Senate
News/Politics 11-7-14
What’s interesting in the news today?
1. Of course they are. That’s exactly what I would expect sore losers to do. I hope Harry doesn’t get too crazy. After all, whatever he does with 51 votes, can be undone with 51 votes, thanks to his nuclear option.
From TheWashingtonPost “Before ceding full control of Congress to the GOP in January, Senate Democrats are planning to rush a host of critical measures to President Obama’s desk, including bills to revive dozens of expired tax breaks and avoid a government shutdown for another year.
Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) is also aiming to chip away at a backlog of presidential nominations to the federal bench and the State Department over the next month, although Democratic aides say they will be unable to process all of the hundreds of pending appointments before turning the chamber over to Republicans.
Republican leaders, too, are inclined to clear the legislative decks of must-pass bills so they can start fresh in January, when they will have control of both chambers of Congress for the first time in eight years. Leaders from both parties are due at the White House for a lunch Friday to begin discussing the parameters of the possible in a new era of Republican domination.
At his first news conference since the GOP landslide at the polls this week, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday warned Obama to abandon his “go-it-alone” strategy of governing by executive order and to begin looking for areas of compromise with Congress.”
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2. Everything is bigger in Texas…. including Wendy Davis’ loss. 🙂
From NationalReview “Wendy, we barely knew ye! Actually, that’s not true. We knew Wendy Davis well — too well. It is difficult to think of a more overexposed candidate in the 2014 election cycle.
We knew (from the get-go) that she was a publicity-stunt actress with show-stopping athletic shoes made famous when she spoke for eleven hours in favor of a woman’s “right” to kill her unborn child. We knew that she was the type of woman who leaves her husband and children in Texas to attend Harvard Law School, then divorces said husband the day after he pays her final law-school bill. And we found that she had — like many another brand-name politician — a politically convenient memory of myriad personal details. Of course, her memory was infallible when it came to the memoir she released less than two months before the election.
In case that was not enough, we found out, too, that she was not suited to running for homecoming queen, let alone governor of a state with an economy the size of two Switzerlands, about the functioning of which she seemed to be perilously confused. And if she was not on the campaign trail failing Civics 101, she was excelling in Advanced Mudslinging, accusing her wheelchair-bound opponent of exploiting his disability for votes, or of threatening to rescind the right to interracial marriage — despite the fact that he is married to a Hispanic woman.
As I wrote in my pre-mortem postmortem of the Wendy Davis campaign two weeks ago, Davis’s candidacy will never rise to the levels of infamy achieved by Todd Akin and Christine O’Donnell, because she had the benefit of a “D” next to her name. But Davis was a worse candidate than either, victimized not by a single foolish comment, but by managing to step on more rakes than Sideshow Bob. Adding to that was her determination to double down on those mistakes, so that she often looked not just bumbling, but mean.”
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3. They never learn.
From AOL.com “One of the longest-held prisoners at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay was sent home to Kuwait on Wednesday, the first release based on the determination of a review panel that has been re-evaluating some men previously classified as too dangerous to release.
Fawzi al-Odah had been told his release was imminent but didn’t know the date until shortly before he boarded the flight back to his country from the base in southeast Cuba, his lawyer, Eric Lewis, said.
The 37-year-old al-Odah had been the focus of an arduous battle to secure his release that had the support of his government. Lewis, who spoke to him about a week before the departure, said the prisoner just wanted to get on with life.”
“The release of al-Odah was criticized by U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a chief proponent of keeping the prison open. The New Hampshire Republican called it “yet another dangerous example of the Obama administration’s misguided motivation to empty and then close Guantanamo rather than protect the national security interests of the United States.””
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4. Huh. The mainstream press appears to have missed this story. I wonder why….? 🙄
Are they afraid to arrest her because they fear more riots? They’re gonna happen either way.
From TheDailyMail “Michael Brown’s mother has been named as one of the ‘attackers’ who assaulted and robbed vendors selling t-shirts commemorating the youngster’s death.
A report from Ferguson police identified Lesley McSpadden, 34, as one of a group of up to 30 people that ran into the tent and ransacked the stall in the Missouri city on Saturday October 18.
Pearlie Gordon, 54, Brown’s mother-in-law, and two men were selling ‘Justice for Mike Brown’ merchandise when the subjects ‘jumped out of vehicles and rushed them’ during what police are classifying as an armed robbery.”
“More than $1500 in merchandise and $400 in cash ‘was stolen by unknown subjects’ who managed to escape before police arrived.”
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More here, from TheSmokingGun “A police report detailing a fight last month between members of Michael Brown’s family over the sale of commemorative t-shirts identifies the late teenager’s mother as one of the “attackers” who beat and robbed vendors selling the merchandise from a tent in a Ferguson, Missouri parking lot.
A copy of the Ferguson Police Department report was provided yesterday by city attorney Stephanie Karr. When TSG requested the document two weeks ago, Karr noted that Brown’s mother, Lesley McSpadden, was “described in the report” and had “specifically requested that the report be withheld from the media.”
“McSpadden’s mother, Desureia Harris, began to rip down t-shirts hanging on a line, Gordon told officers. Then, she added, other members of the group began “tearing her booth apart.” Gordon (seen at left) said that during the melee she was repeatedly struck in the head and knocked to the ground.
