A Dysfunctional Foreign Policy Team: The Obama Administration's New Problem

By Barry Rubin

In what is probably the most important sign of U.S.-Israel cooperation for this year, the U.S. government has finalized the sale of the advanced F-35 to Israel.


I repeatedly try to explain to people who believe that everything the Obama Administration does is conditioned by some anti-Israel ideology or that everything is bad that this is not so. The task is to maximize the positive, handling difficult problems.

Understanding the difference between a rigid, nothing-ever-changes ideology-determined perception and understanding how things do change (even if it is hypocritical done for political gain) is one of the key factors in doing good political analysis.

Moreover, there's no country in the world where the make-up of the high-level bureaucracy is as important as in the United States. America has the most decentralized policymaking system o any democratic state. It matters very much who is the secretary of state, defense secretary, national security advisor, and intelligence chief because these are semi-independent entities which have their own institutional point of view. (I discuss this in historical detail in my book, Secrets of State.)

Of course, ultimately all must obey the president and follow his line. But they have a lot of latitude. And when there is a president who is weak or ignorant about international affairs, these people war over his ear, that is try to persuade him as to what he should do with some real effect.

So the resignation of National Security Advisor James Jones is an event of real significance. It's being portrayed as one of those routine end-of-two-years changes, dissatisfaction with Jones has long been clear. Among other things, he has been accused of being rather unenergetic.

Despite his background as a former Marine general with 40 years in uniform, he emerged as one of the more extreme advocates of what might be called the Obama ideology in the foreign policy sector. On the Middle East, Jones was said to be the main supporter for the idea of trying to impose some U.S. devised solution on Israel and the Palestinians. He will not be missed. His replacement is top aide Tom Donilon.

The leftist Huffington Post says that Donilon would be a disaster as national security advisor. Wow, could he really be that good? Seriously, though, it claims Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Jones can't stand him and that he used to work for FannieMae. Still, this organ--it calls Jones the president's "Iron Hand," which would provoke gales of laughter from anyone in DC who knows anything about what's been going on--is ticked off because it sees Jones as the "left-wing" of Obama advisers.

After all, these are the kind of people who think that making concessions to Syria and engaging that dictatorship doesn't have to be disrupted by "little" things like proof the Syrian military is training Hizballah to fire missiles at Israel.

The Atlantic agrees on how many people dislike Obama (well, they're all using the same gossip sources on this story after all) and adds that the military doesn't like him either.

Donilon is a Democratic political operative with relatively little government (and even less foreign policy) experience. He is likely, then, to be a yes-man who will do whatever Obama says without having much of an independent view. This, of course, is precisely the trap presidents can fall into, made much worse if they don't know much about international affairs.

Even worse (for the world if not for Obama) is that he is likely to look for partisan and electoral advantage in decisionmaking, something that is already a bigger problem in this administration then it was in most of its predecessors. This was clear in deciding what to do about Afghanistan and now in Israel-Palestinian issues.

This means two things:

First, Obama is even less likely to get independent advice, leading him into more mistakes.

Second, when top-level officials are debating options, Donilon, unlike Jones, won't have some independent opinion he is pushing. The likelihood of a U.S. effort to impose a solution on the Israel-Palestinian conflict is thus reduced.

Having a top foreign policy team in heated antagonism plus a president who is ignorant on foreign affairs (sorry, but that's very true of Obama) is a formula for disaster.  Add to that the lack of any strong advisor who is a junior partner of the president, think of the relationship between President Richard Nixon and National Security Advisor/Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

That doesn't mean it was a love fest before, where do you think the long delays and uncertainty over Afghanistan came from?

Instead, the secretary of state isn't trusted because she's a former (bitter) political rival, who has her own (more accurate and moderate) views. The secretary of defense is a holdover from the Bush Administration and is not trusted by the White House insiders. And now the national security advisor, while not holding actively silly views, is a yes-man.

Thus, Obama is more likely to come up with his own ideas to an even greater extent. Uh-oh!

Clinton and Gates are relatively good, especially compared to the likely alternatives. Up until now, there has been a debate in which Obama could choose some compromise view between them, on one hand, and Jones plus the more ideological White House staff, on the other. But what if Obama doesnt want to listen to the advice of Clinton and Gates, then operates through Donilon to put through his unadulterated first opinion? Imagine these people meeting to decide how to respond to a nuclear Iran, an aggressive Russia, some big foreign policy crisis.

Consider, for example, what's happening inside the war on...whatever it is. People who want to talk about radical Islamist ideology are treated as if they are extremist crazies and are lucky if they don't get fired. Meanwhile,huge amounts of money are poured into psychological explanations for terrorism or strategies for countering the revolutionaries that ignore all the real causes for their behavior. It would be hard to come up deliberately with a more self-defeating approach.

These are the people who will face the difficult tasks ahead? This does not bode well for the Obama Administration or for lots of others around the world.

Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His latest books are Lebanon: Liberation, Conflict, and Crisis (Palgrave Macmillan), Conflict and Insurgency in the Contemporary Middle Eastand editor of the (seventh edition) (Viking-Penguin), The Israel-Arab Reader the paperback edition of The Truth About Syria(Palgrave-Macmillan), A Chronological History of Terrorism (Sharpe), and The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley).

Please email me at yidwithlid@aol.com to be put onto my mailing list. Feel free to reproduce any article but please link back to http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com

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OBama May Be In Deep Trouble…Chief Justice John Roberts, U.S. Supreme Court.

By Rebel Rouser from Texas

According to sources who watch the inner workings of the federal government, a smackdown of Barack Obama by the U.S. Supreme Court may be inevitable. Ever since Obama assumed the office of President, critics have hammered him on a number of Constitutional issues.

Critics have complained that much, if not all of Obama's major initiatives run headlong into Constitutional roadblocks on the power of the federal government.

Obama certainly did not help himself in the eyes of the Court when he used the venue of the State of the Union address early in the year to publicly flog the Court over its ruling that the First Amendment grants the right to various organizations to run political ads during the time of an election.

