[VIDEO] Tavis Smiley: 'Black People Will Have Lost Ground in Every Single Economic Indicator' Under Obama

PBS's Tavis Smiley made a comment Thursday that every African-American as well as liberal media member should sit up and take notice.

Appearing on Fox News's Hannity, Smiley said, "The data is going to indicate sadly that when the Obama administration is over, black people will have lost ground in every single leading economic indicator category" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: My last question to you. You often do these seminars with the state of black America. I've watched them on C-Span and different channels, right?

TAVIS SMILEY: Right.

HANNITY: Are black Americans better off five years into the Obama presidency?

SMILEY: Let me answer your question very forthrightly. No, they are not. The data is going to indicate sadly that when the Obama administration is over, black people will have lost ground in every single leading economic indicator category. On that regard, the president ought to be held responsible.

But here's the other side. I respect the president. I will protect the president. And I will correct the president. He's right on this government shutdown. Republicans are thwarting the rule of law with the Constitution. If they let this debt go into default, they're trampling again on the Constitution.

Wow!

Now to be fair to Smiley, he has been hard on the president concerning how his policies are economically damaging the black community, but this is the first time I believe he's been this harsh on national television with such a large audience.

Sadly, he's right.

So why would this community re-elect someone doing so much damage to them economically?

Is it possible they're not aware of it because most liberal media members other than Smiley aren't reporting it?

Hmmm.

Via: Newsbusters

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Piers Morgan Expected to Lose 9PM Hour on CNN; Bill Weir to Move In?

Earlier this morning, we reported that Nightline anchor Bill Weir was departing ABC News for other pastures.

TVNewser beat us to the punch on the news thathis new role is with CNN. But that is only part of the story. A reliable source connected to CNN tells Mediaite that Weir has been promised a show during the 9 p.m. ET hour — an hour that happens to be currently occupied by Piers Morgan.

According to our source, the details and timing have not yet been worked out (and we are told it will likely take “many months“) but that Weir is expected to get either half or all of the 9 p.m. slot, meaning Morgan will either move time slots or, at best, reduce to a half hour of airtime per evening. Another CNN source tells us that Weir’s show will likely launch in “late night” but our original source insists that if that happens, the goal would be to test it out for an eventual move to the 9 p.m. hour.

Either way, the British host, who’s become associated with his anti-gun fights as of late, looks to be losing the full 9 p.m. hour.

Weir was previously the anchor of ABC’s newsmagazine show Nightline, and on Friday morning, ABC News chief Ben Sherwood announced that Weir was leaving “for another opportunity in the news business.”

Earlier this month, FTVLive reported that CNN was preparing to “dump” Piers Morgan, with Katie Couric allegedly being eyed as a replacement. That rumor plus Morgan’s declining ratings furtherfueled speculation that he could be planning an exit strategy from CNN.

We’ll have more here as this story develops.

UPDATE: A spokesperson provides the following comment: “Bill Weir was not brought to CNN to replace Piers Morgan.”

Via: Mediaite

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Ben Carson Warns: ‘Socialized Medicine Is Keystone to Establishment of a Socialist State'

(CNSNews.com) – Dr. Ben Carson, the former director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University and Hospital,  drew a parallel between Obamacare and “socialized medicine” and cited Communist leader Vladimir Lenin’s support for government-run health care as the “keystone to the establishment of a socialist state.”

Speaking at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. on Friday, Dr. Carson said that Obamacare “was never about healthcare. It was about control,” and making all Americans “subservient to the government.”

He then commented on why the Democrat-dominant Congress in 2010 moved swiftly to pass the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare.

“And why did they want to pass it so badly?” said Dr. Carson. “Well, as I said the other night on television, Vladimir Lenin, one of the fathers of socialism and communism, said that socialized medicine is the keystone to the establishment of a socialist state.”

Via: CNS News
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Media Blasts Obama: Most Closed, Control Freak Administration

You know things are really bad when the mainstream press corps trashes the Obama administration—on the record!—for its secrecy, aggressive efforts to control information and hostility towards the media when it exposes information viewed as unfavorable to the president.  

