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Author: Mike LaChance

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Mike LaChance

Mike LaChance has been covering higher education and politics for Legal Insurrection since 2012. He has also written for American Lookout, Townhall, and Twitchy.

Since 2008 he has contributed work to the Daily Caller, Breitbart, Gateway Pundit, the Center for Security Policy, the Washington Free Beacon, and Ricochet.

Mike is a Generation X, New England lifer who describes his political views as conservative and libertarian.

You can find him on Twitter @MikeLaChance33

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 18, 2015 13 Comments
Yesterday in Iowa, the Hillary Clinton campaign told their young supporters they couldn't speak to the press. This clumsy and seemingly paranoid move earned Hillary Clinton mockery even on MSNBC. Daniel Halper of the Weekly Standard has the details:
"Here's what struck me," said Susan Page of USA Today, "when I read the coverage in the Des Moines Register this morning. Jennifer Jacobs, who's been on your show, was covering this last night. Big demonstrations outside of young people for O'Malley and Hillary Clinton. She went up to the Clinton supporters -- these are protesters for Clinton -- and they were told they were not allowed to [speak to] a reporter." Page continued, "Now, why in the world would the campaign tell their own supporters who came out to campaign in favor Hillary Clinton ... these are the young people, college kids, for Hillary, and they've been told they can't talk to reporters. Why in the world would you do that?
Enjoy the video:

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 18, 2015 15 Comments
Governor Scott Walker appeared on the Kelly File Thursday night and commented on the shooting in Chattanooga. His response was starkly different than Obama's. Transcript via Mike Miller of IJ Review:
Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker joined the growing chorus of those calling on President Obama to acknowledge that America is at war with radical Islam on Thursday, saying we need to call it what it is.
We need to acknowledge that we’re at war and radical Islamic terrorism is our enemy. It’s not enough just to have containment anymore. When you talked about the policies that prohibited our military personnel from being armed at an establishment like this; those are outdated. [W]e’re facing an enemy in radical Islamic terrorism that’s willing to take the fight to us. We need to make sure that our men and women in uniform not only have the resources to protect us and keep our country safe, [but] they need to have the resources to keep themselves safe.”

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 17, 2015 14 Comments
EPA Chief Gina McCarthy recently testified before Congress; when questioned by Chairman Lamar Smith over ineffective regulations that raise the cost of energy and thereby punish low income Americans, she admitted the regulations would have virtually no impact on climate. All that effort, basically for nothing. Transcript and video via Marc Morano of the Climate Depot (emphasis added):
CHAIRMAN LAMAR SMITH: “On the Clean Power Plan, former Obama Administration Assistant Secretary Charles McConnell said at best it will reduce global temperature by only one one-hundredth of a degree Celsius. At the same time it’s going to increase the cost of electricity. That’s going to hurt the lowest income Americans the most. How do you justify such an expensive, burdensome, onerous rule that’s really not going to do much good and isn’t this all pain and no gain. ADMINISTRATOR GINA MCCARTHY: “No sir, I don’t agree with you. If you look at the RIA we did, the Regulatory Impact Analysis you would see it’s enormously beneficial. CHAIRMAN SMITH: “Do you consider one one-hundredth of a degree to be enormously beneficial?” ADMINISTRATOR MCCARTHY: “The value of this rule is not measured in that way. It is measured in showing strong domestic action which can actually trigger global action to address what’s a necessary action to protect…”

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 16, 2015 7 Comments
After a full month of drama, Greece and its creditors finally agreed on a multi-billion dollar bailout package. One of the bailout's most controversial conditions is a list of new austerity measures, and we all know how many Greeks feel about those. Anti-austerity violence broke out on the streets of Athens last night. Megan Specia of Mashable reported:
Tensions were high on Wednesday night outside the Greek parliament building on Athens' Syntagma Square, which was the center of violent anti-austerity protests in years past. And while the streets of Athens were largely calm for much of the day, despite thousands marching against austerity measures tied to the country's new bailout agreement, the night took a more violent turn. As night fell, clashes broke out between protesters waiting to hear the fate of their country's economic future and the police sent to keep them calm.

