Half of Obamacare Subsidy Recipients Owe the IRS

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Photo Credit: (AP / Susan WalshBy Justin Green. As many as 3.4 million people who received Obamacare subsidies may owe refunds to the federal government, according to an estimate by a tax preparation firm.

H&R Block is estimating that as many as half of the 6.8 million people who received insurance premium subsidies under the Affordable Care Act benefited from subsidies that were too large, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

“The ACA is going to result in more confusion for existing clients, and many taxpayers may well be very disappointed by getting less money and possibly even owing money,” the president of a tax preparation and education school told the Journal. (Read more about the Obamacare subsidy recipients HERE)

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Feds Looking for Company to Run its Obamacare Computers

By Jeryl Bier. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is looking for vendors to run its “National Data Warehouse,” a database for “capturing, aggregating, and analyzing information” related to beneficiary and customer experiences with Medicare and the federal Obamacare marketplaces. Although the database primarily consists of quality control metrics related to individuals’ interactions with customer service, potential contractors are to “[d]emonstrate … experience with scalability and security in protecting data and information with customer, person-sensitive information including Personal Health Information and Personally Identifiable information (personal health records, etc.).” Vendors are also instructed that one of the requirements of a possible future contract would be “[e]nsuring that all products developed and delivered adhere to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance standards.”

For a number of years, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the division of HHS responsible for Medicare and now Obamacare also, has maintained a “national data warehouse” (NDW) related to the 1-800-MEDICARE helpline. The passage of the Affordable Care Act and subsequent establishment of the Marketplaces has expanded the scope of the NDW. (Read more from this story HERE)

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200 Churches Destroyed in 2 Months By Boko Haram; ISIS Threatens to Destroy 2700 Year Old Niniveh Walls

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Photo Credit: Irish CentralBy WND. There was a surge of anti-Christian violence by Muslims around the world that included the destruction of nearly 200 Christian churches in Nigeria during a short period around October, according to a new report from the GateStone Institute. . .

“In just two months, from August to October, nearly 200 Christian churches were destroyed in Nigeria by the Islamic organization Boko Haram and its Muslim allies, after their capture of towns and villages in the northeastern states of Borno and Adamawa,” the report said. “In the words of Rev. Gideon Obasogie, the director of Catholic Social Communication of Maiduguri Diocese in Borno State, ‘the group’s seizure of territory in both states has seen 185 churches torched and over 190,000 people displaced by [Boko Haram.]”

Ibrahim noted that, “Also in October, the Center for the Studies of Global Christianity in the United States concluded that, ‘About 100,000 Christians die every year because of their religious beliefs, that is to say one every five minutes. In addition, in many countries, many other religious minorities suffer violence and persecution. In countries such as Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, Cameroon, Sudan, Pakistan, Somalia and Egypt the Christian elderly, women, men and their children live in conditions of total insecurity. They are driven from their homes; put in prison for blasphemy, and brutally killed during liturgical celebrations, churches are burned. Girls are kidnapped and forced to marry.” (Read about the churches destroyed by Boko Haram HERE)

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ISIS Sets Sights on 2,700 Year Old Ancient Nineveh Walls in Iraq

By Mary Chastain. Unnamed sources said the Islamic State leaders told members to set booby traps along the walls. If the Iraqi army attempts to liberate the area, the militants must “complete the bombing of the historic walls.” The walls are attributed to King Sennacherib, who rebuilt the city during his reign beginning in 704 B.C., and consist of a seven and a half mile barrier around the city—presumably to protect it from attack when it served as the capital of ancient Assyria. Nineveh was so important and Sennacherib’s contributions so great that some archaeologists have gone as far as to attribute to him the construction and maintenance of the ancient Hanging Gardens, long believed to be in Babylon.

The Islamic State moved to the Nineveh Plain in early August, “the last stronghold of Assyrians in Iraq.” Over 200,000 Assyrians fled to the Dohuk and Arbel areas.

When militants captured Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, in June, they proceeded to destroy shrines and tombs important to Christians and Muslims because they allegedly “distort Islam” and encourage “worship of others besides God.” They destroyed a shrine to Jonah, the biblical prophet, and Yunus in the Koran. The shrine was built in the eighth century BC. Worshippers believe that the prophet Jonah, most famous for surviving being swallowed by a whale in the Biblical legend, is buried there. Saddam Hussein renovated the shrine, and it remained a popular site for pilgrims. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Huckabee Leaves Fox News for Likely 2016 Run (+video)

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Photo Credit: Gage SkidmoreFox News host and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee announced Saturday that he is leaving the network after six and a half years as the host of “Huckabee,” and will make a decision on a possible 2016 presidential run by late spring.

