IRS Cartoon

Pelosi calls surge of illegal immigrant children an ‘opportunity’

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi argued Saturday that the surge of illegal immigrant children and families crossing into the U.S. is more of an "opportunity" than a "crisis" -- even as the Obama administration was scrambling to free up more resources to handle the influx.  
The administration itself appears to be treating the surge as a crisis, assigning a point person -- FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate -- to coordinate the federal response. President Obama also plans to appeal to Congress on Monday for more funding to address the surge on the border. 
But Pelosi, D-Calif., visiting the Texas-Mexico border on Saturday, suggested those crossing should be welcomed and not treated as a problem. 
"This crisis that some call a crisis, we have to view as an opportunity," Pelosi said. "If you believe as we do that every child, every person has a spark of divinity in them, and is therefore worthy of respect -- what we saw in those rooms was [a] dazzling, sparkling, array of God's children, worthy of respect." 
Pelosi acknowledged that the surge "does have crisis qualities," but again urged the public to use it as an "opportunity to show who we are as Americans, that we do respect people for their dignity and worth." 
Republican lawmakers have blamed the surge -- largely made up of illegal immigrant minors trekking from Central America, through Mexico and across the Rio Grande Valley in Texas -- on the Obama administration's policies, arguing that they've only encouraged more illegal immigration. 
The Obama administration, for its part, has tried to telegraph to Central American countries that their residents will not be given a free pass to stay in the U.S. 
Due to the backlog in the immigration system and other factors, however, the reality is that the U.S. government is housing many of those crossing for an indeterminate period of time. 
Obama reportedly plans to seek more than $2 billion to help respond to the crossings, and seek "fast track" authority for the Department of Homeland Security to more quickly screen and deport children crossing the border illegally.
A White House official confirmed to Fox News that Congress will be asked to approve more funding and "added flexibility" so the government can "deal with the significant rise in apprehensions of children and individuals from Central America who are crossing into the United States." 
The administration, according to the official, so far has deployed additional immigration judges, immigration attorneys and asylum officers to handle the glut of cases, and has been seeking additional space to hold some of those crossing the border.

Decision Day: Hobby Lobby team ‘very confident’ ahead of Supreme Court ruling

Supporters of the arts-and-crafts chain Hobby Lobby -- the business at the center of one of this session's most closely watched Supreme Court cases -- are sounding a confident tone ahead of Monday's expected decision in their case challenging ObamaCare's so-called contraception mandate. 
The court meets for a final time Monday to release decisions in its two remaining cases before the justices take off for the summer. 
The most contentious is that brought by Oklahoma City-based Hobby Lobby and a furniture maker in Pennsylvania. The for-profit businesses have challenged the requirement in the Affordable Care Act that employers cover contraception for women at no extra charge among a range of preventive benefits in employee health plans. It is the first major challenge to ObamaCare to come before the court since the justices upheld the law's individual requirement to buy health insurance two years ago. 
Supporters of Hobby Lobby cite a few factors potentially leaning in their favor, including the tone of oral arguments in March and a unanimous decision last week finding President Obama overreached in making recess appointments to a labor board. 
"Absolutely, we win -- we are very confident after oral argument in March that we will prevail in this case," Hannah Smith, senior counsel for The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represents Hobby Lobby, told Fox News. She suggested this, too, is a case of government "overreach." 
Citing recent unanimous decisions, she added: "We're hopeful we might see some unanimity here."   
Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., also said he's hopeful the court will "uphold the rights of individuals for their expression of their religious freedoms." 
He, too, cited the ruling Thursday that Obama "exceeded his constitutional authority" in speculating that the court might deliver another blow to the administration on Monday. 
The court, though, has surprised onlookers before when it comes to ObamaCare. In the major Supreme Court challenge to the law's individual mandate two years ago, Chief Justice John Roberts cast the pivotal vote that saved the health care law in the midst of Obama's campaign for re-election. 
House Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., speaking on "Fox News Sunday," predicted the Supreme Court would rule against Hobby Lobby. 
"I believe that the Supreme Court will find that no business ... should be allowed to [discriminate] against women," he said. "The owner has a right to his or her religious beliefs, but that doesn't mean you get to discriminate against women if [they] have different beliefs than what the owner has." 
During arguments in March, Justice Anthony Kennedy, often seen as the pivotal swing vote, voiced concerns about the rights of both sides of the issue. 
At one point, though, he seemed troubled about how the logic of the government's argument would apply to abortions. "A profit corporation could be forced in principle to pay for abortions," Kennedy said. "Your reasoning would permit it." 
Dozens of companies, including Hobby Lobby, claim religious objections to covering some or all contraceptives. The methods and devices at issue before the Supreme Court are those the plaintiffs say can work after conception. They are the emergency contraceptives Plan B and ella, as well as intrauterine devices, which can cost up to $1,000. 
The court has never recognized a for-profit corporation's religious rights under federal law or the Constitution. Indeed, if the court did here, the Constitutional Accountability Center's Elizabeth Wydra told Fox News this would be an "entirely unprecedented step." 
But even some supporters of the administration's position said they would not be surprised if the court were to do so on Monday, perhaps limiting the right to corporations that are under tight family control. 
Both sides of the debate are gearing up for a major decision of some sort on Monday, lining up conference calls to press their points on the heels of the ruling. 
The Obama administration says insurance coverage for birth control is important to women's health and reduces the number of unwanted pregnancies, as well as abortions. 
Several justices worried at the argument in March that a decision for Hobby Lobby would lead to religious objections to covering blood transfusions or vaccinations. Prominent Washington lawyer Paul Smith said another important question is how the decision would apply to "laws that protect people from discrimination, particularly LGBT people." 
In the Hobby Lobby case, even if the court finds such a right exists, it still has to weigh whether the government's decision to have employee health plans pay for birth control is important enough to overcome the companies' religious objections. 
It is no surprise that this high-profile case, argued three months ago, is among the last released. 
The other unresolved case has been hanging around since late January, often a sign that the outcome is especially contentious. 
Home health care workers in Illinois want the court to rule that public sector unions cannot collect fees from workers who aren't union members. The idea behind compulsory fees for nonmembers is that the union negotiates the contract for all workers, so they all should share in the cost of that work. 
The court has been hostile to labor unions in recent years. If that trend continues Monday, the justices could confine their ruling to home health workers or they could strike a big blow against unions more generally.

Roger Stone’s new book marking the 40th anniversary of the Watergate scandal.

Hillary Clinton might be hoping no one buys “Nixon’s Secrets” — Roger Stone’s new book marking the 40th anniversary of the Watergate scandal.
 Stone — a Nixon staffer who is so partisan he has a tattoo of his old boss’ face on his back — reports that Clinton was fired as a staff lawyer for the House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee for “writing fraudulent legal briefs, lying to investigators and confiscating public documents.”

