"GATECRASHERS" SYSTEMIC FAILURES WITHIN THE SECRET SERVICE

UPDATE BREAKING: 15:30 10/1/14 Secret Service Director Julia Pierson Resigns.

Last night Rachel Maddow dissected the systemic problems within the elite units of the Secret Service.

Video Courtesy of MSNBC




Facing blistering criticism from Congress, Secret Service Director Julia Pierson acknowledged on Tuesday the agency fell short in executing its plan to protect the White House when a man with a knife entered the mansion and ran through half the ground floor before being subdued.

Despite the extraordinary lapses in the Sept. 19 incident, Julia Pierson asserted: “The president is safe today.”

Hours later, reports emerged of yet another failure in Secret Service protocol, this time in President Barack Obama’s presence.

On Sept. 16, an armed federal contractor rode on an elevator with Obama and his security detail while the president was visiting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, the Washington Examiner reported. The Washington Post reported similar details and added that the man had three convictions for assault and battery. The office of Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, who has helped lead Congress’ investigation, said a whistleblower had provided him the same details.

The gun was discovered only because the contractor was questioned after he persisted in taking video of Obama on the elevator, the reports said. The contractor was fired immediately by his employers.

A Secret Service official confirmed the incident reported by the newspapers but declined to comment further, citing an ongoing investigation of the event.

Was Obama informed? It was unclear. But Pierson, under questioning at the hearing, said she is the one who briefs Obama on threats to his personal security and that she had briefed him only once this year, “for the Sept. 19 incident.”

At the Capitol, Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike expressed the view that the Sept. 19 breach of White House security had blemished the storied agency, and several pressed for an independent inquiry into what went wrong. They were not assuaged by Pierson’s vow that “I’ll make sure that it does not happen again” or by the agency’s own investigation.

“I wish to God you protected the White House like you protected your reputation here today,” Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts told Pierson at a public hearing that was followed by a classified, closed-door briefing. Rep. Chaffetz said afterward: “The more I learn, the more it scares me.”

It's time for Ms. Pierson to resign, and its time to put some six sigma efforts into why Secret Service processes are failing.

NFTOS

Editor-In-Chief

Roger West

WHITE HOUSE EMAILS UNDERMINE AMERICAN TALIBAN'S COVER UP CLAIMS

On Wednesday, just days after Congress held hearings claiming that the Obama administration misled the public in the aftermath of the Sep. 11, 2012 attack on an American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, the White House released 100 pages of emails that seem to undermine GOP claims that the White House orchestrated a “cover-up.”

The e-mails between the White House, CIA, State Department, Justice Department, and the FBI were part of an effort to draft unclassified talking points for lawmakers to use during media appearances and formed the basis of U.N. Ambassador’s Susan Rice’s prep for the Sunday morning talk shows. The CIA wrote the first draft of the talking points, before sending it out to the rest of the government. Click the pictures to view larger versions of the emails that debunk the basis many of the Republican’s claims of a conspiracy.

GOP Claim: The Obama administration struck references about Al Qaeda for political reasons.

In the very first of the declassified emails in the set, the CIA is revealed to have willingly struck references to Al Qaeda’s involvement in the attack, a deletion that conservatives have previously slammed as political in nature. A CIA official, responding to an inquiry about whether or not the Agency was sure that Al Qaeda took part in the attack, noted that the initial draft “could be interpreted that way,” suggesting that the document be revised to say that terrorist group took part in the protests instead. The CIA was also under “express instructions” to avoid naming perpetrators so to not to undermine the FBI’s investigation, according to an email from Sept. 14.

GOP Claim: Obama lied about there being a protest in Benghazi to hide that it was a terrorist attack.

The addition of references to “demonstrations,” another email shows, was completed before the document was sent out to the rest of the government, as was that the attack was “spontaneously inspired by the protests at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.” The fact that no protest actually occurred in Benghazi prior to the attack was used as another data point that the Obama administration was hiding something about its response to the attack. Rather than being political, however, it appears the CIA made the changes to make the talking points more accurate based on what information was currently available, a situation that is often the case when dealing with intelligence.

GOP Claim: The White House directed the intelligence agency to lie about whether Islamic terrorists were involved.

John Brennan, then the White House Advisor on Homeland Security and Counter-terrorism and now the CIA Director, reviewed the talking points as well, but didn't perform the scrubbing many conservatives have suggested the White House enacted. Instead, Brennan left in place a reference to “Islamic extremists” in his suggested edit, undercutting the notion that the administration wanted to hide the nature of the attack. In fact, the White House, according to an email to then-CIA Director “cleared [the document] quickly.” Over the course of the next day, after State and Justice were looped in, the turf war that has been previously reported played out.


GOP Claim: Susan Rice had access to the classified information and lied about it on television.

