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Obama: Time To "Move On" From Obamacare Debate

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Second victory lap. “This thing is working,” the president said.

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Obama took his second Affordable Care Act victory lap of the month Thursday, announcing enrollments rose to 8 million in the first enrollment period and calling on Republicans to drop their attacks on the law and "move on."

"The point is the repeal debate is, and should be, over," Obama said.

It is a marked turnaround from past press events on the Affordable Care Act, when the president apologized for failures on the enrollment website. Obama's last two appearances at the mics to address the law — first on April 1 and then again on Thursday — were all about how successful the law has been. The president once again turned to his critics and told Republicans it was time to drop their calls for repeal.

"I think we can all agree that it's well past time to move on," he said. The president said despite data showing enrollments have beat projections and reports showing the law is having a positive impact on health care costs, Republicans "still can't bring themselves to admit that the Affordable Care Act is working."

Obama did not mention the ongoing delays in big portions of the law, such as the mandate requiring employers to offer care and requirements that insurance companies stop offering plans created after Obamacare was signed into law that do not meet minimum Affordable Care Act coverage rules.

The White House was quick to capitalize on the 8 million sign-ups news, blasting out infographics with the hashtag #ACAWorks to reporters as Obama took to the White House briefing room to tout the law.

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, one of Obamacare's strongest opponents, didn't wait for Obama to finish speaking before rejecting his call that the country move on from the Affordable Care Act debate.

"The repeal debate is far from over," he tweeted. "#FullRepeal."


Progressives Will Vote For Kay Hagan, But They're Not Happy About It

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North Carolina’s progressive activists are critical to Sen. Kay Hagan’s reelection chances — and they want more from her. Live from one of 2014’s toughest races.

Yuri Gripas / Reuters / Reuters

DURHAM, N.C. — Bill Clay drives a car that runs entirely on recycled vegetable oil, and prominently displays a "No Keystone XL" sign through the back window so drivers behind him can know exactly where he stands.

Clay, a North Carolina native, has been involved in Democratic politics for decades. He volunteers on campaigns and works as a progressive activist. He's also an active participant in the Moral Monday movement — the statehouse protests that have harnessed the progressive fury at the Republican-controlled legislature in North Carolina.

Like many progressives here, Clay isn't that impressed with the state's Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan, one of the most vulnerable senators in the country this year. He calls Democrats like Hagan "corporatists" and said he worked for Hagan's primary opponent Jim Neal in 2008, though he eventually volunteered for her.

"A lot of the progressive community, people that are focused on policy, aren't enthusiastic about Kay Hagan," Clay said. "But a lot of them are like me. I look at it like it's a pragmatic exercise: the lesser of two evils should result in less evil."

"She's better than the alternative," echoed Joshua Bradley, a member of the Wake County Progressive Democrats after a meeting in Raleigh. "I'm still probably going to wake up in the fetal position in the shower sobbing after I vote for her, but I'm going to vote for her."

People like Clay and Bradley — motivated, active Democratic voters — will be essential to Hagan this fall if she is going to hold onto her Senate seat. They believe most will eventually come around to support the moderate Hagan, not because she's especially inspiring, but because Democratic-controlled Senate could hang on the outcome of Hagan's race.

The frustration among some Democrats is real, though. While Hagan is essentially aligned with progressives against the state's conservative legislature, she remains elusive.

When Democrats gathered in Charlotte earlier this year for a state executive committee meeting, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar was there to meet with them — but Hagan didn't show.

"All the people there were telling us we had to vote for Kay Hagan and I'm thinking, This is disrespectful to the state party you want to be the Democratic nominee for," said Chris Telesca, president of the Wake County Progressive Democrats and an active member of the state Democratic Party.

"Amy Klobuchar was there telling us what a great friend Hagan was," he said. "Klobuchar was there and is a lot more progressive than Hagan, but Hagan wasn't there. "

Now that campaign season has picked up in earnest, Hagan has begun showing up at party county conventions to meet with activists and party officials. (A few said that was the first time they had actually seen her.) She held one public event during the first week of Easter recess, delivering a bronze star to the widow of a World War II veteran.

After the event, Hagan played it safe with reporters. Moral Monday participants are "showing their anger and frustration with the actions taken by the current general assembly which hurts North Carolina," she said.

"I go to work every day working for jobs and economic growth. People are worried about social security and Medicare," Hagan told reporters. "I put North Carolina first. And I contrast that with my opponents and they are putting the special interests first, particularly the Koch brothers."

Elected in the Obama wave of 2008, the moderate Hagan is staring down one of the toughest reelection bids in the country. Polling shows her neck and neck with several of the potential GOP contenders, including Thom Tillis, the speaker of the House who is backed by Karl Rove's American Crossroads and the NRA. Republicans in the state, which went red in 2010, have made unseating Hagan a priority since she won.

The good news for Hagan, Democrats in the state say, is that the sustained efforts of the Moral Monday movement will be a key factor in her race.

Primarily organized by the North Carolina NAACP, the Moral Monday movement now includes a broad array of progressive, liberal, and activist groups who have shown up to the statehouse week after week when the legislature is in session. The Monday protests grew out of the NAACP's annual "Historic Thousands on Jones Street" march, or HKonJ.

Rev. William Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP and widely viewed as the leader of the movement, said that the Moral Monday movement stage was not for politicians and called the senate race "critical." They've organized 117 Moral Monday rallies around the state since the legislative session ended.

Now, however, the NAACP is working to building out the movement, creating coalitions with other groups, and sending organizers to parts of the state dominated by Republicans. While maintaining that the movement is "nonpartisan" — they do not officially endorse candidates — Barber said that it was still deeply political.

Some of the groups involved in those coalitions, like Planned Parenthood, are enthusiastically behind Hagan and have vowed to work for her. Planned Parenthood's action fund and their North Carolina affiliate have pledged a $3 million get-out-the-vote effort in targeted districts.

And talking to activists, that same thing comes up again and again: voter turnout. In addition to the Planned Parenthood efforts, the NAACP is engaged in an extensive voter registration operation in counties across the state. "The Senate race is critical and certainly we are going to mobilize to get out the vote, we're going to be mobilizing people to examine the candidates, and examine where they have stood on these issues of economic stability, education, and health care," Barber said. "Those are critical moral questions."

For their part, Hagan's campaign plans to build off of Organizing for Action's considerable data and voter identification work in the state. Morgan Jackson, a Democratic strategist in Raleigh, said that Hagan's campaign would have to, and is, appealing to a largely urban voter base and must "do her best to limit losses in rural areas."

"There is not one issue right now — an anti-war or something like that — that motivates everyone to turn out and vote in a low turnout election," Jackson said. He noted that Hagan has talked up issues that play to certain parts of the base, a clear nod to the Moral Monday movement. "Frankly, I'm one of those people who said 18 months ago, 'This is great but we are a long time from an election and can we sustain this?' What we've seen over the last 12 to 16 months is that it is being sustained, but it's not one issue."

