CBS News: Obama Never Convened Counterterrorism Task Force During Benghazi Terror Attack…

CBS News has learned that during the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Mission in Benghazi, the Obama Administration did not convene its top interagency counterterrorism resource: the Counterterrorism Security Group, (CSG).

"The CSG is the one group that's supposed to know what resources every agency has. They know of multiple options and have the ability to coordinate counterterrorism assets across all the agencies," a high-ranking government official told CBS News. "They were not allowed to do their job. They were not called upon."

Information shared with CBS News from top counterterrorism sources in the government and military reveal keen frustration over the U.S. response on Sept. 11, the night ambassador Chris Stevens and 3 other Americans were killed in a coordinated attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya.

The circumstances of the attack, including the intelligence and security situation there, will be the subject of a Senate Intelligence Committee closed hearing on Nov. 15, with additional hearings to follow.

Counterterrorism sources and internal emails reviewed by CBS News express frustration that key responders were ready to deploy, but were not called upon to help in the attack.

CBS News has agreed not to quote directly from the emails, and to protect the identities of the sources who hold sensitive counterterrorism posts within the State Department, the US military and the Justice Department.

As to why the Counterterrorism Security Group was not convened, National Security Council Spokesman Tommy Vietor told CBS News "From the moment the President was briefed on the Benghazi attack, the response effort was handled by the most senior national security officials in governments. Members of the CSG were of course involved in these meetings and discussions to support their bosses."

WAVE: ROMNEY UP 19 WITH SUBURBAN VOTERS

The 2012 Presidential campaign will be decided in the tree-lined cul-de-sacs that dominate the American landscape. Rural voters are reliably Republican and urban voters are reliably Democrat. But, suburban voters are the swingy-est of voters. In many states, they decide the outcome of competitive races. Stuffed with Independents, suburban voters started drifting towards Democrats during the baby boomer campaign of Bill Clinton. Today, however, there are signs they are rushing back to the GOP.

The latest Politico battleground poll, released earlier this week, shows Romney with a massive 19-point lead over Obama among suburban voters. Surprisingly, it's actually one point higher than his lead among rural voters. Obama leads among urban voters by 29 points. In 2008, Obama won the suburban vote by 2 points. The 21-point swing away from him makes his reelection very difficult. 

Obama's approval rating among suburban voters is deeply underwater. Just 42% approve of the job he is doing, against 57% who disapprove. A staggering 52% disapprove strongly. Romney has a net 23 approval rating among suburban voters, 59% approving with 36% disapproving. 

Over the past 30 years, no one has won the presidency without winning the suburban vote. Bill Clinton's successful campaigns were built on getting strong support from suburban voters. To some extent, Obama inherited much of the goodwill Clinton earned with this important voting block. Yet, in just four years, Obama seems to have squandered that. 

As the suburbs go, so goes the nation. Today, at least, the suburbs are going with Romney.

Via: Breitbart

Continue Reading..

First Responders to Monster Storm Sandy Are the Real Heroes

AP

 At a concert in upstate New York, Bruce Springsteen offered up his thanks to the police officers, firefighters and government officials for their relief efforts during Superstorm Sandy.

Springsteen made the comments Wednesday night at the Rochester Blue Cross Arena as he dedicated "My City of Ruins" to his hometown of Asbury Park, N.J.

==============================================

=========================================

President Obama and N.J. Gov. Chris Christie Praise First Responder

Via: Fox News

Continue Reading...

Pennsylvania: Republicans Trouncing Dems In Absentee Ballots By 19 Points…

This morning President Obama’s campaign indicated they are going on the air in Pennsylvania and sending Joe Biden to the state trying to protect a state that just one week ago was considered to be safe ground.  One possible reason? The enormous GOP edge in absentee ballot returns in the state, creating an enormous and unexpected hole for the President’s campaign to dig out of. 

In 2008 the GOP edged the Democrats by just 2% in absentee returns. As of today the GOP’s lead is 18.8% — a 16.9% bump in a state Obama won by 10% in 2008. Republicans have turned in 55.2% of the absentee ballots to date while the Democrats have returned just 36.4%.

