5/6 Senate Makes History By Confirming Loretta Lynch As U.S. Attorney General

Loretta Lynch was confirmed as U.S. attorney general on Thursday after months of GOP delays.  She is making very important history, becoming the first African-American woman to be U.S. attorney general. She was confirmed in the Senate 56 to 43.  All Democrats voted for her and 10 Republicans as well. Senator Ted Cruz was the only senator not to vote for her. He claimed Lynch was "unfit" for the job.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/23/loretta-lynch-attorney-general-confirmed_n_7127672.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

4/6 Democrats' Frustration With Obama Boils Over As Trade Bills Advance

The democrats' frustration with President Obama's trade agenda boiled over on Thursday. Important opponents accused their party's leader of putting more effort into a bid to aid corporate America than anything he has done for the middle class of America. Senator Sherrod Brown called it maddening, and told reporters that the Obama administration was putting on a full-court press. This was not like anything Democrats had seen in his presidency in order to win the authority to fast track the large trade deals.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/23/democrats-fast-track_n_7129276.html

3/6 Obama's Next Action: Empowering Low Wage Federal Workers

Hundreds of low wage federal government workers quit their jobs this week in Washington DC, demonstrating for a "living wage and a union." This included the workers who serve the senators food and clean up the messes for them. They carried signs that said "Hiring: A President who will sign a $15 +Union Executive Order." 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-l-borosage/obamas-next-action-empowe_b_7125110.html

2/6 100 Years Ago, 1.5 Million Christian Armenians Were Systematically Killed. Today, its still not a 'genocide.'

On April 24, 1915, Ottoman Turkish police hauled off Daniel Varoujan, a leading Armenian poet, and over 200 other intellectuals in the capital Constantinople.  To the falling Ottoman Empire, the poets, painters, writers, booksellers and politicians in the Armenian community posed "too much of a threat." A majority of the empire’s Christian Armenian population was targeted and almost wiped out entirely. The united states still does not refer to these events as a genocide, even though about 1.5 million armenians were killed. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/23/armenian-genocide-controversy_n_7121008.html

1/6 House Passes Cybersecurity Bill After Companies Fall Victim to Data Breaches

The House passed an extreme measure that will urge companies to share access to their computer networks and records with federal investigators, due to a series of computer security breaches in government and the private sector. The bill is a lot like a measure that was approved by the Senate Intelligence Committee. The measure passed 307 to 116.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/23/us/politics/computer-attacks-spur-congress-to-act-on-cybersecurity-bill-years-in-making.html?ref=politics

5/5 Ted Cruz Announces He's Running For President In 2016

Ted Cruz announced that he would be running for president at liberty university in Virginia. Cruz is the first high profile candidate to declare that he will be running for president and will take on an exploratory committee. Cruz, is popular among conservatives and often an agitator of the GOP leadership in Congress.  Its been expected that he would run for president for over a year. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/23/ted-cruz-2016_n_6193388.html

4/5 What Hillary Clinton Would Need to Do to Win

Hilary should not expect a lot of competition in the Democratic primaries- she needs to win over the "so called obama blacks and young, college educated whites who supported obama in 2008 and 2012."She also needs to maintain her support of working class women as well as "college educated women in the suburbs."Her message is expected to emphasize a better country for voters' children and grandchildren.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/04/13/us/elections/hillary-clinton.html?ref=politics

3/5 Stressing Youth, Marco Rubio Joins 2016 Field

Senator Marco Rubio is declaring himself as the youthful future of the republican party, saying that it is time for a new generation to lead. He is entering the race against political dynasties- the bushes and the clintons- but he says it is time for america to start fresh.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/14/us/politics/for-marco-rubio-a-fresh-face-and-a-familiar-story.html?ref=politics

2/5 State Violence Against Black and Brown Youth

According to police reports, Emory Robinson was stopped by a police for "suspicion of a stolen vehicle." The officer who pulled him over claimed that he tried to arrest him, but emery broke free and ran from him. After telling him to stop he fired a "warning shot" in the air, but emery kept running, so the officer shot him in the back. The officer claimed he was in fear of his life because emery had something metal in his hand (his keys).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-hanchard/state-violence-against-black-and-brown-youth_b_7000210.html?utm_hp_ref=politics&ir=Politics

