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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 June 29, 2015 23 Comments
The field of Republicans running for president is about to get a bit more crowded as New Jersey governor Chris Christie is expected to announce his bid to run on Tuesday. Bloomberg reports:
Chris Christie Said to Plan Tuesday Announcement of Presidential Run New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will join the crowded Republican 2016 field Tuesday, two people with knowledge of his plans said. Christie, 52, will cap months of speculation with an announcement in his hometown of Livingston, said the people, who asked for anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak before his speech. While Christie previously said he hadn’t made up his mind, he’s spent months making policy speeches and holding meetings in key primary states including New Hampshire and Iowa. He’s traveled as “honorary chairman” of Leadership Matters for America, his political action committee. Samantha Smith, a committee spokeswoman, didn’t immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 27, 2015 8 Comments
A recent poll by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News found that a handful of Republican presidential candidates have seen an increase in support but one of the the biggest jumps went to Carly Fiorina:
GOP 2016 Hopefuls Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee Gain Ground in WSJ/NBC News Poll Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina all gained significant ground with Republican primary voters in the weeks since they announced their candidacy for the party’s presidential nomination, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul moved in the opposite direction over the same period, with the share of likely GOP primary voters who said they could see themselves backing him falling from 59% in late April to 49% in mid-June. The decline came as Mr. Paul battled fellow Republicans over his effort to end the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of phone records... The biggest movers in the new survey were Ms. Fiorina and Messrs. Carson and Huckabee. The share of Republican primary voters who said they were open to supporting Ms. Fiorina, a former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Co., jumped from 17% in April to 31% in June, about even with the 29% who said they weren't open to supporting her.

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 27, 2015 10 Comments
Greece and the Eurozone have been unable to reach an agreement ahead of a bailout deadline which quickly approaches on June 30th. If negotiations fail, Greece could leave the European Union and ultimately face economic collapse. The situation is already causing a dash for cash in the debt strapped country. Bloomberg reports:
Greeks Line Up at Banks and Drain ATMs as Tsipras Calls Vote Some Greek banks were beginning to limit cash transactions as hundreds of people lined up outside branches and drained cash machines after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called a referendum that could decide his country’s fate in the euro. Two senior Greek retail bank executives said as many as 500 of the country’s more than 7,000 ATMs had run out of cash as of Saturday morning, and that some lenders may not be able to open on Monday unless there was an emergency liquidity injection from the Bank of Greece. A central bank spokesman said it was making efforts to supply money to the system.

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 26, 2015 17 Comments
After the Charleston shootings, there was a renewed push by President Obama for restricting access for law-abiding citizens to guns. Scott Walker wasn't having any of it. He signed into law a loosening of waiting periods that have been on the books for decades. From FOX News:
Wisconsin Gov. Walker ends decades-old waiting period for handguns Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed two bills loosening his state's gun laws on Wednesday, including one ending the state's 48-hour waiting period for handgun purchases. The timing of the bill signing comes amid a renewed debate over gun control and race relations after the fatal shootings at a Charleston, S.C., black church on June 17; a white man faces multiple murder charges. But the measures on Walker's desk predated the massacre and passed earlier this month in the GOP-majority Legislature with bipartisan support. The second measure would allow off-duty, retired and out-of-state police officers to carry firearms on school grounds.
CNN covered the topic too, and to their credit, they were fair:

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 25, 2015 13 Comments
The senate passed the Trade Promotion Authority bill yesterday but it did so without Ted Cruz who supported an earlier version of the bill. Janet Hook of the Wall Street Journal:
Ted Cruz Flips on Trade Bill on Eve of Key Senate Vote Sen. Ted Cruz, a free-trade advocate who had supported legislation to expedite trade agreements, on Tuesday flipped his position and announced on the eve of a crucial Senate vote that he was prepared to vote against a new version of the bill, demanding that GOP leaders assure him that they had made no “secret deal” to keep the controversial Export-Import Bank alive. “As a general matter, I agree (as did Ronald Reagan) that free trade is good for America; when we open up foreign markets, it helps American farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers,” Mr. Cruz said, announcing his switch in an op-ed for Breitbart News, a conservative website that has been a vigorous critic of the Trade Protection Authority (TPA) bill known as “fast track.” “But TPA in this Congress has become enmeshed in corrupt Washington backroom deal-making, along with serious concerns that it would open up the potential for sweeping changes in our laws that trade agreements typically do not include.”
Cruz was a guest on Special Report with Bret Baier last night and although questions from the panel included a wide array of topics, Cruz's switch on TPA was the very first one.

