Fed Judge Rules Executive Amnesty Unconstitutional

/3 Comments/in , /by

Credit - AP

Credit – AP

By Caroline May

A federal district court judge in Pennsylvania ruled Tuesday that portions of President Obama’s executive amnesty are unconstitutional, according to the Washington Post.

Western Pennsylvania District Judge Arthur Schwab concluded in his opinion that Obama’s executive actions go “beyond prosecutorial discretion” and into the realm of legislating.

“President Obama’s unilateral legislative action violates the separation of powers provided for int he United States Constitution as well as the Take Care Clause, and therefore, is unconstitutional,” Schwab wrote in his opinion.

Schwab’s ruling, the Washington Post notes, is the first judicial opinion rendered about President Obama’s executive amnesty.

Read more from this story HERE.
___________________________________________________________

Federal Judge: Obama Immigration Actions Unconstitutional

By Josh Siegel

A federal judge today ruled that President Obama’s executive actions on immigration are unconstitutional—the first time a court has weighed in since the president’s Nov. 20 announcement.

“President Obama’s unilateral legislative action violates the separation of powers provided for in the Constitution as well as the Take Care Clause, and therefore, is unconstitutional,” wrote U.S. District Court Judge Arthur Schwab, in a 38-page opinion.

Schwab, an appointee of President George W. Bush, issued the ruling in a criminal case that was not a direct challenge to Obama’s moves.

The case involved a once-deported Honduran immigrant, Elionardo Juarez-Escobar, charged in federal court with illegally re-entering the United States after being arrested earlier this year in Pennsylvania for drunk driving.

The court only considered Obama’s immigration policy changes in sentencing Juarez-Escobar to see if he could qualify for deferred deportation under the president’s new enforcement guidelines.

Read more from this story HERE.

Cruz and Lee Say They're Not to Blame for Confirmation of Obama Nominees

/6 Comments/in , /by

Credit - Daily Signal

Credit – Daily Signal

By Melissa Quinn

As the 113th Congress draws to a close, Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah are facing harsh criticism from colleagues for supposedly opening the door to confirmation of presidential nominees — a claim Lee’s office said is “a complete fabrication.”

Through a series of procedural moves, Lee and Cruz tried to slow passage of the $1.1 trillion government spending bill, which kept the Senate in session through the weekend — a rarity in Washington — instead of returning to address the measure Monday.

The move angered lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. According to The Washington Post, senators were forced to miss events like the Army-Navy football game in Baltimore, Md., and holiday festivities in their home states.

Now, Lee and Cruz stand accused of paving the way for Reid to push through more than two dozen pending presidential nominees.

Lee’s office, however, contends the Senate would have voted on the nominees before the session ended either way.

Read more from this story HERE.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Ted Cruz Strikes Back: ‘Too Many Republicans Willing to Be Complicit’

by Rob Bluey

In the midst of the debate over a mammoth government spending bill, Republicans and Democrats found something to agree on: their dislike for Sen. Ted Cruz, who forced a rare weekend session for the Senate.

But rather than back down, Cruz opted to call out Washington politicians on Sean Hannity’s radio show Monday.

“Enough is enough,” he told Hannity.

The outspoken Texas Republican joined with Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to force the Senate to take a vote related to funding President Obama’s recent immigration actions. The measure was defeated, 74-22, after Cruz said Republican leaders urged senators to vote against the constitutional point of order. (View the roll call vote.)

“Too many politicians in Washington don’t believe we can stand and fight,” Cruz told Hannity.

He lamented that Republican leaders frequently plead to put off tough fights for another day, as they wanted to do on immigration. Cruz predicted Republicans once again would find an excuse not to act next year as well…

Read more from this story HERE.

WATCH – Hilarious: C-Span Caller Turns Out to Be Mother Telling Pundit Sons to Stop Fighting

/0 Comments/in , /by

Credit - C-Span

Credit – C-Span

Talk about embarrassing; during a C-SPAN segment featuring brothers Brad and Dallas Woodhouse, one of the callers turned out to be Mama Woodhouse, berating her sons for arguing.

Host Steve Scully announced that the next caller was “Joy” from Raleigh, N.C. “Hey! Somebody from down South!” said Dallas, the conservative brother.

“You’re right I’m from down South.” She replied. “And I am your mother.”

“Oh, God, it’s Mom,” he responded while putting his face in his hands.

Read more from this story HERE.

White House Still Hasn't Approved Necessary Paperwork for Individual Mandate

/1 Comment/in , /by

Credit - AP

Credit – AP

Americans have to be prepared for an increased individual mandate tax to hit in just two weeks, but the White House still hasn’t gotten around to approving the Internal Revenue Service paperwork on the requirement…

The IRS’ workload was upped drastically by the individual mandate, which will require Americans to submit a tax form proving they have health insurance or pay a growing fine to the agency. It appears the Obama administration was running behind on the paperwork requirements as well as pretty much everything else.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Makes Bristol Bay Off Limits to Oil and Gas Development

/3 Comments/in , /by

Credit - LA Times

Credit – LA Times

In a boon to commercial fishermen, conservationists and Native Alaskans, President Obama on Tuesday withdrew the waters of Alaska’s Bristol Bay from oil and gas development, vowing to protect the world’s biggest sockeye salmon fishery.

Calling the region “one of America’s greatest natural resources and a massive economic engine, not only for Alaska but for America,” Obama said he was taking it “off the bidder’s block” and would “make sure that it is preserved into the future.”

