SANDERS WINS UTAH & IDAHO DELEGATES FOR HILLARY (TRUMP WINS AZ)

SANDERS WINS UTAH AND IDAHO DELEGATES FOR HILLARY:

TRUMP & HILLARY TAKE ARIZONA BY WIDE MARGINS.

SANDERS IS DEMOCRATS' 2016 VOTING GIMMICK FOR VOTERS WHO DON'T LIKE HILLARY.

Sources: NBC News, Youtube

***** Sanders Wins Idaho and Utah While Clinton and Trump Take Arizona

Tuesday's primaries and caucuses were a mixed bag as Sen. Bernie Sanders took two states — Idaho and Utah — to Hillary Clinton's lone win in Arizona, and Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz split the Republican races in Arizona and Utah respectively, NBC News projects.

The western state primaries represented another step in efforts to amass support in the race to the nomination, with both Trump and Clinton hoping that they may tally an outright majority of their party's respective delegates before the summer conventions get contentious.

But Cruz and Sanders both got some good news that can help stall the momentum each of their rivals have received with recent wins.

Sanders held a rally shortly after his Arizona loss, touting high turnout.

"When we began this campaign we talked about a need for millions of people to become involved in the political process," Sanders told supporters at a San Diego rally late Tuesday night. "Tonight in Utah, tonight in Idaho, and tonight in Arizona there are record-breaking turnouts."

He did not speak after his Utah win, which was announced at around 1:30 a.m. ET Wednesday. Idaho was not called until just before 2:30 a.m. ET.

Sanders later put out a written statement, saying: "I am enormously grateful to the people of Utah and Idaho for the tremendous voter turnouts that gave us victories with extremely large margins.

The impressive numbers of young people and working-class people who participated in the process are exactly what the political revolution is all about. These decisive victories in Idaho and Utah give me confidence that we will continue to win major victories in the coming contests."

Clinton spoke confidently after her win in Arizona, but made no comment after the two late-night losses.

"I'm also very proud to have won Arizona tonight," Clinton told supporters at a rally in Seattle, Washington. "It's exciting to see that result come in because, you know, Arizona, like Washington, like a lot of the states that are going to be expressing their views and counting their votes in the weeks ahead understand that this is not just a contest between different candidates.

"This is a contest between fundamentally different views of our country, our values and our future," she said.

Democrats will focus next on Saturday's contests in Washington, Alaska and Hawaii, although Wisconsin's relatively delegate-rich primary in early April is the next big prize for the remaining candidates on both sides of the aisle. Contests in the northeast — including in Pennsylvania and New York - also loom next month.

Republicans hoping to deprive Trump of a delegate majority plan to push hard for strong showings for Cruz and John Kasich in states that might be favorable to each candidate, but it's far from clear that Trump opponents will be able to slow his steady progress to the 1,237 delegates he needs to secure the nod.

In a press conference Monday, Trump expressed confidence that he'd reach an outright majority from the remaining primary contests.

"We're going to maybe — easily — make that number," he said.

As of 3:10 a.m. ET, NBC News' delegate count put Clinton at 1637 and Sanders at 928. Trump had 744, with at Cruz 468, Marco Rubio at 172 and Kasich at 143.

DONALD TRUMP CREATES WINNING POLITICAL MOVEMENT; MEGYN KELLY THOUGHT HE WAS A JOKE

DONALD TRUMP CREATES WINNING MOVEMENT; MEGYN KELLY THOUGHT HE WAS A JOKE

Sources: ABC News, Fox News, Inside Edition, Syracuse.com, YouTube

Super Tuesday after winning three states the media feud between 2016 GOP Frontrunner Donald Trump and Fox News host Megyn Kelly reignited.

Megyn started this unnecessary feud when she attacked Trump during the first GOP debate last August with a slew of questions obviously designed to paint him as a Male Chauvinistic, Woman Hater. (He's not)

No doubt Megyn has a long term beef with Trump for whatever reason and now that she is in a position of POWER, she's chosen to use that POWER for Revenge.

However it appears to have backfired.

Mr Trump is still hurt from that blind-sided incident and Megyn realizes she should not have opened Pandora's box for the sake of Revenge or Dirty Politics.

Prior to the first GOP debate perhaps Megyn viewed Mr Trump as a brash, celebrity reality tv show Joke versus seeing him as an Intelligent Billionaire who possesses years of great Business knowledge.

Trump has created a winning Political movement and he is going to be the 2016 GOP Presidential nominee.

It's time for Megyn Kelly to accept, adapt and adjust so the GOP can regain the White House.

***** Fox News' GOP debate canceled; Donald Trump won't face 'crazy' Megyn Kelly again

The next Republican presidential debate has been canceled.

GOP frontrunner Donald Trump was scheduled to face Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in a Fox News debate Monday night in Salt Lake City. Trump now says he will not attend, citing a scheduling conflict, and Kasich also bowed out.

"Nobody told me about debates. As you saw, I thought the last debate on CNN was the last debate," Trump said on "Fox & Friends" Wednesday morning. "I think it's enough."

Politico reports Trump said he'll instead speak at a conference for the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, adding that it had been "scheduled a while ago."

