DO IT: Sarah Palin May Sue New York Times for Tying Her to Gabby Giffords Shooting
Posted: June 15, 2017 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Law & Justice, Mediasphere, Politics, U.S. News | Tags: Bernie Sanders, D.C., Democratic Party (United States), Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, James Comey, Libel, Republican Party (United States), Slander, The New York Times, United States, Washington Leave a comment
Sarah Palin indicated on Thursday that she might sue the New York Times over editorial that suggested she was in some way responsible for the 2011 shooting of then-Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords.
“Commonsense suggestion by a journalist, am talking to attorneys this [morning] and exploring options,” she said. “[By the way], wonder WHY someone would no longer be in public eye? Think constant libel & slander have anything to do with it?”
(1/2) @nytopinion – commonsense suggestion by a journalist, am talking to attorneys this AM and exploring options. BTW, wonder.. pic.twitter.com/jACvxwUBZH
— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) June 15, 2017
(2/2) …WHY someone would no longer be in public eye? Think constant libel & slander have anything to do with it? 🤔
— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) June 15, 2017
Attached to one of her tweets was an article that questioned whether Palin has “a libel case” against the Times.
The paper on Thursday corrected an editorial that claimed there was a “clear” link between the shooting of Giffords and Palin.
[Vintage MZHemingway – read more here, at thefederalist.com]
The original version of the Times editorial, which focused on the shooting Wednesday at a recreational congressional Republican baseball practice outside of Washington, D.C., said “the link to political incitement was clear” in the Giffords shooting … (read more)
Source: washingtonexaminer.com
Shame on the New York Times. Shame.
Its editorial about yesterday’s shooting doesn’t just twist the truth; it may be libelous.
David French writes: The New York Times published its editorial in response to yesterday’s vicious, violent, and explicitly political attack on Congressional Republicans — an attack that wounded four and left Representative Steve Scalise in critical condition in a Washington-area hospital — and it is abhorrent. It is extraordinarily cruel, vicious, and — above all — dishonest. The editorial doesn’t just twist the truth to advance the board’s preferred narratives; it may even be libelous, a term I choose carefully.
Yesterday’s shooter, James Hodgkinson, left little doubt as to his political leanings and his political motivations. He was a vocal Bernie Sanders supporter, belonged to Facebook groups with names such as “Terminate the Republican Party” and “The Road to Hell is paved with Republicans,” and he was constantly sharing angry anti-GOP messages and memes. Before opening fire, he reportedly asked whether the players on the baseball field were Democrats or Republicans. In other words, all available signs point to an act of lone-wolf progressive political terror. Read the rest of this entry »
Trump Continues to Collect Trademarks in China
Posted: June 14, 2017 Filed under: China, Diplomacy, Foreign Policy, Global, Mediasphere, White House | Tags: Associated Press, Attorney General of Maryland, Beijing, Branding, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, D.C., Donald Trump, Ineligibility Clause, Karl Racine, United States Constitution, Washington Leave a comment
President Donald Trump is growing his brand in China.
David Francis reports: According to a report from the Associated Press, the Chinese government has approved nine Trump trademarks it had earlier rejected, in whole or in part. The latest development is likely to add to the growing controversy over Trump’s potential conflicts of interest, and especially charges that he could be in violation of the emolument clause of the U.S. Constitution, which is supposed to prevent a sitting president from gaining a financial benefit from foreign nations.
