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Segami
Segami's Journal
Segami's Journal
May 22, 2014
Obviously, the Wall St. Journal is happy to spotlight Democratic infighting -- but they're actually doing us a favor. The more people pushing Hillary Clinton from the left, the better:
ANACONDA, Mont.—In a pine-paneled bar at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, Brian Schweitzer, the former Democratic governor of Montana, bites into a Tex-Mex salad and just about everything Hillary Clinton stands for.
He slams Mrs. Clinton for her ties to Wall Street, her courting of corporate campaign cash and her vote for the Iraq war as senator, a jab he delivered during a trip through Iowa in December.
Such outspoken criticism of Mrs. Clinton, rare among Democrats, inspires some leaders in the party's left wing, who are disillusioned with President Barack Obama and soured by prospects of an unchallenged Clinton candidacy in 2016.
Montana has more cattle than people, making Mr. Schweitzer a long shot for the Democratic presidential nomination, should he even try. Complicating things further, the former two-term governor has little name recognition, little money and a big appetite for oil and gas exploration.
But some Democrats say Mr. Schweitzer has a chance at an important role: the maverick who speaks for disillusioned liberals, calls out Mrs. Clinton's vulnerabilities and, perhaps, prods a more liberal champion into the race.
The perceived anointment of Mrs. Clinton has frustrated some Democrats seeking "a vigorous primary debate on bread-and-butter economic issues and who's going to take on Wall Street," said Ilya Sheyman, executive director of MoveOn, a liberal political-action group with eight million members. "Any candidate, including Hillary Clinton, is going to have to answer a whole lot of questions on where they stand."
As Mrs. Clinton tacks right on foreign policy issues and delivers paid speeches to financial groups as the Democratic Party's most likely presidential contender, she leaves open a lane, if not for Mr. Schweitzer then for another candidate who speaks the language of liberal populism.
"We would be eager to provide him a platform to make his pitch," said Roger Hickey, who leads the Campaign for America's Future, the liberal group that helped launch Mr. Obama's presidential campaign. "There's a large number of progressive activists and even middle-of-the-road Democrats who would like to see a real debate and a lot of enthusiasm."
cont'
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304178104579534112388261686?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304178104579534112388261686.html&fpid=2,7,121,122,201,401,641,1009
http://crooksandliars.com/2014/05/more-please-former-montana-gov-goes-after
More, Please! Former Montana Gov Goes After Hillary Clinton As CORPORATIST DEM
Brian Schweitzer is pushing hard from the left as Hillary Clinton is presented as a shoo-in.
Obviously, the Wall St. Journal is happy to spotlight Democratic infighting -- but they're actually doing us a favor. The more people pushing Hillary Clinton from the left, the better:
ANACONDA, Mont.—In a pine-paneled bar at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, Brian Schweitzer, the former Democratic governor of Montana, bites into a Tex-Mex salad and just about everything Hillary Clinton stands for.
He slams Mrs. Clinton for her ties to Wall Street, her courting of corporate campaign cash and her vote for the Iraq war as senator, a jab he delivered during a trip through Iowa in December.
Such outspoken criticism of Mrs. Clinton, rare among Democrats, inspires some leaders in the party's left wing, who are disillusioned with President Barack Obama and soured by prospects of an unchallenged Clinton candidacy in 2016.
Montana has more cattle than people, making Mr. Schweitzer a long shot for the Democratic presidential nomination, should he even try. Complicating things further, the former two-term governor has little name recognition, little money and a big appetite for oil and gas exploration.
But some Democrats say Mr. Schweitzer has a chance at an important role: the maverick who speaks for disillusioned liberals, calls out Mrs. Clinton's vulnerabilities and, perhaps, prods a more liberal champion into the race.
The perceived anointment of Mrs. Clinton has frustrated some Democrats seeking "a vigorous primary debate on bread-and-butter economic issues and who's going to take on Wall Street," said Ilya Sheyman, executive director of MoveOn, a liberal political-action group with eight million members. "Any candidate, including Hillary Clinton, is going to have to answer a whole lot of questions on where they stand."
As Mrs. Clinton tacks right on foreign policy issues and delivers paid speeches to financial groups as the Democratic Party's most likely presidential contender, she leaves open a lane, if not for Mr. Schweitzer then for another candidate who speaks the language of liberal populism.
