Rubio: More Government Breeds More Problems (+video)

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Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore Responding to President Obama’s State of the Union address on behalf of the Republican Party, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., tonight made the case that the president’s calls for government investments are misguided and potentially destructive.

While agreeing with the president on some issues and taking an optimistic tone for the future, Rubio sought to offer a conservative alternative to the president’s agenda, one which takes decision-making out of Washington.

Opportunity, Rubio said, “it isn’t bestowed on us from Washington. It comes from a vibrant free economy where people can risk their own money to open a business.”

In his address before a joint session of Congress, Mr. Obama told lawmakers, “We need to build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class for all who are willing to climb them.” The president laid out a series of actions Washington can take to revive the economy, including investments in the private sector. Rubio, however, charged tonight that Mr. Obama considers a free enterprise economy as “the cause of our problems.”

“His solution to virtually every problem we face is for Washington to tax more, borrow more and spend more,” Rubio said of the president. “And the idea that more taxes and more government spending is the best way to help hardworking middle class taxpayers – that’s an old idea that’s failed every time it’s been tried. More government isn’t going to help you get ahead. It’s going to hold you back. More government isn’t going to create more opportunities. It’s going to limit them.”

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Obama Presses For New Spending, Says Gun Control Bills ‘Deserve A Vote’ (+video)

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Photo Credit: BlatantWorld.comPresident Obama, clearly emboldened off his reelection win, used his State of the Union address Tuesday night to press for more government spending, challenge Republicans over Medicare and declare that victims of gun violence “deserve a vote” on a sweeping gun control package.

In what was effectively the kick-off address of his second term, Obama largely pressed on with the policies of his first, while adding a roster of wish-list items – including a call to increase the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour, up from $7.25, and pass immigration reform.

The speech was wrapped in the theme of boosting the middle class and jolting what continues to be a tepid economic recovery. “It is our generation’s task … to reignite the true engine of America’s economic growth – a rising, thriving middle class,” Obama said.

Still, Republicans saw in his address a president clinging to ideas they have repeatedly rejected, and say do not work.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who was delivering the GOP response, said Obama’s solution “to virtually every problem we face is for Washington to tax more, borrow more and spend more.” More government, he said, will “hold you back.”

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Video: Rand Paul Responds To The President’s State of the Union Address

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In a State of the Union response sponsored by the Tea Party Express, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul spoke of competing visions of economics: Robin Hood vs. Adam Smith.

Senator Paul insisted that the road ahead is the proven road mapped out for us by Adam Smith.

In telling personal fashion, he described Washington as being worse than he ever imagined, insisting that the spending problem in Congress must be addressed. He also said that Americans should impose term limits on politicians who refuse to rein in wasteful spending.

See video below:

Coldcock Cop: I thought I Was Swiping A Corona (+shocking video)

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Photo Credit: philly.comEven former Philadelphia Police Lt. Jonathan Josey called the video “disturbing.” The video of him swinging at and decking a woman at a Fairhill street party after last year’s Puerto Rican Day parade was enough to end his decorated 19-year police career and get him charged with simple assault.

But after a three-hour nonjury trial Tuesday, in which Josey testified that he accidentally hit Aida Guzman while trying to knock a beer bottle from her hand, a troubled-looking Municipal Court Judge Patrick F. Dugan seemed uncertain.

Saying he “needed more time to digest this,” Dugan said he would announce his verdict from the bench on Feb. 26.

Dugan, 52, a judge since 2007 and a decorated Army captain who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, acknowledged the groans his delay triggered.

The courtroom was packed way beyond its 109-person capacity. Most appeared to be police officers or officials of the city’s police union, and many wore the distinctive black leather uniform of the Highway Patrol, to which Josey was assigned.

As clear-cut as the seconds-long video appears, both Josey and Guzman may have muddled its impact in their testimony.

See video of incident:

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‘The Silence Is Deafening, Mr. President’: Obama Has Yet To Acknowledge Death Of Legendary Seal Sniper Chris Kyle

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Photo Credit: The BlazeIt has been about 10 days since legendary Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle was tragically gunned down in Texas, and the president of the United States has yet to address his death.

President Barack Obama has not made a public statement regarding Kyle’s murder and his extraordinary service to his county, nor has the White House issued an official press release. Messages left by TheBlaze were not immediately returned by the White House.

