“What Part of This Does Your Liberal Mind Not Understand?!” Hannity Schools Guest on ObamaCare

FOX NEWS INSIDER - The push to defund ObamaCare is heating up as conservative groups join together to call out Republican politicians who have either opposed defunding or have not taken a public stance. A group called For America and the Tea Party Patriots will embark on a six-state "Exempt America" tour.

They’ve also released a series of online ads aimed at GOP senators, including Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY). The ad uses chickens to represent a "new breed of Republicans" that say one thing but do another, with a quote of McConnell.

Tea Party Patriots co-founder Jenny Beth Martin appeared on Hannity to explain that if Republican senators vote to fund ObamaCare, then they support the law. 

Democratic Strategist Matt Bennett, however, believes the health care law is working. Sean Hannity reminded Bennett that half of all ObamaCare statutory deadlines have been missed. Furthermore, there are only three states that might see a reduction in costs, while California, Ohio and Florida will see costs skyrocket.

Bennett cried foul, saying Hannity “cherry-picked” those numbers. He said the cost will go down nationally in the future.

“He said the cost would go down,” Hannity interjected. “What part of this does your liberal mind not understand?! It’s going up - in some cases 100 percent!”

Bennett responded, “Only briefly and then it’s going to come down.”

Via: Fox News Insider

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Next Up: Privacy Moms

Politics always seems to be about women. First it was soccer moms that swooned over midnight basketball. Then it was security moms that wanted the president to keep us safe. Then, in a less kinder, gentler era, it was the Republican war to make Sandra Fluke pay for her own contraception.

Now let's Move On -- to the age of the "privacy mom."

I've long had a cavalier attitude to privacy. My line was that the IRS already knows everything that anyone would want to know about me. So why worry about the rest of the government and the greedy corporate CEOs?

Even so, I have also appreciated that women are much more sensitive about privacy. We could speculate forever on this, but let's just say that nesting animals usually like to hide away until the fledglings are out of the nest.

But now comes Peggy Noonan writing about the importance of privacy.

Privacy is connected to personhood. It has to do with intimate things -- the innards of your head and heart, the workings of your mind -- and the boundary between those things and the world outside.

A loss of the expectation of privacy in communications is a loss of something personal and intimate, and it will have broader implications.

See what I mean? Now one of my rules of life is that when Peggy Noonan writes about something, you'd better pay attention. "You" means politicians and campaign consultants. Let the word go forth that the political future belongs to those that can get the "privacy moms" into the voting booth.

Via: American Thinker

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Gohmert: House GOP Leaders 'Scared to Death' of Shutdown Showdown

Rep. Louie Gohmert accused Republican House leaders Tuesday of being afraid to shut the government down over conservative calls for the defunding of Obamacare. 

"Our leadership is scared to death," the Texas Republican said at a town hall meeting Tuesday, according to The Longview News-Journal. "They think if we have a shutdown, or a big showdown, we may lose the majority, and they will lose their leadership positions."

Editor's Note: Weird Trick Adds $1,000 to Your Social Security Checks 

Gohmert contrasted his own House leaders to their Democratic counterparts, who were determined to push through the Affordable Care Act in 2010.

"Say what you want about [former House] Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi, yet they were so intent on passing that bill,” he said. “Because, they knew in the end if they pass Obamacare, they ultimately control everything. The government would control everything."

As for his own party, Gohmert observed, “What does it say about Republicans if we’re not willing to stand up for what we know is best for the country?” 

Via: Newsmax

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NSA collected thousands of emails from Americans, rebuked by court

The National Security Agency was rebuked by a secret court in 2011 for collecting thousands of emails and other online details from Americans with no ties to terrorism, according to court opinions which were declassified for the first time on Wednesday. 

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence took the unusual step of declassifying more than 100 pages of documents, amid the escalating public debate about government surveillance programs. The release comes several days after a report showed that the NSA had violated privacy rules and overstepped its authority thousands of times.

Some of those incidents were minor, but the documents released Wednesday detail major compliance problems. 

