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November 2014

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 22, 2014 10 Comments
We previously highlighted the role of anti-Israel activists in exploiting and fomenting trouble in Ferguson, Missouri as a Grand Jury decision is awaited whether to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the killing of Michael Brown, Intifada Missouri – Anti-Israel activists may push Ferguson over the edge:
As much tension as there is, an underreported story is the active role of “pro-Palestinian” activists who have exploited the Ferguson riots and tension this summer and fall to push their anti-Israel agenda. That anti-Israeli agenda, which involves encouraging confrontation with police in solidarity with Palestinians, is helping provide the accelerant to an already volatile situation.... It also has involved a propaganda campaign to blame Israel for the killing of Brown because a former St.Louis County police chief three years ago attended a one-week anti-terrorism program in Israel. Presumably some Ferguson officers also have attended various training sessions routinely given in the U.S. and elsewhere to police departments, but the one-week training in Israel by someone who wasn’t even on the job when Brown was shot was enough for the usual suspects to try to blame Israel for everything that happens in Ferguson.... Israel has nothing to do with whatever did or did not happen in Ferguson. But anti-Israel activists rarely care about the truth, it’s all propaganda for the cause. But this propaganda, and this agitation, actively is pushing for a confrontation between police and protesters in Ferguson, in which people are likely to get hurt. And the activists like Masri will be there to take the viral videos and photos. And that’s the point. Just as Palestinian and supportive Western leftist activists encourage children to throw rocks at Israeli police so they can get the video of the police arresting a child, so too this is all about the photo- and video-ops. And it may push Ferguson over the edge.
One of the featured activists was Bassem Masri, someone active in the #Palestine2Ferguson movement to portray the Ferguson issues as somehow to be blamed on Israel.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on November 22, 2014 5 Comments
Double standards are an unfortunate reality of the current media construct. Democratic flubs and gaffes seldom make headlines in mainstream outlets unless the offense is so egregious it can no longer be ignored. Of course their Republican betters aren't afforded the same white washing. This past week was a particularly inarticulate week for the Democrats fecklessly attempting to navigate their way through the amnesty cluster. Imagine for a moment the wailing and gnashing of teeth if a Republican uttered any of the following. So we present to you, What if a Republican said __________?

1. Just call me Emperor. Also, kiss my ring.

Obama being called emperor is a complement

Posted by Mike LaChance on November 22, 2014 7 Comments
Remember those "intended immigration consequences" I was talking about yesterday? The word is out. Brendan Bordelon of National Review captured this exchange on CNN:
Illegal Immigrant Tells CNN She Was Inspired to Cross Border by Obama Amnesty “Did the possibility of immigration reform inspire you to come now?” CNN’s Alina Machado asked the Central American migrant waiting for a bus ticket on Thursday. “Yes, that’s right,” the woman said. “That inspired us.” “Now?” the reporter pressed. “Yes, now,” the woman replied.
Watch the video: Media responses to Obama's plan have been mixed but I like this piece by David Harsanyi of The Federalist:

