States Get Sued for Enforcing ‘Gay Rights’

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Photo Credit: WNDLawsuits against Christians – sometimes even churches – have become common when they refuse to support non-Christian events, such as same-sex weddings. But now those defendants have started to fight back, filing lawsuits against state officials who are trying to coerce them to violate their faith.

WND reported in May when a Washington state florist sued Attorney General Bob Ferguson for allegedly trying to violate the state and federal constitutions’ religious freedom provisions.

And this week the Christian Institute in the United Kingdom profiled an Iowa couple suing their state’s Civil Rights Commission for the same reason.

“They have filed their own complaint saying that if the commission forces them to go against their beliefs and host gay weddings this would be a violation of the Iowa Civil Rights Act,” the Institute reports.

At issue is a claim against the Mennonite couple, Dick and Betty Odgaard, who own and operate the Gortz Haus Gallery, an old church building that is used for a variety of private events.

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Obama’s Ex-Bodyguard Losing Health Coverage

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Photo Credit: WNDPresident Obama repeatedly has promised that no one will lose his health insurance because of Obamacare, declaring, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.”

Media fact checkers were doubtful, and all the way back in 2009 PolitiFact gave it a “half true” rating. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, it could be time now to change that to “pants on fire” or even a retroactive “lie of the year.”

Among those with evidence Obama wasn’t telling the truth is Dan Bongino, a former member of the Secret Service’s elite Presidential Protective Division.

That’s because he is losing his coverage due to Obamacare.

“My plan was canceled, simple as that,” he told WND.

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Nancy Pelosi: ‘I’m Here On a Mission’

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Photo Credit: ReutersNancy Pelosi isn’t going anywhere.

While many thought the California Democrat would step down as House minority leader after this Congress, Pelosi confidants now believe she will remain atop House leadership through 2016 and maybe even longer.

Pelosi herself won’t tip her hand about her plans. But she doesn’t appear to be contemplating retirement.

“I’m not here on a shift. I’m here on a mission — and when my work is done, that’s when I will leave,” Pelosi said in a recent interview with POLITICO.

Pelosi declared the main reason she chose to stay put the past two years is to see Obamacare, which she had a strong hand in crafting and pushing through Congress, implemented successfully. Pelosi, like other Democrats, has publicly complained about the disastrous online rollout of the program, but she remains convinced it will turn out well in the long run.

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Bombshell: Federal Judge Suddenly Green-Lights Lawsuit that Could Stop Obamacare in its Tracks

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Photo Credit: Corbis A federal judge on Tuesday refused to dismiss a case that could fatally cripple the Obamacare health insurance law.

The Affordable Care Act forbids the federal government from enforcing the law in any state that opted out of setting up its own health care exchange, according to a group of small businesses whose lawsuit got a key hearing Monday in federal court.

The Obama administration, according to their lawsuit, has ignored that language in the law, enforcing all of its provisions even in states where the federal government is operating the insurance marketplaces on the error-plagued Healthcare.gov website.

Thirty-six states chose not to set up their exchanges, a move that effectively froze Washington, D.C. out of the authority to pay subsidies and other pot-sweeteners to convince citizens in those states to buy medical insurance.

But the IRS overstepped its authority by paying subsidies in those states anyway, say the businesses and their lawyers.

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Ex-Apple CEO Sculley: Rollout Reflects Broken Government

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Photo Credit: gtsantos/flickrFormer Apple CEO John Sculley says it would be great if the Obamacare rollout fiasco led to a realization that the private sector works better than government. But he isn’t holding his breath.

“I think this huge belly-flop of the president’s most important program is really a great lesson for all of us of just how broken government is,” Sculley said Tuesday on Fox News Channel’s “Your World with Neil Cavuto.”

The White House tried initially comparing what it termed “glitches” in the HealthCare.gov website to issues with Apple products that it quickly fixes. That explanation has been panned by mainstream media outlets and even liberal supporters of the Affordable Care Act as it’s become clear the government knew about the problems even before the site was launched.

Government thinks about special interests, not about customers, Sculley told Cavuto. When he worked for Apple, the rule was to start with “clear thinking,” then constantly simplify, he said.

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Thousands Of Consumers Get Insurance Cancellation Notices Due To Health Law Changes

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Photo Credit: kaiserhealthnews.orgHealth plans are sending hundreds of thousands of cancellation letters to people who buy their own coverage, frustrating some consumers who want to keep what they have and forcing others to buy more costly policies.

