Comedian and actress Rosie O’Donnell wants to return to television in a sitcom about three best friends that would co-star "The Nanny’s" Fran Drescher.
Clinton Motorcade Kills Cop
"...high-capacity revolvers..."
~ John Rosenthal
Police everywhere say they want to get guns off the street, but our investigative team found that in some cases, they actually be doing [sic] just the opposite. Investigative reporter Mike Beaudet reveals what's happening to some old police guns when law enforcement agencies buy new ones.
Obama doesn’t need to hunt. He simply waves his hand and pheasant fall from the sky… happily… and with hope in their hearts.
He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism.
"George Bush is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. Docile complaince with this admistration's ideology will be mandatory. Disagreement with the ruling party will be vigorously discouraged in my husband's second term. George Bush will demand that you refrain from any such contrarian thought."
Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed.
As college students we are statistically more likely to binge drink and suffer from depression or other mental illnesses than many other age demographics. I see bar fights turning into fatal shootouts, and a distressed student making a rash and irreversible decision to end their life - this is not a crowd of people I want to see armed.
MANCHESTER – Bullets flew outside the Uptown Tavern early yesterday when a peeved patron began shooting at a doorman after being thrown out of the club. The shooter himself was shot twice by an armed customer who rushed to the bouncer's defense, a club owner and police said.
Police continued their hunt late today for an armed suspect who shot two people and slashed another inside a popular gay nightclub.
The incident occurred about midnight inside the Puzzles Lounge on North Front Street. A bartender, who asked that his name not be used because he feared for his life, said a man armed with a hatchet, a machete, and a handgun attacked patrons before he fled the bar.
If I need someone to save me from a homicidal maniac then I'll take my chances with the police and thank my lucky stars that some would-be hero can't carry on campus.
Having a 9 mm handgun for self protection is one thing, but should larger caliber semi-automatic or automatic weapons (like those that were used at Columbine and Virginia Tech), pump action shotguns (Columbine and Northern Illinois), or fully automatic assault rifles (the North Hollywood shootout) be available to everybody? I don't think so.
People kill, with guns.
Guns kill.
Guns are inherently violent.
More guns will not decrease violence.
Less guns will.
inherently.
Behold the failure to learn critical thinking skills
A Brighton man shot and killed a 44-year-old registered sex offender who attacked two women in their home early this morning, officials said.
Blaming late 20th century warming on fossil fuel burning was just an opportunity for these religionists to try to impose restrictions on economic activity, and in that way “save the planet” from human encroachment. Global warming alarmism never did have anything to do with climatology.
If only the sun had stayed aboil for one more solar cycle, the religionists would have succeeded. When the inevitable cooling did come, it would still pull the curtain off of their global warming hoax, but by then it would be too late. Economic restrictions would already be fixed in place, under UN bodies that the religionists control.
Alas, it was not to be. The fake bride was almost to the altar, but mother nature put her foot down on the bridal veil, leaving the hairy ogre standing in front of the congregation in his stuffed bra and BVDs. Fake minister Al Gore must be furious, but to no effect. Their game is up.
It was no accident.
And, stay tuned for more and more cries of apocalyptic doom, each one scarier than the previous one. It's the only way they can scare enough people to successfully advance their agenda (global socialism and a tax on rich countries to be filtered through the sticky-fingered sieve we call the UN).
If Al Gore and his disciples fail in getting their Save the Earth agenda ratified, and the earth enters its next cooling phase (with no "help" from the Carbon Taxation Society), they'll be all washed up.
Until the Global Freezing movement ramps up.
Again.
(click to enlarge)
(click to enlarge)My Interests
Medicine, biology, mathematics, anything that doesn't involve Organic Chemistry, cars that don't begin with "Ford" and end with "Aspire", HBO series, Bill Mahar, politics, the hunting of neo-conservative Reaganites (a shooting sport brought to you by the republican party in more ways than one!), sleeping (it is sad when necessary life takes become occational hobbies).
Hillary Clinton, the huntress? Yup.
