Frontline Gets Its Man: Lanny Breuer Leaves DOJ After Exposé | Common Dreams

Frontline Gets Its Man: Lanny Breuer Leaves DOJ After Exposé | Common Dreams
"In a testament to the power of independent media, the award-winning public television show Frontline this week helped push a top Department of Justice (DOJ) official out the door."

There's just one way to stop GOP rigging the vote...

All across America - Republicans are working hard to corrupt our democracy - and to rig the 2016 election. How could reforming the American voting process help to put integrity back into the our democracy?

Michigan Republican: GOP Killed Election-Rigging Plan in 2012 Because They Thought It Would Hurt Romney

Michigan Republican: GOP Killed Election-Rigging Plan in 2012 Because They Thought It Would Hurt Romney: Republicans in several blue states are currently considering a plan to rig the next presidential election by changing the way electoral votes are allocated to candidates. Under the Republican Plan, key blue states such as Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania would assign electoral votes one-each to the winner of the state’s heavily gerrymandered congressional districts. If [...]/p

Five Reasons Bobby Jindal Is Responsible For Transforming The GOP Into ‘The Stupid Party’

Five Reasons Bobby Jindal Is Responsible For Transforming The GOP Into ‘The Stupid Party’: Days after Mitt Romney lost his bid for the presidency, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R) kicked off a publicity campaign for his 2016 run, casting himself as a different kind of Republican. In a series of interviews, statements and op-eds, Jindal called for reform within the GOP, embracing a more moderate message that could appeal [...]/p

How To Fight Back Against Reince Preibus' Bloodless Coup

How To Fight Back Against Reince Preibus' Bloodless Coup
"In the meantime, he should be shamed over and over again for endorsing a plan that is nothing more than an outright plot to steal the White House by disenfranchising voters and laying waste to the idea that every vote counts."

Military Contracting: Our New Era of Corporate Mercenaries | Common Dreams

Military Contracting: Our New Era of Corporate Mercenaries | Common Dreams
"The privatization of conflict is no longer a trend. It's the norm."

GOP Secretary Of State: Allowing Citizens To Register On Election Day Undermines Their ‘Individual Freedoms’

GOP Secretary Of State: Allowing Citizens To Register On Election Day Undermines Their ‘Individual Freedoms’: Giving citizens the flexibility to register to vote (or update their existing registration if they’ve recently moved) on Election Day actually chips away at Americans’ “individual freedoms,” according to Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp (R). During a panel discussion on voting at the conservative Heritage Foundation on Thursday, Kemp lambasted the idea of same-day [...]/p

Astroturf Gone Wrong: Fake Protesters Offered $20 To Stand At Anti-Wind Energy Rally

Astroturf Gone Wrong: Fake Protesters Offered $20 To Stand At Anti-Wind Energy Rally: Most Americans like clean energy. So when conservatives wage campaigns against clean energy initiatives, they have typically resorted to fronting astroturf groups and paying fake protesters to generate noise.

Needing 100 anti-wind protesters by next week and apparently unable to find them, a mysterious firm advertised a “quick and easy $20″ on Craigslist. 

Virginia GOP Advances New Rules To Help Republican Presidential Candidates

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North Carolina GOP Governor Distances Himself From His Party’s Super-Regressive Tax Plan

North Carolina GOP Governor Distances Himself From His Party’s Super-Regressive Tax Plan: North Carolina Republican lawmakers, following on the heels of Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) and Gov. Sam Brownback (R-KS), have proposed eliminating their state’s income tax and corporate tax, replacing them with an expanded sales tax. Such a move is highly regressive, pushing taxes onto those lower on the income scale who are likely to spend [...]/p

Crazy -- Republican Lawmaker Wants to Jail Rape Victims for Ending Pregnancies | Alternet

Crazy -- Republican Lawmaker Wants to Jail Rape Victims for Ending Pregnancies | Alternet
"Apparently it took a female Republican to come up with the most vicious way to punish women who had the audacity to get themselves raped."

We Must Stop the Tyrannical Minority

We Must Stop the Tyrannical Minority
"Now that the Republican Party has been hijacked by the Billionaire Class, a very small one-percent sliver of our nation, they've taken unprecedented steps to abuse the Electoral College."

Can we stop the GOP from rigging the 2016 election?

Republicans across the nation work tirelessly to rig the 2016 Presidential election - too many Americans are turning a blind eye to this all out assault on our democracy. What can we do to protect the American democracy - and save it from one party Republican rule?