A spokesman for Kasich said he won't debate without Trump onstage.

Karen Boe, a spokeswoman for the Salt Palace Convention Center, confirmed to the Associated Press Wednesday that the Republican National Committee event was being scrapped. Cruz would have been the only candidate on stage, Fox 13 in Salt Lake City reported.

It would've been the first presidential debate held in Utah, according to the AP, and taken place a day before Utah's caucus and Arizona's primary.

Syracuse native and Syracuse University alumna Megyn Kelly was scheduled to moderate the debate, along with Fox News Channel personalities Bret Baier and Chris Wallace. Trump previously feuded with Kelly, calling her "dopey," "overrated" and biased after she asked him about alleged sexist remarks at the first GOP debate in August.

The billionaire-turned-politician refused to participate in another Fox News debate moderated by Kelly, but faced her again in the cable news channel's third debate earlier this month. He later said that skipping the second debate could have cost him Iowa, where Cruz won in January.

It appears unlikely Trump will face Kelly again anytime soon. He took shots at "The Kelly File" host again on Twitter as Super Tuesday results came in for North Carolina, Illinois and other states.

"Can't watch Crazy Megyn anymore," he tweeted. "Talks about me at 43% but never mentions that there are four people in race. With two people, big & over!"

Trump called Kelly "crazy" in several more tweets, and retweeted others' criticisms of her coverage on Fox News.

Kelly has not responded to Trump, but Fox News released a statement Wednesday afternoon:

"On Feb. 20, the Republican National Committee announced that a GOP presidential primary debate would be held on March 21 in Salt Lake City. They offered that debate to Fox News Channel to host, provided there were enough candidates actively campaigning. This morning, Donald Trump announced he would not be participating in the debate. Shortly afterward, John Kasich's campaign announced that without Trump at the debate, Kasich would not participate. Ted Cruz has expressed a willingness to debate Trump or Kasich -- or both. But obviously, there needs to be more than one participant. So the Salt Lake City debate is cancelled."

GAY MARRIAGE: Why Is Pres OBAMA Obsessed With GAY Rights?? (UTAH)

#UTAH

WHY IS PRES OBAMA OBSESSED WITH GAY MARRIAGE??

OBAMA RECOGNIZES GAY MARRIAGE IN UTAH

Effective immediately the OBAMA Admin has announced it will recognize GAY Marriage in UTAH.

Why am I Not surprised??

Pres OBAMA will Speak up LOUD & CLEAR for GAY Marriage,

yet remain SILENT for a CHILD in CALIFORNIA who was almost MURDERED just to Cover-Up Medical MALPRACTICE & ORGAN Harvesting.

I have NEVER in my life time seen a U.S. President so Obsessed with GAY Marriage!

And if any American Voters Oppose GAY Marriage, or Disagree with GAY Marriage the OBAMA Admin Punishes those people.

It's absolutely Unreal how much Pres OBAMA caters to GLAAD & other GAY Rights Organizations.

Is it because GLAAD donated a ton of MONEY to both of his Presidential Campaigns??

Let's be real people.

OBAMA fights Harder for GAY Marriage then he does for ANYTHING else in America.

For ex:

AL-QAEDA

Improving OBAMACARE

JOBS

EDUCATION

Fixing the NSA

Restructuring the IRS & Reforming the TAX CODE, etc.,

Instead he is Only Laser-Focused on GAY Marriage & GAY Rights!

So is there any wonder why most American Voters NO longer TRUST him???

WHY IS PRES OBAMA OBSESSED WITH GAY MARRIAGE??




ARTICLE: "Obama Administration Will Recognize Same-sex Marriages In Utah"

The Justice Department announced Friday it will recognize - for federal purposes - same-sex marriages performed for a short period in Utah.

The state on Wednesday said it would not recognize the approximately 1,000 marriages or marriage licenses issued for gay and lesbian couples, at least until the issue is fully resolved in the courts.

"These families should not be asked to endure uncertainty regarding their status as the litigation unfolds," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a videotaped message.

"In the days ahead, we will continue to coordinate across the federal government to ensure the timely provision of every federal benefit to which Utah couples and couples throughout the country are entitled – regardless of whether they in same-sex or opposite-sex marriages," he added.

The federal government's decision will likely create more legal chaos over the constitutionality of same-sex marriage that is playing out in Utah, and several other states.

The Supreme Court last year said gay and lesbian couples legally married in their states were entitled to the same federal benefits enjoyed by opposite-sex partners.

The office of Utah Gov. Gary Herbert had sent a letter to Cabinet officials Wednesday saying that, based on advice from the state's attorney general, "state recognition of same-sex marital status is on hold until further notice.

"Please understand this position is not intended to comment on the legal status of those same-sex marriages - that is for the courts to decide," the governor's chief of staff, Derek Miller, wrote. "The intent of this communication is to direct state agency compliance with current laws that prohibit the state from recognizing same-sex marriages."

The current legal and political fight erupted December 20 when U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby concluded Utah's law banning same-sex marriage, approved in 2004, conflicted with the constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process. That prompted many counties to begin issuing marriage licenses, but the state then appealed to the Supreme Court.