At one point, Gordon recalled, she heard McSpadden “yell to an unknown subject, ‘That’s Calvina’s mom, get her @#%.” [Calvina is the first name of Michael Brown Sr.’s wife.] “McSpadden then ran up and punched Gordon,” according to the report.
Gordon’s male associates were also beaten–reportedly with a pipe–during the confrontation, and one of the men was transported by EMS workers to a local hospital for treatment of “injuries sustained during the assault.”
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News/Politics 8-4-14
What’s interesting in the news today?
1. This should be interesting. Now maybe Congress can see what they’ve been hiding. Pretty sad that a private group had to do their job for them though.
From TownHall “Thanks to a Freedom of Information Act Lawsuit pursued against the Department of Justice by government watchdog Judicial Watch, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has ruled a list of documents being withheld from Congress under President Obama’s claim of executive privilege must be turned over. Obama made the claim on the same day Attorney General Eric Holder was voted in criminal and civil contempt of Congress in June 2012.
“This order forces the Obama DOJ, for the first time, to provide a detailed listing of all documents that it has withheld from Congress and the American people for years about the deadly Fast and Furious gun running scandal,” Judicial Watch released in a statement.”
“The documentation DOJ is required to now turn over is a “Vaughn index” of “all requested Fast and Furious materials from a June 2012 Judicial Watch FOIA request.”
““Once again, Judicial Watch has beat Congress to the punch in getting key information about another Obama scandal – this time, the Fast and Furious outrage,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement. “A federal court has ordered the Obama administration to produce information that could, for the first time, provide specific details who in the administration is responsible for Fast and Furious lies to Congress and the American people. This is a battle that put Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, saw Nixonian assertions of executive privilege by Barack Obama, and a hapless Congress in face of all this lawlessness. Finally, we may get some accountability for Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and the countless others murdered as a result of the insanely reckless Obama administration program.””
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2. Is the IRS planning a crack down on churches and pastors? Yes, but I’m sure it will only be conservative ones.
From TheBlaze “The Internal Revenue Service has settled a lawsuit brought by a secular activist group, reportedly agreeing to adopt standards for determining and investigating whether churches and religious organizations have violated restrictions on political activity.
The precise terms of the settlement are still unclear, as is how the IRS will amend its policies to enforce tax law on churches in a way that is palatable to the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which has long decried “rogue political churches.”
The IRS and the Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a joint motion for dismissal July 17, though the court has not officially closed the case, according to Christianity Today.”
““FFRF was asking that the Johnson Amendment be enforced against churches. The IRS has been enforcing the Johnson Amendment against churches since it was passed by Congress in 1954,” Erik Stanley, an attorney at Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal firm, told TheBlaze. “The agency took a brief break from enforcing the law against churches in 2009 after its procedures for auditing churches was declared unlawful by a federal district court in Minnesota.””
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3. The CIA head is taking fire for snooping on the Senate. Even some Dems are calling for his resignation.
From Politico “Two Democratic senators demanded that Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan resign on Thursday after revelations that the CIA snooped on Senate computers.
Administration officials briefed the Senate Intelligence Committee’s membership on Thursday afternoon about an inspector general report that revealed CIA officials improperly accessed computers used by Senate staffers to research a 6,700-page report on the agency’s Bush-era interrogation and detention practices.
And while Brennan called Senate Intelligence Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to apologize for the CIA’s actions, that mea culpa wasn’t enough for Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), a civil libertarian locked in a difficult reelection campaign against GOP Rep. Cory Gardner, and freshman Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.).”
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4. The Army is forcing out 550 Majors. Some will again be notified while serving in combat. Nice way to thank them for their service.
From FoxNews “About 550 Army majors, including some serving in Afghanistan, will soon be told they have to leave the service by next spring as part of a budget-driven downsizing of the service.
Gen. John Campbell, the vice chief of the Army, acknowledged Friday that telling troops in a war zone that they’re out of a job is a difficult task. But he said some of the soldiers could join the National Guard or the Army Reserve.
The decision to cut Army majors comes on the heels of a move to slash nearly 1,200 captains from the ranks. Army leaders were criticized at the time for giving 48 of them the bad news while they were deployed to Afghanistan.
The Army declined to say how many majors will be notified while they are at the battlefront.”
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5. Something to keep in mind next time you hear a story on the Israeli bombing supposed hospitals and schools. Things aren’t always what the press would like you to believe.
From IsraelNationalNews “New details have emerged about the booby-trapped clinic explosion that killed three IDF Maglan unit soldiers in Gaza earlier this week – Sergeant First Class Matan Gottlieb, 21, from Rishon LeZion; Sergeant First Class Omar Chai, 21, from Savion; and Sergeant First Class Guy Algranati, 20, of Tel Aviv, hy”d.
Over eighty kilograms of explosives were built into the UN-funded hospital’s walls themselves, it was cleared for publication Thursday – revealing that the clinic itself was built to mask, and perform, potential acts of terror on the IDF.
Moreover, the clinic was built over tens of terror tunnels, according to the report.
The UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) has yet to respond to the revelations, and has still not responded to the deaths of the Israeli soldiers Wednesday.”
