5 Democratic Senators Facing Uphill Battles for Reelection

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Photo Credit: Thinkstock

Photo Credit: Thinkstock

With Congressional elections growing closer, some Senators will be facing a more difficult road to reelection than others. Incumbency is often an advantage, but after the year we’ve had, some will be struggling to get the votes they need. Democrats historically have struggled in midterm elections, something President Barack Obama pointed out in early March, reminding Democrats in Congress of how much they have riding on the election. In the Democratic party, there are five that stand out more than the rest as having their work cut out for them. Let’s take a look at the specific political challenges headed for to this group.

1. Senator Mark Begich (D-Alaska)

Senator Begich is likely feeling especially blue in his red state this year, with increasing pressure from Republicans hoping to exploit voters’ frustration with President Obama and Congress’ inactivity as a whole. He said, according to The Washington Post, that he doesn’t “care to have [Obama] campaign for” him. As a result, Begich — like many other Democrats — is putting some distance between himself, his party, and the Obama administration. His ad campaigns use rhetoric like “standing up to the Washington Bureaucracy,” and “Begich has fought to cut wasteful spending and government red tape,” revealing the extent to which frustration with Congress is influencing many Democrats’ campaign strategies. His ads also focus on his father, his family history in the state, oil drilling successes, and anti-Koch brother sentiment.

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Trump: Politicians ‘All Bull—-, All Talk’

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Billionaire Donald Trump framed himself as a job-creating anti-politician in a preview of his potential 2016 presidential pitch to a crowd of conservatives in New Hampshire Saturday.

Speaking at the New Hampshire Freedom Summit, a gathering of conservative activists and figures organized by Americans for Prosperity and Citizens United, Trump told the crowd that “we need somebody who’s gonna get things done, and politicians are all talk and no action.”

“All talk, it’s all bull—-,” he added. “It’s all talk, and it’s no action.”

In contrast, he touted his work improving an ice-skating rink in New York City’s Central Park and defended himself against what he said were erroneous reports that he had filed for bankruptcy. He also told the crowd that America needs “somebody that’s going to make the great deals for this country.”

“We need to make our country rich again,” Trump said.

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White House: Nah, We Don’t Want to Meet With Victims of Fort Hood

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford was shot 7 times by Nidal Hasan in the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood. He and other survivors wanted to have a conversation with President Obama presumably to let him know firsthand of their experience with violence at the military base.

Speaking to a victim of a tragedy in order to better understand how it could have been prevented with some more common sense solutions seems like something the president would be interested in, right?

Chief of Staff Dennis McDonough wrote: “We forwarded your letter to the Departments of Justice and Defense, who are leading the government’s efforts to ensure the victims of the 2009 shooting receive the justice and benefits they deserve. Unfortunately, we were unable to meet your specific request for a meeting with the president.”


ABC US News | ABC Business News

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Comrade Carney And The Case Of The Disembodied Digit

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Photos from the home of White House Press Secretary Jay Carney that accompany a Washingtonian magazine puff piece this week have caused a bit of a stir online after enterprising reporters and bloggers had a closer look. Take a look at the first one:

jaycarne1

First of all, what kind of family are they feeding there? That’s enough food for a small platoon. I see three people in that picture. Three people evidently preparing to go into hibernation.

But secondly, and more interestingly, check out the posters in the background.

posters

Yes, as reported by Business Insider, those are old Soviet propaganda posters. One of the posters encourages men to join the Soviet army, and the other encourages women to take the jobs vacated by the men who have joined the Soviet army…

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At the Core — Human Nature vs. the Test

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Photo Credit: Newscom

Photo Credit: Newscom

Common Core – the phrase sets off a mental picture of a multitude of hungry mouths all trying to nibble off of a shriveled apple, nothing much left but cellulose and seeds. Unfortunately, that’s an apt description. I am, like all conservatives, and like many educators, appalled and concerned about this new wrinkle in our rumpled educational wardrobe. I’m concerned about its uniformity, when our pupils, our communities, our cultures are so diverse. I’m concerned about the secretive, manipulative manner in which this was developed and dispersed. I’m annoyed to see commercials trying to sell it like it was a new brand of toothpaste. I’m scared of the probability of our schools being used even more heavily as bastions of propaganda. But my main concern is that it is based on a demonstrably faulty assumption – that you can change student learning from the top down. You can’t.

This program is entirely test-driven. Now, who can argue against “standards” — the current terminology? Is it not true that we should be able to tell whether or not schools are doing their job? Of course, but no one says clearly what that job is, so the test itself becomes the definition:

What is an educated person?

