Some of these are from Pete’s report, but some are from Facebook and my email. I forgot to mark which were which, so please forgive the repeats.
TYPHOON HAIYAN: The U.S. military’s Pacific Command is helping relief efforts in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan. The U.S. effort is expected to include at least 90 Marines and sailors as well as a cargo planes and helicopters.
A FIRST CLASS THANK YOU: A small group of First Class passengers swapped tickets with a group of vets returning from Afghanistan, so they could enjoy a more comfortable ride on the last leg of their 3-day journey home.
HHS MANDATE: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit voted 2-1 against the HHS mandate requiring all businesses to pay for birth control or abortion-causing drugs for its employees, regardless of the religious or conscience objections of the owners. The court also ruled the defendants cannot be forced to abide by mandate while the Obama administration appeals to the Supreme Court.
BHO APPROVAL GAP: The latest RCP average shows the largest spread of Obama’s presidency at -11.2 points (approvals minus disapprovals). The largest previous gap was -10.2 points in August 2011.
DEM CRONYISM: Washington Examiner reported the Obama DOE has again shoveled tax dollars into Dem donor businesses. Nine of the 14 grants went to firms that gave more than $100,000 each to Democrats and Left-leaning groups.
BUT WHAT HAVE THEY DONE FOR THE HOMIES? The national unemployment rate for 16-19 year olds is 7.3%. The unemployment rate for blacks in this age group is 36.0% …. 393% higher than the national unemployment rate.
BUT AT LEAST THEY GET FOOD STAMPS, RIGHT? Uh, not so much. Food stamp allotments are going down, not because of Eeeevil Republicans, but because Obama the Caring has taken money from the food stamp program to help fund his wife’s anti-obesity initiative, the “Let’s Move” program.
BØGUS: The White Hut claims they’re going to finally release an official number of ObamaCare sales. However, an administration official told WaPo they’re going to count in people who have placed policies in their online shopping carts, but haven’t actually purchased them.
MØRE GØØFS: The Seattle Times reported the state’s ObamaCare Web site messed up their numbers. Nearly 8,000 Washington state residents will soon find out they will be paying more for ObamaCare than they were told when they purchased it.
CØVER UP: The White House won’t allow their computer boss to testify about why he didn’t do his job in the first place cuz, you know, he’s too busy trying to make the damn website work … six weeks after it was opened for business.
HEALTHCARE.GOV: Scam-artist web pages pretending to be Healthcare.gov are tricking people into divulging sensitive information or buying fake products. Important consumer warning: If an insurance shopping website is usable, it’s not the federal government’s.
WE TOLD THEM BUT THEY WOULDN’T LISTEN: “Had Americans known that Obamacare would actually raise premiums and cause millions of folks to lose their health policies, it never would have become law.” –Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas