Watch: ISIS Leader Delivers Threatening Message to the West in Rare Public Appearance

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By Josie Ensor. The leader of the self-declared Islamic State issued a defiant message to the West, warning “crusaders” not to dare fight on his turf.

In a rare public statement – his first in seven months – Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi said Western countries had “learned from” previous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Crusaders and Jews don’t dare to come on the ground because they were defeated in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said in a 23-minute long audio message released through an [ISIS]-run internet account.

The message – dubbed an “alternative Christmas broadcast” on social media – appeared to be an effort to rally [ISIS] followers against the growing number of enemies arrayed against them.

The leader, who has rarely been pictured and has not been heard from since he was believed to have been injured in an airstrike by Iraqi forces in October, Russian or US-led airstrikes had failed to weaken the group, which was only “expanding and getting stronger”. (Read more from “ISIS Leader Delivers Threatening Message to the West in Rare Public Appearance” HERE)

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Dramatic Video of Russian Air Strikes ‘on Islamic State Oil Empire’

By Agencies, video source Russian Ministry of Defense. Russia has released spectacular footage of what Kremlin officials claim to be a successful bombing campaign to destroy the Islamic State’s oil-smuggling rackets into Turkey.

At a briefing by the Russian ministry of defence in Moscow, generals produced videos and photographs of Russian warplanes pulverising huge columns of oil tankers allegedly transporting oil for sale on the black market.

The Kremlin claimed to have destroyed 17 such truck columns in the past week alone – part of a Moscow-led onslaught against Isil’s oil rackets that Russia says has wiped out nearly 2,000 oil tankers since Russia directly entered the war in Syria in September.

The pictures were released to journalists by Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoy, a senior figure in Russian Armed Forces command, in a briefing apparently designed to be a mirror image to those conducted by the Pentagon in America.

He sat before a giant video screen showing aerial footage of the Russian attacks, which led to tankers being engulfed in plumes of thick black smoke. (Read more from “Dramatic Video of Russian Air Strikes ‘on Islamic State Oil Empire'” HERE)

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Taxpayers on Hook Again After New Obamacare Failure

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A new report examining the collapse of Health Republic of New York, Obamacare’s largest co-op, said its failure—which may lead to a $265-million loss of taxpayer dollars—can be attributed in part to heightened regulatory control by the state.

According to the analysis from the Albany, New York-based Empire Center, a “breakdown” in oversight from the state Department of Financial Services and artificial cuts in Health Republic’s premiums may have led to the ultimate failure of the consumer operated and oriented plan, or co-op.

Of the 23 co-ops created under the health care law, just 12 remain.

“The rapid rise and costly fall of Health Republic Insurance of New York … is a cautionary tale for policymakers in Albany as well as in Washington,” the report’s author, Bill Hammond, wrote. “Despite heavy federal subsidies and robust enrollment growth, Health Republic lost money at such a clip that state regulators forced it to shut down as of Nov. 30, on barely two months’ notice.”

Health Republic, one of 23 co-ops implemented under Obamacare, sold the cheapest plans available on New York’s state-run exchange and enrolled more than 200,000 customers in coverage. According to the Empire Center, Health Republic offered consumers broad networks, and its plans were significantly cheaper than those sold by competitors like UnitedHealthcare and Aetna.

As a result of its low premiums, Health Republic experienced significant losses in 2014, as its customers’ medical claims and administrative costs outpaced the revenue it was bringing in through premiums.

To remedy its losses, Health Republic requested a 15.4 percent increase in rates for individuals and 5.9 percent increase in rates for small group plans in 2015. The state Department of Financial Services, though, approved lower rate-hikes, which the Empire Center said squeezed the market.

“Although Health Republic’s premiums were already among the very lowest in the state—and though its financial report showed it was losing money—the fledgling company did not escape the state’s rate-setting knife,” the report said.

Health Republic did not immediately return The Daily Signal’s request for comment.

For 2016 coverage, Health Republic requested a 14.4 percent rate hike for individual plans and a 20 percent increase for small group plans. The state lessened the hike for individuals to 14 percent, and approved Health Republic’s request for small group plans.

Like many of the other 23 co-ops—which received a total of $2.5 billion from the federal government—Health Republic relied on money from Obamacare’s risk corridor program to boost its bottom line. The risk corridor program sought to limit the risk for insurers in the market.

According to the Empire Center, Health Republic requested $243 million from the risk corridor program. However, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced in October it would pay just 12.6 percent of the requested payments.