The main reason insurers offer is that the policies fall short of what the Affordable Care Act requires starting Jan. 1. Most are ending policies sold after the law passed in March 2010. At least a few are cancelling plans sold to people with pre-existing medical conditions.

By all accounts, the new policies will offer consumers better coverage, in some cases, for comparable cost — especially after the inclusion of federal subsidies for those who qualify. The law requires policies sold in the individual market to cover 10 “essential” benefits, such as prescription drugs, mental health treatment and maternity care. In addition, insurers cannot reject people with medical problems or charge them higher prices. The policies must also cap consumers’ annual expenses at levels lower than many plans sold before the new rules.

But the cancellation notices, which began arriving in August, have shocked many consumers in light of President Barack Obama’s promise that people could keep their plans if they liked them.

“I don’t feel like I need to change, but I have to,” said Jeff Learned, a television editor in Los Angeles, who must find a new plan for his teenage daughter, who has a health condition that has required multiple surgeries.

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Jon Stewart Savages Obamacare Website Fiasco (+video)

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It’s not a stretch to say that “The Daily Show” could become one of the Obama administration’s worst nightmares on Obamacare. Four in every 10 of its viewers are younger than 30 — exactly the type of people who need to sign up for the Affordable Care Act to make it work.

On Monday night, two weeks after he sparred with Human and Health Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in an interview on the show, Jon Stewart went hard again after the rollout of the law…

“Yes, apparently the HealthCare.gov website has 99 problems, but a glitch is all of them,” Stewart said.

Stewart seemed baffled by how some of the website’s most basic functions — even the calculator — won’t work. He also dismissed how Democrats “are trying to spin this turd,” like when Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Sunday that the glitches are a good sign of the strong demand.

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Dem. Rep Alan Grayson Uses Burning Cross to Spell ‘Tea Party’

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Photo Credit: APFlorida Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson’s campaign sent out a fundraising email likening the tea party to the Ku Klux Klan, complete with an image of a burning cross.

The email, which went out to supporters yesterday, shows a burning cross — complete with images of two KKK-like figures in the background — used as the “T” in “tea party.” When users click on the image, they’re taken to a fundraising landing page for Grayson’s campaign.

Photo Credit: Dave Levinthal (Twitter)

The text of the email is an excerpt from an interview Grayson did with the Rev. Al Sharpton, in which he draws the tea party-KKK comparison.

“At this point, the tea party is no more popular than the Klan,” Grayson says in the interview.

The email praises Grayson’s bluntness and urges supporters to donate to his campaign.

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Craigslist Makes Turning Food Stamps Into Cash a SNAP

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Photo Credit: Fox NewsFood stamp recipients are turning the government handouts into quick cash with ads on Craigslist, despite efforts to stem fraud.

The federally-funded grocery assistance coupons — which are issued by states in the form of debit cards under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — are being sold on the online bulletin board as well as auction sites like eBay. FoxNews.com found several offerings at Craigslist sites around the country, where the sellers offered the welfare benefits at large discounts from face value.

“If you need food. This is not a gimmick or game,” read one posting from Philadelphia. “Please let me know, I have food stamps for sale….. Serious Replies only!!!”

“I have $500 worth and it costs $350 cash. No I will not do half!” read another posting from the Atlanta area. “I don’t need to sell. If you would like to get an extra $150 to $175 in grocery and pay no taxes and can see the benefit that you will still be saving then email me or call me and we can arrange the whole deal as soon as you like.”

Those who are desperately hungry are also taking to the website, offering cash for the stamps.

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Media Matters Snagged in Benghazi Deceit

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Photo Credit: WNDIn their new e-book, “The Benghazi Hoax,” Media Matters for America executives David Brock and Ari Rabin-Havt dispute the claim that highly trained Special Forces were available and could have been deployed in time to make a difference in the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya.

The authors, however, fail to inform readers that Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, conceded highly trained Special Forces were stationed just a few hours away from Benghazi on the night of the attack but were not told to deploy to Libya, as WND was first to report.

Brock and Rabin-Ravt also did not raise the many questions prompted by Dempsey’s testimony, including an admission to the highly unusual move of changing command of the Special Forces in the middle of the Benghazi attack.

Instead, Brock and Rabin-Ravt attempt to refute an exclusive Fox News interview aired April 30 in which a special government operator, speaking on condition of anonymity, contradicted claims by the Obama administration and a State Department review that there wasn’t enough time for military forces to deploy the night of the attack.

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