“Bristol Bay has supported Native Americans in the Alaska region for centuries,” Obama said in a video message released Tuesday. “It supports $2 billion in the commercial fishing industry. It supplies America with 40% of its wild-caught seafood. It is a natural wonder, and it’s something that’s just too precious to be putting out to the highest bidder.”

In 2010, Obama declared the verdant, 52,234-square-mile area off Alaska’s southwest coast temporarily off-limits to oil and gas leasing, a protection that was set to expire in 2017. Tuesday’s action safeguards the important habitat area indefinitely.

The area, also known as the North Aleutian Basin Outer Continental Shelf, has never been the site of offshore drilling, although the Interior Department opened it up to exploration and development in 1986 with the controversial Lease Sale 92.

Read more from this story HERE.

With Fuel Prices Plummeting, Why Do Airfares Remain High?

/0 Comments/in , /by

Credit - Fox News

Credit – Fox News

First time in more than five years, you can actually smile when you fill up, as gas prices fall below $2.80 per gallon.

You aren’t smiling, though, when you go online or call a travel agent to book an airline ticket these days. Prices seem to know only one direction: up. It’s not just the price of the ticket, as consumers get hit with a myriad of fees that know no limit.

If you want to board early you’ll have to pay up. Want a seat that won’t crush your knees and you’ll have to pay up again. How about food? There’s a fee there too.

With airlines earning record profits this year, while their fuel costs are plummeting, you’d think you might actually get a break on your next flight. Think again…

There’s a little bit of hope on the horizon as airfares are forecast to drop in 2015, but don’t get too excited. We are looking at an average drop in fares of 5 percent after some markets have seen their fares go up by 70 percent or more over the past two years.

Read more from this story HERE.

How 'Grey's Anatomy' Just Elevated the Value of Life

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo: Bob D’Amico/ABC

Photo: Bob D’Amico/ABC

It’s one of the longest-running, popular dramatic televisions shows of all time.

“Grey’s Anatomy” has been a cultural staple in the lives of millennials for the past 10 years. Many of us feel like we’ve grown up with Meredith Grey, McDreamy and friends—and the show has had some truly unbelievable story lines over the years.

And now, the show’s writers took on a real-life emerging medical procedure—fetal surgery.

It’s a rare but increasing practice that is saving the lives of babies with birth defects such as spina bifida and brain tumors—while still inside their mother’s womb.

There is an underlying message in any conversation about human life before birth. That is the intrinsic value of life at all stages, including the tiniest of humans just trying to make it through pregnancy.

In a country where it’s legal to end that life without consequence, fetal surgery raises an uncomfortable reality for supporters of abortion.

Read more from this story HERE.

Poll: More Americans Hearing Good News About Jobs

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Tax Credits/flickr

Photo Credit: Tax Credits/flickr

For the first time since the financial crisis began, as many Americans are hearing good news about the job market as bad news, according to a poll released Tuesday.

Twenty-six percent of people surveyed by the Pew Research Center said that they were hearing mostly good news and 25 percent said they were hearing mostly bad news about the nation’s job situation. Forty-five percent said they were hearing a mix of both good and bad news.

It marks the first time that roughly the same number of Americans have said they are hearing good news as bad about jobs since the poll question was introduced in 2009.

The poll comes as the unemployment rate sits at 5.8 percent and gas prices continue to fall. President Obama is touting the economic rebound as a key part of his legacy. Republicans, though, say that millions of Americans have given up looking for jobs and are no longer in the workforce.

See poll results HERE.

Read more HERE.

Wash Post: And the Biggest 'Pinocchios' of the Year Go To…

/9 Comments/in , /by

Screen Shot 2014-12-16 at 2.30.35 AMIt’s time for our annual round-up of the biggest Pinocchios of the year.

The midterm elections, of course, dominated our coverage of false claims, as an avalanche of negative ads tumbled across televisions screens. Some of those ads, which made it onto our list of the worst campaign ads, have the dubious honor of also appearing on this list.

This year, we are also highlighting the bipartisan failure of politicians in both parties for failing to accurately describe the impact of the Affordable Care Act. Democrats such as President Obama and Republicans such as House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) either inflated or deflated the numbers to a ridiculous extent. (Before anyone asks, Obama’s “if you want to keep your plan” was on last year’s list)…

Obama: “Republicans have filibustered 500 pieces of legislation”

President Obama, a former senator, got quite a few things wrong here. He spoke of legislation that would help the middle class, but he was counting cloture votes that mostly involved judicial and executive branch nominations. Moreover, he counted all the way back to 2007, meaning he even included votes in which he, as senator, voted against ending debate — the very thing he decried in his remarks. At best, he could claim the Republicans had blocked about 50 bills, meaning he was off by a factor of ten.

Read more from this story HERE.

Texas to Become an Open Carry State?

/5 Comments/in , /by

Credit - AP

Credit – AP

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Long depicted as the rootin’-tootin’ capital of American gun culture, Texas is one of the few states with an outright ban on the open carry of handguns.

That could change in 2015, with the Republican-dominated Legislature and Gov.-elect Greg Abbott expected to push for expanded gun rights.

“If open carry is good enough for Massachusetts, it’s good enough for the state of Texas,” Abbott said the day after his election last month.

And if Texas, which allows concealed handguns, embraces open carry — rolling back a 140-year ban — it would be the largest state to have done so.

Open carry drew wide support in the 2014 statewide election, and at least six bills have already been filed for the upcoming session, which starts in January. Abbott has already pledged to sign one into law if sent to his desk.

Read more from this story HERE.