GOP Leader: Obama May Act in Iraq Without Signoff

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Photo Credit: The U.S. ArmyPresident Barack Obama and congressional leaders believe he does not need authorization from Congress for some steps he might take to quell the al-Qaida-inspired insurgency sweeping through Iraq, the Senate’s top Republican and Capitol Hill aides said after the president briefed senior lawmakers Wednesday.

Still, the prospect of the president sidestepping Congress raises the potential for clashes between the White House and rank-and-file lawmakers, particularly if Obama should launch strikes with manned aircrafts or take other direct U.S. military action in Iraq. Administration officials have said airstrikes have become less a focus of recent deliberations but have also said the president could order such a step if intelligence agencies can identify clear targets on the ground.

Obama huddled in the Oval Office for over an hour to discuss options for responding the crumbling security situation in Iraq with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Speaking to reporters as he returned to the Capitol, McConnell said the president “indicated he didn’t feel he had any need for authority from us for steps that he might take.”

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Hagel Admits Obama Ignored Law in Taliban Release

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Photo Credit: APDefense Secretary Chuck Hagel admitted that “the trust has been broken” between the White House and Congress following the Obama administration’s decision to skirt U.S. law and release five top Taliban leaders without first consulting with lawmakers.

Hagel admitted to lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee Wednesday that the administration unilaterally inked a deal with the Taliban to release five top prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay prison camp without first notifying Congress, as is legally mandated.

The deal was signed “without providing 30 days notice to Congress,” as is required by law, Hagel told lawmakers before attempting to justify the administration’s decision to ignore this law.

The White House’s decision to skirt this law has prompted the House Armed Services Committee to launch a full investigation into the matter, lawmakers revealed on Wednesday.

When asked directly by Rep. Jeff Miller (R., Fla.) if the Obama administration had complied with the law as written, Hagel responded, “No.”

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O’Reilly Disses His Fellow Fox Newsers

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Photo Credit: futureatlas.comBill O’Reilly must feel pretty secure about his standing with his colleagues at Fox News, or else he’s past caring.

Answering a question from fellow Foxer Geraldo Rivera—does the right-leaning network cut President Obama enough slack? Does it treat him fairly?—the cable outlet’s prime-time star didn’t seem especially worried whose toes he stepped on.

“It depends on the hour,” the host of The O’Reilly Factor told a sold-out crowd at the 92nd Street Y Wednesday night. “If you watch Fox & Friends, [Steve] Doocy is an Obama-basher. He bashes Obama like clockwork. But the other two—Elisabeth [Hasselbeck] and Brian [Kilmeade]—they’d rather whip up a soufflé.”

“Rather whip up a soufflé”—a wonderful compliment or a withering dis? We report, you decide.

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U.S. Captures Benghazi Suspect in Secret Raid

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Photo Credit: FacebookAhmed Abu Khattala had returned home Sunday night after a day of militia skirmishes in Benghazi when U.S. military commandos swarmed his residence south of the waterfront city and took him captive, quickly moving him out of Libya to a U.S. warship.

“He was isolated,” a U.S. official said. “It was pretty clean.”

One of the suspected ringleaders of the 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi that killed four Americans, Abu Khattala is the first of the alleged perpetrators to be apprehended. He now awaits a transfer to the United States and a federal trial in the District.

U.S. officials said the joint Special Operations and FBI mission had been planned for months and was approved by President Obama on Friday. The Pentagon said that there were no civilian or other casualties and that all involved U.S. personnel had safely left Libya.

The administration provided few details about the operation itself, where Abu Khattala is being held or the timing of his first appearance in court. After news of the capture became public Tuesday morning, Obama, on a visit to Pennsylvania, said Abu Khattala “is now being transported back to the United States.” Administration officials said they expected him to appear in court here within days.

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House Budget Punishes IRS with 15% Cut, Halts Obamacare Enforcement

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Photo Credit: Washington Examiner The Internal Revenue Service is about to get slapped with a harsh payback for messing around with conservative groups, blowing wads of tax dollars on employee conferences and helping implement Obamacare.

The House Appropriations Committee is set to OK an IRS budget of $10.9 billion, $1.5 billion under President Obama’s request for fiscal year 2015, reducing the agency’s budget to 2008 levels.

The goal is to keep the tax agency focused on its “core duties,” and eliminate efforts to judge the political activities of tax-exempt groups and brake its implementation of Obamacare.

