ThinkFast: February 22, 2011
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on February 23rd, 2011 5:37 am by HL
Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi continues to face massive pro-democracy protests, as large parts of the country have been taken over by opposition protesters. After Qaddafi responded by using the military against demonstrators, numerous Libyan diplomats have resigned, including the Libyan ambassadors in Tunis and France and the envoy to the United States.
Meanwhile, a key hard-line Shiite leader in Bahrain has called for an end of the country’s ruling monarchy, escalating tensions there. Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh rejected calls for his resignation. And in Egypt, military and civilian leaders took “pledging to go forward with their agenda in the absence of Senate Democrats, who fled the state last week to stop a vote that would cripple the state’s public employee unions. The legislature can take up any bill that isn’t a fiscal measure, and they will not make any attempt to pass the controversial bill.
As the Indiana legislature debates “right-to-work” legislation that would gut the ability of unions to organize, thousands of “steelworkers, auto workers and others” protested at the state capitol. Some Democratic legislators are now debating doing a Wisconsin-style walkout in order to protect collective bargaining in the state.
Taliban members have said that war weariness and recent defeats are “creating fissures between the Taliban’s top leadership based in Pakistan and midlevel field commanders.” “I have talked to some commanders, and they are reluctant to fight,” said one unnamed Taliban commander, adding, “Definitely there is disagreement between the field commanders and the leaders over their Under pressure to address racial issues swirling around a potential presidential bid,” Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) finally said he won’t sign a bill to honor a former KKK leader with a state-issued license plate. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee had defended his fellow Republican on the issue this weekend before Barbour backed down.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) is standing firm in his opposition to federal funds for high-speed rail in his state, saying that assurances from the government that it won’t cost state taxpayers any money are mere “hypotheticals.” Federal and city officials announced a new effort, however, that will attempt to take over responsibility for the project from the state.
A new tell-all memoir from an embittered former aide to Sarah Palin portrays her as “nearly obsessed with her political adversaries and consumed with every slight, real or perceived” against her in the media. The unpublished manuscript reveals, among other things, that Palin penned letters-to-the-editor in praise of herself, only to be sent under other names.
And finally: While many travelers have been frustrated by the TSA’s security policies, one Alaska state lawmaker took a stand, returning home from Seattle via boat to avoid an airport patdown. “I had the choice to say no, this twisted policy did not have to be the price of flying to Juneau,” explained state Rep. Sharon Cissna.
The GOP?s Anti-Health Reform Crusade Now Brought To You By Industry Lobbyists
In an effort to deny more than 30 million uninsured Americans health care coverage, 26 states have filed legal action against the Affordable Care Act which passed last year. But Republican demagoguery costs money and “the [lawsuit’s] cost the states have split so far amounts to $46,000.” But Florida Republican Attorney General Pam Bondi has “paid less than $6,000″ for its lawsuit. Why? Because an anti-health care lobbying group is picking up the 26-state tab:
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi told a state House committee this month that most of the rest is being covered by the National Federation of Independent Business, a group that opposes the law because of what it considers unconstitutional costs and regulations on firms and people.
“They have dedicated a tremendous amount of resources to the lawsuit,” Bondi said Feb. 10. “We’re thrilled, because that’s saving our state money. That’s saving the 25 other states money as well.”
As the Huffington Post notes, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is no “mom and pop” operation. While dubbing itself “the Voice of Small Business,” NFIB has spent the past two years “yoking itself to the GOP” while simultaneously “jeopardizing billions of dollars in credit, tax benefits and other federal subsidies” at the expense of small businesses. Affiliated with both the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the GOP “since the Reagan era,” NFIB “is run mostly by and for Republicans” and spent 93 percent of its campaign contributions on GOP candidates. It is no wonder, then, that NFIB is happy to pay to secure the top GOP priority and equally “delighted” to see the pay off.
