GOP Won't be Happy About These Presidential Straw Poll Results

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Photo Credit: TPNN

Photo Credit: TPNN

By Matthew Burke. While the leftstream media, the GOP establishment, and the RINO political consultant class are busy pushing the narrative that squishy moderates like Bob Dole, John McCain, Mitt Romney, and now Jeb Bush are the most “electable,” a new 2016 presidential straw poll shows that the grassroots, as they did in the Reagan years, have a completely different preference.

Out of 16 potential Republican 2016 presidential candidates, Texas Senator Ted Cruz easily took first place, with over 26% of the vote, while Kentucky Senator Rand Paul came in second place, with 22%.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker also fared well in the straw poll, coming in third place while garnering just under 16% of the votes.

Considerably back in the field were Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Ben Carson, Rick Perry, and Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican loser, all in the 5-6% range.

Pro-Common Core and Pro-Amnesty Jeb Bush received less than three percent, while Marco Rubio, perhaps still hurt by his earlier soft immigration position, received less than two percent.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie received little more than a rounding error, obtaining less than one percent of votes. (Read more from this story HERE)

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McCain’s big purge

By Alex Isenstadt. Nearly a year ago, tea party agitators in Arizona managed to get John McCain censured by his own state party. Now, he’s getting his revenge.

As the longtime Republican senator lays the groundwork for a likely 2016 reelection bid, his political team is engaging in an aggressive and systematic campaign to reshape the state GOP apparatus by ridding it of conservative firebrands and replacing them with steadfast allies.

The ambitious effort — detailed to POLITICO by nearly a dozen McCain operatives, donors, and friends — has stretched from office buildings in Alexandria, Virginia, where strategists plotted and fundraisers collected cash for a super PAC, to Vietnamese-American communities across Arizona, where recruiters sought out supporters eager to help the incumbent defeat the tea party.

Team McCain’s goal? Unseat conservative activists who hold obscure, but influential, local party offices. (Read more from this story HERE)

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City Shuts Down Glee Church Camp

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

By Todd Starnes. It appears that Jesus and jazz hands don’t mix.

That’s the gist of a legal battle in Auburn, N.Y., pitting City Hall against a summer glee camp hosted in the Case Mansion a building owned by the First Presbyterian Church.

The city’s code enforcement officer issued a cease-and-desist order in July — alleging the church’s musical theater glee camp was a zoning violation. And more than five months later – the wheels of justice are finally beginning to turn.

“Immediately cease use of property in an R-2 zone for commercial use,” the order read. “Cease operating a summer glee camp @100/camper in a residential district. This is not an allowable use here”. . .

“Why in the world is the city prosecuting the church over a glee camp?” asked Hiram Sasser, a Liberty Institute attorney defending the church against the city’s prosecution. Liberty Institute has a reputation for taking on religious liberty cases — and Sasser said First Presbyterian definitely has a case. (Read more about the glee church camp shutdown HERE)

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Chinese Authorities Tear Down Cross on Christian Nursing Home

By Sui-Lee Wee. Chinese authorities have dismantled a cross in a Christian nursing home a week before Christmas, an employee said on Tuesday, the latest example of a growing crackdown on Christianity.

Men dressed in plainclothes removed the cross that was on top of the nursing home in the eastern city of Hangzhou on Dec. 19, said Gao Huifang, a worker at the home.

Activists say the incident is part of a campaign targeting churches throughout Zhejiang province, which is known for its growing Christian population. Hangzhou is the provincial capital.

The dismantling of the cross had stunned residents, and three elderly people fainted on the spot, Gao said. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Nevada Rancher Taunts Feds by Still Grazing Cattle on Undisputed Lands

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Photo Credit: The Washington Times

Photo Credit: The Washington Times

Unbowed and unapologetic, Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy is still running his cattle on disputed grazing land eight months after his highly publicized standoff over public lands, but that doesn’t mean his feud with the federal government is over.