There are now three lawsuits alleging the president is violating the Constitution by refusing to put his assets into a blind trust; Trump has put his son in charge of managing his many business dealings. Trump’s new Washington hotel is a particular sore spot, since many visiting delegations stay there. One was filed by nearly 200 Congressional Democrats Wednesday; a joint one was filed by the attorney generals of Washington, D.C. and Maryland; and a similar suit was filed by the watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
[Read the full story here, at Foreign Policy]
Benefitting from foreign governments, whether through hotel bills or the granting of trademarks, lie at the center of all these cases. In the case of the China trademarks, records don’t show why these requests were initially rejected or why they were reconsidered. Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] The Power of the Prosecutor: A Reason Discussion
Posted: June 12, 2017 Filed under: Education, History, Law & Justice, Mediasphere, Think Tank | Tags: André Carson, Aspen Institute, Criminal Justice Reform, D.C., Ian Keyser, John Pfaff, Ken White, Lauren Krisai, Locked in: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration and How to Achieve Real Reform, Prosecutor, Reason (magazine), Reason Foundation, Virginia Leave a comment
Lauren Krisai, John Pfaff, and Ken White discuss the power of prosecutors in the criminal justice system, how prosecutors have served as barriers to meaningful criminal justice reform, and whether an influx of forward-looking district attorneys could change the status quo.
“There is no evidence that an individual DA in his office is any more punitive today than he was in 1974,” explains John Pfaff, author of Locked in: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration and How to Achieve Real Reform. “We just have 30,000 of them instead of 17,000 even though the crime rate is roughly the same as it was in 1974. They’ve got to do something. They can’t just play minesweeper all day and keep their jobs.”
On May 25th, 2017, at Reason’s Washington, D.C. office, Reason hosted a panel discussion with Pfaff and Ken White, former assistant United States attorney and co-founder of the blog Popehat. Moderated by Lauren Krisai, director of Criminal Justice Reform at the Reason Foundation, the discussion touched on the power of prosecutors in the criminal justice system, how prosecutors have served as barriers to meaningful criminal justice reform, and whether an influx of forward-looking district attorneys could change the status quo. Read the rest of this entry »
Reporters Assaulted, Protesters Clash, Police Make Arrests In Chaotic Alt Right Saturday Night in Washington D.C.
Posted: April 11, 2017 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Mediasphere, U.S. News | Tags: Alt-right, Anarchists, Antifa, D.C., Donald Trump, Marxists, protests, Radical Left, Radical Right, The Daily Caller, Washington Leave a comment
Anti Fascist demonstrators clash with alt right protesters in Washington DC.
[VIDEO] Professor at NYU Protest Screams at Police, Demands They Attack Campus Speaker
Posted: February 3, 2017 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Education, Health and Social Issues, Mediasphere | Tags: Alt-right, Anti-fascism, Business Insider, Communism, D.C., Donald Trump, Feminis, Gavin McInnes, Left Wing Radicals, Marxism, New York City, Pepper spray, Progressivism, Socialism, Twitter, Violence, Washington Leave a comment
“Who’s protecting NYU from this bullshit? Why are you here? You’re not here to protect these students from Nazis? No, you’re not! I’m a professor!”
Alex Griswold reports:
…Vice co-founder Gavin McInnes‘ lecture at NYU was cancelled halfway through amid protests and violence. McInnes has a history of controversial and intentionally provocative statements, saying in the past that transphobia should be encouraged and that feminism makes women unhappy.
Several disruptive students were arrested by police after McInnes was reportedly pepper-sprayed by a critic. But in video taken at the scene that went viral, the professor denounced police for arresting the students and demanded they attack McInnes.
Watch above, via YouTube (starting at around 10:07)
“Who’s protecting NYU from this bullshit?” she shouted. “Why are you here? You’re not here to protect these students from Nazis? No, you’re not!”
“How dare you assholes protect Neo-Nazis? Fuck you! Fuck you!” she shouted. “They’re trying to learn about human rights and against racism and xenophobia and LGBTQ rights and you’re letting these fucking Neo-Nazis near here!” Read the rest of this entry »
Four Arrested at Gavin McInnes Event as Antifa Protesters Become Violent
Posted: February 2, 2017 Filed under: Censorship, Health and Social Issues, Mediasphere, Politics, U.S. News | Tags: A.N.S.W.E.R., Alt-right, Anti-Free Speech, D.C., Donald Trump, Fox News Channel, Free speech, Gavin McInnes, Libertarian, Neo-Nazism, Protest, Twitter, United States, Washington Leave a comment
Four people were arrested at an NYU event where Gavin McInnes delivered a speech, after protesters became violent.