The tongue-lashing clearly did not sit well with the Court, as demonstrated by Justice Sam Alito, who publicly shook his head and stated under his breath, 'That's not true,'when Obama told a flat-out lie concerning the Court's ruling.

As it has turned out, this was a watershed moment in the relationship between the executive and the judicial branches of the federal government. Obama publicly declared war on the court, even as he blatantly continued to propose legislation that flies in the face of every known Constitutional principle upon which this nation has stood for over 200 years.

Obama has even identified Chief Justice John Roberts as his number one enemy, that is, apart from Fox News and Rush Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, and so on.

And it is no accident that the one swing-vote on the court, Justice Anthony Kennedy, stated recently that he has no intention of retiring until 'Obama is gone.'

Apparently, the Court has had enough.

The Roberts Court has signaled, in a very subtle manner, of course, that it intends to address the issues about which Obama critics have been screaming to high heaven.

A ruling against Obama on any one of these important issues could potentially cripple the Administration.

Such a thing would be long overdue.

First, there is ObamaCare, which violates the Constitutional principle barring the federal government from forcing citizens to purchase something.

And no, this is not the same thing as states requiring drivers to purchase car insurance, as some of the intellectually-impaired claim.

The Constitution limits FEDERAL government, not state governments, from such things, and further, not everyone has to drive, and thus, a citizen could opt not to purchase car insurance by simply deciding not to drive a vehicle.

In the ObamaCare world, however, no citizen can 'opt out.'

Second, sources state that the Roberts court has quietly accepted information concerning discrepancies in Obama's history that raise serious questions about his eligibility for the office of President.

The charge goes far beyond the birth certificate issue.  This information involves possible fraudulent use of a Social Security number in Connecticut, while Obama was a high school student in Hawaii.

And that is only the tip of the iceberg.

Third, several cases involving possible criminal activity, conflicts of interest, and pay-for-play cronyism could potentially land many Administration officials, if not Obama himself, in hot water with the Court.

Frankly, in the years this writer has observed politics, nothing comes close to comparing with the rampant corruption of this Administration, not even during the Nixon years.

Nixon and the Watergate conspirators look like choirboys compared to the jokers that populate this Administration.

In addition, the Court will eventually be forced to rule on the dreadful decision of the Obama DOJ suing the state of Arizona.

That, too, could send the Obama doctrine of open borders to an early grave, given that the Administration refuses to enforce federal law on illegal aliens.

And finally, the biggie that could potentially send the entire house of cards tumbling in a free-fall is the latest revelation concerning the Obama-Holder Department of Justice and its refusal to pursue the New Black Panther Party.

The group was caught on tape committing felonies by attempting to intimidate Caucasian voters into staying away from the polls.

A whistle-blower who resigned from the DOJ is now charging Holder with the deliberate refusal to pursue cases against Blacks, particularly those who are involved in radical hate-groups, such as the New Black Panthers, who have been caught on tape calling for the murder of white people and their babies.

This one is a biggie that could send the entire Administration crumbling–that is, if the Justices have the guts to draw a line in the sand at the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

swenbwr

http://redwhitebluenews.com/?p=7581

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UK: Muslim Subway Driver "Planned to Take Part in Violent Jihad": Farewell Letter tells Family, "Al

Another poor misunderstood misunderstander of Islam.

Planes, trains and automobiles.

Tube driver 'planned to take part in jihad' The Express

A London Underground Tube driver who is from Essex, planned to travel to Afghanistan or Pakistan with the intention to take part in a "violent jihad", a court has heard.

Amir Ali, who drove trains on the Bakerloo Line for five years, purchased a plane ticket to travel to Islamabad and wrote a farewell letter to his family telling them that "Allah and his prophet Mohammed" came first, jurors were told.

When police searched the 28-year-old's home they found pictures of him posing with weapons including two AK47 rifles and a self-loading pistol, prosecutor Duncan Penny said.

He said: "It is no coincidence that also in his possession were various forms of extreme literature and propaganda advocating the use of violence against the non-believer - or kuffar - in the name of Islam."

Mr Penny said that in March 2009 Ali paid cash towards a flight from Heathrow to Islamabad and planned to leave his wife and four-year-old daughter and three-year-old son behind.

[...]

"He was to travel alone, leaving his wife and children behind him at their home in east London. He had written a letter to his wife in which he instructed her and his little boy what to do after he had gone.

 

"In the letter he told her not to be upset or depressed with him for not being there as, he claimed, he always would remember her and his children. He told her to tell the children that he loved them very much but that he had to go for the sake of Allah, because Allah and his prophet Mohammed come first."

Do you ever feel like Barbara Stanwyck in the film noir classic Sorry, Wrong Number? I know I do.

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2010/10/uk-muslim-subway-driver-planned-to-take-part-in-violent-jihad-farewell-letter-tells-family-allah-and.html

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U.S. Dept. of Transportation Weighing Ban on All Driver Cell Phone Use?

In an attempt to make Americans safer drivers, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says his agency is preparing research that may lead to an Obama administration push for a national ban on all driver cell phone use, including hands-free devices.

In a recent interview, LaHood said he believes motorists are dangerously distracted by any use of mobile phones while driving and even objects to vehicle information and entertainment systems such as Ford's Sync and GM's OnStar.

"I don't want people talking on phones, having them up to their ear or texting while they're driving," LaHood said. "We need a lot better research on other distractions."

According to Bloomberg, LaHood's escalating campaign "may limit the growth of vehicle features… being added by automakers to attract younger buyers."  In addition to limiting carmaker's options, a nation-wide ban on cell phones may also hurt significantly hurt the revenues of mobile-phone companies such as Verizon Wireless and AT&T.

LaHood has also characterized hands-free phone conversations as a "cognitive distraction" and drivers should be prohibited from using them.  The government may turn to the "power of the purse" to pursue a ban:

The Transportation Department's powers to push further limits on distracted driving range from exhortations to setting standards backed by the federal government's financial clout. The government previously awarded highway aid to states based on whether they raised the legal drinking age to 21 or required seatbelt use.

"In one year, we have made a difference," LaHood said of his effort to win state restrictions. "Our goal is to get all 50 states."

