» The spike in donations has put the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on track for a historically-high month, only a few weeks removed from a record-breaking $5.6 million in donations during May. The donation numbers also add legitimacy to Democratic claims that the ruling galvanized the left every bit as much as it galvanized the right. Though, even when combined with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s similarly high $2.3 million in donations, the numbers seem small compared to the more than $5.5 million raised by Mitt Romney in the first 24-hours after the decision.
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Rates were set to double at the end of the month, but a huge package negotiated by Democrats and Republicans will retain the low(er) rates for another year (this only applies to federally-backed loans). The legislation passed the House and Senate today, and the White House has indicated that President Obama will sign it. So, yay! There’s a lot more policy in the bill, too, including extensions of federal highway programs and national flood insurance.
Congress hereby declares that the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being.The Life at Conception Act, an amendment introduced by Sen. Rand Paul • Gumming up the works of an otherwise non-controversial bill about flood insurance. The amendment to the bill also “ensure[s] equal protection for right to life of each born and preborn human person.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stated he would not allow a vote on the amendment, and asked other GOP senators — who, incidentally, are the major supporters of this bill, even without Paul’s amendment — to deal with their colleague “on their side of the aisle.” An incredible hail mary for pro-life policy. source (via • follow)
By taking detailed pictures of individuals in intimate locations such as around a pool, or in their backyard, or even through their windows, these programs have the potential to put private images on public display. We need to hit the pause button here and figure out what is happening and how we can best protect peoples’ privacy, without unduly impeding technological advancement.Sen. Charles Schumer • Arguing that Google and Apple’s separate, upcoming 3D aerial maps raise major privacy concerns. He even wrote an open letter to the companies on the matter, which features this all-caps scare message: “TECHNOLOGY STRONG ENOUGH TO SEE THROUGH WINDOWS AND EVEN CATCH SUN BATHERS IN BACK YARDS” Problem is, Schumer appears to be citing a Daily Mail report on the matter that suggested that “military grade” spy planes were used to get this data, despite the fact that appears to not be the case. Google, in fact, responded, suggesting Schumer misunderstood the technology. “We currently don’t blur aerial imagery because the resolution isn’t sharp enough for it to be a concern,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
Ooooh cool. Now do S T O N E T E M P L E P I L O T S
Jon Tester: U.S. Senator from Montana … has seven fingers … loves him some Pearl Jam.
h/t @jontester
G I N B L O S S O M S
(Source: coolstoryslowbro)
The man who today occupies the White House and is running for president is a very different person. We have not seen such a divisive figure in modern American history than we have over the last three and one-half years.Florida Sen. Marco Rubio • Talking smack about Obama at a fundraiser in South Carolina last night. Since we’re talking about divisive figures, is it not worth noting that there are divisive figures all around, on all sides? Wouldn’t we have bipartisanship if people weren’t being so divisive? Here’s our question: Do Rubio’s harsh words make him more or less likely to be Romney’s VP? He’s sort of the top rumored guy at the moment — though the effect of this speech has some speculating he might make a good presidential candidate after 2012.
» The nitty-gritty: The bill was co-sponsored by 23 senators, including one Republican (Susan Collins of Maine). It passed the committee easily, via a bipartisan voice vote, and is actually rather narrow in scope: It only provides benefits for unmarried, same-sex domestic partners of federal workers. Married same-sex couples—and unmarried opposite-sex couples—are not included. The range of benefits provided, though, is pretty huge: medical, long-term care, disability, life insurance, workers’ comp, retirement, and more.
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“The president recently weighed in on marriage and you know he said his views were evolving on marriage,” the Kentucky Republican said at Iowa’s Faith and Freedom Coalition meeting. “Call me cynical, but I wasn’t sure his views on marriage could get any gayer.
Call us cynical, but we aren’t sure this was the best thing for Rand to say.
Not long after Dodd-Frank got passed, the company made arguments for a loophole in the Volcker Rule, which takes effect in July, to allow some of the types of portfolio hedging that that company used as it produced a $2 billion loss recently. “JPMorgan was the one that made the strongest arguments to allow hedging, and specifically to allow this type of portfolio hedging,” noted one Treasury Department official. Officials who worked on the law, such as Sen. Carl Levin, have made it clear that allowing for this type of activity was not their intention with the law. Now, they have a pretty clear $2 billion argument against allowing such a loophole to get through. (photo by Scott Eells/Bloomberg; edit for clarity)
Utah’s nominating convention on Saturday favors Hatch: Back in 2010, a fellow Republican Senator, Bob Bennett, lost his seat in a similar nominating convention, facing tough competition from Tea Partiers, eventually losing his seat to current Sen. Mike Lee. Hatch, who spoke very unfavorably of his competition, is looking fairly strong in polls leading in to the convention, which picks the candidates which eventually will take the Republican nomination. If Hatch can get 60 percent, he can avoid a primary outright. And recent polls show that he’s at 59 percent, with a 4.43-percent margin of error and 15 percent undecided. Utah is strongly Republican, so winning at this convention is tantamount to winning the race. If the 78-year-old Hatch wins, he says it’ll be his last term — he’s currently finishing out his sixth term. (photo by Gage Skidmore) source
But seriously … I am not kidding.
I’m not watching all of...
Yahoo wants to buy Hulu now too. They’re going on an “I...
I’m moving back to New York in a few days. Unlike past...
OMG. I got so...
In this week’s Newsweek, a little...
Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
“I don’t want government telling me what I can do.” Republican Senate candidate John Raese started strong during a campaign appearance in Hurricane, West Virginia, but things took a turn for the worse when the Holocaust metaphors began. Raese spent a few seconds comparing required “No Smoking” signage on restaurants to Hitler forcing people to wear a yellow Star of David, before going on a tirade against the policies of “Fidel Roosevelt”. source
These people are not conservatives. They’re not Republicans. They’re radical libertarians and I’m doggone offended by it. I despise these people, and I’m not the guy you come in and dump on without getting punched in the mouth.Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch • Criticizing the right-leaning figures in his own party (the Tea Party, perhaps?) who are giving the six-term senator trouble. Hatch, who is facing challenges from Utah state Sen. Dan Liljenquist and Utah state Rep. Chris Herrod, is confident that he’ll be able to squeeze out a seventh term. But the criticism Hatch is getting from those to the right of him seems to be rubbing him the wrong way. (By the way, the “getting punched in the mouth” bit is of note because Hatch was once a boxer.)
President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed into law a ban on insider trading by members of Congress and their staff.
The law, the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, explicitly says that members of Congress and their staffs are not exempt from the prohibition of insider trading placed on everyone else.
“We were sent here to serve the American people and look out for their interests—not to look out for our own interests,” Obama said when signing the legislation.
The law mandates that government employees and members of Congress report investment transactions within 45 days of making a trade, instead of the annual basis under the old law. Information in public financial disclosure reports must be made available on agency websites under the law, according to a fact sheet issued by the White House.
Good move. This needed to be done.
X = President Romney. Y = a Republican Senate. X + Y = Z. Solve for Z. Z could mean the end of Medicare as we know it.Sen. Al Franken • Writing a fundraising e-mail for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee using a math metaphor. Franken is a self-proclaimed “math genius,” apparently — he’s big on showing off the Pythagorean Theorem to elementary school kids in Minnesota — but this math equation doesn’t seem particularly complex to follow. He follows it up with some firm language: “But, alas, it’ll take more than elementary geometry to help the DSCC reach its $90,000 goal before Saturday night’s deadline. We need your help. By which, again, I mean your money.”
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