The Blog

Democrats try to raise money off of ‘crazy’ Ted Cruz
Posted March 15, 2013 at 5:13 pm by Meredith Jessup

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During a Senate Judiciary hearing Thursday, things got tense in a heated exchange between Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Ted Cruz (R-Tx.). When Cruz tried to point out the constitutional implications of Feinstein’s gun control proposal, the California Democrat accused him of talking down to her like a “sixth grader.”

WATCH:

Just one day later, the Democratic Party is trying to use the back-and-forth to their own advantage in an emailed fundraising plea to supporters:

“Cruz is setting new records for crazy,” the Texas Democratic Party chairman, Gilberto Hinojosa, wrote today in an email to potential donors. “If Cruz and his crazy don’t represent you, DONATE TODAY to support our efforts.”

He noted that Feinstein has an all-too personal history with gun violence, reminding readers of his email that she “became mayor of San Francisco after Harvey Milk and Mayor Moscone were shot and killed in City Hall. She saw their bullet-riddled bodies. She broke the news to the public. She has sat on the Senate Judiciary Committee for twenty years. Cruz decided he needed to give her a lecture to explain the Constitution and guns. Republican Joe Scarborough gave a fierce and impassioned response to Cruz’s lecture, calling it, among other things, `complete and utter ignorance.’ ”

You know an argument is totally legit when it comes from Joe Scarborough.
Fox News scores interview with Benghazi survivors
Posted March 15, 2013 at 4:50 pm by Meredith Jessup

Comments (7)
It’s about time someone got to talk to them…

Fox has confirmed that 3 diplomatic security agents were injured in Benghazi.Full story 2nite on SR at 6 ET w/ new info – And interviews

— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) March 15, 2013

Rep Chaffetz and Rep Wolf are pressing for Benghazi survivor info from State.And we’re starting to get some info-some are back to work

— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) March 15, 2013
Surprise: Health insurance prices continue to rise
Posted March 15, 2013 at 4:15 pm by Meredith Jessup

Comments (3)
B-b-b-but… Obamacare!

(AFP/Getty)

From a shocked and confused Associated Press:

Some Americans could see their insurance bills double next year as the health care overhaul law expands coverage to millions of people.

The nation’s big health insurers say they expect premiums — or the cost for insurance coverage — to rise from 20 to 100 percent for millions of people due to changes that will occur when key provisions of the Affordable Care Act roll out in January 2014.

Mark Bertolini, CEO of Aetna Inc., one of the nation’s largest insurers, calls the price hikes “premium rate shock.”

“We’ve done all the math, we’ve shared it with all the regulators, we’ve shared it with all the people in Washington that need to see it, and I think it’s a big concern,” Bertolini said during the company’s annual meeting with investors in December.
War on Women: Here’s what the Muslim Brotherhood has to say
Posted March 15, 2013 at 3:15 pm by Meredith Jessup

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Just a reminder: These guys are now running the show Egypt and rolling large piles of American cash. Yay Arab Spring!

Via the New York Times:

“A woman needs to be confined within a framework that is controlled by the man of the house,” Osama Yehia Abu Salama, a Brotherhood family expert, said of the group’s general approach, speaking in a recent seminar for women training to become marriage counselors. Even if a wife were beaten by her husband, he advised, “Show her how she had a role in what happened to her.”

“If he is to blame,” Mr. Abu Salama added, “she shares 30 percent or 40 percent of the fault.” …

In a statement Wednesday on a proposed United Nations declaration to condemn violence against women, the Brotherhood issued a list of objections, which formally laid out its views on women for the first time since it came to power.

In its statement, the Brotherhood said that wives should not have the right to file legal complaints against their husbands for rape, and husbands should not be subject to the punishments meted out for the rape of a stranger.

C’mon, let’s focus on the real issues here, people. Do they or do they not have access to their local Planned Parenthood??!!
John Lott says Piers Morgan won’t shake his hand
Posted March 15, 2013 at 2:42 pm by Eddie Scarry

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Economist and gun enthusiast John Lott says CNN’s Piers Morgan has, on more than one occasion, refused to shake his hand.

Morgan and Lott have had a few heated exchanges on Morgan’s show in the past. He attended CPAC just outside of Washington, D.C., today for a book signing.

Asked if he and Morgan are friends when the cameras are off Lott said… (more…)
A conversation in the CPAC media center
Posted March 15, 2013 at 1:31 pm by Madeleine Morgenstern

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CPAC is having some technical difficulties — first the Internet went and now the power is out in the media center.