"We would be eager to provide him a platform to make his pitch," said Roger Hickey, who leads the Campaign for America's Future, the liberal group that helped launch Mr. Obama's presidential campaign. "There's a large number of progressive activists and even middle-of-the-road Democrats who would like to see a real debate and a lot of enthusiasm."
cont'
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304178104579534112388261686?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304178104579534112388261686.html&fpid=2,7,121,122,201,401,641,1009
http://crooksandliars.com/2014/05/more-please-former-montana-gov-goes-after
May 22, 2014
Republicans sure have a lot to say about our veterans and the country's need do support them, but when it comes time to act? They filibuster funding for an expansion of their healthcare program. They also leave 258,600 veterans uninsured. That's how many low-income veterans don't have access to health care through the Veteran's Administration and don't have access to Medicaid because their Republican lawmakers have refused to take the Obamacare expansion.
Not all veterans can use the VA system. To be eligible, a veteran would have to have at least two continuous years of military service or have been disabled in the line of duty. Plenty more veterans don't live near enough to a VA hospital to be able to regularly get treatment there. They can be dual-eligible, getting assistance from both Medicaid and the VA, but only where Medicaid is available. And in about two dozen states, it's not. So when the Republican noise machine gets going full blast over the VA healthcare scandal, don't forget what the larger scandal is: Republicans are denying care to hundreds of thousands of veterans out of pure political spite.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/21/1301016/-Republican-Medicaid-refusal-leaves-over-250-000-veterans-nbsp-uninsured?showAll=yes
REPUBLICAN MEDICAID REFUSAL Leaves Over 250,000 Veterans UNINSURED
"..REPUBLICANS ARE DENYING CARE TO HUNDREDS OF VETERANS OUT OF PURE POLITICAL SPITE.."
Republicans sure have a lot to say about our veterans and the country's need do support them, but when it comes time to act? They filibuster funding for an expansion of their healthcare program. They also leave 258,600 veterans uninsured. That's how many low-income veterans don't have access to health care through the Veteran's Administration and don't have access to Medicaid because their Republican lawmakers have refused to take the Obamacare expansion.
"..According to a report by Pew using analysis from the Urban Institute, approximately 258,600 of those veterans are living below the poverty line in states refusing to expand Medicaid. Without veteran's benefits—and with incomes too low to qualify for subsidies to use on the state exchanges—these veterans are left without affordable coverage options..."
http://www.vox.com/2014/5/21/5738512/states-that-refuse-medicaid-are-leaving-over-250000-poor-veterans
http://www.vox.com/2014/5/21/5738512/states-that-refuse-medicaid-are-leaving-over-250000-poor-veterans
Not all veterans can use the VA system. To be eligible, a veteran would have to have at least two continuous years of military service or have been disabled in the line of duty. Plenty more veterans don't live near enough to a VA hospital to be able to regularly get treatment there. They can be dual-eligible, getting assistance from both Medicaid and the VA, but only where Medicaid is available. And in about two dozen states, it's not. So when the Republican noise machine gets going full blast over the VA healthcare scandal, don't forget what the larger scandal is: Republicans are denying care to hundreds of thousands of veterans out of pure political spite.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/21/1301016/-Republican-Medicaid-refusal-leaves-over-250-000-veterans-nbsp-uninsured?showAll=yes
May 22, 2014
BAM!!.............................................
......
.
FOX NEWS ANCHOR ARRESTED At Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport
Weekend Fox News anchor Gregg Jarrett was hauled off to jail for being drunk at the airport and interfering with the duties of a policeman.
BAM!!.............................................
......
Fox News weekend anchor and George Zimmerman apologist Gregg Jarrett was arrested Wednesday night after police were called to the Northern Lights Bar in the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport.
An airport spokesman says police arrested FOX News Channel's Gregg Jarrett.
Police were called to Northern Lights Grill in Terminal One on Wednesday.
When they got there, they say Jarrett appeared to be drunk and wouldn't obey orders.
They took him to the Hennepin County Jail. He's charged with interfering with a peace officer, which is a misdemeanor.
http://crooksandliars.com/2014/05/fox-news-anchor-arrested-minneapolis-st
An airport spokesman says police arrested FOX News Channel's Gregg Jarrett.
Police were called to Northern Lights Grill in Terminal One on Wednesday.
When they got there, they say Jarrett appeared to be drunk and wouldn't obey orders.
They took him to the Hennepin County Jail. He's charged with interfering with a peace officer, which is a misdemeanor.
http://crooksandliars.com/2014/05/fox-news-anchor-arrested-minneapolis-st
.