One who can pass the test.

What’s in the test?

Whatever can be tested.Therefore anything that can’t be measured on a multiple-choice bubble sheet, isn’t education. Ta dum!

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Marines, Army Prepare Women for Combat

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Photo Credit: Marines / Creative Commons

Photo Credit: Marines / Creative Commons

The military is taking steps to prepare women for combat roles in 2016.

The Marine Corps announced that it would give young female lieutenants who wash out of the grueling Infantry Officer Course a second shot, same as their male counterparts.

The Army is conducting a study to test just how fit a soldier has to be to engage in combat. The study involves 60 women and 100 men.

CBS News reported on both developments last week.

The Marine Corps announcement came after Marine 2nd Lt. Sage Santangelo took the Infantry Officer Court and wrote about her experience last month in an op-ed in The Washington Post. She didn’t make it past the first day and blamed the Marine Corps for a dual standard that sets up women to flunk the course.

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US Warns Russia of ‘Additional Consequences’ Over Ukraine

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Photo Credit: AFP Photo / Alexander Khudoteply

Photo Credit: AFP Photo / Alexander Khudoteply

US Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Ukraine later this month, officials said, as Washington warned Moscow of “additional consequences” if it fails to reduce tensions with Ukraine.

The announcement came just a day after Washington unveiled sanctions against six of Crimea’s breakaway leaders, including the official who signed the deal with Moscow to split the peninsula from Ukraine.

During a telephone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, US Secretary of State John Kerry “made clear that if Russia did not take steps to de-escalate in eastern Ukraine and move its troops back from Ukraine’s border, there would be additional consequences,” a senior State Department official said.

Washington has repeatedly urged Moscow to de-escalate tensions and withdraw Russian troops from Ukraine’s eastern border in the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War.

A first wave of US sanctions unveiled in March had blacklisted officials and businesspeople close to Russian President Vladimir Putin to protest Moscow’s takeover of Crimea.

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Judge Sentences Man To Wear ‘I AM A BULLY’ Sign

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

A man accused of harassing a neighbor and her disabled children for the past 15 years sat at a street corner Sunday morning with a sign declaring he’s a bully, a requirement of his sentence.

Municipal Court Judge Gayle Williams-Byers ordered 62-year-old Edmond Aviv to display the sign for five hours Sunday. It says: “I AM A BULLY! I pick on children that are disabled, and I am intolerant of those that are different from myself. My actions do not reflect an appreciation for the diverse South Euclid community that I live in.”

The Northeast Ohio Media Group reported (https://bit.ly/1ieU3sA ) that Aviv arrived at the corner just before 9 a.m., placing the hand-lettered cardboard sign next to him as he sat in a chair. Within a couple of minutes, a passing motorist honked a car horn.

Court records show Aviv pleaded no contest in February to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge. His attorney didn’t return a telephone call for comment.

Aviv has feuded with his neighbor Sandra Prugh for the past 15 years, court records show. The most recent case stemmed from Aviv being annoyed at the smell coming from Prugh’s dryer vent when she did laundry, according to court records. In retaliation, Aviv hooked up kerosene to a fan, which blew the smell onto Pugh’s property, the records said.

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The Koch Ness Monster

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Based upon “Rate the Oligarchs”. Illustrated by @BiffSpackle:

140331-koch-ness-monster

• Obama, Soros, Petrobras, Brazil and offshore drilling double standards

• Tom Steyer’s Bet is Paying Off: Meet one of Barack Obama’s richest green energy cronies

• Schweizer’s New Book: 80% of Energy Department’s “Green Loan” Program Went to Obama’s Backers

Pot Vending Machine Unveiled In Colorado

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Photo Credit: Theo Stroomer / Getty Images

Photo Credit: Theo Stroomer / Getty Images

An automated pot-selling machine was unveiled at an event held at an Avon, Colo., restaurant Saturday, promising a potential new era of selling marijuana and pot-infused snacks from vending machines directly to customers.

Its creators say the machine, called the ZaZZZ, uses biometrics to verify a customer’s age. The machine is climate-controlled to keep its product fresh.

You may be picturing a vending machine on a sidewalk, ready to dispense pot brownies to anyone with correct change. That’s not quite what backers of the machine have in mind. For now, at least, the ZaZZZ is aimed for use only by medical marijuana patients. And it’ll be in licensed stores, where it will serve a purpose like that of an automated checkout line at a grocery, they say…

The machine is built by American Green; its first model is geared toward selling snacks and other items at dispensary Herbal Elements in Eagle-Vail, Colo. — after the company is sure it has met all regulations.

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