On Sept. 15, the talking points were finally sent to Congress after multiple edits and provided to Rice to prepare for her Sunday show appearances the next morning. We now know that Saturday evening the intelligence community received new information related to whether or not a demonstration took place, not in time to change the points. Instead, Rice gave the much shortened talking points as provided, setting off the firestorm that eventually ensued.

To date Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) still isn't convinced no cover-up occurred. After telling CNN host Wolf Blitzer, “We’re not accusing anyone of anything sinister,” just one minute later, he implied that the CIA was forced to provide false information. “How did they go from the correct information to the incorrect information, and isn't 100 pages or more a push-back on the CIA effectively telling the CIA, ‘ You've got to change your story?’” Issa asked.

Read all of the emails here.




NFTOS
STAFF WRITER

Taxes on the wealthy are going up, House Speaker John Boehner conceded Wednesday in challenging President Barack Obama to sit down with him to hammer out a deal for avoiding the fiscal cliff.

Obama, however, continued to insist on Republicans first ensuring no tax hike for anyone but the top 2% of Americans as a first step toward a broader agreement on tackling the nation's chronic federal deficits and debt.

The statements reflected how negotiations on the automatic spending cuts and tax hikes set to occur on January 1 -- the fiscal cliff -- have evolved since Obama's re-election last month.



Republicans once opposed to any new revenue in their quest to shrink government now realize Obama's victory and public support for the president's campaign theme of higher taxes on the wealthy leave them with little negotiating leverage.

Less than four weeks from the fiscal cliff, GOP leaders face a choice: Agreeing to Obama's demand to hold down tax rates on most Americans while allowing higher rates on top earners, or being blamed for everyone's taxes going up in 2013.

The major unresolved question of negotiations involving the White House and congressional leaders is whether eliminating tax deductions and loopholes -- as proposed by House Republicans -- can raise enough revenue without hitting middle-class Americans too hard.

"We have got to cut spending and I believe it is appropriate to put revenues on the table," Boehner told reporters on Wednesday. "Now, the revenues that we are putting on the table are going to come from guess who? The rich."

He continued by saying "there are ways to limit deductions, close loopholes and have the same people pay more of their money to the federal government without raising tax rates, which we believe will harm our economy."

In remarks to business leaders on Wednesday, Obama said Boehner and Republicans have to take the first step.

"I think there is recognition that maybe they can accept some rate increases as long as it is combined with serious entitlement reform and additional spending cuts," the president said. "And if we can get the leadership on the Republican side to take that framework, to acknowledge that reality, then the numbers actually aren't that far apart."

He added that "we can probably solve this in about a week -- it's not that tough."

At the same time, Obama rejected tying the negotiations to the need to raise the federal debt ceiling, like the brinksmanship last year that led to an unprecedented downgrade in the U.S. credit rating.

Boehner has said a debt ceiling increase would require an equal amount of spending cuts or other deficit reduction.

"If Congress, in any way, suggests that they are going to tie negotiations to debt ceiling votes and take us to the brink of default once again as part of a budget negotiation, which by the way we have never done in our history until we did it last year, I will not play that game," Obama said. "Because we've got to break that habit before it starts."

Economists warn that the fiscal cliff's automatic tax hikes and spending cuts would invite recession.

Polls show that more Americans will blame Republicans, instead of Obama and Democrats, if there is no deal and the nation goes over the fiscal cliff.

A Washington Post/Pew Research Center survey released Tuesday put the margin at 53%-27% in citing Republicans or Obama. A CNN/ORC International poll released last week showed 45% would blame congressional Republicans compared to 34% who would hold Obama responsible.

Republican Rep. Raul Labrador of Idaho acknowledged Wednesday that his side was losing the messaging battle.

"We continue to talk about tax rate increases instead of how tax rate increases actually affect individuals," Labrador said, adding: "We're identified as a party that only cares about business. We should care about individuals."

All signs point to a continuing standoff, at least for now. No formal negotiating sessions are known to be scheduled, and congressional aides say no back-channel discussions are taking place.

The House is scheduled to adjourn for the year on December 14, but House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Wednesday the chamber would remain in session until a fiscal cliff deal gets reached.

Boehner and other Republican leaders implored through the media for Obama to talk to them about the deficit-reduction plan they offered earlier this week, which the White House rejected as unrealistic.

Asked about Congress scheduling no further business this week with GOP members going home, Boehner said: "I'll be here and I'll be available at any moment to sit down with the president to get serious about solving this problem

Rep. Kevin McCarthy added a dramatic flair, calling the next 72 hours "critical" for the negotiations.

If Obama "sits back and continue to play politics, that'll give your answer of where we're going," he said, calling the moment "an opportunity for the president to lead."

At issue are competing proposals by Obama and House Republicans that coincide in some areas but differ on the tax-rate question.

Obama demands that the House immediately pass a measure already approved by the Senate to extend tax cuts for families making less than $250,000 a year while allowing rates to return to higher Clinton-era levels for wealthier households.

