News of the Week for August 3rd<\/sup>, 2014<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Why Jack Kingston Lost: GOTV Efforts With His Base<\/a> The July Forecast For November\u2019s U.S. Senate Elections <\/a> The Endangered Governors List: Republican Edition <\/a> U.S. Attorney Warns Cuomo on Moreland Commission Case<\/a> Cantor to resign from Congress<\/a> Cook Political Report House race update: 17 races +GOP, 4 +Dem.<\/a> McConnell, Grimes Trade Barbs at Kentucky Picnic<\/a> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n House approves lawsuit against Obama over alleged abuse of executive power<\/a> <\/p>\n Police Chief Recognizes Carry Reciprocity in D.C.<\/a> Judge Stays D.C. Handgun Ruling for 90 Days<\/a> <\/p>\n Burn the Witch! Roger Pielke Jr. Out at FiveThirtyEight<\/a> The \u2018Billionaire\u2019s Club\u2019 Behind the Green Movement<\/a> <\/p>\n 5 More Typos We Found In Major Pieces Of Legislation <\/a> The Agony of Jonathan Gruber: Michael F. Cannon\u2019s Revenge <\/a> Halbig Shows How We Legislate Now <\/a> Halbig and Hammurabi <\/a> Case Against The D.C. Court’s Halbig Ruling Crumbles <\/a> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lunch and War, a Century Ago <\/a> 100 years ago today Austria declared war on Serbia, the first declaration of World War 1 <\/a> Why China\u2019s PLA is a weak but dangerous army<\/a> U.S. Personnel Evacuate Libya \u2014 Again<\/a> Ukraine digging 400 kilometer, anti-tank ditch on border with Moldova’s Transdniestria<\/a> Obama reportedly told Netanyahu to halt fire unilaterally in phone call<\/a> US says Russia violated 1987 nuclear missile treaty, calls breach ‘a very serious matter’<\/a> Seriously, What Is John Kerry Doing? <\/a> You Want MORE Proof of Hamas Using Civilians As Human Shields? Here are Ten More.. <\/a> CIA Spied on Senate, Internal Review Finds<\/a> A tale of two hospitals: One in Israel, one in Gaza<\/a> Netanyahu to US: Don’t second guess me on Hamas<\/a> U.S. official: Spy plane flees Russian jet, radar; ends up over Sweden<\/a> US spy plane evades Russians, enters Swedish airspace<\/a> <\/p>\n Murder verdict tossed because his mom couldn\u2019t find a seat<\/a> OKCupid experiments with ‘bad’ dating matches<\/a> California State Employers Can No Longer Ask for Criminal History on Job Applications<\/a> Secretive Leftwing Network Discovered through WI Records Law<\/a> Guess How Many Times Chris Cuomo and CNN Have Mentioned His Brother\u2019s Ethics Scandal<\/a> Poll: Harry Reid trails Gov. Sandoval in hypothetical senate race<\/a> Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee\u2019s Staff Threatens Taxpayer For Asking About Her Impeachment Claims<\/a> NFL Outlines ‘Zero Tolerance’ Policy for On-Field Homophobic and Racial Slurs<\/a> Where cats are more popular than dogs in the U.S.\u2014and all over the world<\/a> Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds collective bargaining reform law \u201cin its entirety\u201d<\/a> Man Admitted Putting Needles In Store Meat \u2018Just For The Hell Of It\u2019<\/a> Blogger: Utah School Fired Me for Writing About \u2018Homophones\u2019 Because the Word Sounds Like \u2018Homosexual\u2019 <\/a> Even Massachusetts Rejects Racial Preferences <\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/impeachreno.org\/politicalhat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Newsboy.jpg\" "\\"News")
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<\/a>Election 2014<\/h1>\n
\nDon\u2019t forget your base. It\u2019s an important lesson and one Republicans keep failing to learn. Candidates must keep their supporters engaged whether through issues or motivation.<\/p>\n
\nMixed news with this edition, as Republicans have weakened in North Carolina, strengthened in Iowa\u2019s open seat, and we introduce a new graphic.<\/p>\n
\nOne Republican governor won big in 2010 while two others snuck by. Four years later, their fates couldn’t be more different.<\/p>\n
\nIn an escalation of the confrontation between the United States attorney in Manhattan, Preet Bharara, and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo over the governor\u2019s cancellation of his own anticorruption commission, Mr. Bharara has threatened to investigate the Cuomo administration for possible obstruction of justice or witness tampering.<\/p>\n
\nNow-former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) will resign from Congress on Aug. 18, nearly two months after his surprise GOP primary defeat. <\/p>\n
\nCook\u2019s main ratings now show that there are five Republican seats that are seriously at risk of flipping, as opposed to fifteen Democratic ones.
