Saturday, February 28, 2015

At CPAC, Mark Levin said Harry Reid is "running circles around the Republicans" because the GOP has "no principles, no strategy and no guts."





Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday, Levin dubbed Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) "one of the most despicable, dumbest men to ever be leader in the Senate,” but added that Reid is "running circles around the Republicans." - THE HILL

"That's what happens when you have no principles, no strategy and no guts," Levin said of Congressional Republicans. "It's time for a new Republican Party.”

"No more excuses. No more whining. No more lying to get you elected. No more crony deals with the U.S. Chamber of crony capitalism," Levin said, taking a political shot at the business community powerhouse U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

World leaders condemn murder of Russian politician Boris Nemtsov





Former deputy PM and critic of Vladimir Putin who was due to lead major rally on Sunday was killed near the Kremlin - The Guardian

(Prominent Russian opposition politician Boris) Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister and a sharp critic of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, was reportedly shot four times in the back by a killer in a passing car.

Cameron said the callous murder must be “fully, rapidly and transparently investigated, and those responsible brought to justice”.

“His life was dedicated to speaking up tirelessly for the Russian people, to demanding their right to democracy and liberty under the rule of law, and to an end to corruption,” the prime minister said. “He did so without fear, and never gave in to intimidation.”

...A spokesman for German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said she was dismayed by Nemtsov’s killing and praised his courage in criticising government policies.

The office of the French president, François Hollande, described the killing as an “assassination” and described the politician as a “courageous and tireless defender of democracy and a dogged fighter against corruption”.

The killing took place in the very centre of Moscow late on Friday evening on a bridge near St Basil’s Cathedral and the Kremlin, two days before Nemtsov was due to lead a major opposition rally in Moscow.







Ohio teacher speaks out against PARCC tests in emotional video



link - Twitchy

Dawn Neely-Randall, an Ohio schoolteacher, has gone public with her concerns about PARCC, the convoluted Common Core-aligned test being administered to millions of students across the nation this spring.



Neely-Randall is not the only brave teacher speaking out:

Jeb Bush: #CPAC2015











JEB FACES DOWN LION'S DEN - National Review ◼ Via Drudge
Refuses To Sign Tax Pledge to American People - ABC
Backers Bussed In Supporters? - Slate
SESSIONS: Don't let him buy nomination - Breitbart
NOONAN: Sorry, Jeb, the Race Is Wide Open - Peggy Noonan/Wall St. Journal

Humboldt Mayors' Prayer Breakfast March 5


Pray For Humboldt on FACEBOOK

A full breakfast will be served at 6:30 with prayers offered on behalf of the needs of our communities, state and country from 7-8 a.m. Are you planning to attend the Humboldt Mayors' Prayer Breakfast? Tickets are available now or at the door next Thursday, 3/5/15 - to help us plan, please indicate whether or not you're planning to attend!

Tickets are $15, Available on the KINS Shopping Show Saturday morning (2/28), Or Broese's Uniform, Faith Center or call 633-5581.

FOR MORE INFO CALL: Karen Brooks 707 498-1010

County Mental Health Branch in Crisis After Mass Resignations of Doctors, Nurses

There is an exodus of doctors and nurse practitioners underway at the Mental Health Branch of the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). - Ryan Burns/Lost Coast Outpost

While the current county budget includes funding for 10 full-time physician/psychiatrists in that unit, just half that number were employed at the start of the year, and four of those remaining five doctors have since submitted their resignations.

If those positions aren’t filled in the next six weeks it will leave just one full-time, local psychiatrist, Dr. Jennifer “Katy” Wilson, employed at the county Mental Health branch, and Dr. Wilson works primarily at the county jail rather than Sempervirens (the county’s psychiatric hospital) or the Crisis Stabilization Unit.

Meanwhile, all but one of the branch’s nurse practitioners have also resigned. (The one who remains, Jennifer Albrecht, has been on leave since Aug. 2013; she’s scheduled to return March 10.)

In interviews and documents obtained by the Outpost, insiders describe a program in crisis, a mental health unit where gross mismanagement and chronic understaffing have led to employee burnout and dangerous conditions for patients and employees alike. KEEP READING

Senate Unanimously Welcomes Netanyahu to America

No Senate Democrats block measure backing Bibi’s speech - Washington Free Beacon

The Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution welcoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to America and endorsing his speech before a joint session of Congress....

No Senate Democrats sponsored the measure, which attracted 50 Republican cosponsors. However, none attempted to block its passage, signaling that support for Israel and Netanyahu’s message has outweighed a pressure campaign by the Obama administration to sabotage the address.

“The Senate warmly welcomes the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, on his visit to the United States, which provides a timely opportunity to reinforce the United State-Israel relationship,” the resolution states.

Congress “eagerly awaits the address of Prime Minister Netanyahu before a joint meeting of the United States Congress,” it continues.

The lawmakers go on to reaffirm their “commitment to stand with Israel during times of uncertainty” and vow to “strongly support Israel’s right to defend itself from threats to its very survival,” according to the measure.









IS MSNBC GIVING UP ON THE HARD LEFT?

