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The head of the IRS confirmed Wednesday that investigators looking into missing emails from ex-agency official Lois Lerner have found and are reviewing "backup tapes" -- despite earlier IRS claims that the tapes had been recycled. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, testifying before a House oversight subcommittee, stressed that he does not know "how they found them" or "whether there's anything on them or not." But he said the inspector general's office advised him the investigators are reviewing tapes to see if they contain any "recoverable" material. The revelation is significant because the IRS claimed, when the agency first told Congress...

The FAA announced today that they have not lifted their ban against travel to or from Tel Aviv's airport and will prohibit travel to the country for an additional 24 hours. "The agency is working closely with the Government of Israel to review the significant new information they have provided and determine whether potential risks to U.S. civil aviation are mitigated so the agency can resolve concerns as quickly as possible," the FAA said in a statement.

Washington Seeks to Counter Russian Claims About MH17 Crash U.S. intelligence officials presented reporters with their most detailed case yet Tuesday that Russian-backed Ukrainian separatists shot down a Malaysia Airlines jetliner last week, in a bid to counter what American officials see as Russian efforts to muddy the waters with claims of Ukrainian culpability. The officials relied on photographs, social media, and voiceprint analysis of Ukrainian communications intercepts to make their public case that a likely SA-11 antiaircraft weapon fired from separatist-controlled territory shot down the commercial airliner, killing 298 people on board. The evidence cited, however, didn't raise the...

KIEV, Ukraine – Two Ukrainian military fighter jets have been shot down in the east, according to the country's Defense Ministry.

According to the poll, which was released Wednesday, the President's approval rating among Americans stands at 42%. That's not great, but it's basically unchanged since March. Only 42% believe that Obama can manage the government effectively. Again, nothing to celebrate, but it's virtually unchanged from the 43% who felt that way in March. The poll was conducted for CNN by ORC International from July 18-20, with 1,012 adult Americans questioned by telephone.

In undercover tests of the new federal health insurance marketplace, government investigators have been able to procure health plans and federal subsidies for fake applicants with fictitious documents, according to findings that will be disclosed to lawmakers on Wednesday. The results of the inquiry by the Government Accountability Office are evidence of still-imperfect work by specialists intended to assist new insurance customers and government contractors hired to verify that coverage and subsidies are legitimate. The GAO also pointed to flaws that linger in the marketplace’s Web site, HealthCare.gov. According to testimony to be delivered before a House Ways and Means...

Senior U.S. intelligence officials said Tuesday that Russia was responsible for "creating the conditions" that led to the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, but they offered no evidence of direct Russian government involvement. The intelligence officials were cautious in their assessment, noting that while the Russians have been arming separatists in eastern Ukraine, the U.S. had no direct evidence that the missile used to shoot down the passenger jet came from Russia. The officials briefed reporters Tuesday under ground rules that their names not be used in discussing intelligence related to last week's air disaster, which killed 298...

Less than an hour after an appeals court in Washington ordered the Obama administration to turn off the spigot of federal subsidies to consumers through U.S.-run health-care exchanges, an appeals court in Virginia ruled that the subsidies should be allowed to keep on flowing. With the future of Obamacare hanging in the balance, the back-to-back opinions raise the likelihood of another Supreme Court showdown over the the president’s marquee law. The two circuits split over an issue fundamental to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. That is, whether the Internal Revenue Service had the authority under the statute passed...

7:41 P.M. The FAA prohibits all U.S. airlines from flying to and from Ben-Gurion International Airport "for a period of up to 24 hours." 5:57 P.M. Delta Airlines and U.S. Airways suspend flights to and from Israel on Tuesday. This follows a warning from the Federal Aviation Authority given after a rocket fell earlier Tuesday in Yehud, near Ben-Gurion International Airport. United Airlines announced it will continue operating as usual. A Delta Airlines flight from New York to Israel landed in Paris following the decision. U.S. Air has relocated planes currently at Ben-Gurion airport tonight's planned flight has been canceled....

On July 3, 2014, Texas Governor Rick Perry told Members of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security that urgent federal action was required to stem the humanitarian and national security crises unfolding along the Texas-Mexico border. After almost three weeks of inaction by the Obama administration, yesterday, Gov. Perry directed Texas Adjutant General John Nichols to immediately begin preparations for the deployment of up to 1,000 National Guard troops to the U.S. – Mexico border. These troops will support the Texas Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) ongoing law enforcement surge, Operation Strong Safety, which is focused on combatting criminal...

