News/Politics

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News/Politics 2-10-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Like at the IRS, the Veterans Admin is rewarding poor performance with bonuses.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “Big bonuses paid to top officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs are justified despite rising numbers of patient deaths and a stubborn backlog of disability claims, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki said in a letter released Friday.

Shinseki said VA officials continue to investigate the performance of employees in charge of medical facilities where preventable patient deaths occurred, including one who got a $63,000 bonus and another with a perfect performance evaluation.

“There is a direct correlation between organizational performance and performance ratings at VA,” Shinseki said in his letter to Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. “Results, or lack thereof, for which employees and executives are responsible and accountable, are factors when evaluating performance.”

““I am extremely disappointed with Secretary Shinseki’s attempt to downplay VA’s widespread and systemic lack of accountability,” Miller said. “It’s becoming more apparent by the day that there seems to be just two types of people who think VA is properly holding its leaders accountable: VA executives who have received huge performance bonuses year after year despite failing in their jobs and those who work in VA’s central office.”

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2. What does it cost to buy an ambassadorship? And is money raised the only qualification now? Sure seems like it.

So it’s like the healthcare bill, you have to appoint them to see if they can do the job. Her answer to a follow-up is just as lame.

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3. Anyone who believes the President will negotiate an immigration overhaul in good faith should keep this in mind. Everything he does is for his political benefit, and nothing more.

From TheDailyCaller  “President Barack Obama’s 2012 unilateral legalization of 500,000 young illegal immigrants helped him win the 2012 election — at the cost of splitting 500,000 innocent, law-abiding American families for months on end, according to a New York Times article.

The ruthless political calculation was buried deep in the low-key article, which was published on page 20 of the local “New York edition” of the national newspaper.

Obama directed officials to award work-permits to the illegal immigrants, preventing them from preparing green cards for Americans’ foreign-born spouses and children.”

“The scandal likely will be cited by advocates of immigration reform to show that Obama places his partisan calculations above his duty to implement the law, and above his inauguration oath, which says “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States.”

He only enforces and implements those he agrees with. On the others, like DOMA and border enforcement, he ignores and neglects his duties.

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News/Politics 2-8-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

Open thread, with a few to start things off.

1. This should be fun to watch. 🙂

From FoxNews  “A conservative activist targeted by the IRS and other agencies claimed Thursday that Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings also tried to intimidate her, filing a formal complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics alleging an “abuse of power.” 

Catherine Engelbrecht, founder of True the Vote and the King Street Patriots, aired the allegations during a hearing hosted by the committee on which Cummings sits. An attorney working with her also questioned whether Cummings might have encouraged the IRS and other agencies to target her groups.”

“Congressman Cummings on three separate occasions sent letters on letterhead from this committee, stating that he had concerns and felt it necessary to open an investigation on True the Vote,” Engelbrecht said during the hearing, where she and other witnesses were otherwise testifying on IRS targeting. 

She also said that after she applied for tax-exempt status, “an assortment of federal entities including law enforcement agencies, and Congressman Cummings came knocking at my door.” 

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2. Here’s why the delayed the employer mandate until after November. Once this hits, they’re toast.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “Adding to a devastating CBO report of how Obamacare could damage the economy, a Duke University survey of top companies found that 44 percent are considering reducing health benefits to current employees due to Obamacare, confirming the fears of millions of American workers.

In its December survey of chief financial officers around the country, Duke also found that nearly half are “reluctant to hire full-time employers because of the Affordable Care Act.”

And 40 percent are considering shifting to part-time workers and others will hire fewer workers of fire some to avoid the costs of the program.

What’s more, they said in the study, “One in five firms indicates they are likely to hire fewer employees, and another one in 10 may lay off current employees in response to the law.”

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3. Trey Gowdy is pointing out the obvious flaws in the White House’s latest talking points regarding the IRS scandal.

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News/Politics 2-7-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Yesterday was the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC. I’m sorry, but I just can’t help but shake my head and say “WHAT!!?” to some of the President’s remarks. We’ll start with this one. How does a man who supports abortion so vehemently have the gall to make such a statement? Is he so used to yes men that he thinks no one will point out his record on the matter? Can he be so tone-deaf as to not see his own hypocrisy?

From CNSNews “At the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. on Thursday,  President Barack Obama said that “killing the innocent” is the “ultimate  betrayal of God’s will.”

But the president was talking about terrorism, not abortion:

“Extremists  succumb to an ignorant nihilism that shows they don’t understand the  faiths they claim to profess, for killing the innocent is never  fulfilling God’s will. In fact, it is the ultimate betrayal of God’s  will,” Obama said.”

You sure don’t understand it Mr. President, because your own extremism and nihilism get in the way.

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2. Here’s the second “WHAT!!?” moment. Freedom of religion, except on the matter of contraceptives right Mr. President? And again, the dignity of every human being, except the unborn. We know they’re not covered by his statement.

From RealClearPolitics  “PRESIDENT OBAMA: Today we profess the principles we know to be true. We believe that each of us is wonderfully made in the image of God. We, therefore, believe in the inherent dignity of every human being. Dignity that no earthly power can take away. And central to that dignity is freedom of religion. A right of every person to practice their faith how they choose, to change their faith if they choose, or to practice no faith at all. And to do this free from persecution and fear.”

“History shows that nations that uphold the rights of their people, including the freedom of religion are ultimately more just and more peaceful and more successful. Nations that do not uphold these rights sow the bitter seeds of instability and violence and extremists. So freedom of religion matters to our national security.”

Empty platitudes Mr. President. Your actions prove your words false.

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3. The taxpayers are about to get hammered again. Billions in taxpayer dollars will be paid to insurance companies to make up for the rollout debacle.