\nLooking at the race changes themselves: Cook took 6 Republicans and one Democrat effectively off of the board completely by rating their races as Solid. Cook also put one race (IA-02) into play by upgrading it from Solid Democratic to Likely Democratic.<\/p>\n
\nThe 134th annual Fancy Farm Picnic was held in Kentucky yesterday, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes squared off to deliver insults and one liners to a lively crowd of partisans.<\/p>\n<\/a>Obama Scandals<\/h1>\n
\nThe House on Wednesday approved a highly contentious lawsuit against President Obama over his alleged abuse of executive power, teeing up an election-year legal battle sure to spill onto the midterm campaign trail.<\/p>\n<\/a>Gun Rights<\/h1>\n
\nMany have said that the D.C. political establishment will ignore the judges order. This shows that Police Chief Lanier is, at minimum, unwilling to be found in contempt. Notice the broad extent of the order: no arrests for a person who can legally carry a gun in D.C. or any State.<\/p>\n
\nA federal judge on Tuesday put a hold on the ruling that overturned the District\u2019s ban on carrying handguns in public, effectively giving D.C. police and law enforcement some space to figure out how to respond.<\/p>\n<\/a>Hide the Decline<\/h1>\n
Environment &
\n“Green Energy”<\/h2>\n
\nIn an interview with Discover Magazine, published yesterday, Pielke was resolute, suggesting that Nate Silver should have shown more \u201ceditorial backbone\u201d and explaining that he could not fulfill his role if was expected to self-censor. \u201cSeeing a campaign organized to have me fired from 538 also taught me a lesson about the importance of academic tenure,\u201d he told Keith Kloor.<\/p>\n
\nReport: Groups involved in backing green candidates and legislation may have violated tax laws, Senate Republicans claim<\/p>\n<\/a>Obamacare<\/h1>\n
Government in Healthcare<\/h2>\n
\nMuch has been said, most all of it idiotic, about how a typo\/drafting error was responsible for the recent federal court decision that forbids Obamacare subsidies from being used to offset the cost of federal health exchange plans. Seriously. A lot of people who are not particularly bright have actually claimed the whole brouhaha is due to a silly little typo.<\/p>\n
\nThe Obamacare architect just got pwned by his past self.<\/p>\n
\nDo we pass laws any more? I ask because of the reaction to the federal appeals court decision in Halbig v. Burwell, in which the court enforced what the Affordable Care Act actually says\u2014namely, that federal subsidies for health insurance are available only through state-run exchanges and not through exchanges set up by the federal government.<\/p>\n
\nDisdain for the letter of the law is complexly intertwined with the progressive imagination.<\/p>\n
\nConsequences: The more ObamaCare backers try to attack the D.C. Circuit Court’s decision that limits subsidies to state-run exchanges, the more it looks like the two judges on that panel got it right.<\/p>\n<\/a>War & Terror<\/h1>\n
\nAs Americans sat down to their noon repast on Tuesday, July 28, 1914, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia, exactly one month after Serbian-trained radical students assassinated Austrian heir to the throne Archduke Franz Ferdinand during a brief visit to Sarajevo<\/p>\n
\nThe lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.
