Presumptuous Politics

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Losing the War on Coal: One Virginia town's painful decline

APPALACHIA, Va. – Roger Whited doesn’t have to think back too far to remember when Main Street was alive with bustling shops and offices, teeming sidewalks and even traffic jams, all thanks to the industry that was the lifeblood of this tiny mountain town and countless others like it.
But six years into what many term the Obama administration’s “War on Coal,” Appalachia’s main thoroughfare is a tableau of boarded-up buildings, empty storefronts and dilapidated homes. Those who still mill about on streetcorners are looking for jobs, not places to spend their paychecks.
"I remember when the downtown area was more vibrant -- streets were packed and businesses were open,” said Whited, who teaches high school social studies in Wise County. “There was the hotel and Bessie's Diner, which was a popular place to get a meal. There were several other restaurants, but now the only place that serves food is a gas station.”

"There were several other restaurants, but now the only place that serves food is a gas station.”- Roger Whited

For generations, coal powered not only Appalachia’s homes and the lights on Main Street, but also the local economy. The salaries paid by companies like Cumberland River Coal Co. were enough to afford the trappings of a middle class, if hard-won, lifestyle. Men and women who toiled in the mines spent their money downtown and sent their kids to the local schools.
But the Obama administration’s tough regulations on coal-fired electric plants, combined with other market forces, have left the future of coal – and the people, companies and towns that depend on it – in doubt. The administration is seeking to reduce carbon emissions at coal-fired plants by 30 percent by 2030, a goal that industry officials call unrealistic. New plants are too expensive to build, and older ones are too costly to retrofit, they say.
"If somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can,” President Obama said in January 2009, shortly after taking office. “It's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted.”
Even as the nation endured a recession, followed by years of sluggish economic growth, coal towns like Appalachia reeled from policies dictated in Washington. As coal-fired plants closed, demand for coal plummeted. In 2011, Appalachia’s lone high school closed, a casualty of low enrollment.
In July, Arch Coal, parent company of Cumberland River Coal Co., announced plans to idle its mine in Appalachia and lay off 213 workers, a devastating final blow to the town of 1,800. That followed a similar move by A&G Coal Co., once one of the region’s biggest employers.
Miners who hung onto their jobs know their paychecks are numbered.
“You wake up every day wondering if you’ll have a job the next day,” Brandon Lawson, of nearby Big Stone Gap and a miner for six years, told the Bristol Herald Courier. “I’ve seen it [the decline of the industry] coming a long time ago.”
Tucked away in the mountains from which it takes its name, Appalachia is just a 30-minute drive from the Kentucky state line. It was one of many settlements that sprang up around mines. Those clusters became known as “coal camps,” where housing and services were all operated by the coal companies in the arrangement made famous in Tennessee Ernie Ford’s classic 1955 hit.
Coal towns that flourished became full-fledged municipalities, like Appalachia, which was founded in 1898. As mining became safer and wages rose, Appalachia and surrounding towns became symbols of success of small town America, a rural answer to Detroit. Hospitals, schools, restaurants and shops sprang up, all fed by the trickle down from “King Coal.”
There is no end in sight for the current decline, according to a report by Downstream Strategies titled, "The Decline of Central Appalachian Coal and the Need for Economic Diversification."
“Coal production in Central Appalachia is on the decline, and this decline will likely continue in the coming decades,” states the 2010 report, which predicts production, which peaked at 290 million tons in 1997, will amount to less than 100 tons in 2035.
Many have moved away from Appalachia in search of work in recent years. Other breadwinners, reluctant to shatter the family bonds built over decades, spend their weekdays in far-off locations, sending money home and visiting on weekends or whenever they can. In Appalachia, they call it the “Suitcase Brotherhood.”
James Hibbitts was an upper middle-class banker in Appalachia back when there were loans to be made. Now, he works throughout the week for a natural gas company in Pennsylvania, some 375 miles away, returning for a few days when he can in order to be with his family.
“I am torn between the place I call home and the travel I am having to do to provide for my family, he said.
Environmental and liberal groups say there is no “war on coal,” only policies aimed at reducing pollution. They say many factors have contributed to the downturn in places like Appalachia, and the key to their turnaround is adaptation.
"The Appalachian coal market is confronting a perfect storm of mature coal resources, abundant and low-cost natural gas, deflated global coal prices, an influx of coal from Colombia and other countries, and competition with coal from other parts of the United States," said Alison Cassady, director of domestic energy policy for the Center for American Progress. "It does not help to blame the EPA and ignore the more fundamental market forces at work."
Rick Mullins, a local business owner in Appalachia and former state Senate candidate, agrees to some extent. He said the area has many attributes that could aid in a turnaround, but says federal aid is needed.
“What we are going to have to look to in the future is diversification,” Mullins said. “Owing to the unique history and natural beauty of the region, other avenues of employment could involve promotion of tourism in the region.
“If we could attain some kind of federal assistance in order to level the playing field, it would help greatly,” Mullins added.
Whited is not sure the Appalachia he grew up in will ever come back.
“I've got some good memories when things were better,” he said. “A lot of people had money and times were much more prosperous than they are now. Now there's really none of that, and it's empty for the most part.
“It's sad."

Saturday, October 18, 2014

2014 Candidates Cartoon

Ferguson officer feared for life, report says

WASHINGTON – The police officer who fatally shot an unarmed 18-year-old in a St. Louis suburb last summer has told investigators that he was pinned in his vehicle and in fear for his life as they struggled over his gun, The New York Times reported.
Ferguson, Missouri, police officer Darren Wilson has told authorities that Michael Brown reached for the gun during a scuffle, the Times reported in a story posted on its website Friday night. The officer's account to authorities did not explain why he fired at Brown multiple times after emerging from his vehicle, according to the newspaper.
The Times reported that the account of Wilson's version of events came from government officials briefed on the federal civil rights investigation into the Aug. 9 shooting that sparked racial unrest and weeks of protests, some of which turned violent. Wilson is white and Brown black.
Wilson confronted Brown and a friend while they were walking back to Brown's home from a convenience store. After the shooting, Brown died at the scene. Some witnesses have told authorities and news media that Brown had his hands raised when Wilson approached with his weapon and fired repeatedly. An independent autopsy commissioned by the family says that Brown was shot at least six times, including twice in the head.
The Times reported that Wilson has told investigators that he was trying to leave his SUV when Brown pushed him back in and that once inside the vehicle the two began to fight. Wilson told authorities that Brown punched and scratched him repeatedly, leaving swelling on his face and cuts on his neck, the Times reported.
Wilson, who had been patrolling Ferguson for nearly three years, was placed on leave after the shooting. A state grand jury is considering charges against him.
The Justice Department is investigating the Ferguson Police Department for possible civil rights violations, including whether officers there use excessive force and engage in discriminatory practices. Two-thirds of Ferguson's 21,000 residents are black but only three of its more than 50 police officers are black.

