(Daily Caller) — House Democrats worked to tug on the heartstrings Wednesday, playing to the “Kennedy card” several times while defending Obamacare in a congressional hearing. Sen. Ted Kennedy, who passed away in 2009, called socialized medicine “the cause of my life.”

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, were holding a joint hearing on the failures of Obamacare’s Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, or CLASS Act.

The CLASS Act was supposed to be the part of Obamacare that provided a public “long-term care” option. It was also supposed to be financially self-sustaining. Conservative allegations that the CLASS Act was not financially self-sustaining were confirmed a little over a week ago when President Obama’s Health and Human Service Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that the administration will not be implementing the CLASS Act because it is not financially solvent and, Sebelius said, it has no “viable path forward.”

Republicans view the CLASS Act’s failure as a major victory in the fight against Obamacare — and point to it as a “gimmick” used to make the president’s signature legislation look less expensive.

As the CLASS Act, and Obamacare in its entirety, came under fire yet again in Wednesday’s hearing, Democrats turned to the “Kennedy card” as one of their most frequent defenses.

Former Rhode Island Democratic Rep. Patrick Kennedy even came back to Congress to defend the CLASS Act, a “key priority” of his father — former Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy. Patrick Kennedy testified as part of special hearing panel that included Louisiana Republican Rep. Charles Boustany, Montana Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg and Florida Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch. The other panel that testified before the subcommittee consisted of two senior Obama administration officials, who were present to defend the CLASS Act.

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Via Rebel Pundit:

Today Occupy Chicago protesters stormed City Hall to let Mayor Rahm Emanuel know their displeasure in the recent arrests of the Occupy campers at Grant Park on Michigan Avenue.

They were lead by radical anti-war activists Joe Iosbaker and Andy Thayer, who we have reported on in the past for their ongoing investigations by the FBI. In September of 2010 they were targeted for suspicion of providing material support to Hamas, the F.A.R.C. and other terrorist organizations.

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Amazing how people can compare these thugs to Tea Partiers.

OAKLAND — Protesters inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement plan to rally again in downtown Oakland at 6 p.m. tonight, with some saying they will try to retake the encampment outside City Hall that police dismantled early Tuesday.

Several hours after the removal of the camp — which saw mass arrests but was largely peaceful — a downtown march turned into a protracted street confrontation between protesters and police officers, who set off tear gas and used shotguns to fire projectiles designed to inflict pain but not kill.

Police said they had to protect themselves from protesters who hurled rocks, bottles and paint, and ignored orders to disperse. . . .

Countering that message was Occupy Oakland protester Casey Jones, 28, who wore a T-shirt reading “thrash and burn,” and skateboarded up and down Broadway yelling, “Bring it on!”

“I’m all about the riot – we need to be violent,” he said. “We need more numbers. We’ll just keep marching on.”

He said anyone who passively resisted police efforts to remove them was “a pussy.”

“We did the whole peaceful thing,” he said, “and all we did was sit in the park and make it smell bad. We got nothing. Now I’m into organized chaos.”

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How nice of her.

(CNSNews.com) — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told the House Judiciary Committee in written testimony submitted Wednesday that illegal aliens taken into custody by local law enforcement and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be given a phone number to call if they believe their civil rights have been violated.

The phone number will be provided on a form that will include directions on how to file a complaint in six different languages.

Napolitano told the committee that ICE has “updated its detainer form to clarify the longstanding rule that state and local authorities are not to detain an individual for more than 48 hours except for holidays and weekends.

“The new detainer form also requires state and local law enforcement to provide the arrestees with a copy of the form, which includes a number to call if they believe their civil rights have been violated by ICE,” said Napolitano.

Classy.

(Daily Mail) — Drivers in Miami today were likely doing double takes on Wednesday as they passed what looked like a banker hanging by a noose from a telephone wire alongside a Florida highway.

To accompany his Occupy Wall Street-themed mural, the international graffiti artist known by his street name Above, took his message a step further by adding the rather life-like hanging dummy to his display.

The mannequin is dressed in a black suit with a white collared shirt and red tie.

‘I tried to clothe him and dress him up as if he was what I imagined a Wall Street banker might wear,’ Above said to MailOnline.

He is also holding a briefcase that has a string of what looks like dollar bills.

‘It was the cherry on the top of the word play installation,’ Above continued.

‘It’s extremely shocking which is part of the point as well. I think it is really gone too far, but then again I think it’s my retaliation to how far Wall St, has gotten in general.

HT: Zcat

Well deserved.

(NY Times) — With Election Day just over a year away, a deep sense of economic anxiety and doubt about the future hangs over the nation, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, with Americans’ distrust of government at its highest level ever.

A remarkable sense of pessimism and skepticism was apparent in question after question in the survey, which found that Congressional approval has reached a new low at 9 percent. The disapproval toward Congress has risen 22 percentage points since the beginning of the year when Republicans took control of the House.

