Jeb Bush Shoots Himself in Foot Before Officially Announcing . . .

. . . His Candidacy. Reminds of dumb comments by John McCain that killed his presidential campaign and election.  As an aside, in our democrat controlled county, I ran the campaign for the re-election of G.W. Bush and he won by 62%.  I will not be supporting or running any campaign for Jeb Bush if he thinks the President should get their  way regardless of the opinion of the American people represented by their Senators and Representative. Mr. Bush, what about Federalism and Separation of Powers? ~ Bill Smith, Editor, ARRA News Service

The following article reveals all:

Jeb Bush Tells Congress to Approve Obama Amnesty Supporter Loretta Lynch For Attorney General

by Katie Pavlich, Townhall.com: Potential GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush is calling on Congress to confirm attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch, whose confirmation hearings took place in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in January. In February, Lynch was voted out of the committee and approved 12-8. Due to the legislative schedule and fighting over bills already in motion, a full Senate vote on her confirmation has not yet taken place. More from POLITICO:
“I think presidents have the right to pick their team,” Bush said, according to reports of his stop at the “Politics and Pie” forum in Concord, New Hampshire, on Thursday night.

A Senate fight over a sex-trafficking bill that includes a controversial abortion provision has held up Lynch’s nomination for 160 days since Obama announced his choice last Nov. 8, but Minority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is threatening to break protocol and force a vote on the Senate floor.

“If someone is supportive of the president’s policies, whether you agree with them or not, there should be some deference to the executive” Bush told reporters. “It should not always be partisan.”The attorney general isn't supposed to be "supportive of the president's policies." The attorney general is supposed to advise the president on constitutional matters and is responsible for ensuring the balance between the executive and legislative branches in maintained.

During her confirmation hearings, Lynch expressed support for President Obama's executive amnesty and argued that anybody who is inside the United States, regardless of how they got here or what their legal status is, has a right to work.

"I think the right and obligation to work is one that is shared by everyone in this country regardless of how they came here and certainly if someone is here, regardless of status, I would prefer that they be participating in the work place than not be participating," Lynch said.

I'll leave you with this:

Jeb Bush supports Loretta Lynch, shows disregard for Congressional power over executive http://t.co/TzGTePFWWN
— Christian Adams (@ElectionLawCtr) April 17, 2015

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Tags: Jeb Bush, tells, Congress, vote for, Obama Amnesty Supporter, Loretta Lynch. Attorney General To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!

Hillary and Bill Two For One Sale ....

. . . Hillary and Bill Clinton are back from the 90’s with their 2 for 1 sale.

Editorial Cartoon by AF "Tony" Branco

. . . And Speaking of Two for One, Did You Notice Hillary T-shirt? Looks a lot like the new unveiled Hillary logo which reveals how screwed we are if she becomes president.

Editorial Cartoon by AF "Tony" Branco

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Tags: Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Two for One, Hillary campaign logo, if president, we're screwed, Editorial Cartoon, AF Branco To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!

President Hillary Clinton - NO!

NRA:

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Tags: Hillary Clinton, anti-2nd Amendment, anti-gun, Want to be president, NRA To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!

House GOP Plans Secret Vote to Determine Export-Import Bank’s Future

by Melissa Quinn: With Republicans divided over the Export-Import Bank, the agency’s future could come down to a secret vote cast during a closed-door meeting.

The House Republican Conference is expected to gather within the next few weeks to hold a private vote on whether to reauthorize the controversial bank, Heritage Action for America, the sister organization of The Heritage Foundation, revealed Thursday. Ex-Im’s charter expires June 30.

If a majority of the GOP favors reauthorizing the bank, Speaker John Boehner would allow a floor vote on a bill extending Ex-Im’s life. The practice, known as the “Hastert rule” for former Speaker Dennis Hastert, ensures a majority of the House’s majority party supports the bill.

News of the secret vote comes as lawmakers debate whether to reauthorize the 80-year-old agency. It also prompted a sharp rebuke from a group opposed to the bank.

“Heritage Action commends those lawmakers opposed to reauthorizing this taxpayer-backed bank, but its future should not be decided by a secret ballot,” said Michael Needham, Heritage Action’s chief executive officer. “Silence perpetuates the status quo and empowers the well-connected special interests in Washington. Constituents deserve to know if their representative stands with Barack Obama and Elizabeth Warren or with conservatives all across the country.”

GOP lawmakers are split on whether the bank should continue to exist. Supporters of the bank, such as Republican Rep. Stephen Fincher of Tennessee, believe the bank helps small businesses compete in the global market. Proponents also argue Ex-Im creates new jobs in the United States.

Fincher introduced a bill in January reauthorizing the bank for another five years. The legislation also calls for a series of reforms, such as mandatory annual audits from the Government Accountability Office and reduced taxpayer exposure.

Sixty Republicans have signed on as co-sponsors of the bill, signaling their support for the Export-Import Bank.

Meanwhile, opponents, led by House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling of Texas, believe Ex-Im serves as an engine of cronyism and corporate welfare. Hensarling’s committee has jurisdiction over the bank.

According to records compiled by Heritage Action, 74 GOP House members have publicly voiced their opposition to the bank.

Historically, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle voted to reauthorize the bank with little fanfare and debate. However, its existence has proved more contentious in recent years as the bank has come under fire for primarily supporting large, politically connected companies such as General Electric, Caterpillar and Boeing.

Ex-Im provides taxpayer-backed loans and loan guarantees to foreign countries and companies for the purchase of U.S. products.

Hensarling hasn’t yet said whether he will allow a bill reauthorizing Ex-Im to move through his committee, and Democrats on the panel criticized the chairman during a joint hearing with the Oversight and Government Reform Committee yesterday for not scheduling more official hearings on the issue.

Michael Steel, spokesman for Boehner, told The Daily Signal he wasn’t aware of a meeting with GOP members about the future of the bank and wouldn’t say whether leadership would bring a reauthorization bill directly to the floor.

“Members are continuing to have discussions led by Chairman Hensarling and members of his committee,” Steel said.

Though it’s unknown how legislation reauthorizing the bank will progress through the House, if at all, a bill extending the bank’s charter has more certainty in the Senate.

Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., introduced bipartisan legislation last month reauthorizing Ex-Im for another four years. The bill is co-sponsored by four Democrats and three other Republicans.

In an interview with USA Today, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he wouldn’t block a vote to reauthorize the bank.

“I think it probably enjoys a majority in the Senate, and I don’t think we should deny it the opportunity to be voted on,” he said.

McConnell does not support Ex-Im’s reauthorization.
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Melissa Quinn (@MelissaQuinn97 ) is a news reporter for The Daily Signal.

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Tags: House GOP, Plans, Secret Vote, Export-Import Bank, Melissa Quinn, Heritage Foundation To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!

The American People Aren't Stupid Enough To Buy The Man-made Climate Change Crisis Narrative

by Marita Noon: Late last year, the name Jonathan Gruber became part of the public consciousness for his newly public declarations that Obamacare passed due to the “stupidity of the American voter.” While there are many cases one can cite affirming that most Americans don’t closely follow politics and/or the political process and, therefore, may be called “stupid,” the campaign to sell the man-made climate change crisis narrative proves otherwise.