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety condemns LaHood's campaign against distracted driving, saying he should focus resources on other safety efforts.  A study the Institute released last month concluded that laws banning texting while driving don't actually reduce crash numbers.  In a look at four  states which passed bans, the study found the overall number of car crashes increased in three of the states — a likely result of drivers taking their eyes off the road even more to try and text while simultaneously hiding their handheld device from view of passing police patrol cars.

The campaign against distracted driving and the use of mobile phones in the car will continue in stages, LaHood said.

"The bottom line for me is to get where we're at with seat belts and with drunk driving," he said. "When those programs were started, people were very skeptical that you could get people to buckle up."

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/u-s-dept-of-transportation-weighing-ban-on-all-driver-cell-phone-use/

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NYC/Bloomberg bans trans-fat in restaurants

This is an old story for those of us in NY State.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-12-04-trans-fat-ban_x.htm

swenbwr

http://redwhitebluenews.com/?p=7577

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Largest U.S. Bank Halts Foreclosures in All States

Interesting story, but the longer homes are allowed to avoid foreclosure, which artificially buoys housing prices, the longer it will take for the overall economy to recover:

The plan swept states with some of the highest foreclosure levels, including California, Nevada and Arizona, into a swelling crisis over lenders' flawed paperwork that had been mostly confined to 23 other states that require judicial review of foreclosures.

Bank of America instituted a partial freeze last week in those 23 states, and three other major mortgage lenders have done the same. The bank's decision on Friday increased pressure on other lenders to extend their moratoriums nationwide as well.

An immediate effect of the action will be a temporary stay of execution for hundreds of thousands of borrowers in default. The bank said it would be brief, a mere pause while it made sure its methods were in order.

But as the furor grows over lenders' attempts to bypass legal rules in their haste to reclaim houses from delinquent owners, there is a growing expectation that foreclosures will dwindle for months as the foreclosure system is reworked.

Stan Humphries, an economist with the housing site Zillow.com, said what was initially cast as a problem of sloppy record-keeping is rapidly evolving into one that suggests the banks' procedures for recording loans might not have followed the law.

"The former scenario represents a hiccup for the market, maybe a 30- to 90-day slowdown in foreclosure initiations," Mr. Humphries said. "The latter scenario is more like hitting a wall."

The uncertainty is putting the housing market in turmoil and causing vast confusion. Bank of America, for example, said it was not halting sales of foreclosed properties to new owners, but Fannie Mae, the giant mortgage holding company, is doing exactly that with properties it bought from Bank of America.

One real estate agent in Florida said Friday that he had six deals involving former Bank of America properties that had been at least temporarily scuttled. Representatives for Fannie, which was taken over by federal regulators after it failed two years ago, did not return calls.

Real estate agents said the extent of any disruption depended on how long the moratorium lasted, how many lenders ultimately participated — and what people in default decided to do.

"If it's still January, February, March, and they're not foreclosing, you'll see a big effect," said Jim Klinge, an agent in San Diego. "It'll be a banker's holiday, free rent for everybody and a lawyers' gold mine."

More on housing at Instapundit.

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AP NewsAlert, US

BRANFORD, Conn. (AP) — FBI: Tractor-trailer in Connecticut carrying no explosive devices, is not a danger to public.

http://dailycaller.com/2010/10/08/ap-newsalert-us-867/

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Report: Tractor-trailer With Possible Explosives Stopped En Route To NYC

http://videos.mediaite.com/video/Report-Tractor-trailer-With-Pos

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Official: Tractor-trailer with explosives stopped

BRANFORD, Conn. (AP) — A town official in Connecticut says police and FBI agents have surrounded a tractor-trailer possibly carrying explosives. Branford first selectman Anthony DaRos says police have told him that authorities are holding the semitrailer at a travel stop on Interstate 95. He did not say which direction the truck was headed or what [...]

http://dailycaller.com/2010/10/08/official-tractor-trailer-with-explosives-stopped/

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Federal court allows foreign governments to file briefs in SB 1070 case

Since when did the Constitution say anything about foreign governments having a say in American law?

http://dailycaller.com/2010/10/08/federal-court-allows-foreign-governments-to-file-briefs-in-sb-1070-case/

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Microsoft Workers to Contribute to Health-Care Plans

Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software company, said it will require employees to contribute to their health-care benefits starting in 2013, citing the rising cost of providing worker coverage.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-10-08/microsoft-workers-to-contribute-to-health-care-plans.html

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The Failed State

The problem with this government isn't just its staggering price tag, or continued offenses against liberty.  It's also a complete failure. Americans are preparing to vote against something previously found only in Third World hell holes: a failed state.

How else to describe a massive government that demands complete control over the economy, but reels in surprise from each new burst of "unexpected" economic news?  The weary joke about "unexpected" downturns in employment and gross domestic product dates back to the early days of this presidency.  We're talking about dozens of consecutive "unexpected" developments.  It is clear from the shocking ignorance displayed by every member of this Administration that they have no idea how any sector of the economy functions… and yet, they demand absolute control over every transaction that draws their attention.  They seek to consume the free market, not manage it.

The signature "achievement" of President Obama's first year was the trillion-dollar failure of his "stimulus" plan, which was nothing more than a theft of money from the future to fund today's bloated government operations.  Stimubucks vanished into pork-barrel projects, and settled into a thick sludge at the bottom of political coffers, nourishing fat government payrolls that otherwise might have faced cuts in a time of austerity.  Now we've learned millions of dollars in "stimulus" money were sent to imprisoned felons and dead people.  If Obama were a private-sector CEO responsible for such a monumental fraud, he wouldn't just be unemployed right now… he'd be sitting in a prison cell, waiting for a stimulus check so he could buy cigarettes.

