Conservatives Plot to Get Religious Liberty Bill to Obama’s Desk

Conservative members of Congress appeared confident today that a new bill designed to prohibit the federal government from taking “discriminatory action” against a person or institution based on his or its religious beliefs about marriage will reach the president’s desk sooner, rather than later.

The bill, called the First Amendment Defense Act, was written in anticipation of the Supreme Court’s gay marriage decision. It would bar the federal government from punishing religious schools, organizations or individuals for their stance against same-sex marriage, or for believing that sexual relations are reserved to marriage, by revoking their tax-exempt status, for example.

During the Supreme Court arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli conceded that if the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage across the country, religious schools’ tax-exempt status could be threatened if the schools opposed gay marriage.

The legislation has already garnered 130 co-sponsors in the House and 36 in the Senate.

Conservatives, like Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., co-chair of the Values Action Team, say the measure provides “the most basic protection.”

“It’s sad that we even need such a bill,” said Hartzler in a press conference today held by the Republican Study Committee.

But not every Republican is on board, as some apparently fear “another Indiana.”

After speaking at the Capitol Hill press conference, Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, a co-sponsor of the legislation, told The Daily Signal that some Republicans are hesitant to support the First Amendment Defense Act, which he introduced with Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, in light of the backlash Gov. Mike Pence faced over his religious freedom law earlier this year.

Although the two laws are very different—one is a state Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the other seeks to bar very specific actions taken by the federal government against individuals or institutions concerning marriage—they share at least two critics, the LGBT advocacy group Human Rights Council and the American Civil Liberties Union.

In the case of Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, LGBT organizations, along with big businesses like Angie’s List, Apple and American Airlines, argued the law allows private business owners to discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation. However, “no one has ever successfully used Religious Freedom Restoration Act to defend such actions,” wrote Heritage Foundation’s Ryan T. Anderson and Sarah Torre earlier this year, noting that “no one is interested in refusing to serve gays and lesbians simply because of their sexual orientation.”

Via: Daily Signal

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[VIDEO] DHS boss can’t say if admin reaching out to SF murder victim’s family

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson could not say Tuesday whether the Obama administration was reaching out to the family of the young woman killed earlier this month on a San Francisco pier, allegedly by an illegal immigrant, after the family complained that no one had been in touch. 

During a Capitol Hill hearing, Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, asked Johnson if the administration had reached out to the Steinle family. 

Johnson initially said: "To who?" 

Chabot clarified he was talking about Kathryn Steinle, 32, who was killed in San Francisco, allegedly by an illegal immigrant who had a lengthy felony record and had been deported several times before. (Johnson, who had spoken about her case earlier in the hearing, later told Fox News he simply couldn't hear the question.) 

Asked again if the administration was reaching out, Johnson said: "I'm sorry, I don't know the answer to that question, sir." 

Chabot urged Johnson to check, and he said he would. 

Via: Fox News

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A disaster foretold — and ignored - LOpht’s warnings about the Internet drew notice but little action

The seven young men sitting before some of Capitol Hill’s most powerful lawmakers weren’t graduate students or junior analysts from some think tank. No, Space Rogue, Kingpin, Mudge and the others were hackers who had come from the mysterious environs of cyberspace to deliver a terrifying warning to the world.The making of a vulnerable Internet: This story is the third of a multi-part project on the Internet’s inherent vulnerabilities and why they may never be fixed.Part 1: The story of how the Internet became so vulnerable Part 2: The long life of a ‘quick fix’ Your computers, they told the panel of senators in May 1998, are not safe — not the software, not the hardware, not the networks that link them together. The companies that build these things don’t care, the hackers continued, and they have no reason to care because failure costs them nothing. And the federal government has neither the skill nor the will to do anything about it.

Above: L0pht hackers Brian Oblivion, Tan, Kingpin, Mudge, Weld Pond, Space Rogue and Stefan von Neumann testify before a Senate panel in 1998. (Douglas Graham/Congressional Quarterly via Getty Images)

“If you’re looking for computer security, then the Internet is not the place to be,” said Mudge, then 27 and looking like a biblical prophet with long brown hair flowing past his shoulders. The Internet itself, he added, could be taken down “by any of the seven individuals seated before you” with 30 minutes of well-choreographed keystrokes.

The senators — a bipartisan group including John Glenn, Joseph I. Lieberman and Fred D. Thompson — nodded gravely, making clear that they understood the gravity of the situation. “We’re going to have to do something about it,” Thompson said.

What happened instead was a tragedy of missed opportunity, and 17 years later the world is still paying the price in rampant insecurity.

The testimony from L0pht, as the hacker group called itself, was among the most audacious of a rising chorus of warnings delivered in the 1990s as the Internet was exploding in popularity, well on its way to becoming a potent global force for communication, commerce and criminality.

Hackers and other computer experts sounded alarms as the World Wide Web brought the transformative power of computer networking to the masses. This created a universe of risks for users and the critical real-world systems, such as power plants, rapidly going online as well.

