Tom Smith, Speaker of Misogynist Nonsense, Pennsylvania's Verbal Cousin of Todd Akin

Just when you thought Missouri Congressman and Senatorial candidate Todd Akin takes the cake,

meet Tom Smith, Republican Senatorial nominee from Pennsylvania who talks about women like it's 1952. From Daily Kos:

Fri Aug 31, 2012 at 08:25 AM PDT
Pennsylvania Senate candidate Tom Smith, courting the lady vote
by Joan McCarter

Why, oh why, aren't Republicans doing better with women? I mean, they've got guys like this:
[ Then there's a link to this 48 second Youtube video of dumb utterances by Tom Smith: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1MhN8F7L7FI ]

That's Tom Smith, anachronistic Republican Senate candidate from Pennsylvania, the guy who said earlier this week that "having a baby out of wedlock" was pretty much like rape. That's a guy with six daughters, so he's got great insight to women.

He's generous, he "allowed" his wife to get a new dress for the event he was speaking at. He's relatable, making a point of talking to the little ladies.

A video released Thursday by the Pennsylvania Democrats shows Smith, who introduced Ryan at an event last week, greeting two women in the crowd and asking them what they're talking about.

"We're talking about the power of petite women," one of the women says.

"Oh," Smith responds. "My guess would have been you were talking about shoes."

"Hahahaha! You women and your shoes. See how well I know your concerns?!"

And he also understands the problems of the economy, and can express it in terms everyone can understand.

"Perhaps where we're making our mistake is that we are asking President Obama and Senator Bob Casey to do something they have no knowledge of. They've never been in business, they've never ran [sic] businesses, they don't have that knowledge," Smith said. "It would be like, your wife wrecks your car. You're gonna take it to the beauty salon to get fixed? No."

"You women and your bad driving and beauty salons. Aren't you precious!"

Ladies, and gentlemen too, that's your 2012 Republican Party. It's hardly a wonder that they don't think we're capable of making our own decisions about our health care and our bodies. We're too busy wrecking cars and thinking about shoes.

Pennsylvania Senate candidate Tom Smith, courting the lady vote



August 28, 2012, Philadelphia Inquirer: No abortions for rape victims, says GOP Senate candidate http://articles.philly.com/2012-08-28/news/33425906_1_abortion-missouri-candidate-gop-senate-candidate
Plus, it looks like he's trying to compaign for the Todd Akin voter in his own state, as columnist Karen Heller wrote on August 30, 2012 in Philly.com:

Specifically, his daughter's unintended pregnancy to rape, after a Harrisburg press luncheon in front of a group of reporters.

Mark Scolforo of the Associated Press asked Smith, "How would you tell a daughter or a granddaughter who, God forbid, would be the victim of a rape, to keep the child against her own will?"

Smith answered, "I lived something similar to that with my own family. She chose life, and I commend her for that. She knew my views. But fortunately for me, I didn't have to. . . . She chose the way I thought. Don't get me wrong; it wasn't rape."

Scolforo: "Similar how?"

Smith: "Having a baby out of wedlock.

Scolforo: "That is similar to rape?"

Smith: "No, no, no. Well, put yourself in a father's position. Yes, I mean it is similar."

Smith, incidentally and like Akin, is not attending the national Republican confab in Tampa, joining the Romney campaign's ever-expanding list of untouchables, ne'er-do-wells, foot-in-mouthers, and don't-even-think-about-its.

Let's give Smith his due. He's a self-financed, wholly inexperienced candidate who isn't particularly savvy with the press.

Then again, he's a self-financed, inexperienced candidate who, because he's a multimillionaire, hasn't bothered learning the ropes while attempting to launch his elective career in the U.S. Senate, the Augusta National of politics. No baby steps, if you'll pardon the expression, for this guy.

The reason Smith was asked such an indelicate question is because he and his fellow conservatives are on a crusade to outlaw a procedure that's been legal for four decades. They would prohibit abortion even in the cases of rape, incest, and when the life of the mother is in danger, because that's how much they care about women.

Sharia Law and Fundamentalist Christianity

Sharia Law and Fundamentalist Christianity

An intriguing look at similarities between Muslim Sharia Law and Fundamentalist Christianity.
 

Given the loony and deeply offensive statements by Missouri Congressman Todd Akin (Republican) about "legitimate rape," [sic] I thought it would be interesting to look into the heartless ways of rationales for vindictive attitudes versus women.


 And for anyone that had not yet looked into it, no, Congressman Todd Akin did not drop out of the 2012 race for senate against incumbent Senator Claire McCaskill (Democrat) by the 5:00 PM August 21 deadline.

Tues PM: Todd Akin reaffirms decision to stay in the Senate race

From Democratic Underground.com: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014201941

Todd Akin reaffirms decision to stay in the Senate race

Source: Washington Post

Rep. Todd Akin, the embattled Senate candidate who used the phrase “legitimate rape” in talking about abortion and pregnancy, said Tuesday afternoon that he would stick to his decision to remain in the race.

