Paul holds up Patriot Act

"The Senate advanced legislation 77-17 to reform the National Security Agency on Sunday, but parts of the Patriot Act will nonetheless lapse for a few days amid opposition from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).
The legislation, called the USA Freedom Act, will not reach President Obama’s desk until after the three measures expire at midnight, meaning that the provisions will expire until the bill is passed by the Senate and signed by Obama later this week.
 “The Patriot Act will expire tonight,” Paul declared triumphantly from the Senate floor during a rare Sunday evening vote. “It will only be temporary. They will ultimately get their way.” TheHill

Sander's hits Iowa on Clinton's Left

"Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders attracted overflow crowds in Ames and Davenport, then Sanders capped his three-day trip with a Saturday night stop in Kensett, where more than 300 people greeted him.
“People are extremely frustrated with status quo economics, the greed of the top one percent, establishment politics,” Sanders told reporters on his way into Kensett’s community center. “…People want a movement, to be part of a movement that takes on the billionaire class. Let me be as blunt as I can be: you have a handful of people in this country with enormous economic and political power who are getting it all.”
Sixty-eight-year-old Tom Reid of Northwood was there in Kensett. He is hoping Sanders “yanks” Hillary Clinton “to the left.”" yahoo

Chris Kyle Widow Endoses Perry

"Taya Kyle, widow of "American Sniper" Chris Kyle, has endorsed former Texas Gov. Rick Perry for president, according to media reports." mySA

California Drought just got worse

"The worst drought in recorded history just got worse.

California's main source of surface water during the state's dry summer months is the remaining snow on its highest mountains. But it has officially melted. The snowpack levels, which hovered at around 7% to 15% of normal for this date in 2009, before the four-year drought began, are currently at 0%.

 "This is essentially a worst-case scenario when it comes to California’s fragile water supply," writes Holthaus." yahoo

Graham on Israel & the U.N.

"Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he will not sit idly by while the United Nations attempts to

pressure Israel into accepting a timetable for reaching an agreement with the Palestinian Authority.

At a press conference Wednesday at Jerusalem's historic King David Hotel, Graham told reporters he would lead bipartisan efforts to withdraw U.S. funding to the United Nations.

"If the United Nations, through the Security Council, adopted a position to define the terms of the peace process, then I would lead an effort in the Congress to suspend our funding," Graham said." CBN

RUSH on O'Malley vs. Hillary

"Rush Limbaugh argued that former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley (D) “is going to end up

being more preferable” to many “in the Hillary camp right now” on Friday.
Limbaugh, after recounting the problems that have arisen for others on the Democratic side, said, “And then, of course, the dark horse continues to be O’Malley, and there’s a local newspaper column out of the Baltimore Sun really singing his praises today, and cutting Hillary down to size in the process, just a local column. But I’m telling you, you’re gonna have to keep your eye on O’Malley, because at some point he is going to end up being more preferable to a lot of Democrats in the Democrat — in the Hillary camp right now.”" Breitbart

O'Malley In!!!

"In front of the skyline of the city where he was once mayor, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley threw his hat into the 2016 Democratic presidential race Saturday, presenting himself as a fresh progressive leader with experience as an effective executive. 
With two terms each as governor and mayor under his belt, O’Malley has for years been laying the groundwork for a presidential campaign. He remains unknown to most Americans, and is languishing in the single digits in national polls, but supporters think that once Democrats tune into the election, he will emerge as the credible alternative to frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

“I’m running for you,” O’Malley said as U2’s “In the Name of Love” swelled and several hundred friends and supporters cheered at Baltimore’s Federal Hill Park.
O’Malley came out swinging at the former secretary of state, suggesting she’s part of a ruling elite that needs to be overthrown.
“True story, Goldman Sachs is one of the biggest repeat-offending investment banks in America. Recently, the CEO of Goldman Sachs let his employees know that he’d be just fine with either Bush or Clinton,” O’Malley said, adding that Americans need to “retake control of our own American government!”
O’Malley championed progressive positions on climate change, immigration, LGBT rights, income inequality and more. 
O’Malley’s campaign is squarely focused on the early primary state of Iowa, where he cut his teeth as an organizer for the insurgent Gary Hart campaigns in 1980 and 1984. Hart, who also ran against strong Democratic frontrunners, is O’Malley’s mentor and a model for his 2016 campaign." msnbc

