House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has dropped out of the race to succeed Speaker John Boehner, a shocking move that throws the House into chaos.
The move came without warning as House Republicans were in a closed-door meeting to select their nominee for speaker, with McCarthy’s wife and kids in the room. Boehner subsequently postponed the vote.
“I think I shocked some of you, huh?” McCarthy told reporters following the decision.
Boehner is poised to resign at the end of the month. There is no clear successor who can overcome the deep divisions in the party and win the post. An influential group of conservatives endorsed a long-shot candidate, Rep. Daniel Webster, on Wednesday, placing McCarthy’s ability to win the House floor vote later this month in doubt.
“If we’re going to unite and be strong, we need a new face to do that,” McCarthy said, adding that he did not want to win the race on the House floor with only enough votes to squeak by. (Read more from “Kevin McCarthy Drops out of Speaker Race” HERE)
By Randy DeSoto. Sadly, it is not surprising that every Democrat that has voted against defunding Planned Parenthood since 2000 received financial contributions from the organization.
Life News reports that it was Senate Democrats who blocked a measure to defund Planned Parenthood in August in a 53-46 vote on a cloture motion. This tally fell short of the 60 votes required to block a senate filibuster.
The Blaze assembled a list of the top 25 beneficiaries of Planned Parenthood political contributions, whether through its PAC or employees. Not surprisingly topping that list is Barack Obama, who some have described as the most pro-abortion president in United States history. Every single one of the top 25 recipients since 1990 was a Democrat.
Photo Credit: Western Journalism
“According to the Center for Responsive Politics, during the 2014 election cycle, PP gave $892,000 to Democrats and $3,100 to Republicans. The 2012 election cycle was even more generous to the Democrats, with $1.2 million to Dems compared to $26,600 to GOPers,” TheBlaze reports.
“The financial ties between Planned Parenthood and Democrats run deep, with the taxpayer-funded women’s health care and abortion provider’s employees and political arms donating at least $25 million to party lawmakers over the past 15 years,” according to Fox News . . .
Additionally, Sue Thayer, a former center manager for Planned Parenthood for 17 years, is expected to testify on Thursday before the House Judiciary Committee that the organization has been systematically defrauding the American taxpayers, the Daily Caller reports. By federal law, Planned Parenthood is barred from using taxpayer money to perform abortions. (Read more from “Exposed: Here Are the 25 Politicians Who Have Benefited From Planned Parenthood the Most” HERE)
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House OKs Planned Parenthood Probe
By Associated Press. The Republican-led House voted Wednesday to create a special panel to investigate Planned Parenthood and its procurement of fetal tissue as the GOP continued pressing an issue that has galvanized conservatives since secret videos surfaced this summer.
The near party-line vote was 242-184, as Democrats dismissed the probe as a wasteful political exercise by the GOP. It was unclear if Democrats would participate in the committee’s work.
Republicans said the committee was needed to examine whether Planned Parenthood is breaking laws or misusing taxpayer money. Four other congressional committees are already investigating the women’s health organization, three in the House and one in the Senate. (Read more from “House OKs Planned Parenthood Probe” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-10-08 00:57:232016-04-11 10:57:36Exposed: Here Are the 25 Politicians Who Have Benefited From Planned Parenthood the Most
By Tal Kopan, Deirdre Walsh and Ted Barrett. The House Freedom Caucus, an influential group of conservatives, will back Florida Rep. Daniel Webster for speaker, several lawmakers said following a Wednesday afternoon meeting — a blow to Rep. Kevin McCarthy in his bid for the position.
The decision is a major rebuke to the House leadership under Speaker John Boehner, and McCarthy, the current majority leader looking to win the speaker’s job.
Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, said it took several votes to determine the winner of the endorsement. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, had “some support,” McCarthy had “no support” and Webster had the most support, he said.
Thursday, the Republican conference will vote on who to nominate as their speaker candidate. But that vote only requires a majority — and the crucial hurdle for McCarthy will be whether he can get 218 votes on the floor when the full House votes October 29.
“It’s a healthy debate we’ll have a vote on the floor and in conference tomorrow,” McCarthy said Wednesday. “Just like going through any other primary – (it) will be the power of ideas.” (Read more from “This Is Who the House Freedom Caucus Has Endorsed for Speaker” HERE)
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Right Flexes Muscle Ahead of Speaker Vote
By Scott Wong and Cristina Marcos. The conservative House Freedom Caucus on Wednesday endorsed little-known Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.) for Speaker — a bold move that raises serious doubts about whether Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy can cobble together the 218 votes on the House floor he needs to be promoted.
McCarthy, a five-term California Republican, is expected to easily win the nomination when House Republicans huddle at noon Thursday to pick a successor to outgoing Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).
But the true test will come Oct. 29, when the House holds a public roll call vote to formally elect the next Speaker.
The Freedom Caucus, led by Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), holds enough votes to essentially veto a McCarthy Speakership, though it’s unclear whether all members would cast their ballots the same way.
