Fox News poll: Voters to Congress -- Do something! Anything! on immigration

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/08/15/fox-news-poll-voters-to-congress-do-something-anything-on-immigration/

Iraq's al-Maliki agrees to step down as prime minister

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/08/15/iraq-al-maliki-backs-new-prime-minister/

Transparent Cartoon

Disputes over Gaza conflict reportedly mark new low in US influence over Israel

Why wouldn't it with Obama constantly trying to throw Israel under the bus!

Disputes over the conduct of Israel's recent offensive in the Gaza Strip have left the Obama administration with little influence over Israeli Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu's government and kept the U.S. largely on the sidelines as Egypt attempts to negotiate a long-term truce between the Israelis and Palestinians, according to a published report. 
According to The Wall Street Journal, White House officials regard Netanyahu and key members of his security Cabinet as "reckless and untrustworthy." In response, the report claims that Israeli officials regard the Obama administration as "weak and naive," a view best expressed by Netanyahu's reported remark earlier this month that the U.S. should not "ever second guess me again" after an earlier cease-fire quickly collapsed amid a flurry of Hamas rockets.
Ties on the diplomatic front deteriorated late last month after Secretary of State John Kerry sent a confidential draft of a proposed cease-fire to Netanyahu's government for feedback. Instead, The Journal reported, Netanyahu sent back no comments and put the proposal to a vote among his security Cabinet. The proposal was also leaked to the Israeli media, angering U.S. officials who saw the move as retribution for Kerry's outreach to Turkey and Qatar, two of Hamas' most prominent backers.
During the current ongoing cease-fire negotiations in Cairo, Egypt has taken over the mediating role customarily held by the U.S., most recently in 2012, when the most recent cease-fire prior to the present fighting was agreed under former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. A five-day cease-fire reportedly agreed upon Wednesday appeared to be holding as of Thursday morning. 
Due to the ongoing friction with the White House and State Department, Israeli officials have reportedly turned to supporters in Congress and the Pentagon. The Journal reports that Israel's Defense Ministry moved last month to secure additional munitions, including mortar shells, through military-to-military channels and without the knowledge of U.S. diplomats or White House officials. 
When the White House found out that the weapons request had been approved, it instituted a review procedure that required the Pentagon to consult with the White House and State Department before approving any new Israeli requests. 
Similarly, the Journal reported that Israeli officials were lobbying Congress to accelerate a $225 million bill to replenish the country's Iron Dome missile defense system. U.S. officials claimed to the Journal that the Israelis told Pentagon, State Department, and White House officials that they had enough interceptors to see them through the current Gaza operation, and consented when the administration told them the White House would not seek immediate emergency funding. Consequently, U.S. officials told the Israeli counterparts to expect the bill to be approved sometime in the fall. 
By contrast, Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., told The Journal that Israeli officials had informed members of Congress that the money was desperately needed because the Iron Dome system was running low on interceptors and the military could not wait for Congress to return from its August recess. In the end, the bill passed Congress, and Obama signed it into law August 4.

Report: Companies desperate to avoid ObamaCare 'Cadillac tax' shifting costs to workers

You can thank Obama for this!

A national business group representing the nation’s large employers reported Wednesday that companies desperate to avoid a 40 percent ObamaCare “Cadillac tax” are finding ways to shift the costs to workers.
The so-called “Cadillac tax,” now four years away, will affect health plans that spend more than $10,200 per worker.
“The excise tax, when it hits in 2018, will affect both employers and employees,"said Brian Marcotte, president of the National Business Group on Health.
Employees will get incentives to reduce costs through such arrangements as wellness programs, including losing weight or stopping smoking.
Meanwhile, employers are shifting workers into plans with higher deductibles, just as ObamaCare does in the health care exchanges, and using health savings accounts to help defray the costs.
Another cost saver, Marcotte added, is to increase premiums for spouses who have access to other plans.
"If the spouse has coverage through their own employers, employers are beginning to charge more if they elect to stay on their employee’s plan rather than go with the spouse's plan."
Rosemary Gibson of the Hastings Center said, "Employees are going to be paying more and more of their income for health care. And the same with people even on these exchanges if they don't get subsidies."
The “Cadillac tax” was originally intended to take effect sooner, but unions and other groups convinced officials to delay it until 2018, reducing the anticipated income from $137 billion to $80 billion over ten years. But many analysts predict it will be far less than that.
Henry Aaron of the Brookings Institution said, "before then, it's expected that most of the businesses that offer that form of insurance will back off and make the insurance less generous, so the tax won't bite."
Robert Laszewski of Health Policy and Strategy Associates said he doubted many will end up paying the tax.
"What we're finding is almost no employers are going to be hit by this ‘Cadillac tax.’ You'd be stupid to get hit by this ‘Cadillac tax,’” he said. “They're all cutting their benefits right now."
One analyst noted the tax had less to do with health care than it did with revenue.
"The ‘Cadillac tax’ is not about health care, it's about the money.It's about getting the money," said Dan Mendelson of Avalere Health.
But if employers are able to avoid it and less than expected is collected, ObamaCare could fall tens of billions short in paying for itself as promised.
Meanwhile, the administration has sent letters to 310,000 people signed up for the exchanges threatening to cut off their insurance if they don't submit missing verification of their citizenship by September 5.
At the same time, Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services Wednesday noting that its own Inspector General had found "1.2 million applicants have unresolved inconsistencies related to income verification."
She pointedly asked if there was an action plan or a deadline to deal with them, noting $17 billion will be paid in subsidies this year alone.

