Another new ObamaCare tax

It’s highway robbery!

City hacks now have to shell out 6 cents per fare so they can pay for tutorials on ObamaCare, The Post has learned.

“Nobody’s happy about it,” said Charbel Sfeir, a yellow-cab driver since 1984. “It’s not fair. The money’s going to go to paperwork for ObamaCare. I don’t need to pay them do to paperwork.”

The hack tax, mandated by the city Taxi and Limousine Commission, went into effect Oct. 1 and requires that drivers pay for “disability insurance and health-care navigation services.”

The TLC has placed the Taxi Workers Alliance, a drivers union, in charge of administering the fund, and a final contract is being hammered out.

“This is a good thing,” said Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the TWA. “This is going to give services to a population that’s been exploited.”

When cabbies first heard about the surcharge, they understood it to mean that it was going to pay for actual health insurance.

But drivers now say they’ve been taken for a ride.

“I thought the 6 cents would go to health care,” cabby Placida Robinson said.

And it’s hardly chump change.

David Pollack, executive director of the Committee for Taxi Safety, estimates it will cost cabbies $10 million to $15 million annually and calls it a “scam.”

“This is totally out of the TLC’s jurisdiction,” he said. “It’s not in the City Charter, and it’s illegal.”

And the new tax is redundant. It’ll pay for disability insurance, a service yellow-cab drivers already pay through workers’ compensation, hacks said.

Pollack contended the disability insurance is itself redundant, because drivers are already covered through workers’ comp that they’re required to pay for.

Desai shot back, saying: “Workers’ comp is for on-the-job injuries. There are drivers who have to get kidney dialysis. They can’t get workers’ comp.”

But only $30 per driver will go into the disability fund, noted Pollack, who said the TLC awarded the TWA the contract only in return for its complicity with city policy on issues like the Taxi of Tomorrow, a plan that a court rejected last week.

Via: New York Post

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ObamaCare effect? 9 companies exit Nebraska’s health insurance market

Nine insurance companies are pulling out of Nebraska's major medical insurance market, and some of them cite Obamacare as the reason for their departure. 

Seven of the nine companies have notified the state of their plans to leave since August. Most of them have a minor piece of the major medical market in Nebraska, and likely don't think it's worth it to make the changes necessary to comply with the federal health care law. 

As Obamacare shifts into a higher gear, all Americans must buy health insurance or pay a fine beginning in January. Insurance companies selling individual plans can no longer sell cheaper, bare-bones plans, must offer an array of benefits and cannot deny people coverage because they're sick or old. 

Aetna, American Family Mutual Insurance, Humana, Independence American Insurance Company, Reserve National Insurance Company, Standard Security Life Insurance Company of New York, Companion Life Insurance and United Security Life and Health Insurance have all informed the state insurance department of their intent to stop selling health insurance to individuals - and in some cases - groups. 

Under Nebraska law, insurers are required to notify policyholders in writing of any such changes. 

State Insurance Commissioner Bruce Ramge was most recently informed of a departure Thursday morning, when he received a letter from Companion Life saying they'll leave the market at year's end, noting that increased regulations under Obamacare would make it difficult to continue. Ramge said the new landscape under Obamacare is the major driving factor in the companies' pullout, largely because of the administrative and policy changes they'd have to make. insurance-market/

Via Fox News

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North Korea warns of 'all-out war' as it refuses to sign pact with US

The country also refused to sign a non-aggression pact that John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, offered last week on condition of denuclearisation.

In a thinly veiled threat to strike the United States, the North's National Defence Commission (NDC), chaired by leader Kim Jong-Un, said the US government must withdraw its policy of hostility against the North if it wants peace on both the Korean peninsula and the "US mainland".

"(The United States) must bear it in mind that reckless provocative acts would meet our retaliatory strikes and lead to an all-out war of justice for a final showdown with the United States," a spokesman of the NDC was quoted as saying in a statement carried by Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency.

