Omss Politics: Mar 6, 2011

O’Reilly Predicts GOP Wins Senate in ’12; Allen West Defends Savage

Click here to view this email as a web page

Insider Report from Newsmax.com

Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories):
1. Obamacare Will Cost States $118 Billion
2. Bill O'Reilly: GOP Will Win Senate in 2012
3. Rep. Allen West: End UK's Michael Savage Ban
4. Muslim Brotherhood Strips Bylaws From Website
5. Slain Border Agent Fired Beanbags at Bandits
6. We Heard: TSA, Oprah Winfrey

1. Obamacare Will Cost States $118 Billion

The healthcare reform bill passed last year will cost states at least an additional $118.04 billion through 2023 due to their increased Medicaid costs, according to a new congressional report.

That's nearly double the Congressional Budget Office's recent estimate of $60 billion through 2021.

"The enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in March 2010 was the largest expansion of [Medicaid] since its inception more than 45 years ago," according to a statement from the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, which jointly produced the report.

"Half of those obtaining healthcare coverage under the new law will get it through Medicaid. The committee report provides a state-by-state analysis of the financial impact the new healthcare law will have on states and demonstrates the unsustainable fiscal burden this new law will foist upon taxpayers."

The joint congressional report "is the first to provide a comprehensive overview of state government estimates regarding the cost of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to state Medicaid programs," the report states.

Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said: "Governors of both political parties were clear when Congress was debating the $2.6 trillion health law that they could not afford a massive expansion in Medicaid. Washington didn't listen and plowed forward instead by putting 16 million Americans onto the Medicaid rolls to keep the federal price tag down.

"With this report, we see the true cost to states, who are already facing a collective $175 billion budget shortfall, of this unsustainable expansion."

The report's state-by-state breakdown shows that California will spend at least another $19.4 billion on Medicaid, and Texas will be forced to spend another $27 billion — more than the program's entire annual budget today.

Obamacare will cost Florida taxpayers $12.9 billion through 2023. Louisiana will have to pay an additional $7 billion; New York, 2.8 billion; and Virginia, $2.2 billion.

Even a less populated state, Iowa, will have to take on 100,000 new Medicaid enrollees, and spend an added $250 million.

Editor's Note:

ALERT: Inflation Super Cycle Unstoppable. How to Prepare.

2. Bill O'Reilly: GOP Will Win Senate in 2012

Bill O'Reilly delivered a lecture at his alma mater, Chaminade High School, on Thursday night and predicted that the 2012 presidential race will be close — but Republicans will take control of the Senate.

At Chaminade — a Catholic preparatory school for young men in Mineola, Long Island — the Fox News Channel host said the White House race will come down to a choice on the GOP side between a "hard liner" like Sarah Palin or a moderate who "has to stand for something," the Mineola Patch reported. "It will be interesting who breaks out."

The main topic of O'Reilly's address was secularism versus Judeo-Christian tradition in the media. Some highlights of the lecture and the Q&A session that followed:

• O'Reilly's hero is baseball's Hall of Fame outfielder Willie Mays.

• In the morning O'Reilly reads The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and New York Post, but not the liberal Newsday — and writes most of his show during the ride from his home on Long Island into Manhattan.

• O'Reilly said President Barack Obama is not malevolent, and those polled like him, but he has some Americans "scared."

• Asked who tops his most-wanted interview list, O'Reilly named Pope Benedict XVI and Bill Clinton, who won't come in for an interview although wife Hillary has had the "guts" to speak with him.

• The odds that O'Reilly would find the success he has achieved are about 50 million to 1, O'Reilly said, adding that is one of the reasons he believes in God.

• When one questioner asked if O'Reilly could introduce him to Fox News chief Roger Ailes so he could become a TV host, O'Reilly quipped: "Be careful what you wish for."

Editor's Note:

Special: Before You Refill Your Statin Prescription — Be Warned!

3. Rep. Allen West: End UK's Michael Savage Ban

Freshman Rep. Allen West has written a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging her to review Britain's travel ban against conservative talk radio host Michael Savage.

In May 2009, then-British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said Savage was on a list of 16 persons banned from entry into the country because the government feared their views might incite violence.

Smith said in a statement that Savage is "considered to be engaging in unacceptable behavior by seeking to provoke others to serious criminal acts and fostering hatred which might lead to intercommunity violence."

West, a Florida Republican, said in his letter that Savage was put on Britain's list with "ruthless criminals" and asserted that there is no basis for the British government's action.

"For a nation who believes in freedom of speech and press, I have a hard time understanding why such a high level government department would release this statement when there has not been one incident recorded in the United States regarding Dr. Savage instigating violence, let alone serious criminal acts," West wrote.

Others on the British list include former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard Stephen Donald Black and Hamas leader Yunis Al-Astal.

Savage states on his website that Smith included his name along with "Russian skinheads imprisoned for murdering 10 immigrants and a Hamas terrorist who executed two Jewish parents and bashed in the head of their 4-year-old daughter."

He goes on to say: "Contrary to the accusations of the former home secretary, Savage has never advocated violence and repeatedly has called for the lawful enforcement of America's borders, language and culture."

Savage asks supporters to sign a petition addressed to the U.S. Congress calling for "the removal of Britain's ban on Michael Savage."

Savage's show is heard on about 400 stations and has an estimated 8 million listeners a week, according to his syndicator, the Talk Radio Network.

His book "Banned in Britain" chronicles his battle over the UK prohibition.

Editor's Note:

Average Guy Retires at 42. His Secret Can Be Your Success.

