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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made our decision today for the Daily Dunce pretty darn easy. He has made so many stupid comments and told so many lies it is hard to highlight so few.

First, let’s start with a comment he made earlier on the floor of the Senate. While pushing for his no-compromise bill Reid said, “If you cannot pass this, we are truly entering a banana republican mindset.” Perhaps the majority leader doesn’t really know what a “banana republic” is, because the replacement of “republic” with “republican” doesn’t even make sense.

For Senator Reid’s sake, let’s go over the definition. A banana republic is a politically unstable country whose economy is largely dependent on the export of a single limited-resource product, and has stratified social classes, including a large, impoverished working class and a ruling plutocracy that comprises the elites of business, politics, and the military. This politico-economic oligarchy controls the primary-sector productions and thereby exploits the country’s economy, verbatim.

America is far from dependent on one single export alone, but if we could pick one, then we would pick the Middle East oil that Demcorats have kept us hooked on for years. Democrats – like Reid – are so vehemently opposed to becoming energy independent we do rely on the Middle East for much of our oil, although fewer than the past two decades and under both party’s administrations.

As far as stratified social classes, this is the greatest irony of it all, because that is what Obamcare is creating and subsequently underscoring. Does Harry Reid mean to say that Republicans, who sent an amendment to the Senate forcing Congress to live by the same mandate under Obamacare as the American people, are the ones creating a wealth or class gap? Does Harry Reid mean to say that it is the Republicans who want to exempt the wealthy and connected from the “train-wreck” that is Obamacare? He can’t possibly mean to say that, because the GOP House has passed amendments refusing this Gilded Age law, but Harry Reid has blocked and defeated them.

“It’s a matter of fairness for all Americans,” House Speaker John Boehner said. Let’s drop the pretenses with these Democrats. They never cared about “fairness” or the damage Obamacare and other pieces of unaffordabel legislation is going to do to our country. “I have a very simple message to John Boehner: let the House vote,” Reid said Monday, adding” instead of “threatening to destroy our country.” Does Harry Reid think that the over $70 trillion in unfunded entitlement debt “threatening to destroy our country?”

Enough of this $17 trillion dollar lie. Democrats are cashing checks that our children – let alone they themselves – cannot cash.

If anyone had any doubts whatsoever about the intentions Harry Reid has had the entire time, then they can put them to rest. First, Harry Reid threatened President Obama with embarrassment by telling him that he wouldn’t even bother to show if he called Speaker Boehner and summoned congressional leaders to the White House.

He refused to call the Senate back over the weekend to deliberate over the House bill, which contained amendments that were overwhelmingly popular with the American people and had bipartisan support in both the House and Senate. But Harry Reid doesn’t allow for any dissension among his Democrats in his Senate.

He intentionally rejected the House bill at the final hour so that he may kick it back to Speaker Boehner at the last minute, because he is the single-most sorry excuse for a congressional leader in recent American history. Then, he had the audacity to lecture Speaker Boehner on the floor of the Senate – who I haven’t exactly been friendly too either –  even though a federal budget hasn’t been passed by a Democratic Senate in five years, which is why we are facing this shutdown to begin with.

The responsible Senate leader would have called the Senate back over the weekend, put aside the political antics, and worked toward a solution that the American people could support. Consequentially, Reid blocked and defeated such a solution in the final hour earlier today.

For all of the talk about how much harm a government shutdown would have on the economy, Reid cannot even bring himself to respond to a reporter’s question, when he challenged him on the current state of the part-time economy, precisely because of Obamacare. What about the harm we are doing to the economy from implementing Obamcare, itself? This isn’t even a debate anymore, it is fact. Only people such as Juan Williams on Special Report and Harry Reid, himself, are continuing this delusion; a delusion that only our Daily Dunce could have.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Made our

Uncategorized

Senate Democrats reject House amendments that would delay ObamaCare by a year and repeal an unpopular medical device tax, sending bill to avert shutdown back to the House.

Of course, the bill is filled with spending measures that had bipartisan support for reducing. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid delivered on his promise not to negotiate over any measure – popular or not – and simply rammed the bill through with the support of lock-step, team playing Democrats.

Harry Reid had threatened to not even bother to show up to a meting had Obama decided to call one in order to negotiate a compromise.

The bill now goes back to the House where Republicans have been clammering about Reid’s decision to intentionally wait until the last minute to avoid negotiations and force a hasty House vote.

Senate Democrats reject House amendments that would

Polls

Support for government shutdown has dropped to 45 percent, down from 53 percent last week.

