March 28, 2014

Sebelius Blames Texas Opposition for State's Lagging Obamacare Signups

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was in Austin today, as part of the final push for people to sign up for health insurance ahead of a Monday deadline. She also came to urge Texas leaders to expand Medicaid eligibility.

During her comments, Sebelius said although everything is bigger in Texas, having the highest rate of uninsured in the U.S. is nothing to boast about.

To chip away at the roughly 25 percent of Texans without health insurance, Sebelius renewed her call for Texas leaders to expand Medicaid eligibility.

"Because if Texas doesn’t take up the portion of the Affordable Care Act that would expand Medicaid coverage for the lowest income working Texans, there’ll still be a major coverage gap," Sebelius said.

More at http://kut.org/post/sebelius-blames-texas-opposition-states-lagging-obamacare-signups .

March 28, 2014

Highland Park Responds to Cop Shooting With America's Most Wanted-Style Documentary

Highland Park police seem to have a pretty strong case that they were justified in shooting David Hartman last summer.

Granted, they should have done a more thorough search of his cargo pants, which contained a gun, and made sure he couldn't slip his handcuffs over his legs and reach his pockets, but as a general rule, when a suspect starts firing shots from inside a squad car, returning fire is a reasonable response.

Dash-cam and in-car videos from the incident show this all very well, and your average police department would be content simply to provide unedited copies to the media.

The Highland Park Department of Public Safety, however, is not your average police department. To better present their version of events, they produced what is essentially a nine-minute segment from America's Most Wanted, complete with actors, a voice-over, and sepia-toned reenactments, all punctuated by explanatory clips of an authoritative talking-head interview with the Public Safety Director Chris Vinson.

More at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2014/03/highland_park_responds_to_cop.php .

Related story at the Dallas Observer:
Highland Park Cops Won't Be Charged in Town's First-Ever Fatal Police Shooting

March 28, 2014

State Sen. Jane Nelson (R) - Women’s health has advanced under Republican leadership

When I was first elected to the Texas Senate, Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock appointed me vice chair of the Health and Human Services Committee. Back then, health care was considered a “women’s issue.”

I never liked that term because, in my mind, all issues are women’s issues. We care about the same issues as men. But health care is of particular interest to women. Our bodies are different than men’s, and so are our health care needs.

In this new role, it didn’t take long to recognize that our policies were behind the times when it came to meeting the needs of women. The Women’s Health Program didn’t exist. There was little in the way of education about the unique health care risks for women. Medicaid didn’t cover early treatment for breast and cervical cancer.

-snip-

Women’s health has advanced under Republican leadership. Sadly, our progress is being undermined by those trying to manufacture a so-called “War on Women” -- a purely political campaign designed to paint Republicans as anti-women.



The complete BS is at http://www.redstatewomen.com/nelson_health_care .

March 28, 2014

Democratic Senate hopeful Kesha Rogers defends push to impeach Obama

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WASHINGTON—Democratic Senate hopeful Kesha Rogers doubled down on her calls to impeach President Barack Obama in an interview taped Friday, as the party establishment continues to pull away from her candidacy.

Rogers refuted the suggestion that her stance might be unpopular with Democratic voters, whose votes Rogers needs in the party’s May runoff with Dallas dentist David Alameel.

“It is popular with Democrats who recognize that this president is continuing the Bush-Cheney policy, and recognize you have a Wall Street control in the Democratic Party that must be removed now.

Rogers received 22 percent of the March primary vote, but forced Alameel into a runoff. The interview was taped for the television show Lone Star Politics, a joint program between NBC5 and the Dallas Morning News. The entire segment airs Sunday at 8:40 a.m. on KXAS-TV(NBC5).

More at http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2014/03/kesha-rogers-defends-push-to-impeach-obama.html/ .

[font color=green]For those not familiar with Kesha Rogers, she is a LaRouchie Democrat.[/font]

March 28, 2014

Texas Supreme Court halts judge's order to reveal execution drug supplier

HOUSTON — The Texas Supreme Court on Friday temporarily blocked a lower court's order that the state prison agency must tell attorneys for two death row inmates the name of the supplier of a new batch of lethal injection drugs.

The decision came shortly after an appeals court upheld a state district judge's ruling ordering prison officials to disclose the information. The agency had filed an emergency appeal.

Attorneys for two death row inmates set to die next month filed a lawsuit in the case. They argued they should have the name of the supplier of pentobarbital that would be used to execute the prisoners.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice wants to keep it secret, citing escalating threats of violence against execution drug providers.

More at http://www.dallasnews.com/news/state/headlines/20140328-texas-supreme-court-halts-judge-s-order-to-reveal-execution-drug-supplier.ece .

March 28, 2014

Customer payment information compromised at 34 Spec's stores

Credit card, debit card and private check information for an estimated half-million or so customers was exposed at 34 of 155 wine and liquor stores owned by Spec's, including 21 in the greater Houston area, over the past year and a half, the company said Friday.

The Spec's warehouse-size superstore near downtown was not affected. Some of the affected stores operate as Copperfield Liquors, JJ's Liquors, Cowtown Discount Liquors, Restaurant & Bar Supply, Warehouse Liquors, The Beverage Shoppe and Richard's Fine Wines & Spirits.

The exposure may include customers' bank routing numbers, card security codes and other payment card and check information.