Dems tie Ebola woes to budget cuts, conservatives say ‘nonsense’

Congressional Democrats and allied groups are ramping up claims that the Ebola response is suffering from a budget crunch, even as Republicans and independent fact-checkers question the argument.
The latest call came Thursday from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who demanded that lawmakers return to session to revisit the budget.
“The Appropriations Committee should return to Washington immediately and convene hearings to discuss and debate the issue of funding levels for NIH, CDC and related agencies in light of the public health challenges posed by the Ebola virus,” she said in a statement.
Others have suggested Republicans specifically are to blame for problems with the Ebola response.
On Oct. 12, the Agenda Project Action Fund released a political ad called “Republican Cuts Kill,” which according to the group, has been scheduled to air in Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, and South Dakota – all states with high-stakes Senate elections in November. The ad juxtaposes pictures of dead bodies and body bags in West Africa with Republican lawmakers like Sens. Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz, and Rand Paul.
“Like rabid dogs in a butcher shop, Republicans have indiscriminately shredded everything in their path, including critical programs that could have dealt with the Ebola crisis before it reached our country,” said ad producerErica Payne, founder of the Agenda Project Action Fund.
The talking points were spurred by statements made by National Institutes of Health head Dr. Francis Collins to The Huffington Post on Oct. 10.
"Frankly, if we had not gone through our 10-year slide in research support, we probably would have had a vaccine in time for this that would've gone through clinical trials and would have been ready," Collins said. He added that some therapeutics to fight the virus "were on a slower track than would've been ideal. ... We would have been a year or two ahead of where we are, which would have made all the difference.”
But fact-checkers and number-crunchers say the actual budgets do not bear out claims that Republicans have starved research for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and NIH through the Obama administration.
“Claims that CDC and NIH have not had enough funding to do Ebola research are nonsense,” said Chris Edwards, director of tax policy studies at the Cato Institute.
At the CDC, funding has remained relatively steady.
Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler notes that the CDC budget has “bounced around” $6.5 billion every year of the Obama administration.
In both 2013 and 2014, it was Congress that boosted the funding after the administration had proposed scaled-back budgets.
According to reports, when the 2014 budget was passed in January, the CDC’s budget rose to $6.9 billion, $567 million more than it received in 2013 and more than the agency anticipated, as the president only requested $6.6 billion.
While it appears stagnant from 2009 numbers, it is still double the budget the CDC was getting in 2000 ($3.4 billion), Edwards points out.
With NIH, the numbers have edged up from $28.5 billion in 2006 to $30.14 billion in 2014, Kessler said. That’s technically an increase – but with inflation, it’s more like a cut.
But Kessler also points out that NIH was given an extra $10 billion in stimulus funds in 2009.
While neither agency was getting all the money it wanted, Kessler points out that what happened in the last few budgets was not a “slash and burn” by Republicans, but a tug-of-war between Congress and the president which culminated in the 2013 sequestration cuts. Those cuts, including a $1.5 billion cut to NIH, affected all government agencies indiscriminately.
“There’s no doubt that spending has been cut, or at least failed to keep pace with inflation, but the fingerprints of both parties are on the knives,” Kessler wrote in The Washington Post Fact Checker.
Kessler gave the Democratic allegations that Republican budgets were at fault for the poor Ebola response four “Pinocchios,” and called them “absurd.”
Edwards said a better way to connect the budgets with the Ebola crisis is to look at how the money is being spent. Republican Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal complained in a recent op-ed that “in recent years, the CDC has received significant amounts of funding. Unfortunately, however, many of those funds have been diverted away from programs that can fight infectious diseases, and toward programs far afield from the CDC’s original purpose.”
On that note, Republicans are trotting out various NIH funding projects they say show questionable – even wasteful – spending.
“It’s funny that the Democrats are quick to point fingers when it’s been this administration pushing the CDC to spend time and resources on bike lanes and farmers markets instead of prioritizing national security and the health of Americans,” Republican National Committee spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said.
The Washington Free Beacon rounded up several projects ranging from $53,202 for studying sighs to more than $2.4 million for developing origami condoms.
“The bigger story here is that the president and the Democrats have once again been leading from behind on an issue that Americans are concerned about.”
But where there is money on Capitol Hill, there’s mandated oversight, and if members of Congress are quick to point fingers, they might want to point some of them back at themselves, said Edwards. Their job includes making sure the agencies have what they need, and are spending it on their stated priorities.
“Not enough blame is put on the congressional committees,” he said, “which are supposed to be conducting oversight of these agencies.”

Senior Republicans criticize Ebola 'czar' choice for lack of medical background

Senior Republicans on Capitol Hill Friday criticized Ron Klain, President Obama’s choice to be “Ebola czar,” as a figurehead with no health background.
“Given the mounting failings in the Obama administration’s response to the Ebola outbreak, it is right that the president has sought to task a single individual to coordinate its response, “said Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “But I have to ask why the president didn’t pick an individual with a noteworthy infectious disease or public health background?”
Klain, a longtime political hand, served as chief of staff to Al Gore and Vice President Joe Biden but has no apparent medical or health care background.
A White House official said Friday that Klain comes to the job with "strong management credentials, extensive federal government experience overseeing complex operations and good working relationships with leading members of Congress, as well as senior Obama administration officials, including the president."
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called him an "excellent choice."
But criticism came swiftly from the Republicans.
“The United States’ handling of the Ebola virus here at home has left Americans across the country petrified about the preparedness and response efforts, said House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich.” The public is desperate to believe that we will be safe from Ebola’s spread. I was glad the president got off the campaign trail to finally focus on Ebola, but with this appointment of a 'czar' with no health background, he just got right back on.”
Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, added, “This appointment is both shocking and frankly tone deaf to what the American people are concerned about. Installing yet another political appointee who has no medical background or infectious disease control experience will do little to reassure Americans who are increasingly losing confidence with the administration’s Ebola strategy.”
Both Upton and Murphy called for immediate travel restrictions to halt the spread of the disease.
Said one senior GOP congressional source, who asked not to be identified, “I think it’s a bizarre pick. He may have a good reputation as manager within the Democratic party. But Republicans see him exclusively as a political operative who’s been at the heart of the some of the most partisan events of the past two decades.”
Rep. Tom Price,R-Ga. and a doctor himself, accused Obama of "making an unserious gesture at an incredibly serious moment.”

Friday, October 17, 2014

CDC Cartoon

Top GOP lawmakers say docs show another gun linked to Fast and Furious found at crime scene

Two top Republican lawmakers said Thursday that newly-released documents show yet another gun connected to the botched Operation Fast and Furious emerged at a crime scene --- this time at a shooting in Arizona.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said in a letter Thursday to Deputy Attorney General James Cole they are demanding the Justice Department “be forthcoming” about the 2013 incident, which happened at an apartment complex in Phoenix. In unrelated news, Cole announced Thursday he plans to step down from his position as the department’s No. 2 official.
“This lack of transparency about the consequences of Fast and Furious undermines public confidence in law enforcement and gives the impression that the department is still seeking to suppress information and limit its exposure to public scrutiny,” the lawmakers said.
The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment from FoxNews.com.
According to the lawmakers, two people were wounded in the shooting at the complex in July 2013. There were multiple shots fired at an apartment in the building, and soon after the shooting a car fled the scene. The driver of the car then crashed into a fence and several people were seen running from the vehicle. Four people were later arrested in the shooting and the arrests were reportedly connected to a drug trafficking probe, according to the lawmakers.
The lawmakers state that after Phoenix police officers arrived they found an assault rifle in the vehicle, and later connected the weapon to Fast and Furious.
Grassley and Issa said they were able to confirm the incident through documents obtained by conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch as part of a request it made under Arizona’s open records law.
The lawmakers said the Phoenix Police Department report on the incident states that the weapon was traced the day it was recovered. However, the lawmakers said “the department did not provide any notice to the Congress or the public about this gun.”
“The refusal to respond to our standing requests for this information effectively hides the connection between crimes like this and Operation Fast and Furious,” the lawmakers said. “Unless the information becomes available some other way, the public would never know.”
The president of Judicial Watch, a, said in a statement Thursday that the new information shows the “Obama cover-up of Fast and Furious is ongoing.”
“Eric Holder’s Department of Justice is a mess,” Tom Fitton said. “It has endangered the public and is engaged in an ongoing cover-up of its insanely reckless Fast and Furious gun-running operation.”
During Operation Fast and Furious, federal agents permitted illicitly purchased weapons to be transported unimpeded in a failed effort to track them to high-level arms traffickers.
Federal agents then lost control of some 2,000 weapons and many of them wound up at crime scenes in Mexico and the U.S. Two of the guns were found at the scene of the December 2010 slaying of border agent Brian Terry near the Arizona border city of Nogales.

