-
The Morning Flap: January 7, 2013
These are my links for January 4th through January 7th:
- Democrats look for up to $1 trillion in new tax revenues this year – Democrats say they want to raise as much as $1 trillion in new revenues through tax reform later this year to balance Republican demands to slash mandatory spending.Democratic leaders have had little time to craft a new position for their party since passing a tax deal Tuesday that will raise $620 billion in revenue over the next ten years.The emerging consensus, however, is that the next installment of deficit reduction should reach $2 trillion and about half of it should come from higher taxes.
- Despite New Health Law, Some See Sharp Rise in Premiums – Health insurance companies across the country are seeking and winning double-digit increases in premiums for some customers, even though one of the biggest objectives of the Obama administration’s health care law was to stem the rapid rise in insurance costs for consumers.
- Red state Senate Dems face tough early votes – “I think you need to put everything on the table,” Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D, told ABC News ‘ George Stephanopoulos this past Sunday, “but what I hear from the administration – and if the Washington Post is to be believed – that’s way, way in extreme of what I think is necessary or even should be talked about. And it’s not going to pass.”The Washington Post article Heitkamp was referring to, reported that President Obama would soon seek to pass legislation “that would require universal background checks for firearm buyers, track the movement and sale of weapons through a national database, strengthen mental health checks, and stiffen penalties for carrying guns near schools or giving them to minors.” And Obama wants all of this “by the end of January” according to The Boston Herald.While this ambition agenda and timing may be music to blue state Democrat ears, it can only be a headache for red state Democrats like Heitkamp … and she isn’t even up for reelection this cycle. A total of seven Democratic Senators from states that Mitt Romney carried in 2012 are up for election in 2014. And six of those Senators (Sens. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, Mark Pryor, D-Ark., Mary Landrieu, D-La., Max Baucus, D-Mont., Tim Johnson, D-S.D., and Jay Rockefeler, D-W.V.) hail from states that Romney carried by double-digits. Only North Carolina’s Kay Hagan will face an electorate that Obama even came close to winning in 2012 (Romney +2) … and the only other Democrat on the ballot statewide in North Carolina in 2012 lost by 11.
- Hagel’s Mideast blunder–not on Israel – Does Kaplan really think there is any case that the situation after Petraeus’ surge isn’t much better than the situation that would have existed if there had been no surge? I doubt it. And remember, Hagel didn’t just oppose the surge. He declared that it was “the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam”– the sort of emotionalized MSM-pleasing misjudgment that seems to have endeared him to so many GOP colleagues (who, as Marc Ambinder notes, ”think he’s a showboat and turncoat”).Can’t Obama find a “anti-Israel” … Likud-skeptical figure who didn’t flamboyantly and self-righteously get wrong the most important military decision since the original 2003 Iraq invasion (which Hagel, by the way, voted to authorize)? Sure, Hillary and Kerry opposed the surge too. But not everyone did–not even everyone who opposed the war. Gen. Anthony Zinni, for example, isn’t someone likely to please Bill Kristol and AIPAC–but after opposing Bush’s invasion he had the balls to say that a surge was worth trying.
- Six Reasons Obama Chose Chuck Hagel – Back at the 2004 Republican convention, when then-Sen. Chuck Hagel was weighing whether to run for president, he paid a call on the Iowa delegation. His obligatory joke about his devotion to ethanol went over well. But then, to the puzzlement of some in the room, he started talking to his conservative breakfast audience about the United Nations and the need for multilateralism in tackling world problems.Needless to say, that wasn’t quite what we were hearing from the convention stage, or for that matter from anyone else in the GOP. Hagel didn’t run for president. But as it turns out, his remarks ended up laying groundwork for a different kind of future – as a potential defense secretary in the Obama administration.There are well known controversies associated with Hagel’s expected nomination, involving everything from climate change and gay rights to Israel, Iraq and Iran. But unlike the case of U.N. ambassador Susan Rice, who withdrew as a potential secretary of state nominee amid criticism from Republicans, President Obama is pressing forward with Hagel.