The justices on Monday blocked enforcement of the district court ruling until the constitutional questions are fully resolved. A federal appeals court could hold oral arguments as soon as March. A ruling there could affect all states within the court's jurisdiction: Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming.

But Holder said, "In the meantime, I am confirming today that, for purposes of federal law, these marriages will be recognized as lawful and considered eligible for all relevant federal benefits on the same terms as other same-sex marriages."

Sources: AP, CNN

UTAH SAME-SEX MARRIAGES INVALIDATED BY SCOTUS (Voters Should Approve GAY Marriage NOT Gov't!)

#UTAH


HERBERT v. KITCHEN:

1,000+ SAME-SEX Marriages were Invalidated after the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled GAY Marriage ILLEGAL in the State of UTAH.

I still firmly believe GAY MARRIAGE should be approved by VOTERS Not by the Government.




ARTICLE: "Utah Will Not Recognize Same-Sex Marriages Performed Before High Court Stay"

Utah will not recognize the hundreds of same-sex marriages that were temporarily allowed by a federal judge's ruling but before the Supreme Court issued an injunction, the state announced Wednesday.

Officials say more than a thousand marriage licenses between gay and lesbian couples were issued in the 17 days between the initial ruling and the high court's Monday order blocking enforcement.

"Based on counsel from the Attorney General's Office regarding the Supreme Court decision, state recognition of same-sex marital status is ON HOLD until further notice," said the governor's Chief of Staff Derek Miller in a letter to cabinet officials.

"Please understand this position is not intended to comment on the legal status of those same-sex marriages– that is for the courts to decide. The intent of this communication is to direct state agency compliance with current laws that prohibit the state from recognizing same-sex marriages."

U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby concluded on December 20 the decision that a state law banning same-sex marriage, approved in 2004, conflicted with the constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process. That prompted many counties to begin issuing marriages licenses, but the state then appealed to the Supreme Court.

The justices' two-sentence order blocks enforcement until the constitutional questions are fully resolved. A federal appeals court could hold oral arguments as soon as March. A ruling there could affect all states within the court's jurisdiction: Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Kansas.

But in the meantime, that left the tricky, unresolved question about the status of those who received marriage licenses after Shelby's ruling.

"The original laws governing marriage in Utah return to effect pending final resolution by the courts," said the letter from the governor's office. "It is important to understand that those laws include not only a prohibition of performing same-sex marriages but also recognizing same-sex marriages."

State officials had sharply criticized Shelby's ruling, and his order same-sex marriages be allowed to take place immediately, saying it created legal confusion.

"This is the uncertainty that we were trying to avoid by asking the [federal] District Court for a stay immediately after its decision. It is very unfortunate that so many Utah citizens have been put into this legal limbo," said the state's attorney general Sean Reyes earlier this week.

More recently, same-sex marriage legal battles have become prominent in states where it is prohibited.

But the Utah case is a broad challenge that goes to the heart of constitutional law as it applies to the state ban and could wind up back at the Supreme Court. Same-sex couples say laws like Utah's violate their equal protection and due process rights.

"It could be the challenge that a lot of people have been waiting for, which is does the United States Constitution guarantee a right to marriage for everyone," said CNN Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin.

"That's the issue in this case and it's now working its way through the courts. It could take quite some time."

The Supreme Court ruled more narrowly this past summer on separate issues involving same-sex marriage.

It cleared the way for those unions in California to resume and rejected parts of a federal law, concluding same-sex spouses legally married in a state may receive federal benefits.

Most states still ban the practice, but polls show more support for it publicly.

The case is Herbert v. Kitchen.


Sources: AP, CNN, Democracy Now, Youtube

U.S. SUPREME COURT BLOCKS GAY MARRIAGE IN UTAH

#GayMarriageUTAH

U.S. SUPREME COURT BLOCKS GAY MARRIAGE IN UTAH


ARTICLE: "Supreme Court Blocks Same-Sex Marriage In Utah"

The Supreme Court filed an order Monday that blocks gay marriages in Utah, giving state officials time to appeal a federal judge's ruling against Utah's same-sex marriage ban.

The high court issued a stay “pending final disposition,” according to the order issued Monday. State officials have been appealing to a federal appeals court to reverse a recent ruling that allowed same-sex marriages to continue.

The temporary stay on Monday effectively reinstates an earlier ban the state imposed on such marriages. The order doesn’t indicate that any justices dissented, thereby suggesting the full Court supported the stay, according to SCOTUSblog.

This decision comes just two weeks after a federal district court Judge Robert J. Shelby struck down a ban on same-sex marriages in the state.

Shelby said the ban violated the U.S. Constitution’s due process and equal protection clauses.

Utah became the 18th state, in addition to Washington, D.C., to allow gay marriages when Shelby overturned the ban on Dec. 20.

Just a few days later, a federal appeals court upheld Shelby’s decision, and rejected an emergency request by Utah officials to block the marriages. The panel said issuing a stay on the ruling was “not warranted” as Utah officials could go through the appeals process.