As a result, Health Republic, along with seven other co-ops, announced it would be closing its doors after experiencing significant losses and receiving lower-than-expected payments from the risk corridor program.

“Had New York’s regulators ordered higher rates for Health Republic from the beginning, the company could have avoided some of the steep losses that made it so dependent on risk-corridor funding,” Hammond wrote. “While it’s unclear that such action would have been enough to save the company, DFS’s rate-cutting, in retrospect, was unquestionably productive.”

Health Republic closed its doors Nov. 30, leaving some of its 215,000 customers to find coverage for a month—or go without—and secure new insurance for 2016 through the state-run exchange.

“If the goal is making health coverage more affordable, the surest way to achieve that objective is not for the state to impose price controls, but for it to roll back its own high taxes and costly coverage mandates,” the report said. (For more from the author of “Taxpayers on Hook Again After New Obamacare Failure” HERE)

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Hollywood Megastar: ‘Of Course I Have Guns, and I Shoot Them’

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‘Sure I believe in the right to bear arms, as guaranteed under the Second Amendment of the American constitution,’ explains 64-year-old Kurt Russell, Hollywood A-lister and long-term partner of Goldie Hawn . . .

‘This is what people need to understand,’ he continues when asked about gun reform after the most recent school shootings in the States and the terrorist attack in San Bernardino that left 14 dead and 22 injured.

‘Now is not a good time to lay down your weapons – how will you protect yourself?

‘I am a libertarian, a hardcore one, and of course I have guns. I shoot things with them. I hunt game.’

Lose the last three and they are words that could quite easily be escaping from beneath the unkempt but extravagant whiskers of his character John ‘The Hangman’ Ruth – a 19th-century bounty hunter handcuffed to his wretched female prize (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and trapped by a blizzard in a remote staging post with a rum collection of coves. It is the premise of the latest Quentin Tarantino epic, The Hateful Eight. (Read more from “Hollywood Megastar: ‘Of Course I Have Guns, and I Shoot Them'” HERE)

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Former Democratic Presidential Candidate Calls out Hillary on Libya

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Former Democratic presidential candidate Jim Webb is accusing his party’s front-runner for her “inept leadership” in Libya as secretary of State.

“Hillary Clinton should be called to account for her inept leadership that brought about the chaos in Libya, and the power vacuums that resulted in the rest of the region,” Webb wrote in a Facebook post Saturday.

But he said the removal of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has only destabilized the region, giving rise to radical Islamic terrorism and fanning the flames of the Syrian civil war.

“The predictable chaos was bad enough, but it also helped bring about the disaster in Syria,” he said.

“While she held that office, the U.S. spent about $2 billion backing the Libyan uprising against Qaddafi,” he continued. “The uprising, which was part of the Arab Spring, led directly to Qaddafi being removed from power and killed by rebel forces in 2011. Now some 2,000 ISIS [Islamic State in Iraq and Syria] terrorists have established a foothold in Libya. (Read more from “Former Democratic Presidential Candidate Calls out Hillary on Libya” HERE)

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The Sanders Campaign Is Taking Its Fight with the DNC to the next Level

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The dustup over a data breach that briefly erupted in the Democratic presidential primary last week isn’t over as far as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and his team are concerned.

In a conversation with Yahoo News, a top Sanders campaign adviser made a series of explosive allegations about how the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and a political technology company that works with the party handled the incident. According to the Sanders adviser, the DNC and NGP VAN, a firm that has a contract with the party organization to operate a voter file, have responded to the data breach by “leaking information” and “stonewalling an investigation” into the matter.

“We have demanded a full investigation from top to bottom,” the Sanders adviser said.

Sanders’ adviser noted that a lawsuit the campaign filed in federal court about the data breach last Friday, Dec. 18, is still ongoing, and described it as an attempt to get answers despite the party’s lack of cooperation.

According to a blog post published by NGP VAN, the data breach occurred on Wednesday, Dec. 16. The company said it involved a “bug” in the software NGP provides to the DNC. NGP VAN software is used by the DNC to operate a massive file of voter data that is shared by the party and all of the Democratic presidential campaigns. Both campaigns also rely on NGP to store their private files. The data in the shared and private files is essentially the lifeblood of a modern presidential campaign. It includes information vital to campaigns’ day-to-day organizing and strategy, including potential supporters they are targeting and how many voters they expect to turn out in key primary states. (Read more from “The Sanders Campaign Is Taking Its Fight with the DNC to the next Level” HERE)

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Netanyahu: Jewish Terrorism an Anomaly, Arab Terrorism is Government-Backed

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected comparisons between Jewish and Arab terrorism.