"We emphasise again that the United States must withdraw various measures aimed to isolate and strangulate us. Dependent upon this are... peace and security, not only on the Korean peninsula but the US mainland as well."

The comments come after a two-day joint naval drill between Japan, South Korea and the US, which included an American nuclear aircraft carrier, sparked a series of angry responses and threats from Pyongyang.

Via: The Telegraph

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[MUST READ] The Threat We Face [OBAMA]

Below is a speech given by David Horowitz at the Kohler conference of the Bradley Foundation. It has been revised and edited for publication as an article.

I was born at the beginning of the Second World War into a family of high school teachers who were members of the Communist Party, and therefore were actually part of a vast conspiracy dedicated to the destruction of this country, although they would never have looked at it that way, and so-called liberals would be the first to deny it.

In those days, the schools were old fashioned enough that my parents did not use their classrooms to indoctrinate students as tens of thousands of university professors and even more K-12 teachers regularly do today. It is also an unhappy but hugely important fact that the conspiracy to which my parents belonged has steadily migrated into the heart of the Democratic Party until it now occupies the Oval Office in the person of our president, Barack Obama, and his closest advisors.

The president, his chief operative Valerie Jarrett and his chief political strategist David Axelrod all came out of the same Communist left and the same radical new left as I did, and all have remained heart and soul a part of it. As someone who turned his back on that destructive movement, I can say with confidence that they have not. If a person belongs to an organization or is the supporter of an idea that they come to see as destructive or evil, the first thing they will want to do when they leave is to warn others against it, to warn them of the dangers it represents. If a person does not do this – that tells me that he or she hasn’t left the destructive movement or abandoned the pernicious idea but has just put another face on them. Instead of calling themselves communists or socialists they call themselves liberals and progressives. This camouflage is very old. I never once heard my parents and their party friends refer to themselves as Communists. They were progressives – and registered Democrats.

Via:FrontPage Mag

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[CARTOON] Obamacare Launch

Via: California Political Review

Nancy Pelosi and “Sacred Ground” Abortions: The Inconsistent Catholic

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has been written about in Live Action News quite a few times. When asked about the difference between what Gosnell did and abortions taking place moments before birth, Pelosi refused to answer the question and instead referred to abortion as “sacred ground.”

Also, notice how the question, asked by The Weekly Standard, does not mention Catholicism or politics. Pelosi, however, does:

Asked what the moral difference is between what Dr. Kermit Gosnell did to babies born alive and aborting those same infants moments before birth, Pelosi refused to answer.

“As a practicing and respectful Catholic, this is sacred ground to me when we talk about this,” Pelosi said. “I don’t think it should have anything to do with politics.”

Rep. Pelosi claims to be “a practicing and respectful Catholic.” By mentioning her faith when the question does not, the congresswoman not only seriously confuses the teachings of her Catholic faith, but makes it look as if she has something to justify. Either that, or she’s chosen her politics over her faith. It is curious, then, that Pelosi mentions that she “[doesn't] think it should have anything to do with politics,” when she herself advocates for abortion from a position of political power.

When Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life challenged Nancy Pelosi to drop either her Catholic faith or her pro-abortion stance, she completely dismissed him.

One cannot claim to espouse Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior while believing that he would support abortion. I have written about this before, as well as mentioned Catholicism and abortion. Of all the Christian denominations, the Catholic Church takes perhaps the most consistent pro-life stance.

As a practicing Catholic myself, I cannot help but wonder sometimes: where is this consistency?

You may have heard Cardinal Burke, who is on the high court of the Vatican, call for Nancy Pelosi not to receive Communion. This is good news, but there’s more to it than that. This call came during an interview; it was not an actual judicial act. It’s encouraging to see the matter being mentioned, but how it will really be dealt with remains to be seen.

The National Catholic Register is a helpful source in explaining what is really going on lest there be any confusion. The article does conclude on an encouraging note:

8) Many Catholics are outraged by the way politicians like Ms. Pelosi flout Catholic teaching on life issues such as abortion. Did the interview touch on this matter?

