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News/Politics 3-13-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

Lots to talk about today.

1. Yesterday it was Hillary and a bunch of Democrats in DC with the questionable campaign donations. Today, it’s Obama, Menendez, and Rubio.

From TheNYTimes  “The donations kept pouring in: hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to President Obama and more than a dozen members of Congress, carefully routed through the families of two wealthy brothers in Florida.

They had good reason to be generous. The two men, Roberto and William Isaias, are fugitives from Ecuador, which has angrily pressed Washington to turn them over, to no avail. A year after their relatives gave $90,000 to help re-elect Mr. Obama, the administration rejected Ecuador’s extradition request for the men, fueling accusations that such donations were helping to keep the brothers and their families safely on American soil.

“The Isaias brothers fled to Miami not to live off their work, something just, but to buy themselves more mansions and Rolls-Royces and to finance American political campaigns,” President Rafael Correa of Ecuador told reporters last month. “That’s what has given them protection,” he added, an allegation the Obama administration and members of Congress reject.

The tug of war over the Isaias brothers, sentenced in an embezzlement case, is part of a broader battle between Ecuador and the White House over international fugitives, including two other men the Obama administration would like to get its hands on: Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, and Edward J. Snowden, the former intelligence contractor.”

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2. Of course he would. He knows better than anyone how many they’re ignoring. It’s dereliction of duty.

From TheDailyCaller  “President Barack Obama would veto a GOP-drafted bill that would allow legislators to take agency officials to court if they don’t enforce laws, according to a White House statement.

The GOP is pushing the bill through the House because Obama has repeatedly declined to enforce laws he doesn’t like, say GOP legislators.

“President Obama has refused to enforce those parts of our nation’s immigration laws that are not to his political liking, has waived portions of our welfare laws, has stretched our environmental laws to accommodate his policy objectives, and has waived testing accountability provisions required under the ‘No Child Left Behind’ education law,” according to Rep. Bob Goodlatte, the chairman of the House judiciary committee.”

There are several other instances as well.

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3. The Obama admin has finally admitted their “record number of deportations” meme is a lie.

From TheWashingtonTimes  “Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson acknowledged Tuesday that his department’s deportation numbers are now mostly made up of illegal immigrants caught at the border, not just those from the interior, which means they can’t be compared one-to-one with deportations under President Bush or other prior administrations.

The administration has argued it is tougher on illegal immigration than previous presidents, and immigrant-rights groups have excoriated President Obama, calling him the “deporter-in-chief” for having kicked out nearly 2 million immigrants during his five-year tenure.

But Republican critics have argued those deportation numbers are artificially inflated because more than half of those being deported were new arrivals, caught at the border by the U.S. Border Patrol. Previous administrations primarily counted only those caught in the interior of the U.S. by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”

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4. Here’s the most recent example of this administration ignoring laws it doesn’t like.

From TheWallStJournal  “ObamaCare’s implementers continue to roam the battlefield and shoot their own wounded, and the latest casualty is the core of the Affordable Care Act—the individual mandate. To wit, last week the Administration quietly excused millions of people from the requirement to purchase health insurance or else pay a tax penalty.

This latest political reconstruction has received zero media notice, and the Health and Human Services Department didn’t think the details were worth discussing in a conference call, press materials or fact sheet. Instead, the mandate suspension was buried in an unrelated rule that was meant to preserve some health plans that don’t comply with ObamaCare benefit and redistribution mandates. Our sources only noticed the change this week.

That seven-page technical bulletin includes a paragraph and footnote that casually mention that a rule in a separate December 2013 bulletin would be extended for two more years, until 2016. Lo and behold, it turns out this second rule, which was supposed to last for only a year, allows Americans whose coverage was cancelled to opt out of the mandate altogether.”

Zero media attention? Not shocking.

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5. Ah yes………

The Sgt. Schultz defense. 🙄

From TheDailyCaller  “Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius admitted Wednesday that Obamacare premiums will probably go up in 2015, that she does not know how many Obamacare customers have paid their premiums, and that she does not know how many Obamacare enrollees had insurance previously.

“I think premiums are likely to go up, but go up at a slower pace” than they did previously, Sebelius admitted at Wednesday’s House Ways and Means Committee hearing.

“I can’t tell you that, sir, because I don’t know that,” Sebelius said when asked by Georgia Rep. Tom Price how many Obamacare customers have paid their first premiums. Sebelius said she also does not know how many Obamacare customers previously had insurance plans that were canceled.”

