Monthly Archives: April 2013

04.17.13
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ABC News: Rand Paul Hints at Presidential Run in 2016

Sen. Rand Paul is considering a run for the presidency in 2016, but will not decide until next year, the Kentucky Republican said today at the Christian Science Monitor Breakfast in Washington, D.C.

A Tea Party favorite, libertarian like his father-congressman and perennial presidential candidate, Paul told reporters he plans on multiple visits to primary states in the next few months to gauge his viability as a candidate.

Paul, 50, had previously said he was “seriously” considering a run.

He said the visibility he gains from being considered a presidential prospect helps his voice to be heard.

On the issues of the day, he said gun-control measures now before the Senate would do nothing to stop mass shootings like the one in Newtown, Conn., so he opposes them. Paul says the federal government should enforce existing laws, not make more.

Paul did indicate support for the immigration bill introduced in the Senate today. But, despite not having read the details, he still plans to introduce amendments to make border security even more stringent.

He did endorse a pathway to “citizenship” after the border is secure, terminology he had refused to utter out loud until this morning.  Instead, Paul had previously called for an underclass of legal immigrants without full citizenship in a speech last month that was widely seen as his first indication that a run at the presidency was on his mind.

Click below for the full article.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/04/rand-paul-hints-at-presidential-run-in-2016/

04.17.13
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ABC News: Avoiding Stumbling Blocks on the Pathway to Citizenship

So eight senators have agreed on a “pathway to citizenship” for America’s undocumented, leaving a mere 92 to go.  And make no mistake, there are many stumbling blocks on this road to legalization.

Pro-pathway advocates are concerned that too many people are being left out, because anyone here after December 2011 will not be eligible for citizenship and will still be vulnerable to deportation.

For many on the other side, the border will never be secure enough, even if this new immigration reform bill does call for $4.5 million in funding for new border patrol agents, equipment including drones and more security fencing.

Plus history is working against the bill.  A similar version failed in 2007 because of conservative outcry.

But at the White House today after Senators John McCain and Charles Schumer say they received the president’s seal of approval on the legislation, quote “very supportive of the bill” the two senators defended its chances, saying the American people have changed since 2007.

Americans’ views of immigration have pushed to support by a 2-1 margin.

According to a newly released ABC News/Washington Post poll, Americans were evenly split on the issue (49 percent to 46 percent) in 2007, whereas today that number is 63 percent to 33 percent.

That may mean the difference between the 2012 bill’s passage and the 2007 bill’s demise. Schumer said the fact that labor is on board now, when in 2007 they were most definitely not, means this bill has a greater chance of success.

Attitude of American people has changed since 2007,” McCain said at the press briefing today, including the effect of the Latino turnout in the election of President Obama, which he said “quite frankly” had an “impact as well.”

Click below for the full article.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/04/avoiding-stumbling-blocks-on-the-pathway-to-citizenship-2/

04.17.13
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The News Tribune Reports…. Goldman CFO: Still ‘very close’ to crisis

Goldman Sachs reported what seemed like a good first quarter, but analysts were more concerned about the bank’s future than the past three months. They peppered the chief financial officer with questions about impending regulations, and investors sent Goldman’s stock down even as other banks rose.

By the numbers, it was a decent quarter. Profit rose 5 percent and revenue was up 1 percent. Both beat analysts’ expectations. Bond underwriting soared 69 percent as issuers rushed to take advantage of low interest rates and a hearty appetite for corporate debt among investors. CEO Lloyd Blankfein described the results as “generally solid.”

Goldman’s leaders sounded a cautious tone on a conference call with analysts, however. They said investors were still nervous about the economy and that the bank would continue to focus on controlling costs.

Click below for the full article.

04.17.13
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Wall St. Cheat Sheet: Are Your Income Taxes Fair?

With the official tax deadline in the rear view mirror, many Americans can now reflect on how much they paid Uncle Sam. If you feel like you are paying more than your “fair share,” you are not alone.

Unsurprisingly, Americans are losing faith in the fairness of income taxes. According to the latest Gallup survey, only 55 percent of Americans regard the income tax they pay as fair, the lowest reading since 2001. The results are based on Gallup’s Economy and Personal Finance poll and includes adults from all 50 states. It was conducted in the early part of April.

Click below for the full article.

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/are-your-income-taxes-fair.html/?ref=YF

04.17.13
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The Week: 11 countries where gay marriage is legal

Culture wars! They are not, contrary to what U.S. media coverage might suggest, a wholly American phenomena.

On Wednesday, after facing stiff resistance from conservative group Family First, the New Zealand parliament passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, according to NPR.

The move comes a week after the French senate voted to legalize gay marriage despite the 340,000 people who had previously protested in opposition at the Eiffel Tower. Before that, Uruguay’s parliament voted to become the second country in Latin America to recognize gay marriage despite strong Catholic opposition, according to The Guardian. (Argentina is the other Latin American country where same-sex marriage is legal.) The bills in New Zealand, France, and Uruguay are all expected to be signed into law.

Click below for the full article.

http://theweek.com/article/index/242703/11-countries-where-gay-marriage-is-legal-updated

04.16.13
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Schiff: 2/3 of America to Lose Everything Because of This Crisis

A record breaking stock market is distorting a frightening  reality:  The U.S. is being eaten alive  by a horrific cancer that will ultimately destroy the economy and impoverish  the vast majority of its citizens.