Dirty hippies hardest hit.

(NY Observer) — Consider this a win/lose situation: After last night’s meeting with the local community board CB 1, protesters at Occupy Wall St. now must adhere to stricter noise regulations. This comes on the heels of another failed bid by the drumming group Pulse to have the board pass a 4-hour record for allowed jam sessions.

On the other hand, Zuccotti Park may now be getting their own Porta-Potty donations for sanitation purposes, which will probably decrease sales at the McDonald’s on Broadway and Liberty by 200%.

The board voted and passed a resolution last night to allow only two hours of “noise” per day in order to maintain a healthy respect for the sanity and eardrums of people who live in the area. This would include drumming, music, and “group chanting”. . . the last of which may pose a problem for the General Assembly, whose frequent “mike checks” could fall under that category.

He’s just not a funny guy.

(ABC News) — President Obama joked today that the White House may be in danger of getting egged this Halloween if first lady Michelle Obama doesn’t start handing out candy.

The first lady, a well-known advocate for healthful eating, has apparently been reluctant to offer children sugary treats. “Halloween is coming up, and she’s been giving kids, for the last few years, fruit and raisins in the bag,” the president told Jay Leno today in an interview set to air Tuesday on NBC’s “Tonight Show.”

Obama said he warned his wife “the White House is gonna get egged if this keeps up.”

Shockingly, the judge was appointed by Obama.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A federal judge blocked part of North Carolina’s new abortion law Tuesday, ruling providers do not have to place an ultrasound image next to a pregnant woman so she can view it, nor do they have to describe its features and offer her the chance to listen to the heartbeat.

The law was set to take effect Wednesday, but U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles’ decision puts a key section of it on hold until she can hear more arguments.

North Carolina legislators and officials have argued that by offering the image to a woman seeking an abortion and other information they would promote childbirth and protect patients from emotional distress associated with the procedure and possible coercion. The judge said she received no evidence supporting those arguments.

North Carolina officials “have not articulated how the speech-and-display requirements address the stated concern in reducing compelled abortions, and none is immediately apparent,” the judge wrote in a preliminary injunction.

Attorneys for abortion providers and abortion-rights groups argued the ultrasound directives, carried out at least four hours before the scheduled procedure, actually would subject women to emotional pain and violate the medical ethics of doctors who feel the government is forcing them to carry out the Republican-controlled Legislature’s ideology.

The judge, nominated by President Obama last year, allowed other parts of the law to be enforced, including a 24-hour waiting period to make information about abortion risks and alternatives available. The abortion providers who sued didn’t specifically challenge the waiting period.

Trillions?

(The Hill/OTM) — Democrats on the congressional supercommittee this week presented Republicans with a plan to cut the deficit that included billions of dollars in stimulus spending, aides told The Hill.

In a private meeting of the deficit panel Tuesday, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, presented a proposal backed by a majority of Democrats on the panel that includes trillions of dollars in tax increases. The revenue would partially cover stimulus spending for the economy, aides said.

More than 50 percent of the deficit reduction in the plan would come from tax increases, one source said.

The plan from Democrats approaches the $3 trillion in deficit reduction that was included in the “grand bargain” that lawmakers debated over the summer.

Goons united.

(TRN) — AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka responded to the recent mass arrests of Occupy Wall Street protestors Thursday, calling them a “tremendous dishonor to America.”

Protestors at an Occupy Oakland demonstration clashed with police Wednesday as did protestors in Atlanta. More than 100 people were arrested in Oakland and 53 in Atlanta.

“The Occupy Wall Street movement has elevated the national conversation by shining overdue attention on the struggles of the 99% for whom the economy is broken,” Trumka said in a statement. “When people can’t raise their voices around pervasive inequality, there is a fundamental problem with how we’re functioning as a nation.”

Trumka urged officials to follow in New York Mayor Bloomberg’s footsteps and refrain from disbanding peaceful protests.

“We urge all elected leaders across the country to enable peaceful protestors to continue to exercise their most American of rights,” Trumka said.

(click image for video)

Could have fooled us.

“He was relentlessly focused on it. And in fact, he was doing things that were deeply difficult politically for him,” Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said about Obama and job creation.

(The Washington Times) — President Obama is empowering radical Islam across the Arab world. He is presiding over both the American decline and the rapid advance of our mortal jihadist enemies. From the Middle East to North Africa, the Arab Spring has turned into an Islamist winter. Contrary to the administration’s claims, the popular uprisings have not led to a “rebirth of freedom” — the emergence of liberal democracies in distant Arab lands. Rather, Muslim fundamentalists have used street protests against corrupt, autocratic regimes as a Trojan horse to expand Islamic militancy.

