A Nevada Family Bought Mandated Coverage, But ObamaCare Errors Have Left Them Desperate and in Debt

Photo Credit: IJ Review

Photo Credit: IJ Review

When Kynell Smith signed up his family on the Nevada Health Link exchange last year, the higher than average premiums weren’t the biggest shock he’d receive.

The Smith family appears to be the latest victims of a series of errors that has now left the family with medical debt surpassing $1 million. Mr. Smith says that he has spent “countless hours” trying to resolve the matter, even pleading with elected officials, in an effort to relieve his family of the unbearable debt and get his child covered by a health care plan.

Problems for Smith began as soon as he enrolled when his plan was quoted at nearly $1,600 per month. It was a higher payment than he experienced under his former COBRA plan, and not really “affordable” care, but I digress…

Kynell Smith used the Nevada Health Link last year to sign up for a new health plan, but has experienced problems at every stage. Payments have been lost, his wife’s details on her insurance card were inaccurate, and the couple have still not been able to enroll their baby girl, who was born prematurely in February, Smith claims. Smith has now turned to attorneys for help, after being unable to resolve the litany of errors that have led to him being billed for more than $1 million in medical bills.

Read more from this story HERE.

Interview with AK Senate Candidate Joe Miller on Immigration, Family, America

miller-joe-Alaska-photo-3-2jpg“Government should be the servant, not the master,” said U.S. Senate candidate from Alaska Joe Miller in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News leading up to Alaska’s Tuesday primary election.

Miller has recently received coveted endorsements from former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and nationally syndicated radio host Mark Levin.

Joe Miller comes from humble beginnings, as does his wife Kathleen. They both grew up poor, and he grew up in farm country. Miller went on to graduate from West Point, serve in the Army in Desert Storm, serve as an M1A1 tank platoon leader and was awarded the Bronze Star. He attended Yale law school, moved to Alaska in 1994, served as a magistrate judge in Alaska, and returned to practice law after leaving the judicial realm. He and his family also run three businesses, including a bed and breakfast. Miller commented that he is the only non-millionaire, major candidate in this Senate race.

During his interview with Breitbart, Miller discussed how he would approach the issue of illegal immigration, his family’s personal experience with legal immigration, constitutionally limited government, facing off against Democrat Mark Begich, fighting corruption with Sarah Palin, the Republican establishment, and his unique ability to relate to the tough situations Alaskans and Americans face in today’s economy.

Miller has outlined a seven point plan addressing the border and illegal alien crisis, which can be viewed on his website.

“We can’t allow amnesty. It’s an inducement,” Miller told Breitbart News. “We have to rid ourselves of other inducements as well. The taxpayer-funded inducements that cause people to want to come here. If you take away the benefits of illegal immigration, the end result is that you’ll have less of it, but if you reinforce it with rewards, then it’s a pretty simple concept, you’re going to have more illegals here. The approach that lacks the most compassion is the one that encourages more of this catastrophe.”

Miller brings personal perspective to the immigration conversation with multiple family members who have either immigrated legally or are first-generation American-born citizens. One of his daughters and a son-in-law live in Mexico. He commented, “I speak from a bit of a position of personal interest. I’ve got a Mexican national as a son-in-law. I’ve got a grandson that’s a dual citizen of Mexico and the United States.”

“So this is not something that we’re saying, hey we want to slam the door shut on immigration. My wife is the first natural born American in her family.”

“It’s a matter of national importance. When we basically reject the rule of law, we use this as basically, the president has, as political opportunism. Basically the agent by which he can expand his base.”

Read more from this story HERE.

In Alaska, Candidate's Call for Impeachment Resonates on Facebook

cnnjoemillerBy Matthew MacWilliams and Nicole Berns.

Is calling for President Obama’s impeachment smart politics for Republican candidates hoping to strike a responsive chord with Republican base voters and galvanize them? If the reaction on Facebook to Alaska GOP Senate hopeful Joe Miller’s call for a takedown of Obama is any indication, the answer is without a doubt “Yes!”

In last week’s debate between GOP Senate hopefuls in Alaska, Tea Party favorite Joe Miller insisted: “It’s time to impeach this president for dereliction of duty, selectively enforcing the law, and usurping powers that the Constitution does not authorize. He is willfully undermining the rule of law and creating chaos.”

Miller then challenged the other Republican Senate candidates to join him in supporting the impeachment of Obama. They did not.