From Forbes  “There’s been a lot of discussion about whether the risk adjustment tools embedded in ObamaCare amount to a bailout for the insurance companies, or are a reasonable feature of the law. There’s been far less information about how much money the insurers stand to gain from these measures, to offset their expected losses.

Now we have some hard numbers. Humana announced that it expects to tap the three risk adjustment mechanisms in ObamaCare for between $250 and $450 million in 2014. This amounts to about 25 percent of the insurer’s expected exchange revenue. This money is needed to offset losses that the insurer will take as a result of slower enrollment in its ObamaCare plans, and a skewed risk pool that weighs more heavily toward older and less healthy members than it originally budgeted.

More than half of the money will come from the $25 billion reinsurance pool that ObamaCare provides (collected through a tax on employer-sponsored health plans). The other half will come mostly from the risk corridors. Humana is expected to book the money as revenue to offset shortfalls between what it collects in exchange premiums and pays out in medical claims.

The company blamed the Obama Administration’s decision late last year to extend grandfathering of individual market plans for the overall deterioration in the risk pool. That means that Humana (like other insurers) was counting on people from the individual market being forced to transition into ObamaCare plans. It’s widely perceived that the Obama Administration counted on that migration as well. But Humana’s statement was a very clear expression of this expectation.”

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4. Do you smell that? Smells like desperation, doesn’t it? Pad the numbers, and still bill the taxpayers. State govts are off the hook, and we add it to the federal debt and Medicaid bill.

From Bloomberg  “Being arrested in Chicago for, say, drug possession or assault gets you sent to the Cook County Jail to be fingerprinted, photographed and X-rayed. You’ll also get help applying for health insurance.

At least six states and counties from Maryland to Oregon’s Multnomah are getting inmates coverage under Obamacare and its expansion of Medicaid, the federal and state health-care program for the poor. The fledgling movement would shift to the federal government some of the more than $6.5 billion in annual state costs for treating prisoners. Proponents say it also will make recidivism rarer, because inmates released with coverage are more likely to get treatment for mental illness, substance abuse and other conditions that can lead them to crime.”

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5. The widow of a fallen police officer is being blocked from testifying on an Obama DoJ nominee.

From FoxNews  “The Philadelphia district attorney is speaking out against President Obama’s nominee for a top Justice Department post, saying his link to the case of a convicted cop killer “sends a message of contempt” to police — as the widow of the fallen officer is apparently denied the chance to testify. 

Maureen Faulkner, whose husband Daniel Faulkner was killed in 1981, was hoping to speak publicly on the case before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which plans to vote Thursday on the nomination of Debo Adegbile to lead the Civil Rights Division. 

But she told FoxNews.com she’s “extremely frustrated” after being told by representatives of Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., that she won’t be able to do so.”

“Faulkner, in seeking to testify, claimed Adegbile “personally took on” the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal while working with the NAACP to overturn Abu-Jamal’s death penalty. Abu-Jamal was convicted in the 1981 killing of Daniel Faulkner.”

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6. This one? Good. I can name a few more that should get similar treatment.

From TalkRadioNewsService  “Dave Brat is challenging Rep. Eric Cantor in a Republican primary — and giving the House majority leader a verbal thrashing on immigration.

“Cantor is following the agenda of the Business Roundtable and the Chamber of Commerce — pursuing policies that are good for big business, but come at the exclusion of the American people,” said Brat, an economics professor at Randolph-Macon College.”

“Brat asserts that Cantor has lost his way on Capitol Hill after seven terms in office. Once considered a reliable conservative, Cantor, along with other Republican leaders, appears more interested in seeking cooperation with Democrats while courting Hispanic votes this election year.”

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News/Politics 2-6-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. The hits from the CBO just keep on comin’.

From TheWeeklyStandard  “Remember back when the Democrats tried to sell Obamacare to a skeptical citizenry as health care “reform” that would cost “only” $848 billion—far less than a trillion—over a decade?  Indeed, that was the alleged 10-year gross cost of Obamacare’s coverage provisions, according to the Congressional Budget Office (see Table 3), when Harry Reid, Mark Pryor, Kay Hagan, Mary Landrieu, Al Franken, Mark Udall, Jeanne Shaheen, Mark Begich, Mark Warner, and the rest of the Democrats rammed President Obama’s signature legislation through the Senate on Christmas Eve without a single Republican vote.  That 12-digit price-tag was widely cited by the New York Times and other sympathetic outlets, who treated it as gospel, even as conservatives observed that it was clearly a sham number.

 Well, now the CBO is out with a new report on Obamacare’s costs, and—sure enough—its 10-year price-tag now eclipses $2 trillion.  To be more exact, the CBO now projects (see Table B-1) that the 10-year gross cost of Obamacare’s coverage provisions will be a cool $2,004,000,000,000.00.

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2. What?!

Shockingly it appears that giving people free stuff creates a disincentive for people to work.

Huh. That’s not what the President says.

From CNSNews  “The subsidies that help low-income people buy expensive health  insurance are a ‘disincentive for people to work,” Douglas Elmendorf,  director of the Congressional Budget Office, told Congress on Wednesday.

“What  the Affordable Care Act does, is to provide subsidies focused on lower-  and lower-middle-income people to buy health insurance. And in order to  encourage a sufficient number of people to buy an expensive product  like health  insurance, the subsidies are fairly large in dollar terms.  Those subsidies are then withdrawn over time — withdrawn from people as  their income rises.

“And by providing heavily subsidized health  insurance to people with very low income, and then withdrawing those  subsidies as income rises, the (Affordable Care) Act creates a  disincentive for people to work, relative to what would have been the  case in the absence of that Act,” Elmendorf told the House Budget  Committee.

He added that the subsidies “make those lower-income people better off…but they do have less of an incentive to work.”

