Tea Party to Mitch McConnell: ‘You Cannot Win Without Us’

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Photo Credit: APA major GOP donor who told Breitbart News Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell made disparaging remarks about the Tea Party movement and about Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) continues to stand by his original story after claims that the reports were not accurate.

This individual reported that on the Oct. 30 fundraising call American Crossroads’ Karl Rove and Steven J. Law held with McConnell, “McConnell specifically talked about Mike Lee by name, specifically talked about Ted Cruz by name, and he specifically talked about the Tea Party by name,” the donor told Breitbart News in response to a story Rove’s and McConnell’s teams have purported shows otherwise.

That story, published by Charlie Spiering at The Washington Examiner earlier on Friday, confirms that McConnell “criticized conservative groups who supported the plan to defund Obamacare” and that he also criticized those conservatives who “are now actively working to defeat him in Kentucky.” The article adds that McConnell “repeatedly mentioned the Senate Conservatives Fund by name.”

Spiering, who says he was exclusively provided a 27-minute audio file of the call, reports that McConnell did, as Breitbart News’ source said, talk about dealing with conservative “schoolyard bullies” by “punching them in the nose.” While the article states those specific remarks were made “explicitly” about the Senate Conservatives Fund, he also reports that on the call Senator McConnell “criticized” other “conservative groups who supported the plan to defund Obamacare.” However, the Tea Party is certainly the pre-eminent conservative group that spearheaded, along with Senators Cruz and Lee, the plan to defund Obamacare.

In response to the Washington Examiner’s report, Breitbart News’ source also noted that McConnell’s comments at the Senate Conservatives Fund were in a broader context of an attack on the movement.

Read more from this story HERE.

This is How Liberty Ends

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Photo Credit: Susan Walsh/APDear Friend of Liberty,

Earlier this week, the Senate, in almost a straight party line vote, chose to end the filibuster with respect to most Presidential nominees. 
 
This shocking power grab strips the ability of the minority party to provide a check to elevating those to places of authority in the executive or the judicial branch, who lack the qualifications, temperament or respect for the liberties of all Americans to hold such positions of trust. 
 
Though voting to end this right of the minority, which dates back to the mid 19th century, is deplorable, no one should be too surprised given the unprecedented pattern of the abuse of power seen under this Administration with its willing accomplices in the Democrat controlled Senate, Harry Reid and Mark Begich.
 
Where will this end? Will Congress hold those responsible to account?  

If the past is any indication, we can say with confidence that the Washington establishment will once again turn a blind eye to the blatant and systematic abuse of power.

At the IRS, many of those responsible for political profiling have not only kept their jobs, they have been promoted. Crickets on the Justice Department’s illegal monitoring of the press.  
 
Congress has yet to get to the bottom of the debacle at Benghazi, as this Administration stonewalls efforts by House Republicans. Meanwhile, the NSA continues to trample on the rights of ordinary Americans.
 
Not to mention . . . Obamacare!  We were lied to. Period.
 
It is time to hold this Administration and its shills in Congress accountable! That’s why I’ve filed to run for US Senate in 2014.
 
Senator Mark Begich may grandstand during an election cycle, but he’s never going to hold this administration accountable. Let’s face it, he is part of the problem. He was the 60th and deciding vote on Obamacare, and frankly, he sold us a bill of goods.
 
One thing we know, Mark Begich will keep carrying the water for Barack Obama and Harry Reid.
 
Enough is enough. Alaskans deserve better. Let’s give our junior senator his pink slip before he does any more damage.
 
In 2014 we’ll have a chance to replace liberal Democrat Mark Begich and rein in Barack Obama’s failed socialist agenda. But it is not going to happen if we replace him with another “me too” Republican. We’ve already tried that brand, and it’s not working out so well.
 
We need a fighter in Washington who will confront this lawless administration, and work tirelessly to restore liberty and economic prosperity. With your support, that’s exactly what I intend to do.
 
This week we celebrated the immortal words of our nation’s first Republican President Abraham Lincoln. At Gettysburg 150 years ago, he eloquently re-stated the vision and mission of the United States of America. 
 
