turbinetree
turbinetree's JournalSenate confirms right-wing blogger to powerful court
UPDATE: Bush was confirmed by a 51–47 vote.
John Bush is a lawyer who, for many years, wrote for a conservative blog under a pseudonym. He believes that “the two greatest tragedies in our country” are “slavery and abortion.” And that “public financing of campaigns” is “constitutionally dubious.” He once used an infamous slur against gay people in a speech praising his home town of Louisville.
In one blog post, which consisted largely of a single image, he appeared to suggest that deadly force is the appropriate response to Obama supporters who commit minor property crimes.
https://thinkprogress.org/senate-set-to-confirm-unhinged-right-wing-blogger-to-powerful-court-fbcf89511efd
No wonder this country is so f*cked up
Over 5 million Social Security numbers exposed in Kansas breach: report
Source: The Hill
A breach of a Kansas Department of Commerce system exposed more than 5 million Social Security numbers to hackers, according to a report from a local news outlet.
The Kansas News Service obtained information through a public records request that revealed that roughly 5.5 million Social Security numbers from individuals in 10 states were accessed in the data breach in March.
The data is managed by a division of the department called America’s Job Link Alliance-TS that helps job seekers across 16 states find employment.
According to the Kansas News Service, the breach exposed more than 800,000 accounts that did not contain Social Security numbers, in addition to the 5.5 million that did include that data.
The department had previously acknowledged that the breach exposed about half a million accounts of Kansas users which included Social Security numbers.
Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/343028-kansas-breach-exposed-over-5-million-social-security-numbers-report
Here Is The NRAs Latest Attack Against The First Amendment
Reprinted with permission from MediaMatters.
The National Rifle Association’s broadcast platform NRATV has launched its latest attack against freedom of the press, this time targeting The Washington Post, calling the newspaper a “fake news outlet” and claiming it is where “journalism dies.”
On July 11, the Post published an article calling an NRATV video about political unrest in the U.S. “dark.” The article noted that the video condemned “Democratic politicians, the media and activists as the catalysts for political upheaval” in this country, “with one glaring omission: firearms.” According to the article, the video focused on “political discussions” around public safety during civil unrest, “with less clear connections to Second Amendment rights.”
On July 17, NRATV released a response video featuring NRATV host Grant Stinchfield, who called out the Post reporter by name and slammed him for “tell[ing] us we can’t have an opinion unless it’s about guns.”
http://www.nationalmemo.com/nras-latest-laundry-list-attacks-first-amendment/
I wonder if this self righteous f*ck head wears a gun strapped on his side when he blathers
Maybe he's really pissed off that his f*cking amendment isn't #1
The Hill Staffer at the Center of the Russia Intrigue
In the spring of 2016, a longtime Washington operative pulled aside French Hill during a trip to Moscow and introduced the conservative Arkansas congressman to two Russians who are now at the center of a firestorm over the activities of Donald Trump Jr.
In the brief encounter, which took place two months before their now-infamous meeting with the president’s son in Trump Tower, the jet-setting pair proposed the same trade they would soon be pitching all over Washington: Lift the sanctions on Russia, and we’ll make sure Americans can adopt Russian babies once again.
Paul Behrends, the operative who set up that previously unreported Moscow meeting, has worked in security and foreign policy circles in Washington for decades while keeping a low profile, but he has never been far from intrigue.
Long before he took up his most recent post as an aide to California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, Behrends worked alongside the Afghan mujahideen, helped the future Blackwater founder Erik Prince get an internship on Capitol Hill (later, he navigated the security firm through the political fallout from a 2007 massacre of civilians in Iraq) and served as chief lobbyist for a firm at the heart of the Jack Abramoff scandal. More recently, he has become a confidant of the pro-Trump Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel and served as the Capitol Hill point-man for the right-wing government of Hungary..............................................
