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Thursday, February 09, 2012
Santorum: Obama Has Put America On ‘The Path’ Of Executing Religious People
...an extra dose of craziness from the right....
Link to Story
Rick Santorum continued to rail against President Obama’s so-called war against religion during a town hall in Plano, Texas Wednesday night. The former Pennsylvania senator — who has spent the last several days criticizing the government’s requirement that insurers provide contraception coverage and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal’s decision striking down Proposition 8 — accused the administration of “crushing” religion and setting the United States on the path towards executing religious people by decapitation: SANTORUM: They are taking faith and crushing it. Why? Why? When you marginalize faith in America, when you remove the pillar of God-given rights, then what’s left is the French Revolution. What’s left is the government that gives you right, what’s left are no unalienable rights, what’s left is a government that will tell you who you are, what you’ll do and when you’ll do it. What’s left in France became the guillotine. Ladies and gentlemen, we’re a long way from that, but if we do and follow the path of President Obama and his overt hostility to faith in America, then we are headed down that road.
Well, it looks like Michele Bachmann is back in the race. I thought she was the craziest of them all but Santorum is running a close second. Way to go Rick. Obama will have to be caught with a DEAD white woman in the Oval Office to lose this election.
posted by HT4E
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"I never refer to Obama as President Obama because legally he is not. He constantly says that our constitution is passé, and he ignores it as you know and does what he darn well pleases. He is an avowed Muslim and my question is, why isn't something being done to get him out of government? He has no legal right to be calling himself president."-- Santorum supporter at townhall meeting in Lady Lake, Florida. Santorum didn't disagree.
posted by HT4E
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Santorum Slams Romney for Helping Rape Victims
...does Santroum believe rape is 'god's will'?...
Link to Story
Rick Santorum opened a new front Tuesday in his battle to paint Mitt Romney as moderate who sided with Democrats on key issues, accusing the former Massachusetts governor of mandating that hospitals provide emergency contraception to rape victims.
In an op-ed Tuesday, Santorum said that in December 2005, then Gov. Romney "required all Massachusetts hospitals, including Catholic ones, to provide emergency contraception to rape victims."
"He said then that he believed 'in his heart of hearts' that receiving these contraceptives – free of charge – trumped employees' religious consciences. Now, a few years later and running for president, his heart is strategically aligned with religious voters opposing this federal mandate," wrote Santorum in Politico.
Opponents point to a law passed while Romney was governor of Massachusetts that required hospitals - including Catholic ones - to provide emergency contraception to rape victims.
A spokeswoman for the Romney campaign said he had vetoed the original bill. That veto was overruled by the state legislature.
Romney Communications Director Gail Gitcho pointed to the context that comes from the full "heart of hearts" quote.
"My personal view, in my heart of hearts, is that people who are subject to rape should have the option of having emergency contraception or emergency contraception information," Romney said in 2005, according to Gitcho.
Santorum argued that move by Romney is similar to what President Obama's administration "decreed," "that all employers, including Catholic and other religious employers, who offer health insurance to their employees, must offer sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs and contraception."
"The actions of President Obama – as well as the actions of then Governor Romney – raise some questions. From where do we receive our fundamental human rights? Are they given to us by the government–whether that government be State or Federal? Or, as the American Founders insisted, are these rights endowed upon us by a Creator?" wrote Santorum.
"It's important to me that we don't just talk a good game, but that we actually live it" he said. "I believe it is important to defend our religious liberties because these organizations are on the frontlines of helping those in need."
So Santorum beleives that if a women is raped and doesn't want to carry her rapists baby that somehow infringes on HIS religious liberty? Man, that is messed up.
posted by HT4E
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CPAC Features "White Nationalist" Along With GOP Presidential Candidates
...because racism is part of the GOP....
Link to Story
The American Conservative Union is standing by its decision to permit a panel at CPAC that includes a leading white nationalist figure, Peter Brimelow.
"CPAC is proud to have more than 150 sponsors and exhibitors this year," said spokeswoman Kristy Campbell in an email. "This panel was not organized by the ACU, and specific questions on the event, content or speakers should be directed to the sponsoring organization. Cosponsors and affiliated events do not necessarily represent the opinions of the American Conservative Union."
The group's Conservative Political Action Conference kicks off tomorrow with a host of important figures on the right, including presidential candidates and current legislators -- and with a lineup that tends to define the limits of the conservative movement. In the past, skirmishes over the inclusion of gay conservatives have been central, but this year's hottest debate appears to be over race.
Brimelow is the founder of VDARE.com, named after Virginia Dare, the first child born to English settlers in America. He's set to speak at a CPAC event called "The Failure of Multiculturalism: How the pursuit of diversity is weakening the American Identity."
The Southern Poverty Law Center describes Brimelow as a "White Nationalist" and his website as a hate site. Brimelow advocates against immigration and multiculturalism, which he has written "risks making America an alien nation."
His website publishes the work of white supremacist authors like Kevin MacDonald and Jared Taylor, a proponent of so-called "racial realism."
CPAC attendees raised a big stink when the sponsors considered having gay Republican panel members. Somehow having a avowed racist doesn't raise a peep of protest from the right.
posted by HT4E
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Pro-Choice GOP Warns Party That Contraception Fight Will Be A Disaster
...but you can't argue with a sick mind...
Link to Story
Pro-choice Republicans are begging their party to drop this fight over contraception before it’s too late. Turning to a discussion about access to birth control will be nothing short of a disaster, they say.
The new and unexpected war over contraception may not end up as only a battle between the White House and the Republican party. It could end up as a fight between the GOP and itself. As we saw during the 2011’s push to defund Planned Parenthood — when some Republican Senators rebuked their colleagues in the House for attacking the organization — Republicans on Capitol Hill do not speak with one voice on matters of women’s health. Now, as Speaker John Boehner seemingly prepares to turn the House GOP’s attention to contraception, pro-choice Republicans are warning that the GOP may become the next Komen For The Cure.
“I think this week’s outrage over the Komen decision should be a warning to the Republican party about how quickly there was a mass outrage over further and further attacks on general women’s health,” Kellie Ferguson, executive director of Republican Majority for choice, told me Wednesday. “You could see the same backlash on attacks on contraception.”
Ferguson calls the Republican rhetoric on contraception “crossing the line” — taking the discussion away from choice issues (where Republicans can find some broader, if still national minority constituency) and into the realm of the fringy extreme.
Republicans just don't get it that they are getting more and more out on the fringe of society because of their goofy positions on a host of issues. Nobody is going to buy this bullshit.
posted by HT4E
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New Hampshire Republicans Propose Bill To Eliminate Workers’ Lunch Breaks
...may reintroduce legal slavery bill next month...
Link to Story
New Hampshire’s GOP legislature has come up with all manner of absurd bills recently, including a proposal making public school curriculum optional, another to prevent police from protecting domestic abuse victims, and even a measure mandating that new laws be based on the Magna Carta. Some of the Granite State’s GOP lawmakers have even proposed doing away with the law that requires employers to give their workers time off for lunch, under the rationale that all employers will simply grant lunch breaks out of the goodness of their hearts:
“This is an unneeded law,” [Republican state Representative Kyle Jones] said. “If I was to deny one of my employees a break, I would be in a very bad position with the company’s human resources representative. If you consider that this is a very easy law to follow in that everyone already does it, then why do we need it? Our constituents have already proven that they have enough common sense to do this on their own.”
The bill’s sponsor, state representative J.R. Hoell, argued that companies failing to provide lunch breaks would be shamed over social media, thus rendering the law unnecessary. “If they are not letting people have lunch, they could put it out though the news media, though social media. I don’t think that abusive behavior would continue, the way communications are today,” he said.
Of course, not every employer can be counted to to follow even the easiest of requirements to look after workers’ health and rights. Back in 2005, Walmart was forced to pay $172 million for denying workers their lunch breaks. Pyramid Breweries Inc. settled a case in 2008 for $1.5 million. Just a few months ago, California ordered Embassy Suites to pay workers tens of thousands of dollars for forcing them to skip breaks.
“The fact that in 2012, I would be even sitting in front of the Labor Committee talking about eliminating the lunch hour is outrageous,” said Mark MacKenzie, New Hampshire’s state AFL-CIO representative. “People should at least be able to be given the opportunity to eat.”
Republicans are SO retarded. Why would anyone vote for them?
posted by HT4E
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Catholic Bishops Urge Obama to Back Down on Birth Control
...should be spending their time bringing child rapists to justice....
Link to Story
The head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Thursday urged President Obama to reverse his administration's decision requiring all employers, including hospitals and schools affiliated with religious organizations, to provide birth control as part of their health plans.
"This was a terribly misguided judgement," Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York said in an interview on "CBS This Morning."
