News/Politics

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News/Politics 2-21-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. First up…. Yes please!

From NationalJournal  “If all goes according to plan, North Koreans will soon have free, uncensored Internet provided by satellites the size of toaster ovens.

That’s part of a project called Outernet, which hopes to launch hundreds of tiny satellites—known as CubeSats—to provide Internet to every person on Earth. Forty percent of the world’s people currently don’t have access to the Web. In a little more than a year, Outernet plans to have a fleet of 24 satellites operational and testing to pave the way for a globe-spanning network.

The satellites won’t be providing conventional Internet right away. They’ll initially be used for one-way communication to provide services like emergency updates, news, crop prices, and educational programs. Users will help determine what content is offered.

The project’s backers say knowledge is a human right—one they intend to provide even in countries where dictators have thus far limited access. “We exist to support the flow of independent news, information, and debate that people need to build free, thriving societies,” said  Peter Whitehead, president of the Media Development Investment Fund, Outernet’s backer. “It enables fuller participation in public life, holds the powerful to account and protects the rights of the individual.”

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2. Next up, a fight between the green energy crowd and the tree huggers. It’s a tough one to call because we know a tortoise can beat a hare, but can he beat a solar panel?

Considering how eagles and other birds fared against the windmill/turbine crowd, I don’t like the slow poke’s chances this time.

From FoxNews  “Plans to create two solar energy plants on public lands in California and Nevada are pitting renewable energy advocates against environmentalists who fear the facilities will endanger federally threatened desert tortoises in the area. 

Federal officials on Wednesday announced the approval of two plants expected to supply 550 megawatts of renewable energy, enough to power about 170,000 homes. Secretary of Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said more than 700 jobs will be created through construction and operations.”

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3. More on the story from yesterday on govt monitors in news rooms.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “The First Amendment says “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…” But under the Obama administration, the Federal Communications Commission is planning to send government contractors into the nation’s newsrooms to determine whether journalists are producing articles, television reports, Internet content, and commentary that meets the public’s “critical information needs.” Those “needs” will be defined by the administration, and news outlets that do not comply with the government’s standards could face an uncertain future. It’s hard to imagine a project more at odds with the First Amendment.

The initiative, known around the agency as “the CIN Study” (pronounced “sin”), is a bit of a mystery even to insiders. “This has never been put to an FCC vote, it was just announced,” says Ajit Pai, one of the FCC’s five commissioners (and one of its two Republicans). “I’ve never had any input into the process,” adds Pai, who brought the story to the public’s attention in a Wall Street Journal column last week.”

“Advocates promote the project with Obama-esque rhetoric. “This study begins the charting of a course to a more effective delivery of necessary information to all citizens,” said FCC commissioner Mignon Clyburn in 2012. Clyburn, daughter of powerful House Democratic Rep. James Clyburn, was appointed to the FCC by President Obama and served as acting chair for part of last year. The FCC, Clyburn said, “must emphatically insist that we leave no American behind when it comes to meeting the needs of those in varied and vibrant communities of our nation — be they native born, immigrant, disabled, non-English speaking, low-income, or other.” (The FCC decided to test the program with a trial run in Ms. Clyburn’s home state, South Carolina.)

Also not surprising are the Annenberg ties. Obama and his buddy Ayers are familiar with their work, having served on their board.

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4. And now they play dumb. 🙄

How were they to know that cutting 700 billion from Medicare to pay for ObamaCare would be a problem? Nobody mentioned it. Well, except for every conservative publication out there. 🙄

From NationalReview  “The National Republican Senatorial Committee points out that North Carolina senator Kay Hagan and other vulnerable Senate Democrats are now whacking the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid . . . for enacting changes required by Obamacare. Hey, Senator Hagan, if you want to blame someone, blame the foolish or dishonest lawmakers who voted for the law!

Wait a minute, that’s you!

In 2009, Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) promised North Carolinians who depend on Medicare that she was going to “protect Medicare” and that they would “not see a drop in their Medicare coverage.”


But in 2010 Kay Hagan voted to slash Medicare Advantage to pay for ObamaCare. (H.R. 4872, CQ Vote #72: Motion agreed to 56-42: R 0-40; D 54-2; I 2-0, 3/24/10, Hagan Voted Yea)
”

They own it. Keep pointing that out.

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5. And with millions of new Medicaid enrollees, the possibility for fraud like this will only increase.

From DCCrimeStories  “More than 20 people have been arrested in what federal prosecutors are calling the largest healthcare fraud takedown in the history of the District of Columbia.

Following a multi-year-long investigation into bogus billing practices, more than 200 law enforcement agents spread across the region Thursday to raid homes and businesses, make arrests and seize dozens of bank accounts and property. 

Those arrested include operators of home care agencies, operators of nurse staffing agencies, office workers and personal care assistants. One woman is accused of bilking taxpayers out of $75 million.”

““This investigation has revealed that Medicaid fraud in the District of Columbia is at epidemic levels,” said U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen.  “This fraud diverts precious taxpayer dollars, drives up the cost of health care, and jeopardizes the strength of a program that serves the most vulnerable members of our society.”

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by

News/Politics 2-20-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Another consequence of the Obama admins decision to rescind propaganda rules. Without the first action, he couldn’t get away with this. Pravda, it’s not just a Russian thing anymore.

From RedState  “The Obama Administration’s Federal Communication Commission (FCC) is poised to place government monitors in newsrooms across the country in an absurdly draconian attempt to intimidate and control the media.

Before you dismiss this assertion as utterly preposterous (we all know how that turned out when the Tea Party complained that it was being targeted by the IRS), this bombshell of an accusation comes from an actual FCC Commissioner.”

