Tag Archives: Michael Bloomberg

May 3, 2013 · 3:23 PM

‘No Pizza For You!’: Drudge Report Falls For Daily Currant’s Satirical Story About Mayor Bloomberg

Ha! Conservatives always get caught “out there” by satirical wit…

Mediaite

The Daily Currant has fooled several members of the media into falling for satirical stories — from Glenn Beck and terrorist-contaminated pizza to Sarah Palin and Al Jazeera. On Friday, it fooled yet another: The Drudge Report. This time with a story about New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The Currant’s story said Bloomberg “was denied a second slice of pizza today at an Italian eatery in Brooklyn” after reaching his “personal slice limit.” It was meant to be a jab at the mayor’s effort to limit the portions of sugary drinks sold in the city.

The Drudge Report played it up thusly:

As the Atlantic Wire reported, the splash only stuck around for a few minutes, around 8 a.m. Eastern time, before someone realized the mistake and took it down. The tweet still exists.

Recently, you may recall, The Daily Currant fooled The Washington Post into thinking Sarah Palinwas headed to Al Jazeera. It also successfully fooled the media with a story about Ann Coulter“refusing to board a plane with a black pilot” and Paul Krugman filing for bankruptcy after living a bitlavishly. And then there was that time Bill O’Reilly assaulted a department store Santa.

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May 2, 2013 · 3:54 PM

NYPD’s Ray Kelly: Blacks “understopped” by police

NYPD's Ray Kelly: Blacks

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, left, and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly (Credit: AP)

Really Mr. Kelly?  Really?

Salon

Echoing what Joan Walsh called Mayor Bloomberg’s “ugly” defense of the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk practice, police commissioner Ray Kelly asserted Wednesday night that African Americans are “understopped” by police. During an interview with ABC, the commissioner and the policing tactic’s greatest defender, said that “African Americans are being understopped in relation to people being described as perpetrators of violent crime.”

While Mayor Bloomberg has been mayor, the NYPD has carried out over 5 million stop-and-frisks. Analysis by the ACLU of official police data found that over 86 percent of the stops were of black or Latino individuals. The analysis of police data also revealed that 88 percent of the stops did not result in an arrest or summons (and of course an even smaller proportion ever lead to a prosecution, or conviction). The number of innocent people stopped alone serves as ample riposte to Kelly’s suggestion that any demographic is “understopped.”

Kelly suggests that since 75 percent of violent crime victims describe the perpetrators as African American males, it is therefore valid to treat millions of black young men in New York as criminals without grounds. The fact that many perpetrators of violent crime in New York have been African American does not in turn mean that per se African Americans in New York should be assumed violent criminals. The logic is not only flawed, but perpetuates a policing system that, through quotas and targeting certain communities, confirms its own bias about who gets to be a criminal.

And, while we’re at it, here are a few relevant facts to challenge Kelly’s “understopped” claim: The number of stop-and-frisks carried out yearly since 2003 has nearly quadrupled. However, the number of weapons recovered from stops each year has remained pretty much constant. Meanwhile, marijuana arrests have spiked (while suspicion of drug possession is cited by police in less than 1 percent of instances as the reason for a stop). Federal statistics also consistently show that marijuana use is more prevalent among young white people than young black people. So: more guns are not being recovered, more young black men are being arrested for marijuana possession, while more white people are users of the drug. And yet, says Kelly (with malleable stats at his finger tips), African Americans are being “understopped.”

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March 29, 2013 · 12:24 AM

Obama On Gun Violence: ‘Shame On Us If We’ve Forgotten’ Newtown

The POTUS made some good points in his speech…

The Huffington Post

President Barack Obama pressed Congress on Thursday not to forget the heartbreak of the Newtown elementary school massacre and “get squishy” on tightened gun laws, though some lawmakers in his own Democratic Party remain a tough sell on an approaching Senate vote to expand purchasers’ background checks.

“Shame on us if we’ve forgotten,” Obama said at the White House, standing amid 21 mothers who have lost children to shootings. “I haven’t forgotten those kids.”

More than three months after 20 first-graders and six staffers were killed in Newtown, Conn., Obama urged the nation to pressure lawmakers to back what he called the best chance in over a decade to tame firearms violence.