The New York senator was trying to reassure voters in a Wisconsin sausage joint, the Brat Stop, this afternoon that "no lawful gunowner has anything to worry about" from her with gun control, and let on that she’d chambered more than a few rounds in her time.
"You know you may not believe it, but I’ve actually gone hunting," she said to some surprise and laughter. "I know, you may not believe it, but it’s true. My father taught me to shoot a hundred years ago."
Well, well. We wondered, did she have any hunting tales to tell? Did she ever shoot anything?
"A duck," she answered a bit later in a press availability. "And a lot of tin cans, and a lot of targets, and some skeet."
I'll tell you this much. Hillary (or whoever the Dem nomination turns out to be) had better start getting in some serious practice at the skeet shooting range if she wants to be in true John Kerry-like form for the 2008 presidential race. For my money, that would be the most entertaining part of the campaign - listening to Hillary explain how she's on the side of the nation's gun owners (and you thought Kerry looked ridiculous in those hunting photo-ops with his fresh-off-the-rack L.L. Bean barn jacket).
The only problem I have with this bill is that it only bans handguns in the Legislative Office Building and the State House. I have personal issues with handguns in general, which compels me to [you know] be in favor of this bill.
Handguns are, after all, only designed to harm other human beings. They have no other use.
Mr. Levasseur,
After hearing your comments in regards to HB 1354 I have to wonder if you were joking around or if you simply that ignorant of firearms.
Your quote is italicized below.
"The only problem I have with this bill is that it only bans handguns in the Legislative Office Building and the State House. I have personal issues with handguns in general, which compels me to, you know, be in favor of this bill.
[...snip...]
Handguns are, after all, only designed to harm other human beings. They have no other use"
It’s alarming that an elected official is voting on an issue that he knows absolutely nothing about.
Please let me know if your comments were tongue in cheek or if that is how you feel about firearms.
If it is the latter I would be more than happy to educate you on firearms and their practical uses in hopes of keeping you from looking like a complete buffoon in front of your colleagues and the people you represent.
Derek [xxxxx]
Mr. [xxxxx],
While the transcript is not completely accurate, it does communicate properly my stance on this issue. While I do see many legitimate uses for firearms in general, I can see none for handguns in particular. Hey are designed for one purpose and one purpose alone; the harm of another human being. Whether one wishes to harm malevolently or defensively, the intent is harm. I am very well informed on this issue and do not require any “education” (in whatever sense you mean).
On the subject of education, I believe that you would be well served by being tutored in several subjects. Perhaps a lesson on the purpose of civilized discourse or the purpose of representative democracy would be beneficial, or perhaps simply a course on manners. You see, it is a simple fact that people do not always agree. To the contrary, they more frequently do not. Even when around friends, as I was in the committee hearing, we might find ourselves in disagreement. This is not a problem or even a bad thing. However, when we cross the line from opinion to insult, from debate to harassment, then we lose what is best in ourselves and our system. If you wish to have an honest and open debate about the value of handguns versus their harm to society, I welcome it. However, if you wish to dishonor and degrade yourself by using insulting language and threatening tones, then I will not be part of it. While I do not agree with you on this particular issue, I have a responsibility to maintain the honor and dignity of the seat I hold, and I will not disgrace it by getting into a mud pitching battle.
I have to say that I find your comments to me to be at best dishonorable and at worst threatening. While I do not intend any further action, I am compelled to forward this and all other messages of this nature to the House Sergeant-at-Arms.
Representative Nickolas J. Levasseur
Hillsborough District 11- Manchester
Mr. Levasseur:
I am writing you to address an e-mail that you sent an acquaintance of mine, Derek [xxxxx], in response to an e-mail he sent you asking you to clarify something you said during last Thursday's executive session concerning House Bill 1345.
That e-mail exchange is as follows:
[e-mails from above cut & pasted here - ed.]
There's a video of that meeting posted on YouTube.com if you want to check it out for yourself. I don't think Mr. [xxxxx] or myself would want to be accused of misquoting anyone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbANWVlwXuU
First, given your statement about handguns having "no other use" than to harm other human beings, and the emphasis with which you delivered that statement on Thursday afternoon, it goes without saying that you're more than slightly uninformed on this topic.