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 15, 2015 15 Comments
According to a document leaked to the Huffington Post, over 200,000 veterans waiting for healthcare have already died:
Leaked Document: Nearly One-Third Of 847,000 Veterans In Backlog For VA Health Care Already Died WASHINGTON -- More than 238,000 of the 847,000 veterans in the pending backlog for health care through the Department of Veterans Affairs have already died, according to an internal VA document provided to The Huffington Post. Scott Davis, a program specialist at the VA's Health Eligibility Center in Atlanta and a past whistleblower on the VA's failings, provided HuffPost with an April 2015 report titled "Analysis of Death Services," which reviews the accuracy of the VA's veteran death records. The report was conducted by staffers in the VA Health Eligibility Center and the VA Office of Analytics. Flip to page 13 and you'll see some stark numbers. As of April, there were 847,822 veterans listed as pending for enrollment in VA health care. Of those, 238,657 are now deceased, meaning they died after they applied for, but never got, health care.
You can read the entire document here, but as the Huffington Post mentioned, be sure to see page 13. (A screen cap of that page is featured at the top of this post.)

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 14, 2015 11 Comments
Scott Walker announced his run for president yesterday in a speech that was well received by many on the right. Yet before he even announced, some pundits were calling him the front runner. On the FOX News program Political Insiders, analysts Doug Schoen, Pat Caddell and John Leboutillier cited a Real Clear Politics poll which puts Walker way ahead of the other candidates in Iowa. Leboutillier notes that Walker understands the mechanics of a primary and the metrics associated with political advertising. Caddell suggests that Walker's message is compelling, his victory over big unions is very compelling for Republican voters, and that he shouldn't be underestimated. They also address the ascendancy of Trump in the polls, but suggest things will shift once the Republican debates begin. Watch the whole segment below:

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 13, 2015 32 Comments
Now that the Supreme Court decision on gay marriage has been made, liberals have set their sights on destroying the language used to describe traditional marriages. Pete Kasperowicz of the Washington Examiner reports:
Dems declare war on words 'husband,' 'wife' More than two dozen Democrats have proposed legislation that would eliminate the words "husband" and "wife" from federal law. Those "gendered terms" would be replaced by "gender-neutral" words like "spouse" or "married couple," according to the bill from Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif. "The Amend the Code for Marriage Equality Act recognizes that the words in our laws have meaning and can continue to reflect prejudice and discrimination even when rendered null by our highest courts," Capps said. "Our values as a country are reflected in our laws. I authored this bill because it is imperative that our federal code reflect the equality of all marriages." The Supreme Court ruled in June that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution means all states have to license same-sex marriages, a ruling that effectively ended the same-sex marriage debate in America. Capps said her bill was aimed at taking the next step, which is to ensure the United States Code "reflects the equality of all marriages."

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 12, 2015 16 Comments
Did you know that Anthony Weiner, aka Carlos Danger, writes a regular column for Business Insider? In his latest piece, he wonders why Bernie Sanders, who's an independent socialist, is running for the Democratic nomination. This is pretty entertaining stuff:
ANTHONY WEINER: I have one big question for Bernie Sanders Apart from the Donald Trump sideshow, one of the biggest stories in the presidential election this past week has been the apparent momentum Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) is enjoying in his underdog campaign. Sanders has been drawing crowds of thousands at his rallies and is quickly becoming the main primary rival of Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton. I totally get Bernie Mania. However, I’m deeply conflicted about it. My wife works for Hillary so there’s that. But I’m also torn because I don’t really understand what he is doing.
It's good that Weiner admitted that last part. After all, he is married to Huma Abedin, one of Hillary Clinton's most trusted aides.

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 11, 2015 1 Comment
Ann Coulter's new book Adios, America! is currently number two on the New York Times bestsellers list. It is her eleventh book to reach such a distinction. She recently sat down for an interview with John Phillips of PJTV, and if you watch the video below, you'll hear Ann explain the book's success despite a blackout from many mainstream media outlets. Coulter speaks at length about immigration, legal and illegal, as a political issue and claims that American media has largely decided that the debate is settled and doesn't want people to even think about it. She points out how bad amnesty would be for the country and doesn't limit her criticism to Democrats. Fans of Marco Rubio should consider themselves warned.

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 10, 2015 8 Comments
General Joseph Dunford has been nominated to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. While testifying before congress yesterday, he made one claim that might come as news to President Obama. Phil Stewart and David Alexander of Reuters reported:
Russia is top U.S. national security threat: Gen. Dunford Russia presents the greatest threat to U.S. national security and its behavior is "nothing short of alarming," Marine General Joseph Dunford told lawmakers on Thursday as they weighed his nomination to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dunford also added his voice to those Pentagon officials who have supported providing lethal arms to Ukraine to help it defend itself from Russia-backed separatists, a step that President Barack Obama has so far resisted. "My assessment today, Senator, is that Russia presents the greatest threat to our national security," said Dunford, the Marine Corps commandant, who is expected to swiftly win Senate confirmation to become the top U.S. military officer.

