Election 2014- A Red Tsunami From Sea to Shining Sea

From Maine to American Samoa, Tuesday night was a bad night for the Democrats.

The big story of the night was that the Democrats and Majority Leader Harry Reid lost their majority in the United States Senate on election day after Republicans picked up no fewer than seven seats, with some race still to be decided through a recount or runoff. Although some Democrats had distanced themselves from President Obama while campaigning, the President in an interview said that his policies were on the ballot and he could count on support from Democrat incumbents- even the ones who were keeping him at arm's length on the campaign trail.

Heading into Election Day, the GOP needed a net gain of six seats in the Senate to regain a majority they hadn't held since 2006. It was widely believed that West Virginia, South Dakota and Montana would be fairly easy pickups for the Republicans, with states like Virginia, Iowa, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Minnesota, South Carolina, Alaska, Louisiana, Arkansas and Colorado up for grabs in close races.

For veterans, one of the more noteworthy developments was that Arkansas Republican Tom Cotton became the first-ever Iraq war veteran elected to the US Senate after defeating incumbent Democrat Mark Pryor by a margin of nearly 10 points. Later on in the night, Cotton was joined by Joni Ernst, a fellow Iraq war veteran, Lieutenant Colonel in the Iowa National Guard and state senator who was campaigning against congressman Bruce Braley for Iowa's senate seat that was open after Democrat Tom Harkin announced his retirement.

In South Carolina, former Congressman Tim Scott became the first black US senator from the South since Reconstruction- and the first ever to be elected to both the House of Representatives and US Senate. Scott was technically the incumbent, since governor Nikki Haley appointed him to replace fellow Republican Jim DeMint who retired to become president of conservative think-tank The Heritage Foundation in 2012.

Before Tuesday, Democrats took some solace in the projections out of Kansas that had Independent Greg Orman leading incumbent Republican Pat Roberts before election day. Orman, who declined to state whether he'd caucus with Democrats or Republicans if elected although Orman reportedly received donations from Democrat-supporting PACs and Vice President Biden predicted that Orman would end up caucusing with Democrats and narrowly preserve the party's majority in the Senate.

But perhaps the biggest prize for either party was Colorado. Over the last decade, Democrats had prided themselves on making Colorado a model on turning a red state blue [and boasted they were going to repeat the process in Texas, more on that a little later- NANESB!]. Incumbent Mark Udall ran on a campaign reminiscent of the Democrat's 2012 "War on Women", claiming that GOP challenger Corey Gardner would outlaw contraceptives and earning himself the nickname Mark Uterus.

In Louisiana, that race is heading to a December runoff since incumbent Democrat Mary Landrieu failed to get more than 50% of the total vote. However, the DSCC reportedly yanked a proposed $1.5 million ad buy in certain Louisiana markets, indicating that donors are less than confident about Landrieu's chances against Cassidy in the runoff.

The 'wave' wasn't just limited to a pickup of seven seats in the US Senate for the GOP. In the House of Representatives, not only did beleaguered incumbents such as New York Rep Michael Grimm [R- Staten Island] survive, but the Republicans gained a total of 15 seats [with some races in California and Maryland so close they're awaiting absentee and provisional ballots to decide the campaign- NANESB!]. Some of these included retired Air Force colonel Martha McSally beating Democrat representative Ron Barber in Arizona's 2nd congressional district- which comprised much of former congresswoman Gabby Giffords' district that had been held by Democrats after a 2011 assassination attempt on Giffords and redistricting. In Utah, former Saratoga Springs, UT mayor Mia Love ran as a Republican against Democrat Doug Owens for Representative in Utah's 4th Congressional District for the House seat up for grabs when Democrat Jim Matheson announced his retirement after the 2014 elections. Love- the daughter of Haitian immigrants- is Utah's first female congresswoman and the GOP's first black congresswoman [the NAACP was remarkably silent on the results of her election- NANESB!].

Republican governors favored just as well as the Senate and House races as it turned out. In Wisconsin, incumbent Scott Walker was elected governor for the third time since 2010- after a protracted battle over public sector unions between Democrats and the first-terms governor, the Democrats and unions successfully launched a recall campaign against Walker in 2012. However, Walker ultimately prevailed despite a well-funded campaign from unions and wealthy Democrat donors and PACs.

Democrat state representative Wendy Davis made a name for herself with wealthy liberal donors and the pro-abortion crowd after a lengthy filibuster on the floor of the State House in Austin, TX last year that was meant to hold up legislation that would prohibit abortions after 20 weeks. Shortly after the filibuster made her a rising star with the Democrats, she announced her candidacy for governor against Texas attorney general Greg Abbott. Although Davis wasn't expected to win, her candidacy was a trial balloon by out-of-state liberal Super PACs to try and turn Texas into a blue state. Davis ended up losing to abbot by more than 20 points, which in turned siphoned Democrat donor money away from much more competitive races.

In Maine, incumbent Paul LePage carried all but two of the sixteen counties throughout the state. In Massachusetts, Democrat Martha Coakley- who lost the 2009 Massachusetts' special election for US Senate to challenger Scott Brown- lost to Republican challenger and businessman Charlie Baker on election day. In the Midwest, incumbent Michigan governor Rick Snyder won 51% of the voting after drawing the ire of unions by making the Wolverine state a right-to-work state in his first term as governor. In President Obama's home state of Illinois, incumbent Democrat Pat Quinn lost to republican businessman Bruce Rauner. Although Maryland's Democrat governor Martin O'Malley was term-limited, pundits both left and right believed that his Lieutenant Governor, Anothony G Brown, would coast to an easy election win over Republican challenger and Maryland businessman Larry Hogan but Hogan shocked the pollsters and pundits by getting just over 51% of the vote. Out west, someone forgot to tell incumbent GOP governors Brian Sandoval and Susana Martinez that their party has a problem with Latinos as the governors of Nevada and New Mexico coasted to an easy re-election. Sandoval received more than 70% of the vote just weeks after he had announced a deal that where Tesla Motors [NASDAQ- TSLA] announced they would open up a factory outside of Reno, NV in exchange for substantial tax breaks. Meanwhile, Susana Martinez won 57% of the ballots cast in New Mexico on election day.

UPDATED again: Evolution of state legislative control in the Obama era: pic.twitter.com/DvK4s8eWi9

— David Freddoso (@freddoso) November 6, 2014

It wasn't just the governor's mansions that were going red in 2014. On the state level, Real Clear Politics reports that the Republicans control an unprecedented 68 out of 98 possible partisan legislative chambers on the state level.

GOP Makes Gains in Florida, California Special Elections

In a race that was touted as the first electoral challenge to President Obama's signature healthcare law since it's been implemented, Democrat and former Florida gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink lost to Republican attorney David Jolly in a special election to fill the congressional seat in Florida's 13th Congressional district that was left vacant by the death of longtime GOP incumbent Bill Young.

Although 0bamacare wasn't the core issue in the Tampa, FL-area district, both Sink and Jolly made clear their respective stances on 0bamacare during their campaign. While acknowledging the flawed 0bamacare rollout and trouble-plagued healthcare.gov website, Sink stated that the Affordable Care Act was flawed and that she was favor of 'fixing' the law. Jolly, however, said he was in favor of a full repeal of the law if elected.

The race to replace the late Rep. Bill Young was considered a tossup, and was cast as a political bellwether, and a testing ground for each party's messaging strategy -- which revolves in part around the Affordable Care Act.

Jolly's election night headquarters in Clearwater Beach erupted into loud cheers as it became clear he was the winner. In his victory speech, Jolly simultaneously struck a conciliatory tone and expressed gratitude for his mentor, Young, and Young's family. Jolly was introduced by former "Price is Right" game show host Bob Barker, via video. Young's two adult sons were also onstage with Jolly, and he embraced them at the end of his speech.

Meanwhile, national Republican groups swiftly got to work casting Jolly's victory as a blow to ObamaCare and those who support it.

