John Dickerson, SlateIt must get confusing in the IT department at the Associated Press: Are you talking about the hackers who hacked our Twitter account or the Justice Department hackers who hacked our phones? Monday, the Associated Press reported that the Justice Department had secretly obtained two months of records of phone conversations by its reporters. Meanwhile, the Washington Post revealed that the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups was more widespread than first reported. Someone at the IRS also leaked information about conservative groups to ProPublica. The Environmental...

Eleanor Clift, The Daily BeastThe way Washington reporting works, much of it revolves around the White House and the perception that the leader of the free world should be controlling most everything that's worth paying attention to. President Obama is not following the script, and it was left to his press secretary, former reporter Jay Carney, to explain to a packed briefing room Tuesday why Obama is not taking a more forceful stance to combat the scandals"” including one that reporters take very personally"”engulfing his presidency. An AP reporter set the tone with the first...

A fun night appeared to be coming to a quiet end when Gregory Jackson Jr. and four others left his cousin’s bachelor party early on the morning of April 21. Walking near the Washington, D.C., convention center, the group came upon two men shouting at one another. One was in his car, blasting music. The other outside it. Suddenly, the mood changed. More than a block away, Jackson and his friends walked in the opposite direction, hoping to avoid the shouting match. But then one of the men involved in the argument fled in his car, driving in Jackson's direction. That's when someone began shooting and Jackson found himself in the line of fire. "Like anybody, we ran. But as we ran, I caught one of the stray bullets into my right calf," explained Jackson by phone from his hospital bed in Virginia on Thursday. "So after the bullet hit, I tried to hide until the whole situation was over and then a couple of my cousins came back for me and helped me up, and we called an ambulance." The shooting was the painful culmination of an abhorrent week for Jackson, 28, who is the Southern region director for Organizing for Action, the post-election form of President Barack Obama's grassroots campaign organization, Obama for America. It was Jackson's job to build up community support for gun violence prevention legislation in the Southern region of the United States; he was shot only days after the bipartisan Manchin-Toomey amendment, which would have strengthened and expanded background checks for gun sales, failed in the Senate. "Kind of ironic," Jackson told The Huffington Post. On May 5, Jackson fielded a call from Obama himself. "He gave me a call just to let me know that he was thinking about me," Jackson recalled. "And he just stated that he's pretty sad I had to learn first hand how and why this fight is so important." Since the incident, Jackson has had five surgeries -- still has one more to go -- and after being released from the hospital, had to be sent right back when two blood clots formed in his leg. He has felt the residual health effects in pain and in time. "That happened on April 21st and here it is, it's Thursday, May 9. I'm in the hospital," said Jackson, who is staying with his parents until his next surgery is scheduled, adding that his time between surgeries has been "discouraging." He's missed work. As a self-described "active person," he's missed running and his usual workouts. And his schedule won't be back to normal anytime soon. "It will be another couple weeks, if not months, before I can get fully back into it," laments Jackson, who has been passing the time watching TV and reading books. Jackson is one of many who have felt the impact of gun violence at a personal level. A recently released study found that in 2010, there were 3.6 gun homicides per 100,000 people in the United States, far more than other Western countries. According to a United Nations report [PDF], in 2009 there were 41 homicides as a result of gun violence in the United Kingdom -- a country of more than 60 million people. That's fewer than half of the number of homicides in D.C. -- with a population just over 600,000; in 2012, D.C. saw its lowest number of homicides since the 1960s. Before April 21, Jackson was "pushing and pushing ... within different communities to get people more engaged on how they can have a voice" on gun violence prevention. But that aspect of his job, that he describes as his "bigger contribution," if for the elephantine size of the task and perhaps of its importance, is taking a backseat for the time being, all because, as Jackson said, "sometimes you just truly are in the wrong place at the wrong time." His own views of gun-violence prevention took shape while growing up in rural Virginia where he often went hunting with his father. Still, Jackson is a "strong supporter" of extending background checks, in addition to other gun control measures, something that has only been strengthened by his experiences. "This traumatic experience," Jackson wrote in an email, "brought home how critical it is that our country's representatives take action to prevent these incidents from happening in the future."

