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    @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-06-30

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  • Barack Obama,  Obamacare

    Video: Another Broken Obama Promise – ObamaCare is a Tax

    Actually, President Obama’s health care reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a series of tax increases over time. The increases have just not been assessed or paid yet – except in a few instances.

    The Republican National Committee in their video above aptly reminds voters about Obama’s broken promise from 2008.

    But, the verdict is out whether this will be the prominent issue that Mitt Romney and GOP use against the President in November.

    It is the economy…..

  • Pinboard Links,  The Morning Flap

    The Morning Flap: June 29, 2012

    These are my links for June 27th through June 29th:

    • Nancy Pelosi Botches Brian Terry’s Name While Addressing Congress on Holder Contempt Charges– House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), while speaking on the House floor opposing the contempt charges of Attorney General Eric Holder, actually botched the name of slain border patrol agent Brian Terry.As she expressed condolences to his family, Pelosi called him “Brian Tay, Tay, Terry” (video follows with transcript and commentary):
    • House could arrest Holder with inherent contempt power– Despite voting to hold Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in contempt of Congress, there’s little House Republicans can do in the short term to compel him to turn over documents — unless it wanted to revisit a long-dormant power and arrest him.The thought is shocking, and conjures up a Hollywood-ready standoff scene between House police and the FBI agents who protect the attorney general. It’s a dramatic and unlikely possibility not least because Congress doesn’t even have a jail any longer. But in theory it could happen.Republicans say it’s not even under consideration, with House Speaker John A. Boehner’s spokesman flatly ruling it out.But the process, known as inherent contempt, is well-established by precedent, has been confirmed by multiple Supreme Court rulings, and is available to any Congress willing to force such a confrontation.
    • Holder controversies could weigh on Obama in 2012 race– The contempt vote Thursday against Attorney General Eric Holder could spell trouble for President Obama — not just for his administration’s efforts to lock down Fast and Furious documents, but also for his re-election campaign.Holder over the past three-and-a-half years has become, according to one polling outfit, the most unpopular member of Obama’s Cabinet. The attorney general is associated with a string of controversial decisions — from his response to the Fast and Furious probe to his department’s suits against state immigration laws to the campaign to halt GOP-led voter ID laws in Florida and elsewhere — that have riled conservatives, even some Democrats.The contempt vote, for his critics, is one more notch against Holder. And it could fuel his becoming a divisive figure during the presidential campaign as opponents try to cast him as an albatross around Obama’s neck.”I think that it’s the biggest non-economic story (in 2012),” GOP pollster Adam Geller said of Fast and Furious. “You can bet that it’s going to certainly get some mention, as it should, as a political issue.”
    • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The Morning Drill: June 29, 2012 – The Morning Drill: June 29, 2012
    • Day By Day June 29, 2012 – Eat Your Vegetables – Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Day By Day June 29, 2012 – Eat Your Vegetables
    • It’s Up to the Voters Now – The last chance to stop ObamaCare is in November– If there is a modicum of hope in Chief Justice John Roberts’s inglorious one-man opinion Thursday, it is that Americans were reminded again that they cannot count on others to protect their liberty. Certainly judges aren’t reliable. They can be turned by the pressure of the media and the whims of vanity. If Americans want to repeal ObamaCare, their only recourse is to demand it at the ballot box in November.The Affordable Care Act is more unpopular now than when it passed, yet it will grind on toward implementation in a second Obama term. The President made that clear in his remarks Thursday, deploying the usual half-truths he used to jam the law through Congress. He continued to claim that no one will lose his current health insurance, though millions are sure to do so as they are dropped from business coverage and tossed into Medicaid or government exchanges.
    • WashingtonPost – Krauthammer: Why Roberts Did It
    • Congress moves highway, student loan bills | Jamie Dupree Washington Insider – RT @jamiedupree DEEP IN THE DETAILS OF THE HIGHWAY BILL: A section on “Roll-your-own cigarette machines” #tcot
    • GOP 12: Halperin: “Real possibility” tea party could now prove decisive– On MSNBC this morning, Mark Halperin called yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling a “substantive win” for Barack Obama, but nevertheless, a political wildcard.”I’m not sure it’s a long-term political win for him. He lost the midterms largely over this.If you look at Republicans who aren’t focused on Roberts as much as they are on what the political implications are, and they say the tea party giant which had kind of been slumbering is now going to be awakened, and will be that decisive force in this election.I’m not predicting that, but I think it’s a real possibility.”
    • Need a Refill? at Runner’s World – RT @runnersworld Take this hydration refresher course before your next hot run:
    • Krauthammer: Why Roberts Did It– It’s the judiciary’s Nixon-to-China: Chief Justice John Roberts joins the liberal wing of the Supreme Court and upholds the constitutionality of Obamacare. How? By pulling off one of the great constitutional finesses of all time. He managed to uphold the central conservative argument against Obamacare, while at the same time finding a narrow definitional dodge to uphold the law —and thus prevented the court from being seen as having overturned, presumably on political grounds, the signature legislation of this administration.Why did he do it? Because he carries two identities. Jurisprudentially, he is a constitutional conservative. Institutionally, he is chief justice and sees himself as uniquely entrusted with the custodianship of the court’s legitimacy, reputation and stature.
    • Did Republicans lose the health care battle but win the health care war?– But, even as Democrats celebrated, Republicans insisted that their rivals — and members of the media — couldn’t see the forest through the trees.Jonathan Collegio, communications director for American Crossroads, a leading conservative outside group, called the ruling a “millstone” around the neck of any Democrat running for federal office this fall.“The Supreme Court’s decision forces Obamacare to be litigated in the 2012 elections, and in virtually every case where Obamacare has been litigated by voters in an election, the law and its supporters lose,” added Collegio.“This ruling is the kiss of death for the Democrat majority in the U.S . Senate as health care just became a tax increase on the middle class in one of the worst economies Americans have ever faced,” added longtime Republican strategist Chris LaCivita
    • Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s Comments On His Home, California – Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-06-29
    • Flap’s California Morning Collection: Waiting for ObamaCare Ruling – Flap’s California Morning Collection: Waiting for ObamaCare Ruling
    • Twitter / Wimbledon: The #Wimbledon grounds are – RT @Wimbledon: The #Wimbledon grounds are at full capacity and the gates are closed.
    • Adelson pledges $10M to Koch effort
    • Tick tock: Minute-by-minute replay of court’s historic health ruling – TheHill.com – ObamaCare RT @iswanTheHill Tick Tock: A minute-by-minute recap of an historic day:
    • High court gives GOP new weapon on taxes– Republicans have seized on the Supreme Court’s decision that the health insurance mandate is a tax, believing it will help them argue a second term for President Obama would be devastating for the economy.Presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney employed the line of attack shortly after the ruling came down, asserting “Obamacare raises taxes on the American people by approximately $500 billion.”Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a top contender to be Romney’s running mate, drove home the point, arguing Obama has been freed to unleash an army of tax collectors on the public.“If you do not buy health insurance, the IRS is going to be on your back and chasing you,” Rubio said.

      The tactic of hitting Obama as tax-raising liberal was used in the wake of an otherwise stinging defeat for conservatives at the hands of Chief Justice John Roberts and the court’s liberal wing.

      In a 5-4 decision, Roberts ruled the mandate is a permissible use of Congress’ taxing powers, upholding a law that

      conservatives fought as a breathtaking expansion of the federal government.

      But the ruling on the mandate also provided support for Republicans who had long argued that the mandate was a tax increase in disguise

    • Dems grapple with feelings about Roberts court after health decision– Congressional Democrats who had feared the worst from the Supreme Court were left grappling with a new reality Thursday after Chief Justice John Roberts cast the deciding vote to uphold President Obama’s landmark healthcare law.Democrats for years have charged that the Roberts Court has made decisions guided more by partisan politics than the Constitution, most notably by ruling in Citizens United that corporations could spend unlimited amounts in political campaigns.After Roberts sided with them on the even more high-profile and politically contentious healthcare ruling, some liberals felt more charitable both about Roberts and the Supreme Court in general.Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.), who was holding a sign that read “Obama-Roberts 2012” as he left a Democratic caucus meeting, said Roberts has “rebranded himself” with Thursday’s healthcare ruling.

      “We certainly agree with his, in this case, very principled position. In one fell swoop he’s burnished his legacy,” Ackerman said. “This is almost a revocation of the Bush v. Gore decision, where [conservative justices] went completely the opposite way.

    • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-06-29 – Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-06-29
    • Humor / Oh My! For the man who has everything? – Oh My! For the man who has everything?
    • ObamaCare – The Affordable Care Act Survives Supreme Court Challenge – ObamaCare – The Affordable Care Act Survives Supreme Court Challenge
    • Untitled (http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-210d4e9.pdf) – Supreme Court ObamaCare Affordable Care Act Opinion is here:
    • President Obama Tells Judas Stephanopoulos Health Insurance Mandate IS NOT Tax Increase – YouTube – President Obama Tells Judas Stephanopoulos Health Insurance Mandate IS NOT Tax Increase
    • President Obama Tells Judas Stephanopoulos Health Insurance Mandate IS NOT Tax Increase
      – YouTube
      – RT @aviksaroy: Obama telling Stephanopoulos mandate is not a tax:
    • Stockton bankruptcy: Southland cities try to avoid similar fate – latimes.com – RT @LANow: Stockton bankruptcy: Southland cities try to avoid similar fate
    • Untitled (http://www.scotusblog.com/cover-it-live/) – ObamaCare watch: Twitter, Drudge and SCOTUSBlog live blog: #tcot
    • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The Morning Drill: Waiting for the Supreme Court ObamaCare Ruling – The Morning Drill: Waiting for the Supreme Court ObamaCare Ruling
    • Day By Day June 28, 2012 – Profiles in Lavage – Flap’s Blog – Day By Day June 28, 2012 – Profiles in Lavage
    • ‘Fast and Furious’: honesty vs. hypocrisy– The House of Representatives is expected to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress on Thursday for his refusal – backed by President Barack Obama – to provide documents that might explain why Holder’s Justice Department chose to lie to Congress in February 2011 about high-level officials’ involvement in the “Fast and Furious” fiasco, and why it stood by those lies for most of the year.If ever a scandal illustrated political hypocrisy, it is this.We start with the president’s baffling decision to assert executive privilege in denying the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, access to the documents. The White House says it and top Justice Department officials had nothing to do with the “gun-walking” program in which weapons were allowed to be sold to Mexican cartels to try to gain insight into how drug and arms traffickers operate. Then the White House says top administration officials’ deliberative processes need to be kept private on a matter in which they weren’t involved. Huh?
    • How to end the Holder stand-off: Fire him– If he were a first-year law student asked to explain how the president could refuse to allow House oversight on a botched operation in which Americans and Mexicans died and the administration has twice had to cop to providing erroneous information to Congress, Eric Holder’s letter would get an “F.” He doesn’t set out the nature of the document being withheld, the type of privilege being asserted, or the argument as to why it supersedes the right of Congress to oversee executive branch misconduct.Congress is certainly within it rights to hold him in contempt. But really the president should can Holder. He’s a lousy lawyer.
    • Untitled (http://www.scotusblog.com/2012/06/anticipating-the-health-care-decision-in-plain-english/#more-147840) – Anticipating the health-care decision: In Plain English
    • For SCOTUSblog, one goal: ‘Beat everybody’ and break news of health-care ruling – The Washington Post – For SCOTUSblog, one goal: ‘Beat everybody’ and break news of health-care ruling #tcot
    • Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s Comments On His Home, California – Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-06-28
    • Flap’s California Morning Collection: June 27, 2012 – Flapsblog.org – Flap’s California Morning Collection: June 27, 2012
    • Untitled (http://www.rules.house.gov/Media/file/PDF_112_2/LegislativeText/CRPT-112hrpt-HR4348.pdf) – RT @jamiedupree: Final language of highway bill/student loan deal at – full explanation at
    • Untitled (http://www.rules.house.gov/Media/file/PDF_112_2/PDF/HR4348crJES.pdf) – RT @jamiedupree: Final language of highway bill/student loan deal at – full explanation at
    • Timeline of the health care law – CNN.com – RT @cnnhealth: Timeline of the health care law
    • Uncertainty crippling the struggling economy– Uncertainties are crippling the U.S. economy, and there’s a good chance Thursday’s Supreme Court decision will add to the problem.U.S. businesses are stacking up profits on their balance sheets, but they’re not investing in new workers and plants.The No. 1 reason is that executives just don’t see the demand, but this is compounded by policymakers in Washington and Brussels dithering over taxes and government spending, according to Wall Street analysts.None of this is good news for President Obama, who has had a good fortnight in the presidential race as the topic of discussion has switched to immigration.