The reaction to Miller’s takedown challenge on Facebook was immediate. Engagement on Miller’s Facebook page, as measured by “People Talking About This” data or PTAT, surged past 45,000 — 30 times his average over the last several months that we have tracked. By comparison, according to our tracking, Miller’s opponents in the primary, Republicans Mead Treadwell and Dan Sullivan, received no spike in Facebook engagement after the debate.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Why We Need Joe Miller

By Dustin Stockton.

The Tea Party’s movements efforts in the US senate have proven difficult. Senators like Rand Paul, Ted Cruise and Mike Lee have been doing an excellent job but have struggled because they lack of reinforcements. Two of our senators, Paul and Cruise are making it clear that they plan to run for president in 2016. Will the Senate’s best conservative wing man Mike Lee have a wing man?

Tea Party favorite Joe Miller seemed to be a sure bet after defeating establishment Senator Lisa Murkowski in the Republican primary of 2010. After a questionable write in campaign, Murkowski managed to squeak out a “victory” in the general election. Murkowski’s sour grapes were funded and supported by corny businesses who spent millions of dollars attacking the Republican nominee.

Read more from this story HERE.

Tea-Party Favorite Looks to 'Shock the World'

JOE MILLERBy Garth Kant, WND.

Joe Miller is a man who knows how to pull off a political miracle, and he believes he is on the verge of making history repeat in Alaska.

Four years ago, the little-known attorney from Fairbanks knocked off entrenched incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, in a major upset in the GOP primary.

As WND’s Selena Owens described last week, an alarmed GOP establishment then teamed up with the Democratic establishment, and the senator retained her seat by winning in the November general election.

This time, Miller is facing what he described to WND as two establishment candidates in Tuesday’s GOP primary, but said, “This is going to be another upset. We’re going to shock the world again.”

Although the establishment has poured millions into the race, the biggest obstacle this time around, according to Miller, isn’t really money. It has been getting the word out to Alaskans about just how popular his campaign is with top conservatives.

He has been endorsed by such conservative stars as Sarah Palin, Mark Levin, Mike Huckabee, Dr. James Dobson and retired Gen. Jerry Boykin.

But, he said, that has received little attention in the mainstream press.

Despite that, he called the three-way race in Tuesday’s election a genuine toss-up, because, with more than 40 percent of voters undecided, voter turnout would be the key. Miller predicted his grassroots get-out-the-vote effort would make all the difference.

The Fairbanks attorney told WND the big change in the race lately has been the strength he has gained in Anchorage, partly because he has been gaining momentum with the undecideds, who are breaking his way.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Miller Aims for Late Surge In Alaska Senate Primary

By Reid J. Epstein.

A day before Alaskans pick a Republican opponent for Democratic Sen. Mark Begich, Joe Miller is trying to replicate the 2010 surge that won him the surprise GOP Senate nomination.

Mr. Miller, who has drawn tea-party support, has spent the summer campaigning not just against his GOP opponents—former state attorney general Dan Sullivan and current Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell —but against Sen. Lisa Murkowski, whom he beat in the 2010 GOP Senate primary only to lose to her when she ran a write-in campaign for the general election.

Mr. Miller has gained on Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Treadwell in the campaign’s final days, people with access to private polling said, though he still trails Mr. Sullivan.

Former Gov. Sarah Palin endorsed Mr. Miller, an attorney and former U.S. magistrate judge, on Friday, and the campaign announced Sunday that Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and 2008 Republican presidential candidate, is in Mr. Miller’s camp.

Read more from this story HERE.

Mead Treadwell Faces Backlash Over His Companies’ Development Of Spying Technology

Photo Credit: Facebook / Mead Treadwell for United States Senate

Photo Credit: Facebook / Mead Treadwell for United States Senate

As the Alaska GOP primary election nears, one of the Republicans vying to replace Democrat Sen. Mark Begich is embroiled in a new scandal regarding his stated aversion of federal spying programs.

Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell has spoken publicly against efforts by the National Security Agency and other federal entities to gather information on Americans through mass surveillance

KDLG reported this week that, despite Treadwell’s rhetoric, two of his companies have benefited greatly from the pursuit of such technologies. Alaska Democratic Party spokesperson Zack Fields noted the apparent inconsistencies between his stated position and the financial motives to support NSA spying.

“Treadwell says the government snoops too much,” Fields said, “but his own company, where he was CEO and on the board of directors, got an earmark for spy technology.”

KDLG reported that the company in question is Venture Ad Astra, which produces “remote sensing and location-based technology.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Shoot-on-Sight Order in Ebola-Wary Liberia

Photo Credit: SkyNews

Photo Credit: SkyNews

Liberia’s armed forces have reportedly been given orders to shoot people trying to illegally cross the border from neighbouring Sierra Leone, which was closed to stem the spread of Ebola.

