July 29: The Galveston County Daily News: Today we are seeing a lot more than $10 billion in new paper money rolling off the presses as the Fed continues to reduce the buying power of our money by increasing the paper money supply without an increase of productivity.  The Fed’s Balance sheet now carries over $3 trillion in paper purchases, greater than 15% of our economy.   We haven’t seen the full effect of significant inflation yet, but rest assured it’s on its way.  When interest rates start to increase the Federal debt through higher interest payments will negatively affect an already fragile economy.  When that day comes, we will be facing two choices: hyper-inflation or a jobless economy.  In the meantime the value of our money diminishes daily as does the long-term direction of our country’s credit rating.  Our nation must stop the printing presses, make real spending reductions -- not just reduce the amount of increased spending -- and return our nation to fiscal responsibility.  Otherwise our money “won’t be worth a continental!”

July 29: Roll Call: ObamaCare Defunding Fight Could Threaten Boehner Leverage, Message
The effort by conservatives in the House and Senate to threaten a government shutdown over Obamacare could force Speaker into the arms of House Democrats.  With 60 Republicans already pushing the Ohio Republican to defund Obamacare in any spending bill, the speaker may not be able to cobble together a House majority on a bill that President Barack Obama would sign without Democratic votes. And he’s not likely to get those votes for free. A dozen Republican senators led by Mike Lee (R-UT) already signed a letter vowing to vote against any continuing resolution that funds Obamacare. And Rep. Marlin Stutzman of Indiana — who helped torpedo GOP leaders’ first attempt at a farm bill — became the first House Republican last week to make the same absolutist pledge.  “I’m not going to vote for a continuing resolution that funds Obamacare,” Stutzman said in a July 25 release. “It makes no sense to spend another dime on a failed law that the president has already delayed.”

July 29: The Hill: Tax-exempt groups were IRS targets:
The IRS subjected conservative groups already granted tax-exempt status to additional scrutiny during the 2012 election cycle, House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) charged on Monday.   Issa called on a Treasury watchdog already looking into the IRS to investigate the matter, and signaled he would expand his committee’s probe into improper targeting of political groups given the new revelations.  Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), the ranking member on Issa’s panel, accused the chairman of pushing a “political narrative” by picking choice quotes and disregarding contrary evidence.

He said the Virginia-based Leadership Institute was audited in 2011 and 2012 for activities it engaged in during the 2008 election year, even though it had functioned as a tax-exempt organization since 1979.  It faced “invasive questions” — including about its interns and where they went on to work — and ended up turning over to the IRS more than 23,000 pages of documents at a cost of roughly $50,000 to comply with the inquiry, Issa said.  “It has come to the attention of the committee that in addition to inappropriate treatment given to some applicants for tax-exempt status, existing organizations already recognized as tax-exempt by the IRS, appear to have faced questionable treatment by the IRS,” Issa wrote Monday in a letter to the Treasury inspector general (IG) for tax administration.

July 29: The Hill: Watchdog requests IRS review of group that is promoting ObamaCare:
A watchdog group is asking the IRS to review the tax-exempt status of a organization crucial in helping to promote ObamaCare.  Cause of Action has asked the IRS to investigate Enroll America, a nonprofit that is encouraging people to enroll in new coverage options under the healthcare law. The watchdog group said Enroll America should not have received tax-exempt status because its work helps secure new customers for insurance companies.  “If Enroll America is designed to benefit insurance companies instead of the American public, then its charitable status no longer applies,” said Dan Epstein, executive director of Cause of Action. “An organization that has been granted tax deductible status but is actually depriving the American people of taxable revenue warrants an investigation.”

July 29: Roll Call: The Baucus-Camp Tax Road shows faces obstacles
Give them credit for this much: The top congressional tax writers are doing their level best to push for an overhaul of the nation’s outdated tax code. Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) have their own website, a Twitter handle and a road show.  The problem for Baucus and Camp is not Americans’ lack of interest in seeing their taxes get simpler — and possibly lower — but in the stark ideological differences between rank-and-file lawmakers when it comes to tax issues.

July 28: The Hill: Lee downplays ObamaCare shutdown threat: Government going to get funded:
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) on Sunday defended his efforts to block any funding bill that provides money to roll out the president's healthcare reforms and downplayed the chances those efforts could shutdown the government.  "We all know the government is going to get funded, the only question is if the government gets funded with ObamaCare or without it," said Lee on “Fox News Sunday.” "If we can delay it, we can stop its consequences at least for now."  Lee said he was not calling for a shutdown, given the impossible odds President Obama would sign a bill defunding his signature legislative achievement.

July 28: The Hill:  Obama: Speeches won’t make Obamacare popular
President Obama said he can't turn around public opinion on his signature healthcare law with a public-relations push, but insisted that the law will be popular once it is fully implemented.  Polls show the healthcare law is unpopular, and its approval ratings are falling. Disapproval topped 50 percent in a CBS News poll last week. 

July 28: Roll Call: Rush to the August Exits Makes for High-Stakes September
The final week before the August recess in a non-election year: Customarily, it’s the occasion for climactic votes on some of the most important matters of the year. This time, it will come and go with little more than a rhetorical torrent about how little’s been done to justify a five-week vacation.  That anticlimax will leave plenty of time for lawmakers to raise a self-aggrandizing fuss about how they really ought to stick around and start negotiating to avoid the next potential budget catastrophe. Members from both parties will join in, safe in the knowledge they won’t get their stated wish because nothing is more sacrosanct to Congress than summer break.  That “district work period” on the House calendar for the final week of September? Not so much.   When the lights get turned back on at the Capitol on Sept. 9, the two chambers will be in session for just eight days before House members are due to depart again, not to return until Sept. 30, the final day of fiscal 2013.

At the moment, it’s impossible to see how an agreement to keep the government open for the start of the new budget year can get done in those two weeks, given the Republican disorganization about how to approach the deadline and the resistance of the president and congressional Democrats to whatever the GOP might cook up.  But it’s also impossible to imagine House GOP leaders concluding it’s in their team’s political interest to leave Washington unless at least an initial stopgap deal gets done.  Republicans are headed toward 2014 with what looks like an insurmountable lead in the House, given their 16-vote cushion and the strong record of the party outside the Oval Office gaining seats in the second-term midterm. And they have a clear, if narrow, path to gain the six seats they’ll need to win back the Senate. An enormous political miscalculation of their own making looks to provide the only opportunity for them to lose the House, and the best opportunity to squander their Senate chances.

July 26: Politico:  The Fiscal Cliff and Funding the Federal Government all over again:
Not again.  That’s the message several national GOP strategists and some lawmakers have for Republicans hell bent on waging another fiscal fight this fall.  Once Congress returns from its August recess there’s an Oct. 1 due date for passing a continuing resolution to keep the government funded, and the nation is expected to hit its borrowing limit sometime between October and the end of the year.

House GOP leaders and many rank-and-file lawmakers appear to be itching for another showdown with the White House over raising the debt ceiling — one of the few real leverage points they have to deliver on their pledge to cut spending. In the Senate, a trio of potential 2016 GOP contenders — Marco Rubio of Florida, Ted Cruz of Texas, and Rand Paul of Kentucky — want to defund Obamacare as part of a deal to keep the government open. How those battles play out is likely to become a dominant political story line heading into the election year.

July 26: Roll Call: Administration and Holder may have just ruined their chance at updating the Voting Rights Act:
Republican members of the Lone Star State House delegation made their position clear to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Thursday: Don’t mess with Texas.  They also had another message for the head of the Justice Department: he might have just poisoned the well of future bipartisan House efforts to update the Voting Rights Act before the end of the 113th Congress.  “Ain’t gonna happen,” Rep. Joe L. Barton, R-TX, said.

Texas lawmakers’ ire arose after Holder’s announcement Thursday morning that his agency would join a lawsuit asking a federal court to force Texas to submit to a “preclearance” system, meaning the state would need DOJ approval before enacting any changes to its voting rules and regulations.  Texas, along with all or parts of 15 other states with a past history of racial discrimination at the polls, had been subject to such a preclearance regime under Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court struck down that provision on June 25, saying the formula used to identify covered states was outdated and arbitrary.

July 26: Politico: They might as well put a “Mess with Texas” bumper sticker on the Presidential limo!
They might as well put a “Mess with Texas” bumper sticker on the presidential limo. Attorney General Eric Holder’s announcement Thursday that he’s taking Texas to court over its voting laws is the latest battle between the White House and Lone Star State Republicans — and one that both sides are eager to have.  Texas vs. the Obama administration is one of most reliable shows in politics. Right from the start of President Barack Obama’s first term, Gov. Rick Perry refused to take stimulus money. He helped lead the opposition to Obamacare and has since refused to set up a state insurance exchange or expand Medicaid in his state. He never came across an Obama EPA regulation he didn’t challenge. And State Attorney General Greg Abbott has sued the federal government 27 times on everything from Obamacare to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

July 25: The Hill: Holder Targets Texas Voting Laws while northern states with voter integrity issues go unmentioned:
Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday took direct aim at Texas saying he will seek to require that the state of Texas clear all of its voting changes with the federal government, firing the opening salvo in a new battle over the Voting Rights Act.  "This is the department’s first action to protect voting rights following the Shelby County decision, but it will not be our last," Holder said in Philadelphia, according to prepared remarks. The Supreme Court last month ruled in Shelby County v. Holder that the voting law's requirement that states with a history of discrimination clear changes to their polling practices was unconstitutional, putting enforcement of the law in doubt.

But Holder, in a speech on Thursday at the National Urban League, said the Obama administration will try to revive the preclearance system in court and specifically targeting Texas.  "Today I am announcing that the Justice Department will ask a federal court in Texas to subject the State of Texas to a preclearance regime similar to the one required by Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act," Holder said.  The attorney general argued the move to put Texas under such a system is made possible by another portion of the voting law that the court did not strike down. He said states can be brought back under a "preapproval" process when "intentional voting discrimination is found."  He said a redistricting case last year provides all the evidence a court would need to bring Texas's voting laws under federal review.

"Based on the evidence of intentional racial discrimination that was presented last year in the redistricting case, Texas v. Holder — as well as the history of pervasive voting-related discrimination against racial minorities that the Supreme Court itself has recognized — we believe that the State of Texas should be required to go through a preclearance process whenever it changes its voting laws and practices," he said.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) blasted Holder's move as "demonstrating utter contempt for our country's system of checks and balances, not to mention the U.S. Constitution. This end-run around the Supreme Court undermines the will of the people of Texas, and casts unfair aspersions on our state's common-sense efforts to preserve the integrity of our elections process." 

July 25: Fox News: Holder Defies Court Ruling on Voting Rights Act and goes after Texas:
In a move that drew the ire of Texas officials, Attorney General Eric Holder's Justice Department asked a San Antonio-based federal court to force Texas to get permission from the federal government before it can make any additional changes to its voting and election laws.  The challenge to Texas' authority comes after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a portion of the Voting Rights Act. The high court’s 5-4 decision invalidated a rule that singled out certain states, like Texas and North Carolina, and forced them to get Justice Department approval before changing their election rules.  The court did not unravel the law itself, but questioned the validity of the allegedly outdated criteria used to select which states would be singled out. 

Following the decision, Holder had publicly pledged to aggressively use his department’s power to block or halt any new state laws it views as discriminatory. He took his first step in that direction on Thursday. Texas officials blasted the intervention. Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn accused Holder of trying to go around the high court. "This decision has nothing to do with protecting voting rights and everything to do with advancing a partisan political agenda," Cornyn said. 

July 25: The Hill: Texas GOP pans Holder Move on Voter ID
Texas Republicans on Thursday hammered the Obama administration's push to block their state’s new voting laws, arguing the president was singling out the Lone Star State.  The lawmakers say Thursday's surprise move by Attorney General Eric Holder asking a court to require “preclearance” of new Texas laws steps on states' rights, wastes taxpayer dollars and defies the Supreme Court's June decision to scrap a key part of the Voting Rights Act. “Once again, it's the federal government telling the states what they can and can't do,” said Rep.

Blake Farenthold (R-TX). “Even after some defeats on the Voting Rights Act in the Supreme Court, the administration still continues to thwart the will of the people of Texas.  We're ending up wasting the taxpayers' money when the court has already telegraphed that the Voting Rights Act is constitutionally infirm,” he added.

Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) argued that Holder “is trying to skirt the Supreme Court law” and “single out Texas.”  “My belief is [the] Voting Rights Act and those laws ought to be applied equally across states, and not played for political games, which is exactly what I see happening here,” Brady said. “Eric Holder [is] just singling us out – just skipped through the alphabet and happened to land on Texas.”

Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) also panned Holder's move, saying it fits the pattern of an agency that Republicans have long criticized as over-stepping its legal boundaries. “It's pretty much par for the course with this Department of Justice,” he said.  

The Voting Rights Act stipulated that such preclearance occur in Texas, but June's Supreme Court ruling scrapped the coverage formula, effectively eliminating the preclearance requirement.

July 25: Blumberg: Colorado face off anticipates high voter turnout in September:
The backlash against Colorado's toughest gun restrictions in a decade intensified as the laws took effect this month, with two Democratic state senators fighting unprecedented recall efforts and seven rural counties pushing to secede and form a 51st state.  Campaign finance reports show that most of the funding for the recall supporters came from within the state of Colorado while those supporting the candidates facing the recall are from a wide range of places including Hawaii, California, and Maryland.

July 25: The Daily Caller: Conservatives: Defund ObamaCare or shut down the government:
The Senate may be doing what the House had the opportunity to do earlier this year but failed to take action. Led by Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, a dozen senators sent a letter Thursday saying they will not support any resolution to continue funding the federal government if President Obama’s health-care law remains funded. Under current law, the government is funded until Sept. 30, meaning a continuing resolution needs to be passed to keep the government from shutting down. “The Obama Administration’s recent decision to delay Obamacare’s employer mandate and eligibility verification for the individual exchanges is further proof the law is a failure that will inevitably hurt businesses, American families, and the economy,” Lee said. “In light of this admission, I and several of my colleagues will be informing Sen. Reid that we will not vote for a continuing resolution that funds Obamacare,” he added.

July 25: The Daily Caller: Obama Calls scandals “Phony”
President Barack Obama said Wednesday that Republicans are trying to distract America from its economic problems by pushing “phony scandals.” Obama’s statement echoes a line repeatedly used by Carney to describe the IRS targeting scandal and other Obama administration headaches, including the National Security Agency surveillance and the Benghazi terrorist attack.

July 25: Fox News: Victim speaks out about “phony” scandals: [Video Clip]
It's like the Captain of the Titanic calling the iceberg phony! (Becky Gerritson)

July 25: The Daily Caller: Fireworks erupt between Carney and MSNBC Host:
White House press secretary Jay Carney appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Wednesday to discuss President Barack Obama’s recent “pivot” back to economic issues, however, host Joe Scarborough also wanted to discuss the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups, which a visibly irritated Carney. See the give and take.

July 25: Fox News: Benghazi hero fought alongside fallen Navy Seals, now recovering at Walter Reed Hospital:
One of the most severely wounded survivors of the Benghazi terror attack, Diplomatic Security agent David Ubben, risked his life to help save his fellow Americans, and is still being treated at Walter Reed medical center to this day, Fox News has learned. Ubben has had multiple surgeries at Walter Reed to save his right leg, which was badly wounded in the Sept. 11 attack.  Fox News has learned new details about Ubben's heroic actions on the night of the attack, including fighting alongside the former Navy SEALs who were later killed.  

July 23: WND News: Sixty Foot Petition Demands End to Benghazi Secrets:
It has been almost one year since the tragedy in Benghazi, Libya, where four Americans were killed and 10 others were injured in a terror attack. Included in those murdered that day were U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, and two Navy Seals, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods. But a lot of other information isn’t yet known about the attack that day.  So Special Operations Veterans have presented a petition of 1,000 names calling for a Select Committee in Congress to “end the cover-up” of the Benghazi scandal.  The petition is 60 feet long, and it was unrolled near the Capitol building Tuesday.

July 23: The Daily Caller: Senate Committee approves promotion for author of the Benghazi talking points:
One of the authors of the infamous State Department Benghazi talking points is on track for a promotion after passing a key congressional hurdle Tuesday.  Lawmakers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved by voice vote the promotion of Victoria Nuland to serve as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.  Nuland was previously the top spokeswoman at the State Department. Earlier this month, Nuland was grilled on Capitol Hill by Republicans about her involvement in crafting the department’s so called “talking points” during the aftermath of the attacks on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.

July 23: Fox News: Former military head says it was quite clear terrorists were behind Benghazi Attack:
The former head of U.S. forces in Africa, General Carter Ham, told the Aspen Security Forum that it quickly became clear the assault on the American consulate in Benghazi last year was a terrorist attack and not a spontaneous demonstration.  "It became apparent to all of us quickly that this was not a demonstration, this was a violent attack," Ham said.

July 23: Roll Call: House Members Game Plan for an August with their constituents -- Do GOP House Members need a script? 
When House Republicans retreat to their districts for the August recess, they will each be armed with a detailed guide — an exceptionally detailed guide — on how to assure their already convinced constituents that Washington is broken.  The August House Republican Conference planning kit, titled “Fighting Washington for All Americans,” offers a rare glimpse into the constituent outreach efforts of the GOP. Those efforts, it turns out, are highly calculated, hashtag-heavy and rife with references to the video app Vine.

The best way to stay in Washington appears to be to deride Washington, and Republican leadership isn’t going to deviate from that familiar formula. Of the many topics Republicans could delve into — the impending debt ceiling debate, immigration or, perhaps, the sequester — the 31-page GOP packet focuses on safer ground: Obamacare, jobs and the fierce hatred of all things Washington. It includes a cookbook of events largely aimed at whacking the Obama administration and highlighting House Republicans’ efforts to fight it — while using social media every step of the way.

There’s an “Emergency Health Care Town Hall,” for starters, with detailed recipes on where to hold the event, how to promote it — tweet it, Vine it, Instagram it, Facebook it — and how to hold an “impromptu” media availability to “frame the key takeaways.”  Riva Litman, the spokeswoman for Republican Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers said "in anticipation of the upcoming August recess, we’ve provided offices with a thorough and comprehensive planning kit — complete with suggested events, best practices and talking points,” Litman said. She noted that a second packet, complete with updated talking points, would be on its way to members soon.  The first kit offers variations on an old Washington favorite:
-  bashing Washington.  “Washington is out of control,” warns a “sample op-ed” titled “Fighting Washington for You.” 
-  Naturally, it’s not the specific member of Congress’ fault.  “But every day I serve in Congress, I work to fight Washington,” the theoretical House Republican declares in his or her theoretical op-ed.
The memo suggests the member use the op-ed to tout an event and promise attendees won’t get “another boring speech or more inside-the-beltway rhetoric.”
- Members should also consider an op-ed about the tea party-IRS scandal and the “rampant overreach of power by the Obama administration — and what House Republicans are doing to combat it.” (In the meantime take a look at this interesting post from March 2012,  long before the Congressional Hearings and the news coverage picked up the fight!)

It will be interesting to see how many of our local Texas Congressmen resort to the “play book!” 

July 23: Roll Call | The Hill: Obamacare or Government Shutdown? That’s the question:
If some get their way, what the House failed to do earlier this year may happen in the Senate!  Perhaps someone really is reading what we post on this Website!  The action we proposed for the House back on February 6th may be gaining ground in the Senate as we approach funding federal agencies while defunding ObamaCare. 

With the new fiscal year starting 10 weeks from today, and the budget process on a collision course with total impasse, it was only a matter of time before talks of a government shutdown would bubble to the Capitol surface.  But the latest threat from Sen. Mike Lee is creating a new avenue for melodrama in the process. The Utah Republican says he has already signed up 13 fellow fiscal conservatives for his campaign to prevent enactment of any spending measures that permit the government to spend money implementing Obamacare. And he’s promising he’ll searching for more budget hawks, on both sides of the Capitol, to join his cause. “If Republicans in both houses simply refuse to vote for any continuing resolution that contains further funding for further enforcement of Obamacare, we can stop it,” Lee said Monday on Fox News. “We can stop the individual mandate from going into effect.”

July 23: The Hill: Heritage Action backs spending bill threat to stop ObamaCare:
An conservative advocacy group on Tuesday endorsed using the threat of a government shutdown to defund ObamaCare.  Heritage Action on Tuesday goaded lawmakers to support House and Senate bills to defund the healthcare law, and urged them to link the measures to "must-pass" legislation, such as a bill to fund the government.  Proponents of the plan argue that it's the only way to kill the Affordable Care Act before the law's major provisions take effect next year.  "If Congress chooses not to fund ObamaCare activities for the upcoming fiscal year, the Obama administration cannot act to implement the law," Heritage Action stated in a memo.

July 23: The Hill: Bill limiting EPA power draws veto threat from White House:
The White House is promising to veto a House bill that would impose new checks on regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  The legislation would waste time and money, the administration said, “thereby delaying or permanently preventing EPA from fulfilling its legal obligations to protect public health and the environment.”  The Energy Consumers Relief Act, introduced by Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) in April, would require the agency to submit a report to Congress on any energy rules that are anticipated to cost over $1 billion before they can be finalized, and allow the Energy Department to block rules that will cause “significant adverse effects to the economy.”

In its report to Congress, the EPA would have to include costs, benefits and impacts to jobs and energy prices of the new rule.  Currently, agencies already need to submit to Congress the cost-benefit analyses of any “major” rule projected to cost over $100 million each year. Requiring more reports, the White House said, “would require agencies to waste limited analytical resources on a duplicative analysis.”  The legislation passed out of the Energy and Commerce Committee along party lines, 25-18.

July 23: The Hill: Senate GOP prods Obama on Keystone Pipeline Project:
Senate Republicans are threatening a showdown on the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline that could derail an energy efficiency bill for the second year in a row.   Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) on Tuesday said a previous offer he made to secure a hearing on the pipeline would no longer be enough to keep the GOP from offering an amendment to the energy bill that would seek approval of the project.  He said Republicans would push the pipeline amendment unless President Obama sets a date for a final decision on whether the project can move forward or if Senate leadership agrees to a separate, stand-alone vote on Keystone.  “For us to hold off, we’d need something. And it’s not just my sense; it’s really the sense of my colleagues. Every single member of my conference has voted for this and will again,” Hoeven told reporters after a Washington event hosted by The Hill and the American Petroleum Institute.

Hoeven told reporters earlier this month that he'd discussed a potential hearing on the pipeline with Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR). That, he suggested, would be enough to ward off a Keystone amendment to comprehensive energy efficiency legislation co-sponsored by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Rob Portman (R-OH).  But Hoeven said his GOP colleagues rejected that offer.

July 23: Fox News:  Oh Come On!  A Military Chaplin for Atheists?
Members of Congress are set to square off over a push to create military chaplains for people who do not believe in God.  The effort to create a chaplain for atheists and "humanists" has been building over the last several weeks. While the title might sound inherently contradictory, supporters say the point is to give atheists in the military someone who will pro-actively reach out to them and facilitate meetings.  Jason Torpy, president of the Military Association of Atheists and Free Thinkers, claims that 23 percent of those in the military ranks assert no religious preference. And he argues chaplains are not providing enough "positive outreach and support" in the way "they do for all of those beliefs that aren't their own." 

As might be expected, the campaign is running into some heated criticism.  Lawmakers turned away a Democratic-sponsored amendment last month that would have created the post -- and now, Republicans are trying to formally quash the idea, with an amendment to a defense budget bill that would require military chaplains to be affiliated with a particular faith.  "When it comes to the idea of an atheist chaplain, which is an oxymoron -- it's self-contradictory -- what you're really doing is now saying that we're going to replace true chaplains with non-chaplain chaplains," said sponsor Rep. John Fleming, R-LA "It's just total nonsense, the idea of having a chaplain who is an atheist." 

July 22: The Daily News: Anti-abortion and abortion rights supporters stand face to face in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. during the annual March For Life rally in 2012. Three former candidates write that the country can debate the abortion issue and pass laws, but a fundamental moral change in heart is needed.

Photo by Manuel Balce Ceneta, The Associated Press

July 21: Politico: Another Round of Nominees Faces Scrutiny – The Nuclear Option?
The Senate’s agreement to approve President Barack Obama’s nominees and avoid the “nuclear option” will expire later this week after senators are expected to vote in two new members to the National Labor Relations Board. That’s the last part of the deal that expedited seven of Obama’s picks, with the president agreeing to choose two NLRB nominees to satisfy Republicans.  But there’s already a queue forming of new Obama nominees, and Republicans aren’t about to lay down and let this group go through.

From Left to Right: Rand Paul (R-KY), John McCain (R-AZ), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Harry Reid (D-NV) Barbara Boxer (D-CA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Charles Grassley (R-IA)

Rep. Mel Watt’s nomination to lead a key housing agency appears in peril. The top Judiciary Committee Republican is slowing down Obama’s pick to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is hinting at another talking filibuster — this time of the FBI director nominee — in order to get information on the president’s drone program.  Even Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who some are calling a RINO [Republican in Name Only] and who was instrumental in reaching the deal with Majority Leader Harry Reid last week, said he would hold the nomination of Army General martin Dempsey to lead the Joint Chiefs of Staff until he gets more information on U.S. military intervention in Syria.

The Republican caucus is already experiencing rifts over the white-knuckle deal on the nuclear option. Senators who worked with Democrats voted opposite their leadership, which distanced itself from the agreement through votes against Obama’s nominees, reflecting the right-leaning composition of the majority of the Senate GOP and potentially complicating future agreements to avoid rules changes. “The implication that somehow now Republicans are just going to roll over on these nominations is very wrong,” said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, a member of GOP leadership. “If we’ve got members who raise red flags about particular nominees, yeah, the rest of us pay pretty close attention to that,” he added. Both sides agree there was no handshake agreement to clear the path for future executive branch nominees. Reid didn’t agree to give up his ability to try and alter the rules by a majority vote and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell declined to shelve his members’ filibuster abilities.

July 20: The Hill: GOP urges Senate to delay ObamaCare’s individual mandate:
House Republicans on Saturday called on the Senate to vote to delay ObamaCare's individual mandate since businesses will not be required to provide healthcare coverage until 2015. Reps. Todd Young (R-IN) and Tim Griffin (R-AR), sponsors of a bill to delay the mandate that passed the House on Wednesday, delivered the weekly GOP address. Young and Griffin accused Democrats and the White House of ignoring the needs of individuals by opposing their legislation.

July 20: CNN: Former General: Knew early that Benghazi was a terrorist attack:
The former head of U.S. forces in Africa said the September 11, 2012, attack on the American mission in Benghazi quickly appeared to be a terrorist attack and not a spontaneous protest. It was clear "pretty quickly that this was not a demonstration. This was a violent attack," former Gen. Carter Ham told the Aspen Security Forum on Friday. Ham is the former chief of U.S. Africa Command, commonly known as AFRICOM. Five days after the attack, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice went on the Sunday news shows to say it was the result of a spontaneous demonstration, not a terrorist strike.

July 20: The Daily Mail: Pentagon does about-face on key Benghazi witness, makes colonel available to Congress:
The U.S. Department of Defense has agreed to make available to Congress a Marine Corps colonel who was in command of U.S. Special Forces in Northern Africa on the night armed terrorists staged a military-style assault on an American diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya.

July 19: Fox News: Wolf says Benghazi survivors were asked to sign Non-disclosure agreements:
Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., is calling on the Obama administration to explain why the survivors of last year's deadly attack in Benghazi, Libya, were reportedly asked to sign non-disclosure agreements that prevent them from talking about the attack

July 19: Fox News: Judge grants exemption for Hobby Lobby in ObamaCare challenge:
Hobby Lobby Inc. was given a temporary exemption Friday from a requirement in the new federal health care law to offer insurance coverage for the morning-after pill and similar emergency birth control methods or face steep fines.   Hobby Lobby Inc. was given a temporary exemption Friday from a requirement in the new federal health care law to offer insurance coverage for the morning-after pill and similar emergency birth control methods or face steep fines.  U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton issued the preliminary injunction for the Oklahoma City-based arts and crafts chain and stayed the case until Oct. 1 to give the federal government time to consider filing an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.  Heaton, who rejected the companies' request to block the mandate in November, issued the injunction less than a month after the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the companies were likely to prevail in the case. Heaton ruled last month that the company would not be subject to fines of up to $1.3 million a day for not offering the birth control methods. 

July 19: Fox News: Senators recommend moving economic summit out of Russia due to Snowden affair:
Senators Schumer and Graham urged President Barack Obama on Friday to consider recommending a new site for the September international summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, if Moscow continues to allow National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden to remain in the country.

July 19: The Daily Caller: Retiring IRS Lawyer implicated Obama appointee in testimony:
Retiring IRS lawyer Carter C. Hull’s testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, in which he implicated an Obama appointee, ensuring that the IRS proceedings last through the summer, according to insiders close to the situation. Hull has already implicated Obama-appointed IRS chief counsel William Wilkins and Washington-based IRS official Lois Lerner in his testimony.

July 19: Politico: Colorado Recall Election Moves Forward
For the first time in Colorado history, two state lawmakers will face recall elections for their support of tougher gun control measures. Colorado’s Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper signed an executive order on Thursday setting the date for the recall elections of the pair of Democratic state senators. Under pressure of a campaign by the NRA, Senate State President John Morse and Pueblo Sen. Angela Giron will face the first recall effort in Colorado history.

July 19: Politico: Durbin’s Committee to Hold Hearings on Stand Your Ground laws
– expect probe of NRA & American Legislative Exchange Council:
The Senate’s No. 2 Democrat will hold a hearing on “stand your ground” laws this Fall. Dick Durbin of Illinois announced on Friday that his Senate Judiciary subcommittee will hear testimony on state laws that give citizens the right of lethal force to defend themselves in situations where they feel their life is threatened, measures which are on the books in some form in dozens of states.   Durbin’s hearing will probe the roles of the NRA and the American Legislative Exchange Council — which helps draft conservative legislation in statehouses — in the crafting of the “stand your ground” laws, his office said.

July 18: The Daily Caller: DC’s “living wage” law is a dead end! Those who conceived it don’t understand the free market:
Wal-Mart’s decision to revaluate its plans to open a number of new stores in Washington, DC — due to the city passing a new ‘living wage’ law — has elicited the predictable outrage from the left. Unfortunately, DC lawmakers don't understand free market economics as they push their own agenda and now Wal-Mart is pulling out and some 1,800 that might have been are going with them.

July 18: Politico: Immigration could hinge on August recess:
The White House and its immigration reform allies are banking on the August recess as their next — and possibly last — major opportunity to compel House Republicans to act. With the issue stalled in the House, the month-long congressional break is the linchpin of a campaign that President Barack Obama, Senate immigration leaders and a broad coalition of groups now expect they’ll have to wage through the end of the year. They realize they must make progress in the next month to stand any chance of keeping the issue alive into the fall.

July 17: The Daily Caller: Man Cites Biden’s Advice in Defense of His Shooting Shotgun in the Air:
Vice President Joe Biden’s self-defense advice — warding off potential intruders with two shotgun blasts outside the house — has had an impact on at least one man. Jeffery Barton, a 52-year-old Vancouver, Wash. resident, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges stemming from his decision to chase alleged car intruders away with a shotgun blast in the air. He cited Biden’s advice as his inspiration, according to a local news report.  “I did what Joe Biden told me to do, I went outside and fired my shotgun in the air.”

July 17: The Daily Caller: House Votes to Delay ObamaCare Individual Mandate Implementation:
The House voted Wednesday to delay implementation of the individual mandate in ObamaCare until 2015. Twenty-two Democrats joined almost all Republicans in approving the bill 251-174. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) was the sole Republican to oppose the bill.  The vote follows an announcement from the White House two weeks ago that it would delay implementation of the employer mandate, which would penalize businesses that did not provide health insurance for their employees until 2015. The announcement sparked renewed vocal fervor among Republicans for doing away with the law entirely.

July 17: Roll Call: More on the ObamaCare Vote in the House – Political posturing for Democrats:
An unusually stern veto threat by President Barack Obama — aimed at a bill codifying his own administration’s health policy — has sparked incredulity from the GOP but may help rank-and-file Democrats faced with a political dilemma.  Reporters say the GOP was hoping to trap House Democrats into voting for Obama’s decision to delay the employer health insurance mandate for a year and then against delaying the individual mandate the administration still plans to enforce.  As Congressman Kevin Brady (R-TX) put it to a Treasury official at a Ways and Means Committee hearing Wednesday morning, why are business owners like Warren Buffett getting a break, but Joe Sixpack isn’t?

July 17: The Daily Caller | Fox News(Video): IRS Lawer says scandal was overseen by D.C. and names names:
Top IRS officials in Washington, D.C. planned and oversaw the agency’s improper targeting of conservative groups, according to the 72-year old retiring IRS lawyer who will testify Thursday before the House Oversight Committee. Retiring IRS lawyer Carter C. Hull implicated the IRS Chief Counsel’s office and Lois Lerner, the embattled head of the IRS’ exempt organizations office, in the IRS targeting scandal and made clear that the targeting started in Washington, according to leaked interviews that Hull granted to the Oversight Committee in advance of Thursday’s hearing.

July 17: Roll Call: NLRB Recess Picks found unconstitutional by a third court:
One day after senators struck a deal to replace two contested recess appointees to the National Labor Relations Board and stay away from the “nuclear option,” a third federal appeals court said the appointments were not valid.  This time, the federal appeals court based in Richmond, VA, declined to enforce NLRB orders, saying that three recess appointments to the NLRB were improper.  “We conclude that the President’s three January 4, 2012 appointments to the Board are constitutionally infirm, because the appointments were not made during ‘the Recess of the Senate.’ Accordingly, we deny the Board’s applications for enforcement of its orders,” two members of a three-judge panel from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held Wednesday.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday that he thought the NLRB appointments would eventually be declared valid by the Supreme Court, even though they came about when the Senate was at least nominally in pro-forma session every three days.

July 17: The Hill: White House signals Obama may snub Putin over Snowden asylum:
The White House for the second day in a row signaled President Obama could scrap planned one-on-one talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin next month in Moscow if Edward Snowden is granted asylum in that country. White House press secretary Jay Carney on Wednesday refused to elaborate on the president’s autumn travel plans, admitting it was possible he was being “deliberately vague.”

July 17: Roll Call: GOP leader looking for ways to restore parts of the Voting Rights Act:
Key lawmakers vowed Wednesday to ensure the full Voting Rights Act is restored to full strength, following the Supreme Court’s June decision to strike down part of the law.  Congressman Sensenbrenner (R-WI), the GOP negotiator of the law’s most recent reauthorization, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that the high court decision “severely weakened the protections both Republicans and Democrats fought hard to preserve” and that he already is working on a response to deal with the new gaps in the law.  “The Voting Rights Act is the most successful of all civil rights acts in actually limiting discrimination. We cannot afford to lose it now,” the former House Judiciary chairman said. “I’m working to pass a constitutional response to the Shelby v. Holder decision.”

In front of his Senate colleagues, however, Sensenbrenner conceded the challenges he faces in the GOP-controlled House. When he pushed to reauthorize the legislation in 2006, it was in part because he feared that when he surrendered his gavel to caucus-imposed term limits, his successor would not work to re-up the law.  “Sometimes the difference between [the House] and the Senate is the difference between here and the moon,” Sensenbrenner said.

July 16: Fox News: Senate slowly backs away from the Nuclear Option:
Senate leaders slowly stepped away from a major showdown over presidential nominees on Tuesday, as Republicans dropped their opposition to a key appointee and Democrats offered a significant concession in return -- the withdrawal of two controversial labor board picks.  By Tuesday afternoon, lawmakers were describing the arrangement as a tentative "deal" that could avert an ugly stand-off. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid earlier had demanded that Republicans advance and approve at least seven nominees or face a controversial rule change that could drain their power. But Reid confirmed late Tuesday that things were cooling down. 

The Senate approved some of the Obama nominees. In return, Republicans expect President Obama to withdraw two controversial nominees to the National Labor Relations Board, Richard Griffin and Sharon Block. In their places, officials said Obama intends to nominate Nancy Schiffer, a former top lawyer for the AFL-CIO, and Kent Hirozawa, NLRB counsel. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he was pleased by this apparent concession. 

July 15: The Hill: Last-ditch meeting of senators ends without deal on the nuclear option:
Senate Democrats and Republicans left a rare joint caucus meeting Monday evening without a deal to prevent Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) from going “nuclear” and changing the chamber’s rules. Some lawmakers expressed hope Reid and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) would strike a deal by Tuesday morning but no agreement appeared in sight shortly before 10 p.m. Monday. “The night is late, we’ve [had] no breaks, we’ve been going steady,” Reid told reporters after the meeting. “We’ve had a very good conversation. The conversation is going to continue to tonight. The votes are scheduled for 10 o’clock in the morning.”

Reid reiterated Monday that he could trigger the so-called nuclear option as early as Tuesday if Republicans do not agree to give up-or-down votes to seven of President Obama’s pending nominees.
By going nuclear, Reid would change the Senate’s rules to allow the nominees to be confirmed with a simple-majority vote. The rule change would prevent the minority from filibustering nominations, which requires the majority to win 60 votes to get a nominee confirmed.

If Reid takes the controversial step, Republicans warn they will retaliate by enacting future rules changes that would allow the repeal of ObamaCare or other Democratic priorities with a majority Senate vote if they regain power. Republicans remained hopeful of a compromise Monday.

July 15: The Galveston County Daily News: Monday Column:
Government programs that encourage people to live on the dole while foolishly increasing our debt, or which encourage an ever increasing reliance on government assistance are enslaving not freeing.  These programs should be phased out for citizen and non-citizen alike.  The saying give a man a fish and he will be hungry tomorrow but teach him how to fish and tomorrow he will provide for himself applies.  Those who come here to get for a free handout should find there are none.  Those who come here to work hard and contribute should be welcomed and encouraged.  Many who are already here fit this mold.

The immigration debate should not be about who will get more votes and who will, as a result, get more power.   Immigration should be about building our country, accepting and encouraging those who will work hard.  We are about America and building a nation of people who will work together for freedom, enjoy freedom, and bringing his/her own gifts and talents to the table that we might once more be a light to the world.  We hope you agree!

July 15: Politico: Michael Steele: “Let the nuclear option rain”
Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele says Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid should go ahead and invoke the nuclear option — but it’ll bite him in 2014. “I look at it this way: Let the nuclear option rain. Let it rain,” Steele told MSNBC’s Chuck Todd on Monday morning, referring to the effort by Reid to lower the vote threshold for presidential nominees from 60 to 51.  Steele said he welcomes the move for “future presidents, and for future leadership.”  “I mean look, the reality of it is, Harry Reid, this will come back and bite you when we take the Senate in 2014. So then you live in that world, you know flip it back and forth, let it go,” Steele said. 

July 15: The Daily Caller: Protesters descend on Capitol to march against “amnesty” for American jobs:
Hundreds of people from across the country marched, sweated and called for lawmakers to end the push for “amnesty” on Capitol Hill Monday. Organized by the Black American Leadership Alliance, the protestors marched in scorching heat from Freedom Plaza to Capitol Hill, where they rallied in a demonstration against current immigration reform attempts.

