Obama Tells Pentagon: Plan for Full Troop Withdrawal from Afghanistan

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Photo Credit: NATONATO defense ministers began two days of talks in Brussels on Wednesday, frustrated by yet another unmet target date for Afghan President Hamid Karzai to sign a bilateral security agreement pivotal to any ongoing foreign troop presence in the country beyond year’s end.

Signing of the BSA is a prerequisite for the concluding of a separate status of forces agreement between Afghanistan and NATO. Its member states had hoped for clarity before this week’s Brussels meeting, but the ministers will now discuss “the way forward in Afghanistan” without knowing whether the Alliance will in fact have a future role there.

On the eve of the meeting, President Obama, in a phone conversation with Karzai, effectively conceded that the mercurial Afghan leader will not sign the BSA before he leaves office after April elections; advised him that the U.S. was now preparing for a full troop withdrawal by the end of 2014; but also left open the possibility of signing the document “later this year” – that is, with Karzai’s successor – thereby allowing a proposed post-2014 counter-terror and training mission to proceed.

“However, the longer we go without a BSA, the more challenging it will be to plan and execute any U.S. mission,” the White House said in a summary of the phone call. “Furthermore, the longer we go without a BSA, the more likely it will be that any post-2014 U.S. mission will be smaller in scale and ambition.”

The BSA, designed to govern the presence of any U.S. troops in Afghanistan beyond the Dec. 31 end of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force mission, was drawn up over many months of often difficult negotiations, and approved by a gathering of tribal elders last November.

Read more this story HERE.

WH Celebrates 4 Million Enrollees in Program that Forces Everyone to Join

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Photo Credit: Reuters By Rick Moran.

As I’ve written previously, the “news” that so many million Americans have signed up for Obamacare is meaningless. It’s the law. If you don’t sign up, you pay a fine. Why this is considered a big deal – 4 million Obamacare enrollees – is a function of politics, not reality.

The Hill:

Approximately 4 million people have purchased insurance through the ObamaCare exchanges, President Obama told volunteers at an Organizing for Action summit in Washington on Tuesday.

“We now have more than 4 million Americans who have signed up for quality, affordably health insurance,” Obama said. “Four million. That’s on top of the 3 million young people who have been able to get covered staying on their parents plan… you’ve already made sure people all across America are getting better coverage.”

The announcement, which came with just five weeks left in the early enrollment period, means some 700,000 have enrolled in ObamaCare so far in February. Earlier this month, the Obama administration said just under 3.3 million people had selected coverage through the end of January.

But the number of people who have actually purchased coverage is likely significantly lower. Analysts estimate that as many as 20 percent of enrollees haven’t paid their first month’s premium, meaning roughly 800,000 of that 4 million do not actually have insurance coverage.

Read more this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: REUTERS/Kevin LamarquePoll: Uninsured opposition to Obamacare reaches all-time high

By Sarah Hurtubise.

Americans without health insurance have never seen Obamacare is such a negative light.

Kaiser Family Foundation’s monthly health tracking poll found that in February, 56 percent of the uninsured view the Affordable Care Act unfavorably.

The percentage of uninsured with a positive view reached its lowest point since Kaiser began tracking reactions in March 2010 when Obamacare was passed into law. Just 22 percent of uninsured Americans have a generally favorable opinion about the law.

This pessimistic outlook isn’t all that surprising. Health industry experts have found that exchanges are more often than not selling coverage to those that were previously insured. According to reports, majority of exchange customers either had their previous coverage cancelled due to Obamacare regulations or switched over willingly to access premium subsidies.

Read more this story HERE.

Convicted Terrorist Worked as Obamacare Navigator in Illinois

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Photo Credit: National Review A terrorist from Jordan briefly worked as an Obamacare navigator in Illinois while authorities remained unaware of her conviction for involvement in a deadly grocery store bombing and two other attacks.

Rasmieh Yousef Odeh was convicted in Israel for her role in several bombings, including the 1969 attack on an upscale Shufersol grocery store, which killed two Hebrew University students who had stopped in to buy groceries for a hiking trip in the Jerusalem hills. Leon Kanner and Eddie Joffe were killed by a bomb hidden in a candy box tucked on a shelf, which also injured nine or 10 others, according to a website maintained by the Israeli government to commemorate terror victims.