Posted by Amy Miller on November 22, 2014 48 Comments
Today the House GOP sued the Obama Administration in federal court over the Administration's decision to make changes to the version of the Affordable Care Act that Congress passed. From CNN:
The one-two punch from Boehner marks a new era of tension between Republicans who will officially take over Congress in January, and the President who has signaled that despite his party's losses in the midterms, he plans to proceed with his agenda without GOP cooperation. After two Washington firms pulled out of commitments to represent the House in recent months, Boehner hired George Washington law professor Jonathan Turley earlier this week. Turley is an expert on constitutional law and has appeared on multiple television networks as a legal analyst. Boehner and other top congressional Republican leaders are also contemplating a filing a separate lawsuit challenging the president's authority to take executive action to give 5 million immigrants temporary status.
This move has been coming since July, when the chamber passed House Resolution 676, which authorized the lawsuit. Although lawmakers are already being criticized for not taking immediate action to stop Obama's executive order on immigration, there's a good reason for the delay.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on November 22, 2014 12 Comments
Warning: what you are about to see is...gross. Mystery mush and other questionable "food" offerings being served to teens at public schools have made their way online, and the results are hilarious (and a little sad.) Less than impressed by the First Lady's school lunch program, teens are tweeting pictures of their school lunches using the hashtag #ThanksMichelleObama, as Buzzfeed pointed out. The Health, Hunger-Free Kids Act passed in 2010 and championed by Michelle Obama is responsible for new restrictions on school lunches. Restrictions include limitations on sugar and caloric intake, and also require more veggies. Last month, the Washington Examiner reported, "the nation’s school boards are joining in to demand that the Obama administration let them off the hook of serving the costly and tasteless meals." The Examiner also reported the results of a survey that clearly indicated the meals are a not only gross, but a waste of money:
The survey of school leaders revealed: — 83.7 percent of school districts saw an increase in plate waste. — 81.8 percent had an increase in cost. — 76.5 percent saw a decrease in participation by students. — 75 percent of school leaders want an increase in federal funding for school districts to comply with the new standards. — 60.3 percent want flexibility for school districts to improve their ability to provide good nutrition without harm to instruction, personnel, and other school district operations.
With that in mind, it's easy to understand why the kids being served these meals weren't too terribly excited about eating their science experiments Michelle Obama-approved lunches:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 21, 2014 4 Comments
We have long followed the saga of Stanley Cohen, an attorney best known for his representation of and allegiance to Hamas. Stanley Cohen Twitter Support Hamas October 20 2014 Cohen pleaded guilty to tax charges relating to his elaborate use of cash transactions to conceal income and his failure to file income tax returns for several years. The evidence was overwhelming, to put it mildly. When Cohen entered his plea last April, he admitted that the government could prove its case. Today, Cohen was sentenced in federal court in Syracuse, NY, to 18-months in prison as set forth in his plea deal. Here is the entry in the court docket late this afternoon:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 21, 2014 24 Comments
We have long tracked the increasing aggressiveness of anti-Israel groups on campus. See my post this summer, Expecting anti-Israel violence on campuses this fall, for a partial catalog of such instances. One component of these protests is non-student activists inflaming the situation. For example, on April 10, 2014, after the Cornell student assembly tabled an anti-Israel divestment resolution, a non-student Ithaca activist (kat yang-stevens) confronted me and falsely accused me of putting my camera in her face. In fact, the video clearly shows (language warning) she made it up in order to create an incident. On November 19, 2014, Cornell Students for Justice in Palestine organized a mock Israeli checkpoint at Ho Plaza, a central student gathering point on campus between the Cornell Bookstore and Willard Straight Hall, where many student activities are centered. [caption id="attachment_106917" align="alignnone" width="600"]Cornell SJP - Mock Checkpoint Ho Plaza 11-19-2014 (Image via Casey Breznick)[/caption] Casey Breznick, Editor in Chief of the Cornell Review and an author at Legal Insurrection, has the story at the Cornell Review Blog of a confrontation that took place when a group of pro-Israel students counter-protested holding Israeli flags and signs calling for peace. Here is video we put together based on footage provided to us by multiple student sources, showing yang-stevens pulling the same ploy she pulled on me last April, claiming that the student had his camera in her face (which he denies both in the video and also in communications with me), as yang-stevens taunted the pro-Israel student to hit her. As another person shouted out "Fuck you Zionist scums": (Language Warning) In addition to his Review report, Casey told me:

Posted by Amy Miller on November 21, 2014 13 Comments
Last night, the President did more than bring illegal immigrants "out of the shadows" with his executive order. With the stroke of a pen, he made it harder for law enforcement officials to protect Americans from illegals who stick their heads out of the shadows to commit violent crimes. As part of his executive order, President Obama suspended the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Secure Communities program. Secure Communities required the FBI to automatically send the fingerprints of anyone arrested by state or local police to DHS for a cross check; DHS could then screen the arrestee to see if the person was either a criminal alien, or someone who fell under civil immigration enforcement priorities. The program was responsible for identifying and deporting hundreds of thousands of dangerous criminals who are here illegally and already in custody is no more. Amazingly, Democrats in Texas are celebrating the move:
“The existing misnamed ‘Secure Communities’ program is being terminated and replaced,” [U.S. Representative Lloyd] Doggett said in a statement to the American-Statesman. “With (the Department of Homeland Security) focusing on threats to national security and public safety, some immigration employees will likely be reassigned to higher priority duties. Future DHS requests to local law enforcement for release notification will likely focus on those who have committed a serious felony.” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement currently asks that local law enforcement agencies keep people in custody for an extra 48 hours after they have posted bail or otherwise been cleared for release if they’re suspected of being in the country illegally. The program has drawn criticism from activists who argue it leads to the deportation of nonviolent undocumented immigrants, and the Austin City Council in June passed a resolution in opposition to Travis County’s participation in the program.
Having lived in Texas (and I will say I didn't truly understand the immigration crisis until I saw it firsthand,) I don't understand how Texas Democrats can possibly condone a policy that makes it more difficult for the police to control violence in border states. It's indefensible.