According to a new survey from Rasmussen Reports, the public is now evenly divided over the question of whether or not the government shutdown should occur to force concessions on Obamacare. The old saying, “united we stand didvided we fall” seems to be applicable in this case.

Last week, as well as this week, the public agreed that a government shutdown would hurt the economy. However, 53 percent of Americans were still willing to swallow the pill.

In both surveys, the public was skeptical of the Democrats’ predictions of doom and gloom in the event of a partial government shutdown, and generally have been less susceptible to scare tactics since the sequestration.

Americans were told the sky was going to fall if we slowed the rate of growth in government spending. But of course, that never came to fruition.

It would then seem that the inability of the Republican Party to unite against unpopular policy – whether you agree or disagree with the strategy – has caused many Americans to back the side they see coming out on top.

People, especially the American public, tend to not follow leaders who do not uave the courage of their own convictons.

Yet again, the Republican Party looks as if it must fight against a demon of its own design.

Support for government shutdown has dropped to

News, Politics

(Credit: AP)

For the moment, the odds favor a government shutdown as long as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is consistent with the decisions he made over the weekend. The House, early Sunday morning, approved a bill that would fund the government past Monday while delaying ObamaCare by a year. It would also repeal a widely unpopular medical device tax.

But Reid has outright stated he will not accept any measures that undermine the health care law as part of the budget bill. Reid spokesman Adam Jentleson said Sunday that Reid has vowed he will reject this bill.

“The Senate will do exactly what we said we would do and reject these measures,” he said. “At that point, Republicans will be faced with the same choice they have always faced: put the Senate’s clean funding bill on the floor and let it pass with bipartisan votes, or force a Republican government shutdown.”

House Republicans lowered their demand from a full defunding of President Obama’s health law to a one-year delay, citing costs and multiple problems with implementing the law. Yet, Harry Reid incredibly refused to call back the Senate into before today’s scheduled 2 p.m. ET session. Now, lawmakers just have until midnight to strike a deal.

All indications are that Reid will simply kill the Republican amendments and kick back a budget bill to the House chock full of medical device taxes – which have bipartisan support for repeal – and other deeply unpopular and inefficient provisions. The clock is ticking, but it will soon be Boehner’s ball, once again.

On Fox News Sunday, House Republican Whip Kevin McCarthy said his caucus still has a few more plays left. “We have other options for the Senate to look at,” he told Chris Wallace. “You assume they [Senate Democrats] won’t vote for it. Let’s have that debate… we have other options for the Senate to look at,” he added.

At this point, the likelihood of a government shutdown is favored, and congressional leaders are hard at work trying to assign blame. Harry Reid said the House compromise puts the process “at square one” and vowed to strike down the bill.

Democrats have already labeled this a “Republican government shutdown.” But Republicans on Sunday hammered Reid and his colleagues for not coming back to work immediately after the House passed a bill Sunday morning.

“O Senate, where art thou,” said Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn, riffing on the movie “O Brother, Where Art Thou.” Blackburn made her comments along with other members of the House Republican Conference at an informal press conference on the steps of Capitol Hill.

“That the senators are not here … is all that everyone needs to know,” said Arkansas Republican Rep. Tim Griffin. “Democrats want to shutdown the government. … That’s a scorched earth policy.” Griffin and other Republicans tried to recast the blame for a possible shutdown on Democrats, who have argued Republicans’ strategy of tying a spending bill to ObamaCare is purposed to force a shutdown.

“Today we see where the Senate doors are shut,” said conference Chairwoman and Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers. “Harry Reid says that a shutdown is inevitable.”

Politico reported that Harry Reid privately discouraged the president from holding planned talks with Republicans, with the majority leader saying he would not attend the meeting if Obama summoned lawmakers to the White House. Reid’s evident decision is to run down the clock, leaving Senate Democrats with the final say in the final hour. However, even if the Senate somehow approved the House bill, the White House has stated that President Obama would veto it.

Absolutely ridiculous for a chamber referred to as “the most deliberative body” in the world.

For the moment, the odds favor a

News, World

File – In this Sept. 27, 2012 file photo, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel shows an illustration as he describes his concerns over Iran’s nuclear ambitions during his address to the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

A few days after the first conversation between the leaders of the U.S. and Iran in 34 years was described as a “breakthrough” in relations between the two countries, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to bring a dose of reality to the White House and the United Nations.