Following a fight, which started after protesters started to assault McInnes as he entered the venue and ended in a stolen Make America Great Again hat being set on fire, protesters followed McInnes into the venue and attempted to disrupt his show with chants.
“The protesters were seemingly unaware that McInnes is a libertarian, and has never been associated with neo-Nazism.”
One attendee was also attacked by anti-fascists with water as he gave an interview on camera.
“The NYU Anti-Fascists organized the event on Facebook titled ‘Disrupt Gavin McInnes at NYU’,” reported Pix 11, however unlike the riot that anti-fascists started during Breitbart Senior Editor MILO’s show at UC Berkeley on Wednesday, New York police intervened and managed to prevent a large-scale incident from taking place.
[Read the full story here, at Breitbart]
Protesters made chants of “get out of here you Nazi scum,” at McInnes, and “hurled expletives at police,” and others who attempted to either enter the venue or keep students and attendees safe.
“There was a lot of shoving and scuffling and punches were thrown. Police had to move in, and they made several arrests.”
— Pix 11 reporter Marvin Scott
“There’s a neo-Nazi speaking, so we’re here to protest,” said one protester who was holding a sign written in Arabic.
Natasha Roy, Jemima McEvoy, Sayer Devlin, and Diamond Naga Siu report: VICE co-founder Gavin McInnes spoke for only three minutes without interruption until the jeers started. He exited the Rosenthal Pavilion in the Kimmel Center for University Life 20 minutes after he took to the podium and was escorted from a mixed room of fans and sneering students — once he was in the back, McInnes decided to leave the premises immediately.
McInnes will not be returning @nyunews
— Sayer Devlin (@metties) February 3, 2017
Gavin McInnes pepper-sprayed at NYU speaking engagement https://t.co/S9EbGfABOZ
— Mike (@mike4libertyCA) February 3, 2017
NYPD and NYU Public Safety Officers secured both the interior and exterior of the building, and even before he had entered, McInnes was attacked with pepper spray. He was treated immediately by EMT while security and university officials waited outside the Kimmel bathroom door.
And once he started speaking, students verbally harassed him — they began the ridicule once McInnes made the first joke that did not bode well with the audience.
“When I got pepper sprayed, your eyes hurt obviously,” McInnes said as he imitated a squirt gun sound — the object the protestor used to attack him. “And then you get this sense of panic like ‘How do I know this isn’t acid?’ Oh yeah, this isn’t Islam.” … (read more)
Source: nyunews.com
“We have freedom of speech in this country, however if you’re going to promote something that is hateful and hurtful to our democracy, we have a right to come out and explain why our democracy exists,” said another.
The protesters were seemingly unaware that McInnes is a libertarian, and has never been associated with neo-Nazism. Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] AEI LIVE STREAM: Understanding ISIS and its Followers #BLSAEI
Posted: January 24, 2017 Filed under: Education, Mediasphere, Religion, Terrorism, Think Tank, War Room | Tags: Allen Murabayashi, D.C., DC, Donald Trump, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, President of the United States, Syria, The Pentagon, United States, Washington 1 Comment
In March 2015, The Atlantic magazine ran a cover story titled “What ISIS Really Wants.” The author was Graeme Wood, journalist, correspondent for The Atlantic, and lecturer at Yale 
University. His reporting and research on ISIS has now become a book, “The Way of the Strangers: Encounters with the Islamic State” (Random House, 2016), which examines the origins, plans, and followers of ISIS.