Via: Life News

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Senate leaders launch shutdown talks; GOP, White House at impasse

WASHINGTON — As talks over how to end the government shutdown and avert a default on the debt collapsed Saturday between House Republicans and the White House, theSenate's top leaders launched their own negotiations to find a last-ditch compromise, but the day drew to a close with no indication that they had made significant progress.

Speaker John A. Boehner told House Republicans that President Obama had rejected their efforts to enter into more substantive negotiations, according to lawmakers who attended the closed-door session. The Ohio Republican said it was now up to Senate Republicans to hold firm to extract concessions on the president's healthcare law and federal spending.

On Saturday morning, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) met in Reid's office for an hour, the first time they have sat down together to discuss a resolution since the government shutdown began 12 days ago.

"The conversation was extremely cordial but very preliminary — nothing conclusive," Reid said at a news conference. "This should be seen as something very positive — even though we don't have anything done yet and there is a long ways to go."

Senate Republicans have expressed frustration with the apparent indifference of their House counterparts to the political toll that has been taken on the party by the shutdown and the threat of a potentially catastrophic default on the nation's debt.

Via: LA Times

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Harry Reid: ‘I would like the debt ceiling to be for 20 years’

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid isn’t letting the government shutdown stop him from playing jester.

“How long would you like the [continuing resolution] to be and how long would you like the debt limit?” a reporter asked Reid at a press conference Saturday afternoon.

“I would like the debt ceiling to be for 20 years and I’d like the CR to be for 10 years,” Reid replied, apparently in jest. “A CR with our numbers, of course.”

Via: Daily Caller

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Jack Welch: President Has Too Much Power

The president has too much authority compared with Congress' power, says former General Electric CEO Jack Welch.

"The presidency has become too powerful relative to Congress," Welch told CNBC. 

The trend dates back to the Clinton administration, he stated. "That's been happening for a long time, and it's accelerated this time" under President Obama.

Editor’s Note: Obama Donor Banned This Message (Shocking)

According to Welch, Obama has gone overboard on regulations, such as changes the president has made to Obamacare and environmental rules. "He can arbitrarily legislate around Congress on clean air, change the game," Welch noted.

Meanwhile, he faults both Congressional Republicans and Obama for their hardline stances through much of the budget/debt ceiling conflict.

"Both sides went down the wrong path," Welch said, explaining that the Republican demand to defund Obamacare —"by definition that's not sitting across the table," he said. 

"I wouldn't let Republicans market an iPad when it came out. They can't market anything." 

As for Obama, "then the president says, 'I will not negotiate.' That's not a position I can accept either," Welch added.

On Thursday, Congress and the White House made progress in negotiations to re-open the government and implement a debt ceiling increase. 

Stocks have risen Friday in reaction.

"The much-needed political breakthrough appears intact, although investors are now awaiting a nod from the president on the strings attached to the offer from Republicans to extend the debt limit by six more weeks," said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak, according to MarketWatch. 

Via: Newsmax

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6 Things Every American Should Know About Obamacare

If you think every American should know these facts about Obamacare, do your part to spread this column around and make it happen.

1) Millions of Americans are paying much more for health care because of Obamacare. Obama's new health care law has a lot of new requirements, restrictions, and red tape. That means the cost of plans is going up and the amount of competition in many states is going down. Because of this, the price of health care is soaring all across the country. Here are a couple of examples of how bad it is already getting.

Cindy Vinson and Tom Waschura are big believers in the Affordable Care Act. They vote independent and are proud to say they helped elect and re-elect President Barack Obama.

Yet, like many other Bay Area residents who pay for their own medical insurance, they were floored last week when they opened their bills: Their policies were being replaced with pricier plans that conform to all the requirements of the new health care law.

Vinson, of San Jose, will pay $1,800 more a year for an individual policy, while Waschura, of Portola Valley, will cough up almost $10,000 more for insurance for his family of four.

