AUTHOR OF HOUSE IMMIGRATION REFORM BILL: 'NOT GONNA HAPPEN'

On Friday, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), who had been working with six other Representatives to write the House's version of a comprehensive immigration bill, conceded that his group's legislation was effectively dead.

“It’s just not gonna happen now," he said. 

Gutierrez, a vocal advocate of immigration reform and a member of the House's "gang of seven," told the Washington Post that the House will not likely go forward with his bill "anytime in the near future." The bill would have provided a pathway to citizenship for the country's illegal immigrants.

“It doesn’t appear that we’re going to move forward with the group of seven,” Gutierrezsaid. “The process is stalled. I don’t believe we’re going to produce a bill anytime soon."

According to the Washington Post, Republicans like Reps. John Carter (R-TX) and Sam Johnson (R-TX) who were a part of the gang of seven "are set to publicly announce that the gang of seven plan is not going to happen." They reportedly "backed away from reform because they caught heat from conservative constituents who wanted more border security." Gutierrez also said the House Republican leadership fell out of favor with the "gang of seven" plan. 

The House, though, may still bring up a series of piecemeal bills in order to ultimately go to conference with the Senate, where many conservatives opposed to amnesty believeproponents of a pathway to citizenship for all of the country's illegal immigrants would win.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has said that a pathway to citizenship had to be a"fundamental principle" of any immigration bill Congress passes. He has also indicated that should the two chambers go to conference, many of the key provisions in the Senate bill, which the Congressional Budget Office determined would lower the wages of working class Americans, would win out. 

President Barack Obama also recently said comprehensive immigration reform was his "number-one priority."

Via: Breitbart

Continue Reading.....

[CARTOON] Global Warming Alarmists

Via: California Political Review

Illinois Governor Considers National Guard To Combat Chicago Crime

(CBS) – Gov. Pat Quinn says he would consider using state resources to help combat Chicago street violence, but only if city officials want the assistance.

Speaking on this week’s mass shooting in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, Quinn was asked whether there have been discussions about sending in the state police or Illinois National Guard to assist Chicago police.

The governor said he’s had no specific conversations but noted state police are helping patrol in East St. Louis, another city that has its challenges with violent crime.

“It has to be done in a coordinated fashion with the local law enforcement, with their full cooperation,” Quinn told reporters Saturday.

Quinn did not specifically veto the idea of deploying Guard members in Chicago. A press aide later told CBS 2 the governor was speaking only about the possibility of using state police to help out.

Discussions about using state manpower to fight Chicago crime isn’t unprecedented. In 2008, then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich suggested using the state police and National Guard to help Chicago police with “out of control” violence. The comment was widely interpreted as an insult to then-Mayor Richard Daley, with whom Blagojevich was feuding.

Via: CBS Chicago

Continue Reading.....

Germany, 'Veggie Day,' and Michelle Obama

BERLIN—The elections set to take place here in Germany Sunday are expected to turn largely on the country's solid economy, Chancellor Angela Merkel's handling of the European debt crisis and social issues like women's role in the work force. But add to that plate one more thing: Germans don't want the government telling them what to eat.

In what could be a cautionary tale for First Lady Michelle Obama's efforts to tweak Americans' diets, Germans look set to punish the Green Party for urging that public cafeterias go meat-free on a designated "Veggie Day" each week in order to help the environment and reduce cruelty to animals. Borrowing colorfully from English, German newspaper Bild described public reaction to the idea as a "shitstorm."

(Also on POLITICO: In Germany, one TV ad per candidate)

At her party's final campaign rally on Saturday, Merkel joined in, slamming the Green proposal.

"You will never hear from the Christian Democratic Union party when you should eat meat and when you shouldn't," Merkel said to loud applause from her supporters and campaign workers in the Tempodrom theater.

"I grew up in a Christian house. We didn't eat meat on Fridays. I think every restaurant should have a vegetarian dish, but we are a party confident people can manage their own lives," the German prime minister added. "We are confident people will live a reasonable life and we don't want to deprive them of this opportunity."

Via: Politico

Continue Reading.....

'TOP' DC REPUBLICANS SENT OPPO RESEARCH TO 'HAMMER' CRUZ

On Sunday, Chris Wallace, the host of Fox News Sunday, said that Republicans in Washington were savaging Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) behind Cruz's back before Cruz's appearance on the program to discuss defunding Obamacare. 

In an appearance on Washington D.C.'s Fox 5 to preview his Sunday show, Wallace said, "I will tell you I have never in my time in Washington seen a party so upset with one of its own members."

