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SECOND SUBSCRIPTION DRIVE – 2014 – WEEK TWO

The first week of our new subscription drive went quite well.  In fact, it was one of the best first weeks of a subscription drive that we've had at Urgent Agenda.  Thank you to new subscribers and to our old reliables.  But this is just the start.  More is needed.  Please help keep Urgent Agenda running by subscribing or donating.

Last week we began our second subscription drive of 2014.  This is a critical year for Urgent Agenda – perhaps the most important midterm election year in America's recent history.  But maintaining our daily, day and night, coverage of this year is costly.  It is subscribers and donators who keep us going.

Like all political sites, we face increasing competition each week as more bloggers join the internet.  As a site in our sixth year, we face the reality that some subscribers will drop out, and some will pass.  We've had several sad moments in the last few months.  Our retention rate is still spectacularly high, but there will still be a certain amount of slippage.

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JULY 3,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET: 

BULLETIN – It's reported from Philadelphia that the signers of the Declaration of Independence reappeared tonight in Independence Hall to assess their creation.  They were briefed on the concept of electricity, then video, and watched several of Barack Obama's speeches.  They then watched an hour of MSNBC.  After that, local channels report that they got on a flying machine and headed for England, where they intend to apologize to the Queen.

DIPLOMATIC DECISION – From The Politico:  "Russia just made a decision that most pay a heavy price for: The Kremlin said 'no' to Frank Underwood.  Russia denied a request by Netflix’s 'House of Cards' producers to film two episodes of the hit show at the United Nations Security Council in New York, Foreign Policy reported Tuesday. According to emails obtained by the news organization, Russia wanted to keep the room available for any international crises that may arise during the filming."  I personally regret the decision.  The filming would have possibly prevented the Security Council from meeting, and, as a result, the world would have been a better, more peaceful place.

WOMAN OF THE PEOPLE – From the New York Post:  "Just when we thought there couldn’t be any more Democratic donors on Wall Street with money left to channel to the DNC, Michelle Obama is back in town for another 'intimate' fund-raiser.  Evercore Partners’ Charles Myers is hosting a 'round-table discussion' with the first lady at his Midtown home July 10 with tickets from $10,000 to $32,400.  Myers e-mailed prospective attendees including Wall Street colleagues, 'This will be a small lunch limited to only 20 guests, and therefore an opportunity to have an open conversation with the first lady on a wide range of issues (as well as a personal photo opportunity).'"  I'm so happy to see this.  It's important that the royal family hear the opinions of average Americans.  I do hope they discuss the price of milk.  So stressful.

July 3, 2014       Permalink

THE DISASTER – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 10:39 A.M. ET:   The Obama administration, that is.  This week a poll reported that Obama was ranked the worst president since World War II.  While we take those polls with a grain of salt, they are a general indication.  Michael Goodwin, in the New York Post, sums up the mess: 

Let me be clear: Obama is flirting with disaster. This and other polls show he is losing ground with every group, including African-Americans.

Most important, clear majorities no longer trust him and no longer believe he is capable of leading the country.

His policies, especially ObamaCare, were never popular, but the accumulation of his failures has eroded his ability to defy political gravity.

That’s what happens when you get caught in too many lies and broken promises about fixing the economy. And don’t underestimate the impact of the global chaos on Americans’ sour mood.

Losing the consent of the governed is a profound event, and there is no easy path back to public grace. The one certainty is that Obama’s angry defiance will dig him a deeper hole.

His taunting of Republicans and critics in campaign-style events reinforces doubts about his fitness. Absorbed with self-pity and fixated on finding blame, he gives the impression of someone who never considers the possibility he might be part of the problem.

COMMENT:  Very well said.  Obama has, for too long, believed his press clippings.  And just as he is part of the problem, the press is also part of the problem.  This is what the country gets when a presidential candidate is not properly vetted when he runs for office.

But don't count Obama out.  He still has a long two-and-a-half years, and in that time he can do substantial damage.  There's no such thing as an irrelevant president.  His pen makes him very relevant indeed.

July 3, 2014       Permalink

OBAMACARE – THE RATE INCREASES – AT 9:06 A.M. ET:   We were told that dramatic rate increases were coming in the second year, and, for once, Obamacare is right on time.  From the New York Post: 

Insurance firms participating in New York’s ObamaCare health exchange are seeking double-digit hikes for patient medical premiums in 2015, new figures reviewed by The Post reveal.

