ABC’s 20/20 Exposes Rampant Disability Fraud

In a surprising segment, ABC’s 20/20 highlighted several cases of freeloading by people looking to fraudulently claim disability. While the program did not get to the heart of the matter – just how easy it is to claim disability and the skyrocketing cost of the program – noting a major flaw in an expensive government program is rare for a liberal network like ABC.  

The show mentioned people faking or exaggerating toe injuries, ankle injuries, PTSD, and supposed injuries on the job. Through an interview with Byron Tucker of the California Department of Insurance, ABC showed the cost of widespread fraud. Tucker argued that “when people submit fraudulent worker comp[ensation] claims and they get paid for it, well, that causes premiums to rise. John and Jill Public pay those prices.” Disability fraud deserves more attention from the media given the cost of the program; the federal government spends more on disability than it does on food stamps and welfare combined. Credit ABC for reporting on this little-discussed issue.

The transcript below details several more examples of disability fraud. 

ABC
20/20
May 22, 2015
10:00 p.m. Eastern

ELIZABETH VARGAS, ABC News: Good evening. David is off tonight, but 20/20 is on the case, asking the question, who's free loading? People are getting disability from injuries they say keep them from working. Well, on this Memorial Day weekend, a lot of you will be taking it easy and so will they, but with your money. Tonight, they're caught in the act, on tape. Here's Cecilia Vega.

BEAUTY PAGEANT ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, these are your Grand Prix finalists.

CECILIA VEGA, ABC News: Beauty contestant Shawna Palmer appears poised to take home the crown with her bikini-ready body, winning smile and legs that go for miles. Last April, Palmer strutted her stuff on stage in Long Beach, California, hoping to become the next Miss Toyota Grand Prix.

BEAUTY PAGEANT ANNOUNCER: Say hi to Shawna.

VEGA: But put on the brakes. Can you spot the major foot injury that supposedly kept this contestant from being able to do her day job? Palmer claimed she hurt her left big toe working as a supermarket clerk. She said the painful injury left her with, quote, "an inability to bear weight" on her foot. But shortly after going to the doctor, prosecutors say she apparently had no problem working it in a pair of pumps, no less.

BEAUTY PAGEANT ANNOUNCER: And she loves dirt bikes.

VEGA: Insurance investigators arrested Palmer on charges of illegally collecting workers' compensation benefits totaling over $24,000.

VIRGINIA BLUMENTHAL: She did not lie, whatsoever, regarding her foot injury.

VEGA: She pleaded not guilty to three felony counts of fraud.

SHAWNA PALMER: Yes, your honor.

VEGA: You might think suspected offenders of false claims would want to avoid the spotlight, but meet Leroy Barnes, a professional dancer who claimed total disability after getting hurt on a gig. Yet, investigators say he's right here, shaking his tail as one of those dancing hamsters in the Kia car commercials. Barnes stands accused of fraudulently collecting over 50 grand in disability. For now, this hamster's out of his cage. He pleaded not guilty and is free on bail. Then, there's the curious case of Dan Slewoski, a Chicago-area man who said he was unable to perform his job at the Department of Public Works due to a nerve condition.

FIGHT ANNOUNCER: Are you ready?

VEGA: But city investigators say he had the nerve to perform in an extreme wrestling tournament, doing his best Hulk Hogan, climbing the ropes and fake-pummeling some poor sap, all while on government-paid medical leave. Slewoski might look menacing in that ring, but he hid behind his door while answering questions from ABC's I-team in Chicago.

Via: Newsbusters

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Commander in Chief's Job is National Defense, Not Climate Change

A front-page headline in the Wall Street Journal screams out: "Islamic State's Gains Reveal New Prowess on the Battlefield."

The article discusses how the Islamic State recently captured Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province in Iraq. The Islamic State victory, according to the report, involved the execution of a complex battle plan "that outwitted a greater force of Iraqi troops as well as the much lauded U.S.-trained special-operations force known as the Golden Division."

Flipping to the editorial page, an opinion piece discusses the increasing dominance of Russia, Iran and China in their parts of the world "as the U.S. retreats."