Last Tuesday, however, Utah officials filed an emergency appeal to prevent the marriages from continuing.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor oversees such requests and ordered a group of same-sex couples challenging that appeal to respond to the state by noon last Friday.

As of last Tuesday, at least 900 same-sex couples were able to get married since Shelby had issued his decision, according to multiple reports.

Shelby’s ruling came as a surprise, and was heavily praised by gay rights groups. He is only the second federal judge to reverse a state ban on same-sex marriage, as The New York Times notes.

Judge Vaughn R. Walker in San Francisco was the first when he struck down California’s proposition 8 in 2010.


Sources: CNN, The Hill

Mia Love Endorsed By Ann Romney: First BLACK GOP Female Congress Member (It's About Time!)

Ann Romney Endorses Mia Love in Utah Congressional Race

In her first solo endorsement of the 2012 cycle, Ann Romney has backed Utah Congressional candidate Mia Love.

The Romneys’ son Josh has already been vocal of his support for Love and Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Congressman, said last weekend in Utah that Josh and others there for the Romney donor retreat went to a fundraiser for Love.

“Women across the country are concerned for our children’s futures,” said Ann Romney in a written statement. “Will our children be able to find jobs and will they be faced with burdensome debt?

Mia’s record of reducing spending and making government more accountable to the taxpayers should be an example for Washington. With leaders like her, we can help ensure that our children and grandchildren have bright futures.”

If elected, Love, a fitness instructor and small town mayor, would become the first African American Republican woman in Congress.

But she will have to defeat six term Democrat Jim Matheson. It’s already one of the most watched Congressional races of 2012 and handicappers rate it a toss-up.

Recent polling in the state show Matheson with a solid lead at this point.

He’s actually one of the Democrats not attending this year’s Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

It seems to make sense for a Democrat running in a ruby red state, but it’s important to note he has never attended since getting to Congress in 2000.


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Sources: ABC News, Daily Rundown, MSNBC, Wikipedia, Youtube, Google Maps

Mia Love: BLACK, Female, Mormon Mayor Campaigns For 2012 Congressional Seat; War On Women??

Aspiring first black GOP congresswoman: Don’t put me in a box


If Saratoga Springs Mayor Mia Love wins her bid for Congress, she will be the first black Republican congresswoman in history. But don’t try to put her in that box.

Love is running in Utah’s newly created 4th Congressional District. She will face a primary field including state Reps. Stephen Sandstrom and Carl Wimmer on June 26. If she wins, she’ll face Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson, who remains incredibly popular, in November.

The historical significance that her election would hold is not lost on Love, but she is adamant that she doesn’t want her race or gender to play any role in the contest. That said, she believes standing out in the sea of 435 congressmen would be a useful tool for the conservative cause she champions.

“Utah won’t vote for me because I’m going to stand out, they’ll vote for me because of my policies,” Love said in an interview with The Daily Caller.

“I have worked where the rubber meets the road on the most local levels for almost a decade,” she said. “I have cut spending before, my policies — my fiscal policies — I’ve put them into practice in Saratoga Springs, and have made them work.”

“In Washington we cannot take any chances, we have got to send our best,” Love added. “We’ve got to send people that are going to break through the 435 members of the House. We’ve got to find somebody who’s going to take all of those values that we hold dear and put them on a pedestal and be able to champion that.”

Love doubts Utahns care very much about either her race or gender. “Washington is going to be the one that makes a big deal out of it,” she added.

If she does receive significant media attention, Love hopes to use the opportunity to express a conservative message that has too few African American champions.

“Any time I’m in front of that camera … I’m going to champion those conservative causes. I’m going to let people out there know that we exist, and that … there are conservative black Americans everywhere that believe in fiscal discipline, limited government and personal responsibility,” she said.

Love’s parents immigrated to the U.S. from Haiti. They had little money and “pulled themselves up by their bootstraps” working multiple jobs, learning to speak English, studying American history and ultimately achieving American citizenship.

That background informed Love’s politics, and her aversion to what she sees as an emerging entitlement-dependent society.

“On the first day of college my dad said to me, ‘Your mother and I have never taken a handout, we have given you everything that we possibly could, we’ve worked hard for everything that we have. You will not be a burden to society. You will give back,’” she recounted.

That “stuck in the back of my head,” Love said. Indeed, a major reason she is running for Congress is because she feels that the government’s current policies are “crippling Americans by giving everyone everything, by saying that we’re entitled to everything. We’re not entitled to anything that we don’t earn,” she said.

Love first became involved with politics when she ran for city council at the urging of her neighbors and won. After six years on the city council, she ran for mayor, and two years later, she decided to run for Congress.

Love is also an avid runner, lacing up her running shoes as she spoke to The Daily Caller.

But most importantly, Love said, she isn’t just a black woman who happens to be a Republican.

“A lot of people will try and put me in a box. A lot of people will try to point out my race, point out my gender,” Love said. “But I want all Americans to know that if I can do anything in Washington, it will be to restore the power back to the people.”

“I am first and foremost a mother, and a wife, and I’m an American,” she said. “That’s how I view myself, and that’s how I want everyone to see me.”


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Sources: Daily Caller, Pajamas Media, Youtube, Google Maps

Tea Party Targets Congressional Seats In 2012; Wake Up Democrats!!!