He will warn President Obama and the world not to be fooled by Tehran’s “sweet talk.”

Netanyahu will stress that Iran is using conciliatory gestures as a smoke screen to conceal an unabated march toward a nuclear bomb.

“I will tell the truth in the face of the sweet talk and the onslaught of smiles,” Netanyahu said before getting on his flight to the U.S. on Sunday. “Telling the truth today is vital for the security and peace of the world and, of course, it is vital for the security of the state of Israel.”

Netanyahu also plans to provide President Obama new intelligence in his attempt to persuade the U.S. to maintain tough economic sanctions and not allow the Islamic republic to develop a bomb, or even move closer to becoming a nuclear threshold state. Last August, the IAEA report claimed Iran was in the home stretch on obtaining the amount of enriched material necessary to weaponize.

Israeli leaders watched in horror what they refer to as the “smiley campaign” by Iran’s new president Hassan Rouhani, last week. Rouhani delivered a speech at the United Nations, in which he stresses Iran’s official – yet contracted by facts – position that it has no intention of building a nuclear weapon and declared his readiness for new negotiations with the West.

Rouhani and Obama later held a 15-minute phone call just as the Iranian leader was traveling to the airport to head back to Tehran. By the end of the call, Obama was claiming that a “breakthrough” on the nuclear issue could construct deeper ties between the U.S. and Iran. U.S. and European diplomats hailed a “very significant shift” in Iran’s attitude and tone.

After the week’s developments, Secretary of State John Kerry said an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program could come in a matter of months if Iran came to the table in good faith.

“If it is a peaceful program, and we can all see that, the whole world sees that, the relationship with Iran can change dramatically for the better and it can change fast,” Kerry said on CBS’ “60 Minutes” Sunday.

For Netanyahu, such sentiments are nothing short of a nightmare, completely unfounded in reality. Obamas move has isolated Israel on the world stage.

For years, Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that Iran is steadily marching toward development of nuclear weapons, an assessment that is widely shared by the West because of Iran’s continued enrichment of uranium and its run-ins with international nuclear inspectors.

The Israeli prime minister understands that Rouhani’s outreach is a farce to ease international sanctions and buy time to wrap up enrichment. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

Israel considers a nuclear-armed Iran an unacceptable threat, given repeated Iranian threats that the Jewish state should not exist. Israel has a long list of other grievances against Iran, citing its support for hostile Arab militant groups, its development of long-range missiles, and Iranian involvement in attacks on Israeli targets in Europe and Asia.

This Sunday, Israel announced the arrest of a Belgian-Iranian businessman on espionage charges.

Netanyahu says the new Iranian leader must be judged on his actions, not his words. In the meantime, he says sanctions and other international pressure, including the threat of military action, must be increased. He has frequently compared Iran to North Korea, which used the guise of international negotiations to secretly develop a nuclear weapon.

Netanyahu has strong, widespread domestic support for his approach to Iran. Israel’s Channel 10 TV released the results of a poll conducted just this Sunday night showing that 78 percent of respondents don’t believe Iran wants to resolve the nuclear problem, 59 percent said they do not think the U.S. will reach an agreement with Iran. A decreasing minority, just 29 percent, said they expect a resolution.

Zalman Shoval, a former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. who now serves as an adviser to Netanyahu, said the prime minister would present Obama with “some very hard facts” based on new, unseen intelligence showing that Iranians’ action are in no way near their words.

Benjamin Netanyahu will also echo the message in his speech at the U.N., “he will make it very clear that Israel and the world at large should continue to be on guard,” he said.

During his last speech at the U.N, Netanyahu presented a cartoon diagram to the U.N. showing that Iran would enter the final phase of weapons production by mid-2013. Israel has since backed off that assessment.

Netanyahu’s intelligence minister, Yuval Steinitz, said international pressure forced Iran to slow production. While American officials are well aware of Israel’s concerns, they say there are no plans to reverse the latest diplomatic push.

Two senior Obama administration officials said that the U.S. expects Israel to be skeptical about Iran’s overture, and that the U.S. is similarly skeptical. But that has been the vocal postion of the Obama administration throughout both terms thus far, with no real action or threat of military force. Last year, a prospect of an U.S.-backed Israeli strike was not met with general acceptance.

Many U.S. lawmakers – on both sides of the aisle – have urged Obama to keep the pressure of sanctions on Iran and stand by the administration’s promise to prevent the country from developing a nuclear weapon. Sen. Marco Rubio R-FL, and several other senators sent a letter to Obama on Tuesday casting doubts on the intentions of Iran’s new leader.