Yale Law School grad Clinton was 26 in 1974 when she started working for the committee that was investigating whether or not there was enough evidence to impeach or prosecute President Nixon for the Watergate affair.
 

Hillary Clinton Faces Heat Over Paid Speeches

Hillary Clinton is facing a backlash over her paid speeches, with students at the University of NevadaLas Vegas calling on her to reject the $225,000 that the school is paying her family charity, and Republicans saying her lucrative engagements demonstrate that she is removed from everyday voters.

Mrs. Clinton, a likely 2016 presidential candidate, has been giving a mix of paid and free speeches since leaving the State Departmentearly last year. She collected $300,000 for a speech at UCLAin March, a spokesman for the school said Friday, adding that the money came from a privately funded endowment.

She has also given paid speeches at Hamilton Collegein New York and the University of Miamiwhich wouldn't disclose her fees. A Hamilton spokesman said a private endowment covered her appearance on campus last year.

The UNLVfee for her appearance this fall will go to the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation

The dispute at UNLV comes as Mrs. Clinton is making the case that she can empathize with struggling American families whatever her net worth.

Earlier this month, she told an interviewer that she and her husband left the White House in 2001 "dead broke." Yet they had put together the money to buy two houses in upscale neighborhoods and were never at risk of real financial distress. In post-presidency,

Hillary Clinton before a speaking engagement earlier this year. 

Mrs. Clinton has said she was "inartful" in describing her wealth, but stressed that she has spent much of her life advocating for poorer Americans.

Mrs. Clinton plans to deliver the keynote speech at a UNLV fundraising event in October. Her appearance fee is $225,000, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Her office declined to comment on the UNLV speech. A school spokesman wouldn't confirm the amount but said such fees are paid through private donations and that no university funds are involved.

That doesn't satisfy student leaders. Earlier this month, the state's higher-education system decided to raise tuition by 17% over four years. Some students said they would like to see Mrs. Clinton donate her fee to the school.

Daniel Waqar, 19 years old, a junior at UNLV and a spokesman for the student government, said students would be sending a letter to Mrs. Clinton asking her to "donate the money back to students."

"Donating the money back would be an example of her standing for higher education and standing for students," Mr. Waqar said. The $225,000 fee is enough to award 225 students scholarships of $1,000 apiece, he noted.

EPA spends $1.6 million on hotel for ‘Environmental Justice’ conference

Bailey: "We can talk and  complain all we want to about this, but it's not going to stop until the people of America clean all of the dishonest politicians out of our government. Which means there will be no more government."

WASHINGTON –  The Environmental Protection Agency will spend more than $1 million on hotel accommodations for an “Environmental Justice” conference this fall.
The agency posted its intention to contract with the Renaissance Arlington Local Capital View Hotel for its upcoming public meeting, for which it will need to book 195 rooms for 24 days.
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), Office of Enforcement and Compliance, Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) intends to award a fixed-price Purchase Order … to the Renaissance Arlington Local Capital View Hotel,” the solicitation said. “The purpose of this acquisition is to cover the cost of 195 sleeping room nights from Sept. 9 [to] Oct 2, 2014, at government rate for the 50th public meeting of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC), a federal advisory committee of the EPA.”
Rooms at the Renaissance Arlington run for roughly $349 a night. At 24 nights, the cost of 195 rooms will reach $1,633,320, or $8,376 per room.
The government per diem rate for lodging is $219 for September. If the EPA receives the per diem rate, the cost will come to $1,024,920 for the duration of their stay.
The NEJAC was established in 1993 to “obtain independent, consensus advice and recommendations from a broad spectrum of stakeholders involved in environmental justice.”
Click for more from The Washington Free Beacon.

Election-year fears slow Senate work to a halt

Bailey: "I wonder if the old tightwad millionaire has ever had to worry about a mortgage, car payments, electric, water,  gas, or food for the table? Why hell no!"

WASHINGTON –  A fear of voting has gripped Democratic leaders in the Senate, slowing the chamber's modest productivity this election season to a near halt.
With control of the Senate at risk in November, leaders are going to remarkable lengths to protect endangered Democrats from casting tough votes and to deny Republicans legislative victories in the midst of the campaign. The phobia means even bipartisan legislation to boost energy efficiency, manufacturing, sportsmen's rights and more could be scuttled.
The Senate's masters of process are finding a variety of ways to shut down debate.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., now is requiring an elusive 60-vote supermajority to deal with amendments to spending bills, instead of the usual simple majority, a step that makes it much more difficult to put politically sensitive matters into contention. This was a flip from his approach to Obama administration nominees, when he decided most could be moved ahead with a straight majority instead of the 60 votes needed before.
Reid's principal aim in setting the supermajority rule for spending amendments was to deny archrival Sen. Mitch McConnell a win on protecting his home state coal industry from new regulations limiting carbon emissions from existing power plants. McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, faces a tough re-election in Kentucky.
This hunkering down by Democrats is at odds with the once-vibrant tradition of advancing the 12 annual agency budget bills through open debate. In the Appropriations Committee, long accustomed to a freewheeling process, chairwoman Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., has held up action on three spending bills, apparently to head off politically difficult votes on changes to the divisive health care law as well as potential losses to Republicans on amendments such as McConnell's on the coal industry.
"I just don't think they want their members to have to take any hard votes between now and November," said Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb. And there's "just no question that they're worried we're going to win some votes so they just shut us down."
Vote-a-phobia worsens in election years, especially when the majority party is in jeopardy. Republicans need to gain six seats to win control and Democrats must defend 21 seats to the Republicans' 15.
So Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, probably shouldn't have been surprised when his cherished bill to fund the Labor, Education and Health and Human Services departments got yanked from the Appropriations Committee's agenda this month. Word quickly spread that committee Democrats in Republican-leaning states feared a flurry of votes related to "Obamacare."
"It's not as if they haven't voted on them before," Harkin griped. "My way of thinking is, 'Hell, you've already voted on it. Your record's there.'" Harkin blamed Senate Democratic leaders.
Two other appropriations bills have run aground after preliminary votes. The normally non-controversial energy and water bill was pulled from the committee agenda after it became known that McConnell would have an amendment to defend his state's coal mining industry. McConnell is making that defense a centerpiece of his re-election campaign and his amendment appeared on track to prevail with the help of pro-energy Democrats on the committee.
Again, after consulting with Reid, Mikulski struck the bill from the agenda.
McConnell pressed the matter the next day, this time aiming to amend a spending bill paying for five Cabinet departments. Democrats again headed him off.
Democrats privately acknowledge that they're protecting vulnerable senators and don't want McConnell to win on the carbon emissions issue. They also see hypocrisy in McConnell's insistence on a simple majority vote for his top — and controversial — priority while he wants Democrats to produce 60 votes to advance almost everything else.
Another measure, financing the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service, failed to get a committee vote last week after speeding through a subcommittee hearing. Mikulski blamed problems with timing. But it was known that Republicans had amendments on hot-button issues coming.
Fear of voting is hardly new. In the last two years of the Clinton administration, Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., blocked Democrats from offering a popular Patients' Bill of Rights, and more. At the time, Charles Schumer of New York and Dick Durbin of Illinois were among the Democrats who cried foul.
These days, Durbin and Schumer hold the No. 2 and No. 3 Democratic Senate leadership posts and now that their party is running the place, they're backing Reid's moves to clamp down on GOP amendments.
"You've always got senators on both sides of the aisle of all political persuasions and all regions whining and complaining how they don't want to vote on this amendment or that amendment," Lott says now. "It always frankly agitated me because I felt like these are big boys and girls." He said "it has gotten worse and worse and worse."
Republicans say Democratic leaders are trying especially to protect Mark Begich of Alaska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana. Landrieu says she hasn't asked for such help.
"I've taken so many hard votes up here," Landrieu said. "I could take more."