No one can be elected Speaker unless they win 218 votes. (Read more from this story HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-10-08 00:55:452016-04-11 10:57:36This Is Who the House Freedom Caucus Has Endorsed for Speaker
As the GOP candidate has come under fire for his controversial gun control comments, Ben Carson has repeatedly attempted to provide the American people with a solution if a massacre –- such as the one that happened at Umpqua Community College in Oregon last week – were to happen again.
“From the indications I got, they did not rush the shooter,” Carson said on “CBS This Morning” discussing the Oregon shooting. “The shooter can only shoot one person at a time, he cannot shoot a group of people.”
Carson suggested that the victims should have rushed the shooter to prevent more lives from being lost, telling ABC News yesterday that he would have confronted the gunman and would have instructed people to attack the gunman.
“I said what I would do. … I would ask everyone to attack the gunman,” Carson told ABC News. “That way we wouldn’t all end up dead.”
Carson also says that even some kindergarten teachers should be armed, writing in a Facebook post that losing gun rights would be “more devastating” than a “body with bullet holes.” (Read more from “How Ben Carson Appears to Be Second-Guessing Oregon Shooting Victims” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-10-08 00:54:082016-04-11 10:57:36How Ben Carson Appears to Be Second-Guessing Oregon Shooting Victims
As Scott Wong of The Hill reported Wednesday, House Speaker John Boehner experienced a fitful night’s sleep last week, during which time the Ohio Republican had a nightmare about a “hand” that “came reaching, pulling,” and, ultimately preventing his dream-self from making a needed escape. “I was trying to get out and I couldn’t get out,” Boehner related.
A bad dream, eh? Ah, well, probably just one of those examples of sleep knitting up our raveled sleeve of care by subconsciously processing roughly remembered anxieties in order to purge them. Nothing to worry about. Unless, of course, it was a harrowing and prophetic vision of an inescapable future!
And, as Wong reports, maybe it is: “Boehner’s nightmare could become reality if House Republicans fail to rally around their nominee for Speaker in a floor vote set for Oct. 29.”
My, oh my. It seems like it was only a few weeks ago that Boehner, still feeling buoyant from Pope Francis’ visit to Congress, made the decision that his moment had come: Time to retire and pass the responsibility for supervising the House Republicans’ frequently fractious caucus into another member’s hands.
That meant that whatever the future held for the GOP in the House, it was going to happen without him. Or, maybe a better way of putting it — given some of his colleagues’ propensity for imagining the speakership as a position with vastly more power then it actually has — is that from Boehner’s perspective, whatever the future held, it was going to be somebody else’s problem. (Read more from “The Nightmare Scenario That John Boehner Fears the Most” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-10-08 00:53:332016-04-11 10:57:36The Nightmare Scenario That John Boehner Fears the Most
Russian fighter jets shadowed U.S. predator drones on at least three separate occasions high above Syria since the start of Russia’s air campaign last week, according to two U.S. officials briefed on this latest intelligence from the region.
Meanwhile, U.S. Navy Captain Jeff Davis told reporters a U.S. aircraft flying over Syria had to be rerouted to avoid a Russian fighter jet at least once . . .
U.S. officials tell Fox News the drone encounters took place over ISIS-controlled Syria, including its de facto headquarters in Raqqa, as well as along the Turkish-Syrian border near Korbani. Another occurred in the northwest, near the highly contested city of Aleppo . . .
The Russians have not attempted to shoot down any of the U.S. drones, but instead have flown “intercept tracks,” a doctrinal term meaning the Russians flew close enough to make their presence felt, according to one official . . .
Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook, traveling with the defense secretary in Europe leading up to a NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels Thursday, said the Pentagon is open to more military-to-military talks with the Russians. No immediate date has been established to conduct the next round of talks, according to one defense official. (Read more from “Russian Jets ‘Intercept’ US Predator Drones Over Syria, Officials Say” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-10-08 00:52:342016-04-11 10:57:36Russian Jets ‘Intercept’ US Predator Drones Over Syria, Officials Say
The Obama administration’s pledge to absorb thousands more Syrian and other refugees could run headlong into resistance from state and local officials worried about whether their communities can handle the influx.
Federal officials announced last month they plan to take in at least 10,000 refugees from Syria over the next year, and a total of 100,000 refugees from around the world by 2017 — up from 70,000.
While Republicans on Capitol Hill have raised concerns about whether refugees from Syria will be adequately screened for terror ties, local officials are worried simply about whether they have the resources to take them.
“It’s a fiscal issue,” said Peter Steele, a spokesman for Maine Gov. Paul LePage. “You can only pay for what you can afford, and those funds should be going to the most needy citizens in our state.”