The importance of revenue revisited: Minimizing the drag of austerity | Economic Policy Institute

The importance of revenue revisited: Minimizing the drag of austerity | Economic Policy Institute
"Via Ezra Klein comes a must-read leaked memo from Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) to Senate Democrats ahead of fashioning a Senate Budget Resolution. It’s an excellent chronology of the deficit reduction enacted in the 112th Congress—a hefty $2.4 trillion expected to take effect and $3.6 trillion if sequestration goes into effect—and the looming phases on the Beltway budget fights following the American Taxpayer Relief Act (i.e., the lame-duck budget fight, or ATRA for short).^1"

Medical Experts Warn The Rise Of Resistant Viruses Will Cause ‘Antibiotic Apocalypse’

Medical Experts Warn The Rise Of Resistant Viruses Will Cause ‘Antibiotic Apocalypse’: England’s chief medical officer is warning that the rising numbers of drug-resistant diseases will eventually lead to an “antibiotic apocalypse” — a not-too-distant future when there aren’t any cures for common infections — and more antibiotic research should be a top global health priority. Professor Dame Sally Davies told members of Parliament on Wednesday that [...]/p

GOP Version2013: Battling Not Just Democrats but Democracy | Common Dreams

GOP Version2013: Battling Not Just Democrats but Democracy | Common Dreams
"So President Obama would have won by 5 million votes, carried the majority of states and swept the battlegrounds. But Romney would have been inaugurated as the nation’s forty-fifth president.

That’s not democracy. But that is the point of the Priebus plan."

VA Legislature Moves To Rig Electoral Votes In GOP's Favor

VA Legislature Moves To Rig Electoral Votes In GOP's Favor
"The only comfort in all of this is that Virginia is subject to review under the Voting Rights Act, which means this scheme (and their stealth redistricting scheme) may not pass muster. But I wouldn't count on that, particularly with the Voting Rights Act in front of the US Supreme Court this year.

I think we'd better figure out how to get rid of the electoral college altogether --and fast."

How Republicans Plan To Rig The Next Presidential Election, In Six Pictures

How Republicans Plan To Rig The Next Presidential Election, In Six Pictures: Yesterday, Virginia Republicans took the first step to move a GOP plan to rig the Electoral College forward in that state. Similar plans are under consideration in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The Republican election rigging plan targets blue states that President Obama won in 2008 and 2012, and changes the way they allocate electoral votes [...]/p

GOP has to rig elections to win

Republicans in Virginia rushed through an election rigging plan in the state Senate while everyone was focused on the inauguration. I'll tell you what they did - and more importantly why they did it - and how it speaks to the fundamental difference between Conservatives and Liberals.

Astounding Reason North Dakota Is Lit Up So Brightly You Can See it From Space | Alternet

Astounding Reason North Dakota Is Lit Up So Brightly You Can See it From Space | Alternet
"I’ve been told by people living near fracking operations that the lights coming from the rigs are so bright they have trouble sleeping at night. They aren’t exaggerating. A photo from the NASA Earth Observatory shows a view of the U.S at night — the brightest spots that glow on the map come from big cities. The Plains states and the West are the darkest, with small spots of light scatter between darkness. 

Except, oddly enough, there’s a big glow out in North Dakota — a state with no cities sizable enough to create that much light."

The 8 Most Extreme Moments of the New Congress | Alternet

The 8 Most Extreme Moments of the New Congress | Alternet
"The 113th Congress has barely started, but that hasn’t stopped Republicans from already dishing out plenty of extreme, offensive, and out-of-touch comments. Here’s a roundup of the eight most extreme moments so far:"

Hillary Faces Down The Angry Men | Alternet

Hillary Faces Down The Angry Men | Alternet
"From simpleton Ron Johnson to delusional Rand Paul, GOP senators swung at the Secretary of State and hit themselves."

Paul Ryan, Pathological Liar | Alternet

Paul Ryan, Pathological Liar | Alternet
"He got famous for telling fibs during the campaign and now he's spreading lies about his attack on society’s “takers"."

State Higher Education Funding Has Dropped 10 Percent Since The Great Recession

State Higher Education Funding Has Dropped 10 Percent Since The Great Recession: State budget cuts brought about by the Great Recession have hammered funding for higher education, and as a whole, state governments will spend 10.8 percent less on higher education this year than they did in the fiscal year prior to the recession, according to data from the Grapevine Project at Illinois State University. Overall, only [...]/p

Paul Ryan Throws $1.5 Trillion In Spending Cuts Down The Memory Hole: ‘We’ve Yet To Get Anything’

Paul Ryan Throws $1.5 Trillion In Spending Cuts Down The Memory Hole: ‘We’ve Yet To Get Anything’: At a Wall Street Journal breakfast, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), who is re-emerging into the public eye following his failed bid for Vice President, adopted the Republican line that December’s deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff is the final word on taxes going forward. Ryan falsely claimed that Democrats received revenue, [...]/p

GOP Rep: ‘The Only Constitution That Barack Obama Upholds Is The Soviet Constitution’

GOP Rep: ‘The Only Constitution That Barack Obama Upholds Is The Soviet Constitution’: As the AJC noted in a brief summation of the congressman’s remarks, the last Soviet constitution was ratified in 1977 and disappeared along with the Soviet Union before Obama graduated from law school.

