Obama’s furlough apocalypse fails to materialize

Despite Obama administration warnings that the sequester would force thousands of government workers into mandatory unpaid leave for weeks on end, as the fiscal year winds down nearly all federal agencies have avoided the promised amount of employee furloughs.

Government Executive reports that since the sequester took effect on March 1, most federal departments have been able to reduce the number of furlough days initially planned. A few managed to avoid furloughs altogether.

“The Obama administration and cabinet secretaries did not think the sequester was going to happen, so they didn’t plan for it,” said Chris Edwards, a scholar at the libertarian Cato Institute.

Now that they’ve had a number of months to dig through their budget to find funds that aren’t being used and shifting money from year to year, they’re finding pockets of money they didn’t know were there,” he told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

In late February, with the sequester imminent, President Obama and federal agencies threatened cataclysmic consequences for government employees.

“Border Patrol agents will see their hours reduced,” Obama said. “FBI agents will be furloughed . . . Air traffic controllers and airport security will see cutbacks, which means more delays in airports across the country . . . Thousands of teachers and educators will be laid off, and thousands of parents will have to scramble to find childcare for their kids.”

Janet Napolitano told a congressional committee that Homeland Security would need to furlough thousands of employees, including frontline law enforcement officials, for at least 14 days. Defense Undersecretary Ashton Carter promised furloughs for up to 22 weeks for its 800,000 employees.

But at the same time, agencies like the Government Accountability Office, the Small Business Administration and even the monstrous Department of Health and Human Services predicted they could ride out the sequester furlough-free.

Via: The Daily Caller

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Limbaugh, Hannity, Levin eyed as 2016 GOP debate moderators

The Republican National Committee, already threatening to block CNN and NBC from hosting 2016 primary debates if they air planned features on Hillary Clinton, is also looking to scrap the old model of having reporters and news personalities ask the questions at candidate forums.

Miffed that their candidates were singled out for personal questions or CNN John King's "This or That," when he asked candidates quirky questions like "Elvis or Johnny Cash," GOP insiders tell Secrets that they are considering other choices, even a heavyweight panel of radio bigs Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin.

They told Secrets that they are eager to bring in questioners who understand Republican policies and beliefs and who have the ability to get candidates to differentiate their positions on core conservative values.

The move comes as several conservatives are pressuring the party to have Limbaugh, Hannity and Levin ask the debate questions. "It makes a lot of sense. We'd get a huge viewership, they'd make a lot of news and maybe have some fun too," said one of the advocates of the radio trio hosting debates.

The idea took on life when RNC Communications Director Sean Spicer was asked about debate hosting during a Sirius XM radio interview last week. "Mark Levin should ask the questions," Spicer said, according to Breitbart news. That way, he said, grassroots conservatives would have a debate questioner who thinks like them.

Party boss Reince Priebus earlier this month also told conservative radio's fast-rising star Andrea Tantaros that he would be open to a talk radio debate including her, Hannity and Levin. "I actually think that's a very good idea," Priebus said on the Andrea Tantaros Show. "I mean, there's a lot of good people out there that can actually understand the base of the Republican Party, the primary voters."

Via: Washington Examiner

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How Do You Solve a Problem Like Bob Filner?

At Least Three Women Reported Filthy Filner’s Misbehavior To The Democratic Party, Officials Did Nothing…

The Democratic Party of San Diego needs better lawyers. Or rather, it should have used the lawyers it has.

In 2011, at least three women warned the head of the San Diego County Democratic Party of stories in the community about then-Rep. Bob Filner making inappropriate advances toward professional women with whom he'd come in contact through his political position.

Former California State Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña, San Diego County Democratic Central Committee member Martha Sullivan, and Escondido City Council member Olga Diaz all brought uncomfortable incidents to the attention ofJess Durfee, who was until the end of 2012 Democratic Party chairman for San Diego, the eighth-largest city in America.

What happened next illustrates the enormous challenge the situation presented to local Democrats, who were looking to Filner as their best shot at retaking the mayor's seat in the heavily Republican community for the first time since 1992. It also reveals the party's short-sighted and ultimately self-destructive failure to do due diligence on the accusations, which were presented to the party secondhand and yet failed to trigger any kind of substantive investigation, or even an intra-party conversation with a lawyer.

Via: The Atlantic

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Former aide: Obama played cards during bin Laden raid

OBAMA: 'I Can't Watch This Entire Thing'. What was the president REALLY doing during the bin Laden raid?

Despite the picture the White House released showing President Obama intently watching the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, his former “body man” says the president spent most of the raid playing a card game.

