The Jerusalem Post is reporting that the top Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said today that the country would put forward "new initiatives" in upcoming negotiations over its nuclear program.

According to Iranian English-language state television Press TV, Jalili,
who is also the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council
(SNSC) said, “Iran’s representatives will participate in the
negotiations with new initiatives and we hope that the P5+1 countries
will also enter talks with constructive approaches.” 

“We are ready to hold progressive and successful talks on cooperation," he added before emphasizing that, “the language of threat and pressure against the Iranian nation has never yielded results but will lead to more seriousness in the attitude of the Iranian nation.”

The new round of nuclear talks is to take place in Istanbul on April 13-14.

Click here for more from The Jerusalem Post.

OKLAHOMA CITY – In the nationwide Weekly Republican Address Saturday, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin said the energy crisis facing America isn’t caused by a lack of energy resources, but rather stems from a lack of leadership that starts “at the top” with the President. “America remains dependent on foreign oil from unstable and anti-Western regimes, and yet the President is blocking the pipeline that would transport oil to the United States from our neighbor and ally—Canada,” she said.

Fallin continued, “Millions of Americans remain out of work, but President Obama continues to propose job-killing tax hikes and obstruct the basic energy infrastructure projects that would lead to the creation of thousands of new jobs, not to mention more revenue in state budgets.”
 

A full transcript of the address follows:
 
“Hi, I’m Governor Mary Fallin from the Great State of Oklahoma.
 
“As you may know, Oklahoma is an energy state. Nearly one in seven jobs are supported by the oil and natural gas industry. And with our tremendous potential for expansion in wind power, we are also moving forward in the area of cutting edge, renewable energy.
 
“Energy production has long been an important part of our history, and our economy has benefitted tremendously from the health of the energy sector. Oklahoma has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation, at 6 percent. We are the number two state in the nation for job creation in the last 12 months and in 2011 our citizens experienced the 4th highest per capita income growth in the United States.
 
“We recognize that the energy industry is a valuable ally as we seek to create jobs and stimulate the economy, and that’s why Oklahoma Republicans continue to support the production of all kinds of energy resources.
 
“Our pro-energy policies stand in stark contrast though to the policies supported by President Obama and the Washington Democrats, who seem to view American-made energy as a hazardous waste rather than a resource.
 
“Last month, the President made his first visit to Oklahoma since being sworn into office.
 
“While he was here, he made some interesting claims.
 
“We were surprised to hear the President say he supports an ‘all of the above’ energy policy.
 
“Well, this is the same President whose party pushed a ‘cap and trade’ plan that would dramatically raise taxes on energy producers. Those tax increases would discourage energy production, drive up gas prices and utility costs for American families and destroy thousands of jobs.
 
“While he was in Oklahoma, President Obama also surprised us by taking credit for the southern leg of the Keystone pipeline—an important project that will allow Oklahoma energy producers to get their product to the market in the Gulf Coast.
 
“The only problem is… the southern leg of the pipeline didn’t need the President’s approval. It was already in the works.
 
“Here’s another inconvenient truth the President avoided: his administration is continuing to hold up construction on the northern leg of that pipeline—a project that would have created thousands of jobs and over a billion dollars in private investment. This from a President who says his number one focus is jobs.
 
“Finally, President Obama made the outrageous claim that his administration is responsible for the national increase in domestic drilling.
 
“Well, here’s the truth: drilling is increasing in the United States… on privately owned land. We have the ingenuity and the hard work of the American men and women in the private sector to thank for that.
 
“On public land, which President Obama is responsible for, drilling is rapidly decreasing.  In fact, leases issued by the Bureau of Land Management are now less than half of what they were under former President Bill Clinton.

“And because of the severe limitations the President has put on drilling, especially offshore drilling, that number will continue to fall. 
 
“The bottom line is this administration is taking credit for American energy production while it works to aggressively undermine it.
 
“Besides being hypocritical, the President’s double-talk is dangerous to our economy and our national security.
 