I’m sitting behind media critic Howard Kurtz, now of CNN and The Daily Beast. Here’s what happened when we both realized the power had gone… (more…)
Chicago unions recruit ‘Professor Occupy’ to help hone protest skills (Updated)
Posted March 15, 2013 at 1:25 pm by Meredith Jessup

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The city of Chicago is thinking about shutting down as many as 129 public schools experiencing “under-enrollment.” Predictably, teachers unions are gearing up for a fight to keep the failing schools open and operating and, according to the Washington Post, they are bringing in some experienced heavy hitters for help:

The Chicago Teachers Union is co-sponsoring “Citywide Non-Violent Civil Disobedience Trainings” to teach parents, teachers and others protest techniques, including disruptions, occupations and arrests, according to a union press release. The trainings, the release said, are going to be led by political activist and scholar Lisa Fithian, who for decades has been a student, labor and community organizer on a range of issues. Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Jesse Sharkey will participate in one of the training sessions, which is also being sponsored by the Grassroots Education Movement, a group of community-based organizations from across the city.

Ms. Fithian’s resume is long and laden with “work” as a liberal activist, including stints organizing the Justice for Janitors campaigns in Washington DC, Denver and Los Angeles and to nursing home workers in San Francisco and Detroit. Who knew there were so many job opportunities out there for professional agitators?

Update: Reader Woodyee asks me in the comments about the source of funding for Fithian’s work. I figured it was worth pointing out this profile Mother Jones compiled on Fithian during her time “consulting” with the Occupy Wall Street movement in NYC:

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Just a photo of the Huffington Post trolling the NRA
Posted March 15, 2013 at 12:40 pm by Becket Adams

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Yep.

–

Follow Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) on Twitter

Featured image screen grab.
Allen West meets Allen West
Posted March 15, 2013 at 12:11 pm by Eddie Scarry

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Look who’s standing next to former Rep. Allen West at CPAC… (more…)
Notable & Quotable: Obama’s charm offensive
Posted March 15, 2013 at 11:55 am by Meredith Jessup

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“So he’s destroying this country, but yes he’s charming.”

– Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), talking about President Obama on the Laura Ingraham Show

Full context after the jump.

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Here’s your feel-good story of the day
Posted March 15, 2013 at 11:17 am by Meredith Jessup

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Iram Leon is a fighter. The father is battling terminal brain cancer, but it’s time with his six-year-old daughter that’s really driving him forward — and across the finish line:

A terminally ill father made sure his biggest supporter was with him every step of the way as he won a marathon – by pushing his six-year-old daughter in her pram along the entire 26-mile route.

Iram Leon, 32, was first over the finish line at the Gusher Marathon in Texas with a time of three hours, seven minutes, and 35 seconds, but insisted he ‘came in second’ behind daughter Kiana.

Keen runner Mr Leon, who was diagnosed with brain cancer shortly after turning 30, has already completed half a dozen races with Kiana, after deciding he no longer wanted to compete without taking his ‘princess’ along.

Read more about Leon’s inspiring story here.
Just a photo of Marco Rubio holding multiple glasses of water
Posted March 15, 2013 at 10:46 am by Eddie Scarry

Comments (2)
“I love the hospitality, but I think one will suffice,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said in his speech the first day of CPAC.

[Via CPAC's Flickr]:
A picture is worth 1,000 words: House vs. Senate budgets
Posted March 15, 2013 at 10:43 am by Meredith Jessup

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History was made this week after Democrats put forth their first budget proposal in four years. Now that we know a little more about their priorities, we can compare them to those of the Republicans.

Via Mary Katharine Ham, here’s a graphic comparison of Democrats and Republicans and how each of the parties “prioritizes” deficit reduction:

Bottom line: From the Washington Examiner‘s Philip Klein:

Democrats’ clear political calculation here is that their vague budget will be less of a target, allowing them to focus on blasting the House Budget Committee Chair Rep. Paul Ryan’s proposal for being cruel. But in the process, they’ve shown themselves to be completely un-serious.
Friday morning must-reads
Posted March 15, 2013 at 9:43 am by Meredith Jessup

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Day 2: Follow along with TheBlaze @ CPAC

Michelle Malkin: Beware the Trojan Horse of Common Core

Rush Limbaugh: The GOP shouldn’t pander to millenials

Nancy Pelosi: George Washington warned us about people like Paul Ryan

Lance Armstrong: Ya know, I’m a lot like Bill Clinton

ICYMI: Allen West at CPAC