Largest Medical Military Hospital to Furlough Thousands, Putting Wounded Vets’ Care at Risk

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Photo Credit: Reuters

Photo Credit: Reuters

Thousands of civilian workers at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center — the country’s top facility for wounded combat soldiers — are facing furloughs this summer, as a result of sequester and other federal budget problems, according to the Defense Department.

Roughly 2,400 workers at the suburban Washington facility were recently notified by letter that the department needs them to take off as many as 11 days without pay this summer to help with “extraordinary and serious budgets challenges.”

The furloughs target a wide scope of non-combat facilities and civilian workers to “provide the war-fighters with what they need to protect national security,” states the May 28 letter, first obtained by Federal News Radio.

In a development that worries advocacy groups, the furloughs will impact about 94 percent of the Walter Reed civilian staff including doctors, nurses, lab technicians and physical therapists.

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Death Threats Against Sen. Ted Cruz and his Father Lead to Jail for Houston Man

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Photo Credit: Deborah Cannon

Photo Credit: Deborah Cannon

A Houston man is accused of threatening to burn U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and his father unless the senator paid him $3 million, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office…

An intern at Cruz’s Austin office told investigators that a man called the office on June 5, saying that Cruz “owed him money or a bomb would explode,” according to an arrest warrant filed in the case. The man, who identified himself as Abolfazi Akbori, called again the same day after the office had closed and left a threatening message on the office’s voicemail system…

The message states, “Ted has a choice. Give me three million dollars or lose the sun.” The caller said that “due to government misconduct the sun would blow up and said he might be able to prevent the sun from blowing up if he receives three million dollars,” according to the arrest warrant.

It didn’t take long for investigators to track down Gates, who allegedly made the threatening calls from his home telephone.

In a June 10 interview at his Houston apartment with an agent with the Federal Protective Services, Gates admitted to making the phone calls, prosecutors said. He told investigators that he previously spent 12 days in the Harris County Mental Health Center.

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Sen. Cornyn Receives 3 Public Pensions Plus Senate Salary

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn last year supplemented his Senate salary with three public pensions, bringing in some $65,383 in public retirement benefits to add to his $174,000 a year salary for serving as senator….

His largest pension, for $48,807, came through the Judicial Retirement System of Texas, earned while serving on the state Supreme Court from 1991 to 1997.

Cornyn, 61, reported another $10,132 in pension benefits from the Employees Retirement System of Texas, a fund for state elected officials and workers, after serving as attorney general from 1999 to 2002.

Cornyn, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, disclosed in a series of amendments he began filing last year that he had been collecting the $10,122 pension since 2006, but had not listed it on his original disclosure reports from 2006 through 2010.

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Michelle Obama Heads to Ireland for Two Days, Books 30 Rooms in $3300 per Night Hotel

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Photo Credit: The Shelbourne Dublin

Photo Credit: The Shelbourne Dublin

First lady Michelle Obama is sparing no expense on her trip to Ireland, staying at a $3,300-per-night hotel suite in Dublin.

Irish press reports Monday said Mrs. Obama and her entourage have booked 30 rooms in the five-star Shelbourne hotel. The first lady is said to be staying in the Princess Grace Suite, named for the Hollywood film star and princess who had an attachment to the room.

The suite has two guest bedrooms, a living room and a dining area, according to the hotel’s website. There are four phones, three large televisions, bedding of 100 percent Egyptian cotton, a Nespresso machine and butler service.

The cost of the two-day trip in Ireland and Northern Ireland has been estimated at around $5 million. U.S. taxpayers pay the cost of the first family’s travel.

The Obama family also will travel to Germany, where President Obama is to give a speech on Wednesday.

[Editor’s note: this Irish trip is in addition to the colossal $100 million that may be spent on the Obamas’ trip to Africa later this month]

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NYC Police Commissioner: NSA Must Come Clean on Domestic Spying

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Photo Credit: William Miller

Photo Credit: William Miller

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly launched a stinging rebuke to the federal government’s secret phone and Internet monitoring campaign — and suggested leaker Edward Snowden was right about privacy “abuse.”

“I don’t think it ever should have been made secret,” Kelly said today, breaking ranks with US law-enforcement officials.

His blast came days after the Obama administration and Attorney General Eric Holder outraged New York officials by endorsing a federal monitor for the NYPD.

Kelly appeared to firmly reject Holder’s claim that disclosure of the monitoring campaign seriously damaged efforts to fight terrorism.

“I think the American public can accept the fact if you tell them that every time you pick up the phone it’s going to be recorded and it goes to the government,” Kelly said. “I think the public can understand that. I see no reason why that program was placed in the secret category.”

