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Political Contests

Sarah Palin Says ‘No’ to Mark Burnett for TV Talk Show

[Newsmax.com]

Monday, 13 May 2013 08:30 PM

Jim Meyers and Robert V. Carl

(Photo: AP)

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has been offered a major syndicated TV talk show by reality show producer Mark Burnett but turned down the deal, Newsmax has learned.

One of country’s sought after speakers on the political circuit, Palin, Burnett believed,  could be turned into the next Oprah. He offered to produce a daytime TV talk show hosted by the conservative icon herself.

But so far, Palin has said no — though the deal is not completely dead, say insiders.

The sticking points have been over location and money, people familiar with the deal say.
Burnett has insisted that Palin do the show from either New York or Los Angeles, which would require her to move for a significant portion of the year from her residence in Alaska where she lives with husband Todd.

Palin has a distaste for cultural elites in the Big Apple and LA, one person familiar with the discussions said.

Another top Hollywood studio executive tells Newsmax that Palin was ultimately willing to move to either city, but “she passed over money.”

“I don’t think she closed the door,” he added.

(more…)


Woodward: White House ‘Code: You Better Watch Out’

bob-woodward[Newsmax.com]

Friday, 01 Mar 2013 07:53 AM

By Todd Beamon

Newspaper editor and book author Bob Woodward continued his battle with President Barack Obama’s administration on Thursday, saying the White House is playing the “old trick” of attacking the messenger because he accurately reported the president’s reversal on the upcoming sequester.“They got caught and — this is an old trick — make the conduct of the press the issue rather than their conduct,” Woodward told Fox News’ Sean Hannity Thursday night. “The biggest story in Washington is the town itself. What a craze it has become.”

Woodward, an associate editor for The Washington Post, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday that he received an email he interpreted as threatening from a top White House official — since identified as Gene Sperling, economic adviser to the president — regarding Obama’s actions on the sequester.

(more…)


Rahm Emanuel May Be Toying With 2016 Presidential Run

[TheDailyBeast.com]

by Feb 14, 2013 5:15 PM EST

Obama’s former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel might make a go for 2016, two well-connected Democrats tell Lloyd Grove—as long as Hillary doesn’t. And the potty-mouthed Chicago mayor could win.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is said by well-connected Democrats to be considering the idea of running for president if Hillary Clinton opts out of the 2016 race.

Obama 2012

President Barack Obama, left, and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel walk on the tarmac upon the president’s arrival in the Second City in October on Air Force One. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)
The 53-year-old Emanuel, who is busy raising money for his 2015 reelection campaign in the Windy City, has had discussions both over the phone and face to face in the past month with Democratic Party donors and fundraisers about a possible White House run, according to sources.It’s unclear who raised the subject—Emanuel or the donors—and the mayor’s press secretary didn’t offer any clarity on who said what to whom. However, Tarah Cooper sent a photo of Emanuel’s scrawl on yellow legal paper vowing “not ever” to run “for another office” and reiterated his longstanding pledge that, in his words, he’s “not interested. Not going to do it. No. I’ll do it in Hebrew: lo.” (Emanuel, the son of an Israeli doctor, had dual citizenship until he was 18.) Others expressed skepticism that any such discussions between Emanuel and donors could have been serious. (more…)

Extortion call, somber visit bring nightmare home for parents of Marine jailed in Mexico [UPDATE: Hammer was released before Christmas]

[FNC]

By Joseph J. Kolb

Published December 13, 2012

JonHammar2.jpgJon Hammar Jr. has been held in Mexico’s notorious CEDES prison since August.

The father of a U.S. Marine jailed in Mexico after being caught with his grandfather’s antique shotgun heard the fear in his son’s voice and felt helpless.

The phone call came at midnight from Mexico’s notorious CEDES prison, where Jon Hammar, Jr. has been held since August. The caller demanded $1,800, then put Hammar on to drive the point home.

“They’re serious, Dad,” Jon Hammar, Sr. heard his son say. “I’ll pay you back; they are going to kill me.”

“They’re serious, Dad. I’ll pay you back; they are going to kill me.”

- Jon Hammar, Jr., speaking by phone from a Mexican jail

(more…)


Egypt’s president sets date for constitution vote

[FoxNews.com]

Associated Press

Published December 01, 2012

cairo.jpg

Dec. 1, 2012: Supporters of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi rally in front of Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt. (AP)

CAIRO –  Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi called Saturday for a referendum in two weeks on a contentious draft constitution, setting a date for another milestone in the country’s transition to democracy. Widespread disputes over the charter and Morsi’s recent seizure of near absolute power have marred the process and thrown the country into turmoil.

