HOLLYWOOD
06-24-2013, 12:52 PM
This is just getting ridiculous... it's FASCISM on STEROIDS
US Department of Commerce's 'Brand USA Inc.'
http://www.thebrandusa.com/About-Brand-USA/Board-Of-Directors
Brand USA Scandal Deepens
Govt. subsidized corporation had no clear mission, audit finds
http://freebeacon.com/brand-usa-scandal-deepens/
December 14, 2012 2:00 pm KTS Business Consulting’s recent audit of Brand USA—the government-subsidized corporation created by Congress to promote United States tourism that has been dogged by allegations of cronyism and waste—obtained by the Free Beacon shows a company without vision, motivation, or oversight.
The audit found “a majority of the staff did not have any idea what the mission” of Brand USA was and that “all staff was in limbo as to what type of organization the Brand USA is.”
Both parties, doesn't matter who the self-serving criminals may be, it's become a 24/7 feeding frenzy of our tax dollars going to their big campaign donors deals of bribery/racketeering in the Fascist system. Who cares about deficits, debt, & inflation? Spend away on your RICO crime family empire.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/06/22/Harry-Reid-Dean-Heller-insert-Casino-Cronyist-favor-handout-into-amnesty-bill
CASINO CRONY KICKBACK: Reid, Heller Slip Las Vegas Tourism Handout into Immigration Bill
http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver/Breitbart/Big-Government/2013/Congress/Senate%20Democrats/reid%20casino%20crony.png
by Matthew Boyle (http://www.breitbart.com/Columnists/Matthew-Boyle) 22 Jun 2013 post a comment (http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/06/22/Harry-Reid-Dean-Heller-insert-Casino-Cronyist-favor-handout-into-amnesty-bill#comments)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) have inserted a provision that amounts to little more than a handout to Las Vegas casinos into the repackaged immigration reform bill, Breitbart News has learned. This provision, a brazen example of crony capitalism, was inserted into the immigration law enforcement section of the bill despite the fact that it has nothing whatsoever to do with "immigration" or "law enforcement."
On page 66 of the repackaged bill, the following provision appears:
“CORPORATION FOR TRAVEL PROMOTION.—Sec- 9(d)(2)(B) of the Travel Promotion Act of 2009 (22 U.S.C. 2131(d)(2)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘For each of fiscal years 2012 through 2015,’’ and inserting ‘‘For each fiscal year after 2012.”
The Travel Promotion Act (TPA) of 2009 (http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/22/2131) allows the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury to spend up to $100 million on promoting travel to specific areas of the country. If the provision Reid and Heller inserted into the proposed immigration reform legislation becomes law, the benefits of the TPA would be extended indefinitely.
As the Heritage Foundation’s Jena McNeill wrote in June 2009 (http://blog.heritage.org/2009/06/17/promoting-tourism-by-taxing-tourists/), the Travel Promotion Act creates “a government-run public relations campaign funded by a tax on international visitors.” After the law was passed, the PR campaign touting Las Vegas casinos and other tourist destinations in the U.S. using that tax was rolled into a government-run corporation called “Brand USA.” In October 2012, Jim DeMint and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) released a report that “reveals a history of waste, abuse, patronage, and lax oversight” with the Brand USA program and the Department of Commerce that oversees it.
When the Travel Promotion Act was passed in 2009, the Las Vegas Casino industry and the Las Vegas Strip officially thanked Reid for passing it. Among others, Bally’s Casino ran an advertisement on their electronic billboard on the Strip thanking Reid for its passage, a billboard Reid promoted on his website (http://www.harryreid.com/index.php/blog/entry/las_vegas_strip_thanks_sen._reid_for_passing_the_t ravel_promotion_act/).
“The recently signed into law Travel Promotion Act is going to greatly benefit Nevada because we have so many wonderful tourist attractions,” a 2009 post from Reid’s website reads (http://www.harryreid.com/index.php/blog/entry/las_vegas_strip_thanks_sen._reid_for_passing_the_t ravel_promotion_act/). “Senator Reid fought so hard to pass this bill because he knew that it would mean thousands of jobs for Nevada as foreign tourists flock to Las Vegas, Reno, and Lake Tahoe. Yesterday a number of hotels on the Las Vegas Strip showed Senator Reid their appreciation for his efforts on behalf of Nevada by thanking him in their marquees.”
Heritage’s Jessica Zuckerman wrote in a 2012 post (http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/10/travel-promotion-brand-usa-marked-by-waste-and-abuse) based off DeMint’s and Coburn’s report ripping the program that Congress “should leave the promotion of tourism to the private sector.”
“Instead, Congress and the Administration should focus on making it easier, safer, and more efficient for travelers to come to the U.S by improving U.S. visa services and expanding the Visa Waiver Program, the very program that is helping to fund Brand USA’s misguided efforts,” Zuckerman wrote.
Current law would fund the government-run program through 2015. But, now Reid and Heller have inserted an indefinite expansion of it into a bill that has nothing to do with tourism, and into a section of the bill that was supposed to be aimed at adding additional Border Patrol and U.S. Customs Border Protection officers to the current staffs of those agencies.
The provision was inserted under “Sec. 1102,” which is titled: “Additional U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers.” That section falls under “Title I: Border Security and Other Provisions,” “Subtitle A--Border Security” in the repackaged bill.
Heller is a co-sponsor of the revised bill; he was not a sponsor of the bill in its original form.