Of course they didn’t. They’re already aware though, because this couldn’t happen without them knowing it.
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News/Politics 7-10-14
What’s interesting in the news today?
Lots to talk about today.
1. There’s no reason for this. It serves no other purpose but to insult.
From TheDailyMail “The rebels, who are members of the Islamic State terror group, were filmed attacking centuries-old graves in the north-west city of Mosul in Ninevah province.
Donning balaclavas and black coats, they swung sledgehammers into the tombs, causing pieces of dust and stone to fly through the air.”
“One of the devastated tombstones belonged to the Prophet Jonah (Younis in Arabic) and was revered by Muslims and Christians alike, according to Iraqi authorities.”
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2. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I have no interest whatsoever in anything aiding pedophiles, but this sets a very dangerous precedent, even for non-Catholics. Imagine the effect this could have on people seeking spiritual guidance that they think is, and should be, protected conversations.
From HotAir “Many observers misunderstood the Hobby Lobby dispute and others like it as a First Amendment case, but it wasn’t. It primarily related to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), with an indirect reference to the constitutional freedom of religious expression. A case in Louisiana may be the real McCoy, though. The Louisiana Supreme Court has ruled that a priest must testify in a case about what he heard in a confessional — an order that would result in automatic excommunication and damnation, according to the doctrine and canon law of the Catholic Church:
The state high court’s decision, rendered in May of this year, demands that a hearing be held in 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge, where the suit originated, to determine whether or not a confession was made. It reverses an earlier decision by the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeals dismissing the original lawsuit filed against Bayhi and the diocese. The case stems from a claim by parents of a minor that their daughter confessed to Bayhi during the sacrament of reconciliation that she engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior with grown man who also attended their church. Court documents indicate the child was 12 years old at the time of the alleged sexual abuse.”
“This case gets complicated for a couple of reasons. While the common perception has been that priests cannot be forced to testify about confessions in the US because of ministerial privilege and the First Amendment, that privilege gets defined by each state separately. In Louisiana, the privilege attaches to the person offering the confession and not the priest. Once the penitent has revealed what was said — or perhaps more to the specific point in this case, alleges to have revealed what was said — the state can subpoena the priest to confirm or deny the testimony. In that sense, it’s akin to the lawyer-client privilege, which can be broken by the client.
On the other hand, lawyers don’t face eternal disbarment for testifying once a client has waived the privilege. Priests do, and face automatic expulsion from the Catholic Church for complying. There is nothing in church doctrine that requires a penitent to keep quiet about what transpires in the confessional, but the canon law is clear on this point. Can. 983 states that “The sacramental seal is inviolable; therefore it is absolutely forbidden for a confessor to betray in any way a penitent in words or in any manner and for any reason.” The punishment for breaking the seal is explicitly noted in Can. 1388: “A confessor who directly violates the sacramental seal incurs a latae sententiae [by the commission of the act] excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See; one who does so only indirectly is to be punished according to the gravity of the delict.”
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3. Thoughts?
Also from HotAir “Turns out the American public thinks Jesus is a pro-life liberal. Who knew?
The latest research from YouGov shows that on social issues in particular Americans tend to have more liberal attitudes than imagine say Jesus would have. 48% of the public supports legal abortion, compared to only 20% who say Jesus would support it, the biggest divide between public opinion and expectations of what Jesus would think. Only on one issue, the death penalty, do the public stake out a more conservative position, with 58% in favor of the death penalty for murderers compared to 34% who say that Jesus would support it. The smallest difference in attitude is on universal healthcare. 56% of Americans support universal healthcare and 55% of Americans say that Jesus would support it too…
Comparing Protestants and Catholics we see that Jesus’ imagined position amongst Protestants is more conservative than amongst Catholics. A third of Catholics say that Jesus would support gay marriage, compared to only 20% of Protestants. Most Catholics also say that Jesus would support universal healthcare and stricter gun laws, while in each case less than half of Protestants agree.
Abortion and gay marriage were the only issues tested in which more people thought Jesus would take the traditional conservative position than the liberal one. When asked if he’d support or oppose legal abortion, a clear majority of 20/52 overall said the latter:”
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4. Now we’re starting to see what they’ve been hiding. Well….. the stuff they haven’t already destroyed anyway.
Nope. No scandal here. 🙄
From TheWashingtonTimes “Just as the IRS tea party targeting scandal was erupting, Lois G. Lerner warned colleagues to “be cautious” about what information they put in emails because it could end up being turned over to Congress, according to an email message released Wednesday.
The 2013 email exchange between Ms. Lerner and fellow employees at the Internal Revenue Service also says that instant message conversations were probably never stored and weren’t checked during open-records requests — even though they also fell under the law requiring electronic records to be stored.”
“I was cautioning folks about email and how we have had several occasions where Congress has asked for emails and there has been an electronic search for responsive emails — so we need to be cautious about what we say in emails,” Ms. Lerner wrote in an April 9, 2013, message.
She went on to ask whether the instant message communications were stored automatically. When a tech staffer said no but the records could be stored if employees copied them, she replied, “Perfect.”
Yes, perfect…. for criminals trying to hide their actions.