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3. Meanwhile enrollees are continuing to hit snags at the doctor’s office.

From TheLATimes  “A month into the most sweeping changes to healthcare in half a century, people are having trouble finding doctors at all, getting faulty information on which ones are covered and receiving little help from insurers swamped by new business.

Experts have warned for months that the logjam was inevitable. But the extent of the problems is taking by surprise many patients — and even doctors — as frustrations mount.”

“To hold down premiums under the healthcare law, major insurers have sharply cut the number of doctors and hospitals available to patients in the state’s new health insurance market.

Now those limited options are becoming clearer, and California officials say they are receiving more consumer complaints about access to medical providers. State lawmakers are also moving swiftly to ease some of the problems that have arisen.”

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4. Another unhappy customer.

From TheNYPost  “ObamaCare was supposed to help me. That’s all I could think as I sat in the House of Representatives last Tuesday night as the guest of my congresswoman, only a few hundred feet away from President Obama as he gave his State of the Union address. Four years ago, I’d have been there cheering for ObamaCare’s passage. But the real ObamaCare has made my life a nightmare.”

“My plan was canceled last fall. According to the regulators behind ObamaCare, it was a subpar plan that should no longer be sold to consumers. Another 16,000 Tennesseans on the same plan were similarly dumped. Many, like me, liked their plans and wanted to keep them.

This wasn’t my insurer’s fault at all. CoverTN actually fought for me to keep my health care. After I received my cancellation notice, the folks at CoverTN requested that the federal government give them a waiver, which would let them grandfather my plan into ObamaCare. Their request was rejected.”

“For me, the impact of ObamaCare is a health plan that is both unaffordable and uncaring. For a law named “The Affordable Care Act,” this is both backward and perverse.”

$6,000 more a year, less benefits, less choices, and she lost her doctor. Also note that the “evil” insurance company went to bat for her to keep her lower priced plan, yet it was the govt that denied her.

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5. Just a reminder to voters in states with Democrat Senators up for re-election. It’s time to make them pay at the polls. Vote them out.

From RollCall  “Every vulnerable Senate Democrat up for re-election in 2014 voted with President Barack Obama at least 90 percent of the time in 2013, according to CQ Roll Call’s latest vote studies, released Monday.

Arkansas Democrat Mark Pryor broke with the president most often, opposing him in 10 percent of all 2013 votes where the administration stated a preferred outcome. Sens. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, Mary Landrieu, D-La. and Kay Hagan, D-N.C., voted for Obama’s position 97, 97, and 96 percent of the time, respectively. Of those four, only Begich serves with a Republican who has bucked the GOP to back Obama with any frequency. (See our Jan. 21 story.)

Support for Obama’s initiatives from incumbent Democrats who are favored but not safe was just as high if not higher than from vulnerable members: Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Mark Warner of Virginia supported the president in 99 and 97 percent of votes.

On the flip side, Republican senators who are wary of primary challengers from the right opposed Obama so often that the president’s support from GOP senators in 2013 — 40 percent — was the lowest of his five years in office. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., opposed Obama 67 percent of the time. Sens. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., Thad Cochran, R-Miss., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, opposed the Obama position on 66, 50, 48 and 66 percent of votes respectively.”

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6. The President and his minions tried to keep their harassment of Tea Party groups hidden from the public.

From CNSNews  “Mich.). In a hearing on the IRS-Tea Party scandal on Wednesday, Chairman Camp questioned IRS Commissioner John Koskinen about the Treasury Department apparently crafting rules to limit the ability of conservative and Tea Party groups to get 501(c)4 exemptions to engage in public debate.”

“In his questioning of Koskinen, Camp also noted that e-mails showed that IRS officials in Cinncinati, Ohio first started flagging Tea Party applications in February 2010 because of “media attention” and apparently not because there was any confusion over the application rules for a 501(c)3 or (c)4 group.

In an e-mail from Feb. 25, 2010 from Cincinnati IRS official Jack Koester to his boss, Screening Group Manager John Shafer, Koester says, “John, Here is the case number for the ‘Tea Party’ application for 501c(4) exemption that we discussed this morning. Recent media attaention to this type of organization indicates to me that this is a ‘high profile case’.”  Then part of the e-mail is blacked out, redacted.”

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7. The CBO is also warning that the plummeting workforce participation rate will have an adverse effect on the economy for a long time. This is Obama’s economic legacy. Like the rest, a failure of leadership.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “When Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf appeared before the House Budget Committee on Wednesday, there were plenty of lawmakers, Republican and Democrat, who wanted to make points about Obamacare. Republicans stressed the CBO’s finding that Obamacare will create such a sharp disincentive to work that Americans will stop working to the tune of 2.5 million full-time jobs. Democrats tried to cast doubt on the number or, alternately, to suggest that Americans leaving the work force because they no longer need a job to secure health coverage would be a good thing.

The points had been pretty much exhausted by the time Republican Rep. Diane Black got her turn to address Elmendorf. Her question was straightforward: “What effect [will] the reduced labor force participation have on the economy?”

“Elmendorf’s answer was simple, short, and devastating. “It is the central factor in slowing economic growth,” he said. “After we get out of this current downturn, but later in this decade and beyond, the principal reason why we think the economic growth will be less than it was for most of my lifetime will be a slower rate of growth by the labor force.”

He used it for political gain to fraudulently lower his unemployment numbers, but the economy will suffer long term because of it.

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by

News/Politics 2-5-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. The scariest part of this is that the CBO tends to under-estimate.

From TheWashingtonTimes  “Obamacare will push the equivalent of about 2 million workers out of the labor market by 2017 as employees decide either to work fewer hours or drop out altogether, according to the latest estimates Tuesday from the Congressional Budget Office.