This includes an unprecedented number of prosecutions of government sources, seizures of journalists’ records and even criminal investigations of reporters. As a result government sources are afraid to speak to journalists, even if it doesn’t involve sensitive national security issues but rather routine stories that help keep elected officials and government accountable. “There’s no question that sources are looking over their shoulders,” said a senior managing editor at the Associated Press, who added that “sources are more jittery and more standoffish.”

 A veteran chief Washington correspondent for the New York Times, David E. Sanger says “this is the most closed, control freak administration I’ve ever covered.” Consider the source; a journalist at a powerful mainstream newspaper well known for its favorable coverage of everything Obama. The surprising lashing by the mainstream media comes this week via a special report on the Obama administration and the press from the Committee to Protect Journalists.

A former executive editor at the Washington Post wrote the analysis, which includes scary details of the Obama administration’s efforts to control and even silence the media. It also offers a forum for some of the nation’s best known journalists and editors to vent about the unprecedented animosity towards the press. The Obama administration is “squeezing the flow of information at several pressure points,” says a former CNN Washington bureau chief who directs the School of Media and Public Affairs at a university. This includes limitations on everyday access necessary for the administration to explain itself and be held accountable.

How bad is it? “The Obama administration is far worse than the Bush administration,” in trying to thwart accountability reporting about government agencies, according to Ellen Weiss, Washington bureau chief for E.W. Scripps newspapers and stations. ABC News White House correspondent Ann Compton, who has been covering presidents since Gerald Ford, reveals in the report that “there is no access to the daily business in the Oval Office, who the president meets with, who he gets advice from.”  In fact, Compton said many of Obama’s important meetings with outside figures on issues like health care, immigration, or the economy are not even listed on his public schedule which makes media coverage difficult.

“I think we have a real problem,” said New York Times national security reporter Scott Shane. “Most people are deterred by those leaks prosecutions. They’re scared to death. There’s a gray zone between classified and unclassified information, and most sources were in that gray zone. Sources are now afraid to enter that gray zone. It’s having a deterrent effect. If we consider aggressive press coverage of government activities being at the core of American democracy, this tips the balance heavily in favor of the government.”

Via: Judicial Watch

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HOUSE GOP BLINKS: WILL LIFT DEBT AND REOPEN GOVERNMENT

House Republicans have sent the White House a revised proposal to lift the debt ceiling for six weeks, as well as reopen government through December 15th, which was their original spending proposal before the partial shutdown. The revised GOP plan reflects the demands Obama made in a meeting with House GOP Leaders on Thursday. It also reflects the unwillingness of the DC GOP to face a fiscal showdown with Democrats. 

Aside from reopening the government and agreeing to raise America's debt over the current $16.7 trillion limit, the Republicans made several other concession to President Obama and the Democrats. One such example is that Obamacare would receive funding. The Republicans would get to take out a portion of the president's signature legislation, but the law would substantially remain intact. The AP reports:

Under a proposal she and other GOP senators have been developing, a medical device tax that helps finance the health care law would be repealed, and millions of individuals eligible for subsidies to purchase health insurance under the program would be subject to stronger income verification.

In addition, some of the across-the-board "sequester" cuts would be reversed under the GOP plan. It has not been determined which specific cuts will be targeted at this time.

In exchange for meeting, at least momentarily, all of Obama's demands, the House GOP is seeking a "framework" for future negotiations on addressing longer-term budget issues. These negotiations would be led for the Republicans by Rep. Paul Ryan, who is likely to seek a "grand bargain" resolving the nation's structural budget problems. 

Via: Breitbart

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Activists block buses, shut down immigration court in Tucson

Immigrant rights activists said Friday they shut down a court in Tucson, Ariz., preventing authorities from processing illegal immigrants who were to be sentenced to jail and eventually deported.

The activists had chained themselves to bus tires and to the court entrance early Friday morning and had been there for three and a half hours just after noon local time.

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They said they’d been told the court canceled its proceedings for the day as a result of their protest.

The illegal immigrants on the buses were being held under Operation Streamline, which is designed to give illegal immigrants jail sentences before they are deported, as a deterrent to keep them from trying to reenter the country in the future. The activists, though, say the program circumvents due process rights.