But what is keeping America's commander in chief up at night?

President Obama spent most of his recent address to the graduating class of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy talking about climate change.

According to our president, climate change "constitutes a serious threat to global security, an immediate risk to our national security."

The president continued to say that the science regarding climate change is "indisputable."

In 2013, the president tweeted, "Ninety-seven percent of scientists agree: climate change is real, manmade and dangerous."

But this is false.

Ross McKitrick, an economist at the University of Guelph and a senior fellow at Canada's Fraser Institute, and others have pointed out the dubious methodology used to arrive at the claim that 97 percent of scientists agree on climate change science. It's not even close to being accurate.

Via: Townhall

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COULTER: CURRENT IMMIGRATION POLICY ALL ABOUT IMPORTING DEM VOTERS

Columnist and author of “Adios, America” Ann Coulter argued current immigration policy is “100%” about trying to change the US ” into a direction that is more favorably disposed to vote for the Democrats” on Wednesday’s “Hannity” on the Fox News Channel.

Coulter began by praising Fusion anchor Jorge Ramos for debating her on his show and doing a “fantastic job” with the interview, something that she said no one else will do.

Coulter added, “One big part of this, is that this is the one debate cannot hear in America. You can hear both sides of the abortion debate, both sides of global warming, both sides of the Iraq War. You cannot hear both sides of the immigration debate, and I am just asking for a debate.”

She continued that her book was about exposing, “not only the media cover-up which is massive, but the government cover-up. Not giving us basic information about the people they are bringing into this country in order to change it into a direction that is more favorably disposed to vote for the Democrats.”

Coulter also stated that she thinks current immigration policy is “100%” about importing voters and said of Republicans who oppose closing the border, “They are looking at their short-term interests, they will win elections for the next five years and then it will be nothing but a Democratic country.

Via: Breitbart

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Clinton Foundation paid Blumenthal $10K per month while he advised on Libya

Some officials at the charity grumbled that his hiring was a favor from the Clintons.

Sidney Blumenthal, a longtime confidant of Bill and Hillary Clinton, earned about $10,000 a month as a full-time employee of the Clinton Foundation while he was providing unsolicited intelligence on Libya to then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to multiple sources familiar with the arrangement.

Blumenthal was added to the payroll of the Clintons’ global philanthropy in 2009 — not long after advising Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign — at the behest of former president Bill Clinton, for whom he had worked in the White House, say the sources.

While Blumenthal’s foundation job focused on highlighting the legacy of Clinton’s presidency, some officials at the charity questioned his value and grumbled that his hiring was a favor from the Clintons, according to people familiar with the foundation. They say that, during a 2013 reform push, Blumenthal was moved to a consulting contract that came with a similar pay rate but without benefits — an arrangement that endured until March.

A Clinton loyalist who first earned the family’s trust as an aggressive combatant in the political battles of the 1990s, Blumenthal continues to work as a paid consultant to two groups supporting Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign — American Bridge and Media Matters — both of which are run by David Brock, a close ally of both Clinton and Blumenthal.

Yet Blumenthal’s financial and personal connections to the Clintons and their allies have emerged as subjects of intense scrutiny as Clinton seeks to gain momentum for her presidential campaign.

Via: Politico

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ALSO ON POLITICO

Hillary Clinton struggles to escape South Carolina scars

GLENN THRUSH

Yet Blumenthal’s financial and personal connections to the Clintons and their allies have emerged as subjects of intense scrutiny as Clinton seeks to gain momentum for her presidential campaign.

[VIDEO] Baltimore Mayor Lashes Out At Fox News Reporter Asking About Violence, WH Answer More Gun Control!