In 2011, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court was notified of a problem involving "upstream collection," which is the collection of Internet traffic outside of the service providers. The NSA was collecting bundled email communications under a provision which focuses on foreign Internet traffic. The NSA, though, was not effectively segregating all the traffic from Americans. 

The court rebuked the NSA for the violation. 

"For the first time the government has now advised the Court that the volume and nature of the information it has been collecting is fundamentally different from what the court had been led to believe," John D. Bates, a judge on the surveillance court, said in October 2011. 

Via: Fox News Politics

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OBAMA'S BROTHER LINKED TO MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD

NEW YORK – President Obama’s half-brother in Kenya could cause the White House more headaches over new evidence linking him to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and establishing that controversial IRS supervisor Lois Lerner signed his tax-exempt approval letter.

Malik Obama’s oversight of the Muslim Brotherhood’s international investments is one reason for the Obama administration’s support of the Muslim Brotherhood, according to an Egyptian report citing the vice president of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt, Tehani al-Gebali

In a news report on Egyptian television of a Gebali speech, translated by researcher Walid Shoebat, a former Palestinian Liberation Organization operative, Gebali said she would like “to inform the American people that their president’s brother Obama is one of the architects of the major investments of the Muslim Brotherhood.”

“We will carry out the law, and the Americans will not stop us,” she said. “We need to open the files and begin court sessions.

“The Obama administration cannot stop us; they know that they supported terrorism,” she continued. “We will open the files so these nations are exposed, to show how they collaborated with [the terrorists]. It is for this reason that the American administration fights us.”

New! “Impeachable Offenses” lays out the blueprint for impeaching Barack Obama for crimes against the United States. Order it now at WND’s Superstore!

Shoebat said Gebali explained the news is important to Americans who are concerned about their president’s actions, calling it “is a gift to the American people,” implying there were more revelations to come.

In an interview on Egyptian television, Gebali said the cost to Egypt has been great, and she vowed her country will not allow any conspiracy against its people or the Egyptian state. She insisted that pushing Egypt to bankruptcy is unacceptable, because it would plunge her country into a dire state similar to Iraq and Libya.

Via: WND Politics

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Michelle Malkin Clashes With WaPo Blogger After Stating Murder Suspect Is Illegal Immigrant

While covering the murder trial of Julio Miguel Blanco Garcia -- a day laborer who is charged in the brutal stabbing death of a 19-year-old woman -- Washington Post reporter Justin Jouvenal tweeted on Tuesday: “Vanessa Pham likely tried to fight off her killer, examiner says.”

Soon after, conservative syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin modified that message by adding two important words to the text: “Vanessa Pham likely tried to fight off her illegal alien killer, examiner says.”

“Wow,” Jouvenal responded, stating that her post was “way more than modified as in 'I said nothing like what you wrote.'”

Malkin replied by charging that the rules of the mainstream media include:

Reporting criminal's citizen status=political agenda. Downplaying/ignoring illegal alien status=real journalism.

@daniel_thecuban joined the fray when he asked: “You mean @michellemalkin added fact that @jjouvenal omitted? Aren't journalists supposed to report facts?”

“Those darn facts are always getting in the way,” @CN_AaronF noted before @Docjp declared: “Illegal alien status of criminals NEEDS to be emphasized so as to point to reality we face.”

As NewsBusters previously reported, this isn't the first time that Post reporter has failed to include the suspect's status as an illegal immigrant.

In a front-page story on Thursday, August 8, Jouvenal described the murder in considerable detail:

The man accused of taking Vanessa Pham's life appeared to be anything but a killer as he approached her at a Falls Church shopping center. He carried his infant daughter and made a request: Could they have a ride to the hospital?

Along the way, Blanco Garcia “became agitated when the college freshman drove the wrong way down a road, he later told authorities.” The illegal immigrant had a history of arrests and drug problems, and he admitted he had smoked PCP earlier in the day.