As has been the case in nearly two years since Hosni Mubarak was ousted, what should have been a cause for national celebration turned into dueling protest between opponents and supporters of how the transition has been managed– largely divided along Islamist and secular lines.

More than 100,000 Morsi supporters organized by the Muslim Brotherhood and ultraconservative Salafi groups took to the streets of Cairo and other cities a day after a massive opposition demonstration against his recent decrees giving him immunity from judicial oversight and the charter that was rushed through an assembly packed with allies.

The presidency has been locked in a tug of war with the powerful judiciary and secular and Christian activists since Morsi granted himself far-reaching powers on Nov. 22 in a bid to pre-empt an expected decision by the Supreme Constitutional Court on Sunday to dissolve the constitutional panel, as it had done the Islamist-led parliament earlier this year.

(more…)


Romney rips Obama on ‘voting is the best revenge’ remark in new ad

[TheHill.com]

By Cameron Joseph – 11/03/12 10:02 AM ET

Watch the ad:

Mitt Romney’s campaign has released an ad attacking President Obama’s recent remarks that “voting is the best revenge,” a comment Romney has jumped on in his final days on the trail.

The ad features Obama’s remarks on the campaign trail — and Romney’s response from the stump.

After a crowd at an Obama rally on Friday booed Romney, the president cut in. “Don’t boo, vote. Vote. Voting is the best revenge,” he said.

Romney pounced on the remark. “Did you see what President Obama said today? He asked his supporters to vote for revenge,” he said. “Instead I ask the American people to vote for love of country.”

The campaign did not say where the ad is running, and it’s unclear where they’d be able to get it on the air before the election since few television stations book new commercial time on weekends.


State troopers deployed as tensions boil at gas stations in Sandy’s wake

[FoxNews.com]

By Greg Wilson

Published November 01, 2012

People line up to fill gas containers at the New Jersey Turnpike’s Thomas A. Edison service area Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012, near Woodbridge, N.J. After Monday’s storm surge from Sandy, many gas stations in the region are without power and those that are open have very long lines. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

State troopers have been deployed at all gas stations along the NJ Turnpike and Garden State Parkway, where dwindling gasoline supplies are causing frayed nerves as the region endures its third full day with massive power outages.

Frustration with gas supplies topped the list of issues causing tensions to boil over in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, the states hardest hit by power outages in the wake of superstorm Sandy. Residents jockeyed for fuel at the few stations still pumping, searched store shelves in vain for batteries, struggled with sporadic cell phone service and found themselves unable to buy necessities at supermarkets.

(more…)


Final NPR Poll: Romney Leads By One, Up Big With Independents

[Townhall.com]

Guy Benson

Guy Benson

Political Editor, Townhall.com

October 30, 2012 01:07 PM EST

__________________________________


National polling is going to be tough to come by over the next few days, as pollsters will struggle to get remotely accurate samples from much of the Eastern seaboard.  Indeed, Gallup and a few other firms are suspending their tracking polls until the mess is cleared up.  For what it’s worth, Rasmussen’s tracker still has Obama locked in at 47 percent, with Romney ahead by two.  The Republican maintains a six-point advantage on the economy, and for the first time, fewer than 50 percent of voters think Obama will win re-election. Meanwhile, NPR has released its final national poll of the cycle, taken before the megastorm swamped the Northeast.  Its topline result is Romney 48, Obama 47 — but all other signs point to a more sizable Romney lead.  Let’s examine a few of the telling data points:

(1) Sample - The poll surveys 370 Democrats, 306 Republicans and 309 Independents, for a D/R/I of 37/31/31 (D+6).  After weighting, the sample is D+4.  Obama has a statistically insignificant lead in the “swing states” sub-section, which has a much larger margin of error, and clocks in at D+9.  For reasons explained here and here, both partisan splits seem unlikely to reflect this year’s electorate — to say nothing of this.

(2) Enthusiasm - Republicans are more likely than Democrats to rate this election as a “9″ or “10″ in terms of importance, suggesting an intensity gap.  Republicans outpace Democrats on the “10″ scale by ten points (76/66).  Eighty percent of GOP voters responded with either a 9 or 10, while 72 percent of Democrats did the same.

(3) Independents - Right track/wrong track: 30/64.  Obama job approval/disapproval: 42/54, and 39/60 on the economy.  On the head-to-head among indies, it’s Romney 51, Obama 39 — a twelve point lead for the GOP ticket.

