Chaffetz removes Issa portrait and signals new direction for high-profile, hard hitting Oversight panel

Utah GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the new House Oversight Committee chairman, is explaining his decision to remove the portrait of preceding GOP chairman Rep. Darrell Issa from the panel’s hearing room.
Chaffetz said Thursday the move was not personal but suggested it was indeed ideological.
"I really felt strongly that in that committee room we should be inspired by those we serve, not inspired by past committee chairmen," he said.
Chaffetz has indicated that he will focus more on government reform and committee reports than political scandal and seek fewer headlines.
“Issa didn’t do many reports,” he recently told Roll Call newspaper. He did “big press releases.”
While Issa surrounded his investigations and hearings with political drama and theatrics, his approach brought and sustained national attention to such issues as the Benghazi scandal as well as Fast & Furious, the federal government’s botched gun-tracking program.
Chaffetz will replace the Issa portrait, hung just last month, with photos of American history and life that the committee oversees, including the U.S. postal service, coal mining and civil rights.
Issa’s portrait was reportedly removed with those of other former committee chairmen and will be relocated to a meeting room.
Chaffetz said he first informed Issa and Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, the committee’s top Democrat, of his decision.
He said Issa told him: “You're the new chairman. You can do it as you want.' He was actually very nice about it."
Chaffetz is also replacing more than half of the committee’s 60-member staff for the 114^th Congress, a move, along with removing the portraits, that has reportedly upset some Issa loyalists.

Obama to call for new tax increases in State of the Union address

 

King Unimpeachable.

President Obama plans to call for billions in tax increases on top earners – including a hike in investment tax rates -- in order to fund new tax credits and other measures the White House claims will help the middle class.
The president's proposals, which also include eliminating a tax break on inheritances, are likely to be cheered by the Democratic Party's liberal base when they are announced Tuesday night in his State of the Union address. However, the tax increases are all but certain to be non-starters with the new Republican majority on Capitol Hill.
The president's address -- his first to a Republican-led Congress -- will call for $320 billion in tax increases over 10 years. Aside from funding new tax credits including a tax credit for working families and expanding the child care tax credit, the White House says that money would go to funding measures to make college more afforable and accessible, including the president’s recently announced plan to make community college free for many students.   
The centerpiece of the president's tax proposal is an increase in the capital gains and dividends rate on couples making more than $500,000 per year to 28 percent, the same level as under President Ronald Reagan. The top capital gains rate has already been raised from 15 percent to 23.8 percent during Obama's presidency.
Obama also wants to close what the administration is calling the "Trust Fund Loophole," a change that would require estates to pay capital gains taxes on securities at the time they're inherited. Officials said the overwhelming impact of the change would be on the top 1 percent of income earners.
While GOP leaders have said they share Obama's desire to reform the nation's complicated tax code, the party has opposed many of the proposals the president will outline Tuesday. For example, most Republicans want to lower or eliminate the capital gains tax and similarly want to end taxes on estates, not expand them.
Administration officials pointed to a third proposal from the president as one they hope Republicans would support: a fee on the roughly 100 U.S. financial firms with assets of more than $50 billion. Officials said the fee is similar to a proposal from former Republican Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan, who led the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee. Camp's plan, however, was part of a larger proposal to lower the overall corporate income tax rate.
The Obama administration claims that raising the capital gains rate, ending the inheritance loophole and tacking a fee on financial firms would generate $320 billion in revenue over a decade. Obama wants to put the bulk of that money into a series of measures aimed at helping middle-class Americans. Among them:
--A credit of up to $500 for families in which both spouses work. The administration says 24 million couples would benefit from the proposal, which would apply to families with annual income up to $210,000.
--Expanding the child care tax credit to up to $3,000 per child under age 5. The administration says the proposal would help more than 5 million families with the cost of child care.
--Overhauling the education tax system by consolidating six provisions into two, a move that could cut taxes for 8.5 million families. Republicans have been open to the idea of consolidating education tax breaks.
The president's address will also include calls for lawmakers to increase paid leave for workers and enact broad cybersecurity rules.
Obama's call for higher taxes on the wealthy is likely to further antagonize Republicans who are already angry with the president over his vows to veto several of the party's priorities, including legislation to approve construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, make changes to the president's signature health care legislation and block his executive actions on immigration.
Republicans say Obama's veto threats are a sign of a president who didn't get the message from voters who relegated his party to minority status in the November election. New Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the president still has a chance to change his tone.
"Tuesday can be a new day," McConnell said. "This can be the moment the president pivots to a positive posture. This can be a day when he promotes serious realistic reforms that focus on economic growth and don't just spend more money we don't have. We're eager for him to do so."
Beyond rolling out new proposals, Obama's address is also expected to focus on making the case to the public that recent economic gains represent a real and lasting recovery. The approach reflects the White House's belief that it has been too cautious in promoting economic gains out of fear of looking tone deaf to the continued struggles of many Americans.
White House advisers have suggested that their restraint hindered Democrats in the November elections and helped Republicans take full control of Congress for the first time in eight years. But with hiring up and unemployment down, the president has been more assertive about the improving state of the economy in the new year. Tuesday's prime-time address will be his most high-profile platform for making that case.
"America's resurgence is real, and we're better positioned than any country on Earth to succeed in the 21st century," Obama said Wednesday in Iowa, one of several trips he has made this month to preview the speech.
Obama isn't expected to make any major foreign policy announcements. He is likely to urge lawmakers to stop the pursuit of new penalties against Iran while the U.S. and others are in the midst of nuclear negotiations with Tehran. In a news conference Friday, Obama said legislation threatening additional penalties could upend the delicate diplomacy.
"Congress should be aware that if this diplomatic solution fails, then the risks and likelihood that this ends up being at some point a military confrontation is heightened -- and Congress will have to own that as well," he said.
The president also is expected to cite his recent decision to normalize relations with Cuba, as well as defend the effectiveness of U.S. efforts to stop Russia's provocations in Ukraine and conduct air strikes against Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria.