That’s a major jump in the nonpartisan budget agency’s projections and it suggests the health care law’s incentives are driving businesses and people to choose government-sponsored benefits rather than work.

“CBO estimates that the ACA will reduce the total number of hours worked, on net, by about 1.5 to 2 percent during the period from 2017 to 2024, almost entirely because workers will choose to supply less labor — given the new taxes and other incentives they will face and the financial benefits some will receive,” CBO analysts wrote in their new economic outlook.”

And just as a reminder, this isn’t what they said would happen. In fact, quite the opposite. I’ll let Nancy remind you what was promised. She said it would create 4 million jobs, 400,000 of them immediately. Yet another ObamaCare lie.

Yeah, accountability for insurance companies, but not you, right Nancy?

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2. The White House and Harry Reid are calling this news a success, because even though they’ll lose their jobs, as a consolation prize they’ll still be able to take their policy with them.

If they can afford it, which will be tough with no job. 🙄

From Mediaite “A Congressional Budget Office report indicating that more than two million Americans will voluntarily leave America’s already reduced workforce because of the options provided in the Affordable Care Act exploded like the bombshell it was on Tuesday.

The White House already has its hands full as the attempt to mollify the concerns of nervous Democrats heading into the 2014 midterm election cycle. Now, Democrats can add the White House’s reaction to this CBO report to their list of gripes as they head into political strategy sessions with President Barack Obama.”

“On Tuesday, the White House called the report misleading and inaccurate, but they also took the odd step of praising the disincentives contained within the ACA to leave the labor market.

Lisa Desjardins reported that the CBO report indicates that more workers will choose to leave the labor market because they no longer have to depend on their employer to provide them with health insurance. She noted that the White House pushed back on that report by claiming that Americans taking advantage of the opportunity to abandon the workforce was a welcome development.”

That’s some serious spin there. Wow.

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3. Oh look, ObamaCare fraud. That didn’t take long. One govt. agency defrauding another.

From KATUNews  “You already know the process that led to the failed rollout of the Cover Oregon website was bad. But was it criminally bad?

Former Republican state Rep. Patrick Sheehan told the KATU Investigators he has gone to the FBI with allegations that Cover Oregon project managers initiated the design of dummy web pages to convince the federal government the project was further along than it actually was.

If Sheehan’s allegations are true, those managers could face time in jail for fraud.

“One of the allegations that was made was so alarming that it went way beyond a legislative oversight committee and so I did reach out and contact the FBI,” Sheehan said.”

Well if they’re going to jail for overstating the readiness of the state exchange, shouldn’t Sebelius, Obama, and Dems for the same type of thing on the federal level? 🙂

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4. Is this one an insult to women? They must think very little of you if they believe puppies and kitties is what it will take to get you to sign up for ObamaCare.

From FoxNews  “Enroll America, the advocacy group leading efforts to enroll Americans in ObamaCare, is launching a multi-million dollar advertising campaign featuring cats, dogs, birds and other pets in a bid to convince young women to sign up for health coverage, USA Today reported.

With less than two months to go before the March 31 deadline to apply for coverage under ObamaCare, Enroll America officials tell the newspaper 81 percent of the public is unaware of the deadline and 69 percent don’t know that financial aid is available to those earning less than 400 percent of the poverty level.

Enroll America President Anne Filipic told USA Today the pet-themed ads are designed to “help break through the clutter.” She cited statistics showing that more than 60 percent of American homes have a pet and that most female pet owners would risk their lives for their pets. “

Here’s the video from  ACORN Enroll America.

Everybody now!!!!

Enroll Today! 🙄

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5. How do you reward the IRS for targeting your political enemies? Like this.

From TheWashingtonTimes  “Citing the need to boost employee morale, the Internal Revenue Service’s new commissioner said Monday that he will pay out millions of dollars in bonuses to agency employees, reversing a decision his predecessor made to save money amid the sequester budget cuts and other belt-tightening last year.

The agency remains under fire for targeting tea party groups, but Commissioner John Koskinen said the bonuses are needed to retain and attract good employees in a time of cutbacks.

“This is money best spent on our existing employees,” he said in an email to agency employees. “The performance award payouts are in recognition of that great work done in very trying circumstances. I firmly believe that this investment in our employees will directly benefit taxpayers and the tax system.”

Yep. Great work. Especially the Cincinnati office.

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6. Everyone already knows the Benghazi talking points were altered to benefit Obama’s re-election campaign. Now it looks like we know who altered them.

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by

News/Politics 2-4-14

What’s interesting in the news?

We’ve been busy digging out, so I’m behind on the news. This will be an open thread. You folks can catch me up.

I did see a couple that was caught my eye though.

1. From TheFreeBeacon  “U.S. intelligence agencies last week urged the Obama administration to check its new healthcare network for malicious software after learning that developers linked to the Belarus government helped produce the website, raising fresh concerns that private data posted by millions of Americans will be compromised.

The intelligence agencies notified the Department of Health and Human Services, the agency in charge of the Healthcare.gov network, about their concerns last week. Specifically, officials warned that programmers in Belarus, a former Soviet republic closely allied with Russia, were suspected of inserting malicious code that could be used for cyber attacks, according to U.S. officials familiar with the concerns.

The software links the millions of Americans who signed up for Obamacare to the federal government and more than 300 medical institutions and healthcare providers.

“The U.S. Affordable Care Act software was written in part in Belarus by software developers under state control, and that makes the software a potential target for cyber attacks,” one official said.”

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2. From TheWashingtonTimes  “Congress‘ mammoth farm bill restores the imposition of an extra fee on home heating oil, hitting consumers in cold-weather states just as utility costs are spiking.

