Cruz to Donate Salary to Charity if Harry Reid Forces Government Shutdown

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Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore

In a press release issued Monday evening Senator Ted Cruz vowed to donate his salary to charity for each day Majority Leader Harry Reid forces the government to shut down.

“Harry Reid should not force a government shutdown. I hope that Reid stops refusing to negotiate and works with the House to avoid a government shutdown, and, at the same time, prevent the enormous harms that Obamacare is inflicting on the American people.

“If, however, Harry Reid forces a government shutdown, I intend to donate my salary to charity for each day the government is shut down. Elected leaders should not be treated better than the American people, which is precisely why hardworking Americans deserve the same Obamacare exception that President Obama has already granted Members of Congress.”

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Gallup: At Least 25% of Uninsured Americans Say They Will Stay That Way

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Twenty-five percent of uninsured Americans say they will pay a fine rather than purchase health insurance in 2014, according to a newly released Gallup Poll.

Another 65 percent said they are more likely to purchase health insurance than pay a fine. Under Obamacare, people may sign up for insurance on one of the new exchanges; or they may get coverage through their employer, from Medicaid or Medicare, or by purchasing a plan outside the exchanges.

When Gallup asked uninsured people if they would turn to the new exchanges, 36 percent said no, they do not plan to get health insurance through a state or federal health insurance exchange in 2014. Forty-eight percent of the uninsured said yes, they would buy insurance on one of the exchanges; and 17 percent either hadn’t decided or had no opinion.

According to Gallup, the low level of familiarity with the exchanges may explain why less than half of the uninsured said they will get health insurance for 2014 specifically through a state or federal health insurance exchange.

The Affordable Care Act requires most Americans to buy health insurance by Jan. 1, 2014, or pay a fine. People who don’t get insurance through their employer may purchase it on one of the new health care exchanges — some run by the states, and others run by the federal government.

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Obamacare Website Quietly Deletes Reference to ‘Free Health Care’

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Even as President Obama and his administration are making a last minute push to encourage enrollment in Obamacare, a quiet change was made on the Healthcare.gov website regarding those who will still not be able to afford coverage after the program kicks in. From at least June 26, 2013 to as recently as September 15, under the topic, “Where can I get free or low-cost care in my community?” the following statement appeared: “If you can’t afford any health plan, you can get free or low-cost health and dental care at a nearby community health center.” Here is how the page in question appeared:

Photo Credit: Weekly Standard

Photo Credit: Weekly Standard

However, sometime between September 16 and September 23, the reference to “free” care was dropped. The title of the topic was changed as well, and now reads: “Where can I get low-cost care in my community?” Here is how the page currently appears:

Photo Credit: Weekly Standard

Photo Credit: Weekly Standard

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Democratic Congressman Eviscerates New EPA Coal Regulation

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Photo Credit: Getty Images

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., said last Thursday that the Environmental Protection Agency’s latest proposal to reduce carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants is “ill-conceived and illogical.”

Rahall, who wrote a blistering op-ed for Coal Valley News, reiterated the point that the EPA’s new regulations would essentially ban new coal plants and further the “war on coal” meme.

“It is just the latest salvo in the EPA’s war on coal, a war I have unwaveringly soldiered against, and I will work tirelessly to prevent such an ill-conceived and illogical plan from moving forward,” Rahall said.

Rahall noted that the EPA’s “wrong-headed policy” would increase energy bills, reduce energy reliability and cost jobs. He then blamed the EPA for

“This callous, ideologically driven EPA continues to be numb to the economic pain that its reckless regulations cause,” Rahall said.

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IG Report: IRS ‘Improperly Withheld’ FOIA Request Information

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

A Sept. 30 report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found that the IRS may have violated taxpayer rights by improperly withholding or not adequately searching for and providing information responsive to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

TIGTA also found that “sensitive taxpayer information was inadvertently disclosed in response to nine (16.4 percent) of the FOIA/Privacy Act and four (7.4 percent) of the I.R.C. § 6103 information requests reviewed.”