May 21, 2014
Protecting & expanding Social Security is a win-win for Dems!...............who would have ever thought?......
This is where we find out just how deeply Republican memes have worked their way into the public psyche. Here is an eminently sensible proposal and much-needed from Sherrod Brown. Will voters recognize that, or will they be aghast at "tax and spend Democrats" wanting to run up the national credit card? Greg Sargent from The Plum Line:
http://crooksandliars.com/2014/05/will-dems-campaign-expanding-social
Will DEMS Campaign On EXPANDING Social Security? LET'S HOPE SO!
“..We should stop playing defense on Social Security, and instead talk about why Social Security is a public pension that we should be proud of, that has lifted tens of millions of people out of poverty,” Brown says..."
Protecting & expanding Social Security is a win-win for Dems!...............who would have ever thought?......
This is where we find out just how deeply Republican memes have worked their way into the public psyche. Here is an eminently sensible proposal and much-needed from Sherrod Brown. Will voters recognize that, or will they be aghast at "tax and spend Democrats" wanting to run up the national credit card? Greg Sargent from The Plum Line:
Word has it that Democrats are set to take a shellacking in the 2014 elections, in part because midterm electorates tend to be older and whiter. So what if Dems campaigned on expanding Social Security, rather than allowing themselves to get drawn into another debate over how much to cut the program?
There’s a hook for this looming: The coming battle over disability insurance, which is a part of Social Security.
Dem Senator Sherrod Brown, a member of the Finance Committee, tells me that GOP Senators have requested hearings into Social Security Disability Insurance this summer. Dems expect Republicans to attack the program as wasteful and fraudulent, in part because conservative media have already done so, and in part because at least one GOP proposal in recent days took aim at the program.
Brown says Dems should seize this occasion to get behind a proposal that would lift or change the payroll tax cap, meaning higher earners would pay more, while adopting a new measure for inflation that would increase benefits for all seniors. Instead of getting drawn into debates about “Chained CPI” and other entitlement cuts, Brown says, Dems should make the case that stagnating wages and declining pensions and savings demand an expansion of social insurance.
“We should stop playing defense on Social Security, and instead talk about why Social Security is a public pension that we should be proud of, that has lifted tens of millions of people out of poverty,” Brown tells me. “The three-legged stool — Social Security, pensions, private savings — has seen two of the legs sawed off for a large number of people. It’s time to look at expanding Social Security as an issue of retirement security.”
- cont'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/05/20/the-next-big-fight-over-the-safety-net/
There’s a hook for this looming: The coming battle over disability insurance, which is a part of Social Security.
Dem Senator Sherrod Brown, a member of the Finance Committee, tells me that GOP Senators have requested hearings into Social Security Disability Insurance this summer. Dems expect Republicans to attack the program as wasteful and fraudulent, in part because conservative media have already done so, and in part because at least one GOP proposal in recent days took aim at the program.
Brown says Dems should seize this occasion to get behind a proposal that would lift or change the payroll tax cap, meaning higher earners would pay more, while adopting a new measure for inflation that would increase benefits for all seniors. Instead of getting drawn into debates about “Chained CPI” and other entitlement cuts, Brown says, Dems should make the case that stagnating wages and declining pensions and savings demand an expansion of social insurance.
“We should stop playing defense on Social Security, and instead talk about why Social Security is a public pension that we should be proud of, that has lifted tens of millions of people out of poverty,” Brown tells me. “The three-legged stool — Social Security, pensions, private savings — has seen two of the legs sawed off for a large number of people. It’s time to look at expanding Social Security as an issue of retirement security.”
- cont'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/05/20/the-next-big-fight-over-the-safety-net/
http://crooksandliars.com/2014/05/will-dems-campaign-expanding-social
May 21, 2014
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Wednesday named 5 Democrats to the GOP-led select committee on Benghazi, announcing that her party will fully participate in the investigation.
The members:
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), Ranking Member, Committee on Oversight & Government Reform
Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), Ranking Member, Armed Services Committee
Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-CA), Committee on Appropriations (Subcommittee on State & Foreign Operations), Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence
Rep. Linda T. Sanchez (D-CA), Committee on Ways and Means (Subcommittee on Oversight)
Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Armed Services Committee, Committee on Oversight & Government Reform
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/nancy-pelosi-leaning-participate-in-benghazi-committee
One lawmaker who won't be on the committee is Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL), who had indicated interest and whom progressive advocates were pushing Pelosi to name to the panel. In a news conference with the newly revealed committee members, Pelosi said her party still doesn't believe the investigation will be fair, but described that as "all the more reason for Democrats to participate" so they can "bring some openness and transparency to what's going on."
