From: "Erick Erickson" <MorningBriefing@email.redstate.com>
Date: June 28, 2012 5:06:03 AM EDT
To: vacuvo@yahoo.com
Subject: Judgment Day
Reply-To: "Erick Erickson" <info@info.redstate.com>
RedState Morning Briefing
For June 28, 2012
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Today is the day the Obamacare decision will come out.
It should happen after 10 o'clock eastern time this morning.
Come by RedState and we will be live streaming the award winning Coffee & Markets podcast with live coverage of the decision and its implications.
At 1pm ET on WSB Radio, the nation's most listened to talk radio station, I'll be hosting a two hour radio special about the ruling. Guests will include Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens and Karen Harned, Executive Director of the NFIB's legal center. The NFIB is a lead plaintiffs in the case.
You can listen live online on the WSB live stream and call in at 1-800-WSB-TALK.
I'll be back on WSB from 6pm to 8pm tonight, still talking about the case. Additionally, I'll be on Erin Burnett's show on CNN at the top of the 7pm ET hour.
Throughout the day here at RedState we will have continuing coverage and analysis regardless of how the decision goes.
As for my personal prediction, I think our black robed masters in false Solomonic form will split the baby.
-- Erick
1. The Stupid Party Expands Government Again
2. Hey reporters, why not step away from the left-wing talking points for just a minute
3. Ezra Klein's Magical Mystery Meme Machine
4. Double Capitulation Alert: Say No to Highway and Student Loan Bills
5. The Simple Lesson of John Sullivan's Defeat in OK-1
6. 57 Members Sign Anti-Earmark Letter
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1. The Stupid Party Expands Government Again
House and Senate Republican leaders, collectively the Stupid Party, are yet again set to expand government, government spending, and engage in Keynesian economic policies they've criticized Barack Obama for.
Somewhat wisely, they are releasing all this as the Supreme Court releases its Obamacare decision so no one will pay attention. Ironically, as we wait to see if the Supreme Court gives Congress plenary power through the Commerce Clause, Congressional Republicans are feeding the Leviathan on their own.
Republicans and Democrats have agreed to a massive increase in federal gluttony with a highway bill. The Republicans decided to drop demands for approving the Keystone XL pipeline and demands that the EPA stop its ridiculous regulations on coal plants that will harm our energy future. In exchange, Democrats will not fund bike paths and highway landscaping.
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2. Hey reporters, why not step away from the left-wing talking points for just a minute
Many of the up and coming members of the Gang of 500 in Washington, DC — those reporters and pundits who help shape and cover inside the beltway conventional wisdom — lean left of center. In so doing, they are sympathetic to the talking points of the left.
I'm sure for the last 72 hours, in the run up to the Obamacare decision, many reporters have been meditating over the talking points from Center for American Progress and the Obama campaign.
The basic talking point goes like this: the five Justices of the Supreme Court have usurped democracy because everybody that's anybody knows the individual mandate is constitutional.
We won't know until later today what the Court decides. What we do know is that the left's last minute spin willfully chooses to ignore a few points that reporters, if they are competent, should notice.
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3. Ezra Klein's Magical Mystery Meme Machine
In the supposedly reality based community, reality is a construction of intricately woven dung huts sheltering left-wing tropes as fact. "Memes," as the kids these days call them, get started here. They are the thoughts that affect the presuppositions people make when weighing in on the news of the day.
According to Ezra Klein, first in the New Yorker and now in the Washington Post, if the Supreme Court throws out the individual mandate it will be because "[o]ver the past two years, the Republican Party has slowly been building a permission structure for the five Republicans on the Supreme Court to feel comfortable doing something nobody thought they could do: Violate the existing understanding of the Commerce Clause and, in perhaps the most significant moment of judicial activism since the New Deal, overturn either all or part of the Affordable Care Act."
A permission structure.
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4. Double Capitulation Alert: Say No to Highway and Student Loan Bills
While everyone is wait
ST. GEORGE ISLAND, Fla. (AP) – Debby was expected to head out into the Atlantic on Wednesday, but forecasters warn that the weakened storm still posed a flooding and tornado threat even if it doesn't pack the same punch.
Find your local weather with The Weather Channel zip-code lookup:
The National Hurricane Center downgraded Debby from a tropical storm to a tropical depression Tuesday night as it slogged across northern Florida toward the Atlantic coast. Debby's maximum sustained winds early Wednesday were near 35 mph.
But forecasters said a combination of storm surge and tide could bring flooding to coastal areas that have already been drenched by the storm that sat virtually motionless in the Gulf of Mexico for several days.
There was already major flooding at Black Creek, as well as several other rivers in the Jacksonville region, National Weather Service meteorologist Angie Enyedi said. She said tornadoes could form to the east and the southeast of the storm.
The hurricane center said early Wednesday that Debby was 25 miles southeast of St. Augustine, Fla., and moving east-northeast at about 10 mph. The storm was expected to head out to sea later in the day.
But many in Debby's path were still recovering from flooding that damaged homes, washed out roads, opened up sinkholes and closed a section of Interstate 10 — the state's main east-west highway.
Vacationers were wearing ponchos instead of swimsuits at the peak of the summer season because of the tropical storm, which has drenched Florida for at least four days straight like a giant shower head set up over the state's Gulf Coast. Debby has dumped as much as 26 inches of rain in some spots.
Disney World wasn't as crowded as usual, and one of its water parks closed because of the soggy, windy weather.
Along the Florida Panhandle, the parking lot at the 100-room Buccaneer Inn was empty because of a power outage ahead of the usually big pre-July Fourth weekend.
"We've had bad luck on this island," said the inn's vice president, JoAnn Shiver. "We've had Dennis. We've had Katrina. We had the oil spill."
In a state where the biggest attractions are the sand and the sun, Debby forced many to make other plans.
Douglas and Carolyn Green of Nashville were supposed to spend a week on St. George Island with three generations of family, but arrived to find the electricity was out and the bridge closed to non-residents for fear of looters. They spent Monday night in nearby Apalachicola, and then all nine relatives headed to Fort Walton Beach.
"We never saw the island," said Douglas Green. "We're moving on. Plan B, I guess you'd call it."
Debby finally blew ashore Tuesday afternoon near Steinhatchee in the Big Bend area, the crook of Florida's elbow. At that point, it had sustained winds near 40 mph — barely a tropical storm — hours before it was downgraded.
Several areas in northern Florida have received more than 10 inches of rain. Forecasters had said southeastern Georgia could expect the same, but that risk was reduced when the storm turned eastward Tuesday night. Wakulla, an area in northwestern Florida known for camping and canoeing, had gotten more than 26 inches as of Tuesday.