If progressives haven't come home to her to yet, they will, the strategists say, especially if the Republican nominee ends up being Tillis. They argue Tillis' position in helping pass an array of laws (abortion restrictions, voter I.D. laws, and blocking Medicaid expansion to name a few) helped ignite the Moral Monday protests and those stances will help rally frustrated liberal blocks in places like Charlotte, Raleigh, and Durham.

"Look at what Thom Tillis, the speaker of the House has done," Jackson, the strategist, said. "It gives Hagan a great latitude. You aren't damping any of the outrage of the base, he is actually continuing to feed it. That's going to keep a lot of the energy alive."

"It's easy at this point to take it a little for granted and say yeah, 'I'm not with her' but the reality this fall, the rubber meets the road," Jackson said. "If nothing else, Tillis by himself is a motivator."

Washington Republicans remain enthusiastic about their chances to retire Hagan.

Outside groups like Americans for Prosperity have poured millions of dollars already into negative ads. If Tillis does end up as the nominee, Republicans aren't concerned yet that his tenure as speaker will weigh him down: A Republican source working to defeat Hagan told BuzzFeed that the National Republican Senatorial Committee had done several focus groups in North Carolina with independent and center-right women and found little controversy over the state legislature.

"The NRSC is neutral in the primary, but Thom Tillis has demonstrated that he is an effective leader capable of getting things done for his constituents, which is the exact opposite of Kay Hagan who has been an inept legislator and a rubber stamp for the Obama agenda even when North Carolinians disagree with it," said NRSC spokesman Brad Dayspring. "People are looking for competency, effectiveness, and someone who can get Washington working again. It's a simple fact that voters in North Carolina — Democrats, Independents and Republicans alike — have trouble naming a single accomplishment of Kay Hagan's."

If anyone's looking for clues on what the campaign against Hagan will look like: A spokesman for Tillis also dinged Hagan for "rubberstamping" President Obama's agenda. "We are happy to compare Thom Tillis' record of solving problems and tackling tough issues with Kay Hagan's record of rubberstamping the Obama/Reid agenda in Washington," campaign spokesman Jordan Shaw said.

The summer session is approaching at the state house — and Moral Monday will soon return. And the progressives who aren't Hagan's biggest fans are looking for a sign from her.

"I will undoubtedly vote for Kay Hagan, but I just wish she took more interest in the needs of the average North Carolinians than the needs of the establishment crowd," Telesca said.

Planned Parenthood of North Carolina's president Janet Colm, who was arrested last year during a Moral Monday protest, said that even skeptical Democrats in the state will come around to Hagan, if only to begin the long process of getting the legislature back and that Democrats needed to look at the long-term picture.

"The Hagan race is the key to take back the state," she said. "If we win this race, which is independent of redistricting, then in 2016 we have a gubernatorial race, which is independent of redistricting, so if we can begin to show that we can win some of these statewide races and eat away what's happening in the legislature, our goal is by 2020 to have one house of the legislature."

"It's not a quick thing, but Hagan is the key. It's the opening; this race is not just about her."

John Boehner's Tea Party Foes Host "Retirement Party"

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Pressure from the right keeps Republican leadership in line.

U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner listens to a question during his weekly news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 6, 2014.

Larry Downing / Reuters / Reuters

WASHINGTON — Tea party activists are sending out invitations for a "surprise retirement party" for House Speaker John Boehner, targeting inside-the-beltway Boehner backers and reporters.

The email invites are paid for by the Tea Party Leadership Fund Political Action Committee, a conservative organization that has spent more than $300,000 this cycle supporting 32-year-old J.D. Winteregg's primary challenge to Boehner this year.

"We're throwing a retirement party for our John Boehner, and 1,000 of his closest Beltway buddies are invited. I've pledged to get him a shuffleboard set so he can enjoy his new Florida retirement in style," PAC spokesman Rusty Humphries said Friday.

The invites are the latest effort in a tongue-in-cheek campaign by tea party activist — and adjunct French professor — Winteregg's primary challenge to the powerful Ohio Republicans in his May 6 primary. Earlier this month Winteregg released a commercial on YouTube parodying Cialis commercials, titled "Electile Dysfunction."

According to a source, the invite is being sent to "1,000 of John Boehner's closest friends and D.C. political reporters," and asks invitees to "join 8th District primary voters in remembering 23 years of reckless spending, feckless leadership, and gutless deal-making. Wish John bon voyage as he departs Congress for his new Florida condo and a life of overtanning, bad golfing, and early bird specials."

While it is all but certain Boehner will emerge from his primary unscathed and the challenge is unlikely to affect Boehner's work in Congress, it could still have an impact on Congress.

The fear of primary challenges has been one of the biggest roadblocks Boehner has faced during his time as speaker, despite the relative lack of successful insurgent campaigns against incumbents. A host of moderate Republicans are facing primary challenges over the next two months, and the willingness of tea party activists to spend significant sums in Boehner's race could harden their unwillingness to compromise with Democrats on hot-button issues ranging from the budget to immigration reform.

How Politicians Killed The Selfie

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I like taking selfies. These guys should have not ruined it for the rest of us.

There was once a simpler time when politicians were not aware of the "selfie."

There was once a simpler time when politicians were not aware of the "selfie."

And we liked it like that.

AP Photo

Someone in the press shop yells: "Hey! We should have them do one of those self-photo things that all the kids are doing."

"It will make us look cool and relevant!"

instagram.com


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This Unsent Shade-Filled Letter From Clinton Staffers To A '90s Radio Host Is A Goddamn Masterpiece

There Is An Epidemic Of Republicans Plagiarizing From Rand Paul

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Eight Republican candidates have literally copied and pasted from Rand Paul’s “issues” page.

Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press / MCT

Sen. Rand Paul's libertarian vision for the Republican Party future has such broad appeal that a generation of Republican candidates is copying his platform — and in many cases, literally copying and pasting it on to their own websites.

Republican Senate, U.S. Congressional, and state legislative candidates around the country have plagiarized from the Kentucky senator, BuzzFeed has found. The group includes two candidates with a serious shot at entering the U.S. Senate next year, Oklahoma's T.W. Shannon and North Carolina's Greg Brannon.

Paul himself faced questions earlier this year for plagiarizing sections of campaign speeches from Wikipedia and other sources. But while he may have been sloppy, the other candidates are systematic, and their source of choice offers a glimpse into a Republican Party in which the Paul family's radical libertarianism is rapidly entering the mainstream.

Paul isn't the only libertarian who's a popular target for copy and pasters. BuzzFeed previously reported that David Clements, a Republican candidate for Senate in New Mexico, and Brannon both plagiarized their "on the issues" pages from libertarian Michigan Republican Rep. Justin Amash.

