Thursday, February 28, 2013

2012 Discretionary Spending Breakdown | pgpf.org


2012 Discretionary Spending Breakdown | pgpf.org: "Discretionary spending results from annual appropriations legislation. The programs in this category of federal spending, representing 40 percent of the budget for 2012, are some of the most recognizable (other than individual benefit programs), and include national defense, veterans' assistance, the Congress, the White House, the Supreme Court, national parks, law enforcement, education, research and development, and investments in physical infrastructure. Defense takes up more than half of the total discretionary spending budget."

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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

UK heading for triple-dip recession as GDP shrinks 0.3% in fourth quarter | Business | The Guardian

UK heading for triple-dip recession as GDP shrinks 0.3% in fourth quarter | Business | The Guardian: "Britain could be on course for its third recession in four years after the economy shrank 0.3% in the last three months of 2012.

The figures were worse than expected and could put pressure on the government to consider a "plan B" that would stimulate demand."

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Thursday, February 21, 2013

Florida Gov. Rick Scott reverses stance on Medicaid. Win for White House? (+video) - CSMonitor.com

Wow!  Anyway, Florida needs the free money.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott reverses stance on Medicaid. Win for White House? (+video) - CSMonitor.com: "Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday said he will support expansion of his state’s Medicaid program to cover an additional one million low-income Floridians. It was a sudden and complete position reversal for GOP Governor Scott, who has been a fierce opponent of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, which generously subsidizes Medicaid expansions as a major means of providing more Americans with health insurance nationwide."

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Rush Limbaugh Is "Ashamed" Of His Country For The First Time In His Life

Rush Limbaugh Is "Ashamed" Of His Country For The First Time In His Life: ""To be watching all of this, to be treated, to have my intelligence insulted common sense and intelligence insulted the way its being is it just makes me ashamed.""

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ABC News Calls Out Paul Ryan For Hypocrisy Over Looming Budget Cuts | ThinkProgress

ABC News Calls Out Paul Ryan For Hypocrisy Over Looming Budget Cuts | ThinkProgress:

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WashTimes–associative thoughts

WashTimes_21Feb13

Five States Will Feel The Job-Killing Effects Of Sequestration Harder Than Any Others - Business Insider


Five States Will Feel The Job-Killing Effects Of Sequestration Harder Than Any Others - Business Insider: "These are the top five states hit the hardest by the defense side of the sequestration:
Virginia — 122,800 jobs lost
California — 125,800 jobs lost
Texas — 91,600 jobs lost
Maryland — 36,200 jobs lost
Florida — 38,200 jobs lost"

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Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Chuck Hagel 'Friends Of Hamas' Smear Background - Business Insider


Chuck Hagel 'Friends Of Hamas' Smear Background - Business Insider: "One of the most potentially explosive pieces of opposition to Chuck Hagel's nomination as Secretary of Defense was published on Feb. 7.

Breitbart.com's Ben Shapiro reported that according to Senate sources, Hagel had not turned over documents to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Hagel's "foreign funding" because one of the groups was called "Friends of Hamas.""

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Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Tea party group pictures Rove in Nazi uniform - Kenneth P. Vogel - POLITICO.com

Tea Party Patriots!!

Tea party group pictures Rove in Nazi uniform - Kenneth P. Vogel - POLITICO.com: "A top tea party group is taking its clash with Karl Rove to a new level, sending out a fundraising email Tuesday featuring a photoshopped image of the GOP operative in an SS uniform.

“Wipe the Smirk Off Karl Rove’s Face,” reads the subject line of the email, from Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder and national coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots."

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Monday, February 18, 2013

GOP group's goal: Get minorities to the Hill - POLITICO.com Print View

A nonprofit launching this week aims to get more conservative minority staffers on the Hill and to help them climb the ladder once they’ve arrived.
The group, called Insight, will start an internship program to help students of color get placed in Republican offices, host professional development events and provide networking opportunities.
Former Rep. J.C. Watts (R-Okla.) will chair the initiative, which also plans to host an ongoing series of public policy forums on issues that affect ethnic minorities. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) will host the first event, on post-prison re-entry programs, in March.


GOP group's goal: Get minorities to the Hill - POLITICO.com Print View:

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Sunday, February 17, 2013

Dale Peterson Arrested After Restroom Break, Charged With Shoplifting


Dale Peterson Arrested After Restroom Break, Charged With Shoplifting: "Dale Peterson, a former Republican candidate for Alabama agriculture commissioner known for an ad hitting "thugs and criminals" that "don't give a rip," says he will attempt to get a shoplifting charge dismissed.

Peterson was stopped by employees at a Wal-Mart after taking a shopping cart of beer and paper towels past the store's cash registers without paying. He claims he was rushing to the bathroom, not trying to steal beer."

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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Gov. Sam Brownback Seeks to End Kansas’ Income Tax - NYTimes.com


Gov. Sam Brownback Seeks to End Kansas’ Income Tax - NYTimes.com: "On Wednesday, lawmakers received a bill to inch the state closer to eliminating income taxes, a centerpiece of a broad legislative vision that many in the Republican Party here hope will serve as a model of conservative governance for other states, if not the nation, to follow.

While Republican principles of small government and low taxes have holds on large swaths of the country, Kansas provides perhaps the starkest view of the crimson ideology that could challenge Mr. Obama’s Inauguration Day rallying cry."

