8 People Who Thought Hillary Clinton Was Faking Her Concussion

http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/people-who-thought-hillary-clinton-was-faking-her

when the other side refuse to testify citing privilege and anything else they can pull out of their butts to just outright refusal, this is a prerequisite to right wing opposition to her in 2016 if they start muddying the waters now by 2016 we won't be able to see the truth, ahhh they tried that with Pres. and lost twice so would this effort be an exercise in insanity?

The Secretary of State was hospitalized Sunday night with a blood clot.

and the poster people for man's inhumanity to man all chime in and again jump the gun and attempt to exploit a serious sitation. these guys got mad love for failure.

BREAKING: Hillary Clinton Admitted to Hospital With Blood Clot

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/12/30/breaking-hillary-clinton-admitted-to-hospital-with-blood-clot/

As a result of the concussion Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suffered two weeks ago, she has been admitted to a New York hospital today for treatment of a resultant blood clot.

Two weeks ago, Clinton, age 65, was suffering from a stomach virus, which dehydrated her and caused her to pass out and strike her head. The ensuing concussion confined her to her home to be monitored by doctors. Because of this, she was not able to testify at the following week’s congressional hearings related to the Benghazi attack on the U.S. consulate. This sparked a rash of accusations by right-wing media (cough, Fox News, cough) surmising that Hillary was faking her injury to avoid her appearance before Congress.

For instance, the deplorable soon-to-be-former House Representative Col. Allen West appeared on Fox News and quipped:

“I’m not a doctor, but it seems as though that the Secretary of State has come down with a case of ‘Benghazi Flu.’”

Clinton spokesperson Philippe Reines told the Associated Press that doctors discovered the blood clot at a follow-up exam today, and are treating her with anticoagulants. She will be monitored at New York Presbyterian Hospital over the next 48 hours.

not much of a human being either.

Lindsey Graham On Fiscal Cliff: 'Hats Off To The President. He Won.'

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/30/lindsey-graham-fiscal-cliff_n_2384328.html

But Graham said he won't support a package that raises rates on income between $250,000 and $400,000 or $500,000, because he knows Democrats will cave and accept a higher threshold. He used the example of his fellow guest, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).

"No," he said when asked if he'd support the $250,000 level, "because she's willing to go for more, and why would I not find 4 or 500, because I know the votes are there for 4 or 500? But in the House, will the votes be there for 4 or 500?"

Feinstein flinched and, when pressed, put the onus back on the president, who was the first to raise the compromise level to income over $400,000. "We believe that the 250 threshold is the appropriate threshold. The president did make an offer, we understand, of 400,000, with a trillion in cuts accompanying it. That was turned down by the House," she said. "The time has come really to measure the absence of a deal against a deal. ... We have to solve this immediate situation."

Asked whether she'd accept the higher level, Feinstein was quick to answer. "I could certainly live with it," she said

Graham, meanwhile, called the chances of a quick fiscal cliff deal "exceedingly good."

"I want to vote for it even though I won't like it," he said.

i saw this show what they left out was Grahams out right threat to repeat the deficit debacle, as he got his now we get ours don't remember exact words but it was a threat to once again put us in peril.

America's Most Controversial Pols…and Their MoJo Covers

http://www.motherjones.com/slideshows/2012/12/politicians-mother-jones-covers/newt-gingrich-ethics

just a little something to cure the monotony of post holiday  truama, 
hopes to all for a good life free of strife and republicans, sorry couldn't resist.

Public-Private Cooperation (Wink! Wink!)

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2012_12/publicprivate_cooperation_wink042059.php

Several states, most of them led by Republican governors, have experimented in recent years with the idea of turning their economic development agencies over to semi-private management. The results have not been uniformly successful. Many of these organizations are struggling to balance job creation with public accountability.

Goodman goes on to report serious problems for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, a Scott Walker policy love child that made loans to businesses with little if any oversight or accountability, leading to the recent resignation of WEDC’s chief financial officer. And Wisconsin’s not alone:

Similar semi-private agencies in other states have had their share of controversies. Both the Arizona Commerce Authority and JobsOhio have been lighting rods for criticism, with opponents arguing that they haven’t been transparent enough about which companies receive financial aid and how they are selected. JobsOhio’s future is also clouded by litigation challenging the organization’s constitutionality and the legality of its planned primary funding source, the lease of state liquor stores.

the right wing desire to implement their money driven agenda has taken over sense and sensibility, the just want, no research just "me want, me take, me screw you in the process". not really a good plan, if they bothered to look around the people and courts are not really going their way not to mention prototypes elsewhere are proving it just another republican get rich quick off the people scheme that has no legs.

Meanwhile, the Indianapolis television station WTHR reported this week that Indiana State Senator Mike Delph introduced legislation requiring the partially privatized Indiana Economic Development Corporation to report how many of the jobs companies promise under its deals end up being created. Those numbers are currently kept private. “The bottom line is people have a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent,” Delph said.  

still waiting tick...tick...tick.

