Obama Care: Feb 15, 2013

Friday, February 15, 2013

House GOP To Supreme Court: Gay People Are Too Powerful To Get Equal Rights

An African-American leader addresses one of the most influential, best-connected, best-funded, and best organized interest groups of the 1960s.

For nearly two years, House Republicans paid conservative superlawyer Paul Clement $520 an hour to defend the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act in federal court — and then sent the bill to the American taxpayer. In total Clement has now cost the American people up to $3 million for his efforts on behalf of this unconstitutional law. Last night, we taxpayers finally found out what we were paying for — a 60 page brief explaining why the justices should leave marriage discrimination untouched.

As decades of precedent establish that the Constitution should provide a shield to minority groups when prejudice leaves them without adequate recourse to the political process, Clement includes a section discussing just how very powerful and completely capable of vindicating their rights at the ballot box gay men and lesbians have become. Same-sex marriage is supported by President Obama and Vice President Biden! Less than half of Congress filed a brief agreeing with them! A magazine once wrote an article about how influential the Human Rights Campaign is! For the first time in history, an entire 1 percent of the Senate is openly gay!

After touting the immense political clout of a group that, after 226 years of American democracy, finally managed to elect a single person to the upper house of Congress, Clement then drops this line:

In short, gays and lesbians are one of the most influential, best-connected, best-funded, and best organized interest groups in modern politics, and have attained more legislative victories, political power, and popular favor in less time than virtually any other group in American history. . . . Gays and lesbians not only have the attention of lawmakers, they are winning many legislative battles. And the importance of this factor in the analysis cannot be gainsaid. . . . [G]iven that the ultimate inquiry focuses on whether a group needs the special intervention of the courts or whether issues should be left for the democratic process, the political strength of gays and lesbians in the political process should be outcome determinative here.

One can only wonder what Paul Clement might have written if Virginia had hired him to defend their practice of racial marriage discrimination when it was before the justices in 1967. “Negro leaders meet often with the President and with Congressional leaders, and indeed, President Johnson himself signed two major laws pushed by the Negro lobby. Negro groups not only led a widely attended rally on the National Mall, but they routinely organize well-attended sit-ins, marches and other events that garner press attention and national sympathy. Recently, a Negro march at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama even sparked the President of the United States to give a speech endorsing the Negro lobby’s agenda before a joint session of Congress.”

Because, of course, if the fact that gay people have won a few political battles lately were reason to deny them the equal protection of the laws, then the same would also be true about African-Americans and women. Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act two years before Virginia lost its marriage discrimination case in the Supreme Court. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 promised equal treatment to women in the workplace — a promise still denied to gay men and lesbians — seven years before the justices first recognized that official discrimination against women violates the Constitution. Political victories do not cancel out Americans’ constitutional rights, they augment them, and Clement is simply wrong to suggest otherwise.

Ultimately, the sheer absurdity of Clement’s argument exposes why his claims must not prevail at the Supreme Court. The Constitution of Seneca Falls and Selma is also the Constitution of Stonewall. Clement’s argument would deny all three.

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Arena slumps on continued concerns for Belviq

NEW YORK -- Shares of Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. slumped Tuesday after the company said European Union regulators still have questions about its weight-loss drug Belviq.

THE SPARK: Arena said a committee that advises the European Medicines Agency is asking for more information about Belviq, including heart valve issues and psychiatric side effects as well as tumors that were observed during studies on rats. The advisory panel also asked the company to justify the risks and benefits that Belviq offers.

THE BIG PICTURE: Arena asked European Union regulators to approve Belviq in March 2012. The company has been working to address concerns raised by regulators as it tries to win marketing clearance. Arena expects the advisory committee to issue a recommendation during the first half of 2013.

The Food and Drug Administration approved Belviq in late June, and Arena and its partner Eisai Co. plan to start selling it in the U.S. soon. The FDA approved another weight-loss pill, Vivus Inc.'s Qsymia, around the same time it approved Belviq. However Qsymia went on sale before the end of 2012.

THE ANALYSIS: Jefferies & Co. analyst Thomas Wei said he thinks Arena shares will be volatile because investors don't think Belviq will be approved in the EU, and have taken a dim view about the sales potential of Belviq by itself. Wei said he is more optimistic about the potential of a combination of Belviq and phentermine.

SHARE ACTION: Arena shares lost 99 cents, or 10 percent, to $8.79 in afternoon trading. The stock traded as high as $13.50 on June 27, the day Belviq was approved.

View the original article here

Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate

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For Immediate Release January 22, 2013 Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate

NOMINATIONS SENT TO THE SENATE:

John Owen Brennan, of Virginia, to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, vice David H. Petraeus, resigned.