Another Walker Aide Sentenced to Prison in Secret "John Doe" Investigation

Another Walker Aide Sentenced to Prison in Secret "John Doe" Investigation
"Another top official to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker during his tenure as Milwaukee County Executive has been sentenced to two years in prison for embezzling funds intended for families of veterans."

Report: Frequently Banned Chemicals Permitted in US Foods | Common Dreams

Report: Frequently Banned Chemicals Permitted in US Foods | Common Dreams
"Spawned by a petition calling on Gatorade to remove a flame retardent from their sports drink, the Chicago Tribune released an investigation into the chemical ingredients that the United States and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are permitting despite frequent bans elsewhere."

Rand Paul Calls Benghazi 'Worst Tragedy Since 9/11'

Rand Paul Calls Benghazi 'Worst Tragedy Since 9/11'
"Wow, nice perspective there. Guess Rand forgot the recent mass shooting in Connecticut or those 7 US Embassies that were attacked when George W. Bush was president, or say, the nearly 2,000 people that were killed by Hurricane Katrina.

Erick Erickson, of all people, just lamented that the GOP keeps losing elections because they're wasting lots of time and energy on faux scandals like Benghazi.

Apparently, Rand Paul didn't get the message."

The Bottom Line: Regulation

Americans Take Steps To Combat Obesity Epidemic, Consume Less High Fructose Corn Syrup

Americans Take Steps To Combat Obesity Epidemic, Consume Less High Fructose Corn Syrup: High fructose corn syrup, the central ingredient in most sweetened drinks and processed foods, is on the decline. According to a new 2013 projection by the US Department of Agriculture, the amount of corn used to produce the sweetener will drop to its lowest level in 15 years. This latest data is part of a [...]/p

Support For Tea Party Budget Amendment Craters In The Senate

Support For Tea Party Budget Amendment Craters In The Senate: At the opening of the last Congress, House and Senate Republicans lined up behind a Tea Party “balanced budget amendment” that would have made it functionally impossible to raise taxes while simultaneously forcing spending cuts so severe that they would “throw about 15 million more people out of work, double the unemployment rate from 9 [...]/p

Four Ways The Virginia GOP’s Redistricting Power Grab Could Be Stopped By Legal Action

Four Ways The Virginia GOP’s Redistricting Power Grab Could Be Stopped By Legal Action: Yesterday, when Virginia state Sen. Henry Marsh (D) was away from the state capitol to attend President Obama’s inauguration, Virginia Republicans rushed through a gerrymandering bill that that could potentially transform the evenly divided Virginia senate into a 27-13 Republican majority. The Virginia senate is currently split 20-20 between Democrats and Republicans, and Lt. Gov. [...]/p

Oregon Man Begs For Kidney Donor On The Street

Oregon Man Begs For Kidney Donor On The Street: Earl Martinez is a 28-year-old Oregonian suffering from Alport Syndrome, a genetic kidney disorder that has forced him to undergo dialysis treatments for the past year and a half. In order to survive, he needs a new kidney, but the hereditary nature of his disease makes it impossible for his family to provide it. So, [...]/p

How Yahoo Used Tax Havens To Cut Its Taxes By $42.8 Million

How Yahoo Used Tax Havens To Cut Its Taxes By $42.8 Million: Tech companies are some of the most notorious tax dodgers, as their business is easily shifted from place to place and their revenues easily hidden in tax havens. Case in point, Yahoo has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars into low-tax countries, saving it tens of millions of dollars in taxes, as Bloomberg News reported: [...]/p

Say It Ain't So -- A Can of Soda a Day Can Increase the Risk of Cancer for Men by 40 Percent? | Alternet

Say It Ain't So -- A Can of Soda a Day Can Increase the Risk of Cancer for Men by 40 Percent? | Alternet
"A new medical study poses huge questions for the future of soft drinks."

Virginia GOP Shameless In Drive To Rig Elections In Their Favor

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GOP Has to Rig Elections to Win

Global Inequality Skyrockets: Report Says Top 1% Have Increased Wealth By 60% Over Last Two Decades | Alternet

Global Inequality Skyrockets: Report Says Top 1% Have Increased Wealth By 60% Over Last Two Decades | Alternet
"For instance, the US has seen “the share of national income going to the top 1%... doubled since 1980 from 10 to 20%. For the top 0.01% it has quadrupled  to levels never seen before.” And globally, the situation is not any better: “Globally the incomes of the top 1% have increased 60% in twenty years. The growth in income for the 0.01% has been even greater.” And the financial crisis has only accelerated the process of the 1% gaining even greater wealth."

“Free-Market” Outcomes Are Not Fair—and Not Free | Common Dreams

“Free-Market” Outcomes Are Not Fair—and Not Free | Common Dreams
"The realization that the economy is rigged to benefit the rich and large corporations takes away the force of the right-wing argument that progressives want to use government to “vilify” the “successful” and reward the “slothful and incompetent.” When the game has been rigged, it is wrong to say that the market simply rewards talent and hard work, and the outcomes that result can hardly be called fair. When the market outcomes that we observe are unfair, we need to both change the rules for how the economy works and use the government to restore fairness."