In an interview with Mike Huckabee, who was an early endorser of the Missouri Republican, Akin said that his supporters have asked him to keep campaigning.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gop-eye-tuesday-deadline-for-akin/2012/08/21/fcf695a2-eb8c-11e1-9ddc-340d5efb1e9c_story.html

Rep. Steve King Echoes Todd Akin: I’ve Never Heard Of A Girl Getting Pregnant From Statutory Rape Or Incest

From Democratic Underground.com: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014201819

Rep. Steve King: I’ve Never Heard Of A Girl Getting Pregnant From Statutory Rape Or Incest

Source: TPM

Rep. Steve King, one of the most staunchly conservative members of the House, was one of the few Republicans who did not strongly condemn Rep. Todd Akin Monday for his remarks regarding pregnancy and rape. King also signaled why — he might agree with parts of Akin’s assertion.

King told an Iowa reporter he’s never heard of a child getting pregnant from statutory rape or incest.

“Well I just haven’t heard of that being a circumstance that’s been brought to me in any personal way,” King told KMEG-TV Monday, “and I’d be open to discussion about that subject matter.”

A Democratic source flagged King’s praise of Akin in the KMEG interview to TPM. But potentially more controversial for King is his suggestion that pregnancies from statutory rape or incest don’t exist or happen rarely. A 1996 review by the Guttmacher Institute found “at least half of all babies born to minor women are fathered by adult men.”

Read more: http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/steve-king-statutory-rape.php?ref=fpb

BREAKING: Ecuador Offers Assange Asylum; UK Interferes

Breaking News in the last half hour, today, August 16, 2012: Ecuador has offered Wikileaks founder Julien Assange asylum,
Britain will not guarantee Assange's safe passage.
Coverage from the Guardian of Manchester, UK:
"Ecuador grants WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange political asylum Foreign Office 'disappointed' at announcement from Quito"

Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, has been granted political asylum by Ecuador after taking refuge in the country's embassy in London.

The announcement will increase tensions between the UK and the South American country, which has been warned that the situation could have "serious implications" for diplomatic relations.

Assange sought sanctuary in the embassy in Knightsbridge in an effort to avoid deportation to Sweden, where he faces sexual assault charges.

Ecuadorian ministers have accused the UK of threatening to attack the embassy to seize Assange after it emerged that a 1987 law could allow the revocation of a building's diplomatic status if the foreign power occupying it "ceases to use land for the purposes of its mission or exclusively for the purposes of a consular post".

Under international law, diplomatic posts are considered the territory of the foreign nation.

The Foreign Office has said the decision on Assange's application for political asylum would not affect the UK's legal obligation to extradite him to Sweden.

The asylum decision was announced by the foreign affairs minister, Ricardo Patino, in the Ecuadorian capital Quito.

The news was seen live by Assange and embassy staff in a link to a press conference from Quito.

Patino said the Ecuadorian government had conducted lengthy diplomatic talks with the UK, Swedish and US governments.

None could give the guarantees about Assange's future that the South American country was seeking and had shown "no willingness" to negotiate on the issue.

US authorities were specifically asked if they had any intention to seek Mr Assange's extradition so they could start legal proceedings against him and what maximum penalty he could face.

"The response from the United States has been that it cannot offer any guarantees. With these precedents in mind the Ecuadorian government, loyal to its tradition to protect those who seek refuge with us and in our diplomatic mission, have decided to grant diplomatic asylum to Mr Assange."

Patino called for Assange to be guaranteed safe passage to leave the embassy but the Foreign Office insisted this would not be offered.

The minister said: "We trust that the United Kingdom will offer, as soon as possible, the guarantee for the safe passage for this asylum of Mr Assange and that they would respect those international agreements that they have signed in the past and that they have always respected."

He hoped the "friendship" with the UK would "remain intact".

"We share the respect for the same values of human rights, democracy and peace which are only possible once fundamental human rights are respected," he added.

A Foreign Office spokesman said the Government was "disappointed" by Patino's statement and stressed that the UK had a "binding obligation" to extradite Assange.

Veep Pick Ryan Makes Plutocratic Ticket; Ryan's Wealth Sources

Paul Begala: With Ryan, Romney Has the Plutocrat Ticket [scroll down: Ryan and his wife's wealth, includes a trust fund] by Paul Begala Aug 11, 2012 8:47 AM EDT By choosing Paul Ryan—the guy who wants to slash taxes on the rich and gut the government—Romney shows he’s decided to go nuclear in the class war.

