What’s interesting in the news today?

First up today, an ObamaCare update.

From SavannahNow  “Georgia may not start its Obamacare health exchange Oct. 1 when the rest of the country does because the state issued an emergency request late Monday for a delay.

Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens asked U.S. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for another 30 days beyond tomorrow’s deadline to approve the health plans submitted by seven insurance companies wanting to do business in the state.

He said some rates were 198 percent higher than current plans available in the state.”

Ouch.

Meanwhile, the IRS chief says no thanks to ObamaCare.

From TheWeeklyStandard  “”Mr. Werfel, last week your employees who are a member of the National Treasury Employee’s Union sent a form letter for union members to send in to ask they be exempt from the exchanges,” a congressman asked. “Why are your employees trying to exempt themselves from the very law that you’re tasked to enforce?”

“I don’t want to speak for the NTEU, but I’ll offer a perspective as a federal employee myself and a federal employee at the IRS,” said the IRS chief. “And that is, we have right now as employees of the government, of the IRS, affordable health care coverage. I think the ACA was designed to provide an option or an alternative for individuals that do not. And all else being equal, I think if you’re an individual who is satisfied with your health care coverage, you’re probably in a better position to stick with that coverage than go through the change of moving into a different environment and going through that process. So I think for a federal employee, I think more likely, and I would — can speak for myself, I would prefer to stay with the current policy that I’m pleased with rather than go through a change if I don’t need to go through that change.””

So would a lot of folks, but if they can’t, why should you be allowed too? Finding out the President lied stinks huh?

Next up, an update on the Obama admin and schools getting together in their propaganda efforts. They insist there’s no concerted efforts to do so, yet some schools seem more than happy to do their part. Let me guess….. “It’s for the kids!…..” right? 🙄

From Politico  “Supporters of the health law see back-to-school season as a natural time for  Obamacare outreach, a chance to find young families who could benefit from new  health coverage options. But weeks before the school bells start ringing in  parts of the country, there’s no concerted effort to reach parents at the  schoolhouse door. It’s yet another sign of how the undying controversy could  overshadow attempts to get people enrolled.”

“And the big sign-up campaign from Enroll America, an organization of  Obamacare allies and health law stakeholders, hasn’t focused on schools, at  least not as of now.

States or school districts can act on their own; Los Angeles, for instance,  is training some high school juniors and seniors how to be Obamacare messengers  to their families and communities. But the lack of a national strategy is just  one more sign of how hard it is for the administration and its allies to focus  on health benefits, not health politics, as Obamacare enrollment nears. And the  Republicans have made it clear that they don’t want the schools to go anywhere  near the controversial health law.

“What authority does the Department of Education have to disseminate  information and assist with the implementation of the president’s health care  law?” Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), a former Education secretary, and other  GOP senators wrote Duncan in July. “How do the Department of Education’s  activities further the education of our nation’s students?””

OOOOO, OOOOO, I know! I know this one!….  They don’t. 🙄

But even if all the schools don’t help out, we still have 21 govt. agencies doing their part in the propaganda efforts. It’s becoming painfully obvious why they recently rescinded anti-propaganda law and regulations huh? Yeah……

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “Thirty-nine Republican senators want to know who the 21 federal agencies helping to implement Obamacare are and what those agencies are doing to promote the program.

A leaked April 2013 slideshow from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said 21 federal agencies, including the Departments of Agriculture and Education, are working on an educational program to implement Obamacare.

That reference prompted the senators’ curiosity.

“At a time federal agency budgets have been tightened by the sequester and the White House has warned of cuts to basic programs, I would like to know how 21 agencies, such as those overseeing agriculture and education, would have the taxpayer dollars to implement and promote the new health care law — an activity outside of their missions and an expense not authorized by Congress,” Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said.”

Yeah…..

________________________________________________________

Next we have a “Phony Scandal” update. I posted a story months ago about the embassy in Benghazi being a CIA arms shipment operation to arm Syrian rebels. This will feed that idea, that’s for sure.

From CNN  “Sources now tell CNN dozens of people working for the CIA were on the ground that night, and that the agency is going to great lengths to make sure whatever it was doing, remains a secret.

CNN has learned the CIA is involved in what one source calls an unprecedented attempt to keep the spy agency’s Benghazi secrets from ever leaking out.”

“Speculation on Capitol Hill has included the possibility the U.S. agencies operating in Benghazi were secretly helping to move surface-to-air missiles out of Libya, through Turkey, and into the hands of Syrian rebels.”

Hmmmmmmmmmm………………….

Oh, and US Embassies and consulates throughout the muslim world will close Sunday due to threats. Nice.

From TheAP  “The United States is shuttering its embassies and consulates throughout the Muslim world on Sunday after receiving an unspecified threat, officials said.”

“Spokeswoman Marie Harf cited information indicating a threat to U.S. facilities overseas and said some diplomatic offices may stay closed for more than a day.”