“Tonight, one of Nancy Pelosi’s most prized candidates was ultimately brought down because of her unwavering support for ObamaCare, and that should be a loud warning for other Democrats running coast to coast," said National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore. "Pinellas County voters have made the right choice; David will be a dedicated and thoughtful representative for them in Congress.”

The electoral victory comes despite Jolly trailing in early voting to Sink and Libertarian candidate Lucas Overbay getting nearly 5% of the vote. Although the Pinellas County congressional district was home to the longest-serving Republican in the House of Representatives, the district narrowly went to Obama in the 2012 Presidential election. With nearly 100% of the vote counted on Tuesday's special election, Jolly had 48.5% of the vote while Sink had 46.7%. Both parties had sent out

While pundits are cautioning against using the FL13 race as a bellweather for the 2014 midterms, this is the first chance either the Democrats or Republicans had to use Obamacare as an election issue in a competitive district since key provisions of the law went into effect.

Meanwhile in California, Republican Kevin Faulconer was sworn in as the mayor of San Diego. Faulconer, a former city councilman, garnered 43% of the vote in a special election in November 2013 to replace disgraced Democrat mayor Bob Filner. This set up a runoff between Faulconer and fellow city councilman, Democrat David Alvarez last month. Despite money coming in from big name donors, gains by Democrats in 2012 an endorsement from President Obama and campaigning across the border in Tijuana, Mexico by Alvarez, Alvarez lost to Faulconer by nearly 10 points in the runoff.

Connecticut Woman Shot to Death Outside of Capitol Hill After Police Chase in Washington DC

A dental hygienist from Connecticut was shot and killed by Capitol police after leading officers from several departments on a wild chase across the District of Columbia on Thursday.

Miriam Carey, 34, was killed after attempting to ram the barrier along House of Representatives after some sort of incident near the barriers along Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House earlier. After Carey reportedly tried running over police officers and federal agents, she was forced off the road and anywhere from 10 to 15 shots were fired at her by pursuing officers.

The shooting triggered a brief lockdown in the House of Representatives and led to a number of erroneous reports that some of the shots were fired from inside the House building. Carey was later pronounced dead at the scene. It was later determined that Carey had no gun on her person, but her one year old daughter was in the vehicle with her throughout the ordeal and escaped unharmed.

A camera crew from Iraq's al Hurra News was in the area and managed to catch some of the dramatic chase on video:



Carey's neighbors and co-workers in Stamford, CT described her as good-natured and dedicated, but behaving erratically after a recent head injury and had also treated for post-partum depression. One neighbor said the only time they saw Carey visibly upset was when she discovered the tires had been stolen off of her car one night in the apartment parking lot.

However, the New York Daily News reports that her boyfriend had called the police on her more than once, she was taking anti-psychotic medication and she claimed at one point that President Obama had her apartment under elaborate electronic surveillance and was broadcasting her life in a manner similar to the premise of the 1998 film The Truman Show.

Meanwhile, liberal pundits and supposedly objective journalists took to social networking sites to call for more gun control laws as the situation was still unfolding.

California Democrat Party Told Assemblywoman to Keep Quiet About Filner's Conduct As Four More Women Accuse San Diego Mayor of Sexual Harassment

Former California Assemblywoman and congressional candidate Lori Saldaña said that she told the state's Democrat Party's leadership about then-congressman Bob Filner's conduct in 2011 after talking to six San Diego women had been physically or verbally harassed by Filner. Instead of taking any action against Filner, party officials made it clear that any candidate who didn't support Filner's mayoral bid wouldn't get any backing from the Golden state's Democrat party.

Saldaña said that in summer 2011 six prominent women in local politics, business and education told her that Filner had physically or verbally harassed them. Saldaña had been exploring what turned out to be an unsuccessful bid for Congress and the conversations came in the context of the 2012 elections.

Saldaña said she contacted former party Chairman Jess Durfee with the allegations and Durfee was among a group of Democratic leaders who met with Filner to discuss them that summer. She said nothing happened.

Saldaña said she contacted former party Chairman Jess Durfee with the allegations and Durfee was among a group of Democratic leaders who met with Filner to discuss them that summer. She said nothing happened.

“As disgraceful as Bob’s behavior has been, it’s been tolerated by our Democratic Party leadership,” she said.

Saldaña said Filner never personally harassed her and declined to say who alleged to have had run-ins with the mayor. She said former City Councilwoman Donna Frye, who is calling for Filner’s resignation over unspecified sexual harassment allegations, inspired her to talk.

Party leaders, she said, made it clear that if people didn’t support Filner they wouldn’t receive their support again.

Despite being in the same party, Filner and Saldaña are said to have had a contentious professional relationship over a proposed border sewage treatment project that would've been in Filner's district which never came to fruition. Despite the accusations that she thought were credible, she endorsed Filner for mayor last year. In 2012, Saldaña ran as a Democrat in California's newly-redistricted 52nd Congressional District but lost in the primary.

Saldaña's version of events was confirmed by former San Diego County Democrat Party chair Jesse Durfee in an interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune earlier this month.

Meanwhile, four more women have come forward to accuse the San Diego Mayor of making unwanted sexual advances as Filner announced that he would be taking a leave of absence for two weeks to undergo behavioral therapy (in lieu of resigning).

As pressure mounted on Filner to step down over a hail of sexual harassment allegations leveled at him this week by several women, the 70-year-old Democrat and former congressman said he would enter a counseling clinic on August 5 to undergo "intensive therapy."

During his two-week leave, Filner said he would be in counseling at the clinic on a full-time basis and would be briefed on city activities every morning and evening.

Filner's accusers include a former college dean, a retired US Navy Admiral and his former press secretary. So far, Filner has resisted calls to step down, including demands from the San Diego County branch of his own party to resign this week.

Labor Unions Start Turning Against Obamacare

In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (R-CA), leaders of three major unions say that the health benefits of their members are now in peril thanks to the implementation of 0bamacare.

The leaders of three major U.S. unions, including the highly influential Teamsters, have sent a scathing letter to Democratic leaders in Congress, warning that unless changes are made, President Obama’s health care reform plan will “destroy the foundation of the 40 hour work week that is the backbone of the American middle class.”

If that’s not bad enough, the Affordable Care Act, if not modified, will “destroy the very health and wellbeing of our members along with millions of other hardworking Americans,” the letter says.

The union leaders point out that the employer mandate incentivizes companies shifting full time employees to part time status by cutting an employees hours to less than 30 a week. A number of employers have already announced they would be cutting back on employees' hours to avoid increased costs under President Obama's healthcare act. The reduced hours also mean reduced pay for the affected employees, who still have to purchase their healthcare under 0bamacare's individual mandate.

Further implementation of the plan will adversely affect group healthcare coverage between union labor and multiple companies within an industry, Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa claims.

Multi-employer plans, also called Taft-Hartley plans, are health insurance benefits typically arranged between a labor union in a particular industry, such as restaurants, and small employers in that industry. About 20 million workers are covered by these plans; 800,000 of Joseph Hansen’s 1.3 million UFCW members are covered this way.

Taft-Hartley plans, they write, “have been built over decades by working men and women,” but unlike plans offered on the ACA exchanges, unionized workers will not be eligible for subsidies, because workers with employer-sponsored coverage don’t qualify.

Obamacare’s regulatory changes to the small-group insurance market will drive up the cost of these plans. For example, the rules requiring plans to cover adult children up to the age of 26, the elimination of limits on annual or lifetime coverage, and the mandates that plans cover a wide range of benefits will drive premiums upward.

But the key problem is that the Taft-Hartley plans already provide generous and costly coverage; small employers now have a more financially attractive alternative, which is to drop coverage and put people on the exchanges, once the existing collective bargaining agreements are up.

Somehow, I suspect Hoffa and the other union presidents knew that 0bamacare would be the massive trainwreck they're saying it is, but were banking on some sort of carve-out or exemption for the unions written into the law. After lobbying tirelessly since 2009 for its passage and implementation and pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into the campaign coffers of President Obama and liberal politicians who helped get the law passed, they're just now finding out there is no immunity for them for the law that they so vociferously backed. This leads me to wonder how well squandering hundreds of millions of dollars and years of political capital are going over with the union's rank-and-file workers.

