Jeb Bush (Thankfully) has Only a 25 Percent Chance of Winning the Nomination

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Photo Credit: APBy Matt Vespa. As Jeb Bush makes moves that could signal a 2016 presidential run, he has the conservative wing of the Republican Party either rolling their eyes or seething in anger. Besides policy, I can see why some voters think that it’s getting a bit old that only a Bush or a Clinton are seen as the only options to win the presidency. Moreover, both of their respective political parties have moved either more conservative or progressive since the last time a member of their families occupied the White House. Right now, Bush has a 25 percent chance of winning the GOP nomination.

Nate Silver asked if Bush was too liberal to win. In short, he found that Jeb’s more conservative than Jon Huntsman, but not as conservative as his brother, former President George W. Bush; he’s more like Bush 41. (Read more about Jeb Bush’s chances of winning the nomination HERE)

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A Tricky Problem for Jeb Bush

By Philip Klein. In 2007, during a Democratic presidential debate in Iowa, candidate Barack Obama was asked how he would be able to deliver change when so many of his former advisers came from the Clinton administration. The moment became famous because the question prompted a loud and sustained cackle from his rival for the nomination, Hillary Clinton, who teased, “I wanna hear that.”

In the end, Obama got the best of the exchange, by quickly shooting back, “Hillary, I’m looking forward to you advising me as well.” The clip, which went viral at the time, enjoyed new life when Clinton was named as Obama’s secretary of state.

I was reminded of the moment when reflecting on how former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush could confront a tricky problem should he run for president (which is looking increasingly likely).

The issue that Obama faced when he was running for president was that if he wanted experienced advisers, especially on foreign policy, it was only natural that he’d have to dip into the talent pool of seasoned veterans who served in a prior Democratic administration — and Bill Clinton was the only Democratic president since Jimmy Carter left office in 1981.

Similarly, on the Republican side heading into the next presidential election, candidates will look to former staffers in the George W. Bush administration to fill out their teams. But this creates an especially thorny issue for Jeb. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Grandpa of Toddler Who Shot Mother Says to Quit Using Accident to Push Gun Control

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Veronica Rutledge and her husband loved everything about guns. They practiced at shooting ranges. They hunted. And both of them, relatives and friends say, had permits to carry concealed firearms. Veronica typically left her Blackfoot, Idaho, home with her gun nestled at her side. So on Christmas morning last week, her husband gave her a present he hoped would make her life more comfortable: a purse with a special pocket for a concealed weapon. . .

On Tuesday morning . . . Veronica, 29, arrived at a nearby Wal-Mart in Hayden with her three nieces and son, her gun “zippered closed” inside her new purse, her father-in-law said. Then, in the back of the store, near the electronics section, the purse was left unattended for a moment.

“An inquisitive 2-year-old boy reached into the purse, unzipped the compartment, found the gun and shot his mother in the head,” Rutledge said. “It’s a terrible, terrible incident.”

The aftermath has been crushing, he said. His son went to the Wal-Mart to collect his nieces and son, and no one now is sure what to say to the boy, who is not doing well. . .

Rutledge isn’t just sad — he’s angry. Not at his grandson. Nor at his dead daughter-in-law, “who didn’t have a malicious fiber in her body,” he said. He’s angry at the observers already using the accident as an excuse to grandstand on gun rights. (Read more about how this tragedy is beings used to push gun control HERE).

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Ben Carson says He’ll have a ‘Big Surprise’ for 2016

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Photo Credit: Getty ImagesBen Carson plans to announce his presidential intentions this spring.

“I will announce before March, before May 1,” Carson said in an interview on NewsMaxTV’s America’s Forum on Friday. “I would just say that I am listening extremely carefully. I don’t want to do something that the American people do not want me to do.”

Cason, a retired neurosurgeon and Tea Party darling who has never held political office, said he is studying the issues plaguing the country — much like he does with medicine.

“You have to know a lot of stuff,” he said. “I’m rapidly acquiring that knowledge, listening to people and really finding a tremendous amount of frustration with the status quo, politics as usual, be it Republican or Democrat. Our system was designed for the people. It wasn’t designed for professional politicians. I’m thinking very seriously, listening to people and we’ll make a decision in a few months.” (Read more about what Ben Carson says HERE)

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The Politics that Died With Mario Cuomo

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More than any other politician in recent memory, Mario Cuomo spent a lot of time talking publicly about death, particularly his own. In 1987, Cuomo, who’d been a minor league baseball player in the early ‘50s, fantasized about dying while sliding into home plate, to culminate an inside-the-park home run. “That’s it!” he said, in a conversation captured by Joe Klein. “That would be the way to go.”

