Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party |
- Federal deficit impasse hinges on parties’ tax ideology
- Free speech is just that – “free”
- Md. scrambles to revise camp sunscreen rules
- Hackers Claim Third Attack on Arizona Police
- Texan Wins Controversial ‘White Man’ Scholarship
- RI Going Red: Tea Party Took Over State House This Year
| Federal deficit impasse hinges on parties’ tax ideology Posted: 02 Jul 2011 09:33 AM PDT By: Bruce Alpert, NOLA.com It’s no surprise Democrats and Republicans in Congress are having a hard time reaching a deal to extend the national debt limit when they can’t even agree on the definition of tax increases. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, argues “closing loopholes that allow some people not to pay their fare share of taxes is not what I look at as a tax increase.” But Louisiana’s seven Republican congressional members are holding to a pledge they signed from the conservative Americans for Tax Reform that defines tax increases much more broadly. The pledge commits the signers “to oppose increases in the marginal income tax rate for individuals and business and oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.” That would mean savings from eliminating tax breaks could not go for deficit reduction. President Barack Obama wants to eliminate some tax breaks for oil and gas companies, hedge fund managers, and those who purchase or lease corporate aircraft, producing one dollar in extra tax revenue for every two dollars in budget cuts as part of deal to extend the debt limit. Without an extension by Aug. 2, Obama’s Treasury Department and many private economists predict a sudden rise in interest rates that could trigger an international economic crisis. To read more, visit: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/07/federal_deficit_impasse_hinges.html |
| Free speech is just that – “free” Posted: 02 Jul 2011 09:28 AM PDT By Gene Policinski, TheHill.com When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 27 that states cannot forbid the sale or rental of video games to children, it punctuated two terms remarkable for the court's support for free expression – in cases remarkable for speech that many, if not most, of us really, really dislike. In Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, the court's 7-2 decision voided a never-enforced California law that banned the sale or rental to children age 17 and younger of video games involving violence, gore and assault. The increasing interactive reality and violent nature of the games prompted the law, which state officials supported by citing a bevy of studies showing possible links to real-world violence. But in his majority opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia dismissed the studies as inconclusive, writing that the legitimate government role in protecting children "does not include a free-floating power to restrict the ideas to which children may be exposed." In earlier cases, the justices upheld free-speech arguments when they: -Struck down campaign finance laws that prevented corporations from direct spending in support of a candidate, leaving intact, for now, a ban on direct contributions, in Citizens United v. FEC; -Held that a federal law aimed at banning so-called "crush videos" involving animal cruelty, was too broadly written, and could be applied to legal activities such as videos showing bow hunting, in United States v. Stevens; -Supported the right of Americans to express their opinions even in the most repugnant fashion, in a case involving a Topeka, Kan., based group organized as Westboro Baptist Church that protests outside military funerals, in Snyder v. Phelps. To read more, visit: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/judicial/169387-free-speech-is-just-that-free |
| Md. scrambles to revise camp sunscreen rules Posted: 02 Jul 2011 09:24 AM PDT By Marc Fisher, WashingtonPost.com Maryland health officials were making revisions late Friday night to a new policy that would have severely restricted who could apply sunscreen to children attending summer camps. The new policy, which was issued last month, ordered summer camp operators to steer away from assisting kids with applying sunscreen and to get parents' permission before letting any child use sunscreen at camp. A report on that policy was posted Friday afternoon on washingtonpost.com. Late Friday, health officials said they recognized that the policy had caused confusion, and said revisions were underway. The revised policy will make it clear "that, in fact, parents do" need to give permission for kids to have sunblock, said Clifford C. Mitchell, assistant health director for environmental health and food protection. But he said, "It will be silent on the thing that has raised questions. It will not deal with issues of contact in any way." The guidelines, issued June 10, had been described as among the toughest in the nation. To read more, visit: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-to-require-parental-permission-before-kids-can-use-sunscreen/2011/06/30/AGN1AitH_story.html |