July 15: Politico: Should Glass-Steagall be reinstituted limiting bank involvement in commercial enterprises?
The Federal Reserve’s point man on overseeing the banking industry on Monday questioned the benefit of reinstating a Depression-era law that would separate commercial and investment banking activities — an idea being championed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and John McCain (R-AZ). 

July 15: Fox News: Pennsylvania court hears arguments over controversial voter ID law:
Opening arguments were held Monday in Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court over the state’s controversial requirement that all voters in this key swing state provide photo I.D. when voting. The law has been in place for the last three elections but has not yet been enforced because of temporary injunctions.  The issue: does the existence of a voter I.D. law bar people from exercising their right to vote? 

“Voter I.D. is constitutional,” says Nils, Hagen-Frederiksen, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Governor’s Office of General Counsel.  “The trial is about the implementation,” he says. “Right now, in Pennsylvania, any eligible voter that needs an I.D. can get an I.D. free of charge.”  Supporters contend that voter I.D. will prevent voter fraud and ensure the integrity of the electoral process. But opponents charge that it will disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of people, especially minorities, who do not have a photo I.D., and that the measure was a Republican-led effort that was enacted for political reasons.

“This will disproportionately affect persons of color, Latinos, African-Americans and also certain populations. Our elderly really have a hard time getting I.D.,” says Pennsylvania Democratic State Representative Vanessa Lawry Brown, Chairwoman of the state’s Black Caucus. “This is a national agenda that is sweeping through our country, and unfortunately Pennsylvania is one of those battleground states that has been selected to implement this law,” she told Fox News.

The plaintiffs say the state has submitted that there is no evidence of voter fraud, but others have documented problems. In detailed report issued in July of last year, Philadelphia Republican City Commissioner Al Schmidt found “hundreds of cases of voting irregularities” during the 2012 Primary election in that city, such as “voting by non-registered individuals, voting by individuals in the incorrect party’s primary, voter impersonation, voting by non-U.S. citizens,” and “voting more than once.”

July 15: The Daily Caller: Unions protest EPA regulations causing coal plant closings:
In the wake of recently announced coal plant closings, Pennsylvania unions are speaking out against strict federal environmental regulations. Union members held a rally Friday to protest policies aimed at promoting clean energy, but which local workers believe cripple the coal industry. “In the war on coal, we are not going to surrender, and you are the soldiers who are going to fight back,”Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Tim Murphy said to the crowd of about 150 workers outside the Boilermakers Local 154 union hall.

Recently it was announced that FirstEnergy Corp. was shuttering two Pennsylvania coal plants due to poor market conditions and strict Environmental Protection Agency rules. The EPA’s Mercury Air Toxics Standards, or MATS, would require the company spend $275 million to upgrade the two plants. “Make your case with the American people. Have some accountability. But what’s been happening with the EPA and other groups is they have no accountability,” Murphy said. “They come up with regulations and they don’t explain them to us. Well, I’m going to make sure they do, and when they do I’m going to make sure it’s done with scientific rigor and not just someone making up a formula and saying that’s the way it’s going to be.”

July 14: The Daily Caller: Cruz tries to defund Obamacare, slams President for playing 2014 politics:
Ted Cruz has introduced a bill in the Senate to defund Obamacare and slammed President Obama for revising his health-care policy strategy in order to win the 2014 midterm elections. Cruz is currently spearheading the Defund Obamacare Act of 2013, which has little chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate. Georgia Republican Rep. Tom Graves introduced the bill in the House, marking the fourth time that Graves has introduced the Defund Obamacare Act. Graves’ first three attempts to pass the bill, the most recent of which came in March, all failed.  Republicans in the Senate minority, realizing that efforts to defund Obamacare hinge on the outcome of the 2014 elections, when 33 Senate seats will be up for grabs, are now ramping up their rhetoric and testing out their political clout.

July 14: Fox News: House to vote on ObamaCare, says delay of employer mandate is unfair:
House Republicans will vote this week to delay the part of ObamaCare requiring Americans to buy health insurance by next year, arguing that President Obama recently delaying the part of the law requiring employers to offer health insurance is a corporate favor that slights struggling, average Americans. In announcing the vote last week, House Speaker John Boehner said the Republican-controlled chamber also will vote to delay the so-called employer mandate because such decisions require congressional authority, then rattled off a list of reasons why delaying only the employer mandate is unfair. “If you’re a software company making billions in profits, you’re exempt from ObamaCare next year,” he said Friday. “But if you’re a 28-year-old struggling to pay-off your student loans, you’re not. … Is it fair for the president to give American businesses an exemption from his health law’s mandates without giving the same break to the rest of America? Hell no.”

July 14: The Daily Caller:
White House holds Obamacare background briefing with liberal reporters, The Daily Caller not invited!
The White House held a background briefing Friday to discuss Obamacare implementation with a handful of journalists from liberal and progressive outlets. Slate blogger Matthew Yglesias posted a photograph to Instagram Friday featuring himself and other liberal journalists at the White House, with the caption “#thistown.” Yglesias’ photograph features American Prospect staff writer Jamelle Bouie and MSNBC’s Benjy Sarlin attending the briefing.

July 14: The Daily Caller:  Ben Carson: Obama’s “redistribution ideology” harms race reletions:
In an exclusive [VIDEO] interview with The Daily Caller, Ben Carson said “I don’t think he [Obama] has been particularly helpful, particularly with respect to his redistribution ideology. Because he’s made a lot of people think that that’s all that the blacks want — they want to get our money and to get our wealth, and they think that we owe them this and that, and of course there are a lot of people of all races who do not believe that.”

July 14: The Hill: Snowden creates new headaches, distractions for White House:
National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden is vowing to create more headaches for President Obama after emerging Friday to request temporary asylum in Russia. After a three-week stay in the transit zone of a Moscow airport, Snowden made a public appearance on Friday at a meeting with human rights groups. Snowden said in a statement that he would once again request asylum in Russia so he could secure legal travel to the Latin American countries that would take him in.  

July 14: The Daily Caller:
Obama uses Zimmerman verdict to urge less gun violence and more federal intervention:
The President made a short statement that began by declaring that “the death of Trayvon Martin was a tragedy. Not just for his family, or for any one community, but for America.” But he quickly harnessed the controversy to his ongoing effort to curb citizens’ ownership of guns.  “We should ask ourselves if we’re doing all we can to stem the tide of gun violence that claims too many lives across this country on a daily basis. We should ask ourselves, as individuals and as a society, how we can prevent future tragedies like this. As citizens, that’s a job for all of us. That’s the way to honor Trayvon Martin,” Obama said.

July 14: The Hill: Reid: Low approval of Congress justifies triggering the nuclear option in the Senate:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) argued on Sunday that rules reform is needed in Congress because it has a lower approval rating that North Korea. “Is there anyone out there in the real world that believes that what’s going on in Congress of the United States is good? Our approval rating is lower than North Korea’s,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press”.

Republicans have charged that triggering the nuclear option, which Reid is weighing, will destroy the character of the Senate. They say if Reid changes the filibuster rule with a special tactic that requires only 51 votes, it would amount to “breaking the rules to change the rules.”  Under the chamber’s standing rules, 67 votes are needed to make changes. Reid sought to minimize the reform he wants to implement with the nuclear option, so dubbed because it will likely cause a meltdown in bipartisan relations. 

Meanwhile Senate Minority Leader McConnell hopes senators “come to our senses and avoid the nuclear option”
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) on Sunday said he hopes Republicans and Democrats will strike a last-minute deal to avoid the nuclear option. Republicans have proposed a rare joint caucus meeting of the two sides to hash out a dispute over President Obama’s controversial nominees, who have waited months for Senate confirmation. McConnell said he hopes that will persuade Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to back off a plan to change the filibuster rule with a simple-majority vote. “We have an opportunity to pull back from the brink in this joint meeting that we’re going to have [with] all senators in the Old Senate Chamber Monday night,” he said in an NBC “Meet the Press” interview. “I hope we’ll come to our senses and not change the core of the Senate.”

McConnell said the fight boils down to only three nominees: Richard Cordray, Obama’s pick to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and his selections to serve on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Obama recess-appointed those three nominees in January of last year but the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the move unconstitutional because the Senate was holding periodic ceremonial sessions. “It really comes down to three appointments that the federal courts have told us were unconstitutionally recess appointed, two members of the NLRB and the CFBP,” he said.

July 11: Fox News | Roll Call: House passes farm bill after stripping food stamps out of the bill:
The House on Thursday narrowly passed a massive farm bill, after Republicans took the risky step of carving out the food stamp program -- a move Democrats effectively boycotted.  The bill passed on a 216-208 vote. Zero Democrats voted for it. 

House Democrats spent most of the afternoon lambasting their Republican colleagues for dropping the food stamp component, making clear that House Speaker John Boehner would need to rely on Republicans only to pass the bill. After some marathon nose-counting, GOP leaders were able to minimize the number of Republican defectors -- just 12 Republicans voted against it on Thursday.  The farm bill historically has been a vehicle for both billions in farm subsidies and billions in food stamps. Twinning the two massive programs has in the past helped win support from rural-state lawmakers and those representing big cities. But after the bill failed in the House last month amid opposition from rank-and-file Republicans, House leaders removed the food stamp portion in a bid to attract conservative support. 

The fate of the measure is unclear, though, as the matter now kicks back to the Senate or to a so-called conference committee to resolve differences between the two chambers' bills. The Democratic-led Senate overwhelmingly passed a farm bill with smaller cuts to food stamps, but would be reluctant to go along with a bill that carves out food stamps.  Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), said splitting the bill would be a "major mistake" -- though she has also indicated a willingness to try building off anything the House passes.  The White House has vowed to veto. A statement released overnight said that the food stamp program "is a cornerstone of our nation's food assistance safety net, and should not be left behind as the rest of the Farm Bill advances." 

July 11: Roll Call: Senate Majority Leader plans on bringing the “Nuclear Option” to the floor next week;
If it passes and the GOP takes the Senate, he may be sorry he did so:
All systems are go for the “nuclear option” on the floor of the Senate, unless Republicans decide to meet a demand they have viewed as untenable. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), told reporters after a caucus luncheon Thursday that he has the votes to get rid of the ability to filibuster executive branch nominations. Reid came to floor later in the afternoon to file motions to limit debate on seven executive branch nominations, with votes lined up for next week. “We want to break gridlock and make Washington work for America, particularly for the middle class,” Reid said. “The first step is to stop blocking the president’s nominees.” “We’re not interested in cutting a deal to pass one or two or three nominees. The president deserves to have his team in place, and there are no more major objections to the qualifications of any of these nominees,” Reid said. “All we need is six [GOP votes] to invoke cloture. Let them vote against these people.”

During another heated floor exchange, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), snapped that Reid would come to be viewed as the worst leader in the chamber’s history. McConnell tried to set up a unanimous consent agreement to process a slew of nominations more quickly next week, but Reid objected, noting that the consent might lead to a GOP-majority on the National Labor Relations Board if two recess appointees expire. McConnell has said that most of the nominees on the list will likely be confirmed, including Gina McCarthy to be EPA administrator and Thomas E. Perez to be Labor secretary. McConnell’s list would have sped up votes on those nominees likely to overcome attempted filibusters. But the nominations of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and two choices for the NLRB are the most likely to bring about the actual floor standoff. Those three individuals hold recess appointments that Senate Republicans have challenged in court. Thus far, federal courts have agreed that the appointments are not legal.

July 11: Fox News: Student Loan Deal Hits a $22 Billion Bump:
A possible agreement that would lower interest rates on student loans hit a major bump on Thursday after it emerged that it may cost $22 billion over the next 10 years. The proposal was designed to offer Democrats the promise that interest rates would not reach 10 percent and to give Republicans a link between borrowing terms and the financial markets that they sought. But at that cost, the bipartisan coalition behind it decided to push pause and return to negotiations to bring that cost down. A Senate aide confirmed the estimate to Fox News, which has not been widely released, and said that talks would continue in order to reach a deal: “So it’s back to the negotiating table. A compromise is necessary and remains the goal. The CBO score demonstrates to both sides how costly a cap can be to taxpayers.”

July 11: Fox News: State Department Official grilled over Benghazi at confirmation hearing:
The debate over the Benghazi terror attack flared once again Thursday as senators grilled a diplomatic nominee (Nuland) over her role in massaging the Obama administration's initial story-line on the attack.

July 11: The Daily Caller: Only 25% want Obama’s comprehensive immigration reform, Survey Shows:
Two more polls released Thursday show continuing weak public support for President Barack Obama’s top-priority policy of increased immigration.

July 11: The Daily Caller: Connecting the Dots on the cost of Obama’s environmental strategy:
Did the Obama administration tinker with an obscure White House estimate to make its sweeping environmental agenda seem less costly? “Connecting the dots, it’s clear the administration updated the social cost of carbon, without much notice, in order to justify sprawling new regulations,” said Rep. Duncan Hunter [R-CA]. “And not long after, the president pulls back the curtain on a new agenda that will lean heavily on rule making, and now there’s a clear line of sight into the administration’s plans.”
President Barack Obama unveiled his plan to address “global warming” late last month, but about three weeks before the announcement, the White House quietly released an update on its estimates for the social cost of carbon – buried in a rule regarding microwave ovens.

July 10: Fox News: Colorado Democrats await dates for their recall election over gun control votes:
Two Colorado Democrats targeted for recall elections for supporting the state's new gun control laws were pursuing legal challenges to avoid going back to the ballot this year after failing to have the recall efforts thrown out. Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper must set the date.  The special election must be held within 60 days of Hickenlooper receiving certification paperwork on the recall petitions from the secretary of state, which was submitted Monday, according to The Denver Post.

July 10: The Daily Caller: Federal Judge refuses to block Colorado ban on high-capacity magazines:
A federal judge in Den

July 10: Politico: House to IRS: It’s Payback Time!
It’s payback time for the agency Congress loves to hate.  After two months of pummeling the IRS in the wake of the tea party targeting scandal, Republicans are trying to starve the agency of its funding and ensure $70 million in scheduled bonuses aren’t paid out while handing more money to the watchdog charged with keeping tabs on the tax collectors. The total hit in the House Appropriations bill would take $4 Billion from the President's request and leave the agency with $9 Billion to carry out its responsibilities.

July 10: The Daily Caller:
Krauthammer: Not enforcing ObamaCare employer mandate is “unconstitutional”
On Tuesday’s broadcast of Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor,” Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer called President Barack Obama’s 2010 health care reform law a "bait and switch"  and said the administration’s recent move to delay the employer mandate is unconstitutional. Elaborating on a claim he made earlier in the week, Krauthammer explained that the postponement of certain provisions of the law — including the delay until 2015 of the requirements that employers provide coverage to employees and that beneficiaries show proof of income — creates more problems. “Look, the promise of this president was Obamacare won’t cost a penny now,” Krauthammer said. “Anybody who’s got a mind would understand if you’re going to give health care to 30 million people who haven’t had it — there is no free lunch. But he kept pretending and they kept putting provisions in the law that would make the CBO create estimates on these provisions that would show that it would pay for itself. Now a lot of them have already been completely discounted. Now, one of them is this employer mandate. That was supposed to be a source of revenue. Well lo and behold we’re not going to have that.”

July 10: Politico: ObamaCare Doesn’t Work and Can’t Work – Repeal and Reform Needed
Business owners across America breathed a collective sigh of relief last week when the Obama administration announced it would grant them a one-year reprieve from some of Obamacare’s most onerous rules. It was cold comfort, though, to millions of individuals and families whose concerns about the impact of the Affordable Care Act continue to be ignored by the White House. Addressing the concerns of some while ignoring those of others won’t solve the problems ordinary Americans will face as a result of this law. It will magnify them. That’s why, ultimately, the only solution to the burdens of Obamacare is a permanent delay in the form of a full repeal, which would clear the path for reforms that actually lower costs and improve the quality of care. The good news is that while the administration hasn’t publicly admitted it yet, last week’s announcement is further proof that some of the law’s biggest backers are starting to realize how unworkable Obamacare truly is. A few months after one of the law’s chief architects in the Senate predicted an implementation “train wreck,” administration officials are now tacitly admitting as much by giving businesses — and Washington bureaucrats — another year to figure it all out.

July 10: Politico: Senate fails to pass Administration-supported solution to the Student Loan Program:
The first official Senate attempt to roll back student loan rates failed Wednesday, pushing the Democratic leadership to now consider an alternative bipartisan plan they have thus far tried to stamp out. Democrats have also been quick to brand the bill as a “Republican” solution, which has frustrated the bill’s sponsors.
“When they say it is the Republican bill, that’s so erroneous. This is truly a bipartisan effort,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said on the Senate floor Wednesday.

Those backing the alternative bill are eager to distance the plan from one proposed in the Republican-controlled House last month, hoping to make the bill more enticing to Democrats in the Senate. In their pitch to the Senate, they have emphasized two major differences to the House bill: the Senate bill assures the federal government makes no profits off of the student loan program; and keeps loan rates fixed the life of the loan. Moreover, they hold that the market based approach the bill has adopted—tying interest rates to treasury bonds—closely follows the recommendations from the White House. Democrats, however, have put effort into blocking the bill because they believe the bill will only keep rates low for the first two or three years, based on a CBO projection of treasury bonds.

July 9: Fox News: GOP to Obama: ObamaCare Delay for Business is unfair to everyone else:
House Republican leaders on Tuesday urged the Obama administration to grant everybody a reprieve from the ObamaCare insurance mandate, suggesting the recent decision to delay only the requirement on businesses would be unfair to everyone else. "We agree with you that the burden was overwhelming for employers, but we also believe American families need the same relief," House Speaker John Boehner and several other top Republicans wrote in a letter to President Obama. They addressed what is becoming a mounting concern over the administration's decision to delay, until 2015, a requirement that large employers provide health insurance to workers. 

July 9: The Daily Caller:
While Mrs. Obama makes pitch for school lunch program, a New York district is pulling the plug:
A New York shool district is giving the boot to the National School Lunch Program (NLSP) and its new restrictive regulations mandating the number of calories and nutrients in each meal. The Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake school district announced this month that after a school year struggling with the new guidelines under the Michelle Obama-backed Healthy and Hunger Free Kids Act, the school will not be participating in the program this coming school year. “Students complained of being hungry with these lunches and the district lost money,” assistant superintendent Chris Abdoo said in a statement. “I’m confident we can do better on our own next year.”

According to the district, the new options, implemented by the Department of Agriculture, resulted in lower sales and a loss of about $100,000. “Students felt they weren’t getting good value for their money,” food service manager Nicky Boehm said. “The high schoolers especially complained the portion sizes were too small, and many more students brought in lunch from home.” The decision to leave the NSLP will result in the school district losing partial reimbursements for the cost of food served to students receiving reduced-price or free food.

July 9: Fox News: Texas House gives provisional approval to abortion restrictions:
The Texas House has provisionally approved a bill that would enact tough new restrictions on abortions, in its third attempt to pass the legislation following a marathon public hearing last month.  Lawmakers debated for more than 10 hours Tuesday before voting on the Republican's signature legislation. They approved the bill mainly along party lines.  A final, formal vote is scheduled for Wednesday. The measure will then go to the Senate, where the Republican majority is also expected to approve the bill.

July 9: The Daily Caller: EPA Regulations Cause Two More Power Plants to Close Their Doors:
High costs associated with stricter federal environmental regulations and increased competition from low-priced natural gas have shut down two coal-fired power plants in Pennsylvania. FirstEnergy Corp. will close the coal plants by October 9, according to Reuters, due to weak power prices. Another factor is the high cost of complying with the Environmental Protection agency’s Mercury Air Toxics Standards, or MATS, which would require the company to spend $275 million at the two plants. These two Pennsylvania plants add to the already 15,000 megawatts of coal-fired power that have been taken offline since President Barack Obama came into office in 2009. Most of that reduction in energy availability has come through tougher environmental regulations and cheap natural gas. Reuters reports that more than 37,000 megawatts of coal-fired power is slated for shutdown in the next ten years or so.

July 9: Fox News: Two House Democrats propose National Park that is “Out of this World”
Two House Democrats are proposing that the next U.S. national park be on the moon.  Congresswomen  Edwards (D-MD) Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), propose in the "Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act" that a national historical park on the moon be created to ensure the American landing sites are preserved for future generations. The lawmakers say the legislation is necessary to protect the Apollo landing sites for "posterity," as commercial space exploration increases and more foreign nations head to space.

July 9: The Daily Caller: Boy Scout defectors announce plans for a new scouting program:
A groups of conservative former Boy Scouts have announced the formation of a Christian alternative to that quintessential American institution. John Stemberger, founder of OnMyHonor.Net, a coalition of former Boy Scout leaders and participants, has announced the formation of a new soon-to-be-named scouting organization for young men. “We have direct communication from over 30,000 leaders, parents, and people within the scouting movement who have specifically said ‘we want to be involved,” Stemberger told reporters on a Tuesday conference call announcing the endeavor.

According to interim executive director Rob Green,  a 20-year veteran executive of the Boy Scouts of America the idea is to give families and scouts a place to turn given the Boy Scouts’ recent decision to allow openly gay members into their ranks.“We are trying to make sure that families who have felt a little bit left behind by the divergent values of the Boy Scouts — that there is something for them that they can join and know what they stand for,” Green said. “It’s our vision to be the premier national character development organization for young men, which produces godly and responsible husbands, fathers, and citizens,” Green said to reporters. “The new program will be an exciting and motivating outdoor-based program focused on leadership and character development for boys, and founded on principles and values that reflect a Christian worldview.”

July 8: The Daily News: The House Should Move Slowly on Immigration Reform:
The Senate passed an immigration reform measure which we feel is lacking.  During the 2012 Congressional primary we stressed the need for border security.  Securing the border was, in our minds, a precondition to any road to citizenship.  We believe that people who violate U.S. laws should not benefit from them.  Just like you don’t reward a bank robber by making him the president of the bank, we should not rush to grant citizenship to people who enter our country illegally.

July 7: Roll Call:  There’s Less to this Congress than meets the eye:
Lawmakers and aides pouring back into the Capitol this week may be tempted to glance at their desk calendars, smack their foreheads and exclaim, “Where did the time go?” And then, with even more bewilderment, they might wonder, “What have we been doing all year?” The July Fourth recess is traditionally considered halftime in the legislative year. In fact, it’s a bit later than that. The Senate’s had roll call votes during 17 weeks so far in 2013 and plans only 16 more weeks in session before the second Friday in December. The House has had votes in 18 weeks but expects just 14 more workweeks before that same Dec. 13 target adjournment.  The message for the laborers in the First Session of the 113th Congress is unmistakable: The time is slipping away without much to show for it. And if past is prologue, as has been the case in previous eras, we may have already seen the best this outfit has to offer.

Big-government Democrats view the role of Congress as a hammer for pounding a world full of legislative “nails” that fix society’s problems. Small-government Republicans view the Congress that legislates least as the one that functions best. So, in the current climate, rooting for plenty of “productivity” out of the Capitol might fairly be labeled as taking a partisan side. But, still. In the sort of divided government that now exists — the rule rather than the exception for the past four decades — the two sides have always ended up producing more laws in the first six months of each new Congress than they have now.

July 7: The Hill: Obama Administration Preparing a bunch of new environmental regulations:
The Obama administration is looking forward to a host of new environmental regulations that go far beyond the president's plans to issue new standards for greenhouse gas emissions from new and existing power plants. The new regulations, previewed in the administration's spring regulatory roadmap released this week, cover everything from pollution runoff from military ships to landfill methane emissions, and in some cases will be issued long after called for under the law.  This September, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to propose rules for greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants, and next June will issue draft rules for existing facilities.  Those dates match up with the timeline President Obama has given for the new regulations, which supporters have cheered as a major step in confronting climate change.  

July 7: The Daily Caller: Coal is only the first step in the Obama agenda, industry analysts say:
Coal is just the first step in the Obama administration’s plan to tackle global warming, according to an industry group. “Even though right now [Obama] says the EPA should focus on the utility industry, we all know that other segments, including the refining industry, are well in the cue,” said Charles Drevna, president of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, which represents with refining industry.  The president’s plan to address global warming largely relies on executive actions to reduce U.S. carbon emissions, including setting emissions limits for new and existing power plants that would effectively ban the construction of new coal-fired power plants.

“The idea is to pick winners and losers… among domestic energy producers, but ultimately what will happen is he will pick winners and losers among nations,” Drevna told reporters in a press call on Tuesday. “And unfortunately, the United States will be in the losing category.”  The refining industry joins a growing number of industries that are fighting back against the president’s proposed plan to fight global warming. “The EPA is not going to stop with today’s announcement,” said Jay Simmons, president of the National Association of Manufacturers. “First, it will be coal. Then it will be natural gas. Ultimately, this plan will make the United States less energy secure, less affordable and unable to meet our future energy needs.”  “If the Obama administration fails to recognize the environmental progress the industry has made and continues to adopt more regulations, coal power could cease to exist, which would be devastating for our economy,” said Mike Duncan, president of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.

July 7: The Daily Caller: Survivor of terror calls Obama to step down:
Brigitte Gabriel is a survivor of terror who leads a fast-growing grassroots national security organization, ACT! For America. A Christian born in Lebanon, Gabriel saw her country of birth lost to radical Islam, and so she is passionately devoted to defending America’s freedom to ensure she doesn’t lose her adopted country to the same forces. Gabriel is harshly critical of President Obama and his national security policies. “President Obama is transforming the country right before our own eyes. He is sending a message to our enemies that America is weak, America is a ‘paper tiger,’” Gabriel told TheDC’s Ginni Thomas. “He is apologizing for America at any opportunity he can, and that is unacceptable.” In the interview, Gabriel even calls on President Obama to step aside in favor of someone who is prouder of America.

July 7: The Hill: McCaul (R-TX): Senate Immigration Bill Threw "Candy" at the Border
House Homeland Security Committee Chair Michael McCaul on Sunday criticized the border security measures in the Senate immigration bill, saying they were ineffective measures designed only to win votes. "In the past all we've done is thrown money down at the problem at an ad hoc basis and it hasn't worked," McCaul said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "What the Senate just passed was, again, a bunch of candy thrown down there —a bunch of assets thrown down there to gain votes, but without a methodical, smart border approach.  McCaul cautioned that the House would press for tougher border enforcement measures. “We want a smart border, we also want a smart immigration plan. Something that makes sense," he added. 

July 7: The Hill: TEA Party groups launch $1 Million about ObamaCare:
The Tea Party-affiliated group Americans for Prosperity is launching a $1 million ad campaign opposing ObamaCare. The move comes as the administration is ramping up its own efforts to enroll the public in the new insurance exchanges and as Democrats express concerns that a botched rollout could hurt their 2014 election chances. The group plans to start with an initial investment of $700,000 on television and web ads including a website that provides a calculator for people to figure out what the law might cost them personally. Americans for Prosperity says the ad is in response to advertising touting the president’s healthcare reform law from groups including the pro-Obama Organizing for Action. "With so much disinformation out there, we felt it was extremely important to educate those who are most likely to suffer negative effects under ObamaCare, and help keep them informed and prepared," AFP President Tim Phillips said in a statement to The Hill. 

July 5: The American Thinker: Another Potentially explosive development in the IRS Scandals:
One of the most important, and yet so-far least noted, threads in the IRS sandal cloth is the inexplicable remark made by Austan Goolsbee, at the time the Chairman of the White Council of Economic Advisors about the taxes paid by the Koch brothers that would have required his having knowledge of their confidential tax returns. This raises the question did, or does, the White House senior staff illegally browse through the tax records of their political enemies?

July 5: The Washington Free Beacon: Treasury Department IG refuses to confirm or deny an investigation was conducted into whether a former White House Council had access to confidential tax return data of a supposed enemies of the administration.

July 5: Roll Call: Obama Skips Past Congress Again with Health Care Mandate Delay:
President Barack Obama’s latest legal end run around Congress — delaying enforcement of the employer health mandate — has sparked more questions about whether he’s abusing his executive discretion under the Constitution. The move announced late Tuesday was the latest in a string of decisions where the president, facing a divided Congress unable to get much done beyond keeping the government running, has taken matters into his own hands. Where a previous president might have asked for a legislative fix if a mandate was proving too onerous for business, the Obama administration put out a couple of blog posts saying that, in listening to the business community, it decided not to enforce a key part of the 3-year-old health law for another year.

July 5: Politico: White House Greases Squeaky Wheels: ObamaCare
The delay of Obamacare’s employer coverage rules is giving the critics plenty of new ammunition — but that doesn’t mean the sudden movement is out of character for this administration. It’s just the latest example of a pattern with the implementation of Obamacare: The Obama administration almost always listens to the squeaky wheel. First more than 1,200 employers and health plans got waivers from early coverage rules. Next, many states that couldn’t decide whether to build a health insurance exchange or let the feds do it for them were given repeated extensions. And then, when Republican governors were holding out on expanding Medicaid, they were finally told there’s no deadline at all.

All this begs the questions: Are we a nations of Laws or of whims? 
What are we going to do about the disaster called Obamacare?

July 5: CBS News:
Why is it OK in the Washington, DC culture to lie and then concede the truth when caught? 
Kerry on his boat during the crisis in Egypt:
As regime change was unfolding in Egypt this week, Secretary of State John Kerry spent time on his boat in Nantucket Sound, the State Department acknowledged to CBS News on Friday, after repeatedly denying that Kerry was aboard any boat.  "While he was briefly on his boat on Wednesday, Secretary Kerry worked around the clock all day including participating in the President's meeting with his national security council," said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, naming a series of Egyptian and international officials Kerry had spoken with on Wednesday.   Psaki's acknowledgment marked a stark reversal from previous denials that Kerry was on any boat whatsoever.

The Administration made numerous denials even calling the rumors that Kerry was on his boat "completely inaccurate" and said Kerry has been "working all day and on the phone dealing with the crisis in Egypt."  Then on Thursday when CBS News obtained a photo of Kerry on his boat and sent it to the State Department, asking whether they still stand by their denial that Kerry was on a boat the response was "Yes."  Our advice for Mr. Kerry and all those in Washington, inside and out of the Administration?  Tell the truth and stop lying to us!  No wonder there is a creditability gap!

July 3: The Hill: GOP questions legality of ObamaCare business mandate delay:
Republicans on Wednesday questioned whether the administration has the legal authority to delay the employer mandate under ObamaCare. Two top GOP lawmakers expressed doubts that federal officials have the authority to defer major parts of ObamaCare without approval from Congress. Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN), chairman of the Education and Workforce Health subcommittee, said he would launch his own investigation into the matter.  "This action raises a lot of questions about whether the Obama administration can simply ignore the law when it’s convenient for them," Roe said in a statement Wednesday. "I have asked Congress’s research arm to investigate because I don’t think any president has the authority to pick and choose what parts of law to follow," he added.

July 3: Fox News: Will Americans really be able to keep their current health coverage in 2014?
When President Obama enacted his landmark health-care reform, he promised Americans that if “you like your health-care plan, you can keep your health-care plan.” But consumers across the country--particularly those in California -- are increasingly finding out that this may not be the case. UnitedHealthcare (NYSE: UNH)  announced this week it will stop selling individual policies in California—the second major carrier to leave the state’s exchange California Covered.

July 2: The Hill: Cantor: “Best delay for ObamaCare is a permanent one”
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) said Tuesday that the "best delay for ObamaCare is a permanent one," shortly after news broke that the Obama administration was delaying a key provision of the Affordable Care Act." This further confirms that even the proponents of ObamaCare know it will hurt jobs, decrease economic growth and make it harder for families to have access to quality and affordable health care," Cantor said. "Rather than continuing to delay the predictable pain until another election day has passed, we should scrap this entire law and instead implement patient-centered reforms before any more damage is done to our economy or the health care families depend on."

July 2: Politico: Key Obamacare rule for business delayed for a year:
The Obama administration is postponing the federal health care law’s insurance mandate for employers next year, in a major concession to the business community and lawmakers who have become increasingly vocal about the law’s potential to damage a slowly recovering economy. But in reality, this may also be a political decision that allows the pain of this provision of the law to hit after the 2014 midterm elections. The announcement doesn’t affect the main coverage tools in the law — the individual mandate and the new subsidized insurance markets. But it could boost the cost of the law if more people end up seeking subsidies instead of getting covered on the job.

July 2: The Daily Caller: 58,000 Californians to lose their current health insurance due to Obamacare:
The nation’s largest health insurance company has decided to stop covering individuals in the nation’s largest state. UnitedHealth Group Inc. said that it will not participate in California’s individual health insurance market beginning Jan. 1, 2014, when Obamacare regulations will take effect, according to the Los Angeles Times. Last month,  insurance giant Aetna also announced that it will no longer cover individual Californians. Together, the companies’ decision to stop providing individual coverage will affect 58,000 existing customers in California. The move is a result of new Affordable Care Act requirements for insurance companies to accept all applicants for individual coverage, including those with preexisting conditions. The law also requires insurers provide a bevy of new benefits for their customers. Problems with implementing the health care law have plagued the Obama administration, despite the president’s oft-repeated assurances that “if you like your health care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health care plan.”

July 1: Galveston County Daily News: The Declaration's Truths are still Self-Evident!
Today we see an abuse of power in government; the IRS has been targeting conservative groups, the Department of Justice has been getting the phone records of journalists who are doing their job of investigative reporting, the executive branch is refusing to cooperate with Congressional investigations on Benghazi and then refusing to prosecute when the chief law enforcement official – Eric Holder – is found in Contempt of Congress. Check out our Weekly Column and see what you can do!

June 30: The Daily Caller: Thousands attend Magpuls Colorado Rally to protest new Gun Laws:
A few thousand Coloradans ushered in their upcoming Independence Day celebrations by bidding farewell to one of their fundamental rights — to buy, own and give away ammunition magazines that hold more than 15 rounds — and vowing to take back control of a state government that they say represents liberal East Coast interests over their own.  Attendees of the nonprofit group Free Colorado’s Freedom Festival stocked up on 30-round Magpul magazines Saturday ahead of a statewide ban on them that goes into effect on Monday, with 1,500 given away for free on a first-come first-served basis. Held in the town of Glendale — which is adjacent to Denver, where magazines holding more than 20 rounds are already banned — the festival featured live music, food, beer and more than a few open-carry holstered pistols. [Read the entire story]

June 30: Fox News: Senators urge Pres to get tough with Russia, Ecuador over Snowden affair:
Two top senators called Sunday for the U.S. to get tough with countries positioned to help NSA leaker Edward Snowden, with Sen. Chuck Schumer saying the U.S. should cut off business visas to Ecuador if that country offers him asylum. 

June 30: Fox News: Justice with Judge Jeanie (Video):
Referring to the IRS scandals and witness testimony, Judge Jeanie says the Obama playbook is “first, deny, then lie, then commit perjury, and if you can’t beat the clock and they are still coming after you plead the fifth.”

June 30: Fox News: High Court/Kennedy continue campaign to support homosexual “Marriage”
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has denied an emergency request by opponents of homosexual “marriage” to halt such weddings in California.  The decision means same-sex “marriages” can resume in the state. Foes had filed the motion Saturday asking the high court to step in, less than 24 hours after the state started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling earlier in the week. 

In their filing, attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom argued that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals acted prematurely and unfairly on Friday when it allowed homosexual “marriage” to resume by lifting a hold it had placed on same-sex unions amid the lawsuit. "The Ninth Circuit's June 28, 2013 Order purporting to dissolve the stay ... is the latest in a long line of judicial irregularities that have unfairly thwarted Petitioners' defense of California's marriage amendment," the application states. "Failing to correct the appellate court's actions threatens to undermine the public's confidence in its legal system." 

Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel  said "Our clients have not been given the time they are due and were promised so that they can make their next decision in the legal process. The more than 7 million Californians that voted to enact Proposition 8 deserve nothing short of the full respect and due process our judicial system provides."  Justice Kennedy denied the application on his own, without further comment. In response, the ADF claimed the "rule of law" had been "bypassed."

June 29: The Weekly Standard: 
High Cost of VIP Travel: Biden and Obama Spend Millions in the middle of Sequester:
The Washington Times reports that the cost of Obama's Africa trip, estimated as high as $100 million, is overshadowing President Obama's agenda. If past VIP trips are any indication, lodging and local transportation would represent only a fraction of the $100 million, yet those costs would likely still dwarf those of the average citizen traveling abroad. In late March, Vice President Joe Biden's $321,000 limo bill and $585,000 Paris hotel bill for his trip to Europe earlier this year were revealed.

June 28: The Hill | The Daily Caller: Issa Committee declares Lerner of the IRS waived her Fifth Amendment Rights:
The House Oversight Committee declared Friday in a party-line vote that Lois Lerner, a central figure in the IRS targeting controversy, waived her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination in testimony last month. The 22-17 vote on the resolution makes it more likely that a federal court will ultimately decide whether Lerner can still claim her Fifth Amendment right. 

June 28: The Hill: Snowden’s father offers deal in letter to Holder (Deal? We don't think so!)
The father of Edward Snowden has proposed a deal to Attorney General Eric Holder that he says could convince his son to return to the United States.  Lonnie Snowden said his son, Edward, would likely come back to America if he were promised that he could remain free prior to trial, not be subjected to a gag order and be tried in a place of his choosing. He also proposed that if those terms were violated, the government should agree to dismiss charges against Edward, a former defense contractor who admitted to leaking information about top-secret National Security Agency programs.

June 28: Politico: Sequestration will be a long hard process:
So far the era of sequestration has meant furloughs for more than 800,000 federal workers and entire agencies shuttered for days — and those were the easy cuts. There are nine more years of budget austerity to go and that means the federal government must dig in much tougher places to find savings — like forcing early retirements for workers and winding down grants that fund scientific research and allow states to keep infrastructure up to par.  “It’s a diet that gets worse every year,” said Barry Anderson, a former senior White House Office of Management and Budget official who made the previous sequestration cuts in 1991.

June 28: Fox News:
New Louisiana law restricting publication of CHL holders outrages 1st Amendment Advocates:
A new Louisiana press law related to gun owners has created outrage among journalists and First Amendment advocates around the country.  Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed a bill last week penalizing those who publish the names of individuals who own or have applied for a concealed handgun permit with potential jail sentences of six months and fines of $10,000.  An identity may only be released if a concealed handgun carrier is charged with a felony offense involving the use of a firearm. [Read the entire story]

June 28: The Daily Caller: Independence Day parade nearly nixed as TEA Party plans to bring unloaded guns:
The small Colorado town of Westcliffe nearly had to go without the annual Independence Day Parade after its longtime sponsor cancelled when it learned that a local tea party group wanted to march in it carrying unloaded rifles and handguns. [Read the entire story]

June 28: The Daily Caller: Charges finally dropped against 8th Grader who wore NRA shirt to school:
Sanity seems to have prevailed in Logan County, West Va., in the criminal case against the eighth-grader who was suspended and arrested after he refused to remove a t-shirt supporting the National Rifle Association. [Read the entire story] 

June 28: CNSNews.com:
Appeals Court Grants Hobby Lobby the right to continue its lawsuit; District Court enjoined Government:
Following on yesterday’s 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that Hobby Lobby can continue its lawsuit against the Obama administration’s contraception mandate on religious grounds, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma ruled today that the federal government must halt all enforcement of the mandate (and related financial penalties) against the Christian-based company.  Hobby Lobby and sister company Mardel are suing the Department of Health and Human Services and Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, arguing that to force the company to pay for health insurance that must offer abortion-inducing drugs, as well as sterilization and contraception, is a violation of its religious liberty.