Small caliber handguns, both revolvers and semiautomatics (most commonly chambered in .22 Long Rifle), are used everyday in this country for recreational target shooting, or plinking.
Medium caliber handguns, both revolvers and semiautomatics (chambered in .38 special, 9mm, .45ACP) are widely used in competitive and exhibition shooting events across the country.
Large caliber handguns, again, both revolvers and semiautomatics, as well as single-shot models (chambered in .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum, .480 Ruger, .454 Casull, .500 S&W), are used quite frequently for hunting big game (elk, bear, and moose) throughout North America, as well.
Also, handguns of many different makes and models are used every day by law-abiding Americans in self-defense situations where no shots are fired, and NO ONE is harmed, not the bad guy or the intended victim.
However, according to your earlier statement, handguns are simply not suitable for hunting, recreational, competition, or any other non-injurious purposes. Such an assertion is, of course, indisputably and demonstrably false. Yet, when Mr. [xxxxx] called into question your lack of knowledge on this subject, you dismisses the argument, telling him that's merely his "opinion".
Based on your comments on Thursday, whether or not you are woefully ignorant on the topic of lawful handgun use in modern American society is simply not subject to debate here.
Second, and this one's a classic, you seem to be implying that there's no moralistic difference between harm brought upon another through a malevolent act and harm brought upon another through a defensive action. Both are inherently bad, and equally deplorable in your eyes.
I'm sorry, Mr. Levasseur, but, if some disturbed, homicidal maniac opens fire in a shopping mall, movie theater, city park or government building where I'm conducting business with my wife and children, and directly threatens my family with malevolent harm, you can bet the farm I'll be doing everything I can to dispense an equal or greater amount of defensive harm in return until that threat is neutralized.
And, I would do so with a clean conscience, and without compromising my moral values one iota.
The way I see it, either way, someone's going to get "harmed".
How could any educated person with half a shred of human decency in his body, say that the preferable outcome would be one in which the harmed party consists of my wife and daughters, and not the homicidal maniac in question?
Why is it that people like you insist that those with no respect for the law or the well-being of others enjoy a monopoly on the dispensation of harm?
At Northern Illinois University (and in pretty much every "gun-free zone" shooting in our country's history), that monopoly was shared by a homicidal maniac and armed local law enforcement agents. That arrangement really worked out well, huh?
Lastly, I ask you, who's threatening whom here?
You then accuse Mr. [xxxxx] of harassing and threatening you (a claim I find to be ludicrous at best), and then you threaten to forward his rather innocuous correspondence to House officials, for no other reason, apparently, than to intimidate him and flex what authoritative muscle you think you possess.
Nothing he wrote even comes close to constituting even perceived threats or harassment. I've read his e-mail several times now, and the worst part I can see is where Mr. [xxxxx] suggests you get educated about firearms a little more before pontificating fruitlessly on the subject, lest you end up, and I quote, "looking like a complete buffoon".
I'll say this, if calling an elected representative of the people, or other government official, a "buffoon" were to fulfill the legal definition of "threatening", I'd have been locked up years ago.
My guess - please tell me I'm just being paranoid here - is that you were planning on offering additional testimony in support of HB1354, citing all these "threatening" and "harassing" e-mails you've received from us "gun nuts" as evidence of the need for this bill to become law.
At least, now, if you were to try to do something as ridiculous and disingenuous as that in the near future, we'd all know what definition of "threatening" you were using - the one that includes the phrases "hurt my feelings" and "exposed my intellectual and philosophical shortcomings".
Now, if you would care to point out to me those elements of Mr. [xxxxx]'s e-mail that you found to be harassing or threatening, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'm still trying to find them.
Oh, one more thing. I honestly don't care, at all, what "personal issues" you have with "handguns in general". That's your problem, not mine. If you need to hire a psychiatrist or two to help you come to terms with your fear of inanimate objects, then so be it.
But, since you seem intent on using your "personal issues" as a legislative tool for depriving me of my constitutional right to keep myself and my family safe, I will now be doing everything I can, within the bounds of the law, to see you removed from office as soon as possible for this blatant disregard for the rights and liberties of the people whom you are supposed to represent.