Beau Biden Dies

"Beau Biden, who served as the attorney general of Delaware and in the Iraq War, died Saturday at the age 46. U.S. Vice President, Joe Biden called him "the finest man any of us have ever known." CNN 

5 things about Santorum

Five faith facts about Santorum:

1. He's opposed to abortion, same-sex marriage and the teaching of evolution.

Santorum served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, where he staked out positions opposing abortion, same-sex marriage and the teaching of evolution. The breakdown of the traditional man-woman family is America's most urgent problem, he told the Homeschool Iowa Capitol Day Forum in April.

2. He would not attend a same-sex wedding.

Pope Francis may say "who am I to judge?," but not Santorum. A Daily Beast writer called him "a few Knights Templar short of a holy war," highlighting comments such as Santorum's view that contraception is "dangerous" because it offers "license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be." In an April interview, he told radio host Hugh Hewitt, "As a person of my faith, (attending a same-sex wedding) would be something that would be a violation of my faith. I would love them and support them but I would not be a participant in that ceremony."

3. He appeals to evangelicals.

He can talk the talk with evangelicals who want to see politicians spell out the ties between their

personal faith and their actions. Catholic traditionalist Robert P. George told Religion News Service that Santorum is one of the few Catholic Republicans who has "figured it out." Santorum had the endorsement of traditionalists at CatholicVote.org for his "unified moral and economic vision according to the National Review. But a New York Times look at exit polls in the 2012 primaries showed Santorum lost the Catholic vote to Mitt Romney by significant margins in 10 of 12 states where pollsters asked about religion. It also found that more than 40 percent of Catholic voters didn't even know Santorum is Catholic.

4. He's not a fan of church-state separation.

The concept of separation of church and state — at least as expressed when Catholic John F. Kennedy addressed Baptist ministers in the 1960 presidential election campaign — makes Santorum "want to throw up." In 2012 he told George Stephanopoulos, "I don't believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute," and Santorum called that notion "antithetical" to the vision of our country. Also antithetical: liberals. He told the Spartanburg Herald-Journal that the American left "hates Christendom."  According to ABC News, he also told a South Carolina town hall that the national ideal "is rooted in the Christian ideal — in the Judeo-Christian concept of the person" and not in any Eastern faiths or philosophies.

5. He works for a Christian movie distributor.

Santorum has a culture-warrior day job. In the wake of his failed 2012 campaign, he found another way to "impact people's lives" — he's the CEO of Christian movie distributor EchoLight. It produces and distributes Christian family movies directly to hundreds of U.S. churches. Santorum told The National Journal: "I think culture is upstream from politics, and maybe it's important to get involved in the upstream and see what the impact can be to the country generally as a result." CNS

ISIS plotting to NUKE America?

 "ISIS has billions of dollars in the bank and describes a "hypothetical" which involves it buying a nuclear bomb "through weapons dealers with links to corrupt officials" in Pakistan.
The article says that the device could be smuggled into North America overland and by boat.

"Perhaps such a scenario is far-fetched, but it's the sum of all fears for western intelligence agencies and it's infinitely more possible today than it was just one year ago," the article reads.
"The Islamic State make no secret of the fact they have every intention of attacking America on its home soil and they're not going to mince about with two mujahidin (jihadis) taking down a dozen casualties if it originates from the caliphate," it reads.

"They'll be looking to do something big, something that would make any past operation look like a squirrel shoot, and the more groups that pledge allegiance the more possible it becomes to pull off something truly epic."

