Great: UPS Responds to Obamacare By Dropping Spousal Coverage

In light of yesterday’s item, about Obamacare’s regulations prompting companies dropping spousal coverage form health insurance plans, and some companies passing on the entire cost of children’s health coverage on to employees… Jeryl Bier notices another big example:

United Parcel Service Inc. plans to remove thousands of spouses from its medical plan because they are eligible for coverage elsewhere. The Atlanta-based logistics company points to the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, as a big reason for the decision, reportsKaiser Health News.

The decision comes as many analysts are downplaying the Affordable Care Act’s effect on companies such as UPS, noting that the move reflects a long-term trend of shrinking corporate medical benefits, Kaiser Health News reports. But UPS repeatedly cites Obamacare to explain the decision, adding fuel to the debate over whether it erodes traditional employer coverage, Kaiser says.

USA Today reports employees can expect more of this sort of sudden loss of spousal coverage under their health insurance: “This year 4 percent of large employers surveyed by consultants Towers Watson excluded spouses if they had similar coverage where they work. Another 8 percent planned such a change for 2014, according to the survey.”

Via: National Review Online Continue Reading...

Federal Judge Strikes Down Oklahoma Amendment Opposing Sharia Law

A federal judge has struck down as unconstitutional an Oklahoma state amendment banning Sharia law.

The ruling was issued Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange, who said the Oklahoma law discriminated against religion, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Voters in Oklahoma had passed in 2010 an amendment to the state's constitution banning Sharia law by more than 70 percent of the vote. The need for the amendment arose out of concern that Islamic Sharia law is making its way into U.S. courtrooms and could be used in place of U.S. law with defendants who are Muslim.

Previously, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had upheld a temporary injunction against the Oklahoma law. 

"Having carefully reviewed the parties' submissions, and for the same reasons set forth by the Tenth Circuit, the Court finds that defendants have failed to assert a compelling state interest, and have, therefore, failed to satisfy strict scrutiny," the judge wrote. "It is abundantly clear that the primary purpose of the amendment was to specifically target and outlaw Sharia law."

Attorneys for the state of Oklahoma argued that the amendment "neither favors nor discriminates against any religion." They were responding to a lawsuit brought by the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which was joined by the American Civil Liberties Union.

"It is our hope that, in finding this anti-Islam law unconstitutional, lawmakers in other states will think twice about proposing anti-Muslim laws of their own,” said CAIR attorney Gadeir Abbas, Mediaite.com reported.

To date more than 20 states have sought to pass legislation that would ban Sharia or other foreign laws being used in state courts. Those states enacting such laws include Arizona, Kansas, Louisiana, South Dakota, Tennessee, and North Carolina, the Journal reported.

Via: Newsmax

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Ravaged churches reveal sectarian split feeding Egypt’s violence

Obama Admin On Church Attacks In Egypt: “We Have Seen Zero Indication The Muslim Brotherhood Is Organizing These Attacks”…

BENI MAZAR, Egypt — The fire burned all night long. It was only after desperate town residents borrowed the keys to a firetruck that they were able to quell the blaze. By then, the evangelical church was all but destroyed.

It was one of more than 60 churches that have been attacked, vandalized and in many cases set aflame across Egypt in a surge of violence against Christians that has followed thebloody Aug. 14 raid by Egyptian security forces on two Islamist protest camps in Cairo.

The attacks, most of them in Egypt’s Nile Valley, have lent legitimacy to the military-backed government’s claims that it is fighting a war against terrorism.

But one week after the attacks, the Egyptian government has yet to investigate any of the incidents or provide any additional security to most churches, Christian activists and church officials said.

Visits to flame-ravaged churches and interviews with activists and Western officials also cast doubt on whether the Muslim Brotherhood, blamed by the government for carrying out the violence, was actively involved.

“We have seen zero indication that the Muslim Brotherhood as an organization is organizing these attacks,” said a high-ranking Western official who was not authorized to speak on the record. The official said the blame more likely rested with Islamist vigilantes rather than Brotherhood members acting on orders.

Via: Washington Post

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Ex-Rep. Allen West calls out Obama over Oklahoma killing

After President Obama waded into the Trayvon Martin shooting death and subsequent acquittal of George Zimmerman, critics of the president wonder whether he’ll also address the senseless killing of an Australian college student in Oklahoma last week.

