Michelle Obama: ‘My Husband Has Got Swag’

BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff
November 20, 2013 9:06 am

First Lady Michelle Obama was a part of another hard-hitting interview on BET Tuesday night where she talked up her husband and took questions from the audience and world-renowned journalist Bow Wow.

Mrs. Obama told the audience that she believes her husband “has got swag.”  She also said that the President “sings all the time.”

The full exchange is available below:

MRS. OBAMA: Question number two: On a scale of 1 to 10, how awesome was it when the President started singing “Let’s Stay Together” — Al Green? That was pretty awesome. I mean, he’s got a pretty good voice.

KESHIA CHANTE: He does.

MRS. OBAMA: I always say my husband has got swag. He’s got a little swag. (Applause.)

BOW WOW: He definitely does.

MRS. OBAMA: It was really sweet. But he sings all the time. Oh, yes, he’s in the bathroom all the time just singing. He is always willing to sing. He’s like, you want me to sing now, want me to sing something for you? But he has got a good voice. That was very sweet.

Via: WFB

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See the Map: Obamacare Exchanges Have Reduced Insurance Competition Nationally

A recent Heritage analysis found significantly less insurer competition in the Obamacare exchanges relative to the prior individual health insurance market.

Via: The Foundry

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Koch Brothers’ Group Uses Health Care Law to Attack Democrats

WASHINGTON — Americans for Prosperity, the political group backed by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, is targeting three of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats who are up for re-election next year. The group’s efforts are part of a new $3.5 million attack advertising campaign that hammers lawmakers for supporting President Obama’s health care law.

The senators — Mark Begich of Alaska, Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana — are all from conservative-leaning states that voted to elect Mitt Romney in 2012. The ads will start running in those states on Wednesday.

Americans for Prosperity is also targeting three Democratic members of the House who are in danger of losing next year: Ron Barber of Arizona, Joe Garcia of Florida and Patrick Murphy, also of Florida.

With the health care law’s flaws now front and center, Republicans and their allies have been trying to ratchet up the pressure on Democrats, especially where voters are most likely to respond negatively to the Affordable Care Act.

Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity, said that reminding voters about problems with the way the law had been carried out so far was part of a much larger strategy.

“We want to make sure Obamacare is the No. 1 issue they’re thinking about,” he said. “We believe repealing Obamacare is a long-term effort, and a key part of that effort is keeping it in front of the American people night and day.”

The ads are specifically aimed at women because the group’s research has shown that they are not only more undecided than men about the merits of the Affordable Care Act, but that they also tend to make the decisions about their family’s health care.

Women are featured as narrators in the ads.

Via: NYT

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Obama, Obamacare in polling freefall

A new CBS News poll shows President Obama and his health insurance law are in virtual free fall. The president's approval stands at 37% - down a whopping 9 points in just a month.

Obamacare is faring even worse. Approval for the law is down to 31% with Obamacare disapproval at 61% - its highest ever in the CBS poll.

Some other highlights:

More than a month after the health care exchanges opened, just one in 10 Americans think the sign-up for the exchanges has been going well. Instead, more than two-thirds think it's not going well - including seven in 10 of those who have looked up information on the exchanges themselves.

And just a third of Americans are confident that the federal government's healthcare website - HealthCare.gov - will be fixed by the December 1st deadline set by the Obama administration.

Thirty-four percent are at least somewhat confident, while almost two thirds are either not very or not at all confident. Fifty-five percent of Democrats are at least somewhat confident.

Just seven percent of Americans think the Affordable Care Act is working well and should be kept in place as it is. Far more, 48 percent, think there are some good things in the law, but changes are needed to make it work better, and another 43 percent think the law needs to be repealed entirely.

The president's overall job approval rating has declined among many demographic groups since last month, including independents (a 12-point drop), men (down 9 points), and women (a 10-point drop). More women now disapprove than approve of the job Mr. Obama is doing as president.

Via: American Thinker

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CBS POLL: 84% OF DEMOCRATS WANT OBAMACARE CHANGED OR REPEALED

A fascinating number in Wednesday's CBS poll is that only 7% of the American public want ObamaCare "kept in place." A full 93% either believe that changes are needed to the law (48%) or want a full repeal (43%).  This pits President Obama and Democrat lawmakers -- who thus far have refused to make any meaningful changes -- against 93% of the American people and 72% of Democrats.

Moreover, only 12% of Democrats want ObamaCare "kept as is." Another 12% want it repealed.

If only 12% of Democrats want nothing changed with ObamaCare, there is no question that Democrat lawmakers and the president are defying their own base with this ongoing refusal to make any real changes to the law. Furthermore, they are blocking proposed changes, including changes proposed by fellow Democrats.  

The growing narrative from the media and ObamaCare champions is that Democrats need to "stay the course." Analyzing the Democrats' political options, ABC's Rick Klein writes today:

Lost in the Democratic angst over Obamacare is a simple fact of 2014 politics: They don’t really have any choice but to own it. … No quantity of votes on “fixes” now will matter in the broad messaging wars later; no lawmaker, and virtually no Democratic challenger, will be able to seal him or herself off from potential political damage.

