State Senate Committee Votes to Abolish Common Core Academic Standards (+video)

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Photo Credit: Steve Gooch, The Oklahoman

Photo Credit: Steve Gooch, The Oklahoman

By Randy Ellis.

The state Senate Education Committee on Monday voted to pass a new version of a House bill that would abolish the state’s use of Common Core academic standards in kindergarten through 12th grade.

Fighting back tears, state Sen. Susan Paddack chastised senators for the way they have handled academic standards bills, saying lawmakers continue to make late-night decisions behind closed doors that have negative consequences for teachers and students.

“This bill was put together late on Friday,” said Paddack, D-Ada. “While a core group has been able to discuss this bill, this bill really has not seen the light of day. … It weighs heavily on me that we are making decisions every day that are affecting our children negatively.”

State Sen. Josh Brecheen, R-Coalgate, defended the bill.

“This bill was vetted by 101 House members. We have improved that version working with the original author. … We are letting the state board, through a three-year process, come up with some exceptional standards that we all agree need to be put in place.”

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Frustrated Father Who ‘Obliterated’ Common Core in Viral Post Shares How His Son’s Teacher Reacted

By Erica Ritz.

Jeff Severt recently grew so frustrated with his second-grader’s Common Core math assignments that, rather than simply help his son with the homework, he wrote in his own response on one of the questions.

“I have a bachelor of science degree in electronics engineering which included extensive study in differential equations and other higher math applications,” he wrote. “Even I cannot explain the Common Core mathematics approach, nor get the answer correct.”

“In the real world, simplification is valued over complication,” he added, signing the letter as a “frustrated parent.”

Photo Credit: Facebook / The Patriot Post

Photo Credit: Facebook / The Patriot Post

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Vets to Obama: ‘American Weakness is Dangerous’ (+video)

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Photo Credit: Vets for Freedom

Photo Credit: Vets for Freedom

In a letter to the president, the group Vets for Freedom outlines the administration’s dangerous approach to national security.

Mr. President,

For veterans of the Iraq War, watching the black flag of Al Qaeda fly over Fallujah—as the adjacent video outlines—is the ultimate symbol of weak and feckless national security policy. Dismissing this American battlefield is an insult to the sacrifice and honor of our warriors and their families. Unfortunately, it’s just another recent example of your administration’s dangerous approach to national security; let us briefly recount other ways.

Afghanistan War veterans bemoan a failed ‘surge then withdraw’ strategy—costing lives and losing ground. In Syria, we set rhetorical red-lines that a Iranian-backed dictator ignored—and then did nothing. Speaking of Iran, their nuclear ambitions continue unabated—with Israel left standing alone. In Libya we ‘led from behind’—with spiraling violence and a dead US ambassador in Benghazi to show for it…

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Obama: I’m Concerned About a Nuke Being Detonated in Manhattan (+video)

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Speaking at a brief news conference in the Hague, President Obama said he’s more worried about a nuke being detonated in Manhattan than he is about Russia:

“With respect to Mr. Romney’s assertion that Russia is our number one geopolitical foe, the truth of the matter is that America has a whole lot of challenges,” said the president.

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Miller Calls Out Begich for Vote to Override Alaskans’ First Amendment Rights

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Photo Credit: LifeNews

Photo Credit: LifeNews

Joe Miller today urged the United States Supreme Court to protect Americans’ constitutional rights by striking down the ObamaCare contraception mandate. He also called out Senator Mark Begich for not only being the 60th and deciding vote for ObamaCare, but also voting last year to uphold the Department of Health and Human Service’s controversial regulation.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in the Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius cases, which address whether the Department of Health and Human Services can require private business owners to provide abortion-inducing drugs, regardless of their religious convictions.

“Alaskans must always remember that Mark Begich was the 60th and deciding vote for ObamaCare, a vote he made contrary to what the majority of the people he is supposed to represent wanted,” said Miller. “Having cast that egregious vote, Begich had the audacity to double-down last March and vote to affirm the HHS contraception mandate, which requires healthcare coverage to include abortion-inducing drugs, regardless of the deeply-held religious beliefs of those paying for the coverage.”

Our nation was founded on the belief in God-given rights. One of our God-given rights, according to both Thomas Jefferson (the author of the Declaration of Independence) and James Madison (the father of the Constitution), is the right to worship and exercise ‘the duty which we owe our Creator’ in a way our conscience directs. The very first right recognized in the Bill of Rights is this freedom: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” According to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, another of our most fundamental rights is the right to life.

“It should come as no surprise to Barack Obama, Kathleen Sebelius or Mark Begich that the owners of Hobby Lobby and other companies around this nation, in seeking to honor and worship God, cannot participate in the taking of human life,” said Miller. “It is my hope that the Supreme Court will see this for what it is, a clear violation of Americans’ First Amendment rights.”

Surprise! White House To Delay ‘Firm’ Obamacare Enrollment Deadline Past March 31

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Photo Credit: AFP

Photo Credit: AFP

Though the Obama administration repeatedly insisted that its March 31 enrollment deadline for Obamacare’s first year was “firm,” many observers predicted that the administration would combat lagging sales of health law-sponsored insurance plans by extending that deadline. Sure enough, on Tuesday night the White House indicated that it would be postponing that drop date in order to squeeze as many people as possible into the program.

Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post broke the story. Goldstein reports that the revised deadline “will apply to the federal exchanges operating in three dozen states” and extend for two to three weeks.

On the spectrum of things that the White House has pushed back or changed about Obamacare, this is a relative tweak. The original open enrollment period for the first year of Obamacare was set up to last for six months; instead it will last for 6.5 months. Unlike some of the clearly illegal extensions and delays that the White House has put forth, this one appears to be legal; the text of the Affordable Care Act doesn’t specify how long the open enrollment period should be, leaving that task to the regulators at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

CMS: ‘We don’t actually have the statutory authority’ to extend deadline

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Krauthammer: End to NSA’s Bulk Data Collection ‘A Calculated Risk’

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

By Fox News.

Charles Krauthammer told viewers Tuesday on “Special Report with Bret Baier” that “we are taking a calculated risk” when it comes to reports that President Obama is expected to call for an end to the NSA’s bulk data collection program.

“Look, I’m sympathetic to the idea that we have to find a compromise,” the syndicated columnist and Fox News contributor said. “I think it’s probably one you have to have given the mood of the country…but if we get a second attack, we’re going to go violently in the other direction.”

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NSA Chief: I’d Love 15 Minutes Alone With Snowden

By Greg Richter and Cathy Burke.

National Security Agency Director General Keith Alexander says that if he had 15 minutes alone with NSA leaker Edward Snowden, he’d make sure he knew how much damage Snowden has done to the United States and its allies.

“I’m not a violent person. I’m not going to try to beat him up or anything,” Alexander said Tuesday on “Special Report” on the Fox News Channel. “I am hugely disappointed that someone that signed a document that said I can be trusted with top-secret data couldn’t be,” he told host Brett Baier.

Alexander said he would tell Snowden, who is living under temporary political asylum in Russia, that he has been a “huge disappointment,” and might also tell him some of the classified problems he has caused so he knows “the significant damage to our nation and to our allies.”

Snowden has made some “huge mistakes” that “will haunt him for the rest of his life,” Alexander said.

Alexander, who leaves his post at the end of this week, said his agency knows what information Snowden was able to take via computer thumb drive. Some that he has not released would hurt military operations and could endanger lives, he said.

Read more from this story HERE.

What Exactly This Hobby Lobby Case Is About

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Today at the Supreme Court, some courageous Americans are standing up to Obamacare’s trampling of religious freedom. But outside the Court, the debate rages over the place of this valuable freedom in our lives.

Planned Parenthood put together a graphic to express one argument—that Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood want to “deny their employees access to birth control.” As Heritage expert Sarah Torre explained in our video, nothing could be further from the truth. The companies actually pay to cover 16 different types of contraceptive drugs.

Check out our version of the infographic, which explains what’s really at stake today.

Photo Credit: The Heritage Foundation

This article originally appeared at Heritage.com and is re-published in full with the Heritage Foundation’s permission.

Michelle: ‘There Were Actually Laws in America that Allowed Discrimination Against Black People Like Me’

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Photo Credit: Carolyn Kaster/APFirst Lady Michelle Obama talked about America as she visited a school today in China. She talked about the American dream:

And my story isn’t unusual in America. Some of our most famous athletes, like LeBron James, and artists, like the singer Janelle Monae, came from struggling families like mine, as do many business leaders — like Howard Schultz. He’s the head of a company called Starbucks, which many of you may have heard of. When Mr. Schultz was a boy his father lost his job, leaving their family destitute. But Mr. Schultz worked hard. He got a scholarship to a university, and eventually built the largest coffeehouse company in the world…

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Harry Reid Blames GOP for Helping Russia Invade Crimea

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Photo Credit: AP / Max VetrovSenate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday that Republicans may have helped Russia annex Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in a surprisingly sharp attack ahead of a test vote on a bill authorizing more U.S. sanctions on Russia and $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine.

Outlining the Senate’s agenda after a one-week recess, the Nevada Democrat said the first item would be the Ukraine bill that Republicans blocked just before lawmakers went on break. He urged Republicans to consider “how their obstruction affects United States’ national security as well as the people of Ukraine” and said their delay of any congressional action “sent a dangerous message to Russian leaders.”

“Since a few Republicans blocked these important sanctions last work period, Russian lawmakers voted to annex Crimea and Russian forces have taken over Ukrainian military bases,” Reid said. “It’s impossible to know whether events would have unfolded differently if the United States had responded to Russian aggression with a strong, unified voice.”

Reid’s charge comes despite widespread support among Republicans and Democrats in Congress for providing Ukraine with much-needed economic assistance and hitting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government with sanctions.

And GOP Senate aides noted the House has passed different legislation, meaning the Senate bill could not have become law before recess anyhow. They blamed Reid and Democrats for blocking the Senate from taking up the House legislation.

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Illinois Democrat Under Investigation for Possession of Child Pornography (+video)

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Photo Credit: downtownelgin / Creative Commons An Illinois lawmaker who recently resigned his seat is under investigation for possession of child pornography.

Authorities from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations seized electronics from Keith Farnham’s state office last week and are seeking child pornography materials, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The warrant states they are searching for “documents in any format or medium pertaining to the possession, receipt, or distribution of child pornography,” the newspaper reported.

Read more from this story HERE.