Rachel Maddow mocked Rand Paul for plagiarism, but she’s been accused of it too

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow created headlines this week when she alleged that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) had plagiarized a recent speech from Wikipedia, but it turns out the liberal cable news host has been accused of plagiarism herself.

In 2010 on his blog “Open Salon,” Michael Rodgers of North Port, Fla., wrote a blog post titled “Rachel Maddow Plagiarized My Blog!”

“Don’t get me wrong, I love Rachel Maddow,” Rodgers wrote. “Truth be told, I’m a huge fan. So, if she wanted something from my blog, all she had to do was ask. I would have given willingly because that’s the kind of guy I am.”

The plagiarism in question involves a comparison Rodgers made between the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 with the often-forgot about 1979 Ixtoc I oil spill in the same area. The liberal blogger noted that “the oil industry hasn’t advanced their methods of plugging holes in the ocean floor or cleaning up their messes.”

Rodgers then became perturbed upon seeing his own unique angle being copied on Maddow’s program: “I’m sitting there Wednesday evening watching MSNBC and there is Rachel Maddow…TELLING THE SAME DAMN STORY!!”

Rodgers complained, “she stole my scoop of a lifetime and now it’s plastered all over MSNBC with Rachel getting all the credit. Granted, the segment she did Wednesday night covered more ground and was more professional than my little feature, but then she has more resources at her disposal than I do.”

- See more at: http://rare.us/story/rachel-maddow-mocked-rand-paul-for-plagiarism-but-shes-been-accused-of-it-too/#sthash.VHuVr27n.dpuf

Via: Rare

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Medicare paid millions to dead patients, illegal immigrants, probe finds

Medicare paid $23 million for dead patients in 2011 and $29 million for drug benefits for illegal immigrants from 2009 to 2011, according to a report Thursday from the Health and Human Services inspector general.

The investigators said Medicare has safeguards to try to stop payments to dead patients, but it still ended up sending out the $23 million anyway.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) — the same agency that is struggling to fix the broken Obamacare website — acknowledged the problems and said it will try to take steps to fix them.

“We agree that in cases where the information indicates an individual is not lawfully present in the United States, that individual should not be permitted to enroll or to remain enrolled in a Part D plan during the period where he or she is not eligible to receive federal benefits,” Marilyn Tavenner, administrator of CMS, said in response to the report about illegal immigrants getting benefits.

The payouts aren’t large — they amount to just a fraction of a percent of what Medicare pays each year in benefits. Still, the investigators said the agency should take steps to crack down.

In one of its reports the inspector general said 4,139 illegal immigrants were able to make 279,056 drug benefit claims.

Via: Washington Times

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THE TEN MOST TERRIFYING THINGS ABOUT THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

In honor of the year’s spookiest day, Human Events has compiled a list of ten monstrous things that prove why Obama and company have earned the title of “Scariest Presidential Administration.” If you have the guts, read on, but be forewarned that the following will strike fear into the hearts of men, women, children, and liberals everywhere:

Obamacare: This one speaks for itself. The repercussions of this law become more and more frightening every day, as people lose their insurance altogether, doctors leave the medical practice in droves, and costs for care and coverage rise.

Persecution of conservative groups: Remember how the IRS targeted Tea Party groups and anyone who identified as a “patriot”? The list is long, and it all happened under the Obama Administration. Lois Lerner conveniently “retired,” and there has been zero accountability and zero punishment.

Operation Fast and Furious – Where in the world is Eric Holder? The Fast and Furious scandal, in which the U.S. Justice Department gave guns to Mexican drug lords, who then used the guns to kill U.S. border patrol agent Brian Terry, has floated off the radar. F&F killed more people than Jason Voorhees, Michael Meyers, and Freddy Krueger combined, and how many drug lords have we captured? Scary.

