Rep. Jud McMillin, R-Brookville, speaks on a motion to fine absent Democrats at the Statehouse in Indianapolis, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012.

I couldn’t agree more that lawmakers across the country who want to issue drug testing on welfare recipients should be tested as well.  Having said that, I find it hilarious how quickly the Republican member of the Indiana General Assembly withdrew his bill when a Democrat amended the bill so that the legislators would be included in the testing…

The Huffington Post

A Republican member of the Indiana General Assembly withdrew his bill to create a pilot program for drug testing welfare applicants Friday after one of his Democratic colleagues amended the measure to require drug testing for lawmakers.

“There was an amendment offered today that required drug testing for legislators as well and it passed, which led me to have to then withdraw the bill,” said Rep. Jud McMillin (R-Brookville), sponsor of the original welfare drug testing bill .

The Supreme Court ruled drug testing for political candidates unconstitutional in 1997, striking down a Georgia law . McMillin said he withdrew his bill so he could reintroduce it on Monday with a lawmaker drug testing provision that would pass constitutional muster.

“I’ve only withdrawn it temporarily,” he told HuffPost, stressing he carefully crafted his original bill so that it could survive a legal challenge. Last year a federal judge, citing the Constitution’s ban on unreasonable search and seizure, struck down a Florida law that required blanket drug testing of everyone who applied for welfare.

McMillin’s bill would overcome constitutional problems, he said, by setting up a tiered screening scheme in which people can opt-out of random testing. Those who decline random tests would only be screened if they arouse “reasonable suspicion,” either by their demeanor, by being convicted of a crime, or by missing appointments required by the welfare office.

In the past year Republican lawmakers have pursued welfare drug testing in more than 30 states and in Congress, and some bills have even targeted people who claim unemployment insurance and food stamps, despite scanty evidence the poor and jobless are disproportionately on drugs. Democrats in several states have countered with bills to require drug testing elected officials . Indiana state Rep. Ryan Dvorak (D-South Bend) introduced just such an amendment on Friday.

“After it passed, Rep. McMillin got pretty upset and pulled his bill,” Dvorak said. “If anything, I think it points out some of the hypocrisy. … If we’re going to impose standards on drug testing, then it should apply to everybody who receives government money.”

Continued here…

Related articles

• Georgia Republican Favoring Welfare Recipient Drug Testing Arrested For DUI (alan.com)
• Random Drug Testing Bills Moving Through House, Senate (miami.cbslocal.com)
• Ala. Lawmakers Propose Drug Tests for Welfare (addictionts.com)
• Virginia Legislature Latest To Advance Drug Testing The Poor And Unemployed (kaystreet.wordpress.com)
• Perry Joins Gingrich In Desire To Drug-Test Federal Aid Recipients: ‘I Don’t Have A Problem In The World With That’ (thinkprogress.org)
• Hypocrisy alert: Georgia lawmaker who sponsored welfare drug testing bill busted for DUI (talesfromthelou.wordpress.com)
• State Rep Who Backed Drug Testing For Welfare Recipients Arrested For DUI (huffingtonpost.com)

This week, the President prepared for and delivered his State of the Union Address, welcomed the Boston Bruins to the White House, and took his message West to Iowa, Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado.

The week’s top quotes in politics …

“We could see an October surprise a day from Newt Gingrich.” — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney taking aim at Newt Gingrich

“It used to be pious baloney, now it’s desperate baloney.” — GOP White House hopeful Newt Gingrich‘s new nickname for Romney’s rhetoric.

“…well, you kind of get your panties in a wad, and you may say things that you regret later.” — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin advising Chris Christie.

“He didn’t feel that I had treated him cordially.” — Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer talking about a tense encounter with President Obama.

“Seems a little bit like I was being detained.” — Sen. Rand Paul discussing his run-in with airport security. (TSA disputed that Paul was “detained.”)

“It reminded me a little of Saturday Night Live, I guess.” — RNC chairman Reince Priebus reacting to Obama’s State of the Union address.

“Eagles… next year. Love Brady, think @Giants.” — Vice President Joe Biden tweeting about who will win the Super Bowl.

Daily Kos

This article appeared on Yahoo today via livescience.com, which draws a link between low-intelligence and socially conservative ideologies.  I guess in my mind I pretty much already knew this fact as well as most of you out there, but it is nice to have some science to back up that claim.

See this link to the full article at LiveScience.

http://www.livescience.com/…

or at Yahoo

http://news.yahoo.com/… 

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Did anyone ever doubt that Ron Paul was lying when he said he never signed off on those racist newsletters?

