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News/Politics 1-11-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

Open thread. Feel free to share with the group. 🙂

1. The families of Benghazi victims and others have sent a letter to Speaker Boehner. The letter calls him out for his lack of effort and possible involvement in hiding what really happened in Benghazi. The letter pulls no punches.

From JudicialWatch  “Dear Speaker Boehner,

We write to express our grave concern over the failure of your House of Representatives to extract the truth from the Obama administration concerning the attack on our diplomatic and intelligence facilities in Benghazi, Libya; and, the brutal deaths of Ambassador Christopher Stevens, U.S. Foreign Service Officer Sean Smith, and security officers Ty Woods and Glen Doherty.

To date, five (5) different committees of the House have conducted separate hearings, uncovering information in a piecemeal fashion lacking professional investigators.  The five committees’ efforts are disjointed and uncoordinated.  The Obama administration has benefited from that dysfunctional process to hide the truth.  Hardly any Obama administration witnesses have testified – publicly or privately.  You have resisted repeated calls for the creation of a select investigative committee with subpoena authority. It appears that you are satisfied to allow that state of investigative incoherence and ambiguity to continue.  The last public hearing by any of the five committees was held in September – four (4) months ago.  The families of the dead who fought valiantly to protect the mission and their families, the survivors, and the American people deserve better from you and your Members of Congress. They deserve the absolute truth from their government. Your failure to get the truth and hold public officials accountable increases the possibility of other repeat attacks and additional failures to defend Americans abroad.

On Sunday, December 29, 2013, the New York Times published a story concerning the Benghazi attacks that directly contradicts the sworn testimony of witnesses who appeared before various committees.  Besides the obvious New York Times editorial and political objectives of inoculating Hillary Clinton and her 2016 presidential campaign from further criticism of her failures as Secretary of State, the story contradicts objective truth and established facts in a way that confuses the public.  Your inaction and failure to lead on the Benghazi investigation directly contributes to the repetition of lies; a lack of accountability from responsible government officials; and the political advancement of persons who seek to continue to “fundamentally transform” the Constitution and our country.  The New York Times recent publication proves the Benghazi story is not “going away.”

Your oversight of the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation has been without any meaningful effect or result.  Not a single terrorist in this well-planned and executed military attack by radical Islamists has been apprehended.  Ahmed Abu Khattala, a ringleader of the attack, granted long interviews to reporters in Benghazi cafes, while the Obama administration – and you – have done nothing.  Nearly 16 months after the terrorist attack, the American public has no accountability and no plan of action from House leadership. The public is subjected to undisputed disinformation from a White House who calls the terror attack a “phony scandal.”  While the White House repeats false and misleading information, you continue to ignore claims, documented by Rep. Frank Wolf, of intelligence officers being intimidated with multiple, punitive polygraph examinations and harassing non-disclosure agreement demands.  If Benghazi is “phony” why are intelligence officers being threatened not to speak and subjected to polygraph exams? Why do you stand by passively?

Some analysts believe your inaction and passivity towards getting to the truth concerning Benghazi is because you were briefed on the intelligence and special operations activities in Libya as a member of the “Super 8.”   You may possess “guilty knowledge.”  We recall how then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi developed a form of “amnesia” concerning a documented briefing she received on so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques” – later termed “torture” for political purposes.  Are you in the same position as your predecessor?  Are you dodging a legitimate, thorough, coordinated investigation of Benghazi because it will damage your political position as Speaker?”

You can click any of the above text to read the rest. This is signed by numerous Generals, Admirals, Colonels, Captains and others.

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2. The Obama admin has finally gotten around to maybe actually holding someone responsible. But I wouldn’t hold my breath.

From TheWeeklyStandard  “The State Department today publicly announced a $10 million reward “for information leading to the arrest or conviction of any individual responsible for the September 11, 2012 Benghazi attacks.” The announcement for the reward is posted on rewardsforjustice.net.”

“Because of “security issues” the offer of the $10 million reward had not been officially announced until today.”

More like delayed by lies and CYA from Obama and Hillary.

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3. The unemployment rate has dropped again. Fuzzy Math, as always.

