http://www.pal-item.com/article/20130101/UPDATES/130101009

WASHINGTON (AP) — Weary lawmakers in the House pushed at last toward a final congressional vote on legislation to avoid a national “fiscal cliff” of middle class tax increases and spending cuts, a New Year’s Night culmination of a struggle that tested divided government to the limit.

Passage sends the measure to President Barack Obama for his signature and seal a political triumph less than two months after he won re-election while calling for higher taxes on the wealthy. The late-night House vote took place less than 24 hours after Senate action spilled over from New Year’s Eve into the pre-dawn hours of 2013.

In addition to neutralizing middle class tax increases and spending cuts taking effect with the new year, the legislation raises tax rates on incomes over $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples. That was higher than the thresholds of $200,000 and $250,000 that Obama campaigned for. But remarkably, in a party that swore off tax increases two decades ago, dozens of Republicans supported the bill at both ends of the Capitol.

Supporters of the bill in both parties expressed regret that the bill was narrowly drawn, and fell far short of a sweeping plan that combined tax changes and spending cuts to reduce federal deficits. That proved to be a step too far in the two months since Obama called congressional leaders to the White House for a post-election stab at compromise.

Majority Republicans did their best to minimize the bill’s tax increases, just as they abandoned their demand from earlier in the day to add spending cuts to the package.

“By making Republican tax cuts permanent, we are one step closer to comprehensive tax reform that will help strengthen our economy and create more and higher paychecks for American workers,” said Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan, chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.

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Source: CNN

(CNN) –

Hillary Clinton's doctors said Monday that the secretary of state's blood clot is located "between the brain and the skull behind the right ear."

Clinton remained hospitalized Monday at New York Presbyterian Hospital for a clot that was discovered during a follow-up exam related to a concussion she suffered this month, her spokesman said.

Read the full statement from her doctors:

"In the course of a routine follow-up MRI on Sunday, the scan revealed that a right transverse sinus venous thrombosis had formed. This is a clot in the vein that is situated in the space between the brain and the skull behind the right ear. It did not result in a stroke, or neurological damage. To help dissolve this clot, her medical team began treating the Secretary with blood thinners. She will be released once the medication dose has been established. In all other aspects of her recovery, the Secretary is making excellent progress and we are confident she will make a full recovery. She is in good spirits, engaging with her doctors, her family, and her staff."

- Dr. Lisa Bardack, Mt. Kisco Medical Group, and Dr. Gigi El-Bayoumi, George Washington University

Read more: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/31/clintons-clot-located-between-brain-and-skull-doctors-say/

The petition was in response to Westboro Baptist Church plans to picket Sandy Hook funerals.



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I Found This to be Very Beautiful and Sweet.... so much said in the words of this little boy.... I wanted to make sure all the DU folks had a chance to see this if they already haven't

The funeral for 6-year-old Sandy Hook shooting victim Jack Pinto was held on Monday in Newtown, Conn. Following the service, USA Today reporter Yamiche Alcindor tweeted this photo -- a letter to Jack from his best friend, John, with pictures of the boys.

Jack Was Buried on Monday along with Noah Pozner, who was also 6



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this little guy wants you to lighten up!

Seriously???

Source: huffpo

Members of the hacktivist group Anonymous have targeted the Westboro Baptist Church after the hate-mongering, quasi-religious group announced plans to protest a Sunday night vigil in remembrance of the Sandy Hook shooting victims, 20 of whom were just 6 and 7 years old.

On Saturday, Westboro Baptist Church spokesperson Shirley Phelps-Roper tweeted that the group would be protesting the vigil in Newtown, Conn., to "sing praise to God for the glory of his work in executing his judgment."

Anonymous apparently vowed retaliation as part of #OpWestBor in a video posted to Vimeo under the handle KY Anonymous. "We will not allow you to corrupt the minds of America with your seeds of hatred," says the voice-over in the video. "We will not allow you to inspire aggression to the social factions which you deem inferior. We will render you obsolete. We will destroy you. We are coming."

On Sunday, Anonymous posted to Pastebin a list of data that it claimed belonged to Westboro members. The data included names, street addresses, phone numbers and email addresses, according to CNET.

The move was announced on @YourAnonNews, the collective's main mouthpiece on Twitter.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/17/westboro-baptist-church-hacked-anonymous-protest-newtown-shooting-victims-funerals_n_2315070.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

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Source: think progress

ne day before the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, the Michigan Legislature passed a bill to specifically allow guns into schools and other “gun-free zones.” This bill joined a so-called “right-to-work” law and an extreme abortion ban, the GOP-controlled legislature rammed through during its lame duck session.

Following the mass-shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, however, Gov. Rick Snyder (R-MI) promised to give the guns bill “extra consideration.” According to the Detroit News, Snyder has now decided to veto the legislation.

Gov. Rick Snyder plans to veto legislation allowing concealed weapons in public schools, according to bill sponsor Sen. Mike Green, R-Mayville.
The bill allowing highly trained gun owners to carry concealed weapons inside public schools was delivered to Snyder’s desk Tuesday.
“He’s not going to sign it,” Green told The Detroit News.

The Connecticut tragedy has already forced many strident gun supporters to re-examine their beliefs. Most notably, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who once cut an ad featuring himself literally shooting a piece of legislation, is now leading the push for gun control on Capitol Hill in Sandy Hook’s wake.

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/12/18/1355081/rick-snyder-guns/

thanks teabonics

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Amid a discussion about gun control and culture, Joe Scarborough ventured to address the choice the GOP now faces. Two years from now, he said, does the Republican Party want to be known as the party of Glocks and Bushmasters — or the party of balanced budgets and smaller government?

If it’s the former, he said, “we will lose.”

POLITICO’s Jim Vandehei pointed to their story about the GOP’s demographic challenges. “When it comes to the GOP putting people in positions of power to actually change things, it’s still raining men,” the story reads. “the same older, white, straight ones that got the party into this jam in the first place.”

“There’s a lot of rethinking going on,” Vandehei said. Scarborough said Republicans have to figure out what kind of party they want to be seen as two or four years from now.

“Do they want to be seen…as the party of Glocks? The party of Bushmasters? The party of combat-styled, military weapons? Rapid-fire magazine clips?” Scarborough asked. “If they want to go around and debate that for the next four years, good luck.”

He continued to say that he’d prefer his party to stand for less taxes, smaller government, balanced budgets, and a restrained foreign policy. On those issues, “we’ll win.” But “if we’re having to defend” Glocks and Bushmasters, he said, “we will lose. We will lose.”