A federal judge said Monday that Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) cannot challenge the Obamacare policy that lawmakers and their staff obtain health insurance through the exchanges. The ruling could prove ominous for House Republicans as they prepare to file suit against the Obama administration, also against Obamacare. That suit would focus on a different issue, the president’s delay of the employer mandate. Judge William C. Griesbach, a George W. Bush appointee, said that Article III of the Constitution prevents Johnson’s lawsuit from moving forward and suggests that any remedy must come from Congress. He said that the Wisconsin Republican cannot...

Here are a couple of links to talks with Zack Taylor, the Chairman National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers and former Arizona Border Patrol Officer. The second video has some graphic content, but is still very much worth seeing. He brings up a very good point that the border agents are being pulled off the border to deal with these "kids." It isn't necessarily these people that are the problem, but the ones who now have unrestricted access coming through other areas and are not being caught. Zack Interview-Security on the border between USA and MexicoTREASON! Ret Border Patrol...

VIDEO: Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott on Sending the National Guard to the Border Watch our interview with Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott from tonight’s ON THE RECORD and sound off!See the Video Here

Just one day after the horrific tragedy that left 298 people dead, Russia's Channel One ran a package telling its audience that the entire incident was orchestrated by the United States, specifically by the CIA. A document was broadcast purportedly showing that the U.S. was planning to do the same thing during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Viewers learned that the "U.S. orchestrated this because Ukrainian government is not sophisticated enough to orchestrate this," according to the broadcast, which was translated from the original Russian by CNBC. According to Channel One, Russia's swift economic growth has inspired the United States...

This is a chilling interview with Retired Border Patrol Officer Zach Taylor about the surge of illegals coming across the U.S. border right now. If you haven't watched the interview, read this transcript: My name is Zach Taylor. I'm a retired Border Patrol officer. My main job was understanding and having intelligence capabilities about drug smuggling across the U.S. border and human smuggling across the U.S. border to bring contraband and people into the United States. That's what I did for twenty-six years. National security is a component of the immigration laws and the reason that immigration officers exist. Because...

We’ve reached a sufficiently high level of implausibility now, I think, that this story technically qualifies as a news-of-the-weird palate cleanser, not actual news.Assuming the data isn’t recovered and no one is punished, as seems likely, this is a get-out-of-jail-free card for the next president’s administration, no? If some Democratic Senate oversight committee demands to see e-mails from President Christie’s underlings and the reply comes back that the hard drives were all corrupted, what’s the grounds for complaint? IRS Deputy Associate Chief Counsel Thomas Kane said in transcribed congressional testimony that more IRS officials experienced computer crashes, bringing the...

The Obama administration issued yet another waiver to get out of Obamacare — for all the U.S. territories. The exemption, posted Thursday on a Department of Health and Human Services website, frees U.S. territories from a host of Obamacare regulations on health insurance markets. The territories already weren’t subject to much of the health care law — the individual mandate doesn’t apply to the territories and premium subsidies aren’t available. What did apply were a host of regulations on the health insurance markets operating in the territories. Obamacare’s rules for insurance companies — providing mandated health benefits to all customers,...

The Palestinian death toll in an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip rose above 500 on Monday as the army said it had killed 10 militants who tunnelled into Israel, while Gazan officials said an Israeli tank shelled a hospital, killing civilians. A day after he was caught by an open microphone saying sarcastically that the Israeli assault was "a hell of a pinpoint operation", U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Cairo to try to secure an end to the two-week conflict. Despite a U.N. Security Council appeal on Sunday for an immediate ceasefire in the worst bout...

Christians have fled en masse from Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, abandoning communities that date back to the first centuries of Christianity. Islamic extremists who now control the city gave Christians until midday Saturday to convert to Islam, pay a tax or face death. According to MidEast Christian News, the IS rulers ordered hospitals to dismiss Christian doctors and female employees. The report says extremists also marked the houses of Christians as "Property of the Islamic State". By the time the deadline imposed by the Islamic State expired, most Christians were gone. Mosul, where Christianity has existed for nearly 2,000 years,...