Corporate Tax Cartoon

Alaska GOP senator to Dem counterpart: Stop using me in your ads

A Democratic Alaska senator facing a tough reelection is doing all he can to hold onto his seat, but his latest attempt to buddy up to his GOP counterpart has backfired spectacularly. 
Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, recently received a cease-and-desist letter from an attorney for Republican Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski after the Democrat’s re-election campaign created a television ad touting them as a dynamic duo. 
“Senator Begich should run on his own record and not attempt to deceive the public into believing he has support that does not exist,” the letter said. 
The letter marks an unusual rebuke for Begich from the other half of the Alaska Senate delegation, as he prepares to face a tough Republican challenge following next week's GOP primary. 
The offending Begich ad, titled, “Great Team,” features Republican Navy pilot Skip Nelson, who claims his support of Murkowski is leading him to vote for Begich, despite the fact that Begich is a Democrat.
“Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich vote as much as 80 percent of the time together,” Nelson said. “I don’t think we ought to break up that team.”
However, Murkowski has a message for Begich: I don't even want you to win.
Last week, Scott Kendall, the attorney for Murkowski's campaign committee, demanded in a letter that Begich immediately stop using Murkowski in his ad.
“You attempt to use this image to somehow imply Senator Murkowski’s support," the letter reads. “This is far from true. Senator Murkowski has repeatedly made clear she wants a Republican elected to Alaska’s other Senate seat.”
However, Begich defended the ad to NBC News, saying it is a fact that he and Murkowski have voted together 80 percent of the time. A representative for Begich did not respond to requests for comment from FoxNews.com.
“And that is laying out what we've been saying and what Alaskans have been telling me they love, and that's a delegation working together,” he said.
According to PolitFact, Begich’s campaign calculated the 80 percent figure with data from Begich and Murkowski's voting records from 2014. Out of those 183 votes, the Alaskans agreed 148 times and disagreed 35 times.
Begich’s Senate seat is listed by Real Clear Politics as one of nine “toss-ups” in the November general election.
On the Republican side, the latest polling shows former Alaska Attorney General Dan Sullivan leading against Alaska Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell, Joe Miller and John Jaramillo in the Republican primary on Aug. 19.
A recent PPP poll, though, showed Begich with a narrow lead over his potential GOP challengers.

Officials: Pentagon considering rescue mission for Iraqis trapped on mountain

The Pentagon sent additional military planners to Iraq on Tuesday to figure out a way to rescue and relocate the tens of thousands of religious minorities trapped on a mountain by Islamic militants, senior U.S. officials told Fox News.
A senior U.S. official said 130 military personnel arrived in Irbil, but the official did not know the exact time they landed.
The troops will work with State Department officials and USAID to develop plans to help the Yazidi people, a religious minority displaced on Sinjar Mountain.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced the deployment in remarks to Marines at Camp Pendleton, California.
"This is not a combat boots on the ground kind of operation," Hagel said.
The deployment comes as Defense officials openly voice doubts about the impact airstrikes alone can have, and as Kurdish forces struggle with the rescue mission.  
When President Obama authorized military force last week, it was for the dual purpose of protecting American personnel and helping Kurdish forces as they try to aid members of the Yazidi minority trapped in the Sinjar mountain range. They were driven there by militants with the Islamic State (IS), and have been relying largely on international aid drops for food and water.
Officials say any relocation effort likely would involve international partners.
The planning, though, is complicated by the administration’s directive not to send ground troops. Absent that, the U.S. would have to pursue an airlift mission.
One official told Fox News that even the most "Herculean effort" to lift the refugees off the mountains would take hundreds of flights and 10 days or more of constant missions.
An airlift of this sort would also come with considerable risk.
To date, the U.S. has not encountered any anti-aircraft fire, but that could change given the heavy weaponry the Islamic State has at its disposal.  
Earlier Tuesday, one Iraqi helicopter crashed shortly after picking up refugees.
The consideration of such a mission comes after several days of airstrikes on the IS militants. The Pentagon currently has 250 military advisers in Iraq.