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5. Ray Nagin has gotten ten years in prison for taking bribes and corruption.
From NBCNews “Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was sentenced Wednesday to 120 months in prison. U.S. District Judge Helen Berrigan also ordered Nagin to pay $84,000 in restitution. “What Ray Nagin did was sell his office over and over again,” lead prosecutor Matt Coman said after the sentencing. “The damage that C. Ray Nagin inflicted on this community … is incalculable.” He will report to a minimum security prison in September.
Nagin, 58, was convicted on Feb. 12 of accepting more than $500,000 worth of bribes and free trips from contractors in exchange for helping them clinch millions of dollars in city work when he was mayor of New Orleans, both pre- and post-Hurricane Katrina. He was found guilty of 20 out of 21 counts in the indictment. Nagin, a Democrat who was mayor for two terms from 2002 to 2010, denied he took any bribes.”
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6. Why worry about doing your job, when there’s more important things to do. Like pander to outraged libs.
From TheHill “Senate Democrats will offer legislation Wednesday morning to reverse last week’s Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Supreme Court ruling on contraception coverage, though the measure has no chance of passing the House.
The measure from Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) seeks to stop corporations from refusing federal healthcare coverage mandates on religious grounds.
Murray is spearheading the effort by Senate Democrats to turn the tables on Republican supporters of the ruling ahead of the midterm elections.
The Democrats, aware that the House would never defy the court’s ruling but confident the public sides with them, want to draw the GOP into a political fight over birth control in order to energize women voters.”
They can’t run on their pathetic record, so they’ll drag out the old “war on women” horse for another beating. How original… 🙄
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7. Not surprising. They don’t want people to see what’s going on in these facilities.
From TheBlaze “Department of Homeland Security officials are stonewalling lawmakers who try to make unannounced visits to immigrant detention facilities throughout the country and are closing off public roads along the U.S.-Mexico border in an effort to keep journalists from reporting on the growing illegal immigration crisis, federal law enforcement officials told TheBlaze.
The officials said senior supervisors have made scheduling visits ahead of time mandatory at detention facilities, turned back officials from unannounced visits, and that Border Patrol agents have been forced to clean up facilities and transfer illegal aliens from unauthorized holding cells before they are inspected by lawmakers. Reporters have also been stopped by DHS officials from traveling along public access roads near the Rio Grande, where most of illegal immigrant children and groups are crossing into the U.S.
The media crackdown along the Rio Grande happened shortly after TheBlaze visited the region last month and traveled along some of the more secluded roads along the river’s edge. TheBlaze witnessed dozens of illegal immigrants turning themselves in to Border Patrol agents after making the crossing into the United States and interviewed many of them before they were taken away.”
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8. Meanwhile, the pushback from the communities they’re dumping the illegals in continues.
From WatchDogWire “The current crisis on the southern border, involving tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, has now become a concern for Michiganders who live in a rural community with less than 3000 people.
Wolverine Human Services, a social services agency which typically helps needy Michigan children, is in the process of securing a contract and negotiating with the Office of Refugee Resettlement to bring between 60- 120 male illegal immigrants, between the ages of 12-17, to the small city of Vassar without any input from residents of the community.
About 100 concerned citizens, some bearing signs, gathered outside the Vassar City Hall last night to let public officials know what they think.”
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9. Liberal academia hate competing views that go against their dogma. So it’s not surprising that they would push abortion while calling a good alternative a bad thing in order to scare people away from it.
From CampusReform “The University of Chicago (UC) has published an “abortion guide” on its website providing information on abortion— including how to obtain one on campus.
The website—titled “abguide”—is a comprehensive guide detailing how to pay for abortion, where to find an abortion provider in the area, and what to expect from an abortion. While the site touts “options counseling,” it warns against crisis pregnancy centers, saying they could “lead to suicide” or “post-abortion stress disorder.”
UC’s abortion guide is based on principles outlined by the Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice, an organization that claims the fight for women’s reproductive justice through youth organizing, environmental justice, and workers rights. The group affirms their cause stems from the civil rights movement of the 1960’s.”
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News/Politics 10-16-13
What’s interesting in the news today?
First up today, some interesting words from Rand Paul. I’ll be honest, my first thought was I wonder what Dad thinks?
From CNSNews “Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said the mainstream media try to ignore it but there is a “worldwide war on Christianity” being waged by a “fanatical element of Islam,” and that U.S. policy towards Syria has resulted in America now sending weapons to “Islamic rebels who are allied with al-Qaida.”
“From Boston to Zanzibar, there’s a worldwide war on Christianity,” said Senator Paul at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 12. “Christians are being attacked around the world, but you won’t hear much about it on the evening news because the answer’s not convenient. It doesn’t fit the narrative we have been told about radical Islam.
“The president tries to gloss over who’s attacking and killing Christians,” said Paul. “The media describes the killings as ‘sectarian.’ But the truth is, a worldwide war on Christians is being waged by a fanatical element of Islam.”
Meanwhile, the war on Christians in the military continues here at home.
Also From CNSNews “After the Obama administration, for the second Sunday in a row, continued to prohibit approximately 50 Catholic priests from saying Mass and administering other sacraments at U.S. military facilities around the world, Father Ray Leonard, who serves as the Catholic chaplain at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia, filed suit Monday against the Department of Defense, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, the Department of the Navy, and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus.
DOD is prohibiting Father Leonard and the other Catholic priests from administering the sacraments and providing other services to their congregations even though two weeks ago Congress passed, and President Barack Obama signed, a law that instructed DOD to maintain on the job and keep paying contract employees who were supporting the troops.
DOD took this action because Hagel determined–after consulting with Attorney General Eric Holder’s Justice Department–that civilian Catholic priests, working under contract as chaplains, did not, among other things, “contribute to the morale” and “well-being” of service personnel.”
Shocked? Me neither. After all, they’re more likely to support the people in the first link than they are Christians anywhere.
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In other news from the continuing shut down saga….
From TheWashingtonPost “The Republican-controlled House canceled a vote Tuesday night on a plan to reopen the federal government and raise the debt ceiling after support from conservatives for the deal crumbled, leaving Washington without a clear path forward for avoiding a first-ever default on the nation’s debt.
Later Tuesday night, Senate leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell moved to pick up the pieces of the shattered House effort, with aides to both senators expressing optimism a deal could be soon at hand.
“Senator Reid and Senator McConnell have re-engaged in negotiations and are optimistic that an agreement is within reach,” said Adam Jentleson, spokesman for Reid (D-Nev.).
“Given tonight’s events, the leaders have decided to work toward a solution that would reopen the government and prevent default. They are optimistic an agreement can be reached,” said Don Stewart, spokesman to McConnell (R-Ky.).”
I’d be more optimistic if McCain and Senate Republicans didn’t appear to be stuck in “Surrender Monkey” mode.
And the plot thickens as well. This should add a sense of urgency to the whole affair.
From CNBC “Fitch Ratings put the US government’s “AAA” credit rating on ‘rating watch negative’ Tuesday, saying that the standstill on the U.S. debt ceiling negotiations risks undermining the effectiveness of the country’s government and political institutions.
U.S. stock index futures fell.
“Although Fitch continues to believe that the debt ceiling will be raised soon, the political brinkmanship and reduced financing flexibility could increase the risk of a U.S. default,” the rating agency wrote in a statement.”
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Next up, only 6,964,000 to go. If you do the math, at this rate, no way they hit 7 million by their deadline, even if you go with the Mail’s 51 thousand instead of the 36 thousand here. And where will the money to fund it and keep it afloat come from without actual policyholders to pay for it?
From NationalReview “Millward Brown Digital, a consultancy firm, released an analysis today estimating that only 36,000 people had signed up for insurance through the federal Obamacare exchange website.
According to Millward Brown Digital, there were 9.47 million unique visitors to healthcare.gov from the site’s launch on October 1 through October 5. Of those visitors, 1.3 million left the website for their state-run exchange and 3.72 million attempted to create an account on the site. Only 1.01 million successfully did so.”
“The analysis says that “Healthcare.gov was clearly unprepared to handle the huge spike in traffic witnessed on October 1st when it was visited by .9% (or 1 in 114) of everyone online in the U.S. This is roughly equivalent to the daily traffic on Target.com.”
Yeah…….. 🙄
Here’s more from the study, also not encouraging. 1 year delay? Sounds like 3 or 4 is more like it.
From TheWashingtonPost “The number of visitors to the federal government’s HealthCare.gov Web site plummeted 88 percent between Oct. 1 and Oct. 13, according to a new analysis of America’s online use, while less than half of 1 percent of the site’s visitors successfully enrolled for health insurance the first week.”
“Based on a sample of two million users — or 1 percent of all online users in the U.S. — which Millward Brown Digital has permission to track, it suggests that the rush of traffic administration officials cited as the cause of the site’s problems trailed off within a matter of days.”
“And Aneesh Chopra, who served as the White House’s first-ever chief technology officer during President Obama’s first term, said the analysis actually captured the public’s sustained interest in signing up for health insurance on the federal exchange. He noted that while the total number of visitors to the site is interesting, it matters much more that one million Americans created an online account.
“Account creation is always the holy grail. That’s the moment that matters,” Chopra said in an interview. “In one week, a million people began a process that will result in affordable coverage. That means a lot of people are going to ultimately get the product.”
Not surprised the former Obama admin employee tries to put a good spin on things. But the reality is he’s wrong. His “Holy Grail” is useless. It means nothing. What it needs are paying customers. Signing up is easy, forking over the cash for an actual policy is quite another matter. That isn’t happening in large enough numbers yet.
And Forbes says people will be shocked when they find out the cost. They say the system is designed to get all your info first, then you get to see the prices. They say that’s the case because the numbers will scare folks away.
From Forbes “A growing consensus of IT experts, outside and inside the government, have figured out a principal reason why the website for Obamacare’s federally-sponsored insurance exchange is crashing. Healthcare.gov forces you to create an account and enter detailed personal information before you can start shopping. This, in turn, creates a massive traffic bottleneck, as the government verifies your information and decides whether or not you’re eligible for subsidies. HHS bureaucrats knew this would make the website run more slowly. But they were more afraid that letting people see the underlying cost of Obamacare’s insurance plans would scare people away.
