July 21, 2014

Vice President Joe Biden: I looked into Putin’s eyes and told him he has no soul

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Vladimir Putin has no soul, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden concluded after meeting with the Russian leader at the Kremlin in 2011, according to an article in the New Yorker published online on Monday.

Biden told the magazine about his 2011 visit with Putin, who at the time was prime minister, and said he found himself just inches away from the Russian leader.

“I said, ‘Mr. Prime Minister, I’m looking into your eyes, and I don’t think you have a soul,’” Biden told the magazine. “He looked back at me, and he smiled, and he said, ‘We understand one another.’”

Biden’s assessment is in stark contrast to that of former U.S. President George W. Bush, who famously said after his first meeting with Putin in 2001: “I looked the man in the eye … I was able to get a sense of his soul.”

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Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/07/21/vice-president-joe-biden-i-looked-into-putins-eyes-and-told-him-he-has-no-soul/

July 21, 2014

Cuomo Leads Astorino by 37 Points

CUOMO LEADS ASTORINO BY 37 POINTS AMONG LIKELY VOTERS; SIX IN TEN SAY CUOMO’S MADE NY BETTER IN LAST FOUR YEARS

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Loudonville, NY. Fifteen weeks until Election Day, Governor Andrew Cuomo holds an enormous 37-point lead over Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, 60-23 percent, according to a Siena College Poll of likely New York gubernatorial voters released today. Fifty-nine percent of likely voters say Cuomo has made New York a better place to live, compared to 15 percent who say he’s made it worse and 21 percent who say it’s the same.

Voters are closely divided on viewing each house of the Legislature favorably or unfavorably, and more are inclined to re-elect incumbent legislators rather than ‘someone else.’ Yet, 65 percent say most state legislators “do what’s best for them and their political friends and it never surprises me when another one gets indicted.” Only 28 percent say “most state legislators are honest, hardworking and do what’s best for their constituents.”

By a 49-39 percent margin, voters want to see implementation of the Common Core standards stopped rather than continued. Democratic incumbents Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman continue to hold solid leads over their Republican challengers.

“With a little more than a hundred days until voters go to the polls, Astorino has a gigantic hole to climb out of to even make the race for governor competitive. Cuomo currently has the support of 80 percent of Democrats, 56 percent of independents and 32 percent of Republicans. Cuomo’s lead among independents is larger than the lead Astorino has among Republicans,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg. “Cuomo’s lead among likely voters is 76 points in New York City, 29 points in the downstate suburbs and 15 points upstate.

- See more at: https://www.siena.edu/news-events/article/cuomo-leads-astorino-by-37-points#sthash.9sky6WTq.dpuf

July 21, 2014

Megachurches Prove Mega-Influential in GOP Primaries

The influence of religious conservatives might be waning nationwide, but the movement only stands to grow in Congress.

Already this year, three candidates with close ties to massive churches won decisive Republican primaries. A fourth — Pastor Jody Hice — could win a Tuesday GOP primary runoff in Georgia and come to Congress in November.

Their victories come as public opinion has shifted dramatically on some social issues, notably same-sex marriage, denounced by most religious conservatives. The rise of the tea party and libertarian factions in the Republican Party has also diluted the influence of social conservative activists in the GOP.

But in the case of these faith-figures-turned-pols, the candidates’ close relationships to their churches played a factor — perhaps the deciding one — in their victories.

“People generally like their pastor, and in politics it’s always good to be liked by voters,” said National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Greg Walden of Oregon.

more
http://atr.rollcall.com/religious-right-congress-jody-hice-georgia-2014/?dcz=emailalert

July 21, 2014

Obama Signs LGBT Hiring Executive Order Without Religious Exemption

Source: TPM

By DYLAN SCOTT Published JULY 21, 2014, 11:12 AM EDT

President Barack Obama signed an executive order on Monday that prohibits federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT people.

It did not include any broad religious exemption for religious employers, which had been sought by religious leaders in the wake of the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision. White House officials had said Friday that the order would not include such an exemption.

Obama pledged to enact the order after the House failed to act on the Senate-passed Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would prohibit discrimination against LGBT people more broadly.

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Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/obama-signs-lgbt-hiring-order

July 21, 2014

How McConnell Hides His Positions On 3 Big Issues In Reelection Fight

By SAHIL KAPUR Published JULY 21, 2014, 9:23 AM EDT

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The latest forecasts by the New York Times and FiveThirtyEight rate the minority leader as the most vulnerable GOP incumbent in the November Senate races, where Republicans have a considerable advantage. And although Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes has an uphill climb in bright red Kentucky, the Republican leader is taking no chances — even if it means backing away from some key policy positions he's taken that are unpopular with moderates.

Here are three issues where McConnell's campaign has obscured his stance.

1. Ryan budget? What Ryan budget?

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2. Obamacare is unconnected to ... Obamacare

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3. Violence Against Women Act? I'm all for it!

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more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/mitch-mcconnell-hides-his-position-on-major-issues

July 21, 2014

Obama to bestow Medal of Honor on NH veteran

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will bestow the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest decoration for battlefield valor, to Ryan M. Pitts, a former Army staff sergeant who fought off enemy fighters during one of the bloodiest battles of the Afghanistan war despite his own critical injuries.

