Wednesday, February 29, 2012

A Real Cure for "Obamacare": Medicare for All | Common Dreams

A Real Cure for "Obamacare": Medicare for All | Common Dreams
"With the approaching Supreme Court showdown on the President Obama’s 2010 health care law (the Affordable Care Act, modeled on Mitt Romney’s law in Massachusetts), the U.S. healthcare system remains a dysfunctional mess, as nurses bear witness to every day"

Poll Finds Unprecedented 25-Point Gap Between Supporters And Opponents Of Marriage Equality

Poll Finds Unprecedented 25-Point Gap Between Supporters And Opponents Of Marriage Equality: pA 25-point gap now separates supporters and opponents of marriage equality in California, with 59 percent of residents backing same-sex marriage and just 34 percent opposing it, a new Field survey finds. This represents “the largest margin of support for the issue in the three-plus decades the Field Poll has been asking the question” and [...]/p

Senior Romney Health Care Adviser Selling Consulting Services To Help Implement Obamacare

Senior Romney Health Care Adviser Selling Consulting Services To Help Implement Obamacare: pYesterday, ModernHealthcare reported that Mike Leavitt, a top adviser to Mitt Romney, believes that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) can move the health care system in the right direction. The comments fly in the face of Romney’s pledge to repeal the measure, but fail to capture the full scope of Leavitt’s support for key elements [...]/p

Stop Starving Public Universities and Shrinking the Middle Class | Common Dreams

Stop Starving Public Universities and Shrinking the Middle Class | Common Dreams
"Last week Rick Santorum called the President “a snob” for wanting everyone to get a college education (in fact, Obama never actually called for universal college education but only for a year or more of training after high school)."

Jon Stewart On GOP Talking Points And Fox News

Wall Street Journal/Manufactures Division To Justify Previous GOP Support For Health Care Mandate

emWall Street Journal/em Manufactures Division To Justify Previous GOP Support For Health Care Mandate
"In today's Wall Street Journal, columnist Holman Jenkins engaged in an impressive about-face in a piece attacking the "individual mandate" provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). After introducing the subject by claiming "Only fools and angels ... might tread forth to defend a now-embarrassing history of conservative support for the unpopular mandate," he tried to defend the history of conservative support for the individual responsibility provision by attempting to point out how it does not and never did resemble the one passed in the PPACA. His explanation is that, while the conservative model was meant to address the free-rider problem in health care, the Obama model is merely "a tax to pay for someone else's" health care costs."

Marjorie Dannenfelser Wraps Herself in Knots Trying to Defend Blunt Amendment


http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/marjorie-dannenfelser-wraps-herself-knots-t

Against Innovation: Right-Wing Media Mock Obama For Promoting Algae-Based Fuel

Against Innovation: Right-Wing Media Mock Obama For Promoting Algae-Based Fuel
"Following their long tradition of attacking renewable energy, right-wing media have mocked President Obama for supporting production of algae biofuels. Yet several companies already produce biofuel made from algae, recent scientific advances have increased the fuel's potential, and the industry has been supported by both private investors and conservative politicians."

UVA Students Entering Day 11 of Hunger Strike Want You to Know Their Fight is Real | AlterNet

UVA Students Entering Day 11 of Hunger Strike Want You to Know Their Fight is Real | AlterNet
"After years of dialogue with administration, marches, rallies, petitions, and public resolutions, the Living Wage Campaign of UVA began a Hunger Strike on Feb. 18th to urge the university to enact a living wage policy. Organizers are asking school administrators to pay their employees enough to meet the basic cost of living in Charlottesville"

Lady Republican senators not on board with Blunt Amendment to block birth control coverage

Lady Republican senators not on board with Blunt Amendment to block birth control coverage
"Uh oh. Looks like Senate Republicans are having a hard time keeping the ladies in line on the Blunt Amendment, set for a vote tomorrow. While the amendment is clearly designed to negate the Obama administration's new policy that mandates insurance coverage of birth control, the Blunt Amendment would allow employers to block insurance coverage of any health care they deem morally objectionable."

Investigation Finds No Dead Voters — And Zero Voter Fraud — In South Carolina

Investigation Finds No Dead Voters — And Zero Voter Fraud — In South Carolina: pSouth Carolina elections are still free of dead voters. That’s what the State Election Commission concluded from its investigation into South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson’s declaration that over 900 dead people may have voted in recent elections. Though the charge itself is laughable, South Carolina was still compelled to devote taxpayer money to investigate [...]/p

South Carolina Considering Bill That Would Drive League Of Women Voters Out Of Palmetto State

South Carolina Considering Bill That Would Drive League Of Women Voters Out Of Palmetto State: pLast year, the Florida legislature passed a bill enacting requirements for groups conducting voter registration drives so onerous that even the League of Women Voters were forced to pull out of the state. Sensible individuals would see this episode as a cautionary tale. South Carolina legislators view it instead as a how-to guide. This week, [...]/p

On the Fracking Frontlines

Occupy Wall Street Rallies Monitored by Dow Chemical | Truthout

Occupy Wall Street Rallies Monitored by Dow Chemical | Truthout
"Last night, Wikileaks revealed a massive trove of e-mails from the firm Stratfor. The e-mails show that the company, working on behalf of chemical giant Dow Chemical, closely monitored news coverage of the Occupy Wall Street movement."

Republicans whine about election fall-out from nasty primary campaign

Republicans whine about election fall-out from nasty primary campaign
"The Joe Walsh who not only doesn't like unemployment insurance but also thinks the whole concept of a social safety net is wrong because it isn't in the Constitution? The guy who called members of the Occupy movement anti-American? The guy who denies the reality of climate change? The guy who, facing a steep uphill climb in a redrawn Illinois congressional district, thinks the presidential candidates should tone it down and stick to issues that matter? hahahahahahaha."

Students On Hunger Strike For Living Wage

Middle East: Stupid is the Order of the Day » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Middle East: Stupid is the Order of the Day » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
"The stupid Attack Iran obsession seems to have infected virtually all discussion of the Middle East."

Wis. Republicans in Haste to “Harvest” Wolves | The Progressive

Wis. Republicans in Haste to “Harvest” Wolves | The Progressive
"It’s “silly season” in the Wisconsin State Legislature. Only two weeks remain in the 2011-2012 legislative session before they break for campaigning, and there is still a huge backlog of bills yet to be voted upon by the two houses and forwarded onto Governor Scott Walker’s desk. This year, the urgency is especially acute due to the John Doe investigation circling closer and closer to Walker himself, and the recall campaigns against Walker, Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, and four Republican state senators."

Shut Down the Corporations!: Occupy Groups Target ALEC | Common Dreams

Shut Down the Corporations!: Occupy Groups Target ALEC | Common Dreams
"Over 70 cities are participating today in a national day of action called by Occupy Portland to "Shut Down the Corporations." The group calls for non-violent direct action to "target corporations that are part of the American Legislative Exchange Council which is a prime example of the way corporations buy off legislators and craft legislation that serves the interests of corporations and not people."

REPORT: Despite Cantor’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ Policy, More Than 10 GOP Congressmen Embroiled In Ethics Scandals

REPORT: Despite Cantor’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ Policy, More Than 10 GOP Congressmen Embroiled In Ethics Scandals: pA growing number of ethics questions and investigations are mounting for the Republican House majority, despite earlier leadership pledges of ethical purity. In 2010, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) promised that if his party won the majority in the midterm elections, he (as majority leader) and his colleagues would take the toughest possible stand on ethics. [...]/p

Ayn Rand Worshippers Should Face Facts: Blue States Are the Providers, Red State Are the Parasites | Visions | AlterNet

Ayn Rand Worshippers Should Face Facts: Blue States Are the Providers, Red State Are the Parasites | Visions | AlterNet
"There's only one way to demonstrate who America's producers and parasites really are. It's time to go Galt."

