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  1. #1
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    Senate passes $607B Defense bill



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    December 19, 2013, 11:46 pm Senate passes $607B Defense bill

    By Jeremy Herb and Ramsey Cox

    The Senate on Thursday evening passed the $607 billion Defense authorization bill that will reform the way the military handles sexual assault cases and loosen the restriction on transferring Guantánamo Bay detainees to foreign countries.

    The Senate sent the bill to the president’s desk for the 52nd straight year in a 84-15 vote, after some legislative maneuvering was needed to extend the streak and quickly get a compromise bill through both chambers this month.

    Nearly three-quarters of Republicans joined most Democrats in voting for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which authorizes $527 billion in base defense spending and $80 billion for the war in Afghanistan.

    Twelve Republicans and three Democrats voted against the legislation, including Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), and potential 2016 hopefuls Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

    On Wednesday, the Senate voted 71-29 to end debate on the bill, showing there was bipartisan support for the last-minute defense deal negotiated by House and Senate Armed Services Committee leaders. But Some Republicans still insisted on dragging out the clock for debate as a protest for rushing the process and changing filibuster rules.

    Armed Services leaders said the Defense bill had to be completed before the end of the year because it has a number of expiring provisions, such as special pay bonuses for troops. They argued the bill would not get a vote in a crowded calendar next year.

    They argued the bill could not be altered because the House adjourned last week. The lower chamber passed the compromise Defense bill 350-69 in the final House vote of the year.

    “Because the House has already left for the year, the only way we’re going to get a Defense bill enacted is passing the bill in front of us,” Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said Thursday. “The bill before us is right for our troops and their families.

    “This is not the ideal way to pass a defense bill … [but] this is the best we can do,” he added.

    Lawmakers had wanted amendments to the Defense bill on issues including Iran sanctions, military sexual assault, the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs and now the provision in the budget deal cutting military retiree benefits.

    Republicans blamed Reid for jamming the bill through the Senate.

    “Why is it that [the Majority Leader is] blocking a vote on a relative amendment?” said Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas.). He tried to table Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) amendments, but his motion failed in a 45-55 party-line vote.

    The Senate took up the Defense bill before Thanksgiving, and had two amendment votes dealing with Guantánamo Bay detainees. After those votes, a dispute over amendments halted any more action in the Senate, and Republicans filibustered a vote to end debate.

    Over the recess, the “big four” leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee hashed out a final Defense bill, merging the bill that passed the House with the measure that cleared the Senate Armed Services panel.

    Republicans in the Senate were angry with Reid for preventing them from offering amendments, but 16 still went along with Democrats Wednesday to move forward on the bill without any changes.

    “We’re getting sick and tired of the dictatorial way that the United States Senate is being run,” said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), one of the most vocal backers of passing the Defense bill this year.

    "By not even fully debating and amending this bill, you are doing a disservice to the men and women serving this nation,” McCain said.

    Armed Services leaders acknowledged that the December time-crunch in the Senate over the Defense bill could have been avoided had Reid put the measure on the floor earlier in the year. Levin said he would lobby the majority leader to bring the bill to the floor earlier in 2014.
    “That’s always true,” Levin said of seeking earlier votes on the Defense bill. “He knows I want to try to get the bill up earlier, he knew that obviously [this year], but he’s got a lot of things on his schedule.”

    The final bill included many new reforms to how the military prosecutes sexual assault and treats victims. The bill strips commanders’ ability to overturn guilty verdicts, changes the military’s pre-trial rules for interviewing victims, expands a special victims counsel for sexual assault survivors and makes retaliating against victims a crime.

    The bill does not, however, include a controversial proposal from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) to take sexual assault cases from the chain of command. Before Thanksgiving, Republicans blocked Reid’s attempt to hold votes on Gillibrand’s amendment and a competing measure from Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.).

    The Gillibrand and McCaskill proposals are expected to get votes as standalone legislation early next year.

    While the budget deal that passed the Senate Wednesday will ease the sequester burden on the Pentagon in 2014, the Defense bill spending is still $32 billion above the defense spending caps in the budget agreement.

    The sweeping Pentagon policy bill will somewhat ease the restrictions on transferring Guantánamo Bay detainees to foreign countries, a compromise reached between the two chambers during the informal conference committee.

    The bill also allows the annual raise for service members to be lowered to one percent in 2014, by not taking a position on it. The House-passed bill had included a 1.8 percent raise.

    Congress blocked a number of cost-cutting proposals the Pentagon had requested, including a new round of base closures or increases to TRICARE, the military’s health program.

    The Defense bill also prevents the Air Force from retiring its Global Hawk Block 30 drones and the A-10 “Warthog” fleet.


    http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill...s-defense-bill

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    Saturday, December 21, 2013

    Bigger, Badder NDAA 2014 Quietly Passed the House and Senate – On the Way to Obama’s Desk



    Daisy Luther
    Activist Post

    While everyone is distracted with the holiday festivities, Congress has been hard at work, screwing us over in the name of national security.

