Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Simon Johnson, former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and a member of the CBO’s Panel of Economic Advisers, writes this persuasive post in favor of President Obama appointing Elizabeth Warren to head the … Read more

by David Safier

According to a Media Release from Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the Fix Gun Checks Act of 2011 was introduced in the House by more than two dozen Representatives.

The Fix Gun Checks Act of 2011 was introduced by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy and more than two dozen other members, including Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers and Crime Subcommittee Ranking Member Bobby Scott.  Senator Chuck Schumer introduced similar legislation in February.

The bill is modeled on a proposal developed after the Tucson mass shooting by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a bipartisan coalition of more than 550 mayors co-chaired by New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

“We can both respect the rights of law-abiding gun owners and do a lot more to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people,” Mayor Bloomberg said.  “We look forward to working with the President, Congress and the 280,000 Americans who have signed a petition in support of fixing the nation's broken background check system.”

The bill "would impose tougher penalties on states that are not sending records of prohibited purchasers to NICS," and it "would require a background check for every gun sale. . . . The bill would include reasonable exceptions, including sales to law enforcement and transfers among immediate family members."

Read the entire Media Release after the jump.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Tea-Publicans for the Corporatocracy are, of course, opposed to his; they do not believe in transparency. They operate in secret and in the shadows. The LA Times reports that "a seemingly obscure executive order that could — if signed by President Obama — make public the political spending that many corporations can … Read more

by David Safier How far to the right has the Republican legislature moved? Even Steve Yarbrough can't believe it. From the Capitol Times May 6 Quotes page: “Somebody the other day told me that I’m somehow in the middle of the Senate caucus. I thought, wow, that is amazing if I’m in the middle in … Read more

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: As predicted, Fox Flop, 'Survivor – GOP Presidential Primary', FAUX News Fraudcasting's new reality TV series, "Survivor – GOP Presidential Primary," was already a flop before the premiere episode aired last Thursday. It was so bad that Frank Luntz’ Focus Group Voted Herman Cain The Winner of Fox News’ GOP Presidential Debate. … Read more

By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings Bill Bertolino of the Arizona Guardian has a couple of interesting stories up. (Because the pieces are behind a subscriber firewall, I'm linking to the general website only) In the first, he writes of Governor Jan Brewer's consideration of possibly challenging the state's term limits so that she can … Read more