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    Woke Banks Under Fire from Congress for Helping FBI Illicitly Spy on Gun Owners

    By
    Donny Ferguson
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    3
    Image via Pixabay images

    Amid reports that Wall Street banks have been illicitly spying on customers and reporting gun buyers to the FBI, despite no probable cause or court-issued warrants.

    In response, Congressman Rep. Alex X. Mooney (R-WV) has introduced H.R. 3021, The Protecting the Second Amendment in Financial Services Act to “expressly prohibit financial institutions and credit card companies from using a merchant category code that separately categorizes gun and ammunition transactions.”

    The revelation and legislation come as the FBI finds itself under fire for widespread civil rights abuses and its role in making false claims about President Donald Trump in an apparent attempt to remove a legally-elected president.

    Under the latest-revealed scheme, purchases made at gun dealers were flagged with a secret code and referred to the FBI for recording and possible investigation, despite the fact the purchases were legal and no criminal activity suspected.

    Some believe the scheme was an effort to get around federal laws prohibiting the federal government from assembling its own national registry of gun owners by having banks record the data – after audits of the Justice Department revealed officials had been illicitly retaining records of gun sales reported to the federal government’s National Instant Check System.

    “Leftist activists have been clear that they intend to use merchant category codes to further surveil the constitutional firearm purchases of law-abiding citizens,” said Mooney. 

    “The only rationale to implement a new merchant category code is to appease anti-Second Amendment activists. I am unwavering in my support of the Second Amendment, and I am proud to introduce this common-sense legislation to protect it,” said Mooney.

    “Merchant category codes (MCCs) are four-digit codes that enable payment processors and banks to categorize, monitor, and collect data on various types of transactions,” a statement from Mooney explains.

    “On September 9, 2022, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) approved a Merchant Category Code (MCC) for firearm retailers. Amalgamated Bank, a left-wing U.S. bank, led the charge in pressuring the ISO to adopt the new MCC. The ISO rejected Amalgamated Bank’s initial July 2021 application for the new MCC but approved it on the second application for reasons that remain unclear,” the statement reads.

    “Amalgamated Bank and progressive Members of Congress have been open that they intend to use this new MCC to track and report lawful firearm transactions to law enforcement under the guise of ‘suspicious activity’. In other words, this MCC is the Left’s attempt to create a backdoor gun registry to further curtail the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans.

    While American Express, Mastercard, Visa, and Discover have announced a temporary pause in the implementation of this new MCC, there has been no formal request to withdraw the MCC. Legislation is needed to ensure this is never implemented,” the statement concludes.

    This legislation is endorsed by the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America.

    “GOA thanks Rep. Mooney for leading the fight to protect American gun owners from the anti-gun actions of the International Standards Organization. The U.S. government cannot sit idly by while a foreign entity pressures banks, payment card networks, and other American corporations to infringe on the Constitutional rights of the American people. This legislation empowers U.S. financial institutions to stand up to this foreign influence by categorically rejecting this anti-gun ‘merchant code,’” said Aidan Johnston, GOA’s Director of Federal Affairs

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Boebert Moves to Block Biden Scheme to Hike Your Mortgage if You Have Good Credit

    By
    Donny Ferguson
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    5
    Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

    A new Biden administration proposal to hike mortgage payments for Americans with good credit, to subsidize loans for people with bad credit, is running into opposition to Congress.

    But is it enough to stop Biden?

    The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed an amendment from Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R-CO) “requiring the Government Accountability Office to publish a report on its website exposing the costs and process associated with the Biden administration’s socialist housing policies,” a statement Boebert reports. 

    The amendment “will help protect homeowners from Biden’s disastrous scheme to raise fees for people with higher credit scores to subsidize those with lower credit scores,” says Boebert.

    “(O)n a $400,000 mortgage, a borrower with a credit score of 680 would be forced to pay $40 more per month to subsidize similar borrowers with worse credit scores,” Boebert reports.

    “Joe Biden’s decision to subsidize failure makes more sense when you realize he’s hired Mayor Pete, Karine Jean-Pierre, and Kamala Harris. Raising housing fees at a time when mortgage rates are at the highest level in years thanks to the Biden-Pelosi spending spree will make housing less affordable and result in higher mortgage costs and reduced access to credit for most borrowers who are working hard and doing their best to just get by,” says Boebert.

    “My commonsense amendment provides transparency for the American people and exposes the costs and arbitrary processes used by Biden’s minions to ram through his socialist housing policy that penalizes responsible homeowners to subsidize high-risk individuals,” says Boebert.

    “Unelected bureaucrats in Washington should not have the ability to impose these un-American regulations on hardworking middle-class families,” Boebert adds.

    “This is a gross overreach and will ultimately exacerbate the growing inflation problem we have in this country,” Boebert concludes.

