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Obama military downsizing leaves U.S. too weak to counter global threats, panel finds
Obama military downsizing leaves U.S. too weak to counter global threats, panel finds
An independent panel appointed by the Pentagon and Congress said Thursday that President Obama’s strategy for sizing the armed services is too weak for today’s global threats.
The National Defense Panel called on the president to dump a major section of his 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) and write a broader strategy that requires the military to fight on multiple fronts at once.
It also said the shrinking U.S. armed forces, which are being downsized to fit that strategy and budget cuts, is a “serious strategic misstep on the part of the United States.” The forces’ numbers spelled out in Mr. Obama’s QDR are “inadequate given the future strategic and operational environment.”
The warning comes as Mr. Obama is under criticism from many Republicans and some Democrats for his standoff policy toward Syria and his limited response to a June offensive by an al Qaeda offshoot that has gobbled up swaths of territory in Iraq.
Congress authorized the panel of outside experts to review the QDR, a strategy for shaping the active and reserve force. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel appointed the co-chairmen: former Defense Secretary William Perry, who served under President Bill Clinton, and retired Army Gen. John Abizaid, who ran U.S. Central Command during the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq.
Read more: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jul/31/obama-military-strategy-too-weak-future-security-p/#ixzz39KQDEUEN
Obamacare Continues to Under Perform
Obamacare Continues to Under Perform
Edmund Haislmaier / August 02, 2014
Edmund F. Haislmaier is an expert in health care policy and markets at The Heritage Foundation — and is frequently asked to assist federal and state lawmakers in designing and drafting health reform proposals and legislation.
Obamacare’s initial open-enrollment period ended in mid April. The big question since then has been, “What were the results?”
Hard data have been lacking — until now. My colleague Drew Gonshorowski and I have just finished reviewing insurance-market data from the first quarter of 2014, and we can report that Obamacare’s results are not very impressive.
Certainly they’re not as impressive as the Obama administration would like you to believe. On May 1, outgoing health and human services secretary Kathleen Sebelius triumphantly reported that 8 million people had picked a plan through the exchanges during open enrollment. Yet, since then, HHS has assiduously refused to provide figures for how many of those 8 million actually completed the transaction. Nor has HHS provided any breakout of exchange sign-ups by those who were previously uninsured versus those who were already insured but obtained replacement coverage through the exchanges.
Several prominent organizations — specifically, the Rand Corporation, the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Urban Institute, McKinsey & Company, and Gallup — have attempted to fill the information gap with their own coverage surveys. Yet even well-constructed surveys have limitations and, at best, can offer only approximate answers. Analysts and commentators (on both the left and the right) have also weighed in with varying guesstimates and interpretations.
Now, newly available health-insurance enrollment data provide a clearer and more comprehensive picture of the changes in coverage during the initial implementation of Obamacare. Unlike estimates based on survey results, the newly available data consist of actual enrollment counts for the private market, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
The data on private coverage come from quarterly reports that insurers file with state regulators. At this point, only the first installment (data from the first quarter of 2014) of what we need for a full assessment is available. Because of delays in processing enrollments and a surge in exchange applications in March, we must wait for second-quarter data to see the complete picture.
Nonetheless, this first tranche of data is highly revealing. Drew and I present the numbers and analyze them in more detail in our new report, but here are three key takeaways from the data for the six-month period of October 1, 2013, through March 31, 2014:
– Net enrollment in the individual-coverage market grew by 2,236,942 individuals, while net enrollment in employer group coverage declined by 1,716,540 individuals.
– The decline in employer-sponsored coverage offset 77 percent of the gain in individual-market coverage, for a net increase in private-market coverage of only 520,000 individuals during the period.
– Medicaid and CHIP enrollment reports from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) show that enrollment in those programs increased by about 5 million individuals during the same six-month period, with 87 percent of those gains occurring in the 26 states (plus the District of Columbia) that elected to adopt Obamacare’s expansion of Medicaid to able-bodied adults.
