The bullying by Congressional committees of various unpopular industries has taken on warp speed.
But in a very disturbing new tactic, Congressional Democrats specifically are targeting a sponsor of conservative media shows, particularly the Glenn Beck Show, on a flimsy pretext:
Forget Goldman. New York Rep. Anthony Weiner has been shooting a bit lower in the finance food chain, going after gold dealers.
His latest target, the company Goldline, which has made its name profiting — with the help of conservative talkers — off fees for buying and selling gold against public anxiety….
A Weiner aide forwards his advisory, headed, “‘Goldline’ Rips Off Consumers, Profits Off Public Fears, Likely Violates Federal Law.”
“The company has formed an unholy alliance with conservative pundits to drive a false narrative and play off public fears in order to sell its products,” says the release.
Why bother with a bit player like Goldline? Because Glenn Beck still is on the air despite a boycott which has succeeded in scaring away some advertisers, but not Goldline.
Goldline is a specific target of boycotts of Fox News and Beck, and has been for months.
Media Matters, which has been targeting Beck and Fox New is absolutely crowing over the targeting of Goldline by Weiner:
At this hour, Weiner is holding a news conference not only call out Goldline as “a company that uses conservative rhetoric, high pressure sales tactics and tall tales about the future of gold to sell over priced coins that can be bought somewhere else for cheaper,” but to ask regulators from the Federal Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate its tactics.
We are in dangerous territory folks. The congressional power to investigate, and to pressure the executive branch to bring enforcement proceedings, is being used to support a partisan boycott and to stifle political dialogue.
Whatever your view of Beck, and of the Beck boycott, the government has no business acting as enforcer.
The Democratic Party cannot be trusted with power, and Anthony Weiner proves it.
Update: More on Weiner’s disgusting abuse of power in a report this afternoon at Politico:
The report [issued by Weiner] alleges that Goldline grossly overcharges for the gold coins that constitute the bulk of its business, uses misleading sales techniques and takes advantage of fears about President Barack Obama’s stewardship of the economy – which are stoked by its stable of paid conservative endorsers including Beck, Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham and Fred Thompson – “to cheat consumers.” …
Goldline president and CEO Mark Albarian said Weiner is targeting the company because of its relationship with Beck, the popular conservative radio and television talk show host who has drawn rebukes from the White House for his scathing attacks on Obama.
“It feels like it’s politically motivated in that neither the Congressman nor anybody from his office ever contacted executives form the company to really ask the important questions that they need to ask to understand this business,” said Albarian, adding Weiner “doesn’t get” the gold retail business. The congressman’s report, Albarian asserted, seems driven by “our relationship with Glenn Beck, which we are very happy with.”
On his radio show Tuesday Beck teed off on Weiner, accusing him of leveling a politically motivated attack on Beck and Goldline at the behest of the Obama administration.
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