Academy Awards Cartoon

Al Sharpton criticized for calling 'emergency meeting' over Oscar nominations

                                      Obama's Best Bud.

Al Sharpton is being questioned for calling for an emergency meeting of his "diversity task force" Thursday after the Academy Awards nominated only white actors.
“The lack of diversity in today’s Oscar nominations is appalling, and while it is good that 'Selma' was nominated for Best Picture, it’s ironic that they nominated a story about the racial shutout around voting while there is a racial shutout around the Oscar nominations,” Sharpton said in a statement. “With all of the talent in 'Selma' and other Black movies this year, it is hard to believe that we have less diversity in the nominations today than in recent history.”
Sharpton said he will meet next week with allies to discuss "potential actions" ahead or during the Feb. 22 award show.
The Academy's female African American president Cheryl Isaac Burke said she does not believe there is a diversity problem.
"No, not at all," she told Vulture when asked about this year's list of nominees. "The good news is that the wealth of talent is there, and it's being discussed, and it's helpful so much for talent — whether in front of the camera or behind the camera — to have this recognition, to have this period of time where there is a lot of publicity, a lot of chitter-chatter."
Syndicated columnist Deroy Murdock told FOX News Sharpton should focus his efforts elsewhere.
"Given all the problems facing black Americans today, it seems Al Sharpton ought to organize a whole bunch of emergency meetings on real emergencies before he has a total freak out over how the Academy Awards are playing themselves out," Murdock said.
The Blaze's Amy Holmes told FOX News she saw Sharpton's point, but said he did not go far enough. "I think it's ridiculous, it's absurd, it's appalling that not only African Americans, Hispanic Americans and the whole artistic creative community wouldn't be represented at the Oscars," she said, but also added: "We know with Mr. Sharpton, that he's never seen a racial controversy that he couldn't exploit."
Oscar-snubbed actress Jessica Chastain expressed her concerns over the nominations when she accepted her Most Valuable Player honor at the Critics Choice Awards Thursday night.
"Today is Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, so it got me thinking about our need to build the strength of diversity in our industry, and to stand together against homophobic, sexist, misogynistic, anti-Semitic and racist agendas," the actress said. "I'm an optimist and I can't help but feel hopeful about the future of film, especially looking at all of the beautiful people in this room."
The White House also announced Thursday that they will host a screening Friday night of the Martin Luther King, Jr. biopic. 
According to the LA Times, of the 6,028 Academy Award voters 93 percent are white and 76 percent are male. Halle Berry is the only African American female to win Best Actress. Four African American male actors have taken home the award. T.J. Martin is the only African American to win Best Director. Last year, "12 Years a Slave," with a predominantly African American cast, won Best Picture, and African-American actress Lupita Nyong'o won Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film.

Fox News to host first GOP presidential primary debate in August

The Republican National Committee announced Friday that Fox News will host the first 2016 GOP presidential primary debate, from Ohio, in August.
The announcement came during the RNC’s winter meeting in California this week.
In all, there will be nine scheduled debates. Five will be held in 2015 and will take place in Ohio, California, Colorado, Wisconsin and Nevada. In 2016, there will be debates in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida.
The GOP will officially nominate its presidential candidate in July 2016 during the party’s national convention. Naming a nominee in July -- a full month earlier than in previous presidential election years -- will give the GOP nominee more time to campaign and the party more time to rally behind their candidate.