The son of Vice President Joe Biden says he is “embarrassed” after being discharged from the Navy Reserve earlier this year --- reportedly after testing positive for cocaine.
The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported Thursday that Hunter Biden’s short-lived military career ended because he failed a drug test after reporting to his unit in 2013. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Navy discharged him in February of this year.
Biden said in a statement to Fox News that he respects the Navy’s decision but did not specify why he was discharged.
“It was the honor of my life to serve in the U.S. Navy, and I deeply regret and am embarrassed that my actions led to my administrative discharge,” he said. “I respect the Navy's decision. With the love and support of my family, I'm moving forward.”
Biden, 44, made the decision to join the military late in life. According to the Wall Street Journal, Biden was commissioned as an ensign in the Navy Reserve in 2013 after deciding the previous year to join the service as a public affairs officer.
However, Biden was given a drug test after reporting to his unit at Navy Public Affairs Support Element East in Norfolk, Va. and tested positive for cocaine, the Wall Street Journal reported. According to the paper, the Navy would not specify what sort of discharge he was given.
Vice President Biden spoke about his son’s decision to join the Navy late in life at the American Legion’s Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball in 2013, joking that his son’s decision was a result of poor judgment.
“We have a lot of bad judgment in my family,” Biden said. “My son over 40 just joined the Navy to be sworn in.”
Hunter Biden is a lawyer who serves as a managing partner for a Rosemont Seneca Partners, an investment firm. He made headlines earlier this year when he was hired to be a director and lawyer for a Ukraine company promoting energy independence from Moscow.
The move raised eyebrows, as Vice President Biden and others in the Obama administration have attempted to influence energy policies and other issues of the Ukrainian government as it battles Russia and pro-Russian separatists to control the county.
The vice president's spokeswoman, Kendra Barkoff, has said that Biden's son is a private citizen and a lawyer, and that Joe Biden "does not endorse any particular company and has no involvement with this company."
Fox News' Ed Henry contributed to this report.

State Department warns US businesses in North Africa of ISIS retaliation

The State Department is warning American businesses operating in North Africa of an increased risk of retaliation by militants over the U.S. military campaign against the Islamic State.
The warning, which is specific to Morocco, is contained in an Oct. 7 dispatch -- obtained by Fox News -- from the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and its Overseas Security Advisory Council.
While no specific plot or credible intelligence is cited, the message warns that: "As the U.S. Government extends its anti-ISIL efforts, there is a heightened risk that U.S. private sector and civilian interests may be targeted."
The report with the subject line, "ISIL Outside Iraq and Syria: Morocco," also warns that the North African nation now has one of the largest contingents of foreign fighters -- between 1,500 and 2,000 -- in Syria and Iraq.
The report underscores the reach of the Islamic State, and ties among its members to other countries, as U.S. jets pound ISIS positions in Iraq and Syria.
The OSAC warning details five incidents between July 11 and Sept. 12 where Moroccan authorities broke up recruitment cells, frustrated plots and efforts to travel to Iraq and Syria, or raised the threat level. Without offering specifics, it says: "Moroccan authorities uncovered plans to attack inside Morocco."
While the State Department privately is issuing warnings about possible retaliation against U.S. interests, it has been slower to publicly acknowledge the threat.
The State Department only recently updated its Worldwide Caution to reflect the concern.
Three days after the OSAC report, on Oct. 10, the Worldwide Caution reads: "In response to the airstrikes, ISIL called on supporters to attack foreigners wherever they are. Authorities believe there is an increased likelihood of reprisal attacks against U.S., Western and coalition partner interests throughout the world, especially in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and Asia."
Asked about the spread of ISIS, also known as ISIL, and the possibility of retaliation against U.S. citizens and businesses, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki spoke in general terms.
"There's more than 60 countries and entities, as you know, who are part of the coalition, some from northern Africa,” she said. “So, I think that speaks to the concern about the threat, not just to countries directly right next to Iraq and Syria, but certainly throughout the region."
A counterterrorism analyst also told Fox News that two Moroccans, both former Guantanamo detainees, took on leadership roles for other extremist groups in Syria.
The Moroccans, Ibrahim Bin Shakaran and Mohammed al'Alami, took on prominent roles with Al Qaeda-linked extremists in Syria -- before their reported deaths. Both men had been released from the military prison under the George W. Bush administration.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Safe Open Up Cartoon

Fox News Poll: As election nears, voters say things are 'going to hell in a handbasket'

The world’s “going to hell in a handbasket,” according to a majority of voters in the latest Fox News poll.
And that’s draining support for President Obama’s policies. But will it help Republicans on Election Day? Unclear.
CLICK TO READ THE POLL
The new poll, released Wednesday, finds 58 percent of voters feel things in the world are “going to hell in a handbasket.” That includes nearly half of Democrats (48 percent) and majorities of independents (61 percent) and Republicans (71 percent).
Some 35 percent of voters channel Bob Marley’s mantra that everything will be all right.
Meanwhile, by a 61-36 percent margin, voters say they don’t feel hopeful about the direction of the country. That’s a reversal from 2012 when 57 percent felt hopeful. The shift is driven by a nearly 30-point drop among Democrats: 80 percent felt hopeful two years ago, while just 52 percent say the same now. In August 2012, Democrats were likely buoyed by Obama’s re-election campaign.
In a recent economic speech at Northwestern University, Obama said even though he wasn’t on the ballot this election -- his policies were. He should be glad that’s not actually the case: a 53 percent majority would vote against his policies if they were up for a vote. That includes one in six Democrats (17 percent).
Plus, by a 10 percentage-point margin, more voters think the country is “worse off” today than before Obama was elected (49 worse off vs. 39 better off).
The president’s job rating is only slightly better: 40 percent approve and 52 percent disapprove.
And then there’s this: voters not only think his signature legislation ObamaCare is “mostly a bad thing” for the country (52 percent), they also believe the administration misrepresented the law to get it passed (55 percent).
Despite all that negative sentiment toward the administration, the poll shows Republicans have failed to make significant gains this election season -- mostly because voters think they stink too.
For example, views of the Republican Party are more negative than positive by 18 points (36 favorable vs. 54 unfavorable), while the Democratic Party is underwater by just 7 points (43 favorable vs. 50 unfavorable).
Before the 2010 midterm election, Democrats were underwater by 8 points, while the GOP was even at 44 percent favorable and 44 percent unfavorable.
Meanwhile, Obama’s 44 percent favorable rating is the lowest since he entered office (52 percent unfavorable). His all-time low is 41 percent favorable in January 2007.
The generic ballot test shows likely voters prefer the Republican candidate over the Democrat in their House district by a slim three-point margin: 45-42 percent. That’s well within the poll’s margin of sampling error. Two weeks ago the GOP candidate was up by seven points (47-40 percent among likely voters).
The gender gap continues, as women are more inclined to back the Democratic candidate by a 10 point margin, while men pick the Republican candidate by 18 points.
Independents are twice as likely to support the Republican over the Democrat (49-25 percent).
Likely voters also want Republicans to win control of the U.S. Senate this year by 47 to 43 percent.
Three weeks before Election Day, the spread on the generic House vote has narrowed despite enthusiasm remaining higher among the GOP. Among likely voters, more Republicans (45 percent) than Democrats (30 percent) are “extremely” interested in the election by 15 points. Two weeks ago it was GOP +10.
Republicans (66 percent) are also more likely than Democrats (60 percent) to say the outcome of this year’s election will be “very” important to the direction of the country.
The well-known get-out-the-vote efforts by Democrats could blunt the Republican enthusiasm edge. So far though, about equal numbers -- about one voter in four -- have been contacted this year about voting for Republicans as for Democrats.
Economic issues dominated the 2012 presidential election. This year there’s ISIS. Ebola. Ukraine. The number of voters prioritizing economic issues has dropped from 45 percent in 2012 to 32 percent now. At the same time, the number picking national security issues went from seven percent before to 23 percent in the new poll. Fiscal issues (16 percent) and social issues (12 percent) stay mostly unchanged.
Voters are sharply divided on social issues, such as legalizing same-sex marriage (45 favor versus 45 oppose) and creating a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants currently living in the U.S. (46 favor vs. 44 oppose).
Majorities of Democrats favor legalizing same-sex marriage (66 percent favor) and creating a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants (61 percent favor). Republicans are the reverse. Majorities oppose legalizing gay marriage (64 percent oppose) and making it easier for illegal immigrants to stay (57 percent oppose).
On abortion, 43 percent of all registered voters are pro-life, while 48 percent are pro-choice. Among likely voters, it splits 46-46.
Pollpourri
Voter confidence that the Secret Service “can protect the president from harm” has dropped to 47 percent -- hardly surprising given that an armed man jumped the fence and made it inside the White House last month. In January 2009 a high of 66 percent had confidence in the Secret Service. Now a 52 percent majority is not confident.
Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta released a book critical of his former boss, President Obama. What do voters think of officials slamming a president after working for him? By more than two-to-one, voters say it is “honorable” rather than “disloyal” (59-27 percent).
A 55-percent majority favors Obama stopping “all border crossings into or from Mexico” until a U.S. Marine who mistakenly crossed the border six months ago is released (36 percent opposed).
The Fox News poll is based on landline and cell phone interviews with 1,012 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from October 12-14, 2014. The full poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points. For the subgroup of 831 likely voters, the margin of sampling error is also plus or minus three points.