Earlier this month, the White House announced a delay in enforcing the employer mandate provision of the healthcare law. Critics point out that the one year delay is technically illegal and the timing was suspect, pushing the mandate back until after the 2014 mid-term elections. The delay also applies only to businesses, the individual mandate is still intact.

Last month, Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius announced that the White House was in talks with the NFL and NBA to promote the upcoming 0bamacare rollout. By the end of  June, however, the National Football League announced that they would not be promoting 0bamacare. Spokesmen from the NHL and Major League Baseball also confirmed they were contacted by the administration regarding promoting enrollment in the healthcare law, but had yet to meet with any HHS officials.

Internal E-Mails Tell Feds to Make Sequester Cutbacks Painful to the General Public

According to an Animal & Plant Inspection Service internal e-mail, an agency official was specifically instructed not to do anything that would lessen or minimize impact to the public ahead of the sequester cuts this month.

In the internal email, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service official Charles Brown said he asked if he could try to spread out the sequester cuts in his region to minimize the impact, and he said he was told not to do anything that would lessen the dire impacts Congress had been warned of.

“We have gone on record with a notification to Congress and whoever else that ‘APHIS would eliminate assistance to producers in 24 states in managing wildlife damage to the aquaculture industry, unless they provide funding to cover the costs.’ So it is our opinion that however you manage that reduction, you need to make sure you are not contradicting what we said the impact would be,” Mr. Brown, in the internal email, said his superiors told him.

Neither Mr. Brown nor the main APHIS office in Washington returned calls seeking comment, but Agriculture Secretary Thomas J. Vilsack, who oversees the agency, told Congress he is trying to give flexibility where he can.

“If we have flexibility, we’re going to try to use it to make sure we use sequester in the most equitable and least disruptive way,” the secretary told Rep. Kristi L. Noem, a South Dakota Republican who grilled Mr. Vilsack about the email. “There are some circumstances, and we’ve talked a lot about the meat inspection, where we do not have that flexibility because there are so few accounts.”

Ms. Noem told Mr. Vilsack that the email made it sound like the administration was sacrificing flexibility in order to justify its earlier dire predictions.

“I’m hopeful that isn’t an agenda that’s been put forward,” the congresswoman told Mr. Vilsack.

The content of the e-mail is similar to what US Park Ranger who chose to remain anonymous told Fox News. According to a March 9th article, the National Parks Service had overruled plans to deal with the sequester that would've had marginal impact on the public and was told instead to axe special events, talks, tours and other educational or information services.

"Apparently, they want the public to feel the pain," the ranger said.

The National Park Service is among many federal agencies warning of a major impact from the sequester cuts, which took effect last Friday. The agency has warned of delayed access to portions of Yellowstone and Yosemite national parks, closed campgrounds at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, reduced hours at the Grand Canyon visitor center and other ramifications.

The Obama administration says these cuts must be made in order to make the $85 billion in cuts from Congress' failure to avert the sequester. At the NPS, the agency was dealing with an across-the-board 5 percent cut.

At the Park Service, the alleged incident occurred in one region and it's unclear whether other divisions were given similar guidance.

Last week the White House announced that tours were being cancelled until further notice, blaming cuts related to the sequester, even though the tours cost an estimated $74,000 per week- a fraction of the cost of President Obama's recent trip to Hawaii and golf vacation in Florida.

Even before the March 1st Sequester went into effect, the Department of Homeland Security released illegal immigrants from detention centers across the country in late February.

Gillian Christensen, an ICE spokeswoman, said ICE has reviewed "several hundred cases" of immigrants being held in jails around the country and released them in the last week. They have been "placed on an appropriate, more cost-effective form of supervised release," she said.

Christensen said the agency's "priority for detention remains on serious criminal offenders and other individuals who pose a significant threat to public safety." She did not say how released immigrants were selected or what jails they were released from.

The release of thousands of illegal immigrants ahead of the sequester led to accusations that the Obama Administration and DHS was playing politics with public safety ahead of the sequestration deadline. Homeland security chief Napolitano claimed that the relase of such a large number of inmates wasn't out of the ordinary and that the decision was left to her subordinates in Homeland Security, not the White House.

Napolitano also claimed that lines at airports were "150% to 200% as long as what we wound normally expect" due to sequestration cuts to the TSA and US Customs, but media inquiries to the airports that Napolitano mentioned (Los Angeles, Atlanta and Chicago's O'Hare) found there were no significant delays.

Blue State Graft Watch Update- Feds Lay Out Case Against Former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr

Federal prosecutors detailed their charges against former Illinois Democrat Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr late last week as he was charged with conspiracy to commit false statements, mail fraud and wire fraud as he allegedly misappropriated more than $750,000 in campaign funds. The money was reportedly used to buy high-end merchandise for himself and his wife and renovations on their Chicago home.

The court filing was a clear signal that Jackson, who was first elected to the House of Representatives in the mid-1990s, intended to plead guilty to the charge, which has a maximum penalty of five years in prison. No court date has been set.

Jackson’s expected plea would be another mile marker in his slow political and personal collapse, which began shortly after President Obama’s 2008 election. That had seemed to open up possibilities for Jackson, considered a likely successor to Obama in the Senate.

Instead, FBI agents arrested then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) and charged him with trying to sell the interim appointment to the Senate seat from Illinois to the highest bidder, and Jackson was implicated in the scandal. Though not charged, he would never recover politically.

According to the documents released Friday, Jackson used campaign funds to buy a $43,350 gold Rolex watch along with almost $10,000 in children’s furniture that he had delivered to his home in the District.

Among other allegations, prosecutors say Jackson made direct expenditures of about $57,793 from the campaign’s accounts for personal expenses. The documents say he and a co-conspirator used a campaign credit card to make $582,773 worth of purchases for their own use.

Jackson’s wife, former Chicago alderman Sandra Stevens Jackson, was not named or charged in that case, but the description makes clear that she was the co-conspirator.

Jackson’s wife was charged with filing false income-tax returns from 2006 through 2011, according to a separate criminal information in her case. That charge has a maximum sentence of three years in prison.

The criminal documents outline a series of illegal expenditures from the former congressman’s campaign account, including more than a dozen purchases of pop-culture artifacts that firmly establish him as someone who came of age in the 1970s and ’80s:

●$10,105 worth of Bruce Lee memorabilia, including four separate purchases of items associated with the late martial-arts film hero.

●$14,200 in random Michael Jackson memorabilia.

●$4,000 for a “Michael Jackson and Eddie Van Halen” guitar.

●$4,600 for a Michael Jackson fedora.

In mid-November, when he announced his resignation from the House, Jackson signaled that he was in plea negotiations.

“I have made my share of mistakes. I am aware of the ongoing federal investigation into my activities and I am doing my best to address the situation responsibly, cooperate with the investigators,” he wrote in his resignation letter.

In the Blagojevich case, Raghuveer Nayak, who worked as a fundraiser for [convicted former Illinois governor Rod] Blagojevich and Jackson, told investigators that Jackson instructed him to raise as much as $6 million for the governor’s campaign.

If found guilty, Jackson will also lose his federal pension. Observers also indicate that prison time would an increasingly likely outcome for the 10-term congressman [no word on whether or not it will be at that nearly vacant prison outside of Rock Island, IL that President Obama, Gov Quinn and Sen Durbin were so keen on using to house Al Qeada detainees- NANESB!]. Despite checking himself into the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota back in June, Jackson Jr won re-election by a 63% margin in November before announcing his resignation a few weeks later.

On Friday, Jackson Jr's wife- former Chicago alderman Sandi Jackson- pleaded guilty to one count of tax fraud as part of a plea deal with federal prosecutors.