Charles Timothy Hagel, of Nebraska, to be Secretary of Defense, vice Leon E. Panetta.

John Forbes Kerry, of Massachusetts, to be Secretary of State, vice Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Jacob J. Lew, of New York, to be Secretary of the Treasury, vice Timothy F. Geithner.

Jacob J. Lew, of New York, to be United States Governor of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; to be United States Governor of the International Monetary Fund for a term of five years; United States Governor of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development for a term of five years; United States Governor of the Inter-American Development Bank for a term of five years, vice Timothy F. Geithner.

Sylvia M. Becker, of the District of Columbia, to be a Member of the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission of the United States for the term expiring September 30, 2013, vice Ralph E. Martinez, term expired.

Sylvia M. Becker, of the District of Columbia, to be a Member of the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission of the United States for the term expiring September 30, 2016. (Reappointment)

Robert F. Cohen, Jr., of West Virginia, to be a Member of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission for a term of six years expiring August 30, 2018. (Reappointment)

Richard J. Engler, of New Jersey, to be a Member of the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board for a term of five years, vice William E. Wright, term expired.

Alan F. Estevez, of the District of Columbia, to be a Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, vice Frank Kendall III.

Christopher J. Meade, of New York, to be General Counsel for the Department of the Treasury, vice George Wheeler Madison, resigned.

David Medine, of Maryland, to be Chairman and Member of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board for a term expiring January 29, 2018. (New Position)

Carol Waller Pope, of the District of Columbia, to be a Member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority for a term of five years
expiring July 1, 2014. (Reappointment)

William B. Schultz, of the District of Columbia, to be General Counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services, vice Daniel Meron.

Jeffrey Shell, of California, to be a Member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors for a term expiring August 13, 2015, vice Walter Isaacson, term expired.

Jeffrey Shell, of California, to be Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, vice Walter Isaacson, resigned.

Frederick Vollrath, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of Defense. (New Position)

Derek Anthony West, of California, to be Associate Attorney General, vice Thomas John Perrelli, resigned.

Jenny R. Yang, of the District of Columbia, to be a Member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for a term expiring July 1, 2017, vice Stuart Ishimaru, resigned.

Blog posts on this issue January 21, 2013 2:27 PM ESTThe Second Inauguration of Barack Obama

Read the official transcript or watch the video of President Obama's Second Inaugural Address.

January 21, 2013 3:26 PM ESTBe a Part of the Next Four Years

The President's second term will offer many ways for citizens to participate in conversations with the President and his team about the issues that are most important to them.

January 21, 2013 10:23 AM ESTThese Four Historians Have Some Thoughts About Today's Inauguration

Doris Kearns Goodwin, Robert Caro, Michael Beschloss, and Douglass Brinkley have written more than a dozen books about American presidents, and they have some thoughts about the 2013 Inauguration.

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

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Texas Republicans Call For More Guns In Schools Following Shooting At Lone Star College

On Tuesday afternoon, the nation experienced its 49th school shooting since the Columbine massacre in 1999, when an altercation between two individuals set off at least five gunshots at Lone Star College in north Houston, Texas, injuring both parties and a nearby janitor caught in the crossfire. The college and the surrounding schools went into lockdown as police secured the area, chasing one of the suspects involved in the incident into a wooded area behind the school. Both men suffered gun shot wounds and are now in custody.

Texas is one of 49 states with a concealed carry law, permitting licensed individuals to carry firearms within the state, and lawmakers have introduced legislation that would allow college students and staff with concealed weapon permits to carry firearms on school grounds. Firearms are currently prohibited at Lone Star.

Now, top Republican lawmakers — including Gov. Rick Perry and Rep. Tim Poe — are using Tuesday’s incident to call for more weapons on campus. KTRK’s Ted Oberg has the report:

OBERG: Governor Perry said this afternoon his thoughts and prayers are with all the victims, but that anyone licensed and who has training on how to carry a weapon should be able to carry that weapon anywhere within the state and [that he would] indeed review the bill that’s been filed quickly. …. We talked to Ted Poe from the north Houston area, who said students today were defenseless on that campus.
POE: It brings to focus the fact that many schools and universities and students have — are defenseless at the schools and places of higher education and this seems to show that.

Watch it:

Five days ago, Texas State Sen. Brian Birdwell (R) and 13 other Republican authors introduced a measure that would prohibit higher ed institutions from imposing “bans or penalties on students who are licensed to carry a concealed handgun.” Schools could prohibit firearms at college sporting events, however. A similar bill failed to pass last year.