He said he had been flooded with opposition research on Cruz--from Republicans. Later on Fox News Sunday, Wallace said these "top Republicans" gave him "unsolicited research and questions" to "hammer" Cruz.   

"Since we announced that Ted Cruz was going to be on the show, I've been getting background research and questions going after Cruz not from Democrats but from other Republicans," Wallace said on Fox 5. "They really feel he has put them in this corner that they can't get out of gracefully and they're not very happy with him."

In an exclusive op-ed for Breitbart News on Saturday, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who has also been savaged by establishment Republicans, urged Cruz to stay strong in the face of inevitable attacks from fellow Republicans and suggested they compare "shiv marks" the next time they meet:

"We’re now, once again, subjected to the “anonymous sources” backstabbing game. The Capitol Hill cowards are rushing to anonymously denounce Senator Cruz to any reporter with a pad and pen.

Welcome to our world, Ted. The same people have been denouncing conservatives like me for years (right after they ask for help fundraising for themselves or endorsing the latest candidate they’ve suckered into paying their exorbitant consulting fees). We can compare shiv marks next time we meet, my friend."

Via: Breitbart

Continue Reading.....

‘IS THIS AMERICA?’: PARENT ‘MANHANDLED’, ARRESTED WHILE SPEAKING OUT AGAINST COMMON CORE AT PUBLIC FORUM

A parent in Towson, Md., was arrested Thursday night at a public forum after vocally expressing his concerns about the Baltimore County School District’s plan to use Common Core standards in its curriculum.

Robert Small, a concerned father, was forcefully removed from the meeting by a police officer after he interrupted Baltimore County Schools Superintendent Dallas Dance during the question-and-answer portion of the forum.

The meeting apparently didn’t allow parents to stand up and ask questions or comment. Parents and other attendants were instead asked to write their questions on a piece of paper and officials would read them.

However, Small began speaking out against the district’s use of Common Core, prompting a security guard, who was also a police officer, to approach him and order him to leave. “Let’s go!” he said sternly.

(YouTube)

When Small didn’t immediately comply, the officer began pulling his arm and pushing him towards the exit. Some audience members gasped at the cop’s use of force.

“Don’t stand for this,” the father said as he was dragged out. “You are sitting here like cattle! Is this America?”

Via: The Blaze

Continue Reading....

House of Representatives Listens to the American People on Obamacare

A bipartisan majority in the House of Representatives voted to stop Obamacare while funding the government to prevent a shutdown. This is a powerful development for the cause of freedom, showing that our representatives are listening to the concerns of the American people about this unworkable, unfair, and unpopular health care law.

When this partisan law was rammed through more than three years ago, its backers publicly stated they could not bother to read the legislation—or give the American people time to read the bill. “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what’s in it,” as the former Speaker of the House famously remarked.

The people who passed Obamacare didn’t listen to the American people—because, as polling since Obamacare passed has demonstrated, the American people don’t like the law one bit. All the reasons people don’t like Obamacare are the same reasons we need to stop its implementation—to prevent premiums from going up; to prevent massive new tax hikes; and to prevent people from losing their health coverage, or losing their jobs altogether.

Listening to the American people about stopping Obamacare should not be a partisan exercise. Real people have already been harmed by this misguided law. Every day brings new facts to light on how Obamacare will raise costs on struggling families, restrict access to doctors and plans they like, increase our debt, and damage our fragile economy. Congress should work together to protect American families from being hurt and instead work on commonsense reforms that expand health care choices and lower costs.

Today, the House of Representatives voted to stop Obamacare because it listened to people across the country. Here’s hoping the Senate listens to the American people as well.

Via: The Foundry

Continue Reading.....

[CARTOON] A Red Line

Via: California Political Review

Labor and Trade Unions Oppose CA Lead Ammo Ban

A controversial bill to ban traditional lead ammunition in California by Assemblyman Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, passed both houses of the Legislature last week. But according to representatives of labor and trade unions, animal rights activists pressured Rendon and lawmakers to ignore science while turning a deaf ear to voters.

Assembly Bill 711 passed largely because of concern over the poisoning of the California condor. But the bill was amended at the 11th hour in a secret deal to postpone the effective date until 2019. If the need for the bill is really over concerns about poisoned Condors, what about the thousands of great birds which will have died by the time the bill finally goes into effect six years from now?

But not all of the state’s Democrats voted for  AB711; representatives of rural areas in the state voted against the bill, or abstained.