[Order the book “The Way of the Strangers: Encounters with the Islamic State“ from Amazon.com]
In this Bradley Lecture, Mr. Wood will discuss his firsthand encounters with ISIS’s true believers, which will help clear away common misunderstandings about this distinctive variety of Islam. Please join us for Mr. Wood’s first public lecture on the book in Washington, DC. A reception and book signing will follow. Read the rest of this entry »
Survey: 100% Of People Marching On Washington Were Not Aborted
Posted: January 21, 2017 Filed under: Health and Social Issues, Humor, Mediasphere, Politics, White House | Tags: A.N.S.W.E.R., American Civil Liberties Union, Angélique Kidjo, Anti-abortion movements, D.C., Donald Trump, March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, President of the United States, satire, Washington 1 Comment
WASHINGTON, D.C.—In a survey conducted in the nation’s capital Saturday, a full 100% of the people marching on the nation’s capital for abortion rights as part of the “Women’s March on Washington” were found to have not been aborted by their mothers when they were yet to be born.
The controversial study indicates that there may be…(read more)
Source: The Babylon Bee
How Donald Trump’s Inauguration Speech Compares with Other Presidents
Posted: January 21, 2017 Filed under: History, Mediasphere, Politics, White House | Tags: Activism, American exceptionalism, Barack Obama, D.C., Donald Trump, Donald Trump's Inauguration, Electoral College (United States), Inauguration Speech, Twitter, Washington Leave a comment
Inaugural addresses typically cover broad themes that speak to the times, and most invoke strong messages of patriotism and American exceptionalism. (read more)
Party Countdown: Countdown to Jan 20, 2017 in Washington DC, District of Columbia
Posted: January 20, 2017 Filed under: History, Mediasphere, Politics, White House | Tags: D.C., Donald Trump, Huffington Post, HuffPo, Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, Party Pooper, United States presidential inauguration, Washington, White House Leave a comment
Countdown to Jan 20, 2017 12:00 noon. Showing days, hours, minutes and seconds ticking down to 0.
The parade is underway pic.twitter.com/nUMDnvvmHq
— Bridget Johnson (@Bridget_PJM) January 20, 2017
Source: Party Countdown
EMOPALOOZA 2.0: Electoral College
Posted: December 19, 2016 Filed under: Breaking News, Global, Politics, White House | Tags: Alaska, Barack Obama, County, D.C., Direct election, Donald Trump, Elaine Chao, Electoral College (United States), George W. Bush, Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton, HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, Republican Party (United States), Washington Leave a comment
The Founding Fathers got it right, and California is proof.
Consider this: Hillary Clinton’s 2.3-million-popular-vote plurality over Trump depends on the votes in a single state.
James E. Campbell writes: Shocked and appalled by the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency, some supporters of Hillary Clinton have turned to minimizing and even delegitimizing Trump’s election. In an era of severe political polarization, in an election with two candidates seen from the outset in highly unfavorable terms, after the most brutal campaign in modern history, and with an outcome that astonished just about everyone, these reactions are understandable, but wrong.
Many diehard Clinton supporters cannot bring themselves to believe their candidate could lose to Donald Trump. They think: How could such a crude and inept con man be elected president? Even after it has happened, it is unthinkable, a nightmare. So, the election must not have been fair.
[MORE: Lobbied, pressured, even threatened: What life has been like for Electoral College voters]
Those on the fringe raise the specter of diabolical Russians hacking away at our democracy. More grounded Clintonians have less malevolent bogeymen — our Founding Fathers. As they see it, the election’s outcome should be blamed on a dysfunctional and archaic electoral-vote system. Hillary won the national popular vote. She should be president. It is as simple as that. The Electoral College should go the way of Trump University.
They are right about one thing: Clinton did win the popular vote, by some 2.8 million votes, as the most recent data show.
Yet Clinton has only 232 electoral votes (in 20 states plus Washington, D.C.) to Trump’s 306 (in 30 states plus one from Maine), making him the president-elect. So Trump’s election without a popular-vote plurality is regarded as an 
injustice. Some Democrats claim a moral victory as victims of an electoral-vote system that once again horribly “misfired.” Their claim, however, neglects two facts.
