After Shutdown: Administration Gives $445,000,000 to Corporation for Public Broadcasting

(CNSNews.com) - On the first day of the “shutdown” of the federal government, when members of the U.S. Senate were going to the well of their house to point out that the shutdown would prevent the National Institutes of Health from starting clinical trials for cancer patients and others facing possibly terminal illnesses, the administration was giving $445,000,000 to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, according to the Daily Treasury Statement.

That means PBS NewsHour, National Public Radio and Sesame Street got a taxpayer subsidy during the shutdown, but not would-be cancer patients at the NIH.

The $445 million the Treasury handed over to CPB was more than the $119 million the Treasury paid on the first day of the shutdown in interest on U.S. government debt that is held by the public. It was also more than $171 million in Social Security benefits the Treasury paid that day. But it was less than the $592 million the Treasury paid for Veterans Affairs programs on the first day of the shutdown.

The $445 million the Treasury gave to CPB on the first day of the shutdown was also almost as much as the $471 million the administration gave to the entire Department of Health and Human Services that day.

Via: CNS News

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Pat Buchanan: Obama shutdown maneuvers ‘genuinely sadistic’

On Sean Hannity’s radio show on Thursday, conservative commentator Pat Buchanan picked up where he left off earlier in the week by criticizing President Barack Obama’s tactics in dealing with the federal government shutdown.

According to the former Nixon and Reagan administration staffer, the president’s acts show that he is motivated by winning a political fight, even if it means resorting to very unpopular means to get at his opposition.

“I think even many of the president’s supporters, at least some of them, will candidly admit he’s among the most partisan presidents we’ve ever had,” Buchanan said. “And the relationship between the Republican House and the Republicans in the Senate and the White House, and the fact he didn’t meet with [Senate Minority LeaderMitch] McConnell for 18 months, I think that president is becoming quite frankly becoming increasingly a savage partisan. What he is doing in this debate and this argument, however, I think is genuinely sadistic.”

“To go out there yesterday and suggest, you know maybe we’re going to default and rattle the markets where they plunge today, to have his aides call over there at the Park Service and tell them not to let the veterans visit the World War II Memorial when they’re on honor flight — their last chance in this life to meet and honor the guys with whom they served and to visit the memorial, which belongs to them — what kind of mind would do that?” Buchanan continued.

He added that this president’s comments diminish his office to a point he comes off as a losing partisan.

“[Y]ou hear these very solicitous comments, ‘Well, you know we got a strong economy,’” Buchanan said. “Make sure you know, you don’t rattle the market or panic the markets. He looked like he is trying deliberately to do it. And now we see he’s out there threatening the Social Security checks of the old folks. I mean, this sounds like some rabid partisan in a wholly partisan congressional district in the last 48 hours before a losing campaign.”

Buchanan, the author of “Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?“ said it looked to him that congressional Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, were playing into Republicans’ hands. His suggested course of action was to counter hardship stories in the media by passing legislation that would fundthose parts of the government and put the onus on Reid, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and their fellow Democratic colleagues.

Via: Daily Caller

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[VIDEO] Hannity Goes Nuclear on 'Lying' House Dem

Joining me now, our republican Congressman Matt Salmon and democratic Congressman Bill Pascrell. Congressman Pascrell, it's been a long time. How are you?
REP. BILL PASCRELL (D), NEW JERSEY: Very good. How is your family?
HANNITY: Good. Thank you very much.
All right. Liberals in this country claim they have a monopoly on compassion of fairness for the poor and everybody else. Let me ask you a very specific question. If big business gets a special exemptions, do you think it is fair that individuals did not get the same exemptions and similarly, you in Congress are getting the subsidy exemptions that the rest of us aren't getting with Obamacare. Do you think that's fair?
PASCRELL: Well, first of all the members of Congress do not get a subsidy. It is the employer contribution to health care.
HANNITY: Seventy two percent.
PASCRELL: Like any company or any federal agency. We are not getting anything more than anybody else.
HANNITY: Can I get the 72 percent?
PASCRELL: Wait.
HANNITY: I can't.
PASCRELL: Sean, you ask a good question. Give me a chance to answer it. Because all your guys on your side of the aisle, when this thing blows over, they will be the first ones to make sure that they have coverage. No question about it. You know it and I do. They could give it up tomorrow morning, Sean.