The fee — two-tenths of a cent on every gallon sold — was tacked on to the end of the 959-page bill, which is winding its way through Capitol Hill. The fee would last for nearly 20 years and would siphon the money to develop equipment that is cheaper, more efficient and safer, and to encourage consumers to update their equipment.

It’s just one of dozens of provisions tucked into the farm bill, which cleared the House on a bipartisan 251-166 vote last week and faces a key filibuster test in the Senate on Monday. It is expected to survive and face final passage Tuesday before heading to President Obama’s desk.

Taxpayer groups say the bill could increase spending over the previous version and that it’s crammed with favors for individual lawmakers, such as rules legalizing industrial hemp. The heating oil fee was backed by Northeast lawmakers who said it would fund important research to benefit consumers.”

Let me fix that since accuracy matters. Northeastern fossil fuel hatin’ liberal lawmakers.

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News/Politics 2-3-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Your tax dollars at work. Or not, there really doesn’t seem to be much actual work involved. But anyway, your tax dollars going to groups with terror ties. Not in some foreign land, but right here in the US. And these aren’t the only parasites milking the system either.

From FoxNews  “An Islamic organization once listed by the Justice Department as a co-conspirator in a high-profile terror case is among many groups that have received thousands in federal farm subsidies, without producing any crops. 

 The subsidies to the North American Islamic Trust are just a slice of the questionable payments that, as has been well documented, go to millionaires and non-farmers every year. But as Congress moves to rein in the program, these subsidies stand out considering the group’s involvement in the Holy Land Foundation case of 2008. During the trial, the group’s farm subsidies stopped, only to be reinstated after a federal judge cleared them. 

Records show that since 1998, the North American Islamic Trust has received over $10,000 across 34 separate taxpayer-funded programs. NAIT’s two relatively small land plots are tax-zoned as “agricultural” — but they aren’t developed. 

The group has been able to obtain farm subsidies legally without producing any crops because it is a nonprofit “charity group” landowner — so it received subsidies on top of being tax-exempt.”

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2.. This will not make car owners happy. More unintended consequences from the “Green” crowd.

From HotAir  “It seems to be a growing trend that motorists are shopping around for gas stations which offer ethanol free gas, even if they have to pay a bit more per gallon to get it. Distributors are noticing, and more and more stations are featuring this option. I noticed this myself during a recent trip in New York, and now it’s showing up further south as well.”

“The repeating theme among customers is repeated here. Drivers have become more and more aware that not only is the higher corn gas bad for engine components, it actually costs you money by cutting down on your mileage.”

“But one factor which some auto shoppers may not be aware of is that the industry is aware of these dangers and they aren’t going to honor warranties on vehicles guzzling the latest 15% ethanol blend unless you’ve got a brand new car or one that is specifically rated as a “flex fuel vehicle.”

“Five manufacturers — BMW, Chrysler, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen — stated their warranties will not cover E15 claims, the automobile association warned. And eight others — GM, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo — said that E15 may void warranties.”

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3. At least someone is doing something about it. The White House and DoJ won’t, because they support it.

From TheIndependentJournalReview  “The Obama Administration might be trying to sweep the IRS controversy under the rug, but House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Dave Camp (MI) isn’t letting up on stopping the agency from targeting conservative groups.

In a letter to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, Camp has requested all the documents which pertain to section 504(c)(4) of the tax code. This specific section has been used as a fundraising vehicle for grassroots conservative political action committees.

Under proposed regulations, these groups cannot engage in voter registration drives or get-out-the-vote efforts without risking their tax-exempt status.

Camp is seeking to challenge these rulings, especially as the IRS allows liberal groups – like labor unions – to use these exact same methods to advance their own political causes.”

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4. Here’s a look at what happens when govt. runs healthcare. Folks who support ObamaCare like to point to the VA as proof that they can effectively run healthcare. This shows what a joke that idea is. And once the Independent Payment Advisory Board starts rationing care and delaying treatments, this will be the norm, not the exception.

From FoxNews  “The Department of Veterans Affairs has linked the recent deaths of at least 19 vets diagnosed with cancer in 2010 and 2011 to appointment backlogs and delays at VA hospitals and clinics and resulting hindrances in care, according to an internal document.

Specifically, those 19 deceased veterans are reportedly part of a larger group of 82 vets who have either died, are now dying or have sustained serious health consequences from the VA’s failure to conduct medical screenings like colonoscopies and endoscopies in a timely, or prompt, fashion.

CNN reported as much after obtaining an internal U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs document revealing the appointment backlogs – and potentially lethal repercussions – is national in scope.”

“The Florida Republican reportedly added the VA has not only thus-far failed to the name those responsible for the deaths and injuries, but also refused to internally discipline or fire anyone regarding the problem.”

No one is ever held accountable for anything in this administration.

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5. This last one is with a CONTENT WARNING!!!! for adult subject matter.

I’m sure everyone is familiar with the sordid Woody Allen story. The details are disgusting, with allegations of him abusing children.

Of course in Hollywood, that’s not really a disqualifier, sad as that is. Hollywood just awarded him the Golden Globe lifetime achievement award.

Well a victim of his is standing up and saying enough. And I applaud her for it. These are pretty serious accusations and it took a great deal of courage for her to speak out about it.

It’s hard to read, she is blunt about what happened, and it’s obvious she is still hurting and scarred from these acts. But I agree with Mr. Kristof, she deserves to be heard.

