Obama Care: Jan 10, 2013

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Republican Congressman Claims Hammers Could Be Outlawed Under Assault Weapons Ban

Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-TX)

A Republican congressman lambasted the push for gun control in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, stating on Friday that if lawmakers wanted to ban assault weapons, they would have to outlaw “hammers” and “machetes” as well.

Appearing on the Dennis Miller Show, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) told guest host Larry O’Connor that he “refuse[s] to play the game of ‘assault weapon.’ That’s any weapon,” said the Texas congressman. “It’s a hammer. It’s the machetes.”

O’CONNOR: I want to ask you a question about one of your colleagues, Rep. Peter King in New York. He’s a very passionate guy, a great defender, he’s a great patriot. But he’s on board with this assault weapons ban. He was actually on MSNBC yesterday, openly saying, “I don’t understand why anybody would need an assault weapon.” I personally get nervous whenever a politician is asking me as a citizen why I need my right, but can you answer that question for your colleague? He might need some help here. Why would anyone need an assault weapon as they’re defining it?
GOHMERT: I refuse to play the game of “assault weapon.” That’s any weapon. It’s a hammer. It’s the machetes. In Rwanda that killed 800,000 people, an article that came out this week, the massive number that are killed with hammers.

Listen to it:

According to the FBI, in 2010, there were 8,775 people who were murdered with guns, compared to 540 people who were killed with blunt objects, a small minority of which were people armed with hammers. The exponentially-higher number of people killed by guns also includes many innocent people killed by indiscriminate gunfire, such as drive-by shootings. After all, there are no “drive-by hammerings.”

Still, hammers are not the only “weapon” that conservatives are equating with firearms in an attempt to undermine any gun control legislation. A state representative in New Hampshire, warned of another deadly weapon: credit cards. “Anything can be used as a deadly weapon, said Rep. Dan Dumaine (R). “A credit card can be used to cut somebody’s throat.”

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Senate Republicans Stack Judiciary Committee With Two More Constitutional Extremists

Two years ago, when Senate Republicans needed to fill a vacant seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, they tapped Tea Party Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) — a senator who believes that federal child labor laws, FEMA, food stamps, the FDA, Medicaid, income assistance for the poor, and even Medicare and Social Security violate the Constitution. This year, they needed to fill two seats on the Senate body responsible for overseeing the Constitution. Once again, Senate Republicans chose to fill these seats with senators who believe the Constitution in nothing more than a block of clay that can be formed into whatever the Tea Party wants it to say.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is no stranger to conspiracy theories; he published an article last year claiming that the United Nations and George Soros are at the head of a global conspiracy to eliminate the game of golf. (Seriously. We aren’t making this up.) So his understanding of the Constitution is similarly idiosyncratic. As head of a conservative think tank’s Tenth Amendment project, Cruz co-authored an unconstitutional plan to nullify the Affordable Care Act — claiming that two states can ignore the Constitution and federal law simply by joining together in such lawlessness.

Cruz is among the most skilled attorneys in the country, but he devoted his outsized talents to reshaping the Constitution into his own far right image. His first campaign ad touted his successful work to help Texas kill a Mexican national in violation of America’s treaty obligations, and he believed in using lawsuits to tear down the health care safety net long before the Affordable Care Act’s opponents brought a completely meritless legal theory to the Supreme Court and nearly convinced the entire conservative bloc to sign onto it in its entirety. Cruz’s campaign touted his attempt to “to strike down portions of the Medicare Prescription Drug program as an unconstitutional intrusion in the sovereign authority of the States.” Although Cruz is more careful in his rhetoric than Sen. Lee, perhaps the most damning aspect of Cruz’s record is the staunch opponent of national child labor laws and Medicare’s endorsement of Cruz’s constitutional vision. In Lee’s words, “Ted is one of our nation’s leading defenders of the Tenth Amendment. He is a champion for limiting the power, size, and spending of the federal government.”

Cruz is joined on the Judiciary Committee by Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), who actually thinks his own election to the Senate should be unconstitutional. Flake endorsed repealing the Seventeenth Amendment, which replaced a system that led to “rampant and blatant corruption, letting corporations and other moneyed interests effectively buy U.S. Senators,” with our current system — electing senators.

Like Cruz, Flake also embraced rethinking the Tenth Amendment as a tool to impose Tea Party values on the country long before the Tea Party even existed. In 2000, Flake signed a position statement claiming that the Departments of Commerce and Housing and Urban Development, in addition to the National Endowments for the Arts and for the Humanities, “should be abolished, per the tenth amendment of the US Constitution.” For the record, nothing in the Tenth Amendment renders any of these things unconstitutional.