Both sides agree that the 98% of Americans making less than $250,000 a year should avoid a tax hike when the tax cuts from the Bush administration expire on December 31, Obama and Democrats argue. They call for the House to guarantee that outcome by passing the Senate measure now.

Once that happens, Obama and Democratic leaders promise, they will work out compromises on other deficit reduction steps sought by Republicans, such as reforms to the Medicare and Medicaid entitlement programs as part of further spending cuts.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV aired on Tuesday, Obama said Republicans need to accept the reality that deficit reduction requires higher tax rates on the wealthy.

"The issue right now, that is relevant, is the acknowledgment that if we're going to raise revenues that are sufficient to balance with the very tough cuts that we have already made and the future reforms in entitlements that I'm prepared to make, then we are going to have to see the rates on the top 2% go up, " the president said. "We will not be able to get a deal without it."

At the same time, Obama said negotiations next year on broader tax reform could bring lower rates.

House Republicans led by Boehner made a major proposal on Monday by offering a series of steps to reduce the nation's chronic federal deficits by $2.2 trillion over 10 years.

The GOP proposal includes $800 billion from tax reform, $600 billion from Medicare reforms and other health savings and $600 billion in other spending cuts, House Republican leadership aides said. It also pledges $200 billion in savings by revising the consumer price index, a measure of inflation.

While the Republicans gave ground by calling for more revenue through tax reform, the plan only mentioned unspecified elimination of some deductions and loopholes.

At the same time, they rejected the Democratic call for higher tax rates on wealthier Americans, contending the move would inhibit economic growth by raising taxes on small business owners, many of whom declare business profits on their personal income tax returns.

The White House and Democratic leaders immediately rejected the Republican approach, saying it lacked specifics and would require middle-class taxpayers to assume a greater burden while easing rates on the rich.

Jason Furman, an assistant to Obama on economic policy, told reporters Wednesday that the president wants to ensure additional revenue from higher taxes on the wealthy now to help avoid the fiscal cliff. He described the Republican proposal for more revenue as lacking specifics.

"Tell us what it is. Show us a score," Furman said. "Tell us how it locks in revenue because you're trying to actually pass a bill this year, not engage in some long process around tax reform, which we don't have time to do by the end of this year. "

On Tuesday, leading conservatives blasted the House Republican proposal that breaks with years of GOP orthodoxy by calling for more taxes to be paid by wealthier Americans.

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina, said the "offer of an $800 billion tax hike will destroy jobs and allow politicians in Washington to spend even more." Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, said it would be "a huge mistake to raise taxes. It will cripple the economy."

However, some top Senate Republicans -- many of them conservatives -- withheld harsh criticism of the plan even as they refused to embrace it.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell sidestepped the question when asked directly if he backed the plan.

"I commend the House Republican leadership for trying to move the process along and getting to a point where, hopefully, we can have a real discussion," McConnell said.

Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, a senior Republican on the Finance Committee, said he would support Boehner's plan to raise revenue, but only if there is a "willingness on the part of Democrats to accept spending cuts that are three-to-one or four-to-one."

The current negotiations take place amid the lame-duck session of Congress before the newly elected legislators arrive in January. Possible outcomes include an agreement now to avoid the fiscal cliff and devise a framework for further negotiations in the new Congress on a broader deficit reduction deal.

While the White House has made clear Obama will veto any measure that fails to increase tax rates on the wealthy, aides have signaled a possible willingness to negotiate the specific rate increase.

Asked repeatedly Tuesday about whether Obama insisted on a return to the 1990s rates on income over $250,000 for families or $200,000 for individuals, White House spokesman Jay Carney responded by saying the president would refuse to sign any measure extending the current lower rates.

In the interview with Bloomberg TV, Obama said lower tax rates for the wealthy could be negotiated as part of broader tax reform in 2013, but only after those rates increase now.

Obama's deficit-reduction plan would increase taxes by almost $1 trillion over 10 years, a significant portion of a $4 trillion overall deficit-reduction goal.

It also would close loopholes, limit deductions, raise the estate tax rate to 2009 levels and increases tax rates on capital gains and dividends.

The Obama plan includes $50 billion in stimulus spending for programs intended to create jobs, such as repairing roads and bridges.

Experts have said failing to reach a fiscal cliff deal and devise a framework for a broader deficit reduction package to be negotiated when the new Congress is seated in January will cause economic turmoil.

The non-partisan Tax Policy Center estimates that middle-class families would pay about $2,000 a year more in taxes without action.

For now, the debate has the business community perplexed, said Fred Smith, the chief executive officer of FedEx Corp., considered a bellwether on the economy.

Smith told CNN Tuesday that he and other top business leaders "look at the situation in Washington with complete amazement and dismay."

"The problem is the ideological pinnings on both sides of this argument are so difficult to bridge," Smith said, adding it will "be hard for them to get a deal."

NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West