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News/Politics 7-23-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. By now you’ve heard that ObamaCare suffered a defeat in court yesterday. But it had a victory on the same issue in another courtroom.

From TheHill  “A pillar of ObamaCare was put in jeopardy Tuesday as two appeals courts split on whether the law’s premium subsidies are legal in 36 states.

In the first ruling, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals said the Affordable Care Act (ACA) does not permit the IRS to distribute premium subsidies on exchanges established by the federal government.

Hours later, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals came to the opposite conclusion, ruling that the IRS in fact has the authority to issue the subsidies on federally run exchanges because of ambiguity in the law.

The contradictory rulings thrust ObamaCare back into the headlines and raised the possibility of another Supreme Court showdown between the Obama administration and opponents of the new federal healthcare system.”

The Supreme Court will have to decide it I guess.

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2. The White House is asking Israel to do more to prevent civilian casualties.

From NationalReview  “One of President Obama’s top aides urged Israel to “take greater care” than it already does to spare Palestinian lives in its targeted strikes.

Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday that the administration agrees that Hamas initiated the conflict and that Israel has a right to defend itself.

“At the same time though, we do believe Israel can do more to avoid the types of civilian causalities that we’ve seen in recent days,” Rhodes said. “We’ve been heartbroken at the loss of Palestinian life, the loss of children, so we do believe that Israel has to take greater care to avoid those types of civilian causalities.”

Israel currently goes to great lengths to warn Palestinian civilians of oncoming strikes, providing warnings in the form of text messages and fliers, amid allegations that Hamas uses civilians as human shields and stores weapons in schools and hospitals.”

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3. No such request was made of the Palestinians who are using civilians as human shields. In fact, we’re sending them aid instead. And no condemnation of them storing in rockets in UN run schools either. They’re putting rockets in civilian areas for propaganda purposes so when the Israelis bomb them they can claim they’re targeting schools and civilian areas. And a compliant press plays along.

From TimesOfIsrael  “The State Department defended Secretary of State John Kerry’s decision to grant $15 million in humanitarian aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), even as the organization confirmed the discovery of additional rockets stored in one of its Gaza schools. Critics in Washington, however, blasted the secretary’s decision to include UNRWA as a recipient of part of a $47 million humanitarian package designed to aid Gazan civilians.

Israel has long raised eyebrows at the organization, a permanent UN agency separate from the international body’s general refugee relief agency. On Tuesday, UNRWA confirmed that it had found a second major cache of rockets hidden in one of the organization’s schools.

“UNRWA has long overstepped its mandate and has been acting as a political entity with an anti-Israel, anti-Semitic agenda, and the United States shouldn’t be funding it at all. UNRWA has a long history of incitement against Israel in its schools and it certainly has its hands dirty with its ties to Hamas, as Hamas operatives dominate UNRWA’s unions,” said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) on the morning after the announcement.”

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4. Sure, great idea. 🙄

From WatchDog.Org  ” Employers in Illinois can no longer access criminal background checks on potential hires until after an interview is conducted.

Gov. Quinn signed into law this week a bill that prohibits private employers from asking applicants about their criminal history prior to determining if they are qualified for the job.

“Everyone deserves a second chance when it comes to getting a job,” Governor Quinn said in a press release. “This law will help ensure that people across Illinois get a fair shot to reach their full potential through their skills and qualifications, rather than past history. It will also help reduce recidivism, fight poverty and prevent violence in our communities by putting more people back to work.”

“The Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act, also referred to as the “ban the box” bill in reference to the box on many application forms asking applicants if they are a convicted criminal, makes Illinois the fifth state to restrict pre-interview criminal background checks.”

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5. California’s water problems are continuing to worsen.

From TheLATimes  “The groundwater level in the San Bernardino Basin area is at its lowest point in recorded history, officials say.

Measured in volume, the groundwater level for the basin is now about 500,000 acre-feet below full, according to Douglas Headrick, general manager for the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District.

That would put it below the previous low recorded in 1964, a period that followed a 20-year drought, officials said.”

““This isn’t just an issue for San Bernardino, but many other cities depend on this basin for much of their water supply, including Redlands, Highland, Loma Linda, Rialto, Colton and Riverside,” the district’s water resource manager, Bob Tincher, said.”

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14 thoughts on “News/Politics 7-23-14”

  1. #1 I made a prediction on yesterday’s Political thread:

    Chas predicts:
    The Appeals Court will rule in favor of Obamacare. It will go to the Supreme Court.
    The Supreme Court will refuse to hear the case and the Appeals Court ruling and Obamacare stands.
    😦

    But John Roberts may want to correct his goof from last time.
    If Obamacare reaches the Supreme Court, it’s dead. There is no reason for them to consider it unless they want to reverse it.

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  2. Why are we still flinging money we have to borrow around the world to help people who hate us?
    Didn’t we all learn that you can’t buy real friendship?

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  4. Lee over the Central Valley in CA yesterday and was shocked by how desolate the nation’s vegetable garden looked. (See photos on FB). It’s scary.

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  6. michelle is Leeing over the state. 🙂

    It is dry, very dry. I’m still pondering artificial turf for my poor front yard — my cousins pointed out that the city is offering some pretty decent rebates for swapping out a “lawn” (though mine can hardly be called that now) for either drought-resistant plants or artificial turf (I think that also qualifies).

    Oh, I know this makes me a bad person. I used to turn my nose up at the mere thought of artificial grass. Who would put in something so tacky? I used to think.

    But, seriously, the stuff they make now is remarkably real looking and feels real to the touch. I literally would not be able to tell the difference just looking at it (or even feeling it, for that matter). And the idea of having a really green ‘lawn’ year round is so appealing. With no mowing. Or watering.

    Hey. It’s better than the sparkly white pebbles you see in front yards here and there.

    But the drought resistant plants also appeal to me, many people are finding colorful species to use. That would take a little more planning & research. I’m also told you need to put in a different kind of soil. But that also qualifies for the city rebates.

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  8. From an article in the Hendersonville Lightning” concerning the recent primary campaign in Hendersonville.

    “Candidates who raised the most money won their races during the local primary elections on May 6 in nearly every case……….A pattern that emerged according to the Hendersonville lightning’s review of campaign finance reports, was that the bigger spender won and the wider the money gap, the wider the election margin.”

    Scary. It’s all about money.

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  10. Re: #4. I don’t see what is so bad about that. It doesn’t say an employer can’t ever run a criminal background check. An employer may be impressed by an applicant’s interview, & then weigh that against whatever comes up in the background check, whereas checking first can prejudice the employer against the person from the get-go.

    Not all criminals remain criminals. Letting them get a foot in the door before having the door slammed in their face may help those who truly want to start fresh.

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