from Mother Jones
Americans didn't intend to elect a Republican majority to the House of Representatives. Thanks to GOP-engineered redistricting, they did.
Nov 142012
News blog
Nov 122012
from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune
TOLEDO — Whether Ohio's blue-collar workers were motivated by the auto bailout or lingering bitterness over a Republican-led attempt to limit collective bargaining, it's clear that the state's labor unions remain a political force when united…
Nov 102012
Millions of Pakistan's poor children become eligible for school support.
by Katharine Houreld
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) — The families of more than 3 million poor children in Pakistan will receive cash stipends if their children go to school, the government said as officials prepared to mark "Malala Day" on Saturday in support of a schoolgirl shot by the Taliban.
UN officials declared Malala Day one month after 15-year-old Malala Yousufzai and two of her classmates were shot by the Pakistan Taliban. She had been targeted for speaking out against the insurgency.
In the days following the shooting, Yousufzai became an international icon and world leaders pledged to support her campaign for girls' education. She is now recovering in a British hospital.
On Friday, Pakistani president Asif Zardari added his signature to petitions signed by more than a million people urging Pakistan to pay stipends to families who put their girls in school in honor of Malala….
Nov 092012
from the LA Times
On Tuesday night, a triumphant Gov Jerry Brown told supporters in Sacramento that his tax-hike measure was a “unifying force.” Californians were coming together, he said, to support schools and patch the state budget…
Nov 092012
American Crossroads super PAC defends campaign spending to donors
Washington (CNN) — Officials from the Republican super PAC American Crossroads, including its co-founder Karl Rove, defended their campaign spending and talked about the group's future during a conference call Thursday with 50 of its top donors.
Participants agreed they would not discuss the contents of the call with the media.
American Crossroads and its affiliate, Crossroads GPS, aired tens of millions of dollars worth of television ads aimed at defeating President Barack Obama as well as wresting control of the Senate from Democrats by going after incumbents and challengers in key races.
The two groups exceeded their fund-raising goal of $300 million for this election cycle….
…Using available data, the Sunlight Foundation said of the $103.5 million American Crossroads spent in the general election, 1.29% of it ended in the desired result. None of the candidates American Crossroads supported won, and most of the candidates it opposed were victorious.
Crossroads GPS, which does not have to disclose its donors, spent $70 million during the general election with 14.4% of it having the result it wanted, according to Sunlight Foundation's analysis. None of the candidates GPS supported won….
Nov 082012
from Global News
OTTAWA — New Democrats are suggesting an anti-organized labour group is the "true architect" of a Conservative MP’s private member’s bill that will lead to enormous increases in union dues and very likely kill many unions.
Nov 082012
Nov 072012
from Mother Jones
Colorado on Tuesday night became the first state in the nation to legalize recreational marijuana, beating out Washington by about an hour…
Nov 072012
from The New York Times
Democrats began the year with deep pockets and a plan to focus on scores of Republican freshmen, particularly those with a Tea Party imprimatur, in an effort to retake the House after losing it in 2010. But in the first Congressional election since decennial redistricting, Republicans — thanks to their control of many state legislatures — managed to shore up many incumbents by fashioning districts that Democrats had little chance of capturing.
Retirements by a large number of Democratic members, and a message on Medicare that more or less fizzled, were additional impediments. Blue Dog Democrats, a group of moderates whose numbers have been dwindling, were particularly endangered as they struggled to defend districts they had long held….
Nov 062012
from Al Jazeera
Companies offer five percent deal in a bid to thwart spread of wildcat mines into the coal sector….