South Carolina Governor Appoints Congressman Tim Scott to US Senate

South Carolina governor Nikki Haley has announced the appointment of congressman Tim Scott to replace outgoing senator Jim DeMint. Earlier this month, Sen. DeMint announced his plans to leave office in January to become President of conservative think-tank The Heritage Foundation.

Scott, a Republican who recently won a second term, represents the Palmetto State's 1st Congressional District- which stretches along the coast north of Charleston. During the 2010 primaries, Scott ran against the son of segregationist Senator Strom Thurmond and won, going on to win convincingly in the general election against his Democrat opponent.

Once elected to office, Scott declined to join the Congressional Black Caucus. Early on he was assigned to the House Transportation Committee and House Small Business Committee before being appointed to the House Rules Committee. Prior to that, Scott had served on the Charleston County Council and South Carolina General Assembly in addition to owning his own insurance agency.

Scott will become black senator from the state of South Carolina, the first black senator from the South since 1881 and the only black senator during the 113th Congress [Interestingly, many of the media types who normally savor the ethnic head-counts were remarkably quiet after Gov. Haley's announcement on Monday- NANESB!].

According to South Carolina state law, Gov. Haley is also required to set a date for a special election for Scott's vacant Congressional seat. It's also worth pointing out that the boundaries for South Carolina's first congressional district had shifted significantly after the 2010 Census. While the district still encompasses much of the coast, the First District will be mostly between Charleston and Hilton Head Island, SC and much of Scott's former district is now part of the newly-formed 7th Congressional district which will be represented by Horry County Republican Tom Rice.

Blue State Graft Watch- Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr Resigns Over Misuse Of Campaign Funds

Illinois Democrat Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr has stepped down last week, reportedly as part of a plea arrangement stemming from a federal investigation over his misappropriation of campaign funds. Earlier this month, Jackson Jr handily won re-election in his south Chicago district despite being at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota since June- reportedly for treatment of 'exhaustion' and a previously undiagnosed bipolar disorder.

Federal investigators believe Jackson illegally siphoned off campaign funds to pay for renovations to his Chicago home, a $40,000 Rolex for a 'female friend' and plane tickets to fly Washington DC restaurant hostess Giovana Huidobro to Chicago at Jackson's request. There are also reports that Jackson was tipped off about the federal probe into his finances shortly before taking his leave of absence.

Jackson Jr's wife- Chicago Alerwoman Sandi Jackson- may also be facing jail time for her role in redirecting campaign funds. An estimated $20,000 went towards renovations on their Chicago home and many have speculated an increased willingness to cooperate with investigators on her part upon learning about the Rolex and plane tickets.

The son of increasingly irrelevant race baiting attention whore civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, Jackson Jr has been in congress for about 17 years and is no stranger to controversey. While still in law school, a Nigerian drug lord named Pius Ailemen was supposed to be the best man at his 1991 wedding [Aileman is currently serving a 24 year prison sentence for trafficking heroin- NANESB!]. More recently, Jackson Jr's name has come up repeatedly in the scandal surrounding former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich's attempt to sell off Barack Obama's vacant senate seat to the highest bidder after the freshman senator won the 2008 Presidential election.

There is also the possibility that Jackson Jr could retain his $45,000 a year Congressional pension unless he is convicted of one of several possibly public corruption felony charges.

Meanwhile, Illinois Gov Pat Quinn has tenatively set a special election date to fill Jackson's vacant seat for March 19, although he left open the possibility of moving it further back to April 9th so it would coincide with municipal elections. At least a dozen candidates including state representative Toi Hutchinson and Blagojevich's attorney Sam Adam Jr have announced their plans to run for the vacated seat in Illinois' almost exclusively Democrat 2nd congressional district.

Benghazi Update- Secretary of State Clinton Accepts Responsibility For Lack of Security; Congressional Panel Interviews Witnesses; FBI Spends Only 12 Hours in Benghazi; British Weapons Unaccounted For

During an official visit to Peru on Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that she accepted responsibility for the security lapses leading up to the deadly terrorist attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans last month.

"I'm responsible for the State Department, for the more than 60,000 people around the world," she said. "The decisions about security are made by security professionals. But we're going to review everything to be sure we're doing what needs to be done in an increasingly risky environment."

She also addressed the question of a June explosion at the consulate in Benghazi that some have argued should have raised a red flag about security.

"I can't speak to who knew what," she said. "We knew there were security breaches and problems throughout Libya. That's something that came about as the aftermath of the revolution to topple Qaddafi, with so many militias formed, so many weapons loose. ... It was taken into account by security professionals as they made their assessments."

Clinton also seemed to dismiss accusations that the State Department and White House intentionally pushed a false narrative about a spontaneously-forming protest over a YouTube video serving as a catalyst for the deadly September 11, 2012 attacks for nearly two weeks- in spite of the fact there were no protests in Benghazi that night and the assailants used heavy weaponry such as mortars and RPGs.

While some have viewed this as President Obama 'throwing Hillary under the bus', Da Tech Guy makes the case that this was a shrewdly calculated move by Secretary of State Clinton that undermines Obama while heading off a number of stories about security breaches leading up to last month's attacks from a normally compliant media that was starting to get curious on the issue. The decision can also be viewed through the prism of a possible 2016 Presidential run by Clinton.

Meanwhile, US security and military officials testified before the House Oversight Committee last week, claiming that requests for additional security in Libya were rebuffed by higher-ups at the State Department. Lt Col Andrew Wood of the Utah National Guard commanded a 16-member Special Forces security detail responsible for protecting American officials in Libya after the collapse of the Ghdaffi regime- the team departed the country about a month before the attacks in Benghazi.

Wood told CBS News that he met daily with Stevens to discuss security.

"He was constantly concerned about the threats to not just himself but the entire staff there," Wood said.

Over the six months leading up to the attack on Stevens, Wood says the security situation in Libya deteriorated.

There were 13 threats or attacks in Tripoli and Benghazi, including two attempted assassinations of the British ambassador to Libya.

Wood said Stevens and his staff made the case for tightened security in emails and diplomatic cables. One by one, they lost three State Department security teams, their only airplane and, eventually, his squad too.

Wood said some of the security teams would have been in Benghazi on Sept. 11 to if they had been allowed to remain in Libya, and the four deaths might have been avoided.

Earlier this month, an FBI forensic team arrived at the site of the attacks in Benghazi- nearly three weeks after the attacks took place- and examined the area for a grand total of 12 hours. The site of the attacks had been left unsecured for nearly three weeks and the trek out to Benghazi was expected to yield little in the way of actionable information.

Britain's Foreign Office also reported that British weapons and vehicles left at the grounds of the US Consulate in Benghazi were unaccounted for after the September 11 attacks. The UK's envoy to Libya, Sir Dominic Dominic Asquith, survived an RPG attack that wounded two of his bodyguards in June and the Foreign Office decided to withdraw all British diplomats from the area shortly thereafter. According to testimony from Lt. Col Wood, the UK Foreign Office made arrangements with the US Consulate in Benghazi for safekeeping of the weapons and vehicles and retrieve them incrementally through multiple low-profile trips back to the area.

UPDATE- 10/15- AP is reporting that the White House is inexplicably announcing preperations to send a strike team into Libya.....yes- basically announcing a 'covert' mission to the public via mass media, apparently.

Busy Beltway Thursday- Supreme Court Upholds Key Obamacare Provision; House Finds Holder in Contempt

In a surprise ruling, the Supreme Court upheld President Obama's signature healthcare law on Thursday morning by a 5-4 margin. Chief Justice Roberts had ruled that the individual mandate in Obamacare was unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause. However, he ruled that the mandate could be considered a tax despite Obama and the Democrat's insistence that the mandate wasn't a tax when they were trying to sell the public on it back in 2009.

