This is the News thread for whatever news you’d like to talk about.

What do you think of this?

From CBN

“Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition has now begun dropping their presidential voter guide into key battleground states.”

“They are sending this out to roughly 17 million social conservatives that they have identified in their extensive voter file. It is being delivered by mail, email, text message, to churches and door-to-door. When people receive the voting guide in the mail, they can scan the bar code into their smart phone where a video begins to play that sums up the candidates positions on the issues.”

Read more here

This is the FFCoalition website

Here’s the Voter Guide PDF

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Here’s an interesting read on polling.

“Which polls are, or aren’t, legitimate?”

Read more here

From HotAir

This is the News thread.

What story in the news is on your mind?

Say it with me now, “You have to pass it……..”

From Investors Business Daily

“During his first run for president, Barack Obama made one very specific promise to voters: He would cut health insurance premiums for families by $2,500, and do so in his first term.

But it turns out that family premiums have increased by more than $3,000 since Obama’s vow, according to the latest annual Kaiser Family Foundation employee health benefits survey.”

Read more here

Also,

From the Washington Examiner

“A majority of small business owners and manufacturers are mulling drastic changes to comply with Obamacare, with 21 percent set to drop health insurance to workers altogether and 38 percent planning to make employees pay much more.

In a poll done for the National Association of Manufacturers and National Federation of Independent Businesses, 59 percent said that they will have to consider changes once the full law kicks in because increased costs will jeopardize their operations. According to the poll, 67 percent expect Obamacare to raise healthcare costs.”

Read more here

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The Libya Situation

The President gave his speech to the UN. Strangely, he didn’t mention terrorism as the cause, yet mentioned the movie they’d like to blame numerous times. Weak. I’m sorry, but it is.

From the WashingtonTimes

“His expected campaign advantage on foreign-policy issues suddenly in doubt,  President Obama at the United Nations on  Tuesday portrayed the deaths of four Americans in Libya as a result of inflamed tensions over an  anti-Islam movie produced in the U.S. rather than a terrorist attack aimed at  his policies in dealing with the Arab Spring and Middle East unrest.

Although his administration in recent days acknowledged that the deaths of  Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens  and three others were caused by a terrorist act on Sept. 11,  Mr. Obama didn’t mention terrorism as the likely motive in front of an  international audience at the U.N.  General Assembly’s annual gathering. After referencing the killing of the ambassador, Mr. Obama focused much of his  speech on promoting religious tolerance and free speech, blaming the film for  provoking the anti-U.S. outbursts while saying there is never an excuse for  violence.”

Read more here

Romney and Ryan have hit the President on the issue.

From RealClearPolitics

“”I think they want to do their very best to keep the people of America from understanding exactly what happened. We expect candor, we expect transparency, particularly, as it relates to terrorism,” Romney said.

“Why is he (Obama) not on the same page with his own administration officials who are saying that this is a terrorist attack? We’ll leave it up to you to decide whether it’s a coverup or not,” Ryan said.”

Watch it here

And now Senators are asking questions too.

From ForeignPolicy.com

“Two top senators on the Foreign Relations Committee don’t want to wait for the State Department to do its own investigation.com into the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi that killed four Americans including Ambassador Chris Stevens; they want Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to show them Stevens’s diplomatic cables and other correspondence now.”

“”While we appreciate the sensitivities associated with this ongoing investigation, we must insist on more timely information regarding the attacks and the events leading up to the attacks,” wrote Sens. Bob Corker(R-TN) and Johnny Isaakson (R-GA) in a letter to Clinton Tuesday.”

Read more here

Claims of Executive Privilege in 5, 4, 3,…………

This is the thread for all things News.

A couple of Days ago Sails posted a link on the AARP and their relationship with the Obama admin.

