Good Morning Kossacks and Welcome to Morning Open Thread (MOT)
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In The News:
Firm Blamed In The Costliest Onshore Oil Spill Ever
Two years ago this month, an oil pipeline burst in Michigan, contaminating 38 miles of the Kalamazoo River. It didn't get much national notice because everyone was focused on the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
But the mess created by that Michigan spill was so great that it's become the costliest onshore spill in history — with a price tag of more than $800 million. On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board blamed the spill on the failure of the pipeline operator, Enbridge Inc., to follow its own safety rules.
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Obama Defends Access To Contraception: It’s ‘Not Fair’ For Catholic Institutions To Deny Women Birth Control
Catholic leaders are fighting against a new Obamacare policy requiring insurers and businesses to offer contraception coverage to women, even after the White House announced a compromise to protect religious institutions. Under the measure, a religiously affiliated organization like a Catholic college or hospital does not have to pay for contraception coverage if it objects to offering birth control, but its employees will still have access to birth control.
As President Obama put it during an an interview with a New Orleans TV reporter on Monday, while religious liberty is “critical,” it’s “not fair” for these institutions to deny coverage to non-Catholic employees.
South Carolina Gov Vetoes Abuse And Rape Prevention Funding, Calls It A Distraction
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Holder Calls Voter ID Laws ‘Poll Taxes’
Attorney General Eric Holder deviated from his prepared remarks during a speech before the NAACP on Tuesday and called voter ID laws “poll taxes.”
“Under the proposed law, concealed handgun licenses would be acceptable forms of photo ID, but student IDs would not,” Holder said, referring specifically to the voter ID law passed in Texas. “Many of those without IDs would have to travel great distances to get them, and some would struggle to pay for the documents they might need to obtain them. We call those poll taxes.”
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Quick Links:
Report: Some Americans Have Lost Homes Over As Little As $400
Anti-Gay Group Plans Google Boycott
Republican Rep: I Don’t Think Someone Who Is Diagnosed With A Brain Tumor Should Have Health Care Provided
Poll: Tommy Thompson Loses Edge In Wisconsin GOP Senate Primary
Commence jibbering and jabbering!
Oh, and Happy Hump Day from Daisy and Lilly!