Tea Party Cold to U.S. Presidential Race Sets Sights on Congress


Republican U.S. Representative Roscoe Bartlett boasts that he voted against all of President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plans and was an early member of the House Tea Party Caucus. That’s not good enough for other anti-spending Republicans back home.

The Maryland (BEESMD) congressman faces at least seven primary election challengers, some claiming Tea Party support, after he voted last August to raise the U.S. debt ceiling.

Bartlett said he’s a “little concerned” that the Tea Party may have become “too much purists.” The debt increase was embedded in a bigger bill, he said in an interview. “I voted for it for the first time ever.”

With no clear Tea Party favorite in the Republican presidential race, the limited-government movement is pushing candidates for other elected offices.

While many of the races are in safe Republican areas, others may drain party resources in districts, like Bartlett’s, where Democrats have a chance to win, said Michael McDonald, assistant professor of government and politics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

“The Republicans had a very decent chance to control the U.S. Senate in 2010 but for the Tea Party,” said McDonald, who studies voter turnout. Tea Party candidates Christine O’Donnell in Delaware and Sharron Angle in Nevada won primaries, then lost the general election to Democrats Christopher Coons and Harry Reid.
House Control

It’s eight months until the November elections and much will depend on the economy. The nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report projects Democrats will gain five to 12 seats, short of the 25 needed to take the House from Republicans. Democrats control the Senate 53-47.

Newcomers, if they gain momentum, may put as many as six House Republican seats in play, almost one-fourth the number Democrats need to take control. The challengers are targeting members who voted to raise the debt limit and for federal spending bills that did little to trim the deficit.

“Tea Party claims first scalp,” said the Redstate.com website after Tea Party favorite Brad Wenstrup defeated three- term Republican Representative Jean Schmidt in Ohio’s March 6 primary. She had voted for the debt-ceiling increase.

The number of intra-party challengers is “more than you’d expect,” said Christina Botteri, a founding member of the National Tea Party Federation, a coalition of local and regional groups.

Club for Growth

In California (BEESCA)’s 50th district, Representative Brian Bilbray is being labeled a “Republican in Name Only” by primary challenger John Stahl, a former semiconductor executive.

In Pennsylvania, the Club for Growth, which supports limited government, is helping finance an effort by former Senate aide Evan Feinberg to defeat Representative Tim Murphy in Pittsburgh’s suburbs. Ohio Representative Robert Gibbs is under fire from businessman and pastor Hombre Liggett for voting to raise the nation’s borrowing limit and backing Republican House Speaker John Boehner on other issues.

“The worst offenders, you’ll see us challenge as a shot across the bow to other guys that ‘if you vote this way you could get challenged,’” said Brendan Steinhauser, director of campaigns for FreedomWorks, the Tea Party-aligned group led by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas. “It’s a healthy thing to keep them accountable.”

‘Hail Mary’

Still, of all the announced primary challengers to Republicans, only two had more than $100,000 in cash on hand by Dec. 31, according to the National Republican Congressional Committee. Stahl had $302,035 for his campaign against Bilbray, who had $561,692, the committee reported. Weston Wamp had $285,142 for his challenge to Tennessee Representative Chuck Fleischmann, with $617,323.

The rush of candidates magnifies competing philosophies.

“You have a lot of people always going for the Hail Mary, I want to cut the deficit now. Others of us see that we’re moving the football down the field,” said Scott Hagerstrom, a Tea Party activist in Michigan, where at least two Republican lawmakers, Fred Upton and Tim Walberg, face primary challenges.

The Walberg, Gibbs and Bilbray races are listed as competitive by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, which considers Schmidt and Fleischmann’s districts to be solid Republican.

Upton’s district in western Michigan supported Obama by a 10-point margin in 2008. A Feinberg victory in Murphy’s Pennsylvania district may help hand it to Democrats, said McDonald of George Mason University.

Movement’s 2009 Start

The anti-spending Tea Party movement began in 2009, drawing on the spirit of the Boston Tea Party, a protest by colonists against a British tax on tea in 1773. It has evolved from public protests into a campaign to penetrate state and local government, according to its leaders.

“Many of these folks have come to a conclusion that standing on a street corner is a waste of their time,” said Botteri. “They’re getting deeply involved in making deep changes in the local and state level.”

In Michigan, Hagerstrom estimated the number of Tea Party activists has grown to 68,000 from 50,000 a year ago.

“You have people who are upset with Boehner and people who are in lockstep with Boehner,” said Hagerstrom, state director of Americans for Prosperity in East Lansing.

Several members of the House Tea Party Caucus voted with Boehner of Ohio on Aug. 1 to raise the federal debt ceiling by $2.1 trillion, including Bartlett, 85, in Maryland, Schmidt in Ohio and freshmen members Stephen Fincher of Tennessee and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.

‘The Final Straw’

Bartlett’s debt-ceiling vote “was kind of the final straw and suggested that the congressman, even if he were to run for re-election, was out of touch with the wishes of voters,” said Don Murphy, spokesman for Maryland state Senator David Brinkley, who is challenging Bartlett in the April 3 primary.

