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Ten Senate Democrats warned the White House in a letter Tuesday that they will support legislation imposing new sanctions on Iran if a framework to roll back the country’s nuclear program isn’t reached within two months. "In acknowledgement of your concern regarding congressional action on legislation at this moment, we will not vote for this legislation on the Senate floor before March 24," said the letter, led by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), who is the co-author of Iran sanctions legislation. "After March 24, we will only vote for this legislation on the Senate floor if Iran fails to reach agreement...

U.N. gives mixed signals on Tehran cooperation as nuclear talks intensifySenate Democrats on Tuesday backed away from a bipartisan push for immediate new sanctions on Iran, bowing to President Obama’s call not to undercut international talks to get Tehran to curb its nuclear programs in the coming weeks. The shift, announced Tuesday by Sen. Robert Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat and one of the party’s outspoken hawks on Iran, came amid a series of mixed signals from the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency over the question of whether Tehran was honoring promises to put its suspect nuclear programs on hold as...

Everyone involved seems to be trying to put the best face on it, but Barack Obama went so far as to suggest senior Democrats like Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), who take a hard line on Iran, are doing so purely to appease their donors. Obama said that as a former senator himself, he understood how outside forces — like special interests and donors — can influence senators to act, one of the senators recounted.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A heated exchanged between President Barack Obama and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey) broke out Thursday over whether the U.S. should reimpose sanctions on Iran amid ongoing negotiations over the country's nuclear program, according to two senators who were in the room. Menendez, the leading Democrat pushing for additional sanctions against Iran, forcefully pressed Obama on the need for additional sanctions during a meeting in which Obama urged Menendez and other senators to drop their efforts to pass sanctions legislation. Additional sanctions, Obama argued, could torpedo ongoing negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. The unusually sharp exchange, between...

Menendez: Obama Admin Statements on Iran 'Sound like Talking Points Straight out of Tehran'

Sometimes you can't believe what you read in the press. Can you imagine, for example, that a Republican governor with a reputation as a small-government conservative would try to launch a government-run news service to disseminate information under the guise of journalism? Oh ... wait: Gov. Mike Pence is starting a state-run taxpayer-funded news outlet that will make pre-written news stories available to Indiana media, as well as sometimes break news about his administration,

Unless there is any doubt, the vast majority of Democrats value partisan support for a failed president over support for our own national security and for that of Israel. Hence, they want to delay once again a vote on the Menendez-Kirk bill imposing sanctions on Iran unless it agrees to an acceptable final deal. The bill was introduced more than a year ago. The timing just isn’t right, you see. Will it ever be? A letter by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) signed onto by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.),...

Sen. Joe Donnelly, Democrat Indiana, described what his position is as a senator"I am the hired help, and my top priority continues to be addressing the issues most important to Hoosiers: working to strengthen the economy for working- and middle-class families, ensuring our servicemembers and veterans have access to the care and resources they deserve, and providing excellent constituent services to every Hoosier.

Indiana Republican Gov. Mike Pence is moving ahead to extend Medicaid coverage to hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers under the federal health law after securing a key concession from the Obama administration. The deal, to be announced Tuesday, could pave the way for half a dozen more states to seek similar deals, boosting Medicaid expansion proposals in Republican-led states including Florida, North Carolina and Wyoming. Indiana and Washington officials had been locked for months in negotiations over an issue that could shape the future of Medicaid, the 50-year-old federal-state health program that covers more than 60 million low-income Americans. Mr....

A handful of “pro-life” lawmakers have sabotaged a vote House Republican leaders planned for today to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy based on scientific evidence showing unborn babies feel pain in abortions. As LifeNews reported yesterday, Rep. Renee Ellmers of North Carolina along with Reps. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania and Jackie Walorski of Indiana — each of whom have pro-life voting records — objected to a vote on the bill on the grounds that the language in the bill did not do enough to allow women who have been victimized by rape to have abortions. Together, they reportedly...

The Patriots used underinflated footballs on Sunday night. The next question is how did it happen? According to a National Football League letter about the investigation into the controversy that was shared with the Globe, the Patriots were informed that the league’s initial findings indicated that the game balls did not meet specifications. The league inspected each of the Patriots’ 12 game balls twice at halftime, using different pressure gauges, and found footballs that were not properly inflated. According to ESPN, 11 of the 12 game balls were found to be underinflated by about 2 pounds each. The NFL specifications...