We are smarter than they think. We are not buying what they are selling.

Global warming has been the most expensive and extensive “public relations campaign in history” — as David Harsanyi calls it in his post at TheFederalist.com. He identifies the “25 years of political and cultural pressure,” as including “most governmental agencies, a long list of welfare-sucking corporations, the public school system, the universities, an infinite parade of celebrities, think tanks, well-funded environmental groups and an entire major political party.” Yet, despite all the “gentle nudging,” “stern warnings,” and “fear mongering,” Harsanyi states: “Since 1989, there’s been no significant change in the public’s concern level over global warming.”

Based on new polling data from Gallup, Harsanyi points out that with the past 25 years of messaging, even among Democrats those who “worry greatly” about global warming has only increased “by a mere four percentage points” — with no change in the general public in the past two years.

A Pew Research Center poll on the Keystone pipeline — also the target of years of intense messaging and fearmongering — offers similar insights: “Support for the Keystone XL pipeline is almost universal,” reads the Washington Post headline. The poll results report that only those who self-identify as “solid liberals” oppose the pipeline.

Clearly, Americans aren't that stupid after all. We can smell a rat.

It isn’t that we don't believe the climate changes — it does, has, and always will — but, as Harsanyi states, “There is a difference in believing climate change is real and believing that climate change is calamitous.” He continues, “As the shrieking gets louder, Americans become more positive about the quality of their environment and less concerned about the threats.” He adds, “As the fear-mongering becomes more far-fetched, the accusations become more hysterical, and the deadlines for action keep being pushed right over the horizon, fewer people seem to really care.”

Harsanyi concludes, “If you haven’t been able to win over the public in 25 years of intense political and cultural pressure, you are probably down to two options: You can revisit your strategy, open debate to a wide range of ideas, accept that your excited rhetoric works on a narrow band of the Americans (in any useful political sense), and live with the reality that most people have no interest in surrendering prosperity. Or, you can try to force people to do what you want.”

With the huge investment of time and money, it appears the fearmongers have chosen the latter option. The regulatory scheme coming out of Washington reflects an acknowledgement that the PR campaign has failed, but that the effort is continually being forced on people who don’t want it — though they may not be following it closely or they may not be politically engaged.

The climate campaigners are continuing to do that which hasn’t worked for the past 25 years—somehow believing they’ll get different results (Isn't that the definition of insanity?).

On March 6, Merchants of Doubt, “a documentary that looks at pundits-for-hire,” was released. It aimed to smear the reputations of some of the most noted voices on the realist side of the climate change debate — specifically Fred Singer who has been one of the original climate skeptics. But nobody much wanted to see it. In its opening weekend, BoxOfficeMoJo.com reports Merchants of Doubt took in $20,300.

A week later, former Vice President Al Gore, as reported in the Chicago Tribune, called on attendees at the SXSW festival in Austin, TX to “punish climate change deniers” — which is the tactic being used now.

We've seen it in the widely-publicized case of Dr. Willie Soon, a scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, who claims “that the variations in the sun’s energy can largely explain recent global warming.” The New York Times accused him of being tied to funding from “corporate interests.”

Similar, though less well-known, attacks have been made on Henrik Moller — Denmark’s leading academic expert on noise research, who was fired by his university after exposing a wide-reaching cover-up by the Danish government of the health risks caused by wind turbine noise pollution. And on eminent meteorologist Lennart Bengtsson, who received worldwide pressure after he stated, “I believe it is important to express different views in an area that is potentially so important and complex and still insufficiently known as climate change.”

Even Senator Edward Markey (D-MA) and Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) recently joined the crusade. Paul Driessen draws attention to a letter they sent to “institutions that employ or support climate change researchers whose work questions claims that Earth and humanity face unprecedented man-made climate change catastrophes.” The lawmakers warn of potential “conflicts of interest” in cases where evidence or computer modeling emphasizing human causes of climate change are questioned — but no such warning is offered for its supporters. Driessen states, “Conflicts of interest can indeed pose problems. However, it is clearly not only fossil fuel companies that have major financial or other interests in climate and air quality standards — nor only man-made climate change skeptics who can have conflicts and personal, financial or institutional interests in these issues.” He quotes Dr. Richard Lindzen, MIT atmospheric sciences professor emeritus and one of Grijalva’s targets: “Billions of dollars have been poured into studies supporting climate alarm, and trillions of dollars have been involved in overthrowing the energy economy.”

But somehow, only those who may receive funding from “fossil fuel companies” are suspect. The anti-fossil fuel movement has been vocal in its funding for candidates who support its agenda.

I've experienced this on a small scale. I wrote an op-ed for the Albuquerque Journal warning New Mexico residents about concerns over SolarCity’s arrival in the state — which included offering 30-year financing for rooftop solar panels. A week later, the paper published an op-ed that didn’t discount my data, but accused my organization of receiving funding from the fossil-fuel industry. The op-ed was written by an employee of SolarCity — but this didn't seem incongruous.

The little attack on me allowed me to ask for people to counteract the claim that the Citizens’ Alliance for Responsible Energy is not an “alliance of citizens.” The outpouring of support astounded me—though the newspaper didn't post every comment.

Others, with whom I have been in contact, while doing research for this writing, provided similar stories of support following the attacks.

In a Desmog post titled: “Climate deniers double down on doubt in the defense of Willie Soon,” the author states that Soon’s supporters “circled the wagons.”

In a Scientific American story about the Merchants of Doubt, Andrew Hoffman, a professor at the University of Michigan, who studies the behavior of climate skeptics, says, “Tit-for-tats between mainstream and contrarian researchers tend to raise the profile of skeptical scientists.” He concludes, “Frankly, this degradation benefits the skeptics.”

Because of the failure of the man-made climate-crisis campaign to capture the hearts and minds of the average American — who, after all, isn’t that stupid — we can expect the Gore-ordered attacks to continue. Expect the fearmongering to become more far-fetched, the accusations to become more hysterical, and the deadlines for action to keep being pushed right over the horizon. When this happens, “fewer people seem to really care.”

Like the mythical Hydra, when one “skeptic” is cut down, supporters “double down” — two more grow to take its place. While designed to silence, the attacks draw attention to the fact that there is another side to the “debate.”
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Marita Noon is author of Energy Freedom and is the executive director for Energy Makes America Great Inc. and the companion educational organization, Citizens’ Alliance for Responsible Energy (CARE). She hosts a weekly radio program: America’s Voice for Energy—which expands on the content of her weekly column.

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Tags: man-made, climate change case, , American people, Marita Noon To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!

Obama’s Mentor Laurence Tribe Criticizes Obama Administration Pushing Climate Change Via EPA On States As Unconstitutional

Editorial Cartoon by William Warren

Today in Washington, D.C. - April 17, 2015
The House today convened proforma for 3 minutes. THe House will at 2 PM on Monday, April 20, 2015.
As previously reported by the ARRA News Service, yesterday the House passed two bills ,
H.R. 1105 (240 - 179) — "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes, and for other purposes."
H.R. 622 (272 - 152) — "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make permanent the deduction of State and local general sales taxes."

