April 2016

Sonia Sotomayor wants Religious Litmus Test!

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 19, 2016 28 Comments

If one Supreme Court Justice gets her way, there will be a religious test for the next SCOTUS nominee....as well as the standard abortion litmus test! Not happy with the proposed nominee offered by President Obama, Sonia Sotomayor offered her faith-based suggestions:

Justice Sonia Sotomayor says the Supreme Court needs more diversity, amid the politically charged debate about filling a vacancy on the high court. "I … think there is a disadvantage from having (five) Catholics, three Jews, everyone from an Ivy League school," Sotomayor, the court's first Latina justice, said Friday at Brooklyn Law School. However, she did not mention by name Judge Merrick Garland, a white male with a Harvard Law School degree whom President Obama recently nominated to fill the vacancy of Justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative voice on the court. Scalia died unexpectedly in January.

Massachusetts School Gives Dancing Trumps the Hook

Posted by Mike LaChance on April 19, 2016 13 Comments

We've been documenting the Trump hysteria which has gripped college campuses but we now turn to an elementary school in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. Three boys who came up with a hilarious act for their school talent show have been told the show won't go on. The Boston Globe reported:

In Wellesley, it’s curtains for three dancing Trumps Three Wellesley 11-year-olds figured they’d found the perfect plan to reprise their hit performance at last year’s Fiske Elementary School talent show, when they donned masks of their retiring principal’s face and danced wildly: This year, they’d be the dancing Donald Trumps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojaEwp3MaPE

Trump Campaign Sued for Defamation by Republican Strategist

Posted by Sarah Rumpf on April 18, 2016 73 Comments

On Monday, Republican consultant Cheri Jacobus filed a defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump, his presidential campaign, and his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski. Jacobus is a veteran political operative with decades of experience in the political consulting world, including a stint as a media spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee. She has been a repeated guest on cable news shows; the complaint states she has had "over one thousand appearances on Fox News/FOX Business News, and hundreds of appearances on CNN and MSNBC," among other television appearances and published articles. The dispute started after Jacobus criticized the Trump campaign in January and February. The campaign responded by claiming she was a disgruntled job-seeker who had "begged" for a job. As reported by Politico:

Bernie Sanders Took $60,200 in Tax Deductions

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 18, 2016 9 Comments

Bernie Sanders enjoys chatting at length about soaking the rich and fair shares and all that other socialist rhetorical fluff. But the presidential candidate who has never held a non-government job enjoys tax breaks and deductions like the rest of us. There's just a little bit of a problem though -- those same deductions would be prohibited under Sanders' own tax plan. Jim Geraghty of National Review has the breakdown:

Bernie Sanders released his 2014 tax return this weekend, revealing that he and his wife took $60,208 in deductions from their taxable income. These deductions are all perfectly legal and permitted under the U.S. tax code, but they present a morally inconvenient, if delicious, irony: The Democratic socialist from Vermont, a man who rages against high earners paying a lower effective tax rate than blue-collar workers, saved himself thousands using many of the tricks that would be banned under his own tax plan.

Planned Parenthood Compares Cruz-Supporting Women to ‘Chicken Voting for Colonel Sanders’

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 18, 2016 21 Comments

Speaking at a Hillary Clinton rally in New York, Planned Parenthood President Cecil Richards compared women who vote for Senator Cruz to "chicken voting for Colonel Sanders." Colonel Sanders being Kentucky Fried Chicken's mascot or spokesman, or whatever.

WATCH: @CecileRichards at Clinton rally: "A woman voting for Ted Cruz is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders" https://t.co/01YIyQUJEm
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) April 18, 2016

California’s $15 Minimum Wage Hike Costs UC Berkeley Jobs

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 18, 2016 27 Comments

Minimum wage hikes tend to hurt lower income-wage earners more than help. California recently mandated a $15 minimum wage. Now, facilities maintenance and food service workers at UC Berkeley may find their jobs imperiled. Justin Holcomb writes for Townhall:

The $15 minimum wage hike in California has sent financially troubled UC Berkeley into decision making mode, and "the people who clean buildings, who work in food services or health clinics,” says Todd Stenhouse, will be the ones without a job.