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6. It’s official. Politically, we have come full circle. 🙂

From TheHill  “A longtime House Democrat in electoral jeopardy this fall says he supported former President George W. Bush more than President Obama.

Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), first elected in 1976, is a top target of Republicans in a state where Obama has long been deeply unpopular. He is facing a state senator, Evan Jenkins, who switched to the GOP to challenge him, and the House Democratic campaign committee recently added him to its “Frontline” list of members that need the most help saving their seat in November.”

“I will support him when he’s good for West Virginia, and I will oppose him when he’s bad for West Virginia,” Rahall said. Asked if Obama had been good for West Virginia overall, he replied, “Probably not.” 

“I probably have supported George Bush more than I have Barack Obama,” Rahall said. “Am I going to switch parties because of that? No. I’m a Democrat, born a Democrat, am a Democrat and will die a Democrat.””

Bush

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7. Here’s an update to the story of the NJ girl who thought her parents owed her the life she wanted.

From MSN   “The New Jersey honor student who sued to get her parents to support her after she moved out of their home has reunited with them, and the family is now asking for privacy.

21 thoughts on “News/Politics 3-13-14”

  4. Ugh! That whole situation was so incredibly sad, I can only pray all the family gets the real help they obviously need. Shame on the other adults who aided and abetted a very foolish young woman.

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  5. 1. In the larger context this is a dispute concerning Assange and Snowden. The admin is holding back extradition as retaliation; the large donations just give the Ecuadorean some mud but the extradition would’ve been held back anyway. The donation I would attribute to the power of incumbency — if it was a Republican president he would have received the donation.

    2. Whether a law is enforced as intended is for the courts to decide not the legislature. The executive has often used its powers to interpret prior to judicial involvement so Obama’s actions are fairly consistent with the executive branch. Cheney for example would blast any attempt by a Democratic House to curtail the executive power and thus Bush used signing statements to change the intent of laws. Cheney wanted an imperial presidency — he needed to be careful of what he wished for.

    7. An 18 year old needs a court appointed guardian?? Talk about prolonged childhood. An 18 year old is his or her own guardian.

    kbells – If you were her parents, I doubt this would have happened.

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  6. An Americans for Prosperity ad featuring a Michigan women claiming Obamacare was costing her more money and possibly threatening her life has been determined to be false.

    After the ad ran, the Detroit News looked at the numbers and determined it was simply wrong; she will save at least $1,200 and will receive the same level of care and medication.

    http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140310/LIFESTYLE03/303100100#ixzz2vfnpAVZd

    If this is the best AFP can do in finding “horror stories”, it should walk away.

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  7. I got this in an e-mail it’s from an article that is too long to post.

    At the U.S. Air Force Academy, jets aren’t the only thing taking off. So is a campus-wide rebellion against the forces of political correctness. Frustrated by the school’s decision to scrub a Bible verse from one of the dorm whiteboards, cadets decided to take matters into their own hands. In a show of defiance, Bible verses started popping up on dry erase boards throughout the dorms — outraging the anti-Christian “tolerance” police at the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
    This latest controversy boiled over earlier this week, when MRFF insisted that a verse from Galatians, posted on a cadet’s personal hallway whiteboard, somehow created a “hostile environment.” He pressed for the cadet — and any officer(s) who ignored the display — to be punished for “misconduct.”

    Turns out, the cadets posted Bible verses on their whiteboards during the night, as an act of rebellion.
    We may see this on Fox sometime. I’m sure the other outlets won’t mention it.

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  10. It appears that they have a “whiteborad” which is personal, but is also visible to everyone.
    I think someone was offended by a Bible verse. In response to the restriction, many whiteboards contained various verses and one contained something from the Koran.
    Fair enough. ..

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  13. Ricky,

    Thanks for that link. And it’s happening at nearly every school. Expose it, and you can expect death threats.

    Here’s a link I posted on the matter January 13th, from HuffPo.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/10/unc-professor-death-threats_n_4578818.html?ref=topbar

    “In a CNN story this week, Mary Willingham said her research of 183 football or basketball players at UNC from 2004-12 found 60 percent reading at fourth- to eighth-grade levels and roughly 10 percent below a third-grade level. She said she worked with one men’s basketball player early in her 10-year tenure who couldn’t read or write.

    “I don’t believe it’s true,” UNC coach Roy Williams said of the story after Wednesday’s loss to Miami. “It’s totally unfair. I’m really proud of the kids we’ve brought in here. … We haven’t brought anybody in like that. We’ve had one senior since I’ve been here that did not graduate.”