      As the subject moves back to the economy and jobs, which it surely will do next week with the release of a June jobs report, the weakness of the underlying economy will retake center stage. And fingers will be pointed at both the White House and Congress.

    • Democrats defect on AG Holder– Several Democrats on Wednesday said they would vote to place Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, giving Republicans an opportunity to tout bipartisan support for the effort against President Obama’s attorney general.At least four Democrats in GOP-leaning districts said they’d side with Republicans and back the contempt measure in the wake of the National Rifle Association’s decision to score the vote.The support from Reps. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), Jim Matheson (D-Utah) and John Barrow (D-Ga.) is key for Republicans as they try to defend the legitimacy of the contempt measure to voters and parry counterattacks from Democrats stating that they are leading a “witch hunt.”The contempt measure is expected to pass mostly along partisan lines, but there is intense pressure on Democrats in conservative-leaning districts to side with the NRA against Obama’s chief law enforcement officer.
    • Five scenarios: Health care options before the justices – CNN.com – Five scenarios: Health care options before the justices
    • Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Flap’s Comments on Politics, the Dental World and Much More – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-06-28
    • How to Empower Your Dental Practice with Social Media – Flap’s Blog – How to Empower Your Dental Practice with Social Media
    • Why the Whole Health Care Law Is in Jeopardy– The real Supreme Court news on Tuesday wasn’t the Arizona immigration decision or even the summary reversal of the Supreme Court of Montana in the “Citizens United 2” case. It was that the chief justice of the United States didn’t write any of these opinions.This is critically important, because we can now deduce with a reasonably high degree of certainty that John Roberts is writing the lead health care opinion. If we are right about this, then the law is in even deeper trouble that most observers imagined.
    • The Morning Flap: June 27, 2012 – Flap’s Blog – The Morning Flap: June 27, 2012
    • Texas Attorney General Files Suit Over Dental Medicaid Fraud – Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Texas Attorney General Files Suit Over Dental Medicaid Fraud
  • Day By Day,  Obamacare

    Day By Day June 29, 2012 – Eat Your Vegetables

    Day By Day by Chris Muir

    Chris, the SCOTUS decision yesterday on ObamaCare has given conservatives newly-driven incentive to win electoral gains in November.

    The Tea Party will rise from moribund inaction and become active in key competitive U.S. Senate races around the country.

    Mitt Romney has already raised more than $4.2 million since the decision was announced.

    Chief Justice Roberts may have handed the GOP a gift with his flip to the LEFT.

