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Senator Boxer and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson Both Throw IPCC Under the Bus

BREAKING: Senator Barbara Boxer and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson Throw IPCC Under the Bus

Following the release of the Inhofe Report, Boxer claimed she was only quoting "American scientists," and Jackson reversed herself on the use of the IPCC as the "gold standard."

February 23, 2010 - by Charlie Martin

During the review of the Environmental Protection Agency budget in today’s Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing, both Senator Barbara Boxer — the chair of the committee — and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson distanced themselves from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4).

Boxer and Jackson’s statements, in addition to being a striking change in policy, are problematic because U.S. climate science is very closely tied to the IPCC reports (as Christopher Horner showed in his recent PJM series on the NASA FOIA emails.)

The statements by Boxer and Jackson followed Senator Inhofe’s release (see the PJM exclusive report) in his opening statement of a minority staff report documenting many flaws in the IPCC report and the other evidence revealed in the Climategate files. (See the full hearing on CSPAN here; the exchanges with Senator Boxer and Inhofe, and Administrator Jackson begin at about 56 minutes into the video.)

Both Boxer and Jackson appeared to be trying to distance the EPA from the IPCC report. Boxer said:

In my opening statement, I didn’t quote one international scientist or IPCC report. … We are quoting the American scientific community here.

When Inhofe directly asked Jackson if she still considered the IPCC report the “gold standard,” she answered:

The primary focus of the endangerment finding was on climate threat risks in this country.

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/breaking-senator-barbara-boxer-and-epa-administrator-lisa-jackson-throw-ipcc-under-the-bus/



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Free Speech Seems to be Lost

Ex- prosecutor puts WTKK’s Michael Graham “on notice”

Tensions are starting to boil between one Boston talk radio host and a local prosecutor in charge when accused Alabama rampage killer Amy Bishop killed her brother with a shotgun blast in their Braintree home in 1986.

John Kivlan, a former Norfolk Country assistant district attorney, left an ominous message for WTKK-FM (96.9) yakker Michael Graham during Friday’s show. (Graham is an op-ed columnist for the Boston Herald).

“…I just want to put you on notice that a repetition of statements that our office was corrupt or inept in not filing that charge won’t go unchallenged simply by a phone call if it’s repeated,” Kivlan warned.

Kivlan was referring to the gun charges that were never brought against Bishop following her brother’s death. In his message to Graham, Kivlan said the district attorney’s office couldn’t have brought gun charges against her at the time because they weren’t aware that the gun-wielding Bishop had threatened an auto body shop worker and another man after she killed her brother.

Kivlan didn’t leave a phone number. Graham said tonight that both Kivlan and former Norfolk County District Attorney William Delahunt are welcome on his show.

http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/news/mediaBiz/index.php/2010/02/22/ex-prosecutor-puts-wtkks-michael-graham-on-notice/

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In ObamaCare, Payroll Taxes to be Increased on 'Households' Making Less than $250,000 a Year

Read His Lips: Obama Calls for Increasing Payroll Taxes on ‘Households’ Earning Less Than $250,000 Per Year
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
By Terence P. Jeffrey, Editor-in-Chief

(CNSNews.com) - President Obama presented a new health care plan on Monday that calls for raising the Medicare payroll tax on some households earning less than $250,000, an apparent breach of his campaign pledge not to raise taxes on families earning less than that amount. The president’s plan also calls for increasing taxes on interest, dividends, annuities, royalties and rents.
 
In a Sept. 12, 2008 campaign speech in Dover, N.H, Obama said: “And I can make a firm pledge: Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 will see their taxes increase—not your income taxes, not your payroll taxes, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your  taxes.”
 
But the new health care plan released in summary form yesterday by the White House specifically calls for increasing the Medicare payroll tax on “households with incomes exceeding $200,000 for singles and $250,000 for married couples filing jointly.”
 
