Thomas Fitton
President of Judicial Watch
(P.O. Box 96234, Washington D.C. 20090-6234)
425 Third Street SW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20024
Tel: (202) 646-5172, 1-888-593-8442, FAX: (202)
646-5199
email:
infojudicia1watch.org; www.JudicialWatch.org
Because
no one is above the law!
President
Obama is getting more aggressive in exercising power and taking actions that
don't require congressional approval with an initiative the White House has
branded
"We Can't
Wait."
It's time
you join us in sending Barack Obama a loud, clear and unmistakable message from
Judicial Watch . . .
"Yes, Mr. President, You Will Wait!"
Dear Fellow American:
[4-2014]
I am writing to you about a dangerous
threat to our constitutional republic posed by this radical president . . .
That threat is President Obama's determination to ignore Congress and govern by
executive fiat, executive rules and executive orders wherever and whenever he
deems it expedient or necessary in his crusade to "fundamentally transform
America".
Here's
what President Obama told his Cabinet on January 14th:
"We're
not just going to be waiting for legislation in order to make sure that we are
providing Americans the kind of help that they need. I've got a pen and I've
got a phone. And I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive
actions . . ."
And
less than a month later, the President was caught on camera saying:
"That's
the great thing about being President . . . I can do whatever I want."
Frankly,
we've seen this coming for a long time! After all, during his first term
President Obama presided over a "progressive" disaster for America. And he did so largely through illicit executive
actions:
He
exploded the size, reach and cost of government;
He
granted amnesty to millions of illegal aliens through the back door;
He
nationalized our health care;
He
refused to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which passed with
bipartisan majorities in Congress and was signed into law by President Clinton;
He
flagrantly failed to enforce our immigration laws; and
He
reduced our freedoms and burdened our nation with an unsustainable debt.
Now
free from the constraints of running for re-election, this radical, socialist
president and his corrupt administration have embarked on an even more
dangerous course for our future!
President Obama, Vice President Biden
and other senior members of their administration are making it clear that they
are stepping up their efforts to bypass Congress and govern by "executive
action."
And
mark my words . . . President Obama's attack last year on our Second Amendment
rights via 23 executive actions was just one in a series of assaults on the
U.S. Constitution!
To
advance his hard-left governing agenda for America, Obama is committed to using
executive actions on issues ranging from unilaterally making changes in
Obamacare; to gun control; to backdoor amnesty for illegal immigrants; to powerful
"czar" appointments; to unilaterally raising our national
debt limit ceiling.
These actions are a direct threat to the
rule of law in our nation, and especially the separation of powers enshrined in
the United States
Constitution!
For
example, in 2012 the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (part of
the Obama Homeland Security Department) issued a memorandum granting temporary
legal status and work permits to young undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children . . . despite the fact that the
Constitution vests Congress with responsibility for our immigration laws!
Of
course, getting this so-called "Dream Act" amnesty, President Obama
was able to do it without having to get it passed by Congress . . . one more
backdoor effort by the Obama gang to woo the Hispanic vote in 2012 . . . And of
course it worked.
Since
then, the President has taken more action on "comprehensive immigration
reform" (amnesty) . . . and I guarantee you the White House is fully
prepared to continue to advance its open borders agenda through further
executive actions if Congress continues to "fail to cooperate" with
him!
But
guns and illegal immigration are just a sampling of his abuse of executive
power . . .
·
President Obama on February 10th announced yet another delay in the
implementation of the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), one of a
series of unilateral delays he has dictatorially decreed for his
"signature" legislative achievement . . . delays that we believe
violate federal law and exceeds Executive Branch power!
·
President Obama
has used the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to restrict the speech of
conservatives. He can also use the FCC on radio and television, while shutting
down free speech on the internet;
·
President Obama
can use his new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to attack free enterprise
and mire businesses in red tape;
·
President Obama
will continue to use the Justice Department to fight election integrity by
failing to enforce our election laws and trying to block states from
implementing voter ID laws;
·
President Obama
can continue to let the National Labor Relations Board do everything within its
power to bolster Big Labor;
·
President Obama
can continue to use the Internal Revenue Service to harass his political
opponents . . .