King Obama

Benghazi suspect, now on U.S. soil and in federal custody, could face judge Saturday

WASHINGTON –  Ahmed Abu Khatallah, the Libyan militant charged in the 2012 Benghazi attacks, is in federal law enforcement custody and could face a judge as early as Saturday, authorities said.
Khatallah is being held at a federal courthouse in D.C. amid tight security, Department of Justice spokesman William Miller said.
He was flown to Washington by helicopter shortly after sunrise from a navy warship, where he had been held since his capture nearly two weeks ago.
Khatallah is accused of being involved in the Sept. 11, 2012 attack in Libya that led to the deaths of former U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, information officer Sean Smith, and former navy SEALs Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.
Stevens, 52, was the first U.S. ambassador to be killed in the line of duty since 1979.
There’s a possibility that Khatallah could face a federal judge Saturday afternoon for an initial court appearance at which the government would outline the charges against him.
He almost certainly would remain in detention while the Justice Department seeks a federal grand jury indictment against him.
U.S. Special Forces captured Khatallah during a nighttime raid in Libya June 15-16, marking the first breakthrough in the investigation of the Benghazi attacks.
A newly unsealed criminal complaint accuses Khatallah of killing a person during an attack on a federal facility, a crime punishable by death; providing federal support to terrorists resulting in death; and using a firearm in a crime of violence.
U.S. authorities have said they are looking to identify and capture additional co-conspirators.
Khatallah, a prominent figure in Benghazi's circles of extremists who was popular among young radicals, acknowledged in an interview with The Associated Press in January that he was present during the storming of the U.S. mission in Benghazi. But he denied involvement in the attack, saying he was trying to organize a rescue of trapped people.
Prosecuting Khatallah will be a test of the Obama administration’s commitment to try suspected terrorists in the American criminal justice system even as Republicans in Congress call for Khatallah and others to be held at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Khatallah is one of just a few cases in which the administration has captured a suspected terrorist overseas and interrogated him for intelligence purposes before bringing him to federal court to face charges.

Thad Cochran's GOP runoff victory shows new angle to minority voting

Sen. Thad Cochran's GOP primary victory, thanks in part to black Mississippians who turned out to vote for him, exemplifies a new math that politicians of all persuasions may be forced to learn as this country's voting population slowly changes complexion.
Cochran's campaign courted black voters, perceiving their unhappiness with his Tea Party-supported opponent, Chris McDaniel, and his anti-government rhetoric and scathing criticisms of President Obama. Blacks responded by turning out to help give Cochran an almost 7,000-vote win. The use of Mississippi's open primary to further their agenda showed political maturity by black voters and debunked a longstanding belief that they obediently vote Democratic and not according to their own interests.
They turned out for a primary runoff with no Democratic candidate involved. And they voted Republican even though the smart play for the Democrats would have been to usher McDaniel to victory and create a more winnable contest for Democrat Travis Childers in November.
"I think that Thad Cochran is a shot across the bow to be felt for a long time," said the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was the first minority presidential candidate to win a statewide primary or caucus in 1984 and 1988. "You cannot win in the new South or win in national elections with all-white primaries. This is a new America today."
Tests of this assertion are coming next month in Alabama and Georgia, also Southern states with large minority populations and open primaries. The Mississippi race may be a harbinger of more strategic voting for minority voters, especially African Americans, said D'Andra Orey, a political science professor at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi.
"This is not a one-time situation," Orey said. "Blacks do recognize their power in the vote, and in this particular case, blacks saw that they could actually defeat or be a strong influence ... in defeating McDaniel."
In Mississippi, which is 38 percent black and on track to become the country's first majority-black state, some black voters said they planned to support Cochran, a six-term incumbent, again in November. Others said they would keep their options open in November or vote for the Democrat, even though they considered Cochran a better choice than McDaniel in the red state.
"I just think that McDaniel did as much for the Cochran turnout in the black community as Cochran people did," said Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, Mississippi's sole black congressman.
Agitating minority voters may soon prove politically risky anywhere in the nation: The numbers of black, Hispanic, Asian and Native American voters are growing not only in presidential election years but in off-cycle elections as well, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
In presidential election years, the percentage of black voters eclipsed the percentage of whites for the first time in 2012, when 66.2 percent of blacks voted, compared to 64.1 percent of non-Hispanics whites and about 48 percent of Hispanics and Asians.
The number of African-American and other minority voters has also been increasing during off-cycle, non-presidential elections. For example, in the 2010 congressional and statewide elections, 47.8 percent of non-Hispanic whites, 40.7 percent of blacks, 21.3 percent of Asians and 20.5 percent of Hispanics voted.
But the only groups to increase their numbers were blacks and Hispanics, who voted at 38.6 percent and 19.3 percent respectively in 2006 congressional and statewide elections. The white and Asian participation rate dropped during that same time period from 50.5 percent and 21.8 percent.
And black participation in off-year elections has been steadily increasing since 1994, when it was 37.1 percent. In 1998, it 39.6 percent, in 2002 39.7 percent and a slight dip in 2006 at 38.6 percent. No other group showed a similar increase.
Black voting increased during the Mississippi GOP primary. Statewide turnout increased by almost 70,000 votes over the June 3 primary, with turnout in majority-black counties growing by 43 percent, while in counties where blacks are less than a majority, it grew 17 percent.
Carol M. Swain, a law and political science professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, doubted those voters would become Republicans but said they could become swing voters in some races. "I believe they may have purchased some influence with the Republican establishment that could benefit blacks in the long run," Swain said.
Democrats, in return, plan to address more African American issues in upcoming campaign, but they have been warned not to take those votes for granted. At a recent meeting with black journalists and advocates, several U.S. senators were warned that some black voters had noticed that Democrats had no problem talking about veterans' issues, women's issues or LBGT issues, but seemed hesitant to talk about and address black issues on the Senate floor.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said he could understand how "off-putting" it could be that Democrats "are all about equality and all about the big tent, but we're talking about other folks and not us," a loyal voting base.
"I hadn't really thought about our strong advocacy on these diversity issues actually could have an undercurrent of 'We must not be that important because you're not talking about us the same way,'" Kaine said.
Recognition of that can only be a good thing for minority voters, Swain said.
"The positive thing to come out of this is that more white candidates and incumbents will campaign among black voters, and maybe they will deliver more," she said.