If anyone could shoot the stink eye, that’s Stephanie Rawlings-Blake trying to roast Fox’s Leland Vittert. Then Josh Earnest tries to argue for more gun control to address criminals shooting people. Because criminals are known for paying attention to laws. Maryland already has some of the strictest gun control laws in the country. But never let a crisis go to waste…

Via: Weasel Zippers

Examining Trans Pacific Partnership

The TPP agreement is not designed to grow trade because instead it is constructed in a manner designed to carry on, and double-down, on the destructive policies already in place because of the Obama administration

On Constitution Radio with Douglas V. Gibbs on May 23, 2015, over KMET 1490AM, the topic of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement moseyed its way into the arena of discussion.  During the conversation a rare instance in the many year history of the radio program, and on the Political Pistachio blogsite for that matter, emerged where JASmius (my longtime co-host, staff writer, and dear friend) and I disagreed.

While I indicated I felt that the deal is potentially a dangerous one, and I am against Republican support of the Obama supported trade agreement, JASmius stated he supported the spread of capitalism, and that is what the TPP agreement accomplishes.  I responded that I support free trade, but not when it puts the United States, and more specifically “American sovereignty,” at a disadvantage.  I added thatthe secretive nature of this agreement threw up red flags for me as well.

In an examination of what little information is available regarding this “behind-closed-doors” consensus of international political elites, the potentiality of the TPP free trade treaty being a disadvantage for American interests is alarming.  The agreement will facilitate the creation of global economic integration that will empower globalistic schemes, and place American interests at risk.  At first blush, the agreement caters to those that wish to annihilate national sovereignty, hindering America’s position on the global economic stage while redistributing the wealth of nations to other countries that may not be so far up on the world-stage ladder, while positioning global economics into a position to better enable internationalists to ultimately push aside domestic individuality while moving the planet closer to a one world model that can be more easily controlled by a worldwide centralized governing authority.

While on the surface, the Trans Pacific Partnership claims to be about free trade, it has little to do with trade, and is more about moving chess pieces around for those that have global aspirations.  The United States, in this agreement, joins 12 countries that includes Canada and Mexico, two countries we already have three-quarters of our foreign trade with - and of which is already covered by NAFTA (which has also been proving to be disastrous due to the agreement having similar globalistic provisions that places the United States at a disadvantage).  Growth exports are already covered by NAFTA, so while the TPP agreement is being heralded as a trade agreement, it actually has no significant relevance to our trade relations, or at least not in a manner that improves our position in relation from NAFTA.

Via: Canada Free Press

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[EDITORIAL] IRS shows we're all at the mercy of feds' incompetence

As the financial crisis wreaked havoc on America's economy in October 2008, billionaire investor Warren Buffett made a wise observation about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — the two institutions at the center of the crash — and the regulatory agency that oversaw them at that time.

"It's really an incredible case study in regulation," Buffett said. "[T]he sole job of OFHEO was to watch over Fannie and Freddie. ... Two companies were all they had to regulate. OFHEO has over 200 employees now. They have a budget now that's $65 million a year, and all they have to do is look at two companies."

Of course, the catastrophic failure of the two tightly-regulated, government-sponsored enterprises is now the stuff of financial legend. Buffett's point stands as a nice antidote to the myth that tight government control can prevent most anything from going wrong. And as Fannie and Freddie were government enterprises, it also shows how government not only fails to prevent catastrophe, but often creates it or makes it possible.

On Tuesday, the Internal Revenue Service announced that about 100,000 taxpayers had had their personal data stolen from one of the agency's systems. As the Washington Examiner's Sarah Westwood reportedWednesday, this theft comes after years of warnings from the Treasury Department's inspector general about identity theft, which already costs the agency more than $5 billion each year, and which the agency remains incapable of preventing. No one expects the Internal Revenue Service — the supposedly wise guardian of millions of Americans' most private financial data — to be a leaky sieve for identity thieves to exploit. But it is.

Historically, fraudsters have exploited the tax-filing process by claiming the tax refunds of others. The IRS, ever quick to pounce taxpayers for innocent errors, is notoriously slow in dealing with such situations once they have been identified — according to the Government Accountability Office, it can take up to nine months in resolving them. And as the inspector general noted in 2012, the agency has no idea how many identity thieves exploit their processes to make bank.

