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Republicans see best shot yet at approving ObamaCare repeal as budget plan advances

Republicans may be divided over the particulars of dueling budget plans, but there is at least one area of agreement among GOP lawmakers: the desire to repeal ObamaCare.
And this year's budget legislation could give them the best chance yet to send repeal legislation to President Obama's desk.
The party -- which for the first time in eight years controls both the House and Senate -- is using the budget process to inch closer toward a repeal of the controversial health care law, even as Obama hailed it a success on its five-year anniversary this week.
The House on Wednesday night narrowly passed its version of a budget blueprint after Republican leaders agreed to tack on extra defense spending over the protest of conservative members who opposed busting the caps imposed by the 2011 Budget Control Act. The Senate, meanwhile, is on track to approve its plan by the end of week following a marathon voting session that starts Thursday.
Leaders in both chambers have set a mid-April goal of resolving differences between the two approaches.
Why does this matter for ObamaCare?
Like many pieces of legislation before it, the proposal calls for undoing the health care law. What's significant this time is that it's contained in a budget resolution.
While the resolution is not legally binding, it gives Senate leaders a procedural tool by which subsequent legislation -- so long as it impacts spending or revenue -- can pass the chamber on a simple-majority vote, as opposed to the usual 60-vote threshold.
Known as budget "reconciliation," the tool is critical to GOP hopes of shelving ObamaCare, since Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's caucus of 54 is six votes short of filibuster-proof. (The budget itself is also subject to special rules and cannot be filibustered.)
Five years after the president signed it into law, polls show that ObamaCare -- also known as the Affordable Care Act -- remains unpopular, with 42 percent of the public approving of it compared with 53 percent who disapprove, according to the Real Clear Politics average.
The fact Obama likely would veto a rollback of his signature legislative achievement isn't stopping Republicans from fulfilling what they describe as a campaign promise.
"This new class, we were elected on ObamaCare, to repeal and replace it," Sen. Cory Gardner, a freshman Republican from Colorado, told Fox News' Neil Cavuto on "Your World" earlier this week. "I think the Republicans not only will have a plan, but something the president will accept, because it's something that we have to do, and that's important."
Democrats nevertheless continue to trumpet individual parts of the overhaul, citing benefits like the elimination of preexisting conditions as grounds for denial of coverage and the expansion of Medicaid to cover more Americans. For his part, Obama acknowledges there may be room for improvement, but says Republicans should work with Democrats to address problems rather than aim for a wholesale repeal.
"Every public health policy has some tradeoffs, especially when it affects one-sixth of the American economy and applies to the very personal needs of every individual American," the president told an audience Wednesday. "We also know beyond a shred of the doubt the policy has worked. Coverage is up, cost growth is at a historic low, deficits have been slashed, lives have been saved. So if anybody wants to join us in the spirit of people putting aside differences and come here today and make the law work better, come on board."
But even if Obama were to veto their efforts, Republicans -- who have voted more than 60 times to repeal or undermine the law -- are champing at the bit to finally send legislation to his desk.
"By passing a balanced budget that's about the future, we can leave ObamaCare's higher costs and broken promises where they belong -- in the past," McConnell said Monday.
Details of a possible GOP replacement for ObamaCare remain elusive for the time being. There is no shortage of Republican-sponsored health-care bills percolating on the Hill but it isn't clear if the party will unite around one comprehensive magic bullet.
Indeed, given the likelihood of a veto many ObamaCare critics say the best shot they'll have at undermining the law could be in responding to a forthcoming Supreme Court ruling in King v. Burwell. In the event the high court rules against the administration, some 7.5 million Americans enrolled in federally run health-care exchanges could lose their subsidies as a result, according to a February estimate by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
"I look forward to that opportunity," said Sen. Bill Cassidy, a freshman Republican from Louisiana who is also a medical doctor. "If it arises, we shall be ready."