In selecting Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney has doubled-down on the one thing he has never flip-flopped on: economic elitism. Romney, born to wealth, has selected Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, who was also born to wealth. As the former University of Oklahoma football coach, Barry Switzer, once said of someone else: both these guys were born on third and thought they hit a triple. There's nothing wrong with inherited wealth. Lord knows great presidents from FDR to JFK came into their fortunes through the luck of birth. But there is something wrong with winners of the lineage lottery who want to hammer those who did not have the foresight to select wealthy sperm and egg. Finally, we have peered into Mitt Romney's core. It is neither pro-choice nor pro-life; neither pro-NRA nor pro-gun control; neither pro-equality nor antigay. But it is pro-wealth and very anti–middle class. Mitt Romney has decided to go nuclear in the class war. Paul Ryan, the darling of the New York–Washington media elite, is almost certainly not the most qualified person Romney could have picked. Unlike governors like Chris Christie or Tim Pawlenty, or a former high-ranking White House official like Rob Portman, Ryan has never run anything larger than his congressional office or the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile. The elite love Ryan because he speaks for more cowardly members of their class; his stridently anti–middle class policies are music to their ears. You will often hear people who ought to know better dress up Ryan's savage economic priorities with euphemisms. Ryan wants to "fix" Medicare. No, he doesn't. He wants to kill it. Saying Paul Ryan wants to "fix" Medicare is like saying the vet wanted to "fix" my dog Major; that which used to work very well no longer works at all—and Major is none too happy with the procedure. Think about that. As my buddy James Carville has said, what would all the Best People say if Nancy Pelosi made her staffers read, say, Margaret Sanger? Or if Barack Obama made interns study Das Kapital? Sure, a few months ago, facing Catholic protestors at Georgetown University, Ryan said he renounced Rand. But as the national Catholic weekly, America, wrote, he did not change the substance of a single policy. Some renunciation. It seems to me Ryan has renounced Rand's politically incorrect atheism, not her morally bankrupt philosophy of Screw Thy Neighbor. Politically, the choice does the one thing Romney needed least of all: it shifts the focus of the 2012 presidential election away from the soft economy and onto the Ryan—now, Romney-Ryan—budget. The most radical governing document in a generation, the Romney-Ryan budget would dramatically alter America's basic social compact. No less an expert than Newt Gingrich called it "right-wing social engineering". Don't be fooled. Ryan is no deficit hawk. He voted for all the policies that created the current ocean of red ink: the Bush tax cuts for the rich; the war in Iraq; the Bush Medicare prescription-drug plan, the first entitlement without a dedicated revenue source. Ryan cloaks his brutal budget in the urgent rhetoric of fiscal responsibility, but that's a Trojan Horse. As the Center for American Progress has noted, under the Romney-Ryan budget, "the national debt, measured as a share of GDP, would never decline, surpassing 80 percent by 2014, and 90 percent by 2022." Ryan's real goal is to destroy the ladder of opportunity for the poor and the middle class. Look at his budget: Medicare would be shattered and replaced with a voucher system wherein seniors would be given a stipend and told to negotiate with the health insurance goliaths. According to the Congressional Budget Office, ten years after the Ryan plan was enacted, seniors would pay $6,400 per year more for the same health care, as the stipend would fail to keep up with projected cost increases. And that's just for starters. One out of every four dollars spent on transportation—which is already underfunded—would be cut. Veterans' benefits would be cut 13 percent from what President Obama says is needed. Young men Paul Ryan voted to send into combat would suffer once more on the home front. Education would be cut, food safety, air traffic control, environmental protection—almost everything that makes us safer, smarter or stronger—would get hammered. How can a budget so brutal not make a dent in the debt? If you have to ask you have not been paying attention. What is the holy grail for princelings like Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan? Of course: tax cuts for the rich. The Tax Policy Center crunched the numbers and found that under Romney's proposal, 95 percent of Americans would see their taxes go up by an average of $500, but millionaires would receive an extra $87,000 tax cut. The net result: an $86 billion annual shift in the tax burden away from those making over $200,000 a year and onto those making less. And so Romney Hood has his Friar Tuck. And somewhere in hell, Ayn Rand is cackling with glee. Like The Daily Beast on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for updates all day long. Paul Begala is a Newsweek/Daily Beast columnist, a CNN contributor, an affiliated professor of public policy at Georgetown, and a senior adviser to Priorities USA Action, a progressive PAC. For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com. Ryan's budget is the fiscal embodiment of the deeply evil, wholeheartedly selfish so-called philosophy of Ayn Rand. In fact, Ryan has described Rand as "the reason I got involved in public service," and reportedly makes staffers read her works.

Ryan has family business connection to earth moving industry. A mini-Dick Cheney II in some senses: In recent years, he has significant investments in Oklahoma mineral industries. Read on in Politico.

