Senate Plan Would Give Napolitano Final Say on Border Security

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Under a bipartisan Senate framework, Democrats say, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano would have final say over whether the border is secure enough to put 11 million illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship.

If Napolitano does not provide the green light for putting illegal immigrants on a pathway to citizenship, the responsibility for judging whether the metrics for border security have been met will be given to her successor.

The early debate over immigration reform has yielded two thorny questions: What metrics will be used to determine whether the goals for border security and other safeguards against illegal immigration have been met? Who will decide whether the metrics have been achieved?

Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), the lead Democratic sponsor of the bipartisan immigration reform framework unveiled this past week, said Napolitano should decide.

“What we’ve proposed is that the DHS secretary, whomever it is, will have final say on [whether] whatever metrics we proposes are met,” Schumer said. “We think those metrics will be quite objective.”

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‘Creative Accounting’ at the Federal Reserve?

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As the story goes, the Federal Reserve”made” $91 billion dollars last year, sending $89 billion of that to the U.S. Treasury. Until 2008, about the only earning assets the Fed owned were U.S. Treasury bonds.

Let’s stick with that for the moment.

The interest the Fed earns on those bonds is paid by the U.S. Treasury! The Fed keeps 1 percent of the earnings to pay its rent and sends the rest back to the Treasury. So every dollar the Treasury pays to the Fed is returned, less a 1 cent handling cost. So the interest cost the Treasury incurs is magically turned into Treasury income!

There is no limit in principle to the amount of Treasury debt the Fed can buy so it can makes lots of money!! The Fed has increased its assets by over $2 trillion since 2007, a real money-maker!

Yes, the Fed has also purchased a lot of mortgage backed securities, but those have a Treasury guarantee, so same deal, in terms of who bears the risk, but of course mortgage holders are paying the interest and giving it to the Treasury (that lent them the money in the end).

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White House Petition Demands Secret Service be Replaced by Gun-Free Zone

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Photo Credit: Saul Loeb/Getty ImagesA petition demanding that the Secret Service be replaced by a floating gun-free zone has crossed the original threshold for White House action, a blog post at Weasel Zippers said Monday.

“Gun Free Zones are supposed to protect our children, and some politicians wish to strip us of our right to keep and bear arms,” the petition says. “Those same politicians and their families are currently under the protection of armed Secret Service agents. If Gun Free Zones are sufficient protection for our children, then Gun Free Zones should be good enough for politicians.”

As of this writing, the petition has over 31,000 signatures. Unfortunately, the White House recently increased the threshold for action from 25,000 to 100,000 signatures.

Since the Sandy Hook shooting, the concept of gun-free zones has come under fire. For critics, the designations amount to little more than a magnet for criminals with guns. The signs announcing gun-free zones, for them, are nothing more than an invitation to armed criminals.

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Source: Obama ‘Couldn’t Have Been More Uncomfortable’ at Skeet Shooting Event

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Photo Credit: jurvetsonIn a recent interview with The New Republic, President Obama claimed that he goes skeet shooting “all the time” while at Camp David. But a source who said he has been to the retreat on a half-dozen visits with the president said that’s not the case, Fox News reported Wednesday.

“The only time he shot skeet was for President’s Cup,” the unnamed source told Fox News, referring to a shooting competition tradition involving the president’s Marine guards. “I was there. He stayed for about five minutes, and couldn’t leave fast enough.”

The source told Fox that shooting skeet “is very hard.”

“Especially for someone not used to guns … He couldn’t have been more uncomfortable,” the source said.

Complicating matters is a report at the Washington Post fact-checker that noted Obama’s silence on his alleged fondness for the sport.

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Obama Faces Tough Sell With Sheriffs on Gun Control

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Photo Credit: Washington ExamerPresident Obama will travel to Minnesota on Monday with hopes of building support in the law enforcement community for his set of gun control initiatives.

However, public safety officials outside urban pockets are increasingly hostile toward a sweeping set of proposals they say would do nothing to curtail violence.

As the details of Obama’s gun plan emerged — a ban on assault weapons, a prohibition on high-capacity ammunition clips and universal background checks — urban law enforcement officials were among the most vocal proponents of the blueprint. However, over time, police officials in suburban and rural areas have expressed misgivings, with some becoming outspoken critics of the president’s ideas.

That cultural gap has remained, and some analysts said it has become imperative for Obama to at least partially bridge it. ,/p>

“It’s essential for advocates of gun control to have the support of the law enforcement community,” said Adam Winkler, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and author of the book “Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America.” “Americans are willing to give so much deference to first responders, but the problem is that many in law enforcement don’t think the president’s ideas are aimed at crime.”

