More than 100 Americans have tried to join groups like ISIS in yet another example of jobs being shipped overseas in Obama's America. The man who scaled the White House fence and bumrushed the mansion had 800 rounds of ammunition in his car or, as the NRA will put it, was merely engaging in Second Amendment calisthenics. And the Times reports the late Daniel Inouye was responsible for the "chubby" remark directed at Kirsten Gillibrand, cementing his status as the 20th century's second-most inappropriate Senate president pro tem, right after Robert "the KKK was just a phase in my youth" Byrd. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Monday, September 22nd. 2014:
FYIkes - Olivier Knox: "Some of the estimated 100 Americans who have tried to get to Syria and join up with groups like the Islamic State have returned to the United States and are under FBI scrutiny, a top official told reporters on Monday." [Yahoo]
@vplus: JUST IN: U.S. hits #ISIS in Iraq again today; 4 airstrikes destroying 2 vehicles, a tank, and damaging a humvee -CENTCOM
WHO'S BASHING DWS? NOT THIS GUY - Ryan Grim: "Democratic donor John Morgan tells HuffPost Hill he wasn't one of the sources behind the string of amazingly unflattering stories about Debbie Wasserman Schultz last week, but he wasn't unhappy to see them after DWS publicly trashed his medical marijuana amendment in Florida. 'I didn't appreciate her gratuitously stepping into my amendment, because she didn't have to. Who cares what she thinks?' he told HPH. 'The good news is nobody knows who she is and nobody cares what she thinks except the inside baseball people who know her, but now we know what they think.' All he wanted was a heads up. 'I had done a very big fundraiser for her at my home, it wasn't like I was a stranger. She'd been at my home and walked out with $100,000. Maybe a courtesy call that I've got a very strong feeling about this and I'm gonna kick you in the balls so I can brace myself?'"
CRAPPY CONGRESS IS CRAPPY: REPORT - You all did it! Why don't you all treat yourselves to an extra $50,000 per annum in your contracts with Quinn Gillespie. Roll Call: "Say this about the 113th Congress: It’s managed to live down to low expectations. With only a lame-duck, post-Election Day mop-up session left before a new Congress takes office in January, the 113th is on track to be one of the least productive congresses — in terms of laws passed and signed by the president — in 60 years. The 113th Congress, which passed a continuing resolution to keep the government funded through Dec. 11 before heading out of town, has seen just 163 pieces of legislation enacted. That total, from the House Clerk, tracks only through August, but it’s more than 100 pieces of legislation below the 283 measures enacted in the 112th Congress and well below the 383 in the 111th Congress." [Roll Call]
WHITE HOUSE WON'T PUBLICIZE COST OF ISIS FIGHT - When they do, they should make sure to add a ".99" to the price tag to make people feel like they're getting a deal. The Hill: "Pressed on that point Monday, press secretary Josh Earnest wouldn't give a ballpark figure for how much the administration expected military operations to cost. 'I don’t have an estimate on that,' Earnest said. 'I know that we’re interested in having an open dialogue with Congress to ensure that our military has the resources necessary to carry out the mission that the president has laid out.' So far, the administration has relied on the Overseas Contingency Operations budget to pay for operations against the terrorist group. The White House had previously requested a cut in that pool — from $85 billion to $58.6 billion — for the next fiscal year, but lawmakers decided instead to keep funding at current levels in the temporary budget measure passed last week." [The Hill]
DAILY DELANEY DOWNER - Twenty-two percent of workers laid off in the past five years are still unemployed, according to a new survey. The John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers Universitysurveyed more than 1,100 workers, including nearly 400 who are unemployed. A slim majority of laid-off workers in the survey, or 54 percent, said they received unemployment insurance when they lost their jobs. However, 83 percent of those who received benefits said the compensation ran out before they found jobs. Good thing Congress made those benefits shorter. [HuffPost]
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DEMS HOPING TO KEEP SENATE ON LOCAL ISSUES - Though whether Obamacare is off the national agenda because it's working or because people have permanently filed it away to the part of their brain for oysters, newsboy caps and other things they viscerally don't like. Sam Stein and Mike McAuliff: "Guy Cecil, executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, argues that a dynamic issue climate has, so far, produced a more manageable election climate. Whereas the political landscape in the past was overwhelmed by reactions to both events (Iraq in 2006, Wall Street in 2008 and the health care debate in 2010) and individuals (Obama in 2008), this go around the motivating forces are more race-specific...'It is kind of interesting,' said Stu Stevens, Mitt Romney's top strategist in 2012. 'A lot of Democrats say a lot of people aren't advertising on Obamacare which means it is more popular. I don't think so. I just think everyone has made up their mind about it so it's not moving numbers.'" [HuffPost]