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

70 Cities Nationwide Stand up to Corporate Greed and ALEC National Day of Action to Resist the Selling Out of the 99%

70 Cities Nationwide Stand up to Corporate Greed and ALEC National Day of Action to Resist the Selling Out of the 99%
"On February 29th, concerned citizens, students, and occupiers in over seventy cities across the nation, including Occupy Wall Street (NYC), are standing up to the corporations and legislators involved in American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The biggest corporations in America, including ExxonMobil, Bank of America, BP, Monsanto, Pfizer, and Wal-Mart use ALEC to buy off legislators and craft legislation that puts corporate profit over the well-being of ordinary people. Responding to a national call from Occupy Portland, this will be the Occupy Movement’s largest coordinated action this year and will confront ALEC corporations in the cities in which they do business throughout the nation."

The Fox Effect: How Roger Ailes Turned a Network into a Propaganda Machine


Using leaked internal emails and Roger Ailes’ own writings, including a never-before-seen private letter, there has never been a more compelling summation of Fox’s dangerous and destructive role in our democracy. The Fox Effect offers new insights into Fox News and powerfully describes the harmful consequences of this political operation masquerading as a news network. You won’t be able to put it down.

Rachel Maddow: Thaddeus McCotter's Disagreement With Mitt Romney's Auto Bailout Stance Represents 'Ongoing Problem'

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

PERRspectives: Obama's Affordable Care Act to the Rescue for Texas

PERRspectives: Obama's Affordable Care Act to the Rescue for Texas
"By almost any measure, Texas has one of the worst health care systems in the nation. Its 26 percent uninsured rate - no other state is even close - put its dead last. Overall, health care in the Lone Star State is ranked 44th by America's Health Rankings and 46th by the Commonwealth Fund. Two years ago, it was ranked the 39th healthiest state."

Hungry Detroit Boy: 'Tomorrow Is My Night’ To Eat. Meanwhile, Gov. Rick Snyder Slashes Safety Net

Hungry Detroit Boy: 'Tomorrow Is My Night’ To Eat. Meanwhile, Gov. Rick Snyder Slashes Safety Net
“I was visiting with this family and one of the little boys said he wasn’t going to eat,” said Russell, development director for Forgotten Harvest, a Detroit-based nonprofit that rescues and redistributes fresh food. “He said, ‘Oh, I’m not eating dinner because it’s my brother’s turn tonight. Tomorrow is my night.’”

Resurrecting Ayn Rand: Hedge Fund Money Teams Up With Koch & BB&T » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Resurrecting Ayn Rand: Hedge Fund Money Teams Up With Koch & BB&T » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
"While it has been well known that the oil billionaire, Charles Koch, has been funneling tens of millions of dollars through his foundation into economic programs at public universities and mandating approval of faculty and curriculum in some instances, it has not heretofore been reported that a sweeping partnership in these programs has sprung up between Koch and the southern banking giant, BB&T, the latter corporation mandating that Ayn Rand’s book Atlas Shrugged is taught and distributed to students."

Exploding the Myth of the Iranian Bomb:  Information Clearing House e

Exploding the Myth of the Iranian Bomb:  Information Clearing House e
"There is one thing worth remembering throughout all this posing and counter-posturing over nuclear weapons: to this day, there remains only one country that has ever deployed a nuclear weapon against a civilian population. And it is not Iran."

Gen. McCaffrey privately briefs NBC execs on war with Iran

Gen. McCaffrey privately briefs NBC execs on war with Iran
"It is interesting to see the sources on whom NBC News executives rely to develop their understanding of the world, and it’s even more interesting to learn what they’re being told about that."

Jim Crow For The Poor

Jim Crow For The Poor
"I refuse to believe that this is real, and that someone is actually arguing this as a serious proposal, and that said proposal was deemed serious enough for publication by a secondary party, but it seems too earnestly argued to be parody, and nowhere is it identified as such."

The Never-Ending and Never-Prosecuted Humanitarian Disaster in Iraq | Truthout

The Never-Ending and Never-Prosecuted Humanitarian Disaster in Iraq | Truthout
"We will never accept that history will be rewritten by the invading powers that illegally occupied a sovereign country - an invasion and occupation that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' Office has never condemned. "To initiate a war of aggression is essentially an evil thing [...] It is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime, differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole," according to the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, which followed World War II. And not once have I seen a word of condemnation from international human rights bodies about the illegality of the Anglo-American invasion. They have excelled in silence. Silence is complicity. And silence kills."

President Obama Speaks on the Resurgence of the American Auto Industry

Four Days Of Action In Defense Of The Artic


Actress Lucy Lawless

Will GOP Candidates’ Right Turn On Social Issues Ultimately Help Obama?

Republicans Sought Algae Research Grants From Obama, Now They’re Attacking Him For It

Republicans Sought Algae Research Grants From Obama, Now They’re Attacking Him For It: pFollowing President Obama’s “all-the-above” energy speech last Thursday, conservatives have ignored the speech and instead latched onto a single point about investing $14 million in algae-based biofuel research. “Believe it or not, we could replace up to 17 percent of the oil we import for transportation with this [algae] fuel that we can grow right [...]/p

Wikileaks Stratfor Emails: Israel May Have Already Destroyed Iran's Nuke Program, So Why The War Drums?

Wikileaks Stratfor Emails: Israel May Have Already Destroyed Iran's Nuke Program, So Why The War Drums?
"“I think this is a diversion. The Israelis already destroyed all the Iranian nuclear infrastructure on the ground weeks ago,” one intelligence official wrote in an email dated November 14, 2011."

Alabama Denies DNA Test To Potentially Innocent Man On Death Row

Alabama Denies DNA Test To Potentially Innocent Man On Death Row: pAndrew Cohen chronicles the many uncertainties in Alabama’s case against Thomas Arthur, who was convicted of murder three decades ago and is scheduled to be executed next month. They include a key witness who recanted and then unrecanted her testimony, another man who admitted to committing the murder, and a wig containing DNA evidence that [...]/p

BREAKING: Dow Jones Closes Above 13,000 For The First Time Since May 2008

BREAKING: Dow Jones Closes Above 13,000 For The First Time Since May 2008: pMoments ago, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed over 13,000 for the first time since May 19, 2008. The stock market is now up over 56 percent since Obama took office. Today, the stock market was buoyed, in the view of one economist, by “job and income gains…leading to higher confidence and spending growth, in [...]/p

Insuring a Climate-Ready Future | Common Dreams

Insuring a Climate-Ready Future | Common Dreams
"2012 kicked off with an unusually warm January across most of the US: fifteen states had “much above normal” temperatures, in the top 10% of warmest Januaries on record."

Stealing From The Mouth of Public Education to Feed the Prison Industrial Complex | Common Dreams

Stealing From The Mouth of Public Education to Feed the Prison Industrial Complex | Common Dreams
"We are witnessing a systemic recasting of education priorities that gives official structure and permanence to a preexisting underclass comprised largely of criminalized poor black and brown people."