The Illinois Department of Insurance quietly revoked Odeh’s certification as a Navigator In-Person Counselor on November 24, explaining in a disciplinary report that the decision was “based on an investigation which revealed that she had been convicted in Israel for her role in the bombings of a supermarket and the British Consulate in Jerusalem and failed to reveal the conviction on her application.”

The Illinois DOI conducts background checks on navigators. National Review Online obtained the comprehensive Federal Bureau of Investigation background report for Odeh, which does not note any past criminal offenses.

According to the director of insurance’s Oct. 25, 2013, revocation letter, the Department of Insurance found out about Odeh’s history after the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Michigan, notified the public about her prior convictions.

Read more this story HERE.

Court Orders Anti-Muslim Film to Be Pulled From YouTube

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Photo credit: tinou baoAn appeals court on Wednesday ordered Google to remove from its YouTube video-sharing website an anti-Islamic film that had sparked protests across the Muslim world.

By a 2-1 vote, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Google’s assertion that the removal of the film “Innocence of Muslims” amounted to a prior restraint of speech that violated the Constitution.

The plaintiff, Cindy Lee Garcia, had objected to the film after learning that it incorporated a clip she had made for a different movie, which had been partially dubbed and in which she appeared to be asking: “Is your Mohammed a child molester?”

In a statement, Google said: “We strongly disagree with this ruling and will fight it.”

Cris Armenta, a lawyer for Garcia, said she is delighted with the decision.

Read more this story HERE.

Troop Movements Indicate Russia May Be Prepping For Invasion of Ukraine

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Photo Credit: Washington Times U.S. intelligence agencies are stepping up their spying on Russia’s military amid concerns that Moscow is preparing to use force against Ukraine in the wake of the pro-democracy revolution in Kiev.

Earlier this week, intelligence agencies reported that two Ural-4320 trucks full of armed Russian troops were observed arriving in the Black Sea port of Yalta. Photographs made by a Ukrainian civilian were posted online as the troop transports entered a Russian military facility in Yalta, on the Crimean peninsula in Ukraine.

Other activities in recent days have included the movement of armored personnel carriers observed at Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters in nearby Sevastopol.

U.S. officials said the purpose of the troops is not known, but speculation centers on the possibility of the troops being used as part of an advance force for a future Russian military operation.

U.S. intelligence agencies also are tracking possible covert infiltration of Russian Spetsnaz commandos. One concern is that Moscow will provoke a conflict by using the undercover commandos to attack ethnic Russians and then launch an invasion under the guise of protecting those Russians.

Read more this story HERE.

Russian Spy Ship Docked in Havana; No Reason Given

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Photo Credit: ReutersA Russian warship was docked in Havana Wednesday, without explanation from Communist Cuba or its state media.

The Viktor Leonov CCB-175 boat, measuring 91.5 meters (300 feet) long and 14.5 meters wide, was docked at the port of Havana’s cruise ship area, near the Russian Orthodox Cathedral.

The Vishnya, or Meridian-class intelligence ship, which has a crew of around 200, went into service in the Black Sea in 1988 before it was transferred seven years later to the northern fleet, Russian media sources said.

Neither Cuban authorities nor state media have mentioned the ship’s visit, unlike on previous tours by Russian warships.

Read more this story HERE.

Inspector General: EPA Officials Actively Obstructed that Crazy Fraud Investigation

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Photo Credit: dantekgeekWhat’s worse than a high-ranking Environmental Protection Agency official defrauding the agency over the course of twelve years by taking lengthy unexplained absences, doing very little actual work, stealing nearly one million dollars in the form of pay, bonuses, and airfare he didn’t deserve, and getting away with it all by cultivating an enigmatic reputation and telling his superiors (including now-EPA chief Gina McCarthy) that he was performing joint government work for the CIA vaguely related to climate change?

Other EPA officials actively obstructing the investigation into the whole mess, that’s what. The WFB reports on a letter from the EPA inspector general to Sen. David Vitter released on Wednesday, wherein the IG describes how several agency employees tried to get in the way of getting to the bottom of the ordeal:

EPA employees threatened Inspector General investigators, refused to cooperate, and handed out non-disclosure agreements to other employees to keep them from being interviewed, EPA Inspector General Arthur Elkins Jr. wrote in response to a request for information by Vitter on the case.

Read more this story HERE.

