House Oversight Committee Opens Hearing On Benghazi-Gate Today

The House Committee On Oversight and Government Reform will have a hearing on the Benghazi attack and possible cover-up tomorrow. 

The hearing will focus on "The Security Failures of Benghazi." It will  include a review of attacks that took place before September 11, 2012 -- attacks which should have provided the Obama administration with credible reasons for increasing security in Benghazi rather than cutting it.

Rep. Issa closes in on Clinton

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is setting his sights on his biggest political target yet: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Issa, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is treading more carefully than he did with his investigation of Attorney General Eric Holder and the Fast and Furious gun-tracking program, which led to a House vote placing Holder in contempt.
Issa has not called on Clinton to testify at a hearing Wednesday morning meant to investigate security lapses at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
Issa’s staff has also praised Clinton for vowing to cooperate with the investigation of how an attack on the consulate left U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other American diplomats dead.
“After dealing with the Department of Justice’s stonewalling in Operation Fast and Furious, the State Department and Secretary Clinton have been a breath of fresh air,” said Frederick Hill, a spokesman for Issa, in an interview with The Hill. “They pledged their cooperation when we made our first two witness requests.”

State Dept: We Didn't Link Libya Attack to Video. WHAT????

                                            
The State Department said Tuesday it never concluded that the consulate attack in Libya stemmed from protests over an American-made video ridiculing Islam, raising further questions about why the Obama administration used that explanation for more than a week after assailants killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.

The revelation came as new documents suggested internal disagreement over appropriate levels of security before the attack, which occurred on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the U.S.

Briefing reporters ahead of a hotly anticipated congressional hearing Wednesday, State Department officials provided their most detailed rundown of how a peaceful day in Benghazi devolved into a sustained attack that involved multiple groups of men armed with weapons such as machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars over an expanse of more than a mile.

But asked about the administration's initial _ and since retracted _ explanation linking the violence to protests over an anti-Muslim video circulating on the Internet, one official said, "That was not our conclusion." He called it a question for "others" to answer, without specifying. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter, and provided no evidence that might suggest a case of spontaneous violence or angry protests that went too far.

Bin Laden is Dead, Al Qaeda is Alive

President Barack Obama’s campaign continues to claim that it has “decimated” al Qaeda, the world’s most notorious terror group, despite increasing evidence the group is expanding and despite an al Qaeda attack that left four Americans, including an ambassador, dead.On

Monday, team Obama hailed what they claim is the president’s successful eradication of al Qaeda.

“Obama’s national security record—ending the Iraq war, decimating al Qaeda, restoring our standing abroad,” stated a message sent from the Obama campaign’s official Twitter account.
Senior Obama administration officials have made similar statements in the weeks since militants associated with al Qaeda murdered U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans at the consulate in Benghazi.
However, al Qaeda is on the rise across the Middle East and North Africa, according to numerous intelligence reports and foreign policy experts, several of whom warned the Obama campaign against prematurely declaring victory over the terror group.

Foreign Funds

A groundbreaking report published Monday raises startling questions about the Obama campaign’s potentially illegal practice of accepting and soliciting online donations from foreign nationals, experts say.
At the very least, the report—which found that the Obama campaign likely pays millions more in additional fees to avoid using standard verification methods for online credit card donations—exposes the true record of a president who has repeatedly denounced the alleged influence of foreign funds in U.S. elections.
“I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests, and worse, by foreign entities,” President Barack Obama said during his 2010 State of the Union Address.
Obama adviser David Axelrod repeated this charge throughout the 2010 election cycle, even going so far as to accuse organizations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Republicans Super PACs of being “front groups for foreign-controlled companies”
Federal campaign law prohibits U.S. political campaigns from knowingly accepting or soliciting donations from foreign nationals.
“The president and Democrats in general tend to be self-righteous about campaign finance issues, and yet obviously they are doing far less than they could themselves to enforce limitations on foreign donations,” said Scott Walter, executive vice president at the Capital Research Center.

FLASHBACK 2010: ‘Foreign Entities’ Should Not Bankroll U.S. Elections

Groundbreaking report raises questions about whether Obama campaign has illegally accepted donations from foreign nationals.



