veteran funding

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News/Politics 10-9-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

A new low in the shutdown fight. Denying benefits to the families of those killed in combat. In many cases this benefit is used to help with burial and travel for the families. This is for no other reason but spite. But thankfully, a group has stepped up to help.

From NBCNews  “A Maryland foundation is stepping into the breach to cover death benefits for the families of fallen service members that were suspended during the government shutdown — including the families of five killed in Afghanistan over the weekend.

In what veterans call an outrageous slight after the ultimate sacrifice, the shuttered federal government is withholding a $100,000 payment, known as the death gratuity, that is normally wired to relatives of fallen service members.”

“It is upsetting because my husband died for his country, and now his family is left to worry,” said Ashley Peters of Springfield, Mo., whose husband, Jeremy, was a special agent assigned to the Army’s 5th Military Police Battalion and was among the five killed. “My husband always said if something happened to him we would be taken care of.”

“As outrage over the lapse built Tuesday, the Fisher House Foundation of Bethesda, Md., offered to cover advance grants until the government can make reimbursements to the foundation.”

One father blames the Tea Party for this. But the order for this came from the Obama White House, not Congress. His anger seems misdirected.

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VA offices and benefits are being used to inflict more pain.

From TheHill  “Regional offices run by the Department of Veterans Affairs closed Tuesday as  furloughs began for 7,000 employees of the agency’s Benefits  Administration  (VBA).”

““All public access to VBA regional offices and facilities will be suspended …  due to a lack of funds,” Veterans Affairs Department spokeswoman Victoria Dillon  said in a statement provided to The Hill.”

“House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.)  slammed Senate Democrats for not agreeing to piecemeal bills to fund the VA. The  ball, Miller said, is now in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) court.  

“Harry Reid could stop these furloughs and ensure veterans’  benefits immediately by acting on either of these bills, but instead he’s  content to let them gather dust on his desk,” he said in a statement. “It’s well  past time for Harry Reid to stop the games and fund VA. If not, he owes  America’s veterans an explanation for why he’s putting their benefits at risk.”

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This admin has specifically targeted veterans, but they’re not the only victims. Here’s the top six.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “A partial government shutdown just wasn’t going to hit people the way the Obama administration needed it to, so officials resorted to some unprecedented acts to make Americans feel the pain, as Conservative Intel’s David Freddoso notes:

Most people — even the poor in state-run safety net programs — don’t have that many interactions with the federal government agencies affected right now by the shutdown.

So it’s a challenge to make people notice that your agency is vital to the survival of the Republic. The feds have to apply a lot of force and behave in unsubtle ways to make you angry with Congress.”

Folks are cited for trespassing and threatened with arrest for trying to access parks and monuments. Well, except for the rally for immigration reform, they got a pass.

Aren’t we at least supposed to get cake or something? Maybe a circus?

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The President held an hour-long press conference Republican Bashfest. Funny thing though, the press got him in person for an hour with questions, and yet not one asked about the failure that is the ObamaCare Exchanges. Gee, I wonder why……. 🙄

From Politico  “President Barack Obama sustained an hour-long press conference today without a single question about his signature healthcare law and the glitches that continue to plague the insurance exchanges — a point that frustrated several conservatives.

“Explain to me how in a dozen questions the second biggest story of the week, the healthcare.gov debacle, doesn’t even come up,” Brendan Buck, the press secretary for House Speaker John Boehner, asked in an email to POLITICO.

“”Questions from WH press corps are pathetic,” Brit Hume, the Fox News analyst tweeted. “As of this moment, not a single tough or challenging inquiry.”

Liberal outlets are blaming……. wait for it…… wait……

The shutdown. 🙄

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That’s a shame, because they could have asked some good ones. Like maybe ask why our personal info will be shared with law enforcement and for audits, and why you hide that fact in the fine print?

From TheWeeklyStandard  “Maryland’s Health Connection, the state’s Obamacare marketplace, has been plagued by delays in the first days of open enrollment.  If users are able to endure long page-loading delays, they are presented with the website’s privacy policy, a ubiquitous fine-print feature on websites that often go unread. Nevertheless, users are asked to check off a box that they agree to the terms.

The policy contains many standard statements about information automatically collected regarding Internet browsers and IP addresses, temporary “cookies” used by the site, and website accessibility.  However, at least two conditions may give some users pause before proceeding.

The first is regarding personal information submitted with an application for those users who follow through on the sign up process all the way to the end.  The policy states that all information to help in applying for coverage and even for making a payment will be kept strictly confidential and only be used to carry out the function of the marketplace.  There is, however, an exception: “[W]e may share information provided in your application with the appropriate authorities for law enforcement and audit activities.”

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Here’s an update on that whole Obama saved GM thing. Not only are the taxpayers out billions, they managed to create a new sub-prime bubble that’s about to burst. And we’ve known all along they were fudging the sales numbers by overstocking inventory. That’s showing up now too.

From TheFreeBeacon  “General Motors of Canada President Kevin Williams is warning that subprime loans could doom the auto industry just as it did the housing industry in 2007.