A woman was killed in a tornado spun off from the storm Sunday, and a man disappeared in the rough surf over the weekend in Alabama. The storm knocked out power to 250,000 homes and business starting last weekend, but electricity had been restored to all but about 15,000 Progress Energy customers by midday Tuesday. Debby has caused mostly scattered flooding and opened up sinkholes, but forecasters warned it could get worse.
"Even though the winds are coming down, the rain threat continues," said James Franklin at the hurricane center. "We expect another 4 to 8 inches, in some of these areas up in north Florida, in particular."
President Barack Obama called Florida Gov. Rick Scott and promised the state will have "no unmet needs" as it deals with the flooding, White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
In New Port Richey, a suburb about 30 miles north of Tampa, most of the 170-plus elevated homes at the Suncoast Gateway park for retirees had water underneath them. Several dozen homeowners decided to stay, despite having no electricity or tap water.
Some of those who left returned by kayak to collect their belongings.
Luisa Santoro decided to flee Tuesday. Wearing rubber boots, she returned briefly to get her cat.
"My cat is atop the furniture," she said in Spanish, adding that her home was dry but that she feared a swollen retention pond nearby would rise further.
Portions of Interstate 10, the main east-west highway across northern Florida, were shut down because of flooding.
WJXT-TV was reporting that as of 9 p.m. Tuesday, a 50-mile stretch of the interstate remained closed between U.S. 90 and the Interstate 75 interchange.
Meanwhile, authorities reopened the Sunshine Skyway Bridge near St. Petersburg early Wednesday, more than two days after it was closed due to high winds.
In Apalachicola, the hugely popular Boss Oyster restaurant was closed for the third day in a row Tuesday after the rain overwhelmed the sewers and knocked out drinking water.
"We've taken a hit," said manager Matthew Bouzemann, adding that normally up to 800 customers a day would be coming in for the oysters.
In the Panama City Beach area, there was no exodus of tourists, said Jennifer Jenkins, executive director for the Gulf County tourism council. But it wasn't business as usual.
"I think most people went to the grocery store, maybe bought some board games and just decided to hang out till it's over," she said.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Accused Manhattan madam Anna Gristina, a suburban mother of four who prosecutors say ran a highly profitable brothel out of a Manhattan apartment, was released on bail late Tuesday after four months in jail.
Gristina, 44, walked out of Manhattan criminal court around 9 p.m. and stepped into a car driven by her husband and carrying one of her children. She made no comment.
Her attorney, Norman Pattis, the ninth defense lawyer to appear in connection with the case, said a bond package had been approved by prosecutors. Gristina's bail bondsman, Ira Judelson, had said she should be let out on a $250,000 bond.
The Manhattan District Attorney's office declined to comment.
Gristina previously rejected an offer from one of her earlier attorneys to put up his Manhattan apartment as collateral for her bond, preferring to remain in a Rikers Island jail while her family worked to come up with enough cash to secure her release.
The case has captured the attention of the New York tabloids, which have dubbed Gristina the "Soccer Mom Madam" and the "Hockey Mom Madam." Prosecutors charged her with a single count of promoting prostitution after a five-year investigation involving surveillance and wiretaps. She has pleaded not guilty.
Earlier this month, an appeals court lowered her bail from $2 million to $250,000 and required her to wear an ankle monitor, saying her charge did not justify such a high bond.
(Editing by Paul Thomasch and Xavier Briand)
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Surviving one of the toughest re-election fights of his career, Representative Charles B. Rangel fended off four challengers on Tuesday to win the Democratic nomination for a 22nd term in Congress.
"I'm just glad that my community has faith and confidence in me," Mr. Rangel told reporters shortly before declaring victory at Sylvia's, the famed Harlem restaurant.
Mr. Rangel's victory capped a gripping campaign for a Congressional seat that for decades has been at the center of black political power — and preserved a career in Washington that had been threatened by ethics troubles and changing demographics.
Mr. Rangel was censured in 2010 after the House Ethics Committee found him guilty of 11 counts of ethical violations, including failure to pay taxes, improper solicitation of donations and failure to report his personal income accurately.
And because of the decennial redistricting process, Mr. Rangel, who turned 82 this month and had been slowed by back problems, was forced to run in a district that had been extended from Harlem into the Bronx, giving its population a Hispanic majority.
But Mr. Rangel, who was first elected to Congress in 1970, waged a campaign focused on his legislative seniority. And he stressed the backing of many elected officials, suggesting that New York's political establishment was not ready to usher him from office.
At Sylvia's, a sign described the congressman as "The Lion of Lenox Avenue." Assemblyman Keith L. T. Wright, a co-chairman of the state Democratic Party, predicted that Mr. Rangel would serve indefinitely in Congress, saying, "Charlie Rangel might be the Strom Thurmond of Harlem."
"No one has been through the fire more so than our congressperson," Mr. Wright said, "and we in the district have sent him back because we have faith in him, and that he has our interests in mind, and quite frankly he's one of us."
Mr. Rangel took the stage looking emotional, and sounded a note of damaged pride and fierce determination. He said of his critics, "If they didn't think after 42 years that I was the best qualified, I promise them that in the next two years they'll have no question about the fact that we elected the best."
Yvonne Carr, 61, of West Harlem, was among Mr. Rangel's supporters. "Sometimes other people throw their hat into the ring, and they haven't really been out here in this community for a long time," Ms. Carr said Tuesday morning. "I know he is elderly, but he's been here."
Mr. Rangel's top challenger, State Senator Adriano Espaillat, would have been the first Dominican-born congressman had he defeated Mr. Rangel and won the November election. But his challenge was encumbered in part by the presence of three other candidates, including Clyde Williams, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton, and Joyce Johnson, a former local Democratic district leader.
At a restaurant in Washington Heights, as Latin music played in the background, Mr. Espaillat's supporters huddled around a laptop as early returns showed their candidate in the lead. But as the night went on, the laptop was put away, and a lone supporter yelled an expletive when the Spanish-language television network Univision flashed the results.
Mr. Espaillat acknowledged defeat, saying, "We came in slightly short this time," but he said, "The summer of 2012 will always be remembered as the summer when northern Manhattan came together." He pledged to work with Mr. Rangel, saying, "We will be working with him to make sure the community gets what it deserves to get."
Mr. Rangel's fight for his party's nomination, in New York's 13th District, was the most closely watched of several competitive primaries as redistricting and retirements created the opportunity for change in the city's Congressional delegation.