A new report released Monday has raised serious questions as to whether the Obama campaign has solicited and accepted illegal donations from foreigners. The Washington Free Beacon reported this morning:

The report, authored by the Government Accountability Institute (GAI), suggested that small donations such as these, which can be collected without scrutiny from the FEC, compounded by the Obama campaign’s unwillingness to adequately secure its online payment page, create “significant vulnerabilities for the integrity of the campaign’s donation process.”
In some cases, the Obama campaign was found to have sent solicitation emails to foreign citizens, some of whom admitted having donated money—raising questions as to whether the campaign was knowingly violating the law.

President Obama has condemned such political contributions in the past, specifically criticizing the Citizens United ruling in his 2010 State of the Union address on the point:

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: With all due deference to separation of powers, last week the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests –- including foreign corporations –- to spend without limit in our elections.  I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities. They should be decided by the American people.  And I’d urge Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps to correct some of these problems.

Media Bias Summed Up in Two Photos

There was a nice human interest story on the campaign trail yesterday, but the AP found a way to muss it up. You rarely see media bias as blatant as you do in a comparison of the following two photos.

Mitt Romney's motorcade was passing Fairfield Elementary School in Virginia when the Governor saw kids waiving and decided to make a U-turn and pull over. The kids were excited to meet Romney, according reporters on the scene:

"Are you Mitt Romney?" asked one awed student.
"I am Mitt Romney," he replied. "And that's your governor. That's Governor McDonnell."
"I just saw you on TV!" exclaimed one little girl who was almost overcome with excitement.

As you can see in this ABC video, Romney shook hands with a long line of 4th and 5th graders and got a big "Thank you" when he was done.

 

Sometime before leaving, a member of his staff took this photo:

Is this a big moment in the race? Of course not. If Romney had kept driving no one would have mentioned it. But it's nice that Romney pulled over and spent a few minutes with the kids. It humanizes him and makes him even seem sort of likable.
Enter the AP's Evan Vucci.

Keep Talking About Big Bird Obama

Remember this famous quote?

If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from. You make a big election about small things. - Barack Obama 2008

We now know that when Obama said that he was quoting from his own playbook. Obama’s presidency has been diminished to the point where he’s running around the country repeatedly talking about Big Bird. Not jobs, not the economy, not Libya, not his record… Big Bird.

Some liberals are wondering why he keeps bringing up a reminder of his thrashing in the worst presidential debate in modern history. I have a theory on that… I think he still can’t believe it. He’s like a man with a toothache who keeps touching the affected tooth to make sure it still hurts.

And now he’s fixated on Big Bird. I sure hope he keeps it up.

I really hope someone brings up Big Bird at the next debate

It doesn’t particularly matter who does, just as long as he’s mentioned.
Perhaps Joe Biden will think he can get a jab in at the Romney campaign for threatening to cut the funding to PBS. Or maybe Paul Ryan will choose to bring it up sua sponte. Either way, I hope it’s brought up.

Why?

First watch this newly released ad from the Obama campaign, and then I’ll explain. Also, please note the first eight words of the ad:



Quite the ad.

At this point in the campaign, I should know to expect the unexpected.

A Storied Presidency

In 1995, Barack Obama released "Dreams From My Father," a compelling memoir full of stories about his life that -- though often not exactly true -- persuaded many people that this young man had a great political future ahead of him.

Nearly a decade later, Obama introduced himself to the country with a stirring speech at the 2004 Democratic convention in which he conceded, "I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story ... and that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible."

"Even as we speak," Obama declared as he strode the high road at takeoff velocity, "there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes."
"Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America." He insisted that we stop listening to the "pundits" who divide the country into red and blue states.

TIME TO LAY OFF THE PEYOTE, MR. PRESIDENT: Obama thought he had won the debate. Seriously.

Judgment. It's what we cherish in our leaders.

After Obama’s reaction to last week’s debacle in Denver, David Axelrod must have asked himself if The Won hadn’t taken a few too many drags on the choom.

President Barack Obama did not take his debate preparation seriously, ignored the advice of senior aides and walked off the stage in Denver believing he had got the better of Mitt Romney, according to a Democrat close to the Obama campaign.
The Democrat said that Obama’s inner circle was dismayed at the ‘disaster’ that the first presidential debate had turned out to be and believed that the central problem was that the President was so disdainful of Romney that he didn’t believe he needed to engage with him.

