{"id":21548,"date":"2016-04-30T13:20:32","date_gmt":"2016-04-30T20:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=21548"},"modified":"2016-04-30T13:20:32","modified_gmt":"2016-04-30T20:20:32","slug":"open-thread-4302016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2016\/04\/30\/open-thread-4302016\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–4\/30\/2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even though I slept well yesterday, I still feel tired today, so I plan to rest quite a bit.  Julie is due in about 40 minutes to fluff and buff me and do some light cleaning,  Later: Julie a couple hours ago, and I\u2019m now a cuddle-ready kitty!!<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Today;s took me 3:57 (average 5:04).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

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

From PR Watch<\/a>: <\/font>Ironies abound in the 2016 agenda for the Koch-funded American Legislative Exchange Council<\/a> (ALEC), which brings together corporate lobbyists and state legislators at luxury hotels to vote side-by-side on "model bills" that then pop up in states across the country.<\/p>\n

This spring’s Task Force Summit, to be held in the glittering Omni William Penn hotel<\/a> on May 6 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, features [Koch suckers delinked] a discussion on "Taxpayer Funded Lobbying Disclosure."<\/p>\n

ALEC is not worried about the corporate lobbyists stacking its board and committees, or the taxpayer money being shelled out so some politicians can afford the swank Omni, or direct government subsidies to ALEC (like Tennessee’s $100,000 grant<\/a> approved recently to underwrite a future ALEC conference in Nashville). No, ALEC is worried about city and county governments that join statewide associations to lobby state government for funds to provide services to everyday people. Stomping out this type of public interest "lobbying" is a big agenda item of the Kochs’ Americans for Prosperity and part and parcel of ALEC’s agenda to preempt local democracy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

ALEC’s efforts to handcuff local democracy are just one of the highlights of ALEC’s 2016 Spring Task Force Summit agenda.<\/p>\n

Click through for an excellent overview of the ALEC agenda, Take toilet paper because of what it will scare out of you.<\/font><\/p>\n

From NY Times<\/a>: <\/font>In the landmark case Gideon v. Wainwright<\/a>, the Supreme Court held in 1963 that the state or local government had to provide a lawyer to any defendant facing prison time who could not afford his or her own. This was no minor decision. Approximately 80 percent<\/a> of all state criminal defendants in the United States qualify for a government-provided lawyer.<\/p>\n

Yet despite this constitutional guarantee, state and county spending on lawyers for the poor amounts to only $2.3 billion<\/a> \u2014 barely 1 percent of the more than $200 billion governments spend annually on criminal justice.<\/p>\n

Worse, since 1995, real spending on indigent defense has <\/strong>fallen, by 2 percent<\/a><\/strong>, even as the number of felony cases has risen by <\/strong>approximately 40 percent<\/a><\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, public defense finds itself starved of resources while facing impossible caseloads that mock the idea of justice for the poor\u2026 [emphasis added<\/em>]<\/p>\n

When you combine this travesty with the all too common problem of prosecutors hiding exculpatory evidence because every case lost jeopardizes their careers, it should not surprise you that there are many innocent people behind bars. Click through for more info.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Crooks and Liars<\/a>: <\/font><\/p>\n

If only our politicians had any common sense whatsoever many people would not have to die so needlessly for these politicians’ NRA indebtedness.<\/p>\n