RandySF
RandySF's JournalPoll: Ky. Voters Could Punish McConnell For Opposing Minimum Wage Increase
Senate Minority Leader Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) re-election effort could suffer if he votes against a minimum wage increase, according to a poll released Tuesday.
A poll conducted by Democratic-leaning PPP, on behalf of Americans United for Change, found that 42 percent of Kentucky voters said they'd be less likely to back McConnell next fall if he votes against a wage hike. Just 25 percent said a 'no' vote would make them more likely to support the majority leader.
Notably, the poll found 40 percent of Republicans in the state showed support for a minimum wage increase.
McConnell said on "Fox News Sunday" that he believes raising the minimum wage will hurt employment, arguing instead that "we ought to be doing things that create more jobs."
But that approach may hurt him with crucial undecided voters in the Bluegrass state. As PPP pollster Tom Jensen pointed out in the poll's release, undecided voters support raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour by a 25 point margin. Those voters are also less likely to vote for a candidate that doesn't support the wage hike by a margin of 20 points.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/poll_opposing_minimum_wage_could_hurt_mcconnell
Seeing George Miller and Tom Harkin together makes me sad.
Those two progressive warriors are retiring this year. 
Meet the International Olympic Committee, Ideal Candidates for a Perp Walk
Remember that publicity shot from the Usual Suspects with Kevin Spacey in the lineup? The photo above is an update, snapped late last year in the boardroom of the International Olympic Committee, in a marble palace on the banks of Lake Geneva. This lineup has thirteen men, most past middle age, in business suits and ties, and two women—the big cheeses expecting the best seats in Sochi. Dead center is the new IOC president, Germany’s Thomas Bach. We’ll come back to him, but for now, know that Bach, 60, was a protégé of Horst Dassler, the German businessman who bribed more sports officials than most of us ever heard of. Dassler’s family owned Adidas and a marketing company that laid out $100 million in kickbacks to acquire TV and marketing rights to the soccer World Cup, the world track and field championships—and the Olympics.
At Bach’s right shoulder is the Swiss boss of world soccer, Sepp Blatter. For decades, Blatter didn’t notice hefty bribes being trousered by his colleagues in return for giving World Cup contracts to Dassler companies. Accused of handling a $1 million bribe intended for Joao Havelange, former president of FIFA (the international soccer federation) and doyen of the IOC, Blatter hired investigators who reported that there was a misunderstanding and that he was no more than “clumsy.”
Havelange resigned in disgrace from the IOC in December 2011. Blatter survived—despite losing eight of FIFA’s twenty-three executive committee members to scandals in the past three years. An FBI-organized crime squad, now digging into FIFA’s embedded corruption, has a cooperating witness in Miami and probably another in New York. Blatter, scheduled to be played by Tim Roth on the big screen later this year, might not make it to Sochi.
At Bach’s other shoulder is Lamine Diack from Senegal, president of the IAAF (the International Association of Athletics Federations) and also on the Dassler gift list. I disclosed these bribes for the BBC program Panorama in 2010, and a year later the IOC rebuked Diack. But the Lords of Lausanne forgive and forget, so he’s back at the heart of Olympic idealism.
http://www.thenation.com/article/178049/meet-ioc-ideal-candidates-perp-walk
Indiana House Derails 2014 Marriage Amendment By Voting To Change Its Language
On Monday evening, the Indiana Republican-controlled House amended the language to House Joint Resolution 3 with a 52-43 vote, which will likely preven the state from sending a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage to the ballot in 2014. The change struck the second sentence of the amendment, which would have banned recognition of any legal status for same-sex couples that is “identical or substantially similar” to marriage. Many felt this intruded too much on benefits for same-sex couples, which are vital to ensuring businesses and universities in the state can competitively hire.
If HJR 3 passes the legislature its new form, it cannot be sent to voters this year. Amendments to the Indiana State Constitution must pass in the same exact form in two consecutive legislative sessions before being sent to the ballot. HJR 3 was first passed in 2011, but it now becomes a new amendment, which — presuming the new form passes the House and then the Senate — must itself be approved in a second legislative session, meaning the earliest voters would see it on the ballot is probably 2016. By then, the U.S. Supreme Court may well have ruled on one of the other state cases, such as those that have already advanced in Nevada, Utah, and Oklahoma, and the amendment could be moot.