https://twitter.com/AmichaiStein1/status/722107487776858112

Israeli civilian bus bombed near Jerusalem, as Hamas tunnel into Israel found

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 18, 2016 3 Comments

It's beginning to look like it will be another hot summer in Israel. There was a bus explosion near Jerusalem earlier today. At first there was confusion as to whether it was a bomb or some technical failure. Police have just confirmed that it was a small bomb, though it remains unclear as of this writing if it was planted or a suicide bombing. https://twitter.com/MickyRosenfeld/status/722106508297781248 https://twitter.com/MickyRosenfeld/status/722097364958388224

Alexander Hamilton Will be Safe on the $10

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 18, 2016 18 Comments

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is supposed to announce some time this week that Alexander Hamilton's home on the $10 bill is safe. CNN Money reports:

"When we started this conversation not quite a year ago, it wasn't clear to me that millions of Americans were going to weigh in with their ideas," he told CNBC. "We're not just talking about one bill. We're talking about the $5, the $10, and the $20. We're not just talking about one picture on one bill. We're talking about using the front and the back of the bill to tell an exciting set of stories."

While Hamilton might be safe, Andrew Jackson is not.

Advances in hand washing aren’t as sanitary as we thought

Posted by New Neo on April 18, 2016 12 Comments

You know those hot air hand dryers found in almost all public restrooms? Time-consuming, don't really dry your hands thoroughly --- and now we discover that they throw a bunch of viruses into the air, particularly the newer design called the Dyson:

Researchers have long known that warm hand dryers can launch bacteria into the air—compared to dabbing with paper towels, which unleashes virtually none. But new jet air dryers, made by Dyson, are significantly more problematic—they launch far more viruses into the air, which linger for longer periods of time and reach much farther distances, researchers recently reported in the Journal of Applied Microbiology. This is particularly concerning because viruses, unlike many infectious bacteria, can easily maintain their infectiousness in the air and on surfaces, and just a few viral particles can spark an infection.

CA Sen. Boxer’s Classless Questioning during Climate Change Hearing

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 18, 2016 35 Comments

The Environment and Public Works Committee has been gathering testimony from a wide range of witnesses (industry experts, military official, and faith leaders) to discuss the Obama Administration's Clean Power Plan. Because the Senators obviously wanted listed to many different perspectives, those invited to offer input included Alex Epstein, author of A Moral Case for Fossil Fuels and President of Center for Industrial Progress, as well as Father Robert Sirico (a Catholic priest and President of the free-market supporting Acton Institute).

Branco Cartoon – From Russia With Love

Posted by A.F. Branco on April 18, 2016 10 Comments

License to Kill...

Dear Fellow Upstate NYers – I’m voting Cruz on April 19, here’s why

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 17, 2016 109 Comments

It's not often that a Republican presidential primary in New York matters. This year it does. It's a time for choosing, to paraphrase Ronald Reagan. The choice is between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, though John Kasich is on the ballot too. The real race to the nomination has been Trump v. Cruz for at least several weeks and it is likely to remain that way. Faced with that choice, it's easy. Legal Insurrection started in October 2008 in anticipation of the Obama presidency. We were part of the Tea Party movement (though aligned with no specific group) since the beginning. We worked hard through Operation Counterweight and campaign coverage to find and elect candidates who would push the window towards conservatism. Sometimes we were disappointed once they took office, but the window opened wider.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwiH54n80pbMAhVIHD4KHZo-BYcQjhwIBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Flibertymaniacs.com%2Fproducts%2Fbernie-sanders-is-my-comrade-tees&bvm=bv.119745492,d.cWw&psig=AFQjCNGWfymlU5ZVX23DJsM9J9b7G9hx8A&ust=1461016008237887

Please DO NOT SHARE this “Bernie is My Comrade” graphic

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 17, 2016 24 Comments

If you want to know why Democrat leaders and party officials are scared to deathski about Bernie Sanders at the top of the ticket in November, take a look at the Featured Image, the graphic on a T-Shirt sold by Liberty Maniacs. Bernie is doing well in head-to-head polling against Republicans because Republicans, including yours truly, have laid low in going after Bernie. Hillary, meanwhile, is too afraid of the progressive base of the Democrat Party to lower the hammer-and-sickle on Bernie's head through negative advertising. Buzzfeed reports that Team Bernie is not happy with the T-Shirt and related merchandise:

