Black Caucus Member: Blacks Worth Less Than Whites in America

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Photo Credit: APBy Pete Kasperowicz. A member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) said Monday night that the Trayvon Martin trial is the latest evidence that America does not value the lives of blacks and whites equally.

“The tragic death of our young man, Trayvon Martin, followed by the acquittal of the man who pursued him and killed him, has reminded us that although it may seem as if African Americans and other minorities have achieved full equality in our civil society, we are still victims of racial profiling in violation of our laws and our morals,” Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) said on the House floor Monday night.

“The lives of black men and women are not accorded the same value as the lives of white Americans,” she said. “This is a reality for far too many black Americans.”

Clarke was one of many members of the CBC who spoke on the floor in reaction to last week’s decision by a jury that George Zimmerman was not guilty of murder or manslaughter after shooting Martin earlier this year.

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) acknowledged violence in black neighborhoods, but implied that the way to solve this is to ensure equal opportunity for all. Read more from this story HERE.

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For blacks, empathy trumps the economy

By Niall Stanage. To African-Americans, President Obama just gets it.

Obama’s notably personal comments on Friday about the verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman, and on race in America, struck a chord. They vividly underlined the fact that, for the first time, the person in the Oval Office has lived an African-American experience.

To black supporters, that is more important than Obama’s inability to narrow racial inequalities during his four and a half years in office, something that has frustrated members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), a former head of the black caucus, was in the middle of a phone interview with The Hill when Obama appeared at the White House briefing room podium to address the raw feelings exposed by the “not guilty” verdict on the man who had fatally shot Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager.

Pausing to listen to an office television for several minutes, Rangel said: “I don’t see how a person not-of-color could possibly do the job that he’s doing.” Read more from this story HERE.

President Seeking Credit for Tiny Economic Uptick

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Photo Credit: APBy Justin Sink. President Obama will grab credit for an improving economy in a series of speeches this week that the White House hopes will increase his political clout.

The messaging effort is intended to portray Obama as focused on jobs, which voters repeatedly say is the most pressing issue facing Washington, according to the White House.

Democratic allies argue it will allow Obama to go on offense after months in which he has been dragged down by political controversies that have dogged his second term and injured him in the polls.

“We have to keep focused on these issues, even as we all are buffeted about by, you know, the variety of things that confront us … fake scandals or things like that,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday at his daily briefing.

“We have to keep focused on the North Star here, the issues that the American people want us to be focused on,” he added. Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: APPressure mounts on Obama as he REFUSES to pay his interns (while campaigning to raise the minimum wage)

By Hayley Peterson. As President Obama campaigns to increase the minimum wage, his own interns aren’t getting paid a cent to work a minimum of 45 hours a week.

White House interns are expected to show up to work ‘at least’ Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., according to the administration’s website. Housing and commuting assistance aren’t provided either, so the White House encourages applicants to petition nonprofits for help funding their living expenses.

Just this summer alone, the White House ‘hired’ 147 interns, saving the administration roughly half a million dollars if it had otherwise paid each intern minimum wage for 45 hours of work per week. The internship program, which lasts 11 weeks in the summer, runs year-round.

Unpaid internships are widespread in Washington. It’s estimated that the federal government uses as many as 30,000 uncompensated interns every summer.

But with Obama calling for an increase to the minimum wage – which is set at $7.25 an hour – activist Mikey Franklin says it’s particularly disdainful for the White House to be relying on free labor. Read more from this story HERE.

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Obama approval rating drops for second straight quarter

By Rick Moran. Gallup tracking poll shows the decline in President Obama’s approval numbers over the last 3 quarters.

The Hill:

Obama averaged a 47.9 percent approval rating for his 18th quarter in office, running from April 20 to July 19. That’s down from 49.7 percent in the first quarter of Obama’s second term in office, and down from 51.9 in the 16th quarter, when he was reelected.

The president got a slight boost in the early stages of the 18th quarter after the Boston Marathon bombings, but declined steadily from there and has not topped the 50 percent mark in almost a month.

According to Gallup, Obama’s average for the quarter is typical for second term presidents. The president comes in well below former presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, well above Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, and is near in approval to Harry Truman and George W. Bush.

Read more from this story HERE.

How Secrecy Erodes Democracy

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Photo Credit: ReutersIn early June, leaked documents revealed that the U.S. government was collecting the details — if not the content — of virtually every call that every American made. President Barack Obama claimed that the PATRIOT Act gave him the authority to know whom we called, when and how long we talked.

This claim came from the same man who, as a senator, wrote, “We believe the government should be required to convince a judge that the records they are seeking have some connection to a suspected terrorist or spy.”