  • Twitter

    @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-06-29

    • Humor / Oh My! For the man who has everything? http://t.co/sQbaLBI3 #
    • Oh My! For the man who has everything? http://t.co/IyPvzvey #
    • ObamaCare – The Affordable Care Act Survives Supreme Court Challenge http://t.co/DOWG7WxM #
    • Untitled (http://t.co/VOeOaa2R) http://t.co/HDkq19af #
    • President Obama Tells Judas Stephanopoulos Health Insurance Mandate IS NOT Tax Increase – YouTube http://t.co/sfZxWdYU #
    • ObamaCare – The Affordable Care Act Survives Supreme Court Challenge http://t.co/LKvC1uov #
    • Supreme Court ObamaCare Affordable Care Act Opinion is here: http://t.co/1LKsNnLR #
    • SCOTUS ObamaCare bottom line: Win for Obama on ACA – conservatives energized to defeat President in November for repeal #tcot #
    • SCOTUS decision on ObamaCare will make the Affordable Care Act a definite campaign issue in November ==> Is ACA affordable? #
    • Looks like most of ObamaCare has either been upheld or fixed by SCOTUS on constitutional issues. Complicated opinion ==> back to politics #
    • ObamaCare opinion by SCOTUS written by Chief Justice Roberts – individual mandate survives as a tax? stay tuned #
    • Breaking News: ACA individual mandate ruled unconstitutional #tcot #
    • CJ Roberts reading ObamaCare decision #
    • SCOTUS opinion in Stolen Valor Case is here: http://t.co/1LKsNnLR #tcot #
    • SCOTUS: Stolen Valor Act is unconstitutional – 9th Circuit affirmed #tcot #
    • SCOTUS: 9th Circuit affirmed in Alvarez Case #tcot #
    • ObamaCare judgment day – wait for it! #
    • Now while we await the Justices at SCOTUS will Twitter fail? #
    • ObamaCare watch: Twitter, Drudge and SCOTUSBlog live blog: http://t.co/d1bk1WUp #tcot #
    • ‘Fast and Furious’: honesty vs. hypocrisy http://t.co/9mbBlxjE #
    • How to end the Holder stand-off: Fire him http://t.co/RCGVeMk7 #
    • The Morning Drill: Waiting for the Supreme Court ObamaCare Ruling http://t.co/KfyAnLVN #
    • Day By Day June 28, 2012 – Profiles in Lavage http://t.co/UXqJrwUR #
    • Anticipating the health-care decision: In Plain English http://t.co/LRaKS5zo #
    • For SCOTUSblog, one goal: ‘Beat everybody’ and break news of health-care ruling http://t.co/MU1ApQTt #tcot #
    • Uncertainty crippling the struggling economy http://t.co/MMsl85tm #
    • Democrats defect on AG Holder http://t.co/K6GqtR6R #
    • Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-06-28 http://t.co/BySddGKk #
    • Flap’s California Morning Collection: June 27, 2012 http://t.co/da8g6eIS #
    • Close race RT @mmurraypolitics The new NBC-Marist data: MI: Obama 47%, Romney 43%; NC: Obama 46%, Romney 44%; NH: Obama 45%, Romney 45% #
    • In the Highway Bill RT @jamiedupree The student loan interest rate extension would last for another year, until July 1, 2013 #
    • Good Grief RT @jamiedupree New highway bill is titled, "Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century" or "MAP-21," replacing SAFETEA-LU #
    • Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.

      – Samuel Smiles

      Happy Thursday! #

    • Flap's Blog – FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog – Flap's Comments on Politics, the Dental World and Much More http://t.co/gvMeucyi #
    • How to Empower Your Dental Practice with Social Media – Flap's Blog http://t.co/oPLw1lCA #
    • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-06-28 http://t.co/zTEThlYS #

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  • Obamacare

    ObamaCare – The Affordable Care Act Survives Supreme Court Challenge

    The Obama Administration’s and Democrats’ Affordable Care Act and its individual mandate were in large part sustained in the United States Supreme Court ruling this morning.

    The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the individual insurance requirement at the heart of President Barack Obama’s historic health care overhaul.

    The decision means the huge overhaul, still only partly in effect, will proceed and pick up momentum over the next several years, affecting the way that countless Americans receive and pay for their personal medical care. The ruling also hands Obama a campaign-season victory in rejecting arguments that Congress went too far in requiring most Americans to have health insurance or pay a penalty.

    Breaking with the court’s other conservative justices, Chief Justice John Roberts announced the judgment that allows the law to go forward with its aim of covering more than 30 million uninsured Americans.

    The justices rejected two of the administration’s three arguments in support of the insurance requirement. But the court said the mandate can be construed as a tax. “Because the Constitution permits such a tax, it is not our role to forbid it, or to pass upon its wisdom or fairness,” Roberts said.

    The court found problems with the law’s expansion of Medicaid, but even there said the expansion could proceed as long as the federal government does not threaten to withhold states’ entire Medicaid allotment if they don’t take part in the law’s extension.

    The court’s four liberal justices, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, joined Roberts in the outcome.

    Here are some links:

    OBAMACARE STANDS…Mandate survives as a tax…

    Chief Justice Roberts joins left of the Court

    The opinion in PDF format

    Clearly, this is a win for the White House and President Obama as the court refused to invalidate ObamaCare as unconstitutional.

    However, this is not the end of the controversy as the GOP moves to repeal the legislation.

    Stay tuned…..

  • Day By Day,  Elizabeth Warren,  Scott Brown

    Day By Day June 28, 2012 – Profiles in Lavage

    Day By Day by Chris Muir

    Today’s Day By Day cartoon highlights Massachusetts Democrat U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren and her claim of American Indian heritage.

