Kick Them All Out! Distaste for DC Politicians at All-Time High

The public's displeasure with Washington politics reached a new high Friday with separate polls calling for all members of Congress to be fired and for a strong third party to challenge the 150-year-old dominance of Republicans and Democrats.

One survey also gave the lowest-ever favorability to the GOP, with more than twice as many people having a negative view as a positive.

The government shutdown and the continued failure of politicians to seek compromise was being blamed for the low opinion of the country's current leaders.

Urgent: Should GOP Stick to Its Guns on Obamacare? Vote Here. 

One poll, conducted for NBC News and the Wall Street Journal, showed that given the chance, 60 percent of Americans would vote out every single member of Congress — including their own representatives.

It is the highest-ever figure recorded since the pollsters asked the question. "We continue to use this number as a way to sort of understand how much revulsion there is. We now have a new high-water mark," said Peter Hart, one of those who conducted the poll.

A separate Gallup poll gave the same 60 percent number for those who believe the country needs a strong third party — again a record high. At the same time, a new low of 26 percent believe the two major parties adequately represent Americans.

"Given the inability of the Republican and Democratic parties to agree on the most basic of government functions — passing an annual budget to pay for federal programs — it is perhaps not surprising that the percentage of Americans who believe a third party is needed has never been higher," Gallup managing editor Jeffrey Jones said.

The belief was evenly split, with 52 percent of Republicans and 49 percent of Democrats saying a third party is needed, marking the first time a majority of either party's supporters have said this.

The results are consistent with Gallup's finding of more negative opinions of both parties since the shutdown began Oct. 1, including Americans' widespread dissatisfaction with the way the nation is being governed.

Via: Newsmax

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Health Reform Breaks Bad - The deceptions and disasters of Obamacare

Breaking Bad is the story of a seemingly well-intended but very misguided man who turned to cooking meth in order to amass enough wealth to provide for his family once he dies of cancer. The consequences of that unfortunate decision—not to mention the lies and deceptions to keep it on track—pyramid alarmingly over the course of five seasons, culminating in mayhem and a head-spinning body count.

Obamacare isn’t a TV drama. But it will unleash its own tsunami of unintended consequences: more than a million jobs lost, an economy increasingly made up of part-time workers, higher health spending (at least a half-trillion dollars just over the next decade), a decline in medical innovation (and attendant loss of life).

While Obamacare undoubtedly will do a modest amount of good, the urgent question is whether the law’s supporters will come to see that the good pales in comparison to the damage. Obamacare may still crash and burn (see Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988), or it may endure as a monument to government ineptitude and inefficiency (see U.S. Postal Service, whose deficit last year alone was $15.9 billion, despite being exempt from taxes, regulations, and even parking tickets!).

Via: The Weekly Standard

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Tyranny of the majority

There was a time when the Left was very concerned about the “tyranny of the majority,” as everyone of all political persuasions should be.  Once in a while, you see a few sparks popping and sizzling on that old ideological circuitry, mostly when the discussion turns to same-sex marriage.

But for the most part, tyranny of the majority is liberal policy now.  A single politician winning a majority of the vote in a couple of elections is supposed to stifle all dissent.  Rarely does an individual voter agree with every single position taken by a politician he supports – which is not surprising, given the size of our government – but it’s not uncommon to hear Democrat partisans claim that President Obama’s re-election victory validates everything he wants to do, obliging our representatives in Congress to ink up their rubber stamps for the next three years.

Appeals to majority rule are highly selective, of course – the Left is not at all interested in polls that show a majority of Americans disagree with ObamaCare, or the liberal gun control agenda.  Abortion extremists who defy the majority beliefs of the American people are hailed as heroes.  Disastrous Senate candidate Todd Akin of Missouri was undone by a position on abortion that has roughly the same level of popular support as President Barack Obama’s.  Selectively embracing the blessing of majority support is a very old political game.  One of the big motivations for using charges of “extremism” to destroy someone is to prevent them from shifting majority opinion – something that can, by definition, only be accomplished by people who are “outside the mainstream” today.  The window of political possibility can only be moved with sustained effort.