On Twitter, former Rep. Allen B. West, Florida Republican, hinted that there may be a racial double standard at play, given the lack of outrage from Mr. Obama and civil rights leaders.

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SEE ALSO: Oklahoma college baseball star, 22, killed for fun, police say

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“Three black teens shoot white jogger. Who will [Mr. Obama] identify w/ this time?” Mr. West wrote.

Three teenage boys have been charged with the killing of Christopher Lane of Melbourne, Australia, on Friday. Prosecutors say the boys admitted they were “bored” and killed Mr. Lane “for the fun of it.”

In addition to Mr. Obama, the Rev. Al Sharpton, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and other loud voices during the Trayvon Martin death have yet to weigh in on the Oklahoma case.

Via: Washington Times

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Hannity to GOP: If You Don’t Defund Obamacare, ‘You’ve Lost Me’

(CNSNews.com) - If Republicans pass a government funding bill next month that includes money for Obamacare, they'll lose Sean Hannity's support, the talk show host told Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) Tuesday night.

Gowdy, who supports defunding Obamacare, has predicted a "robust debate" over funding the health care law that President Obama is selectively enforcing.

On Tuesday, Gowdy told Hannity, "We just have to have one of those 'come to Jesus moments' as a party where we say, 'You know, what do we stand for? What is enough to fight over?'"

"This is it for me," Hannity interrupted. "I'm going to tell you, congressman, you guys don't do this, you've lost me. I'm done. Because there's no difference between you, then, and the Democrats at that point. None."

"Juries like contrast. Voters like contrast," Gowdy replied. "This is a wonderful opportunity for us to provide contrast."

In the absence of regular budget bills, Congress must pass another continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government at current levels as the new fiscal year begins on October 1.

CNC News

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OBAMACARE: COMPANIES DUMPING SPOUSAL COVERAGE, FORCING EMPLOYEES TO PAY FOR CHILDREN

According to a report on Tuesday from the Pittsburgh Tribune, companies are now compensating for Obamacare costs by throwing coverage options away for spouses who work. Those employees who wish their working spouses to join their health insurance plan will be charged extra cash. Employees are also being forced to pay full price for children’s health insurance.

Because Obamacare does not dictate that family health plans cover working spouses, more and more businesses are using that loophole to dump spousal coverage. And as for children, according to James McTiernan, health care consultant with Triad Gallagher, companies can pass on the cost of dependent coverage directly to the employee. Major companies including PNC Bank have imposed surcharges on employee spouses. Overall, 18 percent of large employers now use such surcharges or no-coverage for spouses, a jump from 15 percent in 2011. 

Via: Breitbart

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NSA surveillance reach broader than publicly acknowledged

The National Security Agency's surveillance network has the capacity to spy on 75 percent of all U.S. Internet traffic, The Wall Street Journal reports. 

Citing current and former NSA officials for the 75 percent figure, the paper reported that the agency can observe more of Americans' online communications than officials have publicly acknowledged. 

The NSA's system of programs that filter communications, achieved with the help of telecommunications companies, is designed to look for communications that either start or end abroad, or happen to pass through the U.S. between foreign countries. However, the officials told the Journal that the system's reach is so broad, that it is more likely that purely domestic communications will be intercepted as a byproduct of the hunt for foreign ones. 

The system works by using algorithms that act as filters, designed to let high-value information through amid more benign chatter. However, after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, a former to intelligence official told the Journal that the government changed its definition of "reasonable" intelligence collection, enabling the NSA to widen the holes in the "filtering" system. 

The details are the latest to emerge about the NSA's operations and capabilities, as authorities in the U.S. and other countries try to stop the release of more information about the elaborate surveillance network. Members of Congress on the intelligence committees, as well as past intelligence officials, recently have spoken up in defense of the agency, particularly after a report showing the agency had broken privacy rules and overstepped its authority thousands of times. 

Via: Fox News
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Leftist Protesters Disrupt Ted Cruz Town Hall, Audience Starts Chanting “USA, USA”…

This was tonight in Dallas at a Heritage Action #DefundObamacare town hall.

These protesters walk up and start chanting, "You have health care so should we"

Ted Cruz handles it perfectly by making a few points after they are escorted out of the room.."Number one, I agree with them. They should have health care and Obamacare is causing more and more people struggling to climb the economic ladder to lose their health care” 

Via: The Right Pundit
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Hannity's Right: Cumulus Managing Its Radio Stations Into the Dirt

NewsBusters reported Friday that counter to claims by the liberal media, conservative talk radio host Sean Hannity fired the Cumulus network due to his concerns about how the owners are managing their stations.