Unless President Obama is prepared to say that the only type of “family” that qualifies as a “family” under his tax pledge is one that is formed around a "married couple filing jointly," then his new health care proposal violates his 2008 tax pledge on its face. The Internal Revenue Service, for example, makes clear that the “head of household” tax filing status is for “unmarried” taxpayers. A definition of the term “head of household” on the IRS Web site says: “Generally, you may claim head of household filing status on your tax return only if you are unmarried and pay more than 50% of the costs of keeping up a home for yourself and your dependent(s) or other qualifying individuals.”

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/61720 
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Airborne Laser is Not Science Fiction, But an Effective Defensive Weapon

James Carafano: Dumping Airborne Laser leaves America vulnerable

By: James Carafano
Examiner Columnist
February 22, 2010

At 8:44 p.m. PST Feb. 11, 2010 ... for just a second ... man made night into day.

A short-range ballistic missile launched from a sea-based platform off California's Point Mugu Naval Air Warfare Center. Moments later, the Airborne Laser carried aloft in a specially modified 747 detected it.

Then it cranked up the high-energy laser. That beam struck home, burning a small hole in the missile. A split-second later, its structural integrity destroyed, the missile vaporized in a tumbling corkscrew.

Within two minutes of launch time, it was all over.

Not bad for a defensive weapon once ridiculed as science fiction. Skeptics even persuaded the Obama administration to slot the airborne laser for the ninth circle of procurement hell -- a pit for dead-end research and development programs. But this month's dramatic success has put the critics on their heels.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/Dumping-Airborne-Laser-leaves-America-vulnerable-84912847.html#ixzz0gOi5Zj9P

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NAACP to Honor Van Jones

NAACP to Honor Van Jones as 'National Treasure'

FOXNews.com

White House green jobs adviser Van Jones quit the post last year after he was dogged by past remarks and associations, but that isn't stopping the NAACP from awarding him one of its Image Awards

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/02/23/naacp-honor-van-jones-national-treasure/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+foxnews%252Fpolitics+%2528Text+-+Politics%2529

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Pelosi Renews her Battle with the CIA

Pelosi Reasserts Claims On CIA Interrogation Techniques

By James Rosen and Chad Pergram

 - FOXNews.com

Prodded by the release of dozens of declassified CIA documents, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi  reasserted her longstanding position about what she knew regarding the agency's use of harsh interrogation practices.

"I have never been briefed by the CIA or anyone else on the subject of those interrogations, to the extent that they were being used," the California Democrat told reporters Tuesday. "We were only briefed that there were lawyers in the Justice Department that thought they were legal, period."

The comments marked Pelosi's first foray into the controversy in nine months that pitted the top House Democrat against the nation's premier spy agency. Responding to a lawsuit filed by Amnesty International and two other human rights watchdog groups, the CIA released several dozen documents detailing how the CIA handled suspected terrorism suspects and briefed lawmakers about it. 

The documents show Pelosi was briefed about "ongoing interrogations of Abu Zubaydah" on April 24, 2002, just weeks after the top Al Qaeda suspect was captured in Pakistan. Previously, Pelosi asserted the 2002 briefing covered only "interrogation techniques the administration was considering using in the future."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/02/23/pelosi-renews-dispute-cia-interrogation-techniques/

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New Embassy in London to have a Moat and is Costing $1Billion

US diplomats add a moat to their expenses at $1bn London embassy




The United States has unveiled plans for its new $1 billion high-security embassy in London — the most expensive it has ever built.

The proposals were met with relief from both the present embassy’s Mayfair neighbours and the residents and developers of the Battersea wasteland where the vast crystalline cube, surrounded by a moat, will be built.

The decision to abandon the former site in Grosvenor Square by 2016 came after a prolonged battle with residents angered by the security measures demanded after the September 11 attacks. More than a hundred residents took out a full-page advertisement in The Times to oppose tighter measures that they said would leave the area more vulnerable to attack.

The new embassy, on a former industrial site behind Battersea power station known for its gay clubs, will be designed by Kieran Timberlake, the Philadelphia architect.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7038550.ece


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Roll Call of Native Hawaiian Reorganization Act

It passed by a vote of 245-164. 23 Congressmen did not vote.

