Freddie Stubbs
Freddie Stubbs's JournalObama Signs Gabrielle Giffords' Final Bill
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama signed into law Friday a final bill authored by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was wounded in an Arizona shooting rampage a year ago.
Giffords took part in the signing ceremony at the White House. She resigned from Congress last month as she continues to recover from a gunshot wound to the head.
The legislation increases the penalties for using ultra-light aircraft when smuggling drugs into the country. The small, single-seat planes are an increasingly favored tool that smugglers use to fly at night and then release their haul without detection.
Obama said he told Giffords that he expected to see more of her in the months and years to come.
more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/10/obama-gabrielle-giffords-bill_n_1268643.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003
Tim Kaine praises Obama on changing contraception rule
Virginia Senate candidate Tim Kaine (D) praised President Obama's change to a rule requiring some religious-affiliated organizations provide contraceptive care to its employees.
Kaine, who headed the Democratic National Committee under Obama, criticized the initial version of the rule.
But shortly after Obama announced that, under the change, insurers rather, religious organizations that objected to providing contraceptive care, would be required to provide birth control to employees of those organizations, Kaine said he was "pleased" with the change.
"I am pleased that the White House has taken further steps to ensure that all women have access to affordable contraception and to ensure that religious organizations will not be asked to violate their beliefs in the process," Kaine said in a statement.
more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/209997--tim-kaine-pleased-with-contraception-rule-change
Foreclosure Deal to Spur New Wave of U.S. Home Seizures, Help Heal Market
The $25 billion settlement with banks over foreclosure abuses may result in a wave of home seizures, inflicting short-term pain on delinquent U.S. borrowers while making a long-term housing recovery more likely.
Lenders slowed the pace of foreclosures as they negotiated with attorneys general in all 50 states for more than a year over allegations of faulty and fraudulent paperwork used to repossess homes. With yesterday’s agreement, banks are likely to resume property seizures.
“The best thing about the settlement, frankly, is that it will be done,” said Stan Humphries, chief economist for Seattle-based Zillow Inc. (Z), a provider of home-sales data. “The shadow of the settlement hung over the market for a year now.”
The backlog of foreclosures has trapped homeowners in properties they can no longer afford, depressed neighborhood prices by increasing the number of abandoned homes and led banks to tighten mortgage credit standards because of uncertainty about the cost of their potential obligations. Foreclosure starts fell 46 percent in December from October 2010, when the investigation into the so-called robo-signing of mortgage documentation began, according to Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac Inc.
more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-09/foreclosure-deal-to-spur-new-wave-of-u-s-home-seizures-help-heal-market.html
Sen. Feinstein singles out Cuba as potencial smuggling point
A California senator who chairs a congressional caucus on international drug trafficking warned last week that Cuba could become a significant hub for illegal drugs entering the United States in the near future.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) made the remarks while leading a hearing on what several observers consider the growing possibility that the Caribbean could become an even larger transit zone for illegal drugs. If the trend happens or is happening, it is likely because of increased pressure international law enforcement is placing on violent drug cartels in Mexico and elsewhere in Central America, these observers say.
While mentioning the growing drug violence throughout the Caribbean during opening statements of the Feb. 1 hearing of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, Feinstein said Cuba should not be considered immune from the problem.
“I would be remiss not to mention Cuba. Just 90 miles from Florida, Cuba has the potential to be a major trans-shipment point for illicit drugs,” she said.
more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/10/2634547/sen-dianne-feinstein-singles-out.html
Accused Romney 'Glitter Bomber' Fired From Senate
DENVER -- The Colorado Senate has fired an unpaid intern accused of "glitter bombing" Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney after the Colorado caucuses.
Twenty-year-old college student Peter Smith was fired Thursday afternoon. Police say Smith threw glitter at Romney as the candidate greeted supporters in Denver Tuesday night.
Smith is a student at the University of Colorado Denver who was interning in the Democratic Senate as part of a college course. Smith's boss, Senate majority office chief of staff John
Cevette, says that Smith was terminated after a staffer alerted him to the incident.
