Say Anything Blog

Man who threatened Obama sentenced

A Wisconsin man was sentenced late today in federal court in Jackson to three years in prison for making a threat on the Internet to assassinate then-President-elect Barack Obama.




Steven Joseph Christopher, 42, faced a maximum five years in prison.

After a nearly daylong sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate imposed the sentence.

Christopher pleaded guilty in July after Wingate agreed with him that he was competent to stand trial, although the U.S. attorney's office said a psychologist determined Christopher was mentally incompetent.

Christopher said he never intended to harm Obama. He said he made the threat to gain attention for his cause that he is the second coming of Christ and the apocalypse is coming in 2012 and much of the world will be destroyed.

Palin to keep low-profile on Wisconsin trip

(CNN) - Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is set to deliver remarks at a Wisconsin Right to Life event Friday evening, one of the few speeches the former Republican presidential nominee will have given since she resigned the governorship last summer.

But Palin appears to be doing her best to keep a low profile on this trip: no press will be allowed into the Milwaukee auditorium where she will speak and those who have paid the $30 admittance fee are unable to carry in cell phones, cameras, laptops, or recording devices of any kind.

...Palin’s speech comes a day after a new national poll suggests the former Alaska governor may face some obstacles should she decide to run for the White House. According to the new Gallup survey, only about one in three Americans would seriously consider casting their vote for her.

On sick list: Elderly and the ill pay more under GOP health care reform bill

WASHINGTON - Republican leaders are pleased their health reform plan would lower premiums on average up to 10% - and shave $68 billion from the federal deficit.

But the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found an odd feature in the 230-page bill: Coverage would be more expensive for older people and folks who are sick.

And it would not bar insurers from excluding preexisting conditions.

...“The pool of people without health insurance would end up being less healthy, on average, than under current law,” the CBO says.

The GOP plan would add 3 million people to the insurance rolls by 2019, but the overall percentage of uninsured would stay the same.

 

 

Kerik Enters Guilty Plea in Corruption Case

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP)—Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik pleaded guilty Thursday to lying to the White House and said he would also admit to tax crimes.

...Kerik, who was police commissioner when New York was attacked on 9/11, won glowing reviews for his leadership. He eventually was nominated for the Homeland Security post in 2004 but withdrew as corruption allegations mounted. The lies to the White House occurred during that vetting process.

...Before he began formally entering his pleas, Kerik told Judge Stephen Robinson that, in addition to the White House lies, he would admit to counts that included cheating the IRS, helping to prepare false tax returns and making other false statements to the federal government.

Robinson warned Kerik that the maximum sentence for the counts to which he was pleading was 61 years in prison; the judge said he was not bound by the terms of the plea agreement.

Kerik said he understood and told the judge he was giving up his right to appeal.

Budget Monitor Says G.O.P. Bill Leaves Many Uninsured

The Congressional Budget Office said on Wednesday that an alternative health care bill put forward by House Republicans would have little impact in extending health benefits to the roughly 30 million uninsured Americans, but would reduce average insurance premium costs for people who have coverage.

The Republican bill, which has no chance of passage, would extend insurance coverage to about 3 million people by 2019, and would leave about 52 million people uninsured, the budget office said, meaning the proportion of non-elderly Americans with coverage would remain about the same as now, at roughly 83 percent.

... House Republicans, including their leader, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, have said that they did not intend for their legislation to expand insurance coverage, becausethey viewed that goal as unaffordable. Instead, they said the bill was tailored narrowly to reduce costs.

According to the report by nonpartisan budget office, the Republican bill would reduce future federal deficits by $68 billion over 10 years, compared to a reduction of $104 billion by the House Democrats’ legislation.

The findings by the budget office mostly seemed to confirm assertions by Democrats that the Republican bill, offered as an amendment to the Democrats’ measure, would do little to change the status quo.

Bachmann aide no longer taking care of business

The aide who helped turn Rep. Michele Bachmann into a controversial mainstay of cable news has informed colleagues that she’s quitting — just as the firebrand Republican congresswoman prepares for her biggest media moment yet.

Multiple sources have confirmed that Michelle Marston, a veteran Hill aide, is leaving Bachmann’s office.

In an e-mail exchange with POLITICO, Marston declined to say why she’s going.

...A conservative Republican House member, speaking on the condition of anonymity, suggested that Bachmann’s views — and her willingness to state them — make it hard for her to keep staff.

“When your captain’s crazy, it’s time to find a new ship,” the lawmaker said.

SC Governor Mark Sanford Signs Unemployment Benefits Extension

Columbia, S.C. October 29, 2009—According to a press release from Governor Mark Sanford’s office, the Governor signed, on Thursday, into law Senate bill 374, which extends benefits to the unemployed under the stimulus act. The bill passed with unanimous, bipartisan support and was made necessary by an oversight at the South Carolina Employment Security Commission (ESC).

...This bill goes into effect immediately, and also is retroactive for those whose unemployment benefits have already been stopped.

Senate throws a lifeline to the jobless

...NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com)—After weeks of partisan debate, the Senate voted on Wednesday to lengthen unemployment benefits by up to 20 weeks and to extend the $8,000 homebuyer tax credit.

...The vote was 98 to 0.

Garamendi beats field for Tauscher’s seat

WALNUT CREEK, CALIF.—Democratic Lt. Gov. John Garamendi ran away from four other candidates in a special election to fill the Bay Area’s 10th Congressional District seat vacated by Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Walnut Creek.

In early returns, Garamendi led Republican David Harmer by 57 percent to 38 percent. Green Party candidate Jeremy Cloward, American Independent Jerome Denham and Peace and Freedom candidate Mary McIlroy were far behind.

Like a contested congressional race in New York and gubernatorial showdowns in Virginia and New Jersey, conservatives sought to portray the election results in the Bay Area congressional contest as a referendum on President Obama’s administration and a harbinger of voter attitudes for the 2010 midterm elections.

Conservatives criticized Garamendi’s support for a government-run insurance plan in health care reform legislation in Congress and sent out mailers linking him with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco. In the campaign’s closing days, the Republican National Committee spent $85,000 on mailers that claimed Garamendi supported higher property taxes.

...Turnout was estimated to be about 39 percent - “an exceptionally high figure” for a special congressional election in California, said Steve Weir, clerk-recorder for Contra Costa County, where nearly 70 percent of the district’s voters live. The district includes parts of Alameda, Solano and Sacramento counties.

 

Foxx wins Charlotte mayoral race

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Anthony Foxx was elected mayor of Charlotte on Tuesday, defeating John Lassiter and putting a Democrat in the city’s top elected position for the first time in 22 years.

Lassiter conceded to Foxx shortly before 10:15 p.m., even taking a phone call from the winner while giving his concession speech on live TV.

Watertown Daily Times reports:

Jefferson County Judge Kim L. Martusewicz has a commanding lead on John W. Hallett in the polls for Jefferson County Judge, according to unofficial vote counts.

...Daniel E. Skamperle and R. Storm Cilley are headed to the city council, but who will join them to fill out the three available seats may not be settled for a while.

...In one of four contested races for seats in the Jefferson County Legislature, incumbent James D. St. Croix is leading over challenger Anthony J. Doldo.

...Democratic incumbent Thomas K. Rienbeck has unofficially won the supervisor race in Cape Vincent with 532 votes. His Republican challenger Urban C. Hirschey received 490 votes.