The Senate is not in session today and will reconvene at 2 PM on Monday, April 20, 2015, to resume consideration of S. 178, the bipartisan Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act. At 5:30, the Senate will vote on the nomination of George Hanks, Jr, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of Texas.

Yesterday, the Senate voted 95-2 to confirm Russell Deyo to be Under Secretary for Management at the Department of Homeland Security.

Yesterday, a National Journal report, noted that “Laurence Tribe—an iconic legal scholar and longtime mentor to President Obama—offered up blistering criticism on Thursday of the administration's efforts to tackle climate change.

“Regulations crafted by the Environmental Protection Agency to limit carbon pollution from power plants violate the Constitution and overstep executive authority, Tribe argued in the opening act of a major legal challenge at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

“Obama's plan would ‘upturn the entire constitutional system’ and force states to become ‘puppets of a federal ventriloquist’ that would be ‘brought into the federal army,’ Tribe told the three-judge panel.

“Arguing on behalf of industry and state opponents of the rule, Tribe denounced the rule as a massive overreach, saying, ‘It is clear that they are trying to make law not execute law.’ The administration was clearly ‘coloring outside the lines,’ he added.”

National Journal notes, “Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have reveled in Tribe's seeming defection, an outcome they say stands as proof of the problems with Obama's climate agenda. McConnell has relied on legal arguments spelled out by Tribe as he attempts to throw a wrench in Obama's plans by convincing governors across the United States not to comply with the regulations.

“At issue in the case heard Thursday is whether EPA was justified in regulating carbon pollution from power plants under the Clean Air Act when the agency has already regulated mercury and other toxic air pollution. Opponents of the rule say it should be challenged even before a final version emerges, because it has already begun to inflict economic harm on the energy industry.”

While those arguments were occurring, the Kentucky Association of Manufacturers (KAM) wrote to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to thank him for the letter he sent to all 50 governors calling on them to reject the EPA’s proposed regulation that requires states to dramatically restructure their electricity systems based on how the agency thinks electricity should be produced and used in each state. The EPA’s demands, McConnell noted in his letter, are “far beyond its legal authority.”

In the letter to Senator McConnell, KAM President & CEO Charles Gregory Higdon wrote: “We agree that Kentucky has every right to question, whether restructuring our state’s energy portfolio via submitting a State Implementation Plan (SIP) under the CPP at this time is in the best interest of the Commonwealth.” Higdon also wrote that “KAM agrees with you that EPA lacks the statutory authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from existing coal-fired electric generators … KAM supports an ‘all of the above’ approach to the production of cost-effective and reliable energy for our members… We agree that this legally questionable plan is not worth jeopardizing the tens of thousands of jobs in the Commonwealth that rely on manufacturing.”

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Tags: Obama Administration, EPA, War on Coal, Lawrence Tribe, claims violate the Constitution, overstep executive authority, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!

States Fight Costly EPA Power Regulations In Court As More Coal Jobs Are Lost

Obama Administration's EPA War on Coal: The New York Times reports, “President Obama’s most far-reaching regulation to slow climate change will have its first day in court on Thursday, the beginning of what is expected to be a multiyear legal battle over the policy that Mr. Obama hopes to leave as his signature environmental achievement.

“In two separate but related cases to be jointly argued in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the country’s two largest coal companies, along with 14 coal-producing states, have challenged a proposed Environmental Protection Agency regulation, which the agency issued under the authority of the Clean Air Act, to curb planet-warming carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants. If put in effect as E.P.A. officials have proposed, the rule is intended to fundamentally transform the nation’s power sector, shuttering hundreds of coal plants and expanding renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. . . .

“In the two cases, Murray Energy v. E.P.A. and West Virginia v. E.P.A., the plaintiffs contend that the E.P.A. lacks the authority to issue the rule in the first place, and so should stop working on the rule before making it final. Among the lawyers arguing on behalf of the coal companies is Laurence H. Tribe, a renowned Harvard scholar of constitutional law, who was also a mentor to Mr. Obama when he attended law school. Republicans who opposed the rule have cheered Mr. Tribe’s role in the case.”

In an op-ed for the Washington Examiner today West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrissey explains the background of the case: “In June of last year, the Obama Administration's EPA launched an aggressive assault against states' rightful powers by proposing federal carbon regulations that require states to reduce carbon dioxide emission by a staggering 30 percent in just 15 years. Since announcing the proposed regulation, the Administration's EPA has employed unprecedented, threatening tactics designed to bully states into compliance, irrespective of the feasibility or legality of its proposal. States that don't comply face the potential of losing regulatory control on energy matters to the federal government.

“This case is vitally important to the nation. If the EPA's proposed rule is permitted to go forward, it will cause great harm to the states and their citizens. The agency's threats to finalize the plan this summer already have had a dampening effect on states, the energy industry, and its employees. . . . Regardless of what utilities ultimately decide, taxpayers and consumers will foot the bill, as EPA's regulations create an over reliance on other sources of energy to meet base-load power demand. To be clear, it doesn't matter where you live — you will face the daunting prospect of skyrocketing energy costs. This is an unacceptable situation and one that cannot go unchallenged.”

He points out, “The case being heard on April 16 deals with just one major legal defect in EPA's proposed rule. It seeks to require states to regulate coal-fired power plants even though EPA already regulates those same plants under the hazardous air pollutant program. As the Clinton EPA explained, such double regulation is expressly prohibited by the 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act.

“Indeed, EPA's arguments defending its actions are so blatantly contrary to the Clean Air Act that even Laurence Tribe — a noted liberal constitutional scholar and former mentor of President Obama's at Harvard — likened the regulations to ‘burning the Constitution,’ in recent congressional testimony.”

Further, the West Virginia AG writes, “What makes this case unique — outside of the fact that courts typically do not hear arguments until after a rule is finalized — is that the EPA's repeated threats to finalize that rule this summer are causing immediate and irreparable harm now. As recently as March 11, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy declared, ‘The EPA is going to regulate ... If folks are thinking any of those pieces aren't going to happen — and [the Clean Power Plan] isn't going to be implemented, I think they need to look at the history of the Clean Air act more carefully. This isn't how we do business.’

“That's not how government agencies should do business in this country. An agency should not be permitted to threaten to impose a rule that it knows will never survive judicial review, in order to scare utilities, power plants, and coal mines into closing their doors in anticipation of the rule being finalized. It is an abuse of power that directly harms West Virginia and other coal-producing and coal-burning states.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been leading the fight against this costly regulation. Last month, he urged all 50 of the nation’s governors to seriously consider whether their state should comply with an EPA regulation of dubious legality, which the agency is trying to get them to do pre-emptively.

Leader McConnell wrote, “Some have recently suggested that failing to comply with the EPA’s requirements would be to disregard the law. But the fact is, it is the EPA that is failing to comply with the law here. . . . In other words, the EPA is attempting to compel states to do more themselves than what the agency would be authorized to do on its own, as many states have noted in their comments in response to the rule. This point has been repeatedly stressed by noted Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe . . . . As Professor Tribe has noted, the Clean Air Act not only fails to authorize the EPA’s plan, it forbids it. Professor Tribe recently called the EPA’s plan ‘constitutionally reckless’, saying it ‘usurp[s] the prerogatives of the States, Congress and the Federal Courts — all at once.’ . . .