President Obama Has Issued Fewer Executive Orders Than Any President in Over 100 Years

President Obama Has Issued Fewer Executive Orders Than Any President in Over 100 Years
"Obama has issued fewer executive orders per day in office than conservative heroes like George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Calvin Coolidge. In fact, you have to go all the way back to Grover Cleveland in the nineteenth century to find a president who has issued executive orders at a lower rate than Obama."

Citizens United at Three: Grassroots Fight Against 'Corporate Personhood' Swells | Common Dreams

Citizens United at Three: Grassroots Fight Against 'Corporate Personhood' Swells | Common Dreams
"Grassroots groups are marking the third anniversary this week of the U.S. Supreme Court'sCitizens United ruling with the continued message: 'corporations are not people'."

Governor Inslee Calls Coal Exports ‘The Largest Decision We Will Be Making As A State From A Carbon Pollution Standpoint’

Governor Inslee Calls Coal Exports ‘The Largest Decision We Will Be Making As A State From A Carbon Pollution Standpoint’: By Jessica Goad Newly-minted Washington Governor Jay Inslee has been lauded for his impassioned views on environmental issues from climate change to renewable energy.  Indeed, his first official act as governor was to write a letter to a clean energy company inviting it to relocate to the state. In his first press conference as governor [...]/p

New Questions for Aaron Swartz's Prosecutor, Whose Career Is Filled with Cases of Picking on the Weak | Alternet

New Questions for Aaron Swartz's Prosecutor, Whose Career Is Filled with Cases of Picking on the Weak | Alternet
"Although the conduct of Ms. Ortiz’s office may seem disproportionately harsh, this is unfortunately par for the course. Rather than a procedure dictated from Washington, U.S. attorneys and local D.A.’s enjoy broad discretion in the charges they press. Thanks to tough-on-crime laws and mandatory-minimum sentencing, prosecutors are able to extort—if they so choose—a quick end to the proceedings and a headline-worthy admission of guilt. To single out the conduct of Carmen Ortiz as an anomaly of America’s system of mass incarceration would be to misunderstand its character. She is a symptom of the entire disease."

Colin Powell Calls Out GOP On Systemic Voter Suppression

Colin Powell Calls Out GOP On Systemic Voter Suppression
"What kind of future does a party have when the only way they win is to lie, trick and steal their way into power?"

A Second Inaugural - A Second Conspiracy...

Their agenda was straightforward. Sabotage the American economy, blame it on the young President, and then retake the White House in four years.

Goldman Sach's Food Speculation Turns Global Hunger Into Wall Street Profit | Common Dreams

Goldman Sach's Food Speculation Turns Global Hunger Into Wall Street Profit | Common Dreams
"As the world's most vulnerable populations succumb to surging global food prices—driven in part by drought, climate change, and a global food system increasingly vulnerable to the whims of commodity speculation—Goldman Sachs has managed to turn the poverty and suffering of others into profits for itself."

Virginia Senate Passes Redistricting Plan To Oust Democratic Senator During Inaugural

Virginia Senate Passes Redistricting Plan To Oust Democratic Senator During Inaugural
"As mentioned earlier, seizing on the absence of a Democratic senator who happens to be a veteran of the civil rights movement and was in Washington, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, for the second inauguration of the country’s first black president, Republicans in the evenly split Virginia state Senatepushed through a surprise mid-decade redistricting plan to try to gain decisive control of the body in the next election.

We’re not done yet.

At the end of this wild day, the “Senate adjourned in memory or (sic) General Thomas J. ‘Stonewall’ Jackson,” according to the minutes of the session. Jan. 21 is the Confederate general’s birthday."

Why Obama’s Second Inaugural Was Not A ‘Far Left’ Speech, In One Graphic

Why Obama’s Second Inaugural Was Not A ‘Far Left’ Speech, In One Graphic: After President Obama finished his second inaugural speech, Republicans jumped to claim that it was a “full-throated defense of government activism,” and that “he seeks to move the country even further left.” Overall, the conservatives concluded, the speech was partisan. The only problem? It wasn’t. On every major issue addressed during the inaugural on Monday, [...]/p

Record Support as Roe v. Wade Turns 40 | Common Dreams

Record Support as Roe v. Wade Turns 40 | Common Dreams
"The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found that seven out of 10 Americans support the Jan. 22, 1973 decision that declared women have a constitutional right to abortions, the highest number since the poll began tracking it in 1989.
Despite the clear and overwhelming support, anti-abortion advocates have been on the attack. Seizing on the results of the 2010 election when Republicans picked up roughly 675 legislative seats, the anti-choice movement has implemented a furious piecemeal strategy attacking women's rights at the state level.

