Free Republic

The Obama administration is "not bluffing" in its intent to take executive action on immigration policy if House Republicans don't act soon, top Democratic leaders warned Thursday. President Obama has delayed any potential changes to his deportation policy to allow House GOP leaders time to bring legislation to the floor this summer. But if the Republicans don't act in July, the Democrats say, unilateral changes by Obama are inevitable. "We're at the end of the line," Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said Thursday during a press briefing in the Capitol. "We're not bluffing by setting a legislative deadline for them to...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — More than 75 scientists are appealing to President Barack Obama to create a policy for preserving old-growth forest. The U.S. and Canadian scientists sent a letter to the president on Wednesday urging the U.S. Forest Service to draw up plans to conserve ecosystems distinguished by old trees, accumulations of dead woody material and diversity of plant life. Most are found in the Pacific Northwest or Southeast Alaska. The scientists urge Obama to manage old-growth forest for conservation instead of timber production.

....half of Cuban-Americans surveyed in Miami support an end to the U.S. embargo of Cuba. Even more support resuming diplomatic relations with the communist island's government. That's according to a Florida International University poll released Tuesday.

"He always traveled with 10 bodyguards, and two of them had to have his blood type in case he needed an emergency transfusion. Castro didn't trust stored blood."(snip)"Contrary to what he has always said, Fidel has never renounced capitalist comforts or chosen to live in austerity," writes Sanchez. "Au contraire, his mode de vie is that of a capitalist without any kind of limit. He has never considered that he is obliged by his speech to follow the austere lifestyle of a good revolutionary."

The Obama administration has decided to give extra time to Americans who say that they are unable to enroll in health-care plans through the federal insurance marketplace by the March 31 deadline. Federal officials confirmed Tuesday evening that all consumers who have begun to apply for coverage on HealthCare.gov, but who do not finish by Monday, will have until about mid-April to ask for an extension. Under the new rules, people will be able to qualify for an extension by checking a blue box on HealthCare.gov to indicate that they tried to enroll before the deadline. This method will rely...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bypassing Congress, President Barack Obama intends to order changes in overtime rules so employers would be required to pay millions more workers for the extra time they put in on the job. The rules, which would not likely take effect until 2015, are aimed at workers currently designated as supervisory employees but who are exempt from overtime because they get paid a salary of more than $455 a week. Obama plans to order his Labor Department to recommend regulations that would increase that salary threshold and change the definition of what constitutes a supervisor. Obama's attention to...

Full Title: Treasury: Employers must “self-attest” that ObamaCare not behind staffing decisions – under penalty of perjury Old and busted: Businesses will love ObamaCare for its cost savings in health care! New hotness: Businesses had better not make staffing decisions based on cost savings from ObamaCare-fueled price spikes! After its latest delay in implementing the employer mandate, the Obama administration rebuffed criticisms that the law incentivizes employers to shift to part-time work by announcing the Treasury Inquisition — ahem, excuse me, the Treasury Attestation Department: The latest announcement comes after the administration heard from businesses about their concerns with the...

Atlas Obscura on Slate is a blog about the world's hidden wonders. Like us on Facebook, Tumblr, or follow us on Twitter @atlasobscura. In a plaza on the southern outskirts of Turkmenistan's capital, Ashgabat, sits a rocket-shaped monument called the Arch of Neutrality. Towering 312 feet above the ground, it is topped with a 40-foot golden man in a suit who stands with his arms outstretched, surveying the land as a flag ripples behind him. His body language and facial expression convey something along the lines of, "Bring it on. I've got this." The golden man is Saparmurat Niyazov, the...

I know there were much more dangerous and important things said in President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, but one relatively minor claim completely surprised and shocked me.But what I offer tonight is a set of concrete, practical proposals to speed up growth, strengthen the middle class and build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class. Some require congressional action, and I'm eager to work with all of you. But America does not stand still, and neither will I. (Applause.) So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families,...

President Obama will announce tonight that he is signing an Executive Order mandating a new $10.10 minimum wage for all future federal contract workers. But it is not at all clear that he has the legal authority to do so. "My understanding is that they are using the president's authority under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949," George Washington Law School's Associate Dean for Government Procurement Law Studies Dan Gordon told Townhall. "And that calls for measures which ensure 'economy and efficiency' of the procurement process. And I am not sure whether this blanket increase in the...

