March 29, 2013

Generic Rx drugs cheapest at Costco, Consumer Reports finds

Some of the most popular prescription drugs that recently became available in generic form are sold at the lowest prices at Costco and at the highest prices at CVS Caremark, according to an analysis by Consumer Reports.

Failing to comparison shop for drugs - such as generic Lipitor to lower cholesterol or generic Plavix to thin the blood - could result in overpaying by $100 a month or even more, depending on the drug, the report said.

The article will be available in the May issue of Consumer Reports.

Consumers may find good deals at local independent pharmacies, Consumer Reports said.

http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/28/17506826-generic-rx-drugs-cheapest-at-costco-consumer-reports-finds?lite

March 28, 2013

President Obama orders commission to address voting issues

Source: Associated Press

President Barack Obama has signed an executive order establishing a presidential commission to address voting issues.

Obama announced his plans to create the commission last month in his State of the Union address. The top lawyer for Obama's re-election campaign, Bob Bauer, will co-chair the commission with the top lawyer for Republican Mitt Romney's campaign, Ben Ginsburg.

The goal is to address issues including long lines at the polls, voter registration and voter access.

The order gives the commission six months after its first public meeting to submit a report to Obama about ways to improve the voting experience.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/obama-orders-commission-address-voting-issues

---

Pres.Obama Establishes Commission On Voting
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-establishes-commission-on-voting

March 28, 2013

Key Democratic donors ante up, pushing party left

Kos
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/03/28/1197624/-Key-Democratic-donors-ante-up-pushing-party-Left

Nice:
Kenneth Lerer, a New York businessman who is chairman of Buzzfeed.com, and David Bohnett, a technology entrepreneur and philanthopist based in Los Angeles, are both major financial supporters of Democratic candidates, having each given scores of large contributions over the years. They are both key players in the political fundraising world and wield influence among other donors and fundraisers.

Neither will give another dime to any Senate Democrat who does not support expanded background checks, I’m told — and both will suggest to other donors that they do the same. The move underscores the rising importance of gun control as an issue in Democratic politics — and the rising frustration in some Democratic circles with elected officials who continue to regard gun politics as a third rail, at a moment that presents a real opportunity to achieve serious reform, with a policy that enjoys near universal public support.

As much as we complain about politicians who put their finger in the wind to make decisions based on the shifting winds, Democrats are actually harmed by politicians who don't. As I wrote yesterday, part of our success as a movement has been to get Democrats to understand that they were on the unpopular side of many an issue, from the Iraq War, to equality, to immigration, and so on.
So here we are again, with too many Democrats opposed to sensible gun regulations despite massive popular support, simply because of fear and fealty to an increasingly impotent gun lobby.

But ours is a money-driven system. It was big donors who forced President Barack Obama's hand on marriage equality, the first time I saw a donor revolt pushing the party left. (Wall Street assholes abandoned Obama in 2012, but they were trying to push the Democrats to the right).

Hopefully this is a start of a trend. Too many big liberal voters (those not motivated by Wall Street excess) have given to the party and candidates uncritically in the past. It may be easy for Democrats to ignore a bunch of screaming activists. It's much harder to do so when their end-of-quarter financial reports depend on it.


Top donors threaten Dems: Do the right thing on guns, or no more money
(snip)
A third major fundraiser, Grace Tsau-Wu of Chicago, who was on Obama’s national finance committee in 2012, also tells me she won’t help any candidates who are weak on guns get connected with her network of donors. “It’s hard for me to personally fundraise or get involved in the campaigns of any Democrats who don’t support background checks and aren’t behind the president on the issue of guns,” she said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/03/28/top-donors-threaten-dems-do-the-right-thing-on-guns-or-no-more-money/

(Site content may be used for any purpose without explicit permission unless otherwise specified)

Lerer: No background checks, no cash
http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/03/lerer-no-background-checks-no-cash-160424.html#.UVR-SznYgF0.twitter

March 26, 2013

Think Progress:The Best Marriage Equality Signs At The Supreme Court

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/03/26/1774981/the-best-marriage-equality-signs-at-the-supreme-court/

Advocates of marriage equality are rallying in front of the Supreme Court Tuesday morning, as the Justices prepare consider two separate cases that could grant gay and lesbian couples the right to marry.

Below are some of the very best signs from marriage proponents:












more at link

March 25, 2013

Connecticut Senators Richard Blumenthal and Christopher Murphy Slam NRA

Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Christopher S. Murphy of Connecticut sent a joint letter Monday to the National Rifle Association, asking the pro-gun group to stop robocalls to residents of Newtown, Conn.

The NRA is trying to rally support against the Connecticut state legislature, which is currently considering gun control legislation, and did not discriminate in which area codes it sent its messages. Residents of Newtown, the location of a December 2012 elementary school massacre that reignited gun control debates across the country, have expressed outrage over the calls.