Clements' campaign expressed "regret" at copying Amash.

Brannon's campaign did not respond to a BuzzFeed request for comment about copying Amash but told North Carolina radio station WFAE the plagiarism was "old news" and, "I would hope that WFAE holds themselves at a higher standard than some of the ridiculous stuff that comes out of Buzzfeed."

This is the third time Brannon has been caught plagiarizing. Brannon was also previously caught plagiarizing Paul by the New York Times.

Shannon's campaign did not immediately return a request for comment on their similar language.

Here's Clements:

Washington's bureaucratic regulations, bailouts, corporate subsidies and excessive taxation have made it virtually impossible for the market to produce new forms of cheap and clean energy.

And here's Paul:

Washington's bureaucratic regulations, corporate subsidies, and excessive taxation have made it virtually impossible for the market to produce new forms of cheap and clean energy.

Here's Clements:

Gun rights advocates need to know that the 2nd amendment is only as good as the fourth amendment. If we are not free from unreasonable and warrantless searches, no one's guns are safe.

And here's Paul:

Gun rights advocates need to know that the 2nd amendment is only as good as the fourth amendment. If we are not free from unreasonable and warrantless searches, no one's guns are safe.

Here's Shannon:

The Department of Education should be abolished. As the department has grown in size, test scores and scholastic performance have markedly dropped. More money, more bureaucracy, and more government intervention have eroded educational standards. Local governments, parents and teachers are far better equipped to meet the needs of their students than the federal government which puts teacher unions' interests over the education of students. I believe in local control over education so that parents can play a much more significant role in their children's schooling. The federal government has disregarded parental rights, restricted and over-regulated teachers, and over-tested our kids. The expansion of the Common Core curriculum is a perfect example. The federal government sold Common Core with the promise of increased standards, but instead gave us an inflexible curriculum that does not equip our children for college. I supported the repeal of Common Core in Oklahoma state government and will continue to fight against it in the United States Senate.

And here's Paul:

As the Federal Government has increased the size of the Department of Education, test scores and scholastic performance have markedly dropped. More money, more bureaucracy, and more government intervention are eroding this nation's educational standards.

The existence of the Department of Education is an overreach of constitutional authority by the federal government. State and local governments, parents and teachers are far better equipped to meet the needs of their students than the red-tape-laden department, which was established for and tends to benefit teachers' unions rather than students.

I believe in more local control over education, where states, localities, and parents can play a much more significant role in their children's schooling. The federal government has simply used its power to disregard parental rights, restrict teachers, and leave kids with an unsatisfactory education, unable to compete in a quickly advancing world. Innovation in education will never come from an overgrown federal bureaucracy, mandating standards and discounting local input.


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State Department: No Politics Behind Latest Keystone Delay

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The Obama administration places the pipeline project on permahold.

WASHINGTON — We don't know when the U.S. State Department will make its final ruling on the Keystone XL pipeline, but we do know it won't be anytime soon.

"I can't render judgement on when the final decision could take place," a senior State Department official said on a conference call Friday after the department announced another delay in the State Department process that could bring with it the approval or rejection of Keystone. "We want this to move as expeditiously as possible, we recognize that this is an issue of great concern to the American public, to American business and we take that extremely seriously."

The State Department review — necessary because the pipeline crosses the Canadian border into the United States — is being held up by a state court ruling in Nebraska in favor of pipeline opponents, department officials said. That decision, which endangers the existing planned pipeline route, is under appeal and observers say final judgement won't come until 2015.

That timeline boots the Keystone decision until after the November elections, a move that enraged Republicans and Democratic Keystone proponents and led to accusations that the move was political. Opponents of Keystone hailed the delay as a sign their side was winning the Keystone fight, while supporters of the pipeline said it was an example of the administration punting a political hot potato.

Despite the fresh round of State Department chatter caused by the delay, both sides of the Keystone debate generally point the finger at President Obama when it comes to Keystone.

The State Department official rejected the notion that politics are behind the new delay, stating that the delay was caused by the the possibility that the Nebraska ruling could alter the pipeline route already under review.

"I would just underscore that there's no intent to delay the process," the official said. "The delay is to be able to ensure that the analyses that we do are based on the route that is subject to our review process."

Activists Optimistic On Reported Deportation Changes, As New Memo Set To Drop

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Advocates applaud reported movement on enforcement practices and priorities from Homeland Security head, but caution any memo outlining changes needs to be strictly enforced, unlike others that have failed to change practices by agents in the field.

DREAMers have been protesting and doing hunger strikes outside the White House in hopes of getting President Obama to take administrative action to slow deportations.

Via facebook.com

Immigration activists say they're cautiously optimistic about reported changes to Obama Administration policy on deportations, but have serious enforcement questions about a key memo officials are reportedly preparing to address the issue.

The reported changes would be the initial results of the Department of Homeland Security's review of deportation policy. Although that review, announced after massive pressure from activists on the issue who continue to protest outside the White House even now, has produced no official conclusions yet, the Los Angeles Times reported on a slate of potential moves DHS is considering this week.

Among the floated policies: changing the timeframe for priority removal of an undocumented immigrant from three years to two weeks, considering family ties in deportation cases, and adding bond hearings for undocumented immigrants who are detained.

David Leopold, former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said the proposed changes would effectively slow deportations. Adding bond hearings would mean undocumented immigrants could fight their cases outside of detention, and those detained have their cases expedited in court, he said.

The reaction to that and other measures has been a mix of optimism and the desire for more action.

Cesar Vargas and Erika Andiola, DREAMers who have been protesting outside the White House because of the administration's record deportations, said the changes in priorities that have been floated would have a real impact in the lives of immigrants, but said they will continue to push for more from the president.

"It would totally be a big deal for folks with reentry charges," Andiola said. "We however think that there is still a way for affirmative relief to also be part of any announcement from the President."

Vargas said bond hearings are a way of protecting people, but more can be done so "U.S. citizen children don't have to see their mother or father being taken into detention."

Lorella Praeli, director of advocacy and policy at United We Dream, said perspective is needed on the issue of bond hearings for undocumented people. "Is it important for people to have bond? Absolutely. Is it outrageous that they don't already have it? Yes."

But immigration activists do agree on one thing: If field agents do not enforce the changes in the memo DHS officials are reportedly preparing, the memo will be worthless.

"The question is what will the memo entail and what is the commitment to such a memo?" Praeli said.

Officials with knowledge of the DHS process cautioned that it was too early in the process to rule in, or out, any one provision in an eventual memo. While multiple activists told BuzzFeed they believed a memo would come in the next week, that timeline was disputed by some close to the process.

Marielena Hincapié, the executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, said that 70% of immigrants are deported without going in front of an immigration judge, so she thinks the bond hearings are an important step, but is concerned with how and if the eventual memo would be enforced.

