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Secretary of State John Kerry called all the foreign ministers of countries that deal with North Korea following Monday's nuclear test and all but one of them picked up the phone -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Kerry made his first remarks about the new nuclear test, which the North Koreans warned the State Department about in advance. "With respect to the DPRK, President Obama made it crystal clear last night and previously in all comments, as have other countries, that North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program are a threat now to the United...

The Justice Department is taking the first steps toward carrying out President Obama’s executive actions on gun control. Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday released three proposals to strengthen the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which was one of the 23 actions ordered by Obama last week to tackle gun violence. The proposed regulations would give local law-enforcement agencies access to the gun-sale database that is maintained by the FBI. The rules would also preserve records of denied weapons sales indefinitely. Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/pending-regs/279345-holder-begins-gun-control-push#ixzz2J0rAP551 Follow us: @thehill on Twitter | TheHill on Facebook

While officials from the Obama Administration raised their rhetoric over the weekend about the possibility of a debt default if the debt ceiling isn't raised, they privately have been telling top executives at major U.S. banks that such an event won’t happen, FOX Business has learned. In a series of phone calls, administration officials have told bankers that the administration will not allow a default to happen even if the debt cap isn't raised by the August 2 date Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner says the government will run out of money to pay all its bills, including obligations to bond...

The federal government has a growing interest in the eating habits of Americans for the same reason it has an interest in tobacco consumption, said Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. The reason is money, because three-quarters of medical-spending is driven by chronic diseases, such as obesity and tobacco-related diseases, she said. Sebelius’ comments came at the tail-end of Tuesday’s White House press conference where officials showcased nine new photos that must be carried on cigarette packs. Officials used a survey of 18,000 people to find the images that would have the most distressing...

Crossing party lines to deliver a stunning rebuke to the commander in chief, the vast majority of the House voted Friday for resolutions telling President Obama he has broken the constitutional chain of authority by committing U.S. troops to the international military mission in Libya. In two votes — on competing resolutions that amounted to legislative lectures of Mr. Obama — Congress escalated the brewing constitutional clash over whether he ignored the founding document’s grant of war powers by sending U.S. troops to aid in enforcing a no-fly zone and naval blockade of Libya. The resolutions were non-binding, and only...

Gone are the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s color-coded terror warnings. Two new types of warnings will take their place starting April 27, and they’ll be coming to you via Facebook and Twitter. Instead of the five threat levels that were originally implemented as part of the Homeland Security Advisory System in 2001, now there will be just two levels — “Elevated” and “Imminent” — according to a Homeland Security plan draft obtained by the Associated Press. When the government determines that issuing a warning will risk exposing U.S. spies or their operations, there will be no warning at all.

The Brazilian magazine Veja is reporting that al Qaeda members have established an active presence in South America’s largest country, as have militants associated with Hezbollah, Hamas, and other terrorist groups. They are apparently engaged in fundraising, recruitment, and strategic planning. Earlier this week, Aldo Donzis, a leading figure in the Argentine Jewish community, spoke to the JTA news agency and voiced alarm about the revelations.

> READ < Apparently, megalomaniacs need schedulers. Just ask George Soros. The left-wing billionaire is helping fund two major conferences that start on the same day, in two different locations just a three hours apart by car. Two liberal events packed into one long weekend. God created the world in six days. Apparently, Soros, who sees himself as “some kind of god,”needs just a long weekend to start remaking today's world in his image. The emphasis of both conferences is a familiar one to American voters – change. Soros wants to begin changing the global economy in one event. In...

Two mainstream news organizations are receiving hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars from Obamacare’s Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP) — a $5 billion grant program that’s doling out cash to companies, states and labor unions in what the Obama administration considers an effort to pay for health insurance for early retirees. The Washington Post Company raked in $573,217 in taxpayer subsidies and CBS Corporation secured $722,388 worth of Americans’ money. “It is fine with me if they continue covering the ObamaCare debate,” said Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, in an e-mail to The Daily Caller. “When NBC used to...