[Order James E. Campbell’s book “Polarized: Making Sense of a Divided America” from Amazon.com]
First, had the election been conducted with rules awarding the presidency to the popular-vote winner, the candidates and many voters quite probably would have acted very differently, and the popular vote might not have been the same. Trump and Clinton would have campaigned in the “safe” states. Potential voters in those states would have felt more pressure to turn out and to vote for “the lesser of two evils” and not to waste their votes on third-party candidates. Some additional Clinton voters would probably have shown up, but gains on the Trump side would probably have been larger as more reluctant Republicans would have been pushed to return to the fold, particularly in big blue states like California, New York and Illinois. Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] Senator Ben Sasse on the Heart of America and Its Founders
Posted: December 18, 2016 Filed under: History, Think Tank, Politics | Tags: United States, video, Washington, Donald Trump, United States Department of Defense, Mike Pence, D.C., The Heritage Foundation, Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, Ben Sasse, President's Club Leave a comment
Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., speaks at The Heritage Foundation‘s 2016 President’s Club Meeting about America, its founders, and today’s youth.
[VIDEO] Kellyanne Conway: ‘The Biggest Fake News was That Trump Couldn’t Win’
Posted: December 10, 2016 Filed under: Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: Barack Obama, Capitol Hill, D.C., Democratic Party (United States), Donald Trump, fake news, Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton, Hot Air, Joe Biden, Kellyanne Conway, media, MSNBC, news, News satire, video, Washington 1 Comment
At Hot Air, Ed Morrissey writes: In the clip above, Conway wonders aloud what message Democrats thought they were selling during the campaign. “I don’t know what her message was to America,” Conway says, “other than ‘I’m not Donald Trump and you shouldn’t vote for him’.” Conway also argues that Hillary didn’t do much to move the needle with women, scoring 54/41 in exit polls, almost identical to Barack Obama’s 55/44 over Mitt Romney in 2012. How did she fail to leverage that advantage, Conway asks?
The near-hysteria generated by advocates of this latest social panic has reached almost ludicrous heights. In the past 48 hours, we have now been lectured about “fake news” by Hillary Clinton, former NBC News anchor Brian Williams, and outgoing Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. Hillary’s reliance on lies and half-truths in the campaign was well documented, especially when it came to her e-mail scandal and the slow unfolding of contradictory facts that exposed those lies — let alone Hillary’s claim to have been in New York City on 9/11, “Tuzla Dash” claims in 2008, her supposed rejection by the Marine Corps over her gender, and especially the attempt to slough off the planned terror attack on our Benghazi compound in 2012 as a spontaneous reaction to a YouTube video when speaking to the families of those killed in the attack. Brian Williams lost his position as anchor for repeated instances of fabulism, including in on-air remarks. Read the rest of this entry »
Media: ‘We Didn’t Get It. We Still Don’t Get It’
Posted: November 9, 2016 Filed under: Breaking News, Crime & Corruption, Mediasphere, Politics, White House | Tags: 2016, Anthony Weiner, D.C., Democratic Party (United States), Donald Trump, Donna Brazile, Elections in the United States, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, Huma Abedin, James Comey, John Podesta, New York City, Republican Party (United States), The Washington Post, United States presidential election, Washington Leave a comment
It would be too horrible. So, therefore, according to some kind of magical thinking, it couldn’t happen.
Margaret Sullivan writes: To put it bluntly, the media missed the story. In the end, a huge number of American voters wanted something different. And although these voters shouted and screamed it, most journalists just weren’t listening. They didn’t get it.
They didn’t get that the huge, enthusiastic crowds at Donald Trump’s rallies would really translate into that many votes. They couldn’t believe that the America they knew could embrace someone who mocked a disabled man, bragged about sexually assaulting women, and spouted misogyny, racism and anti-Semitism.
Sanctimonious and condescending, this self-serving passage perfectly illustrates Washington D.C.’s contempt for the American public.
It would be too horrible. So, therefore, according to some kind of magical thinking, it couldn’t happen.