Via: Human Events

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The Four Other Obamacare Disasters the Media Ignored

In today’s Politico, reporters admit the mainstream media turned a blind eye and deaf ear to conservatives’ warnings about Obamacare—that not all Americans could keep their plans. But with 1.5 million Americans (and counting) receiving cancellation notices because their individual health plans don’t comply with Obamacare, the media are doing an about-face.

This isn’t the only Obamacare warning the media have ignored. Heritage and other health experts have warned about four more potential Obamacare disasters for years:

1. Back-Door Public Option: You might have thought it was killed off, but an ugly embodiment of the public option is alive and well in Obamacare. Health expert Robert Moffit pointed out in 2011 that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) next year will administer at least two nationwide health plans that will compete against private insurance. OPM is responsible for these plans’ pricing, profits, and operations.

These government-sponsored plans are the only health plans that can compete nationwide under a new set of rules, giving them an unfair advantage in an already disrupted health insurance market. “Instead of fair competition with private health plans, Congress is sponsoring the equivalent of a national monopoly,” Moffit wrote.

Via: The Foundry

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Vermont exchange train wreck

$170 Million and they got nothin'

On Sept. 12 the nationally known consulting group Gartner Inc. delivered a report to the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The report assessed the operational readiness of the various state health insurance exchanges as the Obamacare-mandated launch date — Oct. 1 — approached.

Vermont Health Connect, the state’s $170 million exchange, is “one of the most functional in the country,” according to Gov. Peter Shumlin. That’s conceivably true, since most if not all of the other exchanges are in serious trouble, but the Gartner report concluded that Vermont Health Connect “should be considered in RED status due to significant risks to meeting the Oct. 1 deadline for Go-Live.”

The statutory deadline of Oct. 1 has long since gone by, but Vermont Health Connect remains essentially inoperative. You can review the Obamacare-approved insurance plans offered for 2014, but you can’t buy one. Kyle Midura of WCAX-TV observed on the Oct. 18 “Vermont This Week” program that site visitors “almost inevitably get an error message.”

Governor Shumlin first dismissed Vermont Health Connect’s missed opening date as a “nothing burger.” He then said the exchange would be operative by Nov. 1, and that unspecified people were “working 24/7” to get it going. Most recently, he waffled on the Nov. 1 deadline as well, saying it might be ready by Nov. 3. Midura noted that administration officials view this as a “soft deadline” — more a suggestion than a requirement that triggers real-world consequences.

Via: Rutland Herald
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[VIDEO] CBS News: Early Tests of ObamaCare Website Were All Unsuccessful Shortly Before Launch

BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff
October 30, 2013 7:26 pm

The testing phase of the Obamacare website failed with a test pool of 200-300 employees from insurance companies and the government Sheryl Attkison reported Wednesday on CBS Evening News.

Attkison cited sources who claimed that the testing encountered extensive problems even late into September, offering ample evidence that the Obamacare website was not ready to launch.

The report contradicts testimony from CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner whotestified the technical glitches did not show up in testing and her agency was unaware of the issues until after October 1:

Via: WFB

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Top Hospitals Opt Out of Obamacare?

The U.S. News and World Report has more bad Obamacare–is there any other kind?–news: The nation’s top hospitals may not accept many Obamacare policies.From the story:

Americans who sign up for Obamacare will be getting a big surprise if they expect to access premium health care that may have been previously covered under their personal policies. Most of the top hospitals will accept insurance from just one or two companies operating under Obamacare.

Will President Obama call these institutions “bad apples” as he has insurance companies that followed the “law of the land”–aka, his “signature achievement”–and canceled millions of policies that people liked? Good grief.

Via: NRO

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Dems resume ‘nuclear option’ threats to bypass GOP, confirm Obama nominees

WASHINGTON — Some Senate Democrats resumed calls for the so-called “nuclear option” Thursday after Senate Republicans blocked two presidential nominees.

Republicans have blocked the nomination of Democratic Rep. Mel Watt to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the nomination of Patricia Millett to the U.S. Appeals Court for the Washington, D.C. Circuit by voting against cloture, effectively filibustering the nominations.