Obama's political party defaulted on their Congressional duties by adjourning without even passing a budget resolution, despite spending more money than any Congress in history.  They didn't even set the tax rates for next year – they scurried out of Washington without voting on extension of the Bush tax cuts.  They could have voted those tax cuts into oblivion, and returned to their districts to face honorable judgment for their decision.  Instead, they ran from the halls of Congress in disgrace, a dereliction of duty that should serve as Nancy Pelosi's letter of resignation.  The same Congress that claims the right to compel your purchase of health insurance, and dictate a thousand aspects of your life according to the ideology of the ruling party, abandoned its essential duty to prepare a budget for this $3 trillion government.

When Congress does pass bills, they are shapeless masses of legislative lard, packed with billions in hidden earmarks.  Reasonable-sounding bills turn out to be stuffed with wealth transfers to the constituents of powerful representatives, and massive hidden changes to the social contract.  Voters are expected to support their incumbent representatives without having any clear idea of what they've been doing for the past few years.  Was your senator voting for defense appropriations, the DREAM act, or the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell last month?  It's hard to say which shell the pea is under, when there are a dozen shells, and Harry Reid shuffles them too quickly for the eye to follow.

The consent of the governed, crucial to the maintenance of a lawful and just Republic, has become a sad joke.  The most expensive, intrusive, un-Constitutional bill of the past century, ObamaCare, was rammed down the throats of a protesting populace, whose sustained resistance clearly demonstrated they did not vote for any such thing in 2008.  The bill was drafted behind closed doors, by ravenous politicians who cared about no details beyond the power and money it would allow them to seize.  It's such a colossal failure that Obama is already granting waivers to excuse select companies, and favored unions, from its most crushing provisions.  This is a frank admission of ObamaCare's blind ambition and lousy design, a last-ditch attempt to keep the flame of American prosperity – and the electoral fortunes of Democrats – from being extinguished beneath its smothering weight.

This government not only fails to carry out its duties to the public.  It declares war on them when they oppose the ideology of the ruling class.  The Obama Administration has made it clear that it values the interests of foreign governments, aliens who violate our immigration laws, and businesses hungry for cheap undocumented labor above the lawfully expressed will of Arizona citizens.  The federal government is not merely derelict in protecting our borders.  It actively punishes local governments and citizens who step forward to take up the slack.  Obama and his allies are not trying to build public support for radical changes to our immigration laws.  They're imposing their politics above the law, and then trying to rally enough support to hang on to their seats.

In its zeal to transform the public, this government has consistently failed its duty to them.  It is concerned with agenda and ambition, not responsibility and restraint.  The failure of the State has been building for many years, through many previous Administrations.  It has become too obvious to conceal from even casual observers, which explains the inexorable tide of resistance rushing toward the polls.

The failed State must be questioned and challenged in every particular.  Not a dollar it spends, or law it passes, can be held sacred.  Happily, our political tradition is one of creative destruction, carried out with ballots instead of bullets… but this crumbing system must be destroyed, and replaced with something smaller, more accountable, and aware of American liberty as an absolute barrier to its ambitions, rather than an obstacle to be removed.

There is a plan afoot for the Democrats to seize our retirement plans during the lame-duck session of Congress, and use the money to bail out their union allies.  That's the kind of economic plan Robert Mugabe would understand.  Because this is not a banana republic, there is no need for us to follow the acolytes of the total State into the cold future of diminished opportunity they promise as our inevitable fate.  In November, let us withdraw our consent from this government and dissolve it, so that we may commission one more suitable for a nation that does not accept failure.

Cross-posted at Hot Air.

Doctor Zero: Year One now available from Amazon.com!

http://www.doczero.org/2010/10/the-failed-state/

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Daily Beast: Obama NSA didn’t agree to leave, he was forced out

Smart power.

---

Look surprised. "We have a lot of transition at this point here," said one senior Obama aide. "They decided the time was right to bring forward his departure and for Jones to step aside. We always knew it was going to be roughly in this window, at the end of this year. But we're making [...]

Read this post »

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/10/08/daily-beast-obama-nsa-didnt-agree-to-leave-he-was-forced-out/

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September Jobs Report: 95,000 More Jobs Lost

As we've come to expect, the Labor Department released yet another disappointing jobs report today. In September, employers cut an estimated 95,000 workers. Although the number of job losses is higher than forecasted, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at a high 9.6 percent. The official unemployment rate does not count the 1.2 million discouraged workers who have simply given up looking for job. The report states that private sector employers added a less-than-expected 64,000 jobs in September.

 About 14.8 million people who would like to job cannot find a job. The July and August payrolls were also revised to show larger job losses than previously reported. The change in payroll employment for July was revised from -54,0000 to -66,000, and the change in August was adjusted from -54,000 to -57,000.

 Since the Labor Department report is based on mid-September data, a Gallup report shows that joblessness may be even worse:

Unemployment, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, increased to 10.1% in September — up sharply from 9.3% in August and 8.9% in July. Much of this increase came during the second half of the month — the unemployment rate was 9.4% in mid-September — and therefore is unlikely to be picked up in the government's unemployment report on Friday.

The Gallup graph shows the recent up tick in the unemployment rate:

 

The disappointing Labor Department jobs report is the last before the midterm elections. As Rep. Sessions (R-TX) stated "This report is not only the final affirmation of the failed job-killing policies of Washington Democrats, but it frames the national political debate from now until Election Day." Polls show that jobs continue to remain the number one issue for voters. Therefore, lawmakers who voted for failed "stimulus" packages will face the consequences on November 2nd.

http://www.freedomworks.org/blog/jborowski/september-jobs-report-95000-more-jobs-lost

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Tom Donilon to be appointed new Nat’l Security Advisor, more of the same only different

RWBNews:  This all goes into play with Obama insisting on a withdrawal date from Afghanistan, it appears.

By Jack Hellibrun  http://nationalinterest.org/blog/jacob-heilbrunn/the-significance-tom-donilons-rise-power-4196

Much press attention has focused on President Obama's shakeup of his economic team. But his foreign policy team is due for one as well. The announcement today that national security adviser James L. Jones will be succeeded by his deputy Tom Donilon is Obama's first move. His next will be to replace Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who is eager to resign.

The elevation of Donilon clearly signals that Obama is positioning himself to leave Afghanistan. Forget the policy review that is due. The die is cast. Obama is not going to turn himself into a hostage of the Afghan war.

