President Obama surprised many when he signed the annual defense budget bill, which he previously had vetoed because it blocked the transfer of detained terrorist suspects to the U.S. But he hasn't changed his mind about closing the detention facility at Guantanamo. He's reported to be scheming to find away to sneak around the provisions of the law he signed.

"You're running for president! Your words matter!" Did that diatribe come from the mouth of a campaign consultant lecturing a candidate? Guess again. That's what an exasperated Chuck Todd said to Donald Trump on NBC's Meet the Press, challenging Trump's claim that thousands of New Jersey Muslims cheered at the 9/11 attack on New York City.

President Obama can talk all he wants to about global warming, but if carbon dioxide emissions have anything to do with it -- as he claims -- the president is a big contributor to the problem. The Daily Caller reports that his flight to Paris to join other world leaders at the UN climate summit emitted more CO2 than driving 72 cars for a year.

President Obama defended his insistence to allow 10,000 Syrian refugees into the country by comparing the situation to pilgrims coming over on the Mayflower. The truth is, pilgrims got into this country because the native American Indians didn't have an effective immigration policy. And like today's terrorists, the pilgrims shot the Americans.

Obamacare is bad for beer drinkers. Among the law's 3,000 pages hides a regulation requiring brewers to include a detailed calorie count on every type of beer they produce. The National Taxpayers Union says this may squeeze craft beer brewers out of business.

How Your Taxes Are Spent
The Environmental Protection Agency is spending millions of dollars overseas. The EPA has doled out nearly $25 million to foreign nations and entities -- including many with terrible environmental track records.

On the eve of Memorial Day weekend, the Obama administration released more than 2,300 new federal regulations. On the Friday before Thanksgiving, more than 3,400 more regulations were issued. Guess what Uncle Sam is bringing you for Christmas.


Following the horrendous terror attacks by ISIL in Paris and Mali, President Obama began talking tough. "This barbaric terrorist group ... and its murderous ideology pose a serious threat to all of us," he said. "It cannot be tolerated. It must be destroyed ..." Two days later he said he will join world leaders in Paris for a global climate conference. "What a powerful rebuke to the terrorists it will be," he said. Right. That'll show 'em.

Why does President Obama call the villainous leader of Syria "Mister Assad" but refers to the president of Russia as simply "Putin"?

The Obama administration's fairy tale foreign policy has left a large deposit of egg on the face of Secretary of State John Kerry. Right after Kerry asserted that the U.S. had been able to "neutralize" al-Qaida leadership "as an effective force" terrorists took victims hostage in a hotel in Mali and 27 were killed. The murderous attacks in Paris followed a claim by President Obama that ISIS had been "contained."

Donald Trump brags a lot about leading in the polls, but there's one he probably won't mention. In a survey of candidates 46 percent of Americans say Trump is the one most likely to ruin Thanksgiving by saying something to kill the holiday mood.

There is widespread dissatisfaction with the federal government's handling of the illegal immigrant problem but authorities certainly know how to deal with illegal tamales. Border agents seized 450 "prohibited pork meat tamales" at Los Angeles International Airport. The food was found in luggage of a passenger who had lied about its pork content.

How Republican presidential candidates would deal with Islamic terrorists:
Sen. Ted Cruz - "We will not degrade them, not weaken them, we will utterly destroy them."
Donald Trump - "I will quickly and decisively bomb the hell out of ISIS."
Sen. Marco Rubio - "When I am president, what I will do to defeat ISIL is very simple: whatever it takes."

Only in Washington
At least two turkeys won't wind up on dining tables on Thanksgiving Day. The lucky birds were chosen to receive the traditional presidential pardons. Currently they are rehearsing for the highly publicized occasion: being exposed to bright camera lights, getting used to crowds of people and practicing standing on a table. And not yawning through the speeches.

"What, me worry?" In a recent TV interview Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton revealed her worst habit: "I worry about everything." There goes her chance to make the cover of MAD magazine.

Looking for a way to take off some pounds? Run for president. The campaign diet worked for Republican candidate Donald Trump. According to People magazine he said, "I have lost weight because my events are so exciting."

"It is not my time." - Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La., becoming the third Republican candidate for president to drop out of the race. That leaves 14 left, and counting ...

How Your Taxes Are Spent
The National Science Foundation is spending nearly $650,000 on a computer game for adults where they can pretend to be a "novice world leader." Was the game modeled after the Obama administration?

One of the Paris terrorist attackers was a Syrian refugee. President Obama wants to allow 10,000 of them into the United States.

"I maintain that a beheading is far worse than a sunburn." Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, questioning how President Obama and Democratic candidates can truly believe climate change is America's number one threat today.

