Number of Poor People in America is 3 Million Higher than the Official Count

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Photo Credit: AP/k.vineysThe number of poor people in America is 3 million higher than the official count, encompassing 1 in 6 residents due to out-of-pocket medical costs and work-related expenses, according to a revised census measure released Wednesday.

The new measure is aimed at providing a fuller picture of poverty but does not replace the official government numbers. Put in place two years ago by the Obama administration, it generally is considered more reliable by social scientists because it factors in living expenses as well as the effects of government aid, such as food stamps and tax credits.

Administration officials have declined to say whether the new measure eventually could replace the official poverty formula, which is used to allocate federal dollars to states and localities and to determine eligibility for safety-net programs such as Medicaid.

Congress would have to agree to adopt the new measure, which generally would result in a higher poverty rate from year to year and thus higher government payouts for aid programs.

Based on the revised formula, the number of poor people in 2012 was 49.7 million, or 16 percent. That exceeds the record 46.5 million, or 15 percent, that was officially reported in September.

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Navy Claims No Ban on ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ Patch

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Photo Credit: U.S. NavyNavy SEALs can still wear the First Navy Jack with its motto of “Don’t Tread on Me” on their shoulder, according to service officials, following a report that some units were banning their use.

Last week, Carl Higbie, a former SEAL and author, wrote in the Daily Caller that some Navy SEAL teams have banned the display of the First Navy Jack, also called the Union Jack by the Navy, on military uniforms. Mr. Higbie wrote that the patch was likely banned because it was now too closely associated with the tea party.

The “Don’t Tread on Me” motto is popular among tea party groups, who often fly another Revolutionary War era flag with the motto, the yellow Gadsden Flag…

Mr. Higbie said his information came from several current SEALs and he stood by his article. He said the Navy was clearly backpedalling in the face of criticism. “They are going to say they never said this,” he said. “But as long as [SEALs] are allowed to wear it, I am happy with that.”

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Michelle Obama: ‘We Want to Honor and Embrace All…Faith Traditions’

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Photo Credit: APAt a White House Diwali celebration on Tuesday afternoon, First Lady Michelle Obama said that she and her husband wanted to celebrate all the faith and culture traditions ‘that make us who we are as Americans.”

Even as she was saying this, there were 200 plaintiffs pursuing 77 lawsuits asking federal courts to protect their First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion from a regulation issued by the administration under Obamacare that requires health insurance plans to cover sterilizations, contraceptives and abortion inducing drugs and devices.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty maintains a website that tracks the lawsuits.

The plaintiffs range from the Hobby Lobby stores to the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. In September, the Department of Justice appealed the Hobby Lobby case to the Supreme Court, asking the court to force the family that owns Hobby Lobby to act against their Christian faith by making them buy insurance coverage for abortion-inducing drugs and devices.

“As you may know, we’ve celebrated this holiday here at the White House every year since Barack took office,” Mrs. Obama said at the Diwali celebration.

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New Mexico Man Claims He Was Anally Probed 8 Times Following Traffic Stop

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Photo Credit: Joe Raedle/GettyA New Mexico man claims he was anally probed several times by police and medical officials following a traffic stop.

The victim, David Eckert, claims in a federal lawsuit that officers from the Deming Police Department pulled him over after he failed to make a complete stop at a stop sign outside a Walmart this past January.

When Eckert got out of his car, officers indicated that they believed he was in possession of drugs – in his anal cavity.

“They say when he stepped out of his car he was standing in a manner that looked as if he was clinching his buttocks,” Shannon Kennedy, Eckert’s attorney, told KOB-TV.

A judge granted a search warrant to perform an anal cavity search on Eckert shortly after he was taken into custody. KOB reports that a doctor refused to perform the anal cavity search at a Deming emergency room, saying it was “unethical.” Eckert was then transported to Gila Regional Medical Center, where his alleged trauma began.

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Obama Denies ‘You Can Keep It’ Videotaped Promises

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Photo Credit: APPresident Barack Obama told his enthusiastic supporters Monday night that he never promised what video recordings show him promising at least 29 times.

The videos show Obama promising 300 million Americans that “if you like your health-care plan, you will be able to keep your health-care plan, period.”

But that’s not what he really said, Obama announced Monday in a speech to about 200 Organizing for Action supporters, gathered at the St. Regis hotel in D.C.

“What we said was you could keep it if it hasn’t changed since the law was passed,” he told Obamacare’s political beneficiaries and contractors.

That claim is not supported by his videotaped statements, which don’t include any mention of his new “if it hasn’t changed” exception.

But the newly-revealed exception is justified by a higher-priority promise in Obamacare, Obama declared.

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No White House Petition to Defund or Repeal Obamacare

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Photo Credit: AP Photo/J. Scott ApplewhiteWith so many Americans complaining about Obamacare–the cancellation of individual insurance policies, the dysfunctional enrollment process, and privacy concerns–it is curious that a search of the White House petition website does not produce a single petition urging the defunding, repeal, delay or even repair of the Affordable Care Act.

There is, however, a petition titled, “Defund the House of Representatives,” created on Sept. 20.

The White House promises to respond to petitions that gather 100,000 signatures in 30 days, and presumably a petition focusing on one of the hottest topics of the year would easily rise to that level. But an overwhelming response might also embarrass a White House intent on defending President Obama’s signature legislation.