Soldiers stationed in Bomi and Grand Cape Mount counties, which border Sierra Leone, were to ‘shoot on sight’ any person trying to cross the border, said deputy chief of staff, Colonel Eric Dennis, according to local newspaper the Daily Observer.

The order comes after border officials reported people continued to cross the porous border illegally.

Grand Cape Mount county had 35 known ‘illegal entry points,’ according to immigration commander Colonel Samuel Mulbah.

Illegal crossings were a major health threat, said Mulbah, ‘because we don’t know the health status of those who cross at night’.

Read more from this story HERE.

Dr. James Dobson Adds His Name To Growing List Of Joe Miller Supporters

BvW1wMCIgAASQpLBy B. Christopher Agee.

Following recent endorsements by Sarah Palin, radio host Mark Levin, and Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Focus on the Family founder Dr. James Dobson threw his support behind Alaska U.S. Senate hopeful Joe Miller.

With just one day until the GOP primary election that will determine which of the three Republicans in the race will go on to face Democrat incumbent Mark Begich, Dobson explained his motivation in endorsing the Tea Party favorite.

“I’m pleased to endorse Joe Miller because he’s exactly the kind of candidate we need to turn this country around,” he said in an announcement Monday.

The strong pro-life candidate has already received significant support from conservative Christians. It is Miller’s dedication to his principles that led Dobson to make the recent announcement

Read more from this story HERE.

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Dr. James Dobson Endorses Joe Miller for U.S. Senate

Dr. James Dobson, Founder of Focus on the Family, pro-family leader, author and broadcaster, announced today his endorsement of Joe Miller for U.S. Senate.

In his announcement, Dr. Dobson said: “I’m pleased to endorse Joe Miller because he’s exactly the kind of candidate we need to turn this country around. We need leaders with the courage to stand strong for conservative values in this battle. Joe Miller is such a leader—one who will not only vote his convictions in the U. S. Senate, but will also lead the fight to defend life, traditional marriage, and religious liberty. I urge all Alaskans who love life, family, faith, and freedom to not only vote for Joe Miller, but to work hard for his campaign.”

Miller responded, “I am honored to receive Dr. Dobson’s endorsement of my candidacy. I grew up hearing his sage advice playing on the radio in our household. He has offered wise counsel to generations of Americans about how to strengthen the bedrock of any strong and vibrant society, the family. He has been in the forefront of applying the truth of scripture to the challenges we face as individuals and as a nation. We share the conviction that, with God’s help, we can restore the liberty and the optimism that has been the hallmark of the American experience.”

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Palin-with-Miller-250x180Sarah Palin and Mark Levin Endorse Joe Miller for U.S. Senate!

By Kelly R. Hubbard.

The next big show down between the Establishment and a Constitutional Conservative Candidate will take place this Tuesday in The Last Frontier State of Alaska! Former West Point grad and solid Reagan Conservative Joe Miller is taking on two Establishment rivals to win that state’s GOP nomination for Senate.

Whoever wins on Tuesday, will take-on one of the most vulnerable Dem Incumbent Senators in the 2014 midterm. First term Dem Senator Mark Begich is tied or slightly ahead in the polls against all three men and he must defend a liberal record, which includes voting for Obamacare and representing a bright red state that Romney carried by over 15% points! Mark Begich’s seat could determine whether the GOP takes control of the Senate this year and removes Harry Reid from power!

There is no doubt that Joe Miller would be another solid addition to the U.S. Senate, joining the ranks of other Constitutionalists like Ted Cruz and Mike Lee! Joe has a history of taking on the Establishment and winning. You may remember, Miller beat Incumbent RINO Senator Lisa Markowski, in a stunning 2010 primary upset! He enjoys that same grassroots fiery support that propelled him to win four years ago!

Read more from this story HERE.

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Mark Levin Endorses Joe Miller for U.S. Senate

Radio talk show host Mark Levin announced his endorsement of Joe Miller for U.S. Senate Friday night on his nationally syndicated radio program.

“[Joe] was endorsed today by our dear friend Sarah Palin, and I would like to endorse him today myself,” said Levin. He added that Miller is the “constitutional conservative” in the race running against “two establishment” candidates. “Our friends in Alaska you need to get out; you need to vote” and help Miller win.

Miller responded, “I want to thank the Great One for endorsing my candidacy for the U.S. Senate. I have been a long time admirer of Mark as one of our country’s foremost champions of freedom. We both share the belief that the best and only hope for our nation is a return to constitutional government. I am honored to serve with him in that fight.”