Klein is not alone with this advice. But how exactly is that a smart play when 84% of Democrats disagree?

Via: Breitbart

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The Persecution of Wisconsin Conservatives

Conservative political entities who supported Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker are beingsubjected to a secret investigation. Special Prosecutor Francis Schmitz has issued a series of subpoenas to 29 conservative groups, demanding that they submit all documentation related to the recall campaigns mounted by unions and their supporters against Walker in 2011 and 2012. The investigation is being conducted under the auspices of the state’s John Doe law, which forbids the targets of subpoenas from revealing the contents of those subpoenas to anyone other than theirlawyers.

The effort reeks of political intimidation. According to the Wall Street Journal, the two subpoenas they’ve reviewed demand “all memoranda, email . . . correspondence, and communications” within the targets of the subpoenas themselves, and between those targets and conservative groups such as the Friends of Scott Walker and the Republican Party of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Manufacturers &Commerce, Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin, American Crossroads, the Republican Governors Association, and the League of American Voters.

In a transparent effort to determine an entity’s list of campaign donors, one subpoena demands “all records of income received, including fundraising information and the identity of persons contributing to the corporation.”

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm John Doe probe

The investigation originated in the office of Milwaukee County Assistant DistrictAttorney Bruce Landgraf. Landgraf works for Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, a Democrat. This latest John Doe investigation is the second one being conducted against Walker in only three-and-a-half years, and it was initiated just days before Democrat Mary Burke, a member of the Madison School Board, announced her intention to run for governor.

Via: Canada Free Press

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Exclusive: US May Have Let 'Dozens' of Terrorists Into Country As Refugees

Several dozen suspected terrorist bombmakers, including some believed to have targeted American troops, may have mistakenly been allowed to move to the United States as war refugees, according to FBI agents investigating the remnants of roadside bombs recovered from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The discovery in 2009 of two al Qaeda-Iraq terrorists living as refugees in Bowling Green, Kentucky -- who later admitted in court that they'd attacked U.S. soldiers in Iraq -- prompted the bureau to assign hundreds of specialists to an around-the-clock effort aimed at checking its archive of 100,000 improvised explosive devices collected in the war zones, known as IEDs, for other suspected terrorists' fingerprints.

"We are currently supporting dozens of current counter-terrorism investigations like that," FBI Agent Gregory Carl, director of the Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center (TEDAC), said in an ABC News interview to be broadcast tonight on ABC News' "World News with Diane Sawyer" and "Nightline".

"I wouldn't be surprised if there were many more than that," said House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul. "And these are trained terrorists in the art of bombmaking that are inside the United States; and quite frankly, from a homeland security perspective, that really concerns me."

As a result of the Kentucky case, the State Department stopped processing Iraq refugees for six months in 2011, federal officials told ABC News – even for many who had heroically helped U.S. forces as interpreters and intelligence assets. One Iraqi who had aided American troops was assassinated before his refugee application could be processed, because of the immigration delays, two U.S. officials said. In 2011, fewer than 10,000 Iraqis were resettled as refugees in the U.S., half the number from the year before, State Department statistics show.

Via: ABC News

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Washington city employee pension invests in Iran

The District of Columbia’s Retirement Board is invested in Iran through the state-owned, Putin-controlled Russian oil and natural gas company Gazprom, according to both local media reports and Gazprom itself.

The board, which is an independent agency responsible for managing the district’s $4.5 billion pension fund, has to comply with the “Prohibition of the Investment of Public Funds in Certain Companies Doing Business with the Government of Iran and Sudan Divestment Conformity Act of 2008.”

“It does not appear that the company [Gazprom] has material oil and gas operations in Iran and did not reveal any plans for new business activities,” wrote Joseph Bress, the DCRB’s chairman, wrote in a February 28, 2013 letter [pdf] to the board. “Therefore, it is being maintained in the portfolio for close monitoring.”

Apparently, that monitoring wasn’t close enough. Press reports before that letter and since show clearly that Gazprom is investing in Iran.

A February 15, 2013 article mentions business negotiations with Iran.  “In 2008, Gazpromneft and the National Iranian Oil company signed a memorandum on the development of the Azar and Shangule fields located in the Anaran Exploration Block,” wrote Russia Beyond the Headlines. Though Gazprom said it was leaving Iran in 2011, there’s little evidence that it actually left.

Earlier this month Iranian oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said that Iran had begun gas negotiations with Gazprom on state-run television, according to Caspianbarrel.org.

A November 6, 2013 press release from Gazprom applauded when Iranian Seyed Mohammad Hossein Adeli was named Secretary General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF). Along with Russia and Iran, the GECF is a who’s who of dictatorships and third world gas exporting countries—Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.