Hundreds of Angelenos, some wearing masks of the billionaire Koch brothers, marched in downtown LA Tuesday to protest the industrialists' possible takeover of the Los Angeles Times and other Tribune Co. newspapers. Union workers, environmentalists and others chanted "Say no to Koch" and "No Koch hate in LA" outside the office of Bruce Karsh, chairman of the Tribune Co. and president of Oaktree Capital Management, the largest Tribune shareholder. "These are the folks who underwrite the Tea Party ... who think that the gap between the rich and the poor is a good thing … who deny climate change," Roxana Tynan, executive director of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, told the crowd. The libertarian brothers Charles and David Koch are believed the only group interested in buying all eight Tribune Co. papers, including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, Orlando Sentinel and Hartford Courant, as a package -- how Tribune would like to sell them. The Kochs have neither confirmed nor denied their interest. "These are the folks who seriously call for abolishing Social Security. Let's let our retirees eat dog food. They want to get rid of all federal regulatory agencies," Tynan said. "Who needs anything that protects regular folks like you and me from the worst successes of corporate life? These are the people who want to get rid of welfare ... [and] our public schools," Tynan continued. Tynan and other speakers brought up the Kochs' anti-union efforts, particularly in Wisconsin and in supporting Prop 32, a recent effort to weaken unions in California. Six-time Grammy Award-winning musician Ry Cooder performed his rewrite of the union song "I Don't Want Your Millions, Mister," directed at the Koch brothers. "All they care about is profit," Vernita Randall, an LA teacher participating in the protest, told HuffPost. "And they won't tell both sides of the stories. They'll be like Fox News." Last week, about 25 Chicagoans protested possible Koch ownership of Tribune Co. papers outside the Tribune Tower. When their request to meet with Karsh was denied, they presented an oversized letter outlining their concerns about Koch ownership. The LA and Chicago protests were led by a coalition of unions and liberal advocacy groups. Their campaign against a Koch Tribune Co. purchase includes numerous online petitions as well as ads on the Los Angeles Times and New York Times websites. They have influential California legislators behind them. And, LA City Councilman Bill Rosendahl introduced a motion last week to pull city pension money from the investment firms that own the Los Angeles Times if Tribune Co. sells to buyers who do not support "professional and objective journalism." About one-quarter of the assets held by Oaktree Capital Management come from public pension funds. In a letter last week to Karsh, 10 public employee unions warned that a sale to the Koch brothers “would be adverse to the retirement security of public employees whose pension funds you are responsible for managing and investing.” Kathay Feng, executive director of California Common Cause, said protesters will gather on May 23 outside of Karsh's Bevelry Hills home. She said protestors have begun sending postcards to his house. "He's the one who will make the decision," Feng said. "So we're taking the message to his doorstep." Check out photos from the downtown LA protest:

After the Liberals won the B.C. election, a single question quickly emerged: How did the pollsters get it so wrong? Right from the start, after polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday, the results were much different than what the pollsters were forecasting. A May 10 Angus Reid poll showed that 45 per cent of 803 voters surveyed intended to support the NDP, while 36 per cent said they would vote for the Liberals. That was a nine-point overall lead over the Liberals. An earlier Ipsos Reid poll, which surveyed 800 adult British Columbians, found that 43 per cent of surveyed voters were supporting the NDP. An Ekos poll, with robocall technology, on Monday gave the NDP 40.5 per cent of voter support. See also: Pollsters made the wrong call / Election night's funniest tweets / Green Party wins seat / See the results here Story continues below slideshow But almost two hours after polls have closed, the Liberals have 44.7 per cent of the vote, the NDP with 39.1 per cent and the Liberals leading or elected in 52 ridings, with 43 needed for a majority. Elections in Alberta in 2012 showed a similar pattern, where voters showed second thoughts as the poll deadline got closer. After Tuesday's election, Alberta's premier Alison Redford wrote "welcome to club! Proving the pollsters, pundits & political scientists so spectacularly wrong. Congratulations!" More Election 2013 Coverage: Funniest Tweets Live Map, Riding-By-Riding Results Mobile Friendly Results Christy Clark Riding Results Live Blog: How The Night Unfolded COMPLETE COVERAGE

