TheDC Morning

TheDC Morning: Pushed to pander

Jamie Weinstein Senior Writer
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1.) Pushed to pander — After getting beat up by the activist right for his ardent support of the Senate’s comprehensive immigration reform bill, Marco Rubio is now spending time proving to the activist right he is really, truly conservative. TheDC’s Alex Pappas reports:

“Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and other conservative lawmakers sent a clear message to their fellow Republicans on Thursday: get on board with their strategy for defunding Obamacare or lose your conservative credibility. ‘I don’t think you can say you are against Obamacare if you vote for a budget that funds it,’ Rubio said in an afternoon press conference outside the Capitol. ‘And I think it’s outrageous that the president and his allies are threatening to shutdown the American government if it doesn’t fund the Obamacare law.’ Rubio made the comments alongside other senators — including Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah — who have pledged not to support any resolution that continues funding the federal government if President Obama’s health-care law remains funded.”

Despite what Rubio says, this issue isn’t about being a conservative or a squish, or even about supporting Obamacare or opposing it. It’s about reality. And Rubio has staked about a position in opposition to reality, because there is really no imaginable way that Obamacare will be defunded under current conditions. But perhaps Rubio knows something TheDC Morning doesn’t.

 2.) Obamacare doesn’t always care — A new report sheds light on yet another problem with Obamacare. TheDC’s Patrick Howley reports: 

“President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, known as ‘Obamacare,’ will make it more difficult for parents of special-needs children to pay for tuition at special schools and to purchase medical equipment, according to a new report. More than 30 million Americans place money into a pre-tax Flexible Spending Account (FSA) through their employers to help save emergency funds to pay for their families’ medical costs. Obamacare institutes a brand new $2,500 cap for FSAs, which will make more money taxable and could raise $13 billion in taxes for the federal government over the next decade. ‘Before Obamacare passed, there was no limit to how much money you could put into your FSA at work,’ Ryan Ellis, tax policy director at Americans for Tax Reform, told The Daily Caller. Ellis was inspired to perform research on the issue after hearing the complaints of a friend with a special-needs child.”

If only the defunding ploy would work to stop the bill from going into full effect.

3.) Secrets, secrets are no fun…  …especially when you’re forced to tell them to no one. TheDC’s Patrick Howley reports on the latest on Benghazi: 

“The CIA has been routinely subjecting its operatives to polygraph tests in order to keep secrets from the Benghazi terrorist attack from becoming public, CNN host Jake Tapper’s program claimed Thursday. Additionally, as many as 35 Americans were in the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya the night of the Sept. 11, 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack and at least seven were seriously injured, a source told CNN. ‘CIA is polygraphing operatives regularly, in an ‘unprecedented’ attempt to keep Benghazi secrets, sources tell CNN,’ Tapper’s news show ‘The Lead’ tweeted Thursday.”

4.) Goodbye CigarettesIt’s a tale as old as time. Boy meats Cigarettes. Boy tries to dump Cigarettes. Boy is tempted to return to her. TheDC’s Jamie Weinstein and Will Rahn uncover secret emails between Rahn and the Cigarettes he is attempting to dump. “Cigarettes” writes: 

“Hi Will, It’s been awhile. Too long actually. Do you miss me? I know you do. They all do. You love me almost more than life itself, right? Of course, the operative word is almost. I suspect by now you’ve read the ‘studies’ by respected ‘scientists’ saying if you stick with me I’ll eventually kill you. But let me ask you this: Is life really worth living without me? How much less enjoyable is it without my sweet sensation? Don’t answer that. I know you’re probably in a dark place now. But think about this: Who smokes and who doesn’t? On the smoker side, you have great men like John Wayne and Franklin Roosevelt. On the not smoking side there are dorks and Adolf Hitler. Do you really want to be on the side of Hitler and the dorks?”

Read the full, sad exchange.

5.) Tweet of Yesterday — James Poulos: Can you understand America without following some models on Instagram? Maybe, but I’m not gonna chance it

6.) Today in North Korean News — BREAKING: “Russian Papers Praise Korean People’s Victory in War”

VIDEO:  What does Rick Santorum consider to be private?

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Jamie Weinstein