Mitt Romney Makes Surprise Decision on 2016

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Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will not make a third run for president, he told supporters on a Friday morning call, saying he believes it’s “best to give other leaders in the party the opportunity” to become the nominee.

Romney acknowledged during the call that he may not have been the strongest contender for the GOP in a general election, and said that was the primary motivation behind his decision.

“I feel that it is critical that America elect a conservative leader to become our next president. You know that I have wanted to be that president. But I do not want to make it more difficult for someone else to emerge who may have a better chance of becoming that president,” he said.

The 2012 GOP nominee said on the call that he’ll “do whatever I can” to help elect that person — and attempted to tamp down any further speculation over whether he’ll change his mind.

“That seems unlikely,” he said. “Accordingly, I’m not organizing a PAC or taking donations; I’m not hiring a campaign team.” (Read more from “Romney Makes Decision” HERE)

Obama’s Extremist Attorney General Nominee Says Illegal Aliens Have the Right to Work in the U.S.

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Photo Credit: BreitbartOn Thursday, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) announced that he would vote against the nomination of Loretta Lynch for attorney general based on her statement that she supported President Obama’s executive amnesty.

Sessions explained:

Unfortunately, when asked today whether she found the President’s actions to be ‘legal and constitutional,’ Ms. Lynch said that she did. I therefore am unable to support her nomination. My concerns are furthered by Ms. Lynch’s unambiguous declaration that ‘the right and the obligation to work is one that’s shared by everyone in this country regardless of how they came here.’

Unfortunately, many other Republicans did not share Sessions’ sentiments, tossing softball questions at Lynch throughout her confirmation hearing. Nonetheless, Lynch demurred from answering over and over again, abiding by the new rule that nominees must avoid giving honest answers lest they be held accountable for those answers.

For example, when queried about the legal difference between the case for same-sex marriage and the case for polygamy by Senator Lindsey Graham, Lynch simply refused to answer. “Senator,” she said, “I have not been involved in the argument or the analysis of the cases that have gone before the Supreme Court. So I’m not comfortable undertaking legal analysis without having had the ability to undertake a review of the relevant facts and the precedent there. So I certainly would not be able to provide you with that analysis at this point, but I look forward to continuing the discussions with you.” Right. (Read more about what the attorney general nominee said HERE)

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Obama Just Picked a Massive Fight With Border Agents

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The Obama administration is starting to implement its executive actions on immigration from November 2014 — and its early guidelines just set up a fight with enforcement agents who are already ticked off at the White House.

Applications for the new “deferred action” program aren’t expected to open up until spring. But federal immigration agents are already being told to consider whether immigrants in their custody might qualify for the new program — and not to deport them if they might.

The new guidance that Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are receiving was reported by Breitbart Texas a few weeks ago, after receiving leaked documents from a Customs and Border Protection agent. (The Associated Press reported on a similar set of guidelines on Wednesday.) The leaks make it clear that the agents themselves are extremely unhappy that they’re being told not to deport immigrants who they know are unauthorized — and in fact, if anything, are being told to help them. Immigration agents have long distrusted the Obama administration’s commitment to enforcing immigration law aggressively. That relationship is about to get a whole lot rockier.

The fact that the White House is already in a fight with agents before anyone has even gotten the chance to apply for the new program is a big deal for both the political fight over the executive actions, and the policy battle over their implementation. The resistance of federal immigration agents was one big reason that the Obama administration’s first attempt to protect some unauthorized immigrants, in 2010 and 2011, didn’t work — and will make it much harder for the government to roll out the new program. On the political front, agents — and in particular their unions — have become an unlikely ally of the congressional Republicans leading the political attacks against the administration’s program. As a theoretical legal argument over the basic constitutionality of the president’s actions grows into an argument about how they’re being implemented, agents are going to play a key role. (Read more about the fight with border agents HERE)

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Woman Who Was Arrested as Utility Crews Forcibly Installed Smart Meters Fights Back

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Photo Credit: The BlazeA woman who was arrested and later acquitted for taking cellphone video while utility crews forced installation of “smart meters” on another resident’s property is now suing for legal injuries.

On January 23, 2013, Malia “Kim” Bendis, 42, went to the home of Naperville, Illinois, resident Jennifer Stahl to take cellphone video of police and crews installing a “smart meter” without Stahl’s consent. Moments later, Bendis found herself in handcuffs because police said she was “eavesdropping.”

