Rep. Peter King doesn’t think the New York GOP should have invited Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to host their fundraiser this month, in light of his vote against Hurricane Sandy relief aid. ”I wouldn’t want to be involving New York with Ted Cruz,” King said.”He went out of his way to attack New York on the bill,” King, R-N.Y., added, the New York Daily News reports. “It’s a little early to forgive and forget.”“It’s life and death,” King continued. “There were really false and phony charges made against the Sandy aid, and if Ted Cruz had prevailed, my constituents would be homeless.”Continue Reading… … Read More
House Finance chair hits slopes with Wall Street lobbyists
In January, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, ascended to the powerful chairmanship of the House Financial Services Committee. Six weeks later, campaign finance filings and interviews show, Hensarling was joined by representatives of the banking industry for a ski vacation fundraiser at a posh Park City, Utah, resort. The congressman’s political action committee held the fundraiser at the St. Regis Deer Valley, the “Ritz-Carlton of ski resorts” known for its “white-glove service” and for its restaurant by superstar chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Continue Reading… … Read More
Lady Gaga reportedly turned down $1 million offer to perform at RNC
The Washington Examiner reports that the GOP, a party whose stance towards gays has been nothing if not fraught, approached LGBTQ icon Lady Gaga to perform at the Republican National Convention’s Hispanic Leadership Network last August. Sourcing a lawsuit filed by GOP fundraiser American Action Network against production company Cater America LLC, the Examinar claims that Gaga was offered $1 million to perform. Dolly Parton and Pitbull were approached as well.AAN’s Pete Meachum told the Examiner that Cater America head Rob Jennings said, “See what it would take to get Gaga instead of Dolly.”From the Examiner:Continue Reading… … Read More
Syrian opposition elects interim prime minister
Hitto received 35 votes out of 49 ballots cast during the SyrianNational Coalition meeting in the Turkish city. He is now in chargeof forming a new cabinet that the opposition hopes will replace thegovernment of Bashar Assad.Opposition spokesmen called him a “consensus candidate”who commands both respect from the insurgency’s Islamists as wellas its liberals.Forty-nine-year-old Hitto was born in Damascus but has lived fordecades in the United States, mostly in Texas. He is described asbeing heavily involved in various Islamic causes. He holds abachelors in mathematics and computer science from PurdueUniversity in Indiana, earning an MBA from the same school in1994.His election means that he will effectively serve as primeminister of the parts of Syria controlled by the anti-Assadinsurgency.The longtime tech executive’s resume includes 25 years withtechnology and telecommunications firms, with 16 of those as anexecutive manager.Hitto left the corporate world in November 2012 “to join theranks of the Syrian revolution.”He is known for his involvement in public service causes,including the organization of a series of fundraising initiativessuch as a Walk for Children of Syria Day. Hitto has also been adirector of the Brighter Horizons Academy, a Texas school billingitself as “an educational institution conducive to an Islamiclearning environment,” for more than ten years.”Hope… comes from Allah. Our brothers and sisters insideSyria came to this realization way back,” Hitto said in publiccomments at a 2012 fundraiser for Syrian children.”He loves us and will take care of us… (he) will bringrelief, will take care of the people of Syria, will feed the peopleof Syria, will defend the people of Syria, and he alone can dothat… but we must take action today,” he said at thatevent.The year before that Hitto founded the Coalition of Free Syria,becoming a national board member of the Syrian American Council in2012.He heads the Turkey-based Assistance Coordination Unit, the aidwing of the Syrian National Coalition, the country’s oppositionbloc.Hitto’s backers say he is a capable diplomat, with a keenability to secure financial aid for Syrians who have been displacedby the country’s two-year-long civil conflict. … Read More
Syrian opposition elects US-educated tech exec as interim PM
