Good morning! Here are some of the stories we’re reading on a gloomy morning in NYC…
Two-faced –> Eli Clifton reports for Salon that while Big Pharma was publicly backing the ACA, it was privately funneling big bucks to the law’s opposition.
Pay some attention to that man behind the curtain –> At The Atlantic, Peter Beinart argues that megadonors have become more important than the candidates themselves, and should be scrutinized like candidates by the media.
Conflicting stories –> Al Sharpton doesn’t deny that he worked as an FBI informant, but according to Erin Durkin of the NY Daily News he disputes the circumstances reported by The Smoking Gun.
A little knowledge is dangerous –> The Monkey Cage’s headline says it all: “The less Americans know about Ukraine’s location, the more they want U.S. to intervene.”
Fairly unbalanced –> Just 28 percent of Fox News’ climate segments were accurate, according to a study by the Union of Concerned Scientists. Ninety-two percent of MSNBC’s coverage was accurate, and CNN fell in between with an accuracy rate of 70 percent. Chris Mooney reports for MoJo.
Not helping –> In the US, there are ten times as many mentally ill people behind bars as there are being treated in state hospitals, according to MoJo’s Stephanie Mencimer.
“Chris Christie is toast” –> At Politico, The New School’s Jeff Smith writes that federal prosecutors have latched onto members of Christie’s inner circle, and he’s likely to face a long streak of bad news as a result.
That’s incoherent –> Newt Gingrich argues that getting rid of all campaign finance regulations would, “overnight, equalize the middle class and the rich.” Emily Swanson tries to figure out what he’s talking about for HuffPo.
“Robbing workers of wages, benefits, and job security—and stealing revenues owed to government” –> David Bensman looks at the rise of “contingent employment” for TAP.
Won’t help someone without hurting someone else –> Kansas lawmakers responded to a state Supreme Court ruling that poor schools weren’t receiving adequate funding by tying new money to a conservative wishlist of education deforms, including stripping the state’s teachers of their right to due process. Brad Cooper reports for The Kansas City Star.
Missing the forest for the trees –> CAF’s Dave Johnson on the persistence of the right’s trumped up “IRS scandal,” and the real scandal of groups that engage in electoral politics calling themselves “social welfare organizations” to shield their donors.
That’s just wrong –> Mississippi’s bizarre, conservative Christian-friendly sex ed curriculum has gotten some attention of late. At TNR, Jonathan Cohn notes that it mandates that kids be taught that homosexuality is illegal, despite the fact that the Supreme Court struck down all state sodomy laws over a decade ago.
Hillary’s “communist dress” and Putin “doing macho things” –> At Media Matters, Ben Dimiero looks at five years of eye-popping Fox Nation headlines.
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