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Firefighters From Around The Country Set To Make Their Case To Congress

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After a day-long planning session at their annual legislative conference, hundreds of union firefighters will take their issues directly to the Hill. Pensions, grant money, Obamacare.

IAFF

WASHINGTON — Hundreds of fire fighters will descend onto Capitol Hill Tuesday to lobby congressional offices on issues ranging from securing grant money to fixing the Affordable Care Act.

Armed with yellow messenger bags filled with pages of reference material, International Association of Fire Fighters members — who traveled from around the country for the union's annual legislative conference this week — will arrive by the busload for meetings with the staff of their local Senate and House representatives.

For the most part members of Congress will not actually be around for the meetings since they are in recess, but a large portion of union members have pre-arranged meetings with their staff.

On Monday, union leaders and lawmakers from across the spectrum spoke to roughly 500 IAFF members urging them to do all they can to not only lobby on issues that effect them directly, but to do all they can to get out the vote for Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections.

Between what amounted to stump speeches from politicians and pundits, including Republican Sen. Roy Blunt, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, union leaders explained what members should ask for from their elected officials and how they should go about it. Members were also given a binder containing more than 100 pages of information on laws that are in place or pending and what to say about them.

There are several issues the union will lobby Congress on, but the major ones are requesting additional funding for the SAFER and FIRE grants, working towards delaying or eliminating the Obamacare "reinsurance fee," and stopping certain legislation that would effect their pensions.

The SAFER grant helps pay for hiring and maintaining staff. The FIRE grant helps fund equipment, training and other needs. The IAFF is calling for $340 million for both, the same levels they were funded at this year.

But getting anything passed will be tough in an election year, when an ill-conceived vote can cost a vulnerable lawmaker a job.

With that in mind, the Obamacare change and the pension law will be particularly tough sells to the Republican controlled House. Most of the focus will go to the SAFER and FIRE grants, which have seen bipartisan support in the past.

"I think it's fair to say we're not going to get any pieces of the Affordable Care Act fixed through Congress," IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger told BuzzFeed. "It's just not a realistic chance with the way Congress is currently made up,"

Hoyer was put in an awkward position for his speech Monday — he had to follow a presentation on what the union perceives as flaws with Obamacare, which he and his fellow Democrats will have to vehemently defend in the lead up to the midterms.

"The problems that were presented are accurate, and we ought to deal with them," Hoyer said. He added that the law is "largely very good," and pivoted the blame to Republicans who won't allow for changes to the law aside from full repeal.

While unions almost always support Democratic candidates, Schaitberger stressed it's the values and issues of a candidate, not political affiliations, that will determine union support.

He pointed to North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan, a Democrat he referred to as "one of our great double crossers" because of her vote against a collective bargaining bill, as an example of a politician who had lost union support.

"We need to keep a worker friendly, middle-class friendly, Democratic majority in that chamber," he said. "But as critically important as the majority is, we have to be true to our principles and we have to hold everyone accountable."

Schaitberger promised that Hagan wouldn't receive "one damn dime" from the union. At that, the packed assembly hall stood and cheered.


Republican Congressman: Impeach Eric Holder If Obama Doesn't Get Rid Of Him

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“If the president doesn’t get rid of him, cause it will be a bipartisan aspect, let’s start the rattles of impeachment on Eric Holder.”

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Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar says it's time for either President Obama to get rid of Attorney General Eric Holder or the House will vote to impeach him. Speaking in an interview with the Patriot Network TV, Gosar said the attorney general has "plenty of wrongdoings" to warrant impeachment.

"You've got to hold somebody accountable," Gosar said. "Everybody across this country but Democrats, Republicans, and independents don't care about the bureaucracy because it's subservient to nobody. We've got to put a face on that and I say that the face is Eric Holder. Because what we need to do is we need to have somebody be held accountable for what they've done wrong."

Gosar cited the attorney general's role in approving a search warrant calling Fox News journalist James Rosen a probable co-conspirator in a leak investigation and a Justice Department lawsuit against Texas to block its new voter ID law saying it discriminates against minorities as "wrongdoings" worthy of impeachment.

"This attorney general has got plenty of wrongdoings. He's lied to Congress in the James Rosen case, he said he didn't know anything about the warrant and he actually signed the warrant," Gosar said. "Not a stamp, he actually signed it."