“Anyone who witnesses Operation Streamline will come away convinced that it is both unconstitutional and immoral,” said activist Roberto Cintli Rodriguez. “There is no justice in that courtroom. It violates every principle the U.S. claims to ascribe to. When humanity is confronted with unjust laws, it is our responsibility to challenge them.”

Friday’s move was a precursor to next week, when the activists plan to try to shut down the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Phoenix.

“Under the president’s administration, nearly two million families have been torn apart through detention and deportation,” said Marisa Franco of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. “Our communities can no longer wait for the president to rediscover his moral compass or for Congress to actually do its job. We will do what any mother or father would do and keep our families together by preventing ICE from being able to tear them apart.”

Via: Washington Times

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HANNITY: BOEHNER MUST BE REPLACED

On his radio show on Friday, Fox News host Sean Hannity said House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), along with the rest of the Republican leadership in the House, had to be replaced. 

"I do think leadership in the House needs to change," Hannity said. "I don't think John Boehner is equipped for the job. I don't think he has the stomach to negotiate. I don't think he has the ability to communicate the positive, solution-oriented vision for the country."

"How hard is it?" Hannity asked. "Why aren't these guys out there explaining what their vision is?"

For instance, Hannity said Republican leaders have not done a good job of explaining how America's plentiful domestic energy sources can lead to prosperity. He also cited issues like health savings accounts and ways to reduce the country's debt to preserve the nation's solvency as missed opportunities. He said the GOP has a "communications problem" that has been reflected in the party's bad poll numbers.

Hannity also ripped Republican leaders in Washington for "alienating" the Tea Party. Hannity named Senators like John McCain (R-AZ) and Bob Corker (R-TN) for being the top offenders and said their "unwillingness to stand strong" and constant bashing of the Tea Party is "irritating every conservative I know." 

Via: Breitbart . Continue Reading....

TV Ratings: Fox News' Megyn Kelly Doubles Demo in Second Night

The Fox News primetime transplant improves 116 percent from her premiere, besting even Bill O'Reilly to top all of cable news for the night.

Chalk it up to the benefits of exposure or the unpredictable nature of cable news, but Fox News Channel's The Kelly File more than doubled its demo haul on its second night.

Via: Hollywood Reporter

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Accusations subside as lawmakers, White House quietly work toward possible deal

Washington's hush-hush budget talks Friday, while not yet producing a concrete deal by any means, were notable for one detail -- the relative lack of vitriol, after weeks of nonstop, hyper-charged accusations between Democrats and Republicans. 

The suddenly restrained tone in Washington was a signal that, while talks could derail at any moment, lawmakers and White House officials were at least trying to reach common ground. 

"I've never seen the president, quite frankly, more open to the idea of meaningful reforms to address why we're in debt in terms of entitlement reform," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News, while calling on his own party to consider the prickly issue of taxes. 

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney delayed his daily press briefing by hours, as back-channel talks were underway. Later addressing reporters, Carney said President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner spoke by phone Friday afternoon, and had a "good conversation." 

No details were released. 

Though progress was slow, lawmakers said the fact both sides are talking was a good thing. Some pointed to indications that Obama might even be open to modest changes to ObamaCare, despite fighting them for months. 

Via: Fox News

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Grocery Workers Could Strike in Washington State over Loss of Their Health-Care Plans

Obamacare Strikes Again! 30 Thousand Grocery Workers Could Strike In WA State Over Loss Of Their Healthcare Plans

Thirty-thousand workers from four major grocery chains in Washington State could be on the picket line Monday after a disagrement with management over health plans, Fox News reported today.

Safeway, Fred Meyer, QFC, and Albertson’s say they will offer health insurance only to employees working more than 30 hours a week, which is required by Obamacare. Under the current contract, workers are covered if they work at least 16 hours a week, but the companies say that costs have risen because of a new tax on their “Cadillac” medical plans in Obamacare. The United Food and Commercial Workers maintains that the move is simply a cash grab. 

These grocers aren’t the only major businesses that have cut health benefits; Home Depot and Trader Joe’s have recently cut health coverage for part-time workers. 