How many American families can afford an extra $10,000 a year to pay for a service that they were already receiving?

2) Millions of Americans have LOST their health care plans because of the law. One of Barack Obama's most famous promises about Obamacare was, "First of all, if you've got health insurance, you like your doctor, you like your plan - you can keep your doctor, you can keep your plan. Nobody is talking about taking that away from you."

However, health care plans are being dropped all across the country by insurance companies because they don't meet the minimum standards of the expensive new plans that are preferred by Obamacare. How bad has it already gotten? 800,000 Americans lost their health care plans in New Jersey alone.

Via: TownHall

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Video: Allentown mother forced to choose between ObamaCare and feeding family

While the focus on the ObamaCare rollout has mainly been on its incompetent web design and operation, that’s far from the only problem — or even the most important. Pennsylvania’s WFMZ profiles a family that saw its monthly premiums skyrocket for 2014, forcing them to choose between getting the mandated health insurance or feeding their family (via Daniel Halper at TWS):

video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player

“I feel it’s important for people to understand that the premiums aren’t affordable,” says Jennifer Most, a mother, who “told the crowd she went to the government website with all intentions of signing up … Jennifer and her husband are disabled, on a fixed income, and their five year old has a few medical problems as well,” the reporter explains.

The woman says, “My premium for health insurance was $947.63.”

“That is a over 765 dollars more than she currently pays,” says the reporter.

“It would take food out of our mouths to be able to afford these coverages,” the mother explains.

Don’t forget the little bait-and-switch pulled by HHS last month, when they finally rolled out the prices on the exchanges.  They claimed that the premiums came in “lower than expected,” but Forbes’ Avik Roy dismantled the dishonesty behind that claim:

“Premiums nationwide will also be around 16 percent lower than originally expected,” HHS cheerfully announces in its press release. But that’s a ruse. HHS compared what the Congressional Budget Office projected rates might look like—in 2016—to its own findings. Neither of those numbers tells you the stat that really matters: how much rates will go up next year, under Obamacare, relative to this year, prior to the law taking effect. …

Based on a Manhattan Institute analysis of the HHS numbers, Obamacare will increase underlying insurance rates for younger men by an average of 97 to 99 percent, and for younger women by an average of 55 to 62 percent. Worst off is North Carolina, which will see individual-market rates triple for women, and quadruple for men.

Via: Hot Air

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Obama’s Confession of Indifference

The president has admitted that his strategy is to punish the innocent to score partisan points. 

Last week I wrote a column accusing the president of having a vindictive streak — of deliberately trying to make the lives of average Americans worse just so he could score ideological and political points.

We already knew from how he handled the budget sequester that Obama liked this approach. He ordered Cabinet secretaries not to do their jobs — i.e., to manage as best they could under spending restraints — but instead to find ways to make the cuts needlessly painful for innocents caught in the Beltway crossfire.

They dusted off the same playbook for the shutdown. As one park ranger told the Washington Times, “We’ve been told to make life as difficult for people as we can.”

Admittedly, the case was circumstantial. There was no smoking gun. What was really needed was a confession.

Obama delivered. On October 8, Obama was asked by Mark Knoller of CBS if he was “tempted” to sign the numerous funding bills passed by the GOP-controlled House that would greatly alleviate the pain of the shutdown. Republicans have voted to reopen parks, fund cancer trials for children at the NIH, and to keep FEMA and the FDA going through this partial shutdown. But Obama has threatened to veto any such efforts, effectively keeping the Senate from considering the legislation.

“Of course I’m tempted” to sign those bills, Obama explained. “But here’s the problem. What you’ve seen are bills that come up wherever Republicans are feeling political pressure, they put a bill forward. And if there’s no political heat, if there’s no television story on it, then nothing happens.”