Unlike Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan’s personal wealth is no mystery Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79611.html#ixzz23KjyOcVT By DAVE LEVINTHAL | 8/11/12 11:46 AM EDT The details of Paul Ryan’s personal wealth are no mystery — unlike those of Mitt Romney. And while Ryan is nowhere close to the nine-figure wealth Romney boasts, he isn’t exactly hurting, either. Latest on POLITICO Hirono, Lingle prevail in Hawaii Meet Janna Ryan Ryan is liked by friends and foes Is Ryan just Mitt squared? 8 Dem slams against the Ryan budget Mitt hugs Ryan, not budget Ryan’s overall net worth falls between $927,100 and $3.20 million, making him the 124th wealthiest member of the House, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics of the new Republican vice presidential candidate’s 2010 personal financial filings. (PHOTOS: Scenes from Romney's running-mate announcement) Additional personal financial disclosures by Ryan, who by law has each year filed such reports since entering Congress in 1999, indicate that the Wisconsin congressman has maintained well-above-average wealth for the duration of his congressional tenure. Ultra-wealthy Romney, in contrast, has largely occluded his recent personal financial history. He’s refused to release his recent tax returns before 2010, and unlike Ryan, is under no obligation to release annual personal financial disclosure reports. While running for president in 2007, Romney did file a federal public financial disclosure report that listed hundreds of assets across numerous financial categories. Ryan, meanwhile, has to date been under no significant pressure or obligation to release his personal Internal Revenue Service filings, although calls to do so will likely begin immediately. “It’ll be very, very interesting to see if Ryan releases his tax returns,” said Kathy Kiely, managing editor for the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation, which tracks political money. Ryan’s latest personal financial disclosure report, which covers calendar year 2011, lists several dozen stocks and mutual funds he or his wife, Janna, own. Ryan’s individual investments are generally modest, ranging in value from $1,001 to $15,000. (Federal law only requires lawmakers to report their assets and liabilities in broad ranges.) These include stock in well-known companies that run the gamut from tobacco and oil interests to fast food and athletic wear. Among them: Amazon.com, Air Products Chemicals, Accenture, Berkshire Hathaway, Estée Lauder, McDonald’s, Kraft Foods, Nike, Praixair, Ralph Lauren, Starbucks, Priceline.com, Mastercard, Google, Wells Fargo, Procter & Gamble, IBM, United Technologies, Visa, General Electric, ExxonMobil, Apple, Bristol Myers Squibb, Citrix Systems and tobacco companies Altria and Phillip Morris. Ryan also reported a holding in the Ryan Limited Partnership worth up to $250,000. He reported no financial liabilities. (PHOTOS: Paul Ryan through the years) Janna Ryan also individually reported a living trust fund worth $1 million to $5 million, that ranks as the largest asset they collectively reported for last year. She also individually reported up to $250,000 in assets tied to gravel rights with Blondie & Brownie LLC, $100,000 in mineral rights holdings, as well as up to $100,000 worth of holdings in the Little Land Co. All are located in Oklahoma. Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79611.html#ixzz23Kk7jtXC

Oklahoma So Hot, Streetlamps Melting in Over 110 Degree Heat

Oklahoma is so hot that street lamps are melting"
By Tecca | Today in Tech, Yahoo News | August 2, 2012

Highs of 115 degrees are taking its toll on the nation's heartland

It's hard to not be concerned with global warming when its effects are right in front of your eyes. Sure, it's one thing when the ocean begins to reclaim islands, but when you can see the effects in your home town, well, that's another story altogether. Case in point: KFOR TV in Stillwater, Oklahoma is reporting that temperatures are so high that the street lamps have begun melting.

To be sure, Stillwater is suffering from one heck of a heatwave. It's expected to reach 115 there today, 108 on Friday, and 109 on Saturday. And warmer temperatures are nothing new: July represented the 23rd month out of the last 28 that came in warmer than average.

It's possible the heat itself isn't responsible for the event — it's being reported on Facebook that a nearby dumpster fire may have been the cause of the melting plastic light housings. Still, that dumpster fire was caused and aggravated by the record heat and dryness. And if dangerous, spontaneous fires aren't reason enough to go green, we don't know what is.

[Image credit: Patrick Hunter via Facebook]

This article was written by Fox Van Allen and originally appeared on Tecca

Fortunately, despite 15 straight days of 100 degree + temperatures, there have been no heat-related deaths.
"This July, EMSA [Emergency Medical Service Authority] responded to 127 heat-related emergencies and took 82 people to the hospital . . . .
This year, Grandfield has had 41 days of triple-digit heat, and Oklahoma City has had 20 days. No official heat-related deaths had been reported in 2012 going into Wednesday, according to the medical examiner’s office."

ACA Section: New Women's Healthcare Coverage Expands Today

"New health insurance plans for women now include services without co-pays" [Scroll down for birth-control coverage story from Julie Rovner of NPR.]
* Affordable Care Act
* August 1, 2012, By: Elizabeth SanFilippo

From Examiner.com:

* Affordable Care Act
* Women's Health
* August 1
* contraception


President Obama's Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, but it wasn't until today, August 1, that women on new insurance plans gained access to new health benefits, many of them related to preventative services, without having to owe a co-pay.

Of the new health insurance offerings, Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland said:

"Women will be able to have access to essential preventive services that will provide early detection and screening for those situations where they're most at risk, and also provide opportunities to care and services that they need as wives and mothers."

The new services offered include breastfeeding supplies and counseling, gestational diabetes screenings, STD screenings, contraceptives, prenatal tests, pap smears, as well as annual wellness exams. Prior to August 1, many insurance companies were charging women extremely high co-payments, which can incredibly discourage women from seeking services that prevent diseases and health issues later in life.

One foundation, Raising Women's Voices for the Health Care We Need, is touting the enormous benefits to so many women.

"These are services that women need across the lifespan and that many women postpone or just don't get because of the high cost. Women of all ages and races stand to benefit tremendously from this provision of the health care law," said Raising Women's Voices co-founder Lois Uttley.