Democrats outraising Republicans as election nears

Despite outrage from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Democrats about billionaires like the Koch brothers donating to the GOP, statistics show Democrats are outraising Republicans this election season.
Sheila Krumholz of the Center for Responsive Politics estimated, "the Democratic senatorial campaign committee has raised $111 million compared to $82 million for their Republican counterpart."
Even when you take all sources of money, from all donors for all races, the Democrats still lead. "It's about $595 million for the Democrats, and about $450 million for the Republicans," Krumholz said.
In the run-up to the Nov. 4 election, the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee made a last minute push and just announced it raised $15.5 million in September, its best month ever.
Political analyst Michael Barone of the American Enterprise Institute said, "that's a change and it says that Republican contributors big and small are martialing to the cause."
Although the Democrats have enjoyed a money lead for some time, they still are asking for more cash. A Democratic campaign group on October 7urged,"Today's ad buy deadline is the most critical of the election. This is our last chance to rescue Democrats drowning in Koch-funded attacks. Can you chip in $5 or more?"
Ben Weider of the Center for Public Integrity, another watchdog group, noted, "everyone kind of likes to play the underdog role. And so it's been very interesting to see fundraising ads, particularly related to Senate races where Democrats are claiming that, you know, they're losing the race."
Much of the Democratic party's money comes from the president's non-stop efforts to raise cash, having done more than 50 fundraisers, seven just last week, all closed to the media, including one at the home of real estate baron Rich Richman -- a name Democrats would likely ridicule if he were giving to Republicans.
Democratic Senate candidates, while happy to get the money, sometimes try to avoid being seen with an unpopular president. According to Barone, that's "because these candidates are running in states where President Obama's job performance rating is negative, in many cases highly negative."
In some recent polls, his personal approval rating stands at only 40 percent.
Democrats recently pulled money from 11 marginal races, and the Republicans just poured another $6.5 million into the Senate race in North Carolina after internal polls showed Republican Thom Tillis in a position to win.
Weider explained,"as you're getting three weeks out, you've got to spend your money in the places where it will do the most good."
But not all money goes into ads. Some is reserved for voter turnout efforts, because fewer people vote in mid-term elections.
Weider noted that "TV ads accounted for about 50 percent and then that pool of the remaining 50 percent, you can kind of split between get out the vote, mailers, phone calls."
Low turnout elections tend to favor the angriest and most energized voters, and these days, that tends to be Republicans.
“There's a close correlation between how voters approve of the president, whether it's this president or the previous one, and how they vote in Senate elections," Barone explained.

CDC considers adding names of health workers monitored for Ebola to no-fly list

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering adding the names of healthcare workers being monitored for the Ebola virus to the government's no-fly list, federal officials tell Fox News.
The move is being considered as a response to Wednesday's disclosure that Dallas nurse Amber Joy Vinson was cleared to fly on a commercial airliner earlier this week despite having been exposed to the Ebola virus while treating Thomas Edward Duncan at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.
Texas health officials announced early Wednesday that Vinson, 29, had tested positive for the virus, making her the second hospital worker to become infected. Vinson's fellow nurse, 26-year-old Nina Pham, tested positive last weekend. Over 70 workers involved in Duncan's treatment are being monitored by the CDC. Duncan died Oct. 8 of the virus after nearly two weeks in the hospital.
On Monday, a CDC official cleared Vinson to fly from Cleveland to Dallas on board Frontier Airlines Flight 1143 despite the fact that she had called and reported having a slight fever, one of the common symptoms of the Ebola virus. Vinson's reported temperature -- 99.5 degrees -- was below the threshold of 100.4 degrees set by the agency and she had no symptoms, according to CDC spokesman David Daigle.
On Wednesday, after Vinson was diagnosed with Ebola, CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden acknowledged that the nurse should not have been allowed to board the plane. Vinson had been in Ohio visiting family and had not experienced initial symptoms during her outward journey.
From now on, Frieden said, no one else involved in Duncan's care would be allowed to travel "other than in a controlled environment." He cited guidelines that permit charter flights or travel by car but no public transportation.
Federal health officials are now attempting to track down Vinson's fellow passengers on the flight, the CDC said Wednesday. Frontier has taken the aircraft out of service. The plane was flown Wednesday without passengers from Cleveland to Denver, where the airline said it will undergo a fourth cleaning, including replacement of seat covers, carpeting and air filters. One Central Texas school district temporarily closed three of its campuses because two of its students traveled on the same flight as Vinson.
Early Thursday, Frontier released a statement saying that the crew of Flight 1143 had been placed on paid leave for 21 days, despite CDC guidance that they were all safe to fly. On its website, the CDC says all people possibly exposed to Ebola should restrict their travels -- including by avoiding commercial flights -- for 21 days.
Also Thursday, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital said it was offering rooms to any workers being monitored for the virus who wished to avoid the possibility of passing the virus to family or friends.
Meanwhile, federal health officials, including Frieden, were scheduled to testify before the oversight subcommittee of the House Emergy and Commerce Committee Thursday.
In prepared testimony, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, said Duncan's death and the infections of the two Dallas nurses and a nurse in Spain "intensify our concerns about this global health threat." He said two Ebola vaccine candidates were undergoing a first phase of human clinical testing this fall. But he cautioned that scientists were still in the early stages of understanding how Ebola infection can be treated and prevented.
Medical records provided to The Associated Press by Duncan's family showed Vinson inserted catheters, drew blood and dealt with Duncan's body fluids. Late Wednesday, she arrived in Atlanta to be treated at Emory University Hospital, which has already treated three Americans diagnosed with the virus.
Also Wednesday, President Obama sought to ease fears in the U.S., urging a stepped-up response even as he stressed that the danger in the United States remained a long shot.
"We want a rapid response team, a SWAT team essentially, from the CDC to be on the ground as quickly as possible, hopefully within 24 hours, so that they are taking the local hospital step by step though what needs to be done," he said.
But Obama also noted that the Ebola is not an airborne virus like the flu and thus is more difficult to transmit.
The president made a point of noting that when he visited with health care workers who had attended to Ebola patients at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, where Vinson was taken for further treatment late Wednesday, he hugged and kissed them without fear of infection.
"They followed the protocols, they knew what they were doing," he said. "I felt perfectly safe doing so."

