Why won't the president visit North Dakota?

Good question because North Dakota, which produced an eye-popping 800,000 bbls of oil last month, has now become the second largest oil producing state behind Texas.

And it's all happened without much help from the federal government.

Why should Obama visit?

National Journal:

This energy boom is producing clear benefits, for North Dakota, which has the lowest unemployment rate in the country, and for the rest of America, which is importing the fewest barrels of oil since the mid-1990s and getting closer than ever to the elusive goal of energy independence.

"I would encourage him to go out," said former Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who campaigned with Obama in the state in 2008. "You've got to see it to believe it. It's a big boost to our economy and also a big boost to our nation's energy policy."

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is planning to visit the region in September, and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell toured the oil fields earlier this month. While notable, these visits don't carry with them the power and significance of a presidential trip.

"He's got an incredibly busy travel schedule, and it's not something we've spoken about," Jewell said. "The president relies on me and other members of his Cabinet to be his eyes and ears on the ground where development is taking place."

Jewell said she and Obama have so far only talked at "a high level about a commitment to an all-of-the-above energy strategy about reducing our dependence on foreign oil," Jewell said. "But, I haven't had a conversation with him about the Bakken. I know his advisers close with him are keenly aware of it."

Via: American Thinker

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AP Takes Meat Cleaver To Obama Foreign Policy

WASHINGTON (AP) - Nearly five years into his presidency, Barack Obama confronts a world far different from what he envisioned when he first took office. U.S. influence is declining in the Middle East as violence and instability rock Arab countries. An ambitious attempt to reset U.S. relations with Russia faltered and failed. Even in Obama-friendly Europe, there's deep skepticism about Washington's government surveillance programs.

In some cases, the current climate has been driven by factors outside the White House's control. But missteps by the president also are to blame, say foreign policy analysts, including some who worked for the Obama administration.

Among them: miscalculating the fallout from the Arab Spring uprisings, publicly setting unrealistic expectations for improved ties with Russia and a reactive decision-making process that can leave the White House appearing to veer from crisis to crisis without a broader strategy.

Rosa Brooks, a former Defense Department official who left the administration in 2011, said that while the shrinking U.S. leverage overseas predates the current president, "Obama has sometimes equated 'we have no leverage' with 'there's no point to really doing anything'."

Obama, faced most urgently with escalating crises in Egypt and Syria, has defended his measured approach, saying America's ability to solve the world's problems on its own has been "overstated."

Via: AP

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Back To School: From Armed Guards To Door Buzzers, Different Takes On Security

Eight months after the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown left 26 people dead, many schools across the state are preparing to welcome students back from summer break with increased security measures in place.

Eight months after the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown left 26 people dead, many schools across the state are preparing to welcome students back from summer break with increased security measures in place.

But which types of safety measures and how they should be funded has been a source of debate, with no clear consensus on the best way to protect children and staff members.

In Enfield, each of the town's 14 public and parochial schools will have an armed guard at the door when they open for the year Sept. 3. Enfield Police Chief Carl Sferrazza said he believes armed guards are the best deterrent for an "active shooter" like Adam Lanza in Newtown.

"These people are homicidal and suicidal individuals. Their intent and their planning is all geared toward killing as many people as they possibly can," Sferrazza said.

All Glastonbury schools also will have guards at the doors when school starts Aug. 29. The high school and Smith Middle School already had guards stationed there, and the town added seven additional guards at a cost of $315,000 for the school year.

Other school districts have chosen to add cameras, door buzzers, card-swipe entry systems or other, less drastic, security measures.

"We don't necessarily believe that having an armed guard in front of a school is the most productive way to make a school safer, for a variety of reasons," said East Hartford Superintendent Nate Quesnel. The father of six said, "I don't want to live in an America where we have to have an armed guard in a school that my children go to."

Via: The Journal

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Black lawmakers lament flaring of racial tensions under Obama

When President Obama follows in Dr. Martin Luther King’s footsteps on Wednesday with an address at the Lincoln Memorial, he will face a nation where race remains the great divide.

Black lawmakers say the election of the nation’s first African America president has not been a salve for racial tensions, a view that the public has also voiced in recent polling.

While Democratic lawmakers place the lion’s share of the blame on Republicans for the state of affairs, they betray disappointment that more progress has not been made since the civil rights movement won its biggest victories.

Asked whether the overall trajectory of race relations has been positive or negative in recent years, the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) paused for a moment.

“Right after the election of the president, I would have thought it was going in a positive direction, but I am not so sure anymore,” she said. 