4. Muslim Brotherhood Strips Bylaws From Website

The Muslim Brotherhood removed its bylaws from its English-language website just days after longtime Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak was driven from office.

The Brotherhood, which has been banned in Egypt, appears eager to promote a more moderate image and downplay its past history of Islamic extremism in hopes of gaining a spot on the ballot in future Egyptian elections.

"The bylaws have long been a source of discussion and debate on the Internet because of the group's stated intention to create an Islamic state, uniting Muslims around the world," observes Steven Emerson, executive director of The Investigative Project on Terrorism.

"It's not clear why the bylaws disappeared, but the timing is highly suspicious. With a genuine opportunity to appear on an Egyptian ballot, they have vanished from public view within days of President Hosni Mubarak's ouster."

Tellingly, the bylaws remain posted on the Brotherhood's Arabic-language site, Emerson notes.

The vanished bylaws cited "the need to work on establishing the Islamic State," and sought "the sincere support for a global cooperation in accordance with the provisions of the Islamic shariah."

They also stressed the "need to inform the masses, Muslim and non-Muslims, of Islamic teachings."

Emerson writes: "Now, it seems, the Brotherhood sees its written bylaws as something they don't want to be read by the English-speaking world."

As for claims the Brotherhood is moderating its positions, Emerson discloses that as recently as September, the organization's General Guide Mohammed Badie said Muslims are duty-bound to make the Koran the law of Egypt.

And another senior member of the Brotherhood, Kamal Helbawy, said a week ago that Egypt needs "innocent, honest and brave leaders like" Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV in February, former Assistant Defense Secretary Richard Perle warned: "The Muslim Brotherhood is potentially a very serious problem, since it is committed to the global expansion of an extreme approach to Islam, which is strict shariah law.

"I know a lot of people take a different view now, but they're not looking at what the Muslim Brotherhood has done from its inception and they're not listening to what the Muslim Brotherhood is saying in Arabic. They're listening to what's being said in English and that's a very different story."

Editor's Note:

Doctor Shows How to Accurately Test Your Thyroid at Home

5. Slain Border Agent Fired Beanbags at Bandits

Border Patrol agents followed instructions and shot non-lethal beanbags at illegal aliens in Arizona before the illegals fired back with real bullets and killed an agent, newly released documents reveal.

A team of agents confronted the illegals — who were armed with AK-47s and suspected of robbing drug runners and illegal immigrants — on the night of Dec. 14 in remote Peck Canyon.

FBI search warrant requests filed in a Tucson court and viewed by the Arizona Daily Star disclosed: "When the suspected aliens did not drop their weapons, two Border Patrol agents deployed 'less than lethal' beanbags at the suspected aliens. At this time, at least one of the suspected aliens fired at the Border Patrol agents. Two Border Patrol agents returned fire, one with his long gun and one with his pistol.

"Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was shot with one bullet and died shortly after. One of the suspected illegal aliens, later identified as Manuel Osorio-Arellanes, was also shot."

Brian Terry's brother Kent said the other agents at the shooting site told him they were instructed to use the non-lethal beanbags first — a policy that doesn't make sense, he told the Daily Star.

"You go up against a bandit crew that is carrying AKs, and you walk out there with guns loaded with beanbags," he said. "I don't get it.

"These guys are professionals. They should be able to use their judgment."

The search warrants were requested to examine fingerprints and a hair sample from Osorio-Arellanes, who remains in custody.

The Daily Star reported its disclosures on Thursday, a day after authorities said a man beheaded in a suburban Phoenix apartment was killed for stealing drugs from a Mexican cartel.

Editor's Note:

Doctor Uses a Deck of Playing Cards to Boost Memory

6. We Heard: TSA, Oprah Winfrey

THAT the owner of a restaurant near the Seattle-Tacoma Airport in Washington is protesting the Transportation Security Administration's intrusive pat-down procedures and body scanners by declaring the café a "No-Eat Zone" for TSA employees.

"We have posted signs on our doors basically saying that they aren't allowed to come into our business," one restaurant worker told a reporter.

"My boss flies quite a bit and he has an amazing ability to remember faces. If he sees a TSA agent come in we turn our backs and completely ignore them, and tell them to leave."

THAT Oprah Winfrey's new television channel OWN is floundering in the ratings two months after its launch.

Ratings are 10 percent lower than for the cable channel it replaced, Discovery Health, The Telegraph reported.

OWN reaches 70 million homes across the country, but it is being watched by only 135,000 people at any one time.

Editor's Note:

Enlarged Prostate: Is it an Inevitable Part of Aging?

Editor's Notes:

This e-mail is never sent unsolicited. You have received this Newsmax e-mail because you subscribed to it or someone forwarded it to you. To opt out, see the links below.

TO ADVERTISE

For information on advertising, please contact Newsmax Advertising Sales via e-mail.

TO SUBSCRIBE

If this e-mail has been forwarded to you and you would like to sign up, please click here.

Remove your e-mail address from our list or modify your profile. We respect your right to privacy. View our policy.

This e-mail was sent by:
Newsmax.com
4152 West Blue Heron Blvd., Ste. 1114
Riviera Beach, FL 33404 USA

1089990
BCF0-1

Newser Daily Digest - Moore: Wisc. Protesters 'Aroused Sleeping Giant'

Moore: Wisc. Protesters 'Aroused Sleeping Giant'

(Newser) - "America is not broke ... Wisconsin is not broke," said liberal filmmaker Michael Moore to more than 30,000 cheering protesters in Wisconsin yesterday, adding, "The only thing that's broke is the moral compass of the rulers." Moore said that the wealthy elite had overreached with Gov.... More »