"They need a strategy for how DHS personnel will be held responsible," she told Buzzfeed. "[United States Secretary of Homeland Security] Jeh Johnson has a major management problem, so how are they going to be held accountable? There should be quotas, not for how many are detained, but how many are given discretion."

Both Hincapié and Leopold said the coming memo can succeed where the Morton memo, a 2011 document concerning prosecutorial discretion, and others failed by not repeating the same mistakes. They described the Morton memo as alternatingly "vague" and "contradictory," but Leopold noted that he hasn't heard complaints on how DACA was implemented because it was clear to agents.

A DHS official with knowledge of the process called it robust and said it involves many different interested parties.

"Secretary Johnson is very engaged with the operators and the agencies that are involved in the implementation of our policies writ large," the official said. "The secretary has met with frontline officers, including the leadership of ICE, border patrol, and U.S. Citizen Immigration Services, who have been part of every conversation. Additionally, he's getting input from both sides of the aisle, advocacy groups and stakeholders, businesses and the faith community."

In private meetings with advocates, Johnson himself has said that it is important for him to "socialize" any eventual changes in enforcement practices with agents in the field.

The deliberate and comprehensive way he is going about the process, signifies to some that the eventual memo will be enforced. His role now has been compared to his last great hurdle: the successful repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," of which he was the point man.

youtube.com

For his part, Obama appears very aware of the pressure he faces, both from people that have previously been his allies and from Republicans, who say any administrative action would prove their allegations that the president can not be trusted to enforce the law.

On Thursday, Obama was asked about the hunger strikers and protesters outside the White House during a press conference. Obama said he knows Republicans are dealing with tough politics on immigration reform among their base, adding, "but what I also know is that there are families all across the country who are experiencing great hardship and pain because this is not being resolved."

Calling the immigration system "broken," Obama said Congress must act because administrative options are nearing their limit.

"We have already tried to take as many administrative steps as we could, we're going to review it one more time to see if there's more that we can do to make it more consistent with common sense and more consistent with, I think, the attitudes of the American people, which is we shouldn't be in the business of tearing families apart that are otherwise law-abiding," he said.

Douglas Rivlin, from the office of Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who has been active in calling on the administration to slow deportations, said the congressman wouldn't want to comment yet on details that may be included in the eventual memo, but blamed House Republicans for stalling immigration reform and said it makes sense for Johnson and the president to pursue possible administrative action.

"The White House obviously has to set priorities for deportations given our unrealistic policies, as every President has had to, and the Obama Administration is exploring a whole range of ideas within the constraints of current law," he wrote in a statement. "Given that Republicans may fail to take action on immigration this year, the President and the Secretary of Homeland Security have to examine their options."

According to a Wall Street Journal report, House Speaker John Boehner told donors last month that Republicans will move forward with immigration bills in the summer. Activists, livid with the president, have even less trust in the House GOP because of stalled reform, but say they welcome actual movement on legislation.

"We say bring it, to Republicans," Praeli said. "If they're serious about it we've been waiting. But we're also not going to take just any bill. If they're serious let's begin to have the conversation, but that's hard to do without actual language."


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National Service Advocates Say Washington Has Abandoned Its Bipartisan Promise To Them

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Five years after just about everyone in the capital committed to dramatically expanding AmeriCorps, advocates for national service give American leaders a failing grade.

President George H.W. Bush visited the White House last July for an event heralding national service.

Mark Wilson / Getty Images

WASHINGTON — In 2009, national service advocates celebrated as President Obama and a large bipartisan coalition in Congress pledged to expand prized AmeriCorps slots from the current 80,000 to 250,000, fulfilling a promise to expand national service supported by Presidents Clinton and Bush.

Five years later, national service advocates say, that promise has fallen victim to the political polarization that's sucked most of the bipartisan spirit out of the nation's capital. On the fifth anniversary of signing of the Edward Kennedy Serve America Act Monday, a coalition of groups will call on Obama and Congress to expand AmeriCorps and fulfill the goals of the landmark legislation.

ServiceNation, a private sector nonprofit focused on growing the public profile of AmeriCorps and other taxpayer-funded national service programs and Voices for National Service, the national coalition that helped craft the Serve America Act in the first place, will release a detailed Washington "report card" that gives federal leaders a failing grade when it comes to expanding AmeriCorps.

The groups are quick to note their F grade is for all federal leaders, rather than aimed at either House Republicans — who have passed several budgets calling for the elimination of AmeriCorps entirely — or President Obama, whose latest budget proposal funds 84,000 "traditional" AmeriCorps positions while striving for 114,000 by transferring 30,000 existing senior citizen service programs into AmeriCorps.

To advocates, both budgets show Washington is not interested in fulfilling the full promise of the Serve America Act.

"Paul Ryan didn't make a promise to us. President Obama did," said Zach Maurin, executive director of ServiceNation. "We're glad this is something he's still holding ground on, but we're disappointed he's not doing more to see some of the growth fulfilled."

Programs for senior citizens interested in national service promised by the Serve America Act in 2009 have not been initiated, advocates say, and Obama's budget package includes policies that "directly oppose the goal of the Serve America Act to expand service opportunities for retired professional and older Americans," according to the advocates' report.

AmeriCorps today costs taxpayers around $500 million annually. Maurin says advocates are looking for about double that, expanding the program to the size prescribed by law. $500 million is no small ask in spending-averse Washington today, and Maurin said he's realistic about what the president or any other AmeriCorps supporter can do to expand the program. But he said the president can do more.

"We've had conversations and heard things that it's a tough political climate and [the president] thinks this is something that is central to everyone's beliefs in the White House," he said. "We know it's important to the president. The first lady ran an AmeriCorps program. We know they get it. And frankly that's what's so perplexing to us [about the president's budget]."

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the report card or on its national service budget.

AmeriCorps turned 20 last year, but despite near-universal approval at the concept of creating non-military national service opportunities for American young people, the program has largely languished in the background of the American political scene. Clinton started it then George W. Bush expanded it. In 2009 the Serve America Act was heralded as a model of bipartisan legislation. Seventy-nine Senators voted for the bill, and a number of powerful Republicans in the House supported it too. The president signed it and the future seemed bright for national service advocates.

But that was then.

In the age of polarization and tea party austerity, national service has taken a backseat to the search for budget cuts.

"One of the biggest factors is the larger political climate. National service does not have the dozens of lobbyists and major budgets to advocate for itself," Maurin said. "Things become so partisan and it's very hard for issues like this to keep themselves in the conversation."

It's not all bad news for the advocates. The report card hails Obama administration efforts to establish metrics advocates say prove the value of national service programs as well as Obama's 2013 National Service task force aimed at finding ways federal agencies can best utilize national service volunteers.

