The Jaw-Dropping Cost of a Bandaged Finger Exposes the Issues ObamaCare Isn’t Fixing

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Photo Credit: NBC 4

Photo Credit: NBC 4

Obamacare was touted as a way to make healthcare affordable for every American. In reality, it has not done that and, through excessive regulations, has instead driven up costs and made the problem worse for many.

Despite Obamacare, healthcare in the U.S. remains expensive. Take, for example, what one man was charged more than $8,000 for. NBC 4 New York reports:

Last August, Baer Hanusz-Rajkowski, of Bayonne, accidentally cut his finger with the claw-end of a hammer. He says he waited a few days for it to heal but the cut didn’t seem to be closing, so he went to the Bayonne Medical Center emergency room to ask whether he should get stitches.

The nurse practitioner determined no stitches were necessary, he says. There was no X-ray either.

Read more from this story HERE.

CDC Issues Highest Level Alert Amid Ebola Outbreak

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

By Fox News.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has raised their emergency response to the Ebola outbreak to level 1.

This is the highest level of emergency response at the CDC and, according to an agency spokesperson, it has been activated because of the surge of personnel being sent into the affected countries. The CDC’s emergency operations center is now assisting the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases in Atlanta, which specializes in the study and research of Ebola.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: AFP / Jewel Samad

Photo Credit: AFP / Jewel Samad

Ebola’s Spread to US is ‘Inevitable’ Says CDC Chief

By Kerry Sheridan.

Ebola’s spread to the United States is “inevitable” due to the nature of global airline travel, but any outbreak is not likely to be large, US health authorities said Thursday.

Already one man with dual US-Liberian citizenship has died from Ebola, after becoming sick on a plane from Monrovia to Lagos and exposing as many as seven other people in Nigeria.

More cases of Ebola moving across borders via air travel are expected, as West Africa faces the largest outbreak of the hemorrhagic virus in history, said Tom Frieden, the head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The virus spreads by close contact with bodily fluids and has killed 932 people and infected more than 1,700 since March in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria and Liberia.

“It is certainly possible that we could have ill people in the US who develop Ebola after having been exposed elsewhere,” Frieden told a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations.

Read more from this story HERE.

U.S. May Sign UN Treaty Usurping Parental Rights

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Photo Credit: LifeSiteNews

Photo Credit: LifeSiteNews

There is no shortage of domestic issues to be concerned about these days. From the chaos at the border to Ebola patients on our soil to Kanye West’s messiah complex – we are overwhelmed with crisis after crisis. I hate to put one more on your plate, but I think this is an issue that parents – particularly parents of disabled children – may want to know about.

Recently, the Senate Foreign Relations committee voted to send the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) treaty to the full Senate for an official vote. At first glance, the CRPD doesn’t seem that scary. It’s basically an international agreement to secure the rights of dignity and fair treatment for disabled people across the globe. That’s not such a bad thing, considering that most most non-westernized nations treat persons with disabilities as highly disposable and extremely undesirable. The results are often abandonment and/or death. Clearly there is an international crisis when it comes to the treatment of those born with disabilities. That cannot be denied.

Fortunately the United States is not one of those countries that tolerates such treatment, and yet we are getting set to sign an international treaty that could potentially usurp state law and parental rights when it comes to how we treat our disabled citizens, specifically children.

Unsurprisingly, the CRPD includes some very vague language that could be interpreted to the detriment of free American citizens. The Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HLSDA) has taken up this issue in particular, because they are concerned homeschooling parents of disabled children may lose their right of association and ability to make autonomous decisions when it comes to the well-being of their students at home.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Official Deleted Obamacare Emails Sought By Congress

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Photo Credit: Brian Snyder, Reuters

Photo Credit: Brian Snyder, Reuters

The administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) deleted some of her emails and may not be able to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the flawed Obamacare rollout, CMS has warned Congress.

Marilyn Tavenner, who was appointed by President Obama to take over CMS within the Department of Health and human Services in 2013 — prior to the Obamacare rollout — deleted some of her emails and did not save hard copies as the Federal Records Act requires her to do, MSNBC reported Thursday.

Though Tavenner’s computer did not crash like ex-IRS official Lois Lerner’s computer allegedly did, Tavenner may be unable to cooperate with House Oversight and Government Reform Committee subpoenas.

Read more from this story HERE.

Homeland Security Spends $450,000 on ‘State of the Art’ Gym Memberships

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Photo Credit: Vida Fitness Facebook

Photo Credit: Vida Fitness Facebook

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is spending more than $450,000 on gym memberships for TSA agents and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) employees who work desk jobs at a procurement office in Washington, D.C.

Last month, DHS bought gym memberships for ICE workers in its Office of Acquisition to boost their morale and “improve working conditions.”

“As part of the agency-wide Health and Wellness program, sponsored by Department of Homeland Security/Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has a requirement to provide ICE employees in Tech World Office at 801 I Street, NW Washington, DC, 20536 with access/membership to a fully comprehensive state-of-the-art health club facility,” the June solicitation said.

On July 7 the agency announced it had purchased 236 gym memberships to Vida Fitness, which describes itself as “more than just a gym,” offering an “Aura Spa, Bang Salon, Fuel Bar, Gear Shop, Endless Pools, luxurious locker rooms, and the rooftop Penthouse Pool and Lounge.”