Via: Fox News
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[CARTOON] Monuments Shutdown

Via: California Political Review

FAKE OBAMACARE INSURANCE EXCHANGE SITES ALREADY SPOTTED

Amid numerous reports of ObamaCare exchange difficulties, Internet cloud security company Trend Micro has reported that they have already seen spam targeted to words such as “Medicare,” “enrollment,” and “medical insurance.” The company reports that some of the spam variants appear “professional enough to fool some users into opening the email and clicking the links in these messages.”

According to SecurityWatch magazine, Trend Micro’s threat communications manager Christopher Budd said “deep problems with the Marketplace websites could make things much worse.”

Budd wrote last week that due to the way the online registration for ObamaCare will work, and to the type of information people must enter online to obtain health insurance coverage, “there’s a real risk of a perfect storm that can make this process a bonanza for identity thieves and cybercriminals:”

The root problem is that the Health Insurance Exchange isn’t made up of a single, authoritative site where people can go and register for coverage. In addition to the Federal site, people can apply for coverage at sites run by individual states. Then, within each state, there can also be legitimate third-party sites that provide assistance and even broker coverage.

When a person starts looking through sites to find one, at this time, they’re faced with the challenge that there’s no official marking or labeling that they can look at on a site to know that it’s an officially sanctioned site. A survey of state and third-party sites also shows that official sites aren’t required to provide the ability to verify the site using SSL: many of them don’t provide it for site verification at all, though the Federal site does. As people look for health care exchanges, they’re going to be faced with potentially hundreds or thousands of sites that claim to be legitimate but won’t be able to easily verify that claim.

Budd said that, in addition, when applying for healthcare coverage, people must submit all of their most sensitive personal data – not only for themselves, but also for their entire family.

Via: Breitbart

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Reid apologizes for nasty tone on Senate floor

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid delivered a striking mea culpa on the Senate floor Friday as he opened the chamber, saying he and his colleagues have simply gotten too personal and nasty in their floor debates.

A day earlier Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, had scolded Mr. Reid for attacking Sen. Ted Cruz, another Texas Republican, by name as they debated the government shutdown. Mr. Cornyn read directly from the Senate Rules that prohibit members from impugning each other’s motives or conduct.

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SEE ALSO: Boehner: Shutdown ‘isn’t some damn game’

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Mr. Reid on Friday said it was a lesson all senators, including himself, should learn.

“I’ll work harder and I hope my senators will work to their best to maintain these habits of civility and decorum,” he said.

The Nevada Democrat said the chamber has “lost the aura” of Sen. Robert C. Byrd, the long-time lawmaker from West Virginia who was seen as a keeper of the chamber’s traditions.

On Thursday, Mr. Reid had accused Mr. Cruz — who wasn’t on the floor — of having usurped the rest of the GOP leadership, including House Speaker John A. Boehner

Via: Washington Times

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Senior Admin. Official: 'We Are Winning...It Doesn't Really Matter to Us' When Shutdown Ends

Although the government shutdown continues, it appears President Barack Obama and the White House are not getting any closer to negotiating with Republicans. A quotation from an unnamed senior administration official in today's Wall Street Journal explains why.

Said a senior administration official: "We are winning...It doesn't really matter to us" how long the shutdown lasts "because what matters is the end result."

With this view, it explains why President Obama won't agree to any piecemeal legislation that would keep Veterans Affairs and NIH open during the shutdown. And it explains why President Obama would rather cancel his Asia trip than negotiate with Republicans. 

It's because the White House (or, at least this unnamed official) believe it is "winning" by shutting down the government and blaming Republicans. And when one's winning, he's not likely to change course.

As the Journal details, Obama has also argued that he won't negotiate over the debt ceiling because the stakes are too high. 

Another risk for Mr. Obama is that people may not sympathize with his refusal to negotiate over the debt ceiling. The Treasury Department has said that no later than Oct. 17 it will only have $30 billion in cash—a sum that will be exhausted in one or two weeks, according to the Congressional Budget Office. After that point, Treasury is expected to start falling behind on its bills.

Again, Mr. Obama has vowed not to negotiate, saying the consequences of default would be so severe the matter can't be held hostage to political negotiations. "There will be no negotiations over this," he said Thursday.

