National

Hands off Joe. We don't touch women like this in 2015.

While Tom Carper favors cutting social security benefits, (because jobs...(?)) he probably will not bother opposing this common sense proposal to eliminate the cap on taxable social security income. It isn't going anywhere in a GOP controlled congress, so Carper can sit back and let Mitch McConnell do his dirty work.

This could be anywhere in the United States of No Tax Increases Ever for any Reason. It happens to be from from Detroit via former Delawarean Chad Livengood.

Detroit — There’s a statewide election less than 80 days away on a plan to boost funding for roads, schools and municipalities, but you wouldn’t have known it at the Michigan Democratic Party’s state convention over the weekend.

Republicans are getting a taste of their own medicine and they do not enjoy it. From the AP:

A month into their newfound control of both chambers of Congress, it wasn't supposed to be like this for Republicans. Instead of advancing a conservative agenda and showing voters they can govern, they are confronting the very real possibility of a shutdown of the Homeland Security Department later this month. That's because they can't overcome Senate Democrats' stalling tactics in a dispute over immigration. "I suppose elections have consequences except in the United States Senate," complained GOP Rep. Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina, summing up the frustration for many House Republicans. "Tell me how it would be different if Harry Reid were still running the place," he added, naming the Senate Democratic leader who was booted into the minority in November's midterm elections. [...] The predicament is so frustrating to House Republicans that some conservatives have begun advocating changing Senate rules to limit the use of the filibuster, an idea several Senate Republicans have already dismissed. For many, the fear is that their deadlock over the Homeland Security bill is merely a taste of things to come for the next two years.

Here is a crocodile tear for ya. Democrats are pleasantly surprising me in their use of their recently discovered spine. Don't become cowards now. Stand up to these treasonous assholes and continue to demand a clean DHS Funding bill.

The Washington Post begs the question, should the leader of the free world, the commander in chief of the planet's largest military force, and the person who makes life and death decisions on almost every possible topic, thus necessitating some complex analytical and thinking skills usually taught at an institute of higher learning, have at the very least a college degree:

“What is clear is that if Walker ascended to the White House — he’s holding his own in most GOP primary polls — he’d be the first president in more than 60 years without at least a bachelor’s degree. Of America’s 44 presidents, just 11 didn’t graduate from college.”

The answer to the begged question is yes, you fucking idiot moron, of course the President of the United States must have a college degree at the very least. Even George W. Bush had a college degree, and if that brain jackass could do it, so too should have Scott Walker if he wants to President. A lack of a college education is probably the reason Scott Walker does not believe in evolution (and no, I will not accept his dodging indirection, as this is an issue that you either believe in evidence, science and facts and you loudly proclaim it, or you don't and thus don't). He doesn't believe in evolution because he never learned about it. I wonder what else he never learned about. History? Math?

The US education market has always been huge, but it has also always been highly fragmented. That fragmentation made it largely unprofitable and not worth the attention of huge multinational corporations. When you consider trying to sell to 50 idiosyncratic states, each of which contains (on average) 300 school districts, and each of those mostly autonomous districts contains (on average) 380 schools broken up by student ages between elementary, middle and high schools, further divided by the demographics of various communities, you can see that it is not a coordinated market that can make billions for someone with a "one size fits all" product line. "Education reform" has changed that. Pearson has been able to change that. "Common Core" has brought some predictability and uniformity to a chaotic marketplace. If you doubt that Common Core was wired for Pearson, this Politico investigation should disabuse you of that notion.

First Read:

“With about two weeks to go before the Department of Homeland Security runs out of funding, congressional Republicans appear to be stuck. You have House Republicans saying they’ve done their part by passing their DHS spending bill, which includes language rolling back President Obama’s immigration actions. And you have Senate Republicans throwing the ball back in the House’s court, because the House GOP measure — due to Democrats’ successful filibusters — can’t get 60 votes in the Senate. And right now, no one knows (or at least is telling us) how we get out of this mess.” “Now two weeks is a lifetime in Washington politics. But if cooler heads are going to prevail, they need to start working on a solution ASAP. Don’t forget this reality of governing in times of divided government: For legislation to become law, it needs to get 1) 218 votes in the House, 2) at least 60 votes in the Senate, and 3) the president’s signature. In other words … compromise. And that’s something that’s been missing all too often over the past four-plus years.”