“I believe you will find, as I have, that the EPA’s proposal goes far beyond its legal authority and that the courts are likely to strike it down. All of which raises the very important question of why the EPA is asking states at this time to propose their own compliance plans in the first place. As others have suggested, the EPA’s deadlines were very likely designed to force states to develop and submit implementation plans before the courts can decide on the legality of the CPP. Their hope is that states will commit to these plans before serious legal questions are resolved. This in itself should be a sufficiently compelling reason to deny the EPA’s request. Given the dubious legal rationale behind the EPA’s demands, rather than submitting plans now, states should allow the courts to rule on the merits of the CPP.”

This pushback has infuriated liberals. Earlier this week, the AP noted, “Clearly irked by aggressive pushback from the strengthened Republican majority in Congress, [President] Obama also singled out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for criticism, saying the Kentucky Republican had been ‘telling the world’ not to have confidence that the U.S. can meet its own climate change goals. McConnell has been urging U.S. states not to comply with Obama's power plant rules, and arguing that the U.S. could never meet Obama's target even if those rules do survive.”

National Journal wrote on Tuesday, “Senate Democrats are fighting back against Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's ploy to get governors to opt out of the EPA's climate rules for power plants . . . . In a letter to all 50 governors, the Democrats—including Massachusetts' Elizabeth Warren—say that states should not listen to the Kentucky Republican, who has called on states to wait for legal challenges to play out before submitting plans to comply with the emissions reduction rules. . . . Besides Warren, the letter was signed by Rhode Island's Sheldon Whitehouse, California's Barbara Boxer, Minnesota's Al Franken and independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont. . . .

“The Democrats' letter is part of a larger attack from the left on McConnell. The Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund on Wednesday will launch an ad targeting McConnell over a GOP agenda that aims to scale back environmental rules. On Tuesday, several environmental groups held a press call blasting McConnell on his first 100 days as majority leader . . . .”

Democrats and their strident environmentalist allies, though, have blinded themselves to the human costs of their expensive regulations. The Hill reported yesterday, “A major Appalachian coal mining company is laying off hundreds of workers in West Virginia and blaming the lost jobs on President Obama’s environmental policies.

“Murray Energy Corp. will lay off the 214 workers at three mines in Marion and Marshall counties. Murray said in a late Tuesday statement that the layoffs are ‘due to the ongoing destruction of the United States coal industry by President Barack Obama, and his supporters, by the increased utilization of natural gas to generate electricity, and by the extremely excessive coal severance tax in the state of West Virginia.’ . . . Although the Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon limit for power plants has not been made final, Murray has argued in court briefs that it is already causing power utilities to switch away from coal use, and it needs to be stopped.”

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Tags: EPA, power regulation, Obama administration, War on Coal, lost jobs, States, Courts To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!

U.S. House Votes to Repeal Estate Tax

Today in Washington, D.C. - April 16, 2015:
The House reconvened today at 9 AM. They will be addressing more bills relative to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) today. Yesterday House Republican majority sent a clear message they want the IRS reformed.

Today at 12:11 PM the U.S. House voted 240 - 179 to Repeal the Death Tax; H.R. 1105 — "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes, and for other purposes." Republican led the effort with 223 Yes votes while 176 Democrats opposed families keeping their own money.

Passed earlier today: H.R. 622 (272-152) - "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make permanent the deduction of State and local general sales taxes."

Yesterday the House passed:
H.R. 1026 (242-182) — "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit the release of information regarding the status of certain investigations."
H.R. 1058 (Voice Vote) — "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to clarify that a duty of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue is to ensure that Internal Revenue Service employees are familiar with and act in accord with certain taxpayer rights."
H.R. 1104 (Voice Vote) — "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a deduction from the gift tax for gifts made to certain exempt organizations."
H.R. 1152 (Voice Vote) — "To prohibit officers and employees of the Internal Revenue Service from using personal email accounts to conduct official business."
H.R. 1295 (Voice Vote) — "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve the process for making determinations with respect to whether organizations are exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(4) of such Code."
H.R. 1314 (Voice Vote) — "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for a right to an administrative appeal relating to adverse determinations of tax-exempt status of certain organizations."
H.R. 1562 (424-0) — "To prohibit the awarding of a contract or grant in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold unless the prospective contractor or grantee certifies in writing to the agency awarding the contract or grant that the contractor or grantee has no seriously delinquent tax debts, and for other purposes."
H.R. 1563 (266-160) — "To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide that individuals having seriously delinquent tax debts shall be ineligible for Federal employment, and for other purposes."
H.R. 709 (Voice Vote) — "To provide for the termination of employment of employees of the Internal Revenue Service who take certain official actions for political purposes."

Speaker Boehner previously noted: "A few things happened on the way to Tax Day:

• First, we learned that the IRS rehired hundreds of employees who were previously fired for misconduct issues.
• Second, the IRS was forced to apologize for “seizing banks accounts from otherwise law-abiding business owners.
• Third, the Justice Department declined to prosecute former IRS official Lois Lerner, continuing to sweep the targeting of taxpayers for their political beliefs under the rug. Indeed, hardworking Americans remain vulnerable to IRS abuse, especially at a time when filing a tax return “appears more complicated than ever.

"That’s why, as Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) announced the people’s House will mark Tax Day “by passing a series of commonsense bills to rein in IRS abuse, protect taxpayer rights, and hold agency employees accountable for misconduct.”

"Here’s a quick rundown of how these measures, which were approved by the Ways & Means Committee last month, will help taxpayers:
A Taxpayer Bill of Rights - Right now, when dealing with the IRS, taxpayers lack some basic protections under the law, including the right to quality service, the right to confidentiality, and the right to appeal and have their challenge be heard. Rep. Roskam’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights Act will change this by codifying a strong set of basic rights for taxpayers. “After a difficult period for the IRS,” National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson says, “a Taxpayer Bill of Rights has the potential to restore taxpayers’ trust in both the IRS and the tax system.”

Make Targeting a Firing Offense - Rehiring hundreds of employees who were previously fired for misconduct issues showed that accountability is still sorely lacking at the IRS. The Prevent Targeting at the IRS Act, authored by Rep. Jim Renacci (R-OH), would authorize the IRS to terminate employees who engage in political targeting. “Political targeting contradicts the very principles this country was founded upon,” Renacci says, “and there is no room for it in our democracy. It will not be tolerated.”

No Personal Email for Official IRS Business - Days before the revelations regarding former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of personal e-mail for official business, Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-TX) introduced legislation to prevent IRS employees from doing the same. This wasn’t just a prescient move: Lois Lerner also engaged in the practice, and the IRS has no outright ban on e-mailing outside its network. Marchant says, “The last thing hardworking taxpayers should have to worry about is the security of their confidential information being compromised due to IRS negligence or abuse.”

An Impartial, Two-Way Process - In addition to being freed from one-sided targeting, nonprofit organizations seeking tax-exempt status deserve an impartial application review process. If your application is turned down, you should be able to directly petition the IRS and get a fair hearing. Legislation introduced by Rep. Pat Meehan (R-PA) would establish such common-sense protections and, in his words, send “the clear signal that no American or group of Americans shall be targeted by their IRS for their political views.”