Sen. Barbara Boxer, Huffington Post

Former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) has moved one step closer to a possible return to politics. Politico reported Tuesday that Weiner has hired Danny Kedem as a campaign manager for his possible New York City mayoral bid. Kedem recently ran a local congressional campaign in New York and sources told the site that Weiner is likely to make an announcement next week. Speculation surrounding a possible Weiner run heated up in mid-April, when the disgraced Congressman candidly told the New York Times Magazine where his political future stands. "I’m trying to gauge not only what’s right and what feels comfortable right this second, but I’m also thinking, How will I feel in a year or two years or five years?," he said. "Is this the time that I should be doing it? And then there’s the other side of the coin, which is . . . am I still the same person who I thought would make a good mayor?” Weiner's hire comes about a month after he released a 21-page booklet outlining proposals for all of New York City's five boroughs. Nearly two years after resigning from Congress over pressure stemming from a lewd photo sent out on Twitter, he launched a new handle on Twitter this April as well. While no formal announcement has been made, Weiner already has the support of one former colleague in Congress. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) told Current TV in mid-April that "nobody here is perfect," stressing that Weiner deserved a second chance. "He’s dealt with his issues, and everybody has issues," Ellison said. "So I’d love to see Anthony Weiner be mayor of New York. I hereby endorse him."

Peter Weber, The Week

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has been telling Minnesotans for years that gay marriage could find its way into the state if they didn't act to stop it. On Tuesday, Bachmann's prediction came true: Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton (D) signed a bill that had been passed by the state Legislature, including by lawmakers who had worked alongside then-state Sen. Bachmann. Bachmann campaigned tirelessly against gay marriage during her years in the state Senate, trying repeatedly and unsuccessfully to convince her colleagues that a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between one man and one woman should be placed before the voters. Here's Bachmann arguing for a same-sex marriage ban in 2004. Back then, she was concerned that "activist judges" might force gay marriage onto Minnesota by ruling that the state had to honor nuptials conducted in other states like Massachusetts, which had recently legalized gay marriage. There's also some concern about polygamy and group marriages. After Bachmann left St. Paul for Congress in 2007, state lawmakers sympathetic to her views had some success, getting an anti-gay marriage amendment on the ballot in 2012. But voters rejected it in November. A recent poll found that a majority of Minnesotans favored legalizing same-sex marriage. The state's lawmakers reflected that support with their votes of 75 to 59 in the state House and 37 to 30 in the state Senate for the new law. With Dayton's signature, 12 states and the District of Columbia now allow gay marriage. Gay couples will be able to wed in Minnesota beginning Aug. 1. While Bachmann won't actually be leaving the state in protest, as the satire site Daily Currant recently wrote, she tweeted Monday something of a swan song for her efforts against marriage equality in her home state: I’m proud to have introduced the original traditional marriage amendment, and I thank all Minnesotans who have worked so hard on this issue.— Michele Bachmann (@MicheleBachmann) May 13, 2013 Bachmann later released a statement, saying she was "disappointed" that the legislation had passed and arguing that it "denies religious liberty to people who believe in traditional marriage and who do not want to be forced to violate their conscience and sincerely held religious beliefs." Gay rights advocates, meanwhile, are ecstatic. "Guess what? I'm going to be a married man in Minnesota," said state Sen. Scott Dibble (D), chief author of the same-sex marriage bill, at a rally on Monday. Dibble then continued, "This conversation does not stop today. We continue this conversation. We continue to build this movement ... I invite people who are not necessarily happy today to open up your hearts. Look at the beauty in this rotunda. How can this be anything but good?"

