Jordan on Obama’s Promises: ‘Every time, It’s Been Proven Wrong’

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: CNSNews.com/Penny StarrRep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said on Tuesday at The Heritage Foundation that the promises President Obama made about the Affordable Care Act have “been proven wrong.”

“Every single line they made – if you like your plan you can keep it, if you like your doctor you can keep it, your premiums are going to go down – they’re going to go down $2,500, the website’s going to work Oct. 1; now it’s going to work Nov. 30,” Jordan said. “Every time, it’s been proven wrong.”

Jordan made his remarks at the Conversations with Conservatives event in response to CNSNews.com asking if Obama made a true or false statement when he said: “If you like your insurance plan, you will keep it. No one will be able to take that away from you.”

“They promised that your premiums were going to go down to the tune of $2,500, and they promised the website would work on Oct. 1, and now they’re promising that it’s going to work by Nov. 30, and they’re backing away from that,” Jordan said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Benghazi Staffers Told: ‘You are on Your Own’

/4 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: WND A congressman has revealed a new detail about the 2012 Benghazi attack, disclosing that staff members at the besieged U.S. special mission were told in a directive, “You are on your own.”

In an interview with CNN yesterday, Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., chairman of the House Intelligence Subcommittee, charged the State Department, then run by Hillary Clinton, was culpable in the attack and ensuing cover-up.

While CNN.com focused on a different aspect of Westmoreland’s interview, running the headline “GOP Rep: Benghazi Not A ‘Complete Cover-Up,’” other statements made in the nine-minute sit-down may be more significant.

Westmoreland’s committee recently questioned CIA agents and contractors who were on the ground during the attack.

The lawmaker told CNN his committee learned a directive was issued Aug. 11 – one month before the attack – telling Benghazi staff they were on their own.

Read more from this story HERE.

U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Block Texas Abortion Law

/3 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: APA split U.S. Supreme Court declined on Tuesday to block implementation of a new abortion law in Texas that already has prompted a dozen clinics in the state to stop performing the procedure.

The provision requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the facility in case women have complications.

The court was split 5-4, with the conservative wing of the court in the majority. The four liberal justices said they would have overturned the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals October 31 ruling that allowed the law to take effect.

Justice Antonin Scalia, joined by two of his conservative colleagues, wrote an opinion explaining the rationale in favor of leaving the appeals court decision intact.

Scalia criticized the four dissenters, saying that their suggested outcome would “flout core principles of federalism by mandating postponement of a state law without asserting that the law is even probably unconstitutional.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Endless Afghanistan? US-Afghan Agreement Would Keep Troops in Place and Funds Flowing, Perhaps Indefinitely

/5 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Andrew Burton/ReutersWhile many Americans have been led to believe the war in Afghanistan will soon be over, a draft of a key U.S.-Afghan security deal obtained by NBC News shows the United States is prepared to maintain military outposts in Afghanistan for many years to come, and pay to support hundreds of thousands of Afghan security forces.

The wide-ranging document, still unsigned by the United States and Afghanistan, has the potential to commit thousands of American troops to Afghanistan and spend billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars.

The document outlines what appears to be the start of a new, open-ended military commitment in Afghanistan in the name of training and continuing to fight al-Qaeda. The war in Afghanistan doesn’t seem to be ending, but renewed under new, scaled-down U.S.-Afghan terms.

“The Parties acknowledge that continued U.S. military operations to defeat al-Qaeda and its affiliates may be appropriate and agree to continue their close cooperation and coordination toward that end,” the draft states.

The 25-page “Security and Defense Cooperation Agreement Between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan” is a sweeping document, vague in places, highly specific in others, defining everything from the types of future missions U.S. troops would be allowed to conduct in Afghanistan, to the use of radios and the taxation of American soldiers and contractors.

Read more from this story HERE.

Michelle Obama: ‘Barack Hasn’t Done Any of This Alone’

/8 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: AP“Write the biggest check you can possibly write,” First lady Michelle Obama told a gathering of female Democratic senators in New York City on Monday.

She said her husband needs these women to “dig deep” so the “right people” — Democrats — will be elected in the 2014 midterms.

Touting the nation’s economic recovery, Mrs. Obama said, “Barack hasn’t done any of this alone, just sitting by himself in the Oval Office. So sad,” she joked.

She said her husband “needed Congress” to pass the stimulus law, a fair pay law, and the Affordable Care Act.

And then she talked about “frustrating defeats,” and two situations where President Obama “had to sign an executive order.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Did the Shutdown Even Matter?

/2 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Alex Wong/Getty When budget negotiations began last month, Democrats felt confident that public opinion surrounding the government shutdown would force Republicans to the table, eager to prove their party could compromise.

But today, there’s little sense of urgency on a budget deal. With less than four weeks to go before the conference committee’s deadline, the public focus has shifted to the troubled rollout of the Affordable Care Act and pressure on Republicans has subsided.

“The shutdown is history. We are moving forward to try to get the next thing done,” William Allison, a spokesman for House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, said last week.