Russia Punishes U.S. By Blocking Adoption Of Russian Orphans

http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/12/27/1378281/russia-bars-us-adoption-orphans/

In retaliation for the United States placing sanctions on Russian human rights violators, the Russian parliament has passed a bill banning U.S. citizens from adopting Russian orphans. The action comes after President Obama signed the so-called “Magnitsky Act,” named for a Russian lawyer who died while in prison, into law on Dec. 14.

 The Russians are responding with the Dima Yakovlev bill. The measure commemorates a young boy adopted from Russia who later died in the U.S and places travel sanctions on those Americans whom Russia has deemed violate the human rights of Russian citizens. The Russian Duma, or Parliament, voted unanimously in favor of the bill on Wednesday, and President Vladimir Putin is fully prepared to sign it into law. Putin attempted to head off criticism about the effect the ban will have on the already strained Russian system of care for its orphans:

In televised comments, Putin tried to appeal to people’s patriotism by suggesting that strong and responsible countries should take care of their own and lent his support to a bill that has further strained U.S.-Russia relations.

“There are probably many places in the world where living standards are higher than ours. So what, are we going to send all our children there? Maybe we should move there ourselves?” he said, with sarcasm.

i don't know about this response at first i thought juvenile and not considering the fate of Russian children, then even though they are somewhat irresponsible they are still Russian kids and i think they don't like the idea of their kids being Americanized.  then alleged death does not create a pattern of abuse, they have the right to control their citizenry we however need to stop sticking our noses in i understand genocide and harsh treatment but these are solverign countries that we interfere with their lifestyles regardless of what w think of them.

IMO we got so much crap going on here that same sanction could be applied to us ten fold.

Government Healthcare Delivery More Efficient Than Private Sector

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/12/29/government-healthcare-delivery-more-efficient-than-private-sector/

America’s safety net, specifically Medicare, is continuously under attack. Many politicians claim that its growth rate makes the budget deficit untenable lest there be substantial changes; in other words, draconian cuts.

An article in the Business Insider by Joe Weisenthal is dispelling that myth. He states:

The conventional wisdom on the deficit is: Right now the deficit doesn’t pose a problem, but thanks to the gigantic growth in healthcare costs, it’s inevitable that the government will get swamped by Medicare spending, ergo we need to tweak the system.
Peter Orszag, who was the head of the Office of Management and Budget under Obama, and who is now at Citi, offers up a chart that could be a Medicare costs game-changer.

 

“This graph from S&P illustrates two key facts: health-care costs have decelerated over the past few years, and Medicare costs have decelerated more than other health costs. That pattern suggests at least part of the slowdown is structural (since if it were all just a reflection of economic weakness, we wouldn’t expect Medicare to slow down more than other health costs, but if it were partly structural, that’s exactly what we would expect). If this slower growth continues, the impact on our long-term fiscal gap will be much more meaningful than any plausible outcome of the fiscal cliff negotiations.”

Americans have been asked for decades to disregard basic arithmetic. Americans have been led to believe that private insurance is more efficient than government insurance, Medicare. Americans have been told that somehow “cost of health care” + “healthcare administration cost” is greater than “cost of health care” + “healthcare administration cost” + “advertising” + “profit.”

and who might that be that has from day 1 misled you and caused you to champion what is not in your  interest but in the business sector's.  they bank on those who choose to ignore the facts in lieu of what they hear on the right, as long as they can continue to maintain a base that is inflicted with Stockholm Syndrome they can continue to push the misinformation, sorry there is no change coming.
G W Bush, "you can fool some of the people all of the time and those are the one's you want to concentrate on", in a nut shell.

racism 2012

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45755822/#50315838

this is the blissful ignorance that is fueled by the right wing and its minions. those who laugh suffer that same feeling of bliss those who think it's cute look in a mirror if you are so inclined no sense in suggesting anything that does not follow that skunk trail.

Senate to Intel Agencies: We Don't Need to Know How Often You Spy on Americans

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/12/senate-fisa-warrantless-wiretapping-votes

There's nothing like a debate over warrantless wiretapping to clarify how the two parties really feel about government. On Friday, the Senate voted to reauthorize the government's warrantless surveillance program, with hawkish Democrats joining with Republicans to block every effort to curtail the government's sweeping spying powers. 

As the Senate debated the renewal of the government's warrantless wiretapping powers on Thursday, Republicans who have accused  

President Barack Obama of covering up his involvement in the death of an American ambassador urged that his administration be given sweeping spying powers. Democrats who accused George W. Bush of shredding the Constitution with warrantless wiretapping four

 years ago sung a different tune this week, with the administration itself quietly urging passage of the surveillance bill with no changes, and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) accusing her Democratic colleagues of not understanding the threat of terrorism.

maybe we are becoming a little to relaxed post Bin Laden, which would be a perfect time for foreign aggression. gov't all muffed up right wing hung up on more WMD and not watching our boarders. i hate the idea as history has shown those in power can and will take advantage where they can, this sort of thing was suppose to die after being exposed with J E Hoover and the commie witch hunts, which i understand were much less dangerous then what exist now.