At the same time, gun control groups were staging a “Day to Demand Action” with more than 100 rallies and other events planned from Connecticut to California. This was on top of a $12 million TV ad campaign financed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg that has been pressuring senators in 13 states to tighten background-check rules.

But if political momentum was building after the nightmarish December shootings, it has flagged as the Senate prepares to debate gun restrictions next month. Thanks to widespread Republican resistance and a wariness by moderate Democrats from Southern and Western states – including six who are facing re-election next year – a proposed assault weapons ban seems doomed and efforts to broaden background checks and bar high capacity ammunition magazines are in question.

In one statement that typifies moderate Democrats’ caution, spokesman Kevin Hall said Virginia Sen. Mark Warner is “still holding conversations with Virginia stakeholders and sorting through issues on background checks” and proposals on assault weapons and magazines.

Continue here…

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March 19, 2013 · 11:42 AM

10 things you need to know today: March 19, 2013

The Week

Cyprus bailout heads to a vote, Pope Francis celebrates his inaugural mass, and more in our roundup of the stories that are making news and driving opinion

1. RAND PAUL BACKS CITIZENSHIP PATH FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
As the GOP prepares to reach out to minority voters to repair its image, Sen. Rand Paul plans to use a Tuesday speech to endorse a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s 11 million illegal immigrants. Paul, a Kentucky senator and potential 2016 presidential candidate, is joining a growing group of prominent Republicans who are rejecting the party’s hardline positions on immigration in the wake of November’s elections, when Latino voters overwhelmingly backed President Obama and other Democrats. “If you wish to live and work in America, then we will find a place for you,” Paul plans to say, according to a copy of his speech obtained by The Associated Press. [Associated Press]
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2. CYPRUS READY TO REJECT BAILOUT TERMS
Cypriot lawmakers appear likely to reject a divisive tax on bank deposits in a vote scheduled for Tuesday, which could imperil a $13 billion European Union bailout the country needs to avoid a banking collapse. “It looks like it won’t pass,” says government spokesman Christos Stylianides. The vote has already been postponed twice as Cyprus’ new president, Nicos Anastasiades, tries to make the bailout terms more palatable. Angry depositors have been lining up at ATM machines trying to withdraw their money before the tax — 6.75 percent on accounts up to $130,000 and 10 percent on larger ones — can be imposed. [Reuters]
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3. BOMBERS STRIKE ON ANNIVERSARY OF IRAQ INVASION
Insurgents hit Shiite areas in Baghdad with a wave of bombings on Tuesday, killing at least 56 people and highlighting increasing sectarian tensions on the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. The attacks, most of them car bombings, occurred over a single hour, and targeted small restaurants, bus stops, a police station, and busy streets. No one immediately claimed responsibility, but the strikes were similar to past attacks by al Qaeda in Iraq. [Associated Press]
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4. FRANCIS OFFICIALLY INSTALLED AS NEW POPE
Pope Francis celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Tuesday to mark the official launch of his reign as leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics. Hundreds of thousands of people joined dignitaries for the rite, which, at two hours, was an hour shorter, and simpler than the one that launched the papacy of Francis’ predecessor, Benedict XVI. The new pontiff, the first Jesuit pope, signaled his plan to abandon much of the Vatican’s traditional pomp, and reinvigorate the scandal-plagued church with a greater focus on the poor and disadvantaged. [Reuters]
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5. OBAMA PREPARES TO LEAVE FOR ISRAEL
President Obama is scheduled to depart Tuesday night on his first trip to Israel as president. Obama isn’t expected to push forward a new peace initiative. Middle East experts say he’s likely to focus on mending a sometimes rocky relationship with the Israeli government during the four-day visit, which comes less than two days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new coalition government was installed. With new administrations in Israel and the U.S., says Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes, there’s value in “just having a broad strategic conversation.” [ABC News]
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6. HILLARY CLINTON PUBLICLY BACKS GAY MARRIAGE
Hillary Clinton on Monday released a six-minute video announcing her support for gay marriage, becoming the latest politician to switch positions on the issue. The move fueled speculation that Clinton will run for president in 2016 — the other top contenders, including Vice President Joe Biden and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, also back gay marriage. “LGBT Americans are our colleagues, our teachers, our soldiers, our friends, our loved ones,” Clinton says in the video. “And they are full and equal citizens and deserve the rights of citizenship. That includes marriage.” [Politico]
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7. BLOOMBERG FIGHTS SMOKING BY HIDING CIGARETTES
A week after a court overturned his signature sugary drink regulations, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday proposed new legislation that would make it illegal for stores to publicly display cigarettes. Bloomberg said that “even one new smoker is one too many,” and that hiding cigarettes would keep some young people from picking up the habit, driving down the smoking rate for the city as a whole. Despite a drop in the smoking rate over the past decade, cigarettes remain a leading preventable cause of death, killing 7,000 New Yorkers per year, the city said. [NYC.gov, New York Daily News]
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8. POLICE SAY WOMEN WERE PAID TO LIE ABOUT MENENDEZ 
Police in the Dominican Republic said Monday that a local lawyer had paid three Dominican women to lie and say they had been paid to have sex with Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.). One of the women allegedly received $300, and the other two $425 to make the false claims in videotaped interviews. Menendez said the announcement shows “that this was a smear from the very beginning.” Last fall, two Dominican women told the conservative Daily Caller website that Menendez had paid them for sex. The Daily Caller says it is still investigating whether the women who have recanted are the ones it interviewed. [Politico]
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9. FLORIDA STUDENT MAY HAVE PLANNED DORM MASSACRE
A former University of Central Florida student found dead in a dorm might have been planning a massacre before deciding to commit suicide instead. The dead man was identified as James Oliver Seevakumara, 30. He was found shot in the head in his bedroom in a residence hall, where he faced eviction after failing to enroll this semester after studying business administration at the Orlando school from 2010 to 2012. Officials said Seevakumara had a .45-caliber handgun, a .22-caliber tactical rifle, and backpack with four improvised explosive devices in it. Seevakumara reportedly started buying weapons and ammunition in February. [Los Angeles Times]
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10. LIL WAYNE RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL
Rapper Lil Wayne has been released from the Los Angeles hospital where he was treated after suffering a seizure last week, his publicist tweeted late Monday. An online report on Friday suggested that the artist, born Dwayne Carter, was on life support near death, sparking panic among his fans. Lil Wayne’s associates swatted down the report as “nonsense,” and the rapper tweeted, “I’m good everybody… Thnx for the prayers and love.” [CNN]