Asked whether Ryan and others feel pressure to get something done because of the shutdown, Allison was blunt: “Nah,” he said.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., a member of the conference committee, said the idea that Republicans may be feeling more at ease about the budget deadline now that concerns about the Affordable Care Act have taken center stage lined up with how many Democrats read the situation.

Read more from this story HERE.

Jase and Missy Robertson of Duck Dynasty: Stay a Virgin Until Marriage (+video)

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: Life News Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson went viral earlier this year when he talked about his pro-life views, asking America about abortion, “What in the world happened to us?”

Robertson said at the time: “Listen, from the time you started inside your mother’s womb, Thomas Jefferson had it right, you have the God-given right to life for crying out loud. You’re this long (pointing to his finger). You’re a week old inside your mother. They suck you out of there when you’re about like that (point to finger again). You wouldn’t be here tonight!”

Now, he and his wife Missy have also put forward an exhortation to practice virginity until marriage.

During the K-Love fan awards this summer, the pair shared about their faith in God and how they’re using their popularity to reach people. They talk about their views in favor of abstinence.

Read more from this story HERE.

Health Care Plans in DC Cover Abortion, Not Hearing Aids

/3 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: France1978/flickrMultiple individual plans available on the D.C. health-insurance exchange specifically cover elective abortion but not hearing aids, routine foot-care, and routine eye-care. One such plan, Healthy Blue PPO $1500, has a summary on the D.C. exchange’s website titled “Excluded Services & Other Covered Services.” It says enrollees can receive coverage for abortions performed for non-medical reasons, but not for a number of other services that could seem medically necessary. The plan also excludes coverage for some other procedures, including cosmetic surgery, bariatric surgery, and infertility treatment.

Per Anna Higgins of the Family Research Council, in D.C. Aetna plans and multi-state plans run by the Office of Personnel Management and offered by Blue Cross Blue Shield specifically don’t offer elective abortion coverage. All the other plans offered in the District do cover elective abortion. When she wrote about the issue in October for TownHall, representatives from the D.C. exchange told her that plans were required to cover abortion because it was an “essential benefit.” That’s incorrect, however, and the exchange later retracted the statement. The Affordable Care Act specifically states that abortion is not an essential benefit, so not all plans cover the procedure.

Read more from this story HERE.

Sowell: A Very Dangerous Game

/4 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: National Review New York City police authorities are investigating a series of unprovoked physical attacks in public places on people who are Jewish, in the form of what is called “the knockout game.”

The way the game is played: One of a number of young blacks decides to show that he can knock down some stranger on the streets, preferably with one punch, as they pass by. Often some other member of the group records the event, so that a video of that “achievement” is put on the Internet, to be celebrated.

The New York authorities report a recent series of such attacks and, because Jews have been singled out in these attacks, are considering prosecuting these assaults as “hate crimes.”

Many aspects of these crimes are extremely painful to think about, including the fact that responsible authorities in New York seem to have been caught by surprise, even though this “knockout game” has been played for years by young black gangs in other cities and other states, against people besides Jews — the victims being either whites in general or people of Asian ancestry.

Attacks of this sort have been rampant in St. Louis. But they have also occurred in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and elsewhere. In Illinois the game has often been called “Polar Bear Hunting” by the young thugs, presumably because the targets are white.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama’s Approval Rating Down 13 pts for Year; Disapproval Reaches Career High (+video)

/5 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: APBarack Obama has been hammered by the botched rollout of the Affordable Care Act, with disapproval of his job performance reaching a career high, opposition to the new healthcare law up sharply and evidence of potential fallout in the midterm elections a year off.

The president’s job approval rating has fallen to 42 percent in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, down 13 percentage points this year and 6 points in the past month to match the lowest of his presidency. Fifty-five percent disapprove, a record. And 70 percent say the country’s headed seriously off on the wrong track – up 13 points since May to the most in two years.

Other ratings of the president’s performance have tumbled as well. He’s at career lows for being a strong leader, understanding the problems of average Americans and being honest and trustworthy – numerically under water on each of these (a first for the latter two). His rating for strong leadership is down by 15 points this year and a vast 31 points below its peak shortly after he took office. In a new gauge, just 41 percent rate him as a good manager; 56 percent think not.

This poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates, finds that the president’s personal image has suffered alongside his professional ratings. Fewer than half, 46 percent, see him favorably overall, down 14 points this year to the fewest of his presidency. Fifty-two percent now view him unfavorably, a new high and a majority for the first time since he took office. It may matter: Personal popularity can provide a president with cushioning when the going gets rough. Losing it leaves the president more vulnerable.

ACA – Skepticism about the Affordable Care Act looks to be the driving force in Obama’s troubles. Americans by nearly 2-1, 63-33 percent, disapprove of his handling of implementation of the new health care law. And the public by 57-40 percent now opposes the law overall, its most negative rating to date, with opposition up by 8 points in the past month alone.

Read more from this story HERE.