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<p>Congress gave final approval Thursday to a $1.1 trillion spending bill that eases the sharp budget cuts known at the sequester and guarantees that the nation will not endure another government shutdown until at least Oct. 1.</p> <p>After three years of politically bruising and economically damaging battles over the budget, the bipartisan agreement to fund federal agencies through the rest of the fiscal year passed with little fanfare.</p>

The $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill introduced Monday evening leaves the vast majority of pension cuts to military retirees intact, only exempting disabled veterans from the controversial provision included in last month’s budget deal. The spending bill amends a section of the bipartisan budget agreement that hit the military with reduced retirement pay, while also leaving generous benefits for civilian federal retirees untouched. The new spending bill, negotiated by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R., Ky.) and Chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee Barbara Mikulski (D., Md.), would only restore retirement benefits for 17.5 percent of military retirees. Title...

WOODSTOCK, Ga. — There's a political axiom that says if nobody is upset with what you’re doing, you’re not doing your job. We’ve seen this proved time and again in the liberal attacks on conservatives like Sarah Palin and Dr. Benjamin Carson, who provide principled examples to women and minorities and are savaged by the left for doing that job so well. But cheap-shot politics isn’t relegated to Democrats. Last week the House speaker, John A. Boehner of Ohio, attacked conservative groups who criticized the budget deal, hashed out by Representative Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, and Senator Patty...

Canada is "deeply skeptical" about Iran's intentions, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said on Sunday. "Every diplomatic [effort] should be taken to ensure that Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon," Baird said. He added that effective sanctions brought the Iranian regime to its more moderate front, and led to the interim deal signed in Geneva. Canada will therefore continue to impose its sanctions on the Islamic Republic in full force, Baird said. "A nuclear Iran is not just a threat to Canada or its allies but it would also seriously damage the integrity of decades of work for nuclear...

Last week, the Pentagon made it clear that it plans to take action against former SEAL Matt Bissonnette. It says he violated a signed nondisclosure agreement by writing “No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama bin Laden.” snip A reporter noted that Mr. Bissonnette also was part of the operation that saved a U.S. cargo ship captain from the hands of Somali pirates. Hollywood turned the 2009 rescue into the feature film “Captain Phillips,” with the Navy’s help.

There was a time when America’s Commander-In-Chief held a certain poise, a refinement of manner, a humble je ne sais quoi. And nothing could be more important to the families of America’s soldiers than assurance that the lives of their sons and daughters are valued above everything except the liberty they defend. Aaron Carson Vaughn, a member of the elite SEAL Team VI special forces once wrote a note of assurance to his concerned parents about his chain of command saying, “They won’t let me die.” This week, America honors her heroes in recognizing Veterans Day, including our brave SEALs....

Ken Cuccinelli lost the governor's race in Virginia, but here's the thing — he didn't lose by that much. Only 3 points. Because the race came so close, far right Republicans blame the GOP establishment for not doing more to give Cuccinelli a boost. The Republican National Committee put $9 million into Gov. Bob McDonnell's campaign in 2009. This year, Cuccinelli got $3 million. Cuccinelli "was betrayed by his own party," Rush Limbaugh told listeners on Wednesday afternoon, but the betrayal was not a surprise. Limbaugh said: "In Virginia the GOP simply didn't want a Tea Party candidate winning there....

When the facts are considered in the slim victory that terribly flawed Democrat Terry McAuliffe had against Ken Cuccinelli, it’s hard to deny the conclusion that the Republican party decided it was better to abandon Virginia to the Democrat party than to allow the Tea Party and social conservatives to win. Here they are: The Republican National Committee spent three times as much in 2009 on the same race as they did this year. The Chamber of Commerce spent one million dollars in the last Governor’s race, and not one dime on Cuccinelli. While its often claimed that Tea Party...

So blares the revised headline from the Washington Times. When this story ran in the print edition, it was the headline story entitled “Was SEAL Team 6 crash an inside Job?” The sub-head screamed “Families demand answers from the worst day of war in Afghanistan.” Excerpt: Sith Douangdara, whose 26-year-old son, John, was a Navy expeditionary specialist who handled warrior dog Bart, said he has lots of unanswered questions. “I want to know why so many U.S. servicemen, especially SEALs, were assembled on one aircraft,” he said. “I want to know why the black box of the helicopter has not...

At least five families of U.S. military members killed during in Afghanistan over the weekend were given a double-whammy by federal officials: Not only have your loved ones died, but due to the government shutdown, you won’t receive a death benefit. The benefit is $100,000 and is wired to family members of the killed military member within 36 hours of the death. The so-called “death gratuity” is aimed at paying for funeral costs and to help with those living expenses normally covered by the soldier’s paycheck. They serve as a transition pay benefit until the military’s survivor benefits begin. The...