“Last May the FCC proposed an initiative to thrust the federal government into newsrooms across the country. With its “Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs,” or CIN, the agency plans to send researchers to grill reporters, editors and station owners about how they decide which stories to run. A field test in Columbia, S.C., is scheduled to begin this spring.

The purpose of the CIN, according to the FCC, is to ferret out information from television and radio broadcasters about “the process by which stories are selected” and how often stations cover “critical information needs,” along with “perceived station bias” and “perceived responsiveness to underserved populations.”

In fact, the FCC is now expanding the bounds of regulatory powers to include newspapers, which it has absolutely no authority over, in its new government monitoring program.”

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2. Bullying a bunch of Quakers and burning down their church for using non-union labor? Talk about low…..

From WFB  “The federal government on Tuesday indicted multiple union members for burning down a Quaker church in 2012.

Ten members of a Philadelphia ironworkers union face charges of arson and racketeering in connection with a fire against the church, which was employing non-union workers.

“Ironworkers Local 401 [was charged] with allegedly participating in a conspiracy to commit criminal acts of extortion, arson, destruction of property, and assault in order to force construction contractors to hire union ironworkers,” the FBI said in a press release. “Specifically, the indictment charges RICO conspiracy, violent crime in aid of racketeering, three counts of arson, two counts of use of fire to commit a felony, and conspiracy to commit arson. Eight of the 10 individuals named in the indictment are charged with conspiring to use Ironworkers Local 401 as an enterprise to commit criminal acts.”

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3. He did it again. This time Battleground Texas (ACORN) and the Wendy Davis for Gov. campaign. Forging voter signatures, illegal copying and storing voter contact info, which is forbidden by law. Same playbook Obama and OFA use.

Vote fraud is alive and well, and much of it happens way before the voting booth.

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4. Is Common Core crashing and burning? Let’s hope so. 🙂

From Politico  “The nation’s largest teachers union is pulling back on its once-enthusiastic support of the Common Core academic standards, labeling their rollout “completely botched.”

National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel said he still believes the standards can improve education. But he said they will not succeed without a major “course correction” — including possibly rewriting some of the standards and revising the related tests with teacher input.

“In far too many states, implementation has been completely botched,” Van Roekel wrote in a letter Wednesday afternoon to his organization’s more than 3 million members.”

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by

News/Politics 2-19-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Terror training centers in the US and Texas? And just imagine the people easily smuggled in across the unsecured southern border.

From PJMedia  “The Clarion Project has unearthed Federal Bureau of Investigations documents detailing a 22-site network of terrorist training villages sprawled across the United States. According to the documents, the FBI has been concerned about these facilities for about 12 years, but cannot act against them because the U.S. State Department has not yet declared that their umbrella group, MOA/Jamaat ul-Fuqra, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

MOA stands for Muslims of the Americas, which is linked to radical Pakistani Muslim cleric Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani. The FBI documents that Clarion has obtained show that the group is headquartered in the well known “Islamberg” compound in rural New York. The facility in Texas is known as “Mahmoudberg.” It’s located in Brazoria county on County Road 3 near Sweeny. Sweeny is in far south Texas, southwest of Houston. The town of about 4,000 is a little under three hours’ drive from the state capital in Austin.”

“The Mahmoudberg compound was the site of a shooting incident in 2002. One member of the group apparently shot another by accident. Members of the group did not cooperate with a law enforcement investigation of the incident, according to the FBI documents. Women in the group wore veils over their faces and were not allowed to communicate directly with law enforcement officers.”

“The FBI documents show that MOA members have been involved in at least 10 murders, a disappearance, three firebombings, an attempted firebombing, two explosive bombings and an attempted bombing.”

And yet DHS is busy with imaginary right-wing terrorists, rather than real ones.

You can read the report from the Clarion Project here.

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2. Denial, it’s not just a river you know. 🙂

From NationalJournal  “For nearly three years, the Democratic approach to the political unpopularity of President Obama’s health care law was denial. Deny it played a significant role in the party’s historic midterm losses in 2010. Insist, in the face of contradictory evidence, that as more voters experienced the benefits of the law, the more popular it would become. Deny it would be a major issue at all in the 2014 midterms.

The latest version of the argument points to polling showing that voters don’t want to repeal the law but prefer to see it fixed—perfectly in line with the newly adopted positions of vulnerable Democratic officeholders. In a memo leaked to the press, Democrats argue they can neutralize their health care vulnerabilities by promoting their desire to fix the law and blaming Republicans for intransigence in seeking a full repeal. But dig a bit deeper past the talking points, and it’s unclear what they want to fix—beyond their broken poll numbers.

Indeed, in a sign that Democrats are stuck in neutral on their Obamacare messaging, the “news” from the memo is months old. The strategy devised by the sharpest party operatives has already been in effect in numerous ads across the country and was promoted by the party’s top strategists two months ago. In those targeted races, public polling has shown Democratic standing worsening where the on-air Obamacare debate has already begun. (See: Landrieu, Mary; Hagan, Kay.)

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3. The sad reality is that as illegal as this all is, Republicans won’t do a thing about it.

From NationalReview  “The president issued an executive order last week purporting to raise the minimum wage for employees of federal contractors to $10.10 an hour. The order is unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court made clear in Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer that “the President’s power, if any, to issue the [executive] order must stem either from an act of Congress or from the Constitution itself.” Furthermore, “when the president takes measures incompatible with the expressed or implied will of Congress, his power is at its lowest ebb, for then he can rely only upon his own constitutional powers minus any constitutional powers of Congress over the matter.”

Nothing in the Constitution grants the president authority to set or raise the minimum wage independently of an act of Congress. Furthermore, although the president generally has authority to improve the efficient discharge of federal contracts, the president’s minimum-wage order is incompatible with the expressed and implied will of Congress.