The biggest piece of the puzzle still missing is the coverage status of the 3,777,438 individuals whom HHS reported as picking an exchange plan between March 1 and the close of open enrollment in April. Few, if any, of them would have had their coverage activated before the end of March, so those who actually gained coverage will show up in the second-quarter data, along with anyone who selected an exchange plan earlier but had his enrollment delayed beyond March due to the exchanges’ software problems.
Even so, this first installment of enrollment data marks a shift from speculation to reality in the ongoing public debate over Obamacare. It also offers guidance on what to expect next.
Assuming no further erosion in employer group coverage, and further assuming that all the individuals who picked an exchange plan during the last two months of open enrollment actually obtained coverage, it now appears that the upper bound for any net increase in private coverage during the first year of Obamacare will be in the neighborhood of 5 million individuals. Of course, those two assumptions are big ifs, so the final figure might well be lower.
We also know that Medicaid enrollment continues year-round. CMS reported that a further 1.1 million individuals were added to the Medicaid rolls in April. Thus, it’s pretty safe to project that when the final figures for Obamacare’s first year are in, the Medicaid expansion will be responsible for over half of any net increase in health-insurance coverage. In that regard, it should be noted that the Medicaid expansion population consists of able-bodied working-age adults, 82 percent of whom don’t have dependent children and 52 percent of whom are ages 19 to 34.
So far, this is not a particularly impressive performance — unless, of course, you believe that giving several million able-bodied, working-age adults substandard government health coverage as a consolation prize for remaining unemployed or underemployed — and doing so at considerable disruption and expense for everyone else — constitutes a significant achievement or an acceptable substitute for pro-growth economic policies.
Originally posted on National Review.
Reader asks Can Muslims Ever Be Good Americans?
Reader asks Can Muslims Ever Be Good Americans?
This is very interesting and we all need to read it from start to finish. And send it on to everyone. Maybe this is why our American Muslims are so quiet and not speaking out about any atrocities.
Can a good Muslim be a good American?
This question was forwarded to a friend who worked in Saudi Arabia for 20 years.The following is his reply:
Theologically – No, Because his allegiance is to Allah, The moon god of Arabia .
Religiously – No. Because no other religion is accepted by His Allah except Islam. (Quran, 2:256)(Koran)
Scripturally – No, Because his allegiance is to the five Pillars of Islam and the Quran.
Geographically – No, Because his allegiance is to Mecca , to which he turns in prayer five times a day.
Socially – No, Because his allegiance to Islam forbids him to make friends with Christians or Jews.
Politically – No, Because he must submit to the mullahs (spiritual leaders), who teach annihilation of Israel and destruction of America , the great Satan.
Domestically – No, Because he is instructed to marry four Women and beat and scourge his wife when she disobeys him. (Quran 4:34 )
Intellectually – No, Because he cannot accept the American Constitution since it is based on Biblical principles and he believes the Bible to be corrupt.
Philosophically – No, Because Islam, Muhammad, and the Quran does not allow freedom of religion and expression. Democracy and Islam cannot co-exist. Every Muslim government is either dictatorial or autocratic.
Spiritually – No, Because when we declare ‘one nation under God,’ The Christian’s God is loving and kind, while Allah is NEVER referred to as Heavenly father, nor is he ever called love in the Quran’s 99 excellent names.
Therefore, after much study and deliberation, perhaps we should be very suspicious of ALL MUSLIMS in this country. They obviously cannot be both ‘good’ Muslims and ‘good’ Americans. Call it what you wish it’s still the truth. You had better believe it. The more of us that understand this, the better it will be for our country and our future.
The religious war is bigger than we know or understand!
Footnote: The Muslims have said they will destroy us from within. SO FREEDOM IS NOT FREE.
Jon Voight Pens Letter to ‘Ignorant’ Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz on Israel: ‘Hang Your Heads in Shame’
Jon Voight Pens Letter to ‘Ignorant’ Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz on Israel: ‘Hang Your Heads in Shame’
The actor urges colleagues to “examine their motives,” asking “Can you take back the fire of anti-Semitism that is raging all over the world now?”
