After weeks of abortion-related stalling on the trafficking bill, which in turn has delayed Lynch, the solution turned out to be a fairly simple one. The handshake agreement on trafficking gives Republicans what they sought: assurances that none of the funds provided to trafficking victims will be used for abortions, under the Hyde amendment.

But Democrats also got what they wanted: A path forward without expanding the Hyde language. The fees collected from convicted traffickers will be used for legal services and other concerns but under the new language cannot be used for medical services. Separate money appropriated by Congress, and thus subject to Hyde, will then be used for medical services.”

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2. My cats will now be seeking personhood too. They’ve been illegally detained by me for years.

From MSN/TheGuardian “For the first time in US history, a judge has granted two chimpanzees a petition – through human attorneys – to defend their rights against unlawful imprisonment, arguably bestowing the status of “legal persons” on the primates.

On Monday, Manhattan supreme court justice Barbara Jaffe granted a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of two non-human plaintiffs, Hercules and Leo – chimpanzees used for medical experiments at Stony Brook University on Long Island.

In her order, Jaffe ordered Samuel Stanley Jr, the president of Stony Brook, to argue before the court why the chimpanzees were being “unlawfully detained” at his university and should not be transferred to a primate sanctuary in Florida.

The attorneys who brought the petition forward, part of the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP), argue that under New York law, “only a ‘legal person’ may have an order to show cause and writ of habeas corpus issued in his or her behalf. The court has therefore implicitly determined that Hercules and Leo are ‘persons’.”

“This is one step in a long, long struggle,” said Steven Wise, the lawyer leading the effort. “She never says explicitly that our non-human plaintiffs were persons but by issuing the order … she’s either saying implicitly that they are or that they certainly can be. So that’s the first time that has happened.”

And hopefully on appeal, it’s the last time.

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3. Is Obama trying to sneak in “Unrestricted Immigration” in his new trade deal? Wouldn’t surprise me.

From Breitbart “Morris said, “This is huge. I hope everybody listening takes action call your senator about it. If he is a Republican he is voting wrong. “I dont think that people understand that in this deal which is a trade agreement among Australia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Japan, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, and Chile, there’s a provision for free flow of workers, just like in the European Union. What It means is unrestricted immigration. It means literally that congress would not have the authority to restrict immigration because a treaty supersedes a statute under our constitution.””

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4. State AG’s have filed suit over Obama’s EPA rules.

From HotAir “The EPA is moving full steam ahead with their plans to clamp down on coal production in the name of reducing carbon emissions, regardless of how it impacts American energy independence or the costs which will be passed on to consumers. (And “full steam ahead” is probably an apt bit of gallows humor in this case, since we may be back to running on wood burning steam engines soon if the EPA has their way.) But that might change now that the D.C. circuit court has heard arguments from 26 state Attorneys General who are seeking to preemptively stop the regulations from going into effect. Their argument, which comes at a rather unusual stage of the normal process for rules implementation, is a compelling one and seeks to prevent entirely predictable harm to consumers and the grid.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey penned an op-ed earlier this monthexplaining why he was moving forward with this request.

On April 16, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will hear arguments on two separate but related lawsuits filed by numerous states and energy companies in the wake of last June’s proposed rule. The lawsuits contend that the rule and EPA’s compliance threats are illegal.

This case is vitally important to the nation. If the EPA’s proposed rule is permitted to go forward, it will cause great harm to the states and their citizens. The agency’s threats to finalize the plan this summer already have had a dampening effect on states, the energy industry, and its employees.”

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November 27, 2013 by the real Aj

News/Politics 11-27-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Like a laser people! Again…

From TheHill “The White House, for at least the fifth time this year, is seeking to pivot to the economy, this time in a bid to change the subject from the disastrous rollout of ObamaCare.

It’s a common play for the White House, which frequently seeks to refocus attention on its jobs and infrastructure agenda when facing political crises.

The move is so familiar that NBC White House correspondent Chuck Todd has dubbed it the “déjà pivot.”

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2. Senator Sessions has taken the Obama admin to task for their lack of border enforcement and disregard for US laws. He also blasted “big business” for attempting to put their monetary interests ahead of what’s best for the country.

From TheDailyCaller “Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions wants wealthy CEOs to butt out of immigration policy.

“America is not an oligarchy… A Republic must answer to the people,” Sessions said today, in a direct response to President Barack Obama’s latest effort to get wealthy California CEOs to increase their support for his unpopular push for increased immigration.

“Congressional leaders must forcefully reject the notion, evidently accepted by the president, that a small cadre of CEOs can tailor the nation’s entire immigration policy to suit their narrow interests,” Sessions declared in a populist statement that contradicts the media’s image of Republican coziness with CEOs.”

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3. Meanwhile our border agents who aren’t allowed to do their jobs are attacked by those who seem to think they are entitled to break our laws and just walk right in. I wonder where they got that idea? 🙄

From NBCSanDiego “A crowd of more than 100 people pelted Border Patrol agents with rocks and bottles as they tried to cross into the U.S. illegally, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The incident happened Sunday in the Tijuana River channel, near the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

According to CBP, a Border Patrol agent ordered the Mexican nationals to stop, but they continued walking into the U.S.”

““They had their phones out so this group was out to spark an incident. That’s what they wanted to do, “ Border Patrol Union representative Gabriel Pacheco said.”

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4. The wife of the American pastor held hostage in Iran is asking why the Obama admin didn’t push for her husband’s release while “negotiating” with them.

From FoxNews “The wife of imprisoned American pastor Saeed Abedini says she and her family are devastated after learning that the Obama administration did not try to secure the release of her husband as part of the newly signed deal on Iran’s nuclear program.

Saeed Abedini, an American citizen, has been imprisoned in Iran for more than a year for practicing Christianity. The talks over Iran’s nuclear program were seen by his family and those representing them as one of the most promising avenues yet for securing his release.

But the White House confirmed over the weekend that Abedini’s status was not on the table during those talks. “

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5. Oh yeah, about that so-called “deal”……

From FarsNews “The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday called invalid a press release by the White House alleged to be the text of the nuclear agreement struck by Iran and the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany) in Geneva on Sunday.

“What has been released by the website of the White House as a fact sheet is a one-sided interpretation of the agreed text in Geneva and some of the explanations and words in the sheet contradict the text of the Joint Plan of Action (the title of the Iran-powers deal), and this fact sheet has unfortunately been translated and released in the name of the Geneva agreement by certain media, which is not true,” Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham said on Tuesday.

She said that the four-page text under the name of the Joint Plan of Action (which has been released by the Iranian foreign ministry) was the result of the agreement reached during the Geneva talks and all of its sentences and words were chosen based on the considerations of all parties to the talks. In fact one of the reasons why negotiations between Iran and the G5+1 took so long pertained to the accuracy which was needed for choosing the words for the text of the agreement, Afkham said, explaining that the Iranian delegation was much rigid and laid much emphasis on the need for this accuracy.”

Amateur hour continues. 🙄

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6. It looks like someone is finally going to suffer some consequences for the Benghazi scandal that cost 4 American lives.

Oh wait… Never mind, it’s a CBS reporter and not anyone at the White House or State Dept..

From NBCNews “CBS correspondent Lara Logan has been ordered to take a leave of absence after an internal review found her discredited “60 Minutes” segment on the Benghazi consulate attack was poorly vetted, the network said in a memo to staff.

The network also asked Logan’s producer, Max McClellan, to take a leave of absence. CBS did not specify a length for the leaves.

“As Executive Producer, I am responsible for what gets on the air,” CBS’ Jeff Fager said in the memo. “I pride myself in catching almost everything, but this deception got through and it shouldn’t have.”

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7. More no-bid ObamaCare contracts for friends of the Obama’s.

From CapitolCityProject “With the roll out of Obamacare being as disastrous as possible for the Obama administration, one group was given a $1 million grant to help lead a rebranding effort with hopes of salvaging the law in the eyes of the American people.

Families USA (FUSA) — an organization that describes itself as a “national nonprofit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the achievement of high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans” — was given a $1.1 million grant by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on October 4, 2013, to gather “success stories” of Americans dealing with Obamacare and distribute them to the media who often refer to them as an “independent” group. This is part of a greater upcoming effort to bolster the perception of the lowly health care law.

“The purpose is to bridge the information gap for people who can significantly benefit from the Affordable Care Act,” Ron Pollack, the Co-founder and Executive Director of Families USA, told TIME on October 25, 2013.

However, the organization is a far cry from “non-partisan” and is extremely close to the Obama Administration and Enroll America – the group leading the efforts to sign people up for Obamacare.”

Propaganda sure is expensive.

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8. These photo-ops to help the President sure are the “Kiss of Death” for participants healthcare plans.

Welcome to reality ladies.

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August 14, 2013 by the real Aj

News/Politics 8-14-13

What’s interesting out there today?

Open thread, so feel free to share with the group. 🙂

First up, this guy just keep shooting more and more holes in the Obama admins “workplace violence” story.

From TheNYTimes “One year after he waged a deadly shooting rampage at the Fort Hood Army base here in November 2009, Major Nidal Malik Hasan told a panel of military mental health experts that he wished he had been killed during the attack because it would have meant God had chosen him for martyrdom.”

(And yet the coward selected targets he knew were unarmed)

“Major Hasan, 42, an American-born Muslim of Palestinian descent whose long-delayed court-martial began last week in a Fort Hood courtroom, said in the documents and in previous statements in and out of court that he carried out the attack to wage jihad for what he has called the illegal and immoral wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In the documents, he described in blunt and unapologetic terms how he killed soldiers as he stepped into a medical processing building on Nov. 5, 2009. He said he wore earplugs to muffle the sound of his semiautomatic weapon, and shot into areas that had the “greatest density of soldiers.” In the end, 13 people were dead.

“I don’t think what I did was wrong because it was for the greater cause of helping my Muslim brothers,” he told the military panel.”

Call it what it is. Islamic terrorism. And give the victims their benefits.

You can come up with your own theory as to why the Obama admin continues to ignore the obvious. I already have one, and again, it’s because of the influence muslim groups hold with this administration.

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Pro-Morsi demonstrators are now protesting in DC as well.

From TheInvestigativeProject “A rally Saturday in Washington supporting deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, the second in a month sponsored by a group calling itself Egyptian-Americans for Democracy and Human Rights (EADHR), along with its press conference on Friday, makes it harder for some leading American Islamists to deny their connection with the Muslim Brotherhood.”

“The pro-Morsi demonstrators who packed Freedom Plaza just a block from the White House repeated many of the same chants that have been common in Muslim Brotherhood protests in Egypt since Morsi’s fall.”

“The demonstrators and protest organizers hope to get the Obama administration to follow Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., in calling Morsi’s ouster a “coup.” Thus far, Secretary of State John Kerry and the Obama administration have declined to do so, saying that the military intervened to keep Egypt from devolving into chaos.”

He’ll cave. Just watch.

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And remember folks, Al-Qeada is defeated and on the run. Or they just changed their name or something.

From TheWaPo “A rebranded version of Iraq’s al-Qaeda affiliate is surging onto the front lines of the war in neighboring Syria, expanding into territory seized by other rebel groups and carving out the kind of sanctuaries that the U.S. military spent more than a decade fighting to prevent in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the four months since the Iraqi al-Qaeda group changed its name to reflect its growing ambitions, it has forcefully asserted its presence in some of the towns and villages captured from Syrian government forces. It has been bolstered by an influx of thousands of foreign fighters from the region and beyond.

The group, now known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, is by no means the largest of the loosely aligned rebel organizations battling to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and it is concentrated mostly in the northern and eastern provinces of the country. But with its radical ideology and tactics such as kidnappings and beheadings, the group has stamped its identity on the communities in which it is present, including, crucially, areas surrounding the main border crossings with Turkey.”

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Once again Eric Holder is caught playing fast and loose with the facts.

From HotAir “Bloomberg News caught the Department of Justice in a particularly noteworthy Friday-night news dump over the weekend. The Obama administration, stung by accusations from the Left that it hadn’t gone after fraudulent mortgages and the lenders that helped fuel the bubble, claimed that a year-long initiative run by the Mortgage Fraud Working Group in the DoJ had charged 530 people who had victimized 73,000 people. When Bloomberg’s reporters began digging into the claim, the DoJ stonewalled — and then finally admitted it cooked the books themselves:

The Justice Department made a long-overdue disclosure late Friday: Last year when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder boasted about the successes that a high-profile task force racked up pursuing mortgage fraud, the numbers he trumpeted were grossly overstated.

We’re not talking small differences here. Originally the Justice Department said 530 people were charged criminally as part of a year-long initiative by the multi-agency Mortgage Fraud Working Group. It now says the actual figure was 107 — or 80 percent less. Holder originally said the defendants had victimized more than 73,000 American homeowners. That number was revised to 17,185, while estimates of homeowner losses associated with the frauds dropped to $95 million from $1 billion.

Hey, they only inflated those claims by 80% and 9o% — or looking at it from the other direction, 500% and 900%. Shouldn’t they get a chance to round up to the nearest 1000%? If you’re wondering what prompted this sudden outbreak of honesty, Bloomberg explains that two of its reporters had figured out the fraud:

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Here’s an update from one of yesterdays stories. We may now know the culprits. Now all we need to know is who put them up to it.

From TheDailyCaller “A new rush through the U.S. border has been triggered by an outspoken progressive group that is exploiting new asylum regulations to demand American citizenship for 1.7 million illegals previously deported to Mexico, according to Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

Border officials have told advocates and TV stations that hundreds of people are using the group’s innovative legal tactic to get approval from the border patrol for a temporary legal stay in the country.

The National Immigrant Youth Alliance triggered the rush by sending a group of illegals back to Mexico. The illegals then successfully used the asylum claim to win a temporary stay in the United States. The members, dubbed the “Dream 9,” walked up to the U.S. border and asked for asylum, based on the claim that they’re afraid of Mexico’s drug-cartels.

The group’s tactic works because new regulations allow immigrants to ask that a judge, rather than a border patrol officer, decide their asylum claim. Instead of jailing the prospective immigrants until their courtroom date, border officials are releasing many into the United States.”

Where many will disappear and ignore their court date.

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And just further proof that the sequester meme from Obama and Dems was way overstated.

From GovExec.com “When sequestration was about to kick in, the Obama administration began a nearly across-the-board campaign to discuss the devastating impact the automatic cuts would have on agency operations.

At the center of these warnings stood employee furloughs: mandatory unpaid leave to help each department meet the lower budget caps that took effect March 1. Furloughs, combined with hiring freezes, would disrupt the proper functioning of government, agency chiefs said, as fewer employees working fewer hours could not accomplish the same amount as a fully staffed workforce.

While many federal agencies have in fact moved forward with furloughs, and there remain countless examples of sequestration interfering with government operations, most major departments have reduced furlough days, or eliminated them altogether.

The earliest examples came from departments that told Congress they would have to furlough employees, but ended up backtracking. The Education and Justice departments fall into this category. The Agriculture, Transportation and Homeland Security departments all received authority to transfer funds between agency accounts, and were therefore able to cancel planned furloughs. The Commerce Department projected furloughs at its National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, only to cancel them in May.”

Defense too.

August 13, 2013 by the real Aj

News/Politics 8-13-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

First up today, a Benghazi update. Looks like gun running is the reason for the attacks after all, and what they’ve been trying to hide all along. Breitbart and DC’s WMAL provide the details.

Via WeaselZippers “Atty For Benghazi Whistleblower: 400 U.S. Surface-To-Air Missiles Were Stolen In Benghazi”

“Is this part of the threat that closed the embassies, the fear that our own weapons would be used against us? Joe Di Genova, who was a federal prosecutor, also notes that the President mentioned the sealed indictment to make it appear as though he was doing something, but violated a court order to reveal the sealed indictment.”

“On August 12, Joe DiGenova, attorney for one of the Benghazi whistleblowers, told Washington D.C.’s WMAL that one of the reasons people have remained tight-lipped about Benghazi is because 400 U.S. missiles were “diverted to Libya” and ended up being stolen and falling into “the hands of some very ugly people.”

The interview with the attorney is interesting to say the least.

Now what role do you suppose these weapons played in the recent warnings?

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The N.C. Gov. has signed an extensive new Voter ID law.

From TheWaPo “North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) on Monday signed into law one of the nation’s most wide-ranging Voter ID laws.

The move is likely to touch off a major court battle over voting rights, and the Justice Department is weighing a challenge to the new law, which is the first to pass since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down part of the Voting Rights Act. “

“The measure requires voters to present government-issued photo identification at the polls and shortens the early voting period from 17 to 10 days. It will also end pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-old voters who will be 18 on Election Day and eliminates same-day voter registration.

Democrats and minority groups have been fighting against the changes, arguing that they represent an effort to suppress the minority vote and the youth vote, along with reducing Democrats’ advantage in early voting. They point out that there is little documented evidence of voter fraud.”

