Here We Go Again

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Florida has a problem.
On Friday night, gun collector Michael David Dunn pulled his sedan up next to the SUV in which the unarmed 17-year-old Jordan Davis sat with his three friends at a Jacksonville, Florida, gas station. Dunn, 45, allegedly asked them to turn down their loud music. According to the Orlando Sentinel, that provoked an argument with Jordan and his friends: Jordan and Dunn exchanged words, and Dunn pulled a gun and shot eight or nine times, striking Jordan twice, [Jacksonville sheriff's Lt. Rob] Schoonover said. Jordan was sitting in the back seat. No one else was hurt. Jordan died that night in his friend’s arms. Jordan’s father, Ron, later called Dunn a “coward” for shooting at the teens.
Guess what law Dunn is citing? You guessed it - Stand Your Ground. Here is another case where the shooter initiated the confrontation and now says he feared for his life. If he viewed the teenagers as dangerous why would he confront them? That's a serious question.

President Obama asks directly for your help, says Republicans are holding middle-class tax cuts “hostage”

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In a blunt speech just delivered in Hatfield PA, President Obama directly asked for Americans to put pressure on congress, and called the Republicans out for taking the middle-class tax cuts hostage. From Daily Kos live blog of the event:
9:16 AM PT: Obama says he's counting on Americans to put pressure on Congress to extend the middle-class tax cuts. "I need you to remind members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, to not get bogged down in partisan bickering. [...] I want you to call, send an email, to post on their Facebook wall." And he mentions the #My2k hashtag on Twitter. 9:20 AM PT: "I'm going to need folks like you, here in Hatfield and in Pennsylvania and across the country, to get this done." 9:18 AM PT: Here's the hostage line: "It's not acceptable to me and I don't think it's acceptable to you for just a handful of Republicans in Congress to hold middle-class tax cuts hostage simply because they don't want tax rates on upper income folks to go up. Alright? That doesn't make sense." Applause.

Republicans Can’t Govern

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Republicans are all about big, brave (and vague) talk on the campaign trail, but once they get into office and have to govern they become whiny babies. President Obama has put a plan on the table. Unsurprisingly, Republicans don't like it. So, what do Republicans do? Counter with a different plan? Nope - because that would actually require doing work and putting their big, bad and vague campaign talk into written word. What they're asking for is President Obama to negotiate with himself, and that ain't happening.
Perhaps the key lesson the White House took from the last couple of years is this: Don’t negotiate with yourself. If Republicans want to cut Medicare, let them propose the cuts. If they want to raise revenue through tax reform, let them identify the deductions. If they want deeper cuts in discretionary spending, let them settle on a number. And, above all, if they don’t like the White House’s preferred policies, let them propose their own. That way, if the White House eventually does give in and agree to some of their demands, Republicans will feel like they got one over on the president. A compromise isn’t measured by what you offer, it’s measured by what the other side feels they made you concede. The GOP is right: This isn’t a serious proposal. But it’s not evidence that Obama isn’t serious. He’s very serious about not negotiating with himself, and his opening bid proves it. Now that they’ve leaked his initial offer, the next question is obvious: What’s their offer?

Rachel Zylstra, that’s who….

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Say your new cat can't get a long with your old cat, or you are 21 and living with your Mom who still treats you like you are ten, or your boyfriend might be gay, and you need some advice, but you'd like that advice delivered in song... Who are you gonna call? Zylstra's "advice music" was a regular stop for me on the internet tubes for a while, but I haven't check in for a while. I'm glad to see that she is still at it.

Crappy Deal Emerging

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This deal clearly sucks, but when you have blue state Democrats like John Carney and Chris Coons saying, "OMGZ!!! THE DEBT!!! Medicaid is wrecking the country!!" - you lose a lot of your negotiating strength.

QOTD — Who Should Be In Obama’s Second Term Cabinet?

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So we know that there will be some departures from the first term -- Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner is out; Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is out (after doing a spectacular job); Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta; Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank (acting); Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar; Press Secretary Jay Carney; Attorney General Eric Holder (maybe not going for a year or so) look like they are at the top of the list to go. Other possibilities include:

I get the feeling John Carney is being had by these charlatans

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Carney via Facebook:
This morning, Rep. Jim Renacci, a Republican from Ohio, and I organized our first bipartisan policy meeting since the election. Our group -- divided evenly among Democrats and Republicans -- meets every other week to brainstorm legislation and try to find common ground. We had great turnout today and took the opportunity to hash out our priorities for the upcoming Congress. If you're not familiar with the group, you can read about it in this short article from 2011.
The Partisan Republican voting record of Renacci is 99%. Keep looking Congressman. Your bipartisanship should be the kind that demands at least some small demonstration of good will by your Republican counterpart.

By Their Oppression of People Not Like Them Shall You Know Them

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Dana Millbank tells the story of how Rick Santorum went back to the US Capital this week to help lobby against the human rights of disabled people. That's right -- Mr. Culture of Life is fearlessly lobbying against the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities. This treaty was actually negotiated by the George W. Bush's administration and has been ratified by 126 nations, including China, Russia, Iran, Cuba, and Syria.