Hillary Clinton has broken her 28-day streak avoiding the press.
Following a campaign event here in Iowa, where she was discussing small businesses and entrepreneurship, the Democratic presidential candidate meandered over to the rope line to greet the media today. She then proceeded to answer a total of six questions from reporters — her first time to do so in roughly four weeks.
During this “ramp up” phase of her candidacy, Clinton has kept her distance from the media, answering only a handful of questions from the reporters following her on the campaign trail. Her opponents – and not surprisingly, the press – had taken notice.
A man in Corpus Christi, Texas, was arrested Wednesday night after police say he followed a man home and threatened him with a 9 mm handgun.
Around 9:40 p.m., the victim told police that he was walking to his home when he noticed a vehicle following him closely. He moved to the side of the road, but the other vehicle did not pass.
When the victim arrived at his house, he stopped outside and a suspect got out of the other vehicle. The man asked him where his son was, and said that his son had stabbed a friend of his. He then produced a 9 mm handgun and threatened the victim with it.
The victim’s wife then came outside and said she was calling police, causing the suspect to get in his car and flee the scene. Police caught up to him a few blocks away.
The suspect was arrested for aggravated assault. He was additionally charged with felony theft when police found out that the gun in his possession had been stolen.
In a surprise move that supporters called a historic victory, the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee approved legislation Wednesday that would make it legal to buy and sell marijuana in the state.
Two Republicans joined with the panel’s three Democrats in support, giving House Bill 2165 a 5-2 panel victory, writes chron.com.
The bill would make Texas the fifth state in America to OK pot for recreational purposes.
According to chron.com, though, the proposal has virtually no chance of clearing other hurdles on the path to becoming law in this year’s legislative session.
However, the move came just two days after the same panel voted 4-2 in favor of a bill to decriminalize marijuana. That was the first time such a proposal had made it out of a Texas legislative committee, according to chron.com. Initially, the bill failed by a 3-2 vote in committee, but it was brought back up and passed with a 4-2 vote.
That bill that would decriminalize possession of an ounce or less of marijuana was revived and voted out of a Texas House committee, writes sacurrent.com.
The bill is House Bill 507, and it would eliminate jail time and criminal records. Instead, people caught with an ounce or less of pot would pay a fine.
The next step is a vote in the House of Representatives.
The San Antonio chapter for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) is already calling San Antonio marijuana advocates to action.
Today the group is working with the Marijuana Policy Project to collect signatures asking Rep. Lyle Larson to schedule the decriminalization proposal for a vote.
There is a companion bill in the Texas Senate, which is still in committee.
The L.A. Times states, “House Republicans released a 2016 spending blueprint Tuesday that seeks to fulfill the GOP goal of balancing the budget in 10 years, but does so by slashing Medicare and other safety net programs while dramatically boosting military spending.”
The budget re-visits old right-wing proposals a “signature proposal for overhauling Medicare with a voucher-like private insurance option,” states the L.A. Times.
U.S. News and World Report wrote that there was a potential stalemate between conservatives who are “deficit hawks” vs. conservatives who are “defense hawks.” The vote in the House was 228 to 199.
“Leadership managed to convince enough members of the far-right Freedom Caucus, led by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, to support a proposal that met dual goals of balancing the budget and increasing military spending, giving them enough support to pass a budget without the help of Democrats or Republicans insisting against any increase in spending,” states U.S. News and World Report.
Republicans see the budget rules as the best way to tackle a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, since only a simple majority of votes in the Senate are required under a special budget process called reconciliation. So they see “de-funding” Obamacare as the best way to “repeal” it.
The budget “purports to cut $5.6 trillion off the deficit and balance the budget within a decade, repeals the Affordable Care Act and slashes nondefense discretionary spending,” states U.S. News and World Report.
In February, the House of Representatives voted to repeal The ACA (“Obamacare”) for the 56th time, states the New York Times. It didn’t work out. The law is already up and running and insuring people.