Lone Star already employs armed police officers and unarmed security guards.

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Inaugural Address by President Barack Obama

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Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release January 21, 2013 Inaugural Address by President Barack Obama

United States Capitol 11:55 A.M. EST THE PRESIDENT: Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice,members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens: Each time we gather to inaugurate a President we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. We affirm the promise of our democracy. We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names. What makes us exceptional -- what makes us American -- is our allegiance to an idea articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago:“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Today we continue a never-ending journey to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time. For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they’ve never been self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth. (Applause.) The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few or the rule of a mob. They gave to us a republic, a government of, and by, and for the people, entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed. And for more than two hundred years, we have. Through blood drawn by lash and blood drawn by sword, we learned that no union founded on the principles of liberty and equality could survive half-slave and half-free. We made ourselves anew, and vowed to move forward together. Together, we determined that a modern economy requires railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce, schools and colleges to train our workers. Together, we discovered that a free market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play. Together, we resolved that a great nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from life’s worst hazards and misfortune. Through it all, we have never relinquished our skepticism of central authority, nor have we succumbed to the fiction that all society’s ills can be cured through government alone. Our celebration of initiative and enterprise, our insistence on hard work and personal responsibility, these are constants in our character. But we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action. For the American people can no more meet the demands of today’s world by acting alone than American soldiers could have met the forces of fascism or communism with muskets and militias. No single person can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores. Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation and one people. (Applause.) This generation of Americans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience. A decade of war is now ending. (Applause.) An economic recovery has begun. (Applause.) America’s possibilities are limitless, for we possess all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands: youth and drive; diversity and openness; an endless capacity for risk and a gift for reinvention. My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it -- so long as we seize it together. (Applause.) For we, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it. (Applause.) We believe that America’s prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class. We know that America thrives when every person can find independence and pride in their work; when the wages of honest labor liberate families from the brink of hardship. We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American; she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own. (Applause.) We understand that outworn programs are inadequate to the needs of our time. So we must harness new ideas and technology to remake our government, revamp our tax code, reform our schools, and empower our citizens with the skills they need to work harder, learn more, reach higher. But while the means will change, our purpose endures: a nation that rewards the effort and determination of every single American. That is what this moment requires. That is what will give real meaning to our creed. We, the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity. We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit. But we reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future. (Applause.) For we remember the lessons of our past, when twilight years were spent in poverty and parents of a child with a disability had nowhere to turn. We do not believe that in this country freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few. We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, any one of us at any time may face a job loss, or a sudden illness, or a home swept away in a terrible storm. The commitments we make to each other through Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security, these things do not sap our initiative, they strengthen us. (Applause.) They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great. (Applause.) We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. (Applause.) Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms. The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition, we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries, we must claim its promise. That’s how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure -- our forests and waterways, our crop lands and snow-capped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared. We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war. (Applause.) Our brave men and women in uniform, tempered by the flames of battle, are unmatched in skill and courage. (Applause.) Our citizens, seared by the memory of those we have lost, know too well the price that is paid for liberty. The knowledge of their sacrifice will keep us forever vigilant against those who would do us harm. But we are also heirs to those who won the peace and not just the war; who turned sworn enemies into the surest of friends -- and we must carry those lessons into this time as well. We will defend our people and uphold our values through strength of arms and rule of law. We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully –- not because we are naïve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear. (Applause.) America will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of the globe. And we will renew those institutions that extend our capacity to manage crisis abroad, for no one has a greater stake in a peaceful world than its most powerful nation. We will support democracy from Asia to Africa, from the Americas to the Middle East, because our interests and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those who long for freedom. And we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice –- not out of mere charity, but because peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes: tolerance and opportunity, human dignity and justice. We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths –- that all of us are created equal –- is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth. (Applause.) It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. (Applause.) Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law –- (applause) -- for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. (Applause.) Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. (Applause.) Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity -- (applause) -- until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country. (Applause.) Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia, to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for and cherished and always safe from harm. That is our generation’s task -- to make these words, these rights, these values of life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness real for every American. Being true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life. It does not mean we all define liberty in exactly the same way or follow the same precise path to happiness. Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time, but it does require us to act in our time. (Applause.) For now decisions are upon us and we cannot afford delay. We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate. (Applause.) We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect. We must act, knowing that today’s victories will be only partial and that it will be up to those who stand here in four years and 40 years and 400 years hence to advance the timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare Philadelphia hall. My fellow Americans, the oath I have sworn before you today, like the one recited by others who serve in this Capitol, was an oath to God and country, not party or faction. And we must faithfully execute that pledge during the duration of our service. But the words I spoke today are not so different from the oath that is taken each time a soldier signs up for duty or an immigrant realizes her dream. My oath is not so different from the pledge we all make to the flag that waves above and that fills our hearts with pride. They are the words of citizens and they represent our greatest hope. You and I, as citizens, have the power to set this country’s course. You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time -- not only with the votes we cast, but with the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals. (Applause.) Let us, each of us, now embrace with solemn duty and awesome joy what is our lasting birthright. With common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom. Thank you. God bless you, and may He forever bless these United States of America. (Applause.) END12:10 P.M. EST

