https://youtu.be/qZCq5anxp9c
Football Town Nights
I suspect you have to have seen “Friday Night Lights” to appreciate this, but maybe not:
Panhandle Slim… Art for Folk…
More right-wing hackery from the New York Times
Gay-hating pastor is… a serial rapist
An economic shot in the arm
This is great news. Activists have been calling for this for a while, and this will be a huge help to many working people:
President Barack Obama is preparing to do what the U.S. economic recovery has been slow to accomplish: raise the wages of millions of Americans.
His administration is drafting new rules on who qualifies for overtime compensation, forcing more businesses to pay time-and-a-half after 40 hours of work. Many employees now earning as little as $23,660 a year — below the federal poverty line for a family of four — aren’t entitled to overtime pay because they are considered managers.
While Republicans in Congress have blocked proposals to raise the minimum wage, Obama can change the overtime rules through executive authority. Some officials at the Department of Labor are urging the president to lift the threshold as high as $51,000 before someone could be called an executive exempt from overtime. A group of 26 Democratic senators has asked him to push it even higher, to $56,680.
“This is absolutely one of the best practical ways to give people the on-ramp to the middle class,” said one of the lawmakers, Sherrod Brown of Ohio. “When you strip people of their overtime pay, which is what’s happened over the years, they really don’t have a chance to get ahead: They’re working harder and harder and not seeing real pay increases.”
Opponents argue that pushing the level too high could force fast-food restaurants, retailers and other enterprises to cut employment or even go out of business.
BENGHAZI!!!!
You see that AR-15 they’re holding? They’re illegal in the District.
Trey Gowdy is such a smacked ass. Not that we didn’t expect this, of course:
The findings of a Republican-led committee investigating Hillary Clinton’s response to the deadly 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, likely will not be released until next year, just months before the 2016 presidential election.
Representative Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, chairman of the U.S. House Select Committee on Benghazi, has been emphasizing a desire for the panel to finish investigative work by the end of 2015, including its review of Clinton’s e-mail practices as secretary of state. Now that seems less likely.
In a statement on Tuesday to Bloomberg News, committee spokesman Jamal Ware confirmed the delay. “Factors beyond the committee’s control, including witness availability, compliance with documents requests, the granting of security clearances and accreditations—all of which are controlled by the Executive branch—could continue to impact the timing of the inquiry’s conclusion,” Ware wrote.
Even if the investigation phase could be concluded by the end of 2015, he said in an interview, the committee would need more time to analyze the information collected, and compile findings and conclusions into a written report. No specific date for release in 2016 of the committee’s final report was offered by Ware.
Here’s your small government for ya
I tried to call them last week to tell them my payment would be late, and never got through. I tried for two hours, and gave up:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS’ overloaded phone system hung up on more than 8 million taxpayers this filing season as the agency cut millions of dollars from taxpayer services to help pay to enforce President Barack Obama’s health law.
For those who weren’t disconnected, only 40 percent actually got through to a person. And many of those people had to wait on hold for more than 30 minutes, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said Wednesday.
The number of disconnected callers spiked just as taxpayers were being hit with new requirements under the health law. Last year, the phone system dropped 360,000 calls, Koskinen said.
For the first time, taxpayers had to report whether they had health insurance last year on their tax returns. Those who received government subsidies had to respond whether they received the correct amount. People without insurance faced fines, collected by the IRS, if they did not qualify for an exemption.
The return of the 50-state strategy
Wow, this is good news. That means not only will Clinton make the Republicans fight in every state, it also indicates she’s likely to to run a coordinated campaign with local races — something Obama wouldn’t do:
WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign is launching a major grassroots organizing effort Wednesday, sending staffers to every single state to start building an infrastructure of volunteers ready to pound the pavement.
What’s being called the “Ramp Up Grassroots Organizing Program” will have paid staffers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the territories through the end of May. They’ll be working with Clinton supporters to organize local meetings, volunteer trainings and other grassroots events, according to the campaign.
Wednesday’s announcement recalls the “50-state strategy” pushed by former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean when he was chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Dean argued that Democrats shouldn’t concede any state as “unwinnable” and should invest resources in building an infrastructure in every single state — a strategy Clinton will be testing should she make it to the general election.
Christie gave top fundraiser hidden millions from state pension
Oh, so that’s what happened to all that money!