So, why doesn’t the far-left strategy work anymore? - Powerline
Are liberals disillusioned with the Obama administration? Are the old lefties dying off? Are younger liberals realizing that the Republicans were right after all? Or did viewers just get tired of the endless stream of bile and vituperation emanating from MSNBC?
Al Sharpton moving? Talk turns to MSNBC host losing prime nightly spot - Washington Times
Company President Phil Griffin said that the outlet’s Republican-bashing days are pretty much over — and that as part of the image overhaul, it’s now being surmised that Mr. Sharpton’s show may move from its prime 6 p.m. Monday-through-Friday slot….

Trey Gowdy Fights Back Against Obama’s Amnesty With New Immigration Plan



Trey Gowdy's warning for supporters of Obama's executive action - Washington Examiner
Rep. Trey Gowdy has a warning for supporters of President Obama’s executive action on immigration.

"Be careful what you do with the law today, because if you weaken it today, you weaken it forever," he told the House Judiciary Committee in his opening statement Wednesday.

The South Carolina Republican called the rule of law the “greatest unifying and equalizing force” in the U.S., but “one person [i.e., the president] does not make law in a republic.”

Gowdy warned that if Obama’s “unilateral extra-constitutional acts are not stopped,” future presidents “will expand that power of the executive branch, thereby threatening the constitutional equilibrium.”
Trey Gowdy Fights Back Against Obama’s Amnesty With New Immigration Plan - Daily Caller
South Carolina Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy has introduced an immigration bill to defund President Obama’s executive amnesty and expedite the removal of criminal aliens from U.S. soil.

Named after Michael Davis, Jr., a sheriff’s deputy in California who was killed in the line of duty last year by an illegal immigrant, Gowdy’s bill would also provide a work-around for state and local governments to reinforce federal immigration laws while also implementing an annual review of the executive branch’s use of prosecutorial discretion in immigration cases.

“If we are serious about finding a long term solution to our immigration system, we must address interior enforcement,” Gowdy, the Republican chairman of the Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee, said in a statement announcing the measure.

“This bill, which is one part of the Committee’s step-by-step process to address our broken immigration system, will ensure we do not repeat the mistakes of the past and help us earn back the trust of the American public,” he added.

Democrats obstruct DHS stopgap funding bill — shutdown imminent

The party of ‘no’ strikes again - Kemberlee Kaye/Le-gal In-sur-rec-tion

Hell bent on pursuing legislation that would allow for the dissolution of Congressional powers (a.k.a. Obama’s Executive immigration overreach), House Democrats refused to pass a short term funding bill for DHS. The bill would’ve funded DHS through March 19 and prevented an agency shut down.

Friday, February 27, 2015

Once again, Rand Paul stands tall at CPAC





It’s still Rand Paul’s CPAC. Whether it can be Rand Paul’s Republican Party is another question. - Politico

Capitol Update Friday, February 27, 2015

President's Message

I had the opportunity to spend part of Thursday at the Capitol with our Advocate, Allison Olson. We met a number of our newly elected Assembly members . It was a very productive and inspiring morning. We first visited Assembly member Catharine Baker, AD16, and it was especially exciting to visit her. So many Federated women in the Bay Area worked hard to get her elected and it was a thrill to see her in her office at the Capitol. We also visited Assembly members Jay Obernolte, AD33, Tom Lackey, AD 36,, and our hard working Assembly Leader Kristin Olsen, AD 12. We had very productive meetings talking about how we can work together to help get the word out for important bills and legislation to all of our members so they can act on them! We have a very inspiring group of newly elected legislators in Sacramento and I think the next two years will be very productive and exciting.

NFRW & CFRW Scholarships

I would like to share with you some important information about the NFRW & CFRW Scholarships. I know many clubs sponsor scholarships to local winners but you don’t want to forget about the NFRW and CFRW scholarships as well. The June 1 deadline for NFRW scholarships will be here before we know it! Don’t forget the Ronald Reagan Scholarship. It is due August 15 but it doesn't hurt to start thinking of worthy applications.

Last year we only received 6 applications for the Pathfinder Scholarship and no applications for the Rendel Scholarship. I would like to encourage all of our clubs to try to sponsor young college women for these scholarships This is also a great opportunity to help mentor college women, help them organize a College Republican group if their school does not have one, invite them to your meetings and even encourage them to become members. Why not give them a Membership Gift Certificate , or provide them with a discounted cost for membership? For example: we send in $16 with our per capita for each new or renewed member per capita . If you have a category for student membership at $16, your club is not losing any money but you are gaining a new member! Just an idea, we can all benefit by helping them. Remember these young Republican Women are our future!

The National Pathfinder Scholarship (Deadline: June 1)

These three annual scholarships, in honor of former First Lady Nancy Reagan, provide scholarships of $2,500 in financial assistance to young women seeking undergraduate or graduate degrees. Undergraduate sophomores, juniors and seniors as well as students enrolled in a Master’s degree program are eligible to apply for the scholarship.

The Betty Rendel National Scholarship (Deadline: June 1)

Established in 1995 this scholarship, in honor of NFRW Past President Betty Rendel’s extraordinary leadership skills and dedication to the Republican Party, provides $1,000 each to three undergraduate women currently majoring in Political Science, Government or Economics. Applicants must have completed their freshman year of college to be eligible to apply. Both applications need to be received by the State President by June 1!

THE PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN SCHOLARSHIP (Deadline: August 15)

The California Federation of Republican Women offers a scholarship in honor of President Ronald Reagan. This annual $2,000 scholarship is offered to an undergraduate registered Republican woman who is majoring in political science, communication, or directed toward law. The applicant must be a United States citizen and have completed two years of college. The applicant must be a resident of the State of California.