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

CDC Cartoon

Romney leads among likely 2016 Iowa Republican caucusgoers in new poll

Iowa Republicans are hoping Mitt Romney will change his mind about running for president in 2016.
Despite the 2012 Republican nominee’s continued assertions that he will not run for president again, Romney is still the top pick for likely Iowa Republican 2016 caucusgoers, according to a Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register Iowa poll released Tuesday.
Romney was the top vote-getter in the poll with 17 percent and Dr. Ben Carson, a conservative neurosurgeon who has never held public office, came in second with 11 percent.
Carson told Fox News’ Sean Hannity Monday night that the chances of him running are “50/50.”
Iowa Republicans were less enthusiastic about other potential candidates, most of whom currently hold public office and are better nationally recognized.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul came in third in the poll with 10 percent, but New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush failed to make waves with 6 percent and 4 percent each.
The poll results came a day after Romney’s wife Ann insisted to the Los Angeles Times that there was no chance of a third Romney presidential bid.
“Done,” she said. “Completely. Not only Mitt and I are done, but the kids are done. Done. Done. Done.”
On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had a wide lead on the competition with 53 percent. Massachussets Sen. Elizabeth Warren came in second with 10 percent.

Pentagon withheld information about decades-old chemical weapons during Iraq War, report claims

This photo shows the interior of a chemical weapons facility in Iraq (AP)

American troops were exposed to chemical weapons multiple times in the years following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, while the Pentagon kept their discoveries of the expired or degraded weapons secret from investigators, fellow soldiers, and military doctors, according to a published report.
The New York Times reported late Tuesday that American troops reported finding approximately 5,000 chemical warheads, shells, or aviation bombs in the years following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. On at least six occasions, soldiers were wounded by those weapons, which had been manufactured before 1991. In all, the paper reported that 17 U.S. soldiers and seven Iraqi police officers were exposed to chemical agents during the war. The U.S. government said its number was slightly higher, but did not release a specific figure.
The paper reported that most of the agents were discovered around the Muthanna State Establishment northwest of Baghdad, which had been a center of chemical weapons production in the 1980s. The complex has been held by Islamic State militants since June. The Iraqi government told the United Nations that approximately 2,500 chemical rockets remained on the grounds of the facility when it had fallen to the militants.
In the months after the 2003 invasion, The Times reports, the Pentagon first made searching for chemical weapons a lower priority in the midst of attacks from insurgents, then withheld data from high-level investigations, including the Iraq Study Group in 2004 and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in 2006. During the latter investigation, the paper reports, U.S. soldiers discovered more than 2,400 chemical rockets, some containing sarin gas, at a former Republican Guard compund. All appeared to have been buried before the first Gulf War in 1991.
As late as 2010, Iraqi troops were discovering chemical weapons that appeared to have been collected elsewhere by U.S. or Iraqi army units and had not been secured properly, according to The Times. The ultimate responsibility for locating, securing, and destroying the weapons was to fall to Nouri al-Maliki's Iraqi government. The paper reports that a plan was drafted to entomb the Muthanna site in concrete, but the remains of the facility were overrun by Islamic State before the plan could be put into action.
The Times also reports that as the U.S. stay in Iraq dragged on, doctors became less aware of how to treat wounds sustained by chemical weapons. Military officials reportedly attributed the soldiers' wounds to conventional weapons or other factors to prevent acknowledging the discovery of pre-1991 chemical weapons. In one case, a wounded soldier who suffered burns and blisters due to mustard gas was presented with a Purple Heart by former Secretary of the Army Peter Geren. Weeks later, he was told that he had been denied the medal because the Army had determined that his wounds had not been suffered in enemy action.
The Army reportedly admitted to The Times that it had not followed its guidelines for treating soldiers exposed to chemical weapons in the years following the invasion. It vowed to identify troops and veterans who had been exposed and follow up on their cases.

Dallas nurses allege 'no protocol, no system' in treatment of Ebola patient

Nurses at a Dallas hospital have claimed that a haphazard and sloppy care system was maintained during the treatment of Thomas Eric Duncan, who became the first person to die of the Ebola virus in America last week.
The caregivers at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital alleged that Duncan was left in an open area of the hospital's emergency room for hours and that nurses worked for days without protective gear in a statement released late Tuesday by the largest U.S. nurses' union.
The statement from the nurses came two days after one of their own, 26-year-old Nina Pham, tested positive for the virus and entered treatment at the hospital. She is listed as being in stable condition. Pham was one of over 70 staffers who cared for Duncan during his illness and who are being monitored for possible infection.
Deborah Burger of National Nurses United claimed that the nurses were forced to use medical tape to secure openings in their garments, worried that their necks and heads were exposed as they cared for a patient whose symptoms included explosive diarrhea and projectile vomiting.
RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of Nurses United, said the statement came from "several" and "a few" nurses, but she refused repeated inquiries to state how many. She said the organization had vetted the claims, and that the nurses cited were in a position to know what had occurred at the hospital. She refused to elaborate.
Wendell Watson, a Presbyterian spokesman, did not respond to specific claims by the nurses but said the hospital has not received similar complaints.
"Patient and employee safety is our greatest priority and we take compliance very seriously," he said in a statement. "We have numerous measures in place to provide a safe working environment, including mandatory annual training and a 24/7 hotline and other mechanisms that allow for anonymous reporting."
He said the hospital would "review and respond to any concerns raised by our nurses and all employees."
Among the other allegations raised by the nurses are that Duncan's lab samples were allowed to travel through the hospital's pneumatic tubes, opening the possibility of contaminating the specimen delivery system. The nurses also alleged that hazardous waste was allowed to pile up to the ceiling.
The statement also claimed that Duncan was initially kept in a non-isolated area of the hospital's emergency room for several hours before being moved. Patients who were exposed to him were allegedly only kept in isolation for a day before being moved to be with other patients. In the same vein, the nurses claim that they were made to treat other patients while also treating Duncan, and were offered no more than an optional seminar to deal with changing guidelines.
"There was no advance preparedness on what to do with the patient, there was no protocol, there was no system," Burger said.
Even today, Burger said, some hospital staff at the Dallas hospital do not have proper equipment to handle the outbreak.
"Hospital managers have assured nurses that proper equipment has been ordered but it has not arrived yet," she said.
The nurses' statement said they had to "interact with Mr. Duncan with whatever protective equipment was available," even as he produced "a lot of contagious fluids." Duncan's medical records, which his family shared with The Associated Press, underscore some of those concerns.
Almost 12 hours after he arrived in the emergency room by ambulance, his hospital chart says Duncan "continues to have explosive diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea and projectile vomiting." He was feverish and in pain.
When Ebola was suspected but unconfirmed, a doctor wrote "using the disposable shoe covers should also be considered." At that point, by all protocols, those shoe covers should have been mandatory to prevent anyone from tracking contagious body fluids around the hospital.
A few days later, however, entries in the hospital charts suggest that protection was improving.
"RN entered room in Tyvek suits, triple gloves, triple boots, and respirator cap in place," wrote a nurse.
The Presbyterian nurses are not represented by Nurses United or any other union. DeMoro and Burger said the nurses claimed they had been warned by the hospital not to speak to the media or they would be fired. They did not specify whether the nurses making the claims were among Duncan's caregivers.
The AP has attempted since last week to contact dozens of individuals involved in Duncan's care. Those who responded to reporters' inquiries have so far been unwilling to speak.
David R. Wright, deputy regional administrator for the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which monitors patient safety and has the authority to withhold federal funding, said his agency is going to want to get all of the information the nurses provided.
"We can't talk about whether we're going to investigate or not, but we'd be interested in hearing that information," he said.
CDC officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Duncan first sought care at the hospital's ER late on Sept. 25 and was sent home the next morning. He was rushed by ambulance back to the hospital on Sept. 28. Unlike his first visit, mention of his recent arrival from Liberia immediately roused suspicion of an Ebola risk, records show.
The CDC said Tuesday 76 people at the hospital could have been exposed to Duncan after his second ER visit. Another 48 people are being monitored for possible exposure before he was hospitalized.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Turkey Categorically Denies Letting U.S. Use Their Air base Against ISIS

