PushBack Politics - Live Political Blog
Graphic: The Cost Of Ex-US Presidents Revealed
American taxpayers spent $3.7 million last year on four surviving presidents, and one presidential widow, according to a new report by the Congressional Research Service. the telegraph
Lisa Murkowski Says Gay Marriage Views Are ‘Evolving’
Lisa Murkowski Says Gay Marriage Views Are ‘Evolving’ Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said Wednesday that her views on gay marriage are “evolving,” but stopped short of endorsing it. “The term ‘evolving view’ has been perhaps overused, but I think it is an appropriate term for me to use,” she said in an address at the Chugiak-Eagle River Chamber of Commerce, according to the Chugiak-Eagle River Star. Murkowski elaborated on her stance to Alaska Public Radio. “I think you are seeing a change in attitude, change in tolerance, I guess, and an acceptance that what marriage should truly be about is a lasting, loving, committed relationship with respect to the individual,” she said. Her comments came on the same day as the Supreme Court heard arguments challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act. Murkowski’s openness toward same-sex marriage is unusual among members of her caucus, save for Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who recently expressed his support after his son came out as gay. But most Senate Republicans remain opposed. When Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), for instance, was recently asked about his position, he responded by saying, “I’m not gay, so I’m not going to marry one.” -snip- Source: Huffington [...]
Jon Stewart Hammers Obama On VA Benefits Delays: ‘That Is Fucking Criminal’ (VIDEO)
Jon Stewart gave the Obama administration a hammering on Wednesday, accusing the president of failing wounded veterans. And on this one issue, he explained, there are no more fingers to point at Republicans. Revealing that the number of veterans waiting over a year for benefits has grown a mind-blowing 2000% during Obama’s tenure, Stewart pulled no punches: “That is fucking criminal.” He went on to show that the failure isn’t a result of obstruction or funding, but of organization and oversight. Central to the problem seems to be that the VA still keeps track of most patient records on paper, due to the the Department of Defense using a different – incompatible – spreadsheet program. “I swear this is true,” Jon interjected while laying out that almost unbelievable fact. He then pointedly argued that this is one area where the president could simply make a decision, lead and have a positive impact on the treatment of wounded veterans. “If you’re making a case that government has a meaningful role to play in improving people’s lives, then when you’re not obstructed from doing what you want, you better f*cking bring it.” huffo
GOP Pollster: Republican Voters Don’t Care About ‘Pathway To Citizenship’
Pro-reform Republicans are frantically trying to massage the language around immigration legislation, especially the phrase “pathway to citizenship,” which Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) disdains even as he endorses an eventual path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. But according to a GOP pollster, the citizenship fight is largely a figment of the Beltway’s imagination, generating little concern among Republican voters in focus groups. “When you bring up the phrase ‘pathway to citizenship,’ they don’t know what it means,” John McLaughlin, a pollster for GOP firm Resurgent Republic, told reporters Thursday, according to the Huffington Post. “There’s no reaction.” Their findings are in line with a recent poll by the Brookings Institute and Public Religion Research Institute, which found majority support for immigration reform with citizenship among Republicans, white evangelicals, and white working class voters. -30- Source: TPM Read more
Gun Violence Costs U.S. Health Care System, Taxpayers Billions Each Year
The bullet exploded like a fragment from the past, piercing his present and laying waste to the future he envisioned. It tore through Jerome Graham’s back, wrecked his spleen, damaged his pancreas and kidney, and left him paralyzed from the waist down. And while the direct medical consequences of that gunshot fired a year ago in East Baltimore end there, the full force of its destruction has reverberated more broadly, encompassing Graham’s friends, his family, his community. It has carried into the American health care system, while confronting American taxpayers with costs reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars. Before he was shot last year, Graham, 33, supported his wife and three children by working as an electrician. Barring a medical miracle, he will never walk again, greatly complicating his ability to earn a paycheck. Since the shot went through his body, he and his family have come to rely on government programs like Medicaid, Social Security and subsidized housing. In the American conversation, discussion of gun-related violence generally centers on the tragic loss of life or permanent injuries that result. But beneath these headline-grabbing, life-shattering facts are costs measured in vast numbers of dollars. Firearms-related deaths cost the U.S. health [...]
Newtown Gunman Had Large Weapons Cache: Court Papers (New Details: Mom Son Both NRA Certificates)
Newtown school gunman had large weapons cache: court papers The gunman who attacked a Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school in December had several additional firearms not used in the attack and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, according to court papers released on Thursday. Connecticut officials released dozens of pages of court documents on their investigation into Adam Lanza, a 20-year old man who killed his mother, 20 first grade school children and six staff members before turning a gun on himself in the second deadliest school shooting on record in the United States. A 90-day sealing order expired on the search warrants that were served on Lanza’s home and property. The search also turned up certificates from the National Rifle Association gun-lobby group in the names of both Adam Lanza and his mother, Nancy Lanza. The assault last December 14 at the Sandy Hook Elementary School prompted President Barack Obama to call it the worst day of his presidency and reignited a debate on gun violence in the United States. In response to the attack, the NRA called for armed guards to patrol every public school in the country. Source: Reuters Read more @BreakingNews: Estimated time from Adam Lanza shooting his [...]
Michigan GOP committeeman under fire over antigay Facebook post
A group of state Republicans is calling for the resignation of Republican National Committeeman Dave Agema over an antigay posting on his Facebook page. Agema’s posting Wednesday, during U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments regarding the legality of same-sex marriage, was based on an online article titled, “Everyone Should Know These Statistics on Homosexuals,” which appeared under the byline Frank Joseph, M.D. The post depicts gays as sexually promiscuous, rife with sexually transmitted diseases and responsible for “half the murders in large cities.” Dennis Lennox, a Grand Traverse County Republican precinct delegate and former county drain commissioner, issued a statement Wednesday signed by 20 other Republicans condemning Agema’s “deplorable actions” and calling for his resignation. Source: Detroit Free Press Read more
No comments:
Post a Comment