Motive: A total ban on hunting

The bill isn’t really about concerns over condors or lead poisoning, according to two opponents. They are Mark Gagliardi, a trustee of the Contra Costa Central Labor Council; and Lawrence Keane, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the shooting, hunting and firearms industry.

Gagliardi, a labor union leader, is very frustrated with Democratic Assembly and Senate members he helped get elected, but who voted for passage of AB711. “This bill will hurt the shooting industry, retailers and hunting,” Gagliardi told me in an interview. “They are making hunting unaffordable, and killing California jobs.”

Gagliardi said he goes to the Capitol two to three times each year to meet with lawmaker on labor issues. One day early in 2013, he was at the Capitol and noticed AB711 and a couple of other anti-gun bills were being heard that day in the Senate Public Safety Committee. So he went to the hearing and sat in the front row. Gagliardi said Democrats on the committee he helped get elected acted uncomfortable seeing him sitting there. Several asked him what he was doing at the Public Safety Committee hearing, and suggested he was out of his element.

While Gagliardi is a labor leader, that reaction promoted him to put together a large coalition of labor leaders to fight AB711. “Unions represent business in America, including the manufacturers of lead ammunition,” Gagliardi said. “We elect these people to go to Sacramento to create jobs, not to make them go away.”

Via: California Political Review

Continue Reading.....

Biden in Mexico: U.S. Needs 'to Bring 11 Million Undocumented ... Out of The Shadows'

(CNSNews.com) - Speaking at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Mexico City on Friday, Vice President Joe Biden said that the international partnership he and President Barack Obama are seeking to build--including one between the United States and Mexico--are "literally going to shape the future for my country for the next 10, 20, 30, 40 years."

Part of that future, Biden said, should involve letting “undocumented” people “out of the shadows” in the United States—terminology the administration and others  have used to describe a policy that would legalize illegal aliens and allow them to eventually become U.S. citizens.

“With regard to immigration, let me make two things absolutely clear,” Biden said in Mexico City. “It is not only from the perspective of the President, myself and the American people a matter of justice, respect, and according dignity to all people to bring 11 million undocumented men, women, and children out of the shadows, but it’s also overwhelmingly in the self-interest, the economic self-interest of the United States.”

“So I want to make it clear to you that President Obama is deeply invested in the maturation of this relationship at every level--at every level,” said Biden. “This is a different day. This is a different day.

“I wanted to be here with you because my country’s foreign policy is about more than dealing with threats, as we are dealing with in the Middle East,” said Biden. “It’s also about partnerships--partnerships that we believe, the President and I, are literally going to shape the future for my country for the next 10, 20, 30, 40 years.

Via: CNS News
Continue Reading.....

CAIR collects millions from foreign donors thanks to non-profit shell game

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) conceals donations from overseas through a series of shell organizations, according to documents from court actions involving the Muslim advocacy group.

Since its founding in 1994, CAIR has presented itself to American Muslims and the media as a single organization centered on American concerns. But it shows a different face to the IRS, with multiple corporate entities that conceal the large financial donations that come to CAIR from Middle East sources.

As a registered lobbying group, CAIR is required to report to the IRS contributions over $5,000. Its shifting 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) branches, however, make it possible to collect millions of dollars from oil-rich Muslim nations without disclosure. Documents show CAIR has received millions of dollars in overseas contributions and tens of millions in pledges from overseas.

CAIR’s convoluted structure and funding machinations are dizzying. Today, the original Council on American Islamic Relations doesn’t exist at all. In June 2013, CAIR changed its name to the nondescriptly named Washington Trust Foundation, Inc. (WTF).

“Plentiful legal evidence, acquired in the course of a lawsuit—plus CAIR’s own official filing documents to the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) and IRS—make clear that CAIR has engaged in a thinly-disguised money laundering operation,” David Reaboi, vice president for strategic communications at the Center for Security Policy, told The Daily Caller.

“In addition to violating its 501(c)(3) regulations, CAIR’s undisclosed and hidden foreign donations amount to violation of the Foreign Agent Registration Act as well,” Reaboi continued.

CAIR formed in 1994 by filing with the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) and soon after obtained 501(c)(4) status from the IRS as a non-profit lobbying organization.

The year before, the organization’s two founders — current Executive Director Nihad Awad and Omar Ahmad — were captured on FBI wiretaps of high-level Hamas leaders, discussing the need for a public relations effort supporting that group. On the recorded meetings and phone calls, the terrorist group was referred to, in code, as “Samah,” as the participants made covert efforts to fund and promote its activities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to the tune of millions of dollars.

Via: Daily Caller

Continue Reading....

