Senior Republicans criticize Ebola 'czar' choice for lack of medical background

Senior Republicans on Capitol Hill Friday criticized Ron Klain, President Obama’s choice to be “Ebola czar,” as a figurehead with no health background.
“Given the mounting failings in the Obama administration’s response to the Ebola outbreak, it is right that the president has sought to task a single individual to coordinate its response, “said Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “But I have to ask why the president didn’t pick an individual with a noteworthy infectious disease or public health background?”
Klain, a longtime political hand, served as chief of staff to Al Gore and Vice President Joe Biden but has no apparent medical or health care background.
A White House official said Friday that Klain comes to the job with "strong management credentials, extensive federal government experience overseeing complex operations and good working relationships with leading members of Congress, as well as senior Obama administration officials, including the president." 
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called him an "excellent choice."
But criticism came swiftly from the Republicans.
“The United States’ handling of the Ebola virus here at home has left Americans across the country petrified about the preparedness and response efforts, said House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich.” The public is desperate to believe that we will be safe from Ebola’s spread. I was glad the president got off the campaign trail to finally focus on Ebola, but with this appointment of a 'czar' with no health background, he just got right back on.”
Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, added, “This appointment is both shocking and frankly tone deaf to what the American people are concerned about. Installing yet another political appointee who has no medical background or infectious disease control experience will do little to reassure Americans who are increasingly losing confidence with the administration’s Ebola strategy.”
Both Upton and Murphy called for immediate travel restrictions to halt the spread of the disease.
Said one senior GOP congressional source, who asked not to be identified, “I think it’s a bizarre pick. He may have a good reputation as manager within the Democratic party. But Republicans see him exclusively as a political operative who’s been at the heart of the some of the most partisan events of the past two decades.”
Rep. Tom Price,R-Ga. and a doctor himself, accused Obama of "making an unserious gesture at an incredibly serious moment.”

CDC Cartoon

Top GOP lawmakers say docs show another gun linked to Fast and Furious found at crime scene

Two top Republican lawmakers said Thursday that newly-released documents show yet another gun connected to the botched Operation Fast and Furious emerged at a crime scene --- this time at a shooting in Arizona.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said in a letter Thursday to Deputy Attorney General James Cole they are demanding the Justice Department “be forthcoming” about the 2013 incident, which happened at an apartment complex in Phoenix. In unrelated news, Cole announced Thursday he plans to step down from his position as the department’s No. 2 official.
“This lack of transparency about the consequences of Fast and Furious undermines public confidence in law enforcement and gives the impression that the department is still seeking to suppress information and limit its exposure to public scrutiny,” the lawmakers said.
The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment from FoxNews.com.
According to the lawmakers, two people were wounded in the shooting at the complex in July 2013. There were multiple shots fired at an apartment in the building, and soon after the shooting a car fled the scene. The driver of the car then crashed into a fence and several people were seen running from the vehicle. Four people were later arrested in the shooting and the arrests were reportedly connected to a drug trafficking probe, according to the lawmakers. 
The lawmakers state that after Phoenix police officers arrived they found an assault rifle in the vehicle, and later connected the weapon to Fast and Furious.
Grassley and Issa said they were able to confirm the incident through documents obtained by conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch as part of a request it made under Arizona’s open records law.
The lawmakers said the Phoenix Police Department report on the incident states that the weapon was traced the day it was recovered. However, the lawmakers said “the department did not provide any notice to the Congress or the public about this gun.”
“The refusal to respond to our standing requests for this information effectively hides the connection between crimes like this and Operation Fast and Furious,” the lawmakers said. “Unless the information becomes available some other way, the public would never know.”
The president of Judicial Watch, a, said in a statement Thursday that the new information shows the “Obama cover-up of Fast and Furious is ongoing.”
“Eric Holder’s Department of Justice is a mess,” Tom Fitton said. “It has endangered the public and is engaged in an ongoing cover-up of its insanely reckless Fast and Furious gun-running operation.”
During Operation Fast and Furious, federal agents permitted illicitly purchased weapons to be transported unimpeded in a failed effort to track them to high-level arms traffickers.
Federal agents then lost control of some 2,000 weapons and many of them wound up at crime scenes in Mexico and the U.S. Two of the guns were found at the scene of the December 2010 slaying of border agent Brian Terry near the Arizona border city of Nogales.