First elected in 1992, Bartlett has won by solid margins, including by 61 percent in 2010. Maryland’s new redistricting map pushed the boundaries into more Democratic territory in Montgomery County, a Washington suburb, which will give Democrats a better chance of beating him.

The House Republican campaign arm has added Bartlett and Gibbs to their main incumbent-protection program, called the “Patriot Program,” signaling their vulnerability in a general election.

“The debt-limit vote is the best example of taking a hard look at what would happen if they didn’t raise the debt ceiling” -- a government default, said Jessica Taylor, a senior analyst at the Rothenberg Political Report. “Several members came up here and had to adjust to the realities.”

The Tea Party is at a critical juncture, said McDonald. “The Tea Party is successful right now because they’re affiliated with the Republican Party.”

“If they continue to go down this path of ideological purity, it makes them a minor political party,” much like the Libertarian or Green parties, he said.



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Sources: Bloomberg.com, CPAC, Pajamas Media, Youtube, Google Maps

Elizabeth Smart vs Missing Black Children: Media Coverage Disparity & No Amber Alerts! (Videos)

‎"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Why Does The Mainstream Media Intentionally Ignore & Refuse To Provide Continuous National Coverage For Missing BLACK & Latino Children, Youth & Women?
Why Do Local Law Enforcement Authorities Often Fail To Issue Amber Alerts For Missing BLACK & Latino Children?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Missing Black Children: A Crisis of Media Neglect


Ke’Shaun Vanderhorst, Jeanine Barnwell, Jaycee Dugard and Caylee Anthony.

All four individuals have something in common: their lives were ended or altered tragically.

Philadelphia natives Ke’Shaun and Jeanine, however, differ from Jaycee and Caylee in three ways— they’re both Black, still missing and didn’t receive any national coverage compared to Jaycee and Caylee.“ As with anything, the media is based on sales. Black children aren’t just as valued,” said Gaetane Borders, president of Peas in Their Pods, a non-profit organization that educates the public about missing minority children. “Most people don’t realize how many children of color are missing, and make assumptions because they don’t see them on television.”

According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, more than 2,000 children are reported missing in the United States each day. Nearly 20 percent of those reported missing are African-American — that’s 146,000 Black children reported missing each year.



Not often, though, do missing Black children and teens get national news coverage like North Carolina teen Phylicia Barnes. She was found dead in Maryland in April. While her death received some buzz in the news, it was too late.

“It’s definitely related to bias against African-American children,” said Borders. “They don’t think they will sell or are newsworthy enough.”

Borders said her organization created the Rilya Alert, similar to the Ambler Alert but for minority children, to counter the institutional biases in this country. Email alerts are sent to people who sign up for the Rilya Alert. Peas in Their Pods also hosts a weekly online radio show allowing affected families to tell their stories.

Michael Coard, Philadelphia criminal defense attorney and founder of Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, sees the biases in the media as well.

Regarding to the Casey Anthony trial, he wrote the following in a July essay on the Avenging our Ancestors website: “I am compelled to condemn the media for its racism. Why did they make this such a big deal… The answer is racism or at least racial indifference.”

Coard then notes the 2007 strangling and stabbings of four sisters by their mother in Washington, D.C.

“You didn't hear anything about this, did you? I wonder why?” he wrote.

Natalie Wilson, co-founder of Black and Missing Foundation, Inc., puts some of the blame on the lack of diversity in the newsroom.

“African Americans need to speak out and say we need to hear of people of color who are missing too, because we matter too,” she said.

Wilson notes the lack of national news coverage on the recent indictment of Antoinette Nicole Davis, who sold her 5-year-old daughter, Shaniya Nicole Davis, in 2009 into sexual servitude.

“Unfortunately the media has focused so much on Casey that they haven’t given any focus to other stories that really need attention. Shaniya matters too.”

Soroya Bacchus, a triple board certified psychiatrist based in Los Angeles, puts much of the blame on leaders of news organizations.

“National media is white male media, so they pay attention to issues in their tribe — white young girls and white women,” said Bacchus. “It’s not biased or racist, but it’s their comfort zone; it’s their cultural background.”

Bacchus said if there were more diversity in the newsroom, more minority stories would be heard.

“It goes back to the white male establishment — who are interested in what is happening to their women.”

Tracy Everbach, a journalism professor at the University of North Texas who teaches a class called “Race, Gender and Media,” agrees with Bacchus.

“The make-up of the media and most people in media are white and they may not be aware of what they’re doing,” said Everbach.

More open discussions about this issue and teaching young journalists to be aware of the content in the news are the answer, according to Everbach.

Additionally, a Kansas man has made it his mission for minority missing children stories to be told. After the 2001 beheading of a Kansas City girl, Alonzo Washington began to advocate for missing minority children across the country.

“If this was in a suburb it would be a national story,” he said. “It’s clear that there’s a disparity. And even in this day and age when we have an African-American president, these are issues that are not addressed.”

Washington and Borders said the old stereotypes of African Americans are factors in why Blacks don’t make national news.