Unfortunately this huge movement forward for women's rights and women's health still isn't completely set in stone. Republicans continue to vote against the new health care law and vow to get rid of all funding for these provisions in the 2013 budget.
Not only that, but insurance plans that existed prior to the health care reform law may have "grandfathered" status and are not be required to offer these free services until the plan is renewed. VP of health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, Gary Claxton, explained: "You may or may not have them offered to you, and if they're offered, you may have to pay cost sharing. In other words, you may have to pay a portion of the costs."
Even so, August 1, 2012 is a huge step forward for women's health. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, 47 million women in the U.S. stand to benefit from these new policies.
© Elizabeth SanFilippo 2012

From Examiner.com "Under Health Law, 'No-Cost' Birth Control Starts Today" -Julie Rovner of NPR, August 1, 2012

Sen. Sanders (VT) Outs 26 Billionaires Buying 2012 Election

Jason Easley reported in Politicususa, in "Bernie Sanders Exposes the 26 Billionaires who are Buying the 2012 Election" that Senator Bernie Sanders (VT, Ind.) exposed the 26 billionaires in a report before a Senate panel yesterday, July 24, 2012.

In his new report, America For Sale: A Report on Billionaires Buying the 2012 Election, Sen. Bernie Sanders named names and called out the billionaires who using Citizens United to buy our democracy.

In front of a Senate panel today, Sen. Bernie Sanders outed the 26 billionaires who are members of 23 billionaire families that are using Citizens United to buy elections. Sen. Sanders estimated that these 26 billionaires are the tip of the iceberg. “My guess is that number is really much greater because many of these contributions are made in secret. In other words, not content to own our economy, the 1 percent want to own our government as well.”

Sanders explained how the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision put the government up for sale, “What the Supreme Court did in Citizens United is to say to these same billionaires and the corporations they control: ‘You own and control the economy, you own Wall Street, you own the coal companies, you own the oil companies. Now, for a very small percentage of your wealth, we’re going to give you the opportunity to own the United States government.’”

Sen. Sanders also did the last thing the billionaires wanted. He called them out by name.

According to the report, America for Sale: A Report on Billionaires Buying the 2012 Election, here are the 26 billionaires who are trying to buy your government:

1). Sheldon Adelson, owner of the Las Vegas Sands Casino, is worth nearly $25 billion, making him the 14th wealthiest person in the world and the 7th richest person in America. While median family income plummeted by nearly 40% from 2007-2010, Mr. Adelson has experienced a nearly eightfold increase in his wealth over the past three years (from $3.4 billion to $24.9 billion). Forbes recently reported that Adelson is willing to spend a “limitless” amount of money or more than $100 million to help defeat President Obama in November.

2. The Kochs (David, Charles, and William) are worth a combined $103 billion, according to Forbes. They have pledged to spend about $400 million during the 2012 election season. The Kochs own more wealth than the bottom 41.7 percent of American households or more than 49 million Americans.

3. Jim Walton is worth $23.7 billion. He has donated $300,000 to super PACs in 2012.

4. Harold Simmons is worth $9 billion. He has donated $15.2 million to super PACs this year.

5. Peter Thiel is worth $1.5 billion. He has donated $6.7 million to Super PACs this year.

6. Jerrold Perenchio is worth $2.3 billion. He has donated $2.6 million to super PACs this year.

7. Kenneth Griffin is worth $3 billion and he has given $2.08 million to super PACs in 2012.

8. James Simons is worth $10.7 billion and he has given $1.5 million to super Pacs this year.

9. Julian Robertson is worth $2.5 billion and he has given $1.25 million to super PACs this year.

10. Robert Rowling is worth $4.8 billion and he has given $1.1 million to super PACs.

11. John Paulson, the hedge fund manager who made his fortune betting that the sub-prime mortgage market would collapse, is worth $12.5 billion. He has donated $1 million to super PACs.

12. Richard and J.W. Marriott are worth a combined $3.1 billion and they have donated $2 million to super PACs this year.

13. James Davis is worth $1.9 billion and he has given $1 million to super PACs this year.

14. Harold Hamm is worth $11 billion and he has given $985,000 to super PACs this year.

15. Kenny Trout is worth more than $1.2 billion and he has given $900,000 to super PACs this year.

16. Louis Bacon is worth $1.4 billion and he has given $500,000 to super PACs this year.

17. Bruce Kovner is worth $4.5 billion and he has given $500,000 to super PACs this year.

18. Warren Stephens is worth $2.7 billion and he has given $500,000 to super PACs this year.

19. David Tepper is worth $5.1 billion and he has given $375,000 to super PACs this year.

20. Samuel Zell is worth $4.9 billion and he has given $270,000 to super PACs this year.

21. Leslie Wexner is worth $4.3 billion and he has given $250,000 to super PACs this year.

22. Charles Schwab is worth $3.5 billion and he has given $250,000 to super PACs this year.

23. Kelcy Warren is worth $2.3 billion and he has given $250,000 to super PACs this year.

The thing that these billionaires love most about Citizens United it is that it allows them to operate in total darkness. The American people couldn’t fight back because the billionaires were giving their money anonymously. This same cloak of invisibility is what made ALEC so effective for years. The conservative billionaire cabal works best in private, behind closed doors, far away from curious eyes.

With his report today, Sen. Sanders has made it more difficult for thieves of liberty to keep operating in the night. We now have a list of names and we know what they are trying to do to our government. Sen. Sanders is one of the few federally elected officials who has the courage to talk about these people in public.