EXCLUSIVE: PALIN -- BOMBS AWAY ON OBAMACARE; CRUZ IS OVER THE TARGET

Americans who are fed up with Obamacare won a victory yesterday. The House voted to defund Obamacare while still funding the federal government to avoid a “devastating” shutdown. (I shall not digress, but it’s beyond distressing to hear liberals try to convince Americans that any government slowdown is comparable to “terrorism.”) 

Now the battle goes to the Senate, and we’ll find out if Harry Reid is so committed to the horrendous “Un-affordable Care Act” that he’ll be the one to shut down the government to fund the unworkable Obamacare.

Let’s be clear. Republicans in Congress aren't advocating a government shutdown. That’s why they voted in the House to fully fund our bureaucracy while defunding Obamacare. The conservatives in Congress are listening to the majority of Americans who do not want Obamacare.

Following the will of the people is apparently a novel idea in D.C. these days. Just ask Senator Ted Cruz and his liberty-loving posse on Capitol Hill who have led the charge to defund Obama’s train wreck.

Those of us who hang in there supporting a major political party with our energy, time, and contributions would like to believe that that party would praise principled conservatives like Ted Cruz and Mike Lee for following through on campaign promises. We’d like to believe that the GOP establishment would applaud the way these bold leaders have rallied the grassroots to their cause. But, no, such praise would require a commensurate level of guts and leadership, and the permanent political class in D.C. is nothing if not gutless and rudderless. 

Via: Breitbart

Continue Reading.....

Obama: Negotiating with Republicans over debt ceiling 'is not going to happen'

President Obama gave a rousing speech at the annual Congressional Black Caucus dinner on Saturday, pledging not to negotiate with Republicans over raising the debt ceiling.

Obama said Republicans in Congress are willing to throw the economy into peril in their effort to defund the Affordable Care Act. Some in the GOP have also threatened not to raise the debt ceiling in an attempt to block ObamaCare.

The president said he won’t negotiate over the debt ceiling and that the healthcare reform act will remain the law of the land.

“Let me say as clearly as I can: It is not going to happen. We have come too far. We have overcome far darker threats than those,” Obama said to rising applause from the crowd at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

Via: The Hill

Continue Reading.....

Obama to Boehner: No Deal on Debt Limit, Defunding Obamacare

President Barack Obama called House Speaker John Boehner late Friday and reiterated that he would not negotiate with Congress on raising the debt limit, a Boehner representative told Newsmax.

"The president called the speaker this evening to tell him he wouldn't negotiate with him on the debt limit," the spokesman said in a statement. "Given the long history of using debt limit increases to achieve bipartisan deficit reduction and economic reforms, the speaker was disappointed, but told the president that the two chambers of Congress will chart the path ahead.

"It was a brief call," the Boehner spokesman said.

The president also called House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the White House said.

"The president telephoned Speaker Boehner and told him again that the full faith and credit of the United States should not and will not be subject to negotiation," an administration official told Politico in a statement. "The president reiterated that it is the constitutional responsibility of the U.S. Congress to pass the nation's budget and pay the nation’s bills."

Editor's Note: Should ObamaCare Be Defunded? Vote in Urgent National Poll 

Obama's calls came as the House of Representatives voted to temporarily finance the federal government while defunding Obamacare. The 230-189 vote set up a showdown with the Senate and the White House.

House Republicans said on Wednesday they were preparing legislation to raise the government's $16.7 trillion debt limit.

Leaders have said that they were considering including such options as blocking Obama administration plans to curb coal ash pollution; forcing civil servants to contribute more to their retirement plans; requiring Congress to approve many major regulations; and defunding Obamacare for a year.

Obama has said he wants Congress to send him legislation that simply extends the debt limit and has said that he will not negotiate the matter.

The government is expected to exhaust its borrowing authority by late October. That would threaten a first-ever federal default, which many analysts believe would deal a severe blow to the economy.

Via: Newsmax

Continue Reading.....

Morning Bell: The Obamacare Scams Are Already Starting

Heritage warned that the new Obamacare insurance exchanges could threaten your privacy—and it’s already happening, before the exchanges are even open.

In a new report, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee presented these shocking findings:

there are already numerous reports of scam artists posing as Navigators and Assisters to take advantage of people’s confusion about ObamaCare. According to recent news reports, scam artists are calling individuals and asking for information to sign them up for their “ObamaCare card,” are asking seniors for their personal information to verify their Medicare and Social Security status and are going door-to-door threatening people with prison time if they do not sign up on the spot. The Administration is keenly aware of these reports and concerns, but has thus far failed to take appropriate measures.