The Daily Caller announced Thursday that it will host a Republican Presidential Primary Debate on July 10 in conjunction with Americans for Tax Reform and Citizens Outreach Foundation. The debate will be held in Nevada, an early caucus state, at the Conservative Leadership Caucus in Las Vegas. Nevada’s caucus, to be held February 18, will be the third event of the campaign season. Daily Caller Editor-in-Chief Tucker Carlson and ATR president Grover Norquist will moderate the debate. “The primary debates are really the first time most voters get a close look at the candidates,” Carlson said. “It’s always revealing.”

“People don’t get their Social Security checks. They don’t get their veterans payments. Basic functions shut down. And it... would have an adverse effect on our economic recovery.” The above statement, made by President Barack Obama during the first near-shutdown, has become the refrain of the Democrat chorus over the last several days. One thing they didn’t tell you about their song, however, is that Obama holds the conductor’s baton. In past shutdowns under Presidents Reagan, H.W. Bush, and Clinton, Social Security checks still went out. Our veterans and uniformed military continued to receive their payment and benefits. Food inspection,...

General Electric paid no American taxes in 2010, the New York Times reports: The company reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, and said $5.1 billion of the total came from its operations in the United States. Its American tax bill? None. In fact, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion. That may be hard to fathom for the millions of American business owners and households now preparing their own returns, but low taxes are nothing new for G.E. The company has been cutting the percentage of its American profits paid to the Internal Revenue Service for years, resulting in...

The House just voted 236-181 to remove federal funding for National Public Radio via the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee wants to cut the top U.S. tax rate to 25% for individuals and corporations, and cut or eliminate many popular deductions. View Full Image Getty Images The tax-overhaul plan form House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, left, would be designed to be revenue neutral overall. .The odds of quick action appear slender. But the move, from Rep. Dave Camp (R., Mich.), is significant as a marker in what will likely be a multiyear debate over revamping the tax code. The plan also provides Republicans with a position to pitch in...

I’m a big fan of giving the benefit of the doubt to issues I don’t agree with. My thinking is always that if there’s a ban, a loophole or a hurdle, it was placed there not to piss anybody off, but because of some honest, albeit sometimes wrong-headed, motivation to do the right thing. When I discover, however, that the driving force is malevolent, illegal, or just plain immoral, all bets are off. With that in mind, I’ve been trying to analyze the motivations of the people who are going after one business model — for-profit colleges — in so...

Guess what news source Google pushed for tsunami coverage? Oh, Almighty Google Machine--I kid! We know you're not evil. You're the most benevolent algorithm ever. But every once in a while, Google (which owns YouTube) drops a little data point about how it sees the world Early this morning, while bopping around YouTube (don't ask) I noticed something different--Google had popped a little "breaking news" alert at the top of the YouTube page, telling viewers about the earthquake and tsunami in Japan

If you’re collecting a federal paycheck, you should pay federal taxes. That’s the premise of a bill I introduced last week to require federal employees to pay their taxes or be fired. The IRS reports that 100,000 federal civilian employees are seriously delinquent on their federal taxes. These aren’t just people who fell behind. These are people who have actively defied IRS letters and phone calls seeking payment. In 2009, the US government failed to collect $1 billion a year from federal employees alone. While the number of delinquent federal employees has remained fairly constant since 2004, the amount owed...

Found this Help Wanted AD on Talent Zoo this a.m. In that Obambi and GE are joined at the hip, the ad might concern all taxpayers. Company: General Electric Company -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Job Code: 1323274 Website Editorial Manager - HealthAhead Temporary position (12+ months) An opportunity to make a mark for yourself within a leading global corporation, this role will report to the HealthAhead Program Leader to lead content management of the global HealthAhead employee portal, featuring best-of-breed content, apps, tools and trackers that are playing an increasingly important role in rapidly evolving global healthcare and healthy living. Essential Responsibilities Manage...

I take no great pleasure in having been correct in predicting Barack Obama's reaction to his Tuesday "shellacking." To borrow his terminology, he is wired not to hear the American people's opposition to his radical agenda, as painfully demonstrated in his postelection news conference. Unhappily, Obama's answers showed even deeper intransigence than I had thought he would be willing to reveal. He is every bit as committed to his destructive agenda as he was Nov. 1 and, despite his claims, is not looking for "common ground." He said that every election "is a reminder that in our democracy, power rests...

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