The Romney Victory team has been on the ground in Pennsylvania for months with over 60 staff and dozens of offices. We have made over 5 million volunteer voter contacts including over 1 million volunteer door knocks across Pennsylvania. That voter contact is paying off in the absentee ballot returns and clearly the President’s campaign sees it in their numbers. That’s why they are playing defense in the Keystone state as Governor Romney’s momentum allows us to expand the map.

PENNSYLVANIA AB RETURNS
Party	2008 AB Votes Cast		2012 AB Votes Cast		Change
DEM	132,170	44.70%	42,013	36.42%	-8.28%
REP	137,850	46.62%	63,717	55.24%	+8.62%
TOTAL	295,659	+1.92%	115,346	+18.82%	+16.90%

 Via: GOP.com

Continue Reading...

Obama Declares “Al-Qaeda Has Been Decimated”…

Even as new information continues to surface revealing that the Obama White House may be embroiled in a cover-up scandal regarding the terror attack in Benghazi that left four Americans dead, the president took to the campaign trail in Wisconsin Thursday morning and actually declared that “al Qaeda has been decimated.” Recall that the carnage in Libya was, according to experts, waged by al Qaeda or pro-al Qaeda affiliates like the militant group Ansar al Sharia, which even claimed credit for the attack.

The president made the ire-inducing remark during a campaign stop at Austin Straubel International Airport Thursday morning where he spoke to a crowd of some 2,600 people. Obama, wearing a flight-jacket, addressed Hurricane Sandy relief efforts, then touched on the economy but  highlighted what he framed as his accomplishments in foreign policy, including smiting Osama bin Laden and yes, “decimating al Qaeda.”

“The war in Afghanistan is winding down,” the president said. “al Qaeda has been decimated. Osama bin Laden is dead. So we made real progress these last four years, but Wisconsin, we know our work’s not done yet.”

Obama’s statement, for many conservatives, is the ultimate in hubris and they took to Twitter to convey as much. Consider the following tweets, courtesy of Twitchy:

Via: The Blaze

Continue Reading...

Rove Op-Ed: Romney Will Be Our 45th President

Excerpt from Karl Rove's Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, "Sifting the Numbers for a Winner," 11/01/12: But doesn't it all come down to the all-important Buckeye State? Here, too, the early voting news isn't encouraging for the president.

Adrian Gray, who oversaw the Bush 2004 voter-contact operation and is now a policy analyst for a New York investment firm, makes the point that as of Tuesday, 530,813 Ohio Democrats had voted early or had requested or cast an absentee ballot. That's down 181,275 from four years ago. But 448,357 Ohio Republicans had voted early or had requested or cast an absentee ballot, up 75,858 from the last presidential election.

That 257,133-vote swing almost wipes out Mr. Obama's 2008 Ohio victory margin of 262,224. Since most observers expect Republicans to win Election Day turnout, these early vote numbers point toward a Romney victory in Ohio. They are also evidence that Scott Jennings, my former White House colleague and now Romney Ohio campaign director, was accurate when he told me that the Buckeye GOP effort is larger than the massive Bush 2004 get-out-the-vote operation.

Democrats explain away those numbers by saying that they are turning out new young Ohio voters. But I asked Kelly Nallen, the America Crossroads data maven, about this. She points out that there are 12,612 GOP "millennials" (voters aged 18-29) who've voted early compared with 9,501 Democratic millennials.

Are Democrats bringing out episodic voters who might not otherwise turn out? Not according to Ms. Nallen. She says that about 90% of each party's early voters so far had also voted in three of the past four Ohio elections. Democrats also suggest they are bringing Obama-leaning independents to polls. But since Mr. Romney has led among independents in nine of the 13 Ohio polls conducted since the first debate, the likelihood is that the GOP is doing as good a job in turning out their independent supporters as Democrats are in turning out theirs.

Desperate Democrats are now hanging their hopes on a new Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News poll showing the president with a five-point Ohio lead. But that survey gives Democrats a +8 advantage in turnout, the same advantage Democrats had in 2008. That assumption is, to put it gently, absurd.