Via: Washington Examiner

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The Costs of a $15 Minimum Wage

In the 1970s, when oil prices jumped, most liberals embraced a simple solution: price controls. It should be illegal, they thought, to sell oil or gasoline for more than a certain amount. Americans should be able to drive without being fleeced by oil companies and foreign governments.

The impulse was understandable. Gasoline is an essential commodity for most people. When the cost rises, it imposes a heavy burden on consumers, most of whom have few transportation options.

In 1971, in an attempt to tame inflation, Republican President Richard Nixon imposed controls on almost all prices. By 1974, he had lifted most of them. But those on gas remained. Under Democratic President Jimmy Carter, they led to widespread shortages and long lines at service stations -- and didn't keep prices from rising. But the controls lasted until his successor, Ronald Reagan, lifted them in 1981.

Liberals learned an unforgettable lesson: Price controls on gasoline don't work. In recent decades, when gas prices have soared, Democrats have shown no desire to repeat the lesson.

But they embrace a similar approach for another problem: low pay for many workers. Chicago decided last year to boost the minimum wage to $13 an hour by the middle of 2019. Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles have gone even higher, raising the floor to $15 an hour in the next few years, and other cities may follow suit. It's a price control on labor.

Their intentions are good. Full-time employment at the current federal minimum of $7.25 an hour provides an income of just $14,500 a year. For an adult supporting one child, that's well below the poverty line of $15,930.

The problem is that a higher legal minimum wage is at odds with the prevailing supply of and demand for labor. If you set the minimum too high, you will get a shortage of jobs. Forbidding employers from paying $9 or $12 an hour means that many of their workers won't get $13 or $15 an hour. They will get zero per hour, because those jobs will disappear.

Via: Real Clear Politics

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We’re Paying More Than Ever for Government to Regulate Us

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., claims Americans are suffering from Stockholm syndrome, a condition in which hostages begin to have misplaced positive feelings toward their captors. The captors in this case are the federal regulators who impose some 2,400 new regulations each year, and the senator suggests Americans are not sufficiently wary of their resulting ill effects.

According to a recent report by economists Susan Dudley and Melinda Warren, the cost to taxpayers of writing and enforcing all this red tape is expected to top $62 billion in 2015, about 4.3 percent above 2014 levels. On top of this, the president has asked for a further increase of 5.3 percent for regulatory agencies in 2016. Since 2000, the budgets for these agencies have increased more than 75 percent. This is in addition to the broader economic costs of red tape.

The joint report finds total staff levels within regulatory agencies has increased almost every year since 2001 and now tops 280,000.

“Regulators Budget,” published by the George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center and the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis, has tracked the total staffing and spending of federal regulatory agencies since 1977. The growth in spending on regulatory agencies is consistent with the growing level of new major regulations reported by The Heritage Foundationand the Government Accountability Office.

As the graph below demonstrates, as annual regulatory outlays grew between 2001 and 2014, the number of new major rules—those expected to cost $100 million or more—also tended to increase. Other guides for tracking regulation—the number of pages in the Federal Register and agency estimates of the cost of regulations—also have grown along with the regulatory outlays and the number of new major regulations during the past two administrations.

All signs point to more expensive regulations in the future, with more rules to be written. Growth is generally a goal of companies in the private sector, but federal regulators also aim to grow their power and influence over the private sector. Unlike growth in private-sector companies, which leads to the development of innovative products or services and the creation of new jobs, the growth of regulatory agencies often leads only to more red tape.

Via: The Daily Signal

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Destroy Capitalism, Save the Climate?

In a recent article by prominent academics, "Climate models and precautionary measures," it is contended that the climate debate is about the accuracy or otherwise of climate models.  Those who believe in climate models argue for specific – but unspecified – policy.  Those who hold models to be inaccurate believe that there is no proof of harm sufficient to warrant action.

The chain of reasoning breaks at the very first link.  Models are known without a doubt to be inaccurate.  It is called "irreducible imprecision" and has been known about since Edward Lorenz plied his convection models in the 1960s.  Models can have slightly different starting points as a result of uncertainty in inputs.  Many solutions are thus possible, for a single model, that diverge exponentially over the calculation period.