Via: NRO

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Funding Jihadist's while Denying Military Benefits

Here is where we’re at: The Republican establishment — the guys who told us that for a trillion dollars and several thousand American casualties, we could build “Islamic democracies” that would be reliable U.S. allies in the War on Terror — say it is Ted Cruz who is “delusional” and the effort to stave off Obamacare that is “unattainable.”

These self-appointed sages are, of course, the same guys who told us the way to “stabilize” and “democratize” Libya was to help jihadists topple and kill the resident dictator — who, at the time, was a U.S. ally, providing intelligence about the jihadists using his eastern badlands as a springboard for the anti-American terror insurgency in Iraq. That’s probably worth remembering this week, during which some of our new “allies” abducted Libya’s president while others car-bombed Sweden’s consulate in Benghazi — site of the still unavenged terrorist massacre of American ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other U.S. officials 13 months ago.

Not to worry, though. So successful do they figure the Libyan escapade was, GOP leaders are backing a reprise in Syria. It is there, we learn from a Human Rights Watch report issued this week, that our new “allies,” the al-Qaeda-rife “rebels,” executed a savage atrocity just two months ago. Sweeping into the coastal village of Latakia, the jihadists slaughtered 190 minority Alawites. As the New York Timesdetails, “at least 67 of the dead appeared to have been shot or stabbed while unarmed or fleeing, including 48 women and 11 children.” More than 200 other civilians were captured and are still being held hostage.

Via: NRO

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MSNBC’s Phil Griffin: Fox News is spying on me! With RAYS! In My HEAD!

Phil Griffin, president of MSNBC, says there’s something fishy about Tuesday’s ratings for the Fox News Channel, which were up significantly from a day earlier when Fox News debuted its new schedule. And he wants an investigation.

“Monday we had a really good day in the key demographic. On the night that Fox News debuted their three shows, we either tied or beat them in those hours,” Griffin said at a briefing, according to TVNewser.

“Tuesday — you guys should be doing some investigations; I have never seen it in all my years of cable — same overnight, same everything. And they doubled their ratings in a day? It is impossible.” Griffin continued, “I have never seen it. They did election-night numbers in the demo Tuesday.”

It’s entertaining because Griffin there is accusing Nielsen of deliberately altering the ratings in thesecond tier of news networks (cable news does not have the same reach as network news). Which would be one heck of a story, if true …if. Of course, if it were true then it would have leaked by now. People tend to do that sort of thing, when money is involved. And money is involved: Nielsen ratings figure in advertising fees.

Anyway, two takeaways:

• You’d think that a guy in charge of a television network that reports on the affairs of the day would not need to ask other groups to do news investigations.
• MSNBC’s problem is not that the dogs do not like the dog food. It’s that they’re trying to sell dog food to non-dogs*.

Via: Red State

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CHART: WHO DOES THE U.S. GOV’T OWE $17 TRILLION TO?

The U.S. government owes a lot of money.

A lot.

In fact, U.S. debt today stands at about $17 trillion.

Obviously, that’s a little difficult to understand with just words.

So here to help you visualize the debt situation in the U.S. — and help you understand where money is owed — is a helpful chart from National Public Radio:

National Public Radio

Here are some key takeaways [as presented by Business Insider]:

• We owe most of the money to ourselves.
• We owe a big chunk of the money — about $6 trillion — to the Federal government. So if there ever were a default (hopefully there won’t be) the government would also be stiffing itself.
• We owe about $5 trillion to other countries, including China.
• The total debt to China is only $1.3 trillion. So we’re not in hock to China as much as some people think we are.
• Yes, it’s a boatload of debt. But the experience of Japan, the U.S. after World War 2, and other countries, suggests that it’s a manageable amount, as long as we eventually get our long-term entitlement spending under control.

Click here to read the full NRP article on the U.S.’ debt load.