In our day, “this nation, under God” must have “a new birth of freedom” once again so that “government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
 
Together, we can begin to make that happen.
 
Thank you for standing with me and your financial support during this crucial hour in our nation’s history.
 
In the Fight,

Joe

Deal Reached On Iranian Nuclear Program; GOP Senator – “Makes Nuclear Iran More Likely”

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Photo Credit: AP/Susan Walsh Iran and six world powers reached a deal early Sunday that would halt parts of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for what was described by the Obama administration as “modest relief” from international sanctions.

Obama, speaking from the White House while Secretary of State John Kerry helped ink the agreement in Geneva, called it a “first step toward a comprehensive solution.”

The deal, while historic, is a six-month agreement. Republican senators in Washington warned shortly after the terms were announced that western powers were giving up too much in exchange for too little, in hopes of a longer-term deal. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., said it would give a leading sponsor of terror “billions of dollars in exchange for cosmetic concessions.”

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said that the agreement “makes a nuclear Iran more, not less, likely,” and called the deal “a blow to our allies in the region who are already concerned about America’s commitment to their security and it sends the wrong message to the Iranian people, who continue to suffer under the repressive rule of their leaders who have only their own self-preservation in mind.”

But Obama insisted the sanctions relief is reversible if Iran doesn’t live up to its end of the bargain.

Read more from this story HERE.

States Rejecting Obama’s ‘Fix’ Shows Plan Will Have Little Impact on Improving ObamaCare

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Photo Credit: Fox News Connecticut is the most recent state to reject President Obama’s plan to “fix” his signature health-care law after millions of Americas received policy cancellation notices — a trend that suggests the president’s proposed solution will have little impact on the issue.

At least eight others states — California, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington — have rejected the president’s Nov. 14 proposal that insurance companies offer plans that don’t comply with ObamaCare requirements for at least a year. Connecticut decided Friday.

Though ObamaCare is federal law, governors and insurance commissioners must allow providers to make the exceptions because insurance is regulated differently in each state.

Obama in touting his sweeping health-care reform law before signing it in 2010 told Americans they could keep their existing insurance plans if they liked them.

However, many of those plans do not meet the law’s new standards, which has resulted in millions of cancellation notices being mailed out over the past few months and the president announcing his proposed solution.

Read more from this story HERE.

Gingrich: ‘Even More Power and More Control’ for Obama (+video)

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Photo Credit: AP/J. Scott ApplewhiteBecause the Senate wasn’t functioning the way President Obama thinks it should, he supported Democrats Thursday as they overturned 200 years of Senate tradition by essentially doing away with the filibuster.

Democrats invoked the so-called “nuclear option,” allowing presidential nominees be confirmed with 51 votes, instead of 60.

“[T]his was one more step to give President Obama even more power and even more control,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Thursday on CNN’s “Crossfire.”

The Senate changed its longstanding filibuster rules only for presidential nominees, not for legislation — but Gringrich said that will probably change, too.

“And I think what struck me, I think this is a very historic vote. I don’t think this is just a tactic. And if you watch the president’s press conference today, the entire opening of the press conference is a litany of legislative problems. He doesn’t get to the appointments until after he goes through layer after layer of legislative problems, which signals to me he intends to unwind the entire filibuster by the time this is done.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Conservative Groups That Backed Wisconsin Gov. Walker Appear Target of Secret Govt. Probe

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Photo Credit: APDozens of conservative groups that support Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker reportedly have been subpoenaed by a special prosecutor demanding donor lists and other documents pertaining to their backing of Walker’s union overhaul and recall fight.

The so-called “John Doe” investigation bars those subpoenaed from talking publicly.

But Eric O’Keefe, director of the Wisconsin Club for Growth, told The Wall Street Journal recently that investigators have raided at least three homes and that he “wants the public to know what is going on,” despite the personal risk.

He also suggested the probe is having a chilling effect on conservative groups as Walker approaches a 2014 re-election effort.