And
the list goes on, because in our enormous federal government every single
agency is at the President's disposal to be used in any manner he sees fit!
Although
Republicans, the theoretical opposition party, control the U.S. House of
Representatives they seem unable to act coherently on even basic governance
issues, much less appearing up to the task of confronting President Obama's
single-minded drive for absolute power . . .
And
even if they did, as this editorial in The
Washington Examiner noted:
" . . . Obama will retaliate against
congressional resistance by acting alone, as he already has by using executive
power to make policy in education, welfare, labor law, the environment and
immigration. He will test legal limits with new administrative changes,
executive orders, memoranda and creative regulatory rulings."
Let
me be absolutely clear with you . . . I believe that this open commitment of
the Obama administration to bypass Congress and govern through executive action
is an all-out assault on our representative democracy and the United States
Constitution.
And
I believe that the best way . . . in fact, perhaps the only way . . . to stop
this move towards what in effect is government-by-presidential decree is
through our court system!
That's why I am writing to you today and
asking you to give your support to Judicial Watch's ongoing campaign to
challenge and block the Obama administration's plans to govern by executive
action. Barack Obama, his
administration and their radical supporters may believe "We Can't Wait"
. . .
But
today it is time for you to join with Judicial Watch and send Barack Obama a
clear and unmistakable message: "Yes,
Mr. President, You Will Wait!"
Judicial
Watch is your conservative government watchdog in Washington – the largest and most effective in the country. Our
commitments are to the U.S. Constitution and to the America people's "right to
know". . . commitments that have put us squarely on a collision course
with Barack Obama and his administration!
We
are also independent of both political parties . . . and of political pressure.
Since our founding in 1994 we have exposed and prosecuted corrupt Democratic
and Republican officeholders.
And
when we find a case of public corruption, we pursue it with unmatched
determination. Just ask Bill and Hillary Clinton, Tom DeLay,
Dick Cheney, Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi, Charlie Rangel, John Ensign, Maxine
Waters or any of the other politicians we have held accountable to the law and
the American people!
Our
strength and our remarkable record of success in holding politicians
accountable derive in part from our unique "one-two punch". . . we
have on staff both expert open-records law investigators, and our own in- house
legal team of lawyers.
Our
investigators are the best in the business at knowing where to go to and how to
demand public documents from the government under our open records laws . . .
And
when we're stonewalled by government bureaucrats, as happens so often with the
intensively secretive Obama administration, our lawyers are uniquely
experienced in the art of litigating Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) cases.
They're ready to go to court at a moment's notice to sue the government and
persuade federal judges to force the release of the documents we are seeking!
That's
how we've forced the release of scandalous documents about government contracts
going to ACORN (despite a law prohibiting it), the suppression of critical
information related to illegal immigration (when they're not distorting it),
material related to the Benghazi-gate cover-up, and even the costs to the
taxpayers of Obama "friends and family" personal junkets overseas.
And
in 2012, we launched our Election
Integrity Project, which took on the corrupt efforts of the Obama Justice
Department and radical groups like La Raza and
affiliates of the ACORN organization to undermine our nation's election laws.
Thanks
to our legal work challenging the failure of states to follow federal election
law, we were able to force election officials in several states, including Florida, to do their duty and clean their voter rolls.
This
January we reached a very important settlement with the State of Ohio over their voter roll cleaning processes, and we have
also beefed up our Election Integrity
Project resources this year to be ready to work for honest elections in
2014 and beyond!
Regarding
Obamacare, we've launched a new and massive investigation of the rollout
debacle, we've filed numerous Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for
key documents, and we've filed one lawsuit challenging one of the
administration's dictatorial delay decrees . . . with more to surely follow.
But
now we're faced with our greatest challenge . . . The frightening prospect of
the Obama administration ignoring the rule of law completely and governing our
nation by executive action!
That's
why I am turning to you for your emergency help today.
