FEMA Asking Disabled, Elderly Residents to Repay Aid from Superstorm Sandy

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Photo Credit: AP / Kathy Willens

Photo Credit: AP / Kathy Willens

The residents of Belle Harbor Manor spent four miserable months in emergency shelters after Superstorm Sandy’s floodwaters surged through their assisted-living center on New York City’s Rockaway peninsula.

Now, the home’s disabled, elderly and mostly poor residents have a new headache: The Federal Emergency Management Agency has asked at least a dozen of them to pay back thousands of dollars in disaster aid.

Robert Rosenberg, 61, was among the Belle Harbor Manor residents who recently got notices from FEMA informing them that they had retroactively been declared ineligible for aid checks they received two years ago in the storm’s immediate aftermath. The problem, the letters said, was that the money was supposed to have been spent on temporary housing, but that never happened because the residents were moved from one state-funded shelter to another.

FEMA gave Rosenberg until Nov. 15 to send a refund check for $2,486 or file an appeal.

“We’re on a fixed income. I don’t have that kind of money!” said Rosenberg, who suffers from a spinal disability and other chronic health problems. He said he spent the aid money long ago on food and clothing, both of which were in short supply after the storm.

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Colorado Residents Get A "Marijuana Tax" Refund

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Photo Credit: TownHall

Photo Credit: TownHall

Thanks to TABOR, Colorado’s taxpayer bill-of-rights law, tax revenue that comes in over a certain threshold is mandated to be returned to the taxpayers. Colorado is expecting excess revenue this year, as Governor John Hickenlooper has said, and a rebate will be in order.

Why? Well, partly because taxes raised from the sale of marijuana have fueled the government’s coffers above and beyond what had been expected:

Gov. John Hickenlooper’s proposed $26.8 billion Colorado budget, unveiled Monday afternoon, includes two rebates for taxpayers.

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Democratic Domination of Coal Country Over?

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train cars in coalIt sure seems that way to Politico after the midterm elections. The writing has been on the wall since the Democratic Party nominated and elected a President who declared that his energy policies would “bankrupt” coal operators in a 2008 interview, but the cycle didn’t complete itself until after Barack Obama’s EPA began to pursue those policies in earnest. What used to be the heart of Democratic working-class union strength has now flipped entirely red, and probably permanently:

The Republicans’ romp this week may have permanently turned coal country from blue to red.

Coal-heavy districts in West Virginia, Kentucky and Illinois that had been steadily moving away from Democrats in recent elections appear to have completed that shift Tuesday, when they overwhelmingly backed Republicans who vowed to oppose what they call President Barack Obama’s “war on coal.” …

In West Virginia, once a long-time Democratic stronghold, Republicans will take control of both houses of the state legislature for the first time since 1931. Republicans picked up seven seats in the state Senate to bring the balance to 17-17, and then Democrat Daniel Hall switched parties Wednesday to give the majority to the GOP.

Voters there also elected Rep. Shelley Moore Capito as their first GOP senator in 56 years, and Republicans won three congressional contests, even kicking out 38-year incumbent Rep. Nick Rahall.

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Massachusetts Town Weighs Nation's 1st Tobacco Ban

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Photo Credit: AP / Elise Amendola

Photo Credit: AP / Elise Amendola

The cartons of Marlboros, cans of Skoal and packs of Swisher Sweets are hard to miss stacked near the entrance of Vincent’s Country Store, but maybe not for much longer: All tobacco products could become contraband if local health officials get their way.

This sleepy central Massachusetts town of 7,700 has become an improbable battleground in America’s tobacco wars. On Wednesday, the Board of Health will hear public comment on a proposed regulation that could make Westminster the first municipality in the United States to ban sales of all tobacco products within town lines.

“To my knowledge, it would be the first in the nation to enact a total ban,” said Thomas Carr, director of national policy at the American Lung Association. “We commend the town for doing it.”

Town health agent Elizabeth Swedberg said a ban seemed like a sensible solution to a vexing problem.

“The tobacco companies are really promoting products to hook young people,” she said, pointing to 69-cent bubblegum-flavored cigars, electronic cigarettes and a new form of dissolvable smokeless tobacco that resembles Tic Tac candies. “The board was getting frustrated trying to keep up with this.”

