Former Gov. McDonnell (R) says his indictments are example of classic “overreach by the federal government”!
Don’t miss our round up of the 8 Juiciest Revelations from The McDonnell Indictment.
Today is the 41st anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion in the United States. Over at TPM Cafe, Nancy Northup of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which fights many anti-abortion state measures in court, argues: “People are fed up. They’re speaking out. And — for the first time in a long time — there are signs that a critical mass of our representatives in Congress is listening.”
Following that, Jessica Arons of the Reproductive Health Technologies Project argues that many anti-abortion policies are about making life harder for poor women: “in a perverse irony, Congress denies coverage for abortion care to women enrolled in Medicaid, our government’s health insurance program for the poor, under a policy known as the Hyde Amendment.”
And TPM’s Sahil Kapur points out that Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a fierce defender of women’s rights, actually hates Roe v. Wade: “Her pique is that the Roe opinion, written by Justice Harry Blackmun, relies on a “right of privacy” under the 4th Amendment and emphasizes the right of physicians to practice medicine as they see fit. She prefers that abortion rights be recognized under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, based on the view that having a child should be a woman’s choice.”
This may sound like one of my many tongue-in-cheek posts. But it’s actually not. Believe it or not, Rob Ford has a serious shot at winning reelection as Mayor of Toronto this year. Indeed, through everything he’s maintained strong plurality support.
This is live and pretty shocking video of the increasingly violent protests in Kiev, Ukraine (after the jump) …
Mounting violent street protests in Ukraine over the perennial conflict between the Russian-oriented east and the West-looking west have garnered little attention to date in the US media. Here are amazing, hellish photos from what’s happening on the ground today into the evening.
Protesters clash with police in central Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)
This is a work in progress. So I’m going to need your help on this. Because I’m not up to ten yet. But I’m making rapid progress. Here’s what I got so far.
Another rough moment for the anti-Obamacare deadenders: Medicaid expansion enrollments surge past 6 million people.
On Tuesday, the news broke that Gov. Chris Christie met in September with an executive whose company has been linked to allegations involving Hurricane Sandy relief money and a real estate development. Now, TPM’s own Hunter Walker reports that the ties between the governor and the executive run much deeper. Both have more than a decade of involvement with the same New Jersey charity. You’re going to want to read this.
So how’s Bridgegate affecting Chris Christie’s popularity? Until Hurricane Sandy in September 2012, Christie was a reasonably popular governor – around 50% favorable rating. Then with Sandy he became extremely popular – rocketing up to 70% and never going below 60% in the intervening year and a half. Since Bridgegate he’s fallen from the mid-60s to 46% favorability. In other words, Bridgegate, thus far, has lost Christie virtually all the popularity he earned from his management of the Sandy cataclysm. It’s all captured pretty clearly in this chart after the jump …