Cevette said student interns are not chosen by Senate President Brandon Shaffer, a Longmont Democrat. He could not say whether Smith would lose course credit.
more: http://www.kjct8.com/news/30425226/detail.html
2012 is the 'Year of the Bible' in Pennsylvania
With all the anticipation and excitement surrounding Groundhog Day, it may have slipped your notice that members of the state House of Representatives ended the month of January by unanimously agreeing on something.
And so it is that 2012 is the “Year of the Bible” in Pennsylvania.
Why?
Well, why not?
more: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/02/nancy_eshelman_2012_is_the_yea.html
John Edwards owes U.S. $2.1 million, officials say
Raleigh, N.C. -- Federal election officials say John Edwards owes taxpayers more than $2.1 million in public matching funds received after he dropped his 2008 run for the White House, yet disclosure reports show his failed campaign is still spending freely.
Edwards' hopes for the Democratic presidential nomination imploded in a sex scandal four years ago that left him facing criminal charges. But reports filed last week show his 2008 primary campaign spent $836,712 in 2011 on airfare, hotel rooms, cell phones and other expenses.
The largest 2011 expense, $315,000, was paid to Utrecht & Phillips, the Washington law firm fighting last year's unanimous FEC ruling that Edwards must return its remaining funds to taxpayers.
And more than $266,000 was paid in 2011 for salary, payroll and health insurance premiums.
more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/08/MN651N4OO8.DTL&type=politics
Tim Kaine splits with Obama on birth control rule for religious groups
Former Virginia governor Timothy M. Kaine criticized the Obama administration’s new policy requiring some religious institutions to provide coverage for prescription contraceptives, a rare instance of disagreement between the Senate candidate and his close political ally.
The insurance rule has sparked fierce criticism from religious groups., particularly the Catholic Church, who say the policy will require them to violate their own beliefs. Republicans have used the controversy to attack the White House, with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) vowing Wednesday that the new policy “will not stand.”
Kaine, the likely Democratic nominee in the contest to succeed retiring Sen. James Webb (D), was Obama’s choice to lead the Democratic National Committee, and Kaine has generally agreed with the administration on most policy issues. Former governor George Allen, the frontrunner for the Republican Senate nomination, has sought repeatedly to use that fact against Kaine.
But in a radio interview recorded Tuesday for the “HearSay with Cathy Lewis” program on WHRV in Hampton Roads, Kaine made clear he disagreed with forcing religious institutions to pay for birth control.
more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/virginia-politics
Poll finds broad support for Obama’s counterterrorism policies
The sharpest edges of President Obama’s counterterrorism policy, including the use of drone aircraft to kill suspected terrorists abroad and keeping open the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have broad public support, including from the left wing of the Democratic Party.
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that Obama, who campaigned on a pledge to close the brig at Guantanamo Bay and to change national security policies he criticized as inconsistent with U.S. law and values, has little to fear politically for failing to live up to all of those promises.
The findings also highlight the dilemma of Republican front-runner Mitt Romney and other GOP rivals, who have portrayed Obama as weak abroad and politically motivated in moving to end America’s two long wars.
Attacking Obama’s national security policies, the poll suggests, may do more harm than good to Republican presidential candidates at a time when many Americans favor a national security approach that relies more on technology than troops. By better than 2 to 1 Americans say the president’s handling of terrorism is a major reason to support rather than oppose his bid for reelection.
more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/poll-finds-broad-support-for-obamas-counterterrorism-policies/2012/02/07/gIQAFrSEyQ_story.html?hpid=z3
Suspect recall petitions being investigated in Racine
A Racine man is in hot water after several people whose names appear on the recall petitions - including his brother and mother - said they never signed the forms, the Racine Journal Times is reporting.
The Racine County Sheriff's Department is investigating signatures gathered by Mark Demet for the petitions seeking the recall of State Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine). The signatures included four from Demet's brother and two from his mother, but they both said they never signed. The newspaper made checks of other names on the Demet-circulated petitions and found another man who said he didn't sign and one man who said he did sign.
Demet couldn't be reached by the paper, but his ex-wife said she thought he was just joking around.
"I think he did some joking around and he is going to get in trouble for it," Kathy Demet told the paper. "It's a shame, he's a good person … I don't think he would do anything intentionally to hurt anyone."
more: http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/suspect-recall-petitions-being-investigated-in-racine-1m43oic-138858874.html
Profile Information
Member since: 2002Number of posts: 29,853