Via: Weekly Standard

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House Dem: ‘I will not be donating or forgoing my salary’

Dem Rep. Gwen Moore: I’m Standing With Furloughed Government Workers By Collecting My $174K Salary During Shutdown…

Wisconsin Democrat Rep. Gwen Moore has vowed that she will not give up her $174,000 congressional salary during the government shutdown.

A large number of members from the Wisconsin delegation who have either refused to draw their federal salary or who have pledged to donate their salary to charity: U.S. Senators Ron Johnson (R) and Tammy Baldwin (D) as well as Congressional Representatives Ron Kind (D-WI-03), Reid Ribble (R-WI-08)  Tom Petri (R-WI-06), Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI-05),  Sean Duffy (R-WI-07) and Paul Ryan (R-WI-01).

However, Moore is standing firm — and collecting a paycheck.

Approximately 800,000 federal government employees have either been forced into furlough leave or are working without pay.” she said in a statement obtained by TMJ4. ”Federal government employees who rely on their paychecks to feed their families deserve a salary. That’s why I am coming to work every day and keeping both my district office in Milwaukee and my Washington, D.C. offices open and fully operational. I am speaking, voting and working diligently to help my constituents through the shutdown and speak on their behalf in Washington to reopen the government. I will not be donating or forgoing my salary.”

Quite how a congresswoman drawing a salary of $174,000 can be construed as standing with “federal government employees” who “rely on their paychecks to feed their families” is unclear. However, the Wisconsin Congressman is no stranger to mysterious statements.

Moore is the mother of Sowande A. Omokunde. According to the Wall Street Journal: “Moore’s son was among five Democratic presidential campaign operatives in Milwaukee charged with slashing the tires of vehicles rented by Republicans to take voters to the polls. She railed against the case, calling it revenge for her election, but her son pleaded no contest at the end of his trial in January 2006.”

That case was marked by the fact that Omokunde was in fact fingered for the crime by Opel Simmons. a Virginia Democratic operative, who told prosecutors that he saw the defendants wearing “Mission Impossible type gear” on their way to enact “Operation Elephant Takeover.”

Via: Daily Caller

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Throw the bums out? Budget deadlock portends 2014 backlash

While the House and Senate point fingers at each other over the budget impasse, new polling suggests the only thing they might accomplish is getting thrown out of office. 

Despite a robust campaign by Democrats to pin the blame exclusively on their GOP colleagues, the American public appears fed up with just about every elected member from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to the Capitol dome. 

The public sentiment should bring a sense of foreboding for any lawmaker seeking re-election in 2014, with evidence mounting of an anti-incumbent backlash in the making. 

Newly released Fox News polls show Congress' approval rating is 13 percent. President Obama's is better, but still not great for a recently re-elected president, at 45 percent. And more people disapprove than approve of either party, though the numbers for Republicans are worse. 

As for the budget stalemate, while lawmakers appear to be hunkering down for a long fight, voters are worried it will have a serious impact on them. Fifty-eight percent said they see the partial shutdown as "very" serious. 

And neither party is escaping blame. 

Via: Fox News

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Democrats’s Shutdown Is Refusal To Face The American People

We’ve heard stories of Democrats attempting to “shutdown” privately owned historical sites like Mount Vernon and many other privately funded and run parks. They want the shutdown for use as a weapon, to “hurt and rescue” the American people. Case in point: Canyon Voyages Adventure Company.

Don Oblak’s Moab, Utah-based Canyon Voyages Adventure Co. depends on the Colorado River, which winds through breathtaking ravines in the Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.

But national parks will have to remain closed during any government shutdown. The Bureau of Land Management has told Oblak that he would not have access to rivers on its lands.

That means he’d have to cancel kayak and whitewater trips on the river, his core business.

Oblak fears that if the government shuts down even for a short time, it will affect his business for the entire month of October because his clients will cancel their trips. If that happens, he’d have to furlough all 25 employees at Canyon Voyages and cancel pre-sold tours. Combined with lost sales from his retail store, a lengthy shutdown could lead to an estimated $200,000 loss.

Apparently all of the water has been shut off in rivers that wind through public land. Despite no “maintenance” needed for this company to take tours down the river, it’s still “shutdown.”

Democrats want the shut down to be as visible and painful-looking as possible so as to convince the public that they need massive government. Barricades have been placed in tour bus turn-arounds; direct orders were given to block WWII veterans from seeing the memorial built to them, mostly by them.

Via: Red State

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