Congress has made its will regarding the minimum wage for federal contractors abundantly clear in four separate statutes: The Service Contract Act, the Davis Bacon Act, the Walsh-Healey Act, and the Fair Labor Standards Act. Under those statutes, the minimum wage for many, if not most, employees of federal contractors is the prevailing minimum wage for employees in the specific job classification in the locality where the work is to be performed. For the remaining classifications of employees for whom no prevailing minimum wage exists, the minimum wage is slotted into the minimum for similar jobs, or is governed by the minimum set by Congress in the Fair Labor Standards Act, i.e., $7.25.”

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4. The CBO has chimed in on the minimum wage issue. Jobs lost, cost increases for every consumer.

From Reuters  “Raising the U.S. federal minimum wage to $10.10, as President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress are proposing, could result in about 500,000 jobs being lost by late 2016, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated on Tuesday.”

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5. In immigration news….

From TheHill  “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he hopes President Obama will review possible administrative actions to halt the deportations of illegal immigrants now that reform legislation has stalled in Congress.

“I would hope that administratively, the president will do what he can to take a look at deportations, but he is being burdened by the law as it exists, and we need to change it,” Reid told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.”

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6.  Once again, the Koch Bros. get slammed for the same thing. But like with Soros, Democrats can’t see their own hypocrisy. If it’s a perversion of the system when one side does it, it should be on both, no?

From NBCNews  “Billionaire climate-change activist Tom Steyer could spend $100 million in the 2014 midterm election season — and maybe even more — to help Democratic candidates, NBC News confirms.”

“Is it going to take $100 million? I have no idea,” Steyer told the New York Times, which first reported this story. “I think that would be a really cheap price to answer the generational challenge of the world.”

Steyer is one of the biggest — and wealthiest — opponents of the politically charged Keystone XL pipeline.”

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7. Buyers remorse.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “Given a chance to do it all over again, only 79 percent of those who voted for President Obama would vote for him again and 71 percent of Obama voters now inclined to vote for somebody else “regret” their vote to reelect the president, according to a new poll.

The Economist/YouGov.com poll found that Obama would lose enough votes in a rematch with Mitt Romney that the Republican would win. “90 percent of people who voted for Romney would do it again, compared to only 79 percent of Obama voters who would,” said the poll.”

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by

News/Politics 2-18-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

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1. I saw the same thing during the Clinton years. Whenever politicians decide it’s time to reduce forces, these sort of things happen.

From FoxNews  “The number of U.S. soldiers forced out of the Army because of crimes or misconduct has soared in the past several years as the military emerges from a decade of war that put a greater focus on battle competence than on character.

Data obtained by The Associated Press shows that the number of officers who left the Army due to misconduct more than tripled in the past three years. The number of enlisted soldiers forced out for drugs, alcohol, crimes and other misconduct shot up from about 5,600 in 2007, as the Iraq war peaked, to more than 11,000 last year.

The data reveals stark differences between the military services and underscores the strains that long, repeated deployments to the front lines have had on the Army’s soldiers and their leaders.”

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2. If shutting a few lanes on the GW get’s you an Inquisition style investigation, shouldn’t shutting down lanes all over the state get ya’ one too? After all NJ is getting snow again today. Running out of salt will close way more than 2 lanes on the GW.

From WFB  “The Obama Administration has not approved a waiver that would allow New Jersey quick access to tons of salt for ice-covered roads at a port in Maine despite the state being at dangerously low levels.

Townsquare Media reported that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) denied the state’s request for a waiver of the Jones Act, a 1920 law requiring that all cargo and passengers moving between points in the United States be transported on American vessels.

A waiver would have allowed New Jersey to get the salt within days from a foreign transport in Searsport, Maine.”

“We were pursuing a waiver, but we’ve been advised we wouldn’t get one,” Dee said. “It seems unlikely we will get it.” DHS did not respond to multiple requests for comment.”

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3. Surprised? Me neither.

From Variety  “Despite its Biblical inspiration, Paramount’s upcoming “Noah” may face some rough seas with religious audiences, according to a new survey by Faith Driven Consumers.

The religious organization found in a survey that 98% of its supporters were not “satisfied” with Hollywood’s take on religious stories such as “Noah,” which focuses on Biblical figure Noah. Faith Driven Consumers has been tracking the viability of major Hollywood films courting faith-based audiences this year.”

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by

News/Politics 2-17-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

Lots to talk about today. So I’ll be brief.

1. First Holder wants voting rights for felons, now he wants to fight efforts to ensure illegals can’t vote too. Or as Democrats call it, expanding their voter base.

From PJMedia  “Justice Department lawyer Bradley Heard was in court today trying to stop Kansas from ensuring that only citizens register to vote. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, relying on a United States Supreme Court opinion of last year, asked the federal Election Assistance Commission to permit him to ensure that only citizens were registering to vote.

The Election Assistance Commission said no, so Kris Kobach went to federal court. Enter Eric Holder’s Justice Department, as usual, opposing election integrity measures.”

“Despite harping about resource concerns (which apparently means that the DOJ can do nothing about corrupted voter rolls), Holder found the time and money to send Bradley Heard to a hearing in Kansas to argue against Kobach’s election integrity measures.”

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2. Meanwhile their success in immigration court is dropping. By design, just another stealth amnesty program.

From Yahoo   “Nearly half of immigrants facing deportation are now winning their cases before an immigration judge, their highest success rate in more than 20 years, according to a new analysis of court data published Thursday.

The U.S. government has been losing more deportation cases each year since 2009, according to the Transaction Records Clearinghouse at Syracuse University, which collects and studies federal prosecution records.”