DALLAS -- The man in the cowboy hat seen handcuffed to Lee Harvey Oswald in the iconic photo of Oswald being shot by Jack Ruby was honored Tuesday for his decades of service to the Dallas police force and community. Detective Jim Leavelle, who is 92 and long-retired, was given the Police Commendation Award during a ceremony at the department's headquarters. Police Chief David Brown also announced that the department's Detective of the Year Award will now carry Leavelle's name. "My years with the police department, I enjoyed every one of them," Leavelle told those who came to honor him. Leavelle joined the police force in April 1950 and retired from active service in April 1975. He was among the lead detectives assigned to investigate the Nov. 22, 1963, assassination of President John F. Kennedy. When accepting the honor, Leavelle said he was thinking of other deserving officers, including Officer J.D. Tippit, who was shot and killed by Oswald. In brief comments after the presentation, Leavelle said that when he saw an armed Jack Ruby approach in the basement of Dallas police headquarters, he tried unsuccessfully to jerk Oswald behind him to shield him from harm. "Him being real close all I did was turn his body so instead of the bullet hitting him dead center it hit about 3 or 4 inches to the left of the navel," Leavelle said. The iconic photo that captured the attack won a Pulitzer Prize. "You don't stop and think," Leavelle said. "You have to react." While Leavelle conceded that retelling the story can "occasionally" get "a little monotonous," he said he thinks it's been an important story to tell over the years from his first-person perspective. He said he started telling the story when schoolchildren would ask. "I don't mind doing it because I know that the people asking it are interested," said Leavelle, who also survived the attack on Pearl Harbor.

* Welfare spending vital to bridging growing wealth gap - OECD * Rich-poor divided widened quickly after financial crisis PARIS, May 15 (Reuters) - A growing divide between rich and poor risks will yawn still wider if cash-strapped governments keep cutting back the welfare state, an industrialised nations' think-tank warned on Wednesday. Weighing into a debate on inequality in developed countries, the 33-nation Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said welfare spending had mitigated an increase in the wealth gap that emerged with the 2008-2009 financial crisis, but that was running out. Excluding social transfers and taxes, income inequality rose more in the three years to the end of 2010 than in the previous 12 years, a report by the Paris-based think-tank found. "As the economic and especially the jobs crisis persists and fiscal consolidation takes hold, there is a growing risk that the most vulnerable in society will be hit harder as the cost of the crisis increases," it said. The richest 10 percent of society in OECD countries pocketed 9.5 times as much market income as the poorest 10 percent in 2010, up from 9 times in 2007. The widest gap between rich and poor was found in Chile, Mexico, Turkey and the United States while Iceland, Slovenia, Norway and Denmark were the most egalitarian societies. "These worrying findings underline the need to protect the most vulnerable in society, especially as governments pursue the necessary task of bringing public spending under control," OECD head Angel Gurria said in a statement. He added that governments should not neglect fairness when they craft their policies, especially when they reform their tax systems. With many developed countries facing the pinch of austerity, economic inequality has become a hot topic especially after an ECB study last month found that households in many peripheral euro zone countries are on average wealthier than those in the bloc's core due to higher levels of home ownership. Long a staunch advocate of free-market reforms shunned by some left-wingers, the OECD has become an increasingly vocal supporter of the welfare state for its capacity to soften the blow of hard economic times. The study said the pain of the crisis was unevenly spread. Poorer households either lost more income from the recession or benefited less from recovery. Children and young people suffered more than the elderly, whose incomes were relatively immune. To read the report and access the data: www.oecd.org/els/social/inequality

The Truth-o-Meter says: False | Jason Chaffetz says Americans ready to save men 'getting killed' in Benghazi were told to stand down With Americans under attack in Benghazi, did the U.S. military do all it could to save lives? Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, says no. Four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, were killed in attacks that began Sept. 11, 2012, on U.S. compounds in Benghazi, Libya. Meanwhile, four special forces troops "willing to risk their lives to go save them" were "told to stand down," Chaffetz told Fox News host Sean Hannity. Did the U.S. fail to send life-saving help? Who knew what, when? Gregory Hicks was deputy chief of mission ... >> More