Former city pastor serves as keynote speaker for event Abortion opponents held their 41st annual March for Life in Fort Wayne on Saturday afternoon, marching from the St. Mary’s Performing Arts Center on West Berry Street to the federal courthouse downtown, some praying as they walked, some singing hymns and others walking silently. Police estimated that 2,500 to 3,000 people participated in the march, which at its peak stretched from Berry Street downtown to Douglas Street behind the Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory. Once at the federal courthouse, marchers heard hymns and more speakers, including some expressing regret they had had an...

Diamonds and precious metals found in the eastern United States might have rained down during the last Ice Age after a comet shattered over Canada and set North America ablaze, all leading to a mass die-off of animals and humans. New chemical analyses of diamond, gold and silver found in Ohio and Indiana reveal the minerals were transported there from Canada several thousand years ago. The question is, how?

A source within the NFL tells wthr.com's Bob Kravitz that the league is investigating the possibility that the Patriots deflated footballs in their 45-7 win over the Colts Sunday night. The source told Kravitz that officials took a ball out of play at one point and weighed it. A deflated football could potentially be easier to throw and catch in poor weather conditions than a properly inflated ball.

With the continued rise of Socialism around the world, and anti-semitism in Europe, the appearance of a self-described Nazi running for Mayor in an American town should be a cause for concern. The Elkhart Truth reports that National Socialist, Dale Duncan, is petitioning to run for Mayor in Elkhart, Indiana: “A National Socialist who believes in the separation of races is petitioning to run for mayor of Elkhart. Dale Duncan said Thursday, Jan. 15, that he’ll be seeking sufficient signatures to get on the November ballot as a representative of theNational Socialist Movement. The Detroit-based group describes itself as a...

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said those who criticize the appointment of Democratic Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN) to the Intelligence Committee because he is a Muslim are “un-American.” Schiff, who is the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he has been “deeply disturbed” by the reaction by some to Carson’s appointment last week. “I am deeply disturbed that since his appointment to the committee, Congressman Carson has been subject to vicious, anti-Muslim attacks online and in social media, questioning his loyalty to our country solely because of his faith.”(continued)

In Indiana, pro-life state Senator Travis Holdman (R-Markle) has proposed a bill that would prohibit abortions if the abortionist knows it’s being pursued because of the unborn baby’s gender or due to a disability. The bill has been assigned to the Senate’s Health and Provider Services committee; and Chairwoman Pat Miller (R-Indianapolis) said she wanted to discuss the bill with Sen. Holdman before commenting on whether the bill will receive a hearing. According to the Indy Star, the president of Indiana Right to Life, Mike Fichter said, “We support the bill, because we don’t believe an unborn child should be...

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – An Evansville, Indiana couple are charged with neglect after police say they found cell phone videos allegedly showing the woman’s 1-year-old daughter putting a handgun in her mouth. According to the Evansville Courier & Press, the child’s mother, Toni Wilson, 22, and Michael L. Barnes, 19, face charges of child neglect and recklessness with a deadly weapon. Police say they found the videos after Barnes was arrested for allegedly trying to sell a gun to an undercover officer. In the videos, the girl holds a gun as a man and woman encourage her to say “pow,” “bang”...

INDIANAPOLIS - A state representative wants to get rid of the existing law that requires a license to carry a handgun. State Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, said there is a large increase in the number of people who are applying for a license to carry a handgun – both in Indiana and across the nation. He said the application process is “burdensome” and something gun owners shouldn’t have to do. State law currently requires a person to have a license in order to carry a handgun in their car or on themselves. That would change under Lucas’ bill. As a...

Indiana Rep Andre carson will be the first Muslim to serve on House intelligence committee. House Democratic leader Pelosi announced she would name Carson to panel at weekly caucus meeting on Tuesday, according to two senior House Democratic leadership aides. Indiana Democratic Rep. Andre Carson would be "formally announced" soon as part of the roster Democrats on the intelligence panel, according to these aides. Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison was the first Muslim member elected to Congress in 2006. Carson became the second Muslim to serve in the House when was elected in a special election in 2008 to replace his...

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi announced in a closed-door meeting Tuesday she would name the first Muslim lawmaker to the House’s Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. A senior Democratic aide said Rep. André Carson of Indiana would be named in the “coming days” to the key national security-focused panel. The California Democrat told lawmakers of the appointment during the members’ weekly caucus meeting. Carson would be the first Muslim to serve on the committee and was the second Muslim to be elected to Congress. He already serves on the House Armed Services Committee and worked for the Department of Homeland Security’s...