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/07/20/the-hill-staffer-at-the-center-of-the-russia-intrigue-215396
White House details environmental deregulatory plan
The Trump administration provided details for its aggressive plan to roll back environmental regulations Thursday.
In the first regulatory agenda of the Trump administration, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget detailed when and how agencies plan to repeal numerous Obama administration rules regarding air and water pollution, fossil fuel extraction and more.
Many of the rollbacks had already been announced, though some new timelines or justifications were revealed.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it plans to repeal the Clean Power Plan, limiting carbon dioxide output from power plants, “on grounds that it exceeds the statutory authority” given to the agency in the Clean Air Act.
The EPA did not provide a timeline for when it will complete the regulatory process to repeal the climate change regulation. It will require a proposed regulation, comment period and final rule.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/342910-white-house-details-environmental-deregulatory-plan
WE don't need any stinking clean water and air
Why Not Call It Treason?
Reprinted with permission from AlterNet.
When treason became a Washington buzzword, the pushback came fast and furious.
Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with a Russian government attorney, a Russian government lobbyist and others to obtain damaging information about Hillary Clinton does not qualify as treason, the Washington Post explained, because of the language of the Constitution.
“Treason is a little extreme for this,” said law professor Richard Briffault. “[Russia] may not be our friend, but it is not clear they are our enemy. We are not at war.”
The very allegation is a sign of the “licentiousness of the press,” sniffed the Washington Times.
Team Trump has possibly violated 52 U.S. Code Section 30121, said the experts at Slate. And even on that petty charge, scholars dispute whether a foreign government’s opposition research constitutes a “thing of value.”
http://www.nationalmemo.com/not-call-treason/
Air Safety Video from British Airways
After Assaulting a reporter Greg Gianforte refuses fingerprints and mugshots ordered as by the court
Source: Daily Kos
Republicans consistently practice the “do as I say, not as I do” mantra in their governing. This generally means that they have no problem holding all of us to some standard of ethical behavior while they practice a very different one for themselves. While this approach might work as a parenting style, it is completely hypocritical coming from a political party which is claims to be the party of values and the moral compass of America. Each day, the GOP sinks to new lows in this regard. And while its hard to imagine stooping lower than physical assault, Montana Rep. Greg Gianforte is testing just how low the party can go by refusing the court order which requires him to be treated like the criminal he is.
Rep. Greg Gianforte, the Montana Republican who pleaded guilty to assaulting a reporter the day before his election, does not want to be treated like a common criminal ― for more than a month, he has been quietly fighting a court order requiring him to get fingerprinted and photographed at a local jail. [...]
Just a few days [after entering his guilty plea, paying a fine and receiving his sentence], his legal team filed a motion arguing that the county’s Justice Court does not have the authority to force him to be fingerprinted or photographed because, among other things, he was neither arrested nor charged with a felony.
Read more: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/7/19/1682026/-After-assaulting-reporter-Greg-Gianforte-refuses-fingerprints-and-mugshots-as-ordered-by-court
This is really time for someone to be charged with contempt, I / you couldn't get away with this stuff
Source: Senate leaders to offer $200 billion to win over moderates
Source: The Hill
In a bold move to revive their healthcare bill, Senate Republican leaders are getting ready to propose giving $200 billion in assistance to states that expanded Medicaid, according to a person familiar with internal Senate negotiations.
The huge sum would be funded by leaving in place ObamaCare’s net investment income tax and its Medicare surtax on wealthy earners, according to the source briefed on the proposal.
The figure is likely to outrage conservatives who would prefer to use the savings from the Senate healthcare bill to pay down the deficit.
The source said the aid would be targeted primarily at Medicaid expansion states, adding it would be distributed on “the back end” of the bill’s timeline, when the legislation would phase out the generous federal contribution for expanded Medicaid enrollment — a central pillar of ObamaCare.
Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/342853-source-senate-leaders-to-offer-200b-to-win-over-moderates
Its still a death panel and they want to do it on the back end, more smoke and mirrors
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