From TheFederalist   “According to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released this morning, the U.S. economy last month added 74,000 new payroll jobs, while the unemployment rate fell to 6.7 percent from 7.0 percent. Good news, right? Not really.

Yes, the unemployment rate has fallen significantly from its high of 10 percent in October of 2009. But it turns out the unemployment rate has been falling for a pretty depressing reason: people dropping out of the labor force. Last month, 347,000 workers dropped out, effectively sending the message that it wasn’t even worth looking for work anymore.”

“In June of 2009, the labor force participation rate was 65.7 percent (by way of comparison, the average over the last decade is 65.1 percent, while the peak was 66.5 percent in June of 2003). Since the end of the recession, that number has nose-dived. At the end of last month, it hit 62.8 percent — on par with what the U.S. experienced in the late 1970′s (although at the time, the number was on the upswing).”

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4. And we have another ObamaCare success story. 🙄

Firemen getting their hours cut, and communities having to fork out more taxpayer dollars because of it.

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News/Politics 9-7-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

We’ll start out today with a good news story.

From WCHSTV  “A just-released 911 call reveals the dramatic moment when two Dallas-area teens were able to help save a woman who had allegedly been kidnapped after they saw her mouth the words “help me” from the back of a moving vehicle.

ABC News reported that Charles Atkins Lewis, 37, was arrested Aug. 22 after allegedly kidnapping the woman, 25, who has not been identified, at gunpoint and forcing her into his car in downtown Dallas. The two teenagers noticed the woman from their car as Lewis allegedly drove her through Kaufman County, according to the recording.”

“Police arrested Lewis and he has been charged him with aggravated kidnapping. He remains in jail on $50,000 bond and it’s unclear whether he has a lawyer.”

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Then some bad news outta Texas too. The next 2 are related stories.

From TheBlaze  “San Antonio’s leaders on Thursday approved anti-bias protections for gay and transgender residents, over the disapproval of top Texas Republicans and religious conservatives who packed a City Council hearing and occasionally shamed supporters for comparing the issue to the civil rights movement.

The 8-3 City Council vote in favor of the ordinance was a victory for gay rights advocates and for Democratic Mayor Julian Castro, a top surrogate of President Barack Obama. Castro has called the ordinance overdue in the nation’s seventh-largest city, where there is a stronger current of traditionalism and conservatism than other major Texas cities that already have similar gay rights protections.”

““The problem I have is that you criminalize us if we speak our faith,” said Marc Longoria, 42, a pastor at My Father’s House Church. “We are Christians all the time. We don’t have an on and off switch.””

Here’s the original story again that I linked to a couple of weeks back.

From OneNewsNow 

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Some Democrat Senators are proposing an alternative plan for Syria. Or it’s just a “Peace in our Time” type moment.

From TheHill  “Two Senate Democrats are circulating an alternative resolution on military  intervention in Syria that would give President Bashar Assad’s regime a 45-day  window to avoid a strike if it signs a chemical weapons ban.”

“In addition to the ultimatum presented to Assad, the resolution would also  require the president to present a “long term strategy” on Syria to prevent the  use of chemical weapons.”

““The failure by the government of Bashar al-Assad to sign and comply with the  [Chemical Weapons] Convention clearly demonstrates a disregard of international  norms on the use of chemical weapons. If the Government of Syria does not sign  the Convention within 45 after the date of the enactment of this resolution, all  elements of national power will be considered by the United States government,”  read a draft obtained by The Washington Post.”

And it looks like maybe the President just found his out. Let’s hope he takes it.

From TheDailyCaller  “President Barack Obama hinted Friday that he might not strike Syria if Congress rejects his authorization request.

“I’m not itching for military action… and if there are good ideas that are worth pursuing, then I’m going to be open to them,” he told one reporter who asked if he was seeking alternatives to a missile strike.”

“Some in Congress have suggested giving the Syrian regime 45 days to sign the  Chemical Weapons Convention, get rid of its chemical stockpiles, do something  that would enhance the international sense of accountability for Syria, but  delay military action,” the reporter asked.

“I am listening to all these ideas, and some of them are constructive,” he said.”