From TheNYTimes  “(A note from Nicholas Kristof: In 1993, accusations that Woody Allen had abused his adoptive daughter, Dylan Farrow, filled the headlines, part of a sensational story about the celebrity split between Allen and his girlfriend, Mia Farrow. This is a case that has been written about endlessly, but this is the first time that Dylan Farrow herself has written about it in public. It’s important to note that Woody Allen was never prosecuted in this case and has consistently denied wrongdoing; he deserves the presumption of innocence. So why publish an account of an old case on my blog? Partly because the Golden Globe lifetime achievement award to Allen ignited a debate about the propriety of the award. Partly because the root issue here isn’t celebrity but sex abuse. And partly because countless people on all sides have written passionately about these events, but we haven’t fully heard from the young woman who was at the heart of them. I’ve written a column about this, but it’s time for the world to hear Dylan’s story in her own words.)”

“When I asked my mother if her dad did to her what Woody Allen did to me, I honestly did not know the answer. I also didn’t know the firestorm it would trigger. I didn’t know that my father would use his sexual relationship with my sister to cover up the abuse he inflicted on me. I didn’t know that he would accuse my mother of planting the abuse in my head and call her a liar for defending me. I didn’t know that I would be made to recount my story over and over again, to doctor after doctor, pushed to see if I’d admit I was lying as part of a legal battle I couldn’t possibly understand. At one point, my mother sat me down and told me that I wouldn’t be in trouble if I was lying – that I could take it all back. I couldn’t. It was all true. But sexual abuse claims against the powerful stall more easily. There were experts willing to attack my credibility. There were doctors willing to gaslight an abused child.

After a custody hearing denied my father visitation rights, my mother declined to pursue criminal charges, despite findings of probable cause by the State of Connecticut – due to, in the words of the prosecutor, the fragility of the “child victim.” Woody Allen was never convicted of any crime. That he got away with what he did to me haunted me as I grew up. I was stricken with guilt that I had allowed him to be near other little girls. I was terrified of being touched by men. I developed an eating disorder. I began cutting myself. That torment was made worse by Hollywood. All but a precious few (my heroes) turned a blind eye. Most found it easier to accept the ambiguity, to say, “who can say what happened,” to pretend that nothing was wrong. Actors praised him at awards shows. Networks put him on TV. Critics put him in magazines. Each time I saw my abuser’s face – on a poster, on a t-shirt, on television – I could only hide my panic until I found a place to be alone and fall apart.

Last week, Woody Allen was nominated for his latest Oscar. But this time, I refuse to fall apart. For so long, Woody Allen’s acceptance silenced me. It felt like a personal rebuke, like the awards and accolades were a way to tell me to shut up and go away. But the survivors of sexual abuse who have reached out to me – to support me and to share their fears of coming forward, of being called a liar, of being told their memories aren’t their memories – have given me a reason to not be silent, if only so others know that they don’t have to be silent either.”

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News/Politics 2-1-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

Just a few from me, and then you folks can have at it.

1. Conservatives outnumber liberals in 47 states. Let’s hope it turns into high voter turnout.

From TheWaPo  “People who identify as conservative outnumber those who call themselves liberal in 47 states, according to a new Gallup survey.

Nationally, conservatives had a 14.6 percentage point lead on liberals, though that was more than a full point smaller than last year’s lead. The gap in 2013 was largest in Wyoming, where 40.5 percentage points separated those who identified as conservatives from those who identified as liberals. Only Hawaii, Massachusetts, Vermont and D.C. had more liberals than conservatives. The top 10 liberal states voted for Obama during the last two elections, while the top 10 conservative states chose the Republican nominee.

Another Gallup poll this week found that the Democratic party’s advantage in the states had gone down dramatically, though the party can still lay claim to more states than Republicans can. Still, the new findings suggest that most Americans are ideologically at the center to center-right. And the implications for Democrats could be simple: focus on the middle.”

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2. Fox News is once again the most, and least, trusted news source. It all depends on your political leanings.

From PublicPolicyPolling  “PPP’s 5th annual poll about trust in TV news continues to find what it does every year: Fox News is both the most trusted and least trusted name in news.

35% of Americans say they trust Fox News more than any other TV news outlet, followed by 14% for PBS, 11% for ABC, 10% for CNN, 9% for CBS, 6% each for Comedy Central and MSNBC, and 3% for NBC. It leads the way because of its continuing near total support among Republicans as the place to go for news- 69% of Republicans say it’s their most trusted source with nothing else polling above 7%. Meanwhile Democrats are split between a lot of different outlets when it comes to who they have the most faith in- PBS at 21%, CNN and ABC at 18%, and CBS and MSNBC at 12% all poll in double digits. It’s interesting that while Fox News and MSNBC are often thought of as equivalent, Fox News is by far and away the most trusted source of GOP voters while MSNBC is only tied for 4th among Democrats.

Fox News also leads the ‘least trusted’ list in our annual poll. 33% give it that designation to 19% for MSNBC, 14% for Comedy Central, 11% for CNN, 5% for ABC, 4% for CBS, and 2% each for NBC and PBS. That’s largely because 57% of Democrats give it their least trusted designation, with only Comedy Central at 18% also hitting double digits with them. MSNBC leads the way among Republicans at 38%, but CNN at 17% and Comedy Central at 13% both hit double digits as well. It’s interesting to note that Republicans seem to hate MSNBC more than Democrats like it.

When you look at the 8 outlets we tested individually, only one is clearly trusted by a majority of Americans. That’s PBS, which 57% say they trust to 24% who don’t. Most Democrats (80/6) and independents (49/31) trust it and it at least gets an even split with Republicans at 38%.

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3. Nancy Pelosi is about to receive the Margaret Sanger Award. Seems fitting considering Pelosi’s unwavering support of Sanger’s racist and bloody life’s work. She’ll see it as an honor.

From LifeNews  “Nancy Pelosi will receive the Margaret Sanger award — the top honor given out by the Planned Parenthood abortion business.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America announced today that House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi will deliver remarks at the organization’s Annual Gala in Washington on march 27, where she will receive the award. Planned Parenthood is awarding Leader Pelosi the Margaret Sanger Award, the organization’s highest honor, “in recognition of her leadership, excellence, and outstanding contributions to” the pro-abortion movement during her career.”