Differences between a Democrat and Republican

Bailey: A Democrat wants someone else to take care of all their problems. A Republican believes in taking care of  the problem themselves. Simple answer to the question about why stupid lazy people like bigger government.

Democrat Hilary

ObamaCare whistleblower claims retaliation, Republicans cry foul

A political storm has erupted in Washington state involving a whistleblower who claims she was retaliated against after raising concerns about ObamaCare's implementation. 
Patricia Petersen, a hearings officer in the state's Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC), filed a whistleblower complaint alleging coercion and corruption in the OIC, which is tasked with implementing the Affordable Care Act. She said Chief Deputy James Odiorne threatened her job if she didn’t rule the way Commissioner Mike Kreidler -- a supporter of the law -- wanted. 
"If a judge is told by a party to decide his cases in a certain way, or one party can threaten the judge’s job if the case is not decided in that party’s favor, then this central pillar of our democratic society is corroded,” Petersen said at a recent hearing called by the Senate Law and Justice Committee. 
One of the cases before Petersen involved Seattle Children’s Hospital, the premiere pediatric care facility in the Pacific Northwest. The hospital was kept out of the state health care exchange by Kreidler, who deemed Seattle Children’s care too expensive. 
Kreidler, speaking to Fox News in October 2013, said: “You’re going to find that their business plan needs to be altered in order to really be competitive in the marketplace, so they’re offering services at the most reasonable price.” 
But after Petersen granted Seattle Children’s Hospital a hearing to appeal Kreidler’s decision, Odiorne wrote this in a job evaluation: “Since your orders are legally the acts of the Commissioner, they must be orders that he supports.” 
Republican lawmakers cried foul. 
“She has to be completely independent,” said Republican state Sen. Randi Becker. “She has to be able to make her decisions, her rulings, based upon law, not upon somebody’s desire.” 
Washington State Auditor Troy Kelley, a Democrat, denied Petersen’s request for whistleblower status. Kelley wrote, “There are other avenues available for addressing your assertion.” 
Petersen was then placed on paid leave and became the subject of an investigation for mailing a copy of her original complaint to an attorney who represents Seattle Children’s Hospital. She claims the "ex parte" communication was an inadvertent mistake. 
But several Democrats say Petersen is wrong about her independence. She is a 28-year employee in the OIC and, according to some, is Kreidler’s designee. 
“It’s his work,” said Democratic state Sen. Adam Kline. “She is sitting at his desk when this happens. And she is emphatically not an independent judge.” 
The OIC website seems to contradict that claim. In the section on appealing the commissioner’s rulings, the department writes, “Administrative hearings are legal proceedings to review the commissioner’s action before an impartial judge.” It later states, “The decision of the Chief Presiding Officer becomes the final decision of the agency and is not subject to review by the Commissioner or any member of his staff.” 
Paul Guppy, a senior policy analyst for the Washington Policy Center, a libertarian-leaning think tank, said the scandal is driven by support for a law that won’t work on its own to lower the cost of health care. 
“As the Affordable Care Act is pushed in Washington state, more and more of these contradictions emerge, and this case is just one of them,” Guppy said. 
The insurance commissioner declined Fox News' request for an interview, saying the office was conducting its own independent personnel investigation. The lawyer doing the probe was selected by his office.
Dan Springer joined Fox News Channel (FNC) in August 2001 as a Seattle-based correspondent.

Mexico sorry for border crossing, but US Marine's apology not enough

 Mexican military officials are apologizing for firing from a chopper at two U.S. Border Patrol agents early Thursday, but one lawmaker says the incident draws a disturbing contrast with the case of Andrew Tahmooressi, the U.S. Marine sergeant whose apology for accidentally crossing the border hasn't spared him a legal nightmare.
Mexican authorities were conducting a drug interdiction operation on the Tohono O’odham Indian Nation, which straddles the border, when they strayed into U.S. air space and fired at the agents, who were not injured. The reservation is a hotbed for drug smuggling, and authorities from both governments have conducted operations on it.

"It's ironic that Mexico says it acted accidentally in this case, and they ask we accept an apology, when they refuse to acknowledge an authentic mistake on Andrew's part."- Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.

"Early [Thursday] morning, a Mexican law enforcement helicopter crossed approximately 100 yards north into Arizona nearly eight miles southwest of the Village of San Miguel on the Tohono O'odham Indian Nation while on a drug interdiction operation near the border," U.S. Customs and Border Patrol spokesman Michael Friel said. "Two shots were fired from the helicopter but no injuries or damage to U.S. property were reported. The incident is currently under investigation."
Art del Cueto, president of the Border Patrol union's Tucson local, said Mexican officials contacted U.S. authorities to apologize for the incident.
While no one is claiming the incident was intentional, it brought to mind for some another accidental border crossing. Tahmooressi was arrested at the Tijuana Port of Entry March 31 after mistakenly crossing into Mexico, where he immediately told officials he had three registered guns in his pickup truck. But instead of letting him turn around, Mexican security officials charged him with possession of weapons and ammunition. He faces up to 10 years in prison if he is convicted.
"It's ironic that Mexico says it acted accidentally in this case, and they ask we accept an apology, when they refuse to acknowledge an authentic mistake on Andrew's part," said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a former Marine who has championed Tahmooressi's cause. "There are mistakes and there are excuses. Andrew's actions were the result of wrong turn, a simple mistake. Mexico is just making an excuse and no different than the border incursion that are too regular, U.S. officials should approach this incident with absolute seriousness."
Shawn Moran, a Border Patrol agent and vice president of the Border Patrol Council, said mistakes that put his colleagues in peril are not easily dismissed.
"This is not the first incident where Mexican military/law enforcement has crossed the border and fired at our agents," Moran said. "It is a legitimate concern of ours and makes us wonder who we can trust on the south side."