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 23, 2015 20 Comments
Back in the fall of 2014, when the news of Grubergate broke, Obama claimed that Jonathan Gruber was just some advisor who never worked on his staff. You don't have to take my word for it. Here's a video of Obama responding to a direct question on the subject from Ed Henry of FOX News: You might be shocked to learn that our president wasn't being entirely truthful.

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 21, 2015 18 Comments
The new left-wing leaders in Greece have done little to stem the country's growing financial crisis and even members of the Obama administration are now urging them to act. NBC News reports:
Greece Debt Crisis: U.S. Warns Athens to Reach Deal or Face 'Decline' ATHENS, Greece — The United States turned up the heat on the Greek government over its debt crisis Saturday, urging it to reach a deal with creditors as wearied citizens braced for a national default. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in an interview that the government in Athens should make tough fiscal decisions or risk devastating both the country's economy and people. "I think we're at a moment now where the burden is on Greece to come back with a response that's the basis for reaching an agreement as quickly as possible," he said in an episode of CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" program that will air on Sunday, according to a transcript provided to Reuters. "It's clear that within Greece, the consequence of a failure here would mean a terrible, terrible decline in their economic performance," he said. "It will hurt the Greek people. They will bear the first brunt of a failure here."

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 21, 2015 23 Comments
Gun control has never been a winning issue for Democrats but that hasn't stopped them from trying. In the wake of the Charleston shootings, Obama is pursuing the issue with renewed vigor. Edward-Isaac Dovere of Politico reports:
Obama: I'm not giving up on guns SAN FRANCISCO—Wrapping together his frustrations with the country’s continuing problems with racism and his own inability to make progress on gun control in the wake of the South Carolina church shooting, President Barack Obama stood before a bipartisan gathering of mayors here Friday and declared, “It is not good enough simply to show sympathy.” “The apparent motivations of the shooter remind us that racism remains a blight that we have to combat together. We have made great progress but we have to be vigilant because it still lingers,” Obama said. There must be a popular outcry for gun control, Obama said, to change the minds of a Congress that he said he knows right now won’t touch the issue. “I refuse to act as if this is the new normal or to pretend that it’s simply sufficient to grieve and that any mention of us doing something to stop it is somehow politicizing the problem,” he said.
FOX News pointed out Obama's political conundrum on Friday night:

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 20, 2015 61 Comments
As the families of victims in the Charleston shootings show amazing strength and faith, some people on the left are already exploiting the incident for political gain. Meanwhile, South Carolina governor Nikki Haley is calling for the harshest punishment for the shooter. Nick Gass of Politico:
Nikki Haley: Charleston shooter deserves death penalty A little more than a day after the shooting at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, the state’s political figures are still coming to grips with an attack that killed nine people. Accused Charleston shooter Dylann Roof should get the death penalty, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said Friday. “We will absolutely want him to have the death penalty,” Haley told NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie on “Today,” adding that there is only one person to blame for the shooting at Emanuel AME Church on Wednesday night. “A person filled with hate,” she added.
Here's the related video report:

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 20, 2015 8 Comments
The Democratic Party has made it clear that income inequality will be one of their main issues for 2016. The fact that the Clintons are multi-millionaires is conveniently overlooked, as are the party's ties to incredibly rich donors. Dave Boyer of the Washington Times provides this interesting new report:
Obama, Pelosi mend fences at fundraiser hosted by billionaire activist There’s nothing like a big-money fundraiser for House Democrats to bring President Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi closer together. Mr. Obama and Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, made a show of mending fences Friday night at a fundraiser at the home of billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer overlooking the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco. Friday was their first meeting since Mrs. Pelosi turned against the president last week by leading the opposition that temporarily derailed crucial trade legislation Mr. Obama is seeking. Despite those tensions, Mr. Obama told more than 50 wealthy Democratic donors, who paid up to $33,400 each to help Democrats win in 2016, that Mrs. Pelosi has been instrumental to his achievements in office.