In Brooklyn, Assemblyman Hakeem S. Jeffries defeated City Councilman Charles Barron in an unexpectedly hard-fought Democratic primary that drew national attention because of Mr. Barron's history of incendiary language — the councilman has described Muammar el-Qaddafi as his "hero," called Thomas Jefferson a pedophile and once likened Gaza to a "concentration death camp." But the Democratic establishment rallied to Mr. Jeffries, a lawyer and prodigious fund-raiser, who promised a more collaborative approach to legislating.
Reporting was contributed by Joseph Berger, David W. Chen, Aaron Edwards, John Eligon, Michael M. Grynbaum, Raymond Hernandez, Eric P. Newcomer, Kate Taylor, Sarah Wheaton and Vivian Yee.
(Page 2 of 2)
"I think Barron's a hatemonger," one voter, Barbara Haws, said Tuesday morning at a polling place at Brooklyn Technical High School in Fort Greene. "We don't need any more of that."
Another voter, Joe Pressley, said, "I need someone in office who's going to be a bridge builder, and that's Hakeem."
If elected in November as expected, Mr. Jeffries would succeed Representative Edolphus Towns, who is retiring.
Mr. Barron and a handful of supporters gathered Tuesday night at Sistas' Place in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Mr. Barron blamed the Democratic establishment, Wall Street and "the white media" for his defeat. He ridiculed Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a fellow Democrat, for making robocalls on behalf of Mr. Jeffries, and criticized Mr. Jeffries for not telling critics of Mr. Barron, "Don't do that to another black man."
Mr. Jeffries gathered with hundreds of supporters at Sanders Studio in Brooklyn, and spoke of the importance of unity, saying, "We still have a long way to go with racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia."
"I'm going down to Washington to stand up for our children, to stand up for job creation, to stand up for civil rights, to stand up for senior citizens, and to stand up for our president, Barack Obama," he said.
In Queens, Assemblywoman Grace Meng claimed victory in a four-way Democratic primary for an open House seat created by the retirement of Representative Gary L. Ackerman. Ms. Meng will face City Councilman Daniel J. Halloran in November; she was favored to win because the district is mostly Democratic, and, if she were elected, she would be the first Asian-American member of the New York Congressional delegation.
Nydia M. Velázquez, a 10-term incumbent in Congress whose district includes portions of Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens, successfully fended off a spirited challenge from City Councilman Erik M. Dilan, who was backed by the county Democratic machine in Brooklyn.
In the lone statewide primary, Republicans nominated Wendy E. Long, a Manhattan lawyer who is backed by the state's Conservative Party, to run against Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, a Democrat who is favored to win re-election in November. In winning the three-way Republican primary, Ms. Long effectively ended the short-lived career of Representative Bob Turner, a Republican from Breezy Point, Queens, who stunned the political establishment last year when he won a special election to succeed Anthony D. Weiner, a Democrat, in a heavily Democratic district in Brooklyn and Queens.
The primaries on Tuesday were challenging, for candidates and voters, because they defied the state's usual political calendar. For decades, the state's Congressional primary has been in September, but this year, a federal court ordered it moved to June to ensure that military voters had enough time to submit absentee ballots for the general election.
The reconfigured district boundaries meant that some voters went to polling places only to find out that their Congressional district had changed. Others did not know there was an election.
"I think most people had no idea what's going on," Stanley Greenberg, who voted for Mr. Jeffries, said in an interview at a polling place in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn.
Anticipating low turnout, campaigns were aggressive about trying to reach voters, and some voters reported being inundated with mailings and phone calls.
"The number of phone calls I got from the Jeffries campaign was unbelievable," said Diane Wachtell, who said she was greeted by three Jeffries volunteers on her way to vote at P.S. 261 in Boerum Hill.
At Dr. Sun Yat Sen Middle School in Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood, one voter, Craig Marsden, said he was prompted to vote by about eight phone calls from campaigns, including one recorded message from Mr. Clinton endorsing Ms. Velázquez. "I didn't know so much was at stake," Mr. Marsden said.
« Previous PageReporting was contributed by Joseph Berger, David W. Chen, Aaron Edwards, John Eligon, Michael M. Grynbaum, Raymond Hernandez, Eric P. Newcomer, Kate Taylor, Sarah Wheaton and Vivian Yee.
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BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) -- Queen Elizabeth II and a former Irish Republican Army commander offered each other the hand of peace Wednesday in a long-awaited encounter symbolizing Northern Ireland's progress in achieving reconciliation after decades of violence.
The monarch and Martin McGuinness met privately inside Belfast's riverside Lyric Theatre during a cross-community arts event featuring many of Northern Ireland's top musicians, poets and artists. Media were barred from seeing their first handshake, but the two shook hands again a half-hour later for a TV camera and two photographers.
Underlying the sensitivity of the occasion, no live footage or sound was permitted to be broadcast. Outside, flak-jacketed police shut down all roads surrounding the theater and told residents to stay inside their homes.
The first soundless TV footage showed a serious-faced McGuinness walking, hands behind his back, behind the queen as she met poet Michael Longley and pianist Barry Douglas in front of newly painted portraits of them and other Belfast artists. Also in the group was McGuinness' Protestant colleague atop Northern Ireland's unity government, Peter Robinson; the head of state of the Republic of Ireland, President Michael D. Higgins; and the queen's husband, Prince Philip.
Then, more delayed footage showed McGuinness and Robinson standing first in line to shake the queen's hand, then Philip's. McGuinness and Elizabeth exchanged smiles and brief pleasantries.
McGuinness said he told the queen, in Gaelic, "Goodbye and godspeed," and translated the phrase for her. She didn't appear to say anything, just smiled and listened.
The event marked the latest, perhaps ultimate, moment in two decades of Northern Ireland peacemaking that have delivered a series of once-unthinkable moments of compromise.
Experts say McGuinness, 62, was the IRA's chief of staff when the outlawed group assassinated the queen's cousin, Lord Louis Mountbatten, in 1979, one of the most high-profile victims of a four-decade conflict that has claimed 3,700 lives.
The IRA formally abandoned its campaign to force Northern Ireland out of the United Kingdom and disarmed in 2005. Two years later, McGuinness became the senior Catholic politician in a new unity government, the central objective of Northern Ireland's 1998 peace accord. His coalition with Robinson has governed Northern Ireland in cooperation with Britain in surprising harmony since.
McGuinness' Irish nationalist party, Sinn Fein, had refused all contact with British royals until Wednesday. Its leaders were heavily criticized last year for boycotting the queen's first-ever state visit to the Republic of Ireland, a widely celebrated event that demonstrated overwhelming Irish desire for strong relations with Britain.