“I think we have lost ground as it relates to our tolerance of people who are different or people who we believe have not worked hard enough. You hear the language all the time on talk radio — the buzzwords, often primarily directed at low-income people and communities of color.”

Fudge’s party colleague and fellow CBC member Rep. Barbara Lee (Calif.) suggested that the presence of the first black president has sparked more open conversation about racial issues. This, she suggested, could be seen as a positive development overall, yet one that has also led to bruised feelings.

Via: The Hill

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ENTER THE OBAMACARE POLICE

The Affordable Care Act certainly isn’t doing much to make health care more affordable, or more available, but one thing it does excel at is making government larger.  It might be more accurately known as the Full Bureaucrat Employment Act.

After chipping through the usual Obama Administration stonewalls with a Freedom of Information Act request, the UK Daily Mail obtained a spreadsheet from the Department of Health and Human Services, and discovered the Administration has been quietly building a squad of ObamaCare “detectives,” part of a vast and well-paid bureaucratic army:

On the day President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law in 2010, HHS received authority from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to make as many as 1,814 new hires under an emergency ‘Direct Hiring Authority’ order.

The Obama administration ordered that employment expansion despite a government-wide hiring freeze.

A total of 1,684 of those positions were filled. An analysis by MailOnline shows that at 2010 federal government salary rates, the new employees’ salaries alone cost the U.S. at least $138.8 million every year.

Had the agency filled all its available jobs, that cost would have been a minimum of $159 million.

The hiring began in May 2010 and continued through June 2013, making the later hires eligible for higher salaries as a result of annual cost-of-living increases.

[...] The lowest salary on the list was for a single contracting officer at Grade 7, Step 1, an annual rate of about $42,350, including a so-called ‘differential’ payments. Those increases are given to all federal employees in order to adjust for regional cost-of-living differences.

The highest salary in 2010 dollars, including that differential payment, was about $161,450, earned by a total of 29 new employee. They include health insurance administrators, contracting officers and information technology managers.

Via: Human Events

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Crazy Joe Biden: “Only Three Women I Know Are Close To Perfect” — Senator Bob Casey’s Mother, My Mother, And God’s Mother…

(CNSNews.com) - Speaking at Lackawanna College in Scranton, Pa., on Friday, Vice President Joe Biden said there are "only three women that I know who are close to perfect"—his mother, Sen. Bob Casey’s (D.-Pa.) mother and God’s Mother (the Blessed Mother)—before he caught himself and said the Blessed Mother was, in fact, perfect.

Biden made the remarks while introducing President Barack Obama.

“You know, Mr. President, some might think this is a bit of nostalgia on my part, talking about Bobby, talking about my native town like I am,” said Biden. “And by the way, there’s only three women that I know who are close to perfect. One was perfect--the Blessed Mother. The other was my mother, and the other is Bobby’s mom, Ellen Casey, right there.”

Biden is a Catholic, and the Catholic Church professes that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was conceived without the stain of original sin, was redeemed from the moment of her conception, and is truly the Mother of God.

Via: CNS News

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COLIN POWELL: GEORGE ZIMMERMAN ACQUITTAL WILL BE SEEN AS A ‘QUESTIONABLE JUDGEMENT’

Collin Powell, former Secretary of State and a retired four star general, said on Sunday morning that the George Zimmerman not-guilty verdict will be seen as a “questionable judgement.”

“I think that it will be seen as a questionable judgment on the part of the judicial system down there, but I don’t know if it will have staying power,” Powell said on CBS’ Face the Nation.

“These cases come along, and they blaze across the midnight sky and then after a period of time, they’re forgotten,” he added.

Watch Powell’s comments below, courtesy of Mediaite:

Via: Mediaite

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[VIDEO] U.S. Government Suggests Tax Breaks For Athiest Orgs

Government Lawyers Claims Atheist Leaders to be “Ministers”

Via: Western Journalism

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Yosemite fire: Winds will be biggest challenge for firefighters

Winds will be the biggest challenge in the coming days for firefighters battling the rapidly growing Rim fire burning in and around Yosemite National Park.

The blaze, the largest wild fire burning in California, has scorched more than 133,000 acres over the past eight days and is 7% contained.

Ridge winds are expected to increase this afternoon and tonight, which could hamper containment efforts, said KevinDurfee, a National Weather Service meteorologist inHanford.

“It really looks like the weather is not going to be terribly cooperative in the next three days,” he said.

Winds could gust up to 30 mph in the area around the fire, and will remain strong Sunday and Monday, said Drew Peterson, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Sacramento.