In his order issued on Friday, U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton said the “court concludes plaintiffs [Hobby Lobby] have made a sufficient showing to warrant the issuance of a temporary restraining order in the circumstances existing here.  Accordingly, the defendants [Sebelius and HHS], their agents, officers, and employees are temporarily ENJOINED and RESTRAINED from any effort to apply or enforce, as to plaintiffs, the substantive requirements imposed” by the mandate," said the judge's order.

In a press release, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represents Hobby Lobby, said, “Today, for the first time, a federal court has ordered the government not to enforce the HHS abortion-drug mandate against Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. The ruling comes just one day after a dramatic 168-page opinion from the en banc 10th Circuit recognizing that business owners have religious liberty rights.   This was the first definitive federal appellate ruling against the HHS mandate.” “Hobby Lobby and the Green family faced the terrible choice of violating their faith or paying massive fines starting this Monday morning,” said Kyle Duncan, general counsel with the Becket Fund.  “We are delighted that both the 10th Circuit and the district court have spared them from this unjust burden on their religious freedom.”

June 28: The New York Times: Contraceptives Stay Covered in Health Bill:
Despite strong resistance from religious organizations, the Obama administration said Friday that it was moving ahead with a rule requiring most employers to provide free insurance coverage of contraceptives for women, a decision that has touched off a legal and political battle likely to rage for another year.  The final rule, issued under the new health care law, adopts a simplified version of an approach proposed by the government in February to balance the interests of women with the concerns of the Roman Catholic Church and other employers with religious objections to providing coverage for contraceptives.

After considering comments, administration officials refused to budge on the basic principle. The rule, they said, is very similar to their proposal. An exemption is included for churches. But many Catholic hospitals, schools, universities and other religious institutions will have to take steps so that coverage is available to employees and their dependents.  The issue figured prominently in last year’s elections as President Obama and other Democrats pressed their advantage with female voters. At the same time, Catholic bishops waged a national campaign arguing that the federal policy infringed on religious freedom and violated the church’s social and moral teachings on birth control and abortion. Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the group was reviewing the final rule.

June 28: The Daily Caller:
Obama Administration issues final rules on contraception mandate for religious organizations:
The Obama administration released its final rules Friday on the religious exemption from the contraception coverage requirement under Obamacare.  Under the final rule, houses of worship are exempt from the mandate requiring their health plans cover birth control for their female employees and dependents. Under the accommodation the religious nonprofits may tell their insurance provider they object and the insurance provider may provide contraception coverage separately to the women at no charge.

One of the major critics of the mandate was quick to rebuke the final rule, saying that they will have to decide the issue in court. “Unfortunately the final rule announced today is the same old, same old. As we said when the proposed rule was issued, this doesn’t solve the religious conscience problem because it still makes our non-profit clients the gatekeepers to abortion and provides no protection to religious businesses,” Eric Rassbach, deputy general counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, said in a statement. “The easy way to resolve this would have been to exempt sincere religious employers completely, as the Constitution requires.”

June 28: Fox News: Health Care independence – Really? (Video)
Interview on Fox News’ Your World discusses Obamacare.  We are moving from 88% coverage, trying to get to 95% while many companies are reducing employee hours so they can drop the health care coverage they currently have due to the increased costs under Obamacare. At the same time we are starting to see a doctor shortages which means that people will not have care available to them.

June 28: The Hill: GOP Senators warm sports leagues against promoting Obamacare
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) warned six professional sports leagues on Friday not to promote ObamaCare or partner with the Obama administration on efforts concerning the law.  In letters to the leagues released Friday, McConnell and Cornyn cited an announcement by federal Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that she is in talks with the NFL, the NBA and others about campaigns to educate the public about healthcare reform.  

McConnell and Cornyn warned NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and his peers that launching such campaigns would damage their leagues' reputations.  "It is difficult for us to remember another occasion when [a] major sports league took public sides in such a highly polarized public debate," the lawmakers wrote.  "Given the divisiveness and persistent unpopularity of this bill, it is difficult to understand why an organization like yours would risk damaging its inclusive and apolitical brand by lending its name to its promotion."  
The letter comes just after Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), head of the conservative Republican Study Committee, told the NFL and NBA not to do Sebelius's "dirty work."

June 28: The Daily Caller: NFL says it has no plans to support Obamacare:
The National Football League said Friday that it has no plans to get involved in promoting Obamacare.  In an email to the Washington Examiner’s Philip Klein NFL Spokesman Brian McCarthy said that the league has responded to the concerns voiced by lawmakers about the potential that the NFL could begin pushing the new health insurance plans soon to be available under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  “We have responded to the letters we received from members of Congress to inform them we currently have no plans to engage in this area and have had no substantive contact with the administration about PPACA’s implementation,” McCarthy emailed.  In recent days the administration revealed they were in talks with professional sports leagues like the NFL and National Basketball Association to help recruit young people to enroll in the new Obamacare plans.

June 28: WND News: Breaking the  Benghazi Stonewall:
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) says the key to getting to the truth in the Benghazi investigation is hearing from the eyewitnesses who were there. In an exclusive interview with WND, he says the problem is “to date, no one who was on the scene has been called as a witness.” Wolf says the witnesses are being pressured to keep quiet, and “many are being forced to sign non-disclosure agreements.” “Many would like to be subpoenaed, they can’t get subpoenaed,” he said. That’s why Wolf insists on forming a Select Committee to investigate and hold public hearings into what went wrong in Benghazi.

June 28: The Atlantic Wire: Boots on the Ground to write book about Benghazi:
Four people who were on the ground the night of the Benghazi attacks last year are writing a book about their experience, and they're getting a $3 million advance from Twelve Books to do it. The authors are unnamed, according to New York Post, which describes them as "members of the elite security team from the annex of the US Embassy." That annex, we now know, was the CIA annex, which makes this book deal really fascinating.

June 28: The Daily Caller: Another day and another scandal brewing in Washington!
The man in charge of policing waste, fraud and abuse at the federal government’s third-largest department has been accused of suppressing a politically sensitive report, violating anti-nepotism laws and misusing agency resources, according to a letter from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security.  Charles Edwards, Deputy Inspector General at the Department of Homeland Security and de facto head of the office, was ordered by Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill and Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson to provide sixteen separate document sets related to the allegations by July 19.  “This is supposed to be the most transparent administration in history, but we’re seeing a real pattern of this White House and their Secretaries applying pressure to inspectors general to whitewash reports,” Johnson said in an interview with The Daily Caller.
The letter claims Edwards intentionally changed and withheld information from both the public and internal reports on the solicitation of prostitutes by U.S. Secret Service personnel in Cartagena, Colombia last year. Senator Johnson believes the suppression may have been done at the direction of political appointees at the Department of Homeland Security, raising doubts about the office’s independence from the agency it’s tasked with investigating.

June 28: The Hill: Congress leaves town with the fate of the farm bill unclear
Congress has left Washington for the 10-day Fourth of July holiday without figuring out how to deal with the failed farm bill. House Democratic and Republican sources said they expect a decision shortly after the recess ends. Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson (D-MN) said the GOP whip count on a split farm bill had not finished as of Friday afternoon. “They are whipping it and we’ll see what they get,” he said. “I think it’s a dumb idea.”

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) has been actively polling GOP members, including at the House gym, as to whether they would prefer to divide the food stamp and farm subsidy portions of the bill. Agriculture Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) is opposed to the idea, and argues that it would actually give the House less leverage in conference negotiations with the Senate.  Peterson said that he had “no idea” how a House-Senate farm bill conference would work if the House passed a farm bill without food stamp changes in it. He said that the Senate would likely feel entitled to ignore any House demands for additional cuts to the program.  The ranking member said he has not yet decided whether he would vote for the split farm bill or whether he would whip support for it. The fate of the farm bill is holding up consideration of a 2014 Agriculture appropriations spending bill that has already gone to the Rules Committee.

June 28: Congressman Stockman: Mr. Speaker, "Blue Slip" this bill!
This week, Congressman Steve Stockman (R-TX) sent a letter to the House Speaker asking that the Speaker "Blue Slip" the Senate-passed Immigration Reform Act. The basis for this request is found in the U.S. Constitution which requires that all revenue measures originate in the House of Representatives. S.744 contains such revenue measures. "Blue Slipping" a bill is a procedure whereby the House refuses to accept a measure because it violates this provision of the constitution.

June 27: The Weekly Standard: Sessions says this must never become law:
Senator Jeff Sessions, the chief opponent of the immigration bill, released this statement in response to the Senate passing the law by a vote of 68-32: “Sponsors of this legislation—despite the array of financial, establishment and special interest support—failed to hit their target of 70 votes. The more people learned about the bill the more uneasy they became. Failure to reach 70 votes is significant, and ensures the House has plenty of space to chart an opposite course and reject this fatally flawed proposal. So while the bill passed the Senate, this is just the beginning. The legislation adopted today guarantees three things: immediate amnesty before security, permanent future illegal immigration, and a record surge in legal immigration that will reduce wages and increase unemployment."

June 27: National Review: Senate Bill Will Never Pass the House:
Perhaps the one thing that’s certain about the House of Representatives and immigration is that the bill that just passed the Senate could never, ever pass the House. Indeed, it’s difficult to overstate how little regard Republicans there have for it, even with the border-security amendment added by Senators Corker and Hoeven.

June 27: The Galveston County Daily News: TJ Aulds of the Galveston County Daily News asked for input for a story as to what impact the Supreme Court decision to invalidate the Defense of Marriage Act will have on us in Texas and whether it will open the door to allowing homosexual... "marriages" here. Here was my response to him:

As noted on my [this] website, Justice Scalia said "Nobody should be fooled; its is just a matter of listening and waiting for the other shoe" to drop! Continuing he says "The only thing that will confine the Court's holding is its sense of what it can get away with." So, does this decision open the door for homosexual "marriages" in Texas? The answer is not immediately but down the road perhaps.

I liked what a Catholic archbishop in Alabama said. You can do what you want and call it what you want but that still will not change the truth of the matter. God's design was, and is, that a "marriage" be between a man and a woman. The scriptures make it very clear this is His design and that homosexual relationships are an abomination to Him. He gives us the free choice to follow Him and to follow His ways or to turn our back on Him. The Supreme Court decision, sadly, seems to have chosen the latter.

June 27: CBS News Atlanta: Chick-Fil-A: Founding Fathers would be ashamed of the Supreme Court:
Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy has waded into the homosexual “marriage” issue once again.  Following the Supreme Court rulings Wednesday striking down the Defense of Marriage Act and opening the door for same-sex “marriages” in California, Cathy took to Twitter to criticize the rulings.  “Sad day for our nation; founding fathers would be ashamed of our gen. to abandon wisdom of the ages re: cornerstone of strong societies,” Cathy tweeted. It was later deleted from his account.

The fast food restaurant backed away from Cathy’s comments. In a statement to The Wall Street Journal, Chick-fil-A said it was not focusing on the Supreme Court rulings. “We believe in providing great-tasting food and genuine hospitality to everyone — so our focus is on running an exceptional restaurant company,” a statement to the Journal read. “Therefore, we are leaving political decisions and discussions to others and focusing only on what we do best.”

Cathy created a firestorm last year when he came out against homosexual “marriage,” leading to protests and boycotts of Chick-fil-A. Thousands of supporters though flocked to restaurants nationwide last August for Chick-fil-A “Appreciation Day” to stand behind the company’s platform.  “We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that,” Cathy said in a 2012 interview with the Baptist Press. “We operate as a family business … our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that.”

June 27: Politico: Justice Anthony Kennedy’s contempt
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has contempt for a swath of his fellow citizens.  If you disagree with him about homosexual “marriage,” indeed, if you merely think the federal government should continue to define marriage the traditional way while the states define it however they want, then you are a bigot. Your views deserve no political representation.  Kennedy wrote Wednesday’s majority decision striking down the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman for purposes of federal law. The decision declared a position that had been held by President Barack Obama until the day before yesterday a relic of barbarism and set the predicate for the court — in its wisdom, nay, in its heightened state of enlightenment — to enshrine its view of marriage as the law from sea to shining sea.

The majority held that DOMA inflicts an “injury and indignity” on homosexual couples so severe that it denies “an essential part of the liberty protected by the Fifth Amendment.” It is motivated by a “‘bare congressional desire to harm a politically unpopular group.’” There is, in short, nothing to be said for it or the point of view of its supporters. Period. Full stop.

June 26: Reuters.com:  Can Ryan sell immigration/amnesty to Conservative House Members?
Paul Ryan, the Republican congressman and former vice-presidential candidate best known for his war on spending, is emerging as his party's leading champion of immigration reform in the U.S. House of Representatives. But some are saying even considering immigration reform in the House is a trap.  They cite the concern, that once a bill gets into a conference committee the House would be at a disadvantage.

June 26: The National Journal:  Scalia Holds Nothing Back and Speaks His Mind!
In dissenting views on the Court’s decision to support homosexuals, Scalia says that Justice Anthony Kennedy and his colleagues in the majority have resorted to calling opponents of homosexual “marriage”  "enemies of the human race." But to defend traditional marriage is not to condemn, demean, or humiliate those who would prefer other arrangements, any more than to defend the Constitution of the United States is to con- demn, demean, or humiliate other constitutions. To hurl such accusations so casually demeans this institution. In the majority's judgment, any resistance to its holding is beyond the pale of reasoned disagreement. To question its high-handed invalidation of a presumptively valid statute is to act (the majority is sure) with the purpose to "dis- parage," "injure," "degrade," "demean," and "humiliate" our fellow human beings, our fellow citizens, who are homo- sexual. All that, simply for supporting an Act that did no more than codify an aspect of marriage that had been unquestioned in our society for most of its existence— indeed, had been unquestioned in virtually all societies for virtually all of human history. It is one thing for a society to elect change; it is another for a court of law to impose change by adjudging those who oppose it hostes humani generis, enemies of the human race. Scalia says that the court's holding – while limited to the Defense of Marriage Act – is a sure sign that the majority is willing to declare homosexual "marriage" a constitutional right.

June 26: Alabama.Com: Archbishop: Court decisions may but truth does not: DOMA Decision:
Saying that the truth does not change, Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi called Wednesday’s U.S. Supreme Court rulings expanding homosexual rights “a great disappointment and a serious concern.” “The truth is that marriage is between a man and a woman,” said Rodi, archbishop of the Archdiocese of Mobile, in an email. “Court decisions may change, but the truth does not.”  “The Catholic Church will be faithful to this truth whether it is convenient or not.”

Rodi was one of two faith leaders in Mobile, Alabama reacting Wednesday with disappointment to the rulings, considered a major victory for homosexual “marriage” supporters. He said the decision “reinforces the error that marriage can be redefined in whatever way the majority opinion at the moment wishes to do so.” Rodi said that while the public discourse on the issue will continue, the Catholic Church would teach “the truth about marriage with charity and conviction” for the good of society.

June 26: Politico: Supreme Court strikes down DOMA, Fails to rule on Prop. 8:
By overturning the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act and turning Proposition 8 back to the state courts, the Supreme Court sent a strong message on Wednesday, the final day of its current term. The court handed homosexual rights advocates a historic pair of 5-4 wins: Majorities overturned the federal law that barred marriage-related benefits for same-sex couples. And they left intact a ruling against a measure that would ban those unions altogether in California. The court’s decision on Prop. 8 scrambled its usual ideological lines, finding that proponents of California’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage lacked jurisdiction to appeal lower court rulings that held the measure unconstitutional.

The ruling sets the stage for homosexual marriages to resume in California, by allowing the initial district court ruling against Prop. 8 to stand — though more legal maneuvering on that issue is likely, since some counties in the Golden State weren’t covered by that initial case, and may choose to ignore the original decision. The court’s verdict earlier Wednesday on DOMA is likely to have the more immediate impact, awarding all couples legally married in the states that permit homosexual marriage hundreds of employment, tax and other benefits that had been denied to them under federal law.

Congressman Kevin Brady (R-TX) noted in a statement provided to us “It’s important to recognize what this ruling does not do. It does not overturn state legislation that defines marriage as being only between a man and a woman. It simply requires the federal government to respect individual state laws regarding marriage in respect to federal benefits.”  Even so, taken with the court’s action on California’s Proposition 8, many believe the court took a turn in the wrong direction.  If one looks at history, and in particular at the fall of the Roman and Greek Empires, they will find that one of the contributing factors was the rampant acceptance of homosexual practices and the leniency of moral values.  Many of the homosexual activists in our nation not only want their lifestyle to be accepted, they also want to see it become the norm.  If and when this happens, some see the United States as going the way of Roman and Greek empires of the past.

June 26: The Hill: A black day for our country! Scalia: "Nobody should be fooled!"
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia blasted the ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act as opening the door to a federal right to homosexual marriage. “As far as this Court is concerned, no one should be fooled; it is just a matter of listening and waiting for the other shoe,” Scalia said on Wednesday. In a 5-4 decision, the court struck down a federal law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The court did not rule on state laws that define marriage, and it said its decision was confined to federal restrictions. But Scalia said the tenor of the decision shows that the court will likely strike down state laws as well.  “I promise you this: The only thing that will ‘confine” the Court’s holding is its sense of what it can get away with,” Scalia wrote in a stinging dissent. The court’s conservative justices were clearly concerned about how far the decision on the Defense of Marriage Act would go — both in its actual holding and in setting precedent for future cases.

June 26: The Hill: House conservatives will reintroduce Constitutional Amendment:
House conservatives will seek to reintroduce a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage following the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act on Wednesday. Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) said he and other lawmakers would begin efforts to revive the Federal Marriage Amendment in the coming days.  But if we put this into a true perspective, without a major change in the membership of the U.S. Senate the chances of getting such an amendment through the Congress is dim at best.

“A narrow radical majority of the court has, in my opinion, substituted their personal views for the constitutional decisions of the American voters and their elected representatives,” Huelskamp said at a conservative event sponsored by the Heritage Foundation.  The push to enact a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman gained traction around a decade ago with the support of former President George W. Bush. But with a considerable shift in public opinion toward support of gay marriage, the effort is unlikely to win anywhere close to the required majorities in Congress.

Of particular concern to some, is the lower court’s willingness to disregard the will of the voters in California who passed proposition 8 defining marriage as being between a man and a woman, and the Supreme Court’s punting on the issue, thereby leaving the judicial activism of the lower court in place.

June 25: Attorney General Greg Abbott: What the Court Decision Means for Texas:
Attorney General Greg Abbott released the following statement about the Supreme Court decision. "With today’s decision, the State’s voter ID law will take effect immediately. Redistricting maps passed by the Legislature may also take effect without approval from the federal government.”

June 25: The Hill | Politico: Supreme Court strikes down key part of the Voting Rights Act in a 5-4 Decision:
The Supreme Court struck down a key piece of the Voting Rights Act on Tuesday, reversing decades-old policies designed to protect minorities from discrimination. The 5-4 decision struck down a formula for determining which states and cities must get permission from the federal government before changing their voting procedures because they have a history of racial discrimination. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote. “Our country has changed, and while any racial discrimination in voting is too much, Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy that problem speaks to current conditions.”

Supporters of the civil rights law have already argued that a decision striking down the preclearance requirement would amount to judicial activism, citing the broad bipartisan support for the provision in Congress. Congress first passed the requirement in 1965, and has reauthorized it several times since then — most recently in 2006.  The court, in an opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, said the 2006 reauthorization is an unfair burden on states because Congress has never revised the original formula for determining which states must gain preclearance.

The court's decision Tuesday was limited to the preclearance requirement and the need to make it reflect the current situation. It did not affect other provisions of the Voting Rights Act, which also include a mechanism to challenge changes in voting procedures after they have happened.

June 25: The Washington Examiner:
Dem. National Committee already raising money on Court’s “injustice” on the Voting Rights Act:
The Democratic National Committee was swift to slam the Supreme Court's decision to gut the Voting Rights Act as "an injustice." And they've already started to raise money off the decision, with plans to target Republicans they claim are fighting voters' rights.  "We faced a setback with the Supreme Court's decision today, that's for sure. I can't sugarcoat that. But I hope you won't give up, because let me tell you — I am most certainly not giving up," said DNC member Donna Brazile.

June 25: Fox News: President has tepid response to the Supreme Court decision on Voting Rights:
Even a Supreme Court decision knocking out a central element of a landmark civil rights law couldn’t push President Barack Obama to abandon his muted approach to racial issues.  The court’s 5-4 ruling Monday torpedoing a core provision of the Voting Rights Act led the first black president to issue a tepid, two-paragraph written statement referencing “discrimination” and declaring that he was “deeply disappointed,” but never invoking the vivid and searing dogs-and-firehoses imagery that spurred the passage of the law in 1965. He made no mention of African Americans or Latinos, the groups viewed as the act’s main beneficiaries, but simply called for making voting “fair” and ensuring it was open to all. “I am calling on Congress to pass legislation to ensure every American has equal access to the polls,” the president said, without elaborating.

June 25: The Washington Examiner: Immigration reform faces much tougher path in the House
If Senate Democrats assumed that getting 70 votes to advance an immigration-reform package would pressure House Republicans to vote on the Gang of Eight bill, they're going to be disappointed. Knowledgeable Republican sources believe it's still possible for the GOP House and Democratic Senate to land in a conference committee negotiating a final immigration bill but getting there is probably going to require Senate Democrats and the White House to accept the politics of immigration reform from the House Republicans and what it would take for Speaker John Boehner to move such a bill.  "What they need to understand is that border security is the No. 1 issue," House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas, said Tuesday during a brief interview. "The American people have to have confidence in what we do. Confidence means that we secure our border to make sure we're protected most of all."

June 25: The Weekly Standard:
Five Senators who supported the Immigration Bill don’t know answers to Key Question About it:
Obamacare poses a tricky problem for supporters of the Senate's comprehensive immigration reform bill. It would be too politically toxic to give illegal immigrants amnesty and taxpayer subsidies under Obamacare, so the Senate bill prohibits "registered provisional immigrants" (individuals who are now residing illegally in the United States and who would be granted legal status under the bill) from receiving Obamacare subsidies. But in so doing the Senate's immigration bill would also create a big financial incentive for some employers to hire non-citizens who are granted legal status over American citizens. On Tuesday afternoon, The Weekly Standard asked five different U.S. Senators about this problem. These five senators, all Democrats who voted to cut off debate Monday night on the revised immigration bill, were asked about this problem but none of them knew if the bill would create a financial incentive for some employers to hire amnestied immigrants instead of American citizens. "We're trying to solve that right now. I don't know if that's been solved," Chief author of Obamacare, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) told the Weekly Standard. 

June 25: The Washington Times | Fox News: Issa issues Benghazi subpoenas to Department of State:
In April, chairman Issa of the House committee investigating the Benghazi attack asked the Department of State to allow his committee to interview 13 officials who he believed had firsthand knowledge of the events in Benghazi.  In May he repeated the request.  With the State Department failing to be forthcoming, this week his committee issued subpoenas to force the appearance of at least some of these witnesses.

June 25: Fox News: Terrorists changing tactics in wake of surveillance program leaks, officials say:
Known terrorist groups already have begun to change the way they communicate in the wake of classified leaks detailing U.S. surveillance tactics, U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism officials tell Fox News.

June 24: Fox News: Peter King (R-NY) This is no longer a game!
“It’s time to hit the reset button with Putin” says King.  The president needs to get involved and let Russia know that if they help Snowden and not turn him over to us that there will be a price to pay.

June 24: Fox News: US pressures Moscow to turn over Snowden:

June 24: The Washington Examiner:
Illegal immigrants who commit crimes face lesser punishment than U.S. citizens:
According to Sen. John McCain, a member of the Senate’s Gang of Eight, criminals will not be legalized under the proposed bipartisan immigration bill.  “Anyone who has committed crimes in this country is going to be deported,” the Arizona Republican declared on the Senate floor last week. However, as Washington Examiner columnist Byron York recently reported, “the bottom line is an immigrant could have more than three misdemeanor convictions in his background check and still qualify for legalization.” 

June 24: Breitbart.com: Senate Bill incentivizes employers to fire Americans and hire amnestied immigrants:
Under the Gang of 8’s backroom immigration deal with Senators Schumer, Corker and Hoeven, formerly illegal immigrants who are amnestied will be eligible to work, but will not be eligible for ObamaCare. Employers who would be required to pay as much as a $3,000 penalty for most employees who receive an ObamaCare healthcare “exchange” subsidy, would not have to pay the penalty if they hire amnestied immigrants.  Consequently, employers would have a significant incentive to hire or retain amnestied immigrants, rather than current citizens, including those who have recently achieved citizenship via the current naturalization process. The issue is really an “interaction effect” of the immigration proposal and ObamaCare itself.

June 24: Breitbard.com: Palin: Holes in the Border Bill:
"Just like they did with Obamacare, some in Congress intend to “Pelosi” the amnesty bill. They’ll pass it in order to find out what’s in it. And just like the unpopular, unaffordable Obamacare disaster, this pandering, rewarding-the-rule-breakers, still-no-border-security, special-interests-ridden, 24-lb disaster of a bill is not supported by informed Americans," Sarah Palin said recently. "

June 24: U.S. Senate: By a vote of 67 to 27 this evening the Senate voted to invoke cloture and thereby limiting the time available to debate the Immigration Reform bill. This clears a major hurdle for consideration and a final vote on the bill in the Senate.

June 24: Breitbart.com: Senate Bill incentivizes employers to fire Americans and hire amnestied immigrants:
Under the Gang of 8’s backroom immigration deal formerly illegal immigrants who are amnestied will be eligible to work, but will not be eligible for ObamaCare. Employers who would be required to pay as much as a $3,000 penalty for most employees who receive an ObamaCare healthcare “exchange” subsidy, would not have to pay the penalty if they hire amnestied immigrants.  Consequently, employers would have a significant incentive to hire or retain amnestied immigrants, rather than current citizens, including those who have recently achieved citizenship via the current naturalization process.

June 24: Galveston Daily News: Time for Nation to "Chose Wisely"
Today, we stand at a turning point.  If we continue down our current financial path, one driven by flattering words, the enticements of perks, promises and power, we will be swallowed up and brought into the tyranny of taxation – one not dissimilar to those which our forefathers fought and gave their lives to oppose.  If we choose to follow the current course the loss will be grave. 

June 24: Politico: Senate Immigration Bill: Some Questions
The Senate is on the verge of approving historic legislation that would overhaul the nation’s immigration laws — and perhaps show that it isn’t so dysfunctional after all. The first test will be a procedural vote this evening on an agreement written by Republican Sens. Corker (R-TN) and Hoeven (R-ND) supposedly implements a border surge of agents, technology and fencing along the US-Mexico boundary. But before the chamber approves the landmark legislation, several questions remain — including whether the Senate will wait out a key decision from the Supreme Court on gay marriages because one proposal would allow the "partners" of homosexual U.S. citizens to be granted citizenship. Although there may be support to pass the bill in the Senate the chance for passage in the House is far less likely. See a summary of key questions on this bill.

June 24: The Daily Caller: Rubio Mislead Law Enforcement, ICE Union Leader Says, Vote No!
In advance of a critical vote Monday on a border security deal offered by Republican Sens. Bob Coker and John Hoeven, the president of the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement union urged senators to vote ‘no’ on the amendment. National ICE Council President Chris Crane issued an aggressive statement calling on lawmakers to vote “no” on the amendment to the Senate’s immigration reform bill and called out Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio for misleading law enforcement on promises of more interior enforcement.

June 24: The Hill: Supreme Court avoids ruling in Texas affirmative action case:
The Supreme Court sent a high-profile affirmative action case back to a lower court on Monday, a procedural ruling that will likely to do little to help settle the controversy over affirmative action. The Supreme Court vacated a decision that upheld the affirmative action program at the University of Texas. But it did not strike down the program — rather, in a 7-1 decision, the justices ordered a new hearing, using a different legal standard. The court said the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals should rehear the case "under a correct analysis."

The University of Texas automatically admits in-state students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their high school class. It uses race as one of many factors to fill its remaining spots. The Supreme Court said the 5th Circuit had not correctly applied "strict scrutiny" to determine whether the use of race was narrowly tailored to serve the university's goal of increasing diversity. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the long-awaited opinion. Only Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented, and she read part of her dissent from the bench, a step reserved for cases in which the losing side feels especially strongly that the majority's ruling was a mistake. "I have several times explained why government actors, including state universities, need not blind themselves to the still lingering, every day evident, effects of centuries of law-sanctioned inequality," Ginsburg said. "Among constitutionally permissible options, I remain convinced, those that candidly disclose their consideration of race are preferable to those that conceal or obscure what drives them."

June 24: The Daily Caller: Supreme Court to take up NLRB recess appointment case:
The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will decide whether the president can make recess appointments, after President Barack Obama bypassed the confirmation process when he appointed three members to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) while the Senate was out of session. The D.C. Circuit Court ruled in NLRB v. Noel Canning that the president’s appointments were unconstitutional, but the three members have continued to hold their seats on the NLRB.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which helped bring the case on behalf of Noel Canning Corporation, had pushed for the Supreme Court to take it up. "The Supreme Court’s decision to review this case is welcome news. We warned last year that by appointing these members to the NLRB in such a controversial fashion, a cloud of uncertainty covered the agency and its work. We fought on behalf of our member in the D.C. Circuit and the Court agreed with us. We are ready to fight for our member before the nation’s highest court,” said Chamber President and CEO Thomas Donohue in a statement.

June 23: Fox News: Judge Jeanine: IRS bonuses on our buck? (Video)
The IRS spends our money foolishly while it makes sure that it gets every nickel and dime out of us, says Judge Jeanine. "Why even give them bonuses?" she asks. "Our government is collapsing under the weight of federal spending, but not just spending; irresponsible, unnecessary and foolish spending." "Why give it to people who are already paid an agreed upon salary?" she continues. "Why? Because they are in a union?" "Read the contract Mr. President! If there is a budget shortfall you don't have to give them the money!" Judge Jeanine continued.

June 23: The Daily Caller: Illinois Mayor Pulls Out of Bloomberg Gun Control Coalition:
An independent Illinois mayor is leaving New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun coalition because he said the group strayed from its original mission and became too focused on pushing for an assault-weapons ban. “I’ve dropped out of a group called Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG),” Rockford, Illinois mayor Larry Morrissey said at a Rockform TEA Party town hall Saturday as the crowd burst into applause. “The reason why I joined the group in the first place is because I took the name for what it said. Against ‘Illegal’ guns.”

June 23: Fox News: Cruz calls Immigration Bill a mess (Video)
Senator Cruz (R-TX) said "In 1986 we granted amnesty to three million illegal aliens and promised to secure the border. The border was never secured." This time we are trying the same thing. Unless we secure the border first, it will never happen, Cruz said.

June 23: Politico: Paul opposes the current immigration bill
Sen. Rand Paul outlined his opposition to immigration reform legislation on Sunday, saying it doesn't sufficiently prioritize border security. "I'm all in favor of immigration reform but I'm like most conservatives in the country, that I think reform should be dependent on border security first," the Kentucky Republican said on CNN's "State of the Union." "So I introduced an amendment that would have done just that, border security first and then immigration reform with congressional checks on whether that’s occurring. That wasn’t voted on favorably and so, without some congressional authority, without border security first, I can't support the final bill." He remains opposed despite a Senate proposal, known as a "border surge" bill that would pour significant resources into defending the border.

June 23: The Daily Caller: Sessions says the “border surge amendment” is 1986 all over again:
The near-final version of the immigration bill doesn’t require President Barack Obama to implement any of the much-touted “border surge” that bridged a partisan divide last week, according to a review of the bill by staff working for Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions. The 1,187-page bill will face a critical “cloture vote” on Monday at 5.30 p.m., three days after the “border surge” amendment was added to the draft bill. If it passed, as expected, the Senate will hold a yes-or-no vote by Thursday.

June 23: Fox News: US revokes Snowden’s passport
Sources confirmed to Fox News Saturday that the United States revoked Snowden's passport.  "As is routine and consistent with US regulations, persons with felony arrest warrants are subject to having their passport revoked," State Dept. spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement."

June 23: The Daily Caller: Graham: “I hope they case him (Snowden) to the ends of the earth”
On this weekend’s “Fox News Sunday,” South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham downplayed the “hero” status of whistle-blower Edward Snowden as the news of his flight from Hong Kong to Moscow as he seeks asylum from the prosecution of U.S. authorities broke. Graham emphasized his support for doing what it takes to track Snowden down.

June 22: Politico: U.S. asked Hong Kong to send Snowden back:
The Obama administration is asking Hong Kong to extradite former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden to face charges he leaked national security secrets, the White House said Saturday. The United States is seeking Snowden's transfer "in accordance with the US/Hong Kong Agreement for the Surrender of Fugitive Offenders," White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said. 

June 22: Politico: Potential “Border Surge” pitfalls:
The “border surge” plan unveiled on Capitol Hill this week was hailed as a kind of miracle cure for the political ills plaguing the immigration bill the Gang of Eight and President Barack Obama have been tinkering with for months. The amendment from Sens. Bob Corker (R-TN) and John Hoeven (R-ND) does appear to be a kind of political panacea for the broader legislation — at least in the Senate. But there’s no quick fix for the complex security challenges along the U.S. border. And it’s far less clear that this proposal — to expand the current border fence to 700 miles, add nearly 20,000 new Border Patrol agents, and spend billions on high-tech equipment — can actually work. Indeed, the effort is so vast and so ambitious that some doubt it will ever be carried out.

June 22: Politico: Conservatives urge Mitch McConnell to put brakes on immigration:
A group dedicated to electing more conservatives to the Senate is asking Republican Leader Mitch McConnell to use his influence to put the brakes on the immigration bill. The Senate Conservatives Fund, once affiliated with former Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, is accusing McConnell of “quietly allowing” the Gang of Eight bill to move through the upper chamber. In an email to supporters, the fund’s executive director Matt Hoskins urged the Kentucky Republican not only to oppose the bill, but also to rally his entire caucus in opposition. “A simple ‘No’ vote is not enough from a leader. We’re asking Senator McConnell to use his position as the Republican Leader to defeat it,” Hoskins wrote on Saturday morning.

June 22: The Hill: Leahy says border security measures read like a “Christmas wish list for Halliburton”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has panned a proposal to fast-track billions of dollars in spending on border security as a boondoggle for government contractors.  Leahy said a proposal drafted by Sens. Corker (R-TN) and Hoeven (R-ND) “reads like a Christmas wish list for Halliburton.”   The amendment requires implementation and activation of $4.5 billion in technology and equipment to achieve full surveillance of the U.S.-Mexico border.  “I am sure there are federal contracting firms high-fiving at the prospect of all of the spending demanded by some of our friends on the other side in this amendment,” Leahy said on the Senate floor.  

June 21: The Daily Caller: “Hello! What are you thinking? Proposed amendment to immigration bill would give citizenship to the “Victims of Climate Change!”
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) filed an amendment to the Senate immigration bill this week that would allow people displaced by climate change to seek conditional legal status. “The amendment I am proposing is quite simple. If enacted, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, may designate individuals or a group of individuals displaced permanently by climate change as stateless persons,” Schatz said.  “Again, let me be clear about what this amendment does. It simply recognizes that climate change, like war, is one of the most significant contributors to homelessness in the world,” he added. “And like with states torn apart and made uninhabitable by war, we have an obligation not to deport people back to a country made uninhabitable by sea level rise and other extreme environmental changes that render these states desolate.”

June 21: The Daily Caller: Senator Sessions Calls Out O’Reily for Misconceptions about the Immigration Bill:
Sessions (R-GA) called Bill O’Reilly of Fox News out Friday morning for his misunderstanding of the timeline, saying that while “Bill O’Reilly’s Talking Points Memo is consistently a high-quality memo” and “very insightful,” O’Reilly demonstrated some of the “misconceptions” people have about the Senate immigration bill. “It’s not sufficient to pass this legislation based on talking points, on spin from the sponsors of the bill. We have to say, ‘okay, does it really do that?’ and ‘How does it do it’ and ‘Can it be made better?’ and ‘Are their weaknesses?’”  Sessions then dissected O’Reilly’s understanding of the 13-year timeline.

June 21: Politico:  Snowden charged with three felonies:
Federal prosecutors secretly charged former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden last week with three felonies in connection with recent leaks of classified information about secret U.S. surveillance programs, according to a court complaint unsealed Friday.

June 20: The Hill: Senate Rejects the Cornyn plan for securing the border:
The Senate on Thursday rejected Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-TX) immigration reform bill amendment that would have put mandatory border security triggers in place  before immigrants were given legal status. The Senate voted 54-43 to table the amendment, which was seen as crucial to get  more Republican support for the legislation.

June 20: The Hill: Possible compromise on Border Security:
Senate negotiators have reached a tentative deal on a border security  amendment that could bring more Republican support to immigration reform. Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) on Thursday said some details needed to be worked  through but added he thought the deal could be announced. It’s unclear how many more Republicans will support the underlying bill because  of the new language, though Corker offered optimism. 

June 20: Politico: The Dysfunctional House of Representatives:
The defeat of the farm bill — after both parties were privately bullish it would pass with large margins — shows, once again, how massively dysfunctional the House and its leadership has become. And it plainly reveals that a bipartisan rewrite of the nation’s complex and politically charged immigration laws are a pipe dream in the House, at least for now. Preventing a government shutdown and debt limit fight are not far behind.

For decades, the farm bill has been a beacon of bipartisanship in an increasingly rough-and-tumble chamber. The defeat of Thursday’s version was propelled by the adoption of Florida GOP Rep. Steve Southerland’s amendment to institute work requirements for recipients of food stamps. Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) spoke on behalf of the amendment, indicating his support. People involved in the farm debate, irate at the sudden defeat, say the House is plainly not working. Someone’s vote count was off. Someone’s political antennae were frayed. Someone miscalculated the stiff resistance from the rank and file. At the center of this battle were some of the biggest House players, the same people who will be necessary to pass immigration reform: Boehner, Cantor, Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) Agriculture Committee Chair Frank Lucas (R-OK) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). [See more details below]

June 20: The Hill: House Rejects Five Year Farm Bill - Dems balk at Food Stamp Reduction
In a blow to House GOP leaders, the House on Thursday rejected a $940 billion five-year  farm bill by a 195-234 margin.  Twenty-four Democrats left their party and voted for the measure while 62 Republicans voted against it. Most Democrats voted against the bill because it cut food  stamp programs by more than $20 billion. Many Republicans voted against it saying it was  too expensive when the country is $17 trillion in debt. This issue has badly divided Republicans.  The GOP leadership was expecting 40 Democrat votes which failed to materialize. Democrats blamed the failure on two amendments: (1) would end production limits on dairy producers and (2) an amendment that allows states  to require food stamp recipients to either work or look for work. 