But Bendis’ eavesdropping charge was later dropped after the Illinois Supreme Court later ruled the law unconstitutional. She was also charged with resisting arrest of which she was acquitted in October 2014.

With all of her charges gone, Bendis has now filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois’ Eastern Division. Bendis is suing the city of Naperville for legal injuries she says she suffered during the judicial process, the Naperville Daily Herald reported.

Even before Bendis’ arrest, she and Stahl were active and outspoken opponents to the city’s smart grid initiative, which includes the installation of smart meters at each one of the town’s homes and businesses. City officials say the high-tech effort will increase reliability, reduce operating costs, improve efficiency and reduce waste. (Read more about the arrest after the crews forcibly installed smart meters HERE)

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Rand Paul: Audit the Federal Reserve (and Reject the Clinton-Bush Dynasty)

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By Ben Smith. Sen. Rand Paul is reviving his push to audit the Federal Reserve.

The Kentucky Republican and presumptive 2016 presidential candidate said he wants to bring several of the Fed’s monetary activities under congressional oversight.

In a statement released Monday, Paul said it was time to end the secrecy behind the Fed. He believes an audit is the best way to do it.

“[An] audit of the Fed will finally allow the American people to know exactly how their money is being spent by Washington.” Paul said.

He slammed the Fed’s current operating practices, saying it works “under a cloak of secrecy and it has gone on for too long.” (Read more about Rand Paul saying to audit the federal reserve HERE)

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Rand Paul Releases ‘Secret Tape’ of a Fake Phone Call Between Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush

By Mike Allen. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the 2016 field’s most prolific adopter of social media, has posted what aides wryly call a “secret tape” of a fake phone call between Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton.

RAND PAC, Paul’s political organization, used actors to portray the conversation, which hits both rivals on the dynasty issue.

“Bush” tells her he’s thinking about running for president: “I just wanted to call and give you a heads-up in hopes we could work something out.”

“Clinton” says: “We both agree on so many issues: bigger government, Common Core, and amnesty for illegal immigrants.”

[Listen to the “secret” conversation HERE]

Paul, who this week gave an interview to CNN via Snapchat, plans to distribute the audio via Twitter and other social platforms. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Millions to Owe Hundreds of Dollars in Obamacare Tax Penalties This Year

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Photo Credit: NewscomSome 3 million to 6 million Americans will have to pay an Obamacare tax penalty for not having health insurance last year, Treasury officials said Wednesday. It’s the first time they have given estimates for how many people will be subject to a fine.

The penalty is $95, or 1% of income above a certain threshold (roughly $20,000 for a couple). So you could end up owing the IRS a lot of money.

Take a married couple with $100,000 in income – their bill comes to $797, according to the Tax Policy Center ACA penalty calculator.

The penalty for remaining uninsured rises to the larger of $325 or 2% of income in 2015.

As millions of Americans sit down in coming weeks to compile their tax returns, they’ll have to contend with Obamacare’s health insurance mandate for the first time. (Read more about the Obamacare tax penalty HERE)

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State Department Hosts Muslim Brotherhood Leaders Who Oppose Egypt’s Secular Government

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Photo Credit: Free Beacon The State Department hosted a delegation of Muslim Brotherhood-aligned leaders this week for a meeting about their ongoing efforts to oppose the current government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, who rose to power following the overthrow of Mohamed Morsi, an ally of the Brotherhood, in 2013.

One member of the delegation, a Brotherhood-aligned judge in Egypt, posed for a picture while at Foggy Bottom in which he held up the Islamic group’s notorious four-finger Rabia symbol, according to his Facebook page.

That delegation member, Waleed Sharaby, is a secretary-general of the Egyptian Revolutionary Council and a spokesman for Judges for Egypt, a group reported to have close ties to the Brotherhood.

The delegation also includes Gamal Heshmat, a leading member of the Brotherhood, and Abdel Mawgoud al-Dardery, a Brotherhood member who served as a parliamentarian from Luxor.

Sharaby, the Brotherhood-aligned judge, flashed the Islamist group’s popular symbol in his picture at the State Department and wrote in a caption: “Now in the U.S. State Department. Your steadfastness impresses everyone,” according to an independent translation of the Arabic. (Read more from “The State Department Hosts Muslim Brotherhood” HERE)

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Gun Range Bans Muslims, CAIR Wants Obama Admin. to Intervene

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In the five months since Jan Morgan banned Muslims from her gun range in Hot Springs, Ark., business has boomed and predictions of a lawsuit brought by federal civil rights enforcers have so far proved inaccurate.