Refugees granted entrance to America often move around the country, tapping services and funds from local communities as they go. They get benefits ranging from food stamps to traditional welfare to housing to language classes. Refugees also receive over $1,800 per person in cash once in the U.S. (of which $750 goes to a resettlement agency contractor). (Read more from “Obama’s Refugee Resettlement Plan Could Stir Battle With States” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-10-08 00:51:382016-04-11 10:57:37Obama’s Refugee Resettlement Plan Could Stir Battle With States
The Navy is preparing to send a surface ship inside the 12-nautical-mile territorial limit China claims for its man-made island chain, an action that could take place within days but awaits final approval from the Obama administration, according to military officials who spoke to Navy Times.
Plans to send a warship through the contested space have been rumored since May, but three Pentagon officials who spoke to Navy Times on background to discuss future operations say Navy officials believe approval of the mission is imminent.
If approved, it would be the first time since 2012 that the U.S. Navy has directly challenged China’s claims to the islands’ territorial limits.
The land reclamation projects in the vicinity of the Spratly Islands have been the focus of increasing tensions between China and the United States along with its regional allies, including the Philippines, since reports of the land reclamation project began surfacing in 2013. However, the U.S. and other nations have disputed the legitimacy of the islands built by China in what is viewed as an act of regional aggression.
A spokesman for the National Security Council deferred questions regarding the Navy’s plans to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, but drew attention to President Obama’s remarks before the U.N. General Assembly Sept. 28, where he said the U.S. has “an interest in upholding the basic principles of freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce, and in resolving disputes through international law, not the law of force.” (Read more from “Navy Will Challenge Chinese Territorial Claims in South China Sea” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-10-08 00:50:292016-04-11 10:57:38Navy Will Challenge Chinese Territorial Claims in South China Sea
Carly Fiorina has officially made it onto the short list of candidates being considered by the Koch Brothers’ network of donors — potentially opening the door to a deep pool of money.
Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, the Koch brothers’ umbrella group, which includes a sprawling network of conservative donors, confirmed to ABC News that Fiorina is one of the five candidates on the donor network’s watch list.
“Governor Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina and Senators Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio are leading a thoughtful and substantive discussion on the issues and we look forward to hearing more about their vision for the country,” Freedom Partners spokesman James Davis told ABC News.
Fiorina’s addition to list serves as a signal that her newly attained top-tier status is being taken seriously by conservative donors and will likely mean increased access for Fiorina to Freedom Partners’ deep-pocketed donors.
The news also comes after Reuters reported earlier this week that the Koch Brothers were taking a “serious look” at Fiorina following her strong debate performances and subsequent jump in the polls. (Read more from “Carly Fiorina Added to Koch Brothers’ Short List” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-10-08 00:48:212016-04-11 10:57:38Carly Fiorina Added to Koch Brothers’ Short List
By David Edwards. Rev. Franklin Graham this week suggested that President Barack Obama was to blame for the slaughter of Christians in the Middle East because his policies were “against Christ.”
Newsmax host Steve Malzberg argued during an interview with Graham that the president “claims to be a devout Christian who can’t bring himself to feel anything” about the death of Christians in the Middle East.
“The president, when he was growing up, his influences were Islam,” Graham opined. “His paternal father is Muslim, his step father was a Muslim, he went to Muslim schools. So, his formative years were all guided by influences of Islam.”
“And so, his Christian position, I don’t know,” the pastor continued. “All I know is that the policies that he has stood behind as president have been against Christ and against his teaching. Abortion is a sin, and if you look at same-sex marriage, this is a sin against God.”
“And the president has stood defiantly against God. And against his teaching. And the teachings of the scriptures.” (Read more from “Franklin Graham: Obama Supports Same-Sex Marriage and Abortion Because He’s ‘Guided by’ Islam” HERE)
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Obama Authorizes Airstrikes in Iraq to Protect U.S. Officials and Refugees Trapped by ISIS Rebels
By David Martosko. President Obama, who ran for office on a platform of ending U.S. military hostilities in Iraq, said Thursday night that he had authorized ‘targeted airstrikes if necessary’ in an effort to protect the delivery of humanitarian aid to threatened Iraqis, and to ensure the safety of US personnel delivering the assistance.
‘We do whatever is necessary to protect our people. We support our allies when they’re in danger,’ Obama said in an eight-minute speech delivered from the White House’s State Dining Room.
But American combat troops will not be returning to fight in Iraq, he insisted, and the U.S. won’t be ‘dragged into fighting another war in Iraq,’ despite the possibility that militant Islamists in ISIS – a terror group purporting to have created a Muslim caliphate in the Middle East – may be perpetrating a ‘genocide.’
The White House began airlifting humanitarian aid on Thursday night to thousands of displaced religious minorities in northern Iraq, a U.S. official told MailOnline.
Among them are about 40,000 refugees who hid on a mountain after being threatened with what Obama has called a ‘potential act of genocide.’ (Read more from this story HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-10-08 00:46:412016-04-11 10:57:38Franklin Graham: Obama Supports Same-Sex Marriage and Abortion Because He’s ‘Guided by’ Islam
