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These are my news headlines for February 26th through February 27th:

• Detained immigrants released; officials cite sequester cuts – Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have released “several hundred” immigrants from deportation centers across the country, saying the move is an effort to cut costs ahead of budget cuts due to hit later this week.Announcing the news Tuesday, ICE officials said that the immigrants were released under supervision and continue to face deportation. After reviewing hundreds of cases, those released were considered low-risk and “noncriminal,” officials said.The releases took place over the last week and were an effort “to ensure detention levels stay within ICE’s current budget,” said ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christiansen, citing uncertainty caused by a budget standoff in Washington.

  “All of these individuals remain in removal proceedings. Priority for detention remains on serious criminal offenders and other individuals who pose a significant threat to public safety,” she said.

• Politicians declare sky falling; meanwhile, D.C. real estate market booms
• Phil Gramm: Obama and the Sequester Scare – WSJ.com – Phil Gramm: Obama and the Sequester Scare #tcot
• 3 steps: How Dems plan to make Texas a battleground by 2016 | The Daily Caller – 3 steps: How Dems plan to make Texas a battleground by 2016 #tcot
• Phil Gramm: Obama and the Sequester Scare – President Obama’s message could not be clearer: Life as we know it in America will change dramatically on March 1, when automatic cuts are imposed to achieve $85 billion in government-spending reductions. Furloughed government employees, flight delays and criminals set free are among the dire consequences the president has predicted. If the Washington Monument weren’t already closed for repairs, no doubt it too would be shut down.Scare tactics such as these are similar to the ones that were made when I co-authored the first sequester legislation in 1985, the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act. The 1986 sequester was triggered anyway, but the predicted disaster never came. The nation survived then. It will now.
• Bob Woodward blasts President Obama ‘madness’ – Obama overplaying his sequestration hand.
• 3 steps: How Dems plan to make Texas a battleground by 2016 – Today, Hispanics make up 41 percent of Texas’ citizenry, while whites made up 43 percent. The white electorate’s plurality, however, will not last — because the Hispanic population’s birth rates are higher, the Hispanic population is still growing through immigration, and the Hispanic population is younger (with a large population not yet at voting age). If legal Hispanic immigration stays consistent with 2000-2010 levels, Texas could be a plurality Hispanic state by 2017, and a majority Hispanic state by 2036.Both parties know that Hispanics are not a monolithic group, and they are not all Democrats. Though nationally they lean toward the Democrats (67 percent in 2008, 71 percent in 2012), in Texas, Democrats hold less sway (63 in 2008, and unknown in 2012 because there weren’t any exit polls).
• Wary of crises, Americans tune out budget cut talk – President Barack Obama is pulling out all the stops to warn just what could happen if automatic budget cuts kick in. Americans are reacting with a collective yawn.They know the shtick: Obama raises the alarm, Democrats and Republicans accuse each other of holding a deal hostage, there’s a lot of yelling on cable news, and then finally, when everyone has made their points, a deal is struck and the day is saved.Maybe not this time. Two days before $85 billion in cuts are set to hit federal programs with all the precision of a wrecking ball, there are no signs that the White House and Republicans in Congress are even negotiating. Both sides appear quietly resigned to the prospect that this is one bullet we just may not dodge.
• Club for Growth targets Republicans – The Club for Growth, the anti-tax group that has spent heavily in Republican primaries in the past few cycles, is launching a new website that names nine GOP Congress members in safe seats and urges people to help find challengers to them.Tethered to the group’s congressional scorecard that was released this week, the site, www.PrimaryMyCongressman.com, goes live later Wednesday. It names people in districts where Mitt Romney notched more than 60 percent in the 2012 presidential race, but got a lifetime rating of below 70 percent from the Club.
• Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Digest for 2013-02-26 – Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Digest for 2013-02-26
• Flap’s Blog @ Flap Twitter Daily Digest for 2013-02-26 – Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Flap’s Blog @ Flap Twitter Daily Digest for 2013-02-26 #tcot
• Perry’s Texas Cancer Fund Mired in Pay-to-Play Claims – Bloomberg – Perry’s Texas Cancer Fund Mired in Pay-to-Play Claims #tcot
• Perry’s Texas Cancer Fund Mired in Pay-to-Play Claims – Six years ago, Texas Governor Rick Perry persuaded voters to approve $3 billion in taxpayer-backed bonds to research cures for cancer.Now, after the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas spent $836 million with no major advances to show, its research has been halted by allegations of favoritism toward people that contributed to Perry and other leaders. A district attorney, lawmakers and the attorney general are investigating.
• No CPAC Invite for Christie Because of ‘Limited Future’ in Republican Party – New Jersey governor Chris Christie was not invited to address the Conservative Political Action Conference because of his position on gun control, according to a source familiar with CPAC’s internal deliberations who requested anonymity to speak freely.Christie has a “limited future” in the national Republican party given his position on gun control, the source tells National Review Online. As a result, the CPAC insider says, the focus of this year’s conference, “the future of conservatism,” made Christie a bad fit.Christie, the source adds, is simply not a conservative in the eyes of organizers.
• U.S. frees illegal immigrants from custody – The federal government released groups of illegal immigrants from custody across the country Monday at the same time the White House was making its case that impending budget cuts would harm efforts to protect the border and enforce federal immigration laws.Advocates reported “waves” of illegal immigrants being released from at least three detention centers in Texas, Florida and Louisiana.U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement confirmed the release of some illegal immigrants Monday night but would not say how many or from which detention centers.
  “In order to make the best use of our limited detention resources in the current fiscal climate and to manage our detention population under current congressionally mandated levels, ICE has directed field offices to review the detained population to ensure it is in line with available funding,” said ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen. “As a result of this review, a number of detained aliens have been released around the country and placed on an appropriate, more cost-effective form of supervised release.”
• ObamaCare: Squeezing Medicare Advantage – The Obama administration is sparing no effort to scare people about the automatic spending cuts that are scheduled to hit this Friday.But the Obama administration doesn’t want to talk about its own devastating cuts in Medicare. On Friday, February 15, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced $716 billion in cuts over the next ten years. Instead of being put toward the debt, most of the money will go toward a new entitlement: Obamacare’s vast expansion of coverage for the uninsured.
• Republicans & Immigration – Victor Davis Hanson
• Immigration and Customs Enforcement Frees Detainees As Sequester Looms – mmigration and Customs Enforcement released some people from immigrant detention facilities across the country on Monday in response to looming federal budget cuts.”In order to make the best use of our limited detention resources in the current fiscal climate and to manage our detention population under current congressionally mandated levels, ICE has directed field offices to review the detained population to ensure it is in line with available funding,” agency spokeswoman Gillian Christensen said in a statement.ICE and the Department of Homeland Security are analyzing spending as congressional inaction increases the likelihood of so-called budget sequestration — across-the-board spending cuts that begin on March 1. Detaining immigrants is an expensive business, with an average daily cost of $122 to $164 per person, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Alternatives, including ankle bracelets and parole, are far cheaper.