1) I urge
you to sign the [requested] enclosed Endorsement of Judicial Watch's full
commitment to its investigative and legal actions challenging and blocking
Obama administration actions that violate the U.S.
Constitution.
Your
signature on our Endorsement tells me that you share my grave concerns about
the Obama gang and their efforts to "fundamentally transform America.
2) I urge
you to give your support to our efforts by enclosing a generous tax-deductible
gift of $35, $50, $100 or even more to Judicial Watch
today.
Judicial
Watch relies on the voluntary contributions of dedicated patriots like you to
carry forward all our work by supporting our in-house staff of investigators
and attorneys.
And
I'm sure you can appreciate that cost of our work is enormous, since we already
launched more than 1,300 FOIA requests with the Obama administration, and filed
more than 135 lawsuits against them over their failure to comply with our
lawful requests.
Sadly,
we're seeing the full scope of
corruption and lawlessness in the Obama administration
. . . and the fact of the
matter is that we cannot rely on the mainstream media or the corrupt
politicians on Capitol Hill to call them to account.
But
expert use of federal open records laws and of the federal court system is what
Judicial Watch does every day. Honestly, no other organization can match our
expertise or our record when it comes to exposing government scandals and
holding corrupt politicians accountable.
And
today, Judicial Watch is proud to man the firewall standing between the Obama
team and the wholesale scuttling of our constitutional separation of powers!
That's
why your special support of Judicial Watch today is so urgently needed. Thank
you for taking the time to read my letter today.
But
I urge you to do more. I urge you today to help Judicial Watch, your
independent conservative watchdog in Washington, stop this corrupt and power- hungry Obama
administration from undermining the U.S. Constitution and
turning our nation into a lawless socialist state!
Sincerely,
Thomas
Fitton
President
P.S. I urge you to sign your
Endorsement and return it with your best tax-deductible gift to Judicial Watch
within the next two weeks. The handwriting is on the wall about the Obama
gang's reliance on executive action to push its amnesty-for-illegal-immigrants
and Big Government agenda! But there's a lot more to do than just read the
handwriting.
We need your emergency
personal and financial commitment now to make sure we can deploy all the
investigative and legal weapons at our disposal to stop the Obama gang from
governing our nation by presidential decree (JW, P.O. Box 96234, Washington D.C. 20090-6234)!
********************
Because
no one is above the law!
2014 JUDICIAL WATCH CRITICAL ISSUES
MEMBER SURVEY
Re: Our 2014 Critical Issues Member Survey -
YOUR ANSWERS ARE VITALLY IMPORTANT!
Dear Patriot,
[3-2014
letter] I am reaching out to you and a select number of members for your
opinions on a range of critical issues facing our nation and Judicial Watch.
Your Survey is registered in your name, and it is exclusively for your use . .
. and I want to stress to you that this is a very real and very important
Survey for us.
President
Obama has
Declared War on the Constitutional Separation of Powers with a
sweeping plan to use "his pen and
his phone" to advance his radical leftist agenda . . . which is one
important reason why your answers to our 2014 Critical Issues Member Survey
today takes on real urgency and importance!
As we dig in to confront new challenges
from Barack Obama, we count on your
answers and opinions to help guide our program priorities for the second
quarter of 2014 and beyond . . .
Because, as
you know, the Obama administration is clearly out of control.
Barack
Obama has driven America hard-left, shown contempt for the separation of powers
and the U.S. Constitution by his overreaching use of executive actions and
appointment of powerful
"czar" unaccountable to Congress; exploded
the size and reach of government; nationalized our health care; used the IRS to
suppress dissent, reduced our freedoms and burdened our nation with an
unsustainable debt.
And
this year, with the congressional midterm elections looming, he is redoubling
efforts to steal elections for the Left by pushing for wholesale amnesty for
illegal aliens and attacking states in court that attempt to enact commonsense
voter ID laws.
His administration continues, of course,
to operate under cover of darkness, routinely ignoring our open records laws
and making a mockery of his promises of "transparency" . . . all of which are adding up to a frighteningly
out-of-control "Imperial Presidency."