The queen came to Belfast on Wednesday as part of U.K.-wide celebrations of her 60th year on the throne. She is scheduled later in the day to see the city's new Titanic exhibition and attend an open-air party involving more than 20,000 locals at Stormont, the hilltop base for Northern Ireland's power-sharing government.
IRA die-hards opposed to the group's 2005 decision to renounce violence and disarm sought to express their disapproval of the queen's visit before she arrived.
Police said nine officers were injured, none seriously, during overnight rioting on the edge of Catholic west Belfast. They said a crowd of about 100 teens and young men bombarded police units with 21 petrol bombs and other makeshift weapons. No arrests were reported, though police cameras videotaped the masked, hooded attackers in hopes of identifying them later.
And in a separate confrontation Tuesday night, one Catholic man was hospitalized after rival Protestant and Catholic groups clashed on the hilltop overlooking Catholic west Belfast. The Protestants were trying to vandalize a massive political display erected by the Catholics featuring an Irish flag and a slogan rejecting the queen.
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EUGENE, Oregon (Reuters) - Women's sprinters Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh are already on the American team for the London Games even though their controversial tie in the 100 meters trial has not been resolved, United States coach Amy Deem said on Tuesday.
"The first four names (in the 4x100m relay pool) have to be your top four finishers at the championships," the women's Olympic coach told reporters, naming 100m winner Carmelita Jeter, runner-up Tianna Madison, Felix and Tarmoh as automatic selections for the six-member relay pool.
Felix and Tarmoh finished in a dead heat for third and face a run-off or a coin flip to decide who takes the final individual 100 spot on the U.S. team.
"But the result of the 100 meters will not affect the relay pool at all," Deem said.
The final two relay pool spots will be chosen after the trials end on Sunday and will likely go to athletes who have not made the team in individual events, she said.
Felix and Tarmoh have until Sunday to either participate in a runoff or coin flip unless one of them withdraws from the 100.
"I think all of us need to take a step back and let these young women focus on the 200, make the team and then everybody sit down and we go from there," Deem said.
All four 100m finalists have entered in the 200, for which qualifying starts on Thursday. The final is on Saturday.
At the halfway point of the trials, Deem, along with men's Olympic coach Andrew Valmon, said the United States would bring a strong team to London but both shied away from predicting it would meet the 30 medals goal that USA Track and Field executives have set for the Games.
"We had a couple of mishaps here and there but we had some surprises," Valmon said.
Valmon was particularly impressed by Ashton Eaton's decathlon world record and 2012 world-leading performances by LaShawn Merritt in the 400 and Reese Hoffa in the shot put.
He also praised Justin Gatlin and Tyson Gay's 1-2 finish in the 100.
"There are a lot of opportunities to get those 30 medals," Valmon, a two-times Olympic 4x400 relay gold medalist said.
"I think the big thing is reclaiming the sub-45 seconds," Valmon said of 400m contenders Merrett, Tony McQuay and Bryshon Nellum.
"For years we have been a dominant nation, and we have got the three guys who are 44-second quarter-milers and they are going to go out there and compete for medals. And they are young."
The three will afford the U.S. another chance for gold in the 4x400 relay, even though former Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner failed to make the team.
Josh Mance and Manteo Mitchell, who also ran under 45 seconds in the final but finished out of the top three, will have a chance to run in the relay.
Deem was pleased with Olympic discus champion Stephanie Brown Trafton's performance at the trials and that of former world 400 champion Sanya Richards-Ross.
Brown Trafton's victory in the rain was not a personal best, but a timely confidence boost, while Richards-Ross, the year's fastest in the 200 and 400, was running as well as she ever had, Deem said.
"We have a great group of women who have been there, have experience," the coach said. "And I think that is really going to help us in the medal count."
(Editing by Ian Ransom)
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Nearly two decades before Matt Sandusky's blockbuster allegation that he was sexually abused by his adoptive father, his biological mother raised questions about their relationship.
Debra Long fought the court system over her son's placement in the home of the famed Penn State assistant football coach, who was convicted Friday of sexually abusing 10 boys.
Her objections, which she discussed in a December interview with The Associated Press, add a new dimension to the grim trial testimony that illustrated how Sandusky wooed the victims he culled from his charity for at-risk youth.
Prosecutors said Sandusky used gifts, trips and access to Penn State's vaunted football program to attract and abuse vulnerable boys he met through the charity, The Second Mile.
"If they'd have listened, these boys didn't have to be abused," Long said. "They would have found the problem back then, and a whole lot of kids wouldn't be victims now."
Instead, she said, "we couldn't get anything done. It was Jerry Sandusky. He started The Second Mile home. He could've done nothing wrong."
Matt Sandusky said that Jerry Sandusky, once Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno's heir apparent, began sexually abusing him in the late 1980s, when he was 8 years old, and continued until he was 15, according to a police interview recording that NBC aired Tuesday.
He was placed in foster care with the Sandusky family in January 1995, about a month after he set fire to a barn and several months after Long tried to cut him off from Sandusky and The Second Mile.
Matt Sandusky, who was adopted after he turned 18, described for investigators showering with the ex-coach and trying to avoid being groped in bed, according to the police recording. He said he was undergoing therapy, that his memories of abuse were only now surfacing and that he was coming forward so his family would know what happened.
His attorneys confirmed the recording's authenticity to the AP, but declined to comment beyond a statement.
"Although the tape was released without Matt's knowledge or permission, it illustrates that he made the difficult decision to come forward and tell the painful truth to investigators despite extraordinary pressure to support his father," the lawyers, Justine Andronici and Andrew Shubin, wrote in the statement.
Jerry Sandusky hasn't been charged with abusing his son. Unless Matt Sandusky alleges rape, which he didn't do in the police recording, the ex-coach cannot be charged criminally based on his son's accusations, because of the statute of limitations.
In the December interview with the AP, Long said that Sandusky was pushy, was controlling and estranged Matt from his birth family — but that Centre County's court system ignored her concerns because of Sandusky's stature.
Long did not return several messages left for her on Monday and Tuesday.
Records provided to AP by Long in December show that after Matt Sandusky attempted suicide in 1996, his probation officer wrote, "The probation department has some serious concerns about the juvenile's safety and his current progress in placement with the Sandusky family."
Despite those concerns, probation and child welfare officials recommended continued placement with the Sandusky family, and the judge overseeing his case agreed.
