Starbucks reaches out to gun owners

Desperate times, apparently. It's important to cater to the hyper-macho crowd who can't leave home without a gun.

Welch's foray into the coffeehouse was part of an effort by some gun owners to exercise and advertise their rights in states that allow people to openly carry firearms.

Even in some "open carry" states, businesses are allowed to ban guns in their stores. And some have, creating political confrontations with gun owners. But Starbucks, the largest chain targeted, has refused to take the bait, saying in a statement this month that it follows state and local laws and has its own safety measures in its stores.

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More NY news: Harold Ford isn't running for Senate after all

By way of an op-ed in the NY Times, Harold Ford announced that he's not running for Senate.

Good riddance. Now, Ford can go back to being a homophobe. Read the rest of this post...

NYT: Governor Paterson 'helped direct an effort to influence the accuser'

This is ugly.

It's really getting harder and harder to see how New York's Governor can avoid resigning. These latest developments are very damaging:

Gov. David A. Paterson personally directed two state officials to contact the woman who had accused his close aide of assaulting her, according to two people with direct knowledge of the governor’s actions.

According to one person who was briefed on the matter, the governor instructed his press secretary, Marissa Shorenstein, to ask the woman to publicly describe the episode as nonviolent, contradicting her accounts to the police and in court.

Mr. Paterson also enlisted another state employee, Deneane Brown, a mutual friend of the governor and the accuser, to make contact with the woman before she was due in court to finalize an order of protection against the aide. Ms. Brown, an employee of the Division of Housing and Community Renewal, reached out to the woman on more than one occasion over a period of several days, and arranged a phone call between the governor and the woman.

After the calls from Ms. Brown and the conversation with the governor, the woman failed to appear for the court hearing on Feb. 8, and the case was dropped.

These accounts provide the first evidence that Mr. Paterson helped direct an effort to influence the accuser.

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Senator Conrad on health care reform, says reconciliation is fine

From Greg Sargent:

In an interview with me just now, Senator Kent Conrad tore into the media for repeatedly botching its reporting on reconciliation, and confirmed that in his view, the current plan being entertained by Obama and Dems to pass reform via that tactic can, in fact, be made to work.

Conrad, the budget committee chair, also offered his most detailed explanation yet for why the House must pass the Senate bill first, before the Senate passes its reconciliation fix.

Conrad caused a big stir yesterday by saying: “Reconciliation cannot be used to pass comprehensive health care reform.” This was widely interpreted as claiming that the Dem way forward is a non-starter.

But Conrad patiently explained that the media interpretation of his comments is wrong. He was merely saying reconciliation would not be used to pass a comprehensive bill, and would only be used to pass the sidecar fix, which he said is workable, depending on what’s in it.

“Reporters don’t seem to be able to get this straight,” Conrad said, hitting the “misreporting” he said is widespread. “Comprehensive health care reform will not work through reconciliation. But if the House passes the Senate bill, and wants certain things improved on, like affordability, the Medicaid provisions, how much of Medicaid expenses are paid for by the Federal government, that is something that could be done through reconciliation.”

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Drudge falsely suggests Obama has a drinking problem

Matt Drudge took a doctor's standard reference to the old "watch what you eat, don't smoke, only drink in moderation, and go to a dentist regularly" to mean that Obama has a drinking problem. NBC kind of calls Drudge out for the lie, but fails to actually mention his name. In any case, this is what FOX does too. They use a benign fact and then lie to their readers about it. It's what the Soviets used to do as well. Standard misinformation that the Republicans are so good at. If their followers only knew the extent to which they were being lied to. Read the rest of this post...

Another crazy arrested for sending white powder to federal officials

More anti-government crazies. Read the rest of this post...

Hazmat crews respond to Utah IRS office

Let's hope it's not a disgruntled Teabagger sympathizer who took the Republicans' message of anti-government hate to heart.

MSNBC:

Hazardous materials crews and the FBI were on the scene Monday at the IRS building in Ogden, Utah, where two people were removed on stretchers and several others were undergoing decontamination showers.

The FBI released no information about the incident. The IRS said “an unknown substance” was discovered but gave no further details; local news reports suggested that a suspicious white powder may have been found in mail delivered to the facility.

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Sen. Bunning is losing his temper while forcing over a million Americans to lose benefits

Bunning loses it, on camera, with ABC's Jonathan Karl.


Do the Republicans even know we're in a recession and that people are really suffering? On behalf of his fellow Republican Senators, Bunning is screwing over the American people. He blocked movement on the Senate unemployment bill again today. Now, he's also acting out. ABC News documents his erratic, angry outburst on camera and off:

Senator Bunning was even more expressive before the cameras arrived, using a little sign language.

When Senate producer Z. Byron Wolf spotted Bunning exiting his office, Bunning said, “I’m not talking to anybody.” When Wolf asked him to stay and talk to our cameras, Bunning walked toward the elevator and shot the middle finger over his head.