Donilon is a protege of Warren Christopher, who was a realist as Secretary of State during Bill Clinton's first term. Christopher and Donilon pushed for America to remain aloof from the Balkans war. Donilon raised his eyebrows over Madeleine Albright's approach to foreign policy during the Clinton years. He is a believer in quiet diplomacy. Donilon, a seasoned operator and lawyer, who first worked in the Carter administration, will push for decoupling from Afghanistan and Iraq. As David E. Sanger observes,

As deputy national security adviser, Mr. Donilon has urged what he calls a "rebalancing" of American foreign policy to rapidly disengage American forces in Iraq and to focus more on China, Iran and other emerging challenges. In the Afghanistan-Pakistan review, he argued that the United States could not engage in what he termed "endless war," and has strongly defended Mr. Obama's decision to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan next summer.

Donilon's record suggests that he will continue to push for focusing on relations with Russia and China. Human rights will not be an important part of his foreign affairs agenda. He may well clash with Hillary Clinton, who has been pushing for a more interventionist approach in recent months. But one thing seems certain: Obama's approach to foreign policy after the midterms will look very different from his first two years in office.

swenbwr

http://redwhitebluenews.com/?p=7476

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Foreclosures halted by BofA in all 50 States…Another chapter of D.C. Politicians do as I say, not as

RWBNews:  What a bunch of hypocrites in Washington, D.C.  The home of 'we have to pass the bill to see what's in the bill' and other top 10 hits like 'who has time to read the bills, ' is causing banks to halt or slow down foreclosure proceedings accusing them of possibly improperly directing homeowners into foreclosure, because the bank officials charged with having to sign the foreclosure paperwork are not reading what they are signing.  As testified by one bank official, she signs upwards of 7,000 foreclosures a month.  After internal investigations, at this time, there have been no improper filings found.  (D) Dodd is launching an investigation next month.  But this isn't some kind of election ploy, is it.  Nahhhhhh

By Alan Zibel for AP http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_foreclosure_mess;_ylt=AvNakemzJjbDtlI9NDH9SAus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNqZXVrbzBoBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAxMDA4L3VzX2ZvcmVjbG9zdXJlX21lc3MEY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwMxBHBvcwMxBHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3J5BHNsawNiYW5rb2ZhbWVyaWM-

WASHINGTON – Potential flaws in foreclosure documents are threatening to throw the real estate industry into a full-blown crisis, as Bank of America on Friday became the first bank to stop sales of foreclosed homes in all 50 states.

The move, along with another decision on foreclosures by PNC Financial Services Inc., adds to growing concerns that mortgage lenders have been evicting homeowners using flawed court papers.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America Corp., the nation's largest bank, said Friday it would stop sales of foreclosed homes in all 50 states as it reviews documents used to process foreclosures. A week earlier, the company had said it would only stop such sales in the 23 states where foreclosures must be approved by a judge.

"We will stop foreclosure sales until our assessment has been satisfactorily completed," company spokesman Dan Frahm said in a statement. "Our ongoing assessment shows the basis for our past foreclosure decisions is accurate."

Bank of America did not disclose how many homeowners would be affected.

State and federal officials have been ramping up pressure on the mortgage industry over worries about potential legal violations amid growing evidence that mortgage company employees or their lawyers signed documents in foreclosure cases without verifying the information in them. Also Friday, Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said he would hold a hearing on the issue next month.

"American families should not have to worry about losing their homes to sloppy bureaucratic mismanagement or fraud," Dodd said. "Regulators at the federal, state, and local levels have a responsibility to uphold the law and protect consumers from unfair foreclosure, and lenders have a duty to not cut corners around the law."

A document obtained last week by the Associated Press showed a Bank of America official acknowledging in a legal proceeding that she signed thousands of foreclosure documents a month and typically didn't read them. The official, Renee Hertzler, said in a February deposition that she signed 7,000 to 8,000 foreclosure documents a month.

Earlier in the week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., urged five large mortgage lenders to suspend foreclosures in Nevada until they have set up systems to make sure homeowners aren't "improperly directed into foreclosure proceedings." Nevada is not among the states where banks had suspended foreclosures.

Also Friday, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. said it is halting most foreclosures and evictions in 23 states for a month so it can review whether documents it submitted to courts complied with state laws. An official at the Pittsburgh-based bank confirmed the decision on Friday, which was reported earlier by the New York Times. The official requested anonymity because the decision hasn't been publicly announced.

PNC becomes the fourth major U.S. lender to halt some foreclosures amid evidence that mortgage company employees or their lawyers signed documents in foreclosure cases without verifying the information in them.

In addition to PNC and Bank of America, Ally Financial's GMAC Mortgage unit and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have announced similar moves in the past two weeks.

In some states, lenders can foreclose quickly on delinquent mortgage borrowers. By contrast, the 23 states use a lengthy court process. They require documents to verify information on the mortgage, including who owns it.

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Muslims Exempt From Obamacare

RWB News:  "The real question is,  which religions qualify for exemption?  It's easy to argue that Muslims, Christian Scientists, and the Amish will be 'recognized,'  because they have a moral conflict with insurance.  However, what argument will Christians be able to make for exemption?  Will they be able to claim exemption due to a moral conflict with publicly funded abortions?  Not likely."

Original Article By:  Liberty & Pride

The new Obamacare legislation that was forced on unwilling Americans this week specifically mandates that we all purchase health insurance. That is, unless you don't believe in that sort of thing. That's right, the current health care bill contains a clause which exempts certain individuals form the requirements and penalties set forth in it.

"
EXEMPTIONS FROM INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.

—In the case of an individual who is seeking an exemption certificate under section 1311(d)(4)(H) from any requirement or penalty imposed by section 5000A, the following information:

In the case of an individual seeking exemption based on the individual's status as a
member of an exempt religious sect or division, as a member of a health care sharing ministry, as an Indian,
or as an individual eligible for a hardship exemption, such information as the Secretary shall prescribe."