Even when it’s not malicious, the new Obamacare system—employing “navigators” who aren’t run through background checks or adequately trained—opens up a host of opportunities for identity theft. Last week, an employee of Minnesota’s insurance exchange (MNsure) emailed out the names and Social Security numbers of 2,400 insurance agents. The insurance broker who received the email said, “If this is happening now, how can clients of MNsure be confident their data is safe?”

Indeed.

Via: The Foundry

Continue Reading.....

House Oversight Committee Finds “Fraud and Abuse Risks” Within Obamacare

Florida Governor Rick Scott is doing the “I-told-you-so” dance after having his concerns about the Obamacare “Navigators” program validated by the findings from an investigation conducted by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. 

The House committee report found that “scam artists” are already trying to infiltrate the navigator program. The report also found that Health and Human Resource (HHS) officials “conceded” that there was “no way to identify authenticity of certified navigators.” 

Scott expressed his concern that these so-called “Navigators,” who will not have any insurance background, be collecting massive amounts of personal information for the federal government, such as tax information and Social Security numbers. 

Democrats like Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz have called Scott’s Obamacare concerns excuses because she believes ” he has been hell-bent on obstructing the smooth implementation of ObamaCare,” adding that he has also “done everything he can to block it and impede its implementation.”

 Here are the key points of the committee’s findings after looking into how HHS was going about implementing Obamacare. “In May 2013, top HHS officials… expressed concern about the ‘ability of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services staff to authenticate, register, and certify everyone who will be involved in the consumer assistance process.’” 

“One CMS whistleblower warned that because it may not be possible to track every computer and hard drive used by Navigators to gather applicants’ personally identifiable information (PII), the sensitive information is vulnerable. 

The CMS whistleblower also warned that the devices used to scan supporting documents may store and save the images containing sensitive PII.” “With an influx of Navigators, Assisters, and individuals employed by non-governmental organizations like Enroll America engaging in ObamaCare outreach, it will be very difficult for consumers to differentiate between a scam artist and a legitimate source of information.” 

Via: The Shark Tank

Continue Reading....

Jeb Bush's Latest Common Core Snit Fit by Michelle Malkin

This is priceless. Former Fla. GOP Gov. Jeb Bush, consummate politician and 2016 presidential aspirant, has now bitterly accused opponents of his federal education schemes of possessing "purely political" motives. Projection, anyone?

Having previously suggested that critics of the so-called Common Core standards program are crazy, ignorant and lying, Bush piled on at a National Press Club appearance this week. Jeb the Insult Comic Dog did not hold back. Not only is the growing anti-Fed Ed movement of parents, teachers, school board members, academics, privacy advocates and state legislators of all stripes "purely political," Bush sniped, but the Common Core backlash that's causing him conniption fits is also opposed to academic excellence.

Yep. If you question Jeb Bush and his Big Business/Big Government cronies, you stand foursquare against student achievement and intellectual rigor. Pay attention, all you informed moms and dads who have raised pointed, carefully researched questions about the costs, quality, validity, constitutionality and intrusiveness of Common Core. Bush thinks you are "purely political" beasts who are recklessly harming your own kids' scholastic advancement.

Via: Townhall

Continue Reading....

17,679 Things the Federal Government Has Done Since Sequestration

Sequestration is back on the agenda and so is anti-austerity hysteria.

Over at Politico, they're quasi-blaming the Navy Yard shooting on cuts.

The president of MIT says sequestration is "choking the innovation economy."

The Center for American Progress frets that "austerity kills."

The Atlantic says cuts are "undermining what makes America great."

The FBI is threatening a 10-day shutdown.

And President Barack Obama said in a speech this week that the sequester cuts "have cost jobs, harmed growth, are hurting our military readiness. And top independent economists say this has been a big drag on our recovery this year. Our economy is not growing as fast as it should and we're not creating as many jobs as we should, because the sequester is in place. That's not my opinion. That's the opinion of independent economists."

But has sequestration forced government to grind to a halt? To help answer that question, Reason offers this snapshot of what the feds have been up to over the last few months since the cuts kicked in.

Below is a listing of the 17,679 entries published in the Federal Register since sequestration took effect on March 1, 2013. The Federal Register doesn't capture everything the government has done, of course. But it gives an idea of what this austere, cut-to-the-bone budget has left intact. Click on the links for details about each announcement.

(You can also download the listing as an Excel file here).

Comment on your favorite entries here.

Via: reason.com

Continue Reading.....