A quarter of Americans prefer gonorrhea to Congress, which is understandable considering both burn people. As intimidating as Chuck Schumer is holding a "Snitches get Stitches" shirt, he would look just as menacing with a "Snitches get Schumwiches" tee. And the DCCC is encouraging House members to spend half their day calling potential donors. However, the D-trip doesn't specify how much time lawmakers should spend cleaning their DISGUSTINGLY GREASY BLACKBERRY SCREENS. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Tuesday, January 8th, 2013:
AMERICANS SKEPTICAL GIANT COIN WILL SAVE THEM -
We're working with Juvenile to develop a more satisfactory "platinum grill" option. Emily Swanson: "Few Americans have heard about a proposal to mint a $1 trillion platinum coin in order to address the nation's debt problems if an agreement to avert a debt ceiling crisis is not reached, but a new HuffPost/YouGov poll finds that they are skeptical of the idea. Thirty-eight percent of Americans surveyed in the new poll said they disapprove of the platinum coin proposal, while only 19 percent said they approve. Forty-three percent said they aren't sure about the option. The idea has gained attention recently after Rep. Jerrold Nadler suggested (N.Y.) it as a possibility to avoid a debt default if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling. Since then, the option has gained some prominent supporters, including New York Times columnist Paul Krugman." [HuffPost]
Here's a timelapse video of every HuffPost front page splash from 2012.
SEC TO CORPORATIONS: DROP YER DRAWERS - Paul Blumenthal: "The Securities and Exchange Commission announced last month that it will consider a proposed rule to require publicly traded corporations to disclose their political spending to their shareholders. The SEC said a proposed rule-making will be released by April 2013. The move is a big victory for members of the Corporate Reform Coalition, a group of good-government watchdogs, labor unions and institutional investors that has been pushing for greater disclosure in the wake of the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling that corporations may spend freely from their treasuries on political activities. The 2012 election saw at least $400 million in 'dark money' -- that is, political spending funded by undisclosed donors -- at just the federal level." [HuffPost]
Sign the White House petition to deport HuffPost reporter Elise Foley.
BIDEN TO MEET WITH NRA OFFICIALS, HOPEFULLY WON'T MAKE FRISKING JOKES - "Hey, guy! Y'know the last guy who had my job shot a guy in the face?! Wow! Is that your briefcase?!" Sam Stein: "Vice President Joseph Biden will be sending his recommendations for gun policy reform to the president in a matter of weeks, according to administration officials. The recommendations are still being crafted. As part of the process, Biden will be speaking with key lawmakers, officials and stakeholders in the debate, including the National Rifle Association, an NRA official confirmed. All told, the plan is for the president to introduce a 'concrete package of proposals' by the end of January, an administration official told The Huffington Post. President Barack Obama will call for action on his proposal 'without delay' shortly after he announces it...This week, Biden and other members of the president's Cabinet will hold several meetings to receive final input. According to an administration official, who shared plans on condition of anonymity Biden 'will meet with victims' groups and gun safety organizations' on Wednesday. On Thursday, meanwhile, he 'will hold meetings with advocates for sportsmen and women and gun ownership groups.' NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam told The Huffington Post that the lobbying group, which has recommended placing armed officials in schools as a protective measure, 'will have a rep there.'" [HuffPost]
Happy birthday, Elvis Presley! Here's to you and the 90 percent tax rate you used to pay.