“The Election of Donald Trump to the presidency is nothing short of a tragedy for David Remnick,” America writes. https://t.co/7z8lUpCulo
— Mike (@Doranimated) November 9, 2016
Journalists — college-educated, urban and, for the most part, liberal — are more likely than ever before to live and work in New York City and Washington, D.C., or on the West Coast. And although we touched down in the big red states for a few days, or interviewed some coal miners or unemployed autoworkers in the Rust Belt, we didn’t take them seriously. Or not seriously enough.
And Trump — who called journalists scum and corrupt — alienated us so much that we couldn’t see what was before our eyes. We just kept checking our favorite prognosticating sites and feeling reassured, even though everyone knows that poll results are not votes.
[Read the full story here at The Washington Post]
After all, you never know who’ll show up to vote, especially when votes are being suppressed as never before. And even the most Clinton-leaning prognosticators allowed for some chance of a Trump win.
But no one seemed to believe it in their bones. We would have President Clinton, went the journalistic conventional wisdom, and although she would be flawed, she would be a known quantity. There was a kind of comfort there.
Make no mistake. This is an epic fail. And although eating crow is never appealing, we’ll be digesting feathers and beaks in the next weeks and months — and maybe years.
The strange thing, of course, is that the media helped to give Trump his chance. Read the rest of this entry »
US Capitol on Lockdown After Visitor Opened Fire, Shooting Police Officer
Posted: March 28, 2016 Filed under: Breaking News, Crime & Corruption, Self Defense | Tags: 7th Street (Washington, Congress, D.C., Lockdown, Police, Police officer, Senate, Shooter, Shooting, Washington D.C. Leave a comment
The US Capitol is on lockdown after a visitor opened fire, shooting and wounding a police officer – just hours after an active shooter drill in the government building.
Staffers in the visitor center were ordered to shelter in place just before 3pm (Eastern Time) on Monday as police secured the area.
One officer was hospitalized with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. The suspect was taken in to custody within minutes of the first shot being fired, the Associated Press reported.
There was confusion as the shooting came soon after a scheduled active shooter drill, which staff had been notified about via email. Read the rest of this entry »
Fence Jumper Detained at White House
Posted: November 26, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, White House | Tags: Barack Obama, Cancer, Candlelight vigil, Childhood cancer, D.C., Funding of science, Josh Earnest, Lafayette Square, The Washington Post, United States Secret Service, Washington, White House Leave a comment
Bradford Richardson reports: The White House was locked down on Thursday afternoon when an intruder jumped the fence, according to the Secret Service.
The jumper, identified as Joseph Caputo, was immediately detained.
The first family was reportedly celebrating Thanksgiving inside the mansion when the incident occurred, at 2:45 p.m.
Images shared on social media showed a man wrapped in an American flag jumping the North Lawn fence and raising his arms after he landed….(read more)
Source: TheHill
Cato Book Found on Elon Musk’s Desk
Posted: October 14, 2015 Filed under: Mediasphere, Science & Technology, Think Tank | Tags: Atlantic City, Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, Cato Institute, Club for Growth, D.C., Dana Berliner, David Boaz, Donald Trump, New Jersey, Republican Party (United States), Vera Coking, Washington Leave a comment
Today, a Cato fan tweeted a photo of Elon Musk’s desk with a copy of the Cato book, The Dirty Dozen by Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy and Institute for Justice’s William Mellor.
Have you read it yet? Get your copy here!
Arthropod News Analyst: ‘Terry McAuliffe Doesn’t Know What He’s Talking About’
Posted: July 28, 2015 Filed under: Food & Drink, Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Associated Press, Chesapeake Bay, D.C., List of mayors of Washington, Maryland, Muriel Bowser, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Terry McAuliffe, Virginia, Washington, Washington State Leave a comment
Pundit Planet Roving Arthropod News Analyst comments on Virginia Governor’s Controversial Territorial Claim
‘Maryland’ Crabs: ‘They’re All Born in Virginia’, Says Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe.
WASHINGTON — Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe has made a statement about Chesapeake Bay blue crabs that is sure to seem very inflammatory to die-hard Marylanders.
