Cheers and Jeers: Tuesday

post from Daily Kos on 15 May 2012 08:16:26 AM. © Daily Kos

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From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE?

Tuesday Margaret & Helen

The blogosphere's most famous 80-somethings don?t post often, but when they do, it's worth a peek. Helen:

I know. I know. We all did dumb things when we were young. Youth. I miss it like I miss my waistline. Shit happens? or in this case Mitt happened. ?Back in high school, I did some dumb things," Romney said. "And if anyone was hurt by that or offended, obviously I apologize for that." Me too. I really do feel bad about dipping Patricia?s hair into that ink well.
Mitt went on to say, ?There?s going to be some that want to talk about high school. Well, if you really think that?s important, be my guest.?
Thank you Mr. Romney, I think I will. I think I will talk about this because unfortunately we don?t seem to have solved the problem yet. Bullying is alive and well today and it is just as inexcusable today as it was 48 years ago. You can send your wife out to the media to laugh about your ?wild and crazy? high school years but I wonder how the two of you would have reacted if that had been done to one of your sons. Wild and crazy? Yes, actually. It was. And it?s even more wild and crazy today that anyone would want to honor you with the highest office in the land. Mitt was the son of a Governor? born into a privileged life. You can?t tell me he didn?t know any better.

Margaret:

Helen, dear, I think this all has to do with the length of time little Mitt was allowed to breast feed. Or maybe he?s just a asshat. Probably the latter, dear.

Good call. Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]

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How Many Jobs Did GOP Clean Energy Obstruction
Just Cost Virginia

post from TheGreenMiles.com on 15 May 2012 08:09:00 AM. © TheGreenMiles.com

Congressional Republicans, led by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), have been blocking extension of several key clean energy tax credits, investments that represent a tiny fraction of the subsidies received by the oil, gas & nuclear industries over time. And here in Virginia, officials have dragged their feet on encouraging offshore wind and been accused of letting Dominion Virginia Power slow down the process.

Now the GOP's ideological war is having real consequences and costing Virginia jobs at a critical time for the fragile economic recovery. Wind energy giant Gamesa has announced that if the U.S. and Virginia can't commit to wind energy, it can't commit to the U.S., building key new wind prototypes off Spain & Africa instead:

While still committed to developing a U.S. market, a Gamesa spokeswoman said the slow pace of regulatory actions, uncertainty over the future of tax credits for offshore development and the lack of a federal energy policy all conspired against investment in the prototype.

"Without a mature offshore wind market in the United States, it is extremely difficult to justify the enormous expenditure of capital and utilization of engineering and technical resources that would be needed to build and install a prototype in the U.S.," Gamesa spokesman Susana Sanjuan wrote in an email to The Associated Press. The prototype was to rise in the lower Chesapeake Bay, about three miles off the town of Cape Charles. It had a late 2013 completion date, which would have made it the first wind turbine in offshore U.S. waters.

The prototype was the first publicly announced product to emerge from a partnership between Gamesa and Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding. Gamesa also announced that partnership will "wind down" by year's end with the design of a new offshore platform completed.

Just a couple of months ago, Gov. Bob McDonnell had raved about the project. "This wind turbine prototype will bring jobs, jobs and more jobs, and it positions Virginia to be a leader in clean energy technology," said Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources Doug Domenech.

Will Cantor and McDonnell now idly sit by while Virginia gets left in the dust by leaders that are serious about creating jobs and protecting public health with offshore wind?

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-clean-energy.html

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Will This Make Fox News

post from Kmareka.com on 15 May 2012 08:00:29 AM. © Kmareka.com

It will be interesting to see how they balance it. Can they distance themselves from Rupert Murdoch and his crew in the UK?

LONDON ? British prosecutors said on Tuesday that Rebekah Brooks, a former key aide to tycoon Rupert Murdoch and onetime close friend of Prime Minister David Cameron, will face prosecution along with her husband and four others for perverting the course of justice in the hacking scandal that has burrowed into British public life.

There’s always distraction. Frank Bruni at NYT says that Bristol Palin has a new reality show,’Life’s a Tripp’. She should google some child stars and reconsider putting her kid in front of the cameras. He might end up telling a therapist that he feels like he’s being watched. They have treatments for that.

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Pat Robertson says Romney isn't Jesus

post from US Politics | AMERICAblog News on 15 May 2012 08:00:25 AM. © US Politics | AMERICAblog News

Always able to put a smile on my face, that Pat Robertson. From Luke Johnson at HuffPost:Pat Robertson offered faint praise for Mitt Romney on the "The 700 Club" Monday, while indicating that he is the best alternative to President Barack Obama."It looks like the people who were worried about his Mormonism, at least that crowd is diminishing somewhat," said Robertson, 82, after the show...