The article ends with the warning: "As the territory of the Islamic State crosses from one border to another like a wildfire that is burning out of control, it'll be only a matter of time before the Islamic State reaches the western world." CatholicOnline

Andrea Mitchell & Fiorina

"….Mitchell just can’t figure out why Fiorina is being so mean to Hillary Clinton. Is it because she’s a woman?
….Clearly bothered by Fiorina’s bold attacks against Clinton’s dismal record as a career politician, Mitchell did more defending of Clinton than interviewing of Fiorina.
Fiorina ate it up.
“I think when 82% of the American people now believe that there is a professional political class more interested in preserving its own power and privilege than it is in serving the American people, people expect basic questions to be asked of anyone running for president,” Fiorina explained….
“It’s also true that as secretary of state she took women’s rights and human rights off the table for discussion with China. It’s also true as secretary of state that she called Bashar al-Assad a “positive reformer.” It’s also true in 2011, when she was secretary of state, she said that Iraq was a “free, stable, sovereign nation” and now we have a nation falling apart, Iranian influence growing, ISIS growing,” Fiorina said.
Desperate to change the subject off of Hillary, Mitchell did what any good progressive does best – she tried to make Fiorina a victim because of her gender.
“Are you being discriminated against by the Republican National Committee… by being kept out of the initial debate?” Mitchell asked…." TammyBruce

WW 3 this summer???

"A senior NATO official told former NSA intelligence analyst John Schindler that the world would “probably be at war” sometime this summer.
“We’ll probably be at war this summer, if we’re lucky it won’t be nuclear,” the official told Schindler last week.

Although the tweet was retweeted over 400 times, the comment garnered no mainstream media attention whatsoever, which is odd given that Schindler is a former U.S. Naval War College lecturer and is known to have many high level military contacts.

Although not specified, the reference was almost certainly in relation to growing tensions between

the United States and Russia.

One analysis of the comment suggests it may have been a “deliberate “leak” from NATO sources, to emphasize how serious the situation is.”

Earlier this month NATO launched its biggest ever wargame exercise on Russia’s doorstep. Moscow responded by conducting “provocative” wargames in the Mediterranean Sea in coordination with the Chinese PLA, the first ever naval drill involving both superpowers.

NATO powers are also taking part in one of Europe’s largest ever fighter jet drills from today, with the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Finland, Norway and Sweden all involved in the 12 day exercise.

Tensions are also building between the U.S. and China, with The Global Times, a state media outlet owned by the ruling Communist Party, today warning that “war is inevitable” if Washington doesn’t halt its demands that Beijing stop building artificial islands in the South China Sea.

“If the United States’ bottom line is that China has to halt its activities, then a U.S.-China war is inevitable in the South China Sea,” the newspaper said. “The intensity of the conflict will be higher than what people usually think of as ‘friction’.”

Last week, CNN revealed how China’s Navy has repeatedly issued warnings to U.S. surveillance planes flying over the South China Sea.

Billionaire investor George Soros also cautioned last week that the planet was heading towards a third world war as a result of a potential economic collapse in China.

Noting that Beijing may need to rally its population around an external threat to avoid an internal collapse, Soros said that, “there is a real danger that China will align itself with Russia politically and militarily, and then the threat of third world war becomes real.”

In a People’s Daily editorial last September, Chinese PLA Professor Han Xudong also warned that Beijing should prepare itself for a third world war which could arise out of the conflict between the United States and Russia over Ukraine." IW

Sander's Rape Paper "What If" Game

"MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” crew spent some time Friday speculating what would have happened had a Republican, not Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, been the one to write an essay saying that women fantasize about being gang-raped.
First grabbing a printed copy of the story from Joe Scarborough’s hand, Mika Brzezinski called the writing “sick,” to which Scarborough agreed, “This is kinda sick.”
Willie Geist quoted the Sanders campaign’s explanation released late Thursday calling the essay “a poor attempt at satire,” and added, “If you read it, it’s hard to see where the satire is.”
“Should we play the game? What if a Republican…” Geist said.

He was interrupted by laughter from his co-hosts, with Joe Scarborough pondering, “What if [newly announced GOP candidate] Rick Santorum, in his 20s, had written that women fantasize about being raped? Would he even be on this show today? Would he still be in the race?”
(Santorum was on the show later and Sanders’ writing was not addressed.)" TheBlaze

Pataki a social liberal?