MH17 flight feared to have been shot down over Ukraine was taking a significantly different route to the usual course for flights from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, according to aviation expert. The crashed MH17 flight took a route 300 miles to the north of its usual path, an aviation expert has said. Robert Mark, a commercial pilot who edits Aviation International News Safety magazine, said that most Malaysia Airlines flights from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur normally travelled along a route significantly further south than the plane which crashed. Malaysia Airlines has insisted its plane travelled on an "approved route"...

Nearly a year before President Obama declared a humanitarian crisis on the border, a team of experts arrived at the Fort Brown patrol station in Brownsville, Tex., and discovered a makeshift transportation depot for a deluge of foreign children. The researchers’ observations were among the warning signs conveyed to the Obama administration over the past two years as a surge of Central American minors has crossed into south Texas illegally. More than 57,000 have entered the United States this year, swamping federal resources and catching the government unprepared. The administration did too little to heed those warnings, according to interviews...

Hundreds of protests are taking place across the United States this weekend in opposition to the surge of immigrants illegally crossing the country’s southern border and proposed immigration reform that organizers say gives amnesty to those already living illegally in the country. Organizers say 321 protests will take place over the next two days -- from state capitals to highway overpasses to Mexican consulates. The protests have been sparked by the thousands of Central American immigrants who in the past few months have entered the U.S. illegally in hopes of staying. “We know that 12,000 people expected to attend roughly...

ISLAMABAD: Even though US Secretary of State John Kerry succeeded in brokering a deal to resolve the deadlock over the Afghan presidential election run-off, confusion still persists about the proposal of forming a “government of national unity”. On July 12, Kerry announced the agreement in the presence of both rivals Dr Ashraf Ghani and Dr Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul. “The winner of the election will serve as the president and will immediately form a government of national unity,” said Kerry. However, the top US official failed to explain the composition of the unity government. Kerry’s vague proposal has caused uproar...

ALBANY, NY – New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday he would form a new third party in the state centered around his late-term abortion expansion program. The formation of the Women’s Equality Party, which is designed to further the Democrats' national “war on women” campaign theme, was announced at a gala on Thursday.

Ukraine launched an extraordinary attack on Vladimir Putin tonight by publishing a horrific picture of a dead baby and accusing the Russian president of having the blood of the infant victim of flight MH17 on his hands. Senior government advisor Anton Gerashchenko today stepped up the rhetorical attack on the Kremlin by posting the picture with a message to Mr Putin saying: 'This baby's death is on your conscience', before adding 'Damn you for centuries!' He said that he agonised over whether to publish the image of the tiny corpse lying in a ploughed field. MailOnline has chosen not to...

Now that the U.S.-Russia relationship has broken down, Moscow could throw a wrench into the teetering nuclear negotiations with Iran. The escalating tensions between Washington and Moscow, brought to fever by the MH17 airliner disaster, are finally to the point where they threaten to spoil the number one item on President Obama’s foreign policy agenda: the nuclear talks with Iran. The man doing the threatening is Russian President Vladimir Putin. Earlier this week, Putin promised to retaliate against the United States for new sanctions targeting his friends and business associates, as well as large Russian defense, energy, and financial firms....

The United States is not planning to give weapons or “lethal” assistance to Ukraine following Thursday’s downing of an airliner in its conflict zone, nor does it plan any major U.S. military response to the crisis, the Pentagon said Friday. Press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby repeated U.S. calls for a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine but said the “focus” of American assistance to Kiev will remain on non-lethal supplies and equipment, even though he acknowledged Ukraine has asked for both lethal and non-lethal help.

Iran and six world powers on Friday agreed to a four-month extension of negotiations on a long-term nuclear deal that would gradually end sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme, diplomats close to the talks said. Iran, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China had set a July 20 deadline to complete a long-term agreement that would resolve the decade-old dispute over Tehran's nuclear ambitions. But diplomats said they were unable to overcome significant differences on major sticking points

Today at the Mexican Consulate just south of downtown Houston a protest against the illegal alien border surge was staged by concerned patriots. Apparently the word got out to the opposition forces. There were 25 to 30 illegals and associated supporters there as well. Our side numbered from 40 to 50 while I was on site. We were staged on opposite sides of the street. The illegals (they proclaimed themselves so, chanting "undocumented and unafraid") had a small public address system and had a designated wise-ass on the mike leading chants and taunts which actually were pretty comedic. The...