Muslims never guilty of 'terrorist massacres,' Turkey's Erdogan insists

Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan’s increasingly bizarre rhetoric continued this week when he told reporters Muslims have "never taken part in terrorist massacres" and appeared to blame the West for the recent Islamist attacks in Paris.
The NATO nation leader and western ally has moved his powerful nation further from its Constitutionally-mandated secularism in recent years, and has drawn criticisms for not doing more to stop the flow of foreign jihadis, who pass through Istanbul on their way to join Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. But Monday's comments, against the backdrop of near-universal condemnation of the Islamist attack on French satirical tabloid Charlie Hebdo, could further isolate Erdogan from the West.
“As Muslims, we've never taken part in terrorist massacres," Erdogan said. "Behind these lie racism, hate speech, and Islamophobia. French citizens carry out such a massacre, and Muslims pay the price. The West's hypocrisy is obvious.”

"Behind [terrorist massacres] lie racism, hate speech, and Islamophobia."- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Erdogan spoke a day after more than 40 world leaders, including Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, joined in Paris to condemn the Jan. 7 attack and the related shooting of a police officer and siege on a Paris kosher supermarket, Islamist attacks that left a total of 17 innocent people dead. The attacks were motivated by Charlie Hebdo's publishing of caricatures of Muhammad.
“Take note that the acts of terror are not carried out in a vacuum," Erdogan said. "The acts follow a predetermined script and we should be [aware of a] a plot against the Islamic world.”
The comments also came against the backdrop of continuing slaughter of Muslims in Syria and Iraq by Islamic State and Al Qaeda and fresh reports that Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram killed an estimated 2,000 villagers in its latest atrocity. 
In recent months, Erdogan has cracked down on the press and made a series of bizarre statements, some of which seem to have been aimed at elevating his status in the Muslim world. Monday's speech came as he met Abbas at his new, 1,150-room palace amid a ceremonial spectacle that drew ridicule from critics. Sixteen men dressed as ancient eastern warriors, holding replica swords, maces and spears lined a staircase as Erdogan descended to greet Abbas.

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As a key Middle Eastern ally, Erdogan's swerve away from secular rule is concerning, say critics. (Reuters)

The pair saluted the Presidential Guard of Honor before walking to the bottom of the staircase, where they posed for a picture, shaking hands. The scene looked surreal with the costumed men — believed to represent Turkic-Mongolian and Ottoman warriors — standing proudly upright in the background, Al Monitor wrote in a column entitled "Is Erdogan Losing Touch with Reality?"
"The bizarre ceremony, unprecedented in Turkey’s history, instantly became the subject of lampoon on social media, blasted as shallow, ridiculous and problematic, while catching also the attention of foreign media for the same reasons," the publication's Turkey-based columnist Kadri Gursel wrote.
But a more practical concern of Turkey's neighbors and allies is its inability - or unwillingness - to secure its borders with Syria and Iraq has brought increasing international criticism, as jihadists have flocked to the killing fields in Syria and Iraq to fight alongside radical Islamist groups. No less worrying is that the Turkish border has also provided a return gateway to the battle-hardened killers to all too easily re-enter the West, posing massive security threats to democracies of the type seen last week in Paris.
“It’s no easy matter trying to secure extensive borders and stop everyone getting through, as the United States has found on its border with Mexico,” an Israeli government spokesman told FoxNews.com, “but Turkey could be doing more. We used to have very good relations with Turkey and we know just how beneficial those relations were, not only to both sides, but also to the U.S, but it’s disgraceful what Erdogan is saying.”
One of the last remaining supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, Turkey has also put out the welcome mat and provided logistical support to Hamas, the Gaza-based terror organization whose leader Khaled Meshaal was last week reported to have been asked to leave his base in Qatar and reportedly will be granted safe haven by Erdogan.
Erdogan, who did not attend the Paris rally but did send Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, slammed Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for showing up, saying through his spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, it was "unacceptable that Israel’s Prime Minister dared attend" the rally "instead of being brought to account for the women, children and journalists killed in Israel’s offensives in Gaza.”
But Gursel believes there is an underlying explanation for Erdogan's sharp turn away from the West and an embrace of fundamental Islam and its history that at times seems to border on delusional. Last year, the Turkish president overcame a widespread corruption scandal that toppled four cabinet ministers involved his son to win the presidency in August. But all 550 seats of Turkey's legislature, the Grand National Assembly, are up in June, and Erdogan needs the Justice and Development Party that he founded in 2001 to maintain its grip on power. The West and the phantom of Islamophobia could provide a uniting straw man for a winning coalition of voters, not to mention a distraction from the failures of his party and administration 
"More Islam and more Islamism are meant to obliterate the deep marks left by the corruption allegations and evidence against his party and government," Gursel wrote. "The next general elections in June represent a key motivation in his efforts."