It appears the president now believes we are all connected to terrorists. It’s as if he’s playing Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon with our civil liberties.

Congress passed the PATRIOT Act in 2001 after a vociferous public debate. To protect against abuses, the act was scheduled to sunset — it would expire if Congress did not renew it after five years.

When it was reauthorized in 2006, Congress sought to limit the government’s warrantless access to records. Under the revised law, the government can obtain records if a court determines they are relevant to an authorized investigation into international terrorism or foreign spying.

Read more from this story HERE.

U.S. Air Force Suffers Brain Drain as Top Guns Drop Out to Fly Drones – Leaving Pilot Numbers Short by Hundreds

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Photo Credit: Reuters The U.S. Air Force is struggling to keep its top gun combat pilots as increasing numbers move to the safety of flying attack drones from military bases.

Indeed, despite their adrenaline fueled reputations, fighter pilots believe the stresses of actual combat compared to the financial incentives of flying passenger airlines or drones are too much too ignore.

Facing a shortfall of 700 pilots from a required pool of 3,000 by 2021, the Air Force is now actively offering a huge $225,000 signing on bonus for new pilots – provided you stay in the service for nine years.

This year alone, the Air Force has a shortfall of 200 pilots among its ranks, as the surge in demand for better paid commercial jobs and reassignments to fly combat drones impacts and reshapes modern warfare.

Officers in the Air Force are aware of this issue according to the LA Times and as a result are beefing up their Aviator Retention Program which will offer a $25,000 signing bonus per year over the course of nine years.

‘Were it not for the program, there would be a greater problem that the one we currently have,’ said Lt. Col. Kurt Konopatzke.

Read more from this story HERE.

Who’s Watching the Watchdog? Records Show IG Billed Taxpayers for Questionable Trips

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Photo Credit: APThe man who’s supposed to be the chief watchdog for the Department of Homeland Security was himself billing the government for a string of “site visits” to sunny locales including Puerto Rico and south Florida — where he allegedly was pursuing his Ph.D.

The activity was detailed in a trove of documents obtained and published by conservative group Cause of Action. They appear to lend weight to at least some of the myriad allegations made last month against homeland security Acting Inspector General Charles Edwards.

Among other claims backed up by the documents are that Edwards employed his wife — some say in violation of nepotism rules — and that she won approval to telework.

“At least the timeline and the narrative are being confirmed,” Cause of Action spokeswoman Mary Beth Hutchins told FoxNews.com, adding there will have to be more digging. “There are some legitimate questions here.”

Edwards’ office, though, continued to battle and deny the allegations.

Read more from this story HERE.

Big Sis’ Shockingly Dirty Secrets Go Public

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Photo Credit: Center for American ProgressDemocrats and Republicans largely heaped praise upon Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano after she announced she would resign her post later in the year, but a longtime constitutional attorney says there is not much to applaud – especially for anyone concerned about preserving freedom and limiting government intrusion in their lives.

“What the Department of Homeland Security became under Janet Napolitano is this monstrous surveillance and very intimidating group,” said Rutherford Institute President John Whitehead, a constitutional attorney for the past 40 years and author of “A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State.”

“I think originally there were some good intentions with the Department of Homeland Security, but what happened under President Obama is that it accelerated rapidly,” Whitehead told WND. “I criticized George Bush’s policies. Under President Obama, we’re zooming.”

Whitehead said the Napolitano legacy of reducing freedom is evident across the board, starting in early 2009 when the department issued a report listing returning soldiers as one of the greatest threats to American security.

“Another program Napolitano set up is Operation Vigilant Eagle, which is a surveillance system done on all returning veterans from overseas, where they watch Facebook posts, text messages, emails of returning veterans to see if they’re going to be disgruntled,” Whitehead said. “There are quite a few disgruntled veterans. In fact, one that we helped just filed a major lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Royal Baby: For Once the Entire World Knows a Baby is a Baby

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Photo Credit: LifeNewsKate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, gave birth to a baby boy as the entire world waited with breath that was bated.

As the days turned into hours and the hours turned into minutes, people around the world awaited the birth of the “#RoyalBaby” — using that popular Twitter hashtag to engage in discussions about the birth of the child. But, as Christian writer Eric Metaxas pointed out during Middleton’s pregnancy, the world finally, for once, settled on the fact that a baby before birth is a human baby.

While abortion activists normally call a child in the womb anything but a baby or a child, this was one rare occasion where “Royal Baby” won out over “Royal Fetus.”

As Metaxas notes: “The battle over human dignity is waged not just at the local abortion clinic or crisis pregnancy center, nor merely in the halls of Congress or the Supreme Court. It is also carried out in our choice of words.”