Officials in Washington and throughout the world failed to forcefully address these problems as trouble spread across cyberspace, a vast new frontier of opportunity and lawlessness. Even today, many serious online intrusions exploit flaws in software first built in that era, such as Adobe Flash, Oracle’s Java and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

“We have the same security problems,” said Space Rogue, whose real name is Cris Thomas. “There’s a lot more money involved. There’s a lot more awareness. But the same problems are still there.”

L0pht, born of the bustling hacker scene in the Boston area, rose to prominence as a flood of new software was introducing such wonders as sound, animation and interactive games to the Web. This software, which required access to the core functions of each user’s computer, also gave hackers new opportunities to manipulate machines from afar.

Via: Washington Post

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Barack Obama's Third Term?

The best line President Obama delivered in his 2015 State of the Union Address was not one written for him by his speechwriters. When he said he would not be on the ballot again, Republicans who had just taken over both Houses of Congress stood and applauded.

Good naturedly, but with a bit of sarcasm, Mr. Obama reminded his opponents that he won both times he was on the national ballot. He was the first Democrat since Franklin D. Roosevelt to achieve back-to-back election victories.

We need to acknowledge that he is a formidable political actor. He has defied the Constitution in many areas since his first days in office. He brazenly announced he did not like the Defense of Marriage Act and would not defend it in court (or enforce it before it got to court).

He has played fast and loose with U.S. immigration law. His response to the GOP takeover of Congress has been to issue Executive Orders detailing how he will not “take care that the law be faithfully executed.”
On Iran, he is proceeding to let the mullahs -- those inventors of suicide bombings -- slip the noose of international economic sanctions. His diplomacy will render -- is rendering -- the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) a dead letter. And he intends to do this in defiance of Congress. Capitol Hill Democrats are increasingly worried about Iran and its threat to extinguish Israel.

President Obama knows he will not be impeached. That is the source of his hideous strength. But it is not the only reason he is powerful.

If you watched the movie, Lincoln, you saw a great performance by Academy Award winning Daniel Day Lewis. There is one scene in the movie, however, that does not ring true for students of the Great Emancipator. You can watch the scene here  [at 1:32:30] although the entire movie is well worth watching.

Via: American Thinker

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PALIN SLAMS OBAMATRADE AS ANOTHER ‘DON’T PASS IT ’TIL WE KNOW WHAT’S IN IT!’

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is sharing Breitbart News’story on Facebook, following the close Rules vote ahead of Friday’s final vote on the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) that would grant President Obama fast-track authority to finish his trade negotiations.

She also posted her reaction to the non-transparency this administration has shown in handling the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, which is keeping part of the draft in a secret room on Capitol Hill.

“The secretive, hugely impacting Obamatrade deal is another behind-closed-doors fast-tracked D.C. deal that screams “don’t pass it ’til we know what’s in it!” Yet politicians are going along to get along, supporting Obama’s pet project while ignoring the public’s right to know what’s in this monumental international trade deal. This, despite the President’s track record proving he hasn’t got it in him to put American workers first,” Palin posted.

“If Congress hands this secretive deal to Obama on a silver platter, admitting to not even reading it first, then shame on us for letting another one slide. This is fast-tracked, friends. Like Obamacare, when we sounded warning bells but too many were too busy to pressure their employees (your elected politicians) to do the right thing and learn it first. Since when is Congress able to halt any bullying administration’s fast-track deals? They never have before. Didn’t we learn last time?”

The vote on TPA is expected Friday afternoon.

Via: Breitbart

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Obama makes last-ditch plea to Dems ahead of showdown vote on trade

President Obama went to Capitol Hill Friday morning to make a final plea to congressional Democrats for his trade agenda, ahead of a showdown vote in the House. 

The president met with House Democratic leaders ahead of a caucus meeting. While it is extremely rare for a president to make a visit like this before a big vote, the last-minute lobbying comes after the president also made a surprise appearance at the annual congressional baseball game between Democrats and Republicans the night before. His personal involvement underscores how fragile the effort is -- Fox News is told the effort is still short on the votes -- and how important he sees it to his second-term legacy. 

The night before, a bizarre scene unfolded as the crowd crammed inside Nationals Park lurched into a chant about the legislation. 

“TPA! TPA! TPA!” chanted Republican congressional aides seated near the first base dugout when Obama stepped onto the field at the top of the fourth inning.  

This wasn’t quite the drunken, Bronx throng at Yankee Stadium cantillating “Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE!” after Reggie Jackson swatted three consecutive home runs in Game Six of the 1977 World Series. This was gamesmanship, Washington-style. A game in which most congressional Republicans find themselves backing the Democratic president’s efforts to pass Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), a framework for a big trade deal the administration hopes to advance later this year.

Via: Fox News

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REVEALED: THE SECRET IMMIGRATION CHAPTER IN OBAMA’S TRADE AGREEMENT

Discovered inside the huge tranche of secretive Obamatrade documents released by Wikileaks are key details on how technically any Republican voting for Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) that would fast-track trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal would technically also be voting to massively expand President Obama’s executive authority when it comes to immigration matters.