In addition to the data, the anecdotal and intangible evidence—from crowd sizes to each side's closing arguments—give the sense that the odds favor Mr. Romney. They do. My prediction: Sometime after the cock crows on the morning of Nov. 7, Mitt Romney will be declared America's 45th president. Let's call it 51%-48%, with Mr. Romney carrying at least 279 Electoral College votes, probably more.

Via: WSJ

Continue Reading..,

Romney, Obama camps war over 'state of the race'

(CNN) - Who has the momentum in the race for the White House, President Barack Obama or GOP challenger Mitt Romney?

Each campaign says they do, and are seeking to impress upon reporters that point.

– Follow the Ticker on Twitter: @PoliticalTicker

– Check out the CNN Electoral Map and Calculator and game out your own strategy for November.

"A week from today, we will know hopefully the outcome of the election and we believe that Mitt Romney will be the next president of the United States," Russ Schriefer, a senior adviser to Romney's campaign, said Wednesday afternoon in a conference call with reporters.

Obama campaign senior adviser David Axelrod cited poll and early voting numbers in a separate call a few hours earlier, saying, "We feel very, very good about the numbers that we're mounting up in those states."

Their efforts come with only six days remaining in the presidential contest and after several days of campaigning were scrapped as Superstorm Sandy battered several eastern states. On Monday,Obama's campaign held a call with the same theme, and earlier on Friday, Romney senior adviser Kevin Madden told reporters traveling with the candidate that Democrats were feeling under pressure.

"I think in many of these states where the Democrats considered those to be locked down, safe states that they weren't going to have to defend, they've now gone up with - they're now pouring resources into those states," he said. "They have to put up ads on the air, and I think that shows that they're playing defense, whereas when we've gone in with resources to many states, it's because we're playing offense, that we have an expanded map now to get to the, our electoral of 270."

Madden's briefing took place on a flight from Miami to Tampa, Florida, and was the first time in several days the campaign has held an on-the-record briefing for reporters.

The Romney campaign described their newly-developing effort in Pennsylvania - where they have announced an ad buy on Monday and Tuesday of next week - which Democrats have said is a bluff to show confidence.

"As you looked at the numbers in Pennsylvania starting to close it became a very interesting place for us to go in," Romney's political director, Rich Beeson, said. "And when you look at the issues in Pennsylvania, when you look at the absentee ballot numbers that are playing out there - and we are significantly over performing in those - Pennsylvania is a place that we decided to wade into as a path to 300 electoral votes."

Only 270 electoral votes are required to win the presidency, and the CNN Electoral Map predicts Romney holds 206 and Obama 237 with 95 among eight toss up states.

Via: CNN

Continue Reading...

Obama Twice Uses MSNBC Slogan ‘Lean Forward’ While Addressing Disaster Relief

President Obama on Tuesday twice used MSNBC’s slogan “lean forward” while addressing Red Cross headquarters in Washington, D.C., about relief for Sandy victims.

First he said this (video follows with transcript and commentary):

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We are going to continue to push as hard as we can to make sure that power is up throughout the region and obviously this is mostly a local responsibility and the private utilities are going to have to lean forward. But we are doing everything we can to provide them additional resources so that we can expedite getting power up and running in many of these communities. There are places like Newark, New Jersey, for example, where you have 80 percent, 90 percent of the people without power.

Later in his remarks he said this: 

OBAMA: We can't have a situation where that lasts for days on end. And so my instructions to the federal agency has been do not figure out why we can't do something. I want you to figure out how we do something. I want you to cut through red tape, cut through bureaucracy. There is no excuse for inaction at this point. I want every agency to lean forwardand to make sure we are getting the resources where they need -- where they're need as quickly as possible. I want to repeat, my message to the federal government, no bureaucracy, no red tape, get resources where they're needed as fast as possible, as hard as possible.

Via: Newsbusters

Continue Reading...

Sen. Feinstein explains decision not to debate

SANTA ANA – U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Wednesday that she hasn't faced off in a debate against her Republican opponent because she's heard nothing from her challenger, Elizabeth Emken, that she needed to debate.