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 18, 2015 10 Comments
You may recall the horrific story of Colleen Hufford, a 54 year-old Oklahoma woman who was beheaded in 2014 by a co-worker who was a recent convert to Islam. The story shocked the nation and reminded many of the Fort Hood attack; some people insisted it wasn't terrorism but just an act of workplace violence. Holly Bailey of Yahoo News reported at the time:
A beheading in Oklahoma: Was it terrorism or workplace violence? She never saw him coming, according to police. Just after 4 p.m. on Sept. 25, Colleen Hufford, a 54-year-old grandmother and worker at Vaughan Foods in Moore, Okla., was standing in the doorway of the front office in the food processing facility's main building when Alton Nolen, a co-worker who had just been suspended over an argument with another colleague, violently grabbed her from behind. As horrified employees watched, Nolen, a 30-year-old production line worker with a criminal history, savagely sawed at Hufford's throat with a large kitchen knife he had gone home to retrieve, severing her head.

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 17, 2015 22 Comments
We interrupt your regular programming about Jeb Bush and Donald Trump to bring you this report about the Republican nomination for 2016. Scott Walker now leads the field. Jonathan Easley of The Hill:
Walker leads nationally in new poll Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker leads a tight field of candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, according to a new survey from Public Policy Polling. Walker is alone in first place in the poll with 17 percent, followed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 15 percent, Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) at 13 percent, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 12 percent and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 11 percent. That’s a big jump for Bush, who was at 11 percent support in the same poll last month. However, Bush will begin his quest for the GOP nomination with a negative favorability rating among Republicans, according to the poll. Only 37 percent said they have a positive view of Bush, against 40 percent who have a negative view. Bush is dragged down by those who identify as “very conservative,” with only 32 percent of those saying they have a positive view of Bush. Bush is the top choice among self-described “moderate” Republican primary voters.

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 16, 2015 12 Comments
The race for 2016 has shifted the focus of the media and many Americans away from the IRS scandal, but a new development in the story has come to light. Over 6,000 Lois Lerner emails have been found but the IRS is stalling on sharing them. You'll never guess why. Gerri Willis of the FOX Business Network reports:
IRS Finds 6,400 Lois Lerner Emails But Won't Hand Em Over The Internal Revenue Service may have found 6,400 emails from Lois Lerner, who oversaw the tax agency’s Exempt Organizations Unit, but the government agency has no plans to share. Attorneys from the Department of Justice representing the IRS say the emails won’t be shared because the service is making sure that none of them are duplicates. Lerner is at the center of a scandal in which the tax agency denied special tax status to conservative groups. Her emails have been sought by members of Congress and conservative groups alike. One of those groups, Judicial Watch, has been seeking emails as part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed two years ago. Originally, the IRS said the email trail was permanently lost because the computer drive that contained it crashed. However, the Treasury Department’s Inspector General for Tax Administration or TIGTA, was able to retrieve 6,400 emails which it has subsequently sent to the agency. It is these emails that the IRS wants to check for duplicates.
Watch the video report below.

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 14, 2015 34 Comments
Jeb Bush is expected to announce his run for president tomorrow, and his team has already released their first video and are touting it as Bush introducing himself to the American people. The spot focuses on Bush's time as governor of Florida and hits specific notes on women, minorities, the disabled, education, and jobs. Take a look below, hat tip to The Shark Tank: We decided to use the campaign logo as the featured image of this post because there's been some buzz about it on Twitter.

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 14, 2015 14 Comments
Bob Woodward appeared on CNN's State of the Union program with Jake Tapper today and claimed that one of Hillary's favorite sayings is "fake it until you make it." He also pointed out the fact that she has a trust deficit issue and that she hasn't been forthcoming enough with the emails from her time at the State Department. Here's more from Blake Seitz of the Washington Free Beacon:
Woodward: Clinton Email, Donor Disclosure ‘Not Enough’ The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward laughed off Hillary Clinton’s reluctant disclosure of emails and foundation donors as “not enough” on Sunday’s State of the Union. Democratic National Committee Vice-Chairwoman Donna Brazile mounted a peculiar defense of Clinton, claiming that she has “never seen a politician who has laid out more information about herself. We have read her emails, we have seen all the donors—” “Not enough! Not enough!” Woodward interjected, as panelists S.E. Cupp and Dana Bash laughed.
Watch the video:

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 13, 2015 18 Comments
Hillary Clinton announced her intention to run for president back in April with the release of a video but apparently, that wasn't the real launch of her campaign. The second and all-new launch happened today on New York's Roosevelt Island which, ironically, used to be called Welfare Island. Attendees were told to expect 'airport style security' for the event. Luckily for Mrs. Clinton's staff, it doesn't look like they had to worry about crowd overflow:
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