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Lake County Preacher Breaks Speaking Record

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Photo Credit: WFTV

Photo Credit: WFTV

A Lake County preacher has broken a world record for the longest speech.

Zack Zehnder of the Cross Church in Mount Dora spoke for more than 48 hours and 31 minutes to break the record.

According to his website, he started preaching at 7 a.m. Friday.

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‘Election Eve Dump’: DOJ Turns Over 64,000 Fast and Furious Documents Held Under Obama's Executive Privilege

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Photo Credit: TownHall

Photo Credit: TownHall

Document Dump on Election Eve Reveals Obama’s/Holder’s Desperation to Hide Fast and Furious Facts

By Katie Pavlich.

After years of legal battles between the House Oversight Committee and Attorney General Eric Holder, 64,280 redacted Operation Fast and Furious documents held under President Obama’s assertion of executive privilege since 2012, have been turned over by the Department of Justice after an order from U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson. The Justice Department was originally ordered to turn over a list of documents, better known as a Vaughn Index, with explanations as to why documents fall under executive privilege claims by November 1.

“When Eric Holder wants to know why he was the first Attorney General held in criminal contempt of Congress, he can read the judge’s order that compelled the production of 64,280 pages that he and President Obama illegitimately and illegally withheld from Congress. Since these pages still do not represent the entire universe of the documents the House of Representatives is seeking related to the Justice Department’s cover-up of the botched gun-walking scandal that contributed to the death of a Border Patrol agent, our court case will continue,” Chairman Darrell Issa said in a statement. “I am deeply concerned that some redactions to these documents may still be inappropriate and contrary to the judge’s order in the case. This production is nonetheless a victory for the legislative branch, a victory for transparency, and a victory for efforts to check Executive Branch power. As the production is extensive and may contain sensitive information, our investigative staff will be carefully examining the documents turned over last night.”

Read more from this story HERE.

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HOUSE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM’S STATEMENT ON DOCUMENT DUMP

By oversight.house.gov.

Last night, in response to an Order from a Federal judge, the Department of Justice turned over 64,280 pages of documents that were withheld from Congress after President Obama asserted Executive Privilege on the eve of a contempt citation for Attorney General Eric Holder in June 2012. The sheer volume of last night’s document production—which consists entirely of documents that the Justice Department itself acknowledges are not covered by Executive Privilege—shows that the President and the Attorney General attempted to extend the scope of the Executive Privilege well beyond its historical boundaries to avoid disclosing documents that embarrass or otherwise implicate senior Obama Administration officials.

In effect, last night’s production is an admission that the Justice Department never had legitimate grounds to withhold these documents in the first place. Approximately two-thirds of the universe of documents that the Justice Department withheld from Congress has now been shown to be well outside the scope of Executive Privilege.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., today made the following statement on the Department of Justice’s document production related to the agency’s cover-up of Operation Fast and Furious:

“When Eric Holder wants to know why he was the first Attorney General held in criminal contempt of Congress, he can read the judge’s order that compelled the production of 64,280 pages that he and President Obama illegitimately and illegally withheld from Congress. Since these pages still do not represent the entire universe of the documents the House of Representatives is seeking related to the Justice Department’s cover-up of the botched gun-walking scandal that contributed to the death of a Border Patrol agent, our court case will continue. I am deeply concerned that some redactions to these documents may still be inappropriate and contrary to the judge’s order in the case. This production is nonetheless a victory for the legislative branch, a victory for transparency, and a victory for efforts to check Executive Branch power. As the production is extensive and may contain sensitive information, our investigative staff will be carefully examining the documents turned over last night.”

Read more HERE.

Charlotte, North Carolina Mayor Under Arrest for Illegal Voting on Tuesday

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Photo Credit: Jason Miczek / Reuters / Landov

Photo Credit: Jason Miczek / Reuters / Landov

A federal judge has ordered the former mayor of North Carolina’s largest city under house arrest until he begins serving time for taking bribes because the ex-politician cast an illegal ballot in Tuesday’s election.