The average hike sought by insurers for individual plans is 12 percent—but a number of firms serving large numbers of patients want to boost individual premiums by nearly 20 percent.

Leading the charge is Excellus Health Plan, which is seeking to sock more than 24,000 customers with a 19.7 percent hike.

The even larger MVP Health Plan, with nearly 33,000 customers, is seeking a 19 percent boost.

While a number of smaller plans put in for lesser increases or, in a number of cases, decreases, Health Republic Insurance of New York — the largest on the exchange with more than 68,000 members — requested a 15.2 percent increase for individual plans.

The proposed rate increases call into question one of the goals of the Affordable Care Act — curbing runaway health-care costs.

In some letters to customers, insurers cited requirements in ObamaCare as contributing to the proposed rate increases.

COMMENT:  We eagerly await, pen in hand, the comments of Nancy Pelosi, whose net worth is estimated at $30-million, who said that we should welcome higher premiums because we can then "help people." 

Well, at least I know I have lactation coverage and can get free birth control.  I'll sleep easier at night.

July 3, 2014       Permalink

GOOD ECONOMIC REPORT? – AT 8:47 A.M. ET:  It looks good on the surface.  From the Washington Examiner: 

Employment growth accelerated in June, suggesting that the fragile economic recovery continues despite the reported sharp contraction in the first quarter.

The economy added 288,000 payroll jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 6.1 percent, the lowest rate since before the worst days of the financial crisis in September 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday morning. Both measures exceeded expectations.

COMMENT:  Given the record of this administration, I'll wait and see.  Yes, that's a pretty strong report, but remember that we must create 150,000 jobs each month just to keep up with population growth. 

Also, we must ask what kind of jobs these are.  Full time?  Quality jobs or dead enders?  And we must also ask if there was any wage growth, one of the true measures of economic progress.  American workers have been running in place or losing ground for years. 

Finally, figures are adjusted, and I'd like to see, in a month or so, where the adjustment leads.

July 3, 2014       Permalink

NEW TERROR WARNING – AT 8:26 A.M. ET:  Our opponents grow more sophisticated.  At least some people in Washington are marginally awake.  From Fox: 

The federal government is increasing security measures at some international airports with direct flights to the United States, based on recent intelligence about the continuing, worldwide terror threat, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Wednesday.

Johnson gave no information about a specific threat, saying only that the change was based on the U.S. and its allies “continually (assessing) the global threat environment.”

However, the beefed up security is almost certainly a response to recent intelligence reports suggesting that Al Qaeda-linked terrorists in Syria are working with members of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to blow up a commercial aircraft headed to the U.S. or Europe, as reported first by ABC News.

A counterterrorism official told AP that the terrorists are attempting to create a bomb that would go undetected through airport security.

The official declined to describe the kind of information that triggered this warning. Officials in the past have raised concerns about non-metallic explosives being surgically implanted inside a traveler's body, designed to be undetectable in pat-downs or metal detectors.

Americans and others from the West have traveled to Syria over the past year to join al Nusra Front's fight against the Syrian government. The fear is that fighters with a U.S. or Western passport -- and therefore subject to less stringent security screening -- could carry such a bomb onto an American plane.

COMMENT:  The old saying in counter-terror circles is that we have to be lucky every day, but the enemy only has to be lucky once.  Sooner or later, someone is going to get through.  Then let's see how Americans react.

July 3,  2014     Permalink

JULY 2,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:31 P.M. ET: 

DISGRACE – From Fox:  "A government-contracted security force threatened to arrest doctors and nurses if they divulged any information about the contagion threat at a refugee camp housing illegal alien children at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, sources say.  In spite of the threat, several former camp workers broke their confidentiality agreements and shared exclusive details with me about the dangerous conditions at the camp. They said taxpayers deserve to know about the contagious diseases and the risks the children pose to Americans. I have agreed to not to disclose their identities because they fear retaliation and prosecution."  Your tax dollars at work.