My name is Jon Voight and I am more than angry, I am heartsick that people like Penelope Cruz andJavier Bardem could incite anti-Semitism all over the world and are oblivious to the damage they have caused.
They are obviously ignorant of the whole story of Israel’s birth, when in 1948 the Jewish people were offered by the UN a portion of the land originally set aside for them in 1921, and the Arab Palestinians were offered the other half. The Arabs rejected the offer, and the Jews accepted, only to be attacked by five surrounding Arab countries committed to driving them into the sea. But the Israelis won. The Arabs tried it again in 1967, and again in 1973, launching a sneak attack on the holiest Jewish holiday. Each time the Jews prevailed but not without great loss of life. And when Israel was not fighting a major war, it was defending itself against terrorist campaigns.
And yet Israel has always labored for a peaceful relation with its Arab neighbors. It voluntarily returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in return for peace, and gave the Palestinians all of Gaza as a peace gesture. What was the response? The Palestinians elected Hamas, a terrorist organization, and they immediately began firing thousands of rockets into Israel.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jon-voight-pens-letter-ignorant-723007?mobile_redirect=false
Why Does the US Media Support Palestinian Terrorists?
Why Does the US Media Support Palestinian Terrorists?
July 29, 2014 by Chip Wood
What on Earth is so wrong with the mainstream media in the United States that it can somehow find “equivalency” between the terroristic assaults Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip have ordered against Israel and what that beleaguered country is doing to defend itself?
And in many cases, the hand-wringing, condescending blowhards in our media don’t just blame both sides equally. No, they’ve somehow decided that Israel is the real culprit in the case.
But it is not Israel that is using its civilians, including children, as a human shield for waging war. It is not Israel that has hidden its rockets and mortars in schools, hospitals and civilian homes — and then ordered civilians not to leave the area.
It is not Israel that uses ambulances to disguise its armed combatants, as it moves them from place to place.
It is not Israel that has built dozens of tunnels under the border between the two areas and that uses them to transport weapons of war. Israeli forces have even captured Hamas infiltrators emerging from a tunnel carrying tranquilizers and handcuffs. Apparently, they were hoping to kidnap some Israeli civilians or soldiers, so they could demand another prisoner exchange. (Back in 2011, Israel agreed to trade 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who had been kidnapped by Hamas.)
On Sunday, Hamas said it would extend a temporary cease-fire that both sides agreed to on Saturday for another 24 hours. But later that afternoon, it resumed firing rockets into Israel, claiming that Israel demonstrated “a lack of commitment” to the cease-fire.
I think you’ll agree that it’s hard to show a commitment to peace when rockets are raining down on you. The Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement: “Following Hamas’ incessant rocket fire throughout the humanitarian window, which was agreed upon for the welfare of the civilian population in Gaza, the IDF will now resume its aerial, naval and ground activity in the Gaza Strip.”
Thus far, Israeli authorities say that Hamas has launched more than 2,200 rocket attacks against them. Happily, most of them have been stopped by Israel’s very sophisticated Iron Dome defense system. Still, rocket attacks are a constant danger in the country.
https://personalliberty.com/media-support-palestinian-terrorists/
Ridgewood Open Houses for August 3rd 2014
$349,000 – 862 AUBURN AVE, Ridgewood NJ
$349,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1412311
862 AUBURN AVE, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 1 Full Bath, C/C
RayAnne Hammoud, Sales Associate
Marron Gildea Realty, Inc. Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
9
$379,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1423871
619 DELAWARE AVE, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath, C/C
Lawrence Poley, Sales Associate
Edgar A. Reilly, Jr.
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
10
$419,900 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1428761
103 Liberty St, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 1 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Doug Sinopoli, Broker
Meadowlands Realty, Inc.
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 3:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
1
$439,900 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1427540
364 Westfield Ave, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath, C/C
Barbara Nudelman, Broker Associate
Coldwell Banker, Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
17
$489,900 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1421294
656 LINWOOD AVE, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 1 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Marilyn Becker, Broker Associate
Gilsenan & Co.
