Saturday, February 28, 2015

REPORT: THREE ILLEGALS ON TERRORIST WATCH LIST DETAINED CROSSING BORDER IN CALIF.

BREAKING: Sources tell me 3 people on terrorist watch list were detained crossing the border illegally into CA. More at 12p Fox 11

— Gigi Graciette (@GigiGraciette) July 1, 2014

Fox 11 News reporter Gigi Graciette tweeted earlier on Tuesday that sources are telling her that three individuals, attempting to enter California through Mexico illegally, are on the terrorist watch list. Breitbart News previously reported that government sources are saying that an uptick in border crossings by people from countries with terrorist ties has occurred since a surge of illegal immigrants from Central America started entering the United States in the past few weeks.

A team of American independent security contractors told Breitbart News that six individuals from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Yemen were recently picked up by U.S. border patrol near Laredo, Texas with 60,000 Iraqi dinars ($51.00) apiece on each one.

http://www.breitbart.com/blog/2014/07/01/report-three-illegals-on-terrorist-watch-list-detained-crossing-border-in-calif/

http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2015/02/26/dps-report-illegal-aliens-with-terror-ties-entering-through-texas/

Eric Holder Defends Al Sharpton's Ties To White House, Despite Tax Debts

This is where the Hypocrisy is exposed. A G.O.P. Farts in the wind and these Liberal Clowns wants them gone. Sharpton is not an elected official, but is in the public eye and owes a crap load of back taxes and is working for Obama and the Liberal Idiots in the media are silent about his taxes, but anyone else do this, the I.R.S. is all over it.

At tax time, many Americans might find it pretty tempting to emulate Rev. Al Sharpton. After all, he seems to get by just fine no matter how many taxes he owes and no matter for how long. And he seems to be more of a fixture at the White House than Lois Lerner’s hard drive. Even Politico seems to be scratching its collective head. Politico was where Lois Lerner broke her silence.

And Politico just asked outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder, “Is Al Sharpton too close to this White House?” The softball interviewer who had the temerity to make such an outrageous suggestion was Mike Allen, Politico’s chief White House correspondent. That such a question is even being asked by Democrats who rarely question the President is a surprise.

Mr. Sharpton has been accused , for example, by Eric Garner’s daughter, of being all about the money. And yet the reverend and activist owes New York State over $900,000 from 2008 and 2010 taxes, and greater sums to the IRS. With about $4.5 million in tax liens, most taxpayers know they would be pushed and prodded to pay. Mr. Sharpton, however, seems graced by a kind of Teflon liturgical outfit.

Some might be luck, of course. On several occasions he suffered fires that destroyed his records. It is hard not to think of Lois Lerner’s hard drive. Several fires destroyed Mr. Sharpton’s financial records just as he was about to turn them over to officials. But AG Holder sees no problem, though Mr. Sharpton has been to the White House on many occasions. Aside from Mr. Holder, many people have questioned why President Obama would so elevate Rev. Sharpton, particularly since he owes millions in taxes.

Mr. Holder saw no problem with Rev. Sharpton’s proximity to the most powerful man in the world, saying, “The president has a number of people who he listens to, who he interacts with. You know, Reverend Sharpton is a person who has interacted with people within the administration, including myself. But we also hear from people who have, you know, fundamentally different views than Al Sharpton has.”

Not all of the tax problems are new. In 1993, Rev. Sharpton pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for failure to file a state tax return. His Raw Talent operation which he uses for speaking engagements has reportedly also had tax problems. But beyond these smidgens, Mr. Sharpton has never faced criminal tax-related charges. He has been marvelously successful in explaining that he is simply in over his head.

It isn’t only the taxman that is not being paid, according to reports. Even worthy causes like hotels, landlords, and travel agencies are getting the cold shoulder from Mr. Sharpton or from his advocacy organization, the National Action Network. He has two for-profit business, Revals Communications and Raw Talent. Some of his financial woes appear to stem from poor divisions between business and personal, a common tax problem among entrepreneurs.

