Freddie Stubbs
Freddie Stubbs's JournalObama Signs FISA Warrantless Wiretapping Program Extension Into Law
Source: Huffington Post
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has signed into law a five-year extension of the U.S. government's authority to monitor the overseas activity of suspected foreign spies and terrorists.
The warrantless intercept program would have expired at the end of 2012 without the president's approval. The renewal bill won final passage in the Senate on Friday.
Known as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the law allows the government to monitor overseas phone calls and emails without obtaining a court order for each intercept.
The law does not apply to Americans. When Americans are targeted for surveillance, the government must get a warrant from a special 11-judge court of U.S. district judges appointed by the Supreme Court.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/30/obama-fisa-warrantless-wiretapping_n_2385690.html?utm_hp_ref=politics
Journalists’ Addresses Posted In Revenge For Newspaper’s Google Map Of Gun Permit Owners
A week after the Newtown massacre, The Journal News published an interactive Google Map with the names and addresses of gun permit owners in select New York cities. The bold move has escalated into a transparency arms race, after a Connecticut lawyer posted the phone number and addresses of the Journal‘s staff, including a Google Maps satellite Image of the Publisher’s home. “I don’t know whether the Journal’s publisher Janet Hasson is a permit holder herself, but here’s how to find her to ask,” read Christopher Fountain’s blog post. The double irony here is that open data was heralded as a tool of enlightened civic dialog, and has been co-opted for fierce partisanship, bordering on public endangerment.
more: http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/26/journalists-addresses-posted-google-maps-gun/
Dukakis seen as possible Senate replacement if Kerry tapped for State
Source: The Hill
Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, the 1988 Democratic presidential nominee, may be headed back to the political spotlight as he’s considered a likely interim replacement for Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).
President Obama is set to tap Kerry to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of State, according to media reports.
This means Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) needs to find someone to fill Kerry’s seat until a special election can be held in the late spring or early summer.
Dukakis, who is 79, has remained politically active. He campaigned for Sen.-elect Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) this fall and teaches at Northeastern University.
Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/273151-dukakis-seen-as-possible-senate-replacement-if-kerry-tapped-for-state
A simple fact: The current Congress (and the one elected in Nov.) will not pass gun control
The GOP controls the House, and there are enough Democratic Senators representing red states that such legislation may not even get a majority vote in the Senate.
It has been 20 years since the last time that we elected a pro-gun control Congress
1992. In 1994 Congress passed gun control legislation. Voters reacted by electing Republican majorities in both the House and Senate for the first time since the Eisenhower administration.
Republicans currently control the House. If you really want to lose the Senate too, please put pressure on President Obama to push for gun control legislation.
Former US Rep. Mel Reynolds plans another run for Congress, wants to replace Jackson
Source: Associated Press
CHICAGO (AP) — Convicted former Congressman Mel Reynolds is running for the job he held before he was replaced by Jesse Jackson Jr.
At a Wednesday news conference, Reynolds announced that he's joining the increasingly crowded field running for the seat Jackson vacated last week, citing his ongoing treatment for bipolar disorder.
Reynolds says he deserves another chance to represent the district and thinks voters will give him serious consideration.
Reynolds resigned from office in 1995 after being convicted of having sexual relations with an underage campaign worker. The Democrat also went to prison after being convicted of fraud for concealing debts to obtain bank loans and diverting money intended for voter registration drives into his election campaign.
Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/sns-ap-il--jackson-resignation-reynolds-20121128,0,7215897.story
Senate Votes On Polar Bear Carcasses In First Roll Call Since September
Source: Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is back in town after the election to find a way around automatic tax increases and spending cuts in January. But first, lawmakers are dealing with 41 polar bear carcasses.
In its first roll call since September, the Senate voted 92-5 on Tuesday to debate a bill to ease restrictions on hunters and fishermen and allow 41 U.S. hunters to bring home polar bear carcasses trapped in Canada due to a ban on trophy imports.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., immediately moved to block Republicans from amending the bill, potentially stalling further action on the bill for days.
Republicans had blocked the bill before the election, fearing that passage would boost the re-election prospects of the bill’s Democratic sponsor, Montana Sen. Jon Tester. Tester ultimately won re-election, narrowly defeating Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg.
Read more: http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/11/14/senate-votes-on-polar-bear-carcasses-in-first-roll-call-since-september/
EU postpones airline emissions rule
Source: Politico
A day before Congress is set to clear a bill to shield U.S. airlines from an EU emissions regulation, the Europeans blinked.
Monday, the European Commission recommended delaying for a year applying its emissions trading scheme to non-EU airlines. The idea is to give the ICAO, an international standard-setting body for aviation, time to come up with a global approach to aviation-derived climate change.
Whether that can be achieved remains to be seen. Much of the reason the European Union pushed its carbon mandate for airlines was because pursuit of a global solution at ICAO had dragged on for years without success.
Connie Hedegaard, the EU’s commissioner for climate action, echoed that idea in a statement and suggested that encouraging nations to deal inside an ICAO framework is a good outcome for the EU.
“Now, it seems that because of some countries’ dislike of our scheme, many countries are prepared to move in ICAO, and even to move toward a market-based mechanism at global level,” Hedegaard said.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83731.html?hp=r8
Dems short on votes for filibuster reform
Source: The Hill
Democrats don’t have the 51 votes they need in the Senate to change filibuster rules that could make it harder for the GOP minority to wield power in the upper chamber.
Lawmakers leading the charge acknowledge they remain short, but express optimism they’ll hit their goal.
“I haven’t counted 51 just yet, but we’re working,” said Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), a leading proponent of the so-called constitutional or “nuclear” option, in which Senate rules could be changed by a majority vote.
“We’re building the momentum right now,” Udall said. “It’s hard to say at this point, but I think it’s looking very good. The last two years have really helped coalesce people’s minds around the idea that we need to change the way we do business.”
Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/267471-dems-short-on-votes-for-filibuster-reform
Report: DOJ Jackson Jr. probe expands to cover lawmaker’s wife
Source: The Hill
The Justice Department probe into Democratic Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (Ill.) over alleged misuse of campaign funds has broadened to include his wife, Chicago alderwoman Sandi Jackson, the Wall Street Journal reports.
In a report Tuesday, the Journal said prosecutors are investigating whether Ms. Jackson was complicit in the alleged use of campaign money to redecorate the family’s Washington, D.C. home.
Prosecutors have not decided whether they will press criminal charges against Ms. Jackson, and sources in the report suggested that federal lawyers are using the threat of charges to pressure Jackson to accept a plea deal.
Reports last weekend said Jackson had been negotiating a plea deal over the probe that would require him to resign from Congress and may include serving jail time.
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/267485-report-doj-jackson-jr-probe-expands-to-cover-lawmakers-wife
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