The gap between that poetic demise and the prosaic home setting where he died yesterday was emblematic for Mario Cuomo. His ability to inspire liberals (especially white ones) with a New Deal, working-class vision of government was unparalleled for at least a generation. At the same time, his incomplete delivery meant that most conversations about him were about degrees of disappointment.

His landmark speech at the 1984 Democratic convention galvanized millions, with its call for a government that “ought to be able to find work for all who can do it, room at the table, shelter for the homeless, care for the elderly and infirm, and hope for the destitute.” Yet it set voters up for the ultimate disappointment when, in late 1991, he passed up the opportunity to run for president.

Many have offered explanations for that infamous refusal, since the official version – he needed to work on the state budget – was so unsatisfying. There were multiple reasons, but it’s a sure bet that his opponents – even in the primaries – would have sensationalized his Mafia connections. . . (Read more from the story, “New York Governor Dies” HERE)

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Obamacare’s Horrible Year

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By Michelle Mankin. There’s no candy coating the truth: Obamacare has had a very terrible, horrible, crappy, none-too-happy year. What it really means is that the victims of Obamacare — taxpayers, health care consumers, health care providers, employers and employees — have had a hellish, nightmarish 2014.

Let’s start with premiums. President Candy Land promised that he’d “lower premiums by up to $2,500 for a typical family per year.” But premiums for people in the individual market for health insurance have spiked over the last year. In fact, Forbes health policy journalist Avik Roy and the Manhattan Institute analyzed 3,137 counties and found that individual market premiums rose an average of 49 percent.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services itself admitted this month that average premiums will rise at least five percent for the lowest-cost plans offered by federal Obamacare health care exchanges. Democrats’ reaction? Obamacare rate shock doesn’t matter … because government is redistributing the burden and taxpayers are footing the bill! HHS crowed this week that nearly 90 percent of exchange enrollees received public subsidies in order to pay their premiums. (Read more about Obamacare’s horrible year HERE)

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Minnesota Companies Score Obamacare Exemptions

By Tom Steward. Do you believe in miracles? Ask Greg Hall, whose company supplied technology and know-how that helped rescue 33 Chilean miners trapped underground for more than two months in 2010.

Almost as miraculous, Hall’s American Manufacturing Company just received a permanent federal exemption from provisions of the Affordable Care Act that contradict the Catholic deacon and businessman’s religious convictions.

“I’m very happy. Obviously, it was not a battle we wanted to join, but we felt we had to and so we did,” said Hall about his St. Joseph company. “We’re pleased that we’re able to continue to offer our employees medical insurance without the areas that violated our Catholic conscience.”

Christmas came early for seven Minnesota business owners, once faced with the dilemma of violating their religious convictions or paying massive fines to the Internal Revenue Service. (Read more from this story HERE)
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Obamacare Employer Mandate Takes Effect Today

By Rick Moran. The Obamacare employer mandate that requires companies with more than 100 employees to offer insurance coverage to 70% of them goes into effect January 1, 2015. Those companies with between 50 and 100 employees will be forced to offer coverage next year.

The employer mandate was delayed a year for political reasons. Employers are not expected to have a problem covering employees, but the reporting requirements to the IRS are a nightmare. . .

Massive confusion is likely this tax season as employers and individuals alike will struggle with new forms and new requirements. This will be a boon to tax prep firms like H&R Block, who have been advertising their expertise in Obamacare compliance. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Senate Wants More Answers from Feds about Fake Cell Towers, Other Cell Phone Tracking

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

The Senate Judiciary Committee wants more answers about law enforcement agencies across the country deploying surveillance technology, including trick cellphone towers, that gather cellphone data, according to a letter obtained Thursday by FoxNews.com

The bipartisan letter was sent to the departments of Justice and Homeland Security, following a recent FBI policy change regarding search warrants that committee leaders say raises questions about privacy protections and how the equipment was used.