A similar Pew survey found that a record 54 percent of Americans think abortion should be always legal or legal most of the time."

Our Dumb Democracy: Why the Untied States of Stupid Still Reins Supreme | Common Dreams

Our Dumb Democracy: Why the Untied States of Stupid Still Reins Supreme | Common Dreams
"These are the same loonies who deny global warming; the same ones who set up a museum showing prehistoric humans walking with dinosaurs; the same ones who think the answer to gun violence is more guns; the same ones who voted against relief for victims of Sandy … the same ones who want to shove ultrasound instruments into women’s vaginas and tell people who they can and cannot marry while simultaneously shouting to the rooftops about freedom and values. 

Yeah. Their freedoms, their beliefs and their values, please.  All others step to the back of the bus, or consult Leviticus.  You know, that font of ancient wisdom that tells us when and how to stone our neighbor’s daughter.

Want to know how our political discourse got so mind-numbingly stupid? 

Well, we can start with this little fact:  The press is so enamored with “balance” that they’ll treat even the most ignorant, shallow, fatuous movement – a movement composed of the selfish, the self-obsessed, the angry, the bigoted, and the blissfully ignorant – as if it were a serious movement."

Under Obama, Government Spending Has Grown More Slowly Than Under Any President Since Eisenhower

Under Obama, Government Spending Has Grown More Slowly Than Under Any President Since Eisenhower: "Federal outlays over the past three years grew at their slowest pace since 1953-56, when Dwight D. Eisenhower was president. Expenditures as a share of the economy sank last year to 22.8 percent, their lowest level since 2008, according to Congressional Budget Office data. That’s down from 24.1 percent in 2011 and a 64-year high of 25.2 percent in 2009, when Obama pushed through an $831 billion stimulus package. [...]
Spending grew just 0.6 percent from 2009 to 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from government reports." And for all the tea partiers that love to deny math, republicans admit this true and actually want to take credit for it. So before you go denying numbers (like Romney's poll numbers) just remember republicans want credit for this.

12 Ways Obama Smacked Down the Tea Party and the Right in Inauguration Speech | Alternet

12 Ways Obama Smacked Down the Tea Party and the Right in Inauguration Speech | Alternet
"Driving the message home were the hands of the Fates, who conspired to see the second inauguration of the nation’s first African American president fall on Martin Luther King Day, the national holiday whose very creation was opposed by so many who still today comprise the Republican Party’s right wing."

Ayn Rand Is for Children | Alternet

Ayn Rand Is for Children | Alternet
" the era defined by the politics of  “makers versus takers.” After all, these folks purport to adore the free-market triumphalism of “The Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged,” haughtily imagine themselves as rugged up-from-the-bootstraps individualists like Howard Roark and John Galt, tell themselves that their greed is patriotic, and thus demonize government and taxation. Yet, most of these same people tend to live their lives in ways that belie their personal mythology.

Typically, they are more than happy to (among other things) drive on taxpayer funded roads; to have their assets defended by government agents (aka police and firefighters); to have their property rights protected by a law enforcement collective known as the judiciary; and to  pocket their share of handouts. Some alleged Randian individualists are even willing to decry the social safety net for others  but not for themselves, and still others are  happy to to vote in Congress for the epitome of what Randianism stands against."

Virginia Senate Sneaks Through Gerrymandering Bill While Country Watches Inauguration

Virginia Senate Sneaks Through Gerrymandering Bill While Country Watches Inauguration: While the eyes of the nation were turned toward President Barack Obama’s second inauguration on Monday, the Virginia State Senate managed to hurriedly pass a bill that would redistrict the state’s senate seats. The vote, 20-19, would have been a tie had Democratic Senator Henry Marsh been present. Marsh, a civil rights leader, was in [...]/p

A Second Inaugural, A Second Conspiracy

A Second Inaugural, A Second Conspiracy
"Four years ago Inaugural Day, as the new president, Barack Obama, was making the rounds of the inaugural balls, Eric Cantor had gathered powerful members of the Republican Party at an upscale steakhouse in Washington, DC’s Penn Quarter, a private room in a restaurant called the Caucus Room. Their agenda was straightforward.  Sabotage the American economy, blame it on the young President, and then retake the White House in four years.

Paul Ryan, who, four years later, would be chosen to replace the Vice President and, thus, fulfill this agenda, was also in attendance that night. As was Newt Gingrich. And over a dozen prominent Republicans including Kevin McCarthy, Jim DeMint, and John Kyl. 