Administrative Amnesty: Unjust, Costly, and an Incentive for More Illegal Immigration

Photo Credit: Fibonacci blue

Photo Credit: Fibonacci blue

By Derrick Morgan and David Inserra.

Abstract
Leaders in Congress have called for greater enforcement of U.S. immigration law, while President Barack Obama continues to call for legalization of millions of illegal immigrants. Deportations, particularly interior enforcement, have decreased dramatically under President Obama, who has made clear his support for granting legal status to those who are in the country unlawfully. Recent press reports indicate that the President is inclined to issue a memo like the Department of Homeland Security’s June 15, 2012, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) memo for a large subset of the illegal immigrant population, perhaps up to 5 million. That would be a mistake for three primary reasons: It is unjust, it is costly, and it will not work to stop illegal immigration.

President Barack Obama is considering using prosecutorial discretion to effectively legalize millions of illegal immigrants. Doing so would be unjust and costly and would encourage more illegal immigration.[1] Congress should discourage the Administration from considering this divisive and unproductive step, which would only make it more difficult to implement suitable, feasible, and just immigration reforms and more robust and effective border security.
Background

Current U.S. law, written and passed by Congress and signed by the President, makes it unlawful for foreign nationals to enter or stay in the country without authorization.[2] Despite this clear provision of law, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) estimated that about 11.4 million people lived in the United States without authorization in January 2012.[3] Deportations, particularly interior enforcement, have decreased dramatically under President Obama,[4] and he has made clear his support for granting legal status to those who are in the country unlawfully.[5]

The Department of Homeland Security issued the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) memorandum on June 15, 2012. DACA purported to set prosecutorial priorities and grant relief to each individual who (1) came to the U.S. under the age of 16; (2) continuously resided in the U.S. for at least five years before the date of the memo; (3) is currently in school, has graduated from high school, has a GED, or is an honorably discharged veteran; (4) has not been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor, or multiple misdemeanors or otherwise poses a threat; and (5) is not above the age of 30.[6]

In early 2013, debate began on a comprehensive immigration bill that would include an amnesty for most of the unlawful immigrant population. The U.S. Senate passed the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744) in June 2013.[7] In January 2014, the leadership of the House of Representatives issued “principles” for immigration reform[8] that included a general legalization much like S. 744.[9]

Since the issuance of the DACA memo and during debate over a larger amnesty, the number of people unlawfully crossing the U.S. border has increased significantly.[10] Many are turning themselves in, believing that they could qualify for deferred action even though the memorandum requires continuous residence since at least June 15, 2007.[11] Even if they do not qualify for DACA, lax enforcement in general means that most illegal immigrants will not be deported once they enter the interior of the U.S.[12] President Obama and some in Congress sought to advance a comprehensive bill, but momentum for such a measure has collapsed, in part as a result of the massive influx of illegal immigrants crossing the southern border of the United States.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Daily Signal: How the Border Crisis Reached Suburban Virginia

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

GOP Rep Candice Miller: Massive Illegal Immigration will Destroy US Middle Class

By Tony Lee.

On Wednesday, Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI) warned that if President Barack Obama grants temporary amnesty and work permits to millions of illegal immigrants, he will destroy America’s middle class.

In a Wednesday op-ed for the Detroit News, Miller wrote that “middle- and working-class Americans cannot survive and thrive in a labor marketplace skewed by unskilled, low-wage workers who are here illegally.”
“And our taxpayers cannot bear the burden of providing services – education, health and welfare – to millions of illegals,” she continued.

Lawmakers like Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) have emphasized that massive grants of amnesty only make it more difficult for American workers, especially those at the bottom of the economic ladder, to find jobs.

Moreover, governors and local officials have complained that they do not have the resources to take care of the illegal immigrants that the federal government is dumping in their communities. The Congressional Budget Office last year concluded that the Senate’s comprehensive amnesty bill would lower the wages of American workers for a decade.

Read more from this story HERE.

Christians and Yazidis in Iraq Subjected to ‘Savage Rapes,' Sexual Slavery

Photo Credit: U.S. Central Command

Photo Credit: U.S. Central Command

By Patrick Goodenough.

As the U.N. scrambles to help tens of thousands of religious minority Iraqis displaced by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS/ISIL), experts are warning that jihadists may have forced 1,500 Christians and Yazidis into sexual slavery.

“Atrocious accounts on the abduction and detention of Yazidi, Christian, as well as Turkomen and Shabak women, girls and boys, and reports of savage rapes, are reaching us in an alarming manner,” two U.N. experts said in a statement released in Baghdad.