In a tense confrontation that generated international headlines, the 68-year-old Mr. Bundy won that round last spring: Bureau of Land Management officials agreed to leave the property and release his impounded cattle after hundreds of armed supporters descended on the Southern Nevada ranch in April. He says he hasn’t seen any sign of federal agents since.

“[W]e’ve really enjoyed some liberty and freedoms out here,” Mr. Bundy told the Las Vegas Review-Journal last month.

“Since the standoff, we haven’t seen one BLM vehicle on any of these country roads around this ranch. We haven’t seen one BLM ranger. We haven’t seen one [National] Park Service ranger. We haven’t really seen any undercover-type people,” he said. “We haven’t seen snipers on top of our hills. We haven’t seen high-tech communication equipment. We haven’t seen any of those things” . . .

His legal battle with the BLM over grazing rights, one that has resonated across the region, is ongoing. Mr. Bundy has refused to pay $1.2 million in grazing fees to the BLM, arguing that the land belongs to the state, not the federal government. The land rights issue is particularly heated in Nevada, where 85 percent of the land within the state’s borders is federally owned. (Read more about the Nevada rancher HERE)

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Obamacare Train Wreck Looms for Uninsured

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Photo Credit: REUTERS / Joshua Roberts

Photo Credit: REUTERS / Joshua Roberts

By Joel Himelfarb. Americans face mounting Obamacare-mandated penalties if they cannot prove to the Internal Revenue Service’s satisfaction that they had health insurance during the previous year, Fox News reports.

The law mandates a tax penalty of $95 per person or 1 percent of household income, whichever is more, for those who went without insurance during 2014. It increases to $325 for 2015 or 2 percent of income, whichever is higher. By 2016, the average penalty is expected to be about $1,100.

Government figures indicate that tens of millions of Americans remain uninsured. But it is unclear how aggressive the IRS will be in attempting to collect from those Americans deemed to be scofflaws.

The law currently lists about 30 different exemptions, most of them related to financial hardship. (Read more from this story HERE)
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Then-Senator Obama Smokes a Cigarette During First Meeting With Gruber on Obamacare

By Patrick Howley. Then-Senator Barack Obama took a cigarette break during his first “educational” meeting with Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber on health care reform.

The Daily Caller extensively reported on Obama’s 2009 Oval Office meeting with Gruber to design the Obamacare bill. Obama famously called Gruber, who called the American people “stupid,” just “some adviser who was never on our staff.” But their relationship pre-dated that meeting by several years

As Gruber faces a call-back from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in the new year, and continues to withhold documents about his work for Obama, records show that Gruber served as Obama’s early health care mentor in a 2006 meeting in Obama’s Senate office. Gruber, who was linked to the Ted Kennedy-led health reform push in Massachusetts, got Obama up to speed before the Illinois senator ran for president. (Read more about the impending Obamacare train wreck HERE)

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Gruber Said Obamacare Would not be Affordable in 2009

President Obama’s health care adviser Jonathan Gruber said that the Affordable Care Act would definitely not be affordable while he was writing the bill with the White House.

As Gruber continues to withhold documents while he awaits a call-back for more testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in the new year, more shocking information is coming to light detailing the deceptions that went into the writing of the health-care law.

Gruber said that Obamacare had no cost controls in it and would not be affordable in an October 2009 policy brief, presented here exclusively by TheDC. At the time, Gruber had already personally counseled Obama in the Oval Office and served on Obama’s presidential transition team. Obama, meanwhile, told the American people that their premiums would go down dramatically. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Abortionist Who Sold Abortion Pills to Women Who Weren’t Pregnant Loses License

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Photo Credit: Life News

Photo Credit: Life News

By Steven Ertelt. Oklahoma abortionist Nareshkumar Gandalal “Naresh” Patel has lost his medical license after the state attorney general brought charges related to his selling the abortion drug to women who were not pregnant.

