White House Won’t Pay ‘Ransom’ for Debt Limit Hike

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Photo Credit: Thinkstock

Photo Credit: Thinkstock

White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer on Sunday pressed Republican lawmakers to raise the debt ceiling without conditions, saying that the American people “should not have to pay Congress ransom.”

But Pfeiffer sidestepped questions about whether Obama would veto a bill that did not offer a clean debt hike.

“Our position on this is the same as it was in October and the same as it has been for more than a year,” said Pfeiffer on “Fox News Sunday.” The American people should not have to pay their members of Congress ransom for doing their most basic function which is paying the bills.”

A GOP effort to defund Obamacare led to a 16-day federal government shutdown in October and brought the U.S. to within hours of defaulting on its debt.

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Sen. Sessions: Immigration Spikes Income Inequality

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Photo Credit: Jacquelyn Martin, AP

Photo Credit: Jacquelyn Martin, AP

In Tuesday’s State of the Union address, President Obama is expected to discuss the plight of American workers. At the same time, he is pushing Republicans to pass an immigration plan making the problem worse by increasing the flow of immigrant workers to compete against unemployed Americans and those struggling to get by in low-wage jobs. Yet, alarmingly, the move is regarded as a part of Obama’s agenda that has a chance of becoming law.

House Republicans should reply to the president’s immigration effort with a simple message: Our first duty is to help struggling Americans find good work and rising wages.

The president’s own economic adviser, Gene Sperling, recently noted that there are three unemployed people for every job available. Wages today have been flat since 2000. Last year, a record one in five American households received food stamps.

This is a national emergency.

So what is the president’s proposal? With three job seekers for every open job, he proposes doubling the number of guest workers entering every year, granting immediate work permits to millions of illegal immigrants, and tripling the number of new immigrants granted permanent residency over the next decade.

Today, the U.S. admits 1 million immigrants a year. The plan supported by the president and Senate Democrats would increase that to 3 million a year, or 30 million largely lower-skill immigrants over the next 10.

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HSBC Imposes Restrictions On Large Cash Withdrawals

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Photo Credit: BBC

Photo Credit: BBC

Some HSBC customers have been prevented from withdrawing large amounts of cash because they could not provide evidence of why they wanted it, the BBC has learnt.

Listeners have told Radio 4’s Money Box they were stopped from withdrawing amounts ranging from £5,000 to £10,000.

HSBC admitted it has not informed customers of the change in policy, which was implemented in November.

The bank says it has now changed its guidance to staff.

New rules

Stephen Cotton went to his local HSBC branch this month to withdraw £7,000 from his instant access savings account to pay back a loan from his mother.

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Michigan Gov Rick Snyder Endorses Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

On Friday, Republican Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder emphatically supported comprehensive immigration reform and implied that enforcement of the current immigration laws were “dumb” at an event with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

“We need comprehensive immigration reform,” Snyder said at an immigration summit on Friday at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. “That’s the bottom line. To be blunt, we have a dumb system.”

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Congressional Black Caucus Unhappy with Obama Judicial Appointments

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Photo Credit: Neon Tommy

Photo Credit: Neon Tommy

The Hill’s Mike Lillis, reports that leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) plan to “publicly rebuke” President Obama because of the “lack of diversity’ in his federal judicial appointments.”

It’s hard to understand the CBC’s complaint. According to Freddie Allen, Obama’s judicial appointments have resulted in a higher rate of Black judges confirmed than any other president in history. Research compiled by the Alliance for Justice, demonstrated that so far during the Obama administration, Blacks have accounted for 18.7 percent of the federal judicial confirmations, more than the 7.3 percent under George W. Bush or the 16.4 percent under Bill Clinton.

Its not just Blacks, Obama’s judicial appointees are more diverse among other demographics:

“During the Obama administration, 41 percent of the federal judges that have been confirmed are women, compared to 22 percent under George W. Bush and 29 percent for Clinton.

President Obama has also managed to get more Asian Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and gays confirmed to the federal bench than either Bush or Clinton.”