On Monday morning, Nov. 4, CNSNews.com searched “We the People,” the White House petition website, for the terms “Obamacare,” “Affordable Care Act” and “federal health care law.”

“Obamacare” returned only one petition, posted a year ago, urging the White House to “Include Licensed Naturopathic Physicians as primary care providers in the Federal Healthcare Law.”

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Army Veteran Banned from Daughter’s School after Posting Picture of Weapons Permit

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Photo Credit: WRDW.COMAn Army veteran living in Georgia says she wants an apology from her daughter’s former school after being banned from the building for posting a photo of her concealed weapons permit to her Facebook page, WRDW.com reports.

Tanya Mount says she was approached by a police officer from the Richmond County Board of Education at McBean Elementary School and was warned that she was about to get a criminal trespass warning.

The officer told her that the principal at the school was “scared” of her and did not want her on the school property, she told the station.

“He asks: ‘Were you in the Army?,”‘ she said. “I said, yes. He’s like, ‘Do you have a concealed weapons permit?’ I said yes,” she told the station.

A phone call from FoxNews.com to Richmond County Board of Education was not immediately returned. WJBF.com asked Janina Dallas, the school’s principal, if the “no trespass order” was issued over the post, and Dallas responded: “Yes, it was.”

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Obamacare Could Increase Number of Food Stamp Recipients

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Photo Credit: AP By Tarini Parti.

Republicans have another reason to hate Obamacare: It could grow the number of people on food stamps.

The Obama administration has ordered a study to determine whether the Affordable Care Act, by increasing the number of people eligible for Medicaid, will also increase the number of people enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program based on how states enroll people.

The outcome of the study could show an increase of 3 percent to 5 percent in food stamp recipients in some states from people who were already eligible for SNAP benefits but had not enrolled in the program — which could translate to millions or even billions more in federal spending, Greg Mills, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute who is conducting the study, told POLITICO.

“So in percentage terms, it’s not going to be very large, but we’re talking about a very large program,” said Mills, who is investigating the effects of the health care law on SNAP on behalf of the Department of Agriculture’s Food Nutrition Service, the agency that monitors food stamps.

“It would have a substantial financial effect.”

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ObamaCare price hikes hit ‘red states’ hardest

By Maxim Lott.

Experiencing sticker-shock at the price of insurance on ObamaCare exchanges?

That’s more likely if you live in a “red state” that didn’t vote for Obama, according to price data compiled by the Heritage Foundation. In red states, premiums for 27-year-olds rose an average of 78% on ObamaCare exchanges, whereas in “blue states” that voted for Obama, premiums rose a smaller 50%.

Senate critics of ObamaCare say the difference is one way in which the bill is unfair.

“It’s unfair, outrageous and unacceptable,” Senator John Barrasso, R-Wyo., who is also an orthopedic surgeon, said in a statement to FoxNews.com.

“After discovering that the President broke his promise that Americans can definitely keep their coverage, many red state Americans are now finding out that their rates will soar under ObamaCare. This… proves once again that the President’s health care law picks winners and losers across the country,” he added.

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Apple Publishes Report Revealing US Govt Info Requests Exceed All Other Countries Combined

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Photo Credit: Aly Song /ReutersApple has published its first report revealing the number and type of requests for information about users and devices from governments around the world, showing the US dominating the requests.

The report (pdf), published on the company’s website on Tuesday, complained about US restrictions on what it could reveal and promised customers that Apple did its best to protect personal data.

“We have no interest in amassing personal information about our customers,” the company said. “We protect personal conversations by providing end-to-end encryption over iMessage and FaceTime. We do not store location data, Maps searches, or Siri requests in any identifiable form.”

Of 31 countries listed, the US outweighed all other governments combined in seeking information about more than 2,000 accounts, followed by Britain with 141, Spain with 104 and Germany with 93. Canada, China and Norway each made six requests.

Apple complained that US restrictions prevented it from disclosing the precise number of national security orders and number of accounts affected by such orders. Figures for the US were given within ranges of 1,000. It said: “We strongly oppose this gag order, and Apple has made the case for relief from these restrictions in meetings and discussions with the White House, the US attorney general, congressional leaders and the courts.”

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Obama’s Approval Rating Drops Into the 30s

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Photo Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty ImagesBy Mark Silva.

President Barack Obama is near matching his all-time low in job approval in the Gallup Poll.

The 39 percent approval rating reported by Gallup today — an average of surveys conducted Saturday through Monday — is close to the 38-percent low the president scored in August and again October of 2011.

His disapproval rating has climbed to 53 percent, his highest disapproval since Oct. 10-12, 2001.

The decline — his approval rating stood at 53 percent in mid-August — comes in the midst of the problems the administration is having with the rollout of the Obamacare health insurance exchanges.

The partial shutdown of the government that ran 16 days obscured the initial problems that Healthcare.gov was having enrolling people in the exchanges that opened Oct. 1.

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Photo Credit: APObama’s Approval Rating Has Dipped Into Dangerously Low Territory

By Brett Logiurato.

President Barack Obama’s approval rating has dipped a point to 39%, according to the latest Gallup daily tracking poll — dangerous waters for a president still in the first year of his second term.

The 39% mark is a point lower in Gallup’s three-day rolling average. Obama’s disapproval held steady at 53%.

It’s Obama’s worst approval rating in Gallup’s daily tracking poll since the Oct.17-19, 2011, average, which came right after a bruising fight for both Democrats and Republicans over raising the nation’s debt ceiling.

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