"Mr. Pataki, who left office in 2006, is an unlikely match for the Republican Party of 2016. A former

Yale debater with an easy public demeanor, he supports abortion and pushed as governor for antidiscrimination rules protecting gays. He invokes Theodore Roosevelt, the Republican environmentalist and crusader against corporate power, as a political hero.

In recent elections, the Republican base has gravitated mainly toward more orthodox conservative views." NYT

O'Malley loses some home turf suporters

"Yet many members of the party’s old guard in Baltimore, who watched Mr. O'Malley climb from

the City Council to the governor’s mansion, said they are not afraid to buck the state’s favorite son to side with Mrs. Clinton.

Former Baltimore City Council member Paula Johnson Branch served alongside Mr. O'Malley when he first won a council seat in 1991 and remained a staunch ally when he became mayor in 1999. But she said she didn’t feel a need to be loyal to Mr. O'Malley this time.
“As far as owing him anything, I don’t,” said Mrs. Branch. “I was one of his major supporters, and he could always count on me. But he doesn’t owe me anything, and I don’t owe him anything.”
Mrs. Branch said she didn’t plan to attend Mr. O'Malley’s rally Saturday in Baltimore, where he is expected to make his White House bid official. She also hasn’t decided whether she will back Mr. O'Malley or Mrs. Clinton, though she readily volunteered her reasons for supporting the former secretary of state.

“She’s very popular, and she has a lot more experience,” she said. “I like her. I like him, too.”
Mrs. Branch stressed that she was not opposing Mr. O'Malley but was not yet sold on his candidacy for president." WP

O'Malley to out-GREEN Hillary?

"Martin O’Malley is running for president. The former Maryland governor will announce his candidacy on Saturday. He will be only the third to enter the race for the Democratic nomination, which means he will be among the three declared candidates most eager to combat climate change. (The entire Republican field consists of people who want to do nothing about climate change; most of them don’t even accept its existence.)
Last fall, I visited O’Malley in Annapolis and interviewed him for a profile focused on his climate change record. Here are the main things you need to know about him on climate, energy, and the environment:

• He is a climate hawk. O’Malley signed into law a state target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent from 2006 levels by 2020. And he created a state ClimateStat program to measure progress toward that goal.

• He supports smart growth. Among his goals to help cut carbon pollution was doubling mass transit use by 2020. Maryland is expanding subway lines in the Baltimore region and suburbs of Washington, D.C.

• He focused on cleaning up Chesapeake Bay and other traditional conservation issues. And to track progress, he created BayStat (which sounds like a TV show about math nerds working as lifeguards).

• Maryland environmental activists trust him on climate change. Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, told Grist, “Martin O’Malley, more than any politician I know, really loses sleep over climate change. … He’s pushed the envelope [on climate action] more than anyone I’ve seen.”

• Climate action and environmental protection are not politically risky in Maryland. The state’s voters are overwhelmingly Democratic, and the state legislature is too. Many of the top climate actions taken during O’Malley’s time in office, like adoption of the greenhouse gas reduction target, originated in the state legislature and passed overwhelmingly. Maryland also has a history of smart growth policies that precedes O’Malley’s tenure and is developed more at the county level than statewide.

• He upset environmental justice activists. As governor, O’Malley backed a proposal to build a trash-to-energy incinerator in Baltimore, where the majority of residents are African-American. Environmental justice advocates complained that it would worsen the city’s already severe air pollution, as Grist’s Brentin Mock reported. And O’Malley may have bigger problems with African-American voters. During his tenure as mayor of Baltimore, from 1999 to 2007, he introduced policing measures that critics argue were too aggressive. Now there are questions about whether those moves helped pave the way for the recent incident in Baltimore in which six cops allegedly killed a man in their custody, which led to protests and riots.
O’Malley’s candidacy doesn’t seem likely to knock off frontrunner Hillary Clinton. The person who managed that last time, Barack Obama, had considerably more charisma, greater rhetorical gifts, and a more intriguing biography. On a policy level, O’Malley is a fairly standard, mainstream blue-state Democrat, which doesn’t position him far enough to Clinton’s left to mount a progressive insurgent challenge." Grist

Rand Paul Attack Ad

"A super PAC backing Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is pulling no punches with the first attack ad of the