---- YEAS    245 ---

Abercrombie
Ackerman
Adler (NJ)
Altmire
Arcuri
Baca
Baird
Baldwin
Barrow
Bean
Becerra
Berkley
Berry
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Boccieri
Boren
Boswell
Boucher
Boyd
Brady (PA)
Braley (IA)
Brown, Corrine
Butterfield
Cao
Capps
Capuano
Cardoza
Carnahan
Carney
Carson (IN)
Castor (FL)
Chandler
Childers
Chu
Clarke
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Cole
Connolly (VA)
Conyers
Cooper
Costa
Courtney
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Dahlkemper
Davis (AL)
Davis (CA)
Davis (IL)
Davis (TN)
DeFazio
DeGette
DeLauro
Dic-s
Doggett
Donnelly (IN)
Doyle
Driehaus
Edwards (MD)
Edwards (TX)
Ehlers
Ellison
Ellsworth
Engel
Eshoo
Etheridge
Farr
Fattah
Filner
Foster
Frank (MA)
Fudge
Garamendi
Gonzalez
Grayson
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hall (NY)
Halvorson
Hare
Harman
Hastings (FL)
Heinrich
Herseth Sandlin
Higgins
Hill
Hinchey
Hirono
Hodes
Holden
Holt
Honda
Hoyer
Inslee
Israel
Jackson (IL)
Jackson Lee (TX)
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Jones
Kagen
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Kennedy
Kildee
Kilpatrick (MI)
Kilroy
Kind
Kirkpatrick (AZ)
Kissell
Klein (FL)
Kosmas
Kratovil
Kucinich
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee (CA)
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren, Zoe
Lowey
Luján
Lynch
Maffei
Maloney
Markey (CO)
Markey (MA)
Marshall
Massa
Matheson
Matsui
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McIntyre
McNerney
Meek (FL)
Meeks (NY)
Melancon
Michaud
Miller, George
Minnick
Mitchell
Mollohan
Moore (KS)
Moore (WI)
Moran (VA)
Murphy (CT)
Murphy (NY)
Murphy, Patrick
Murphy, Tim
Nadler (NY)
Napolitano
Neal (MA)
Nye
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Ortiz
Owens
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor (AZ)
Perlmutter
Perriello
Peters
Peterson
Pingree (ME)
Polis (CO)
Pomeroy
Price (NC)
Quigley
Rahall
Rangel
Reyes
Richardson
Rodriguez
Ross
Rothman (NJ)
Roybal-Allard
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Salazar
Sánchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schauer
Schiff
Schrader
Schwartz
Scott (GA)
Scott (VA)
Serrano
Sestak
Shea-Porter
Sherman
Shuler
Skelton
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Snyder
Space
Speier
Spratt
Stupak
Sutton
Tanner
Taylor
Teague
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Titus
Tonko
Towns
Tsongas
Van Hollen
Velázquez
Visclosky
Walz
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watson
Watt
Waxman
Weiner
Welch
Wilson (OH)
Woolsey
Wu
Yarmuth
Young (AK)

---- NAYS    164 ---

Aderholt
Akin
Alexander
Austria
Bachmann
Bachus
Bartlett
Barton (TX)
Biggert
Bilbray
Bilirakis
Blackburn
Boehner
Bonner
Boozman
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Bright
Broun (GA)
Brown (SC)
Brown-Waite, Ginny
Buchanan
Burgess
Burton (IN)
Buyer
Calvert
Camp
Campbell
Cantor
Capito
Carter
Cassidy
Castle
Chaffetz
Coble
Coffman (CO)
Conaway
Crenshaw
Davis (KY)
Deal (GA)
Dent
Diaz-Balart, L.
Diaz-Balart, M.
Dreier
Duncan
Emerson
Fallin
Flake
Fleming
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly
Garrett (NJ)
Gerlach
Giffords
Gingrey (GA)
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Granger
Graves
Griffith
Guthrie
Hall (TX)
Harper
Hastings (WA)
Heller
Hensarling
Herger
Himes
Hunter
Inglis
Issa
Jenkins
Johnson (IL)
Johnson, Sam
Jordan (OH)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kirk
Kline (MN)
Lamborn
Lance
Latham
LaTourette
Latta
Lee (NY)
Lewis (CA)
Linder
LoBiondo
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
Lungren, Daniel E.
Manzullo
Marchant
McCarthy (CA)
McCaul
McClintock
McCotter
McHenry
McKeon
McMahon
McMorris Rodgers
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary
Moran (KS)
Myrick
Neugebauer
Nunes
Olson
Paul
Paulsen
Pence
Petri
Pitts
Platts
Poe (TX)
Posey
Price (GA)
Putnam
Rehberg
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Rooney
Roskam
Royce
Ryan (WI)
Scalise
Schmidt
Schock
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shadegg
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Souder
Stearns
Sullivan
Terry
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiahrt
Tiberi
Upton
Walden
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Wolf
Young (FL)