    Yesterday the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act was fast-tracked through the Senate, with no time for discussion or amendments. And, you know, it's Christmastime, so they just passed it so that they could recess for the holidays. The new version of the NDAA has already been quietly passed by the House of Representatives.

    It authorizes massive spending, including $527 billion in base defense spending for the current fiscal year, funding for the war in Afghanistan, and funding for nuclear weapons programs.

    The indefinite detention allowed by the original NDAA is still here, and it’s actually worse now, because there are provisions that will make it easier for the government to target those who disagree.

    Section 1071 outlines the creation of the “Conflict Records Research Center”, where the unconstitutionally obtained information that the NSA has collected is compiled and shared with the Department of Defense. The information, called in the wording “captured records,” can be anything from your phone records, emails, browsing history or posts on social media sites.



    The New American reports in detail on the expansion of powers:
    For two years, the NDAA included provisions that purported to authorize the president of the United States to deploy the U.S. military to apprehend and indefinitely detain any person (including an American citizen) who he believes “represent[s] an enduring security threat to the United States.”
    Such an immense grant of power is not only unconscionable, but unconstitutional, as well.
    Regardless of promises to the contrary made every year since 2011 by President Obama, the language of the NDAA places every citizen of the United States within the universe of potential “covered persons.” Any American could one day find himself or herself branded a “belligerent” and thus subject to the complete confiscation of his or her constitutional civil liberties and to nearly never-ending incarceration in a military prison.
    Finally, there is in the NDAA for 2014 a frightening fusion of the federal government’s constant surveillance of innocent Americans and the assistance it will give to justifying the indefinite detention of anyone labeled an enemy of the regime.
    Section 1071 of the version of the 2014 NDAA approved by the House and Senate committees this week expands on the scope of surveillance established by the Patriot Act and the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF).
    Section 1071(a) authorizes the secretary of defense to “establish a center to be known as the ‘Conflict Records Research Center.’” According to the text of the latest version of the NDAA, the center’s task would be to compile a “digital research database including translations and to facilitate research and analysis of records captured from countries, organizations, and individuals, now or once hostile to the United States.”
    In order to accomplish the center’s purpose, the secretary of defense will create an information exchange in cooperation with the director of national intelligence.
    Key to the functioning of this information exchange will be the collection of “captured records.” Section 1071(g)(1), defines a captured record as “a document, audio file, video file, or other material captured during combat operations from countries, organizations, or individuals, now or once hostile to the United States.”
    When read in conjunction with the provision of the AUMF that left the War on Terror open-ended and the prior NDAAs’ classification of the United States as a battleground in that unconstitutional war, and you’ve got a powerful combination that can knock out the entire Bill of Rights.
    Finally, when all the foregoing is couched within the context of the revelations regarding the dragnet surveillance programs of the NSA, it becomes evident that anyone’s phone records, e-mail messages, browsing history, text messages, and social media posts could qualify as a “captured record.”
    After being seized by the NSA (or some other federal surveillance apparatus), the materials would be processed by the Conflict Records Research Center created by this bill. This center’s massive database of electronic information and its collaboration with the NSA converts the United States into a constantly monitored holding cell and all its citizens and residents into suspects. All, of course, in the name of the security of the homeland. (source)
    One thing that was omitted is the amendment on the prosecution of sexual assaults in the military. So, we can all be locked up indefinitely for crimes that haven’t been proven, but they don’t care so much if military members continue to rape other military members.
    The final compromise, fashioned by the leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees, leaves out Democratic language that would have eased restrictions on transferring Gitmo detainees to the United States — a provision that would have helped the administration achieve its goal of shuttering the facility.
    It also does not include a controversial amendment by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand to remove decisions about prosecuting sexual assault from the military chain of command. The New York Democrat says she’s secured a commitment from Reid to bring her proposal to the floor as a stand-alone measure next year. Although she may get her vote, the legislation is not expected to survive in the Republican-controlled House.
    Thursday’s defense bill also sidesteps the debate over Iran. Senators who wanted to offer amendments imposing tougher sanctions were blocked because of the bill’s fast-track process, which supporters said was necessary to get it finished before the end of the year. So Iran sanction hawks’ efforts will have to wait until next year. Movement now toward stricter sanctions, the White House has warned, would undermine its ongoing negotiations to curb Iran’s nuclear program.
    Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) suggested Reid had fast-tracked the defense bill because he “can’t stomach” a politically uncomfortable Iran vote. (source)
    If you’re wondering who this year’s enemies of the Constitution are, here is the roll call from the Senate yesterday.


    source: Activist Post

    Unsurprisingly, there is little hope that President Obama will fail to sign this into law.

    Under the new and “improved” NDAA, I’m a belligerent for writing this, and you’re a belligerent for reading this. God help you if you email someone about it or share it on Facebook. We’re all going to be busted as belligerents under this one.

    See you at Gitmo or the FEMA camps!

