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Obama: 'The Problem Is ... I’m Not the Emperor of the United States' Daniel Halper February 15, 2013 1:42 PM In a Google hangout last evening, President Barack Obama explained that his problem is that he's "not the emperor of the United States": "This is something I’ve struggled with throughout my presidency," said Obama. "The problem is that I’m the president of the United States, I’m not the emperor of the United States. My job is to execute laws that are passed."

<p>“THE NATURAL-GAS boom has led to cleaner power and greater energy independence,” President Obama declared in his State of the Union addressTuesday night. “That’s why my administration will keep cutting red tape and speeding up new oil and gas permits.”</p>

Dana Loesch Radio on Thursday revealed that representatives in the Missouri House have introduced a bill that would criminalize so-called “assault weapons” and high capacity magazines within the state. Sponsored by Rep. Roy Ellinger and co-sponsored by Reps. Jill Schupp, Margo McNeil and Walton Gray, the bill gives Missouri gun owners 90 days after taking effect to surrender their firearms. The bill partially reads: 4. Any person who, prior to the effective date of this law, was legally in possession of an assault weapon or large capacity magazine shall have ninety days from such effective date to do any of...

CHICAGO — At a high school near his own neighborhood here, President Obama on Friday will provide new details about an initiative to select 20 communities nationwide as laboratories for better coordination of federal, local, nonprofit and private-sector investments to revitalize long-distressed areas, according to administration officials. Mr. Obama had announced his proposal to designate the so-called Promise Zones during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, but did not provide many details. As part of the effort,

<p>No sooner do we write about the conspiracy theories flourishing on Russian social media about the meteor, which sailed over central Russia on Friday, than an actual member of the Russian government weighs in with his own. Or so the Moscow-sponsored outlet Voice of Russia says.</p>

Chuck Hagel's nomination to be secretary of defense is in trouble -- as it should be. The former Republican senator has so much baggage it is amazing that the administration hasn't dumped him, as they did Susan Rice when her proposed nomination ran into trouble. Unfortunately, having won that battle, the GOP may be in weaker position to defeat another Obama nominee. And Rice, her misstatements about the attack on Benghazi notwithstanding, would have been a less dangerous cabinet member than Hagel. Hagel has made clearly anti-Semitic statements before public forums time and again. If his target had been, say,...

Moscow (CNN) -- A meteor streaked through the skies above Russia's Urals region Friday morning, before exploding with a flash and boom that shattered glass in buildings and left about 1,000 people hurt The number of injured has continued to rise through the day as new reports come in from across a swath of central Russia. Most of those hurt are in the Chelyabinsk region, the news agency said. The vast majority of injuries are not thought to be serious. About 3,000 buildings have sustained damage -- mostly broken glass -- as a result of the shock waves caused by...

<p>A parched Marco Rubio's awkward reach for a drink of Poland Spring water during his Republican rebuttal to the president's State of the Union address Tuesday night became an instant online sensation. Predictably, the video clips, jokes and Twitter hashtags that have become so familiar in such situations took the social Internet by storm.</p>

Legislation that would require one year of residency in Michigan to qualify for welfare assistance from the state has been introduced in the Senate. The measure, Senate Bill 70, is sponsored by Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker, R-Lawton. Under current law, a person has to prove only his or her residency to qualify to receive welfare. The length of time they've been a resident doesn't matter. "Actually, I got the idea for this bill from a local judge who believes we should be promoting a culture of independence, not a culture of dependence," Schuitmaker said. "We've just introduced the bill. It's in...

It was one of the most cheering propositions in the president’s State of the Union Address: “Tonight, I propose working with states to make high-quality preschool available to every single child in America.” The formulation, it’s true, is redolent of the ideological timidity of the “liberalism” of our age: instead of the federal government just doing something that’s good, it sets up unwieldy, confusing funding streams to have someone else do it instead. (Political scientist Steven Teles defines this as American federalism’s “kludegocracy”: “For any particular problem we [arrive] at the most gerry-rigged [sic], opaque, and complicated response.”) But all...

Caught on audio and video, State Senator Martin Sandoval went on an anti-Catholic rant from the well of the Illinois State Senate as he promoted gay marriage in the Land of Lincoln.

There are less than two days to go before states have to decide whether they will go it alone or partner with the White House to set up Obamacare health insurance exchanges. Half of the states have already decided to let the federal government build the new online insurance marketplace for them, while a handful will work with the Department of Health and Human Services and handle limited parts of the exchanges, according to Politico. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, announced on Wednesday that he would be pushing more people into a federally run exchange. …

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks. No matter what, you won’t be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread ... there is no telling where it will go and...

As a final indignity perpetrated on the passengers of the disabled Triumph cruise ship after it reached port last night, a bus ferrying tired and disheveled tourists back to their homes broke down halfway to New Orleans this morning

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is fighting to protect her “brainchild”, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). She also wants to support the nominated of Richard Cordray, the former Attorney General of Ohio, better known as “Robocop” for his attacks on banks and servicers over robosigning. True, robosigning foreclosures is sloppy, but there were apparently no economic harm to borrowers (that is, 100% of borrowers defaulted on their loans and the banks/servicers were trying to claim the house to mitigate losses). Yet the Attorneys’ General settlement went ahead despite no economic harm to borrowers. The settlement provides as much as $25...

From a "live chat" Obama had yesterday afternoon. He corrected himself to say "Purple Hearts." Simply a slip of the tongue or yet another evidence of profound and invincible ignorance?

An asteroid measuring up to 20km across hit South Australia up to 360 million years ago and left behind the one of the largest asteroid impact zones on Earth, according to new research published today. The impact zone in the East Warburton Basin was buried under nearly four kilometres of earth, said Dr Andrew Glikson, a visiting fellow to the Australian National University's Planetary Science Institute and a co-author of the paper. "It's significant because it's so large. It's the third largest impact terrain anywhere on Earth found to date," Dr Glikson said. "It's likely to be part of a...

BERLIN -- The Germans play "gotcha" with a decidedly Teutonic skill and attitude. The latest victim is Annette Schavan, Chancellor Merkel's education minister, who resigned her position in a gathering storm of accusations that she plagiarized the doctoral dissertation she wrote 32 years ago. The title sounds particularly apt: "Person and Conscience." She held on for a week, fighting back. She insists she will sue to regain her title of "doctor," revoked by Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf. In the age of the Internet, obscure dissertations once relegated to the memory hole, out of mind, unread or assigned to a...

Sorry if this has been asked and answered a million times, but I'm curious. I distinctly remember assassination by US gubmint being illegal. We can blow up any innocent civilian we want for any old reason, but assassination was off limits. My question is: when did that change, and if it didn't what's the legal rationale behind drone strikes and all manner of targeted killing? Is there an excuse, however flimsy, or doesn't anyone care?

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) on Friday said he plans to introduce legislation that would bring back the military draft and extend it to women for the first time. Rangel, who has pushed for years to bring back the draft, said the Pentagon’s decision to allow women to serve in combat means that they too should register for the Selective Service.