Dolan, who is set to become a cardinal later this month, said he met with Obama in the Oval Office late last year and was promised the White House would work with the Catholic church on a number of issues, including education, healthcare and charitable work.
"I am hoping that this massive negative reaction to this ruling, I am hoping that he will go back to those assurances that he gave me," Dolan said.
Dolan said Mr. Obama called him on January 20 to inform him of his decision.
"I expressed to him sincerely my disappointment and my disapproval," Dolan said.
The White House is under intense pressure from both sides for its ruling, which tweaks a 2000 law mandating that employers can not discriminate against men and women for their health care coverage.
Religious groups say the rule infringes on their religious liberty, while many women's rights groups are asking the president to hold firm.
Obama is WAY too nice to these felons. If I were President, Catholic clergy wouldn't get the time of day until they brought down their international ring of child rapists. They need to turn over their records and stop protecting these people.
posted by HT4E
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Republicans Target Child Tax Break for Illegal Immigrants
...unusually stupid idea bound to backfire...
Link to Story
Republicans are pushing a proposal that would require people filing tax returns to prove they're legal workers -- a move which in turn is aimed at denying child tax credits to illegal immigrants.
The effort has roused anger among Hispanics and some Democratic lawmakers. But it's being offered as a way to help pay for extending the payroll tax cut and is projected to trim federal spending by about $10 billion over a decade. Refund checks average about $1,800.
The debate address a quirk in U.S. law. Even people who are not authorized to work in the U.S. are supposed to file returns with the IRS. Many of those people cannot obtain a Social Security number, so to facilitate this the IRS hands out what are known as Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers -- so illegal workers can file returns.
However, in doing so many of those workers are claiming tax benefits. For some, it's a way of making even more money. Though they receive a refund check, in some cases low-income workers wouldn't have paid income taxes in the first place.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada says the proposal unfairly goes after the children of poor Hispanic workers. Such kids often are U.S. citizens, even when their parents aren't, because they were born in this country.
Says Leticia Miranda, senior policy adviser of the National Council of La Raza: "People who are making close to the minimum wage and are raising children in this country -- and we're asking them to pay for the payroll tax cut?" She says, "It's outrageous and it's crazy."
What illegals will do is to stop filing tax returns and avoid paying taxes. Instead of punishing the illegals, it will punish the American taxpayer. Another stupid Republican idea.
posted by HT4E
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Wednesday, February 08, 2012
GOP Claims: "Abortion Is the Leading Cause of Death in the Black Community"
...another goofy try to limit women's control over their bodies...
Link to Story
A House GOP memo obtained by Mother Jones argues for a controversial "prenatal discrimination bill" by referring to "black abortions" as distinct from abortions in general and claiming that "abortion is the leading cause of death in the black community." The memo (PDF) was circulated by Republicans on the House judiciary committee on Monday in advance of Tuesday's markup of Rep. Trent Franks' (R-Ariz.) Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act.
Franks' bill, which is also known as H.R. 3514, didn't make it out of committee when it was introduced in the last Congress. But the fact that it's now receiving a markup—a key step on the way to a floor vote—and that 78 cosponsors have signed on suggests that it could proceed to a vote of the full House before November's elections. In addition to banning abortions based on the race or gender of the fetus, H.R. 3514 would give a woman's family members the ability to sue abortion providers if they believed an abortion was obtained based on race or sex. Critics warn that it would be next to impossible to prove that an abortion was obtained on the basis of race or gender and fear the provision could lead to nuisance suits against abortion providers by family members who are opposed to abortion on principle.
Bills outlawing sex-selection abortions—a procedure most Americans oppose—have passed on the state level. But a bill outlawing abortions based on race ran into trouble in Georgia in 2010. As my colleague Stephanie Mencimer reported:
The campaign started with controversial billboards, which began popping up in the state after President Obama was elected. They featured a photo of a beautiful, sad black baby boy and the line: "Black children are an endangered species." Anti-abortion activists claimed to be out to save the black community from genocide at the hands of Planned Parenthood.
"The most pernicious part was, they're trying to hijack the civil rights legacy in the service of conservative causes, trying to appropriate the mantle of the civil rights movement in a really despicable way," says Loretta Ross, the national coordinator of SisterSong, a reproductive justice organization for women of color in Atlanta. She says the effort even featured white people singing "We Shall Overcome" at black women as part of a pro-life "freedom ride" bus tour that stopped at Atlanta's Martin Luther King Jr. Center.
As with the Georgia bill, backers of Franks' bill, including Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the powerful chairman of the judiciary committee, have pointed to a supposed epidemic of abortions based on the race of the fetus—an argument that dominates the memo below. As Ross told Mencimer, the whole notion of black women choosing an abortion because of the race of the fetus doesn't make sense:
"It's kind of hard to find evidence that a black woman is going to have an abortion because she's surprised to find her baby is black. It just strains credulity to think that's a problem," [Ross] says with a hearty laugh. "I mean, she wakes up in the morning and says 'Oh my god! My baby's black?'"
Since when would Republicans pass a law that would encourage more black babies? The racist pricks don't care about black folks and never have.
posted by HT4E
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Occupy DC To Terrorize CPAC Meeting
...conservatives wetting their pants...
Link to Story
The DC-area Occupy people, having been kicked out of their park this weekend, have a fun new thing in the works: Occupying CPAC. It’s just around the corner, so why not? According to the Occupiers’ website, they will “march to the Marriott” to “create as much non-violent resistance as possible, and make this a conference the attendees will never forget.” So they want pictures with Sarah Palin, got it. But what if this non-violent resistance descends into a bit of the ol’ Ultraviolence? That’s what’s going to happen, according to a hysterical pants-wetting Heritage Foundation blog post.
A nerd named Lachlan Markay at the Heritage Foundation’s blog, “Scribe,” has found a source who is probably just the guy sitting next to him. The source tells Markay that the occupiers are going to bomb Mitt Romney and everyone in attendance and then blow up the building with C4 and then nuke DC. And did you know that the Africkans will be involved?
During a Thursday meeting at McPherson Square, until Saturday the epicenter of the protests, Occupiers brainstormed tactics for shutting down or disrupting the conference, according to a source who was present at the meeting.
The protesters suggested pulling fire alarms in the hotel where the conference will take place, screaming “fire” during conference activities, “glitter-bombing” participants, cutting electrical power, and barricading entrances to the hotel, according to the source, who requested anonymity.
“Speakers will be physically assaulted, not just verbally confronted,” the source told Scribe in an email. Two Occupiers, who the source also identified as members of the New Black Panther Party, “said they would be disappointed if they didn’t get arrested and planned to ‘make it count.’”
This is a serious blog article.
“In order to avoid having to shower and dress in business attire to blend in,” Scribe’s source said, “they plan to wear Ron Paul 2012 gear because they believe Paul supporters ‘generally look like hippies.’”
Can’t wait! Just give us media wastrels a heads-up when you start beating the shit out of the candidates, please, Occupiers? We want the camera rolling, for journalism.
Maybe if I have some time this weekend I can join in on the festivities. Sounds like a lot of fun.
posted by HT4E
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Boehner, GOP Pledge to Reverse Obama Birth-control Mandate
...because they hate women...
Link to Story
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Wednesday vowed that Congress would repeal an Obama administration regulation requiring employers, including religious organizations, to provide birth-control coverage in their employees’ health plans.
“If the president does not reverse the [Health and Human Services] Department’s attack on religious freedom, then the Congress, acting on behalf of the American people and the Constitution we are sworn to uphold and defend, must,” Boehner said in a rare floor speech.
“In imposing this requirement, the federal government is violating a First Amendment right that has stood for more than two centuries. And it is doing so in a manner that affects millions of Americans and harms some of our nation’s most vital institutions.”
The Obama administration’s decision has touched off a political firestorm with the Catholic Church, which opposes birth control. While such groups as the church would be exempt from the policy, hospitals, charities and universities affiliated with the Catholic Church and other religious organizations would have to provide the coverage.
Priests at an estimated 70 percent of parishes across the country read a statement protesting the decision at services last week.
Boehner’s decision shows congressional Republicans sense the adminsitration is vulnerable on the point.
What Boehner and the GOP haven't figured out is that THEY are the ones vulnerable on this issue. Nobody believes the crazy catholic requirement and everyone believes that reproductive issues are part of health care. They would have to get their repeal legislation through a democratically controlled senate with enough votes to override a presidential veto. Unless of course the capitulator-in-chief decides to cave-in again.
posted by HT4E
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"Rick Santorum was a sitting senator who in re-election lost by 19 points, to my knowledge the most in the history of this country for a sitting senator to lose by 19 points. It's unheard of. Then he goes out and says oh 'okay' I just lost by the biggest margin in history and now I'm going to run for president. Tell me, how does that work?-- Donald Trump (R-egomanic) asking a pointed question about the newest GOP darling.
posted by HT4E
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Ohio Exhibits Voters Remorse, Sorry They Elected Republicans
...democrats would win by 20% if election were held today....
