Obama Administration

"In just the first few days, [Russian] aviation has destroyed 500 fuel tanker trucks, which greatly reduced illegal oil export capabilities of the militants and, accordingly, their income from oil smuggling."

History takes no prisoners. It shows, with absolute lucidity, that the Islamic extremism ravaging the world today was borne out of the Western foreign policy of yesteryear.

Today we got confirmation that the spinning plates of the Affordable Care Act are finally falling down, when none other than the U.S.’s biggest health insurer, UnitedHealth, cut its 2015 earnings forecast with a warning that it was considering pulling out of Obamacare, just one month after saying it would expand its presence in the program. 

• Soothing Fed sounds send shares, emerging markets higher (Reuters)
• Belgian Police Conduct Raids in Connection With Paris Attacks (WSJ)
• The Paris Attacks Can’t Lead to a Closed Europe (BBG)
• Alleged Mastermind of Paris Attacks Was ‘Emir of War’ (WSJ)
• U.S. Eyes Russia-Iran Split in Bid to End Syria Conflict (WSJ)
• Despite tensions, Asia-Pacific nations close ranks against terrorism (Reuters)

With poll numbers plunging, it is hardly surprising that Chris Christie would come out swinging in the aftermath of the French attacks and while his comments this morning during a Fox News interview are rather astonishingly frank, they are not entirely without merit as the Obama administration appears to tumble from pillar to post with regard foreign policy and specifically ISIS. Remarking on John Kerry's comment that the terror attacks in Paris lacked the "rationale" of the assault earlier this year on the staff of 'Charlie Hebdo', Chistie exclaimed the Secretary of State should "get some sleep and shut up," adding that President Obama "was living in a fantasy land" and should focus on protecting the U.S., not helping Syrian refugees.

First it was Texas. Then five other states - Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, and Michigan - followed in refusing to admit any Syrian refugees. It has since became an avalanche, and at last check, at least 27 states - represented by more than half the nation's governors - say they oppose letting Syrian refugees into their states.

The United States still plans to try to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees into the country in the coming year, the State Department said on Monday as the weekend attacks in Paris renewed scrutiny on Syrian migrants. But not just anyone: according to the US State Department, the US will only accept "carefully vetted" Syrian refugees...

• Belgian Police 'Arrest' Public Enemy No.1 (Sky News)
• France Widens Crackdown at Home as Bombs Rain on Islamic State (BBG)
• Putin Goes From G-20 Pariah to Player at Obama Turkey Talk (BBG)
• Paris Attacks: 150 Raids as France Goes to 'War With Terrorism' (NBC)
• 'Rocket Launcher Found' In French Police Raids (Sky)
• Geopolitical worries lift oil after Paris attacks, but glut weighs (Reuters)
• Japan's economy falls back into recession again (BBC)

It turns out that Obamacare's "affordable care" is affordable, as long as one doesn't actually have to use it! Here is what happens when one does.

Trump, for all his contradictions, gives voice to the “isolationist” populism that Rubio and his neocon confederates despise, and which is implanted so deeply in the American consciousness. Why us? Why are we paying everybody’s bills? Why are we fighting everybody else’s wars? It’s a bad deal! This is why the neocons hate Trump’s guts even more than they hate Paul.

In the wake of Bill Ackman's verbal jousting with Charile Munger, WSJ has taken a look at what many consider to be the myth behind Warren Buffett's "folksy" demeanor. As it turns out, it's best to do as Buffett does, not as he says.

The Obama administration officially rolled out its MyRA program. MyRA is a special form of IRA that ‘helps’ Americans save for retirement by making it easy for you to loan your money to the federal government. Despite misleading promises that these MyRA accounts are for “people who aren’t saving and who have a fear of losing their principal," the big catch here is that there’s only one investment: US government bonds... So with these MyRA accounts, when adjusted for inflation, you’re guaranteed to lose money.

On the heels of Washington's move to send a guided missile destroyer to The South China Sea to counter Chinese "aggression," the US reportedly flew two B-52 strategic bombers "near" Beijing's man-made islands last weekend. There are competing accounts as to what took place, but this certainly looks like the latest escalation in an increasingly dangerous game of chicken.