The son of Vice President Joe Biden says he is “embarrassed” after being discharged from the Navy Reserve earlier this year --- reportedly after testing positive for cocaine.
The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported Thursday that Hunter Biden’s short-lived military career ended because he failed a drug test after reporting to his unit in 2013. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Navy discharged him in February of this year.  
Biden said in a statement to Fox News that he respects the Navy’s decision but did not specify why he was discharged.
“It was the honor of my life to serve in the U.S. Navy, and I deeply regret and am embarrassed that my actions led to my administrative discharge,” he said. “I respect the Navy's decision. With the love and support of my family, I'm moving forward.”
Biden, 44, made the decision to join the military late in life. According to the Wall Street Journal, Biden was commissioned as an ensign in the Navy Reserve in 2013 after deciding the previous year to join the service as a public affairs officer.
However, Biden was given a drug test after reporting to his unit at Navy Public Affairs Support Element East in Norfolk, Va. and tested positive for cocaine, the Wall Street Journal reported. According to the paper, the Navy would not specify what sort of discharge he was given.
Vice President Biden spoke about his son’s decision to join the Navy late in life at the American Legion’s Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball in 2013, joking that his son’s decision was a result of poor judgment.
“We have a lot of bad judgment in my family,” Biden said. “My son over 40 just joined the Navy to be sworn in.”
Hunter Biden is a lawyer who serves as a managing partner for a Rosemont Seneca Partners, an investment firm. He made headlines earlier this year when he was hired to be a director and lawyer for a Ukraine company promoting energy independence from Moscow.
The move raised eyebrows, as Vice President Biden and others in the Obama administration have attempted to influence energy policies and other issues of the Ukrainian government as it battles Russia and pro-Russian separatists to control the county.
The vice president's spokeswoman, Kendra Barkoff, has said that Biden's son is a private citizen and a lawyer, and that Joe Biden "does not endorse any particular company and has no involvement with this company."
Fox News' Ed Henry contributed to this report.

State Department warns US businesses in North Africa of ISIS retaliation

The State Department is warning American businesses operating in North Africa of an increased risk of retaliation by militants over the U.S. military campaign against the Islamic State.
The warning, which is specific to Morocco, is contained in an Oct. 7 dispatch -- obtained by Fox News -- from the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and its Overseas Security Advisory Council.
While no specific plot or credible intelligence is cited, the message warns that: "As the U.S. Government extends its anti-ISIL efforts, there is a heightened risk that U.S. private sector and civilian interests may be targeted."
The report with the subject line, "ISIL Outside Iraq and Syria: Morocco," also warns that the North African nation now has one of the largest contingents of foreign fighters -- between 1,500 and 2,000 -- in Syria and Iraq.
The report underscores the reach of the Islamic State, and ties among its members to other countries, as U.S. jets pound ISIS positions in Iraq and Syria.  
The OSAC warning details five incidents between July 11 and Sept. 12 where Moroccan authorities broke up recruitment cells, frustrated plots and efforts to travel to Iraq and Syria, or raised the threat level. Without offering specifics, it says: "Moroccan authorities uncovered plans to attack inside Morocco."
While the State Department privately is issuing warnings about possible retaliation against U.S. interests, it has been slower to publicly acknowledge the threat.
The State Department only recently updated its Worldwide Caution to reflect the concern.  
Three days after the OSAC report, on Oct. 10, the Worldwide Caution reads: "In response to the airstrikes, ISIL called on supporters to attack foreigners wherever they are. Authorities believe there is an increased likelihood of reprisal attacks against U.S., Western and coalition partner interests throughout the world, especially in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and Asia."
Asked about the spread of ISIS, also known as ISIL, and the possibility of retaliation against U.S. citizens and businesses, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki spoke in general terms.
"There's more than 60 countries and entities, as you know, who are part of the coalition, some from northern Africa,” she said. “So, I think that speaks to the concern about the threat, not just to countries directly right next to Iraq and Syria, but certainly throughout the region."
A counterterrorism analyst also told Fox News that two Moroccans, both former Guantanamo detainees, took on leadership roles for other extremist groups in Syria.
The Moroccans, Ibrahim Bin Shakaran and Mohammed al'Alami, took on prominent roles with Al Qaeda-linked extremists in Syria -- before their reported deaths. Both men had been released from the military prison under the George W. Bush administration.