“TIGTA reviewed a statistically valid sample of 55 FOIA/Privacy Act information requests from a population of 3,415 FOIA/Privacy Act requests and found nine (16.4 percent) in which taxpayer rights may have been violated because the IRS improperly withheld or failed to adequately search for and provide information to requestors,” the report, titled Fiscal Year 2013 Statutory Review of Compliance with the Freedom of Information Act, said.

The IRS hired 21 new disclosure specialists in Fiscal Year 2012 and 24 new specialists in 2011, TIGTA said.

“The influx of new employees may be a contributing factor to the increased instances of taxpayer information being either erroneously withheld or not provided in error,” TIGTA said.

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Poll: Only 10 Percent Approve of Congress, 10 Pt Drop Since Beginning of September

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Photo Credit: Breitbart

Photo Credit: Breitbart

A new poll released Monday found Congress has only a 10 percent approval rating.

The low rating represents a 10-percentage-point-drop since the beginning of September and comes as a government shutdown looks likely. CNN/ORC International poll conducted the survey.

Nearly 90 percent of those polled disapprove of Congress, the highest disapproval rating CNN has ever recorded.

People have also grown increasingly bitter with congressional leadership.

“House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the two party leaders at the center of the budget negotiations that may lead to a shutdown, have become more unpopular since May, and both are facing the highest unfavorable ratings they have ever received in CNN polling,” CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said.

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Obama Ignores Law, Waives Ban on Aiding Regimes that Use Child Soldiers

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

President Obama determined that it is once again in the national interest of the United States to waive a provision of a law against aiding regimes that use child soldiers to provide non-lethal assistance and peace-keeping support to several African countries.

By law, the president has to notify Congress that he is waiving the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008 within 45 days of making the decision. Obama’s press team published the presidential determination on Monday afternoon, with Congress on the eve of a government shutdown.

The Child Soldiers Prevention Act waiver applies fully to Chad, South Sudan and Yemen. Congo and Somalia received partial waivers.

Obama first waived the provision in 2010. Samantha Power, then the National Security Council senior director for multilateral affairs and human rights, promised “at the time that the waivers would not become a recurring event,” as The Cable recalled.

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FHA Gets $1.7 Billion Bailout, No Congressional Approval Required

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

For the first time in its 79-year history, the Federal Housing Agency (FHA) announced on Friday the need for a $1.7 billion bailout from the Treasury to cover losses on its reverse home mortgage programs.

FHA Commissioner Carole Galante said in a letter to Congress that the FHA will withdraw the money from the Treasury by Monday when the fiscal year ends. Galante does not need congressional approval to tap the funds.

“In the next few months, we expect updated data and economic forecasts to reflect what we already know to be true–the health of the fund has improved significantly,” wrote Galante.

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US Leaker Edward Snowden Among 3 Finalists for EU’s Top Human Rights Prize

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Photo Credit: Reuters

Photo Credit: Reuters

U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden is among three finalists for the European Union’s top human rights prize.

European lawmakers on Monday narrowed down the list of nominees for the prestigious 50,000 euro ($65,000) award to Snowden, Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, and imprisoned dissidents from Belarus.

The pro-environment Greens’ caucus said Snowden, who leaked a trove of documents on U.S. surveillance agencies’ programs, deserves to win because he “risked his freedom to protect us.”

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Critics Dispute Global Warming Assertions Made by IPCC

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Critics of a new United Nations report on global warming say their skepticism is based on discrepancies between the UN’s climate models and actual, observable conditions.

The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will release its full report on Monday. It expresses 95% certainty that human activity is primarily responsibly for an observed rise in global temperatures over the past century. Environmentalists have said that even mild criticism of such reports on global warming as science “denial.”

Skeptics have already pointed to what they say are flaws in the report’s methodology and resulting problems with its findings.

Past discrepancies between the IPCC’s models and either subsequent environmental conditions or contradictory scientific work at the time demonstrate why those models should not be taken at face value, the critics say.

The IPCC predicted in 1995 that global sea levels would rise by up to 55 centimeters by 2100 “for the range of emissions scenarios.”

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