Wow. The Race Card. Didn’t see that comin’…… 🙄

As Politico points out, a war is coming now that the old act has finally fallen.

From Politico “State lawmakers from around the country crowded into a packed room Monday at the meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures to learn more about the impact of the Supreme Court’s recent decision striking down the Voting Rights Act as activists gear up for a new battle over the ballot box.

The panelists that led at the NCSCL gathering in Atlanta said there’s so much interest in possible voting changes that more chairs had to be brought in for the larger-than-expected crowd that topped 100.”

“The high court’s ruling in June means that parts or all of 15 states can now pass laws and make changes to elections without needing pre-approval from the Justice Department – and a handful of them began to act immediately. The Justice Department has moved to stop Texas from going forward and put it back under preclearance, and a similar lawsuit has been filed by a separate group against a small town in southern Alabama.

In the meantime, changes to voting procedures could be small and localized – which may make them even more dangerous, according to activists.”

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This next one is great if you’re an illegal immigrant. But you still can’t visit the White House. As you can see, they have other funding priorities.

From FoxNews “A sudden influx of illegal immigrants from Mexico requesting asylum is overwhelming immigration agents in San Diego, forcing agencies to rent hotel rooms for some undocumented families and release others to cities around the U.S.

Documents obtained exclusively by Fox News show Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been paying for hotel rooms for dozens of recently arrived families to relieve overcrowding inside the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa, Calif., processing centers. Some ICE employees are working overtime and others have been asked to volunteer to work weekend shifts. “Duties include intake, placements, transports and release of family groups and unaccompanied minors,” according to a memo obtained by Fox News.

The surge has raised suspicions about what is driving the influx, amid claims that illegal immigrants have learned they can attempt to get asylum by using a few key words — namely, by claiming they have a “credible fear” of drug cartels.

“This clearly has to have been orchestrated by somebody,” said former U.S. Attorney for Southern California Peter Nunez. “It’s beyond belief that dozens or hundreds or thousands of people would simultaneously decide that they should go to the U.S. and make this claim.””

Cough (Liberals) Cough (Dems and RINO’s) Cough (Obama) Cough……

Take your pick. Lot’s of suspects to choose from. Pretty much anyone in our govt is a potential suspect. 🙄

But all sarcasm aside, this will cause legitimate requests to be questioned as well. That’s not right. Unintended consequences are never considered.

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Here’s some more of your tax dollars at work.

From Reason “Labor activists using tactics adopted from the Occupy Wall Street movement are crashing restaurants across the nation in an effort to raise wages for workers – and they’re getting taxpayer money to fund the effort.

Using a combination of federal grants and grants from left-leaning organizations, the Restaurant Opportunity Center, or ROC, is technically a charitable nonprofit and not a union. But their pro-worker messages, anti-employer protests and self-proclaimed goal of organizing service sector employees for the purposes of negotiating higher wages make ROC look and sound much like a labor union.

Some see their tactics as a deliberate attempt to skirt the nation’s labor laws. Only unions elected by a majority of a workplace can negotiate with employers on workers’ behalf, though ROC seems to be doing so in the absence of any election.”

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Here’s an update on the Paula Dean lawsuit.

From MSN “A federal judge Monday threw out race discrimination claims by a former Savannah restaurant manager whose lawsuit against Paula Deen has already cost the celebrity cook a valuable chunk of her culinary empire.

Lisa Jackson sued Deen and her brother, Bubba Hiers, last year saying she suffered from sexual harassment and racially offensive talk and employment practices that were unfair to black workers during her five years as a manager of Uncle Bubba’s Seafood and Oyster House. Deen is co-owner of the restaurant, which is primarily run by her brother.”

“But claims of race discrimination by Jackson, who is white, were gutted in the 20-page opinion by U.S. District Court Judge William T. Moore Jr. The judge agreed with lawyers for Deen and Hiers that Jackson has no standing to sue her former employers for what she claims was poor treatment of black workers, regardless of her claims that she was offended and placed under additional stress.

Jackson, at best, “is an accidental victim of the alleged racial discrimination,” Moore said in his ruling. “There are no allegations that defendant Hiers’s racially offensive comments were either directed toward plaintiff or made with the intent to harass her.”

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And the rodeo clown with the Obama mask has been banned from the MO. State Fair.

From Yahoo “The Missouri State Fair on Monday imposed a lifetime ban on a rodeo clown whose depiction of President Barack Obama getting charged by a bull was widely criticized by Democratic and Republican officials alike.

The rodeo clown won’t be allowed to participate or perform at the fair again. Fair officials say they’re also reviewing whether to take any action against the Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association, the contractor responsible for Saturday’s event.”

“The fair said in a written statement announcing the clown’s ban that he had engaged in an “unconscionable stunt” that was “inappropriate and not in keeping with the Fair’s standards.” The fair’s press release did not identify the clown.”

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June 11, 2013 by the real Aj

News/Politics 6-11-13

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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April 25, 2013 by the real Aj

News/Politics 4-25-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

It appears from press reports that Boston bomb suspect #1 was on a watch list, yet it didn’t help, or work as it’s supposed to. From Reuters

“The name of one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was listed on the U.S. government’s highly classified central database of people it views as potential terrorists. But the list is so vast that this did not mean authorities automatically kept close tabs on him, sources close to the bombing investigation said on Tuesday.”

“After being put in the TIDE system, his name was entered in another database, this one maintained by the Homeland Security Department’s Customs and Border Protection bureau which is used to screen people crossing U.S. land borders and entering at airports or by sea.

Tsarnaev was flagged on that database when he left the United States for Russia in January 2012 but no alarm was raised, presumably because the FBI had not identified him as a threat after the interview.”

