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27 Sep 2011 17:26

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Politics: Chris Christie’s brother doesn’t think he’ll run for President

  • I’m sure that he’s not going to run. If he’s lying to me, I’ll be as stunned as I’ve ever been in my life.
  • Todd Christie, brother of NJ governor Chris • Making it clear that he doesn’t think his brother will jump into the 2012 GOP presidential race, and making it seem rather definitive. It’s worth mentioning that Christie has long maintained he isn’t going to run, but the hyper-reactivity of the media to last week’s debate has seemed to dictate that the GOP field needs a new voice (and one moderate enough to be electable). source

27 Sep 2011 10:35

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Politics: New Jersey’s controversial “Snooki subsidy” gets vetoed

  • Chris Christie was expected to sign this bill. But Christie, facing sudden political pressure to run for president, let the $420,000 in tax credits for another season of “Jersey Shore” feel the pain of the veto. Why? “I have no interest in policing the content of such projects,” Christie said in a news release. “However, as chief executive I am duty-bound to ensure that taxpayers are not footing a $420,000 bill for a project which does nothing more than perpetuate misconceptions about the state and its citizens.” This is a reversal for Christie — he previously claimed he couldn’t veto the bill because, while he didn’t like the show himself, the program didn’t discriminate based on content. What, do you not like seeing The Situation’s chiseled abs, Chris? (photo via Rachel Kramer Busselsource

27 Sep 2011 00:54

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Politics: When it comes to fundraising, Obama’s still got the magic touch

  • $5 million in donations in two days; he’s makin’ it look kinda easy source
  • » So far, so good for Obama: With a successful West Coast swing (helped in large part by an up-to-$35,800-a-plate dinner in San Diego), President Obama is well on his way to reaching his goal of $55 million in the third quarter of 2011, which Reuters claims is “a more modest total that they say reflects the fact he was stuck in Washington for most of July by a bitter budget debate with Republicans.” Sure, modest total.

26 Sep 2011 21:33

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Politics: Obamacare likely headed to the Supreme Court pretty soon

  • what The Obama administration has decided not to ask an appeals court to re-hear arguments over his lightning rod of a health-care bill.
  • why The president probably plans on taking it to the Supreme Court. Just in time for the 2012 election, guys! This should be fun. source

25 Sep 2011 11:04

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Politics: House GOP shows weak points after failing to pass shutdown vote

  • While it is widely expected that the parties will eventually reach a compromise to avoid a shutdown, Wednesday’s 230-to-195 vote showed what can happen when the GOP majority operates with no more than minimal Democratic support.
  • Washington Post writers Rosalind S. Helderman and Paul Kane • Correctly pointing out the weak spot in the GOP’s House leadership — that the GOP members aren’t all on the same page, so as a result, the leadership can push for one thing, but have it taken in a different direction by far-right members of the party. (In this case, the bill passed the House only with the addition of some timely anti-environmental-funding rules, then died in the Senate.) And with no help from Democrats, it becomes harder for GOP leaders to push their agenda without making room for compromise. And this isn’t even considering the Senate and president, who provide blockades of their own (unless you’re Obama and you compromise). source

23 Sep 2011 21:43

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Politics: UC Berkeley College Republicans hold racially-charged bake sale

  • The pricing structure is there to bring attention, to cause people to get a little upset. But it’s really there to cause people to think more critically about what this kind of policy would do in university admissions.
  • UC Berkeley College Republicans president Shawn Lewis • Discussing his group’s reasoning for having a bake sale where people paid different prices based on their race and gender. The pricing scale’s kinda like this: $2 for whites, $1.50 for Asians, $1 for Latinos, $0.75 for Blacks and $0.25 for Native Americans — with a discount of 25 cents for women of all races. As you might guess, this bake sale, scheduled for Tuesday, is flaring up emotions quicker than a character in the movie “PCU.” It’s not the first time it’s been tried — a couple of other schools have tried the idea, and it’s been shut down at least once. What do you think? Does this seem disrespectful and worth getting angry over, or is there a valid point here? (h/t ProducerMatthew) source

23 Sep 2011 09:16

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Politics: Blogger at debate: Booing at gay soldier limited to one or two people

  • I was at the debate, in the audience on the right hand side about halfway back. The person who booed was just a few rows in front of us. The booing got an immediate and angry reaction from nearly everyone sitting around him, who hissed and shushed at him. Lots of loud gasps, ‘Shhhh!’ ‘No!’ ‘Shut up, you idiot!’ etc.
  • Blogger Sarah Rumpf • Discussing what actually happened during last night’s debate, during the infamous Rick Santorum/gay soldier question. We’d like to proudly note that our writer Chris managed to get this right the first time, rather than claiming the entire crowd was booing. Rumpf explains how the spare booing managed to echo through the room so effectively, and then denounces it. “There may be different opinions among Republicans about gays in the military,” she says, “but booing a soldier is not acceptable, and all but one or two people in a crowd of thousands knew that.” (thanks Dave Weigel) source
 

23 Sep 2011 07:52

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Politics: House passes shutdown-averting spending bill … with a catch

  • yeah … The House passed a bill preventing a possible government shutdown, and in the process paying for emergency management funding for the recent spate of natural disasters (like the Joplin tornado and Hurricane Irene). As recently as Wednesday, it didn’t look like it would pass. So what happened?
  • … but Well, the bill includes a politically-charged measure removing funding for green energy projects, like the much-maligned Solyndra debacle. It literally seems like they passed it only because House Republicans could score points off of this. As a result, it likely will not pass the Senate in its current form. source

22 Sep 2011 17:57

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Politics: Join us for the GOP debate tonight!

  • Live from Orlando, Florida: We’ve got another rousing GOP presidential debate tonight, this time presented by Fox News and Google, and we figured we’d make an evening of it again! We’ll be liveblogging the debate along with DC Decoder, so by all means check out our coverage — you can follow along with the “GoogleDebate” tag. Maybe we’ll get to see these two handsome devils go head-to-head? This is a big night for Jon Huntsman, on the heels of a surge in the New Hampshire polls which landed him in third place behind Mitt and Ron. Look for him to make an impact tonight. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) source

21 Sep 2011 17:14

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Politics: Rick Santorum wants Google to help clean up his search results

  • I suspect if something was up there like that about Joe Biden, they’d get rid of it. If you’re a responsible business, you don’t let things like that happen in your business that have an impact on the country. To have a business allow that type of filth to be purveyed through their website or through their system is something that they say they can’t handle, but I suspect that’s not true.
  • Rick Santorum • Decrying the fact that, as you quite possibly already know, typing “Santorum” into Google yields a pretty surprising first search result. This has been true for some time, but it’s now become a renewed thorn in Santorum’s side because of his bid for the GOP presidential nomination. His answer? Call on Google to censor the offending definition, it seems. What we like most about this quote, though, is the “have an impact on the country” part. Confidence can be admirable, but what odds would you put on Rick Santorum really believing he has a chance to be President? This guy is campaigning hard, and for no apparent reason. source