1/5 Obama to Call for End to ‘Conversion’ Therapies for Gay and Transgender Youth

President Obama is calling for an end to therapies aimed at "fixing" transgenders-going back to their original sex. This is because a 17 year old transgender killed herself after religious therapists tried to convince her to go back to being a boy. His decision on this is an example of his support for gay rights.


http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/09/us/politics/obama-to-call-for-end-to-conversion-therapies-for-gay-and-transgender-youth.html?ref=politics&_r=0

5/5 Obama's Call For Women's Equality: 'This Is Simply A Matter Of Right And Wrong'

President Obama marked "International Women's Day" on Sunday, March 8th, and said that it was "simply a matter of right and wrong." He says he believes the way women have been treated "is one of the great injustices of our time." He says that women make an uncountable number of contributions to the world that they are not credited for.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/08/obama-international-womens-day_n_6826596.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

4/5 Barack Obama Marks 50th Anniversary Of 'Bloody Sunday' With Powerful Speech In Selma

President Obama and about 100 members of congress all gathered in Selma on saturday for recognition of the 50th anniversary of "bloody sunday."He made a speech honoring the people who stood their ground in a confrontation with police at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Obama opened with, "We gather here to honor the courage of ordinary Americans willing to endure billy clubs and the chastening rod, tear gas and the trampling hoof; men and women who despite the gush of blood and splintered bone would stay true to their North Star and keep marching toward justice." 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/07/barack-obama-selma-anniversary_n_6823060.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

3/5 Obama Says Nuclear Deal Offered to Iran Is ‘Extraordinarily Reasonable’

Obama said that he and other world leaders have now offered iran an "extraordinarily reasonable" deal that will test iran and see if they are serious about the dispute over the nuclear program. Obama says: “We have made progress in narrowing the gaps, but those gaps still exist. And I would say that over the next month or so, we’re going to be able to determine whether or not their system is able to accept what would be an extraordinarily reasonable deal, if in fact, as they say, they are only interested in peaceful nuclear programs.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/09/world/middleeast/obama-iran-nuclear-talks.html?ref=politics

2/5 ‘Not There’ Campaign Removes Women From Ads for International Women’s Day

The clinton foundation took women off of about 40 advertisements around New York to call attention to gender inequality. This was for International Women's day, on March 8th. Katie Dowd, the director of digital strategy at the Clinton Foundation, said, "this is about putting a really important issue in front of people. We’re really trying to create a moment that feels meaningful.”


http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/09/business/media/not-there-campaign-removes-women-from-ads-for-international-womens-day.html?ref=politics

1/5 Bill Clinton Defends Foreign Donations to Family Foundation

Bill Clinton defended his family's foundation's accepting of foreign donations on saturday. Questions about this were raised after a few news reports  which resumed after Hillary Clinton resigned as secretary of state. Mr. Clinton acknowledged the fact that sometimes money comes from people who he does not agree with on policy.

http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/03/07/bill-clinton-defends-foreign-donations-to-family-foundation/?ref=politics&_r=0

5/4 Defense Chief Vouches for U.S. Strategy on ISIS

Ashton Carter, the new defense secretary said that the Obama administration had “the ingredients of the strategy” to defeat Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria. This approach includes political and economic pressure as well as military force. He says that the US needs to use help from other countries in fighting ISIS. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/24/us/politics/defense-chief-vouches-for-us-strategy-on-isis.html?ref=politics

4/4 Govern Yourselves, State Lawmakers Tell Cities, but Not Too Much

Darren Hodges, a republican mayor from Fort Stockton, is a fierce defender of his town's decision to ban plastic bags. The power of this town and other cities is being threatened by the state capital. The governor has said that many cities have been undermining the "texas model" with a patchwork of regulations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/24/us/govern-yourselves-state-lawmakers-tell-cities-but-not-too-much.html?ref=politics

3/4 Concerns Mount as Homeland Security Shutdown Looks Likely

Just a few weeks ago, the idea that congress might shut down the department of homeland security seemed ridiculous. One of the republican staff members laughed when he was asked if the republicans were going to shut down the agency in a battle over Obama's recent actions. But now the shutdown of the department is looking more likely.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/24/us/concerns-mount-as-homeland-security-shutdown-looks-likely.html?ref=politics&_r=0

2/4 Is ISIS a Religious Group? Of Course It Is.