WASHINGTON — Turkish leaders on Monday denied they had struck an agreement with the United States over using their bases to bomb ISIS militants in Syria — an embarrassing diplomatic setback a day after US leaders touted the deal.
On Sunday, US defense officials said Turkey would allow the use of its bases — including the key southern one of Incirlik 100 miles from Syria’s border — in operations against the jihadists.
National Security Adviser Susan Rice also hailed an agreement to train moderate Syrian forces at Turkish facilities. “That’s a new commitment, and one that we very much welcome,” she said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
But Monday, Turkish officials rejected the US claims.
“There is no new agreement with the United States,” a Turkish official said. “Negotiations are continuing.”

Hillary Clinton touts affordable higher education at $225G Las Vegas speech

Hillary Clinton called for businesses to collaborate with universities to make higher education more affordable at a $225,000 speech Monday night at the annual University of Nevada Las Vegas Foundation dinner.
"Higher education shouldn’t be a privilege for those able to afford it," Clinton told a crowd of approximately 900 people. "It should be an opportunity widely available for anybody with the talent, determination and ambition."
The former Secretary of State said that many students are affected by student loan debt "that can feel like an anchor dragging them down," and praised President Obama for increasing federal Pell grants by $1,000.
Clinton first made headlines in June for the address when it was revealed UNLV is paying Clinton the steep rate to speak at the foundation's ritzy dinner at the Bellagio hotel and casino.
UNLV students protested her visit, insisting the university instead spend the money on scholarships -- as tuition at the school will increase by 17 percent over the next four years.
“You could give scholarships to thousands of students, benefit research on campus, give more students grants for research and studying,” Daniel Waqar, student relations director for the UNLV Student Government, told Nevada political journalist Jon Ralston in June.
The top donor tables at the event cost between $3,000 and $20,000 each. The university says that the UNLV Foundation raised over $350,000 from those donors alone, while an additional $235,000 was raised from a pledge drive held during the dinner, more than recouping the cost of Clinton's speech.
The speaking fee is expected to go toward the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
Monday's event was just the latest of many high-priced talks the Clintons routinely have given -- which clashed with Hillary Clinton's claim during her recent book tour that she and her husband were "dead broke" when they left the White House in 2001.
Before appearing at the Bellagio, Clinton made a stop in Denver to campaign for Colorado Sen. Mark Udall and later appeared at a Nevada Democratic Party fundraiser in Las Vegas with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The Las Vegas Sun reported that VIP tickets to the fundraiser at the Aria resort cost $10,000 each.
This was Clinton’s third official visit to Sin City since March. Most recently, she spoke at the Clean Energy Summit in September.

Greg Abbott shrugs off Wendy Davis 'wheelchair' ad, says it's 'her prerogative'

WASHINGTON – Texas Attorney General and GOP gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott shrugged off a campaign ad by Democrat Wendy Davis invoking the accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down and left him relying on the use of a wheelchair.
"If she wants to attack a guy in a wheelchair, that's her prerogative," Abbott told Fox News' Sean Hannity Monday evening. "As for me, I'm running a different type of campaign ... I will focus on the future of Texas while my opponent continues to attack me."
Davis dug in Monday in the face of heavy criticism, claiming at a Fort Worth news conference that the ad was designed to portray Abbott as someone who worked against the disabled. During her remarks, Davis was flanked by disability rights activists, including two people in wheelchairs.
Asked by a reporter if the ad exploits Abbott’s disability, Davis said, “This ad is about one thing. And one thing only. It’s about Greg Abbott’s hypocrisy.”
Abbott disagreed, telling Hannity, "It shows that her campaign is focused on one thing, and that is attacking me ... I don't think it's going to sell real well, so I'm going to stay focused on the future." The candidate then linked Davis' campaign to President Obama, saying, "Most of what I'm running on is trying to solve the problems he has created, even here in Texas. My opponent is having to run from Barack Obama, and all she can do is attack me."
The ad from Davis has faced bipartisan criticism since its release late last week. Seizing on this, Abbott’s camp on Monday released a compilation of sound bites from political roundtables and panel discussions criticizing Davis’ ad and likening it to a “Hail Mary” pass. The Abbott campaign website likewise is filled with clips of criticism of the ad. The head of the Texas GOP called it "despicable."
The 30-second Davis ad released Friday goes where no campaign ad of hers has gone before. It opens with an image of a wheelchair, and then criticizes Abbott for allegedly not doing enough to help other victims, despite himself receiving a large monetary settlement after a falling branch paralyzed him. It criticizes Abbott, currently the Texas attorney general, for supporting legislation that limits awards on legal settlements and other positions.
The narrator in the ad says, “A tree fell on Greg Abbott. He sued and got millions. Since then, he’s spent his career working against other victims.”
Texas GOP Chairman Steve Munisteri swiftly called on Davis to apologize to the disabled community.
"I expect in campaigns that candidates will run negative and misleading ads; however, I never expected a candidate to use another candidate's physical disability as a prop in an ad or to their advantage," Munisteri said in a statement. "The Wendy Davis ad is easily the most offensive and despicable ad I have seen in my 42 years in politics. ... Using a wheelchair as a prop for political advantage is an affront to all disabled people."
Davis, though, defended the ad.
“In 1984, Greg Abbott sought out and received justice following a horrible injury, rightly so … receiving millions of dollars. And I’m glad, he deserved justice for the terrible tragedy that he endured,” Davis said during the press conference. “But then he turned around and built his career working to deny the very same justice that he received to his fellow Texans rightly seeking it for themselves.”
Davis’ ad is the first by an Abbott opponent to make an issue of his use of a wheelchair, though Abbott’s own ads have drawn attention to his disability.
“Some politicians talk about having a spine of steel. I actually have one,” Abbott said in 2013 when he launched his gubernatorial campaign.
Davis spokesman Zac Patkanas also defended the ad to The Associated Press, calling it "incredibly powerful" and a fair critique of Abbott as a hypocrite when it comes to his personal health versus public policy.

