April 30, 2015

O’Malley 2016 Just Committed Suicide in Baltimore - By Jackie Kucinich

He was supposed to be Hillary’s main rival. But when Martin O’Malley rode back into his battered hometown, he was told to GTFO.

It could have been a breakthrough moment for former Governor Martin O’Malley.

A former mayor/governor/turned potential presidential contender cuts short a series of paid speeches in Europe to return to the still-smoldering city he once governed and where he still lives.

“I just wanted to be present. There’s a lot of pain in our city right now, a lot of people feeling very sad,” O’Malley said Tuesday, according to The Washington Post. “Look, we’ve got to come through this together. We’re a people who’ve seen worse days, and we’ll come through this day.”

But as he hopped in and out of a black Suburban that ferried him from neighborhood to neighborhood torn apart by fire, looters, and poverty, he just became a joke. Worse, for some people, he revealed himself to be a root cause of Baltimore’s problem.

“There are a lot of cameras here in town and some people are looking for attention,” Governor Larry Hogan said Wednesday afternoon. “I’m just focused on the crisis. I’m here to answer your questions, but we’re really here trying to heal the community.”

O’Malley was even heckled, according to the Post, as he walked around the streets.

more
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/30/o-malley-2016-just-committed-suicide-in-baltimore.html

April 30, 2015

Dem Challenger To Gov. Pence Comes Out Swinging On Religious Freedom

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) now has a Democratic challenger for the 2016 Indiana gubernatorial election, and he's not pulling any punches.

On Thursday former Indiana House Speaker John Gregg (D) announced his candidacy for the governor's mansion. In a video rolling out his announcement, Gregg goes after Pence on the controversial anti-gay religious freedom bill the Indiana governor signed into law. That law earned Pence national criticism and he was forced to clarify that it was not meant to discriminate against people.

"I used to introduce myself as the guy with two first names," Gregg said in the video. "But after what Indiana's been going through lately, I just say I'm the guy who almost beat Mike Pence in 2012. That seems to get people's attention."

A number of major local and national figures, including leaders of major companies, criticized the law. As a result, Pence has been forced to bring in a public relations firm for $2 million to try and repair the state's image.

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/mike-pence-dem-challenger-religious-freedom

April 30, 2015

Can't Unring That Bell: Jeb Bush Says He's A Fan Of Charles Murray's Books

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) declared himself to be a fan of controversial social scientist Charles Murray's books at a forum Thursday in Washington.

Bush lauded Murray's books on two separate occasions during an interview with National Review editor Rich Lowry, at a forum sponsored by the conservative magazine. Lowry asked Bush, "... is there any policy or anything public officials can do to help turn back what has been a rising tide of family breakdown crossing decades now?"

"Absolutely, there is," Bush, a likely 2016 Republican presidential candidate, said. "It's not exactly the core. My views on this were shaped a lot on this by Charles Murray's book, except I was reading the book and I was waiting for the last chapter with the really cool solutions — didn't quite get there."

Later in the interview, Lowry asked Bush what he likes to read. Again, he cited Murray. "I like Charles Murray books to be honest with you, which means I'm a total nerd I guess," Bush said.

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/jeb-bush-charles-murray-the-bell-curve

April 30, 2015

Prisoner Was Wrong: Freddie Gray Didn’t Kill Himself

Michael Daly

Someone leaked a police document to the Washington Post claiming Gray was trying to hurt himself inside a police van—minutes after he asked for medical assistance.

Before the second prisoner was even in the police van, Freddie Gray asked the police for medical assistance.

So you have to wonder why on earth a man who had just asked for help would then try to hurt himself—as the second prisoner supposedly concluded after he was picked up at the next stop a few minutes later.

The opinion of the second prisoner is reportedly contained in a search-warrant application prepared by a police investigator and now leaked to The Washington Post.

Somebody leaked the sealed document for a reason, just as the police were preparing to turn over the results of their investigation to the Baltimore state’s attorney. There is nothing to stop the Baltimore Police Department from also publicly disclosing its major findings, as it largely did after its initial investigation soon after Gray’s death. The only significant detail the BPD added on Thursday while announcing its probe was complete was that private security video indicated the van had made an additional, previously unreported stop.

But what the police have already disclosed is enough to suggest why the second prisoner might have believed Gray was trying to hurt himself—and why he was almost certainly mistaken. After the stop where he asked for medical assistance and medical assistance was denied to him, Gray seems to have resumed signaling his need for help by the only means available—by banging on the inside of the van.

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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/30/freddie-gray-was-banging-against-the-walls-for-help-not-harm.html

April 30, 2015

Psychologists met in secret with Bush officials to help justify torture: report

Source: The Guardian

The leading American professional group for psychologists secretly worked with the Bush administration to help justify the post-9/11 US detainee torture program, according to a watchdog analysis released on Thursday .

The report, written by six leading health professionals and human rights activists, is the first to examine the alleged complicity of the American Psychological Association (APA) in the “enhanced interrogation” program.

Based on an analysis of more than 600 newly disclosed emails, the report found that the APA coordinated with Bush-era government officials – namely in the CIA, White House and Department of Defense – to help ethically justify the interrogation policy in 2004 and 2005, when the program came under increased scrutiny for prisoner abuse by US military personnel at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

A series of clandestine meetings with US officials led to the creation of “an APA ethics policy in national security interrogations which comported with then-classified legal guidance authorizing the CIA torture program,” the report’s authors found.