That's
why I am especially eager to hear from you! Only your Judicial Watch stands in
the breach. Although we are proudly conservative, our commitment is not to any
candidate or political party. Our commitment is to uphold the rule of law.
That means that for the past five years
we've been hard at work investigating, suing and otherwise challenging the
Obama administration over its secrecy, lawlessness and corruption . . . as well
as opening important new fronts in the war to preserve the integrity of our
elections!
As I
write to you today, we've launched more than 1,300 Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) requests against the Obama administration on issues including:
·
"Backdoor
amnesty" measures for illegal aliens that have been enacted with neither
public debate nor consideration by Congress;
·
Corruption issues
related to Obamacare, including nearly $700 million in taxpayer money
squandered on the disastrous and fraudulent healthcare.gov
website.
Plus,
we've already prosecuted more than 135 lawsuits against the Obama
administration, asking courts to break through its chronic and compulsive
secrecy and release to us documents the American people have a right to see.
And that
means in this second Obama term we are back at work investigating, suing and
otherwise challenging the
administration over its secrecy, lawlessness and corruption!
On
fronts ranging from the Benghazi-gate cover-up to the collusion between key IRS
official Lois Lerner and the staff at the Federal Election Commission related
to the Obama IRS scheme to target conservative groups, your Judicial Watch is
on the case.
Can
you imagine how much worse things would have been over the past five years if
your Judicial Watch had not been there to fight, day after day, for the
people's right to know?
And
now we're ramping up our Election
Integrity Project, fighting both the corrupt Obama Justice Department and
state election officials (Republicans and Democrats) who are failing to enforce
federal laws designed to keep our elections honest!
With
the radical Obama gang determined to do whatever it takes to help leftist
candidates win, including allowing illegal aliens to slip into the voting
booth, fighting for election integrity is an important priority for us this
year! And our impact is already being felt!
·
In January, we
reached a groundbreaking settlement with the State of Ohio over a lawsuit we filed in August 2012 against the
state's failure to clean their voter rolls, as required by the National Voter
Registration Act (NVRA). Keeping voter rolls accurate and up-to-date is one of
the most important defenses against voter fraud, and thanks to Judicial Watch,
this year Ohio will be undertaking major reforms in their voter roll
cleaning efforts!
·
And just as we go
to court to challenge states that fail to enforce clean election laws, we also
go to court to support states that work to keep their elections honest through
voter ID and other commonsense laws. For example, we recently filed in court a
Motion to Intervene in support of North Carolina's voter ID law, now under sustained attack by the
Obama administration and its leftist allies. These leftists oppose any state
efforts that make it easier to keep ineligible voters out of the voting booth!
President
Obama and his administration have three more years to try to corruptly push America permanently to the Left . . . but they still have to contend with Judicial Watch!
Now,
I am anxious to learn your opinions about how you believe we can best keep the
pressure on. And I also ask you other important questions about our programs
and our work.
That's
because we have some very important decisions to make, and we'd like your
specific feedback! (I'm especially interested in your answer to question 5, so
please be sure to answer it.)
And
since we make special arrangements for the timely processing of your answers, I
hope you can complete your Survey and return it to us within 10 days!
When you do, I also hope you will
support your Critical Issues Survey answers with a special tax-deductible gift
to Judicial Watch.
Your
contribution today will help us push forward with all our lawsuits, research
and investigations. It'll also be an enormous help as we work to meet our
operating budgets and carry forward our 2014 programs into the second quarter
of the year.
Thanks
to the support we received from you and our other members, 2013 was the busiest
year in Judicial Watch's history . . . and 2014 promises to be even more "impactful" for us.
Of
course, we are also maintaining our national leadership role in the fight at
the state and local level in the continuing battles over illegal immigration.
Last summer,
a Superior Court judge in Los Angeles
handed Judicial Watch's legal team another big victory when it threw out a
controversial Los Angeles Police Department policy, Special Order 7.