Nation's second-largest school district plans to expand dinner program

How about also feeding the parents of these children? 

The nation's second-largest school district is eyeing a move to offer dinner to students at every school.
Students at Kingsley Elementary in Los Angeles eat breakfast, lunch provided for them by the school as well as dinner. The trend around the nation is continuing as nearly 1 million students are served dinner or an after-school snack.
"When kids are hungry, they don't pay attention," said Bennett Kayser, a member of the Los Angeles Unified School District board, which was announcing the expansion Thursday. "This is something that should have started years ago."
Washington and 13 other states began offering dunner as part of a pilot program expanded to all states after the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act was passed in 2010. Schools where at least half the students are low-income and qualify for free or reduced-price lunch are reimbursed for each supper by the U.S. Department of Agriculture..
About 10 million suppers were served to students in the 2014 fiscal year.
Proponents say that since many students stay on campus until the early evening hours, it makes sense to provide an additional meal. In the case of the neediest students, they might not get anything to eat after class other than what is offered at school.
The LAUSD serves supper to 75,000 students and is planning to expand the program to about 150,000 over the next two years. School officials expect to generate $16.6 million in revenue, which would go to expanding the program even further.
Other large, urban districts with dinner programs include Philadelphia and District of Columbia public schools. Wayne Grasela, senior vice president for food services, said the School District of Philadelphia now serves 4,500 dinners each day.
At Kingsley Elementary School, several students said the roasted sunflower seeds, cheese sticks and, depending on the day, sandwiches, salads and chicken they are served function more like a snack than a meal. Some eat another meal at home.
But for others, it's one of the few things they eat after class. Ten-year-old Evelyn Ruballos said she usually only eats crackers when she gets home.
"And then I just go to sleep," she said.

Obama vs. Cameron: British PM takes hard line on ‘Islamist’ extremists, Obama avoids I-word

"Poisonous ideology." 
"Radical, death cult of a narrative." 
British Prime Minister David Cameron was unsparing in his condemnation of Islamist terrorists on Friday, as he stood beside President Obama in the White House. 
Like French officials last week following the deadly attacks in Paris, the PM bluntly described the problem as a "very serious Islamist extremist terrorist threat." 
Obama? The U.S. president stayed the rhetorical course. 
Despite the increasingly tough rhetoric from Cameron, French President Francois Hollande and others, Obama continued to describe the enemy as "violent extremism" and "violent terrorism" -- even "nihilism." 
The following are key remarks from each world leader. See if you can spot the differences: 
Obama: 
"We both recognize that intelligence and military force alone is not going to solve this problem, so we're also going to keep working together on strategies to counter violent extremism that radicalizes recruits and mobilizes people, especially young people, to engage in terrorism." 
"We also look forward to welcoming our British friends to our summit next month on countering violent terrorism, because whether in Europe or in America, a critical weapon against terrorism is our adherence to our freedoms and values at home, including the pluralism and the respect and tolerance that defines us as diverse and democratic societies." 
"This phenomenon of violent extremism, the ideology, the networks, the capacity to recruit young people, this has metastasized and it is widespread, and it has penetrated communities around the world." 
"I do not consider it an existential threat. As David said, this is one that we will solve. We are stronger. We are representing values that the vast majority of Muslims believe in -- in tolerance and in working together to build, rather than to destroy." 
"And so, you know, this is a problem that causes great heartache and tragedy and destruction, but it is one that ultimately we're going to defeat. But we can't just defeat it through weapons. One of the things that we spoke about is how do we lift up those voices that represent the vast majority of the Muslim world, so that that counter-narrative against this nihilism is put out there as aggressively and as nimbly as the messages coming out from these -- these fanatics." 
Cameron: 
"We know what we're up against. And we know how we will win. We face a poisonous and fanatical ideology that wants to pervert one of the world's major religions, Islam, and create conflict, terror and death. With our allies, we will confront it wherever it appears." 
"We will deploy additional intelligence and surveillance assets to help Iraqi forces on the ground, and we will ensure they are better trained and equipped to counter explosive devices. But most important of all, we must also fight this poisonous ideology starting at home." 
"We do face a very serious Islamist extremist terrorist threat in Europe, in America, across the world. And we have to be incredibly vigilant in terms of that threat." 
"It means countering this poisonous, fanatical death cult of a narrative that is perverting the religion of Islam." 
"But here's, I think, the really determining point: You can have, tragically, people who have had all the advantages of integration, who've had all the economic opportunities that our countries can offer, who still get seduced by this poisonous, radical, death cult of a narrative." 
"So, let's never lose sight of the real enemy here, which is the poisonous narrative that's perverting Islam. That is what we have to focus on, recognizing that, of course,  we help ourselves in this struggle if we create societies of genuine opportunity, if we create genuine integration between our communities."