Temperatures are expected to remain steady at normal to below normal, which means no excessive heat to dry out fuels, he said. Humidity will be about 20% to 25%, he said.

“It could be drier, much drier than it is. The main thing they’re going against is the winds,” Peterson said. “If they can make it until Tuesday, it looks like conditions will be better.”

Winds are expected to continue blowing from the south and southwest, so smoke should not be a problem where the bulk of Yosemite tourists are, Durfee said.

PHOTOS: Rim fire at Yosemite

Via: Los Angeles Times

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HOUSTON COULD ADD 80,000 JOBS IN 2013

So many jobs are coming to Houston top oil companies from around the world are building new office spaces to accommodate their new employees. In fact, banks are loaning money to companies even if the developers do not have a tenant.

Texas’s economy is growing and grew 4.8% last year. They added 100,000 jobs and Houston alone could add 80,000 this year. Real estate firm CBRE Group, Inc. said there are 56 office buildings under construction in and around Houston. These buildings total at least 11 million square feet. Not only are they providing jobs for their employees, but they are building the economy in the area. An area called Springwoods Village has room for up to 5,000 houses and apartments and it is near an Exxon campus. The campus is 400-acres with 20 buildings with room for 10,000 employees.

BP is building a three-story building to speed up their search for oil and gas around the world. Other companies with buildings under construction are BHP Billiton Petroleum, Anadarko Petroleum Corp, Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron.

The demand is so high in Houston there are many buildings going up as specs. Principal Real Estate Investors and Trammell Crow Co built one with a loan of $100 million even though they did not have a tenant. ConocoPhilips signed a lease for the entire building within four months and construction has not even started.

This boom is not new to Houston and experts are cautioning the developers not to overbuild. Between 1980-1986 there was a bigger boom and developers built over 88.9 million square feet in Houston, but the economy crashed when oil prices went too low. It took Houston almost two decades to fully recover from that crash. 

Via: Breitbart

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Why UPS Spouses Shouldn't Be (Too) Mad at Obamacare

The latest Obamacare story getting everybody’s attention is about the United Parcel Service. On Wednesday, Kaiser Health News and USA Today reported that UPS was making a change in its employee health plan—and that, as a result, 15,000 spouses of UPS employees would lose access to company insurance. One reason for the change, according to the company, is that UPS faces higher insurance costs from Obamacare. Eliminating coverage for these spouses is one way the company can reduce its employee benefit costs.

The headlines certainly don’t look good. And, sure enough, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday cited the decision as more proof that Obamacare is a fiasco. But like so many Obamacare stories, this one is more complicated than it seems at first blush. Spousal coverage was becoming less common even before the Affordable Care Act became law. At most, Obamacare is hastening a trend that was already underway—quite possibly for some good reasons. 

Employers have been trying to control or cut employee benefit costs for a long time, and it's no surprise they eventually started looking at spousal coverage. The idea is a relic from an era when dual-income couples were still relatively uncommon. In those years, employers had every reason to offer (mostly male) employees spousal insurance, since the (mostly female) spouses usually had no other source of coverage. But in the last ten to twenty years, as more women have entered the workforce and two-income families have become more common, companies have started asking why they should subsidize coverage for spouses who could just as easily get insurance from their own employers. “Two income families changed everything,” says Paul Fronstin, a senior research associate with the Employee Benefits Research Institute. “They changed the rules.”

Via: New Republic

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Obama’s Puerile Molestation of the Constitution is Gruesome & Exceptionally Dangerous

Americans Must Stand up to High Lawlessness, If We Are to Last as a Law & Order Nation

It has become painfully clear that Barack holds an al a carte theory of American law—to be taken piece by piece, but not by whole. For example, he clearly does not consider the Constitution binding, unless its’ mandates already fit into his plans.

For this reason it is inevitable that when Obama taught “constitutional law” as an unpublished, non-professor instructor,  he would have used the theory of evolving “living law.” (see Teaching Law, Testing Ideas, Obama Stood Slightly Apart) Therefore, when we observe Barack as making legal decisions off the cuff, he uses the style of lex animata, or the living law. In effect, an elected office holder becomes the very embodiment of what the Founders fought against—much to their grave-turning horror.

Without Rule of Law, Every Nation Must Degenerate into Default Personality Worship

It is clearly a danger to the republic for any politician to flout the law, but especially for the commander in chief. This makes his actions wholly unpredictable. But what should be done? Many private discussions are now being held on whether Barack could be impeached for his unconstitutional lawlessness. This brief article examines the doctrine which built America and which apparently Barack does not accept—the Rule of Law. History teaches us that the leader who becomes lex animata, a law unto themselves, morphs into a tyrant who then subjugates his citizens into slavery.

