Hezbollah Joining Cartels in Mexico’s War

/17 Comments/in , /by

The Mexican Drug War has killed an estimated 60,000 people since 2006, but the violence has stayed out of the minds of most US citizens. That is about to change as Islamic extremist groups setting up shop in Mexico.

The House Committee on Homeland Security released a November 2012 report that reveals Islamic terror organizations and networks are indeed exploiting profits from narcotics, and the ease of weapons attainment, and the vast technological abilities of Mexican and other southern cartels that are thriving in Mexico’s lawlessness, along with other southern regions. The report, titled A Line In The Sand: Countering Crime, Violence, and Terror at the Southwest Border, details the growing involvement of Iran and Hezbollah in Mexico and other countries south of the southern US border.

“In 2006, the Subcommittee reported on the presence of both Iran and Hezbollah in Latin America. Since then, that presence has continued to grow with Iran now having embassies in 11 Latin American countries that include Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Nicaragua and Uruguay.

This unsettling trend was the reason for a Subcommittee-led Congressional Delegation to Latin America in August 2012. The Delegation traveled to Mexico, Colombia, Paraguay, Argentina, as well as the Tri-Border Area (TBA) of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, for a first- hand assessment of the increasing threat posed by Iran and Hezbollah in Latin America.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama’s Immigration Reform Push To Begin This Month

/2 Comments/in , /by

WASHINGTON — Despite a bruising fiscal cliff battle that managed to set the stage for an even more heated showdown that will likely take place in a matter of months, President Barack Obama is planning to move full steam ahead with the rest of his domestic policy agenda.

An Obama administration official said the president plans to push for immigration reform this January. The official, who spoke about legislative plans only on condition of anonymity, said that coming standoffs over deficit reduction are unlikely to drain momentum from other priorities. The White House plans to push forward quickly, not just on immigration reform but gun control laws as well.

The timeframe is likely to be cheered by Democrats and immigration reform advocates alike, who have privately expressed fears that Obama’s second term will be drowned out in seemingly unending showdowns between parties. The just-completed fiscal cliff deal is giving way to a two-month deadline to resolve delayed sequestration cuts, an expiring continuing resolution to fund the government and a debt ceiling that will soon be hit . . .

Good news for immigration advocates may have come Tuesday night, when Boehner broke the so-called “Hastert Rule” and allowed the fiscal cliff bill to come for a vote without support from a majority of his Republican conference. Given opposition to immigration reform by many Tea Party Republicans, the proof that Boehner is willing to bypass them on major legislation is a good sign, the Democratic aide said.

“If something is of such importance that the GOP establishment [is] telling Boehner, ‘You must do this. You need to get this off the table soon,'” the Democratic aide said, the speaker could break the Hastert Rule again.

Read full story HERE.

Moody’s Warns of Credit Downgrade if Congress Doesn’t Address Deficit

/3 Comments/in , , /by

Moody’s Investors Service announced Thursday that a compromise to avoid the “fiscal cliff” is not enough to protect the nation’s AAA rating, calling for further action from policymakers.

It said a deal over raising the debt limit, which could include new spending cuts, tax hikes and entitlement reforms, could determine whether the nation’s credit rating is downgraded.

“The debt trajectory resulting from this process is likely to determine whether the Aaa rating is returned to a stable outlook or downgraded to Aa1,” the agency said.

The Treasury Department said the U.S. reached its $16.4 trillion debt limit on Dec. 31, but that extraordinary measures can be taken for roughly the next two months to keep paying the nation’s bills.

The credit rater said the deal hammered out by Congress and the White House on taxes is merely a first step, and the U.S.’s credit rating could be affected “negatively” if Washington fails to take further steps to rein in the deficit. In fact, it said it was “necessary” for policymakers to adopt further measures to bring down the deficit to keep the U.S. rating intact.

Read more from this story HERE.

Old Tricks: Senate Votes On ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Without Reading Bill, House Breaks Transparency Pledge

/1 Comment/in , /by

The U.S. Senate voted 89-8 to approve legislation to avoid the fiscal cliff despite having only 3 minutes to read the 154-page bill and budget score.

Multiple Senate sources have confirmed to CNSNews.com that senators received the bill at approximately 1:36 AM on Jan. 1, 2013 – a mere three minutes before they voted to approve it at 1:39 AM.

The bill is 154-pages and includes several provisions that are unrelated to the fiscal cliff . . . Read more from this story HERE.

House Transparency Rule Toast

When the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass a Senate bill to avoid the fiscal cliff around 10:45 PM on Tuesday, it violated its pledge to allow three days for the public to read the legislation, a promise House Republicans made to voters before the 2010 elections.

The House passed the bill with a vote of 257-167 in evening on Tuesday, less than 24 hours after the Senate had drafted and passed the bill close to 2:00 AM Tuesday morning.

In its Pledge to America document, House Republicans promised: “We will ensure that bills are debated and discussed in the public square . . . no more hiding legislative language from . . . the public. Read more from this story HERE.

Report: Senator Kirk Recalls Seeing Angels After Near-Death Experience

/2 Comments/in , /by

Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) said he saw three angels in the hospital when he awoke from a stroke-induced coma in an interview published Wednesday.