- LA Times – Critics slam Chuck Hagel’s likely nomination as Defense secretary #tcot
- Bill Kristol’s big plans start with Hagel nomination – Kenneth P. Vogel – POLITICO.com – RT @DHBerman Bill Kristol-linked group planning a “substantial” paid-media campaign opposing the Hagel DOD nomination
- Video – Fla. Governor Jeb Bush Considering Run for President – Video – Fla. Governor Jeb Bush Considering Run for President #tcot
- Bill Kristol’s big plans start with Hagel nomination – Bill Kristol’s big plans start with Hagel nomination #tcot
- Critics slam Chuck Hagel’s likely nomination as Defense secretary – With former Sen. Chuck Hagel’s nomination as Defense secretary imminent, conservatives denounced his views on Israel and Iran as out of step with mainstream foreign policy, underscoring the difficulty he is likely to face winning Senate confirmation.An administration official said Sunday that Hagel — a decorated Vietnam veteran, a Republican and a former two-term senator from Nebraska — would be nominated Monday to succeed Leon E. Panetta. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal White House planning.
- Obama Expected to Pick Chuck Hagel for Defense Post – When President Obama nominates Chuck Hagel, the maverick Republican and former senator from Nebraska, to be his next secretary of defense, he will be turning to a trusted ally whose willingness to defy party loyalty and conventional wisdom won his admiration both in the Senate and on a 2008 tour of war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- JOHN BRENNAN TAPPED TO LEAD CIA – President Barack Obama will announce Monday that he’s nominating the White House’s point person on counterterrorism, John Brennan, to be the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency, White House officials told POLITICO.Brennan, a 25-year veteran of the CIA, currently holds the title of Deputy National Security Adviser for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism. He’s expected to appear with Obama later Monday at a White House event where the president will also announce his nomination of former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) to be the next defense secretary.
- Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Digest for 2013-01-06 – Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Digest for 2013-01-06
- My Daily Twitter Digest for 2013-01-06 – Locum Tenens (Temporary) Dentist – Gregory Cole, D.D.S. – My Daily Twitter Digest for 2013-01-06
- Boehner Coup Attempt Larger Than First Thought – A concerted effort to unseat Speaker John A. Boehner was under way the day of his re-election to the position, but participants called it off 30 minutes before the House floor vote, CQ Roll Call has learned.A group of disaffected conservatives had agreed to vote against the Ohio lawmaker if they could get at least 25 members to join the effort. But one member, whose identity could not be verified, rescinded his or her participation the morning of the vote, leaving the group one person short of its self-imposed 25-member threshold. Only 17 votes against Boehner were required to force a second ballot, but the group wanted to have insurance.
- Poll: Few people know obesity can cause more harm to health than just heart disease, diabetes – The Washington Post – Poll: Few people know obesity can cause more harm to health than just heart disease, diabetes #tcot
- Flap’s Dentistry Blog: Parents of Marissa Kingery Sue Others in Dental Procedure Death – Parents of Marissa Kingery Sue Others in Dental Procedure Death
- Mexican drug gangs dig into mining industry – On October 7, Mexican marines swooped in on one of the most powerful men in organised crime. But as the navy triumphantly announced the death of Heriberto Lazcano, leader of the Zetas gang, there was puzzlement over where he had been found. Far from the Zeta’s strongholds and practically unprotected, he had been watching a baseball game in the small mining village of Progreso.Theories abounded as to what exactly Lazcano had been doing in Progreso, a one horse town in the wide open spaces of the sorthern state of Coahuila. Humberto Moreira, ex-governor of Coahuila says that he has the answer: “Heriberto Lazcano changed from being a killer, kidnapper and drug dealer to something still more lucrative: mining coal. That’s why he lived in the coal region, in a little village called Progreso.”Speaking to Al Jazeera, Moreira says that the Zetas gang is fast discovering that illegal mining is an even more lucrative venture than drug running.
- White House to Go on Offense for Hagel Pick – WSJ.com – So what? Hagel’s Done RT @ZekeJMiller: White House to Go on Offense for Hagel Pick – via @WSJ
- Sen. Ted Cruz: “I’m A Conservative Because Conservative Policies Work” – SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TEXAS): The reason why I’m a conservative is because conservative policies work and they improve opportunities. They are the avenue for climbing the economic dream. And what I have been talking about for many years is opportunity conservatism, that every policy should focus like a laser on easing the means of ascent up the economic ladder. That we should be championing the 47%, to take that now infamous comment.Look, the great thing about Americans — Americans don’t want to be dependent upon government. Dependency saps the spirit, it doesn’t work. Americans want to stand on their own two feet and the best way to do that is to have policies that allow entrepreneurs and small business to thrive and to create jobs and advance the American dream.