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March 12, 2013 · 10:01 AM

10 things you need to know today: March 12, 2013

The cardinals head to mass on March 12 before entering the conclave to choose the next pope.

Just think…it’s only Tuesday…

The Week

1. CARDINALS START CONCLAVE TO PICK NEXT POPE
The Catholic Church’s 115 members of the College of Cardinals prepared to lock themselves into the Sistine Chapel on Tuesday to begin the secretive conclave where they will elect the next pope. The cardinals will remain out of view, leaving the world to await news in the form of signals from the chapel’s chimney — black smoke means no decision; white smoke means they’ve chosen Benedict XVI’s successor. The process could wrap up on Tuesday, or, more likely, it could take days. The frontrunners, according to Vatican experts, include Cardinals Angelo Scola of Italy and Odilio Scherer of Brazil, as well as a few American cardinals who could become the first “superpower” pope. [Washington Post]
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2. COURT REJECTS NEW YORK’S SUGARY SODA BAN
A judge overturned New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s controversial ban on large, sugary sodas on Monday, the day before it was scheduled to take effect. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Milton Tingling sided with soda companies and called the rule “arbitrary and capricious,” with too many loopholes. Bloomberg, cheered by health and anti-obesity activists, wanted to stop sales of sugary sodas larger than 16 ounces by restaurants, movie theaters, pushcarts, and sports arenas. “People are dying every day. This is not a joke,” Bloomberg said. “We’re talking about lives versus profits.” [New York Daily News]
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3. NORTH KOREA FOLLOWS THROUGH ON THREAT TO SCRAP CEASE-FIRE
Tensions continued to rise on the Korean Peninsula on Monday, as the official North Korean state newspaper Rodong Sinmun said that the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War had been “declared invalid.” The announcement indicated that Pyongyang was following through with a threat to scrap the cease-fire because of new sanctions imposed by the U.N., which are punishment for North Korea’s recent nuclear test. Pyongyang also apparently disconnected the emergency hotline between North and South Korea, a Red Cross telephone line, blaming a joint U.S.-South Korea military exercise that began March 1 and continues into April. Last week, North Korea threatened to pre-emptively nuke the U.S. [New York Times]
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4. SENATORS UNVEIL A DEAL TO AVOID A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
Leading Senate Democrats and Republicans released a compromise catchall spending bill Monday night that would prevent a government shutdown when current funding runs out on March 27. The proposal would keep the federal government running through Sept. 30, but it wouldn’t give President Obama new money to implement his signature first-term accomplishments, such as Wall Street reform and an expansion of health-care subsidies. The measure adds a bit of money and flexibility to the version passed by the GOP-controlled House last week as Congress braces for what is expected to be weeks of clashes over spending in 2014. [Associated Press]
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5. FALKLANDS RESIDENTS OVERWHELMINGLY BACK BRITISH RULE
Three decades after Argentina and Britain went to war over the Falkland Islands, residents of the South Atlantic archipelago voted nearly unanimously to stay under British rule. The vote — with only three “no” votes out of roughly 1,500 cast — was held to counter Argentina’s new push to assert its sovereignty over the islands, known in Argentina as the Malvinas. “Surely this must be the strongest message we can get out to the world,” said Roger Edwards, one of the eight elected members of the Falklands’ assembly. Argentina dismissed the vote as a publicity stunt. [Reuters]