Via: NRO

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Senate Republicans Look to Jam Boehner

Returning from their White House meeting with President Obama, some Republican senators said they are fed up with how Speaker John Boehner and the House GOP have handled the shutdown showdown and are ready to take charge of the debate.

“The House Republicans so far don’t want to get rid of the shutdown. I don’t know in what world we’re faring well under the shutdown, in terms of policy or politics. So, in that sense, yeah, I’d rather have the Senate” take charge, says Arizona senator Jeff Flake.

Senator Susan Collins of Maine is leading negotiations with Democrats over a bill to combine a government funding bill with the debt-ceiling increase along with repeal of the medical-device tax in Obamacare. House Republican leaders have shown a new sense of urgency to deal with Obama in part because of fear that Collins’s plan will gain steam, rolling the more conservative House position.

One scenario that would mirror how several standoffs between Boehner and Obama have ended since Republicans took control of the House in 2010 is for Senate Republicans to help pass a bill deeply disliked by House Republicans, after which political pressure would force Boehner to pass the bill largely with Democratic votes.

While the situation is tense, it does not appear acrimonious, and communication continues between top officials from both chambers. Senator Rob Portman said he met with House Ways and Means chairman Dave Camp last night after Camp attended the House session at the White House, and Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said he had dinner with a House “principal” who had been at the session as well.

Via: NRO

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Christmas spirit dies at White House as ornament-hawking gift shop goes broke

In another sign of the tough times in Washington these days, the White House Gift Shop, long run by a nonprofit group that helps uniformed Secret Service officers and their families, has gone broke.

The Secret Service Uniformed Division Benefit Fund, which traces its roots to the 1940s and for years did business as the official White House Gift Shop, lists more than $600,000 in liabilities in a pending bankruptcy petition in Washington.

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The fund — which operated independently of the White House and Secret Service, and was not a part of the government — disclosed tens of thousands of dollars in assets consisting mostly of Christmas decorations, as well as such trinkets as magnets, puzzles and paperweights, many valued at just a few dollars each.

The price of more than 140 Democratic and Republican mouse pads is listed as “???” in court records, while 10 unsold copies of the book “Adams’ Alligator” go for $8.48.

The bankruptcy petition, filed in June in a case that remains active, doesn’t explain why the fund went bankrupt in the first place, but court records reveal a recent history of tax troubles and litigation.

Enlarge Photo

President Barack Obama shows military officials the White House Christmas Tree in ...more >

A trustee appointed in the case, Wendell Webster, said in a phone interview Thursday that he is trying to market and sell what assets remain, including a Cal Ripken Jr. commemorative plaque that the fund priced at $500 in bankruptcy papers.

The fund, billing itself as the official White House Gift Shop, operated a retail outlet in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building before moving into National Press Club, which the fund has since vacated.

Via: Washington Times

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Sebelius Embarrassed at ObamaCare Signup Event

Sebelius visit fails to reassure as health care website glitches persist

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius had a front-row view of the problems plaguing the website that the government established to allow people to shop for health insurance under Obamacare.

Sebelius and Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney were at an enrollment and education event on Thursday at Heinz Field to promote Healthcare.gov, but people who showed up encountered problems in signing up for coverage on the website.

Unable to handle heavy online traffic and riddled with technical glitches, the website has been a source of criticism of the Obama administration and the new Affordable Care Act since its start on Oct. 1.

Sebelius, who is making similar trips to cities across the country to spread the word about the website, told the audience of about 100 people that Healthcare.gov was “open for business.”

“Believe me, we had some early glitches,” said Sebelius, who was introduced by Rooney, a backer of the law. “But it's getting better every day.”

At the back of the room, it was a different story. About 20 people armed with laptops and certified by the government to sign up people for coverage were meeting with uninsured people, answering questions and fruitlessly trying to access the website.

LaKesha Lowry, 41, came to the event to find out about her health insurance options. But the North Side resident said she was not able to access the site, even with the help of a certified application counselor.

“It said, ‘Try again later,' ” Lowry said.

