White House reportedly planning years-long campaign to destroy ISIS

The Obama administration is reportedly preparing a campaign to destroy the Islamic State militant group that could outlast the president's remaining time in office, according to a published report. 

The New York Times, citing U.S. officials, reported late Sunday that the White House plan involves three phases that some Pentagon officials believe will require at least three years of sustained effort.

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The first phase, airstrikes against Islamic State, also known as ISIS, is already underway in Iraq, where U.S. aircraft have launched 143 attacks since August 8. The second phase involves an intensified effort to train, advise, and equip the Iraqi army, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, and any Sunni tribesmen willing to fight their ISIS co-religionists. The Times reports that this second phase will begin sometime after Iraq forms a new government, which could happen sometime this week. 

The third, and most politically fraught phase of the campaign, according to The Times, would require airstrikes against ISIS inside Syria. Last month, the government of Bashar al-Assad in Damascus warned the Obama administration not to launch airstrikes against ISIS in Syria without its permission. 

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Senate Polls Show Edge For GOP

Two sets of polls released Sunday find an edge for the GOP in a closely contested Senate midterm environment, although they differ on the size of that advantage.

A set of online CBS/New York Times/YouGov polls conducted in every Senate racefinds an electoral landscape that has remained both competitive and largely stable throughout the year, with changes of less than 4 points in nine of the 10 most competitive races. Republicans "hold at least a nominal lead in eight states held by Democrats, more than the six they need to retake the chamber," writes the New York Times' Nate Cohn. The Times' Senate model gives Republicans a 61 percent chance, or a "slight edge," of retaking the Senate.

The most notable change from the last wave of YouGov polling is in Alaska, where the survey shows Republican Dan Sullivan pulling ahead of Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska). Polling this year in the state has been both sparse and inconsistent.

A separate trio of Senate polls by NBC/Marist focusing on three of the most competitive states finds Republicans leading in Arkansas and Kentucky, while in Colorado the Democratic incumbent remains ahead.

The leading candidate's margins in all three NBC/Marist surveys -- 8 points in Kentucky and 5 points in Arkansas for the Republican candidates, and 6 points in Colorado for the Democrat -- are wider than those seen in HuffPost Pollster's poll-tracking model, which shows all three races remaining extremely competitive.
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Obama: Waiting will make immigration executive action 'more sustainable'

(CNN) -- President Barack Obama says he's postponing executive action on immigration until after November's elections because it would be "more sustainable" then.

Speaking to NBC's Chuck Todd, Obama said the immigration debate was affected by concerns over the large number of unaccompanied children from Latin America flocking to the U.S. border.

"The truth of the matter is that the politics did shift mid-summer because of that problem," he said.

"What I'm saying is that I'm going to act because it's the right thing for the country," Obama said. "But it's going to be more sustainable and more effective if the public understands what the facts are on immigration, what we've done on unaccompanied children and why it's necessary."

The decision to postpone means any political repercussions for trying to reform the immigration system by himself would come after the congressional midterm contests.

Obama still "will do something before the end of the year" on the issue, a White House official told CNN on Saturday.

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D.C. Circuit Court Agrees To Re-hear Obamacare Case

The full D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to re-hear the case of Halbig v. Burwell.

In July, a three-judge panel from the D.C. Circuit Court ruled that people in the 36 states that use the federal health insurance exchange as part of the Affordable Care Act are ineligible for subsidized insurance. HuffPost's Ryan Grim and Jeffrey Young have more on that earlier decision here.

The same July day the D.C. Circuit Court panel ruled on Halbig, a Virginia federal appeals panel ruled the opposite way on an identical case. The plaintiffs in the D.C. case requested the Supreme Court to take on the case in August. according to the Wall Street Journal's Brent Kendall, oral arguments will be heard in December.

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia granted an Obama administration request to have its full complement of judges re-hear a challenge to regulations that allow health insurance tax credits under the Affordable Care Act for consumers in all 50 states.

The announcement diminishes the prospect of Supreme Court review of the issue in the near term. The initial 2-1 appeals court ruling in Washington came out the same day that a panel of appellate judges in Richmond, Virginia, unanimously sided with the administration on the same issue.

The health law's opponents had hoped that the split rulings would lead the high court to take up the issue soon.

Now, the argument in the federal courthouse just a few blocks from the Supreme Court will take place on December 17.

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Former Virginia governor found guilty in influence-peddling case

CNN) -- A former rising star in the Republican Party, former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell was red-faced and sobbing Thursday after a jury convicted him and his wife on multiple counts related to influence-peddling while he was in office.

After more than a month of sometimes soul-baring testimony, the federal jury issued guilty verdicts on 11 counts against McDonnell, while clearing him on two others. His wife, Maureen, was convicted on nine while cleared on four.

The charges involved gifts the couple received from a businessman, including a Rolex watch, a $15,000 check for their daughter's wedding and other items that are legal under Virginia law. Prosecutors had to prove such gifts were accepted with corrupt intent.

Conspiracy, wire fraud, influence peddling

Both McDonnells were convicted of conspiracy to defraud the citizens of Virginia, wire fraud, conspiracy and influence-peddling. Mrs. McDonnell also was convicted on one count of obstruction.

The jury cleared them both of false statement charges, and cleared Mrs. McDonnell on one of the wire fraud counts and two of the influence-peddling counts.

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Supreme Court blocks same-sex marriages in Virginia

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court blocked gay and lesbian couples from marrying in Virginia Wednesday as it edges closer to deciding whether same-sex marriage should be legalized nationwide.

The ruling puts on hold a federal appeals court's verdict last month striking down the state's ban on gay marriage. That case, like others that ended similarly in Utah and Oklahoma, is being appealed to the Supreme Court.

While nearly all federal and state courts have ruled in favor of same-sex marriage since the high court issued two landmark decisions in June 2013, judges have blocked nearly all such marriages while the cases are appealed. The justices had stepped in once before, in Utah, to do just that.

If the court declines to hear the Virginia appeal, the stay would be lifted and couples could begin getting married. Otherwise, those marriages would have to wait until the case is ultimately decided.

"The Supreme Court is making clear, as it already did in the Utah marriage case, that it believes a dignified process is better than disorder," said Byron Babione, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents the Virginia court clerk opposed to same-sex marriage.

In six states — Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, Utah and Wisconsin — several thousand couples married before the process was interrupted by judges' subsequent rulings. That leaves those marriages in legal limbo.

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Court rules in favor of for-profit corporations, but how broadly? In Plain English

In a deeply divisive case pitting advocates of religious liberty against women’s right’s groups, the Supreme Court said today that two for profit corporations with sincerely held religious beliefs do not have to provide a full range of contraceptives at no cost to their employees pursuant to the Affordable Care Act.

In a 5-4 opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito the court held that as applied to closely held corporations the Health and Human Services regulations imposing the contraceptive mandate violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Alito was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Antonin Scalia and Justice Clarence Thomas. Justice Anthony Kennedy filed a concurring opinion.

The decision is a victory for the Green family that owns Hobby Lobby, an arts and crafts chain, and the Hahns who own Conestoga, a cabinet making company, who had challenged the so called contraceptive mandate saying it forced them to either violate their faith or pay ruinous fines. They object specifically to four of the drugs and devices at issue because they say they have the potential to destroy an embryo. The government defended the provision as an essential part of health care coverage for women.


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