Sheer enemy within insanity... http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/andre-carson-muslim-intelligence-committee-114213.html

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - An Evansville couple was charged with child neglect on Friday after police discovered cellphone video that allegedly showed a 12-month-old putting a .40-caliber handgun in his mouth. Michael L. Barnes, 19, was initially arrested Thursday after police said he tried to sell an undercover officer a handgun through Facebook. Barnes did not have a permit for a handgun, officers wrote in Thursday’s arrest affidavit. He also had an active warrant for his arrest, Evansville Courier & Press reports. During the follow up investigation on Friday, detectives with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives/Evansville Police Department...

On January 7th, Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson stood by her December ruling that a 2013 Indiana law including chemical abortion facilities in the definition of abortion facilities is unconstitutional. Her ruling claimed that the law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. According to WLFI news, in a lawsuit between the ACLU and the Indiana Attorney’s Office, the ACLU challenged the statute the Legislature passed — which required certain physical facilities and fixtures in nonsurgical abortion clinics to be consistent with requirements in surgical abortion clinics, but which expressly exempted physicians’ offices. Ken Falk, the ACLU Indiana Legal Director said,...

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge has entered a final ruling barring an Indiana law that changed the classification of abortion clinics in a way that opponents say targeted a Planned Parenthood center in Lafayette that provided only drug-induced abortions. U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson entered a permanent injunction and final judgment Wednesday siding with Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky and barring the 2013 law because it violated the constitutional Equal Protection Clause. She ruled preliminarily last month.

Petition demands ‘public retraction’ of prof’s view that people have ‘right to choose’ abortion Following pressure on his Christian college from a pro-life group, a professor has apparently recanted the muddled views on abortion he articulated in a campus forum. That’s not good enough for Created Equal, which started a petition campaign against Indiana Wesleyan University demanding that the school “not tolerate pro-abortion professors.” As The College Fix previously reported, IWU professor Greg Fiebig called himself “equally pro-choice and pro-life” in the “Life vs. Choice” forum in November, which provoked Created Equal’s social-media campaign against him. Fiebig said he had...

An Indiana man, Jarod Rebuck, was charged with attempted feticide after mixing abortion-inducing herbs into the drink of his pregnant girlfriend. Indiana law defines feticide as knowingly or intentionally terminating a human pregnancy with an intention other than to produce a live birth or to remove a dead fetus. Rebuck’s girlfriend became suspicious after she noticed her drink tasted funny and found web searches on his phone about natural abortion “treatments.” Later Rebuck allegedly told officers he wasn’t “in a position to have children financially or mentally.” Now Rebuck could face up to 20-years in prison and a $10,000 fine....

~~snip~~ Voting against Boehner (10) Gohmert* Yoho* Rep. Steve King (Iowa) Rep. Jim Bridenstine (Okla.)* Rep. Dave Brat (Va.) (freshman) Rep. Walter Jones (N.C.)* Rep. Gary Palmer (Ala.) (freshman) Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.)* Rep. Paul Gosar (Ariz.) Rep. Marlin Stutzman (Ind.) Said prior to 2014 election that they would vote against Boehner (2) Rep. Jody Hice (Ga.) (freshman) Rep. John Ratfliffe (Tex.) (freshman) Voted against Boehner in 2013/haven't weighed in (2) Rep. Steve Pearce (N.M.) (spokesman says he's "undecided") Rep. Justin Amash (Mich.) Voted against Boehner in 2013/will support him (3) Rep. Mick Mulvaney (S.C.) Rep. Raul Labrador (Idaho) Rep....

Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) will officially join the rebellion against John Boehner’s re-election as Speaker of the House on Monday morning, Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) announced in a statement late Sunday evening. Stutzman, Bridenstine said, will issue a statement early Monday announcing his public opposition to Boehner’s re-election. That brings the total number of members who are public in their opposition to nine, as Bridenstine and Reps. Steve King (R-IA), Dave Brat (R-VA), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Walter Jones (R-NC), and Thomas Massie (R-KY) issued public statements saying they are opposing Boehner. Reps. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) and Ted Yoho (R-FL) both...

From the first day of 2011, Mitt Romney was the favorite to win the 2012 Republican presidential primary campaign. No one else was even close. The 2016 outlook could not be more different. Offered the choice to bet on one single candidate to win the nomination versus the rest of the field, the choice would have to be "the field." For the first time in years, there is no one next in line. And without a former vice president or powerhouse former candidate looking likely to run, Republicans are shaping up to spend the next year and a half fighting...

via Matthew Boyle on Twitter: Jim Bridenstine just announced Marlin Stutzman is issuing a public statement TOMORROW saying he voting against Boehner Stutzman coming out against Boehner is MASSIVE. Takes this BIG TIME. Stutzman ran for House Majority Whip last summer

INDIANAPOLIS - Castleton Square Mall closed early Saturday after a fight broke out inside, reportedly involving hundreds of people. Some witnesses reported hearing someone had a gun, but no one has been able to tell police they actually saw one, according to Ofc. Chris Wilburn. Shots were later fired in front of the AMC movie theater, but no one was hit. Large crowds began gathering outside the mall after the fight and shooting. Police quickly started dispersing those gathered. Police initially told WTHR.com that the mall had closed down for the night as a precaution after the brawl, and Eyewitness...