    Boebert’s amendment “requires the Government Accountability Office to publish a report on its website and publicly disclose to the American people any costs and the process utilized by the FHFA to unilaterally change Loan Level Pricing Adjustment (LLPA) fees and implement Biden’s unfair, socialist housing policy changes,” her office reports.

    Boebert’s amendment to Congressman Warren Davidson’s Middle-Class Borrower Protection Act was approved by the House in a unanimous voice vote. 

    The amended bill passed the House by a 230-189 vote and now goes to the Senate.

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Amanda Head: New Poll Reveals Depressing Facts

    By
    Amanda Head
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    0

    The latest Rasmussen poll is reporting some unfortunate facts about the state of America. A plurality of those polled said that our country’s best days are behind it…Do you agree?

    Watch Amanda break down the problem below:

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Amanda Head: New WOKE Disney Movie Utterly BOMBS!

    By
    Amanda Head
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    1

    Disney is committed to learning this lesson the hard way: Go woke, Go broke.

    Disney’s latest woke venture “Strange World” is on track to cost the company more than $100 million.

    Watch Amanda break down the spectacular flop below:

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Amanda Head: According To The Left, DeSantis Is….Mussolini?

    By
    Amanda Head
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    3
    Ron DeSantis via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Florida Governor Ron DeSantis might as well be Darth Vader as far as the radical Left is concerned…

    Watch Amanda explain the latest controversy below:

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    As Biden Launches Re-election His Approval Plunges to New Low

    By
    Donny Ferguson
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    0
    The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    Within weeks of President Joe Biden’s announcement he is seeking re-election in 2024, his job approval ratings have cratered to a new low.

    The latest Gallup poll finds only 37 percent of Americans approve of the job Biden is doing, the lowest number yet recorded for him.

    “Biden’s latest approval rating is from an April 3-25 Gallup poll, which was completed the day he announced he will seek reelection, and marks a three-point dip from March and a five-point drop from February,” Gallup notes.

    “Biden’s job approval has been in the low 40 percent range for most of the past 19 months, apart from the current reading and a 38 percent score last July,” Gallup adds.

    Other than Ronald Reagan, no president has ever been re-elected with approval below 40 percent at this point in his first term.  

    Both Jimmy Carter and Donald Trump, who lost their re-election bids, had slightly higher approval at just over 40 percent.

    In addition to widespread doubt Biden can physically and mentally handle a second term, Gallup finds Americans are unhappy with inflation under Biden.

    “The drop in Biden’s job approval corresponds with Americans’ worsening evaluations of the U.S. economy. Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index for April is -44, down from -38 in March. It was last at this level in October,” Gallup reports.

    “19 percent say the economy is getting better and 75 percent worse, compared with ratings of 23 percent and 72 percent, respectively, in March,” Gallup’s polling finds.

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Surge In Youth Mob Violence Reported Across US

    By
    Paul Crespo
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    7
    Police image via Pixabay free images

    ANALYSIS – The aftershocks from radical leftist movements, and the corresponding soft-on-crime approach of prosecutors across the country, is largely to blame for the current wave of lawlessness in many American cities.

    Sadly, it appears that most of the crime is being committed by mobs of teenagers in disadvantaged communities.

    I have recently written about the skyrocketing murder rate and carjackings in our nation’s capital here. I didn’t note then that much of that violent crime in Washington, D.C. is committed by young people. Some as young as 13.

    But frightening incidents of youth-led mob violence in two other cities graphically show how bad things really are.

    The Blaze reported that in what may be America’s most violent city: “Scores of thugs swarmed two Memphis gas stations over the weekend, stealing thousands of dollars of merchandise and destroying property. Looters also hit a 53-foot FedEx semi-trailer, stealing multiple packages.”

    Murders in Memphis are up 77% this year and on track to set an all-time city record.

    Some blame Steve Mulroy the city’s new soft-on crime Democrat district attorney, others, such as the mayor, blame soft-on crime courts. I would say it is likely both.

    Whichever is most to blame, James Davis, owner of L.R. Clothier, whose business was broken into early Sunday morning, said: “What this says to me is that people don’t fear any repercussions of their actions.”

    And that sums it up, as can be seen in the video below.

    The Blaze continued:

    Roughly $2,000 of items were stolen from the Exxon at 3483 Airways Boulevard. Over $15,000 of merchandise was taken from the Fill-N-Go gas station at 3084 South Third Street just hours later, where a clerk reported having a rifle pointed at him by a suspect. The mob is estimated to have inflicted $9,000 in damage at the second location.

    Footage of one of the incidents shows a mob of looters, some masked and others bare faced, ransacking a gas station and absconding with everything from candy to an electric sign. One hooded figure taking his time deciding which chocolate bars to load into his sagging pants can be seen carrying around a rifle. Another masked figure grabbing a handful of loot appears to be an adolescent girl.