That, sir, is not a threat.
It's a promise.
Bruce [last name]
DAVID GAROFALO of Londonderry, owner of the Two Guys Smoke Shop chain, moved his shop from Boston across the state line to Salem after Massachusetts put him out of business with a cigar tax in 1996. Now New Hampshire is about to do it to him again.
"In 1996, Massachusetts was going to pass a tax on cigars from zero to 15 percent. As the biggest retail store in Boston at the time, I said you are going to force me to move," he said.
"They did it, we moved up here to Salem, N.H., and our business thrived."
Massachusetts doubled that tax to 30 percent in 2002, and Garofalo's business increased again.
Having no tax on cigars is helping New Hampshire's economy. There are 27 cigar shops in the state, store owners say. And more are on the way. Garofalo plans to open one in Nashua in April. But not if House Bill 1510 passes.
"We will be out of business the day before the tax goes into place. That's a promise. We can't pay it."
HB 1510 bill would impose a 60 percent tax on the wholesale price of all cigars. You read that right: 60 percent.
The tax would apply to all inventory, not just each cigar sold. So a dealer such as Garofalo, with an 8,500-square-foot store and thousands of cigars in stock, would suddenly have to hand tens of thousands of dollars to the state for the privilege of continuing to do business.
Roy Kirby, a former employee of Garofalo's, opened a Two Guys Smoke Shop in Seabrook. He took out a loan on his home to open the 3,000-square-foot store. He cannot afford to pay a 60 percent tax on his inventory, he said.
"I'll go bankrupt and be out on the street," he said.
New Hampshire cigar shops thrive on business from Massachusetts residents who come here to buy their cigars or stop on the way to or from other attractions such as skiing or hiking. A 60 percent tax would push the price of cigars sold here higher than the price of those sold in Massachusetts, with its 30 percent cigar tax and 5 percent sales tax.
New Hampshire cigar shops are booming because the absence of a sales or cigar tax gives them a competitive advantage over their Massachusetts counterparts. This is the very definition of the New Hampshire Advantage.
And yet legislators are proposing to hand that advantage to Massachusetts cigar shops. Many, if not most, New Hampshire shops would immediately go out of business. The additional revenue legislators hoped to soak from them, as well as the business tax revenue they currently generate, would disappear with them.
It is our Legislature's job to protect the New Hampshire Advantage, not destroy it. If legislators continue to attack businesses of which they disapprove, they will soon find the state even shorter on cash, and on businesses from which to extract it.
HOUSE BILL 1510-FN-A
AN ACT redefining tobacco products and increasing the tax on tobacco products other than cigarettes.
SPONSORS: Rep. W. Chase, Ches 1; Rep. E. Merrick, Coos 2
COMMITTEE: Ways and MeansANALYSIS
This bill redefines tobacco products for purposes of the tobacco tax and increases the tax on tobacco products other than cigarettes.
The bill also establishes a tobacco use prevention and cessation program fund and designates the increase in the tax on tobacco products other than cigarettes to such fund.
Behold, the biggest load of crap ever to be smeared over the eyes of a public all to willing to lap this shit up - this "promise" that a small tax of X percent is needed to fund program Z, a program which, without fail will be geared toward helping The ChildrenTM, feeding homeless kittens, saving the planet from a fiery death, or whatever the PC cause celebre du jour happens to be at the time.
After a year's time (well beyond the memory capacity of the average voter) that X percent tax will become X+Y percent, and when the voters are told that this tax increase will be needed to offset budget shortfalls brought on by Programs A, B, and C, no one will so much as bat an eye.
And, why should they? None of them will even remember what Program Z was in the first place.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Revenue Administration has determined this bill will increase state general fund unrestricted revenue by $426,787 and state restricted revenue by $4,468,000 in FY 2009 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on county and local revenues or state, county, and local expenditures.
Police said one man is in the hospital after an elderly North Texas man took action into his own hands when confronted by two armed brothers inside his home Saturday night.