The Raw Story

Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul has consistently denied having written — or even read — the inflammatory racist and anti-gay remarks that went out under his name in newsletters he published in the early 1990s. Although numerous associates agree that Paul does not hold racist views, however, it appears that he may have known more about the racist articles than he has been willing to admit.

The Washington Post reported  on Friday that three people with first-hand knowledge of Paul’s operations say “he was deeply involved in the company that produced the newsletters, Ron Paul & Associates, and closely monitored its operations, signing off on articles and speaking to staff members virtually every day.”

“It was his newsletter, and it was under his name, so he always got to see the final product. … He would proof it,’’ former company secretary Renae Hathway told the Post.

According to these sources, the main author of the racist passages was Lew Rockwell, who was then the vice president of Paul’s company.

The Post also details how closely entangled Paul’s political career, his business ventures, and members of his own family were during those years. According to one source, who chose to remain anonymous, Paul and his associates made a deliberate choice in the late 1980s to increase sales of the newsletter by making it more provocative.

“It was playing on a growing racial tension, economic tension, fear of government,’’ the source stated “I’m not saying Ron believed this stuff. It was good copy. Ron Paul is a shrewd businessman.’’

Cato Institute President Ed Crane, who frequently lunched with Paul during this period, similarly told the paper that when the two of them discussed how to increase the circulation of Paul’s newsletters, they agreed that “people who have extreme views” were most likely to respond. Paul told Crane his best response had come when he used a mailing list from the racist and anti-Semitic newspaper, Spotlight.

If that was the strategy, it apparently worked. According to the Post, political disclosure forms show that between 1984 and 1995, Paul went from being up to $765,000 in debt to having a net worth of up to $3.3 million.

A Paul spokesperson contacted by the Post for comment expressed doubt about the assertions made by Crane and the other sources.

Related articles

• Paul Approved Racist Newsletters (politicalwire.com)
• Associates: Ron Paul Proofed, Signed Off On Newsletters (minx.cc)
• “It was his newsletter, and it was under his name, so he always got to see the final product. … He…” (shortformblog.tumblr.com)
• The Racist Newsletters Return To Haunt Ron Paul (kaystreet.wordpress.com)
• Ron Paul was heavily in involved in racist newsletters, associates say (thegrio.com)

Wow are they saying that AZ Governor Brewer is lying?  Uh, in a word…yes!

TPM Muckraker

Out of the three officials who met President Obama on an airport tarmac near Phoenix earlier this week, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) is now the only one who has characterized the president as anything other than cordial.

In numerous TV and radio interviews since the meeting, Brewer has said the president was “tense to say the least” and took issue with a book she wrote last year. She said Obama walked away from her while she was in mid-sentence and even told one Phoenix television station she felt “a little bit threatened” by the encounter.

But Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, who was standing just feet away from the president and the governor on Wednesday during their now-infamous encounter, told TPM that Obama seemed calm the whole time.

“He wasn’t tense at all,” Stanton said on Friday. “The guy’s a pro.”

Though Stanton declined to discuss exactly what the governor and president said to each other, he said Obama’s classic coolness was evident.

“He doesn’t get animated, but he looks you in the eye and tells you what he thinks,” Stanton said. “And I think that’s honestly what he did is he looked the governor in the eye and spoke and told her what he was really feeling.”

Stanton, a Democrat, is now the second elected Arizona official whose account of the incident contradicts the way Brewer has described it.

Continued here…

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• Mesa Mayor Contradicts Brewer Account Of Obama Meeting (alan.com)
• Obama on beef with Brewer: ‘Blown out of proportion’ (thegrio.com)
• Obama Doesn’t Have Time for Jan Brewer’s Shit, But Don’t Tell Her That [Politics] (jezebel.com)
• Obama: Tarmac Spat No Big Deal (foxnews.com)
• McCain says Obama has ‘prickly personality’ (seattlepi.com)
• Obama: Brewer chat “not a big deal” (cbsnews.com)

It was the last debate before the Florida primary on Jan. 31 the candidates fought to maintain a sunny disposition befitting the Sunshine State. They also fought to hold a sunny disposition about Latino immigrants… about whom some of them had been – well – let’s just say they’d been “less enthusiastic” in states where there are drastically fewer Hispanic Republicans. Indeed, it suddenly seems that if there’s one thing all the candidates agree on, it’s that grandmas are awesome, no matter where…

Related articles

• Republicans Fight For The Latino Vote (npr.org)
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• The Sunshine states showdown means the stakes couldn’t be higher ahead of CNN debate (worldviewtonight.wordpress.com)