Everyone makes mistakes. Even wealthy and famous people may not get notices, particularly if they have multiple homes or businesses. Take Robert De Niro’s recent $6.4M tax bill. It may have been an unpleasant surprise but he paid it immediately. Mr. Sharpton has had more trouble doing that.

President Obama and Mr. Sharpton may both have a kind of Teflon coating. Even so, the President may finally want to create some distance, despite Mr. Holder’s views. In 1990, Mr. Sharpton successfully defended claims that he misappropriated $250,000 from a youth group. He has had tax filing issues too. In 1993, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for failure to file a state tax return. Thereafter, his Raw Talent company used for speaking engagements has reportedly also had tax problems.

The New York Times suggests that everything is paid for by his entities, not Mr. Sharpton, perhaps even his clothes. The entities are said to pay for personal items like his daughters’ private school tuition. If that is true, Rev. Sharpton is blurring one of the most important lines in the tax law, between business and personal. Another big lesson from Mr. Sharpton is records.

Keeping good records can help keep you out of tax trouble in the first place. Most audits are correspondence audits. You may be told your deductions will be disallowed unless you mail back records substantiating them. Tax liens can be based on your own returns or on additional taxes that are assessed.

In Mr. Sharpton’s case, reports tally over $4.5 million in state and federal tax liens. That means there were multiple bills and multiple notices. The IRS can file a Notice of Federal Tax Lien only after:

IRS assesses the liability;
IRS sends a Notice and Demand for Payment saying how much you owe; and
You fail to fully pay within 10 days.

The IRS automatically has a lien and files notice so creditors know. IRS tax liens cover all your property even that acquired after the lien filing. The courts use it to establish priority in bankruptcy proceedings and real estate sales. And perhaps there should be some kind of notice posted at the White House too. At a certain point, many American taxpayers making sure that they pay their taxes are probably wondering just why the Rev. Sharpton seems to have a better deal.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2015/02/28/eric-holder-defends-al-sharptons-ties-to-white-house-despite-tax-debts/2/

A Few More Facebook Post

Iran makes a huge show of blowing up 'US aircraft carrier' in explosive TV spectacle

Lets see, Obama is giving them the Bomb, probably Jarrett has a lot to do with this. Iran wants to get Rid of Israel and the link below says the Iranian flag will fly over the White House and Isis said the same thing, and the Idiot in the White House says were all good, along with Kerry saying we are safer now than we ever been. We have a bunch of Clowns, comedians, or Idiots running this Country right now!

Iranian officials had more than a dozen speedboats attack a replica of a US aircraft carrier today and featured the large-scale naval drill on a state TV broadcast.

The nationally-televised show of force by the country's elite Revolutionary Guard occurred near the strategically vital entrance of the Persian Gulf.

The 'Great Prophet 9' drill was held near the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world's oil passes.

The televised show of force by Iran's Revolutionary Guard occurred near the entrance to the Persian Gulf

Iranian state TV broadcast images of the drill, 'Great Prophet 9', being carried out near the Strait of Hormuz

Iran's regular army carried out naval drills near the strait in December.

The staged attack comes just weeks ahead of a deadline for Iran and world powers to forge a historic deal on the fate of the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.

Iranian live-fire war games are not uncommon.

But by simulating for the first time an attack on the ultimate symbol of American naval power, hard-liners hoped to send a message that Iran has no intention of backing down to the US - whichever way talks over its contested nuclear program go.

The Guard's navy chief, Adm. Ali Fadavi, said: 'American aircraft carriers are very big ammunition depots housing a lot of missiles, rockets, torpedoes and everything else.'

He added that a direct hit by a missile could set off a large secondary explosion.

Fadavi last month boasted that his force is capable of sinking American aircraft carriers in the event of war.

He previously called carriers easy targets and said Iran naturally wants to sink them.

The Revolutionary Guard said it test-fired 223 mph underwater missiles during the Great Prophet 9 drill

The Great Prophet 9 drill featured 'speedboats equipped with naval radars, electronic communications systems, cruise missiles with a range of 25 kilometers, anti-ship medium-range missiles, medium- and large-caliber torpedoes, sea mines, heavy machine guns, rocket-launchers and shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles', according to Press TV said.

The Revolutionary Guard said it test-fired 223 mph underwater missiles during the drill.

Tensions near the Strait of Hormuz have caused oil prices to spike in the past - good news for producers like Iran.

But traders seemed to take today's maneuvers in stride, with benchmark US crude dipping slightly and continuing to hover below $50 a barrel by mid-morning.

State TV showed footage of missiles fired from the coast and the fast boats striking the carrier.

The drills also included Guard forces shooting down a drone and planting undersea mines.

Footage did not show that the assault had managed to sink the mock-up, but it was heavily damaged.

The Guard's chief commander, Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari,indicated the drills send a 'message of [Iran's] might' to 'extraterritorial powers,' a reference to the United States.

The spokesman for the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet in Bahrain, Cmdr. Kevin Stephens, said the simulated carrier attack was being monitored the US.

Stephens added the American military was 'not concerned about this exercise.'

He said: 'We're quite confident of our naval forces' ability to defend themselves.

'It seems they've attempted to destroy the equivalent of a Hollywood movie set.'

The US routinely stations at least one aircraft carrier and other warships in and around the Gulf.

It and its allies conduct periodic naval exercises of their own in the region, including ones aimed at countering the threat from undersea mines that could be used to block ship traffic through the strait.

The American aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson is currently deployed in the Gulf, as is the French carrier Charles de Gaulle.

Planes from both vessels are carrying out airstrikes against the ISIS, which has seized roughly a third of Iraq and Syria.

Iran backs Syria's government and is supporting Iraq in its fight against the militants, but it is not part of the US-led international coalition against the extremist group.

Iran mocks-up US warship then blows it out of the water

The drills were not publicly announced in advance, but the Guard has previously held similar military exercises around this time of year.

The last one, in February 2013, featured 'suicide drones' that attack enemies kamikaze-style.

The Guard, which has a 200,000-strong force, is different from the regular army and is charged with protecting the ruling system.

It also controls the paramilitary Basij militia, for which there are no precise personnel figures available.

Iran put the Guard in charge of defending the country's territorial Gulf waters in 2008 as Iran turned its attention toward beefing up its naval and air defense forces.

Iran is currently negotiating an agreement over its disputed nuclear program with the United States and five other world powers in exchange for relief from crippling economic sanctions.

The two sides hope to reach a framework agreement next month and a final deal in June.

Western nations have long suspected Iran is covertly seeking a nuclear weapons capability - charges Tehran denies.

In a speech today in the holy city of Qom, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called for all sanctions to be lifted once a final nuclear accord is reached.

He said: 'Our opposite negotiating party has to know that the end of these talks and the result of a deal must be lifting of the entire oppressive and illegal sanctions.

'In the negotiations, we will not accept any imposition, humiliation or continuation of the sanctions.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2968108/Irans-Guard-begins-military-exercises-near-key-strait.html

http://freebeacon.com/columns/why-bibis-speech-matters/

Iran cleric vows to 'raise flag of Islam on White House' to avenge Israeli attack

The cleric, Ali Shirazi, made the remarks to the official Revolutionary Guards web site.

close ties to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed on Friday that "we will raise the flag of Islam over the White House" in response to the killing of Hezbollah and Revolutionary Guards operatives on the Golan Heights last month.

According to foreign media, Israeli attack helicopters killed six Hezbollah terrorists along with six Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) operatives, including a high-ranking general.

Among the Hezbollah operatives killed in the strike was Jihad Mougniyeh, the son of Hezbollah's former military leader, Imad Moughniyeh, who according to Western intelligence sources, was in the midst of setting up a terrorism base on the Syrian Golan and plotting rocket attacks, bombings, anti-tank missile strikes, and cross-border infiltrations against Israel.

The cleric, Ali Shirazi, made the remarks to the official Revolutionary Guards web site. His comments were reported by the Saudi-owned news network Al Arabiya.