HHS didn’t want users to see Obamacare’s true costs
“Healthcare.gov was initially going to include an option to browse before registering,” report Christopher Weaver and Louise Radnofsky in the Wall Street Journal. “But that tool was delayed, people familiar with the situation said.” Why was it delayed? “An HHS spokeswoman said the agency wanted to ensure that users were aware of their eligibility for subsidies that could help pay for coverage, before they started seeing the prices of policies.”
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And last one for today, was the difficulty with the SNAP program over the weekend really a computer glitch? Or a dry run to gauge reaction for this?
From WeaselZippers “The United States Dept Of Agriculture is the governmental body tasked with overseeing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or “SNAP.”
According to a memo dated Oct 11 2013 and circulated among SNAP program administrators for all states that participate, the USDA recommends they begin withholding benefits from citizens beginning in November.
Is the US Dept of Agriculture trying to create panic among program participants as we saw previously?“
Is this the next move in the make it hurt campaign the Obama admin is engaging in?
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News/Politics 5-7-13
What’s interesting in the news today?
We’ll start off with this one. A frightening story on the kidnapping of 3 women. They were all abducted as teens over a 10 year period , but thankfully all are now free. Their apparent kidnappers are in custody. Police will release more info this morning. From TheAP
“The woman’s voice was frantic and breathless, and she was choking back tears. “Help me. I’m Amanda Berry,” she told a 911 dispatcher. “I’ve been kidnapped and I’ve been missing for 10 years and I’m, I’m here, I’m free now.”
Those words led police to a house near downtown Cleveland where Berry and two other women who vanished a decade ago were found Monday, elating family members and friends who’d longed to see them again.”
“At first Tejeda said she didn’t want to believe who the young woman was. “You’re not Amanda Berry,” she insisted. “Amanda Berry is dead.”
But when Berry told her she’d been kidnapped and held captive, Tejeda said she gave her the telephone to call police, who arrived within minutes and then took the other women from the house.”
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I hate to say I told you so, but…..
Welcome to the Arab Spring. In Libya, Al-Qaeda is blooming. From TheDailyBeast
“A rare interview with a top Libyan intelligence official reveals that, as an unintended consequence of the French intervention to quash a radical Muslim insurgency in nearby Mali, which forced al Qaeda in the Mahgreb to move north earlier this year, Libya has now become the main base of the terror group in the region, heightening the instability of what is already a volatile country.”
““Libya has become AQIM’s headquarters,” says the intelligence source, adding that in just the last few weeks three new al Qaeda camps have opened in southern Libya.”
“Disgruntled militiamen in league with the Muslim Brotherhood last week applied a choke hold on the government by besieging key ministries in an effort to coerce approval of a measure that is likely to collapse of the government of Ali Zeidan, plunging Libya into even greater political turmoil and weakening Libya’s ability to battle jihadists.”
On the ropes huh?
And we helped do it. We’re doing the same in Syria. And we’re about to give them more arms.
And our govt. won’t lift a finger to stop them, even when American lives are at stake. From FoxNews
“On the night of Sept. 11, as the Obama administration scrambled to respond to the Benghazi terror attacks, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and a key aide effectively tried to cut the department’s own counterterrorism bureau out of the chain of reporting and decision-making, according to a “whistle-blower” witness from that bureau who will soon testify to the charge before Congress, Fox News has learned.
That witness is Mark I. Thompson, a former Marine and now the deputy coordinator for operations in the agency’s counterterrorism bureau. Sources tell Fox News Thompson will level the allegation against Clinton during testimony on Wednesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.
Fox News has also learned that another official from the counterterrorism bureau — independently of Thompson — voiced the same complaint about Clinton and Under Secretary for Management Patrick Kennedy to trusted national security colleagues back in October.”
Certainly explains the order to stand down as well.
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Meanwhile back in the States, our govt found yet another way to get more tax money from us. From TheAP
“The Senate sided with traditional retailers and financially strapped state and local governments Monday by passing a bill that would widely subject online shopping — for many a largely tax-free frontier — to state sales taxes.
The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 69 to 27, getting support from Republicans and Democrats alike. But opposition from some conservatives who view it as a tax increase will make it a tougher sell in the House. President Barack Obama has conveyed his support for the measure.”
“”We ought to have a structure in place in the states that treats all retail the same,” said Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation. “Small retailers are collecting (sales tax) on the first dollar of any sale they make, and it’s only fair that other retailers who are selling to those same customers the same product have those same obligations.””
Sure. That’s the only motivation for retailers, and the extra money the govt pulls in has nothing to do with it for our elected officials. Riiiight. 🙄
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But hey it’s not all bad. The President is gonna concentrate on jobs now too. Apparently it took 4 1/2 years to focus that laser of his on jobs. He’s even gonna tour the country and tell folks about. Which will waste tons of money. Again. The Never-ending Campaign rolls on. From TheWashingtonPost
“President Obama will travel this week to Austin, where the jobs market has been booming, to kick off a new focus on the middle class and economic growth.
Obama is planning a campaign-style “Middle Class Jobs & Opportunity Tour” across the country, beginning Thursday in Austin, a magnet for new tech jobs. The push seems designed to help jump-start the president’s second term.”