Pew Research poll also shows Israel as staunchly pro-U.S. and most supportive of drones and surveillance in the fight against terrorists. The fact that Isrealis are one of the most staunchly pro-American people in thw world is not new. But that their confidence in Barack Obama's ability to handle world affairs climbed dramatically to reach an all-time high? ...

President Obama will host the presidents of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador next week to discuss ways to “stem the flow” of illegal immigration, as the White House said Friday the U.S. began to return families from all three countries this week. Mr. Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden will speak with the Central American leaders at the White House next Friday about ways “to promote safe, legal, and orderly migration between our countries in a spirit of shared responsibility, including with respect to the return of family units, which began this week for all three countries.

United Nations: The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting today morning on Ukraine. Britain's UN Mission said yesterday it requested the meeting and later tweeted that it is set for 10 am today. The request follows Wednesday's downing of a Ukrainian air force fighter and yesterday's downing of a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane carrying 295 people over eastern Ukraine. Britain has proposed a Security Council press statement calling for "a full, thorough and independent international investigation into the incident." The statement, obtained by The Associated Press, was circulated to all 15 council members, who must approve it before...

Laughing rebels filmed the plane as it crashed, gleefully bragging ‘That was a blast – look at the smoke!’ while a fireball rose from the debris. One of the voices is believed to be militia commander Igor Strelkov, who then penned a triumphant war cry on Twitter, saying: ‘We warned you – do not fly in “our sky”.’ A sickening mobile phone video posted online shows a pall of black smoke billowing over the crash site as three rebels provide an excited commentary. The extraordinary footage – apparently filmed by the shooters themselves – charts the terrible final moments of...

Up to 27 Australians have died on board a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet that was shot down by a ground-to-air missile over Ukraine, killing all 298 passengers and crew. ...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is a shady operator. From changing the Senate rules which allowed him to increase the tax-raising power of the Senate Democratic majority, ties to shady lobbyists, and numerous scandals in Nevada, it is little wonder how a guy on a relatively modest public servant salary has become obscenely wealthy. Now, Reid has been linked to a new massive bribery case that had two state attorneys general arrested already. Utah prosecutors on Tuesday filed criminal charges against two former state attorneys general in a court filing that makes tantalizing references to a possible pay-to-play influence...

Rebel commander Igor Strelkov - widely believed in Kiev to be a serving Russian military intelligence officer - tweeted a boastful message shortly after Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was downed. The tweet indicated he thought his rebels had shot down an Antonov-26 military plane of the Ukrainian Air Force. The Antonov is a turboprop transport plane of a type used by Ukraine's forces. The message read: 'In the area Torez we just hit down An-26, it's lying somewhere in the mine "Progress". 'We warned you- do not fly in "our sky". And here is the video confirmation of the "bird...

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Separatist rebels in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk have denied that they are responsible for shooting down a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane.

<p>KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — An Air Force fighter jet has been shot down by an air-to-air missile fired from a Russian plane, a spokesman for Ukraine's Security Council said Thursday.</p> <p>Andrei Lysenko also said Ukrainian troops had been fired upon by missiles from a village just inside Russia.</p>

A Malaysian passenger plane with 295 people on board has been shot down as it flew above eastern Ukraine, according to aviation sources. The plane, which is believed to have been flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was travelling at an altitude of 10km (6.2 miles) when it was shot down, Russia's Interfax reported. The Boeing 777 was brought down by a Buk ground-to-air missile, an adviser to the Ukrainian interior ministry quoted by the news agency said. he adviser said the 280 passengers and 15 crew members who were on the plane are all believed to have died. A...

In a unanimous decision last month, the Supreme Court struck down a Massachusetts buffer zone law prohibiting pro-life free speech outside abortion clinics. The decision was a huge victory for pro-life sidewalk counselors who provide women with abortion alternatives. In their ruling, the Supteme Court struck down a Massachusetts law that created a 35-foot “buffer zone” restricting pro-life advocates from speaking with people entering abortion facilities. massachusettsSaying the abortion buffer zone is “inconsistent with the First Amendment,” the Supreme Court ruled that that the buffer zone violated the First Amendment because it “restricts access to ‘public way[s]’ and ‘sidewalk[s],’ places...