Rep. Steve King (R-IA), a conservative charged with getting GOP votes for  the bill, was surprised by the number of GOP defections. "We are ending direct payments in this bill, we  are starting to reverse the obscene growth of the food stamp program," he said. Meanwhile five of the 23 Texas Republicans voted against passage including Gohmert, Brady and Stockman. Staff from Kevin Brady's office tell us that their boss liked the direction the bill was going but that it just didn't go far enough. Olson, Weber, McCaul, and Poe voted with the Speaker.

June 19: Politico: AP boss says sources won’t talk any more since seizure of records:
Associated Press’ president Gary Pruitt on Wednesday slammed the Department of Justice for acting as “judge, jury and executioner” in the seizure of the news organization’s phone records and he said some of the wire service’s longtime sources have clammed up in fear. “The actions of the DOJ against AP are already having an impact beyond the specifics of this particular case,” he said. “Some of our longtime trusted sources have become nervous and anxious about talking to us, even on stories that aren’t about national security. And in some cases, government employees that we once checked in with regularly will no longer speak to us by phone, and some are reluctant to meet in person.”

June 19: Politico:  Biden concedes White House Gun Control Push has faltered:
Vice President Joe Biden insisted to a subdued audience Tuesday that he and President Barack Obama “haven’t given up” on gun control. But his remarks came at the first White House event since the Senate’s failed April 17 background checks vote. So Biden conceded the obvious Tuesday: the White House gun push in Congress has faltered. But he also claimed a partial victory based on what he described as an evolution in the mood of the country. More voters, he said, are willing to punish members of Congress who oppose gun control measures.

June 19: Fox News: Mueller acknowledges use of drones on U.S. soil:
FBI Director Robert Mueller acknowledged Wednesday that the bureau has a limited number of drones that it uses for surveillance on U.S. soil.  The practice, however limited, could raise further concern about government snooping amid the ongoing controversy over the administration's phone-and-Internet-tracking programs. 

June 19: Politico: IRS bonuses to labor unions fuel GOP anger:
The embattled IRS is poised to give union employees $70 million in bonuses, according to Senator Grassley. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), a senior member on the Finance Committee, said his office has learned that the IRS is preparing to negotiate an agreement with its union to pay out the bonuses. In a letter to acting IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel on Tuesday, Grassley said it violates an April directive from the White House to agencies to halt all bonuses because of budget constraints. Werfel, who worked at the Office of Management and Budget at the time, was the author of those guidelines. “The IRS always claims to be short on resources,” Grassley said. “But it appears to have $70 million for union bonuses.”

June 19: Politico: Bernanke not coming back: Adjustments in the future?
Ben Bernanke is on his way out. And the soft-spoken chairman of the Federal Reserve may be taking his economy-juicing easy money policy with him.  It will almost certainly fall to Bernanke’s successor to eventually unwind the extraordinary measures the Fed has taken in recent years to try and drag a sluggish economy out of its brutal financial crisis hangover. The end of easy money won’t come right away, but it will end, no matter who follows Bernanke.

June 19: The Daily Caller: Stockman’s Communications Director can live on Food Stamp without problems!
With dozens of Democratic lawmakers struggling to live on a food stamp budget to protest GOP cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a Republican staffer says he is living on a SNAP budget without problems. Texas Republican Rep. Steve Stockman’s communications director and agriculture policy advisor, Donny Ferguson, says he has been able to eat well on $27.58 for a week, less than the $31.50 House Democrats have limited themselves to for their “SNAP Challenge.”

June 19: Politico: Congressional Budget Office “Score” may help GOP Get stronger border security:
Republicans are seizing on the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) projections of future illegal immigration under the Senate Gang of Eight bill as proof senators need to beef up border security language. It its analysis, the CBO said annual illegal immigration numbers would decrease 25 percent upon passage of the bill.

June 19: Politico: Border Security: GOP support on immigration dissipating:
Congressional Republicans, who have been more receptive to immigration reform since last November, now appear increasingly unlikely to widely back the Senate immigration bill unless they can extract significant concessions from Democrats. It all comes down to the battle over border security.

June 19: Fox News: State Department Senior Officials: Perjury?
Two top officials at the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service (DS) -- the federal law enforcement agency that protects American diplomats and investigates allegations of criminal misconduct by State Department employees -- gave sworn testimony earlier this year that appears to be evasive at best, and untrue at worst, according to evidence obtained by Fox News. The officials are Scott Bultrowicz and Tracy H. Mahaffey, the former director of DS and the executive director of DS respectively. In videotaped depositions conducted this past February, Bultrowicz claimed not to know about any claims by a federal agency that DS officials have failed to follow proper procedures; and Mahaffey claimed not to know about any pending investigations into DS. Yet Fox News has obtained meeting notes, draft reports and other evidence that suggest both officials were aware, at the time they were deposed, of a pending investigation into DS and its operations by the State Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG). What's more, both officials had been apprised of the OIG's preliminary finding that DS did indeed fail to follow proper procedures in at least eight cases, and possibly more, because of "undue influence" and "pressure" brought to bear by senior State Department officials to halt internal investigations.

The evidence indicates the two officials were presented with those conclusions approximately 60 days before they testified in their depositions. Lawyers and experts contacted by Fox News said the implications could be staggering for a federal law enforcement agency whose officers frequently testify in criminal prosecutions if two of its top officials were deemed to have testified untruthfully in sworn proceedings. The two officials' testimony was taken as part of discovery proceedings in a little-known lawsuit that has been snaking its way through the courts and various administrative venues for several years. DS agent Rick Higbie, a 15-year veteran of the force presently detailed to the U.S. attorney's office in Dallas, is suing Hillary Clinton in her official capacity as former secretary of state, on the grounds that DS sought to demote Higbie after he declined -- citing the chronic and terminal illness of his daughter -- to serve in overseas assignments. The State Department rejects Higbie's claims and the trial is slated to commence in Texas in October.

June 19: Politico: Democrat may have lost a Decade:
Democrats fell far short of winning the House in 2012, an otherwise banner year for the party, and many are privately glum about taking back the chamber in 2014. But that grim immediate outlook raises a far more troubling longer-term prospect for Democrats: that the newly drawn congressional lines have tilted the electoral playing field so decisively in the GOP’s favor that the party could control the House through 2020. That this, in other words, could be the Democrats’ Lost Decade.

Strategists in both parties say they are still reckoning with the long-term implications of Democrats’ disastrous performance in 2010. Not only did they lose the House that year, but setbacks in state capitals meant that Republicans controlled the once-a-decade process of line drawing in 213 districts — nearly five times the number of districts Democrats had oversight over. The possibility of a decade or more of GOP House dominance is something Democrats – and even some Republicans, who still need to hit up donors – are loathe to talk about publicly. But make no mistake: Even as they struggle in presidential and Senate races, Republicans have a structural advantage in the House that could last through the next four elections.

June 18: National Review: Salanis vs. Texas Supreme Court Decision on 5th Amendment Rights:
There are always quieter cases that often starkly illustrate the Court’s divisions in the matter of constitutional interpretation. The June 17 decision in Salinas v. Texas is one such case. What is striking in Salinas is the lesson that the abandonment of adherence to original-understanding issues is mere judicial policymaking of one political stripe or another. Salinas had been brought into a police station for questioning. All parties agreed that he was not in custody and no Miranda warning was read. Salinas voluntarily answered police questions about the crime. However, when the police asked him whether ballistics testing would match the shell casings at the murder scene to his shotgun (which he had turned over to the police earlier), Salinas suddenly fell silent. The decision revolves around the issue as to whether Salinas' refusal to say anything further is protected under the 5th amendment. The court, in a 5-4 decision, held that the 5th amendment rights did not apply in this instance. [See More Detailed Information]

June 18: The Daily Caller: Speaker will not hold vote on immigration bill without majority of Republican Support:
Speaker of the House John Boehner said Tuesday that he would not bring the immigration reform bill to the floor if a majority of Republicans did not support it.  “I don’t see any way of bringing an immigration bill to the floor that doesn’t have majority support of Republicans,” Boehner told reporters at a press conference, NBC News reported. The practice of only bringing bills to the floor that are supported by a majority of the majority is the known as Hastert Rule, after Speaker Dennis Hastert. Boehner has broken it several times. In the past few days, critics have begun pressing him on the issue and whether he might use it again to push through the  immigration reform bill currently being debated in the Senate.

June 18: The Washington Times: Senate poised to vote on border fence amendment to Immigration bill:
A week into the immigration debate, the Senate has finally set up showdowns Tuesday afternoon on some of the biggest questions, including whether to build the full 700-mile fence Congress approved seven years ago, but never followed through on. Senator Thune (R-SD) has offered an amendment that would require 350 miles of two-tier border fencing be built before illegal immigrants can gain legal status, and for another 350 miles to be built before they can get green cards. Seven years ago, during a previous immigration debate, Congress — including then-Sen. Obama — voted overwhelmingly to build that much two-tier fencing along the 1,950-mile U.S.-Mexico border. In 2007 Congress quietly backed off and gave the Bush Administration the authority to cut the number of miles, and to scrap the two-tier fence. Instead, the border now has 651 miles of barriers, and only 352 miles of that is an actual fence to keep pedestrians out. The other 299 miles are vehicle blockades that still allow wildlife, and people, to cross unhindered. Homeland security officials say they are comfortable with the amount and mix of fencing, but many lawmakers say more is needed — and Thune’s amendment will give them a chance to have a say. Still, it is expected to fail as the Gang of Eight senators who wrote the immigration bill defends the core of its deal, which is to offer quick legal status to illegal immigrants but withhold full citizenship rights until after more money is spent on security. They argue that waiting until 350 miles of full fence is built would delay legalization too long.

Senators wil l also vote Tuesday on three other amendments: One would expand immigration benefits for adoptees, another would add Indian tribe representatives to a border oversight panel, and a third would stop any legalization until the government completes a biometric entry-exit system that Congress first demanded in 1996, but which is still undone.

June 18: The Daily Caller: African-American State Senator from Louisiana joins the Republican Party and released a video:
Elbert Guillory, an African-American state senator from Louisiana, recently became a Republican. And one week later, he released a  video explaining his move — and urging others to join him in “abandoning the government plantation and the party of disappointment.” 

June 17: The Galveston County Daily News: In the continuing series of articles in the Daily News, Mark Mansius, Bill Sargent, and John Gay talk about leadership and being "engaged." Taken from the pages of yesteryear they compare George Washington's leadership to that of the current president.

June 17: PJMedia.com: [See additional explanation]
Who won and who lost in the U.S. Supreme Court Arizona Voter Registrar Decision?
According to J. Christian Adams who has litigated five NVRA cases in the last year and who has worked on the preemption issues for years here is what the opponents of the Arizona law wanted and what they got:

• They wanted: Invalidation of Arizona’s requirement that those submitting a federal form provide proof of citizenship with their federal form. They won here, but it was a minor victory because the decision applies only when the federal form is used. In Arizona 5% or less register using this form and the state is not required to push this form. Most people go to their local voter registrar or the Secretary of State’s office to registrar.
  
  
• They wanted: Invalidation of state citizenship-verification requirements when a state voter registration form is used. They wanted the Arizona case to invalidate all state citizenship-verification requirements. This did not happen. As noted above, Arizona and other states can simply push the state forms in all state offices and online, and keep those federal forms in the back room gathering dust. When you submit a state form, you have to prove citizenship. Thanks to Justice Scalia, that option is perfectly acceptable. When voters use a state, as opposed to a federal, form, they can still be required to prove citizenship. The federal form is irrelevant in that circumstance.
  
  
• They wanted: Automatic registration if a registrant submits a completed federal EAC approved registration form, no questions asked. This is a big loss for them because now states can put suspect forms in limbo while they run checks against non-citizen databases and jury-response forms giving these applications additional scrutiny. The opponents of the Arizona law wanted to strip the states from being able to double check suspect forms. This did not happen.
  
  
• They wanted: Federal preemption on the ability for states to have customized federal EAC-approved forms that differed from the default EAC form. They lost: the decision allows states to apply to the EAC for approval of variations of the form. A request to do this by the State of Louisiana was recently granted. The decision encouraged Arizona to reapply to the EAC and, if the EAC failed to adequately meet their needs, the decision opened an avenue for an additional lawsuit.
  
  
• They wanted: Federal preemption over states, like Florida and Kansas, looking for independent information on citizenship to root out noncitizens from the voter rolls. Again the opponents of the Arizona law wanted to have the use of the federal EAC form to be the no-questions-asked ticket to the voter rolls. They failed to achieve this goal.

June 17: Associated Press:
Supreme Court: Arizona Citizenship Voter Requirement is Illegal:
States can't demand proof of citizenship from people registering to vote in federal elections unless they get federal or court approval to do so, the Supreme Court ruled Monday in a decision complicating efforts in Arizona and other states to bar voting by people who are in the country illegally. The justices' 7-2 ruling closes the door on states independently changing the requirements for those using the voter-registration form produced under the federal "motor voter" registration law. They would need permission from a federally created panel, the Election Assistance Commission, or a federal court ruling overturning the commission's decision, to make tougher requirements stick. Justice Antonin Scalia, who wrote the court's majority opinion, said federal law "precludes Arizona from requiring a federal form applicant to submit information beyond that required by the form itself." Voting rights advocates welcomed the ruling. "Today's decision sends a strong message that states cannot block their citizens from registering to vote by superimposing burdensome paperwork requirements on top of federal law," said Nina Perales, vice president of litigation for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. "The Supreme Court has affirmed that all U.S. citizens have the right to register to vote using the national postcard, regardless of the state in which they live."

But the key here is are the people who register in this way really U.S. citizens?  Under Arizona’s Proposition 200 approved in 2004, Arizona officials required an Arizona driver's license issued after 1996, a U.S. birth certificate, a passport or other similar document before the state would approve the federal registration application. It can no longer do that on its own authority.  Less than 5 percent of people registering to vote in Arizona use the federal form, said Matt Roberts, a spokesman for Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett. The rest register through the state, meaning they will continue to be asked to provide proof of citizenship when signing up to vote.  Arizona voters created the proof-of-citizenship requirement as part of Proposition 200, a ballot measure passed in 2004, 56 percent to 44 percent.

June 17: Politico: Supreme Court strikes down Arizona voter registration law 7-2:
The justices dodged the question of whether states could ever impose such a requirement without federal approval.  “We conclude that the fairest reading of the statute is that a state-imposed requirement of evidence of citizenship not required by the Federal Form is ‘inconsistent with’ the NVRA’s mandate that States ‘accept and use’ the Federal Form,” Justice Antonin Scalia wrote on behalf of the court’s liberals and Chief Justice John Roberts.  Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented in separate opinions, arguing that the majority’s reading of the motor voter law is strained, and that the Constitution grants states the rights to determine who is qualified to participate in elections.

In 2005, a federal panel known as the Election Assistance Commission deadlocked, 2-2, on Arizona’s requests to add their additional requirements to the federal form. The majority opinion issued Monday left open the possibility that Arizona could again seek approval of its state forms from the federal government, and challenge any rejection in court at that point. The federal voting commission recently approved a similar requirement for Louisiana voters, Scalia noted.

June 17: The Daily Caller:
Meanwhile Cruz will file an immigration amendment allowing states to require proof of citizenship in order to register to vote:
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz will propose an amendment to the comprehensive immigration reform bill that would allow states to require ID before registering voters, after a Supreme Court announced a decision Monday striking down an Arizona law that required that people show proof of citizenship when registering to vote. “I’ll file amendment to immigration bill that permits states to require ID before registering voters & close this hole in fed statutory law,” Cruz tweeted Monday afternoon.

June 17: Fox News: U.S. General to testify about Benghazi attacks and military response:
For the first time since the Sept. 11, 2012 Benghazi attacks, the four-star general in charge of U.S. military assets in the Africa region will testify before Congress about what happened that night.  The hearing has been scheduled for June 26 at 9:00 a.m. and will be held by the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.  At the time of the attack Ham was serving as Commander of AFRICOM and happened to be in Washington D.C. for meetings. He spent much of the night in the National Military Command Center, a basement office and war operations center in the Pentagon.  Ham's retirement was announced just weeks after the incident, sparking rumors that he was being pushed aside after having expressed his desire for a more aggressive military response.

June 17: The Daily Caller: Mystery man hands out cash to supporters of Colorado Democrat facing a recall over guns:
A mysterious man who no one claims to know was caught on video slipping $20 bills to volunteers supporting embattled Colorado state Sen. Angela Giron, who is facing a recall effort over her support for tough new gun-control laws. Giron is one of two Colorado Senate Democrats facing a recall push. Both her opponents and those of Senate President John Morse have turned in more than the required number of signatures needed to trigger a recall election.

June 17: The Daily Caller: GOP seeks to cut “green energy” spending in half next year:
House Republicans revealed their plan to cut green energy spending in half next year as a way to meet the cuts required under sequestration. In protest to the Obama administration requesting more funding for the Energy Department in 2014, Republicans are cutting green energy spending by $1 billion — $911 million less spending than in 2013.   The Obama administration’s proposed 2014 budget increases the Energy Department’s funding by 8 percent to $28.4 billion to fund clean energy programs. Renewable energy and energy efficiency programs make up $23 billion in spending over the next decade in the Obama budget blueprint.

June 17: Politico: Surveillance programs create chasm among Democrats
Revelations about the Obama administration’s expansive domestic surveillance programs have opened a chasm between Democratic elected officials and their progressive base — one that could be tricky for the party’s future presidential hopefuls to bridge. 

June 17: Politico: Obama: I am not Dick Chaney! Well you got that one right!
President Barack Obama used a television interview set to air Monday night to defend his administration’s use of far-reaching surveillance programs as carefully supervised and controlled. Obama also appeared to reject comparisons between himself and Vice President Dick Cheney, who strongly backed similar surveillance efforts in the George W. Bush administration.

June 17: Business Insider:  Snowden: The truth is coming, and the government can’t stop it by murdering me:
Avoiding a specific question on the scope of documents he obtained about the National Security Agency's surveillance programs, former NSA contractor Snowden suggested Monday that he believes the federal government wants to either jail or murder him.  Many members of Congress have suggested that Snowden is a “traitor” or committed an “act of treason.” 

June 17: The Daily Caller: Swing voters walk away from Obama’s second term:
A new CNN poll shows that swing voters and independents are walking away from President Barack Obama, leaving him with his base of progressive-led voters. Only 42 percent of those polled believe Obama agrees with their views on the size and power of the government, while 57 believe he does not agree. Only 40 percent of adults approve of his policy towards illegal immigrants, while 57 percent disapprove.

June 16: The Washington Examiner:
Supreme Court expected to rule soon on constitutionality of Voting Rights Act:
The Supreme Court is expected by the end of the month to announce its ruling on a case that could end a landmark Civil Rights-era law designed to combat discriminatory voting practices nationwide. Some in the media believe the court will strike down parts of Section 5, if not all of it. This section requires states, mostly in the South, to get Justice Department or federal court approval before making changes to the ways they hold elections.  For example, in Galveston County, as in other Texas counties, they must submit a list of the polling locations they want to use and get “preclearance” prior to holding their elections. The provision is part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act -- enacted to stop Jim Crowe-era practices such as literacy tests, poll taxes or other measures designed to keep blacks from voting. But Shelby County, Ala., is challenging the constitutionality of the advance approval, or "preclearance" requirement, saying it no longer should be forced to live under oversight from Washington because it has made significant progress in combating voter discrimination.

June 16: The Hill: House Speaker faces some Major tests in the coming weeks:
Among the testy issues facing Boehner: Immigration reform, a five-year farm bill, the constitutionality of the National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance programs, a possible government shutdown and increasing the federal debt limit. Boehner has already committed to moving a five-year farm measure, which is set for a vote on the floor this week. But there are sure to be dozens of GOP defections. Meanwhile, revelations of National Security Agency (NSA) data-mining programs that culled phone and Internet records of Americans have caused angst for some in the GOP, who fear overzealous government intrusion. In the past the Speaker has brought several measures to the floor without having the full support of the Republican conference but with the support of some Democrats, this legislation passed.  GOP House Members have proposed that no legislation be allowed to move forward unless there is has the support of a majority of the GOP members -- the process used when Congressman Hastert was Speaker.

June 16: Politico: House approach on Benghazi: Crazy or just plain stupid?
Sometimes watching Speaker John Boehner and his House Republican “leadership” team in action calls to mind that scene from “Forrest Gump” in which Bubba’s mother looks incredulously at Forrest and asks: “Are you crazy — or just plain stupid?” More than six months ago, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) introduced a proposal to create a House Select Committee on the terrorist attack in Benghazi, a select committee being generally regarded as the best way to ensure an intelligent, well-coordinated, bipartisan investigation without fear or favor. Six months later, Wolf’s proposal is still stalled.

June 16: Politico: White House doesn’t know where Snowden is:
White House chief of staff Denis McDonough doesn't know where NSA leaker Edward Snowden is. Citing the ongoing investigation, he wouldn't talk about his views of Snowden, though he did tell host Bob Schieffer on CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday that he's unsure of whether Snowden is still in Hong Kong. "I don’t know where he is," McDonough said.

June 16: The Hill: Congressman Nadler clarifies NSA “cannot listen” to calls without a warrant
Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) said Sunday he does not believe that the National Security Agency can listen to Americans’ phone calls without a warrant.  “I am pleased that the administration has reiterated that, as I have always believed, the NSA cannot listen to the content of Americans’ phone calls without a specific warrant,” Nadler said in a statement to several news outlets.

June 16: Fox News: Cheney defends NSA programs, says Snowden is a “Traitor” and that Obama “lacks credibility”
Former Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday strongly defended the recently exposed U.S. surveillance programs, but sharply criticized President Obama for his handling of a range of issues from the Syrian civil war to the Benghazi terror attacks. Cheney told “Fox News Sunday” the National Security Agency-led programs have to remain confidential to keep the information from enemies and that he and other U.S. intelligence officials were concerned about a nuclear attack. “It was 19 guys with box cutters and airplane tickets,” but the next time it could have been a “nuclear attack,” the 72-year-old Cheney said.

June 16: Fox News: IRS Supervisors in DC scrutinized TEA Party groups’ cases:
An Internal Revenue Service supervisor in Washington says she was personally involved in scrutinizing some of the earliest applications from tea party groups seeking tax-exempt status, including some requests that languished for more than a year without action. Holly Paz, who until recently was a top deputy in the division that handles applications for tax-exempt status, told congressional investigators she reviewed 20 to 30 applications. Her assertion contradicts initial claims by the agency that a small group of agents working in an office in Cincinnati were solely responsible for mishandling the applications.

June 16: The Hill: Six Amendments to watch in the Senate as Immigration Reform is considered:
Senators are girding for a contentious floor fight next week over more than 100 immigration reform amendments that will be crucial to determining whether the chamber approves comprehensive legislation.  The bill’s authors, known as the Gang of Eight, have said they want their legislation to pass with at least 70 votes in order to send a strong message to the House that it should take up and pass the Senate bill. Here are six keys to the coming debate: 

June 15: WND World News: Wargames in Jordan: 4,500 U.S. Troops near the Syrian Border:
Multinational military exercise ‘Eager Lion’ has been launched in Jordan amid condemnation from neighboring Syria and its ally Russia. The US brings Patriot missile batteries to the Syrian border, which could remain deployed afterwards. The exercises will last for 12 days, bringing together about 8,000 personnel from 19 countries, mostly Arabic, but also including the US and Europe. The maneuvers will also involve some 3,000 Jordanian and 500 British troops. ‘Eager Lion’ – which is being conducted only 120km from the Jordan-Syria border – is aimed at training personnel for the possibility of the Syrian civil war spilling into neighboring countries.

June 15: The Weekly Standard: Obama’s Syria Policy is a Mess:
Thursday the White House announced that the American intelligence community assesses, with a level of high confidence, that the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against the opposition multiple times, in a limited fashion. Now that it is clear Assad has crossed the Obama red line, the question is, has this changed the president’s “calculus,” as he said it might? The media is reporting that it has. According to the press, Obama has decided to arm the opposition. The White House, writes the New York Times, will “begin supplying the rebels for the first time with small arms and ammunition.” However, there are other administration officials who tell the press that the White House is not going to send weapons to the opposition. Josh Rogin at the Daily Beast writes that his source “says that lethal arms are not part of the new items Obama has now authorized.” “The president,” says this official, “has made a decision to provide the Syrian opposition with military items that can increase their effectiveness on the ground, but at this point it does not include things like guns and bullets.”

So is the White House arming the rebels or not? And the questions being raised by some on Capitol Hill, what assurances do we have that we are arming the right people and not those who are sympathetic with Al Qaeda?

June 14: WNDNews.com: Admission by Chair of the Joint Chiefs: Special Forces were only hours from Benghazi
In a bombshell admission that has until now gone unreported, Martin Dempsey, chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, conceded that highly trained Special Forces were stationed just a few hours away from Benghazi on the night of the attacks but were not told to deploy to Libya. His remarks for the first time confirm an exclusive Fox News interview aired April 30 in which a special government operator, speaking on condition of anonymity, contradicted claims by the Obama administration and a State Department review that there wasn’t enough time for military forces to deploy the night of the attack.

June 14: The Weekly Standard:
The Obama Family trip to Africa will cost $60-$100 million; what happened to sequester?
President Obama and his family will be going to Africa later this month. But the trip won't be cheap; it's expected to cost American taxpayers $60 to $100 million, according to the Washington Post. After The Post questioned the costs of a planned family safari, the White House nixed the plan. "The president and first lady had also planned to take a Tanzanian safari as part of the trip, but the White House canceled the safari on Wednesday following inquiries from The Post about the trip’s purpose and expense, according to a person familiar with the decision."

June 14: The Daily Caller: Obama plans international tax uniformity, wants to use G8 meeting to crackdown on legal tax loopholes! Looking for money where ever he can find it!
President Barack Obama will use next week’s G8 meeting to organize a community of governments to minimize companies’ legal use of foreign tax laws, according to an aide. “The president has been focused on international efforts to reduce what is legal tax avoidance, when companies legally use loopholes that exist in our laws and other [countries’] laws to reduce their tax liability,” the Obama aide said. [A comment: It would seem to those who understand free market economics that companies will seek legal tax avoidance in order to be more profitable for themselves and their stockholders. It is when government intercedes and attempts to force private sector actions that the economy is skewed and adversely impacted.]

June 14: The Hill: NSA Leaker may have been working for the Chinese, Congressman says:
Congressman Peter King (R-NY) said Friday that National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden may have been working with the Chinese government to reveal U.S. intelligence secrets. “There’s a lot of reason for suspicion,” King said on MSNBC. “First of all the fact that he transferred money to China, the fact that he has studied Chinese, the fact that his girlfriend had some connections to China, the fact that of all the countries in the world he went to China, and he arranged to have the papers, those documents released, on the same weekend that President Obama was meeting with the president of China, and why is he still in China, and what is Chinese intelligence doing with all this?” “So there’s no definitive proof yet,” he added. “But it’s something that has to be investigated fully, and my belief is that it is being investigated.”

June 14: The Hill: AG Holder doges another GOP subpoena
Attorney General Eric Holder has agreed to meet with House Republicans as part of their probe into whether he misled Congress or acted inappropriately in the Justice Department’s investigation of two separate leaks to media outlets. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) made the announcement late Friday after exchanging several weeks worth of testy letters with the nation’s top cop. In agreeing to meet with the lawmakers, Holder staved off the threat of a subpoena from Goodlatte for a second time in as many weeks.

June 14: The Hill: House Judiciary to markup immigration bills next week:
The House Judiciary Committee will begin marking up a series of immigration reform bills next week, the chairman announced Friday. The Judiciary panel will attempt to send two proposals to the chamber floor. The first, which is designed to bolster the enforcement of immigration laws in the nation's interior, will be marked up Tuesday; the second, which relates to the guest-worker program catering to the nation's agriculture industry, will follow. The piecemeal approach runs counter to the strategy employed by the Senate, which this week began floor action on a comprehensive immigration reform package.

Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) defended his approrach and criticized the consideration of broad legislation as “standard operating procedure” in Washington. “For far too long, the standard operating procedure in Washington has been to rush large pieces of legislation through Congress with little opportunity for elected officials and the American people to scrutinize and understand them," Goodlatte said Friday in a statement. "Rather than rush a bill just to ‘find out what’s in it,’ the House Judiciary Committee has instead followed the traditional legislative process of regular order so that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past,” he continued. "Immigration reform is too important and complex to not examine each piece in detail.”

June 14: The Hill: Cornyn (R-TX) emerges as key to 70 vote threshold for immigration reform:
Cornyn is the big prize in the quest for more than 70 votes for immigration reform, but the Gang of Eight is split over whether he’s worth wooing. Cornyn told Republican colleagues at a meeting Wednesday that he would consider making changes to his amendment to bolster the border-security provisions of the Senate bill. His willingness to negotiate left some Republicans convinced after the meeting that he would strike a deal with the Gang of Eight and vote for final passage. His support would help the legislation pass overwhelmingly. Republican members on the Gang of Eight think he is a gettable vote, even though they acknowledge some of their Democratic colleagues are skeptical. Democrats strongly doubt Cornyn will vote "yes," given his past record of opposing immigration reform plans.

Cornyn said he’s willing to modify proposal but will not concede on what he calls its "fundamental substance." “There are certain elements that are non-negotiable, specifically the mechanism by which we would guarantee the security measures in the bill would actually be implemented,” he said. The bill’s authors are also negotiating with Sens. Bob Corker (R-TN) and John Hoeven (R-ND), but neither of those lawmakers have the same authority as Cornyn on border security. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) suggested earlier in the week that his vote and the support of other Republicans could be contingent on the fate of Cornyn’s proposals.

June 14: The Daily Caller: Governor’s Race in Colorado too close to call:
Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) who urged and signed strict gun control legislation for his state is neck-and-neck with potential Republican challengers Tom Tancredo and Scott Gessler, according to a new poll that takes an early look at the 2014 governor’s race.  The poll shows the race too close to call, with Hickenlooper ahead of Tancredo, a former U.S. congressman and controversial Republican firebrand, 42 percent to 41 percent.  His margin over Gessler, the current Colorado secretary of state, is 42 percent versus 40 percent. Hickenlooper’s overall approval rating is down to 47 percent from a 53 percent approval reported in April by liberal-leaning Public Policy Polling.

June 14: The Daily Caller: No End in Sight for Congressional IRS investigations; expanded probes promised:
Top congressional investigators from both parties vowed Friday to expand their respective investigations into the IRS targeting scandal, with one leading House investigator suggesting the Obama administration had a role in the scandal and slapping down claims that the IRS’ misconduct was not planned and coordinated. “We’re going to get the truth and we’re going to hold people accountable,” said Republican Rep. Dave Camp, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. “There is a lot more work to do.”

June 14: The Daily Caller: The FBI hasn’t contacted a single TEA Party group in IRS probe, groups say
There is no evidence that the FBI has contacted a single tea party group in its criminal investigation of the Internal Revenue Service, according to the groups the IRS abused. The revelation suggests that the FBI is in no hurry to get to the bottom of the scandal, despite the Obama administration’s promise to investigate the IRS’s multi-year abuse of conservative groups.

June 13: National Review: Did the IRS Fire Holly Paz?
An IRS source says that the agency has fired Holly Paz, the director of the agency’s Rulings and Agreements office. Paz became the subject of controversy when, in an interview with the House Oversight Committee, she revealed that she participated in an IRS internal investigation about the agency’s discrimination against tea-party groups and was aware of its findings, which emerged a year before the inspector general’s report and reached similar conclusions.

June 13: Fox News: FBI director in the dark about IRS probe while defending surveillance programs:
The country’s top investigator seemed to be in the dark Thursday when pressed to provide details of the IRS investigation into the tax agency’s targeting of Tea Party and conservative groups. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) seemed to rattle FBI Director Robert Mueller for not knowing the specifics surrounding the IRS probe.

June 13: The Daily Caller:
Freedom of Information Response shows 201 IRS employees work full-time on union business:
In a response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from Americans for Limited Government, the IRS revealed this month that 201 of its employees work full-time on union activities.

June 13: Politico: Obamacare? Sorry, we’re just leaving!
Dozens of lawmakers and aides are so afraid that their health insurance premiums will skyrocket next year thanks to Obamacare that they are thinking about retiring early or just quitting. The fear: Government-subsidized premiums will disappear at the end of the year under a provision in the health care law that nudges aides and lawmakers onto the government health care exchanges, which could make their benefits exorbitantly expensive. Democratic and Republican leaders are taking the issue seriously, but first they need more specifics from the Office of Personnel Management on how the new rule should take effect — a decision that Capitol Hill sources expect by fall, at the latest. The administration has clammed up in advance of a ruling, sources on both sides of the aisle said.

If the issue isn’t resolved, and massive numbers of lawmakers and aides bolt, many on Capitol Hill fear it could lead to a brain drain just as Congress tackles a slew of weighty issues — like fights over the Tax Code and immigration reform. The problem is far more acute in the House, where lawmakers and aides are generally younger and less wealthy. Sources said several aides have already given lawmakers notice that they’ll be leaving over concerns about Obamacare. Republican and Democratic lawmakers said the chatter about retiring now, to remain on the current health care plan, is constant.

June 13: The Hill: House votes to limit Obama’s authority to detain U.S. citizens:
The House voted Thursday evening to put limits on President Obama's power to indefinitely detain U.S. citizens who are terrorist suspects, but rejected a proposal to eliminate the authority altogether. In a close 214-211 vote, members approved an amendment to the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) from Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) that says nothing in U.S. law can deny citizens the right to a court hearing. Twenty-one Republicans voted against the amendment, and only three Democrats voted for it.

Many believe the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) gives the president the authority to indefinitely detain terrorism suspects who are U.S. citizens. Goodlatte said his language is aimed at resolving the issue."Today with this amendment, I want to make clear that nothing in the AUMF or the fiscal year 2012 NDAA or any other law for that matter can be construed to deny the great writ of habeas corpus," he said. "This is an important amendment that should alleviate any of the well-founded concerns of the American people concerning the possibility of indefinite detention of United States citizens." But the issue was not as clear to other members of the House. Armed Services Committee ranking member Adam Smith (D-WA) said Goodlatte's language does not go far enough, as it still gives the president too much power. "Even with this amendment, the president of the United States, the Department of Justice, will still have the ability to indefinitely detain people captured in the U.S., be they U.S. citizens or not, without the normal due process of law," Smith said.

June 13: Politico: Supreme Court rules genes cannot be patented:
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday that human genes cannot be patented in a decision that will affect the biotech industry, researchers and patients as science moves toward a more personalized gene-based approach to medical care. The court found that Myriad Genetics’s patents on two famous breast cancer genes were invalid because the genes were simply discovered in nature and were not products of human invention.
“Myriad did not create anything,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the ruling. “To be sure, it found an important and useful gene, but separating that gene from its surrounding genetic material is not an act of invention.”

June 13: The Daily Caller: Oh Well, Even a Senator can be wrong once in awhile!
On Thursday, Sen. John Thune (R-SD) proposed an amendment to the immigration bill that would require 350 miles of double-layer fencing before any legalization illegal immigrants can begin. That double-layer fencing in his proposal was part of the 700 miles already required by a 2006 law, where only 36 miles have been completed.  But that amendment offered by the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, the third-highest ranking position in the Senate GOP caucus, had one vociferous opponent in Louisiana Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu.

Immediately after Thune spoke on his amendment on the Senate floor, Landrieu took to the floor, but had a misstep with the facts in speech, particularly with regards to geography. Landrieu attacked the idea of having a fence, saying that people would just tunnel under it.  So far she might have been correct but then she went on to attack the South Dakota Republican on grounds his fence was dumb by comparing his state to Sen. John McCain’s state of Arizona. And she said McCain’s opposition should be a lesson for Thune, since Arizona borders Mexico and South Dakota only shares a border with Canada. (which it does not!)

June 13: Politico: Cruz blasts Obama on “conscience” amendment:
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) reamed President Barack Obama Thursday for threatening to veto a bill that would guarantee members of the military can freely express their religious beliefs. “We have reports of servicemen and women being told that, ‘If you share your faith with others, you will face disciplinary action and perhaps court martial,’” Cruz told an evening reception of social conservatives at the Capitol. “The idea that we would say to men and women who are risking their lives … that they have to check their First Amendment rights at the door and give up the right to speak the truth and to speak and defend their faith, it’s wrong and it’s unconstitutional.”

The amendment proposed by Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) would require the military to recognize “conscience, moral principles, or religious beliefs of” personnel. Critics say it would make it easier to harass gay soldiers under the guise of religion. And the White House Office of Management and Budget, in a statement this week objecting to the provision, said it would limit the “discretion of commanders to address potentially problematic speech and actions within their units.” But conservatives worry that, as it stands now, religious service members can be arbitrarily punished for speaking their mind. “Congress is acting right now to make very clear in the law that our service men and women don’t give up their faith when they sign up to defend this country,” said Cruz. “The Obama administration has explicitly said it opposes such efforts and has threatened to veto.”

June 13: The Editor: Comments on Local Issues: Politicians vs. Statesmen:
In past weeks my family and I have attended several campaign kickoff events for local candidates in Galveston County. Two really stand out in my mind and both were events that packed the house! The first was for Jack Roady, the Galveston County District Attorney who is running for reelection. As I said in a recent Facebook post, for the first time in years everybody in the house went quiet when Jack started speaking. Even the politicians/candidates who often carry on conversations in the back of the room stopped and listened. That was refreshing.

Then, tonight my wife and I went to the campaign kickoff for Dwight Sullivan, Galveston County Clerk [image left]. Again, it was a packed house; a tribute to the quiet type of leadership and the character of the man. Dwight's goal and desire is to simply serve our county, to improve the delivery of services, and to make the county's records be easily available without having to stand in line at the Justice Center. He has delivered on those goals.
These two men standout among the others.

June 12: The Daily Caller: House Committee looks into IRS seizure of 60 million medical records:
Republican members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee are looking into allegations that the Internal Revenue Service seized 60 million medical records from a California health care provider. A letter the committee sent to the IRS requires a response by June 25, comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed by an unnamed health-care provider against the IRS in California Superior Court. The lawsuit alleged that 15 IRS agents improperly stole medical records during search of the facility in March 2011, according to a report about the incident from Court House News. The search warrant the agents were executing, the committee noted in citing the Court House News report, was allegedly limited to financial records of a former employee of the company, not medical records

June 12: The Daily Caller: House Committee approves 20-week abortion ban:
he House Judiciary Committee approved legislation Wednesday that would ban abortions in the United States after 20 weeks. The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, was approved in a vote of 20-12. “The taking of innocent life is a practice all too common in this nation,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte said in a statement. “The recent Gosnell trial reminds us that when newborn babies are cut with scissors, they whimper and cry, and flinch from pain.  And unborn babies when harmed also whimper and cry, and flinch from pain.  Delivered or not, babies are babies, and it has been shown that they can feel pain at least by 20 weeks.” Of course all this begs the questions: “Does life begin at 20 weeks or does it start at conception and isn’t it murder to take the life of a child in the womb or out of the womb?”