Several Blaze readers have also suggested that the White House should have ordered flags be flown at half mast to honor Kyle. You may recall, Obama issued such orders to honor the late Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, the victims of Sandy Hook, and in honor of Arlen Specter, Neil Armstrong and Army Cpl. Frank W. Buckles, as well as others.

While those proclamations were more than necessary, many would argue an American hero like Chris Kyle — the “American Sniper” — undoubtedly deserves the same respect.

However, the most glaring oversight is still the fact that President Obama hasn’t so much as offered a public statement paying his respects to Kyle and his family.

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Video: Hoyer “The Country Has A Paying For Problem,” Not A Spending Problem

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Photo Credit: Center for American Progress Action FundMICHELLE CARUSO-CABRERA: Does the country have a spending problem sir? Does the country have a spending problem?

REP. STENY HOYER (D-MD), HOUSE MINORITY WHIP: Does the country have a spending problem? The country has a paying for problem. We haven’t paid for what we bought, we haven’t paid for our tax cuts, we haven’t paid for war.

CARUSO-CABRERA: How about what we promised? Are we promising too much?

HOYER: Absolutely. If we don’t pay, we shouldn’t buy.

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Food Stamp Rolls In America Now Surpass The Population of Spain

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Photo Credit: APSince taking office in 2009, food stamp rolls under President Barack Obama have risen to more than 47 million people in America, exceeding the population of Spain.

“Now is the time to act boldly and wisely – to not only revive this economy, but to build a new foundation for lasting prosperity,” said Obama during his first joint session address to Congress on Feb. 24, 2009.

Since then, the number of participants enrolled in food stamps, known as the Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program (SNAP), has risen substantially.

When Obama entered office in January 2009 there were 31,939,110 Americans receiving food stamps. As of November 2012—the most recent data available—there were 47,692,896 Americans enrolled, an increase of 49.3 percent.

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Pentagon Conducting Urgent Assessment Of North Korean Mobile ICBM Threat

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Photo Credit: APThe Pentagon’s Joint Staff is conducting an urgent threat assessment of North Korea’s new road-mobile missile and the danger it poses to the United States.

The classified assessment is being done for Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on an expedited basis, said defense officials familiar with the effort.

“This is an expedited examination of the North Korean ICBM threat specifically for the chairman,” one official said. A Joint Staff spokesman declined to comment on the North Korean ICBM assessment.

Disclosure of the urgent threat assessment from nuclear-armed North Korea comes as President Barack Obama is expected to announce Tuesday night that he plans to cut an additional one-third of the warheads from the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

The Pentagon plans to cut its nuclear warheads to 1,550 warheads under the 2010 New START arms treaty with Russia. An additional cut of a third of those warheads would bring the U.S. warhead arsenal to around 1,000.

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Gore, Current Silent As Cleric Affirms Death Penalty For Leaving Islam On Al-Jazeera

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Photo Credit: Mark LennihanAides to former Democratic Vice President Al Gore have failed to respond to a recent Al-Jazeera TV broadcast, in which a top imam affirmed the death penalty for anyone who quits Islam.

Gore sold his Current TV network to Al-Jazeera, which now plans to extend its broadcast into the United States this summer, according to Ashok Sinha, vice president of corporate communications at Current TV/Al-Jazeera America.

Gore reportedly sold Current TV for $500 million and endorsed Al-Jazeera’s news programs.

Western critics of Islam highlighted a recent broadcast of the network’s regular “Shariah and Life” show, which has an estimated audience of 60 million viewers worldwide. The show’s host is Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a prominent Sunni Islamic cleric.

He declared that Islam’s mandated death-penalty for apostasy has kept Islam alive since the 1400s. “If they had gotten rid of the apostasy punishment Islam wouldn’t exist today,” Qaradawi said on the show.

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Shell Ships Alaska Drilling Rigs To Asia For Repairs

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Putting their 2013 Arctic drilling plans into doubt, Royal Dutch Shell announced Monday that it will tow its purpose-built drilling rigs from Alaska to Asia for major repairs.

The Noble Discoverer and the Kulluk began work on two wells during the 2012 drilling season, though Shell had earlier hoped to do six wells.

The string of problems that befell Shell in the Arctic last year would amount to a comedy of errors, if it weren’t so expensive.

The Kulluk ran aground. The Noble Discoverer dragged its anchor and suffered an engine-room fire. Shell’s brand-new tug boat Aiviq suffered failures in all four engines while at sea. Shell’s oil spill containment dome broke during testing.

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