Initially Democratic leaders had wanted to boycott the committee, which the party roundly views as a partisan witch hunt to damage the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton ahead of a potential 2016 presidential run. But they came around to participating upon deciding that they wanted access to the documents and information, and wanted to be in the room to cross-examine witnesses.
cont'
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/the-5-democrats-benghazi-committee
.
Here Are The 5 DEMOCRATS Who Will SERVE On The Benghazi Committee
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Wednesday named 5 Democrats to the GOP-led select committee on Benghazi, announcing that her party will fully participate in the investigation.
The members:
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), Ranking Member, Committee on Oversight & Government Reform
Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), Ranking Member, Armed Services Committee
Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-CA), Committee on Appropriations (Subcommittee on State & Foreign Operations), Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence
Rep. Linda T. Sanchez (D-CA), Committee on Ways and Means (Subcommittee on Oversight)
Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Armed Services Committee, Committee on Oversight & Government Reform
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/nancy-pelosi-leaning-participate-in-benghazi-committee
One lawmaker who won't be on the committee is Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL), who had indicated interest and whom progressive advocates were pushing Pelosi to name to the panel. In a news conference with the newly revealed committee members, Pelosi said her party still doesn't believe the investigation will be fair, but described that as "all the more reason for Democrats to participate" so they can "bring some openness and transparency to what's going on."
Initially Democratic leaders had wanted to boycott the committee, which the party roundly views as a partisan witch hunt to damage the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton ahead of a potential 2016 presidential run. But they came around to participating upon deciding that they wanted access to the documents and information, and wanted to be in the room to cross-examine witnesses.
cont'
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/the-5-democrats-benghazi-committee
.
May 21, 2014
(Reuters) - E-commerce company eBay Inc said client identity information including emails, addresses and birthdays was stolen in a hacking attack between late February and early March. EBay urged users to change their passwords after the attack on a database that also contained encrypted passwords, physical addresses and phone numbers. The company said it found no evidence of any unauthorized access to financial or credit card information, which is stored separately in encrypted formats.
EBay shares fell as much as 3.2 percent on Wednesday morning after the latest high-profile hacking attack on a U.S. company. "For the time being, we cannot comment on the specific number of accounts impacted," eBay spokeswoman Kari Ramirez said. "However, we believe there may be a large number of accounts involved and we are asking all eBay users to change their passwords." EBay said it was investigating the breach and working with law enforcement agencies.
The company also said it had not seen any indication of increased fraudulent account activity on eBay and that there was no evidence that its online payment service PayPal had been affected in the attack. The attack on eBay was made through compromised employee accounts that allowed unauthorized access to its corporate network, the company said in a statement. It said the breach was first detected about two weeks ago. "The real key question going forward will be if any money has been stolen, or any unauthorized activity been performed," Wedbush Securities analyst Gil Luria said.
cont'
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/21/us-ebay-password-idUSBREA4K0B420140521
NOT A False Alarm: EBay says CLIENT INFORMATION STOLEN In Hacking Attack
(Reuters) - E-commerce company eBay Inc said client identity information including emails, addresses and birthdays was stolen in a hacking attack between late February and early March. EBay urged users to change their passwords after the attack on a database that also contained encrypted passwords, physical addresses and phone numbers. The company said it found no evidence of any unauthorized access to financial or credit card information, which is stored separately in encrypted formats.
EBay shares fell as much as 3.2 percent on Wednesday morning after the latest high-profile hacking attack on a U.S. company. "For the time being, we cannot comment on the specific number of accounts impacted," eBay spokeswoman Kari Ramirez said. "However, we believe there may be a large number of accounts involved and we are asking all eBay users to change their passwords." EBay said it was investigating the breach and working with law enforcement agencies.
The company also said it had not seen any indication of increased fraudulent account activity on eBay and that there was no evidence that its online payment service PayPal had been affected in the attack. The attack on eBay was made through compromised employee accounts that allowed unauthorized access to its corporate network, the company said in a statement. It said the breach was first detected about two weeks ago. "The real key question going forward will be if any money has been stolen, or any unauthorized activity been performed," Wedbush Securities analyst Gil Luria said.
cont'
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/21/us-ebay-password-idUSBREA4K0B420140521
May 21, 2014
The Republican Party..........incubates for racists, thugs & criminals..............