The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly False | Barack Obama says review of Benghazi attack "investigated every element" President Barack Obama has been facing tough questions from journalists about recent congressional hearings that addressed the Sept. 11, 2012, attack against a U.S. facility in Benghazi, Libya. The attack, which left four Americans dead, has led to months of criticism by members of Congress about how the administration handled the incident. During a joint appearance with British Prime Minister David Cameron on May 13, 2013, Obama said Benghazi is being politicized by some members of Congress. "The day after it happened, I acknowledged that this was an act of terrorism," Obama said. "And what I pledged ... >> More

David DesRosiers, Washington TimesWilliam J. Bennett and David Wilezol's "Is College Worth It?" asks and authoritatively answers one of life's biggest questions.The orthodox answer to the question, the authors write, is "Of course it is. Though the cost of attendance is ever increasing, those who go to college make more than those who don't. And while the job market is bad, it is worse for those without a college degree."Â 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Eric Holder says he's ordered a Justice Department investigation into the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups for extra tax scrutiny. He said the FBI was coordinating with the Department of Justice to see if any laws were broken. At a news conference Tuesday at the Justice Department, Holder called the practice, in his words, "Outrageous and unacceptable." Holder's comments come a day after President Barack Obama said that, if the agency intentionally targeted such groups, "that's outrageous and there's no place for it." Steven Miller, the IRS acting chief, has acknowledged "a lack of sensitivity" in the agency's screenings of political groups seeking tax-exempt status and insisted those mistakes won't be repeated.

Monday Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford said lawmakers will wait until next year to "address" House members' drastically low cost health care costs, which are over five times less than what other state workers pay. In the meantime, Florida representatives will continue to pay just $8.43 a month for individual coverage and $30 for a family, which is 17 percent of what other state workers pay, and 10 percent of the health cares costs of the average private-sector employee, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Only 12 House members of have opted out of the coverage, reports the Times. In contrast, the Florida Senate voted to increase their health care premiums to $50 a month for individual coverage and $180 for a family, saving taxpayers $47,000 a year, according to Action News. Monday Weatherford acknowledged the large discrepancy in an official statement: "We are aware of the differences in what House members pay compared to other state employees for health insurance and are looking forward to addressing it next session." In April the GOP-controlled House approved a limited health care bill that would provide health coverage to about 115,000, as reported by the Tampa tribune, by using $237 million in state funds to give recipients $2,000 a year to choose their own private insurance plans. Critics decried the plan's high deductibles that many needy families could not afford as well as the fact that the plan's $25 monthly premium was three times what House members pay themselves. Think Progress points out that under the proposed plan, qualifying families making $11,000 or less a year would be asked to spend $300 a year for health care premiums. Compare that to House members who receive a part-time salary of $30,000 and have to spend only $96 a year for individual coverage. Not only are most Florida representatives paying very little for state-subsidized health care, House members as well as state senators have also been approved for raises and bonuses next year. Meanwhile the House and Senate ended their 2013 legislative session without voting on Medicaid expansion, leaving over a million state residents without health insurance. Democrats are currently calling on Governor Rick Scott to hold a special session to address Medicaid expansion.