Watchdog: DEA agents attended cartel-funded 'sex parties'

In another major embarrassment for federal law enforcement, a Justice Department watchdog report alleges several Drug Enforcement Administration agents attended "sex parties" with prostitutes paid for by local drug cartels.
The alleged parties took place in an unnamed "host country," which reportedly was Colombia, over a period of several years. According to the Justice Department inspector general report, the parties were even held in agents' U.S. government-leased quarters.
Further, agents received "money, expensive gifts, and weapons from drug cartel members," according to the report, which explored sexual misconduct allegations and how they are handled at the DEA; FBI; Bureau of  Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF); and the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS).
The IG report found such allegations often went unreported or underreported, or were not pursued properly.
The findings were immediately met Thursday with outrage on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers for years have pressured agencies to get tough on misconduct from within -- most notably, following the Secret Service prostitution scandal in 2012, also in Colombia.
"Once again, some federal law enforcement agents are acting like they belong in a college frat house rather than at a taxpayer-funded law enforcement agency tasked with interdicting illegal drugs," House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said in a statement. "It's extremely troubling that federal drug agents lacked the common sense to know that engaging with prostitutes hired by drug cartels was a bad idea."
Extensive interviews with DEA and host country officials from 2009-2010 revealed allegations against 10 agents, including a regional director. Seven admitted to attending the parties with the prostitutes, which allegedly were arranged by a police officer in the host country and took place between 2005 and 2008. A Washington Post story quoted a law enforcement source as confirming the incidents happened in Cartagena, Colombia, the scene of the 2012 sex scandal.
The DOJ inspector general said it initiated the report "in the wake" of that Secret Service scandal, in which 13 agents on a presidential detail were snagged hiring prostitutes and engaging in drunken revelry the night before President Obama arrived for the Summit of the Americas. A dozen U.S. military personnel were also punished for their involvement.

'It's extremely troubling that federal drug agents lacked the common sense to know that engaging with prostitutes hired by drug cartels was a bad idea.'- House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.

In the DEA case, investigators said that the DEA had imposed suspensions on the men ranging from two to 10 days. The DEA inspector told the DOJ IG investigators that "prostitution is considered a part of the local culture and is tolerated in certain areas called 'tolerance zones,'" and that it is common for prostitutes to be "present at business meetings involving cartel members and foreign officers" -- and that all of this "affects the way in which federal law enforcement employees conduct themselves in this particular country."
Reached for comment, a DEA representative referred FoxNews.com to the agency's official response in the report. That response said the investigation of misconduct allegations is "the primary mission" of its Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). DEA did a "second review" of all the cases the IG reviewed to see if the OPR did its job and the DEA determined that they were "investigated properly through DEA's disciplinary process for related misconduct."
Separately, a spokesman with the Department of Justice said the DOJ takes the issues in the report "seriously" and "is taking steps to implement policies and procedures to help prevent them from happening in the future." He added: "The Department is already working with the law enforcement components to ensure a zero tolerance policy on sexual harassment and misconduct is enforced and that incidents are properly reported."
Members of Congress were quick to weigh in, saying this was more than a matter of cultural differences, but a danger to Americans.
"Let there be no mistake, this is a national security threat," said House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who called for the immediate firing of the agents involved. "The gross misconduct of DEA agents follows a disturbing pattern of risky and improper behavior afflicting Homeland Security and the Department of Justice."
The oversight committee already has scheduled a hearing on the findings, for April 14.
The report detailed other cases as well. This includes that of an ATF director who initiated "sexual play" with multiple anonymous partners in a hotel room; a U.S. marshal who admitted to having sexual relations with prostitutes in Thailand; and numerous allegations of sexual harassment throughout the agency.

School named after war hero forces child to shave off military-style haircut

Adam Stinnett looks up to his older stepbrother – a soldier in the U.S. Army. So when it came time to get a haircut, the seven-year-old told his mother he wanted a basic military-style cut. And that’s exactly what he got – high and tight – just like his stepbrother.
Adam got his haircut on March 8. On March 9, his mother got a letter from the principal of Bobby Ray Memorial Elementary School in McMinnville, Tennessee.
It seems they were not all that thrilled with the second grader’s new hairdo. The principal told Amy Stinnett that her son’s haircut was distracting – and needed to be fixed.