In the Saturday edition of “Huckabee,” the former governor expressed thanks for what he called “the ride of a lifetime”. . .

Huckabee said that he would not rule out running for president in 2016, and that it is not possible for him to openly determine political and financial support to justify a race while doing the show. (Read more on Huckabee leaves Fox News HERE)

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Saudi Religious Leader Says Pedophilia is OK

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Photo Credit: WND Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti, Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh, the kingdom’s top religious authority in the ultra-conservative Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam, has ruled it’s acceptable for men to marry girls so young the West would deem it nothing short of pedophilia and rape.

Despite the Saudi justice ministry’s failed efforts to date to set 15 as a minimum age to marry a girl in the kingdom, Grand Mufti Abdulaziz declared there is nothing prohibiting Muslim men from marrying girls even younger.

As Grand Mufti, Abdulaziz is president of the Supreme Council of Ulema (Islamic scholars) and chairman of the Standing Committee for Scientific Research and Issuing Fatwas, which means he speaks authoritatively in Islamic teachings.

Grand Mufti Abdulzaiz’s more recent ruling on marrying young girls comes following a similar ruling in 2011 by Dr. Salih bin Fawzan, a prominent cleric and member of the Saudi’s highest religious council, who issued a fatwa, or religious edict, that there is no minimum age to marry girls, “even if they are in the cradle.”

“The ulema have agreed that it is permissible for fathers to marry off their small daughters, even if they are in the cradle,” the edict declared. “But it is not permissible for their husbands to have sex with them unless they are capable of being placed beneath and bearing the weight of the men. And their capability in this regard varies based on their nature and capacity. Aisha was six when she married the prophet, but he had sex with her when she was nine, that is, when she was deemed capable.” (Read more about what the Saudi religious leader says HERE)

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BBC: More Elites Face Underage Sex Allegations, Including UK’s Prince Andrew, Prime Minister

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Photo Credit: BBC
By BBC. [F]or the first time, an unnamed woman alleges she was forced to have sexual relations with Prince Andrew when she was a minor, three times in three different locations. . .

The woman says she was forced to have sexual relations with the prince in London, New York and on a private Caribbean island owned by [billionaire Jeffrey] Epstein.

She also claims she was forced to have sex, when a minor, with prominent lawyer and former Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz. . .

The court document, first reported on by Politico Magazine, alleges: “Epstein also sexually trafficked the then-minor Jane Doe (a name used in US legal proceedings for people with anonymity), making her available for sex to politically connected and financially powerful people.

“Epstein’s purposes in ‘lending’ Jane Doe (along with other young girls) to such powerful people were to ingratiate himself with them for business, personal, political, and financial gain, as well as to obtain potential blackmail information.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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Underage Sex Trafficker’s “Black Book” Included “A Well-Known Prime Minister,” Many U.S. Politicians

By Christian Gysin. As well as explosive allegations about Prince Andrew, ‘Jane Doe #3’ told the court she was ‘trafficked for sexual purposes’ to a string of other powerful men – including ‘a well-known Prime Minister’.

No clue was given to the identity, but the court documents say Epstein’s ‘lending’ of young girls to prominent international figures – foreign presidents and US politicians and businessmen among them – was to ‘ingratiate’ himself and ‘so that he could potentially blackmail them’. . .

When [Epstein’s “black book”] contents were disclosed three years ago, the book was shown to include contact details for former US President Bill Clinton, ex-secretary of state Henry Kissinger, and Barbara Walters, then one of America’s most influential broadcasters.

Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s details are there, along with entrepreneur Donald Trump, members of the Kennedy family and former prime minister Tony Blair. There is also an entry for Mr Blair’s former spin doctor Alastair Campbell – but with a Downing Street number, not his personal mobile phone. . .

It has previously been reported that at varying times President Clinton, Prince Andrew, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, New Mexico’s ex-governor Bill Richardson and the former US treasury secretary Larry Summers had all been passengers on Epstein’s fleet of private jets. (Read more about the underage sex allegations HERE)
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What is the U.S. Federal Lawsuit All About?

By Daily Mail. The multi-millionaire [Jeffrey Epstein] was convicted of sex offences in 2008 after a plea deal which saw him serve 13 months of an 18 month prison sentence.