A Call to Action

A Call to Action
Need for a Sustainable Response to Shortages of Treatments for Children with Cancer

Walker's Whining Helps No One

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Wall Street Fights Back Against Bid to Curb Oil Speculation | Common Dreams

Wall Street Fights Back Against Bid to Curb Oil Speculation | Common Dreams
" the financial sector lobbyists had hired Eugene Scalia to make their case. "He’s the son of outspoken conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia," they report, "and last year he won a key challenge to a Dodd-Frank rulemaking being carried out by the Securities and Exchange Commission. In that case, the courts struck down provisions that would have made it easier for shareholders to run candidates for corporate boards."

After Months Of Delays, Senate Confirms Judge Nearly Unanimously

After Months Of Delays, Senate Confirms Judge Nearly Unanimously: pYesterday, the Senate voted 86-2 to confirm Margo Kitsy Brodie, 45, to a vacant judgeship on the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Despite no real opposition in the Senate, Brodie waited months for this vote. Brodie was nominated in June and reported out of the Senate Judicial Committee unanimously in [...]/p

As Republicans Claim Wall Street Reform Is Killing Banks, Bank Profits Hit Highest Level Since 2006

As Republicans Claim Wall Street Reform Is Killing Banks, Bank Profits Hit Highest Level Since 2006: pAs House Republicans and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce team up for their latest assault on the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, specifically a rule reining in banks’ risky trading, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has released its latest Quarterly Banking Profile, which shows that GOP claims regarding Dodd-Frank killing America’s banks have little truth [...]/p

President Obama Dings Romney In UAW Speech

Our Anti-Government Hypocrisy

Our Anti-Government Hypocrisy

A Budget Cut Only the Produce Industry Could Love | Common Dreams

A Budget Cut Only the Produce Industry Could Love | Common Dreams
"While the testing program may be inexpensive, it’s critical because no other federal mechanism currently exists to conduct regular testing of fresh produce. (The Food and Drug Administration—which technically has jurisdiction over produce safety—conducts only limited inspections.)"

Two-Thirds Of Illinois Voters Oppose Proposed Ultrasound Bill

Two-Thirds Of Illinois Voters Oppose Proposed Ultrasound Bill: pLawmakers in Illinois are considering a bill similar to one in Virginia that would require women to undergo an invasive ultrasound before receiving an abortion, but a new poll shows that two-thirds of the state’s voters disagree with this legislation. According to the ACLU’s poll, only 33 percent of voters support the bill, which would [...]/p

How Bank Of America Could Take A Chunk Of Some Americans’ Tax Returns

How Bank Of America Could Take A Chunk Of Some Americans’ Tax Returns: pBack in November, we noted how Bank of America was raking in millions of dollars in fees by contracting with states to put unemployment benefits on BofA debit cards. By using those cards, people can get hit with all manner of charges — including ATM fees — when they attempt to access their benefits. One [...]/p

Texas Medicaid Director: 91 Percent Of Texans Will Have Insurance If State Implements Obamacare

Texas Medicaid Director: 91 Percent Of Texans Will Have Insurance If State Implements Obamacare: pTexas Republicans are taking a hardline against implementing the exchanges in the Affordable Care Act and currently have “no plans to implement an exchange” in the state. But during a House Public Health and Insurance Committees hearing yesterday, Billy Millwee, the State Medicad Director told lawmakers that “the percentage of Texans with health insurance will [...]/p

Why Inequality Matters: Three Ways the Mortgage Crisis Has Undermined Our Legal System | Truthout

Why Inequality Matters: Three Ways the Mortgage Crisis Has Undermined Our Legal System | Truthout
"Banks are demonstrating that if you have enough money and influence, you’re not expected to follow the same laws as everyone else.

Ayn Rand: the Tea Party’s Miscast Matriarch » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Ayn Rand: the Tea Party’s Miscast Matriarch » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
"Rand, and her supporters, including Alan Greenspan, viewed altruism as evil: altruism is evil, selfishness is good. And tens of millions of dollars of corporate money is backing that philosophy today in America, no doubt to give obscenely paid CEOs a sip of Rand’s guilt-free narcissism while stoking the fires for more deregulation of a country just crawling back from the crippling effects of deregulation. This is the mindless irrationality of Rand’s brand of rationality."

Is the Era of Nuclear Power Coming to an End in the US? | Environment | AlterNet

Is the Era of Nuclear Power Coming to an End in the US? | Environment | AlterNet
"A battle raging in Vermont over an aging plant may be an important indicator of whether nuclear has had its day."

Why the GOP Is Trying to Pin High Gas Prices on Obama (and Gullible Americans Are Falling for It) | Economy | AlterNet

Why the GOP Is Trying to Pin High Gas Prices on Obama (and Gullible Americans Are Falling for It) | Economy | AlterNet
"The Republicans are hoping to blame this rise in the price of gas on Obama's environmentally friendly policies. But here are two major problems with their story."

Corseted Minds: Does Fear of Irrelevance Send Conservative Men Fleeing to the Victorian Age? | News & Politics | AlterNet

Corseted Minds: Does Fear of Irrelevance Send Conservative Men Fleeing to the Victorian Age? | News & Politics | AlterNet
"If you focus on the utilitarian value of human beings, you may find yourself at some point nervously glancing in the mirror."

Monday, February 27, 2012

Would you let L. Ron Hubbard teach your kids?

Would you let L. Ron Hubbard teach your kids?
"No? Well, how'd you feel about paying with your tax dollars for a school run using Hubbard's educational theories? Not great? Well, I hope you don't live in Florida."

There Will Be Fire: The 'Carbon Bomb' 'Waiting to Be Ignited' | Common Dreams

There Will Be Fire: The 'Carbon Bomb' 'Waiting to Be Ignited' | Common Dreams
“We are going to see more fire in (the) future, that’s the bottom line.” “A warmer world’s going to see more fire.”

WikiLeaks: Disgraced Judge Said He Was Targeted for Investigation After Ruling Against Halliburton | Truthout

WikiLeaks: Disgraced Judge Said He Was Targeted for Investigation After Ruling Against Halliburton | Truthout

Over Last 10 Years, General Electric’s Effective Tax Rate Was 2.3 Percent

Over Last 10 Years, General Electric’s Effective Tax Rate Was 2.3 Percent: pThe Obama administration unveiled its corporate tax reform plan last week, which would lower the top rate from 35 percent to 28 percent, billing it as an effort to help make the American corporate tax code more competitive. Republicans have long crowed for corporate tax reform, saying America’s high marginal rate stifles competition, but they [...]/p

Thom Hartmann: The Global Power Shift to the BRIC Nations

F-35 (Still) $1 Trillion Fiasco | Common Dreams

F-35 (Still) $1 Trillion Fiasco | Common Dreams
"The Pentagon has decided to continue "low-rate" production of the F-35 stealth jet, reportedly the most advanced, expensive and dysfunctional weapons program in U.S. history - this, despite an estimated pricetag of $1 trillion to operate a fleet of 2,443"

REPORT: Massachusetts Premium Growth Declined After Passage Of Romneycare

REPORT: Massachusetts Premium Growth Declined After Passage Of Romneycare: pFred Bauer has poured over the new health care data in John F. Cogan’s, R. Glenn Hubbard’s, and Daniel P. Kessler’s “The Effect of Massachusetts’ Health Reform on Employer-Sponsored Insurance Premiums” report and points out that health care premiums in the Bay State have grown at a lower rate since the passage of Massachusetts’ signature [...]/p

University of Virginia Football Player Goes On Hunger Strike To Get Living Wage For University Employees

University of Virginia Football Player Goes On Hunger Strike To Get Living Wage For University Employees: pJoseph Williams moved more than 30 times as a child, living in homeless shelters, church basements, and the homes of family friends. Now Williams, a junior safety on the University of Virginia football team, is taking up a cause supporting university workers who are barely making enough to get by. Williams is one of 18 [...]/p

Patrick Kennedy to Scott Brown: Stop claiming my father's support for your birth control position

Patrick Kennedy to Scott Brown: Stop claiming my father's support for your birth control position

Oligarchy in the U.S.A. -- In These Times

Oligarchy in the U.S.A. -- In These Times
"Across all political spectrums, oligarchs are people (never corporations or other organizations) who command massive concentrations of material resources (that is, wealth) that can be deployed to defend or enhance their own property and interests, even if they don’t own those resources personally. Without this massive concentration of wealth, there are no oligarchs."