In Tunisia, an Islamist party with ideological ties to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood is poised to win national elections. Its goal is to repeal the nation’s secular traditions (inherited from the French empire) and erect a Muslim theocracy. Its platform calls for banning alcohol, forcing women to wear the veil and implementing Shariah law. Non-Muslims and women are to be treated as second-class citizens.

Next month, it will be Egypt’s turn to hold elections. The Muslim Brotherhood is expected to gain the largest number of parliamentary seats. Its aim is to restore the global caliphate and return Cairo to the rule of fundamentalist clerics. Its foreign policy is based upon hatred of Israel and America. The Sinai already has become a sanctuary for terrorists and a staging ground for attacks on Israeli cities. Since the overthrow of strongman Hosni Mubarak, rampaging Muslim mobs have murdered numerous Coptic Egyptians and destroyed Christian churches. More than 100,000 Christian Copts have been expelled — an act of deliberate religious cleansing. About 8 million Copts are left in Egypt. The Brotherhood views them as a “threat” to the “Egyptian nation.” The country could be on the verge of religious and civil war, yet Mr. Obama is shamefully silent about the anti-Christian pogrom taking place.

(more…)

How progressive.

Via Ironic Surrealism

Charlie Rangel and the scumbag Occupiers are a match made in heaven socialist utopia.

(The Hill) — Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday called for the redistribution of America’s riches and hammered the wealthy for benefitting from a war effort fought by the poor and middle class.

Citing statistics that show 1 percent of Americans now own 42 percent of the nation’s wealth, the lawmaker representing Harlem said: “There is something wrong with that formula.”

Rangel offered no specific remedy for adjusting those figures during his comments on the House floor but argued further that the wealthiest 1 percent have the added benefit of not needing to get involved in military service.

“Why is it that we know, or that we can suspect, that in this war where we lost so many lives, that so many people have been wounded, that our brave men and women coming home will subject themselves with a lack of funds to deal with their physical or mental problems?” he asked. “Any yet we somehow know that that 1 percent was not involved in defending our great nation.”

Rangel said the economy would be helped by getting more money in the hands of the other 99 percent. “If we have the other 99 percent of the people who are not wealthy, and if it was possible for them to get a fair shake and have more expendable income, you wouldn’t have to put out ads for them to buy,” he said.

Turbo Timmy is in for a rude awakening.

(Politico) — Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, in North Carolina talking up the American Jobs Act, told the CBS “Early Show” that President Obama can still win reelection if unemployment stays at 9 percent.

“Of course he could be elected with that, again, because he has got a better strategy for helping heal the wounds of this country,” Geithner said.

Geithner declined to predict for CBS News what unemployment might be on Election Day.

What a shame.

(NYP) — Newly sprung ex-cons and vagrants rousted from other parks are crashing the Occupy Wall Street protest, where gourmet meals are free and boozy, drug fueled parties are on tap, the movement’s leaders griped yesterday.

“They’re telling people who leave prison to go to Zuccotti Park,” lamented Daniel Zetah, a leader of the OWS community-relations group.

Volunteer Lauren Digioia, 26, said, “We have drug dealing going on here, gang activity, public intoxication. There are a lot of instigators. There are a lot of vultures.

“Everyone knows we give out free food and sleeping bags, and it’s a perfect opportunity for squatters.”

Digioia said she recently met a man who just before getting sprung from Rikers, was told by a fellow inmate to hit Zuccotti for the free accommodations.

The frustrated organizers said they’re brainstorming how to launch a protest within the protest to target the drunken, stoned layabouts.

The derelicts, organizers say, are terrorizing people who are there to support the movement.

“There’s a lot of drugs, alcohol, assault [and] theft [by] the homeless groups coming in. We’ve had meetings all day to brainstorm what to do,’’ said Zetah, 34.

The hardened thugs are having a field day preying on overly trusting protesters, many of whom hail from small towns, leaders said.

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No wonder we’re treated like the world’s doormat.

From yesterday: State Department Buys $70,000 Worth of Obama’s Memoir To Hand Out As Gifts

The Oakland riot police beg to differ.

(Politico) — In his chat with Jay Leno on Tuesday, President Obama was asked (not for the first time) about the “Occupy Wall Street” protests. While he said again that the movement is based in “frustration,” he told Leno that it’s similar to the tea party.

“Look, people are frustrated, and that frustration expresses itself in a lot of different ways. It expressed itself in the tea party. It’s expressing itself in Occupy Wall Street,” Obama said. “Everybody needs to understand that the American people feel that no one is looking out for them right now.”

It’s not monumental that Obama made the comparison with the tea party, but it reflects a small progression since he was asked about the protests at the beginning of the month. At an Oct. 6 press conference, he was asked specifically if Occupy Wall Street could be like the tea party; Obama didn’t answer. In an interview on Oct. 18, though, Obama said that the demonstrations are “not that different from some of the protests that we saw coming from the tea party.”