Police said they believe the brothers went to 80-year-old James Pickett's home with the intent to rob him, and even possibly kill him. However, Pickett - a World War II veteran, former fighter and lifelong John Wayne devotee - wasn't about to let that happen.
It all began Saturday night when Pickett said he opened his door and two men barged inside.
"He just come through that door stabbing and beating," he said.
However, Pickett said just before he went to answer the door, he had first placed a pistol into his pocket.
"And he jumped and turned, and I shot him there," he said.
The two brothers, Paul and Holden Perry, ran, but didn't get far before calling an ambulance. One of the bullets just missed Paul Perry's spine.
"He's my hero," said one neighbor of Pickett.
"Well, I ain't got no business being a hero, by no means," he said.
Both brothers face assault, burglary and robbery charges. Deputies assured Pickett they aren't likely to get out of jail anytime soon. However, he didn't seem that worried anyhow.
"I think I'm a ten times better shot than he is," he said. "... But, they best not come back."
...and tonight, one of the suspects is in the hospital.
Note: Please buy fake ammo for your loved one only on this silly, made-up holiday we call Valentine's Day. For the remaining 364 days of the year, real ammo only, please.
Oh, my. Barack Obama may want to call his new Houston office and suggest some decorating ideas. Take a look at the flag flying in the office at the moment:
No, that's not a Texas state flag with a picture of Obama on it. It's the flag of the Castro-led Cuba regime, with Che Guevara's face superimposed on the side. A Fox report from Houston captured this image as it showed Obama supporters celebrating his momentum after Super Tuesday.
She also noted that her mom, as she referred to Hillary Clinton throughout the question and answer session, was the "most fiscally conservative candidate running" and "the only candidate who tells you how she'll pay for everything."
It's an age-old childhood prank that has taken a very dangerous turn. It's called Doorbell Ditch - where kids ring the doorbell and then usually just run away. Police say some kids have added a potentially deadly twist to the prank: a fake gun.
When Roseville resident Brian Stark opened his door Sunday night, he found a 13-year-old boy pointing a gun in his face.
"Terrorists kill people. Weapons of mass destruction have the potential to kill an enormous amount of people," Mr. Bloomberg told reporters after addressing the U.N. General Assembly, but "global warming in the long term has the potential to kill everybody."
A landmine blew up in the home of a religious cleric in southern Afghanistan, killing the mullah, two of his sons and two other men who had been preparing an attack, police said today.
I think that many people...[garbled]...we're gonna be overwhelmed by the well-organized gun owners. They've all gotten the e-mails from the gun people. They've all gotten the, you know, cries about the Constitution, et cetera, and...which I totally reject.
Political Experience
Elected treasurer of Merrimack County Democratic Committee, then Secretary, and currently Vice-Chair, doing grass-roots organizing, encouraging others to participate in the democratic process. Currently serving on the bi-partisan Henniker Route 114 Development study sub-committee of the Henniker Planning Board. An active participant in the New Hampshire primary process.
I think that many people...[garbled]...we're gonna be overwhelmed by the well-organized gun owners. They've all gotten the e-mails from the gun people. They've all gotten the, you know, cries about the Constitution, et cetera, and...which I totally reject. This is...I don't believe that this is an unconstitutional, um, bill. The, um...many, many statehouses have similar bills, and they're constitutional. It's con... You know, it's not against the second amendment to, uh...
KIRKWOOD, Mo. -- A gunman opened fire at a city council meeting in this St. Louis suburb Thursday night, hitting the mayor and several city officials, a newspaper reported. There are reports that six people, including two police officers, have been killed.
Police shot the gunman, who had hit Kirkwood Mayor Mike Swoboda, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which had a reporter at the meeting.
Also shot were a police officer, council members Michael H.T. Lynch and Connie Karr, and Public Works Director Kenneth Yost, said the reporter, Janet McNichols.
The victims were taken to St. John's Mercy Hospital, but Kirkwood police told The Associated Press no one was available to provide information. St. Louis County police did not return several calls.
