What's the latest on Tom Delay, anyone know? When does he report to prison? Seems like I have been

waiting forever to hear some news about this...I bet he's celebrating his independence today. Do you suppose he's been rehabilitated while waiting these many years for his trial?

James 'Randy' Udall Dead: Brother Of U.S. Senator Found Deceased In Wyoming

Source: Huffington Post

DENVER, July 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Mark Udall's younger brother, who had been missing for more than a week, was found dead on Wednesday in a Wyoming mountain range, but no foul play was suspected, authorities said.

The body of James "Randy" Udall, 61, who had been the subject of a search since failing to return from a week-long backcountry hike, was discovered in a remote area of the Wind River Range, according to Sublette County Sheriff Dave Lankford. (Reporting by Keith Coffman; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Steve Gorman)


Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/03/james-randy-udall-dead-senator-wyoming_n_3543775.html

Reddit, Mozilla And Others Plan Huge Online Protest Against NSA For July 4

Reddit, Mozilla, Wordpress, 4chan and other websites are planning a Fourth of July protest against the National Security Agency over its widespread surveillance of telephone records and Internet traffic through secret programs that came to light last month.

Spearheaded by the Internet Defense League, a 30,000-member group of Internet activists and websites, the Restore The Fourth campaign will have websites promote anti-NSA messages on their homepages along with directing visitors to CallForFreedom.org, where they can donate to help fund television ads against the intelligence programs.

In addition to advising visitors to call members of Congress, Restore The Fourth is coordinating street demonstrations in more than 75 cities, which will include “liberal groups, conservative groups and libertarian groups alike.”

More at link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/03/nsa-protest-reddit-mozilla-july-4_n_3540893.html

Rush Limbaugh: GOP could lose House

The Democrats could win back the House in the 2014 midterms, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh said Tuesday morning.
Limbaugh, calling into the show “Fox & Friends,” said Republicans will lose if they don’t change their focus.

“The Republicans are sitting around twiddling their thumbs worried about immigration and whether the Hispanics like them, and they’re being stumped on issue after issue after issue like this,” Limbaugh said.

When asked if he thought Republicans losing the house was an actual possibility, Limbaugh said yes, “because the Republicans are in the process of engaging in policies guaranteed to lose them elections.”


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/07/rush-limbaugh-house-republicans-2014-midterms-93651.html#ixzz2Xz8hJjfs

---------------------

This is one time I hope/think he is right.

Obama’s Brilliant Move Deals A Blow To The GOP’s 2014 Hopes

With one brilliant political masterstroke, the Obama administration pulled the rug out from Republicans who were hoping to run against Obamacare in 2014.

An innocent looking blog post at the Department of the Treasury has turned the GOP’s strategy for the 2014 election on its ear. Mark J. Mazur wrote, “The Administration is announcing that it will provide an additional year before the ACA mandatory employer and insurer reporting requirements begin. This is designed to meet two goals. First, it will allow us to consider ways to simplify the new reporting requirements consistent with the law. Second, it will provide time to adapt health coverage and reporting systems while employers are moving toward making health coverage affordable and accessible for their employees. Within the next week, we will publish formal guidance describing this transition.”

Republicans have been telegraphing since they lost the 2012 election that they intended to run against the employer mandate. John Boehner mentions Obamacare every week when he meets with the media for a reason. Republicans at both the congressional and state level can’t run on their economic records. They can’t run on their legislative records. Republicans were planning on making 2014 a replay of 2010 by focusing on Obamacare, but the White House kneecapped them with an announcement that nobody expected.

Republican former CBO director, Douglas Holtz-Eakin explained why this announcement was both a stunner and deviously brilliant, “Democrats no longer face the immediate specter of running against the fallout from a heavy regulatory imposition on employers across the land. Explaining away the mandate was going to be a big political lift; having the White House airbrush it from the landscape is way better. It helps with ObamaCare in other ways as well. The administration was flailing to find high-profile allies (e.g., the National Football League) to advertise the wonders of ObamaCare. In a single masterstroke it has given every company a reason to explain its existence (“don’t worry, you’ll be fine in the exchanges”) and created a de facto advertising campaign of enormous scale and reach. Deviously brilliant.”
--------------------

One can only hope.