 ISIS makes it obvious that their actions are done in faith to their religion. They show Koranic justification for their terrible actions such as beheadings of Christians, throwing gay people off of buildings, stoning women to death who have committed adultery, or enslaving people. This article says that ISIS is the definition of a fundamentalist religious group.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-paul/is-isis-a-religious-group_b_6730968.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

1/4 Kayla Mueller's Parents Say They Have Been Notified Of Her Death

The parents of a woman, Kayla Jean Mueller, who was held by the Islamic State group said on tuesday that they were told that she is dead. They received a message from her captors this past weekend. ISIS said that Mueller had been killed by a Jordanian airstrike in Raqqa, Syria, which was highly unlikely according to the Jordanian government. Kayla Mueller is from Arizona. She was taken in a northern city in Syria August 2013. While Kayla was held captive, she wrote a note that said "I know you would want me to remain strong. That is exactly what I'm doing, I have learned that even in prison, one can be free. I am grateful. I have come to see there is good in every situation, sometimes we just have to look for it." Before she was taken captive, she was working in Turkey to help Syrian refugees. Mueller is the fourth American to be killed by ISIS. There were three others who were killed: James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and Peter Kassig. They were all beheaded. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/10/kayla-mueller-killed-isis_n_6633708.html

5/3 Florida Law Would Make It A Crime For Transgender People To Use Public Bathrooms

In florida, there was a bill proposed that would make it illegal for some one to go into public place made for one sex if they weren't born as that sex. This goes for bathrooms, dressing rooms, locker rooms and showers, or wherever there is an "expectation of privacy". If some one who was born as a man went into a girl's restroom, they could be fined up to 1000 or go to prison for a year. This is called the Single-Sex Public Facilities Act, and is made to target Florida's transgender community. Although they recently won legal protection from discrimination with a Human rights ordinance, which was passed only a few months ago in December. This bill is Representative Frank Artiles's response to that. He says, "My number one concern is public safety. It's not that the transgender or the gender identity community is dangerous by any means, but the ordinance creates a giant loophole for criminals, sexual deviants and sexual predators to walk into a shower, a woman's locker room under the cover of law."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/09/florida-transgender-bathroom-law_n_6645910.html

4/3 Alabama Judge Defies Gay Marriage Law

Chief Justice Roy S. Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court ordered the state’s probate judges not to issue marriage licenses to gay couples on Monday the night before. He did this in an act of defiance to the federal system. Moore's order said, "Effective immediately, no probate judge of the State of Alabama nor any agent or employee of any Alabama probate judge shall issue or recognize a marriage license that is inconsistent." He insisted that the probate judges were not required go by Judge Granade's decisions declaring Alabama's refusal unconstitutional. Some judges said they would not permit a marriage license to gay couples, or any couples for that matter. One office had a sign that said: “Marriage licenses and ceremonies are no longer available at the Pike County Probate Office.” 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/09/us/gay-marriage-set-to-begin-in-alabama-amid-protest.html?ref=politics&_r=0

3/3 Climate Change Is of Growing Personal Concern to U.S. Hispanics, Poll Finds

Alfreda Padilla, a migrant farmer from Texas, who is now an insurance lawyer, says he is very concerned about global warming. He says that this affects poor people harder, since they are typically more reliant on weather. In a survey conducted by the Times last month, it was found that Hispanics are more likely than whites to view global warming as a problem that would personally affect them. It also said that they would be more likely to support policies and taxes that would lower the amount of greenhouse gas pollution. This poll could have major affects on the 2016 election, with candidates trying to win hispanics' votes. 54 percent of hispanics rated global warming as extremely important to them, 37 percent of whites voted it important. 67 percent of hispanics said that they would be negatively affected personally if nothing was done to reduce it, and half of whites voted this.