“We know that families, already struggling in this poor economy, are feeling pinched by rising costs at the gas pump.
 
“America remains dependent on foreign oil from unstable and anti-Western regimes, and yet the President is blocking the pipeline that would transport oil to the United States from our neighbor and ally — Canada.
 
“Millions of Americans remain out of work, but President Obama continues to propose job-killing tax hikes and obstruct the basic energy infrastructure projects that would lead to the creation of thousands of new jobs, not to mention more revenue in state budgets.
 
“It doesn’t have to be this way. The energy resources in the United States are enormous.

“In fact, shale deposits in the United States contain enough natural gas alone to power this country for another 100 years.
 
“Let’s be clear—the energy crisis we are facing today isn’t a lack of energy resources; it’s a lack of leadership. That starts at the top, with our President.
 
“Americans are paying the price for his failed policies—finding fewer jobs, higher gas prices, and less opportunity.
 
“Republicans have a better way. Across the nation, Republicans are supporting all kinds of domestic energy production and the jobs that come with it.
 
“The American people deserve an energy policy that creates a stronger economy, more jobs and opportunity, and the security that comes with American Energy Independence. We’re working hard to give them one.
 
“Thanks for your time, and of course, have a wonderful Easter weekend.”

Updated with Politico transcript:  The Washington Times first reported Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell blasted President Obama on Thursday, telling him to "back off" from comments earlier this week where he appeared to question the constitutional powers of the Supreme Court and the possibility that it could overturn his health care law.

"The president crossed a dangerous line this week," the Kentucky Republican said to the Lexington Rotary Club, "and anyone who cares about liberty needs to call him out on it. The independence of the court must be defended."

On Monday, Mr. Obama suggested it would be "activist" and an "unprecedented, extraordinary step" for the nine "unelected" justices to overturn the law, prompting outcries from leading Republicans and many legal scholars that he was trying to intimidate the court.

The president later narrowed his comments, saying the court hasn’t overturned economic regulation like the Affordable Care Act since the New Deal era. Saying the court’s decision must be respected, Mr. Obama added that he believed the justices take their responsibilities "very seriously."

Click here to read more from The Washington Times. 

McConnell’s full prepared remarks from Politico follow:

    I had originally planned to come over here today to talk about the economy and jobs. But President Obama made some comments about the Supreme Court earlier this week that troubled me, and that should trouble every American, frankly, and they demand a firm response. So if you’ll allow me, I’d like to start with that.

    First, some context. As you’re all aware, last week the Supreme Court heard arguments for and against the President’s health care law. This is the same bill Congress passed two years ago on Christmas Eve on a straight party-line vote by the slimmest of margins after some backroom deals got it over the finish line. This bill is still deeply controversial. And if you believe the polls, most Americans think it’s unconstitutional.

    Well, fortunately, in matters of constitutional interpretation, we’ve got a final arbiter in this country, and that’s the Supreme Court. So I and many others brought our legal arguments to the Court last week. And after a careful study of the law and the precedents, and after weighing the arguments on both sides, the Court will make its final determination. Whether I agree with it or not, I’ll respect the decision.

    But, apparently, President Obama didn’t like the tenor of some of the questions the justices asked about the health care law during last week’s hearings, questions that highlighted the unprecedented power that the administration now has over your and everybody else’s health care as a result of its passage.

    So earlier this week, the President did something that as far as I know is completely unprecedented: he not only tried to publicly pressure the Court into deciding a pending case in the way he wants it decided; he also questioned its very authority under the Constitution.

    And if anybody had any doubt about that, it should have been dispelled on Tuesday, when a federal appeals court ordered an administration lawyer to clarify whether the administration does, in fact, believe that the courts of the United States of America have the right to determine whether laws passed by Congress violate the Constitution. This was a clear response to the President’s comments from earlier in the week, and proof positive of the signal it sent to the judiciary.