Via: Canada Free Press

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Hotline's Inaugural 2014 Senate Rankings

Republicans have the majority in their sights, but they haven't expanded the playing field.

The battle for the Senate is primed to go down to the wire. Democrats can lose up to five seats while retaining the majority—assuming Cory Booker wins October's special election in New Jersey—but the party is threatened by members facing tough races in the Deep South and other conservative states. Already, races for three Democratic-held open seats (Montana, South Dakota, and West Virginia) are favoring Republicans, and Sen. Mark Pryor is looking in tenuous shape in Arkansas.

But as strong a cycle as this is looking for Republicans, that's as attributable to the very conservative bent of the "playing field" as it is to the environment or strong recruitment. Democratic Sens. Al Franken, Mark Udall, Jeanne Shaheen, and Mark Warner look like solid favorites to win second terms, without facing formidable opposition (yet). Republicans have struggled with recruitment in Iowa with a muddled field of candidates, and in Michigan, where the party isn't thrilled with its likely nominee, Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land.

These are all battleground states, and the lack of quality candidates doesn't give the GOP much margin for error in winning a majority. Democrats, meanwhile, landed solid candidates in states where the party faces longer odds: Kentucky and Georgia.

So bet on a late night next November to see which party runs the show. One intriguing scenario for political junkies: Republicans take enough seats to win control, but GOP Leader Mitch McConnell loses his own race, costing the party. That's not likely, but it's not impossible, either.

Here are The Hotline's inaugural 2014 Senate rankings of the seats most likely to switch parties. (We're not including New Jersey on the list, which was held by Democrats until Gov. Chris Christie appointed GOP Sen. Jeff Chiesa on an interim basis.)

Via:National Journal

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[VIDEO] CNN Host: 'Media Profit By Playing Off Prejudice and Encouraging People's Fears About Race'

Eric Deggans, the TV and media critic for the Tampa Bay Times, made a bold statement Sunday guaranteed to anger liberals and their minions in the press.

Hosting CNN's Reliable Sources, Deggans finished with a message about the media's role in stoking racial tensions in America saying, "I'm convinced one aggravating factor is media outlets that profit by playing off prejudice and encouraging people's fears about race difference" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

ERIC DEGGANS, HOST: I close today with a message for you, the viewer.

Walking among the crowds Saturday at the commemoration of the march on Washington, I was struck by how many different kinds of people had come together to honor 50 years of civil rights history.

So why does some media still find it so hard to help Americans talk to each other across racial lines?

I'm convinced one aggravating factor is media outlets that profit by playing off prejudice and encouraging people's fears about race difference. I even wrote a book about this, called "Race Baiter: How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation." It's part of a syndrome I call the tyranny of the broad niche. That's what happens when media outlets court the biggest part of a splintering audience at the expense of other groups.

And there may be one cure, changing the audience itself. There's some pretty simple guidelines for positive conversations on these issues, recognizing that no one person or group owns this discussion, avoiding insults and belittling people, understanding that talking about race doesn't equal racism and accepting that we all fall prey to prejudice sometimes and that doesn't necessarily make you a bigot.

Watching anti-abortion activists hold signs peacefully right next to immigration reform protesters at Saturday's march, I got the feeling the crowd there already learned these lessons and the truth is, in today's media environment, you have more power than ever. You can reject outlets focused on harmful, destructive arguments and embrace accurate, fair discussions.

No viewership, no readership, equals no profits and suddenly that kind of programming disappears. Now maybe, just maybe, it's time for the audience to help save media from itself.

Via: Newsbusters

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Navy ready to launch first strike on Syria

Britain is planning to join forces with America and launch military action against Syria within days in response to the gas attack believed to have been carried out by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces against his own people.

Royal Navy vessels are being readied to take part in a possible series of cruise missile strikes, alongside the United States, as military commanders finalise a list of potential targets.

Government sources said talks between the Prime Minister and international leaders, including Barack Obama, would continue, but that any military action that was agreed could begin within the next week.

As the preparations gathered pace, William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, warned that the world could not stand by and allow the Assad regime to use chemical weapons against the Syrian people “with impunity”.

Britain, the US and their allies must show Mr Assad that to perpetrate such an atrocity “is to cross a line and that the world will respond when that line is crossed”, he said.