Special
Order 7 was a politically-correct, pro-illegal alien sanctuary policy related
to impounding cars operated by "undocumented" individuals that
Judicial Watch had been fighting, on behalf of a Los Angeles taxpayer. This victory over pro-sanctuary public
officials and the ACLU is just one more example of how Judicial Watch digs in
for the long haul, and is ready and able to take on powerful and well-financed
opponents on behalf of the American people and the rule of law!
And
in 2014 we will keep fighting for strict enforcement of our laws against
illegal immigration and against the attempts of the Obama administration to
ignore, undermine and violate these laws in their headlong rush to enact
amnesty for millions of illegal aliens!
The fact is that right now Judicial
Watch's work is urgently needed to protect the rule of law in our nation . . . especially
with Barack Obama in the White House for three more years!
As I'm
certain you know, we don't flip-flop . . .
We're in it for the long haul . . .
And we're effective . . . because we get results.
Results like pushing states and counties to clean their voter
rolls, as a way to reduce the opportunities for voter fraud. Results like forcing the release of
documents that show the vast amounts of taxpayer funds spent on non-official
luxury ski trips and overseas vacations taken by the Obama family. Results like successfully challenging
state and local "sanctuary" policies for illegal aliens!
But
we're only effective because members like you generously invest in our mission
and our programs and give us the indispensable financial support that
underwrites all our lawsuits, investigations and public education activities.
Now
as we continue to fight public corruption and gear up to protect the honesty of
the 2014 elections, I am counting on you today to help us with your opinions
and a tax-deductible contribution.
Your
gift will help me determine how aggressively we can hold the Obama gang
accountable for their past crimes, corruption and secrecy, while at the same
time we carry forward all our investigations and litigation.
We
simply cannot trust Republican leaders in Congress or a liberal media to hold
Obama accountable or to seriously tackle public corruption. But you can trust
Judicial Watch. We are your independent Washington DC watchdog that will continue to take on the Obama
crowd and corrupt politicians directly!
We
will continue to keep the pressure on the Obama administration in the months
ahead; we will fight for enforcement of our laws against illegal immigration;
and we will monitor and expose congressional corruption if I can count on you
today, both for your opinion and your special financial help. Thank you in
advance for your generosity!
Sincerely,
Thomas
Fitton
President
P.S. . . . I
want to stress how much we are counting on you to back up your 2014 Critical
Issues Member Survey answers with a generous gift to Judicial Watch. Others may now abandon the battle to hold Barack
Obama and his administration accountable under the law, but Judicial Watch
won't! We need your help to continue to fight hard for open government and the
rule of law. Thank you!
[Please request for "2014 JUDICIAL WATCH CRITICAL ISSUES
MEMBER SURVEY" (JW, P.O. Box 96234, Washington D.C. 20090-6234)!]
********************
Because
no one is above the law!
2014 Program Priorities Poll
[1-2014
partial letter] . . . simply read our Verdict of
2014 . . .
·
You'll read how
we secured highly explosive documents from the Federal Election Commission
(FEC) showing that Lois Lerner, the key IRS official who spearheaded the Obama
administration scheme to target conservative groups, provided detailed,
confidential information about the tax application status of certain
conservative groups to the FEC . . . which is almost certainly an outright violation of federal law!
Judicial
Watch is digging to get all the facts about what appears to potentially be an
even wider Obama administration attempt to cripple conservative groups than
previously thought . . . and to hold those responsible accountable to the law
and the American people!
·
And you'll read
how our ongoing efforts to keep track of the covert activities of the
discredited ACORN network have yielded
more (bitter) fruit!
Documents
released to us by the Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB) show repeated
meetings between a key ACORN network operative and senior CFPB and other Obama
administration officials to discuss housing policy. Stunning . . . that a group
whose corrupt, far-left policies helped trigger the housing market crash is
still advising the government!
More proof that ACORN is alive and well
. . . and still working hand in glove with its radical allies in the Obama
administration.
