Report Suggests Solyndra-Like Problems in Federal Nuclear Power Loan Guarantee

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The Obama administration’s approval of a federal loan guarantee for the construction of two Georgia nuclear reactors was met with applause from across the political spectrum, but new analysis reveals potential Solyndra-like problems facing the project.

“E-mails indicate periodic involvement by the Secretary of Energy on loans and loan terms, and by the White House and top levels of Department of the Treasury on other issues related to the Vogtle Project,” reads the analysis by Earth Track and Synapse Energy Economics, which was conducted on behalf of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and Friends of the Earth.

Earth Track and Synapse Energy Economics analyzed hundreds of documents obtained through multiple Freedom of Information Act requests.

They shed light on potential problems with the loan guarantee process for the Vogtle nuclear reactors in Georgia, including indications of political involvement from the Obama administration in key financial decisions.

“We are not alleging … any improper conduct. However, it is clear that top officials are engaged and interested in trying to make the Vogtle loan guarantee work,” Max Chang, a report author and associate at Synapse Energy Economics, told reporters in a teleconference.

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Piers Morgan Receives Flu Vaccine Injection from Dr. Oz, Then gets Sick

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Photo Credit: thisiscowIn a recent publicity stunt gone terribly but humorously wrong, Piers Morgan, the infamous CNN personality and British journalist whose unconstitutional views on gun control have sparked petitions for his deportation, agreed to take his first ever flu shot during a live taping of The Dr. Oz Show that aired on January 11, 2013. But just 10 days later, Morgan, who promised to “go after” Oz if he developed the flu following the shot, ironically came down with flu-like symptoms that all but debilitated him from hosting his own Piers Morgan Tonight show.

An obvious ploy to both quell the growing public distrust of the flu shot and advocate for its alleged safety and effectiveness, Morgan agreed to be this year’s media guinea pig in receiving a flu shot injection directly from vaccine advocate Dr. Mehmet Oz, who we recently exposed as being a shill for industrial agriculture. In front of a live studio audience, Morgan rolled up his sleeve and received the injection to help dispel the “myth” that flu shots cause the flu or are in any way dangerous.

But just a few days later, Piers reportedly began to develop flu-like symptoms that clearly inhibited his ability to speak properly. His symptoms quickly worsened, prompting him to publish a “tweet” on January 23, just 11 days after getting his flu shot, explaining that his voice had “plunged to [a] ludicrous level, fading in and out.”

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Obama’s America: Disarm the Public and Put Assault Weapons in the Hands of DHS Agents

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Photo Credit: DonkeyHotey In yet another huge blow to the rhetoric and narrative of the Obama administration and its desire to disarm the American public, a DHS bid has been uncovered showing that the Department of Homeland Security recently put out an offer to purchase 7,000 full-auto “assault weapons” to be used domestically, inside the USA.

Keep in mind that President Obama is on the record saying, “AK-47s belong in the hands of soldiers, not in the hands of criminals; that they belong on the battlefield of war, not on the streets of our cities.”

But it seems he really means they don’t belong on the streets of our cities unless they are in the hands of homeland security enforcers, in which case they can be FULL-AUTO assault weapons.

The DHS bid for 7,000 full-auto assault weapons is found by clicking HERE…

The juiciest part of this bid is the use of the phrase “Personal Defense Weapons” to describe the full-auto AR-15s being purchased by DHS.

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“Never Let A Dead Child Go To Waste”

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Photo Credit: Rhys AsplundhBarack Obama, Dianne Feinstein, Michael Bloomberg, Andrew Cuomo, and their cohorts followed Rahm Emanuel’s advice to “never let a good crisis go to waste” when they used the Sandy Hook shooting to renew their assault on the Bill of Rights. Former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell added, in effect, that one should never let a dead child go to waste if one can exploit him or her for political gain.

“…the good thing about Newtown is, it was so horrific that I think it galvanized Americans to a point where the intensity on our side is going to match the intensity on their side.”

This is difficult, if not impossible, to explain away. Suppose instead that an armed teacher or staff member had stopped Adam Lanza after two murders the way Pearl High Assistant Principal Joel Myrick stopped would-be mass murderer Luke Woodham. A case study for The American Rifleman’s Armed Citizen feature is not what Dianne Feinstein, Ed Rendell, and their cohorts need in order to eliminate the Second Amendment a piece at a time. They need a mass murder that is “so horrific” that it will manipulate the public, and legislatures like New York’s, into acting before they have time to think. Their modus operandi is to exploit grief, shock, and outrage for political gain the way itinerant rainmakers once exploited the plight of drought-plagued farmers, and quacks and charlatans peddle miracle cures to desperate cancer patients.*

Ed Rendell is not the only anti-Second Amendment leader who has done this. As stated by Joshua Horowitz, Executive Director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence,

A historic opportunity now lies before us to curb the gun violence destroying our families and communities. For the sake of future generations, let us hope our elected officials seize it.

Read more from this story HERE.