"And in the Voting Rights Act, have you ever seen an attorney general declare himself void of what the Supreme Court has held as the rule of law and is now trying to file and injunction in Texas," he continued. "Let's show with a vote of no-confidence, if the president doesn't get rid of him, cause it will be a bipartisan aspect, let's start the rattles of impeachment on Eric Holder. I think you'll get to that point. I think there's 14-16 Democrats in the Senate who would never want to have to take that vote."

CNN's Wall-To-Wall Missing Jet Coverage Summed Up In 5 Seconds

Obama Administration Pressed To Review U.S. Aid To Countries With Anti-LGBT Laws

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“Such laws not only violate human rights, they endanger lives and undermine public health efforts,” members of the Congressional Black Caucus write in a letter to the administration.

CBC Chair Rep. Marcia Fudge with President Barack Obama.

fudge.house.gov / Via fudge.house.gov

Forty-one members of the Congressional Black Caucus called on the Obama administration to review all aid to countries with laws criminalizing homosexuality in a letter sent on Tuesday.

The letter praises the administration's "internal review of our relationship with the Government of Uganda" in response to the country's new law imposing up to a life sentence for homosexuality, but urges the administration to broaden its reassessment to examine relationships with all countries with anti-gay laws. The representatives note that that Nigeria recently enacted legislation similar to Uganda's and that lawmakers in other African nations are reportedly trying to do the same.

"Such laws not only violate human rights, they endanger lives and undermine public health efforts, most notably programs to address HIV/AIDS, which must be conducted in a non-discriminatory manner in order to be effective," the group writes.

Obama administration officials have said they are "reviewing" partnerships in Uganda since the law was enacted last month, but they have repeatedly declined to provide any details of what steps have been taken. Congressional sources also say that the administration has left key questions about this process unanswered for lawmakers.

The CBC members also urge the administration to divert aid dollars away from governments and non-governmental organizations that "support discriminatory laws." This could refer to organizations like the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda, which has received millions of U.S. dollars for their HIV programs while promoting the Anti-Homosexuality Bill.

The members also request U.S. embassies to be given the power to protect and assist "individuals endangered by anti-LGBT laws." They also encourage the United States work with the United Nations, the African Union, and other diplomatic institutions to try to repeal such laws.

The letter from CBC members on anti-LGBT laws:

The letter from CBC members on anti-LGBT laws:


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Yet Another Clinton Group Materializes

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Add HillaryPAC to the still growing list of groups dedicated to Hillary Clinton’s possible campaign. The PAC’s founder has ties to the infamous “D.C. Madam” case.

Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images

There's "Ready for Hillary," "Hillary For The Win," "Time for Hillary," and the "Hillary Clinton Super PAC" — there's even "Just Say No to Hillary," "Defeat Hillary," "Stop Hillary," and the ominously titled "Hillary Project."

Now, another political action committee, "HillaryPAC," joins the nine existing groups dedicated exclusively to electing, or defeating, a presidential candidate who hasn't announced her campaign, who may not even decide to run after all.

HillaryPAC, the latest pro-Hillary Clinton effort, launched on Tuesday morning with a new website and web video. Sam Deskin, the group's founder, said HillaryPAC won't be too different from the other outfits backing a Clinton run — particularly Ready for Hillary, the largest of the five, which focuses on building an early and extensive list of people across the country who would support and volunteer for Clinton in 2016.

"HillaryPAC has two goals: to get Hillary Clinton to run for and become president of the United States in 2016, and to bring moderation to Congress," Deskin said. "My understanding of other PACs is that their main focus is the get Hillary to run and get her elected. We believe that is only half of the recipe to getting her policies in place."

Deskin, a lawyer based in Los Angeles, was briefly linked to the late Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the so-called "D.C. Madam" who ran a prostitution ring out of Washington. Sen. David Vitter, a Republican from Louisiana, was famously one of Palfrey's clients.

Deskin's connection to Palfrey has been chronicled in a handful of blogs, one of which shows their email correspondence regarding legal matters in 2008, months before Palfrey's conviction and eventual suicide.

"I spoke with Jeane about the case, but we never went beyond the talking stage," Deskin said. "I was interested in her case, because I've noticed that politicians who talk about 'family values' can be hypocritical at times, not only in the way they conduct their personal lives but, more importantly, in the way they talk about valuing families while they push to undermine programs designed to help families."