Face, saved.

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Attention is being drawn to just who it is the Obama admin is taking advice on Syria from. That undue influence from radical Muslim groups thing the admin is known for. Again.

From HuffPo  “A Wall Street Journal op-ed cited this week by both Secretary of State John Kerry and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has drawn scrutiny for not disclosing writer Elizabeth O’Bagy’s ties to a Syrian rebel advocacy group.

On Thursday, The Daily Caller examined O’Bagy’s role as political director for the Syria Emergency Task Force, a group that has lobbied the White House and Congress to support the rebels. O’Bagy told The Daily Caller that she is not a salaried employee, but serves as a paid contractor.

Journalist Laura Rozen questioned Friday why the Journal op-ed — which was published a week ago online and in Saturday’s print edition — did not identify O’Bagy’s affiliation with the group.”

It also explains why McCain is so far out there on the matter, and is adamant about aiding the rebels.

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Others in the Democrat ranks are happy for the distraction Syria is providing.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “White House plans for a health care messaging blitz ahead of Obamacare’s rollout have been overshadowed by the president’s call to strike Syria, distracting the administration from its plan to focus attention on a litany of domestic issues.

Obamacare was supposed to get its time in the limelight over these next few weeks, ahead of October’s open enrollment launch for the healthcare law’s insurance exchanges.”

“Some Democrats, however, downplayed the lack of attention on the health law.

“Politically speaking, it’s not the worst thing,” a veteran Democratic strategist, given anonymity to speak candidly about Obamacare, said. “Recently, the focus on health care has done more harm than good. I’m highly skeptical that a new PR blitz, even from the likes of President Clinton, will do much.”

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We have a new record number of Americans no longer in the work force, so the unemployment rate is down again.

From CNSNews  “The number of Americans who are 16 years or older and who have decided not to participate in the nation’s labor force has pushed past 90,000,000 for the first time, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The BLS counts a person as participating in the labor force if they are 16 years or older and either have a job or have actively sought a job in the last four weeks. A person is not participating in the labor force if they are 16 or older and have not sought a job in the last four weeks.

In July, according to BLS, 89,957,000 Americans did not participate in the labor force. In August, that climbed to 90,473,000–a one month increase of 516,000.”

The number was 80 million when Obama took office. 10 million more now, and that’s how you drop the UC rate. But is it a recovery? No.

From MSNMoney  “Payrolls in the U.S. climbed less than projected in August after smaller gains the prior two months, indicating companies are being deliberate in their hiring as they wait for a pickup in demand. The unemployment rate unexpectedly fell as more people left the labor force.

 The gain of 169,000 workers last month followed a revised 104,000 rise in July that was smaller than initially estimated, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 96 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for an August increase of 180,000. Unemployment dropped to 7.3 percent, the lowest since December 2008.

 The weaker data come as Federal Reserve officials, who meet Sept. 17-18, are debating whether the expansion and job market have improved enough to warrant trimming monthly bond purchases. While some companies are awaiting a pickup in sales before adding to staff, Ford Motor Co. (F) is among those putting more workers on assembly lines as the auto industry surges.”

And the actual job gains are always lowered on revision, and this will be too.

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News/Politics 8-8-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

Open thread, as always.

First up today, looks like someone wants to be martyred. Which is odd, because I’ve heard religion had nothing to do with this. 🙄 

It’s also why when he’s found guilty, the sentence should be life in prison. Don’t give him the easy way out, or the fame and notoriety amongst jihadists that he craves.

From HotAir  “The standby attorney for the Army psychiatrist accused in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting has told a military judge that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan appears intent on receiving a death sentence.”

“Lt. Col. Kris Poppe (PAHP’-ee) said Wednesday at Hasan’s trial that he is willing to step in and be Hasan’s attorney. But if Hasan continues to work toward being executed, Poppe asked that his responsibilities be minimized.”

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Oh look. Why am I not shocked?

From Reuters  “Congress has won some partial relief for lawmakers and their staffs from the “Obamacare” health reforms that it passed and subjected itself to three years ago.