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
14
$499,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1422470
674 MIDWOOD RD, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath, C/C
Christopher Kaufman, Sales Associate
Weichert Realtors Franklin Lakes
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
11
$529,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1425382
347 FRANKLIN AVE, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 1 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Karen Boyle, Sales Associate
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
24
$539,990 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1428243
258 Pershing Ave, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 1 Full Bath, C/C
Regina M. Sirard, Sales Associate
Keller Williams Valley Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
20
$540,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1426440
630 Maxwell Pl, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath, C/C
Fern Chan, Sales Associate
Weichert Realtors Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
10
$550,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1428720
695 Terhune Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath, RANCH
Ghada Abbasi, Sales Associate
Coldwell Banker, Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
– See more at: https://www.njmls.com/NJ/BERGEN/RIDGEWOOD-open-houses#sthash.SyywpI7B.aBdrGZkD.dpuf
$599,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1425480
478 HUNTER RD, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath, C/C
Elizabeth Novak, Sales Associate
Weichert Realtors Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
24
$625,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1428796
510 Fairfield Ave, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 1 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, C/C
Lisa Sammataro, Sales Associate
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
25
$629,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1412136
209 STEILEN Ave, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 1 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Jane Vander Plaat, Sales Associate
Coldwell Banker, Wyckoff/Franklin Lakes
Open House: 2:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
25
$629,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1428514
465 VAN BUREN St, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, C/C
Josephine Wagner, Sales Associate
RE/MAX Properties-Saddle River
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 3:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
22
$649,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1428539
436 Oak St, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Ferne Lambert, Sales Associate
Coldwell Banker, Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
22
$699,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1422343
698 Ellington Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Lori Lettieri, Sales Associate
Margarita Amezquita Rivera, Broker Associate
Coldwell Banker, Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
25
$700,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1429104
889 Roslyn Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
5 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath, COL
Michael Shetler, Sales Associate
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
25
$735,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1415452
292 SPRING AVE, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, TWNHS
Jacques Papanikolaou,
Filippo Papanicolaou, Sales Associate
Weichert Realtors Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
25
$735,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1423477
292 SPRING AVE, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, DUPLEX
Jacques Papanikolaou,
Filippo Papanicolaou, Sales Associate
Weichert Realtors Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
24
$749,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1429328
154 Claremont Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 1 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Gina Fierro, Sales Associate
Weichert Realtors Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
– See more at: https://www.njmls.com/NJ/BERGEN/RIDGEWOOD-open-houses#sthash.SyywpI7B.aBdrGZkD.dpuf
$798,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1428736
913 Roslyn Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath, COL
Beth Freed, Broker Associate
Prominent Properties Sotheby’s International Realty-Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
23
$849,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1426172
365 STEVENS AVE, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
2 Half Bath, COL
Rosanne Tomiello, Sales Associate
Stefanie Deoleo, Sales Associate
Weichert Realtors Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
25
$879,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1428781
129 Sherwood Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath, COL
Jennifer M. Parsekian, Broker
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
25
$929,999 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1421904
744 UPPER BLVD, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath, COL
Maryanne Connaughton, Sales Associate
Terrie O’Connor Realtors/Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
15
$1,049,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1423252
285 RICHARDS RD, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath, COL
Barbara Masarky, Broker Associate
Tarvin Realtors
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:30 P.M. Sun. 8/3
25
$1,095,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1428644
21 Theyken Pl, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
6 Bedroom, 4 Full Bath, COL
Joseph M. Hurley, Sales Associate
Weichert Realtors Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/10
25
$1,215,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1429206
14 Maynard Ct, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
5 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath,
2 Half Bath, COL
Janis Fuhrman, Sales Associate
Terrie O’Connor Realtors/Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
25
$1,749,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1428956
233 Highland Ave, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
6 Bedroom, 4 Full Bath,
2 Half Bath, COL
Hedy N. Weiss, Sales Associate
Coldwell Banker, Wyckoff/Franklin Lakes
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
25
$2,595,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1411204
310 Heights Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
5 Bedroom, 5 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Victoria Wilkinson, Sales Associate
Solutions Realty, LLC
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
25
Open Houses for Sun 8/10
$629,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1428963
42 John St, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 1 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Nancy Rivera, Sales Associate
Prominent Properties Sotheby’s International Realty-Saddle R
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/10
– See more at: https://www.njmls.com/NJ/BERGEN/RIDGEWOOD-open-houses#sthash.SyywpI7B.aBdrGZkD.dpuf
$1,095,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1428644
21 Theyken Pl, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
6 Bedroom, 4 Full Bath, COL
Joseph M. Hurley, Sales Associate
Weichert Realtors Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/3
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 8/10
– See more at: https://www.njmls.com/NJ/BERGEN/RIDGEWOOD-open-houses#sthash.SyywpI7B.aBdrGZkD.dpuf
Muslims Force Christian To Convert To Islam, Then Brutally Behead Him
Muslims Force Christian To Convert To Islam, Then Brutally Behead Him
By Theodore Shoebat
A Christian man was captured by Muslims in Syria, and forced him to declare the Shahadatan (“There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger). After he stated the heretical creed, they deemed him an infidel anyway and brutally beheaded him.
