded the sex offender registry.

1,289 convicted sexual or violent offenders are currently living in Montana communities, with parents and law enforcement unaware of their current location.

Bullock admitted his failure to the Audit Committee. “The buck stops here for running the registry,” Bullock confessed.

Bullock is legally responsible for notifying local law enforcement when an offender fails to update their address.

A follow up audit is scheduled to be released at the end of October.

Bullock took cash from corporations under investigation for fraud, bribery

Attorney General Steve Bullock is under investigation for taking a contribution to his campaign for governor from a New York corporation under investigation in 34 states for fraud.

Publishers Clearing House came under investigation in 2009 when it violated a 2001 settlement on charges of defrauding consumers.  When attorneys general in 34 states began investigating and seeking charges, PCH cut an illegal corporate check to Bullock, the documents states.

Bullock did not investigate his donor.  PCH eventually admitted they committed fraud and paid out $34 million.

Likewise, GSK also faced investigations in multiple states and cut checks to officials, including Arkansas.

“In 2006, Arkansas Medicaid restricted its coverage in off-label use of Advair by requiring that patients try another medication first.” the Arkansas Times reports.’

“‘Arkansas Medicaid determined that this restriction increased appropriate use of Advair and decreased Advair utilization by 25% without adverse impact on patient care,’ the US complaint reads. GSK then allegedly gave an untold sum of campaign donation dollars to an Arkansas lawmaker who introduced legislation to get rid of the restriction.”

"God save political donations," wrote one GSK employee to senior VP Stan Hull in an internal email.
GSK also sent checks to Bullock, which were illegal according to documents filed with the Commissioner of Political Practices.  At the time Bullock was negotiating with drug companies on charges of price-fixing.

Bullock also corporate PAC cash from GlaxoSmithKline on Dec. 15, 2009, Aug. 1, 2011 and June 4, 2012 at twice the legal limit, according to Commission documents.

Bullock Hired Tax Evading Friend To Run Justice Department

Attorney General Steve Bullock gave a top Justice Department job to a friend on legal probation for failing to pay thousands of dollars in state and federal income taxes over a period of years, the Helena Independent Record and other Montana newspapers report.

Bullock hired James P. Molloy to run the Consumer Protection Division despite the fact the Montana Supreme Court placed him on five years legal probation for “professional misconduct.”
Molloy repeatedly failed to pay state and federal income taxes between 1995 and 2005, the Independent Record reports.  He is now one of the state’s highest-paid employees.
“Steve Bullock hired someone who’s basically a felon to protect Montana consumers.  Why is the Attorney General associating with felons, much less giving them plush state jobs?” said ATP Executive Director Donald Ferguson.

Bullock also named Molloy Assistant Attorney General despite the fact Molloy is still on probation by the Montana Supreme Court.

Bullock later put Molloy in charge of arguing a campaign finance case against American Tradition Partnership in front of the same state Supreme Court that put him on probation.

In that case Bullock and Molloy made numerous demonstrably false charges against ATP.  The U.S. Supreme Court handed Bullock another embarrassing loss in that case.

“Bullock paid his felonious friend to tell lies about American Tradition Partnership in front of the same Supreme Court that put him on probation for lying to officials,” said Ferguson.

Bullock and Molloy have been long-time friends, sharing an office in Helena before Bullock’s narrow election as attorney general.  Bullock kept all questions about repeated tax evasions and probation out of the interview process for the job.

According to the Montana Supreme Court’s “Public Discipline List,” Molloy was publicly reprimanded and placed on five years probation effective March 11, 2009.  The case is “PR 08-0438.”
Bullock hired his friend just a few months after the probation for tax evasion was issued.

“As part of his probation, Molloy must provide the court's Office of Disciplinary Counsel copies of his state and federal taxes returns after he filed them,” the Missoulian newspaper reports.

ATP statement on PBS claims

BOZEMAN -- American Tradition Partnership Executive Director Donald Ferguson released the following statement Monday morning regarding bizarre and false claims made by PBS:

With days to go until Montanans vote, the activist group ProPublica has decided to release a misleading, sensationalist story built around personal property stolen from a car and delivered by a meth user to ATP's political opponents.  The story falsely links ATP to individual activities the organization has no connection to.

ATP always has, and always will, obey every applicable law.  As has been the case with every legal issue we have brought forward, this will be decided in ATP's favor for one simple reason - the law is always on our side.  In fact, ATP just won another court case this morning against the Commission on Political Practices for that exact reason.

ATP does not, and never will, tell voters which candidate to vote for.  ATP speaks on the issues, informing voters where candidates stand and of their public records.

Additionally, no candidate has any say or control over what ATP publishes.  I have never met or spoken to virtually all the candidates on the ballot.  Other than sending them a candidate questionnaire I have never communicated most of them.  The story itself admits there is no proof of coordination, and there is no coordination.

Additionally, I seriously doubt stolen property acquired by a meth user and spread around by political activists are true, accurate, unaltered and complete documents.  Earlier this year another liberal group stole documents from another free market environmental organization, the Heartland Institute, and proceeded to engage i forgery and fraud for the purposes of smearing conservatives for political gain (http://spectator.org/blog/2012/02/17/theft-and-apparent-forgery-of).

In the past Frontline has broken into computer databases for a story on tuna fishing and relied on the word of a convicted felon fired from an Atlanta dentistry clinic to smear private dentistry, without informing viewers.  ATP, on the other hand, has always obeyed every letter of every applicable law and eventually won every court case it has ever brought.

I would suggest the media tread carefully before publishing politically-timed stories built on stolen and possibly forged documents that are unrelated to ATP and distributed by a meth user, politicians and a program with a history of unethical and illegal practices.