Tags: Barack Obama, Bob Woodward, Chris Christie, Club For Growth, Delicious Links, GOP, Guns, Hispanics, immigration, Obamacare, Rick Perry, Sequester, Sequestration, Texas

Sequestration from Wall Street Journal

These are my news headlines for February 21st through February 22nd:

• With Axelrod At NBC News, The Marriage Of Media And Politics Becomes Complete – What’s more, Team Obama has declared it has no intention of dismantling its campaign apparatus post re-election. Put Axelrod in the catbird seat at a news outlet and the “narrative” continues. Combine that with Team Obama’s masterful manipulation of journalists, its command of social media, and an ugly picture emerges of a press indistinguishable from the political establishment.This has happened in banana republics, but never in a Western democracy. Already it’s making old-school journalists who value news gathering over politics, such as the New York Times’ Roger Cohen, ABC’s Ann Compton and the Washington Post’s David Ignatius, uncomfortable. The one thing that will stop it is a press that won’t cooperate. So where is that press?
• Budget hawks question Pentagon’s doomsday scenarios – But perhaps the biggest example of the Washington Monument maneuver is coming from the Defense Department, where it goes by another name. Over many decades of defense budget battles, the Pentagon has often used a tactic known as a “gold watch.” It means to answer a budget cut proposal by selecting for elimination a program so important and valued — a gold watch — that Pentagon chiefs know political leaders will restore funding rather than go through with the cut.So now, with sequestration approaching, the Pentagon has announced that the possibility of budget cuts has forced the Navy to delay deployment of the carrier USS Harry S. Truman to the Persian Gulf. With tensions with Iran as high as they’ve ever been, that would leave the U.S. with just one carrier, instead of the preferred two, in that deeply troubled region.
• What Unites Obama’s Coalition — and What Could Divide It – Overall, the survey put Obama’s approval rating at 51 percent — almost exactly replicating his share of the vote last November. For all of his key groups, his approval ratings today remain close to his vote shares against Republican Mitt Romney. The survey put his approval among African-Americans at 91 percent (compared to his vote of 93 percent in November), among Hispanics at 68 percent (compared to 71 percent in November), college-educated white women at 48 percent (compared to 46 percent), and adults ages 18 to 29 at 57 percent (compared to 60 percent). Considering that several percent of those in each group described themselves as undecided on Obama’s performance, those numbers suggest almost no change from his support in the election.
• Can Democrats Mess With Texas in 2016? – Can Democrats Mess With Texas in 2016? #tcot
• Noonan: Government by Freakout – The president’s sequester strategy is like Howard Beale in “Network”: “Woe is us. . . . And woe is us! We’re in a lot of trouble!”It is always cliffs, ceilings and looming catastrophes with Barack Obama. It is always government by freakout.
  That’s what’s happening now with the daily sequester warnings. Seven hundred thousand children will be dropped from Head Start. Six hundred thousand women and children will be dropped from aid programs. Meat won’t be inspected. Seven thousand TSA workers will be laid off, customs workers too, and air traffic controllers. Lines at airports will be impossible. The Navy will slow down the building of an aircraft carrier. Troop readiness will be disrupted, weapons programs slowed or stalled, civilian contractors stiffed, uniformed first responders cut back. Our nuclear deterrent will be indefinitely suspended. Ha, made that one up, but give them time.Mr. Obama has finally hit on his own version of national unity: Everyone get scared together.
• Is President Obama overplaying sequestration hand? – President Barack Obama’s greatest adversary in the latest budget battle isn’t the Republican leadership in Congress — it’s his confidence in his own ability to force a win.He has been so certain of his campaign skills that he didn’t open a line of communication with House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell until Thursday, a week before the spending ax hits. And when they did finally hear from Obama, the calls were perfunctory, with no request to step up negotiations or invitations to the White House.