Irreducible imprecision is shown in the diagram below.  It is from a paper by Julia Slingo, head of the British Met Office, and Tim Palmer, head of the European Centre for Mid-Range Weather Forecasting.            

Via: American Thinker

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COVERED CALIFORNIA MAY MERGE WITH BANKRUPT STATE OBAMACARE EXCHANGES

With major insurers in some states proposing up to 51 percent Obamacare insurance premium increases, liberal Democrats are scrambling to avoid a political and financial disaster. One proposal is to merge California’s financially troubled “Covered California” exchange with the even more insolvent state exchanges, like “Cover Oregon,” which was forced to shut down last year.

Obamacare provided $4.8 billion in federal funding for 13 states to set up their own independent healthcare exchanges. But after just 17 months of operations, spending has frittered away that money and most exchanges are experiencing serious cash-flow problems. The Covered California exchange is already running an $80 million deficit as of April, and the Cover Oregon was shut down in April 2014 and opted to transition to the federal system after blowing through $248 million in federal cash.

Governor Jerry Brown has an opportunity to demonstrate his national stature by offering to lead the merger of the California and Oregon exchanges. Conceivably, he could then propose rolling-up other financially struggling exchanges, like New York and Connecticut exchanges, which are just beginning preliminary joint-venture talks.

Oregon tried to publicly berate Oracle Corporation, the lead website developer for “Cover Oregon,” for the failure of the state exchange due to technology problems allegedly outside of bureaucrats’ control.

But in a lawsuit filed against “Cover Oregon,” Oracle claimed they are still owed $23 million under their contract. According to the Los Angeles Times, the lawsuit noted that hundreds of thousands of Oregonians were enrolled in health insurance by back-office customer service representatives and health insurance agents using the software built by Oracle and a dozen other contractors. But state officials never terminated the temporary administrative workers and switched over so consumers could enroll on their own online.

Via: Breitbart

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Limbaugh: American Left Has Made Christianity Its No. 1 Enemy

Rush Limbaugh said on his radio show on Wednesday that the American Left has made Christianity its "number one enemy." Limbaugh made the observation and explained it after playing an interview of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) by David Brody of CBN. In that interview Rubio suggested that mainstream Christian teaching was under assault from the left.

“You think Rubio's got a point there?" asked Rush. "You better not sweep this one away. You better not think this one was a little over the top. He is right on the money. This is exact. In fact, I would even go further. I think mainstream Christianity is the target, and has been for I can’t tell you how long. And before I was born, it's been, Christianity has been the biggest enemy of the American left, or any left – organized religion in general – but Christianity is the number one enemy of these people.”

“You notice, they’ve made friends with militant Islam,” Rush went on. “The left will not stand for any criticism of Islam, right? You start drawing cartoons of the prophet, they’re the first to jump on your case, right? Democrats and the left, they're out condemning any criticism of Islam."

“They’ve sided up, why?” asks Rush. “Well, Islam has an enemy. In their mind, their enemy is Christianity. So there’s a commonality there. And I don’t care. Folks, maybe this is just another one of those things you’re just not supposed to say, but I’m sorry. It’s undeniable.”

“Okay. Okay. Tell me I’m wrong,” urges Rush, “when I say that the left has formed an accord with Islam. Tell me I’m wrong.”

"Militant Islam says you can't draw pictures of the prophet," says Rush. "Democrat Party, you can't draw pictures of the prophet. You can't criticize Islam. And they go out of their way not to. We can't call them terrorists. You know the drill."

“Christianity it’s open season,” says Rush. “You can say anything. You can do anything. You can mock anything. And Christians are just supposed to take it. And the reason we’re just supposed to take it is we’re the majority. The majority just has to understand, minorities feel offended. They’re going to always be hit on, ripped apart and so forth. You just have to take it. It’s part of being a majority. And that is a relevant factor. I mean, majorities are hated by the people in the minority.”

“The problem for us is,” states Rush, “that the minorities we’re talking about here, most of them are really tiny, and yet they’re winning. They’re bullying their way around. It’s incredible. And Marco Rubio, here, is right on the money.”