Senate Bill, H.R. 3590, pages 273-274

There are several reasons why an individual could claim exemption, being a member of a religion that does not believe in insurance is one of them. Islam is one of those religions. Muslims believe that health insurance is "haraam", or forbidden; because they liken the ambiguity and probability of insurance to gambling.  This belief excludes them from any of the requirements, mandates, or penalties set forth in the bill.  Other excluded groups include Amish, American Indians, and Christian Scientists.

So, is it that easy?  Is simply being a member of an "recognized religious sect" enough to exempt an individual from Obamacare?  Not quite…the information provided by each individual must first be verified against the records of the Social Security Administration, and possibly Homeland Security, in order to prove citizenship and religious status.   If the records are found to be consistent with the information for the individual applying for exemption, only then are they eligible.   If the records are found to inconsistent with such information, the individual applying for exemption is given 90 days to clear up any possible errors with the reporting agencies.   That 90 day period can be extended upon the discretion of the Secretary of applicable agencies.  If, by the end of this period, the information is still not cleared up, the individual can then apply for an appeal.  Whereby exemption can be decided, or reevaluated on a periodic basis,  by the individual agencies in question.  The appeals process is determined by the individual agencies involved

In short, each individual applying for exemption must verify that they are citizens and that they are actually members of a "recognized religious sect."

If the individual can make it through all of the bureaucracy involved in this process, they can then obtain exemption.  Trust me the federal government doesn't want to make it easy for anyone to get out of participating in the system.

The real question is,  "which religions qualify for exemption?"  It's easy to argue that Muslims, Christian Scientists, and the Amish will be "recognized,"  because they have a moral conflict with insurance.  However, what argument will Christians be able to make for exemption?  Will they be able to claim exemption due to a moral conflict with publicly funded abortions?  Not likely.

Original Article:  http://libertyandpride.com/muslims-exempt-from-obamacare/

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President G.W. Bush speaks last night on the release of his new book

By Autria Thuman for FoxNews.com http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/10/08/bush-elites-%E2%80%9Cdidn%E2%80%99t-think-i-could-read-book-much-less-write-one%E2%80%9D

In a rare public appearance, former President George W. Bush talked about life out of the limelight and took a jab at what the "elites" might be thinking of his upcoming book.

"I have written a book. This will come as a shock to some of the elites. They didn't think I could read a book, much less write one," Bush quipped.

Speaking at the University of Mobile in Alabama Thursday night, Bush talked about his memoir "Decision Points," set to be released next month.

"It's about the decisions I made as president, and it's very anecdotal. Here are the stories, and you can decide what you would have done," he was quoted as saying in the the Press-Register of Mobile.  The 64-year-old said the tome gives some understanding to the decisions he made on tough issues like the handling of 9/11 and the Iraq war. The president, who has become a target of both Democrats and President Obama since he left office, refused to comment on the current state of political affairs. "You're not going to see me out opining or offering my critique. Frankly, I don't think it's good for the country to have a former president criticize his successor," Bush said.

President Obama has repeatedly blamed the "Bush-era policies" for today's lethargic economic condition.

"I loved being your president. But frankly, I'm having the time of my life not being your president," Bush said. "I do not miss the limelight. I have zero desire to be in the press. I have zero desire to be on your TV screens. Eight years is enough of that."

But the former president will likely be back in the spotlight once his book hits bookshelves. The book, published by Crown Publishers, will be released November 9th with an initial run of 1.5 million copies. That's the same number of copies given to Former President Bill Clinton for his autobiography, "My Life." A statement from Crown Publishers claims the book will not be a conventional narrative, but rather a reflection of important decisions and moments in Bush's life.

As he reflected on his days at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Bush said there are certain things he definitely misses. "The dessert chef was awesome," he joked.

Read more: http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/10/08/bush-elites-%E2%80%9Cdidn%E2%80%99t-think-i-could-read-book-much-less-write-one%E2%80%9D#ixzz11nZkOwCP
Read more: http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/10/08/bush-elites-%E2%80%9Cdidn%E2%80%99t-think-i-could-read-book-much-less-write-one%E2%80%9D#ixzz11nZb11E8

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Obamacare Gives McDonalds A Break Today. Us, Not So Much.

RWB News:  Unions, McDonalds, Burger King etc. are all exempt to pay until 2018.  Guess who gets to pay now?  Basically small businesses, the upper/lower middle-classed–aka YOU & ME. http://redwhitebluenews.com/?p=5444

As Reported By:  Heritage Foundation

On September 30th, Janet Adamy reported for The Wall Street Journal that McDonald's was considering canceling its health insurance plan for nearly 30,000 hourly restaurant workers unless new Obamacare regulations were waived. The White House pushed back hard with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Jessica Santillo claiming: "This story is wrong. The new law provides significant flexibility to maintain coverage for workers." But this Tuesday we learned that Adamy was correct. According to Bloomberg News McDonald's had sought, and eventually won, a waiver from the upcoming Obamacare regulations. This allows them to continue providing health insurance coverage to 115,000 workers. In fact, McDonald's workers were just some of the over 1 million of Americans who were spared losing their current health care coverage thanks to one-year waivers from the Obama HHS.

The White House effort to discredit reports that Obamacare is forcing companies to consider dropping health care coverage comes on the heels of a letter HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sent to the nation's health insurers threatening to exclude them from the yet to be implemented Obamacare health exchanges.  The letter warned there "will be zero tolerance" for "falsely blaming premium increases" on Obamacare. And who would determine if premium increases were or were not due to Obamacare? The Obama administration of course. When it comes to the health care sector, Obamacare has turned Secretary Sebelius into judge, jury, and executioner. And we are just beginning to witness the scope of Obamacare's bureaucratic powers.