As Robert Draper discloses in his book, “Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives,” Republicans at that meeting committed themselves to what some would call political treason: an unwavering opposition to the coming Obama Presidency. Every single legislative priority coming out of the White House would be vetoed, obstructed, filibustered, or sabotaged. "

Obama Finally Pushes Back On ‘The 47 Percent’: Entitlements ‘Do Not Make Us A Nation Of Takers’

Obama Finally Pushes Back On ‘The 47 Percent’: Entitlements ‘Do Not Make Us A Nation Of Takers’: In the months of campaign that unfolded after Mitt Romney was skewered for saying that “47 percent” of the country “believe that they are victims… believe the government has a responsibility to care for them,” President Obama was relatively silent about the remarks. But today, during his second inaugural speech, Obama got the last word [...]/p

President Barack Obama's 2nd Inaugural Address, Prepared Remarks | Alternet

President Barack Obama's 2nd Inaugural Address, Prepared Remarks | Alternet
"The full text of the president's prepared remarks."

In Historic Inauguration Address, Obama Takes the Fight to the Right | Alternet

In Historic Inauguration Address, Obama Takes the Fight to the Right | Alternet
"From climate-change deniers to Confederacy buffs to Ayn Rand accolytes, Obama had a smack-down for every right-winger."

What the Billionaire Class is Doing Behind the Scenes

As the American economy continues to struggle - who's really responsible for the fiscal problems that our nation faces?

How Obama Made His Second Inaugural Address A Landmark Moment For LGBT Equality

How Obama Made His Second Inaugural Address A Landmark Moment For LGBT Equality: President Obama just concluded what was arguably the most inclusive inaugural address ever delivered by any president. Of particular note was his inclusion of a direct call for marriage equality for gays and lesbians, reflecting the milestone from last May when he became the first president of the United States to ever make such an [...]/p

Notable (and Hilarious) Examples of the Christian Right's Failed Prophecies | Alternet

Notable (and Hilarious) Examples of the Christian Right's Failed Prophecies | Alternet
"The Christian right in America, like all organized religions, claims to have a correct and exclusive understanding of God's will. To hear them tell it, the almighty creator of the universe has strong opinions about corporate tax rates, firearm ownership and what consenting adults do with their genitals, and he's delegated them to speak on his behalf.

But if they want us to believe they have this authority, it seems only fair to consider their track record. After all, the Bible itself tells how to identify false prophets, saying that if they're not really speaking for God, their predictions won't come true -- a very sensible test!"

Obama Goes Hawkish: Failure To Respond To Threat Of Climate Change, ‘Would Betray Our Children And Future Generations’

Obama Goes Hawkish: Failure To Respond To Threat Of Climate Change, ‘Would Betray Our Children And Future Generations’: Obama went all climate hawk on America in his second inaugural address (full text here). These are, I believe, his longest and strongest remarks on the subject in any major national speech, let alone one of this import: We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to [...]/p

Brookings' Bruce Riedel Urges Intensified US Support for Saudi Despots | Common Dreams

Brookings' Bruce Riedel Urges Intensified US Support for Saudi Despots | Common Dreams
"When it comes to the US "foreign policy community", few if any people are more representative of it than Bruce Riedel. A 30-year CIA officer and adviser to the last four US presidents, he is now a senior fellow at the wing of the Brookings Institution funded by entertainment mogul Haim Saban (whom the New York Times described as "a tireless cheerleader for Israel" and who described himself this way: "I'm a one-issue guy and my issue is Israel"). In 2012, Riedel contributed to a book on Iran by Brookings "scholars" which argued that the US could launch a war against Iran by covertly provoking its government into responses that could then falsely be depicted by the US to the world "as an unprovoked act of Iranian aggression" - exactly what Brookings' Ken Pollack proposed be done in 2002 to deceitfully justify the attack on Iraq. According to Brookings, "in January 2009, President Barack Obama asked Riedel to chair a review of American policy towards Afghanistan and Pakistan, the results of which the president announced in a speech on March 27, 2009"."

President Obama's Second Inauguration Live Video

Move to Amend: Citizens United is Just the Tip of the Iceberg | Common Dreams

Move to Amend: Citizens United is Just the Tip of the Iceberg | Common Dreams
"It’s been three years since the Supreme Court issued it’s outrageous decision in Citizens United vs. FEC, overturning the flimsy campaign finance protections afforded under McCain-Feingold law. The case opened the floodgates to billions of dollars perverting our elections, much of it completely unreported, and some amount even coming from foreign corporations and governments. The Court literally legalized bribery, and wealthy individuals and special interests took full advantage of it."

A Time for ‘Sublime Madness’ | Common Dreams

A Time for ‘Sublime Madness’ | Common Dreams
"The planet we have assaulted will convulse with fury. The senseless greed of limitless capitalist expansion will implode the global economy. The decimation of civil liberties, carried out in the name of fighting terror, will shackle us to an interconnected security and surveillance state that stretches from Moscow to Istanbul to New York. To endure what lies ahead we will have to harness the human imagination."