Reid has consistently pushed projects that benefit big casinos over the course of his career.
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US Department of Commerce's 'Brand USA Inc.'
http://www.thebrandusa.com/About-Brand-USA/Board-Of-Directors
Brand USA Scandal Deepens
Govt. subsidized corporation had no clear mission, audit finds
http://freebeacon.com/brand-usa-scandal-deepens/
December 14, 2012 2:00 pm KTS Business Consulting’s recent audit of Brand USA—the government-subsidized corporation created by Congress to promote United States tourism that has been dogged by allegations of cronyism and waste—obtained by the Free Beacon shows a company without vision, motivation, or oversight.
The audit found “a majority of the staff did not have any idea what the mission” of Brand USA was and that “all staff was in limbo as to what type of organization the Brand USA is.”
Both parties, doesn't matter who the self-serving criminals may be, it's become a 24/7 feeding frenzy of our tax dollars going to their big campaign donors deals of bribery/racketeering in the Fascist system. Who cares about deficits, debt, & inflation? Spend away on your RICO crime family empire.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/06/22/Harry-Reid-Dean-Heller-insert-Casino-Cronyist-favor-handout-into-amnesty-bill
CASINO CRONY KICKBACK: Reid, Heller Slip Las Vegas Tourism Handout into Immigration Bill
http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver/Breitbart/Big-Government/2013/Congress/Senate%20Democrats/reid%20casino%20crony.png
by Matthew Boyle (http://www.breitbart.com/Columnists/Matthew-Boyle) 22 Jun 2013 post a comment (http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/06/22/Harry-Reid-Dean-Heller-insert-Casino-Cronyist-favor-handout-into-amnesty-bill#comments)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) have inserted a provision that amounts to little more than a handout to Las Vegas casinos into the repackaged immigration reform bill, Breitbart News has learned. This provision, a brazen example of crony capitalism, was inserted into the immigration law enforcement section of the bill despite the fact that it has nothing whatsoever to do with "immigration" or "law enforcement."
On page 66 of the repackaged bill, the following provision appears:
“CORPORATION FOR TRAVEL PROMOTION.—Sec- 9(d)(2)(B) of the Travel Promotion Act of 2009 (22 U.S.C. 2131(d)(2)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘For each of fiscal years 2012 through 2015,’’ and inserting ‘‘For each fiscal year after 2012.”
The Travel Promotion Act (TPA) of 2009 (http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/22/2131) allows the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury to spend up to $100 million on promoting travel to specific areas of the country. If the provision Reid and Heller inserted into the proposed immigration reform legislation becomes law, the benefits of the TPA would be extended indefinitely.
As the Heritage Foundation’s Jena McNeill wrote in June 2009 (http://blog.heritage.org/2009/06/17/promoting-tourism-by-taxing-tourists/), the Travel Promotion Act creates “a government-run public relations campaign funded by a tax on international visitors.” After the law was passed, the PR campaign touting Las Vegas casinos and other tourist destinations in the U.S. using that tax was rolled into a government-run corporation called “Brand USA.” In October 2012, Jim DeMint and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) released a report that “reveals a history of waste, abuse, patronage, and lax oversight” with the Brand USA program and the Department of Commerce that oversees it.
When the Travel Promotion Act was passed in 2009, the Las Vegas Casino industry and the Las Vegas Strip officially thanked Reid for passing it. Among others, Bally’s Casino ran an advertisement on their electronic billboard on the Strip thanking Reid for its passage, a billboard Reid promoted on his website (http://www.harryreid.com/index.php/blog/entry/las_vegas_strip_thanks_sen._reid_for_passing_the_t ravel_promotion_act/).
“The recently signed into law Travel Promotion Act is going to greatly benefit Nevada because we have so many wonderful tourist attractions,” a 2009 post from Reid’s website reads (http://www.harryreid.com/index.php/blog/entry/las_vegas_strip_thanks_sen._reid_for_passing_the_t ravel_promotion_act/). “Senator Reid fought so hard to pass this bill because he knew that it would mean thousands of jobs for Nevada as foreign tourists flock to Las Vegas, Reno, and Lake Tahoe. Yesterday a number of hotels on the Las Vegas Strip showed Senator Reid their appreciation for his efforts on behalf of Nevada by thanking him in their marquees.”
Heritage’s Jessica Zuckerman wrote in a 2012 post (http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/10/travel-promotion-brand-usa-marked-by-waste-and-abuse) based off DeMint’s and Coburn’s report ripping the program that Congress “should leave the promotion of tourism to the private sector.”
“Instead, Congress and the Administration should focus on making it easier, safer, and more efficient for travelers to come to the U.S by improving U.S. visa services and expanding the Visa Waiver Program, the very program that is helping to fund Brand USA’s misguided efforts,” Zuckerman wrote.
Current law would fund the government-run program through 2015. But, now Reid and Heller have inserted an indefinite expansion of it into a bill that has nothing to do with tourism, and into a section of the bill that was supposed to be aimed at adding additional Border Patrol and U.S. Customs Border Protection officers to the current staffs of those agencies.
The provision was inserted under “Sec. 1102,” which is titled: “Additional U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers.” That section falls under “Title I: Border Security and Other Provisions,” “Subtitle A--Border Security” in the repackaged bill.
Heller is a co-sponsor of the revised bill; he was not a sponsor of the bill in its original form.
Reid has consistently pushed projects that benefit big casinos over the course of his career.
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