Most of the members of the House and Senate are too afraid to speak of, much less take on, the billionaires. Even those decent members of Congress who might speak out against them have been terrified into silence by threats of multimillion dollar negative ad buys that will run against the incumbent back home.

Bernie Sanders is displaying a brand of political courage that is sorely lacking in American politics today, and he needs you to stand with him to protect our liberties, our freedoms, and to battle to return the government back to the American people.

"Yo Soy 132" Movement (Mexico) Urges Authorities to Overturn Election Results - Hispanically Speaking News

"Yo Soy 132" Movement Urges Authorities to Overturn Election Results - Hispanically Speaking News

The youth-led Yo Soy 132 movement has urged authorities to overturn the July 1 presidential election. Protesters charge that the vote producing a victory for Institutional Revolutionary Party or Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) candidate Enrique Pena Nieto was marred by fraud and vote-buying.

It is holding a nation-wide march, July 22, 2012, to urge the overturning of the election.  This follows a call for the same by the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) candidiate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

However, Lopez Obrador has ruled out protest camps and blockades.

Thousands of protesters turned out Sunday, but fewer than in past protests against the July 1 election results, according to Huffington Post, this afternoon, "Thousands march in Mexico against election results". Huffington Post ran the following Associated Press report:

Thousands are marching through Mexico City's center and protesting what they call the "imposition" of the candidate of Mexico's old ruling party as the new president.

Marchers are carrying signs and chanting that presumed victor Enrique Pena Nieto won the July 1 election through fraud and vote-buying. He was the candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. Rival leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador finished more than six points behind.

The PRI has vehemently denied the charges and on Friday accused Lopez Obrador of trying to "disqualify the entire electoral process with lies."

Authorities did not release an official crowd estimate, but the march appeared to draw fewer people than similar protests with as many as 90,000 participants. The events have attracted people from a new student movement and leftist groups supporting Lopez Obrador.

The 14 States with Health Exchanges On the Way; Key Flaw Opens Exemption to Health Care

There are 14 states that are on their way to getting health care exchanges.

These are the states that have passed legislation to establish health care exchanges, in cooperation with the Affordable Care Act:
First there are not too many surprises:
the West coast states: Washington, Oregon and California,
some New England states: Massachusetts (the pioneer), Vermont (it is on its way to establishing the nation's first single payer system), and Connecticut,
and in the Middle Atlantic states there is Maryland and West Virginia.
But there are some surprises: in the West, Nevada, Utah and Colorado.
States that have health care exchanges by executive order include:
Indiana, New York and Rhode Island.
Governors in New Jersey and New Mexico vetoed such medical exchange legislation.

Reference: National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Actions to Address Health Insurance Exchanges" http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/health/state-actions-to-implement-the-health-benefit-exch.aspx
Liz Goodwin, July 19, 2012 in Yahoo News, "Experts argue Obamacare mistake could doom key part of law" http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/experts-argue-obamacare-mistake-could-doom-key-part-212811734.html

States could dodge a key part of the health care reform law because of a little-noticed mistake in the lengthy bill, according to a white paper by conservative health care experts Michael Cannon and Jonathan Adler.
A missing word in the law's definition of a health insurance exchange could prevent the federal government from doling out crucial subsidies to aid middle class and lower-income people in buying insurance in states that refuse to set up their own exchanges. (Only 14 states are close to setting up exchanges so far. The federal government will set up back-up exchanges in states that don't have their own by 2014.) If Cannon and Adler are right, the federal government would also not be able to fine large employers in states without exchanges if their lack of coverage leads employees to buy insurance in a federal exchange.
The law defines a health insurance exchange as a "governmental agency or nonprofit entity that is established by a state" in one section of the law, and then says later that individuals who participate in exchanges under that definition are eligible for subsidies. Because the law only says a "state" and not "a state or the federal government," Cannon and Adler argue that the federal government cannot legally dole out subsidies or tax breaks to people who buy insurance from federal exchanges.

The Obama administration has said that the intention of the law is clear, and that they fully plan on handing out subsidies when they set up federal exchanges in states that do not set up their own. (Other legal experts agree. Tim Jost, a law professor at William and Lee University, told Yahoo News the pair's thesis is "wishful thinking.") But Cannon and Adler argue the "mistake" was an intentional choice to push states to set up exchanges, and that the administration must deal with the consequences.

If the law's opponents sue over the missing language and win (both big hypotheticals), it would mean considerably fewer people will gain health insurance under the law than was planned--because the lack of subsidies means those without insurance would not be forced to purchase coverage. (If the cheapest plan available costs more than 8 percent of a person's income, that person is no longer penalized under the law if he or she remains uninsured.)
But, there may be a compelling reason for opponents of the law to hold their fire. Another part of the law says that no state can cut their existing Medicaid rolls until an exchange is up and running in their state. Under the new, narrower definition pushed by Adler and Cannon, that would mean that no state could ever tighten up its eligibility requirements for Medicaid unless it first sets up a health care exchange of its own.

Drought's Impact on Economy - Shouldn't We and Obama Be Talking About This?

This is the drought of a generation:

The summer, 2012 drought is the worst in decades, and John Eligon in the New York Times tells us that it will likely last into October. (See this series of drought maps in the New York Times for the continental United States, reaching back decades. This is the worst drought since 1956, in terms of our widespread the drought is against the lower 48 states.)

