News/Politics 3-24-15

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. You knew they wouldn’t take this lying down.

From NationalJournal  “Telecom companies filed a pair of lawsuits Monday in an attempt to reverse the Federal Communications Commission’s new net neutrality rules.

The suits are expected to be the opening shots in a long legal war against the controversial regulations.

USTelecom, which represents AT&T, Verizon, and other companies, filed its lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, while Alamo Broadband, a small Texas-based wireless Internet provider, filed its suit in the U.S. appeals court based in New Orleans.

“The focus of our legal appeal will be on the FCC’s decision to reclassify broadband Internet access service as a public utility service after a decade of amazing innovation and investment under the FCC’s previous light-touch approach,” Jon Banks, the senior vice president for USTelecom, said in a statement. “As our industry has said many times, we do not block or throttle traffic and FCC rules prohibiting blocking or throttling will not be the focus of our appeal.””

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2. But will the RINO’s vote for it?

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “Conservative members of the House Republican caucus outbid their party’s official budget Monday, offering a plan to cut planned government spending by more than $7.1 trillion and balance the budget in just six years.

The aggressive plan to cut spending from all areas of government and erase deficits was introduced by the Republican Study Committee, a group of congressmen organized to push policy to the right.

The House this week will consider the budget authored by Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price of Georgia. The Republican Study Committee budget outline will not supplant that plan, but it does outline where some conservatives would like to steer the government.

The conservative budget “is a bold, conservative plan that will balance the budget, rein in rampant overspending and restore solvency to America’s safety-net programs,” said Bill Flores of Texas, the head of the Republican Study Committee.”

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3. Democrats will not like this.

From HotAir  “Or maybe not such a surprise after all. The path to today’s Supreme Court decision to refuse an appeal by the ACLU against Wisconsin’s voter-ID law has been strewn with appellate decisions that supported its implementation, although a last-minute stay by SCOTUS kept it out of play for the midterms. The law will fully take effect for the 2016 election, which may complicate efforts by Democrats to keep the state blue:

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday left intact a new Republican-backed law in Wisconsin that requires voters to present photo identification when they cast ballots.

The court declined to hear an appeal filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the law. …”

“The SCOTUS stay in October had more to do with the timing of the law, thanks to the scheduling of the challenges through the courts. Regardless, the election still went in favor of Scott Walker and the GOP, preventing Democrats from repealing the voter-ID provision before it could come into effect.

This will put a huge dent in the Obama administration’s efforts to squelch voter-ID laws in other states. In order to grant certiorari, the ACLU would have needed four justices to vote to add it to the docket. The fact that they couldn’t even move the liberal wing to unite against a voter-ID law shows that the justices consider the issue settled. Requirements for identification at polling stations are legitimate, in the eyes of the court, as long as enough options for no-cost qualifying ID exist to keep the poor from being disenfranchised.”

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4. Obama’s former professor says he’s “burning the Constitution” with his new EPA rules.

Also from HotAir  “What happens when two Constitutional law scholars collide? Usually, the more learned of the two prevails, but don’t bet on it in this case. Harvard University Professor Lawrence Tribe, described as a mentor to Barack Obama, accused his protege of “burning the Constitution” in the EPA’s efforts to regulate carbon dioxide. Speaking to a hearing of the Energy and Power subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce panel on Monday, Tribe blasted the EPA and the Obama administration for running roughshod over the separation-of-powers doctrine, a concept that can best be described as ConLaw 101:

“EPA possesses only the authority granted to it by Congress,” Tribe told lawmakers in a hearing Tuesday. “Its gambit here raises serious questions under the separation of powers… because EPA is attempting to exercise lawmaking power that belongs to Congress and judicial power that belongs to the federal courts.”

“Burning the Constitution should not become part of our national energy policy,” Tribe added.

Tribe, along with other legal and energy experts, appeared before Congress Tuesday to give testimony on the EPA’s “Clean Power Plan” — the agency’s plan to cut carbon dioxide emissions from new and existing power plants. Tribe told lawmakers the CPP is unconstitutional and outside the agency’s authority.

