Chaos in Ferguson . . . There were more than 80 arrests made in the St. Louis area overnight as protesters fired more than 100 gunshots, burned and looted as many as 25 buildings and vandalized police cars in Ferguson, Mo. after a grand jury did not indict a police officer who shot and killed an unarmed black teenager in August, authorities said Tuesday morning.

Obama: We have "more work to do" on race . . . President Obama issued an appeal on Monday for restraint by protesters and police after a Missouri grand jury decided not to indict a white police officer in the shooting death of a black teen last August. In a late-night appearance in the White House briefing room, Obama also urged Americans to understand that much work remained to be done to improve relations between black Americans and law enforcement. Reuters

Flournoy tops list to replace Hagel . . . Among a long list of would-be successors to Hagel, two names have bubbled to the top: Michèle Flournoy and Ash Carter, both former senior Pentagon officials. Flournoy has long been considered a top contender for the job in the next administration if a Democrat wins the presidency in 2016 — especially if it’s Hillary Clinton. Flournoy is considered hawkish on defense issues, which would play well with a Republican-led Senate confirmation process. Politico

Gruber contradicted Obama claim on premiums . . .  While President Obama campaigned on a promise that his universal health care plan would lower premiums, his controversial adviser and plan architect was privately warning the state of Wisconsin that Obamacare was poised to massively increase insurance costs for average residents, internal documents show. Washington Times

Gruber provides evidence Obama knew better.

Hispanics united behind Obama order . . . President Obama’s move to grant nearly 5 million illegal immigrants amnesty from deportation has united Hispanic voters in an unprecedented fashion, leaving them firmly behind the White House and Democrats and adamant about opposing Republicans’ plans to rescind the new policy, a leading pollster said Monday. Washington Times

Kerry under fire for lack of Iran deal . . . When nuclear talks with Iran were last extended in July, Secretary of State John Kerry declared that “we have come a long way in a short period of time.” Now that the talks have been extended again — despite a lack of visible progress — even some moderate Democrats are worried that Kerry’s dogged nuclear diplomacy has done the opposite: come a short way in a long period of time. Politico

​Extension prompts calls for sanctions . . . Several U.S. Republican lawmakers insisted on Monday that the extension of nuclear talks with Iran be accompanied by increased sanctions, setting the stage for a battle with the Obama administration after their party takes full control of Congress next year. Reuters

GOP leaders craft plan to avoid shutdown . . . House Republican leaders are beginning to coalesce around a strategy to avoid a government shutdown in less than a month. The likely proposal would fund nearly the entire government through September 2015, but immigration enforcement related funding would be renewed on a short-term basis, according to several high-ranking GOP lawmakers and aides who described the plan as it stands now. Politico

White House, Congress raided Bioterror fund . . . Congress and the Obama White House looked for billions of dollars a few years ago to offset the costs of a legal settlement with black farmers and American Indians,  to increase education aid to the states and to develop a vaccine for swine flu. To get those billions, they looked to the same coffer: Project BioShield, a $5.6 billion fund created specifically to prepare America for a bioterrorist attack and develop treatments for deadly viruses such as Ebola. Daily Signal

McCain tops conservatives'  2016 primary hit list . . . "If you're making a list, there's two lists," said Daniel Horowitz, the senior editor at Conservative Review, a new conservative research group. "There's John McCain, and then there's the rest. John McCain is a category of his own." National Journal

It would be great to see him lose, except . . . I'd hate to see him lose.

Gruber to testify . . . Jonathan Gruber, the former ObamaCare adviser in hot water for his comments about the “stupidity of the American voter,” has agreed to testify at a House panel next month, setting up a healthcare showdown in what could be the final week of this Congress. The Hill

I promise to live stream this one!

Could Webb give Hillary a fight? . . . Without mentioning Clinton by name, the former Democratic senator from Virginia stated bluntly that government is “paralyzed” and that he wants to help — not as a “career politician,” but as a public servant — to “re-establish a transparent, functioning governmental system in our country.” Fox News



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Taxpayers on the hook massively for pensions . . . If you’re a worker and you have a pension, there’s a government agency that will pay that pension if your company is unable to fulfill the financial promises made to you and your colleagues. There’s just one catch: That government agency has a massive deficit right now. According to the recently released 2014 annual report from the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, the deficit in PBGC’s multiemployer program increased from $8.6 billion in 2013 to $42.4 billion in 2014. Daily Signal

Of course, this administration would count $42B as chump change, to be paid by us chumps.

FDA to require more calorie counts . . . Caloric ignorance will no longer be bliss at many restaurants across the country starting next year. The Obama administration plans to unveil final labeling rules on Tuesday that require restaurants with at least 20 locations to display the calorie count of food items on their menus. Wall Street Journal

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Keith Koffler
Editor
White House Dossier