ActRight

"They were supposed to expose and inform the people in a nonpartisan way," he lamented.

The conventional wisdom is that Vladimir Putin has blindsided Barack Obama in the Middle East, catching the U.S. off-guard.

BOOM!

Crowds gathered at the Million Man March in Washington, D.C. were led in a "down, down USA" chant Saturday morning by a female speaker.  The Native American woman proclaimed that Muammar "Gaddafi is still alive" and called for President Barack Obama to pardon Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist...

Oh, that conventional wisdom. It's a security blanket for pundits and the lazy man's way to becoming an 'expert' on just about anything.But sometimes, we discover that conventional wisdom is a load of hornswoggle. For instance, it's been de rigueur for Democrats to claim unequivocally that Republicans have been moving farther and farther to the right, thus polarizing our politics and creating gridlock in Washington, while Democrats have become rational, reasonable, and centrist.In the immortal words of Independence Day's Defense Secretary Albert Nimziki: 'That's not entirely accurate.'The American Interest:At least since the 2010 midterms, it’s been a liberal talking point that Republican extremism is to blame for political polarization and gridlock. In the old days, the argument goes, Republicans were a moderate party, but over the past generation the GOP has been gradually taken over by its far-right wing. Before the last GOP debate, for example, the Center for American Progress launched a “Right of Reagan” campaign to supposedly show “how the extremism of today’s Republican presidential candidates sets them apart from their conservative idol.”But as the debates over issues like the $15 minimum wage, healthcare, and universal preschool have already shown, the Democrats have moved to the left at least as quickly as the Republicans have moved to the right. After all, Hillary Clinton has to renounce a good chunk of her husband’s positions to be competitive in the 2016 primary.Now, a paper on polarization and inequality released in August by political scientists from Princeton, Georgetown, and the University of Oregon (and highlighted this week in a Washington Postarticle) provides some empirical evidence that Democratic Party’s leftward drift is more pronounced than the GOP’s rightward drift, at least at the state level. The study’s overall argument is that income inequality has increased political polarization at the state level since the 1990s. But the authors find that that this happens more by moving state Democratic parties to the left than by moving state Republican parties to the right. As the Democratic Party lost power at the state level over the past 15 years, it also effectively shed its moderate wing. Centrist Democrats have increasingly lost seats to Republicans, “resulting in a more liberal Democratic party” overall. The authors find that the ideological median of Republican legislators has shifted much less.One study does not a thesis prove, but the paper is certainly interesting, and it coheres with the trends we’ve been seeing. So while Democrats from President Obama on down often give the impression that their party is moderate and in line with public opinion while Republicans have undergone a sudden jolt to the right, it may not be that simple. Our discussions about polarization need to reflect the fact that it is a bipartisan affair.In 2012, political scientists Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann wrote a book blaming Republican extremism for every problem in Washington. It's Even Worse Than it Looks quoted a study that purportedly showed that since 1973, Republicans have become far more ideologically extreme than the Democrats.Shortly before Rep. West went off the rails with his accusations of communism in the Democratic Party, political scientists Keith Poole and Howard Rosenthal, who have long tracked historical trends in political polarization, said their studies of congressional votes found that Republicans are now more conservative than they have been in more than a century. Their data show a dramatic uptick in polarization, mostly caused by the sharp rightward move of the GOP.If our democracy is to regain its health and vitality, the culture and ideological center of the Republican Party must change. In the short run, without a massive (and unlikely) across-the-board rejection of the GOP at the polls, that will not happen. If anything, Washington’s ideological divide will probably grow after the 2012 elections.And indeed it has -- except it's the Democrats who have become more radical and more extreme. How can anyone with any sense claim that doubling the minimum wage isn't radical? Or passing a 2000 page health insurance reform law isn't extreme?It is the Democrats who claim they want to 'transform' America. GOP 'extremism' is, for the most part, a reaction to the radicalization of our politics by Democrats who have sought at every turn for the last 7 years to circumvent the constitution to achieve their extremist goals.While this one study doesn't prove anything, it is certainly something to be discussed and analyzed. Perhaps this is one Democratic talking point that they will be forced to drop in light of empirical evidence.