'Makes no sense': Industry group casts doubt on IRS' 'lost' email story

An industry group is claiming the IRS should have kept full records of its apparent destruction of ex-official Lois Lerner's hard drive, saying "the notion that these emails just magically vanished makes no sense whatsoever." 
The latest to weigh in on the lost emails controversy is the head of the International Association of Information Technology Asset Managers. Group president Barbara Rembiesa released a statement on Thursday questioning recent testimony by IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, who told Congress last Friday that Lerner's hard drive was "recycled and destroyed" after it crashed in 2011. 
She claimed that a certified "IT asset destruction" team should have been brought in to document and complete that process. 
"If this was done, there would be records. If this was not done, this is the smoking gun that proves the drive or drives were destroyed improperly -- or not at all," she said. 
Rembiesa adds her voice to a growing list of industry experts dubious about agency claims that Lerner's emails disappeared after a hard-drive crash in 2011. 
Lerner is the former head of the Exempt Organizations division, and is at the heart of the controversy over agency targeting of Tea Party groups. After the IRS revealed earlier this month that many of her emails from 2009 to 2011 were gone, outraged Republicans arranged a rapid-fire string of hearings on the matter -- and on the sidelines, some computer experts backed up their suspicions. 
The IRS, though, insists this was simply a case of a routine computer failure -- one of thousands across the federal government. Koskinen testified on the matter twice since last week, stressing that despite the computer problems, the agency was able to recover 67,000 Lerner emails, including 24,000 from other accounts, from January 2009 to May 2013. 
"It's not unusual for computers anywhere to fail, especially at the IRS in light of the aged equipment IRS employees often have to use," Koskinen testified Monday, claiming over 2,000 agency workers had hard-drive crashes so far this year. 
Last Friday, he told the House Ways and Means Committee that he understands Lerner's hard drive was physically destroyed after technicians were unable to recover data from it in 2011. 
At that hearing, Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., suggested that the government might have a tracking system of sorts. Koskinen said he wasn't aware of whether hard drives have "identifiers," but said: "If they have serial numbers, you're welcome to them." 
Apparently not satisfied with the response, Camp and Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La., blasted out a new round of requests on Friday to various branches of the Obama administration asking for details on how they learned of the crash and information from the IRS on the effort to retrieve data from agency computers. They requested the serial numbers of all failed devices and documents on efforts to recover the data. 
"We still can't get straight answers from the IRS or this administration about the circumstances of the destroyed IRS emails," they said in a statement. 
Meanwhile, Republican calls on Capitol Hill for a special prosecutor to probe the IRS were getting louder. 
"All this garbage about, they have old computers is ridiculous. They have the best software. The best hardware," Rep. Louis Gohmert, R-Texas, said. Gohmert says money should be offered to get to the bottom of the missing emails -- $1 million to recover them, and $500,000 for information on who destroyed them. 
"We know those emails are out there. We know they can be found," he said. "We just need people to help find them." 
Koskinen, though, claimed there was no crime involved. 
In Minnesota on Thursday, President Obama referred to recent controversies as "phony scandals," suggesting they are all about politics. 
"It's all geared towards the next election or ginning up a base," he said. "It's not on the level. And that must feel frustrating, and it makes people cynical."

More missing emails, crashed hard drives, this time at EPA

By Barnini Chakraborty

Published June 25, 2014

FoxNews.com

 

 WASHINGTON –  The Internal Revenue Service isn’t the only government agency dealing with missing emails or faulty hard drives.
Environmental Protection Agency administrator Gina McCarthy on Wednesday cited a similar cyber snafu during a House Oversight Committee hearing.
“Another missing hard drive?” Rep. Mark Meadows, R-NC, asked McCarthy.
She responded, “We are having trouble acquiring the data.”
Wednesday’s hearing was called in response to allegations of rampant employee misconduct as well as a pattern of obstruction of oversight efforts by the committee.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., threatened to hold the EPA in contempt of Congress over subpoenaed documents he claimed her agency was purposely withholding.
“You have not complied with the subpoena,” Issa charged. “I’m informing you today that it is my intention to hold the Environmental Protection Agency in contempt.”
The EPA is being accused of slow-walking several requests by the House committee to provide lawmakers with documents involving alleged employee misconduct on a number of thorny issues, including conflicts among the EPA, the Office of Inspector General and agency management as well as the EPA’s action related to the veto of the controversial Pebble Mine project in Alaska.
Lawmakers at the hearing wanted McCarthy to address lost emails from a hard-drive crash at the agency that wiped out some emails from former employee Philip North to his bosses at the EPA over the controversial Alaska mine project.
Complicating matters, North has gone off the proverbial grid, making it difficult for lawmakers to issue a subpoena for him to testify.
Rep. Kerry Bentivolio, R-Mich., asked McCarthy if she knew where North was.
“No sir, I don’t know that,” she responded.
Bentivolio pressed McCarthy about claims North’s hard drive crashed, making some of his emails unavailable.
McCarthy said the EPA has submitted all the documents it has been able to find and will “continue the search.”
“There are some gaps, but we have submitted significant amounts,” McCarthy said.
Emails from North, now retired, recently surfaced that seemed to show the Alaska-based biologist tried to get the Pebble Mine project killed as far back as 2008.
Those emails -- and memos indicating government officials worked early on with tribal leaders and environmental groups to oppose the venture -- raised questions about the agency's claims that when it ultimately vetoed the gold-and-copper mine project, it did so based on scientific evidence.
Emails from North’s account show that he “appeared to have played a key role in the EPA’s decision to pursue a veto,” Caitlin Carroll, a spokeswoman for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told FoxNews.com.
When he was still reachable, North was asked multiple times to come in and talk to lawmakers about the project. He offered up a list of complications that prevented him from meeting with the government, including a pre-planned, one-year boat ride around the world with his school-aged children.
North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows asked McCarthy whether North had backed up his emails and suggested there might be a violation of federal record-keeping rules.
McCarthy said she notified the National Archives of the matter Tuesday, adding, “I am still hoping we recover all the emails.”
The Internal Revenue Service has been at the center of a controversy over allegations that it unfairly targeted conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status. On Tuesday, the nation’s top archivist told Congress that the agency did not follow the law when it failed to report the loss of records belonging to former IRS official Lois Lerner.
In June 2011, Lerner’s computer crashed, taking with it records that were sought in the investigation. The IRS said it tried to recover the lost data but ultimately could not.
Separately, the EPA is under pressure to discuss and provide documentation on John Beale – the former EPA official who fooled his bosses into believing he worked for the CIA. Beale was accused of being deeply involved in crafting costly environmental standards that still are having an impact today -- though he came into the job with little, if any, environmental experience.
Issa issued a subpoena in November for documents over a five-year period as part of an inquiry into whether the White House meddled with how the agency responded to congressional requests.
Issa said his requests had been ignored and told McCarthy he will start the process of holding the agency in contempt if the documents are not provided. The White House has the option to declare executive privilege though they have yet to do so.
McCarthy told the committee that her staff was still working to provide the information it requested but did add there was an ongoing criminal investigation against Beale.
She also said that her staff shared documents with the committee in private that show the White House did not interfere with the agency.
“You know we’ve worked hard to recognize the interests of this committee in ensuring that there is no White House interference in the work between us and delivering documents that you required,” she said.
“We have provided an accommodation which we have actually shared with your staff this morning, and we’re working to make sure that that matches your needs so that we can avoid the institutional problems with the requests that you made, and hopefully move on to continue our work together,” McCarthy added.