He made the remark during this month’s “Ask the Governor” segment on Newsradio 1140 WRVA in Richmond, while speaking about boosting the state’s oyster business.
“You know, Maryland talks about their crabs. And if anyone from Maryland is listening, I’m going to be very clear: All the crabs are born here in Virginia and they end up, because of the current, being taken there. So really they should be Virginia crabs.”
— Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe
His statement is not entirely false, though saying the current is the only reason some crabs migrate into the upper bay is questionable.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, male crabs tend to prefer fresher waters in Maryland and the bay’s upper tributaries, while females, especially spawning females, like the saltier waters of Virginia, near the mouth of the bay….(read more)
Politicians Win, Public Loses: Supreme Court Upholds Obama’s Health-Law Subsidies
Posted: June 25, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Law & Justice | Tags: Anthony Kennedy, Barack Obama, D.C., Dissenting opinion, Health Insurance, Health law, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Subsidy, Supreme Court of the United States, Washington Leave a comment
Presidential Legacy Preserved, Achievement Enshrined: After Trash-Talking Supreme Court and Insulting its Integrity, Obama Reverses Course, Celebrates Wisdom of Court
WASHINGTON — Brent Kendall and Louise Randofsky report: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Obama administration can continue to subsidize health-insurance purchases by lower-income Americans across the country, a decision that preserves a centerpiece of the Affordable Care Act.
The ruling marks the second time President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement has survived a near-death experience in the courts, and leaves the law on a firmer footing for the remainder of his time in office.
The court ruled contested language in the 2010 health-care law allows the administration to offer subsidies in the form of tax credits to people in all states, including those who buy health coverage on the federal insurance site HealthCare.gov.
Roughly 6.5 million Americans in around three dozen states stood to lose credits if the Supreme Court had ruled against the administration. The court was deciding whether the tax credits could only go to people in the minority of states running their own online insurance marketplaces, where people compare policies and apply for coverage.
At issue was language in the Affordable Care Act that says insurance subsidies are available for coverage purchased on an insurance-exchange “established by the state.”
The Obama administration argued the entire structure and design of the law made clear its purpose was to extend affordable coverage nationwide.
[Read full text here, at WSJ]
Challengers who sued the administration—four residents of Virginia—argued the wording of the law authorized insurance subsidies only when an individual buys coverage on a state-run insurance site. Read the rest of this entry »
DAMAGE CONTROL: Ted Cruz Under Fire for Admission that He Files Tax Return Every Year, Even Though He Opposes the IRS
Posted: March 24, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Entertainment, Humor, Mediasphere, Politics, The Butcher's Notebook | Tags: Associated Press, D.C., Democratic Party (United States), Houston Chronicle, Internal Revenue Service, IRS, Parody, Republican Party (United States), satire, Senate, Ted Cruz, Texas, Washington, White House 1 Comment
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Ted Cruz, having revealed that he files a tax return, and pays federal income tax to the IRS, even though in his newly-announced bid for the White house, he is actively campaigning against the IRS, finds himself in the midst of a firestorm of criticism and mockery. “Ted Cruz is a hypocrite. How can he attack the IRS, and at the same time, admit that he pays taxes?”, said a spokesman for ThinkProgress. “Any candidate that pays taxes with one hand, and attacks the agency that collects taxes and investigates citizens with the other hand, is not qualified to be president.”
BREAKING: Ted Cruz Reveals He Pays Income Tax to the IRS, an Agency He Vows to Oppose
Posted: March 24, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Entertainment, Humor, Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: #TedCruz, D.C., Democratic Party (United States), Houston Chronicle, Internal Revenue Service, Parody, Republican Party (United States), satire, Senate, Ted Cruz, Texas, Twitchy, Twitter, Washington, White House 2 Comments
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Ted Cruz revealed on Tuesday that he and his family will pay federal income tax to the IRS, an agency he claims he wants to shut down, and in observance of federal laws the Republican presidential candidate has vowed to oppose should he win the White House.