And in other terrorism  work-place violence news……

From FoxNews  “On the eve of his military trial, accused Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan  released seven pages of handwritten and typed documents to Fox News in which he  appears to renounce his U.S. citizenship, abandons his military oath as a  commissioned officer, and explains his relationship with radical cleric Anwar  al-Awlaki — the first American targeted for death by the CIA.

Most of the documents also include the acronym “SoA,” which is considered  shorthand for “Soldier of Allah.”  Hasan’s business card, also bearing  “SoA,” was found in his Texas apartment after the shooting.”

“”The government has tried to deny that this was an act of terrorism. I think  that, I hope that if people hear the words from Hasan’s own mouth that they will  understand that this was an act of terrorism,” Staff Sgt. Shawn Manning, who was  shot six times at Fort Hood on Nov. 5, 2009, told Fox News.”

“In the only document bearing a date — Oct. 18, 2012 — Hasan  writes: “I, Nidal Malik Hasan, am compelled to renounce any oaths of  allegiances that require me to support/defend (any – sic) man made constitution  (like the constitution of the United States) over the commandments mandated in  Islam … I therefore formally renounce my oath of office … this includes my  oath of U.S. citizenship.”

It’s time the Obama admin gives up on this charade and grants these soldiers and their families what they are rightfully due. This was terrorism. Stop lying and admit it.

________________________________________________________

Next we have some union stories, irony, and bad behavior.

From TheFreeBeacon  “A judge ordered one of Chicago’s most politically powerful labor unions to suspend picketing against 16 funeral homes last week after receiving reports that striking Teamsters had, among other things, disturbed a child’s funeral.

SCI Illinois Services, Inc., one of the nation’s largest funeral home chains, asked a district court to intervene after striking funeral directors and drivers with Teamsters Local 727 allegedly harassed grieving families.

“We are grateful that the court agreed to issue this temporary restraining order, and we are hopeful that it will help protect grieving families who are experiencing the most difficult times of their lives,” Larry Michael, managing director for SCI Illinois Services, Inc., said in a release. “While we recognize and respect the Teamsters’ right to lawfully picket, we have been shocked and saddened by their attempts to make grieving families the target of the cruel and outrageous attacks.”

You won’t get much sympathy to your cause acting like jerks at children’s funerals. Seriously un-cool.

Next, the irony… Considering the way the ACLU uses the threat of litigation and lawsuits to stifle those they disagree with, it’s ironic that they would whine about extortion tactics when someone uses the press against them for a change.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “Did you know that the clerical and other support staff for the American Civil Liberties Union is, well, unionized? Well, they are and that is causing ACLU executive director Anthony Romero some serious heartburn.

Romero told the Village Voice in a July 25 interview that the workers’ union, United Auto Workers Local 2110, was engaging in a “subtle form of extortion” by criticizing the ACLU to the press.

“[The union] is using the press to embarrass us and back us into a corner to make concessions that are not in keeping with the market and not in keeping with other employers,” Romero said. He was responding to a Village Voice piece the previous day titled: “The ACLU Is Going After Its Own Union Workers’ Contracts.””

________________________________________________________

And in another waste of taxpayer money….  and govt. employees acting stupidly…… Someone illegally possessing a baby dear? Send the SWAT team in to kill Bambi. Sorry. It’s the law.

From WISN.com  “WISN 12 News investigates an operation raising questions about the use of  government resources and the state policy that meant a death sentence for a fawn.”

“Two weeks ago, Schulze was  working in the barn at the Society of St. Francis on the Kenosha-Illinois border when a swarm of squad cars arrived and officers unloaded with a search  warrant.

“(There were) nine DNR  agents and four deputy sheriffs, and they were all armed to the teeth,” Schulze  said.”

“The focus of their search was a baby fawn brought there by an Illinois family  worried she had been abandoned by her mother.”

Stand back folks! That’s weapons-grade stupid right there. Dangerous stuff. 🙄

That one got me thinking of another story I read, so I went and found it. Related? You decide.

From TheAP  “Small-town police departments across the country have been gobbling up tons of equipment discarded by a downsizing military — bicycles, bed sheets, bowling pins, French horns, dog collars, even a colonoscopy machine — regardless of whether the items are needed or will ever be used.

In the tiny farming community of Morven, Ga., the police chief has grabbed three boats, scuba gear, rescue rafts and a couple of dozen life preservers. The town’s deepest body of water: an ankle-deep creek.”

“An Associated Press investigation of the Defense Department program, originally aimed at helping local law enforcement fight terrorism and drug trafficking, found that a disproportionate share of the $4.2 billion worth of property distributed since 1990 has been obtained by police departments and sheriff’s offices in rural areas with few officers and little crime.”

“Sometimes he doesn’t get exactly what he’s requested, like the time he asked for a handheld laser range finder for a gun and instead got a $28,000 range finder from the nose of an A-10 Warthog tank-busting jet aircraft.”

Like I said, weapons-grade… 

I really need a face-palm smiley. Talk about waste, fraud, and abuse…..