Link to Story
In 2010 Ohio voters elected a Republican Governor and went GOP in many House races, helping to elect a new Republican Speaker of the House from their state. Now they regret the Governor and don't like the Speaker. It's hard for me to imagine that buyer's remorse isn't going to work to the benefit of Barack Obama and other Democrats in the state this fall.
John Boehner's approval was 26/52 on our last national poll and it's not much better in his home state of Ohio at 28/54. Boehner has a similar situation to Kasich where Republicans are meh to him (53/28) while Democrats pretty much all dislike him (8/74). He also does badly with independents at 28/55.
The best word to describe first term Senator Rob Portman would be anonymous. 42% of voters have no opinion about him, the highest figure we've found for any sitting Senator. Anyone who claims that Portman would be a great running mate for Mitt Romney and help him win Ohio probably deserves a special honor for banal punditry.
John Kasich's not getting any more popular. 33% of voters approve of him to 53% who disapprove. Only a little more than half of Republicans think he's doing a good job (58/25), while Democrats (9/80) are almost universal in their disapproval. If voters could do the 2010 election over again they'd vote for Ted Strickland by a 20 point margin, 56-36, numbers that not coincidentally track closely with the Senate Bill 5 repeal result from last fall.
Funny thing. When I talk to my friends and family back in the midwest, they are still staunchly conservative. Yet, they seem to hate the Republicans THEY elected. When they see the types of laws that Republicans enact, they don't like it one little bit. Case in point, the GOP's anti-union legislation. Don't the Republicans know that the blue-collar midwest is highly unionized? These people aren't thrilled with their union representation but they aren't about to give it up either.
posted by HT4E
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“Today, unelected judges cast aside the will of the people of California who voted to protect traditional marriage. This decision does not end this fight, and I expect it to go to the Supreme Court. That prospect underscores the vital importance of this election and the movement to preserve our values. I believe marriage is between a man and a woman and, as president, I will protect traditional marriage and appoint judges who interpret the Constitution as it is written and not according to their own politics and prejudices.”-- Mitt Romney, commenting on the 9th Circuit Courts ruling that California's Proposition 8 overturning the legality of gay marriage and sealing his own doom in the general election.
posted by HT4E
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 Shocking Stories in the News
Bill O'Reilly Compares Conservative 'Witch Hunt' to Fire Ellen DeGeneres to McCarthyism
...is O'Reilly turning liberal?....
Link to Story
Bill O’Reilly had a particularly pro-Hollywood night tonight, as far as The Factor is typically concerned. After a segment in which he defended Clint Eastwood from claims that his Super Bowl ad was subliminal Obama campaign propaganda, O’Reilly had on Sandy Rios of Family-Pac Federal to explain the call from conservative group Million Moms to get Ellen DeGeneres fired as JC Penney spokeswoman, and he was not happy with their argument. “I don’t think that’s the spirit of America,” he objected to Rios, who argued that DeGeneres represented immorality.
“Is it right for any organization to call for a company to fire a spokesperson that has not done anything wrong?” O’Reilly first asked, wondering what was wrong with DeGeneres making a living. “Just because something is legal doesn’t mean its moral,” Rios replied, though that didn’t seem to be a strong enough reason for O’Reilly, who noted that JC Penney was a private corporation that could hire whoever it wanted. “I don’t think that’s the spirit of America,” he replied. She continued that “it isn’t about Ellen DeGeneres, but it is about mainstreaming something that is not acceptable to Christian people all over the country.” O’Reilly wasn’t buying it.
“What is the difference between a McCarthy-era blacklist and Million Moms” not wanting DeGeneres employed, O’Reilly asked. He added that he understood the objection, but didn’t see why the group didn’t just call for a boycott, instead of demanding certain executive decisions from the company. “You’re dodging the essential question… a conservative group in this country is asking an American citizen based upon her lifestyle, and I don’t think that’s correct.” Rios continued to argue that the problem wasn’t DeGeneres, but that “we are seeing homosexuality so embedded in our culture in alarming ways.”
“It’s a witch hunt and it shouldn’t happen,” O’Reilly concluded.
Shocking! O'Reilly defending a lesbian and Clint Eastwood in the same show. What will O'Reilly do next?
posted by HT4E
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Santorum's Sweep Pummels Romney
...evangelicals won't vote for a mormon...
Link to Story
Rick Santorum’s sweep of Mitt Romney in Tuesday’s three Republican presidential contests sets the stage for a new and bitter round of intraparty acrimony as Mr. Romney once again faces a surging conservative challenge to his claim on the party’s nomination.
Mr. Santorum’s rebuke of Mr. Romney could scramble the dynamics of the Republican race even as many in the party’s establishment were urging its most committed activists to finally fall in line behind Mr. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor. Voters in three disparate states forcefully refused to do that on Tuesday.
Instead, the most conservative elements of the Republican Party’s base expressed their unease with Mr. Romney by sending a resounding message that they preferred someone else. And they collectively revived the candidacy of Mr. Santorum, who has been languishing in the background since a narrow victory in Iowa’s caucuses at the beginning of the year.
Mr. Santorum’s success on Tuesday night awarded him no delegates from contests that were essentially nonbinding straw polls and drew small turnouts in all three states. And Mr. Santorum’s campaign has few of the organizational advantages of Mr. Romney’s well-financed effort.
The long-term damage to Mr. Romney is difficult to assess. His campaign has so far weathered several surges from challengers — Mr. Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Herman Cain — only to re-emerge as the leading contender to face President Obama in the fall. He also has the support of a well-financed “super PAC,” which has demonstrated a willingness to spend heavily on advertising critical of Mr. Romney’s rivals.
The potential reordering of the campaign comes just as the Republican race was set to enter a more fallow period for the first time since voting began in Iowa on Jan. 3. The only votes cast during the next three weeks will be in the small state of Maine, and the next presidential debate will not occur for two weeks.
In interviews on Wednesday morning, Mr. Santorum predicted that Mr. Romney would seek to fill that void with new, searing attacks in an effort to blunt the fresh momentum behind Mr. Santorum’s campaign.
Romney may be the best chance that the GOP has but evangelicals will not vote for a mormon. Mr. Sweater-vest (Santorum) has no chance at winning the general election, he's way too much of a religious nut bag for rational people.
posted by HT4E
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Monday, February 06, 2012
Republicans to Fight Boost in Housing Markets
...want no help for struggling homeowners...
Link to Story
The housing market is widely seen in Washington as still struggling in the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis, and weighing down what would be a more robust economic recovery.
In recent days, the White House has made a concerted effort to address the housing sector, rolling out new plans to help homeowners avoid foreclosure and boost the housing sector.
But while the administration can nibble around the edges and implement changes, it needs Congress and regulators to get on board with any major initiatives, and this presents significant challenges.
President Obama is calling on Congress to pass legislation to establish a streamlined refinancing program that would be open to most borrowers, specifically those who don't hold government-backed loans. The program would permit people who are current on their payments, especially those whose houses are “underwater,” to refinance their mortgages, allowing them to save up to $3,000 a year by taking advantage of lower rates.
By expanding eligibility, about 3.5 million additional borrowers can take advantage of the refinancing program, Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan said earlier this week.
The White House's main argument is that economists recognize that a broad-scale refinancing effort "is one of the most important things that we can do not only for families and for the housing market but also for the economy more broadly."
The Republican problem with this is that is will cost between $5 and $10 billion that is to be financed by a new tax on Banks (you know, the people who caused the problem in the first place). Republicans don't want their friends to have to pay to help clean up their mess in even small ways.
posted by HT4E
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Rove Takes On Clint Eastwood Over Super Bowl Ad Touting Chyrsler
...well, do you feel lucky, punk?...
Link to Story
Karl Rove sees politics written all over Clint Eastwood's new Chrysler ad and even compares it to "Chicago-style politics."
"I was, frankly, offended by it," Rove said on Fox News Monday. "I'm a huge fan of Clint Eastwood, I thought it was an extremely well-done ad, but it is a sign of what happens when you have Chicago-style politics, and the President of the United States and his political minions are, in essence, using our tax dollars to buy corporate advertising and the best-wishes of the management which is benefited by getting a bunch of our money that they'll never pay back."
The ad aired during the Super Bowl, and struck many as distinctly political in its portrayal of Detroit's rise with a tie-in to Ronald Reagan's "Morning in America" commercial in 1984.
"It's halftime, America," Eastwood says near the end, "and our second half's about to begin."