    Now, the President’s words were particularly troubling given his past treatment of the Court. Two years ago, he used a State of the Union Address to publicly chastise the Court for its decision in another case he didn’t like — with members of the Court sitting just a few feet away.

    He looked at the line that wisely separates the three branches of government, and stepped right over it. But what the President did this week went even farther. With his words, he was no longer trying to embarrass the Court after a decision; rather, he tried to intimidate it before a decision has been made. And that should be intolerable to all of us.

    Let me be clear: I have no idea what the court will decide in this case. My own preference is well known. If the Court upholds the law, I’ll be disappointed. I’ll disagree with it. But I’ll respect its independence. And then I’ll continue to do everything I can to have this law repealed through the legislative channels that remain available.

    But here’s something I won’t do: I won’t mount a political campaign to delegitimize the Court in the way some in Congress have been urging this President to do, and in the way that he started to do earlier this week in the Rose Garden. I’ll respect the Supreme Court, even when I disagree with it.

    Why? Because at the end of the day, it’s the judiciary that ensures we’re a nation ruled by laws, not the whim of a President or a particular Congress. That’s why the Founders made sure the people who sit on the courts have lifetime appointments. It’s why the Constitution explicitly prohibits Congress from lowering their pay. It’s why justices enjoy the freedom to decide cases as they see fit, even if it means upsetting the very President who appointed them.

    The truth is, if this law’s in trouble, it’s because giving the government this much power is hard to defend, not because a few justices had the temerity to suggest as much.

    But the President seems to be saying that you’re an activist if you’re not stretching the limits of the limited powers the Constitution gives to the federal government.

    This is not about what I think of the President as a person. It’s what I think of the duties of the office he’s sworn to uphold.

    We can all disagree about the merits of a President’s policies. But the American people should be able to expect that their President will defend the independence of the Court, not undermine it, safeguarding and strengthening our country’s institutions, not actively weakening them.

    The President crossed a dangerous line this week. And anyone who cares about liberty needs to call him out on it. The independence of the Court must be defended. Regardless of how the justices decide this case, they’re answerable, above all, to the Constitution they swore to uphold. The fact that this President does not appear to feel similarly constrained to respect their independence doesn’t change that one bit.

    So respectfully, I would suggest the President back off.

    Let the Court do its work. Let our system work the way it was intended. The stability of our system and our laws and our very government depends on it. And the duties of the Presidency demand it.

Click here to read more from Politico.

One of the highly developed talents of President Barack Obama is the ability to say things that are demonstrably false, and make them sound not only plausible but inspiring.

That talent was displayed just this week when he was asked whether he thought the Supreme Court would uphold ObamaCare as constitutional or strike it down as unconstitutional.

He replied: "I’m confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress."

But how unprecedented would it actually be if the Supreme Court declared a law unconstitutional if it was passed by "a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress"?

The Supreme Court has been doing precisely that for 209 years!

Nor is it likely that Barack Obama has never heard of it. He has a degree from the Harvard law school and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago law school. In what must be one of the most famous Supreme Court cases in history — Marbury v. Madison in 1803 — Chief Justice John Marshall established the principle that the Supreme Court can declare acts of Congress null and void if these acts violate the Constitution.

They have been doing so for more than two centuries. It is the foundation of American constitutional law. There is no way that Barack Obama has never heard of it or really believes it to be "unprecedented" after two centuries of countless precedents.

In short, he is simply lying.

Click here to read more from One News Now.

NBC has completed its investigation into the mishandling of the police dispatcher’s conversation with George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin case. And the process ends with a finding of error, plus an apology. Here is the statement just issued by the network:

During our investigation it became evident that there was an error made in the production process that we deeply regret. We will be taking the necessary steps to prevent this from happening in the future and apologize to our viewers.

That apology addresses the “Today” show’s failure to abridge accurately the conversation between Zimmerman and the dispatcher in this high-profile case.

Click here to read more from The Washington Post.