Jon Stewart Grills Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Obamacare and Accuses her of Lying to Him (+videos)

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Photo Credit: Comedy Central Jon Stewart has been attacking the Republicans all week over the government shutdown but he took aim at a member of his own party on Monday night.

Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, was probably expecting a soft-ball interview about the roll out of President Obama’s signature health care plan but instead she was left backpedalling to try to recover from his pointed criticisms.

The Comedy Central host started by poking fun at how long the online marketplace takes to load, saying that it was comparable to the amount of time it would take to download all of the movies ever created.

After going for the easy laugh, things turned much more serious when he brought up a ‘legitimate criticism’ that Republicans have made.

Businesses with more than 50 full time employees have been given a delay so that they don’t have to provide health insurance for their employees for another year, whereas individuals have to sign up by December 15 or face a fine.


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IG That Watchdogs IRS–And Uncovered Targeting of Tea Party–‘Shut Down’ (+video)

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Photo Credit: AP/Charles DharapakWhile the Treasury Department has continued its basic operations since the government “shutdown” last Tuesday–collecting tens of billions in taxes and spending even more–the Office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), which conducts audits and investigations of the IRS, and which uncovered the IRS’s targeting of Tea Party groups, has been “shut down.”

“As of October 7 at 8:30 am, due to the continued lapse in appropriated federal funding, TIGTA’s normal operations are shut down,” says the recorded message at an “emergency notification” phone line that the IG’s office set up for its workers. “Employees should’ve already received instructions to not report to work, and to not incur any work related expenses.”

“We anticipate full cessation of audits, inspections and evaluations during the shutdown period,” says a TIGTA document obtained by CNSNews.com. The document is entitled “Bureau Shutdown Plans During Periods of Lapsed Appropriations, September 2013.”

According to the document, in addition to ceasing audits, investigations and evaluations, TIGTA is also furloughing 61% of its staff.

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Rep. Al Green on Obamacare: ‘I Will Come Back in the Afterlife; I Will Haunt the Congress’ (+video)

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Photo Credit: APSpeaking at a rally to demand Congress ends the government shutdown on Friday, Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) said he is “committed to the Affordable Care Act,” and he “will come back in the afterlife” to fight for it.

In his closing remarks he said: “My followers, listen friends. I am committed to the Affordable Care Act, and I just want you to know this: if for some reason I should have an untimely demise, I want you to know that not only am I going to fight for the Affordable Care Act in this life, I will come back in the afterlife. I will haunt the Congress of the United States of America.”

Prior to the government shutdown, the House passed numerous continuing resolutions that included language to defund Obamacare or delay the individual mandate.

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Self-Described Ex-Racist Shirley Sherrod Sues Nicest Person in Los Angeles (+video)

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Photo Credit: AP/Gregory BullShirley Sherrod, the Department of Agriculture official who lost her taxpayer-funded sinecure after Andrew Breitbart posted a video of Sherrod revealing her struggle to overcome anti-white racism, has expanded her multi-year crusade against the late media entrepreneur by suing his unoffending widow, a mother of four who is loved by all who know her.

Sherrod, then-Georgia state director of rural development for the USDA, revealed in a March 2010 speech to the NAACP that she was initially unwilling to help a white farmer who sought assistance from her, but who, according to Sherrod, tried “to show me he was superior to me.” The incident she described happened in 1986 when she worked for the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund.

After Breitbart posted a two-minute clip of Sherrod’s 43-minute stemwinder, Sherrod resigned under immense pressure from USDA and Obama administration bigwigs.

Although the Breitbart clip did indicate that Sherrod had eventually decided to place a higher value on class warfare than racial bigotry, the full import of her long speech became more clear after the full version was made public. In the full speech Sherrod, who had been made rich by a government settlement over discrimination against her collective farm, explained that she grew to realize America is divided between ”rich and poor” rather than “black and white.”

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Issa: ‘There’s a Reason to Fear’ Obama Agencies (+videos)

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Photo Credit: APRepublican California Rep. Darrell Issa, the GOP’s top government watchdog, warns that we have entered a time to “love my country, fear my government.”

“Right now, there’s a reason to fear the IRS and other agencies, including the EPA, who are loaded with people who feel empowered to bend the rules against those they disagree with,” the California Republican explained.

Issa has been investigating the Internal Revenue Service since Lois Lerner’s May 2013 admission that the agency treated conservative groups differently, and his Sept. 17 committee report details the committee’s progress and findings to date.


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Video: Fox News’ Chris Wallace Rips into Treasury Secretary Jack Lew: ‘Your History is Wrong,’ Obama’s Refusal to Negotiate is ‘Unprecedented’

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Photo Credit: YouTube ScreenshotBy Oliver Darcy.