June 12: Breitbart.com: Reid blocks senate vote on border security amendment to immigration bill:
On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) blocked a vote on the border security amendment to the “Gang of Eight” immigration bill offered by Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Grassley was pushing for an up-or-down vote by the Senate on his amendment, which would have required the border to be secured for six full months before any legalization of illegal immigrants in America began. Reid objected to Grassley’s motion, effectively implementing a 60-vote threshold that completely blocked any attempt at a fair vote on the amendment.

June 12: Reuters: Feds were searching for Snowden days before the NSA program went public:
U.S. government investigators began an urgent search for Edward Snowden several days before the first media reports were published on the government's secret surveillance programs, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.  Snowden, who has admitted to providing details of the top-secret programs, had worked on assignment at a Hawaii facility run by the National Security Agency for about four weeks before he said he was ill and requested leave without pay, according to the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. When Snowden failed to return, that prompted a hunt for the contractor, first by his employer Booz Allen Hamilton and then by the U.S. government, they said.

June 12: The Hill: Snowden tells Chinese/Hong Kong about U.S. Hacking their computers:
The United States government has been hacking into computers in China and Hong Kong for years, former government contractor Edward Snowden told the South China Morning Post.  In an interview with the Post in Hong Kong, Snowden said the National Security Agency has carried out hacking attacks against nonmilitary targets since 2009, with the newspaper citing "unverified documents." He said the targets of these attacks included Chinese university and public officials, businesses and students.  

June 12: Associated Press: Snowden still in Hong Kong (Mainland China):
In a report provided by the South china Morning Post Snowden was asked why he selected Hong Kong (part of communist China) as a destination.  He said "People who think I made a mistake in picking Hong Kong as a location misunderstand my intentions. I am not here to hide from justice; I am here to reveal criminality."

June 12: The Daily Caller: Congressman King (R-NY): Punish Glenn Greenwald and Snowden for leaks:
On Wednesday’s broadcast of Fox News Channel’s “America Live,” New York Republican Rep. Peter King said with the leaks about the National Security Administration first put forth by the Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald, it may be time to consider prosecuting the journalists. 

June 12: Fox News:
When a majority of Americans do not want their right to bear arms restricted, big money steps up its campaign:
Six months after the Newtown school shooting, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg continues to further his gun control campaign by asking donors not to support Democratic senators who opposed a bill to expand background checks on gun buyers, while a mayors' group he co-founded is embarking on a national bus tour to rally for efforts to curb gun violence. What they don’t get, or refuse to accept, is that controlling access to guns and ammunition will mean that law abiding citizens will go unarmed while the criminals will have and use them.  This is a lesson from history.  Consider what happened with prohibition and apply the same principles.

June 12: The Hill: NRA set to air TV ad in WVA:
The National Rifle Association is targeting Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WVA) with new ads urging him not to help President Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg pass new gun restrictions. The NRA is spending $100,000 on TV ads set to air for two weeks in West Virginia on local broadcasts.  One of the new NRA ads begins with a clip of a 2010 Manchin Senate campaign ad where he says "as your senator I'll protect your second amendment rights." "That was Joe Manchin's commitment," a voiceover in one of the ads says.  "But now, Manchin is working with President Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Concerned? You should be! Tell Sen. Manchin to honor his commitment to the Second Amendment and reject the Obama-Bloomberg gun control agenda."

June 12: CNN News: Has the moment for Gun Control passed? Why the push for such fizzled:
Six months after a gunman burst into a Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school, promises of stricter national gun control laws remain largely unfulfilled. The political climate isn't right. Politically vulnerable moderate Democrats eyeing the 2014 midterm elections don't want to risk political capital.  "The only way to pass a background check bill is to maintain a Democratic majority in the Senate, and any efforts that make that less likely are counterproductive," said Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

June 12: Fox News: New Poll: The Election kept Obama from taking action in Benghazi:
A new poll shows that a majority of Americans believe President Obama let election-year politics rule his decision not to send help to the Americans under attack at the consulate in Benghazi.  The poll also finds most voters -- 73 percent -- think Congress should continue to investigate the administration’s handling of the terrorist attack on the U.S. diplomatic post there -- this includes 58 percent of Democrats.

June 11: The Daily Caller: Cummins (D-MD): Conservative Republican is behind IRS abuses:
Rep. Elijah Cummings has yet to reveal the name of the “conservative Republican” IRS agent he claims started the agency’s improper targeting of conservative groups, despite evidence that the targeting was overseen by a registered Democrat working out of Washington, D.C.

June 11: The Daily Caller:  TEA Party group targeted by Hull: Our members are afraid to send in donations:
The tea party group targeted by infamous Washington-based IRS attorney Carter C. Hull said that its members are now afraid to send in donations, for fear that their names will be linked to conservative politics in the view of the federal government.

June 11: The Hill: Google asks to disclose details of NSA spying:
Google asked the Justice Department for permission on Tuesday to disclose more details about national security requests for its users' data. In a letter Google said it has worked "tremendously hard" to earn its users' trust. 

June 11: The Hill: Carney declines to call Snowden a “traitor”
White House press secretary Jay Carney on Tuesday said the administration would wait for the investigation into Edward Snowden to “proceed” before commenting, sidestepping questions on whether he would characterize the National Security Agency (NSA) leaker as a “traitor.”

June 11: Townhall.com: America Demands Truth on Benghazi:
On Sept. 11, 2012, four brave American diplomats were killed and 10 other Americans were injured in Benghazi, Libya, by a mob of between 125 and 150 heavily armed Islamists. This jarring event was a grim reminder of the continued threat to America that exists and should have been a wake-up call to the Obama administration about the deadly nature of radical Islam. But here we are now, nine months later, and there still are no answers or explanations from the Obama administration about what exactly happened, why it happened and what those in charge knew while it was happening. It's time for answers, and it's time for our commander in chief to stop stonewalling. Americans need and deserve to know the truth.

June 10: Politico: Chairman Issa: Department of State has submitted some Benghazi documents:
The State Department has turned over some documents in response to a subpoena from Rep. Darrell Issa seeking more information about changed talking points after the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. “Committee investigators are reviewing the documents to assess the completeness of the delivery,” Frederick Hill, spokesman for Issa, who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said in an e-mail. The documents were turned over late Friday, the deadline for compliance.

June 10: Fox News: Benghazi is the blank spot on the Obama presidency
On “Fox News Sunday” recently, White House aide Dan Pfeiffer was asked about President Barack Obama’s whereabouts the night of the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi. This was the night when we lost our first ambassador in 30 years, and when three other Americans were killed in an attack lasting for hours at multiple locations. Since the president is commander in chief, one would think that where he was and what he did during such an event would be of obvious public concern. Not according to Pfeiffer. He deemed the president’s location, and specifically whether he was in the Situation Room, “a largely irrelevant fact.”

June 11: Fox News: Actress Urges Gun Safety on Twitter and Looses half of her “Followers”
Actress Katee Sackoff said she lost half of her Twitter followers when she tweeted a message urging people to practice gun safety. After watching a television report about a four-year-old who accidentally shot and killed his father with a loaded gun that had been left unattended at a friend’s house, the “Battlestar Galactica” star tweeted Monday: “Please practice gun safety. This is horrible!”

June 11: Fox News: Gun Play: Zero tolerance toward school kids could backfire:
Little boys around the nation keep getting in trouble for guns – whether they’re made of plastic, formed by fingers or even fashioned from Pop-Tarts – but some experts say having “zero tolerance” for games children have played for centuries is turning the adults into bullies and backfiring on kids.

11: The Daily Caller: Brit Hume: Obama administration “can’t seem to shake hands with the truth” [video]:
On Tuesday’s “America Live” Fox News network senior political analyst Brit Hume reacted to misleading and perhaps false statements from Director of National Intelligence James Clapper before a public hearing in Congress about allegations of the existence of the National Security Administration’s data collection program. Hume noted an answer Clapper gave in hearing back in March when asked about data collection by Ron Wyden (D-OR), which now has Clapper in hot water with Wyden, part of a pattern with Clapper he noted. “The question couldn’t have been more perfectly designed to elicit an answer based on this program,” Hume said. “That wasn’t misleading. It was flat-out false. This guy, Clapper, has a history of unfortunately public statements, and this is just one more of them. Remember he said the Muslim Brotherhood was largely secular. Remember that?”

Hume said Clapper had every opportunity to give a straightforward answer, or not at all. Instead he chose to answer in a “dumb and untrue” way, Hume said. “There is a claim that in the annals of intelligence gathering that the word ‘collection’ has a certain meaning,” Hume said. “But look, that question that he was asked by Wyden was provided to him a day in advance. Now, he wasn’t being asked that from somebody who necessarily knows all the lingo of the intelligence community. He was asked by a senator in a public hearing. Now, you’d have to be brain dead to look at that question and think that, ‘Oh, he’s referring to this narrow meaning we sometimes use has to do with spying or particular people,’ or whatever. It’s ridiculous. It’s an absurd answer. Clapper may be for a fine man. For all I’ve heard he is. He may be a publicly spirited guy. He says all kinds of dumb things, and here he says something that is dumb and untrue.”

June 11: The Hill: Senate Votes 82-15 in First Step to debate immigration bill:
The Senate voted 82-15 on Tuesday to end debate on a motion to proceed to a comprehensive immigration reform bill. Senators are expected to vote to proceed to the bill, which will launch a weeks-long floor debate on immigration reform. The four Republican members of the Gang of Eight — Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) John McCain (R-AZ) Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) — were joined by more than 20 other GOP senators in voting to advance the debate. That strong support is expected to dwindle if certain amendments aren't agreed to. "As an elected leader in my party, it’s my view that we at least need to try to improve a situation that as far as I can tell very few people believe is working well either for our own citizens, or for those around the world who aspire to become Americans," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said ahead of the vote Tuesday. "I’ll vote to debate it and for the opportunity to amend it, but in the days ahead there will need to be major changes to this bill if it’s going to become law."

June 11: The Daily Caller: Unions want worker protections as part of the Immigration Bill:
AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka said his deputies will be pushing senators to improve worker-protection measures in the Senate’s draft immigration bill. “Is there every protection I would have liked? No,” he told The Daily Caller after a media event at the White House.  Asked if his union is pushing for more protections, Trumka said, “We are.” How many? “A couple,” said Trumka, who is supporting passage of the controversial bill. Asked by TheDC to describe the sought-for protections, Trumka laughed and said, “No.”
Trumka’s push for extra protections may be a problem for the bill’s prospects. In 2006 and 2007, the bills failed amid union opposition to guest-worker programs demanded by business.  The current bill would bring in or legalize roughly 30 million people in the next 10 years, despite the current high jobless rate.

June 11: The Daily Caller:
Buchanan: Government is not protecting us against “invasion” and Why should we reward “law breakers?”
On Tuesday’s broadcast of Laura Ingraham’s radio show, conservative columnist Pat Buchanan gave Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio some advice on how to handle his “Gang of Eight” colleagues. He said Rubio should point out that the federal government has failed to protect the border “against an invasion” of “illegal people.”  “You know what Marco Rubio should say to them?” Buchanan said. “‘Look, we don’t believe in amnesty. We believe it’s rewarding illegal law breaking. It’s rewarding people who broke into our country and broke in line and who are here illegally. As for securing the border, that is not an option for you folks. That’s is an obligation, that is a duty of the president of the United States — to defend America’s borders against an invasion. And if you yourselves say there are 12 million illegal people here, that’s an invasion.’”

June 11: The Hill:  Rubio would require immigrants to speak English before receiving legal residency:
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) will offer an amendment to the Senate immigration reform bill strengthening the requirement that immigrants be able to speak English before they can get legal residency. Rubio says his amendment would eliminate a loophole in the legislation that undermines the English language requirement.  Current law only requires English proficiency for citizenship. “On the day we announced the principles that would shape the immigration bill, we made it clear that English proficiency would now be required for permanent residency for the first time in American history,” Rubio said in a statement. “This amendment ensures that will be the case.” Rubio’s amendment would strike language in the pending bill allowing the English proficiency requirement to be met simply by signing up for a language course. Critics of the legislation have panned it for not doing enough to require millions of illegal immigrants to learn English as a condition for obtaining permanent legal residency.

June 11: The Daily Caller: Conservatives want House to codify the “Hastert Rule”
Conservative activists are calling for the codification of the “Hastert Rule,” which requires that a majority of the majority in the House of Representatives support legislation before it can be brought to the floor, after Speaker of the House John Boehner indicated that he might be willing to use Democratic votes to get immigration reform passed in the House. Boehner has broken the Hastert rule, so named for former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, numerous times since the start of this Congress, bringing bills to the floor that do not have a support of a majority of Republicans. Both the bill to avert the fiscal cliff and a bill to provide financial aid to areas devastated by Hurricane Sandy passed with the votes of a majority of Democrats, and a minority of Republicans. The Conservative Action Project, a group “designed to facilitate conservative leaders working together,” sent a letter Tuesday to Republican members of the House urging that the Hastert rule be officially codified to prevent future votes passing with a minority. The group is chaired by former Attorney General Edward Meese III.

June 11: Fox News: State Department accused of covering up sex and prostitution investigation:
The U.S. State Department’s ability to investigate wrongdoing by its staff is under question after a report that the agency tried to cover up several crimes committed has surfaced. Some of the allegations are against then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s security detail who allegedly hired prostitutes, a U.S. ambassador accused of trolling public parks for paid sex and a security official in Beirut committing sexual assaults on foreign nationals. An internal memo from the State Department’s inspector general listed eight examples of wrongdoing by agency staff or contractors. The memo also seems to indicate that the government agency tried to use its authority to stop the investigation and instead, opting to have the official, whose name has not been released, meet with Undersecretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy in Washington. The official was then allowed to return to his job overseas.

June 10: The Galveston County Daily News: Learning the difference between Hype and Votes, the third in a series by former rivals in the GOP primary for CD-14 but friends!

June 9: Politico: NSA Leaker ID’s himself, says he has No Regrets:
The former CIA employee and Ron Paul supporter who leaked details about classified secret surveillance programs to the Guardian and the Washington Post revealed himself in a story published Sunday, saying that he has no apologies for his actions.  Edward Snowden, 29, told the Guardian that he wanted his identity made public.  “I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong,” he said. Snowden, who told the papers that he is at a hotel in Hong Kong, said he intends to seek asylum outside the United States. “I intend to ask for asylum from any countries that believe in free speech and oppose the victimization of global privacy,” Snowden told the Post.

June 9: The Hill: Meanwhile the Intelligence Community is assessing the damage from the NSA leak:
The intelligence community is reviewing the "damage" done by a series of leaks revealing the National Security Agency's secret phone and internet surveillance, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) said Sunday. "The Intelligence Community is currently reviewing the damage that has been done by these recent disclosures. Any person who has a security clearance knows that he or she has an obligation to protect classified information and abide by the law," the statement said.

June 9: Politico: NSA Leaker could reveal more secrets if not stopped:
The investigations that seized Associated Press phone records and dug into the email account of a Fox News reporter labeled a co-conspirator are just a warm-up act for what’s coming next. New probes might be uncomfortable politically after the recoil from recent revelations of how far the Justice Department went in hunting leaks — and President Barack Obama says he welcomes the debate that the flurry of new and potentially more significant leaks in recent days have sparked. "These are huge [issues],” said Ted Boutrous, a media lawyer who has represented journalists caught up in leak inquiries. “I have very little doubt that they will conduct an aggressive investigation.”

June 9: Politico: Majority Leader Reid Blast Cornyn for “Poison Pill” Amendment to Immigration Bill
A proposed Republican amendment to the Senate Gang of Eight’s immigration bill is a “poison pill” and the legislation is unlikely to go through any “big changes,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said Sunday. The amendment to the bill from Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) would require significantly higher thresholds of border control before the bill’s “trigger” kicks in allowing undocumented immigrants to move toward citizenship. The effort has been praised by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), a key Gang of Eight member, as a provision that “will get this bill where it needs to be.”

But Reid said Cornyn’s amendment is not intended to be constructive and that he “will not accept any poison pills” as the bill comes before the full Senate this week. “We have a senator from Texas, Senator Cornyn who wants to change border security, a trigger, saying that it has to be a 100 percent border security, or [there will] be no bill. That’s a poison pill,” Reid said on Univision’s Al Punto.

June 9: The Hill: Supreme Court Decision on Homosexual “marriage” may highlight this summer’s term:
Both sides in the fight over same-sex marriage are bracing for a decision from the Supreme Court, the most high-profile of the cases justices are expected to rule on this summer.  Where last year brought an anxious waiting game in immediate, politically charged cases over ObamaCare and immigration, this year’s major rulings will center around broad questions of civil rights. Social conservatives have warned the court not to get too far ahead of the public on same-sex marriage, while a coalition of prominent liberals and libertarians has pushed for a sweeping ruling that would settle the debate permanently.

During oral arguments in March, the justices seemed to be looking for a middle ground that would advance the rights of same-sex couples while leaving the issue mostly to the states.  Justice Anthony Kennedy, traditionally the court’s swing justice, appeared particularly inclined to rule on narrow grounds, avoiding the question of whether the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a more liberal justice, also seemed open to a more incremental approach that would let the states move at their own pace.
Here is a list of some of the major decisions anticipated this summer from the Supreme Court.

June 9: Fox News:
Ranking Member of House Oversight and Government Affairs Accuses Chair of “Accuse now and prove later” tactics:
Elijah Cummings (D-MD) suggested Sunday that the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee that is leading probes into controversial Obama administration activities is squashing testimony in the recent IRS scandal and taking an overall “accuse, then prove” approach to investigations.  He also sent a five-page letter to committee Chairman Darrell Issa, accusing the California Republican of withholding information in the IRS probe and criticizing how he has investigated the Justice Department’s flawed gun-tracking program Operation Fast and Furious, the fatal Benghazi terror attacks last year, and now the IRS.  In response Chairman Issa said "I strongly disagree with … Cummings' assertion that we know everything we need to know.  His assertions are a signal that his true motivation is stopping needed congressional oversight ...”

June 9: The Daily Caller: Washington IRS official who oversaw “targeting” is a registered Democrat:
Carter C. Hull, a resident of Silver Spring, Maryland and the Washington-based Internal Revenue Service attorney who oversaw improper targeting of tea party groups is a registered Democrat, according to the Real Voters Database.  Hull signed a May 12, 2010 letter to the Albuquerque Tea Party grilling the group on the recent content of its newsletters and its website.

June 9: The Hill: Republicans demand “decisive action” from new IRS Chief and soon:
Republicans are warning the new IRS chief that his honeymoon will be short unless he does more to clean up the agency and explain how and why the targeting of conservative groups began. Republicans who have been hotly critical of the IRS have taken a softer touch with the man tapped by President Obama to steer the agency through the crisis, and have pledged to back his efforts.  House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA), who has doggedly pursued the improper targeting of Tea Party groups, said Thursday that Werfel’s first steps had been reassuring.  

June 8: The Hill: Republicans see an “arrogance of power” in White House:
Republicans said on Saturday that President Obama used “campaign-style” tactics to attack a GOP student loan-rate plan that was then rejected by the Senate. Without action, the loan rates are due to double on July 1. Rep. Luke Messer (R-IN) zeroed in on the Senate defeat of Republican legislation passed in the House to keep federally subsidized student loan rates low, which some say mirrors the White House’s own proposal. “[Obama’s] maneuvers are yet another example of the arrogance of power that has taken root in this administration, and it prevents us from addressing the people’s priorities,” he said. Messer then called on the Senate and the White House to work out a compromise that keeps the borrowing rate low for students. Without congressional action, the rates – set at 3.4 percent –are set to double in July.

The GOP student loan plan ties the interest rates to 10-year Treasury notes, which would keep rates low while the economy recovers, but leaves room for increases as the markets improve. It, along with the Democratic plan, failed in the Senate on Thursday. “Taking the politics out of student loans is a common-sense fix,” Messer said of the proposal. “After the usual noise and bluster, [Senate Democrats] failed to pass any legislation that would help student borrowers,” he said. Before the vote, the White House said Obama would veto the Republican legislation if it passed the Senate. The Indiana Republican and other members have criticized the president for opposing a plan similar to his own.

June 8: The Hill: Looming debt ceiling fight threatens economic recovery:
A drawn-out debt ceiling fight in Congress could undermine the jobs growth that is expected later this year.  Economists argue that the nation's economic expansion is poised to accelerate in the fall once it weathers the headwinds of tax hikes and spending cuts. But lawmakers must clear this looming major fiscal hurdle to provide greater certainty for businesses to increase hiring heading into 2014. Failure or a delay in raising the debt limit, they say, would set up another roadblock to a more robust recovery, especially if lawmakers hold off until the last minute, which some are expecting.

"I don't expect job growth to meaningfully pick up until the fiscal headwinds stop blowing as hard," Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, told The Hill. "Assuming Congress and the administration pass legislation raising the debt limit and funding the government next year in a reasonably graceful way, then the job market should swing into higher gear next year." But what they are missing is the long term impact of continuously higher and higher deficits that some day someone will need to pay for!

June 8: Politico: How do most people view the Government Snooping?
To hear the outrage, you’d think the public was in revolt that the government is reading their email and monitoring their phone calls. In reality, the collective reaction was probably something closer to “they are probably not really looking at my computer so what is the big deal?” And it’s probably why President Barack Obama won’t change the program and Republicans won’t make too much of a fuss. Privacy is sort of like the deficit: In the abstract, voters rate it a serious concern. But drill down, and they don’t want to cut the entitlements that balloon federal spending — or end programs that have prevented terrorist attacks. Especially if Americans don’t believe their own computers and phones are being monitored, they are willing to give the government a long leash, public opinion experts say.

A Pew Research survey in 2011 found that only 29 percent favored “the U.S. government monitoring personal telephone calls and emails” in order to curb terrorism. But Pew found in another poll that 47 percent are more concerned government policies “have not gone far enough to adequately protect the country,” while only 32 percent said they were more concerned the government has gone “too far.”

June 8: Fox News: What happened to the right to free speech?
Texas High School silences Valedictorian’s microphone during speech on the Constitution!
A Texas high school silenced its Valedictorian’s microphone during his speech when he diverted from his pre-approved remarks and instead spoke about the Constitution.  Joshua High School graduate Remington Reimer, who was accepted into the Naval Academy, had his microphone silenced during his speech right after he told fellow graduates that school officials apparently threatened him with the move the day before, Fox News in Dallas Fort Worth reported. Colin Radford, a fellow graduate told Fox News that Reimer was "talking about getting constitutional rights taken away from him, and then he said "just yesterday they threatened to turn my microphone off," and then his microphone went off."

"Student speakers were told that if their speeches deviated from the prior-reviewed material, the microphone would be turned off, regardless of content," Joshua Independent School District said in a statement.
"When one student's speech deviated from the prior-reviewed speech, the microphone was turned off, pursuant to District policy and procedure," the statement said. The ceremony reportedly opened and closed with a prayer, leading another graduate to believe Reimer’s speech mentioning God and Jesus had nothing to do with the microphone being silenced.

June 8: The Daily Caller: White House blamed for IRS scandal:
A clear majority of independents, and even a plurality of Democrats, believe high-ranking IRS officials were aware of the agency’s harassment of conservatives’ political organizing, according to a new Gallup poll. The poll’s results are risky for Obama, whose political approval rate has remained relatively high, despite the lousy economy, because of his relatively high personal ratings. Sixty-two percent of adults disapprove of his handling of the IRS scandal, said the Gallup poll. Only 32 percent of adults approve of his reaction to the scandal. If his approval ratings falls, he’ll have even more difficulty accomplishing his top political goals which includes winning back the a majority in the House during the mid-term election.

June 8: The Hill: Day laborers: Obama known outside the Beltway as “deporter-in-chief”
Despite focusing his weekly address on immigration reform President Obama is known outside the Beltway as the “Deporter-in-chief,” an advocacy group said on Saturday. The National Day Laborer Organizing Network, an organization that works to improve the lives of transient workers, is critical of the White House’s promises to take a progressive stance on reforms. “At this point, his words sound like empty promises stacked against his record,” said Pablo Alvarado, the group’s executive director, in a statement. By 2014, two million people will be deported under the Obama administration, the Huffington Post said in January. That’s the cumulative amount of immigrants deported under Bush, and more than all deportations before 1997. “The fact that regressive voices among Republicans have been the loudest and most shrill does not excuse the president's disastrous record on deportations,” Alvarado said. “The president alone oversees the removal of more than 1,100 people every day.”

June 8: The Hill:  Bashed by Liberals and GOP, White House launches defense:
The White House is employing a trio of defense strategies as it confronts a deepening controversy over the government's secret harvesting of phone and Internet data. The goal is fend off Republican attacks while calming the president’s liberal base, which has loudly criticized the administration for embracing the same programs that George W. Bush did. President Obama touched on several defenses of his administration during a briefing with reporters in California on Friday. The remarks encapsulated the tough optics and rocky politics of the National Security Agency's (NSA) surveillance program.

June 8: The Hill:  Paul: NSA’s seizure of phone records is “an outrageous abuse of power”
Following reports that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been collecting phone records, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on Friday introduced legislation would require federal law enforcement officials to obtain a warrant, with probable cause, before searching Americans’ phone records. Among the revelations this week was a top-secret court order enabling the NSA to review telephone data for millions of Americans.

June 8: The Hill: Report: Obama administration likely to investigate surveillance program leaks:
A U.S. official told Reuters that federal law may compel the launch of an investigation. The Obama administration is likely to open an investigation into how top secret documents about a secret surveillance program were leaked to the public. According to Reuters, national security officials say the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are expected to open a probe into how The Washington Post and The Guardian newspapers obtained documents detailing how the National Security Agency collects Internet and telephone information.

June 7: The Daily Caller: IRS lawyer who oversaw conservative targeting is retiring and his Facebook page has been removed:
Carter Hull, the Washington-based IRS attorney who oversaw targeting of conservative groups beginning in 2010, will retire this summer. Hull was fingered in interviews with two IRS employees as the overseer of the agency’s improper targeting of conservative groups beginning in 2010.

June 7: Fox News: Where’s Obama as the IRS and EPA compete for the most bizarre scandal in Washington?
Fake employees who win awards. Workers building comfy warehouse hideaways. Big bucks shelled out for pricey “happiness experts.” And professionally produced office dance videos. No, it’s not the plot of a "Seinfeld" episode. It’s just the daily goings-on at the U.S. federal government.  But no one’s laughing at the waste of taxpayer money and the violation of public trust. The last few days have produced story after story of astounding government incompetence. An Inspector General Report issued Monday found that an EPA warehouse in Maryland stores all sorts of unused—and expensive!—equipment, purchased on the taxpayer dime and now gathering dust, including computers and pianos.

A May 31 response to a Freedom of Information Act request showed, however, there seemed to be some model employees at the EPA. Like Richard Windsor.  Three years in a row, he was awarded a Certificate for Ethical Behavior, and was also given a certificate for completing cuber-security training courses. The only problem? He isn't real! He was an email pseudonym adopted by former EPA Director Lisa Jackson, raising serious questions about whether she was intentionally avoiding FOIA requests for her email correspondence. The IRS and EPA must be in a competition for who can produce the most bizarre scandal. 

June 7: BreitBart.Com: Republicans focus fire on IRS involvement in Obamacare:
After the Supreme Court’s decision labeling Obamacare’s mandate a tax, the IRS has become the crucial centerpiece of President Obama’s health care rollout. But with the IRS’ targeting of conservative non-profits, Republicans are calling into question the agency’s involvement in the application of Obamacare. On May 23, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) specifically targeted IRS involvement in Obamacare as a rationale for fighting the program: "And here’s another thing we shouldn’t be doing: handing over the administration of Obamacare to these folks. I mean, think about it. A deeply unpopular law being administered by an agency that’s so betrayed the public trust. Even the IRS’ staunchest defenders in this scandal describe their actions as a case of ‘horrible customer service.’ That’s the best they can say: ‘Horrible customer service.’ And now they’re going to be put in charge of a new trillion-dollar program? One that will give them access to all sorts of sensitive, deeply personal information? Well, that’s just what the Administration and congressional Democrats are about to let happen," the Senate Minority Leader said.

McConnell specifically pointed out that the IRS official charged with managing Obamacare was the “very same person who led the division of the IRS now embroiled in scandal – who oversaw the very office now under fire for the discriminatory and harassing behavior.” McConnell is hardly the only Senator pointing out the nefarious connection between the IRS and Obamacare. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) told Breitbart News, “The president’s entire agenda is based on giving more and more power to the same executive branch agencies that have recently demonstrated themselves to either be criminally incompetent or tyrannically corrupt. Obamacare? Expanded gun background checks? Comprehensive immigration reform? They’re all based on competent collection and ethical use of personal information coerced from the American people by the federal bureaucracy."

June 7: USA Today: Obama’s agenda scorched in firestorms:
President Obama, meet the second-term curse. Revelations that the U.S. government has been collecting a massive database of telephone usage by millions of Americans — citizens not suspected of any wrongdoing — created a firestorm Thursday that would be damaging for any administration. But it is especially problematic for Obama because it stokes controversies he already was struggling to contain and reinforces criticism that has dogged him from the start. Republicans have long depicted Obama as an advocate of a big, dangerous and overreaching government. That has been their fundamental philosophical objection to his signature Affordable Care Act, now just months away from implementation of its major provisions. In recent weeks, it has fueled outrage over the targeting by the Internal Revenue Service of conservative Tea Party groups seeking non-profit status, and over the use of secret subpoenas and search warrants against the Associated Press and Fox News in Justice Department investigations of news leaks. Now the headlines are focused on governmental monitoring that touches not just reporters but, apparently, just about anyone who makes a phone call.

June 7: Politico: Bush critics turn wrath on President Obama:
A club of Capitol Hill liberals made life hell for George W. Bush in his second term. Now the gang is back — and they don’t care that this time the president is their guy. In the last few weeks, some of the loudest anti-Bush voices — including Democratic Reps. Henry Waxman and Ed Markey and Sens. Mark Udall and Ron Wyden – have been demanding answers from the White House on civil liberties, privacy and regulations, some of the same questions that defined Bush’s second term.

June 7: Fox News: The New York Times editorial board says the Obama Administration has “lost all credibility”
The New York Times editorial board, which twice endorsed President Obama and has championed many planks of his agenda, on Thursday turned on the president over the government's mass collection of phone data -- saying the administration has "lost all credibility."  The grey lady's editorial section lately has shown frustration with the administration's civil liberties record. It has criticized the escalation of the lethal drone program, and it lashed out after the Justice Department acknowledged seizing reporters' phone records last month.  The report that the National Security Agency has been collecting phone records from millions of Verizon subscribers appeared to be the last straw. The editorial board said the administration was using the "same platitude" it uses in every case of overreach -- that "terrorists are a real menace and you should just trust us. Those reassurances have never been persuasive -- whether on secret warrants to scoop up a news agency's phone records or secret orders to kill an American suspected of terrorism -- especially coming from a president who once promised transparency and accountability. The administration has now lost all credibility."

June 7: The Washington Post:
U.S. & Brit intelligence are mining data from nine U.S. Internet companies in Secret Program:
The National Security Agency and the FBI are tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies, extracting audio and video chats, photographs, e-mails, documents, and connection logs that enable analysts to track foreign targets, according to a top-secret document obtained by The Washington Post. The program, code-named PRISM, has not been made public until now. It may be the first of its kind. The NSA prides itself on stealing secrets and breaking codes, and it is accustomed to corporate partnerships that help it divert data traffic or sidestep barriers. But there has never been a Google or Facebook before, and it is unlikely that there are richer troves of valuable intelligence than the ones in Silicon Valley.

Equally unusual is the way the NSA extracts what it wants, according to the document: “Collection directly from the servers of these U.S. Service Providers: Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, Apple.”
London’s Guardian newspaper reported Friday that GCHQ, Britain’s equivalent of the NSA, also has been secretly gathering intelligence from the same internet companies through an operation set up by the NSA. The court-approved program is focused on foreign communications traffic, which often flows through U.S. servers even when sent from one overseas location to another.

In a statement issue late Thursday, Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper said “information collected under this program is among the most important and valuable foreign intelligence information we collect, and is used to protect our nation from a wide variety of threats. The unauthorized disclosure of information about this important and entirely legal program is reprehensible and risks important protections for the security of Americans.”

June 7: Townhall.com: VP Biden Tries to Gain Back Support for Gun Control Legislation:
Biden blames GOP for failure of gun control legislation. The problem is he seems to be forgetting that there are a number of Senators from his own party who voted against the measure.  A recent Reason poll showed that over 60% of those Americans surveyed  want Congress to stop pushing the gun control issue and move onto other issues.

 June 7: Politico: House Obamacare Accountability Project (HOAP) Launched:
House Republicans are planning a coordinated messaging operation against Obamacare starting this summer.
They call it HOAP — the House Obamacare Accountability Project. The effort will target the negative effects the GOP says the law will have on jobs, health costs and access to health care. It starts as the White House and the Democrats begin their own massive effort to encourage people to enroll in the new health coverage options starting Oct. 1.
“We have to win the debate on the consequences of the bill,” said Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX). “Because for patients, for families, for local businesses, for health care providers, there is an awful lot of anxiety and fear. … We’re going to focus on shining a bright light on the new law and what it means to people.”

House Republican Whip Kevin McCarthy (CA) and Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA) have organized about 25 members for HOAP — pronounced “hope” or “ho-ep” by some. On Capitol Hill, Republicans have been messaging their Obamacare frustration in oversight hearings. HOAP is charged with making sure the message resonates outside Washington. Republicans have long held that the health reform law will collapse under its own weight. They argue that premiums will jump; health costs will spike; and some employers will drop insurance coverage after key provisions go into effect next year. “Jan. 1 is the deadline for every person in America to have government-approved health care, or they face a fine, and every employer will have to provide government-approved health care, or they face a fine,” said Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA), chairman of the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee and a member of the group. While Republicans still prefer to repeal the health law, many recognized they need a new strategy after President Barack Obama’s reelection. August townhalls will be one way to reinforce the GOP messaging in their districts.

June 7: CBS Denver: Secession Plan Floated by Northern Colorado Leaders:
Several Colorado counties that strongly oppose increased regulation of the oil and gas industry say they want to form their own state. They are planning on calling it North Colorado or Northern Colorado. The counties are frustrated with the new agricultural and energy bills that have recently been signed into law by the Governor. “We really feel in northern and northeastern Colorado that we are ignored. Weld County Commissioner Sean Conway said the new laws don’t support the interests of the northern part of the state, which is rich in agricultural history. He said that’s why he and others are proposing to break away from Colorado to form a new state.

June 7: CBS Washington, DC: IRS workers say supervisors directed targeting:
Two Internal Revenue Service agents working in the agency’s Cincinnati office say higher-ups in Washington directed the targeting of conservative political groups when they applied for tax-exempt status, a contention that directly contradicts claims made by the agency since the scandal erupted last month. One of the agents said her work processing the applications was closely supervised by a Washington lawyer in the IRS division that handles applications for tax-exempt status. Her interview suggests a long trail of emails that could support her claim.

June 7: Deseret News: Finding the Root of the IRS Corruption:
The Obama administration, claiming it has been forced by sequestration to cut corners wherever it can, has indefinitely canceled all White House tours. At the same time, the Internal Revenue Service has revealed that it spent a whopping $50 million to fund 220 meetings between 2010 and 2012. There may be no logical connection between the two but the public is likely to draw the connection, anyway, and it is not unreasonable to do so. Both are funded with tax dollars.

June 6: Fox News:
GOP lawmakers may bring Holder back to explain testimony but stop short of issuing a subpoena:
Republican lawmakers want to haul Attorney General Eric Holder back to the Hill to explain questionable testimony he gave on reporter surveillance -- though they are stopping short of issuing a subpoena.

June 6: Politico: Speaker Boehner blasts Obama Veto Threats on Spending Bills:
House Speaker John Boehner is upping the ante in his war of words with the White House over government spending, calling President Barack Obama “reckless” over veto threats to two spending bills. In a letter sent to Obama on Thursday, Boehner accused Obama of threatening to shut down the government unless Republicans agree to tax and spending increases, something that the speaker says GOP lawmakers will never do. Boehner also said that Obama had agreed to work with Republican and Democratic leaders during a March 1 meeting at the White House to avoid any showdown over government funding but now has gone back on that deal.

June 6: Fox News: 
First the Department of Justice and now the National Security Agency:  They denied holding “data” on Americans:
Reports that the Obama administration has been collecting the phone records of millions of Verizon customers in the U.S. could contradict statements made by top officials who previously claimed the government was not holding data on Americans. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper was asked at a March hearing whether the National Security Agency collects any data on millions of Americans. "No sir ... not wittingly," Clapper responded, acknowledging there are cases "where inadvertently, perhaps" the data could be collected.  NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander also told Fox News last year that the agency does not "hold data on U.S. citizens." But the British newspaper the Guardian reported late Wednesday that the administration has been collecting the phone records of millions of U.S. customers of Verizon under a top secret court order. 

The order, a copy which was obtained by the Guardian, reportedly was granted by the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on April 25 and is good until July 19.  It requires Verizon, one of the nation's largest telecommunications companies, on an "ongoing, daily basis" to give the NSA information on all telephone calls in its systems, both within the U.S. and between the U.S. and other countries.  Administration officials, while not directly acknowledging the order, defended their authority to collect records and stressed they're not listening in on conversations.  Further, the heads of the Senate intelligence committee sought to calm concerns, saying the requests are carefully scrutinized.

June 6: Fox News: It may be “Legal” but is it “Wise” – NSA phone collection order:
The revelation that the National Security Agency (NSA) has secured a court order directing Verizon to provide it with call data has sparked controversy. And, rightly so. If the order is genuine (and nobody has denied that it is), it reflects a significant expansion of America’s surveillance apparatus – one that should at a minimum be closely examined.

June 6: BreitBart.com: Mainstream Media fail to break even one of Four Obama Scandals:
Well, if it is Thursday, there must be a new Obama scandal. But one thing is for damn sure, whatever that scandal is, you can bet the American mainstream media will be playing catch up and not carrying the glory of breaking a story about a major White House scandal. Fact: Over the past few weeks, four major scandals have broken over the Obama administration, and the our American mainstream media is not responsible for breaking even a single one.