 "There is a view by some that this country no longer needs to fear an attack," Feinstein said.

So what were these drastic changes sought by Feinstein's colleagues that would leave the United States open to annihilation by terrorists? They're mostly attempts to find out exactly how the changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act actually work in practice. The most radical proposal, Senator Rand Paul's (R-Ky.) amendment requiring a warrant for the government to access any digital communications, had no chance of passing but clarified just how moderate the Democrats' proposals were by comparison.

"It's incredibly disappointing that such modest amendments that would have done nothing more than increase transparency and accountability failed to pass in the Senate," said Michelle Richardson of the ACLU.

i'm still a little concerned being as how the Dems control the senate, i remember Bush people saying it would only be those they have reason to suspect, unless you probe and investigate how would you know who is suspect? invasion of privacy is not explained any other way it is what it is. necessity i don't know but again another cost for "our freedoms".

What Could Have Been: The Most Important Bills Blocked By Republicans In 2012

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/12/28/1356701/what-could-have-been-the-most-important-bills-blocked-by-republicans-in-2012/

see what youv'e been missing all compliments of a not so much do nothing cause they did they denied you these critical to health well being and advancing your economical future, feeling much like thanking them? well we can express our feelings 2014 where we can think them not to let the door hit them or maybe to let the door hit them where they have been hitting us.

Limbaugh babbling?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=vBnJ2OR3GZs&feature=endscreen

i found this on utube from last year, it is a total punking of Rush Limbaugh previous king of the right wing in his own mind and most of the republicans. their first 2 years after 2008 they could not speak without putting Reagan's dead carcass on their shoulders and parading him as the epitome of presidential bluster.

but as all embelishments the air seeps out and it goes flat hence the absence of Ragan's name the last 2 years, the old gray elephant ain't what he used to be.

they don't look, or think it necessary to research and come 2014- 16 they will not have learned any lessons except quietly try to put in place regulation they hate so much only if it's on them to suppress and b lock voters easier than trying to change their proverbial spots.

Congress Gets to Work on Milk Cliff ...But will likely extend unpopular agriculture subsidies in the process

http://www.newser.com/story/160039/congress-gets-to-work-on-milk-cliff.html


is the right moving so quickly because they and their families will be impacted by high milk prices, c'mon in light of all other obstruction note very little would affect them at their social pay grade.

Newser) – Fiscal cliff negotiations may be going nowhere fast, but the House and Senate agriculture committees are poised to temporarily avert another pressing crisis: the milk cliff. The two committees are drafting a short-term extension of as many as 37 expiring agriculture provisions, including one staving off a 1945 law that would force the government to buy milk until the price hit more than $6 a gallon, Politico reports. The bad news? The proposal preserves costly farm subsidies reformers had hoped to kill.

"The hidden winners right now of not passing a farm bill are those who want to keep subsidies going for farmers who don't need it," says Debbie Stabenow, chair of the Senate agriculture panel. One thing she won't extend, however, is current dairy policy. The stop-gap bill includes proposed reforms from the Dairy Security Act, which dairy producers love, but processors—and John Boehner—oppose. "It doesn't make sense to extend dairy policy that doesn't work," Stabenow argues.

if i'm wrong what is motivating them to put milk before people? they keep this up won't be anyone to drink the damn milk. just like Ga. ran off immigrant pickers and theirfruit whithered on the vine hurting the growers, truckers, retailers and ultimately "we the people", never look before they leap

Dueling Filibuster Proposals Leave Reformers Scrambling

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/12/dueling-filibuster-proposals.php?ref=fpnewsfeed

0

inSharThe two leading champions of weakening the Senate filibuster on Friday criticized a bipartisan proposal that was unveiled in the afternoon with scaled-back reforms, and they pushed for their own package to make more sweeping changes to the rules.

Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Tom Udall (D-NM) promptly said the alternate proposal put forth by Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Carl Levin (D-MI) is too weak and does nothing to prevent senators from filibustering quietly and escaping public accountability for their obstruction — the centerpiece of the Merkley-Udall “talking filibuster” plan.

The McCain-Levin proposal, unveiled Friday after bipartisan negotiations, would make it easier for the majority leader to bypass motions to proceed and guarantee the minority two amendments on legislation regardless of relevancy, Steven S. Smith, an expert on Congress at Washington University in St. Louis, told TPM. It would also remove obstacles on motions to go to conference and approve minor presidential nominations.

2 Amendments "REGARDLSS TO RELAVANCY"  that sounds like license to block no matter how important, isn't that why the progressives are fighting against filibuster?  nothing really ever changes with the right.

Udall and Merkley insisted that Democrats have the 51 votes necessary to pass their more robust plan and called on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to take it up.