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6. FORMER DETROIT MAYOR KILPATRICK GUILTY OF CORRUPTION
A jury found former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick guilty of corruption on Monday, ending a five-month trial in which prosecutors said Kilpatrick took kickbacks and rigged contracts while his city went broke. “Kwame Kilpatrick didn’t lead the city. He looted the city,” U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said after the verdict. Kilpatrick, 42, was sent to jail to await sentencing. He could face more than 10 years in prison for two dozen convictions, including racketeering conspiracy, bribery, and tax crimes. [Associated Press]
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7. HARVARD CONFIRMS IT ACCESSED RESIDENT DEANS’ EMAIL ACCOUNTS
Harvard University administrators confirmed on Monday that they had secretly gained access to email accounts of 16 resident deans as part of an effort to track down on a leak about a cheating scandal last year. The university issued a statement apologizing for any discomfort caused by the move — which critics called unnecessarily intrusive — but said it was necessary to protect the privacy of students linked to the scandal. “To be clear: No one’s emails were opened and the contents of no one’s emails were searched by human or machine,” the statement said. [Boston Globe, Associated Press]
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8. FACEBOOK ‘LIKES’ CAN REVEAL SECRETS
What you “Like” on Facebook can reveal intimate details about your personality, and more, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. tracked the Facebook activity of more than 58,000 people and say they were able to accurately predict traits — including race, age, IQ, sexuality, personality, substance use, and political views — based on the photos, status updates, products, and other things that inspired the users to click the “Like” button. “Your likes may be saying more about you than you realize,” Cambridge University researcher David Stillwell, one of the study’s authors, said. [USA Today]
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9. COMET MOVES INTO VIEW
Comet Pan-STARRS moves into prime viewing position on Tuesday, offering stargazers what might be their best opportunity to see it with the naked eye. “Certainly not a ‘great comet’ by any means,” astronomer Alan Hale, the co-discoverer of 1997′s Comet Hale-Bopp, wrote in a posting to the Comets-ML online forum. “The visibility should hopefully improve over the next few nights as it climbs higher out of the twilight.” Tuesday night, the comet will appear just to the left of the crescent moon, making the moon a guidepost for anyone trying to make out the faint comet with binoculars just after sunset. The 10- to 12-minute visibility windows will continue through the end of the month. [NBC News]
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10. HACKER GOES AFTER BIG NAMES
Hackers attacked 15 political and show-business celebrities, including Jay-Z, Beyoncé, and Hillary Clinton, and posted some of their financial records and other sensitive information online. The Los Angeles Police Department is trying to track down those responsible for sending the information to a website. The other victims included Kim Kardashian, Britney Spears, Donald Trump, Paris Hilton, Mel Gibson, Ashton Kutcher, Vice President Joe Biden, Attorney General Eric Holder, and FBI Director Robert Mueller. [New York Daily News]

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February 27, 2013 · 7:48 AM

How Do You Steal a Dream? Supreme Court hears suit to kill Voting Rights Act

I’m inclined to believe that this Supreme Court (The Rehnquist/Roberts Court) does not want to tarnish it’s legacy further and thus, will reach a just decision on the issue…

Greg Palast

Jim Crow is alive and well — and he has mounted a new attack on the law Martin Luther King dreamed of: the Voting Rights Act.