HAMMOND | A mother grieved as her second son was gunned down in less than a month, this time an engineering student at Vincennes University who was home on winter break. Hammond authorities are investigating the shooting death of 19-year-old Donnovan Williams, a Highland resident who had been the first in his family to go to college but ended up the first victim of homicide in Northwest Indiana this year. Early on New Year's Day, Williams was shot at 1235 Wilson Place in Hammond, and later died at Community Hospital in Munster. The recent graduate of Morton High School in...

Details:Back in September, Alexandria Marie Shields and Taylor Butcher booked the Knights of Columbus hall in Madison, Indiana for the reception that will follow their upcoming wedding ceremony. On Monday, Knights of Columbus Council 934 called the couple to tell them it was refunding their deposit as they do not agree with same-sex unions. Wednesday evening, the council reversed course and has agreed to let them have the facility. …In a Facebook post Wednesday evening, the Knights of Columbus said it would allow the reception after all. It posted “Council 934 regrets that there was some confusion over the hall...

The average price for a gallon of gas has dropped for 99 days in a row, with six states – Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma and Missouri – having average prices under $2 for the first time since 2009, according to price surveys Friday. Prices have plummeted about 40 percent since the start of June. Put another way, the Auto Club estimates that Americans are saving $500 million -- per day, each day – compared to the high prices paid last spring, allowing that money to be spent with businesses other than oil companies or just kept in the savings...

Republican Indiana Governor Mike Pence spent Christmas with his family in Israel, part of a nine-day trip that includes a three-day jobs mission to meet with government and business leaders to discuss expanding economic ties between Indiana and the Jewish State. According to a Facebook post by Caroline Glick, senior contributing editor of The Jerusalem Post:As a visiting dignitary, Pence and his family were invited to PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas’s annual Christmas dinner, where he was notified that a car would be sent to fetch him to Abbas’s office for an unscheduled and unsolicited meeting at 10:45pm.Governor Pence in his inimitable...

An Indiana man was mauled to death by his pet pit bull on Christmas Day, Portage police say. Edward L. Cahill, 40, was discovered on the living room floor by his girlfriend when she returned from visiting relatives for the holiday. Cahill was unresponsive, NBC Chicago reports. Authorities were called to a home in the 5500 block of Tulip Avenue at about 8:14 p.m. Cahill was found dead on the floor covered in blood and with multiple lacerations on his face and arms, the Portage police report. A county coroner pronounced Cahill dead at the scene and determined his cause...

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against a western Indiana school district seeking to force it to recognize a club for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students and those who support them. The lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Terre Haute contends the North Putnam Community School Corp. in Bainbridge, 35 miles west of Indianapolis, is violating the First Amendment rights of the Gay-Straight Alliance and the three students who are now members. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of those students at North Putnam High School — a senior,...

A bipartisan group of 18 attorneys general in a letter today urged congressional leaders to make reform of the federal immigration system a priority for Congress. As the U.S. Supreme Court has found that immigration is a federal responsibility, the letter from state AGs encourages Congress to act to fix the “dysfunctional” legal immigration system. Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller and Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood are co-authors of the letter also signed by AGs from 14 other states and two U.S. territories and sent today to the U.S. Senate’s two caucus leaders, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Mitch...

McDonald’s and its franchisees illegally retaliated against employees for participating in union-related activities, the National Labor Relations Board’s top lawyer alleged Friday in a case with sweeping industry implications. NLRB general counsel Richard Griffin announced Friday he will issue 13 complaints involving 78 charges against franchises and McDonald’s USA, LLC. Though many of these alleged labor violations were committed by independent franchise owners, Griffin ruled earlier this year that McDonald’s can be held liable for those actions as a so-called joint employer, leaving the corporatrion — and potentially other franchisors — exposed to such claims. McDonald’s said the decision will...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- Some officials in the Indiana city of South Bend have called on a police officer to stop selling T-shirts that make light of the "I can't breathe" refrain used in recent protests of the police killing of a New York City man. Mishawaka police officer Jason Barthel this week began selling T-shirts with the message "Breathe easy, don't break the law" at a South Bend store he owns in response to a weekend protest at the University of Notre Dame. [...] South Bend City Council members Oliver Davis, Henry Davis Jr. and Valerie Schey...

