It turns out the new Pope won’t be able to be called Francis I until after he’s dead.
In the flood of stories over the last couple hours there’s been a backdraft of comments and references to Pope Francis’s time during the so-called ‘dirty war’, the era of dictatorship and widespread human rights violations in Argentina. I know zero about his role so have not wanted to comment on it. But the AP has now moved this story which discusses it.
This passage I’m quoting from the AP piece seems to constitute Francis’s defense, if that’s the right word, to the main charge I’ve read in the press flurry over the last few hours … Read More
Pro-gun measures snuck into new Senate bill aimed at preventing government shutdown.
Rep. Gohmert tells CPAC: “Vietnam was winnable.”
And also the Senator from Pennsylvania explains how the left caused the financial crisis.
We’re talking about some modest but important new gun regulations moving through Congress. But look at this: as the price a bill to prevent a government shutdown, Republicans snuck a series of pro-gun measures into the new government funding bill.
And they’re basically measures that make it harder to track gun running.
I’ve been cautiously watching this. But TPM Reader IL points to increasing signs that — despite the self-inflicted fiscal cliff damage — the economy is moving toward a real take off. Maybe even enough to absorb the entirely counter-productive sequester damage …
At the end of 2012 the consensus among many economic forecasters was that the U.S. economy would experience sub-trend growth due to fiscal tightening from the expiration of the Bush tax cuts and any spending associated cuts from a deal on the sequester. Flat fourth quarter GDP numbers appeared to confirm this view. Goldman Sachs referred to this headwind as a “hump” and that the U.S. economy would not move “over the hump” until late 2013 which would then lead to above-trend growth in 2014.
Ted Cruz mansplains the Constitution to Dianne Feinstein. Feinstein bites back.