From the WSJ

“Thanks to just-released emails from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, we now know that AARP worked through 2009-10 as an extension of a Democratic White House, toiling daily to pass a health bill that slashes $716 billion from Medicare, strips seniors of choice, and sets the stage for rationing. We know that despite AARP’s awareness that its seniors overwhelmingly opposed the bill, the “nonpartisan membership organization” chose to serve the president’s agenda.

The 71 pages of emails show an AARP management taking orders from the White House, scripting the president’s talking points, working to keep its board “in line,” and pledging fealty to “the cause.” Seniors deserve to know all this, as AARP seeks to present itself as neutral in this presidential election.”

Read more here

And a Hat/Tip to Sails

Now you read that, and it’s bad enough. But it gets a whole lot worse when you know the numbers further digging has dug up.

From Forbes

“As you know if you’ve been reading this blog, Obamacare cuts $716 billion from Medicare in order to pay for its $1.9 trillion expansion of coverage to low-income Americans. It’s one of the reasons why seniors are more opposed to the new health law than any other age group. So why is it that the group that purports to speak for seniors, the American Association of Retired Persons, so strongly supports a law that most seniors oppose? According to an explosive new report from Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.), it’s because those very same Medicare cuts will give the AARP a windfall of $1 billion in insurance profits, and preserve another $1.8 billion that AARP already generates from its business interests.”

Read more here

All this new info comes to light via Sen. Jim DiMint (R-SC)

“Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) released a new staff report, “Profits Over Principles: How AARP Wins When Seniors Lose” that examines how AARP profits at seniors’ expense.”

““AARP’s actions show they’re more worried about their own bottom line than what’s best for seniors.” Said Senator DeMint. “AARP helped pass Obamacare even though it was opposed by their retiree members, but blocked bipartisan reform that would help reduce costs on seniors. AARP is not a nonpartisan or independent group, they make billions of dollars from health insurance and work closely with Democrats to protect their business profits. Congress should take a close look at AARP’s questionable sales tactics and treat them with the same skepticism as other billion-dollar companies in the health insurance industry when they weigh in on legislation.””

“Even as AARP racks up billions of dollars in insurance profits by overcharging seniors for Medigap plans, Democrats encourage these abuses by giving AARP special favors, and ignoring its questionable sales tactics.  As noted above, the health care law exempted AARP’s lucrative Medigap insurance plans from the ban on pre-existing condition discrimination, thus allowing AARP to continue to impose waiting periods on individuals applying for coverage.”

Read more here

It’s long, because DeMint makes his case rather well, but it’s worth the time.

HotAir has a decent summary here

If you are a member of AARP, perhaps you should reconsider it.

What’s News today?

How about this.

There is just so much wrong here I don’t even know where to begin.

From the NYPost

“The Department of Education is giving morning-after pills and other birth-control drugs to students at 13 high schools, The Post has learned.

School nurse offices stocked with the contraceptives can dispense “Plan B” emergency contraception and other oral or injectable birth control to girls without telling their parents — unless parents opt out after getting a school informational letter about the new program.”

“It might be a nationwide first as well. The National Association of School Nurses could cite no other school district supplying Plan B.”

Read more here

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UPDATE

The Senate vote on Rep. Paul’s Bill

From the DC

“By a vote of 81 to 10, the Senate on Saturday defeated legislation that would  have suspended  foreign aid to Pakistan, Egypt and Libya in the wake of the violent  anti-American demonstrations in those countries. All 10 supporters of the bill  were Republicans.

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul had threatened to hold up all Senate  business until the bill was considered. He succeeded in forcing a vote, but  couldn’t come close to passage.

“When nearly 80 percent of Americans believe foreign aid should be reduced – especially to countries that are not our allies – it is inconceivable why their  views are ignored by so many in Congress,” Paul said in a statement. “I am far  from defeated on this; I will continue to fight for this issue when Congress  returns, and I will continue to call attention to the billions of American  dollars – borrowed from China, among other places – being sent to governments  that are not willing to respect and protect our interests overseas.””

Read more here

What are we talking about today?