Centre County President Judge Thomas Kistler, who joined the bench in 1997 and was not involved in Matt Sandusky's juvenile case, said he saw "legitimate questions" about the decision to keep Long's son in the Sandusky home, but "I can't shed any light on them."
Speaking generally, he said nearly every birth parent objects when the state decides to remove a child from the home.
"These kinds of decisions made by judges and social workers are very emotionally charged. I don't think the parents have ever agreed with me on any of the cases where I've taken the kids," he said.
In the early years of his relationship with Jerry Sandusky, Matt would hide behind a bedroom door and beg his mother to tell the coach he wasn't home when he spotted Sandusky pulling in the driveway, Long said.
Her son never said why.
"Nobody could ever get that out of him. But then again, Matt was afraid of Jerry," she said.
Long said Matt was a good kid but began acting out after Sandusky entered the picture, and his behavior got progressively worse. She became alarmed by Sandusky's controlling behavior and tried to stop visitation in the fall of 1994.
But Sandusky continued taking Matt out of school, without her knowledge or consent, she said.
"I didn't like his treatment of Matt," she said. "I thought he was a little too possessive, and it was my son, not his son."
In early December 1994, Matt set fire to a barn. He spent his 16th birthday, on Dec. 26, in juvenile detention. On Jan. 6, 1995, records show, he was placed in foster care — with the Sandusky family.
Long said she knew Matt would be placed in a Second Mile foster home but didn't think it would be with the Sandusky family. Of all the foster families in Centre County, "he had to end up with that one," she said. It struck her as odd.
"Jerry told Matt that he had a judge ready to sign the order and nobody could stop it," she said. "He told Matt before we ever went to court that I wouldn't win against him. Matt came right to me and told me, he said, 'Mom, Jerry said you wouldn't win against him.'"
Long was initially limited to a half-day a month with her son. Her lawyer repeatedly petitioned the judge for greater access.
Matt attempted suicide in March 1996, swallowing 80 to 100 pills, according to the probation department report.
He referred to it in the recent police interview.
"I know that I really wanted to die at that point in time," he said.
But he nevertheless indicated he wanted to remain in the Sandusky home.
"I would like to be placed back with the Sandusky's, I feel that they have supported me even when I have messed up," Matt Sandusky wrote shortly after the suicide attempt. "They are a loving caring group of people."
Long said she once called the Sandusky house when Matt's biological brother, Ronald, was in an accident. She said Sandusky's wife, Dottie, answered the phone and said, "What are you calling him for? It's no longer his brother."
"I said, 'I'm sorry, but the same blood courses through his veins (that) courses through his brother's veins. They're not separated by a name change,'" Long recalled. "She was downright rude."
The AP was unable to contact Dottie Sandusky.
Jerry and Dottie Sandusky couldn't conceive children, according to his autobiography, and adopted six children. None of the other five has commented on their father's legal case or Matt Sandusky's allegations. Messages left for them were not returned.
Matt Sandusky said, according to the NBC recording, that he decided to come forward after publicly standing by his dad, for his family, "so that they can really have closure and see what the truth actually is. And just to right the wrong, honestly, of going to the grand jury and lying."
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WIMBLEDON, England — On one point Tuesday at Wimbledon, Serena Williams dumped a forehand into the net and dropped to a knee, her jaw clenched as she let out a shriek. On another, she pushed a backhand into the net while her feet gave way, again leaving her awkwardly splayed on the grass at Court 2, the same place where her sister Venus had lost a day earlier.
By the end, the younger Williams was screaming after nearly every point, good or bad — and, well, there were plenty of both. Her harder-than-the-score-looked 6-2, 6-4 victory over 62nd-ranked Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic in the first round at the All England Club wasn't exactly perfect or pretty.
"Definitely a little relief," the sixth-seeded Williams said. "I was letting out a lot of cries. I was happy to get through that."
Yes, Williams got the job done, something she couldn't say the last time she played at a major championship. Last month at the French Open, the 30-year-old American tossed away a big lead — nine times, she was two points from victory — and lost to a woman ranked 111th, the only first-round exit of Williams' career in 48 Grand Slam tournaments.
"I learned that you've got to . . . keep going," Williams said about that stunning defeat to Virginie Razzano. "I was really disappointed. Obviously, I was extremely disappointed. But as Kelly Clarkson says, 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.'"
In part because of a series of health scares that sidelined her for about 10 months, Williams has gone two years since the most recent of her 13 major titles, which include four at Wimbledon. And even though she bowed out quickly in Paris, Williams is a popular pick to do well this fortnight.
"For me, when I'm playing a match," Williams said, "I either win it or lose it."
She'll want to play better than she did against Zahlavova Strycova, who is 0-21 against top-10 opponents, 13-27 in Grand Slam matches, and never has made it past the third round at a major.
Some other top players were sluggish at the start against unheralded foes Tuesday, when action was cut short in the evening because of rain.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal, for instance, trailed 4-0 against 80th-ranked Thomas Bellucci of Brazil before turning it around and winning 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-3.
"Fantastic for me," Nadal said, "but I have to improve a lot for the next round."
Defending women's champion Petra Kvitova fell behind 3-0 and 4-1 but eventually used a seven-game run to take control and beat 96th-ranked Akgul Amanmuradova 6-4, 6-4. The match was halted by a 30-minute rain delay in the second set; when they returned, Kvitova needed all of three minutes to wrap things up.
"In the beginning," Kvitova acknowledged, "I think I was nervous."
Twelve singles matches were suspended in progress and four were postponed altogether. Among those that began but didn't finish, 2003 U.S. Open champion and three-time Wimbledon runner-up Andy Roddick led British wild-card entry Jamie Baker by a set and a break; French Open finalist Sara Errani was a point from beating U.S. qualifier Coco Vandeweghe; and 21st-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada was a game from eliminating Santiago Giraldo of Colombia, leading by two sets and 5-4 in the third.
Winners included 10th-seeded Mardy Fish of the United States, playing his first match since having a medical procedure on his heart a month ago. The 30-year-old Fish hit 24 aces and defeated Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo of Spain, 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-6 (1), then didn't attend a postmatch news conference; a tour spokesman said Fish wasn't feeling well but didn't elaborate.
All three Australian men in action Tuesday exited, meaning none reached the second round at the All England Club for the first time since 1938. No. 20 Bernard Tomic, an 18-year-old quarterfinalist in 2011, was knocked out by David Goffin, the Belgian wild-card recipient who took a set against Roger Federer in the fourth round of the French Open; 2002 Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt lost to No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga; and Matthew Ebden was beaten by Benoit Paire of France.