| Hackers Claim Third Attack on Arizona Police Posted: 02 Jul 2011 09:19 AM PDT From: FOXNews.com PHOENIX – A computer hacking group Friday posted a new batch of personal details about Arizona law enforcement officers, marking a third attack on the state’s police and an escalation of a spree of cyber break-ins. #AntiSec, an online movement comprised of parts of the Anonymous vigilante group and the Lulz Security hacking collective, posted emails and user information as part of the attack on Arizona authorities. The attack has now stretched for two weeks. The group also claimed to have defaced eight websites associated with Arizona police groups. The websites were not responding early Friday, suggesting they had been taken offline. As in earlier attacks, AntiSec said the new intrusions were prompted by Arizona’s controversial SB1070 immigration law. The hackers were believed to have used peer-to-peer software on one police computer to grab user names and passwords used for further access. “Let this third and crushing blow against Arizona police send a strong message to the ruling class around the world,” the hackers said in a statement. “You will no longer be able to operate your campaign of terror against immigrants and working people in secrecy.” A spokesman for the Arizona Department of Public Safety said authorities were aware of the new attack and that an investigation was ongoing. The attack came amid a broader spate of digital break-ins targeting governments and corporations. Japanese technology-and-media giant Sony, the US Senate, telecommunications giant AT&T and other government and private entities have been breached. To read more, visit: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/07/01/anonymous-hackers-claim-third-attack-on-arizona-police/?test=latestnews |
| Texan Wins Controversial ‘White Man’ Scholarship Posted: 02 Jul 2011 09:14 AM PDT From: FOXNews.com A controversial non-profit organization announced it has awarded the second of five academic scholarships to a Texas man. Among the criteria: the recipient must be white and male. The group sponsoring it says it’s the only scholarship of its kind in the United States, My Fox Dallas-Fort Worth reports. The award was presented by a group called the Former Majority Association for Equality. Its president, Colby Bohannon, says he has been called a racist and compared to the KKK. “We’re not racists. We have no agenda for bigotry,” said Bohannon. “We’re not trying to take away anything from any other group. We’re just trying to help poor, Caucasian males afford college.” Recipient Brendan Baird is studying to become a physician’s assistant, and the awarded $500 check will help him to pay for schooling. To win, he had to demonstrate a high GPA, community service, sports ability and financial need. But what really sealed the deal is the fact that he is a white man. “If anyone wants to say it’s an issue of color, it’s the color of green,” said Baird. “And we all need it.” The group’s vice-president, Marcus Carter, is black. There are also two women and an Hispanic man on its board. To read more, visit: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/07/02/texan-wins-controversial-white-man-scholarship/ |
| RI Going Red: Tea Party Took Over State House This Year Posted: 02 Jul 2011 07:32 AM PDT By Dan McGowan, GoLocalProv News Only eight months after Rhode Island bucked the national trend and shut Republicans out of every major office, the state Tea Party was the last political group expected to make any inroads on Smith Hill, where Democrats have maintained a stranglehold on leadership for much of the past century. But as the clocked ticked on the final hours of the General Assembly session, there they were, celebrating what many believe to be a breakthrough victory by helping to get binding arbitration tabled for the time being. Getting it done took a truly organized effort previously reserved only for those on the other side of aisle and state conservatives are saying it sent a message to the entire state: Rhode Island may eat and sleep blue, but it's starting to drink the Tea. Opening Eyes To call it a changing of the guard is, of course, extremely premature. But in a year where the most solidly Democratic General Assembly in the country voted to support a controversial voter id bill, slashed longevity payments for state workers and opted for cuts to social services to close what was once a $331 million budget deficit, state Tea Party leader Lisa Blais says something is clearly changing in Rhode Island. To read more, visit: http://www.golocalprov.com/politics/ri-going-red-tea-party-took-over-state-house-in-sessions-final-days/ |
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