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3. Joe Wilson was right.

From WeaselZippers  “Joe Wilson Was Right: Obamacare Recruiting Illegal Aliens To Sign Up”

“If you look at the nature of who the Obamacare navigators are, you can see who the outreach is geared toward, and it isn’t primarily the young and healthy ones that would sustain the system. Virtually none are geared toward universities or youth-oriented areas.

Most are geared toward minority and poor populations, particularly black and Hispanic populations. So what does that tell you about their orientation, or the intent to actually be a self-sustaining system?”

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4. And now we have yet another example of why the Obama admin is against background checks, and it shows why their navigators weren’t checked. They claim she was vetted though. Must have been vetted by the same people that vetted Obama.

From TheDenverPost  “A director with Colorado’s health-care exchange was placed on paid administrative leave Tuesday after it was discovered she has been accused of stealing from a nonprofit housing organization she oversaw in Montana.

Christa McClure, 51 is the director of partner engagement for Connect for Health Colorado, the state program that implements the Affordable Care Act in the state.”

“The eight-count indictment against McClure was filed in U.S. District Court in Billings, Mont., in January. McClure pleaded not guilty Feb. 6 and was released pending trial, according to the Billings Gazette.”

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5. Another ObamaCare lie.

From IJReview  “Along with Barack Obama’s promise of “if you like your healthcare plan, you can keep your healthcare plan,” was his declaration that “people with pre-existing conditions shouldn’t be penalized.”

Yeah, well, that was then and this is now. People with serious pre-existing diseases, precisely those Obama said the “Affordable Care Act” would help, could find themselves paying for expensive drug treatments with no help from the healthcare exchanges.”

“Those with expensive diseases such as lupus or multiple sclerosis face something called a “closed drug formulary.” Dr. Scott Gottlieb of the American Enterprise Institute explains:

“If the medicine that you need isn’t on that list, it’s not covered at all. You have to pay completely out of pocket to get that medicine, and the money you spend doesn’t count against your deductible, and it doesn’t count against your out of pocket limits, so you’re basically on your own.”

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6. Here’s some news you probably hadn’t heard from the MSM.

From CNSNews  “On Feb. 7, Planned Parenthood of Illinois, Northwestern  Memorial Hospital, and Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation agreed to  pay the family of Tonya Reaves, $2 million after she died from  hemorrhaging from a botched abortion in 2012. Reaves received the  abortion at a Planned Parenthood clinic on 18 S. Michigan Ave in  Chicago, Ill.

“Planned  Parenthood is a billion dollar a year baby killing business,” Day  Gardner, president of the National Black Pro-Life Union, told  CNSNews.com. “The money awarded to Tonya’s son is a pittance in  comparison to what they are worth – $2 million dollars is just a tiny  drop in a bottomless bucket. The truly sad thing is that no one can put a  dollar value on the life a human being – a life snuffed out way too  soon.”

“After the botched abortion took place at Planned Parenthood, Reaves bled for five and a half hours without medical treatment.

A  FOIA of the 911 calls from the Planned Parenthood location where Reaves  received her abortion shows that the clinic never called 911 on Reaves’  behalf, even after five and a half hours had elapsed.”

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7. This judge is obviously a Planned Parenthood supporter.

From Breitbart  “A Chicago judge has issued a controversial decision to reduce a fine handed down by state health department officials to an Illinois abortion clinic for violations of cleanliness and health codes. The judge reduced the massive $36,000 fine to a mere $77.

Cook County Circuit Judge Alexander White arbitrarily reduced the fine after the Illinois Department of Health (IDPH) conducted a health inspection of the state’s abortion providers in 2011. The issuance of the fine was immediately disputed and has been coursing through the courts ever since.

The IDPH cited the clinic for such violations as storing food items in the same freezer that contained containers of fetal tissue, filthy floors, medication dispensing cups filled with crumbs of medication, recovery rooms with rusted walls, and other filthy conditions. The IDPH report also noted that one employee was re-using discarded paper towels on patients.

Worse, the IDPH charged the clinic for failing to perform CPR on a patient who soon died in its care.Judge White based his reduction of the fine on the claim that the owner of the clinic closed the facilities down and had only $77 left in the company bank account.”

What the judge ignored though was evidence that the clinic operator reopened under a new name in the same building in a matter of weeks, and even used the same website for advertising.

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8. The real War on Women.

From TownHall  “Having liberals claim that someone else is waging a “war on women” is like Anteaters claiming Ladybugs are making war on ants. Not only is the Left much more unfriendly to women than the Right, liberals are actually leaving a body count behind.

1) The Party of Infanticide: The liberals’ whole “safe, legal and rare” abortion  shtick has gone by the wayside and they’ve moved on to “Any reason’s a good reason.” Just this week, Iowa Democratic State Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeschell advocated aborting children to avoid “sleepless nights” and avoid “disciplinary challenges.” Even the Aztecs weren’t as zealous about sacrificing children as the modern Left has become and the carnage it’s left in its wake is comparable to any of history’s greatest monsters. More than 28 million female babies have been snuffed out since Roe v. Wade. That’s 28 million women who will never get to pretend to be a princess, ask their mother for advice or fall in love and get married. All of those poor girls were slaughtered like cattle and disposed of like garbage because of the same people who claim Republicans are waging a “war on women.”