The Right to Know - One of the first things we learned about Lois Lerner was that her division shared highly confidential tax-exempt applications with an outside organization. It also shared confidential information with the FEC. The Taxpayer Knowledge of IRS Investigations Act, introduced by Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), affords taxpayers the right to know the status of investigations pertaining to their personal information.

No More Indefinite Delays - “Justice delayed is justice denied.” That’s how one retired IRS veteran described the IRS’s treatment of nonprofit organizations that have been waiting years to be granted tax-exempt status without any resolution. Leaving groups in limbo hurts their ability to recruit members and raise funds. The IRS Bureaucracy Reduction and Judicial Review Act, authored by Rep. George Holding (R-NC), would allow organizations to declare their tax-exempt status rather than wait for bureaucratic approval.

Fair Treatment For All Gifts - As part of its effort to target Americans for their political beliefs, the IRS has threatened to apply a gift tax to donations to nonprofit organizations. Rep. Roskam’s Fair Treatment for All Gifts Act will prevent this abuse of power by ensuring that all donations to nonprofit organizations are tax-free.
The Senate reconvened at 10 AM today and resumed consideration of S. 178, the bipartisan Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, which Democrats have filibustered repeatedly for the last month.

At 2 PM the Senate will vote on the nominations of Russell Deyo to be Under Secretary for Management at the Department of Homeland Security and Jonodev Osceola Chaudhuri to be Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission.

Yesterday, the Senate voted 54-43 to agree to the motion to go to conference with the House on the budget (S. Con. Res. 11) and appoint conferees. They also voted on 8 motions to instruct the budget conferees.offered by: Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) to end “too big to fail” by a vote of 86-11; Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to prevent USPS postal plant closures by a vote of 85-11; Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) to simplify student loan repayment options by a vote of 97-0; Sen. Sanders to prevent cuts to Social Security by a vote of 84-13; and Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) to prevent retaliation against employees who share salary information by a vote of 57-40.

The Senate rejected motions to instruct conferees offered by: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to raise taxes in order to allow the government to refinance student loans by a vote of 45-52; Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) to include Democrats’ so-called “equal pay” legislation to allow more lawsuits by a vote of 44-53; and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) to prevent any changes to Medicare by a vote of 45-52.

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Tags: IU.S. House, repeals estate tax, U.S. Senate,  agrees to conference,  Budget To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!

Arkansas’ Residual Shame: Bill and Hillary Clinton

Hillary: What Difference Does It Make?
It will make a great difference to America
if this Harridan* is elected President.

by Patrick L. Booth, Contributing Author: I love Arkansas! I graduated high school there, got some college there, knew my first love there, have relatives and life-long friends there, own land there, and plan to perhaps return there one-of-these days to retire and finish raising my own kids. I hope they'll learn to love the beauty and the people of Arkansas just as much as I.

But even today, I am am ashamed of the residual damage and shame of the Clintons’ legacy to Arkansas. Of course, there were a multitude of reasons for doing the shameful thing and, as the Lord commands us, I'll continue to try to understand and forgive though it’s going to be mighty hard to forget. Guess the questions that bother me more than anything else are “How in the world could an entire State (full of some of the finest people I've ever known) be so completely fooled, not just once, but several times ? And why didn't someone, anyone, tell the rest of the Nation ?”

How could such an amoral, arrogant, philandering, irreligious, liberal, socialistic, Communist loving, homosexual embracing, financially ignorant, bald-faced lying fool be several times elected Governor and no one be willing or able to warn the Nation before he slipped into the Presidency by default ? Neither the press nor the public could’ve been completely fooled by his conservative act ! I am certain Hillary wasn't because she is a bird of the same feather, a psychotic alcoholic abusing pathological liar of little ability with neither morals nor ethics. (As some might recall, she was fired by a liberal lawyer from her first job because she was a dishonest un-constitutional lying law breaking lawyer.) She hasn't changed her stripes one bit, which might be why Pissant Bill married her.

The Clintons are far from the best Arkansas has to offer. Oh, I know he was an own son and many thought him the only chance to have an Arkansan President this century but that just isn't sufficient reason. And, of course, he does seem to have a few loyal friends but many are just as dishonest as he. No doubt power draws, and there is a certain required cohesion among thieves, but the loyalty isn't likely mutual so I really doubt he’ll be visiting but may be pardoning some of his old friends after several of them go to jail (unless he joins ‘em) which, no doubt, several will ! (And several did and were!)

We are all Americans first ! Unfortunately, the People of this Nation will remember this disservice and consider them typical of Arkansas. We’re all likely to suffer for it. Fortunately, most of the nation neither wants nor likes the changes toward US and UN government subservience that they wish to impose. Most Americans will, given the opportunity, reject Clinton style socialism, the hidden agenda. But first they must hear about it even though the popular medias aren’t likely to do that. We Christian Conservatives must do that.

Both have always run as moderates on a platform of change (one of their normal insincere statements) but, being liberal, they can’t stop campaigning for the office (which is the only way to perpetuate the lie !) They can’t afford scrutiny of their records. Both their actions and records have and will always belie their rhetoric. Listening to one of Bill’s speeches makes a body want to get out-of-doors to check for sunlight or to drop an ashtray on the floor to check for gravity. I've heard it said he can’t recognize truth but disbelieve that since neither hardly ever lets a chance go by to obscure it. Like all pathological liars, they just hate it. They are incredibly adept proponents of the “Big Lie” just like Obama.

Bill even fooled some Congressmen who think he’s sincere when he spouted off about “Family”, “The era of BIG government is over”, “I think I raised your taxes too high, too”, “It was just a bureaucratic mistake”, “I didn't know anything about it”, “I didn't inhale”, “I didn't know him”, “It was an honest mistake.” There is absolutely nothing about the Clintons that is honest, nothing !

Counterfeit Bill knows all about the “BIG LIE” which is understood and taught by every collegiate political program in the country. Communism (as practiced by Bill’s buddies in eastern Europe) lives the BIG LIE. They couldn't survive without it. In fact, when the Soviets finally faltered in their dedication to the LIE and allowed “Peristroica”, Soviet socialism fell from power! But communism still exists.

The BIG LIE requires dedication to untruth, viewed as a virtue, controlled by the telling of other Lie’s building upon the foundation of the first to obscure the “TRUTH” which cannot be controlled. Never tell the truth, only another lie, the Democrat motto.

Looking at their actual record will make you sick at your stomach. First, it was the stolen money and equipment that his inauguration workers walked off with. The Federal Protective Service published that the Clinton Clowns ran off with about “$154,000 worth of radios, VCR’s, computers, televisions, walkie-talkies, pagers and an undisclosed amount of cash from ticket sales” leaving many unpaid bills amounting to some $1.5 millions never repaid after inauguration and still apparently unrecovered. The very young are easiest to fool and motivate. What happened to the Secret Service people who reported the thefts ? They were removed to other duties for lack of loyalty to the President but the popular medias hardly mentioned the fact. No one will ever be prosecuted for those thefts.

