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House approves lawsuit against Obama over alleged abuse of executive power

 Who me ????

The House on Wednesday approved a highly contentious lawsuit against President Obama over his alleged abuse of executive power, teeing up an election-year legal battle sure to spill onto the midterm campaign trail.
The House backed the lawsuit resolution on a vote of 225-201, with all Democrats opposed.
Republicans say the lawsuit is necessary to keep the president in constitutional check, after he allegedly exceeded his authority with unilateral changes to the Affordable Care Act.
Democrats branded the effort a political charade aimed at stirring up GOP voters for this fall's congressional elections. They also said it's an effort by top Republicans to mollify conservatives who want Obama to be impeached -- something House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said he has no plans to do.
“We have no plans to impeach the president. We have no future plans. Listen, it's all a scam, started by Democrats at the White House,” Boehner said Tuesday.
Following the vote, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Greg Walden issued  a statement saying, “President Obama swore an oath to uphold the Constitution—an oath he has not fully lived up to. Today, the House took an important step to defend the Constitution and hold the president accountable.”
White House adviser Dan Pfeiffer sent an email saying, “The House of Representatives just took a vote -- and it wasn't to raise the minimum wage, put in place equal pay, create jobs, or reform our broken immigration system.
Instead, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives just voted to sue the President for using his executive authority. This lawsuit will waste valuable time and potentially millions of taxpayer dollars.”
Republicans said their planned legal action was warranted because, they argue, Obama has violated his constitutional duty to faithfully execute the laws. They say that instead, he has enforced laws as he wants to, dangerously shifting power to the presidency from Congress.
"The people's representatives will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness of this president," said Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo. "We will do whatever it takes to hold him and future occupants of the Oval Office accountable."
Democrats dismissed the proposed lawsuit as a legally groundless exercise that could end up costing taxpayers millions of dollars in legal fees and other expenses. But they've tried linking the suit to impeachment talk by conservatives like former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and turning it into a fundraising device.
Democrats have sent pleas for contributions to their supporters warning that the GOP is out to impeach Obama and ruin his presidency. Using that pitch, Democrats raised $1 million Monday, according to the head of the House Democratic campaign organization, Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y.
The lawsuit will focus on how Obama has carried out his health care overhaul.
Republicans say Obama has illegally changed the law using executive actions. The White House and Democrats say he's acted legally and within the latitude he's empowered to use as chief executive.
In particular, Republicans have objected that Obama has twice delayed the law's so-called employer mandate, which he did under pressure from business groups. The provision requires companies with 50 or more employees working at least 30 hours weekly to offer health care coverage or pay fines, while businesses with fewer than 50 workers are exempt.
The requirement was initially to take effect this year. Now, companies with 50 to 99 employees have until 2016 to comply, while bigger companies have until next year.
Republicans say there are other examples of Obama exceeding his powers. These include failing to notify Congress in advance when he traded five Taliban members held at the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for the captive Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, and unilaterally preventing the deportation of some children who illegally immigrated to the U.S.
They also point to Obama's comments in January that 2014 would be a "year of action" to implement his priorities, which he said he would do "with or without Congress" by using his "pen and the phone."
"Such a shift in power should alarm members of both political parties because it threatens the very institution of the Congress," said a GOP-written report accompanying the legislation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Israel calls up 16,000 reservists, vows to investigate strike on UN school in Gaza