Joe Scarborough: Republicans Only Kept House Majority Because Of Gerrymandering

Joe Scarborough: Republicans Only Kept House Majority Because Of Gerrymandering: MSNBC host and former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough admitted on Sunday that Republicans only kept their majority in the House of Representatives as a result of gerrymandering, noting that the GOP received less votes than Democrats in the 2012 election. Scarborough argued that Republicans must prevent radical ultra-conservative voices from dominating the party’s message and [...]/p

Law Enforcement Preps For Second Presidential Inauguration

Law Enforcement Preps For Second Presidential Inauguration: The decrease in overall noise tracks with what independent observers are seeing as well. What worries J.M. Berger more is the severity of what he’s seeing from the far right. Berger tracks terrorism in the form of both jihadi extremists and white supremacists through their Internet presence on his website Intelwire. According to Berger, “There are certain phrases that you see, that are always in the mix, but are more prominent now.” He described these phrases as calls to action, such as “The time is now,” that ebb and flow in their usage, but have peaked in the last few days.

The congressional GOP has smothered a more rapid economic recovery | Economic Policy Institute

The congressional GOP has smothered a more rapid economic recovery | Economic Policy Institute
"PBS’ Frontline has an interesting piece on the GOP response to President Obama’s election in 2008, reporting that, “After three hours of strategizing, they decided they needed to fight Obama on everything.” Part of this “everything” was the efforts of the new administration to end the Great Recession and restore the economy back to full health. From the start, the GOP sought to block measures that a wide swath of economists agreed would provide help to boost the economy and bring down unemployment. This obstructionism has been a constant theme throughout the past four years, and it continues today."

NRA Ad Dead Wrong, Thanks to Breitbart False Report

NRA Ad Dead Wrong, Thanks to Breitbart False Report
"Color me shocked -- SHOCKED -- that Breitbart News advanced a false story in order to feed the NRA's paranoia. Why, I'm sure they've never done anything like that before, have they?"

UPDATED: 4 People Shot At 3 Different Gun Shows On Gun Appreciation Day

UPDATED: 4 People Shot At 3 Different Gun Shows On Gun Appreciation Day: If the gun advocates behind this year’s inaugural Gun Appreciation Day had hoped to use the day’s festivities to build support for their anti-regulation platform, they are going to have to wait another year. Emergency personnel had to be called to the scene of the Dixie Gun and Knife Show in Raleigh, North Carolina after [...]/p

How Climate Change Is Damaging The Great Lakes, With Implications For The Environment And The Economy

How Climate Change Is Damaging The Great Lakes, With Implications For The Environment And The Economy: By Matt Kasper, Center for American Progress Great Lakes Michigan and Huron set a new record low water level for the month of December, and in the coming weeks they could experience their lowest water levels ever. It’s becoming certain that, like the rest of the country, the Great Lakes are feeling the effects of [...]/p

Despite Conservative Attacks, States Continue to Realize the Benefits of Renewable Energy Standards

Despite Conservative Attacks, States Continue to Realize the Benefits of Renewable Energy Standards: by Matt Kasper and Tom Kenworthy, Center for American Progress States’ adoption of renewable energy standards—which require electric utility companies to produce a portion of their electricity from wind, solar, and other renewable sources—has considerably driven clean energy advances in recent years. Though Congress has failed to enact a nationwide standard, policymakers at the state [...]/p

CEOs Calling For Entitlement Reform

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Exposed! How the Billionaires Class Is Destroying Democracy

Exposed! How the Billionaires Class Is Destroying Democracy
"If we are concerned about the future of our American democratic republic, the way to preserve it isn't to protect it from greedy Social Security recipients by pushing the retirement age back to 70. It's to get money out of government, thus neutering the political power of the Billionaire Class. And that means reversing two core doctrines that the US Supreme Court has created out of thin air (at the request of big business and billionaires): that corporations are people, and that money is speech.

The best way to do that is through a constitutional amendment that says corporations are not people, and money is property and not speech."

After First Term Mired In Republican Obstruction, New Hope For Obama

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Limbaugh Tarnishes Civil Rights Movement To Advance Pro-Gun Agenda

Limbaugh Tarnishes Civil Rights Movement To Advance Pro-Gun Agenda: Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh sought to equate the fight for African American civil rights with opposition to gun safety on Friday, suggesting that the movement could have better protected itself from segregationists had it been armed. Limbaugh specifically signaled out Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), a nonviolent civil rights activist who was beaten during the [...]/p

America's Big Political Fight: Will We Grapple with Reality or Fully Detach and Live in Fantasyland? | Alternet

America's Big Political Fight: Will We Grapple with Reality or Fully Detach and Live in Fantasyland? | Alternet
"The real struggle confronting the United States is not between the Right and the Left in any traditional sense, but between those who believe in reality and those who are entranced by unreality. It is a battle that is testing whether fact-based people have the same determination to fight for their real-world view as those who operate in a fact-free space do in defending their illusions."

Scott Walker's Misleading State of the State | The Progressive

Scott Walker's Misleading State of the State | The Progressive
"Wisconsin now ranks forty-second in the nation for job creation, according the last week's Bureau of Labor Statistics report."