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Title: Limbaugh: 'Soviet' Obama scares me
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The landmark clock and tower at Westminster is commonly known as Big Ben Continue reading the main story The tower housing Big Ben is to be renamed the Elizabeth Tower in honour of the Queen, the House of Commons has confirmed.
It follows a campaign, backed by most MPs and the three main party leaders, to rename the tower in recognition of the Queen's 60 year reign.
At present the famous central London landmark is described by the Palace of Westminster as the Clock Tower.
The House of Commons authorities have now agreed the change.
Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood originally proposed the idea an early day motion which was backed by 40 MPs.
'Fitting tribute'The motion called on the House of Commons Commission to consider the change "in recognition of Her Majesty's 60 years of unbroken public service on behalf of her country".
A subsequent letter of support circulated by Mr Ellwood received the backing of more than half of MPs, including David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband.
The prime minister and the Labour leader have both previously described the move as a "fitting tribute" to the Queen.
The House of Commons Commission said it welcomed the proposal to rename tower and "will arrange for this decision to be implemented in an appropriate manner in due course".
This is not the first time a part of the Palace of Westminster has been renamed in honour of a monarch.
When the Palace was rebuilt in 1860, the west tower, then known as the King's Tower, was renamed the Victoria Tower to commemorate the long reign of Queen Victoria.
She is the only other monarch to complete 60 years on the throne.
The clock and tower at Westminster is commonly known around the world as Big Ben - which was the nickname originally given to the 13.5 tonne bell within the tower.
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DALLAS — A former Baylor basketball player is facing federal extortion charges for allegedly threatening to release "derogatory information" about Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III.
Richard Khamir Hurd's bond was set at $25,000 after his first appearance Monday in federal court in Waco, Texas.
A person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press that Griffin, the Baylor quarterback who was the No. 2 overall draft choice of the Washington Redskins, was the target of the alleged extortion attempt. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because authorities had not disclosed the detail.
Court documents say Hurd contacted a representative from a St. Louis agency, threatening to publicize derogatory information about one of his clients unless he was paid a "substantial sum" of money. The representative is identified by the initials B.D.
Griffin's agent is St. Louis-based Ben Dogra, who didn't respond to messages Monday. The documents don't name Griffin.
AP Sports Writer Stephen Hawkins contributed to this report.
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President Barack Obama's deputies announced Monday they are further reducing immigration enforcement in Arizona.
The surprise announcement came shortly after the Supreme Court decided that Arizona has the constitutional right to quiz suspected illegal immigrants about their legal right to be in the country.
"This isn't an end-run [around the Supreme Court], this is a complete disregard of the constitutional process," said Horace Cooper, director of the National Center for Public Policy Research. The court authorized Arizona's actions, and the administration is going out of its way to frustrate those actions, he said.
"This is a direct rejection of the idea that our constitutional system set the Supreme Court up to answer these kind questions," he said.
"If they're doing less [with Arizona] than they would do with other other states, that's not legitimate," said Curt Levey, president of the Committee for Justice, a libertarian advocacy group.
Congress will push back hard, and the Supreme Court may hold a special session before the election to show its opposition to the administration's "reckless and lawless" policy, Cooper predicted.
"I do think the public will be outraged to hear that this president thinks he is above the responsibility of implementing the law," he said.
The administration's resistance to court-approved parts of the immigration law was described by two administration officials during an early afternoon June 25 press conference.
Obama declined to take questions on his controversial new policy. Instead, he embarked on Air Force One to conduct a two-day, four-state campaign trip that includes several speeches and seven fundraisers.
His two deputies — who declined to speak on the record during the phone conference — said that top officials at the Department of Homeland Security had already taken action.
They had issued new directives to law enforcement officers, and will schedule new training sessions, to ensure that officers disregard illegal immigrants that haven't been convicted of a felony or hadn't proven to be a recent border-crosser, they said.
The officials also announced their cancellation of long-standing legal agreements — dubbed 287(g) agreements — with seven Arizona law enforcement agencies. Those agreements allow many states' officials to ask federal officials to pick up illegal immigrants held in state jails.
In its June 25 decision, the Supreme Court specifically allowed Arizona law enforcement officials to request federal officials to check the residency of people who are stopped for traffic offenses or who have been arrested. The court approved this power even though Latino lobbies, progressives groups and the administration opposed the process.
The information will be provided only "if we are operationally capable," said one administration official.
However, even though Arizona may seek residency information for additional people during the next few months, "we feel that [federal] staffing in Arizona is sufficient," he said.
Moreover, federal agencies — such as the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency — will not send agents to Arizona jails to pick up and deport illegal immigrants unless they also know the illegal immigrants have been previously found guilty of a felony, or are known to have recently crossed the border, the official said.
"We are not anticipating in-person" support for pick-ups, said the official.
"We want to make sure ICE does not take action" unless the detained illegal is a felon or a recent border-crosser, said the official.
The official also said that an illegal immigrant held for traffic violations would not be picked up for deportation.
When asked if Arizona will be forced to release illegal immigrants once the federal government refuses to pick them up, the officials declined to respond. "Only the federal government may enforce the law," said one official, citing the Supreme Court's June 25 decision.
The pick-up of non-felons would not "make sense" because of the agency's limited resources, he said.
On June 15, Obama directed DHS to devote immigration-enforcement resources to the task of issuing work permits to at least 800,000 illegal immigrants, despite the nation's record unemployment. (SEE ALSO: High court rejects parts of Arizona immigration law, upholds most controversial section)
That task may consume much resources, partly because many applicants may file false claims about their eligibility for the de facto amnesty, and may also provide forged documents that conceal criminal records and their ineligibility.
White House officials "are pushing this imperial presidency well past anything we've seen," said Cooper. "This isn't Nixonian — this goes well past that."
"It is clear that they are bucking both popular opinion and the ruling of the highest court, whether they are doing it within the law, or bending the law to do it," said Levey.
At the midday press conference, officials accepted questions from establishment media and Spanish-language media outlets, but none of the questions asked about the legality of the new measure, or their impact on American workers.
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Growing concern over the continued use of cellphones by drivers has some states reviewing laws against the practice and exploring stiffer fines and harsher penalties.
2009 AP photo
Distraction: May cost more.
2009 AP photo
Distraction: May cost more.
A 2010 study by the Highway Loss Data Institute, an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, found that current texting bans are not reducing the risk or amount of crashes. But some question whether tougher punishment is the answer.
Justin McNaull, director of state relations for auto club AAA, says seat belt studies show that when states impose higher fines, more motorists obey the laws.