“2) Excusing Horrible Liberal Behavior Toward Women: Ted Kennedy left a woman to slowly die in a tidal pool while he went home to sober up and plan to get away with his crime. Liberals loved him. As we speak, Massachusetts Rep. Carlos Henrique is in jail for beating his girlfriend and the New England Area Conference of the NAACP is fighting to keep him from being expelled from the state legislature. Bill Clinton has not only cheated on his wife over and over, he was credibly accused of rape by Juanita Broaddrick. That has not given a single liberal pause. Roman Polanski is a liberal filmmaker who was convicted of raping a 13 year old girl and yet liberals defend him. What was it Whoopi Goldberg said? “I know it wasn’t rape-rape. I think it was something else, but I don’t believe it was rape-rape.” The reason it wasn’t “rape-rape” in her mind is because a prominent liberal man was involved. If everyone from MSNBC to the NAACP to NOW are willing to side with men who leave women to die, men who beat their girlfriends, and rapists over the women they victimize, what does that really tell you about liberals?”

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9. In other news Democrats want the IRS to continue harassing conservative groups.

From TheHill  “Senate Democrats facing tough elections this year want the Internal Revenue Service to play a more aggressive role in regulating outside groups expected to spend millions of dollars on their races.

In the wake of the IRS targeting scandal, the Democrats are publicly prodding the agency instead of lobbying them directly. They are also careful to say the IRS should treat conservative and liberal groups equally, but they’re concerned about an impending tidal wave of attack ads funded by GOP-allied organizations. Much of the funding for those groups is secret, in contrast to the donations lawmakers collect, which must be reported publicly.

 One of the most powerful groups is Americans for Prosperity, funded by the billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch. It has already spent close to $30 million on ads attacking Democrats this election cycle.”

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10. Those dastardly Koch Bros. are the worst offenders.

Oh wait, no, they’re not. Not even close.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “Charles and David Koch are the two most evil people in American politics, right? We know that because Jane Mayer proved it with her landmark “Covert Operations” tour de liberal force in 2010.

Well, it turns out that Mayer’s aim was off just a little, by like 58 slots on the all-time biggest donors in American politics list, as compiled by OpenSecrets.org.”

“So who occupies the 58 spots ahead of the Evil Koch Bros? Six of the top 10 are … wait for it … unions. They gave more than $278 million, with most of it going to Democrats.”

“In other words, the six biggest union donors in American politics gave 15 times more to mostly Democrats than the Evil Koch Bros.”

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by

News/Politics 2-14-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

Today, some good news for a change.

1. There’s nothing like a Mother’s love. 🙂

You may need to log in to Facebook to read it all. What a nice outpouring from the public for this youngster as well.

From Facebook  “I am Colin’s mom, I created this page for my amazing, wonderful, challenging son who is about to turn 11 on March 9th. Because of Colin’s disabilities, social skills are not easy for him, and he often acts out in school, and the other kids don’t like him. So when I asked him if he wanted a party for his birthday, he said there wasn’t a point because he has no friends. He eats lunch alone in the office everyday because no one will let him sit with them, and rather than force someone to be unhappy with his presence, he sits alone in the office. So I thought, if I could create a page where people could send him positive thoughts and encouraging words, that would be better than any birthday party. Please join me in making my very original son feel special on his day.”

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2. 13 reasons why your pet is the best Valentine you could ever hope for.

From TheHuffPost  “Valentine’s Day is fast approaching … you know, that special day when Americans are expected to go buy their loved ones everything they can find at their local CVS: cards, chocolate and stuffed animals.

But what if your “special someone” in your life is actually not a human? More specifically, your pet. You’re fine with telling your significant other that he or she is your Valentine, but you know, deep down in your heart, your furry (or not so furry) sidekick takes first place. We understand — humans are so overrated. That’s why we have highlighted 13 reasons your pet is your actual one true love forever and ever.”

My favorite? Number 2. If you’re dog slobbers, it’s cute. We humans can’t get away with that. 🙂

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3. Folks typically don’t look to competitors in time of need. But sometimes help comes from people you wouldn’t usually expect it from.

From MyNorthWest  “Chief Bob Vellias with South Pierce Fire and Rescue was among the first to arrive that day and said the silo was too unstable for his crew to save 44-year-old Steve Green, whose body was recovered more than two days later.”

“As an employer, especially a family business, it’s the worst thing you could ever imagine happening,” said Andy Wilcox. “The fact that we weren’t able to find Steve for two days was really tough.” While the Wilcox brothers said it was their first priority, rescue efforts at the feed mill were a small part of what the farm was faced with after the collapse.”

“The loss of life is your number one concern, but the next priority is, ‘How do we feed our chickens?'” said Brent Wilcox, who knew that without feed, the chickens could fall ill and starve to death in a matter of days.”

“Immediately, we had 800,000 hens that need food. A third of those need food within a day,” Andy Wilcox said. “We called up what is typically our competitors and said, ‘Hey, we’re in a terrible situation here.'”

Within 24 hours of the collapse, competitors were shipping truckloads of feed to Roy. National in Everett, Steibrs in Yelm, and Briarwood in Rochester were among those who pitched in to help.”

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4. A display of sportsmanship, and paying it forward.

From GlobalNews  “In true Olympic spirit, Canada’s head cross-country ski coach Justin Wadsworth rushed to help a Russian skier after the athlete crashed in the semi-final of the men’s freestyle sprint and broke one of his skis.

Cross-country skier Anton Gafarov tumbled on the course for the third time Tuesday as he was heading down the hill toward the finish line. With a new ski in hand, Wadsworth rushed toward the struggling athlete and fixed the new ski to Gafarov’s ski boot.”

“During the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino the director of cross-country skiing in Norway, Bjornar Hakensmoen, assisted Canadian cross-country skier Sara Renner when her pole broke during the third lap of a six lap relay. Hakensmoen gave Renner his pole and the Canadians came in a close second behind Sweden (Norway came in fourth).”