"The resistance front led by Iran would retaliate from the global arrogance of killing [Iranian officers] and Hezbollah men" on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, Shirazi said during a ceremony honoring Iranian soldiers who died in Syria and Iraq.

The cleric added that Iran continues to make its presence felt in a number of areas throughout the region, including Yemen, where a sect affiliated with Shi'ite Islam has overthrown a ruling government and taken power.

"The Islamic Republic directly supports the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon and Shiite militias in Syria and Iraq," he said.

http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iran-cleric-vows-to-raise-flag-of-Islam-on-White-House-to-avenge-Israeli-attack-392445?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

2014 worst year ever for terrorism: U.S. intel chief

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/wrost-year-global-terrorism-2014-article-1.2130490

Friday, February 27, 2015

Exclusive: Chicago nears fiscal free fall with latest downgrade

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago drew closer to a fiscal free fall on Friday with a rating downgrade from Moody's Investors Service that could trigger the immediate termination of four interest-rate swap agreements, costing the city about $58 million and raising the prospect of more broken swaps contracts.

The downgrade to Baa2, just two steps above junk, and a warning the rating could fall further still, means the third-biggest U.S. city could face even higher costs in the future if banks choose to terminate other interest-rate hedges against fluctuations in interest rates. All told, Chicago holds swaps contracts covering $2.67 billion in debt, according to a disclosure late last year.

"This is an unfortunate wake-up call for anyone still asleep over the fiscal cliff facing the city of Chicago," said Laurence Msall, president of the Chicago-based government finance watchdog, The Civic Federation.

Chicago's finances are already sagging under an unfunded pension liability Moody's has pegged at $32 billion and that is equal to eight times the city's operating revenue. The city has a $300 million structural deficit in its $3.53 billion operating budget and is required by an Illinois law to boost the 2016 contribution to its police and fire pension funds by $550 million.

Cost-saving reforms for the city's other two pension funds, which face insolvency in a matter of years, are being challenged in court by labor unions and retirees.

State funding due Chicago would drop by $210 million between July 1 and the end of 2016 under a plan proposed by Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner.

Given all the financial pressures, both Moody's and Standard & Poor's, which affirmed the city's A-plus rating, warned on Friday that Chicago's credit ratings have room to sink.

Moody's said Chicago's rating could be cut if Illinois courts find pension reform laws enacted to shore up the state's financially ailing pension system and for two of Chicago's retirement systems are unconstitutional. A ruling by the Illinois Supreme Court on one of the laws could come as early as this spring.

S&P warned of a multi-notch downgrade if the city fails to come up with a sustainable plan this year to pay its escalating pension contributions.

In a report, Moody's noted that the downgrade to Baa2 moves the city closer to termination of 11 more swaps deals. Termination on those contracts would potentially cost Chicago an additional $133 million, Moody's noted.

Chicago has the financial resources at hand to cover the initial $58 million termination payments on the four swaps if the city is unable to renegotiate terms, Moody's said.

"The city's available liquidity is more than sufficient to cover these termination costs," Moody's stated.

If the rating falls below Baa3, Chicago could be forced to pay about $1.2 billion if banks that provide liquidity facilities like letters of credit for city debt demand immediate collateral, Moody's said.

In an affidavit late last year, the city's chief financial officer, Lois Scott, acknowledged that a single-step downgrade by either Moody's or S&P could trigger about $50 million in immediate payments and expose the city to variations in interest rates.

A spokeswoman for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The downgrade and violation of terms on the swaps agreement likely will become an issue in Emanuel's re-election campaign. The first-term mayor, a former chief of staff to President Barack Obama, failed on Tuesday to win a majority of votes in a primary election, and faces a runoff vote April 7 against a Cook County commissioner, Jesus "Chuy" Garcia.

Moody's based its one-notch downgrade affecting $8.3 billion of general obligation bonds to Baa2 with a negative outlook on the city's growing costs related to its big unfunded pension liability.