Legal stunt deemed legal stunt: "Sen. Rand Paul's lawsuit over National Security Agency surveillance was put on hold Monday, pending an appeals court ruling on a parallel case brought before the senator's. Judge Richard Leon did not explain the rationale for his ruling, but granted a Justice Department motion to halt the case while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit considers the NSA surveillance issue in separate lawsuits brought by conservative activist Larry Klayman. Paul (R-Ky.) and the conservative group Freedomworks filed the suit in February. Some critics derided the move as a publicity stunt, since Leon already ruled the surveillance likely unconstitutional in the other suits." [Politico]
DON'T LET THE REVOLVING DOOR HIT YOU ON THE WAY OUT, MICHAEL BOGGS - Maybe Chris Christie could appear in an ad where he makes out with a "WELCOME TO FORT LEE, NEW JERSEY, INCORPORATED 1904" sign. Jen Bendery: "Progressives appear to have won their fight to sink President Barack Obama's controversial judicial nominee Michael Boggs. The New York Times reported Monday that Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in an interview that Boggs lacks the support to pass the committee and should withdraw his nomination. 'He doesn’t have the votes,' Leahy told the paper. Boggs, who is up for a lifetime post on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, has been under attack all year from progressive groups and Democratic lawmakers over his socially conservative track record as a former Georgia state legislator. Among other things, he voted to ban same-sex marriage, to keep the Confederate insignia on the Georgia flag and to require doctors to post online their personal information and the annual number of abortions they performed." [HuffPost]
THE GOOD WIFE, VANCE MCALLISTER EDITION - Samantha Lachman: "[Vance McAllister], who was caught kissing one of his staffers has brought out his wife to speak positively of his character in a new television ad, titled 'Blessed,' that was released Monday...McAllister, who presents himself as a social conservative, was criticized as a hypocrite after a video leaked in April showing him kissing his district scheduler. The new ad apparently aims to reassure his constituents that his family is standing by him...'a man’s character is based on how many times he gets back up and stands again,' his wife, Kelly McAllister, says, adding that she feels 'blessed to have a husband who owns up to his mistakes, never gives up, always fighting for the good people of Louisiana.' The congressman also says that he feels lucky to be 'blessed with a great family and wonderful Christian wife.'" [HuffPost]
BROS INVADE SENATE SPOUSES - Nikki Schwab: "The increase in the number of women in Congress has made waves outside of the House and Senate chambers as well. 'My husband became the first man to be consistently involved in the Senate Spouse club,' Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said at a recent National Journal breakfast program (aptly named 'Through the Ceiling: Empowering Women in 2014 and Beyond'). John Bessler, Klobuchar’s husband and a law professor at the University of Baltimore, started going to Senate Spouse meetings as soon as his wife got to Washington." [USNews.com]
Not kosher, you guys: "An Israeli group that arranges and promotes parties for the gay community is taking heat for a party ad that evoked Islamic State's video beheadings of three western journalists and aid workers. The group, Dreck, last Friday sponsored a party at the Ha'Oman (The Artist) club in Tel Aviv. Media reports say the group promoted the event with a photo showing a man in orange kneeling in front of a man dressed in black." [Haaretz]
HOLY CRAP THAT WHITE HOUSE FENCE JUMPER WAS NO JOKE - AP: "Investigators found more than 800 rounds of ammunition in the car of the man accused of scaling the White House fence and sprinting inside the building, a federal prosecutor said Monday. A machete and two hatchets also were found. In a federal court proceeding, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Mudd declared that the accused intruder, Omar J. Gonzalez, was a danger to the president. Gonzalez was arrested just inside the White House front door. President Barack Obama and his family had left the White House for Camp David Friday evening when the incident occurred. Obama's spokesman said Monday that the president was "obviously concerned" about what happened. Mudd also disclosed that Gonzalez was already under indictment in Virginia, accused of having a sawed-off shotgun and eluding police in a case this summer." [AP]
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Here are cats playing tag.
INOUYE CALLED GILLIBRAND 'CHUBBY': REPORT - Times: "It turns out the senator was the late Daniel K. Inouye, Democrat of Hawaii, the decorated veteran and civil rights hero, according to people with knowledge of the incident. With his deep baritone and courtly manner, Mr. Inouye was revered by his colleagues and was a powerhouse in both Hawaii and the Senate, where he was a reliable supporter of women’s rights. But in an all but forgotten chapter of his career, the senator had been accused of sexual misconduct: In 1992, his hairdresser said that Mr. Inouye had forced her to have sex with him." [NYT]
COMFORT FOOD
- A local news reporter in Alaska declared on air, "Fuck it, I quit" after announcing she was working full time at the owner of a cannibis club.
- The "Might Ducks" cast reunited for one last flying V.
- Really get into the pointlessness of the internet withThe Useless Web
TWITTERAMA
@allisonsherry: Overheard in the office: 'Please stop calling to get me to write about your new political ads. Unless there's a goat, I'm not interested.'
@HayesBrown: Also, can we reflect on the fact that our government actually has a part called "the Secret Service" and it's something we're all okay with?
@JessicaValenti: It's always the dude with 17 followers and an egg avatar who tries to explain how no one cares what I think.
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