DAILY DELANEY DOWNER - When you can cut-and-paste another state's legislation, who needs ALEC? North Carolina lawmakers are looking to copy a Florida law that made the Sunshine State's unemployment system the least generous in the nation. "Under the proposal approved by the Revenue Laws Study Committee, a group of House and Senate lawmakers, the maximum weekly benefit for someone out of work would drop from $535 to $350. Also, the state would replace its 26 weeks of benefits with a cap of 12 to 20 weeks, based on the health of North Carolina's economy." Womp womp. [WRAL.com]
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THINGS WE NEED TO OUTSOURCE - A PowerPoint presentation to incoming freshmen by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, obtained by The Huffington Post, lays out the dreary existence awaiting freshman lawmakers. The daily schedule prescribed by the Democratic leadership contemplates a nine or 10-hour day while in Washington. Of that, four hours are to be spent in "call time" and another hour is blocked off for "strategic outreach," which includes fundraisers and press work. An hour is walled off to "recharge," and three to four hours are designated for the actual work of being a member of Congress -- hearings, votes, and meetings with constituents. If the constituents are donors, all the better. The presentation assured members that their fundraising would be closely monitored; the Federal Election Commission requires members to file quarterly reports. [With Sabrina Siddiqui]
TED STRICKLAND OPTS AGAINST REPRESENTING DYING STATE AGAIN - Cleveland Plain Dealer: "Former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland announced this morning that he will not seek a 2014 rematch with Republican incumbent John Kasich...By staying on the sidelines, Strickland clears the field for other Democrats, such as Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald or former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray. FitzGerald also has been among those plotting a possible candidacy -- and he, too, used the convention as an audition of sorts. FitzGerald, 44, is the former mayor of Lakewood and a former FBI agent. Though FitzGerald has not formally announced a campaign, it was known in Democratic circles that he did not intend to challenge Strickland for the party's nomination. He also has been talking with well-known party operatives about working for him should Strickland take a pass." [Plain Dealer]
Terry McAuliffe, whose heart we're pretty certain pumps liquified Jolly Ranchers through his circulatory system, is leading Ken Cuccinelli in the 2014 Virginia Senate race. Public Policy Polling: "PPP's first Virginia poll of 2013 finds Terry McAuliffe leading Ken Cuccinelli 46-41. When Bill Bolling is thrown into the mix as an independent candidate he gets 15%, with McAuliffe's lead expanding to 8 points at 40/32. The story of the race at this point is really how unpopular Cuccinelli is. Only 29% of voters have a favorable opinion of him to 45% with a negative one. Even among Republicans there are significant doubts about him- only 48% see him favorably with a much higher than normal 23% of voters within his own party seeing him negatively." [PPP]
Chris Christie's office released a GIF retrospective of the governor's year.
RICK SCOTT NOT ATTACHED TO REALITY - If the guy starts citing that CGI video of the baby getting Health News Florida: "The state's chief economist has warned the staff of Gov. Rick Scott that his Medicaid cost estimates are wrong, but Scott keeps using them anyway, according to a series of e-mails obtained by Health News Florida. Scott says he opposes expanding Florida Medicaid because it would cost too much: $63 billion over 10 years, he says, with the state paying $26 billion of that. But those numbers are based on a flawed report, according to a legislative budget analyst and State Economist Amy Baker. A series of emails obtained by Health News Florida shows the analysts warned Scott's office the numbers were wrong weeks ago, but he is still using them. He cited them in a Tampa Bay Times op-ed on Sunday and at at a Washington press conference on Monday." [Health News Florida]
IRAN SUPPORTS HAGEL NOMINATION, BILL KRISTOL COMBUSTS WITH GLEE - Unless John Walker Lindh writes the Armed Services Committee a heartfelt note detailing his admiration for Hagel's hobby of pacifist action painting, this is probably the low point for the putative defense secretary. AP: "Iran's Foreign Ministry says it is hopeful the appointment of former Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel to lead the Pentagon would improve relations between Tehran and the U.S. Asked about Hagel's nomination, ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tuesday that Tehran was hopeful that there would be 'practical changes' to U.S. foreign policy, and that nations would change their attitude towards the U.S. if it respected their rights. Hagel was nominated Monday and faces tough confirmation hearings. Critics have said he is hostile toward Israel and soft on Iran." [AP]
@timkmak: For every 18 people on pro-Hagel petition, J-Street donates bagel to local food banks "Smear a bagel, not Chuck Hagel" bit.ly/11cDeHp
So, you're saying Bill Ayers won't be reading from "The Autobiography of Malcolm X"? WSJ: "Myrlie Evers-Williams, widow of slain civil rights advocate Medgar Evers, has been selected to deliver the invocation at President Barack Obama's inauguration Jan. 21, the Presidential Inaugural Committee announced today. The invocation is the public prayer opening the official ceremony, and Mrs. Evers-Williams, as a woman, non-clergy member, and civil-rights leader, is an unusual choice made personally by the president and first lady Michelle Obama, as the nation marks the 50th anniversary of the civil rights movement this year. Conservative Rev. Louie Giglio will deliver the benediction, the prayer at the close of the swearing-in ceremony of President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden." [WSJ]
STOP WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING AND LOOK AT THIS PHOTO OF CHUCK SCHUMER HOLDING A "SNITCHES GET STICHES" T-SHIRT.