Chicago is defending a 2014 Illinois law that boosted pension contributions by the city and its workers to two of its retirement funds and reduced benefits. In the affidavit and in testimony earlier this month in Cook County Circuit Court, Chicago CFO Scott quantified the city's exposure to a variety of credit instruments as a result of further rating downgrades.

Under a three-notch downgrade, Chicago would default on about $2.8 billion of credit facilities, including letters of credit, that the city would likely not be able to replace, according to Scott. Moody's analysts said most of Chicago's $806 million of variable-rate GO bonds are tied to swaps.

The city, under Mayor Rahm Emanuel, has eliminated hundreds of millions of dollars in risk by terminating or renegotiating 18 interest rate swap or swaption contracts and those efforts are continuing, spokeswoman Libby Langsdorf said last month.

Shawn O'Leary, a senior research analyst at Nuveen Investments, said banks tend to renegotiate terms on swap agreements.

"I would be surprised if the parties demand termination payments," he said.

Some Chicago debt is trading at worse levels than bonds sold by Illinois, which is paying the biggest yield penalty among states in the U.S. municipal bond market due to its own fiscal woes.

The spread on Friday for Chicago bonds due in 2019 over the market's benchmark triple-A scale hit 125 basis points, which is 25 basis points over Illinois' so-called credit spread, according to Municipal Market Data.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/exclusive-chicago-rating-downgrade-could-end-swaps-deals-174532024--finance.html

U.S. Economic Growth at Year’s End Is Revised Down to 2.2%

A Reminder that these Clowns Campaigned on this as being a 4 to 5% growth. Now the election is done they correct their High forecast?

The American economy expanded at a slower pace than initially thought in the fourth quarter of 2014, as less stockpiling by businesses and a slightly weaker trade balance weighed on growth.

Over all, economic output rose at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in October, November and December, below the initial estimate of 2.6 percent issued last month, according to government data released on Friday. The downward revision also represented a steep deceleration from the blistering 5 percent annual rate of growth reported in the third quarter of 2014.

Before the announcement, economists on Wall Street expected government statisticians to revise the estimated growth rate to 2 percent. The report released on Friday by the Commerce Department is the second of three estimates that are revised as more data comes in; the final estimate will be released in late March.

Much of the downward adjustment stemmed from slower additions to inventories by businesses than first estimated, shaving 0.7 percentage point from the headline number for growth even though other underlying components like demand from consumers remained healthy.

Real Economic Growth

**Annual rate of change in the gross domestic product, based on quarterly figures adjusted for inflation and seasonal fluctuations.**

The seemingly lackluster growth in the final three months of 2014 came even as hiring gained steam. Employers added an average of 324,000 workers a month in the fourth quarter, the best performance for the labor market in years. Hiring for all of 2014 rose at the fastest rate since 1999.

Besides shifting inventories, another factor holding down growth was a weaker trade balance, as rising imports lowered growth 0.2 percentage point. With the dollar gaining strength recently, and the euro’s value dropping sharply, imports may continue to rise in the months ahead, one new headwind for the economy in 2015.

On the other hand, while inventory changes are notoriously hard for economists to predict, one bright spot in terms of smaller inventory gain last quarter is that businesses may stockpile more in the current quarter, lifting growth in 2015. Most economists expect the pace of economic activity to pick up in the first quarter of 2015, with an average estimate of 2.5 percent growth for the period.

Final sales to domestic purchasers rose 3.2 percent last quarter, which bodes well for consumer demand in the first half of 2015, said Doug Handler, chief United States economist at IHS, a research firm in Lexington, Mass.

Over the course of 2015, Mr. Handler says he thinks the final sales metric will continue to gain speed, lifting the overall rate of expansion for the gross domestic product to 3.1 percent this year. For the entirety of 2014, the economy grew at 2.4 percent rate.

As for last quarter, Mr. Handler added, “most of the change in measured G.D.P. can be traced to a reduction in inventory growth. This is good news for the first quarter as it suggests the anticipated slowing of inventory growth will have less of an impact on the bottom line.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/28/business/economy/us-q4-gross-domestic-product-revision.html

Central-Illinoisand_beyond

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