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Biden Does Damage Control With European Leaders After Hagel’s Policy Flub

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Photo Credit: marcnVice President Joseph R. Biden assured European leaders Saturday that the U.S. is not pursuing a policy of “containment” toward Iran, two days after U.S. Defense secretary-nominee Chuck Hagel mistakenly characterized the Obama administration’s policy.

“As President Obama has made clear to Iranian leaders, our policy is not containment — it is not containment,” Mr. Biden said at the annual Munich Security Conference in Germany. “It is to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.”

During his confirmation hearing Thursday, Mr. Hagel told the Senate Armed Services committee that the administration had a policy of “containment” toward the Iranian regime. After an aide slipped him a note minutes later, Mr. Hagel corrected himself and said, “We don’t have a position on containment.

That comment prompted Chairman Carl Levin, Michigan Democrat, to remind Mr. Hagel that the U.S. does indeed have a position on containment — “we do not favor containment.”

Mr. Biden didn’t mention Mr. Hagel’s stumble to the Europeans, but he did try to set the record straight. Addressing international sanctions against Iran for its nuclear ambitions, Mr. Biden said the Obama administration has “also made clear that Iran’s leaders need not sentence their people to economic deprivation and international isolation.”

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Iran: President Ahmadinejad Unveils New Fighter Jet

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Iran unveiled what it said was a new, domestically built fighter jet on Saturday, local media reported.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said at a ceremony in Tehran that the Qaher 313 demonstrated Iran’s growing self-reliance in the field of military technology.

Iran’s functional air force has been limited to perhaps as few as a few dozen strike aircraft, either Russian or aging US models acquired before the 1979 Iranian revolution.

The Islamic Republic, under an international arms embargo, has long struggled to find spare parts and some military experts say the fleet is outdated.

“This advanced fighter jet with unique physical characteristics has a very low radar cross section and therefore is capable of operating at low altitudes,” Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said of the Qaher 313, according to Mehr news agency.

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Biden Raises Possibility Of Direct U.S.-Iranian Talks

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Photo Credit: Reuters/Michael Dalder(Reuters) – The United States is ready for direct talks with Iran if it is serious about negotiations, Vice President Joe Biden said on Saturday, backing bilateral contact many see as crucial to easing a dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Speaking at a security conference in Munich, Biden said Iran – which says it is enriching uranium for peaceful energy only – now faced “the most robust sanctions in history” meant to ensure it does not develop nuclear weapons.

“But we have also made clear that Iran’s leaders need not sentence their people to economic deprivation and international isolation,” Biden said. “There is still time, there is still space for diplomacy backed by pressure to succeed. The ball is in the government of Iran’s court.”

To date, fitful talks on Iran’s nuclear program have been between Tehran and the EU’s top diplomat representing six world powers including Washington. But analysts have suggested that with his re-election behind him, President Barack Obama might have more leeway to take on direct negotiations with Iran.

That makes the year ahead critical for chances of overcoming a stand-off which, if left to fester further, could see Iran approach nuclear weapons capability, possibly provoking military action by Israel that could inflame the Middle East.

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Supreme Court Wants Answers After Soldier Jailed for Killing Suspected Terrorist Who Attacked Him

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The U.S. Supreme Court has asked the federal government to explain its punishment for a U.S. soldier convicted of shooting and killing a suspected terrorist who was attacking him.

The word comes from the parents of Army 1st Lt. Michael Behenna, Scott and Vicki Behenna, who have been raising awareness of their son’s case through the Defend Michael website.

Lower courts have concluded that since Michael Behenna was holding the terror suspect at gunpoint, he gave up the right to defend himself when the suspect allegedly lunged for his service weapon.

The suspect, Ali Mansur, was thought to be involved in a series of attacks on American troops. The judges determined Behenna was conducting an “unauthorized” interrogation when Mansur lunged for Behenna’s weapon and he fired.

Behenna, an Army Ranger, was given a 15-year sentence and now is in Fort Leavenworth.

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Will Ann Romney Run for Massachusetts’ Open Senate Seat?

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Photo Credit: AP (File)Massachusetts Republicans are desperately scrambling to find a strong Senate candidate to replace Scott Brown, with some even trying to persuade Mitt Romney’s wife or son to jump into the race to avert another electoral disaster.

The former GOP senator’s decision to stay out of the June 25 special election surprised and angered some Republican leaders, who said it will make it much harder to beat a Democratic opponent without Brown on the ballot.

“I’ve had several people call me and ask about Ann Romney,” Ron Kaufman, a longtime friend and aide to the former Massachusetts governor and 2012 presidential candidate nominee, told the Herald.

Ann Romney’s inspiring battle against multiple sclerosis and her star turn on the GOP convention stage turned her into a popular national figure, especially among women voters in Massachusetts.

“That would be a very interesting thing. I would certainly love her to think about something like that,” said House Minority Leader Bradley Jones (R-North Reading).

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