Bunning has handed the Democrats a gift. Now, if the Senate Democrats had any sense, they would force Bunning to defend this filibuster all day and all night. He's making people suffer. Make him pay for it.

NOTE FROM JOHN: Watch the video Joe posted above. Bunning is clearly livid over the attention he's getting on the filibuster of the unemployment benefits. That means that Democrats should be jumping on this issue ten times harder than they already are. It's embarrassing Bunning, it's embarrassing Republicans. What would the Republicans do if they found an issue that so upset our Senators? They'd blow it up even bigger. Read the rest of this post...

VA GOP candidates think Obama & Dem voters are the 'biggest national security threat' Americans face

During the 2008 presidential elections, it was only a few kooks who called Obama a socialist, though Sarah Palin did her best to try to paint Obama as soft on terrorism and perhaps even a terrorist himself. Now the socialist charge, the 'danger to our country' charge, has gone mainstream in GOP circles. Mainly because the Democrats never called the GOP on it. They let the accusations grow, incessantly repeated by FOX News and Glenn Beck, until now calling Obama a socialist and suggesting that he, and Democrats, are some kind of un-American, anti-American cancer, is considered mainstream among Republicans and their voters. Democrats have only themselves to blame. If they chose to fight back - really fight back - on all of these attacks, from the stimulus to health care reform - they'd win. Read the rest of this post...

AP appears to have royally screwed up their filibuster story - the numbers are wrong. Though GOP still using f'buster two times what Dems did.

I pulled my earlier post as it's based on AP's numbers, and AP reporter Steven Hurst appears to have gotten the numbers totally wrong regarding GOP filibusters. Even with his mistake, the Republicans are filibustering twice as often as Democrats have in any previous Congress - so they clearly are abusing the system.

In a nutshell, Hurst claims:

Last year, the first of the 111th Congress, there were a record 112 cloture votes. In the first two months of 2010, the number already exceeds 40.

That doesn't appear to be true, if you look at the Senate Web site, that has the actual data. In fact, the Senate Web site seems to suggest that AP mis-read the data. The Senate site shows that, in fact, 112 clotures votes occurred in the last congress, not the last year. A congress is two years. And over 40 votes did not occur this year, they occurred this congress. But this congress is only half over, so double it to get an estimate of the entire congress.



What the data clearly shows it that the GOP is filibustering at twice the rate of what the Democrats did before, including what they did under Bush. So Republicans can't claim that Democrats did it too - they didn't. Not like this.

Another interesting data point: In the last ninety years, there have been 1,195 cloture motions filed, and 874 cloture votes, per the Senate site. The Republicans in the last three years that they've been in the minority, have caused 215 of the motions to be filed, and 157 of those cloture votes. That means in just the past three years, the Republicans have been responsible for 18% of all filibusters recorded in the past 90 years. Read the rest of this post...

Who decides what's allowed under Reconciliation? The vice president.

I hear he's on our side.

Of course, this requires the White House sticking its neck out and taking responsibility for the use of reconciliation to pass the bill. And if they gear up with a major campaign to talk all week about the unprecedented GOP filibusters, they can prove to the American people why we need reconciliation to overcome partisanship in the capital. Bunning's filibuster is a god-send to Democrats. But they have to realize it, and have the smarts to use it to their advantage.

And for any Democrats worried that the GOP, and the teabaggers, will excoriate them for using reconciliation and/or passing health care reform... they're going to excoriate you anyway, regardless of what you do. So get some backbone and show the public why you deserve to keep your seat. Read the rest of this post...

The real world impact of Bunning's filibuster felt in Maine. Where are Collins and Snowe?

Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning is filibsutering benefits for hundreds of Mainers:

Hundreds of jobless Mainers woke up today with the looming threat of losing their unemployment benefits. Benefits expired this weekend, and a measure in Congress to extend them for another month is being held up by one senator, Jim Bunning, a Kentucky Republican.

Bunning is insisting that cuts be made before unemployment benefits -- and other programs, such as small business loan guarantees, health care benefits and transportation help -- are extended for another 30 days.

Maine has two Republican Senators serving in the GOP caucus with Bunning. I'm sure he really listens to them. And, you might ask, how Susan Collins explains the actions of her colleague. She doesn't. She blamed someone else:

In fact, Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, says both parties share the blame for the gridlock. "Had Sen. Reid included it in the bill that we passed earlier this week, we would not be in this situation," she told Capitol News Service, referring to Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. "So there's plenty of fault to go around, but that is cold comfort to the people in Maine and throughout the country."

That's pretty weak. Susan Collins knows better. If her GOP colleague, Jim Bunning, hadn't blocked the bill, unemployed Mainers would be getting their benefits.

Senate Democrats need to stop the Senate from moving forward until this is fixed. Read the rest of this post...