Today, February 27, the Supreme Court will hear a suit brought by Shelby County, Alabama, which challenges the right of the Department of Justice to review changes in voting procedure. Example: Attempts to cut the number of early voting days, to expunge “illegal alien” voters without any evidence, refusing Spanish-language ballots, have been blocked by the Department of Justice and courts because they have stopped Black and Hispanic citizens casting ballots.

Sixteen states are subject to this “pre-clearance” law, every one with a history of Jim Crow rules such as “literacy” tests — Blacks had to recite the Constitution, Whites “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

Dixie moans it’s been picked on unfairly, but the “pre-clearance” states, chosen by an arithmetic formula, include all or parts of the “Confederate states” of California, Arizona, Alaska and New York.

All those above the Mason-Dixon line are on the civil-rights hot-water roster because of a history of hostility to Hispanic citizens. In 2006, for example, the Republican Secretary of State of California rejected 42% of voter registration forms because the names were “unusual” and difficult to type into records! The names, like Chávez and Muhammad, were only “unusual” for Republicans.

New York’s mayor Michael Bloomberg is happy to pre-clear his city’s changes with the Justice Department and has told that to the Court. But once again, as Dr. King said in his Dream speech, in Alabama, the “Governor has his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification” — to nullify the 15th Amendment’s right to vote and to interpose himself between federal law and the enforcement of this basic American right.

And the Southland? In 2000, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris purged tens of thousands of African-Americans from voter rolls, labeling them “felons” when their only crime was VWB: Voting While Black. All — every one — were innocent. And again, in 2012, Florida Governor Rick Scott targeted 180,000 voters, mostly Latinos, as illegal “alien” voters. The Governor, when challenged by the Justice Department, cut the “alien” list to 198 but in the end, could only produce evidence against one.
If it were not for Section 5, the pre-clearance law, the purges, gerrymandering and other racially bent trickery rampant in Florida, Arizona (with its profiling and harassment of Hispanic voters) and Alaska with its bias against Native Americans would be so much worse. Without review — and the threat of review — Americans would once again lose the rights that the Constitution promises, won with the blood of our Fathers.

At the same time, we cannot ignore the Jim Crow and José Crow tactics that create long lines of voters of color in Ohio and other states.

Presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan signed massive expansions of the Voting Rights Act, tripling its reach. It is time to extend the law’s protections again — to Ohio, to Wisconsin, to everyone.

When every American is protected by the Voting Rights Act review of voting changes, then all of us may be secure that our votes will not be nullified by politicians abusing the voting system to seize office through tactics racist in effect, if not intent.

A half century ago this year, Dr. Martin Luther King shared his dream with America:

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’

“We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

King’s dream is the American Dream — which no Court should take away. It is a mighty stream which must touch all citizens in every state.

Without “pre-clearance,” the Voting Rights Act is an empty promise — with purged, blocked and intimidated voters having to protest after an election to the very officials elected by the vote thievery that put them in office.

If this Supreme Court removes “pre-clearance” Section 5 on the grounds that it does not apply to every state, then the solution is simple and just: apply pre-clearance to every state.  Every American deserves a review by Justice of laws which tell us who can vote — and who can’t.

As King admonished us, we must not be satisfied when we see Black folk, a half century after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, stand in line for six hours to vote whether in Miami or in Cleveland.

We petition the Court and Congress to let freedom ring.

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February 19, 2013 · 8:54 AM

Gun Safety Advocates Force NRA Backed Democrat Out Of Congressional Race

Debbie Halvorson, one of the two women mentioned in this article, has implied that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is the “Nanny State Mayor”.  I have a feeling this woman will be tougher for Bloomberg’s PAC to get rid of than State Senator Toi Hutchinson.

Mayor Bloomberg’s PAC is going after both Democratic candidates (running to replace Jesse Jackson’s vacant seat in Congress) because they both support the NRA and have an “A” rating with the gun-rights organization.