(more…)


CIA’s Hayden: Romney Right On Iran

[Newsmax.com]

By Jim Meyers and John Bachman

October 23, 2012

Former CIA Director Michael Hayden tells Newsmax that Mitt Romney was right — and President Obama wrong — when the GOP candidate said during the Monday debate that a nuclear Iran and not a terrorist attack was the biggest threat to America’s national security.

The retired 4-star Air Force General also says he is “not very hopeful” that negotiations with the Iranians will dissuade them from developing nuclear weapons. And he predicts that a President Romney would “review” Obama’s exemption of some of Iran’s major trading partners from imposing sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

(more…)


La Boca Grande [The Big Mouth]

American [Spectator.org]

Political Hay

By on 10.23.12 @ 6:10AM

Obama talks big [boca/mouth] in the final debate in Florida.

Barack Obama came to the last presidential debate ready for a fight. But he didn’t get one. Romney seemed more interested in talking to moderator Bob Schieffer than engaging Obama in a scuffle.

That relaxed strategy didn’t hurt Romney very much. At worst, the debate was a draw, which will only serve to seal the tightness of the race.

Though Romney kept stepping back from his punches, Obama didn’t tire of throwing them. Apparently Romney not only kills his sacked employees’ wives he also takes glee in outsourcing jobs to China and (in a new line of attack from Obama) invests in an Iranian company. Obama was unloading all the opposition research that he couldn’t cram into the previous debates.

(more…)



Barack Obama and the biggest lie in American history

[DailyCaller.com]

October 09, 2012

By Yates Walker, Conservative Activist

The Obama campaign, still unsettled and reeling after walking into a very polite buzz saw named Mitt Romney last week, has finally coalesced around a new slogan: “Liar!” says Axelrod, says Plouffe, says Cutter, says Dean, says Barack Obama himself. Like a Greek chorus, the collective cries foul on the debate, asserting that Romney’s mendacity so disturbed our president’s sensibilities that he was rendered ineffective and passionless and weak and dull for 90 minutes — or something to that effect.

It’s a strange accusation coming from a president who insisted for more than a week that the September 11 attack on our embassy in Benghazi was a spontaneous reaction to a YouTube video. That was either a lie or a confession of such profound stupidity as to render him unqualified to deliver mail, let alone run a country. Nevertheless, Team Obama has committed to this line of attack, so let’s take a quick look at the president’s signature achievement.

On March 21, 2010, Congressman Bart Stupak led a small band of pro-life Democrats as the last holdouts on the Obamacare bill. They were taking a principled stand against a provision that allocated federal dollars to subsidize abortions. That clause was supposed to be written out of the bill in a joint committee with the Senate, but Scott Brown’s election in Massachusetts prevented any revision.

(more…)


Big Bird, just another corporate welfare queen

[HumanEvents.com]

By: Mark LaRochelle
10/9/2012 09:40 AM

Apologizing for his disastrous performance in his first head-to-head debate with Mitt Romney, President Obama told a Hollywood fundraiser that the celebrities present “just perform flawlessly night after night. I can’t always say the same.” On his equally disastrous performance in office, the president admitted, “I goofed up.” But Romney, he joked, “is finally getting tough on Big Bird. … Rounding him up. Elmo has got to watch out, too.”

Liberals in the media have tried to help the president out by amplifying this joke into a serious charge, raising the ante from rounding up Big Bird to killing him. CNN’s Soledad O’Brien said, “my son was devastated when he heard that Big Bird might be killed.”

BUNK.

As Sherrie Westin, vice president of Sesame Workshop — which owns Sesame Street — had just explained to O’Brien, “The Sesame Workshop receives very, very little funding from PBS. So we are able to raise our funding through philanthropic, through our licensed product, which goes back into the educational programming, through corporate underwriting and sponsorship.

(more…)


Romney to deliver foreign policy speech amid big questions on Libya, global economy

[FoxNews.com]

Published October 07, 2012

romney_orlando_062112.jpg

FILE: June 21, 2012: Mitt Romney campaigns in Orlando, Fla. (AP)

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is set to give a foreign policy speech Monday that will mark one of his final opportunities before Election Day to show his potential as a world leader — amid political turmoil in the Middle East and economic collapse in Europe.

Romney’s success on foreign policy has thus far have evolved towards good reviews. He has drawn widespread praise from conservatives and fellow Republicans for his full support of Israel’s quest to stop Iran from achieving nuclear capability.