Via: The Blaze

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[VIDEO] Watch Mark Levin at Steve Lonegan's Campaign Rally In New Jersey

Mark Levin gave a great speech today in support of Steve Lonegan who is running for US Senate in New Jersey. You can watch the full speech below:

Via: The Right Scoop

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Watch Sarah Palin Bring Down the House at Steve Lonegan's Campaign Rally

Sarah Palin delivered another one of her great campaign speeches for Steve Lonegan today at his campaign rally. You can watch the full speech below:

Via: The Right Scoop

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HUELSKAMP: GOP LEADERSHIP FORGETTING TEA PARTY GAVE THEM HOUSE

Congressman Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) told Breitbart News that his party's leaders should be very careful about targeting conservative members associated with the Tea Party, as the reason Republicans hold a majority in the lower chamber is because Tea Party activists voted in a wave of conservatives in 2010. 

"The Tea Party was the majority maker for House Republicans; without much of these new conservatives, there would not be a Speaker Boehner. There would not be an opportunity to push back on Obamacare, so it’s pretty clear," said Huelskamp. "But the Tea Party is not some small part--it is the conservative wing of the [Republican] Party, which is a pretty strong majority. I mean it’s taken on some key tenets of the Republican Party, which are conservative." 

Moderate Republicans appear most concerned about the effect conservative Senator Ted Cruz (R–TX) will have on the upcoming 2014 mid-term elections, and mainstream media outlets are taking delight in this worry. However, according to the Center for Politics, if the GOP is successfully blamed for the government shutdown, it is not conservative Republicans who need to worry about running in tough races. More importantly, even if those GOP moderates lose those seats in 2014, the analysis says, the GOP is not necessarily in danger of losing the House:

Let’s be clear here: This is largely a thought experiment. Republicans have plenty of things going for them in the 2014 midterms. There’s no historical precedent for the president’s party to take over the House from the other party in a midterm; indeed, history tells us that the “out” presidential party — in this case, the GOP — is likelier to gain seats than the “in” party. The president’s approval rating as measured by the HuffPost Pollster average is actually worse today — 43.4% approve, 51.0% disapprove — than it was right before the 2010 midterm (45.1% approve, 49.9% disapprove).

As we’ve shown recently — and as Prof. Arrington’s piece indicates — Democrats are going to have to really dominate the House generic ballot, and Election Day national House vote margin, to have a real chance at taking back the House.

However, if Republicans do open the door to the Democrats in the House, it’s not going to be the “Ted Cruz Republicans” who will pay the price. Rather, it’s the House Republicans in marginal districts who could see their ranks decimated, just like the House Democratic moderates whose anti-Obamacare votes couldn’t save them in 2010.

Does the outrage from moderate Republicans towards conservatives have more to do with the fact that moderates could lose hefty influence within the party after the 2014 midterm elections?

Via: Breitbart

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Voters to Politicians: Both Parties are Blundering

What to make of all the polls on the government shutdown? You know, the ones that say that, to varying degrees, congressional Republicans are being blamed more than Democrats and Barack Obama.

Let me give a roundabout answer, based on a theory that people sometimes try to send messages through their responses to poll questions. I developed this theory after watching British political polls since the 1960s.

For the large majority of that time -- the major exception was the first eight years of Tony Blair's prime ministership -- voters have given negative job ratings to the governments of the day. Yet during that time, incumbent parties have won most general elections.

This is not necessarily a contradiction. Britons, with their two-and-a-half party system (the Liberal Democrats are the half), are adept tactical voters. If they live in a district where Lib Dems are stronger than Labor, then Laborites will vote Lib Dem to keep the Conservatives out.

In responding to polls, British voters who fear the government may go too far will express disapproval as a way of checking the prime minister's theoretically dictatorial, but in fact limited power. Backbenchers will pressure the PM not to go too far if his or her job approval is low.

In our two-party system, Americans seldom vote tactically. But I think they sometimes respond to polls tactically.

That helps explain why Bill Clinton's job approval went up 20 points when the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke and Republicans threatened impeachment. That looks like a plea to Republicans to drop impeachment.

Americans believe in the Twenty-Second Amendment, limiting the president to two terms. Clinton had been elected to a second term and was competently performing his day work. Let him serve that term out, voters seemed to be saying.