·
You'll also read
that our Election Integrity Project
has moved into high gear. We helped win a big victory for honest elections in
Virginia just before that state's November 2013 elections, and we're doggedly
pressing ahead with litigation in Indiana and Ohio where we've been fighting
since 2012 to force election officials there (mostly Republicans) to clean
their voter rolls.
With
the addition of noted election law expert Bob Popper to our staff, we're
ramping up our Election Integrity
Project to the next level in time for the midterm congressional elections
in November, 2014. As always, we neither endorse nor oppose candidates for
public office . . . but we fight tirelessly to keep our elections honest and
transparent!
And
these stories just scratch the surface of all the work we're pursuing right now
to fulfill our mission to you and support the rule of law and open government
in our nation!
I'm
not exaggerating when I make the claim that . . . with over 1,250 Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) requests filed with the Obama administration and more
than 125 lawsuits filed against them. Judicial Watch is leaving no stone
unturned in challenging Obama secrecy and corruption (including our recently
launched investigation into the $635 million worth of contracts handed out by
the Obama administration to "construct" and "launch" the
defective, fraudulent Obamacare website!)
That's
not all . . . In addition to fighting for honest elections and against the
rampant lawlessness of the Obama gang, we're still
leading the fight for enforcement of our nation's laws against illegal
immigration.
So
you'll also read about our recent taxpayer lawsuit against Cook County (IL),
one more pro-sanctuary locality run by liberals who decided that its view about
immigration policy trumps federal immigration law!
For
two years the Cook County Sheriff's office has ignored a clear federal mandate
which requires that if Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) issues an "immigration detainer"
after an illegal alien has been arrested, it is the duty of local law
enforcement to maintain custody of the illegal alien for 48 hours.
Cook County, of course, is Chicago . . . and one of our nation's
biggest cities and Barack Obama's hometown. Of course, the Obama Justice
Department won't enforce the rule of law in Chicago, so it is up to us . . . And your Judicial Watch is
now in court challenging this arrogant violation of federal law.
As
we proved last year in Los Angeles when we persuaded a Superior Court judge to
throw out an illegal Los Angeles Police Department "sanctuary" policy
related to releasing impounded vehicles to unlicensed (i.e., illegal alien)
drivers, our legal team is up to the challenge of taking on sanctuary policies
in even the most liberal jurisdictions!
For
sure, our legal system works slowly . . . but as we've proved countless times
over the past twenty years, it does work! Of
course, we also continue to monitor and expose the corrupt behavior and actions
of Washington politicians
in both parties, a task that requires constant vigilance! . . .
So
believe me when I say that reading this month's newsletter should alert you to
the hard cold fact that Judicial Watch is now entering a New Year in which our
work will be as important as it ever has been over the past twenty years . . . and
in which we have the potential to expand our reach and multiply our impact!
But
our potential to be even more effective and impactful
in 2014 really depends on our best members and supporters, like you.
That's
why I hope you'll take a few minutes today to answer your [requested] enclosed 2014 Program Priorities Poll. I want to
know your opinions about where you think we should target our financial
resources and staff over the next twelve months.
I also ask that you support your answers
with a generous tax-deductible gift to Judicial Watch. Your answers to our Poll and your best contribution
today will help me judge:
·
How aggressively
we can fight back against Obama administration secrecy;
·
How we can best
answer the challenge of continuing to fight illegal alien sanctuary policies at
the state and local level, while also exposing Obama administration ongoing
efforts to enact amnesty for illegal aliens;
·
How we can most
effectively work to keep our elections honest; • How we can best get to the
facts behind Obama administration scandals including Benghazi-gate, the IRS
program to oppress conservative groups, and the corruption involved in
Obamacare.
For
twenty years, Judicial Watch has been your independent conservative watchdog
group in Washington. We're beholden to no political party and no special
interests. We expose and prosecute corrupt Republicans and Democrats.
And
with a commitment unmatched by any other group, we're taking on the secretive
and corrupt Obama administration . . . far and away the
most lawless presidential administration we've confronted since we opened our doors in 1994.