HillaryPAC, now registered with the Federal Election Committee, has about 20 volunteers on hand, according to Deskin.

"We are planning a really unique approach to a super PAC," he said.

Colorado Governor: No Economic Damage From Pot Legalization

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Hickenlooper had worried about damage to Colorado’s image.

Rick Wilking / Reuters

DENVER — Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper — who opposed the referendum that legalized marijuana in his state — said Monday he hasn't seen the economic fallout he feared.

Hickenlooper, whose priority has been luring businesses and entrepreneurs to Denver, Boulder, and other hubs, had worried a view of Colorado's as the stoner state could "distort all the work that we've done" in presenting a pro-business image, he said in an interview.

"We haven't seen it yet," he said of the feared negative economic impact. "That's why we have been so aggressive and rigorous with implementing the regulations."

The referendum legalized the use of marijuana, as well as possession of up to an ounce, for all Colorado residents over 21. Titled "Amendment 64," it went into effect on Dec. 10, 2012, after passing by a 9% margin of the popular vote the previous month, though legal sales of marijuana didn't begin until January of this year.

Hickenlooper, to the fury of the referendum's supporters, opposed it, but has worked with the nascent legal industry to impose a strict regulatory and tax regime — and he said the industry has been as cooperative as he always thought it would be.

"We predicted that this would be an industry that would function like any other industry — that they would be no more or less driven or acquisitive than any other industry and they would be no more or less given to regulation and supporting regulation," Hickenlooper said between bites of breakfast burrito at a long desk in his Capitol office. "They look at their self-interest just like another business, but it's a whole different framework: No one has ever had a self-interest like this, where they have got to protect the right to do in a state what's illegal nationally."

"The industry was a great supporter of our very stiff tax rates; generally they've been supportive of our pretty stiff regulation," he said.

Colorado residents can purchase up to an ounce of marijuana only from specialty licensed retail shops. Currently, only already-existing medical marijuana dispensaries are eligible for a recreational license, though this restriction will lift in October of this year. Retailers must properly label all products with clear information regarding warnings, serving size, and potency, and any marijuana magazines must be treated like pornography by being placed behind the counter. Additionally, those who choose to grow their own plants at home are limited to six plants, with only three flowering at any given time.

Hickenlooper said his main remaining worry is polling suggesting that legalization has persuaded young people that marijuana is perfectly safe, when many neurologists believe it can impair a developing brain.

He also said the benefits of tax revenues from the legal product can be overstated.

"The other governors tease me, they say, 'I wouldn't be so rigorous if I had $130 million in tax revenue projected,'" he said. "But that's a drop in the bucket compared to how the world thinks of your state as a place to build a business."

Hickenlooper, indeed, is running for reelection on a platform of economic growth and pro-business management. His state weathered the economic crisis better than most, and his regular emails to supporters bely much concern that marijuana has derailed its growth.

"While the rest of the country's economy is slowly picking back up, we're thriving here in Colorado," he wrote earlier this month.

Weed also appears unlikely to be a central election issue. Hickenlooper opponent Bob Beauprez recently told ABC News that he'd look for "a way to agree with" Hickenlooper on marijuana regulation.

Hickenlooper said he was "surprised" that Beauprez, a former congressman, had chosen to enter the race. "I would have thought he would have supported a lot of our economic development stuff," he said.

Colorado, though, is the fulcrum of nearly every other divisive issue in the country: Hickenlooper is under assault from the right for his support of gun control, and from the left for backing the natural gas extraction technique known as fracking. Republicans, in particular, see an opportunity in tying Hickenlooper to the Affordable Care Act, which he supports, although Colorado's state-run health insurance exchange has not been as troubled as HealthCare.gov.

"I am concerned that it is going to be a difficult year for Democrats and I am going to be painted with that same brush," he said. And while he pointed to a rare decrease in the rate of growth in health care costs as a sign that the Affordable Care Act's cost-control measures are working, he says he doesn't expect that to help much with the politics. He also said he doesn't anticipate wanting President Obama (or any other out-of-state figure) to campaign for him.

"As a campaign thing, when I walk into a room and say how many people hate the ACA, half of the hands or two-thirds of the hands in the room go up," he said.

Hickenlooper also quietly came out for marriage equality toward the bottom of a press release March 3, a decision he described Monday as a "nuance" and natural evolution from his longtime support for equal civil marriage rights, while leaving churches free to make their own decisions.