Gazprom’s website mentions investments from “American Public Entities,” but is unclear as to which ones were still invested.

Via: Daily Caller

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OBAMACARE WEB OFFICIAL: 60 TO 70 PERCENT OF WEBSITE STILL UNBUILT

Rep. Cory Gardner (R-CO) asked Henry Chao, Deputy Chief Information Officer and Deputy Director of the Office of Information Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, about the status of the Healthcare.gov website. Chao revealed that 60 to 70 percent of the Obamacare exchanges website still had to be built. “We’re sitting somewhere between 60 and 70 percent,” Chao said.

“Let me get this correct,” Gardner asked incredulously, “60 to 70 percent of healthcare.gov still needs to be built?” Chao answered, “Healthcare.gov, the online application, verification, determination, plan compare, getting enrolled…that’s 100 percent there.” But he admitted, “There is the back office systems, the accounting systems, the payment systems, they still need to be built.”

Later, Chao claimed that there was 30 to 40 percent remaining to be tested.

Gardner asked how those systems would be tested. “In the same exact manner we tested everything else,” Chao answered. He stated that testing would be “ongoing” based on bill schedule.

Via: Breitbart

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[CARTOON] A Democratic Thanksgiving

Via: California Political Review

Nov. 30 Deadline Not a ‘Magic’ Date: Sebelius Says ObamaCare Site Will Remain a ‘Work in Progress’

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Tuesday that the ObamaCare website will still be a work in progress beyond the end of the month, apparently lowering the bar on a key deadline to fix the problem-plagued website.

"The 30th of November is not a magic go, no go date. It is a work of constant improvement. We have some very specific things we know we need to complete by the 30th and that punch list is getting knocked out every week," Sebelius told The Associated Press.

Sebelius' comments came as Henry Chao, deputy chief information officer at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, testified at a House subcommittee on Energy and Commerce hearing that the site will be “greatly improved” by the end of the month -- not fixed.

Chao said Tuesday that up to 40 percent of the technical systems supporting the federal health insurance marketplaces have not yet been built, including a system to issue payments to insurance companies, The Washington Post reported. 

The Obama administration has staked its credibility on turning HealthCare.gov around by Nov. 30. Administration officials, including the president, have said the website will be running smoothly for the "vast majority of users" by the month's end.

At an Oct. 30 congressional hearing, Sebelius projected "an optimally functioning website" by the end of November. On Nov. 5, Marilyn Tavenner, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, testified that the site would be "fully functioning" by that date.

Via: Fox News

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North Texas Drivers Stopped at Roadblock Asked for Saliva, Blood

Some drivers along a busy Fort Worth street on Friday were stopped at a police roadblock and directed into a parking lot, where they were asked by federal contractors for samples of their breath, saliva and even blood.

It was part of a government research study aimed at determining the number of drunken or drug-impaired drivers.

"It just doesn't seem right that you can be forced off the road when you're not doing anything wrong," said Kim Cope, who said she was on her lunch break when she was forced to pull over at the roadblock on Beach Street in North Fort Worth.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is spending $7.9 million on the survey over three years, said participation was "100 percent voluntary" and anonymous.

But Cope said it didn't feel voluntary to her -- despite signs saying it was.

"I gestured to the guy in front that I just wanted to go straight, but he wouldn't let me and forced me into a parking spot," she said.

Once parked, she couldn't believe what she was asked next.

"They were asking for cheek swabs," she said. "They would give $10 for that. Also, if you let them take your blood, they would pay you $50 for that."

At the very least, she said, they wanted to test her breath for alcohol.

Via: NBCDFW

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Obama: GOP 'invested' in health law failing

President Obama on Tuesday laid part of the blame for Obamacare's problem-riddled rollout on Republicans, saying that “one side of Capitol Hill was invested in failure.”

Recalling how he and his supporters had to “fight tooth and nail” to get the law passed by a slim margin in Congress, Obama said his administration should have anticipated that dynamic would create a “rockier rollout – that one side of Capitol Hill is invested in failure and that makes the iterative process of fixing glitches and fine-tuning the law” difficult.

Obama was speaking to an audience at the Wall Street Journal's annual CEO Council, and responding to a question about the lessons he and his team have learned over the last several weeks from the botched rollout of the Obamacare website.

“We probably underestimated the complexities of building out a website that needed to work the way it should,” he said.

Obama also singled out the federal government’s information procurement process.

“I probably could have identified earlier the way the federal government does procurement and does IT is just generally not very efficient,” said Obama.

“What we probably needed to do on the front-end is blow up the way we do procurement for IT,” he said.

The troubled rollout of the healthcare.gov website intended to register consumers in Obamacare's new insurance exchanges and the president's broken promise that the public could keep their current health plans even under the new law threaten to undermine support for the law.

But Obama tried to assure business leaders at the event that the website issues would get fixed. The president aid he is dedicated to getting the website up and running for the vast majority of the American people trying to enroll through it..

Via: Washington Examiner

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