HadCRUT4, the last of the five monthly global datasets to report its February value, shows the same sharp drop in global temperature over the month as the other datasets...
...Our dataset-of-datasets graph averages the monthly anomalies for the three terrestrial and two satellite temperature records. It shows there has still been no global warming this millennium. Over 13 years 2 months, the trend is zero.
Today's the last day to sign up for Obamacare if you're planning on using the healthcare.gov website. Unfortunately for people who tried to log onto the website during the wee hours of the morning today, that wasn't possible for a few hours. Because the website was down.
"At last check, 64 percent of Oklahomans aren't buying into the health care plan, they don't like Obamacare, and they've been pretty vocal about it," said the reporter. "Now that's going to be -- still continue to be -- a tough sell, but we'll see how that plays out over the coming months."
Then he waited for Sebelius to reply. And waited.
After about 7-seconds of dead air, the reporter broke in to say, "Alright, Secretary Sebelius, thank you so much for being with us this morning. I think we've probably lost sound here or something."
"I can hear you," Sebelius said, ending her silence.
Sen. John Barrasso has accused the Obama administration — which just claimed more than 6 million Americans have enrolled in Obamacare — of spinning the numbers on the federal health care overhaul and “cooking the books... I don’t think it means anything. I think they’re cooking the books on this.”
The White House still hasn’t released how many of the 6 million enrollment figure actually paid...
Valerie Jarrett explained in an appearance on Top That! on PopSugar.com...
..."That's part of why I'm in L.A. I'm meeting with writers of various TV shows and movies to try to get it into the scripts." When Jarrett says "it into the scripts," she's referring to getting references to Obamacare, the president's signature legislation, into the scripts of TV shows and movies..
QOTD: "“I must study politics and war,” John Adams said, “that my sons may have the liberty to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, and naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain.” In Harry Reid’s America a man must win political office so that his sons may have the liberty to practice law and register as lobbyists, engage in rent-seeking and government relations and crisis management and communications, in order to give their children a right to live in Brooklyn, to enroll in the New School, to visit the Vermont Studio Center, to have cronies finance their off-off-off-Broadway shows, to enjoy their allowance from grandpa. This is the arrangement put before the voters this coming Election Day; this is the “system” rigged to benefit the family Reid; this is the configuration of power that Charles and David Koch want to disrupt. How awful of them. How “un-American.”" --Matthew Continetti
...Obama, he said Wednesday in his Manhattan office, knew full well he was lying when he promised that the Affordable Care Act would allow Americans to keep insurance plans they liked... 'He had to know he was misleading the audience,' Kerrey said quietly, recalling the newly minted president's countless promises as Congress and the public debated his signature health insurance overhaul...
...Obama compounded his rhetorical mistakes with political ones, he said, by agreeing to ditch a proposal allowing Americans to buy into the Medicare system the way they would buy a policy from a private insurer...
...In his Washington, D.C. days, the former Nebraska governor often stood out as the rare Democrat who publicly lamented U.S. entitlement programs' seemingly unstoppable march to insolvency...
'We're robbing from the future to pay for the past,' he told MailOnline on Wednesday. 'We just are... And we're shoveling more and more money to people over the age of 65.'
The result, he said, is a set of financial chains clamped tightly on future generations.
...Asked how to break the congressional logjam, Kerrey thought for a moment and said, softly, 'It takes a president. It takes a president.'
Is Barack Obama that president? Kerrey stayed silent but shook his head... 'I'm shaking my head "no,"' he acknowledged, finally.
...Another of Obama's failings, according to Kerrey, is an inflated sense of Americans' appetite for programs to correct what the White House calls 'income inequality,' through new taxes and other income-shifting initiatives that transfer wealth from the rich to the poor... The president's re-election 17 months ago wasn't a mandate to conduct class warfare, he said.
...Obama isn't the first president to make that kind of miscalculation – Kerrey calls it 'self-delusion' – while in office... Bill Clinton [was] an unusually good liar. Unusually good,' the Nebraskan said in 1994.
He told MailOnline that he 'actually intended it as a compliment,' although Clinton 'didn't take it that way.'
Obama's lies, he said, stem from the same human flaw... 'That self-delusion moment comes in a single declaratory sentence,' Kerrey said, which is, "If they just get to know me, they'll vote for me" ... 'It's just self-delusion. ... Some of us are good at it, and some of us are bad.'
QOTD: "Think 'Sinkhole of bureaucracy' is just a metaphor? Well it is, but not just a metaphor, it’s also a Washington Post.com headline for an article written by David A. Fahrenthold and a place in Boyars Pennsylvania. It’s actually an old limestone mine where 600 government workers are employed by the Office of Personnel Management to process retiree benefits by hand, shuffling paper which they keep in 28,000 file cabinets. But not to worry the work is done at the speed of 1977.
