King Obama: More Than a Vacation a Month For First Family In 2013

/0 Comments/in , /by

In the first three months of the year, members of the first family have been on three vacations, averaging a vacation a month. And now it’s being reported that the first daughters are on a spring break vacation in the Bahamas.

The Obamas began the new year in Hawaii. “President Obama departed Hawaii this morning for Washington, after spending NINE days vacationing with family and friends in his native state. Here’s a quick look at how he spent his vacation,” ABC reported on January 6, 2013.

“Obama played FIVE rounds of golf with SEVEN different partners, spending roughly THIRTY hours on TWO different courses on Oahu. The president made FIVE early morning trips to the gym at the nearby Marine Base at Kaneohe Bay. The First Family spent TWO afternoons enjoying the beach on the base and went for ONE hike to a local waterfall. The president spent ONE father-daughter afternoon with Malia and Sasha, bowling and going out for shave ice, an annual tradition.”

Then the first lady and their daughters vacationed in Aspen over President’s Day weekend. “First Lady Michelle Obama arrived in Aspen on Friday afternoon and is here with her daughters for a ski vacation,” Aspendailynews.com reported in February.

Read more from this story HERE.

Supreme Court Hints That It Won’t Issue Sweeping Ruling On Same-Sex Marriage; Scalia Hammers Anti-Prop 8 Advocate

/0 Comments/in , /by

NBC Politics

In a historic oral argument on a challenge to state laws that limit marriage to heterosexual couples, the Supreme Court indicated Tuesday that it might not strike down such laws.

The justice whom many observers view as the swing vote in the case, Justice Anthony Kennedy, voiced worry at one point during the argument that proponents of same-sex marriages were asking the court to issue a decision that would “go into uncharted waters.”

After the oral argument, Pete Williams of NBC News reported that it seemed “quite obvious that the U.S. Supreme Court is not prepared to issue any kind of sweeping ruling” declaring that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.

Williams said there seemed to be “very little eagerness” from any of the justices to “embrace that broad a ruling.”

At issue Tuesday was California’s Proposition 8, the state constitutional amendment enacted by voters in 2008 that limits marriage to one man-one woman couples. Those seeking to have the court strike down Proposition 8 argue that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment includes a right for same-sex couples to marry. Read more from this story HERE.

SCALIA: ‘When Did It Become Unconstitutional To Exclude Homosexual Couples From Marriage?’

By Brett LoGiurato. During oral arguments today at the Supreme Court, Justice Antonin Scalia and attorney Ted Olson had a pointed exchange over whether same-sex marriage is a fundamental right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

Scalia’s argument, which was advanced by Chief Justice John Roberts before him, was that when the institution of marriage developed historically, it was not done with the explicit intent of excluding gay and lesbian couples.

“We don’t prescribe law for the future,” Scalia said. “We decide what the law is. I’m curious, when did it become unconstitutional to exclude homosexual couples from marriage? 1791? 1868? When the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted?”

Read more from this story HERE.

Federal Agency To Enforce Obamacare In Four States Refusing Implementation

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: AP

At least four states won’t enforce new sweeping insurance market reforms rolling out next year with the health law — leaving federal health officials in Washington to pick up the slack, yet another wrinkle in Obamacare implementation.

Insurance regulation is a huge responsibility that’s been closely guarded by the states. That’s why the Obama administration and those closely watching the rollout of Obamacare believe that even states that have sworn off the law’s coverage expansions will still enforce its new measures — including new benefit mandates, cost-sharing guidelines and rules on how insurers rate customers — to retain control over their health insurance markets.

But the feds will be overseeing the health care law in Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming after those states told HHS they couldn’t or wouldn’t implement the new rules.

“We are enforcing because Oklahoma notified … that it has not enacted legislation to enforce or that it is otherwise not enforcing the Affordable Care Act market reform provisions,” Gary Cohen, director of the federal Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, wrote to the Oklahoma Insurance Department on Friday. Officials in Missouri, Texas and Wyoming received similar letters, an agency spokeswoman said.