The pro-reform Fix The Senate Now Coalition also called on Reid to say “thanks, but no thanks” to the McCain-Levin plan.

“Instead of a serious reform effort, today’s offering is little more than a status quo, business as usual, recipe for continued Senate gridlock,” the organization said in a written statement. “[W]e hope the Senate Democratic caucus rejects today’s salvo outright.”

right wing change bears a remarkable resemblance to the good 'ol boyz in the hood i mean house.

Obama Not Making New Offer To Avert Fiscal Cliff

http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejmiller/source-obama-not-making-new-offer-to-avert-fiscal

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will not be making a new offer to congressional lead
ers to avert the fiscal cliff at a meeting at the White House Friday afternoon.
"In today’s meeting, the president is not making a new offer; he is going to lay out — as he did on Friday — what is clear can pass with a majority in both the House and Senate and what a majority of American people support," a source familiar with the meeting told BuzzFeed — news that sent stocks sharply down when it hit the wires Friday afternoon. "He will ask them what they are willing to support to prevent us from going over the cliff, and if they don’t have a counter proposal that can pass the House and the Senate, he will ask to allow for an up or down vote."
Reports from Capitol Hill on Thursday and Friday indicated that lawmakers were closing in on a new agreement, though the source said Obama will not be initiating with an offer. It is not yet clear whether other meeting participants will present a proposal to avert the fiscal cliff.

hasn't the news been saying Beohner will tell Pres. they already passed a bill it's the senate that must act now,  and earlier that he wants the senate to act first, posturing so he can fire last shot of defiance to the Pres. sorry Beohner ain't that kinda party if you want to dance go to a club.

Administration officials believe that Obama's proposal would pass Congress if provided an up-or-down vote, something Speaker of the House John Boehner has to date refused to do unless a majority of his caucus is on board.

Administration officials believe that Obama's proposal would pass Congress if provided an up-or-down vote, something Speaker of the House John Boehner has to date refused to do unless a majority of his caucus is on board.

you know they swore an oath to protect the constitution and the country which includes "we the people" not just them the corporations, refusal after refusal by the republicans to do right by the people has yet to wake up those who oppose to one big reality, they are in the barrel with the rest of us under right wing totalitarianism thumb.

they claim to want to kill gov't but isn't what they are trying to do promoting it in a anarchical way thereby enlarging it's grip on "we the people" and believe it not to our benefit?

Krauthammer: Obama caused GOP civil war

http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/12/krauthammer-obama-caused-gop-civil-war-152935.html?hp=r1

Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer believes President Barack Obama has used the fiscal cliff to start an "internal civil war" among House Republicans.

"He’s been using [the fiscal cliff talks] — and I must say with great skill, and ruthless skill and success — to fracture and basically shatter the Republican opposition," Krauthammer told Fox News host Sean Hannity. "The only redoubt of the opposition is the House. And his objective from the very beginning was to break the will of the Republicans in the House, and to create an internal civil war. And he’s done that.”

"How did he do it? By always insisting from Day One after the election that Republicans had to raise rates," Krauthammer said.

The so-called GOP civil war actually long predates the fiscal cliff negotiations; if anything, Obama's call for higher tax rates exposed — or exploited, if you share Krauthammer's interpretation — those rifts.

this guy is suppose to be one of their "elite" pundits has really been leaning left since the election, although he has a lifeline attached to his waist. 

if there is a civil war it was perpetrated by the conventional republicans and their base elected TPers.

when your marching orders were to sink the Pres. and you start an all out campaign to do just that, you need to take into consideration that radical plans only resonate among radicals, those who have a conscious and realize the this is not a plan of design any more but one one disarray, too many chefs allows the pot to boil over.

civil war is their bailiwick not progressives, they still live by 19th century   they are arguing against help and relief for the new majority, that in itself is a plan to fail. they are arming up and passing laws to kill. constant divisive rhetoric of the misleading kind.

they need to stop doing the dirt then try to sweep it on the Pres.'s shoes, we are on to it and them too.

their skulduggery was what really made them think they win hands down, when your mind is deluded with visions of grandeur hard to except your crap smells too. i really think they thought their self perceived white supremacy would will out with the people.

now that it wasn't that kind of party they are scurrying like roaches when the light comes on, no direction just as we have seen still holding on to failed campaign untrue rhetoric. the whole ball of wax is melting and with no real leader the lemmings run off the cliff at many different places, very few come down on the same spot. civil war yes self induced by hate and treachery and greed for power and money. never before was fate so adequate.

Obama Signs Executive Order Giving Small Pay Raise To Federal Workers, Including Congress |

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/12/28/obama-signs-executive-order-giving-small-pay-raise-to-federal-workers-including-congress/this had better be good, a raise for congress for what, sticking their middle fingers in our face for 4 years threatening to sink not only the Pres. but "we the people" too?