The Great Establishment Deception on Winning Back Senate

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Photo Credit: APThe unambiguous strategy of the GOP establishment this year has been to avoid any and all confrontation in the hopes of gliding into a Senate majority in 2015. To that end, they have capitulated on all of the major leverage points, passed a number of Democrat spending bills, and are in the process of pushing “small-ball” legislation in the House so as not to rock the boat before November.

This pusillanimous strategy is predicated on the false hope that a bare-minimum Senate majority – comprised of the same Republicans who support these Democrat priorities – will somehow alter the landscape in Washington. They are misleading conservative and GOP activists into thinking that as long as the GOP can hold tight on the status quo until 2015 we will enjoy robust power to push for conservative priorities thereafter.

The reality is that nothing will change in 2015. Irrespective of the outcome in November, Republicans will control the House and have the ability to block bad legislation. On the other hand, President Obama will still be in the White House for another two years. Consequently, the addition of six more Senate seats with the current incumbent leaders and rank-and-file members will not change the legislative dynamic.

Republicans who lack the will or principles to fight on major issues will still use Obama’s obstructionism as the baseline for excuses not to advocate bold initiatives. Whether it’s a debt ceiling or a budget bill, they will fear brinkmanship with Obama as much as they do now.

What about blocking bad bills? Certainly Republicans will have the power to do so if they win back the Senate, won’t they?…Unless we elect the right candidates for Senate, a weak GOP majority would still net enough votes to pass amnesty, an internet sales tax, omnibus bills, highway bills, or the anti-liberty “ENDA” bill.

Read more this story HERE.

IRS Warns: Obamacare Tax –“Shared Responsibility Payment”–Must Be Made with Tax Return

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Photo Credit: APAgency employs Orwellian term “Shared Responsibility Payment” to describe Obamacare individual mandate tax.

President Obama’s Internal Revenue Service today quietly released a series of Obamacare “Health Care Tax Tips” warning Americans that they must obtain “qualifying” health insurance – as defined by the federal government – or face a “shared responsibility payment” when filing their tax returns in 2015. The term “shared responsibility payment” refers to the Obamacare individual mandate tax, one of at least seven tax hikes in the healthcare law that directly hit families making less than $250,000 per year.

In “Four Tax Facts about the Health Care Law for Individuals” the agency writes:

Your 2014 tax return will ask if you had insurance coverage or qualified for an exemption. If not, you may owe a shared responsibility payment when you file in 2015.

Read more this story HERE.

Miller: We Must Win In A Way That Is Worth the Fight

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The goal in 2014 must not only be to win, but to win in such a way that it is worth the fight!

In what columnist Daniel Horowitz calls “The Great Establishment Deception on Winning Back Senate” is found the belief that if we can simply put more senators with R’s than D’s next to their name in the chamber we will have accomplished our mission and America will be back on the right track.

To that end, the Chamber of Commerce, Karl Rove, and even new moderate Republican organizations have pledged tens of millions to attack “tea party” or true conservative candidates and to support “mainstream” or more “electable” candidates.

If we had followed their advice, there would be no Senators Cruz, Lee, or Paul. None of these men were the Establishment’s candidate, yet they are the leading lights in the Senate today and at the forefront of pushing the kinds of reforms needed to restore the American dream and secure our constitutional liberties.

I pledge to you as Alaska’s next senator, I won’t back down in the fight to restore our freedom! I will partner with these men and new senators committed to true reform whom, I believe, will be joining them in the next Congress.

By media accounts, a significant percentage of one of my opponent’s funding last quarter came through members of the RINO group American Opportunity Alliance and its partner organization, Friends for an American Majority, both founded by a New York billionaire who is committed to taking the party in a more “mainstream” direction. If these interests are willing to back his candidacy to the tune of hundreds of thousands, it is clear they know him to be a Karl Rove-type Republican who will continue to grow government. He obviously will not be a Ted Cruz or a Mike Lee.

Of course, the Establishment knows that when I get to Washington, DC, I will be rocking the boat. Like the vast majority of Americans, I believe our nation is on the wrong track, and the policies of our federal government carry a good part of the blame. We tried the mainstream Republican route last decade, and it was a disaster.

Let’s be part of restoring the nation to its rightful place as a “shining city on a hill” once again.

As Ronald Reagan exhorted, the Republican Party must fly a flag of bold colors, not pale pastels if we are to save our nation. President Reagan fought – as we are today – against the Establishment and won! We offer the same message of freedom, which in the end, always carries the day.