http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/10/us/politics/climate-change-is-of-growing-personal-concern-to-us-hispanics-poll-finds.html?ref=politics

2/3 Bobby Jindal: Liberals Are 'Obsessed' With Race

     Bobby Jindal accused liberals with being "obsessed" with race. This was after a photo which was assumed to be his official portrait was showing a much paler version of the governor of Louisiana. Jindal is the country's first indian-american governor. Jindal's chief of staff, Kyle Plotkin, responded to the tweet of the paler photo with Jindal's real official portrait. After seeing this Jindal said, "I think that this whole thing is silly. I think the left is obsessed with race." Jindal says that he is not bothered by race at all, and is just tired of hearing about it. Jindal said that his parents moved  from India to America  "to become Americans, not Indian American."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/09/bobby-jindal-race_n_6645172.html

1/3 Same-Sex Marriages Proceed in Alabama as State Judge’s Order Is Defied

Some counties in Alabama began granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Monday. Couples lined up outside courthouses in Huntsville, Birmingham and Montgomery with their licenses. In Troy, the courthouse was quiet. The judge was not granting marriage licenses to anyone. Sunday night, the chief justice Roy Moore sent an order to county probate judges telling them not to issue licenses, but by monday morning that had been overruled by the United States supreme court. Same-sex marriage is being refused in 24 counties right now. The federal court and the state's court are not getting along on the issue.


http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/10/us/alabama-supreme-court-same-sex-marriages.html?ref=politics&_r=0

5/2 Loretta Lynch Says She Doesn't Support Marijuana Legalization Or Obama's Views On Pot

Loretta Lynch is the nominee for the next attorney general. Wednesday she said that she does not support the legalization of marijuana, and does not agree with Obama in his statement that it is no more dangerous than alcohol. Obama explains his views on marijuana are the same as smoking cigarettes- just a bad habit. She says that if she were to be attorney general she would not allow for the legalization of marijuana. Obama said recently that he thinks more states will follow the trend of legalizing marijuana. At least 10 more states are considering legalizing in the next 2 years. Under federal low, however, it remains illegal.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/28/loretta-lynch-marijuana_n_6565962.html

4/2 Springtime for Assad: Syria Dictator In Spotlight As Potential U.S. Ally Against ISIS

The president of Syria Bashar Assad is suddenly popular in the United States. He has killed thousands in the past four years in the fight against protesters and rebels who didn't support his rule. Assad is receiving better press from the U.S. than he has before, causing concern with some observers of the conflicts in Syria, including American lawmakers and allies. The Obama administration sees him as helpful to the fight against the Islamic State Group. Officials at the White House deny this. They say that Obama still believes that Assad needs to go through political negotiations with the Syrian opposition.

3/2 A Villain in 'Selma' but Not in Real Life

The makers of the movie "Selma" about Martin Luther King did not appreciate the fact that John Gardner, Lyndon B Johnson's cabinet secretary said that a necessity for effective citizen action and governing was to build an "inside outside alliance." The movie makes Lyndon B Johnson seem like he was a reluctant supporter of the Voting Rights Act, finally giving blacks in the south the right to vote. In the movie, Johnson decides to support this only after a lot of convincing from Martin Luther King. But actually, Johnson was a strong supporter of civil rights. He endorsed the civil rights act in his State of Union address 2 months before Selma.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/19/us/politics/a-villain-in-selma-but-not-in-real-life.html?ref=politics&_r=0

2/2 Richard Glossip, Death Row Inmate Set to Die Next Week

     51 year old Richard Glossip has been on death row for 17 years now ever since he was convicted of murder in the first degree. He was put there by a single witness. He has maintained his story of innocence hoping he would avoid being sentenced to death on January 29th. Justin Sneed, who worked for Glossip, confessed to beating Barry Van Treese with a baseball bat. Glossip was afraid of losing his job so he "recruited" Sneed to do this for him. Later, Sneed said that Glossip had paid him 10,000 dollars to kill him. They were both charged with first degree murder, but Sneed received life sentence as opposed to Glossip's death sentence. In this interview, Glossip talks about how he hasn't let being on death row change him. He talked about how he has tried to make the most of his time there. He claims to be innocent and hopes that the court will work in his favor and he will be let out before his execution day.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/22/richard-glossip_n_6520914.html