He said the subpoenas, including the one he received in early October, “froze my communications and frightened many allies and vendors of the pro-taxpayer political movement in Wisconsin. … The process is the punishment.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Benghazi Witnesses: ‘Personnel were Not Armed’

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Photo Credit: WND Testimony by Benghazi witnesses and victims stating personnel inside the U.S. special mission were not armed directly contradicts the State Department report on the Sept. 11, 2012, attack, WND has learned.

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., chairman of the House Intelligence Subcommittee, told Fox News that State Department employees inside the mission “were not armed, not kitted up and there hadn’t been any shots fired from our side as far as the testimony reveals.”

Westmoreland was commenting on closed-door testimony given to his intelligence committee.

In contrast, the extensive report released by the State Department-sponsored Accountability Review Board, or ARB, specifically states personnel inside the mission protecting the compound and Ambassador Chris Stevens were armed and had their security kits.

The ARB states all assistant regional security officers, or ARSOs, were armed during the attack.

Read more from this story HERE.

GOP Congressman Serves Up a Steaming Plate of ‘I-Told-You-So’ over Obamacare and the Shutdown (+video)

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Photo Credit: Gage SkidmoreCongressman Raul Labrador isn’t unrepentant for the Republicans’ role in the fight over Obamacare that lead to the government shutdown — especially since the White House has unilaterally delayed multiple portions of the law since its implementation.

“There wasn’t a single Republican that wanted to shut down the government,”Labrador said in an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller. ”We all knew that on October first there was a new healthcare law that was going to impact every American and that was the only opportunity we had to do a fight on Obamacare.”

Labrador mocked Democrats for fighting so savagely against GOP proposals only to clamor for the very changes that the GOP was requesting as soon as President Obama’s signature piece of legislation went into a tailspin.

Read more from this story HERE.

Turning Off the Next Generation of Politicians

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Photo Credit: itupicturesDuring the 2012 presidential election, we conducted a national survey of more than 4,200 high school and college students. We asked about their attitudes toward politics and current events, their career aspirations and their political ambition. The results are stark. Only 11 percent of our survey respondents reported that, someday, when they were older, they might consider running for political office.

In fact, they’d rather do almost anything else.

In one set of questions, we presented these high school and college students with four career options — business owner, teacher, salesperson or mayor of a city or town — and asked which they would most like to be, assuming that each position paid the same amount of money. Nine out of 10 respondents chose a career other than mayor as their first choice. Nearly 40 percent reported that mayor would be their least-desired job.

We also asked which of the following higher-echelon jobs they found most appealing: business executive, lawyer, school principal or member of Congress. Serving as a member of Congress came in dead last, with just 13 percent of young people choosing it. It placed first on the least-desirable list.

The fact that young Americans do not want to run for office cannot be divorced from their perceptions of the political system, which could not be much worse. Eighty-five percent of our survey respondents did not think that elected officials want to help people; 79 percent did not consider politicians smart or hard-working; nearly 60 percent believed that politicians are dishonest; and fewer than 30 percent said they thought that candidates and elected leaders stand up for their convictions.

Read more from this story HERE.

Alaska Urges Australians to Venture to Arctic Circle for ‘Wintry Version of the Outback’

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Photo Credit: APA total of 36,000 Australian tourists visited Alaska in the summer of 2011 – the year Australia overtook the UK to become the state’s biggest market – and numbers are increasing every year.

Visit Anchorage vice-president for tourism development and sales, David Kasser, said Australians visiting America’s largest and most remote state tended to stay longer than their international counterparts – an average two to three weeks. They also tend to be older and wealthier, making them good spenders.

However, he said Australian tourism was dominated by cruises along the Inside Passage in the state’s southeast, with 96 per cent of visitors travelling there.

In contrast, the second most popular region – south central – attracted just 29 per cent of Australian tourists.

“I like to call the seven-day Inside Passage Cruise the Alaska Starter Cruise,” said Kasser, who was in Australia this week to promote his state.

Read more from this story HERE.