AFTER ALL, THINGS ARE GOING SO WELL – from The Hill:  "The White House is not planning to reassess its strategy for handling thousands of unaccompanied minors streaming across the border amid mass protests.  White House press secretary Josh Earnest said he had not spoken to President Obama about protests in California that blocked buses full of immigrant detainees from reaching a processing station. But Earnest said there was no expectation of changing strategies to deal with the flood of minors 'at this point.'" Obama does not seem at all concerned about this new flood of undocumented immigrants, including thousands of children.  I mean, why keep out potential Democrats?

TARGET ON TARGET – From The Wall Street Journal:  "Target Corp. on Wednesday said it would 'respectfully' ask customers to not bring guns into its stores, 'even in communities where it is permitted by law,' responding to a month-long campaign from a gun-control group.  The retailer was pushed into the national debate after Texas gun-rights groups posted photographs of their members carrying rifles through the aisles of stores near Dallas."  Target is reasonable on this point.  I'm a gun owner, as readers know, but the safe and courteous display of arms is part of the legitimate gun owner's creed.  A group of gun guys barreling through a department store with AR-15s strapped around them will do nothing to advance the cause of responsible gun rights.  It's just rude.

GETTING TO THE BOTTOM OF THINGS – NOT – From Fox:  "U.S. Army soldiers who were serving with Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl when he left his post and wound up in the hands of the Taliban say no one has contacted them, even though military brass are currently conducting a new investigation into the case.  Several soldiers who immediately came forward after Bergdahl was released on May 31, in a swap for five Guantanamo Bay detainees, have accused the 28-year-old Idaho native of deserting. But even though the Army is probing that very charge, investigators have not reached out to at least two former Army sergeants — including the platoon’s leader — who served alongside Bergdahl on June 30, 2009, when he disappeared from his post in eastern Afghanistan’s Paktika province."  Does the term "cover-up" come to mind?

July 2, 2014       Permalink

SUCKED IN AGAIN – AT 10:09 A.M. ET:  A new announcement of additional troops sent back to Iraq has us concerned.  From Fox: 

President Obama announced Monday that he is sending approximately 200 American troops to Iraq to reinforce security at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and the Baghdad International Airport, as the country wages a bloody battle against jihadists.

The troops will serve a different mission in Iraq than the 275 advisory troops sent to Iraq earlier this month in response to advances by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant/Syria (ISIS). The additional troops will serve to solely augment security.

“The presence of these additional forces will help enable the Embassy to continue its critical diplomatic mission and work with Iraq on challenges they are facing as they confront (ISIS),” Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement.

Obama notified House and Senate leaders in a letter on Monday. Obama said the additions include security forces, rotary-wing aircraft, and support for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

COMMENT:  We should be looking at this very closely.  That is a commitment of 475 Americans.  What happens if they're attacked, or some become casualties?  Do we send more? 

And how can we be sure of the loyalties of the Iraqis that they will train and work beside? 

We should do what we can to save Iraq – having departed the country without leaving behind a stabilization force – but the strategic negligence of this administration is a matter of record.  Congress should be involved at every step of this new commitment.

July 2, 2014       Permalink 

INCREDIBLE INCOMPETENCE – AT 9:44 A.M. ET:  This is a perfect example of why Americans' trust in government has declined so much.  From the New York Post: 

WASHINGTON — Federal officials can’t resolve 85 percent of 2.9 million “inconsistencies” on applications for ObamaCare even after nine months of trying, according to new data provided by the administration.

Most of the problems involve certifying citizenship and income, key components of the national health plan.

But some of the problems are downright nutty.

One unidentified state-run marketplace cited situations in which infants and young children were “erroneously identified as incarcerated, according to federal data,” the inspector general for the Health and Human Services Department revealed Tuesday.

You gotta watch those toddlers.  Some have been known to crawl into bank vaults.

Just 425,000 problematic applications have been resolved out of 2.9 million that states and the federal exchange reported, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services told The Post.

Only citizens are eligible for ObamaCare, and only people at certain income levels are eligible for tax credits and subsidies.

But in 77 percent of the applications under scrutiny, federal records differed from what applicants submitted on those two key qualifications.

The CMS responded that the agency is “committed to verifying the eligibility of consumers who apply for enrollment in qualified plans.”

COMMENT:  There will probably be widespread fraud that will never be resolved because fraud is a sensitive issue.  Some group leaders and "representatives" will protect their groups, no matter what the facts.