What do you think of this?

From the DC

“After weeks of pressure from Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, the Senate  is scheduled to vote on cutting off U.S. aid to Pakistan, Egypt and Libya.

A resumption of aid would be contingent on Egypt and Libya arresting the  people responsible for the recent embassy attacks and turning them over to  American authorities.

Pakistan would be required to release an imprisoned doctor who helped the CIA  identify Osama bin Laden.

Paul had threatened to hold up all Senate business until the measure came up  for a vote.”

Read more here

Sounds good to me.

How about this one?

From the WaPo

“Senior Republicans say they will be forced to retreat on taxes if President Obama wins a second term in November, clearing the biggest obstacle to a deal with Democrats to defuse a year-end budget bomb that threatens to rock the U.S. economy.”

“If Romney wins the White House, Republicans say, their strategy is clear: They would push to maintain current tax rates through 2013, giving the new president time to draft a blueprint for overhauling the tax code and taming the $16 trillion national debt.

But if Obama wins, the GOP would have no leverage — political or procedural — to force him to abandon his pledge to raise taxes on family income over $250,000, according to senior Republicans in the House and the Senate.

Read more here

This makes it obvious just how important this election is.

What’s news to you today?

How ’bout this.

Remember folks, they had to pass it so we could find out what’s in it.

From AP/Google.

“Nearly 6 million Americans — significantly more than first estimated— will face a tax penalty under President Barack Obama’s health overhaul for not getting insurance, congressional analysts said Wednesday. Most would be in the middle class.

The new estimate amounts to an inconvenient fact for the administration, a reminder of what critics see as broken promises.

The numbers from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office are 50 percent higher than a previous projection by the same office in 2010, shortly after the law passed. The earlier estimate found 4 million people would be affected in 2016, when the penalty is fully in effect.”

“And the budget office analysis found that nearly 80 percent of those who’ll face the penalty would be making up to or less than five times the federal poverty level. Currently that would work out to $55,850 or less for an individual and $115,250 or less for a family of four.”

Which is not what they promised.

Read more here

And now we find out they vastly underestimated the costs of administering it all. Again. Well, to be fair, they only counted the govts cost, which are higher than estimated too, not what it would cost business and people to conform to their still mostly unwritten rules. But underestimated still.

From the WashingtonExaminer

“Current federal regulations plus those coming under Obamacare will cost American taxpayers and businesses $1.8 trillion annually, more than twenty times the $88 billion the administration estimates, according to a new roundup provided to Secrets from the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute.”

“Complying with Health and Human Services Department requirements alone, he revealed, costs $184 billion a year, yet regulators are still drafting the rules for the 2,400-page Obamacare law that kicks into gear in 2014.”

“”While OMB officially reports amounts of only up to $88.6 billion in 2010 dollars,” said Crews, “the non-tax cost of government intervention in the economy, without performing a sweeping survey, appears to total up to $1.806 trillion annually.””

Read more here

This is annually. That’s gonna put a huge drag on the economy.

AFGHANISTAN

As with much of the Mid–East, the turmoil continues. Insider attacks have thrown things into disarray and slowed exit progress.

From the Independent UK

“Kim Sengupta reports on a chaotic 24 hours that saw the Allies in disarray, the exit strategy seemingly in tatters and a dozen killed by a suicide bomb.”

Read more here

Reuters has more on it.

“NATO’s decision to scale back joint operations with Afghan forces may protect the lives of Western troops increasingly targeted by “insider attacks,” but it raises troubling new questions about President Barack Obama’s strategy to stabilize Afghanistan.

After ramping up Afghan security forces at a breakneck rate to allow for a drawdown of Western troops, NATO is coming to grips with a rash of deadly assaults by Afghan recruits who turn their guns on Western allies. Muslim rage over a film insulting the Prophet Mohammad has further stoked the risk.”

More here

Even some allies are now questioning the strategy.