Oregon gov's fiancee reportedly helped buy land for marijuana grow in 1997

Cylvia Hayes, the fiancee of Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, jointly bought land intended to be used for an illegal marijuana growing operation in 1997, according to a published report.
KOIN-TV reported late Monday that Hayes bought the $245,000 property in Washington state with another man using a $15,000 down payment in November of that year. The man who sold the couple the land told the station that they soon stopped making payments and records showed that Hayes gave up her interest in the property in April 1998. She moved to Oregon three months later.
Hayes issued a statement saying that she was "not proud of that brief period of time" and claimed that "I was involved in an abusive relationship with a dangerous man." KION reports that the ex-boyfriend, whose name has not been released, has a history of domestic violence convictions.
Last week, Hayes admitted that she was paid to enter a fraudulent marriage to help an Ethiopian immigrant remain in the United States, also in 1997. She's also under fire for earning money from organizations seeking to influence state policy.
The man who sold Hayes and her then-boyfriend the land, a real estate broker named Patrick Siemion, told KOIN, "There was somewhat of a leader-follower [dynamic] there, and she was leading and the gentleman was following."
"She did all the talking, all the negotiating," Siemion told The Oregonian. "I remember her saying, `Oh this is just the perfect place, we're so happy to have it.'"
Hayes said she was never financially involved in the marijuana grow, and shortly after moving there "began to make plans to get away.
"I did not pay any part of the down payment or mortgage payments," she said. "I had no money. The money I had received in July 1997 for entering a fraudulent marriage was used as I have previously stated -- to purchase a laptop and pay school expenses."
Siemion told The Oregonian that he found marijuana trimmings in an upstairs bedroom after the property went into foreclosure. He said he did not see marijuana plants but found fertilizer and irrigation tubing that he considered evidence of a grow.
Hayes got engaged over the summer to Kitzhaber, the Democratic governor who is seeking a fourth term in next month's election.
Kitzhaber's Republican rival, state Rep. Dennis Richardson, has tried to keep the focus on Hayes' consulting work, arguing that Hayes' outside work is part of a pattern of missteps that show Kitzhaber's administration is "inept and unethical."
Kitzhaber on Monday asked a state commission for a formal opinion on whether Hayes is subject to state ethics laws and, if so, whether she's broken them.
Kitzhaber says his office has taken care to make sure that Hayes' consulting work doesn't pose a conflict of interest, including proactively reviewing her contracts before she agreed to work. But all three contracts made public by the governor's office were reviewed only after they went into effect.
A decision by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission is unlikely to come before the election. The commission can take up to 120 days to respond, and there are no scheduled meetings before the Nov. 4 election.
Before Kitzhaber was elected governor, Hayes ran a consulting business, 3E Strategies, that worked on renewable energy issues. As first lady, she's taken a public and active role, advising the governor on energy policy while advocating programs that reduce hunger and poverty. She's uncompensated and has continued her outside consulting.
The governor's office has released copies of three contracts from 2013 worth nearly $86,000, along with draft and final conflict disclosure forms. The drafts, dated in July 2013, suggest Hayes couldn't use her first lady title in her consulting work or any state facilities, including Mahonia Hall, the governor's official residence.
But the final versions of the documents include exceptions, allowing Hayes to call herself first lady in "a biographical profile" and use Mahonia Hall for meetings on contracts already obtained.
Rachel Wray, a spokeswoman for Kitzhaber's office, said the documents were changed after Hayes "asked for clarification."

Monday, October 13, 2014

Fool of the Week: Gwyneth Paltrow

Well, what a week. It's tough to narrow it down to one fool this week
There the Nebraska school district that wants children to be addressed as "purple penguins" so as to NOT offend Lesbian, Gay, bisexual or transgendered students.
Or the Harvard student body who think America is a "greater threat to world peace than ISIS."
And maybe the Seattle City Counsel who renamed Columbus Day..."Indiginous People's Day."
But by overwhelming margin, actress Gwyneth Paltrow wins for her trifecta of idiocy:
1. President Obama is so handsome you can't speak when you're around him
2. You relate to working women.
3.And you just don't understand why President Obama isn't given all the power he wants and needs.
For these... Gwyneth. You have earned yourself the "Fool of the Week" title.

Do Obama’s low approval numbers matter? Why Paul Krugman says no

It’s become a staple of political coverage: “President Obama’s approval rating has sunk to a new low, signaling a growing lack of confidence”…you know the drill.
But what if those numbers aren’t as important as we’ve all been conditioned to believe?
What if low approval is the new normal for occupants of 1600 Pennsylvania?
I’m not sold on this argument, but it’s emerged as a line of defense for the embattled incumbent, whose average approval rating in recent surveys is 42 percent, according to Real Clear Politics.
The Beltway is buzzing over this hypothesis, advanced by Paul Krugman in Rolling Stone.
Now it’s hardly surprising that the liberal New York Times columnist and Nobel-winning economist would come to Obama’s defense. In fact, the bulk of his piece is about how the president has done a far better job than is generally believed.
Krugman sees three types of Obama-bashing. One is “the onslaught from the right, which has never stopped portraying him as an Islamic atheist Marxist Kenyan.”
Another comes from the left, “where you now find a significant number of critics decrying Obama as, to quote Cornel West, someone who ‘posed as a progressive and turned out to be counterfeit.’”
And finally, what gets under Krugman’s skin is “the constant belittling of Obama from mainstream pundits and talking heads. Turn on cable news (although I wouldn't advise it) and you'll hear endless talk about a rudderless, stalled administration, maybe even about a failed presidency. Such talk is often buttressed by polls showing that Obama does, indeed, have an approval rating that is very low by historical standards.”
Well, things haven’t been going real well for this president, especially over the last year. But let’s now look at the approval-rating question.
“There are a number of reasons to believe that presidential approval doesn't mean the same thing that it used to: There is much more party-sorting (in which Republicans never, ever have a good word for a Democratic president, and vice versa), the public is negative on politicians in general, and so on. Obviously the midterm election hasn't happened yet, but in a year when Republicans have a huge structural advantage – Democrats are defending a disproportionate number of Senate seats in deep-red states – most analyses suggest that control of the Senate is in doubt, with Democrats doing considerably better than they were supposed to. This isn't what you'd expect to see if a failing president were dragging his party down.”
That last part is not very persuasive. If Democrats are hanging on in the Senate shootout, it’s in spite of Obama, not because of him. Alison Lundergan Grimes, who is challenging Mitch McConnell, embarrassed herself by refusing to tell the Louisville Courier-Journal whether she even voted for Barack Obama. Krugman’s own paper, the Times, front-paged a story on how the Democratic Party has benched Obama in the midterms, with few candidates this side of Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn wanting him to come in and campaign.
But it’s not hard to believe that deep divisions in the country have made sky-high presidential popularity a relic of an earlier era.
Washington Post columnist Chris Cillizza picks up the argument:
“As our tendency to see everything through which partisan glasses we wear has both increased and distanced us from people with whom we disagree, the way in which presidents are perceived has followed suit. Every year, Gallup gathers its data to compare the relative views of presidents by party. Of the 12 most polarized years -- defined as the years with the largest gaps between how the two parties see the president -- in Gallup's history, 10 of them have come during the tenures of George W. Bush and Barack Obama…
“Sixty percent-plus approval ratings -- unless they come at the very start of a presidency or in the wake of a national disaster or tragedy -- are things of the past for as long as the current partisanship gripping the country holds on. Given how vast the gap is between how the two parties view the right next steps for the country -- not to mention how negatively they view the other side -- it's impossible to imagine a president enjoying any sort of broad (or even narrow) bipartisan support for any extended period of his or her presidency.
“Increasingly, there are two political countries in the U.S.. One, a liberal one, is governed by Barack Obama. The other lacks a clear leader but views itself as at war with Obama's America. And, there's no reason to think that if, say, Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio gets elected president in 2016, things will be any different. Rubio will be president of a conservative America. The liberal America will see itself in diametric opposition to that America.”
I’m still not convinced that a future president can’t put better numbers on the board. If the economy wasn’t still having an anemic recovery six years into Obama’s tenure, his approval would be higher. If he had moved earlier to beat back the ISIS terrorists, his approval would be higher. If he hadn’t botched the ObamaCare rollout, his approval would be higher.
But it’s also true that journalists are way too addicted to fleeting polls as a measure of presidential health—and that greatly colors the coverage. If the nation’s leader takes on difficult challenges, his approval goes down as he alienates a swath of the country. If he steers a middle course, his approval may languish because he has disappointed his most fervent supporters. Fleeting controversies that barely register in history’s verdict may cause a temporary depression in poll numbers.
By any yardstick, Obama is not terribly popular right now. But we in the press need to find some broader measures of how a president is faring.