Taxmaggedon and the Tax Reform Farce | AlterNet

Taxmaggedon and the Tax Reform Farce | AlterNet
"If you start with a revenue level that’s based on the tax rates that will go into effect on January 1, 2013, and then go after everything at once, the result will likely be cleaner and more efficient."

Alabama Bill Could Require Women To Undergo Invasive Ultrasound To Convince Them ‘To Keep The Child’

Alabama Bill Could Require Women To Undergo Invasive Ultrasound To Convince Them ‘To Keep The Child’: pWhen a woman in Alabama seeks an abortion procedure, she already has to sign that her doctor has performed an ultrasound and that she either viewed the ultrasound image or rejected seeing it. But state Sen. Clay Scofield (R) is pushing SB 12, a bill in the Alabama legislature that would mandate the physician “to [...]/p

7 Dangerous Lies About Plastic | Environment | AlterNet

7 Dangerous Lies About Plastic | Environment | AlterNet
"Big Plastic is big money and survives regulatory scrutiny by creating big spin. Here's what you need to know."

Rick Santorum On Religious Freedom: What He Has Forgotten Since Law School | | AlterNet

Rick Santorum On Religious Freedom: What He Has Forgotten Since Law School | | AlterNet
"A law school peer of Santorum's offers a lesson on what the Constitution says about religious freedom for a wayward classmate and his followers."

Big Food Must Go: Why We Need to Radically Change the Way We Eat | Food | AlterNet

Big Food Must Go: Why We Need to Radically Change the Way We Eat | Food | AlterNet

Sunday, February 26, 2012

WikiLeaks Publishes 5 Million 'Shadow CIA' E-Mails | Common Dreams

WikiLeaks Publishes 5 Million 'Shadow CIA' E-Mails | Common Dreams
"WikiLeaks announced tonight that it is publishing documents it is calling "The Global Intelligence Files" which includes over 5 million e-mails from the US-based "Global Intelligence" company Stratfor, according to a statement the organization released Sunday night."

Massive Leak Reveals Criminality, Paranoia, Among Corporate Titans | Common Dreams

Massive Leak Reveals Criminality, Paranoia, Among Corporate Titans | Common Dreams
"Dow pays "strategic intelligence" firm to spy on Yes Men and grassroots activists. Takeaway: movement is on the right track!"

Defeating Mitt Romney is about more than 2012

Defeating Mitt Romney is about more than 2012
"Mitt Romney is a traditional Republican kleptocrat. He talks the Republican hypocritical talk about shrinking government spending but he has used government spending to his own personal benefit, from subsidies to the Salt Lake City Olympics, for which he was hailed as savior, to subsidies to his vulture investment firm Bain, from which he made his fortune. His economic agenda is mainstream traditional Republican rob-from-the-have-nots-to-give-to-the rich. Tax cuts that will mostly benefit the extremely wealthy such as himself, with benefit cuts that will punish just about everyone else. That is the true purpose of the Romney campaign, and those are the only values to which he consistently adheres."

Brzezinski: GOP Presidential Race 'Embarrassing as an American'

Brzezinski: GOP Presidential Race 'Embarrassing as an American'
"Look at those Republican debates. I must say, I’m literally, literally feeling embarrassed as an American when I see those people all right. One of them sounds like a medieval Savanarola, another one is trying to explain why he has some of his wealth hidden in the Cayman Islands, and someone else would go back to 1780 and then there is someone who is using his credentials as a repudiated Speaker of the Congress to be president. I mean, this is just…embarrassing."

Humanity's Growing Impact on the World's Freshwater | Water | AlterNet

Humanity's Growing Impact on the World's Freshwater | Water | AlterNet
"It takes water to make everything, and the explosion of demand for all manner of products is draining rivers, shrinking lakes and depleting aquifers."

Stunner: One Quarter of Total U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Come From Fossil Fuels Mined and Drilled on Public Lands

Stunner: One Quarter of Total U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Come From Fossil Fuels Mined and Drilled on Public Lands: pBy Jessica Goad A new report by Stratus Consulting and commissioned by The Wilderness Society released this morning shows that 23 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions come from oil, gas, and coal extracted from federal lands and waters.  As the report states: In 2009, the most recent year for which total U.S. GHG [...]/p

The Gang That Couldn't Bomb Straight | Truthout

The Gang That Couldn't Bomb Straight | Truthout
"Here we go again. With the economy showing faint signs of life and their positions on the social issues alienating most moderates, the leading Republican candidates, with the exception of Ron Paul, have returned to the elixir of warmongering to once again sway the gullible masses."

Fox News Shamelessly Smears Group That Exposed Network's Sordid History | Media | AlterNet

Fox News Shamelessly Smears Group That Exposed Network's Sordid History | Media | AlterNet
"A new book from Media Matters is being released this week that chronicles the history of Fox News, explaining how a small group of wealthy, politically connected partisans conspired to build a pseudo-news network with the intent of advancing the right-wing agenda of the Republican Party."

Republicans Block the Vote: How Voter-ID Laws Suppress Registration Drives and Block Democratic Votes | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet

Republicans Block the Vote: How Voter-ID Laws Suppress Registration Drives and Block Democratic Votes | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet
"There is no real reason for voter-ID laws. Simply stated, voter-ID bills become laws because Republican legislators pass and Republican governors sign them."

The Romer memo and Obama's first term

The Romer memo and Obama's first term
" a piece about a memo written by incoming economic advisor Cristina Romer advising as much as $1.8 trillion in stimulus to bring unemployment down to 5.1% by 2011 (full memo). Scheiber notes in the article that Larry Summers, the principal economic advisor to the President-Elect, never presented this item to Obama in his famous 57-page memo that became the blueprint for President Obama's economic policy."

How Koch Became An Oil Speculation Powerhouse

How Koch Became An Oil Speculation Powerhouse: pIn April, ThinkProgress caused a stir when we uncovered a series of Koch Industries corporate documents revealing the company’s role as an oil speculator. Like many oil companies, Koch uses legitimate hedging products to create price stability. However, the documents reveal that Koch is also participating in the unregulated derivatives markets as a financial player, [...]/p
"2011: As oil speculation again hits record highs, leading to record high oil prices, Koch’s allies in Congress fight to undermine new reforms and allow unchecked speculation to spiral out of control."

Why No One Likes Mitt Romney | Election 2012 | AlterNet

Why No One Likes Mitt Romney | Election 2012 | AlterNet
Unfortunately for Romney, this may just be the wrong cycle for an obviously out-of-touch Wall Street elitist.

Romney Focuses Keystone Instead Of Speculators Because He Is Owned By The Koch Brothers

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Debunking Poverty Myths and Racial Stereotypes | Common Dreams

Debunking Poverty Myths and Racial Stereotypes | Common Dreams
"Race baiting has been a focus of debates in various media outlets about programs aiding those whose income is at the pit of that debate. Below are some of the most startling facts that debunk some of the poverty myths and racial stereotypes that surround social benefit programs."