Under North Carolina law, a convicted felon loses the right to vote. At a bond revocation hearing Thursday, Patrick Cannon told a judge that he didn’t realize that.

Still, U.S. District court Judge Frank Whitney ordered him to home detention until the former mayor reports to federal prison on Nov. 18 for a nearly four-year sentence. Cannon will have to wear an electronic monitoring device.

As part of his annual election routine, Cannon said he and his wife went together to a nearby school on Oct. 30 and voted. Federal probation officers this week were alerted of Cannon’s illegal vote.

“The light simply didn’t go off on that day. This was something that I did without thinking,” Cannon said, adding that he was “embarrassed” and wanted to apologize for his action.

Read more from this story HERE.

100% of Newly Elected GOP Senators Campaigned on Repealing Obamacare, but GOP Leadership says "NO"

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Photo Credit: AP / Chris Schneider

Photo Credit: AP / Chris Schneider

By Ali Meyer.

Every new GOP senator who won in last night’s election campaigned on repealing Obamacare.

Senators Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), David Perdue (R-Ga.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) all ran on a platform of repealing Obamacare.

Gardner touted patient-centered care and a full repeal and replacement of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA), otherwise known as Obamacare.

“Small businesses and the American people cannot afford President Obama’s countless new regulations and tax increases. There is a right way and a wrong to improve our country’s healthcare system, and the President’s healthcare law just isn’t working. We need patient-centered care and lower costs. It is not too late to start over with a full repeal and replacement of the President’s healthcare law,” Gardner said in a statement.

Daines echoed those statements, also calling to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

House GOP Leader on Repealing Obamacare: Not Now

By Craig Millward.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said he planned to focus first on getting the economy moving and would not press for a congressional vote on repealing Obamacare until “we have the ability to replace it” with some other health care policy “at the same time.”

On Fox News on Wednesday, when electoral returns seemed to show Republicans winning the Senate, in addition to the House, host Megyn Kelly repeatedly asked McCarthy, the second most powerful member of the House, whether he would press for a vote to repeal the unpopular Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare.

“Congressman, we have seen repeated votes, over 40 votes in the House of Representatives to repeal Obamacare, never to be seen in the U.S. Senate, will you pursue that?” said Kelly.

Read more from this story HERE.

Congressman: Military Paid Ransom for Bergdahl's Release, Money Stolen

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Photo Credit: Reuters

Photo Credit: Reuters

A member of the House Armed Services Committee is charging the U.S. military unsuccessfully attempted to secure the release of a captured American soldier by making a cash payment earlier this year.

In a letter to the Pentagon released Wednesday, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R., Calif.) said a payment was made to an Afghan intermediary early this year to help secure the May 31 release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was held for nearly five years by the Haqqani Network in Pakistan, which is classified as a terrorist organization.

Pentagon officials have denied paying cash to secure the release of Sgt. Bergdahl, who was captured in Afghanistan in 2009. A senior defense official reiterated that denial when asked about Mr. Hunter’s letter.

Sgt. Bergdahl was freed in a deal mediated by the government of Qatar, after the Obama administration released five Taliban prisoners from the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

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Obama Defiant, Vows to Bypass New GOP Majority with Executive Actions

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obama-glareThe day after a massive midterm defeat that gave the GOP control over both houses of Congress, President Obama struck a conciliatory tone, but the content of his news conference remarks was defiant as he promised to move ahead on his goals with, or without, the consent of Congress. . .

The president did not agree that the election served notice that he should change his policies and vowed to pursue his goals.

When asked if voters had repudiated his policies, which he had declared were on the ballot, Obama insisted he would not “try to read tea leaves” when it came to interpreting election results and would instead do what he thinks is best for the country.

He appeared to justify his intention to move forward with his agenda by noting, “I’m the guy who’s elected by everybody. They want me to push hard to close some of these divisions, break through the gridlock, and get stuff done. So the most important thing that I can do is just get stuff done” . . .

A prime example was illustrated in his responses to reporters’ questions on immigration and potentially extending amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants, where he again vowed to act without Congress if he felt it necessary, proclaiming, “What I will not do is just wait.”

Read more from this story HERE.