British forces now look likely to be drawn into an intervention in the Syrian crisis after months of deliberation and international disagreement over how to respond to the bloody two-year civil war.

Via: The Telegraph

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Hundreds of private lobbyists earning public pensions in 20 states

ALBANY, N.Y. –  As a lobbyist in New York's statehouse, Stephen Acquario is doing pretty well. He pulls down $204,000 a year, more than the governor makes, gets a Ford Explorer as his company car and is afforded another special perk:

Even though he's not a government employee, he is entitled to a full state pension.

He's among hundreds of lobbyists in at least 20 states who get public pensions because they represent associations of counties, cities and school boards, an Associated Press review found. Legislatures granted them access decades ago on the premise that they serve governments and the public. In many cases, such access also includes state health care benefits.

But several states have started to question whether these organizations should qualify for such benefits, since they are private entities in most respects: They face no public oversight of their activities, can pay their top executives private-sector salaries and sometimes lobby for positions in conflict with taxpayers. New Jersey and Illinois are among the states considering legislation that would end their inclusion.

"It's a question of, 'Why are we providing government pensions to these private organizations?'" said Illinois Democratic Rep. Elaine Nekritz.

Via: Fox News Politics

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Debt Crisis Grows in Localities and States

States and localities owe far, far more than their citizens know.

Maria Pappas, the treasurer of Cook County, Illinois, got tired of being asked why local taxes kept rising. Betting that the answer involved the debt that state and local governments were accumulating, she began a quest to figure out how much county residents owed. It wasn’t easy. In some jurisdictions, officials said that they didn’t know; in others, they stonewalled. Pappas’s first report, issued in 2010, estimated the total state and local debt at $56 billion for the county’s 5.6 million residents. Two years later, after further investigation, the figure had risen to a frightening $140 billion, shocking residents and officials alike. “Nobody knew the numbers because local governments don’t like to show how badly they are doing,” Pappas observed.

Since Pappas began her project to tally Cook County’s hidden debt, she has found lots of company. Across America, elected officials, taxpayer groups, and other researchers have launched a forensic accounting of state and municipal debt, and their fact-finding mission is rewriting the country’s balance sheet. Just a few years ago, most experts estimated that state and local governments owed about $2.5 trillion, mostly in the form of municipal bonds and other debt securities. But late last year, the States Project, a joint venture of Harvard’s Institute of Politics and the University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute of Government, projected that if you also count promises made to retired government workers and money borrowed without taxpayer approval, the figure might be higher than $7 trillion.

Via: California Political Review

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Republicans shape strategy for fall U.S. budget fights

House of Representatives leaders made clear they want to pass a temporary measure to avoid a possible government shutdown while pushing for U.S. budget austerity.

With lawmakers away in their home districts for the summer break, Republican leaders have been weighing their approach to two upcoming budget standoffs with President Barack Obama - over the annual spending bill and the impending debt limit increase.

Republicans came away bruised from fights over the two issues in the past. Aides said no final decisions have been made and it may take a few weeks to hammer out a strategy that could be embraced by a party known for its fractiousness.

House Speaker John Boehner used a conference call with members on Thursday to brief them on the ideas being considered, and how best to use the confrontations to put pressure on the Democratic president.

The options include using a deadline in November for raising the nation's borrowing limit as leverage to push Republican causes. Their main priorities are weakening Obama's signature healthcare changes, securing broad tax reforms and getting Obama to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada and the northern states to Texas Gulf refineries.

Boehner's immediate priority is to avoid a political backlash should Republicans and Obama fail to agree on a budget by October 1.

Via: Rueters

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Rep. John Lewis Heralds Changing Electorate: ‘Minority Will Become Majority’

Upon the anniversary of the March on Washington, John Lewis spoke to Meet the Press’ David Gregory about the legacy of the civil rights movement Sunday morning, encouraging America to embrace, not fear, the shifting demographics of the electorate that would put minorities in a place of political power.

“I think some forces want to create this sense of fear,” Lewis said. “They think that the country is moving too fast, or maybe becoming too progressive. The country’s not the same country. People are coming together. And in a short time, the minority will be the majority.”

Lewis is the sole surviving speaker of the 1963 march, and a longtime Democratic representative from Georgia.

RELATED: John Lewis Speaks at March on Washington 50th Anniversary

“Is there backlash that comes with that?” Gregory asked.

“As Americans, we must be prepared to make that adjustment,” Lewis said. “Be courageous. Embrace the change.”

Watch the full clip here, via NBC News:

Via: Mediaite.com

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