“Most people were like down in the Situation Room and [the president] was like, ‘I’m not going to be down there, I can’t watch this entire thing.’ So he, myself, Pete Souza, the White House photographer, Marvin [Nicholson], we must have played 15 games of spades,” former Obama aide Reggie Love said at an event in Los Angeles sponsored by The Artists & Athletes Alliance in July.

Love, who played college basketball and football at Duke University, left the White House in 2011 to attend business school.

After the May 1, 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, the White House released a photo of the president looking serious in the Situation Room surrounded by his national security team as the raid was ongoing.

No photo has yet been released of President Obama playing cards during the raid.

Via: The Daily Caller

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PIERS MORGAN: I DON'T WANT ALL AMERICAN WOMEN ARMED WITH GUNS

CNN host Piers Morgan said he did not want to see all the women in America armed with guns in a spirited debate on Piers Morgan Tonight with Breitbart News author A.W.R. Hawkins on Tuesday.

Hawkins told Morgan that there were less violent crimes in America than in England and Wales per 100,000 people because women in American can defend themselves regardless of any inequality in physical strength. 

"My problem is I don't want to see all the women in America armed with guns," Morgan said. 

Morgan said he believed "where there are guns," there is a "much higher incidence" of suicide and domestic violence with firearms.

Earlier in the segment, Hawkins told Morgan that in England and Wales, for every 100,000 people, there are 775 violent crimes, including sexual assaults—which primarily are perpetrated on women. Hawkins said that in America, there are 383 violent crimes for every 100,000 people. 

Via: Breitbart

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OBAMA BYPASSES CONGRESS AGAIN TO FUND UNIVERSAL PRESCHOOL

States are receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in "discretionary spending," to fund universal preschool, Barack Obama’s new pet project. Caitlin Emma at Politico writes that the states are receiving the cash even though "Congress hasn’t seriously considered paying for President Barack Obama’s universal preschool proposal."

Race to the Top early learning grants and ObamaCare funds are providing the assistance to states to implement preschool and early childcare programs.

Obama’s plan has come together fairly easily. Department of Education (DOE) Secretary Arne Duncan has been visiting states to stump for universal preschool, while back in Washington the Obama administration has already hired a new director for its Office of Early Learning. Jacqueline Jones came on board to head the effort in November of 2011.

"Establishing an early learning office reinforces this administration’s unwavering effort and determination to address the essential needs of our youngest learners," Jones said in a press release.

Jones will oversee the Early Learning Challenge funded by the stimulus bill’s Race to the Top endeavor, the same program that has incentivized states to adopt the Common Corenational curriculum standards. According to Emma, Libby Doggett, former director of the Pew Home Visiting Campaign, was just confirmed as the Office’s second leader.

Race to the Top is jointly administered by the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services (HHS). The competitive program distributed nearly $500 million to states last year and will do the same this fall.

In early August, the DOE and HHS announced that six states--California, Colorado, Illinois, New Mexico, Oregon, and Wisconsin--will split approximately $89 million in supplemental early learning awards. The states originally received half the funding they requested in their Race to the Top applications.

Emma writes:

Money talks: The administration can herald the competition’s results to convince the public of its value and build pressure on legislators about the critical need for public investment in early childhood education.

Via Breitbart
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Rhode Island Catholic Bishop Switches Parties To GOP; Says 2012 Was The Last Straw

(CNSNews.com) – Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin, head of the diocese of Providence, R.I., said he recently changed his voter registration from Democrat to Republican, noting that the 2012 Democratic National Convention and the Democrats’ strong support for abortion and homosexual “marriage” was the last straw.

“The a-ha moment for me was the 2012 Democratic National Convention – it was just awful,” said Tobin on Tuesday before a meeting of the Rhody Young Republicans in Providence.  Tobin is 65 and has been a registered Democrat since 1969.

“I just said I can’t be associated structurally with that group, in terms of abortion and NARAL and Planned Parenthood and [the] same-sex marriage agenda and cultural destruction I saw going on,” said Tobin, as first reported by Ted Nesi at WPRI.com.  “I just couldn’t do it anymore.”

“I’ve changed my party registration now, but the fact is that the registration itself doesn’t mean a whole lot to me,” said Tobin.

Via: CNS News

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What Obama Wants for Your Children and Grandchildren

Proud parents and grandparents are sharing photos of their kids’ first day of school. And as students head back, many states are pushing back—telling the Obama Administration that its federal education plan isn’t right for their students.