July 2, 2014       Permalink

LAND OF THE FREE? – AT 9:18 A.M. ET:  The poll cited in the post below has good entertainment value, but is hardly a historic view of presidents.  But another poll is more serious, and should have us concerned, as Americans, especially as we prepare to celebrate our independence.  From the Christian Science Monitor: 

This Independence Day, Americans will celebrate the nation’s core values, especially freedom. But according to a new international poll, Americans have become significantly "less satisfied with the freedom to choose what they want to do with their lives."

Seventy-nine percent of US residents are satisfied with their level of freedom, down from 91 percent in 2006, according to the Gallup survey, released Tuesday.

That 12 point drop pushes the US from among the highest in the world in terms of perceived freedom to 36th place, outside the top quartile of the 120 countries sampled, trailing Paraguay, Rwanda, and the autonomous region of Nagarno-Karabakh.

Only 10 nations experienced as sharp a drop as the United States in terms of the satisfaction of citizens with their level of freedom: Egypt, Greece, Italy, Venezuela, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Romania, Yemen, Pakistan, and Spain.

And...

“Although unclear, the decline in perceived freedom could be more than just economics,” such as how Americans view their government, writes Mr. Clifton.

Since June 2013, confidence of Americans in their government has dropped significantly. In a poll released Monday, Gallup reports a 7 point drop in confidence in the presidency (to 29 percent), a 4 point drop for the Supreme Court (to 30 percent), and a 3 point drop for Congress (to 7 percent, a record low.)

According to another poll also released by Gallup on Tuesday, the portion of Americans who believe there to be “widespread corruption” in the US has jumped from 59 percent in 2006 to 79 percent in 2013.

COMMENT:  We might actually find this poll somewhat encouraging – it indicates that Americans are paying attention, and that they understand the seriousness of at least some of our problems.  Now they have to resolve to do something about them, which begins by not electing another president with few visible qualifications or who, like Hillary Clinton, wallows in corruption. 

July 2,  2014     Permalink

HOW DO WE TELL THE PRESIDENT? – AT 8:58 A.M. ET:  Uh, Mr. Obama, there's a new poll out.  Now, sir, polls change from day to day.  This is just one measure.  Uh, no sir, don't jump out the window...  From Newsmax: 

President Barack Obama is the worst president since World War II, and the United States would have been better off if his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, had won the election in 2012, a new Quinnipiac University national poll released today reveals.

The best president? Ronald Reagan.

"Over the span of 69 years of American history and 12 presidencies, President Barack Obama finds himself with President George W. Bush at the bottom of the popularity barrel," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

"Would Mitt have been a better fit? More voters in hindsight say yes," Malloy said.

Out of 1,446 registered voters surveyed nationwide from June 24-30, 33 percent deemed Obama as the worse president, while another 28 percent picked former President George W. Bush as the worst, Quinnipiac reported Wednesday.

In addition, 45 percent of the voters said the country would be better off if Romney won in 2012, and 38 percent said the country would be worse off.

The choice was sharply divided among party lines, with Republicans choosing Romney by 84 percent to 5 percent and Democrats choosing Obama by 74 percent to 10 percent. Independent voters came in with a 47 percent to 33 percent nod to Romney.

Love that independent vote.  Love it.

Overall, Reagan topped voters' pick for the best president since World War II, with 35 percent of the voters choosing him. Trailing Reagan were former presidents Bill Clinton at 18 percent, 15 percent for John F. Kennedy and just 8 percent for Obama. Among Democrats, 34 percent picked Clinton as the best president, followed by 18 percent each for Obama and Kennedy.

Meanwhile, among the Republicans polled, an overwhelming 66 percent chose Reagan as the best president. He was followed distantly by former President George H.W. Bush and Kennedy, with 6 percent each, and Obama and Dwight D. Eisenhower, who tied at 4 percent each.

George W. Bush and Obama, compared side-by-side, came out very closely matched among the voters polled. Thirty-nine percent said Obama has been a better president than Bush, while 40 percent said he was worse.

COMMENT:  Okay, it is certainly true that memory plays a role in polls like that, and most Americans don't go back very far.  I mean, Kennedy gets only 6, Eisenhower 4, and Truman wasn't even in the running. 

But still, the verdict on Obama is disastrous.  The nation has turned against him, and I don't see why it would turn back.

July 2,  2014     Permalink