January 7, 2015

For the 5th year in a row...each of the 240 students at the Urban Prep Academy is going to college..

http://theobamadiary.com/

January 7, 2015

Bernie Sanders Calls ‘Dynamic Scoring’ a Gimmick

Says First President Bush was Right about ‘Voodoo Economics’

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, today blasted a proposed new House rule that would make the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation use a discredited notion that today’s Republicans call “dynamic scoring” but President George H.W. Bush labeled “voodoo economics.”

“The Republicans have hatched a plan to force the CBO to cook the books and paint a rosy picture of the benefits of trickle-down economics. They call it ‘dynamic scoring.’ In fact, it’s a gimmick to help justify more tax cuts for the wealthy and profitable corporations. It’s what the first President Bush called voodoo economics – and he was right,” Sanders said.

“The purpose of dynamic scoring is to conceal – not reveal – how Republican policies will affect the economy,” he added.

The basic problem with what the right-wing economists call “dynamic scoring” is that it requires the CBO to count hypothetical growth as additional revenue. “That means counting the chickens before they hatch,” Sanders said.

The senator said the main reason Republicans want to change the budget rule is to disguise the impact of their plan to give more tax breaks to the wealthy and large corporations. In fact, part of the reason the deficit is smaller today is that Congress in 2012 finally let tax cuts expire for the top 1 percent.

“What history shows,” Sanders said, “is that when you give tax breaks to the rich and large corporations, the rich get richer, corporate profits climb and the federal deficit soars. In these difficult times, we need realistic economic projections, not discredited theories, not voodoo economics.”

In vowing to fight any effort to adopt a similar rule in the Senate, Sanders said former heads of CBO and tax committee opposed dynamic scoring because they said it would force them to provide estimates based on “highly uncertain” assumptions. “The Republicans are politicizing the budget process in a way that will undermine the credibility of the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation, which have provided unbiased, nonpartisan analysis on the cost of tax and spending bills,” Sanders said.

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-calls-dynamic-scoring-a-gimmick

January 6, 2015

John Fugelsang's tweet about the GOP controlling both houses of Congress..

January 6, 2015

The NIGHTMARE has begun!!!!

January 6, 2015

Luckovich toon: Do the white thing

January 6, 2015

What's in an H?

Since I was chastise over the spelling of Pittsburgh the other day, I decided to find out the reason why there was an h on the end of Pittsburgh...
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What's in a name? Well, if it's Pittsburgh, then it's an 'h.' If you've never noticed, Pittsburgh spells its name with an 'h' at the end. Of the many other Pittsburgs in the USA, including some 20 towns in New Hampshire, Maine, Illinois, Kansas, California, and Texas, all spell their name without the ending 'h.'

'The Artist formerly Known as Prince' isn't the only one whose name has caused confusion. While residents are well aware that the city spells its name with the unusual ending, others may not. Most citizens with a Pittsburgh mailing address have at one time or another received a piece of mail with the city's name spelled incorrectly. It looks so peculiar-- as if it is only half dressed.

More here: http://www.popularpittsburgh.com/pittsburgh-info/pittsburgh-history/whatsinanh.aspx

January 6, 2015

Texas Judge resigns after being caught texting instructions to prosecutors to help win convictions

Texas district Judge Elizabeth E. Coker is stepping down from the bench after being caught engaging in a massive perversion of justice. A whistleblower revealed that Corker was sending text messages to prosecutors with suggestions on questions to ask in court in order to secure a conviction.

from Houston Chronicle:

State District Judge Elizabeth E. Coker—who sits on the bench over Trinity, Polk and San Jacinto counties—has resigned under fire in a texting controversy, according to a voluntary agreement with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct.

It stems from complaints and media stories alleging that Coker “had engaged in improper ex parte text communications with Polk County Assistant District Attorney Kaycee Jones while Judge Coker presided” over a criminal trial in August of 2012.

With those complaints, “the commission commenced an investigation into allegations that Judge Coker used Assistant District Attorney Jones to privately communicate information” about the case “to suggest questions for the prosecutor to ask during the trial” among other issues.


More here: http://poorrichardsnews.com/post/65069957264/texas-judge-resigns-after-being-caught-texting

January 6, 2015

Bernie Sanders: What kind of nation are we trying to create?

January 6, 2015

How everyone will be negatively affected by the Republican Congress

January 6, 2015

Toon: Welcome to Florida (finally!)