Is Barack Obama an Imperial President?

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Photo Credit: Charles Dharapak/AP

Photo Credit: Charles Dharapak/AP

Ju Hong’s voice rang out loud and clear, interrupting the most powerful man in the world.

“You have a power to stop deportation for all undocumented immigrants in this country!” the young South Korean man yelled at President Obama during a speech on immigration reform last November in San Francisco. Waving away security guards, Mr. Obama turned and addressed Mr. Hong, himself undocumented. “Actually, I don’t,” the president said. “And that’s why we’re here.”

“We’ve got this Constitution, we’ve got this whole thing about separation of powers,” Obama continued. “So there is no shortcut to politics, and there’s no shortcut to democracy.”

The reality isn’t so simple. Obama, a former constitutional law lecturer, was once skeptical of the aggressive use of presidential power. During the 2008 campaign, he accused President George W. Bush of regularly circumventing Congress. Yet as president, Obama has grown increasingly bold in his own use of executive action, at times to controversial effect.

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House Democrat Slams Obamacare… After Announcing His Retirement First

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Photo Credit: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Photo Credit: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

A top House Democrat slammed Obamacare’s inability “to work” — but only after he announced his impending retirement from Congress.

12-term Virginia Rep. Jim Moran, an Appropriations Committee member who said this month that he will not seek re-election in 2014, said that not enough young people are signing up for Obamacare coverage to make the law work.

“I’m afraid that the millennials, if you will, are less likely to sign up. I think they feel more independent, I think they feel a little more invulnerable than prior generations. But I don’t think we’re going to get enough young people signing up to make this bill work as it was intended to financially,” Moran said in an interview with WAMU American University Radio.

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NSA and GCHQ Target ‘Leaky’ Phone Apps Like Angry Birds to Scoop User Data

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Photo Credit: The Guardian

Photo Credit: The Guardian

The National Security Agency and its UK counterpart GCHQ have been developing capabilities to take advantage of “leaky” smartphone apps, such as the wildly popular Angry Birds game, that transmit users’ private information across the internet, according to top secret documents.

The data pouring onto communication networks from the new generation of iPhone and Android apps ranges from phone model and screen size to personal details such as age, gender and location. Some apps, the documents state, can share users’ most sensitive information such as sexual orientation – and one app recorded in the material even sends specific sexual preferences such as whether or not the user may be a swinger.

Many smartphone owners will be unaware of the full extent this information is being shared across the internet, and even the most sophisticated would be unlikely to realise that all of it is available for the spy agencies to collect.

Dozens of classified documents, provided to the Guardian by whistleblower Edward Snowden and reported in partnership with the New York Times and ProPublica, detail the NSA and GCHQ efforts to piggyback on this commercial data collection for their own purposes.

Scooping up information the apps are sending about their users allows the agencies to collect large quantities of mobile phone data from their existing mass surveillance tools – such as cable taps, or from international mobile networks – rather than solely from hacking into individual mobile handsets.

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Army Develops ‘Combat Gum’ to Fight Soldiers’ Cavities In Field

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Photo Credit: Rodrigo Abd

Photo Credit: Rodrigo Abd

Deployed? Don’t worry about the missed dentist appointment. The Army has discovered – and over the course of seven years, fine-tuned — a gum that helps the soldier in the field fight plaque, cut cavities and clean teeth.

The military said the fact that taxpayers fund more than $100 billion a year for dental services for troops and families helped spur the cost-cutting creation, the Army Times reported. But first and foremost, the peppermint-flavored gum, called Combat Gum, is aimed at keeping troops healthy and their mouths happy in combat and field-training situations.

“Oral health is essential to warriors on the battlefield and could potentially save the military countless hours and dollars in dental health,” said Col. Robert Hale, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon and commander of the Army Institute of Surgical Research, in the Army Times report.

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Sheriffs Cheer Pot Shot, Say DEA Chief Ripped Obama Remarks

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Photo Credit: Matt West

Photo Credit: Matt West

DEA chief Michele M. Leonhart slammed President Obama’s recent comments comparing smoking marijuana to drinking alcohol at an annual meeting of the nation’s sheriffs this week, according to two sheriffs who said her remarks drew a standing ovation.

Bristol County Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson said he was thrilled to hear the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration take her boss to task.

“She’s frustrated for the same reasons we are,” Hodgson said. “She said she felt the administration didn’t understand the science enough to make those statements. She was particularly frustrated with the fact that, according to her, the White House participated in a softball game with a pro-legalization group. … But she said her lowest point in 33 years in the DEA was when she learned they’d flown a hemp flag over the Capitol on July 4. The sheriffs were all shocked. This is the first time in 28 years I’ve ever heard anyone in her position be this candid.”

The American flag made of hemp was reportedly flown over the Capitol on Independence Day with the backing of a Colorado congressman.

DEA spokeswoman Dawn Deardon said she was not in the room and couldn’t discuss Leonhart’s comments to the sheriffs.

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Baier Tracks: Obama’s Three Dog Night

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

‘One is the loneliest number…’ is how the song goes. Tuesday night, a president frustrated with his stalled agenda in Congress will tell Americans in his State of the Union Address that he’s ready to go it alone. Here’s how the WSJ writes it: ‘[President Obama] will seek to shift the public’s souring view of his leadership, a challenge the White House sees as critical to shaping the nation’s policy direction over the next three years. Mr. Obama will emphasize his intention to use unilateral presidential authority — bypassing Congress when necessary — to an extent not seen in his previous State of the Union speeches, White House officials said.’”