Fox News’ Chris Wallace grilled Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Sunday, repeatedly asking him questions regarding the president’s refusal to negotiate with Republicans in Congress over the budget.

“I know the direction is bad,” Lew said about what would happen if the U.S. government defaulted on its debt. “There is a range of how bad. It is irresponsible and it is reckless to take that chance.”

“Despite these stakes, the president is refusing to negotiate,” Wallace countered, noting presidents have negotiated with Congress in the past over a variety of topics. “What’s unprecedented is not Congress tying strings; what’s unprecedented is a president refusing to negotiate.”

“Frankly, I think your history is wrong,” Lew said.

“With all due respect, your history is wrong,” Wallace responded. “This has happened over and over again, and presidents have negotiated.”

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Treasury Secretary Lew: Congress ‘Reckless’ if Debt Ceiling Not Raised

By Greg Richter.

Saying that the U.S. government is “just too important to the world,” Treasury Secretary Jack Lew urged Congress to raise the country’s debt ceiling by an Oct. 17 deadline because he has “run out of tricks” to keep it operating past that date.

Lew said it will be “dangerous” and “reckless” for Congress to pass an October deadline without raising the government’s borrowing limit.

Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Lew said he has been using “extraordinary measures” to make room to borrow money since the United States hit its debt ceiling in May.

“I have no more,” Lew said he wrote in a letter to Congress last week. The government has $30 billion of cash on hand, but on any given day it can have a $50 billion-$60 billion positive or negative cash flow.

“It won’t last very long,” he said of the reserves.

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John Kerry On Special Forces Raids: Terrorists ‘Can Run But They Can’t Hide’ (+video)

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Photo Credit: GettyU.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Sunday that a pair of U.S. military raids against militants in North Africa sends the message that terrorists “can run but they can’t hide.”

In raids in Somalia and in Libya’s capital, U.S. special forces on Saturday struck against Islamic extremists who have carried out terrorist attacks in East Africa. They captured a Libyan al Qaeda leader allegedly involved in the bombings of U.S. embassies 15 years ago.

After a fierce firefight, a U.S. Navy SEAL team in Somalia aborted a mission to capture a terrorist suspect linked to last month’s Nairobi shopping mall attack.

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Failed Navy SEALs Raid on Somali Target Could Bolster Al Shabab (+video)

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Photo Credit: Mohamed Sheikh Nor/APA commando unit from the US Navy’s Seal Team Six launched an amphibious raid on a Somali town, but failed to confirm a capture or kill of their Al Shabab target, suspected to be linked to Nairobi’s Westgate mall terror attack.

The operation could have opposite its intended result of discouraging further attacks. Analysts warn that even earlier successful targeted strikes against Al Shabab, a Somalia-based Islamist militant group, failed to curb the group’s capacity to carry out international terror attacks, and that failed missions could in fact bolster its support and recruitment.

The predawn raid Saturday came unstuck when the US troops were faced with heavier-than-expected return fire, and pulled out to avoid civilian casualties, two security sources said. No Americans were injured.

Although the target was not named and officially described only as “high-value,” US officials suggested the raid was “prompted by Westgate”.

Saturday’s mission took place in Baraawe, an Al Shabab stronghold 110 miles south of Mogadishu, where US Special Forces carried out a daytime raid in 2009 to kill Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, wanted in connection with earlier terrorist strikes in East Africa.

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New York Police: Bikers Stomped on SUV Driver (+video)

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Photo Credit: QuotableKidneyAbout a half-dozen bikers accused of beating an SUV driver last weekend used their helmets to attack him and kicked his head and body as he lay on the ground, New York police said.

Police said one of the bikers — Robert Sims — also stomped on the driver’s head and body, according to a detective’s criminal complaint.

Sims was one of two bikers who turned himself in to authorities on Friday. He has been charged with attempted assault, gang assault and criminal possession of a weapon.

According to police, Sims can be seen in a video going after the SUV.

The driver of the SUV suffered two black eyes and cuts on his face and side, requiring stitches, the criminal complaint said.

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Mike Lee: He and Ted Cruz Faced ‘Demeaning’ and ‘All-Out Attack’ from GOP Colleagues (+video)

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Photo Credit: Gage SkidmoreSenate Republicans furiously attacked Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Utah Sen. Mike Lee behind closed doors and leaked details of an off-record meeting to the media to harm the two senators, according to Lee.

Lee divulged some of the details of a closed-door meeting on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show on Friday, since he said much of it had been leaked to the media by his own colleagues.

“[N]ormally, I don’t comment at all on closed-door meetings between Republican senators,” Lee said. “It’s a pretty strict rule we follow. But one exception I’ll make is circumstances like this, where contents of the meeting were leaked deliberately by several of my colleagues and leaked in a very one-sided way. I’m happy to tell you about it here.”

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