Lerner sought IRS audit of sitting GOP senator, emails show

Congressional investigators have uncovered emails showing ex-IRS official Lois Lerner targeted a sitting Republican senator for a proposed internal audit, a discovery one GOP lawmaker called "shocking." 
The emails were published late Wednesday by the House Ways and Means Committee and pertain to the woman at the heart of the scandal over IRS targeting of Tea Party groups. 
The emails appear to show Lerner mistakenly received an invitation intended for Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, in 2012. 
The event organizer, whose name is not disclosed, apparently offered to pay for Grassley's wife to attend the event, which caught Lerner's attention. The December 2012 emails show that in response, Lerner suggested to an IRS colleague that the case be referred for an audit. 
"Looked like they were inappropriately offering to pay for his wife. Perhaps we should refer to Exam?" she wrote. 
Her colleague, though, pushed back on the idea, saying an offer to pay for his wife is "not prohibited on its face." There is no indication from the emails that Lerner pursued the issue any further. 
Republicans pointed to the exchange as yet another example of Lerner using her position in the Exempt Organizations unit to apply scrutiny to conservatives. 
"We have seen a lot of unbelievable things in this investigation, but the fact that Lois Lerner attempted to initiate an apparently baseless IRS examination against a sitting Republican United States Senator is shocking," Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., said in a statement. 
"At every turn, Lerner was using the IRS as a tool for political purposes in defiance of taxpayer rights." 
Grassley said in a statement that this kind of incident fuels concerns people have about "political targeting" at the highest levels. "It's very troubling that a simple clerical mix-up could get a taxpayer immediately referred for an IRS exam without any due diligence from agency officials," the senator said. 
The IRS, in response to the publication of the emails, said in a statement that it could not comment on "any specific situation" due to taxpayer confidentiality issues. 
But the agency added: "As a general matter, the IRS has checks and balances in place to ensure the fairness and integrity of the audit process. Audits cannot be initiated solely by personal requests or suggestions by any one individual inside the IRS." 
The emails come at a sensitive time in the IRS targeting investigation. Congressional Republicans are furious after learning earlier this month that a trove of Lerner emails have disappeared, apparently after a 2011 hard drive crash. 
IRS Commissioner John Koskinen has been called to testify twice on Capitol Hill since last week on the lost emails. 
Camp said in his statement: "We may never know the full extent of the abuse since the IRS conveniently lost two years of Lerner emails, not to mention those of other key figures in this scandal." 
Grassley, incidentally, is a member of the Senate Finance Committee -- which is one of the congressional panels investigating the IRS over the targeting scandal. 
Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La., told Fox News that the revelation that Lerner tried to scrutinize Grassley over an invitation is another example of the administration using the agency as a "political tool, as a weapon." 
Fox News is told that Grassley did not end up attending the speaking engagement in question, which was supposed to be in the spring of 2013. 
As for how Lerner got the invite intended for Grassley, a source said it was only a "weird coincidence."
Fox News' Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

IRS Cartoon

Official: Intelligence community warned about 'growing' ISIS threat in Iraq

The U.S. intelligence community warned about the "growing threat" from Sunni militants in Iraq since the beginning of the year, a senior intelligence official said Tuesday -- a claim that challenges assertions by top administration officials that they were caught off guard by the capture of key Iraqi cities.
Earlier Tuesday, in an interview with Fox News, Secretary of State John Kerry said "nobody expected" Iraqi security forces to be decisively driven out by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, as they were earlier this month in Mosul.
But in a separate briefing with reporters Tuesday afternoon, the senior intelligence official said the intelligence community had warned about the ISIS threat.
“During the past year, the intelligence community has provided strategic warning of Iraq’s deteriorating security situation," the official said. "We routinely highlighted (ISIS') growing threat in Iraq, the increasing difficulties Iraq’s security forced faced in combating (ISIS), and the political strains that were contributing to Iraq’s declining stability.”
Asked who failed to act, the official did not explain.
Offering a grave warning about the current strength of the group -- which is a State Department-designated terror organization -- the official also said that barring a major counteroffensive, the intelligence community assesses that ISIS is "well-positioned to keep the territory it has gained."The official said the ISIS "strike force" now has between 3,000 and 5,000 members.
Further, the official said ISIS, as a former Al Qaeda affiliate, has the "aspiration and intent" to target U.S. interests. Asked if Americans have joined, the intelligence official said it "stands to reason that Americans have joined."
The information from the intelligence community adds to the picture of what is known about the ISIS threat, and what might have been known in the weeks and months before its militants seized Mosul and other northern cities and towns.
Kerry, speaking with Fox News on Tuesday in the middle of a multi-country swing through the Middle East and Europe as he tries to calm the sectarian crisis in Iraq, pushed back on the notion that more could have been done from a Washington perspective to prevent the takeovers. Pressed on whether the fall of Mosul and other cities to Sunni militants marks an intelligence failure, Kerry said nobody could have predicted Iraqi security forces would have deserted.
"We don't have people embedded in those units, and so obviously nobody knew that. I think everybody in Iraq was surprised. People were surprised everywhere," he said.
The secretary noted that the U.S. and Iraq did not sign a formal agreement allowing troops to stay in the country past 2011, so "we didn't have eyes in there."
"But the Iraqis didn't even have a sense of what was happening," Kerry said.
When asked what the U.S. did to shore up Mosul, after seeing other Iraqi cities fall earlier this year, Kerry added: "In the end, the Iraqis are responsible for their defense, and nobody expected wholesale desertion and wholesale betrayal, in a sense, by some leaders who literally either signed up with the guys who came in or walked away from their posts and put on their civilian clothes.
"No, nobody expected that."
But aside from the apparent warnings from the U.S. intelligence community, reports in The Telegraph and Daily Beast claim that Kurdish sources did warn American and British officials that ISIS was gaining strength and ready to advance, but it "fell on deaf ears."
A senior lieutenant to Lahur Talabani, head of Kurdish intelligence, reportedly told The Daily Beast that the Kurds passed on warnings about a possible takeover of Mosul to British and U.S. government officials.
"We knew exactly what strategy they were going to use, we knew the military planners," the official said.
The Telegraph reported that Washington and London got warnings months ago about Sunni militant plans to try and take over the northwestern region of Iraq. The Kurds reportedly had been monitoring developments on their own.
At this stage, though, the question for Kerry and the Obama administration is how far they are willing to go to shore up the embattled Iraqi government. Kerry, in Baghdad a day earlier, pressed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to proceed with the formation of a new government -- Iraq's parliament is set to begin this process next week.
In the meantime, President Obama has committed up to 300 U.S. military advisers to help Iraq's government fend off ISIS forces. The administration continues to weigh whether to authorize airstrikes.