- Social Security – It’s Worse Than You Think – CONGRESS and President Obama have pushed through a relatively modest stopgap measure to avoid the “fiscal cliff,” but over the coming years, the United States will confront another huge cliff: Social Security.In the first presidential debate, Mr. Obama described Social Security as “structurally sound,” and Mitt Romney said that “neither the president nor I are proposing any changes” to the program. It was a rare issue on which both men agreed — and both were utterly wrong. For the first time in more than a quarter-century, Social Security ran a deficit in 2010: It spent $49 billion dollars more in benefits than it received in revenues, and drew from its trust funds to cover the shortfall.Those funds — a $2.7 trillion buffer built in anticipation of retiring baby boomers — will be exhausted by 2033, the government currently projects. Those facts are widely known.
What’s not is that the Social Security Administration underestimates how long Americans will live and how much the trust funds will need to pay out — to the tune of $800 billion by 2031, more than the current annual defense budget — and that the trust funds will run out, if nothing is done, two years earlier than the government has predicted.
- Feud over Obama health care reforms to intensify in coming months – The spotlight on President Obama’s health care overhaul will intensify in coming months as states and businesses gear up for sweeping changes that could determine whether the public embraces the president’s signature legislative achievement or decries it as government overreach.After the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the new health care law, the politics evolved from arguments over the reforms’ constitutionality to a debate over whether the massive system can be implemented effectively.The president has long assured critics that once the reforms are fully enacted, the public will embrace them. Yet, while voters gave Obama a second term in November, polls show they are wary of the looming changes. A Rasmussen poll last month showed that nearly half of the respondents expect the health care system “to get worse over the next couple of years.”
- The Education of John Boehner – GOP willingness to let the spending sequester take effect – What stunned House Speaker John Boehner more than anything else during his prolonged closed-door budget negotiations with Barack Obama was this revelation: “At one point several weeks ago,” Mr. Boehner says, “the president said to me, ‘We don’t have a spending problem.’ “I am talking to Mr. Boehner in his office on the second floor of the Capitol, 72 hours after the historic House vote to take America off the so-called fiscal cliff by making permanent the Bush tax cuts on most Americans, but also to raise taxes on high earners. In the interim, Mr. Boehner had been elected to serve his second term as speaker of the House. Throughout our hourlong conversation, as is his custom, he takes long drags on one cigarette after another.Mr. Boehner looks battle weary from five weeks of grappling with the White House. He’s frustrated that the final deal failed to make progress toward his primary goal of “making a down payment on solving the debt crisis and setting a path to get real entitlement reform.” At one point he grimly says: “I need this job like I need a hole in the head.”
- McConnell: Any gun proposals will take back seat to solving country’s financial problems – The Washington Post – RT @washingtonpost: McConnell: Any gun proposals will take back seat to solving country’s financial problems
- Getting around Prop. 13 | prop, tax, percent – Opinion – The Orange County Register – Getting around California Proposition 13
- Video: Pelosi: More tax revenues must be part of next deficit deal – Pushing back against the Republicans’ deficit-reduction strategy, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said this weekend that more tax revenues – not just spending cuts – must be a part of Congress’s effort to rein in deficits.Pelosi said the tax hikes in the recent “fiscal-cliff” deal are a start, but don’t go far enough to generate the revenues the government needs to run the country effectively.