The reporter said the 7 p.m. meeting had just started when the gunman rushed into the council chambers yelling and opened fire with at least one weapon. He started yelling "shoot the mayor" while walking around and firing, hitting a police officer first, the reporter said.
McNichols also said the shooter fired at the city attorney, who tried to fight off the attacker by throwing chairs. The gunman then moved behind a desk where the council sits and fired at council members.
ARTICLE XIX - WORKPLACE VIOLENCE POLICY
Overview:
The City of Kirkwood is concerned about the increased violence in society, which has also filtered into many workplaces throughout the United States, and has taken steps to help prevent incidents of violence from occurring at the City. In this connection, it is the policy of the City to expressly prohibit any acts or threats of violence by any City employee against any other employee in or about the City’s facilities or elsewhere at any time. The City also will not condone any acts or threats of violence against the City’s employees, customers or visitors on the City’s premises at any time or while they are engaged in business with or on behalf of the City, on or off the City’s premises.
Objectives:
In keeping with the spirit and intent of this policy, it is the stated commitment of the City of Kirkwood:
1. To provide a safe and healthful work environment;
2. To take prompt remedial action up to and including immediate termination, against any employee who engages in any threatening behavior or acts of violence or uses any obscene, abusive or threatening language or gestures;
3. To take appropriate action when dealing with customers, former employees or visitors to the City’s property who engage in such behavior. Such action may include notifying the police or other law enforcement personnel and prosecuting violators of this policy to the maximum extent of the law. The City intends to use all reasonable legal, managerial, administrative and disciplinary procedures to secure the workplace from violence and to reasonably protect employees from harm;
4. To prohibit employees, former employees, customers and visitors from bringing unauthorized firearms or other weapons onto the City’s premises; and
5. To establish a procedure for reporting a complaint of workplace violence and investigating any complaint of workplace violence.
The shootings began shortly after 7 p.m. just outside the Kirkwood City Hall when a man approached a police officer in the parking lot of the Kirkwood police station and fatally shot him, Panus said. The officer died at the scene.
The suspect then went into the City Council chambers and killed a second police officer before fatally shooting three city officials who were attending the meeting, Panus said.
Sec. 17‑132. Concealed weapons.
(a) No person who has been issued a concealed carry endorsement by the Missouri Director of Revenue under Section 571.094 R.S.Mo. or who has been issued a valid permit or endorsement to carry concealed firearms issued by another state or political subdivision of another state, shall, by authority of that endorsement or permit, be allowed to carry a concealed firearm or to openly carry a firearm into:
[...]
(4) Any meeting of the Kirkwood City Council, except that nothing in this subdivision shall preclude a member of the Kirkwood City Council, holding a valid concealed carry endorsement, from carrying a concealed firearm at a meeting of the City Council provided that it is not otherwise prohibited herein. Possession of a firearm in a vehicle on the premises shall not be a criminal offense so long as the firearm is not removed from the vehicle or brandished while the vehicle is on the premises;
CONCORD — A proposed 1 cent tax on beverage containers in New Hampshire is dead.
The extra penny per container would have been charged to wholesalers. The House voted it down Wednesday afternoon despite exemptions for milk, baby formula, wine and liquor. The tax would have applied to soda, juices and bottled water.
Supporters tried to pass the penny off as a small fee that would pay for programs to manage trash and for recycling efforts by the state and communities.
"Pick up your bag from your household waste," said Bristol Republican Burton Williams. "What's mostly in there? Bottles, cans. That's the biggest part of what we're throwing away."
Williams said consumers are paying to throw away trash. The bill simply charges them before they throw, he said.
Opponents had none of it.
"We can put it in a dress. We can put it in a pair of pants, but make no mistake about it, it is a tax," said Londonderry Republican Sherman Packard.
Opponents said it wasn't fair to tax the beverage industry when its products are more likely to be recycled than many others. They said the tax would put New Hampshire businesses at a competitive disadvantage with those from nearby states.
"We don't need to do anything more to help business in other states competing against us," said Merrimack Republican Peyton Hinkle.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has today said that the adoption of Islamic Sharia law in the UK is "unavoidable" and that it would help maintain social cohesion.