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 09, 2015 33 Comments
It's probably safe to say that there aren't many liberals in media who were impressed by Hillary Clinton's recent interview on CNN. Chuck Todd of NBC, Maggie Haberman of the New York Times, Mike Barnicle of MSNBC and others had little praise. David Rutz of the Washington Free Beacon put together a highlight reel of media reactions:
The Media Thought Hillary’s CNN Interview Was Terrible Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s first wide-ranging, sit-down interview of the 2016 election cycle was a dud, according to mainstream media observers. MSNBC’s Morning Joe panelists thought she was evasive, fearful, and gave off an annoyed vibe. On immigration, she made untrue claims about her Republican opponents and CNN’s Jake Tapper warned her about overplaying her hand. CNN’s Alisyn Camerota called her out for blaming right-wing attacks for her sinking poll numbers, reminiscent of her accusations of a “vast right-wing conspiracy“ when she was first lady. Meet the Press‘s Chuck Todd, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, and BBC’s Katty Kay all said, separately, she looked “defensive” on questions about her private email server.

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 08, 2015 3 Comments
Time has really flown by, hasn't it? Would you believe the famous recall election that Scott Walker won in Wisconsin was three years ago? As you may recall, it was a big night at Legal Insurrection with fireworks and music on the site. Our Wisconsin Recall Tag has the history. Wisconsin first lady Tonette Walker tweeted out this reminder yesterday: Here's a great video from the Walker team to commemorate the event:

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 07, 2015 20 Comments
Media bias is no longer a problem perceived only by conservative bloggers. A Gallup poll last fall found 60% didn't trust mass media but a new survey from USA Today and the Newseum Institute finds that 70% of Americans believe the media is biased. Clearly, the scandals of Brian Williams and George Stephanopolous played a role. Bradford Thomas of Truth Revolt:
Media Fail: 70% Believe News Reporting Intentionally Biased A new survey by USA Today and the First Amendment Center found that Americans' distrust of the news media has skyrocketed over the last year, the number of American adults believing news reporting is biased jumping up to 70 percent, while less than a quarter now say they trust the news media. The 2015 State of the First Amendment Survey released Friday found that only 24 percent of American adults believe that "overall, the news media tries to report the news without bias," a 17-point drop from last year and the lowest number since the poll began in 2004. More than two-thirds, 70 percent, disagreed with that statement, a 15-point increase since last year.
One positive finding in the survey was an increase in support for the First Amendment.

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 05, 2015 10 Comments
Back in March, Ted Cruz raised $2 million in three days but the haul his campaign and supporter groups has brought in over the last three months makes that look like small potatoes. According to a new report from Reuters, Cruz has entered impressive territory:
Cruz presidential campaign says supporters donated $51 million Republican Senator Ted Cruz and the outside groups supporting his presidential bid have raised more than $51 million in the three months since he launched his campaign for president, according to a statement from his campaign on Sunday. Cruz, who announced his candidacy on March 23 in a speech at the conservative school Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, has raised far less in donations directly to his campaign than his supporters have collected for the four outside spending groups supporting him. The statement said there were 175,000 individual donations to the campaign with an average contribution of $81. About $10 million came in during the second quarter of the year.

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 05, 2015 28 Comments
South Carolina governor Nikki Haley's political capital is rising. Her leadership in the wake of the shooting in Charleston has some wondering if she's now a contender for vice president on the GOP's 2016 ticket. Joseph Weber of FOX News:
Haley’s Charleston response, Confederate flag stand spark VP talk South Carolina GOP Gov. Nikki Haley’s response to the Charleston massacre, highlighted by her call to remove the Confederate flag from statehouse grounds, has thrust her back into the national spotlight and re-ignited talk about what role she might play in the 2016 race. Not only is Haley poised to be a powerful surrogate, there's already chatter that she could make a solid Republican vice presidential candidate. "She’d be on anybody’s list,” Mike Huckabee, one 14 GOP presidential candidates and a former Arkansas governor, told Fox News on Tuesday. “She’s done a terrific job in South Carolina.”
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