The government will spend an estimated $400,000 for two-year memberships at the upscale Vida gym located in the Renaissance Hotel on 9th street.

Read more from this story HERE.

Transparency Troubles: Audit Finds $619B Gap in Federal Spending Site

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Photo Credit: USASpending.gov

Photo Credit: USASpending.gov

The Obama administration failed to properly account for how it spent nearly $619 billion, according to a watchdog audit of the main federal website meant to track where taxpayer money is going.

The report from the Government Accountability Office picked apart the website USASpending.gov, and the agencies feeding information to it.

The database of government spending and contracts was created out of a 2006 transparency law, but the GAO found it continues to have serious problems. The Department of Health and Human Services was the worst offender, during the 2012 period GAO examined.

“Although agencies generally reported information for contracts to USASpending.gov, they did not properly report information on assistance awards, totaling nearly $619 billion,” the GAO reported.

USA Today first reported on the GAO audit.

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Miller Can’t Be Bought

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unnamed (20)My family and I recently had the honor and pleasure of hosting Joe Miller and some of his crew when they came to Homer for the debate with Mead Treadwell and Dan Sullivan.

I have long supported Joe and agree with just about all of his policies and positions. After getting to know him over the three days he was in Homer and seeing his performance in the debate, I’ve got to say that in my opinion he has done his homework and paid his dues.

He is a man of honor, integrity, and high principles. He is also a warrior. He took an oath to defend this country and its constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. He upheld that oath in battle in the first Gulf War and put his life on the line in the process. He is ready to do the same in Washington. He believes the federal government has far overstepped its bounds and has put the country in peril.

Joe will do his best to set things straight and put the Beast back in its box. My sense of the man is that he is running for the Senate out of love for this country, a strong sense of duty and deep feelings for the rightness and wrongness of things. He won’t quit, he won’t back down and he can’t be bought.

Read more from this story HERE.

Hard Truth for Gun-Control Advocates: Permit Holders Extremely Law-Abiding

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Photo Credit: TownHall

Photo Credit: TownHall

Guns can be frightening, particularly for those individuals who have no idea how to use a firearm. In a recent Townhall video, one man reasoned that concealed carry in Washington D.C. was dangerous because “more people carrying guns means more opportunity for those guns to be used.”

Individuals employing the “more guns more crime” logic are using using shoddy research as the basis for their claim.

“If you look at information from the Justice Department, they have something called the National Crime Victimization survey. What you find is that guns are used in crime about 250,000 times a year.” John R. Lott Jr., economist, Yale professor, and president of Crime Prevention Research Center, told Townhall.

“If you look at similar surveys of people who use guns defensively, it’s about two million times a year. So basically people are using guns defensively to stop crimes about four to five times more frequently each year than guns are used to commit a crime. Most people don’t realize that.”

The truth is that individuals with gun-permits are extremely law-abiding. Less than one percent of licensed firearm holders have had their permits revoked due to misdemeanors.

Read more from this story HERE.

Lawsuit: Soldier Forced out of Army for Serving Chick-fil-A, Reading Hannity Book

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Photo Credit: TownHall

Photo Credit: TownHall

A member of the U.S. Army Band said he was forced out of the U.S. Army for having anti-Obama bumper stickers on his personal car, serving Chick-fil-A sandwiches at a party and reading books written by conservative authors like Sean Hannity, a federal lawsuit alleges.

Master Sergeant Nathan Sommers, a 25-year veteran of the military and a decorated soloist in the U.S. Army Band Chorus, claims he was forcibly retired from the Army due to his religious and conservative political beliefs. I first told you about Sommers last year in a series of exclusive Fox News reports.

John Wells, an attorney representing Sommers, called him a “true hero” who lost his career while trying to stand up for his religious beliefs.” He alleges that he drew the ire of his superiors because of his belief in traditional marriage.

“Those who protect our rights must be allowed to exercise them,” said John Wells, an attorney representing Sommers. “Master Sergeant Sommers did nothing to interfere with good order and discipline. He was the perfect soldier.”

Sommers, who was based at Fort Myer in Washington, D.C., is the recipient of an Army commendation medal and was a soloist at the funeral of former First Lady Betty Ford.

Read more from this story HERE.

Syracuse NY Embraces its New Mosque; Wants More Refugees

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Photo Credit: Belal Khan / Creative Commons

Photo Credit: Belal Khan / Creative Commons

Since my original article discussing how an abandoned Catholic church was being converted to a mosque in Syracuse, NY, that city has embraced the Mosque of Jesus, Son of Mary with open arms. In April, a local publication, the Syracuse New Times, published an interview with Dr. Yusuf Soule, the executive director of the Northside Learning Center, who bought the church and rented it to a still unidentified group of Muslims. In no news report has the group who transformed the church into a mosque been identified as anything other than a “new Islamic society.” When asked how the plan to buy the property came about, Soule answered:

More than 150 people contributed to finance this. A lot of business owners, refugees and business people, people from Utica (NY) helped. Some people literally gave us a dollar. Some people gave us $15,000. Some people gave us interest-free loans.

Asked why that particular location was picked, Soule said:

Location, location, location. The North Side is the magnet for refugees. The two agencies that work with refugees (InterFaith Works and Catholic Charities) are here. I wish people could see beyond CNN and see Muslims as individual people.

When questioned about who may be behind opposition to the mosque, Soule evaded the answer, but made it clear who was welcome to attend…

Read more from this story HERE.