    Clerks and paying customers look on in disbelief as the looters pilfer without any fear of consequence.

    The outlet added: “In what appears to have been a coordinated effort, drivers blocked a FedEx truck in the middle of Riverport Road and Mallory Avenue around 8:30 p.m., affording masked men an opportunity to break into the trailer and steal multiple packages.”

    But as scary as this ‘purge’ like behavior is in Memphis (referring to the movies where all crime, including murder, is allowed one day a year), the recent incident in Las Vegas is even worse.

    There a teenage boy, Jonathan Lewis Jr., was brutally beaten to death by 15 teens in broad daylight.

    Video of the brutal attack emerged on social media last week, showing the teen being savagely pummeled as he tried to run away.

    [His father, Jonathan] Lewis Sr. said he believes the deadly onslaught began after “Jonathan stood up for one of his smaller friends,” according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

    “A couple (of people) attacked him, and they weren’t able to hurt him enough, and they all attacked him at once,” the dad stated.

    Lewis Sr. remembered his son as a “loving, giving, kind, fierce young man who loved community and caring for others.” He added that “his son was an aspiring artist who was considering joining the military like his grandfather – who served in the U.S. Navy.”

    Another article in The Blaze noted that:

    While the victim’s family tries to process his death, others are puzzling over why this violent episode has not elicited the kind of national response other racially dichotomous incidents have in recent years.

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Democrat Mayor Wanted Less White, Military Men In Police Recruiting Images

    By
    Paul Crespo
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    4

    ANALYSIS – Even though, after the recent Supreme Court ruling against Affirmative Action, the momentum seems to be shifting away from discriminatory Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) efforts nationally, one major, crime-infested, ‘Defund the Police’ city on the Left coast hasn’t gotten the message.

    Seattle’s Democrat Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office ordered fewer White males and officers with ‘military bearing’ be shown in promotional images and videos for the city’s struggling police force.

    The controversial document appears to be part of the mayor’s Comprehensive Police Recruitment and Retention Plan passed last year which prioritizes applicants with “diverse racial and immigration backgrounds.” 

    It was first reported by My Northwest.

    Once the memo provoked a firestorm of protest, the document was quietly edited to remove the offensive verbiage. Then the mayor’s office lied about having copies of the original memo, saying the original versions were lost.

    This, according to a March 2023 memo written for the Seattle Police Department (SPD), titled “SPD Marketing More and Less,” calls for more photos and videos of “officers of color” who are “younger” and of “different genders” to be featured in the department’s marketing materials. 

    And to make the overtly discriminatory point as clear as possible, the memo also directed that there should be “less” images and videos of “officers who are white, male” and “officers with military bearing.” 

    The outrageous memo was written by Ben Dalgetty, a Digital Strategy Lead from the mayor’s office who oversees SPD recruitment. And it got the Seattle Police Officers Guild justifiably upset.

    Officer Mike Solan, president of the police union told Seattle radio host Jason Rantz in a written statement that the union cannot abide by “discrimination.” 

    “What I condemn and will forever continue to push back on is the verbiage within the recruitment document that calls for less of white male officers. Less of people in leadership positions, and less of humans with military backgrounds. This is flat-out discrimination. Period. It is an affront to decency, reasonableness and further divides our communities,” Sloan wrote.

    “It is embarrassing, shameful, and detrimental to a healthy functioning society.” But he wasn’t the only one outraged by the memo.

    According to My Northwest, police sources who spoke to “The Jason Rantz Show” were shocked that the mayor’s office would put their radical racial and other preferences for police recruitment in writing.

    “I thought, ‘Are you kidding me? You put this in writing?'” one SPD source reportedly said. “It shows not only a lack of respect for officers, but a lack of respect for the military. They have no understanding of someone willing to put their lives on the line for their fellow man. They don’t have respect.”

    Other SPD officials were “livid” with the memo. After receiving complaints from SPD, Dalgetty made several edits to the document.

    “The Jason Rantz Show” said their public records request for the original memo went unanswered for months before the mayor’s office finally provided the edited version on July 10, but wrongly claimed the original version wasn’t available anymore.

    Meanwhile, there were 52 homicides in Seattle in 2022, and last year had the highest number of violent crimes with 5,625, the most in over 10 years of Seattle crime statistics.

    And, since 2020, and the Black Lives Matter riots, the SPD has had a net loss of 325 officers. Last year, it was a net loss of 90 cops, despite Mayor Harrell’s much-publicized diverse recruitment efforts.

    At the same time, the left-wing city council and two different Democrat mayors have talked for nearly three years about forming teams of social workers or mental health counselors to respond to some calls instead of police.