Via Scotusblog and Legal Insurrection:

“In Plain English: The Affordable Care Act, including its individual mandate that virtually all Americans buy health insurance, is constitutional. There were not five votes to uphold it on the ground that Congress could use its power to regulate commerce between the states to require everyone to buy health insurance. However, five Justices agreed that the penalty that someone must pay if he refuses to buy insurance is a kind of tax that Congress can impose using its taxing power. That is all that matters. Because the mandate survives, the Court did not need to decide what other parts of the statute were constitutional, except for a provision that required states to comply with new eligibility requirements for Medicaid or risk losing their funding. On that question, the Court held that the provision is constitutional as long as states would only lose new funds if they didn’t comply with the new requirements, rather than all of their funding.”

In even simpler terms, it's a tax for existing, basically. Using this ruling as precedent, there really would be nothing from stopping Congress from imposing a recurring annual 'Not Buying a Chevy Volt' surtax on any new vehicle purchased in the USA- including a Chevy Volt because only Volts with a certain VIN number are exempt.

While the decison may seem to vindicate Obama and the Democrats who supported it at first, the estimated $1.75 trillion pricetag means that the Democrats have passed the largest tax increase in American history durin a timeframe when the national unemployment rate was never less than 8.1%. The [rather tortured- NANESB!] definition of the mandate as a tax means that it can be struck down or eliminated in Congress with a simple majority instead of a supermajority. This also makes one wonder if the numerous Obamacare waivers the Administration passed out could be considered 'tax cuts for the rich'? Also, will any of the 800,000 or so illegal immigrants that he just gave totally-not-amnesty-amnesty to this month recieve waivers?

Reaction from both sides was immediate, with Obama taking the opportunity to hawk campaign t-shirts and reassure Americans how awesome his new tax was while reading from a prepared statement earlier today. At the same time, Presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney's campaign raised nearly $2 million dollars from online donations within hours of the Supreme Court's decision.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives went ahead with a scheduled vote to find Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress over the ATF Fast & Furious gunwalking scandal on Thursday afternoon.

The vote follows a roughly 16-month investigation by the chamber’s House Oversight and Government Reform Committee into the failed gun-running sting known as Fast and Furious -- run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, a division of the Justice Department led by Holder.

Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., filed two subpoenas over that period requesting additional information. But he has more recently focused on information related to a February 2011 letter to Congress that falsely claimed the ATF was unaware the operation involved the underground sale of the assault weapons.

“Today, a bipartisan majority of the House of Representatives voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt for his continued refusal to produce relevant documents,” Issa said after the vote. “This was not the outcome I had sought and it could have been avoided had Attorney General Holder actually produced the subpoenaed documents he said he could provide.”

In December 2010, US Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was killed by heavily armed smugglers in a shootout near the US/Mexico border in Arizona- two of the weapons recovered at the scene were traced back to Fast & Furious. Attorney General Holder originally testified that no gunwalking took place under Fast & Furious before later admitting that ATF Field agents were ordered to allow more than 2000 firearms to be smuggled into Mexico by straw purchasers, losing track of all of them. In addition to Brian Terry's death, numerous guns from Fast and Furious have been turning up at hundreds of crime scenes in Mexico. Many on the House Government Oversight Panel requested more documents from Holder regarding gunwalking during often-contentious hearings, but in a move many saw as designed to shield Holder from further oversight scrutiny, President Obama invoked executive privelege on certain DOJ documents and correspondence.

One school of thought out there is that the sole purpose of Fast & Furious was to create more anti-gun sentiment and pass additional gun control laws after saturating an already volatile Mexico with weapons that could be traced back to the USA. This was dismissed by some in the media as being the stuff off kooky black helicopter conspiracy tinfoil hat brigades. Yet nearly every Democrat on that spoke on the House floor Thursday took the opportunity to call for additional punitive gun control laws here in the USA, despite the fact that the DOJ orchestrated arms trafficking already violated several laws on the books.

After a lengthy and incoherent diatribe by former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and a walkout by the Congressional Black Caucus, the measure to find Holder in contempt passed on the House floor by a 255-67 margin, with at least 17 Democrats breaking from their party to vote on their contempt vote.

Last week's vote in the House oversight committee to bring the contempt vote to the floor of the house passed along

House Oversight Committee Votes Attorney General Eric Holder in Contempt Over DOJ's Fast & Furious Gunwalking

Despite a last-minute move by President Obama to invoke executive privilege over certain documents requested by the House Oversight Committee regarding a 'gunwalking' program from the ATF, the committee chairman went ahead with a vote to find Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.

The oversight committee, chaired by Congressman Darrel Issa [R-CA 49], had been investigating the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Operations Fast & Furious where field agents were ordered to stand down as illegally purchased guns in Arizona made their way across the border to Mexico. In December 2010, US Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was killed by a gang of heavily armed smugglers along the Arizona border. Two guns from Fast & Furious were recovered from the crime scene. Hundreds of guns from Fast & Furious have also been recovered at crime scenes across Mexico and by Holder's own admission, there are more than 1700 unaccounted for weapons from the ATF gunwalking program. These firearms will likely continue to surface at crime scenes in both the USA and Mexico.

Obama's 11th hour invocation of executive privilege on Wednesday came before the Oversight Committee was supposed to rule on whether or not to move forward with contempt of congress proceedings against Eric Holder.

While Attorney General Holder insists he's turned over all the documents that the committee has requested over the last 15 months, a number of the documents were heavily redacted and Holder has contradicted himself while appearing before Congress- Fast & Furious began in 2009 and Mexican officials weren't even alerted by the DOJ to the weapons being smuggled into the country.

On Wednesday afternoon, the panel voted 23-17 in favor of holding the Attorney General in contempt of Congress- with the vote being split along party lines. Democrats on the Oversight Committee claimed that the hearings are a politically motivated witchunt and that the Fast & Furious gunwalking happened under the Bush Administration as well- a claim that Holder himself eventually retracted.

However, Wednesday's vote does not mean that Holder is automatically in contempt of Congress- but rather a contempt motion goes before the rest of the House of Representatives. Speaker of the House John Boehner [R-OH8] and majority leader Eric Cantor [R- VA7] have indicated the contempt of congress vote is scheduled for sometime next week.

Sports Chowdah Update- BoSox Get Cubs' Goat; Failure to Launch- Rocket Not Guilty of Perjury, Obstruction Charges; Nittany Lyin'? Witnesses Testify for Defense in Sandusky Case;

RED SOX- This weekend saw a reunion of sorts with Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein on the north side of Chicago when the Red Sox came to town.

The Cubs took game 1 of the series thanks to Ryan Dempster throwing 7 shutout innings while Daisuke Matsuzaka struggled, allowing three earned runs over 6 innings of work.

The Red Sox fared much better on Saturday night at the 2nd oldest ballpark in the big leagues when Saltalamacchia belted a 2 run homer into the bleachers off of Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija in the top of the 4th. Jon Lester was bolstered by additional run support thanks to RBI singles from Will Middlebrooks and Scott Podsednik in the top of the 6th and 7th innings respectively to make it a 4-0 Red Sox lead.

As it turned out, Boston would need every one of those runs as Lester gave up a 3-run homer to Cubs middle infielder Luis Valbuena with one away in the bottom of the 7th. Lester then struck out another batter for the 2nd out before Scott Atchison came on and got outfielder Reed Johnson to ground out to end the inning. Vincente Padilla then came on and got the Cubs out in order for a 1-2-3 bottom of the 8th. Alfredo Aceves then came on in the bottom of the 9th and after giving up a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Steve Clevenger before striking out Bryan LaHair and getting Wellington Castillo to ground out into a double-play to end the game and giving the Red Sox and 4-3 win.

Sunday night's game was supposed to have Josh Beckett go up against Paul Maholm, but Beckett went on the DL with right shoulder inflammation. Coming out of the bullpen for a spot start on Sunday night's nationally televised game from Wrigley Field was Franklin Morales.

David Banks/Getty Images

Before Morales even took to the mound, he had a 2-run lead to work with thanks to an RBI double from Dustin Pedroia and an RBI single from Big Papi. Cubs SS Starlin Castro apparently liked what he saw from Morales, singlehandedly tying up the game with an RBI triple in the bottom of the 1st and an RBI double in the bottom of the 3rd.