There is one way that the amendment could still advance in its original form this year. If the House passes the new version of the amendment, the Senate could then restore the second sentence and pass it that way. The different versions of HJR 3 would then have to be resolved in conference between the two chambers. Any change to the final conference version from what passed in 2011 would prevent the bill from advancing to voters this year.
A poll by the Indianapolis Star in advance of the vote found that the chamber was fairly split, with more than a third of the lawmakers who voted for the amendment’s first passage in 2011 now indicating opposition. Their concern about the impact of that second sentence culminated in the amendment to the amendment that ultimately passed on the floor.
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2014/01/27/3210221/indiana-house-passes-marriage-amendment-narrow-vote/
Military commander used official email system to decribe masturbation after meeting congresswoman
After meeting with Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) a commander of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division sent out emails describing the congresswoman as "smoking hot" and joked in another email to a male colleague that he had masturbated while thinking about her after their meeting.
Those emails and other details of top military commanders "behaving badly" came out in a document dump reported by The Washington Post. In the case of Ellmers, the Post report details how Brigadier General Martin P. Schweitzer, then a colonel, described Ellmers as "smoking hot."
"Briefing went well . . . she was engaging . . . had done her homework. She wants us to know’ she stands with us and will work/push to get the Fort Bragg family [redacted]," an email from Schweitzer read. "She is smoking hot."
The emails surfaced as a result of an investigation into the emails of Jeffrey A. Sinclair, a commander who faces a court-martial over sexual assault and adultery. The Post reported that the Army "censored the most offensive e-mail in its entirety, citing personal privacy interests."
Sinclair joked to Schweitzer about his email regarding Ellmers, "He sucks 
still needs to confirm hotness."
Schweitzer responded to Sinclair's email more than an hour later, apologizing for the delay in responding to the email, teasing that he had masturbated "3 times over the past 2 hours."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/renee-ellmers-general-smoking-hot-emails
VA GOPer Compares AG's Refusal To Defend Gay Marriage Ban To Dred Scott Decision
Virginia Del. Robert Marshall (R) on Monday announced that he would file a complaint with the Virginia State Bar against Attorney General Mark Herring (D) over his refusal to defend the state's same-sex marriage ban in court, comparing the move to the landmark Supreme Court case Dred Scott v. Sandford, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
Herring announced last week that he felt the state's ban on gay marriage violates the 14th Amendment. He said that the his office would not defend the law, and would further join the side of the plaintiffs.
Marshall said Herring's move was reminiscent of the 1857 decision, in which the Supreme Court concluded that free or enslaved blacks could not be American citizens and as such did not have standing to sue in federal court.
"Herring has put all of us in the position of Dred Scott, who had no right to counsel in federal court," Marshall said. "An attorney general has a duty to support those laws that are constitutional, and an attorney general has just as strong an obligation and duty not [sic] defend laws that he has concluded are unconstitutional after a careful and thorough review. It's that simple."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/marshall-refusal-defend-gay-marriage-ban-dred-scott
Scarborough: Lewinsky Could Be Fair Game If Hillary Bashes GOP With 'War On Women'
Invoking Monica Lewinsky against Hillary Clinton could be an appropriate tactic should she decide to pursue the familiar 'War on Women' attack on Republicans in 2016, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough suggested on Monday.
"If Hillary Clinton attacks the Republican Party's handling of women, and treatment of women and disrespect for women, and suggests they’re misogynists et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, it does seem to be a fair question to ask right now, a few years out, does the media have a responsibility to say, ‘Well, let’s see what happened when you were in the White House, and how women were treated when you were in the governor’s mansion and the White House?’ Is that fair?" the 'Morning Joe' host asked Monday morning, as quoted by Mediaite.
Members of the show's panel were discussing Sen. Rand Paul's (R-KY) suggestion on Sunday that even though the Lewinsky scandal was not Hillary Clinton's fault, it could affect her prospects in 2016.
Paul said that Bill Clinton's "predatory behavior" impacted his ability to talk about the Republican "war on women," but Scarborough thought it might affect Hillary Clinton as well.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/scarborough-lewinsky-impact-hillary-clinton-war-on-women
George P Bush tried to break into ex-girlfriend's bedroom.
Back when he was a Rice University student, Bush was investigated for burglary and criminal mischief related to a 4 AM visit to the Miami home of his ex, Cristina Cohen, and her parents.
A Miami-Dade Police Department report includes an account of the December 31, 1994 incident provided to cops by Murry Cohen, Cristina’s father.