Then there’s the motor-voter registration making US citizenship meaningless and the continued efforts to legalize and register as Democrat every illegal alien that’s ever snuck in (still in operation and now giving SS aid). Then it was all the absurdly liberal, homosexual, or unqualified nominations, one after another (including some that managed to slip through the cracks and be confirmed). Then it was the forced aggrandizement of the Homo’s in the only organizations he could force them on (the Military and Civil Service). Then the idea that anyone who managed to make a few bucks just weren't paying their fair share; then the largest tax increase in American History; then the attempted takeover and socialization of the American Medical System (which we now know as Obamacare); then forced resignations of several aids; then indictments against the President; former and present associates; then dead bodies of old friends he denied even knowing, then ... Well, you get the idea. This was all in just his first year !

Didn’t Clinton vow his appointments “would look like America!” Is there not even a single publicly practicing Christian anywhere to be found ? That is, besides Counterfeit Bill. Considering the numbers of Christians in our nation and the fact that America was founded upon Christian principles, it seems to me the silent majority should also be represented. Maybe none would accept ?

Considering Hillary’s public comment that they “had to be church members if they were ever to be President,” one has to wonder about their commitment to religion and whether the boy really is a memberof a Little Rock Baptist Church or just an attendee. Did he really get up in front of an audience, confess to be a sinner, and ask God for remission of his sins ? Was he voted upon and accepted by the congregation and then baptized in front of witnesses symbolizing the rebirth ? As far as I know, they’re Baptist requirements. Or he could have joined by receipt of a Letter from another S.B.C. church but still would have had to have met those requirements . Somehow, I just can’t picture Slick Willy on his knees confessing his sins. I’m almost dead sure he’s never tithed anywhere. Money is too precious for the Clintons to give away ! Unfortunately, their record belies Counterfeit Bill’s and Hillary’s public demonstrations of supposed faith. She employs a new age medium to assist her discussions with Eleanor Roosevelt. He promotes immorality and obedience to UN mandates. And they have numerous communist ties throughout eastern Europe and China.

The Clinton Administration held a “coming-out breakfast” for the press after the inauguration claiming 22 homosexual appointments and more expected. The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund stated, “For that (multiple appointments), Bill Clinton is going down in history.” Then on December 8th. thereafter, The Washington Times reported the White House and other key government departments had quietly added “sexual orientation” as part of their revised non-discrimination policies. In fact, through executive order, Clinton gave the homosexual employee group, Gay Lesbian Or Bisexual Employees (GLOBE) within Civil Service the same weight as unions, the ONLY (non-union) employee group to enjoy such power.

The list is seemingly endless. Why, Ms. H.R.Clinton even said taxation is “a moral imperative, not a political issue” (Though the Clintons did cheat on their income taxes, filed false statements concerning their incomes several years in a row and were forced to pay a fine when caught) and then said, when asked about the possible impact of her health plan on family-owned businesses, “I cannot be responsible for saving every undercapitalized entrepreneur in America.” Where, then, and who, does she want to save? Socialism anyone ?

Maybe it was her long close association with a known prevaricator or maybe it’s her own liberal Eastern Ivy covered college education that confused her. Since when did theft, legal or otherwise, through their underpaid taxes, or our increased taxes, become moral ? Overtaxation amounts to theft and promotes socialism, which equates to the same thing. But that is the Socialist way, isn't it? Obama merely followed in those footsteps.

Between the two of them, there sure seems to be plenty enough blind ambition to go around. I sure do hope, for their as well as our country’s sake, that it isn't all that’s keeping them together. Their lust for power appears even stronger than his sexual appetite. However, they ARE the nation’s most prominent models of morality, aren't they? Reckon Vince Foster’s death was an act of vengeance?Clinton wants to be Sect. Gen. Of the UN after his term here and will, no doubt, use his office to bolster his opportunities to be appointed to that post.

He never inhaled his “only” experiment with Marijuana nor used any hard drugs and doesn't know anyone who has or does. Excepting, of course, his brother who has an arrest record for drug use, and Ms. Elders whose children are users/sellers. Others ? Several of his paramours claim he is or was a Cocaine sniffer who often indulged at his brother’s apartment. He and several of his administration are accused of drug use by a retired FBI agent formerly assigned to the Whitehouse. FBI agents are pretty reliable people. Where are the reporters ?

After the Gennifer Flowers affair was made sort of public, I seem to recall reading of several other indiscretions. The Clinton campaign actually employed a person for no other reason than to keep up with the “bimbo eruptions.” He is being sued for sexual harassment by a former state employee who appears very credible and yet he is supposed to be the Feminists’ choice! Says he can’t be sued because he (as head of the armed forces) is on active military duty. Will the Supreme Court support it? He was indicted and gave up his law license and paid a fine because he lied to a federal judge, just as the Obama's gave up their licenses.

Was Ms. Flowers really his only paramour? Didn't he actually father by an Arkansas black woman an illegitimate child that he refuses to support? (Was she bought off ? By whom?) Weren't there some State Troopers who said they’d carried him around and covered for him while he was slipping around on Hillary? Didn’t both Clinton’s publicly deny any such happenings? Didn’t he rape a couple of women? Wasn't there a recent young woman suing Pissant Bill for paternity?

Rumor and the FBI agent have Bill maintaining a separate apartment and regularly sneaking away from the White House in the back seat of a limo for meetings with some unknown woman at a local Marriott. Could that be why Hillary had a separate wing of her own in the White House or is it that she really needed the space for all the business she'd supposedly took care of for ole Slick? Lots of room for extraneous and misplaced files, secret meetings, and all.

Is there any truth to the rumor Hillary was sleeping with Vince Foster before his mysterious death? His autopsy showed seamen in his pants and a rather large meal in his stomach. It is a fact they spent several nights alone together in a cabin in Arkansas. When his death was first announced, why did Clinton at first deny even knowing his old High School chum, Vince Foster? Reckon Counterfeit Bill caught up with him? Where had Foster been before his trip to Ft. Marcy Park? The nation is not convinced Foster was his own executioner.

Did Bill or Hillary have the travel office employees fired because they feared a record of extra-legal travels might surface someday? Or was it a payoff to a campaign supporter? Why try to falsely prosecute long term public employees who were quickly proved to be merely doing their jobs. The jury acquitted Billy Dale in less than an hour! Despite the fingerprints, I doubt a prosecution.

Will the list of FBI files illegally obtained by the White House ever be complete? No one seems to know who hired the lackey (Livingstone) actually in charge of ordering the files, or why they were ordered, or what they were actually to be used for, or who actually had access to them, or whether any copies still exist, or if any more files might yet surface? Was this another Hillary fiasco? Or Bill’s? (But then some did miraculously appear in the White House when an indictment was about to be happen.)

According to the Clintons, it is supposed to be legal for Clinton to order our troops to serve under the UN flag even though the Constitution and Military laws expressly forbid that. He ordered troops into Africa, Haiti, and Bosnia without consulting Congress which is also patently illegal except in time of War Emergencies. The Clinton Presidency was the only on-going National emergency I could think of until the Obama Presidency.

Remember his draft dodging by lying to the Arkansas ROTC director to get his deferment then skipping the country? Should his self-admitted activities, as leader, organizer, and marcher in anti-war demonstrations both here and abroad, have actually disqualified him from holding national office? Whether Clinton thinks so or not, aiding and abetting the enemy is a criminal offense. So is selling public influence. China bought him pretty cheaply, though, didn't they? More recently, Hillary lost Billions while in charge of the State Department but millions were given to their

The State Department was kept from searching for his passport records and a letter he may have written denouncing his citizenship? Why? Wouldn't people like to know what he was doing touring the Communist Block instead of attending school on his “Rhodes Scholarship?” He did know that openly avoiding or resisting induction by the draft would have been criminal and so stated in his letter to the State ROTC Director. His stated reason for lying: to “maintain political viability.”

Perhaps the reason he forced the Gay decision on the Military is that, in their own words, they “loathe the military.” Did they punish them for his cowardice? Or was it done to just weaken our military! Does they really believe Homo’s are just another kind of love or are they switch hitters? More likely he was interested in distracting attention from his actual plans through the creation of dissension in the ranks. Witness their recent and past records on American Citizenship.

Clinton patriotism is strictly for public view, crocodile tears. If we elect the Hillary Harridan*, we'll simply get more of the same lies, immoral behaviors, and illegal actions as she continues the democrat socialist agenda of the destruction of America. Only fools and morons believe her.

*Harridan - definition: "a strict, bossy, or belligerent old woman."
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Patrick "PL" Booth is a constitutional conservative who blogs at the The Blue Eye View and is a contributing author to the ARRA News Service.

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Tags: PL Booth, The Blue Eye View, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, , slick willy, liar, princess of liars, Harridan, unconstitutional, crooks, socialists To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!

How In The World Could Democrat Senators Possibly Object?

Human Trafficking Bill Now Includes The Same Hyde Amendment Dems Voted For Unanimously

Harry Reid doesn't care! Democrat Senators
still allow him to control their votes. Thus
   he controls the Senate by blocking bills 
when he's not "lying" on the Senate Floor. 
 What a legacy!

“On Tuesday, Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, proposed to remove the abortion language and replace it with the abortion restrictions in the House Medicare bill that Pelosi helped broker, the longstanding Hyde Amendment that restricts taxpayer dollars from being used to pay for abortions.” (“A Busy and Bipartisan Tuesday,” Roll Call, 4/14/15)

• “‘We will use the same Hyde Amendment language that was negotiated between Nancy Pelosi and Speaker Boehner in the doc-fix bill that we'll be voting on this afternoon,’ Cornyn said. ‘I don't know how in the world they could possibly object when we're answering, responding to their concerns and saying we're willing to work with you to address those, in the interest of all of these victims of human trafficking. We'll find out.’” (“New GOP Trafficking Bill Proposal Meets Resistance,” National Journal, 4/14/15)

Every Senate Democrat Supported ‘Hyde Language’ In The Doc Fix Bill
“The bill’s funding for community health centers restricts those facilities from conducting abortions.” (“Bipartisan Senate Ends Flawed Medicare Payment Formula,” Politico, 4/14/15)

180 House Democrats voted for the doc fix bill which included the Hyde Amendment.  (H.R.2, Roll Call Vote 144, Bill Passed 392-37: R 212-33; D 180-4, 3/26/15)

• REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): “…the Hyde Amendment is -- has been part of community health centers legislation since 1979 -- since it existed -- since the Hyde Amendment existed. … I also know that it has been voted on every year, just about every year since 1979. There's nothing new in this legislation about it.” (Rep. Pelosi, Press Conference, 3/26/15)
• REPS. LOUISE SLAUGHTER (D-NY) & DIANA DEGETTE (D-CO): “The language included in the bipartisan compromise does not further restrict women’s access to abortion, and the provisions expire along with funding—just as the current Hyde Amendment does. We will be supporting this bipartisan compromise, and we encourage other members of the Pro-Choice Caucus to do the same.” (“Rep. Louise Slaughter, Press Release, 3/24/15)

All 46 Senate Democrats unanimously voted for Hyde language in the doc fix bill. (H.R.2, Roll Call Vote #144: Bill Passed 92-8: R 46-8; D 44-0; I 2-0, 4/14/15)

• SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): “I think their case is compelling. … I listen pretty closely to the Pro-Choice Caucus in House.” (“Senate Democrats Thaw On 'Doc-Fix' Deal After Abortion Tweak,” National Journal, 3/25/2015)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: “I have my pen ready to sign a good bipartisan bill.” (“Bipartisan Medicare Funding Fix Passes House,” U.S. News, 3/25/15)

‘The Bill Should Not Be Derailed’
LOS ANGELES TIMES: “The Hyde Amendment has been the law for many years. A fight over whether a fraction of the projected millions of dollars in aid to victims of trafficking and hunters of traffickers can be used on abortion services seems fruitless, and the bill should not be derailed by such a fight.” (“Editorial Time for the Senate to break the impasse over human trafficking bill,” Los Angeles Times, 4/6/15)

• HOLLY AUSTIN SMITH, Victim & Advocate: “When I was fourteen years old, I was coerced into prostitution by a man I had met at a local shopping mall in New Jersey… Had there been a Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act... perhaps law enforcement would have immediately recognized that I was a victim, not a criminal… Perhaps my healing process could have been easier, faster.” (Holly Austin Smith, Committee On The Judiciary, U.S. Senate, Testimony, 2/24/15)
• MILIKA SAAR, Executive Director of Human Rights Project for Girls:“Aviva was in the foster care system.  At the age of 14, a trafficker kidnapped Aviva. He held her hostage for almost a year. During that time, Aviva was sold to at least 10 different men a night. … She forgot what it felt like to be human. … We owe it to Aviva and other trafficked children to make clear to them that the victimization and abuse they have suffered is no different or more tolerable than other forms of rape or sexual abuse of minors. We owe it to Aviva and the girls still left behind to hold accountable those who have purchased and raped them—and to create for these girls, who are mighty and strong and so hurt, opportunities to heal and to live out their potential.” (Malika Saada Saar, Committee On The Judiciary, U.S. Senate, Testimony, 2/24/15)

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Tags: U.S. Senate, Human Trafficking Bill, Democrats, abortion, Harry Reid, What a legacy To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!

Whistling to Armageddon: Obama’s Pact With Iran

by Dakota L. Wood: Congress is at odds with the Obama administration over the framework for a proposed deal with Iran regarding its nuclear program.

The administration says its approach to a negotiated deal is the best path to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapon capability … at least for the next 10-15 years. The deal under negotiation would have Iran limit its ability to enrich uranium and produce plutonium, cease use of certain nuclear facilities for the production of nuclear materials beyond that required for peaceful purposes (power generation and research) and allow international inspections. In return, economic sanctions would be lifted resulting in a flood of foreign investment and access to markets for Iran and an array of trading partners.

Critics of this plan, including many members of Congress, say Iran’s 35-year history of misconduct, evasion of sanctions, local, regional and worldwide support of terrorism, unilateral attacks on Western targets and secretive pursuit of nuclear capabilities in clear violation of multiple agreements and conventions indicates it will continue to do so regardless of any agreement it signs this coming June.

As Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, observed in his recent speech to Congress, we must “fully understand the nature of the regime” if we are to “understand just how dangerous Iran would be with nuclear weapons.” Though Iran’s pattern of behavior these past several decades epitomizes the worst of tyrannical regimes, the agreed-to framework would leave in place all of its nuclear infrastructure, and none of the negotiations have even mentioned Iran’s missile development programs or its collaboration with North Korea on related technologies.

