Photo Credit: APIf Organizing for Action’s plans come together, 2013 will be its turn to make trouble for members of Congress back home in their districts.
Four years after the tea party surprised Democrats at town halls that led to the Republican wave of 2010, the political action group formed out of the remains of President Barack Obama’s campaign laid out its plans Monday for Action August, a month of activity meant to break congressional opposition to the White House agenda.
OFA’s preparing a range of under-the-national-radar tactics in conjunction with heading for town halls. Rallies, distribution of fliers and district office demonstrations will be aimed at drawing the same sort of local attention that tea party groups managed four years ago, hoping to spook members of Congress worried about the 2014 midterms.
But with Obama off to a sometimes disappointing and dispiriting start to his second term, the question is one the president himself asked volunteers Monday night: “Are you still fired up?”
The crowd cheered “Yes!” but they’ll need more than that.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00newseditorhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngnewseditor2013-07-24 01:00:482016-04-11 11:18:33OFA Embraces Tea Party Blueprint for August Push
Joined by his wife at a dramatic news conference Tuesday, New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner acknowledged that he continued to have illicit relationships with women online even after he resigned his seat in Congress two years ago over the same behavior.
“Some of these things happened before my resignation, some of them happened after,” Weiner said.
It was an astonishing admission: After an episode that wrecked his political career, nearly destroyed his marriage, and made him an object of international mockery, Weiner couldn’t stop himself from going back for more. Until now a leading contender for mayor, Weiner intends to seek forgiveness from New Yorkers, again.
Asked when he stopped exchanging raunchy messages with other women, Weiner pointed to “sometime last summer” though he said he couldn’t “say exactly when.” Read more from this story HERE.
Photo Credit: Christopher SadowskWeiner admits to XXX online chats with woman for 6 months after resigning from Congress because of sext scandal; won’t drop out of race
By Carl Campanile. Mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner admitted today he had another extended, raunchy online sexual relationship with a young woman — just months after resigning in disgrace from Congress in a sexting scandal.
But he won’t be dropping out of the race. And his wife, Huma Abedin, is standing by him.
In a hasty scheduled joint press conference Abedin, Weiner said he will forge ahead with the campaign despite the latest sex scandal.
Weiner insisted that Huma knew all the details of the new revelations and insisted it’s “behind” them.
Abedin, sometimes looking uncomfortable and stiff, stood by her husband. Read more from this story HERE.
By Glenn Thrush. New York City Mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner unleashed his typical torrent of verbiage on Tuesday — but words couldn’t compete with the excruciating image of his embarrassed wife squirming in the spotlight both have sought.
In the most cringe-worthy moment of a four-month political comeback yarn that has tested Gotham’s gag reflex, Huma Abedin, the dignified wife of a serially disgraced Democrat, nervously defended her husband at a Tuesday press conference.
Her effort came amid new disclosures Weiner had shared an online relationship, and anatomical snapshots, with yet another female admirer.
If the presence of Abedin, an elegant longtime aide to Hillary Rodham Clinton, was intended to buttress the former congressman’s decision to remain in the race, it graphically illustrated the personal toll his quest is taking on his family, and represented the gravest threat yet to Weiner’s fragile repentance-and-redemption narrative. Read more from this story HERE.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00newseditorhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngnewseditor2013-07-24 00:50:482016-04-11 11:18:33Anthony Weiner Kept Sexting After Resignation (+video)
Photo Credit: APThey send checks, a hundred dollars at a time, to President Barack Obama’s reelection bid — and they’re not stopping just because the election is over.
Some want to stick it to conservatives. Some are dedicated volunteers who didn’t realize Obama’s new tax-exempt group Organizing for Action took over fundraising from Obama for America.
And some didn’t remember sending Obama money at all.
Obama — who is scheduled to speak to his most loyal volunteers, donors and supporters on Monday at an Organizing for Action event — is having a rough time in Washington: Gun control is dead; immigration reform is stalled; Edward Snowden is still on the loose in a Moscow airport. But there’s a handful of die-hards so supportive of the president and his agenda that they continue to mail unsolicited donations to a campaign that now exists only on paper.
Many who spoke with POLITICO are seniors who don’t get their campaign news online and reflexively send checks through the mail when they feel Obama needs their support.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-07-23 02:09:242016-04-11 11:18:35Obama Donors Keep Sending Those Checks Months After the Election
Photo Credit: APBy Pete Kasperowicz. A member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) said Monday night that the Trayvon Martin trial is the latest evidence that America does not value the lives of blacks and whites equally.