Our hardworking CFRW Scholarship Chair, Rosalia Zamora, can provide you more information. Check out our CFRW website to download the applications or for more information. I hope to seem many of you this weekend at the CRP Convention in Sacramento.

God Bless America!

Thank you for all you do,
Roseann
Working Together to Make A Difference

_______________

Introduction Deadline

The deadline to introduce bills this legislative session is today, Friday, February 27th. This means if a legislator wants to run a bill this session, he or she has to have introduced it by today. But that does not necessarily mean the bill they introduce will be the one passed down the line. Many legislators are introducing "spot bills", or place holders for the author to fill in the language of the bill at a later date. At press time, 1,764 bills have been introduced; 1130 from the Assembly and 634 from the Senate. But bear in mind that many of these bills are spot bills. The legislation will begin to take shape in the coming weeks as committee hearings start meeting. Stay tuned, the bill count will likely go past 2,000 bills introduced by the time the day is done!

_______________

Fixing Prop 47

Last week we reported on all the unintended consequences of Prop 47's passage. Well, legislators are already working to fix it's terrible by-products. We mentioned a couple bills last week, Assemblywoman Melendez's AB 150, which aims to fix the gun theft penalty reduction in Prop 47, and AB 390 (Cooper, D), which would allow law enforcement officials to still collect DNA evidence despite Prop 47's restrictions. Yet another bill by Republican Assemblyman Tom Lackey, would restore felony charges for date rape drug possession. Get the facts from Assemblyman Lackey ◼ HERE. Below are some quick facts from the Assemblyman's office that will help you when discussing this bill with other Californians. Get them informed!

What is the background of this proposal? In November 2014, California voters approved Proposition 47 which reclassified many crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. One of these reclassifications involved the possession of the drugs Rohypnol and GHB—commonly known as “date rape” drugs. Under Prop. 47, only offenders who have been previously been convicted of a serious crime such as rape or murder can be charged as felony offense for possession of date rape drugs.

Proponents of Prop. 47 argued the state’s prisons and jails are filled with low-level offenders serving sentences for crimes such as drug possession. One loophole created by Prop. 47’s passage is that it treats possession of drugs used for personal recreational purposes and date rape drugs equally. There must be a clear distinction between drugs that are likely to be used for malicious purposes and those intended for personal consumption.

What is the problem to be addressed? A person is not in possession of a date rape drug for their own use. Instead these drugs are weapons in the hands of sexual predators. A person found in illegal possession of them should be treated as a dangerous criminal and face a potential felony conviction. Yet, Prop. 47 treats recreational drug possession and date rape drug possession equally by reducing possession of both to a misdemeanor that will likely result in little to no jail time. Law enforcement and victims’ rights organizations pointed out this flaw in Prop. 47 prior to its passage. Because of the amnesia effects date rape drugs have on their victims, sexual assaults involving their use are under reported to law enforcement and remain a major problem.

By taking away a prosecutor’s ability to charge an offender with a felony for possessing these tools used for sexual assault, many offenders will evade serious punishment and will be emboldened to commit further crimes. AB 46 simply offers an opportunity to California voters to resolve this issue and to decide if possession of date rape drugs should be a felony.
What specifically does this bill do? AB 46 will restore the ability to bring felony charges for the possession of most commonly used date rape drugs, including Rohypnol, GHB and ketamine. District attorneys will again be given discretion to charge a felony or misdemeanor. AB 46 is a majority vote bill that will be sent to the voters if passed by the Legislature and Governor.

_______________

CRP Convention This Weekend!

We hope that many of you are joining us at our California Republican Party Covention this weekend! We will have our CFRW Caucus meeting on Saturday, February 28th, at 2pm in the Convention Center Room 104. Please join us to hear from candidates and elected officials, hear from our CFRW officers, and to hear exciting news about our upcoming Advocacy Workshop!
The CFRW will also be hosting a Wine Tasting Reception at convention on Saturday night, after the banquet. Thanks our sponsors, NFRW President Kathy Brugger and Senator Jim Nielsen, we are excited to feature Republican-owned family vineyards at Downtown and Vine from 9-11pm. Downtown and Vine is located a stones throw from the Hyatt and the convention center at 1200 K Street, #8. Our last CRP reception was the talk of convention, so you wont want to miss it!

__________________

Join Us!

As many of you know, the California Federation of Republican Women are on Facebook and Twitter! We want you to "Like" and "Follow" us, and invite your friends! Facebook and Twitter are easy ways to stay connected and informed about what is going on in Sacramento and D.C.! You can find us at ◼ >www.facebook.com/theCFRW and ◼ www.twitter.com/CFRWadvocate!

Cynicism United: President Obama and the Sierra Club

Put that in your pipeline and smoke it. - Peter Hannaford/American Spectator 2.27.15

A good five decades ago, the late David Brower, long-time executive director of the Sierra Club, warned his supporters that an upcoming mountain road battle should be fought as if it were Armageddon, for if it weren’t the next one very well could be.

Sierra Club zealots and their allies have been doing that ever since achieving more than a few victories in their determination to reduce industrial production and force all Americans to adopt a lower standard of living (all in the name of “saving” the planet).

President Obama, perhaps because he believes this or because he loves their votes, has repeatedly supported their agenda. His veto of the Keystone XL pipeline is the latest example.