But two women who say they were abused by him, known as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, said their rights have been violated because they were not consulted before the deal was done and they began suing U.S. prosecutors over their handling of the case six years ago.

Today it was revealed that Jane Doe 3, who has named Prince Andrew, and another woman named as Jane Doe 4, say they have been violated in the same way and want to join the group action. (Read more from this story HERE)
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Politico Explains the Lawsuit’s History

By Josh Gerstein. [P]rosecutors never charged anyone besides the investor [Jeffrey Epstein] with involvement in obtaining or using underaged girls for sexual purposes.

The new court filing says this result is in part due to the fact that Epstein’s legal team—which included such heavyweights as former independent counsel and solicitor general Ken Starr, trial lawyer Roy Black, and Dershowitz—negotiated a deal that precluded the feds charging anyone as a co-conspirator.

Lawyers for Jane Doe #3 argue in the new motion that Dershowitz put this language in the agreement to protect himself. . .

Epstein and his lawyers fought hard to prevent records about his plea negotiations from being turned over to victims’ attorneys. However, U.S. District Court Judge Keith Marra ruled last year that the victims are entitled to examine those records to prepare their case against the government.

Epstein, Black and others appealed that decision to the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, but it ruled in April of this year that no privilege protects plea negotiations in this sort of dispute. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Three Men Free Moose Trapped in Avalanche

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Photo Credit: Fox News There’s an extra moose alive in southcentral Alaska thanks to three snowmobilers who freed it from an avalanche.

Marty Mobley, Rob Uphus and Avery Vucinich, residents of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, on Sunday went riding on the west side of Hatcher Pass about 55 miles northeast of Anchorage, Alaska Dispatch News reported. With Alaska’s unseasonably warm weather, they were wary of avalanches, Mobley said.

They came upon a hillside that had both moose tracks and ski tracks. The latter stood out because they don’t see many skiers in the area.

Mobley spotted something brown moving in the hard-packed snow of the debris field.

“It looked like a guy’s arm at first because we were expecting to see a skier,” Mobley said. “But it was moaning and groaning and moving and we realized it was a moose, even though only his ears and some of its snout was sticking out of the snow.” (Read more about the moose trapped in the avalanche HERE)

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60 Percent of GOP Voters Want John Boehner Replaced NOW!

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Photo Credit: APBy Alex Pappas. Sixty percent of Republican voters would prefer that John Boehner not be elected speaker of the House next week, according to a new poll moving around conservative circles Friday.

The poll — conducted by Caddell Associates and commissioned by the People’s Poll — shows just 25 percent of Republicans supporting Boehner’s re-election in the formal vote on the House floor.

Fifteen-percent of those polled said they don’t know or are undecided about Boehner. The poll surveyed 602 Republican voters and independents who lean Republican and voted GOP in 2014.

The official speaker’s election is set for Jan. 6, when the House will convene for a public floor vote to open the new Congress. (Read more on why voters want John Boehner replaced HERE)

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Too Little, Too Late? John Boehner Tries to Regain Some Support, Criticizes Obama’s Afghanistan Strategy

By Philip Ewing. Early warning signs in Afghanistan show that President Barack Obama’s withdrawal strategy there is already foundering, House Speaker John Boehner charged on Tuesday.

“Has President Obama not learned from his mistakes in Iraq?” the Ohio Republican asked in a statement.

The speaker’s office released a number of excerpts from news reports describing an increase in combat deaths in Afghanistan, areas of territory lost to the Taliban and the comparative weakness of the Afghan National Security Forces without American help. The U.S. troop pullout is premature, Boehner charged, and a “formal” end to the conflict does not mean it’s actually over. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Florida Courthouses Stop All Weddings to Avoid Marrying Homosexuals

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Photo Credit: AFPSeveral counties in Florida have put the kibosh on performing any weddings as a sort of duck and dodge against serving gays — the logic being that clerks with religious objections to homosexual marriage aren’t breaking any laws if they don’t offer services to anyone.

Among the counties taking part in the quasi-protest: Duval, Clay and Baker, The Associated Press reported.

[Due to a federal judge’s twisted reading of the US Constitution,] Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage expires in the coming days, but rather than abide by the new cultural order, clerks — in conjunction with other county officials — have announced the discontinuance of courthouse wedding services for all, AP said.

“It was decided as a team, as an office, this would be what we do so that there wouldn’t be any discrimination,” Duval County Clerk of Courts Ronnie Fussell told The Florida Times-Union. “The easiest way is to not do them at all.”