“EPA is attempting an unconstitutional trifecta: usurping the prerogatives of the States, Congress and the Federal Courts all at once,” Tribe told lawmakers.”

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5. Oh goody.

From CNSNews  “According to weekly detention and departure reports from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, there were 167,527 non-detained convicted criminal aliens in the United States as of Jan. 26 of this year, a congressional hearing revealed Thursday.

House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah.) read the statistic aloud Thursday durin a hearing examining ICE’s priorities and procedures for removing criminal aliens currently living in the United States.

“In that report, it said that there are 167,527 non-detained, final-order convicted criminals on the loose in the United States,” Chaffetz pointed out while questioning ICE Director Sarah Saldana.

“These are people that are here illegally, get caught, convicted, and you release back out into the public,” he said, adding that some of the crimes committed by those who have been released include homicide, sex crimes, child pornography, drunk driving, robbery and kidnapping.

The federal government announced Wednesday that ICE had released about 30,000 convicted criminal aliens from ICE custody in 2014 alone, according to The Washington Times, which first reported the statistic.”

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6. Israel’s not the only one who should follow this advice.

From TheNYPost  “First he comes for the banks and health care, uses the IRS to go after critics, politicizes the Justice Department, spies on journalists, tries to curb religious freedom, slashes the military, throws open the borders, doubles the debt and nationalizes the Internet.

He lies to the public, ignores the Constitution, inflames race relations and urges Latinos to punish Republican “enemies.” He abandons our ­allies, appeases tyrants, coddles ­adversaries and uses the Crusades as an excuse for inaction as Islamist terrorists slaughter their way across the Mideast.

Now he’s coming for Israel.

Barack Obama’s promise to transform America was too modest. He is transforming the whole world before our eyes. Do you see it yet?

Against the backdrop of the tsunami of trouble he has unleashed, Obama’s pledge to “reassess” America’s relationship with Israel cannot be taken lightly. Already paving the way for an Iranian nuke, he is hinting he’ll also let the other anti-Semites at Turtle Bay have their way. That could mean American support for punitive Security Council resolutions or for Palestinian statehood initiatives. It could mean both, or something worse.”

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News/Politics 4-29-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Another “Phony Scandal” update. I recommend you read the whole thing, it’s pretty detailed. This is Obama/Clinton foreign policy legacy.

From TheMailOnline  “The Citizens Commission on Benghazi, a self-selected group of former top military officers, CIA insiders and think-tankers, declared Tuesday in Washington that a seven-month review of the deadly 2012 terrorist attack has determined that it could have been prevented – if the U.S. hadn’t been helping to arm al-Qaeda militias throughout Libya a year earlier.

‘The United States switched sides in the war on terror with what we did in Libya, knowingly facilitating the provision of weapons to known al-Qaeda militias and figures,’ Clare Lopez, a member of the commission and a former CIA officer, told MailOnline.

She blamed the Obama administration for tacitly approving the diversion of half of a $1 billion Qatari arms shipment to al-Qaeda-linked militants.

‘Remember, these weapons that came into Benghazi were permitted to enter by our armed forces who were blockading the approaches from air and sea,’ Lopez claimed. ‘They were permitted to come in. … [They] knew these weapons were coming in, and that was allowed..

‘The intelligence community was part of that, the Department of State was part of that, and certainly that means that the top leadership of the United States, our national security leadership, and potentially Congress – if they were briefed on this – also knew about this.’

Nope, nothin’ to see there…. 🙄

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2. The political fraud about voter fraud.

From TheWSJ  “The Obama administration has been ramping up its rhetoric about the evil of voter identification as part of the run-up to the midterm elections. In January, Attorney General Eric Holder told MSNBC that voter fraud “simply does not exist to the extent that would warrant” voter ID laws, adding that many who favor such measures do so in order to “depress the vote.” Vice President Joe Biden claimed in February that new voter ID laws in North Carolina, Alabama and Texas were motivated by “hatred” and “zealotry.”

In an April 11 speech to Al Sharpton‘s National Action Network, President Obama recited statistics purporting to show that voter fraud was extremely rare. The “real voter fraud,” he said, “is people who try to deny our rights by making bogus arguments about voter fraud.”

