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Friday's December jobs report was a major disappointment, showing the economy gained just 74k jobs last month. Economists had expected the economy to gain around 200k jobs. The unemployment rate, however, dropped to 6.7% as 347k frustrated job-seekers gave up and left the labor force. We are in an upside-down world where a drop in the unemployment rate is a bad sign for the economy. The overall labor force shrunk dramatically last year. In December 2012, 155.4 million workers had a job or were actively looking for one. Last month, though, 154.9 million were in the labor force, a drop...

FOUR bishops in the United States have published a book, Bishops on the Border, that calls for immigration reform, and urges Christians in the US to approach the issue with compassion. Bishop Minerva Carcaño, of the United Methodist Church; Bishop Stephen Talmage, of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; the Roman Catholic Bishop of Tucson, the Rt Revd Gerald Kicanas; and the Episcopal Bishop of Arizona, the Rt Revd Kirk Smith, all minister in Arizona - a state where large numbers of Mexicans have illegally crossed the border in recent years. The bishops explain their experiences of the debate over...

Michelle Obama doesn't want jewelry or chocolates for her 50th birthday later this month. She wants to be alone. President Barack Obama returned to Washington Saturday after two weeks of vacationing with his family in Hawaii. He left with daughters Sasha and Malia. Michelle stayed behind. 'As part of her birthday gift from the president, the first lady will remain in Hawaii to spend time with friends ahead of her upcoming 50th birthday,' the White House explained in a statement. The First Lady turns the big 5 - 0 on January 17. The White House did not say how much...

A church is in a clash with Nevada County after being told to take down a sign with an American flag and a message to support the troops. Simple Truth Church put up the sign to cover an old, rundown billboard. However the “Support Our Troops” sign is becoming quite controversial. If the church doesn’t remove the sign, it could be fined.

If Democrats get their way, the next phase of the Obamacare wars will see something unusual: a flood of success stories.The White House, Democratic lawmakers and advocacy organizations will launch a campaign this week to highlight real-life experiences under the Affordable Care Act — tales so compelling that they help drive up enrollment, marginalize Republican repeal efforts and erase memories of this fall’s HealthCare.gov debacle.

A top congressional Republican is saying a new report that concludes Al Qaeda did not carry out the 2012 attack on the U.S diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, is “misleading.” The new report published Saturday in the New York Times concludes that there was no evidence that Al Qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role in the assault that took place on September 11, 2012, and that it appeared that the attack was fueled in large part by anger at an American-made anti-Islamic video, as the Obama administration first claimed. New York Rep. Peter King, member and former...

If there was ever any doubt as to the voter power welded by African-Americans in upcoming elections, the latest tweet from the GOP should cast away all doubt. On Thursday the GOP tweeted, "Happy Kwanzaa" wishes to all those who celebrate the holiday. "Happy Kwanzaa! Wishing those celebrating a joyous time with loved ones and a time of meaningful reflection ahead of the New Year," the tweet read. Most who commented on the tweet saw this as another flat attempt to reach out to black voters as primary season has officially begun.  "I want to extend my best wishes to...

At midnight Monday, the official deadline arrives for Americans to sign up through the new federal health insurance exchange for health plans that begin Jan. 1. But, without any public announcement, Obama administration officials have changed the rules so that people will have an extra day to enroll, according to two individuals with knowledge of the switch. Over the weekend, government officials and outside IT contractors working on the online marketplace’s computer system made a software change that automatically gives people a Jan. 1 start date for their new coverage as long as they enroll by 11:59 p.m. on Christmas...

This is a story that has caught very little attention, but needs to be circulated as wide as possible. The world of government-managed health care is about to get very ugly for millions of senior citizens who rely on Medicare for their coverage. Quietly announced on the day after Thanksgiving, the Obama administration has decided to cut Medicare home health benefits to the tune of 14% between 2014 and 2017. Some of America's most vulnerable citizens are under attack from a liberal administration who is determined to have its way with our health care system. What does this mean for...

As Nick Gillespie noted this morning, some of the criticism of the horrible Obamacare enrollment ads featuring the young hipster in pajamas has some subtextual nonsense tied to perceptions of the sexual orientation and identity of the model. It’s particularly silly because nobody who has had any experience dealing with actual gay men would have picked that man to sell Obamacare. Here is how Obamacare is being sold to actual gay men: [VIDEO AT THE LINK]

President Barack Obama is golfing on his first day of vacation. Obama, typically an early riser, got a late start, staying at the home until early afternoon, when he headed to the golf course at a nearby Marine Corps base. Joining Obama for the round of golf were Sam Kass, the White House chef; Marvin Nicholson, Obama's trip director and a frequent golf partner; and childhood friend Bobby Titcomb, the White House said. The presidential motorcade left his Kailua vacation home and arrived at Marine Corps Base Hawaii at about 1:10 p.m. Obama, in white golf shirt, hat and sunglasses,...

Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D., Texas) took to the House floor on Thursday to call for a vote on legislation that would, she said, give unemployment benefits to people with jobs. “Let us vote to provide for unemployment insurance for working men and women,” Jackson-Lee pleaded. So we can’t be only about our self in this holiday season, particularly as we recognize that the Pope being made man of the year has spoken to the world eloquently about this whole issue of the vulnerable. And so I ask this, Mr. Woodall, and the Rules Committee, let’s put the Van Hollen-Lee-Levin amendment...

SNIP The atmosphere was totally relaxed – I didn’t see anything shocking in my viewfinder, president of the US or not. We are in Africa. I later read on social media that Michelle Obama seemed to be rather peeved on seeing the Danish prime minister take the picture. But photos can lie. In reality, just a few seconds earlier the first lady was herself joking with those around her, Cameron and Schmidt included. Her stern look was captured by chance. I took these photos totally spontaneously, without thinking about what impact they might have. At the time, I thought the...

President Obama took a selfie with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt while seated in the audience at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service in South Africa on Tuesday.

Sean Hannity on FOX News reported Wednesday President Obama did not hold a private One-to-One meeting with HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for three-and-a-half years leading up to the Obamacare launch. From July 2010 until November 2013 Obama did not hold any private meetings with Secretary Sebelius according to the official White House calendar. Obama met with his other cabinet secretaries 277 times during the same time period. [video] Posted by Jim Hoft on Wednesday, December 4, 2013, 9:20 PM Sean Hannity on FOX News reported Wednesday President Obama did not hold a private One-to-One meeting with HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius...

Updating our earlier report on Senior Master Sergeant Phillip Monk, a Christian serving in the Air Force whose unit is now commanded by a lesbian: according to Monk’s complaint filed with his superiors, he was relieved of duty for refusing his commander’s order to say he supports gay marriage. Now the Air Force has taken the first steps to criminally investigate Monk for talking to the media about his situation. Despite the fact that earlier this year the Obama-Hagel Pentagon said they would never court-martial a service member for their Christian faith, they have taken the first steps to possibly...

There's a fascinating series over at Newsflavor from a White House mole deep inside and high up -- think 'deepthroat." I was waiting for the bomb to drop, but it's more like Scheherazade ............... Obama is a disaster. Everyone knows. Anyone aiding and abetting the enemy in the White House be damned. It's America first, stupid. This is why the left is so dangerous. •White House Insider: Pelosi and Obama at War •White House Insider: Coming Soon – Serious White House Scandal •White House Insider: Obama Offering Hillary Clinton Vice President Position •Food for Thought •White House Insider: "President Obama...

[Camron] was not briefed until shortly after 2pm, 10 hours after the package was found and 16 hours after Barack Obama, the US President, was informed of the threat. Only at 7:45pm was a statement released by Theresa May, the Home Secretary. (snip) There were also questions last night about the confused response from British police, who were only prompted to admit the package had been found after reports emerged in the US - 13 hours after the event. It was Mr Obama who broke the news that explosives had been discovered in the packages, a suggestion police sources in...

Two of Connecticut's Democratic Congressmen are in dead heats in a new poll with just days to go before Election Day. 5th District Congressman Chris Murphy is trailing his Republican challenger Sam Caliguiri by a slim margin in the poll conducted by the Merriman River Group. Caliguri has 46.9 percent of the vote to Murphy's 45.5 percent, according to the poll commissioned by CT Capitol Report. The poll does have some good news for Murphy, who is seeking his third term in Congress. "It appears that Representative Chris Murphy has closed the gap in recent days," the poll's director Matthew...

Yesterday on FoxNews I heard Geraldine Ferraro say that whoever coined the term ObamaCare was brilliant. She said it took all the negatives of the plan and tied it around Obama's neck. So I know my fellow Freepers will have the answer to the question "Who first coined the word "ObamaCare". Also, since the people clearly regard ObamaCare as negative, how are conservatives going to get us back to FreeMarket Health Care?