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Watson gets FDA application approval

PARSIPPANY, N.J. -- Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Thursday that a subsidiary has received regulatory approval for a generic drug designed for the treatment of heavy menstrual bleeding.

The company said that it intends to begin shipping the product immediately.

Watson said the tranexamic acid tablets are the generic equivalent to Ferring Pharmaceuticals' drug Lysteda. Ferring has filed patent infringement lawsuits against Watson, but the litigation is still pending.

Watson cited IMS Health data showing that Lysteda had U.S. sales of roughly $25 million in the 12 months that ended Nov. 30.

Watson, based in Parsippany, N.J., is the world's third-largest generics prescription drug manufacturer with more than 750 products marketed globally.

Shares gained $1.71, or 2 percent, to $85.92. Its stock is near the high end of its 52-week trading range of $55 to $91.47.

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Retiring Texas senator tweets 'best wishes' to new Sen. Cruz

By Alicia M. Cohn - 01/04/13 04:34 PM ET

A changing of the guard happened Friday in tweets exchanged by Texas’s newest senator, Ted Cruz (R), and the outgoing lawmaker he replaces.

Greatly appreciated and many thanks for your service. “@kaybaileyhutch: Best wishes on your first full day representing Texas! @tedcruz”
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 4, 2013

Tea Party favorite Cruz takes the seat filled by Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas).

Cruz used social media extensively during his campaign, and Cruz’s social media presence is still flourishing post-election on Twitter and Facebook.

Although not all new members have official Twitter accounts yet, the 113th Congress could be the most socially networked yet. One returning member, Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), didn't want to be left out, and announced Friday he is joining Twitter for the first time.

I'm kicking off the #113Congress by joining twitter. It's good to be back doing the people's work.
— Rep. Andy Harris, MD (@RepAndyHarrisMD) January 4, 2013

Harris was one of the few congressional holdouts of the 112th Congress when it came to Twitter, but he has been active on Facebook.

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Statement by the Press Secretary on H.R. 4310

Statement by the Press Secretary on H.R. 4310 | The White House Skip to main content | Skip to footer site map The White House. President Barack Obama Get Email Updates Contact Us Go to homepage. The White House Blog Photos & Videos Photo Galleries Video Performances Live Streams Podcasts 2012: A Year in Photos

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For Immediate Release January 03, 2013 Statement by the Press Secretary on H.R. 4310

On Wednesday, January 2, 2013, the President signed into law:

H.R. 4310, the "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013," which authorizes fiscal year 2013 appropriations for Department of Defense programs and military construction, Department of Energy national security programs, and Department of Transportation maritime security programs; authorizes recruitment and retention bonuses, special payments, and other authorities relating to the U.S. Armed Forces; and makes other modifications to national security, foreign affairs, and other related programs.

Blog posts on this issue January 04, 2013 6:12 PM ESTJoin President Obama in a National Day of Service

The Presidential Inaugural Committee announces a National Day of Service on January 19, 2013

January 04, 2013 6:05 PM ESTJoin President Obama in a National Day of Service

The Presidential Inaugural Committee announces a National Day of Service on January 19, 2013

January 04, 2013 2:55 PM EST2012: A Year in Photos

Each January, Pete Souza, Chief Official White House Photographer and Director of the White House Photography Office selects his favorite images from the past twelve months, and now, we're sharing them with you.

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President Obama Re-nominates Thirty-Three to Federal Judgeships

President Obama Re-nominates Thirty-Three to Federal Judgeships | The White House Skip to main content | Skip to footer site map The White House. President Barack Obama Get Email Updates Contact Us Go to homepage. The White House Blog Photos & Videos Photo Galleries Video Performances Live Streams Podcasts 2012: A Year in Photos

A unique view of 2012

Browse White House visitor logs

On what $2K means to them

President Obama's Tax Plan

Extend tax cuts for families making under $250,000 a year

The Administration We the People

Create and Sign Petitions Now

Download our mobile apps

2012: A Year in Photos

A unique view of 2012

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release January 03, 2013 President Obama Re-nominates Thirty-Three to Federal Judgeships WASHINGTON, DC - Today, President Obama re-nominated thirty-three individuals who he previously nominated for federal judgeships in the 112th Congress.