“The tragic death of our young man, Trayvon Martin, followed by the acquittal of the man who pursued him and killed him, has reminded us that although it may seem as if African Americans and other minorities have achieved full equality in our civil society, we are still victims of racial profiling in violation of our laws and our morals,” Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) said on the House floor Monday night.
“The lives of black men and women are not accorded the same value as the lives of white Americans,” she said. “This is a reality for far too many black Americans.”
Clarke was one of many members of the CBC who spoke on the floor in reaction to last week’s decision by a jury that George Zimmerman was not guilty of murder or manslaughter after shooting Martin earlier this year.
Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) acknowledged violence in black neighborhoods, but implied that the way to solve this is to ensure equal opportunity for all. Read more from this story HERE.
By Niall Stanage. To African-Americans, President Obama just gets it.
Obama’s notably personal comments on Friday about the verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman, and on race in America, struck a chord. They vividly underlined the fact that, for the first time, the person in the Oval Office has lived an African-American experience.
To black supporters, that is more important than Obama’s inability to narrow racial inequalities during his four and a half years in office, something that has frustrated members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), a former head of the black caucus, was in the middle of a phone interview with The Hill when Obama appeared at the White House briefing room podium to address the raw feelings exposed by the “not guilty” verdict on the man who had fatally shot Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager.
Pausing to listen to an office television for several minutes, Rangel said: “I don’t see how a person not-of-color could possibly do the job that he’s doing.” Read more from this story HERE.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-07-23 02:07:562016-04-11 11:18:35Black Caucus Member: Blacks Worth Less Than Whites in America
Photo Credit: APBy Justin Sink. President Obama will grab credit for an improving economy in a series of speeches this week that the White House hopes will increase his political clout.
The messaging effort is intended to portray Obama as focused on jobs, which voters repeatedly say is the most pressing issue facing Washington, according to the White House.
Democratic allies argue it will allow Obama to go on offense after months in which he has been dragged down by political controversies that have dogged his second term and injured him in the polls.
“We have to keep focused on these issues, even as we all are buffeted about by, you know, the variety of things that confront us … fake scandals or things like that,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday at his daily briefing.
“We have to keep focused on the North Star here, the issues that the American people want us to be focused on,” he added. Read more from this story HERE.
Photo Credit: APPressure mounts on Obama as he REFUSES to pay his interns (while campaigning to raise the minimum wage)
By Hayley Peterson. As President Obama campaigns to increase the minimum wage, his own interns aren’t getting paid a cent to work a minimum of 45 hours a week.
White House interns are expected to show up to work ‘at least’ Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., according to the administration’s website. Housing and commuting assistance aren’t provided either, so the White House encourages applicants to petition nonprofits for help funding their living expenses.
Just this summer alone, the White House ‘hired’ 147 interns, saving the administration roughly half a million dollars if it had otherwise paid each intern minimum wage for 45 hours of work per week. The internship program, which lasts 11 weeks in the summer, runs year-round.
Unpaid internships are widespread in Washington. It’s estimated that the federal government uses as many as 30,000 uncompensated interns every summer.
But with Obama calling for an increase to the minimum wage – which is set at $7.25 an hour – activist Mikey Franklin says it’s particularly disdainful for the White House to be relying on free labor. Read more from this story HERE.
Obama averaged a 47.9 percent approval rating for his 18th quarter in office, running from April 20 to July 19. That’s down from 49.7 percent in the first quarter of Obama’s second term in office, and down from 51.9 in the 16th quarter, when he was reelected.
The president got a slight boost in the early stages of the 18th quarter after the Boston Marathon bombings, but declined steadily from there and has not topped the 50 percent mark in almost a month.
According to Gallup, Obama’s average for the quarter is typical for second term presidents. The president comes in well below former presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, well above Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, and is near in approval to Harry Truman and George W. Bush.
Photo Credit: Reuters The U.S. Air Force is struggling to keep its top gun combat pilots as increasing numbers move to the safety of flying attack drones from military bases.
Indeed, despite their adrenaline fueled reputations, fighter pilots believe the stresses of actual combat compared to the financial incentives of flying passenger airlines or drones are too much too ignore.
Facing a shortfall of 700 pilots from a required pool of 3,000 by 2021, the Air Force is now actively offering a huge $225,000 signing on bonus for new pilots – provided you stay in the service for nine years.
This year alone, the Air Force has a shortfall of 200 pilots among its ranks, as the surge in demand for better paid commercial jobs and reassignments to fly combat drones impacts and reshapes modern warfare.
