Midday open thread

• Talk about a Second Amendment remedy:

  Jon Ralston emails that sources confirm Sharron Angle (R) will run for the seat of Rep. Dean Heller (R-NV), who is running for U.S. Senate. He notes the GOP primary "will be something else."

• Rep. Steve King (R-IA) defends GOP cuts for tsunami warnings:

  The tsunami warning centers, it?s really ? the timing of that really puts attention on the subject matter. I don?t know that I would go back and look at that. I would ask people to come forward with the facts on this ? how badly do we need them and do the tragic events in Japan give us a different perspective. I would look at it from a different perspective. I don?t know I would at this point know say that I?d be willing to make that change. I think we often over-react to emergencies, especially natural disasters, before we assess the limit of the damage, and particularly with the nuclear part of this.

• Bigotry-enshrined-into-law isn't just for Arizona anymore:

  Utah's governor on Tuesday signed a package of immigration laws including one that would allow a police crackdown on illegal immigrants similar to Arizona's attempt last year.

• How creepy. Maybe Newt has a portrait in the attic.
• Just a (non-pizza) taste of the potential 2012 GOP field:

  Speaking to a group of reporters at the conservative Heritage Foundation, Cain said he supported fully defunding Planned Parenthood ...

  "Here's why I support de-funding Planned Parenthood, because you don't hear a lot of people talking about this, when Margaret Sanger - check my history - started Planned Parenthood, the objective was to put these centers in primarily black communities so they could help kill black babies before they came into the world," Cain, who is African American, was quoted as saying to CNSNews.com.

  "You don't see that talked that much about," he was also quoted as saying. "It's not Planned Parenthood. No, it's planned genocide. You can quote me on that."
  

• Following last week's confession by Sen. Paul Rand (R-KY) that, "?Frankly, my toilets don?t work in my house," Good Samaritans are lining up to help the waste-challenged Paul:

  Earlier this week, I offered advice to America's highest-ranking libertarian Sen. Rand Paul how he could find a working toilet, and dispel his belief that the federal government will not allow him one.

  Soon after, Grist's David Roberts, dismayed at the Senator's distress, responded to the call and recommended his Caroma "Sydney Smart" toilet. The dual-flush system allows you to use either 1.28 gallons or 0.8 gallons per flush, both well below current federal standards. But according to Roberts, it never clogs thanks to a particularly large 4-inch trapway.

  To further call attention to the Senator's plight, Grist has launched a contest that anyone can enter, and the lucky winner will get their very own Caroma toilet. That's right, Senator! Now's your chance!

  Be proud that we live in a nation where people come together, not only to set smart standards to save our shared natural resources, to help our fellow individuals in need of relief.

• Read the full report at Think Progress:

  In 12 States, GOP Plans To Slash Corporate Taxes While Increasing Burden on Working Families

• It will come as no surprise to learn that Rush Limbaugh is mocking the disaster in Japan:

  LIMBAUGH: Well, that's an interesting question.

  The Japanese have done so much to save the planet. He's right. They've given us the Prius. Even now, refugees are still recycling their garbage, and yet Gaia levels them [laughs], just wipes them out. Wipes out their nuclear plants, all kinds of radiation. What kind of payback is this? That is an excellent question. They invented the Prius. In fact, where Gaia blew up is right where they make all these electric cars. That's where the tsunami hit. All those brand new electric cars sitting there on the lot. I like the way this guy was thinking. It's like -- it's like Gaia hit the Prius in [inaudible]. It's like they were in the crosshairs, if we can use that word, it does. What is Gaia trying to tell us here? What is the mother of environmentalism trying to say with this hit? Great observation out there, Chris.

• Can a phone impersonation be a stepping stone to Congress?

  Just when you thought you had seen it all in New York special elections, Ian Murphy has emerged as a likely, though long-shot, candidate in the race to replace Rep. Chris Lee (R).

  Don?t know who Murphy is? You know his work.

  The editor of the satirical news website Buffalo Beast, Murphy was behind the prank phone call to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) late last month that made national headlines. Murphy pretended to be billionaire conservative activist David Koch.
  

• Of course it also means you can buy food and put a roof over your head, so ...

  Maybe unemployment isn't so bad after all. A new study says that, income notwithstanding, having a demanding, unstable and thankless job may make you even unhappier than not having a job at all.

• Frank Buckles, the last surviving American veteran of World War I, was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery yesterday. Both the President and the Vice President attended. Having lied about his age to enlist at 17, Buckles lived to the age of 110. - Adam B

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/92ujGxirDl8/-Midday-open-thread

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