Good news doesn't always travel as fast as bad news for conservatives.

By Rob Janicki

Sometimes good news for conservatives slips by the wayside.  Hopefully, this post will rectify the bad news that I managed to miss.

The House of Representatives passed an amendment Thursday to stop all federal funding to be used for the Department of Justice’s Operation Choke Point, an anti-fraud operation that was found to be cutting off legitimate businesses from their banking lines.

This was a direct slap down of Attorney General Eric Holder.  But more importantly than being a personal slap down of a Marxist socialist, it brings sanity to an otherwise blatant attempt to illegally crack down on virtually any business or organization the Obama administration doesn't like.  

Had the amendment passed, it would have given the Dept. of Injustice the power to essentially shut down any business it wanted to.  The DoJ could use virtually any pretext to accomplish this Gestapo-like act and force a business to take the government to court to prove its innocence.  It doesn't get much more heavy handed than this brazen attempt to use the power of government to destroy those it sees as enemies of the Obama administration.

“This is a major victory for consumers, law-abiding businesses, and anyone who believes in due process and restraint of government encroachment,” said the Community Financial Services Association of America, a trade group opposed to the operation, in a statement Friday. “Additionally, our banking system benefits as it will not be put in the position to police customers or make judgments about the political popularity of businesses and industries.”

Most readers may not be able to fathom just how dangerous this DoJ program would have been.  It would have given the DoJ the pretext to interfere with and intimidate legitimate businesses for the purpose of bringing to bear immense power against anyone or any business that may have offended the Obama administration for any reason.

The DoJ has virtually unlimited resources to charge individuals and businesses with crimes, even if those charges never see the inside of a courtroom.  Merely charging people or businesses with a criminal act forces them to spend untold amounts of money to even begin to defend themselves and that's where the DoJ can simply wear down or bankrupt a victim of this quasi-legalized extortion.  And that's what it would be, extortion.

The Obama administration is all about rewarding useful allies and idiots and punishing enemies to the greatest extent possible.  Obama's personal adviser, Valerie Jarrett said as much after Obama won the 2012 presidential election.  It was payback time.