Israel wants the U.S. to establish a solid “red line” to prevent Iran from pressing forward with its nuclear program and gaining the capability to build a nuclear weapon, even without actually possessing one. That is simply unacceptable to Israel.

Netanyahu has laid out four demands:

  1. that Iran stop enriching uranium;
  2. that its stockpiles of enriched uranium be removed from the country;
  3. that a fortified underground enrichment facility be closed;
  4. and, that Iran not enrich plutonium, which represents another path toward nuclear weapons.

Eytan Gilboa, an expert on U.S.-Israel relations at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, predicted a “very difficult conversation” on Monday.

Some Americans “like Rouhani. They think he represents a new policy, a new approach and therefore should be given at least a chance. Netanyahu’s strategy is to say that this whole thing is a big hoax,” Gilboa said. “There are no buyers for his message.”

That is a scary prospect for Israel, and reality.

Below is an AP clip on Netanyahu’s scheduled U.S. visit:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set

News, World

EDS NOTE GRAPHIC CONTENT : In this image taken with a mobile phone, rescue workers and family members gather to identify the shrouded bodies of students killed following an attack by Islamist extremist on an agricultural college in Gujba, Nigeria, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2013, Suspected Islamic extremists attacked the Yobe State College of Agriculture early Sunday, gunning down students as they slept in dormitories and torching classrooms, leaving perhaps as many as 50 students dead in the attack, according to college Provost Molima Idi Mato. The attack is seen as part of an ongoing Islamic uprising in northeastern Nigeria prosecuted by Boko Haram militants in their declared quest to install an Islamic state. (AP Photo)

Islamic terrorists, who were dressed in Nigerian military uniforms attacked a Nigerian college students Sunday, gunning down dozens of students as they slept in their dorms, while shooting those who were trying to flee, witnesses say.

“They started gathering students into groups outside, then they opened fire and killed one group and then moved onto the next group and killed them. It was so terrible,” one surviving student, who would only give his first name of Idris, told Reuters.

Perhaps as many as 50 students may have been killed in the attack, which began at about 1 a.m. in rural Gujba, Provost Molima Idi Mato of Yobe State College of Agriculture, told The Associated Press.

“They attacked our students while they were sleeping in their hostels, they opened fire at them,” he said. The extremists also torched classrooms.

Nigeria State Police Commissioner Sanusi Rufai told Reuters that he believed that the terrorist group Boko Haram was behind the attack, but did not give a specific reason.

Boko Haram is aiming to establish an Islamic state in northern Nigeria and has ramped up attacks on civilians, which they view as revenge for a Nigerian military offensive against the group.

Idi Mato said he could not give an exact death toll, because security forces are still recovering bodies of students, who were mostly between the ages of 18 and 22. The Nigerian military has collected 42 bodies and transported 18 wounded students to Damaturu Specialist Hospital, which is 25 miles north, said a military intelligence official according to Reuters.

The extremists rode into the college in two double-cabin pickup all-terrain vehicles and on several motorcycles, with some dressed in Nigerian military camouflage uniforms, according to a surviving student, Ibrahim Mohammed. He said they appeared to know the exact layout of the college, attacking the four male hostels, yet avoiding the one hostel reserved for women.

“We ran into the bush, nobody is left in the school now,” Mohammed said.

Almost all those killed were Muslims, as is the makeup of the college’s student body, said Adamu Usman, another survivor from Gujba who was helping with the wounded at the hospital.

Screaming and crying friends and relatives gathered outside the hospital morgue, where rescue workers laid out bloody bodies in an orderly row on the lawn as a makeshift ID line for family members to identify their loved ones.

One body had its fists clenched to the chest, as if he died protecting or attempting to protect himself and others. Another had hands clasped under the chin, as if he was praying at the end. A third had arms raised in surrender, but it obviously did not deter the Islamic terrorists from doing what they do best, which is to cowardly kill unarmed, innocent people to their cause.

Provost Idi Mato confirmed the school’s other 1,000 enrolled students have already evacuated, or rather fled the college.

He said there were no security forces stationed at the college despite government assurances that they would be deployed. The state commissioner for education, Mohammmed Lamin, called a news conference two weeks ago urging all schools to reopen and promising protection from soldiers and police.

Most schools in the area closed after militants on July 6 killed 29 pupils and a teacher, burning some alive in their hostels, at Mamudo outside Damaturu.