"The debate had changed sufficiently that I think people can understand that supporting civil marriage is a way of saying I support every single right for every single person," he said.

Nearly 200 Congressional Democrats Call On Obama To Issue LGBT Workers' Order

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“[T]here is no reason you cannot immediately act by taking this important step,” the lawmakers write, asking Obama to sign an executive order banning federal contractors from anti-LGBT bias.

Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

WASHINGTON — Nearly all Senate Democrats and roughly three-quarters of House Democrats are sending a letter to President Obama calling on him to sign an executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT workers.

The move comes as the White House has maintained that Obama's preferred path is passage of Employment Non-Discrimination Act into law rather than signing the executive order. Advocates have pushed for the executive order in the wake of last fall's Senate passage of the ENDA, a bill that would ban most private employers from anti-LGBT discrimination.

The nearly 200 congressional Democrats, however, write, "We are committed to doing all that we can in Congress to get ENDA to your desk this year; however, there is no reason you cannot immediately act by taking this important step."

The effort was led by Sen. Jeff Merkley and Rep. Jared Polis, with support from Sens. Tom Harkin and Tammy Baldwin and Reps. Michael Michaud, David Cicilline, Sean Patrick Maloney, Mark Pocan, Kyrsten Sinema, Mark Takano, Frank Pallone, Lois Capps, Diana DeGette, Joe Garcia, Raul Grijalva, Mike Honda, Barbara Lee, Jerrold Nadler, and Adam Schiff.

The proposed order follows Obama's agreement in a 2008 candidate questionnaire that, if elected president, he would support a nondiscrimination policy for LGBT employees of federal contractors. Advocates and lawmakers have been pressing Obama to model the policy off an existing executive order, Executive Order 11246, that bans federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Ten more senators joined this letter — the circulation of which for signatures was first reported earlier this month — than joined a similar Senate-only letter sent last February. The 48 Democrats who signed the letter did not include Majority Leader Harry Reid, but did include other members of the leadership: Sens. Dick Durbin, Chuck Schumer, and Patty Murray. Sen. Michael Bennet, who chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, did not sign the letter.

The other Democrats not signing the letter are Sens. Heidi Heitkamp, Joe Manchin, Mark Pryor, and John Walsh, as well as independent Sen. Angus King, who caucuses with the Democrats. [Update at 5:55 p.m.: Sen. Maria Cantwell, not listed as a signatory when the letter was released, is now signed on to the letter, a spokesman tells BuzzFeed.]

On the House side, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi did not sign the letter; a spokesman told the Washington Blade that she would "send her own private letter" to Obama separately. But two other members of the Democratic leadership, Reps. Steny Hoyer and James Clyburn, did sign. Neither the Democratic Caucus chair, Rep. Xavier Becerra, nor the Democratic National Committee chair, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, signed on to the letter. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Steve Israel did sign the letter.

The 148 House signatories this year are up from 110 last year, leaving 50 members of the Democratic caucus not having signed the letter. Four members — Reps. Emanuel Cleaver, Donna Edwards, Doris Matsui, and Maxine Waters — signed last year's letter but are not on this year's list.

Read the letter:

Republican, Democratic Support For Kicking Russia Out Of The G-8 Is Growing

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Military assistance for Ukraine and further isolation for Putin are also on the table on Capitol Hill. “Russia has forfeited its right to sit at the world table with countries like the United States, Great Britain, France, and Germany,” Sen. Chris Murphy said Tuesday.

Maxim Shemetov / Reuters

WASHINGTON — Democrats and Republicans alike said Tuesday the United States should being the process of expelling Russia from the G-8 and consider building up the Ukrainian military in response to actions taken by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a defiant speech to the Russian parliament Tuesday, Putin declared that Russia was formally retaking control of Crimea, a Ukrainian province that Russia has occupied for weeks. Although Putin said he is not interested in occupying additional areas of the Ukraine, the speech prompted harsh reaction from Capitol Hill, where Democrats and Republicans alike warned bluntly the Russian leader can't be trusted.

"It's hard to trust [Putin] … because they've been lying through their teeth for the last several weeks," Sen. Chris Murphy said Tuesday afternoon.