• Why Obama and Rove Should Sit Down and Keep Quiet
• Fewer Americans Getting Health Insurance From Employer – Fewer Americans reported having employer-based health insurance in 2012 than did in 2008, 2009, and 2010, but at 44.5% it is unchanged from 2011. At the same time, more Americans continue to report having a government-based health plan — Medicare, Medicaid, or military or veterans’ benefits — with the 25.6% who did so in 2012 up from 23.4% in 2008.
• H.R. 6684: Spending Reduction Act of 2012 – Legislative Digest – GOP.gov – RT @robertcostaNRO Text: the GOP’s sequester replacement, which was passed in Dec. 2012
• Flap’s Blog @ Flap Twitter Daily Digest for 2013-02-21 – Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Flap’s Blog @ Flap Twitter Daily Digest for 2013-02-21 #tcot
• Mark Levin schools Charles Krauthammer on why it’s not “honorable” for governors to expand Medicaid » The Right Scoop - – RT @trscoop: Mark Levin schools Charles Krauthammer on why it’s not “honorable” for governors to expand Medicaid
• A Tax By Another Name – Writing in the New York Times yesterday, Yuval Levin made the case for means-testing Social Security and Medicare. As you’d expect from Yuval the case is well made and elegantly thought-through. It’s also, if I may respectfully say so, misguided. Partly as a consequence of the refusal to make consumption take its fair share of the tax load, the US already taxes income on a pretty progressive basis (even more so, I suspect, if, just for the sake of argument, you excluded the very richest from the equation—highly taxed wage income generally makes up a lower percentage of their total take). Means-testing these two programs would only tighten the screws still further.
• Capitol Alert: Kristin Olsen to move to smaller office after failed GOP move – Kristin Olsen to move to smaller office after failed GOP move
• Charles Krauthammer: Immigration — the lesser of two evils – The president suggested he would hold off introducing his own immigration bill as long as bipartisan Senate negotiations were proceeding apace — until his own immigration bill mysteriously leaked precisely as bipartisan Senate negotiations were proceeding apace.A naked political maneuver and a blunt warning to Republicans: Finish that immigration deal in Congress, or I’ll propose something I know you can’t accept — and flog the issue mercilessly next year to win back the House.
• The 60th vote: Republican Richard Shelby to vote for cloture on Hagel; Update: Deb Fischer too? « Hot Air – Looks like Chuck Hagel is the next Sec Defense. Let the sequestration begin:
• 6 Questions for the Immigration Reformers – From border security to H1-B visas, much needs to be answered in the looming immigration debate.
• Obama reaches out to Boehner, McConnell as sequester cuts loom – The Hill – Obama symbolism over substance: #tcot
• DIGITAL 50: The Hottest People In Online Politics – Business Insider – DIGITAL 50: The Hottest People In Online Politics – Business Insider #tcot
• Flap’s Dentistry Blog: Dentist Acquitted and Wins $7.7 Million Judgment in New York Medicaid Fraud Case – Dentist Acquitted and Wins $7.7 Million Judgment in New York Medicaid Fraud Case
• Flap’s Dentistry Blog: Chicago’s Dental Health Safety Net on Verge of Collapse? – Chicago’s Dental Health Safety Net on Verge of Collapse?
• Ed Markey: Dred Scott = Citizen’s United – Flap’s Blog – Ed Markey: Dred Scott = Citizen’s United #tcot
• ‘The Great Sequester Panic’ – ‘The Great Sequester Panic’ #tcot
• The Benefits of Exercising Outdoors – NYTimes.com – The Benefits of Exercising Outdoors #tcot
• Smoking cessation in old age: Less heart attacks and strokes within five years – Smoking cessation in old age: Less heart attacks and strokes within five years #tcot
• Study disputes long-term medical savings from bariatric surgery – latimes.com – Study disputes long-term medical savings from bariatric surgery #tcot
• Harry Reid says he’ll run for re-election in 2016; won’t comment on Sandoval as opponent – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the capital press corps at the Nevada Legislature Wednesday night that he will seek re-election in 2016.The news conference came after he gave a speech to state lawmakers, like Reid does every legislative session.When asked if he would run for re-election, Reid said, “Sure, why not?”