Conservatives push a 'legal assault' on the Voting Rights Act

Conservatives push a 'legal assault' on the Voting Rights Act
"There's a multi-pronged attack on the most basic element of citizenship, and it's not about the people's will or state's rights, the ultimate code words for racist policies. It's about Republicans fighting progress and fighting politically the only way they can. With demographics against them, they either have to change, or eliminate as much of the voting population as possible. They've chosen their path. It's a path that an increasingly conservative, activist court could clear for them."

U.S. Does NOT Believe Iran is Trying to Build Nuclear Bomb

U.S. Does NOT Believe Iran is Trying to Build Nuclear Bomb
"The latest U.S. intelligence report indicates Iran is pursuing research that could enable it to build a nuclear weapon, but that it has not sought to do so."

The Ed Show: Santorum: Universities Harm Our Country

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Ed Show: Virginia Lawmaker Mocks Women's Health Care Debate

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Vaginal Probe Problem Makes Virginia Gov. Uncomfortable

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The best part is at the 4:05 mark when he squirms in his chair next to the Democratic Gov. of Maryland.

The Right-Wing Plot to Undermine Science in Public Schools | Education | AlterNet

The Right-Wing Plot to Undermine Science in Public Schools | Education | AlterNet
Leaked documents reveal a right-wing think-tank's plans to undermine the teaching of climate science -- and defund public education in the process.

Rachel Maddow Blasts The Republican War On Women

With Detroit Debacle, Mitt Romney Steps on His Momentum—Again - The Atlantic

With Detroit Debacle, Mitt Romney Steps on His Momentum—Again - The Atlantic
"First, the venue, Ford Field, home of the Lions, seats 65,000, but Romney managed to draw just 1,200. That was too many for the first venue the campaign had picked, but in the cavernous stadium, the crowd -- despite the campaign's strenuous efforts to position it more favorably -- looked pathetically puny. As a metaphor for the lack of grassroots enthusiasm Romney attracts, the scene was irresistible."

The Republican Brain: Why Even Educated Conservatives Deny Science - and Reality | Truthout

The Republican Brain: Why Even Educated Conservatives Deny Science - and Reality | Truthout
"New research shows that conservatives who consider themselves well-informed and educated are also deeper in denial about issues like global warming."

US Spies See No Evidence of Iranian Nuclear Weapons Program | Common Dreams

US Spies See No Evidence of Iranian Nuclear Weapons Program | Common Dreams
"But the Central Intelligence Agency and other intelligence agencies believe that Iran has yet to decide whether to resume a parallel program to design a nuclear warhead -- a program they believe was essentially halted in 2003, the paper noted."

Thom Hartmann: Why Fox News Has The Right To Lie To Us

What Are We Really Eating? Reporter Goes Undercover to Reveal the Real Story of Our Broken Food System | Food | AlterNet

What Are We Really Eating? Reporter Goes Undercover to Reveal the Real Story of Our Broken Food System | Food | AlterNet

Whites More Likely to Be Drug Addicts Than Blacks; So Why Do Racial Drug Stereotypes Persist? | Civil Liberties | AlterNet

Whites More Likely to Be Drug Addicts Than Blacks; So Why Do Racial Drug Stereotypes Persist? | Civil Liberties | AlterNet

Friday, February 24, 2012

Gillibrand Challenger: No One Would Notice If Roe V. Wade Were Overturned

Gillibrand Challenger: No One Would Notice If Roe V. Wade Were Overturned: pWendy Long, a conservative judicial activist challenging Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) said yesterday that no one would miss Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case that legalized abortion, if it were overturned. Long clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and served as a counsel for the conservative Judicial Confirmation Network, but is perhaps [...]/p

Mitt Romney: Cut Medicare, Social Security benefits for seniors

Mitt Romney: Cut Medicare, Social Security benefits for seniors
"Except for his plan to mess with Social Security and Medicare. He got much more concrete, and as has been in vogue among Republicans, wants to take away benefits. He's going Ryan-lite on Medicare (the Ryan-Wyden plan), with the addition of raising the eligibility age, and both raising the retirement age for Social Security and means testing it."

Move Your Money: San Francisco Churches Move $10 Million From Wells Fargo

Move Your Money: San Francisco Churches Move $10 Million From Wells Fargo: pAngry at the Wall Street banks that were at the center of the financial meltdown, Americans have spent the last six months moving their money to credit unions and community banks in unprecedented numbers. More than 650,000 people moved to credit unions in one month last year, and 5.6 million Americans switched banks in the [...]/p

The Fox Effect: Gas Prices Are a Perfect Example

The Fox Effect: Gas Prices Are a Perfect Example
"Just for fun, go hang out in a hotel bar where Fox News is on and ask a few people what they think about how expensive gas is, and whose fault it is. You'll be able to pick out the hardcore Fox Watchers from the casual ones right away."

Report: Up To Two Million People Were Employed In December Because Of The Recovery Act

Report: Up To Two Million People Were Employed In December Because Of The Recovery Act: pLast week, on the three-year anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (i.e. the stimulus), the GOP went well out of its way to portray the plan as “an abject failure” that not only “failed to create the jobs that Americans were promised,” but also “made things worse.” But plenty of recent independent analyses [...]/p

GOP Bill to Ban Sex Education Passes Utah House | AlterNet

GOP Bill to Ban Sex Education Passes Utah House | AlterNet

Outlawing Solidarity in Tucson | Common Dreams

Outlawing Solidarity in Tucson | Common Dreams
We encourage Rethinking Schools readers to join the national solidarity campaign, “No History Is Illegal,” launched by the Teacher Activist Groups (TAG) network, to teach about this important struggle. In fact, Tucson’s program should not only be defended, it should be extended: We should demand that local, state, and federal policies support more multicultural, anti-racist education initiatives. As the U.S. school curriculum becomes increasingly shaped by giant multinational publishing corporations, it’s essential to stand up for—and spread—community-supported, social justice curriculum, as exemplified by Tucson’s Mexican American Studies program.

Same-Sex Marriage Bill Passes in Maryland; Governor Expected To Sign It - Unlike New Jersey's 'Straight Shooter'

Same-Sex Marriage Bill Passes in Maryland; Governor Expected To Sign It - Unlike New Jersey's 'Straight Shooter'
"Let's do a little compare-and-contrast between New Jersey, whose loudmouthed "straight shooting" governor just wasn't man enough to sign a straightforward same-sex marriage bill, and Maryland, where Gov. Martin O'Malley (a politician no one has ever accused of lacking ambition) has not only said he will sign the bill, he called in favors and campaigned hard to get it passed."

GOP Rep. Dave Camp Disappointed That Obama’s Tax Reform Doesn’t Protect Offshore Tax Havens

GOP Rep. Dave Camp Disappointed That Obama’s Tax Reform Doesn’t Protect Offshore Tax Havens: pThe broad corporate tax reform plan released by the Obama administration this week included a provision for a minimum tax on corporate profits earned overseas, a rule aimed at preventing corporations from taking advantage of offshore tax havens like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. The U.S. loses billions of dollars a year in tax revenue [...]/p

Debunking Republicans On Gas Prices

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

A Compendium of The Goofiest Things That Rick Santorum Has Said So Far... | Common Dreams

A Compendium of The Goofiest Things That Rick Santorum Has Said So Far... | Common Dreams
"That exclusivity might present a problem for him at the polls. If you add up all of the non-Christians, the 99% of woman who use contraceptives, the blacks, the browns, the poor, the recent immigrants, the gays, the tree huggers-- all of the assorted Americans who Rick Santorum does not approve of-- that is one heck of a lot of folks who likely wouldn’t vote for him, even if Rush Limbaugh’s man succeeds in winning the Republican presidential nomination in August."