Hitto received 35 votes out of 49 ballots cast during the SyrianNational Coalition meeting in the Turkish city. He is now in chargeof forming a new cabinet that the opposition hopes will replace thegovernment of Bashar Assad.Opposition spokesmen called him a “consensus candidate” whocommands both respect from the insurgency’s Islamists as well asits liberals.Fifty-year-old Hitto was born in Damascus but has lived fordecades in the United States, mostly in Texas. He is described asbeing heavily involved in various Islamic causes. He holds abachelors in mathematics and computer science from PurdueUniversity in Indiana, earning an MBA from the same school in1994.His election means that he will effectively serve as primeminister of the parts of Syria controlled by the anti-Assadinsurgency.The long-time tech executive’s resume includes 25 years withtechnology and telecommunications firms, with 16 of those as anexecutive manager.Hitto left the corporate world in November 2012 “to join theranks of the Syrian revolution.”He is known for his involvement in public service causes,including the organization of a series of fundraising initiativessuch as the Walk for Children of Syria Day. Hitto has also been adirector of the Brighter Horizons Academy, a Texas school billingitself as “an educational institution conducive to an Islamiclearning environment,” for more than ten years.”Hope… comes from Allah. Our brothers and sisters inside Syriacame to this realization way back,” Hitto said in public commentsat a 2012 fundraiser for Syrian children.”He loves us and will take care of us… (he) will bring relief,will take care of the people of Syria, will feed the people ofSyria, will defend the people of Syria, and he alone can do that…but we must take action today,” he said at that event.The year before that Hitto founded the Coalition of Free Syria,becoming a national board member of the Syrian American Council in2012.He heads the Turkey-based Assistance Coordination Unit, the aidwing of the Syrian National Coalition, the country’s oppositionbloc.Hitto’s backers say he is a gifted diplomat, with a keen abilityto secure financial aid for Syrians who have been displaced by thecountry’s two-year-long civil conflict. … Read More
No retreat: Asma Assad, wife of Syrian President, appears in public
On Saturday, Assad, 37, and her three children appeared at the“Mothers’ Rally”, a charity fundraiser for parents of governmentsoldiers who have been killed in the two-year conflict.Media previously speculated that British-born Assad had escapedthe country, leading Russia to issue a denial that it wasaccommodating the Syrian First Lady last year.In January a pro-Assad Lebanese newspaper reported that AsmaAssad was pregnant with the couple’s fourth child, though theauthorities later moved to deny the story as “utterlyfalse”.Bashar Assad’s mother and sister are said to have left for Dubaiin the United Arab Emirates.Despite putting on a brave public face, the Assad regime hasendured a difficult time of late.Brigadier General Mohammed Nour Ezzedeen Khallouf, the army’schief of supplies and logistics, defected together with his son inwhat appeared to be a long-prepared move “co-ordinated with variousfactors in the Syrian revolution”, according to a video messageposted online.Rebels also say they have captured a military intelligencecomplex in Hauran Plain, near the border with Israel after afive-day siege.”Anyone who was arrested in the Yarmouk Valley was sent tothis military intelligence headquarters to be tortured and it has astrategic importance,” said Abu Iyas al-Haurani, afighter in the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade.Activist group Human Rights Watch also condemned the Assadregime for the use of cluster bombs – smaller explosives carriedwithin a larger projectile and then released over a wide area. Theorganization claimed the bombs often do not explode immediately,and injure civilians who come upon them accidentally at a latertime.More than 70,000 have been killed in the Syrian conflict sinceit began in 2011, according to UN estimates. … Read More
Mark Zuckerberg Chris Christie Fundraiser Draws Protest In Palo Alto (PHOTOS)
PALO ALTO, Calif. — Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the home of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg Wednesday night to protest the Internet prodigy’s first political event — a fundraiser for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Demonstrators claimed the Republican governor is anti-woman and included nurses, women’s rights advocates, progressive network CREDO Action and the infamous Raging Grannies, objecting to Zuckerberg’s affiliation with the politician who led $7.5 million in budget cuts for Planned Parenthood and women’s health care in New Jersey.
“Hey, Facebook, shame on you!” shouted protesters. “Christie hurts women and now you do, too.” Others carried signs featuring Facebook’s signature “like” button in the thumbs-down position.