The war on the sanctity of human life relies on bullets of deception and warheads of untruth—in short, on what George Orwell called “political language,” which he said “is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Charles Krauthammer Takes On Sally Kohn: Detroit is Not A GOP Failure, ‘It’s Been Run by The Democrats for 60 Years’ (+video)

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Photo Credit: YouTubeBy Jason Howerton. Charles Krauthammer hit back at liberal pundit Sally Kohn after she claimed conservatives will “try to use Detroit falsely as an example to push more austerity.” Kohn’s comments fall in line with those of a number of liberal and progressive commentators who are seemingly attempting to pin Detroit’s collapse on GOP policies, despite the fact that the city has been run by Democrats and progressives for decades.

That’s the point that Krauthammer hammered home.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: ReutersDetroit bankruptcy raises concerns about other US cites under huge retiree debt

By Fox News. The recent bankruptcy filing in Detroit is raising red flags about other major U.S. cities also dealing with billions in under-funded retiree benefits, prompting the question — who might be next?

Just last week, Chicago’s credit rating was downgraded as a result of its $19 billion in under-funded pension liabilities.

Moody’s Investors Service called the liabilities “very large and growing” and warned that Chicago, the country’s third-largest city, faces a “tremendous strain’’ in trying to meet future funding requirements and public safety demands.

A similar scenario, though decades in the making, largely doomed Detroit, whose average police response time has grown to more than 50 minutes.

And like Michigan, which appears in no position to bail out Detroit, Illinois is dealing with its own $97 billion pension shortfall. Read more from this story HERE.

Southwest Flight Crash-Lands At New York’s LaGuardia Airport (+video)

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Ten injured as plane crash lands without after nose landing gear COLLAPSES as it lands at New York’s LaGuardia Airport

By Michael Zennie. A jetliner has crash-landed at New York’s LaGuardia Airport after its nose landing gear collapsed as it touched down on the tarmac this evening.

Ten people aboard the Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 were hurt. Six had to be taken to a local hospital. The rest were treated at the scene. The extent of their injuries were not known, though they are believed to have been minor. Four passengers also suffered panic attacks after the landing.

Southwest Flight 345 was bound for New York City from Nashville, Tennessee. It was carrying 144 passengers – including a baby – and six crew members.

Aviation officials halted all takeoffs and landings at LaGuardia after the crash about 5.45pm on Monday. The Federal Aviation Administration said held all flights to LaGuardia for over an hour – delaying thousands of fliers.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: Reuters NYC Public Advocate threatens to prevent Saudi Arabian Airlines from landing at JFK

By Fox News. New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio tells FoxNews.com that he’ll work to prevent Saudi Arabian Airlines from landing at JFK and other American airports if the carrier does not change its policy of barring Israelis from flying — even when passengers are simply looking to transfer in Saudi Arabia to another country.

“When Saudi Airlines flies from our airports, it needs to follow our laws. Discrimination based on national origin is illegal. We’re going to take steps to see Saudi Airlines’ lease at JFK pulled until it respects the rights of Israeli nationals,” said de Blasio, a mayoral candidate who first helped expose the airline’s practices.

Federal law says an “air carrier or foreign air carrier may not subject a person in air transportation to discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex or ancestry.” Conditions of the airline’s leases and agreements to operate at airports, such as JFK, could be terminated if the law is broken.

For its part, Saudi Arabian Airlines is citing lack of diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Israel for the airline barring Israeli passengers. Read more from this story HERE.

Conservatives, Beware the Hatch Effect

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Photo Credit: RedStateIn 2014, several prominent Republicans in the House and Senate are going to be challenged by people more conservative than the incumbents in area where a more conservative person can still win. Leading up to these challenges, conservatives must beware of the Hatch Effect.

In 2012, many conservatives in print, radio, and television came out quickly and endorsed Orrin Hatch against Dan Liljenquist. Hatch had been a conservative warrior for a long time, he sounded conservative, and we’d need him in the fight against amnesty. He made the rounds on television, radio, and had references in various op-ed columns. Outside groups went to work for Orrin Hatch.

Those who fretted that Hatch might return to the ways of Ted Kennedy’s best friend on the right were drowned out by a near unified conservative front — one that did not include RedState.

In a debate against Dan Liljenquist, Hatch hit all the right notes on immigration.

[W]e won’t be able to solve these problems until we secure the borders, and we have to do that. Every other large nation in the world knows how to secure their borders, why can’t we secure ours? And second, we can no longer grant amnesty. I fought against the 1986 Simpson-Mazzoli bill because they granted amnesty to 3 million people. They should have to get in line like anybody else if they want to come into this country and do it legally.

Read more from this story HERE.