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5. A pharmacist who goes above and beyond for his customers.

From MyNews13  ” The calls for help come in constantly. On the line are usually working people with insurance who have been diagnosed with a serious illness.

“And when they go to fill their medication they find that their copay, their responsibility is in the hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, on a monthly basis and there’s not a lot of people out there that can afford that,” said Jeff Spafford.”

“In 2009, Spafford and business partner Edward Hensley founded The Assistance Fund with the goal of making access to medicine for all a reality. To date, they’ve helped more than 19,000 people nationwide.
 
“We really see that as our role, as being their advocates and helping them navigate, helping them get access, so we work very closely with the pharmacies. We work with their physicians. We work with their health care insurance providers to sort of bring everyone together in understanding what that patients situation is,” Spafford said.”

To date they’ve raised over a 100 million from corporations, grants, and even drug companies, to help their customers.

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News/Politics 2-13-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

Open thread, with a few from me to start off.

1. And he called the Bush admin corrupt for the Katrina response. Looks like he may have been projecting. Here’s a running report on Mayor Ray Nagin’s 20 convictions for corruption and tax evasion.

From NOLA.com  “Ray Nagin has been found guilty on 20 of 21 corruption charges. Here’s our early take on the conviction.“

” Tania Tetlow, a former federal prosecutor who is now a Tulane law professor, said Nagin’s decision to take the stand might add years to his sentence.

Federal sentencing guidelines allow Judge Berrigan to penalize Nagin if she believes he lied under oath. She can assess the extra time without prosecutors bringing a formal charge of perjury against the former mayor. It won’t be clear just how much the potential penalty would impact his sentence until after a pre-sentencing report has been conducted.

That report will fill in variables in the federal sentencing guidelines, a complex calculus that takes into account not only the charges, but the facts in the case. For example, part of the calculus depends on how much Nagins bribery scheme cost the city of New Orleans. The contractors accused of bribing him benefited from millions of dollars in city work, so there’s a lot of  potential for stiff penalties.”

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2. I’m not a Redskin’s fan, but I sure like their response to this liberal whiner.

From FoxNews  “As the former Chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Senator Cantwell should be aware that there are many challenges facing Native Americans, including an extremely cold winter with high energy bills, high unemployment, life threatening health problems, inadequate education and many other issues more pressing than the name of a football team which has received strong support from Native Americans.

If the Senator wants us to change our team name, has she already told that to the team named ‘Redskins’ in Wellpinit, Wash., where the school’s population is more than 90 percent Native American?  We hope Senator Cantwell has visited with those students in order to hear their thoughts. We hope Senator Cantwell is aware how upset the students in Port Townsend were when they were forced to change their name.

In an ESPN report on Sept. 18, 2013, Tim Ames, the superintendent of Wellpinit schools stated, ‘I’ve talked to our students, our parents and our community about this and nobody finds any offense at all in it. Redskins is not an insult to our kids. ‘Wagon burners’ is an insult. ‘Prairie n—–s’ is an insult. Those are very upsetting to our kids. But ‘Redskins’ is an honorable name we wear with pride… In fact, I’d like to see somebody come up here and try to change it.’

Finally, why did Senator Cantwell send her letter to the New York Times before she had the courtesy of sending it to the NFL?  No one other than a politician does that. Surely, with all the issues Congress is supposed to work on such as the economy, jobs, war and health care, the Senator must have more important things to do.”

She does, but those things would require really work and solutions. She has none of those and she is unqualified for leadership. So she panders to her base instead of tackling the hard issues and real work.

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3. This is not shocking. Say it with me now…..

Most transparent administration EVAH! 🙄

From TheWashingtonTimes  “The Obama administration’s handling of whistleblower Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency leaks and the investigation of a string of leaks produced a plunge in the country’s rating on press freedoms and government openness, according to a global survey released Tuesday.

The U.S. under President Obama, who once promised to run the “most transparent” administration in the country’s history, fell from 32nd to 46th in the 2014 World Press Freedom Index, a drop of 13 slots. The index, compiled by the press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders, analyzes 180 countries on criteria such as official abuse, media independence and infrastructure to determine how free journalists are to report.

Officials of the group said press freedoms were under attack around the world as governments grow increasingly sophisticated in collecting sensitive data and in tracking down those who leak it.”

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4. Also not shocking. This should put to bed the liberal meme that leftist groups were targeted too.

From TheWallStJournal  “On Tuesday, House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R., Mich.) said his committee’s continuing investigation has found that the IRS also singled out established conservative tax-exempt groups for audits.

“We now know that the IRS targeted not only right-leaning applicants, but also right-leaning groups that were already operating as 501(c)(4)s,” Mr. Camp said in a statement. “At Washington, DC’s direction, dozens of groups operating as 501(c)(4)s were flagged for IRS surveillance, including monitoring of the groups’ activities, websites and any other publicly available information. Of these groups, 83% were right-leaning. And of the groups the IRS selected for audit, 100% were right-leaning.”

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News/Politics 2-12-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. First up today, a sad story, made worse because a state refuses to acknowledge the personhood of a child less than 1 month from birth. This grieving mother is trying to do something about that.

From NBCNews  “Heather Surovik was eight months pregnant when a drunk driver smacked into her car on a summer afternoon on the outskirts of Denver. A 27-year-old preschool teacher at the time, she was expecting to give birth within days, in July 2012, to a boy she called Brady. “I survived,” she said. “Brady did not.” To Surovik, that was a homicide. But not according to Colorado law. “I was told that because my son did not take a breath, he was not considered a person,” she said. “He was considered part of my injuries—a loss of a pregnancy.” In her case, a repeat drunk driver named Gary Sheats pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and vehicular assault. “

“Her experience is at the heart of a heated debate that will bring Colorado voters to the polls this November to decide on a measure known as the Brady Amendment, which would change the criminal code to redefine “person” and “child” to include “unborn children.” The measure made the state ballot after activists collected enough signatures to put it there.