Think Progress

Illinois State Sen. Toi Hutchinson dropped her bid to fill the Congressional seat of former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. on Sunday after her moderate views on gun safety made her a target of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s political action committee, Independence USA.

Toi Hutchinson

In what will be the first election since the shooting in Newton, Connecticut, the $2 million ad buy criticized Hutchison and another candidate for receiving an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA). “In the race for Congress, the big issue? Fighting gun violence. Debbie Halvorson and Toi Hutchinson both earned an A from the NRA, they can’t be trusted,” the ad began before endorsing former state Rep. Robin Kelly who supports background checks and banning assault weapons.

Guns have become a central issue in the primary, as Kelly attacked her opponents’ views on gun safety and “pointed out that Hutchinson received a 92 percent rating from the NRA” and does not support a statewide concealed carry ban. She also urged all candidates to “sign on to a five-point pledge to reduce gun violence: banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines, closing the gun show loophole, supporting Illinois’ conceal carry ban, and refusing support from ‘organizations that oppose reasonable gun safety legislation.’”

Neither Hutchison nor Halvorson signed on to the document, though the former sought to bolster her credentials on gun safety by releasing a video in which she highlighted her support for “the assault weapons ban and the ban on high capacity magazines favored by Gov. Pat Quinn.”

“I am simply unwilling to risk playing a role going forward that could result in dividing our community at time a when we need unity more than ever,” Hutchinson said Sunday in a statement announcing her resignation. “In the wake of horrendous gun related crimes all across our country, I agree with Robin that we need to stand together to fight gun violence.”

Hutchinson’s announcement also comes after reports detailing “alleged payments to her mother as a campaign consultant.”

A special primary will be held on February 26 and the general election is scheduled for April 9.

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February 16, 2013 · 11:46 AM

Bloomberg takes gun fight to Chicago

Michael Bloomberg is pictured. | AP Photo

Michael Bloomberg is pictured. | AP Photo

I truly hope Mayor Bloomberg’s super-pac will run powerful ads against the gun lobby…

Politico

A Chicagoland special House election to replace disgraced former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. has suddenly become Ground Zero of the national gun control debate, courtesy of anti-gun crusader Mike Bloomberg.

The billionaire New York City mayor’s super PAC is poised to dump at least $2 million into the race, sources told POLITICO — a staggering sum for a single House race that’s meant to thwart a National Rifle Association-aligned Democrat who was cruising along as the frontrunner until a barrage of Bloomberg-financed attack ads hit the airwaves.

The massive independent expenditure by Independence USA PAC dwarfs what any of the 17 Democratic candidates have raised themselves. It’s a none-too-subtle statement of Bloomberg’s intention to take on the NRA after the Newtown, Conn. school shooting — though it’s debatable how much of a test case it is since the NRA is staying out of the race.

(PHOTOS: An interview with Michael Bloomberg)

The bulk of Bloomberg’s cash has financed an air war against Debbie Halvorson, a former one-term congresswoman and longtime ex-state legislator with an “A” rating from the NRA. The lone white candidate in the Democratic field, she’s hoping that her base of suburban and rural voters in the southern outskirts of the district — who by and large favor gun rights — will be enough to give her the small plurality it will take to win.

The Democratic primary is on Feb. 26. The general election is all but irrelevant given the district’s heavy Democratic makeup.

“I believe that substantial expenditure by the forces doing battle with gun violence will likely send a real … loud warning to a lot of members of Congress that it’s no longer safe to side with the NRA — that’s really what’s going on here,” said Robert Creamer, a partner at Democracy Partners who has followed the race.

Indeed, gun control advocates believe that defeating Halvorson would send a message nationally that the climate has changed in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre in December.

With the NRA steering clear, the air waves are awash in Bloomberg’s millions without any significant response. Still, Bloomberg’s ad onslaught comes as a number of Democrats have urged him to become a counterweight to the NRA when it comes to political spending, and as his aides have met with President Barack Obama’s advisers about coordinating on gun control efforts.

(Also on POLITICO: Obama: Chicago gun toll ‘Newtown every 4 months’)

A Bloomberg adviser said he made the decision to spend the money “without blinking.”

“The fact that it’s a special election, the fact that it’s in the middle of a national debate over the president’s plan … [there is an] understanding that it’s both a bellwether and a harbinger.”