The information was compromised beginning Oct. 31, 2012, possibly though March 20 of this year, Spec's spokeswoman Jenifer Sarver said.

She said the ongoing compromise affected "an estimated fewer than 550,000" customers and Spec's employees.

More at http://www.chron.com/business/retail/article/Customer-payment-information-compromised-at-34-5357502.php?cmpid=hpbn .

[font color=green]I love Spec's but am grateful that I always paid cash there.[/font]

March 28, 2014

Perry Stands Against Online Gambling

Three Republican governors who weren't invited to GOP super donor Sheldon Adelson's political gathering in Las Vegas are nonetheless trumpeting their agreement with him against Internet gambling.

Govs. Rick Perry of Texas and Nikki Haley of South Carolina wrote this week to congressional leaders that Internet gambling compromises states' ability to control betting for money. Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana wrote that he would do everything he could to stop Internet gambling from spreading in his state.

Their letters are highlighted on the website for an advocacy group that Adelson helped bankroll.

All three governors are mentioned as possible candidates in the 2016 presidential election. As it happens, Adelson is casting for a candidate to shower with millions of dollars in campaign cash.

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/politics/Perry-Stands-Against-Online-Gambling-252883191.html

March 28, 2014

5th Circuit Abortion Ruling: Road Trips Aren’t that Bad

In a move that surprised no one, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday upheld the constitutionality of Texas’ new restrictions on abortion clinics. In doing so, the conservative appellate court handed a victory to the anti-choice phalanx in Texas who trumpeted the decision as good news (Rick Perry), a victory (Texas Right To Life) and a vindication of the Legislature’s careful deliberations (Greg Abbott).

It was widely expected that the 5th Circuit would side with the state. In October, the court allowed the most controversial provisions of Texas’ new abortion law—which state Sen. Wendy Davis famously filibustered last summer—to take immediate effect, granting an emergency request from Abbott before the justices had even heard oral arguments. That was a clear signal that abortion-rights groups weren’t likely to win.

Still, yesterday’s ruling is disappointment for abortion providers. They argue that the two provisions of the law they had hoped to overturn in this legal challenge have already caused considerable turmoil. In particular, the requirement that abortion providers have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals has led to the closure of at least 10 abortion clinics since last fall, providers say. Women seeking abortions in rural areas like the Rio Grande Valley, the Panhandle, and in vast swathes between El Paso and Interstate 35 must now travel greater distances.

But the appellate judges weren’t convinced that the need to travel further to access abortion was a big deal. At the oral argument in January, Chief Justice Edith Jones observed that the roads between the Rio Grande Valley and Corpus Christi were flat and uncongested. It seemed beyond Justice Jones’ imagination that a Texas road trip might not be an adventure—or more than a minor inconvenience—for a woman with a full-time job, child care responsibilities or visa restrictions that confine her to the lower reaches of the Rio Grande Valley.

More at http://www.texasobserver.org/5th-circuit-abortion-ruling-road-trips-arent-bad/ .

March 28, 2014

Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño abruptly announces retirement

EDINBURG — Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño announced his retirement this morning — effective immediately —in a letter to County Judge Ramon Garcia.

In the letter, Treviño wrote he was bowing to "internal and external pressures placed on me since December 12, 2012," alluding to the day federal agents arrested his son, former Mission Police Detective Jonathon Treviño, in connection with what would become known as the Panama Unit.

"The Hidalgo County' Sheriff's Office being the 8th largest sheriff's office in the state deserves dedicated and focused attention which I have not been able to give it," the letter continued.

Hidalgo County commissioners are responsible for appointing an interim replacement for Treviño, 63, until the November general election when voters will choose a replacement.

http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/hidalgo-county-sheriff-lupe-trevi-o-abruptly-announces-retirement/article_7341bf68-b691-11e3-84df-001a4bcf6878.html

[font color=green]There are a number of links at the McAllen Monitor that provide a timeline of what has occurred regarding Sheriff Treviño. Ethics complaints were filed because the sheriff's election campaign received donations from drug traffickers.[/font]

March 28, 2014

Nugent dispute leads to call for Longview mayor to resign

Concerns about the city’s mid-February cancellation of negotiations with rocker Ted Nugent for the city’s July fourth celebration came to a head Thursday as Longview residents packed City Council chambers to ask for more information.

Comments ranged from calling for the resignation of the mayor and city manager to the termination of employees responsible for the discussions to hire Nugent, while others offered support for the city and its processes.

The crowd filled the chamber hall and overflowed into the lobby of the Jo Ann Metcalf Municipal Building.

“I am not really concerned about Ted Nugent … I don’t listen to the radio,” said Jim Martin, who called for Mayor Jay Dean’s resignation. “What I am concerned about is the tax payers’ $16,000. That is money that in my opinion is wasted.”

Dean and City Manager David Willard flatly rejected the notion of resignation, and Dean defended upper level city staff’s behavior in the much-discussed actions that came to light last week.

More at http://www.news-journal.com/news/local/nugent-dispute-leads-to-call-for-mayor-to-resign/article_026fdc2b-b14f-591a-b9f4-7fa6cf72912e.html .

Related thread:
Rejection slip from Longview gig has Nugent hot as a firecracker
http://www.democraticunderground.com/107816409