• Verizon? That was the Brits over at The Guardian.
• IRS? The IRS broke their own scandal with a planted question.
• The Justice Department's seizure of Associated Press phone records? Believe it or not, the Associated Press didn’t even break that story. Like the IRS, we only found out because DOJ outted itself in a letter notifying the AP of what it had done.
• Benghazi? With a couple of rare exceptions (Jake Tapper, Sharyl Attkisson) the media has spent the last 8 months attacking those seeking the truth (Congress, Fox News) not seeking the truth. It was the GOP congress that demanded the email exchanges around the shaping of the talking points, not the media.
  Left up to the media, we wouldn't know anything about Libya. All of the media's energy was collectively poured into ensuring the truth was never discovered.

In three of the four scandals (the AP being the exception), had our media been less interested in protecting Power and more interested in holding Power accountable, these huge, career-making stories were right there for their taking.

June 6: The Hill:
Democrat Senatorial Committee Spending $ in Massachusetts Special Election – Concern they Could Lose Kerry’s Seat?
National Democrats are going on air in Massachusetts starting Friday with an ad tying Republican Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez to the national Republican Party — a move Republicans say is an indication the party is worried it might lose the seat. Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman Justin Barasky confirmed to The Hill that the committee will spend resources on air in the special election to fill John Kerry's former Senate seat. He declined to offer specifics on the size of the buy or the content of the ad. Markey, Gomez’s Democrat opponent, leads Gomez in recent polls by eight percent.

June 6: The Hill: Dept. of Interior Slows Implementation of Oil and Gas Fracking Rules on public lands:
The Obama administration has agreed to slow down the implementation of new oil and gas fracking rules on public lands, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced Thursday. In testimony before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Jewell said the agency would extend for 60 days a public comment period that has already attracted more than 177,000 submissions. The decision reflects the latest in a series of delays that have plagued the contentious regulation’s enactment. The proposed rules require energy companies to disclose chemicals that are used in hydraulic fracturing or fracking, a drilling method that has resulted in a U.S. oil and gas production boom but has also raised fears of water and air pollution. The plan drew criticism, both from industry officials who say the rules are unnecessary and environmental groups who said the revised rule was watered down. The decision to extend the 30-day comment period, which was set to expire on June 16, comes under pressure from the American Petroleum Institute.

June 6: The Hill: House votes to delay bulk ammunition purchases by DHS:
The House late Wednesday voted to stop the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from entering into new contracts to buy millions of rounds of ammunition until the DHS reports to Congress on the need for the ammo, and its cost. Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) proposed an amendment to the DHS spending bill for 2014 that would require the report to Congress before it can pursue plans to buy 1.1 billion rounds of ammunition. Meadows said the speed bump is a necessary reaction to news of the huge purchase, which alarmed many Americans and prompted conservative groups to suspect that the government was stocking up on the rounds to fight citizens.

June 5: It's Summertime and Time for the Supreme Court to start announcing its findings on some significant cases:

June 5: Fox News: New wrinkle on Scandals: EPA accused of singling out conservative groups:
It's not just the IRS. A second federal agency is facing a probe and accusations of political bias over its alleged targeting of conservative groups.  The allegations concern the EPA, which is being accused of trying to charge conservative groups fees while largely exempting liberal groups. The fees applied to Freedom of Information Act requests -- allegedly, the EPA waived them for liberal groups far more often than it did for conservative ones.  The allegations are under investigation by the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is also holding hearings on the Internal Revenue Service targeting of conservative groups.  I think "the American taxpayer should expect and demand that the EPA treat everyone equally in regard to these requests," said Congressman Murphy (R-PA) "This cannot be tolerated.  As we see more federal agencies with this kind of bias, it is and should be a concern for all of us." 

Research by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a conservative D.C., think tank, claims that the political bias is routine when it comes to deciding which groups are charged fees. Christopher Horner, senior fellow at CEI, said liberal groups have their fees for documents waived about 90 percent of the time, in contrast with conservative groups that it claims are denied fee waivers about 90 percent of the time.  "The idea is to throw hurdles in our way," Horner charged.  He claimed that in the last year 18 out of 20 requests for fee waivers were denied while 17 out of 19 from Earth Justice were approved and eleven of 15 for the Sierra Club were approved. All together Horner said that 75 out of 82 groups were granted fee waiver requests.  The EPA has denied any favoritism. 

June 5: The Hill: GOP expands probe of Sebelius fundraising:
Republican leaders on the House Energy and Commerce Committee solicited information from two more companies Tuesday after Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said she contacted them with information about a pro-ObamaCare group.  Fred Upton (R-MI), the committee chair and his deputies have been investigating reports that Sebelius solicited donations from several major healthcare players on behalf of Enroll America, a group that will encourage consumers to take advantage of ObamaCare's coverage options.  The letters sent by the committee ask the groups to summarize their contact with Sebelius, the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department, Enroll America and former White House deputy chief of staff Nancy-Ann DeParle.  Republicans say Sebelius's solicitations are illegal and unethical. HHS has defended her actions, saying they have several precedents in the George W. Bush administration.  Tuesday's letters bring the total number of enterprises contacted by Energy and Commerce in the probe to 17.

June 5: The Daily Caller | The Hill: Poll shows scandals damaging Obama’s Support:
A new poll finds a trio of controversies raising public concerns about the “honesty” of the Obama administration, even as the president maintains his approval rating. President Barack Obama’s support among political independents has lurched downwards amid a wave of scandals, according to a new poll.  The poll shows that among independent voters only 28 percent in swing voters approve of Obama’s performance, while 59 percent oppose his performance, said the poll of 1,000 adults, conducted between May 30 and June 2.  That 48 percent approval is down a few points from his plus-50 percent ratings, and may fall further if the large slice of independents decide Obama is responsible for the scandals.

June 5: The Daily Caller: Grassley: Obama hasn’t called in four years, “Most stonewalling president in history”
Senator Chuck Grassley says that despite President Obama’s reported outreach to Republicans, the president hasn’t called the Iowa senator since 2009.  “During that period of time, the president would call me on my cell phone and talk to me. I don’t know if it was a half a dozen times or a dozen times, but enough so you remember he called you,” Grassley said.  Grassley has jurisdiction over two of the President’s top legislative priorities: gun violence and immigration reform. Grassley also said the president has failed to rise to his promise of running the most transparent administration in history.  “Historically in my time in the Senate, I’ve had problems with both Republican and Democratic presidents, but this president is the worst from this standpoint — his own benchmark,” Grassley said. “By his own benchmark this is the most stonewalling president this country has ever had.”

June 5: The Hill: Chaffetz: Generally, those with subpoena power don’t get a two-by-four against the head!
David Plouffe, former White House senior advisor, took on Chairman Darrel Issa (R-CA) personally on Sunday. “Generally, those with subpoena power don’t get a two-by-four against the head,” said Issa ally Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), referring to broad authority vested in Issa as chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.  “Does the White House really need to out-source the pit bull stuff?” added Chaffetz.

June 5: Politico: IRS-targeted groups cry foul after playing GOP politics:
The conservative groups testifying about overzealous IRS scrutiny during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing Tuesday can’t get around a simple fact: All have been involved in the kinds of political activity that’s ripe for red flags. 

June 5: The Daily Caller: Shulman met with Werfel two days before the IRS resumed improper targeting:
Former White House budget office controller Danny Werfel, the man President Obama has tapped to lead the scandal-ridden Internal Revenue Service, met with embattled then-IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman just two days before the agency decided to resume its improper targeting of conservative groups. 

June 5: APNews: National Security Advisor Resigns; Rice to replace him:
President Barack Obama's top national security adviser Tom Donilon is resigning effective July and will be replaced by U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, marking a significant shakeup to the White House foreign policy team. Real Clear Politics reports Carville is saying Obama’s Choice of Susan Rice for National Security Advisor is an “In Your Face Appointment”

June 4: The DC Caller: Conservative groups reveal “chilling” information requests from the IRS:
Leaders of conservative groups targeted for extra scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service testified Tuesday on Capitol Hill about the “chilling” demands from the agency as they sought tax exempt status over the last several years.

June 4: Politico: Pickering Testifies Behind Closed Doors:
Former Ambassador Thomas Pickering gave a lengthy, closed-door deposition on Tuesday, saying he considered his role heading the Benghazi investigation “a debt of honor in memory of Ambassador Stevens who he knew very well,” according to one attendee. Pickering testified for more than three hours, fielding questions from lawmakers and staff in both parties on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

June 4: The Weekly Standard: Repeal of Obamacare verses Implementation:
A big part of Obamacare is its massive expansion of Medicaid. Fortunately, this expansion can’t happen in most states without Republicans freely choosing to make it happen. Unfortunately, far too many Republican governors seem to be confused about the distinction between repealing Obamacare and implementing it.

If Obamacare isn’t repealed, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects it will cost about $1.9 trillion over its real first decade (2014 to 2023) and will still leave 30 million people uninsured.  Aside from these 30 million, the CBO projects 11 million people will be dumped into the already failing Medicaid program — where they’ll receive sub-par care at taxpayer expense.  Some of these 11 million have employer-sponsored insurance today, but the CBO projects that roughly 4 million of them will lose such coverage under Obamacare.  CBO says the cost to federal taxpayers from Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion alone will be about $750 billion in its first decade.  Nevertheless, some Republican governors want to implement this key aspect of Obamacare in their states.  To be clear, they aren’t required to do so by law.  Instead, they are actually volunteering to do so. 

June 4: The Weekly Standard: Cotton verses Court Packing:
President Obama today nominated three liberals to fill longstanding judicial vacancies on the important Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Will the Senate rubber-stamp the president's nominees—even though the court's fine as it is, with the eight judges currently serving enjoying the lightest caseload in the country? In 2006, Senator Ted Kennedy stressed that “we should consider these caseload declines carefully before we fill the current vacancy. American taxpayers deserve no less.” Since then, the court has only added more judges and heard fewer cases.

Today Congressman Tom Cotton introduced the Stop Court Packing Act, legislation that would reduce the number of judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from eleven to eight. Cotton said, “The Stop Court Packing Act would eliminate three needless judgeships from the D.C. Circuit, saving millions of taxpayer dollars.  This court has the lightest caseload of any federal appellate court in the country... moreover, the D.C. Circuit hasn’t had eleven judges since 1999, yet it has managed its shrinking caseload.  ... these jobs are no longer needed, and they shouldn’t be filled."

June 4: The Daily Caller: Another Democrat breaks ranks with Obama over  EPA Coal Regulations:
Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear of Kentucky has called on the Obama administration to axe a pending environmental regulation that would effectively ban the construction of new coal-fired power plants. In a letter to the EPA sent last week, Beshear asked the agency to consider an alternative approach to regulating greenhouse gas emissions that would allow power plants to still burn coal, arguing that the economy thrives on cheap, affordable energy. Beshear is not the first Democratic governor to rebel against the Obama administration’s environmental agenda. Last week, the Democratic governors of Montana and West Virginia filed amicus briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court that challenged proposed federal limits on greenhouse gas emissions.

June 4: The Weekly Standard:  We’d Like to be transparent, but …
High officials in the Obama administration are using "secret e-mail accounts," according to the Associated Press, and stonewalling when asked about them, even by establishment media operations. Most U.S. agencies have failed to turn over lists of political appointees' email addresses, which the AP sought under the Freedom of Information Act more than three months ago. The Labor Department even asked the AP to pay more than $1 million for its email addresses.  

June 4: The Hill: GOP Smith wins special election for Missouri House Seat:

June 3: The Galveston Daily News:
Mark Mansius, John Gay and Bill Sargent's weekly column:
This weeks column discusses why many Republicans voted for a continuing resolution that fully funded Obamacare while they campaigned for the repeal of this law. It highlights Congressmen Steve Stockman and Louie Gohmert who honored their campaign promises and voted against the Continuing Resolution.

June 3: CNBC:
Two-Thirds of Americans Don’t Know if they will insure under Obamacare:
There's no assurance folks will be buying insurance under Obamacare, and that could spell trouble for the Affordable Care Act. Nearly two-thirds of Americans who currently lack health insurance don't know yet if they will purchase that coverage by the Jan. 1 deadline set by the ACA, a new survey revealed Monday. And less than half of those in the survey released by InsuranceQuotes.com think they'll get better health care after Obamacare takes full effect. Nearly 50 percent believe the ACA will make it more difficult for them to get tests and procedures done in a timely manner, according to the phone survey of 1,001 adult Americans conducted in early May. Laura Adams, senior insurance analyst at InsuranceQuotes.com, said public uncertainty about Obamacare—particularly a lack of commitment to signing up—could end up driving up health-insurance costs under the program because not enough healthy people will participate to offset benefits payouts.

June 3: APNews: Supreme Court Rules It’s OK to take DNA swabs from arrestees:
A sharply divided Supreme Court on Monday said police can routinely take DNA from people they arrest, equating a DNA cheek swab to other common jailhouse procedures like fingerprinting. "Taking and analyzing a cheek swab of the arrestee DNA is, like fingerprinting and photographing, a legitimate police booking procedure that is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the court's five-justice majority. But the four dissenting justices said that the court was allowing a major change in police powers. "Make no mistake about it: because of today's decision, your DNA can be taken and entered into a national database if you are ever arrested, rightly or wrongly, and for whatever reason," conservative Justice Antonin Scalia said in a sharp dissent which he read aloud in the courtroom. Kennedy wrote the decision, and was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Stephen Breyer. Scalia was joined in his dissent by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. [See Related Stories]

June 3: Politico: Supreme Court rejects polling place access case:
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a case that limited the ability of the press to cover elections from polling places. In January, a federal appeals court ruled  that a Pennsylvania state law requiring all persons aside from select officials, voters and those giving assistance to voters to stay 10 feet away from polling places during voting. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette had sued, saying the First Amendment protected the press’s right to enter polling places. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that because voting is traditionally a secret activity, polling places are not considered public forums. The Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari in the case, PG Publishing Co. v. Aichele, leaves in place the appeals court decision, which is binding in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

June 3: The Washington Times:
GOP sees reasons for optimism in 2014 for Senate: Retiring or vulnerable Dems Open Door:
It’s early — 17 months early — but Republicans have reason to be optimistic about the way the 2014 Senate races are shaping up around the county, especially in South Dakota and West Virginia, where Democratic incumbents are retiring. Republicans also have solid options emerging in Louisiana, Arkansas and North Carolina, red states where Democratic incumbents are considered vulnerable.

June 2: The Daily Caller: Bob Woodward advises Obama to admit he “screwed up”
On CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday, Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward suggested President Barack Obama take the same tack he took back in 2009 when he withdrew the nomination of former South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle as the Health and Human Services secretary. Eventually the nomination was withdrawn and Obama had to admit he “screwed up” when it was revealed Daschle had failed to pay $128,000 in taxes on a limousine and driver lent to him.

Woodward said that when you put all of Obama’s current scandals together — IRS, Benghazi and the probe of journalists — and combine it with the public’s distrust in general, the need for Obama to act becomes evident. “The New York Times this morning was quoting people from the White House saying they would really like [Attorney General Eric Holder] to resign,” Woodward said.  

June 2: The Hill: Court Challenges could tear down major pieces of Obamacare:
President Obama’s healthcare law is under attack in the courts even as the administration sprints toward full implementation. Despite surviving a stiff challenge at the Supreme Court last year, some of the law’s biggest provisions remain at risk from legal challenges. One set of lawsuits accuses the Internal Revenue Service of illegally implementing new subsidies to help people buy insurance. Separately, more than 60 lawsuits have been filed challenging the law’s mandate for health plans to cover birth control.
 
A loss for the administration on the contraception mandate would undermine a key selling point for the law that Democrats used to court women in the 2012 elections. The challenge to the law’s insurance subsidies, while more obscure, poses a far bigger and more dangerous threat to the Affordable Care Act. Simon Lazarus, senior counsel at the Constitutional Accountability Center, has argued that there’s a very real chance the Supreme Court’s conservative majority would strike down the IRS’s approach to insurance subsidies if it gets the chance.

June 2: The Daily Caller:
Cincinnati IRS employee: Washington was “basically throwing us underneath the bus”
In interviews with House Oversight Committee investigators, Cincinnati IRS employees said that they believed that targeting of conservative groups came from Washington, not from a couple of “rogue agents.“ Sunday the House Oversight Committee released partial transcripts of Oversight Committee investigators’ interviews with unnamed Cincinnati IRS employees, which contradicts the line coming from the White House. “It’s impossible,” an IRS employee responded to an investigator’s question about the allegations that the targeting of conservative groups was due to “two ‘rogue agents.” “As an agent we are controlled by many, many people.  We have to submit many, many reports.  So the chance of two agents being rogue and doing things like that could never happen.”

June 2: Politico: Issa charges Washington involvement with IRS Scandal:
Chairman Issa contends that the interviews show the targeting was not solely done by the Cincinnati office and that officials in Washington requested that searches identifying applications by conservative groups be conducted and then asked to see certain files. “As late as last week, the [Obama] administration was still trying to say there was a few rogue agents from Cincinnati, when in fact the indication is they were directly being ordered from Washington,” Issa (R-CA) said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” The Oversight panel did not release the full transcripts from the interviews and it did not identify the two IRS employees who spoke with the committee.

June 2: The Daily Caller: Darrell Issa rips Jay Carney on abuses: a “paid liar” [Video]
On Sunday’s broadcast of CNN’s “State of Union,” Republican House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa also took a jab at White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, calling the spokesman a “paid liar.” Issa unveiled a part of his committee’s investigation that included interviews with Internal Revenue Service workers in Cincinnati who maintained the IRS targeting of tea party groups was coordinated out of Washington, D.C. In light of those revelations, Issa took issue with the White House’s claim that a “local rogue” was responsible when the White House knew better.

June 2: Politico: RNC Chair says White House culture led to IRS targeting:
The culture of the Obama administration, which sees conservatives as political foes, led to the IRS targeting scandal, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Sunday. “The culture of the president calling tea party groups terrorists and tea-baggers, and that entire culture has been cultivated by the president and his people, and everyone has been following,” Priebus said on “Fox News Sunday.”

June 2: Politico: Members of Congress: Don’t clip our wings:
The nation’s most powerful frequent fliers have a plea for the Obama administration: Don’t mess with our convenient flights home from Reagan National Airport. More than 100 House members are urging the Justice and Transportation departments not to force American Airlines and US Airways to shed flight slots at Reagan National as a condition of their pending merger even though the combined airline would hold the vast majority of slots at the airport closest to the Capitol. At stake, the lawmakers say, is the economic cost of losing nonstop service from Washington to smaller cities. Of course, members of Congress have a personal interest as well: They shuttle constantly between their districts and Washington, making them some of Reagan National’s most devoted customers.

June 2: The Daily Caller: Judge Jeanine Pirro: “Eric Holder Should Be Indicted”
On her Saturday night Fox News Channel program, “Justice” host Jeanine Pirro said that embattled Attorney General Eric Holder “should be indicted.” According to Pirro, the scandals surrounding Holder are a stain on the U.S. Department of Justice. Holder should lose his job as the department’s head. Pirro outlines 5-6 counts upon which Holder could be indicated.
[follow link for expanded coverage]

June 2: Fox News: Holder under investigation for statements made during Hill testimony:
The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said Sunday his panel is investigating remarks Attorney General Eric Holder made under oath regarding the Justice Department accessing a Fox News reporter’s phone logs and emails. "It’s fair to say we're investigating the conflict in his remarks, those remarks were made under oath,” Chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-VA, told “Fox News Sunday.”

June 1: The Daily Caller: 
Former Planned Parenthood Abortionist “immediate danger to the public” Delaware complaint reads:
The Delaware Attorney General’s office has filed an official complaint against a former Planned Parenthood abortionist calling him a “clear and immediate danger to the public,” according to news reports. The complaint issued Thursday cites Timothy Liveright for unprofessional, inappropriate and negligent conduct while working at the Planned Parenthood in Wilmington, Delaware. The complaint was filed before the Board of Medical Licensure by Attorney General Beau Biden’s office and signed by Deputy Attorney General Katisha D. Fortune and requests that the Board permanently “revoke [Liveright's] license to practice medicine or take such other action as deemed appropriate by the Board.” The complaint comes the same week two former Delaware Planned Parenthood nurses testified before the state senate about unsafe conditions and "meat-market assembly line" abortions at the clinic, including instances of Liveright’s misconduct.

June 1: The Hill: Agreement on Farm Bill Floor Amendments Eludes Senate While Cutting Food Stamps:
Senate Democrats and Republicans were unable to finalize an agreement on floor amendments to the $955 billion farm bill this week, leaving the work to be hashed out at the last minute.
The Senate, by a 59 to 33 vote, passed a reduction in crop insurance subsidies for those making over $750,000 per year before the Memorial Day recess.  The amendment passed despite the opposition of Chairwoman Stabenow and Ranking Minority member Cochran. The House draft farm bill does not have such a limitation.

As it stands the Senate bill cuts $23 billion in spending over ten years, with $4 billion coming from food stamps. Stabenow argues that further cuts would weaken the farm safety net unfairly and she led an effort to defeat a Republican attempt to include deeper cuts to food stamps by converting it to a block grant program. That proposal failed 36 to 60. The chairwoman also opposed a liberal attempt to restore the $4 billion in food stamp cuts. That effort failed 26 to 70.

June 1: The Hill: Alaska Governor touts Keystone Pipeline, Arctic Refuge in weekly GOP Address:
Delivering the weekly address for Republicans, Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell urged Democrats in the Senate to back construction of the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline and pushed the Obama administration to re-evaluate the potential for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Parnell devoted the address to energy independence, arguing that federal regulations are preventing states from utilizing oil and gas reserves that could boost the national economy. “If Washington, D.C. would start working with states to unlock access to federal lands,” Parnell said, “an economic boom would be felt across this nation, lifting wages, and creating hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs and improving our national security through energy independence. Alaska and many of America’s governors are leading our country’s energy revolution,” he said. “America’s resources belong to Americans. They should be unlocked for our benefit and not locked up by Washington.”

Parnell called on the Democratic-led Senate to follow the Republican-led House in approving the Keystone pipeline, which backers say would create up to 20,000 jobs. “This common sense energy infrastructure project is truly shovel-ready, and yet the White House threatened it with a veto,” he said. “The project could already be well underway, but the State Department has unnecessarily delayed the project for years.”

June 1: The Hill: Report: IRS sought gift tax on conservative group’s donors:
The IRS tried to impose a gift tax on donors to a conservative group formed to support former President George W. Bush’s 2007 troop surge in Iraq, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. The probe centered on a group called Freedom’s Watch and involved five separate audits, the Journal reported. It was halted in 2011 after an outcry from Congress, although the identity of the organization was not revealed at the time. The IRS declined to comment in the story.

May 31: The Hill: Report said to expose lavish spending at 2010 IRS conference:
The House Oversight Committee is holding another hearing on the IRS this one focusing on “excessive spending” at IRS conferences.

May 31: CNN: IRS collects documents from 88 employees in investigation of targeting:
The Internal Revenue Service has told House GOP investigators they have identified 88 IRS employees who may have documents relevant to the congressional investigation into targeting of conservative groups, according to a congressional source familiar with the investigation. The IRS missed its May 21st deadline to turn over documents to the House Ways and Means Committee. The same source said the IRS argues it missed its deadline because of the scope of documents it is collecting.

May 31: The Daily Caller:
Former IRS commissioner Shulman’s wife works for liberal group fighting open campaign spending:
Former Internal Revenue Service commissioner Douglas H. Shulman, a frequent White House guest during the period when the IRS was targeting conservative nonprofits, is married to the senior program advisor for Public Campaign, an “organization dedicated to sweeping campaign reform that aims to dramatically reduce the role of big special interest money in American politics.”

May 31: Fox News: Criticism of IRS grows amid allegations of targeting beyond the TEA Party.
What started as a scandal over the IRS's targeting of conservative groups has broadened, with lawmakers and other critics now questioning whether other kinds of organizations were unfairly flagged for additional scrutiny. Rep. Sam Graves, R-MO, chairman of the House Small Business Committee, wrote a letter to Acting IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel on Friday asking a series of questions about the agency's audit practices for small businesses. 

May 31: The Daily Caller: White House defense?
Visitor logs are too unreliable to reveal whether Shulman actually visited the White House 157 times:

May 31: The Daily Caller: Democrats rebel against Obama Administration’s environmental Agenda:
Democratic governors of Montana and West Virginia are rebelling against the Obama administration and challenging federal limits on greenhouse gas emissions, opting out of what critics are calling the Environmental Protection Agency’s “war on coal.” “The EPA’s proposed limits on greenhouse gas emissions threaten the livelihood of our coal miners to the point of killing jobs and crippling our state and national economies, while also weakening our country’s efforts toward energy independence,” said West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin.
West Virginia and Montana are joining Kansas in filing an amicus brief to urge the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a challenge to rules that give the federal government the power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. The states want the court to rule that the EPA misinterpreted its authority under the Clean Air Act and has overreached.

May 31: The LA Times: Recall effort against America’s toughest sheriff fails:
Despite a recent court ruling that the department run by Maricopa County’s top cop used racial profiling in his quest to crack down on illegal immigration, a recall effort against Sheriff Joe Arpaio has failed. On Thursday, members of Respect Arizona and Citizens for a Better Arizona -- who launched the recall effort against Arpaio -- failed to gather the necessary 335,000 valid voter signatures by the 5 p.m. deadline. The aim was to force a recall election. Activists behind the recall effort would not say how many signatures they were short. Randy Parraz, president of Citizens for Better Arizona, only said the two groups had collected close to 300,000 signatures.

May 31: CNBC News:  TSA Eliminates all invasive “Gumby” X-Ray Machines:
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced it has finished removing from all airports the X-ray technology that produced graphic and controversial images of passengers passing through security screening checkpoints. In a letter released Thursday, TSA administrator John Pistole told the House Homeland Security committee that as of May 16, all US airports scanners equipped with the ability to produce the penetrating images will now only show a generic outline of a passenger to the operator. A colored box pops up if the full-body scanner detects a potentially forbidden item. The TSA beat their deadline by two weeks for modifying the scanners. The technology was originally mandated to be removed by June 2012 under the Federal Aviation Administration's Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, but the deadline was extended to May 31, 2013.

May 31: Politico: Cantor promises more hearings on administration scandals:
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor sent a memo to fellow Republicans on Friday afternoon pledging not to let up on the trio of Obama administration scandals that attracted so much attention in May. Republicans held more than 100 hearings in May, Cantor wrote, and he sees no lack of issues to investigate going ahead. “During June and the coming months, the House will continue to hold the Administration accountable,” Cantor wrote. “We will continue our work to determine who directed IRS employees to target conservative groups, why it was done, and who knew about it.”

House panels will also continue to investigate Benghazi and the Justice Department’s efforts to obtain phone records and other information from journalists. “We will follow the facts and continue in our efforts to uncover the truth behind the attacks in Benghazi,” Cantor wrote. “We will explore DOJ’s actions in seizing phone records and emails of the news media. We will also continue our oversight of the implementation of Obamacare and the administration’s energy policy.” The House has already held five hearings on Benghazi. In the last month, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee held hearings on both the Benghazi attacks and the IRS targeting of conservative groups. And Ways and Means got into discussing the IRS scandal as well.

May 31: Fox 5 News/Washington:
Did EPA Regulations have anything to do with DC ambulance break down in emergency situation?
The D.C. fire department is trying to determine why one of its newer diesel ambulances broke down as crews were transporting a patient in cardiac arrest. It happened on I-295 Wednesday afternoon as Ambulance 19 was taking a shooting victim to the hospital. Then it took several minutes for a second ambulance to arrive. The driver of Ambulance 19 is telling investigators the indicator lights on the emission control system suddenly and unexpectedly jumped from a warning to shut down in a matter of seconds, and as the engine died, she was able to pull the rig to the side of the road.

The question now is why? And can these newer rigs be trusted to be there in an emergency?
When the D.C. fire department began buying these diesel engine ambulances a few years ago, officials knew they would have to manage them with a new emission control system that would automatically shut the engine down if it wasn't allowed to what's called "regenerate.”
It was a mandate from the Environmental Protection Agency. And until recently, the fire department said it had been able to handle the requirements without any significant incidents.
One of those incidents involved the same new ambulance.

May 31: The Weekly Standard: “Liberal Activist” admits to bugging Senator McConnell’s Office:
Writing for Salon, Curtis Morrison, a self-titled "liberal activist," admits to bugging Mitch McConnell's office. He claims to have been inspired by Julian Assange and claims, "If given another chance to record him, I’d do it again. Earlier this year, I secretly made an audio recording of Sen. Mitch McConnell, the most powerful Republican on the planet, at his campaign headquarters in Kentucky. The released portion of the recording clocks in at less than 12 minutes, but those few minutes changed my life," writes Morrison.

May 30: Reuters: California's Democratic lawmakers push for tighter gun control:
Democratic lawmakers in California, critical of Congress' failure to pass significant gun control legislation after mass shootings in Colorado and Connecticut last year, advanced a package of bills on Wednesday that would tighten a ban on semi-automatic firearms and further regulate ammunition sales. The bills, which passed the state Senate mostly along party lines, would outlaw all new sales of semi-automatic weapons with removable magazines, ban ammunition clips that can fire more than 10 rounds, and make it illegal for people convicted of drug and alcohol felonies to own a gun for 10 years.

May 30: Politico: Cruz:  DOJ case “without precedent”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) accused the Department of Justice of an unprecedented disregard for the law and called for Attorney General Eric Holder’s resignation. “The degree of willingness of this administration to target a reporter for this network as an indicated co conspirator — that is without precedent,” Cruz told Fox News’ Megyn Kelly on Thursday. “And unfortunately, I think it’s part and parcel of a pattern of this administration of not respecting the bill of rights.”

May 30: Fox News: An assault on freedom of the press:
The firestorm commenced by the revelation of the execution of a search warrant on the personal email server of my Fox News colleague James Rosen continues to rage, and the conflagration engulfing the First Amendment continues to burn; and it is the Department of Justice itself that is fanning the flames. In the spring of 2010, the DOJ submitted an affidavit to a federal judge in Washington, D.C., in which an FBI agent swore under oath that Rosen was involved in a criminal conspiracy to release classified materials, and in the course of that conspiracy, he aided and abetted a State Department vendor in actually releasing them. The precise behavior that the FBI and the DOJ claimed was criminal was Rosen’s use of “flattery” and his appeals to the “vanity” of Stephen Wen-Ho Kim, the vendor who had a security clearance.

May 30: Politico | Fox News | The Hill: Growing boycott of Eric Holder media meetings:
Several news organizations have announced they will not attend this week’s off the record meetings with Attorney General Eric Holder unless the sit-downs are conducted on the record. CNN, Fox News, CBS News, Reuters, McClatchy and now NBC News on Thursday joined the Associated Press, The New York Times and The Huffington Post in refusing to go to one of the Department of Justice’s off the record sessions about the department’s handling of investigations into journalists. Politico, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, ABC News, Bloomberg News, USA Today and the bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, meanwhile, have announced that they will attend the off the record meetings, which are being held to discuss changes to the Justice Department’s guidelines for subpoenas of reporters.

May 30: Politico: On DOJ meeting, Tom Brokaw puts NBC News in a box:
NBC News has declined to participate in the off-the-record meeting, according to a network spokesperson. As reported earlier NBC News was the last major news organization deliberating over whether or not to attend the Justice Department's off-the-record meeting with the media. But Tom Brokaw, the network's veteran newsman, seems to have already decided that NBC News shouldn't go. In an interview with Huffington Post Live on Thursday, Brokaw said "no news executive should go in there on an off-the-record session." This will put Brokaw and NBC News in a difficult position should they decide to attend.

May 30: The Daily Caller: Republican who ran against Durbin says Lois Lerner told me never to run for office again!
Former Illinois state representative Al Salvi, who ran as a Republican against Democrat Dick Durbin in his state’s 1996 U.S. Senate race, said that embattled IRS official Lois Lerner intimidated him in her then-capacity as a Federal Elections Commission (FEC) official and told him she would drop various complaints against him if he never ran for office again. Lerner is currently on administrative leave from her position at the IRS, where she oversaw groups’ applications for tax-exempt nonprofit status, and where she admittedly targeted conservative nonprofit groups for extra scrutiny.

May 30: Politico: House panels to interview Cincinnati IRS employees:
House investigators will interview four Internal Revenue Service employees over the next two weeks, Politico has learned.  The House Ways and Means and Oversight committees hope the four front-line employees from the agency’s Cincinnati office will help lawmakers better understand how the IRS targeting of conservative groups first began. A committee aide declined to name the employees to be interviewed.

May 30: The Daily Caller: Krauthammer: Obama a “fraud,” “What he preaches doesn’t work” [Audio]
On Dennis Miller’s radio show on Thursday, Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer reacted to what Miller called “the new normal” — lowered expectations for the American economy — calling President Barack Obama a “fraud” and comparing him to “a Wizard of Oz.” Krauthammer went on to predict Obama's ideology would eventually fail Obama as things unraveled.

“This is the ideology that this wizard (Obama)... has spun over the last four-and-a-half years,” Krauthammer said. “He came in as this sort of messianic guy who was going to reform everything. And his acolytes are so deeply invested in this theology of Obama that they can’t let it go even though, every day, the empirical evidence is that this guy is a fraud; he’s a Wizard of Oz; what he preaches doesn’t work, and it has very little effect. There may be a turn, I think: By the end of his second term, he will be debunked. But it’s taken a hell of a long time.”

May 30: Fox News | The Hill: Republicans seek IG probe into Sebelius over Obamacare group donations:
Congressional Republicans on Thursday escalated their call for an independent investigation into whether Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius broke the law when she sought donations from private companies for an independent ObamaCare project.  Three top Senate Republicans wrote a letter to the HHS inspector general asking his office to launch a probe. It follows a previous GOP call for a review by another internal watchdog, the Government Accountability Office. 

At issue is Sebelius' effort to solicit donations and other assistance from various charities and executives for a nonprofit group that is helping sign up people for benefits under the federal health care overhaul.  HHS argues the practice was legal, since the Public Health Services Act allows a secretary to seek funding for nonprofits operating in public health.  But Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Tom Coburn (R_OK) questioned whether Sebelius had crossed an ethical or legal line. 

May 30: Washington Examiner: Cruz: President doesn’t respect First, Second, Fourth or Fifth Amendments: 
Sen. Ted Cruz [R-TX] indicated that President Obama should ask for Attorney General Eric Holder’s resignation.  After he was asked by Fox News host Megyn Kelly if Obama should ask for Holder’s resignation he said “Yes. Absolutely.” Cruz cited the “unprecedented” investigations of reporters and Holder’s response to the Fast and Furious scandal as examples of the Justice Department disregarding the law.  “Unfortunately, I think it’s part and parcel of a pattern from this administration of not respecting the Bill of Rights,” Cruz added. “Not respecting the First Amendment, not respecting the Second Amendment, not respecting our Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights regarding drone strikes, regarding the IRS.” Cruz added that it was a disturbing pattern of behavior from the White House.

Cruz cited two instances where the Administration has lied to the American people and Congress.  The first, when Press Secretary Carney said the White House made no substantive changes to the Benghazi talking points.  Now we know that was a lie by the President’s spokesman.  The second, when they went before Congress and said that the IRS was not targeting conservative groups when the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, a political appointee, knew full well that this was not true.   All this, Kelly added, adds to the credibility gap of this administration.

May 30: The Hill:
If Reid pushes for the “nuclear option” on Obama nominees the Senate vote would be extremely close:
If Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) triggers the "nuclear option" to break the logjam of President Obama’s nominees, it would be a very close vote. At the start of the year, Reid did not have the votes to implement the talking filibuster reform, which would have required senators to actively hold the floor to stall action on legislation or nominees. Members of a liberal coalition pushing for filibuster reform believe Reid could garner the 51 votes needed to change the Senate rules on a party-line vote.

May 29: A Report from Breitbart.Com: Blame the President for Benghazi:
When the American mission in Benghazi, Libya was attacked on September 11th, 2012, only one person had the positional authority, legal mandate, and communications apparatus to give the order to defend our personnel on the ground: the President of the United States. The President did not give that order, and four Americans died in Benghazi that day.

May 29: Fox News: House Republicans challenge Holder testimony on reporter surveillance:
Top Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee openly challenged Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday over his testimony two weeks ago in which he claimed to be unaware of any "potential prosecution" of the press, despite knowing about an investigation that targeted a Fox News reporter.  Committee Chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-VA, and Rep. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., R-WI., voiced "great concern" in a letter to Holder. They asked a litany of questions about the department's dealings with the press, and pointedly alleged that the Fox News case "contradicts" his testimony at a May 15 hearing. "It is imperative that the committee, the Congress, and the American people be provided a full and accurate account of your involvement," they wrote.

May 29: CBS News: House Republicans express "great concern" about possible Holder perjury:
Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday expressing "great concern" about the possibility that Holder lied under oath during his testimony earlier this month on the Justice Department's seizing of journalists' records, CBS News has learned.

May 29: Reuters: House Republicans assail Eric Holder on leak testimony:
Two Republican lawmakers asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday to clarify testimony he gave Congress this month about his role in the targeting of journalists in a leak probe. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and colleague James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) sent a letter to Holder saying recent media reports "appear to be at odds with your sworn testimony."

May 29: The Hill: Holder to meet news media chiefs in review of subpoena policy:
Attorney General Eric Holder is planning to meet with the Washington, D.C., bureau chiefs of major news outlets this week as he reviews the Justice Department’s (DOJ) policies for issuing media subpoenas.

May 29: Politico: The New York Times will not attend DOJ Sessions:
New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson has announced that her paper will not attend an off-the-record session with Attorney General Eric Holder to discuss the Justice Department's monitoring of reporters, due to the fact that the meeting is to be conducted "off the record.

May 29: Associated Press: Congressional Committees Plan More Hearings on IRS Scandal:
At least two congressional panels are planning more hearings next week on the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. Underscoring how the IRS controversy is spreading, 25 tea party and conservative groups filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday against the government, saying the IRS illegally obstructed their efforts. The House Appropriations Committee will hear from the acting IRS Commissioner and the House Ways and Means Committee will hear from witnesses with groups targeted by the IRS.

May 29: The Daily Standard: Mysterious Tweets About Koch Brothers' Taxes
In August 2010, Austan Goolsbee, serving at the time as economic adviser to President Obama, told reporters during an anonymous background briefing that Koch Industries doesn't pay corporate income taxes. In a September 2010 Weekly Standard interview, Mark Holden, a lawyer for Koch Industries, disputed Goolsbee's claim and asked how Goolsbee came up with the idea that Koch Industries doesn't pay corporate taxes. Holden raised the question of whether someone in the Obama administration might have looked at Koch Industries' tax returns -- which would be a violation of a federal law that was enacted in 1976 in response to Watergate.

May 29: Associated Press: Developer Found Guilty of Illegal Contributions to Harry Reid:
A Nevada powerbroker who headed a billion-dollar real estate company and pulled the strings of state politics as a prominent lobbyist for more than a decade was convicted Wednesday of making illegal campaign contributions to U.S. Sen. Harry Reid. Harvey Whittemore, 59, could face up to 15 years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines after a federal jury returned guilty verdicts on three counts tied to nearly $150,000 illegally funneled to Reid's re-election campaign in 2007. Later in the day, U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks declared a mistrial on a count of lying to the FBI after jurors said they were deadlocked on that charge.

