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The Obama Administration Proposed $72 Million In CDC Cuts Back In 2012

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Photo Credit: TownHall“Republican cuts kill;” that’s an ad run by the Agenda Project Action Fund. Of all the things in the world, liberals have decided to politicize a deadly, incurable infectious disease to attack Republicans. Guy and Katie have written about the absurdity of this claim; even the Washington Post gave it four pinocchios:

This ad is simply a more extreme version of a new Democratic talking point — that GOP budget cuts have harmed the nation’s ability to handle the Ebola outbreak. It mixes statistics — the budget for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) “cut” $585 million (the ad offers no date range) — with disturbing images of the outbreak and various Republican leaders saying variations of the word “cut.”

On many levels, this line of attack is absurd.

Obama’s Republican predecessor oversaw big increases in public-health sector spending, and both Democrats and Republicans in recent years have broadly supported efforts to rein in federal spending. Sequestration resulted from a bipartisan agreement. In some years, Congress has allocated more money for NIH and CDC than the Obama administration requested. Meanwhile, contrary to the suggestion of the DCCC ad, there never was a specific vote on funding to prevent Ebola.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Official Praises Mosque Of Oklahoma Beheader Alton Nolen

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Photo Credit: Daily CallerAn Obama administration official traveled to Oklahoma City Saturday to offer words of praise to congregants at the mosque attended by Alton Nolen, the recent Muslim convert who beheaded a co-worker last month.

David Myers, the director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Faith-based & Neighborhood Partnerships, spoke at the Greater Islamic Society of Oklahoma City’s Eid al-Adha celebration, according to KFOR.

“Your service is a powerful example of the shared roots of the Abrahamic faiths and how our communities can come together in shared peace with dignity and a sense of justice,” said Myers, reading from a letter penned by President Obama.

At the DHS center, which falls under the control of FEMA, Myers’ job is to “build, sustain and improve effective partnerships between DHS and faith-based and voluntary organizations.”

According to KFOR, in the letter Obama thanked the congregation for their community service in the aftermath of a devastating tornado that wrecked havoc in Moore last year.

Read more from this story HERE.

Allen West: ‘How Does Anybody Keep Their Job In The Obama Administration?’

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Photo Credit: WNDFormer Congressman Allen West continued his never-ending assault on President Barack Obama and his administration, asking Monday night how anyone keeps their job in the administration after all of the mishaps over the past six years.

When asked by Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren how head of the national intelligence community James Clapper keeps his job, the former Florida congressman asked rhetorically, “how does anybody keep their job in the Obama administration?”

“How does Lois Lerner keep her job and still get a $600k taxpayer-funded retirement? How does anyone keep their job in the Veterans Administration? That’s the entire fallacy of this administration and that no one is responsible. We continue to see these failures, these misunderstandings, these missteps, whatever you want to call it, and no one is ever responsible,” the former congressman told the host.

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Obama Administration ‘Doubles Down’ on Fight Against Nuns

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Photo Credit: Pittsburgh Post – Gazette / NewscomThe Obama administration has decided to continue its legal battle against Little Sisters of the Poor, a Catholic charity that objects to Obamacare’s mandate that employee health plans cover contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs.

The order of Catholic nuns argues that the rule fashioned by the Department of Health and Human Services requires them to violate their religious beliefs by offering insurance coverage for 20 specific drugs and devices — some of which the nuns believe could destroy what they consider a human life.

If the Little Sisters of the Poor choose not to abide by the HHS mandate, they face devastating fines by the Internal Revenue Service that could result in millions of dollars a year being diverted from their mission of caring for elderly women and men.

Sarah Torre, a policy analyst in The Heritage Foundation’s DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society who tracks the legal trail of the HHS mandate, said:

It’s really incredible, even after so many losses in federal court, that the Obama administration is doubling down to enforce this coercive mandate against religious organizations – even against charities like the Little Sisters of the Poor who do such necessary and effective work serving those in need.

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Trey Gowdy Is Leading A Charge Against The Obama Admin That May Make Him Enemy #1 In The White House

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Photo Credit: Site.govSouth Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy proved this week that he is focused on much more than just his role at the helm of a special committee investigating the 2012 Benghazi attack. Although he announced recently that the first public hearings in that probe are slated for next week, the former prosecutor’s stance on a Libyan threat closer to home has resulted in legislation introduced this week.