Officers in the Air Force are aware of this issue according to the LA Times and as a result are beefing up their Aviator Retention Program which will offer a $25,000 signing bonus per year over the course of nine years.
‘Were it not for the program, there would be a greater problem that the one we currently have,’ said Lt. Col. Kurt Konopatzke.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-07-23 01:47:582016-04-11 11:18:36U.S. Air Force Suffers Brain Drain as Top Guns Drop Out to Fly Drones – Leaving Pilot Numbers Short by Hundreds
Photo Credit: APThe man who’s supposed to be the chief watchdog for the Department of Homeland Security was himself billing the government for a string of “site visits” to sunny locales including Puerto Rico and south Florida — where he allegedly was pursuing his Ph.D.
The activity was detailed in a trove of documents obtained and published by conservative group Cause of Action. They appear to lend weight to at least some of the myriad allegations made last month against homeland security Acting Inspector General Charles Edwards.
Among other claims backed up by the documents are that Edwards employed his wife — some say in violation of nepotism rules — and that she won approval to telework.
“At least the timeline and the narrative are being confirmed,” Cause of Action spokeswoman Mary Beth Hutchins told FoxNews.com, adding there will have to be more digging. “There are some legitimate questions here.”
Edwards’ office, though, continued to battle and deny the allegations.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-07-23 01:47:442016-04-11 11:18:36Who’s Watching the Watchdog? Records Show IG Billed Taxpayers for Questionable Trips
Photo Credit: Center for American ProgressDemocrats and Republicans largely heaped praise upon Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano after she announced she would resign her post later in the year, but a longtime constitutional attorney says there is not much to applaud – especially for anyone concerned about preserving freedom and limiting government intrusion in their lives.
“What the Department of Homeland Security became under Janet Napolitano is this monstrous surveillance and very intimidating group,” said Rutherford Institute President John Whitehead, a constitutional attorney for the past 40 years and author of “A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State.”
“I think originally there were some good intentions with the Department of Homeland Security, but what happened under President Obama is that it accelerated rapidly,” Whitehead told WND. “I criticized George Bush’s policies. Under President Obama, we’re zooming.”
Whitehead said the Napolitano legacy of reducing freedom is evident across the board, starting in early 2009 when the department issued a report listing returning soldiers as one of the greatest threats to American security.
“Another program Napolitano set up is Operation Vigilant Eagle, which is a surveillance system done on all returning veterans from overseas, where they watch Facebook posts, text messages, emails of returning veterans to see if they’re going to be disgruntled,” Whitehead said. “There are quite a few disgruntled veterans. In fact, one that we helped just filed a major lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security.”
Photo Credit: RedStateIn 2014, several prominent Republicans in the House and Senate are going to be challenged by people more conservative than the incumbents in area where a more conservative person can still win. Leading up to these challenges, conservatives must beware of the Hatch Effect.
In 2012, many conservatives in print, radio, and television came out quickly and endorsed Orrin Hatch against Dan Liljenquist. Hatch had been a conservative warrior for a long time, he sounded conservative, and we’d need him in the fight against amnesty. He made the rounds on television, radio, and had references in various op-ed columns. Outside groups went to work for Orrin Hatch.
Those who fretted that Hatch might return to the ways of Ted Kennedy’s best friend on the right were drowned out by a near unified conservative front — one that did not include RedState.
In a debate against Dan Liljenquist, Hatch hit all the right notes on immigration.
[W]e won’t be able to solve these problems until we secure the borders, and we have to do that. Every other large nation in the world knows how to secure their borders, why can’t we secure ours? And second, we can no longer grant amnesty. I fought against the 1986 Simpson-Mazzoli bill because they granted amnesty to 3 million people. They should have to get in line like anybody else if they want to come into this country and do it legally.
Photo Credit: APA long-delayed Pentagon appropriations bill is heading to the floor after the House Rules Committee voted Monday night to allow a structured debate including amendments related to NSA surveillance at home and the flow of military aid overseas in the Mideast.
Altogether, 100 amendments are promised consideration, but those affecting the NSA — funded in the bill — and military aid to anti-government forces in Syria are clearly the most sensitive politically for the Republican leadership.
Indeed, conservatives led by Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) had threatened to defeat the rule if votes were not permitted on a bipartisan proposal to narrow the ability of the NSA to collect private call records and metadata on telephone customers in the U.S.
“It’s not a partisan issue. It’s something that cuts across the entire political spectrum,” Amash told the Rules panel. And he argued that the amendment seeks only to rein in the NSA’s “blanket authority” under the PATRIOT Act to collect records and the metadata.