    Daisy Luther is a staff writer for The Daily Sheeple, where this first appeared. She lives on a small organic farm in the Pacific Northwestern area of the United States. Daisy is the creator of The Organic Prepper where she writes about healthy prepping, homesteading adventures, and the pursuit of liberty and food freedom. You can follow her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. She can be contacted at daisy@theorganicprepper.ca. Wake the flock up!


    http://www.activistpost.com/2013/12/...ly-passed.html

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  8. #8
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    December 25, 2013
    Don't Say "Christmas," Soldier
    Maybe it was about time to get the Army involved in the War On Christmas – a long march through every corner of American life by the anti-religious, collectivist Left, designed to scour this prime patch of emotional and intellectual real estate clean of all religious significance. You’ll lose this holiday, Christians, even if they have to pry it from your trembling fingers. The big year-end holiday season is too valuable to be left in your hands.

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    Patriot Update


    84 Senators voted for the NDAA. It gives the government the power to indefinitely detain people without charge or trial. Thankfully, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and a handful of other Republicans (and a couple of Democrats) voted against it. Why do our Senators continue to vote against freedom?
    www.patriotupdate.com



    These RINOs Have Got to Go

    By Stephen Bowers / 30 September 2013

    The Senate RINOs slavishly voted as Harry Reid ordered them to vote. They are an obedient bunch. And they know who their master is. The problem is, while they are faithful drudges to Dusty Harry, they cannot recognize their true masters. The rest of us. They serve their own personal interests first in the following order.
    They want to stay in power. But as we saw in 1994, they don’t know how to run things if they fall into power (in 1994 on the coat tails of hapless Clinton and in a reaction to him). Being second fiddle to the Democrats because they aren’t as smart as the Democrats and can’t play to the electorate as well, doesn’t bother them. There is a risk in “playing to the grandstand.” You must have some courage. What if your theatrics fall flat? There is the chance the people in the grandstands may not like you. They may hate you. Maybe the guys who composed your lines are dummies.
    There was a lucrative profession during the Napoleonic era, which consisted of attending debuts of symphonies and plays. The practitioners were called “Clappers.” They were hired to applaud or jeer at the right moment to bolster or condemn the production. Modernly in the political arena, we call those guys the “Press.” They are paid to mess up any theatrics the Republicans’ (or more accurately, Conservatives’) attempt in presenting their views or plans. They got a jolt of a sense of their power when they hammered Nixon and haven’t been the same since. Unfortunately for them, while they learned that they can dethrone a king, they found making one is much more difficult. This frustrates them and makes them nasty, derisive and petulant. Their mindset is “If you think differently than me you are wrong … I am (by definition) right, which means you are “Evil” … and … ergo … I can condemn you in every venue available.” It is circular logic, of course. But it makes liberals feel good about themselves because it allows them to look down on someone, which means they (liberals) are above the people they look down on … and superior to at least someone in the room, which feels really good if you know you really aren’t the smartest person in the room … as you may have claimed. This is a tremendous motivator, because liberals very seldom have anything to feel good about regarding themselves.
    RINOs fear the media because liberals and their media lap doggies can start jeering your performance on cue, and you’re a goner. So RINOs have very few ideas they want to trot onto the public stage. It’s just too risky. And they have discovered it is even safer to follow the Democrat herds because the press will not notice them. You’re under the radar.
    Of course, the other reason RINOs want to stay in power, is they like the power. Even if they are second fiddle to the Democrats they still get to enjoy the benefits of standing idly by in the corridors of power, even if they don’t get to yank the “levers of power” real hard whenever they want to like their Democrat masters. Even “second fiddle” power is sweet. People want your autograph and you can smugly deprive them. (They’re only dingy constituents. Screw ‘em! I’m engaging in fine dining in my favorite eatery, after all. Go away and take your street urchin progeny with you! How dare you?!?) You get your picture taken frequently and sometimes the press will even give you an approving caption, i.e., “Senator Second fiddle was seen yesterday at Walter Reed Hospital cutting the ribbon on a new phrenology clinic for the Vets, many of whom stood silently around, but were unacknowledged by the good Senator.” You might even get into a photo with Dusty Harry who might be seen giving you a mildly approving supercilious smirk. Hey … it’s better than him telling the press a nasty and politically damaging lie he made up about you (remember how Romney hadn’t paid taxes in ten years … or something like that?), which might actually be true about you! That’s always a risk! Limousines, Congressional junkets with your family along, big fat salary with incredible benefits, lifetime gigantic pensions etc, etc, etc. Life is good. Really good, (just as long as you can avoid those often ugly Town Hall Meetings back home with those scruffy and nosey constituents with those pesky and uninformed queries about “Where in H%$&^LL our tax dollars are goin?” And their runny nosed kids and howling dogs … and their torches and pitchforks).
    All those goodies in exchange for just keeping quiet, engaging in no grandstanding and going along to get along. There, there, that’s a nice RINO.
    But the party may be nearing its conclusion.

    People are waking up to the fact that politics matter. P.J. O’Rourke said, “Bad politics gets you dead.” Plato said “If you don’t take an interest in politics you will be doomed to governance by your lessers.” (With apologies to both fellows if I got the quotes fouled.)
    These RINO jerks have to go.


    Read more at http://eaglerising.com/1988/rinos-go...DY1D5VHZVS8.99

    Last edited by kathyet2; 12-29-2013 at 02:43 PM.

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