Category Archives: National Government

House Republicans back new constitutional challenge to ObamaCare

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Forty House Republicans filed a brief last week in support of a legal challenge against ObamaCare that argues the law imposes billions of dollars in new taxes but did not originate in the House, as tax bills must under the Constitution.

Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) spearheaded the effort by filing a “friend of the court” brief on Friday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. That brief argued that ObamaCare violated the Origination Clause of the Constitution, which holds that all bills for raising revenue “shall originate in the House.”

The brief recounted how ObamaCare was ultimately passed — the Senate took an unrelated bill that gave tax breaks to certain veterans and added what ultimately became the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

“If the Senate can introduce the largest tax increase in American history by simply peeling off the House number from a six-page unrelated bill which does not raise taxes and pasting it on the ‘Senate Health Care Bill,’ and then claim with a straight face that the resulting bill originated in the House, in explicit contravention of the supreme law of the land, then the American ‘rule of law’ has become no rule at all,” the GOP brief said.

Read more at The Hill

Marine Corps officials: 4 Marines killed in training accident at Camp Pendleton in California

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SAN DIEGO – Four Marines were killed Wednesday in a training accident at Camp Pendleton in Southern California, base officials said.

The accident happened at 11 a.m. during a range maintenance operation at the San Diego County coastal base. Officials were investigating the cause and provided no further details on the training or the accident.

The identities of the dead were being withheld pending notification of relatives.

“We offer our heartfelt prayers and condolences to the families of the Marines lost today in this tragic accident,” said Brig. Gen. John W. Bullard, commanding general of Marine Corps Installations West at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. “Our first priority is to provide the families with the support they need during this difficult time.”

More at FOX News

Mexican Social Security Deal Files Face Release

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By DAN MCCUE

(CN) – A group deserves more information from government agencies on a treaty that could provide Mexican nationals with U.S. Social Security benefits, a federal judge ruled.

At issue is a “totalization agreement” Mexico and the United States reached in 2004 on the payment of Social Security benefits. After nearly 10 years, Congress still has never ratified the agreement.

The Social Security Administration says the U.S. has comparable agreements with other countries, and in this specific case, enactment of the treaty would save U.S. workers and their employers about $140 million in Mexican social security and health insurance taxes over the first five years of the agreement.

In July 2008, TREA Senior Citizens League filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act for 19 specific categories of records on the agreement created since 2001.

The nonprofit takes its name from The Retired Enlisted Association and represents the interests of senior citizens.

Ultimately, the State Department identified 124 united, responsive documents. It released 44 of those papers in full, but withheld 43 in part and 21 in full.

The remaining 16 documents were referred to other government agencies for their review and direct resolution.

TREA Senior Citizens League sued, and the federal government moved for summary judgment. In its opposition to this motion, the plaintiff challenged the withholding, in whole or in part, of 19 documents.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell largely sided with the senior citizen’s group last year, ruling that the State Department must explain the secrecy surrounding its plan to give Mexican nationals Social Security benefits.

Read more at Courthouse News Service

J. Robinson Risner, fighter pilot and leader of Hanoi Hilton prisoners, dies at 88

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By Steve Chawkins
Los Angeles Times

Brig. Gen. J. Robinson 'Robbie' Risner is credited with destroying eight MiG-15s and damaging another while assigned to the 336 Fighter Squadron in South Korea. On Sept. 21, 1952, the then-major scored double kills. He achieved ace status on Sept. 15, 1952, downing his fifth MiG-15. U.S. Air Force

Brig. Gen. J. Robinson ‘Robbie’ Risner is credited with destroying eight MiG-15s and damaging another while assigned to the 336 Fighter Squadron in South Korea. On Sept. 21, 1952, the then-major scored double kills. He achieved ace status on Sept. 15, 1952, downing his fifth MiG-15.
U.S. Air Force

The captured fighter pilot had already been through so much at the infamous Hanoi Hilton.

He had been beaten up and starved, thrown for months into a dark cell crawling with rats, held immobile with his legs pinned in stocks, and strapped with ropes so tightly that his right arm was torn from its socket. When he passed out from pain, the ropes were briefly loosened until the ordeal could start yet again.

Now, with his jailers ordering him to do a propaganda broadcast, J. Robinson Risner, in the solitude of his cell, tried to destroy his voice.

“I began pounding my throat as hard as I could,” he wrote in his 1973 memoir “The Passing of the Night.” After he delivered repeated judo chops to his larynx, he drank a paste made from acidic lye soap and intensified the burn by screaming as loud as he could into a rag he clamped over his mouth.

Read more at LA Times

Source: Stars and Stripes

WWII memorial barricaded again

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WASHINGTON DC—Less than twenty-four hours after the Million Veterans March in Washington tore down barricades blocking the World War II Memorial, the cash-strapped administration that cannot afford to keep them open found the money to have the barricades put back in place.

The veterans, which did not number a million, tore down the barricades and carried them past the White House.

The World War II Memorial was built with the help of public service announcements by actor Tom Hanks. Hanks played the role of Captain Miller in the hugely successful World War II film Saving Private Ryan. The advertisements appeared around the time of the 1998 film.