Congress and federal workers will see a pay increase of 0.5% next year. President Obama signed an executive order for the pay raise that will take effect when the current budget resolution expires at the end of March. This particular order comes as the Senate and the White House work to resolve the fiscal cliff.

Congress hasn’t received a pay raise since 2009, while all federal employees have been under a pay freeze since 2010.

congress has not don even half of their jobs since 2009 they should get a 50% reduction in pay, better still a freakin' voucher.

All members of Congress make a minimum of $175,000 per year from the federal government.According to the Huffington Post, Obama’s order will bring John Boehner’s salary up to $224,500 and Harry Reid’s up to $194,400. Vice President Biden’s salary will also go up next year, to $231,900.

As of Sept. 2010, the average salary for full-time, non-seasonal federal employees was $76,000 per year. Because of the pay freeze, changes in their pay have been negligible, though the freeze did not include in-grade pay increases or cost of living increases. However, according to a Washington Post article, which cites a database used by the Office of Personnel Management, of the 1.8 million federal workers, 423,000 make less than $50,000 per year, while 420,000 make over $100,00 per year. The rest are somewhere in between.

13,000 of the federal workers who make six figures earn more than $180,000.

The issue that conservatives have been harping on is that federal workers make approximately double what their private-sector counterparts make. As of August 2010, federal pay and benefits had continued to grow while private-sector wages had been nearly stagnant for the previous nine years. In fact, the difference between federal and private sector pay and benefits doubled over that time, from an advantage of just over $30,000 to just over $61,000. USAToday conducted an analysis stating that the average federal employee earned more than $120,000 per year, while the average private sector employee earned around $61,000.

Eric Cantor was quoted in the USAToday article as saying, “Americans are fed up with public employee pay scales far exceeding that in the private sector.” According to the USAToday analysis, it’s true that pay increased 33% more than the average rate of inflation, and that federal pay overall increased 20% between 2000 and 2010, compared with just 8.8% for private-sector workers.

However, when backgrounds and education are compared as well, federal workers actually make just 2% more than their private sector counterparts in base salary. When benefits are factored in, federal workers earn about 16% more. In fact, when employees with doctorates are compared, federal employees actually earn a bit less than their private-sector counterparts.

aren't private sector jobs payed by the "JOB CREATORS", don't they set pay rates and benefits for their created jobs that they and republican congress are fighting hard to reduce even more?

Federal workers, in general, are productive workers, doing their jobs to keep the government running. In contrast, the 112th Congress has been the most unproductive Congress in a very long time. They passed a mere 219 bills, compared with 383 bills passed by the 11th Congress, and 460 by the 110th.

The famous “Do-Nothing Congress” of Truman’s era passed over 900 bills.

Federal lawmakers have spent two years doing nothing but blocking each other’s initiatives and actions, for partisan reasons, and not really offering much in the way of leadership for the country. It’s hard to say the same for regular federal workers, who get fired when they don’t do their jobs.

The Obama administration says the freeze amounted to $60 billion in savings. However, keeping the pay of all federal workers frozen will only help if Congress and the White House make honest efforts to rein in other spending or if they raise revenue through additional taxes.

do i smell the republicans about to be Obama'd again? don't remember the right ever referring to "other spending" before, have you? cold it be that "other spending" is a sacred cow for the right wing and has nothing to do with helping the elderly and poor except to milk them wherever possible?  

yet like Romney they really expect "we the people" to put them back in 2014

Supreme Court Refuses To Halt Birth Control Mandate

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/12/supreme-court-contraception-mandate.php?ref=fpnewsfeed

whoa! did the SCOTUS get hit with a Bop Gun?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bop_Gun_(One_Nation)

they grew a conscious at some point, legacy i think plays a big part in the move to "we the people" for at least 5 of them.

The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal to temporarily block the Obama administration’s contraception mandate while the courts work through the case.

In a four-page opinion issued late Wednesday, Justice Sonia Sotomayor declared that the Hobby Lobby and Mardel, two retail outlets suing to block the requirement, do not meet the high standard for emergency injunctive relief.

“Applicants do not satisfy the demanding standard for the extraordinary relief they seek,” wrote Sotomayor, the justice primarily responsible for cases in the Tenth Circuit where it’s pending. She reasoned that the plaintiffs’ right to immediate relief is not “indisputably clear” and that they cannot demonstrate the necessity of an injunction.

Hobby Lobby and Mardel charge that the administration’s rule under the Affordable Care Act that employer health plans cover female contraception — or pay fines starting in 2013 — violates their religious liberty protected by the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Dozens of other religious organizations are suing for the same reason.

 The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal to temporarily block the Obama administration's contraception mandate while the courts work through the case.

In a four-page opinion issued late Wednesday, Justice Sonia Sotomayor declared that the Hobby Lobby and Mardel, two retail outlets suing to block the requirement, do not meet the high standard for emergency injunctive relief.