These arguments themselves are bogus.”

“The president’s speech may have been red meat for his base and good for fundraising. But it failed to engage the serious issues relating to election integrity. The coming months don’t promise an improvement.”

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3. In 20% of American families, no one works.

From CNSNews  “In 20 percent of American families in 2013, according to new data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), not one member of the family worked.

A family, as defined by the BLS, is a group of two or more people who live together and who are related by birth, adoption or marriage. In 2013, there were 80,445,000 families in the United States and in 16,127,000—or 20 percent–no one had a job.

The BLS designates a person as “employed” if “during the survey reference week” they “(a) did any work at all as paid employees; (b) worked in their own business, profession, or on their own farm; (c) or worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in an enterprise operated by a member of the family.”

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4. An Egyptian court’s crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood leaders continues.

From YahooNews  “An Egyptian court sentenced 682 alleged Islamists and Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie to death on Monday, a lawyer and prosecutor said, after two brief sessions the defence partly boycotted.

The same court in the southern province of Minya also reversed 492 of 529 death sentences it passed in March, commuting most of those to life in prison.

The court, presided over by judge Said Youssef Sabry, had sparked an international outcry with its initial sentencing last month amid an extensive crackdown on supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.”

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5. China has restarted it’s campaign against Christian churches within it’s borders.

From TheTelegraph  “Demolition teams began destroying parts of a Chinese church that has become a symbol of resistance to the Communist Party’s draconian clutch on religion, activists and witnesses said on Monday.

Sanjiang church in Wenzhou, a wealthy coastal city known as the “Jerusalem of the East”, made headlines earlier this month when thousands of Christians formed a human shield around its entrance after plans for its demolition were announced.

Church members accused Communist leaders in Zhejiang province of ordering an anti-church crackdown and claimed there were plans to completely or partially demolish at least 10 places of worship.”

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6. Israeli Christians have seen what happened to their brethren in Muslim countries during the Arab Spring. Now they want to help protect theirs from the same fate.

From TheGlobalPost  “For the first time in its history, Israel’s army is getting ready to send voluntary military enlistment notices to Christian Arab citizens when they turn eighteen.

The unlikely impetus behind the move is none other than the Arab Spring, the popular rebellion revolutionizing the Arab world and in the process recalibrating the relationship between Christian citizens and the State of Israel. Shocked by a new climate featuring violence against Christians in Egypt and Libya, among other countries, and displacement in Syria, some of Israel’s Christian Arabs are pushing for greater participation in their home state.”

“The name alone — “Israeli Christians Recruitment Forum,” rather than “Arab Christians Recruitment Forum” — is a strong statement in this region. Naddaf has lost patience, he says, “with the Arab world telling us what we can do and what we should feel.”

“In light of the persecution of Christians in Arab countries just because they are Christians,” Naddaf said in a meeting with journalists this week following the army’s announcement, “our youth feels they must make a sacrifice for the country that is protecting them.” He believes that these notices, which still aren’t equivalent to the obligatory draft others face, will “open the door … to full participation in society for Christians.” But apart from an explicit welcome, the notices will include details on a possible preliminary meeting at the individual’s nearest IDF enlistment office, and reduce the amount of energy Christian youths need to expend volunteering for a service other citizens are brought into automatically.”

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News/Politics 3-21-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

Open thread, with a few from me to start off.

1. The White House and other opponents of Voter ID will not be pleased with this.

From HotAir  “Under the oh so august leadership of Attorney General Eric Holder, the Obama administration has been doing their very best to thwart various states in their individual endeavors to implement voter ID laws. In this latest iteration of that ongoing battle, the Federal Election Assistance Commission has so far refused to help state officials in Kansas and Arizona change federal election registration forms to include proof of citizenship. Both states have new voter-ID measures that require new voters to provide a birth certificate, passport, or other documentation to prove their citizenship, while the federal registration form only requires that new voters sign a statement declaring that they are citizens. On Wednesday, a federal judge basically told the Obama administration to stop deliberately getting in the states’ way on this one, via the LA Times:

A federal judge has ruled that Kansas and Arizona should be allowed to require voters to provide evidence of U.S. citizenship, in a case closely watched by both sides dealing with the question of voter eligibility.