He also said that marriage “is between a man and a woman” and that “personally, it would go against my beliefs to perform a ceremony that is other than that,” AP reported. (Read about the courthouses stop all weddings to avoid marrying homosexuals HERE)

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California in Now Beginning to Issue Driver’s Licenses to Illegal Aliens

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By Jazz Shaw. Welcome to 2015, with the usual hopes for new beginnings and fresh starts. Along with that, there is the expected flood of new laws going into effect all across the nation as proof of the various legislative bodies getting the work of the people done. The people of California in particular will see the fruits of their elected officials’ labors if they show up at the DMV. (As if the lines weren’t long enough already.) Millions of illegal immigrants will now be able to show up without fear of arrest or deportation and get themselves a shiny new driver’s license.

If you needed any further proof of exactly how far the immigration situation in the country has deteriorated, California has joined several other states in completely throwing in the towel here. It’s long been established that driving is a privilege, not a right, and that privilege can be taken away for any of a number of offenses which include driving while impaired, failing to obtain proper registration, inspection and insurance documents or just running too many stop signs. But not, it seems, for violating the nation’s borders, entering illegally, failing to pay taxes or the rest of the fundamental rules under our system of laws which are broken daily by illegal aliens.

There are some minor arguments in favor of of the plan, I admit. Foreign visitors don’t always know the rules of the road in America, so teaching them the proper driving practices might cut down slightly on accidents. But does that advantage come anywhere near overriding the obvious arguments against this? Also, in addition to legitimizing the activities of those who are not legitimate citizens, a piece of identification such as a license if a powerful talisman. True, these new, “special” licenses have a disclaimer on them which indicates that they are not valid as federal identification, but how many people will initially be trained to be aware of the distinction? (Read more about the driver’s licenses to illegal aliens HERE)

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More than 90 Percent of a Illegal Aliens Group Never Showed Up to Their Immigration Hearings

By Mark Krikorian. Once again, local-TV investigative reporters are showing up their national counterparts.

Recall that this summer the administration insisted the thousands of Central American illegal immigrants it was waving across the border would be put into deportation proceedings and those who did not qualify for asylum would be removed. You’d think, then, that there’d be bigshot D.C. journalists interested in finding out how many actually bothered to attend their immigration hearings.

You’d be wrong. . .

Looking at the completed cases of people who snuck over the border and were released over a three-month period, the reporter found that more than 90 percent of them didn’t show up for their immigration hearings and joined the illegal population. Surprise! (Read more from this story HERE)

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Jeb Bush (Thankfully) has Only a 25 Percent Chance of Winning the Nomination

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Photo Credit: APBy Matt Vespa. As Jeb Bush makes moves that could signal a 2016 presidential run, he has the conservative wing of the Republican Party either rolling their eyes or seething in anger. Besides policy, I can see why some voters think that it’s getting a bit old that only a Bush or a Clinton are seen as the only options to win the presidency. Moreover, both of their respective political parties have moved either more conservative or progressive since the last time a member of their families occupied the White House. Right now, Bush has a 25 percent chance of winning the GOP nomination.

Nate Silver asked if Bush was too liberal to win. In short, he found that Jeb’s more conservative than Jon Huntsman, but not as conservative as his brother, former President George W. Bush; he’s more like Bush 41. (Read more about Jeb Bush’s chances of winning the nomination HERE)

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A Tricky Problem for Jeb Bush

By Philip Klein. In 2007, during a Democratic presidential debate in Iowa, candidate Barack Obama was asked how he would be able to deliver change when so many of his former advisers came from the Clinton administration. The moment became famous because the question prompted a loud and sustained cackle from his rival for the nomination, Hillary Clinton, who teased, “I wanna hear that.”

In the end, Obama got the best of the exchange, by quickly shooting back, “Hillary, I’m looking forward to you advising me as well.” The clip, which went viral at the time, enjoyed new life when Clinton was named as Obama’s secretary of state.

I was reminded of the moment when reflecting on how former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush could confront a tricky problem should he run for president (which is looking increasingly likely).

The issue that Obama faced when he was running for president was that if he wanted experienced advisers, especially on foreign policy, it was only natural that he’d have to dip into the talent pool of seasoned veterans who served in a prior Democratic administration — and Bill Clinton was the only Democratic president since Jimmy Carter left office in 1981.

Similarly, on the Republican side heading into the next presidential election, candidates will look to former staffers in the George W. Bush administration to fill out their teams. But this creates an especially thorny issue for Jeb. (Read more from this story HERE)

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