The enforcement letters come a little more than a month after a Commonwealth Fund report found just 11 states and Washington had started to adjust state laws to prepare for seven major ACA insurance reforms taking effect in 2014.

Read more from this story HERE.

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus To GOP: Don’t Go ‘Old Testament’ On Gays

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Washington Times

Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, issued some words of advice for fellow GOPers: Get in the 21st century with same-sex-marriage issues.

“We do have a platform, and we adhere to that platform,” Mr. Priebus said in a USA Today video. “But it doesn’t mean that we divide and subtract people from our party” who favor gay marriage.

“I don’t believe we need to act like Old Testament heretics,” he said in the USA Today video. Rather, Republicans “have to strike a balance between principle and grace and respect.”

His statements come as the U.S. Supreme Court is due to hear two cases on gay marriage — one on a California-voted ban on same-sex marriage, and the other on the legalities of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which bans the federal government from giving marriage benefits to same-sex couples.

Read more from this story HERE.

Turner CEO’s Attempt to Convince Public That CNN Isn’t Liberal, Ridiculed

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: WND

The head of Turner Broadcasting, the parent company of CNN, is now taking a stand against a common perception that his news network is biased in favor of the political left.

This week’s issue of Broadcasting & Cable features an interview with Turner CEO Phil Kent, who was asked: “What’s the biggest misconception about CNN?”

“That it’s a liberal news network,” Kent responded. “It drives me crazy. It’s not.” Interviewer Andrea Morabito followed up by asking Kent how he could change the perception. He responded: “I think [if] people watch it more critically and not just listen to what other people say about it – I won’t mention names – they’ll see that it [isn’t], and I think one of the things we fix is make sure we have the right balance of voices on CNN. That we have good conservatives, good liberals, experts in all areas. It’s a serious news network.”

Kent’s remarks are being ridiculed by the likes of John Nolte of Breitbart.com. “What’s unsettling about the Kent interview,” Nolte said, “is that Kent doesn’t appear to watch his own network.”

He continued: “Kent should turn on CNN right now – this very second – and what he’ll see is what I’ve been seeing for over a week now: a network on a pro-same sex marriage crusade that gives zero time to anyone credible or thoughtful on the other side of the argument. When it comes to gay marriage, there is no difference between CNN and MSNBC.

Read more from this story HERE.

States’ AGs Split on Constitutional Right to Gay Marriage

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: PewStates

When the Supreme Court hears arguments this week on same-sex marriage, it will confront an issue that has divided the public across the country and exposed fissures among the states.

One divided group could weigh heavily on the justices as they consider what could be a historic, once-in-a-generation constitutional decision: the briefs of states’ attorneys general.

More than half the states’ top lawyers have weighed in on the same-sex marriage issue before the court, underscoring the degree to which state officials and those they represent see their interests at work in the case. Depending how the justices rule, their decision could upend established laws in nearly every state.

As lawsuits over same-sex marriage have wound through the courts, the tangled web of state laws dealing with domestic partnerships, civil unions and same-sex marriage has become mired in the broader debate.

States’ rights and federalism could factor strongly in any decision the justices hand down as they consider two key questions: First, whether California’s Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage is constitutional. And second, whether the federal Defense of Marriage Act barring the federal government from recognizing legal same-sex unions is either unconstitutionally discriminatory or an infringement on states’ right to define marriage as they see fit.

Read more from this story HERE.

Gun Store Rescinds Mark Kelly’s Rifle Purchase, Questions His ‘Intent’

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: AP

A Tucson gun store owner has decided to rescind the sale of a military-style rifle to Mark Kelly, the husband of former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, after Kelly said he had intended the purchase to make a political point about how easy it is to obtain the kind of firearms he’s lobbying Congress to ban.

Kelly’s March 5 purchase of an AR-15-style rifle and a 45.-caliber handgun at Diamondback Police Supply sparked a frenzy of reaction from both sides of the debate after he posted to Facebook a photo of himself shopping.