“The president of the abortion business announced the award today, though she never mentioned abortion — instead couching her remarks in “women’s health.”

As if nicer terminology could hide the truth about their bloody business.

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News/Politics 1-31-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Holder played dumb on the questions from Congress on executive privilege. He’s pulling the same line with questions about the IRS investigation. You know, the “totally non-partisan, we’ll get to the bottom of this” one being run by an Obama donor.

From CNSNews  “At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder denied knowing that a top Democratic donor is leading the internal investigation into the IRS targeting of conservative groups.”

““I must tell you I find it astonishing that the Department of Justice appointed a major Obama donor to head this investigation, so the first question I want to ask is did you know that the lawyer in charge of this investigation was a major Obama donor?” Cruz asked Holder.”

“General Holder, with all due respect, you did not answer the question I asked, which is did you know that this lawyer was a major Obama donor,” Cruz said. After Holder denied knowing the “political activities” of anyone involved in the investigation, Cruz noted that the DOJ ethics guidelines instruct lawyers who believe their “impartiality might be questioned” must either “disqualify” themselves or “see an ethics officer.”“

Does anyone in the administration ever give a straight answer?

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2. Oh look, another Obama admin foreign policy success story. 🙄

From TheTimesofIsrael  “Iran now has all the technical infrastructure to produce nuclear weapons should it make the political decision to do, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper wrote in a report to a Senate intelligence committee published Wednesday. However, he added, it could not break out to the bomb without being detected.

In the “US Intelligence Worldwide Threat Assessment,” delivered to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Clapper reported that Tehran has made significant advances recently in its nuclear program to the point where it could produce and deliver nuclear bombs should it be so inclined. “

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3. Democrats are busy with the important issues that matter to Americans.

Or not. OK, mostly not.

From TheHill  “Three House Democrats have proposed a resolution that criticizes the teaching of creationism and the denial of man-made global warming as anti-science.

The resolution from Reps. Rush Holt (D-N.J.), Jim Himes (D-Conn.) and Mike Honda (D-Calif.), H.Res. 467, proposes the designation of Feb. 12 as “Darwin Day” to recognize Charles Darwin’s contributions to science. The resolution says Darwin’s theory of evolution through natural selection “provides humanity with a logical and intellectually compelling explanation for the diversity of life on Earth.” It also says teachings to the contrary go against established science.

“[T]he teaching of creationism in some public schools compromises the scientific and academic integrity of the United States education systems,” it reads. It adds that the validity of Darwin’s theory of natural selection is “strongly supported by the modern understanding of the science of genetics.”

The resolution also takes a shot at global warming skeptics, by saying the advancement of science “must be protected from those unconcerned with the adverse impacts of global warming and climate change.”

Dissent will not be tolerated.

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4. ICE union officials continue to oppose the administration’s, and now Republican, plans for amnesty, saying it would overload the system. This will make the Cloward/Piven fans very happy. First the borders, then the whole system.

From TheWashingtonTimes  “The officers who would be charged with approving millions of applications from illegal immigrants for legal status warned Congress this week that they can’t handle the workload, and said the change would guarantee criminals and others would be approved to remain in the country.

In a letter to House Republicans, who are planning to announce principles Thursday that would include legal status for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in the U.S., the labor union that represents U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officers and adjudicators predicted it would be a disaster.

“There is no quality here, only quantity,” said Kenneth Palinkas, president of the National Citizenship and Immigration Services Council. “USCIS is not equipped to handle this workload, and due to political interference in its mission, is not empowered to deny admission to all those who should be denied due to ineligibility. We have become a visa clearinghouse for the world, rather than the first line of defense for a secure immigration system.”

Mr. Palinkas went on to say that any proposal that pushes millions of applications through would “overload the system.””

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5. Ted Cruz is warning the GOP that their Amnesty push will cost them.

From Breitbart  “Cruz questioned how establishment Republicans unilaterally caving to Democrats on everything from the farm bill to the budget to the debt ceiling and more could think amnesty is a good idea at this time.

“Right now, Republican leadership in both chambers is aggressively urging members to stand down on virtually every front: on the continuing resolution, on the budget, on the farm bill, on the debt ceiling,” Cruz said in a statement provided exclusively to Breitbart News on Thursday.

He continued:

They may or may not be right, but their argument is that we should focus exclusively on Obamacare and on jobs. In that context, why on earth would the House dive into immigration right now? It makes no sense, unless you’re Harry Reid. Republicans are poised for an historic election this fall–a conservative tidal wave much like 2010. The biggest thing we could do to mess that up would be if the House passed an amnesty bill–or any bill perceived as an amnesty bill–that demoralized voters going into November. Rather than responding to the big-money lobbying on K Street, we need to make sure working-class Americans show up by the millions to reject Obamacare and vote out the Democrats. Amnesty will ensure they stay home.“

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6. Democrats have their own problems as well. A toxic president….

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7. It’s bad enough that they’ve given up on the idea of reclaiming the House.

From Politico  “With Democrats’ grasp on the Senate increasingly tenuous — and the House all but beyond reach — some top party donors and strategists are moving to do something in the midterm election as painful as it is coldblooded: Admit the House can’t be won and go all in to save the Senate.

Their calculation is uncomplicated. With only so much money to go around in an election year that is tilting the GOP’s way, Democrats need to concentrate resources on preserving the chamber they have now. Losing the Senate, they know, could doom whatever hopes Barack Obama has of salvaging the final years of his presidency.

The triage idea is taking hold in phone conversations among donors and in strategy sessions between party operatives. Even some of the people who have invested the most to get House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi back into the speaker’s chair are moving in that direction.”