  When asked if he thought Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval would run against him, Reid said, “Oh, I don’t know.”

  When asked if he could beat Sandoval, Reid said, “Hey, I don’t get involved in fights I don’t have to.”

  When reminded that he was a boxer in his youth, Reid replied, “But I’m not stupid.”

• 15 GOP senators call for Hagel to withdraw – POLITICO.com – RT @politico: 15 GOP senators call for Hagel to withdraw:

Tags: Charles Krauthammer, David Axelrod, Delicious Links, Democrats, Gallup, GOP, Harry Reid, Healthcare, immigration, Karl Rove, Media, Medicare, MSM, NBC, Nevada, Obamacare, Online Politics, Peggy Noonan, Pentagon, Polling, President 2016, Sequester, Sequestration, Texas

These are my links for May 29th through May 30th:

• Polish Premier Demands U.S. Response to Obama Death Camp Remark- Poland demanded a “strong and clear response” from the U.S. after President Barack Obama’s mention of a “Polish death camp” while honoring a Pole who told the world about the Holocaust.“We can’t accept such words in Poland, even if they are spoken by a leader of an allied country,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk told journalists in Warsaw today. “Saying Polish concentration camps is as if there was no German responsibility, no Hitler.”

  Since, 2004 Poland has sought clarifications from several news outlets for the use of a phrase “Polish concentration camps” that were run by the Nazis during the country’s occupation in the World War II, according to the Foreign Ministry’s website. The government has convinced publications including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle to stop using the phrase.

  The U.S. administration regrets “this misstatement,” the Wall Street Journal’s website cited Tommy Vietor, the National Security Council spokesman, as saying. The text of Obama’s remarks on the White House website hasn’t been corrected as of today.

  “The White House will apologize for this outrageous mistake,” Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski wrote on his Twitter Inc. account. “It’s a shame that such a momentous ceremony has been overshadowed by ignorance and incompetence.”

• Obama Nazi death camp gaffe ‘hurt all Poles’: PM- US President Barack Obama’s description of a Nazi German Holocaust site as a “Polish death camp” shocked Poland, whose leaders insist the record be set straight 67 years after World War II.Obama on Tuesday labeled the Nazi facility used to process Jews for extermination as a “Polish death camp.” The White House later said the president “misspoke” and expressed “regret”.