Background: On Nov 5th, 2014, Dr. Gregory Fiebig, a professor at Indiana Wesleyan University (a Christian university), presented his pro-abortion views at the "Life vs Choice" public forum. His statements included, "I’m very strongly supportive of pro-choice, and I have a very theological reason for that." Days later, Dr. Fiebig gave a more detailed defense of legal abortion in a letter to IWU's student newspaper, The Sojourn. In a letter to the IWU community, President Dr. David Wright offered no evidence to change the perception that Dr. Fiebig supports legal abortion. This is why we are calling for Dr. Fiebig...

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY - A proposed ordinance could tighten restrictions on abortion providers in St. Joseph County. The ordinance could require abortion doctors to be able to admit patients to the hospital if there is a procedure complication. State law requires a doctor who performs abortions to have an admitting doctor on his staff; but this ordinance would toughen standards. It requires the doctor who performs the abortion to be able to admit his or her own patients to the hospital. "I think every member of the council should be concerned about patient health," says co-author and councilman Dan Herbster....

The cromnibus had an unlikely savior Thursday afternoon in the form of a lame-duck lawmaker who used to raise reindeer. Rep. Kerry Bentivolio (R-Mich.), who lost his primary earlier this year, was originally among the conservative Republicans who voted against the rule. Without the help of Democrats, Republicans could only lose 17 of their own to pass the rule, which sets up floor debate for the underlying "cromnibus" spending bill. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) intervened once there were 18 Republican defectors — and not a single Democrat voting "yes." Many Democrats will vote against the government spending measure because they...

Six moderate Democratic senators are asking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to give states more time to comply with its climate rule for power plants. The moderate Democrats said that states should be responsible for developing their own “glide paths” toward the 2030 goal. The senators signing the letter were Sens. Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Mary Landrieu (La.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.) and Joe Donnelly (Ind.).

Ulrich Klopfer who faces charges that he delayed reporting an abortion on a 13-year-old girl in South Bend, Indiana, may be able to avoid jail time if he does this one little thing. Indiana law requires reports on abortions done on unborn babies of girls younger than 14 to be submitted within three days. Further endangering a teen who had already been victimized by statutory rape, Klopfer submitted the report six months after the abortion, according to state records. Klopfer potentially faces a fine of $1,000 and 180 days in jail if convicted of the Class B misdemeanor. But the...

Three police officers fatally shot an 84-year-old man who they said fired a gun outside City Hall in Lake Station, Ind. Soon after John Laco fired a shotgun in the parking lot of the Lake Station municipal complex on Tuesday morning, three officers said they arrived to find him sitting in his car, pointing the 16-gauge shotgun barrel out of the window. After being instructed to drop his weapon, police say Laco stepped out of the vehicle and pointed the weapon at the officers, who fired multiple times. "It's undetermined right now how many times he may have been shot...

An abortionist who failed to report several cases of statutory rape to authorities as required by law may get off without a criminal record, paying a modest fee and serving a minimal amount of community service. Dr. Ulrich “George” Klopfer failed to report an abortion he performed on a 13-year-old girl in South Bend, Indiana, in 2013. Having sex with a minor 13 or younger in the state of Indiana is prosecuted as a felony, and abortionists must report performing abortions on young girls to the Department of Child Services and the Indiana State Department of Health within three days....

Doctors discovered an inoperable tumor growing at the base of Hill's brain stem last year and diagnosed her with DIPG, a rare, inoperable pediatric brain tumor that kills 90 percent of victims within 18 months. Fearful that Hill wouldn't be strong enough to fulfill her goal of playing college basketball for the first time, the Indiana native's parents asked Mount St. Joseph to petition to have its Nov. 15 season opener moved up — a request the NCAA granted in October. Ten thousand fans packed the Cintas Center at Xavier University and a national TV audience watched from home as...

NDERSON, Ind. (Dec. 1, 2014)– No formal charges have been filed yet in a severe case of child neglect in Madison County, and police are looking at the possibility of additional suspects. Anderson’s trauma team was called to a house Monday in the 3400 block of Forest Terrace Drive on a report of a 15-year-old girl suffering from severe malnutrition. Police say she now only weighs 35 pounds. Police say the teen is mentally disabled and was covered in feces. The girl’s grandfather, Steve Sells, 58, has been arrested and will face preliminary child neglect charges. He is currently on...