Sunday, December 28, 2014

Santa never Showed Cartoon


Dems race to back Clinton even before 2016 announcement

What a Joke.

High-profile Democrats are jumping on the “Ready for Hillary” bandwagon, supporting Clinton for president before she even enters the race -- boosting her presumptive candidacy and potentially their own political fortunes.
Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Al Franken, D-Minn., are among the biggest names to get on board -- positioning themselves in a familiar game in which early supporters are often rewarded with plum administration jobs or some political favor if their candidate wins.
“It’s a time-honored tradition,” said Joe Trippi, a Democratic strategist and Fox News contributor. “And a lot of candidates remember who was there early, who was willing to take the leap.”
What makes Clinton’s case so remarkable is the number of soft endorsements from A-list Democrats before she has officially announced whether she will run.
Kaine was among the first, telling a gathering of female Democrats in South Carolina this spring that Clinton is “the right person for the job.”
“So I’m doing my bit now to encourage Hillary Clinton to run,” he said. 
Clinton appears to have plenty of encouragement, including extraordinary early-polling numbers. 
A recent averaging of polls by RealClearPolitics.com shows her leading all potential Democratic White House candidates with 61.5 percent of the likely vote -- 49.2 percentage points ahead of her closest potential challenger, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Though Clinton also enjoyed the lead in early polls in her 2008 presidential run, such numbers appear enticing for politicians, donors and others looking for perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime chance to have a friend in the White House and even land a top appointment.  
Franken is among the most recent to give his support. 
“I think that Hillary would make a great president,” he told MSNBC. “I think that I’m ready for Hillary.”
Franken, whose politics appear closer to those of Warren’s, said she is also “great” but “not running.”
The phrase “Ready for Hillary” appears to have started in January 2013 as a political action committee that organizers say “quickly became a nationwide grassroots movement” encouraging Clinton to run.
The PAC now boasts more than 2 million supporters and 50,000 donors. It has so far collected $4.43 million in donations with $875,626 in available cash, according to the most recent Federal Election Commission filings.
Howard Dean, a former Vermont governor and 2004 presidential candidate, also is backing Clinton, a former first lady, secretary of State and New York senator.
Earlier this month, Dean wrote a 660-word op-ed piece in Politico in which he touted his long-time political association with Clinton and listed her professional accomplishments, declaring her “by far the most qualified person in the United States to serve as president.”
“If she runs, I will support her,” he wrote.
Dean was chairman of the Democratic National Committee in 2008 when Clinton and Barack Obama competed for the party’s presidential nomination and his job was to get a Democrat in the White House.
His successful effort led to speculation, particularly after he resigned from his chairmanship days after the general election, that Obama would offer him a Cabinet or other high-level administration post. However, such a deal never materialized.
Clinton appears as if she’s already running a campaign, considering she published a book and spent the past several months fulfilling a full slate of speaking engagements and stumping for fellow Democrats during the elections that concluded last month.  
However, she has given no specific deadline on announcing whether she will indeed run in 2016.
That several Democratic politicians have already signed on might seem unusual. But Trippi points out that those who wait often get passed over in the game of low-risk, low-reward.
“And if an endorsement comes after the nomination it’s like ‘ehh,’ ” he said.
Among the other Democrats also throwing early support to Clinton is Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who worked in the Bill Clinton administration and later served as Obama’s chief of staff.
In June, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin joined Emanuel as a headliner for a Ready for Hillary fundraiser in the Chicago area.
And California Rep. Brad Sherman, a 2008 Clinton supporter, is encouraging her to run again.
“Millions of Americans are ready for Hillary to run -- and ready to support her if she does” he said recently. “She was an outstanding senator and secretary of State. I know she will be an outstanding president.”

Pre-empted release of Jeb Bush emails shows former Florida gov's handling of several high-profile issues


A sampling of emails set to be released by Jeb Bush from his years as Florida governor provides a glimpse of how he handled a range of high-profile issues -- from the state to the international level.
The emails to staffers and residents show how he dealt with such issues as the 9/11 terror attacks to the contentious 2000 Florida recount vote that decided the presidential election for brother and Republican nominee George W. Bush.
Bush said 11 days ago that he would release 250,000 emails, presumably to show Americans his leadership ability in times of crisis. The promise was part of a larger announcement that he will “actively explore” a 2016 White House bid.
Some of the emails were made public Friday by The Wall Street Journal and American Bridge, a liberal group that in recent months has targeted such potential 2016 GOP presidential candidates as Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
“I believe my brother will win if the law is adhered to,” Bush wrote to a man days after the Nov. 7, 2000 vote.
Bush also writes about the international crisis involving Elian Gonzales that started in 1999 when the young Cuban boy, now 21, was found floating on an inner tube off the Florida coast. His mother had died during the journey to the United States. Gonzales was given to Miami relatives until taken by armed federal agents and returned to his father in Cuba.
“I am heartbroken over the federal government’s actions this morning,” Bush wrote to a correspondent on April 22, 2000, hours after the agents raided the Miami home.