Does The 99% Have Support Within The Occupy Movement?

Russ Feingold On Citizens United And The Need To Overturn It

Republican Dishonesty On Gas Prices And Production


In fact, demand is the lowest it’s been since April, 1997, according to the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS).

Seven Female Missouri House Members Say They Were Kept Out of Contraception Debate | Truthout

Seven Female Missouri House Members Say They Were Kept Out of Contraception Debate | Truthout

The Ugly Truth Behind Michigan's Budget Surplus | The Nation

The Ugly Truth Behind Michigan's Budget Surplus | The Nation
"But what of the budget surplus? I asked Dee. Surely that found money could be put to the rescue? Alas, no. Of more than $1 billion in cuts to school budgets last year, Snyder is restoring less than half—and not to per capita expenditure on pupils but for incentive programs. Schools that perform best will get the most money; those that “fail” could be eliminated. In other words, those with the most troubled students or least experienced teachers or children who speak little English or with high percentages of learning disabilities—those are the schools most likely to be assigned less assistance, less investment, less hope."

6 Pathetic Right-Wing Attempts to Defend the Indefensible Citizens United (Debunked) | | AlterNet

6 Pathetic Right-Wing Attempts to Defend the Indefensible Citizens United (Debunked) | | AlterNet

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Pentagon as Lying Machine » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Pentagon as Lying Machine » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
"Withdrawal from Afghanistan must mean that commanders will not longer feel the need to claim battlefield successes that are not there. It would be nice to think that the compulsion to make no less misleading claims about vastly expensive weapons programs will also disappear, but history suggests otherwise."

The CIA’s links to Wall Street: Rise of the National Security State:

The CIA’s links to Wall Street: Rise of the National Security State:
"One of the most successful frauds ever perpetrated upon the American people is the notion that the CIA exists to provide intelligence to the president. In fact, the CIA’s intimate links to Wall Street strongly suggest that the CIA was created to serve the perceived interests of investment bankers. The well documented links to Wall Street can be traced to the founding of the agency."

Female Witness Hits Back At Issa: ‘I’m A Woman Who Uses Contraception, That Makes Me Qualified’ To Testify

Female Witness Hits Back At Issa: ‘I’m A Woman Who Uses Contraception, That Makes Me Qualified’ To Testify: pDemocrats on the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee held a special hearing Thursday morning in response to the GOP’s decision to prevent women from testifying in support of an Obama administration rule requiring employers to provide birth control without additional cost sharing. The committee invited just one witness, Sandra Fluke, the third year Georgetown [...]/p

Texas Throws Women Under the Bus -- Again | Common Dreams

Texas Throws Women Under the Bus -- Again | Common Dreams
Today Texas dealt healthcare for women another blow when it passed legislation banning Planned Parenthood and "other abortion providers" from the state's Medicaid program. The rule leaves at least 130,000 low-income Texas women without access to cancer screenings, well-woman exams and contraception.

The Emperor's Messenger Has No Clothes: Belén Fernández Dresses Down Thomas Friedman | Truthout

The Emperor's Messenger Has No Clothes: Belén Fernández Dresses Down Thomas Friedman | Truthout

Taking President Obama's auto industry recovery by the numbers

Taking President Obama's auto industry recovery by the numbers

Insurance CEO Praises Affordable Care Act: ‘It Has Been A Pretty Good Thing’

Insurance CEO Praises Affordable Care Act: ‘It Has Been A Pretty Good Thing’: pAetna CEO, Chairman and President Mark Bertolini praised the Affordable Care Act during the HIMSS12 Conference in Las Vegas this week, arguing that while the new law and its regulations have “pulled [the insurance industry] through the crucible” and “reshaped” the health care market, “For most of what has already been implemented, it has been [...]/p

Protestors Rally Outside Arizona Republican Presidential Debate In Support Of The DREAM Act

Protestors Rally Outside Arizona Republican Presidential Debate In Support Of The DREAM Act: pMESA, Arizona — Approximately 40 undocumented students and supporters rallied outside the Arizona Republican presidential debate on Wednesday to protest the candidates’ opposition to the DREAM Act. The DREAM Act would allow certain youth to apply for residency and citizenship after graduating from high school and completing two years of college or the military. It [...]/p

The true cost of oil: Garth Lenz @ TED

Catholic Nuns File Brief Supporting Affordable Care Act

Catholic Nuns File Brief Supporting Affordable Care Act: pAs further proof that conservative efforts to paint President Obama as the enemy of religion are a red herring, nearly two dozen leading Catholic nuns filed a brief in the Supreme Court last week supporting the president’s signature legislative accomplishment. The Catholic sisters who joined the brief include the leaders of many prominent religious orders [...]/p

Thom Hartmann: Does SCOTUS Now Know Citizens United Was A Mistake?

Mitt Romney clings to his discredited ideas about auto industry bankruptcy

Mitt Romney clings to his discredited ideas about auto industry bankruptcy
"Whether Romney is constitutionally unable to admit that he was wrong, believes it would be too big a liability to admit such a massive error in his supposed area of expertise, or can't let go of his talking point that Obama gave too much to the UAW, it's not small or incidental that he is clinging to his wrongness to the point that even John King is challenging him on it."

FIVE Facts About Gas Prices

FIVE Facts About Gas Prices: pAs Gas Prices Rise, GOP Wants Even More Handouts to Big Oil Though oil demand is at its lowest since 1997, oil prices (and gas prices along with them) are once again on the rise.  Analysts are projecting gas prices will top $4 a gallon nationally and perhaps reach record highs later this year.  Despite relatively low [...]/p
"The number of oil drilling rigs in the U.S. hit a record last week, having quadrupled in number over the past three years. Between oil and gas drilling rigs, the U.S. now has more rigs at work than the rest of the world combined."

Why I Broke Up With Bank of America | Activism | AlterNet

Why I Broke Up With Bank of America | Activism | AlterNet

Wall Street banks are trashing our economy and our environment in the name of their own profits—do you buy into their corruption and greed?

5 Reasons You Should Never Agree to a Police Search (Even if You Have Nothing to Hide) | Civil Liberties | AlterNet

5 Reasons You Should Never Agree to a Police Search (Even if You Have Nothing to Hide) | Civil Liberties | AlterNet
"Do you know what your rights are when a police officer asks to search you? If you're like most people I've met in my eight years working to educate the public on this topic, then you probably don't."

Wis. Republicans Belittle Women | The Progressive

Wis. Republicans Belittle Women | The Progressive
"On Tuesday night, the Assembly passed SB 202, a law that repeals the Equal Pay Act signed into law in 2009 that allowed people to sue employers who illegally discriminate against them based on protected class status. This ALEC-style "tort reform" bill was authored by ALEC members Senator Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) and Rep. Michelle Litjens (R-Oshkosh)."

The GOP’s Long War Against Women and Sex | The Nation

The GOP’s Long War Against Women and Sex | The Nation
"Whatever the reason, we need to ensure that Republicans are held accountable and don’t get to brush these comments and actions off as mistakes or misunderstandings. Because they’re not simple gaffes, they’re a crystal clear window into the future that the GOP wants for women."

Papantonio: Religious Extremists Hijack Presidential Politics


Mike Papantonio talks with Ed Schultz about the creepy fringe that is taking over Christianity.