May 27: The Galveston Daily News:
Learning the difference between Hype and Votes:
Every Monday, Bill Sargent, Mark Mansius, and John Gay -- former candidates for Congressional District 14 in the 2012 primary -- publish an column in the Galveston Daily News about current issues of the day. This one is the first of two that looks at what our elected representatives say and what they do.

May 26: The Hill:
Dems want more time before weighing in on the need for an IRS special prosecutor:
Leading congressional Democrats say they don’t believe the investigation into the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups needs a special prosecutor – at least not yet. They have expressed deep anger about how the IRS handled applications from Tea Party groups. Like Republicans, top Democrats also want to give their own probe into the issue more time, two weeks after news first broke and following three hearings left many questions unanswered. “I think it’s too soon,” said Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT), whose committee held one of those three hearings.

May 26: The Hill: Senator Durbin: No regrets in calling out "Crossroads" to the IRS:
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) on Sunday defended his decision to single out a key GOP group in a 2010 letter to the IRS. Durbin said Crossroads GPS, co-founded by Karl Rove, had been boasting about how much money they had been raising, and the role they were playing in the 2010 midterms. “Citizens United really unleashed hundreds, if not thousands of organizations, seeking tax-exempt status to play in political campaigns,” Durbin said on “Fox News Sunday.”

May 26: The Hill: No end to scandals in sight for embattled Obama White House:
Batten down the hatches and wait for the storm to clear. That’s the advice veteran Washington Democrats are urging on a White House that has been embattled for a full two weeks by the triad of controversies revolving around the IRS, Benghazi and the Justice Department’s seizure of reporters’ phone records. No-one expects the pressure to let up anytime soon. “There is blood in the water and the sharks are circling,” said Jim Manley, who spent years as the top communications aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) before moving on to a career at a lobbying firm. “The last thing the White House needs to do is to make any unnecessary quick moves — by making dramatic personnel changes, for example. The temptation, when you have some variety of these feeding frenzies, is only to worry about the churning water and not the longer-term horizon,” he said.

May 26: The Weekly Standard:
Former Obama Intel Officials says “Trend of Leaks Being Set at the ‘Top of this Administration’”
In a videoed interview former Obama intelligence official Dennis Blair, an admiral, blamed leaks on the "trend" being set "at the top of this administration. You've heard the press's side there," said the ABC host. "Admiral Blair, you were in the White House. The leak investigations have been quite intense in the Obama White House."

"Right," said Blair, the former Director of National Intelligence. "And they have been directed, the ones that I knew about, mostly against the U.S. government employees who were talking with reporters which is where I think they should be directed. I know of no institution in America better able to defend itself than the press. So I think that will work out okay. But what I think is that the leaking at the top of this administration ... is what sets the tone for those below. And I think that most of what administration spokesmen should talk about with reporters should be talked about on the record, with their names attached to it. To set an example so that those further down the line don't think that leaking is the way it's done, the way it should be done."

May 25: Fox News: Illinois lawmakers approve plan to allow concealed carry for gun owners:
Gun owners could carry concealed weapons in Illinois, the last state in the nation to prohibit it, under legislation that swept through the House Friday with the backing of the powerful Democratic speaker from Chicago, a city torn by violence despite what critics claim are the nation's toughest firearms restrictions. The historic 85-30 vote would allow the carrying of concealed guns, a legislative task compelled by a federal appeals court ruling and precipitated by House Speaker Michael Madigan's turnabout.

May 25: The Washington Times: House Republicans ask top insurers if Kathleen Sebelius requested donations:
House Republicans who are critical of the federal health care law have written to more than a dozen companies, including top insurers Aetna and BlueCross BlueShield, to ask if President Obama’s top health official tried to solicit funds from them to support the overhaul. The Committee on Energy and Commerce is looking into reports that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called members of the health care industry to suggest they donate to Enroll America, a nonprofit that is promoting the Affordable Care Act.

Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) signed onto a request from House and Senate leaders that asked the Government Accountability Office to examine if her activities broke any laws, particularly as an end run around congressional appropriations. Mrs. Sebelius recently told lawmakers on Capitol Hill they’ve significantly underfunded efforts to implement Mr. Obama’s health care law, or “Obamacare,” only to criticize the agency for its efforts ahead of key implementation dates. But Republicans say the secretary’s actions, first reported by The Washington Post, may have gone too far.

May 25: Fox News: Sheriff Joe to Appeal Federal Judge Ruling in Profiling Case:
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio will appeal a federal judge's ruling that his agency systematically singled out Latinos in its trademark immigration patrols, marking the first finding by a court that the agency racially profiles people. Tim Casey, the lead attorney representing America's self-proclaimed toughest sheriff in the case, said an appeal of the finding that the agency racially profiles people was planned in the next 30 days.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Murray Snow in Phoenix backs up years of allegations from Arpaio's critics who say his officers violate the constitutional rights of Latinos in relying on race in their immigration enforcement.

May 24: Breitbart.com: Some Unions Now Angry about Obamacare:
Some labor unions that enthusiastically backed President Barack Obama's health care overhaul are now frustrated and angry, fearful that it will jeopardize benefits for millions of their members. Union leaders warn that unless the problem is fixed, there could be consequences for Democrats facing re-election next year. "It makes an untruth out of what the president said that if you like your insurance, you could keep it," said Joe Hansen, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. "That is not going to be true for millions of workers now."

The problem lies in the unique multiemployer health plans that cover unionized workers in retail, construction, transportation and other industries with seasonal or temporary employment. Known as Taft-Hartley plans, they are jointly administered by unions and smaller employers that pool resources to offer more than 20 million workers and family members continuous coverage, even during times of unemployment. The union plans were already more costly to run than traditional single-employer health plans. But Obama's Affordable Care Act has added to that cost for the unions' and other plans by requiring health plans to cover dependents up to age 26, eliminate annual or lifetime coverage limits and extend coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. "We're concerned that employers will be increasingly tempted to drop coverage through our plans and let our members fend for themselves on the health exchanges," said David Treanor, director of health care initiatives at the Operating Engineers union.

May 24: Real Clear Politics:
Ted Cruz Summarizes the Reason for objecting to going to conference on the Budget [Video]
The Senate Majority Leader wants to raise the debt ceiling without conditions and without debate and without cutting spending Ted Cruz (R-TX) said.  He summarized the issue before the Senate very simply, noting that by agreeing to appoint conferees it would allow the Senate to pass a budget with only 50 votes instead of the 60 votes required to overcome a filibuster.  That would mean that the 55 Democrat majority could pass a debt ceiling increase without needing to listen to the Republican minority, Cruz said.  He also said he would not stand in the way of going to conference if the Democrats would commit to not raising the debt ceiling unless there are 60 votes in favoring of doing so.  But they are not willing to do that.   

On the Republican side some are saying we ought to have a motion to instruct the conferees. A motion to instruct is non-binding so it is purely a symbolic gesture,” Cruz contended. “And here is the dirty little secret… “ there some who would like to cast a symbolic vote against raising the debt ceiling while allowing the Democrats to raise the debt ceiling. To some that to "some Republicans is the ideal outcome because they can go to their constituents and say they voted against raising the debt ceiling while still allowing it to go through,” Cruz concluded. 

May 24: Politico: Furlough Friday: Will anybody notice?
If four federal agencies closed their doors, would anyone notice? This is no philosophical experiment Friday when, thanks to sequestration, the IRS, EPA, HUD and OMB turn a normal workday into an unpaid holiday for nearly all of their employees. Well now, some of us might argue this is a good thing for the government to shutdown, especially the IRS and EPA given their overreaching power in our lives!  But if we take all of these agencies into account about 115,000 people — roughly 5 percent of the federal workforce — won’t be on the clock for the day. Staffers for the Labor and Interior departments will also get an extra unpaid day for their Memorial Day weekend.

It’s an important moment for Congress and the Obama administration as they continue to battle over mandatory budget cuts, that the President conceived and the Democrats continue to warn will mean real consequences while most Republicans claim Democrats are just crying wolf. Republicans wanted to permanently close several government agencies during the 2012 presidential campaign. On Friday, they’ll get a partial victory when two departments they despise — the Internal Revenue Service and Environmental Protection Agency — take a timeout. “The more days the IRS is closed, the better our economy will probably do,” Rep. Steve Scalise said. Of EPA, the Louisiana lawmaker who heads the conservative Republican Study Committee added, “I think China will be unhappy if the EPA closes down on Friday. That’s fewer jobs that they’ll be getting from us.”

May 24: The Hill: Congress and Pentagon lack consensus on sequestration fix:
Capitol Hill and the Pentagon are at an impasse on how to fix the dire fiscal situation facing the department under sequestration, with no viable end in sight. In his last press conference as Air Force secretary, Michael Donley said Friday that he doubts there is any political will on either side of the Potomac to reach a consensus over sequestration's impact. Military leaders are facing "difficult and hot-button issues, if you will, with Congress right now," Donley told reporters at the Pentagon."I don't think we have a consensus with Congress ... on how to do [deal with] that and what the choices will be," he added.

From potential base closures to a reduction in health and retirement benefits, Pentagon leaders are working multiple, politically distasteful  options to reduce the impact of those across-the-board budget cuts. The Defense Department is preparing to cut $41 billion in 2013, and its 2014 budget request could get slashed by another $52 billion if the sequester is not eliminated. For its part, the Air Force has already grounded 17 squadrons and severely cut back on critical training missions to pay for their end of sequestration. But in the end, if Congress does not grant the Air Force and the rest of the services the fiscal leeway on base closures and benefits, it could deal a crippling blow to the air service.

May 24: WhiteHouseDossier.com: Obama gives Benghazi talking points editor a promotion:
The  State Department spokeswoman (Nuland) who played a pivotal role in deleting portions of the Benghazi talking points has been tapped by President Obama for a plum new post, bagging a nomination to become assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs. During the process of whittling the original CIA talking points down, Nuland had expressed “serious concerns” about mentioning the terrorists. And she also asserted that including references to previous attacks against foreigners in Benghazi “could be abused by members to beat the State Department for not paying attention to Agency warnings.”

May 24: Fox News: IRS official who refused to testify signed letters to Tea Party groups under review:
The IRS official who refused to testify this week -- while claiming she had done nothing wrong -- signed letters to Tea Party groups a year ago that asked them to turn over everything from printouts of their Facebook pages to the credentials of speakers who participated in their events.  A group representing more than a dozen Tea Party groups now suing the IRS released a sample of one of the letters overnight, after the official Lois Lerner was placed on administrative leave. According to one lawmaker, she was only placed on leave after she refused to resign. 

May 24: Politico: What is next for the IRS?
In the two weeks since the news surfaced that the Internal Revenue Service wrongly targeted conservative groups applying for a tax exemption, the debacle has unfolded at a breathless pace — complete with resignations, three congressional hearings and the transformation of civil servants into household names. The GOP — and many Democrats — insist the investigation is only getting started. But where can the saga go from here?

May 24: The Hill: Justice asked the Judge to keep Fox reporter in the dark over tracked email:
The Justice Department pleaded with a federal judge to keep a Fox News reporter indefinitely in the dark as it tracked his email in a national security leaks case. A new set of exhibits unsealed and made public this week show U.S. Attorney Ron Machen argued in 2010 that the traditional 30-day notice period did not apply to Fox News reporter James Rosen. Justice wanted to secretly monitor Rosen’s gmail account. Fox News CEO Roger Ailes in a memo to his employees on Thursday condemned the government’s actions, comparing them to the McCarthy era.

May 24: Fox News:
Justice acknowledges Holder was on board with warrant for Fox News reporter’s emails and phone records:
The Justice Department acknowledged late Friday that Attorney General Eric Holder was on board with a search warrant to obtain the personal emails of a Fox News reporter, as media and civil liberties groups continued to raise concerns about the case. Following prior reports indicating that Holder had likely signed off on the search warrant, the Justice Department acknowledged Holder's involvement and defended the decision.   President Obama directly addressed complaints for the first time on Thursday, announcing a review of DOJ policies on investigations that involve reporters. "I've raised these issues with the attorney general, who shares my concern," Obama said, adding that Holder would report back by July 12.  The acknowledgment, however, that Holder was involved in the search warrant decision raised additional questions about whether the attorney general's review of his own actions would be impartial. 

May 24: Politico: The Sharyl Attkisson Approach:
Sharyl Attkisson has problems. The Obama administration won’t answer the CBS News correspondent’s questions because her investigations — into Benghazi, Fast and Furious, Solyndra — often reflect negatively on it. Some colleagues at CBS News, where she has worked for two decades and earned multiple Emmy awards, dismiss her work because they perceive a political agenda. And now, she says, someone may have hacked into her computers. Attkisson’s one piece of solace may come from finally gaining some like-minded colleagues in the media.

May 23: NBC News: Holder Approved search warrant for Fox News Reporter’s private emails:
Attorney General Eric Holder signed off on a controversial search warrant that identified Fox News reporter James Rosen as a “possible co-conspirator” in violations of the Espionage Act and authorized seizure of his private emails, a law enforcement official told NBC News on Thursday. The disclosure of the attorney general’s role came as President Barack Obama, in a major speech on his counterterrorism policy, said Holder had agreed to review Justice Department guidelines governing investigations that involve journalists. [Editors Note:  Hello, isn’t kind of like letting the fox guard the hen house? And isn’t this the guy who was found in Contempt of Congress over the Operation Fast and Furious documents and the fella who has said he is not going to enforce all the laws (like the DOMA)?]

May 23: The Wall Street Journal: Peggy Noonan: At the IRS A Battering Ram Becomes a Stonewall:
"I don't know." "I don't remember." "I'm not familiar with that detail." "It's not my precise area." "I'm not familiar with that letter." These are quotes from the Internal Revenue Service officials who testified this week before the House and Senate. That is the authentic sound of stonewalling, and from the kind of people who run Washington in the modern age—smooth, highly credentialed and unaccountable. They're surrounded by legal and employment protections, they know how to parse a careful response, they know how to blur the essential point of a question in a blizzard of unconnected factoids. They came across as people arrogant enough to target Americans for abuse and harassment and think they'd get away with it.

May 23: Fox News: The IRS Controversy May have started because of push by Democrat lawmakers:
The 2010 Congressional midterm elections were approaching. Attacks on the Tea Party and groups calling for less government spending and taxation were in full swing. President Barack Obama in his state of the union address in January had attacked the Supreme Court with the justices in attendance for signing off on the Citizens United case, for opening the ”flood gates” for special-interest money in U.S. elections. And 2010 was the year Democrats went full bore pressuring the IRS to investigate nonprofit politicking, which resulted in the IRS targeting Tea Party and other nonprofit applicants who were ideological opponents. Again, this is when Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) who pushed through Obamacare was the Speaker of the House. Letters from 10 high-profile Democrats to then-IRS commissioner Doug Shulman pressured the IRS to investigate nonprofit politicking, even threatening legislation to change IRS standards if the IRS didn’t act. The letters show how elected officials pressured the IRS during an election season, fearing opponents were unfairly using the tax law to raise money to their advantage.

May 23: Fox News: IRS official on leave refused to resign GOP Senator Says:
First she refused to testify. Now Lois Lerner, the IRS official at the center of the tax agency scandal, is refusing to resign, according to a top Republican senator. Sources confirmed to Fox News earlier Thursday that Lerner, the head of the IRS division that oversaw the unit targeting conservative groups, had been placed on administrative leave, with pay. But Sen. Charles Grassley, R-IA, claimed she was only put in that status after refusing to step down.

May 23: The Weekly Standard:
Benghazi Investigation Deepens: Issa’s Committee seeks interviews with 13 officials involved:
As the investigation into the Obama administration’s handling of the attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi intensifies, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are seeking to conduct transcribed interviews with thirteen top State Department officials in the coming weeks in order to learn more. Those named in the letter include a wide range of current and former State Department personnel, from senior advisers to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to mid-level career officials with responsibility for diplomatic security.

May 23: The Hill: Issa’s panel inching closer to calling Hillary Clinton to testify about Benghazi:
Members of the House Oversight Committee are getting closer to asking Hillary Clinton to testify on last year's deadly attacks in Benghazi, Libya.  Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) told The Hill that there are “a number of steps” that the panel “will take first” before calling the former secretary of State to the hearing room, but he left the door open to compelling her appearance.

May 22: The Daily Mail:
IRS tea-party bloodbath continues in Congress, as evidence emerges that IRS's own internal probe ended in May 2012, six months before election, but was hidden from legislators:
Tempers flared in a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing Wednesday, with members on both sides of the aisle castigating the Internal Revenue Service for targeting conservative groups with special scrutiny, and then hiding the practice from Congress. Rep. Darrel Issa, the committee's chairman, said that the committee learned just yesterday that the IRS completed its own investigation a year before a Treasury Department Inspector General report was completed. But despite the IRS recognizing in May 2012 that its employees were treating right-wing groups differently from other organizations, Issa said, IRS personnel withheld those conclusions from legislators.

May 22: The Daily Caller: Head of the IRS, Shulman, never looked into IRS targeting:
Even though 132 congressmen contacted the former Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman about the IRS targeting of conservative groups, Shulman reiterated Wednesday that he did not have the full story until the inspector general’s report came out.

May 22: Daily Caller: Former IRS Director Didn’t Discuss Targeting with the White House:Former Internal Revenue Service commissioner Douglas Shulman told members of the House Oversight Committee that he had not discussed the IRS targeting of conservative groups during his numerous visits to the White House.

May 22: Politico: DOJ says We haven’t compromised Attkinsson’s computers:
The Department of Justice says it has never “compromised” computers belonging to Sharyl Attkisson, the CBS News investigative reporter who on Tuesday said that her personal and work computers were under investigation after intrusions by an unspecified entity.

May 22: Fox News: DOJ Fox Hunt: seized phone records of Rosen’s parents:
Newly uncovered court documents reveal the Justice Department seized records of several Fox News phone lines as part of a leak investigation -- even listing a number that, according to one source, matches the home phone number of a reporter's parents.  The seizure was ordered in addition to a court-approved search warrant for Fox News correspondent James Rosen's personal emails. In the affidavit seeking that warrant, an FBI agent called Rosen a likely criminal "co-conspirator," citing a wartime law called the Espionage Act. 

May 22: Politico:  Feds say “We didn’t track James Rosen’s parent’s calls:
The Justice Department is denying that it tracked the phone calls of Fox News reporter James Rosen's parents as part of an investigation into how Rosen got classified information about North Korean nuclear test plans."We did not wiretap the phones of any reporter or news organization.  Nor did we monitor or track the phone calls of any reporter’s parents. 

May 22: Fox News: Assault on First Amendment needs to stop:
On the heels of the Justice Department’s seizure of telephone records involving AP reporters in four bureaus, now comes the revelation the DOJ had investigated the news-related activities of Fox News reporter James Rosen in another probe of classified leaks. Incredibly, the government suggested that Rosen was a “co-conspirator” for allegedly asking for information about a story involving Stephen Jin-Woo Kim, a former State Department employee who is accused of giving Rosen details involving North Korea from a classified report after it had been released to others in the intelligence community.

May 22: The Hill: The House pushes for judicial oversight of DOJ in the wake of Associated Press leaks case:
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers unveiled a bill on Wednesday that would force the Department of Justice (DOJ) to get a federal court’s approval before seizing records from journalists. The move comes in response to growing concerns from both parties on Capitol Hill that the DOJ may have violated the First Amendment rights of Associated Press and Fox News employees by seizing their telephone and email records in a pair of separate investigations into national security leaks.

May 22: The Hill: House votes to override Obama on Keystone Pipeline:
The House passed a bill Wednesday that would approve the northern leg of the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline by an act of law, and take the decision out of the hands of President Obama. Members voted 241-175 in favor of H.R. 3, the Northern Route Approval Act. Republican supporters were joined by 19 Democrats, much less than the level of Democratic support in the last Congress.

A big reason for the drop in Democratic support is the GOP's new approach to the pipeline, which would move tar sands oil from Canada to the United States to be refined. Legislation in the last Congress set a deadline by which Obama had to decide on approving the project, and passed with 47 Democrats in 2011. Today's bill would remove any need for presidential approval of TransCanada Corp's proposed pipeline and deem it approved, which many Democrats saw as going too far. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WVA), who supports the construction of the pipeline, said Republicans lost his support because of this change. "It waives a permit and it deems a permit application by a foreign company… for a major undertaking in the United States to be approved," he said of the bill. "We don't even do that for our domestic companies."

Congressman Randy Weber (R-TX) offered an amendment to this legislation which added to the findings section a statement that the State Department's scientific and environmental finding conclude the Keystone XL pipeline is a safe and environmentally sound project. The amendment was agreed to by a vote of 246-168.

May 22: The Hill: Ted Cruz: “I don’t trust Republicans”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said Wednesday that he doesn’t trust members of his own party to negotiate a budget conference report. Cruz's remark came after Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said he thought it was “bizarre” that a member of his own party was objecting to forming a conference committee with the House to work out a budget. 

McCain said the objections suggested Senate Republicans didn’t trust House Republicans to hold the party line in negotiations.“The senior senator of Arizona urged senators to trust House Republicans ... and frankly, I don’t trust Republicans,” Cruz said. “It’s the leaders of both parties that got us in this mess. ... A lot of Republicans were complicit in this spending spree.”

May 21: Politico | BreitBart.com: CBS’ Sharyl Attkisson reports her computers may have been compromised:
Sharyl Attkisson, the Emmy-award winning CBS News investigative reporter, says that her personal and work computers have been compromised and are under investigation.  "I can confirm that an intrusion of my computers has been under some investigation on my end for some months but I'm not prepared to make an allegation against a specific entity today as I've been patient and methodical about this matter," Attkisson told Politico on Tuesday. "I need to check with my attorney and CBS to get their recommendations on info we make public."

In an earlier interview with WPHT Philadelphia, Attkisson said that though she did not know the full details of the intrusion, "there could be some relationship between these things and what's happened to James [Rosen]," the Fox News reporter who became the subject of a Justice Dept. investigation after reporting on CIA intelligence about North Korea in 2009.  Attkisson said the irregular activity on her computer was first identified in Feb. 2011, when she was reporting on the Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal and on the Obama administration's green energy spending, which she said "the administration was very sensitive about." Attkisson has also been a persistent investigator of the events surrounding last year's attack in Benghazi, and its aftermath.

May 21: National Review: Issa Warns Hillary (If she is called to testify again, she’d better be ready!)
Since Hillary Clinton last came up to Capitol Hill, we’ve learned senior State Department officials sought to scrub references to terrorism from the infamous Benghazi talking points to insulate Foggy Bottom from political criticism — citing concerns of their “building’s leadership” to justify the demands.  The rising temperature of the scandal means it’s possible that Hillary could be asked to return and testify again. If she comes back, she had better be prepared, says House Oversight and Government Reform chairman Darrell Issa. 

May 21: PJMedia.com:
Ex-Diplomats Report new Benghazi whistleblowers with info that is devastating to Clinton and Obama:
More whistleblowers will emerge shortly in the escalating Benghazi scandal, according to two former U.S. diplomats who spoke with PJ Media Monday afternoon.  These whistleblowers, colleagues of the former diplomats, are currently securing legal counsel because they work in areas not fully protected by the Whistleblower law.  According to the diplomats, what these whistleblowers will say will be at least as explosive as what we have already learned about the scandal, including details about what really transpired in Benghazi that are potentially devastating to both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

May 21: BreitBart.com: FBI Identifies Five Benghazi Suspects – No Arrests Yet:
U.S. officials say they have identified five men they believe might be behind the attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, last year. The officials say they have enough evidence to justify seizing them by military force as suspected terrorists _ but not enough proof to try them in a U.S. civilian court as the Obama administration prefers.  So the officials say the men remain at large while the FBI gathers more evidence. The decision not to seize the men militarily underscores the White House's aim to move away from hunting terrorists as enemy combatants and toward trying them as criminals in a civilian justice system. The officials spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss sensitive briefings publicly

May 21: Multiple Updates on the IRS Issue

May 21: The Hill: Unions break ranks on Obamacare:
Labor unions are breaking with President Obama on ObamaCare. Months after the president’s reelection, a variety of unions are publicly balking at how the administration plans to implement the landmark law. They warn that unless there are changes, the results could be catastrophic.

• The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is very worried about how the reform law will affect its members’ healthcare plans. 
• The United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers have called “for repeal or complete reform of the Affordable Care Act.”
• UNITE HERE, a prominent hotel workers’ union, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters are also pushing for changes. 

Republicans have long attacked Obama’s promise that “nothing in this plan will require you to change your coverage or your doctor.” But the fact that unions are now noting it as well is a clear sign that supporters of the law are growing anxious about the law’s implementation.

May 21: The Hill: Senate GOP seeks to block ObamaCare’s IRS funds:
Republican Sen. Dean Heller (NV) introduced an amendment to the Senate farm bill Tuesday that would prevent the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from receiving funds to implement ObamaCare.   Heller previously introduced the measure as a standalone bill. Both moves, in addition to several GOP House bills, seek to impede the IRS's role in enacting the Affordable Care Act given the agency's targeting of conservative groups.  "Public distrust in this agency is already at an all-time high, so providing the IRS with more power to enforce this flawed healthcare policy makes no sense," Heller said in a statement. "Simply put, right now, we can't trust the IRS to do its job."

The IRS is tasked with several key functions under ObamaCare, including enforcing the individual mandate to buy health insurance, distributing tax credits and managing the new revenue streams created to fund the law.  Republicans argue that the agency cannot be trusted to neutrally carry out its duties because the agency applied additional scrutiny to conservative groups as they applied for tax-exempt status.   Health policy experts say the risk of discrimination in enforcing ObamaCare is low because the law provides regulators with black and white decisions.

May 21: The Hill: House Democrats introduce 2-Year sequester replacement bill:
House Democrats on Tuesday introduced a revised bill that would replace the automatic sequestration cuts that took effect in March and avoid further cuts in 2014.  The bill, authored by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), contains $181 billion in replacement deficit reduction over 10 years. Fifty-four percent of the reduction comes from increased tax revenue and 46 percent comes from spending cuts. A copy of the bill obtained by The Hill shows that the basic outline of deficit reduction remains the same as a previous sequester-replacement bill from Van Hollen.  Most of the deeper savings to cover 2013 and 2014 come from lowering defense spending caps in the out years of 2017 to 2021, an aide explained.  New revenue would be generated from a minimum tax on millionaires — commonly known as the Buffett Rule — and by eliminating tax breaks for oil and gas companies.

May 20: Galveston Daily News: Three former CD-14 candidates collaborate on a weekly column on important issues:
This week Bill Sargent, Mark Mansius, and John Gay introduce what will be a weekly column in the Galveston Daily News to be published in each Monday edition. "My wife and I hosted a 'candidates reunion' a month or so ago. It was really Mark's idea," Sargent said, "and it was a good one! At the meeting we all wanted to give back to our community and to continue the fight for the hearts and minds of our nation," Sargent continued. "We approached the Daily News with an idea for a monthly column. They liked the idea but said it should be published weekly and so it is that today, the 'The Musketeers' start this weekly column."

May 19: The Hill: Extraordinary measures become standard as US hits debt limit again:
Today, May 19th, the debt ceiling was re-instituted after the Congress and the President suspended it for several months in January of this year as part of the "No Budget No Pay" bill. As a result the country bumped up against its borrowing limit Sunday, forcing the Treasury Department to employ “extraordinary measures” to make sure the government keeps paying its bills. The latest numbers from the Treasury Department indicate that the overall debt of the United States swelled by about $300 billion during the period of the suspension, and now totals roughly $16.7 trillion. With the government once again operating under a borrowing cap, the Treasury is back to employing special measures to free up space under the limit.

May 19: Politico: GOP may roll out debt ceiling plan before August:
The House Republican leadership is considering releasing its debt ceiling plan before the August recess so lawmakers can actively sell it to their constituents. The idea gained traction in a closed meeting of the House Republican Conference this week, where the main topic was how the party should craft a plan to raise the nation’s debt cap. Plans for the legislation are not finalized, but the outlines of a measure are beginning to take shape. In addition to hiking the debt limit, the legislation is likely to have three categories: spending cuts, a framework for tax reform and what will be called a “jobs” element, which will include energy legislation, which would likely be a provision related to the Keystone XL pipeline. Republicans are aiming to put the bill on the floor soon after the summer recess.

May 19: The Hill: Despite talks, no effort taken in Congress to change Obamacare’s Employer mandate:
Small businesses looking for a break from President Obama’s healthcare law aren’t getting any help from Congress. The law’s critics spend a lot of time talking about its potential effects on employers, and small businesses in particular. But there hasn’t been a real effort on the Hill to address the provisions that will have the most immediate impact on small businesses.

May 19: The Hill: McConnell: White House “made up a tale” about Benghazi
In an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press that was held by an anchorman who attempted to lead Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) into a mine field, the Minority Leader refused to bite!  McConnell did say the Obama administration had spun a “tale” about the terrorist attacks in Benghazi that helped them politically before the 2012 election. “It’s very clear that it was inconvenient within six weeks of the election for the administration to, in effect, announce that it was a terrorist attack. I think that’s worth examining. It is going to be examined,” he vowed.

May 19: Politico:  Chaffetz: Benghazi cover-up ongoing:
Rep. Jason Chaffetz says the White House should release more documents relating to the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The Utah Republican said on CBS's "Face the Nation" that more information is needed and that a cover-up is ongoing. "People deserve the truth and the families deserve the truth," Chaffetz said. "I can't imagine that this administration would say those same things about what happened in Boston where we had four people killed by a terrorist." Chaffetz said that the cover-up has delayed investigating and tracking down who committed the attacks."We weren't able to investigate," he said. "We still have terrorists that committed these attacks that are out there. They are on the loose. We don't know where they are."

May 19: The Daily Caller: Rand Paul likens Benghazi errors’ that led to “Black Hawk Down”
On Sunday’s “State of the Union” on CNN, Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul took aim at former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the State Department’s handling of the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. Last week, Paul had given a speech in the early presidential battleground state of Iowa that was highly critical of Clinton. “State of the Union” host Candy Crowley asked Paul if he stuck by those remarks, to which the Kentucky Republican said he did and likened Benghazi to an incident that occurred during her husband’s first term. “I absolutely stick by them,” Paul said. “You know, in Bill Clinton’s administration, when Les Aspin did not provide security in Mogadishu, the famous Black Hawk Down, he was asked to resign, and he left and admitted he made tragic errors.”

May 19: The Daily Caller: White House aide: Obama’s whereabouts night of Benghazi attack is largely irrelevant.
On Sunday, White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer made the talk show rounds in the wake of three scandals involving the Obama administration, but seemed to have the same message: that the details were “irrelevant” and Obama wants to make sure this doesn’t happen again. [More Details on this Story]

May 18: Fox News: Colorado Sheriffs to file federal lawsuit over state's new gun laws:
Colorado sheriffs upset with gun restrictions adopted in the aftermath of last year's mass shootings filed a federal lawsuit Friday, challenging the regulations as unconstitutional. The lawsuit involves sheriffs from 54 of Colorado's 64 counties, most representing rural, gun-friendly areas of the state.

May 18: The Hill: Complaints of IRS targeting of religious groups on the rise:
The number of religious groups reporting they were improperly targeted by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is increasing. At least a half-dozen conservative groups say they received an unusual degree of scrutiny from the IRS, according to the Religion New Service,  a non-profit news service operated out of the University of Missouri’s journalism school. Earlier this week Rev. Billy Graham’s son made headlines with a letter to President Obama accusing the administration of targeting the Samaritan's Purse charity and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in an attempt to intimidate the group.

See Multiple Updates on the IRS Issue

May 17: C-Span: Video coverage of the House Ways and Means hearing on IRS targeting abuses:
Congressman Kevin Brady (R-TX) describes what happened to the head of a local TEA Party group in his district after she applied for tax exempt status for her TEA Party: how she was audited by the IRS, OSHA and others as well as receiving unannounced visits from the FBI and ATF.

May 17: Politico: Darrell Issa calls top Treasury official to testify on IRS:
The Obama administration will face more questions over its role in the IRS scandal next week when a top Treasury Department official will testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.  Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin will appear at a panel hearing on Wednesday, a committee aide tells POLITICO. He’ll testify alongside J. Russell George, the IRS inspector general who released a damaging report this week that slammed lax management at the agency.

May 17: The Weekly Standard: Report: IRS Deliberately Chose Not to Fess Up to Scandal Before Election:
NBC's Lisa Myers reported this morning that the IRS  deliberately chose not to reveal that it had wrongly targeted conservative groups until after the 2012 presidential election: [video]

May 17: The Daily Caller: Lerner’s admission of IRS’s inappropriate behavior was per-planned public disclosure:
Last week, Lois Lerner, head of the tax exempt division of the Internal Revenue Service dropped a bombshell: The IRS had been applying extra scrutiny to conservative groups claiming tax exempt status. The revelation came seemingly out of the blue, in response to a question during a panel at an American Bar Association conference, leaving the audience baffled, according to reports.

May 17: Real Clear Politics: GOP Congressman Mike Kelly Receives Standing Ovation After He Rips IRS Commissioner:
This has nothing to do with political parties. This has to do with highly targeted groups. This reconfirms everything the American public believes. This is a huge blow to the faith and trust that the American people have in their government. Is there any limit to the scope where you folks can go?

May 17: Fox News: Tables turn on IRS, lawmakers grill outgoing agency chief at heated hearing:
For the first time in years, the IRS was knocked down a peg or two.  In a hearing that escalated into a boisterous public shaming of one of the country's most-feared government agencies, lawmakers took turns Friday calling outgoing IRS Commissioner Steven Miller on the carpet for his department's scandalous practice of targeting conservative groups. 

May 17: The Washington Examiner: Senator Baucus warns of more to come in IRS scandal
Senior Democratic Sen. Max Baucus, who recently slapped Obamacare as a "train wreck," believes that the IRS scandal is just beginning and that "a lot more" damaging information will be revealed, likely at congressional hearings.

May 17: Fox News: Issa subpoenas Pickering on Benghazi:
Chairman Issa said This Administration is good at going beyond its authority, bad at getting legislation passed, and the Americans are the losers! We need to know how are we going to keep our people safe and what are we going to do to respond quickly if this every happens again,' he exclaimed. Issa's committee has subpoenaed the co-chairman of the Obama administration's internal review board for the Benghazi attack -- escalating his own inquiry amid a report that showed administration officials expressing regret about their response the night of Sept. 11. 

May 17: Fox News: Benghazi emails reveal Obama White House’s obsession with spin control
When it dumped 100 emails related to the Benghazi talking points Wednesday night, the Obama White House showed it hasn’t been telling the truth.   These talking points were not the sole product of the intelligence community, but were in fact edited by State Department officials and White House officials and then decided upon at a White House meeting.   After reading these emails, it’s clear the administration’s principal concern behind the edits was to protect itself from public and Congressional criticism, not to get out the facts of the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi in which four Americans died.

May16: The Daily Caller: In a meaningless gesture the House Votes to Repeal Obamacare
The Republican-controlled House voted Thursday to repeal Obamacare in its entirety. With implementation of Obamacare set to begin later this year, the vote is largely symbolic. The Senate is highly unlikely to even take up a vote on repeal. The House voted for repeal 229-195, with votes cast almost entirely down party lines. Two Democrats voted with Republicans in favor of repeal: Rep. Jim Matheson of Utah and Rep. Mike McIntyre of North Carolina. This is the third time the House has voted to fully repeal Obamacare, and there have been a number of other votes to repeal parts of it — 37 votes in total. Boehner explained last week that he was holding the vote again because new members had been asking for the opportunity to vote on repeal.

Many of the Republicans who voted for the repeal also voted for fully funding the Affordable Care Act in a vote earlier this year as part of the Continuing Resolution.  So are they for repeal, and if so, how come they voted to fully pay for the implementation, administration and enforcement of it?  Could it be that they did so, so that they could go back home and tell their constituents that they voted to repeal the measure – even though they know that the vote to do so will have no effect? In the days leading up to the vote, Democrats dismissed the effort as wasteful and unproductive. For once, we would agree with the Democrats! If the House leadership wanted to deal a fatal blow to Obamacare they should have done so as part of the Continuing Resolution, prohibiting the use of any of the funds for this program!

May 16: Politico: Focus on the Facts not Impeachment, Leaders Caution
Republicans are worried one thing could screw up the political gift of three Obama administration controversies at once: fellow Republicans. Top GOP leaders are privately warning members to put a sock in it when it comes to silly calls for impeachment or over-the-top comparisons to Watergate. They want members to focus on months of fact-finding investigations – not rhetorical fury. Why the fuss? Well…
- “People may be starting to use the I-word before too long,” Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) told a radio host, making plain impeachment was indeed the I-word in mind.
- “You could call #Benghazi Obama’s Watergate, except no one died,” Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) wrote on Twitter.
- “It harkens back to the days of Richard Nixon and maintaining a political enemies list and treating the federal government as a tool to exact the administration’s retribution,” Sen. Ted Cruz told the National Review.

May 16: WashingtonExaminer.com | Fox News:
IRS “Targeting” Executive Gets $100K+in Bonuses and Promotion to Oversee Obamacare Enforcement!
Sarah Hall Ingram, the IRS executive in charge of the tax exempt division in 2010 when it began targeting conservative Tea Party, evangelical and pro-Israel groups for harassment, got more than $100,000 in bonuses between 2009 and 2012. More recently, Ingram was promoted to serve as director of the tax agency's Obamacare program office, a position that put her in charge of the vast expansion of the IRS' regulatory power and staffing in connection with federal health care, ABC reported earlier today. Ingram received a $7,000 bonus in 2009, according to data obtained by The Washington Examiner from the IRS, then a $34,440 bonus in 2010, $35,400 in 2011 and $26,550 last year, for a total of $103,390. Her annual salary went from $172,500 to $177,000 during the same period.

May 16: The Daily Caller: Tea Party Leaders Want Media Apology for failing to take reports of IRS targeting seriously
At least one tea party leader has had employees at a major national newspaper and a major Ohio newspaper apologize to him for failing to take his concerns about the Internal Revenue Service targeting tea party groups seriously last year, though he wouldn’t say who specifically. “I actually have had several [members] of the media apologize to me today and yesterday,” Tom Zawistowski, former leader of the Ohio Liberty Coalition and current president of We the People Convention, Inc. and head of the Portage County Tea Party, said at a FreedomWorks round-table event Thursday.“They said, ‘Tom I want to apologize to you because when this story came out last year it was so over the top I didn’t believe it, and I didn’t believe it and I questioned it and I didn’t really look into it and then when the IRS commissioner came out and testified to Congress and said, ‘There is no targeting of the tea party, I shut it down,’” he said.

I can tell you that when I addressed this issue in March of last year it went absolutely nowhere!  See the press release, posted on this Website, which I provided to the media at the time.

May 16: The Daily Caller: Obama evades question on White House knowledge of IRS targeting
President Barack Obama dismissed calls for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the IRS scandal, and evaded a question asking if White House officials knew of the IRS targeting of conservative political groups. “I can assure that I certainly did not know anything about the [inspector general] report before the IG report had been leaked through the press,” he told reporters during a Thursday lunchtime press conference held in the White House Rose Garden. Obama’s evasion will likely spur public suspicions that White House officials knew about, or even supported, the IRS targeting. When asked about a special prosecutor, Obama said he would work with investigations begun by Congress and the Department of Justice.

May 16: The Hill: Obama Appoints Werfel as New IRS Commissioner
President Obama on Thursday appointed Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Controller Danny Werfel as acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. Steven Miller, the acting IRS commissioner, stepped down on Wednesday amid a growing scandal after it was discovered that the IRS targeted conservative groups based on their politics. Over the last year at OMB, Werfel, who also worked at OMB under President George W. Bush's administration, has been charged with planning out how the sequester would be implemented.

The White House announced President Obama was appointing Werfel, 42, in a press release.m “Throughout his career working in both Democratic and Republican administrations, Danny has proven an effective leader who serves with professionalism, integrity and skill," Obama said. "The American people deserve to have the utmost confidence and trust in their government, and as we work to get to the bottom of what happened and restore confidence in the IRS, Danny has the experience and management ability necessary to lead the agency at this important time.”

May 16: The Daily Caller: Tea party groups speak out against the IRS: ‘Folks, this is bad’
Tea party leaders spoke out Thursday about their experience with the Internal Revenue Service and warned others that it could happen to them too. “We want to make sure every American understands what tyranny looks like and what we can do as citizens to regain our voice, to regain our rights, to ensure that this administration or the next one after it never does this again,” Matt Kibbe, president and CEO of FreedomWorks said at a tea party roundtable Thursday afternoon.

Katrina Pierson of the Dallas Tea Party said that the scandal has shed further light on one of the reasons the tea party started: concern about overreach and abuse of government. The IRS requested the Dallas Tea Party’s campaign contribution lists and membership communications. The group ended up having to compile and send about six inches of documents in two weeks. The group still has yet to receive its tax-exempt status. “How many scandals is it going to take for the American people to stand up and take back what is rightfully theirs?” Pierson asked.

May 16: Fox News Latino: Conservative Hispanic Groups Targeted In IRS Scandal
The Internal Revenue Service scandal involving the apparently unjustified targeting of Tea Party and other conservative groups has also hit home with the Hispanic community. George Rodriguez, former president of the San Antonio Tea Party, said that when the organization applied for non-profit status, leaders were intimidated by IRS workers with excessive paperwork and meddling questions. “They asked us all sorts of things that were out of the norm,” Rodriguez, now head of the conservative South Texas Alliance, told Fox News Latino. “We knew these questions were not the norm and we had our suspicions about them.”

Rodriguez said the group received a questionnaire from the IRS with “well over 50 questions,” including inquiries into who the group met with, where they held their meetings, who was in attendance and what the subject of their internal emails were. “They should have been worried about the numbers, not who we were meeting with,” he added. “It was flat-out dirty politics.”

May 15: The Daily Caller: IRS sued for improperly seizing the medical records of 10 million Americans
Amid a firestorm about the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting conservative groups and wide concern that the tax service will be administering Obamacare, the IRS is also the subject of a class action lawsuit alleging that 15 of its agents improperly seized 10 million Americans’ medical records.
Attorney Robert Barnes filed the lawsuit in mid-March on behalf of a John Doe Company and individuals whose records were seized in California Superior Court, according to a report from the Courthouse News Service. “This is an action involving the corruption and abuse of power by several Internal Revenue Service agents during a raid of John Doe Company, in the southern district of California, on March 11, 2011,” the complaint reads. “In a case involving solely a tax matter involving a former employee of the company, these agents stole more than 60,000,000 medical records of more than 10,000,000 Americans, including at least 1,000,000 Californians.”

May 15: Politico: Holder get grilled on the Hill as both Dems and Reps turn up the heat:
Attorney General Eric Holder, long accustomed to GOP attacks, faced bipartisan ire in the House Wednesday from lawmakers looking for answers on multiple fronts. Most of the Judiciary Committee’s questions during the four-hour session revolved around the Justice Department’s decision to subpoena journalists’ phone records in connection with a leak investigation — but there was little new information in the responses from Holder, who announced Tuesday that he had recused himself from the inquiry.

Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) said the Justice Department’s handling of the investigation — which eventually obtained records of phone calls from home, office and cellphone lines used by several Associated Press reporters and editors — “appears to be contrary to the law and standard procedure.” He pressed Holder to explain why the news organization was not given advance notice of the subpoenas.

Holder’s careful framing of his answers Wednesday played into a testy exchange with Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) over the ethics of a deal that Labor Secretary nominee Tom Perez constructed to try to avoid a Supreme Court ruling he feared would undermine civil rights enforcement. After Holder declined to offer a “yes or no” response to a question from Issa, and the congressman cut Holder off, the attorney general clearly became irritated.“No, I’m not going to stop talking now,” Holder said, as Issa continued speaking over him. “It’s consistent with the way you conduct yourself as a member of Congress. It’s unacceptable, and it’s shameful.”

May 15: The Hill: Holder  Makes it personal – Calls Issa’s Actions “Shameful”
Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday lashed out at Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), calling his conduct “unacceptable and shameful.” In a tense moment at a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Holder berated the lawmaker who led the successful effort in the House to hold him in contempt of Congress. Holder said Issa’s questioning at the hearing was “too consistent with the way in which you conduct yourself as a member of the Congress. It’s unacceptable, and it’s shameful.”

Issa, who seemed to brush off the rebuke, was questioning Holder about a deal the Justice Department’s top civil rights enforcer made with the city of St. Paul, Minn., to drop a False Claims Act case in exchange for the city ditching an unconnected appeal to the Supreme Court. But the larger backdrop for the hearing was the controversy swirling around the Justice Department’s decision to subpoena phone records from The Associated Press in an investigation of national security leaks.  Holder has recused himself from that investigation, but came under fire from members of both parties.

May 15: The Daily Caller: IRS to be sued over targeting
The American Center for Law and Justice expects to file suit in federal court over the targeting of fourteen of its clients by the IRS soon. Jay Sekulow, ACLJ chief counsel, told The Daily Caller Wednesday he expects to file suit next week and has a team of lawyers working on the issue. ACLJ has not decided whether it will file one class action suit on behalf their aggrieved clients or separate suits. “We are looking at the issue of whether it could be certified as a class or whether we would have to bring each claim as an individual claim,” he explained. “Which would mean we would be filing some in Cincinnati or the District Courts in Ohio, some in the district courts in California, some in the District of Columbia. We are looking at all that.” [See more on this story]

May 15: Townhall.com: IRS Spared Liberal Groups as Tea Party Languished – Appears 500 may have been targeted:
Remember what we were told when this explosive story first broke less than a week ago?  The IRS official in charge of tax exemptions for organizations said the improper methods employed within her division were executed by "low level workers" in Cincinnati who weren't motivated by "political bias," and impacted roughly 75 organizations?  Wrong, wrong and wrong: 
- "Seventy-five organizations effected" - That number almost immediately swelled to 300.  Now it's closer to 500;
- "Low Level" - Officials within the highest echelons of the agency were aware of the inappropriate targeting, including the last two commissioners -- at least one of whom appears to have misled Congress on this very question.  Now Politico reports that Lerner herself sent at least one of the probing letters to an Ohio-based conservative group.
- "No Political Bias" - This claim was laughable on its face from the start, in light of the agency's surreal criteria for added scrutiny and the "red flag" words and phrases that triggered investigations.  Now add to the mix this scoop from USA Today

May 15: The Hill | The Daily Caller: First Heads Roll in IRS Scandal
Acting Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Steven Miller resigned on Wednesday over his role in the agency’s controversial singling out of conservative groups. President Obama announced the resignation — which Treasury Secretary Jack Lew asked for earlier in the day — at the White House.  Miller, a 25-year veteran of the IRS, became the first official to lose his job in the uproar over the agency’s actions, which have consumed Washington and the Obama administration since they were revealed last week.  The president said he has urged Lew to quickly implement recommendations from a Treasury audit, and vowed that the White House would work closely with Congress as it investigates the matter. Top Republicans had said that Miller, who found out about the targeting in May of 2012, had misled them about the IRS’s actions.

May 15: The Daily Caller: Krauthammer: Obama IRS scandal statement ‘a holding operation,’ ‘the absolute minimum’
Immediately following President Barack Obama’s remarks on Wednesday about the current scandal embroiling the Internal Revenue Service, Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer reacted by downplaying the gesture. “That was a holding operation,” Krauthammer said. “That was the absolute minimum he could have done. He relieves one person. He obviously had to. He had to relieve at least one person. And he chose, of course, the acting commissioner. But, I would have expected more. The other actions he announced are, up to now, meaningless. Obama and this administration have said a hundred times they’re going to hold x, y, z accountable for all kinds of behavior — in Benghazi, regarding a lot of other scandals. It means nothing.”

May 15: Politico: Resignation won’t plug the IRS leadership gap
The resignation of Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller might offer a cathartic moment for an angry tax paying public — but it won’t right the ship at the troubled agency. There are no clear candidates inside the agency who would have the gravitas to overhaul the IRS, rehabilitate it, and bring a sense of moral authority to the job — while effectively dealing with a voracious congressional opposition. But it might also be impossible to get a prominent outside candidate confirmed in a divided Senate. President Barack Obama did not announce a replacement for Miller in his brief remarks Wednesday night announcing the resignation, and it remains unclear whether he’ll tap someone from inside the bureaucracy or look for a high profile outsider to come in and shape up the agency. [See more on this story]

May 15: The Daily Caller:
Holder: We will bring criminal actions -- against whom is yet to be determined -- so this doesn’t happen again:
Attorney General Eric Holder promised criminal action Wednesday in the Internal Revenue Service scandal, but said he does not know who will be targeted. On Tuesday, Holder announced he would launch a criminal investigation into the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups for heightened scrutiny. “We have to bring criminal actions so that this kind of activity does not happen again,” Holder said Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee.  Against whom those criminal actions would be taken, however, Holder was not yet sure. Was he saying we need to take some kind on action and hang this on somebody? If so, watchout, they are looking for a person other than themseves to pin it on!

May 15: Fox News: Benghazi emails show State Department had heavy hand in watering down account of attack
State Department officials repeatedly objected to -- and tried to water down -- references to Islamic extremist groups and prior security warnings in the administration's initial internal story-line on the Benghazi attack, according to dozens of emails and notes released by the White House late Wednesday.  The documents also showed the White House, along with several other departments, played a role in editing the so-called "talking points," despite claims from the White House that it was barely involved. And they showed then-CIA Director David Petraeus objected to the watered-down version that would ultimately be used as the basis for U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice's flawed comments on several TV shows the Sunday after the attack. [See More on this Story]

May 15: The Hill: White House releases Benghazi emails
The White House on Wednesday released more than 100 pages of inter-agency emails intended to bolster its argument it did not try to hide the fact that last year’s attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, was terrorism. The messages — circulated Sept. 14-15 — show that CIA Deputy Director Mike Morrell asked that references to al Qaeda and another terrorist groups be removed from official administration talking points hours before State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland made a similar request. One page of talking points dated Sept. 14 includes handwritten notes by Morrell, who scratches out parts of the talking points that say that there were “indications that Islamic extremists participated in the violent demonstrations,” and also that there were “at least five other attacks against foreign interests in Benghazi by unidentified assailants, including the June attack against the British ambassador’s convoy.”

May 15: National Review: Republicans Not Willing to Take Impeachment Off the Table for Benghazi:
“I would say yes — I’m not willing to take it off to take it off the table,” representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) said about the possibility of seeking the president’s impeachment in the Benghazi scandal. “Look, it’s not something I’m seeking, it’s not the endgame, it’s not what we’re playing for,” Chaffetz explained in an interview with CNN. “I was simply asked if that’s within the realm of possibilities.” Earlier this week, Chaffetz told the Salt Lake Tribune that impeachment is “certainly a possibility,” which drew attention but added, “that’s not the goal.”
[More on this story from the Salt Lake Tribune]

May 15: OneNewsNow.com: Heritage: Scandals reflect controlling nature of Obama administration:
A conservative political action organization says it remains to seen just what the long-term effect all the current scandals will have on the Obama administration. The administration was already embroiled in the Benghazi scandal and an apparent cover-up about how it was handled. Then last week came the scandal involving the Internal Revenue Service deliberately harassing conservative groups. In the latest scandal, the Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press in what the news cooperative's top executive called a "massive and unprecedented intrusion" into how news organizations gather the news.

Dan Holler, a spokesman for Heritage Action for America, spoke to OneNewsNow about the plethora of scandals cropping up. "It really shows how controlling the Obama administration is," he offers. "They want to control all aspects of the debate, they want to silence any dissent - and if you talk to reporters, they have stories about really hard pushback coming from the administration anytime they mention anything even remotely critical, whether it's true or not."

Holler expects Congress is going to have a full vetting on all these issues over the next several months. "We're going to have multiple hearings in the House and the Senate, and I don't think anybody can possibly predict what's going to come up," he says. "So I things are only going to get worst for them. And the real question is: How far does it spiral?" The Heritage Action spokesman believes these scandals can only help Republicans gain control of the Senate in next year's mid-term elections.

May 15: The Blaze:‘Very Frightening’: Prominent Catholic Prof. Claims IRS Audited Her After Speaking Out Against Obama and Demanded to Know Who Was Paying Her:
In the midst of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) scandal, individuals and groups, alike, are continuing to come forward with ever-startling allegations. On Wednesday, Dr. Anne Hendershott, a devout Catholic and a noted sociologist, professor and author, exclusively told TheBlaze that she believes she may have been one of the IRS’s targets.

According to Hendershott, the IRS audited her in 2010 and demanded to know who was paying her and “what their politics were.” It all started with a phone call she received at her home in May of that year — a call during which Hendershott was told she would be audited. A letter that followed on May 19, 2010 solidified the IRS’s request to meet her in person two months later in July. While IRS investigations are certainly not uncommon occurrences, the professor believes that the situation surrounding hers was more-than-curious. “The IRS calls my house and says … ‘I just wanted to let you know that we’re going to be auditing your business’ and I said ‘My businesses?’ and he said, ‘You know the expenses you take off for writing,” the academic recalls.

May 14: USA Today: Interesting Data on IRS Approvals of Tax Exempt Applications:
In February 2010, the Champaign Tea Party in Illinois received approval of its tax-exempt status from the IRS in 90 days, no questions asked. That was the month before the Internal Revenue Service started singling out Tea Party groups for special treatment. There wouldn't be another Tea Party application approved for 27 months. In that time, the IRS approved perhaps dozens of applications from similar liberal and progressive groups, a USA TODAY review of IRS data shows. [See more on this story]

May 14: More and More Coverage on IRS Activities:

• The Weekly Standard: Just because the IRS apologized, it doesn't mean they did something wrong! Really?
• The Daily Caller: Reports of IRS sending confidential information on Conservative groups to liberal non-profit organization
• Fox News: Senator Hatch: The IRS purposefully misled me!
• Politico: Scandal and politics sweep Capitol Hill
• CNSNews.com: IRS will not confirm whether it will comply with House Ways and Means Request
  

May 13: More Reports on the IRS Targeting

• House Ways and Means sets hearing on IRS Targeting of Conservative Groups
• Majority Leader Reid Promises Actions on IRS Scandal
• IRS Scrutiny went beyond TEA Party
• TEA Party Groups Threaten to Sue the IRS
• The White House knew of the allegations in April
• Obama says he has "No Patience" for the "outrageous" IRS mess
  

May 12: Reports on the IRS Targeting Conservative Groups and those supporting Israel

• Associated Press | Politico: IRS Targeting of TEA Party called Chilling
• The Daily Caller: ISSA – IRS “mea culpa” on TEA Party “not an honest one”
• National Review: IRS Inquisition of Jewish Groups
• CNSNews.com: Ways and Means Committee to IRS: “Provide All Communications Containing the Words ‘TEA Party’, ‘Patriot’, or ‘Conservative’ by Wednesday”
• March 2012 Story on IRS Targeting the TEA Party and Conservative Groups

May 12: Reports on Benghazi:

• Fox News: Republicans call for depositions in Benghazi probe, amid revelation Clinton barely interviewed
• BreitBart.Com:  Report: NBC Spiked Story ID’ing Benghazi whistle-blower as Obama/Clinton Voter
• The Hill: McCain Calls Benghazi a “Cover-Up”

May 11: Reports on Benghazi:

• The Hill: Rand Paul: Hillary Clinton does not deserve higher office due to Benghazi
• The Daily Caller: President of CBS News – may drop reporter over Benghazi coverage
• The Daily Caller: Pat Smith to Hillary Clinton – You have your child this Mother’s Day, I don’t because of you!

May 10: Fox News: Tea Party groups, Republicans slam IRS for flagging conservative groups:
In a story I disclosed in March of 2012, the IRS has been targeting conservative groups and threatening their tax exempt status. Now, Tea Party leaders have refused to accept an apology from the IRS Friday in which the agency acknowledged that it inappropriately flagged conservative groups for additional review during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status. 

Jenny Beth Martin, national coordinator for Tea Party Patriots, said she wants to see resignations over what she called the "disturbing, illegal and outrageous abuse of government power." Republican lawmakers also seized on the acknowledgment, after having complained about the suspected harassment more than a year ago. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell called for a "government-wide review" to assure "these thuggish practices" are not in use elsewhere. House Republican Leader Eric Cantor later said the House would investigate. 

Reaction was swift and harsh after Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt groups, acknowledged the issue at a conference Friday sponsored by the American Bar Association. She confirmed that organizations were singled out because they included the words "tea party" or "patriot" in their applications for tax-exempt status. In some cases, groups were asked for their list of donors, she said. "That was wrong. That was absolutely incorrect, it was insensitive and it was inappropriate," Lerner said. "The IRS would like to apologize for that." 

May 10: National Review: Grassley says Baucus is Retiring  Because He’s Fed Up with Obamacare
Democratic Senator Max Baucus is retiring because he is “fed up” with the Affordable Care Act, according to his Republican colleague Chuck Grassley. Speaking at Friday night’s Lincoln Day dinner in Iowa, Grassley told the audience the Montana senator is leaving office ”because he’s so fed up with the possibility of the implementation of Obamacare being a train wreck.” 
Baucus, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, played a key role in writing the 2010 law. 
Grassley said that dissatisfaction with the health-care bill exists across party lines, describing a “bipartisan coalition in Washington” that considers the implementation of the law a disaster. “It’s a shame that a trainwreck even left the station a couple years ago,” he added, referring to Baucus’s now-infamous statement of frustration.

May 9: The Daily Caller:  Immigration: ‘No such thing as a background check on a foreign national’ [VIDEO]
In part four of his exclusive interview with The Daily Caller, National ICE Council President Chris Crane criticized the immigration bill put together by the “Gang of Eight” senators for its reliance on checking the status of immigrants through biographical rather than biometric data. “We already know we... have illegal aliens who are already circumventing that type of system right now.” Crane also weighs in on the terrorist attack in Boston that killed three people at the conclusion of the Boston Marathon. The attack that was carried out by two individuals who had not only immigrated to the United States but been naturalized as well. He points out that there is a finite amount of checking that can be performed on an individual entering the United States. Any system will be hamstrung by the lack of much information held in most countries.  ”There is no such thing as background check on a foreign national,” says Crane.

May 9: Benghazi Coverage

• Fox News: Political Motives Don't Change Facts in Benghazi Probe
• The Daily Caller: Clinton Hit by GOP Questions on Benghazi
• Fox News: House Speaker puts pressure on Obama to provide email documents on Benghazi
• The Hill: Sen. Coburn: ‘Glaring omission’ in Benghazi information from State Dept
  

May 9: The Daily Caller:  Sandy Hook parent and Gun Control Lobbyist Faces Five Criminal Charges

May 9: The Hill: Credit Raters Wary of GOP proposal on Debt Limit:
The nation's credit rating agencies are wary of a plan to prioritize payments to U.S. bondholders and Social Security recipients if the debt ceiling is reached. Nikola Swann, the primary analyst for the U.S. rating for Standard & Poor's, pointed out that if a prioritization plan were in place, reaching the $16.4 trillion borrowing limit would still carry potentially huge economic and financial consequences. "But the real issue is not who will go to the head of the line for payments if the debt ceiling is not raised" the editor of "Your Resource for News" pointed out.  "The real issue is that we are not cutting spending!" [See more details]

May 8: The Hill: House will vote next week on ObamaCare repeal, Cantor says:
In a largely symbolic gesture that is designed to put Democrats in a position of going on record in support of a measure that many of their constituents are coming to oppose, the House will vote next week to repeal all of President Obama's healthcare law. Conservatives have clamored for another repeal vote, and some first-term Republicans said they could not vote for a Cantor-backed bill to modify the healthcare law until they had cast a vote to repeal the entire thing.

At the same time, earlier this year many of these same Republicans, including representatives from Texas, voted for the Continuing Resolution that fully funded Obamacare. This vote would also allow them to claim they have voted to repeal the law. The issue this raises, however, is one of consistency. Next week's vote will be the House's first vote to repeal the law in the 113th Congress, following more than 30 votes in the previous two years to repeal or defund all or part of the healthcare law. It is doubtful that if the measure passes the House that it will go anywhere in the Senate, and even if it did, the President would surely veto it, which is the reason it is seen as largely a politically motivated vote.

May 7: CNBC: When It Comes to ObamaCare Reform, the IRS Rules:
Get ready for the Internal Revenue Service to play a dominant role in health care. When Obamacare takes full effect next year, the agency will enforce most of the laws involved in the reform—even deciding who gets included in the health-care mandate. "The impact of the IRS on health-care reform is huge," said Paul Hamburger, a partner and employee benefits lawyer at Proskauer. "Other agencies like Social Security will be checking for mistakes, but the IRS is the key enforcer," Hamburger said. "It's also going to help manage who might get health care."

In its 5-4 ruling last year, the Supreme Court upheld the law's mandate that Americans have health insurance, saying that Congress can enforce the mandate under its taxing authority and through the IRS. As a result, its the agency that will be administering 47 tax provisions under the health-care reform law. They include the right to levy a penalty against businesses and individuals who don't provide or acquire insurance. Noting that the IRS will collect the penalties, because the Supreme Court decision labeled Obamacare a tax. The IRS also has to determine how to distribute annual subsidies to 18 million people who make less than $45,000 a year and thus qualify for subsidies in buying health coverage, as well as how to deliver tax credits to small businesses that buy coverage for workers.

May 8: The Hill: Despite Sequester fix, some lawmakers blame flight delays for missed votes:
Lawmakers in the House blamed a series of missed votes on flight delays this week, despite the end of air traffic controller furloughs that Congress addressed last month. "Mr. Speaker, I missed my connecting flight into Washington yesterday afternoon," Rep. Jim Jordon (R-OH) said in a statement in the Congressional Record. "As a result, I was absent from the House floor during last night's three roll-call votes," Jordan continued. "Had I been present, I would have voted in favor of H.R. 588, H.R. 291, and H.R. 507."

May 8: The Hill: Official holds back tears during emotional Benghazi testimony:
The State Department’s deputy chief of mission in Libya fought back tears on Wednesday as he delivered a lengthy account of the nighttime terrorist attacks last year that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens. Testifying before a packed hearing room, Gregory Hicks gave an emotional account of his attempt to secure the State Department’s staff in Tripoli as he relayed messages to the Washington, D.C., operation center in real-time about reports of attackers storming the Benghazi facility.

May 8: Real Clear Politics:  Democrat Congressman At Benghazi Hearing says: “Death Is A Part of Life”
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, tells Benghazi witnesses that "death is a part of life."

May 7: The Hill: Sequestration Cuts Expected to Hit the Job Market over the Summer:
The sequester will take a bigger bite from the economy in the coming months as workers collect more unpaid leave and additional spending cuts are triggered, several economic experts predicted Monday. A strong employment report in April that found the economy added 165,000 jobs underlined the sense that the labor market is improving, but observers warn it’s too early to declare the economy is safe from sequestration. “People who think the sequester debate’s over, it’s not nearly as bad as they thought it was — to me that’s declaring victory way too soon,” said political and economic strategist Andrew Busch.

May 4: RedState.com: Eagle Scout trying to do the right thing faces felony charges from local authorities:
A North Carolina Eagle Scout who was expelled and arrested for accidentally leaving a shotgun in his pickup truck in the school parking lot has been offered a scholarship to attend Liberty University. Cole Withrow was just a few weeks from graduating with honors from Princeton High School when he was arrested on Monday and slapped with a felony weapons charge. Withrow had been skeet shooting with friends a day before and had only noticed he had left his shotgun in his truck as he reached to grab his book bag. When he realized his mistake, he went to the front office and called his mother. An administrator overheard the conversation and called police.

May 4: The Daily Caller: Gun Business Exodus from Colorado Begins:
HiViz Shooting Systems, a gun-parts manufacturer in Fort Collins, Colo., will move its operations up the road to Laramie, Wyo., making good on its threat to pull up its Colorado roots after Gov. John Hickenlooper signed into law several controversial gun control measures earlier this year.

May 4: The Hill: Attorney General Holder and Kansas may be heading to court over Kansas Gun Law:
The Obama administration is on a collision course with the state of Kansas over a new law that claims to nullify federal gun controls. Attorney General Eric Holder has threatened litigation against Kansas over the law in what could the opening salvo of a blockbuster legal battle with national ramifications. “This is definitely a case that could make it to the Supreme Court,” Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach said Friday afternoon. “There is nothing symbolic about this law.” Kobach, a former constitutional law professor, helped craft the statute, which bars the federal government from regulating guns and ammunition manufactured and stored within Kansas state lines.

May 4: Fox News: States: 'Blindsided' by plan to shift costs of 'uninsurables' to them under ObamaCare:
Thousands of people with serious medical problems are in danger of losing coverage under President Obama's health care overhaul because of cost overruns, state officials say. At risk is the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, a transition program that's become a lifeline for the so-called uninsurables -- people with serious medical conditions who can't get coverage elsewhere. The program helps bridge the gap for those patients until next year, when under the new law insurance companies will be required to accept people regardless of their medical problems.

May 4: The Hill: Vacancies, furloughs piling up at OMB:
President Obama’s new director of the powerful Office of Management and Budget is now on duty, but OMB's executive suite has become a virtual ghost town. Many of the top posts in the Office of Management and Budget have gone vacant for almost a year. The top vacancies come on top of furloughs due to sequestration. OMB issued furloughs on March 7 to 480 employees. They will be furloughed for 10 days between the week of April 21 and the end of September.

May 4: The Hill: Three State Department 'whistleblowers' to testify next week on Benghazi:
Three State Department officials described by Republicans as “whistleblowers” with damning insider knowledge about the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi will testify next week. The House Oversight Committee identified the three witnesses as Gregory Hicks, the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli during the attack; Mark Thompson, the deputy coordinator for operations in the agency’s Counterterrorism Bureau; and Eric Nordstrom, a diplomatic security officer who was the top security officer in the country in the months leading up to the attacks.

May 4: NewsMax.com: What You are about to hear will make you mad, Senator Graham
Sen. Lindsey Graham said on Saturday that once Americans hear the testimony of three State Department survivors of the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya next week, “it’s going to make you mad. It’s going to make you upset.”

May 2: Politico: The next sequester victors?
Congress and President Barack Obama spared the FAA from the full brunt of sequester, sending a clear message: We’re willing to cave. Now advocates for other agencies and programs are lining up by the newly opened door, looking for fixes to their own across-the-board budget cut woes.  Some are better positioned than others to come out ahead, especially causes with a powerful story: Think of long waits, terrorism threats or deadly disease outbreaks.  [See expanded coverage]

May 2: Fox News: Special Ops Called for Military Backup During Benghazi Attack:
On the night of the Benghazi terror attack, special operations put out multiple calls for all available military and other assets to be moved into position to help -- but the State Department and White House never gave the military permission to cross into Libya, sources told Fox News.  The disconnect was one example of what sources described as a communication breakdown that left those on the ground without outside help. [See expanded coverage]
 
May 2: Fox News: State Department's Benghazi review panel under investigation, Fox News confirms:
The State Department's Office of Inspector General is investigating the special internal panel that probed the Benghazi terror attack for the State Department, Fox News has confirmed. The IG's office is said to be seeking to determine whether the Accountability Review Board, or ARB -- led by former U.N. Ambassador Thomas Pickering and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen -- failed to interview key witnesses who had asked to provide their accounts of the Benghazi attacks to the panel. The IG's office notified the department of the "special review" on March 28, according to Doug Welty, the congressional and public affairs officer of the IG's office. This disclosure marks a significant turn in the ongoing Benghazi case, as it calls into question the reliability of the blue-ribbon panel that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton convened to review the entire matter. [See expanded coverage]

May 2: The Hill:  Obama:  This was just the first round of gun control measures:
As the man under whom Operation Fast and Furious was carried out, President Obama vowed Thursday during a press conference in Mexico City that the White House would continue pushing for an expansion of background checks to cover firearms purchases online and at gun shows. "Things happen somewhat slowly in Washington. But this was just the first round," Obama said. "I believe we'll eventually get that done. We'll keep on trying." He went on to argue that gun control was also important to prevent the trafficking of firearms across the border, where American-bought arms helped fuel Mexico's bloody drug wars. [See expanded coverage]

May 2: Fox News:  California Governor "Moon Beam" Brown Signs Legislation to Speed Up Gun Seizures:  
Gov. Jerry Brown announced Wednesday that he has signed legislation expanding the ability of state agents to seize firearms from nearly 20,000 Californians who are not allowed to have them. [See expanded coverage]

May 2: The Hill: The Price for a Debt Ceiling Increase will be a balanced budget, conservatives say:
Conservative groups are vowing to force lawmakers to adopt a balanced budget plan before passing any increase in the nation’s debt ceiling.  The Club for Growth and Heritage Action said that establishing a path to a balanced budget within 10 years will be their demand in the looming fight between congressional Republicans and President Obama.   [Editor's Note: Why wait for ten years to balance the budget?]  The nation hits its $16.4 trillion debt ceiling on May 19. The Treasury Department, however, should be able to take extraordinary measures to avoid immediately defaulting on payment obligations.

The new pressure from conservative groups comes as House GOP leaders are discussing measures that would tie a hike in the debt limit to tax reform legislation and additional spending cuts. President Obama, however, has said he will not negotiate over the debt ceiling, urging Republicans to raise the limit without preconditions. In 2011, Obama was forced by congressional Republicans to accept dollar-for-dollar cuts to the federal budget over ten years for a $2.1 billion increase in the debt ceiling, a move he has said was a mistake. [See expanded coverage]

May 2: The Hill: Small Businesses Sue the IRS for "Illegal" implementation of Obamacare:
A group of small businesses filed a new legal challenge Thursday to the insurance subsidies in President Obama's healthcare law. The businesses said they shouldn't have to provide health insurance to their employees — and that their employees also shouldn't be able to get a subsidy from the government to help afford coverage on their own.

The suit accuses the IRS of illegally implementing subsidies to help people buy private insurance. It all starts with the law's insurance exchanges — new marketplaces where individuals and small businesses can buy private insurance. The law sets up an exchange in each state, and authorizes the federal government to build the exchange in any state that doesn't build its own.  And that's the catch — the law specifically refers to subsidies flowing through exchanges "established by the state." The law's critics say subsidies should therefore only be available in state-run exchanges — not in the federal version. “The IRS rule we are challenging is at war with the act’s plain language and completely rewrites the deal that Congress made with the states on running these insurance exchanges," Carvin said. [See expanded coverage]

May 1:  Fox News:
Iraqi War Vet Acts: Couldn’t Have Done this in New York or Colorado under their new gun control laws!
Police say an Iraq War veteran thwarted two would-be burglars at his northern Michigan gas station by kicking one of them and ordering them away with an AR-15 rifle. [See Detailed Report]

May 1: Politico:  A House Divided Against Itself?
Speaker John Boehner, Cantor and McCarthy are plagued by a Republican conference split into two groups. In one camp are stiff ideologues who didn’t extract any lesson from Mitt Romney’s loss and are only looking to slash spending and defund President Barack Obama’s health care law at every turn. In the other are lawmakers who are aligned with Cantor, who is almost singularly driving an agenda which is zeroed in on family issues.
Boehner seems more focused on passing big pieces of legislation like hiking the debt ceiling and extending government funding, sometimes drawing flak for having to rely on Democrats to move these bills over the finish line. The House simply isn’t interested in the agendas being pushed by the president and Democratic Senate. Most Republicans aren’t looking for a big legislative push on gun control. GOP leaders are skeptical that they can arrive at a framework to negotiate a budget agreement with Senate Democrats. And tax reform and an immigration overhaul, while broadly supported, are still seen as long shots.

May 1: The Hill: IRS proposes health law's tax credit rules:
The Obama administration on Wednesday published a set of proposed regulations to guide the allocation of federal tax credits for some Americans under the president’s Affordable Care Act. People who don’t receive adequate health insurance through their employers would be eligible for premium tax credits of varying amounts, based on their income. The draft Internal Revenue Services (IRS) rules, published in the Federal Register for public consideration, detail the parameters of the program.   The action follows the administration’s move to simplify application forms to apply for the tax credits and join health exchanges created by the landmark law. As currently drafted, the credits would apply to taxpayers whose household income is between 100 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty line, calibrated to the size of the individual’s family.

May 1: The Hill: Botched ObamaCare rollout tops Democratic fears for 2014 election:
Anxious Democrats fear a botched implementation of ObamaCare could dash their hopes of controlling the House and Senate for President Obama’s last two years in office.  At his press conference Tuesday, Obama acknowledged “glitches and bumps” in the law’s rollout, but some congressional Democrats fear much worse.  One high-ranking Democrat told The Hill that it is his leading concern.   “The White House is going to have to step up its game,” the lawmaker said. “The Republicans are doing everything they can to prevent success … The White House is going to need to understand that.” The Obama administration will enlist “navigators” starting this summer to help people understand their new healthcare options. There has been speculation that implementation dates might have to be pushed back, but Democratic sources say that the White House is forging ahead and there is no talk of such a move.

ObamaCare helped Republicans gain control of the House in 2010, and the GOP is hoping the law will bolster its chances of wresting the Senate from Democratic control in 2014. To win back the House, Democrats must pick up 17 seats. That will be all but impossible if the implementation of ObamaCare is rocky.  The administration faces a major test in preparation for Jan. 1, 2014, when the Affordable Care Act’s insurance exchanges, Medicaid expansion and consumer protections are scheduled to take effect. 

May 1: The Hill:  GOP says Benghazi whistleblowers will 'expose new facts’
Eyewitnesses with potentially damaging information on the Obama administration’s handling of last year's terror attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi will testify at a hearing next week, Republicans said. [See more details about this story]

May 1: Fox News: FBI Posts Photos of Individuals Wanted for Questioning on Benghazi:
The FBI has posted images of three people wanted for questioning regarding the terror attack last year on a U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, as investigators continue to search for suspects more than seven months after the deadly assault. [See more details on this story]

May 1: Money Morning: Schiff: 2/3 of America to Lose Everything Because of This Crisis:
A record breaking stock market is distorting a frightening reality:  The U.S. is being eaten alive by a horrific cancer that will ultimately destroy the economy and impoverish the vast majority of its citizens.  That's according to Peter Schiff, the best-selling author and CEO of Euro Pacific Capital, who delivered his harsh warning to investors in a recent interview on Fox Business. "I think we are heading for a worse economic crisis than we had in 2007," Schiff said.  "You're going to have a collapse in the dollar... a huge spike in interest rates... and our whole economy, which is built on the foundation of cheap money, is going to topple when you pull the rug out from under it."

Schiff says that, despite "phony" signs of an economic recovery, the cancer destroying America, stems from a lethal concoction of our $16 trillion federal debt and the Fed's never ending money printing. Currently, Bernanke and company is buying $1 trillion of Treasury and mortgage bonds a year. That's about $85 billion per month against a budget deficit that is about the same level. According to Schiff, these numbers are unsustainable. And the Fed has no credible "exit strategy."  Eventually interest rates will rise... and when they do, Schiff says, stocks will tank and bonds dip to nothing. Massive new tax hikes will be imposed and programs and entitlements will be cut to the bone.

May 1: The Hill: President Obama signs bill to ease flight delays from FAA furloughs:President Obama signed legislation on Wednesday to end the air traffic controller furloughs from sequestration that were blamed for hundreds of flight delays last week.  The White House said Obama signed the measure, the Reducing Flight Delays Act of 2013 (H.R. 1765). The bill allows the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to move money around in its budget to eliminate furloughs for air traffic controllers. The money would come from a grant program used for airport improvements. 

Obama has criticized the measure as a short-term solution that does not fix the problems caused by the spending cuts from sequestration. "Congress responded to the short-term problem of flight delays by giving us the option of shifting money that's designed to repair and improve airports over the long term to fix the short-term problem," he said during a press conference on Tuesday. "Well that's not a solution. Essentially what we've done is, we've said, in order to avoid delays this summer, we're going to ensure delays for the next two or three decades." Conveniently omitted was the fact that sequestration was the idea of the Obama Administration.

May 1: Fox News: Americans find ways to soften sequester; saving tourist seasons, programs for needy:
Americans cannot cover the entire $85 billion in federal budget cuts this year known as sequester, but they’re pulling together to make up the losses for important matters like helping local economies and salvaging federal programs that serve needy children. When the Navy decided to deal with sequester by pulling its popular Blue Angels fighter jet team from air shows and other events, organizers of Seattle’s annual Seafair festival dug into their general fund to pay for a replacement –  the Patriots Jet Team. Seafair President Beth Knox said the Blue Angels had performed at the festival over the past four decades so spending $80,000 was important to the community and worth the money."We've had to look outside the box and find ways that we can fill the gaps where our government is not able to provide those services," she told Fox News.  In addition to hiring the California-based group of retired fighter pilots, festival organizers also are bringing in a ship from the Canadian Navy to replace a U.S. warship that won’t be coming to this summer’s events.

May 1: The Hill: Federal Reserve: Fiscal policy 'restraining' economic rebound:
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday said the nation's fiscal policy is holding back its economy and signaled it may be prepared to do more to boost growth.  The central bank announced Wednesday that it was continuing its ongoing efforts to stimulate the economy, keeping interest rates near zero and buying up $85 billion of bonds every month in a bid to further spur the economy. 

In its latest statement, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) said the U.S. economy was growing at a "moderate pace," no thanks to its fiscal course.  "Fiscal policy is restraining economic growth," the FOMC said.  As sequestration continues to take effect, the Fed said it was sticking to its "quantitative easing" plan, buying up $40 billion of housing bonds and another $45 billion of Treasury bonds.   It added, for the first time, the Fed could potentially increase the size of those purchases, as well as decrease, depending on what happens with the economy or the Fed's handle on inflation.