Blanche Lincoln has a primary opponent: Lt. Gov. Bill Halter

All of Blanche Lincoln's obstructionist tactics over the past year have not endeared her to anyone in Arkansas, including the state' Democrats. Her polling numbers haven't been great as a DailyKos poll showed in December. At the time, Markos wrote,

Rumors abound that Lt. Gov. Bill Halter is considering a primary challenge against obnoxious Arkansas Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln.

Today, those rumors became reality. Halter announced that he's challenging Lincoln in the Democratic primary:

Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter with a shocker this morning: He said he will challenge Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) in a primary this year.

Halter's name seems to come up whenever there is a major office up for election, but in a video on his website, he said he's taking the plunge.

Look for Halter to run more of an anti-Washington campaign, as opposed to going after Lincoln on ideological grounds.

The primary is May 18th. It's rare for a challenger to announce so close to an election. Lincoln's numbers must be pretty bad. Read the rest of this post...

Sen. Bunning's filibuster forces furlough for federal employees working on construction projects

So, it's not just the unemployed who will suffer because Senator Bunning blocked the legislation extending unemployment benefits. There was more in the bill. And, it's causing at least 2,000 federal employees are having their jobs put on hold:

ABC News' Lisa Stark reports: Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) didn't just stop extensions of unemployment and health insurance benefits with his "hold' on these funding measures last week, he also stopped an extension of the Highway Trust Fund for 30 days. That means the fund cannot be used to pay for any of its programs or its employees.

So, the Department of Transportation as of Monday morning, must furlough 2,000 federal workers. DOT says that number could climb if this stalemate over funding drags on. Employees affected include federal inspectors overseeing highway projects on federal lands. If the inspectors aren't there, the projects must shut down. DOT says that will affect 41 critical construction projects from Alaska to the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“As American families are struggling in tough economic times, I am keenly disappointed that political games are putting a stop to important construction projects around the country,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “This means that construction workers will be sent home from job sites because federal inspectors must be furloughed.”

Republicans got us into this economic crisis. And, the Senate GOP caucus is letting Jim Bunning extend it. The Democrats need to force Bunning and his colleagues to own this filibuster. They should have done that last week. But, maybe everyone has to see the impact first. Read the rest of this post...

Monday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Remember when the health care reform bill was going to be completed before the August recess? It's March. This week, we're going to see yet another compromise from the President. It's another chapter in his elusive quest for Republican votes. I'm sure GOPers will be lining up to support this version. As if.

The Senate is going to continue its effort to pass an extension of unemployment benefits. The last extension ended yesterday. Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) prevented passage of the bill last week -- and Democrats let him. Bunning should have been forced to stay up all night Thursday and all through the weekend. But, the Democrats recessed the Senate. Didn't look like they were willing to lose sleep over this fight or even fight.

My partner's sister, Elia, and her husband live in Santiago, Chile so it was a little tense waking up to the news of the earthquake on Saturday morning. But, we got an email from them on Saturday that they were okay and Carlos spoke to her last night. Carlos' family is from California, so they know earthquakes. I spent too much time on the US Geological Survey website over the weekend. It's like the National Weather Service site, but for earthquakes.

It's going to be a busy week, let's get it started... Read the rest of this post...

British banker tax helps refill the state coffers

Good for them. With all of the financial problems in the US caused by the bankers, it's still not clear why this was not more seriously considered.

The government's bonus tax will exceed the Treasury's initial estimates by as much as £2bn as HSBC is expected to confirm tomorrow that it will pay a higher than expected sum on behalf of its traders.

HSBC, in its year end results tomorrow, is likely to say it has made a £250m provision for the bonus tax. Initial Treasury estimates suggested the controversial, one-off 50% levy on all bank bonuses worth more than £25,000 would yield £500m when Alistair Darling unveiled the measure last December.

But last month Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland between them said the bonus tax would cost them £600m. When overseas banks reveal how much they have set aside for the bonus tax, it is expected the total will exceed £2.5bn.

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Berlusconi promoting new group of women for elections

If only he could choose women who were more similar to Hillary instead of Sarah Palin, on her best day. The Guardian:

Silvio Berlusconi risked renewed criticism of his selection of candidates for election when he unveiled a list that included a Miss Italy contestant, a former TV weathergirl and a showgirl turned dental hygienist.

Last year the Italian prime minister hastily dropped a group of showgirls from his list of candidates for European elections after his wife said the move was "shamelessly trashy" and demanded a divorce.

But Berlusconi, 73, who describes himself as a "single man" after the start of divorce hearings, has returned to the fray before important regional elections by putting forward Nicole Minetti, 25, the daughter of an English dance instructor who settled in Rimini and married an Italian businessman, Italia Caruso, a former Miss Italy finalist, and Giovanna Del Giudice, who worked at a nightclub frequented by Berlusconi, became a weathergirl on one of his TV channels and was among the women hurriedly dropped from his list of candidates last year.

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