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Arpaio: ‘Border Patrol Is Too Busy Changing Diapers’ To Go After Illegal Immigrants

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Photo Credit: Sandy Huffaker / Getty ImagesMaricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio says the Border Patrol is too busy babysitting to actually do their jobs.

“The Border Patrol is too busy changing diapers and not going after dope peddlers and illegal immigrants,” Arpaio told Fox News Monday night.

More than 47,000 mostly Central American unaccompanied children have been caught illegally crossing the Mexican border into Texas since October. That’s left border agents in Texas overwhelmed and unable to process so many children. Within the last week, more than 1,000 of them have been transferred to a warehouse in Nogales, Ariz., where they are being processed before being sent to shelters in various states and then reunited with family members.

Arpaio believes President Barack Obama knew this influx of illegal immigrants was going to happen in an effort to push forward immigration reform.

“I think the president knew this was going to happen, so it’s going to help him on his executive orders if Congress doesn’t take this mission up,” Arpaio told Fox News. “It might backfire because of the inhumane situations.”

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Lawmakers: IRS Knew for Months of ‘Lost’ Lerner Emails, More Documents Missing

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Photo Credit: APRepublican lawmakers charged Tuesday that the IRS knew for months they had “lost” a massive trove of emails from embattled ex-IRS official Lois Lerner, but kept it “secret” until this past Friday.

The lawmakers noted that during this period, newly appointed Commissioner John Koskinen nevertheless assured Congress the agency would produce the documents, which are considered critical to their efforts to probe the targeting of Tea Party and other groups. Further, lawmakers said records from six other IRS workers appear to have gone missing as well.

“It looks like the American people were lied to and the IRS tried to cover-up the fact it conveniently lost key documents in this investigation,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., and Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La., said in a statement.

Republicans on the committee said the agency knew as early as February that emails were missing.

Yet the IRS only revealed last Friday that it had lost an untold number of emails when Lerner’s computer crashed in 2011. Lerner used to head the division that handles applications for tax-exempt status.

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Hypocrisy Much? Clintons Took Pains To Avoid Taxes They Publicly Support

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Photo Credit: IJ Review According to Bloomberg, in 2010 the Clintons changed the ownership status of their New York home, which they bought in 1999 for $1.7 million, to take advantage of current estate tax rules.

What they did is divide the ownership into two separate trusts that pass to on to Chelsea after 10 years. After that period they will have to pay rent to her, but any growth in the value of the home remains outside of their estate. And thereby limit estate taxes.

Doesn’t everyone do that if they have the financial wherewithal? Isn’t it the responsible thing to do?

Of course and of course.

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As Long as U.S. Leaders Game the System, So Will Illegals

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Photo Credit; TownHall In 2012, the current administration made it clear that certain unaccompanied illegal minors would not be deported if caught. This helped create an atmosphere of tolerance that would be conducive to the current rash of illegal dumping of thousands of children from south of the border into the United States. Now we have a humanitarian crisis that appears to have been manufactured for political reasons.

One would not have to be incredibly bright to predict that families in South and Central America, as well as in Mexico, would recognize a veiled invitation to get their children into the United States with little chance of deportation. Of course, the media are asking opponents of the administration for solutions to this crisis. Almost anything these opponents suggest will be either harsh, making them appear cruel and callous, or weak, making them appear to be amnesty supporters. Either way, they will take a political hit.

Meanwhile, the administration can stay above the fray and receive the political benefit of gratitude from many legal and illegal immigrants. It’s a clever and effective ploy with the added benefit of redistributing even more American wealth. It remains to be seen how many people will be hoodwinked.

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Justice for Justina: Judge Orders Connecticut Girl to Be Returned to Family

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Photo Credit: Fox News Justina Pelletier is coming home.

A Massachusetts judge ordered the 16-year-old Connecticut girl, who was taken from her family by child welfare advocates more than a year ago, to be returned to her mother and father effective Wednesday. The ruling caps a long-running medical custody dispute that began when two highly-respected Boston hospitals clashed over the girl’s diagnosis. The case sparked national outrage, and led Lou and Linda Pelletier, of West Hartford, Conn., to wage a bitter legal battle.

“To hear the news is overwhelming,” Lou Pelletier told FoxNews.com moments after learning of the ruling. “Now we can certainly begin the healing process.”

The case began when the girl’s parents disagreed with a psychiatric diagnosis given by Boston Children’s Hospital and said they wanted their daughter returned to her original physician at Tufts Medical Center, who had previously treated Justina for mitochondrial disease, a group of rare genetic disorders affecting cellular energy production. The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families moved in, claiming Justina was the victim of “medical child abuse.”

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