Oh please! Eastwood was touting the resurgence of Detroit (despite Rove and the Republicans efforts to close up the auto industry) and it was damn good for Chrysler. Eastwood, a staunch Republican, wasn't promoting an anti-Republican ad, it was a pro-Detroit ad. Rove needs to get a grip on reality.
posted by HT4E
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"I know he walked away with the hard drives in Massachusetts. But the video from the primary campaign is going to be hard to erase."-- David Axelrod, Democratic strategist suggesting the Mittens is going to have to eat some of his hard right wing positions in the general election (where he is expected to try to appear as a moderate).
posted by HT4E
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Santorum Gives Doomsday Warning
...especially if he gets elected....
Link to Story
Rick Santorum's campaign slogan could very well be one word: doomsday.
To hear him tell it, the United States will collapse under the weight of its health care system and basic freedoms will be history. Iran will annihilate Israel and then South Carolina if Iran isn't blocked from building a nuclear weapon. And divorce will yield higher taxes for all Americans.
Unless, of course, Republicans pick Santorum as the party's presidential nominee and he goes on to defeat President Barack Obama.
"Go back and read what the sirens did once you arrived on that island," Santorum warned students at Colorado Christian University this week, invoking mythology. "They devour you. They destroy you. They consume you."
"Ladies and gentleman we cannot listen to the siren song," he added. "We cannot listen to President Obama and we can't listen to those in our party who want to be just a little bit less than what the Democrats and the left is doing to our country."
It was standard fare for the former Pennsylvania senator. He doesn't mince words in campaign speeches in which he describes how — in his view — the country is heading down the wrong path and the government is growing too big. Gloom and doom usually pepper his remarks. And he often argues that America will falter if he fails to win the nomination.
Rick, the sirens are from MYTHOLOGY. The operative word here being MYTH. And guess what? Most of us belive that America is better off without you.
posted by HT4E
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Birther Lawsuit Loses to Empty Table
...Court agrees that birthers are crazy...
Link to Story
Orly Taitz represented one of four plaintiffs challenging President Obama's eligibility for placement on the Democratic ballot in Georgia. The President and his counsel were subpoenaed to appear in court to defend against these challenges, but the President's attorney issued a nice letter to the judge stating that the Court had no business or jurisdiction even hearing the case and therefore the defense would not be in attendance.
So Taitz and her fellow attorneys presented their best arguments without challenge from the defense, and requested a summary judgment on the merits.
And the Court's judgment: the plaintiffs have no case and no credible evidence, and there is no law to support their claims. Judgment for the defendant, represented only by an empty table, on the merits. Or in this case, utter lack thereof.
This won't stop them. They will continue to look for a "friendly" court to persure their weird beliefs.
posted by HT4E
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Ruch Limbaugh picking his nose in Patriots Team owner's box at the Super Bowl
Stephen Tyler sure looks bored
posted by HT4E
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Koch Brothers, Allies Pledge $100 Million To Beat Obama
...can't have a nigger in the White House...
Link to Story
At a private three-day retreat in California last weekend, conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch and about 250 to 300 other individuals pledged approximately $100 million to defeat President Obama in the 2012 elections.
A source who was in the room when the pledges were made told The Huffington Post that, specifically, Charles Koch pledged $40 million and David pledged $20 million.
The semi-annual, invitation-only meeting attracts wealthy donors, Republican politicians and conservative activists. Last year, hundreds of activists gathered outside the walled-off resort to protest the meeting. This year, however, the conference went off quietly.
"Conference organizers and their guests successfully slipped in and out of the Coachella Valley without being detected, by buying out nearly all of the 500-plus rooms at the Renaissance Esmeralda resort in Indian Wells," reported The Desert Sun. "The resort closed its restaurants, locked down the grounds with private security guards and sent many workers home."
Their racial hatred has to be realized in private, behind closed doors. I don't have $100 million but I do have $200 I can send to President Obama that will go out in the mail today. These idiots have to be defeated or they will ruin our country in their image.
posted by HT4E
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Republicans Prohibit Funding for High Speed Rail
...GOP will do anything to hold back American progress...
Link to Story
House Republicans late Thursday night adopted an amendment that would prohibit California from receiving any high speed rail money in a huge five-year transportation bill headed to the House floor next week. The $270 billion bill also eliminates bicycle and pedestrian programs and detaches urban mass transit funding from its traditional revenue source. The underlying bill did not include any high speed rail funding to begin with, and indeed would cut Amtrak by 25 percent, so the prohibition serves mainly as a stick in the eye to California’s plan for bullet trains.
The action is part of a continuing effort by Republicans to kill the entire project, which was a major element of President Obama’s 2009 stimulus. California’s $100 billion plan for bullet trains running from San Francisco to San Diego already has the stimulus money in hand to get started, but future federal funding on which the project depends is very much at risk if House Republicans maintain control of the chamber, not to mention take the White House.
The high speed rail prohibition came as an amendment, approved 31-22, by Rep. Jeff Dunham, R-Turlock, who said he wanted to make sure that all transportation funds for California to go to highways.
The House Transportation bill overall stands on shaky financial and political footing, relying as it does on yet-to-be seen revenues from potential off shore oil drilling that purportedly would materialize if areas off both U.S. coasts, including California’s, were opened to new oil leasing, as the bill envisions. Its chances of Senate passage in its current form are zero.
And the Republican plan is for their goofy all roads bill to be funded by offshore drilling that is currently banned because of pollution concerns. Why do we waste our time on these morons (the GOP)?
posted by HT4E
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Indiana GOP Sec of State Found Guilty of 6 Counts of Felony Voter Fraud
...the guy who counts votes in Indiana...
Link to Story
A Hamilton County jury has found Secretary of State Charlie White guilty on six of seven counts in his voter fraud case. The jury returned the verdict early Saturday morning after getting the case on Friday.
The jury began deliberating at 2:00 pm. They came back at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday after deliberating for nearly 13 hours.
White spoke to Eyewitness News after the verdict, and was disappointed with the decision. "Disappointed for my family and the people who supported me," White said. "We will review all of our options. A lot of things we've objected to all this time and fight another day."
Former Marion County prosecutor Carl Brizzi defended White and will try to have the felonies reduced. "We would ask for an evidentiary hearing so he is charged not as a felon because it is not worthy of that, but as a misdemeanor," Brizzi said after leaving the courtroom.
Special prosecutor John Dowd wants the felony counts to stay in place. "Our position is the jury convicted him of six felonies," Dowd said, "and we believe he should be sentenced on the basis of six felonies."
Republicans are always waving the red flag of voter fraud in their attempts to limit voting rights for minorities. However, history shows that it isn't minorities committing voter fraud, it's Republicans. I'm glad to see one of them finally get caught with their hand in the proverbial cookie jar.
posted by HT4E
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Friday, February 03, 2012
House GOP Declares Unanimously: Bush Tax Cuts Did Not Blow Up The Budget
...why am I not surprised?...
Link to Story
Every House Republican voted Thursday to reject the proposition that the Bush tax cuts added to the deficit.
Joined by just a handful of Democrats, the full Republican conference rejected a measure that would have affirmed what nearly all budget experts and economists recognized: President George W. Bush's debt-financed tax cuts blew up the budget in the last decade, leaving the country in a hole that sank into a chasm after the 2008 financial crisis.
The final tally was 174-244. If it had passed, the measure -- authored by Rep. Gary Peters (D-MI) -- would have amended a GOP-backed bill that would have changed the way neutral budget score-keepers analyze the effects of taxation, to make it appear as if unpaid-for tax cuts don't deepen deficits.
Republicans are so dishonest. Why can't people see what is staring them in the face?
posted by HT4E
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Komen's $7.5 Million Grant to Accused Pedophiles Appears to Violate New Policy
...but they don't make political decisions...
Link to Story
Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which recently announced that it is ending grants to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screening because of a controversial investigation launched by an anti-abortion Republican congressman, currently funds cancer research at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center to the tune of $7.5 million. Like Planned Parenthood, Penn State is currently the subject of a federal government investigation, and like the Planned Parenthood grant, the Penn State grant appears to violate a new internal rule at Komen that bans grants to organizations that are under investigation by federal, state, or local governments. But so far, only the Planned Parenthood grants appear to have been cancelled.
An internal Komen memo written by President Elizabeth Thompson and obtained by Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic states that if "an applicant or its affiliates" is under investigation "for financial or administrative improprieties by local, state or federal authorities," then "the applicant will be ineligible to receive a grant." Penn State, the Pennsylvania university that the Hershey center is affiliated with, is currently under investigation by the federal government over the sexual assault scandal involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, who has been indicted on multiple counts of sexual abuse of children. In 2008, the Komen foundation awarded a five-year, $7.5 million grant to the Hershey center to study treatments that could reduce the risk of breast cancer.