Rights Are for Real People: Where the Infamous Citizens United Decision Came From and How to Overturn It | Truthout

Rights Are for Real People: Where the Infamous Citizens United Decision Came From and How to Overturn It | Truthout
"Two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that Americans cannot prevent corporations from spending unlimited money to control elections, politicians, and policy. In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the court ignored the fact that corporations are creations of state law with government-derived advantages and labeled them, in the words of Justice Anthony Kennedy, “voices,” “speakers,” and yes, a “disadvantaged person or class.” In this Wonderland, corporations are people, corporate money is “speech,” and laws restricting corporate political spending violate the First Amendment."

Chicagoans Protest Mayor Emanuel's Corporate School Plan | Common Dreams

Chicagoans Protest Mayor Emanuel's Corporate School Plan | Common Dreams

Bought By Big Oil, House GOP Vote Against Keeping Keystone XL Oil In America

Bought By Big Oil, House GOP Vote Against Keeping Keystone XL Oil In America: pWhen the House of Representatives voted on a transportation bill, H.R. 3408, that expands oil drilling into long-protected areas and forces construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, Republican lawmakers proved their complete allegiance is to Big Oil. Although Republicans like House Speaker John Boehner have parroted the myth that the pipeline would “lower gas prices” [...]/p

Who benefits from a war with Iran?

CNN We’re not going to let you drive us into another senseless war in the Middle East

Report finds well-heeled corporate polluters back attack on climate science

At GOP Debate, CNN Sucks Up to Candidates, Letting Racism and Misogyny Slide | AlterNet

At GOP Debate, CNN Sucks Up to Candidates, Letting Racism and Misogyny Slide | AlterNet

Keynote Speaker Thom Hartmann


Thom Hartmann, noted author and #1 progressive nationally syndicated radio host delivers the keynote address at the 2012 DuPage Democrats President's Day dinner.
(watch the entire clip, it's worth it)

The Republican Brain: Why Even Educated Conservatives Deny Science -- and Reality | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet

The Republican Brain: Why Even Educated Conservatives Deny Science -- and Reality | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet

Fact Based World An Unhappy Place For GOP Energy Policies

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Behind the Deepening Crisis with Iran: the Real Story Versus the Cover Story

Behind the Deepening Crisis with Iran: the Real Story Versus the Cover Story

The Success Of The Affordable Care Act

Report: Lower-Wage Workers Losing Employer-Based Insurance At Higher Rate

Report: Lower-Wage Workers Losing Employer-Based Insurance At Higher Rate: pSeventy-five percent of low-wage workers lack access to employer-provided healthcare coverage says a new study from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), while nearly 40 percent have no health insurance whatsoever, private or public — up from 16 percent in 1979. The Health-insurance Coverage for Low-wage Workers, 1979-2010 Beyond report, which was authored [...]/p

Blame Oil Speculators, Not Obama, For Rising Oil Prices

Blame Oil Speculators, Not Obama, For Rising Oil Prices: pAs the improving economy has robbed conservatives of their chief talking point against President Obama, they’ve turned to rising gas prices as the next problem to pin on the president. Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) “instructed fellow Republicans to embrace the gas-pump anger,” while Rick Santorum conspiratorially claimed Obama is intentionally pushing up prices to cut [...]/p

BREAKING: Bush Appointee Finds DOMA Unconstitutional

BREAKING: Bush Appointee Finds DOMA Unconstitutional: pMoments ago, Judge Jeffery White of the District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates the Constitution’s equal protection clause in a case brought by Karen Golinski. Golinski, represented by Lambda Legal, “was denied spousal health benefits by her employer, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of [...]/p

Bill O’Reilly: Cut Santorum Slack For Spouting Anti-Gay Rhetoric, He’s ‘Inexperienced’

Bill O’Reilly: Cut Santorum Slack For Spouting Anti-Gay Rhetoric, He’s ‘Inexperienced’: pOn The Tonight Show last night, Jay Leno challenged Bill O’Reilly about Rick Santorum’s comments on social issues: “He doesn’t like condoms, he doesn’t like birth control, I don’t understand this anti-gay thing. It doesn’t make any sense to me,” Leno said. O’Reilly responded by defending Santorum, saying that people should disregard the “dopey past comments” he [...]/p

GAS PRICES FACT: President Obama Has Taken Huge Steps to Reduce Our Dependence on Oil

GAS PRICES FACT: President Obama Has Taken Huge Steps to Reduce Our Dependence on Oil: pIn addition to overseeing a dramatic increase in domestic energy production (including from renewable sources), the president has also taken steps to reduce the amount of oil we consume. Most notably, new modern standards requiring cars and light-duty trucks to achieve an average fuel economy rating of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025 will cut [...]/p

Wall Street Oil Speculation Driving Surge in Gas Prices | Common Dreams

Wall Street Oil Speculation Driving Surge in Gas Prices | Common Dreams
"That speculators have a huge impact on oil and gasoline prices is not news to anyone paying attention to the subject over the years, but it is an aspect that most media outlets rarely mention -- even when spiking gasoline prices dominate the news cycle. And legislatively, efforts to bring damaging speculative practices under control have continually stalled in Congress."

Obama’s Corporate Tax Proposal Raises Taxes On Wealthy Money Managers, Ends Corporate Accounting Boondoggle

Obama’s Corporate Tax Proposal Raises Taxes On Wealthy Money Managers, Ends Corporate Accounting Boondoggle: pEarlier, we noted the headline points from the Obama administration’s corporate tax reform, which aims to cut the corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent, while doing away with a host of loopholes, credits, and deductions. It would lower the rate further, to 25 percent, for domestic manufacturers, while raising about $250 [...]/p

Obama proposes 28% corporate tax rate with fewer loopholes. Expected GOP response: Not low enough

Obama proposes 28% corporate tax rate with fewer loopholes. Expected GOP response: Not low enough

Tucker Carlson: ‘Iran Deserves To Be Annihilated’

Tucker Carlson: ‘Iran Deserves To Be Annihilated’: pAs the “drumbeat to war” with Iran, as Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) warns of, grows louder, a number of journalists have begun to compare the hawkish rhetoric from pundits with the calls for military action against Iraq in 2002. Scott Shane, writing on the frontpage of today’s New York Times, observed, “Echoes of the period [...]/p

Who Owns the GOP Candidates | Truthout

Who Owns the GOP Candidates | Truthout
"Now, the limits are gone. And this comes precisely at a time when an almost unprecedented share of the nation’s income and wealth is accumulating at the top.

Never before in the history of our Republic have so few spent so much to influence the votes of so many."

Cash Of The Titans: Against The Noxious Fantasy Of Limitless Growth | Common Dreams

Cash Of The Titans: Against The Noxious Fantasy Of Limitless Growth | Common Dreams

"The concept of endless economic growth, accepted as sacrosanct by both U.S. mainstream political parties, and internalized as the dominant mode of mind by the general population of the corporate/consumer state is mirrored in the exponential mathematics of a malignancy."

