The Daily News Byte

NY Post: Dems EatingTheir Own Words on ObamaCare

                In 2013, Debbie Wasserman Schultz responded to criticism by Michelle Malkin on ObamaCare saying she would be eating her own words, then put the hashtag GetCovered. Since Schultz's comments, the Obama administration has decided to extend those plans that were to be outlawed under Obamacare, allowed insurance exemptions for universities, and financial incentives for insurance companies who are going to experience hardship under ObamaCare regulations. Everything has been a disaster with this law. One of the only benefits of the law that Democrats actually get behind is that kids  can be covered up to age 26 on their parents plan. It seems that Schultz is eating her own words here.

Time: Rand Paul Wouldn't Let Putin Get Away With This Invasion

                Rand Paul wrote on op-ed in Time Magazine in response to the Russian 'invasion' of Crimea. He boasts that he wouldn't let "Putin get away with it." He calls only for specific economic sanctions and deregulation to help deal with the likelihood of a gas shut off from Russia. With the development of the Keystone Pipeline and the shipment of oil to Europe, he believes that this would counter Russia closing off its gas supplies to Europe. Also, he is calling for an end to sending money to Ukraine because it can be used to pay off its debts to Russia. So we would effectively be "borrowing from China to give to Russia." The use of sanctions appears to be the common policy objective in handling Putin. These policy prescriptions are just about the same as the President has called for. So far, Russia is only in Crimea, they have yet to invade through military might the rest of Ukraine. Also, there are calls for Russia to let Ukrainians decide their own fate, but Crimea voted to join Russia and it was ignored. Now it's likely that there was political influence from Russia, but the people in Crimea are not revolting against this vote. And it's not like the West isn't influencing Ukraine to join the west.

Reuters: Crimea Votes to Join Russia

                The Crimean Parliament voted to join with Russia. With this vote, President Obama also called for sanctions against the illegal seizure of Crimea. It's kind of funny when Russia literally just walks in and claims the area with no bloodshed, then Crimea votes to join with Russia and then the US tells Russia they are going to be sanctioned for this action. The US and Western European nations make it sound like Russia has forcibly taken this part of Ukraine, when it appears they are content with being Russian. President Obama is calling for the sanctions because the 'invasion' is against the Ukrainian constitution. Is that document still valid since there is now a revolutionary government in place? It comes down to this, the previous Ukraine government was pro-Putin, a revolution occurred that changed it to be pro-West. So when Russia acts to keep them pro-Russia of course the West is going to step in. So this is really a battle between the West and Russia, not the 'sovereignty' of Ukraine. If there was a revolution in say Germany that was Pro-Putin, of course we would be saying that the government wasn't legitimate. It's all about national interest. The claims put forward by the nations of the world are all hypocritical. What is the big deal about Ukraine and why is it so important to the US? This issue needs to be left to those who inhabit Ukraine. It should be of no concern to us. We have elevated the US to protector of the world, a position that it was never meant to take.

Washington Examiner: Union Bashes Obamacare

                A union that represents some 300,000 hospitality workers has come out against ObamaCare due to the high cost of insurance. According to the union, Unite Here, ObamaCare will effectively reduce wages by up to $5 per hour due to the burdensome costs of the health law. With the increase in benefit cost and the likelihood of businesses cutting back on hours, the cost to low and middle income Americans will be substantial. It's time for Americans to wake up and realize that the PPACA wasn't for the benefit of the Middle and Lower class, but for special interest groups and large insurance companies. Large insurance companies were pretty much guaranteed customers by the federal government.

The Daily News Byte

The Blaze: The West Sold Ukraine to Putin

                With all the commotion around Ukraine, nations are scrambling to find out what to do. They look more like chickens who've had their heads cut off, running around in circles with no sense of direction. The people in Ukraine are scared and they see American weakness as a sign that Putin will be unchallenged and that his advances will continue. Ukrainian's are correct in that the West has essentially abandoned them. Western sanctions will backfire and the threat of pulling out of the G8 means nothing to Russia, who is already looking to make its own alliance with Asia. Right now the West is weak, there is no agreement between world leaders, and the politicians who run the countries are too spineless to stand up to Putin. So, as of right now, Putin appears to have free reign because he doesn't fear a united west.

Sky News: Russia and China Agree over Ukraine

                News is developing continuously on the Ukraine situation. Russia's closest ally, China, appears to be siding with Russia on this issue (not really a surprise there). The leaders of the western world are gathering together and put some sort of plan together for economic sanctions against Russia. My question, if China is going to back Russia, is the western world going to sanction China as well. We seem to only want to focus on the atrocities of Russia, but we seem to not care about their closest ally.

The Hill: Russia Demands Ukraine Warship Surrender

                Russia has much more military might than Ukraine. Currently, it appears there has been no actual fighting in the region of Crimea. This part is known to be mostly composed of Russian speaking individuals and a place that is more loyal to Russia itself. With the so far refusal to surrender, this event has the potential to escalate the situation if Russia decides to take military action.

RT: Kerry's Threats vs Russia Unacceptable

                In response to the threats made by Secretary of State John Kerry, Russia appears ready to counter the West's claims. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, they responded in the region of Crimea due to the overthrow of the government in Kiev by radicals. So far, the 'invasion' has been done without bloodshed it would appear. According to Russia officials, the west is ignoring the fact that the former president of Ukraine signed an agreement with the opposition but the next day the capitol was overthrown and the agreement thrown out the window.

Forbes: Ilya Shapiro - 9 Reasons Why I Support Arizona's Religious Liberty Bill

                Ilya Shapiro is a scholar at the Cato Institute. He is a promenant defender of civil liberties and is on the pro-marriage equality side. However, he recently wrote an opinion piece about why he supported the Religious Liberty Bill that was recently vetoed in Arizona.  Since he has nine main points, I won't put them here, but check out the article.

Roll Call: Paul Ryan Looking to Overhaul Anti-Poverty Programs

                Paul Ryan has released a report that looks at the benefits anti-poverty programs have had for the poor. While Ryan does claim that some programs are necessary, there are many others that need reforming or removal. The amount of money spent on these programs is around $800 billion. The natural response to the Ryan proposals is that Republican's are trying to cut the deficit by helping the rich and hurting the poor. This argumentation totally misses the point because the point of Ryan's study is to identify programs and do work and ones that don't.