The zealots repeated their message over and over: Terrible environmental damage would be done by the inevitable pipeline leaks; not a drop of the Canadian oil going through it would benefit the United States; and virtually no jobs would be created to build it.

Mr. Obama and his spokespeople echoed this refrain. He went one better. For over five years he has dodged making a Keystone decision because it was awaiting a required State Department review. Never mind that the department had already said the pipeline posed no significant environmental threat, or that the department works for Mr. Obama (he seems to have no difficulty steering its decisions about the Middle East).

By vetoing the project he is betting that the Republican Congress cannot muster enough votes to override (they are a few short in both houses).

If an override fails and the pipeline is not built, there will be no reduction in production and sales of Canadian tar sands oil by one drop. They will simply ship it cross-country to their own West Coast ports and thence to China, the world’s Number One air polluter. Or, they will ship it by rail to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries. One railroad is building a Texas terminal that will be able to handle two 120-oil-car trains per day.

The veto will have no effect on the production of U.S. oil, much of which must be shipped from high plains states such as North Dakota to refineries on the coasts. If no new pipelines are built, ever more of this oil will go by rail.

Oil-by-rail is far safer than before and continuing to become more so; nevertheless, for the cynically minded, there will be “silver lining” in the form of an occasional derailment and some oil spilled, giving the zealots a fresh excuse to scream, “Irreversible environmental damage!”

In the meantime, the Sierra Club gets from Obama’s veto a device for stiffening the spines of allies to redouble efforts to make it ever more difficult to get any pipelines to be built, despite the fact experts consider this the safest way to transport oil.

The International Energy Agency predicts that $2.6 trillion will be spent in the U.S. and Canada on oil infrastructure between now and 2035. This will not deter the Sierra Club and its allies from day-to-day planning of their war against oil and gas. Be assured they won’t rest until you have replaced your automobile with a vehicle the size, power, and range of a golf cart.
_______________

Peter Hannaford was closely associated with the late President Reagan for a number of years. He is a member of the board of the Committee on the Present Danger. His latest book is ◼ “Presidential Retreats.”

MSNBC to fire Al Sharpton.

Al Sharpton to get the bullet: Politics Nation host on way out as crisis hit MSNBC bins left-wing programming to curb ratings slide - MAIL ONLINE REPORTER

  • Controversial Reverend to lose nightly slot as broadcaster sways from left
  • President Phil Griffin hopes sea change will bring back lost viewers
  • Ed Schultz, Chris Hayes, and Lawrence O'Donnell also in the firing line
  • Sharpton's critics rejoice as gaff-prone anchor's four year stint nears end
MSNBC is set to pull the plug on contentious Reverend Al Sharpton in a last ditch attempt to revive dwindling audience numbers.

The liberal anchor's nightly Politics Nation show is to be shelved by broadcasting bosses as they make drastic changes in the hope of clawing back viewers.

Company President Phil Griffin is believed to be placing his faith in a swing from the left in their Congress coverage - insisting that the station's Republican bashing glory days are now firmly in the past.

Sarah Palin speaks on veterans at #CPAC2015

RIP Leonard Nimoy











John Boehner: All Republicans agree: we want to fund the Department of Homeland Security, and we want to stop the president’s executive action on ‪#‎immigration‬. And the House has acted to do exactly that. ‪#‎FundDHS‬





Governor Bobby Jindal, (LA): #CPAC2015





Jindal Blasts GOP Congress in CPAC Speech: ‘Time for Them to Govern’ - Mediate





This CPC study compiles for the first time the officially recognized unfunded pension liabilities for every city in California. This study offers a comprehensive analysis of the pension funding challenges facing California's cities.

California City Pension Burdens - Marc Joffe/California Policy Center

Brown Administration Tied To Scandal That Took Down Oregon Governor

Collaborations Usually Only Found in Conspiracy Movies - Katy Grimes/Flash Report

Corruption and scandal resulting in the recent resignation of Democratic Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, appears to be just the tip of a very big iceberg. The ho-hum media coverage of the story made it sound like just another unscrupulous governor and first lady. But the Kitzhaber scandal has evolved into much more — multiple governors and high-level staff involved in shady green energy deals, with national entanglements.

Washington D.C. attorney Chris Horner discovered ingrained collusion with top level staff in Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber’s office who enlisted other top level staff in California and Washington State governors’ offices to “spread climate coordination and collaboration to a larger group of governors across the U.S.”

Emails from 2013 and 2014 reveal Kitzhaber agreed to a deal with the governors of California and Washington, to implement low-carbon fuel standards and develop a scheme to foist green-energy agendas on multiple states.

Oregon’s “first lady” Cylvia Hayes played a key role in pushing the progressive climate policies of her fiance, Kitzhaber, in exchange for consulting contracts and funding from people involved in energy and environmental policy....

In October 2013, California Gov. Jerry Brown, together with the Governors of Oregon and Washington and the British Columbia Premier, signed the Pacific Coast Action Plan on Climate and Energy, “to align climate change policies and promote clean energy.” The Pacific Coast Collaborative links with the West Coast Infrastructure Exchange (WCX), a compact between California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia, formed in 2013 to promote “the type of new thinking necessary to solve the West Coast’s infrastructure crisis.” And the WCX is linked to the Clinton Foundation’s Clinton Global Initiative.