Northeastern Nigeria is under a military state of emergency to battle an Islamic uprising prosecuted by Boko Haram militants who have killed more than 1,700 people since 2010, all in their extremist quest to install an Islamic state. This is being attempted despite the fact that half the country’s 160 million citizens are Christian, who will no doubt be in grave danger if Islamists are successful. Boko Haram literally translates into “Western education is forbidden” in the local Hausa language.

President Barack Obama back on Tuesday described Boko Haram as one of the most vicious terrorist organizations in the world, speaking at a meeting with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, during which both reassured each other of their commitment to fight terrorism.

Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, last week published a video to prove he is alive and prove false military claims that they might have killed him in an ongoing crackdown. Still, government and security officials claim they are winning their war on terror in the northeast, but Sunday’s attack and others squash those assurances.

The Islamic extremists Boko Haram have killed at least 30 other civilians in the past week. Twenty-seven people died in separate attacks Wednesday and Thursday night on two villages of Borno state, which is near the northeast border with Cameroon, according to the chairman of the Gamboru-Ngala local government council, Modu-Gana Bukar Sheriiff.

Also, more horrific news came Thursday, when police said suspected Islamic militants killed a pastor, his son and a village head, then proceeded to torch their Christian church in Dorawa, which is about 100 kilometers from Damaturu. They said the gunmen used explosives to set fire to the church and five homes.

Unsurprisingly, farmers and government officials are fleeing threats of imminent attacks from Boko Haram in the area of the Gwoza Hills, a mountainous area with caves that shelter the militants despite repeated aerial bombardments by the military.

A local government official said there had been a series of attacks in recent weeks and threats of more. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared for his life, said Gwoza town was deserted when he visited it briefly under heavy security escort on Thursday.

He said militants had chased medical officers from the government hospital in Gwoza, which had been treating some victims of attacks. He also said they had burned down three public schools in the area.

The official said the Gwoza local government has set up offices in Maiduguri, the state capital to the north.

More than 30,000 people have fled the terrorist attacks to neighboring Cameroon and Chad and the uprising combined with the military emergency has forced farmers from their fields and vendors from their markets.

The attacks come as Nigeria prepares to celebrate 52 years of independence from Britain on Tuesday and amid political jockeying in the run up to presidential elections next year with many northern Muslim politicians saying they do not want another term for Jonathan, who is from the predominantly Christian south.

Islamic terrorists attacked Nigerian college students Sunday,

Culture, Sports

tyler murphy

Tyler Murphy anxiously awaited the game that would mark his first start career-start this past Saturday against Kentucky, but the wait was worth ever second for Florida fans.

For many Gator fans, the season leading up to the moment when they would see Tyler Murphy step onto the field, seemed as if history could be repeating itself all over again. It was exactly 10 years ago to the day, when former Gators quarterback Chris Leak — then an anxious freshman, himself — made his first career start in Commonwealth Stadium and delivered a fourth-quarter performance worthy of the adjective, inspiring.

Florida (2-1, 1-0 SEC) rallied from a 21-3 deficit to win 24-21 — which remains its largest deficit comeback in school history.

“I’ll have butterflies,” Murphy said. “I’ll be anxious, but you know, I’ll get out there and maybe complete my first pass. Once I get hit, I think I’ll be fine. I don’t think it will be as bad as it was this [past] week.”

Murphy admitted that he was nervous when he was thrust into action after starting quarterback Jeff Driskel went down with a broken leg against Tennessee.

But he didn’t show it and rose to the occasion to save the game. Watching Murphy on the field, any nervous misgivings, doubts or pressures Murphy felt were also impossible to detect during the Gators’ 24-7 win at Kentucky this Saturday night. And he did have reason to be anxious, and for reasons other than letting down the high hopes of thousands of Gator fans watching on.

Unlike his debut performance, in which he led the Gators to a 31 – 17 victory continuing a school-record of 26 consecutive games against the Wildcats — the longest active annual streak in the nation — the Bluegrass faithful had been reenergized by first-year UK coach Mark Stoops. However, it quickly became apparent that Kentucky was not reenergized enough for Tyler Murphy and the Florida Gators.

Murphy led a 13-play, 93-yard touchdown drive to open the game, then threw a 9-yard touchdown to Trey Burton. Tyler Murphy also ran for a 5-yard score and was 11 out of 11 passing, as Florida (3-1, 2-0 SEC) posted a 21-7 halftime lead. Not a half-bad start for a guy who had not thrown his first college football pass until just seven days earlier, when he had to replace an injured Jeff Driskel.