A behind the scenes argument has broken out among Democrats and immigration advocates in the wake of public discussion of a so-called “Plan B” on immigration, in which advocates would press the White House to legalize millions of undocumented immigrants via executive authority if Congress fails to act. Some have pushed the “Plan B” idea in the media to increase pressure on Republicans to support legislative reform, by getting them to fear Obama would legalize the 11 million himself if they don’t do it on their own terms. But others — including, sources say, the White House — think floating...

What really happened to Navy SEAL Team 6? In August 2011, the elite special forces unit suffered the worst battlefield calamity in its history. A Taliban fighter shot down a Chinook helicopter carrying 22 Navy SEAL Team 6 members in Afghanistan. All 38 persons on board — the Navy SEAL warriors, other U.S. military personnel and seven Afghan soldiers — were killed. Grieving family members have been demanding answers. They may now get some as Congress finally opens an investigation. Navy SEAL Team 6 has attained international prominence for one reason: They were responsible for killing Osama bin Laden. They...

Stockman, Special Operations Speaks to Unroll Record-Setting Petition/Scroll Down Capitol Building Steps Demanding Benghazi House Select Committee Jul 22, 2013 Press Release WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Stockman filed a discharge petition last week to force a vote of the U.S. House on establishing a Select Committee to investigate the Sept. 11, 2012 killings of four Americans at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya by a mob of terrorists. Stockman will formally announce the discharge petition at a noon Tuesday press conference on the House Ceremonial Stairway. There, the largest petition ever presented to Congress, containing the signatures of 1,000 Special...

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is defending his participation in the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill efforts, saying he knows it won’t win him any “parades” among conservatives, but it’s necessary. Speaking Wednesday night with Fox News’s Sean Hannity, Rubio said he understands why conservatives are skeptical of immigration reform. “Look, it’s obvious I didn’t do this for political gain. This is not something that’s going to gain me any parades. People are frustrated, and I do understand it. What I hope they understand is that I studied this issue carefully for almost two years and I concluded that what we...

I’m beginning to realize that we are performing a major injustice when we call all of the events of the past year “scandals”. Scandals are what soap operas base their story lines off of. Scandals are actions of a President and his intern in the Oval Office. I will even admit that breaking into a private office to search for dirt on your opponent can be considered a scandal. However, what we are talking about with this administration is the infringement of American's constitutional rights, the use of the government to target our own citizens, and most importantly, the death...

The Senate voted 82-15 on Tuesday to end debate on a motion to proceed to a comprehensive immigration reform bill. The Senate is expected to continue work on the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act throughout June. The next vote will be held at 4 p.m. on Tuesday — that will be on the actual motion to proceed to the bill. The four Republican members of the Gang of Eight — Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Jeff Flake (R- Ariz.) — were joined by more than 20 other GOP senators in voting...

In a Spanish-language interview Sunday with the network Univision, Sen. Marco Rubio, the leading Republican on the Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform group, made his strongest statement yet that legalization of the nation’s estimated 11 million illegal immigrants must happen before any new border security or internal enforcement measures are in place, and will in no way be conditional on any security requirements. “Let’s be clear,” Rubio said. “Nobody is talking about preventing the legalization. The legalization is going to happen. That means the following will happen: First comes the legalization. Then come the measures to secure the border....

Do not suppose that your enemies will be placated by your surrender. You will be pressured to accept openly homosexual scoutmasters, then “transgender” girls who say they are boys or the Prince of Wales or male aliens from Alpha Centauri 3, then girls generally for all your programs, as they’ve done in Canada, only to see their membership go the way of the Church of Canada, since no one will stand up for someone who stands for nothing. 
 You have betrayed your friends to assuage your enemies. May they treat you more handsomely than you have treated us.

“A confidential message from FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, reproduced in [Diana] West’s new book, told [White House aide Harry] Hopkins that a ‘continuing’ investigation had discovered that Russian diplomat (and Comintern agent) Vasily Zarubin had made a payment to U.S. Communist Party official Steve Nelson to help place espionage agents ‘in industries engaged in secret war production … so that information could be obtained for transmittal to the Soviet Union.’ This information had come from a ‘bug’ at Nelson’s home in Oakland, California, through which the FBI first learned of the Soviet effort (code-named ‘Enormous’) to obtain the atomic...

... ...Slideshow and Video In the face of what has been happening to our military, the humiliation of our soldiers, the needless blood that has been shed by an enemy we are forbidden to name, we MUST remember when sacrifice meant something; when defeating our enemies was job one. The many whose sacrifices and courage kept us free are leaving us much too quickly and with sadness in their hearts wondering what their sacrifice was for. Remember them this anniversary of D Day and honor them because we are not likely to be allowed to win the victories they...