President Obama has "warmed up" to using executive authority, and when he believes "he has the authority" to "make progress" without action by Congress, he will do it, White House adviser John Podesta told NPR Tuesday morning. "But he doesn't like to do this, does he?" the NPR host asked Podesta. "Uh, I think he's warmed up to it," Podesta replied, laughing.

Now that we've got Boehner/McConnell at our feet -utterly neutered, subjugated, and blackmailed- Democrats don't need to take the Senate or make gains in the House this coming November: I'll be ruling by executive diktat and via my many czars' murky bureaucratic power channels anyway, while selectively enforcing the existing laws that do or do not fit my warped views and relentless agenda. In short, I will be doing as I damn well please over the next 2.5 years (minimum), as has been the trend since Day One -but rather than little shame or concern for the views of the...

WASHINGTON — President Obama will tell Congress in his State of the Union address Tuesday to either act or get out of the way, White House officials said Sunday.

Video at link. (CNSNews.com) – Because he did not enforce the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and now unilaterally adjusts the Obamacare law as it unfolds, President Barack Obama is sending a signal to liberal federal judges to mirror him and, as a result, the president’s long-term legacy will be “the establishment of lawlessness in the United States,” said Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.). Bachmann also compared Obama’s actions to those of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi – “whatever he said was law.” The congresswoman made her remarks during a Jan. 15 “Conversations with Conservatives” meeting at the Heritage Foundation in...

Where Congress isn’t acting, I’ll act on my own to put opportunity within reach for anyone who’s willing to work for it. That’s what I did in Raleigh by launching America’s second “manufacturing innovation institute.” It’s a partnership between companies, colleges, and the federal government focused on making sure American businesses and American workers win the race for high-tech manufacturing and the jobs that come with it – jobs that can help people and communities willing to work hard punch their ticket into the middle class.

President Barack Obama predicts Congress will be busy this year debating a renewal of jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed and an immigration overhaul. But he says he wants his Cabinet also to focus on executive actions that don’t require legislation. “We are not just going to be waiting for legislation in order to make sure that we are providing Americans the kind of help that they need. I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone,” Obama said. Obama continued: ”And I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions and administrative actions that move...

President Barack Obama sent a message to Congress Tuesday: He plans to use his power whenever he can to move his agenda forward. "We are not just going to be waiting for a legislation in order to make sure that we’re providing Americans the kind of help that they need," Obama said before a Cabinet meeting. "I've got a pen and I’ve got a phone -- and I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions and administrative actions that move the ball forward." Obama said he told members of his Cabinet the need to use...

PRESIDENT OBAMA: So Congress is going to be busy, and I’m looking forward to working with Democrats and Republicans, House members and Senate members, to try to continue to advance the economic recovery and to provide additional ladders of opportunity for everybody. But one of the things that I’ll be emphasizing in this meeting is the fact that we are not just going to be waiting for a legislation in order to make sure that we’re providing Americans the kind of help that they need. I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone -- and I can use that...

[SNIP] .....Cruz, who is considered a potential candidate for president in 2016, was introduced by former Sen. Phil Gramm. Gramm compared Cruz’s effort to derail Obamacare — against the wishes of some in his own party — to the siege of the Alamo. Gramm acknowledged Republicans were hurt politically by the government shutdown, according to polls. Gramm noted that when Col. Travis drew a line in the sand, some volunteers crossed it and some did not. “The ones who didn’t cross the line died too. But no one remembered their names,” he said.......

Breitbart News has learned that in 2013 the Obama administration launched an under-the-radar project, 'Operation Choke Point,' which is designed to destroy three sectors of the private lending industry: third party payment processors ("TPPPs"), payday lenders, and online lenders. The operation is headed by political operatives and career bureaucrats at the Department of Justice, the FDIC, and the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB"). It appears to be the latest example of the Obama administration's successful efforts to weaponize the apparatus of the federal government against people and industries it opposes ideologically. According to the Wall Street Journal, the federal...