Credit – AP
The IRS’ workload was upped drastically by the individual mandate, which will require Americans to submit a tax form proving they have health insurance or pay a growing fine to the agency. It appears the Obama administration was running behind on the paperwork requirements as well as pretty much everything else.
Read more from this story HERE.
Credit – Fox News
You aren’t smiling, though, when you go online or call a travel agent to book an airline ticket these days. Prices seem to know only one direction: up. It’s not just the price of the ticket, as consumers get hit with a myriad of fees that know no limit.
If you want to board early you’ll have to pay up. Want a seat that won’t crush your knees and you’ll have to pay up again. How about food? There’s a fee there too.
With airlines earning record profits this year, while their fuel costs are plummeting, you’d think you might actually get a break on your next flight. Think again…
There’s a little bit of hope on the horizon as airfares are forecast to drop in 2015, but don’t get too excited. We are looking at an average drop in fares of 5 percent after some markets have seen their fares go up by 70 percent or more over the past two years.
Read more from this story HERE.
Photo Credit: Tax Credits/flickr
Twenty-six percent of people surveyed by the Pew Research Center said that they were hearing mostly good news and 25 percent said they were hearing mostly bad news about the nation’s job situation. Forty-five percent said they were hearing a mix of both good and bad news.
It marks the first time that roughly the same number of Americans have said they are hearing good news as bad about jobs since the poll question was introduced in 2009.
The poll comes as the unemployment rate sits at 5.8 percent and gas prices continue to fall. President Obama is touting the economic rebound as a key part of his legacy. Republicans, though, say that millions of Americans have given up looking for jobs and are no longer in the workforce.
See poll results HERE.
Read more HERE.
It’s time for our annual round-up of the biggest Pinocchios of the year.
The midterm elections, of course, dominated our coverage of false claims, as an avalanche of negative ads tumbled across televisions screens. Some of those ads, which made it onto our list of the worst campaign ads, have the dubious honor of also appearing on this list.
This year, we are also highlighting the bipartisan failure of politicians in both parties for failing to accurately describe the impact of the Affordable Care Act. Democrats such as President Obama and Republicans such as House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) either inflated or deflated the numbers to a ridiculous extent. (Before anyone asks, Obama’s “if you want to keep your plan” was on last year’s list)…
Obama: “Republicans have filibustered 500 pieces of legislation”
President Obama, a former senator, got quite a few things wrong here. He spoke of legislation that would help the middle class, but he was counting cloture votes that mostly involved judicial and executive branch nominations. Moreover, he counted all the way back to 2007, meaning he even included votes in which he, as senator, voted against ending debate — the very thing he decried in his remarks. At best, he could claim the Republicans had blocked about 50 bills, meaning he was off by a factor of ten.
Read more from this story HERE.
Credit – AP
That could change in 2015, with the Republican-dominated Legislature and Gov.-elect Greg Abbott expected to push for expanded gun rights.
“If open carry is good enough for Massachusetts, it’s good enough for the state of Texas,” Abbott said the day after his election last month.
And if Texas, which allows concealed handguns, embraces open carry — rolling back a 140-year ban — it would be the largest state to have done so.
Open carry drew wide support in the 2014 statewide election, and at least six bills have already been filed for the upcoming session, which starts in January. Abbott has already pledged to sign one into law if sent to his desk.
Read more from this story HERE.
Credit – Newsy
Murthy, 37, a physician at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and instructor at Harvard Medical School, won confirmation on a vote of 51-43. He’s a co-founder of Doctors for America, a group that has pushed for affordable health care and supports Obama’s health care law.
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said most of Murthy’s career has been spent as an activist focused on gun control and other political issues, rather than on treating patients. “Americans don’t want a surgeon general who might use this position of trust to promote his own personal campaign against the Second Amendment of the Constitution,” Barrasso said.
Supporters said Murthy is well-qualified and noted his promise not to use the position as a bully pulpit for gun control.
The nation has been without a Senate-confirmed surgeon general since July 2013. The surgeon general does not set policy but is an advocate for the people’s health.
Here is the Roll Call.
Read more from this story HERE.
Photo Credit: AP
Paul’s bill, “Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act,” is companion legislation to a House bill passed last week from Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.)
The Kentucky Republican’s proposal, posted on his website Friday, prohibits the president from using discretion when determining who to deport.
Read more from this story HERE.
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Senator Paul Introduces Legislation to Prevent President Obama’s Executive Amnesty
Senator Rand Paul today introduced the Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act. This is companion legislation to Congressman Ted Yoho’s bill (H.R. 5759) that passed the House of Representatives on December 4, 2014 on a 219-197 vote.
This legislation would end President Obama’s executive action on immigration and restore the Congress’ constitutional role as the body to craft legislation. Article I of the Constitution places the legislative powers in Congress. The President does not have the power under the Constitution to rewrite immigration laws to exempt classes of people from a law that was passed by Congress and signed into law.
“I believe that the Constitution is clear that the legislative power resides in Congress. The President is not a king and he does not have the power to enact laws then execute his own laws. Our Constitution is being violated by this executive order and other actions by the Obama Administration to govern by executive fiat,” Sen. Paul stated.
A copy of the legislation can be found HERE.
Read more from this story HERE.
Credit – Daily Signal
The Senate’s bipartisan 56-40 vote, coming after an unusual Saturday session, cleared the way for President Obama to sign the spending bill, which he has said he will do.
Senate conservatives, led by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, had tried to slow passage of the bill — forcing senators to work the weekend rather than return Monday. They objected that it did not “defund” Obama’s executive actions to grant legal status to millions of illegal immigrants.
The upper chamber’s action follows a 219-206 vote by the House of Representatives less than three hours before a midnight deadline Thursday night. As in the House, both liberals and conservatives were unhappy with aspects of the spending bill.
When the final vote came just before 10, more Senate Democrats (21) voted against the bill than did Republicans (18), signaling the odd alliances created by the funding measure. One independent, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, also rejected the measure. (Here is the roll call.)
Read more from this story HERE.
Credit – Fox News
The federal government, with its long-awaited rating system, is trying to hold the country’s 7,000 colleges and universities accountable not only to taxpayers, but also to prospective students trying to weigh the pros and cons of different institutions.
But it has many in the education community on edge. Several colleges and education associations have launched a preemptive PR strike against the plan, though the details haven’t yet been released.
“I don’t know how they can complain about something that isn’t even out,” a source at the Department of Education told FoxNews.com on condition of anonymity.
The ratings system, rumored to be released on Dec. 19, is likely to re-ignite the debate on the federal government’s role in higher education. The Obama administration has had to balance its position as a cheerleader for innovation with its demands for colleges and universities to rein in tuition costs, while also pressing the institutions to produce more employable graduates.
Read more from this story HERE.
Fox News
On “Fox News Sunday,” Chris Wallace spoke to Jose Rodriguez, the former director of the National Clandestine Service of the CIA, who oversaw the agency’s interrogation program.
Bolling Blasts CIA Torture Report: ‘I Have Zero Sympathy for the Terrorists’
Rodriguez said that the CIA’s controversial enhanced interrogation techniques that appear the Senate Intelligence Committee’s “torture report” were both legal and approved by the Justice Department.
He added that thorough investigations of the CIA’s program were conducted and no prosecutable offenses were found.
“No one tortured anybody else,” Rodriguez said.
Judge Jeanine: ‘Your Ivory Tower, Liberal, Kumbaya Naiveté Is Dangerous’
As for the report’s conclusion that the CIA misled Congress, Rodriguez said that he very clearly remembers briefing Nancy Pelosi in September 2002.
Read more from this story HERE.