2016 GOP presidential primary, complete with fire-breathing bald eagles and slams of Sens. Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham for their stances on government surveillance.
Mimicking the aggressive style of a wrestling event promo, the one-minute spot teases the Senate debate Sunday ("Sunday! Sunday!") over expiring portions of the Patriot Act as the “greatest brawl for liberty of the century."
The ad, released by America's Liberty PAC, pits a photoshopped picture of Paul’s face on a bodybuilder against President Obama, “the head of the Washington spy machine.”
It also needles Obama’s “so-called conservative accomplices,” Cruz (R-Texas) and Graham (R-S.C.). Cruz, referred to by the super PAC as the “capitulating Canadian” as a dig against the fact that the GOP candidate was born in the country, supports a compromise bill called the USA Freedom Act.
Graham, an ardent supporter of government surveillance programs, is shown trying “to read your emails while doing donuts in a 1997 Geo Metro while it’s on fire.”
The overblown ad highlights the divide in the Senate over these expiring programs." CNN

5 Way G.O.P. Tie Nationally...

"There are five leaders - or no leaders - as Republican voters look at likely GOP candidates in the 2016 White House race, with no candidate above 10 percent and 20 percent undecided, according to a Quinnipiac University National poll released today.

Leading the pack with 10 percent each are former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University Poll finds.

Rounding out the top 10 for televised debates are U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky at 7 percent, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas at 6 percent, Donald Trump at 5 percent, New Jersey Gov. Christopher Christie at 4 percent and Carly Fiorina and Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 2 percent each.

Trump tops the "no way" list as 21 percent of Republican voters say they would definitely not support him. Bush is next with 17 percent, with Christie at 15 percent.

"Safe to say, the 2016 Republican presidential primary is anyone's race."  Quinnipiac University

Santorum on ISIS

"Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) said Saturday the military should damage the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to the point of impotence.
“If these folks want to return to a 7th Century version of Islam, then let’s load up our bombers and bomb them back to the 7th Century,” he argued during the South Carolina Freedom Summit in Greenville, S.C." Santorum.com

Economy Contracts

"The strength of the second quarter rebound will determine the timing of interest rate hikes, analysts

said Friday following the widely-expected release of GDP numbers that showed the U.S. economy shrank during the first quarter.
That’s assuming the economy rebounds in the second quarter.
 The government on Friday slashed its gross domestic product – or the total value of all goods and services produced in the U.S. -- estimate to show it contracted at a 0.7% annual rate rather than growing at a 0.2% rate as was estimated last month.
  Consumers also spent less than previously believed despite lower gas prices that put more money in consumers’ pockets. Consumer spending accounts for about 70% of the U.S. economy.
  Consumers also spent less than previously believed despite lower gas prices that put more money in consumers’ pockets. Consumer spending accounts for about 70% of the U.S. economy."
FOX Business

Cleveland Protests turn Violent

"Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams says protesters became more “aggressive” throughout the

day after a judge acquitted Officer Michael Brelo, 31, on charges in the deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams. Brelo was among the officers who fired at Russell and Williams’s car during a 2012 chase and later climbed onto the hood of the car and fired at its occupants after the chase ended.

Williams said a restaurant patron was injured by a sign thrown by a protester. That protester and two others were arrested in that incident, he said.
Restaurant patrons and other bystanders were later attacked by protesters, he said, and several more demonstrators were arrested.
In all, 71 protesters were arrested.
“We only moved in when protesters became violent and protesters refused to disperse,” Williams added." TheHill

Baltimore CRIME WAVE

"All hell is breaking loose in Baltimore again.  And Marilyn

Mosby, the state's attorney, the mayor, it's an absolute mess.  Crime is just out of control, running rampant.  The cops are sitting idly by, not doing anything, which is what the administration wants them to do.  In fact, just these Drudge Report headlines..." RUSH


"The increase in violence that has followed the death of Freddie Gray continued through the weekend, with four homicides reported since Saturday, according to Baltimore police.
Ten people were reported shot on Sunday alone, including three who were shot to death within a span of 39 minutes.
Ten people were also shot Thursday.
At least 87 people have been killed in Baltimore this year, 22 more than at this time last year. Nonfatal shootings are up nearly 50 percent across the city." BaltimoreSun