It was the CIA who asked that his name be put on the list. From TheWashingtonPost

“The CIA asked the main U.S. counterterrorism agency to add the name of one of the suspected Boston Marathon bombers to a watch list more than a year before the attack, according to U.S. officials.

The agency took the step after Russian authorities contacted officials there in the fall of 2011 and raised concerns that Tamerlan Tsarnaev — who was killed last week in a confrontation with police — was seen as an increasingly radical Islamist and could be planning to travel overseas. The CIA requested that his name be put on a database maintained by the National Counterterrorism Center.”

“The CIA’s request came months after the FBI had closed a preliminary inquiry into Tsarnaev after getting a similar inquiry about him from Russian state security, according to officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.

The new disclosure suggests that the U.S. government may have had more reason than previously known to scrutinize Tsarnaev in the months leading up to the bombings in Boston.”

John Kerry has made some statements that raised eyebrows. From Politico

“Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday that Tamerlan Tsarnaev returned from Russia last year “with a willingness to kill people.”

“Well, of course we have the same problem. We just had a young person who went to Russia, Chechnya, who blew people up in Boston,” Kerry said. “So he didn’t stay where he went, but he learned something where he went and he came back with a willingness to kill people.”

His remarks appear to go further than those made by other U.S. officials, who have said they haven’t determined yet if Tsarnaev received terrorist training during his 6-1/2 month stay in Russia. Tsarnaev and his younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, are suspected of carrying out the Boston bombings last week.”

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And in an unrelated domestic terrorism case we have some interesting testimony from Floyd Lee Corkins II, the Family Research Council shooter. His motivation? He explained to investigators that he attacked the group’s headquarters because the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) identified them as a “hate group” due to their traditional marriage views. The hate preached by the SPLC motivated him. From TheWashingtonExaminer

““Southern Poverty Law lists anti-gay groups,” Corkins tells interrogators in the video, which FRC obtained from the FBI. “I found them online, did a little research, went to the website, stuff like that.””

“The Southern Poverty Law Center still lists FRC as an “anti-gay” hate group on the “hate map” Corkins used. “The SPLC’s reckless labeling has led to devastating consequences,” said FRC President Tony Perkins. “Because of its ‘hate group’ lists, a deadly terrorist had a guidemap to FRC and other organizations. Our staff is still reeling from the attack, and the chilling effect this could have on organizations that are simply fighting for their values is outrageous.”

And yes, there’s a short video.

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And the Obama admin and DHS have been handed a loss in federal court. It’s not the final decision, but the judge feels the ICE Agents Union is likely to prevail. The Union filed suit over the admin insisting that agents NOT do their jobs. It’s a shame that these folks had to sue, but the admin only enforces laws it likes. From BusinessWeek

“A court challenge by federal immigration agents seeking to block President Barack Obama’s deferred-deportation initiative will probably succeed, a judge said.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Dallas today put off his own decision on whether to grant the request for a preliminary injunction by 10 U.S. Immigration and Customs agents. He asked both sides to file additional arguments no later than May 6.”

““The court finds that DHS does not have discretion to refuse to initiate removal proceedings” when the requirements for deportation under a federal statute are met, O’Connor said today in a 38-page decision, referring to the Department of Homeland Security.”

More here from TheWashingtonExaminer

“The judge’s comments come one day after Napolitano scolded the union, during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill, for challenging the policy she and Obama have implemented.

“There are tensions with union leadership, unfortunately,” Napolitano told Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., on Tuesday. “Here’s what I expect as a former prosecutor and attorney general: that is that law enforcement agents will enforce the law in accordance with the guidance they are given [by] their superiors.”

Sessions faulted Napolitano for refusing to meet with the ICE officers’ union. “I have never heard of a situation in which a group of law officers sued their supervisor, and you, for blocking them from following the law,” he said. “They weren’t complaining about pay, benefits, working conditions — they were saying their very oath they took to enforce the law is being blocked by rules and regulations and policies established from on high, and that this is undermining their ability to do what they are sworn to do.””

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April 24, 2013 by the real Aj

News/Politics 4-24-13

What’s interesting out there today?

Open Thread, as always.

Me…. I’m beating that horse again. From Boston.com

“Russian authorities alerted the FBI not once but “multiple’’ times over their concerns about Tamerlan Tsarnaev — including a second time nearly a year after he was first interviewed by FBI agents in Boston — raising new questions about whether the FBI should have focused more attention on the suspected Boston Marathon bomber, according to US senators briefed on the probe Tuesday.”

More on the mosque they attended here. From USAToday

“The mosque attended by the two brothers accused in the Boston Marathon bombing has been associated with other terrorist suspects, has invited radical speakers to a sister mosque in Boston and is affiliated with a Muslim group that critics say nurses grievances that can lead to extremism.

Several people who attended the Islamic Society of Boston mosque in Cambridge, Mass., have been investigated for Islamic terrorism, including a conviction of the mosque’s first president, Abdulrahman Alamoudi, in connection with an assassination plot against a Saudi prince.”

Check out the link. This place has a long list of radicals that have spoken there. And many of them have also been investigated for terrorism ties.

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The Ricin letters suspect has been released. From NBCNews

“Charges were dropped Tuesday against the Mississippi man suspected of mailing ricin-laced letters to President Obama and other public officials — as authorities searched the home of another man hoping to find clues in the expanding investigation.

“I respect President Obama and love my country. I would never do anything to pose a threat to him or any other U.S. official,” Paul Kevin Curtis said at a news conference Tuesday.”

More from FoxNews

“The Mississippi man charged with sending ricin-laced letters to President Obama was released on bond Tuesday, as the FBI searched the Mississippi home of a possible second suspect amid an apparent probe into whether the first suspect might have been framed. ”

“Shortly afterward, FBI searched the home of a possible second suspect. The FBI zeroed in on this individual earlier in the day, a source told Fox News.”