And it's not all bleak on the bipartisan front either. Despite the House Republican budget's cold shoulder for AmeriCorps, advocates still count some Republicans in the Senate among their strongest allies. The report singles out Mississippi Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker as "outspoken advocates for the efforts of national service members helping local communities to recover after natural disasters." The groups say the Republicans came to support national service programs after witnessing what AmeriCorps and other volunteers accomplished in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Maurin wishes House budget architect Paul Ryan could get some hands-on experience with AmeriCorps projects too.

"We would like him to understand it more and go visit these programs before he makes such a dramatic decision [to shut it down,]" he said. "It's not a big government program, it's local programs doing critical work in communities including in throughout Wisconsin."

Though the last five years haven't seen the promise of the 2009 law fulfilled, advocates hope to see significant efforts to build AmeriCorps up in the works. Maurin expects to reap the results of a service-focused president trying to build a legacy in his last few years in office. Still, the toll of the end of strong bipartisan support for funding national service programs is evident in Maurin's reduced measure of success.

"If the White House wants to leave eight years, two terms, with a strong legacy on this, which I think they do, there will be some forces coming together that could get national service growing again," he said. "At the end of the Obama administration, I think it would be a victory if AmeriCorps at 150,000 members."

GOP Senate Candidate: Democratic Debate Is Socialism

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Dr. Greg Brannon, a Republican running for Senate in North Carolina, said the democratic debate taking place after the Sandy Hook school shooting was an example of “socialism.” Brannon was speaking in a radio interview a week after the shooting.

"Senator Hagan says we got to have a nice debate and discussion (about gun control) about what to do. See that's called a democracy which is actually socialism which is called majority rule."

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Brannon, a doctor and former tea party activist, previously led an organization called Founder's Truth and has a history of making controversial statements on the radio.

He previously called U.S. property taxes "American central planning" and referenced the Holocaust and Soviet Union as other examples of central planning.

Brannon also once alleged that the United Nations is a scam to control life.

His now-defunct organization's website often posted conspiracy theories like claims that there is fluoridate in the water supply and that the Boston Marathon bombing was a false flag.

After BuzzFeed reported on his website, it disappeared from the Web Archive under mysterious conditions. The Web Archive refused to say if Brannon asked for the site to be taken it down.

33 Dopest Kids At The White House Easter Egg Roll

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This is how they roll.

The White House Easter Egg Roll is an annual tradition where thousands of families visit the South Lawn...

The White House Easter Egg Roll is an annual tradition where thousands of families visit the South Lawn...


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This Senator Drives A Car Full Of Leaves With Holes In It

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Leaf him alone.

Meet North Carolina Senator Richard Burr.

Meet North Carolina Senator Richard Burr.

Stelios Varias / Reuters

Jonathan Ernst / Reuters


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Maryland Democratic Candidate Slams His Opponent's Military Service: "This Is A Real Job"

Video Shows A Different Story Of Dustin Lance Black's Speech Than Marriage Equality Book Presents

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Author Jo Becker writes in her new book, Forcing the Spring , that the screenwriter didn’t recall any applause when talking to a room of LGBT donors about the need for full federal LGBT equality. A video obtained by BuzzFeed, however, shows applause interruptions during the speech and a standing ovation by some at the end.

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WASHINGTON — On March 21, 2009, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black gave a speech at the OutGiving conference for LGBT donors held by Tim Gill's Gill Foundation warning against gradualism and calling for full federal equality for LGBT people.

"If there was applause, Black didn't remember any," Jo Becker writes of the speech in her new book, Forcing the Spring, which details the anger that a planned federal lawsuit challenging California's Proposition 8 was raising from some more established LGBT leaders. "Instead, he recalled an ocean of pursed lips and crossed arms, and that he was literally trembling as he walked off stage. … Tim Gill … denounced Black outright, telling the crowd he was naive and misguided."

A video of the event obtained exclusively by BuzzFeed, though, shows that the speech was interrupted with applause five times. At the end, at least some members of the audience gave Black a standing ovation, the video shows. Though Black does look nervous, he is far from trembling — and waves out to the audience with a smile on his face before leaving the stage.

Gill, for his part, did critique Black's speech the next day — also seen on the video — but it was more of a nuanced defense of "gradualism" — which Black had criticized the day before — than any sort of attack on Black, let alone an "outright" denunciation.

Transcripts of the speeches follow.

Thanks guys. I have to admit I'm a little bit more nervous tonight than I was, what, exactly a month ago in front of 800 million people. So I actually wrote a lot of stuff down and forgive me if I go over my time, just like I did at the Oscars — way over my time. So, for those of you who I haven't talked to or haven't met, I, you should know that I grew up in a conservative, Mormon, military family in San Antonio, Texas. And that means that I knew that I was — I knew what the word "gay" meant from a very early age.

Because everyone was telling me just how evil or sick or wrong it was and because I knew I was gay from a very young age, I also knew that I was a second-class citizen probably from about six years old. So I hid and shrunk and I tried to disappear, mostly out of self-preservation. And that's not a unique story. Sadly, today one out of every three gay and lesbian kids still attempt suicide and 26% who have the bravery to come out to family are told to leave home.

But when I was 13 I heard a story and it went like this: A long time ago in a city by the Bay, a man named Harvey Milk lived openly as who he was, and he had dream for his people a dream of full equality. And you know what, that message of hope allowed me to start dreaming again too. And for first time in a long time, I no longer wanted to take my life. But a story is one thing. Why did I want to spend five years working on this story of Harvey Milk? Why did I think it was so important? And that's easy: Because unlike the gay and lesbian movement today, Harvey Milk fought for the rights of his people and he won on Election Day.

I believe that his history holds the keys to winning our freedom again today. You see, five years ago, I would bring his name up to name friends, and they would nod like they should know who he was but they absolutely didn't. And why is that dangerous? Because as they saying goes, "If you don't know your history, you are doomed to repeat it." Harvey's message was simple: be proud, come out and represent yourself, and reach out.

If you look at Proposition 8 this past year, there were almost no gay people in the ads, none in the literature, and little effort was made to reach out and educate. In fact, back in September, when I called up some of the folks involved in one of the major organizations fighting Proposition 8 and I questioned their strategy, I was told, "Gay people do not test well in focus groups." And that isn't just bad strategy. That is homophobia. And until we find that pride in ourselves again, pride enough to come out and to reach out and educate, we will never win this fight. Because the simple truth is this: If people don't personally know who they are hurting, they don't so much mind taking away our rights on election day. And after that election, what did I hear from another leader and another of our largest LGBT organizations? He said, "If we quiet down, they" — whoever "they" are — "will let us do whatever we want."

As a student of Harvey Milk, I will tell you, these leaders are not just the same kind of people who told Milk it was too early to have an elected official back in 1977. Some of these leaders are those very same people. I believe that if we are ever going to win this fight, we must abandon their strategy and return to the strategy Milk proved successful 31 years ago. Come out. Self-represent. And reach out.

(Applause.)

