July 30, 2015

Wall Street Money Dries Up for Lawmaker After Anti-Gay Remarks

Representative Scott Garrett heads an influential House subcommittee overseeing the U.S. capital markets.

By Robert Schmidt & Silla Brush

Representative Scott Garrett, who heads an influential House subcommittee overseeing the U.S. capital markets, is facing a revolt by corporate and Wall Street donors after he reportedly made anti-gay remarks at a private meeting of Republican lawmakers.

Earlier this month, in what financial lobbyists said was a sign of things to come, the Big 4 accounting firms and their trade association abruptly canceled a fundraising event for the New Jersey Republican. In addition, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has decided to stop making political action committee donations to Garrett, people familiar with the matter said.

Other firms are likely to follow suit, and some in the industry have debated whether to take a more drastic step and ask for their contributions back from Garrett, said the people, who asked for anonymity so as to not antagonize a lawmaker who oversees their industry. Financial lobbyists have also raised concerns with Republican House leaders, the people said.

The Financial Services’ capital markets subcommittee is informally known in Washington fundraising circles as the ATM -- a seat almost guarantees endless streams of cash from the financial firms that have business before the panel. While in the post, Garrett has pushed a deregulatory agenda backed by most of Wall Street, including rolling back the Dodd-Frank law.

Not surprisingly, Garrett’s top donors include banks, hedge funds, audit firms and exchanges. They were jarred when Politico reported on July 16 that Garrett had made remarks disparaging gays in a closed door meeting, telling colleagues that he refused to pay required dues to the Republicans’ congressional campaign committee because it had recruited, and supported, homosexual candidates.

more
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-07-29/wall-street-money-dries-up-for-lawmaker-after-anti-gay-remarks

July 29, 2015

Evangelical College Ends Health Coverage To Avoid Even Declaring Objection to Birth Control

Source: TPM

Wheaton College has taken its battle over Obamacare's birth control mandate from the courtroom to its campus.

The evangelical college in Illinois told its students last week that it would be ending the health insurance plans it had been offering them due to its case against Obama administration, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The school terminated its plan not due to the fact that it was being forced to pay for contraceptive coverage -- it is not -- but that it is in a legal battle over whether it should even have to notify the government that it is seeking a religious exemption to providing contraceptive coverage. The current policy for religious non-profits gives them an exemption, at which point the government directs insurers to provide birth control coverage through a separate policy not paid for by the non-profit.

Wheaton contends that even the act of notifying the government of its religious opposition to birth control coverage makes it complicit in providing birth control. A federal appeals court has rejected Wheaton's contention, so rather than comply with the requirement that it notify the feds, Wheaton is ending all health coverage for students.

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/wheaton-birth-control-obamacare

July 29, 2015

Drudge Report Asks Whether Pope Francis Is The 'Antichrist'

The Drudge Report on Wednesday pondered whether Pope Francis, who has recently fallen out of favor with some conservatives, is actually the "antichrist," noting that the pope's "stand on homosexuality, Islam, capitalism, and the New World Order" fuel chatter.

Drudge links to an article on Charisma News explaining, "Why So Many People Think Pope Francis Is the Antichrist." The post asks whether Francis' role as antichrist signifies the second coming of Christ.

If you type "is Pope Francis antichrist" into Google, you'll get about 425,000 results in .37 seconds. By way of comparison, if you ask Google the same question about Pope Benedict you only get 137,000 and it takes a little longer—.47 seconds.

Charisma News cites a Gallup poll released earlier in July that found Pope Francis' popularity taking a serious hit among conservatives.

more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/drudge-report-pope-francis-antichrist

July 29, 2015

Colo. Ed Board Members Who Pushed AP History Changes May Face Recall

Source: TPM

Three conservative members of the Jefferson County school board in Colorado may face consequences for seeking unpopular changes to the AP U.S. History course last year.

Critics of the school board on Tuesday submitted more than double the number of petition signatures needed to order recall votes for three members of the school board in the November election, according to the Denver Post.

"The message is clear, the people of Jefferson County want to hold this board majority accountable and demand a recall vote on November 3," Tina Gurdikian, one of the co-founders of Jeffco United For Action, the group that organized the petitions, said on Tuesday, according to Chalkbeat Colorado.

"They really are driving away our teachers by showing a great amount of disrespect for them," Wendy McCord, Gurdikian's co-founder at Jeffco United For Action said of the school board, according to the Associated Press. "They are dismissive of students and parents who have concerns and try to express them as well."

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Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/colorado-ap-history-recall

July 29, 2015

Trump's rise hurts Rubio, Carson, but helps Jeb Bush

Donald Trump’s explosive rise in the polls has come at the expense of every other GOP presidential candidate except for Jeb Bush and Scott Walker — who arguably have been helped by the businessman’s rise.

The media storm surrounding Trump is starving other candidates of oxygen — including major contenders such as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has seen his polling numbers plummet 3.2 percentage points since Trump’s entry.