\n~Sir Edward Grey (remark, 3 August 1914, on the eve of Britain’s declaration of war) <\/p>\n
\nCHINA’s military capability and intentions are causing significant concern among its regional neighbours and the United States, writes guest expert Rogier Creemers.<\/p>\n
\nAnti-government militias have damaged Tripoli Airport \u2014 which is close to the United States Embassy compound<\/p>\n
\nUkrainian border guards are digging a 400-kilometer anti-tank ditch on Ukraine’s border with Moldova’s breakaway Transdniestria region.<\/p>\n
\nIsrael\u2019s Channel 1 publishes a Hebrew transcript of a portion of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama\u2019s telephone conversation Sunday, in which Obama is insistent that Israel unilaterally halt all military activities in the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n
\nIn an escalation of tensions, the Obama administration accused Russia on Monday of conducting tests in violation of a 1987 nuclear missile treaty, calling the breach “a very serious matter” and going public with allegations that have simmered for some time.<\/p>\n
\nLet\u2019s concede for a moment that most of us do not want the United States refereeing conflicts between nations or warring factions abroad. Even so, most Americans would probably agree that at a minimum our diplomatic efforts should not cause unnecessary harm. Which brings me to John Kerry\u2019s recent misadventure in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
\nA few days ago we published ten examples of Hamas using civilians as human shields. Some of you said it was not enough. So here are ten more examples\/reports (Plus two bonus) proving that Hamas is using its civilians as human shields<\/p>\n
\nThe CIA’s insistence that it did not spy on its Senate overseers collapsed Thursday with the release of a stark report by the agency’s internal watchdog documenting improper computer surveillance and obstructionist behavior by CIA officers.<\/p>\n
\nIsrael saves its enemies; Hamas endangers its friends<\/p>\n
\nFollowing the quick collapse of the cease-fire in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the White House not to force a truce with Palestinian militants on Israel.<\/p>\n
\nThe Cold War aerial games of chicken portrayed in the movie “Top Gun” are happening in real life again nearly 30 years later.<\/p>\n
\nThis story apparently took place last month, right after Malaysia flight 17 was shot down over the Russia \u2013 Ukraine border area, but we\u2019re only hearing about it now. A United States aircraft \u2013 a Boeing RC-135 \u2013 was performing reconnaissance of Russian forces when the Russians noticed, began tracking the craft using ground radar and dispatched a fighter jet to intercept it. Complicating the issue is the fact that the US plane took evasive action which included flying into Swedish airspace without getting permission to do so.<\/p>\n<\/a>National<\/h1>\n
\nMeet Daniel Floyd \u2014 the luckiest \u201ckiller\u201d in New York.<\/p>\n
\nDating website OKCupid has revealed that it experimented on its users, including putting the “wrong” people together to see if they would connect.<\/p>\n
\nA new California law, in effect as of July 1, mandates that state and local agencies are no longer allowed to ask for job seekers’ criminal histories on their initial job applications.<\/p>\n
\nA low-profile Google Group used by over 1,000 state and national leftwing leaders and activists has been discovered thanks to Wisconsin\u2019s open records law. A Media Trackers inquiry into the actions of a University of Wisconsin professor turned up records and communications from \u201cGamechanger Salon,\u201d an online community that provides a forum for leftwing activists and leaders to share tactics, strategies and opinions.<\/p>\n
\nAs corruption allegations against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) have heated up over the past week, CNN is conspicuously quiet on the matter. Of course, CNN also employs the governor\u2019s brother, Chris Cuomo, as host of its morning show New Day.<\/p>\n
\nI doubt that Harry Reid is doing this year\u2019s Democratic Senatorial candidates any favors with his deranged attacks on the Koch Brothers, his changes to longstanding filibuster moves as a means of confirming left-wing judicial nominees, and his over-the-top partisan bluster. A new poll suggests that he isn\u2019t doing himself any favors either.<\/p>\n
\nCongressional approval ratings are at a historic low, and after what has happened over the course of the last twenty four hours \u2013 I can see why. On the House floor Wednesday, longtime Democrat Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee made the startling claim that \u201cWe did not seek an impeachment of President Bush, because as an executive, he had the authority.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe NFL is outlining a new “zero tolerance” policy for badmouthing, verbal abuse, and racial and homophobic slurs from players and coaches on the field, in the locker room, and in other NFL facilities.<\/p>\n
\nWe all know there are only two types of people in the world: cat people and dog people. But data from market research firm Euromonitor suggest that these differences extend beyond individual preferences and to the realm of geopolitics: it turns out there are cat countries and dog countries, too.<\/p>\n
\nHuge victory for Scott Walker, and defeat for public sector unions.<\/p>\n
\nA 68-year-old Illinois man was jailed without bond Thursday after being accused by federal prosecutors of inserting sewing needles into a packaged meat \u201cjust for the hell of it\u201d at a grocery store in his hometown for more than a year.<\/p>\n
\nA blogger employed by a Utah school says he was fired for writing about \u201chomophones\u201d because his boss thought it would associate the school with homosexuality.<\/p>\n
\nThis story in the Boston Globe today discusses a recent survey that resoundingly confirms the conventional wisdom of Massachusetts as a very liberal state \u2013 with one notable exception. \u201cAmid those liberal tendencies, though, was an outlier: a stark opposition to affirmative action. Just 24 percent agreed that qualified minorities should receive special preference in hiring and education, while 69 percent disagreed.\u201d This is no surprise, really: Poll after poll shows that Americans just don\u2019t like policies that discriminate on the basis of race. Go figure.<\/p>\n