1/2 Ex-Cuba Captive and Astronaut Will Attend State of Union Speech

Alan Gross, who was released last month after being held captive in Cuba for five years, and Scott Kelly, who will soon be leaving to live on the International Space Station for a year, will both be going to this week's State of Union address. There are other important guests such as a war veteran from Afghanistan, a doctor from Africa fighting ebola, chief executive of CVS health, and many more. Obama will explain his agenda for his next year in office in this speech. Alan Gross was working in Cuba as a contractor and was arrested for trying to deliver satellite phone equipment. He was sentenced 15 years. Scott Kelly will be the first person to spend a year on the space station, already having spent a total of 180 days.

5/1 Obama Laws of Hacking and Policy

   On Monday, President Obama called for federal legislation on forcing companies to be more open about when credit card information is lost online like in the target scandal last year. This would be called the Personal Data Notification and Protection Act. It would demand one national standard that would inform the customer within 30 days if the company is hacked. The current state laws are not unified enough to protect people from this problem. President Obama also brought up the idea of the Student Data Privacy Act. This act would keep technology firms from profiting off information that is collected in schools by tablets, online software and internet projects.

1/1 Boehner Facing Dissent...

Speaker of the house John Boehner is not very assured of re-election to the top house leadership post. It could be embarrassing that a lot of his own republican conference is likely to vote against him. Republican leadership has been true to Mr. Scalise, still trying to get an in with the minority voters. There has also been trouble with the resignation of representative Michael Grimm who pleaded guilty to tax invasion. Democrats are not dropping the issue. Mr. Boehner is also facing dissent from previous supporters. It has been said that he didn't fight hard enough against Obama's executive overreach.

4/1 Obama Facing Rising Pressure on Keystone Oil Pipeline

   The pressure to decide whether or not to go forth on construction on the Keystone Oil line is getting greater and greater. The house passed the bill for construction and Nebraska Supreme Court cleared the way for construction of the project. All that is left to decide is President Obama as of Friday. The house vote was 266 to 153, the pipeline winning. Obama originally said he would wait to decide until the court did, but now that excuse is invalid. Republicans and some democrats support the pipeline. It will carry 830,000 barrels of oil per day from canada, creating jobs and economic growth. Democrats who are environmentalists, however, do not support the project. Obama signed a bill that transferred the power of making this decision to congress. Although, the Nebraska court is not allowing that to happen.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/10/us/keystone-pipeline-nebraska-supreme-court-transcanada.html?rref=politics

3/1 Kicking Dodd-Frank in the teeth

   The 114th congress has not been at work for very long, but the goal is already clear. They need a "further rollback of regulations put in place." This would be set to help keep markets and main street safe from wall street practices that are considered reckless. A bill that failed on Wednesday in the House of Representatives began the "attack." It was introduced by Representative Michael Fitzpatrick and had three elements that were worrisome. It would allow banks to hold onto "risky securities" until 2019, which is 2 years more than what is allowed right now. It would prevent the securities and exchange commission from regulating private equity firms. It would also allow risks in the system that are unseen. The bill was intended to make corrections to the Dodd Frank legislation. It was put forward only on the second day of the new congress, which did not allow time for debate on the topic. The bill gives institutions 2 extra years to get rid of their large amounts of debt.  Any more compromise on this bill would cause it to collapse, which seems to be what wall street is wanting from this argument.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/business/kicking-dodd-frank-in-the-teeth.html?ref=politics

2/1 Obama Misses French Unity March, His Absence Note

    On Monday, President Obama, Vice President Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry, all failed to attend the French Unity March held in Paris, France. The march was dedicated to antiterrorism.  The Prime Minister of both Isreal and the Palestinian Authority both marched. As well as the French President, German chancellor and the leader of Mali. The only person representing the United States was ambassador Jane Hartley, but no one noticed her amongst all the other great leaders. Obama is "under fire" by conservatives for his absence. It was noted that President Obama did seem to have time to meet the NBA champions in the White House that monday.


http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/01/12/?entry=8266&partner=rss&emc=rss