According to the Washington Times, Gowdy and other Republican leaders have responded to the Obama administration’s decision to lower restrictions against Libyans training to become pilots and nuclear scientists at schools in the U.S.

The proposal, also backed by Reps. Jason Chaffetz and Robert Goodlatte, seek to counter Obama’s endorsement of opinions by some in the intelligence community that current restrictions against Libya should be scaled back.

Read more from this story HERE.

What Is He Hiding? Inspectors General Say Obama Administration Obstructing Justice

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Photo Credit: Chuck Hagel / Flickr

Photo Credit: Chuck Hagel / Flickr

In an unprecedented letter, a majority of the federal government’s inspectors general (IGs) claim that the Obama administration is obstructing their investigations into government mismanagement and corruption. So much for President Obama’s claim that his would be the most transparent administration in history.

And it truly IS unprecedented. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, says “there has never been a letter even with a dozen IGs complaining” about such obstruction by an administration. The fact that the Justice Department’s IG, Michael Horowitz, also signed on is particularly revealing. After all, it is the duty of senior executive officers like Eric Holder to advise subordinate officials that they are obligated to cooperate with the IGs of their agencies.

On Aug. 5, 47 of the federal government’s 73 inspectors general, many of whom were appointed by President Obama, sent their letter to Issa, Sen. Thomas Carper (D-Del.), and the ranking members of the House Oversight and Government Reform and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committees — essentially pleading with Congress to help the IGs do their jobs uncovering waste, mismanagement, fraud, and corruption within their respective agencies.

In the letter, the IGs complain about the “serious limitations on access to records that have recently impeded the work” of IGs at the Peace Corps, the EPA, and the Department of Justice. Administration lawyers have construed laws related to privilege in “a manner that would override the express authorization contained in the IG Act” and seriously impede the “ability [of the IGs] to conduct our work thoroughly, independently, and in a timely manner.”

According to the letter, the Justice Department withheld “essential records” in three different reviews, despite the fact that such records had been produced for the DOJ IG “in many prior reviews without objection.” Michael Horowitz eventually got access to the files, it seems, but not because Department officials realized they were misinterpreting the IG law in withholding access. No, Horowitz got the records only after DOJ leadership decided that “the three reviews were of assistance to the Department of Justice’s leadership.”

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Obama Administration Hands Oil Industry a Big Win

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

The Obama administration announced Friday that it would allow exploration for oil and gas off some portions of the Atlantic Coast using sonic testing devices that environmentalists say harm marine life.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management gave the OK for seismic airgun testing, which are boat-towed cannons that shoot sonar blasts off the ocean floor to scan for oil-and-gas deposits, in the mid- and south-Atlantic areas that stretch from the Delaware Bay to just south of Cape Canaveral, Fla. The approval is a prelude to potential offshore drilling there, though that is blocked through 2017 under President Obama’s five-year offshore drilling plan.

“The bureau has identified a path forward that addresses the need to update the nearly four-decade-old data in the region while protecting marine life and cultural sites,” said Acting BOEM Director Walter D. Cruickshank, who noted the agency has several permits on hand to conduct the seismic tests. “The bureau’s decision reflects a carefully analyzed and balanced approach that will allow us to increase our understanding of potential offshore resources while protecting the human, marine and coastal environments.”

It’s a big victory for the oil-and-gas industry, which is nearing its first chance to drill in the Atlantic Ocean in more than 30 years. It comes as BOEM recently raised its estimates for technically recoverable oil in the region to 4.72 billion barrels of oil and 37.51 trillion cubic feet of natural gas — 43 percent and 20 percent higher, respectively, than agency estimates in 2011.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Wants to Force Americans to Pay for Abortion-Causing Drugs Since He Can’t Force Hobby Lobby

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Photo Credit: LifeNews By Steven Ertelt.

So just how is the Obama administration spinning the Supreme Court’s decision today that dealt it a devastating blow? Now that President Barcack Obama can’t force Hobby Lobby and other companies and businesses to pay for abortion-causing drugs, he’s wanting to force Americans to pay for birth control and very early drugs that may cause abortions.