Many of you soon-to-be college graduates are determined to make the world a better place. Some of you are choosing careers in public service or joining nonprofits or volunteering in your communities. But many of you are cynical about politics. You see the system as inherently corrupt. You doubt real progress is possible. "What chance do we have against the Koch brothers and the other billionaires?" you've asked me. "How can we fight against Monsanto, Boeing, JP Morgan, and Bank of America? They buy elections. They run America." Let me remind you: Cynicism is a self-fulfilling prophesy. You have no chance if you assume you have no chance. "But it was different when you graduated," you say. "The sixties were a time of social progress." You don't know your history. When I graduated in 1968, the Vietnam War was raging. Over half a million American troops were already there. I didn't know if I'd be drafted. A member of my class who spoke at commencement said he was heading to Canada and urged us to join him. Two months before, Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated. America's cities were burning. Bobby Kennedy had just been gunned down. George ("segregation forever") Wallace was on his way to garnering 10 million votes and carrying five southern states. Richard Nixon was well on his way to becoming president. America was still mired in bigotry. I remember a classmate who was dating a black girl being spit on in a movie theater. The Supreme Court had only the year before struck down state laws against interracial marriage. My entire graduating class of almost 800 contained only six young black men and four Hispanics. I remember the girlfriend of another classmate almost dying from a back-alley abortion, because safe abortions were almost impossible to get. I remember a bright young woman law school graduate in tears because no law firm would hire her because she was a woman. I remember one of my classmates telling me in anguish that he was a homosexual, fearing he'd be discovered and his career ruined. The environmental movement had yet not been born. Two-thirds of America's waterways were unsafe for swimming or fishing because of industrial waste and sewage. I remember rivers so polluted they caught fire. When the Cuyahoga River went up in flames Time Magazine described it as the river that "oozes rather than flows," in which a person "does not drown but decays." In those days, universal health insurance was a pipe dream. It all seemed pretty hopeless. I assumed America was going to hell. And yet, reforms did occur. America changed. The changes didn't come easily. Every positive step was met with determined resistance. But we became better and stronger because we were determined to change. When I graduated college I would not have believed that in my lifetime women would gain rights over their own bodies, including the legal right to have an abortion. Or women would become chief executives of major corporations, secretaries of state, contenders for the presidency. Or they'd outnumber men in college. I would not have imagined that eleven states would allow gays and lesbians to marry, and a majority of Americans would support equal marriage rights. Or that the nation would have a large and growing black middle class. It would have seemed beyond possibility that a black man, the child of an interracial couple, would become President of the United States. I would not have predicted that the rate of college enrollment among Hispanics would exceed that of whites. Or that more than 80 percent of Americans would have health insurance, most of it through government. I wouldn't have foreseen that the Cuyahoga River -- the one that used to catch fire regularly -- would come to support 44 species of fish. And that over half our rivers and 70 percent of bays and estuaries would become safe for swimming and fishing. Or that some 200,000 premature deaths and 700,000 cases of chronic bronchitis would have been prevented because the air is cleaner. Or that the portion of children with elevated levels of lead in their blood would have dropped from 88 percent to just over 4 percent. I would not have believed our nation capable of so much positive change. Yet we achieved it. And we have just begun. Widening inequality, a shrinking middle class, global warming, the corruption of our democracy by big money - all of these, and more, must be addressed. To make progress on these -- and to prevent ourselves from slipping backwards -- will require no less steadfastness, intelligence, and patience than was necessitated before. The genius of America lies in its resilience and pragmatism. We believe in social progress because we were born into it. It is our national creed. Which is to say, I understand your cynicism. It looks pretty hopeless. But, believe me, it isn't. Not if you pitch in. ROBERT B. REICH, Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, was Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration. Time Magazine named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of the last century. He has written thirteen books, including the best sellers "Aftershock" and "The Work of Nations." His latest is an e-book, "Beyond Outrage," now available in paperback. He is also a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine and chairman of Common Cause.

Joan Walsh, SalonFirst things first: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton never said "Who cares?" about how four Americans died in Benghazi. Sen. John McCain either misspoke or flat-out lied about that on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday."Remember when she said, "˜well who cares how this happened,' in a rather emotional way?" McCain asked guest host Martha Raddatz. "A lot of people care." It's too bad Raddatz didn't tell the senator that no, she didn't remember that "“ because Clinton...