Kirk — who had a stroke almost a year ago — is set to walk up the U.S. Capitol building’s steps Thursday without any assistance.

Kirk told suburban-Chicago’s The Daily Herald the angels asked him, “You want to come with us?”

“No,” Kirk responded. “I’ll hold off.”

Doctors sent Kirk into a coma after he had a stroke Jan. 21, 2012 and they temporarily removed a 4-by-8 inch piece of his skull to help his brain heal, according to The Daily Herald.

Read more from this story HERE.

Gun Sales Surge in December: Record Number of FBI Background Checks

/2 Comments/in , /by

(Reuters) – The number of FBI background checks required for Americans buying guns set a record in December, indicating that more people may purchase one after the Connecticut school massacre stirred interest in self-defense and prompted renewed talk of limits on firearms, according to FBI data.

The FBI said it recorded 2.78 million background checks during the month, surpassing the mark set in November of 2.01 million checks – about a 39 percent rise.

The latest monthly figure was up 49 percent over December 2011, when the FBI performed a then-record 1.86 million checks.

Consumer demand for guns appears to have accounted for the uptick in activity. There were no changes in FBI background check procedures that would have affected the December numbers, FBI spokesman Stephen Fischer said.

December is typically the busiest month of the year for checks, however, due in part to Christmas gift sales.

Read more from this story HERE.

Trump Blasts GOP For Being ‘Worst Negotiators in History’ Following Fiscal Cliff Deal

/6 Comments/in , /by

Donald Trump had a few choice words for his fellow Republicans following the compromise over the so-called fiscal cliff. The real estate billionaire tweeted his disgust at the deal agreed upon by the Senate, which now has to pass in the House of Representatives in order to go into effect.

‘I am a Republican… but the Republicans may be the worst negotiators in history!’ he wrote to his nearly 2 million followers.

‘Obama and the Democrats are laughing at the deal they just made… the Republicans got nothing!

‘What is Mitch McConnell thinking?…make the big deal,’ he said of the Senate minority leader.

‘Maybe Boehner will stop this one sided deal in the House…I hope so!’

Politicians open hours negotiating on New Year’s Eve to try to put together a deal so that a rash of harsh spending cuts were not implemented at the beginning of the year.

The compromise that was finally reached included increased taxes on those making more than $400,000 annually- which is expected to bring in $620billion over ten years- and a continuation of the Bush-era tax cuts for middle class Americans.

Read more from this story HERE.

CBO: ‘Fiscal cliff’ Deal Carries $4 Trillion Price Tag Over Next Decade

/1 Comment/in , /by

The Senate deal to avoid the “fiscal cliff” will add roughly $4 trillion to the deficit when compared to current law, according to new numbers from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

The CBO determined Tuesday that the package, hammered out late Monday evening by Vice President Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would — over the next decade — come with a $3.9 trillion price tag.

The agreement, which is pending before the House after passing in a 89-8 Senate vote early Tuesday, would extend lower tax rates on annual household income under $450,000 and postpone automatic spending cuts for two months.

The extension of lower tax rates for a bulk of the nation’s taxpayers and the addition of a permanent patch to the alternative minimum tax would add roughly $3.6 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, the CBO said. Other individual, business, and energy tax extenders would add another $76 billion. The extension of unemployment benefits would cost roughly $30 billion, and the so-called “doc fix” would tally another $25 billion through fiscal 2022.

The CBO says the budget agreement will lead to an overall increase in spending of about $330 billion over 10 years.

Read more from this story HERE.

Sources: Enough Republicans Willing to Unseat Speaker Boehner

/8 Comments/in , /by

American Majority Action spokesman Ron Meyer told Breitbart News late Tuesday that enough House Republicans have banded together in an effort to unseat House Speaker John Boehner from his position–they just need a leader to take up the mantle.

“At least 20 House Republican members have gotten together, discussed this and want to unseat Speaker Boehner–and are willing to do what it takes to do it,” Meyer said. “That’s more than enough to get the job done, but the one problem these guys face is they need a leader to coalesce behind.”

Meyer said the conservatives have considered House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) to take the helm after Boehner is knocked out.

Read more from this story HERE.

Irony: Newspaper That Published Gun-Owners Names Now Hires Armed Guards

/7 Comments/in , /by

Guns are good for the goose but NOT for the gander.

A Clarkstown police report issued on December 28, 2012, confirmed that The Journal News has hired armed security guards from New City-based RGA Investigations and that they are manning the newspaper’s Rockland County headquarters at 1 Crosfield Ave., West Nyack, through at least tomorrow, Wednesday, January 2, 2013.

According to police reports on public record, Journal News Rockland Editor Caryn A. McBride was alarmed by the volume of “negative correspondence,” namely an avalanche of phone calls and emails to the Journal News office, following the newspaper’s publishing of a map of all pistol permit holders in Rockland and Westchester.

Due to apparent safety concerns, the newspaper then decided to hire RGA Investigations to provide armed personnel to man the location.

Private investigator Richard Ayoob is the administrator of RGA. He told the Clarkstown Police on Friday, December 28 that there had been no problems on site at the Journal News headquarters despite the massive influx of phone calls and emails.

Read more from this story HERE.