Big Papi put the Red Sox back on top with a solo homer in the top of the 4th inning and Morales seemed to be cruising. However, Valentine decided to pull Morales after five innings and put in Matt Albers. This seemed to backfire when the first two batters he faced reached on an error and a single. After a groundout to 2nd, the inning was prolonged when Albers butchered an easy play to 2nd, allowing a run to score and tying the game at 3-3. However, Albers was able to settle down and got the next two batters out to get out of the jam.

Ryan Kalish broke the deadlock in the top of the 7th thanks to an RBI single with nobody out. Two more runs were plated thanks to some productive outs; Will Middlebrooks had an RBI sac fly while Daniel Nava had an RBI sac bunt to make it a 6-3 Boston lead. In the top of the 8th, Saltalamacchia beat out a throw from 2nd on a fielder's choice to bring home Big Papi and make it a 7-3 game.

Alfredo Aceves came on in the bottom of the 9th and immediately loaded the bases after giving up three singles. After David DeJesus hit a sac fly to make it 7-4, Aceves got the next two batters out to end the ballgame and give Boston the 7-4 win.

Morales went five innings giving up two runs on four hits and striking out a career high of nin batters. This was actually Morales' first start since 2009. With Beckett sidelined and the full extent of his injury not known yet, it's entirely possible that we could see another start from Morales. Despite butchering a couple of key plays, Albers was credited with the win.

The win brings Boston back to .500 and they will head back to Fenway to face the Marlins for the second time this month. Clay Buchholz [7-2; 5.38 ERA] will get the start against Miami's Mark Buehrle [5-7; 3.41 ERA] and the game will be televised on NESN with a 7:10 ET first pitch.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS- OF Cody Ross went 0-4 with a run scored for the Pawtucket Red Sox on Sunday in their 6-1 win over the Buffalo Bisons in the AAA International League. The Red Sox have indicated that Ross could return to Boston as early as Tuesday after being placed on the DL with a fractured left foot back in May.

Carl Crawford also expressed optimism that he could resume baseball activities for the Sox shortly [read a couple of rehab stints in the minors- NANESB!] after a pre-game throwing session in Wrigley over the weekend.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox have awarded their #1 pick in the 2012 MLB draft a signing bonus reportedly worth $2 million. Boston chose Arizona State's Deven Marrero as their first round pick from this month's MLB First-Year Player draft. Head Coach Mike Robers of the Cape Cod League's Cotuit Keelers favorably compared Marrero to a young Omar Vizquel.

OTHER MLB NEWS- Former Red Sox and Yankees All Star pitcher Roger Clemens was found not guilty on Federal perjury and obstruction of justice charges on Monday. Clemens was charged with lying before Congress when he asserted under oath before a Congressional hearing that he had never taken steroids. This contradicted previous testimony from his former strength and conditioning coach Brian McNamee who claimed he provided Clemens with steroids. McNamee was the only witness who claimed firsthand that he had seen Clemens taking steroids.

This is the Justice Department's second attempt to prosecute Clemens. A mistrial was declared last year when the prosecution played snippets from a video clip that the judge had ruled inadmissable. In the most recent trial, it took less than 10 hours for the jury to deliberate and reach a verdict.

NCAA FOOTBALL- Following days of testimony from accusers and alleged victims, the Jerry Sandusky trial continued in Bellefonte, PA as witnesses for the defense testified.

Sandusky is charged with systematically molesting a number of young boys for years while he served as Penn State's defensive coordinator. One victim testified that Sandusky offered him money and a contract to keep quiet.

Testifying on behalf of Sandusky were former assistants and colleagues at Penn State who claimed that horseplay between coahces and kids wasn't uncommon in the showers at Penn State's locker room.

Meanwhile, a charity Sandusky started for troubled youth called Second Mile began legal proceedings to be dissolved. A number of Second Mile's operations and assets will reportedly be transferred to Texas-based Arrow Child & Family Ministries.


NFL- At a news conference in San Diego, former Chargers and Jets RB LaDainian Thomlinson signed a ceremonial one day contract with the team that had drafted him in 2001 before announcing his retirement from football.

After a standout colleigate carrer with the Texas Chrisitan Horned Frogs, Tomlinson arrived in San Diego after the Chargers traded the #1 spot with Atlanta so that the Falcons could select Michael Vick. Former Chargers and current New Orleans Saints QB was also selected by San Diego in the same draft- the first pick of the 2nd round.

Tomlinson had a total of 13,684 career rushing yards and 143 career rushing TDs. Although Tomlinson made his mark as a running back, he retires with an impressive quarterback rating of 146.9, with 7 TDs on 12 pass attempts in his career- all of them with the Chargers.

Awesome: Illegal Immigrants With Criminal Background Among Those Granted Amnesty Thanks to Obama's Executive Order

During a speech on Friday in the White House's Rose Garden that turned contentious towards the end, President Obama announced a new executive order that would allow children of illegal immigrants to avoid deportation.

The order is expected to apply to as many as 800,000 illegal immigrants whose families brought them here when they were still children. In addition to being a glaring example of election-year pandering on the part of the president, critics also pointed out that Obama's executive order clearly undercut the enumerated powers of Congress.

The executive order will apply to illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. before they were 16 and are younger than 30. They also must have no major criminal offenses, have been in the country for at least five continuous years, have graduated from a U.S. high school or have earned a GED, or served in the military.

Individuals who have been convicted of a felony offense, a significant misdemeanor offense, or three or more other misdemeanor offenses not occurring on the same date and not arising out of the same act, omission, or scheme of misconduct are not eligible to be considered for deferred action under the new process.

Those now eligible also can apply for a work permit that will be good for two years with no limits on how many times it can be renewed.

However, despite the statement the Administration disseminated on Friday, the language of the executive order still left the door open for illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds to avoid deportations [nor did it clarify whether those who received an Other-Than-Honorable or Dishonorable Discharge from the military- NANESB!].

The section at issue states in part that young illegal immigrants eligible for the program must have “not been convicted of a felony offense, a significant misdemeanor offense, multiple misdemeanor offenses, or otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety.”

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, the first administration official to announce the plan, said Friday morning the policy change was an attempt to keep the agency’s enforcement resources focused on removing the most potentially dangerous illegal immigrants, including felons and repeat offenders.

She also attempted to assure Americans by saying those eligible under the program must apply for a two-year suspension of deportation and a work visa, after which they can reapply for renewal. She also said each applicant would be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Still, the attempt a reassuring the public that those eligible, included illegal immigrants as old as 30, did not satisfy Arizona GOP Rep. David Schweikert.

“I am extremely disappointed by this election year executive order for several reasons,” he said Saturday.

Schweikert called the order backdoor amnesty full of unintended consequences that puts hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants ahead of millions of unemployed Americans in the workforce.

He also said called applicants being eligible despite having a criminal record “the latest facet of the plan, that we are just discovering … seriously dangerous and inexcusable.”

The Department of Homeland Securtity’s 8-page memo on the major, election-year policy change attempts to clarify several anticipated questions on criminal history, including what qualifies as a “significant misdemeanor.”

The response states it part: “A federal, state, or local criminal offense punishable by no more than one year of imprisonment or even no imprisonment that involves: violence, threats, or assault, sexual abuse, larceny, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, the unlawful possession or use of a firearm, drug distribution or trafficking, or unlawful possession of drugs.”

Among other concerns raised is that now millions of out-of-work Americans or legal immigrants will be competing for even scarcer employment with the 800,000 or so illegals who were granted backdoor amnesty thanks to Obama's fiat-by executive order.

Former Florida Congressman Alan Grayson Crashes Mercedes into Orlando Bus While on His Way to Campaign Fundraiser

Alan Grayson- the boorish lawyer and former Florida Congressman who became a media darling for giving speeches on the floor of the House of Representatives about how Republicans wanted people to die- crashed his Mercedes-Benz into a municipal bus in Orlando after running a red light while on his way to a fundraiser.