Iran’s current ballistic missile capability enables it to threaten all of the Middle East, much of Central Asia and the eastern-most portions of Europe, including NATO ally Turkey. Israel and Saudi Arabia have long been concerned by this, especially given Iran’s recent aggressive reach into Iraq, Syria, and now Yemen, combined with its robust support of terrorist entities, such as Hezbollah and Hamas, and tyrants, such as Bashar al-Assad. Iran is developing a missile with even greater reach, the Sajjil-2, which will bring half of Europe and Africa and nearly all of Asia within range. More ominously, the missile’s characteristics imply that it will be nuclear capable.

Given the Obama-pushed framework for dealing with Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Iran’s history of repeatedly violating such deals and Iran’s investment in advanced ballistic missile capabilities, it’s no surprise those concerned with the emergence and proliferation of nuclear weapons in the most unstable and dangerous region in the world are alarmed.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey have all expressed intentions to develop or acquire their own nuclear arsenals should Iran or others in the region obtain such. Saudi Arabia would do so to maintain at least a balance of power with Iran, as well as pre-eminence within the Arab and Muslim worlds. Egypt, desirous of maintaining its status as a regional power, would follow as would Turkey, which has its own aspirations of being a major power in its troubled neighborhood.

In short, the path selected by the Obama administration is more likely to result in the very outcome it seeks to avoid.

Returning to Netanyahu: “So this deal won’t change Iran for the better; it will only change the Middle East for the worse. A deal that’s supposed to prevent nuclear proliferation would instead spark a nuclear arms race in the most dangerous part of the planet. This deal won’t be a farewell to arms. It would be a farewell to arms control. And the Middle East would soon be crisscrossed by nuclear tripwires. A region where small skirmishes can trigger big wars would turn into a nuclear tinderbox.”
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Dakota L. Wood who served America for two decades in the U.S. Marine Corps and is now the Senior Research Fellow for Defense Programs at The Heritage Foundation.

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Tags: Whistling to Armageddon, Obama's Pact with Iran, nuclear missiles, Iran, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Israel, Missile proliferation, Heritage Foundation, Dakota Wood To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!

A Thousand Ways to Die - Good News: We Are Living Longer

by Alan Caruba, Contributing Author: Does a day go by when we are not warned about something that might do us harm or kill us?

I recently received an email from the Surgeon General of the United States in which he said, “Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet with President Obama, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and health care professionals to discuss climate change. We talked about the impact of climate change on public health and the importance of prevention.”

The prevention of what? Climate change?

In the five thousand years of human civilization, there has never been, nor will ever be, a way to “prevent” climate change. This is not to say that earlier cultures didn’t try to solve drought or other weather-related problems by sacrificing the occasional virgin. We look back at that and regard it as primitive in the same way we find the notion of American Indians doing “rain dances” to induce a downpour to help the crops to grow a thing of the past.

The politicization of “climate change”, a planetary phenomenon that goes back about a billion or so years ago when the Earth took on its present atmosphere and weather patterns tells you everything you need to know about the White House and those who think they can tell outrageous lies to Americans, knowing at least half of them will believe those lives.

You’re not going to die from the "climate", but what kills Americans is well known.

The good news is that we’re living longer lives than the generations that preceded us.

We can determine what we eat and how much. Some of us thrive on exercise and others do well by ensuring they get a good night’s sleep. There are behaviors we should avoid, but their harm can be traced from a lack of moderation. People who opt for genuinely bad behavior such as drug addictions or alcoholism are simply ruining their own lives and those who care about them.

The obstacles to a long, healthy life often involve factors over which we have no control. These include family histories of illness, genetically passed on from generation to generation.

There are some fifteen most common causes of death in America and they range from diseases of the heart (28.5%) down to homicide (0.7%). That’s right. Even though our media is filled with news of homicides and popular culture features murder, the likelihood of suffering death that way is very small.

Disease of the heart (28.5%) and malignant tumors (22.8%) are responsible for more than 50% of the annual death toll. Other leading causes drop off dramatically by comparison. They include cerebrovascular diseases (6.7%), chronic lower respiratory disease (5.1%), and accidents (4.4%).

On my Facebook page, I asked my friends to list some of the things they have been warned about over the years. The list included salt, bacon, processed meats, eggs, soft drinks, saccharin, sugar substitutes, margarine, and chocolate. I have no doubt you can think of other things you’ve been told to avoid. Now, not including things like gluten or peanuts that activate allergic reactions in some people, these and comparable things are not likely to kill you. My rule of thumb has always been to eat the real, the natural food product like butter and avoid the substitutes.

I have no doubt that people have died from smoking. Cigarettes have long been called “coffin nails” in acknowledgment of the way too much smoking can affect one’s lungs. That said, I have smoked for some fifty years and a good cigar is daily pleasure. My Father smoked a pipe for just as long and lived into his 90s. My Mother who taught the art of gourmet cooking, complete with every delicious sauce and method of preparation you can imagine, lived until age 98. An international authority on wine, she would remind her students that you can find it mentioned frequently in the Bible. It is a healthy addition to your diet.

While we are constantly being warned against everything as a potential cause of death, you might find it of interest to learn that the American Medical Association conducted several research studies in the last decade, concluding that approximately 225,000 Americans died from their medical treatments!

Unnecessary surgeries caused 12,000 deaths and hospital medication errors killed 7,000. The odds of dying from an infection you pick up in the hospital is impressive; some 80,000 deaths were attributed to that, but the largest number of deaths, 106,000, were attributed to “negative effects of drugs.” To put it another way, “doctor-induced deaths are the third leading cause of death in the U.S. after heart disease and cancer.”

While we live daily with warnings about everything from the air we breathe to the water we drink (both quite clean), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collects data on mortality, including suicide. In 2013, suicide was the tenth leading cause of death in America. Someone committed suicide every 12.8 minutes. From 1986 to 2000, suicide rates had dropped from 12.5 to 10.4 deaths per 100,000 people. It is back up to 12.6, mostly involving people 45 to 64 years old, as well as those over 85 and older. The rate among men is four times higher than women and whites killed themselves (14.2) far more often than blacks (5.4) and Hispanics (5.7).

While the White House is adding to our stressful lives with utter nonsense about “climate change”, claiming it is affecting our health, there’s another group, those in charge of the United nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UFCC), whose greatest concern is the fact that there are some seven billion of us on planet Earth whom they blame for eating too much and using too much of its energy resources.

“Obviously less people would exert less pressure on the natural resources,” said Christiana Fiqueres, the Executive Secretary of the UNFCC. You can translate to mean that there are those at the United Nations who wouldn't mind if a new plague came along to kill off thousands or if famine did the same thing.

You will live a lot longer if you figure out how to reduce the levels of stress in your life; if you eat well, but moderately; and if you avoid overdoing anything you know can harm you.

Don’t listen to the fear-mongers. In the words of Mr. Spock, live long and prosper.
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Alan Caruba is a writer by profession; has authored several books, and writes a daily column, Warning Signs  He is a contribution author on the  ARRA News Service.

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