“With these robocalls, the NRA has stooped to a new low in the debate over how to best protect our kids and our communities. We call on you to immediately stop calling the families and friends of the victims in Newtown,” Murphy and Blumenthal wrote, in a letter to NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. “In a community that’s still very much in crisis, to be making these calls opens a wound that these families are still trying hard to heal. Put yourself in the shoes of a victim’s family member who gets a call at dinnertime asking them to support more assault weapons in our schools and on our streets.”

http://www.rollcall.com/news/connecticut_senators_slam_nra-223413-1.html

Senators To NRA: Stop Berating Newtown Victims’ Families
(snip)
“In a community that’s still very much in crisis, to be making these calls opens a wound that these families are still trying hard to heal,” wrote Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) to NRA chief Wayne LaPierre. “Put yourself in the shoes of a victim’s family member who gets a call at dinnertime asking them to support more assault weapons in our schools and on our streets.”

The senators said their constituents were upset about getting automated calls from the NRA supporting the right to carry assault weapons and urging opposition to gun control measures.

Excoriating the NRA’s actions as “inappropriate,” “incredibly insensitive,” and “absolutely beyond the pale,” Blumenthal and Murphy called it “just another example in a long line of offensive steps your organization has taken in the wake of this tragic shooting.”

“With these robocalls, the NRA has stooped to a new low in the debate over how to best protect our kids and our communities,” they wrote. “Again, we call on you to show some basic decency and cease and desist these calls.”

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/03/blumenthal-murphy-nra-robocalls.php

March 25, 2013

Majority of Rhode Island mayors call for legalizing gay marriage

Six Rhode Island mayors voiced support for same-sex marriage on Monday, calling on the state Senate to pass a bill legalizing gay marriage that has already won overwhelming support in Rhode Island's House of Representatives.

The House in January voted strongly in favor of the bill, but the measure was expected to face an uphill battle in the state Senate.

(snip)
On Monday, four mayors -- Angel Taveras of Providence, Donald Grebien of Pawtucket, Daniel McKee of Cumberland and James Diossa of Central Falls -- threw their support behind the bill at City Hall in Providence, said Devin Driscoll, a spokesman for Rhode Islanders United for Marriage, an advocacy group.

Two other mayors, Scott Avedisian of Warwick and Charles Lombardi of North Providence, also support the measure, but were unable to attend the news conference, Driscoll said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/25/us-usa-gaymarriage-rhodeisland-idUSBRE92O0SS20130325?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews

March 24, 2013

ABC Journalist Calls Out Karl Rove: ‘Stop Scaring People’ About Background Checks

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/03/24/1767251/abc-journalist-goes-after-karl-rove-stop-scaring-people-about-background-checks/
(snip)
Discussing proposals that would require private sellers to maintain records of the background checks they perform, Rove falsely claimed that the government would maintain a “registry if a grandfather wants to give a treasured shotgun to his grandson or granddaughter” and keep a “national registry of gun sales and gun purchases and gun owners.” Moran hit back at Rove, noting that he was spreading “paranoia” and “fear” in order to build opposition against the measure:

MORAN: Karl — stop scaring people, you’re scaring people with this Orwellian sense, that black helicopters and the government are going to confiscate Americans’ guns. That kind of paranoia fuels…

ROVE: Will all due respect, it’s not paranoia.

MORAN: Who is going to confiscate all of the guns?

&feature=player_embedded

March 8, 2013

Sen. Sanders:Don't Cut Benefits for Seniors and Veterans

&feature=player_embedded


GOP wants you to pay for their wasteful spending. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) explains why he’s fighting back.
http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/03/07/ed-show-playbook-thursday-march-7/

Sanders, Reid, DeFazio introduce legislation to strengthen Social Security
http://vtdigger.org/2013/03/07/sanders-reid-defazio-introduce-legislation-to-strengthen-social-security/

March 4, 2013

Justice Ginsburg Says She Won’t Step Down This Year: ‘After That, Who Knows?’

In a wide-ranging profile published in the latest issue of The New Yorker, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg addressed when he time on the bench may draw to a close.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/03/11/130311fa_fact_toobin

Ginsburg, a survivor of pancreatic cancer who will turn 80 this month, conceded that the party of the person in the White House influences when justices opt to step down.

"I think it is for all of us," Ginsburg, a member of the court's liberal wing who was nominated by former President Bill Clinton in 1993, told The New Yorker's Jeffrey Toobin.

(snip)
"There will come a point when I — It's not this year. You can never tell when you're my age," Ginsburg said. "But, as long as I think I have the candlepower, I will do it. And I figure next year for certain. After that, who knows?"

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/justice-ginsburg-says-she-wont-step-down-this