The Obama administration warned Congress on Thursday the government could run out of borrowing room to help pay its bills as soon as February if lawmakers do not move swiftly to raise the nation’s debt ceiling.
“I respectfully urge Congress to take action to raise the debt limit at the earliest possible moment,” Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in a letter to congressional leaders.
Congress passed a two-year budget deal on Wednesday to trim some spending cuts planned for next year, and the pact reduces the risk of a government shutdown early next year.
But the legislation does nothing to directly address the potential financial crisis that looms if Washington does not raise the debt ceiling soon.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-12-20 00:58:532013-12-20 00:58:53Lew Warns Congress of February Debt Ceiling Deadline (+video)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-12-20 00:52:372013-12-20 00:52:37Cryptolocker Ransomware Being Described As ‘The Perfect Crime’ (+video)
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), whose congressional salary is $174,000 a year, said he has purchased health insurance on the District of Columbia small business Obamacare exchange, and will accept a taxpayer-funded subsidy to help him pay for that insurance.
“I will accept the subsidy, although it’s going to be considerably more expensive for me,” Sessions said.
Under the Affordable Care Act, private citizens who buy their health insurance in an Obamacare exchange can only get a federal subsidy if their income is less than 400 percent of the poverty level–a level of income that is currently $94,200 for a family of four.
However, as CNSNews.com has reported, a regulation issued by the Office of Personnel Management allows members of Congress, even though they are paid $174,000 per year, to get an “employer contribution” from the U.S. Treasury when they buy a health insurance plan in the exchange set up for small businesses in Washington, D.C.
That “employer contribution”–paid out of the U.S. Treasury–can run up to $11,378 per year for a family plan.
U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller was a recent guest on ABC News Topline. He is interviewed by reporters Rick Klein and Michael Falcone. Below are excerpts from the interview:
Do you expect Sarah Palin’s support again?
Of course, we would love to have her support. She is a bastion of freedom. She is out there working the same sort of message we are. That is, we have to get back to free enterprise, get government out of the way, so we can build up the middle class again.
Are you Democratic Senator Mark Begich’s dream or worst nightmare?
Mark Begich was the 60th and deciding vote for ObamaCare, so that’s the political noose that’s around his neck. I tell you he’s at a real low approval rating right now. We think it is a very doable race. Keep in mind that when we beat the sitting incumbent senator in 2010 in the primary, she was at a 70 point approval rating. He’s at about 39 right now.
But here’s their concern, in 2010 your victory over the Lisa Murkowski upset the establishment. She held on to the seat in the three way race. If the Democrat is very strong, and you don’t get traction, you may end up losing that senate seat.
Hey, we are happy at what we see in a head-to-head contest. This is about Reagan principles against Big Government, Obama principles. The message of freedom, the message of Reagan is going to win every day in Alaska.
The 2010 elections ended up being a pretty big year for the tea party. We’ve seen some of the freshman from that class and some of the newer members become very, very prominent. Mike Lee from Utah, Ted Cruz from Texas, Rand Paul from that 2010 class. How do you envision your role? If you end up in the Senate, will you be linking arms with those guys?
I will absolutely be hand-in-hand with Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, and Rand Paul in the work that they are doing. And I think we are going to have greater numbers than just Joe Miller added to that liberty caucus, if you will.
This is a crucial year 2014 for Republicans nationwide. Do you think this is the year the Republicans take back the Senate?
Absolutely, I think this is the year we do take it back, in fact, I think we have to take it back, because we’ve got a lot on the line.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-12-19 01:55:442013-12-19 01:55:44ABC News Interview – Senate candidate Joe Miller: Reagan’s Message of Freedom Beats Obama’s Big Government Every Day in Alaska (+video)
She has been called the “Sarah Palin of the Prairie.” But South Dakota Congresswoman Kristi Noem is blazing her own trail in Washington.
She’s making her mark not just within the Republican Party but in the kingdom of God, too. And she’s had to overcome many challenges along the way.
Taking the Lead
For Noem, home is on the range, or more specifically, on her South Dakota farm, which is a world away from her duties on Capitol Hill. She feels total peace here and is just an ordinary mom.
“I am 100 percent convinced God created me to be a mom,” Noem told CBN News at her home in Castlewood, S.D. “Every other job that I have or duty that I have is just extra things that He’s put on my plate.”
Those extra things have kept her busy since her election to Congress in 2010. She’s clearly a GOP up-and-comer. She made big news from the beginning when she was chosen to be part of the GOP leadership team, a rare honor for an incoming freshman.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-12-19 01:45:242013-12-19 01:45:24Rep. Kristi Noem: Ministering My ‘Biggest Job’ in Washington (+video)
Americans, it seems, have had enough police militarization, with the latest Reason-Rupe poll finding a full 58 percent of respondents believing that the use of drones, military weapons, and armored vehicles by local police departments as already going “too far.” That includes a full 60 percent of both Democrats and Tea Partiers. Opposition is under 50 percent among non-Tea Party Republicans.
Policing in the United States has seen rapid militarization, fueled by the war-like mentality that comes with the “drug war,” as well as by the abundance of military surplus available to local police departments from the federal government, especially since 9/11. The military gear ends up at agencies across the country, from New York to Wyoming. Earlier this year, the Defense Department even sent “free” (original cost to taxpayers: $658,000 each) mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles to 500 local police departments; vehicles the Pentagon didn’t think the military needed are now being used by local police forces. Disturbingly, an ACLU FOIA request revealed one police department, that of Concord, New Hampshire, cited the presence of Free State Project and Occupy New Hampshire activists as domestic terror threats for which the military vehicles were necessary. Concord had spent some time trying to get the feds to cover the cost of a military vehicle, and ended up getting at least the one for “free.”
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-12-19 01:31:322013-12-19 01:31:32Police Militarization is Not Inevitable: 58 Percent Think It’s Already Going Too Far (+video)
Mystery illness claims 4 lives in Montgomery County
Officials with the Montgomery County Health Department are on a mission to find out more about a mystery flu-like illness.
So far, half of the people who have come down with it have died.
According to the health department, all of the patients have had flu-like and/or pneumonia like symptoms. However, all of them have tested negative for the flu.
There have been eight confirmed patients ranging in age from 41 to 68. Four of those patients have died.
Mother says mystery illness transformed son into dying patient in days
The mother of the youngest of eight confirmed cases of a mystery illness in Montgomery County is sharing her son’s story.
Dathany Reed, 41, wasn’t feeling well on Thanksgiving. He called out sick from his job at the Golden Corral and went to see doctors at Conroe Regional Medical Center.
Odessa Reed says doctors sent her son home with several prescriptions.
She said her son was admitted to the hospital’s emergency room the next day and ended up on life support.
“It doesn’t make sense,” said Odessa Reed. “How can you talk to a person one day, and they say, I’m not feeling good, and the next day, that person is on life support.”
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-12-19 01:30:072013-12-19 01:30:07Mystery Illness in Texas Kills Half of Those Infected (+video)
The $111.05 New York restaurant receipt includes a $1,000 tip and the words “god bless!” scrawled across it.
The handle @tipsforjesus is stamped next to an illegible signature.
In recent weeks, similar tabs have popped up in restaurants from coast to coast and even in Mexico, with tips of as much as $10,000 — all charged to American Express.
On Sunday just after midnight, the mysterious man surfaced again — this time in Fairfield, Conn. He left a $5,000 gratuity on a $112 bill at the Seagrape, an eatery where college kids drop by for cheap beers by the beach.
Tips for Jesus — an Instagram account filled with photos documenting the tips — has more than 54,000 followers. The account displays photos of smiling servers holding receipts with outlandish gratuities on bills also tallied in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Phoenix and Ann Arbor, Mich. On Twitter, Tips for Jesus has nearly 3,000 followers but no tweets.
Report: “Tips for Jesus” tipper is former PayPal exec
By Kim Peterson.
Has the mysterious benefactor behind “Tips for Jesus” finally been outed?
Restaurants around the country have been receiving shockingly large tips to the tune of $5,000, $7,000 and even $10,000. The person giving the tips never gives away his or her identity; instead, the large tip is added to the bill right before the party of diners leaves.
The only clue left behind is the phrase @TipsforJesus written on the signature line of the bill. A “Tips for Jesus” Instagram page publishes photos of the dining checks but doesn’t say who is paying the amounts.
Silicon Valley gossip site ValleyWag reported last week that the person behind “Tips for Jesus” is Jack Selby, a former PayPal executive with “more money than the real son of God.”
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-12-18 01:16:052013-12-18 01:16:05‘Tips for Jesus’ Mystery Man Strikes Again — for $5,000 (+video)
When it comes to Obamacare, “many members of Congress are feeling the very same pain that the rest of America is feeling,” Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) told Americans in a radio address on Saturday.
Toomey said he, his wife, and three children are among those “forced” to buy government-mandated health insurance on one of the new exchanges, and last week, his wife tried to sign up the family on an Obamacare exchange website.
“Now, my wife is a very sharp woman. She’s a former computer software consultant,” Toomey said. After entering the family’s personal information, the website wouldn’t let her browse the various plans. “When she called someone and asked for help, she was told the system just wasn’t working right now and it was best to try again later.”
According to Toomey, “The fiasco my wife just faced with the health care website is being experienced by Americans across the country when they try to sign up for health insurance. If this were just a matter of a slow-moving computer glitch, well, then maybe that would be excusable, but it’s much more than that.
“It’s been reported that perhaps as many as one third of those who have been able to complete the online enrollment process might not actually have insurance coverage at all. Apparently, the enrollment information isn’t always being transmitted to the insurers…Can you imagine going to your doctor or to a hospital in January only to find out you’re not actually insured?”
A member of Congress is now warning that Obama’s imperial presidency – his arbitrary enforcement or non-enforcement of the nation’s laws – has gone too far. And so he’s endorsing a resolution in the U.S. House that would allow a lawsuit over Obama’s decisions to abrogate laws passed by Congress.
“Assume that a statute said you had to provide two forms of ID to vote. Can the president require three forms? Can the president require one form? Can you suspend all requirements? If not, why not?” said Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., in an interview on Fox News.
“If you can turn off certain categories of law, do you not also have the power to turn off all categories of law?”
He said Obama’s actions have reached “an unprecedented level, and we’ve got to do something about it.”
Gowdy cited Obama’s decisions to ignore certain immigration laws, even though Congress did not approve the changes. And Obama’s decisions to change the Obamacare law as he goes along. And his decision to make “recess appointments” even though the U.S. Senate was not in recess.
U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller was a recent guest on ABC News Topline. He is interviewed by reporters Rick Klein and Michael Falcone. Below are excerpts from the interview: 