Premiums Set to Rise This Year in Run-Up to ObamaCare Tax on Insurance Industry

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photo credit: stockmonkeys.com

While the most sweeping provisions of the health care overhaul have not yet gone into effect, plenty of Americans will still be paying higher insurance premiums this year — as insurance companies try to preemptively cover the cost of a tax increase included in President Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

That tax doesn’t take effect until next year, when other major provisions like the so-called “individual mandate” and insurance subsidies also kick in. But that hasn’t stopped insurance companies from charging higher premiums this year to cover the hike, as well as the cost of ObamaCare benefits such as free birth control and preventive care.

Premiums for individuals and small businesses are projected to increase due to the tax by roughly 2 percent this year and by as much as 3.7 percent in 2023, according to a widely cited analysis by the insurance industry.

Officials will argue about who is to blame for the hike — insurance companies for sticking customers with the cost, or the government for imposing the industry tax hike in the first place. But the projected increases are the latest sign that Americans, in exchange for expanding and strengthening insurance coverage, will in many cases be paying more.

Already, a pair of taxes has hit higher-income households to cover the law. Those making more than $250,000 are seeing a .9 percentage point increase in their Medicare tax, and another 3.8 percentage point hike on investment income.

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Report: Solar Firms Under Investigation for Stimulus Swindle

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photo credit: mountain/ash

The nation’s three most productive solar installation firms are under investigation for allegedly exaggerating business costs to get larger cash payments through a federal stimulus program.

The Treasury Department’s inspector general is asking SolarCity, SunRun and Sungevity to justify the more than $500 million in federal grants and tax credits they got for their work, according to The Washington Post.

The companies in question received payments through Treasury’s 1603 program, which was designed to increase renewable energy use.

The cash grant program pays installers up to 30 percent of the project cost. So by inflating business expenses, the firms would be eligible for a larger payout.

The firms might have to repay the government if found to have abused the program and could face other penalties.

Read more from this story HERE.

Hillary Clinton: Iran ‘Exports Terrorism’ to Mexico

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(CNSNews.com) – Speaking at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 30, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Iran “exports terrorism” in a global fashion that “stretches from Mexico to Thailand.

“We already know very well that the Iranian regime already exports terrorism, not only to Israel’s doorstep, but across the world,” Clinton said. “If we had a map I could put up there, I could show you what we track and plot on that map.

“The evidence of terrorism, mostly, thankfully, plots foiled or unsuccessful, unfortunately, as in Bulgaria, some that succeeded,” Clinton said. “But those plots, those activities of Iran directly or through their agents, stretches from Mexico to Thailand.”

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Energy Industry Concerned Obama Could Pursue End-Run on Climate Change Rules

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photo credit: donkeyhotey

The United States has joined nearly 200 countries at a United Nations climate summit in Doha, Qatar, this week with the primary goal of coming together on a treaty aimed at preventing what activists are calling dangerous climate change.

Some point to superstorm Sandy as a primary example of the need to curb emissions that they believe are fundamentally disrupting the way Earth’s ecosystem works. They would like to have a treaty signed by 2015.

But many in the energy industry are concerned the Obama administration, fresh off a re-election win, will go too far with a radical environmental strategy that will have a negative impact on U.S. businesses and consumers – not just through the U.N., but executive edict.

“They brought hundreds of millions of dollars into his re-election campaign,” said Michael Whatley, vice president of the Consumer Energy Alliance. He believes the president delayed consideration of the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL Pipeline because he couldn’t afford to lose allies in the environmental sector, and may now feel pressure to deliver to those groups. Indeed, on the night of his re-election, Obama vowed the U.S. would be a leader in combating a “warming planet.”

For years, both Democrats and Republicans have blocked cap-and-trade legislation on Capitol Hill which would set emissions limits and fees for those who exceed them. Now, a growing number of lawmakers are sounding an alarm about what they believe will be the Executive Branch’s “end run” around Congress.

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Congress Urged: Investigate Vote Fraud Now!

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GOP poll inspectors illegally removed from voting locations.

More than 100 percent of registered voters turning out to vote.

Computers reverting to a default Obama vote, regardless of whom the voter selects.

Absentee ballots counted while neutral observers are blocked from supervising.

Military ballots not delivered on time to active-duty servicemen and women around the world.

Illegal campaign contributions, deceased and illegal-alien voters, “lost ballots” and intimidation at the polls.

It’s enough to make voters ask: Does America still have free, fair and accurate elections?

Sign the petition urging Congress to investigate HERE.

Defense Intelligence Agency Setting Itself Up As Rival To The CIA?

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The Pentagon will send hundreds of additional spies overseas as part of an ambitious plan to assemble an espionage network that rivals the CIA in size, U.S. officials said.

The project is aimed at transforming the Defense Intelligence Agency, which has been dominated for the past decade by the demands of two wars, into a spy service focused on emerging threats and more closely aligned with the CIA and elite military commando units.

When the expansion is complete, the DIA is expected to have as many as 1,600 “collectors” in positions around the world, an unprecedented total for an agency whose presence abroad numbered in the triple digits in recent years.

The total includes military attachés and others who do not work undercover. But U.S. officials said the growth will be driven over a five-year period by the deployment of a new generation of clandestine operatives. They will be trained by the CIA and often work with the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command, but they will get their spying assignments from the Department of Defense.

Among the Pentagon’s top intelligence priorities, officials said, are Islamist militant groups in Africa, weapons transfers by North Korea and Iran, and military modernization underway in China.

Read more from this story HERE.