Elizabeth Warren does great email. One payoff of my pittance of a contribution to her grass-roots funded campaign -- I regret not contributing more -- is that I am regularly alerted by the new Massachusetts senator to the favoritism of our Congress toward Wall Street. That's how I was reminded this week that Congress is about to let the interest rate charged for new student loans double to 6.8 percent at a time when the too-big-to-fail banks that caused the Great Recession continue to be bailed out at the rate of 0.75 percent. Yes, the banks pay less than 1 percent for money that we the taxpayers lend them. I know that such statistics are thought to be boring, but as Warren explained, the rate that students will have to pay "is nine times higher than the rate at which the government loans money to the big banks." The student loan interest rate that had been temporarily cut in half back in 2007 was once again set to double, but instead of pushing for the status quo as Congress did last year, Warren has upped the ante with legislation that would cut the student loan rate way down to the near zero that the big banks enjoy. As Warren put it in her characteristically no bull style: "The federal government is profiting off loans to our young people while giving a far better deal to the same Wall Street banks that crashed our economy and destroyed millions of jobs. That's why I've introduced the Bank on Students Loan Fairness Act as my first bill in the Senate: To allow students to borrow money at the same rate as the biggest banks. ... Why should the big banks get a nearly-free ride while people trying to get an education pay nine times more?" Warren asked. "It isn't right." The justification of near zero rates of interest for the banks is that they will make loans available that will stoke the economy, but quite the opposite has happened. The banks have been slow to make housing and business loans while feathering their own nests with outsized executive bonuses and costly acquisitions of other financial institutions. In contrast, student loans amounting to more than $1 trillion exceed the total outstanding credit card debt in the U.S. and represent a major contributor to consumer purchasing power. Students actually spend their loan money on surviving as consumers in a tight economy, while learning skills needed for the economy of the future. On the other hand, the already too-big-to-fail banks have used the government's free money to become even more obscenely powerful. Then, too, the federal government's enormous subsidy to the banks extends far beyond the provision of low-interest money. The so-called quantitative easing program, now reaching into the trillions of dollars of government subsidy, continues at the astounding rate of $85 billion in Federal Reserve expenditures every month to take toxic assets off the books of the banks and to otherwise float the very financial institutions that, as Warren never tires of pointing out, caused the great meltdown of our economy. How astonishing to have a public servant who actually cares to inform the public about the inner workings of the system of crony capitalism that has wedded big government with big business. This comes at the expense of the free market that corporate lobbyists delight in invoking as an ideal while they subvert it as a reality. Those seeking to join Warren in taking a stand on behalf of students attempting to survive in an economy that the bankers have come close to destroying should get behind her bill. Unless Congress acts, student loan rates will automatically double in less than two months. They should also heed Warren's call to aid the campaign of Ed Markey to fill the other Senate seat from Massachusetts made available by the resignation of John Kerry to become secretary of state. As a long serving member of the House, Markey distinguished himself by being a leader in the battle against the radical deregulation of Wall Street. Markey, as early as 1992 when he was chairman of the House subcommittee on telecommunications and finance, sounded the alarm on the danger of the unregulated derivatives in housing mortgages and other collateralized debt obligations that ended up causing the Great Recession. It would be great if Massachusetts, the home of the real tea party revolt, could now elect a second senator with a powerfully informed record of serving the consumer interest. As Warren put it, "Ed will fight for accountability on Wall Street -- to end 'Too Big to Fail' and 'Too Big to Jail' once and for all." She could use Markey's help, and so could we.

