The largest earthquake to ever hit Japan, an 8.9-magnitude ‘struck off the coast of Japan today. The quake triggered a “devastating tsunami that swept over cities and farmland in the northern part of the country and set off warnings as far away as the West Coast of the United States and South America.” The earthquake and tsunami struck in deadly tandem, unleashing scenes of horror throughout northern Japan. First came the roar and rumble of the earthquake shaking skyscrapers,...

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Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett may be the most adept politician in America. With the nation focused upon the union-busting Tea Party-backed Scott Walker in Wisconsin, Corbett has snuck in a plan to mine the state’s resources, increase employment, reduce educational problems, and whack unions upside the head at the same time. Miraculously, the public sector unions, so happy they wouldn’t lose collective bargaining, have even said they don’t mind being whacked. In his first budget address, Corbett said he...

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Republican Senator Rand Paul went rant about toilets today in the midst of an Energy & Natural Resources Committee hearing on energy efficiency standards for appliances and his “unwitting victim was Kathleen Hogan, the deputy assistant secretary for energy efficiency at the Department of Energy.” “Frankly, my toilets don’t work in my house. And I blame you and people like you who want to tell me what I can install in my house, what I can do. You restrict my choices....

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Just a quick note to readers to alert you all that The Dem Daily is now integrated with Facebook Comments. Which means… You have the choice of commenting via your Dem Daily Login, your Facebook Login or providing a valid email address and using CAPTCHA if you do not have a login here or on Facebook. The Facebook comments system also utilizes the Facebook “Like” button for all our posts here — We hope readers will vote us up...

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While much Washington coverage of the Republican drive to slash federal spending deals with politics and process, coverage of those cuts across the nation has focused on the impact those cuts would have — and Americans don’t like what they see, according to Senate Democrats. Senate Democrats have assembled a new online video of TV reports about the deep cuts House Republicans would make in a wide swath of federal programs. They’ve also put together a round-up of print...

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had intended to hold separate test votes on competing spending plans, but Senate Republicans refuse to vote on the GOP alternative, Reid says. Reid says he expected to bring up both the budget House Republicans approved last month, and a Democratic alternative. He expected both to fail to win enough support to pass, but thought the votes would serve as a basis for further negotiation. Congressional Democrats and Republicans must agree to a budget...

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With the Senate preparing this week to vote on competing sets of cuts to an array of federal programs, one senator is proposing a new surtax on U.S. millionaires to raise additional revenue. As lawmakers race to find a budget solution by March 18, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will hold test votes on Democratic and Republican alternatives. Each would trim billions from federal spending, with the GOP proposal cutting more deeply. Congress must decide on a budget...

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Jonathan Turley, professor of law at GWU,  writes a telling piece in the L.A. Times today on “Clarence Thomas’ dangerous conceit.” Thomas suggested that his critics were endangering freedom by undermining his authority and, by extension, the authority of the court. He insisted that his wife was being attacked because she believes in the same things he does and because they were “focused on defending liberty.” He added: “You all are going to be, unfortunately, the recipients of the fallout...

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