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Photos: Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha receives Medal of Honor


Photos: Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha receives Medal of Honor: "US President Barack Obama awards former US Army Staff Sargent Clinton Romesha the Medal of Honor during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House February 11, 2013 in Washington, DC. "

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Obama Wants Everyone To See One Chart By The End Of The State Of The Union - Business Insider

Just can't argue with the data!

Obama Wants Everyone To See One Chart By The End Of The State Of The Union - Business Insider: "In both the promotional materials for the enhanced webcast and tweets from the official White House twitter account, the President's staff emphasizes that this State of the Union address will be somewhat chart-heavy for those inclined to look further.
In all cases, one chart in particular is used to highlight the ongoing recovery — and potentially to emphasize the drastic implications of austerity measures like sequestration.
Here's the chart of job creation from the very beginning of the recession to the present day, the President's primary argument for the strength of the recovery:"

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Saturday, February 9, 2013

Reagan-Appointed Judge On Race: 'Eleanor Roosevelt Said Staffs Of One Color Always Work Better' | ThinkProgress


Reagan-Appointed Judge On Race: 'Eleanor Roosevelt Said Staffs Of One Color Always Work Better' | ThinkProgress: "A Texas civil rights group filed a complaint against Judge Lynn N. Hughes, a Ronald Reagan-appointee to a federal district court in Texas, criticizing his “outlandish racial comments” in a case brought by a South Asian man alleging employment discrimination:

At one point, during a hearing in a racial discrimination case, Hughes reportedly said, “Eleanor Roosevelt said staffs of one color always work better.”"

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Friday, February 8, 2013

Making Ayn Rand Required Reading And Other Odd State Bills | TIME.com

Libertarians, Republicans, and Conservatives are nutty!

Making Ayn Rand Required Reading And Other Odd State Bills | TIME.com: "Idaho: Making Ayn Rand required reading

Republican State Sen. John Goedde has introduced a bill that would require students to read “and comprehend” super-libertarian Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged before they could graduate from public high schools. Comprehension would be gauged by a state-approved test. Goedde told the Idaho Spokesman-Review that his bill is more symbolic than serious, however, designed to show the State Board of Education that lawmakers have power over what happens in schools. “It was a shot over their bow,” he said, “just to let them know that there’s another way to adopt high school graduation requirements.”"

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Thursday, February 7, 2013

Career woes, perceived racism fuel ex-cop's anger - SFGate

What happens when the cop killer is a COP?

Career woes, perceived racism fuel ex-cop's anger - SFGate: "Christopher Dorner sees himself as a crusader, a 6-foot, 270-pound whistleblower who confronted racism early in life and believes he suffered in his career and personal life for challenging injustices from bigotry to dishonesty.

He fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming a Los Angeles cop in 2005, but saw it unravel three years later when he was fired after a police review board decided he falsely accused his training officer of kicking a mentally ill man in the face and chest. The incident led Dorner to plot violent revenge against those he believed responsible for his downfall, according to a 14-page manifesto police believe he authored because there are details in it only he would know."

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Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Henrico County Elementary School Student, 7-Year-Old Boy, Brandishes Loaded Weapon On School Bus

Crazy!!!!!!!

Henrico County Elementary School Student, 7-Year-Old Boy, Brandishes Loaded Weapon On School Bus: "A 7-year-old boy brandished a loaded handgun Monday morning on a school bus bound for a Henrico County elementary school, according to police.

No one was injured in the incident, which involved a second-grade student at Ratcliffe Elementary School, but the boy displayed the gun while on the bus and threatened other students, Henrico police officials said."

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Two Kids Are Bringing Guns to School Each Day -- Daily Intelligencer


Two Kids Are Bringing Guns to School Each Day -- Daily Intelligencer: "NBC News combed through news reports and found that, since the beginning of the year, "there have been at least 48 incidents in which guns have been discovered on students, in their bags or in their lockers." Since the tally only includes 23 school days, that comes out to an average of more than two incidents a day. And those are just the kids who were caught"

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Sunday, February 3, 2013

NRA's Wayne LaPierre Vs. Fox News' Chris Wallace - Business Insider



NRA's Wayne LaPierre Vs. Fox News' Chris Wallace - Business Insider: "Here's the most contentious exchange:
LAPIERRE: The President's kids are safe, and we're all thankful for that.
WALLACE: They also face a threat that most people do not face.
LAPIERRE: Tell that to the people in Newtown! Tell that to the people in Newtown.
WALLACE: Do you really think that the President's children are the same kind of target as every schoolchild in America? I think that's ridiculous, and you know it, sir."

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The 10 Most Liberal States In The U.S. - Business Insider

The 10 Most Liberal States In The U.S. - Business Insider: "New research from Gallup  Polling has identified the ten most liberal states in the United States."

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Friday, February 1, 2013

NRA Has 'Enemies List' On Website - Business Insider


Has 'Enemies List' On Website - Business Insider: "The NRA Institute for Legislative Action has a published list of adversaries on its website — comprised of individuals, companies, journalists and organizations that have lent money or support to gun-control organizations.
The "enemies list" was first published on Sept. 17 last year, but the liberal Daily Kos website brought it to light again today. The list contains contact and location information for many of the groups. "

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The January Jobs Report - Business Insider

The January Jobs Report - Business Insider: "157K new jobs is below the consensus estimates of 165K.
The unemployment rate ticked up to 7.9%.
But the report had a lot of good news as well. Last month was revised higher, from 155K to 196K.
And November was revised even higher, from 161K to 247K!"

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