Under the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, university officials are required to "issue a timely warning if a reported crime represents a threat to the campus community." The Department of Education announced that it was investigating Penn State over possible Clery Act violations last November, and a Penn State spokesperson told Mother Jones that the investigation is ongoing. The Komen foundation has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Komen's founder, Nancy Brinker, is a former Bush administration official who has given almost $200,000 to Republican officials over the years, and Karen Handel, Komen's top lobbyist, is a pro-life Republican who was elected secretary of state in Georgia. Komen officials have insisted that Brinker and Handel's right-leaning politics weren't a factor in the decision to cut off funding, but Goldberg reported that the new grant standards were written as a pretext for denying funds to Planned Parenthood, and that the decision was "driven" by Handel.
BUSTED! Not a political decision? Nigger please!
posted by HT4E
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Obamacare Saves Michigan Medicare Recipients $49M on Prescriptions
...GOP says savings is unconstitutional...
Link to Story
More than 84,000 Michigan residents receiving Medicare benefits saved nearly $49 million on prescriptions in 2011 under health care reform, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services said Thursday.
Health care reform provided seniors with Medicare a 7 percent discount on covered generic medications when they hit the prescription drug coverage gap called the donut hole. This year, health care reform provides Medicare recipients a 50 percent discount on brand-name prescriptions and a 14 percent discount on generics.
"The Affordable Care Act is already saving money for millions of Americans with Medicare," Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Health & Human Services Secretary, in a statement. "As we move forward, we will close the donut hole completely and save even more money for everyone with Medicare."
Last year, Michigan residents who hit the donut hole saved an average of $582 on prescriptions, and nationally 3.6 million Americans with Medicare saved $2.1 billion on prescriptions, according to the federal government
Oh my...Republicans ought to be crying their eyes out over this news.
posted by HT4E
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“There are several decisions that Komen has made in the past year that have led me to decide that my skills and talents no longer fit their model."-- Deb Anthony, Executive Director of the Susan G. Koman for the Cure Los Angeles County - as quoted from her resignation letter.
posted by HT4E
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Komen Foundation Also Stops Funding Embryonic Stem Cell Research
...this wasn't a political decision either?....
Link to Story
In addition to pulling funds from Planned Parenthood for The Susan G. Komen Foundation also decided to stop funding embryonic stem cell research centers making it fully transparent the organization has evolved from non-political non-profit to a partisan advocacy organization.
That means the loss of $3.75 million to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, $4.5 million to the University of Kansas Medical Center, $1 million to the U.S. National Cancer Institute, $1 million to the Society for Women’s Health Research, and $600,000 to Yale University. That’s a loss of nearly $12 million dollars in research money to eradicate breast cancer this year alone.
This is a new position for the organization which had previously supported all sorts of scientific research targeted at finding a cure for breast cancer and saving women’s lives. It’s new position is that the organization will categorically no longer support any embryonic stem cell research.
Instead of the loud, clumsy announcement Komen made in severing ties with Planned Parenthood, this is a decision they quietly slipped in during November 2011. After all, with this new pro-life branding you would think the Susan G. Komen Foundation would want to crow about it’s policy change since embryonic stem cell research is an issue near and dear to the anti-choice crowd Komen now serves.
Maybe it’s because there won’t be any gory anti-stem cell research ad running during the Super Bowl this Sunday like Randall Terry’s anti-abortion ad. After all, Karen Handel has made it clear she and Terry share an agenda, and the Komen Foundation has under Handel’s watch closely allied itself with Americans United For Life, the zealously anti-choice group that takes credit for pushing Komen directly and through members of Congress, to sever ties with Planned Parenthood.
Man, the blogosphere is on fire! My hopes are that women who really need the Koman Foundation to help cure cancer aren't caught in the crossfire. I don't see how that can be avoided though.
posted by HT4E
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Another Republican Publicly Snubs Obama
...whose turn is it stiff the President next week...
Link to Story
A spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey confirmed this afternoon that the Marietta Republican walked out of President Barack Obama’s address at the annual National Prayer Breakfast, offended by what the congressman said was an injection of political rhetoric into an occasion of non-partisan reflection.
“He was glad that the president attended, but he felt that there were 364 days in a year to give a speech on your policies or campaign rhetoric,” said Gingrey spokeswoman Jen Talaber.
She said Gingrey enjoyed the remarks by the event’s keynote speaker, conservative author Eric Metaxes, who was in South Carolina last month campaigning with GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum.
I see the Republican strategy of the moment is to publicly snub the President. We've had a very public kiss-off of the President 4 times in the last month. I've never seen it once in my lifetime but suddenly it happens 4 times in a month? The President was gracious for coming to this Nazi event (sponsored by the C Street Project) and then they publicly snub him?
posted by HT4E
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Supporters Rally Around Planned Parenthood After Komen Debacle
...Komen chooses right wing nutjobs over women's health....
Link to Story
Supporters are rallying around Planned Parenthood after renowned breast cancer charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure decided to cut breast screening grants to the reproductive health organization.
Besides $400,000 in smaller donations from 6,000 people, Planned Parenthood is receiving $250,000 from a family foundation in Dallas and a $250,000 pledge announced Thursday by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to match future donations.
In Washington, 26 U.S. senators — all Democrats except for independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont — signed a letter calling on Komen to reconsider its decision.
“It would be tragic if any woman — let alone thousands of women — lost access to these potentially lifesaving screenings because of a politically motivated attack,” the senators wrote.
According to Planned Parenthood, its health centers performed more than 4 million breast exams over the past five years, including nearly 170,000 as a result of Komen grants.
Komen, meanwhile, has been deluged with negative emails and Facebook postings, accusing it of knuckling under to pressure from anti-abortion groups, since The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that the charity was halting grants that Planned Parenthood affiliates used for breast exams and related services. The grants totaled $680,000 last year.
Some of Komen’s local affiliates were openly upset, including all seven in California, and at least one top official has quit, reportedly in protest.
Komen’s top leaders, in their first news conference since the controversy erupted, denied Planned Parenthood’s assertion that the decision was driven by pressure from anti-abortion groups.
Komen's leadership can deny it all they want, people aren't that stupid. Decisions should be made based on what's good for women's health - period. Nobody has yet come up with a women's health reason for this decision.
posted by HT4E
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Job Growth Surges, Jobless Rate Drops to 8.3 Percent
..Republicans shocked they can't stop America...
Link to Story
The economy created jobs at the fastest pace in nine months in January and the unemployment rate dropped to a near three-year low of 8.3 percent, providing some measure of comfort for President Barack Obama who faces re-election in November.
Nonfarm payrolls jumped 243,000, the Labor Department said on Friday, as factory jobs grew by the most in a year. The gain in overall employment was the largest since April and outpaced economists' expectations for a rise of only 150,000.
The report pointed to underlying strength in the economy, despite expectations that growth will slow in the first quarter.
Economists had expected the jobless rate to hold steady at 8.5 percent. The rate is the lowest since February 2009 and has dropped 0.8 percentage point since August.
The decline last month reflected large gains in employment in the separate household survey from which the unemployment rate is derived.
"It's certainly supportive of the U.S. recovery and suggests that momentum is gathering pace," said Brian Dolan, chief market strategist at FOREX.com in Bedminster, New York.
U.S. Treasury debt prices fell sharply on the report, while stock index futures surged. The dollar rose against the yen.
Republicans had better do something fast or this economy is going to take off and that spells no good for the GOP in November.
posted by HT4E
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Thursday, February 02, 2012
Republicans Push to Stop Automatic Spending Cuts
...we thought they were all about less spending?...
Link to Story
The U.S. military would be spared from automatic spending cuts set for next year under a proposal some top Senate Republicans offered on Thursday that instead would save money by reducing the federal workforce.
Senator John McCain, senior Republican on the Armed Services Committee, assistant Senate Republican leader Jon Kyl and four others offered legislation that would eliminate the first installment of $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts over a decade.
The legislation faces an uphill battle in the Senate, led by Democrats likely to oppose the federal work force cuts. The White House also opposes efforts to circumvent the across-the-board spending cuts at the center of a budget brawl between Democratic President Barack Obama and Republicans in Congress during last year's fight to increase the U.S. debt limit.
The proposal by the half dozen Senate Republicans would let the military and most domestic programs avoid the automatic cuts that are to start taking effect in January 2013. Some $127 billion would be saved instead by scaling back the federal workforce and freezing its pay.
"I believe that the cuts ... aimed at the Department of Defense are a threat to our nation's security and we are opposed to that draconian action," McCain said at a news conference.
When the Republicans passed this law, they told America that this was needed to rein in the free spending Democrats. That was a lie of course and now the Republicans don't want to stick to their own deal.
posted by HT4E
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“We will never bow down to political pressure.”-- Nancy Brinker, founder and CEO of Susan G. Koman for the Cure charity trying to lie her way out of the political mess she created when bowing to right wing pressure to strip grants from Planned Parenthood's cancer breast screening programs.
a full 4 Pinocchio's for Nancy Brinker and the Susan G. Koman Foundation
posted by HT4E
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Top Komen Official Resigned Over Planned Parenthood Cave-In
...bad decision will come back to haunt them....