Via: CNS News

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[VIDEO] US military pilots complain hands tied in ‘frustrating’ fight against ISIS

U.S. military pilots carrying out the air war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria are voicing growing discontent over what they say are heavy-handed rules of engagement hindering them from striking targets.

They blame a bureaucracy that does not allow for quick decision-making. One Navy F-18 pilot who has flown missions against ISIS voiced his frustration to Fox News, saying: "There were times I had groups of ISIS fighters in my sights, but couldn't get clearance to engage.”

He added, “They probably killed innocent people and spread evil because of my inability to kill them. It was frustrating."

Sources close to the air war against ISIS told Fox News that strike missions take, on average, just under an hour, from a pilot requesting permission to strike an ISIS target to a weapon leaving the wing.

A spokesman for the U.S. Air Force’s Central Command pushed back: “We refute the idea that close air support strikes take 'an hour on average'. Depending on the how complex the target environment is, a strike could take place in less than 10 minutes or it could take much longer.

"As our leaders have said, this is a long-term fight, and we will not alienate civilians, the Iraqi government or our coalition partners by striking targets indiscriminately."

Via: Fox News

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[CARTOON] Thank You

Via: California Political Review

Obama Whines About Global Warming On Twitter While Flying On Air Force One To Attend DNC Fundraisers In Miami…

Obama departs aboard carbon-spewing Air Force One:

While en route “Barack Obama” warns about dangers climate change:

Via: Weasel Zippers

Baltimore Residents Fearful Amid Rash Of Homicides

BALTIMORE (AP) — Antoinette Perrine has barricaded her front door since her brother was killed three weeks ago on a basketball court near her home in the Harlem Park neighborhood of West Baltimore.

She already has iron bars outside her windows and added metal slabs on the inside to deflect the gunfire.

“I’m afraid to go outside,” said Perrine, 47. “It’s so bad, people are afraid to let their kids outside. People wake up with shots through their windows. Police used to sit on every corner, on the top of the block. These days? They’re nowhere.”

Perrine’s brother is one of 36 people killed in Baltimore so far this month, already the highest homicide count for May since 1999. But while homicides are spiking, arrests have plunged more than 50 percent compared to last year.

The drop in arrests followed the death of Freddie Gray from injuries he suffered in police custody. Gray’s death sparked protests against the police and some rioting, and led to the indictment of six officers.

Now West Baltimore residents worry they’ve been abandoned by the officers they once accused of harassing them. In recent weeks, some neighborhoods have become like the Wild West without a lawman around, residents said.

“Before it was over-policing. Now there’s no police,” said Donnail “Dreads” Lee, 34, who lives in the Gilmor Homes, the public housing complex where Gray, 25, was arrested.

Via: CBS Baltimore

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Up In Hillary's Face And Unafraid: Carly Fiorina Is The Great Communicator

Oklahoma City — A Republican activist approached Carly Fiorina after her speech at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference Saturday not just to pledge her support, but also to say that she hopes her daughter grows up to be like the longshot presidential candidate. 

“My little girl is such a firecracker,” Marcela White, a native Romanian who immigrated to the United States following the collapse of the Soviet Union, says following the exchange. “She is not afraid to say what’s on her mind, she is really bold — I was really shy as a child — and Ms. Fiorina would be such a great model for my little girl.”

Fiorina’s ability to inspire such admiration speaks to her potential as a foil to Hillary Clinton. After losing badly in her only previous bid for public office, Fiorina has emerged as a master of one of the oldest political arts: the stump speech. She’s also developed a knack for turning even provocative reporters’ questions to her advantage. She will lean heavily on those newfound skills while campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire, the two early states that tend to determine if a would-be contender surges into the top tier or falls by the wayside.

The former Hewlett-Packard CEO traces her polish on the stump to an apparently unlikely source: a class she took as a student at Stanford University in which the professor required her to read one book of medieval philosophy every week and distill it into a two-page paper.