There are over 1,000 instances in the more than 2,700 page bill where Congress granted the Secretary of HHS new powers to regulate the health care industry. For example, the power to determine what does or does not count as a medical expense alone will decide the fate of many health insurance firms. Galen Institute Trustee John Hoff warned in a recent Heritage Foundation memo:

The Adminis­tration's vision of health care is based on the premise that the federal government can—and must—control the details of health care financing and delivery across the country. … Enactment of PPACA is the first step to this control; the law must be implemented by administrative action. While it is detailed in some instances, PPACA is largely aspi­rational; it directs the Administration to achieve various universally desired goals—better quality of health care, improved access to care, and increased efficiency of delivery. It constructs the scaffolding of federal control and gives the Administration very broad authority to achieve these aspirations. Each of the many actions taken to implement it will determine the shape of that control. Implementation will be technically diffi­cult and politically charged.

PPACA is based on the premise that the federal government can—and must—regulate the details of the health care financing and delivery systems. With its enactment, health care has been thor­oughly bureaucratized—since it must be imple­mented by public servants—and politicized by the Administration and Congress. Bureaucratization and politicization are the inevitable characteristics of government action.

As Hillsdale College Associate Professor of Political Science Ronald Pestritto has also written for Heritage, Obamacare's elevation of bureaucrats over the rule of law is exactly what our Founding Fathers were trying to prevent:

The Founders understood that there are two fundamental ways in which government can exercise its authority. The first is a system of arbitrary rule, where the government decides how to act on an ad hoc basis, leaving decisions up to the whim of whatever official or officials happen to be in charge; the second way is to implement a system grounded in the rule of law, where legal rules are made in advance and published, binding both government and citizens and allowing the latter to know exactly what they have to do or not to do in order to avoid the coercive authority of the former.

Through Obamacare, progressives wanted to redistribute wealth through a distant, patronizing welfare state that regulates more and more of the economy, politics and society. The question Americans face is: Are we a country ruled by law or by bureaucrat?

Original Article:  http://blog.heritage.org/2010/10/07/obamacare-vs-the-rule-of-law/

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CNN Political Ticker

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/08/cnntime-poll-was-bush-better-president-than-obama/<br><div style="color:rgb(60%,60%,60%)">Sent with <a

REVEALED: Daily Kos' AstroTurf Program to Manipulate Google and Trash GOP Candidates

There is more than one way to manipulate the public, and the progressive movement has turned it into an art form. Less than one week after their AstroTurf rally in Washington DC, where unions and socialist organizations foot the bill to bus people to the nation's capital city, the Daily Kos has developed an new AstroTurf program with the objective to Google to trash Republican Candidates.

"Here at Daily Kos, we are going to engage in very different, but still very important, form of election activism. It's a type of activism no one else is working on, and it is well-suited to our medium as a blog. It's a grassroots-based search engine optimization campaign, which I call Grassroots SEO for short."

The purpose of the SEO Astro Turf program is to influence undecided voters by having them read negative articles about Republican candidates for Congress. This exploits the fact many undecided voters conduct pre-election research via search engines like Google.  

Kos is urging their members to sign up for a program to conduct research and then link damaging articles with the purpose of  manipulating them to the top of the Google rankings where they will be the first thing read when an undecided voter is researching their candidates.

"One of the most common political activities people take online is to use search engines, mainly Google, to find information on candidates….These results of these searches are always in flux based upon hyperlinks anyone posts anywhere on the Internet, including message board comments and social networking sites (but not email).

As a result of this, not only is it possible for us to use our hyperlinks to impact what people find when they search for information on candidates, but we would be foolish not to do so in a way that benefited our preferred candidates. We are already impacting search engine rankings whenever we post any hyperlink anywhere, so we need to make sure the way we use hyperlinks helps result in our preferred political outcomes."

Here's how the scam works, once the Kos reader signs up for the program, they access a spread sheet (conveniently is saved on Google docs) which lists the 98 most competitive House campaigns, along with the name of the Republican candidate in those campaigns. The list is based on the usual sites that all election junkies follow (Swing State, FiveThirtyEight, Cook, Rothenberg, and Sabato).

"…as a group, we need to find and choose the damaging articles on Republican candidates that we want undecided voters to read. It is only after finding the articles that we can push them up search engine rankings. As such, finding those articles is the main purpose of this diary. (We are targeting House campaigns since Senate campaigns are so much more difficult to influence, due to their extensive media coverage.

Next they want participants to do their own searches and find the most damaging articles they can with these stipulations:

• Title damaging in and of itself. Not many people who see the article will actually click through and read it.

• Name of candidate in title. In addition to a catchy title, it is key that the name of the candidate appear in the title itself.

•  ...Find negative articles from as high profile a news organization as possible. When high profile can't be found, then local news outlets will do just fine. Whatever you find, make sure said news organization is at least ostensibly claims to be non-partisan.

•  ...Already has a high Google ranking. Increasing the visibility of the article will be a lot easier if the article already has a decent Google ranking. For our purposes, top 100 is OK, and top 50 is good. Something already in the top 20, or even the top 10, would be awesome. (Note: make sure you sign out of Google before conducting keyword searches on the candidate's full name to test the Google ranking of the article).

• Name of candidate in URL. The SEO effort will be greatly enhanced if the name of the candidate appears in the URL of the article.

• Keep it short... Keep it recent…

Once the participant finds good (for their purposes) articles they are to send it to the folks at the daily Kos, who will publish the list for all the participants to publish, tweet, Facebook etc.

"That's it. Once we get the articles we can start working to push them up search engine rankings. We need to launch the campaign early next week, so let's gather these articles as quickly as we can."

This kind of effort is precisely the progressive way of doing things.  Instead of arguing the issues and convincing people why their position is correct, the Daily Kos is trying to manipulate the system. One could almost accept this strategy if they attempting to manipulate positions, for example pushing articles explaining why Obamacare is wonderful to the top of the rankings.  At least then they would be trying to inform the public.

This points out the real difference between progressives and conservatives; progressives have no confidence in the public so their strategy is to find damaging headlines about a candidate, so they can brand them as bad people. They tried to do the same thing they do with the Tea Party. Not being able argue with the fact that most Americans agree with the tea party positions,  they call them names like racist or "tea baggers."

