Mandate Challenge Could Prevail

ILYA SOMIN | TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST   ""When 21 states and several private groups initiated lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the Obama health care law earlier this year, critics denounced the suits as frivolous political grandstanding. But it is increasingly clear that the plaintiffs have a serious case with a real chance of victory.

"The suits focus primarily on challenges to the new law's "individual mandate," which requires most American citizens to purchase a government-approved health insurance plan by 2014 or pay a fine."

Soros Group Says Progressives Won Midterms, Wants Obama to Rule by Executive Order…

Weasel Zippers "It was progressives who won the mid-term elections, particularly incumbents in a socialist-founded congressional caucus that emerged from last week’s ballots virtually unscathed, boasted an article published by the George Soros-funded Institute for Policy Studies, a Marxist-oriented think-tank in Washington, D.C.

"The article recommends that President Obama govern from executive order to push through a progressive agenda."

Stopping Judicial Imperialism / If judges are going to act like politicians, then they should be voted out like politicians.

Thomas Sowell "That is ultimately a question of deciding what kind of country this is to be — one ruled by “we the people,” or one where the notions of an arrogant elite are to be imposed, whether the people agree or not."

Mileage Rules Prompt Backlash .

Wall Street Journal  ""If the economics for high fuel-economy vehicles is so overwhelming, why do so few consumers today choose to buy high fuel-economy vehicles?" the letter asks.
"The alliance added that at the very least, the price of a car would increase $4,448 under the 62-mpg rule.
"The National Automobile Dealers Association warned that the "economic risks associated with such speculation are simply too great," and that the proposal could lead to job losses."

For businesses, no more 'go along to get along'  "Extreme mileage standards, backdoor CO2 regulations and overpriced electric cars that no one wants are all reflected in Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood's desire to "coerce people out of their cars."
"The government claims the proposed new rules "could raise the price of a model-year 2025 car by between $770 and $3,500 but that consumers would buy them because they would recoup that added expense through fuel savings.""

Patriots Versus Hateful Westboro Baptist Church Funeral Protesters…..Patriots Win!

Gateway Pundit "Hundreds of residents in Weston, Mo. — as well as people as far away as California and Australia– rallied in support of Sgt. First Class C.J. Sadell, who died from injuries suffered during a surprise attack in Afghanistan.
"The residents sought to block Fred Phelps, leader of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., and his followers from picketing Sadell’s funeral, according to the station."
Where they plan to picket next: Picket schedule

Obama's Ignorance of World Affairs on Full Display in India

American Thinker  "It's clear that the Obama foreign policy isn't based on sophistication or even a basic knowledge of world affairs. It's based purely on fatuous P.C. sentiments that meet with approval in faculty lounges, but are downright dangerous to American security in the real world."   Weasel Zippers photo

NATIONALIZING PENSION FUNDS

Neal Boortz   "The real reason? Unions. Yup .. there you go. Unions. You see many, if not most (perhaps all?) union plans are underfunded. Why? Well, maybe this is because union leaders, in love with their positions of power, spend too much from union dues to promote political candidates. Make that promote Democrat candidates. I haven't seen the study, but I am wondering how many of these pension plans would be in trouble if that money funneled to candidates was used instead to fund pensions?"

Al-Qaeda cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki trained Pentagon’s Muslim chaplains

Big Peace  "An Al-Qaeda cleric’s participation in training military chaplains is less surprising since the program itself was established by Abdurahman Alamoudi, who was tapped by the Defense Department to create the program and who hand-picked the first 16 Muslim chaplains for the military, was himself an Al-Qaeda operative. Alamoudi is currently serving a 23-year federal prison sentence.

"But what exactly happened to the Pentagon’s Muslim chaplains and lay staff that Anwar Al-Awlaki helped train and Abdurahman Alamoudi helped select is still unknown."

First US targeted assassination in Gaza pre-empts next Al Qaeda offensive

DEBKAfile "A missile fired from an American warship in the Mediterranean hit the car in which Muhammad Jamal A-Namnam, 27, was driving in the heart of Gaza City Wednesday, Nov. 3 and killed him, debkafile's exclusive counter-terror sources report. Namnam was an operational commander of the Army of Islam, Al-Qaeda's Palestinian cell in the Gaza Strip. He was on a mission on behalf of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula – AQAP to plan, organize and execute the next wave of terrorist attacks on US targets after last week's air package bomb plot."

DEBKAfile's innovative approach ...delves into the arcane workings of international Islamic terror and the world of intelligence, and updates you on military affairs and the Middle East.
We have developed unmatched expertise on Iran.

Darrell Issa plans hundreds of hearings (Updated)

Politico  "Issa won’t have a shortage of targets. He’s been hammering for better tracking of the stimulus and has a growing list of other investigative targets, including the housing meltdown and the bank bailout."

Advice to administration officials; lawyer up  "Unlike Henry Waxman's bread and circuses - holding hearings on steroids in baseball, for instance, - Issa plans to get to the meat of the cronyism, the potentially illegality of czars, the threatening of inspector generals across the board, and the cozy relationship between Democrats and labor."

Manchin to flip Republican?

UK Daily Mail  "Republicans are making some big promises to try to lure West Virginia Senator-elect Joe Manchin to cross the aisle.
"Aside from his pick of committee assignments (likely the Energy and Natural Resources Committee), Manchin might get support for one of his pet projects – a plant to convert coal to diesel fuel that has stalled under Democratic leadership in Washington.
"It’s one of Manchin’s pet projects and could mean big money for the state’s coal producers."
Hey, they may be earmarks, but they're OUR earmarks.

Get to Work Repealing Obamacare

Heritage "The President just doesn’t get it. According to the national exit poll just 16% of voters want to leave Obamacare as is. A full 48% of voters want to see it outright repealed and another 31% want to see it changed in some way. Americans do want to relitigate Obamacare. Yesterday, here at The Heritage Foundation, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell promised to do just that:"...

CBO CONFIRMS OBAMACARE WILL INCREASE DRUG PRICES   "The CBO confirms the range of onerous restrictions and requirements will drive health care costs up, at odds with the claims made by its proponents. CBO’s letter specifies that manufacturers will have an incentive to raise drug prices and that, as a result, health care costs will increase for some seniors and for those who are uninsured."

Citing health overhaul, AARP hikes employee costs "In an e-mail to employees, AARP says health care premiums will increase by 8 percent to 13 percent next year because of rapidly rising medical costs.
"And AARP adds that it's changing copayments and deductibles to avoid a 40 percent tax on high-cost health plans that takes effect in 2018 under the law. Aerospace giant Boeing also has cited the tax in asking its workers to pay more. Shifting costs to employees lowers the value of a health care plan and acts like an escape hatch from the tax."