From the Daily Caller:

The White House has quickly converted the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision into a campaign-trail wedge issue, by calling on Congress to continue providing abortion-related drugs to a small number of women who work for Catholic employers.

Because of the court’s decision, women “no longer have access to free contraception coverage… simply because of the religious views held by their bosses,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: Daily Signal After Hobby Lobby, Another Part of the Obamacare Mandate Could Fall

By Elizabeth Slattery.

Today’s Supreme Court ruling in favor of Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties, which are for-profit companies, raises questions about the fate of the HHS mandate accommodation for which certain religious non-profit employers are eligible.

Under the accommodation, non-profit employers self-certify to their insurance provider or third-party administrator that they have a religious objection to providing or paying for certain drugs and devices, and this initiates the process of the insurance company or third-party administrator providing the mandated coverage to employees. Just like the HHS mandate itself, this accommodation has been challenged by dozens of employers for violating the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which prohibits the government from substantially burdening free exercise unless it can show that the burden is the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling government interest.

In today’s ruling—which deals only with closely held corporations—the existence of this accommodation was proof to a majority of the justices on the Supreme Court that there are less restrictive means for the government to advance the compelling interest behind the HHS mandate. The Supreme Court did not reach whether the accommodation itself complies with RFRA, since it was not an issue addressed by the parties. Further, a hallmark of the Roberts Court is taking incremental steps toward an eventual goal (as it did in recent years with Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act). Thus, in the long run, the Court likewise may rule the accommodation violates the free exercise of non-profit groups.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: APObama Racking Up Judicial Losses

By Ben Wolfgang.

President Obama suffered two final defeats in the Supreme Court on Monday, capping a 2013-2014 term in which the justices delivered several judicial hits to the White House while taking a firm stand against the unchecked power of the state.

The administration’s losses on Obamacare rules and compulsory union dues served as a rebuke on the Supreme Court’s final day after months of judicial decisions to rein in big government on issues such as snooping without a warrant, campaign finance restrictions and Mr. Obama’s recess appointment powers.

Just as damning was the way the court ruled in some of those cases. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. corralled unanimous votes on privacy and recess appointments — cases that dealt stinging defeats to Mr. Obama, himself a lawyer and former lecturer on constitutional law.

In the more than five years that Mr. Obama has been in office, the court has rejected the government’s argument with a 9-0 decision 20 times.

During the eight years each in the administrations of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, the government lost on unanimous votes 15 times and 23 times, respectively. That puts the Obama administration on pace to greatly exceed recent predecessors in terms of judicial losses.

Read more from this story HERE.

WATCH: VA Scandal Remix Of ‘God Bless The USA’ Is Exactly What The Obama Administration Needs To Hear

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Long wait times and secret lists that result in our nation’s heroes dying before they can get medical care – all while the VA spends hundreds of millions on solar panels – isn’t right, plain and simple. And it’s not going to get better unless we demand that it does.

Read more from this story HERE.

Is the Obama Administration Muzzling Meriam Ibrahim Defenders?

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Photo Credit: National Review State Department officials, under pressure since Sudanese woman Meriam Ibrahim and her American family were prevented from leaving the country for the United States, have discouraged congressional leaders from speaking out publicly on behalf of them, advocates for the family say.

Ibrahim, a Sudanese woman sentenced to death for apostasy before the government ultimately overturned her conviction, was arrested for a second time on her way out of the country. Her husband, American citizen Daniel Wani, was also arrested.

The State Department said this week that Ibrahim’s family wanted members of Congress to “keep quiet” about her case, according to a religious-liberty advocate whose organization works with the Ibrahim family’s lawyers in Sudan.
“And that’s simply not true,” says Tina Ramirez, founder of Hardwired, which provides legal training in Sudan on religious liberty, told National Review Online. State was “lying” about the wishes of the Ibrahim family, she says. “I don’t know why they would say such a thing.”

Ramirez explained that the State Department told members of Congress that Meriam Ibrahim’s husband and her brother-in-law, Gabriel (who lives in New Hampshire), had asked that Congress stand down.

Read more from this story HERE.