Interestingly the White House has been complaining recently that "secret" GOP money has been flowing into key districts manipulating the outcome of the campaigns. Frankly I believe this most recent Presidential whining has no basis in fact. Either way, to be consistent Obama should be screaming at this blatant attempt to manipulate search engines to defraud the public. Then again, it has also been proven that this President has no desire to have a fair election process; this is the President whose Department of Justice refused to prosecute ACORN for election fraud, and has been accused of treating Caucasians and minorities differently in election related Civil Rights cases.

Please email me at yidwithlid@aol.com to be put onto my mailing list. Feel free to reproduce any article but please link back to http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com

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Video of Pelosi: Food Stamps And Unemployment Give Us The "Biggest Bang For The Buck"

The biggest bang for bucks that don't exist. This really is - as Newt Gingrich says - about food stamps versus paychecks.

Michelle Bachmann slammed Nancy Pelosi on Neil Cavuto's Show: "unfortunately the Speaker Has No Idea on How to Run Economy" 

A Democratic strategist actually defended Nancy Pelosi's lack of logic:

And finally, an obligatory Chris Matthews clip on food stamps:

http://theblogprof.blogspot.com/2010/10/video-of-pelosi-food-stamps-and.html

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California Environmental Regulations Based on Myths

When an environmental law or regulation passes in California, it usually comes as a surprise to no one. After all, it's California. So when the California Air Resources Board unanimously approved regulations to reduce diesel emissions—despite opposition from the trucking industry—most thought of it as "California being California."

Now California may significantly reduce the regulations, because scientists drastically exaggerated the diesel emission levels from off-road machinery. The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

The pollution estimate in question was too high—by 340 percent, according to the California Air Resources Board, the state agency charged with researching and adopting air quality standards. The estimate was a key part in the creation of a regulation adopted by the Air Resources Board in 2007, a rule that forces businesses to cut diesel emissions by replacing or making costly upgrades to heavy-duty, diesel-fueled off-road vehicles used in construction and other industries.

The staff of the powerful and widely respected Air Resources Board said the overestimate is largely due to the board calculating emissions before the economy slumped, which halted the use of many of the 150,000 diesel-exhaust-spewing vehicles in California. Independent researchers, however, found huge overestimates in the air board's work on diesel emissions and attributed the flawed work to a faulty method of calculation—not the economic downturn.

This isn't the first time diesel regulations in California have come into questions because of faulty scientific reporting. In December 2009, two of the eleven board members "asked that the anti-pollution rules be suspended because they were partially based on a report by Hien Tran that found particulates in diesel emissions account for 3,500 premature deaths a year in California. Tran falsely claimed he had a doctorate in statistics from UC Davis."

The cost of such regulations, which air regulators peg at $5.5 billion for the trucking industry, will increase the cost of transporting goods for businesses. Richard Lee of Tim A. Manley Trucking said, "It makes no sense to saddle the trucking industry with regulations that absolutely assures the collapse of thousands of taxpaying businesses." For those businesses that don't collapse, they'll simply pass those costs onto the consumer. California is right to pull back on stringent, costly regulations on diesel emissions. Faulty science seems to be a running theme for justifying environmental regulations, and that, on top of the massive economic costs, is why the Air Resources Board should reconsider its Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB32), which would seek to reduce carbon dioxide levels to 1990 levels by 2020.

Contrary to the claims that AB32 will boost California's economy from green investment and green job creation, the state cap-and-trade program would do the complete opposite by increasing energy prices, thereby causing a considerable reduction in economic growth, household incomes, and employment. Whether it's federal or state, the logic is the same: Higher energy taxes will destroy many more jobs than they create.

http://blog.heritage.org/2010/10/08/california-environmental-regulations-based-on-myths/

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Teachers Union Gets Pass on Obamacare

 The United Federation of Teachers -- one of President Obama's key political backers -- is the biggest beneficiary of a White House sweetheart deal that will exempt certain outfits from complying with new health-care rules, officials revealed yesterday.
 
The quietly approved federal waivers for 30 companies, health insurers, unions and other groups across the country means the UFT doesn't have to gradually phase out caps on annual health coverage like everyone else.
 
The UFT was concerned that could have been a major financial hit on the union.
 
The one-year waiver, approved last month by the Department of Health and Human Services, covers all 351,000 members of the UFT's welfare fund, which provides health care and other benefits.
 
The UFT has the largest pool of affected employees of the 30 organizations that received waivers. The second largest was CIGNA with 265,000 members.
 
Critics have questioned the need for the exemptions, who got them, and why.
 
"Big labor spent millions of dollars pushing ObamaCare, which they made sure was stuffed full of union giveaways," said Patrick Semmens, spokesman for the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which represents businesses.
 
"So the fact that the largest waiver now belongs to New York teachers union bosses might be funny if the rest of America wasn't stuck complying with the bill's onerous mandates."
 
While serving as president of the UFT and its parent group, the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten and her members endorsed Obama in 2008.

http://www.thefoxnation.com/culture/2010/10/08/teachers-union-gets-pass-obamacare

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White House gave McDonald's a 1-year ObamaCare waiver

The story about McDonald's dropping all health insurance for its employees over ObamaCare was not incorrect, as many have reported. Instead, the Obama administration just temporarily exempted the company from the crushing new regulations (the ones it keeps insisting don't exist). Now, the company will be able to continue covering its 115,000 employees for another year, until those very same regulations kick right back in and do the same damage they were about to do now...but this time, it will be after the Mid-term elections. Enjoy this article? Receive email...

http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-national/white-house-gives-mcdonald-s-a-1-year-obamacare-waiver

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Dems try to steal another election in NJ with fake tea party candidate

Yesterday, I posted video of Governor Chris Christie speaking with a Michigan republican gathering. One of the most telling things he said during the get together is that although republicans are leading in the polls, we must not get cocky. Democrats will find a way to win an election at any cost. We must stay vigilant.

Talk about foreboding.

In New Jersey, we have a heated race between republican newbie, Jon Runyan and incumbent democrat Rep. John Adler. The democrat is in a fight for his political career and is now reportedly involved in getting a Tea Party candidate in the race to sabotage the Runyan's chances to win.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/patriotroom/eKBL/~3/LGmnvHRSzFg/

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