Also called Amendment 67, the measure is backed by “personhood” proponents, who believe life begins when egg meets sperm. These activists are busy pushing for laws around the country that would define human embryos as full-fledged people with legal rights, thereby banning abortion. Personhood measures have made the state ballot twice before in Colorado, led by the efforts of a Denver-based nonprofit called Personhood USA, but did not pass.

Surovik says that for her, this law is personal. “There were two victims here,” she said. “My son wasn’t a loss of a pregnancy—he was a person, an eight-pound boy.” She said the law is a bid for justice for “both the mother and unborn child.””

The usual suspects are of course against the measure. Click the text to read the whole thing.

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2. This is why prosecuting Gitmo detainees in the US is a bad idea. If you fail to convict, you’re stuck with ’em.

From Politico  “The failed prosecution of an alleged Somali pirate — and the fact that that failure could leave him living freely, and permanently, inside U.S. borders — is highlighting anew the risks of trying terror suspects in American courts.

Just a few weeks ago, Ali Mohamed Ali was facing the possibility of a mandatory life sentence in a 2008 shipjacking off the coast of Yemen — an incident much like the one dramatized in the film “Captain Phillips.” Now, the Somali native is in immigration detention in Virginia and seeking permanent asylum in the United States.”

“Ali, who was accused of piracy for acting as a translator and negotiator for a crew of pirates, was partially acquitted by a jury in November after a trial in Washington. Prosecutors initially vowed a retrial but decided last month to drop the rest of the case against him.

That’s just the kind of situation that opponents of U.S. criminal trials for Al Qaeda suspects caught abroad have long feared: The government falls short at trial — and the courts eventually order an accused terror figure freed to live legally among Americans.”

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3. The GOP is continuing to strong-arm donors and threatening those who back Tea Party/conservative type candidates. RINO’s don’t like tea I guess.

From Mediaite  “In an effort to head off “new Todd Akins” in the GOP primary field, the Republican Party is starting to put pressure on conservative donors to choose more establishment, competitive candidates, the New York Times reported Monday.

“I’ve been told by a number of donors to our ‘super PAC’ that they’ve received calls from senior Republican senators,” said FreedomWorks president Matt Kibbe, who characterized the message thusly: “’I can’t give to you because I’ve been told I won’t have access to Republican leadership.’ So they’re playing hardball.”

“Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) got the National Republican Senatorial Committee to drop a major advertising firm over its work for the Senate Conservatives Fund, which targets incumbent Republicans. SCF executive director Matt Hoskins said his employees have felt pressure to leave the group or be blacklisted.

“[McConnell’s] essentially joined the I.R.S. in targeting conservative groups,” Hoskins said. “It’s all meant to intimidate.”

🙄

They seem intent on fighting a civil war. It will cost them a very winnable election cycle. They’re a Democrat’s best friend.

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4. Without a fight.

From Reuters  “The House of Representatives narrowly approved a one-year extension of federal borrowing authority on Tuesday after Republicans caved into President Barack Obama’s demands to allow a debt limit increase without any conditions.

The 221-201 vote, carried mainly by Democrats, marked a dramatic shift from the confrontational fiscal tactics House Republicans have used over the past three years, culminating in last October’s 16-day government shutdown.

It came after House Republicans repudiated House Speaker John Boehner’s latest plan to link an increase in the $17.2 trillion borrowing cap to a repeal of planned cuts to military pensions.

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5. Gee, I wonder why? 🙄

From KVUE/ABC  “Attorney General Eric Holder called on a group of states Tuesday to restore voting rights to ex-felons, part of a push to fix what he sees as flaws in the criminal justice system that have a disparate impact on racial minorities.

“It is time to fundamentally rethink laws that permanently disenfranchise people who are no longer under federal or state supervision,” Holder said, targeting 11 states that he said continue to restrict voting rights for former inmates, even after they’ve finished their prison terms.

“Across this country today, an estimated 5.8 million Americans — 5.8 million of our fellow citizens — are prohibited from voting because of current or previous felony convictions,” Holder told a symposium on criminal justice at Georgetown University.”

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6. Another state exchange success story. 🙄

Also from Mediaite   “The Seattle Children’s Hospital is suing Washington state’s insurance commissioner over a “failure to ensure adequate network coverage” in the insurance exchanges established as part of the Affordable Care Act. “We’re seeing denials in care, disruptions in care. We’re seeing a great deal of confusion and, at times, anger and frustration on the part of these families who bought insurance thinking that their children would be covered,” a doctor with the  hospital said. “And, in fact, it’s a false promise.”

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News/Politics 2-11-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Here we go again. 🙄

And to my friends in the south and their children I have two words of advice.

Stay Home.

From AccuWeather  “Rounds of snow and ice will severely impact travel and daily routines across the interior South through this week before a major winter storm attempts to take a run at the Northeast.

The same storm that brought record snow to Seattle on Saturday will cause some snow and an icy mix to drop southward to northern Texas and the Tennessee Valley Monday and Monday night.

Initially through Monday night, the ice and snow will not be substantial. However, that does not mean residents and travelers should let their guard down.”

“According to Senior Meteorologist Mark Mancuso, “There is the potential for a major ice storm from northern Georgia to central and upstate South Carolina to central North Carolina Tuesday night and Wednesday.”

We’re expecting up to a foot Wed. night thru Thurs.. Yay. Not.

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2. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before…..