The Senate passed a Republican-authored budget plan early on Friday that “is similar to one passed by House Republicans on Wednesday,” states Reuters. It seeks $5.1 trillion in domestic spending cuts over 10 years while boosting military funding.
Reuters:
“The 52-46 vote on the non-binding budget resolution put Congress on a path to complete its first full budget in six years. It came at the end of a marathon 18-hour session that saw approval of dozens of amendments ranging from Iran sanctions to carbon emissions and immigration policies.”
“…both documents seek to ease the path for a repeal or replacement of President Barack Obama’s signature health care reform law.”
Does this sound like a budget that the President will sign into law?
House Speaker John Boehner is expected to announce this week a new “special investigation” into Hillary Clinton’s email practices as Secretary of State, including her admission that more than 31,000 emails were destroyed because she determined them to be personal, top House Republicans told ABC News.
This investigation is separate from the ongoing Benghazi investigation., claims the Huffington Post.
During a news conference last week, Clinton did not describe the details of how the review of her email was conducted, but said it was “thorough” and that she went “above and beyond” what she was required to do in turning over many of her emails to the State Department.
ABC’s “This Week” program said top Republicans had briefed it about Hillary’s investigation, but did not give details.
Clinton, expected to launch her campaign soon for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, has faced a storm of criticism over her email habits.
She used a personal email address instead of a government one, as well as a personal server, during the period she was secretary of state, from 2009 to 2013.
Clinton told a news conference on Tuesday her private email address was a “convenience” so she would not have to carry two mobile devices.
She sent and received 62,320 emails while at the State Department. After a review process, 30,490 were provided to the State Department at its request, a Clinton spokesman said last week, according to the Huffington Post. The remaining 31,830 were private and personal records, the spokesman said.
“Jeffrey Lane ‘Jeff’ Fortenberry, (born December 27, 1960) is the U.S. Representative for Nebraska’s 1st congressional district, serving since 2005. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district is based in Lincoln and includes most of the eastern third of the state outside the immediate Omaha area,” according to Wikipedia.
Aides to Rep. Fortenberry were hit Wednesday by a “glitter bomb” sent to his Lincoln office, according to Omaha.com.
Sources claimed the congressman avoided being showered with the unwanted sparkling decorations, because he was a thousand miles away at the time on Capitol Hill.
A glitter bomb is a prank device designed to throw out a cloud of tiny sparkles, which get into clothes, computer keyboards and everywhere else.
The prank appeared to be motivated by Fortenberry’s anti-abortion positions, said spokeswoman Jennifer Allen.
She said a note included with the glitter read: “Congrats, you’ve earned this for trying to deny women their right to choice…”
Homeowner Vicky Bell’s Tennessee home was allowed to burn to the ground. Vicki lived just outside of the city of South Fulton, where residents were supposed to pay $75 fee. Do these firefighters “love thy neighbor?”
The new mayor of the nation’s capital was hoping to get along with Republicans on Capitol Hill.
Instead, they’ve threatened her with prison and she has accused them of acting like bullies in a showdown over legal pot that could end up costing District of Columbia residents.
Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser defied threats from Congress by implementing a voter-approved marijuana initiative on Thursday, making the city the only place east of the Mississippi River where people can legally grow and share marijuana in private.
31 of the 50 governors are Republicans. 69 out of the 99 state legislative bodies (Houses and Senates) are Republican dominated.
The state legislators have been able to expedite one of their top policy priorities – restricting access to abortion – given the historic gains they made in last year’s midterm elections, according to the Huffington Post.
State lawmakers have raced to file bills concerning all aspects of the procedure. As of last week, lawmakers have introduced more than 100 bills regulating abortion in more than half of all states, according to data from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.”
In a surprise move that supporters called a historic victory, the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee approved legislation Wednesday that would make it legal to buy and sell marijuana in the state.
House Speaker John Boehner is expected to announce this week a new “special investigation” into Hillary Clinton’s email practices as Secretary of State, including her admission that more than 31,000 emails were destroyed because she determined them to be personal, top House Republicans told ABC News.
OK, Fine. 