Rep. Holt: Sen. McCain Objected To My Military Suicide Prevention Bill

McMonster
McCain really can’t sink any lower, but he sure is trying: In April, Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) introduced Legislation named after the late soldier meant to provide more resources for Suicide prevention to Reserve members. The House in May incorporated it into the National Defense Authorization Act for 2011, but it was stripped from the final version, and Holt is pointing the finger at the lead Republican negotiator on the Senate legislation, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). “Twice now, th...

Senate approves defense bill, sends it to House
Source: The Boston Globe WASHINGTON—The Senate passed Legislation on Wednesday that authorizes the Pentagon to spend nearly $160 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this Budget year without major restrictions on the conduct of operations. The voice vote on the defense authorization bill came after House and Senate Democrats agreed to strip several provisions, including one that would have allowed gays to serve openly in the Military. "The Controversial aspects of this Legislation have be...

McConnell Tries And Fails To Undermine Dont Ask, Dont Tell Repeal In Last Minute Amendment Effort
McConnell Tries And Fails To Undermine Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal In Last Minute Amendment Effort Yesterday, in a last minute effort to derail the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) tried to attach an amendment to the stripped-down National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would have required the Service Chiefs to certify that implementation did not Compromise Military readiness or unit cohesion. The amendment would ha...

Senate approves defense bill, sends it to House
The Senate passed Legislation on Wednesday that authorizes the Pentagon to spend nearly $160 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this Budget year without major restrictions on the conduct of operations. The voice vote on the defense authorization bill came after House and Senate Democrats agreed to strip several provisions, including one that would have allowed gays to serve openly in the Military. "The Controversial aspects of this Legislation have been removed," said Sen. John McCain o...

Rejoin the military, Obama tells gays
President Barack Obama signed into law Legislation lifting the ban on gays serving openly in the Military, repealing a 17-year-old policy and fulfilling a campaign promise. The law will “strengthen our National Security and uphold the ideals that our fighting men and women risk their lives to defend,” Obama said during a signing ceremony this morning at the Interior Department. Members of the Armed Forces make numerous sacrifices to serve, he said. “None of them should have ...

Plan to close Gitmo 'in shambles'
Nestled among a string of improbable victories President Barack Obama racked up in the lame-duck Congressional session is Legislation containing the most debilitating setback to date to his plan to close the Military Prison at Guantanamo Bay and send many of its Detainees to trials in civilian courts in the U.S. Language contained in the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act passed by the House and Senate on Wednesday bars the use of Pentagon funds to transfer any Guantanamo Prisoner to the...

Congress approves defense bill, sends to president
WASHINGTON (AP) - Congress gave final approval Wednesday to Legislation that authorizes the Pentagon to spend nearly $160 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this Budget year without major restrictions on the conduct of operations. The bill passed the House and Senate on voice votes after Democrats agreed to strip several provisions, including one that would have allowed gays to serve openly in the Military. "The Controversial aspects of this Legislation have been removed," said Sen. J...

Obama savors year-end victories
WASHINGTON — Seven weeks after using the word "shellacking" to describe his political condition, President Obama left for his annual Hawaiian Vacation in a vastly different place, with a litany of accomplishments and his party seizing the high ground on issues relating to Civil Rights, National Security and the Sept. 11 attacks. At his first news conference since the day after Midterm Elections, in which Republicans won control of the House, Obama claimed Wednesday he had heard the messa...

Veterans with PTSD Suffer More Medical Illnesses
Military Veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq with troubled Mental Health may also suffer the burden of more medical illnesses, according to a sweeping study. Female Veterans in particular seem hard hit by the one-two combination of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and additional medical conditions, such as Headaches and lower-back disorders. The most hard-hit Veterans represented a relatively small group out of the 90,000 men and women who used the U.S. Veterans Health Administra...

DADT Repeal Is An Opportunity For Trans People
(An interesting take. Restrictions on open service by Transgender people aren't based in law but in policy, as will be the case again for gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals after the DADT "Repeal" Legislation is by the President. - promoted by Lurleen) I've seen a shocking amount of resentment coming from different quarters of the trans community over the repeal of DADT that to me is completely unjustified and destructively short sighted. I’ve seen accusations of the trans community being ...

Cuts 'could hit 25% of charities'
One in four Greater Manchester charities and voluntary groups which receive public money could close due to Spending Cuts, the BBC has been told. Alex Whinnom, of Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisation, has warned 25% of 10,654 organisations, receiving funding, could be hit. Most of the groups do not know if they will get money beyond March. The voluntary sector employs an estimated 20,000 people in the Greater Manchester area. These charities and voluntary groups receive funding f...

What Does the Right See in Thune?
In every Presidential Election since 1940, the GOP has nominated a nationally known political leader. The closest the GOP came to deviating from the rule was Barry Goldwater in 1964 and George W. Bush in 2000 - and that was not very close. Goldwater’s views were famous even if he was not well known personally. George W. Bush was the massively re-elected Governor of the nation’s second biggest state. By contrast, the Democrats have repeatedly turned to less well known people. ...

Thune for President?
In every Presidential Election since 1940, the GOP has nominated a nationally known political leader. The closest the GOP came to deviating from the rule was Barry Goldwater in 1964 and George W. Bush in 2000 - and that was not very close. Goldwater’s views were famous even if he was not well known personally. George W. Bush was the massively re-elected Governor of the nation’s second biggest state. By contrast, the Democrats have repeatedly turned to less well known people. ...