“Now, White House officials hope that Obama, by campaigning outside of Washington, can galvanize the public and pressure Congress to back his legislative agenda, including economic measures he outlined in February’s State of the Union address.”
I love it. Hey, if you’re gonna try and grab credit for some good economic news, where else but Texas? He won’t mention that they got there by doing the opposite of what he would do, and in spite of him and his policies.
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And this last one….. The printable firearm has arrived. From HotAir
“Just to establish a baseline of what we’re talking about here, any of you who regularly watch shows like How it’s Made, Modern Marvels or any of the other science and technology offerings on cable probably already know about 3-D printing. (One of the featured manufacturers of these machines has a nice video tutorial on it.) Basically, a 3-D model is designed and the “printer” lays down one layer after another of material until the model is produced. And some of these machines are already getting down to the affordable range.
So what would you do if you got one? Well, if you’re Cody Wilson, you’d print a gun of course. Forbes has the exclusive.”
““We want to show this principle: That a handgun is printable,” says Wilson, a 24-year-old second-year law student at the University of Texas. “You don’t need to be able to put 200 rounds through it…It only has to fire once. But even if the design is a little unworkable, it doesn’t matter, as long as it has that guarantee of lethality.””
So, sure as the sun rising in the East, Dems wanna ban it.
“New York congressman Steve Israel has responded to Defense Distributed’s work by introducing a bill that would renew the Undetectable Firearms Act with new provisions aimed specifically at 3D printed components. In January, personal 3D printing firm Makerbot removed all gun components from Thingiverse, its popular site for hosting users’ printable designs.
More on the banning, and some good ol’ fashioned media fear mongering, from TheNYDailyNews
“The future just got a lot scarier.
A Texas company is set to release blueprints for making a plastic gun with a 3-D printer — a development Sen. Chuck Schumer called “stomach-churning” Sunday.
Defense Distributed, a collective of gun access advocates headed by self-described “free-market anarchist” Cody Wilson, has announced it made such an untraceable gun with the new plastic-making technology. The nonprofit Texas group intends to post blueprints for “The Liberator” (pictured) online this week.
The Liberator may look like a toy, but “this gun can fire regular bullets,” Schumer said, calling for legislation outlawing the technology’s weapons potential.”
The Daily News has no problem being a mouthpiece for anything anti-gun. Even if that means publicly attacking anyone who dares disagree. Like this, from TheNYDailyNews
“Sarah Palin showed up at the NRA convention the other day, which was merely perfect. She belonged there as much as anybody in the hall just because from the start, from the time John McCain picked her out of the chorus, Palin has most appealed to mean, dumb, angry crowds exactly like the one she found in Houston.
Palin should have worn a prom dress, but on this occasion wore a T-shirt that read “Women Hunt.” In her case, that means hunting for attention.
Or relevance.”
“She wants to be a populist and a patriot, the way the phonies cheering her on Friday think they’re patriots, and brave defenders of the Second Amendment. But all Palin did this time was turn herself out for the craziest and creepiest gun lovers on the planet. It is the same as turning yourself out for gun manufacturers.”
He goes on to whine and name call some more after calling Wayne LaPierre her pimp.
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News/Politics 3-8-13
What’s interesting out there today?
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First an UPDATE to a story from yesterday. Senators Paul and Cruz, who also spoke during the filibuster, have introduced legislation to limit drone strikes against American citizens.
The civil war between conservatives and moderate/liberals in the Republican party will continue. They’re ignoring the leadership and doing what they believe to be right. Meanwhile, the old guard led by McCain and Graham whine about grandstanding by Paul (while grandstanding themselves), and how wonderful dinner with Obama was.
From CruzSenate.Gov
“U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rand Paul (R-KY) today introduced legislation to prohibit drone killings of U.S. citizens on U.S. soil if they do not represent an imminent threat.
“Our Constitution restrains government power,” Cruz said. “The federal government may not use drones to kill U.S. citizens on U.S. soil if they do not represent an imminent threat. The Commander in Chief does, of course, have the power to protect Americans from imminent attack, and nothing in this legislation interferes with that power.”
Key bill text: The Federal Government may not use a drone to kill a citizen of the United States who is located in the United States. The prohibition under this subsection shall not apply to an individual who poses an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to another individual. Nothing in this section shall be construed to suggest that the Constitution would otherwise allow the killing of a citizen of the United States in the United States without due process of law.”
Some on the left are coming out in agreement with Paul’s way of thinking as well. Plus a video of tone deaf McCain, if you want to watch it.
From HotAir
“Erika already touched on this but watch the vid too to see one of the more memorably tone-deaf performances in modern political history. Whatever your feelings about Paul’s position on drones, there’s no denying the truth of what Philip Klein says here:
A lot of the outpouring of conservative support for Paul’s filibuster on Obama’s drone policy went beyond the libertarian and anti-interventionist blocs of the movement who were also deeply troubled by Bush era counter-terrorism policies. Even those conservatives who may not agree with all of Paul’s views on presidential war powers were supportive if for no other reason than they relished seeing a conservative win a messaging war with Obama. It was impossible to dismiss this as just a right-wing Tea Party attack, because a lot of liberals agree with the substance of Paul’s criticism. This filibuster had to get under Obama’s skin. As much as anything else, he was elected on a promise to turn the page on the Bush era and conduct the war against terrorism with greater concern for civil liberties. Watching Paul’s filibuster last night, I couldn’t help but think that this is how Obama imagines himself – a principled crusader for justice. When Bush and Cheney were running the show, whatever could be said about them, at least they were consistent in supporting broad presidential powers in the realm of national security. But it’s hard to look back at the pre-2009 Obama and see him as anything other than an arrogant hypocrite now — somebody who thinks a muscular executive branch is okay so long as he’s running it.”