Anyone who has taught in a classroom knows how different children are from school to school—even from class to class. Teachers understand that the content, methods, and evaluations they use will differ depending on the makeup of the class. A teacher might teach her 9:40 a.m. Algebra II class differently than her 1:40 p.m. Algebra II class. And she’ll make that decision based on the pace of her students and their comprehension levels.

Kids have different needs and dreams. Are they working toward Advanced Placement Calculus with the hopes of attending a selective college, or are they planning to use the math skills they acquire in high school in a technical field in the workforce shortly after graduation?

The Common Core State Standards Initiative—an effort underway to set national standards and tests for what every child in public school will learn—turns a blind eye to the unique nature of teaching and learning, and to the fact that education is a quintessentially local issue.

The Obama Administration has tried to entice states into Common Core by tying states’ acceptance of the standards to education funding and waivers.

Via: The Foundry

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Congressional representatives urge Brown to sign immigration bill

SACRAMENTO -- Twenty-eight of California's congressional representatives are throwing their weight behind state legislation that would make it harder to deport immigrants who are in the country illegally.

The representatives -- all Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco -- sent a letter to Gov. Jerry Brown urging him to sign the bill if it reaches his desk. 

The bill, known as the Trust Act, "establishes a bright line standard between local law enforcement and federal immigration enforcement" and would "continue California's proud tradition of being a leader on smart and sensible policies," the letter says.

The representatives said unnecessary deportations have "reduced the willingness of immigrant and non-immigrant crime victims and witnesses to cooperate with local law enforcement, and consequently has diminished public safety."

Among the letter's signatories are Reps. Zoe Lofgren and Mike Honda both of San Jose, and recently departed members of the state Legislature now in Washington such as Reps. Alan Lowenthal of Long Beach and Jared Huffman of San Rafael.

The bill (AB 4), authored by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), would limit local law enforcement's role in working with federal authorities to begin deportation proceedings.

California congressional representatives had urged Brown to sign a previous version of the legislation last year, but the governor vetoed it over concerns it was too broad. It has since been amended to expand the types of crimes and misdemeanors that could trigger the deportation process.

The bill is now awaiting a vote on the Senate floor.

Via: LA Times

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A recovery in auto loans, but young Americans aren’t buying cars

Consumer borrowing to finance car purchases has recovered to its pre-recession levels, but it appears that young people are not as interested in buying vehicles as previous generations were.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Wednesday that new auto loans rose by $14 billion to $92 billion in the second quarter of 2013, even as consumers continued to de-leverage in other parts of their budgets.

Total household debt fell by $78 billion to $11.15 trillion, according to the Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, as Americans continue to reduce housing-related debt in the wake of the collapse of the housing bubble. Mortgage balances fell by $91 billion from the first quarter.

Consumers are increasingly willing to borrow for non-housing purchases, though. In addition to an increase in auto loan balances, credit card debt rose and student loan debt neared the one-trillion dollar mark, rising to $994 billion.

New York Fed officials wrote in a post for the Liberty Street Economics blog that the increase in auto debt reflects a strong recovery in auto sales, rather than riskier lending. One cause for concern for U.S. automakers, however, is that “the especially slow recovery in auto borrowing among the young is consistent with recent analysis suggesting a long-term decline in the demand for autos among younger Americans.”

Via: Washington Examiner

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St. Louis City Treasurer Bullies Constituents, Says Those Who Disagree With Obama Are “Racists”

An elected official whose salary comes from public funds.

Would you like to kindly object to a city administrator behaving in such a clearly prejudiced and unprofessional manner? Call: (314) 622-4700, email. Perhaps also call the Mayor’s office and ask what he intends to to about this clear prejudice in city hall.

Via: The Dana Show
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Krauthammer, Juan Williams battle over voter ID laws

On Tuesday’s broadcast of Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” network contributors Juan Williams and Charles Krauthammer debated the merits of North Carolina’s new voter identification legislation signed into law this week by North Carolina Republican Gov. Pat McCrory.

Williams said there are circumstances in which photo identification is necessary, but since voting is a right, he argued that identification shouldn’t be a requirement.

“When I look at the polls, most Americans support voter ID,” Williams said. “Most Americans are pretty clear in their thinking that if you have to, as Gov. McCrory said, show some ID to get in the airport or to get anything — yeah, I think you should be required to. Now, the difference in my mind is of course that voting is a constitutional right and that you shouldn’t have any impediment to it pursue your constitutional rights. But again, this is something beyond that you heard from that civil right advocate, [N.C. NAACP President Rev. William] Barber, I believe, in which he said you are limiting — I think you’re going from 17 days of voting down to 10. If you change your address now, you have to make the change in terms it of your ID within 25 days. The hours of voting are constrained. I mean, this really is an effort to suppress the vote. I don’t know how you get away from that and I don’t know how any judge to answer your question, Shannon wouldn’t see this thing.”