Rescue Christians is now working on the ground in Syria and Iraq as we are partners with Sister Hatune Dogan who already has saved thousands of Christians from death. We can save and protect many more Christians in Syria and Iraq with your help. Sister Hatune has been awarded the Order of Merit by the German Government for her work (equivalent to Congressional Medal of Honor). Please click here to partner with us to save thousands more from the Islamic oppressors. All donations are fully Tax deductible.
Our contact from Syria found the video of the beheading, which has never been exposed in the Western media until now, and provided the translation for it. You can watch it here:
As a lesson, if you ever find yourself in such a situation as this, do not say the Islamic creed, but the Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
The Syrian Christians are being persecuted every sing day, with rape, beheading, kidnapping, and all sorts of other horrific violence.
PLEASE DONATE TO SAVE THE LIVES OF CHRISTIANS IN SYRIA
https://shoebat.com/2014/03/03/muslims-force-christian-convert-islam-brutally-behead/
The Government Should Stop Discriminating Against Religious Adoption Agencies
The Government Should Stop Discriminating Against Religious Adoption Agencies
Sarah Torre / @sarahtorre / Ryan T. Anderson / @RyanT_Anderson / July 31, 2014
Kelly Rosati, whose four children joined her family through foster care adoption, knows first-hand the pain and difficulties caused by a broken child welfare system
“These are kids who wake up every day not knowing if they are going to be moved that day, who have no permanence in their lives,” Rosati said. “Many of them have only known neglect, abuse and abandonment.”
“Because we don’t have orphanages in America,” she says, “we think we don’t have orphans—but we do.”
Every year about 400,000 children spend time in our nation’s foster care system, with roughly 100,000 eligible for adoption, as we point out in our recent Backgrounder. Many bounce from home to home and are never adopted. Many will “age-out” of foster care, facing increased risk for low academic achievement and poverty.
And yet various states have adopted policies that would require faith-based providers to place children with same-sex couples, in violation of some agencies’ deeply held beliefs that children deserve a mom and a dad – effectively forcing these agencies out of adoption and foster care service. These policies do nothing to help children and unnecessarily limit the number of good agencies working on their behalf.
On Wednesday,, Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., and Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., introduced the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act, which would protect the right of child welfare providers, including private and faith-based adoption and foster care agencies, to continue providing valuable services to families and children. The federal government and states receiving certain federal child welfare funds would be prohibited from discriminating against a child welfare provider simply because the provider declines to provide a service that conflicts with their religious or moral convictions.
This is good policy. The efforts of faith-based organizations and the work of more than 1,000 private, licensed foster care and adoption providers across the United States are helping to increase the number of children adopted every year.
As vice president of Community Outreach for Focus on the Family, Rosati directs the organization’s Wait No More program. Wait No More conducts one-day events that provide the tools, information, and network to encourage families to consider opening their homes and lives to the hundreds of children waiting for adoption in their own communities.