Link to Story
Komen, the marketing juggernaut that brought the world the ubiquitous pink ribbon campaign, says it cut-off Planned Parenthood because of a newly adopted foundation rule prohibiting it from funding any group that is under formal investigation by a government body. (Planned Parenthood is being investigated by Rep. Cliff Stearns, an anti-abortion Florida Republican, who says he is trying to learn if the group spent public money to provide abortions.)
But three sources with direct knowledge of the Komen decision-making process told me that the rule was adopted in order to create an excuse to cut-off Planned Parenthood. (Komen gives out grants to roughly 2,000 organizations, and the new "no-investigations" rule applies to only one so far.) The decision to create a rule that would cut funding to Planned Parenthood, according to these sources, was driven by the organization's new senior vice-president for public policy, Karen Handel, a former gubernatorial candidate from Georgia who is staunchly anti-abortion and who has said that since she is "pro-life, I do not support the mission of Planned Parenthood." (The Komen grants to Planned Parenthood did not pay for abortion or contraception services, only cancer detection, according to all parties involved.) I've tried to reach Handel for comment, and will update this post if I speak with her.
The decision, made in December, caused an uproar inside Komen. Three sources told me that the organization's top public health official, Mollie Williams, resigned in protest immediately following the Komen board's decision to cut off Planned Parenthood. Williams, who served as the managing director of community health programs, was responsible for directing the distribution of $93 million in annual grants. Williams declined to comment when I reached her yesterday on whether she had resigned her position in protest, and she declined to speak about any other aspects of the controversy.
But John Hammarley, who until recently served as Komen's senior communications adviser and who was charged with managing the public relations aspects of Komen's Planned Parenthood grant, said that Williams believed she could not honorably serve in her position once Komen had caved to pressure from the anti-abortion right. "Mollie is one of the most highly respected and ethical people inside the organization, and she felt she couldn't continue under these conditions," Hammarley said. "The Komen board of directors are very politically savvy folks, and I think over time they thought if they gave in to the very aggressive propaganda machine of the anti-abortion groups, that the issue would go away. It seemed very short-sighted to me."
Hammarley explained that the Planned Parenthood issue had vexed Komen for some time. "About a year ago, a small group of people got together inside the organization to talk about what the options were, what would be the ramifications of staying the course, or of telling our affiliates they can't fund Planned Parenthood, or something in-between." He went on, "As we looked at the ramifications of ceasing all funding, we felt it would be worse from a practical standpoint, from a public relations standpoint, and from a mission standpoint. The mission standpoint is, 'How could we abandon our commitment to the screening work done by Planned Parenthood?'" But the Komen board made the decision despite the recommendation of the organization's professional staff to keep funding Planned Parenthood.
This right wing jihad against Planned Parenthood is going to hurt the Susan G. Koman Foundation more than they can foresee. Bad decision on their part. I know I'll send my cancer support dollars elsewhere from now on.
posted by HT4E
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Alabama Immigration Crackdown Costs State $11 Billion and 80,000 Lost Jobs
...GOP said it would save money and create jobs...
Link to Story
Alabama's crackdown on illegal immigrants, widely seen as the toughest in the United States, has cost the state's economy up to $10.8 billion, according to a new study.
The Alabama law, passed in June, requires police to detain people they suspect of being in the U.S. illegally if they cannot produce proper documentation when stopped for any reason, among other measures.
The cost-benefit analysis by University of Alabama economist Samuel Addy estimated up to 80,000 jobs were vacated by illegal immigrants fleeing the crackdown, costing Alabama's economy up to $10.8 billion.
The lost jobs also cost Alabama up to $264.5 million in lost state sales and income taxes, and as much as $93.1 million in lost city and county sales taxes, it found.
A U.S. appeals court has blocked Alabama from enforcing parts of the law, including a provision that permits Alabama to require public schools to determine the legal residency of children upon enrollment. But the court left most of the law untouched.
State Republicans who support the law say it will help create jobs for legal residents by driving out undocumented workers and their families, and save up to $280 million they said is spent by the state each year on health and education services for the undocumented.
The findings of the new University of Alabama study served up ammunition to critics of the law in the state, which is trying to trim spending to balance its budget.
"It is hypocritical for 'no tax and spend' Republicans to pass something like this that sucks money right out of the general fund when we are cutting funding by 25 percent," said state Representative Patricia Todd, a Birmingham Democrat.
Todd claims that $9 million has already been spent on litigation to defend the new law, a figure she said she received from the legislative fiscal office.
The study added in the costs of healthcare and social services to undocumented people that would be saved. However, it found these savings to be negligible when compared to the increased costs of law enforcement and businesses that now have to run checks on citizenship.
Gee, Republicans are wrong AGAIN. They promised everyone that getting those brown people out of Alabama would save money and free up lots of jobs that the illegal hoardes were filling. Only, that ain't what happened. Last fall the Alabama farmers were begging for illegals to come pick the crops that were rotting in the fields. Instead of saving money, it has brought economic ruin to Alabama. Good job Republicans! Once again you let your racist hatreds trump facts and reason.
posted by HT4E
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House GOP Has Oscar Nominated Journalist Arrested
...for trying to film a public meeting on 'fracking'...
Link to Story
In a stunning break with First Amendment policy, House Republicans directed Capitol Hill police to detain a highly regarded documentary crew that was attempting to film a Wednesday hearing on a controversial natural gas procurement practice. Initial reports from sources suggested that an ABC News camera was also prevented from taping the hearing; ABC has since denied that they sent a crew to the hearing.
Josh Fox, director of the Academy Award-nominated documentary "Gasland" was taken into custody by Capitol Hill police this morning, along with his crew, after Republicans objected to their presence, according to Democratic sources present at the hearing. The meeting of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment had been taking place in room 2318 of the Rayburn building.
HuffPost has obtained exclusive video of the arrest of Josh Fox. Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.), the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, can be heard at the end of the clip asking Republican Chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.) to halt the arrest and permit Fox to film the public hearing. Harris denies Miller's request as Fox is escorted out of the hearing in handcuffs.
"Gasland" received strong critical acclaim and takes a critical eye toward the practice of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," a process in which several tons of highly pressurized water and chemicals are injected into the ground, allowing valuable natural gas to escape. The practice is decried by ecological experts for destroying ecosystems and polluting groundwater. The energy industry keeps the actual content of fracking chemicals secret.
Fox had hoped to film Wednesday's hearing for a follow-up to "Gasland." Fox told HuffPost later Wednesday evening, "We did get his staff on the phone, they never returned the phone call," referring to staffers for Chairman Harris. "This is not transparency. This is a lockout and it's bad. It's the people's House, after all. We went through the proper channels to arrange to tape this hearing. We have taped congressional hearings before and we've been turned down before, but I disagree with the policy. Anyone who says they're a journalist is a journalist. It's called the First Amendment. It's the freedom of the press, and that is fundamental to our core identity as the United States of America."
Now why would the Republicans want to have the guy arrested for filming their "open" meeting?
posted by HT4E
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Obamacare Results Are In, Saves Money and Provides More, Better Care
...Republicans crying their eyes out....
Link to Story
The Obama administration announced Wednesday that the Medicare Advantage program, which allows seniors to receive health coverage through a private insurer, is enjoying lower costs and more customers as a result of the health care reform law.
Medicare Advantage enrollment has risen 10 percent over the last year while average premiums have fallen by 7 percent, said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. She also pointed out that similar improvements were seen the previous year.
The figures bolster President Obama’s defense of his signature achievement, and for Democrats it has the added bonus of refuting earlier Republican warnings that “Obamacare” would gravely undermine the choice provisions in Medicare.
“At the time the Affordable Care Act was passed, Republicans in Congress said the bill would virtually end the Medicare Advantage program,” declared senior White House staffer Nancy-Ann DeParle. “Those predictions turned out to be wrong. Medicare Advantage is stronger than ever — offering more seniors better benefits, higher quality care and lower costs.”
The basis for this GOP claim during the health care reform debate was that the ACA’s $500 billion in Medicare provider cuts included $136 billion in pay reductions under Medicare Advantage. But, at least for now, those cuts — along with other payment reforms — appear to have made the program more competitive and efficient.
So it turns out that Seniors save money, the government saves money and more people get insurance coverage. Don't believe those blowhards in the Republican Party. They've led this country into financial crisis severl times in the last 150 years. Why would anyone think they're right about anything?
posted by HT4E
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Romney's Gaffes Bring Conservatives to Their Knees
...get out your hankies girls....
Link to Story
Once again, Mitt Romney is on the defensive over his wealth on Wednesday after telling a CNN reporter that “I’m not concerned about the very poor, we have a safety net there.” And once again, pundits on the right are smacking their foreheads in amazement the usually controlled candidate can’t stop handing Democrats’ more “rich guy” gaffes.