Patel once faced charges of raping and sodomizing his abortion patients but eventually avoided punishment. Now, Patel has posted a $2,000 bond and has been released from jail and his Outpatient Services for Women abortion facility remains closed for now.

Police raided the Outpatient Services for Women abortion center in Oklahoma City and arrested Patel. The arrest came after a Operation Rescue filed a five-count complaint against him with the State Attorney General’s office, the Oklahoma Health Department, and the Oklahoma Medical Board.

Patel doesn’t face charges related to the rapes or dumping the bodies of abortion babies. Instead, Patel, 62, is accused of obtaining money by false pretenses. Patel lied to women and told them they were pregnant and then put their lives and health at risk by selling them the dangerous RU 486 (mifepristone) abortion pill that has killed dozens and injured thousands of women. (Read more about the abortionist who sold abortion pills to women who weren’t really pregnant HERE)

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Abortion Industry on Verge of ‘Implosion’

By WND. The “implosion” in America’s abortion industry is continuing, and the only thing that prevents a complete collapse is a series of court injunctions that are preventing various state safety laws from being enforced, according to a new survey of the situation.

“In all, 73 abortion facilities shut down for all or part of the year. The total number of all remaining abortion clinics in the U.S. is currently 739. Surgical abortion facilities account for 551 of that total while the number of medication-only abortion facilities stands at 188,” said the report from Operation Rescue. “Out of 60 surgical abortion clinic closures, 47 were permanent. This represents a 23 percent decline in surgical abortion facilities over the past five years.

“The only things that are preventing total collapse are court injunctions that are blocking several state abortion safety laws from being enforced,” the report said.

The report said 13 surgical facilities were closed, but then allowed to reopen “primarily due to court action that enjoined abortion safety laws that had shut down the substandard facilities.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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Illegal Aliens Increasingly Hostile, Aggressive Toward US Border Patrol

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Photo Credit: Fox News Latino

Photo Credit: Fox News Latino

By Fox News Latino. Undocumented migrants arrested in the Arizona desert increasingly mount resistance and behave more aggressively during detentions, Border Patrol agents working in the state said.

“In recent years, undocumented immigrants’ aggressiveness has increased and that is something we face when we patrol the desert,” Art Del Cueto, president of the union representing Border Patrol agents in Arizona, told Efe.

Del Cueto recalled that when he began his career as a Border Patrol agent 12 years ago, during his first arrest of illegal immigrants he alone stopped 80 people and all of them followed his instructions without objection.

“Now, when we stop two or three people, often we find that, at least, one of them is aggressive,” he said.

On Dec. 7, the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector reported that one of its officers had been assaulted by a Mexican migrant near the town of Gu Vo. (Read more from the story Illegal Aliens Increasingly Hostile HERE)

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GOP Leadership may be Developing Plan to Solidify Obama’s Executive Amnesty

By Matthew Boyle. Leaders of the GOP-led Congress that will be sworn in next month are facing a large question: whether or not to defund President Obama’s unilateral executive amnesty. But as 2015 dawns, it isn’t clear whether they’ll be willing to take up the fight.

During December’s lame duck session, Republicans surrendered by passing a 1,774-page, $1.1 trillion so-called “cromnibus” spending bill. That measure funds most of the federal government through September, and the Department of Homeland Security for the next two months. Conservatives wanted Republicans to attempt to roll back Obama’s amnesty by defunding DHS this month.

But the incoming, bicameral congressional GOP leadership team may be working out a plan to fund President Obama’s executive amnesty in totality through 2015 and even beyond, therefore enabling its implementation once and for all. While GOP leaders and their aides haven’t said on the record that they’re going to fund Obama’s amnesty, recent reporting indicates that’s a very real possibility despite a resounding midterm election where voters sent more Republicans to Washington, in large part, to push back against Obama’s power grabs.

