Conservative Happenings

Friday, February 28, 2014

Palin Mocked In 2008 For Warning Putin May Invade Ukraine If Obama Elected

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin warned that if Senator Barack Obama were elected president, his "indecision" and "moral equivalence" may encourage Russia's Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine.

After the Russian Army invaded the nation of Georgia, Senator Obama's reaction was one of indecision and moral equivalence, the kind of response that would only encourage Russia's Putin to invade Ukraine Next.

Sarah Palin discussed the issue with Fox New's Todd Starnes: I just finished chatting with Sarah Palin. Here's a comment she asked me to share exclusively with you folks:

"Back in 2008, I accurately predicted the possibility of Putin feeling emboldened to invade Ukraine because I could see what kind of leader Barack Obama would be. The bullies of the world are always emboldened by indecision and moral equivalence. We can expect more of this sort of thing in a world where America is gutting its military and 'leading from behind.'"

Via: Fox News

Fla. doctor could bring Obamacare executive orders to screeching halt in federal court

A South Florida orthodontist is taking on President Obama‘s penchant for unilaterally altering the Affordable Care Act without the approval of Congress.

And he’s got a shot a winning.

Larry Kawa took to Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., Wednesday morning to announce a lawsuit filed on his behalf with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. It’s the only case of its kind against any of the 29 executive orders relating to Obamacare.

If successful, the court could force the Obama administration to adhere to the employer mandate that it has twice delayed, contradicting the plain text of the law.

DR. LARRY KAWA: Filed suit in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to challenge the Obama administration’s employer mandate delays.

It could be the biggest case of 2014.

“I’m not a politico. I’m not a Washington D.C. guy. I’m an orthodontist from Boca Raton,” Kawa told Watchdog.org.

But he’s also on to something. A federal district judge previously dismissed his case against the government while simultaneously lying out a roadmap for how to proceed. Kawa lacked standing.

Standing is the legal principle in which a plaintiff must show an actual injury before a court will hear the dispute. It’s a hurdle that has kept at bay other would-be challengers seeking to avoid an injury.

“If the court grants us standing then they lose,” Kawa said.

Because he employs more than 50 workers, Kawa Orthodontics is subject to complicated regulations and penalties under Obamacare.

In March 2013, Kawa spent $5,000 on legal fees to make sure his business was in compliance with the health law. Kawa said he spent 100 additional hours learning about the law, including meetings with insurance agents and his accountant.

Four months later it was all for naught. The administration changed the law without congressional approval. It was delayed again on Feb 10.

Via: BizPac Review

CNN Slams Republican for 'Racist Roast,' But Ignores Democrat's Racial Gaffe

In a clear double standard, CNN was in an uproar on Thursday and Friday over an Arizona GOP legislator's racist jokes about Latinos but has yet to report a Florida Democrat's gaffe about immigrants.

"As if lawmakers in the state of Arizona didn't already have enough negative national attention, there is this," Anderson Cooper piled on. He played state representative John Kavanagh's "racist roast" of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and added that his jokes "set off a firestorm in the Latino community." Yet a few days ago, Florida Democrat Alex Sink emphasized the importance of immigration reform because of the need for landscapers and hotel workers and CNN has said nothing.

Below is a transcript of Sink's remark:

"Immigration reform is important in our country. It's one of the main agenda items of the beach's chamber of commerce, for obvious reasons. Because we have a lot of employers over in the beaches that rely upon workers, and especially in this high-growth environment, where are you going to get people to work to clean our hotel rooms or do our landscaping? And we don't need to put those employers in a position of hiring undocumented and illegal workers."

Sink lost to Republican Rick Scott in the 2010 gubernatorial election and is now running in a special election in Florida's 13th congressional district. Yet for a politician of her profile, CNN didn't deem her gaffe newsworthy.

Yet CNN reported Kavanagh's comments on Thursday's 2 p.m. ET of Newsroom, Thursday's Anderson Cooper 360, and Friday's 8 a.m. ET hour of New Day.

Below is a transcript of Thursday's Anderson Cooper 360 segment:

CNN
ANDERSON COOPER 360
2/28/14
[8:42 a.m. EST]

ANDERSON COOPER: Welcome back. As if lawmakers in the state of Arizona didn't already have enough negative national attention, there is this. It comes from Arizona Republican state's representative John Kavanagh. He is actually one of the leading defenders of the now-vetoed SB 1062, and took great care to say it was really no big deal.

This weekend, as the controversy over 1062 was heating up Mr. Kavanagh spoke at a roast for Phoenix's controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the guy who was at the center of Arizona's last controversy over SB 1070, the so-called "papers please" immigration law. Here is part of what the state representative said at this roast.

(Video Clip)

JOHN KAVANAGH (R), Arizona state legislature: I'm not the federal monitor. How many Hispanics did you pull over on the way over here, Arpaio, huh?

Via: Newsbusters.com

Obamacare Forces Michigan Hospital To Cut Jobs

David Zechman, President and CEO of McLaren Northern Michigan hospital, says that Obamacare is to blame for the hospital’s newly announced layoffs and cuts.

Obamacare has increased patients’ deductibles, making it difficult for them to continue visiting their doctors.

McLaren Northern Michigan hospital’s budget was severely affected by lower federal reimbursement rates for Medicaid and Medicare services.

“We still have the same costs of taking care of patients, but it’s hard to keep doing the same things you’re doing if you paid less for the same amount of costs and services you provide- it’s just basic economics,” Zechman told WPBN.

He says it is hard to predict if there will be any more cuts or reductions in the future, but he would not be surprised if nearby hospitals were also forced to lay off their employees.

Via: WFB

Four of five FCC study authors gave to Obama

A significant problem with the now-suspended Federal Communications Commission plan to have government contractors question journalists about editorial decisions and practices was that it was a partisan exercise. The plan originated among Democrats on the FCC; the commission's two Republican members didn't even learn about it until it was well under way.

There was also a one-sidedness in the research behind the project. The FCC enlisted scholars from two big journalism schools, the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Communication and Democracy, to determine the "critical information needs" about which journalists would be questioned. The study, delivered in July 2012, listed five authors: Ernest J. Wilson III, Carola Weil, and Katya Ognyanova from USC, Lewis Friedland from Wisconsin, and Philip Napoli from Fordham University. (Weil is now with American University.) Four of the five, it turns out, contributed to President Obama's campaigns.

According to Federal Election Commission records, Wilson gave $3,300 to the Obama presidential campaign in 2007 and 2008. Napoli contributed $500 to Obama in 2008. Weil gave $250 in 2012. And Friedland gave $200 in 2008. There are no contributions listed from Ognyanova, who as a post-doctoral fellow led a team of graduate student researchers on the project.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with professors contributing to President Obama, and there's nothing wrong with Democrats exercising control over the FCC when there's a Democrat in the White House. But controversial projects are usually less controversial when they have some bipartisan support; it's often a good idea to have a little diversity of opinion in the mix when decisions are made. But in this case, the newsroom survey appears to have been a one-sided exercise every step of the way.

Via: Washington Examiner