In an interview on YouTube, Hanks applauded the efforts of the veterans who re-opened the memorial if only for the weekend. At an event for his new film, Captain Phillips, Hanks said, “Good for the veterans. Good. Go see it. We should all have access to them all the time. Sorry that they didn’t have it.”

He joked, “Did they assault it with helicopters? Landing craft? Did they bust through in a jeep? How did they do it?”

Sadly the administration could find the money to re-barricade the memorial after veterans left.

Rep. Michaud Condemns Use of Veterans as Political Pawns

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WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Representative Mike Michaud (ME-02), Ranking Member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, spoke on the House floor today during debate on H.J.Res. 72, a bill that partially funds VA operations and furthers the standoff over the government shutdown. Michaud has previously spoken out against piecemeal approaches pursued by Republican leaders.

“This House bill, like the others before them, will not be considered by the Senate and the President has said he will veto it. Instead of waging a PR war and wasting time on bills that will go nowhere, House Republicans should pursue a solution to the shutdown that could actually pass both chambers and be signed by the President,” said Michaud.

Read more at Veterans Today

Police: Soldier fatally stabbed; may be hate crime

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LAKEWOOD, Wash. – A Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier was stabbed to death in a parking lot at the 12500 block of Pacific Highway Southwest around 2:30 a.m., officials say.

20-year-old Tevin Geike was walking with two other white soldiers along Pacific Highway SW when a group of black men drove by and shouted a racial comment toward the soldiers, the Lakewood Police Department said.

“One of the soldiers yelled back something about the suspects treating combat soldiers with disrespect,” Lt. Chris Lawler said.

The car turned around and the men confronted the soldiers, according to reports. As the verbal confrontation ensued, the driver of the vehicle realized the men were actually combat veterans and called his friends off. While the men headed back to their vehicle, one of the suspects appeared to have bumped into Geike, witnesses say.

Read more and see video at KOMO News

AMAC supports democrat elder abuse protection bill

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The Association of Mature American Citizens organization issued a letter of support to Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA) for his bill, H.R. 3090, the Elder Protection and Abuse Prevention Act of 2013. Arizona democrats Ron Barber and Raul Grijalva—of Arizona’s 2nd and 3rd districts respectively—are among 43 co-sponsors of the bill.

Andrew Mangione, on the AMAC web site, wrote, “This piece of legislation sheds light on elder abuse and institutes a number of legal protective measures to ensure that incidents of abuse are properly reported and reduced nationwide. To put an end to these injustices, H.R. 3090 strengthens the definitions of elder abuse, neglect, and elder justice and defines the terms financial exploitation and adult protective services for the first time in the Older Americans Act (OAA) of 1965.”

H.R. 3090 seeks to strengthen the definitions of abuse in Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, section of the United States Code. It also provides funding for various government and private agencies in the area of elder abuse neglect and financial exploitation.

AMAC is a conservative alternate group to AARP.

U.S. Forest Service bans exploding targets

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Seven fires in Rocky Mountains blamed on devices

DENVER – The U.S. Forest Service announced a ban on exploding targets Monday, citing them as a major cause of wildfires.

Shooters who use exploding targets have ignited 16 wildfires since last year, including seven in the Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain region of Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota.

The ban extends to all national forests and grasslands in those five states.

The public should understand that exploding targets can cause fires, said John Walsh, the U.S. Attorney for Colorado.

“You don’t want to have on your conscience starting a huge forest fire,” Walsh said.

A month before the Boston Marathon bombings, the FBI warned that commercial “exploding targets” used for recreational rifle shooting could power homemade bombs on American streets.

Read more and see video at The Durango Herald

Army veteran and cancer survivor rides for life.

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Fred-Vlchek130730FLAGSTAFF—Thirteen-year army veteran and cancer survivor Fred Vlchek stopped in Flagstaff yesterday on his way to dip his bicycle tire into the water of the Pacific Ocean at the Oceanside Municipal Pier.

Fred is riding to raise funds for Fred’s Difference, his 501(C)3 non-profit organization committed to increasing awareness and to support/fund treatment of all types of cancer plaguing the world today. The elements of the threefold mission of Fred’s Difference are; fundraising to help cancer patients offset the costs associated with cancer treatments, increasing awareness of the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of those affected by cancer, and support community efforts to increase awareness and raise funds for the assistance of cancer patients and their families.

As a six-year testicular cancer survivor, Fred began this pilgrimage on July 26th in Oceanside to raise funds in order to help others struggling in their battle with cancer. The five-week, 3200 mile trek will cover 12-states reaching elevations over 8,000 feet.

The next leg of his journey takes him through Tuba City toward the Navajo township of Kayenta where he is looking for assistance. He will need lodgings overnight to prevent paying a hotel bill which takes away from the effort of the ride. In fact, any lodgings that people can provide along the way will help save money which can be applied toward the foundation. As a Fourth degree member of the Knights of Columbus, he hopes that he will have assistance from that organization throughout his ride.

You can follow his ride and make donations at his web site: Freds Difference.com.