    More symbolism over substance from the LEFT.

    Democrat Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren says she listed herself as Cherokee to get invited to tribal “luncheons.” So, why did she turn down a powwow with her alleged kin?

    Warren, a Harvard law professor, is trying to take back Ted Kennedy’s old Massachusetts seat held by GOP Sen. Scott Brown.

    When the Boston Herald learned the blue-eyed blonde had listed herself in faculty recruiting directories as an American Indian, Warren denied trying to get an affirmative action leg up. She insisted she ID’d herself as a minority for social reasons.

    “I listed myself in the directory in the hopes it might mean I would be invited to a luncheon with people who are like I am,” Warren explained.

    Well, some Cherokee women have called her bluff. Four authentic Indians traveled to Boston from Oklahoma, Oregon and Missouri to arrange a lunch with Warren — and she snubbed them.

    They were in town four days, yet Warren couldn’t find time to fit them into her schedule. Even her staff blew them off. Her campaign never even returned their calls, despite an earlier promise that at least some staffers would meet with them.

    The advantage swings to Republican Senator Scott Brown.

    Does Warren have any thoughts on baseball?

  • Twitter

    @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-06-28

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  • Pinboard Links,  The Morning Flap

    The Morning Flap: June 27, 2012

    These are my links for June 26th through June 27th:

    • Quinnipiac Poll: Presidential Swing States (FL, OH & PA) Poll * June 27, 2012 *– FLORIDA: Obama 45 – Romney 41 OHIO: Obama 47 – Romney 38 PENNSYLVANIA: Obama 45 – Romney 39 Voters in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania support President Barack Obama’s new immigration policy and are divided on whether the president or Gov. Mitt Romney would be better for their personal economic future, as they give Obama leads in these three critical swing states, a razor thin 4 points in Florida, a healthy 9 points in Ohio and 6 points in Pennsylvania, according to a Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll released today.This compares to the results of a May 3 Swing State Poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University, showing Obama with an 8-point lead in Pennsylvania with Florida and Ohio too close to call.Matching Obama against Romney in each of these key states – no one has won the White House since 1960 without taking at least two of them – shows:

      Florida: Obama edges Romney 45 – 41 percent;
      Ohio: Obama over Romney 47 – 38 percent;
      Pennsylvania: Obama tops Romney 45 – 39 percent.

      “President Barack Obama has decent margins over Gov. Mitt Romney in Ohio and Pennsylvania and a smaller advantage in Florida. If he can keep those leads in all three of these key swing states through election day he would be virtually assured of re-election,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

    • Charles B. Rangel Fends Off Challengers to Win a Congressional Primary – Surviving one of the toughest re-election fights of his career, Representative Charles B. Rangel fended off four challengers on Tuesday to win the Democratic nomination for a 22nd term in Congress.
    • Stockton to file for bankruptcy, will be largest U.S. city to fail– This Gold Rush-era port city, an epicenter of California’s agricultural exports, will become the nation’s largest city to seek protection under the U.S. bankruptcy code after its City Council on Tuesday stopped bond payments, slashed employee health and retirement benefits and adopted a day-to-day survival budget.City Manager Bob Deis likened the process to cutting off an arm to save the body. He is expected to file bankruptcy papers immediately.A Delta wind had scrubbed the Central Valley sky blue as residents gathered hours early for the 5:30 p.m. meeting.

      Most knew what the night held; bankruptcy has been a long time coming. Stockton has been in negotiations with its creditors since late March under AB 506, a new California law requiring mediation before a municipality can file for reorganization of debt. It was the first use of the law, and policy analysts who watched its torturous and tedious progress have titled their report on it “Death by a Thousand Meetings.” Mediations ended Monday at midnight.