But Harvey's story of success did not stop without coming out. Harvey's story is also a lesson in grass roots activism. He proved that you don't need a treasure trove of cash or a massive national organization to change the world. Harvey proved overwhelmingly that a small group of highly dedicated people, hopefully like this one, can turn the tide of public opinion and liberate a people.

In the past few months, I visited organizations that are out there training young people in every county in the basics of grass roots organization. These groups and young people they are training are building an infrastructure that can effectively register voters, turn out the vote, do the door-to-door outreach and education. And in the tradition of Milk and King, these young people have shown a willingness to take to the streets, to put their faces on our story, and when necessary, lay their bodies down in acts of nonviolent, civil disobedience. And they seem to understand another important truth. They aren't just standing up for sexual minorities. They are reaching to the seniors' communities, the disabled, the union workers, the women's' movement, the racial minority movements, and all of the "us's" out there. And that was perhaps Harvey's most important message – that of the coalition of the "us's". And it's time for us to restart that work. To bring the us's back together and start winning these fights for each together again as a team.

(Applause.)

There is no question we are at a critical moment in the gay and lesbian movement. That is clear. And no matter what the outcome is of the California Supreme Court case, when that decision comes down there will be great energy in this movement, and it must be harnessed.

And what comes to mind is a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, who was in a similar – who at a similar moment in his movement in 1963 – said these words on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. He said, "This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off, or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism."

And in his own style, Harvey echoed this sentiment. This is a quote from his first run for public office in 1973, when people were saying, "You know, it's too soon for an elected – a gay elected official..." Um, "You need to sort of cool down and back off." And Harvey said to them, in a very Harvey way, "Masturbation can be fun" — this is a quote — "Masturbation can fun, but it does not take the place of the real thing. It is about time the gay community stop playing with itself, and get down to the real thing. There are people who are satisfied with crumbs because they think that is all they can get, when in reality, if they demand the real thing, they will find indeed they can get it." And he was elected twelve months later.

And I say this: It has been thirty years since Harvey Milk gave his life in our struggle for equality, and we will not wait 30 years longer. It is time for us to stop asking for crumbs and to demand the real thing. It is time for the LGBT movement to follow in the footsteps of every successful civil rights movement in this great country's history. And to finally, finally, at last name the dream.

(Applause.)

And I, and I say this is the dream: we, the gay lesbian bisexual transgender people of America, demand that the promise of our Constitution and Declaration of Independence be honored. We demand that the federal government act immediately, decisively, and unequivocally to ensure equal protection under the law, for LGBT people — throughout the United States of America. Full and equal rights, federally.

The strategy of the past decade has failed. We have lost state and local fights time and again in over 30 states and if we look at our history books, this should come as no surprise. No group has ever won their civil rights going state by state or county by county. And even worse, this strategy has not united it — us. It has divided us. It divides our resources. It divides our talents. It divides our focus, and it fractures our mighty, unbeatable passion. But know this: I am not just a dreamer. I know the tough realities of achieving this goal. I know that the path will be long and that we need a strategy. And I know that, in the end, this path will be rough, but that we can do it. And we must dream bigger than Proposition 8s and look back to the examples set by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It showed us loud and clear that full and equal civil rights can only come from the federal government. And as in 1963, now in 2009, this is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.

(Applause.)

Now is the time for us to name our dream in order to inspire the activist generation of Harvey Milk to return to the fight, to inspire the young people to join in and lay their bodies on the line, to inspire the straight allies, our mothers, our fathers, our lawyers, our grocery store clerks, our friends, and those who do not know — do not yet know — that they are our friends. It is time to name the dream in order to bring us back together again, to unite the "us's". I know this sounds lofty, but I'm a child of Harvey Milk, and at 13 years old, Harvey Milk taught me how to dream, and dream big. And big dreams are how change really happens.

So please, before you pull out your checkbooks, make sure that the organization you are writing your check to is not driven by a singular personality's ambition. This should never be about ego. Make sure that the organization is not stitching the name of Harvey Milk on its hoodies and selling them at champagne dinners if they are only asking for crumbs from our elected officials. Make sure that that organization you write the check to is following in the footsteps of the new generation of politics, a generation that understands the necessity of grassroots activism, collaboration, unity, door-to-door outreach, and education. A generation that believes as I do that we should have pride enough in ourselves to put our stories and our faces forward. Pride enough in ourselves to know that once America gets to know us, that America will love and embrace us and will grab hold of our hands and lift us up to full equality.

(Applause.)

And most of all, most of all, make sure that the organization you write that check to is fighting for the dream: full federal equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Because I know full well that when that gay kid out there tonight in San Antonio, Texas hears for the first time (that) we are finally fighting for his full equality, he will know there is a bright future ahead, and he will no longer think of taking his own life. And that young girl in Provo, Utah tonight will know that very soon her love will be just a valued and protected as her straight neighbor's love. We must send them a message of hope. And not hope for some distance tomorrow, but hope that very soon, they will be equal citizens in every state, in every county in the this great nation of ours, from sea to shining sea. That is our dream. Now is the time for us to make it a reality. Thank you.

Lance and Bruce [Cohen, who introduced Black], thank you. Righteous, real energy! That's what we need! Urgency. Thank you.

You know, throughout this conference we've discussed at length the incredible possibilities that our philanthropy has if it's given collaboratively, in partnership with other donors, with strategy and with very, very careful planning. And we've really tried to mirror that entire philosophy throughout this conference, both by the dynamic panels that we've had, that's had people from a myriad of fields and organizations and backgrounds, to the very significant presence of allies. Allies both onstage and off.

So, with that ally notion in mind, it is just thrillingly appropriate to celebrate our final evening together at this conference with a rousing call to action — another one, after Lance's.

From the current leader of our nation's premier defender of individual freedom, the American Civil Liberties Union, my colleague Anthony Romero, the first Latino and openly gay man to serve as executive director of the ACLU, understands what it means when we talk about Outgiving — to combine a giving strategy that is intelligent, informed, and rewarding, with a laser-like focus on the one goal, and that would be equality without apology.

Ladies and gentlemen, when I say "we are the change," it is because men like Anthony Romero number among us. Let's welcome Anthony Romero to the stage.


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What Happened When The U.S. Dropped Drones On Al-Qaeda In Yemen This Weekend

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The U.S. and Yemen launch the biggest offensive against al-Qaeda in four years.

Tribesmen stand on the rubble of a building destroyed by a U.S. drone air strike that targeted suspected al-Qaeda militants in the southeastern Yemeni province of Shabwa in February 2013.

Khaled Abdullah Ali Al Mahdi / Reuters

The United States and Yemen pounded al-Qaeda targets for three days earlier this week across governorates in southern Yemen, in another controversial escalation of the U.S. drone campaign against al-Qaeda in Yemen. The operation, which is the most sustained in more than four years, included drone strikes on vehicles, apparent air raids on a suspected al-Qaeda training camp, and a Yemeni ground offensive.