"Applicants do not satisfy the demanding standard for the extraordinary relief they seek," wrote Sotomayor, the justice primarily responsible for cases in the Tenth Circuit where it's pending. She reasoned that the plaintiffs' right to immediate relief is not "indisputably clear" and that they cannot demonstrate the necessity of an injunction.

Hobby Lobby and Mardel charge that the administration's rule under the Affordable Care Act that employer health plans cover female contraception — or pay fines starting in 2013 — violates their religious liberty protected by the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Dozens of other religious organizations are suing for the same reason.

they need to fire the lawyer that advised that motion, trying to zoom the scotus only works now a days if you have at least one legal leg to hop on.

Gallup poll finds 54 percent hold favorable opinion of NRA -

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/274727-poll-majority-has-favorable-opinion-of-nra

upon reflection on the Gallup polls distant ratings from every other pollsters and more in favor of republicans can we put more then a grain of salt worth of trust in them? NRA, GOP simpatico.

A new Gallup poll finds a majority hold a favorable opinion of the National Rifle Association (NRA).

The USA Today/Gallup Poll released Thursday found 54 percent of those surveyed say they have a favorable opinion of the gun organization while 38 percent have an unfavorable view.

The latest Gallup survey finding is a slight decline from 2005 when the poll showed 60 percent of Americans with a favorable view of the NRA compared with 34 percent with an unfavorable view. It comes just weeks after 20 elementary school children were killed by a gunman in Connecticut in a shooting that has roiled the U.S. debate over gun control

 Broken down by party affiliation Gallup found that 83 percent of Republicans surveyed have a favorable opinion and 14 percent have an unfavorable opinion. The poll reported 36 percent of Democrats have a favorable opinion of the NRA and 58 percent have an unfavorable opinion. Independents, according to the poll's findings, are somewhat in the middle of Republicans and Democrats. Fifty-four percent of Independents have a favorable view of the NRA while 34 percent have an unfavorable view.

suspect at best there poll pool.

Top Obama Environmental Official Departs "Frustrated" Over Pipeline, Inaction On Climate

 http://www.buzzfeed.com/rubycramer/top-obama-environmental-official-departs-frustrat

President Obama's chief environmental official departed in part over her opposition 

to a controversial plan to pipe oil from Canadian tar sands to Texas refineries, two sources familiar with the situation told BuzzFeed Thursday.

Environmental Protection Administration Administrator Lisa Jackson, who had served as New Jersey's top environmental official, had been handed a far less ambitious agenda on issues surrounding climate change after opposition from states reliant on burning coal for electricity proved a damaging political issue for Democrats in 2010. The pipeline project, bitterly opposed by environmental activists, was one of environmentalists' largest disappointments.

since republicans deny science guess they don't understand weather patterns, that smoke and pollution rides in the air in rain water drainage into not just the states they are in but adjacent one's as well. 

so they either don't know which makes them ill prepared and dangerous or more typical don't give a damn, the latter my first guess.

their picture of Americans future, for their profits

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGqFUyRjavc

 President Obama initially delayed Keystone's progress, but this March authorized the construction of its Southern portion over howls from his former allies in the movement to stop carbon emissions.

"If the president comes out for it, she would be expected to support it," said Tittel. "Whether they told her or not, that's how it works. She was the person who pushed the hardest for the moratorium on the pipeline and now she's leaving."

"I know she was very frustrated by the White House on a lot of issues," he said, citing a "cap-and-trade" bill to limit carbon emissions that failed in the Senate in 2009.

we need to remember no matter how insensitive it is those who oppose see us as the same and it then is more incumbent on "we the people" to speak up and stop leaving our future to those subject to others ideology by law and push to change such laws that do not consider the well being of all not just the corporations

while respecting her principles hope her replacement is one who does't seeks the opposite of her concerns.

Congressional Gridlock Due To Hyper-Partisan Districts?

There are all types of speculation as to why Congress is so gridlocked, and everybody appears to enjoy playing the blame game. 

In fact, while the fiscal cliff looms ever larger on the horizon, politicians are still pointing fingers at each other instead of actually putting out an honest effort to resolve the issue in a way that will benefit the American people. Republicans want more spending cuts and fewer tax hikes. 

Democrats want more tax hikes and fewer spending cuts. They can’t reach a middle ground; they still have too many specifics that they can’t seem to agree on.

Could the problem be that, rather than politicians not listening to the people, that they instead are listening to the people, but the districts that the people live in have become too polarized?

makes good sense but then that would infer these politicians are more interested in re-election to keep perks more then serving the people.  

if the group you represent are counter in interest then the majority do you support that radical agenda when you oath of office says the constitution and the country?

Blogger Christopher Fountain Hits Back Against Gun Owners' Map, Publishes Addresses Of Journal News Staff

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/27/blogger-journal-news-addresses-gun-owners_n_2369750.html

did the press overreach, was this an invasion of privacy although gun permits are a matter of public domain?

Blogger Christopher Fountain retaliated against a New York newspaper, which recently published the addresses of local gun owners, by publishing the addresses and phone numbers of the newspaper's staff.