Morgan, who claims keeping Muslims out of her Gun Cave Indoor Firing Range is a matter of public safety and not a constitutional issue, says she made the decision in September after two customers she deemed suspicious visited. She said their furtive behavior and cellphone ringtones of “Allahu Akhbar” prompted her to revise her range’s policies.

“We are dealing in lethal firearms,” Morgan told FoxNews.com. “I’m not going to let a Nazi shoot in here, or a Ku Klux Klan member in here, either.”

Morgan said she excludes those she believes to be Muslim based on their names. She says business is up, but she has gotten threats, which she brushed off.

But Morgan’s “no Muslims” stance has her in the legal crosshairs of at least two groups. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) wrote to Attorney General Eric Holder seeking the Justice Department’s involvement. (Read more from “Gun Range Bans Muslims” HERE)

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Complaint: Ford Persecuting Christian Employee for Simply Voicing His Opinion on Homosexuals

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By Billy Hallowell. A former contract employee at Ford Motor Company is accusing the company of unlawful discrimination after he says he was fired for sharing an online comment expressing his faith-based opposition to Ford’s support for an LGBT employee organization.

Thomas Banks, a former design and release product engineer, told TheBlaze Wednesday that he has filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission through his attorneys at the Liberty Institute, a conservative legal firm.

Banks and his lawyers say the Ford Motor Company and Rapid Global Business Solutions Inc., a staffing firm that employed him, discriminated against Banks for sharing his religious beliefs, claiming the companies violated federal law, including the Civil Rights Act of 1991 and the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964.

He said problems began when he received an online newsletter from Ford in July 2014 that referred to the company’s longstanding “policy to promote pro-homosexual ideas,” according to the Liberty Institute.

Banks, a Christian, submitted a comment in the feedback section of the newsletter, saying he found the company’s stance offensive. (Read more about the Ford employee voicing his opinion on homosexuals HERE)

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Openly Gay Alabama Politician Threatens to Expose Colleagues Alleged Affairs Over Gay Marriage Criticism

By Fox News. Alabama’s only openly gay lawmaker says if her colleagues don’t stop calling same-sex marriage immoral, she’ll publicly out her heterosexual colleagues she claims are having extramarital affairs.

State Rep. Patricia Todd said she was furious and disappointed by comments made after a federal judge struck down the state’s gay-marriage ban last week.

“I’m sick of the hypocrisy,” the Birmingham Democrat said on Facebook. “If you start disparaging my community, and I know that you are not exactly the family values person that you put yourself out to be, well, then, beware.”

Todd has not identified by name anyone she is considering accusing.

U.S. District Judge Callie V. S. Granade’s order, issued Friday, potentially makes Alabama the 37th state where gay marriage is legal. She put the order on hold for 14 days to let the state appeal. The state wants the ruling to remain on hold until the Supreme Court takes up the issue later this year. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Scott Walker Forms Committee for 2016 Presidential Bid

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Photo Credit: APWisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, whose speech to activists in Iowa last weekend drew strong reviews, has taken the first formal step toward a presidential candidacy in 2016, establishing a committee that will help spread his message and underwrite his activities as he seeks to build his political and fundraising networks in the months ahead.

Walker filed papers to set up the committee, called “Our American Revival,” and a new web site for the organization was scheduled to go live later Tuesday. The steps come after a busy weekend of pre-presidential events that included his address at the Iowa Freedom Summit, a later appearance at a gathering in California hosted by the billionaire Koch brothers and a stopover in Denver for additional fundraising.

“Our American Revival encompasses the shared values that make our country great; limiting the powers of the federal government to those defined in the Constitution while creating a leaner, more efficient, more effective and more accountable government to the American people,” Walker said in a statement in the release announcing the committee.

Walker’s steps come at a time when other prospective candidates are making similar moves in what has quickly become the largest prospective field of Republican candidates and the most wide open nomination contest in the modern history of the party.

The governor’s Iowa speech helped establish him more firmly in a presidential field that includes bigger names like former Florida governor Jeb Bush and possibly Mitt Romney, the party’s 2012 nominee, as well as bigger personalities like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, veterans of past presidential campaigns and newcomers with specific appeal to parts of the GOP’s conservative base. (Read more about Walker forming the committee for his 2016 presidential bid HERE)

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