"BALTIMORE—The number of arrests has fallen here since Freddie Gray’s death put the police department under intense scrutiny, while violent crime has increased in a neighborhood rocked by riots hours after Mr. Gray’s funeral, police officials said Wednesday." WSJ

"A white pride student organization at Towson University has sparked controversy and gained national attention after it declared that members would begin night patrols to combat the “black crime wave” on campus.
“For those who are not Towson students it seems hard to fathom that every single day black predators prey upon the majority white Towson University student body,” Matthew Heimbach, the president and founder of the White Student Union, wrote.." DailyNews

"There are reports that police may be staging a slowdown in protest to the trumped up charges against six officers in the death of Freddie Gray.

According to a report by FOX News homicides are up 100% this May. Arrests are down by 50%. According to the BBC that officers are making about 45% fewer arrests than comparable times in previous years." GP

Carson / Huckabee lead in Georgia

"In the GOP presidential contest in Georgia here were the results:

Carson: 20%

Huckabee: 20%

Rubio: 14%

Bush: 12%

Cruz: 8%

Walker: 7%

Paul: 6%

Fiorina: 2%

Trump: 1%

Christie: 1%

Others: 2%

Undecided: 7%" FOX Atlanta

and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.In a sit-down interview on Tuesday, Fiorina was impressive even by the standards of Union Leader editorial interviews. Most candidates, seasoned or not, struggle to stay on message. The temptation to stray, to elaborate, to explain is too great. To overcome the impulse, they memorize talking points, after which they sound robotic... then they stray.

Not Fiorina.

Her ability to stay on message without repeating the same worn talking point four times is nothing short of remarkable. She told National Review Online that she learned how to hone a message when a professor at Stanford assigned a book of medieval philosophy every week and required students to condense it into a two-page paper.

Politics is a field dominated by those who excel at communicating, and Fiorina is proving herself a powerful and effective communicator. She does more than turn a nice phrase. (“Nothing makes me angrier than when people’s livelihoods are sacrificed on the altar of ideology.”) She packs more substance into fewer words than anyone else in the 2016 field.

With this ability, Fiorina is selling herself as a competent manager and bold leader. She charmingly calls the administrative apparatus in Washington a “vast, bloated, incompetent bureaucracy.” To fix it, she would implement zero-based budgeting and pay for performance; tackle fraud, waste and abuse; and eliminate jobs of federal employees who retire. - See more at: http://www.unionleader.com/article/20150528/LOCALVOICES03/150529233#sthash.KU8W7OPG.dpuf

In a sit-down interview on Tuesday, Fiorina was impressive even by the standards of Union Leader editorial interviews. Most candidates, seasoned or not, struggle to stay on message. The temptation to stray, to elaborate, to explain is too great. To overcome the impulse, they memorize talking points, after which they sound robotic... then they stray.

Not Fiorina.

Her ability to stay on message without repeating the same worn talking point four times is nothing short of remarkable. She told National Review Online that she learned how to hone a message when a professor at Stanford assigned a book of medieval philosophy every week and required students to condense it into a two-page paper.

Politics is a field dominated by those who excel at communicating, and Fiorina is proving herself a powerful and effective communicator. She does more than turn a nice phrase. (“Nothing makes me angrier than when people’s livelihoods are sacrificed on the altar of ideology.”) She packs more substance into fewer words than anyone else in the 2016 field.