    And you’re a basketball fan, so you know the NBA treats these kids like a feeder program as well. It’s not just the NFL. MLB too. A year or 2 in college to show yourself off, and then it’s off to the draft. They aren’t there for an education, and the school doesn’t have them there to educate them either. It’s all about the sports/tv revenue.

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  14. “No disrespect to Bill Clinton, but that money could’ve gone a long way and been put to better use. Our contract ends on June 30, and I’m pretty sure they’re going to come to the table and talk about how they’re losing money, so this concerns me greatly”.

    Dan Fields, Jr president of the SEIU local 722 representing workers at the nonprofit Washington Hospital center. Bill made a convention speech there. They paid him $225,000.

    Reported in The Washington Times

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  15. Here is the reason I said the NCAA is slavery. Football and basketball players at major universities make scores of millions for their universities. They fund all women’s sports, the other men’s sports and at places like Texas, Ohio State and others, there are millions left over. Only a tiny fraction of the athletes will ever play pro ball. The athletes do very strenuous work for room and board, just like the slaves did 200 years ago.

    Why does not everyone call this slavery? The athletes get a free “college” education. That is a lie. People who read at a fourth grade level can’t do actual college work, so we must create grade-school level college classes so athletes can pass just as we must lower standards so women can join the Marines and other elite military units.

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  17. Several members of my family were high achieving athletes in college on scholarships. They worked their tails off and were constrained on what they could and could not take. One was treated poorly at UC Berkeley because he was “just an athlete” by both professor and students in a seminar and thus not up to their “par.” He’s perfectly intelligent and did not deserve to be treated like that.

    Both athletes graduated from their colleges. One will be in pain for the rest of her life because of how worn out her body got as a result. She was an academic all-American athlete.

    Some colleges make a real effort with their students. Cal State Fresno is one of them–mandatory study hours, coaches checking on their work–the school aims to graduate scholar athletes.

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  18. Michelle, Most of the women athletes are real college students. The same is true for men’s sports other than football and basketball. There is no incentive to recruit talented illiterates in sports other than football and men’s basketball. Those are the two sports that fund entire athletic departments.

    Most colleges require their athletes to go to class and have mandatory study periods. The fraud is that most of the classes taken by football and men’s basketball players are not legitimate college courses.

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  19. Ricky,

    Sadly, you are correct. First it’s a recommendation, then it becomes policy.

    http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/250046831.html

    “The United States should join the dozen other nations that allow transgender people to serve in the armed forces, a commission led by a former U.S. surgeon general said in a report released Thursday that concludes there is no medical reason for the decades-old ban and calls on President Barack Obama to lift it.

    The five-member panel, convened by a think tank at San Francisco State University, said Department of Defense regulations designed to keep transgender people out of the military are based on outdated beliefs that require thousands of current service members either to leave the service or to forego the medical procedures and other changes that could align their bodies and gender identities.

    “We determined not only that there is no compelling medical reason for the ban, but also that the ban itself is an expensive, damaging and unfair barrier to health care access for the approximately 15,450 transgender personnel who serve currently in the active, Guard and reserve components,” said the commission led by Dr. Joycelyn Elders, who served as surgeon general during Bill Clinton’s first term as president, and Rear Adm. Alan Steinman, a former chief health and safety director for the Coast Guard.”

    “The commission recommends the president issue an executive order instructing the Department of Defense to amend its regulations so transgender people are no longer automatically barred. The Pentagon then would need to develop rules for assigning service members who are transitioning, said Palm Center Executive Director Aaron Belkin.”

    Does anyone doubt for a minute he’s gonna? Me neither.

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  20. Question: Is there a difference between Gov Walker arresting singers in the Rotunda and Putin arresting Pussy Riot?? Perhaps its just a matter of degrees but it should make people think.
    http://act.tv/candidate/109356/criminal-justice/#8632

    Before anyone jumps on me for being anti-American; I asked a similar question to my conservative Ukrainian Canadian friend — Is there a difference between the G20 police throwing over 500 people into temporary jails overnight beating them in the process for protesting against the PM Harper and the Ukrainian President cracking down on people protesting against him? Again a matter of degrees but it should make people think.

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  21. The Canadian military accepted women and homosexuals in all positions well before most other countries and found battle readiness and effectiveness did not suffer.

    If there is a fight over bible verses on whiteboards, I would argue both army discipline and the bible are being trivialized.

    Ricky raises a good point about college athletics — I’d argue its color blind in its approach but plantation/slavery is a good analogy especially considering the physical abuse football players endure.

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