What’s interesting in the news today?
1. More Benghazi testimony says the Obama admin had plenty of time to respond, but didn’t. This matches previous testimony on the matter.
From PJMedia “Members of the House Intelligence Committee learned in a closed-door briefing yesterday that more contractors are corroborating the report that the Obama administration had plenty of time to respond to the attack on the Benghazi diplomatic facility.”
“And essentially what they were able to prove today, they basically backed up the other contractors who were on the ground in the two previous hearings. So this is an ongoing investigation,” Nunes said Tuesday evening. “And I think they gave us a lot of good leads today and I feel very comfortable moving forward with where we are at today.”
The congressman confirmed the White House claim that the attack was sparked by protest over a YouTube video “was a completely lie, and we always knew that.”
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2. They’re just wingin’ it now.
From HotAir “President Barack Obama’s administration has found a short-term fix to pay insurance companies for plans selected on HealthCare.gov, the not-yet-complete government website used to shop for insurance required under Obama’s healthcare program.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has not yet finished building the part of the website that would transfer billions of dollars in subsidies for plan premiums and cost-sharing payments to insurance companies. …
The administration is planning a “workaround” for payments, said Daniel Durham, vice president for policy and regulatory affairs at America’s Health Insurance Plans.
What will the “workaround” be? Well, the insurers will tell HHS what taxpayers owe them in subsidies, and, er … HHS will cut checks with no questions asked:”
Sure. What could possibly go wrong? 🙄
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3. Here’s another slick holiday weekend move, so the media is sure to mostly ignore it.
From TheFreeBeacon “The Obama administration quietly finalized the Health Insurance Tax (HIT) over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, a provision in Obamacare that will cost nearly $60 billion over the next five years and raise health care premiums by 3 percent.
The final rule, published on Nov. 27, imposes a fee beginning in 2014 for health insurers with premium revenues over $25 million per year. The annual tax is levied for “United States health risks,” and is hidden from consumers since it is directly assessed on health insurance companies.
David R. Burton, a senior fellow in economic policy at the Heritage Foundation, said the tax will disproportionally impact small businesses.”
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4. Another Common Core lesson with questionable methods and no educational value.
From IllinoisReview “An assignment sent home from an Oak Forest, IL high school government class is raising eyebrows among parents who are shocked by the questionnaire they and their children are required to fill out. The questionnaire (below) has the parents identify their positions on a number of highly-charged issues, and then places them on a “political spectrum.”
The survey is from the textbook “U.S. Government 2“, published by the “The Center for Learning”. It is part of Oak Forest High School’s Common Core curriculum, which according to the school district’s website is to …”provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them.”
I’m sure this will be used to profile students and parents who might be a problem.
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5. Here’s a group of students rebelling against liberal indoctrination. They’re white, so they must be…….?
From TheDailyCaller “The politics of faux victimization are spiraling out of control at a community college in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where several white students, their black professor and irritated administrators have one-upped each other with complaints, reprimands and now a lawsuit.
The trouble began in English professor Shannon Gibney’s Introduction to Mass Communications class at Minneapolis Community and Technical College. Though the class ostensibly has little to do with race, Gibney considers herself an activist on racial issues, and frequently invokes white privilege and oppression during class time, according to her students. (She has previously taught classes on race and gender.)
Recently, several white students announced that they had had enough with Gibney’s incessant racial screed. They interrupted her during a lecture, and said, “Why do we have to talk about this in every class? Why do we have to talk about this?” according to Gibney’s account of the incident, which was recorded by the City College News.”
“As a vocal black female younger looking… faculty member here, unfortunately this is no the first time,” she said. “I’ve actually had multiple verbal and institutional attacks on me by white males, whether they were students, faculty, administration or staff.”
How original. 🙄
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Wandering Views 
Re: #4
When I went to school, no body asked me what I wanted to learn. They decided what an educated person should know and taught me that.
All of this is purely bureaucratic nonsense. It isn’t necessarily political. It’s mostly bureaucratic.
I don’t know if either party will put a stop to it.
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3. “hidden from consumers” – yeah, right.
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The Common Core questionnaire is pretty scary. I can see a parent who answers “wrong” on things like homosexuality or gun control being put on a watch list. I already know parents whose public school children have threatened them with the school counselor.
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I understand thatthe latest polls are at 80 something percent opposed to Obamacare. My how things do change when it starts effecting your wallet!
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Here you go:
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/11/20/cbs-poll-93-percent-want-obamacare-changed-repealed
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Obamacare will not change until after January 2017, if then.
It appears that everything Obama has done, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Afghanistan, and now, Iran, has been to support radical Islam.
Think about it.
We have elected a community organizer who doesn’t respect the US Constitution.
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When you click on Kim’s link, it actually says 93% are opposed.
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Opening paragraph from an article in The Washington Times by a former CIA operative writing under a pseudonym.
“For more than a decade, Iran has successfully bought time from its nuclear detractors by negotiation in bad faith as it worked feverishly to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran now has bought six more months.”
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Good Breakpoint article today on the now-rapid growth of intolerance of the Christian faith in the west:
http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/24006
“There are many examples of this (religious liberty) ‘erosion’: the HHS mandate, an attempt to reverse the ‘ministerial exemption’ in federal employment laws, and ‘the absence of strong conscience protections as part of gay marriage laws at the state level,’ to name just a few.
“And if anything, the situation elsewhere in the West is even worse. I’ve told you about the British preacher facing prosecution for calling homosexuality a sin. Or there’s the local branch of the Knights of Columbus in British Columbia, which had refused ‘to rent a hall to a lesbian couple for a wedding reception’ and was ordered to pay $1000 to each woman for its offense against the women’s ‘dignity, feelings and self-respect.’
“The deterioration of religious freedom led Cardinal George of Chicago to say ‘I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison, and his successor will die a martyr in the public square.’ “
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