Cochran defeats McDaniel in tight Mississippi GOP Senate runoff race

WASHINGTON –  Battling for his political survival, six-term Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran narrowly edged out challenger state Sen. Chris McDaniel for the win in a tight Republican runoff race that was too close to call for much of the night.
Neither candidate won the GOP nomination outright in the state's June 3 primary. The runoff was to be a test of whether the Senate veteran Cochran could win over voters with his Washington seniority and clout. 
“It’s been a real pleasure working with so many of you and making appearances in towns all across Mississippi,” Cochran said during his brief victory speech late Tuesday night, in which he thanked those who had helped him secure what he called a "great victory. ... It's a group effort. It's not a solo. And so we all have a right to be proud of our state tonight."
The Associated Press reported that unofficial returns showed Cochran, a 76-year-old first elected to Congress in 1972, with a lead of just over 6,000 votes, holding 50.8 percent of the vote to McDaniel's 49.2 percent with 99.9 percent of precincts reporting.
A defiant McDaniel offered no explicit concession when he spoke to his supporters in Hattiesburg, but instead complained of "dozens of irregularities" that he implied were due to Cochran courting Democrats and independents.
"We are not prone to surrender, we Mississippians," McDaniel told his backers. "Before this race is over we have to be absolutely certain the Republican primary was won by Republican voters."
McDaniel later told his supporters there was “nothing dangerous or extreme about wanting to balance a budget, about defending the constitution and the civil liberties therein or for standing as people of faith for a country we built, that we believe in," he said.
Following the shocking ouster of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in Virginia June 10, Tea Party groups focused their energy on the Mississippi race - backing McDaniel - as the next test of their own influence.
The race attracted about $12 million in spending from outside groups. Former Green Bay Packers quarterback — and Gulfport, Mississippi, native — Brett Favre called the 76-year-old Cochran a "proven and respected leader" in one ad paid for by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Cochran and his allies, notably former Gov. Haley Barbour, promoted his Washington establishment credentials, focusing on the billions he funneled to his home state, one of the poorest in the nation. In a last-ditch effort, Cochran reached out to traditionally Democratic voters — blacks and union members — who could cast ballots in the runoff. That possible factor in Cochran's victory is sure to be cited by critics in days and weeks to come.
In predominantly black neighborhoods of Hattiesburg's south side, an organized effort for Cochran was evident. Ronnie Wilson, a 50-year-old unemployed Hattiesburg man, said he had been encouraged by his pastor to vote for Cochran.
"They say the other guy is trying to cut food stamps and all that," Wilson said. "I'm trying to look after the majority of people not working."
McDaniel had railed against the federal "spending sprees" by Cochran, but his calls to slash the budget unnerved some voters.
Frank McCain, a 71-year-old retired tax administrator from Mendenhall, voted for Cochran.
"I believe he is doing a good job," McCain said. "But mostly I'm more scared of the other candidate. He wants to do things like not taking school funding when everyone else is."
Kellie Phipps, a 42-year-old public school teacher from Taylorsville, voted for McDaniel. "I think we need some new blood," Phipps said.
In November, Cochran will face Democrat Travis Childers, a former congressman, in the heavily Republican state.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Clinton: I’m not ‘truly well off’

Hillary Clinton, who has a net worth upwards of $50 million, said in an interview that she is "unlike a lot of people who are truly well off." 
Clinton was derided for comments made last week that her family was "dead broke" when it left the White House in 2000 although they were far from the poverty line. Bill and Hillary Clinton have reportedly made more than $100 million since leaving the White House. 
But Hillary, who charges a six figure speaking fee, says with a burst of laughter that she is not "truly well off" and that her wealth is the result of "hard work," according to The Guardian: 

"America's glaring income inequality is certain to be a central bone of contention in the 2016 presidential election. But with her huge personal wealth, how could Clinton possibly hope to be credible on this issue when people see her as part of the problem, not its solution? 

"'But they don't see me as part of the problem,' she protests, 'because we pay ordinary income tax, unlike a lot of people who are truly well off, not to name names; and we've done it through dint of hard work,' she says, letting off another burst of laughter. If past form is any guide, she must be finding my question painful."

'You have a problem with credibility': IRS chief comes under fire at House hearing

A fiery exchange erupted Monday night between IRS head John Koskinen and House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, who told him, “we have a problem with you and you have a problem with credibility.”
Koskinen appeared at a rare evening hearing on Capitol Hill to answer questions about the missing emails of ex-IRS official Lois Lerner, a key figure in the committee’s probe into the agency’s targeting of conservative groups. The agency claims the emails were lost in a 2011 computer crash.
In a heated back-and-forth with Issa, Koskinen said he had fulfilled his promise to the committee to provide it with all of Lerner’s emails and that there was no way to recover ones the agency said were lost in 2011.
“If you have a magical way for me to do that, I’d be happy to hear about it,” Koskinen sarcastically told Issa. 
“I’ve lost my patience with you,” Issa, R-Calif., shot back.
In his opening statement, Issa showed a long series of clips from mostly Republican members at a March hearing, where lawmakers repeatedly asked Koskinen for Lerner’s emails. Issa said Koskinen promised he would provide all of Lerner’s emails, and gave no indication he would not be able to do so.
Koskinen said he first learned there was a problem with Lerner's computer in February, but didn't learn that the emails had been lost until April. The IRS notified Congress about the lost emails on June 13. 
“We are just questioning what your word is worth....do we have to grill you (for) days or weeks or months?” Issa asked.
Koskinen said that the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the watchdog that uncovered the IRS targeting scandal, has launched an investigation into the missing emails. 
"It is not unusual for computers anywhere to fail, especially at the IRS in light of the aged equipment IRS employees often have to use in light of the continual cuts in its budget these past four years," Koskinen said. "Since Jan. 1 of this year, for example, over 2,000 employees have suffered hard drive crashes.
"So it should be clear that no one has been keeping this information from Congress," he added.
The IRS was able to generate 24,000 Lerner emails from the 2009 to 2011 period because she had copied in other IRS employees. Overall, the IRS said it is producing a total of 67,000 emails to and from Lerner, covering the period from 2009 to 2013.
Lerner is the former head of the division that processes applications for tax-exempt status. The Oversight Committee is investigating the handling of applications from Tea Party and other political groups.
Since the IRS revealed that the cache of Lerner's emails was missing, Issa has suggested that Lerner had intentionally destroyed her emails with the help of the agency. The committee’s ranking member, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said in his prepared opening remarks that it was clear Issa’s claims were inaccurate, and the situation simply a failure of electronic record-keeping at a federal agency.
“Republicans have been trying desperately—and unsuccessfully—for more than a year to link this scandal to the White House,” Cummings said. “Rather than continuing on this path, I sincerely hope we will turn to constructive legislation with concrete solutions to help federal agencies run more effectively and efficiently.”
Koskinen said there was no evidence that Lerner intentionally destroyed the emails. To the contrary, he claimed, the IRS went to great lengths trying to retrieve lost documents on Lerner's computer, even sending it to the agency's forensic lab.
Koskinen had a long record of government service before taking over as head of the IRS at the start of the year. He served in different positions under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and worked for the District of Columbia.
Lerner, who is now retired from the IRS, has refused to testify at two Oversight Committee hearings, invoking her constitutional right against self-incrimination.
Late Monday, the White House said that Jennifer O'Connor, a former IRS employee who is currently employed in the White House counsel's office, would appear before the committee Tuesday morning. O'Connor, who worked at the IRS from May to November 2013, helping the agency gather documents related to congressional investigations, had been subpoenaed earlier Monday evening by Issa, who said he wanted to ask her about the missing emails. 
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

ISIS joins forces with Saddam loyalists in bid to take Baghdad

 Bailey: "We tried to help these people with the blood of our young soldiers. But they don't want any help, so let em kill each other off!"

For 10 years, members of Saddam Hussein's Baathist party -- including many of the dead dictator's top generals -- have hidden in the shadows of Iraq, persecuted by government in Baghdad and plotting, praying and preparing for the chance to reclaim their country. 
Now they are back, paired in a bloodthirsty alliance with the brutal jihadis of the Islamic States of Iraq and Syria/Levant. These vicious Islamic radicals fighting alongside top officials from Hussein's dictatorship, are working to seize control of the battle-scarred nation. For now, their objectives converge.
 "[We are] unified by the same goal, which is getting rid of this sectarian government, ending this corrupt army and negotiating to form a Sunni Region,” a senior Baathist leader told FoxNews.com.

"[We are] unified by the same goal, which is getting rid of this sectarian government, ending this corrupt army and negotiating to form a Sunni Region.”- Baathist leader in northern Iraq

After the invasion of Iraq, thousands of Baathist’s lost their jobs: teachers, doctors, professors, soldiers. Banished from holding any public-sector positions, many found themselves unable to support and feed their families, and their anger grew. This purge is considered one of the major blunders of the invasion, and although it was partly overturned in 2008, the damage had been done.
For a decade, tensions in the Sunni regions simmered under these conditions, as Maliki’s Shia government sought retribution for decades of Saddam's brutal rule. Many who once were part of the regime found it hard to put food on the table, their anger building as their communities suffered. That the Maliki government continues to shell rebel held cities today, despite the fact many within are innocent civilians, further isolates Sunni communities and pushes them into the sphere of Sunni rebels.
Ultimately it was the failure of Maliki’s government to reach out to these elements that created the ISIS alliance in Iraq. It has drawn comparisons to Syria, where ISIS forces joined with the Free Syrian Army with the intention of toppling Bashar al-Assad's regime; but in Syria the alliance imploded. The patriotic group fighting to liberate Syria, eventually faced off against the violent jihadists seeking to carve out an extreme fundamentalist state, and today they are at war.
Much has been written about ISIS's blitzkrieg across northern Iraq, but it is unlikely the fighters would have been as successful without the Baathists. Three of Saddam's former generals led the takeover of Mosul, and eight of the top 10 generals in the ISIS army are believed to be Baathists. Izzat Douri, a former military commander who Saddam considered to be like a brother, is widely rumored to be in Mosul, overseeing the conflict after hiding out in Qatar and Syria for a decade.
In addition to their military training, the Baathists have been able to tap strong tribal ties in the region to command countless followers. That's helped to keep the conquered territory in ISIS hands while the army of terrorists and freed soldiers moves forward toward the prize: Baghdad and the holy Shia cities of Karbala and Najaf.
“As an effective fighting force alone, ISIS would never have been able to hold such large territories, a Kurdish intelligence officer told FoxNews.com but with the help of Baathists [united under the banner of the Naqshbandi army], they have been able to keep the momentum going.”
The ISIS fighters, their ranks swollen with foreign jihadists hardened from conflicts in Syria, Chechnya, Afghanistan and others locations, lead the charge. Under the direction of former Iraqi generals and the ISIS leader Al-Baghdadi, they rely on the strong network of Sunni tribes and Baathists behind them, many nostalgic for the security of Saddam's era.
Hussein's image has again become popular in the north and west, and soldiers call out “Father, father,” while they watch video tributes to him. His image is found in many a home from Fallujah to Mosul. The Kurdish judge who sentenced Hussein to death in 2006, Raouf Abdul Rahman, was reportedly captured and executed on Sunday, although his death cannot yet be confirmed.
And this remains a family cause. Raghad Hussein, who now lives in Jordan, gave an interview a few days ago.
“I am happy to see all these victories,” she said. “Someday, I will return to Iraq and visit my father’s grave. Maybe it won’t happen very soon, but it will certainly happen.” 
In the meantime she has been indicted by Interpol, for “inciting terrorism in Iraq.”
The alliance between ISIS and the Baathists may be their greatest strength at the moment, but the rifts are growing. In the last week, there have been internal clashes, as the more moderate Sunni fighters struggle with the brutality of ISIS. Many within the Baathist party are unsure they can control ISIS, and fear that once they have secured territory, they will try to impose strict Sharia law on towns under Baathist rule.
In a petty rift, ISIS troops fought Naqshbandi soldiers over an armored vehicle, with five men killed. In another battle on Sunday, 17 fighters were killed as the groups clashed again. As one Sunni fighters put it "unlike ISIS, we are not playing football with people's heads"
With the U.S. already considering the strange prospect of working with Iran to curb the ISIS advance, it is possible that down the road, America's allies could be the very Baathists and Sunni fighters it once ousted from power.

Over & Over Again