What's
more, at every step along the way we're keeping the American people informed
about what our investigations and our lawsuits are uncovering.
If
you'll stand with us again today with your advice and your financial support,
we're better positioned to stand firm in 2014 for the principle that ours is a
nation of laws.
Thank
you, as always, for all you do to support Judicial Watch and our mission of
upholding the rule of law in America!
Sincerely,
Thomas
Fitton
President
P.S. Please answer your [requested]
2014 Program Priorities Poll as soon
as possible and try to return it, along with your best tax-deductible gift to
us within the next ten days. As the New Year begins we have some key decisions
to make and I'm really counting on your advice! Thank you (JW, P.O. Box 96234, Washington D.C. 20090-6234)!
********************
Because
no one is above the law!
[12-24-2013 partial letter] . . . I deeply appreciate your
generous commitment [faithful support]. But although we are making enormous
headway, the naked truth is that I
believe we're headed toward even higher levels of government corruption with
the Obama administration settling in for another term.
Presently,
I am fearful of politicians like Barack Obama who put radical political
ideology and transformational power above the rule of law. And I know you feel
the same way . . .
You're already helping us pursue justice
on critical battlefronts where we're attempting to hold his administration
accountable to the law. As you can
imagine, this continues to be no easy task . . .
But
I'm proud to share with you that Judicial Watch is having more impact fighting
corruption and government secrecy since 2008 than in any other period since
opening our doors in 1994.
We're
now well into our second Obama administration term, and as I write you today,
we've filed more than 1,150 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and more
than 120 lawsuits against the current administration on issues ranging from
Obamacare; to the "Benghazi-gate" attack and cover-up; to the illegal
targeting of Tea Party and conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service;
to continued Obama funding of the criminal ACORN group; to the potentially
unconstitutional use of unaccountable
czars who are accountable to no one; and
ultimately our history-making Election Integrity campaign to disrupt the Obama
machine's efforts at corrupting elections and illicitly tilting the electoral
playing field in favor of the Left for years to come.
And
still high on our agenda is our full frontal assault to uncover political
corruption by members of Congress – not to mention the corruption and abuse
within the Obama Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security and other
federal agencies populated with the administration's radical political
appointees.
We
continue to lead the fight across the country against illegal immigration by
busting local and state "sanctuary" policies such as discounted
tuition policies for taxpayer-funded colleges; while exposing
politically-driven attempts by the Obama gang to gut enforcement of our laws
against illegal immigration with "administrative measures" that
effectively grant backdoor amnesty to untold numbers of illegal aliens.
Most
visibly, our legal arguments prevailed on behalf of Arizona State in the U.S. Supreme Court against the Obama gang's
efforts to completely block the tough immigration enforcement law – S.B. 1070 –
leaving key aspects of the law intact.
That
followed our successful support of another Arizona law in the Supreme Court that now penalizes Arizona businesses who knowingly hire illegal aliens.
These Arizona laws have
had enormous implications for the urgent campaign to end illegal immigration!
Already,
Alabama and Georgia have passed similar tough enforcement laws that (like
Arizona) are being challenged in court by the Obama Justice
Department.
And
now, as the corrupt Obama political machine churns into a second term, I'm
certain that their efforts to reward their radical open-borders friends will
only worsen the illegal immigration crisis.
The fact is . . . our anti-corruption investigations and lawsuits in
this and in other important areas are growing both in number and in
depth.
And
a year into his second four-year term, Barack Obama and his gang are already
cranking out new "government by regulation" strategies, even as I
write you. That means we must be even more vigilant in monitoring, exposing and
publicizing the Obama administration's secrecy, corruption and contempt for the
rule of law!
I
believe no one is working harder than Judicial Watch to break through Obama
administration secrecy and hold this radical president accountable to the
American people.
So while it's heartening to see our work
and effectiveness increase, it is becoming more and more difficult to balance
this growth in our programs with our resources.
All
of our investigations, lawsuits and legal representations require enormous amounts
of money, especially since we are generally fighting against the deep-pockets
of government lawyers. The reality is that I must raise at least $21 million in
2014 to keep our work on track.