Safe Open Up Cartoon

Fox News Poll: As election nears, voters say things are 'going to hell in a handbasket'

The world’s “going to hell in a handbasket,” according to a majority of voters in the latest Fox News poll.
And that’s draining support for President Obama’s policies. But will it help Republicans on Election Day? Unclear.
CLICK TO READ THE POLL
The new poll, released Wednesday, finds 58 percent of voters feel things in the world are “going to hell in a handbasket.” That includes nearly half of Democrats (48 percent) and majorities of independents (61 percent) and Republicans (71 percent).
Some 35 percent of voters channel Bob Marley’s mantra that everything will be all right.
Meanwhile, by a 61-36 percent margin, voters say they don’t feel hopeful about the direction of the country. That’s a reversal from 2012 when 57 percent felt hopeful. The shift is driven by a nearly 30-point drop among Democrats: 80 percent felt hopeful two years ago, while just 52 percent say the same now. In August 2012, Democrats were likely buoyed by Obama’s re-election campaign.
In a recent economic speech at Northwestern University, Obama said even though he wasn’t on the ballot this election -- his policies were. He should be glad that’s not actually the case: a 53 percent majority would vote against his policies if they were up for a vote. That includes one in six Democrats (17 percent).
Plus, by a 10 percentage-point margin, more voters think the country is “worse off” today than before Obama was elected (49 worse off vs. 39 better off).
The president’s job rating is only slightly better: 40 percent approve and 52 percent disapprove.
And then there’s this: voters not only think his signature legislation ObamaCare is “mostly a bad thing” for the country (52 percent), they also believe the administration misrepresented the law to get it passed (55 percent).
Despite all that negative sentiment toward the administration, the poll shows Republicans have failed to make significant gains this election season -- mostly because voters think they stink too.
For example, views of the Republican Party are more negative than positive by 18 points (36 favorable vs. 54 unfavorable), while the Democratic Party is underwater by just 7 points (43 favorable vs. 50 unfavorable).
Before the 2010 midterm election, Democrats were underwater by 8 points, while the GOP was even at 44 percent favorable and 44 percent unfavorable.
Meanwhile, Obama’s 44 percent favorable rating is the lowest since he entered office (52 percent unfavorable). His all-time low is 41 percent favorable in January 2007.
The generic ballot test shows likely voters prefer the Republican candidate over the Democrat in their House district by a slim three-point margin: 45-42 percent. That’s well within the poll’s margin of sampling error. Two weeks ago the GOP candidate was up by seven points (47-40 percent among likely voters).
The gender gap continues, as women are more inclined to back the Democratic candidate by a 10 point margin, while men pick the Republican candidate by 18 points.
Independents are twice as likely to support the Republican over the Democrat (49-25 percent).
Likely voters also want Republicans to win control of the U.S. Senate this year by 47 to 43 percent.
Three weeks before Election Day, the spread on the generic House vote has narrowed despite enthusiasm remaining higher among the GOP. Among likely voters, more Republicans (45 percent) than Democrats (30 percent) are “extremely” interested in the election by 15 points. Two weeks ago it was GOP +10.
Republicans (66 percent) are also more likely than Democrats (60 percent) to say the outcome of this year’s election will be “very” important to the direction of the country.
The well-known get-out-the-vote efforts by Democrats could blunt the Republican enthusiasm edge. So far though, about equal numbers -- about one voter in four -- have been contacted this year about voting for Republicans as for Democrats.
Economic issues dominated the 2012 presidential election. This year there’s ISIS. Ebola. Ukraine. The number of voters prioritizing economic issues has dropped from 45 percent in 2012 to 32 percent now. At the same time, the number picking national security issues went from seven percent before to 23 percent in the new poll. Fiscal issues (16 percent) and social issues (12 percent) stay mostly unchanged.
Voters are sharply divided on social issues, such as legalizing same-sex marriage (45 favor versus 45 oppose) and creating a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants currently living in the U.S. (46 favor vs. 44 oppose).
Majorities of Democrats favor legalizing same-sex marriage (66 percent favor) and creating a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants (61 percent favor). Republicans are the reverse. Majorities oppose legalizing gay marriage (64 percent oppose) and making it easier for illegal immigrants to stay (57 percent oppose).
On abortion, 43 percent of all registered voters are pro-life, while 48 percent are pro-choice. Among likely voters, it splits 46-46.
Pollpourri
Voter confidence that the Secret Service “can protect the president from harm” has dropped to 47 percent -- hardly surprising given that an armed man jumped the fence and made it inside the White House last month. In January 2009 a high of 66 percent had confidence in the Secret Service. Now a 52 percent majority is not confident.
Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta released a book critical of his former boss, President Obama. What do voters think of officials slamming a president after working for him? By more than two-to-one, voters say it is “honorable” rather than “disloyal” (59-27 percent).
A 55-percent majority favors Obama stopping “all border crossings into or from Mexico” until a U.S. Marine who mistakenly crossed the border six months ago is released (36 percent opposed).
The Fox News poll is based on landline and cell phone interviews with 1,012 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from October 12-14, 2014. The full poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points. For the subgroup of 831 likely voters, the margin of sampling error is also plus or minus three points.

