Post-Election Flood of ‘Obamacare’ Rules Expected

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photo credit: SteveKingIAThe bottled-up rules to set up President Barack Obama’s health care reform law are going to start flowing quickly right after Election Day.

But how long will that last? That depends on who wins the presidency.

The once-steady stream of regulations and rules from the Obama administration — instructions for insurance companies, hospitals and states on how to put the law in place — has slowed to a trickle in recent months in an attempt to avoid controversies before the election. Many states, too, have done little public work to avoid making the law an election issue for state officials on the ballot.

But work has been going on behind the scenes — both in the Department of Health and Human Services and at the state level. As soon as Wednesday, the gears and levers of government bureaucracy are likely to start moving at full speed again.

HHS is expected to begin to release the backlog of regulations. And the states will quickly face a Nov. 16 deadline to tell the Obama administration whether they’ll implement a health insurance exchange — a key part of the law about where consumers will purchase health insurance after 2014.

Read more from this story HERE.

Romney’s Closing Statement

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photo credit: masonbuzzflickrThese last few months, I’ve watched our campaign become a nationwide movement.

It’s not just the size of the crowds — it’s the depth of our shared conviction, the readiness for new possibilities, and the belief that we can do better than we’ve done these past four years.

I am asking for your vote . . . because it matters for your family and our country’s future.

Throughout my life, I’ve led turnarounds of every kind. I pledge that Paul Ryan and I will bring real change to America from Day One. We have a plan that will deliver a real recovery.

Our children will graduate into exciting careers that are worthy of their qualifications. Our seniors will be confident that their retirement is secure. Americans will have good jobs, good pay, and good benefits. Our veterans will come home to a bright future. We will have confidence that our lives are safe and our livelihoods are secure.

If you are ready for that kind of change — if you want this to be a turning point in America’s course — join us and vote for the kind of leadership that these times demand.

This is the most important election of our lifetime — and every vote counts.

We have to win this for America — and with your vote, we will. We are hours away from the better future America deserves. Thank You.

Learn more about the candidate HERE.

Video: On Eve of Election, CBS Finally Releases Clip Where Obama Refused to Label Benghazi “Terrorism”

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Two days before the election, CBS posted additional portions of a Sept. 12 “60 Minutes” interview where President Obama seems to contradict himself on the Benghazi attack. As the Benghazi investigation gets more attention and focus, CBS is once again adding to the Benghazi timeline.

In the interview, according to the latest portions, Obama would not say whether he thought the attack was terrorism. Yet he would later emphasize at a presidential debate that in the Rose Garden the same day, he had declared the attack an act of terror.

That moment was one of the most intense exchanges in the second presidential debate. Romney was on the offensive on what conservatives believed was a serious vulnerability of Obama — the handling of the Benghazi attack and what he called it from the beginning.

The town hall questioner asked, “Who was it that denied enhanced security and why?”

Philly Activist Group Shreds GOP Voter Registrations

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The Community Voters Project is a “non-partisan” lefty organization whose mission is to register people to vote, with a particular emphasis on minorities. In the 2008 election, they had offices in 10 states and registered around 300,000 minority voters. So far, so good.

This year, however, it seems they aren’t registering everyone who wants to vote. Outside a CVP office in Philadelphia, for example, they shredded and threw away numerous registration forms. A number of these were for people trying to register as a Republican.

A citizen-journalist came across a large bag of trash outside the CVP office in Philadelphia. Glancing at it, the citizen saw what looked like shredded registration forms. The pictures in this post are from CVP’s trash. The photo above clearly shows that the voter who submitted the shredded registration form was registering as a Republican.

You’re right if you think this sounds a lot like ACORN and its litany of problems with voter fraud. CVP used to work along side ACORN, and several of its employees have worked for both organizations. CVP has also had significant problems with fraud. Several of its employees were indicted in 2008 for voter registration fraud.

Read more from this story HERE.

$16 Trillion In Debt, Treasury Dept. Offers Prizes To Kids Who Share The Best ‘Savings Stories’

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photo credit: rosefirerisingWith the country $16 trillion in debt, the U.S. Treasury Dept. is offering prizes to kids (K-12) who share the best “savings stories.”

The U.S. Treasury Department’s “Save Out Loud” contest is offering prizes to winning students who submit the most compelling photos, videos, and accounts of their savings success stories:

“Do you know a student with a savings story to share? The U.S. Department of the Treasury wants to hear about it!”

I’ll bet they do.

With the U.S. national debt exceeding $16 trillion – and the government spending a trillion dollars more than it’s taking in this year – the government could probably use all the savings tips it can get.With the country $16 trillion in debt, the U.S. Treasury Dept. is offering prizes to kids (K-12) who share the best “savings stories.”

Read more from this story HERE.

The Coming Age of Austerity

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photo credit: KTL Shutterbug“Are the good times really over for good?” asked Merle Haggard in his 1982 lament. Then, the good times weren’t over. In fact, they were coming back, with the Reagan recovery, the renewal of the American spirit and the end of a Cold War that had consumed so much of our lives.Yet whoever wins today, it is hard to be sanguine about the future. The demographic and economic realities do not permit it.