Via: National Review

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FIORINA: ‘TITLES ARE JUST TITLES,’ HILLARY’S ‘TRACK RECORD’ IS ME COLLAPSE AND THE RUSSIAN RESET

Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina argued that “titles are just titles” and Hillary Clinton’s “track record” includes the collapse of the Middle East and the failed Russian reset on Wednesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” on MSNBC.

Fiorina said, “I come from a world where titles are just titles, and talk is just talk. It’s only in politics where titles and words mean a lot. In the rest of the world, it’s actually about what have you done, actions speak louder than words. People want to know are your words and your actions consistent and are they consistent over time. And so, I think when 82% of the American people now believe that there is a professional political class more interested in preserving its own power and privilege than it is in serving the American people, people expect basic questions to be asked of anyone running for president. ‘What have you done, are you trustworthy, are you transparent, will you answer questions?'”

Fiorina said that while Hillary Clinton has said some “wonderful things” as Secretary of State, “it’s also true that as Secretary of State she took women’s rights and human rights off the table for discussion with China. It’s also true as Secretary of State that she called Bashar al-Assad a positive reformer. It’s also true that in 2011, when she was Secretary of State, she said that Iraq was a free, stable, sovereign nation. And now we have a nation falling apart, Iranian influence growing, ISIS growing. It’s true that she said that she could reset our Russia — our relationship with Russia and Vladimir Putin is on the march. So, I think all of those things I just named go fundamentally to what is her track record.”

After host Andrea Mitchell stated, “You could also argue that a lot of Republicans in the White House and in Congress supported those policies –” Fiorina responded, “absolutely, that’s right. And by the way, every single Republican candidate has been asked about their vote for the war in Iraq. The one person who’s not been asked  that question, because she won’t answer the question is Hillary Clinton. One person who was on the job in 2011, when Iraq started to fall apart, was not the Republican nominees or — candidates for president, it’s Hillary Clinton. she hasn’t been asked yet. What would she do now in Iraq?”

Via: Breitbart

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EPA Grants Itself Power To Regulate Ponds, Ditches, Puddles

 The EPA has released its Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule critics say would allow the agency to regulate waterways previously not under federal jurisdiction, including puddles, ditches and isolated wetlands.

Republicans, farmers and industrial groups have called the rule an EPA “power grab” because it extends the agency’s powers to new heights. Environmentalists and the Obama administration, however, argue the WOTUS rule is necessary for protecting water quality.

No matter how you spin it, the EPA’s WOTUS rule does expand the agency’s authority, and creates new avenues for environmental groups to sue projects they want to stop from moving forward.

“The administration’s decree to unilaterally expand federal authority is a raw and tyrannical power grab that will crush jobs,” House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement.

“Despite their assurances, it appears that EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have failed to keep their promises to Congress and the American people,” echoed Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe. “In fact, instead of fixing the overreach in the proposed rule, remarkably, EPA has made it even broader.”

Farmers and industry groups worry the new WOTUS rule will expand EPA reach over isolated wetlands, ponds and ditches that have a “significant nexus” to navigable waters — a vague standard employed by the EPA to regulate bodies of water.

This could add another layer of permitting for industries and homeowners as well as more uncertainty caused by the expanded federal role in regulating bodies of water.

Via: The Daily Caller

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‘Painful Time': Bristol Palin Addresses Sudden Wedding Cancelation (AND THIS IS NEWS, WHY???)

In a blog post on Patheos Wednesday morning,Bristol Palin addressed the sudden cancelation of her wedding two weeks ago, though she offered no details as to what caused it.

“I guess you have seen by now that the wedding — that was supposed to happen last weekend — was called off,” she wrote. “I’m sure you’ve seen this has been all over the media, but this is a painful time for family and friends and I would just really appreciate your prayers.”

Palin had been set to marry Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Dakota Meyer, but called it off six days beforehand. In a post at the time Palin railed against the “salacious headlines” and “false stories” about their relationship.

“I know God’s plan is greater than anything else, and Tripp and I are in Alaska beginning to rebuild our lives under much different circumstances than we anticipated,” she wrote Wednesday.

Via: Mediaite

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