Devora Kaye, a spokeswoman for the PAC, said the group is trying to seize “distinct window of opportunity” to make headway on gun control while the public is paying close attention.

“We must and we will continue to be aggressive in informing voters across the country about the necessity of electing leaders who will stand up to the NRA and help pass the president’s gun reform package,” she said.

An NRA spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bloomberg, who until this week had only gone after Halvorson, is now backing Democratic state lawmaker Robin Kelly. A number of other members of the Illinois congressional delegation are also rallying around Kelly, who released internal data showing her inching ahead of Halvorson in the wake of the Bloomberg ads.

(Also on POLITICO: Bloomberg’s D.C. footprint explodes)

Bloomberg also backed a handful of candidates last year in general elections in House districts, largely over the gun issue. But that was before the schoolhouse massacre.

Continue reading here…

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January 16, 2013 · 9:15 AM

NRA targets Obama’s kids in a scathing new ad

File photo: Malia Obama, Sasha Obama and first lady Michelle Obama listen as President Obama speaks at the DNC in Charlotte, North Carolina on September 6, 2012. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Malia Obama, Sasha Obama and first lady Michelle Obama listen as President Obama speaks at the DNC in Charlotte, North Carolina on September 6, 2012.

This is the latest despicable piece of crap coming from the not so bright folks at the NRA…

MSNBC’s The Last Word

The National Rifle Association is getting personal. In a new web video the gun lobby calls President Obama an “elitist hypocrite” for using the Secret Service to protect his two children, Sasha, age 11, and Malia, age 14.

The ad, posted to the NRA’s Stand and Fight website, criticizes Obama for opposing the NRA’s proposal of increasing the number of armed guards in schools as a way to prevent shootings like the Sandy Hook massacre.

“Are the president’s kids more important than yours?” asks the voiceover on the ad. “Then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their school?” It continues, “Mr. Obama demands the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, but he’s just another elitist hypocrite when it comes to a fair share of security. Protection for their kids and gun-free zones for ours.”

The video does not show pictures of the president’s daughters, using instead images of outspoken gun control advocates such as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Vice President Joe Biden.

The ad apparently served as a preemptive strike against President Obama, who plans to unveil his high anticipated proposals to reduce gun violence on Wednesday. Along with school security, mental health and the entertainment industry, the president is also expected to recommend universal background checks, a ban on high-capacity magazines and some sort of assault weapons ban.

Last week, Obama signed a bill to restore lifetime Secret Service protection for presidents elected after 1997, which includes himself and George W. Bush, and presidents in the future, along with their wives. The law gives children of former presidents protection until the age of 16.

George W. Bush signed a directive four days before he left office, authorizing the Secret Service to provide a period of extended protection for his daughters Jenna and Barbara. Bill Clinton had also authorized extended coverage for his daughter Chelsea when his term ended. The Secret Service asked that the period of additional protection be kept confidential.

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January 8, 2013 · 7:15 PM

Fresh Off Completely Sane Piers Morgan Interview, Alex Jones Says Mayor Bloomberg is Sending Crackheads to Kill Him for Speaking Truth to Mafia

Black helicopters,”Mafiosa”, “Goodfellows looking guys”and “Crackheads”.  That’s the world of conspiracy Alex Jones describes regarding his trip to New York to appear on the Piers Morgan Show.

Here he is again, explaining what happened in New York.  He wants to prove that he’s not crazy!

Gawker – Neetzan Zimmerman

(Ed. Note:)  Moments later Jones added this video to You Tube:

You have to admire Alex Jones.

If not for his tin-foil political views than at least for the breakneck speed with which he can spin a web of conspiracy so thick with heavy-breathed paranoia it makes Robert Ludlum look like a historian.

Just one hour after filming his instantly infamous interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan, Jones was on his YouTube channel claiming the “panicked” producers pulled the plug early and kicked him out with tears in their eyes, and he was now scared for his life because Mayor Bloomberg had sent undercover cops dressed as crackheads to kill him and his crew.

“The way this’ll work is, ‘oh, see here they were protesting gun grabs and some crack dealers shot them,’” Jones told his 344k subscribers. “If something happens to us, we’re killed by crackheads, it was the NYPD or the mafia [Bloomberg] hired.”

Hey, it’s not paranoia if the Bloomberg mafia’s army of crackhead cops is really after you.

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