“We condemn, in the strongest terms, the explicit targeting of women and children and the barbaric acts [ISIS] has perpetrated on minorities in areas under its control,” said U.N. special representative for Iraq Nickolay Mladenov and special representative on sexual violence in conflict, Zainab Bangura.

“We remind all armed groups that acts of sexual violence are grave human rights violations that can be considered as war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

Mladenov urged regional governments and the international community to help secure the release of the women and girls captured by the jihadists.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Coptic Bishop: Without Action, It’s Only a Matter of Time Before Islamic Fundamentalism “Infects the Entire World”

By Leah Barkoukis.

ISIS’ barbarism in Syria and Iraq has gotten so bad that even the Vatican has signaled that military action may be necessary. And Down Under, Bishop Anba Suriel, head of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the diocese of Melbourne, denounced the terrorist group in no uncertain terms and urged Australia, and the world, to act before “such fundamentalisms infects the entire world.”

“The world watches in silence as the last Christians are expelled from Mosul, Iraq in one of the most merciless and barbaric acts of genocide we have seen in the 21st Century,” Suriel, who was born in Egypt, said in a statement last week.

“Mosul, the cradle of Christianity in Iraq since the first centuries, is now purged of its entire Christian population,” he continued. “The ruthless and purposeful savagery of the attacks by the fundamentalist Muslim terrorist organization The Islamic State (IS) formerly known as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), is truly inconceivable.”

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: Reuters

Photo Credit: Reuters

ISIS militants ‘kill 300 MORE Yazidi men and kidnap their families on second day of massacre in northern Iraq after they refuse to convert to Islam’

By DAMIEN GAYLE and SOPHIE JANE EVANS FOR MAILONLINE and MAIL ON SUNDAY REPORTER.

Islamic State militants today ‘massacred’ more than 300 Yazidi men – just one day after allegedly killing 82 others who refused to convert to Islam.

The insurgents stormed into the small village of Kocho in northern Iraq, where they spent five days trying to persuade villagers to take up their religion, local officials said.

When they refused, 82 male members of the ancient sect were reportedly rounded up and shot dead yesterday, while more than 100 women and girls were kidnapped.

And today, a further 312 Yazidis were allegedly murdered and their families abducted.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Rogers: Competing Terror Groups Multiply Danger to U.S.

By Patrick Goodenough.

The terrorist threat facing the United States is greater now than it was before 9/11 and the failure to address the jihadist problem as “an ecosystem” is helping it to spread and become more dangerous, House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Rogers warned Sunday.

“The difference here is that, before 9/11, there were single-level threat streams coming into the United States – some pretty serious,” the Michigan Republican said on CBS’ Face the Nation. “Obviously, they got in and conducted the attacks on 9/11.”

“Now you have multiple organizations, all al-Qaeda-minded, trying to accomplish the same thing,” he said, citing the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) and al-Qaeda affiliated such as the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

Read more from this story HERE.

Liberty in Decline, but Not Dead

Photo Credit: Katy Miller

Photo Credit: Katy Miller

The United States today is not the free nation it was, even 10 years ago. Although the slow decline of the broad liberties Americans have long held has been going on for decades, it has accelerated enough in the last few years that ordinary people are feeling it close to home.

Security checkpoints now stop and make warrant-less searches of Americans on highways far from the borders. Privacy is virtually a thing of the past, with numerous whistle-blowers telling of the frightening ways in which the federal government monitors nearly everything we do. Overreaching federal regulations are trickling down into every workplace and job, stifling small businesses that cannot jump the hoops as easily as giant corporations.

It seems in my own workplace, most new policies trace back in some way to federal regulation. Recent federal laws have blatantly undermined religious liberty, attempted to undercut the Second Amendment and caused millions to lose the health care they chose, forcing many hardworking, productive Americans into a massive welfare system they never wanted.

Some time ago, I encountered Sen. Mark Begich touring Alaska discussing the important of the grassroots, all the while surrounded by an entourage of powerful D.C. lobbyists. I wonder how anyone cannot see where the loyalty of this man lies, having voted with Obama’s agenda 97 percent of the time.

On the other side, we have Republican Senate candidates with longstanding records of support for many misguided federal and UN policies.

And then there is Joe Miller, with a consistent message of individual liberty and a return to the free market principles that made the U.S. the economic powerhouse of the planet. I choose to believe that liberty is not a dying ideal in America by voting for Joe Miller for our Republican candidate for Senate on Aug. 19.