“California isn’t waiting for the rest of the world before it takes action on climate change,” said Gov. Brown. “Today, California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia are all joining together to reduce greenhouse gases.”

The real Kitzhaber plan revealed high level appointees in the California governor’s office, other “engaged governors,” and the White House, engrossed in a scheme to define “a nationally coordinated, multi-year states strategy’ focused on driving outcomes contemplated by the President’s climate action plan, 111d, resilient infrastructure and international treaty objectives at scale.”

...This scheme was made possible with funding from “major environmental donors,” billionaires Tom Steyer and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, according to Horner.

Throughout the 11 pages of emails, hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer is named. (The email thread is HERE) KEEP READING

Obama: 'We've Expanded My Authorities'...

Obama Dares GOP: Go Ahead, ‘Have a Vote on Whether What I’m Doing Is Legal…I Will Veto’ - MRC TV

“What we’ve done is we’ve expanded my authorities under executive action and prosecutorial discretion as far as we can legally under the existing statute, the existing law. And so now the question is, how can we get a law passed.”

Huge trove of 'destroyed' Lois Lerner emails discovered...

IRS watchdog reveals Lois Lerner missing emails now subject of criminal probe - Stephen Dinan/Washington Times Via Drudge

The IRS’s inspector general confirmed Thursday it is conducting a criminal investigation into how Lois G. Lerner’s emails disappeared, saying it took only two weeks for investigators to find hundreds of tapes the agency’s chief had told Congress were irretrievably destroyed.

Investigators have already scoured 744 backup tapes and gleaned 32,774 unique emails, but just two weeks ago they found an additional 424 tapes that could contain even more Lerner emails, Deputy Inspector General Timothy P. Camus told the House Oversight Committee in a rare late-night hearing meant to look into the status of the investigation.

“There is potential criminal activity,” Mr. Camus said.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Utah Republican and Oversight Committee chairman, said the ongoing investigations undercut President Obama’s assertion last year that there was no evidence of corruption in the IRS’s targeting.

“I have no idea how the president came to such a definitive conclusion without all the facts,” he said.


The IRS belatedly told Congress it may have lost some of Ms. Lerner’s emails after her computer crashed, and asserted that the backup tapes didn’t exist.

But under questioning from Mr. Chaffetz, Mr. Camus said it took him only two weeks to track down the backup tapes, and when he asked the IRS depository for them, the workers there said they’d never been contacted by the agency itself.

32,744 emails - Reuters
"It's just shocking to me that you start (looking), two weeks later you're able to find the emails," he told Camus, referring to the Treasury inspector general's office locating the emails after the IRS said it could not find them. The IRS is part of the Treasury Department.
Criminal probe launched - Stephen Dinan/Washington Times

American blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh

The attack Thursday night on Avijit Roy, a Bangladesh-born U.S. citizen, occurred on a crowded sidewalk as he and his wife, Rafida Ahmed, were returning from a book fair at Dhaka University. Ahmed, who is also a blogger, was seriously injured. It was the latest in a series of attacks on secular writers in Bangladesh in recent years. - FOX NY

A previously unknown militant group, Ansar Bangla 7, claimed responsibility for the attack, Assistant Police Commissioner S.M. Shibly Noman told the Prothom Alo newspaper.

Roy "was the target because of his crime against Islam," the group said on Twitter.

ISIS thugs take a hammer to civilisation: Priceless 3,000-year-old artworks smashed to pieces in minutes as militants destroy Mosul museum

Comes after thugs destroyed thousands of books at Mosul Public Library - JULIAN ROBINSON FOR MAILONLINE

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Governor Scott Walker: #CPAC2015



Walker Thrills a Packed House at CPAC - National Review
Scott Walker hit all the right notes when he took the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday to address a standing-room-only crowd — even gamely handling a heckler. Walker was talking up Republicans’ push to pass a right-to-work law in Wisconsin, a measure to weaken labor unions, when a heckler stood up and began shouting in the packed ballroom. What he said wasn’t clear, but Walker handled it like a pro: He quipped, “Apparently the protesters come [here] from Wisconsin as well.”
Scott Walker talks over the heads of the media to denounce them - HotAir
In a simple and rather elegant opinion piece ◼ published in Thursday’s USA Today, Scott Walker addressed the aggressive treatment he has received in the press that coincided with his rising fortunes in polls of Republican presidential voters.

Ted Cruz: #CPAC2015 Stand With the People, Not Washington



Dr. Ben Carson Full Speech: #CPAC2015

Governor Chris Christie: #CPAC2015

Carly Fiorina: #CPAC2015



These Photos Of Half-Frozen Waves Are Stunningly Surreal

It's like something out of a Dali painting. - Country Living



FCC Approves Net Neutrality in Straight Party-Line Vote

In what one Republican called a “monumental shift toward government control of the Internet,” the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday approved a proposal granting the federal government the authority to regulate Internet broadband providers under the same law as public utilities. - The Blaze
The five commissioners voted 3-2 along party lines in favor of the proposal known as net neutrality. The 317-page plan, which has not yet been publicly released, bans broadband providers from blocking, throttling or prioritizing certain Internet pages over others. The FCC has said the proposal will not seek to impose any new taxes or fees.

Why did Britain let ‘Jihadi John’ go?