Israel's military announced Thursday that it had called up 16,000 reservists to potentially join its ongoing offensive against Hamas militants in Gaza. 
The call-up, which brings the total number of troops called up by Israel to 86,000, could signal a potential widening of Operation Protective Edge, which began July 8 as an effort to halt rocket attacks by Hamas against southern Israel and destroy tunnels used by Hamas militants to cross from Gaza into Israel for the purpose of attacking soldiers and civilians. 
A lasting cease-fire in the region appears no nearer. The Associated Press reported that Egyptian officials met Wednesday with an Israeli envoy about Israel's conditions for a cease-fire, including disarming Hamas, according to a high-ranking Egyptian security official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to discuss the delicate diplomatic efforts.
The Times of Israel reported that Egypt is refusing to host a Palestinian delegation unless Hamas ceases fire. For its part, Hamas has said it will only halt fire once it receives guarantees that a seven-year-old Gaza border blockade by Israel and Egypt will be lifted. Meanwhile, The Times of Israel reported that Israeli's Security Cabinet met Wednesday and approved ongoing strikes against Hamas. 
The troop announcement also came as Israel's military said it would investigate whether tank shells struck a United Nations-run school in a Gaza refugee camp, an event that drew condemnation from the U.S. and the U.N. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told the BBC that Israel would issue an apology if it determined that fire from its troops struck the school. 
"We have a policy; we don't target civilians," Regev told the BBC, before adding "It's not clear to us that it was our fire, but we know for a fact there was hostile fire on our people from the vicinity of the school."
Pierre Kraehenbuehl, chief of the U.N. aid agency for Palestinian refugees, told the Associated Press that Israel must try harder to ensure that civilians are not hurt, especially in Gaza, where 1.7 million people are squeezed into a small coastal territory. His agency has opened 80 of its schools to more than 200,000 Palestinians fleeing the violence.
"What maybe the world forgets ... is that the people of Gaza have nowhere to go," he said. "So when the fighting starts and they move, it is not as if they can cross a border to somewhere." 
Israel has accused Hamas of using residents of Gaza as human shields by launching rockets from the territory's most densely populated cities. 
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, using somewhat less diplomatic language that Kraehenbuehl, called the school shelling "outrageous" and "unjustifiable," and demanded an immediate humanitarian cease-fire, adding, "Nothing is more shameful than attacking sleeping children."
Gaza health authorities say at least 16 people were killed in the school attack and 1,360 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the offensive, though it is unclear how many were civilians and how many were Hamas militants. 56 Israeli soldiers have died since the start of the offensive, as well as two Israeli civilians and a Thai worker.  
On Wednesday, White House spokesman Eric Schutlz told reporters the Obama administration expected a "full, prompt, and thorough investigation" into the shelling, but stopped short of directly blaming Israel. 
"We are extremely concerned that the thousands of internally displaced Palestinians, who have been called on by the Israeli military to evacuate their homes, are not safe in these UN-designated shelters in Gaza," Schultz told reporters. "We also condemn those responsible for hiding weapons in the United Nations facilities in Gaza. All of these actions violate the international understanding of the UN’s neutrality."
At the State Department, spokeswoman Marie Harf described a purported leaked transcript of a weekend call between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as "complete crap," claiming that the intention of the leak to hurt the U.S.-Israeli relationship.
"I don't know toward what end. I don't know who did it," she said. "But I don't know what other conclusion you can draw from that." Both the U.S. and Israeli government deny the authenticity of the transcript, which came amid stinging reports in some Israeli media outlets accusing Kerry of aligning himself too closely to Hamas and being dismissive of Israeli complaints. 