The principal told Amy Stinnett that her son’s haircut was distracting – and needed to be fixed

Amy refused to comply.
The following day, she was summoned to the principal’s office where she was given an ultimatum.
“We were told that we had to either cut his hair or he could not return to school,” she said.
Amy tried to explain to the principal that her son’s haircut was meant to emulate his older brother. But her explanation was dismissed and the principal demanded that the boy’s hair be “in compliance with our rules.”
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“I have the utmost respect for the military and its members,” the principal wrote in an email to Amy. “However, we are not a military school and the boy’s haircut is against our rules.”
She tried to reason with the principal – but it was a lost cause. So Amy complied with the school’s demands.
“In order to fix the high and tight, I had to shave his head – like he has no hair,” she told me.
Apparently the principal at Bobby Ray Elementary School doesn’t seem to think a bald-headed second grader is going to cause a distraction.
But Amy also did something else – she contacted the Southern Standard newspaper. And as it turned out – the pen really is mightier than the clippers.
“Military hair cut deemed distracting by Bobby Ray Elementary” was the headline – and boy did it create some controversy around McMinnville.
“They shamed my son and they shamed a lot of military people – that’s how I feel about it,” Amy said. She also would like the school to apologize to her son.
The Warren County School District responded to the newspaper story with a four-paragraph statement telling folks they could not comment on the incident or the investigation – on the advice of their attorneys.
“This is an internal school matter and the administration of the school district has been advised to address it as such from this point forward,” the statement read.
While the district does not have a policy about hair styles, individual schools are given authority to make such decisions.
“Neither Bobby Ray Memorial Elementary, nor any school in Warren County School District, prohibits military haircuts,” the statement declares.
Well, someone at the district office might want to clue in the principal -- because according to her email – military style haircuts are clearly against the rules.
It’s a pretty sad state of affairs in McMinnville – especially when you take into account that Bobby Ray Memorial Elementary School is named after a local war hero.
Navy Corpsman David Robert “Bobby” Ray was killed in action during the Vietnam War. His final act of heroism was to use his body to shield a Marine from a grenade. The Marine survived. Ray did not. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
“We are extremely proud that Bobby Ray Memorial Elementary was named in honor of a true American hero,” the school district stated.
And yet, they chose to shame a seven-year-old boy who wanted to look like a soldier. That school district doesn’t know the first thing about honor.

House panel asks White House for documents related to Bergdahl swap

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee asked the Obama administration Thursday to turn over all reports and documents, including intelligence information, related to last year's exchange of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five members of the Taliban.
"It is unclear from the information that has been provided to the Committee and from publicly available reports why the decision was made to exchange Sgt. Bergdahl for the five Taliban members," said the letter, which was addressed to White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough.
On Wednesday, Bergdahl was charged by the military with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. He was released from Taliban captivity last May after being held as a prisoner of war for five years. In the wake of Bergdahl's release and return to the U.S., fellow soldiers accused him of deliberately walking away from his Afghanistan post and putting the lives of soldiers who sought to find him at risk.
News of the charges against Bergdahl has prompted heavy criticism of the administration in Congress, where lawmakers slammed the White House for transferring the five Taliban detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the Gulf state of Qatar without prior consultation.
"Today's announcement is the exclamation point on the bad deal the Obama administration cut to free five terrorist killers in its rush to empty the prison at Guantanamo Bay," Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Wednesday.
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the charges were sure to "raise doubts in the mind of the average American" about the initial trade for Bergdahl.
Fox News reported Wednesday that at least three of the five have attempted to reconnect with their former comrades since their arrival in Qatar. The men are being monitored by the Qatari government and U.S. intelligence agencies. But the initial terms of the swap deal only extend for one year, meaning they could be free to return to Afghanistan or elsewhere later this spring. It is not clear whether the U.S. will seek to extend the agreement.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki defended the Bergdahl deal in an interview with Fox News' Megyn Kelly Wednesday evening.
"Was it worth it? Absolutely," Psaki said. "We have a commitment to our men and women serving in the military, defending our national security every day, that we're going to do everything to bring them home if we can, and that's what we did in this case."