According to Cohen, Bush--wearing black shorts and no shirt--arrived at the residence and “went to his daughter’s bedroom window,” pulled it open, and “pushed the screen inward.” As Bush was “climbing in the window,” Murry Cohen awoke and spotted the trespasser. A neighbor of the Cohens also spotted Bush trying to get into the residence and began to argue with him.
With his intrusion thwarted, Bush “backed out of the window.” Cohen reported seeing Bush then “jump into a vehicle and flee.” But he would not be gone for long.
Bush returned to the home 20 minutes later and drove his car through the Cohens’s yard, causing damage to about 80 feet of the lawn.
When police arrived at the residence, the Cohens identified Bush as the perpetrator. Cristina Cohen explained that she used to date Bush, but that they “have been separated for 1-1/2 years.” She added that Bush “has been a problem ever since they broke up.”
After the Cohens provided police with Bush’s home address, an officer went to the residence and “spoke to him and parents.” But since Murry Cohen did not want to press charges, Bush “was not arrested on the scene,” according to the police report.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/george-p-bush/george-p-bush-stalking-758409
The Next George Bush
It’s an unseasonably warm midwinter day when a giant blue campaign bus arrives at a downscale strip mall in Pasadena, Texas, announcing the imminent return of a Republican dynasty. George Prescott Bush, the scion of arguably the most successful political family in American history, is launching a statewide bus tour that will introduce him to public prominence as he runs for commissioner of the Texas General Land Office, an important but generally obscure statewide position.
Bush is a lock: He faces no serious challengers, a fact attributable largely to the overwhelming advantages that accompany his name. Come November, the handsome, studious and half-Hispanic 37-year-old George P. will walk into public office, and a choir of observers will begin a round of intense speculation about what his ascension means for his party, his state and his country.
One might think the Bushes had acclimatized themselves to public recognition by now. Yet there’s Pierce Bush, another nephew of former President George W., fleece-jacketed and playful-seeming as he circles the giant bus emblazoned with a huge blowup of George P.’s face, taking pictures with his phone. “It’s not every day you see your cousin on one of these,” he tells me. He seems proud—and a bit incredulous.
Inside the strip mall, the small office of the San Jacinto Republican Women is packed. Older women stand around chatting about P.—his resemblance to different members of the Bush family and the well-being of Barbara Bush, George P.’s grandmother, who recently told the nation it should forget the dynasty thing and look outside of the “Kennedys, Clintons, Bushes” for a new generation of leaders. Her grandson seems not to have taken the message personally; asked about it at another campaign stop, George P. said that Barb was talking mostly about the presidency.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/01/george-p-bush-texas-the-next-george-bush-102619.html#ixzz2rdM1755y
Man Dies After Waiting Hours For ER To Treat His Rash
A Bronx man who went to Saint Barnabas Hospital to get his rash checked out was found dead in the emergency room waiting room after an eight hour wait. John Verrier, 30, went to St. Barnabas at 10 p.m. last Sunday night; he was found dead by a security guard around 6:40 a.m. the next day. "He was found stiff, blue and cold," a hospital employee told ABC News. "He died because [there's] not enough staff to take care of the number of patients we see each day. We need more staff at Saint Barnabas."
Verrier had his vitals taken when he first got to the hospital, then told to wait for a doctor to see him. Hospital spokesman Steve Clark told the Post that Verrier's name was called "two or three times" between his arrival and 2 a.m. A security guard passed through the waiting room around 2 a.m. to wake up the many homeless people who sleep there, and Verrier was "moving, he was alive." Then when the security guard passed again around 6 a.m., he was dead.
Clark added that an in-house review found “all guidelines were met.” But the hospital worker who spoke to ABC said nobody was really checking on him: "There's no policy in place to check the waiting room to see if people waiting to be seen are still there or still alive." That worker says Verrier's name was called over the PA three times, but "based on number of people in the waiting room it is impossible to check on each person physically."
New York State is ranked 46th in the country in overall emergency room waiting time. St. Barnabas is the worst in the city when it comes to the average time patients spent in the emergency room before being sent home: it's 306 minutes there, compared to a 155 minute wait statewide and the average 137 minute wait nationally.
http://gothamist.com/2014/01/26/man_complaining_of_rash_found_dead.php?utm_source=Gothamist+Daily&utm_campaign=89dce47557-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_73240544d8-89dce47557-584073
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