EPA Agents Raid Ammunition Company On Alleged ‘Environmental Violations’

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller

Photo Credit: Daily Caller

Environmental Protection Agency and FBI agents raided the ammunition company USA Brass over alleged “environmental violations” early Thursday morning.

NBC Montana was tipped off by witnesses that federal investigators were there until at least 4 a.m. on Thursday. Federal agents could be seen going through the company’s building and taking items to a truck parked outside. EPA lead criminal investigator Bert Marsden said that the agency was looking into alleged “environmental violations” by USA Brass.

“We are investigating alleged violations of environmental law,” Marsden said on Thursday. “An investigation takes as long as it takes, and I can’t provide any details as it relates to that.”

“I can make a statement that there is no immediate threat to the public or the community at this time,” said Marsden.

Read more from this story HERE.

Islamic Group Gets Go-Ahead to Cut Crosses Off NY Church

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

A city board on Thursday gave a Muslim group the go-ahead to remove six crosses from the roof and spires of a century-old former Catholic church so the now-vacant Gothic structure can be used as a mosque.

More than 200 people had signed an online petition calling on the Syracuse Landmark Preservation Board to deny an application by North Side Learning Center, the church’s new owner, to remove the crosses and build a six-foot chain-link fence.

Before the vote to allow the church alterations, Chairman Don Radke said the board cannot interfere with a decision that involves religious freedom.

About a dozen people who spoke at the meeting were evenly divided for and against the church conversion, The Post-Standard reported.

Read more from this story HERE.

Pin Drop! Obama Lawyer Stuns Supreme Justice

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Photo Credit: WND

Photo Credit: WND

By Greg Corombos.

In a dramatic moment at the Supreme Court Tuesday, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli told justices that U.S. business owners have no religious freedom to reject government mandates forcing them to cover abortions.

Justices and lawyers also sparred over whether businesses actually have religious freedom and whether striking down the Obamacare mandate makes women second-class citizens.

The notable abortion exchange between Verrilli and Justice Anthony Kennedy came during oral arguments in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties v. Sebelius, two cases linked by the companies’ owners objecting to the Department of Health and Human Services requirement that businesses fully cover the contraception costs for their employees. That mandate includes coverage of abortafacient drugs, also known as the “morning-after pill.”

Family Research Council Senior Fellow for Legal Studies Cathy Ruse was in the gallery during oral arguments and said that was the most remarkable moment in the court session Tuesday.

“This was actually the most exciting part of the oral argument this morning, when Justice Kennedy asked the government’s lawyer, ‘So under your argument, corporations could be forced to pay for abortions, that there would be no religious claim against that on the part of the corporation. Is that right?’ And the government’s attorney said yes,” Ruse said.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: WND

Photo Credit: WND

Company Owners Refuse To ‘Sacrifice Our Obedience To God’

By Alana Cook.

Advocates of religious freedom and family values who had gathered outside the Supreme Court today greeted the Hahn and Green families of Conestoga Wood Specialties and Hobby Lobby as they came to the building’s snow-capped steps to give statements after the court heard oral arguments in their high-profile cases.

“Rather than sacrifice our obedience to God, my family, the Green family, and many others have chosen to take a stand to defend life and freedom against government coercion,” declared Anthony Hahn, CEO of Conestoga Wood Specialties, a Mennonite.

The two cases, Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius, challenge the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that employers provide a health-care insurance plan that includes no-cost access to all forms of contraception, including emergency abortifacients such as Plan B and ella.

“We didn’t choose this fight,” Hahn said. “Our families would have been happy to just continue providing good jobs and generous health-care benefits. But the government forced our hand.”

Hahn said the “choice that the government has forced on us is out of step with the history of our great nation founded on religious freedom.”

Read more from this story HERE.

What Happened to Chicago’s Murder Rate After Illinois Upheld Concealed Carry and Why it Matters

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Photo Credit: IJ Review

Photo Credit: IJ Review

In July of 2013, Illinois became the last state in the union to enact a concealed carry law. In January of this year, the state began accepting applications for permits. This week, Chicago police announced that the city’s first quarter murder rate was the lowest since 1958.