“It’s the national image and the local image that the mass media promotes of crime. Crime is acceptable in the inner-city, and in most major cities, and it’s something that nobody deems as important,” said Washington.

“Many of our kids that go missing, the first thing that happens is they are listed as a runaway,” said Borders. “News stations don’t want to cover a runaway.”






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Sources: ABC News, Black Voices, MSNBC, True TV, Youtube, Google Maps

DNC Attacks Romney With New Business Ad: "People Are Corporations"

DNC ad pits Romney against himself

The Democratic National Committee turned Mitt Romney’s words against himself in Des Moines Saturday, with an ad targeting the former Massachusetts governor’s stance on deficit reduction.

Pouncing on the 2012 presidential candidate’s comment that “corporations are people,” the DNC ad groups Romney with the tea party movement when it comes to methods of battling the deficit.

“Mitt Romney stands with the tea party,” an announcer states. “Up to 35 percent cut from social security, but not one more dime from corporations.”

The 30-second spot opens to Romney’s comments at the Iowa State Fair soap box, where hecklers, one of whom was a Democrat, chastised the candidate for defending corporations.

Mentioning that one method of generating revenue by raising taxes on people was “not the way,” Romney is interrupted with a public shout of “Corporations!”

“Corporations are people, my friend,” he retorts. “Of course they are. Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to people."

The ad closes with the statement “Mitt Romney. Putting Corporations First” - and paints the 2012 hopeful as a defender of big companies at the expense of “people.”

The ad will run in the Des Moines market during Saturday’s influential straw poll in Ames and into the beginning of next week.

DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse confirmed that Romney “could see this [ad] in other states.”


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Sources: CNN, DNC, Politico, Youtube, Google Maps

Romney Vs. Huntsman Woo Utah's Mormon Voters: Decision 2012

Two G.O.P. Hopefuls Divide the Voters in Deep-Pocketed Utah


Two hugely popular political figures in Utah, Mitt Romney and Jon M. Huntsman Jr., are going fishing in this same small pond of a state, seeking financial support in their bids to become the Republican Party’s nominee for president next year.

That has potentially significant implications for the national election, given the Mormon propensity to dig deep in supporting one of their own — Mr. Romney and Mr. Huntsman are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is based here. But it is already creating deep division and uncertainty among people who like both men and are now being forced to choose.

“My wife is a Mitt person, and I am a Jon person — you’re going to see that in a lot of households,” said Lew Cramer, a business development executive here who contributed the maximum allowed to Mr. Romney’s presidential campaign in 2008 but has switched allegiances and is now serving on Mr. Huntsman’s national finance committee.

On Friday, Mr. Romney came to the state for private meetings and for one sun-baked afternoon appearance in the parking lot of a drive-in fast food restaurant.

His targets were President Obama and most everything Mr. Obama has done as president. Mr. Huntsman, who jumped into the race last week, was not on the menu for attack. A restaurant sign reading “tips are appreciated” was covered with bunting just before Mr. Romney spoke.

“We have 20 million Americans that are out of work or have stopped looking for work or are in part-time jobs,” Mr. Romney said, standing tie-less on the back of a pickup truck with his wife, Ann, as he addressed a crowd of several hundred people.

The crowd was enthusiastic, but not uniformly so.

“I’m supporting our party,” said Jeff Haaga, 55, a marketing executive and chairman of his local Republican Party precinct who said he was undecided. “Huntsman, if I had to choose today,” he added.

Utah, despite having only 2.8 million people, was Mr. Romney’s third biggest source of money in 2008 — after Massachusetts, where he had been governor, and California — contributing more than $5.5 million. Mr. Romney also raised significant money in heavily Mormon areas of the West outside Utah, particularly in Idaho and Arizona. In the 2008 Republican presidential primary in Utah, he got almost 90 percent of the vote.

Mr. Huntsman, on the other hand, succeeded where Mr. Romney never ventured. He got elected to office in Utah — twice as governor, in 2004 and 2008. In the 2008 election, in particular, his popularity was overwhelming, winning with 78 percent of the vote. Indeed, 36 percent of Utah voters who identified themselves as Democrats voted for him that year, according to an Edison-Mitofsky exit poll.

The imprint and connection to Utah extends, for both men, partly through their fathers. Mr. Romney’s was George W. Romney, a businessman in Utah and later governor of Michigan in the 1960s. Mr. Huntsman’s father, Jon M. Huntsman Sr., is an economic and political patriarch — a billionaire chemical-industry entrepreneur and philanthropist whose name is associated with the cancer research institute he financed at the University of Utah.

For better or worse — and probably worse in overwhelmingly Republican Utah — Mr. Huntsman is also linked to Mr. Obama, having served as ambassador to China from 2009 until this April. Mr. Obama got less than 35 percent of the vote here, one of his lowest rates in the nation.

Both men face potential trouble in Utah from Tea Party groups. They have attacked Mr. Romney for his role, as governor of Massachusetts, in helping pass a health care plan in 2006, considered a model for the federal overhaul passed last year. Mr. Huntsman has come under fire for, among other things, supporting a cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions when he was governor of Utah.