But let’s suppose most Americans want the rights of the minority to enjoy adequate protection.  We are a culture that has long celebrated iconoclasts, eccentrics, trailblazers, and those who march to the beat of a different drummer.  ”I disagree with what you say, but I’ll defend your right to say it” is a common mantra for expressing First Amendment sentiments.  In the heat of political contests, we sometimes forget that most of us really don’t support the concept of tyranny imposed through 51, or even 90, percent majorities.

Via: Red State

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Myths about Government Shutdowns

Young people often don't realize that government shutdowns used to be common, until the middle of the Clinton administration. The George W. Bush presidency was an exception to the rule. The Miami Herald's Glenn Garvin debunks the myths promoted by the left-leaning "chattering classes" to people too young to remember earlier shutdowns, and people with bad memories.

Myth: "This kind of thing never used to happen." Reality:

"Actually, it used to happen all the time. What's unusual is the quiet stretch since the last shutdown, when Newt Gingrich and Bill Clinton were facing off in 1995. Before that, there were 18 shutdowns in 19 years as various Congresses and presidents squabbled over raising the national debt limit. My personal favorite is the one in 1982, when Congress didn't feel like working late to pass a spending bill the night before the new fiscal year started. The Republicans were all going to a barbecue at the White House, while the Democrats had a $1,000-a-plate fund-raising dinner to attend."

Myth: "it wouldn't happen if not for all these crazy ideologues who've been elected the last few years. In the old days, Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill would have just had a drink after work and settled everything." Reality:

"More likely they would have broken some bottles over one another's heads. The federal government shut down seven times while Reagan was president and O'Neill speaker of the House. No wonder, the way they talked about each other.

"O'Neill called Reagan 'an absolute and total disgrace' and added that it was 'sinful that this man is president of the United States.' Reagan, in his diary, wrote that budget negotiations with the speaker were an ordeal because 'Tip O'Neill doesn't have the facts of what was in the budget. Besides he doesn't listen.'"

Via: CNS News

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McLean Youth Lacrosse fights government shutdown in court; Langley Fork Park reopens

Fed up that the federal shutdown was keeping them off their practice fields, a group of young lacrosse players in Northern Virginia challenged the government in court. And at least for now, they won.

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the National Park Service to immediately reopen Langley Fork Park in McLean — which was closed Oct. 1 — and allow the boys and girls of the McLean Youth Lacrosse organization back onto the fields.

The judge’s order was not final. Attorneys are scheduled to return to federal court in Alexandria on Oct. 18 — provided the courthouse is still open and judges are still hearing civil cases — to hash out a more permanent resolution. But until then, Langley Fork Park will be open for the hundreds of kids in the youth lacrosse group, which sued the Park Service, and for anyone else who might want to use it.

“It’s a major relief,” said David “Bucky" Morris, McLean Youth Lacrosse’s executive director. “I’m not sure how long it goes for, but, hopefully, it’s long enough that it goes through the government shutdown.”

A spokeswoman for the Fairfax County Park Authority, which manages the park, said officials removed the temporary barriers at the park Thursday morning after receiving the Park Service’s permission.

“I can tell you this much: We’re glad it’s open for business. That’s the good news,” said Judy Pedersen, a spokeswoman for the Park Authority. She declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Via: Washington Post

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Wall Street ends up on hopes of debt solution in Washington

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Friday, extending gains from a major rally in the previous session, as investors were hopeful for a solution to end the partial U.S. government shutdown and raise the U.S. borrowing limit to avoid a possible default.

The S&P 500, which jumped more than 2 percent on Thursday, ended above 1,700 for the first time since late September.

Buyers on Friday were motivated by the chance an agreement could come over the weekend. The Senate is expected to vote over the weekend on extending the federal debt limit through January 2015.