The Second Amendment Was Really Ratified to Preserve Slavery

The Second Amendment Was Really Ratified to Preserve Slavery
"The real reason the Second Amendment was ratified, and why it says "State" instead of "Country" (the Framers knew the difference - see the 10th Amendment), was to preserve the slave patrol militias in the southern states, which was necessary to get Virginia's vote. Founders Patrick Henry, George Mason, and James Madison were totally clear on that . . . and we all should be too.

In the beginning, there were the militias. In the South, they were also called the "slave patrols," and they were regulated by the states."

New York Rep: GOP Made Us ‘Go Around Like Third World Beggars’ For Sandy Aid

New York Rep: GOP Made Us ‘Go Around Like Third World Beggars’ For Sandy Aid: Rep. Peter King (R-NY) did not hesitate to attack his fellow House Republicans after they refused to hold a vote on providing disaster relief funds to states affected by Hurricane Sandy. After public shaming, the House finally passed a bare-bones aid package on January 4. But King has not forgotten his colleagues who tried to [...]/p

The Republican Debt Ceiling Gambit Is Unconstitutional

The Republican Debt Ceiling Gambit Is Unconstitutional: House Republicans are backing away from their threat to plunge the United States into a catastrophic budget default and will instead pursue the somewhat less reckless strategy of passing a three-month increase in the debt limit. According to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), the bill will also contain a provision cutting off congressional pay [...]/p

Whole Foods - Now Serving Food & Fascism

The CEO of Whole Foods recently attacked Obamacare - calling it a prime example of facism. Well - he's a little wrong about that.

Study: Planet's Lungs Under Assault From Climate Change | Common Dreams

Study: Planet's Lungs Under Assault From Climate Change | Common Dreams
"A recent NASA-led study shows how areas of the Amazon rainforest, often referred to as the lungs of the planet, are victims of climate change, suffering persistent effects of droughts, which may change "the structure and function" of these important ecosystems."

Man Shopping With Rifle, Glock at Utah JC Penney "Pretty Much an Idiot" | Alternet

Man Shopping With Rifle, Glock at Utah JC Penney "Pretty Much an Idiot" | Alternet
"Just ask Cindy Yorgason, who was shopping at a Utah JC Penney store when she glanced up and saw Mr. 22-Year-Old Gun Guy standing in front of her schlepping a big ol’ rifle. Then she noticed his ammunition clips and another firearm in his holster. So what’s an unnerved woman to do? She grabbed a couple of photos and posted them on Facebook.

They went viral."

University Of North Carolina Allegedly Pressured Dean To Underreport Incidents Of Sexual Assault On Campus

University Of North Carolina Allegedly Pressured Dean To Underreport Incidents Of Sexual Assault On Campus: The University of North Carolina’s administration may have pressured Melinda Manning, the former assistant dean of students, to underreport cases of sexual assault on UNC’s campus in 2011. Manning, three current students, and one former student filed a compliant this week alleging the university has violated federal law by mishandling sexual assault incidents — and [...]/p

Freedom to Connect: Aaron Swartz (1986-2013) on Victory to Save Open Internet, Fight Online Censors

Freedom to Connect: Aaron Swartz (1986-2013) on Victory to Save Open Internet, Fight Online Censors
"We air an address of Swartz’s from last May where he speaks about the battle to defeat the Stop Online Piracy Act, orSOPA — a campaign he helped lead. "[SOPA] will have yet another name, and maybe a different excuse, and probably do its damage in a different way. But make no mistake: The enemies of the freedom to connect have not disappeared," Swartz said. "Next time they might just win. Let’s not let that happen"."

Report: Mississippi Children Handcuffed In School For Not Wearing A Belt

Report: Mississippi Children Handcuffed In School For Not Wearing A Belt: A recent Department of Justice lawsuit that called the criminalization of school disciplinary offenses as minor as dress code violations so arbitrary and severe as to “shock the conscience” publicized some of the most egregious punishment at Meridian, Mississippi’s schools. But perpetuation of what is known as the school-to-prison pipeline is not limited to that one [...]/p

Bill Moyers Essay: Take Action on Filibuster Reform

Bill Moyers Essay: Take Action on Filibuster Reform
"1. Contact your senator to tell him or her that you support filibuster reform and the end of the silent filibuster. Calling 1-888-717-0911 will connect you automatically based on where you call from. You can also find Senate contact information here. Or call Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (202-224-3542) or Senate Minority LeaderMitch McConnell ( 202-224-2541) directly, and tell them where you stand."

New Study Highlights Threat From Far Right-Wing Groups In U.S.

New Study Highlights Threat From Far Right-Wing Groups In U.S.: A new study from a think tank connected to the West Point Military Academy highlights the threat of violent far-right movements in the United States, leading to the conclusion that, while diverse in in their causes, they are similar in their use of violence to achieve their aims. West Point’s Combatting Terrorism Center was founded [...]/p