“I don’t know of any true-blue Tea Party activists who are supporting Huntsman or Romney,” said Darcy Van Orden, chairwoman of the Utah Republican Liberty Caucus, a group that declares itself “the conscience of the Republican Party.”

But beyond the issues of money and popularity, the Huntsman-Romney divide seems likely to expose what could be an even trickier question for many people in Utah: Is one candidate more devoutly Mormon than the other? And should a conclusion about that bleed over into political support or opposition?

Mr. Huntsman, in some recent interviews, appears to have distanced himself a bit from his religion. “I can’t say I am overly religious,” he said in an interview with Fortune magazine last year, a quote that many Utahans can recite from memory. “I get satisfaction from many different types of religions and philosophies.”

The statement could prove to be positive on the national stage, but it sticks in at least few craws here at home.

“For those Mormons like myself that are more committed, I think that rubs us wrong,” said Steve Belnap, 53, an accountant who was on his way to work in downtown Salt Lake City on Friday morning. “However, on the other side, Huntsman is going to pick up those who have lost the commitment. Who gets the most votes because of that, I don’t know.”


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Sources: ABC News, MSNBC, NY Times, Youtube, Google Maps

Elizabeth Smart Case Jurors Found Her Testimony Compelling: She's Thrilled!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Elizabeth Smart Says She's "Thrilled" After Guilty Verdict


Elizabeth Smart waited more than eight years for the word she heard Friday.

"Guilty," after a federal jury deliberated five hours to convict street preacher Brian David Mitchell of snatching Smart from her bed, at knifepoint in the dead of night, and having sex with her while he held her captive for nine months.

Smart smiled as the verdict was read, while a bedraggled, bearded Mitchell sat at the defense table, singing hymns with his hands before his chest, as if in prayer.

“Today is a wonderful day,” Smart said outside the courthouse hours later, adding “I am so thrilled to be here, so thrilled of the verdict."

"I hope that not only is this an example that justice can be served in America, but that it is possible to move on after something terrible has happened," Smart said.


Ordeal

It was a dramatic end to a tale that captured the nation's attention since she disappeared in June 2002: A 14-year-old girl mysteriously taken from her home, the intense search and her eventual discovery walking Salt Lake City's streets with her captors.

Smart, now 23, flew back from her Mormon mission in Paris to take the stand, and recount her "nine months of hell."

"The beginning and the end of this story is attributable to a woman with extraordinary courage and extraordinary determination, and that's Elizabeth Smart," federal prosecutor Carlie Christensen said outside the courthouse.

"She did it with candor and clarity and a truthfulness that I think moved all of us," she said.

Smart described in excruciating detail how she woke up one night to the feel of a cold, jagged knife at her throat and being whisked away by Mitchell to his camp in the foothills near the family's Salt Lake City home.

Within hours of the kidnapping, she testified, she was forced into a polygamous marriage with him. She was tethered to a metal cable and subjected to near-daily rapes while being forced to use alcohol and drugs.
Story: Smart storms from court during doctor's testimony

The five-week trial turned on the question of Mitchell's mental health.

The thinly built, gray-haired Mitchell was routinely removed from the courtroom after loudly singing hymns and Christmas carols and taken to another room to watch the proceedings on closed circuit TV.

He kept his eyes closed in court and never spoke to anyone, including his lawyers.

His lawyers did not dispute that he kidnapped Smart but wanted him to be found not guilty by reason of insanity. Such a verdict would have sent him to a prison mental hospital.


'Predatory Chameleon'

Prosecutors countered that Mitchell was faking mental illness to avoid a conviction, labeling him a "predatory chameleon."

Smart testified she believed Mitchell was driven by his desire for sex, drugs and alcohol, not by any sincere religious beliefs.

Jurors did not buy the insanity defense, deliberating for roughly five hours to find him guilty of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor across state lines for the purposes of sex.

As the verdicts were read, the shackled Mitchell sat singing about Jesus Christ on the cross. Smart then turned to her mother and both smiled. Elizabeth Smart later hugged prosecutors.

"It's real!" father Ed Smart said on his way out of the packed courtroom, giving a thumbs up.

Smart and her family had hoped for the guilty verdict and a long sentence.

"(Mitchell) has left a trail of misery behind him," Ed Smart said.

Mitchell could face up to life in prison when he is sentenced on May 25. However, a judge also could impose an unspecified, lesser sentence, prosecutors said.


'Upset and Frustrated'

To the chagrin of the family, the case was delayed for years after Mitchell was declared mentally incompetent to stand trial in state court and a judge refused to order involuntary medications.

Federal prosecutors later stepped in and took the case to trial.

Christensen, the U.S. attorney, said one of the biggest challenges of the case was the six years between the time of the kidnapping and the time the case came into the federal justice system.

A parade of experts took the witness stand to say Mitchell had an array of diagnoses, from a rare delusional disorder and schizophrenia to pedophilia, anti-social personality disorder and narcissism.

Mitchell's former stepdaughter told reporters that she was shocked that jurors didn't see that he was mentally ill.

"He honestly believes God tells him to do these things," Rebecca Woodridge said. "He's upset and frustrated that the Lord is making him go through this."


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Sources: MSNBC, People.com, Google Maps