Rep. McCaul certainly thinks so...
Feinstein: Obama Approach to Islamic State Not ‘Sufficient to the Job’ Face The Nation host John Dickerson asked whether her earlier concerns about the administration’s strategy had been alleviated by a briefing from Secretary of State John Kerry. “No, I don’t think the approach is sufficient to the job,“ Feinstein said on Face The Nation. “I think their general principles and their general principles in terms of the administration’s strategy, too, but I’m concerned that we don’t have the time, and we don’t have years. We need to be aggressive now, because ISIL is a quasi-state.”
Americans have not been as approving of Obama's performance on the economy since November 2012, just after the president was re-elected to a second term. The 44% he received then was similar to the 45% right before Election Day. Both scores were major improvements from the sub-40% ratings he'd received during much of his first term -- including a record low of 26% in August 2011 after contentious negotiations with Congress to raise the debt limit. Obama's best marks on the economy -- between 55% and 59% -- came during his first few months in office. Over the past three years, Obama's economic approval rating has fluctuated, reaching a low of 33% in 2014.
Obama Has Decimated His Own Party Unlike Any Other Modern President Last week concluded the final election of President Obama’s tenure that didn’t involve replacing him. After seven years in office and as many elections, the Democratic Party has taken a beating worse than the Republican Party took under George W. Bush.
Meet The Press host Chuck Todd and his Sunday panelists outlined the Democratic Party’s heavy losses under the Obama administration, with panelist Marc Caputo saying the idea of the “Obama political machine” was a “lie” that couldn’t win without him on a ballot. Under Obama, Democrats have lost 13 Senate seats and 69 House seats in Congress, and the results are even more staggering on a local level. Democrats have lost 12 governorships, including Kentucky last week with the election of Matt Bevin, 30 state legislative chambers and more than 900 state legislative seats. That’s the worst showing for an incumbent president’s party since the Richard Nixon years, due to the taint of Watergate...
Obama’s Gitmo Workaround President Obama is about to send Congress a doomed plan to close the terrorist prison at Guantanamo Bay, so he can then shut down Gitmo the way he does nearly anything—by executive order. White House press secretary Josh Earnest repeated the familiar drill Wednesday. They “work with Congress where we can,” Mr. Earnest said. “But if Congress continues to refuse, I wouldn’t rule out the President using every element of his authority to make progress.”
“The State Department has decided that the Keystone XL Pipeline would not serve the national interest of the U.S.,” President Barack Obama said in brief remarks from the White House. “I agree with that decision.”
"Have you noticed that everyone of these candidates say, 'Obama's weak. Putin's kicking sand in his face. When I talk to Putin, he's going to straighten out,'" Obama said, impersonating a refrain among Republican candidates that he's allowed Russian President Vladimir Putin too much leeway. "Then it turns out they can't handle a bunch of CNBC moderators at the debate. Let me tell you, if you can't handle those guys, then I don't think the Chinese and the Russians are going to be too worried about you," Obama said.Of course, Obama has never had to handle anything even remotely like the questions at that CNBC debate, since the MSM is respectful to him to the point of obsequiousness, and debate moderators have gone so far as to carry his water when he seems about to falter. In 2007, he and Hillary Clinton boycotted a debate that had been scheduled to be co-hosted by Fox News; the other co-host was the Congressional Black Caucus, but apparently even that hosting balancing act wasn't quite friendly enough.
Here's some good news that many Americans may not realize: Domestically, we are winning the fight against the carbon pollution that drives climate change. And by doing so, we are giving President Obama a strong hand to play when world leaders gather at the U.N.'s climate summit in Paris in five weeks to negotiate a global agreement to limit carbon emissions.
President Obama defended ‘Black Lives Matter.’ But why did he have to? Obama chose to weigh in on the simmering controversy over the phrase "Black Lives Matter." More specifically, he gave his take on the idea that the phrase is a threat, a verbal affront or some kind of intentional effort to devalue the lives of others. This idea seems to have started with a few not-exactly disinterested police union heads and law enforcement officials, boiled over on a number of conservative blogs and has reverberated with a certain share of the white American public...
Steve Kroft: Do you think it posed a national security problem?
Speaking at the Atlantic Council on Tuesday, US Admiral Mark Ferguson, who is in charge of the Allied Joint Force Command in Naples, Italy, said that Russia is developing military capabilities and hybrid method of war are designed to "cripple" the functional abilities of the NATO alliance, according to a transcript from US Naval Institute news. Russia's focus on hybrid and asymmetrical warfare, including its development of cyber and information warfare capabilities, is “designed to cripple the decision-making cycle of the alliance," Ferguson. "Their capabilities have focused on the creation of ambiguity.” Admiral Mark Ferguson explained the objectives of Russian tactics against the NATO member states, saying, "Russia exploits ethnic and religious divisions, makes use of an aggressive information campaign, and extensively uses misinformation and deception to delegitimize the forces under attack while confusing the attribution of their actions."
For the U.S., the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement opens agricultural markets in Japan and Canada, tightens intellectual property rules to benefit drug and technology companies, and establishes a tightknit economic bloc to challenge China’s influence in the region. President Barack Obama lauded the trade accord on Monday, saying it would open new markets to American products and set high standards for protecting workers and the environment. ... After dozens of rounds of negotiations and five days of haggling in Atlanta, trade ministers and other top officials said they resolved bitter fights over intellectual property protection for biologic drugs, automotive-assembly rules and dairy products.
According to the source close to the investigation, authorities are looking at social media posts between a person they believe may have been the shooter, and others. The conversation happened Wednesday night on 4chan. In it, the writer talks about planning to carry out a shooting. Others egg him on, giving him suggestions on how to do it, and the type of weapons to use. The responses are mixed -- with some users characterizing the would-be gunman as a pathetic loser. Others called him a twisted hero. In the posts, there is a reference to the UC Santa Barbara shooter, who wrote a manifesto and videoed himself before opening fire a year ago. "This is the only time I'll ever be in the news. I'm so insignificant," reads an apparent post by the would-be Oregon gunman.During a press conference, President Obama seized the opportunity to initiate another outright push for more gun control legislation, saying, "somehow, this has become routine." Watch:
[Russia] launched air strikes in Syria for a second day. [Russian air-]strikes reportedly targeted positions in the north-west held by the Army of Conquest rebel alliance. Russia said it had struck four Islamic State (IS) facilities overnight, and destroyed a "terrorist HQ" outside Idlib and a command post near Hama. (…) Russia carried out about 20 missions on Wednesday. The US fears they targeted non-IS opponents of Russia's ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.Obama administration's response was prompt and swift, issuing a 'strong statement' reminding Russia that by resorting to violence, it was 'throwing gasoline on fire.' Only thing those generals on Kremlin fear more, is a sternly worded letter from John Kerry.