Ryan Pitts of Nashua, N.H., will be awarded the medal during a White House ceremony Monday. Pitts, 28, will become the ninth living recipient of the medal for actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The citation says Pitts fought off enemy fighters on July 13, 2008, in Wanat, Afghanistan. Despite losing blood from wounds in both legs and an arm, he continued to fire at about 200 Taliban fighters and guided air strikes that helped repel the attack.

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Read more: http://www.salon.com/2014/07/21/obama_to_bestow_medal_of_honor_on_nh_veteran/

July 21, 2014

Metro Atlanta 'Up For Grabs' In Georgia Senate Race

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — Neither Republican running in Georgia's closely watched Senate race has a natural advantage in metro Atlanta, where the state's most populous area and a ring of northern exurbs are serving as the key battleground ahead of Tuesday's runoff.

Both Rep. Jack Kingston of Savannah and former Dollar General CEO David Perdue have been spending a major portion of their time and money wooing voters along the busy stretches of Interstates 75 and 85 just before they merge south of downtown Atlanta and then as they split off heading for north Georgia and some of the most Republican parts of the state.

It marks a gigantic "X'' on the map, and both campaigns are zeroed in on running up their support in the area. Kingston spent all day Friday in the northern Atlanta suburbs and was back again on Sunday. Perdue has been crisscrossing all of north Georgia and the northern suburbs and exurbs of Atlanta as part of an RV tour launched nearly two weeks ago.

"It's up for grabs," said veteran Republican strategist Chip Lake, noting that up to 70 percent of GOP primary voters live within the metro Atlanta media market which covers much of north Georgia.

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Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/atlanta-up-for-grabs-georgia-senate-race

July 21, 2014

For DU'ers interested; TPM is hiring

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/

July 21, 2014

Scarborough Makes 'Boneheaded Error' About Ronald Reagan's Vacationing

By TOM KLUDT Published JULY 21, 2014, 9:04 AM EDT

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough isn't one to readily cop to an error, even when his trusty sidekick gently tries to set him straight. But there are days when even the usually self-assured Scarborough has to concede that his co-host, Mika Brzezinski, has his number.

Monday was one of the days, with the "Morning Joe" duo comparing President Obama's response to Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 to Ronald Reagan's own reaction to Korean Air Flight 007, which was shot down by the Soviet Union in 1983.

Republicans and conservatives have assailed Obama for his approach to the crisis, but Brzezinski noted that it took Reagan four days "to go back and make the strong statements that he made" to the downed Korean airliner. The observation was correct, even if it didn't sound right to Scarborough.

&quot Reagan) immediately canceled his vacation," Scarborough said wrongly.

"No, he didn’t, actually," Bzezinski said.

Scarborough remained firm in his convictions and even challenged Brzezinski to double-check the facts herself.

"He immediately canceled it. He immediately went back to the White House. He immediately canceled fundraising events and campaign events," Scarborough said. "Yes, he did. No, he did. You can go back and look. Ronald Reagan didn’t keep campaigning. He stopped when the Korean airliner went down."

more + video
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/joe-scarborough-boneheaded-reagan

July 21, 2014

Chris Christie’s housing fiasco: Touring the country as NJ’s urban core crumbles

New Jersey's governor may love to entertain New Hampshire and Iowa residents -- but folks back home aren't laughing

ROBERT HENNELLY

It is a telling juxtaposition. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie takes his entertaining 2016 show on the road to places like New Hampshire and Iowa, and gets to pontificate on global affairs; since last November he has helped the Republican Governor’s Association raise $60 million dollars. Meanwhile, on planet Earth, his own state continues to sink deeper and deeper into a prolonged foreclosure crisis which is taking a toll statewide, rapidly undermining the viability of its urban core.

Today, New Jersey leads the nation in the number of home foreclosures and the impacts of the crisis are worst in inner city neighborhoods where African-American and Latino households were originally targeted for the worst of the predatory sub-prime lending. Here is a stat you won’t hear in Christie’s New Jersey’s “comeback” stump speech: Three of the five cities in the nation with the highest percentage of homeowners most at risk of falling into foreclosure are in New Jersey.

In Newark, 54 percent of the home-owning households with mortgages fall into this at-risk category, according to an analysis by the Haas Institute, out of the University of California at Berkley. These so-called “underwater” households owe at least 25 percent more than their home is actually worth. In Elizabeth, it is 53 percent. In Paterson, 49 percent of homeowners with a mortgage find themselves owing considerably more than their home is worth. For perspective, consider that in the bankrupt city of Detroit, 47 percent of households are in that same untenable situation.

Families who find themselves in this upside-down condition, without meaningful mortgage modification, are twice as likely to fall into foreclosure. Foreclosed homes lose, on average, 22 percent of their value. So once a home on a block slips into foreclosure, experts say you can count on the market value of every other home in the neighborhood to decline, further increasing the chances that even more households will lose the remaining equity in their home to the mortgage meltdown.

more
http://www.salon.com/2014/07/21/chris_christies_housing_fiasco_touring_the_country_as_njs_urban_core_crumbles/