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Obama Admin. Wins Appeal to Force German Homeschooling Family to Return to Persecution

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Photo Credit: WNDAn appeal is planned for a family of homeschoolers the Obama administration wants to deport to their home country of Germany to face persecution from education officials there who seek fines and jail for such individuals.

The word comes today from officials with the Home School Legal Defense Association, who have been arguing on behalf of the Romeike family since they fled Germany in 2008 and were granted asylum in the U.S. in 2010 by Immigration Judge Lawrence O. Burman.

The Obama administration was unhappy with that decision and appealed, and the grant was rescinded by the Board of Immigration Appeals in 2012.

A panel from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently heard arguments on the dispute, and ruled today that the asylum request should be denied.

“We believe the Sixth Circuit is wrong, and we will appeal their decision,” said Michael Farris, HSLDA founder and chairman. “America has room for this family, and we will do everything we can to help them.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Congress Now Investigating Obama Admin.’s Hostility to Religion in the Military

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Photo Credit: APFollowing 59 Members of Congress sending a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel regarding Pentagon officials meeting with an anti-Christian extremist, another group of 56 House Members has sent a second wide-ranging letter, exploring whether these infringements on religious liberty violate both federal law and the Constitution.

The first letter demanded that Hagel explain why Pentagon brass met with anti-Christian extremist Mikey Weinstein. It highlighted various disturbing statements Weinstein has made—most of which were first reported by Breitbart News—such as calling Christians “monsters,” and claiming sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ an act of “treason” and equating it with “rape.”

Now a second letter has gone to Hagel, co-sponsored by Congressmen Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Doug Lamborn (R-CO). The letter reminds Hagel that—as Breitbart News previously reported—Congress enacted Section 533 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to protect freedom of religious belief and conscience for all men and women serving in uniform, with a special focus on military chaplains:

Upon signing the NDAA into law, President Obama said the conscience protections were “unnecessary and ill-advised.” This statement, coupled with recent events, raises concerns that the military is developing a culture that is hostile to religion. A recently revealed power point presentation used in equal opportunity training in an Army reserve unit in Pennsylvania included evangelical Christians, Catholics, Mormons, Sunni Muslims, and some Jews on a list of religious extremist groups alongside groups like Al Qaeda and Hamas. A memo regarding visitation policies at Walter Reed issued in December 2011 prohibited visitors from bringing Bibles and other religious materials on the premises. A particularly concerning memorandum issued on September 1, 2011, General Norton A. Schwartz prohibited commanders from notifying Airmen about Chaplain Corps programs, stating that only Air Force chaplains are trained to provide leadership on religious matters.

Read more from this story HERE.

How High Up Does This Go? New Report Implicates Washington Officials in IRS Scandal

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Photo Credit: White House flickrAnd just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for the Obama administration, something new comes along.

From the Washington Post:

Internal Revenue Service officials in Washington and at least two other offices were involved in the targeting of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, making clear the effort reached well beyond the branch in Cincinnati that was initially blamed, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. IRS officials at the agency’s Washington headquarters sent queries to conservative groups asking about their donors and other aspects of their operations, while officials in the El Monte and Laguna Niguel offices in California sent similar questionnaires to tea party-affiliated groups.

Whoa.

Okay, so it appears the Washington Post report contradicts the IRS official who claimed last week that the political targeting was done by “low-level” staffers in Cincinnati.

Of course, it’s important to note that the official who made this claim, Lois Lerner, is the head of the Cincinnati-based IRS office that oversees tax-exempt groups. Considering that her office is heavily involved in the scandal, some of her staffers must also be involved.

Read more from this story HERE.

Benghazi Scapegoat Remains in Prison for Film

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Photo Credit: APThe man who made the anti-Islam film that Obama administration officials erroneously blamed for the Benghazi, Libya, terror attacks remains in federal prison eight months later, serving a yearlong sentence for probation violations committed as a result of his involvement with the video.

Mark Basseley Youssef, who made the film “Innocence of the Muslims” under the pseudonym Sam Bacile, was sentenced in November after pleading guilty to four violations of a supervised release order, which included lying to his probation officer, using aliases, and using the Internet, according to court records.

“There has been no change in his status that we’re aware of,” an official with the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Central District of California, the office that charged him, said Monday on condition of anonymity. The Federal Bureau of Prisons lists his release date as Sept. 26.

Read more from this story HERE.

Mother of Slain Benghazi Official to Hillary: ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ (+video)

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Photo Credit: Daily CallerOn Saturday’s episode of Fox News Channel’s “Huckabee,” Pat Smith, mother of Sean Smith, an information management officer killed in the Sept. 11, 2012 attack in Benghazi, expressed her frustration with the Obama administration for not being more forthcoming about what happened in that attack.

But first Smith had some words for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Mother’s Day.

“I’m still waiting for answers to just about everything,” Smith said. “I do want to say just one thing, though. I want to wish Hillary [Clinton] a happy Mother’s Day. She’s got her child. I don’t have mine because of her.”

According to Smith, immediately following the deaths of her son and three other Americans, including then-U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens, Clinton blamed an infamous anti-Islam YouTube video, which was said to be a non-factor in last week’s House Oversight Committee hearings on the attack.