Williams told the editorial board of Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper on Monday that record Canadian auto sales could be attributed to cheap credit loans.”

“Using subprime loans and easy credit to move cars off the lot may not be GM Canada’s goal, but its parent company, bailed-out, Detroit-based General Motors, has been moving in that direction, as the Washington Free Beacon reported in February. Nearly 90 percent of loans issued by GM Financial were subprime.”

“GMF has the riskiest lending portfolio of any major car company: 96 percent of its customers have credit scores below 660.  GM’s lending habits parallel those in the housing market leading up to the 2008 crash…GM finished the year with 8.5 percent of loans in delinquency, the highest rate since 2010 and larger than the delinquency rates at Ford, Toyota, and Honda combined.”

They’ve learned nothing. Well, to be fair they have learned they can milk the taxpayer when they have friends like Obama.

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by

News/Politics 10-4-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

It’s been an interesting few days hasn’t it? In the past few days the perceived enemies of the President have been called extremists, terrorists, jihadists, murderers, un-American, hostage takers, arsonists, accused of being anarchists, and of holding a gun to the country’s heads.

And yet actual terrorists, jihadists, extremists, murderers (and the rest of the list) who actually do these things, are labeled as moderate rebels, and freedom-fighters by the same people. And the same RINO’s too. Go figure. Actual enemies of this country are treated better than the Republicans. Very sad, not to mention cowardly.

New tone? Anyone?

From TheWashingtonTimes  “Democrats, who have long posed as the party of peaceniks and doves, have been  anything but during the great rhetorical war of 2013. In fact, the party of  George McGovern and Jimmy Carter has been mad as hell as of late, leading an  offensive of bombastic insults and rhetorical bullying that has dominated the  government shutdown. It’s a perfect storm, with Democrats leading the pace.

President Obama called Republicans “reckless and irresponsible,” casting the  Grand Old Party in the role of villain. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid,  Nevada Democrat, referred to Republicans as “anarchists,” and House Minority  Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, deemed Republicans “legislative  arsonists.””

““Democrats have hurled every insult imaginable, such as ‘terrorist,’ ‘arsonist’  and ‘murderers’ against Americans who differ with President Obama. Despite their  threats and childish behavior, the speaker has been steadfast in his vision to  reduce the size and scope of government and treat everyone fairly,” Mr. Stockman  said.”

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Liberal religious leader Jim Wallis gets in on the act as well. He says these “political extremists” are acting in an unbiblical manner. Thoughts?

From TheBlaze  “Progressive faith leader Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners, is joining a chorus of Americans who are frustrated over the government shutdown. In a video monologue this week, he unleashed his views on the matter, calling the closure “unbiblical” and hitting back at the “political extremists” he believes are responsible for it.

While most of the debate surrounding the shutdown is partisan in nature, Wallis argues that the conundrum is deeper than mere strife between the parties; in fact, he says it’s spiritual.

“There is a deeper problem here than politics. There’s a theological problem,” he proclaims in the clip. “As a Christian I want to say shutting down government is unbiblical. Yes, that’s what I’m saying — it’s unbiblical.”

“Wallis goes on to instruct readers to explore what the Bible has to say on the matter and specifically cites the 13th chapter of the Book of Romans, which discusses the importance of complying with government.”

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Harry Reid yet again shows himself to be “anti-veteran” by even his low standards.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “Senate Democrats blocked four resolutions to fund government programs, including paying the National Guard and opening national parks, as Republicans offered the limited measures in an attempt to win the government shutdown fight by financing popular programs and leaving those they oppose untouched.

“Unbelievably, today Senate Democrats went on record to oppose funding for National Guard and Reserve salaries, veterans’ services, lifesaving medicine and cures, and national parks and museums,” Senate Republican Conference chairman John Thune, R-S.D., said in a release following the procedural battle.

“Congress unanimously passed a bill to ensure active-duty military personnel are paid during this lapse in government funding, and it’s unclear why Senate Democrats wouldn’t pass similar measures to fund these important services,” Thune said.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., asked for unanimous consent to pass funding for the Veterans Affairs Department and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, requested unanimous consent to pass a bill funding the national parks and monuments. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., rejected both.”

He won’t fund veteran services to try and force people to give in to his wishes, but they’ll fund terrorist rebels in other countries with no strings attached.

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Folks on the Gulf Coast are preparing for Tropical Storm Karen, which appears to be turning into a full-fledged hurricane.

From AccuWeather  “Tropical Storm Karen has formed in the Gulf of Mexico and will move into the southern United States this weekend with heavy rain, gusty winds and rough seas.

Karen will continue to move along a curved northward path over the central Gulf of Mexico through Friday. During Saturday, Karen will begin to turn toward the northeast and will make landfall along the upper Gulf Coast from southeast of New Orleans to west of Panama City, Fla.

There is a chance Karen becomes a hurricane prior to making landfall. Shortly after being officially named a tropical storm, Karen’s maximum sustained winds had reached 65 mph. The threshold for a tropical system to become a hurricane is sustained winds of 74 mph.”

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