“I don’t think he’ll ever be in a tougher situation than he was last [week,] coming cold off the bench,” senior receiver Trey Burton said. “You just see him grow up right in front of your eyes. I’m just really proud of him and really excited for the future.”

Murphy’s start sparked memories of Tim Tebow, who opened the 2010 Sugar Bowl hitting his first 12 throws, that is, until he bested the Tebow streak by completing his first 13 passes. Murphy’s 14 pass was my personal favorite of the game, even though that may sound a bit strange.

Facing 3rd-and-2 from the Kentucky 23rd-yard line, Murphy turned his attention to running back Matt Jones. Wildcats linebacker, Josh Forrest, easily stepped in front of the throw for the interception. For the first time this season and, indeed, the game, Tyler Murphy let on his inexperience. But it was what Murphy did next that counts. He would make his first career tackle – on the Gators’ 39 – to prevent what would have been a certain touchdown. He hunkered down when it mattered, refused to let it shake him up, and he drove on determined to rectify a somewhat expected, inexperienced mistake. And that matters.

Murphy would regain his comfort just five plays later, when first-year freshman cornerback, Vernon Hargreaves III, intercepted Kentucky quarterback Maxwell Smith in the end-zone to salvage Florida’s 14-point cushion.

Jones, who had struggled in his first two games to come back from an offseason illness, became a bedrock for the team and Murphy to build their strategy on. Gators coach Will Muschamp said, “I pulled Matt in Monday and said you need to cut it loose and play. You’re very tentative when you’re running.”

Coach Muschamp’s observation was on the mark, with Jones performing just as Mushcamp envisioned, finishing with 176 yards on 28 carries. Jones’ 2-yard touchdown run put Florida up with a 7-0 lead and capped the Gators’ longest drive of the season.

The drive, which lasted just under eight minutes, put at ease those who had fears that Florida was weakened without Driskel, as well as star defense tackle Dominique Easley. To put it into perspective, the Florida Gators were just 13-point favorites heading into Saturday’s game – which was the closest line since 2007 – against a team Florida had beaten by an average of 40.4 points in the past five meetings.

“I was very concerned going into the game,” Muschamp admitted. He shouldn’t feel bad, because he wasn’t the only one. But Tyler Murphy’s first career-starter began strong, was filled with firsts, ended in sweet victory, and left fans with the wonder that they just may have witnessed the beginning of another chapter in Gator history that, one day, will be a source of past pride.

Tyler Murphy anxiously awaited the game that

Politics

House Republicans voted early Sunday morning for a temporary spending bill, a CR  that includes a one-year delay for ObamaCare. The move both averts a government shutdown and increases the chance of a government shutdown with Harry Reid and Senate Democrats backed by the White House vowing to reject the measure ahead of a Monday night deadline.

The Republican-led House passed the proposal 231-192 in one of two amendments attached to a Senate spending bill passed Friday night.

The lower chamber also passed an amendment 248-174 to repeal the health-care law’s medical-device tax and unanimously voted 423-0 to approve a bill to pay the military on time if a temporary shutdown should occur. The final tallies came in after midnight, and the House adjourned until 10 AM ET Monday, shortly thereafter.

“I don’t think we’re near the precipice of a shutdown,” House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said after the votes. “We are on the precipice.”

The vote to delay ObamaCare went along party lines, with two Democrats joining the Republicans in voting for the amendment and two Republicans voting against the amendment, while 17 Democrats voted with every Republican member of the House to repeal the medical-device tax.

“Why are we doing this?” asked Tennessee Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn, an amendment sponsor. “We know that ObamaCare is not ready for prime time.”

The White House and Harry Reid D-NV, and leader of the Democratic-led Senate made it clear hours before the final votes that they would not accept the plan.

“To be absolutely clear, the Senate will reject both the one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act and the repeal of the medical device tax,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. “After weeks of futile political games from Republicans, we are still at square one.”

Within minutes of the final vote, the White House vowed President Obama would veto the plan, resulting in the federal government “technically” running out of money Monday night and forcing a partial shutdown.

Failure to pass a short-term funding bill – also known as continuing resolution or CR – means we are headed for the first partial government shutdown in almost 20 years.

“ObamaCare is not ready, and the delay is essential,” California GOP Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Affairs, said before lashing out at a reporter. “How dare you assume this will be a failure. … How dare you.”