With this ability, Fiorina is selling herself as a competent manager and bold leader. She charmingly calls the administrative apparatus in Washington a “vast, bloated, incompetent bureaucracy.” To fix it, she would implement zero-based budgeting and pay for performance; tackle fraud, waste and abuse; and eliminate jobs of federal employees who retire. - See more at: http://www.unionleader.com/article/20150528/LOCALVOICES03/150529233#sthash.KU8W7OPG.dpuf

Unions Warn Hillary

"The nation's most powerful labor leader, vowing to defeat President Obama's key trade legislation in the House next month, warned Hillary Clinton of serious political consequences if she fails to take a stand against the Pacific trade pact that the president is campaigning for as a major part of his legacy.
Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, predicted that no more than 20 House Democrats would vote for Trade Promotion Authority, the "fast-track" bill that on Friday passed the Senate.
"Thirteen Democrats left their base," he said of the Senate vote in an interview with Capital Download. "They decided to pass something that was going to cost jobs and lower wages, and they're going to have to answer to their constituencies for that." He added: "They'll be held accountable; there's no question about that." msn

Pataki In!!!

"George Pataki on Thursday officially announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential

nomination, adding another long-shot candidate to an increasingly crowded 2016 primary field.
The former New York governor faces steep odds — he’s barely registering in national or state-level polls, he hasn’t been in office for nearly a decade, and his moderate stance on issues such as gun control and the environment make him an afterthought with much of the party’s conservative base. He’ll also struggle to win over establishment Republicans and donors who are drawn to bigger names such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Pataki, 69, has been in New Hampshire ten times since the fall, among the most of any potential GOP hopeful, and has bought television ad time there and opened an office in Manchester. His frequent visits to the state paid off — he quickly earned the endorsements of two of New Hampshire’s 14 Republican state senators, John Reagan and Nancy Styles." Politico

Global Economy

"U.S. stocks fell in early trading on Thursday amid concerns about a Greek default, a tumble in Chinese shares and an unexpected rise in weekly jobless claims." Reuters

Paul goes on Stewart

"Jon Stewart returned from his week-long hiatus Tuesday night to sit down with Kentucky Senator

and noted “free speech” champion, Rand Paul. The two-part interview gave Paul the chance to speak openly about the GOP’s stance on Big Government (“We don’t like Big Government until we do like Big Government”) — particularly as it’s manifested itself in issues of NSA and religious freedom over the last year.
“It seems like gay marriage looms a lot larger in the minds of certain conservatives than it does in the Bible,” Stewart said to the GOP hopeful Tuesday. “And the only thing I would say is, don’t they sell cakes to sinners all the time, adulterers?”
Stewart illustrated the disingenuity of Paul’s stance by explaining that a bakery owner would never badger Paul about whether or not he’d “used the Lord’s name in vain,” prior to being helped. In a classic Paul move, the hopeful turned to the Patriot Act in his rebuttal." Salon

Washington State Poll

"PPP's newest Washington poll finds .....
Clinton leads the GOP hopefuls by anywhere from 10 to 15 points. Ben Carson and Marco Rubio come the closest, each trailing by 10 at 49/39. Jeb Bush and Scott Walker are each down by 11 at 48/37 and 49/38 respectively. Ted Cruz and Rand Paul face 12 point deficits at 50/38.  Mike Huckabee and Rick Perry lag by 13 points at 50/37. And Chris Christie does the worst of the Republican field with a 15 point deficit at 49/34.  Clinton doesn't quite match the 15-17 point margins Obama won the state by, but exceeds the 5-7 point ones Gore and Kerry had.

6 Republican candidates hit double digits when it comes to who voters within their party want to be their nominee. Scott Walker leads with 18% to 15% for Marco Rubio, 13% for Mike Huckabee, 11% for Ted Cruz, and 10% each for Jeb Bush and Ben Carson. Chris Christie (6%), Rand Paul (5%), and Rick Perry (3%) round out the field." PPP

Santorum pokes fun at Hillary

"Newly minted presidential candidate Rick Santorum is poking fun at Hillary Clinton’s email

troubles through the error message on his new campaign website. 
Any incorrect input redirects a browser to a 404-error page that features a large version of the popular photo of the former secretary of State checking her cellphone on a military transport plane.
“We’re sorry, but we couldn’t find that page,” the page says. “But we do have this search box. You know, for convenience.” 
That’s a jab at Clinton’s justification for why she used her private email address for both her personal and official email. She told reporters in March that she used one email account for the “convenience” of not having to use multiple devices." TheHill

Santorum In!!!