    • Waiting on the Supremes – ObamaCare– We’re all waiting to see if Obamacare will be spared, gutted, or tossed into the ash heap of history by the Supreme Court on Thursday. In a new Purple Strategies survey of former Supreme Court clerks and attorneys who have argued before the Court, 57 percent believe the individual mandate, the heart of the law, will die. In April, Obama himself engaged in some gallows humor after the Supreme Court justices roughed up his law in oral argument: “In my first term, we passed health care reform. In my second term, I guess we’ll pass it again.”But if Obamacare vanishes or the individual mandate is eliminated, look for Democrats to panic. There will also be comparisons to Jimmy Carter — the last Democratic president to lose reelection — and his “malaise” period.It’s never good if a president’s central domestic-policy achievement is trashed months before an election, and in this case it could be politically fatal. In a new poll by the GOP-oriented Young Guns Policy Center, independent voters agree by 55 to 37 percent on this point: “President Obama did the wrong thing by focusing on passing health care reform his first year in office. He should have worked harder to get the economy going and creating jobs before moving on to other issues.”
    • WSJ/NBC News Poll: Obama Clings to a Narrow Lead– President Barack Obama has managed to retain a narrow lead in his race for re-election despite a spate of poor economic news and surging GOP optimism about Mitt Romney’s prospects, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.The president outpolls Mr. Romney, his presumed Republican rival, 47% to 44%, a lead within the survey’s margin of error and similar to the advantage he enjoyed a month ago. Mr. Obama’s lead is wider in swing states, where the campaigns have battled most intensely.The poll highlights challenges facing both candidates. While Mr. Obama retains a durable base of support, his standing among white, working-class voters, which was low to start with, continues to erode. Interest in the campaign isn’t nearly as intense as it was four years ago among young people and Latinos, who were important to Mr. Obama’s victory in 2008.
    • Stockton braces for possible bankruptcy as key vote looms– Stockton residents braced for a fateful City Council meeting on Tuesday night that could result in the city declaring bankruptcy.The prospect of insolvency was generating national headlines Tuesday.But on the Central Valley city’s largely African American south side, the spectre of Stockton becoming the largest U.S. city to file for protection from creditors raised little interest.

      “Bankrupt? We’ve been bankrupt,” said the Rev. Dwight Williams of the New Bethel Baptist Church.

      “This church works day and night to pay the PGE bill and keep the lights on. So many in our congregation have lost homes and jobs.

      “But it’s in our DNA to take the bitterness of lemons and made sweet lemonade. We remain optimistic and we will continue to take care of one another but I think most people around here would laugh if you said Stockton was going to be bankrupt.

      The Stockton City Council will discuss whether to seek protection from creditors under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

    • Pew survey finds that 17 percent of US cellphone users go online mostly on their phones – It should hardly come as a surprise that folks are spending more and more of their time online on their cellphones, but a new Pew study released today has shed a bit more light on just how common that’s becoming. According to the research group, 17 percent of all cellphone users (including those without smartphones) go online “mostly” on their cellphone, while 33 percent primarily use another device, and five percent use both equally — a hefty 45 percent still don’t use their phones to go online at all, though. Not surprisingly, those numbers go up when broken down by those who do at least use the internet occasionally on their phone — 31 percent of whom go online primarily on their phone — and there’s an even bigger jump when looking at younger users. Among those 18 to 29 who use the internet on their phones, fully 45 percent use their cellphone for most of their online activities.
    • Overlooked Asian-American voters could tip scales in November election– Politicians predict 2012 will be the “tipping point” year for Asian-Americans, as this once-marginalized demographic overtakes Hispanics as the fastest-growing racial group in the United States, and offers a cache of independent votes for the taking.“I think the time has come and we deserve a seat at the table,” said Manan Trivedi, an Indian-American physician and Iraq war veteran running as a Democrat in Pennsylvania’s 6th district.Trivedi is just one of a record 25 Asian-American candidates running for Congress this year, hoping to capitalize on exploding immigration rates.

      According to a Pew Research Center study released last week, Asian-Americans are now the highest-income, best-educated and fastest-growing racial group in the country. With more than 18 million residents, Asian-Americas currently account for 5.8 percent of the total U.S. population.

    • Obama Attacks Romney as Outsourcer in Chief – Flap’s Blog – Obama Attacks Romney as Outsourcer in Chief
    • The Morning Flap: June 26, 2012 – Flap’s Blog – The Morning Flap: June 26, 2012
    • City of Stockton is the Largest U.S. City to File for Bankruptcy? – City of Stockton is the Largest U.S. City to File for Bankruptcy?
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