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8. Look for more stories like this one when the employer mandate hits after the elections. This is why the president illegally delayed it. This getting out before the elections would ensure a crushing defeat. Best to keep the reality of ObamaCare hidden for as long as possible.

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News/Politics 1-30-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

Lot’s to cover today, and in no particular order…

1. First, some good news. Kim posted it yesterday, but I’m reposting it.

From FoxNews  “A number of motorists who had to abandon their vehicles in the snow on Highway 280 outside of Birmingham, Ala. were able to find shelter in the storm thanks to the kindness and generosity of Chick-fil-A restaurant employees and the restaurant’s owner, Mark Meadows.

Once the snow started accumulating, Meadows closed the restaurant and sent his staff home. But a few hours later, many of them returned – unable to get to their homes.”

“Some of the drivers had been stuck in their cars for nearly seven hours without any food or water. So the staff of the Chick-fil-A decided to lend a helping hand.

“We cooked several hundred sandwiches and stood out on both sides of 280 and handed out the sandwiches to anyone we could get to – as long as we had food to give out.”

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2. In other storm news, the blame game has begun. People want to know why this happened and how authorities could be taken by surprise.

From NBCNews  “Under fire from Georgia government officials caught flat-footed by the winter storm that socked the South this week, weather forecasters are mad as heck and want them know: They’re not going to take it anymore.

With the capital city, Atlanta, paralyzed by less than 3 inches of snow, Georgia officials complained that they weren’t warned what was on the way Tuesday:”

“In a post on a blog he set up Wednesday specifically to defend the performance of forecasting services this week, Shepherd pointed out that the weather service issued watches and warnings well before the storm arrived, providing plenty of time for Georgia officials to make the right decisions.

“Yet, as soon as I saw what was unfolding with kids being stranded in schools, 6+ hour commutes, and other horror stories, I knew it was coming, I knew it. Some in the public, social medial or decision-making positions would ‘blame’ the  meteorologists,” Shepherd wrote in a post titled “An Open Thank You to Meteorologists in Atlanta.”

Officials in Atlanta and the state of Georgia all seem to have come from the Ray Nagin school of government. Don’t do your job, and then blame someone else for your failure to act even though you had plenty of warning the storm was coming. So it’s probably Bush’s fault.

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3. Now that everyone has had time to digest the SofU speech, more reactions are out as well, as the next few will show.

First they blame Bush for everything, now they’re plagiarizing him?

facepalm-double

I’ve been waiting for the chance to use that. 🙂

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4. Some folks seemed to really like the speech though. 🙂

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5. Somebody’s gettin’ audited.

From TheHill “Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) said Tuesday night he left President Obama’s State of the Union speech early after “hearing how the president is further abusing his Constitutional powers.”

“Stockman said Obama was promising to “break his oath of office and begin enacting his own brand of law through executive decree.”

“This is a wholesale violation of his oath of office and a disqualifying offense,” the Texas congressman said.

Stockman also criticized Obama for refusing to admit “his policies have failed,” and for advancing a plan for more taxes and spending that is a “blueprint for perpetual poverty.”

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6. With the President’s talk of ruling by executive order, some have questioned where he thinks he gets this authority. Even his own Attorney General can’t answer that question, and he’s the one who would defend those actions in court.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “Attorney General Eric Holder couldn’t explain the constitutional basis for executive orders such as President Obama’s delay of the employer mandate because he hasn’t read the legal analysis — or at least, hasn’t seen it in a long time.

“I’ll be honest with you, I have not seen — I don’t remember looking at or having seen the analysis in some time, so I’m not sure where along the spectrum that would come,” Holder replied when Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, asked him to explain the nature of Obama’s constitutional power to delay the mandate.”

“”When you look at the quality, not just the quantity but the quality, the nature of the executive orders that he has issued, he has usurped an extraordinary amount of authority within the executive branch,” Lee countered. “This is not precedented, and I point to the delay — the unilateral delay, lawless delay, in my opinion — of the employer mandate as an example of this. And so, at a minimum, I think he owes us an explanation as to what his legal analysis was.”

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7. ICE union officials have taken the opportunity to point out the President’s violation of, and failure to enforce other laws, as well as his hypocrisy.

From NationalReview  “Chris Crane, president of the National ICE Council, the union representing officers of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, issued a statement Tuesday ahead of President Obama’s State of the Union address. Crane blasted the president for his repeated refusal to meet with ICE officers at the White House, and asked House Republican leaders to consult with ICE personnel as they work to outline their immigration reform “principles”:

According to news accounts, the President has once again invited illegal immigrants to the State of the Union – and yet the President still refuses to meet with ICE officers. We have a President who will provide those illegally in the US with the seat of honor at one of the most important events of the year, but ICE officers who serve under him are unwelcome in the White House. This is symptomatic of the President’s continued demonstration of contempt for immigration officers and his blatant disregard for Congressionally-enacted law. ICE officers are forced every day to release violent offenders back into the streets; we are prohibited from enforcing immigration violations and document fraud and from cracking down on illegal employment; we are prohibited from enforcing public charge law to protect taxpayers; and we are forced to catch-and-release illegal aliens who are not ‘priorities’ even when officers’ believe there is a threat to public safety.”

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8. I could use a triple face palm for this one. Another Obama admin foreign policy success.

From Reuters  “- Syria has given up less than 5 percent of its chemical weapons arsenal and will miss next week’s deadline to send all toxic agents abroad for destruction, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The deliveries, in two shipments this month to the northern Syrian port of Latakia, totaled 4.1 percent of the roughly 1,300 tonnes of toxic agents reported by Damascus to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“It’s not enough and there is no sign of more,” one source briefed on the situation said.