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The U.S. war on drugs: ineffective, bloated,
corrupt

post from Occasional Planet on 15 May 2012 08:00:04 AM. © Occasional Planet

The global war on drugs launched during U.S. President Richard Nixon’s 1969-1974 administration has been an abysmal failure, and all nations should immediately de-criminalize currently illegal drugs. Of course, I?m not holding my breath. But at least I?m in good company. For the past six months, Mexico?s ex-president Vincente Fox has called for the same. [...]Related posts:

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Morning CheckUp: May 15, 2012

post from ThinkProgress on 15 May 2012 08:00:04 AM. © ThinkProgress

Businesses offer benefits to same-sex couples ahead of laws: “Last year, 52 percent of all employers offered domestic partner health benefits, with the percentage varying widely by region and industry, according to a nationally representative sample of about 3,000 employers surveyed by benefit consultant Mercer. That?s up from 31 percent in 2010.” [Kaiser Health News]

Nurse practitioners seek bigger role as coverage expands: “President Obama?s health care law is expected to expand health insurance to 32 million Americans over the next decade. Health policy experts anticipate that the wave of new insurance subscribers will lead to a spike in demand for medical services. That has a battle heating up over who will provide that care.” [Wonkblog]

Dems: GOP budget puts kids at risk on lead poisoning: “A group of House Democrats blasted Republicans Monday for budget language that pared back an effort against lead poisoning. In a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the 27 members pressed the agency to adopt a new exposure standard that would make more children eligible for treatment in spite of overall cuts to the prevention program.” [The Hill]

GOP scrambles to assuage women?s groups: “The House GOP leadership is moving swiftly to try to change the Violence Against Women Act to earn support from outside groups and gain passage on the floor. Leadership spent the weekend preparing an amendment package that sought to quell concerns that immigrant and Native American women weren?t protected under their version of the re-authorization.” [Politico]

Texas AG argues Planned Parenthood funding violates policy: “Planned Parenthood clinics that ?promote? abortion violate Texas policy and have no right to public funding, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said in a filing Friday with the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans.” [Bloomberg]

Sen. Nelson asks TV stations to stop airing U.S. Chamber ads: “Claiming the commercials are full of ?false information and deliberate deception,? U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson has called on Florida TV stations to stop airing ads from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that attack him. The ads began airing last week, part of a national campaign by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to target Democrats for their positions on the Affordable Care Act, which the Chamber and other critics deride as ‘ObamaCare.’” [Orlando Sentinel]

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Justiceline: May 15, 2012

post from ThinkProgress on 15 May 2012 08:00:04 AM. © ThinkProgress

Welcome to Justiceline, ThinkProgress Justice?s morning round-up of the latest legal news and developments. Remember to follow us on Twitter at @TPJustice

Greg Stohr chronicles the many, many times Justice Scalia has berated the Obama Administration or otherwise played snarky advocate instead of neutral judge during Supreme Court oral arguments.
Sarah Seltzer lists some of America’s most Orwellian or offensive holidays, including a bevy of southern holidays celebrating the greatest act of treason in American history.
The Senate confirmed two district court judges yesterday.
Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT) expresses optimism that Chief Justice Roberts will not throw out nearly two centuries of established law in order to strike down the Affordable Care Act.
The Supreme Court voted mostly along party lines yesterday to make it harder for farmers to avoid their tax obligations through bankruptcy. Justice Sotomayor crossed over to vote with the conservatives in the minority, and Justice Kennedy was the sole Republican in dissent.

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Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest: Late polls
portend upset in Nebraska Republican Senate primary

Want the scoop on hot races around the country? Get the digest emailed to you each weekday morning. Sign up here.Leading Off:

? NE-Sen: If Republican-affiliated pollster We Ask America's new numbers are right, we're in for a remarkable upset in the Nebraska Senate GOP primary. AG Jon Bruning, who pretty much led this race wire-to-wire, all of a sudden finds himself in second place to state Sen. Deb Fischer, 39-34 (Treasurer Don Stenberg's faded to 18). That's an almost hard-to-believe turnaround from WAA's poll just a week ago, which had Bruning up 42-26 over Fischer, with Stenberg at 23?a monster 21-point shift. Note, though, that the poll was in the field for just one day (Mother's Day?a Sunday, of course), and once again, WAA didn't allow respondents to say they were "undecided," which is a discouraged practice.

But if there's any possible explanation for this, it's that zillionaire Joe Ricketts (whose family owns the Chicago Cubs, who's a founder of brokerage TD Ameritrade, and who's also the dad of failed 2006 GOP Senate nominee Pete Ricketts) dumped $200K on to the airwaves at the last minute. Ricketts' group, called "Ending Spending," has two spots out, one trying to knock down Bruning and the other aiming to buff up Fischer.

Ricketts also paid for a poll of his own, from right-wing pollster Wenzel Strategies. The numbers aren't quite as favorable for Fischer as WAA's, though Wenzel did offer respondents the option to say they were "undecided." Like WAA's survey, it was also a Sunday-only affair. In any event, they find Bruning with a narrow 38-35 lead over Fischer, with Stenberg relegated to obscurity at just 16%. Jair Herbstman (aka jmartin4s) reminds me that Wenzel also conducted a poll of NE-Sen back in February for a pro-Bruning group and found Bruning at 48, Stenberg at 19, and Fischer at 10. Ouch!

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Mike's Blog Round Up

Studies show that Tuesday is the most productive day of the week, so let's buck the trend and enjoy some links, shall we? On our own time, of course...

Simply Left Behind thinks that President Obama may have given the US a gift beyond measure.

Mad Mike's America looks into that whole It's-OK If-You-Are-A-Republican thing, and ties it up with a licorice whip.

Bark Bark Woof Woof doesn't like bumper-sticker journalism. Does anyone?

Bonus Track: The Satirical Political Report looked at some bumper-sticker journalism and offers us some advice from Mitt.

Round-up by Tengrain of Mock, Paper, Scissors who also blogs at Dependable Renegade. Send tips to: mbru@crooksandliars.com

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Lakeside Diner

A variety of links to articles/interviews/speeches on current issues that may be of interest.[...]

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