"He's relishing his position as the rebirth of the Soviet empire … I don't think he can be trusted," Rep. Adam Kinzinger agreed.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor announced Tuesday that he has directed committee chairmen to identify additional sanctions and other steps that could be taken to further restrict the Russian economy, and called on President Obama and other world leaders to expel Russia from the G-8.

"Next week, the G-7 leaders should decide to revoke Russia's membership in the G-8," Cantor said.

That idea is quickly gaining traction in Washington.

"I think that's appropriate," said Sen. Ben Cardin, who has also been active on Ukrainian and Russian issues.

Cardin said that the world's top seven industrial powers should convene a meeting to address the situation and that "Russia clearly should not be included to make it the G-8 … [since] Russia really doesn't share" the same values. "It's important to speak with a united voice," Cardin added.

Murphy argued that "Russia has forfeited its right to sit at the world table with countries like the United States, Great Britain, France, and Germany … when you violate international norms to this extent you lose the right to sit down with the other world leaders and decide the economic and political direction of the world."

But Murphy and others also argued that Europe needs to take greater steps on the sanctions from to isolate Russia and cause economic pain. European leaders must "wake up to the fact that they need to join us in some really tough sanctions," Murphy said, pointing to further restrictions on Russian banks and oil companies.

Cantor also called for the Obama administration to drop its reluctance to begin providing military assistance to Ukraine, arguing "The U.S. should assess what military support we can provide Ukraine and the U.S. must work in concert with its NATO allies to reassure other countries threatened by Russia."

Sen. John McCain, who has been a harsh critic of Obama's handling of the Ukraine crisis, argued in a statement that the United States should "rush the modest military assistance to the Ukrainian government that its leaders have requested, including some small arms and ammunition, as well as significant non-lethal assistance, such as protective equipment, spare parts, fuel, and sharing of intelligence."

Although Murphy agreed — saying that he is "fully supportive of a U.S. led effort that puts real capabilities into the Ukrainian military" — he acknowledged that is not a short-term solution to stabilizing the situation.

Cardin also questioned the wisdom of military assistance, arguing "the Ukrainians would be the first to admit they just can't defend themselves against Russia."

Instead, Cardin argued economic support for the new Ukrainian government should take center stage. "I think our number one priority is helping the Ukrainian economy … at this point we want to make sure there is a strong government in Ukraine."


Colorado Governor: Federal Deportation Program Doesn't Always Deport The Right People

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“What we had hoped was that the people being deported were violent criminals, and that hasn’t always been the case,” Gov. John Hickenlooper says.

Rick Wilking / Reuters / Reuters

DENVER — Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper said a federal deportation program in which state and local police work with federal immigration authorities to deport dangerous undocumented immigrants sometimes targets the wrong people.

The Secure Communities Program, in which local police feed fingerprints into the federal immigration system, is the centerpiece of an Obama administration enforcement drive that led to a record 2 million deportations. Colorado joined the program under Hickenlooper's Republican predecessor, and Hickenlooper has said since soon after taking office in 2010 that he would review data around the program.

"What we had hoped was that the people being deported were violent criminals, and that hasn't always been the case," Hickenlooper said in an interview Monday. "We haven't gotten all the facts on all of the cases where there were additional circumstances that we don't know the facts of. We continue to gather the facts."

Colorado is at the center of a political and demographic transformation around questions of immigration and Latino identity; about a fifth of the state's population is hispanic, but it's also the home of a strain of intensely anti-immigration politics whose face is former congressman and presidential candidate Tom Tancredo.

And with a broad federal immigration compromise out of reach, deportation is now at the center of the federal debate. President Obama met last week with lawmakers and immigrant advocates who pressed him to dial back the rate of deportations.

Secure Communities "has not been perfect," Hickenlooper said.

"There have been swings of enforcement, but I continue to believe that the long-term solution to immigration reform is tied to making sure that the dangerous immigrants who shouldn't be here ... should be deported," he said. "Violent criminals are the ones we want deported, and oftentimes in some of these other cases there are all kinds of family issues — they have families and children — it gets very complicated."

Tennessee, Kentucky Officials File Notices To Appeal Marriage Recognition Decisions

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Two more cases about whether states must recognize the marriages of same-sex couples performed elsewhere will be considered by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.

WASHINGTON — Tennessee and Kentucky officials filed notices Tuesday in separate cases announcing that they will appeal federal decisions ordering both states to recognize marriages of same-sex couples married in other states.