Senate approves defense bill, sends it to House
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate passed Legislation on Wednesday that authorizes the Pentagon to spend nearly $160 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this Budget year without major restrictions on the conduct of operations. The voice vote on the defense authorization bill came after House and Senate Democrats agreed to strip several provisions, including one that would have allowed gays to serve openly in the Military. “The Controversial aspects of this Legislation have been rem...

Senators Ask EPA to Set Chromium 6 Standard
Calif. Sens. Boxer and Feinstein Plan Legislation Following Report That Found Carcinogen in Tap Water of 31 U.S. Cities Like this Story? Share it: In a letter obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, Sen. Barbara Boxer, who chairs the Senate environment and Public Works committee, said she plans to introduce legislation with California colleague Sen. Dianne Feinstein that would set a deadline for the EPA to establish an enforceable standard for the chemical also known as Chromium 6. The committ...

Senate approves defense bill, sends it to House
WASHINGTON – The Senate has passed Legislation that authorizes the Pentagon to spend nearly $160 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this Budget year without major restrictions on the conduct of operations. The voice vote on the defense authorization bill came after House and Senate Democrats agreed to strip several provisions, including one that would have allowed gays to serve openly in the Military. The provision that would have overturned the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell...

Obama: Repeal Of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Will Strengthen National Security
What is this? President Obama is this hour signing Legislation that Repeals the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law that bars Openly Gay men and women from serving in the U.S. Military. We're updating this post with news from the ceremony, which is being held at the U.S. Department of Interior to hold what's expected to be a large crowd. So hit your "refresh" button to see our latest updates. The White House is webcasting the event here. Update at 9:24 a.m. ET : Even bigger cheers for Rep. Patrick Murph...

Chabot Named Chairman of House Subcommittee on Middle East
Congressman-elect Steve Chabot was named the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia on Tuesday, a bit of good news for the Veteran Republican after being passed over for the Small Business Committee chairmanship two weeks ago. The subcommittee has jurisdiction over issues in countries including Israel, Iran and Iraq and deals with important topics such as trade, arms sales, non-proliferation, and foreign aid. Chabot, who had been the Small Business Committ...

Obama signs 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal (AP)
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama signed a new law Wednesday that will allow gays for the first time in history to serve openly in America's Military. And he urged those kicked out under the old law to re-enlist. Framing the issue as a matter of Civil Rights long denied, Obama said that "we are a nation that welcomes the service of every patriot ... a nation that believes that all men and women are created equal." Repealing the 17-year-old policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in a c...

Gov. McDonnell Says No Way To New DADT For Va. National Guard
A state lawmaker from Virginia is so upset about the Congress repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell that he wants to institute a mini-DADT banning gay men and Lesbians from the Virginia National Guard. "It's a distraction when I'm on the battlefield and have to concentrate on the enemy 600 yards away and I'm worried about this guy whose got eyes on me," the lawmaker, Delegate Bob Marshall (R), told WUSA9. "If I needed a Blood Transfusion and the guy next to me had committed Sodomy 14 times in the l...

White House prepares executive order for indefinite detention
The Unitary Executive lives on in an Executive Order the administration has drafted for the indefinte detention of Guanatanmo Bay Detainees. The White House is preparing an Executive Order on Indefinite Detention that will provide periodic reviews of evidence against dozens of Prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, according to several administration officials. The draft order, a version of which was first considered nearly 18 months ago, is expected to be signed by President Obama early in the New ...

Late Night: Open Your Heart, in Christmas Charity, To the Bigots
Upon the Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t  Tell, there has been much rejoicing. And fair enough. It is a landmark Civil Rights victory, and so forth, of the sort you don’t see every day. But then, perhaps it is wrong, or even worse, Bad Manners, to see the end of DADT as a Victory Over Bigotry. I mean, most very sincerely, that at the very least one should never call the opponents of repealing DADT bigots. That would be rude. We must be charitable as to their motives. Think! If yo...

New START Treaty Officially Ratified By Senate
For all of the talk about the arms limitation Treaty known as New START that would offer more work to limit the number of Nuclear Weapons between the United States and Russia, it passed relatively easily. In spite of efforts by Republicans like John McCain (pictured), Jon Kyl and others to add language that would force both countries back to the negotiating table, the bill passed with the support of 11 GOP senators. It mandates a reduction in arms by about one-third, but that still is more than 1,500 Nuc

And That Is Finally Over
Good to have this finally behind us: The Military’s longstanding ban on service by gays and Lesbians came to a historic and symbolic end on Wednesday, as President Obama signed Legislation repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell,” the contentious 17-year old Clinton-era law that sought to allow gays to serve under the terms of an uneasy Compromise that required them to keep their Sexuality a secret. “No longer will tens of thousands of Americans in uniform be asked...

The NYT Piece on CO2 Measurement is a Good Read
There are several interesting articles in the NYT today. The piece on scientist Charles Keeling and how he developed the process of calculating and monitoring Carbon Dioxide levels in the atmosphere is unusually long and detailed for a newspaper piece. It's also simply an interesting, well-written story. It's become impossible to cover Climate Science in any way that does not have a political edge, but the numbers tell a story and one thing is certain, no one gets to negotiate a Bailout from the...