Obama Cable Box Executive Order — Benevolent tip of lame-duck regulatory iceberg

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on April 17, 2016 10 Comments

Obama signed an Executive Order (EO) on Friday that affects American businesses and the free market (what's left of it, anyway). Obama has ordered the FCC to open up set-top cable boxes to competition, and he more broadly ordered executive agencies to search for ways that they can ensure competition among free market businesses and corporations. The set-top box order centers on the way that cable companies lease these boxes to consumers, charging a monthly fee for their use. Harkening back to the days when people had to rent phones from the telephone company, the order intends to correct the problem as was done in telephone case. The White House writes:

That’s why today the President announced that his Administration is calling on the FCC to open up set-top cable boxes to competition. This will allow for companies to create new, innovative, higher-quality, lower-cost products. Instead of spending nearly $1,000 over four years to lease a set of behind-the-times boxes, American families will have options to own a device for much less money that will integrate everything they want — including their cable or satellite content, as well as online streaming apps — in one, easier-to-use gadget.

On its face, this doesn't seem to be a problem and may even be a good idea for those still using cable, but this is just the tip of the iceberg.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3543237/Video-Stalingrad-Metro-Paris-shows-violent-clashes-erupt-migrant-camp.html

Paris: Vicious Migrant Camp Brawl Caught on Video

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on April 17, 2016 12 Comments

On Saturday, riot police were called to an unofficial migrant camp at a Paris metro (subway) station due to a violent street brawl that was transpiring amongst the migrants living there. The Daily Mail reports:

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve had earlier announced the removal of the camp in a joint statement with Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, but the migrants returned with makeshift mattresses two weeks later.
. . . . The violence erupted underneath the tracks when a group of men threw objects at the migrants, most of whom are thought to come from Africa and the Middle East.

. . . . Riot police used tear gas to disperse the crowd and arrested a drunk man who is thought to have thrown the first missile which sparked the chaos, Le Parisien reported.

The police are said to have been pelted with bottles and debris when they arrived at the scene of the fight between the homeless migrants and a so called 'anti crime brigade' from Stalingrad, which lies in the 19th arrondissement of Paris.

The Jerusalem Post reports on the incident:

Elizabeth Warren Wants the IRS to Do Your Taxes

Posted by Mike LaChance on April 17, 2016 26 Comments

Do you trust the federal government to prepare your taxes for you? Elizabeth Warren thinks so. Should the Tea Party activists and others who have been harassed by the IRS for political reasons in recent years be expected to trust the agency with preparing their returns? Isn't it bad enough that the IRS can use its power of audit? Boston.com reported:

Elizabeth Warren thinks the IRS should fill out your tax returns With Monday’s tax filing deadline looming over many Americans’ weekends, Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s new bill may seem like a godsend. The Massachusetts Democrat introduced legislation Wednesday that would allow U.S. taxpayers to have the government do their taxes for them—for free.

House passes bill barring FCC from regulating internet rates

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on April 17, 2016 3 Comments

Controlling the internet is a goal of the progressive left, including the White House, and we've covered one of their angles to that end, net neutrality, here at LI. On Friday, the House passed a bill that would prohibit the FCC from "setting or setting or reviewing the rates that companies charge for internet service." The Hill reports:

The House on Friday passed a bill to ban the Federal Communications Commission from setting or reviewing the rates that companies charge for internet service. The largely party-line vote is a win for Republicans, who have pushed for the past year to nibble away at the FCC’s internet regulations, which are currently being challenged in federal court.

Obama has indicated that he will veto this bill restraining the FCC's ability to regulate the internet or to set rates (and otherwise pick winners and losers), so as the Hill reports, this bill will not be enacted this year.

The stand-alone bill has no real chance of of being enacted this year with a White House veto threat hanging over it. The FCC says it has no intention of setting the price of internet service under its net neutrality rules, but Democrats argue the bill approved Friday is too expansive.

CA Panel OKs parole for Manson Family cult killer

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 17, 2016 24 Comments

Gov. Jerry Brown has final say in Leslie Van Houten release....

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April 2016

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