From the Guardian

“For months, if not years, Britain’s defence chiefs have made it clear they are desperate to get out of Afghanistan. They have clung to the increasingly implausible claim that training and mentoring Afghan security forces was going well, indeed better than expected.

That claim has been shattered by Nato‘s decision, taken at the behest of the US, to suspend joint Nato-Afghan ground operations. The decision strikes at the heart of Nato and British strategy.”

Read more here

Which is why I find this troubling as well.

The fear of spillover into Afghanistan is a very real possibility.

From the LATimes.

“Pakistan continued to seethe Wednesday over the release in the U.S. of a movie trailer mocking Islam, as legions of protesters rallied in several large cities for a sixth day and the government signaled its own discontent by declaring Friday as a national day “of peaceful protest.””

Let’s hope it stays peaceful. More here

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Update on Lybian Embassy attack:

How is this even considered security?

Via Breitbart,

“In her daily press briefing on Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland admitted that she provided false information Friday about the State Department’s hiring of private security firms for the American mission in Benghazi attacked on September 11th:”

Read more here

“The State Department selected a private British firm to provide security at the American mission in Benghazi, Libya in part because it was willing to accept the “no bullets” rules of engagement signed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Breitbart News has learned.

On Thursday, McClatchy News reported that security on the external perimeter of the Benghazi mission was limited to a party of eight Libyan nationals, five of whom were hired by a British private security firm, three of whom were hold over revolutionary militia “now considered part of Libya’s military””

and here

Update II

From Fox News Insider

“Catherine Herridge reported that it’s believed Libyan man Sufyan Ben Qumu was likely involved in the attack, and even may have led the attack on the Consulate. Qumu was previously being held at Guantanamo Bay, but was released in 2007, when he was to be taken back to his native Libya and kept in prison. However, he wasn’t detained in the country.”

Read more here and here

“He was released by the Qaddafi regime as part of its reconciliation effort with  Islamists in 2008.”

That didn’t work out well obviously. More here

This morning I have several pieces for your consideration. The issue of media bias is one often argued. I think we have several pieces of new evidence to consider in the argument. It’s becoming more clear than ever that the media is protecting Obama and his blunders, while whining endlessly about supposed Romney mis-steps. It’s a coordinated effort in some cases as well. We’ve got lots of links. Some of you may not be crazy with some of the sources but alas, this is where you find it, not from the “MSM”. That right there should be a clue, but indulge me either way.

Let’s begin with the coordination between press members to embarrass Romney and push a false meme, rather than concentrate on the Obama policies that led to what the real story actually is, the Mid East mess and their badly bungling it.

From WeaselZippers

Here

Meanwhile, here’s what the foreign press was reporting. You’ll note it’s starkly different and much more detailed than what most outlets here in the US reported. They view it as a failure of the Obama admin. This provides a nice summary, with lots of links. The next 2 are from RedState.

Read that part here

We’re also finding out that differing versions are an issue. The US govt has one version, but the Egyptians version differs in some key areas.

Read that here

So what could possibly be of more importance than this story at present? Romney gaffes, or imagined ones at least. That’s what our press is concentrating on. This isn’t the only issue they’re running interference for the Obama admin on either. Now the DC links for Kathy Sebelious and her breaking of federal law, again ignored.

Stuff like this

And the Obama admin and DOJ coordinating with Media Matters, who provided the spin for Fast and Furious. The spin that most of the press ran with.

This here

Hey, even Hollywood is gettin’ in on the act. Yes, I know it’s the State of Cali., but don’t think for a minute this isn’t for Obama’s benefit. It pushes his crowning achievement. And what Hollywood produces goes nationwide. Broadcast of course, by the same networks who are failing to report real news. Go figure.

Read that here

Also, you can read a lot more on this kinda stuff from the MRC’s NewsBusters site. Exposing this stuff is all they do.