Americans Think Republicans Are Intolerant, Too Extreme, And Right On Foreign Policy

There's good news and bad news for both parties, in a Pew Research poll out Thursday: Republicans are seen as extreme and intolerant but more trusted to handle international issues, while Democrats' position as the party of the middle class doesn't translate into an edge on the economy. - Huffington Post

Compared to the GOP, Democrats are 24 points more likely to be perceived as tolerant and open to all groups of people, and 17 points more likely to be seen as caring about the middle class. They're also 14 points less likely to be perceived as being too extreme.

But "the Republican Party fares much better on issues than image," the survey finds. While Democrats are slightly more trusted on health care, the two parties are about tied on the economy, immigration and abortion. The GOP has a significant lead as the party preferred to handle taxes, the threat of terrorism, and, for the first time since 2002, foreign policy. Americans are now 13 points more likely to trust Republicans than Democrats on foreign policy, up from just a 1-point edge on the issue last October.

In public, Kitzhaber assured Oregonians he was working diligently with state officials to find a solution for the website’s woeful performance. In private, however, Kitzhaber handed oversight of the Cover Oregon mess to a secretive campaign consultant who liked to call herself the Princess of Darkness.

Newly obtained emails show ex-Gov. John Kitzhaber put his top political consultant in charge of Cover Oregon. - Willamette Week

A year ago, it looked as if then-Gov John Kitzhaber’s biggest headache was Cover Oregon, the $305 million health care website that was pitched as a national model but became a national laughingstock.

Kitzhaber, a Democrat facing re-election, had built a reputation as a health care reformer. But his failure to make Cover Oregon work threatened his legacy....

By her own admission, Patricia McCaig knew virtually nothing about health care reform or the reasons Cover Oregon had crashed. Her primary mission was not to save a beleaguered state program but to get Kitzhaber re-elected.

Emails that Kitzhaber’s office tried to delete from state computers show McCaig was effectively in charge of all decision making for Cover Oregon beginning in February 2014.

Records show McCaig oversaw the decision to shut down Cover Oregon rather than work with the state’s contractor, Oracle Corp., to fix it. McCaig—rather than the governor or state lawyers—drove the decision to sue Oracle. And McCaig routinely directed senior government employees and staff in the governor’s office.

The records also show McCaig and other advisers based many of their moves on polling and how voters’ perceptions of Cover Oregon might affect Kitzhaber’s hopes for re-election.

Kitzhaber didn’t respond to questions for this story.

Kerry’s Attempted Netanyahu Nuke Eviscerates Obama National Security Team

Secretary of State John Kerry sought to discredit Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s view on what needs to be done to stop Iranian nuclear proliferation Wednesday — but in so doing, he set a standard that actually discredits the top national security officials in the Obama administration, himself included. - Daily Caller

“The prime minister was profoundly forward-leaning and outspoken about the importance of invading Iraq under George W. Bush,” Kerry said. “We all know what happened with that decision.”

But Kerry, too, supported the 2003 Iraq war.

Venezuela today











#CPAC2015





link














Obama to ICE: There “will be consequences” for doing your job



The President continued his amnesty tour this week with a stop in Florida. His remarks, both to the crowd during his speech and during an interview with MSNBC’s Jose Diaz-Balart, were rife with the usual “blame the GOP” rhetoric and defenses of the amnesty actions he himself declared beyond his constitutional authority. - HotAir

But he was asked by audience members and his media interviewer as well about why some people were still being deported. His answer was revealing.
MR. DIAZ-BALART: But what are the consequences? Because how do you ensure that ICE agents or Border Patrol won’t be deporting people like this? I mean, what are the consequences

THE PRESIDENT: José, look, the bottom line is, is that if somebody is working for ICE and there is a policy and they don’t follow the policy, there are going to be consequences to it. So I can’t speak to a specific problem. What I can talk about is what’s true in the government, generally.
This was no slip of the tongue. During the live Q&A he took a similar question from a woman in the crowd and told her, there are going to be some jurisdictions, and there may be individual ICE officials or Border Patrol, who aren’t paying attention to our new directives. There are going to be consequences.... KEEP READING

Proposition 47: L.A. County report details profound effect on justice system

L.A. County report documents impact of Prop. 47, including fewer narcotics arrests, less money for victims - LA Times

Proposition 47 is having a profound effect on Los Angeles County’s criminal justice system, from the jails to mental health treatment to workloads for prosecutors and public defenders, according to a draft report by the county’s chief executive.

...In the county jails, overcrowding has eased, as people serving time on Prop. 47 charges are released and new offenders are not being locked up. This allows more serious offenders to serve a larger percentage of their sentences instead of getting out early....

Lieberman: This is about determining best to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons and not just another Washington test of partisan and political loyalty


New Secret Iranian Nuclear Facility Revealed - Ryan Mauro/The Clarion Project

An Iranian opposition group has exposed the existence of a secret uranium enrichment site in Iran that has been operating since 2008.

'Carly For America' super PAC launches with ad

'Carly For America' super PAC launches with ad - Politico ◼ Carly on Twitter@CarlyFiorina

“I have never been more ashamed to be an alumnus of this university”



Ben Shapiro, reporter and talk show host, makes the trip to his Alma Mater, UCLA, to make a statement against the BDS - Israel Video Network



Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Foreign governments gave millions to foundation while Hillary Clinton was at State Dept.