“Today, I am re-nominating thirty-three highly qualified candidates for the federal bench, including many who could have and should have been confirmed before the Senate adjourned,” said President Obama. “Several have been awaiting a vote for more than six months, even though they all enjoy bipartisan support. I continue to be grateful for their willingness to serve and remain confident that they will apply the law with the utmost impartiality and integrity. I urge the Senate to consider and confirm these nominees without delay, so all Americans can have equal and timely access to justice.”

CIRCUIT COURT NOMINEES

Judge Robert E. Bacharach: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

Caitlin Halligan: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

William J. Kayatta, Jr.: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

Jill A. Pryor: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

Judge Patty Shwartz: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

Srikanth Srinivasan: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

Richard Gary Taranto: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

DISTRICT COURT NOMINEES

Judge Elissa F. Cadish: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Nevada

Valerie E. Caproni: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

Judge Sheri Polster Chappell: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida

Pamela Ki Mai Chen: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York

Judge Brian J. Davis: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida

Shelly Deckert Dick: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana

Jennifer A. Dorsey: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Nevada

Katherine Polk Failla: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

Kenneth John Gonzales: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico

Andrew Patrick Gordon: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Nevada

Ketanji Brown Jackson: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia

Rosemary Márquez: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Arizona

Judge Michael J. McShane: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Oregon

Raymond P. Moore: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Colorado

Judge Troy L. Nunley: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California

Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Central District of California

William H. Orrick, III: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California

Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Judge Luis Felipe Restrepo: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Judge Nelson Stephen Román: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Judge William L. Thomas: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida

Judge Analisa Torres: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

Derrick Kahala Watson: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii

COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE NOMINEES

Mark A. Barnett: Nominee for the United States Court of International Trade

Claire R. Kelly: Nominee for the United States Court of International Trade

Blog posts on this issue January 04, 2013 6:12 PM ESTJoin President Obama in a National Day of Service

The Presidential Inaugural Committee announces a National Day of Service on January 19, 2013

January 04, 2013 6:05 PM ESTJoin President Obama in a National Day of Service

The Presidential Inaugural Committee announces a National Day of Service on January 19, 2013

January 04, 2013 2:55 PM EST2012: A Year in Photos

En español Accessibility Copyright Information Privacy Policy Contact USA.gov Developers Apply for a Job

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Bet on Health Care to Beat the Market?

Highlight transcript below to create clipTranscript: Print | Email Go Click text to jump within videoFri 04 Jan 13 | 12:30 PM ET Deutsche Bank upgrades Johnson & Johnson, with the FMHR traders. Also discussing whether health care's momentum can continue, with Edward Yoon of Fidelity.

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Democratic Congressman Laughs At Fox News’ Fiscal Cliff Misinformation

Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) schooled the hosts of Fox & Friends on the details of the deal to avert the so-called “fiscal cliff” during an appearance to explain his opposition to the Senate-passed compromise on Wednesday morning. Smith also laughed off the network’s suggestion that President Obama has not offered specific spending cuts.

Smith said he voted against the “American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012” because the measure locked in low revenue levels that could necessitate dramatic spending cuts in the future. The Fox News hosts appeared incredulous, however, arguing that Obama failed to put any spending cuts on the table or show leadership on entitlement reform. Once Smith pointed to Obama’s proposal to change the growth of Social Security benefits, co-host Steve Doocy quickly dismissed the plan as a “nonstarter.” The Congressman laughed at the network’s attempt to criticize Obama and then debunked its claim that the GOP offered more specific spending reductions than the president:

DOOCY: Congressman, it’s great that you’re worried about spending and taxes, but you know, there are a lot of people who are watching this and they see the president and he really took no leadership when it comes to cutting spending with the budget and with this latest crisis, so it seems like….
SMITH: I don’t actually agree with that. The president put on the table cuts to entitlements. He put on the table the chained CPI issue, among other issues.
DOOCY: Wait, but that was a nonstarter for a lot of people in your party.
SMITH: [Laughs] Here is the thing, I mean you can say, ‘well, he’s not showing leadership.’ But now what you’re saying is he showed leadership, but nobody else was willing to. So it’s really hard to blame the president … As long as we’re talking about the president, let me also make the point, Speaker Boehner, the Republicans, what have they put on the table in terms of specific spending?
BRIAN KILMEADE (CO-HOST): Look at the Ryan plan. Look at the budget they passed.
SMITH: No. A budget is not an appropriations bill, Brian. The budget said across the board, we will cut 10%. We’re not going to tell you what, we’re not going to tell you where. We’re just going to imagine that it’s going to happen. In terms of specific spending cuts, the president had actually put more on the table during this last negotiation than the so-called fiscal conservatives leading the House.
KILMEADE: Really? Because I don’t know anything that he wanted to cut besides defense.
SMITH: I just told you! I just told you!