Among the tools singled out in the letter is a Stingray, a device that pretends it is a cellphone tower and tricks cellphones into identifying some of their owners’ account information.

In addition, the U.S. Marshal Service is deploying an airborne device — called a “DRT box” or “dirtbox” — from five metropolitan-area airports across the United States that also “mimic standard cell towers, forcing affected cell phones to reveal their approximate location and registration information,” the Dec. 23 letter states.

“It remains unclear how other agencies within the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security make use of cell-site simulators and what policies are in place to govern their use of that technology,” states the letter from Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, the committee chairman, and Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the committee, reported first by The Associated Press. (Read more about the fake cell towers HERE)

Fireworks Stand Worker Shoots Robber

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Photo Credit: Scott Olson / Getty

Photo Credit: Scott Olson / Getty

By Samantha Ptashkin. An employee at a fireworks stand turned the tables on a couple of crooks, after they try to rob his shop. . .

According to investigators, at around 10pm two men pulled up to the fireworks stand in a green Ford Mustang. One of the guys got out of the vehicle, approached the clerk, then pointed a gun at him and demanded cash.

“They told him we want the money and he tried to talk him out of it, so he said ‘I have to go to this little room and get the money’,” said Richard Treichel, who owns the fireworks stand.

At that point the employee grabbed his own gun and started firing at the crook. He was shot in the face, wrist and back, then rushed to the hospital via Life Flight in critical condition,

The employee was not injured. “I’m just very glad he didn’t get hurt,” Treichel said. “He’s a nice guy and he didn’t deserve this.” (Read more about the firework stand worker shoots robber HERE)

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Teenager Dead After Attempted Robbery of Coveted Shoes

By Natalie Tendall. Miami Township Police are confirming the shooting that left a juvenile male dead Saturday started over an attempted robbery of athletic shoes.

According to police, three juvenile males from Middletown approached two adult males outside the Dayton Mall around 10:00 a.m. Saturday. They say one of the juveniles produced a gun and demanded merchandise from the adult males. Police say one of the males, who had a valid concealed carry weapon permit, pulled out a gun of his own and shot the teen who had the gun. That teen, identified as Jawaad Jabbar, 16, died from a single gunshot wound.

The men were at the mall to attend a limited athletic shoe release sale. Police say the two groups did not know each other and the only motive known is that of aggravated robbery to gain control of another’s property.

Sgt. Jay Phares said the teen didn’t make it to the mall in time to get in line for the shoes. “This was a random act of ‘I want something that person has and I’m going to take it from them by any means’,” said Sgt. Phares. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Anti-Cop Protesters Fail to Disrupt New Year’s in Times Square

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Photo Credit: Breitbart

Photo Credit: Breitbart

By Kerry Picket. The demonstrators marched from Union Square to 38th and Broadway, where they were prohibited from going any further uptown towards the celebration when the clock struck 12. Protesters were beckoned by the organization Stop Mass Incarceration to participate in the march on New Year’s Eve.

The New York Police Department passed out flyers to protesters at Union Square telling the marchers that they must walk on the sidewalk during their march and not go into the streets and block vehicle traffic. A recording that looped numerous times played the NYPD flyer’s message through a loudspeaker during the night.

By 10 p.m., about 100 protesters began walking up 6th Avenue toward Times Square as NYPD officers controlled the direction of the march. Police diverted the group as they approached 33rd street in Herald Square.

“NYPD – KKK, how many kids did you kill today?” protesters yelled, as they carried “I can’t breathe” signs, referencing the last words of Eric Garner as NYPD officers held him in a headlock after he resisted arrest. (Read more about the anti-cop protesters fail to disrupt NYC New Year’s Eve HERE)

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De Blasio Slaps NYPD in the Face on the Last Day of 2014

By Laurel Babcock, Kirstan Conley and Bruce Golding. Mayor de Blasio delivered another blow to New York’s Finest on Wednesday when he reappointed a Brooklyn judge who freed without bail two men who threatened cops just days after the Bed-Stuy double police assassination.

The stunning decision came even as one of the suspects — a gang member charged with posting police death threats online — skipped out on a court date and had a warrant out for his arrest, sources said.

Brooklyn Criminal Court Judge Laura Johnson had faced a midnight expiration of her term. She was appointed by Mayor Mike Bloomberg in January 2013.

