Here's How Obama Wants To Spend A Whopping $3.7 Billion To Deal With The Border Crisis

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Photo Credit: REUTERS / Kevin LamarquePresident Barack Obama is requesting $3.7 billion in emergency funding to deal with the humanitarian crisis along the U.S.-Mexico border, where thousands of migrants — many of them unaccompanied children — have flooded across the border in recent months.

The White House formally asked Congress on Tuesday for $3.7 billion to improve border security along the border, to improve housing conditions where the migrants are being kept, and to speed up deportation proceedings. The amount is almost $2 billion more than earlier reports suggested the Obama administration would request.

White House officials said last month that, as of June 15, 52,000 unaccompanied children from Central America have been apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border this year. In addition, border officials have taken 39,000 more adults with children into custody as of May 31.

Hundreds are coming over the border every day, mostly making their way from violence-stricken areas in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. The causes for the influx are many, but a large portion are children fleeing increased drug and gang violence.

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Censorship: 38 Journalism Groups Slam Obama's 'Politically-Driven Suppression of News'

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Photo Credit: APIn unprecedented criticism of the White House, 38 journalism groups have assailed the president’s team for censoring media coverage, limiting access to top officials and overall “politically-driven suppression of the news.”

In a letter to President Obama, the 38, led by the Society of Professional Journalists, said efforts by government officials to stifle or block coverage has grown for years and reached a high-point under his administration despite Obama’s 2008 campaign promise to provide transparency.

Worse, they said: As access for reporters has been cut off, the administration has opened the door to lobbyists, special interests and “people with money.”

And as a result, they wrote, Obama only has himself to blame for the current cynicism of his administration. “You need look no further than your own administration for a major source of that frustration – politically driven suppression of news and information about federal agencies. We call on you to take a stand to stop the spin and let the sunshine in,” wrote David Cuillier, president of SPJ.

The administration has dismissed similar charges from other journalism groups, notably the White House Correspondents’ Association, but the new letter sent Tuesday provided several examples of censorship and efforts to block reporter access. Among them:

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Cruz Sends Obama Map With Directions From Fundraisers To Border Towns

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Photo Credit: Justin Sullivan / Getty ImagesSen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has joined Texas Gov. Rick Perry in calling on President Barack Obama to visit the Mexican border personally, with Cruz sending Obama actual directions to the border from the president’s planned fundraiser stops in Austin and Dallas.

Cruz took to Twitter to invite Obama to take a look at the border itself amid a growing immigration crisis along the southern border with Mexico.

“If President Obama wants to have a real border meeting with @GovernorPerry, here are a couple suggested detours,” Cruz tweeted on Tuesday.

If President Obama wants to have a real border meeting with @GovernorPerry, here are a couple suggested detours https://t.co/1Welshtcp8

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) July 08, 2014

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Murder Rate Drops as Concealed Carry Permits Rise, Study Claims

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Photo Credit: APA dramatic spike in the number of Americans with permits to carry concealed weapons coincides with an equally stark drop in violent crime, according to a new study, which Second Amendment advocates say makes the case that more guns can mean safer streets.

The study by the Crime Prevention Research Center found that 11.1 million Americans now have permits to carry concealed weapons, up from 4.5 million in 2007. The 146 percent increase has come even as both murder and violent crime rates have dropped by 22 percent.

“When you allow people to carry concealed handguns, you see changes in the behavior of criminals,” said the center’s president, John R. Lott, a Fox News contributor. “Some criminals stop committing crimes, others move on to crimes in which they don’t come into contact with victims and others actually move to areas where they have less fear of being confronted by armed victims.”

Increasing gun ownership, litigation and new state laws have all contributed to the rise in concealed carry permits. In March, Illinois became the 50th state to begin issuing concealed weapons permits. But the cost and other requirements for obtaining the permits varies greatly, from South Dakota, where a permit requires $10, a background check and no training, to Illinois, where the cost of obtaining a permit comes to more than $600 when the fee and cost of training programs are taken into account.

Six states don’t require a permit for legal gun owners to conceal their weapons, and Lott notes those states have some of the lowest violent crime rates in the nation.

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Obama Offered Drugs in Denver

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President Obama was asked whether he wanted to smoke marijuana by a fellow patron of a Denver bar last night. The offer came from Instagram user manton89, who posted video of the ask on his Instagram account. “Asked him if he wanted a hit of pot…he laughed!” writes manton89.

Watch here:

A voice can be heard asking President Obama, as he glad hands his way through the establishment: “Do you want to hit this?”

The president does not appear to answer the question, but he does acknowledge it by flashing his signature smile.

Somewhere along the way, President Obama shook hands with someone wearing a horse-mask:

“MY PLANET NEEDS YOU.” pic.twitter.com/ENRT6XuQWn

— Hayes Brown (@HayesBrown) July 9, 2014

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Obama Turns His Back on Marine Veteran

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Photo Credit: FacebookBy Charles Benninghoff.

Make a wrong turn near the Mexico border and you may find yourself being arrested and thrown in a Mexican prison with little to no chance of getting out.

That is what happened on March 31, 2014 to 25-year old U.S. Marine veteran Andrew Tahmooressi.

While driving in Southern California, he unknowingly took a wrong turn and wound up at a Mexican Customs Checkpoint. He was denied the right to turn back and was arrested for carrying firearms into Mexico that are legally registered in the United States.

In desperation, he even called 911 for help. Now, he is in jail in Mexico, has been denied bail, and is now being represented by the third Mexican attorney after being shifted around the Mexican prison system three times.

Those who have been to the crossing point into Mexico that Sgt. Tahmooressi ran into know that it is no joke. If you blink your eyes just once, you will miss the only off ramp once you start going into the “funnel”. It is treacherous.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Mexican judge orders Marine sergeant to remain in custody on gun charges

By Fox News.

A Mexican federal judge ordered Andrew Tahmooressi back to prison after the U.S. Marine sergeant made his first official courtroom appearance since being locked up March 31 for accidentally crossing the border with guns in his pickup truck.

The 26-year-old veteran of two tours in Afghanistan was finally able to tell his story to a judge, after his case had been delayed by both Mexico’s unpredictable legal system and his own trouble settling on a lawyer. It was not immediately clear what Tahmooressi said at the evidentiary hearing, which was closed to the public. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for August 4.

Despite the judge’s ruling, Tahmooressi’s attorney, Fernando Benitez, told reporters that he was confident that the Marine’s case was on the right track. Benitez said that his client’s statement to the judge was “sound and made perfect sense,” and claimed that irregularities with Tahmooressi’s detention were grounds for dismissal of the case. The attorney said that his client was not provided with consular services for nearly eight hours after he was detained, nor did he have access to an adequate translator.

In addition, Benitez said that the order to search Tahmooressi’s vehicle was dated March 28, three days before the Marine crossed the border.

Benitez had earlier sought to dampen hopes that federal Judge Victor Octavio Luna Escobedo would free Tahmooressi, although supporters, including his mother, Jill Tahmooressi, had held out hope.

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Costco Angers Many, Sparks Boycott after Yanking 'America’ from Shelves

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Photo Credit: Justin Sullivan / Getty ImagesBy Joe Newby.

On Monday, WND’s Jerome Corsi reported that Costco Wholesale, the second-largest retailer in the country, decided to pull all copies of Dinesh D’Souza’s best-selling book, “America: Imagine a World Without Her,” from its shelves. The move sparked anger from a number of people who let Costco know in no uncertain terms that they would no longer do business with the company.

“GOODBYE COSTCO,” one person said on the company’s Facebook page Tuesday morning. “To me, your company is UN-AMERICAN.”

“This is America and you have the right to conduct your business as YOU see fit,” another person added. “I the CONSUMER have the right to shop where I see fit. I WILL NOT be shopping at Costco anymore. Yeah, that’s at least 300 dollars a month you will not be seeing. Let Freedom Ring.”

“Costco Members: Don’t simply stop shopping there. Call and ask for a refund of your membership,” said another visitor to the page.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: Washington TimesD’Souza on Costco debacle: ‘It was really bizarre’

By Jennifer Pompi.