Watch it:

“I’m concerned that revenue has been sort of taken off the table at this point,” Smith said. Ninety-percent “of the Bush tax cuts are now locked in permanently, so any effort to deal with the very large debt and deficit that we have going down the road here revenue is pretty much off the table and we didn’t get much. Those are my concerns and that’s why I voted no.”

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Shell Runs Its Arctic Drilling Rig Aground; Coast Guard Prepares For ‘Possible Spill-Response’

Photo: Jon Klingenberg / US Coast Guard

by Kiley Kroh

It appears 2013 will begin much like 2012 ended for Shell’s Arctic Ocean drilling efforts – with yet another mishap.

After several failed attempts to secure the equipment in harsh weather, Shell’s enormous Kulluk drilling rig ran aground near Kodiak Island, Alaska late Monday night. With approximately 143,000 gallons of fuel and 12,000 gallons of lubricating oil and hydraulic fluid on board, the Coast Guard is now preparing for the “salvage and possible spill-response phase of this event.” Two Coast Guard flyovers on Tuesday did not detect any leakage but a severe winter storm – with winds up to 70 mph and waves as high as 50 feet – has prevented crews from conducting a full assessment of the damage.

After an initial exploratory drilling season plagued with technical failures, struggles with Mother Nature, and numerous warnings about the lack of preparedness to operate in the region, the oil company’s woes have only continued. In November, the challenging and unpredictable Arctic conditions created a logistical nightmare as Shell struggled to get the Kulluk out of the Beaufort Sea as winter sea ice encroached.

As the Anchorage Daily News reports, the rig was headed to Seattle for maintenance last week when a mechanical failure in the tow vessel halted its progress and left “crews struggling against worsening weather and a mobile drilling unit that was unmanned with no propulsion capability of its own.” Huge winds and fierce swells thwarted numerous attempts to reattach tow lines and bring the rig to safety. Once grounding appeared inevitable, crews worked to steer the vessel to an area where it would have the least environmental impact.

Fortunately for Shell, this latest incident occurred in close proximity to the Coast Guard station in Kodiak, which enabled the helicopter rescue of 18 crew members on Saturday in extremely challenging conditions. The station also happens to be the closest permanent Coast Guard facility to where the oil company intends to use the Kulluk when they resume drilling this summer – over 1,000 miles away or 3 to 4 hours by plane in ideal conditions.

Like each of the incidents before it, the ongoing crisis with the Kulluk underscores the numerous challenges presented by operating in the Arctic, as well as the industry’s lack of preparedness to anticipate and overcome them. Drilling for oil in the Arctic Ocean carries an enormous amount of risk – a fact pointed out not just by environmentalists but a major insurance company, bank, legislative body, and even a fellow oil major among others.

As Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) emphasized in a statement released Tuesday, “Oil companies keep saying they can conquer the Arctic, but the Arctic keeps disagreeing with the oil companies … Drilling expansion could prove disastrous for this sensitive environment.”

Problems with logistics, infrastructure, and scientific knowledge only add to a bigger problem: that the Arctic is already being battered by accelerating climate change. In the summer of 2012, the region lost a mass of ice the size of Canada and Texas combined.

Shell’s Arctic endeavor has been riddled with problems from the outset. As the company looks toward a full drilling season in 2013, there are far more questions than answers and far more mishaps than successes.

Watch a video of Shell’s stranded rig:

Coast Guard overflight of Kulluk aground from anchoragedailynews on Vimeo.

Kiley Kroh is the Associate Director for Ocean Communications at the Center for American Progress

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Thursday, January 10, 2013

Republican Congressman Claims Hammers Could Be Outlawed Under Assault Weapons Ban

Senate Republicans Stack Judiciary Committee With Two More Constitutional Extremists

Watson gets FDA application approval

Retiring Texas senator tweets 'best wishes' to new Sen. Cruz

Statement by the Press Secretary on H.R. 4310

President Obama Re-nominates Thirty-Three to Federal Judgeships

Bet on Health Care to Beat the Market?

Democratic Congressman Laughs At Fox News’ Fiscal Cliff Misinformation

Shell Runs Its Arctic Drilling Rig Aground; Coast Guard Prepares For ‘Possible Spill-Response’

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