Contact 5 was given access to PBSO’s cache of weapons—all of which have been confiscated from criminals.
Sheriff Bradshaw says his men and women are simply being outgunned on the streets.
Most deputies are equipped with nine millimeter guns and when faced with the dangers on the street, they are seeing weapons of higher velocity—some even capable to pierce body-armor.
Shannon: “You can buy these, body armor piercing bullets, at a gun show locally?”
Sheriff Bradshaw: “Oh absolutely.”
Shannon: “I can buy this at our local gun show?”
Sheriff Bradshaw: “You can buy any of those--a bullet is a bullet.”
This means anyone, even a team of Contact Five Investigators, with no training, and no license to carry a gun can buy bullets—lots of them.
When we stopped by a local gun show in December we spotted the dangerous bullets the sheriff told us about.
We paid for hundreds of rounds of ammunition and walked right out the door--without ever being questioned.
The state's top two legislative leaders, faced with the prospect of soaring costs for the healthcare initiative, are considering raising the cigarette tax as one of several funding and cost-cutting strategies.
Both House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi and Senate President Therese Murray said a tax increase would be discussed as they look for ways to ensure that the universal health insurance initiative succeeds.Healthcare advocates have proposed a $1 per pack tax increase that would raise an estimated $152 million a year, according to an analysis by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a Washington advocacy group. Neither DiMasi nor Murray, who spoke in separate interviews Monday, has endorsed that specific proposal.
Overall, the money owed in back taxes to the state is a staggering $2.2 billion - more than enough to clear the current deficit with a million more left over as the state faces its worst fiscal crisis in five years.
PHILADELPHIA -- It appears an armed robber picked the wrong store to hold up. Police said it's the robber who wound up getting shot.
"There was a trail of blood and a hat found on the highway, and also a semiautomatic handgun. And the blood led down the street onto North 3rd Street," Vanore said.
Police said the blood trail lead them from the store to the doorstep of Turner's house.
Room change for HB1354 hearing Tuesday, February 5
The House Legislative Administration Committee changed the hearing location for HB1354 from State House room 100 to LOB (Legislative Office Building) room 104. The change was posted on the docket, but not on the "Quick Bill Search" summary. The date and time remain the same: 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, February 5, 2008.
Original hearing room with all of nine chairs available for public use
State Rep. Eleanor "Why Can't We Be More Like Massachusetts?" Kjellman
Filing in to Representative's Hall (more than nine chairs)President Bush's fiscal 2009 budget proposal calls for a 7.5 percent hike in Defense spending and a 5 percent jump in spending for Medicare and Medicaid, but while CBS anchor Katie Couric on Monday night correctly stated that Pentagon spending would “rise” in the Bush plan, she erroneously asserted “spending on Medicare and Medicaid would go down.”
On the Monday "Today" show co-host Ann Curry was breaking down the delegate counts for each Super Tuesday state with NBC's political director Chuck Todd but when it came to finding Barack Obama's home state of Illinois on the map, Curry pointed to Minnesota instead.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Democratic Sen. Barack Obama assured Western voters Saturday he believes in Jesus as well as the rights of gun owners.
Obama urged those at the rally not to believe everything they hear about him.
[...]
"And then there are people who say, `Well, he doesn't believe in the Second Amendment,' even though I come from a state - we've got a lot of hunters in downstate Illinois. And I have no intention of taking away folks' guns."
Obama didn't mention that he does support gun control...
...and has a record of voting for it in the Illinois Senate. He backed limiting handgun purchases to one a month, but he made no attempts to ban them. Today, he stands by his support for controls while trying to reassure hunters that he has no interest in interfering with their access to firearms.
A spokesman for Obama rival Hillary Rodham Clinton pointed out that 12 years ago when he was running for the state Legislature, Obama said in a questionnaire that he "supported banning the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns."
Opinion and commentary, garnished with a sprig of cynicism, served with a heaping side order of sarcasm, and washed down with a tall glass of common sense, by a gun-toting political refugee from the People's Progressive Republic of Massachusetts, currently residing in New Hampshire and doing what he can to keep the Granite State beautiful and free.
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