“Facepalm,” Michelle Malkin wrote of the incident, which she said “could easily have been a Saturday Night Live parody”
Over at the National Review, Jonah Goldberg said the quote raised concerns that Romney is “simply not a good enough politician” to beat Obama.
“There are plenty of things one could say to defend Romney on the merits of what he says here,” he wrote. “But great politicians on the morning after a big win, don’t force their supporters to go around defending the candidate from the charge that he doesn’t care about the poor. They just don’t.”
“Romney’s ‘I’m not concerned with the very poor’ line may be the most idiotic thing a politician has ever said,” The Weekly Standard’s John McCormack tweeted.
RedState, whose bloggers have traditionally not been Romney fans, added their voices to the pile. According to co-founder Erick Erickson, Romney “played straight into the liberal caricature that Republicans don’t have hearts.” He added that “The issue here is not that Romney is right or wrong, but that he is handing choice sound bites to the Democrats to make him as unlikeable as he made Newt Gingrich.”
Still others were upset with Romney’s apparently sanguine take on the current state of entitlement spending on the poor.
“The subtext of Romney’s comment is actually worse - that the safety net is the only answer the poor need,” conservative blogger Ben Domenech tweeted.
As Romney moves closer the nomination, there’s increasing anxiety on the right that Democrats have found his weak spot by trying to brand him as a callous “Gordon Gekko,” fears that are further stoked by Romney’s cratering favorability ratings with independents. Could this be Newt’s opening to keep up his assault on Romney’s Bain Capital days and his tax returns?
Holy jumpin' Jesus the Republicans sure are unhappy with their presumed nominee. But then I know a lot of Democrats who aren't great Obama fans either.
posted by HT4E
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Wednesday, February 01, 2012
"He got everything he wanted from a completely compliant Congress for two of those three years… We are living in the Obama economy.”-- Sen Mitch McConnell (R-evisionist) earning a 4 Pinocchio rating for this whopper.
posted by HT4E
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Gingrich Robocall: Romney Forced Holocaust Survivors To Eat Non-Kosher Food
...Newt in 'balls to the wall' negative campaign...
Link to Story
The Newt Gingrich campaign has a robocall out in Florida claiming that Mitt Romney once took kosher food away from Holocaust survivors.
The allegation made in the call, obtained by anti-robocall activist Shaun Dakin, is undoubtedly targeted at Florida's large Jewish and elderly populations.
The text of the call:
As governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney vetoed a bill paying for kosher food for our seniors in nursing homes. Holocaust survivors, who for the first time, were forced to eat non-kosher, because Romney thought $5 was too much to pay for our grandparents to eat kosher. Where is Mitt Romney's compassion for our seniors? Tuesday you can end Mitt Romney's hypocrisy on religious freedom, with a vote for Newt Gingrich. Paid for by Newt 2012.
The call is referencing Romney's veto of a 2003 bill. It came at a time that some nursing homes were considering eliminating their kosher kitchens during a period of budget cuts. Their plan was to instead bus in kosher food from other locations. The bill Romney vetoed would have given an additional $600,000 in funding to nursing homes, therefore making it possible for them to continue cooking kosher food on site.
"It's sad to see Speaker Gingrich lashing out in a desperate attempt to try and save his floundering campaign," said Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul. "Speaker Gingrich will say anything to distract voters from the fact that he suffered an unprecedented ethics reprimand, was forced to pay a $300,000 penalty, and resigned in disgrace at the hands of his own party. His record is one of failed and unreliable leadership and simply one Americans can't risk."
The Gingrich campaign did not return a request for comment.
Wow! Gingrich sure pulled that one outta left field. Almost as crazy as his 51st state on the moon. I sure hope we have Newt to kick around at least until the convention.
posted by HT4E
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Arizona Republicans Launch ‘All Out Assault’ On Public Unions
...because it worked out so well in Wisconsin and Ohio....
Link to Story
With a sweeping series of bills introduced Monday night in the state Senate, Republicans in Arizona hoped to make Wisconsin’s battle against public unions last year look like a lightweight sparring match.
The bills include a total ban on collective bargaining for Arizona’s public employees, including at the city and county levels. The move would outpace even the tough bargaining restrictions enacted in Wisconsin in 2011 that led to massive union protests and a Democratic effort to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker.
“At first glance, it looks like an all out assault on the right of workers to organize,” Senate Minority Leader David Schapira (D) told TPM on Tuesday. “And to me, that’s a serious problem.”
The bills were crafted with the help of the Goldwater Institute, a powerful conservative think tank in Phoenix that flew Walker to the state for an event in November. Nick Dranias, director of the institute’s Center for Constitutional Government, told TPM he sees Walker as a “hero” but that Wisconsin’s laws were “modest” compared to Arizona’s measures.
“In Arizona, we believe that the political will exists to do even more comprehensive reform,” Dranias said. “The environment, the climate that we face in Arizona is much more receptive to these kinds of reforms than Wisconsin is.”
Beyond a ban on collective bargaining, the bills would also prohibit state and local government workers from deducting money from their paychecks to pay union dues.
They would ban state and local governments from paying anyone to spend time doing union work, a practice known as “release time.”
And in another break from the Wisconsin model, the restrictions would affect every type of public union, including police and firefighters.
Arizona is a right-to-work state, which gives unions a much smaller role there than in states like Wisconsin. But laws still currently give labor groups a place at the bargaining table to negotiate pay and other benefits for their members. All of that would change under the proposed rules.
Bad move on the part of those Tea Party nutjobs in Arizona. The police, fire and teachers unions are pretty powerful in most states. Let's see how these union workers like having their hard won rights stripped by the GOP.
posted by HT4E
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Women Abandon Gingrich
...for a younger, prettier candidate...
Link to Story
Women abandoned Newt Gingrich in droves Tuesday and helped fuel former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's triumph in Florida's Republican presidential primary, according to preliminary data from an exit poll of voters.
While Romney held a narrow lead over the former House speaker among men, he easily outdistanced him among women, winning around five of their votes for every three that went to Gingrich. In the three states in which Republicans had already voted for their presidential nominee — Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina — there was relatively little difference in how the sexes divided their votes between the two rivals.
Some of the data Tuesday suggested that many women's votes were influenced by a personal distaste for Gingrich. Asked their views of him as a person, men said they generally viewed him favorably by just under a 2-1 margin, while women were about evenly divided.
Asked if they would be satisfied if Gingrich won the GOP nomination, men said yes by nearly a 6-4 margin while women were closely split. In addition, while men divided about evenly between Gingrich and Romney over which candidate best understood average Americans' problems, women leaned toward Romney.
Gee, I wonder why women mistrust the former Speaker?
posted by HT4E
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“Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive.”-- Vice President Joe Biden (D-amn Right), citing two major accomplishment's that the Republicans couldn't pull off.
posted by HT4E
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Murdoch's Mysteriously Missing Email
...blames IT department for destroying evidence....
Link to Story
A 2008 email informing James Murdoch of the potential scope of phone hacking at the News of the World was deleted in an IT upgrade last year, lawyers say.
The Commons media committee has released a letter from law firm Linklaters detailing how the email was lost and thus not provided in evidence.
The email chain, released in December, mentions claims that phone hacking was "rife" at News International.
Mr Murdoch says he only read the final email, requesting a meeting with him.
He said he was unaware of wrongdoing at News International papers.
In its letter to MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, Linklaters said the email was deleted from Mr Murdoch's work computer as part of an "email stabilisation and modernisation programme" on 15 January 2011.
On 26 January 2011, The Met Police said they were launching a fresh investigation into hacking after receiving "significant new information" about activities at the News of the World (NoW).
A hard copy of the email was found in a storage crate at News International's old Wapping offices in November 2011 during a search by Linklaters and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), it said.
It was part of documents that appeared to have originally been held in ex-NoW editor Colin Myler's office.
PWC subsequently conducted a forensic search of News International computers to try to find an electronic copy of the email chain, but focused on email servers "because it was understood that the email systems were designed to store data on the email servers rather than individual physical devices".
Linklaters said "forensic analysis" later found two other electronic copies on a laptop that Mr Murdoch had stopped using in October 2010 and on his personal assistant's computer. Those copies were made by the devices' "automatic synchronisation" with email servers, it said.
How convenient. I've worked in an IT department for 25+ years and worked on system backups for a time. Believe me, I could find multiple electronic copies of any 3 year old email published in my systems. Come to think of it, we never lost a single email in all the years I've worked in IT. Don't believe these jackasses when they tell you it was an IT mistake. You have to make a serious effort to remove all electronic evidence of an email.
posted by HT4E
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IAEA, Iran See More Talks Ahead on Nuclear Issue
...war mongers not happy that Iran is co-operating...