Republican witch hunter Darrell Issa is getting desperate, so desperate that he has subpoenaed the Department of Justice in an attempt to revive the IRS scandal. In a letter that accompanied the subpoena, Rep. Issa wrote,
Issa is now claiming that the DOJ is part of some massive cover-up of the IRS scandal. Rep. Issa has long claimed that President Obama and the White House were behind the “targeting of conservative groups.” By subpoenaing the DOJ, Issa is trying to advance his conspiracy theory. The evidence uncovered by Issa’s own previous investigation revealed that that the White House was not involved in what happened at the IRS, and the details of what occurred at the IRS are something that House Republicans really don’t want to talk about.
The IRS targeted both liberal and conservative groups, because the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling led to a flood of groups trying to claim tax exempt status. What the IRS scandal has always been about is Republicans trying to intimidate the IRS into letting their shady super PACs violate the law by not paying taxes.
cont'
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/05/21/desperate-darrell-issa-subpoenaes-entire-department-justice.html
A DESPERATE Darrell Issa Subpoenas The ENTIRE Department of Justice
The Republican Party..........incubates for racists, thugs & criminals..............
Republican witch hunter Darrell Issa is getting desperate, so desperate that he has subpoenaed the Department of Justice in an attempt to revive the IRS scandal. In a letter that accompanied the subpoena, Rep. Issa wrote,
“...The Department’s refusal to allow Mr. Pilger to testify about matters highly relevant to the Committee’s investigation unnecessarily delays and frustrates the Committee’s Constitutional oversight obligations. The Department’s obstruction in this regard, coupled with its failure to produce any relevant material to date, leads the Committee to conclude the Department is not seriously committed to cooperating with the Committee’s investigation on the Committee’s terms.”
http://oversight.house.gov/release/doj-dodges-questions-issa-subpoenas-justice-department-irs-investigation-targeting-documents-2/
http://oversight.house.gov/release/doj-dodges-questions-issa-subpoenas-justice-department-irs-investigation-targeting-documents-2/
Issa is now claiming that the DOJ is part of some massive cover-up of the IRS scandal. Rep. Issa has long claimed that President Obama and the White House were behind the “targeting of conservative groups.” By subpoenaing the DOJ, Issa is trying to advance his conspiracy theory. The evidence uncovered by Issa’s own previous investigation revealed that that the White House was not involved in what happened at the IRS, and the details of what occurred at the IRS are something that House Republicans really don’t want to talk about.
The IRS targeted both liberal and conservative groups, because the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling led to a flood of groups trying to claim tax exempt status. What the IRS scandal has always been about is Republicans trying to intimidate the IRS into letting their shady super PACs violate the law by not paying taxes.
cont'
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/05/21/desperate-darrell-issa-subpoenaes-entire-department-justice.html
May 20, 2014
The billionaire Koch brothers have spent hundreds of millions of dollars because they don't want the government messing with Americans' lives or businesses. But a film coming out this week aims to show that they're perfectly willing to put their own thumbs on the scales of other people's freedom, often with heartbreaking consequences. "Koch Brothers Exposed" lays out in one easily understood narrative a lot of previously reported stories about the political machinations of Charles and David Koch. To show why their actions matter, it adds the human touch -- the people who have been hurt as the fabulously rich brothers from Kansas pursued their ideological goals.
The hour-long documentary is an updated version of a Robert Greenwald film originally released in 2012. With a premier in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday night, "Koch Brothers Exposed" is one in a series of left jabs aimed at the Kochs this week. A new book, Sons of Wichita, is also being released Tuesday, and activists are ramping up their efforts to disseminate news about the brothers, who are currently tied for fourth on the Forbes 400 list. Perhaps the documentary's most powerful moments come in showing how the Kochs' activism, generally advanced under the cloak of libertarianism, harms real people even as it boosts the bottom line of Koch Industries.
One segment looks at the town of Crossett, Ark., and a particular road where at least 11 people from 15 homes have died of cancer, according to residents quoted in the film. They happen to live just downstream from a Georgia Pacific plant run by Koch Industries. The film shows steaming, sludge-filled water flowing toward their homes. Residents complain of the smell and of breathing problems, and point to non-smoking relatives who have died of lung cancer. Meanwhile, Koch-founded groups have poured millions of dollars into the campaigns of politicians who aggressively target the Environmental Protection Agency, and Koch Industries has paid massive fines for polluting.