Colorado

Head of Benghazi probe says no witnesses off limits, including Clinton

The Republican head of the Benghazi Select Committee warned Tuesday that no witnesses would be off limits in its upcoming probe and that he would consider going to court, if necessary, to compel testimony.
"I can't skip over a witness that I think we ought to talk to simply because there is an assertion of either privilege or immunity,"Chairman Trey Gowdy of South Carolina told Fox News in an exclusive interview.
He said that while he has received good cooperation to date, and the issue had not yet arisen, "if you mean to say that 'not only can they not talk, they don't have to come,' you have to litigate that."
Gowdy said the investigation will be driven by facts, characterizing as strongly bi-partisan his work with the committee's ranking Democrat, Elijah Cummings of Maryland, to review documents and identify witnesses.
He also said he anticipates the first public hearing will be held in September and will focus on the State Department investigation into the 2012 attack and whether its recommendations have been implemented.
Asked whether he wants Hillary Clinton to testify, Gowdy said, "I want everyone who has access to relevant information, and it is, I think, impossible to argue that the secretary of State at the time would not have access to relevant information..."
Gowdy said he was not trying to single out any particular witness. He insisted he was just as interested in the former acting director of the CIA, Michael Morell, who was accused of misleading Congress over the flawed “talking points” that blamed a protest for the assault, as he was in the unnamed CIA public information officer who made a significant edit of the points.
"Either talk to all of them," Gowdy said, "Or concede you are not interested in getting all the facts."
Gowdy also said he hoped former CIA Director David Petraeus, who remains under FBI investigation nearly two years after he resigned, would participate voluntarily.
"This is going to be serious, fact-centric. There are not going to be leaks. There are not going to be selective releases,” he said. “Hopefully, if the investigation is still ongoing, he (Petraeus) may conclude, he has an absolute right to conclude, that he is still going to participate."
Asked if the scope would extend to other current and former government and Congressional figures, including presidential adviser Ben Rhodes, former UN ambassador Susan Rice, and D.C.consulting group Beacon Global Strategies, Gowdy replied, "how can I run an investigation and at the end say that it was thorough and complete and fact-centric and fair if I began to rule out people that we're going to talk to?”
Beacon Global Strategies members include Clinton's principal gatekeeper, Philippe Reines, her former adviser for political and military affairs at State, Andrew Shapiro, the former chief of staff to Leon Panetta at CIA and the defense department, Jeremy Bash, as well as Michael Allen, the former staff director for the Republican-led House Intelligence Committee that investigated Benghazi.
The online bios of its founders and managing directors suggest no group knows more about the terrorist attack and the Obama administration’s response as well as having a vested interested in the scandal’s impact on Clinton’s presidential ambitions.
Gowdy said the fact-driven approach has derailed any attempts to minimize the importance of the committee's work. "The initial efforts to marginalize us as just a political exercise dedicated to drumming up the base, those efforts were not successful...Democrats are not only cooperating. They are suggesting, in some instances, other ideas for hearings. "
While the committee, which now stands at 13 staff but should reach its target of 20 by September, is focused on a detailed timeline to identify gaps in the facts, Gowdy said he believes closed or private depositions of witnesses as opposed to open hearings would provide the most information.
"Five minutes has proven time and time again to be an inadequate amount of time to get to the truth,"Gowdy explained. "I'm certainly not good enough in five minutes to unlock all the mysteries in the world. I might not be doing five hours but I would rather use whatever investigatory tool allows me the most amount of time with a witness or potential witness and I think that will be depositions as opposed to public hearings."
On Tuesday, the committee members met behind closed doors with the victims’ relatives including Pat Smith, the mother of foreign service officer Sean Smith.
"It's the one thing that I wanted was this investigation to get the answers,” Smith said. “And the people say that they're gonna do their best so this is what I'm hoping for."

Passions heated over proposed EPA rule on plant emissions

As a part of its controversial proposed rule to limit carbon emissions from existing power plants, the EPA held simultaneous public comment sessions in Washington, Atlanta and Denver Tuesday. The comments, designed to help shape the formulation of the final rule, may have complicated that task, given the often diametrically opposed opinions expressed.
At the Washington event, one of the speakers, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., told the panel, "The planet is running a fever and there are no emergency rooms."
His admonition to address the urgent climate crisis contrasted with satellite data that shows no global surface warming for 17 years and 10 months. That, in turn, is at odds with NASA's findings that 2013 tied as the seventh warmest year since 1880.
Also at the Washington event, Anne Burchard of the Sierra Club warned climate change-induced extreme weather was already upon us. "We no longer need storms or hurricanes to produce flooding - it is becoming an everyday occurrence, "she said.
Contradicting her remark was NOAA data that shows tornado intensity and frequency well below normal, and other records that show the US in a hurricane drought.
The proposed EPA rule will require all power plants to limit carbon to 1,000 pounds per megawatt-hour of electricity - easily achieved with natural gas but unobtainable by present day coal plants.
Skeptics warned Tuesday the rule will kill domestic coal use, increase energy prices and force businesses to move abroad.
"Forcing energy intensive manufacturers off shore because of high energy costs accomplishes nothing environmentally and damages the domestic economy and employment, said Paul Cicio of Industrial Energy Consumers of America.
At the Denver hearing, Katharine McCormick of the Natural Resources Defense Council and a resident of Iowa, pointed to her state’s broad use of wind turbines to refute that point. "It's worth noting," she said, "that Iowa has some of cheapest electricity in the nation."
Both opponents and proponents of the rule touted carbon-conscious California as a case study for their cause.
Fred Palmer, representing Peabody Energy, a coal company,told the Washington panel, "Efficiency in California, which has been lauded by many, has been achieved by destruction with large manufacturing fleeing the state."
Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., told the panel that Palmer’s facts were wrong. "There's been erroneous testimony," she said. "California's electricity bills are 25 percent below average."
In fact, according to the Energy Information Administration, when all sectors -- residential, commercial, industrial and transportation -- are taken together, California's average of 13.60 cents per kilowatt hour is higher than the national average of 10.21 cents per kilowatt hour.
The back and forth will continue until Oct 16, the deadline for written comments. The EPA will release the final rule next year.