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Here’s another Update to one of yesterday’s stories. The White House has pulled the planned International Woman of Courage Award for the anti-Semitic/anti-American remarks made by Samira Ibrahim.
From TheHuffingtonPost
“The Obama administration is postponing an award for an Egyptian activist who rallied worldwide attention against forced “virginity tests” on female protesters because of anti-American and anti-Semitic comments discovered on her Twitter account.
The State Department announced earlier this week that Samira Ibrahim would be among 10 recipients of the International Women of Courage award presented by Secretary of State John Kerry and first lady Michelle Obama on Friday.
But State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Thursday the U.S. would hold off on awarding Ibrahim while officials investigate the tweets, which include support for attacks against U.S. diplomatic installations and praise for a terrorist assault against Israeli citizens in Bulgaria.”
Meanwhile, she doubles down. From TheWeeklyStandard
“Finally, Ibrahim herself has spoken, writing in Arabic on her Twitter page. Egyptian democracy activist Mina Rezkalla provides the translation: “I refuse to apologize to the Zionist lobby in America regarding my previous anti-Zionist statements under pressure from American government therefore they withdrew the award.”
This would seem to settle the question as to whether or not her page had been “stolen.” Now all that’s left is for the State Department to demand that Ibrahim reimburse American taxpayers for her trip to the United States.”
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And while we’re on the subject of anti-Semites, it’s off to Harvard for the next one.
From IsraelNationalNews
“In Harvard University’s latest attempt to promote the delegitimization of the state of Israel, Jewish students in freshman and upper class dormitories received mock eviction notices in light of “Israel Apartheid Week”, which is currently being organized on college and university campuses worldwide.
The campaign, organized by the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee, distributed notices at the beginning of March which read, “We regret to inform you that your suite is scheduled for demolition in the next three days”, a reference to the group’s views regarding Israel’s treatment of the Arab population.
The Anti Defamation League (ADL) expressed outrage over the prestigious university’s latest attempts to daunt Jewish students and demonize the state of Israel saying, “This tactic is designed to silence and intimidate pro-Israel advocates at Harvard and campuses around the country.”
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Hugo Chavez’s supporters are convinced foul play was involved. The implications are that the US was responsible. And like any good lefty, Chavez said we should blame George Bush. 🙄
From TheWashingtonPost
“Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had been fighting cancer for two years when he died this afternoon at age 58, but some Venezuelans — including new President Nicolas Maduro — are convinced foul play is to blame.
Maduro promised on state television that a “scientific commission” would look into Chavez’s death and the possibility that his “historical enemies” had somehow induced his disease, reported El Diario. On social media and in several news outs, that “historical enemy” was interpreted as the United States.”
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This is just disturbing. This is yet another indictment against the public school system. Throwing money at it has solved nothing. But that will be what they say they need to fix it.
From NYCBSLocal
“Nearly 80 percent of New York City high school graduates need to relearn basic skills before they can enter the City University’s community college system.”
“When they graduated from city high schools, students in a special remedial program at the Borough of Manhattan Community College couldn’t make the grade.
They had to re-learn basic skills — reading, writing and math — first before they could begin college courses.”
“In sheer numbers it means that nearly 11,000 kids who got diplomas from city high schools needed remedial courses to re-learn the basics.”
And that’s just one major city, and it’s not the only one.
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And this one I’m putting up because all too often we hear rich people, mostly liberals, talking about the rich paying more. The problem is, they never volunteer more of their money to help out. Well this one is, and no, he’s not a liberal. Warren Buffet could learn a lot from this guy. And unlike Warren, I bet this guy doesn’t own millions in back taxes either.
From HotAir
“The White House’s transparently petty decision to inflict sequester’s pain on America’s middle-schoolers (as if those years aren’t tough enough) revealed its sequestration doomsaying as silly and its post-doomsaying behavior as spiteful. In a rare good PR turn for Republicans, what was meant to make them look like heartless meanies has held the White House up for ridicule for its utter unwillingness to prioritize. Upon hearing the estimates that the White House’s cancellation of tours might save the administration $18,000-$72,000 a week, Fox News anchor Eric Bolling— I’m sure they’re fans at the White House— decided to come to the aid of The Children.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, anchor Eric Bolling announced that he will offer to personally pay the costs to keep the tours at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue open for a week.
During Thursday evening’s episode of “The Five,” Bolling elaborated. “I will absolutely write the check if they open the doors next week.”
“I’ll make you a deal Mr. President…Let these families take their White House tours next week and I’ll cover the added expenses. Word is it will cost around $74,000.”
Wandering Views 