"There's just nothing constructive coming out of their campaign," said the four-term Democratic senator following a meeting with the Register's editorial board. She added that she's been accessible to the public and the media.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., sits down with the Orange County Register editorial board at the Register's Santa Ana headquarters Wednesday. Discussion ranged from the Iranian nuclear program response to the attacks in Benghazi and the state of the US economy.

Emken spokesman Mark Standriff scoffed at the explanation and continued to criticize the incumbent's failure to debate.

"That's unworthy of the office she's been holding for two decades and disrespectful of the people she claims to represent," Standriff said.

Feinstein noted that she has debated in the past – John van de Kamp and Pete Wilson when she ran for governor in 1990, and Tom Campbell and Gray Davis in two of her Senate races.

Polls show Emken posing less of a challenge than those four. A September Field Poll put Feinstein at 57 percent and Emken at 31 percent, a 26-point margin that grew from a 19-point advantage in July.

Feinstein has a huge financial advantage as well, having spent $12.4 million through Oct. 17 while Emken has spent $745,000, according to federal disclosures.

Via: Orange County Register

Continue Reading...

NY Times Called Bush’s 2.7% GDP a ‘Letdown,’ But Obama’s Lower GDP a ‘Steady Improvement’

The leftist bias of the New York Times beautifully encapsulated in seven words used about a week before two presidential elections. Headline over Saturday’s editorial on the third quarter GDP creeping up to 2.0 percent under Democrat Barack Obama: “Slow but Steady Improvement.” Headline twenty years ago (October 29, 1992) when Republican incumbent George H.W. Bush was in the White House and the third quarter GDP nearly doubled to 2.7 percent: “Gross National Letdown.”

FNC’s Bret Baier noted the contrasting spins, speculating in his Tuesday night “Grapevine” segment: “The New York Times seems to be changing with the time when it comes to interpreting the country’s economic outlook.”

He then read from the portions of the two editorials which were highlighted in Monday’s “Best of the Web Today,” where James Taranto headlined his item: “Two Papers in One!”

From the New York Times editorial, “Gross National Letdown,” of Thursday October 29, 1992:

President Bush smiled when he learned this week that economic growth during the third quarter reached a surprising 2.7 percent, almost twice the previous rate. But his smile shouldn’t be broad. The new figure almost certainly exaggerates the health of the economy, which continues to creep along at a painfully slow pace. Even the 2.7 figure is half the normal rate of recovery and not enough to bring down unemployment.

New York Times editorial, “Slow but Steady Improvement,” from Saturday October 27, 2012:

The slow pace of the nation’s economic recovery has picked up a bit lately. In the third quarter, the economy grew at an annual rate of 2 percent, beating expectations and the dismal 1.3 percent growth in the second quarter. Over the past year, the growth rate has been 2.3 percent. At that pace, there’s enough momentum to keep unemployment, currently 7.8 percent, from getting much worse.

Via: Newsbusters,
Continue Reading...

Exclusive: Classified cable warned consulate couldn't withstand 'coordinated attack'

The U.S. Mission in Benghazi convened an “emergency meeting” less than a month before the assault that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, because Al Qaeda had training camps in Benghazi and the consulate could not defend against a “coordinated attack,” according to a classified cable reviewed by Fox News.

Summarizing an Aug. 15 emergency meeting convened by the U.S. Mission in Benghazi, the Aug. 16 cable marked “SECRET” said that the State Department’s senior security officer, also known as the RSO, did not believe the consulate could be protected.

“RSO (Regional Security Officer) expressed concerns with the ability to defend Post in the event of a coordinated attack due to limited manpower, security measures, weapons capabilities, host nation support, and the overall size of the compound,” the cable said.

According to a review of the cable addressed to the Office of the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Emergency Action Committee was also briefed "on the location of approximately ten Islamist militias and AQ training camps within Benghazi … these groups ran the spectrum from Islamist militias, such as the QRF Brigade and Ansar al-Sharia, to ‘Takfirist thugs.’” Each U.S. mission has a so-called Emergency Action Committee that is responsible for security measures and emergency planning.