  The linguistic faux pas overshadowed Obama’s posthumous award of the highest US civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to Jan Karski, a former Polish underground officer who provided early eyewitness accounts of Nazi Germany’s genocide of European Jews.

  Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Wednesday Obama’s words had hurt all Poles and he expected more from Washington than just “regret”.

  “I am convinced that our American friends can today allow themselves a stronger reaction than a simple expression of regret from the White House spokesman — a reaction more inclined to eliminate once and for all these kinds of errors,” Tusk told reporters in Warsaw.

  “Today, this is a problem for the reputation of the United States,” the prime minister said.

• Bush’s tax cuts didn’t get us in this mess- With the presidential campaign gathering steam, the voters are going to be fed a lot of baloney before Election Day. One of the biggest humdingers now coming your way: The Bush tax cuts are responsible for the mess the country is in.A recurring theme in President Barack Obama’s attacks on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his tax policies is: “We can’t go back to the same policies that got us into this mess.”

  President George W. Bush’s tax cuts did not cause the fiscal crisis of 2008. Our economic calamity came in a housing meltdown —the result of years of administrations of both parties encouraging variable-interest, no-interest, little or no down payment, and no-document or liar loans that flooded people into homes they couldn’t afford under traditional mortgage lending practices.

  To its credit, the Bush administration twice advanced reforms to rein in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, major players in pushing bad loans. Each time it was blocked by powerful Democrats, Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut. Frank famously said he wanted the two quasi-governmental agencies “to roll the dice a little bit more in this situation towards subsidizing housing.” Even after the home-ownership explosion was starting to be revealed to be a house of cards, Dodd declared, “These two institutions are fundamentally, fundamentally strong

• Obama Awards Medal of Freedom to Democratic Socialists of America Chair- President Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Tuesday to Dolores Huerta, an 82-year-old labor activist and co-founder of the United Farm Workers union.Huerta is also an honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America.

  DSA describes itself as “the largest socialist organization in the United States, and the principal U.S. affiliate of the Socialist International.”

  Huerta has claimed, “Republicans hate Latinos,” and has spoken fondly of Hugo Chavez’s despotic regime in Venezuela. Some of her more radical comments were captured in this audio clip:

• IBD At Kimberlin Hearing: Walker Handcuffed, 1st Amendment Muzzled- With all of the attention surrounding Brett Kimberlin, I attended Tuesday’s hearing in his “peace order” vs. Aaron Walker in the District Court of Maryland for Montgomery County. In the end, the judge granted Kimberlin’s peace order, and Walker ended up leaving in handcuffs. (If you want to know why Kimberlin is a story, go here.)This was the second peace order that Kimberlin has filed against Walker, demanding that Walker cease any contact with Kimberlin. In it, Kimberlin claims that Walker has “continually harassed” him with “alarming posts, tweets, alerts that arrive in my email box, which I consider threats to me personally and to my business.” Kimberlin came to court with pages upon pages of threatening emails and tweets that he claimed had resulted from Walker’s blog posts about him. None of them, though, were sent by Walker.
• President Obama Causes Outrage with Reference to ‘Polish Death Camp’- Poles and Polish-Americans expressed outrage today at President Obama’s reference earlier to “a Polish death camp” – as opposed to a Nazi death camp in German-occupied Poland.”The White House will apologize for this outrageous error,” Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski tweeted. Sikorski said that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk “will make a statement in the morning. It’s a pity that this important ceremony was upstaged by ignorance and incompetence.”

  The president had been trying to honor a famous Pole, awarding a Presidential Medal of Freedom to Jan Karski, a resistance fighter who sneaked behind enemy lines to bear witness to the atrocities being committed against Jews. President Obama referred to him being smuggled “into the Warsaw ghetto and a Polish death camp to see for himself.”

• Texas GOP Senate primary heads to runoff- A boiling primary battle in Texas headed to a runoff early Wednesday as two Republicans running for U.S. Senate failed to reach the 50% threshold to clinch the GOP nomination.Though Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst led the crowded field of candidates, he narrowly failed to cross the 50% mark required to secure the nomination and avoid a July 31 runoff.

