Calls Mount to End Ban On Oil Exports as US Production Booms

/2 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Fox News When the Arab oil embargo of 1973 shocked the U.S. into long gas lines and rationing, Congress approved what was a no-brainer at the time — a ban on exporting crude oil produced at home.

But today, with domestic oil production booming, some are questioning whether that ban should stay in place. The new concern is that the U.S. has more oil than its refineries can handle.

“This ban threatens record-breaking U.S. oil production and American jobs by creating inefficiencies, gluts and distortions,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, recently testified at a congressional hearing.

Murkowski has sent a letter to the White House asking President Obama to lift the ban on oil exports, even as the U.S. still imports 40 percent of its oil.

Supporters of lifting the export ban argue that oil is a world commodity — and more of it on the global market will drive everyone’s gas prices down and create jobs in the U.S.

Read more from this story HERE.

‘American Idol’ Singer Clay Aiken to Run for Congress in North Carolina

/8 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: REUTERS/LUCY NICHOLSON/FILESFormer “American Idol” singer Clay Aiken said on Wednesday he will run for U.S. Congress as a Democrat in his home state of North Carolina, where he once worked as a special education teacher.

Aiken, 35, is likely to face a tough battle in his efforts to unseat Representative Renee Ellmers, a Tea Party Republican favorite, in the state’s conservative 2nd congressional district.

The entertainer tried to position himself as a political outsider who wants to change Washington by giving a voice to people in need.

“I’m not a politician,” he said in a video on his campaign website. “I don’t ever want to be one.”

Aiken described past challenges he had faced after his mother left his abusive father and worked hard to provide what little she could for his family.

Read more from this story HERE.

Long Forgotten Pot Bust, Bureacratic Screwup Prompt Agents to Seize California Man’s Guns

/3 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: COURTESY OF MIKE MERRITTMichael Merritt had all but forgotten about the pot bust way back in 1970 when state agents came knocking on the door of his Bakersfield, Calif. home.

The agents, from the state’s Department of Justice, started peppering the 61-year-old avid hunter with questions about the guns he owns. Then they told him to hand them over.

“I didn’t know why they were here,” Merritt told FoxNews.com of the Nov. 5 incident. “Then it hit me in a flash. They were here to take my guns and I didn’t know why.”

Merritt was a convicted felon, according to their records, and therefore not eligible to own the pistols, hunting rifles and various collectibles he had legally purchased and registered. But the idea he was a felon was news to him, Merritt said.

“I kept asking them what the felony was for,” he said. “They just showed me a printout with some code and told me they weren’t sure what it was for.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Begich, Other Red State Dem Senators Up for Re-election Stand By Their Man

/3 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: APEvery vulnerable Senate Democrat up for re-election in 2014 voted with President Barack Obama at least 90 percent of the time in 2013, according to CQ Roll Call’s latest vote studies, released Monday.

Arkansas Democrat Mark Pryor broke with the president most often, opposing him in 10 percent of all 2013 votes where the administration stated a preferred outcome. Sens. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, Mary Landrieu, D-La. and Kay Hagan, D-N.C., voted for Obama’s position 97, 97, and 96 percent of the time, respectively. Of those four, only Begich serves with a Republican who has bucked the GOP to back Obama with any frequency. (See our Jan. 21 story.)

Support for Obama’s initiatives from incumbent Democrats who are favored but not safe was just as high if not higher than from vulnerable members: Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Mark Warner of Virginia supported the president in 99 and 97 percent of votes.

Read more from this story HERE.

ObamaCare Could Lead to Loss of Nearly 2.3 Million US Jobs, Report Says

/2 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Fox NewsThe long-term effect of ObamaCare on the U.S. economy was rewritten Tuesday with the Congressional Budget Office issuing a revised projection that nearly 2.5 million workers could opt out of full-time jobs over the next 10 years — allowing employers to wipe 2.3 million full-time jobs off the books.

Budget experts say that because ObamaCare offers an insurance alternative to employer provided coverage, many Americans who hold full-time jobs may decide to work part-time — or not at all — and get their coverage from the exchanges.

Following the release of the report, House Speaker John Boehner said the report showed how “the middle class is getting squeezed in this economy.”

The report drew immediate reaction from GOP lawmakers, including House Speaker John Boehner who said the report indicates ObamaCare is only making it harder for middle-class Americans to survive in the bad economy.

Others, like Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., weighed in.