Via ABC-affiliate Eye Witness News in the Windy City:

– The first three months of the year saw 6 fewer murders than the same time frame in 2013–a 9 percent drop–and 55 fewer murders than 2012, according to a statement from Chicago Police.

– There were 90 fewer shootings and 119 fewer shooting victims, drops of 26 and 29 percent respectively, according to police statistics.

– Compared to the first quarter of 2012, there have been 222 fewer shootings and 292 fewer shooting victims. Overall crime is down 25 percent from last year, and police said more than 1,300 illegal guns were recovered in the last three months.

Coincidence? Hard to say. And too early to tell. Although, I doubt that the anti-gun crowd is celebrating the good news.

Read more from this story HERE.

Congressman’s Lament: $174,000 Isn’t Enough To Make Ends Meet

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Photo Credit: J. Scott Applewhite / AP

Photo Credit: J. Scott Applewhite / AP

In what world does an annual salary of $174,000 meet the definition of underpaid?

That would be in the nation’s capital, where soon-to-be-retired Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., said Americans should know that their members of Congress — as the board of directors for the “largest economic entity in the world” — are underpaid.

The longtime congressman made his comments Thursday after the House voted for the sixth straight year to deny members an automatic cost-of-living raise they’re entitled to under law.

Not surprisingly, reaction to Moran’s assertion was swift and derisive.

“Tone deaf,” wrote Daniel Doherty at the conservative Town Hall website.

Read more from this story HERE.

Watchdog: State Department Can’t Fully Account for $6B Worth of Contracts

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

The State Department has a “serious” problem accounting for how it has spent billions of dollars on contracts all over the world, according to the official watchdog that oversees the sprawling department.

The Office of Inspector General, in a March 20 “management alert” to department leaders, said the department has failed to provide all or some of the files for $6 billion worth of contracts in the last six years.

“The failure to maintain contract files adequately creates significant financial risk and demonstrates a lack of internal control over the Department’s contract actions,” the memo said.

This apparently is not a new or isolated problem. The memo said investigators and auditors have found “repeated examples of poor contract file administration” and have called this one of the department’s “major management challenges” for several years.

The alert cited one example where contracting officials could not provide dozens of files for contracts supporting the U.S. Mission in Iraq. The value of the contracts in the missing files? $2.1 billion.

Read more from this story HERE.

Inmates Getting Coverage Under ObamaCare, as States Shift Cost to Feds

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Photo Credit: REUTERS

Photo Credit: REUTERS

The Obama administration often touts that people with pre-existing conditions and countless others can now get covered under ObamaCare. But there’s another group that’s starting to benefit from the law — prison inmates.

Cash-strapped state and local prisons increasingly are using the Affordable Care Act to pay for their inmates’ medical costs, taking advantage of a little-known provision that lets them shift some of those expenses to the federal government.

Ohio, Illinois and Iowa are among the states trying to offload the rising costs of health care – which include mental health programs – by enrolling inmates into a new expanded Medicaid program when they get sick.

But it doesn’t stop there. The states also are working to enroll them even before they’re released from prison, so they have coverage when they get out.

Currently, 26 states and the District of Columbia are proceeding with a Medicaid expansion which allows them to extend medical coverage to single and childless adults. Jail operators in at least a half-dozen of those states are then, using that criteria, extending coverage to inmates. The shift means the federal government would pay some emergency costs that used to be entirely covered by the states and counties — plus, inmates are starting to get coverage for when they leave.

Read more from this story HERE.

U.S. Taps New Energy Sources, And Potential Geopolitical Clout

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Photo Credit: David McNew / Getty Images

Photo Credit: David McNew / Getty Images

The recent oil and natural gas boom in the U.S. is paying major dividends for Washington’s geopolitical clout. Thanks to hydraulic fracturing, the U.S. is awash in domestic energy, which is having a ripple effect globally.

If you want to gauge one effect of this newfound energy wealth, you don’t have to look any further than the current crisis between Russia and Ukraine, says Michael Levi, a senior fellow for energy and the environment at the Council on Foreign Relations.

He says the U.S. would be reacting very differently to what’s happening now if it was still a big natural gas importer. There’s concern Moscow could cut natural gas supplies to the Ukraine, which, in turn, would disrupt the flow to much of Europe.