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Union Bosses Threaten Hurricane Sandy Cleanup Contractors, Their Families

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Photo Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Photo Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Unionized local employees repeatedly harassed and intimidated non-union workers of a private disaster cleanup firm that won a government contract to restore Long Island, New York, in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

The vice president of the union even made threats against the wife and kids of one of the workers. That worker felt it necessary to call the police and pursue other security measures to protect his family, a source told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

After Hurricane Sandy devastated the New York and New Jersey shoreline in late October, Looks Great Services (LGS) won a bid to haul away debris, clear roads and remove damaged trees. New York’s Nassau County hired the company to complete $70 million worth of repairs.

Soon thereafter, representatives of Local 138, a union representing heavy equipment operators, began visiting construction sites, demanding that the company hire unionized employees to help with the job.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obamacare Will Share Personal Health Info with Federal, State Agencies

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Photo Credit: Thinkstock

Photo Credit: Thinkstock

A new 253-page Obamacare rule issued late Friday requires state, federal and local agencies as well as health insurers to swap the protected personal health information of anybody seeking to join the new health care program that will be enforced by the Internal Revenue Service.

Protected health information, or PHI, is highly protected under federal law, but the latest ruling from the Department of Health and Human Services allows agencies to trade the information to verify that Obamacare applicants are getting the minimum amount of health insurance coverage they need from the health “exchanges.”

The ruling, explained on pages 72-73 of the book-thick guidance, does not mention any requirement that applicants first OK the release of their PHI. HHS already allows some exchange of PHI without an individual’s pre-approval, especially when for a “government program providing public benefits.” Officials said the swapping of information is simply meant to help figure the best insurance coverge of Obamacare users.

The new ruling surprised some congressional critics. “This sounds as if HHS will have access to protected health info to me,” said one top Hill aide worried about how well the administration will protect that information.

Read more from this story HERE.

Arizona’s Voter ID Law Voided by 7-2 Supreme Court Decision

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Photo Credit: Yana Paskova

Photo Credit: Yana Paskova

The U.S. Supreme Court threw out an Arizona law requiring evidence of citizenship when people register to vote, in a victory for minority-rights advocates and the Obama administration.

The justices said Arizona’s proof-of-citizenship law runs afoul of a federal statute that sets registration requirements. The 7-2 ruling limits the role played by the states in national elections and raises questions about similar laws in three other states — Alabama, Georgia and Kansas.

A U.S. appeals court had invalidated the Arizona law, pointing to a 1993 federal statute that says states must “accept and use” a standard registration document known as the federal form. That form instructs prospective voters to swear that they are citizens, under penalty of perjury…

The high court case didn’t directly involve allegations of racial or ethnic discrimination, though civil-rights groups pressed those contentions earlier in the litigation. The dispute presented legal issues different from those in the voter-identification battles that garnered headlines before last year’s election.

Under Arizona’s law, those seeking to register could prove citizenship by presenting copies of a driver’s license or state-issued identification. The state also would accept a birth certificate, a passport or naturalization papers. Arizona voters approved the measure in 2004.

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Source: Boehner Will Not Bring Amnesty Bill to Floor Unless Majority of House GOP Support it

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

House Speaker John Boehner appears to have put to rest rumors that he may break what is informally called the “Hastert Rule,” an unwritten guideline that a majority of the majority party should be needed to bring a bill to the House floor, in order to pass a version of amnesty like the “Gang of Eight” bill currently moving through the Senate.

A source with direct knowledge of these matters told Breitbart News that Boehner has decided to abide by the Hastert Rule in regards to immigration reform. “No immigration bill will be brought to the floor for a vote without a majority of the Republican conference in support,” the source told Breitbart News on Monday.

Around Washington, conservatives have worried that Boehner may back down from conservative principles on immigration and support the Gang of Eight bill. They fear he may rush the bill to the floor if the Senate passes it and try to move it through the House with a majority of Democratic votes.

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Is Scott Walker the GOP’s Sleeper Presidential Candidate?

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker polls near the bottom of would-be presidential contenders. Unlike potential rivals, you won’t find him on the cover of Time magazine or slow-jamming the news with comedian Jimmy Fallon.

But he’s a conservative Republican who won election in a blue state, survived a brutal recall campaign, and now posts approval ratings over 50 percent. A budget-slashing chief executive and son of a Baptist minister who straddles the fiscal and social conservative camps. A proven fundraiser who has put his thumb in the eye of President Obama and Big Labor.

He’s poised to be the sleeper Republican presidential candidate of 2016.

“The recall was a gift to him in that it put him in touch with the big funders in the Republican Party, and I’m sure he keeps that Rolodex pretty close,” said Brian Sikma, a spokesman for a conservative government watchdog group in Wisconsin. “I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t run, and if you look at the tea leaves, he’s taking all the traditional steps.”

“I’m sure in next few months you’ll find him somewhere in New Hampshire,” said Milwaukee-based Republican consultant Todd Robert Murphy.

Read more from this story HERE.