In a filing Tuesday, Tennessee Attorney General Robert Cooper Jr. announced that the state would be appealing a preliminary injunction granted last Friday that ordered the state to recognize the marriages of three same-sex couples who live in Tennessee.

Cooper also filed a motion asking the trial court to put its preliminary order on hold while the case is appealed. If the trial court does not issue the stay, Cooper asked for a 21-day stay so the state can ask the 6th Circuit for a stay of the trial court's order during the appeal.

Likewise, and as expected, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear announced he would be appealing a trial court order that the state recognize all out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples. Attorney General Jack Conway had said he would not be defending the law, so Beshear has hired the firm of VanAntwerp, Monge, Jones, Edwards, & McCann, LLP, to represent the governor's office on appeal. A stay by the trial court putting the recognition decision on hold expires on March 20.

The 6th Circuit already is hearing an appeal from Ohio on the marriage recognition issue, although no date has been set for oral argument in the case.

Tennessee notice:

Tennessee notice:

Tennessee motion for a stay:

Tennessee memorandum:


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44 Facts About United States Presidents That Will Blow Your Mind

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Common fact: They’re all weirdos.

1. George Washington grew large amounts of cannabis.

2. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson went to see William Shakespeare's home in 1786. They then ripped off a piece of Shakespeare's chair with a knife to take with them as a memento.

3. Thomas Jefferson invented the Swivel chair.

4. James Madison weighed under 100 lbs. and was only 5'4".

munfitnessblog.com

5. James Monroe chased William Crawford, the secretary of the Treasury, out of the White House with a pair of fire tongs.

6. John Quincy Adams and Herbert Hoover both had pet alligators.

7. Andrew Jackson taught his parrot how to curse — it was so bad that the parrot had to be removed from Jackson's funeral for swearing too much.

8. Martin Van Buren was the first U.S. president to be born a citizen of the United States, but his first language was Dutch, because he grew up in a Dutch part of New York called Kinderhook.

9. William Henry Harrison commissioned bottles of hard cider in the shape of log cabins as part of his campaigning.


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Obama Unveils His March Madness Bracket

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“It’s been a while since I won my pool.”

The president picked No. 4 seed Michigan State to win the national championship, he said on ESPN Wednesday morning.

View Video ›

"I've got Michigan State going all the way," President Obama said. "It's been a while since Izzo won one, and he knows how to motivate folks and he knows how to coach. My pick, Michigan State, bring it home for me. It's been a while since I won my pool."

"I've got Michigan State going all the way," President Obama said. "It's been a while since Izzo won one, and he knows how to motivate folks and he knows how to coach. My pick, Michigan State, bring it home for me. It's been a while since I won my pool."

Kirthmon F. Dozier/Detroit Free Press / MCT

Here's Obama's whole bracket:

Here's Obama's whole bracket:

Via games.espn.go.com

MSNBC's Prime Time Ratings Take A Small Hit And CNN Doubles Theirs During Malaysian Jet Mystery

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The cable news ratings race during America’s obsession with missing Malaysian jetliner was won by Fox News, but CNN and MSNBC can claim victory as well.

CNN: Thanks to the bold decision to cover the missing jetliner with almost non-stop coverage, CNN saw their primetime demo ratings double from the week before. Add Anderson Cooper's rare victories over Bill O'Reilly and it's hard not to declare CNN the big winner here.

FOX NEWS: Despite CNN's strong showing in the first week of MH370 coverage, Fox News won the war for prime time ratings. Fox was tops in total viewers and in demo (ages 25-54), increasing that average 18% from the week before.

MSNBC: MSNBC resisted the temptation to ape CNN's wall-to-wall approach to the story, and, despite a relatively small drop off in prime time demo ratings, proved that the networks' brand of liberal opinion could sustain ratings numbers that would likely keep them at #2 over CNN during a normal news cycle.

Democratic Senator: Debt Is Going To Make U.S. "Not A First-Tier Nation Anymore"

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Democratic Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill was speaking in Kansas City as part of her “McCaskill on Main Street” tour on Wednesday.

View Video ›

Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill railed against the national debt, speaking in Kansas City as part of her "McCaskill on Main Street" tour on Wednesday. McCaskill said the debt would "put us in a position where we're not a first-tier nation anymore," calling it "irresponsible."