Conservative filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza called Costco’s decision to pull his best-selling book off its shelves this month “bizarre” and credited the ensuing social media outcry with causing the wholesaler to restock “America: Imagine the World Without Her.”

“The whole thing was very bizarre,” he said in an interview on the One America News Network Wednesday, noting his longtime relationship with Costco.

He said the decision was particularly shocking when Costco officials told him they were “clearing out books that don’t sell.”

Mr. D’Souza’s book — which soared to No. 1 on Amazon.com after the Costco debacle — was ranked No. 40 when it was pulled. In contrast, Hillary Rodham Clinton’s latest book, “Hard Choices,” was ranked No. 100 on Amazon, and several other books sold by Costco had far lower rankings, Mr. D’Souza said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Joe Miller's Interview with Tea Party Express

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Joe Miller, candidate for U.S. Senate in Alaska, talks about the important lessons he learned from his 2010 Senate race, as well as the NSA surveillance scandal, the FBI investigation of the IRS, and the news that for the first time in the history of the Index of Economic Freedom, the United States is ranked outside the top ten.

Joe also discusses one of the major stumbling blocks in the conservative movement today: “We discovered not everyone who calls themselves a Republican is really supportive of changing the direction of DC.” Listen to this excellent interview with the Tea Party Express.

Listen HERE

Untamed Cruz Refuses to Play Nice with GOP Campaign Arm

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Photo Credit: Greg NashGOP hopes of corralling Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) during the 2014 primary season are officially dead.

The defiant Republican’s brutal criticism of Sen. Thad Cochran’s (R-Miss.) reelection campaign on Tuesday — and the involvement of a group he is technically a vice chairman of, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) — is just the latest example of the Tea Party hero refusing to play nice.

That brazen approach has exacerbated already fragile relations with establishment Republicans, who believe the freshman senator is intentionally undercutting them for no reason other than furthering his own political career.
Meanwhile, his conservative base is rejoicing that he’s refusing to be cowed.

Cruz is furious at the NRSC for its involvement in the Mississippi primary to boost Cochran over challenger Chris McDaniel. After losing the June 24 runoff, in which national Republicans spent late money to help the six-term incumbent, McDaniel and his supporters are looking to challenge the result, citing evidence of illegal crossover voting from black Democrats.

Read more from this story HERE.

ALERT: Meriam Ibrahim Still in Sudan, Intervention by U.S. Needed

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Photo Credit: The TimesDear Friends,

Reports out of Sudan tell us that Meriam Ibrahim has been freed from prison after a Sudanese court ordered her released. However, in attempting to leave Sudan, Meriam, her American husband Daniel Wani, and their two children were detained by Sudanese authorities at the airport, and as of this writing have still not been permitted to exit the country. After spending months in jail awaiting a death sentence for the failure to renounce her Christian faith, Meriam’s court-ordered release and the cancellation of a previous court ruling against her was a major victory.This victory will be jeopardized unless U.S. leaders underscore the importance of ensuring this family’s release and freedom to travel. We are encouraged to see U.S. Embassy officials in Sudan assisting Meriam and her family, but continue to urge Secretary of State John Kerry to call on the Sudanese government to stop detaining Meriam’s family.

Thanks to concern from thousands of activists like you (over 53,000 of you signed a petition urging the Obama Administration to publically pressure Sudan to free Meriam), the British government and media, a handful of determined U.S. Members of Congress, and the prayers of millions, a Sudanese appeals court had ordered Meriam released and canceled a previous court’s ruling sentencing her to death. Because Meriam is not out of danger, we must continue calling on our officials to intervene on Meriam’s behalf.

The Obama Administration must make it abundantly clear that it will hold Sudanese officials responsible for the safety and well-being of Meriam and her family. Help us today urge Secretary Kerry to take action. Please sign our petition to Secretary Kerry asking him to act immediately on behalf of Meriam, her husband, and her children. Meriam may be free from prison, but as long as she remains in Sudan danger still exists for her.

Urge Secretary of State John Kerry to Call on Sudanese Authorities to Release Meriam and Respect Court Ruling Ordering Her Release