What’s interesting in the news today?
Well it’s Tuesday, a new day. And a new scandal. Can you say insider trading? Yeah, I knew ya’ could. From TheWashingtonPost
“Hundreds of federal employees were given advance word of a Medicare decision worth billions of dollars to private insurers in the weeks before the official announcement, a period when trading in the shares of those firms spiked.
The surge of trading in Humana’s and other private health insurers’ stock before the April 1 announcement already has prompted the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether Wall Street investors had advance access to inside information about the then-confidential Medicare funding plan.
Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) told The Washington Post late last week that his office reviewed the e-mail records of employees at the Department of Health and Human Services and found that 436 of them had early access to the Medicare decision as much as two weeks before it was made public.”
More here from HotAir
“Is this scandal number five or number six? There’s Benghazi, the IRS, the DOJ snooping on reporters, Sebelius shaking down health executives for ObamaCare contributions, and now the NSA/PRISM/Snowden story. This new WaPo story makes six. No, wait — seven. Ed just posted on the State Department covering up misconduct. We’re going to need a bigger boat.
Actually, there are two potential scandals here. One is HHS tossing around what was supposed to be sensitive information to a huge swath of employees in-house. The other scandal is who actually leaked it, assuming anyone did. It might not have come from HHS at all but rather from some old-fashioned Beltway congressional/lobbyist incest. As with most of the other Obama scandals, this story is less about O himself than about the foreseeable abuses that result as the federal whale grows. You can have bigger government or you can have more accountable government. The guy who signed ObamaCare into law has made his choice.”
Yeah. Welcome to Washington. You didn’t think Congress critters were the only ones doing it did you? 🙄
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The govt would like us to believe that we shouldn’t worry about FISA snooping. After all, it’s all overseen by a court. A rubber stamp court, but still, a court. 🙄 Also from TheWashingtonPost
“Under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, the government is required to obtain a judicial warrant — similar to those issued in criminal investigations — before federal intelligence agencies can conduct electronic surveillance and gather intelligence within the United States in the interest of national security. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court was established by Congress to approve or deny warrant applications related to national security investigations. Read related article.”
34,000 warrant applications. Only 11 have ever been denied. That’s a rubber stamp court if I ever saw one.
And in case you were wondering, this is what hypocrisy looks like.
Meanwhile, the IRS wants in on the whole spying thing too. From CNSNews
“The IRS, currently in the midst of scandals involving the targeting of conservative groups and lavish taxpayer-funded conferences, is ordering surveillance equipment that includes hidden cameras in coffee trays, plants and clock radios.
The IRS wants to secure the surveillance equipment quickly – it posted a solicitation on June 6 and is looking to close the deal by Monday, June 10. The agency already has a company lined up for the order but is not commenting on the details.
“The Internal Revenue Service intends to award a Purchase Order to an undisclosed Corporation,” reads the solicitation.
“The following descriptions are vague due to the use and nature of the items,” it says.”
I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. I can’t think of any, but I’m sure there’s some. 🙄
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As the Senate prepares to vote on immigration/amnesty, keep this in mind. It’s all broken promises and they haven’t even passed it yet. They don’t even try to hide the lies anymore. From Senator Sessions, via TheLATimes
“The so-called Gang of Eight immigration plan now being considered by the Senate fails to live up to every major promise made by its sponsors. Far from improving the immigration system, their 1,000-page proposal would exacerbate many of its flaws. It would dangerously undermine future enforcement while imposing substantial burdens on taxpayers and taking jobs and pay from U.S. workers.
Indeed, the two unions representing our nation’s immigration and customs officers and those who process immigration applications have strongly urged opposition.
The sponsors’ promise of enforcement first was broken when lead sponsor Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) declared: “First, people will be legalized…. Then we’ll make sure the border is secure.” About 11 million immigrants who are here illegally — which includes 4 million who have overstayed their visas — would receive work permits, Social Security numbers and access to state and local benefits within six months of passage. The Department of Homeland Security merely has to submit a border plan, not accomplish that plan. Those legalized will then be free to compete for jobs at a time of low wages and high unemployment. It’s amnesty first, not enforcement first.”
“The sponsors promised that people here illegally would not be eligible for public benefits. But, after the immediate grant of legal status, the legislation confers permanent residency within 10 years after passage (in many cases sooner), guaranteeing eligibility for federal benefits at a staggering long-term cost. In the short term, many would become eligible for state public assistance programs upon receiving the initial amnesty.”
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I posted a story on this guy a week ago. Now that we know more, it looks even worse. I understand and support the restrictions placed on soldiers when it comes to the CiC. But this goes well beyond that. What is going on in our military resembles what went on at the IRS. A witch hunt against conservatives and religious folks. This is a man with a spotless 25 year record. From FoxNews
“A member of the U.S. Army Band who said he was reprimanded for having anti-Obama bumper stickers on his personal car, serving Chick-fil-A sandwiches at a party and reading books written by conservative authors like Sean Hannity is now facing Article 15 charges – which cropped up shortly after he went public with his complaints.”
“The Military District of Washington disputed allegations that Sommers had been reprimanded or disciplined. “The Soldier is not, and never has been, ‘facing retribution and punishment from the military for having anti-Obama bumper stickers on his car, reading books written by conservative authors like Mark Levin and David Limbaugh, and serving Chick-fil-A sandwiches at his promotion party,’” Public Affairs Director Michelle Roberts told Fox News in a written statement.”
“The MDW spokesman was either uninformed or was being disingenuous,” he said. “The counseling form clearly stated that he was being reminded of his limited ability to disagree with the President’s policies and implied that displaying the bumper stickers could lead to prosecution under the Hatch Act.””
“Sommers also came under fire for reading the works of Mark Levin, Sean Hannity and David Limbaugh. Last summer he was reading Limbaugh’s “The Great Destroyer” backstage at a concert when a superior officer told him that he was causing “unit disruption” and was offending other soldiers. “It wasn’t read aloud,” Sommers told Fox News. “I was just reading privately to myself.”
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Wandering Views 