“She blamed the video just like all the rest of them did and she also told me she was going to get back to me,” Smith said. “She was going to keep on checking on it and she would get back to me with answers. She has not. Neither has anybody else.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Top Obama Official’s Brother is President of CBS News, May Drop Reporter Over Benghazi Coverage (+video)

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Photo Credit: Daily CallerThe brother of a top Obama administration official is also the president of CBS News, and the network may be days away from dropping one of its top investigative reporters for covering the administration’s scandals too aggressively.

CBS News executives have reportedly expressed frustration with their own reporter, Sharyl Attkisson, who has steadily covered the Obama administration’s handling of the Benghazi terrorist attack in Libya since late last year.

“Network sources” told Politico Wednesday that CBS executives feel Attkisson’s Benghazi coverage is bordering on advocacy, and Attkisson “can’t get some of her stories on the air.”

Attkisson, who is in talks to leave the network before her contract expires, has been attempting to figure out who changed the Benghazi talking points for more than five months.

“We still don’t know who changed talking points but have had at least 4 diff explanations so far,” Attkisson tweeted on November 27, 2012.

Read more from this story HERE.

Rand Paul Challenges Hillary Clinton in Key Iowa Speech (+video)

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Photo Credit: Matthew Holst On Friday, Sen. Rand Paul put his stake in the ground for a possible run in 2016 by mocking the Obama administration and delivering a blistering critique of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s handling of the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. The administration has been criticized for failing to provide security during the attack and for its characterization of the incident afterward.

Speaking at the Iowa GOP’s annual Lincoln Dinner, Paul questioned the initial response to the attacks and asked, “First question to Hillary Clinton: Where in the hell were the Marines?”

“It was inexcusable, it was a dereliction of duty, and it should preclude her from holding higher office,” the Kentucky Republican added to loud applause.

Republicans’ search for a candidate to deliver their first victory in a presidential election since 2004 began as Paul used the plum speaking slot to plant the seeds for his own possible bid. And he won his biggest applause by taking on Clinton, who’s seen as the early front-runner for the Democratic nomination to succeed President Barack Obama.

Paul was just elected to the Senate in 2010 and is perhaps best known as the son of the former Texas Congressman Ron Paul, whose two campaigns for president attracted a fervent, grassroots following that might translate to his son.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Admin. Orders End to 3D Printable Gun Downloads

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Charging a violation of an the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Obama’s State Department sent a threatening letter to the students who set-up the radical pro-Second Amendment website Defense Distributed.

Specifically, the letter alleged that the students were possibly in violation of ITAR because thousands of downloads of their 3D printable gun had come from outside the United States.

The State Department apparently considered a free download by a foreign user from a US-based Internet provider to be an “export” and that the plans being downloaded qualified as “controlled defense articles and related technical data.” ITAR provides that such “exports” first require the Department of State’s approval.

In addition to the 3D printable gun, the State Department also had Defense Distributed remove the 3D plans for a muzzle brake, sound moderator (for an air rifle), a gun sight, a .22 sub-caliber insert for a 12 gauge shotgun shell, and other plans.

Unfortunately for the Obama Administration, the plans have now sprung up everywhere else on the Internet, since the State Department’s objections arrived only after 100,000 downloads had already occurred.

Obama Admin. has been Working “for Years” to “Gut Welfare Reform”

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Photo Credit: APThe Obama administration was planning to weaken the welfare work requirements as far back as 2009, GOP lawmakers charge.

An internal Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) memo from 2009 released Tuesday by Senate Finance Committee ranking member Orrin Hatch and House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp explores the legal justifications to allow the HHS secretary to waive work and other requirements for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) that were part of the 1996 welfare reform law.

Last summer the Obama administration issued an Information Memorandum allowing states apply to waive the TANF work requirement. At the time, the administration said this was due to requests from some states for more flexibility and was meant as a way to test strategies “to improve employment outcomes for needy families.”

Republicans, including then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney, charged that the action “gut” the 1996 welfare reform.

According to Hatch and Camp, the memo shows that the Obama administration was looking to find ways to get around the work requirement years in advance of receiving requests from states.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Admin. Denies Retaliating Against Benghazi Whistle-Blower

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Photo Credit: Andrew GeraciThe State Department on Thursday dismissed accusations that it retaliated against one of the key witnesses at this week’s Benghazi hearings by demoting him after he questioned the Obama administration’s account of the terrorist attack.

Foreign Service officer Gregory N. Hicks, who was the No. 2 U.S. diplomat in Libya during the Benghazi terrorist attacks last September, told lawmakers at an explosive House hearing on Wednesday that he was chastised and “effectively demoted” after he questioned the decision to blame the military-style assault on a spontaneous demonstration against an anti-Islam video.

The State Department “has not and will not retaliate against Mr. Hicks,” spokesman Patrick H. Ventrell said.

“As Mr. Hicks testified yesterday … he has followed ‘standard’ employment processes,” Mr. Ventrell added, quoting Mr. Hicks‘ testimony Wednesday.

During that testimony, Mr. Hicks said that his jaw “hit the floor” when, five days after the deadly assault, he heard U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan E. Rice directly contradict the president of Libya by saying the attack appeared to have grown out of a demonstration against the video and that there was no evidence it might have been preplanned.

Read more from this story HERE.