"CABOT, Pa. (AP) — Conservative culture warrior Rick Santorum launched a 2016 White House bid on Wednesday, vowing to fight for working-class Americans in a new election season that will test his influence — and focus on social issues — in a changing Republican Party.
The former Pennsylvania senator may have exceeded his own expectations by scoring a second-place finish in the race for the Republican presidential nomination four years ago. Yet as he enters a more powerful and diverse 2016 field, he may struggle even to qualify for the debate stage in his second run.
"I am proud to stand here, among you and for you, the American workers who have sacrificed so much, to announce that I am running for president of the United States," the 57-year-old senator said, flanked by factory workers and six of his seven children in a cinderblock warehouse near his western Pennsylvania hometown.
"The last race, we changed the debate. This race, with your help and God's grace, we can change this nation." MyWay

Woodward: Bush didn't lie about Iraq

 "RUSH: I have to tell you, folks, do you realize how tough it probably was for Bob Woodward to admit both of these things?  That, A, Bush didn't lie. And then, in the second sound bite, essentially saying that the loss of Iraq is Obama's fault?  Now, that has to be a tough thing for Bob Woodward to say, because Obama's his guy.

RUSH: The Republican presidential candidates are being hit with, "Well, knowing what you know

now, would you go back into Iraq?"  And they've mostly accepted the premise that Iraq was a big boondoggle, a huge mistake, Bush lied, we shouldn't have done it, and they're answering on that basis.
WOODWARD:  There's a kind of line going along that Bush and the other people lied about this.  I spent 18 months looking at how Bush decided to invade Iraq.  Lots of mistakes, but it was Bush telling George Tenet, the CIA director, don't let anyone stretch the case on WMD, and he was the one who was skeptical.  A mistake certainly can be argued and there's an abundance of evidence, but there was no lie in this, that I could find.

 Chris Wallace said, "What about 2011 and Obama's decision to pull all the troops out? There had been the Status of Forces Agreement between Bush and the Iraqi government that provided for a follow-on force. The Pentagon was talking about somewhere between 10 and 20,000. A lot of people think Obama didn't really want to keep any troops there."
WOODWARD:  Look, Obama does not like war, but as you look back on this, the argument from the military was, let's keep, 10, 15,000 troops there as an insurance policy, and we all know insurance companies make sense.  When you're a superpower you have to buy these insurance policies, and he didn't in this case.  I don't think you can say everything is because of that decision, but clearly a factor." RUSH

Biden praises Irish Gay Marriage in Op-ed

"Last weekend, more than 1.2 million Irish voters took a courageous stand for love and family when

they overwhelmingly chose marriage equality.
They recognized the fundamental truth that every person is entitled to dignity and respect, and that there can be no justification for the denigration or persecution of anyone because of who they love or who they are.
I want to thank my good friends Taoiseach [Prime Minister] Enda Kenny and Tanaiste [Deputy Prime Minister] Joan Burton for their forceful leadership and eloquent advocacy on this critical issue.
I cannot improve upon the perfectly Irish statements they made following this historic vote, but I can echo the taoiseach’s words when he described the Irish as “a generous, compassionate, bold and joyful people,” and that their choice will be “heard loudly across the living world as a sound of pioneering leadership.”
And here in the United States, in just the past three years we’ve gone from six states recognizing marriage equality to 37 states, comprising 224 million Americans. It’s about love. It’s about equality. It’s about dignity. It’s about our most cherished values. That’s what this is about — it’s all it’s ever been about." Advocate/Joe Biden

Rubio warns: Christianity could be labeled 'hate speech'

"Marco Rubio warned of a clear and present danger to Christians in an interview published Tuesday, speaking of his Roman Catholic faith and how it guides his policy positions.
“If you think about it, we are at the water’s edge of the argument that mainstream Christian teaching is hate speech,” Rubio said in the interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network. “Because today we’ve reached the point in our society where if you do not support same-sex marriage you are labeled a homophobe and a hater.”

The next step, Rubio argued, is going after Christianity writ large.
“After they are done going after individuals, the next step is to argue that the teachings of mainstream Christianity, the catechism of the Catholic Church, is hate speech and there’s a real and present danger,” he said." Politico