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell Asked to Resign Over Scandal

Not too long ago, even after the transvaginal probe debacle, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell was seen as a strong contender for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Now he's an object of scandal and ridicule. An FBI probe revealed that McDonnell failed to disclose expensive gifts from wealthy donors—including designer clothes for his wife, a wedding banquet for his daughter, a hummer stretch limousine, and a Rolex watch—leading to accusations of bribery. Now, the Virgininian-Pilot reports that Fairfax City Senator John Chapman Peterson has called for McDonnell's resignation:

"If you or your family has received gifts of the type alleged, then you should disclose that fully and immediately," Petersen writes in a letter dated July 1.

"If those gifts are retail consumer items which you have retained for personal use, then you should return them immediately to the donor or sell them and donate the money to the Literary Fund," his letter reads. "That is the only method by which the public can regain trust in your Office. Without that trust, there is no purpose in continuing to serve."

If McDonnell is unable or unwilling to address the issue, Petersen offered this recommendation: "You should step down as Governor and permit the Lieutenant Governor to serve out the balance of your term."

(a little more at link) http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/07/02/virginia_governor_bob_mcdonnell_asked_to_resign_over_growing_scandal.html

Here's something else to ponder: The elected representatives, when they assume office, inherit

status quo, whatever it may be, at the time they assume office. They are in little position from the day they are elected to do anything substantial about anything. They are freshmen, the least senior. They get crumbs, for the most part, as they assimilate into their new duties, the Washington experience, the game. The have political considerations. They have the next election to win. They just don't know what they need to know or have the authority to. By the time they do, years have past, the bad guys have long since walked, and a thousand new scandals, big and small, real and imagined, have occurred. The status quo, at the time a representative assumes office, is what he or she inherits. The tea party, whatever it reallyis or was, didn't have nearly enough power to do what they set out to- and that's saying something, because they did a hell of a lot of damage to a political party and damn near ruined a country, thus inadvertently helping our enemies. Imagine, though, what would happen if they somehow had a resurgence in political power that we don't expect? We would be caught with our pants down again, and that would be disastrous for our party, and for the country, and for the world. It behooves us all to really do our part once again. Be active at the local level. Go to meetings. Canvass. Register voters. Engage friends and neighbors. Talk about what is going on. The fallout from the NSA/Snowden thing is miles away. No one knows how it will all unfold, legally or politically. One thing is for certain: We can't let them meme us to death. We have to stand up and call foul. We have to speak up, in strength to be heard and to participate in keeping the important stuff on top of the conversation. Don't be afraid to write to your reps, either....Trust me, it matters when they have to make hard decisions on votes....it matters whether or not you ultimately sway them, but sometimes you willsway them. Sometimes they dismiss some of us lefties rather out of hand because it makes for a good sound byte. It's not quite as easy to be dismissive of an actual constituent who engages.

Mitch McConnell Urged By Tea Party To Step Aside In 2014

A tea party-affiliated group is urging Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to bow out of his reelection bid next year against Democratic rival Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, citing concerns with the longtime senator's electability.

Matt Hoskins, the Senate Conservatives Fund's executive director, told the Washington Post Tuesday that McConnell isn't a strong enough candidate to face off against Grimes and that it may be time for him to "pass the torch."

“Mitch McConnell is now the least electable Republican senator running for reelection in 2014,” Hoskins said. "He could lose this race and cost Republicans the majority. He needs to consider whether it might be time to hang it up.”

The Senate Conservatives Fund is a political action committee launched by former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) prior to the 2010 elections.

(more at link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/02/mitch-mcconnell-tea-party_n_3536897.html?utm_hp_ref=politics)
-------------

They're now eating their own.

Just about sums it up- Thank you former President Carter: