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September 14, 2011 4:24 pm | By Miranda Blue
To Defeat Obama, A Simple, Dishonest Plan
We’ve been covering a number of attempts by state GOP lawmakers to prevent traditionally Democratic voters from casting votes that count – including a flood of new laws requiring photo ID to vote. But all those are nothing compared to…
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September 13, 2011 8:52 pm | By Miranda Blue
North Carolina Puts Anti-Equality Amendment on the Ballot
North Carolina’s Senate today passed a measure to put an anti-marriage equality constitutional amendment on next year’s ballot. North Carolina is currently the only Southeast state that hasn’t amended its constitution to ban same-sex marriage, although it already has a…
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September 13, 2011 6:45 pm | By Miranda Blue
Rick Perry Confused About the ‘American Way’
Is it the American Way to make the children of undocumented immigrants live as second-class citizens? The question came up in last night’s GOP presidential debate, when Texas Gov. Rick Perry was asked about the policy in his state allowing…
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September 13, 2011 4:20 pm | By Justin
Hit With Ethics Complaint, Issa Turns to the Usual Scapegoat
The advocacy group American Family Voices is planning to file an ethics complaint against House Oversight & Government Reform Committee chairman Darrel Issa for improperly using his position to add to his multimillion dollar personal fortune, according to a report…
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September 12, 2011 5:17 pm | By Miranda Blue
Kathleen Turner Praises the YEO Network
The actress Kathleen Turner, who has been a People For the American Way Foundation board member for more than 20 years, stopped by WGN in Chicago last Thursday to discuss her career and her work with People For. Turner, who…
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September 12, 2011 5:11 pm | By Miranda Blue
Republican-Appointed Former Judge: Speed Up Judicial Confirmations
Timothy K. Lewis, a George H.W. Bush nominee who served on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals from 1992 through 1999, offers some perspective on how judicial confirmations were handled before they became mired in hyper-partisan gridlock: Nineteen years ago,…
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September 8, 2011 10:05 pm | By Miranda Blue
Flashback: Reagan and Bush on the Humanity of Undocumented Immigrants
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman made a surprisingly refreshing statement in Wednesday’s GOP presidential debate, when, answering a question about immigration reform, he said, “I hope that all of us as we deal with this immigration issue will always see…
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September 8, 2011 9:55 pm | By Jamie Raskin
4th Circuit Upholds Rule of Law in Healthcare Case
In a badly-needed boost to the rule of law and the nation's much-abused new health reform, a three-judge panel on the Fourth Circuit today rejected two attacks on "Obamacare." In one case, Virginia v. Sebelius, the appeals court found that…
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September 8, 2011 5:39 pm | By Paul Gordon
Resurrecting Lochner
Right-wing columnist George Will has a column this morning filled with deception and misdirection on the Supreme Court's infamous Lochner decision. Lochner was the decision in which arch-conservative Supreme Court Justices struck down New York's law setting a maximum work…
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September 8, 2011 4:37 pm | By Paul Gordon
Senate Republicans Only Delayed Four of Five New Nominees Today!
This morning, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee did something they have done only a handful of times: They exercised their discretion NOT to obstruct one of President Obama's judicial nominees. The Committee was scheduled to vote on ten nominations…
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September 7, 2011 7:35 pm | By Miranda Blue
The 2012 GOP Field: Not Even Ronald Reagan Could Get This Nomination
Tonight, eight GOP presidential candidates will alight on sacred ground to some: the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. As the candidates pay the required perpetual homage to the 40th president, the rest of us might take some…
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September 6, 2011 5:51 pm | By Miranda Blue
Fox News’ Misinformation Campaign on Muslims a Rousing Success
The Brookings Institution today released a new extensive poll on American attitudes toward racial and religious diversity in the ten years since 9/11. There are a whole lot of interesting themes in the study, but one thing that stood out…
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September 6, 2011 4:12 pm | By Miranda Blue
Mitt Romney Brings Back Bush’s Economics and Bork’s Jurisprudence
When Mitt Romney announced last month that his campaign’s legal team would be led by rejected Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, we were somewhat aghast. Bork’s legal record was so extreme – he opposed the Civil Rights Act and the…
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September 1, 2011 3:45 pm | By Miranda Blue
Goodwin Liu Gets a Place on the California Supreme Court
Goodwin Liu, the much-admired law professor whose nomination to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals was run into the ground by the Senate GOP this year, is now a judge. Liu was confirmed last night to sit on the California…
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August 30, 2011 9:36 pm | By Paul Gordon
Justice Ginsburg Mourns Breakdown of Judicial Nominations Process
At a speech yesterday at Southern Methodist University, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg touched upon the depressing state of our nation's judicial nominations process. As reported by the Associated Press: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Monday that the…
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August 30, 2011 4:05 pm | By Paul Gordon
Anonymous Attacks Against LA Progressives
This summer, an organization called Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) finds itself the target of dozens of baseless public records requests instigated by an anonymous right wing entity apparently seeking to intimidate and harass the organization.LAANE has…
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August 29, 2011 10:12 pm | By Justin
Funnywoman Bachmann
Michele Bachmann said she was joking when she suggested this weekend that last week’s earthquake and the deadly Hurricane Irene were a message to Washington from God. Here are a few recent statements that we hope are also jokes: •…
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August 25, 2011 5:51 pm | By Miranda Blue
GOP Planning to Use Disaster Aid as a Bargaining Chip
Steve Benen points out that in the wake of Tuesday’s East Coast earthquake and in anticipation of the hurricane expected to hit the eastern states this weekend, House Republicans are getting ready to use disaster aid as a political bargaining…
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August 25, 2011 4:23 pm | By Miranda Blue
‘What You Talkin’ Bout, Willard?’
If you watched TV in the 1980s, you surely remember this: The TV show Diff’rent Strokes – which featured the iconic tagline “What you talkin’ bout, Willis”? – was produced by PFAW’s founder Norman Lear. And when Norman heard that…
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August 24, 2011 2:36 pm | By Miranda Blue
The Play Rick Perry Didn’t Want Performed
The Austin Chronicle has set up a new Twitter account devoted exclusively to digging up old stories on the shenanigans of Texas Gov. Rick Perry. They’ve pulled up some good stuff, including this story from last year on the governor’s…