Posted by Andrew Branca on November 21, 2014 42 Comments
CNN's Anderson Cooper is reporting that police officer Darren Wilson, who shot and killed Michael Brown in Ferguson MO on August 9, is purportedly in the final stages of preparing his resignation from the Ferguson police department. Wilson, who has been in hiding for months following threats of violence against himself and his immediate family, has apparently been negotiating terms of resignation with the police department. One key factor reportedly delaying his resignation prior to this point is that he preferred to wait to resign until after the Grand Jury had completed its deliberations, fearing that his resignation would make him appear guilty in their eyes. Wilson had six years of unblemished service on the Ferguson Police Department before, the evidence overwhelmingly suggests, being viciously attacked by Michael Brown and Brown's accomplice Dorian Johnson. After Brown received a contact gun shot wound to the hand while trying to take Wilson's service pistol, Brown fled a short distance before turning to attack the officer again.  It was during this renewed attack that Wilson was compelled to re-engage Brown with gun fire, ending the attack with a fatal gun shot wound to the head. Officer Wilson has maintained throughout the investigation and Grand Jury proceedings that he has done nothing wrong.  Notably, Wilson voluntarily appeared before the Grand Jury and provided over four hours of personal testimony of the events of his fatal encounter with Brown, without legal counsel present.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 21, 2014 10 Comments
The House of Representatives filed suit this morning over Obama administration unilateral changes to Obamacare. A complete copy of the Complaint is embedded at the bottom of this post. This is expected to be the template for suit over immigration changes announced last night. The NY Times describes the claims in the lawsuit:
The lawsuit — filed against the secretaries of the Health and Human Services and Treasury Departments — focuses on two crucial aspects of the way the administration has put the Affordable Care Act into effect. The suit accuses the Obama administration of unlawfully postponing a requirement that larger employers offer health coverage to their full-time employees or pay penalties. (Larger companies are defined as those with 50 or more employees.) In July 2013, the administration deferred that requirement until 2015. Seven months later, the administration announced a further delay, until 2016, for employers with 50 to 99 employees. The suit also challenges what it says is President Obama’s unlawful giveaway of roughly $175 billion to insurance companies under the law. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the administration will pay that amount to the companies over the next 10 years, though the funds have not been appropriated by Congress. The lawsuit argues that it is an unlawful transfer of funds.

Posted by Mike LaChance on November 21, 2014 26 Comments
You know who's really excited about Obama's new immigration plan? Future illegal immigrants. Paul Bedard of the Washington Examiner reported:
ICE readies 2,400 beds for new spring surge of illegal immigrants through Texas The Obama administration is bracing for another surge of illegal immigrants next spring, bringing online a family detention center that will have 2,400 beds. “We must be prepared for traditional, seasonal increases in illegal migration. The Dilley facility will provide invaluable surge capacity should apprehensions of adults with children once again surge this spring,” said Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Thomas S. Winkowski. In advance of the president’s new pro-immigrant announcement set for Thursday night, ICE is readying its strategy for next year when over 100,000 illegals are expected to flood over the U.S.-Mexico border. The agency said in a statement that it hopes illegal immigrants look at what they are doing in building holding facilities like the 2,400 bed center in Dilley, Texas, and will decide the trip isn’t worth it.
Uh huh. Good luck with that. Charles Kruathammer recently nailed the issue with a prediction.

Posted by Amy Miller on November 20, 2014 65 Comments
You can watch the announcement here at Legal Insurrection, or on the White House website. We're a little less than 30 minutes away from Obama's big announcement on his plan to overhaul immigration, and Twitter is already buzzing: UPDATE: Here we go

Posted by Amy Miller on November 20, 2014 8 Comments
Most adult humans in American understand the difference between comprehensive health insurance, and separate dental plans. Apparently, HHS staffers are neither adult humans, nor aware of the ability of a congressional committee to sniff out fraud connected to a controversial cluster of a health care bill. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee started digging into the truth behind the Administration's Obamacare enrollment numbers after officials offered testimony to the committee claiming that there were 7.3 million “Americans enrolled in Health Insurance Marketplace coverage” under Obamacare. This is what they found:
Committee staff discovered that nearly 400,000 of the 7.3 million enrollments reported by CMS are stand-alone dental plans, rather than health insurance. Committee staff identified nearly 300 plans that averaged monthly premiums of $60 or less, with many premiums averaging less than $10 a month. After matching the Plan IDs for these “outlier plans” against CMS’ own public database, investigators were able to determine that these plans are stand-alone dental coverage. Although the Committee identified nearly 400,000 dental plan enrollments, the figure could certainly be higher due to high-cost dental plans with premiums above the Committee’s $60 outlier threshold. The Committee was able to identify at least two such dental plans with monthly premiums above the $60 dollar threshold.
By doing this, HHS was able to hid the fact that actual enrollments via the exchanges fell short by more than a million enrollees.

Posted by New Neo on November 20, 2014 22 Comments
For months Obama has been saying, "I'm gonna do it, I'm really gonna do it---unless of course you give me what I want." He even told us the timing; it would be after the election. In doing so, he will be keeping a promise to his radical base (Hispanic and otherwise), issuing a threat to the Republicans in Congress, and thumbing his nose at the American voters who expressed disapproval of him on November 4. You don't get a trifecta like that every day from a president. I just wrote that what Obama is about to do constitutes a threat to Republicans in Congress. But actually, it's a threat to Congress itself. Democrats should be just as disturbed as Republicans by it, because it's not the ends that are as important here as the very dangerous means. But if you've listened to a great many Democrats talk about it, you'd think ends are all they care about---and you might just be correct for most of them. Obama has the strong support of leading Democrats, who seem only too happy to cede the power of Congress to the president to get something they think will benefit the Party. Of course, they don't state that it's a dangerous executive power overreach; they say this is just like what other presidents have done when they used their executive discretion to tweak immigration laws. Surely they must be aware of the differences. But being aware has nothing to do with it; ideologues of the left have no trouble telling themselves that 2 + 2 = 5, and that what Reagan and Bush did was just the same as what Obama is poised to do now, even though only political junkies have even heard of the former actions before because they were relatively non-controversial. Frum summarizes the differences here, and they are substantial:
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