President Barack Obama and congressional Republican leaders worked to end a fiscal impasse that would allow a reopening of the federal government and an increase in the U.S. debt limit.

"People don't want to be short going into a weekend, especially if a deal does get done," said Dennis Dick, proprietary trader at Bright Trading LLC in Las Vegas.

The partial shutdown is now in its eleventh day and less than a week remains before an October 17 deadline to extend the government's borrowing authority and avoid a debt default.

All S&P sectors were up except consumer staples, which fell slightly. Energy stocks .SPNY led the S&P 500, rising more than 1 percent after the Environmental Protection Agency proposed lowering the required amount of ethanol to be blended into U.S. gasoline after Thursday's market close.

The CBOE Volatility index VIX .VIX, Wall Street's so-called fear gauge, closed down 4.6 percent at 15.72, the lowest in nearly two weeks.

"This rally will provide the opportunity to modify positioning, as we expect fundamentals to matter more as the credit cycle turns," said Peter Cecchini, managing director at Cantor Fitzgerald in New York, writing in a note to clients.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 111.04 points, or 0.73 percent, at 15,237.11. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX was up 10.63 points, or 0.63 percent, at 1,703.19. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was up 31.13 points, or 0.83 percent, at 3,791.87.

For the week, the Dow rose 1.1 percent, the S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent while the Nasdaq fell 0.4 percent as some of the strongest gainers in the tech sector sold off during week as investors were taking profits.

Via: Reuters

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1-800-T-O-T-A-L-F-A-I-L: One Man's Obamawreck Nightmare by Michelle Malkin

Behold the Hollywood bubble. This week, actress Olivia Wilde starred in an Obamacare propaganda video targeting young people. "You can sign up for health care online in 10 minutes," her co-propagandist chirped as she cheered. Cue the laugh track. Back on planet Earth, Americans nationwide are still struggling with the $634 million online health care exchange nightmare.

One reader asked me to share his story. Like me and 22 million other citizens in the private individual market for health insurance, he recently received his You Can't Keep It cancellation notice. Here's what happened when he went online to find alternatives.

"I live in New Jersey, but work for a small company based out of Massachusetts. For years, we were all insured through the company from a plan that originated in Massachusetts. However, as soon as Obamacare was passed, we were "audited" by the insurance company, and it turns out only 50 percent of our company is based in Massachusetts, and therefore we did not qualify as a company under the law. Apparently, you need 51 percent based in the state. About five days prior to our insurance policy renewal, we were told we could not (renew), and I had to scramble to purchase a much more expensive individual policy with much higher costs.

"Fast-forward two years. I now receive a new letter from my insurance company, Horizon Blue Cross, (informing me) that the plan that I have now is being discontinued and I need to pick a new plan.

Via: Townhall

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Privatize the National Park Service

No more Obama shutdowns ever again.

The behavior of the National Park Service during President Obama’s shutdown campaign has been shocking. As has been widely reported, Park Service employees have been told to make life as uncomfortable as possible for people, and have flourished in that endeavor. They have acted crudely and unprofessionally as a partisan and ideological arm of the White House and its propaganda campaign.

If you’re not familiar with what I’m talking about (that would exclude American Spectator readers), then you listen only to NPR, watch only MSNBC, and read only the New York Times. Just click Google and start searching. There are frightening first-person accounts everywhere. Among the worst examples was a case innocently covered by a small Massachusetts newspaper that reported on a group of tourists traveling to Yellowstone National Park. The tourists, by no means a bunch of Tea Partiers, described the Park Service as “Gestapo”-like in its tactics.

That, of course, is an exaggeration. But the mere fact that a group of apolitical citizens would invoke such hyperbole to describe how they were treated really says something.