More on another possible Ricin attack, from WaPo

“Federal authorities are investigating another potential ricin attack at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Southeast Washington, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday.”

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Some pretty disturbing details are emerging in the Texas plant explosion. If true, arrests and prosecutions need to happen. From TheNYPost

“The fertilizer plant that exploded and wiped out much of a small Texas town last week once stored 1,350 times the amount of ammonium nitrate that typically triggers federal safety oversight, officials said.

Yet a person familiar with Department of Homeland Security operations said the company that owns the plant, West Fertilizer, failed to tell the agency about the potentially explosive fertilizer it stored last year, as required.”

Much more here from HuffPo/Reuters

“Fertilizer plants and depots must report to the DHS when they hold 400 lb (180 kg) or more of the substance. Filings this year with the Texas Department of State Health Services, which weren’t shared with DHS, show the plant had 270 tons of it on hand last year.

A U.S. congressman and several safety experts called into question on Friday whether incomplete disclosure or regulatory gridlock may have contributed to the disaster.

“It seems this manufacturer was willfully off the grid,” Rep. Bennie Thompson, (D-MS), ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said in a statement. “This facility was known to have chemicals well above the threshold amount to be regulated under the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Act (CFATS), yet we understand that DHS did not even know the plant existed until it blew up.””

With a Hat Tip to HRW

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Several charges against Kermit Gosnell have been dropped by the judge. From LifeSiteNews

“A federal judge has dropped nine charges – including three murder charges and one count of infanticide – against Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell, as his trial resumed this morning.

Local media report the judge has determined Gosnell will not face three counts of murder, one count of infanticide, and five counts of abuse of a corpse. The latter charges related to Gosnell’s keeping the severed feet of aborted babies in jars in his clinic.

Gosnell still faces the remaining four charges of first degree murder in the deaths of newborn babies, and an additional charge of third degree murder over the death of one of his abortion clients.”

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“What difference does it make?”

Well now we know why she wasn’t concerned with the truth getting out and was reluctant to answer questions. It was to protect herself and the White House. The House has issued it’s Benghazi report, which blames Hillary Clinton. From TheWashingtonExaminer

“A critical report drafted by five GOP-led House committees has determined that reduced security at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi in the days leading up to the Sept. 11, 2012, attack was approved by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The report also found that White House and high-ranking officials at the State Department changed CIA talking points following the attacks, which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others, in order to shield the State Department from “criticism for inadequate security levels” on the ground in Benghazi.

The 46-page report provides a timeline of events leading up to the attacks in Benghazi and investigation that followed.”

A larger view of the report can be viewed here at Scribd.com

And it also appears that like her husband, she has lied under oath. From TheWashingtonExaminer

“House Republicans released their report on the investigation into the Benghazi terrorist attack, having concluded that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was not telling the truth when she told Congress that she wasn’t aware that officials at the U.S. mission in Benghazi had requested extra security.

“The specific security requests pertaining to Benghazi, you know were handled by the security professionals in the department,” Clinton told Congress in January. “I didn’t see those requests, they didn’t come to me, I didn’t approve them, I didn’t deny them.”

The House report suggests that Clinton received a request for more security from Gene Cretz, who preceded Christopher Stevens as ambassador to Libya.

Not only did she receive and see the request, her signature was on the response cable which denied the request.

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Democrats have been insisting the last few days that we need to pass the immigration/amnesty bill to protect against terrorism. It would do nothing of the sort. It’s what it really does that they are in a hurry to get done. From Politico

“The immigration proposal pending in Congress would transform the nation’s political landscape for a generation or more — pumping as many as 11 million new Hispanic voters into the electorate a decade from now in ways that, if current trends hold, would produce an electoral bonanza for Democrats and cripple Republican prospects in many states they now win easily.

Beneath the philosophical debates about amnesty and border security, there are brass-tacks partisan calculations driving the thinking of lawmakers in both parties over comprehensive immigration reform, which in its current form offers a pathway to citizenship — and full voting rights — for a group of undocumented residents that roughly equals the population of Ohio, the nation’s seventh-largest state.”

“If these people had been on the voting rolls in 2012 and voted along the same lines as other Hispanic voters did last fall, President Barack Obama’s relatively narrow victory last fall would have been considerably wider, a POLITICO analysis showed.”

THIS is the goal. It always has been.

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April 22, 2013 by the real Aj

News/Politics 4-22-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

The big story continues to be the Boston Bombings.

The surviving bomber is awake and responding to questions from authorities. From ABCNews

” Law enforcement sources tell ABC News that the Boston Marathon bombings suspect is awake and has been responding sporadically in writing to questions. Officials say they have been asking about other cell members and other potential unexploded bombs. Details on any answers given have not been released.”

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It’s a story of dueling press accounts as well. As you’d expect, MSNBC and like minded sources refuse to admit the obvious motivations of the bombers. They’re in denial about any religious motivations. Some foreign sources aren’t having that problem.

From TheDailyMail

“The Mail on Sunday has learned that the FBI put Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, under surveillance after receiving an explicit warning from the Russian intelligence services.”

“Despite all this, the FBI found no substantive evidence that he was engaged in terror-related activities though they continued to ‘monitor his internet use and contacts’.

According to an intelligence source, Russia remained convinced that Tamerlan, an ethnic Chechen, was in ‘direct contact’ with Islamist militants, most likely based in the strife-torn southern Russian region of Dagestan, where he lived for two years with his family prior to moving to the US.”

The FBI has a lot of explaining to do. More from TheTelegraphUK

And here as well, also from TheTelegraphUK

MSNBC says don’t be too hard on the FBI, from Newsbusters

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Meanwhile NBC Nightly News ignores the Islamic ties.