And its affect on the food economy? Huge. Particularly since the parts of the United States where it is hitting hardest are grain producing areas.

The United States is a rice producer and the signature states in this chart are in the impacted area. (See this article on home brew sake for major rice producing states: "Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas are the rice producing states.")

The area of severe to extreme drought reaches pretty much continuously from central Kentucky and Tennessee west to eastern Utah. The severe or extreme drought areas reach to Nebraska and parts of Wyoming and South Dakota. Basically, the drought reaches into America's breadbasket heartland.

Corn prices, and all the foods reliant on corn or corn syrup, are expected to head up. Mark Huffman, July 16, 2012, in Consumer Affairs, wrote that corn futures have already increased 50 percent since the drought started. The effects reach beyond straight corn. Corn syrup is used in a wide range of baked foods such as breads, crackers and chips, as CNN reported this week. Expect the up-to-now cheap drinks sweetened by high fructose corn syrup to increase in price. Ethanol and vitamins also rely on corn. Livestock are fed corn, so impacts will be felt with chicken, egg, pork and beef prices. As Akweli Parker wrote at the How Stuff Works site, besides ethanol, industrial uses of corn include vitamins, paper and cardboard production.

So, as some observers anticipate global consequences of the drought of 2012 (noted by Naomi Spencer and by contributor at Business Insider, is it not time for the last doubting Republican politicians to stop playing chicken and to start acting constructively to reverse the climate changing impact of global warming? Will traditionally red, conservative states tilt more liberal in this cataclysmic year?

And Barack Obama thinks that he's got problems with the manufacturing and service economies? Using climate change and food prices would seem a good strategy to whip Republicans into shape, or at least to whip up public sentiment to turn the troglodytes out of office.

Zimmerman Groped Woman Repeatedly Over Years, Woman Charges

George Zimmerman, the shooter of Trayvon Martin, repeatedly groped a woman, she charges. She, a family friend, said the abuse began when she was 6 and continued to when she was 16.
Key points from a New York Times story by Lizzette Alvarez:

MIAMI — An Orlando woman now in her mid-20s told investigators that George Zimmerman, who is charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Trayvon Martin, groped and touched her inappropriately over a decade, beginning when they were both young children, according to an audiotape released on Monday. Pool photo by
George Zimmerman in court last month. An Orlando woman in her 20s said that he touched her inappropriately in episodes that spanned a decade, the last time when she was 16 and he 18.
The woman, whose parents were close to the Zimmerman family, talked to investigators on March 20. Identified only as Witness 9, she said she had come forward, a decade after her last encounter with Mr. Zimmerman, because “with everything going on, I know he’s not going to be out in public.”
It is unclear how, or whether, prosecutors plan to use the allegations in their case against Mr. Zimmerman, who is free on $1 million bond.

Additional details:

The witness said that Mr. Zimmerman, who at 28 is about two years older than she is, first touched her when she was 6. She was staying in the Zimmermans’ Virginia home while her parents were moving to Orlando, Fla., from Louisiana. The woman said Mr. Zimmerman had groped her while they lay under a blanket as they watched television with a group of other children.
Other groping episodes followed, she said. She visited the family “at least once a year” and said he touched her inappropriately during some of those visits, including once behind a curtain when she was 7 or 8 and another time on a bunk bed when she was around 12.
“Before we left the room or left any place, he would say we weren’t doing anything — we were just laying there or we were just playing hide-and-seek,” said the woman, whose voice cracked as she recounted the events. “He would always make sure that he told me that. And I didn’t know. I was a kid. I didn’t know any better.”

Complete story at the New York Times.

Nice chart from Krugman: Taxes on the very rich are at historic lows

Progressive economics columnist of the New York Times Paul Krugman on July 12, 2012 had a revealing chart. It shows that taxes on the very rich are at a historic low.

We know that taxes on the very rich are at a historic low right now, which will go even lower if Mitt Romney wins. But how low, exactly?

All these estimates show that taxes on the rich are the lowest they have been in half a century. But what about before 1960? Well, we know that the top marginal tax rate was even higher in the 40s and 50s than in the 60s; and it was very high by modern standards through much of the 30s too.

So I think it’s safe to say that taxes on the rich are currently lower than they have been for not 50 but 80 years. And if Mitt Romney gets his way, we’ll bring those taxes down to levels not seen since Calvin Coolidge.



Thanks, again, Mr. Krugman.

New York Times reference: The Long Run History of Taxes on the Rich

Will Growing Wildfires Tip Opinion on Global Warming?

You see the wildfires in record acreage, burning for days and days, covering more and more territory in California, New Mexico, Colorado. You wonder: will this break people's being stone-deaf to the reality of global warming.
Will people get burned out of their home or hosting others that have been burned out of their home saying, "gee, the fires are getting worse. I wonder if human activity has anything to do with this?"