- Video: There Would Be A Revolution in this Country If the Government Confiscated Guns – Video: There Would Be A Revolution in this Country If the Government Confiscated Guns #tcot
- Day By Day January 6, 2013 – The Law: Bend it like Becket – Day By Day January 6, 2013 – The Law: Bend it like Becket #tcot
- Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Digest for 2013-01-05 – Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Digest for 2013-01-05
- Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Digest for 2013-01-04 – Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Digest for 2013-01-04
- Flap’s Blog @ Flap Twitter Daily Digest for 2013-01-05 – Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Flap’s Blog @ Flap Twitter Daily Digest for 2013-01-05 #tcot
- My Daily Twitter Digest for 2013-01-05 – Locum Tenens (Temporary) Dentist – Gregory Cole, D.D.S. – My Daily Twitter Digest for 2013-01-05
- @ToddKincannon/TwitterGulagDefNet4 on Twitter – RT @ToddKincannon: #TGDN Please follow ALL: | | | | …
- @ToddKincannon/TwitterGulagDefNet3 on Twitter – RT @ToddKincannon: #TGDN Please follow ALL: | | | | …
- @ToddKincannon/TwitterGulagDefNet2 on Twitter – RT @ToddKincannon: #TGDN Please follow ALL: | | | | …
- @ToddKincannon/TwitterGulagDefNet5 on Twitter – RT @ToddKincannon: #TGDN Please follow ALL: | | | | …
- What is #TGDN ? « Foolish Reporter’s Foolish Thoughts on the Foolish State of Things – RT @ToddKincannon: Hey #TGDN, read this please! RT @FoolishReporter
- Todd Kincannon (ToddKincannon) on Twitter – @gkenn99 Follow and check it out….
- The Twitter Gulag Defense Network #TGDN – the New TCOT? | Iron Mill News Service – RT @Politisite: the New #TCOT ? The Twitter Gulag Defense Network #TGDN
- @ToddKincannon/TwitterGulagDefNet1 on Twitter – Click these 4 links & follow ALL #TGDN members: & & &
- Gregory Flap @ Ronnie’s Diner – 15. 4 miles finished for marathon training. Now, some carbs! (@ Ronnie’s Diner w/ 2 others)
- Flap’s Blog @ Flap Twitter Daily Digest for 2013-01-04 – Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Flap’s Blog @ Flap Twitter Daily Digest for 2013-01-04 #tcot
- My Daily Twitter Digest for 2013-01-04 – Locum Tenens (Temporary) Dentist – Gregory Cole, D.D.S. – My Daily Twitter Digest for 2013-01-04
- Genetically modified food labeling measure to qualify for Washington state ballot – A measure to require special labeling of genetically modified foods appeared virtually certain to qualify for the ballot in Washington state on Friday, two months after voters in California rejected a similar initiative.Sponsors of the measure turned in petitions signed by an estimated 350,000 registered voters – at least 100,000 more signatures than required – on Thursday, a day ahead of deadline, said David Ammons, a spokesman for the Washington secretary of state.The submission all but assures that the GMO-labeling initiative would be certified by the secretary and sent on to the state legislature, which could adopt the measure or leave it to a popular vote on the November 2013 election ballot, Ammons said.
- Early flu season accelerates; no peak yet, CDC says – Vitals – Early flu season accelerates; no peak yet, CDC says #tcot
- Video: Arnold on Chris Christie and his Water Retention Problem – Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Video: Arnold on Chris Christie and his Water Retention Problem #tcot
-
Flap’s Links and Comments for September 9th through September 11th
These are my links for September 9th through September 11th:
- More ground turkey recalled because of salmonella – Cargill Inc. announced a second recall of ground turkey products Sunday after a test showed salmonella in a sample from the same Arkansas plant tied to a recall issued last month.
The second recall is much smaller than the one the company issued Aug. 3 for 36 million pounds of ground turkey. That recall followed a salmonella outbreak that federal health officials said had sickened 107 people in 31 states, killing one person.
No illnesses have been tied to the second recall, which was initiated after a sample from the company's plant in Springdale, Ark., tested positive for salmonella, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
Cargill halted production of ground turkey products at the plant Aug. 2 in anticipation of the recall announced the next day, spokesman Mike Martin said. Equipment was taken apart and steam-cleaned. Limited production resumed Aug. 10 after the USDA approved additional anti-bacterial safety measures, Martin said.
The sample that tested positive for salmonella was taken Aug. 24, the USDA said. It was the same strain of salmonella tied to the earlier illnesses, the agency said.
Martin said Cargill added two additional anti-bacterial washes to its processing process in Springdale after the first recall and instituted what he called "the most advanced sampling and monitoring system in the poultry industry."