Asked about the ongoing problems with the website and the fact that people at a government enrollment event couldn't sign up, Sebelius told reporters that she didn't know what problems were affecting service at Heinz Field. The government has made hardware and software upgrades to improve the site, she said, and it is working for many people.

“We're working to ensure it's easy to use,” Sebelius said, noting that more than 13 million people have visited the site, an “extraordinary” level of traffic.

Technicians, she said, are “working around the clock to add capacity.”

Via: Fox News

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How Much Is Your Health Insurance Going Up?

Have you gotten a letter from your insurance company about your premiums going up? Has your employer told you that more will be coming out of your paycheck to pay for your health plan?

President Obama promised that Obamacare would lower premiums by $2,500. But instead, Americans everywhere are facing higher premiums because of Obamacare.

George Schwab, who lives in North Carolina, was notified in a letter from Blue Cross Blue Shield on September 23 that his current plan doesn’t meet Obamacare’s benefit requirements and would be canceled at the end of the year. While Blue Cross did suggest a comparable plan, it was $980 more than what he now pays.

“The President told the American people numerous times that… ‘If you like your coverage, you can keep it,’” Schwab told The Charlotte Observer. “How can we keep it if it has been eliminated? How can we keep it

Via: The Foundry

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STUDY: OBAMA ADMIN MOST SECRETIVE SINCE NIXON

A new report issued by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) asserts that the Obama White House is the most insular in decades, and the worst since the Nixon Administration for its secrecy and lack of transparency. The report was based on interviews with upper echelon Washington reporters and news organization chiefs.

Even New York Times Washington correspondent David Sanger admitted, “This is the most closed, control freak administration I’ve ever covered.”

The study examined the Obama Administration’s fight with Edward Snowden, its “Insider Threat Program” that encourages government employees to spy on other’s behavior, and the lack of transparency shown by the administration.

Other factors leading to the journalists’ conclusions included the Justice Department's subpoenas of reporters’ phone logs and emails; the invasion of Associated Press phone records; and the White House’s charge that a Fox News reporter was an “aider, abettor and/or conspirator” of an indicted leaker who had been charged.

Many of the top journalists claimed that “officials are reluctant to discuss even unclassified information with them because they fear that leak investigations and government surveillance make it more difficult for reporters to protect them as sources.” R. Jeffrey Smith explained, “I worry now about calling somebody because the contact can be found out through a check of phone records or emails. It leaves a digital trail that makes it easier for the government to monitor those contacts.”

Other quotes from reporters included one saying that the Obama administration’s attitude toward the press was a “real problem,” and another stating that the Obama White House smacks of “unprecedented secrecy and unprecedented attacks on the press.”

Of course, the White House crew went into denial mode in the report; Press Secretary Jay Carney said that “the idea that people are shutting up and not leaking to reporters is belied by the facts.” National security adviser Ben Rhodes echoed, “We make an effort to communicate about national security issues in on-the-record and background briefings by sanctioned sources. And we still see investigative reporting from non-sanctioned sources with lots of unclassified information and some sensitive information.”

Via: Breitbart

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Thousands of Doctors Fired By United Healthcare

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH)-- In the midst of major changes in health care, United HealthCare has sent thousands of pink slips to Connecticut doctors.

Termination letters went to physicians caring for Medicare patients.

Those letters were sent out to doctors caring for 'Medicare Advantage' patients.

It's a plan, marketed to Seniors to provide additional services through UnitedHealthCare.

A mix of primary care and specialty doctors are affected by it. And it comes at a questionable time.

Open enrollment for Medicare starts next Tuesday, and it's still not clear at this time as to which doctors are still in the United network.

The Connecticut State Medical Society is fighting back. The biggest concern is patient access to healthcare.

"What the government is looking for is to manage better care by adding a patient centered medical home so that you have a doctor who is totally invested with taking care of every aspect of the patient and coordinating it. This is clearly not a patient centered decision," said Dr. Michael Saffir, President of CT State Medical Society.

Dr. Saffir says the State Medical Society is in contact with UnitedHealthcare. They are also asking doctors to call United to find out why they were terminated without cause as notified in the letter.

Via: WTNH

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