That’s according to Peter Schiff, the best-selling author  and CEO of Euro Pacific Capital, who delivered his harsh warning to investors in  a recent interview on Fox Business.

“I think we are heading for a worse economic crisis than we  had in 2007,” Schiff said.  “You’re going  to have a collapse in the dollar…a huge spike in interest rates… and our whole  economy, which is built on the foundation of cheap money, is going to topple  when you pull the rug out from under it.”

Schiff says that, despite “phony” signs of an economic  recovery, the cancer destroying America stems from a lethal concoction of our  $16 trillion federal debt and the Fed’s never ending money printing.

Currently, Bernanke and company is buying $1 trillion of  Treasury and mortgage bonds a year. That’s about $85 billion per month against  a budget deficit that is about the same level.

According to Schiff, these numbers are unsustainable. And  the Fed has no credible “exit strategy.”

Click below for the full article.

http://moneymorning.com/ob-article/schiff-us-will-win-currency-war.php?code=3243#.UW4XY1_D_HZ

04.16.13
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Georgia high school to hold first desegregated prom

As Quanesha Wallace remembers, it was around this time last year when the idea first came up at Wilcox County High School. It was nothing big, just chatter about prom, school, what comes next, what they’d change.

If things were different, someone said, we’d all go to the same prom.

For as long as anyone could remember, students in their South Georgia community went to separate proms, and homecoming dances, too. White students from Wilcox County attend one. Black students, another. They’re private, invitation-only events organized by parents and students, not the school district. Schools have long been desegregated, but in Wilcox County, the dances never changed.

The friends all agreed they’d go to an integrated prom, Quanesha said, and when they asked, others said, “Yeah, I’d go, too.”

“We are all friends,” Quanesha’s friend, Stephanie Sinnot, told CNN affiliate WGXA-TV in Macon, Georgia. “That’s just kind of not right that we can’t go to prom together.”

So now it’s April, and prom is coming up, and these black and white friends, longtime pals who go to classes together and play sports together and hang out together, are going to prom together, too. For the first, the students are organizing an integrated dance, one that welcomes any of Wilcox County High’s 400 students.Wilcox High School students - photo from WGXA via CNN

Click below for the full article.

http://wqad.com/2013/04/06/georgia-high-school-to-hold-first-desegregated-prom/

04.16.13
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Reuters: Stock Markets Rally, lifted by gold, earnings, and data

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange, April 11, 2013. REUTERS-Brendan McDermid

Stocks jumped more than 1 percent on Tuesday, a day after their worst decline since November, as gold prices rebounded and earnings from Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson improved the outlook for first-quarter results.

Inflation data, which reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep its stimulus plan in place, added to bullish sentiment.

The price of gold jumped 1 percent after its record daily drop in dollar terms on Monday. The SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD.P), which fell 8.8 percent on record volume Monday, rose 1.1 percent to $132.80. The S&P 500 materials index .SPLRCMA climbed 1.9 percent, leading the benchmark S&P 500 higher.

The market’s advance followed the S&P 500’s drop of more than 2 percent drop on Monday, giving the index its worst one-day percentage loss since November 7. The S&P 500 is up 10.4 percent since the start of the year after enjoying a strong first-quarter run, partly as a result of the Fed’s continued stimulus efforts.

“Yesterday I think was a bit out of line … But I think the trend is that the market is consolidating, that we’re going to see a little bit of a pullback here over the next month and a half or so, and then we’ll get on to greener pastures,” said Brian Amidei, managing director at HighTower Advisors in Palm Desert, California.

Click below for the full article.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/16/us-markets-stocks-idUSBRE93006T20130416

04.16.13
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The Week Weighs In: Who’s behind the Boston Marathon bombings? 4 theories …..

aw enforcement officials don’t have any official suspects in Monday’s twin bombings at the finish line of the Boston marathon. And President Obama specifically urged people not to speculate on who’s behind the attack, which killed at least three people, including an 8-year-old boy, and wounded more than 100 others, including several amputations.

“We still don’t know who did this or why,” Obama said Monday night. “People should not jump to conclusions before we have all the facts. But make no mistake. We will get to the bottom of this. We will find out who did this. We will find out why they did this. Any individual or responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice.”

Click below for the full article on 4 theories of who was behind the attacks.

http://theweek.com/article/index/242773/whos-behind-the-boston-marathon-bombings-4-theories

04.16.13
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Rand Paul offers up alternative Immigration Plan From business week: Paul Looks to Broaden Appeal by Backing Immigration Shift

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky endorsed immigration changes that would give legal status to undocumented immigrants in the U.S. in a move to broaden his appeal ahead of a potential 2016 Republican presidential bid.

Paul’s plan, outlined in a speech yesterday, would create work visas for an estimated 11 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally and let Congress verify border security before revamping the nation’s immigration laws.

Paul set his proposal apart from one being crafted by a bipartisan group of senators, including another potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate, Marco Rubio of Florida. Their plan would provide a pathway to citizenship.

“I’m not creating a new line for citizenship,” Paul said on CNN yesterday. “I’m just saying, you get in the current line that exists.”

“You don’t have to go back home, but we also don’t want to put you at the front of the line because that’s unfair to people who’ve been waiting legally,” he told reporters on a conference call yesterday.

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What do you think about Paul’s plans and the other bipartisan plan proposed?  Click below for the full article.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-03-19/rand-paul-endorses-legal-status-for-undocumented-immigrants