MSNBC insists it’s not related to Islam at all.

And Salon’s Clown Prince says we conservatives want them to be Muslims so we can have a bigoted, violent, civil-liberties-trampling reaction.

And the Atlantic insists it too soon to tell if Islam played a roll.

The NYTIMES publishes then revises a story seemingly sympathetic to the bombers.

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The Mayor of Boston says the 2 suspects acted alone. From TheAP

“Boston Mayor Tom Menino says information he has indicates that the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing acted alone.”

“He tells ABC’s `This Week” that a pipe bomb was found at another location and that another person was taken into custody. The mayor did not elaborate.”

Well which is it? Or is this another totally unrelated bomber?

This publication disagrees with the Mayor. From TheMirrorUK

“The FBI was last night hunting a 12-strong terrorist “sleeper cell” linked to the Boston marathon bomb brothers.”

“A source close to the investigation said: “We have no doubt the brothers were not acting alone. The devices used to detonate the two bombs were highly sophisticated and not the kind of thing people learn from Google.

“They were too advanced. Someone gave the brothers the skills and it is now our job to find out just who they were. Agents think the sleeper cell has up to a dozen members and has been waiting several years for their day to come.”

I hope they’re wrong and the Mayor is correct.

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This is a good piece on how the brothers came to be the extremists they were in the end. From TheBostonGlobe

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Military tribunal or criminal trial? Go with A. From ABCNews

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Boston’s Police Comm. calls releasing the photos a turning point. From Boston.com

“Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis said releasing the photos of the two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing “may have led to the further attack” against MIT police officer Sean Collier, which he called an assassination. But he stressed there is no way to know for sure.

Releasing the pictures after many hours of behind-the-scenes deliberation, “was a turning point in the investigation, no doubt about it,” said Davis in an interview with the Globe.

“It forced them out of their hideout and they decided to commit further violent acts. But it’s my belief that they were already manufacturing explosive devices. Further violent acts were inevitable.” The suspects “were not making those explosives for nothing,” said Davis. “There was a plan there, and I believe that tragically [Collier] lost his life, but he was truly protecting the citizens of the city.””

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In other news…….

An update from the Texas plant explosion story. Press has been allowed in, and the story is one of devastation. From CBSNews

“At least 14 people are dead and 200 injured after the blast in the tiny Texas town. Officials now say 12 of the 14 killed were first responders, CBS News’ Steve Futterman reports.”

“Meanwhile, on the first Sunday after the explosion, pastor John Crowder stood atop a long flatbed truck overlooking a hayfield and spoke to his congregation.

Crowder’s First Baptist Church in West remains blocked off as investigators work on the scene of Wednesday’s blast. So about 100 people sat in white folding chairs Sunday morning, while others carried their own.

“We have lost our friends and neighbors,” Crowder told the audience. We have lost the safety and comfort of our homes. But as scary as this is, we don’t have to be afraid.”

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A bizarre report of shots fired at a nuke plant. Great, just what we need, more crazy. From WBIR.com

“A TVA spokesperson confirmed that a security officer patrolling TVA Watts Bar Nuclear Plant in Spring City was involved in a shootout with a suspect Sunday at about 2:00 a.m.
The security incident happened on the Tennessee River side of the plant property, more than a quarter mile from the plant’s protected area, which houses its reactor and power production facilities.

TVA spokesperson Jim Hopson said the subject traveled up to the plant on a boat and walked onto the property. When the officer questioned the suspect, the individual fired multiple shots at the officer. The officer shot back, and when he called for backup, the suspect sped away on his boat. ”

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Schumer and Graham are claiming this adds a need for urgency to the amnesty bill they want passed. 🙄 Shocking right? From TheHill

“The Boston Marathon tragedy is a reason for Congress to move faster – not slower – to overhaul the nation’s immigration system, according to two co-authors of a Senate reform package.

Some conservatives on Capitol Hill have suggested Monday’s deadly bombings – allegedly orchestrated by a pair of young immigrants from Russia’s volatile Caucasus region – should cause lawmakers to move more deliberately in their approach to immigration reform this year.”

“But Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) – chief architects of a sweeping bipartisan immigration proposal unveiled last week – argued Sunday that their bill will help prevent future terrorist attacks at home and should be taken up as soon as possible.”

Funny thing though, Chuck doesn’t like to be questioned on the specifics. From TheDailyCaller

“Chris Crane, head of the immigration officers union, was pulled out of a Senate press conference today when he tried to question Sen. Chuck Schumer during the televised roll-out of the 844-page immigration rewrite.

While reporters asked questions, Schumer ignored three requests from Crane, who sought to question him about aspects of the far-reaching law, which promises to tighten enforcement of immigration laws at borders, airports and seaports.

“Will you take a question from law enforcement?” Crane asked, repeating the question twice before being removed.

Schumer ignored the question, and repeated his advocacy for the bill. Crane’s union represents agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) service.”

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April 17, 2013 by the real Aj

News/Politics 4-17-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

UPDATE

An arrest has/will/might, or may not be happening now. Confused? Me too.

From WeaselZippers

“BREAKING: ARREST IN BOSTON BOMBING IMMINENT OR ALREADY TAKING PLACE – UPDATE: SUSPECT ARRESTED – UPDATE: NBC SAYS NO ARREST – UPDATE: FOX NEWS CONFIRMS ARREST MADE – UPDATE: AP CONFIRMS – UPDATE: CELL PHONE RECORDS LED TO ARREST…”

The press conference which should hopefully provide some answers has been pushed back to 5:00PM EST

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Police say the Saudi man considered a “person of interest” in the Boston bombing is not a suspect.