When ased what he thought Harry Reid would do when the Senate comes back Monday afternoon, House Speaker John Boehner said that, “We’ll see.”

The tax on medical devices is one of the administration’s main sources for funding ObamaCare, which starting Tuesday will begin accepting customers seeking insurance and providing coverage Jan. 1, 2014.

The House earlier this month sent a spending bill to the Senate that called for defunding the law. The bill that the Senate returned Friday to the House had the ObamaCare funding restored and funds the government through Nov. 15, after Senate Republican leaders failed to unite with Senators Ted Cruz R-TX, Mike Lee R-UT, Marco Rubio R-FL and a few others, who stood with the House Republicans.

The Senate’s vote was strictly along party lines, which would prevent a shutdown of nonessential government services. That tally followed a 79-19 vote to stop the “sorta” filibuster by Cruz.

All 52 Democrats, two independents and 25 of the 44 Senate Republicans voted in favor, which included Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and most of the GOP leadership. GOP Senate leadership seemed perfectly content siding with the Democrats, sounding more like Pelosi D-CA, than Republicans who campaigned on doing everything in their power to stop Obamacare.

“The Senate has acted in a clear way to keep government open,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Saturday. “Instead, House Republicans are insisting on not one but two proposals to shut down government.” The House proposal will fund the federal government – except for ObamaCare – through December 15.

Sen. Cruz was doing some whipping up of votes in the House on his own, urging conservatives to continue the battle over heath care and to reject efforts by Speaker Boehner and other GOP leaders to offer scaled-back assaults on the law like repealing the tax on medical devices.

Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, attempted Saturday to move the debate to the next budget-battle deadline – Oct. 17 – when Congress must increase the government’s borrowing limit or risk defaulting on its debt. Americans oppose raising the debt limit by a 2 – 1 margin, making it a more attractive fight to many Republicans.

Republican want spending cuts as part of the deal, but the White House has said it will not engage in “extortion” negotiations. Rogers said:

The president is now demanding that we increase the debt limit without engaging in any kind of bipartisan discussions about addressing our spending problem. By an overwhelming margin, Americans believe the debt-ceiling increase should be coupled with solutions that help solve our debt and grown our economy. … Coupling an increase in the debt limit with efforts to rein in spending makes common sense, so much so that it’s been used from presidents from both parties.

If lawmakers miss the Monday deadline, hundreds of thousands of nonessential federal workers would have to stay home on Tuesday, though critical services – despite Democratic scare tactics – such as patrolling the borders, inspecting meat and controlling air traffic would assuredly continue. Social Security benefits would be sent and the Medicare and Medicaid health care programs for the elderly and poor would continue to pay doctors and hospitals, as always

House Republicans voted early Sunday morning for

Policy

Texas’ new abortion law is being challenged in court courtesy of a federal lawsuit filed Friday by Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion industry perpetuator.

The lawsuit cites specific areas of the Texas abortion law, including the provisions that would impose stricter sanitary standards on abortion clinics and require providers to have admitting privileges at local hospitals, NBC News reports.

Four to seven abortion clinics have said they would be forced to close their doors due to a supposed inability to meet the basic requirements outlined in the new bill, according to the Dallas Morning News. The lawsuit also opposes the provision of the bill that requires abortion medication providers follow FDA protocol for the administration of abortion-inducing pills.

Perhaps one of the biggest inconsistencies from the left is that they never respect the Democratic process when they are in the extreme minority. Indeed, that has been their rationale for attacking those who oppose Obamacare this past week. Pundits and politicians have been all over TV saying “it’s the law of the land,” so extremists like Sen. Ted Cruz should simply get over it.

Yet, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Center for Reproductive Rights, and at least a dozen abortion clinics who stand to lose a good deal of revenue from the abortion law have joined the lawsuit.

“I grew up in Texas and learned pretty early on that women only got what they fought for,” said Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards. “I think folks in the state have never fought harder.” Except, folks in the state of Texas and, indeed the country, oppose late-term abortions and support law, such as the Texas abortion law. Despite opposition from the American people, the left continues to use the activist courts to override the will of the people.

Despite frequent interruptions from a gallery filled with extreme leftists armed with urine and other unspeakable bodily fluids – not to mention, and an 11-plus hour filibuster from State Senator Wendy Davis – the Texas Legislature earlier this year overwhelmingly passed the abortion law banning abortions after 20 weeks. It, of course, was signed into law by Republican Governor Rick Perry.

“Women shouldn’t have to go to court after every legislative session,” said Center for Reproductive Rights president Nancy Northup, adding that “women’s rights now depend on where they live.”