Consider. Between 1946 and 1964, 79 million babies were born — the largest, best-educated and most successful generation in our history. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, both born in 1946, were in that first class of baby boomers.

The problem. Assume that 75 million of these 79 million boomers survive to age 66. This means that from this year through 2030, an average of nearly 4 million boomers will be retiring every year. This translates into some 11,000 boomers becoming eligible for Medicare and Social Security every single day for the next 18 years.

Add in immigrants in that same age category and the fact that baby boomers live longer than the Greatest Generation or Silent Generation seniors, and you have an immense and unavoidable increase coming in expenditures for our largest entitlement programs.

Benefits will have to be curbed or cut and payroll taxes will have to rise, especially for Medicare, to make good on our promises to seniors.

Read more from this piece HERE.

Complaint Alleges Unions Putting Illegal Immigrants on Voter Rolls in Nevada

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photo credit: Barack ObamaJust hours before voters go to the polls in the battleground state of Nevada, a national group has announced it plans to file a complaint regarding illegal immigrants purportedly being allowed to vote.

ALIPAC, Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, based in Raleigh, N.C., sent the Nevada secretary of state an email outlining its intention.

“We want to stop the felonious thefts of American elections,” says William Gheen, ALIPAC’s president.

Gheen points to a commentary published in Sunday’s Las Vegas Review Journal. In it, editorial writer Glenn Cook accuses the Culinary Union 226 of knowingly registering illegal immigrants and then pressured them to vote.

Cook quotes an unidentified illegal immigrant who is on the Clark County voter rolls. The person claims a union representative told them they were “in so much trouble” for refusing to vote.

Read more from this story HERE.

GOP Senators: Thousands of Ballots Unlikely to Reach Military Voters in Time

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photo credit: Reserve AffairsA group of Republican senators said Monday that thousands of voter ballots are unlikely to reach military service members until after Nov. 6.

One day ahead of the election, Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) sent a letter to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to express their concern over delays in ballots reaching military voters overseas.

“We write to express concerns over another serious failure by the Department of Defense (DoD) to safeguard the voting rights of our overseas military service members, which we believe could result in the imminent disenfranchisement of thousands,” the letter stated.

Mail redirection in the military can take between 14 to 50 days, meaning a ballot could reach the voter possibly more than a month after ballots have to be mailed back in order to be counted. The Military Postal Service Agency (MPSA) identified problems with the system after the 2010 election, but hasn’t implemented changes.

“DoD’s failure to fix this longstanding problem means that the blank ballots of thousands of overseas service members, as well as some who have recently returned from overseas, could be currently trapped in an archaic and inefficient mail forwarding system,” the senators wrote. “These ballots are unlikely to reach these service members until after Election Day has passed.”

Read more from this story HERE.

British Prime Minister Fears Iran Nuclear-Weapons Bid Might Trigger Arms Race

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photo credit: James ArnoldU.K. Prime Minister David Cameron warned that an Iranian development of nuclear weapons might “trigger a nuclear arms race” across the Middle East.

Iran obtaining nuclear arms would not only be a “desperately bad development for our world,” it could make the region “a more unstable and more dangerous place,” Cameron told students at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi today at the start of a three-day visit to the Middle East.

Cameron has been discussing future cooperation with the United Arab Emirates on strategic defense issues as contingency plans are examined for any escalation of Iran’s nuclear ambitions — including the possibility of blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil-supply route.

Three weeks ago, Cameron called on Israel to refrain from a military strike on Iran’s nuclear program, saying time was needed for sanctions to work. The U.S. and European nations say Iran’s program is aimed at developing atomic weapons. Iran says it’s intended for civilian purposes.

Cameron is seeking to boost defense sales in the region and to arrange the sale of more than 100 Typhoon jets in the coming year in a deal that would be worth more than 6 billion pounds ($9.5 billion) to British companies, the premier’s office said in an e-mailed statement. He moves on from the UAE to Saudi Arabia tomorrow.

Read more from this story HERE.

Governor Christie Denied Romney Request To Appear At Campaign Event Just Days Ahead Of Election

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photo credit: sandyreliefBOSTON — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was effusive in his praise of President Barack Obama when the two leaders toured damage from Hurricane Sandy last week, turned down a request by Mitt Romney to appear with him at a rally on Sunday night in Pennsylvania, The Huffington Post has learned.

Christie’s decision will only add to questions among Republicans about what the governor — who is up for reelection a year from now — is thinking, and why he went out of his way to heap praise on the president, and then refused to appear with Romney.

The Romney rally was held at a farm in Morrisville, Pa., not more than 20 minutes from Trenton, the New Jersey capital. The physical proximity of the event to New Jersey only added to questions in the Romney campaign about why Christie chose not to come.

“You can’t tell me he couldn’t have gone over there for a night rally,” a Romney campaign source told HuffPost.

Read more about this story HERE.