California's health insurance exchange awards $184 million in no-bid contracts

LOS ANGELES – California's health insurance exchange has awarded $184 million in contracts without the competitive bidding and oversight that is standard practice across state government, including deals that sent millions of dollars to a firm whose employees have long-standing ties to the agency's executive director.
Covered California's no-bid contracts were for a variety of services, ranging from public relations to paying for ergonomic adjustments to work stations, according to an Associated Press review of contracting records obtained through the state Public Records Act.
Several of those contracts worth a total of $4.2 million went to a consulting firm, The Tori Group, whose founder has strong professional ties to agency Executive Director Peter Lee, while others were awarded to a subsidiary of a health care company he once headed.
Awarding no-bid contracts is unusual in state government, where rules promote "open and fair competition" to give taxpayers the best deal and avoid ethical conflicts. The practice is generally reserved for emergencies or when no known competition exists.
Covered California was created in 2010 and given broad authority to award no-bid contracts as a way to meet tight federal deadlines for getting the new health insurance marketplace operational by last year. The same law also exempted it from sections of the state's public records law, a loophole lawmakers closed last year after it was disclosed by the AP.
The agency confirmed some no-bid contracts were awarded to people with previous professional ties to Lee, but emphasized Covered California was under pressure to move fast and needed specialized skills.
The fledgling exchange "needed experienced individuals who could go toe-to-toe with health plans and bring to our consumers the best possible insurance value. Contractors like The Tori Group possess unique and deep health care experience to help make that happen and get the job done on a tight deadline," Lee said in a statement.
"As this organization matures," he added, "we will rely less on private contractors."
With so much taxpayer money in play, a government watchdog group said more oversight is essential.
Kathay Feng, executive director of California Common Cause, said she recognized the need to free Covered California from cumbersome contracting rules that could have hampered its ability to meet Affordable Care Act deadlines.
But with tens of millions of taxpayer dollars at issue, "some accountability and transparency is needed, whether through audits or an alternative oversight body," she said, adding, "To spend $4.2 million on anything, let alone a contract to a friend and former colleague, raises serious questions."
The no-bid contracts represent nearly $2 of every $10 awarded to outside companies by the agency and were among roughly $1 billion in agreements disclosed to AP that the exchange executed from late 2010 through July, according to the records.
Through its first year of operation, Covered California was funded almost entirely by federal grant money.
The founder of The Tori Group, Leesa Tori, worked under Lee when she was a senior executive at Pacific Health Advantage, a small business insurance exchange that failed in 2006. Lee was a longtime chief executive of Pacific Business Group on Health, which managed Pacific Health Advantage, and Tori also worked with him at the parent company.
Long before it opened its doors to the public last fall, Covered California awarded a small contract to Tori for her advice on designing a program to sell insurance to small companies. The $4,900 agreement in late 2011 was executed without rival bids.
The deal would mark the beginning of a lucrative and far-reaching partnership between the agency and the company Tori formed about two years ago, just as national health care reform took root across the U.S. An initial $150,000 contract with The Tori Group in March 2013 was executed by Lee, but later amendments that increased its value to $4.2 million were approved by Covered California's board, an agency statement indicated.
Nearly three years after her first, small contract went into effect, she and employees at her firm hold senior-level positions and work on issues ranging from enrollment to health plan design at Covered California.
At least five other people who are contracted to work at Covered California have ties to the now-defunct Pacific Health Advantage, four of them at The Tori Group, whose employees are paid through the consulting contracts. In all, nine people listed on the group's website, in addition to Tori, work at the exchange.
Yolanda Richardson, Covered California's chief deputy executive director who reports directly to Lee, was a vice president at Pacific Health Advantage. Before she was hired on staff, she received a 10-month, $176,500 no-bid consulting contract from the agency in 2011, about a month before Lee came on board, according to the records.
Tori, the former director of plan management, is now a consultant on plan management. The Tori Group's chief financial officer, Kathleen Solorio, is Covered California's operations adviser. Another principal at the firm, Corky Goodwin, the former interim director of the small-business insurance program, is a consultant on small-business insurance.
Tori said professional credentials qualified her company for the contracts -- working in an exchange gave her team experience rare in the industry.
The Pacific Business Group on Health Negotiating Alliance, a subsidiary of the company Lee previously led, received two no-bid contracts worth a total of $525,000. Spokeswoman Emma Hoo said the work covers "unique and in-depth assessment of plan operations."
John Vigna, spokesman for former Assembly Speaker John Perez, who spearheaded legislation that established the exchange, said Perez was confident that enough checks and balances remained in effect, including oversight by the federal government and a state law that outlines rules for avoiding conflicts of interest.

ISIS magazine claims group has enslaved and sold Yazidi women and kids

A magazine purportedly published by the Islamic State group says that militants have captured, enslaved and sold Yazidi women and children, confirming allegations that have been made against the group for months.
The claim came as Human Rights Watch said Sunday that hundreds of Yazidi men, women and children from Iraq are being held in makeshift detention facilities in Iraq and Syria by the group, commonly known as ISIS.
Tens of thousands of Yazidis fled into the Sinjar Mountains, many getting stranded there for weeks, after the militant onslaught on Sinjar in August, part of the Islamic State group's lightning advance across northern and western Iraq. Hundreds were killed in the attack, and tens of thousands fled for their lives, most to the Kurdish-held parts of northern Iraq.
Iraq's Human Rights Ministry said at the time that hundreds of women were abducted by the militants, who consider the Yazidis, a centuries-old religious minority, a heretical sect. Some also alleged the Islamic State group enslaved and sold Yazidi women and children, though the group itself did not comment on it.
The issue of Dabiq magazine released Sunday stated that "the enslaved Yazidi families are now sold by the Islamic State soldiers." It added that "the Yazidi women and children were then divided according to the Shariah amongst the fighters of the Islamic State who participated in the Sinjar operations."
Most of the Yazidis are now displaced in northern Iraq, many having lost loved ones in their flight to safety. Some say that their women and girls were snatched during the militant raid.
In one section of the magazine, a statement attributed to Mohammed al-Adnani, the spokesman for the Islamic State group, read: "We will conquer your Rome, break your crosses, and enslave your women," addressing those who do not subscribe to its hard-line interpretation of Islam.
The release of the magazine came as New York-based Human Rights Watch said Yazidi men, women and children remain held by the group. Its report noted that the group "separated young women and teenage girls from their families and has forced some of them to marry its fighters."
One woman told Human Rights Watch that she saw Islamic State fighters buying girls, and a teenage girl said a fighter bought her for $1,000, the report said. The Associated Press independently has interviewed a number of Yazidi women and girls who escaped captivity and several claimed that they were sold to Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria.

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Related Image

Related Image

Related Image

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Friday, October 17, 2014

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Monday, October 13, 2014