  Dewhurst’s challenger in the runoff will be tea party favorite Ted Cruz, a former solicitor general with strong support from national groups and high-profile conservative leaders.

  With 99.6% of precincts counted, Dewhurst held 48% of the vote to 30% for Cruz.

• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-30 – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-30
• Magnitude 4.0 – CHANNEL ISLANDS REGION, CALIFORNIA – RT @BreakingNews: An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.0 has struck near Malibu – USGS
• California-Nevada Fault Maps – Yes, there was earthquake here felt in Thousand Oaks.
• Judge orders Manson Family tapes turned over to police
  | Reuters – RT @Reuters: Judge orders Manson Family tapes turned over to police
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » CA-26 Linda Parks Moans About Democrat and Julia Brownley Attacks – CA-26 Linda Parks Moans About Democrat and Julia Brownley Attacks
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » New Evidence in Charles Manson Unsolved Murders? – New Evidence in Charles Manson Unsolved Murders?
• The PJ Tatler » If Donald Trump is a Problem, Why Isn’t Bill Maher? – RT @AmeliaChasse: Good question==> If Donald Trump is a Problem, Why Isn’t Bill Maher? #tcot
• Homes Prices Drop 2% to Post-Crisis Lows: Case-Shiller – US Business News – CNBC – Homes Prices Drop 2% to Post-Crisis Lows #tcot
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » The Morning Flap: May 29, 2012 – The Morning Flap: May 29, 2012
• Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The Morning Drill: May 29, 2012 – The Morning Drill: May 29, 2012

Tags: #tcot, Bush, Cruz, Dewhurst, Kimberlin, Obama, Pinboard Links, Poland, Texas, The Morning Flap

These are my links for May 25th through May 29th:

• In Texas, a rising conservative star takes on the establishment- Hoping to build on momentum from Richard Mourdock’s Tea Party-driven victory over Richard Lugar in the Indiana Senate primary earlier this month, the Tea Party is setting its sights on another possible win Tuesday, this time in Texas.In Tuesday’s Texas Republican Senate primary, Tea Party favorite Ted Cruz, a Cuban-American lawyer with strong conservative bona fides, is hoping to force a runoff against David Dewhurst, lieutenant governor to Rick Perry and the longtime establishment favorite. Former Dallas mayor and businessman Tom Leppert is currently running in third, while former NFL running back and ESPN announcer Craig James trails in fourth place. The four candidates are running for the seat being vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.The winner will go head-to-head with the winner of Tuesday night’s Democratic primary. Paul Sadler, a former state representative, and Sean Hubbard, a first-time candidate, are vying for that spot. In the deeply red state, however, the Republican nominee is expected to prevail in November.

  Recent polls show Dewhurst well ahead of Cruz, and the consistent front-runner in the race. But in order to avoid a run-off this July, he needs to earn at least 50 percent of the vote – a threshold he has yet to breach in recent surveys. If Cruz can maintain his second-place positioning and keep Dewhurst under the 50 percent mark, he could build on a recent surge in momentum and publicity.

