John McCain Slams GOP’s ‘False Premise’ of Repealing Obamacare

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Photo Credit: AP/Susan WalshInfuriated that the government shutdown has delayed the payment of death benefits to the families of fallen American soldiers, Sen. John McCain railed against the “false premise” offered by some of his fellow Republicans that it is possible to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

“To somehow think that we were going to repeal Obamacare, which would have required 67 Republican votes [in the Senate] was a false premise, and I think we did the American people a great disservice by convincing them somehow we could,” McCain, R-Ariz., said. “We started out with a false premise on this side of the aisle.”

The 67-vote margin is what Senate Republicans would need to overturn a presidential veto of any measure that delayed or derailed Obamacare — an unlikely achievement given that Democrats run the Senate and White House and Republicans hold just 46 of the Senate’s 100 seats.

McCain, a former Navy pilot who spent nearly six years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, passionately criticized Congress for its failure to negotiate a compromise that would end a government shutdown that on Tuesday was entering its second week.

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US Adults Score Below Average on Worldwide Test

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Photo Credit: APIt’s long been known that America’s school kids haven’t measured well compared with international peers. Now, there’s a new twist: Adults don’t either.

In math, reading and problem-solving using technology — all skills considered critical for global competitiveness and economic strength — American adults scored below the international average on a global test, according to results released Tuesday.

Adults in Japan, Canada, Australia, Finland and multiple other countries scored significantly higher than the United States in all three areas on the test. Beyond basic reading and math, respondents were tested on activities such as calculating mileage reimbursement due to a salesman, sorting email and comparing food expiration dates on grocery store tags.

Not only did Americans score poorly compared to many international competitors, the findings reinforced just how large the gap is between the nation’s high- and low-skilled workers and how hard it is to move ahead when your parents haven’t.

In both reading and math, for example, those with college-educated parents did better than those whose parents did not complete high school.

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Senate Democrats Plan Maneuver to Allow Obama to Raise Debt Ceiling

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Photo Credit: abangbay @ MalaysiaSenate Democrats say they’ll advance a bill giving President Obama the authority to raise the debt ceiling unless two-thirds of Congress disapproves, according to a Senate Democratic aide.

The issue of increasing the borrowing limit and avoiding an unprecedented default is fast becoming a central focus in Washington — and comes as ordinary Americans say they’re deeply dismayed with the week-old government shutdown, and are finding blame with both Republicans and Democrats.

“It looks like there is more than enough blame to go around and both parties are being hurt by the shutdown,” CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said.

An initial test vote on the proposal, described by the aide on condition of anonymity, could occur as soon as Oct. 11, just six days before federal borrowing authority is set to expire.

Democrats have been pressing for a one-year increase in the nation’s $16.7 trillion debt ceiling without any of the spending cuts of policy changes Republicans are demanding.

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Obama Admin will Allow Amnesty Rally on National Mall During Gov’t Shutdown

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Photo Credit: APThe Obama administration will allow a massive rally for comprehensive immigration reform on Tuesday in Washington, D.C. on the National Mall, even though it is supposed to be closed due to the federal government shutdown.

Open-air spaces like the World War II Memorial have been barricaded since the federal government shut down last week, but an organizer for the rally told the Washington Examiner that the National Park Service will allow the rally and march.

As Breitbart News reported, immigration activists have called for volunteers to get themselves arrested at the rally in acts of civil disobedience.

The event will be a culmination of rallies across the country over the weekend in which immigration activists demonstrated in 41 states demanding amnesty.

A variety of immigration activist organizations, along with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the AFL-CIO, are organizing the event, which they claim will attract 10,000 people.

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Third Colorado State Senator May Face Recall

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Photo Credit: Evie Hudak/FacebookEnergized by historic recalls of two Colorado state senators last month, activists have begun collecting signatures to oust state Democratic Sen. Evie Hudak from office.

Hudak, who represents Westminster, a suburb northwest of Denver, is a favorite target of the GOP for her liberal voting record and a propensity to attract bad PR for herself.

Under Colorado election law, those wishing to prompt a recall election must collect 18,900 signatures from district residents – 25 percent of the total votes cast in the last election. Hudak was initially elected to the state Senate in 2008 after two terms on the state Board of Education.

In both senate elections, Hudak has won by narrow margins; in 2008 she topped Republican Libby Szabo with 51 percent of the vote. In 2012, she won with only 47 percent, narrowly edging out Republican Lang Sias by 0.7 percent. Sias’ defeat was blamed in Republican circles on the presence of Libertarian Lloyd A. Sweeny, who garnered nearly 7 percent of the vote. GOP analysts believe a majority of those Libertarian votes would have otherwise gone to Sias.

