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14 Apr 2011 14:15

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Politics: Deficit commission heads endorse Obama’s plan

  • yesterday The budget plan pitched by the President Obama in his big speech was very similar to the proposal advanced by his bipartisan deficit reduction commission, under Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson.
  • today Bowles and Simpson met with the President earlier today, and after their meeting, the dynamic duo endorsed his twelve-year, $4 trillion reduction plan (their plan called for $4 trillion over just ten years). source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Apr 2011 13:03

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Politics: Report makes GOP’s budget cut deal look a lot lamer

  • $38
    billion     the agreed-upon spending cuts in the budget compromise struck in a shutdown-preventing bipartisan deal late last week
  • $350
    million     the actual value of the immediate cuts, according to the CBO, since most of the real effect is stretched over future years source
  • » So, what the hell can John Boehner do now? This recent analysis, if it’s both correct and widely disseminated, could have huge implications for the GOP going forward. Since becoming Speaker of the House, the contortions Boehner has made to try to appease the Tea Party contingent have been obvious and striking — it’s clear that his fiscal conservatism is less their sort and more that of establishment Republicanism, by which I mean he doesn’t really care about spending cuts in any significant measure. The $38 billion figure itself was but a minute fraction of the federal deficit, and Boehner looks really ineffective after if these numbers stick. Will the Republican and Tea Party marriage begin to splinter over news like this?
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Apr 2011 12:44

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Politics: FBI releases files on Tupac Shakur, Jewish Defense League

  • Rap and Jewish nationalism: The FBI released some files yesterday, ostensibly about the Tupac Shakur murder, that showed no illuminating “smoking gun.” However, the report surprisingly suggests Jewish Defense League (a Jewish nationalist group with terrorism cred; they once tried to bomb Rep. Darrel Issa’s office, to give a domestic example) ran an extortion scheme. The report says that the JDL would contact rappers and convince them their lives were in danger, then suggest they could offer paid protection services. The files show records of calls between Tupac and the JDL before his 1996 death, but the FBI was unable to coherently link the group to any involvement in the murder, though it seems like their primary suspicion. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Apr 2011 10:26

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Politics: Carl Levin rips “financial snake pit” Goldman Sachs into shreds

  • Our investigation found a financial snake pit rife with greed, conflicts of interest, and wrongdoing.
  • Sen. Carl Levin • Offering an assessment of a report that his subcommittee, which is searching for the causes of the financial crisis, released about the crisis. The report singles out Goldman Sachs, calling it a “case study” for the conflicts of interest that abound around Wall Street — specifically for betting against the very subprime mortgage packages it was selling. Levin also wants to bring perjury charges against Goldman’s CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, for his testimony in Congress last year. In other words, someone has watched “Inside Job.” The stock market is down on the news of the 600-page report. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Apr 2011 23:12

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Politics: Rick Santorum launches presidential bid; political world remains indifferent

  • yesIt’s official: Former Senator Rick Santorum has announced the launch an exploratory committee to run for President!
  • no He still isn’t being taken seriously by anyone; Intraders currently give him a .7% chance of winning the nomination. source
  • » Flashback: When asked about his feelings on homosexuality in 2003, Santorum replied, “I have no problem with homosexuality. I have a problem with homosexual acts.” He then insisted that the Constitution doesn’t grant people the right to privacy. We’re just sayin’ .
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Apr 2011 22:29

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Politics: Arizona State Senate: “Where’s the birth certificate?!”

  • YES a “Birther Bill” has passed the Arizona Senate source
  • » Score one for The Donald: Arizona’s State Senate just passed a bill that requires presidential candidates to produce their “long form birth certificate” in order to appear on the state’s presidential ballots. If they can’t (or won’t) do that, other documents will be accepted–but not, much to Orly Taitz’s delight, a Certificate of Live Birth. We, like many Arizona Democrats, are skeptical as to whether or not this is within a state’s power. Regardless, the bill now heads to the state House for a vote.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Apr 2011 16:59

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Politics: Surprisingly defiant tone for Obama in budget speech

  • So… how y’all feel about that speech? Reviews streaming in following President Obama’s remarks about U.S. budgetary issues are somewhat mixed, but that’s what you’d expect when the speech in question struck such a starkly firm, at times defiant tone. Indeed, the favorite words of the administration, like “bipartisanship,” “compromise,” and “common ground” were all there, but there was also a lot of base-feeding red meat to his pitch that likely inflamed conservative orthodoxy and left liberals feeling better than they had expected.
  • The Paul Ryan Plan President Obama flatly and sternly dismissed Rep. Ryan’s “Path to Prosperity,” stating the plan would “end Medicare as we know it,” has a “deeply pessimistic” vision for America, and there’s “nothing courageous about asking for sacrifice from those who can least afford it and don’t have any clout on Capitol Hill.”
  • The Tax Man plan? The crux of the President’s rebuttal is that taxes on our highest income earners not only must go up, but that they should go up — a marked departure from more moderate rhetoric he’s used in the past years, likely due to the opposition’s success in injecting the word “socialism” into the debate. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

12 Apr 2011 22:20

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Politics: Polling suggests drop in support for House GOP

  • That pendulum always swings: Count us amongst those who were skeptical about the emphasis put on the Republican wave that rolled into Congress last year, at least from a big picture, long-term standpoint — these two parties have been losing and gaining back ground for decades. Just as Barack Obama’s election caused media personalities to jump the gun in declaring the Republican Party dead in the water, so too have they rushed to heap dirt on the Democrats since the 2010 elections. Rest assured, if somebody strenuously tells you either liberalism or conservatism is dead, they may be taking an overly simplistic view of chaotic, real world political events. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Apr 2011 17:06

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Politics: A win for breast cancer awareness in schools

  • NO school can’t ban anti-cancer “I (heart) boobies” bracelets source
  • » And for the ACLU, there was much rejoicing: The American Civil Liberties Union had taken on the case of two middle school girls suspended from school for wearing breast cancer awareness bracelets with “I (heart) boobies” written on them. In a preliminary ruling, federal judge Mary McLaughlin said they “can reasonably be viewed as speech designed to raise awareness of breast cancer and to reduce stigma associated with openly discussing breast health.”
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Apr 2011 11:05

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Politics: Donald Trump combines best qualities of Ross Perot, Charle Sheen

  • I think the Republicans are very concerned that I [may] run as an independent. I could also possibly win as an independent, otherwise I wouldn’t do it. I’m not doing it for any other reason. I like winning.
  • Donald Trump • Suggesting he would pull a Ross Perot and run for president independently if he doesn’t win the GOP nomination. With a little Charlie Sheen at the end. Oh God. Will ol’ Sideshow Don quit it? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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