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Grammy Awards to Feature Live Homosexual Marriage Ceremonies

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Photo Credit: REUTERS/ANDREW KELLY

Photo Credit: REUTERS/ANDREW KELLY

Dozens of couples will marry on air during Sunday night’s live broadcast of the music industry’s annual Grammy Awards as Macklemore & Ryan Lewis perform their nominated song “Same Love,” which has become an anthem in the campaign for legal gay marriage, the New York Times reported.

Queen Latifah will officiate at the nuptials, with pop diva Madonna performing the song with the hip hop duo and featured vocalist Mary Lambert, the Times said.

Lewis said that the weddings, including 34 couples of various ages and races, some gay, some straight, “will be in our minds the ultimate statement of equality, that all the couples are entitled to the same exact thing,” the report said.

“We’re serious about this,” the Times quoted Ken Ehrlich, the longtime producer of the Grammys, as saying.

Ehrlich, noting that the segment reflected his own personal beliefs – he has a gay daughter – said, “I would not want to make a broad statement that it represents the views of the academy or the CBS television network,” which broadcasts the awards live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles at 8 p.m. PST (0400 GMT on Monday).

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Arizona GOP Censures Sen. John McCain for Supporting Issues ‘Associated with Liberal Democrats’

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Photo Credit: AP/Massoud Hossaini

Photo Credit: AP/Massoud Hossaini

The Arizona Republican Party formally censured Sen. John McCain on Saturday, citing a voting record they say is insufficiently conservative.

The resolution to censure McCain was approved by a voice-vote during a meeting of state committee members in Tempe, state party spokesman Tim Sifert said. It needed signatures from at least 20 percent of state committee members to reach the floor for debate.

Sifert said no further action was expected.

McCain spokesman Brian Rogers declined to comment on the censure.

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Senate State Dept. Retaliated Against Benghazi Witnesses

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Photo Credit: WND

Photo Credit: WND

The White House, Pentagon and especially the Department of State are actively frustrating the Senate’s investigation into the Sept. 11, 2012, Benghazi attack, according to the Senate’s recently released 88-page report.

In a particularly stinging accusation that went largely unreported by news media, the Senate’s extensive report by its Benghazi investigative committee charged a “strong case can be made that State engaged in retaliation against witnesses who were willing to speak with Congress.”

“No reasonable explanation accounts for the State Department’s unacceptable treatment of these witnesses,” read the report.

The lawmakers also accused the State Department of returning some witnesses to active duty so they were “shielded from, or actively avoided, Committee requests for interviews.”

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Which Are The Most, And Least, ‘Bible-Minded’ Cities In The U.S.?

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Photo Credit: NPR

Photo Credit: NPR

In an era of shifting populations and values, the notion of America’s Bible Belt can be a slippery concept. But a new study gives us an idea of which cities can be considered to be part of that tradition — and which cities aren’t.

Chattanooga, Tenn., was named America’s most Bible-minded city, followed by Birmingham, Ala., and Roanoke/Lynchburg, Va.

And despite its name, Providence, R.I., was named the least Bible-minded city. It tied New Bedford, Mass., in that slot, followed by Albany, N.Y., and Boston.

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Lawmakers Consider Preventing ALL Marriage In Oklahoma

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Photo Credit: News 9

Photo Credit: News 9

State lawmakers are considering throwing out marriage in Oklahoma.

The idea stems from a bill filed by Rep. Mike Turner (R-Edmond). Turner says it’s an attempt to keep same-sex marriage illegal in Oklahoma while satisfying the U.S. Constitution. Critics are calling it a political stunt while supporters say it’s what Oklahomans want.

“[My constituents are] willing to have that discussion about whether marriage needs to be regulated by the state at all,” Turner said.

Other conservative lawmakers feel the same way, according to Turner.

“Would it be realistic for the State of Oklahoma to say, ‘We’re not going to do marriage period,'” asked News 9’s Michael Konopasek.

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