The pro-abortion groups argue that “rather than protecting women’s health, the Act will harm Texas women. It will also violate Plaintiffs’ and their patients’ rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.”

The lawsuit does not take aim at the part of the omnibus abortion legislation that bans abortions past 20 weeks of pregnancy.

“The simple answer is that you can only do so much at once,” said Jim George, one of the case’s litigators, tipping his hand at the group’s true intention. Abortions after 20 week “are relatively rare and the immediate problem we’re facing here is that there are large parts of Texas that would be effectively precluded from ever getting an abortion by the statutes,” he said.

If you believe that the groups decided not to take aim at the 20-week ban because abortions at that stage are rare, I have a bridge to sell you. Abortions that late are extremely unpopular. According to a recent poll from Quinnipiac, a plurality of American women oppose late-term abortions, with 60 percent saying they want abortion banned after 20 weeks. A WaPo/ABC news poll, conducted during the debate over the Texas abortion law found that by a margin of 56% – 27%, more Americans say they’d prefer to impose limits on abortions after the first 20 weeks of pregnancy rather than the 24-week mark established under current law in some states.

The pro-abortion groups filed suit with the U.S. District Court for the Western District, Austin Division. If Texas’ abortion law isn’t blocked in court, the new laws go into effect on October 29.

Texas’ new abortion law is being challenged

Polls

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas claps before speaking at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum at the George R. Brown Convention Center, the site for the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting in Houston, Texas May 3, 2013. (REUTERS/Adrees Latif)

Sen. Ted Cruz may not have succeeded in stopping the vote for cloture, but he sure caught the eye of voters. The latest PPP national poll shows Sen. Ted Cruz is now the top choice of Republican primary voters to be their candidate for President in 2016. He pulled ahead of the pack with 20 percent, with Rand Paul close behind at 17 percent, 14 percent for Chris Christie, 11 percent for Jeb Bush, 10 percent each for Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan, 4 percent for Bobby Jindal, and 3 percent each for Rick Santorum and Scott Walker.

Cruz has gained 8 points from the PPP poll in July, while everyone else has maintained their level of support. He took a stand and threatened a government shutdown over Obamacare, and the Republican base supports that by a 64/20 margin. Republicans who identify as ‘very conservative’ support a shutdown 75/10, but even the moderate wing of the party supports it by a 46/36 margin, despite the mainstream media narrative.

Cruz is leading the GOP field in the PPP poll, because of his appeal to “very conservative” primary voters, 34 percent of whom support Cruz, with 17 percent for Rand Paul and 12 percent for Paul Ryan. If true it would be a nightmare for Karl Rove, but “very conservative voters” make up the largest portion of the Republican electorate at 39 percent. Moderates support Cruz by only 4 percent, with Gov. Christie leading with this group at 34 percent, 12 percent for Jeb Bush, and 10 percent for Sen. Marco Rubio, but they only account for 18% of GOP voters and thus aren’t all that relevant to Cruz’s prospects for winning a Republican nomination.

Although I wouldn’t yet make a declaration, PPP says their numbers suggest Cruz is now viewed more broadly as the leader of the Republican Party. Perhaps, that is because the Democratic polling company would like to paint the entire party as far to the right, but when asked whether they trust Cruz or GOP leader Mitch McConnell more, voters pick Cruz by 49/13. When it comes to who’s more trusted – Cruz or House Speaker John Boehner – Cruz has an even bigger 51/20 advantage.

Interestingly, but not surprisingly, when it comes to Cruz and 2008 GOP nominee and current fellow-Senate colleague John McCain, voters pick Cruz by 52/31. Party leaders should take note, because if PPP’s numbers are correct, Cruz now has more credibility with the GOP base than the folks who have been leading the party for years.

“Ted Cruz this week established himself as the grassroots hero of the Republican Party,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “The party base has a lot more faith in him than their more official leaders like Mitch McConnell and John Boehner.” That, for me, is pretty easy to believer. However, I will wait to see what other polls say, as PPP is not exactly known for its impartiality. During the 2012 presidential election, they tweeted in dismay when the first voter they called in Ohio, picked Mitt Romney.

PPP surveyed 743 Republican primary voters on September 25th and 26th. The margin of error is +/-3.6%. This poll was not authorized or paid for by any campaign or political organization. PPP’s surveys are conducted through automated telephone interviews.

Sen. Ted Cruz may not have succeeded

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