I've
consulted with my colleagues on how we can better face these challenges from a
financial perspective. We were recently able to significantly reduce our
fundraising costs. But we want to do even more. We must do more to minimize
our fundraising costs while maximizing
our overall effectiveness . . .
You see, stewarding
our resources is critically important for us.
At Judicial Watch we live within our
budgets.
That's
because our enemies . . . opponents of honest and open government . . . are
well-financed. In fact, our funding is dwarfed by the far left that has
billionaires like George Soros who use their wealth
to fund leftist organizations.
The
deep pockets of Soros, the ACLU, the far left and
Obama's taxpayer-funded government lawyers all stand against your Judicial
Watch. We, on the other hand, depend exclusively on small contributions from
many thousands of good Americans like you.
As
long as we have to continue to litigate against power-houses like the ACLU and
government lawyers whose salaries and expenses are paid for by taxpayers, we
operate at a financial disadvantage.
The
bottom line is this: We have all the weapons we need in the battle for honest
government . . . except one . . . the steady, reliable and predictable stream
of income that YOUR MEMBERSHIP IN THE
JUDICIAL WATCH AMICUS SOCIETY can help give us.
That's especially important now because
under the Obama administration we are facing an inexorable expansion of
government that is socialist in principle and inherently corrupt in its
practice.
That's
why it's imperative that we continue to demand the highest standard in ethics
and respect for the law from our public officials.
We
take this responsibility of ours to hold politicians accountable to the law
very seriously. In solving our nation's problems we insist that respect for THE
RULE OF LAW is front and center. So it is toward this end that we have
launched a number of full-scale investigations and legal actions involving
serious ethical and legal issues surrounding President Barack Obama and his
administration.
Nor do we
spare Congress . . .
The
American people have a right to know and hold accountable our "overseers"
in Congress and their political cronies on Wall Street and corporate lobbyists
on K Street.
Their
corruption and malfeasance that were at the very heart of the economic crisis
are still causing much pain to many Americans right now – and they must be held
accountable!
In
this and in countless other ways, politicians from both parties in Congress and
officials throughout the Obama administration are failing the integrity test
left and right . . . and in the end they are abusing our trust, degrading our
public institutions and damaging our nation.
But while we and others have made
serious allegations of corruption and ethical infractions against the president
and many members of his administration and allies in Congress, the liberal
national media continue to generally look the other way!
So you can
see why we're working so feverishly
just to keep
pace.
Some
observers in Washington are now questioning whether any one or all of Obama's
willful measures to undermine our nation's laws are impeachable offenses.
Personally, I believe that our federal government under President Obama is
off-the-rails and out of control.
Over
the next four years I look for Obama's government agencies to use regulations
to push their radical leftist agenda when they cannot get Congress to act in
their interest. One sure bet, for example, is that the Obama administration
will seek to silence conservative voices by regulating talk radio and the
Internet. This was once an important Obama administration priority that was
temporarily put on the back burner. Expect to see the president turn up the
heat on his particular brand of "government by regulation" in an
effort to preserve his radical policies for generations to come.
I
know, too, that the very real burdens of increasing violent crime and public
taxpayer money wasted in dealing with the massive problem of illegal
immigration are not anything we can afford.
The
American people have every right to feel secure that our federal immigration
laws are being enforced by government officials at every level. And Americans
from across the country are asking for Judicial Watch's help to force local and
national government officials to end illegal "sanctuary" policies and
discounted "in-state" tuition practices for illegal aliens.
Clearly,
your Judicial Watch is the largest and most effective watchdog in Washington. While we have won many victories over political
corruption since we opened our doors and began fighting for the rule of law in
1994, the truth is we've also lost a few. But we have never let a lack of funds
defeat us.
And
we must never let that happen. Not ever. Your
Amicus Society membership will help ensure our financial future, which in
turn helps ensure preservation of our shared conservative values . . . (JW, P.O. Box 96234, Washington D.C. 20090-6234)!