How much did you spend on your vacation this year? It probably won't compare to the amount you and other taxpayers dished out for President Obama and his family. Their travel included a Palm Springs golf trip in June, a trip to New York City in July and an annual getaway to Martha's Vineyard in August -- all of which cost $3,115,688.70.

Campaigning in New Hampshire, Democratic president candidate Hillary Clinton revived an old tale about trying to join the Marines in 1975 but was turned down. The former anti-war activist's story is full of holes and the Washington Post gives it "two Pinocchio's" - a polite way of saying she lied.



And then there were three. With two contenders having dropped out of the race, the second officially sanctioned Democratic presidential debate features front-runner Hillary Clinton, Sen. Bernard Sanders and Martin O'Malley. It will be a two-hour snooze-fest that may make viewers yearn for the return of former Sen. Jim Webb and former Gov. Lincoln Chafee, D-R.I.

The scandal-ridden Veterans Affairs department continues to give candidates for president reasons to call for drastic reforms or even abolishing the agency. The House Veterans Committee reports the VA paid out $143 million in performance bonuses to employees in 2014, including several who were accused of mismanagement or under investigation.

As we honor our nation's fighting men and women on Veterans Day, the Department of Veterans Affairs remains mired in a terrible scandal in which more than 300,000 vets may have died waiting for health care. Meanwhile, the agency continues to waste taxpayers' money on employees playing silly games like being "wheelbarrowed" around a gym on their stomachs.

Republican presidential contender Ted Cruz had a Rick Perry moment in the latest debate. He struggled to remember the five federal agencies he would do away with if elected and listed the Department of Commerce twice. Perry, in a 2012 election debate, simply couldn't remember.

Sources report Heather Fong, an advocate for sanctuary cities, is on the short list of candidates to become the new chief of the Border Control. When she was police chief of San Francisco, Fong shielded illegal immigrants, including those who had committed crimes, from deportation. Maybe not the best choice to head the agency that catches and deports illegals, especially those with a criminal history.

It's a topsy-turvy world. Obama and Netanyahu are meeting. The presidents of China and Taiwan met. And not long ago representatives of North and South Korea came together. Maybe there's some hope.

The joke's on his critics. While furiously fighting off media accusations that he lied about his childhood and a "scholarship" offer for West Point, Ben Carson pulled in $3.5 million in campaign donations.

Is it any wonder GOP candidates for president and Republicans in general regularly take a beating from the news media? Research by two Indiana University journalism professors shows that 28 percent of journalists call themselves Democrats, while just 7 percent identify themselves as Republicans.

Better hide your air conditioners or the feds will get them. Environmental Protection Administrator Gina McCarthy wants the world to stop using hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in air conditioners and other products to fight global warming.  She says phasing out HFCs would avert 0.5 degrees Celsius of global warming by the end of the century.

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders did his chief opponent a great favor when he said to Hillary Clinton in the Democratic debate, "the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails." But the fiery socialist has had second thoughts. Now he says there are "valid questions"about her use of a secret email server as Secretary of State. "Let the investigation proceed unimpeded," he says.

Not only is Vice President Joe Biden missing from the Democratic presidential candidates lineup, but Hillary Clinton has at least temporarily replaced him as gaffemaster. Discussing her proposal to allow convicted felons to avoid disclosing their criminal records on applications for federal jobs, she said if she becomes president, "former presidents won't have to declare their criminal history." Maybe she meant to say "former criminals" ... or maybe not.

Do the American people really see President Obama as being "committed to rising above politics"? That's the boast made by his press flack, Josh Earnest. In the spirit of National Skeptics Day, where's the proof?

President Obama brags about running the "most transparent administration in history." But the Congressional Research Service puts the lie to that claim. A report based on data from federal agencies finds that in the past decade the highest percentage of closed-door meetings were held in 2013 and 2014.

How Your Taxes Are Spent
The Social Security Administration gave $145,000 in bonuses to employees who had been caught drinking and sleeping on the job. Some workers received performance awards after being suspended for sexual harassment and bringing weapons to work.

Proliferation of guns has been repeatedly condemned by President Obama and other gun control advocates. So why is there no outrage about the Environmental Protection Agency's expenditure of $1.4 million on guns and $380,000 for ammunition? Add to that $450,000 for camouflage equipment, radar and night-vision gear and other military-style devices and you wonder why Congress thinks this agency needs all this armament to ensure we have clean air and water?

"I just work here. I don't live here." - New House Speaker Paul Ryan, explaining why he plans to sleep on a cot in his congressional office as part of his daily routine after becoming second in line to the presidency.

The Washington Free Beacon reports that 10 of the 23 health insurance co-ops created under Obamacare have gone out of business, resulting in a loss to taxpayers of more than $1.1 billion. Experts say more co-ops are likely to fail because of artificially low premiums, strict regulations and too many people requiring payouts.