• Texas Primary: What to Watch – Everything’s bigger in Texas, and today’s state and presidential primary is no exception.
  Mitt Romney is expected to reach (and surpass) 1,144 delegates tonight–the magic delegate number needed to officially win the GOP nomination. With 155 delegates at-stake, Texas’s GOP primary is the largest delegate prize in the contest so far–the second largest overall. California will offer the most delegates on June 5.
  Bigger than the delegate math however, is the Republican Senate primary, which is so far the most expensive Senate race in this election cycle. Some $25 million has been spent on behalf of the candidates seeking to fill the seat left open by Kay Bailey Hutchison’s retirement. Although the list of candidates on the ballot is long, the race is mostly considered to be contained to David Dewhurst, the state’s lieutenant governor, and Ted Cruz, the former solicitor general.
  The Dewhurst/Cruz race has been largely framed as an establishment vs. Tea Party battle, with Dewhurst labeled as the establishment candidate, and Cruz appearing to claim the tea-party mantle. Cruz has received endorsements from national tea party figures like Sarah Palin and Jim DeMint, but Dewhurst has numerous conservative endorsements as well such as Rick Perry and Mike Huckabee.
• Why Obama’s Senior Strategists Think He’ll Beat Mitt Romney – David Plouffe sits in his White House office, just a few steps from the Oval, staring at an oversize map of these United States. It’s late afternoon on May 9, two hours after Barack Obama’s declaration that his evolution on gay marriage has reached its terminus. The president is down the hall and on the phone, discussing his decision’s theological implications with several prominent African-American pastors—while Plouffe is being queried about its political dimensions by a querulousCaucasian reporter. The map at which Plouffe is gazing isn’t the electoral kind with the states shaded blue and red; as a federal employee, he notes wryly, “I’m not permitted to have one on the wall.” But given the way his head is hardwired, I’m pretty sure Plouffe is seeing those colors regardless
• Christie’s Vice Presidential Skills- The most striking thing about the current Republican vice presidential field is its striking superiority to the Republican presidential field of six months ago. Former Gov. Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio, Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Rob Portman are among the more accomplished, knowledgeable, ideologically balanced political figures in American politics. The same could not be said of Rick Perry, Herman Cain or Michele Bachmann.The untested, of course, are also unwounded. It is easier to appear qualified and dignified when you haven’t been stripped, prodded with sharp sticks and forced to perform tricks on dozens of debate stages.But there is more at work in this obvious stature gap. Part of the explanation is structural. Presidential candidates are largely self-selected, which favors ambition and self-regard above, well, all other traits. A vice presidential field results from a party’s consensus on talent and competence
• Backers See Huckabee Filling VP Niche- If Mitt Romney’s most pressing consideration in selecting a running mate is to find someone who can expand his appeal among independents or a critical demographic that remains up for grabs, several candidates would likely fit the bill better than Mike Huckabee.But if the former Massachusetts governor instead concludes that his right flank is not as secure as it needs to be, Huckabee may be among his best options.
• Scott Walker recall: Wisconsin governor keeps low profile before vote- With a slim lead in the polls and just a week to go until the June 5 recall election, Scott Walker isn’t taking any chances.The Wisconsin governor is running under the radar in an attempt to freeze the race where it stands and limit the chances of a momentum-shifting mistake.
• Saudis Demand Punishment for McDonald’s Toy They Say “Insults Muhammed”- Saudi Arabians are angry at a McDonald’s toy which they say mocks their prophet Muhammad. According to a report appearing today (5/27/12) on the Arabic news website, Kermalkom.com,the McDonald’s fast food restaurant “abused the Prophet Muhammad by placing his name at the base of a toy that is being distributed as part of the Happy Meal, a toy which steps on the name ‘Muhammad.’”The toy consists of a blue superhero figurine (apparently a Power Ranger Samurai; click here for pictures). It stands on one leg, and, when the lever is pressed, it pounds on the base with the other leg. According to the Saudis, the designs that appear all around the base, where the figurine stomps its foot, is really the name “Muhammad” written several times in circles.
• Somebody Tell Nina Totenberg Her Buddy Brett Kimberlin Is Making News Again -
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » Memorial Day 2012: They Did God’s Work – Memorial Day 2012: They Did God’s Work
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-28 – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-28
• Untitled (http://getglue.com/Fullosseousflap/stickers/amc/the_killing_72_hours?s=ts&ref=Fullosseousflap) – I unlocked the The Killing: 72 Hours sticker on @GetGlue!
• Patterico’s Pontifications » BREAKING: Bogus Call Sends Police to Home of Kimberlin Critic Erick Erickson – RT @Patterico: BREAKING: Bogus call sends police to home of Brett Kimberlin critic Erick Erickson. #tcot
• SWATting the Ericksons | RedState- Last week we spent a lot of time writing about Brett Kimberlin and the incident involving blogger Patterico where someone spoofed his phone number and told 911 he had shot his wife.Tonight, my family was sitting around the kitchen table eating dinner when sheriffs deputies pulled up in the driveway.Someone called 911 from my address claiming there had been an accidental shooting.

  It wasn’t nearly the trauma that Patterico suffered, but I guess the Erickson household is on somebody’s radar.

  Luckily it was two sheriffs deputies who knew me and I had already, last week, advised the Sheriff’s Department to be on the look out for something like this.

• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-27 – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-27
• (500) https://foursquare.com/flap/checkin/4fc18aa7e4b07a4edd89d99b?s=gacXiPvZ_H4boM_zIzle2zNErEw&ref=tw – With Alice and rest of LA Roadrunners Run /Walk 5 (@ Golden Dragon)
• Gregory Flap @ Ronnie’s Diner – foursquare – At Ronnie’s Diner with Alice, Tara and Nancy. Way better than Morton’s Steakhouse who gave @LizMair grief!
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-26 – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-26
• Who Is Brett Kimberlin? Part 1
  - YouTube – Video: Who Is Brett Kimberlin? Part 1 #BrettKimberlin #tcot
• PICKET: Sen. Hatch – ‘No surprise’ Kimberlin is harassing conservative bloggers-Utah GOP’er had ‘run-ins’ with Kimberlin before – Washington Times – Sen. Hatch – ‘No surprise’ Kimberlin is harassing conservative bloggers-Utah GOP’er had ‘run-ins’ with Kimberlin before
• Live Stream – Wisconsin Recall Debate: Walker Vs. Barrett – RT @BreitbartFeed: Live Stream – Wisconsin Recall Debate: Walker Vs. Barrett #tcot #TeaParty
• Everybody Blog About Brett Kimberlin Day: The Aaron Walker Chapter – Everybody Blog About Brett Kimberlin Day: The Aaron Walker Chapter #BrettKimberlin #tcot
• Flap’s Dentistry Blog: Federal Agents Arrest Two Dentists in Medicaid Fraud – Federal Agents Arrest Two Dentists in Medicaid Fraud
• Democratic Poll Also Shows Walker Ahead – Democratic Poll Also Shows Scott Walker in Wisconsin – Ahead 49-46% #tcot
• IMAO » Blog Archive » 10 Fun Facts About Brett Kimberlin – 10 Fun Facts About Brett Kimberlin #BrettKimberlin #tcot
• In U.S., Nearly Half Identify as Economically Conservative – In U.S., Nearly Half Identify as Economically Conservative, 38 percent say they are conservative on social issues #tcot
• N.Y. man admits to pouring bleach into children’s milk – CBS News – N.Y. man admits to pouring bleach into children’s milk
• State Department Introduces Arab Visitors to Convicted Bomber Brett Kimberlin – Come on now | State Department Introduces Arab Visitors to Convicted Bomber Brett Kimberlin #BrettKimberlin #tcot
• Obama stumbles out of the gate – Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei – POLITICO.com – Obama stumbles out of the gate #tcot
• Obama and His Pot-Smoking ‘Choom Gang’ – ABC News – Obama and His Pot-Smoking ‘Choom Gang’ #tcot
• RightOnline » Speakers – RT @AFPhq: JOIN @dloesch, @michellemalkin @secupp for this year’s @RightOnline! REGISTER today! #RO12 #tcot
• A User’s Guide To Smoking Pot With Barack Obama – A User’s Guide To Smoking Pot With Barack Obama #tcot
• Flapsblog Posts / Memorial Day…. – Memorial Day….
• Wilk is the one who’s qualified | www.simivalleyacorn.com | Simi Valley Acorn | www.simivalleyacorn.com | Simi Valley Acorn – Scott Wilk is the one who’s qualified in California Assembly Dsitrict 38 #catcot
• » A Brett Kimberlin situation “could happen to you” – Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion – A Brett Kimberlin situation “could happen to you” #BrettKimberlin #tcot
• Mitt Romney’s Moment – WSJ.com – Peggy Noonan: Mitt Romney’s Moment
• 405 project months behind, Carmageddon II delayed – LA Observed – California FWY 405 project months behind, Carmageddon II delayed
• Capitol Alert: CA Senate passes bill protecting bicyclists – CA Senate passes bill protecting bicyclists
• What Did Barbra Streisand Know… – What Did Barbra Streisand @BarbraStreisand Know…And When Did She Know It? Re: Brett Kimberlin #tcot #BrettKimberlin
• (403) https://www.capitalresearch.org/2012/05/nonprofit-of-terrorist-bomber-received-tides-foundation-funding/ – Nonprofit of terrorist bomber, Brett Kimberlin received Tides Foundation funding why? #BrettKimberlin
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » The Afternoon Flap Featuring Brett Kimberlin: May 25, 2012 – The Afternoon Flap Featuring Brett Kimberlin: May 25, 2012
• Capitol Alert: CA Senate passes bill protecting social media passwords – CA Senate passes bill protecting social media passwords

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Tags: Dentistry, Medicaid, Texas