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WSJ Economist Stephen Moore: The US Will Not Default, Constitution Explains Why

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Wall Street Journal economist Stephen Moore stated the United States will not default. He told Pat Robertson in an interview on the Christian Broadcasting Network’s 700 Club on Monday, “There will be no default. In fact, anyone who is watching this show, who owns a government bond, the chances that we will have a default on that debt and you won’t get paid is very, very close to zero.” He added, “The real danger to our credit rating and our status as a world economic superpower is if we are going to continue to borrow a trillion dollars a year.”

Moore went on to further explain why he believes the government will not default stating, “The Constitution guarantees that the full faith and credit of the United States government will be assured. That means that if we had a shut down, that doesn’t mean the government can’t spend money, it means it can’t borrow more. So I would make the case and most constitutional scholars would agree with me that the first people who would get paid [from incoming revenues] are the people who own the bonds…I think it’s highly irresponsible for this President to be running around saying we are going to have to default on the debt. Telling people to sell their stocks. Can you imagine, Pat, if a CEO of a company started talking down their stocks and their bonds?”

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Reid Blasts Media For Being Too Conservative

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Photo Credit: Western JournalismIf anyone still needs proof Harry Reid is completely disconnected with reality, recent comments he made about the state of mainstream media should suffice. The Senate majority leader and bitterly partisan Democrat unbelievably complained today’s press is not leftist enough.

Speaking to Politico recently, he identified a “real shortcoming” within the media, saying journalists “are trying so hard to be fair that [they] are unfair.”

With countless newspapers, networks, websites, and other outlets dedicated to carrying the Obama administration’s water on a daily basis, Reid’s argument falls flat in the face of facts. The mainstream leftist media are, for the most part, not interested in presenting a balanced reportage of the news. While Reid accurately describes the press as “unfair,” most Americans understand that bias is in favor of the leftist cause.

Nevertheless, he sticks to his irrational diatribe by placing the blame for our current federal government shutdown squarely on the shoulders of his political adversaries.

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Wall Street Shrugs off President, Focuses on Congress

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Photo Credit: APWhen it comes to worrying over a possible debt default, Wall Street is brushing off President Barack Obama’s warnings and focusing its attention instead on Congress.

Investors say they currently view the words and deeds of Congress as having more power to move markets because the president is not viewed as being intimately involved in the ongoing fiscal negotiations — more of a spectator in chief as the House and Senate fight over how to break their impasse.

“The financial markets seem to believe at this point it’s really in the hands of the House and the Senate,” said Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist with Deutsche Bank. “In other words, I think the market’s focused more on what might be happening between [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid and [Speaker] John Boehner than the president.”

This dynamic was on display in recent days as Wall Street tried to parse Washington’s jawboning.

Last week, Obama cautioned that Wall Street should be seriously worried that Congress may fail to raise the debt ceiling, saying in an interview with CNBC that markets “should be concerned” and that “this time it’s different.”

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Truckers to Protest Obama on Beltway

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Photo Credit: kate at yr own risk/flickrA group of truck drivers are planning to protest the federal government by backing up the Capital Beltway around Washington, D.C.

The group “Truckers for the Constitution” is hoping to call attention to its frustration with regulations from the Obama administration and the overall political climate in the U.S. with an appeal that echoes the early rhetoric of the Tea Party.

“Independent Truckers of America are essentially operating on extremely low; and in most cases working below minimum wage, and all paying exorbitant fuel costs and fees,” the group said on its website, RideForTheConstitution.org.

“American truckers are also very politically astute and great patriots, they are all well aware of what is happening to our U.S. Constitution,” the website continued. “Through this campaign, they are leading the convoy of all Americans coast-to-coast who wish to restore our constitutional republic. America is calling out to our Patriots, and if any group can help lead the charge to save our nation, it’s the U.S. truckers.”

The truck drivers are complaining about their wages, gas prices and the Obama administration’s regulations of their industry. Additionally, they are unhappy with reports the U.S. government was spying on American citizens earlier this year and the amount of debt the country has.

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Obamacare showdown in Texas

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Photo Credit: APThe ground war over Obamacare — the one that will determine whether people sign up — will be won and lost in places like Texas.

If Obamacare fails in the Lone Star State — that is, if a significant portion of the 6.1 million uninsured Texans don’t or can’t enroll — then the White House could miss its national enrollment targets, the new health insurance exchanges could falter and insurance rates could spike.

Obamacare could be unsustainable.

And that’s exactly what leading Texas politicians like Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Ted Cruz would like to see happen. With the political leaders’ “hell no” approach to Obamacare, Texas may not seem like a health law battleground. But the demographics — a huge, hard-to-reach uninsured population — mean it’s a make-or-break state for making the law work.

Advocates are banking on the idea that a grass-roots push in more liberal, urban areas of Texas, plus the demand among the uninsured to get health coverage, will overcome the state’s institutional opposition and deliver on the promise of Obamacare.

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