The Clinton Foundation accepted millions of dollars from seven foreign governments during Hillary Rodham Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state, including one donation that violated its ethics agreement with the Obama administration, foundation officials disclosed Wednesday.

Most of the contributions were possible because of exceptions written into the foundation’s 2008 agreement, which included limits on foreign-government donations.

The agreement, reached before Clinton’s nomination amid concerns that countries could use foundation donations to gain favor with a Clinton-led State Department, allowed governments that had previously donated money to continue making contributions at similar levels.

‘Net Neutrality’ Is a Problem, Not a Solution

The oldest trick in the collectivist playbook is to create a problem through government regulations, let it stew for a while, and then propose even bigger government as the only possible solution to the “crisis” it planted, nourished, and harvested. - John Hayward/Breitbart @Doc_o

We watched government tinkering in health care make it more expensive and complicated, year after year… until the time was ripe to stuff the biggest, sloppiest, most poorly-thought-out Big Government power grab of the modern era down our throats. Are we really going to fall for that again with the FCC’s new Net Neutrality regulations?

Net Neutrality is a problem, not a solution, and it won’t take long before we’re told that even more extensive and intrusive government control of Internet service is necessary to address all the “unintended consequences” it produces. The big difference between the government takeovers of health care and the Internet is that the latter will happen much faster, because everything happens faster on the Internet.

Mark Cuban, a longtime critic of the Net Neutrality push, went on Glenn Beck’s TV show Tuesday to talk about those “unintended consequences,” which one suspects are going to come as a surprise to the suckers who think the Obama Administration is heroically trying to make their telecom bills lower by fiat, rather than huckstering them into with a massive con job...

The mainstream media is risibly attempting to portray Net Neutrality as a David-vs.-Goliath victory of the Little Guy over evil mega-corporations with a regulatory slingshot. It’s more like David inviting Godzilla into the ring to take out Goliath, without much thought for what Godzilla’s going to do afterward.

They’re about to find out that Godzilla’s appetite for power will be whetted, not sated, by the meal they’re offering. Activist government uses its power to create crises that can be exploited to accumulate more power. It’s the most reliable process in the world, but smart people keep fooling themselves into being surprised by it. KEEP READING



Does Obama Have Authority to Unilaterally Give Illegals Social Security Numbers? Sen. Heller: ‘I Don’t Have An Answer’

On Capitol Hill, CNSNews.com asked Heller: “A federal court has said giving Social Security Numbers to illegal aliens is not prosecutorial discretion. Does the president have the power to unilaterally give Social Security Numbers to illegal aliens?” - Cybercast News Service

Democrats Fear an Ambush on the Senate Floor

Democrats are worried about an ambush. With less than three days left before the Homeland Security Department shutdown, Senate Democrats have accepted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell´s offer. But they´re exceedingly wary of how vulnerable such a move will make them. - National Journal

FCC CHAIR REFUSES TO APPEAR BEFORE CONGRESS AHEAD OF INTERNET TAKEOVER

“So long as the chairman continues to insist on secrecy, we will continue calling for more transparency and accountability at the commission,” Chaffetz and Upton said in a statement. “Chairman Wheeler and the FCC are not above Congress.” - National Review



LEFT GROUPS NOW FEAR: GOV'T NET GRAB GOING TOO FAR! - Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
Unfortunately, if a recent report from Reuters is correct, the general conduct rule will be anything but clear. The FCC will evaluate “harm” based on consideration of seven factors: impact on competition; impact on innovation; impact on free expression; impact on broadband deployment and investments; whether the actions in question are specific to some applications and not others; whether they comply with industry best standards and practices; and whether they take place without the awareness of the end-user, the Internet subscriber.
Plan Could Lead to UN Takeover of Internet
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune of South Dakota argued that by claiming more authority over Internet access for net neutrality, the Federal Communications Commission will undermine the ability of the U.S. to push back against international plots to control the Internet and censor content.
SOROS CASH BEHIND PUSH - Paul Bedard/Washington Examiner
“The Ford Foundation, which claims to be the second-largest private foundation in the U.S., and Open Society Foundations, founded by far-left billionaire George Soros, have given more than $196 million to pro-net neutrality groups between 2000 and 2013,” said the report, authored by Media Research Center’s Joseph Rossell, and provided to Secrets.

“These left-wing groups not only impacted the public debate and funded top liberal think tanks from the Center for American Progress to Free Press. They also have direct ties to the White House and regulatory agencies. At least five individuals from these groups have ascended to key positions at the White House and FCC,” said the report which included funding details to pro-net neutrality advocates.
Commisioner: 'Independence of agency has been compromised' - Reason Magazine
Lawless? - The Hill
From all indications, the FCC contemplates that the new rules will be sufficiently burdensome and costly — and sufficiently ambiguous — that affected parties will be invited to seek exemptions from the new mandates through "waiver" requests or other administrative mechanisms.

But this likely flood of waiver requests should raise serious questions concerning the lawfulness of the agency's mode of operating. As Philip Hamburger discusses in his book, Is Administrative Law Unlawful?, one of our Founders' objectives was to control, if not eliminate, what in England was known as the "dispensing" power. Simply put, the dispensing power — which is much discussed in English constitutional history — was a form of exercise of royal prerogative under which the king could excuse himself or his favored subjects from complying with particular laws enacted by Parliament. As Hamburger explains, today's administrative agencies, in essence, have resurrected the dispensing power by the way they so often use waivers to grant favored treatment.