    But the fact is that 300-plus cops who used to respond to an increasing number of 911 calls are gone — and haven’t been replaced with anything real. 

    Still, city officials have the audacity to discriminate against the remaining white male officers with ‘military bearing’ who remain.

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Amanda Head: ‘Jesus Revolution’ Destroys Box Office Performace of Oscar-nominated Films

    By
    Amanda Head
    -
    5

    It’s time to run to your local movie theaters.

    A new faith-based film “Jesus Revolution” is setting the box office on fire. The new film has already surpassed numerous Oscar-nominated films’ box office earnings.

    Watch Amanda explain the phenomenon below:

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Biden Admin. Spied On Bank Accounts Of Trump Supporters

    By
    Donny Ferguson
    -
    1
    Image via Pixabay free images.

    Americans who purchased Bibles, sporting goods or products associated with former President Donald Trump were flagged for surveillance by a federal government spy program, U.S. House investigators reveal.

    After the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol, FBI officials told banks that Americans who support President Trump or express religious views may be suspected terrorists, and demanded banks report customers whose transactions indicated they may be political conservatives.

    Such blanket surveillance is prohibited by the United States Constitution, which requires the federal government to secure a warrant, based on probable cause, specifically naming the person targeted.

    “New documents obtained by the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government reveal that the federal government flagged terms like “MAGA” and “TRUMP” for financial institutions if Americans used those phrases when completing transactions,” the U.S. House Judiciary Committee revealed in a statement.

    “Individuals who shopped at stores like Cabela’s or Dick’s Sporting Goods, or purchased religious texts like a bible, may also have had their transactions flagged. This kind of pervasive financial surveillance, carried out in coordination with and at the request of federal law enforcement, into Americans’ private transactions is alarming and raises serious concerns about the FBI’s respect for fundamental civil liberties,” the Committee stated.

    In response, the Committee is demanding senior government officials appear for questioning.

    “In light of these revelations, Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) has requested transcribed interviews from Peter Sullivan, Senior Private Sector Partner for Outreach in the Strategic Partner Engagement Section of the FBI, and Noah Bishoff, former Director of the Office of Stakeholder Integration and Engagement in the Strategic Operations Division of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN),” the Committee reveals.

    Jordan’s letter to Noah Bishoff reads, in part: 

    “The Committee and Select Subcommittee have obtained documents indicating that following January 6, 2021, FinCEN distributed materials to financial institutions that, among other things, outline the ‘typologies’ of various persons of interest and provide financial institutions with suggested search terms and Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) for identifying transactions on behalf of federal law enforcement. These materials included a document recommending the use of generic terms like ‘TRUMP’ and ‘MAGA’ to ‘search Zelle payment messages’ as well as a ‘prior FinCEN analysis’ of ‘Lone Actor/Homegrown Violent Extremism Indicators.’ According to this analysis, FinCEN warned financial institutions of ‘extremism’ indicators that include ‘transportation charges, such as bus tickets, rental cars, or plane tickets, for travel to areas with no apparent purpose,’ or ‘the purchase of books (including religious texts) and subscriptions to other media containing extremist views.’ In other words, FinCEN urged large financial institutions to comb through the private transactions of their customers for suspicious charges on the basis of protected political and religious expression.

    “In addition, the Committee and Select Subcommittee have obtained documents showing that FinCEN distributed slides, prepared by a financial institution, explaining how other financial institutions can use MCC codes to detect customers whose transactions may reflect ‘potential active shooters, [and] who may include dangerous International Terrorists / Domestic Terrorists / Homegrown Violent Extremists (“Lone Wolves”).’ For example, the slides instruct financial institutions to query for transactions using certain MCC codes such as ‘3484: Small Arms,’ ‘5091: Sporting and Recreational Goods and Supplies,’ and the keywords ‘Cabela’s,’ and ‘Dick’s Sporting Goods,’ among several others. Despite these transactions having no apparent criminal nexus—and, in fact, relate to Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights—FinCEN seems to have adopted a characterization of these Americans as potential threat actors. This kind of pervasive financial surveillance, carried out in coordination with and at the request of federal law enforcement, into Americans’ private transactions is alarming and raises serious doubts about FinCEN’s respect for fundamental civil liberties.

    “As the former Director of the Office of Stakeholder Integration and Engagement in the Strategic Operations Division, you engaged regularly with financial institutions following the events of January 6, 2021, including the distribution of material about how financial institutions could use private customer information to assist federal law enforcement. As such, your testimony will aid our oversight. In particular, your testimony will help to inform the Committee and Select Subcommittee about federal law enforcement’s mass accumulation and use of Americans’ private information without legal process; FinCEN’s protocols, if any, to safeguard Americans’ privacy and constitutional rights in the receipt and use of such information; and FinCEN’s general engagement with the private sector on law-enforcement matters.”

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

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