Data obtained by NewsBusters show that Hannity is actually right, and that in the key demographic of people aged 25 to 54, Cumulus has lost roughly 50 percent of its listeners since buying the stations in September 2011.

Here are the numbers:

• New York WABC down 45.3 percent
• Los Angeles KABC down 61.9 percent
• WLS Chicago down 47.6 percent
• KGO San Francisco down 57.4 percent
• WJR Detroit down 50.9 percent
• Kansas City KCMO down 52.9 percent
• Nashville down 33.3 percent
• Memphis down 50 percent
• Albuquerque down 20.8 percent

To be sure, Cumulus in recent months has blamed Hannity and Rush Limbaugh for its ratings decline.

Yet in the two biggest radio markets in the country, Hannity's numbers are faring far better than Cumulus is.

In Los Angeles, KABC's ratings are down 62 percent since September 2011. Hannity is only down thirteen percent.

In New York, WABC's ratings are down 45 percent. Hannity is only down 3.2 percent.

Meanwhile, in July 2013, Hannity’s three hours on the air in New York and Los Angeles are ranked #1, #2 and #3 for all broadcasting on each station.

As such, Cumulus management seems to be responsible for its plummeting ratings, and blaming it on Hannity is a smokescreen.

Let's see the liberal media always quick to pronounce conservative talk radio dead report that.

Via: Newsbusters

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Is the US Declaration of Independence illegal?

Was the Declaration of Independence legal?

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In today's Magazine

• Could you forgive your daughter's killer?
• The first lawyer inside Guantanamo Camp 7
• 10 steps for taking a reasonably decent photo of a new baby
• Can baking make you happier?

In Philadelphia, American and British lawyers have debated the legality of America's founding documents.

On Tuesday night, while Republican candidates in Nevada were debating such American issues as nuclear waste disposal and the immigration status of Mitt Romney's gardener, American and British lawyers in Philadelphia were taking on a far more fundamental topic.

Namely, just what did Thomas Jefferson think he was doing?

Some background: during the hot and sweltering summer of 1776, members of the second Continental Congress travelled to Philadelphia to discuss their frustration with royal rule.

By 4 July, America's founding fathers approved a simple document penned by Jefferson that enumerated their grievances and announced themselves a sovereign nation.

American experiment

The event, presented by the Temple American Inn of Court in conjunction with Gray's Inn, London, pitted British barristers against American lawyers to determine whether or not the American colonists had legal grounds to declare secession.

For American lawyers, the answer is simple: "The English had used their own Declaration of Rights to depose James II and these acts were deemed completely lawful and justified," they say in their summary.

To the British, however, secession isn't the legal or proper tool by which to settle internal disputes. "What if Texas decided today it wanted to secede from the Union? Lincoln made the case against secession and he was right," they argue in their brief.

A vote at the end of the debate reaffirmed the legality of Jefferson and company's insurrection, and the American experiment survived to see another day.

It was an unsurprising result, considering the venue - just a few blocks away from where the Declaration was drafted. But did they get it right? Below are some more of the arguments from both sides.

Via: BBC

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“Start Quote

When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security”

The Declaration of Independence

[VIDEO] GOP rep: Regulations cost Americans almost $2 trillion in compliance costs every year

As I mentioned last night, President Obama is looking to start cracking that whip on getting some major Dodd-Frank action from his financial regulatory squad in short order — which is only going to quicken the pace of his administration’s already frenetic rulemaking record (one wonders how they’ve somehow neglected to realize that their enthusiastic introductions of new regulations could perhaps correlate with our stubbornly stagnating economy, ahem).The Hill piece that I referenced points to a study done by George Mason University’s Mercatus Center that says that the Code of Federal Regulations has grown from 71,224 pages in 1975 to 174,545 pages as of last year, and Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) has some numbers on exactly what that means in terms of dollars:

Here’s an unpleasant reminder of what that looks like in terms of opportunity costs. Ouch.

Given the expansion of ‘economically significant’ regulations, i.e. regulations that are estimated to cost more than $100 million total, the House has been supporting legislationthat would make such regulations subject to a little Congressional review before they’re enacted. The White House, weirdly, has so far been unreceptive. Go figure.

Via: Hot Air

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