Another Federal Judge Strikes Down An Obama Executive Action On Immigration

A federal judge appointed by President Obama issued a preliminary injunction last week ending a key 2014 immigration executive action that helped end a wave of illegal immigration from Central Americans countries last summer. - Conn Carroll/Townhall

Many Americans still struggling in dismal Obama economy

Anyone who’s followed the polls over the course of the Obama administration knows that the economy and jobs have been among our strongest concerns. - Human Events

The Gallup Poll reinforces this in its latest survey, asking people what they think are the biggest problems facing our country. “Economic problems” was, not surprisingly, their top concern — mentioned by nearly 40 percent, followed by unemployment/jobs generally, the budget deficits and the federal debt, in that order.

Despite the network news telling us the Obama economy is doing great and the job market is just getting better and better, the real story on that score isn’t good.

MONEY, MONEY, MUHHHHHHNAY

H&R Block Helped Shape Obamacare, Now Set For Gigantic Payday - Daily Caller

Get your billions back, America! (And give a bunch of it to H&R Block.)

Five years ago, a bevy of high-priced H&R Block lobbyists worked on the tax preparation company’s behalf to shape the Affordable Care Act.

And this April 15, those efforts are set to pay off in a big way for the company.

H&R Block is well positioned to earn more than $100 million in additional fees from low-income Obamacare enrollees as they face the daunting challenge to properly file this year’s complicated health-related tax forms.

Consumers are familiar with H&R Block’s massive “Get Your Billions Back” ad campaign that includes direct appeals to Obamacare recipients who will have to file health information on this year’s IRS tax forms.... KEEP READING

NY Post: it’s party time for the bad guys in Obama’s final two-year “rampage”

link - Allen West
...the New York Post had a very interesting piece entitled ◼ “Obama is on a Rampage” saying, “He can’t bring himself to call Islamic terrorists what they are, but President Obama finally said something with which we can all agree. Speaking of his remaining time in office, he said: “Two years is a long time.” He can say that again — and did, attaching a scary promise about his plans for the twilight of his tenure.

“Two years is also the time in which we’re going to be setting the stage for the next presidential election and the next 10 years of American policy,” he told wealthy donors in San Francisco. “So I intend to run through the tape and work really hard, and squeeze every last little bit of change.”

...There you have it. Instead of cleaning up the messes he’s created, Obama is hell-bent on making more of them.

The word that comes to mind is “rogue.” As in, the president is going rogue. Like an elephant on a rampage, he’s breaking free of all constraints.

That makes the next two years extremely dangerous. Not just for Americans, but also for people around the world who count on us for their security and well-being.

It is party time for the bad guys.

Less than half think Obama loves America, according to a new poll:



Democrats: We’ll Block DHS Funds Until Boehner Surrenders

Top Democrats said Feb. 23 they will hold the homeland security budget hostage until the GOP’s House caucus agrees to quit its popular anti-amnesty efforts. - Daily Caller

“If we are going to avoid a government shutdown on the Department of Homeland Security, we need a commitment from Speaker Boehner that we have a bipartisan, bicameral approval to end this deadlock,” Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin told reporters during a Tuesday press conference in the Senate.

Durbin spoke shortly after the Senate’s GOP Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to submit to the Democrats’ demands that the DHS 2015 budget not curb spending on the president’s November amnesty.

Democrats have filibustered the House-passed DHS budget bill four times just to block the anti-amnesty language.

McConnell agreed Feb. 22 to allow separate votes on a toothless DHS budget bill, and a bill that would curb Obama’s amnesty plans.

That’s a complete victory for the Democrats, because McConnell’s plan would allow them to kill the anti-amnesty bill, while also approving the separated DHS funding bill.

But McConnell’s surrender isn’t enough for Democrats.

They also want Boehner to give up the anti-amnesty fight even though almost 90 percent of the GOP base opposes the amnesty.

“All eyes are on Speaker Boehner,” Sen. Chuck Schumer said during the press conferenc

Christian Wife Captured By ISIS In Syria Sent One Last Text

The very last message heard from the captives of the most recent kidnapping in Syria by ISIS was an SMS sent from a wife to her husband early this morning, according to Osama Edward, director of the Assyrian Human Rights Network. - Daily Caller

...The ISIS militants attacked between 3 and 4 a.m., according Edward. Most of the 70-100 Christians captured were women, children and the elderly.

Ten villages were overrun, and captives were initially held in a school for a couple of hours. But once militants began to feel threatened, they moved the Christians to an ISIS-held village seven miles away, according to Edward, who spoke to The Daily Caller News Foundation from Stockholm, Sweden.

“The main target about having those civilians is to have a shelter to protect themselves, so no one will attack them,” said Edward, referring to human shields against potential attacks by the U.S.-led coalition or Kurdish forces....



Tuesday, February 24, 2015

GOP: Obama 'sadly mistaken' that veto ends Keystone XL fight























Mia Love: The US Congress listened to the American people and passed legislation that would allow the construction of the XL Pipeline.

The President stamped a big "Veto"(Latin for "I Forbid") on the foreheads of hard working Americans.

"He forbids" to listen to the American people. "He forbids" energy independence. "He forbids" jobs, economic growth and freedom for Americans. That's the message he sent to me. What kind of message does that "veto" send to all of you?