On Monday, Yemen's Interior Ministry claimed that the operation had killed at least 55 people, which it labeled "militants." But that initial assessment was tempered by a separate government press release that noted that Yemen was still "working on confirming the identities of the operatives targeted in the operation." The Yemeni government also admitted that at least three civilians were killed and another five wounded "when their pickup unexpectedly appeared next to the targeted vehicle."

The raids appear to have had two main targets: dozens of fighters, including Saudis, who have recently returned from Syria, and a suspected al-Qaeda training camp in Abyan. Although Yemeni officials said they have known about the training camp for some time, Sunday was the first known strike on the area in the remote Mahfad region of Abyan, which is well beyond the day-to-day control of the central government in Sanaa. Sunday's strikes, which were more sustained and concentrated than those typically associated with drones, killed the three men running the camp: Muhammad Salim Abdu Rabu al-Mushaybi, Fawaz Husayn al-Muhark, and Salih Sa'id al-Muhark. Those have been the only names released so far by the Interior Ministry. U.S. naval ships carried out a similarly large-scale strike on a training camp in December 2009 off Yemen's southern coast, although that particular raid ended in disaster when it later turned out that the target was a Bedouin encampment and not an al-Qaeda training camp.

The series of raids comes days after CNN aired a video, which was originally posted to YouTube, depicting a large meeting of al-Qaeda fighters, who were greeted by Nasir al-Wihayshi, commander of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which the U.S. considers the most dangerous branch of al-Qaeda.

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Wihayshi's appearance in the video is his first known public appearance in more than a year. A reclusive if charismatic figure from Abyan, Wihayshi spent four years as an aide to Osama bin Laden before being separated from the al-Qaeda commander during the Battle of Tora Bora in December 2001. He later spent time in prison in both Iran and Yemen before escaping in February 2006. In the eight years since that daring prison break, al-Qaeda in Yemen has grown and evolved from a handful of fugitives to the thousands of estimated fighters currently believed to be in the organization.

In early 2011, while protests calling for the end of then-President Ali Abdullah Salih's regime further fractured Yemen's already shaky government and military, al-Qaeda took over parts of Abyan and Shabwa, establishing fledgling "emirates" that adhered to al-Qaeda's narrow interpretation of Islamic law. That initial effort faltered and failed during the summer of 2012, when a joint U.S.–Yemeni air and ground offensive pushed al-Qaeda out of many of the towns and villages they had occupied. Yemeni officials now believe many of those fighters fell back to the training camp in Mahfad, the region targeted in Sunday's strikes.

Several media outlets have speculated that the raids may have targeted Ibrahim Asiri, who is often referred to as AQAP's top bomb maker, or Nasir al-Wihayshi himself. But despite reports of a helicopter landing to collect bodies for DNA testing, there has been no confirmation that either was targeted. Both men have been reported killed previously, only to reappear unharmed.

The three days of strikes also raise a number of questions regarding U.S. involvement and whether the strikes' legal justifications, ranging from the "imminence" of the threat to whether U.S. personnel or installations were being targeted as opposed to Yemeni targets, hold weight. Ryan Goodman, of New York University School of Law, has a good overview of the legal issues at play here.

There have also been reports that, following a mistaken drone strike in December 2013 that hit a wedding convoy, the Department of Defense, which carried out that operation, has been sidelined in favor of the CIA. Previously both the DOD and CIA had run parallel drone programs in Yemen, with each maintaining its own separate "kill list." As with much of the past three days, it is unclear which U.S. agencies or departments took part in the raids. The only thing that is known with any certainty is that there were several strikes and dozens of people are dead.


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Entire North Carolina GOP Senate Primary Field Says Climate Change Is Not A Fact

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According to NASA, 97% of scientists agree on climate change being due to human activity.

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At a North Carolina Republican Senate debate Tuesday, all the Republican candidates vying for their party's nomination — Greg Brannon, Heather Grant, Mark Harris, and Thom Tillis — said climate change was not a fact.

President Obama Meets Washington Mudslide Survivors, Says "We'll Be Here As Long As It Takes"

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The March 22 mudslide killed at least 41 people in a tiny community about an hour northeast of Seattle.

President Obama got an aerial tour Tuesday of the devastating Washington state landslide that struck the small town of Oso one month ago.

President Obama got an aerial tour Tuesday of the devastating Washington state landslide that struck the small town of Oso one month ago.

Marine One, carrying President Barack Obama, takes an aerial tour of Oso, Wash., on Tuesday.

AP

The March 22 mudslide buried dozens of homes and killed at least 41 people in a community about an hour northeast of Seattle.

The March 22 mudslide buried dozens of homes and killed at least 41 people in a community about an hour northeast of Seattle.

An aerial view seen from a helicopter traveling behind Marine One shows the aftermath of the mudslide.

AP

While the president flew overhead Tuesday, rescuers continued the search below for two people still missing.

While the president flew overhead Tuesday, rescuers continued the search below for two people still missing.

The shadow of Air Force One, with President Barack Obama aboard, is seen on a cloud while en route to Oso, Wash., on Tuesday.

AP

On the ground, the president was greeted by local officials who have been helping with recovery efforts. Earlier this month, Obama declared a major disaster had occurred in the state, making it eligible for federal financial aid.

On the ground, the president was greeted by local officials who have been helping with recovery efforts. Earlier this month, Obama declared a major disaster had occurred in the state, making it eligible for federal financial aid.

President Barack Obama shakes hands with Snohomish County Executive John Lovick upon his arrival.

AP


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South Carolina Town Council Pushes Back After Openly Gay Police Chief Fired

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The Latta Town Council in South Carolina unanimously voted to block Mayor Earl Bullard from appointing a new police chief last night after he fired the town’s first openly gay police chief last Tuesday.

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The town council of the small South Carolina town whose openly lesbian police chief was fired last week has turned against the mayor who fired her.

Council members in Latta, S.C., approved Tuesday night an "emergency ordinance" to temporarily block the mayor from hiring anyone to replace the recently fired Crystal Moore.

Moore, a 23-year veteran of the police force in Latta, S.C., was removed from her position, sparking protests and support for her from residents. After she was fired, audio emerged of the town's mayor, Earl Bullard, making a series of anti-gay comments, further stirring speculation she was fired for her sexual orientation.

In the clip, Bullard told another council member that he "doesn't agree with some lifestyles."

"I would much rather have… and I will say this to anybody's face... somebody who drank and drank too much taking care of my child than I had somebody whose lifestyle is questionable around children," Bullard said.

"I'm not going to let two women stand up there and hold hands and let my child be aware of it," Bullard went on to say in the clip. "And I'm not going to see them do it with two men neither. I'm not going to do it. Because that ain't the way the world works."

Bullard has denied that the firing was based on Moore's sexual orientation.