They’re here

So what causes this? Bias? Favoritism? Or just plain media malpractice? They’re even submitting stories to the White House for prior approval of quotes to control the message and avoid public errors. And the press has complied. They don’t even try to hide it anymore. Call it whatever you like, but it’s not working anymore. Maybe they’re all innocent of being biased, but there’s certainly enough evidence for an indictment. Let the court of public opinion judge them. Judging by the viewing and user numbers for most networks and print media, some jurors have already made up their minds.

What’s news to you today?

These 2 stories caught my eye.

Perhaps there’s a legitimate reason for this, but I’m just not seeing it.

From MyFoxDC,

“Two southeast companies that make U.S. military uniforms  are shedding hundreds of jobs, as the government looks to federal inmates for  the fatigues.

American Power Source makes military clothing in Fayette,  Ala., but its government contract expires in October. Federal Prison Industries – which also operates under the name UNICOR will snag the work, and leave the  task to inmates. FPI has the first right of refusal for U.S. Government  contracts, under a 1930 federal law.”

“American Apparel, the Selma, Ala., based military clothing manufacturer closed  one of its plants and continues to downsize others due to the loss of some of  its contracts to FPI. According retired Air Force colonel and spokesman Kurt  Wilson, the company laid off 255 employees and cut the hours of 190 employees  this year alone. So private workers end up losing their jobs to prisoners.”

“American Apparel charges $29.44 per uniform, but the FPI uniform costs $34.18 – a 15 percent difference.”

Read more here

Sadly, this one I can certainly see the reason for.

From CBS News

“The strategy for getting U.S. forces out of Afghanistan depends on training Afghan soldiers and police to protect the country themselves, but on Monday the U.S. military suspended most joint field operations with Afghan forces because so many Americans are being killed by the men they are training.

Afghan government troops — our allies — have turned their guns on NATO forces 36 times this year, killing 51, most of them Americans. That is more attacks than the last two years combined.

The order effectively suspends “until further notice” most of the operations which U.S. and Afghan troops conduct side by side. At higher headquarters, Afghans and Americans will still work together, but in the field small unit operations putting Afghan soldiers alongside Americans — the guts of the U.S. strategy to turn the fighting over to Afghans — will be suspended unless an exception is granted by a commanding general.”

Read more here

What stories are on your mind today?

I found this interesting. It’s about a month old, but still worth the read if you haven’t yet.

Who is the SPLC?

Everyone’s heard the name, most are familiar with their “work”. But who are they? This piece does a fine job of answering that question.

From American Thinker

“It  should be noted that the not-for-profit SPLC ostensibly began its mission to  help those who had been victimized by civil rights violations by filing suits on  their behalf.  In recent years, the SPLC greatly expanded its  definition of civil rights and hate groups to the point where any organization  that opposes the left’s favored causes risks being labeled a hate group by the  SPLC.  It has also moved away from suing on behalf of the aggrieved to  raising awareness of the presence of “hate groups.”  Most of all, for the  last 35 years, it has become a real fundraising dynamo.”

“In  2010, Ken Silverstein, the author of the 2000 Harper’s article, noted  that the  SPLC had found a large new target: those immigration reform groups that  supported almost anything more restrictive than amnesty and de facto open  borders.”

“I  also agreed to the invitation because, much like CIS, I feel that the Law Center  is essentially a fraud and that it has a habit of casually labeling  organizations as “hate groups.” (Which doesn’t mean that some of the groups it  criticizes aren’t reprehensible.) In doing so, the SPLC shuts down debate,  stifles free speech, and most of all, raises a pile of money, very little of  which is used on behalf of poor people.”

“Perhaps  if you personally know people who swear by the validity of the new SPLC hate map  you may want to nicely inform them they are now charter members of the new  secular version of the PTL Club and watch the  reaction.  If they get angry, remind them that this is not the assessment  of the political right.  The most damning quotes about Dees and the SPLC  all come from former associates on the political left.”

Read more here