In a ruling issued on Wednesday, U.S. lawmakers and their staffs will continue to receive a federal contribution toward the health insurance that they must purchase through soon-to-open exchanges created by President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law.

The decision by the Office of Personnel Management, with Obama’s blessing, will prevent the largely unintended loss of healthcare benefits for 535 members of the Senate and House of Representatives and thousands of Capitol Hill staff.”

How nice for them.

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Meanwhile, a plan to not fund ObamaCare for next year, but not one that requires a govt. shutdown.

From TheHill  “A group of conservatives led by anti-tax activist Grover Norquist is pushing for  a one-year delay of ObamaCare in the government funding bills that must be  passed this fall.

In a letter to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell  (R-Ky.), Norquist and 18 other conservatives urged support for a one-year delay  as part of any spending package.

“It is wrong to force people to  participate in a system that is simply not ready,” the activists wrote.”

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This one? Also not surprising. Birds of a feather and all.

From WatchDog.org  “Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe and three top GreenTech advisers met with the key White House aide responsible for helping bankrupt solar-panel maker Solyndra win federal loans and high-profile presidential support, a Watchdog investigation has revealed.

What they discussed in the Oct. 12, 2010, meeting with Obama “green energy” aide Greg Nelson is a mystery – the White House visitors log offers no details. But the confab came seven months after a stock transfer made McAuliffe a GreenTech minority owner and company chairman.”

“Months before the GreenTech meeting at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., White House officials already knew Solyndra was on the ropes – failing an independent audit and headed toward a predicted default on its federal $535 million loan. Despite warnings from allies and staff, the president visited Solyndra in May 2010, pointing to the company as a model of his new economy.”

And yes, this is the same GreenTech who’s sister company Gulf Coast Funds, is involved in a visa selling scandal, which also seems to involve McAuliffe. He’s also in on the electric car scam too. So what will it be? “Purely coincidental?” Or “Phony scandals?”

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The Recovery continues to gain steam. Or not. Depends on your definition of what’s successful. The Obama admin likes it, and loves to take credit. So give it to ’em.

From HotAir  “Being on vacation last week meant that I missed the jobs report for July, which turned out to be as unremarkable as most of those in the four-plus years of the so-called economic recovery.  The media reports I did catch while on the cruise focused mainly on the fact that the jobs added in July missed the expectations of analysts, and not on the fact that adding only 162,000 jobs meant another extension of stagnation, as the US economy needs ~150,000 jobs added each month just to tread water, thanks to population growth.  That’s not even a decent maintenance number, let alone the kind of job growth needed to put the chronically unemployed back to work.

The media reports also missed another trend in job reports, one caught by a former chief of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and reported by McClatchy’s Kevin Hall this morning.  Almost all of the job growth this year came in part-time work — and when we say “almost all,” we mean 97% of it:”

““Over the last six months, of the net job creation, 97 percent of that is part-time work,” said Keith Hall, a senior researcher at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center. “That is really remarkable.””

“Hall is no ordinary academic. He ran the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the agency that puts out the monthly jobs report, from 2008 to 2012. Over the past six months, he said, the Household Survey shows 963,000 more people reporting that they were employed, and 936,000 of them reported they’re in part-time jobs.”

Gee, it’s almost like there’s some reason out there for the uneasiness, and it’s scaring the job creators and leading them to only hire part-time….

But this admin can’t figure out what it is.  Must be another coincidence. 🙄

Welcome to the new normal.

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News/Politics 2-28-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

As always, Open Thread.

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First, a feel good story. Well, at least for me and fellow Yankee fans. The rest of ya’s, probably not. 😯

Say Hello! to the next generation. 🙂

From FoxSportsSouthwest

“Andy Pettitte is just like any other baseball dad who happens to have played 17 MLB seasons for the New York Yankees and Houston Astros and won five World Series titles.

“He sends me a text before every game that says, ‘Good luck buddy, to God be the glory.’ ” Josh Pettitte said. “He’s just a bystander now.”

Well, sort of. The younger Pettitte, who plays for Deer Park High School near Houston, threw a no-hitter on Friday against the Boerne (Texas) Champion Greyhounds. He struck out 10 and walked one, and then admitted it is pretty helpful to have one of the best pitchers of a generation as your father.”