The Weekly Standard, a conservative source not given to hyperbole,argues in an editorial that the Park Service’s conduct “might be the biggest scandal of the Obama administration.” That’s no small claim for an administration plagued by scandals ranging from Benghazi to the eye-opening overreach of the IRS, the NSA, and (among others) the HHS mandate. The Standard rattled off examples of abuses during the shutdown, highlighting the most egregious of them all, the shameless scene at the World War II Memorial:

People first noticed what the NPS was up to when the World War II Memorial on the National Mall was “closed.” Just to be clear, the memorial is an open plaza. There is nothing to operate. Sometimes there might be a ranger standing around. But he’s not collecting tickets or opening gates. Putting up barricades and posting guards to “close” the World War II Memorial takes more resources and manpower than “keeping it open.”

Via: American Spectator

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[VIDEO] Fox Reporter Tries and Fails to Sign Up for Obamacare

BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff

October 11, 2013 11:12 am

Fox News reporter Peter Doocy tried and failed multiple times to sign up at healthcare.gov Friday night, joining a long list of frustrated Americans who have found the Obamacare site unusable.

Doocy told America’s Newsroom viewers he attempted three times to create an account, and then he entered the live chat. He was told to return at off-peak hours by the representative, and a phone operator would not create an account for him either. Doocy tried to sign up from Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey and was never successful.

He did try a private provider, United HealthCare, and said he got an insurance quote in 29 seconds.

The Obamacare website has been the source of fierce criticism for its technological problems. NBC Nightly News ripped the site as a “source of ridicule” on Thursday night’s broadcast, and one expert told CNN it doesn’t even work at the most basic levels.

Via: WFB

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Only 2 People Attend 'Obamacare and You!' Event in South Carolina

Last night, the organization formerly known as President Obama's reelection campaign, Organizing for Action, held an Obamacare event in Greenville, South Carolina. The event was called "Obamacare and You!"

"Let's discuss what this Affordable Care Act means for you and your community. This session will help you understand the benefits and will equip you to spread the word about the benefits of Obamacare in your community. Come out and get the facts!!," the event advertisement said.

But it wasn't widely attended. Only two people, in addition to the two organizers, showed up. 

Here's a picture of the two participants:

It looks like, however, organizers had planned for many more:

Via: The Weekly Standard

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Pilots union warns of 'dry run' by possible terrorists on US flight

Security experts for a major airline's pilot's union have warned members that potential terrorists conducted apparent "dry runs" aboard domestic flights in recent weeks, and urged flight crews not to be pressured into taking to the skies if they are fearful.

A memo from the U.S. Airline Pilots Association, which represents more than 5,000 pilots who fly for US Airways, cites "several cases recently throughout the (airline) industry of what appear to be probes, or dry runs, to test our procedures and reaction to an in-flight threat." 

"Bringing down an airliner continues to be the Gold Standard of terrorism," states the undated memo, first reported by WTSP-TV in Tampa-St. Petersburg. "If anyone thinks that our enemies have “been there, done that” and are not targeting U.S. commercial aviation -- think again."

"Bringing down an airliner continues to be the Gold Standard of terrorism."

- Memo from pilots' union

On a Sept. 2 flight from Reagan National Airport in Washington to Orlando, a "Middle Eastern" man rose from his seat and sprinted toward the cockpit, before veering sharply to go into the forward restroom, according to the memo. While he was in there, sever other men moved about the cabin, changing seats and going into overhead bins, it says.

US Airways and the Transportation Security Administration confirmed the incident. Four passengers aboard the flight were detained by local law enforcement authorities upon arrival in Orlando due to suspicious behavior during the flight, according to a statement by Michelle Mohr, a spokeswoman for US Airways.

Via: Fox News

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WATCH Mark Levin at the Values Voter Summit 2013

Mark Levin spoke today at the 2013 Values Voter Summit and you can watch it below. Here’s a quick quote:

“So when people say to me, what do you want to do, change the Constitution? HELL NO, I want to EMBRACE the Constitution!”

Via: The Right Scoop

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

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

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

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

TAVIS SMILEY: Right.

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

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

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

Wow!

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

Sadly, he's right.

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

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

Hmmm.

Via: Newsbusters

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We’ll have more here as this story develops.

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

Via: Mediaite

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Via: Judicial Watch

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