When Angelenos go to the polls next week to choose the next mayor of Los Angeles, they also will be the largest electorate to vote on a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling. Proposition C is a ballot measure urging Congress to pass a constitutional amendment to overturn the 2010 Supreme Court Citizens United ruling, which says that restriction of political spending by corporations or labor unions violates free speech. The ballot measure states that there should be limits on political campaign spending and that "corporations should not have the constitutional rights of human beings." It instructs "Los Angeles elected officials and area legislative representatives to promote that policy through amendments to the United States Constitution." The campaign for the proposition is being led by political watchdog Common Cause, in partnership with the California Public Interest Research Group and the Money Out/Voters In Coalition. Common Cause began a campaign in November to get cities and states to pass ballot measures instructing Congress to support a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. So far, Montana, Colorado and more than 175 cities, including Chicago, San Francisco, and more than half the cities in Massachusetts, have passed such measures by a popular vote. The LA proposition has been endorsed by both mayoral candidates, Councilman Eric Garcetti and Controller Wendy Greuel; by the LA Coalition of Neighborhood Councils; and by dozens of organizations and elected officials. It received a "yes" endorsement from the LA Daily News and La Opinion. The Los Angeles Times, though critical of the Citizens United ruling, has encouraged a "no" vote on Prop C, saying the wording of the measure is "vague and question-begging." "Take the sweeping assertion that corporations 'do not have the constitutional rights of human beings.' Would that 'instruction' be limited to political speech, or would it also tell members of Congress that they should feel free to strip businesses of other protections, such as freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures and the right to due process in civil lawsuits?," the Times wrote. "What about media corporations? Would magazines and newspapers still have the right to endorse candidates?" David Burke, civil litigation attorney who has worked with the Money Out/Voters In Coalition in LA, said he thinks the Times is misguided. "The Times' concerns about curtailing corporate Fourth Amendment rights or limiting media organizations are fear-induced hypotheticals," Burke told HuffPost. "Laws limiting political spending have traditionally carved out exceptions for newspapers and other media organizations. Proposition C may not spell out every step on the road to getting big money out of politics, but it is absolutely a step in the right direction." Like the Times, Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California at Irvine School of Law, thinks the language of Prop C is too broad. While he does not think corporations should have free speech rights, he said to HuffPost, "Corporations clearly have -- and should have -- constitutional rights. Taking of property by the government, for example, triggers constitutional protections including from a corporation." Beyond just the wording, Chemerinsky opposes Prop C as a futile effort. "A constitutional amendment has zero chance of being passed and enacted," he said. "There are many things legislatures -- Congress, state legislatures, city councils -- could do to reduce the effects of Citizens United. I think the effort to amend the Constitution diverts focus and energy from the possible legislative changes." Over the past two years, 17 bills to pass a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United have been proposed by members of Congress. None have made it to the floor for a vote. The method by which all 27 U.S. constitutional amendments have been added in the past requires two-thirds approval in both the House and Senate and then approval by three-fourths of the states. "If you believe that corporations are people and that unlimited campaign spending is the same as free speech, then vote No on C," Derek Cressman, director of the Common Cause Campaign to Reverse Citizens United, told HuffPost. "This is voters best chance to send a strong message to Congress and the Supreme Court."

George Will, Washington Post"He has, acting personally and through his subordinates and agents, endeavored to ."‰."‰. cause, in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens, income tax audits or other income tax investigations to be initiated or conducted in a discriminatory manner.""” Article II, Section 1, Articles of Impeachment against Richard M. Nixon, adopted by the House Judiciary Committee, July 29, 1974The burglary occurred in 1972, the climax came in 1974, but 40 years ago this week "” May 17, 1973 "” the Senate...

Mollie Hemingway, USA TodayWhen President Barack Obama was asked about the murder trial of Philadelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, he said "I can't comment on it because it's an active trial."Now that a jury has found Gosnell guilty on three first-degree murder charges for infants he delivered before snipping their spinal cords, one involuntary manslaughter charge in the botched abortion death of Karnamaya Mongar, and 21 counts of illegal late-term abortions, we can find out what Obama thinks about the case and the country's abortion culture.

Michelle Goldberg, The Daily BeastThe conviction of Kermit Gosnell on three counts of first degree murder, one count of involuntary manslaughter, and hundreds of lesser charges should make it very clear that the horrors he committed in his squalid West Philadelphia clinic were illegal. This should be crushingly obvious, but it’s been ignored by the right-wing pundits who have tried to turn this deeply disturbing case into an argument against legal abortion.

The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly False | Jay Carney says Susan Rice didn't play down terrorist involvement in Benghazi Journalists peppered President Barack Obama’s press secretary, Jay Carney, with a series of tough questions about Benghazi at a White House press briefing on May 10, 2013.  The incident, in which four Americans were killed at two U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, was the topic at a congressional hearing on May 8. Members of Congress have criticized how the administration handled the Sept. 11, 2012, incident, both in the immediate aftermath and in the months since. One of the issues receiving the most attention is whether, or to what extent, Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice misled ... >> More