Cue my maniacal laugh. 🙂

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Next, an Update.

Key provisions of the Voting Rights Act appear to be in jeopardy. Maybe it’s just me, but the lawyer for the DoJ sounded unprepared for the obvious questions from the Justices.

From NBCNews

“Central parts of an election law dating back to the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, the Voting Rights Act, appeared to be in jeopardy Wednesday after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a challenge to them.”

“When Verrilli defended the section 5 of the law, Chief Justice John Roberts asked him, “Do you know which state has the worst ratio of white voter turnout to African American voter turnout?”

Verrilli said he did not, to which Roberts replied: “Massachusetts. Do you know what has the best, where African American turnout actually exceeds white turnout? Mississippi.”

Roberts then asked Verrilli which state has the greatest disparity in registration between whites and African Americans, and again Verrilli did not know.”

Pete Williams is pretty upset. 🙂

And if you feel like checking out the comments be warned. This is NBC after all, so cries of voter suppression and racism are the norm.

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Meanwhile, President Obama has Verrelli calling on the Supreme Court to overturn DOMA.

From CNSNews

“On Friday, U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli formally filed a legal brief with the Supreme Court, calling the  law unconstitutional and “discriminatory against gays and lesbians.”

“It is abundantly clear that this discrimination does not  substantially advance (the government’s) interest in protecting  marriage, or any other important interest,” Verrilli wrote in the  67-page document.

“The Statute simply cannot be reconciled with the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection,” he said.

Conservative legal experts like Mathew Staver, president of Liberty Counsel, say the government’s position is “outrageous.”

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Mr. Woodward should have seen this coming. It is after all, the Chicago way.

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Lawmakers are attempting to override the Obama admins decision to declare the Ft. Hood shootings “workplace violence”. They are correct. Call it what it was. Terrorism, motivated by Islam.

From PJMedia

“Rep. John Carter (R-Texas), whose district includes Fort Hood, told PJM the base is soldiering on, but a recent ABC News interview in which the officer who shot Hasan during the rampage says President Obama has “betrayed” the victims came as no surprise to him.”

“Carter just introduced yet again legislation to ensure that the victims and victims’ families in the Fort Hood attack are eligible for the same treatment, benefits, and honors as Americans killed or wounded in an overseas combat zone.”

“Major Hasan was connected, influenced by Alwaki,” Wolf said. “The administration thought Awlaki was dangerous enough that they killed him with a drone missile… It’s got to be fairly significant, the fact that they did this to an American citizen.”

“The people at Fort Hood, the wounded have been getting a very, very bad deal with Panetta,” the congressman continued. “It clearly is a terrorist attack. It is not workplace violence and by not calling it that, it’s a failure.””

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And once again, or still, Texas shows how it’s done. Don’t panic, it’s not another future Yankee player. 🙂

From Forbes

“Earlier this month, Texas Gov. Rick Perry made a quick tour of California to remind business owners that life’s a whole lot easier in the Lone Star State. Perry’s California critics called him “Governor Oops” for his miscues during the presidential debates, and Gov. Jerry Brown dismissed the Texan’s recruiting drive as “not a burp,” and barely even a certain bodily release of gas.

Laugh away, Californians. But Perry is playing the stronger hand here. Texas trounced the rest of the country our latest survey of the Best Cities for Good Jobs, with five metropolitan areas in the Top Ten, including the four best cities to find jobs in the next few years.”

And it’s not just low paying service industry jobs as liberals allege.

“One explanation that is definitely false: Texas isn’t growing on the backs of underpaid, non-union workers. While Texas is a right-to-work state, many of the highest paying jobs in the Dallas area are with unionized defense manufacturers like Bell Helicopter and Lockheed Martin, which produces the F-35 Lightning II fighter at a mile-long plant in Fort Worth.”

““People say it’s all low-pay jobs, so I looked at employment growth by wage quartile,” she said. And guess what? Not only is the Dallas-area per-capita income of $39,548 comfortably above the national average of $37,000, but it’s growing fastest in the top half of wages above $16 an hour.”

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