{"id":15747,"date":"2015-08-02T10:02:36","date_gmt":"2015-08-02T17:02:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=15747"},"modified":"2015-08-02T10:02:37","modified_gmt":"2015-08-02T17:02:37","slug":"open-thread822015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2015\/08\/02\/open-thread822015\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–8\/2\/2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday it reached 97\u00b0.  Today will be almost as hot.  We may have a couple of temperate days Wednesday and Thursday.  I\u2019m staying heat hunkered.  I would love to have a nice rain storm, but this Republican-climate summer appears locked in.<\/font><\/p>\n

Jig Zone Puzzle<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s took me 3:06 (average 4:51).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

Short Takes<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

From Daily Kos<\/a>: <\/font>Just a few short weeks ago, the Kochs and the Republican party<\/a> were in what one Republican operative said was an "all-out war" over who would control the party going forward. The Kochs have been systematically putting a ground force in place across the nation to build their own extremely sophisticated database, one that they would allow Republican candidates to use (excepting Trump<\/a>). This alarmed the RNC because all that valuable information was not being held by them. That and the whole thing about how "it’s very dangerous and wrong to allow a group of very strong, well-financed individuals who have no accountability to anyone to have control over who gets access to the data when, why and how," in the words of Katie Walsh, the RNC’s chief of staff. <\/p>\n

But now it looks like the RNC has given up<\/a> the fight.<\/p>\n

\n

Since then, the rhetoric has ratcheted down. Last week, i360 [the Koch data arm] and Data Trust [the RNC group] signed a deal to share data for the 2016 cycle. <\/p>\n

"I do think there’s a value to making sure we’re all working together to ensure that we\u2019re doing things efficiently and effectively. We appreciate everything the Kochs are doing, and it’s a huge help," Walsh told The Washington Post. "But at the end of the day, our focus is making sure that the voter file and the field staff are ready for the nominee to come in." [\u2026]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The RMC wanted to BE those \u201cvery strong, well financed individuals who have no accountability to anyone\u201d, but now it’s official. The entire Republican Party is sucking nevermind<\/strong><\/em>.<\/font><\/p>\n

From NY Times<\/a>: <\/font>Ken Paxton, the Republican attorney general of Texas and a former state legislator, has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of securities fraud and of failing to register with the state securities board, officials said.<\/p>\n

The grand jury in the northern Dallas suburb of McKinney handed up a three-count indictment against Mr. Paxton on Tuesday, the officials said. The indictment is to be unsealed on Monday, when Mr. Paxton is expected to turn himself in to the authorities at the Collin County Jail.<\/p>\n

The charges \u2014 two counts of first-degree securities fraud and one count of third-degree failure to register \u2014 are tied to Mr. Paxton\u2019s work soliciting clients and investors for two companies while he was a member of the Texas House of Representatives, before he was elected attorney general in November.<\/p>\n

What could be more natural for Republicans than to put one of their fellow criminals in charge of prosecuting lawbreakers.<\/font><\/p>\n

From The Hill<\/a>: <\/font>President Obama is looking to cement his legacy on climate change.<\/p>\n

His administration will finalize sweeping new regulations on power plants on Monday, which is sure to spark a fight with Republicans in Congress.<\/p>\n

In a video released early Sunday, Obama called the plan "the biggest, most important step we’ve ever taken to combat climate change."<\/p>\n