(more…)


US officials knew Libya attack was terrorism within 24 hours, sources confirm

[FoxNews.com]

Published September 27, 2012

U.S. intelligence officials knew within 24 hours of the assault on the U.S. Consulate in Libya that it was a terrorist attack and suspected Al Qaeda-tied elements were involved, sources told Fox News — though it took the administration a week to acknowledge it.

The account sharply conflicts with claims on the Sunday after the attack by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice that the administration believed the strike was a “spontaneous” event triggered by protests in Egypt over an anti-Islam film.

Two senior U.S. officials said that the Obama administration internally labeled the attack terrorism from the first day in order to unlock and mobilize certain resources to respond, and that officials were looking for one specific suspect. The officials said the intelligence community knew by Sept. 12 that the militant Ansar al-Shariah and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb were likely behind the strike.

Further, an official said, “No one … believed that the mortars, indirect and direct fire, and the RPGs were just the work of a mob — no one.”

Yet a congressional source told Fox News that CIA Director David Petraeus, during a briefing with members of the House Intelligence Committee three days after the attack, espoused the view that Benghazi was an out-of-control demonstration prompted by the YouTube video. According to the source, this was “shocking” to some members who were present and saw the same intelligence pointing toward a terrorist attack.

(more…)


Police Consolidation: The End of Local Law Enforcement?

[TheNewAmerican.com]

Tuesday, 25 September 2012 00:00

Written by  Joe Wolverton, II, J.D.

From Bergen, New Jersey, to St. Louis, Missouri, to Salt Lake City, Utah, the merging of law enforcement moves along, applauded by a coterie of city leaders and well-meaning citizens.

Nationwide, towns and cities are jumping on the consolidation bandwagon. According to the latest data, there are about 18,000 state and local law-enforcement agencies in the United States. Of those, more than 150 have undergone some level of consolidation.

Those pushing for the consolidation of police forces into regional or metropolitan agencies typically cite budget shortfalls as the best reason for closing down local forces and combining resources to form a consolidated force.

(more…)


Obama Skirts Another Executive Duty To Pander to ‘The View’

[Newsbusters.org]

{OBAMA: MIA}

Matt Vespa's picture

By Matt Vespa

September 24, 2012

In the wake of a rather tragic and tumultuous events regarding American foreign policy in the Middle East, President Barack Obama plans to forego the opportunity for a one-on-one meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to the UN this week.  The reason is simple.  It just could not wait. The president needed to have a sit down with Barbara Walters and the rest of gals at The View.

Guy Benson at Townhall reported today on this development and cited Thomson Reuters and The Associated Press, no right-wing rags by any stretch, who are equally puzzled by this move by the president. From AP:

(more…)


Romney paid extra taxes in 2011, Democrats complain

[DailyCaller.com]

Published: 5:15 PM 09/21/2012

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign fundraising event in Sarasota, Fla., Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Democrats complained Friday that Gov. Mitt Romney boosted his federal income bill to fend off criticisms about the low tax-rate owed on income earned from investments.

“Romney manipulated one of the only two years of tax returns he’s seen fit to show the American people — and then only to ‘conform’ with his public statements,” said a statement from Sen Harry Reid, the leader of the Democratic majority in the Senate.

“Had he not limited his [charitable] deductions … what would Gov. Romney’s effective tax rate have been?” asked an afternoon email from Obama’s campaign staff.

In 2011, Romney choose to deduct from his taxable income only $2.2 million of the $4 million he donated to charity. By limiting that deduction, he increased his own federal tax rate to 14.1 percent, and deflated Democratic allegations that he paid little or no taxes in some years.

(more…)


As Carney labels Libya strike terrorism, Obama continues to cite anti-Islam film

[FoxNews.com]

Published September 20, 2012

After the White House for the first time Thursday explicitly called the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya an act of terror, President Obama ducked an opportunity to clear up the confusion about the ever-changing narrative — appearing to hold firm to the story that an anti-Islam film was to blame.

The president spoke Thursday at a town hall hosted by the Spanish-language Univision. He declined to get into specifics, even as lawmakers said after an intelligence briefing that there clearly was “some pre-planning” in last week’s deadly attack.

Instead, Obama launched into an explanation about how the U.S. saw something it’s seen before, where “there is an offensive video or cartoon directed at the Prophet Muhammad” and that is used “as an excuse by some to carry out inexcusable violent acts” against the U.S.

Obama stressed that we’re “still doing an investigation” and said he didn’t know whether Al Qaeda was involved.