I’m not sure just where David A. Fahrenthold is heading with this series [on government waste called "Breaking Points"] but I shall certainly keep my eye out for more articles. Breaking points is certainly an apt description of what government does and does to us. At some point I’m sure we’ll discover that the fault lies with white privilege or the Tea Party." --Bob Belvedere
Meet the half-dog. Unlike the half-cat, the half-dog is real.
The half-dog's name is Duncan Lou Who. Duncan Lou Who lives with the good folks at Panda Paws Rescue. His two back legs were removed early in life; he uses a wheelchair sometimes but hates it.
Duncan Lou Who loves to run, and I can't stop looking at him.
IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told a House panel that congressional investigators can try to hold him in contempt over the Tea Party targeting scandal whenever they think that they can make the charge stick, something he thinks is unlikely.
The topic came up when Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., asked for a date at which it would be appropriate for agency officials to be held in contempt if they have not yet provided the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee with documents that have been requested from the IRS.
"I think the timeline is whenever you think you could actually sustain that in a court," Koskinen replied. "I think we have a strong case that we have been cooperative, continue to be cooperative, and anybody looking at the systems we have and the time it takes would find that we've provided you more cooperation than, in fact, might be expected. And I think that, in fact, arguing and threatening contempt in that situation without understanding the circumstances is probably not going to be held up."
It wasn't the only time that accusations flew during a testy congressional hearing, as Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, forced Koskinen to admit that he had patterned his testimony on a proposed regulation affecting the political activity of nonprofits after a Treasury Department official's letter to Congress. Koskinen had previously said he had not conferred with administration officials.
Guest post by Glenn Beck
One week.
That's how long we have until FreePAC Kentucky. And honestly, I can’t wait to be there. I want you to be there, too.
This event is going to be amazing. If you haven't been to a FreePAC yet, this isn't any normal rally. It's going to be the event of the year. That's because FreedomWorks members like you aren't just your average patriots!
Matt Kibbe, Deneen Borelli, Andrew Wilkow, and the Rev. CL Bryant are coming to Louisville with me. And I’m VERY excited to announce that Kentucky Senate Candidate Matt Bevin will be joining us at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville on April 5th!
I remember FreePAC Dallas just a few days before the Texas primary in 2012. It was ELECTRIC. I think that FreePAC Kentucky could be even better. I can’t wait to get to Louisville. I hope you’ll be there.
FreePAC passes are selling fast. So if I’m going to see you there, you need to order your passes today – right now – before they’re gone. VIP passes are almost sold out already! They cost $50, and get you premium seating, a t-shirt, and a special meet and greet with Matt Kibbe. If you want one, you NEED to get it today before it’s too late!
You can order a general admission pass, but these won’t last either! If you’re not getting a VIP ticket, you need to get one of these. This pass costs $15, and it guarantees you a great seat at this historic event. I hope you order yours today.
This is going to be one of the best events of the year. You know how much I believe in FreedomWorks, and I think that FreePAC is the REAL event for conservatives.
I can’t wait to see you there.
Your Pal,
Glenn Beck
Editor's note: Biff Spackle and I plan on attending. Hope to see you there.
The Obama administration has been claiming that insurance companies will be competing for your dollars under the Affordable Care Act, but apparently they haven’t surveyed the nation’s top hospitals.
“This doesn’t surprise me,” said Gail Wilensky, Medicare director for the first Bush administration and senior fellow for Project HOPE. “There has been an incredible amount of focus on the premium cost and subsidy, and precious little focus on what you get for your money.”
Regulations driven by the Obama White House indeed have made insurance more affordable – if, like Kathleen Sebelius, you’re looking only at price. But responding to Obamacare caps on premiums, many insurers will, in turn, simply offer top-tier doctors and hospitals far less cash for services rendered.
Watchdog.org looked at the top 18 hospitals nationwide as ranked by U.S. News and World Report for 2013-2014. We contacted each hospital to determine their contracts and talked to several insurance companies, as well.
The result of our investigation: Many top hospitals are simply opting out of Obamacare.
The intricate web spun around the incident at Benghazi seems to have no end. It is really quite shameful for this nation that we have come this far and still have no resolution as to what truly occurred that fateful night of September 11, 2012 — nor do we have a select committee with subpoena powers, despite broad support in the House.
However, there are some who embody the highest level of journalistic integrity and will not allow this story to fade away. One of those individuals is Catherine Herridge of Fox News. Her recent analysis brings forth more questions than answers about how a particular consulting firm, Beacon Global Strategies, is entwined with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others involved with the controversy.