A background check took only a matter of minutes to complete, Kelly said in the Facebook post, adding that it’s scary to think people can buy similar guns without background checks at gun shows or on the Internet.

But Kelly couldn’t immediately take possession of the rifle because the shop had bought it from a customer. As a result, the store is required by a Tucson ordinance to hold the gun for 20 days to give the city enough time to make sure the weapon wasn’t used in a crime.

Store owner Doug MacKinlay said Monday in a Facebook post of his own that he “determined that was in my company’s best interest to terminate this transaction prior to his returning to my store.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division Is ‘Rat’s Nest Of Unacceptable And Unprofessional Actions’

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: TheIRD

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) on Monday called for an outside independent panel to investigate the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Wolf, in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, said a recent inspector general report raised numerous troubling instances of internal mismanagement that he said indicate the division “has become a rat’s nest of unacceptable and unprofessional actions.”

“One cannot read the report without concluding that the division has suffered systemic mismanagement,” said Wolf in his letter sent Monday. “It has become a rat’s nest of unacceptable and unprofessional actions, and even outright threats against career attorneys and systemic mismanagement.”

The DOJ’s inspector general found numerous examples of harassment in the department’s voting rights division, but determined it did not prioritize cases in a partisan manner under President Obama or former President George W. Bush.

The lengthy report found that the often divisive nature of the voting rights section’s work — including reviews of redistricting cases, voter ID laws and voter registration issues — resulted in instances of harassment within DOJ. Wolf acknowledged that the division’s problems were not isolated to Holder’s tenure as the department’s head, but said it was up to him to solve them.

Read more from this story HERE.

Mortality Studies Suggest Obamacare’s Death Panels May Be Moving Forward

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Photo Credit: LifeNews

Researchers are busy creating computer models and testing hypotheses to see if they can predict mortality accurately–as a way, I suspect, of justifying health care rationing.

My concern was heightened by a study just published as a letter in the March 6 Journal of the American Medical Association, in which the authors claim that they were able to predict likely mortality 10-years out. From “Predicting 10-Year Mortality for Older Adults”:

Extending the index from 4 to 10 years did not diminish the model discrimination (validation cohort,C statistics 0.817 vs 0.834; P= .35), suggesting that the risk factors important for 4-year mortality prediction are also important for 10-year mortality prediction. The model compares favorably with other mortality indexes that predict mortality beyond 7 years…Patients identified by this index as having a high risk of 10-year mortality may be more likely to be harmed by preventive interventions with long lag times to benefit, whereas patients identified as having a low risk of 10-year mortality may be good candidates for such interventions.

Thus, (say) if a colonoscopy is identified as not having a positive cost benefit for seven or more years (as the article indicates), such screening for those whom the computers predict are likely to die within ten years might not be covered.

Read more from this story HERE.

Rush Limbaugh: Amnesty A “Death Sentence” For GOP

/0 Comments/in , /by

On his March 19th show Rush Limbaugh declared that amnesty for illegal aliens would be “a death sentence for the Republicans.”

That’s because amnesty includes the ability to legally vote, Limbaugh reasoned. Citing poll data, Limbaugh said that 70 percent of Hispanics “say that they believe that government should be the primary source of prosperity.” Therefore, Rush says, “Let’s say you have ten million illegals, seven million of them are automatically gonna vote Democrat. Republican Party’s finished.”

“It’s a mathematics conclusion. It’s not any more complicated than that. And there’s nothing that the Republicans can do,” Rush continued.

Rush went on to point out a blatant contradiction in the arguments of those in the Republican Party who push for full amnesty:

“If you listen to the Republican proponents for immigration reform, amnesty, what have you, whatever you’re gonna call it, they always say that Hispanics are Republicans-in-waiting. That these are big family value, churchgoing, largely Catholic, I mean, they are Republicans-in-waiting, okay? Accept that.

Read more from this story HERE.