(more…)


Networks That Hyped Romney’s ‘Bombshell’ Tax Tape Now Skip ObamaCare ‘Penalties’

[MRC.org]

Published: 9/20/2012 4:19 PM ET

The same networks that have been hyping secret video of Mitt Romney talking about who pays taxes, hyperventilating about the Republican’s “seismic” bombshell,” have, thus far, completely ignored the revelation from the Congressional Budget Office that “significantly” more Americans will have to pay a “tax penalty” for being uninsured, many in the middle class.

All three evening newscasts on Wednesday and the morning shows on Thursday totally skipped this report. The Associated Press explained, “The new estimate amounts to an inconvenient fact for the administration, a reminder of what critics see as broken promises.” Writer Ricardo Alonzo-Zaldivar added, “Nonetheless, in his first campaign for the White House, Obama pledged not to raise taxes on individuals making less than $200,000 a year and couples making less than $250,000.”

Yet, World News, the NBC Nightly News, the CBS Evening News, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning and Today all avoided the topic.

GMA opted for more important topics, such as an amusement park mishap that caused several people to be stranded on a roller coaster for hours.

(more…)


This Is a Recap of Mass Islamist Protests Against the U.S. Over Anti-Islam Film

[TheBlaze.com]

Black Smoke Seen Rising Above U.S. Embassy in Tunisia

Protests in Tunisia (Photo Credit: AP)

Monitoring the massive protests that continue to spread to various cities and localities in the Middle East is a tough task, as the response continues to grow exponentially. Islamists and others who find themselves immensely offended over a now-infamous anti-Muslim film have taken to the streets to target U.S. interests and defend their faith, sometimes using violent means to do so.

TUNISIA

On Friday, protests in the Middle East hit Tunis, Tunisia, where a large cloud of black smoke has risen around the U.S. embassy there. Outside the building, protesters are throwing stones, as police attempt to stop the activity unfolding.

Thousands of demonstrators massed outside the embassy and several were seen climbing the outer wall of the embassy grounds and raising a flag on which was written the Muslim profession of faith, an Associated Press reporter on the scene says. ”There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet,” the flag purportedly read.

(more…)


Official Accounting: $10T Withdrawn From U.S. Treasury This Fiscal Year Alone

[CNSNews.com]

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

(CNSNews.com) – Although the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the federal government will spend $3.563 trillion in fiscal year 2012 and the White House Office of Management estimates it will be $3.795 trillion, actual withdrawals from the U.S. Treasury have already exceeded $10 trillion.

In fact, as of the close of business Wednesday, withdrawals from the Treasury equaled $10,201,615,000,000 for fiscal 2012, which began on Oct. 1, 2011 and will end on Sept. 30.

According to the Daily Treasury Statement–the official daily accounting sheet for the federal government—withdrawals from the Treasury exceeded $10 trillion this year on Aug. 30, when they rose from $9.903 trillion to $10.035 trillion.

How can this be?

(more…)


Convention floor erupts as Dems restore references to God, Jerusalem in platform

[FoxNews.com]

Published September 05, 2012

The floor of the Democratic National Convention erupted Wednesday over a sudden move to restore to the platform a reference to “God” and recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital — after heavy criticism from Republicans for initially omitting them.

Democrats, though, were hardly in agreement over the reversal.

A large and loud group of delegates shouted “no” as convention chairman, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, called for the vote late Wednesday afternoon. Villaraigosa had to call for the vote three times before ruling that the “ayes” had it. Many in the crowd booed after he determined the language would be restored.

(more…)


Occupy Wall Street Shows up at DNC, Bashes Obama

[Reason.com]

| September. 4, 2012 4:34 pm

CHARLOTTE – The Occupy Wall Street movement has materialized in zombified form near the venues of the Democratic National Convention. In Marshall Park, a leafy city property complete with a shallow pond, a camp of approximately 50 tents has sprung up in typical Occupy fashion. It’s not as developed as some of the camps that appeared during the “American Autumn” but its occupants are cantankerous and disappointed with President Obama, much as they were almost a year ago.

When I visited their encampment, they were mustering for a march that focused on Bradley Manning and unmanned drone strikes. The Occupiers were maneuvering a close to life-sized replica of an unmanned drone that they would later parade through the police-lined streets like the statue of a saint on a Catholic feast day.

“People like Obama garnered support from a lot of people when he was running. Once he got into office he basically turned his back on the working class. He said he was gonna end the wars, he escalated the war in Afghanistan, he continued use of mercenaries in Iraq, he said he was gonna close down Gitmo. He hasn’t done that,” said Travis Cummins, 27, of Mobile, Alabama.

(more…)


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