If invoked, the nuclear option would allow Democrats to push through presidential nominations without any support from Senate Republicans.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell struck a deal in January to avert the nuclear option. In July, the two again negotiated on a “new normal,” in Reid’s words, to streamline the process for confirming presidential nominees. The deal, Reid said at the time, was that “Qualified executive nominees must not be blocked on a procedural supermajority vote.” An exception was made for “extraordinary circumstances.”

But after the Watt and Millett votes, the nuclear option is back on the table, some Democrats have declared.

Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, the president pro tempore of the Senate, threatened such a change after the Watt vote, as the body prepared to vote on Millett’s nomination.

“No argument has been lodged against her [Millett] that drives to the level of an extraordinary circumstance,” Leahy said in a floor speech. ”If the Republican caucus finds … that somehow a filibuster is warranted, I believe this body will have to consider whether a rules change should be in order. If Republican senators are going to hold nominations hostage without consideration of individual merit, we will have drastic measures.”

“I just think we should bite the bullet and change the rules at this point,” Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy told reporters after the votes. “Sen. Reid has been very clear about his priority to end this gridlock on nominations, and I will continue to follow his lead, but I’m going to advocate for us to actually pull the trigger this time.”

Via: Daily Caller

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Obamacare FY14 Budget: ‘To Ensure Integrity of Programs That Redistribute Tens of Billions’

(CNSNews.com) - The fiscal 2014 budget justification released by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner explains that CMS is requesting that Congress appropriate $803.5 million for operations and management of the Obamacare exchanges during the fiscal year so that, among other things, CMS can “ensure the integrity of programs that redistribute tens of billions of dollars.”

Overall, CMS wants $2 billion to run what it calls the “Federal Marketplace” for health insurance. “CMS’ program level request for the Marketplaces totals $2.0 billion in FY 2014, to support the first year of program operations,” says the budget justification. The agency estimates $1.5 billion of that will come from “discretionary Program Management resources” and $450 million from “anticipated user fee collections.”

The “Operations and Management of Marketplaces’ subsection of the justification says that CMS intends to spend $803.5 million in this area. That includes money that will be spent on “data mining techniques” to make sure the right people are benefiting from the new system of health-insurance subsidies set up by the Affordable Care Act.

Via: CNS News

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ISSA SUBPOENAS SEBELIUS FOR HEALTHCARE.GOV DOCS

On Thursday, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, subpoenaed Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for documents related HealthCare.gov, the Obamacare exchange website that has had numerous malfunctions. 

The subpoena "requires HHS to produce documents related to technical problems with HealthCare.gov, the testing that went into the website and the number of people who have enrolled and attempted to enroll in federal exchanges through HealthCare.gov by 12:00 p.m. on November 13, 2013."

Issa's announcement comes a day after Sebelius testified before Congress, took full responsibility for HealthCare.gov's failures, and said the launch of the website was a "debacle." 

Issa said Americans deserve "to know why the Administration spent significant taxpayer money on a product that is entirely dysfunctional and puts their personal information at risk" and mentioned that website, "is just the beginning of the problems with the health care law."

"ObamaCare is the president’s signature legislative achievement, and it’s given us skyrocketing out-of-pocket costs, fewer choices, and the cancellation of millions of people’s current health insurance coverage, directly contradicting the president’s promise that if you like your existing health insurance, you can keep it,” Issa said in a statement.  

The document request was originally made on October 10, but HHS refused to provide lawmakers with the requested papers. 

“The Administration’s failure to provide answers about what led to the disastrous launch of HealthCare.gov and what is being done to fix it is completely unacceptable,” Issa said. “The evidence is mounting that the website did not go through proper testing, including critical security testing, and that the Administration ignored repeated warnings from contractors about ongoing problems."