Bush, in contrast, has seen his support rise by 2.9 percentage points, while Walker gained 1.1 percentage points. Trump has risen by 14.6 percentage points since launching his campaign.
“Jeb and Walker are in the first tier and they are not going anywhere,” said GOP strategist Matt Mackowiak. “The problem is for those who are in the third tier trying to get into the second, or the second trying to get into the first.”

Mackowiak added that the sheer volume of attention being commanded by Trump has forced other contenders into using novel tactics or extreme rhetoric to garner media coverage.

He cited the examples of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) releasing a video of himself destroying his cellphone after Trump had given out his phone number at a public event, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) using a chainsaw and a woodchipper to destroy the tax code and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee alleging that President Obama was marching Israelis “to the door of the oven” through his deal with Iran on its nuclear program.

more
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/249573-the-trump-effect

July 29, 2015

Trump Hides Divisions in Republican Party

Rick Klein: “You can thank Donald Trump for taking away the attention from the clashes that could leave the GOP with more battle scars than anything the Donald has to offer. On Capitol Hill, talk of Reagan’s 11th Commandment is well past over, amid some of the worst intraparty fighting in this current era of Republican control of Congress. Sen. Ted Cruz is accusing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of lying to his colleagues. McConnell is accusing Sen. Mike Lee of secret alliances with outside groups aimed at pressuring fellow GOPers. And in the House, a surprise move by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) leaves a rare formal motion to oust House Speaker John Boehner lingering through the August recess.”

“At a minimum, the breakdowns mean that we can pretty much close the books on meaningful accomplishments by the current Congress, with about three-quarters of the term still to go. It’s worth remembering that these divisions – the establishment wing’s continued never-ending struggles with tea party-aligned and a growing network of outside groups – are likely to impact the presidential primaries more than any damage Trump might do to his Republican rivals.”

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http://politicalwire.com/2015/07/29/trump-hides-divisions-in-republican-party/

July 29, 2015

How Gerrymandering Has Hurt Democrats

A Smart Politics analysis finds there are 16 U.S. Senators who currently serve states with a majority of its U.S. House seats held by the opposing political party; only one of these 16 is a Republican – Mark Kirk of Illinois.

Over the last eight cycles dating back to 2000, only 14 Republicans have been elected to the U.S. Senate from states in which the opposing party won a majority of U.S. House seats that cycle.

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http://politicalwire.com/2015/07/29/how-gerrymandering-has-hurt-democrats/

July 29, 2015

Duckworth Holds Early Lead for Illinois Senate

Source: PoliticalWire

A new Public Policy Polling survey in Illinois finds Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) leading Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) in the U.S. Senate race, 42% to 36%.

“There’s more bad news for Kirk: His approval rating has dropped to 25%.”

Read more: http://politicalwire.com/2015/07/29/duckworth-holds-early-lead-for-illinois-senate/

July 29, 2015

White University of Cincinnati police officer is indicted in fatal shooting of black motorist

A University of Cincinnati police officer was indicted on murder charges on Wednesday in the fatal shooting of a motorist this month.

In the indictment handed down by a grand jury in Hamilton County, the officer, Ray Tensing, is accused of killing the driver, Samuel Dubose, during a traffic stop near the campus on July 19.

The death of Mr. Dubose, who was black, at the hands of Officer Tensing, who is white, joined a string of recent episodes — in Staten Island, Cleveland, North Charleston, S.C., and Ferguson, Mo., among others — that have raised hard questions about law enforcement use of force, and the role of race in policing. Video cameras have recorded many of the episodes and nonlethal encounters like the arrest of Sandra Bland, who died three days later in a Texas jail cell, offering disturbing evidence of the confrontations that often contradicts the accounts of people involved.

more:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/30/us/university-of-cincinnati-officer-indicted-in-shooting-death-of-motorist.html?

July 29, 2015

Lion-killing dentist Walter Palmer also preyed on women, sexual harassment claim reveals

Water Palmer, a Minnesota dentist who sparked an angry firestorm by killing Cecil, a famous and protected lion on a big game hunt in Zimbabwe, settled a sexual harassment claim against him in 2009 for $127,500.

According to public documents posted below, Palmer is accused of sexually harassing a receptionist, who was also his patient, between July of 1999 and January of 2005. The woman “was subjected to verbal comments and physical conduct involving her breasts, buttocks, and genitalia.”

The woman informed her supervisor and Palmer that she wanted it to stop, but it didn’t, and she alleges she was fired for reporting the harassment, according to the document. Palmer paid out the settlement without admitting to the allegations.

Aside from agreeing to pay $127,500, Palmer had to undergo “at least three hours” of sexual harassment training and provide the woman a signed letter of recommendation for future prospective employers.

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http://www.rawstory.com/2015/07/lion-killing-dentist-walter-palmer-also-preyed-on-women-sexual-harassment-claim-reveals/