Fill-in host Shannon Bream pointed out that the Supreme Court had already upheld a measure in Indiana which requires identification. Krauthammer countered Williams by saying that with that ruling, the unconstitutionality claim doesn’t hold merit.

“That’s why I think the claim that it’s unconstitutional is simply not going to hold up … which is the major point,” Krauthammer said. “That’s usually the sticking point in all of these cases. And it’s also the political point. But there is one aspect of the political argument that I think is missed. The left gets the prestige of this by saying that its position is to prevent people from being — from losing the right to vote from being disenfranchised. But, if you go to the polls, you vote for ‘a’ and by a fraud say illegal immigrant or somebody who is, who voted already votes for candidate ‘b,’ your vote for ‘a’ has been cancelled. So, in affect you also have been deprived of your vote it. So I think it ought to be seen in those terms. There are ways depriving of the vote. ‘A’ is to stop them. Second is to cancel the vote by allowing illegal fraudulent voting. So, I think there is an equal moral standing on the two sides.” (RELATED: Voter ID rules protect seniors, minorities from fraudsters, says new study)

Via:The Daily Caller

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OBAMA IS A ‘SNAKE’ AND ‘WE HAVE TO TURN ON HIM’ SAYS…

Film director Oliver Stone—who has made no secret of his liberal political views—called President Barack Obama a “snake” for his role in National Security Agency spying programs that have become, he said, more about silencing protestors than finding terrorists.

“Obama is a snake,” Stone told an audience in Tokyo on Monday. “He’s a snake. And we have to turn on him.”

Film director Oliver Stone speaks before press in Tokyo on August 12, 2013. (Getty Images)

“The Boston Marathon, they were so busy tracking down potential protestors…that they missed the bombers,” Stone told the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan. “It’s never about terrorists, it always becomes about the way J. Edgar Hoover did it; he brought all the weight of government to bear against protestors. He didn’t like protestors. He thought they were left-wing communists. He never could find the proof, but by the time the Vietnam War came around, as you know, 500,000 people were on the list, and they were being eavesdropped on. And where are we now? Same place.”

Stone said that admitted NSA leaker Edward Snowden “is a hero to me. He sacrificed his well-being for the good of us all” and that Russia’s Vladimir Putin did the right thing by granting Snowden asylum, according to PressTV.

“I’m proud of him for doing it,” Stone said of Putin and Russia. “We need more countries to stand up to the U.S.”

Stone also called Snowden a hero last month and said it’s “a disgrace that Obama is more concerned with hunting him down Snowden than reforming these George Bush-style eavesdropping techniques.”

Via: The Blaze

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ObamaCare ugliness that O can’t admit

Do you believe the president or your lying insurance premium?

Soon, that will be the most important question about ObamaCare. President Obama continues to insist that under the law, as he said in his pre-vacation press conference, people are going to be able to “sign up for affordable quality health insurance at a significantly cheaper rate than what they can get right now on the individual market.”

This has been his sales pitch for his health-care law from the beginning, and it’s never been true. But admitting that ObamaCare will mean higher rates for many people is too painful a concession to make, so the president simply doesn’t make it, despite all the evidence contradicting his rote assurances of lower premiums.

   

The news reports of impending rate shock, driven by the law’s new regulations, keep rolling in, especially in states that don’t already have insurance rules like those in ObamaCare. “Some lightly regulated states,” CNN reports, “including Indiana, Ohio, Florida and South Carolina, have recently released preliminary rate information highlighting steep price increases.” Florida estimates an average premium increase of 35 percent, and Ohio projects an average increase of 41 percent.It is young and healthy people, forced by the law to buy expensive insurance that they wouldn’t otherwise purchase, who will be particularly hard hit (the idea is that less healthy people will benefit). Avik Roy of the Manhattan Institute crunched the numbers in California. He found that in San Francisco and San Diego, rates for 25-year-olds in the individual market will roughly double; and in Los Angeles County they will rise by 44 percent.

Small businesses are also vulnerable. According to the Associated Press, “Insurance companies have already warned small business customers that premiums could rise 20 percent or more in 2014 under the Affordable Care Act. That’s making some owners consider not paying for coverage for workers’ families.”

Via: NY Post

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