The crash took place on Saturday afternoon in Orlando and two bus passengers were taken to the hospital after complaining of minor injuries.

Grayson was traveling to an upscale fundraising event for his Congressional campaign.
Authorities with the Orlando Police Department said the crash happened at Orange Avenue and Livingston Street.

Investigators said Grayson was driving a Mercedes, when he ran a red light and hit the bus.

A news release for Grayson’s campaign event stated it was scheduled from noon until 1:30 p.m. at the penthouse of some local Democrats in The Vue, a high-rise condominium near Lake Eola.

The Orlando Police Department website stated the time of the call to the incident was 12:08 p.m. The Orlando Fire Department dispatched the call at 12:06 p.m.

Featured guests included noted environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and actress Cheryl Hines. The suggested contribution for those attending was $1,000

Grayson served one term as Representative from Florida's 8th District before losing to Republican challenger Daniel Webster during the 2010 midterms. For 2012, Grayson is said to be running in one of the newly-reconstituted Democrat districts in the Orlando area.

Florida received two new Congressional districts after the 2010 Census. The new districts recieved approval from the Florida state Legislature at the end of January.

Feds Arrest Moroccan Citizen For Allegdly Attempt to Carry Out Suicide Bombing at US Capitol

Federal officers arrested a 29 year old man reportedly on his way to the Capitol building in Washington D.C. to carry out a suicide bombing on Friday afternoon in an apparent 'lone-wolf' style attempt.

The federal criminal complaint against the suspect identifies him as Amine El Khalifi,

He was nabbed following a lengthy investigation by the FBI, initiated after he allegedly expressed interest in conducting an attack. Court documents say he came onto the radar screen in early December after he told an undercover agent about an earlier plan to bomb a northern Virginia building.

Khalifi was charged Friday in U.S. District Court in northern Virginia with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.

The suspect allegedly weighed hitting various targets ranging from a military installation to synagogues to a Washington restaurant before settling on the Capitol.

The man thought undercover FBI agents assisting him in his plot were associates of Al Qaeda.He purchased bomb materials including jackets, nails and glue in preparation for an attack

When he was arrested Friday in Washington, he was carrying with him a vest that he had been led to believe was packed with explosives, but the material inside was not actually dangerous,

A short time earlier, Khalifi had been praying at a mosque in the Washington area. His destination was Capitol Hill.

The public was never in danger, as he had been under constant surveillance for some time, officials said. The FBI provided the suspect with a disabled gun during their ongoing operation

The U.S. Capitol Police, in a statement that confirmed the arrest but provided few details, said the suspect had been "closely and carefully monitored."

A senior source involved with law enforcement at the Capitol also told Fox News the investigation was "all very controlled." The source said the U.S. Capitol Police was involved with the FBI and other agencies in tracking the suspect "not more than a year."

Khalifi had reportedly set off explosives in a remote quarry in West Virginia while accompanied undercover agents as part a test before carrying out his attack.

Khalifi was been staying in the country illegally after overstaying a tourist visa that he entered the USA on in 1999. While living in northern Virginia, the Moroccan had a run-ins with his Arlington landlord who had called local police.

Frank Dynda said Friday that a woman who leased an apartment in his Arlington building apparently married Amine El Khalifi and then moved out. He says when Dynda told El Khalifi to leave, he said he had a right to stay and threatened to beat Dynda up.

Dynda says he thought El Khalifi was making bombs, but police told him to leave the man alone. Dynda had El Khalifi evicted in 2010.

Agents from FBI counterterrorism task force and Arlington County police officers searched a residence in Douglas Park, VA in relation to Khalidi's arrest.

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords Announces Retirement A Year After Surviving Near-Fatal Gunshot Wound To Head

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords [D: AZ-8] announced over the weekend that she would be stepping down to focus on her recovery a little over a year after she was shot in the head by a schizophrenic loner who opened fire at a 'Congress in Your Corner' event her office was hosting.

On January 8, 2011, 22 year old Jared Lee Lougner opened fire with a 9mm pistol on the Congresswoman and attendees as the meeting was being held outdoors in a Tucson, AZ shopping plaza. Besides the near-fatal injury to the Congresswoman, 6 people were killed- including a 9 year old girl, a federal judge and one of Gifford's staffers- before spectators wrestled Loughner to the ground and disarmed him.

Loughner remains in custody, although it appears a trial is increasingly unlikely for him anytime soon as he's being forcibly medicated in an attempt to make him psychologically fit to stand trial. In the hours immediately after the shootings, Loughner's rampage was blamed on public figures like Sarah Palin, the Tea Party and conservative talk radio hosts although it was determined that Loughner was a schizophrenic loner who had a disturbing fixation with the Congresswoman for years.

After being treated by a specialist in Houston and months of therapy, Congresswoman Giffords returned to Congress in late July in time to vote on the debt ceiling increase.

On Sunday, Giffords office released a video informing her constituents that she was going to resign effective this week [See above].

On Monday, Giffords' office hosted one final 'Congress in your corner' event before drafting a letter of resignation that she will turn in to Arizona governor Jan Brewer and Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boeher [R: OH-8].

Gov. Brewer has called for a special election to take place in April for a replacement for Giffords who will serve out the remainder of her term. Like many other states, Arizona is in the midst of redistricting and after the 2010 Census will add another Congressional district. During the 2010 midterms, Giffords narrowly held off Tea Party-backed GOP challenger Jesse Kelly.

Giffords herself reportedly has not ruled out running for office again at some point in the future, but she has determined her recovery is her main priority.

Personally, I'm amazed at the pace of Giffords' recovery so far as well as her determination to return after undergoing therapy. I wish Giffords and her husband the best of luck in their future endeavors up to and including another run for public office.

10-Term Democrat Congressman Maurice Hinchey Announces Retirement

The bitter, petulant Democrat hack has decided to call it a career, apparently.

KINGSTON, N.Y. (AP) - Upstate New York Democratic Congressman Maurice Hinchey is set to announce that he won't seek re-election.

Hinchey's office says Wednesday the 10-term representative from the Hudson Valley will make an official retirement announcement Thursday in Kingston.

Hinchey is 73 and recently completed treatment for colon cancer. He has been declared cancer free by his doctors.

Most famously, Hinchey lost his temper and yelled for a reporter to "Shut Up!" after being questioned about a possible conflict of interest over a federally funded project in his district in 2010.

Hinchey represented New York's 22nd Congressional District, which stretches from the lower Hudson Valley across the Catskills to the Southern Tier and part of the Finger Lakes. Hinchey's district was considered 'safe' throughout most of his congressional career because it was so heavily gerrymandered by including a disproprtionate number of cities and colleges.

New York was set to lose at least two Congressional seats after the 2010 census. It was widely anticipated that NY-29 [covering the Western portion of the Southern Tier- NANESB!] was a prime candidate for the chopping block along with another yet to be determined district in New York City or Long Island. However, with news of Hinchey's retirement there is talk of eliminating NY-22 altogether.

While the new boundaries for New York State Assembly and legislative districts are expected to be released next week, the new Congressional district boundaries won't be finalized until after the State Assembly and legislative ones are agreed upon by lawmakers in Albany.

Quickie Borderline Psychosis Update- Arms Sold to Mexican Police & Military Arming Cartels; Holder Appears Before House; DEA Laundering Drug Money?

Convoy of Mexican Federal Judicial Police Outside of Juarez

A CBS report has indicated that American firearms sold to the Mexican military and law enforcement in transactions approved by both the US State Department and Mexico's Secretariat of National Defense are ending up in the hands of drug cartels.

The problem of weapons legally sold to Mexico - then diverted to violent cartels - is becoming more urgent. That's because the U.S. has quietly authorized a massive escalation in the number of guns sold to Mexico through "direct commercial sales." It's a way foreign countries can acquire firearms faster and with less disclosure than going through the Pentagon.