The mainstream media covered the Wikileaks document dump extensively, but did not mention the immigration chapter contained within it, so Breitbart News took the documents to immigration experts to get their take on it. Nobody has figured how big a deal the documents uncovered by Wikileaks are until now. (See below)

The president’s Trade in Services Act (TiSA) documents, which is one of the three different close-to-completely-negotiated deals that would be fast-tracked making up the president’s trade agreement, show Obamatrade in fact unilaterally alters current U.S. immigration law. TiSA, like TPP or the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) deals, are international trade agreements that President Obama is trying to force through to final approval. The way he can do so is by getting Congress to give him fast-track authority through TPA.

TiSA is even more secretive than TPP. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill can review the text of TPP in a secret, secured room inside the Capitol—and in some cases can bring staffers who have high enough security clearances—but with TiSA, no such draft text is available.

Via: Breitbart

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Republicans move to halt ObamaCare 'bailout' for angry unions

Capitol Hill Republicans are trying to stop the Obama administration from offering labor unions a sweetheart deal on ObamaCare, as the White House tries to quell a simmering rebellion from Big Labor over the health care law. 

President Obama and White House officials reportedly have called union leaders to try and persuade them to tone down their complaints, pledging an accommodation. The AFL-CIO, though, on Wednesday approved a resolution anyway calling the law "highly disruptive" to union plans.

But reports have surfaced on a plan that would give union workers -- and only union workers -- subsidies to help pay for health insurance even if they're covered through their job. The purported "carve-out" could soothe the simmering discontent within Big Labor. The loyal Democratic supporters and early champions of ObamaCare say they have been slighted by the act’s final regulations, which they say is pushing some employees into part-time work and threatens their health insurance plans. 

At least three congressional Republicans are trying to stop any effort to give the unions special treatment, which could cost $200 billion over 10 years. 

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., on Monday introduced the "Union Bailout Prevention Act," which would stop the granting of subsidies to offset premium costs for the multi-employer plans held by many union members. Separately, the House voted on Thursday to stop all subsidies until the administration launches a system to verify recipients are eligible.

Via: Fox News

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Flailing Obama slumps to lowest ratings of his presidency, as US voters see him as ‘a weak and indecisive leader’

On Tuesday night President Obama will deliver one of the most important political addresses of his presidency, trying to convince a war-weary American public to support his call for military intervention in Syria. Having casually drawn a red line in the sand on the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime, Obama’s own credibility – not that of the United States – is on the line. But he faces an uphill struggle to win over public opinion, and is almost certainly heading for a heavy defeat on Capitol Hill, where opposition is mounting among Members of Congress.

The scale of the challenge for Mr. Obama is encapsulated in a new poll released by Fox News (conducted by both Democratic and Republican pollsters), which shows the president’s approval rating falling to 40 percent, the lowest level of support in his presidency (on par with December 2010). Obama’s disapproval stands at 54 percent, the highest negative rating he has received since taking office.

There is no doubt that Obama’s handling of the Syria crisis, and his handling of foreign policy in general, is helping drive the president’s unpopularity. According to the Fox poll, 68 percent of likely voters believe the US “should not be more involved in Syria,” with just 26 percent in favour of greater involvement. Only 36 percent agree that “President Obama (has) adequately explained for you the reasons US military action against Syria is necessary,” and just 27 percent “believe President Obama has clearly identified what the US goals and objectives would be in taking military action against Syria.” 55 percent of those surveyed disagree with the assertion that “the reasons for taking military action in Syria are stronger than they are in Iraq,” and 74 percent believe military action against Syria “is more likely to provoke additional violence in the Middle East.” Overall, 60 percent of voters disapprove of Obama’s handling of the Syria issue, compared to just 29 percent who back him.

Via: Telegraph

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Sex, money and lies: ‘Culture of Corruption’ boomerangs on Democrats as scandals blossom nationwide

The Democratic Party is battling scandals from New York to San Diego and from city hall to Capitol Hill, as the party finds itself on the defensive over embarrassing lapses ranging from sexual misconduct to multiple scandals ensnaring the Obama administration.

President Obama on Wednesday denounced what he called “phony scandals” and “an endless parade of distractions” blocking progress on the economy and other issues, but critics say the controversies underscore the missed opportunities for the president and his party to live up to pledges to clean up politics and break traditional patterns of money, influence and privilege in government.

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PHOTOS: Eye-popping excuses in American political scandals

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The scandals have spanned the spectrum from a Democratic mayor in San Diego accused of being unable to keep his hands off his female aides to charges that the administration put the Internal Revenue Service on the trail of its political enemies.

One of Congress‘ most famous Democratic names, the scion of Jesse Jackson in Mr. Obama’s home city of Chicago, was just sent to prison for converting campaign funds to personal use. In Detroit, the ex-mayor and the wife of longtime House Judiciary Committee member John Conyers Jr. have fallen to corruption scandals, while the son of former Democratic Party Chairman Ron Brown admitted last month to bribery charges as a city councilman in the nation’s capital.

Via: Washington Times

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