SEAN HANNITY

Conservative Solutions Caucus 2014: Energy Dependence Yesterday I kicked off the Conservative Solutions Caucus 2014 with a discussion on the economy. Today we shift our focus to one area that is both an issue and a solution, namely energy dependence.  Throughout our history, the United States has spent trillions of dollars defending our access to oil.  Why?  Because, whether we want to admit it or not, oil is the lifeblood of our economy.  The truth is, we are the Saudi Arabia of natural gas and shale oil and we have more untapped resources than most Middle East countries combined!  If we're honest, we can responsibly access these reserves and create jobs and wealth which we can then use to lower our overall dependency on oil!  If we do this the right way, we can really change the direction of our country!  For more on this, check out the Conservative Solutions Caucus 2014 section on Hannity.com. Another Scandal: Improper Payment As the debate over unemployment benefits heated up, we learned that the Department of Labor is wasting billions of dollars on improper payments.  Breitbart reports, "The U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) annual financial report revealed that in 2013 it improperly paid an estimated $7.7 billion in taxpayer funds to Unemployment Insurance (UI) beneficiaries, including $7.3 billion worth of overpayments."  As you can imagine, this waste of money is not an isolated incident but occurs every year to some degree.  I'm not trying to be cold here.  I realize the debate over unemployment benefits is tough because the real solutions take more time and steady patience than temporary fixes that feel good but do little to solve the problem. Extending Unemployment Benefits The first big issue out of the gate in Washington is the battle over unemployment benefits.  The Senate got exactly 60 votes needed to proceed to debate the bill.  That means six Republicans joined the Democrats to advance the bill: Ayotte (NH), Coats (IN), Collins (ME), Heller (NV), Murkowski (AK), Portman (OH).  This "emergency" bill would extend benefits for three months for the long-term unemployed.  It would cost  $6.4 billion.  Where would that money come from?  Well that's entirely the problem.  We don't have the money to pay for things like this, unless we find it somewhere in the budget.  That doesn't seem like an extreme concept, until liberals rev-up their PR campaign against the "heartless" Republicans.  Earlier today, Harry Reid blocked Mitch McConnell's plan to offer an amendment that would have paid for jobless benefits by delaying ObamaCare's individual mandate. There is no doubt that many Americans are struggling.  The danger with continuing to support these temporary extensions is that eventually things in Washington become permanent.  Before we know it, unemployment is just another entitlement program rather than a temporary support for those who fall on hard times. Today's "Hot Topic" From the Hannity Forums Now the NSA Is In Trouble - Posted by Zantax The NSA recently refused to deny spying on congress. Now congress will be outraged about the NSA spying on Americans, watch. If you want details just Google it, Bernie Sanders asked them in writing, they answered with a dodge and declined to deny it. Congress people by and large felt spying on Americans was ok, to keep us safe, let's see how they react now that it is clear, they aren't exempt.  >>TV Tonight (10pm ET on Fox News) The deep freeze must be a result of global warming, right?