The Journal News published the names and addresses of legal gun owners in Westchester and Rockland counties. The paper has been criticized for allegedly putting people in danger.

On Monday, Fountain began publishing the names, addresses and contact information of the newspaper's publisher and editor, and staff members who worked on the gun owners' map. Readers came up with information for other staff members, and Fountain listed those employees as well.

The blogger explained why he did it, speaking on CNN Thursday. "Somehow, [The Journal News was] conflating legal gun owners with some crazed, tormented devil up in Newtown and putting the two together," he alleged. "And I was offended by that and I wondered how they'd like it if their addresses were published." 

goose gander thing goin' on here?  i agree with blogger, it was overkill permits over area would have gotten a good effect without endangering lives, crazies go both ways.

Journal News publisher Janet Hanson has defended the newspaper's gun map, saying that the information was "important" in the aftermath of the Newtown shooting.

Fountain disagreed on Thursday, and argued that she could have published the number of gun permits in the counties instead. “But the fact that they put the addresses — I’ve received emails from abused women who were under protective order and in hiding, and they’re terribly afraid that now their names and addresses are all over the Internet and accessible through that map,” he said.

definitely wrong too bad there would have to be an incident in order to force a civil suit.

Republicans Now 100 Percent AWOL From Fiscal Cliff Talks

 http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/12/republicans-now-100-awol-fiscal-cliff-talks

John Boehner gave up on fiscal cliff negotiations after he was unable to get House Republicans to agree to any proposal at all, even one that he himself had crafted. The fate of the Republic, he said, was now in the Senate's hands. So how is Mitch McConnell handling things?

An aide said Wednesday that McConnell had not been in contact with any top Democrats, including Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the majority leader, during the holiday break....Always cautious, McConnell has kept a decidedly low profile during the last few weeks of political theater in the Capitol....Behind the scenes, he [] helped devise Boehner's Plan B maneuver, which failed to gain enough Republican votes to be brought up in the House. In the aftermath of that defeat, however, McConnell may be unwilling to take on the job of deal-maker. The reasons reflect the pressures that have buffeted his fellow Republicans.

"I cannot emphasize how little a constructive role he will play in this," Democratic strategist Jim Manley, a former top Reid aide, said of McConnell. "He's going to be very reluctant to get involved, and to the extent he does get involved, he's going to move very slowly."

are the top do nothings in congress gun shy now, afraid to put their toe in the water?  those who chose to keep those who oppose in congress are you feeling like that was still a good idea?

No Republican dares to be associated with a tax increase, including McConnell. Grover Norquist and his blood pledge still control them all. Will this change after January 1, when the conversation is no longer about raising taxes, but about lowering them? That would make sense, but sense is in short supply these days in the GOP caucus. Here's the best quote in the entire story:

"The president made a strategic miscalculation and overreached," said one GOP aide granted anonymity to discuss party strategy. "He could have worked to reach a fair agreement, but instead he picked a fight, poisoned the well, and now we are likely to have a rather unproductive next four years. The decision he made only hurts himself."

do me a favor reread that last paragraph, are you seeing the do nothings can't be responsible for what you are about to go through because they did nothing, sorry like their math it don't add up.

Sotomayor refuses to block morning-after pill rule -

?http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57560914/sotomayor-refuses-to-block-morning-after-pill-rule/

WASHINGTON Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Wednesday denied a request to block part of the federal health care law that requires employee health-care plans to provide insurance coverage for the morning-after pill and similar emergency contraception pills.

 Hobby Lobby Stores and a sister company, Mardel Inc., sued the government, claiming the mandate violates the religious beliefs of its owners.

 In an opinion, Sotomayor said the stores fail to satisfy the demanding legal standard for blocking the requirement on an emergency basis. She said the companies may continue their challenge to the regulations in the lower courts.

 Company officials say they must decide whether to violate their faith or face a daily $1.3 million fine beginning Jan. 1 if they ignore the law.

 Attorneys for the government have said the drugs do not cause abortions and that the U.S. has a compelling interest in mandating insurance coverage for them.

if these employers had any religion they wouldn't be supporting right wing denial laws.

Hobby Lobby Stores and a sister company, Mardel Inc. might have something except they are not religious org. are you smelling something or something else

Thousands Of Vets And Military Families Sign Petition Rejecting 'Neocon Smears' Against Hagel

Progressive veterans group VoteVets.org has received thousands of signatures from concerned citizens, veterans and military families rejecting “neocon smears” against former Republican senator Chuck Hagel.

Bill Kristol and his Weekly Standard magazine has led the campaign against Hagel’s potential nomination as the next Defense Secretary. They and other neocons claim the Nebraska Republican is anti-Semitic and anti-Israel and they have attacked Hagel for issuing caution about attacking Iran over its nuclear program.