President Cartoon

Fox News poll: Voters say Obama should stay off 2014 campaign trail

We’re about four months out from the 2014 midterm elections. Yet, if they were held today -- which is how the question is posed to registered voters in the Fox News national poll -- 43 percent would support the Democratic candidate in their House district and 41 percent the Republican. 
A month ago the vote was tied at 42 percent apiece. In early June, Republicans had a four-point edge, while Democrats were up by three points in May. 
CLICK HERE TO READ THE POLL RESULTS
You get the picture: there’s lots of uncertainty and bouncing around. It’s just too soon to tell if there’s going to be a wave election, even though some political junkies can’t help from speculating about it. 
One thing that has been consistent for the last several months is the greater level interest in the upcoming elections among Republicans -- and that holds true again in the new poll. By a 14-point margin, more Republicans (70 percent) than Democrats (56 percent) are extremely or very interested in the election. Last month Republicans were more interested by 12 points. 
Among just those interested voters, this month’s generic ballot results show the Republican candidate with a seven-point edge over the Democrat (47-40 percent). A month ago it was an 11-point advantage for the GOP among interested voters (June 21-23).
At this point in the cycle four years ago, the Republican candidate had an 11-point advantage over the Democratic candidate on the generic ballot among all registered voters and President Obama’s job rating stood at 43 approve vs. 50 disapprove (July 27-28, 2010).
The Republican candidate was up by seven points among registered voters on the final Fox News poll before the 2010 midterms (46-39 percent). The Republicans went on to gain 63 seats in the U.S. House. At that time Obama’s job rating was 41 percent approve and 50 percent disapprove (Oct. 26-28, 2010). 
“The Republicans have the upper hand at this point, although it’s a little weaker than in 2010,” says Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who jointly conducts the poll with Democratic pollster Chris Anderson. “Their main problem is that there are far fewer vulnerable Democratic seats to pick off this time around.” 
The president’s current job rating is 42 approve - 52 disapprove. 
The new poll re-asked a question from 2010 to test the president’s influence: if you were running for office as a Democratic candidate this year, would you want President Obama to campaign for you? While 41 percent of voters say yes, over half -- 57 percent -- say no, they wouldn’t want Obama on the campaign trail with them. 
In 2010 the results were much more balanced: 48 percent wanted the president to campaign for them, while 50 percent wanted him to stay home. 
Among Democrats, four years ago fully 82 percent wanted Obama to campaign on their behalf. That’s down to 69 percent in the new poll, a drop of 13 points. 
Among independents, 38 percent wanted Obama’s help in 2010 and 32 percent would take it today.
Meanwhile, almost everyone remains unhappy with current lawmakers: just 13 percent of voters approve of the job Congress is doing, while 79 percent disapprove. 
Hating on Congress is something large numbers of Democrats (74 percent disapprove), independents (82 percent) and Republicans (83 percent) are in agreement on. 
Approval of Congress has been below 20 percent for the last three years. 
The Fox News poll is based on landline and cell phone interviews with 1,057 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from July 20-22, 2014. The full poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.