Democrats outraising Republicans as election nears

Despite outrage from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Democrats about billionaires like the Koch brothers donating to the GOP, statistics show Democrats are outraising Republicans this election season.
Sheila Krumholz of the Center for Responsive Politics estimated, "the Democratic senatorial campaign committee has raised $111 million compared to $82 million for their Republican counterpart."
Even when you take all sources of money, from all donors for all races, the Democrats still lead. "It's about $595 million for the Democrats, and about $450 million for the Republicans," Krumholz said.
In the run-up to the Nov. 4 election, the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee made a last minute push and just announced it raised $15.5 million in September, its best month ever.
Political analyst Michael Barone of the American Enterprise Institute said, "that's a change and it says that Republican contributors big and small are martialing to the cause."
Although the Democrats have enjoyed a money lead for some time, they still are asking for more cash. A Democratic campaign group on October 7 urged,"Today's ad buy deadline is the most critical of the election. This is our last chance to rescue Democrats drowning in Koch-funded attacks. Can you chip in $5 or more?"
Ben Weider of the Center for Public Integrity, another watchdog group, noted, "everyone kind of likes to play the underdog role. And so it's been very interesting to see fundraising ads, particularly related to Senate races where Democrats are claiming that, you know, they're losing the race."
Much of the Democratic party's money comes from the president's non-stop efforts to raise cash, having done more than 50 fundraisers, seven just last week, all closed to the media, including one at the home of real estate baron Rich Richman -- a name Democrats would likely ridicule if he were giving to Republicans.
Democratic Senate candidates, while happy to get the money, sometimes try to avoid being seen with an unpopular president. According to Barone, that's "because these candidates are running in states where President Obama's job performance rating is negative, in many cases highly negative."
In some recent polls, his personal approval rating stands at only 40 percent.
Democrats recently pulled money from 11 marginal races, and the Republicans just poured another $6.5 million into the Senate race in North Carolina after internal polls showed Republican Thom Tillis in a position to win.
Weider explained,"as you're getting three weeks out, you've got to spend your money in the places where it will do the most good."
But not all money goes into ads. Some is reserved for voter turnout efforts, because fewer people vote in mid-term elections.
Weider noted that "TV ads accounted for about 50 percent and then that pool of the remaining 50 percent, you can kind of split between get out the vote, mailers, phone calls."
Low turnout elections tend to favor the angriest and most energized voters, and these days, that tends to be Republicans.
“There's a close correlation between how voters approve of the president, whether it's this president or the previous one, and how they vote in Senate elections," Barone explained.