Via: Breitbart

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[VIDEO] ObamaCare Navigator Hasn’t Signed Up Anyone Because It’s Too Expensive

Home  »  Obamacare  »  ObamaCare Navigator Hasn’t Signed Up Anyone Because It’s Too Expensive

Oct 31, 2013 0 Comments Jack Flash

Via: Pat Dollard

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[VIDEO] Ed Schultz: ‘Fact’ that Conservatives Control 90 Percent of Media

Ed Schultz claimed that conservative ownership over nearly every media entity is part of the reason why the recent coverage on Obamacare has been unfavorable. “Fact of the matter is 90 percent of the electronic media which is owned in this country is owned by conservatives,” the MSNBC host claimed on his show on Wednesday evening.

While Schultz conceded that conservative media such as talk radio have been effective in their messaging, he blamed it for “putting people in a very entrenched way of thinking.” Without the Fairness Doctrine, he whined, the Left doesn’t have an opportunity to broadcast their views, which could ultimately cripple causes such as Obamacare.

Schultz’s so-called fact is presumably based on this graphic that highlights media consolidation, with six companies, including Viacom and Time Warner, owning about 90 percent of the media landscape. Yet, in no way does it indicate that they’re controlled by a vast conservative conspiracy, as Schultz claims.

In fact, if there was a conspiracy, then they’re not doing a very good job at it.According to a September Gallup poll, about half of Americans see the media as being “too liberal,” compared with 13 percent who see it as “too conservative.” Even among Democrats, roughly the same percentage find the media to be “too conservative” as they do “too liberal,” 21 percent and 19 percent respectively.

Ed “Let’s get to work” Schultz could have done a bit more work looking at the information on the subject rather than just making baseless claims. Then again, he wouldn’t have much of a show if he did.

Via: NRO

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[CARTOON] Trick or Treat

Via: California Political Review

Vets group halts donations after official refuses to stand for Pledge

A north suburban parks official says he's standing up for the U.S. Constitution by sitting down during the Pledge of Allegiance.

But Morton Grove Park District Commissioner Dan Ashta's symbolic actions have spurred an ideological tug of war with a local veterans group, which recently halted cash donations to the Park District until its entire board stands for the pledge at park board meetings.

"Every veteran has taken an oath to support and defend the Constitution, and has been willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice for all of the freedoms we enjoy as Americans," said Joseph Lampert, 47, commander of American Legion Post 134. "Nowhere did we say that he has to recite the pledge or put his hand over his heart. We would just like to see him stand out of respect."

Ashta, an attorney who focuses on constitutional law, said he, too, is defending the Constitution with his refusal to stand during the pledge.

"We have an item on the agenda that says 'Pledge of Allegiance,'" Ashta said. "The only choice you have is to utter a statement. … You don't have a choice to remain silent."

Standing, but not saying the pledge, is still an act of speech, Ashta said. And by having the pledge on the agenda, the park board is potentially infringing upon the freedom of speech guaranteed by the Constitution, he asserted.

After discussing the issue for several months, Post 134 members agreed to withdraw all financial and volunteer support for park programs "until such time that everybody stands for the pledge," Lampert said.

Via: Chicago Tribune

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Justice and State departments blocking access to survivors of Benghazi attack

The Justice and State departments are now citing a year-old FBI investigation and a future criminal prosecution to block access to survivors of last year’s Benghazi terror attack.

In an Oct. 28 letter to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.,the State Department’s Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs, Julia Frifield, refers to "significant risks" and "serious concerns about having the survivors of the attack submit to additional interviews."

Graham has been asking since last year for the FBI’s transcripts of interviews with State Department and CIA survivors who were evacuated to Germany after the Sep.11 attack on the U.S. consulate.

He and other Republicans believe the transcripts will show the survivors told the FBI it was a terrorist attack and made no mention of a video or anti-U.S. demonstration at the consulate.

This intelligence was  likely available to the president, his national security team and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, who five days after the assault blamed it on an anti-U.S. demonstration and inflammatory video.

"You can't hide behind a criminal investigation," Graham told reporters during a news conference on Capitol Hill.  "That's not a good reason to deny the Congress witness statements 48 hours after the attack."

Via: Fox News

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