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp will slash up to 18,000 jobs, or 14 percent of its workforce, this year as it almost halves the size of its newly acquired Nokia phone business and tries to transform into a cloud-computing and mobile-friendly software company. The larger-than-expected cuts, announced on Thursday, are the deepest in the company's 39-year history and come five months into the tenure of Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella. He outlined plans for a "leaner" business in a public memo to employees last week.

The Pentagon recently notified members of Congress that it intends to transfer six low-level detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Uruguay soon, including a Syrian man who is legally challenging the manner in which the military force-feeds some prisoners, U.S. officials said Wednesday. The men — four Syrians, a Palestinian and a Tunisian — are among the more than 70 detainees who have long been cleared for release from the U.S. detention facility because they are not deemed an ongoing threat. The move would mark a significant step in the Obama administration’s long-stymied quest to shut down Guantanamo Bay, where...

A few days ago we posted some details, and a large dose of opinion, about the latest misguided efforts of Glenn Beck’s “Bold and Sanctimonious Tour” – and a strange thing happened…. few, if any, thought our critical outline was controversial. It would appear the Patriotic U.S. Sleeping Giant is awake, at least on this issue. What follows below is a little more depth on the issue of “Faith Based” organizations and those receiving federal grants to facilitate illegal immigration. We have received numerous requests to turn the eye of research into exactly what these organizations are. Specifically, one group...

The Department of Veterans Affairs needs $17.6 billion in additional funds over the next three years to meet patients’ needs and fix the troubled agency’s problems, its acting director said Wednesday. Testifying for the first time on Capitol Hill, interim VA Secretary Sloan Gibson told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee that the money would help VA medical centers decrease appointment waiting times and hire more doctors. But the request divided lawmakers. Democrats, including Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, supported the appeal, while Republicans, including Sen. Mike Johanns of Nebraska, questioned whether VA care would improve if it received additional funding....

Religious militias are suspected of carrying out a massacre in a brothel in Baghdad in which 29 women and two men were killed. ... an notorious brothel-keeper known only as "Aws", who used to bribe police and soldiers in the neighbourhood to turn a blind eye to his rackets. The side street where the compound was located was routinely guarded by members of the security forces. Grisly photographs obtained by the AFP news agency showed crouching bodies of five women huddled together in a corner of a bathroom with blood-spattered tiled walls and floor ...

<p>WASHINGTON—Senate Democrats' effort to push back against the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision stalled Wednesday when their bill to restore employers' responsibility to provide contraception coverage under the health law was defeated on a procedural vote.</p> <p>In a 56-43 vote, which was largely along party lines, Democrats came up short of the 60 votes needed to advance their legislation. It sought to prevent companies from relying on a religious-freedom law to avoid complying with the Affordable Care Act's requirement to cover all forms of contraception approved by the government without charging workers a copayment.</p>

The administration of Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy (D-WFP) has denied a request from federal officials to temporarily house up to 2,000 illegal immigrant children from Central America at a residence in his state for individuals with intellectual disabilities. ... According to Keith Phaneuf at CT Mirror, federal officials initially contacted the administration of Malloy, who is seeking a second term as governor this year, on July 3 regarding the possibility of a short-term lease to house, feed, and provide medical care to 1,000 to 2,000 of the unaccompanied illegal children who entered the U.S. through Mexico. The GSA reportedly asked...

Obama plans to legalize anywhere from five to six million illegal alien adults and has “now ordered the Homeland Security and Justice departments to find executive authorities that could enlarge that non-prosecutorial umbrella by a factor of 10.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday asserted the southern border is secure despite the massive surge of illegal minors from Central America that has overwhelmed federal agencies. "The border is secure,” he told reporters after the Senate Democrats’ weekly policy lunch. “[Sen.] Martin Heinrich [(D-N.M.)] talked to the caucus today. He’s a border state senator. He said he can say without any equivocation the border is secure.” Reid said lawmakers need to worry less about border security and focus instead on President Obama’s $3.7 billion request to help process the tens of thousands of children from Honduras, Guatemala...

Conservative policy analyst Gary Palmer has come from behind to defeat state Rep. Paul DeMarco in the Republican runoff in Alabama’s 6th District congressional race. With 53 percent of the precincts reporting Tuesday, Palmer led DeMarco with 62 percent. He was far ahead in all six counties in the central Alabama district. The results are a turnaround from the primary, when DeMarco easily outdistanced Palmer and five other candidates.