Blog posts on this issue January 21, 2013 2:27 PM ESTThe Second Inauguration of Barack Obama

Read the official transcript or watch the video of President Obama's Second Inaugural Address.

January 21, 2013 3:26 PM ESTBe a Part of the Next Four Years

The President's second term will offer many ways for citizens to participate in conversations with the President and his team about the issues that are most important to them.

January 21, 2013 10:23 AM ESTThese Four Historians Have Some Thoughts About Today's Inauguration

Doris Kearns Goodwin, Robert Caro, Michael Beschloss, and Douglass Brinkley have written more than a dozen books about American presidents, and they have some thoughts about the 2013 Inauguration.

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

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'Beijing Cough' an Insult to China's Capital, Doctor Says

A top doctor in China said that the term "Beijing cough" is an insult to the Chinese capital.

Professor Pan Xiaochuan of Peking University's School of Public Health said that the term was created by expats and was not an official medical condition.

"Before you can find clear evidence of this [causal link], using the term 'Beijing cough' is an extreme insult to Beijing," Pan told the Economic Information Daily, reported the South China Morning Post.

He went on to say that one would eventually acclimatize to the pollution.

"It's pretty rich for the doctor to insinuate that people living in Beijing — and, more particularly, foreigners — are whiners and exaggerators for complaining about the air in previous weeks," reported GlobalPost's senior correspondent Benjamin Carlson.

"As any watcher of Chinese news knows, Beijing's air has been off the charts. Respiratory illnesses have already risen. Ordinary Chinese citizens have taken to wearing masks around Tiananmen Square," Carlson reported from Hong Kong, adding: "Even state-owned media like People's Daily are acknowledging 'Beijing cough' as something real, and dangerous."

It is estimated that Beijing currently has 40 times the smog level which World Health Organization deems as safe.

View the original article here

Oregon Man Begs For Kidney Donor On The Street

Earl Martinez is a 28-year-old Oregonian suffering from Alport Syndrome, a genetic kidney disorder that has forced him to undergo dialysis treatments for the past year and a half. In order to survive, he needs a new kidney, but the hereditary nature of his disease makes it impossible for his family to provide it. So, after waiting on a transplant list for over a year, Martinez has taken a more active role in addressing his medical needs — by begging for a kidney donor on the side of an Oregon road, CBS News reports.

Money is no obstacle for Martinez, who has health insurance. “My insurance would cover all medical costs on my side and the donor’s side,” Martinez told local CBS affiliate KOIN. “The donor would have no medical costs at all.”

But coverage alone isn’t enough for the approximately 113,000 Americans on an organ transplant waiting list — 80 percent of whom need a new kidney. According to a 2009 Rutgers Law Review article, only 30,000 transplants are performed in America every year. That meets less than a third of the annual demand and leads to 20 American deaths every day due to the lack of organ donors, and 4,000 deaths annually from too few kidney transplants.

Studies suggest that America’s dearth of organ donors may have to do with public health policy. The U.S. relies primarily on an “opt-in” system when it comes to organ donation, meaning that potential donors must actively volunteer to donate, as many Americans do at the DMV after receiving a driver’s license. But other nations’ experiences with organ donation policy suggest that an “opt-out” system — which always presumes a person’s consent upon death, unless that person or his family refuses — could be more effective. Austria, an “opt-out” nation, has a staggering donation consent rate of 99.98 percent, for example.

Still, despite its donor shortage, the U.S. ranks third worldwide in overall organ donation rates after death. And even in states like Oregon, where 70 percent of residents over the age of 18 are registered donors, there are only 274 organ transplants performed annually — suggesting that a lack of registered donors isn’t the root of the problem. The answer to this dilemma may actually lie in the source of Americans’ demand for organs.

The vast majority of U.S. residents waiting for a transplant need a kidney, and the most common causes of chronic kidney disease are diabetes and high blood pressure. It follows that America’s diabetes and obesity epidemic is in large part responsible for the nation’s unsustainable demand for kidney transplants. Addressing the soaring rates of obesity in the U.S., and therefore improving the health of the general population, could help reduce America’s demand for organ transplants. And that could give Americans like Martinez — who has no control over his disease — a much-needed leg up on the waiting list.

View the original article here

DAY'S END ROUNDUP

FROM THE BLOGS:

'Full court press'
J.F. of The Economist's Democracy in America blog asks what the full legacy of Roe v. Wade is.

A few notes on Obama's second inauguration
The New Yorker's David Remnick writes that if President Obama's second inaugural speech is followed by action, it will be considered "among the most important American political addresses of the modern era."

A few Senate Dems who are 'squeamish' on new gun measures
A number of Senate Democrats in competitive states seem a little nervous about passing some of President Obama's new gun measures, according to Greg Sargent.

Obama's questionable decision to use the phrase 'peace in our time'
Thomas Ricks at his Foreign Policy blog picks out the "WTF" moment in Obama's second inaugural address.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Obama's hardline on immigration reform
President Obama subtly drew a hard line on immigration reform in his second inaugural address, according to Bloomberg Businessweek's Elizabeth Dwoskin.

The least interesting about Elizabeth Colbert-Busch is she's Stephen Colbert's sister
Bryce Donovan of the South Carolina Post and Courier profiles Elizabeth Colbert-Busch, candidate for Congress in South Carolina.

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Pat Buchanan: Stonewall Was Just A ‘Barroom Brawl’

Among the many conservative responses to President Obama’s second inaugural address was commentator Pat Buchanan, who appeared on Fox News to decry the President’s inclusion of various social issues. He described the speech as “not uplifting,” “not really poetry,” “pedestrian,” and “deeply partisan” but specifically attacked the reference to the Stonewall Riots:

BUCHANAN: This is a cross between a State of the Union speech with an agenda and a partisan rally given to the DNC. And so, I think, the president lost a real opportunity. Look, they usually talk about what? When I was a kid, Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill. What was he talking about? Stonewall. That’s a barroom brawl in Greenwich Village in 1969, when cops were hassling gays in their bar, and the gays fought back and threw them all out. Does that belong in a presidential inaugural?

Jon Stewart took Buchanan to task on Tuesday night’s The Daily Show, retorting, “For the losing side of history, I’m Pat Buchanan.” Watch it:

Diminishing Stonewall to a “barroom brawl” is the equivalent of referring to Selma as a “street fight” or Seneca Falls as a “spa retreat.” It fails to recognize the historic turning point that Stonewall symbolized, including the launch of forthright activism through groups like the Gay Liberation Front and the first pride march. Given Buchanan’s penchant for attacking any kind of social justice, perhaps he resented the mere suggestion that gays and lesbians have had any kind of struggle for equality whatsoever.

View the original article here

Ampio Pharma says eye drug trial can go ahead

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. -- Biotech drugmaker Ampio Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Tuesday the Food and Drug Administration accepted its application to start testing the eye drug Optina.

Optina is designed to treat diabetic macular edema, which can cause blurred vision and blindness. Ampio said it plans to start clinical studies of the drug in the first quarter of 2013. Based on earlier FDA decisions, Optina could be approved based on the results of a single successful clinical trial.

Ampio is also studying an inflammation drug called Ampion and premature ejaculation treatments called Zertane and Zertane-ED. The company completed its initial public offering in July, and it does not have any approved drugs.

Shares of Ampio rose 12 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $5.01 in morning trading.

View the original article here

Arizona Gov. Proposes Tax Hike on Hospitals

Highlight transcript below to create clipTranscript: Print | Email Go Click text to jump within videoTue 22 Jan 13 | 04:46 PM ET Arizona Governor Jan Brewer proposed a tax hike on hospitals to pay for Obamacare. Caroline Heldman, Occidental College Associate Professor of Politics and Paul Howard, Manhattan Institute, weigh in.

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Obama Care

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Friday, February 15, 2013

House GOP To Supreme Court: Gay People Are Too Powerful To Get Equal Rights

Arena slumps on continued concerns for Belviq

Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate

Texas Republicans Call For More Guns In Schools Following Shooting At Lone Star College

Inaugural Address by President Barack Obama

'Beijing Cough' an Insult to China's Capital, Doctor Says

Oregon Man Begs For Kidney Donor On The Street

DAY'S END ROUNDUP

Pat Buchanan: Stonewall Was Just A ‘Barroom Brawl’

Ampio Pharma says eye drug trial can go ahead

Arizona Gov. Proposes Tax Hike on Hospitals

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