Read more from this story HERE.

Top Intelligence Chiefs Warn Syria Could Become Base for Attacks Against US

/3 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Fox NewsFor the second time in a week, the nation’s top intelligence chiefs Tuesday issued a scathing assessment of the global threats facing the United States, warning that Syria is becoming a base from which extremist, Al Qaeda-linked groups could attack the U.S.

“We are concerned about the use of Syrian territory by the Al Qaeda organization to recruit individuals and develop the capability to be able not just to carry out attacks inside of Syria, but also to use Syria as a launching pad,” said CIA Director John Brennan at a hearing before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

“There are camps inside of both Iraq and Syria that are used by Al Qaeda to develop capabilities that are applicable, both in the theater, as well as beyond.”

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper put the threat assessment in stark terms: “Looking back over my more than half a century in intelligence, I have not experienced a time when we’ve been beset by more crises and threats around the globe,” he said.

Clapper and Brennan were joined at the hearing by the head of the FBI, James Comey, Defense Intelligence Chief Gen. Mike Flynn and Matt Olson, who heads the National Counterterrorism Center.

Read more from this story HERE.

Boehner Told Democrats of Conservative Congressman: ‘What An A–hole!’

/11 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: APHouse Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), the most powerful Republican in Congress, called his GOP colleague Rep. Steve King of Iowa an “a–hole” while speaking with two Democratic members on the House floor, according to Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas).

Castro described what happened in a story he wrote for the February issue of Texas Monthly magazine.

Back in July 2013, Rep. King, a conservative popular with the Tea Party, commented on illegal immigrants in an interview with Newsmax, saying that not all young illegals are valedictorians but that many smuggle drugs into America.

“[T]hey weren’t all brought in by their parents,” he said. “For every one who’s a valedictorian, there’s another hundred out there that they weigh 130 pounds and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.”

King was criticized for that remark by many Democrats, and Speaker Boehner said, “I want to be clear, there’s no place in this debate for hateful or ignorant comments from elected officials. Earlier this week, Representative Steve King made comments that were, I think, deeply offensive and wrong. What he said does not reflect the values of the American people or the Republican Party. We all need to do our work in a constructive, open, and respectful way. As I’ve said many times, we can disagree without being disagreeable.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Debt Up $6.666 Trillion Under Obama

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: APThe debt of the U.S. government has increased $6.666 trillion since President Barack Obama took office on Jan. 20, 2009, according to the latest numbers released by the Treasury Department.

When President Obama was first inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2009, the debt of the U.S. government was $10,626,877,048,913.08, according to the Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Public Debt. As of Jan. 31, 2014, the latest day reported, the debt was $17,293,019,654,983.61—an increase of $6,666,142,606,070.53 since Obama’s first inauguration.

Read more from this story HERE.

Administrators Reverse Ban on American Celebration at High School

/8 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: SHERIFF JUSTIN SMITHThe sun was just beginning to rise over the Rocky Mountains, but Sheriff Justin Smith was already awake. He was standing outside Fort Collins High School – shivering in the frigid cold.

It was 12 degrees. Snow was falling. But Mr. Smith, wearing his dress blues, stood resolute, waving an American flag.

The sheriff of Larimer County, Colorado had come to school Tuesday to send a message to those responsible for educating the county’s children. The sheriff was not in a good mood.

He was standing in the winter snow to protest the school’s decision to ban a celebration of American patriotism.

The student council had wanted to designate a day during Spirit Week to celebrate the red, white & blue. The young people called it “’Merica Monday.” But the school turned down their request.

Read more from this story HERE.

Kansas to Maine: Snowstorm to Impact More Than 100 Million

/3 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: AccuWeather A major winter storm with heavy snow, ice and a wintry mix will reach from the central Plains to the Midwest and Northeast spanning Tuesday night and Wednesday.

It will hit barely after some people had time to dig out from two prior storms in the Midwest and the Monday storm in the Northeast.

By the time the storm has ended it will have directly affected more than two dozen states and at least 100 million people with snow and/or ice. Travel delays and disruptions to daily activities are likely. The storm will hit especially swiftly and hard over part of the central Appalachians to New England.

More than 1,700 flights were canceled and another 4,100 flights were delayed as a result of the winter storm.

The storm has the potential to drop 13 inches or more of snow on portions of Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. In part of the Northeast, the bulk of the snow will fall in six hours or less.

Read more from this story HERE.