Guest:Kirsten Powers
IS PRESIDENT OBAMA LOSING HIS GRIP?
"According to the Washington Times, the Obama administration was told in 2008 that there were big problems with the V.A. The V.A. scandal has now broken big and White House spokesman Jay Carney says the administration learned about the problems through media reports. That's troubling! The Republican Party put out an email today listing all of the times the president learned of important events through the media; it seems the president and his advisors are the last to know about major problems. This V.A. thing is huge, we can't have wounded warriors dying from a lack of medical care. The Obama administration did very little to hold the V.A. accountable, so the question becomes, is the president even paying attention? He keeps incompetent administrators like Kathleen Sebelius and Eric Shinseki in their positions far too long, and surely the American people have not been given clear answers. All the polls show that there's an erosion of confidence in the federal government. The American people believe the competency of the federal government is underwhelming, and it is."

The Factor asked Democrat Kirsten Powers to assess the V.A. scandal and the larger question of government competence. "There is a well-founded lack of confidence in our government," she began, "and I don't think Obama is stepping up when these crises come up. Information about the V.A. was given to their transition team in 2008, and Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Biden made veterans their signature issue, so this should have gotten the attention of the president, who has talked about how important veterans are to him." Powers acknowledged that President Obama seems distant and uninvolved. "It's clear that he is disengaged and you can go back to the ObamaCare website - if he's not interested in that, he's not interested in anything. He showed little curiosity about whether the website was even going to function. I'm extremely disappointed in him." The Factor opined that this debacle may be President Obama's Waterloo: "I don't think he recovers from this because critical mass has been reached. He's not engaged, he's not problem-solving, he's not explaining, he doesn't seem to feel the urgency."

Guest:Sen. Marco Rubio (R)
Senator Marco Rubio, a prospective Republican presidential candidate, has expressed doubt about man-induced climate change. He entered the No Spin Zone to elaborate. "I've never denied that the climate is changing," Rubio stated, "but the left goes around saying is that there's a 'consensus.' There is no consensus on the sensitivity of the climate, how much it is changing, and how much of that is directly attributable to human carbon emissions. Despite 17 years of dramatic increases in carbon production, the earth's surface temperature has stabilized. None of the proposals that liberals want us to impose on ourselves would do anything about the problem!" Rubio also criticized the White House's apparent dysfunction. "They have a systemic problem of governance. They were very good at messaging but they have no competence when it comes to governing. And every time an issue arises, they're more concerned about what they're going to say than what they're going to do."

Guests:Kennedy & Ashley Pratte
According to a survey conducted by MTV, 88% of young Americans disapprove of racial preferences in hiring and college admissions. The Factor dissected the numbers with the singularly-named Kennedy, a former VJ at MTV, and conservative analyst Ashley Pratte. "I'm not surprised at all," Kennedy declared. "Young Americans don't see the same kind of differentiations in race among themselves that older generations do. They are saying that racial unity requires a lack of racial preferences, which they see as unfair." Pratte extrapolated that so-called millennials may be growing weary of liberalism. "This is a huge shift, young people are waking up and seeing that liberal polices are actually hurting them and they won't tolerate it anymore. Affirmative action is not fair and it actually harms minorities in a lot of ways."

Guest:John Stossel
The Factor was next joined by Fox Business host John Stossel, who insists there is actually some good news regarding poverty. "Only 5% of the world is now living on a dollar a day," he reported, "and it used to be much more, so millions of people have lifted themselves out of poverty. We're living longer, we have Google and email and wonderful new things, our lives are better! Even poor people have gotten a little richer if you include everything." The Factor reminded Stossel that the middle class in America has stagnated, saying, "In the last five-and-a-half years under President Obama, median income has fallen in this country."

Guests:Kimberly Guilfoyle & Lis Wiehl
Actor Michael Jace, long-time co-star of The Shield, has been arrested in California for allegedly killing his wife. Legal analysts Lis Wiehl and Kimberly Guilfoyle reported the latest on the killing. "The neighbors called the police and said they heard a shooting," Wiehl said, "and Jace himself called 9-1-1 and said 'I shot my wife.' When the police arrived she was dead and there were two young sons in the house." Guilfoyle elaborated on the breaking story. "She is his second wife, and right now we don't know if there was a domestic abuse. We do know that Mr. Jace has been cooperative and the two children are in protective custody. We're learning that he had some financial difficulties." Guilfoyle also reported that former NFL star Aaron Hernandez, already charged with murder, now faces two more counts of homicide. "Two men were brutally murdered in a drive-by shooting in 2012 and Hernandez has now been connected to that homicide. He allegedly followed these men from a club and they were then gunned down."

Guests:Cassie Slane & Alex Little
There are plenty of dangerous and sleazy websites, but which are the worst of the worst? The Factor posed that question to technology writer Cassie Slane and attorney Alex Little. "My pick as the worst is RipoffReport.com," Slane said. "Consumers go on and talk about companies that have supposedly ripped them off, but companies can't respond, even if the claims are false." Little went with a site called Topix.com. "It describes itself as an online forum for local communities," he said, "but it has become the virtual bathroom wall where folks write whatever they want about their neighbors and their enemies. It's a hotbed of slander and defamation." Slane also warned folks about meeting people via Craigslist, while Little singled out MyEx.com, on which people often post salacious photos of their former lovers and spouses.

When and if you are confronted with absolute nonsense, the best response can sometimes be to generate a phony smile and then walk away ... quickly.

Sylvia Baumgarten, Forest Hills, NY: "Bill, I have lived through World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam protests. In my opinion, patriotism is slowly giving way to narcissism. Today's student's feel they have a right to protest if their feelings are hurt by a speaker whose opinions they disagree with."

Cecilia Freeman, Springfield, VA: "I'm disappointed in Jesse Watters giving air time to fans of Lady Gaga. Making light of clearly misguided youth is not funny."

Mike Sannala, North Bellmore, NY: "Bill, I love the Watters segment. Who finds the clips to go along with the interviews?"