US Chamber of Commerce to push immigration reform, tax breaks in Congress


The U.S. Chamber of Commerce flexed its muscle in the midterm election, winning 14 of 15 Republican primaries in which it was involved and helping the GOP recapture the Senate. Now it wants the Republican majority in Congress to get to work.
Chamber Chief Executive Tom Donohue said in an interview that the GOP has two years to enact “a vigorous program aimed at meeting the needs of the American people” or risk losing their majority. The Chamber wants Congress to act on business priorities such as an immigration overhaul, transportation funding, tax breaks and trade agreements.
Mr. Donohue warned lawmakers to move beyond intraparty skirmishes and partisan bickering that paralyzed the last Congress, hinting that his group might look to oust lawmakers who try to derail the legislative process.
The Chamber played a central role in the midterm campaigns, spending more than $70 million, according to an official. After backing a number of losing candidates in 2012, the goal for the group—and the Republican party—in 2014 was to nominate candidates with the best prospects of winning a general election, and an aptitude to govern once they arrived in Washington.
“We had candidates who were fundamentally more interested in turning over the apple cart than they were in governing,” Mr. Donohue said of the congressional elections in 2010 and 2012.
Of 268 candidates the Chamber endorsed in the 2014 election, 249 won, including 22 in the 30 most contested races in which the group was involved. In the eyes of Mr. Donohue and other Chamber officials, the results sent a clear message: “People want Congress and the Senate to govern,” Mr. Donohue said. “They want them to be competent.”
Polls support that view. Public-opinion surveys taken before and after the election showed a much higher share of the electorate wanted to see lawmakers compromise than in 2010, when the tea-party wave swept Republicans to power in the House.

Singapore-bound AirAsia plane with 162 on board missing


Indonesia and Malaysia have launched a search-and-rescue operation after an AirAsia flight disappeared over the Java Sea with 162 people on board early Sunday. 
Flight 8501 was scheduled to make a relatively short early-morning flight from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore but lost contact with Jakarta air traffic control at 6:24 a.m. local time (6:24 p.m. Eastern Time Saturday), approximately an hour before it was due to land.
Eleven minutes earlier, according to Djoko Murjatmodjo, Indonesia's acting director general of transportation, the pilot had "asked to hinder cloud by turning left and go higher to 34,000 feet." Murjatmodjo said that there was no distress signal from the plane. AirAsia Indonesia had earlier confirmed that the pilot had asked to change course due to weather in the area. 
"We don't dare to presume what has happened except that it has lost contact," Murjatmodjo told reporters. 
The single-aisle Airbus A320-200 had an Indonesian captain and a French co-pilot, five cabin crew and 155 passengers, including 16 children and one infant, AirAsia Indonesia said in a statement. Among the passengers were three South Koreans and one each from Singapore, Malaysia. The rest were Indonesians.
The airline's statement added that the plane's captain had a total of 6,100 flying hours, while the first officer had flown 2,275 hours. 
At Surabaya airport, dozens of relatives sat in a room, many of them talking on mobile phones and crying. Some looked dazed. As word spread, more and more family members were arriving at the crisis center to await word.
Flightradar24, a flight tracking website, said the plane was delivered in September 2008, which would make it six years old. It said the plane was flying at 32,000 feet, the regular cruising altitude for most jetliners, when the signal from the plane was lost. AirAsia said that the plane had undergone its last scheduled maintenance on Nov. 16. 
Murjatmodjo, the Indonesian official, said the plane is believed to have vanished somewhere over the Java Sea between Tanjung Pandan on Belitung island and Pontianak, on Indonesia's part of Kalimantan island.
Transport Minister Ignasius Jonan told reporters in Surabaya that the position was believed to be near the coast line. He said search and rescue efforts now involved the Indonesian army, the national Search and Rescue Agency as well as Singapore and Malaysia. But that effort will focus on the area around Belitung island.
Air Force spokesman Hadi Tjahjanto said three aircraft, including a surveillance plane, had been dispatched to the area. The Singapore air force and the navy also were searching with two C-130 planes.
The Singapore aviation authority said it was informed about the missing plane by Jakarta ground control about half an hour after the contact was lost.
Founder Tony Fernandes, who is the face of AirAsia and an active Twitter user, sent out a tweet saying: "Thank you for all your thoughts and prays[sic]. We must stay strong." He tweeted later that he was heading to Surabaya.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, expressed solidarity with AirAsia. In a tweet he said: "Very sad to hear that AirAsia Indonesia QZ8501 is missing. My thoughts are with the families. Malaysia stands ready to help."
White House spokesman Eric Schultz said in a statement that President Obama had briefed about the missing flight and officials would continue to monitor the situation.
According to the website FlightAware.com, Flight QZ8501 was scheduled to depart from Juanda International Airport, near Surabaya on the Indonesian island of East Java at 5:30 a.m. local time, with arrival in Singapore scheduled for 8:20 a.m. Singapore time (7:20 p.m. Eastern Time Saturday). It had last flown the route on Dec. 26. 
The Airbus A320 is a workhorse of modern aviation. Similar to the Boeing 737, it is used to connect cities anywhere from one to five hours apart. There are currently 3,606 A320s in operation worldwide, according to Airbus. The A320 family of jets, which includes A319 and A321, has a very good safety record, with justá0.14 fatal accidents per million takeoffs, according to a safety study published by Boeing in August.
AirAsia, which has a presence in several Southeast Asian countries, has never lost a plane before. AirAsia Malaysia owns 49 percent of the Indonesian subsidiary. The airline typically flies short routes of just a few hours, connecting large cities of Southeast Asia. However, recently it has tried to expand into long-distance flying through its sister airline AirAsia X.
Earlier this year, national carrier Malaysia Airlines lost two planes. Flight MH370 vanished on March 8 with 239 passengers and crew on board. On July 17, Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. 
The crew's request for an unusual route is curious since the weather "didn't seem to be anything unusual," William Waldock, an expert on air crash search and rescue with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona, told the Associated Press.
Severe weather is the reason pilots usually request a different route, but in this case the "winds were light, there were a few thin clouds, but that's about it," he said in an interview.
Waldock cautioned against drawing comparisons to the disappearance of flight MH 370.
"I think we have to let this play out," he said. "Hopefully, the airplane will get found, and if that happens it will probably be in the next few hours. Until then, we have to reserve judgment."
The circumstances bode well for finding the plane since the intended flight time was less than two hours and there is a known position at which the plane disappeared, he said.

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