The story has garnered national press and at least one fundraiser with the intent of supporting the now-unemployed Moore. It is part of a larger narrative in South Carolina, as the state remains one of 29 in the country where an individual can be legally fired based on sexual orientation. It's a state in which legislators debated cutting funding to public colleges that assigned books with same-sex relationships.

The situation came as no surprise to Ryan Wilson, the director of South Carolina Equality, he said.

"It's quite clear that the mayor has some very anti-LGBT or anti-gay feelings, which he expressed in that recording," Wilson said. "That alone is just wrong. I think the mayor owes an apology to the thousands of South Carolinians who are gay and transgender, particularly the ones who live in the town of Latta."

Wilson said that his organization didn't have official comment on the particulars of the case but based on what he has heard from residents in the community, the mayor's comments didn't come from left field.

"What I've heard, which is again word of mouth, is that the mayor has been making comments like this for some time," Wilson said. "And the fact that the police chief has had a lawyer for several months makes me think that this is probably an issue that has been unfolding for a while. It is not unusual — there are cases that happen on a regular basis here in South Carolina — of individuals being fired or refused a position because of their sexual orientation or gender identity."

BuzzFeed has reached out for comment from Moore's lawyer through Wilson but has yet to hear a response. The Latta Police Department has also not responded to BuzzFeed's request for comment.

South Carolina Equality has advocated for the Workplace Fairness Act, a bill introduced by state Rep. James Smith, which would update the state's employment laws to include clauses protecting LGBT citizens from workplace discrimination. The bill is still being reviewed by the House Judiciary Committee.

"The indication I've gotten from the members of the judiciary subcommittee entertaining the matter is that there's the votes there to get it out of the subcommittee," Smith said. "But given that we are late in the session, its chance of passing and becoming law this year are not likely I would say. But these are often more than one session efforts."

In Moore's case, the mayor personally gave her seven reprimands for conduct last Tuesday, the first she had received during her time in active duty, after which he fired her.

In the reasoning given by Bullard for Moore's firing, the allegations leveled against Moore included running background checks without properly signed authorization, questioning the authority of a supervisor and questioning the authority of the mayor to look at job applications for potential employees. There has also been speculation that the firing was payback for Moore's investigation of Vontray Sellers, who was appointed Parks and Recreation director by the mayor. Bullard allegedly didn't conduct a background check before hiring Sellers.

Smith said that Moore's firing was an ironic answer to all the critics asking why this bill was necessary. "It ought to be the public policy of the state of South Carolina."

The South Carolina division of the ACLU has been pushing for that bill and similar workplace protections for LGBT workers this year.

"We need the protections afforded by (the Workplace Fairness Act) in South Carolina," Executive Director Victoria Middleton said in a statement to BuzzFeed. "LGBT employees in our state are still vulnerable to discrimination in the workplace. Everyone in South Carolina should have the same right to earn a living and support their family regardless of their sexual orientation."

"While a number of South Carolina towns and cities have passed nondiscrimination ordinances, we need more comprehensive protection for all workers in our state. Polls in South Carolina and around the U.S. show that the overwhelming majority of our fellow citizens support such protections," she said.

The case has garnered attention outside of South Carolina, as well. Human Rights Campaign is getting involved.

"On the surface this looks a like clear-cut case of employment discrimination based on sexual orientation," said HRC Vice President of Communications Fred Sainz. "Without explicit federal or state employment protections, a decorated police chief is left to fend for herself."

Bullard is a newly elected mayor, who, according to Wilson of South Carolina Equality, has stirred trouble with Moore since the beginning of his term.

"You have a situation in which a police officer with a wonderful record, has served the town for over 20 years without incident and then in one day she is given seven reprimands and is forced to sign the form or else lose her job," Wilson said. "At the same time, we have these comments coming to light about [Bullard's] view of gay and lesbian individuals. There's certainly a correlation. And it certainly, as the facts present themselves, raises questions as to whether the mayor is impartial on this issue."

Photo Of Obama In Conservative Attack Ad Is Photoshopped From Hospital Trip After Aurora Shooting

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Conservative group Americans For Prosperity cut out the hospital and the governor of Colorado to show President Obama and Democratic Sen. Mark Udall looking sad together for a negative campaign ad. Update: AFP called the image “unfortunate.”

WASHINGTON — President Obama and Colorado Sen. Mark Udall stand together looking dismayed in Americans For Prosperity's latest ad attacking Udall over his vote for Obamacare.

There's a reason for that, though a viewer wouldn't guess it from the picture AFP, an outside group funded by the Kochs, uses in the ad. The image is from a July 2012 appearance Obama made with Udall, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, and other state officials at a hospital treating victims of the July 20, 2012, Aurora movie theater shooting.

Here's the image from the AFP ad showing Obama and Udall looking upset.

Here's the image from the AFP ad showing Obama and Udall looking upset.

The ad edits out the hospital and Gov. Hickenlooper from the original image.

The ad edits out the hospital and Gov. Hickenlooper from the original image.

Read all about it here.

Here is the same part of Obama's 2012 Aurora visit from another angle.

Here is the same part of Obama's 2012 Aurora visit from another angle.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images


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13 Things You Won't Believe The Man Who Could Be North Carolina's Next Senator Said

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“He believes in a socialist government. He plays class warfare. Dictatorship is what he’s trying to do…”

Greg Brannon For Senate Facebook / Via scontent-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net

Greg Brannon is a doctor and former tea party activist running for Senate in North Carolina. Brannon, who is most likely headed for a Republican Senate primary run with North Carolina state House Speaker Thom Tillis, led incumbent Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan 42-40 in an April Public Policy Polling poll.

Brannon, who previously led an organization called Founder's Truth, has a history of making controversial statements on the radio.

He previously called U.S. property taxes "American central planning" and cited the Holocaust and Soviet Union as other examples of central planning.

Brannon has said that the United Nations is a scam to control life and thinks that democratic debate over issues is a form of socialism.

Founder's Truth's now-shuttered website often posted conspiracy theories with blog posts that made claims like the Boston Marathon bombing was a false flag, the TSA might use electric shock bracelets, and that there is fluoridate in the water supply.

After BuzzFeed reported on Brannon's website, it was removed from the Web Archive under mysterious conditions. The Web Archive would not comment if Brannon's campaign asked for the site to be taken it down.

Reviewing hours of The Bill LuMaye Show, a radio program Brannon went on weekly as a guest since 2010, BuzzFeed has found other controversial audio statements from his tenure as a tea party activist.

Brannon doesn't believe in public schools. He says "democracy means minorities get crushed" and the U.S. is a Marxist country, and said definitively, "I wouldn't have public schools."

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Brannon says Obama wants a socialist dictatorship police state:

"He believes in a socialist government. He plays class warfare. Dictatorship is what he's trying to do with the way which how much faster he's pushing forward with this police state aspect of the NDAA, you know, of the Supreme Court cases of Obamacare."

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