Via: Newsbusters

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[VIDEO] GALLUP: UNEMPLOYMENT RATE JUMPS FROM 7.7% TO 8.9% IN 30 DAYS

Outside of the federal government's Bureau of Labor statistics, the Gallup polling organization also tracks the nation's unemployment rate. While the BLS and Gallup findings might not always perfectly align, the trends almost always do and the small statistical differences just haven't been worthy of note. But now Gallup is showing a sizable 30 day jump in the unemployment rate, from 7.7% on July 21 to 8.9% today.

This is an 18-month high.

At the end of July, the BLS showed a 7.4% unemployment rate, compared to Gallup's 7.8%. Again, a difference not worthy of note. But Gallup's upward trend to almost 9% in just the last three weeks is alarming, especially because this is not a poll with a history of wild swings due to statistical anomalies. Gallup's sample size is  a massive 30,000 adults and the rolling average is taken over a full 30 day period.

Gallup also shows an alarming increase in the number of underemployed (those with some work seeking more). During the same 30-day period, that number has jumped from 17.1% to 17.9%.

Via: Breitbart

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Poll: Half of all Californians expect to lose their health insurance policies under Obamacare

A Field poll found that over half of all Californians expect Obamacare to strip many people of their existing health insurance coverage.

While the Sacramento Bee emphasized popular support for the law in the state — 53 percent of respondents said they supported Obamacare and 38 percent were opposed — drilling down into the results shows some ambivalence.

According to the poll, 46 percent said it wouldn’t significantly change their health coverage situation. Slightly more Californians said they would be worse off (26 percent) than better off (23 percent).

Fifty-four percent said they believed individuals would be forced to change their coverage.

This is despite claims from President Barack Obama himself that under the Affordable Care Act, “if you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.”

A large number of Californian consumers will, in fact, have to change their health care plans once Obamacare is implemented in January. Several health care plans previously operating in California have declined to participate in the first experimental year of the Obamacare exchanges.

Aetna’s and UnitedHealth Group’s exit dropped the largest block of customers, numbering at least 58,000 individuals now forced to find new health coverage.

The Ventura County Health Care Program, a small county-based program, recently announced that it would not participate in the California exchange either, despite initial excitement about Obamacare’s prospects. Another 10,000 individuals currently covered by the insurer will have to find a new plan.

Via: The Daily Caller

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75 Percent Of Jobs Created This Year Were Part-Time Due To Weak Economy, Obamacare Concerns

WASHINGTON, Aug 21 (Reuters) - U.S. businesses are hiring at a robust rate. The only problem is that three out of four of the nearly 1 million hires this year are part-time and many of the jobs are low-paid.

Faltering economic growth at home and abroad and concern that President Barack Obama's signature health care law will drive up business costs are behind the wariness about taking on full-time staff, executives at staffing and payroll firms say.

Employers say part-timers offer them flexibility. If the economy picks up, they can quickly offer full-time work. If orders dry up, they know costs are under control. It also helps them to curb costs they might face under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

This can all become a less-than-virtuous cycle as new employees, who are mainly in lower wage businesses such as retail and food services, do not have the disposable income to drive demand for goods and services.

Some economists, however, say the surge in reliance on part-time workers will fade as the economy strengthens and businesses gain more certainty over how they will be impacted by Obamacare.

Executives at several staffing firms told Reuters that the law, which requires employers with 50 or more full-time workers to provide healthcare coverage or incur penalties, was a frequently cited factor in requests for part-time workers. A decision to delay the mandate until 2015 has not made much of a difference in hiring decisions, they added.

"Us and other people are hiring part-time because we don't know what the costs are going to be to hire full-time," said Steven Raz, founder of Cornerstone Search Group, a staffing firm in Parsippany, New Jersey. "We are being cautious."

Via: Reuters

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Illinois Offering $9-An-Hour Jobs To Have Workers Sign People Up For ‘Obamacare’

THESE ARE THE 700,000 JOBS THAT PELOSI TALKED ABOUT CREATING WITH O'CARE

CHICAGO — Working on a tight timeframe, Illinois is building an 800-person army of temporary workers to help people sign up for health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

The “in-person counselor” jobs, located in every corner of the state, range from a $9-an-hour part-time evening job in Clinton County to a $45,000-a-year project coordinator position in Chicago for someone with experience in community organizing and public speaking.