Even five years ago, Levi says, Washington would have been alarmed that European nations could turn to U.S. suppliers, driving up the cost.

“We would be asking ourselves with every policy option we face: Will this disrupt markets and come back to hurt the U.S. economy? We’re not asking ourselves that question, because we’re not dependent on imports,” he says. “That’s a surprise — and a good one.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Top Senate Republican Says Obama ‘Disarmed America’

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Photo Credit: AFP / Getty Images / Mandel Ngan

Photo Credit: AFP / Getty Images / Mandel Ngan

The ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee said the Obama administration has left the United States vulnerable to a growing list of enemies.

Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) introduced a resolution Thursday to put Moldova on the U.S.’s radar, arguing that it’s another country now vulnerable to Russian aggression. Inhofe told TheBlaze he hopes it will send a message that the former Soviet state, located between Russia, Turkey and European Union, is not up for grabs. He admitted, however, there is little the U.S. can do militarily to stop Moscow’s aggression if President Vladimir Putin chooses to move forward.

“Here’s the problem, our military leaders admit we are weakened to the point that we cannot do one longterm contingency plan,” Inhofe told TheBlaze after Thursday’s hearing on the Defense Authorization Request for fiscal year 2015. “What do you think is going through the minds of potential adversaries out there? Our enemies don’t fear us, our friends don’t trust us — this is what the Obama administration has done. We have a direct interest in that part of the world. While Obama disarmed America, [our enemies] have been expanding in every area.”

The resolution also stresses that a “stable Europe is a key priority for the United States, and this can only be achieved if the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected,” Inhofe said.

Russia currently has 40,000 troops on the Ukrainian eastern border and roughly 1,200 near the Moldova border. U.S. intelligence officials access that there is a strong possibility that Putin is also preparing to move those troops toward Moldova in the near future, much like he did in last month’s annexation of Crimea.

Read more from this story HERE.

Why Does John Boehner Want to Keep 40 Million Americans From Buying Guns?

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Photo Credit: Yahoo

Photo Credit: Yahoo

By Philip Bump.

Reacting to the shooting at Fort Hood on Wednesday, House Speaker John Boehner reiterated a popular NRA talking point: “There’s no question that those with mental health issues should be prevented from owning weapons or being able to purchase weapons.” Those suffering the same diagnosed illnesses as the shooter — depression and anxiety — might be surprised by Boehner’s willingness to take away their Second Amendment rights.

Ivan Lopez, the alleged shooter, was being evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder at the base, where he was stationed and lived with his wife. According to CNN, Lopez “was undergoing a variety of treatments for conditions including depression, anxiety and sleep disturbances,” according to Army Secretary John McHugh. Lopez “was prescribed drugs that included Ambien” and “was fully examined last month by a psychiatrist.”

An estimated one-in-10 Americans suffers from depression, according to the Centers for Disease Control. That’s about 31 million people, skewed told older people and women. The National Institutes of Health puts those suffering from “major depressive disorder” at the lower figure of 14.8 million. As for anxiety? The NIH says that 40 million Americans suffer from that.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: Reuters

Photo Credit: Reuters

Fort Hood Shooter Enraged at Army Over Mom’s Funeral

By Bob Fredericks and Post Wires.

Authorities on Thursday were still investigating why an Iraq War veteran shot and killed three people and wounded 16 others at Texas’ Fort Hood before committing suicide — and have not ruled out terrorism.

“We’re going to keep an open mind. … Possible extremist involvement is still being looked at very, very carefully,” Army Secretary John McHugh told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.

Authorities said gunman Ivan Lopez, 34, enlisted in the Army in 2008 and served four months in Iraq but never saw combat and was not wounded in action, but was still being evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder.

“We do not know a motive,” Lt. Gen. Mark Milley said. “We do know that this soldier had behavioral health and mental health issues, and was being treated for that.”

Lopez was a native of Puerto Rico who was married with children and had other relatives living near the Fort Hood area, where 13 people were murdered in 2009 in an attack by a soldier who had embraced radical Islam.

Read more from this story HERE.