TheDC Morning is being guest hosted today by The Daily Caller’s Jeff Winkler. When you’re done reading, be sure to rate Jeff’s performance here!
1.) Understanding of Health Care Law same as when it was a Health Care Bill — USA Today reports what everybody already knew about the year-old health care law: not a damn thing. “Although opinions are plentiful about the requirement that most Americans buy health insurance and about the costs of expanding Medicaid — both provisions that take effect in 2014 — apparently few people know about provisions that are already in place, unless those provisions have directly affected them. And that seems to play a big role in public opinion.” Thank goodness for The Daily Caller’s Jonathan Strong and Matthew Boyle. Get a breakdown of the provisions already in place from Boyle. For a long-term prognosis, read Strong’s wrap-up of the Shermanesque march toward the impending legal battles. The piece includes the most frightening phrase in the English language: “Armies of lawyers.”
2.) Christie’s like the popular girl in school, potential presidential candidates want to get in his pants— It used to be that prospective Republican presidential candidates would need to practice their perfect Reagan diction or make a trip to the Holy Land. How passe! AP says the new thing is to kiss the ring of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. “He’s already hosted dinners at the governor’s mansion in Princeton – for Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour earlier this month and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in January. And those close to Christie say former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who on Monday took the first formal step toward seeking the party’s nod, is scheduled to visit. Other aspirants are expected in the coming months.” There’s the photo-op, sure. But a little Christie love can also mean a steady paycheck. “He’s already shown that lending his name can lead to donations; an advocacy group created by Republicans to support Christie’s agenda raised $624,000 in six months, mostly from establishment Republicans and developers in New Jersey.”
3.) ‘Common sense’ gun-control debate lasts less time than it takes to reload a 9mm — It didn’t take long after the Tucson shootings for New York Sen. Chuck Schumer to propose sweeping new gun-control legislation. It’s supposed to “strengthen” background checks, but as The Daily Caller reports, it’ll more likely piss off anyone who’s never actually been found guilty in a court of law. “The Fix Gun Checks Act of 2011 would greatly expand the definition of those legally prohibited from owning firearms to include anyone who’s ever been arrested — even if never convicted or found guilty — for drug possession within a five-year period.” Alleged gunman Jared Lee Loughner admitted to smoking weed. According to Schumer’s “rational gun-control,” ergo, that means anyone arrested for doing drugs, for that bong that wasn’t actually yours or for Tweeting that you were going to get “ripped” tonight, is tantamount to planning a psychotic bloodbath. Everyone agrees that only “law-abiding” citizens should have guns, but who would have thought Schumer would try to change the definition of “law-abiding.”
4.) Been down so long it looks like Detroit to me — “According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Detroit saw its population drop from 951,270 in 2000 to 713,777 last year — its lowest since the 1910 census,” reports CNN. “The state’s population fell 0.6% — from 9.94 million to 9.89 million — costing the state yet another congressional district. At its peak, after the 1960 census, Michigan had 19 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The state’s Capitol Hill clout has eroded, one or two seats a decade, since 1980. Now, it’s down to just 14.” Holy Moley! It’s not fun, or cool, or even hip to make fun of Detroit anymore. So why bother? The same goes for city officials who claim that the census data is “not accurate.” Seriously, why bother? It is entertaining for CNN to kinda suggest Eminem maybe, possibly had something to do with the exodus. “Detroit could probably use another Eminem boost following Tuesday’s news that it lost 25% of its residents from 2000 to 2010.You may remember the catchy Chrysler ad during January’s Super Bowl.”
5.)Now, let me be completely unclear — “Since the U.S.-led operation started on Saturday, lawmakers from across the political spectrum have raised concerns on the grounds that President Obama went to war with undefined goals and, according to some critics, in violation of his constitutional authority,” reports The Hill. There are things you can do without having to explain yourself (eating a fourth meal, dressing in women’s clothing), but none of them includes carpet bombing. Just in case there was still any head-scratching as to what the Obama Administration’s mission is in Libya, they’re clarifying it. Repeatedly. “We’re clarifying, as we’ve said repeatedly, that the effort of our military operation is not regime change, that as we actually say in this readout, it’s the Libyan people who are going to make their determinations about the future,” [Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes] said. “We support their aspirations, their democratic aspirations, and have stated that Gadhafi should go because he’s lost their confidence.” The Administration has confidence that the U.N. will have a unified and forceful response.
6.) For lawmakers, ‘innocent children’ means ‘cash-strapped government’ — “In a letter Tuesday, [four Democratic] senators asked Apple, Google and BlackBerry to either disable or quit selling downloadable applications that allow iPhone and iPad, BlackBerry and Android operating systems to identify locations of local police DUI crackdowns,” according to USA Today. Why do the luddite lawmakers want these gadgets turned off? For the “innocent … children” of course! Haha, J/K! As the article deftly notes, because of the “spread of traffic cameras and police agencies pumping up revenue from traffic citations, drivers are relying on devices and applications that alert them to such law enforcement tools as speed and red-light cameras, speed traps, school zones and DUI checkpoints.” Question: If you’re so drunk you consider the financial incentives and sheer logistical planning needed when using an app that helps you evade totalitarian checkpoints set up to boast cash-strapped governments, have you been taking shots of Freedom?
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