Link to Story
Senior U.N. nuclear inspectors plan another trip to Iran soon after holding what both sides described as good talks on the Islamic state's disputed atomic program.
The talks were a rare direct dialogue in the international stand-off, which has worsened in recent weeks as the West pursues a punitive embargo on Iranian oil and Tehran threatens retaliation.
Tehran says its uranium enrichment program is solely for peaceful electricity generation and has dismissed allegations that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons as baseless.
Led by the International Atomic Energy Agency's global head of inspections, the IAEA team returned on Wednesday from three days of talks in Iran to try to end three years of deadlock in efforts to resolve the questions about Tehran's nuclear work.
The fact both sides said talks would resume hinted that the round just completed at least created some basis for progress.
"We are committed to resolve all the outstanding issues and the Iranians said they are committed too," Herman Nackaerts, IAEA deputy director general, told reporters after returning from Tehran.
"But of course there is still a lot of work to be done and so we have planned another trip in the very near future."
Asked if he was satisfied with the talks, Nackaerts said: "Yeah, we had a good trip."
Sounds like a better plan than the one that Israel was cooking up.
posted by HT4E
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Taliban "poised to retake Afghanistan" After NATO
...we haven't declared victory yet....
Link to Story
The U.S. military said in a secret report that the Taliban, backed by Pakistan, are set to retake control of Afghanistan after NATO-led forces withdraw, raising the prospect of a major failure of Western policy after a costly war.
Lieutenant Colonel Jimmie Cummings, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, confirmed the existence of the document, reported on Wednesday by Britain's Times newspaper and the BBC.
But he said it was not a strategic study.
"The classified document in question is a compilation of Taliban detainee opinions," he said. "It's not an analysis, nor is it meant to be considered an analysis."
Nevertheless, it could be interpreted as a damning assessment of the war, dragging into its 11th year and aimed at blocking a Taliban return to power.
It could also be seen as an admission of defeat and could reinforce the view of Taliban hardliners that they should not negotiate with the United States and President Hamid Karzai's unpopular government while in a position of strength.
The U.S. military report could boost the Taliban's confidence and make its leaders less willing to make concessions on demands for a ceasefire, and for the insurgency to renounce violence and break ties to al Qaeda.
Remind me again why we're still in Afghanistan?
posted by HT4E
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Komen Cancer Foundation Cuts Ties with Planned Parenthood
...care more about right wing pressure than women's health....
Link to Story
Planned Parenthood and Susan G. Komen for the Cure, two iconic organizations that have assisted millions of women for years, are no longer partners. The nation's leading breast-cancer charity severed its ties with Planned Parenthood affiliates.
Why? Many suspect the cutoff is linked to the abortion debate. Komen has been under fire by anti-abortion activists, after its connection to the pro-choice organization was publicized.
Komen says the key reason is that Planned Parenthood is under investigation in Congress - a probe launched by a conservative Republican who was urged to act by anti-abortion groups. Komen spokeswoman Leslie Aun said the charity recently adopted criteria barring grants to organizations that are under investigation by local, state or federal authorities.
The divide is wrenching for some of those who've learned about it and admire both organizations.
"We're kind of reeling," said Patrick Hurd, who is CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Virginia - recipient of a 2010 grant from Komen - and whose wife, Betsi, is a veteran of several Komen fundraising races and is currently battling breast cancer.
"It sounds almost trite, going through this with Betsi, but cancer doesn't care if you're pro-choice, anti-choice, progressive, conservative," Hurd said. "Victims of cancer could care less about people's politics."
Planned Parenthood said the Komen grants totaled roughly $680,000 last year and $580,000 the year before, going to at least 19 of its affiliates for breast-cancer screening and other breast-health services.
"It's hard to understand how an organization with whom we share a mission of saving women's lives could have bowed to this kind of bullying," Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, told The Associated Press. "It's really hurtful."
I think decidedly less of the Susan G. Koman Foundation this morning because of this news. They have support and there is no need to bow to this bullying. No need at all.
posted by HT4E
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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Latest Indictments Look Bad for Wisconsin's GOP Governor
...aides busted for stealing veterans funds, kid porn and setting up secret network...
Link to Story
The secret John Doe investigation of Governor Scott Walker's associates by the Milwaukee County District Attorney, with help from the FBI, keeps turning up new dirt.
The worst, so far, are the allegations that Walker staffers Tim Russell and Kevin Kavanaugh stole money that was supposed to go to Wisconsin veterans and vendors at a Milwaukee County Zoo veterans' event, as well as the widows and children of Wisconsin's war dead--and used it to pay for cruises, restaurant meals, and a Walker-for-governor campaign web site.
Russell and Kavanaugh are pleading not guilty.
Russell's partner, Brian Pierick, was also dragged into court to face child enticement charges because investigators found records on computers and iPhones of a sexual relationship with an underaged boy, and visits to Internet porn sites using the handle "Walker04".
Pierick's lawyer asked that those charges be dropped on the grounds that the boy misrepresented his age as 19.
As the probe goes on, the news looks worse for Walker.
The probe made new headlines last week, when four felony charges were filed against for former Walker deputy chief of staff Kelly Rindfleisch, along with misdemeanor charges against former staffer Darlene Wink for campaigning on county time. Other indictments last week point to possible favoritism in a fishy real estate deal involving Walker campaign donors in the real estate industry and office space for public employees in Milwaukee.
But the biggest deal in the latest round of criminal charges is a quote from an email Scott Walker sent from his campaign email account in May 2010, which directs Rindfleisch, the staffer now facing felony charges, to avoid embarrassing news stories.
"We cannot afford another story like this one," Walker wrote in the email, quoted in the criminal complaint that came out Thursday. "No one can give them any reason to do another story. That means no laptops, no websites, no time away during the workday, etc."
The complaint also alleges that Walker's staff when he was county executive created a secret Internet network to conduct county and campaign business away from the public eye. That alone is against Wisconsin law.
The muck and mire in Wisconsin is getting deeper by the week. By the time Gov. Walker has to face his recall election he might be thoroughly discredited.
posted by HT4E
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Pentagon Unable to Account for Missing Iraqi Millions
...no records of $1.7 billion missing funds....
Link to Story
The Pentagon doesn’t know what happened to more than $100 million in cash held at Saddam Hussein’s palace in Baghdad during the Iraq war, according to a new report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.
What’s more, the Pentagon can’t find documents to explain what it spent as much as $1.7 billion on from funds held on behalf of the Iraqi government by the New York Federal Reserve, the report says.
The missing records raise new questions about how the US government handled billions of dollars in Iraqi funds during the war.
The new report, the latest in a multi-year investigation by the inspector general into missing money in Iraq, paints a picture of Pentagon officials digging through boxes of hard copy records looking for missing paper copies of Excel spreadsheets, monthly reports and other paper documents that should have been kept detailing what the money was spent on and why those expenditures were necessary. Apparently, there are no electronic records to back up the spending.
The Inspector General’s report concludes that the problem is simply one of “records management.” But the report explains the missing records make it impossible to conduct a complete accounting of what happened to the funds.
The missing money came from the Development Fund for Iraq, a cache of billions of dollars in frozen Saddam Hussein regime assets that was held at the New York Federal Reserve on behalf of the Iraqi people.
Poor records management my ass. You know some of this cash just walked off and made a handful of people very wealthy. I don't know about you but missing $1.7 billion doesn't set well with me.
posted by HT4E
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Increasing Number of Ethics Probes Rattles House Republicans
...is Boehner even concerned?...
Link to Story
An increasing number of House Republicans are getting wrapped up in allegations of ethics violations ahead of the November elections, handing Democrats easy campaign fodder and putting the GOP in an unexpected bind.
Republican leaders in the lower chamber pledged to run an ethically sound ship when they took control last year. But as the second session gets under way, nearly a dozen GOP lawmakers are being questions on a wide array of their financial dealings, and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has not publicly admonished them.
“The Speaker has always been clear that the American people expect members of Congress to be held to the highest ethical standards,” said Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner, when asked by The Hill whether the Speaker was concerned about ethics questions surrounding the Republicans.
By next Monday the House Ethics Committee is slated to decide whether to formally investigate Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.). Moreover, allegations arose over this past weekend that Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) might have accepted illegal campaign donations, according to The New York Times.
Additionally, there are the three Republicans — Reps. Pete Sessions (Texas), Buck McKeon (Calif.) and Elton Gallegly (Calif.) — who earlier this month were referred to the House Ethics Committee for taking part in Countrywide’s VIP mortgage program, aimed at gaining special favor from lawmakers.
Sessions serves as the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), while Buchanan serves as the GOP reelection arm’s finance chairman. Grimm is one of the NRCC’s regional chairs.
Hopefully, their ethical lapses will cost them the House again.
posted by HT4E
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