The details in the cable seemed to foreshadow the deadly Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. compound, which was a coordinated, commando-style assault using direct and indirect fire. Al Qaeda in North Africa and Ansar al-Sharia, both mentioned in the cable, have since been implicated in the consulate attack.

In addition to describing the security situation in Benghazi as “trending negatively,” the cable said explicitly that the mission would ask for more help. “In light of the uncertain security environment, US Mission Benghazi will submit specific requests to US Embassy Tripoli for additional physical security upgrades and staffing needs by separate cover.”

As for specific threats against the U.S., the cable warned the intelligence was not clear on the issue, cautioning that the militias in Benghazi were not concerned with any significant retaliation from the Libyan government, which had apparently lost control in Benghazi. A briefer explained that they “did not have information suggesting that these entities were targeting Americans but did caveat that (there was not) a complete picture of their intentions yet. RSO (Regional Security Officer) noted that the Benghazi militias have become more brazen in their actions and have little fear of reprisal from the (government of Libya.)”

Via: Fox News

Continue Reading...

REPORT: SEPTEMBER JOBS NUMBERS INFLATED

So you were suspicious about those September job creation numbers touted by the Obama Administration? You had goodreason to be. 

The payroll data firm ADP, which recently became partners with Moody’s Analytics, revised their estimate of the September jobs created down from 162,000 to 88,200. That new number is considerably less than the Labor Department’s count of 114,000, which included 104,000 from the private sector.

When the Labor Department’s job numbers came out for September, there was an uproar; many observers thought the numbers were manipulated to benefit Barack Obama’s reelection. As Jack Welch, former head of General Electric, tweeted after the Labor Department’s release: "Unbelievable jobs numbers...these Chicago guys will do anything...can't debate so change numbers."

But the revised ADP numbers have sparked strong suspicion that the October numbers will be worse than the Labor Department will let on. 

Todd Schoenberger, managing principal at the BlackBay Group in New York, said: “It's huge, no doubt about it. Their changing the methodology tells me that if the number is cut in half with that revision, then the revision we're going to see Friday is going to be a disaster."

ADP is taking no chances this time; they will announce their October count on Thursday before the Labor Department announces theirs on Friday. ADP said its new reports will offer a more detailed breakdown of the numbers while they increase the numbers of businesses analyzed.

Via: Breitbart

Continue Reading...

Socialist Liberal Democrats Will Destroy America and Sadly the Left Wing Media Will Gladly Help

Today is Halloween, a day of spooks, goblins and weirdos.  No it is not election day, that’s not for six more days on November 06, 2012; but it will have more than its fair share of Halloween type characters.  Both major political parties will present their versions of the trickery ogres among whom are downright dastardly persons who seek to destroy the United States and all the good things it has brought to the world in the 236 years of its existence.

But this year of 2012 has seen a period of divisiveness in our grand republic that borders on the great separation that occurred in 1861 when eleven southern states seceded from the Union.  This year the issue that is the divider is Socialism, and instead of a geographical set of states for and against the issue, two political parties encompassing citizens from all fifty states are the opponents.

The current President of the United States is engaged in a plan to abolish our tried and true Constitution and install a communist-like program of redistribution of the wealth.  In other words take from the “haves” and give it to the “have-nots” which files In the face of the standards of governance that has allowed America to climb to the highest level of civilized nations in just over 200 years of existence.

Obama is a student and follower of the Socialist - Communist theory and practices of punishing the productive while rewarding the unproductive and incapable.  What was once a dream of success and riches after applying oneself to an ethic of hard work and study is long gone and any just rewards for that hard work will be taken from them and given to those who show no attitudes to succeed.

Via: Canada Free Press

Continue Reading...

D+8 VA POLL: ROMNEY +21 AMONG INDEPENDENTS, OBAMA UP TWO OVERALL

A D+8 Quinnipiac/New York Times/CBS News Virginia poll found President Barack Obama with a two-point lead (49%-47%) in Virginia, even though challenger Mitt Romney holds a 21-point lead among independents.

The partisan breakdown of the poll was: 27% Republican, 35% Democrat, 35% Independent. 