To date, 2,700 families across 17 states have begun the process of adopting children who are in foster care. In Colorado alone, the number of children in foster care waiting for adoption was reportedly cut in half within just a couple of years because of ongoing efforts such as Wait No More and other faith-based collaborations.
Private providers handle roughly a quarter of the domestic adoptions by non-relatives that occur in the United States. Faith-based agencies also provide spiritual, emotional and relational support to families that seek to adopt or become foster parents they are less likely to receive from state-run agencies.
Foster care and adoption policy should seek to increase the number of families willing to foster and potentially adopt children, not risk reducing the number of agencies or families working for children. Provided these agencies meet basic requirements, they should be free to operate according to their values, especially their reasonable and religiously informed beliefs about marriage.
Protecting religious liberty in this instance takes nothing away from anyone. Couples who do not wish to work with faith-based agencies because of a difference of belief are free to work with another private provider or directly with the state offering foster care services. A diversity of providers only increases the chances more children will end up in permanent, loving families.
America’s foster care programs are in dire need of systemic reform. Foster care and adoption policy always should put the best interests of children first, and that means removing barriers to families seeking to adopt and providers seeking to place children in those loving homes.
Barney Frank ‘Appalled’ By Obama Administration: “They Just Lied To People”
Barney Frank ‘Appalled’ By Obama Administration: ‘They Just Lied To People’
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama made a major political mistake by lying about the details of his health care plan, according to former House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.).
“The rollout was so bad, and I was appalled — I don’t understand how the president could have sat there and not been checking on that on a weekly basis,” Frank told HuffPost during a July interview. “But frankly, he should never have said as much as he did, that if you like your current health care plan, you can keep it. That wasn’t true. And you shouldn’t lie to people. And they just lied to people.”
Obama has taken significant flak in conservative circles for claiming that his health care overhaul would allow all existing health care plans to continue, when, in fact, new consumer protection standards would require some people to sign up for more comprehensive insurance. The law provides government subsidies to help people of modest means pay for the more robust plans. Frank is a strong supporter of the law, and he has repeatedly defended Obama and his legislative agenda.
“He should have said, ‘Look, in some cases the health care plans that you’ve got are really inadequate, and in your own interests, we’re going to change them,'” Frank said. “But that’s not what he said.”
Co-defendent in bio-fuel scam pleads guilty
Co-defendent in bio-fuel scam pleads guilty
AUGUST 2, 2014 LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY HUGH R. MORLEY
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
* Her co-defendant, the owner of two Bergen energy firms, still awaits trial in alleged tax fraud
Evelyn Katirina Pattison with Joseph Furando. She could face a five-year term.
A Ridgewood businesswoman has pleaded guilty to a charge that she took part in a $100 million biofuel fraud as a top executive of two Bergen County alternative-energy companies that authorities say carried out the scam.
Evelyn Katirina Pattison, who is also known as Katirina Tracy, admitted making false claims to the Internal Revenue Service and the Environmental Protection Agency in a scheme for which she and the companies’ co-owner, Joseph Furando, were indicted in September.
As Pattison made her guilty plea earlier this week, federal prosecutors in Indiana, where the case is being heard, asked the court to revoke Furando’s pretrial release because of his “pattern of violent threats and physical violence,” before and after his indictment — much of it, they said, directed at Pattison.
But in Indianapolis on Friday, U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker allowed Furando to remain free.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/guilty-plea-in-fuel-scam-1.1061233#sthash.hwDze1lM.dpuf
Christie creates special commission to study pension problems
Christie creates special commission to study pension problems
AUGUST 1, 2014, 1:38 PM LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 2014, 12:36 AM
BY JOHN REITMEYER AND MICHAEL PHILLIS
STATE HO– USE BUREAU
THE RECORD
Governor Christie has become the latest governor to call for a commission to study New Jersey’s pension problems, creating a non-partisan panel to provide him with options as he continues a public campaign that focuses on cutting benefits for public workers.