In one segment revived from the original version, filmmaker Greenwald focuses on North Carolina's Wake County school board elections in 2009, a hyper-local event that would seem to be too small to draw the attention of a couple of billionaires. Yet that year, the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity backed enough candidates to take control of the board and then vote to end the school district's long-running, successful desegregation plan.
cont'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/20/koch-brothers-movie_n_5353595.html
KOCH Brothers Revealed In DAMNING FILM EXPOSÉ
Watch Koch Brothers Exposed: 2014 Edition - May 20th 2014
"..Robert Greenwald's newest full-length feature, Koch Brothers Exposed: 2014 Edition is now available to stream. The documentary will only be available to stream online for a limited time..."
http://www.bravenewfilms.org/koch2014
"..Robert Greenwald's newest full-length feature, Koch Brothers Exposed: 2014 Edition is now available to stream. The documentary will only be available to stream online for a limited time..."
http://www.bravenewfilms.org/koch2014
The billionaire Koch brothers have spent hundreds of millions of dollars because they don't want the government messing with Americans' lives or businesses. But a film coming out this week aims to show that they're perfectly willing to put their own thumbs on the scales of other people's freedom, often with heartbreaking consequences. "Koch Brothers Exposed" lays out in one easily understood narrative a lot of previously reported stories about the political machinations of Charles and David Koch. To show why their actions matter, it adds the human touch -- the people who have been hurt as the fabulously rich brothers from Kansas pursued their ideological goals.
The hour-long documentary is an updated version of a Robert Greenwald film originally released in 2012. With a premier in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday night, "Koch Brothers Exposed" is one in a series of left jabs aimed at the Kochs this week. A new book, Sons of Wichita, is also being released Tuesday, and activists are ramping up their efforts to disseminate news about the brothers, who are currently tied for fourth on the Forbes 400 list. Perhaps the documentary's most powerful moments come in showing how the Kochs' activism, generally advanced under the cloak of libertarianism, harms real people even as it boosts the bottom line of Koch Industries.
One segment looks at the town of Crossett, Ark., and a particular road where at least 11 people from 15 homes have died of cancer, according to residents quoted in the film. They happen to live just downstream from a Georgia Pacific plant run by Koch Industries. The film shows steaming, sludge-filled water flowing toward their homes. Residents complain of the smell and of breathing problems, and point to non-smoking relatives who have died of lung cancer. Meanwhile, Koch-founded groups have poured millions of dollars into the campaigns of politicians who aggressively target the Environmental Protection Agency, and Koch Industries has paid massive fines for polluting.
In one segment revived from the original version, filmmaker Greenwald focuses on North Carolina's Wake County school board elections in 2009, a hyper-local event that would seem to be too small to draw the attention of a couple of billionaires. Yet that year, the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity backed enough candidates to take control of the board and then vote to end the school district's long-running, successful desegregation plan.
cont'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/20/koch-brothers-movie_n_5353595.html
May 20, 2014
LIVE: Head Of New Hampshire GOP To TESTIFY Before BRIDGEGATE Committee
The New Jersey legislative committee investigating the George Washington Bridge lane closures will hear Tuesday from Matt Mowers, who worked for Christie's re-election campaign last year and is currently the executive director of the New Hampshire Republican Party.
Mowers was the Christie re-election campaign staffer who reached out last year to Fort Lee, N.J. Mayor Mark Sokolich, to ask if the Democratic mayor would endorse Christie. Sokolich did not endorse Christie, and many have wondered if that decision later motivated officials to close Fort Lee's access lanes to the George Washington Bridge in September, causing days of traffic jams there.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/matt-mowers-testimony-bridgegate-live-video
Mowers was the Christie re-election campaign staffer who reached out last year to Fort Lee, N.J. Mayor Mark Sokolich, to ask if the Democratic mayor would endorse Christie. Sokolich did not endorse Christie, and many have wondered if that decision later motivated officials to close Fort Lee's access lanes to the George Washington Bridge in September, causing days of traffic jams there.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/matt-mowers-testimony-bridgegate-live-video
May 20, 2014
LIVE: FCC Chair Tom Wheeler TESTIFIES On Net Neutrality
http://www.c-span.org/live/?channel=c-span-3FCC Oversight
Federal Communications Commission Chair Tom Wheeler testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology about issues involving his agency, including net neutrality.?Rep.?Greg Walden (D-OR) chairs the hearing.
Federal Communications Commission Chair Tom Wheeler testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology about issues involving his agency, including net neutrality.?Rep.?Greg Walden (D-OR) chairs the hearing.
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