“He’s consulting with his members and the Speaker on how best to proceed,” Don Stewart, a spokesman for incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, told Breitbart News of his boss’s role in these matters—while explicitly not answering whether funding for executive amnesty would be blocked or not. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Elderly NYC Man Attacked in Broad Daylight, Caught on Video

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Photo Credit: Shutterstock

Photo Credit: Shutterstock

By Carolina Leid. William King has lived in his Bronx neighborhood for 40 years, and since 1974 he has felt safe – that is until Saturday afternoon when he was brutally beaten in broad daylight. The vicious encounter was caught on home surveillance camera.

“I got a cut above over my eyelid, and the side of my face is numb – I can’t open my mouth that well and I had a lump the size of a baseball on the side of my head,” says King.

The incident happened near the corner of Briggs Avenue and East 197th Street in Bedford Park – not in the wee hours of the morning, but at 2 in the afternoon on a beautiful, bright and busy day.

One man pounded the 67-year-old, while another acted as a lookout – both were left empty-handed.

“I believe it was a racial attack – they weren’t trying to rob me, I had money on me and my wallet and all. They weren’t trying to rob me,” adds King. (Read more about the NYC man attacked HERE)

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Police Deaths Soar 24% in 2014 with Ambush Attacks Leading Cause

By David Sherfinski. Law enforcement fatalities in the United States rose 24 percent in 2014 to 126 and ambush-style attacks were the No. 1 cause of felonious officer deaths for the fifth straight year, according to preliminary data from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

The NLEOMF report said 126 federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial officers were killed in the line of duty this year, compared to 102 in 2013. The number of officers killed by firearms in 2014 — 50 — is up 56 percent from the 32 killed last year.

Fifteen officers nationwide were killed in ambush assaults in 2014, and the recent shooting deaths of New York City Police Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos have attracted national attention and contributed to tension between police and the city’s elected leaders.

The total of 15 ambush assaults matched 2012 for the highest total since 1995. (Read more from this story HERE)
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Arrests Plummeting in NYC After Execution of Two NYPD Officers

By New York Post. It’s not a slowdown — it’s a virtual work stoppage.

NYPD traffic tickets and summonses for minor offenses have dropped off by a staggering 94 percent following the execution of two cops — as officers feel betrayed by the mayor and fear for their safety, The Post has learned.

The dramatic drop comes as Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and Mayor Bill de Blasio plan to hold an emergency summit on Tuesday with the heads of the five police unions to try to close the widening rift between cops and the administration.

The unprecedented meeting is being held at the new Police Academy in Queens at 2 p.m., sources said.

Angry union leaders have ordered drastic measures for their members since the Dec. 20 assassination of two NYPD cops in a patrol car, including that two units respond to every call. (Read more from this story HERE)

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AirAsia Plane Crash Update: At Least 40 bodies Found

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Photo Credit: WSJ

Photo Credit: WSJ

By Fox News. At least 40 bodies have been found in the area where AirAsia Flight 8501 last made contact with air traffic controllers, along with debris from the plane.

The bodies were found in the Java Sea about six miles from the plane’s last known point of contact. The plane disappeared Sunday with 162 people on board traveling from Surbaya, Indonesia to Singapore.

The bodies were were not wearing life jackets, according to Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Director, SB Supriyadi.

Rescue workers were shown on local TV being lowered on ropes from a hovering helicopter to retrieve bodies. Efforts were hindered by 6-foot waves and strong winds, Supriyadi said, adding that several bodies were later picked up by a navy ship.

“The warship Bung Tomo has retrieved 40 bodies and the number is growing. They are very busy now,” a navy spokesman added. (Read more about the AirAsia plane crash HERE)

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AirAsia Plane Overshoots Philippine Airway

By AP. An AirAsia Zest plane carrying 159 people overshot the runway and got stuck in a muddy field Tuesday at an international airport in the central Philippines after landing from Manila in windy weather, officials said. There were no reports of injuries.

Crew members launched emergency slides to help passengers disembark from the Airbus A320-200 after it skidded off the runway in the resort town of Kalibo in Aklan province before nightfall, Giovanni Hontomin, who is in charge of AirAsia Zest’s operations, said by phone.

Initial reports indicated that three of the plane’s tires got stuck in the mud, said Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines spokesman Eric Apolonio. He said the busy airport would be closed to air traffic until the stalled aircraft, which likely sustained some damage, is towed away from near the runway’s end. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Court Dismisses Lawsuit by Christian Fire Fighters Forced into Gay Pride Parade

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Photo Credit: WND

Photo Credit: WND

After more than 10 years of litigation, the Supreme Court of Rhode Island has thrown out lawsuits by two Christian firefighters who were forced to drive a Providence fire truck in a “gay”-pride parade despite their religious objections.

The firefighters, Theodore Fabrizio and Stephen Deninno, both of whom are Roman Catholic, argued they should not be mandated to participate in such an event since their personal faith neither supports nor condones homosexuality.

Writing for all five members of the high court this month, Justice William Robinson called it a legitimate work assignment, saying their appearance in the 2001 parade as public servants was “relatively anonymous.”

“The respondents’ appearance in the parade, solely as members of the Providence Fire Department, did not constitute a form of expression on their part. Rather, it was simply the accomplishing of a task assigned to an engine company of the Providence Fire Department,” Robinson wrote.

The two lawsuits were originally filed in 2004 against former Mayor Buddy Cianci and James Rattigan, the fire chief of Providence in 2001. (Read more about the Christian fire fighters suit HERE)

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ISIS is Setting Sites on Israel (+video)

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Photo Credit: ISIS video

Photo Credit: ISIS video

By WND. A new video issued by ISIS contradicts the oft-repeated claim that the Islamic movement now controlling large portions of Iraq and Syria has no interest in the Palestinian jihad against Israel.

ISIS, which now calls itself the Islamic State after declaring the creation of a new caliphate, vows in the video: “Allah willing, we will continue to fight against the Israelis and their allies.”

Islam researcher Robert Spencer, editor of Jihad Watch, notes, for example, Jay Michaelson claimed in the Jewish Daily Forward that “the Islamic State is a Salafist jihadist/fundamentalist movement that regards Hamas as impure and the Israel/Palestinian conflict as largely irrelevant.” (Read more on how ISIS is setting sites on Israel HERE)

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Islamic State Releases Interview with Captured Jordan Pilot

By Newsmax. The hardline Islamic State group has released what it said was an interview with a Jordanian pilot captured last week after his plane crashed during U.S.-led coalition bombing in eastern Syria.

It was not possible to independently verify the interview published in the group’s English-language online magazine Dabiq in which First Lieutenant Muath al Kasaesbeh was quoted as saying his F-16 fighter was “struck by a heat seeking missile”.

“I heard and felt its hit. The other Jordanian pilot in the mission contacted me from a participating jet and told me that I was struck and that fire was coming out of the rear nozzle of my engine,” Kasaesbeh said.

He made brief comments about life at his base, sharing meals with hundreds of U.S. personnel.

“The Americans sometimes have dinner with us and eat mansaf (a traditional Arab dish) which they like alot. Their talk does not include details about operations because of matters of secrecy and security.” (Read more from this story HERE)
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ISIS Complains About Media Treatment of Australian Hostage-Taker

By Patrick Goodenough. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on Monday praised the man responsible for a 17-hour siege at a café in Sydney, Australia this month, saying he had “added his name to the list of Muslims who answered the Khilafah’s [caliphate’s] call to strike those waging war against the Islamic State wherever they may be.”

In the latest edition of its propaganda publication Dabiq, ISIS lashed out at media for highlighting the fact that at the time of the “daring raid,” the hostage-taker, Man Haron Monis, was awaiting trial on several criminal charges.

It said any past transgressions had been wiped away by his act of martyrdom. (Read more from this story HERE)

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