THINGS MORE POPULAR THAN CONGRESS: COCKROACHES, GENGHIS KAHN, NICKELBACK - Public Policy Polling, really REALLY trying to recapture the pageviews it had during the election: "Our newest national poll finds that Congress only has a 9% favorability rating with 85% of voters viewing it in a negative light. We've seen poll after poll after poll over the last year talking about how unpopular Congress is but really, what's the difference between an 11% or a 9% or a 7% favorability rating? So we decided to take a different approach and test Congress' popularity against 26 different things. And what we found is that Congress is less popular than cockroaches, traffic jams, and even Nickelback... Now the news isn't all bad for Congress: By relatively close margins it beats out Lindsey Lohan (45/41), playground bullies (43/38), and telemarketers (45/35). And it posts wider margins over the Kardashians (49/36), John Edwards (45/29), lobbyists (48/30), Fidel Castro (54/32), Gonorrhea (53/28), Ebola (53/25), Communism (57/23), North Korea (61/26), and meth labs (60/21)." [PPP]
GIFFORDS AND KELLY LAUNCH ANTI-GUN VIOLENCE ORG - Prediction: Americans United For Baiting Louie Gohmert Into Saying Something Stupid About Gabby Giffords will make waves. WaPo: "On the second anniversary of the attempted assassination of Giffords in a mass shooting in Tucson, the recovering Arizona Democrat is adding her political cache to the emotionally fraught debate over the nation's gun violence...Giffords and Kelly announced in a Tuesday op-ed in USA Today that they would launch Americans for Responsible Solutions, which will raise money and spur a national conversation about gun violence. They write that it will 'balance the influence of the gun lobby, and will line up squarely behind leaders who will stand up for what's right.'...'As a Western woman and a Persian Gulf War combat veteran who have exercised our Second Amendment rights, we don't want to take away your guns any more than we want to give up the two guns we have locked in a safe at home,' the couple write. 'What we do want is what the majority of NRA members and other Americans want: responsible changes in our laws to require responsible gun ownership and reduce gun violence.'" [WaPo]
And yet, our White House petition to incept John Mayer into never making music again is going nowhere: "A petition submitted to the White House's 'We the People' website calling for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to be tried in a federal court for treason has reached the requisite 25,000 signatures for an administration response. The petition, which claims that Feinstein's recent push for a renewed assault weapons ban makes her guilty of 'treason to the Constitution,' has received attention in right-wing blog circles." [HuffPost's Nick Wing]
Update from Los Angeles: "Charlie Sheen: Mayor Villaraigosa Is Lying -- He Partied With Me For Hours"
And you thought John Roberts pissed conservatives off with his Obamacare ruling... "The birther movement is now targeting Chief Justice John Roberts for impeachment if he swears in President Barack Obama for a second term later this month. Craige McMillan, a columnist for the conservative publication WND.com, wrote a piece last week asking Roberts to not swear Obama in, because, according to McMillan, Obama does not meet the Constitution's definition of a natural born citizen." [HuffPost's John Celock]
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Bird loves it some dubstep.
JOSE ANDRES GETS BIG NEW HONOR - HuffPost DC: "Chef Jose Andres, the man who helped popularize tapas in the United States and recently weathered an unpleasant review by The Washington Post's restaurant critic, shouldn't feel so bad. The Spaniard, whose D.C.-based Think Food Group collection has expanded to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami and Puerto Rico,was named the 2012 American Chef of the Year." [HuffPost]
COMFORT FOOD
- Fast dog is fast. [http://bit.ly/TZ8VhR]
- You might actually develop diabetes by listening to this Jackson 5/Taylor Swift mashup. [http://bit.ly/ZBpMME]
- How common is your birthday? If you were born in September, your birthday party is probably going to cause a lot of scheduling conflicts. [http://bit.ly/JT08u4]
- A quadcopter stalks a moose. Watch as this drone erodes this moose's civil rights. [http://bit.ly/UFM5zv]
- "It's So Hot in Australia That They Added New Colors to the Weather Map" [http://bit.ly/UFHLQR]
- A fireman put a video on his helmet and pieced together clips from some of his most harrowing moments on the job. [http://bit.ly/13fJs7Y]
- Archived photos from the Apollo program. [http://bit.ly/UFVbMH]
TWITTERAMA
@toddzwillich minus 18 minutes RT @AP_Planner: Tomorrow: 100th anniversary of Richard Nixon's birth
@pourmecoffee: If they do mint the coin, I'm going to open an "Everything's A Trillion Dollars" store right next to the Treasury and just hope.
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