‘President Obama made it clear he wanted to be doing anything else – anything – but debate prep,’ the Democrat said. ‘He kept breaking off whenever he got the opportunity and never really focused on the event.

Plus, he came armed with lousy ideas backed up by zero facts.

‘He went into the debate armed with a number of one-liners to throw at Romney, including at least two about Romney not caring about 47 per cent of the country. But he decided not to use them.’
The Democrat, who is aligned with the Obama campaign and has been an unofficial adviser on occasions, said that David Axelrod, Obama’s chief strategist, was stunned that the President left the stage feeling that he had won the debate.

Wow.

 Wow? How about "Hallucinogens".

Only a man with the self regard of Wile E. Coyote, suuuperrr geeennniusss could walk off the stage last week thinking he won that debate.

Wynn On Obama: "I'll Be Damned If I Want To Have Him Lecture Me"

On the Tuesday broadcast of the nightly Nevada political program "Ralston Reports," Steve Wynn, CEO of Wynn Resorts sat down with host Jon Ralston to discuss the presidential election.

Wynn, an outspoken critic of President Obama, didn't hold back in his latest criticism of the incumbent president seeking a second term.

"I'll be damned if I want to have him lecture me about small business and jobs. I'm a job creator. Guys like me are job creators and we don't like having a bulls-eye painted on our back," Wynn said about Obama to Ralston. An excerpt of the interview is below.

Romney signs defaced with excrement in Virginia. VIDEO...**WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE**

A conservative radio host based in central Virginia, has posted a video on his website of a GOP office with its window smashed in, expletive-laced rants presumably delivered at Republicans, and Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan signs torn down, defaced and smeared with what appears to be human excrement.
The clip (prefaced with a warning of "extremely graphic content") on the "Schilling Show" blog, written by radio host Rob Schilling, begins with President Obama on the campaign trail telling attendees to "argue with them and get in their face," a phrase he used in 2008 to encourage his supporters to talk to friends and neighbors about voting and accurately delivering his message, whether they were Republican or independent.
The clip then shifts to an expletive-laced rant labeled "Actual phone call received at Albemarle County, Virginia GOP Headquarters — September 11, 2012."
 It goes on to show a man tearing down yard signs at an Americans For Prosperity event in Charlottesville while screaming obscenities, then a montage of Republican political signs that have been defaced — in one case with excrement — and Nazi imagery plastered onto an AFP sign.
The video ends with the words "Don't let Democrats, vandals, thieves, oppressors, intimidators, and tyrants silence you … Remember, NOVEMBER IS COMING."
Virginia is a critical battleground state, with the Charlottesville and Albemarle area — where the video was filmed — essentially the only Democratic stronghold in the state's expansive southside 5th Congressional district.
Sign wars are a traditional part of campaigning, and operatives use all sorts of tactics to try to put up as many signs as they can, and to protect their signs from vandalism by angry opponents.

No White House Press Briefing in Last 15 Days

The White House has not held a press briefing in the last 15 days, according to records on the White House's website. The last one was held on September 24, 2012, by White House press secretary Jay Carney.
However, in that 15 day time period, and including today, there have been 11 press gaggles. Nine have been conducted by Carney, while 2 have been held by principal deputy press secretary Josh Earnest. Campaign surrogates David Axelrod and traveling press secretary Jen Psaki have participated in the gaggles.

But there's a big difference between a gaggle and a press briefing. Gaggles are limited only to those members of the press who are traveling with the president of the United States and are not video taped. Press briefings, on the other hand, are open to credentialed media (who obtain White House approval) and are on camera.
Gaggles tend to by shorter in length than a normal press briefing, usually being held for approximately 10-15 minutes at a time. And are these days very often held aboard Air Force One to accommodate the frequent campaign stops across the country by President Obama.

FEEDING AT THE TROUGH: Businesses Tied to Claire McCaskill's Husband Received $40 Million in Fed Subsidies

Please: try and contain your shock.

Businesses affiliated with the husband of Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill have received almost $40 million in federal subsidies for low-income housing developments during her first five years in office, but McCaskill's campaign said Tuesday that none of that money made it into the family's personal bank accounts.