To make the most substantive changes though, the president will need Congress to sign on. He’ll likely tout the budget compromise reached by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., as evidence things CAN happen. But, to hammer Republicans for inaction and being obstructionist and then ask them to help move big legislation seems like it may be a delicate, if not futile, rhetorical dance – especially in an election year.

This is the president’s last pressure point in what looks like a diminishing ability to get any legislative ball across the goal line. What was left of the president’s ‘juice’ on Capitol Hill – the ability to influence – disappears more and more the closer we get to November 2014.” – Bret Baier.

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Girls Missing Since Sleepover Sought in California

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Photo Credit: Yahoo

Photo Credit: Yahoo

Authorities sought the public’s help Monday in finding two girls — ages 12 and 14 — who went missing during a weekend sleepover in California.

Detectives were trying to determine whether the girls might have run away or been victims of foul play.

“We’re keeping all options open,” police Lt. Christian Dinco said.

The girls were last seen around midnight Saturday at the home of one of the girls in Riverside, he said.

Police using bloodhounds were joined in the search by family members and friends of Raylynn Bolt, 12, who was described as 5-foot-7 and 120 pounds with dirty blond hair and blue eyes, and Diana Tourdot, 14, who is 5-foot-6 and 120 pounds with dark brown, shoulder-length hair and brown eyes.

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Colorado Student Injured After Setting Himself On Fire, Authorities Say

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

A 16-year-old boy was critically injured Monday after setting himself on fire in the cafeteria at a suburban Denver high school in an apparent suicide attempt, authorities said.

Westminster Police Department spokeswoman Cheri Spottke said the boy didn’t make any threats before starting the fire at about 7:15 a.m. at Standley Lake High School.

“There is no indication there were any threats to any schools,” she said.

Spottke said a custodian was able to use a fire extinguisher to put out the blaze before it could spread. Several other students were in the cafeteria at the time, but none were injured.

She didn’t know how the student set the fire, which caused extensive smoke in the building.

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‘It Sounds Vaguely Like a Threat’: Rand Paul Wary of Obama’s Plan to Override Congress

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

By Brendan Bordelon.

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul is concerned about the White House’s promise to work around Congress through the use of executive orders and administrative fiat, claiming President Barack Obama’s comments to that effect “sound vaguely like a threat.”

Paul spoke with CNN’s Candy Crowley on Sunday about the president’s claim that — although he would like to work with congressional Republicans — he will use his “pen” and “phone” to enact federal law if they fail to approve his policies. “When you hear the president talk about that, what does it say to you?” Crowley asked.

“It sounds vaguely like a threat,” the senator responded, “and I think it also has a certain amount of arrogance, in the sense that one of the fundamental principles of our country were the checks and balances, that it wasn’t supposed to be easy to pass legislation. You had to debate and convince people.”

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Photo Credit: Examiner File/Graeme Jennings

Photo Credit: Examiner File/Graeme Jennings

Sen. Rand Paul: GOP phrasing ‘somewhat’ to blame for shortcomings with women, minorities

by Zack Colman.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Sunday that his party’s sometimes clumsy word choice when speaking about women and minorities is “somewhat” to blame for failing to connect with those demographics.

Paul, who made the comment on CNN’s “State of the Union,” was speaking of remarks last week from former Republican Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Huckabee said that Democrats are telling women that they “cannot control their libido” without government help, which he referred to as “Uncle Sugar.”

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‘Missing’ Congressman Stockman In Russia as Part of Congressional Delegation; Rips Media for False Reporting

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Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr

By Brandon Darby and Jonathan Strong.

Missing Texas Congressman Steve Stockman told an associate he was headed to Russia to meet with Vladimir Putin, according to an electronic communication reviewed by Breitbart News, and now says he is in London…

Stockman broke his silence on the matter in a text message sent to Breitbart News at 3:26am central time.

“I am on a bipartisan codel. I’m on foreign affairs. Part of my work,” Stockman said, adding that he doesn’t know why a Houston Chronicle reporter said “I’m missing” because “we met with the press every day.”

Stockman also said “I am in a meeting now – London.”

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Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr

Steve Stockman details overseas travels, rips media

By Brandon Darby and Jonathan Strong.

Rep. Steve Stockman told Breitbart News he traveled to Russia, Egypt, Israel and England as part of an official congressional delegation and ripped the media for what he described as a made-up story about his absence from Congress and his Texas district.

The Texas Congressman said members of the delegation held press conferences in each city they visited and that a reporter for the Associated Press – the news organization which most prominently raised questions about Stockman’s whereabouts – had a reporter at one such event in Egypt.

Stockman said the purpose of the trip was to discuss issues relating to terrorism with foreign governments and said the group of lawmakers met with the President of Egypt and a top-ranking general in Israel.

Though the group of five House members had been scheduled to meet with Vladimir Putin, the Russian President canceled because of meetings in Davos, Stockman said.

Stockman said the group had also wanted to meet with former NSA contractor and whistle-blower Edward Snowden but did not have enough time because of urgent meetings about terrorist threats to the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

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