Via: Real Clear Politics

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RACIAL TRADE-OFFS

Black congressmen and black public officials in general, including Barack Obama, always side with teachers unions in their opposition to educational vouchers, tuition tax credits, charter schools and other measures that would allow black parents to take their children out of failing public schools. Most black politicians and many black professionals take the position of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who is on record as saying, “We shouldn’t abandon the public schools.”

Taking such a political stance is understandable because black congressmen and other black elected officials are part of a coalition. As such, they are expected to vote for things that other coalition members want in order that those coalition members vote for things that black politicians want. There’s no question that these black public officials are getting something in return for their support of teachers unions and others who benefit from the educational status quo. The question not addressed by black people is whether what black politicians are getting for their support of a failed educational system is worth the sacrifice of whole generations of black youngsters, educationally handicapping them and making many virtually useless in the high-tech world of the 21st century.

Though many black politicians mouth that we should fix, not abandon, public schools, they themselves have abandoned public schools. They see their children as too precious to be sacrificed in the name of public education. While living in Chicago, Barack Obama sent his daughters to the prestigious University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. When he moved to Washington, President Obama enrolled his daughters in the prestigious Sidwell Friends School. According to a report by The Heritage Foundation, “exactly 52 percent of Congressional Black Caucus members and 38 percent of Congressional Hispanic Caucus members sent at least one child to private school.” Overall, only 6 percent of black students attend private school.

Via: Human Events

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Rep. Gohmert Battles Fox Host Over ‘Clean’ Funding Bill: ‘Clean is Pretty Nasty’

Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX) battled Fox News host Arthel Neville over whether the GOP shared any blame for the government shutdown and potential debt ceiling breach, arguing that President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats had refused multiple offers to negotiate.

“The party’s brand was hurt with TARP,” Gohmert said, “was hurt with so many things, but especially two and a half years ago when we made an offer to cut some of the massive overspending, and the President and Harry Reid (D-NV) said, ‘Nope, it’s our way or the highway.’”

“You’re not saying that either, Congressman?” Neville said. “Let’s have some honest talk here.”

Gohmert insisted that the dishonesty had been entirely Reid’s. “Harry Reid saying that there’s a bunch of firebrands and radicals in the House?” he alleged. “That’s not the case. We are together, but the hijacking has been the U.S. Senate by left-wing radicals who want to keep spending grandchildren’s money.”

Neville repeatedly try to keep the conversation moving. “I appreciate your passion,” she said. “And of course we’re not suggesting—Everybody has great suggestions. We have to mix and match.”

“No, you’re wrong there, you’re wrong there!” Gohmert interrupted. “Tell me what the president has suggested. Tell me what Harry Reid has suggested. They have not made one good suggestion, not one, other than total capitulation.”

“Any way out of this, sir?” Neville asked.

“Yes!” Gohmert said. “Have them start compromising. We’ve compromised over and over. We got to the point where we said, ‘Okay, here’s the deal. Here’s our negotiators’ conferees. That’s what the law requires.’ Harry Reid would not even appoint conferees as the law requires.”

“They asked you to come back to the table with some clean suggestions,” Neville responded.

“Clean is not clean,” Gohmert said. “It’s pretty nasty.”

As Neville went to break, she assured the audience that she had not cut Gohmert’s mic, as he was still speaking.

Watch the video below, via Fox News:

Via: Mediaite.com

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Cruz wins religious conservatives' 2016 straw poll

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz decidedly won the presidential straw poll at the 2013 Values Voters summit, solidifying his status among religious conservatives.

Cruz, a first-term senator and Tea Party favorite, has emerged as one of the Republican Party and conservative movement’s most dynamic leaders –  highlighted by his effort to defund ObamaCare.

Cruz, who appears to have presidential aspirations, took 42 percent of the vote, with Dr. Ben Carson and former Pennsylvania Sen. and GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum each getting 13 percent.