But Gary Biller, president of the National Motorists Association, a drivers' rights group, says steeper fines won't change drivers' behavior. "It's more productive to treat distracted driving as a driver education problem," Biller says.
In New Jersey, the state Senate Law and Public Safety Committee approved a measure this month that would increase fines for handheld cellphone use, including texting, from $100 to $200 for the first offense. Offenders could have their driver's license suspended for 90 days for the third and ensuing violations. The bill will next be heard by the Senate Budget Committee. Elsewhere:
•The California Senate approved a bill in May that would cost drivers caught texting or talking without a hands-free device $30 for a first offense — a $10 increase — and $60 for a subsequent offense, up from $50. The bill goes next to the Assembly.
•Connecticut last year increased fines for using handheld cellphones and text messaging while driving, from the previous $100 to $125 for the first offense, $150 to $250 for the second, and $200 to $400 for the third and subsequent violations.
New Jersey state Sen. Dick Codey, a Democrat and primary sponsor of the measure to increase fines in that state, likens distracted-driving prevention to the drunken-driving campaign that began decades ago.
"Our goal is to have people stop injuring each other," he says. "Before, it was a slap on the wrist. What people need is a slap on the face."
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How Americans spend their days
SLEEPING accounts for more than a third of the average American's day. According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics' latest time use survey, women get 11 minutes more kip a night than men do, and spend 29 more minutes cooking and clearing up. Men spend an extra four minutes a day eating and drinking, an extra 10 minutes exercising and eight more minutes mowing the lawn. On an average day 83 percent of women and 65 percent of men spend some time doing household activities. On the days that they work, employed men toil 47 minutes more than employed women. Television accounts for the largest share of Americans' leisure time. People over 25 years old who have not obtained a high school diploma spend two thirds more time watching the box than those who hold a bachelor's degree. They also spend four times as much time thinking and relaxing, while those academic high achievers prefer to play on their computers.
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BOSTON -- The Blue Jays signed veteran left-hander Jamie Moyer to a Minor League contract on Monday.
Moyer will report to Triple-A Las Vegas, where he is expected to join the starting rotation. He is not on a guaranteed deal and has not received any firm commitments from the club about a potential role in Toronto, but he does provide organizational depth.
The 49-year-old Moyer began the season with Colorado and went 2-5 with a 5.70 ERA in 10 starts before he was designated for assignment. Moyer then joined the Orioles' organization, but he was granted his release after not being promoted to the Major Leagues.
Moyer made three starts for Baltimore's Triple-A affiliate. He allowed three runs in 16 innings while striking out 16 and not issuing a walk.
The native of Pennsylvania has spent parts of 25 seasons in the Majors and at one point was one of the best left-handed starters in the game. Those days are behind him, but Moyer will still be given an opportunity to prove he can be an asset.
Toronto's starting rotation has been devastated by injuries during the past two weeks. Right-handers Brandon Morrow, Kyle Drabek and Drew Hutchison were all placed on the 15-day disabled list, while Henderson Alvarez was forced to depart Monday night's game in Boston because of soreness in his right elbow.
The series of injuries have also caused a ripple effect throughout the club's Minor League system. With Brett Cecil, Jesse Chavez and Aaron Laffey all promoted to the big leagues and a series of arms added to the bullpen, there isn't much depth left in Las Vegas.
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In his own very special version of a history lesson, MSNBC Host Chris Matthews on Monday questioned whether the current U.S. Supreme Court, which he called the most "conservative court since the 1930s," would have overturned segregation laws in the 1950s or upheld landmark civil rights legislation in the 1960s.
The irony meter shot through the roof when Matthews was hinting that the "conservative" Supreme Court was somehow racist while a shot of Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas showed on the screen. He claimed the two men "personified" the court. Thomas is black.
Maybe someone should tell Matthews because by his estimation, Thomas would have joined other justices and voted to keep himself and his family segregated and would have not upheld the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed various forms of discrimination against African-Americans.
Watch Matthews' "Let Me Finish" segment, below.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Matthews also argued the current SCOTUS would not have ruled in favor of banning organized prayers in school in the 1960s and would have outlawed abortion in the 1970s.
On what basis did he make such bold accusations? Matthews says because the conservative members of the Supreme Court believe in the "original intent" of the Founding Fathers, they are automatically flawed in their judgment because the "Founding Fathers – need I remind us all – wrote slavery into the Constitution. It took a Civil War and the 13th Amendment to get it out," he added.
Here's all of what the MSNBC host had to say:
Does anyone wonder like I do what this Supreme Court – the one personified by Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas — would have done with the landmark decisions in the post-World War II era," Matthews said. "I wonder if this court would have backed desegregation in the Brown case. I doubt this pack of conservatives, which includes Chief Justice John Roberts, Sam Alito and Anthony Kennedy, would have voted to knock down 'separate but equal' in the 1950s.
I doubt this group would have removed organized prayer from public schools back in the 1960s – that decision that ignited the moral majority.
I doubt that this court would have recognized a woman's right to decide on an abortion in the 1970s.
Let me proffer a tougher judgment: would this court – voting as it does today – have upheld the 1964 Civil Rights Bill, which declared it illegal to refuse access to someone because of race to a restaurant, hotel or a gas station restroom?
Would Scalia, Thomas, Kennedy and Alito have approved such a decision, or would they have joined the dissent? Well, maybe Kennedy would have.
The fact is that we have the most conservative court since the early 1930s, and maybe more conservative than that. These justices, led by Scalia, believe in original intent. They want to judge cases the way the Founding Fathers would. Well, the Founding Fathers – need I remind us all – wrote slavery into the Constitution. It took a Civil War and the 13th Amendment to get it out.
It's possible that Matthews was perturbed or frustrated after SCOTUS upheld the most controversial portion of Arizona's immigration law, the so-called "show me your papers" provision. Still, the premise of speculating what a group of justices would or would not have done in decades past seems a little extreme.
And even though Matthews regularly accuses conservatives of being racist, it is even less convincing when he apparently accuses a black Supreme Court Justice of harboring racist ideology.
This story has updated with additional information.
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Driving the ITC's decision to review the case: Petitions from Apple and Motorola both. Motorola appears to be looking for a standard review concerning claim construction, infringement, validity and domestic industry.
Meanwhile, Apple has made the same request, but it's also angling for a review of patent unenforceability. That's worth noting, because the patent on which Motorola originally won this case is a standards-essential one that Apple alleges Motorola refuses to license under fair and reasonable terms.