Kentucky Health Cooperative, an insurance co-op created by Obamacare, is closing its doors after massive losses. This is the fifth co-op to go under this year, following the failure of insurers in Iowa, Louisiana, Nevada, and the largest co-op in the nation, New York.The 'risk corridor' program, what was supposed to reimburse insurance companies for part of their losses, simply isn't paying out enough money to offset the massive amount in claims being paid off. This is because less money is coming into the program than was expected.Washington Examiner:The cooperative, created under Obamacare to offer insurance to enrollees, said that losses started to mount and couldn't be overcome. A big problem is that the co-op had trouble paying out claims.'Kentucky Health Cooperative has paid millions of dollars in claims on behalf of our members,' Jennings said.The problem is that the cooperative was popular and many of the new members hadn't received health insurance. That led to a pent-up demand for health services, which created millions in claims, the co-op said.In 2014, the co-op's losses were about $50 million but slowed to $4 million in the first half of 2015, the company said.'We were on track to reverse direction and begin operating in the black, and we expected this to come about in 2016,' interim CEO Glenn Jennings said.But last week the co-op and other insurers found they would receive less money from the federal government this year to help pay for the sickest customers.The federal government doled out $362 million to insurers to help cover the costs of older, sicker Americans. The reason is the risk corridor payment program didn't bring in as much money as expected.The payments are determined through a mathematical formula that compares claims and premiums. Last year, payment requests by issuers exceed their charges, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said.The insurers had requested nearly $3 billion.Kentucky's co-op received $9.7 million, when it asked for $77 million.The co-op said Friday that it would continue to meet its financial obligations. It serves about 51,000 members but will stop providing services Dec. 31.About half of the state exchanges are facing financial difficulty of varying degrees while total Obamacare enrollment has dropped below 10 million. The entire system is being strangled by simple math; too much money is going out to pay claims and not enough in premiums is coming in. You have to wonder how many insurers would have jumped ship on the state exchanges if not for the risk corridor slush fund.As might be expected, Republicans pounced on the news of the co-op closing:Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the problems speak to the health law as a whole.“Barely a week goes by that we don’t see another harmful consequence of this poorly conceived, badly executed law,” McConnell said in a statement. “Despite repeated Obama administration bailout attempts, this is the latest in a string of broken promises with real consequences for the people of Kentucky who may now be losing the health insurance they had and liked twice within the past three years because of Obamacare’s failures.”Twenty one of twenty three state co-ops are losing money.

A German village has released a list of ground rules for migrants covering matter of basic civility to fundamental western values.

Putting profit over women's health.

In this bombshell interview Matt Drudge surprises the crew and Alex Jones breaking down the biggest stories with the incisive insight that only he can bring....

The Texas senator’s evangelical emphasis makes him a tough fit for some in the ‘Liberty Caucus.”

A young, acclaimed pro-life leader believes most women have been taken by surprise that baby body parts are harvested and sold after an abortion, according to the undercover videos by the Center for M

With an impressive campaign operation, long game strategy, and dedicated network of donors, small and large, Cruz is still very much in this race.

Language: Farsi Info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1701187 [Update] I have added Polish subtitle as it was requested and sent to me by a Polish audience (Mako...

Israel  — In the wake of several “lone wolf” attacks, the Israeli government is encouraging citizens to carry personal firearms with them at all times while in public. The attacks have been conducted by Palestinians wielding nothing more than knives, but have struck terror into the heart of Israel. By:  Justin King This article firstRead More

BONUS QUESTION: When does Alan get invited to the White House?

The Texas senator aims to reconfigure the electorate.

At least since the 2010 midterms, it's been a liberal talking point that Republican extremism is to blame for political polarization and gridlock. A recent study calls this narrative into question....

If only hypocrisy was a viable power source.

Black Panthers, hunters, and "nuts with guns"

Bush argues that these campus kangaroo courts are not the right venue for accusations of sexual assault.

Are yacht clubs — in and of themselves — offensive? According to Pitzer College in Claremont, California, the answer is yes.

Just days before she will take the stage in the first Democratic debate, Hillary Clinton's lead over rival Bernie Sanders has narrowed, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. Clinton's support among Democratic voters fell 10 points within less than a week. From October 4 to October 9, Clinton saw her support tumble from 51 percent of Democratic support to just 41 percent.

FacebookTwitterGoogleEmailMark Levin says Obama latest gun control initiative is exactly what the 2nd amendment was attempting to stop! He states emphatically that the Bill of Rights do not belong …

Western University is campaigning against the use of certain colloquialisms believed to be "violent."

Since the Tea Party arose in 2009, it has achieved two major goals, but failed to fulfill its third and most important task: taking power.