Though the 2016 race is years off, the annual summit in Washington is considered an early indication of how conservative voters are leaning.

“I just spoke with Senator Cruz and he wanted me to convey to you his deep appreciation for your enthusiastic and … that he was very grateful to know that there are Americans across the country who are standing with him as he stands for your values here in Washington, D.C.,” said Tony Perkins, the head of the Family Research Council,  which is hosting the three-day event, according to The Washington Times.

Among the other Capitol Hill conservatives to speak at the event were GOP Sens. Rand Paul, of Kentucky, and Marco Rubio of Florida, also thought to have 2016 White House aspirations.

Paul finished in fourth place in the straw poll with 6 percent of the vote and Mr. Rubio finished fifth with 5 percent.

Cruz, whose speech was interrupted several times by immigration reform advocates, said Friday the health care law and Obama's spending priorities had put the nation on the wrong track. "We have a couple of years to turn this country around, or we go off the cliff into oblivion," he said.

Via Fox News Politics

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Obama Bites Tongue as Cruz Confronts Him at White House Meeting

Sen. Ted Cruz seized the opportunity afforded by a White House invitation to confront President Barack Obama over his healthcare plan.

Cruz said he appreciated the chance to go see the president — but then presented him with "substantial" changes for Obamacare.

In the meeting, also attended by dozens of other Republican senators, Cruz refrained from using the word "defund," reports Politico.  Instead he told Obama that all sides need to "provide substantial relief to the millions of people who are hurting because of Obamacare, who are losing their jobs, being forced into part-time work and losing their health insurance."

Cruz said he told the president that a deal to reopen the government must also provide relief for those affected by the Affordable Care Act.

One participant at the gathering told The Dallas Morning News that Obama seemed to "bite his tongue," while Cruz was talking.

Cruz said Friday he's happy there are finally discussions being held.

"That is an improvement," he said. "There was an awful lot of talk, but then, at the end of the day, the president still said he wouldn't negotiate."

But while Cruz has been focused on defunding Obamacare, leading the charge on attacking the insurance program as a condition for reopening the government, he denied Friday he's responsible for the government shutdown, instead blaming Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Via: Newsmax

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NANCY PELOSI JOINS WOMEN'S HALL OF FAME

Guess all the problems in Washington have been solved.  Ms. Pelosi's not there to Screw Things up.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, the late former first lady Betty Ford and Title IX advocate Bernice Sandler are among the nine women set to be inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame on Saturday.

The ceremony is being held in Seneca Falls, the western New York village where the first known women's rights convention was held in 1848.

"I'm absolutely thrilled. I can't believe it," Pelosi told The Associated Press this week by phone from Washington before the ceremony. Several of her female congressional colleagues, along with two of her daughters and two granddaughters, plan to attend.

Also being honored are "Sexual Politics" author Kate Millett; horse racing's most successful female jockey, Julie Krone; Ina May Gaskin, who is known as the "mother of authentic midwifery"; and monetary scholar Anna Jacobson Schwartz, who collaborated with Nobel laureate Milton Friedman on "A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960," published in 1963. She died last year.

The inductees also include the late Mother Mary Joseph Rogers, who in 1912 founded Maryknoll Sisters, the first U.S.-based Catholic missionary congregation of religious women, and 19th-century educator Emma Hart Willard, who advocated for equal education for women in higher education in the early 1800s.

"The 2013 inductees again represent the spirit of Seneca Falls and the groundbreaking events that inspired the nation and the world," Beverly Ryder, co-president of the board of directors, said in announcing the inductees this year.

Pelosi, from California, is being recognized for more than 25 years in politics and as the nation's first female House speaker and first woman to lead a major U.S. political party. Pelosi this year launched a women-based agenda on the 165th anniversary of the Seneca Falls convention, advocating for equal pay for women, paid family leave and affordable child care, which she said is the biggest missing piece to the fulfillment of women's potential.

Via Breitbart

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