From TheCable

“Director of National Intelligence James Clapper briefed members of the Senate Intelligence Committee behind closed doors in a pre-scheduled hearing that was supposed to focus on the budget, but Clapper began with an update of the bombings. Ranking Republican Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) emerged from the briefing and said he was told the 22-year old Saudi student who was injured during the bombings and remains in the care of a local hospital was no longer a focus of investigators.

“He was never categorized as a suspect; he was a person of interest. My understanding is that he totally cooperated and that he is no longer a person of interest,” Chambliss said.

Asked if there were any other persons of interest at this time, Chambliss said, “Not that I know of.””

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And we have more examples of people rising to the occasion, and helping where they could.

From TheTelegraphUK

“Out of the horror of the Boston marathon bombings, there emerged uplifting examples of human kindness as the city’s residents did all they could to help those caught up in the attack.”

“So many of the runners continued to run across the finishing line and onwards to the Massachusetts General Hospital, in a rush to give blood, that they had to be turned away.”

“A retired American Football star, Joe Andruzzi, who won the Superbowl three times with the New England Patriots, carried victims away from the carnage. All three of his brothers were firemen in New York who responded to the September 11 attacks on the Twin Towers.”

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Congress has responded to the Boston bombing. And of course some Dems go with the same old play book. Don’t let a crisis go to waste. And blame the Sequester.

From Politico

“With the Boston Marathon bombings less than 24 hours old, some on Capitol Hill are beginning to say the attack shows why Congress should’ve stopped automatic spending cuts from taking hold in March.”

“Hoyer added: “I think there are multiple reasons for ensuring that we invest in our security both domestic and international security. That we invest in the education of our children, that we invest in growing jobs in America and don’t pursue any irrational policy of cutting the highest priorities and the lowest priorities by essentially the same percentage.””

“Rep. Xavier Becerra of California, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said that the first responders working Monday aren’t sheltered from cuts.

“We have to send you less money to help your first responders,” Becerra said.”

Barney Frank, and numerous hacks pretending to be journalists have joined in on this meme as well. But don’t be fooled by the drama. There is plenty of money for needed things like this. However Homeland Security would rather waste it, many times on things that have nothing to do with their mission. Just as a reminder, they waste it on things like this.

Millions squandered at Homeland over the past decade.

DHS Counterterror Centers Produce ‘a Bunch of Crap,’ Senate Finds

Zombie Apocalypse Training

$98,000 for an underwater robot in Columbus, Ohio, where there are no major rivers and few lakes nearby.

1.6 billion rounds of ammo.

50 million for new uniforms

And 2,700 new armored vehicles for patrolling American cities

They don’t have a revenue problem, they have a wasteful spending problem. They’ve wasted tons of money. But if Dems want to complain about Homeland budget cuts…..

Then I guess this should be pointed out since those in Congress and the press pushing this meme won’t mention it, since it doesn’t fit in the story they wanna tell.

From TheDailyMail

“Obama administration has SLASHED budget for domestic bombing prevention by 45 per cent, says former Homeland Security Assistant Secretary

$20 million budget under Bush became $11 million under Obama
Both administrations neglected domestic bombing prevention, devoting a tiny fraction of the $1 billion earmarked for IED prevention overseas
Obama issued a lengthy ‘National Policy for Countering Improvised Explosive Devices’ in February but a spokesman won’t say if it failed.”

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More horrible details from the Gosnell case.

So a CONTENT WARNING!!! for this one.

From CNSNews

“Gosnell did these very late-term abortions at his clinic in West Philadelphia assisted only by his wife, Pearl Gosnell, on the one day the clinic was closed, Sunday. Other clinic workers were not allowed to assist in these abortions and it is believed that many of the medical records of these procedures may have been destroyed, according to the grand jury report.

The grand jury report was released in January 2011. As it states, “This report documents multiple murders of viable babies. The evidence makes a compelling case that many others were also murdered. … It was Gosnell’s standard business practice to slay viable babies.”

“Gosnell made little effort to hide his illegal abortion practice,” reads the report. “But there were some, ‘the really big ones,’ that even he was afraid to perform in front of others. These abortions were scheduled for Sundays, a day when the clinic was closed and none of the regular employees were present. Only one person was allowed to assist with these special cases – Gosnell’s wife.””

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“Why Evangelicals Back Obama on Immigration (and Why They Should Agree on Guns and Climate Change, Too)”

From NationalJournal

“The most important milestone on immigration reform this weekend was not “The Full Marco” – Sen. Marco Rubio’s seven-show Sunday blitz. It was a story in The New York Times documenting a shift by evangelical Christians toward easing immigration laws.

Julia Preston reported:

“The shift among evangelical Christians could have a powerful effect on the fight in Washington, as Republican lawmakers, including many who have opposed any amnesty for illegal immigrants, look to see how much they can support measures to bring those immigrants into the legal system without alienating conservative voters.”

“Evangelical leaders, seeing the opportunity to expand their influence on a social issue beyond abortion and same-sex marriage, have broadly united this year behind a path to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally. They are conducting an ambitious push to sway Congress, including ad campaigns on Christian radio stations in five states, meetings with lawmakers, and a challenge to churchgoers to pray every day for 40 days using Bible passages that speak of welcoming the stranger.” ”

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And remember, vote fraud is a myth.

From Cincinnati.com

“Marguerite Kloos walked into court Tuesday as a nun who devoted her life to her religion. When she walked out, she was a convicted felon who escaped a prison term.

Kloos, 54, of Delhi Township, pleaded guilty to illegal voting, admitting to filling out and filing an absentee ballot for Sister Rose Marie Hewitt, Kloos’ friend who died before last November’s election.”

“Hers was one of three cases Hamilton County decided – so far – to prosecute from last fall’s elections.”

Nothin’ to see here folks. Move along.

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