"I do believe a $17 trillion debt is irresponsible. I do believe that," McCaskill said, while adding that she supported raising the minimum wage and extending unemployment insurance.

McCaskill also spoke about the changes she says she's seen in the influence of the federal government.

"We have ourselves doing things the federal government was never intended to do," she said. "I mean, we weren't supposed to be buying municipal firetrucks at the federal government, we're doing that now. That's not the way our Constitution was designed. We weren't supposed to have the federal government paying for education. We are now doing a lot of that."

McCaskill said if the U.S. continued along current spending lines and got "swallowed up by the debt," the country would no longer be a first-tier nation.

"I do think we have to be careful about making the federal government the answer to everything, because it's gonna put us in a position where we're not a first-tier nation anymore if we get swallowed up by the debt."

Gawker's Search For Philippe Reines' Emails Continues

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Why can’t the State Department find emails between reporters and a spokesman? Gawker files an appeal after editor John Cook’s Freedom of Information Act request for Reines’ emails turned up nothing almost two years ago.

Clinton adviser Philippe Reines observes a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing in 2012.

Evan Vucci / AP

In the fall of 2012, Gawker editor John Cook wrote to the State Department, asking for something very specific in a documents request: all the emails between one Hillary Clinton spokesman and reporters from a number of news organizations.

Nearly a year later, he got a response — but no documents.

"After a thorough search," the State Department's Sheryl Walter wrote to Cook, "no records responsive to your request were located."

The letter from Walter, the director of State's Office of Information Programs and Services, did not explain why her department could not locate emails between reporters and someone whose job it was to correspond with reporters.

Cook's original Freedom of Information Act filing asked for "all email communications" between reporters from 34 outlets — including the New York Times, Washington Post, and BuzzFeed — and Philippe Reines, a senior communications adviser to Clinton during her four years as secretary of state.

Cook provided BuzzFeed with a copy of his FOIA, dated Sept. 24, 2012, and the response from Walter, dated July 1, 2013, which Cook has since appealed. An Associated Press article about the administration's slow response to FOIA requests, published on Monday, first described Cook's attempt to obtain the records.

Reines, who still works for Clinton, has been known to fire off acerbic, and sometimes caustic, emails to journalists. In 2012, BuzzFeed published an email chain between Reines and late reporter Michael Hastings.

About a month after receiving Walter's letter, Gawker counsel Heather Dietrick filed an appeal with State. In that appeal, a copy of which was provided by Cook, Dietrick cites the published exchange with Hastings. "As such," she wrote, "it is inconceivable that no email communications between [Reines] and the press exist."

On March 5, 2014, about two weeks before the AP story posted, the State Department said it would look for the Reines emails again. "In response to the additional information you provided in your appeal, the Department of State will undertake a further search for the records you requested," said Lori Hartmann, the appeals officer for State's information office, in a letter, also provided by Cook.

Asked why Cook's original request could not be fulfilled, a State Department official gave the following statement: "The department's FOIA staff has been in touch with Mr. Cook who has appealed his request. The department is committed to transparency and does its best to respond appropriately, and in as timely a manner as possible, to the thousands of FOIA requests that come in each year. We will continue to keep Mr. Cook updated on the status of his request."

The official did not answer questions about why State denied Cook's original request, or about whether State will fulfill it following the appeal.

Bill Allison, the editorial director at the Sunlight Foundation and an expert on the Freedom of Information Act, said, "I can't think of any legitimate reason they would withhold this." Allison added that State has a "terrible reputation" with responding quickly or completely to FOIA requests. "This is a long-standing problem there."

It's possible that in searching for emails from various news outlets, State could "miss things," Allison said. "But to say there's nothing there at all defies description."

Reached on Wednesday, Reines referred a request for comment to Clinton's press secretary, Nick Merrill, who said, "Any question about a State Department process or decision needs to be addressed by the State Department."

The Gawker appeal to the State Department:

The State Department's reply to Gawker's appeal:


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Senate Will Try To Pass Unemployment Insurance Bill Despite Boehner's Opposition

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“I look forward to passing this proposal out of the Senate next week, and stand ready to help the Speaker, as well as any organization or any individual necessary, in order to make this extension a reality,” said Sen. Dean Heller.