In 2008 in Virginia, Democrats had a six-point turnout advantage at the polls, and independents made up 27% of the electorate (Democrats made up 39% and Republicans 33%). Obama beat McCain by one point among independents in 2008 (49%-48%). 

In the Q poll, independents make up 35% of the sample -- an eight-point increase from 2008 --  and Romney beats Obama by 21 points. Romney even leads Obama by seven points when voters were asked which candidate would work work better with "both Democrats and Republicans in Congress."

But the poll, which surveyed 1,074 Virginia likely voters between Oct. 25-28 and has a margin of error of +/-  three percent, has Obama leading by two points. 

Via: Breitbart

Continue Reading...

Celebrities Who Endorse Romney

Reuters

Celebrities Who Endorse Romney

The nearer we get to the 2012 presidential election, the more we learn about the political preferences of our friends and neighbors. Celebrities, however, tend to voice their opinions the loudest, mostly because they have the clout, resources and forums to do so.

 It also seems that a slew of more conservative stars have been speaking their minds about this year's election — and that's not something you'd necessarily expect from the entertainment industry. Several famous actors, actresses and musicians are speaking out in favor of former Governor Mitt Romney, and many of these Hollywood heavyweights aren't afraid to explain why.

We already know that Mitt's got Clint's vote, but which other celebs can Romney count on this November?

Scott Baio: Scott Baio, probably best known for his roles on "Charles in Charge" and "Joanie Loves Chachi," is a registered Republican who once campaigned for Ronald Reagan. In an interview from FoxNews.com, Baio describes Hollywood as being more conservative than it appears. "The people who believe what I believe are much quieter about it," he said.

Jon Voight: Academy Award-winning actor Jon Voight gave an interview to The Daily Caller while attending the Republican National Convention, stating, "I think because of Gov. Romney’s great talents, his great compassion, his great gifts of leadership, he’s going to win this election.”

Kid Rock: Musician Kid Rock has officially put his support behind the Republican ticket. "I’m sorry he didn’t do a better job, I really wish he would have — I do," said Rock of President Obama during a separate rally in Michigan, "but the facts are the facts."

Stacey Dash: "Clueless" star Stacey Dash recently voiced her support for Romney on Twitter. She received a lot of backlash on the social networking site, but responded with a tweet reading, "My humble opinion … EVERYONE is entitled to one."

Via: Fox News

Continue Reading...

Biden to FL Voter: When Insurance Rates Go Down, 'You'll Vote For Me In 2016'

Biden 2016? The following exchange between Vice President Joe Biden and a GOP voter in Florida was reported by this tweet from NBC News' Carrie Dann:

 

Carrie Dann@CarrieNBCNews

Biden, chatting by phone with a GOP voter in FL, "After it's all over, when your insurance rates go down then you'll vote for me in 2016"

Via: Fox News

Continue Reading...

Obamacare exempts millions--prisoners, illegals, welfare recipients

In just 14 months, Americans will be required to prove that they have federally "qualified" health insurance or face an Obamacare tax of $695 to $2,085. That is unless you are in prison, below the poverty line, or are an undocumented immigrant, according to the anti-tax group Americans for Tax Reform.

When added together, those three groups total up to one-sixth of the nation's population of 314 million: 218,929 are in federal prisons, 12 million are illegals and 42 million are below the poverty line and eligible for welfare, though some fit into all three categories, according to federal reports.

ATR highlighted the groups eligible from the mandate to get health insurance in a mock Internal Revenue Service form they developed to show the extra paperwork Americans will be required to fill out once the full Obamacare law kicks in, January 2014. It is based on testimony from the IRS given in September that said, "taxpayers will file their tax returns reporting their health insurance coverage, and/or making a payment."

Based on other IRS requirements, ATR said that Americans will have to show that they have health insurance "qualified" by the Department of Health and Human Services. They will also have to disclose if they were covered by a qualifying plan during the year and for how long. And they could be subject to penalties and interest on unpaid Obamacare taxes for periods they were not covered.

Via: Washington Examiner

Continue Reading...