Old Tricks: Senate Votes On ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Without Reading Bill, House Breaks Transparency Pledge

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The U.S. Senate voted 89-8 to approve legislation to avoid the fiscal cliff despite having only 3 minutes to read the 154-page bill and budget score.

Multiple Senate sources have confirmed to CNSNews.com that senators received the bill at approximately 1:36 AM on Jan. 1, 2013 – a mere three minutes before they voted to approve it at 1:39 AM.

The bill is 154-pages and includes several provisions that are unrelated to the fiscal cliff . . . Read more from this story HERE.

House Transparency Rule Toast

When the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass a Senate bill to avoid the fiscal cliff around 10:45 PM on Tuesday, it violated its pledge to allow three days for the public to read the legislation, a promise House Republicans made to voters before the 2010 elections.

The House passed the bill with a vote of 257-167 in evening on Tuesday, less than 24 hours after the Senate had drafted and passed the bill close to 2:00 AM Tuesday morning.

In its Pledge to America document, House Republicans promised: “We will ensure that bills are debated and discussed in the public square . . . no more hiding legislative language from . . . the public. Read more from this story HERE.

Report: Senator Kirk Recalls Seeing Angels After Near-Death Experience

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Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) said he saw three angels in the hospital when he awoke from a stroke-induced coma in an interview published Wednesday.

Kirk — who had a stroke almost a year ago — is set to walk up the U.S. Capitol building’s steps Thursday without any assistance.

Kirk told suburban-Chicago’s The Daily Herald the angels asked him, “You want to come with us?”

“No,” Kirk responded. “I’ll hold off.”

Doctors sent Kirk into a coma after he had a stroke Jan. 21, 2012 and they temporarily removed a 4-by-8 inch piece of his skull to help his brain heal, according to The Daily Herald.

Read more from this story HERE.

Gun Sales Surge in December: Record Number of FBI Background Checks

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(Reuters) – The number of FBI background checks required for Americans buying guns set a record in December, indicating that more people may purchase one after the Connecticut school massacre stirred interest in self-defense and prompted renewed talk of limits on firearms, according to FBI data.

The FBI said it recorded 2.78 million background checks during the month, surpassing the mark set in November of 2.01 million checks – about a 39 percent rise.

The latest monthly figure was up 49 percent over December 2011, when the FBI performed a then-record 1.86 million checks.

Consumer demand for guns appears to have accounted for the uptick in activity. There were no changes in FBI background check procedures that would have affected the December numbers, FBI spokesman Stephen Fischer said.

December is typically the busiest month of the year for checks, however, due in part to Christmas gift sales.

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: Krauthammer Calls Fiscal Cliff Deal ‘Complete Surrender’ by Republicans

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On Tuesday’s broadcast of Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer speculated that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor might try to replace John Boehner as speaker of the House.

“It’s possible this is the prelude to a challenge Thursday to Boehner’s leadership by Eric Cantor,” Krauthammer said. “I think that would be quite naked to do it at this late hour, as a result of this split over the vote. Look, there are a lot of conservatives in the Republican caucus in the House who hate the bill — and for good reason. I mean, this is a complete surrender on everything. The ratio of tax cuts — of tax hikes to spending cuts — is 40 to 1, rather than 1 to 1 or 1 to 2 or 1 to 3. So, I mean it’s a complete rout by the Democrats. So it’s understandable.”

Krauthammer said that if the House rejects the Senate fiscal cliff bill, Republicans should start over with a clean slate in the new Congress.

Read story from The Daily Caller HERE.

Trump Blasts GOP For Being ‘Worst Negotiators in History’ Following Fiscal Cliff Deal

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Donald Trump had a few choice words for his fellow Republicans following the compromise over the so-called fiscal cliff. The real estate billionaire tweeted his disgust at the deal agreed upon by the Senate, which now has to pass in the House of Representatives in order to go into effect.

‘I am a Republican… but the Republicans may be the worst negotiators in history!’ he wrote to his nearly 2 million followers.

‘Obama and the Democrats are laughing at the deal they just made… the Republicans got nothing!

‘What is Mitch McConnell thinking?…make the big deal,’ he said of the Senate minority leader.

‘Maybe Boehner will stop this one sided deal in the House…I hope so!’

Politicians open hours negotiating on New Year’s Eve to try to put together a deal so that a rash of harsh spending cuts were not implemented at the beginning of the year.

The compromise that was finally reached included increased taxes on those making more than $400,000 annually- which is expected to bring in $620billion over ten years- and a continuation of the Bush-era tax cuts for middle class Americans.

Read more from this story HERE.

‘I am Not Your Subject, I Won’t Register My Guns’

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The following is a letter written by Marine Combat Vet Joshua Boston to Senator Diane Feinstein in reaction to her threat to require nationwide registration of firearms:

Senator Dianne Feinstein,

I will not register my weapons should this bill be passed, as I do not believe it is the government’s right to know what I own. Nor do I think it prudent to tell you what I own so that it may be taken from me by a group of people who enjoy armed protection yet decry me having the same a crime. You ma’am have overstepped a line that is not your domain. I am a Marine Corps Veteran of 8 years, and I will not have some woman who proclaims the evil of an inanimate object, yet carries one, tell me I may not have one.

I am not your subject. I am the man who keeps you free. I am not your servant. I am the person whom you serve. I am not your peasant. I am the flesh and blood of America.

I am the man who fought for my country. I am the man who learned. I am an American. You will not tell me that I must register my semi-automatic AR-15 because of the actions of some evil man.

I will not be disarmed to suit the fear that has been established by the media and your misinformation campaign against the American public.

We, the people, deserve better than you.

Respectfully Submitted,
Joshua Boston

CBO: ‘Fiscal cliff’ Deal Carries $4 Trillion Price Tag Over Next Decade

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The Senate deal to avoid the “fiscal cliff” will add roughly $4 trillion to the deficit when compared to current law, according to new numbers from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

The CBO determined Tuesday that the package, hammered out late Monday evening by Vice President Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would — over the next decade — come with a $3.9 trillion price tag.

The agreement, which is pending before the House after passing in a 89-8 Senate vote early Tuesday, would extend lower tax rates on annual household income under $450,000 and postpone automatic spending cuts for two months.

The extension of lower tax rates for a bulk of the nation’s taxpayers and the addition of a permanent patch to the alternative minimum tax would add roughly $3.6 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, the CBO said. Other individual, business, and energy tax extenders would add another $76 billion. The extension of unemployment benefits would cost roughly $30 billion, and the so-called “doc fix” would tally another $25 billion through fiscal 2022.

The CBO says the budget agreement will lead to an overall increase in spending of about $330 billion over 10 years.

Read more from this story HERE.

Storm Impedes Salvage of Shell Drilling Ship Grounded in Alaska

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska – High seas and strong winds prevented crews from boarding an oil drilling ship to check for any damage after the large vessel went aground off an uninhabited island in the Gulf of Alaska.

A Coast Guard plane and a helicopter flew over the Kulluk on Tuesday, but severe weather did not permit putting marine experts on board the drilling rig, which had grounded on a sand and gravel beach in stormy seas.

Federal on-scene response coordinator Capt. Paul Mehler said the Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig is carrying about 143,000 gallons of diesel and about 12,000 gallons of lube oil and hydraulic fluid, and appeared stable.

“There is no sign of a release of any product,” Mehler said during a news conference.

A team of company, Coast Guard and local officials said they were mobilizing spill response equipment and preparing a plan in the event of a spill in the Partition Cove and Ocean Bay areas of the island. The area is home to at least two endangered species, as well as harbor seals, salmon, and sea lions.

Read more from this story HERE.