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

WASHINGTON — The Senate will try to push through its bipartisan deal to extend unemployment insurance benefits despite House Speaker John Boehner calling the plan "unworkable."

"Since December, Senator Reed and I have been working to get these vital benefits to the millions of unemployed Americans who need them. It is extremely disappointing that, no matter what solution is reached, there is some excuse to deny these much-needed benefits," Sen. Dean Heller, a Republican co-sponsor of the bill, said in a statement. "I look forward to passing this proposal out of the Senate next week, and stand ready to help the Speaker, as well as any organization or any individual necessary, in order to make this extension a reality."

Last week the Senate reached a deal to extend UI for five months, retroactive to Dec. 28, the day benefits were cut off.

BuzzFeed has reached out to the four other Republican co-sponsors of the Senate bill to see if Boehner's statement will affect their support, but so far has not received any response aside from Heller's.

On Wednesday, the National Association of Workforce Agencies released a letter claiming that the Senate's deal would be costly and difficult to administer. Boehner issued a statement later saying he wouldn't support the bill in its current form.

"We have always said that we're willing to look at extending emergency unemployment benefits again, if Washington Democrats can come up with a plan that is fiscally-responsible, and gets to the root of the problem by helping to create more private-sector jobs," Boehner's statement read. "There is no evidence that the bill being rammed through the Senate by Leader Reid meets that test, and according to these state directors, the bill is also simply unworkable."

But Boehner's issues might be fixable as long as he agrees to negotiate, according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's spokesman Adam Jentleson.

"The Senate has forged a bipartisan compromise to reform and extend unemployment benefits. We believe the concerns that have been expressed are resolvable and we look forward to Speaker Boehner coming to the table to find solutions," Jentleson told BuzzFeed in a statement. "It is hard to imagine Speaker Boehner simply walking away from the thousands of people in Ohio who lost their jobs through no fault of their own and need this lifeline to make ends meet while they continue to look for work."

Regardless of the final plan that passes through the Senate, it will likely face a tough battle in the House.

This post has been updated to include a statement from Reid's spokesman.

Oklahoma Executions Delayed Because State Lacks Drugs To Kill Death Row Inmates

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“[N]o confidence that the state will be able to procure the necessary drugs before the scheduled executions.”

WASHINGTON — Following the state's admission that it was still trying to secure the necessary drugs to execute two prisoners on Oklahoma's death row, a court delayed the two scheduled executions until late April.

In an order Tuesday, reported by the Los Angeles Times, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals delayed the execution of Clayton Lockett from Thursday to April 22 and the execution of Charles Warner from March 27 to April 29.

The court noted:

The court noted:

In light of this, the court found:

In light of this, the court found:

And so, the court concluded:

And so, the court concluded:


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Kentucky Recognition Of Same-Sex Marriages On Hold During Governor's Appeal

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“It is best that these momentous changes occur upon full review, rather than risk premature implementation or confusing changes,” the trial court judge ruled.

WASHINGTON — A federal judge put a hold on Kentucky's recognition of same-sex couples' marriages granted out of state until the state's governor can appeal the trial court ruling.

Although U.S. District Court Judge John Heyburn ruled that Gov. Steve Beshear "has not made a strong showing of a likelihood of success on the merits" of that appeal, Heyburn acknowledged "one must admit that ultimate resolution of these issues is unknown" because no appellate courts have yet ruled on the marriage recognition question. Heyburn previously issued a stay of his ruling in the case through March 20.

Heyburn based his decision to grant the state's stay "until further order of the Sixth Circuit" on Wednesday because "the Supreme Court has sent a strong message by its unusual intervention and order [halting Utah same-sex couples' marriages] in that case."

He concluded, "It is best that these momentous changes occur upon full review, rather than risk premature implementation or confusing changes. That does not serve anyone well."

Beshear's lawyers filed a notice Tuesday that he was appealing the ruling to the 6th Circuit.

Read the order:

CNN Rules Out Black Holes In Missing MH370 Jet Mystery

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Phew!

CNN host Don Lemon seems totally content playing the conspiracy guy role during his network's ongoing saga of missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370, and on Wednesday night he casually asked his panel if black holes could be responsible for the jetliner's disappearance.

That settles that!

Watch the whole segment and find out how the Bermuda Triangle gets ruled out by CNN's experts, too.


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27 Things You Learn Jumping Out Of A Plane With Special Forces

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