But Hagel now has defenders coming from all across the ideological spectrum, from a bipartisan group of former national security advisers and former senior military brass to former U.S. ambassadors and a number of prominent journalists, including those from the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, the Daily Beast and the New Republic.

 they at least used to have a half azz reason to block an appt, but now it's just spite and the opportunity to deny Pres. anything. for a party professing a need to change as like 2012 they are failing miserably

Cops Nab Guy Who Posed as Uncle of Adam Lanza

http://www.newser.com/story/159929/cops-nab-guy-who-posed-as-uncle-of-adam-lanza.html

a brand new kind of sicko.

Newser) – Police have arrested a convicted felon who drove to Newtown, Conn., and fed false information to the press while posing as Adam Lanza's uncle, The Smoking Gun reports. Jonathan Lee Riches, 35, was on probation for conspiracy and wire fraud when he showed up in Newtown as "Jonathan Lanza" and told reporters that his "nephew" was taking the antipsychotic drug Fanapt to treat schizophrenia. Riches even fell to one knee and pretended to pray for Lanza's victims while photographers captured the moment. 

 But Riches is no stranger to weird cons. The Guinness World Record holder for "World's Most Litigious Man" hassued various celebrities under other people's names or an alias—including Kim Kardashian and Kanye West foralleged ties to al-Qaeda, and Justin Bieber for stealing Selena Gomez's credit card to buy a "penis enlargement." He was also behind a lawsuit under the name of Kevin Federline's brother claiming paternity of Britney Spears' first son.

i'm speechless another wacko chasing that elusive 15 mins.

D.C. police: Illegal for David Gregory to show empty gun magazine on TV

this is my police force i live in DC and this time it's ridiculous.

A Washington Metropolitan Police Department spokesman tells POLITICO that it was illegal for NBC's David Gregory to show an empty gun magazine on television last Sunday, even if it was empty.

The spokesman also said he could not confirm a report by TMZ, the Hollywood gossip site, alleging that a D.C. police official told a member of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives just the opposite, leading Gregory and his team at NBC's "Meet the Press" to believe he could legally show an empty magazine on television.

"I don't know where they got their information. I can't confirm what they said," Officer Paul Metcalf told POLITICO. "All I can say for now is that the matter is still under investigation."

Asked whether it would be legal to show a magazine without bullets, Metcalf replied: "It'd still be illegal."

what is the difference they show guns on the news the tv internet after tragedies, we all know by now what they look like. sounds like all the bad intelligence we hear about has reared it's ugly misleading head again.

On Wednesday afternoon, TMZ reported that a representative from "Meet the Press" had inquired about the legality with a member of the ATF, who then contacted a member of the D.C. police. Citing "well-informed law enforcement sources," TMZ reported that the D.C. police official informed the ATF official that Gregory could legally show the magazine, provided it was empty. The ATF official then called the staffer from "Meet the Press" to inform them they could use the magazine, TMZ reported.

If true, the D.C. police official's statement would contradict a statement issued by the Metropolitan Police Department earlier today.

"NBC contacted [the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department] inquiring if they could utilize a high capacity magazine for their segment,” Gwendolyn Crump, a police spokeswoman, said in an email this morning. “NBC was informed that possession of a high capacity magazine is not permissible and their request was denied. This matter is currently being investigated.”

this sounds like a job for right wing super witch hunters.

Defense sector braces for 'self-amputation'

http://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/defense-sector-braces-for-self-amputation-85491.html?hp=f2

Sequestration or not, the defense industry is bracing for a bad decade.

Contractors are hoarding cash. Top firms are eyeing potential mergers. And old alliances are cracking. Even senior Republicans on the House and Senate Armed Services Committees acknowledge a shrinking military is inevitable as the U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan after more than a decade of war.

Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska, has said the Simpson-Bowles deficit-reduction plan should act as a starting point in negotiations to rein in the federal deficit. 

The plan, designed to produce a balanced budget by 2015, would require steep cuts in military spending, calling for an end to such big-ticket programs as the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, the V-22 Osprey and the Marine Corps variant of the F-35 Lightning II.

if it's true the right wing saying we are the big dog in the yard how much bigger do we get? the bigger the dog the bigger the poop it leaves behind.

Against this backdrop, military commanders and industry executives are positioning themselves to survive the coming “period of austerity,” as Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos has described it, which could result in mergers, layoffs and other cost-cutting measures.

“I’m going to have to make some really hard calls,” Amos said in an interview in his Pentagon office, explaining that further cuts could force him to cancel or scale back major weapons programs, such as the JLTV. “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to afford that,” Amos said of the service’s plan to buy 5,500 of the tactical vehicles. “The juice might not be worth the squeeze.”

Defense insiders are cautiously optimistic Congress will act to avert sequestration, which would reduce Pentagon spending by about $55 billion during the current fiscal year. For them, the real problem is what comes next.

all the bluster and we can still blow up half the earth are they shooting for th other half and the moon? if they want more fire power open the warehouses that store all the tots they've never used congress payed for it use it instead of collecting rust.