The workers will help consumers apply for coverage, and will answer questions and explain differences between the insurance policies offered on the new online marketplace. They will help consumers figure out if they’re eligible for Medicaid or for new tax credits that will help many people pay for coverage.

Job applications are being collected online and anyone hired will get three days of training about health insurance, enrollment rules and other complicated aspects of the health law. Illinois must act quickly to be ready for Oct. 1, the first day of enrollment for the law’s new insurance opportunities.

Training began at the end of July and, so far, about 120 people have gone through the program, said Mike Claffey, a spokesman for Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn.

Each in-person counselor must complete state and federal training and a fingerprint-based background check to become certified by the Illinois Department of Insurance. The training involves one day of online work and two days of in-person education.

Via: CBS DC

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PROMINENT DEMOCRAT BLASTS UNIONS FOR 'CHOKEHOLD'

'There is no aspect of state government operations that is 

untouched'

The former majority leader of the California State Senate, who describes herself as a “longtime liberal Democrat” who “still pay(s) union due,” is complaining about the influence of unions in her state.

A Democrat?

Yes. It appears organized labor is getting some negative attention these days even from longtime supporters.

The growth of union influence has been all over the news during Barack Obama’s tenure, since he’s worked with labor groups on a number of issues, such as the bailout of the auto industry, when they received preferential treatment to other creditors.

In California, right now the dispute is over a plan to discontinue an audit service that makes sure taxpayers and workers are getting a fair deal when public construction projects are developed, sometimes costing tens of millions of dollars.

Union interests want the audits dropped.

It got the attention of a former state lawmaker, a Democrat.

“There is no aspect of state government operations or public policy that is untouched by the power of the public-sector unions and their allies in Sacramento,” wrote Gloria Romero in a recent commentary.

She blames labor unions and Democrat politicians for most of California’s woes, saying she “more so felt the influence of public-sector unions on my party.”

“I hope to illustrate how powerful special-interest public-sector unions took control of government and what it will take for Californians to wrestle back control,” she said.

Romero details how a threat of retribution by the Service Employee International Union publicly was met with silence. She also details how highly compensated teacher unions and prison guards wield power and prevent reform.

The RNC’s horrific open-borders pandering

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus had a message last week for outspoken conservatives who support strict immigration enforcement policies: Shut up.

Yes, the head of the RNC is more concerned about protecting the party’s Hispanic vote-pandering campaign than protecting law-abiding citizens from the devastating consequences of illegal immigration.

At the RNC’s annual summer meeting in Boston, Priebus complained that openly advocating self-deportation policies during last year’s election season was “horrific” and that rule-of-law rhetoric “hurts us.” Yes, really.

So is it OK to discuss during off-year election cycles? Leap years? Weekends? Holidays? Can the GOP sensitivity police let us in on their approved immigration discussion calendar?

Priebus has yet to explain what exactly is “horrific” about telling foreign rule-breakers that they shouldn’t wait for the government to eject them, and that the right thing for them to do would be to abide by our laws and go home on their own. This is an exceedingly and ridiculously polite policy suggestion, given how most other countries treat illegal line-jumpers, border-crossers, visa overstayers and deportation fugitives.

But Priebus treats the idea as if it were an international human rights violation.

Tellingly, the RNC chair has no response to the families of all races, classes and creeds who have raised their voices against America’s perilous deportation abyss, systematic non-enforcement and coddling of illegal alien DREAMers who have wreaked violence and havoc on their lives.

The relatives of murdered Los Angeles teen Jamiel Shaw posed a question to Priebus on Twitter after the RNC chair’s remarks at the GOP event last week touting minority outreach and diversity: “How many Americans Have U Talked To Whose Kids were Killed by illegals?”

Via: Michelle Malkin

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