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Ztolkins

Obama Gun Control Proposals Unveiled, Marking Biggest Legislative Effort In A Generation

(Huffington Post) The proposal, which comes at the end of a month-long review process spearheaded by Vice President Joe Biden, is broken down into four key subsections: law enforcement, the availability of dangerous firearms and ammunition, school safety and mental health.

In an effort to touch on all four of those elements, the president recommended requiring criminal background checks for all gun sales; reinstating the assault weapons ban; restoring a 10-round limit on ammunition magazines; eliminating armor-piercing bullets; providing mental health services in schools; allocating funds to hire more police officers; and instituting a federal gun trafficking statute, among other policies. The cost of the package, senior officials estimated, would be roughly $500 million, some of which could come from already budgeted funds.

n2doc

Whole Foods CEO: Obamacare Is ‘Like Fascism’

(Think Progress) In an interview with NPR, Whole Foods CEO and self-professed libertarian John Mackey revived his previous criticism of Obamacare — but this time, with a new twist. While Mackey incorrectly denounced the landmark health reform law as “socialism” in a controversial 2009 Wall Street Journal op-ed, the multimillionaire CEO has revised his assessment and now considers Obamacare — also incorrectly — to be closer to “fascism”:

“Technically speaking, it’s more like fascism. Socialism is where the government owns the means of production. In fascism, the government doesn’t own the means of production, but they do control it, and that’s what’s happening with our healthcare programs and these reforms.”

geek tragedy

White House calls NRA ad "repugnant and cowardly"

(Reuters) "Most Americans agree that a president's children should not be used as pawns in a political fight. But to go so far as to make the safety of the president's children the subject of an attack ad is repugnant and cowardly," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

kpete

Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity warns against GOP debt-ceiling strategy

(Huffington Post) Republicans intent on smashing through the debt ceiling in order to wring some spending concessions out of President Obama are finding themselves awfully lonely these days, but they've kept soldiering on. The latest ally to abandon them may be the toughest to ignore, though. The president of the group Americans For Prosperity, bankrolled by Charles G. and David H. Koch of Koch Industries, yesterday said the group wants spending cuts, but warned Republicans that screwing around with the debt ceiling "makes the messaging more difficult," the Financial Times writes. The AFP president also warned Republicans not to be seen as "hostage takers." That's a marked change from the summer of 2011, when AFP objected to a debt-ceiling deal because it didn't cut spending enough, the FT notes.

Adenoid_Hynkel

House Republicans Can’t Find Any Co-Sponsors For Their Latest Obamacare Repeal Bills

(Think Progress) In a sign that the GOP’s anti-Obamacare fervor may finally be giving way to political reality, Rep. Michele Bachmann’s (R-MN) latest Obamacare repeal bill doesn’t have a single co-sponsor in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Bachmann made introducing the repeal bill her first order of business for the 113th Congress, even as millions of Americans waited for House Republicans to act on a disaster relief package in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

And two other anti-Obamacare bills — one to repeal the law’s individual insurance mandate and another introduced by Rep. Steve King (R-IA) to repeal the whole law — also do not have any co-sponsors. By contrast, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s (R-VA) so-called “Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act” had a total of 182 cosponsors by the fourth day of the 112th Congress, and House Republicans successfully voted to repeal Obamacare a staggering 33 times during the last session — costing taxpayers an approximate $50 million. Public support for repealing the reform law has plunged to an all-time low as Americans begin experiencing its positive effects.

trailmonkee

Pro-LGBT Episcopal Priest Chosen To Deliver Benediction At Obama Inauguration

A pro-LGBT Episcopal priest has just been chosen to deliver the benediction at President Barack Obama‘s second inauguration, after another priest withdrew when his extremely anti-gay sermon was discovered. Reverend Dr. Luis León, fourteenth Rector of St. John’s Church in Washington, D.C., will replace Rev. Louie Giglio of Atlanta, Georgia. Reverend León delivered the invocation at President George W. Bush‘s 2005 inauguration, and both the Bush family and the Obama family have attended his church.

BVictor1

NRA's New Ad Calls Obama "Elitist Hypocrite" For Having Secret Service Protection For His Children

HarveyDarkey

Every parking lot ought to look like this

Shades the cars while producing free energy. Germany has created over 500,000 new jobs by pushing hard into solar and wind energy - providing incentives for everyone to install and as a result, they will be able to move forward with their plans to shut down all their nuclear power plants in the next decade.

UrbScotty

Mark Sanford is running for Congress

(Washington Post) It’s official (or will be tomorrow): Former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford (R) is running in the special election for the state’s 1st district.

“Officially we’re going to announce tomorrow, and then it’s off to the races,” he told the National Review.

Redfairen

Murkowski rejects GOP's debt-ceiling hostage strategy

(Maddowblog) Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) became the first Republican senator to come out against using the debt ceiling as leverage for spending cuts, contradicting Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other Republicans who favor such a tactic.

In an interview with the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner published Tuesday, Murkowski said, "If you incur an obligation, you have a responsibility to pay for that." According to the paper, "Murkowski said spending cuts are crucial but shouldn't be tied to the debt ceiling debate."