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Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/psychologists-met-in-secret-with-bush-officials-to-help-justify-torture-report/

April 30, 2015

Iowa Republican: Feminists should oppose gay marriage to ensure women and men married in equal numbe

Iowa Republican: Feminists should oppose gay marriage to ensure women and men married in equal numbers

A Republican Party official in Iowa committed acts of atrocity against logic to explain why gender equality advocates should oppose same-sex marriage.

Tamara Scott, a state Republican National Committeewoman and talk radio broadcaster, hosted an RNC member from Oklahoma who signed onto an amicus brief sent to the U.S. Supreme Court as it hears arguments on gay marriage, reported Right Wing Watch.

Guest Carolyn McClarty explained the points made by RNC members who signed the brief, and Scott mused that feminists should oppose marriage equality to remain consistent with their views on gender equality.

“By 2020, they want 50/50 in the statehouses and the U.S. House and Senate,” Scott said. “They want 50 percent women and 50 percent men, they want 50/50, they want equality.” Scott said banning same-sex marriage ensured an equal number of men and women were married.

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http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/iowa-republican-feminists-should-oppose-gay-marriage-to-ensure-women-and-men-married-in-equal-numbers/

April 30, 2015

Brownback reaches peak Caligula, stages weird reenactments of abortion ban signing

The GOPer has an odd celebration for the medically unnecessary law that could cost the state upwards of $450,000

JENNY KUTNER

I have to hand it to Gov. Sam Brownback: The Kansas Republican’s transition to a Caligula-inspired style of leadership during his second term has been a fascinating train wreck to watch.

In addition to directing the state to a massive budget shortfall, the governor has also signed some of the most restrictive antiabortion legislation in the country — including the nation’s first-ever ban on “dilation & evacuation” (D&E) abortion, which could effectively prohibit doctors from providing appropriate care for their patients. And now, Brownback has found a bizarre new way to celebrate the anti-choice law and create a public spectacle.

On Tuesday, the governor set out on a four-city tour to reenact his signing of SB 95, which happened during a closed-door ceremony earlier this month. Unlike the official signing, at which Brownback was flanked by blown-up images of developing fetuses and anti-choice activists, this week’s reenactment ceremonies were made open to the public — especially to students at the three Catholic high schools and Catholic church education building Brownback visited, according to Think Progress.

“I am profoundly disappointed that Governor Brownback has chosen to hold a publicity tour for this reprehensible law,” Julie Burkhart, a Kansas abortion provider and founder of the political action committee Trust Women, said. “Reenacting this bill signing in front of children is not only a publicity stunt, but also spreads hate and disrespect.”

more
http://www.salon.com/2015/04/30/brownback_reaches_peak_caligula_stages_weird_reenactments_of_abortion_ban_signing/

April 30, 2015

Report: Kasich Attacked By GOP Govs. For 'Hiding Behind Jesus' On Medicaid

Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) was criticized by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) for "hiding behind Jesus to expand Medicaid" according to a report in The Atlantic.

The two Republican governors confronted Kasich at a donor forum hosted by the Koch brothers in Palm Springs.

A source at the event told The Atlantic, "It got heated."

Kasich was the fifth Republican governor to accept Medicaid expansion through Obamacare. Kasich has previously cited his "personal faith" as a motivator for choosing to expand Medicaid in Ohio, putting him at odds with most Republicans who strongly oppose Obamacare and Medicaid expansion through the law.

Citing God is something Kasich has done numerous times. Recently, the Ohio governor said he's waiting for a sign from God on whether he should run for president.

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/john-kasich-hide-behind-jesus-medicaid

April 30, 2015

House Republicans try to gut a key American principle

By Dana Milbank Opinion writer April 29 at 6:11 PM

The Civil War era’s 14th Amendment, granting automatic citizenship to any baby born on American soil, is a proud achievement of the Party of Lincoln. But now House Republicans are talking about abolishing birthright citizenship.

A House Judiciary subcommittee took up the question Wednesday afternoon, prompted by legislation sponsored by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) and 22 other lawmakers that, after nearly 150 years, would end automatic citizenship.

The 14th Amendment, King told the panel, “did not contemplate that anyone who would sneak into the United States and have a baby would have automatic citizenship conferred on them.” Added King, “I’d suggest it’s our job here in this Congress to decide who will be citizens, not someone in a foreign country that can sneak into the United States and have a baby and then go home with the birth certificate.”

It’s no small task to undo a principle, enshrined in the Constitution and upheld by the Supreme Court, that defines the United States as a nation of immigrants. It’s particularly audacious that House Republicans would undo a century and a half of precedent without amending the Constitution but merely by passing a law to reinterpret the 14th Amendment’s wording in a way that will stop the scourge of “anchor babies” and “birth tourism.”

more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/house-republicans-try-to-gut-a-key-constitutional-principle/2015/04/29/a365c4c4-eeb6-11e4-8666-a1d756d0218e_story.html?hpid=z2

April 30, 2015

Republicans Find a Way to Embrace Obamacare

“In nearly a dozen Republican-dominated states, either the governor or conservative legislators are seeking to add work requirements to Obamacare Medicaid expansion, much like an earlier generation pushed for welfare to work,” Politico reports.

“The move presents a politically acceptable way for conservative states to accept the billions of federal dollars available under Obamacare, bringing health care coverage to millions of low-income people. But to the Obama administration, a work requirement is a non-starter, an unacceptable ideological shift in the 50-year-old Medicaid program and a break with the Affordable Care Act’s mission of expanding health care coverage to all Americans.”

Greg Sargent: A crack in red state resistance to Obamacare?

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