(The above picture is of a Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs, Colorado.)
One Colorado-based writer and Democratic strategist has written a great rejoinder to George Will's arrogant "Get over it" on ABC's Sunday political talk television show, "The Week." (See this video link on George's wisdom.) Here are her terrific "How Can George Will Still Deny Global Warming?" on U.S. News and World Reports' site:

LAKEWOOD, COLO.—On ABC News's This Week this past Sunday morning, climate change denier George Will had an interesting take on the wildfires in the west and the powerful thunderstorms in the east:
How do we explain the heat? One word: summer. I grew up in Central Illinois in a house that had no air conditioning. What is so unusual about this? ... We're having some hot weather. Get over it.

In the words of Saturday Night Live: "Really?"
Memo from Colorado and the west: These pictures look like a little bit more than "summer".
[See Photos of Erratic Western Wildfires.]
I challenge Mr. Will to say "get over it" to the faces of the families that lost more than 700 homes in my state. I challenge Mr. Will to say "get over it" to the thousands of firefighters—many of whom lack insurance—who worked backbreaking shifts battling the Waldo Canyon Fire, the High Park Fire, the Flagstaff Fire, and any of the dozens of wildfires that have burned in Colorado and the West in the past couple of months.
As the AP put it, this summer is what global warming looks like. According to the New York Times on June 28, "There was agreement that this week's events fit into a pattern of extreme weather events and catastrophic fires that climate scientists predict will only worsen in decades to come."
This picture also looks like a bit more than "hot". That would be the United States Air Force Falcons football stadium in the foreground. Part of the Air Force Academy base housing had to evacuate because of the Waldo Canyon Fires.
[See Photos as Summer Heat Arrives in Full Force.]
Colorado is home to a few other things, including The National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. The center's scientists won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for their work on climate change. This year they were evacuated due to the Flagstaff fire. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Institute for Science and Technology also have offices in Boulder and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory is in Golden. They were, fortunately, not evacuated, although they were on alert just in case.
All of these agencies and their scientists are engaged, in some way or another, with coping with climate change. They are analyzing it, measuring it, and figuring out ways to mitigate it. They don't pooh-pooh it from the seat of an air-conditioned TV studio, maybe because they can see it from their window.
Once upon a time, George Will was a mildly amusing mainstream conservative. But his descent into flat-earther madness on climate change is emblematic of a larger problem: the right's refusal to address, or even acknowledge, the environmental catastrophe right in front of us.
As Molly Ivins once put it about George Bush, "Real Texans do not use 'summer' as a verb." And decent human beings do not use it as a noun to belittle the real suffering of people coping with a natural disaster.

(See this Mike Papantonio video link, "Papantonio: Republicans Bury Their Heads In The Sand on Climate Change.") The New York Times' 2012 electoral projection map for the presidential race is calling the presidential race in Nevada and Colorado. Those states are super hot, and now wildfire season in Colorado is worse than usual. Could the fires and the record temperatures tilt the vote to the Democratic column there this year?
Will 2012's western fires and record temperatures tilt votes so that appointed incumbent Republican Nevada senator Dean Heller (to fill the seat of scandal-plagued John Ensign) gets turned out by Shelley Berkley, Democratic congresswoman from suburban Las Vegas?
* * *
PRESIDENT OBAMA DIRECTS THAT WILDLAND FIREFIGHTERS BE OFFERED INSURANCE Readers abroad would read that headline aghast that firefighters have no insurance.
Cheers for President Obama for offering federal health insurance to uninsured firefighters, the Denver Post reported yesterday, July 10, 2012. Some background:

The 15,000 or so temporary seasonal workers who descend into fire zones are usually young people who work sundry outdoor jobs, depending on the time of year. Some pick up contract work removing trees in the fall or they work at ski areas in the winter. Many are college students.
But because they are not full-time U.S. Forest Service employees, before Tuesday's announcement they did not have the option of purchasing federal health insurance.

Read more at the Denver Post: Obama directive offers wildland firefighters health insurance -http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_21045438#ixzz20L8hWR1W
-Thanks to democraticunderground.com for the reference. Better than Scranton, Pennsylvania, whose mayor is reducing firefighters' pay to minimum wage.

One percent couple demos their house while 100s of 1000s jobless or underemployed

Oh, the troubles of the one percent.
The garage was in the wrong place. So they demolish a new home to soon rebuild. They will waste a few million dollars in the process. "The new Southampton, N.Y., home of Eric and Margaret Friedberg was almost half completed when they decided to tear it down and start over because the garage was in the wrong spot . . . both [spouses are] former federal prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York's Eastern District." --For those not in the know, the Hamptons are where much of the New York uber-rich have their conspicuous consumption vacation mansions. Don't get misled by the demographics in wikipedia articles on "The Hamptons," Southampton or East Hampton. Yes, overall, the permanent populations in these towns are middle class. But property prices commonly run in the eight digits, house properties are the sorts of places advertised in the back of "The New York Times Magazine" or "The New Yorker."
From Yahoo News from ABC News' "Good Morning America", July 2, 2012: By Sydney Lupkin, "New Home Demolished Because Garage in Wrong Spot."
Meanwhile there are stagnant job numbers in the June 2012 U.S. jobs report, the Economic Populist site tells us.
Read this July 6, 2012 report, "June Jobs Report Shows Economy Still in the Dumps," in AlterNet.
Only in America are people not putting it together in a mass movement to connect the dots.