---- NOT VOTING    23 ---

Andrews
Barrett (SC)
Berman
Bishop (UT)
Blunt
Bono Mack
Costello
Culberson
Delahunt
Dingell
Gordon (TN)
Hinojosa
Hoekstra
Mack
Miller (NC)
Payne
Radanovich
Reichert
Ros-Lehtinen
Sires
Stark
Turner
Wamp


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New Poll Shows Rubio Up 18

Chamber Poll: Rubio, 48; Crist, 30

TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Chamber rolled out its latest poll for members today at their annual Capitol Days meeting, and it’s yet more bad news for Gov. Charlie Crist.

The poll supposedly found Marco Rubio up 48-30 over Crist in the U.S. Senate primary. Back in October, the chamber’s usually trustworthy surveying found Crist leading Rubio 44-30.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2010/02/chamber-poll-rubio-48-crist-30.html


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Bernie Sanders Compared Global Warming Skeptics to Nazi Deniers

Bernie Sanders compares climate skeptics to Nazi deniers



By MARIN COGAN | 2/23/10 2:20 PM EST

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is comparing climate change skeptics to those who disregarded the Nazi threat to America in the 1930s, adding a strident rhetorical shot to the already volatile debate over climate change. 

"It reminds me in some ways of the debate taking place in this country and around the world in the late 1930s," said Sanders, perhaps the most liberal member of the Senate, during a Senate hearing Tuesday. "During that period of Nazism and fascism's growth-a real danger to the United States and democratic countries around the world- there were people in this country and in the British parliament who said 'don't worry! Hitler's not real! It'll disappear!"

Sanders’ reference to the Nazi threat is sure to enrage Republicans who are already skeptical of the science behind climate change. But Sanders wasn't the only one throwing bombs at a hearing that was ostensibly about the EPA's fiscal 2011 budget. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), who has called global warming a "hoax," is asking for an investigation into the science used in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the governing body on climate science.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/33371.html



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The Native Hawaiian Reorganization Act Passes in the House

The bill passes by a vote of 245-164. 245 Congressmen are in favor of state-sponsored racial discrimination and judicial balkanization.
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House is Now Voting on Final Passage of the Native Hawaiian Reorganization Act

The House is now voting on the NHRA and it will pass. I will post the results when they become available.
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Amendments Now being Voted on for Native Hawaiian Reorganization Act

First amendment is being voted on now. The amendment is sponsored by Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Washington). The amendment fails to pass.

Second amendment is being voted on now. The amendment is sponsored by Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Arizona). The amendment fails to pass.

The third and final amendment is being voted on now. This amendment will create a governing entity for the Native Hawaiians. It is sponsored by Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii). The amendment passes by a vote of 254-164.
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Vote on Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act to be Voted on Momentarily (Updatedx3)

I will post the results after the vote takes place, which should take place very soon.


Update: Momentarily for Congress is an extra half an hour. They are still making their final arguments before a vote. It is looking it will take place soon because the last speaker is speaking now.

Update2: I had thought it was the last speaker, but Pelosi is now speaking, so I assume she had to get the final word before a vote.

Update3: Still speaking.
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