Her one-year, interim reappointment by de Blasio outraged law-enforcement officials a day after he met with the heads of five police unions to heal his fractured relationship with cops.

“The mayor’s actions of reappointing this judge are completely hypocritical to his argument that he’s pro-police and counterproductive to what he claims to be an effort to open dialogue going forward,” said sergeants union chief Ed Mullins. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Lawsuit Filed Against Washington’s Gun Control Initiative

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

By Leah Barkoukis. The Second Amendment Foundation has never been one to let the rights of law-abiding citizens get trampled on without putting up a fight. It should come as no surprise, then, that they’ve taken Washington state’s gun control Initiative 594 to court. Well, parts of it at least.

Via SAF:

The Second Amendment Foundation today filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Tacoma, seeking a permanent injunction against enforcement of portions of Initiative 594, the 18-page gun control measure that took effect Dec. 4, alleging that “portions of I-594…are so vague that a person of ordinary intelligence cannot understand their scope,” and that other parts violate the Second Amendment outright.

Joining SAF in this action are the Northwest School of Safety, Puget Sound Security, Inc., the Pacific Northwest Association of Investors, the Firearms Academy of Seattle, six individual citizens including SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb and the Gottlieb Family Trust. They are represented by Seattle attorneys Steven Fogg and David Edwards, and Bellevue attorney Miko Tempski.

Named as defendants are Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste, in their official capacities.

“We took this action due to the confusing and arbitrary language and nature of I-594,” Gottlieb said in a statement. “Three of our plaintiffs, including my son, are residents of other states and cannot legally borrow handguns for personal protection while traveling in Washington. Under I-594, all transfers must be done through federally-licensed firearms dealers, but under federal law, dealers cannot legally transfer handguns to residents of other states. I-594 also essentially prohibits our non-resident plaintiffs from storing their own firearms here. (Read more about the lawsuit on Washington’s gun control initiative HERE)

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Governor McAuliffe Vows to Stick to His Gun Control Measures

By Tommie Mcneil. Despite criticism from gun-rights advocates and GOP legislative leaders, Governor McAuliffe is not retreating on a package of gun-control measures that he has proposed for the upcoming General Assembly session. McAuliffe says this was one of his campaign promises, so no one should be surprised.

Conservatives say the Governor is catering to the anti-gun agenda of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose Super PAC donated to his campaign. But McAuliffe says this is about keeping people safe.

The Governor proposes prohibiting anyone subject to a protective order or convicted of certain misdemeanor offenses from owning a gun. Those include brandishing a firearm, domestic assault, and stalking.

But Philip Van Cleave with the Virginia Citizens Defense League says that’s not how the law should be interpreted. . .

The Governor also proposes reverting back to Virginia’s “One-Handgun-a-Month” law, which was recently repealed. He says criminals exploit it and run guns out-of-state. (Read more from this story HERE)

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7 Biggest Liberal Fails of 2014

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Want to get your New Year started off right? Let’s recap 2014′s biggest blunders from the left. (Why only seven? Our time is limited.)

7. The child migrant crisis at the border. The Obama administration floated an amnesty for young illegal immigrants, preventing the removal of people who would have benefited from the DREAM Act — which Congress pointedly refused to pass — by executive fiat. Tens of thousands of teenagers and families from Central America came across the border, including unaccompanied minors.

Coincidence? The 1986 amnesty and six smaller subsequent amnesties were followed by an increase, not a decrease, in illegal immigration. Additionally, the Obama administration was warned at least a year in advance, according to The Washington Post, that a border crisis was brewing. Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions said “the rising crisis at the border is the direct and predictable result of actions taken by President Obama.”

Conditions in the country of origin aren’t likely to change soon. Neither are the conditions here in the United States. After the midterm elections, Obama made his proposed executive amnesty a reality. It’s not clear what, if anything, congressional Republicans will do about it in the New Year.

6. The Democrats’ abortion obsession backfired. The tide finally turned in the “war on women.” Democrat Wendy Davis ran for governor of Texas, of all places, on the color of her running shoes and the strength of her support for late-term abortion. Colorado Democratic Sen. Mark Udall campaigned for reelection with a heavy emphasis on abortion and his challenger’s supposed desire to ban birth control. (Read the rest of the liberal fails HERE)

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