Here's how it works: A foreign government fills out an application to buy weapons from private gun manufacturers in the U.S. Then the State Department decides whether to approve.

And it did approve 2,476 guns to be sold to Mexico in 2006. In 2009, that number was up nearly 10 times, to 18,709. The State Department has since stopped disclosing numbers of guns it approves, and wouldn't give CBS News figures for 2010 or 2011.

One weapon - an AR-15-type semi-automatic rifle - tells the story. In 2006, this same kind of rifle - tracked by serial number - is legally sold by a U.S. manufacturer to the Mexican military.

Three years later - it's found in a criminal stash in a region wracked by Mexican drug cartel violence.

That prompted a "sensitive" cable, uncovered by WikiLeaks, dated June 4, 2009, in which the U.S. State Department asked Mexico "how the AR-15" - meant only for the military or police - was "diverted" into criminal hands.

And, more importantly, where the other rifles from the same shipment went: "Please account for the current location of the 1,030 AR-15 type rifles," reads the cable.

There's no response in the record.

The State Department's Direct Commercial Sales program would be completely separate from the ATF's Operation 'Fast & Furious', where field agents were ordered to allow weapons obtained in the USA by straw purchasers to cross the border into Mexico, where they would later turn up at crime scenes.

However, corruption and incompetence on the part of Mexican officials seems to have been pivotal in organized crime obtaining military and police-issue weapons.

Two years before I even started this blog, in response to gun control advocates using the increasing violence in Mexico as an excuse to further restrict the rights of law-abiding gun owners in the USA, I stated that a significant number of arms from military and police armories in Mexico were likely among the missing and arming cartel enforcers as police armorers or military quartermasters looked the other way. Cartels like Los Zetas- consisting largely of deserters from Mexico's special forces units- have likely used their military backgrounds to cultivate connections with the international arms markets as well as the black market. The Zetas have demonstrated in recent years that they are able to clean out entire arms depots in Central America.

WASHINGTON D.C.- In a House Judiciary hearing this week, Attorney General Eric Holder admitted that weapons allowed to 'walk' into Mexico would likely be turning up at crime scenes on both sides of the border for years to come.

"Although the department has taken steps to ensure that such tactics are never used again, it is an unfortunate reality that we will continue to feel the effects of this flawed operation for years to come," he said. "Guns lost during this operation will continue to show up at crime scenes on both sides of the border."

Holder faced the ire of skeptical lawmakers who are demanding accountability. Wisconsin Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner told Holder Thursday that he considers impeachment on the table if Holder doesn't figure out who's responsible.

A day before the House Judiciary Hearings, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) had called for the resignation of resignation of Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer after recently disclosed e-mails showed that he was giving contradictory testimony before a previous Congressional committee.

Holder, for his part, vows that he won't be stepping down in the wake of Fast & Furious. Democrats in the House and Senate have also given the appearance of circling the wagons around Holder, using the Fast & Furious debacle to reiterate their calls for additional gun control laws or lavish praise on the Attorney General Holder for halting the ill-conceived program.

In fact, e-mails from ATF officials obtained by CBS news indicate that they were looking to use the gunwalking from Fast & Furious to make the case for stricter gun control regulations- particularly in border states.

The e-mails from July 2010 between the ATF's Phoenix office and the agency's headquarters discuss using the statistics from border states like Arizona to justify a regulation called 'Demand Letter 3', which would require licenced FFL dealers in California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas to report to the ATF any transaction in which more than one long gun bigger than .22 caliber was purchased.

On July 14, 2010 after ATF headquarters in Washington D.C. received an update on Fast and Furious, ATF Field Ops Assistant Director Mark Chait emailed Bill Newell, ATF's Phoenix Special Agent in Charge of Fast and Furious:

"Bill - can you see if these guns were all purchased from the same (licensed gun dealer) and at one time. We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long gun multiple sales. Thanks."

The request for the demand letter came after the ATF encouraged liscenced dealers to go ahead with transactions to customers the dealer thought were suspect. The correspondence showed that the agency also sought to minimize or completely conceal their own role in facilitating straw purchasers obtaining the weapons.

DEA- A New York Times report last week alleges that the DEA is engaged in what some are saying is the money-laundering equivalent to Operation Fast & Furious.

Anonymous officials described an effort by U.S. agents to launder or smuggle "millions of dollars" in drug money in order to monitor the flow of cash to and from the cartels in Mexico. One official told the Times there was "close supervision." Another official said the Americans worked with Mexican agents on the investigation. Officials told the newspaper that the DEA tried to seize as much as they laundered, in part through arrests at pickup locations.

The article also described how officials had to obtain Justice Department clearance to launder more than $10 million at a time, something that was approved many times.

The DEA issued a statement Tuesday defending its operations.

"The DEA has well-established mechanisms for coordinating and approving activities associated with the fight against money laundering," the DEA said. "As a result of this cooperation, DEA has seized illicit transnational criminal organization money all around the world through our partnership with law enforcement."

The DEA said it had been working "collaboratively" with Mexico to fight money laundering "for years."

"As part of that collaboration, DEA works with Mexican authorities to gather and use information about these criminal organizations to counter the threats they pose to both of our countries," the DEA said, adding that the joint investigations "have led to important advances and detentions in each country. The cooperation between the United States and Mexico is based on principles of shared responsibility, mutual trust and respect for the jurisdiction of each country."

According to the New York Times article that ran on December 3rd, the DEA has successfully used similar tactics in other countries such as Colombia, but has only started to expand its use in Mexico over the past few years.

Campaign Treasurer's Arrest Leaves California Democrats Scrambling

California Democrat officeholders and party officials have been left frantic and scrambling since the arrest of prominent Democrat campaign financier Kinde Durkee last month. [BREAKING: I can't seem to find my world's tiniest violin; I think it's in the shop for its 20,000 sad sad song tune-up- NANESB!]

Durkee was arrested at her Burbank, CA offices on September 3rd by the FBI on charges of mail fraud. Durkee allegedly used funds raised from Democrat party donors to pay her own mortgage, travel expenses and American Express credit card bill.

Since the arrest, donors and candidates are trying to assess the full extent of the losses while attempting to raise money to replenish funds misappropriated by Kinder or frozen by the state's Fair Political Practices Commission. Complicating matters is that Durkee co-mingled money from the nearly 400 different accounts she controlled at First California Bank, making it difficult to determine exactly how much funding each campaign had available.

In late September, multimillionaire Senator Dianne Feinstein filed suit against both Durkee and First California Bank, alleging fraud and estimating her campaign's losses to be in the neighborhood of $5 million (much of that self-funded). In the meantime, much to the chagrin of statewide Democrat Party officials, First California has reportedly turned over the accounts under Durkee's control to a California court to determine who exactly has claim to what.

The bank angered clients when it handed over control of the 398 bank accounts associated with Durkee to a California state court on September 23, recusing itself from sorting out how much of the recovered money should be doled out to whom.

"In yet another attempt to escape liability for the fiasco that they helped create, First California Bank has turned most of the accounts that Durkee controlled over to the courts," the Los Angeles County Democratic Party said.

Hmm....Perhaps we touched on another reason why Congressman Dennis Cardoza (D- CA18) announced that he had decided not to run for another term this week.

Let me be honest- I can't say that this story makes me sad, because it doesn't. Not in the least. I grew up in a very blue state controlled by Democrats and aside from a stint in the US Army, I've spent the majority of my adult life in another dark blue state largely controlled by Democrats. The way the democrats have engaged in class warfare and the politics of envy and avarice while simultaneously representing the wealthiest ZIP codes in the United States would be laughable at face value if they didn't keep getting elected by the same cadre of vapid, wealthy elitists who whine endlessly that wealthy people like Rupert Murdoch or the Koch Brothers are bad for America.

All of a sudden, this Durkee decides to help herself to their millions and out come the lawyers and sob stories when in reality, Durkee pretty much personified the end result of what passes for economic policy from the Democrat party these days- find an entity with lots and money and help yourself to it while convincing them you're doing them some sort of service.