The problem, he said is that salmonella is "ubiquitous" and can come from soil, water, poultry feed and any number of sources. The challenge for Cargill and other food processors is to try to identify and eliminate the sources, reduce the amount during processing and then test for it. - Marijuana Use Grows, While Methamphetamine Falls In USA – The main factor to push up overall figures was marijuana usage, the authors explained. From 2007 to 2010 the proportion of people aged 12 years or more to use marijuana rose from 5.8% to 6.9%.
Below are some highlighted details of the survey:
Illicit drug usage among people aged 18-25 years rose from 19.6% to 21.2% from 2008 to 2010 (marijuana usage increase was main factor)
Non-medical use of prescription medicals, inhalants and hallucinogens were at similar levels in 2002, 2009 and 2010
55% of people over 12 years of age who used prescription pain relievers for non-medical reasons during the previous 12 months, got them from a relative or friend for free
Just 4.4% of pain reliever misusers received them from a drug dealer and 0.4% bought them online
The number of methamphetamine users dropped by half from 2006 (353,000) to 2010 (731,000).
Cocaine usage fell from 2.4 million users in 2006 to 1.5 million in 2010
Drinking (alcohol) rates among 12-17 year olds fell from 14.7% in 2009 to 13.6% in 2010 - @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-09-11 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-09-11 #tcot #catcot
- Flap’s Dentistry Blog: 2012 Los Angeles Marathon: Los Angeles Roadrunners Expo – Los Angeles Roadrunner training for the Los Angeles Marathon begins next week:
- Dilbert September 10, 2011 – Bad at Math » Flap’s California Blog – Dilbert September 10, 2011 – Bad at Math
- CLOSURE OF ANTRAL-ORAL FISTULA
– YouTube – We have come along way baby!: - Day By Day September 10, 2011 – Zoned Out | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – It is all in the hand…..:
- foursquare – Post six mile recovery run in Santa Monica with Alice, Tara and Nancy (@ Ronnie's Diner)
- Twitpic – Share photos and videos on Twitter – Off soon to run an easy 6 miles in Santa Monica and then off to LA Roadrunners Expo. Temps in 60's.
- @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-09-10 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-09-10 #tcot #catcot
- Main Street Disneyland
– YouTube – Main Street Disneyland
– YouTube - Into Disneyland
– YouTube – Into Disneyland
– YouTube - Main Street Disneyland
– YouTube – I uploaded a @YouTube video Main Street Disneyland - California State Senate Passes Amazon Internet Sales Tax Compromise Legislation » Flap’s California Blog – California State Senate Passes Amazon Internet Sales Tax Compromise Legislation
- Into Disneyland
– YouTube – I uploaded a @YouTube video Into Disneyland - Into California Adventure
– YouTube – I uploaded a @YouTube video Into California Adventure - Disneyland Half Marathon Start
– YouTube – I uploaded a @YouTube video Disneyland Half Marathon Start - Untitled (http://techland.time.com/2011/09/09/twitter-reveals-active-user-number-how-many-actually-say-something/) – 100 Million RT @TIME: How many people are using Twitter? Go ahead. Take a guess (hint: lots of zeroes) | (via @Techland)
- Meghan McCain | Romney | The Daily Caller – I knew I was waiting for this before I decided who to choose RT @DailyCaller: Meghan McCain backs Mitt Romney –
- Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The Daily Extraction: September 9, 2011 – The Daily Extraction: Tooth #7 with a very curved root tip
: - FDA Panel Says Bisphosphonates Need Label Changes on Use Duration | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – FDA Panel Says Bisphosphonates Need Label Changes on Use Duration #tcot #catcot
- Flap’s Dentistry Blog: Millionaire U.K Dentist Fined For Using Dead Man’s Parking Permit on His Ferrari – Millionaire U.K Dentist Fined For Using Dead Man's Parking Permit on His Ferrari
- Flap’s Links and Comments for September 8th through September 9th | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Flap’s Links and Comments for September 8th through September 9th #tcot #catcot
- More ground turkey recalled because of salmonella – Cargill Inc. announced a second recall of ground turkey products Sunday after a test showed salmonella in a sample from the same Arkansas plant tied to a recall issued last month.