As Herridge reports, Beacon Global Strategies employs former CIA Acting Director Mike Morell, Philippe Reines, whom the New York Times magazine recently described as Clinton’s “principal gatekeeper” and who traveled with her to over a hundred countries, Jeremy Bash, former chief of staff to Leon Panetta and Andrew Shapiro, a Clinton policy adviser at the State Department whose portfolio included ridding Libya of shoulder-launched missiles called MANPADs.
But this is also a bipartisan mess, as Beacon Global Strategies also employs J. Michael Allen, who was a former majority staff director for the House Intelligence Committee.
For the full report by Catherine Herrdige, click here.
One just has to become more and more suspect about what happened in Benghazi, but even more concerning, will we ever ascertain the truth?
Herridge’s report does nothing to dispel my belief there is bipartisan culpability on Benghazi and hence why, even with a majority of House support, we do not have a select committee with subpoena powers.
There are far too many lies, cover-ups, and unanswered questions — not to mention secrecy and questionable maneuvers. I believe one day America will come to know that Benghazi was one of the darkest days in our history, and our government sought to hide the truth.
During the Cretaceous, 139-65 million years ago, shallow seas covered much of the southern United States. These tropical waters were productive–giving rise to tiny marine plankton with carbonate skeletons which overtime accumulated into massive chalk formations. The chalk, both alkaline and porous, lead to fertile and well-drained soils in a band, mirroring that ancient coastline and stretching across the now much drier South...
...Over time this rich soil produced an amazingly productive agricultural region...
QOTD: "I wanted to know: Would Jesus ever use a gun?
The pastor thought a moment. “I don’t think so, because as God, he doesn’t need a gun. He can command anything, and it would happen. But all of his followers carried swords for three and a half years, and not one time did he tell them to put those swords down. The only time that Jesus told Peter to put his sword back was at the very end. That was because Jesus came to die on the cross to pay for our sins, and he did not want Peter to get in the way.”
“Why did Jesus want them to have swords?”
“For exactly what we need guns for—for personal protection and to protect our liberties… All you have to do is read 1984 to know what’s going on in this country.”" --Roc Morin
Tesla Motors announced this morning that it will fit three new underbody components to all Model S electric cars to add further protection against impacts from road debris, which caused a pair of fires in its cars last fall.
Those two Model S cars were severely damaged when their battery packs, mounted under the floor, were pierced by road debris and subsequently caught fire.
A third Tesla fire occurred in Mexico after a Model S was stolen, run off the road at high speeds, and through a reinforced concrete wall, tearing off wheels and totaling the car.
No one has been injured or killed in any Tesla fire; drivers were able to pull over, park the cars, and walk away following a warning from the cars' monitoring system.
Defense Spending: Two more weapons systems, including the Navy's premier attack missile, have been targeted for elimination by the administration years before their usefulness ends or replacements are ready.
Future presidents will not be able to carry such a big stick. Along with the Hellfire air-to-ground attack missile, the Tomahawk is considered by the administration to be one of those Cold War weapons no longer needed.
Under Obama's budget proposals, the Navy, which as recently as last year had plans to buy 980 more Tomahawks, the primary cruise missile used throughout the fleet, will see purchases drop from 196 last year to just 100 in 2015. The number will then drop to zero in 2016.
The U.S. used 220 Tomahawks in the fight with Libya, according to the Washington Free Beacon. With the States using about 100 Tomahawks annually, our inventory will be depleted around 2018. No future purchases are planned, and no replacement is in the pipeline.
"It doesn't make sense," Seth Cropsey, director of the Hudson Institute's Center for American Seapower, told the Free Beacon. The move, he said, is "like running a white flag up on a very tall flagpole and saying, 'We are ready to be walked on.'"
If someone were trying to "reduce the U.S. ability to shape events" in the world, Cropsey added, "they couldn't find a better way than depriving the U.S. fleet of Tomahawks. It's breathtaking."
MADISON, Wis. — We are fully aware of who Wisconsin Reporter is.
When I came back Friday morning, Puentes, a conference media representative, clearly seemed agitated. Puentes told me she was quite familiar with the previous stories I had done leading up to the seminar, which examines the concept that minorities may not be afforded the same privileges as white people.
And, again, she wouldn’t let me in.
Did it have anything to do with the story I wrote in early February, disclosing that taxpayers are underwriting at least $20,000 — and likely much more — of the cost of the forum at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center?
Or maybe it was because of my other piece Wednesday quoting Niger Innis, national spokesman for the Congress of Racial Equality, who called the White Privilege Conference an irrelevant and frivolous waste of taxpayer money.
Puentes insisted I wasn’t allowed in because I had not registered online in advance or called the conference’s offices ahead of time to make arrangements.
It’s not as if I didn’t try.
QOTD: "The California Department of Motor Vehicles is setting up new facilities to process driver’s license applications for illegal immigrants alone.
Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill..., which will allow illegal immigrants to obtain the documents beginning Jan. 1, 2015.
The bill was signed along with a number of others laws seen as favorable to undocumented immigrants.
As part of the driver’s license application process, immigrants will have to acknowledge that they are undocumented. But [the bill] protects applicants from criminal prosecution." --Chuck Ross
The First Amendment is a pesky thing to politicians. It allows, nay encourages, the exact kind of diverse political speech that those in power loathe. Born out of the legacy of the Revolutionary War pamphleteers and their radical thoughts of freedom, today these liberty lovers take the form of citizen journalists utilizing the Internet to push ideas, advocate, report and uncover stories that aren’t being told, afflicting the powerful and holding them accountable. This has been at the heart of press freedom, not the corporate media empires that are often little more than government propaganda machines.
Her Orwellian titled “Free Flow of Information Act of 2013”, which is also known as the “media shield bill” has passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee and is expected to gain the votes necessary to get out of the Senate. Proponents of the bill, are advocating that journalists be licensed by the federal government so that they can be protected from potential prosecution from a government insisting that their confidential sources be revealed.
In a scorching legal rebuke to Feinstein, Senators Jeff Sessions, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and John Cornyn argue vehemently against the law in a Minority View report writing,
Earth to the Republican Party: Ronald Reagan called and he wants his party back.
Both Republicans and Democrats alike were stunned when a write-in candidate trounced the establishment picks for their respective parties in a state senate race last week.
Out of more than 22,000 votes cast, Wagner garnered 10,654 write-in ballots. This marks the first time in state history that a write-in candidate has won a state senate seat.
To be honest, this kind of shellacking from a write-in candidate is virtually unheard of anywhere in the country. It takes a huge volunteer effort to run against one’s own party, and this recent coup shows that the angst against tone deaf Republican establishment types is substantially growing.
Not surprisingly, GOP officials have ruthlessly attacked Tea Party candidates around the nation, as they almost always run in Republican primaries.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told the New York Times recently that Republicans are going to “crush” the Tea Party everywhere. “I don’t think they are going to have a single nominee anywhere in the country,” he said.
Never mind the fact that four of the most popular Senators in the country -- Ted Cruz of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Marco Rubio of Florida -- were Tea Party-backed candidates when they first got elected.
And ignore the fact that a write-in Tea Party candidate just won his race in Pennsylvania.
In that state senate race, the establishment Republicans were attacking Wagner for being an “environmental violator.”
Fully 98 percent of individuals deported from the United States in 2013 were either criminals, apprehended while illegally crossing the border, or had been previously deported, according to a new analysis from Senate Budget Committee ranking member Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)... “The evidence reveals that the Administration has carried out a dramatic nullification of federal law,” Sessions said...
Obama's well-known executive action granted virtual amnesty to so-called DREAMers – individuals who claim to have entered the country as minors under their parents' guidance... Two are lesser known executive actions include an Aug. 23, 2013, DHS directive “expanding that [summer 2012 executive DREAM Act] amnesty to illegal immigrant relatives of DREAM Act beneficiaries” and a Dec. 21, 2012, DHS directive “reinforcing that almost all immigration offenses were unenforceable absent a separate criminal conviction.”
...Only 0.2 percent of an estimated 12 million illegal aliens in the U.S. who were actually placed into removal proceedings in 2013 in 2013 did not have a violent or otherwise serious criminal conviction on their record. Only .08 percent of the total number of illegal aliens placed into removal proceedings were neither repeat or serial immigration law violators nor convicted of a serious crime. Even with that .08 percent of removals who were not caught crossing the border or being a serial immigration law violator or being convicted of serious crimes, Sessions’ staff notes that ICE officers who communicate with his office say that there is likely some other serious security risk for allowing them to stay in the country that is cause for their removal.
The findings stand in stark contrast to liberal calls on Obama to reduce deportations. Top Hispanic Democrats recently met with Obama at the White House recently about the issue, prompting an announcement about a review at the Department of Homeland Security about how to deport illegal aliens in a more “humane” fashion.
The report was enough to prompt a chorus of outrage from Sessions' like-minded colleagues in the House, who slammed the Obama administration for enacting amnesty by fiat.
“This is another clear warning to anyone who thinks immigration reform is possible under President Obama,” said Rep. John Fleming (R-LA). “He has repeatedly shown a willingness to enforce the law selectively, while looking the other way when it doesn't fit his agenda.”
QOTD: "The civilized world faces economic, demographic and military crises that it has a limited time frame in which to meet and resolve. If it fails to do that, the civilization in which we have grown up and which we have known all our lives will die and a long interregnum of darkness will follow in its wake." --Daniel Greenfield