Evidently Apple is pressing that issue hard with the ITC. According to the agency's notice of review, it has rallied several outside parties to file public interest statements supporting its arguments. Among those who've submitted letters to the ITC: the Federal Trade Commission, the Business Software Alliance, the Association for Competitive Technology, the Retail Industry Leaders Association, Verizon, Nokia, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft.
Google and Apple both declined comment on the review.
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"I don't care who they will put in front of me – I'm a professional fighter, this is what I do – I fight to win," said four-division world champion legendary Roy Jones Jr (55-8, 40 KOs) during final press conference in Warsaw before fighting…and this is the question – who? Jones Jr. supposed to fight #4 ranked by WBC light heavyweight David Kostecki (39-1, 28 KOs) this Saturday, but Kostecki has been arrested and instead preparing for the fight of his life, he watched Jones' press conference from a prison cell. His promoters are still hoping that Kostecki (who was supposed to go jail next month – but certainly not before the June 30 day of the fight) will be granted a temporary release by Polish authorities and he will be in the ring on June 30. If not, Roy will fight undefeated #8 WBC ranked light heavyweight Pawel Glazewski (17-0, 4 KOs), who vows to do everything he can to win the biggest fight of his carrer. The PPV event in Lodz is getting a lot of press and almost spurs a national debate about the timing of Kostecki's imprisonment. The card billed as "the most controversial boxing match in Poland," will also have two more well known US names: four-time heavyweight challenger Jameel McCline (41-11, 24 KOs), who will test the very highly rated new talent on the heavyweight scene, 22-year old southpaw Artur Szpilka (11-0, 9 KOs), and former world champion Nate Campbell (35-9, 26 KOs), who will challenge Poland's Krzysztof Szot (16-2, 5 KOs).
See Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb6LXqd4fr8
See Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mxbJ109XpM
For all the latest boxing news, click here.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — If you pay attention to election 2012 at all this summer, make it this week.
Decisions out of Washington are sure to have an impact on the major issues driving the presidential and congressional elections: Jobs. How much is in your wallet. Health insurance, immigration, campaign finance and more.
Lawmakers face deadlines on legislation determining the interest rate students pay for loans, overhaul of the federal transportation program, and money for the system that provides insurance for homes and businesses in flood-risk areas. The Supreme Court, meanwhile, is rendering judgment Thursday on the health care overhaul law, President Barack Obama's signature legislative achievement.
"I saw some story about (how) this is the week that could make or break Barack Obama. I don't buy it," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Health committee, who personally invested considerable time into passage of the health care law. "It's an important week, sure."
In opinion polls, voters put the economy at the top of their list of concerns along with unemployment, which stands at 8.2 percent. They worry about federal spending at a time of record-breaking deficits, how to pay for their health care, and immigration policy. And in interview after interview, respondents say they are extremely concerned about their personal finances.
These are the substantive issues the presidential and congressional candidates are certain to focus on in the fall as they battle for the presidency, congressional majorities and the loyalties of persuadable voters. There are plenty of those — a quarter of registered voters have yet to commit to Obama or Republican challenger Mitt Romney, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll this month. The ranks of the undecided will shrink before Election Day, but this group could make the difference in a close presidential race and in congressional contests.
Republicans need a net four seats to seize control of the Senate from the Democrats. In the House, Democrats need a net of 25 seats to oust the GOP majority.
The action in Washington also affects key constituencies both parties are trying to woo, including Hispanics, women, seniors and small businesses.
In the near term, lawmakers want to complete the outstanding legislation and avoid having to explain to constituents over the weeklong July 4th break why Congress failed to protect jobs in the transportation industry, students with loans and homes threatened by flooding.
"We have lots to do and a very short time to do it," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Monday from the Senate floor.
By June 30, the House and Senate must pass a highway spending bill — or extend current law — that negotiators say would save or create more than 2 million jobs. Other congressional bargainers are working fast to head off a July 1 doubling of interest rates on federal loans to 7.4 million college students. The government's flood insurance program expires at the end of July if not renewed, and a Senate vote is expected this week.
Across the street, the Supreme Court handed down a mixed decision on immigration Monday, tossing out major parts of Arizona's tough crackdown on illegal immigrations while unanimously approving the requirement that police check the immigration status of those they stop for other reasons. The court also upheld unlimited corporate spending on political campaigns.
Though the economy remains the No. 1 worry for voters, the health care ruling could have the biggest near-term political impact. Both parties have big strategic guns at the ready.
If the Supreme Court upholds the Obama health care law, it would mean validation for the president and the Democrats in Congress who muscled the legislation to passage in 2010, when they controlled both houses of Congress. But the overhaul mobilized small-government advocates and was a big force behind the GOP takeover of the House that year. So if the law is upheld, Republicans have a clear case to make for strengthening their numbers and their power to overturn all or parts of it.
But if the court strikes any part down, the defeat for Obama could mean uncertainty for both parties.
Congressional Republicans intend to seek quick repeal of any parts of the health care law that survive the court's ruling, but they don't plan to push replacement measures until after the November elections. Obama and congressional Democrats haven't said what they would do in the event the court rejects the law.
"We remain confident that the Affordable Care Act is constitutional and we are ready for whatever decision is rendered by the Supreme Court," White House press secretary Jay Carney said.
The high court's decision to throw out key provisions of Arizona's crackdown on illegal immigrants guarantees that the issue has a high profile in the elections as Obama tries to protect his party's substantial lead among Hispanics, and Republicans seek to narrow the polling advantage.
Democrats howled that the Arizona immigration law decision clears the way for racial profiling, while Republicans said the decision upholds states' rights to enforce their own immigration policies. Both sides insisted that Congress needs to pass a long-term immigration policy that applies to the estimated 11 million people in the country illegally, an issue that has divided lawmakers for years.
"No American should ever live under a cloud of suspicion just because of what they look like," said Obama, who won two-thirds of the Latino vote in 2008 and recently issued a directive that protects young immigrants who came illegally to the United States as children. Obama pledged in 2008 to push for passage of comprehensive changes in immigration laws, but the effort stalled in Congress and Obama turned his attention to addressing the economy and pressed ahead with passing an overhaul of health care laws.
Romney, campaigning in Arizona on Monday, blamed Obama for lack of action on immigration. He also said states have the right to secure their borders, "particularly when the federal government has failed to meet its responsibilities."
Within a few hours of the court's ruling on immigration, Republican Rep. John Mica, who's in a tough GOP primary race in Florida against Rep. Sandy Adams, asked his constituents in a letter to "stand with me for Arizona's state rights."
"P.S.," Mica added. "Will you consider making a contribution to my campaign today?"
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