U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren in Wichita, Kan., ruled that the U.S. Election Assistance Commission had no legal authority to deny requests from the two states to add the citizenship requirement. In the ruling, released Wednesday, he ordered the commission to revise the national form immediately. …

“This is a huge victory for the states of Kansas and Arizona,” Kobach said in a prepared statement emailed to reporters. “They have successfully protected our sovereign right to set and enforce the qualifications for registering to vote. We have now paved the way for all 50 states to protect their voter rolls and ensure that only U.S. citizens can vote.”

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2. A lot of the damage this administration will inflict on the US will come long after it’s gone. But some of the judicial appointments are starting to join the party.

From JudicialWatch  “A Homeland Security initiative to put fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border could discriminate against minorities, according to an Obama-appointed federal judge who’s ruled that the congressionally-approved project may have a “disparate impact on lower-income minority communities.”

This of course means that protecting the porous—and increasingly violent—southern border is politically incorrect. At least that’s what the public college professor at the center of the case is working to prove and this month she got help from a sympathetic federal judge. Denise Gilman, a clinical professor at the taxpayer-funded University of Texas-Austin, is researching the “human rights impact” of erecting a barrier to protect the U.S. from terrorists, illegal immigrants, drug traffickers and other serious threats.

A 2006 federal law orders the construction of fencing or a wall along the most vulnerable portions of the nearly 2,000-mile southern border. This includes reinforced fencing along 700 miles of the southwest border with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) determining the exact spots. Professor Gilman wants the identities of the landowners in the planned construction site to shed light on the impact the fencing will have on indigenous, minority and low-income communities. The feds refused to provide the information, asserting that it’s private.”

“This is simply the latest controversy to strike the border fence project since Congress approved it to protect national security and curb an illegal immigration and drug-trafficking crisis. In the last few years the mayors of several Texas border towns have blocked federal access to areas where the fence is scheduled to be built, an Indian tribe tried to block the barrier in the Arizona desert by claiming the feds were intruding on tribal land and a group of government scientists claimed the fencing would threaten the black bear population.”

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3. The fight between the CIA and Senate continues. Reid’s on the right side for a change.

From TheWashingtonPost  “Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) has escalated congressional concerns with alleged interference by the CIA in a Senate Intelligence Committee investigation by asking the Senate’s top law enforcement official to review computers used by committee staffers to investigate the agency’s controversial interrogation program.

Reid’s request comes as aides say he has grown convinced that the CIA overstepped its authority by attempting to interfere in the committee’s investigation into the interrogation program, the results of which may be released in the coming weeks. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who leads the intelligence panel, first publicly accused the CIA of interfering in her investigation during a dramatic Senate floor speech last week.

Reid sent a letter to CIA Director John O. Brennan late Wednesday stating that he has asked the Senate Sergeant at Arms to review the computers used by committee investigators and asked that he grant proper security clearances and access to the computers. As part of the committee probe, the CIA set up a secret facility in Northern Virginia with computers where investigators were promised unfettered access to millions of documents describing the interrogation program.”

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4. But Harry ain’t gonna like this one. 🙂

Also from HotAir  “How do you go from a warmly embraced team, which despite an undefeated record and a No. 1 seed is still viewed as a charming Cinderella most would like to see live up to the hype, to a hated, evil juggernaut program?

Probably like this, from an interview with the head coach of the Wichita State Shockers Gregg Marshall:

Carchia: Which living person do you most admire? Marshall: Charles Koch. He’s a Wichitan who owns the second-largest privately owned company, Koch Industries. He and his brother [David] are tied for the fourth-richest man in America, and he’s done it with great integrity and commitment to the community. He’s incredibly brilliant.

😯 🙂

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News/Politics 11-15-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. As I’m sure you’ve heard, the President has proposed some changes to ObamaCare in order to quiet down the commoners. He’s decided to let you keep your sucky plan for one more year. 🙂

Democrats still aren’t happy, neither are the American people.

From Politico Senate Democrats are still considering legislation to repair President Barack  Obama’s broken Obamacare promise, despite the White House plans for an  administrative fix.

Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Mark Udall (D-Colo.) still want to see votes  on their separate, alternative proposals aimed at helping Americans who lost  insurance plans. Several of the other Democrats who are up for reelection in  2014 want to vote on a legislative fix, too.”

“Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), one of the most vulnerable Democrats up next year,  called Obama’s plan a “step in the right direction,” but said, “a one-year fix  is not enough, and we need to do more.”

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2. Even Howard Dean is wondering if the President has the legal authority to make this “fix.”

From TheWeeklyStandard  ““I wonder if he has the legal authority to do this, since this was a congressional bill that set this up,” said Dean of Obama’s proposed fix. 

The former Vermont governor suggested that since the Obamacare website isn’t working, the president’s signature legislation might fail.”

When you’ve lost Howard Dean, you’ve got problems.

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3. And O’Keefe strikes yet again. More ObamaCare navigator fraud. Yeah.

From CapitolCityProject  “James O’ Keefe’s Project Veritas has released a second video showing even more Obamacare Navigators in Texas suggesting fraud and deceit to undercover reporters — despite some in the mainstream media calling the first exposé an “isolated incident.”

“Today, Project Veritas released a second investigation exposing more Obamacare navigators counseling applicants to lie and cheat the health care system by erroneously reporting income status, health history, and more,” Project Veritas wrote.

They continue, “Critics said the first video was an isolated incident so we decided to visit with even more navigators funded by your American tax dollars. What we found was disturbing and showed a clear pattern of fraud through the Obamacare navigator program.”

Within the new video, Obamacare Navigators in Texas yet again counsel the reporters to lie in order to avoid higher premiums.”

The video shows it’s hardly an isolated incident.

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4. Huh….. That’s funny. Democrats, the President, and Attorney General insist that Voter ID is racist and a Republican effort to suppress voter turnout. Yet the real results are actually quite the opposite…….

From TheDailyCaller  “The first Texas elections under a contentious new photo ID law drew  interesting conclusions for an off-year election that normally draws a low  amount of voters.

There were nine proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution, and the number  of votes tallied was nearly double what it was in 2011. Democrats and civil  rights groups have long argued that voter ID requirements suppress turnout,  particularly in poor and minority communities.”

“In Hidalgo County, which is 90 percent Hispanic, just over 4,000 voted in  the constitutional amendment election in 2011. In 2013, an average of over 16,000 voted according to the Texas secretary of state’s office.

Doh!

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5. This one should be fun to watch.

From Breitbart  “Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX) has introduced an Articles of Impeachment resolution against Attorney General Eric Holder for his role in Operation Fast and Furious and other scandals of President Barack Obama’s administration.

Seven congressman have signed onto the resolution thus far in addition to Olson. They are Reps. Larry Bucshon (R-IN), Blake Farenthold (R-TX), Phil Roe (R-TN), Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA), Roger Williams (R-TX), Ted Yoho (R-FL), and Randy Weber (R-TX).

The Articles of Impeachment has four different sections. The first calls for Holder’s official removal because of his failure to comply with congressional subpoenas relating to Operation Fast and Furious. Holder has been voted on a bipartisan basis into both criminal and civil contempt of Congress for his failure to comply with the Fast and Furious subpoenas from House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA).”

Another of the Articles is for his refusal to enforce DOMA.

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6. Some scathing words for the Obama admin from a former secret service agent tuned congressional candidate who has a released a book on the whole affair.

From TheNYPost  “Dan Bongino, the Secret Service agent who turned on President Obama and is running for Congress, says he believes the “toxic” administration is “using government as a weapon exclusively to intimidate enemies.”

““That wasn’t necessarily the case with the Clintons, and I was pretty much enmeshed in Hillary’s Senate campaign. Although I disagreed with a lot of their political positions . . . I can’t tell you that they thought government was a weapon exclusively to intimidate their enemies. But this administration constantly seems to use government [as a weapon] because they are inexperienced with it — it’s like giving a kid a Bowie knife and saying, ‘Have fun.’ They gave this administration which has no experience the reins of government and they have just gone wild.””

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News/Politics 8-13-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Here’s an update on the Paula Dean lawsuit.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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