Corporate Margins And Profits Are Increasing, But Workers’ Wages Aren’t

Corporate Margins And Profits Are Increasing, But Workers’ Wages Aren’t: pAs we’ve been noting, corporate profits have made it back to their pre-recession heights (even if corporate tax revenue hasn’t followed suit). In fact, in 2011, corporate profits hit their highest level since 1950. But as Bloomberg News noted today, this hasn’t translated into wage growth or more purchasing power for workers: Companies are improving [...]/p

Bearing Witness: The Brutal Last Report of Marie Colvin | Common Dreams

Bearing Witness: The Brutal Last Report of Marie Colvin | Common Dreams

Paul Ryan Berates Tim Geithner For Not Embracing GOP’s Medicare Privatization Scheme

Paul Ryan Berates Tim Geithner For Not Embracing GOP’s Medicare Privatization Scheme: pIf President Obama’s newly-proposed budget were to be enacted, it’s long-run projections show U.S. debt stabilizing as a percentage of GDP until approximately 2030, after which it begins to rise again indefinitely. Last Thursday, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) decided to take Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to task over those numbers: RYAN: Leaders [...]/p

Franklin Graham's Motivation

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Pumping Fear At The Gas Pump

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Ex-Marine Arrested In California For Protesting Bank Foreclosure On His Home, Now Faces Imminent Eviction

Ex-Marine Arrested In California For Protesting Bank Foreclosure On His Home, Now Faces Imminent Eviction: pMore than 200 protesters have been fighting to save the home of Arturo de los Santos, an ex-Marine who went into foreclosure after Chase Bank advised him to skip payments to speed up a loan modification he never received. In early February, amid rumors that Riverside, California sheriff’s deputies could serve papers on the home [...]/p

Tasered Woman Brain Dead; Trooper's Actions "Within Scope of his Duties" | Common Dreams

Tasered Woman Brain Dead; Trooper's Actions "Within Scope of his Duties" | Common Dreams
Another coward posing as a police officer.

Luntz Says He Has 'A Run, Barack, Run' Sticker On Front of His Car and He's Still Invited on National TV

Luntz Says He Has 'A Run, Barack, Run' Sticker On Front of His Car and He's Still Invited on National TV

Radical Religious Politcis A Life-Long Mission For Virginia's McDonnell

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Newly enacted abortion laws taking personal toll. Texas requires invasive sonograms, too.

Newly enacted abortion laws taking personal toll. Texas requires invasive sonograms, too.

Gov. Christie Introduces Tax Plan That Gives 40 Percent Of Its Benefit To The Richest One Percent

Gov. Christie Introduces Tax Plan That Gives 40 Percent Of Its Benefit To The Richest One Percent: pNew Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) today formally announced his intention to implement a 10 percent cut in New Jersey’s income tax. “Lower tax rates will relieve over-burdened middle class families,” Christie said in his annual budget address. However, the middle class is likely to hardly notice Christie’s cut, as it would give just $80 [...]/p

David Koch Admits Plans To Buy Public Support And, Possibly, An Election

David Koch Admits Plans To Buy Public Support And, Possibly, An Election: pNowadays it’s hard to find anyone who is comfortable with the absurd amount of money being poured into political campaigns. Progressives, conservatives, Democrats, Republicans, Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party have all lamented the disproportionate influence that exorbitant amounts of money is having on politics in the age after Citizens United. Even Sheldon Adelson, [...]/p

Romney Lies About Obama’s Birth Control Rule In Michigan

Romney Lies About Obama’s Birth Control Rule In Michigan: pMitt Romney misled a voter in Shelby Township, Michigan about President Obama’s rule requiring insurers and employers to provide contraception coverage to employees during a town hall Tuesday afternoon. Romney grossly misrepresented the measure, claiming that under the new requirement, “the Catholic Church had to provide for insurance that provided contraceptives, sterilization, morning after pills [...]/p

Bare Minimum Wage

Bare Minimum Wage
Big business lobbyists work to prevent any rise in workers' paychecks.

Will government roll all over our rights? Or get the economy back on a roll?

Mad, Passionate Love -- and Violence: Occupy Heads into the Spring | Common Dreams

Mad, Passionate Love -- and Violence: Occupy Heads into the Spring | Common Dreams
"What happens now depends on vigorous participation, including yours, in thinking aloud together about who we are, what we want, and how we get there, and then acting upon it. Go occupy the possibilities and don’t stop pedaling. And remember, it started with mad, passionate love."

Heartland Institute Leak Exposes Strategies of Climate Attack Machine | Common Dreams

Heartland Institute Leak Exposes Strategies of Climate Attack Machine | Common Dreams
"The Heartland Institute documents demonstrate once again how those driven by ideological dogma or vested commercial interests attempt to hide their true motives behind a facade of false controversy and uncertainty in science."

66 Percent

66 Percent: pThat’s the percentage of Virginians who oppose a bill that recently passed their state legislature repealing a state law limiting firearm purchases to one gun per month. The same poll also finds that Virginia voters oppose a mandatory ultrasound bill for abortion patients by 19 points. That number is likely to increase as more voters [...]/p

Recently Outed Conservative Sheriff Supports Marriage Equality

Recently Outed Conservative Sheriff Supports Marriage Equality: pConservative Arizona sheriff Paul Babeu has gained a lot of prominence as a proponent of the state’s anti-immigration policy, a staunch supporter of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), a Congressional candidate, and the volunteer co-chair of Mitt Romney’s Arizona campaign, but he now finds himself mired in a scandal with a jilted lover. In a case [...]/p

Papantonio: Santorum's American Taliban

Rick Santorum’s Plans For America | Truthout

Rick Santorum’s Plans For America | Truthout
"If we let him and his followers get their way, the result will be ever greater divisiveness and decline at home, and war abroad. That is a choice for the rest of us."

A Fearful GOP | Truthout

A Fearful GOP | Truthout
The issue, for Republicans, is not just that Santorum would lose in November. It's that he could be a drag on House and Senate candidates as well. Imagine, say, Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., trying to explain to his constituents why someone who doesn't fully understand women's participation in the workforce should be president.

Rick's Radical Weekend

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The GOP's War On Women's Health

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

How Post Office Closings Could Increase Economic Inequality

How Post Office Closings Could Increase Economic Inequality: pDue to its ongoing financial woes, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has contemplated suspending Saturday mail service, as well as closing offices across the country. But a Reuters analysis shows that those office closing could increase economic inequality, hitting area that are already on the wrong end of economic disparity: Some of America’s poorest [...]/p

Battle Of The Billionaires

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Republicans You Have, Not The Republicans You Want

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

2013 Budget: “Difficult Cuts” for Americans, Gravy for Israel | Common Dreams

2013 Budget: “Difficult Cuts” for Americans, Gravy for Israel | Common Dreams
The United States cannot afford the moral and economic costs of providing ever-increasing amounts of U.S. taxpayer-funded weapons to Israel. In this era of “tough choices” for the budget, here is a clear-cut example of a subsidy that should be ended.

Dark Knight: Vice President Cheney in the Global War on Terror | Truthout

Dark Knight: Vice President Cheney in the Global War on Terror | Truthout
Cheney bears heavy responsibility for a bloody and costly conflict for which the primary justifications - WMD and al-Qaeda ties - proved to be unsubstantiated.

We Need to Know Who Funds These Thinktank Lobbyists | Common Dreams

We Need to Know Who Funds These Thinktank Lobbyists | Common Dreams
The battle for democracy is becoming a fight against backroom billionaires seeking to shape politics to suit their own interests.

Franklin Graham: Obama May Secretly Be A Muslim, Santorum And Gingrich Are Definitely Christian

Franklin Graham: Obama May Secretly Be A Muslim, Santorum And Gingrich Are Definitely Christian: pRev. Franklin Graham — son of Billy Graham — would not say if President Obama is a Christian during an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Tuesday, insisting that “I cannot answer that question for anybody.” Franklin claimed that the President began attending Church to bolster his political career and is a Muslim under Islamic [...]/p