From FoxNews  “The glitches and other problems with the ObamaCare website that sparked a national firestorm are similar to those military veterans using the federal government’s online benefits system have routinely faced for about the past 18 months.

Eric Jenkins, a veteran and American Federation of Government Employees representative, recently told Congress that during January the Veterans Benefits Management System crashed about once a week with downtimes ranging from one hour to multiple days.

The $537 million system went online in fall 2012 at a Department of Veterans Affairs office in New England and is now in all 56 regional offices.”

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3. A Republican alternative to ObamaCare?

From TheWeeklyStandard  “Obamacare is failing. Faced with this unpleasant reality, President Obama offered up during his State of the Union address his only remaining defense of his eponymous program: There is no alternative. “[M]y Republican friends…if you have specific plans…tell America what you’d do differently….We all owe it to the American people to say what we’re for, not just what we’re against.”

“We accept the challenge. The 2017 Project, with which we’re associated, has developed an alternative to Obama’s 2,700 pages of federal largess. The proposal builds upon prior efforts by conservative policymakers and thinkers, including recent proposals from the House Republican Study Committee (RSC) and a trio of senior GOP senators (Tom Coburn, Richard Burr, and Orrin Hatch). It would solve the three core problems that called out for real reform even before the Democrats passed Obamacare: getting more people insured; dealing with the problem of preexisting conditions; and lowering costs. In providing politically attractive and substantively sound solutions to these three core concerns, it would justify bringing an end to Obamacare, and thus would pave the way for full repeal.

Just as important as what our proposal would do is what it wouldn’t do.  It wouldn’t force anyone to buy insurance. It wouldn’t auto-enroll anyone in any plan. It wouldn’t reduce the tax break for employer-based insurance (aside from closing the tax loophole at the high end). It wouldn’t cost anywhere near the $2 trillion over a decade that Obamacare would cost. It wouldn’t undermine religious liberty. It would allow Americans to keep their current plan if they like it.”

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4. Just like the last change, this one is illegal according to their own law.

From CNSNews  “President Barack Obama’s Treasury Department issued a new  regulation  today that for the second time directly violates the plain and unambiguous text of the  Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act by allowing some businesses  to avoid the law’s Dec. 31, 2013 deadline to provide health insurance  coverage to their employees.

Initially, on July 2, 2013, the administration unilaterally delayed the deadline for the employer mandate until 2015. Now, the administration is unilaterally delaying it for some businesses until 2016.”

“The final words in the section of PPACA mandating that employers with  more than 50 full-time employees provide their employees with “minimum  essential coverage” imposes a specific statutory deadline for doing so.  It says: “EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section shall  apply to months beginning after December 31, 2013.”

” Last summer, the administration unilaterally moved this hard statutory deadline back  one year to 2015 for all employers with more than 50 full-time employees. Now, without any action by Congress, the administration is moving it back again for some employers—despite the plain language of the law.”

It’s good to be the king I guess. Laws don’t apply to you, you just sign them.

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5. This is taking N.I.M.B.Y. to whole new levels. 🙂

From USNews  “The National Security Agency’s headquarters in Ft. Meade, Md., will go dark if a cohort of Maryland lawmakers has its way.

Eight Republicans in the 141-member Maryland House of Delegates introduced legislation Thursday that would deny the electronic spy agency “material support, participation or assistance in any form” from the state, its political subdivisions or companies with state contracts.

The bill would deprive NSA facilities water and electricity carried over public utilities, ban the use of NSA-derived evidence in state courts and prevent state universities from partnering with the NSA on research.”

“State or local officials ignoring the NSA sanctions would be fired, local governments refusing to comply would lose state grant funds and companies would be forever barred from state contracts.”

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6. An effort to “professionalize”, or to ensure the flow of only approved propaganda, while limiting free speech?

From MarineCorpsTimes  “Marine Corps leaders have ordered the independent Marine Corps Times newspaper removed from its prominent newsstand location at base exchange stores worldwide and placed instead in areas away from checkout lines, where it is harder to find and fewer copies are available.

The move raises troubling questions about motive and closely follows a directive prohibiting commanders from using budget funds to buy Marine Corps Times and a number of other publications.

Marine Corps Times is widely recognized for its comprehensive coverage of the Corps, focusing on everything from career tracks, to pay and benefits, family and spouse issues, and employment after leaving the military.”

“Throughout much of the past year, the paper has published dozens of articles as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations the service’s commandant, Gen. Jim Amos, abused his authority to ensure Marines were punished for an embarrassing war-zone scandal. Numerous reports have captured the attention of mainstream media outlets, including NPR, CNN and Time magazine, among several others.”

Ummmm….. B. Final answer.

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7. One of the men responsible for the murder of border agent Brian Terry has been sentenced. The criminals (DoJ, ATF) who supplied the guns to the murderer however still walk free and hold positions of power in D.C..

From MSNNews  “A man convicted in the shooting death of a federal Border Patrol agent during a firefight that revealed the government’s botched gun-smuggling investigation known as Operation Fast and Furious was sentenced Monday to 30 years in prison.

Manuel Osorio-Arellanes, who is from El Fuerte in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, is the only person to be convicted in the Dec. 14, 2010, shooting death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry near the Arizona-Mexico border.

U.S. District Court judge David C. Bury handed down the sentence, 360 months with credit for time served.”

“Two rifles bought by a gun-smuggling ring that was being monitored in the Fast and Furious investigation were found at the scene of the firefight, though authorities have declined to say whether the murder weapon in Terry’s death was linked to a purchase from the investigation.”

Declined to say…. isn’t a denial that it was one of those weapons. If one wasn’t involved, they’d have been clear that it wasn’t.

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