At his weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu pointed out that terrorist attacks perpetrated by Arabs are supported by the Palestinian Authority, while Israel [condemns] such acts committed by Jewish extremists.

Netanyahu said that unlike Israel, which “disavows, condemns and takes action” against terrorism, the Palestinian Authority “encourages and incites terrorism.” He added, “Arab terrorism attacks us relentlessly and we are fighting it without restrictions. This terrorism is much greater in magnitude; there is no comparison.”

“The government here, and our public, and all bodies and all leaders come out against the phenomena of Jewish terrorism. We condemn, they praise,” he said. “In the Palestinian Authority, public squares and streets are named after them. They pay them salaries” . . .

In addition, a video of Jewish extremists mocking the death of a Palestinian child made headlines last week. The footage, which was filmed at a Jerusalem wedding, featured a group of far-right activists dancing while holding various weapons. (Read more from “Netanyahu: Jewish Terrorism an Anomaly, Arab Terrorism Is Government-Backed” HERE)

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Actor David Spade Slams Obama and FLOTUS for Lack of Dignity

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Actor David Spade had nothing kind to say about [the] President and Mrs. Obama recently, claiming that each are becoming publicity hounds.

“A president should have a little more dignity,” he told TMZ.

He was referring to Obama’s appearance on “GQ” . . .

He also had a few words about the first lady.

“Michelle is on ‘Ellen’ more than I am,” he observed. “It’s a whole new world.” (Read more from “Actor David Spade Slams Obama and FLOTUS for Lack of Dignity” HERE)

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Man’s Cellphone Causes Unfortunate Death on Christmas Day

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Emergency responders were at Sunset Cliffs in San Diego, California, on Friday after a man fell over, local media reported.

Bill Bender with San Diego Lifeguards at Sunset Cliffs told NBC San Diego: ‘Witnesses stated seeing someone distracted by an electronic device and he just fell over the edge . . .

NBC San Diego reported the victim was in his thirties and plummeted 60 feet.

Bender told the NBC affiliate station, referring to three people who tried to assist: ‘They acted quickly, they found a way to get down the cliff.

‘They put themselves at jeopardy… They administered CPR to the person in attempt to save a life.’ (Read more from “Man’s Cellphone Causes Unfortunate Death on Christmas Day” HERE)

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Trey Gowdy Just Announced Who He’s Backing For President – It Will Turn Your Stomach

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Sen. Marco Rubio has earned the support of conservative favorite Rep. Trey Gowdy, who will join the freshman Senator for a three-day trip to Iowa to rally support for his campaign.

“Marco is a rock solid conservative and a strong leader we can trust,” Gowdy said in a statement proved to reporters. “I look forward to campaigning in Iowa with him, and introducing my good friend to voters across the state.”

Gowdy is a celebrity among many conservatives, thanks to his tough prosecutorial grilling of members of the administration officials during congressional hearings and because he has chaired the Benghazi investigative committee that centers on Hillary Clinton. (Read more from, “You Want Believe Who Trey Gowdy Just Endorsed” HERE)

Paul Ryan Just Issued A Jaw-Dropping Warning That’ll Have Conservatives Even More Furious

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House Speaker Paul Ryan claims that despite rampant unemployment of American workers, opening the nation’s doors to foreign workers is essential to keep American companies in business.

Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, defended the omnibus budget bill’s expansion in the H-2B visa program in a Tuesday morning radio interview with former Education secretary and conservative author Bill Bennett.

“What it is is, there’s seasonal industries where they can’t find local people to do the jobs: kids are already in college or things like that where you have a surge in workers,” he said.

Ryan explained that the H-2B expansion was designed “to help small business who cannot find labor when there’s a surge in demand for their labor like seafood processing, or tourism.”

“The point is, these businesses would have shut down without this and that’s what we didn’t want to see happen. We didn’t want to see businesses, who are seasonal, shut down because they couldn’t get the labor,” he said.

However, as shown by Economic Policy Institute figures released by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., “wages were stagnant or declining for workers in all of the top 15 H-2B occupations between 2004 and 2014.” (Read more from “Paul Ryan Just Issued a Jaw-Dropping Warning That’ll Have Conservatives Even More Furious” HERE)

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