Christie signed an executive order on Friday at an event in Parsippany. It calls for the creation of a panel he says will be non-partisan and include at least five members. Its task will be to review New Jersey’s public employee benefits, which he says have become difficult for the state to afford.
“The study commission’s charge is to think long term,” Christie said. “No idea is off the table.”
Christie said the call for a study commission will not cut short his No Pain, No Gain publicity campaign, in which his focus is on a need to cut benefits rather than raise taxes to make them more affordable.
“I’m going to continue to travel across the state and talk about the problem,” Christie said on Friday. “The problem doesn’t change.”
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/christie-creates-special-commission-to-study-pension-problems-1.1061087#sthash.KpaPrpNr.dpuf
Reader Reports flooding and erosion on Dunham Trail
Reader Reports flooding and erosion on Dunham Trail
Just wanted to alert the walkers, runners and bikers that portions of the Dunham Trail that runs from Grove St to Spring Ave has experienced some serious embankment erosion. One area is very dicey…the path barely “single track” wide. Take care with your dogs and yourselves.
Twinney Pond Park is located at the north end of Red Birch Court. Twinney pond offers a wildlife area, nature trails and ice-skatin
Millennial Jobs Report: 15.1% of Young People Out of Work in July
Millennial Jobs Report: 15.1% of Young People Out of Work in July
Washington, DC – (8/1/14) – Generation Opportunity, a national, non-partisan youth advocacy organization, is announcing its Millennial Jobs Report for July 2014. The data is non-seasonally adjusted (NSA) and is specific to 18-29 year olds:
The effective (U-6) unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds, which adjusts for labor force participation by including those who have given up looking for work, is 15.1 percent (NSA). The (U-3) unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds is 10.5 percent (NSA).
The declining labor force participation rate has created an additional 1.926 million young adults that are not counted as “unemployed” by the U.S. Department of Labor because they are not in the labor force, meaning that those young people have given up looking for work due to the lack of jobs.
The effective (U-6) unemployment rate for 18-29 year old African-Americans is 22.5 percent (NSA); the (U-3) unemployment rate is 20.6 percent (NSA).
The effective (U-6) unemployment rate for 18-29 year old Hispanics is 16 percent (NSA); the (U-3) unemployment rate is 11 percent (NSA).
The effective (U-6) unemployment rate for 18-29 year old women is 12.8 percent (NSA); the (U-3) unemployment rate is 9.9 percent (NSA).
Patrice Lee, Director of Outreach at Generation Opportunity, issued the following statement:
“My generation is scraping to get by. 15.5% of us are unemployed and desperately seeking full-time jobs. Nationally, college graduates owe an average of almost $30,000 in student loan debt. Entrepreneurial endeavors from ‘side hustles’ to full-time Internet businesses are a key to our current financial stability, freedom from debt, and future security.”
One of the World’s Biggest Sources of Oil Is Right Here in America
One of the World’s Biggest Sources of Oil Is Right Here in America
Rob Nikolewski / @Watchdogorg / July 29, 2014
SANTA FE, N.M.—Oil production in New Mexico keeps on booming, and it could continue to do so for some time.
“I think the forecast is great,” said Parker Hallam, president and CEO of Crude Energy in Dallas. “I’m excited.”
The Permian Basin, located in eastern New Mexico and West Texas, recently has become one of the world’s biggest sources for crude oil.
The Bakken formation in North Dakota, the Eagle Ford “play” in South Texas and the Permian Basin are each producing more than 1 million barrels of oil per day, with the Permian leading the pack at 1.6 million barrels a day.
Domestic production has grown so large that last month, the International Energy Agency announced the United States surpassed Russia and even Saudi Arabia in oil production.
In New Mexico, field production has doubled in the past three years and is on the verge of surpassing 10 million barrels a month, according to figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
“I think the next 10 years, we can expect to see three to 3-and-a-half million [barrels a day from the Permian Basin],” Hallam said. “We could see even more than that.”
The reason?
Horizontal drilling, using hydraulic fracturing—“fracking.”