BREAKING: Ohio Man Arrested for Alleged ISIS-Inspired Plot to Bomb U.S. Capitol
Posted: January 14, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Religion, War Room | Tags: ABC News, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Anwar al-Aulaqi, Associated Press, CNN, Complaint, D.C., Federal Bureau of Investigation, iPhone, Islamic state, Ohio, Pipe bomb, Terrorism, United States, United States Capitol, United States Department of Homeland Security, Washington 1 Comment
According to government documents, he allegedly planned to detonate pipe bombs at the national landmark and open fire on any employees and officials fleeing after the explosions.
CNN: The FBI today arrested an Ohio man for allegedly plotting an ISIS-inspired attack on the U.S. Capitol, where he hoped to set off a series of bombs aimed at lawmakers, whom he allegedly considered enemies.
Ohio authorities release booking photo of suspect arrested for plot to attack U.S. Capitol.
Christopher Lee Cornell, 20, of Green Township, was arrested on charges of attempting to kill a U.S. government official, authorities said.
“I believe that we should just wage jihad under our own orders and plan attacks and everything. I believe we should meet up and make our own group in alliance with the Islamic State here and plan operations ourselves.”
— Cornell, in an online message allegedly written to the informant
The FBI first noticed Cornell several months ago after an informant notified the agency that Cornell was allegedly voicing support for violent “jihad” on Twitter accounts under the alias “Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah,” according to charging documents. In addition, Cornell allegedly posted statements, videos and other content expressing support for ISIS — the brutal terrorist group also known as ISIL — that is wreaking havoc in Iraq and Syria.
JM Lopez/AFP/Getty Images. A flag of the Islamic State is seen on the other side of a bridge at the front line of fighting between Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Islamist militants in Rashad, on the road between Kirkuk and Tikrit.
“I believe that we should just wage jihad under our own orders and plan attacks and everything,” Cornell allegedly wrote in an online message to the informant in August, according to the FBI. “I believe we should meet up and make our own group in alliance with the Islamic State here and plan operations ourselves.”
Anwar Al-Awlaki at Dar al Hijrah Mosque on Oct. 4, 2001 in Falls Church, VA. Tracy Woodward/The Washington Post/Getty Images
In the message, Cornell said that such attacks “already got a thumbs up” from radical cleric Anwar Awlaki “before his martyrdom.”
Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2011, but his online messages calling for attacks on the West live on.
U.S. officials considered Awlaki an operational leader within al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemen-based terror group tied to the deadly assault on a satirical magazine in Paris last week. Read the rest of this entry »
Gun Deaths of Officers Jump 56 Percent
Posted: December 30, 2014 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Health and Social Issues, U.S. News | Tags: Ambush, D.C., Ferguson, Law enforcement officer, Missouri, National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, New York, Police officer, Rafael Ramos, United States, Washington 2 Comments
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of law enforcement officers killed by firearms in the U.S. jumped by 56 percent this year and included 15 ambush assaults, according to a report released Tuesday.
“With the increasing number of ambush-style attacks against our officers, I am deeply concerned that a growing anti-government sentiment in America is influencing weak-minded individuals to launch violent assaults against the men and women working to enforce our laws and keep our nation safe.”
The annual report by the nonprofit National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund found that 50 officers were killed by guns this year, compared to 32 in 2013.
“Enough is enough. We need to tone down the rhetoric and rally in support of law enforcement and against lawlessness.”
In all, the report found that 126 federal, local, tribal and territorial officers were killed in the line of duty in 2014. That’s a 24 percent jump from last year’s 102 on-duty deaths. Shootings were the leading cause of officer deaths in 2014 followed by traffic-related fatalities, at 49.
The sharp increase in gun-related deaths among officers followed a dramatic dip in 2013, when the figure fell to levels not seen since the 19th century. This year’s uptick comes amid increased tension between police and the public following the high-profile deaths of unarmed black men by white police officers, including that of Eric Garner in New York and Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Read the rest of this entry »
pundit from another planet 